Southworth_How_He_Won_Her.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
CHAPTER I.
ERMINIB'S STORY.
How sleep the brave, who sink to rostt
By all their country's wishes blest!
When spring with dewy finders cold
Returns to deck their hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung.
There honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay
And freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell, a weeping hermit, there. COLLINS.'
IT was not until the morning succeeding his arrival, after
breakfast, when they found themselves alone together in the
drawing-room, that Justin told Erminie the story of his
voyage and shipwreck, his preservation and residence on
the Desert Island, and his rescue and return home.
She listened with breathless interest to his narrative, and
when it was finished she earnestly thanked Heaven for his
restoration to his home and friends.
And then, in return, she gave him the history of all that
had occurred to her since he had first sailed.
She told him of those gathering clouds of disaffection in
the South that no one could be made to believe would ever
break in a storm of Civil War. She spoke of that solemn
day in the Senate when the Southern senators withdrew.
She whispered of the shameful, sorrowful day when Fort
Sumter was taken, and, in the language of the man who
commanded the assault, " The proud flag that had never
(25)
26 HOW HE WON HER.
been humbled before the star-spangled banner was hum-
bled to the dust." She told how these words had burned
in the hearts of all true patriots until they lighted a flame
of love of country, hate of traitors, never to be quenched ;
how, at the President's call for seventy-five thousand men,
four times that number started to arms ; how even across
the broad Atlantic, in Ireland, the warm-hearted lovers of
the Union had banded together and offered their services to
the Federal Government through our ministers and consuls
abroad ; how these had been declined en masse, as un-
needed then.
Here the Lutheran minister's orphan child paused to
gather strength ; for she had next to speak of the fatal
fields of Bethel and Ball's Bluif ; and of Bull Eun, where
her brave father fell. She told the awful history amidst
sobs and tears that she could not restrain.
" He died where he fell, before his men, in front of the
enemy. He lies buried near the spot, his grave marked by
the care of a brother officer, his honored remains waiting
only the return of peace to be removed."
" They shall not-await the return of peace, they shall be
brought home immediately," answered Justin.
Then Erminie spoke of opening her father's will, and
seeing there that he had left his property to his two
children, to be divided between them, share and share
alike.
" Then my dear father did not believe me to be lost ? "
said Justin.
" Then we none of us did ; there had not been time
enough for us to grow anxious. We had got two letters
from you, one mailed from Porto Praya, and one from the
Cape of Good Hope. When my dear father died we were
looking daily for a letter from you from Calcutta."
" I am glad that he had suffered no anxiety on my ac-
count. Go on, sweet sister."
ERMINIE'B STORY. 27
" Oh, my brother ! after that public and private woea
came thick and fast. Defeat after defeat discouraged our
army, until at length came the crushing shame and sorrow
of the last battle of Manassas. Blow upon blow fell upon
my own heart, until I thought that the Lord had forgotten
to take care of me. I was still weeping, weeping day and
night over the death of my dear father, when there came
news of the wreck of the Sultana. It came through the
officers of that Dutch merchantman who picked up the
life-boat with the missionary party on board ; and it came
in the form of a narrative written by the Reverend Mr.
Ely. It was published in all the papers. It contained a
list of the names of those whose lives were lost. And, Jus-
tin, your name was among them ! "
Poor sister ! "
" I laid down to die. I did so wish for death ! But I
suppose youth and life were too strong within me and I
lived and suffered. Ah, Justin ! I was a very self-occupied
woman up to that time. I thought ' no sorrow was like
unto my sorrow.' In the midst of that great bitterness of
grief I received a telegram from New York calling me to
the death-bed of our dear Uncle Friedrich."
" Yes, I know."
" I went on immediately and remained with him until he
died. Ah, Justin ! The scene of that good man's peaceful
departure went far to heal my spirit. He talked to me
when he was able ; his words were few, but very precious.
He told me, in this great crisis of the country's history, when
for the high and holy cause of union and liberty hundreds
were suffering more than I, and thousands quite as much ; I
must not sit down in selfish sorrow, I must get up and min-
ister to those whose sorrows were as great as mine, and whose
necessities were so much greater."
"He was right, Erminie."
" I know it. and I knew it then. He told me to go among
28 HOW HEWON HER.
the wounded soldiers in the numerous hospitals, and with
hand and purse minister to them and relieve their wants,
He told me to seek out the hereaved widows and orphans,
and mothers of those who had fallen in the holy war ; and
to serve all as far as they should have need and I have
power ; hut especially oh ! especially to minister to the
mourning mothers. ' Widows/ he said, ' may be consoled
by second husbands ; orphans grow up and forget their
fathers; but the mother whose boy has fallen in battle is in-
consolable and unforgetting forever. Therefore especially,
motherless girl, comfort the childless mothers.' And kneel-
ing by his bed I kissed his hands and promised to obey hia
words. And that same day, as the sun went down, he died.
But it was not until some days had passed that I knew he
had left me all his wealth. Justin, I came home, and I have
religiously obeyed his dying instructions, and in comforting
others I have found comfort."
" As all mourners may, if they will, my sweet sister," re-
plied her brother. He fell into deep thought for a few-
minutes, and then, looking earnestly at his sister, he said :
" But, Erminie, in all this long story you have never once
mentioned the name of Colonel Eastworth. Where is he ?
What is he doing ? Why are you not married ? "
Erminie grew even paler than she had before been; she
compressed her lips until they too faded, and then slowly and
steadily answered :
" ' Where is he ? ' In South Carolina. ' What is he do-
ing? ' Warring upon his native land. 'Why are we not
married ? ' Because the child of Ernest Rosenthal can never
be the wife of a man in arms against his country. Never
mention his name to me again, Justin. For he was the very
caitiff who so gloried in his shame as to boast that he had
humbled the proud flag that had never been humbled be-
fore ! "
And the beautiful eyes of this "falcon-hearted dove"
flashed as she spoke.
ERMINIE'S STORY. 29
Justin put out his arms an'd drew her to his breast ; for
he saw that those flashing eyes were about to be drowned in
tears.
" My dear sister ! my dear, dear sister, blow upon blow baa
indeed fallen fast upon your heart. How much you have
suffered ! " he said, as he tenderly soothed her.
She wept upon his bosom for a little while, and then lift-
ing her head and wiping her eyes, she smiled and said:
"But I have been comforted, Justin. In comforting
others I have been comforted. And now I am more than
comforted I am rejoiced. Now all is changed, in public
and in private, from grief to joy. And oh ! how suddenly
changed, brother ! In a day ! Almost in an hour ! Yester-
day morning came the glorious news of the victory of Get-
tysburg, and I knew that the tide of war had turned. Soon
after very soon after came a messenger of joy to me.
The minister that brought me the news of your safe return
from the grave ! It was like a miraculous resurrection.
Coming directly upon the news of the great victory, it was
almost overwhelming. There seemed too much joy for one
day!"
" I entreated Dr. Sales to break the matter to you very
cautiously," said Justin.
" Ah ! do you think that could be broken to me cautious-
ly ? " inquired Erminie, with a smile. " Why, Justin, as
soon as he came into the room and I saw his face, I knew
that he brought me ' glad tidings.' I naturally thought it
was of the victory of Gettysburg, so I told him I bad
heard of it that very morning. But when he drew your
name into the conversation, I knew in an instant that you
were saved. Oh, Justin, it was such a shock of joy ! But
it did not kill me, as it might have done."
" Yes, it might, my sweet sister, for you look very pale,
and thin, and fragile not well able to bear a shock of any
sort," said Justin tenderly.
30 HOW HE WON HER.
"Ah, but all is well now. I am happy, so happy, although
I weep. You must not mind my weeping, dear. We wo-
men often weep most when we are happiest, and ah, yes !
Heaven knows, smile most when we are most wretched ! "
" ' Smile most when you are most wretched ! ' Where
have you learned that bitter lesson, my sister ? " Justin
gravely questioned.
" In the hospital, where I have seen the heart-broken
mother smiling on her mutilated or dying boy to keep his
spirits up, as long as he should live."
" You seem to be very familiar with the wards of the hos-
pitals, my sister."
" It is the business, the blessing of my life to be so. But,
Justin, dear, I wish to ask you about Britomarte. You
took care of her on the Desert Island. She saved your life
in the sea fight. Ah, how my heart thrilled to the touch of
that story. Now you are betrothed, I hope, and soon to
marry? Oh, Justin, how cordially I would welcome her
here as my sister, and how wittingly resign my position as
mistress of the house, in her favor. For the house is yours,
you know, Justin, and as your wife it would be her right."
Justin slowly shook his head, compressed his lips, and
frowned.
" What do you mean by that, my brother ? "
" There is no possibility of a marriage between Miss
Conyers and myself," he said.
" JUSTIN !
"You know what were Britomarte's sentiments on the
subject of marriage, or rather of the position of a woman
in marriage. And now I have only to add that all which
has happened to us has not been able to work a change in
them."
" Oh, Justin ! I am so sorry ! "
" So you see, my dear, there is no chance of your being
superseded on the household throne, for since Britomarte
will not be uiy wife, no other woman shall.'*
ERMINIE'S STORY. 31
" Oh Justin, what a pity. But if she will not be you*
wife, she shall be your sister and mine. She shall oome
here, and share my home and means."
" She would never do that ; she is much too proud to be
dependent, even on those who love and honor her most."
" Then what will become of her ? for oh, Justin, it ia
whispered that that "
" What ? " inquired the young man, seeing his sister
grow pale and large-eyed as she paused.
" That oh, it is too horrible to breathe that "
" For Heaven's sake, speak, Erminie ! "
" The house is the resort of conspirators, who plan
pkin no less a crime than than " Her voice gradually
sank to a whisper, and then stopped altogether.
" Than what ? Speak, my sister ; take courage and
speak ! *
" Oh, I cannot ! I cannot ! Spare me ! it is too hor-
rible ! "
" But what house is it to which you allude ? "
" Witch Elms."
" And it is said to be the resort of conspirators, who plan
wha-t ? " persisted Justin.
" I cannot say it. I hope it is all a mere canard. Cer-
tainly the civil and the military authorities have both
visited and ransacked the house, but they have discovered
nothing there but what they call ' the fossil remains of an
old lady and two negroes,' meaning Miss Pole, the centena-
rian aunt of Britomarte, and the two servants."
" Then the horrible story, whatever it may be, is proba-
bly a mere canard, not worth our attention."
" But Britomarte ! She cannot go there, even if her old
relative would receive her. What will become of her?
What can we do for her ? "
" We can do many things in this world, but we can do
nothing with the will of a woman like Miss Conyers. We
32 HOW HE WON HER.
must leave her to the Lord and herself. And have you
lived here quite alone all this time, my poor Erminie ? "
said Justin, pityingly.
" Oh, no. I should have told you before, only there was
so much to tell and to hear. Elfrida Fielding is with me.
She is a refugee from Virginia. Her father is with General
Meade at Gettysburg. We had a telegram from him
yesterday. He is wounded but not dangerously, and is
coming home on leave."
" Then they are on the right side."
" Thank Heaven, yes ! But they have suffered very
much for their devotion to the Union; they have had their
house burned over their heads by the Secessionists, and
they escaped the flames only through the fidelity of an old
family servant. They have been here ever since. At least
this is Elfie's home always, and her father's whenever he
comes to see her."
" That is right, my sister. Let the home of our heroic
father be the refuge of all whom the war has made home-
less, and who seek its threshold. But where is my little
friend now ? I should be glad to see her."
" Immediately on receiving the telegram yesterday, she
prepared to go to Gettysburg to bring her father home. I
also was ready to go with her, when the visit of Mr. Sales
with the joyful news of your return stopped my journey.
And so Elfie, after kissing and congratulating, and laugh-
ing and weeping over me, and sending what she called 'lots
of love ' to you, left in the three o'clock train alone."
While the sister and brother conversed, the time, un-
heeded, passed away, and now it was nearly noon, when
the door-bell rang.
" Oh, I hope that is Britomarte. Did she say she would
come early ? " inquired Erminie.
" She said she would come this morning she did not
specify the hour," answered Justin, rising to open the
drawing-room door.
ERMINIE'S STORY. 33
Britomarte it was, for Justin met her on the threshold,
in the act of being ushered in by Uncle Bob, the old ser-
vant of Elfie, who also found a home at the parsonage.
Justin warmly welcomed Miss Conyers, but was cut short
in his demonstrations by Erminie, who flew to meet her
friend, and fell weeping for joy on Britomarte's bosom.
"How pale you are, my darling. You have suffered
much since I saw you last," said Miss Conyers, tenderly
caressing Erminie.
" Oh, much ! much ! How much you do not know or
guess. But it is all over now, dear Britomarte, quite over,
now that I see you and Justin safe, and all is well, now,
very well, since the tide of war has turned, and the invaders
are flying before our victorious army," she answered, smil-
ing through her tears.
" And do you know what they are saying outside, my dar-
ling?" inquired Miss Conyers, brightly ^glancing back her
smile.
" No ! what ? " eagerly demanded Erminie.
" Haven't you been out this morning, Justin ? " inquired
Miss Conyers, turning to Mr. Rosenthal.
No why ? "
" Nor received a visitor ? "
" No visitor except yourself."
" Then I have the happiness to be the first to announce
the news to you. Vicksburg has capitulated ! "
" Vicksburg capitulated ! " echoed both Justin and Er-
minie, in a breath.
" The words are in everybody's mouth. The stars and
stripes are waving from half the windows on the avenue."
" Oh, Justin, go ! go out and learn the particulars, but
don't stay long. I cannot bear you out of my sight long,
lest I should wake up and find your return all a dream,"
urged Erminie.
And Justin, snatching up his hat and gloves, departed.
2
34 HOW HE WON HER.
And Britomarte and Erminie were left together for a long
tete-a-tete. Erniinie took Britomarte up into her own bed-
chamber, and they sat down to talk. What need to relate
their conversation ? To do it would be to repeat all that is
already known to the reader of what happened to each dur-
ing their long separation. To Britomarte Erminie told the
same story that she had told to Justin, and by her was com-
forted with the same tender sympathy she had received from
him. And Britomarte answered all Erminie's questions
concerning the voyage, the wreck, the rescue, the life on the
Desert Island, the deliverance from the place, the cruise of
the Xyphias, the sea fight, the capture of the privateer, and
the voyage home.
CHAPTER II.
THE VETEKAK'S RETURN.
BrwARD Had he his hurts before?
Ros3B Aye, in the front.
SIWABD Why, then, God's soldier be he ! SHAKBPEAEE.
WHILE Erminie and Britomarte talked together, there
came a rush of feet upon the stairs, followed by the flinging
open of the chamber door, and the sudden appearance of
Elfie. She sprang at once towards Britomarte, threw her-
self upon her bosom, and hugged and kissed her, and
laughed and cried over her.
" But, dear Elfie, how soon you have returned. la
twenty-four hours. Why, you could scarcely have reached
your journey's end. And how did you find your father ?
Doing well, I hope, from your joyous looks," said Er-
minie, as soon as she could put in a word.
" Oh ! yes, the old boy's all right ! He's got his right
arm in a sling, and a plaster on both cheeks, and a patch
THE VETERAN'S RETURN. 35
over his left eye that's all. He's not fit for duty, hut
he needn't go to hed hefore a healthy Christian's usual
hour of retiring," answered Elfie, as she recovered hei
breath, and threw herself into a chair.
" But how soon you have got back ; I don't understand
it," said Erminie, returning to the ' previous question.'
" Don't you? Well neither do I. All I know is that I
came very near passing my awful old responsibility on the
road. When the train stopped at the Relay House which
you know used to be a comfortable hotel, but is now turned
into something between military head-quarters and a bear
garden I looked out of the window, and there, as sure as
you live, stood my pap, with a lot of dilapidated heroes of
the rank and file, on the platform. I had just time to jump
off the car before the train started again."
" Oh ! Elfie, dear, how rash to jump off the cars just as the
train was about to start ! " exclaimed Erminie.
" Eash ! } Well, I like that. How could it have been
rash?"
" You might have been killed."
" But I wasn't, so it couldn't have been rash. If I had
been hurt, then you might have called it rash ; but as I
wasn't, you can only call it fearless. But I don't want to
talk of myself, but of my ferocious old governor, who stood
there on the platform, bloody, dusty, smoky, bound, band-
aged and plastered, and looking, for all the world, like a dis-
reputable old prize-fighter that had been considerably dam-
aged in the ring."
" But you met him oh, you met him as the daughter of
a hero should meet her wounded father ! " exclaimed Erminie
with enthusiasm.
" Which means that I wept over the old boy, and set him
to weeping, and made a melting scene among all those
Boldiers. Not much I didn't. I took him by his whole arm,
and turned him round and round until I had inspected him
well, and then I said :
36 HOWHEWONHER.
" Oh, you miserable looking old pap. I don't believe you
came from Gettysburg or any other gallant battle-field. I
believe you are fresh from a fireman's free fight, or an elec-
tion riot, where the pretensions of rival candidates are can-
vassed with cudgels. Where have you been, and what
doing, to get yourself so dirty, and knocked into such an
old cocked hat ? "
" And my old governor laughed, and said that he had
been in a dusty place ; that it was very dusty at Gettys-
burg ; and that shot and shell were flying thick and fast.
" I begged him to have the largest bath-tub in the house
filled with hot water, and to rub himself down from head
to foot with soft soap and hard towels, and put himself in
soak for three hours ; and I gave him the suit of clean
under-clothes that I had brought along in my carpet bag.
"And though in general paps are very disobedient
persons, yet he promised to obey me, and he kept his word
so far as to take a good bath, while I got up a good dinner
for him ; and I must confess that he didn't look half so
badly when he joined me at the dinner-table, freshly
washed and newly clothed, with all the smuts and stains I
had taken for bruises and gashes cleansed away. But if all
heroes have such heroic appetites as my heroic pap, I.-don't
wonder famine so often follows war."
Britomarte laughed, but Erminie said :
" Men who are fighting cannot stop to feed. He must
have fasted long."
" Long ! I should think he had fasted forty days and
nights. I told him so ; and he answered that he felt ' hol-
low.' And I couldn't help saying as I carved the second
fowl for him :
" ' Pap, I know next to nothing about anatomy and
physiology, but from certain indications I should judge you
to be hollow all the way down to the soles of your boots."
" Oh, Elfie ! how could you ? " exclaimed Erminie.
" Have you no veneration at all ? "
THE VETERAN'S RETURN. 37
" Not much. I'm afraid there's a hole where that bump
ought to be. But, as I said before, I don't want to talk of
myself, but of my glorious old governor. Well, at that
dinner we had a sort of explanation ; for you may be sure,
not knowing that I was going on to fetch him, he was as
much astonished at seeing me there as I was at seeing him.
So in answer to his questions, I told him that, knowing very
well he wasn't able to take care of himself even in the best
of times, I had started out with the intention of bringing
him home. And then I demanded to know how it hap-
pened that he should be loafing about the Relay House in
such a disrespectable way ; and he told me that, feeling
stiff and sore, and hungry and tired, he had got off at the
Relay House with the intention of resting for the night
before going on to Washington. And then the old fellow
got sentimental, and called me his darling child and his
brave girl ; but I stopped all that by firing off at him the
news of Britonia-rte's and Justin's resurrection from a
' watery grave.' Girls, it did him more good than all the
surgeon's plasters, and even the bath and dinner. He felt
better immediately, and proposed that we should start for
Washington by the evening train to welcome you back.
But of course I wouldn't allow that. Instead of letting
him go to Washington, I made him go to bed, and carried
him a cup of tea, aii^J. read to him all the evening. It was
the full account of the battle of Gettysburg in the morning
paper."
"But he must have know all about that," put in Er-
minie.
" Must he, then ? I tell you he was in the thick of the
fighting, and yet he knew nothing or next to nothing
of it; at least not one-tenth part as much as we know,
who were not there, yet who read the papers. ' It was a
dusty place. It was a noisy place. Shot and shell were a
flying thick and fast. I was struck several times, but we
*.^
38 HOW HE WON HER.
whipped the rebels ! ' That was the sum and substance of
all the information I could gain from my warlike pap about
the battle ; but he listened to the Republican's long account
of it with the deepest interest, and fell asleep in the midst
of it. I let him sleep, seeing that he was tired out, and
knowing that we would have to continue our journey in the
morning."
" But, Elfie, dear, what have you done with your rather
now ? Let me go to him ; he must feel neglected."
" Oh, no, he don't. I took him at once to his bed-room
and made him lie down and rest ; and I asked Catherine
to take him up a glass of wine and some biscuits. He's
all right, and will join us at dinner. And now, with your
good leave, I will go to my room and get a little of this dust
and smoke out of my eyes and nose before presenting my-
self to the Reverend Justin Rosenthal," said Elfie, rising.
" Then come to us in the drawing-room, for we are going
down there," said Erminie.
Elfie nodded assent, and^then flew out of the room, sing-
ing :
" We are coming, Father Abraham,
Three hundred thousand more."
And Erminie and Britomarte went down stairs to the
drawing-room, where, in the course of an hour, they were
joined by Elfie, who had renovated Jierself with a fresh
toilet.
When the three friends were seated together, Britomarte
said:
" Here are three of our school quartette ; but where is
the fourth ? Where is Alberta Goldsborough ? "
" Alberta Corsoni, you mean ; for she has changed her-
self from a planter's daughter into a bandit's bride, or a
guerrilla's bride, which amounts to the same thing," said
Elfie.
" She made her escape from the convent, and eloped with
THE VETERAN'S RETURN 39
Vittorio Corsoni, who married her the same n:'ght," said
Erminie.
" Yes ; and he was a good fellow enough until he mar-
ried her. He had embraced the cause of the Union against
the rebels. Some people said, however, that he did so only
in opposition to old Mr. Goldsborongh, who had opposed his
union with Alberta. However that may be, he certainly
was a Unionist before his marriage. But it seems that
Alberta is one of the most determined female rebels that
ever lived ; and possessing immense influence over her
love-sick young husband, she won him to the cause of re-
bellion ; so that now he is one of the most formidable of
those brigand leaders who ravage with fire and sword"
the shores of the Potomac and its tributaries," said Elfie.
" His Italian nature took readily to guerrilla warfare,"
sighed Erminie.
"And now he and my traitor are brother bandits, and
the best friends in the world. When either has made a
successful raid, he divides the spoils with the other,"
laughed Elfie.
" But what a condition to come back and find my native
country in ! It seems to me as if in dream or trance I had
lost my footing in the nineteenth century, and slipped
down into the tenth ; or as if I had died, and my spirit had
passed into another state of existence. This Change has
come gradually upon you, but upon me it has burst like a
thunderbolt. I left the country in smiling peace; I return
to find it groaning under all the horrors of civil war," said
Britomarte, bowing her head upon her hand in deep
thought.
" Britty, stop that ! If people go to musing^now, they
go mad ! It is a time to act, not think ! " said Elfie,
sharply.
" I know it I know it and I shall act ! " exclaimed the
beautiful amazon.
40 HOW HE WON HER.
" Britty, there is one piece of forbearance for which I
thank you," said Elfie, by way of changing the subject."
"What is that ?" inquired Miss Conyers.
"Well, although three years ago you warned Erminie
and myself that if we should have anything to do with the
1 natural enemy ' we should inevitably come to grief, and al-
though you see that through disregarding your warning we
have come to grief, you magnanimously forbear to say ' I
told you so ! ' "
" I do not think that you have. I call the treason that
divided your betrothed lovers from your side a very provi-
dential thing, so far as you are concerned. I can mourn
over their sins, but not over your escape," said the man-
hater, firmly.
" Yet it hurt some, at the time," said Elfie, raising her
eyebrows ; " though I wouldn't admit that to anybody else
but yourself, Britty, it did hurt, didn't it, Minie ? "
Erminie covered her face with her hands, and wept
softly.
" It hurts still, you see," whispered Elfie. " Oh, I hope
I do hope the next shell that flies into Charleston will
cut that fellow in two ! As for my traitor, being a guerrilla,
I trust that neither shell nor shot will cheat the gallows of
its dues." And Elfie indignantly dashed away the tears
that dared to sparkle in her own eyes.
" I am a very weak woman. I must get up and go to
the hospital. I should have gone an hour ago. Brito-
marte, will you come with me ? " said Erminie, rising, and
wiping her eyes.
" Yes, with pleasure," said Miss Conyers. " Do you go
every day ? "
" Twice every day, in order to visit as many as I can. I
go in the forenoon, return to dinner, and then go again in
the afternoon. And, after all, so many are the hospitals,
and so thickly are they crowded, that I can only visit each
THE VETERAN'S RETURN. 41
patient about twice a week, and then how I wish I could be
in twenty wards at the same time. You must help me in
the hospitals, Britomarte dear. There is so much to do.
And when one has devoted all her time and strength and
means to the work, and happily eased the sufferings of
some scores, there are hundreds of others needing the same
help."
" I hope all our women are doing their duty in this
crisis," said Miss Conyers.
" They are doing what they can ; but wives and mothers
have very little time, and very little means either, in these
war days, to bestow upon the poor soldiers ; and young
girls are generally inadmissible to the hospitals except at
certain stated hours. Me for some reason or other, per-
haps for my respectable black dress and sedate aspect the
surgeons admit at any hour. And heaven has blessed me
with ample means and ample leisure to devote to the sick
and wounded soldiers."
"Yours is an angel's mission, my Minie ; and you are
worthy to be entrusted with it. You have been weighed in
the balance, and not found wanting; you have passed
through the fiery furnace of affliction, and come forth pure
gold ; you have been tried and found faithful ; and you
have been called to a much higher and holier destiny than
would have been yours as the wife of "
" Oh, don't ! don't, Britomarte ! " exclaimed Erminie,
shrinking even from this light touch upon her unhealed
wound.
Then reverting to the subject which they had first
spoken, she said :
" It is a great school for the spirit this to which I go.
Volumes, libraries could not contain its lessons. Let one
give all her time, strength and means to the sufferers there,
and she will still receive more infinitely more than she
gives."
42 HOW HE WON HER.
"In -"
" In the examples of almost superhuman patience, cheer-
fulness and fortitude among those brave men, who, wounded,
mutilated, agonized, will never utter a complaint, will give
you smile for smile, and receive with thankfulness any little
gift the surgeons will allow you to offer them. Oh ! how
light seem my own troubles when I look upon theirs ! "
" We may judge what their courage in the fields must
have been by their fortitude in the hospital," said Miss Con-
yers.
" Oh, Britomarte, yes ! Ah ! if you were to go with me
on my rounds among these true heroes, from a man-hater you
would become a man- worshipper, Britomarte. And then the
extremes of youth and age that we find there ! The law
has limited compulsory military service to the men between
the ages of eighteen and forty-five ; but tree patriotism
draws no such line. My dear father was sixty-one years ol I
when he fell in front of his men on the field of Manassas.
In one regiment that I know of there was a grandfather of
sixty-three, his two sons of forty and forty-two, and four
grandsons between the ages of thirteen and seventeen."
" That was glorious ! " exclaimed Miss Conyers, with en-
thusiasm.
" And Britomarte, as I live, I found in the Water's Ware-
House Hospital of Georgetown, a boy about twelve years old,
who had been brought in among the last lot of wounded
from the battle-field of Manassas ! When 1 expressed
astonishment and pity, I was told that there were boys of
twelve who were soldiers of the line ! And since then I have
learned beyond all question that such is the fact ! "
" Oh, Erminie ! if what you tell me is true, as I have no
doubt that it is, what a race of heroes the women of America
have brought forth ! " exclaimed Miss Conyers, with all the
enthusiasm of her soul shining in her eyes.
" I thought you would grow into a man- worshipper, Bri-
tomarte," said Erminie, smiling.
THE VETERAN'S RETURN. 43
" And / thought she would contrive to turn over all the
glory to ths women, where, of course, it justly belongs, as
she has done ! " exclaimed Elfie, saucily, quoting " What a
race of heroes the women of America have brought fortli ! "
" Come, let us put on our bonnets and go to the Douglas
Hospital," said Erminie.
But just at that moment the bell rang, and the next in-
stant the door opened and Justin entered the drawing-room,
accompanied by Lieutenant Ethel.
Elfie sprang up to greet her old acquaintance, but dropped
into her seat again on seeing a stranger.
Justin advanced and warmly shook hands with his little
friend, and with Britomarte, and then he brought up Lieu-
tenant Ethel and presented him to the party.
" I am very glad to see you, sir ; and I have to thank you
very earnestly for your great kindness to my brother and
friends in their extremity," said Erminie.
The young officer bowed lowly before the beautiful, pale
girl, who thus addressed him, and he replied :
" It will now be a much greater pleasure to me than ever,
to remember that I was able to be of some slight service to
your friends, Miss Rosenthal."
" I trust that you will give us some opportunity of prov-
ing our gratitude to you, Mr. Ethel. My brother informs
me that your duties will detain you here in Washington for
some days or weeks. I hope that you will gratify us by
making our quiet house your home during the period of your
stay," said Erminie.
" A thousand thanks, Miss Rosenthal ! But my domes-
tication in this lovely home would be much too great a tax
upon your ki ndness, and very much too great a happiness
for my merits," said the young officer.
" I assure you it would give us sincere pleasure to have
you," urged Erminie.
" Ethel shall stay just where he is, Erminie. Give your-
44 HOWHEWONHER.
self no further trouble to press him. I was his guest for
many weeks, and he shall be mine for many days, at least.
Oh, I haven't consulted him on the subject. I knew it would
be useless. I ordered his man Martin to pack up his effects
and bring them over here this afternoon. So, sister, you
may have a room made ready for the lieutenant, and a ham-
mock swung somewhere for the seaman or lacking a ham-
mock, an ordinary cot and mattress will do," said Justin.
" Oh, Rosenthal," began the young officer.
" Hold your tongue, Ethel ! You're not on your quarter-
deck now ! I'm commander of this ship, and I mean to be
obeyed ! " exclaimed Justin.
" But you will allow me to say "
"Not a syllable against dropping your anchor in this
harbor."
" Well, I won't ! I was only about to observe that I used
to hear Judith threaten her ' gay Tom ' to make him do as
he liked ! You are only making me do as I like," said the
young lieutenant, with a bow to Erminie.
" And now let us talk about something else ! Young la-
dies, this is a great holiday ! To-night there is to be a bril-
liant illumination, in honor of the two great victories of Get-
tysburg and Vicksburg. I have ordered in several pounds
of wax-candles, which, when they come, you will have cut
into the proper lengths. I have also spoken to a carpenter
to come and fix holders for the lights at the windows. You
can send a servant with him through the rooms," said
Justin.
JUSTIN ENLISTS. ELF IE DRILLS. 45
CHAPTEE III.
JUSTIN ENLISTS. ELFIE DRILLS.
Sound, sound the clarion fill, fill the fife I
To all the sensual world proclaim,
One crowded hour of glorious strife
Is worth an age without a name !
'Twas bustle in the street below
"Forward! march ! " and forth they go.
Steeds neigh and trample all around
Steel rings, spears glitter, trumpets sound ! SCOTT.
YOUNG Ethel remained the honored guest of the old par-
sonage. He had been relieved of the command of the Sea
Scourge and promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, and
he was now waiting orders.
Major Maiding also, while recovering from his wounds,
made the parsonage his home.
But neither arguments nor entreaties could induce Miss
Conyers to profit by the large-hearted hospitality of the
Rosenthals, and take up even a temporary residence under
their roof. She found cheap board in a respectable private
family, on the suburbs, near the parsonage, and she visited
her friends very often, and went every day with Erminie to
the hospitals.
Justin, very soon after his return home, made known his
intention of enlisting as a private soldier in the army.
This announcement filled the heart of his sister with dis-
may. All the latent pride in the gentle bosom of the Lu-
theran minister's meek child arose in arms. In her own
person, so deep was her humility of love, she would have
stooped to the most menial office by which she could serve
her country, or one of its lowliest defenders ; but for her
idolized brother she was more ambitious, and she could not
endure the thought of the hardships, privations and humil-
iations he would have to suffer as a soldier in the ranks.
" Do try to get a captain's commission in one of the new
regiments now being filled up. You and your friends have
46 HOW HE WON HE It.
influence enough to secure one ; you know it, Justin," she
urged.
" But, my Minie, I know no more of the science of mili-
tary tactics than I do of the art of alchemy," laughed Jus-
tin.
" What of that ? Are not lawyers' clerks, doctors' hoys,
counter-jumpers, barhers, har-tenders, penny-a-liners, and all
sorts of men, who know no more of the science of war than
you do, daily turned into commissioned officers captains,
majors, colonels, and even brigadier- generals ? " rather im-
patiently demanded Erminie.
"And hence the defeats that attended our arms during
the first two years of the war. No, Erminie ; I am not so
presumptuous as to apply for even a second lieutenancy,
while conscious that I know nothing of tactics," said Justin,
seriously.
" Oh, hut you can learn. There are no end to the works
on military tactics. You meet them staring you in the
face from every bookseller's window, and find them lumber-
ing up every counter where the new novels used to be dis-
played."
" I don't doubt it."
" I could not begin to tell you how many there are ; but
two of them I remember Casey's Infantry Tactics and
Hardee's ditto ; each in three pretty volumes, that look for
all the world like song-books little mites of volumes,
that a hard student like you could master in a week."
" I dare say," said Justin, smiling ; " and at the end v of
a week I should be very competent to drill a company,
manoeuvre a regiment, or fight a battle on paper ! "
" Oh, nonsense, brother ! don't be sarcastic. I tell you it
is all easy enough. I began reading the first volume of
Hardee myself, and I assure you I feel equal to the simple
regimental drill. Now do, Justin, study tactics for an ex-
amination for a ( aptain's commission in one of the new regi-
ments."
JUSTIN ENLISTS . E LFIE DRILLS. 47
" My good little sister, tactics cannot be learned from
books comfortably conned in the chimney corner. They
must be learned on the parade ground and on the battle-
field."
" But I cannot bear that you, with your scholarly intellect
and refined habits should be a common soldier, Justin ! I
cannot bear it ! " said Erminie, almost ready to cry.
" My Minie ! for ages to/come the children of the ' ccmmon
soldiers ' who fight in this war for the Union will look back
upon their forefathers with more just pride than ever did the
sons of kings upon their royal ancestry."
" I know it, Justin ! But, in the meantime, the associa-
tion ! Why, the rank and file of our army are made up of
all sorts of men ! " pleaded Erniinie.
" My sister, your experience among the wounded soldiers
in the hospitals must have taught you that there are as noble
men and true gentlemen in the rank and file of our army as
any that ever wore the stars of a major-general," said Jus-
tin, very gravely.
" I know it ! oh, I know it ! Heaven forgive me for my
pride ; for while you spoke I thought of Grandison, a French-
man, who died after many months of suffering in the Trinity
Church hospital in Georgetown. He was one of the most
accomplished scholars and polished gentlemen I ever met
anywhere, not even excepting his countrymen the Orleans
princes whom I met at the President's reception. Heaven
forgive me for saying anything in disparagement of the
common soldier ! " said Erminie, meekly, as her brown
eyes filled with tears at the remembrance of the dying
soldier whose death-bed she had smoothed.
" And you will oppose my plan no longer, my sister ? "
inquired Justin, caressing her.
" No longer," she murmured in reply.
So Justin went and enlisted in a new regiment that was
being formed to go into active service.
48 HOWHEWONHER.
And his sister saw no more of him for a week, at the
end of which he re-appeared at the parsonage with his
fine auburn hair cropped close to his head and surmounted
by the soldier's cap, and his athletic form displayed to
the very best advantage in the round blue jacket and
trowsers of the private's uniform.
The three young ladies were alone in the drawing-room
when he was ushered in in this dress.
Half laughing and half crying, Erminie sprang to wel-
come him.
With visible emotion Britomarte also offered him her
hand.
And Elfie openly expressed her opinion :
" Justin, you were cut out for a common soldier ! I
never saw you look so well in my life. But then the close-
fitting ^miform of a private certainly does show off ' a fine
figure oPa man/ as no other dress in the world could.
Somehow or other, I think of a gladiator, and of an Apollo,
and the Colossus of Rhodes, when I look at you in that
tight fit, Mr. Rosenthal."
" Miss Fielding, I am your slave and your knight.
Were it permitted in the ranks, I would pin your glove
upon my cap for a feather and bear it through the battle-
field to certain victory ! " said Justin, laughing and bow-
ing.
" No, don't ! Britomarte would put a spider in my
dumplin ! "
" ELFIE ! " indignantly exclaimed Miss Conyers.
" You know you'd poison me if I should dare to hem
be a friend of Justin's ! Oh, I know ! I've read the story
of the dog in the manger ! how the dog couldn't eat the
hay and wouldn't let the heifer eat it ! " laughed the girl.
"You are privileged to jest roughly, I suppose," said
Miss Conyers, coldly.
"I know I am," admitted Elfie " privileged to do
JUSTIN ENLIST S. E L F I E DRILLS. 49
everything but flirt with Justin. If I was to dare to do
that hush, girls ! you know how Britty can hate men, but
you will never know how she can hate women until some
unlucky woman gives Justin her glove to wear in bis cap !
Mercy ! there, I've done ! " exclaimed Elfie, shrinking
from Britomarte's flashing eyes. " And now we'll change
the subject. Justin, mon brave ! you look very clean and
very nice ; your tight suit is such a clear bright blue, and
your shirt-collar is as white as the driven snow ; but,
Justin, mon ami, can you keep clean over there in camp ?
that is the question ! or, when you come to see us, shall we
have to put you in soak over night before we can breakfast
with you next morning ? "
" The river flows below our fort, and ihe sutlers keep a
good supply of brown soap and crash towels, so I have
hopes to be able to keep out of the category ofihe ( un-
washed ! ' " said the volunteer.
" I am very glad to hear it. For as far as my observa-
tion goes, there seems to be the most intimate relationship,
and an inevitable connection, between dirt and glory.
Why, even my pap, in speaking of the victorious field of
Gettysburg, could only describe it as a 'very dusty'
place."
As Justin was obliged to be back at his camp before the
hour of " tattoo," he could stay but a few minutes with his
friends. He soon arose, took an affectionate leave of them,
and went away.
After this they saw but little of him at the parsonage.
And when Erminie wished to see her brother, she had to
get a pass from the provost marshal's office, and cross the
river, and visit him in camp, in one of the forts of the lines
forming the southern defences of Washington.
All this time Major Fielding passed his days reclining in
an easy chair under the shade of the vine-wreathed porch,
reading, smoking, and recruiting his strength.
a
50 HO WHEW ON HER.
Young Ethel went every day to the Navy Department,
with which he seemed to have a great deal of business.
Britomarte and Erminie went daily to the hospitals, with
kind words and good gifts to the soldiers.
And what was Elfie doing ? For one thing, she was
making great havoc in the heart of the young lieutenant,
who had been, from the first, fascinated by her elfin charms,
and for another thing, by the mysteriousness and eccen-
tricity of her appearance and deportment, she was exciting
all manner of disagreeable conjectures concerning herself
among her surrounding friends.
She was not encouraging her young adorer ; far from it,
she Was snubbing him in the most contemptuous manner
possible, by either ignoring his offered attentions entirely, or
else repelling them carelessly, as she would have brushed off
a troublesome fly.
She grew moody, silent and unsocial. She studied Casey's
Tactics all day long, except for an hour in the morning,
which she spent in drilling. She borrowed her father's rifle,
and went through the exercises with it, while the quiet
drawing-room of the parsonage echoed with " the accents of
an unknown tongue."
" Shoale-dore HUMS ! Pre-sent HUMS ! Shoale-dore
HUMS !"
"For you see, Britty, I notice that the drill officer on pa-
rade don't say ' shoulder,' but l shoale-dore ! ' nor ' arms,'
but ' hums ! ' and I want to be right by drill and not dic-
tionary," Elfie explained to Miss Conyers, who sat watching
her performance in amazement.
" But Elfie, my dear, why do you go through all this ! "
she inquired.
"Don't you wish I'd tell you?" mocked Elfie, trailing
arms and panting for breath.
" Yes, I do ! " said Miss Conyers, gravely.
"But I won't. Dear me, this rifle is very heavy," said
JUSTIN ENLISTS. EL FIE DRILLS. 51
Elfie, as she set the arms up in a corner, and threw herself
into an easy chair to recover her breath ; " I do wonder why
the government don't have lighter ones made, such as might
be handled easily by a boy of fifteen "
"Or a girl of twenty," murmured Britomarte, looking
wistfully at Major Fielding's daughter.
" I am sure they have enough of such boys in the
army "
" And a few of such girls," murmured Miss Conyers
thoughtfully.
" And I don't wonder the poor lads drop exhausted on the
inarch, carrying such heavy rifles."
" Or that the poor lasses sometimes break down and get
found out."
" I wish to goodness they would make lighter ones ; I'm
sure it would pay to do it."
" So do I ; I think so, too," murmured Miss Conyers.
" Britomarte, why do you sit there whispering to yourself
like a wicked enchantress muttering her incantations?
What are you saying or thinking ? " irritably questioned
Elfie.
" I am thinking, Elfie, from what I see, that you are con-
templating enlistment ; and Elfie, I will not be the one to
discourage you provided you have your father's consent,"
said Miss Conyers, earnestly.
" Yes ; but I haven't got it, and I couldn't get it. At
the mere mention of the thing the dear old boy raised such
a row as never was. Blest if I didn't think he'd raise the
other Old Boy from the place below, you know. No,
Britty, I am not dreaming of enlisting."
"Well, then, what are you dreaming of?"
" Ah, wouldn't you like to know ? "
" Indeed I should. What is it, Elfie ? "
" Why, that's the mystery ; but it may come out in a few
days, as the doctor said of the measles, or the cat of the
mouse, I forget which."
52 HOWHEWONHER.
"Elfie, what are you talking of, love? Mystery,
measles, mouse what do you mean ? "
"When does the draft come off?" inquired Elfie, with-
out answering Britomarte's question.
" Next week."
" Then next week you will find out what I mean."
"How?"
" That's all."
And that was all, for not another word of explanation
could Britomarte get from Elfie.
The next morning after this conversation, Justin paid
one of his rare visits to the parsonage.
He informed his sister that he was promoted to the rank
of corporal, and laughingly pointed to the chevrons on his
Major Fielding, who was much hetter, and was expecting
to he ordered to his regiment, chuckled as he congratulated
Corporal Rosenthal.
" Your promotion is the second step up the ladder of
military fame, on which your enlistment was the first step.
And let me remind you, my hoy, that half the greatest
generals the world has ever known were men who rose from
the ranks. Why, Lord hless my soul, hoy, I myself en-
listed as a private soldier, and see where I am now," said
the major, with a little pardonable egotism.
" Good gracious, pap, that was two years ago ! If Justin
rises no faster than you did, the war will he over hefore he
is a drill sergeant," said Elfie.
" Yes ; but he will rise faster, daught'. Young men can
rise faster, as well as run faster, than old ones. You see
with me there were drawbacks, daught'. For one thing, I
wasn't tip-top at the double-quick ! "
" Except in retreat, pap ! "
" Hush, you saucy imp ! "
"But, in any case," sighed Erminie, "Justin's promo-
tion must be very tedious."
JUSTIN ENLISTS. ELFIE DRILLS. 53
"Not at all," said the major. " He will rise as fast as he
learns. A young man like our volunteer here is not going
to be overlooked in the lines. He will be promoted as fast
as possible. The regiment is not filled up yet, you know.
New companies are being formed. And I will guarantee,
before the regiment marches, Justin will have received his
captain's commission."
" Heaven send it ! " aspirated Erminie.
"Dear sister, and good friends," said Justin, earnestly,
" I beg you to understand that I did not enter the army to
seek my own advancement, but to do my duty to my
country."
" I know that, Justin," said Erminie " know it well ;
but "
" Advancement will be your destiny whether you seek it
or not," said the major.
As time was up, and Justin had to be back in camp by
the evening roll call, he took leave of his sister and friends
and departed.
The prophecies of Major Fielding were fulfilled. Justin
rose rapidly from the ranks. The next ti'me he visited his
sister, he wore the badge of a sergeant upon his sleeves.
And he delighted Erminie with the announcement that the
colonel of his regiment had notified him that he should
have a lieutenant's commission in a company that was then
being formed of new recruits, and had also hinted at still
further advancement.
54 HOW HEWON HER
CHAPTER IV.
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE.
"Tis often in the parting hour,
Victorious love asserts his power
O'er coldness and disdain ;
For flinty is her heart can view
To battle march her lover true.
Can hear perchance his last adieu,
Nor own her share of pain WALTBB SCOTT.
AT length the draft commenced, and the city was in a
pretty state of excitement. There were hundreds of youths
who had been withheld by the authority of parents or the
persuasions of friends from volunteering, but who were now
in great hopes of being drafted and " made to do as they
liked." And there were hundreds of men whose health
had never been known to suffer before, but who now sud-
denly fell ill of grievous disorders. Never no, never since
the cholera of '32, had the city been so sickly. Never were
so many people at one time affected with so many aches
and pains. It was as if Pandora's box had been then and
there opened for the first time, and all the maladies to
which flesh is heir had been sown broadcast over the dis-
trict. And never had there been such deplorable destitu-
tion ; never so many only grandmothers, widowed mothers,
orphaned sisters and motherless children dependent upon
men for support.
But what else could be expected ?
All, or nearly all, the heroes had volunteered long before
the enrollment ; and the men who did not were either serv-
ing humanity in some other way, or else lacked the power
or the will to serve their country.
But in all the excited multitude not one was more ex-
cited than our Elfie.
Every morning when the paper came, she was the first to
seize it ; and she would let her coffee grow cold while she
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE. 55
read out the list of drafted men to the company at the
Lreakfast table.
And 011 the day on which the draft for her sub-district
was to come off, Elfie was very nearly beside herself. She
could not be easy for one moment. She rambled all over
the house and grounds in the most restless manner. She
drilled a little while, and then she threw aside her rifle and
rc-coinmenced her rambles. She bought every edition of
the evening papers, extras and all, and read the list of the
drafted men ; but at the very latest issue the list was in-
complete, and Elfie was discontented.
In the morning she was the first one down stairs, watch-
ing for the early paper. It came, and the list was complete.
But on this occasion, for the first time, Elfie omitted to
read it aloud, and apparently no one had interest enough in
the subject to try their eyes over the diamond type. But
Elfie, who had been insane herself with anxiety on the pre-
ceding day, seemed mad with exultation on this. She
laughed at every tiling and at nothing. She sang and
danced all over the house, and drilled more than ever.
" Really, Elfie," said Erminie, " one would think that
yesterday you had been in an agony of suspense lest some
favorite brother or friend should be drafted, and that to-day
you are in an ecstacy of joy on perceiving -that he has
escaped. What ails you dear ? "
" Never mind, you'll soon see.
' We are coming, Father Abraham,
Five hundred thousand more,' "
replied Elfie, singing and dancing out of the room.
In two or three days they did know. It was one morning
after breakfast.
Major Fielding had walked out for the first time since he
was wounded.
Miss Conyers had just dropped in for a morning call.
Erminie, Elfie, Britomarte and Lieutenant Ethel were
56 HOW HE WON HER.
assembled in the drawing-room, discussing the one great
topic of the day, the very last battle, when there came a ring
at the bell, followed by the entrance of Uncle Bob, bringing
a large, formidable-looking letter, and gazing around in per-
plexity, as doubting to whom to deliver it.
" Penny pos', Miss," he said at length, appealing to
the young mistress of the house.
But Elfie sprang up and darted past everyone, and seized
the letter, exclaiming :
" It is for me ! "
" For you, Elfie ? That letter !" said Erminie, in incred-
ulous surprise.
" Yes ; if you doubt it look at it ! " replied Elfie, triumph-
antly, turning the back of the letter to the whole group, so
that each one could read its superscription.
It was a long, large, yellow envelope, bearing on its upper-
right-hand corner the words : PKOVOST MARSHAL'S OF-
FICE. Official Business. Directed to Sydney Fielding.
And exclamations of wonder broke from all present.
" It cannot be for you, Elfie. It is from the Provost Mar-
shal's office, and on official business. You can have no
official business with the Provost Marshal, my dear," said
Erminie.
"Can'tl?" mocked Elfie.
" But what business can you have ? "
" You'll hear presently
We are coming! we are coming' our Union to restore "
"Elfie, dear, do stop singing, and be reasonable. This
letter is directed to Sydney Fielding. There must be a mis-
take. Sydney Fielding ! "
" Well, what is my name ? Isn't it Elfrida Sydney Field-
ing !"
"Yes; but "
" Just so. The Elfrida's left out. I had it left out on
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE. 57
purpose. Not that I intend to claim exemption on that ac-
count, like the poltroon Jonson, who tried to get off on the
ground that the enrolling officer had spelt his name wrong?
naturally writing it 'Johnson.' This summons is directed to
Sydney Fielding, which means me, Elfrida Sydney Fielding,
since there is no other Sydney Fielding in existence, and I
shall respond to it."
" Summons ! Enrolling officer ! Whatever do you
mean, Elfie ? " inquired Erminie, in growing amazement,
which was fully shared by young Ethel.
As for Britomarte, she seemed to know, or guess, the
meaning of the whole affair.
" Wait a minute ! " said Elfie, breaking the broad seal,
and reading the letter, which was half print and half manu-
script.
Her companions watched her impatiently.
" I knew it ! " she exclaimed, jumping up and singing :
" ' We are coming, we are coming, our Union to restore ! ' "
" Oh, Elfie ! Elfie ! are you quite distracted ? " exclaimed
Erminie, in distress.
" No, my dear, I am not ' distracted ; ' I am only draft-
ed!" said Elfie.
" Drafted ! " exclaimed all, in a breath.
" Yes, drafted, friends and fellow citizens I "
" Elfie, you are crazed," said Erminie.
" No, not ' crazed ' conscripted ! You always hit upon
the right initial, but not on the right word ! " replied Elfie.
" You do not mean to say, in sober earnest, that you are
drafted, Miss Fielding ? Such a thing was never heard of!
Women have enlisted, and have served ; but always when
disguised as men. I never in my life heard of a woman be-
ing drafted. Such an event would be impossible," said Lieu-
tenant Ethel.
" ' Impossible ! ' Lor ! " mocked Elfie. " Are you so
young and green as not to know impossible things constant-
ly happen ? And here is the proof in black and white."
58 HOWHEWONHER.
" If that document is the official summons of a drafted
man, it proves beyond a doubt that it was never intended for
you," urged the young officer.
" For whom then ? " mockingly inquired Elfie.
"Why, of course, for some individual who was enrolled
under that name."
" All right I I was the individual enrolled under that
name."
" You, Elfie ! " exclaimed all her companions, in a breath.
"Yes I, Elfie. Now, if you will all stop exclaiming
and gesticulating, I'll explain."
"Do so, then."
" Well, you know, last June, when the enrolling officers
were going round ? "
"Yes," said Erminie.
" The day they came here no one was at home but myself
and the servants. You, Erminie, were at the hospitals, and
my pap was with General Hooker. So I was keeping house
that morning, when there came a peremptory ring at the
bell. Old Bob, as usual, answered it, and then came to me
with a scared face, saying there were two ' ossifer gemmen'
at the door, asking for the head of the family."
" Well ? "
" I was the vice-head, and so I went out to see what was
wanted. There stood the two enrolling officers, with the big
books and stumpy pens. I knew what they were at a glance.
They looked tired and heated that warm summer day, so I
invited them to sit down and rest in that cool, shady porch,
which they did ; when this sort of talk came off :
" ' How many male adults are there belonging to this
house ? ' inquired the spokesman.
" ' Three or four in all,' I said.
" ' Name them if you please.'
" ' First, then, there is the Reverend Justin Eosenthal.'
" He began to take that name down.
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE. 59
" ' But then he sailed for India two years ago, and it is
feared he is lost at sea/ I went on.
" He staj^ed his hand, and looked annoyed, but then
said:
" Go on. Who else ? '
' Well, then there is Benoni Fielding.'
" Away he went scribbling at that name.
" ' He is with General Hooker's army/ I continued.
" He snatched up his hand impatiently, exclaiming :
" ' Then of course we don't want his name. Who else ? '
" ' Eobert Snowflake,' I answered.
" Off he started scribbling again.
" ' He is an African gentleman, aged seventy, the same
old man who opened the door for you, I added.
"Again his hand was arrested, and he inquired, half
angrily :
" ' Well, is there any one else in the house ? '
" ' Yes,' I said ' there is Sydney Fielding.'
" ( Well, before I take that name down I must be sure
that he is not lost at sea.'
" ' No,' I answered.
" ' Nor serving with General Hooker ? '
"'No.'
" ' Nor yet an African gentleman aged seventy ? '
" ' No,' I assured him ; ( Sydney Fielding is at present at
home, and not in the service, is white, is twenty years old,
and sound in mind and body.
" ' He'll do, then, beyond the least doubt ! ' exclaimed the
enrolling officer, entering the name of Sydney Fielding on
his list. Then he inquired :
" ' Is there any other male adult in the house ? '
" I answered, ' No not one.'
" And he shut up his book, and asked me the favor of a
cool drink of water, which Uncle Bob brought him. When
he and his companion had drank their fill, they thanked
60 HOW HE WON HER.
me and went away. And that's all," said Elfie, with, a
sigh of relief.
" Well, I declare I never heard such a story in my life ! "
exclaimed Erminie, while Lieutenant Ethel looked grave,
and Britomarte seemed amused.
"Now see here, friends," said Elfie, as if she were upon
her defence, " I told no fibs to the enrolling officer not
one. If he enrolled me it was all his doings, not mine.
You know they are a very suspicious set, those enrollers.
They are always suspecting us of suppressing the name of
some favorite friend or relative, to keep him from catching
cold in the draft."
" They have often just cause for suspicion," said young
Ethel.
" Be that as it may, these officers must have suspected
me of suppressing some name. For when I had cited every
male creature belonging to the premises, he persisted in in-
quiring if there was ' any one else ? ' Mind, he didn't
say any man, but any ' one.' So I was able to answer,
' Yes, there was Sydney Fielding.' And thinking only of
men, he took it for granted that Sydney Fielding was the
name of a man, and enrolled it accordingly."
" It was a practical joke on your part, of course, Elfie,
but you can carry it no farther. You will either take no
notice of this summons, or you will get your father to take
it up to the Provost Marshal's office and explain," said Er-
minie, gravely.
"Indeed I shall do neither one nor the other. I shall
just obey the summons by walking up to the Provost Mar-
shal's office and reporting myself."
"Oh, Elfie! Elfie! But your father will never pern.a
you to take such an extraordinary step," exclaimed Errniniu
in dismay.
" I shan't stop to consult him. I shall promptly obey
peremptory orders. I shall go up and report for duty. I
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE. 61
have been regularly enrolled, regularly drafted, and I shall
regularly report."
" Oh, Elfie ! Elfie ! how shocking ! "
" Why, see here. I must. I don't come under any one
of the heads of exemption. I know that much. I am not
an alien, nor an invalid, nor an idiot. I am not under
eighteen or over forty-five. I am neither the only son of my
grandmother, nor am I the father of fourteen small mother-
less children, and one at the breast. In short, I cannot put
in even the smallest of the numerous pleas by which the
cowards cry off from serving their country. I am a native
born citizen of the United States, aged twenty years, sound
in mind and body, wind and limb, single, and with no one
but my country depending on me for support."
And so saying, Elfie jumped up and danced out of the
room to the tune of " Kally round the flag, boys ! rally once
again ! "
" Will she be so mad as to act upon that summons ? " in-
quired young Ethel, in consternation.
Britomarte laughed. Erminie sighed. Neither could
answer his question.
To the confusion of all her friends, Elfie did act npon.
that summons. When Erminie went in search of her to
try to persuade her to abandon her wild project, Elfie was
no where to be found.
Britomarte and Erminie went their morning rounds of
the hospitals, and returned home to dinner. But Elfie did
not appear. Neither, luckily, did her father. The two
friends went out again on their afternoon rounds, and re-
turned to tea. They found Major Fielding walking up and
down on the porch. He greeted the young ladies cordially,
and apologized for his \mexpected absence from the dinner
table by explaining that he had met a brother officer, who
Inul carried him off to dine at Willard's. Then he in-
quired :
62 HOWHEWONHER.
"Where is my girl? I haven't seen her since I came
home."
" She is in her room, perhaps," answered Ermmie, un-
easily, but hoping earnestly that Elfie might he found
there.
Erminie hurried into the house, and up stairs to Elfie's
chamber, where, sure enough, she found the girl, with her
bonnet and shawl thrown carelessly upon the floor, and her-
self sitting down on the sofa, sulking.
" Oh, Elfie, dearest, I am so glad to see you back again.
We have been so anxious about you all day. Where have
you been, darling ? " exclaimed Erminie, going towards her.
" Where have I been ? To the Provost Marshal's office,
of course."
"Oh, my dear!"
" Yes, I have. But would you believe it, Erminie ? they
wouldn't accept me. No, they wouldn't, although I told
them all that I told you, and proved to them that I didn't
come under any one of the heads of exemption, and that I
was both willing and able to serve my country. No ; for
all I could say they wouldn't accept me."
" My dear, did you really expect that they would ? " in-
quired Erminie in astonishment.
" I don't see why they shouldn't. It's all bosh about my
being a woman. I tell you, Erminie, a healthy young
woman is quite as well able to perform military duty as
most men are, and much more able than the mere boys they
are constantly mustering into the ranks. I put that all to
them. But they laughed at me they did, the narrow-
minded old fogies ! "
" My dear, it was the most indulgent manner in which
they could have treated your bad joke," gravely replied Er-
minie.
" Joke ? I never was more in earnest in my life. I did
my duty. But they didn't do theirs. And mind, Erminie,
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE. 63
I didn't abandon my point very easily. I didn't until they
sent me away from the office."
" Well, I hope here is an end of the whole absurd affair,
my dear Elfie. And I am very glad that your good father
has not been vexed by hearing of it."
" But here is not an end of it. Erminie, I mean either to
serve in the army, as some women are doing a-t this present
moment, or I will furnish a substitute in some able bodied
alien."
" Then, darling, as your father is well off in means, not-
withstanding his great losses, I see no objection to your fur-
nishing a substitute, though you are not obliged to do so. I
myself have a representative in the field."
" You, Erminie ! "
" Yes, dear, and I think it the duty of every wealthy and
independent woman in the country to have a representative
in the army. But come, your father is waiting for you,
Elfie. And tea is ready. Let us go to it."
The two girls rose to leave the room.
" Dear Elfie, pray do not speak of this vexatious subject
before your father this evening. This, you know, is his first
day out. He has made a long one of it, and he looks tired ;
so let him have his tea in peace," said Erminie, as they went
down stairs.
" All right. I'll not say anything to spoil the dear old
boy's digestion or disturb his night's rest."
" ' Old boy ! ' Oh, Elfie ! to speak of your father so !
How I wish you had a little more veneration ! "
" So do I ; but as I haven't, what's the use of talking ?
May be though honest affection isn't a bad substitute."
"And you have that, Elfie dear, certainly. Here we
are," said Erminie, opening the back hall door leading out
on the lawn, where, under the shade of a spreading horse
chestnut tree, tbe neat tea table was set.
Britomarte, Major Fielding and Lieutenant Ethel were al-
ready out there.
64 HOWHEWONHER.
Young Ethel started with delight on seeing Elfie ; but
Erminie raised her finger in a warning manner, and he sub-
sided into quietness. Not a word was said about Elfie's ad-
venture. They sat down at the table.
Erminie poured out the tea. The major gave a description
of the friends he had met at an early dinner at Willard's.
And he spoke of his approaching departure to join his regi-
ment.
Lieutenant Ethel announced his own appointment to the
command of the gun-boat " Thunderbolt/' then lying off
the Navy Yard.
While they were still at the table the garden gate opened
and Justin entered, smiling.
They all arose eagerly to welcome him. He shook hands
with Britomarte and Elfie, and with the two gentlemen, and
kissed his sister, and then drew a chair to the table, where
room was speedily made for him.
" Why, he wears the captain's straps ! " exclaimed Elfie,
in delight.
"Yes," smiled Justin, "I have my company at last,
Elfie."
" But you said nothing about it ! "
"I wanted to see whether you would notice the straps
without my pointing them out."
" Well, I declare ! Ladies and gentlemen I have the
honor to present to you Captain Eosenthal ! " said Elfie,
solemnly.
"I saw your new straps, Justin dear I saw them at
once. What change could take place in you that I should
not see ? " said Erminie, in a low voice.
" I understood you, my sister," murmured Justin. Then
he turned his eyes on Britomarte.
She met the glance and answered gravely :
"When you are promoted for services rendered on the
battle-field, Justin, then I will congratulate you."
THE SOLDIER'S LOVE.. 65
Captain Bosenthal bowed in silence.
" Certainly; what have we all been thinking of? He has
risen from the ranks without ever having been under fire ;
he has been advanced upon the small merits of keeping
himself clean and minding his drill. Bosh ! When you
have seen twenty well-fought fields and come to us with one
arm and both legs off and the stars of a major-general on,
then we'll make much of you," said Elfie.
" Oh, how cruel ! " murmured Erminie.
"No, they are not cruel, my sister. They are right,"
said Justin. "Promotion is best earned in the battle-
field, where I shall soon seek it. Though I hope to
bring back a limb or two more than Elfie would leave
me."
" Yes I hope so too ; for she would literally leave you
not a leg to stand upon ! " exclaimed Major Fielding
heartily.
Justin then announced that the brigade to which hia
regiment belonged was now ready for service, and was
hourly expecting marching orders.
And when tea was over he took leave and departed.
It was not until the next morning, at the breakfast
table, that Major Fielding discovered his daughter's esca-
pade. Now that the draft was over, Elfie no longer read
the papers aloud while others breakfasted. So Major
Fielding had the morning paper in his hand, leisurely
looking over it while he sipped his coffee.
Suddenly he set down his cup with emphasis, and nearly
let out an oath.
Erminie, Elfie and Ethel looked up to see what was
the matter.
" What the is this ? How is it ? Why wasn't I
told about it ? Answer, Miss ! " exclaimed the angry old
soldier, turning upon his daughter.
" Now here's a row ! Answer what ? Now don't ob-
4
66 HOWHEWONHER.
streperate, but explain, pap," coolly replied Elfie, as she
daintily ate her egg from its shell.
" This, Miss ! THIS ! " exclaimed the almost infuriated
old man, holding up the paper with one hand and rapping
upon it with the fist of the other.
" Don't make a noise over the breakfast table, you dear
old boy it is impolite ; and don't destroy the paper be-
fore other people have read it, it is selfish. But tell me
like a good boy, what's the row ? "
" She is half right. Erminie, my dear, I beg your par-
dan ; but that girl of mine is enough to drive any sane man
mad ! Ethel, take that and read it," said the major, extend-
ing the paper to the lieutenant and pointing out the offensive
paragraph.
It was headed
A GIRL DRAFTED BY MISTAKE AND INSISTING ON
SERVING.
And it was a full account of Elfie's visit to the Provost
Marshal's office and all that took place in her interview with
the officers there.
" There ! " said the major, when Ethel had finished read-
ing '' what do you think of that ? Oh, I'll take her across
to St. Elizabeth's and shut her up in the lunatic asylum ! "
"No you won't, pap! People can't do that with sane
women in this country ! Now do be jus-t ! that's a nice old
boy ! Could I help being drafted ? "
" It was some infernal mistake ! I beg your pardon, Er-
minie, my dear. It was some mistake. But you could have
helped reporting, you exasperating "
" As if I would have helped reporting, pap ? No ! I
leave that sort of poltroonry to the men ! " said Elfie.
The major fairly shook with wrath.
"Be consoled, pap, they wouldn't have me, you know.
They said I didn't belong to a good fighting family ! " said
Elfie.
THE SOLDIEK'S LOVE. 67
The major started up from the breakfast table, and left the
room in hot anger.
The breakfast party looked dismayed.
Erminie arose and threw her arms around the perverse
girl's neck, and pleaded with her.
" Elfie ! dear Elfie, go after him. Ask his forgiveness.
Make friends with your father ! "
" Leave me alone, Minie ! I know my dear, old governor ;
he'll soon be all right ! " said Elfie.
But the dear, old governor did not get over his vexa-
tion as soon as Elfie expected. He kept his little daugh-
ter at a distance for some days.
"Come, pap," she said to him one morning, "let's
compromise ! I will promise you ' never to do so more/ if
you will buy me a substitute ! "
But the indignant major made her no reply.
Elfie persisted in her proposal with all the perseverance
of the Beast, who daily for a year asked Beauty to marry
him.
" Come, pap ! buy me a substitute and I'll promise you
not to run away in boy's clothes, and 'list ! "
Bu-t still the old man did not deign to answer. All this
time, also, Elfie was, as she always had been, in all substan-
tial services a most devoted daughter to her father. She
attended to his room, to put all those little finishing touches
to its comfort that no one but herself could effect. She kept
his clothes in perfect order. She had one of his half-dozen
pairs of slippers always just where he wanted them. His
pipe was always at hand. His pitcher of iced lemonade was
never empty. Nothing that tended to his comfort was
wanting."
But still the major was inexorable.
" Just look at my pap ! " Elfie would sometimes say, " sit-
ting there sulking and distilling bile ! If "he goes on this
way much longer, he'll make himself so sick I shall have to
68 HOW HE WON HER.
give him a dose of calomel and jalap ! Pap ! you may sulk
as long as you please, and make yourself as yellow as saffron,
but if you don't buy me a substitute I'll 'list ! I will, as
gure as I'm the daughter of a hero ! "
So at length by coaxing, threatening, wheedling, and
bantering, Elfie brought her indulgent old father out of his
anger, and so far into her way of thinking that he actually
did buy her a substitute. He gave five hundred dollars to
a fine young foreigner to represent Elfie in the field.
CHAPTER V.
THE LOVERS' PARTING.
She weeps the weary day,
The war upon her native soil,
Her lover's risk in battle broil. SCOTT.
BRITOMARTE boarded with a widow of the name of Bur-
ton, who had three grown daughters. They lived in a
small white cottage, in a large, shady garden, in the north-
eastern suburbs of the city, and not very far from the par-
sonage. The mother and daughters supported themselves
by taking in plain sewing from the quartermaster's depart-
ment. As Britoniarte was their only boarder, and was con-
tented to share their own simple and frugal meals, her
living was inexpensive, and she paid for it by needle work.
Every hour of the day that she did not devote to visiting
the hospitals with Erminie, was employed in this work, and
the stroke of midnight often found her still at her needle.
And yet, with all this industry, Britomarte could scarcely
make enough to pay her small expenses.
Justin and Erminie guessed all this, and felt great but
vain regret ; for so long as Miss Conyers remained so obsti-
* H E LOVER'S PARTING. 69
nately proud and independent, they could do nothing on
earth to assist her.
" It seems to me," complained Erminie, " that if I were
in Britomarte's place, I would allow those who love me to
improve my condition."
" You cannot understand her, and I do not blame her,"
answered Justin.
Once, while the two girls were on their way to the Doug-
lass Hospital, Erminie said:
" Britomarte, dearest, if you will he so independent, why
can you not be so in a more agreeable way agreeable to
yourself, I mean? Instead of delving over those coarse
garments for the quartermaster's department, why do you
not give music lessons ? "
" Because, my dear, I only want transient work, some-
thing that I can give up at any moment without wronging
any one."
" But what do you mean by that, Britomarte ? "
" My stay in Washington is short and uncertain."
" Oh, pray don't say that. Where will you go ? "
" I do not know, dear," answered Miss Conyers, in that
grave tone that forbade farther cross-questioning.
So Erminie sighed a-nd fell into silence.
Britomarte was now so closely engaged that she seldom
got time to spend an evening at the parsonage. Something
like a fortnight had elapsed since that evening when she
had taken tea with Erminie, and laughed at Justin for his
mere camp promotions ; and since then she had not visited
their house.
One afternoon she sat diligently sewing on a coarse blue
jacket, when Mrs. Burton came up to her room and told
her that there was an old colored man below asking to
speak to her.
She went down stairs and found Uncle Bob, who handed
her a note from Erminie.
70 * HOW HE WON HER.
It was very short, and ran thus :
"Dear Britomarte, please come to me at once, for lam
in great distress. ERMINIE"
What is the matter, Uncle Bob ? " she inquired.
Ma'am ? "
" Is there anything amiss at your house ? "
"No, ma'am, not as I knows of. Miss Erminie is crying,
hut I aint heern no had news."
Britomarte ran up to her room, and put on her honnet
and shawl, and came down and joined the old servant, and
started for the parsonage. But her fleet steps soon dis-
tanced his feeble ones, and she arrived at the house first,
and hurried immediately to the library, where she found
Erminie in tears.
" What is it all, my dearest ? " inquired Miss Conyers,
throwing off her bonnet and shawl, and taking Erminie in
her arms.
" Oh, Britomarte, I have no courage at all when the test
comes," sobbed Erminie, dropping her head upon the bosom
of her friend.
'.' But what is it, dearest ? " again inquired Miss Conyers,
with a misgiving heart.
" Oh, can't you imagine ? Oh, Britomarte, the brigade
has marching orders at last. It is to leave in the boats this
evening."
Even Britomarte for an instant reeled under the blow,
but in another she rallied and replied :
" That is well. We don't want any more camp heroes,
Ermiuie."
" But it is so sudden. True, we were expecting this, or
rather hearing of it, every day. But it had got to be an
old story. I began to think that the brigade would remain
in the forts, when about an hour ago came an orderly ser-
geant with this note from Justin listen to it," said
Erminie, unfolding a little note and reading :
THE LOVER'S PARTING. 71
Head Quarters of the
Fort
" MY DEAREST SISTER : We have received our march-
ing orders. We go by the six o'clock boats this afternoon.
I will try to see 3 T ou before we leave. If I cannot get to
the house, will you be at the wharf? And as you love me,
send for Britomarte, and prevail on her to remain with you
at the house, or accompany you to the wharf, as the case
may require. Heaven bless you both. JUSTIN."
" It is now two o'clock. Shall you stay here or go to the
wharf? " inquired Britomarte, in a tremulous tone.
" I shall temain here until five o'clock. If he does not
come before that hour, I shall know that he will not come
at all, and that the only chance we shall have of taking
leave of him, will be at the wharf," replied Erminie.
" My darling, if he is not here within a very few
moments, he will not be here at all ; for you know he must
leave himself time enough after visiting you to get back to
camp to march his company."
"That is true. Still, it is not worth while for us to leave
the house before five o'clock, as they will not be at the boats
before half-past five," said Erminie.
" You are right," agreed Britomarte.
" And oh ! I still hope that he may come here. It will
be dreadful to have to bid him good-bye at the wharf, in
the multitude of men. But if I do have to go to the
wharf, you will go with me, Britomarte ? " pleaded Er-
minie.
" Certainly," replied Miss Conyers.
" And oh ! Britty, Britty, if you would only give him a
little hope a little hope to cheer him on his way."
" Don't speak of it, Erminie. I would die for your
brother rather than sacrifice my principles so far."
Erminie sighed and forbore to reply.
"2 HOWHEWONHER.
" Where is Elfie ? " inquired Miss Conyers, to change the
conversation.
"She is packing her father's portmanteau. He, too,
leaves us to join his regiment to-morrow ; and Ethel goes
the day after. We shall have a lonely house here, Brito-
marte."
"You will fill it with .refugees from the South, never
fear," said Miss Conyers, cheerfully.
Even while she spoke, the door bell rang sharply.
" That is Justin ! " she exclaimed, springing to her feet
and running out to meet him.
Britomarte remained pale and breathless where Erminie
had left her.
There was a sound of meeting, and of sobbing, and of
cheering words, and then the brother and sister entered the
library.
Britomarte arose and gave her hand to Justin. He
pressed it in silence. They could not trust themselves to
speak just then.
" How long can you stay with us, my brother ? " said
Erminie, striving hard to control her emotion and to speak
with composure.
"I may remain with you until five o'clock, dear. My
first lieutenant will march my company to the boat, and I
have leave to join it there."
" Thank Heaven for so much grace ! " replied Erminie, as
she turned and left the room.
She went out from a two-fold motive to order a dainty
dinner prepared, so that they all might partake of one
more meal together, and also to give her brother the oppor-
tunity of making one more last appeal to his obdurate love.
When they were left alone together, Justin and Brito-
marte remained for a few moments silent and motionless.
Both were too full of suppressed emotion to trust them-
selves to move or speak.
THE LOVER'S PARTING. 78
Justin was the first to master himself. When he had
done so, he approached Britomarte, stood before her a
moment, and then taking her hand, said, in a tone thrilled
with passion :
" I promised you never again to speak of the subject
nearest my heart."
" Then keep your promise, Justin," she said, in a gentle,
solemn voice.
" You will not free me from it ? "
I cannot."
Britomarte ! "
"Well?"
" Do you know why, after so long a delay, we have at
length received such sudden marching orders ? "
" I do not."
" Nor yet where we are going ? "
"No."
" I will tell you. We are ordered to C , to reinforce
General M , who is hourly expecting a battle."
Britomarte started as if she had suddenly received a
stab ; but quickly recovered herself, and firmly replied :
" Then I congratulate you, Justin. I would to Heaven
I could stand at your side your brother-in-arms on tho
day of battle ! "
" So would not I," said Justin, gravely " so would not
I. But, Britomarte, you have it in your power to give my
arm great strength, if you please to do so."
" Love of your country should be all sufficient to nerve
your arm, Justin," she answered, earnestly.
He took her hand, and sought to read her face ; but she
turned away her head to conceal the emotion she could not
quite control.
They were interrupted :
'Malbrook is bound to the wars I
Malbrook is bound to the wars !
74 HOW HE WON HER.
Malbrook is bound to the wars !
And I hope he'll never return!'"
sang Elfie, dancing into the room.
" So you are really off, are you, Justin ? " she inquired,
giving him her hand.
" Yes, Elfie really, off at last," replied Justin, smiling.
" Well, so is my governor, and so is my substitute !
And I wish with all my heart and soul that I was going
too ! But, you see, I have given my pap my sacred word
not to enlist, unless my substitute jumps the bounty, or
gets himself killed or taken prisoner ! " said Elfie.
Erminie hearing the voices in the library, thought it
would be of no use for her to remain out any longer, depriv-
ing herself of her brother's society. So she came in. And
after that the conversation, under the auspices of Elfie,
became general and cheerful.
A very nice dinner was served at four o'clock. And Jus-
tin and the three young ladies sat down to it together.
Major Fielding and Lieutenant Ethel were not at home,
and not expected before six o'clock.
After dinner Erminie sent out for a carriage.
" You must let us ride down to the wharf witn you,
Justin, and se^e you off," said his sister.
" Yes, yes it is just what I wish," he answered.
" Britomarte, dear Britomarte, you, too, will go with us,"
pleaded Erminie.
" Of course I shall, love," murmured Miss Conyers, in
reply.
" Elfie dear, I know that you must stay here to receive
your father when he comes in to dinner, else I would ask
you also to go with us," said Erminie.
"Thanks for nothing!" laughed Elfie. "I can't go,
and I don't want to go; and as Captain Eosenthal is
neither my brother nor my lover, there is no necessity for
me to go."
THE LOVER'S PARTING. 75
The carriage was at the door at five o'clock.
Justin took leave of Elfie, left his regards for Major
Fielding and Lieutenant Ethel, and then entered the car-
riage where Britomarte and Erminie were already seated.
A half hour's rapid driving brought them to the steam-
boat wharf, which was now a scene of great excitement.
The troops were embarking ; and a great number of
people relatives, friends and even mere acquaintances were
assembled to see them off.
The regiments were embarked by companies. And while
one company would be passing on to the boat in files, those
remaining on the wharf were "at rest."
Some were devouring fruit and cakes at the stands on
the grounds ; some buying papers of the news-boys, who
were crying the last victory ; some were shaking hands
with friends ; and others, many others, were bidding good-
bye to mothers, wives, sisters, or sweethearts, assembled
there, " to see the last of them."
In the crowd one boy attracted Britomarte's attention.
Though he wore the uniform of a soldier, he did not seem
to be more than fifteen years of are. A bright, spirited-
looking lad he was, but he seemed quite alone in that crowd.
No one accosted him, and -he spoke to none. Britomarte
watched him with some interest.
" He belongs to my company," said Justin.
Britomarte and Erminie now got out of their carriage
and stood with Justin, until the company immediately
before his own fell into order to embark. Then it was the
turn of Justin's company to form.
" I must leave you now, Erminie ! be a woman, my little
girl ! " said Justin, hastily but fervently pressing his sister
to his bosom.
" God bless you ! Oh ! God bless you, my brother ! " she
cried, trying hard to swallow and keep down her sobs and
tears.
76 HOW HE WON HER.
" Good-bye, Britomarte ! " said Justin, solemnly, giving
her his hand.
" Good-bye ! May God strengthen your arm, and pre-
serve your life in the battle, and send you back with victory !
Good-bye ! " she answered, wringing his hand and dropping
it, and turning away her head to hide the strong emotion
all but too manifest in her countenance.
A sigh reached her ear, and then the piteous words :
" Well, there is no one in the world to bid me good-bye,
or ask God to bless me. Oh, well, so much the better may
be, for if I'm killed there'll be nobody's feelings hurt."
Britomarte looked up.
It was the lonely boy who had spoken, and now he stood
there with a smile that was more touching than tears could
have been.
Britomarte's pity moved for the friendless lad.
" Yes, my boy, I will bid you good-bye, and pray God to
bless you, and to bring you back to us safe ! " sho said, tak-
ing the lad's hand, stooping and pressing a kiss upon his
brow.
Justin saw it all ; but not a shade of jealousy clouded his
own mind. He understood Britomarte too well.
" God bless you for that, noble woman ! " he whispered.
" I will look after the lad as though he were my younger
brother, or yours."
And these were Justin's parting words to Britomarte.
While he was leading his men on to the boat, Britomarte
and Erminie returned to the carriage, where they sat watch-
ing until the few remaining companies embarked, and the
boat got up her steam, and steamed away from the wharf.
Even then they continued to watch the boat as long as
she remained in sight.
And finally they gave the order to drive back to the
parsonage. When they arrived, Erminie tried to persuade
THE LOVER'S PARTING. TT
Britomarte to alight and go in ; but in vain. Miss Conyers
felt that she needed the solitude of her own chamber.
" Go in, dear Erminie. Elfio and her father will cheer
you up this evening. To-morrow I will come to you," she
said, embracing her friend, and then drawing her veil over
her face and turning her steps homeward. Britomarte
reached her boarding-house and opened the front door, which
admitted her immediately into the neat little parlor where
the landlady and her daughters were seated at tea.
Mrs. Burton arose in a little bustle to get another cup and
saucer, and saying, apologetically :
" We waited a-n hour for you, Miss Conyers, and then we
concluded that you were spending the evening with your
friends, and so we thought we would have our tea. But I
will make some fresh for you in a moment."
" No pray do not disturb yourself. I can not take any-
thing just now. By and by, may be, I may come down and
make a cup for myself," said Britomarte, passing hastily
through the parlor to the back room, from which the stairs
ascended to her own chamber.
Arrived there, she bolted herself in, threw off her bonnet
and shawl, and dropped down upon her bed, in a collapse of
all her enthusiasm, and wept bitterly.
For nearly three years she had been the constant companion
of Justin, under circumstances that threw them entirely
upon each other for mutual comfort and support ; and the
love tha-t had first been inspired by his high personal excel-
lence was now confirmed by habit.
Since they had returned to their native country, and
mingled freely with their fellow-creatures, each little event
that h-ad come between herself and her lover, to part them
even for a day, had been felt like the stroke of a cleaving
sword dividing her bosom.
Even the first little parting in the city, when she went
78 HOWHEWONHER.
temporarily to a hotel, and he went to his home, a few streets
off, was a sharp pain, although she knew that she would see
him every day.
The second parting, when he enlisted, and went over to his
fort on the south side of the river, was a much sharper pain,
for she knew that she should see him only every week at
oftenest.
But now this parting was insupportable agony, for she felt
that she might not see him for years, if indeed she should
ever see him again.
Moaning and weeping in her anguish and despair, she
now realized how utterly her soul had passed into the soul of
her lover, so that she lived only in his life.
Yes, only in his life. Lifeless, except in its painful
half-consciousness of death, seemed her own being ; lifeless
the great, populous city ; lifeless the long lines of occupied
forts ; lifeless all, because he was no longer in the midst.
While away down the broad river, somewhere, in one man's
bosom, beat the heart of all life for her.
An unsupportable sense of suffocation, like the being
stifled with grave clods, overwhelmed her. She struggled
up and threw open the windows of her room for air. But
it was a subtler air than any in her reach that she needed
for her relief. And an intolerable longing to be near him,
to be with him at all costs, seized her. She felt that she
could not breathe apart from him ; that there could be no
evil in this world come to her so great as this evil of sepa-
ration from him ; that there was nothing could be compared
with it ; nothing could be weighed against it ; no cause on
earth could or need justify such a mortal severance.
Without him, the fairest, brightest scenes of earth would
be to her as lifeless and as gloomy as the charnel house,
while with him any scene a hut, a cave, a bomb-proof, the
rifle-pits, the battle-field, aye, the Libby Prison itself, would
be endurable.
THE LOVER'S PARTING. 79
In the great bitterness of her anguish, she repented that
she had not married him, and gone with him to the field.
That would have been happiness, and the orly happiness
possible for her. But then she was pledged to abjure his
whole sex in the way of love and marriage.
But if it were possible that she could have followed him
to battle, followed him through life, as his sister, that would
have been the next best thing to being his wife ; or, better
still, as his brother, for as his brother she might be beside
him on the battle-field, in the midst of an engagement,
when shot and shell were flying fastest, in the thickest
carnage, where, as his wife, she would never be allowed to
appear.
A vehement, passionate desire to be all this to her
beloved ; to be to him more than wife, sister or brother had
ever been to man before more than all these combined
could ever become to be his brother-in-arms, his insepara-
ble companion, his shadow, his shield, his guardian angel,
in the tented field, in the pitched battle, in the rebel prison,
or in the grave.
And why should she not be all this to him ? she asked
herself. There was no law of God or man that forbade it.
There was no human creature whom she could hurt by it.
In the midst of her impassioned aspirations she stopped
short, sat down, and put her hands to her temples and took
herself to task.
" Am I mad or morbid ? " she inquired. " All this must
be wrong and extravagant. There are thousands and
thousands of wives who are parted from their husbands,
and girls who are parted from their lovers, by this war. I
meet such every day, and they are very cheerful over it.
' My husband is on General Sherman's staif,' says one lady,
with more pride than regret. ' John is with Admiral
Dahlgren before Charleston,' chirps another, whose be-
trothed is daily exposed to death. Is my love greater than
gO HOWHEWONHER.
theirs, or is my patience only less?" She paused, and
then answered herself
" I know not how it may be with others I only know
that I cannot live or breathe except I go to my lover's side
and share his toils and dangers."
And she arose and put back the dark tresses of her hair,
while a wonderful calmness and resolution settled her
stormy features into stillness.
CHAPTER VL
THE GUEKKILLA'S WIFE.
Banger, long travel, want and woe.
Soon change the form that best we know ;
tor deadly fear can time outgo.
And blanch at once the hair ;
Hard time can roughen form and face.
And what can quench the eye's bright grace,
Nor does old age a wrinkle trace
More deeply than despair, SCOTT.
EKMINIE grieved bitterly over the departure of her
brother j yet she, no more than Britomarte, wotild have
kept him back even if she could have done so. But she
wept and prayed through the whole of the succeeding
night. Only the reflection that he was doing his duty to
his country, and the belief that her prayers for his safety
would be heard in Heaven, at length sufficed to console her.
The next morning she had no time to grieve and but
little to pray. A busy and exciting day was before her.
Early in the forenoon, Lieutenant Ethel, with earnestly
grateful acknowledgments of the affectionate hospitality he
had enjoyed for so many weeks, took a sorrowful leave of
the parsonage.
It is true that he need not have hurried away to join his
ship at Baltimore that day. But a fine sense of delicacy
THE GUERRILLA'S WIFE. 81
suggested to him a certain impropriety in his remaining the
guest of a house where there were only two young ladies
left to entertain him. So he took leave a few hours pre-
vious to the departure of Major Fielding.
" I feel really sorry that he is gone. He is a gentlemanly
young officer," said Erminie, looking after the hack that
was conveying him to the railway station.
" Yes, hut he was a nuisance for all that ! and I am very
glad he is out of the way," said Elfie, who was standing by
her side.
" Oh, Elfie, how can you say any thing so unkind ! "
" It isn't unkind ; it is true."
" He never was in my way."
"No; because you are so methodical, you never can be
put out by anything. You rise, dress, eat, walk, read and
sleep by rule. Now I'm different. I like to sail all over
the house in a loose wrapper, without the danger of meeting
with one of the male sect of Christians. And when I am
in a hurry in the morning I like to run down from my
chamber to the kitchen in my bare feet. But I declare I
never undertook to do either, yet, while there was a male
creature in the house, that the male creature did not start
out of the drawing room or the library and meet me full
face, as if Old Nick had kicked him into my path. Not
that I cared, only I didn't like it. And so I'm heartily
glad Ethel for one is gone.
' Malbrook is gone to the wars
And I hope he'll never return ! ' "
sang Elfie, saucily dancing into the house.
In the afternoon Major Fielding took an affectionate
leave of his daughter and their hostess, and left the city to
join his regiment.
Elfie had admonished him to keep his face clean and his
hair combed and his shoes tied ; to obey his superior officer,
5
82 HOW HE WON HE K.
write home once a week, and be a good old boy generally.
She had watched him out of sight.
And now that he was quite gone, she ran up stairs, away
up into the attic, where she felt sure of being free from
interruption, and she locked herself in and gave herself up
to a good howling spell.
She heard Erminie looking for her in the empty chambers
below, doubtless with the intention of offering her consola-
tion, and she held her breath to keep from being discovered.
Presently she heard Erminie give up the search and go
down stairs.
And soon after Elfie also arose, wiped her eyes and stole
down to her own room, where she washed her face, brushed
her hair and arranged her dress. And then she ran down
to the library and joined Erminie.
" I feel very sorry that your father has gone, Elfie," said
the gentle girl, in a sympathizing tone.
" So do I. But then he's gone ' where glory waits ' him,
and all that, you know, and it's a great relief! "
" Elfie ! "
" Well it is, Minie. Bless the dear old governor ! he is
just as little of a nuisance as one of the male persuasion
can be reasonably expected to be ; but they are all
nuisances, Minie, and it is a great relief to get rid of
them."
" Oh, Elfie, your father, dear ! "
" Oh yes, I know, and I'm really very fond of my pap,
and I shall pray every day that he may keep out of the
Libby Prison ! And I'm very sorry he is gone. But why
may I not draw what comfort I can from the reflection that
the dear old fellow fagged me almost to death while he was
here ? Bless the tall baby ! he never knew where he left
his boot-jack, or what he did with his spectacles, or how to
find his gloves. And I was worked harder than a draft
horse with waiting on him to keep him straight ! Now I
THE GUERRILLA'S WIFE 83
can recline back in my chair, and kick my heels all day
long at my ease ! " And the perverse imp suited the action
to the word.
" I know you too well to believe you, Elfie. Although
you say these shocking things, and seem to take pleasure in
seeing how they really do shock me, yet I am sure that at
this moment you would give the world, if, it was yours, to
have your dear father back again, if you could have him
consistently with his duty. As for poor Ethel, however, I
really do believe that you are glad he is gone," said
Erminie, gravely.
" You better had believe it. Ethel was a horrid bother,
and I am delighted to be rid of him. Oh, Minie, it is a
great blessing that there is not a man left in the house to
worry us ! What a good old time we shall have all to our-
selves ! We needn't trouble our heads now about puddings
and soups and salads and things ! When we are hungry
we can eat a bit of bread and butter, with some nice jam
spread over it, and have a cup of tea. And we can sail
about the house all day long in our wrappers and slippers,
without feeling like blockade runners in imminent danger
of meeting the enemy."
Erminie's thoughts had wandered to Britomarte, so she
let her wild companion rattle on unheeded and almost
unheard. She reflected that Britomarte had spoken of
calling to see her in the course of this day. Now the day
was nearly over, and Miss Conyers had not come.
"And I tell you what, Erminie, this is freedom. No
more addling our brains over incessant changes of dishes to
suit their exacting appetites. Lor, Erminie, if it were not
for the men, we would never trouble our heads with the
study of a new omelettte, or a new sauce or gravy, would
we? But those gormandizing animals, you know, they
think of nothing on earth all day long but their blessed
stomachs, unless it is their bothering shirt buttons 1 1
84 HOW HE WON HER.
really do believe we women were the original creations, and
men were afterwards inflicted on us in punishment of our
eins. They are such torments, Minie. And now they are
all gone we shall have a glorious old time ! And I'm going
to begin mine by "
Here a sharp, loud, impatient ringing of the door bell
put a sudden stop to the conversation.
" That's Britomarte, now," exclaimed Erminie, starting
up.
No, it isn't. It's not her ring," cried Elfie.
Then both paused and listened while Old Bob opened the
door.
A minute passed, and then the library door was opened
by the old man, who announced :
Madame Vittorio Corsoni ! "
And to the unbounded astonishment of the two girls,
she who was once Alberta Goldsborough entered the room.
"Oh, Alberta! Alberta! I am so glad to see you, love!"
exclaimed Erminie, forgetting the guerrilla's wife, and im-
pulsively springing up to meet with an overflowing welcome
her beloved old school-mate.
Elfie never budged.
" Glad glad to see me whom" you Unionists term a
rebel ? In truth, I had not expected this, Erminie," said
the visitor, pushing farther off her face the long rusty black
veil that had nearly concealed it.
Erminie's countenance changed, her frame trembled, and
her tones vibrated with emotion, as she replied :
" I am grieved, Heaven knows how deeply grieved to
hear you say so, Alberta."
And then Erminie paused, in doubt as to what she should
say or do next.
Had the visitor been her own personal enemy coming to
her in this seemingly inoffensive guise, she would have
made her very welcome, and treated her very kindly.
THE GUERRILLA'S WIFE. 85
But her country's enemy was another affair. Had she
the right to entertain a secessionist ? Would it not be
aiding and abetting secession ?
Erminie hesitated in much distress of spirit. Her gentle
heart pleaded for the worn and sorrowful-looking woman
before her, but her scrupulous conscience warned her not to
yield to these feelings.
While Erminie thus hesitated, the visitor turned to Elfie,
and said, in surprised recognition :
" Why, this is Elfrida Fielding, is it not ? "
" Yes, tha-t is my name, and it is very nearly all that the
confederates have left me," answered Elfie, without even
raising her eyes to the face of the questioner.
" And have you no welcome for me, Elfie ? " sadly in-
quired Alberta.
"No. I should have no welcome for my grandmother,
were the old lady a guerrilla's wife," relentlessly answered
Elfie, averting her head.
" But I am no guerrilla. And I have taken the oath of
itllegiance, or you would not see me here/' said Alberta,
with a strange, discordant laugh.
But these words seemed to set Erminie's spirit free.
" Have you ? have you ? Oh, have you, indeed, Alberta ?
Then you are welcome ! welcome ! thrice welcome ! to my
heart and home, and to our country's cause, Alberta. Sit
down, love, and rest here, and let me take off your wrap-
pings/' she said, gently forcing her visitor into the easiest
chair, and tenderly untying and removing her bonnet.
" You wonder at seeing me here ? " said Alberta.
"No, indeed; I wonder at nothing in these days,"
smiled Erminie.
" I must tell you, however, why I have intruded upon
you."
" Your visit is no intrusion, and yon shall tell me nothing
more, dear Alberta, until you are rested and refreshed.
86 HOW HE .WON HER.
Tea will b3 ready very soon, and after you Lave had it, you
shall share my chamber, and in its privacy tell me what you
like. Just now, it is enough for me to hear that you have
returned to your old allegiance, and to see that you are
weary and sorrowful."
Again that strange discordant laugh broke from Alberta's
pallid lips, and jarred harshly upon the ears of her hearers.
Erminie felt that she would rather have seen her weep
than heard her laugh so strangely. Her act was more like
hysteria or even madness.
The girls had been sitting in the light of the fire, which
the chill of the early autumn evening rendered very wel-
come. But now Erminie arose and lighted the gas. And
then they saw their visitor plainly.
Alberta was awfully changed, and Erminie shuddered as
she gazed on her. Her dress was all black, but rusty and
travel-stained. Her face and form were still beautiful, but
the " glory " of their beauty was " obscured." Her once
oval face was lengthened and hollowed, her perfect features
pinched and sharpened ; her fair complexion sunburned,
her brilliant hair faded, her graceful form emaciated.
Her whole aspect spoke of the hardships and exposures
of the hunted and battling life she led by the side of the
guerrilla chief.
Yet one saw, in contemplating this change, that it was,
at worst, beauty impaired and not destroyed, and that a few
months of quiet happiness might'restore it in all its pristine
splendor.
" Oh, how much you seem to want repose ! Stay with
me and rest, oh, poor, storm-beaten friend ! " murmured
Erminie, gently caressing her visitor.
"I knew that you were humane and tender-hearted,
Erminie, and I felt encouraged to come to you to you of
all the world in the hour of my distress."
" And you have not trusted in vain. I will do everything
THE GUERRILLA'S WIFE. 87
in my power to serve you, Alberta. Everything, I mean,
not incompatible with the service of our country, and of
course you would not wish me to compromise my duty to
her, for you have taken the oath of allegiance."
" Yes, I have taken the oath of allegiance. I should not
have been here else," replied Alberta, in a tone that grated
unpleasantly upon the nerves of her hostess.
" Then it was a compulsory oath," put in Elfie, very
dryly.
" It was a compulsory oath in so far as this : that I
should not have been allowed to cross your lines without
having first taken it."
" ' Your lines ? ' Why do you not say our lines, since
you have taken the oath, and are one of us ? " inquired
Elfie.
"I spoke from the force of habit, that is all," answered
Alberta.
" Do you mean to keep your oath ? " inquired Elfie.
" Most assuredly I do. Why ? "
" Because you needn't, you know, if you don't like to
that is all. It is a compulsory oath by your own showing,
and compulsory oaths are neither morally nor legally bind-
ing ; at least they are not held to be so by persons of your
way of thinking, Alberta."
" I hold myself bound by my oath ; but it seems that you
are mocking me, Elfrida. And whether you yourself are
lo} r al or otherwise, you are no true daughter of the South
to mock at a fallen sister," said Alberta.
"You are down, I see, but blest if I know whether you
have ' fallen ' down, or whether you have crouched down for
a fatal spring ! By the gleam of your eyes, Alberta, I
should say the latter."
"Elfie! Elfie! your words are cruelly unjust, I do
believe. Kernember
88 HOW HE WON HER.
Who by repentance is not satisfied,
Is nor of heaven nor earth,' "
said Erminie, gravely.
" I'll say no more, except this : If you are in the posses-
sion of any state secrets that it would profit the Confederacy
to know, do not communicate them to Alberta."
" In the first place, I know of no state secrets whatever.
And in the second, I fear no betrayal of confidence on the
part of Alberta," said Erminie, holding out her hand in
pledge of trust to her sorrowing visitor.
Alberta took it and held it tightly for a few moments,
while an inexplicable expression of something like prophetic
remorse overshadowed her countenance.
" Don't mind Elfie, dear. She is rightly named. She is
an elf a tricky spirit. She mocks at everything, even,
alas ! at her own father ! " said Erminie.
" I do not heed her since you trust me," replied Alberta.
" I am expecting Britomarte every moment ; and when
she comes, we four, who used to be called the ' Belles of
Bellemont,' and to be inseparable companions, will be
together once more be together for the first time since
that happy summer we spent at your fathers lovely home,
The Rainbows/ "
" That happy summer before the war. Oh ! Heaven !
' Sorrow's crown of sorrow is the memory of happier days,' "
said the guerrilla's wife, mournfully.
" Be comforted. You are young yet, and the happy days
may return again," said Erminie, kindly.
" My father's home is desolate ; his household gods
broken and scattered. Federals and Confederates have
occupied his house and ravaged his land in turn. The
forests have been levelled, the crops swept away, the cattle
driven off, and fences and buildings destroyed ! Desolate !
desolate ! all is desolate there ! " said Alberta, in a sepul-
chral tone.
THE GUERRILLA'S WIFE. 89
" All have'suffered something in this awful war, Alberta.
But peace will come again, and all will be well 1
wonder why Britomarte don't make her appearance ? I do
not think I can wait for her any longer. We will have tea,
and then you shall go to my chamber and sleep with me,
and tell me all your troubles, as you used to do when we
were girls at school together," murmured Erminie.
And she rang the bell and ordered the tea brought in
there.
" Britomarte ? I read a very strange account of her
having been shipwrecked upon a desert island in the Indian
Ocean, and rescued thence by one of your ships of war.
Was it true ? "
" It was all true every word of it," said Erminie.
" Why do you say ' your ' ? Why do you not say our
ships of war, since you have taken the oath of allegiance in
good faith, and are really one of us ? " dryly questioned
Elfie.
" Force of habit, I repeat," replied Alberta.
"Oh, Elfie! Elfie! do mind what you are saying!"
pleaded Erminie.
" Don't distress yourself, Minie ! She means well, but
she mistakes me ; that is all," said Alberta, resignedly.
The tea service was brought in and arranged upon the
neat table. And the three young women seated themselves
at it.
Erminie presided over the urn.
" Do you know, Erminie, that this is the first blessed cup
of tea that I have tasted for more than a year ? " said
Alberta, as she raised the fragrant Oolong to her lips.
" Oh ! what a privation ! but you had coft'ee ? " said
Erminie.
" No, nor chocolate ! "
" But how was that ? "
" I was always with my husband ; he had an indepen-
90 HOW HE WON HER.
dent command, and was what you call a guerrilla chief; ours
was a hunted life, a Cain's life ; our hand was against every
one, and every one's hand against us ! Our home was the
wildwood or the ruined farm-house ; our occupation war,
rapine, plunder. We were far enough from the comforts of
civilized life, as you may judge ! "
" Oh, Alberta! what a fate for you, delicately reared as
you have been! But it is all over now, love; you have
come in to us and all will be well ! " said Erminie.
"But you have not heard my story yet," murmured
Alberta.
" I will hear it very soon ; and no matter what it is, or
has been, now that you are with us, Alberta, I will hold
you to my heart of hearts," said Erminie.
They finished drinking tea and arose from the table.
And still Britomarte did not make her appearance.
" She will not be here to-night ! It is now too late to
expect her," said Erminie, as she rang for a servant to come
and remove the tea service.
" Now, Alberta, dear, I will show you to our room, and
would you like a bath ? "
" Oh yes ! very much, indeed ! that, too, is a luxury I
have not enjoyed lately."
" Then I will order one got ready. Come, dear," she
said, leading the way from the library followed by her guest.
In a moment, as from the impulse of an after thought,
Erminie stepped back to speak to her guest.
" Elfie, dear, you are my sister ; and so much at home
here that I know you will kindly excuse my absence this
evening."
" Yes, certainly ! But listen to me ! You are going to
have a tete-a-tete with the wife of Vittorio Corsoni, the
Guerrilla Chief"'! Hear her story, since you must ! But give
as little credence to it as you can ! And give her no con-
fidences in return ; for, mark me, Erminie, she is a sp} ! "
THE GUERRILLA'S WIFE. 91
An hour later Erminie and Alberta sat together beside
the fire in the bed chamber of the former. And there the
minister's daughter heard the terrible story of the guerrilla's
wife a story that need not be told in detail here. It is
sufficient to say, that Alberta Goldsborough, the delicately
nurtured daughter of the South had suffered some of the
most horrible evils of the civil war.
Her parents had just become reconciled to her marriage
when her father was killed in battle, his house burned to
the ground, and her mother turned out to die of exposure
and privation.
Alberta, maddened by these sufferings, joined her hus-
band in his wild guerrilla life and incited him to the very
worst of those depredations that made his name a terror to
all the Unionists of the valley.
In one of his encounters with the Union troops he had
been taken prisoner and conveyed to Fort W., where he had
been tried and condemned to death, and where he was
then waiting the execution of his sentence.
It was in the desperate hope of gaining a pardon for her
husband, that the guerrilla's wife had come to Washing-
ton.
Erminie, with tears of pity, told Alberta that she would
accompany her to the President, to sue for this pardon.
Accordingly, the next morning Erminie ordered a carriage
and took Alberta to the White House.
But it happened that the President was even more than
ordinarily engaged, and they failed to obtain an interview.
This disappointment excited Alberta's anxieties to the
utmost pitch, and in her desperation, she vowed, that if she
could not obtain the pardon of her husband she would do
that which should place her by his side on the scaffold.
These wild words greatly alarmed Erminie, who with
much difficulty persuaded Alberta to come home with her.
There a surprise met them in the shape of a paragraph
92 HO WHEW ON HER.
in the morning's papers announcing the escape of the
famous Free Sword from Fort W.
The joy of Alberta was now as excessive as her previous
grief had heen. She even apologized for her mad threats.
Erminie persuaded her to take some refreshment and to
go and lie down.
And in truth the minister's daughter was suffering great
anxiety on account of the guerrilla's wife.
CHAPTER VII.
ABOUT ALBERTA.
The look, the air that frets thy sight
May be a token that below
The soul has closed in deadly fight
With some infernal flery foe.
Whose glances would scorch thy smiling grace.
And cast the shuddering on thy face ! A. A. PEOCTOH.
ERMINIE, in the midst of all her distress about Alberta,
felt also a growing anxiety concerning Britomarte.
Another day was passing, and Miss Conyers had not
made her appearance at the parsonage.
Erminie feared that she was ill, and longed to go to
her boarding house to see her, but dared not to leave home
while so doubtful a guest as the guerrilla's wife was under
her roof, and while she was looking for the arrival of her
pastor to consult with him as to what should be done in the
case of Alberta.
It is true that she might have sent a messenger to inquire
after Britomarte, but in the momentary expectation of Dr.
Sales' call, she hoped to get the interview over in time to
visit her friend in person. She also hoped that Britomarte
herself might make her appearance.
So she waited, and the day wore on to the dinner hour.
ABOUT ALBERTA. 93
And she now began to think that Alberta was sleeping very
long unusally long, even for an exhausted traveller. It
was more than four hours since she had lain down.
Erminie stole softly up to her chamber, noiselessly
opened the door and peeped in.
The room was quiet and shaded, and the white curtains
were drawn around the bed as she had left them ; so she
softly closed the door and stole quietly down stairs again.
The table was set in the dining-room, and Catherine was
in the act of bringing up the soup, when Erminie met her
in the hall.
" You may keep the dinner back for a little while, Cath-
erine. Madame Corsoni has not yet waked up," she said.
" Very well, Miss/' replied the girl, turning back towards
the kitchen.
Besides Alberta and Britomarte, a third subject of
anxiety troubled the young girl ; for three days she had not
visited the hospitals. On Tuesday she had waited at home
all day long to take leave of her brother before his de-
parture for the front. On Wednesday she had stopped to
see her guests, Major Fielding and Lieutenant Ethel, off to
their respective posts of duty ; and to-day she was detained
by* the necessity of watching over her distracted visitor.
In truth, the minister's orphan daughter had enough upon
her hands just now.
Another hour passed, and Erminie began to grow uneasy,
and Elfie impatient, and Frederica rather cross.
Again Erminie stole up to the room and peeped through
the door. No change since she was there last. Curtains
drawn, room cool, shady and quiet. She returned to the
library and said, " We will wait a little longer. I do not
like to wake her up, or to eat dinner without her."
And so, to the disgust of Elfie, the annoyance of Cathe-
rine and the indignation of Frederica, the dinner was still
kept back.
94 HOW HE WON HER.
"There," said Elfie, "she has been sleeping six hours
now! The clock has struck seven. She ought to be waked
up for her own sake."
"I will go and look at her. If she is still sleeping
quietly, I will not wake her, but I will have the dinner
served at once. If however she is awake and feeling well,
I will get her up and help her to dress."
So once again Errninie went up stairs and entered her
chamber.
All shady, cool and quiet as before.
She stole to the bedside and drew the curtains.
The bed was empty.
" She has got up and gone to the bath-room. She was
always a duck in her love of laving in water," thought
Erminie, feeling ; no sort of uneasiness at her guest's
absence from the chamber.
But to assure herself of the truth of her own surmise,
she went to see if the bath-rooin door was shut. She^ found
the door wide open and the room empty.
Perplexed and anxious, she made a hasty tour through
all the rooms on that floor, then ran up to the story above
and searched the rooms there, then up into the attic and
searched that.
"I know she is deranged, and she may be lurking some-
where about the house with a fit upon her," said Erminie,
as she hurried from place to place in her vain quest.
But the guerrilla's wife was nowhere to be found.
"It cannot be that she is in any of the rooms below.
Some of us must have seen her," reflected Erminie, as she
ran down the three flights of stairs to the first floor.
"Well, has Alberta finished her Rip Van Winkle sleep
yet ? " inquired Elfie.
" Yes ; but I cannot find her. I have looked in her
room and in all the other rooms above and she is nowhere
to be seen in any of them. I think she must have come
down here."
ABOUT ALBERTA. 96
" Of course she must if she isn't up stairs ; but I haven't
seen or heard anything of her. I will go and hunt her up,
while you order the dinner put on the table. I am as hun-
gry as an unhurt hero after a fight," said Elfie, dancing out
of the room in search of the guest.
Dinner was served and only waited the reappearance of
Elfie. But fifteen minutes passed, when she came into the
dining room, flushed, excited und almost indignant.
" I can't find her. She is neither in the house nor the
garden, that is certain. And it is my opinion she has taken
French leave ! "
" Taken French leave ! " echoed Erminie, in surprise.
" Yes, it would be just like her," said Elfie, who, since
the escape of Vittorio, had lost much of her pity for Al-
berta.
" I can easily ascertain. I will go and see if her bonnet
and mantle are in their places," said Erminie.
And once more the patient girl ran up stairs to examine
the chamber that had been occupied by her guest.
But bonnet, mantle, parasol and reticule were all gone.
Not a doubt now remained upon the mind of Erminie
that the guerrilla's wife had gone away. But whether to
return again Erminie could not decide. While she stood
perplexed in the middle of the room, a scrap of paper at-
tached to the toilet pin-cushion caught her eye. She went
and unfastened it, and read the pencilled words :
" Thanks and blessings, and good-bye."
And now she felt assured that Alberta had indeed gone
to return no more.
But for Erminie's compassion for her suffering state, the
absence of the guerrilla's wife would have been felt as a
great relief. But Erminie had no time now to anatyze her
contradictory emotions. She hastened down to the dining-
room, and showed the scrap of paper, with its six words of
adieu, to Elfie.
96 H O W H E \V O N H E E .
" I felt sure she was gone," was the comment of Miss
Fielding; " and now I hope we shall have our dinner/' she
added.
f Certainly," said Erminie.
"But no," said Fate; for at the moment the front door
bell rang sharply, and in a few minutes Dr. Sales was ushered
into the drawing-room and his carl was brought to Erminie.
" El fie dear, go on with your dinner; don't wait for me,"
said Miss Rosenthal, as she arose from the table, and passed
into the drawing-room to receive her visitor.
"Your message only reached me a few minutes ago, my
dear, and I came away directly to answer it," said the rev-
erend gentleman, rising and shaking hands with the orphan.
" Thank you, Dr. Sales. I ventured to send for you on a
very important matter, thai* has perplexed and distressed
me very much ; and not the less because I could not clearly
see my own duty in the affair. The absence of my brother
and Major Fielding made it necessary that I should trouble
you for counsel."
" My dear child, you know that I am always happy to
serve you. You do indeed look as if you were worried
almost to death ! What is the matter, my child ? "
"Oh, Dr. Sales ! I have had such a terrible fright ! " ex-
claimed Erminie, on the brink of bursting into tears, but
controlling herself.
- " Come ! tell me all about it."
" I hardly understand it myself. I may have been on the
eve of witnessing one of the most appalling crimes that
ever was perpetrated ! one of the most tremendous misfor-
tunes that could befall our country ! " exclaimed Erminie,
shaking violently with agitation at the bare memory of the
threats in the President's anteroom.
" Compose yourself, my dear ; and, in order to do so, avoid
using strong language, which only excites you," said the
clergyman, laying his hand solemnly on the bowed head of
the girl.
ABOUTALBERTA. 97
" But you see I cannot recur to it without horror."
" Is it necessary to recur to it at all, my child."
" Oh, yes, else I had not sent for you. I have a solemn
duty to perform in the matter, and do not see clearly how
to do it. And I want your counsel."
" Then tell me all about it, my dear. Come, now, quietly
like a Christian child," said the clergyman, in a soothing
manner, and speaking with much more calmness than he
really felt, for the words of Eruiinie had surprised and
alarmed him.
Erminie made a great effort to control her agitation, and
then hegan to tell him of the visit of Alberta Corsorii.
And Dr. Sales put a constraint upon himself, and listened
composedly, without making a single comment upon the
narrative, lest he might increase the excitement under
which his companion was laboring.
Erminie faithfully related all that had occurred the visit
to the President's! house, the muttered threats of the
guerrilla's wife, " / will have my husband pardoned, or do
that which shall place me on the scaffold by his side," her
own alarm at hearing these awful words, the difficulty
with which she got the desperate woman out of the White
House, the subsequent apology made by the woman for her
wicked threats, the paragraph relating to the escape of
Yittorio Corsoni, the excessive joy of Alberta, and her
secret flight from the house.
"' Now," said Erminie, in conclusion, "Alberta's apology
for her sinful threats seemed very earnest and might have
been quite sincere, and but for her gloomy looks, and mut-
tered threats and strange behavior, I should have received
it without a doubt."
The clergyman slowly shook his head, but made no
remark.
" My mind has been distracted with grief and perplex-
ity," continued Eruainie; for on the one hand it seems
6
98 H O W II E W O N H E R .
beyond measure cruel and treacherous to lodge information
against a poor, unfortunate woman who has sought the
refuge of my home, who may be quite innocent of any
wrong intention, and who may suffer great injustice from a
mere suspicion. And on the other hand, the probability of
her insanity, and the bare possibility of such an atrocious
oh, I cannot speak the word ! But you see I feel as if I
dare not withhold this information from, the authorities,"
exclaimed Erminie, shuddering.
" ~No, you dare not withhold it," said the clergyman. " It
is your solemn duty to go to the Provost Marshal, and tell
him exactly what you have told me. It will be for him to
judge whether there is sufficient cause for pursuing and
arresting this miserable young woman/*'
" It is one of the most repugnant duties I ever had to
perform. Oh, the office of a spy or an informer is very,
very abhorrent to my feelings. And she was my old
schoolmate, and friend and guest. Ah, it is very bitter ! "
said Erminie, trembling with emotion.
" I know how hard it is, my child. But if you should not
perform this duty, think what might happen. Erminie, my
dear, next to our duty to God is our duty to our countr}', and
neither friends, guests nor kinsfolk should stand between ua
and that. Now, go get your bonnet on, my child, and I will
myself attend you to the Provost Marshal's office to lodge this
information," said Dr. Sales.
And Erminie, feeling as miserably as she had ever felt in
her life, went obediently to prepare herself, thanking
Heaven, iu the meantime, that Alberta was no longer in
her house.
When she was quite ready she came down. And she
and her pastor set out for the Provost Marshal's office.
Meanwhile Elfie waited for her hostess. But when she
gaw Erminie, attended by Dr. Sales, leave the house, she
lost all patience, exclaiming :
ABOUT ALBERTA. 99
" Well, really, people iu this place never seem to know
when other people ought to eat. Catherine, bring in the
pudding." Elfie finished her dinner, and rang the bell for
the parlor maid. Catherine came in.
" Here, you remove these things, and tell Frederica that
Miss Eosenthal has gone out without her dinner, and direct
her to have a young chicken ready for the gridiron, and to
keep the kettle on the fire and make some toast. Miss
Eosenthal having misse 1 her dinner, will require something
warm with her tea."
" Very well, Miss," answered acquiescent Catherine.
And Elfie arose rather impatiently and passed into the
library, where the gas was now lighted, and flung herself
into one of the easy chairs, exclaiming crossly :
" Plague take the people, I do wish they would let poor
Minie have some peace of her life. From her early rising
to her late retiring, she has not one hour to herself, poor
child. She is at everybody's beck and call. And between
the wounded soldiers in the hospitals and the refugees from
the South, and the contrabands, and bless patience yea,
the guerrillas, too, she is harrassed almost to death, poor
girl. And now where on earth has the old parson taken
her ? I declare she doesn't even get time to eat ! "
So grumbled Elfie, unable to settle herself to any sort of
employment. After awhile she again rang the bell, and
brought Catherine to her presence.
" You may lay the cloth for tea in this room. It is more
comfortable than the dining-room. And you must have
everything ready for Miss Eosenthal by the time she
returns."
" What time do you expect her, please, Miss Fielding ? "
inquired the girl.
" I expect her every moment, for it is after eight o'clock,
though it is very possible she may not be in before ten, but
you do as I bid you," replied Elfie,
100 HOW HE WON HER.
And as she was fully recognized as commanding officer in
the absence of Erminie, her orders were immediately
obeyed.
The cloth was no sooner spread than Erminie's ring was
heard and answered.
Erminie lingered at the hall door for a moment, trying to
persuade Dr. Sales, who had attended her home, to come in
and rest himself before going farther. But the clergyman
pleaded an engagement and bade her good night.
And Erminie came into the library.
" Well, upon my word ! But I suppose angels can do
without food or sleep, and that is the secret of your living
and working without either," exclaimed Elfie, as she arose
and made Erminie sit in the easy chair and rest herself,
while she untied and removed her bonnet, and unpinned
and took off her shawl.
Erminie, instead of answering, burst into tears, and wept
softly behind her pocket handkerchief.
" Here, Catherine, take Miss Rosenthal's bonnet and
shawl up stairs, and put them away. And you needn't
come in again until I ring," said Elfie handing the articles
named to the parlor maid, who was still engaged in arrang-
ing the table.
The girl took the things and left the room.
And then Elfie caressing Erminie, inquired :
" Where have you been ? "
" To the Provost Marshal's office, to lay before him cer-
tain information regarding poor Alberta. Dr. Sales said
that I must do it, and took me there," replied Erminie,
weeping.
" But what did the Provost Marshal say or do to set you
grieving so ? " demanded Elfie.
"Oh, nothing at all. He put me upon my oath, and
then took down my statement regarding poor Alberta's
visit here and to the President's house, and all that hap-
ABOUT ALBERTA. 101
pened there," replied Erminie, remembering that Elfie
knew nothing about the episode of the concealed revolver.
" And what then ? "
" Tlie Provost Marshal thanked me for the information
given, and requested me not to speak of it to others. So,
Elfie dear, let us drop the subject, -f you please."
" But how will the Provost Marshal act upon your infor-
mation ? "
" I do not know. They never tell anything. They hear
all that they can, but they tell nothing. It is not their
business to do so."
"Then I don't see what there was in the interview to
distress you so much," said Elfie, rising and touching the
bell.
" Oh, my dear, it is this. Though I have done only my
duty a most painful duty to me I feel like an informer
and a spy. Oh, Elfie, this awful war, that upsets not only
all material but all moral life ! " wept Erminie.
" Heaven bless your tender conscience ! You seem to me
to have done your duty by everybody. You didn't invite
the guerrilla's wife to your house. She walked in upon
you, told you that she had taken the oath of allegiance, and
you received her kindly and treated her well. She left you
under such suspicious circumstances I know they must
have been suspicious, else you would have had nothing to
tell the Provost Marshal that your pastor, on hearing of
it, insisted that you should lodge information in the proper
quarters, and actually took you off to do it. So why you
should reproach yourself / don't know. Yes, Catherine,
tea immediately."
This last to the parlor maid who answered the bell.
Tea was soon served.
"And now I hope you will try to eat a little. Lord
knows, between the saints and the sinners, you can scarcely
call your body or soul your own," said Elfie, as she sat
102 HOW HE WON HER.
down and began to wait on Erminie pouring our her tea
and placing the wing and breast of the broiled chicken on
her plate.
" Thanks, Elfie ; but help yourself, my dearest," urged
Erminie.
" Oh, I can't eat. I had my dinner so late and ate then
so heartily, having fasted so long, that I can't touch a
morsel now. I will have a cup of tea, however," said
Elfie.
"Britomarte has not been here this afternoon?" in-
quired Erminie.
"No."
" I am very uneasy about her."
" Oh, of course," grumbled Elfie. " Some one or other
of your friends are always making you uneasy, plague take
them ! "
" But, Elfie, I am afraid she is ill."
" Mrs. Burton would have sent you word."
" Yes, I hope she would. And then, to be sure, I have
no more reason to wonder at her mysterious absence than
my poor soldiers have to wonder at mine. Oh, Elfie, think
of it ! I never missed a day visiting them before, and now
three days have passed since I have been to see them.
What will the poor fellows think ? " sighed Erminie.
" Whatever they think, it will not be to the effect that
you are neglecting them. Perhaps they fancy that you are
a little worn with your exertions in their behalf, and they
hope to see you soon again."
" Oh, Elfie ! many a poor fellow that I hoped to see again
has passed away in these three days, I know. They die
every day. No day do I go without missing some familiar
face," sighed Erminie.
" See here, my dear ! your pretty shoulders are tolerably
fine ones for a young woma-n. But I doubt if they are so
strong as to be able to bear the burdens of all the world.
ABOUT BRITOMARTE. 103
You have done what you could for the brave fellows. Con-
tinue to do what you can ; and for the rest trust them to
their Heavenly Father and ours, you weeping philosopher,"
said Elfie.
" That is good advice, dear ; and I will try to follow it.
I am no weeping philosopher, Elfie. But to-night I believe ..
I am despondent because broken down by the events of the
last twenty-four hours."
" Then you must go to bed and try to get some sleep.
In the morning you will feel better."
" I think I will go, Elfie ; and I do hope I shall feel bet-
ter ; for to-morrow we must make our rounds of the hospi-
tals, and also look up Britomarte, unless she should first
make her appearance here," said Erminie, rising from the
tea table.
And soon after this the girls retired.
CHAPTER VIII.
ABOUT BRITOMARTE.
Your wisdom may declare,
That womanhood is proved the best,
By golden brooch and glossy.vest.
That mincing ladies wear.
Yet itlis proved and was of- old,
Anear as well I dare to hold
By truth, or by despair. E. B. BROWNINO.
EARLY the following morning Erminie arose very mu,.
refreshed and invigorated by a good night's rest.
After breakfast, accompanied by Elfie, she went the
rounds of the hospitals.
At two o'clock she sent Elfie home, while she herself
went to Britomarte's boarding-house.
A sickening presentiment of evil overcame her as she en-
tered the little gate, walked up to the door and rapped.
104 HOW HE WON HER.
Mrs. Burton opened the door.
" Oh, Miss Kosenthal ! how do you do ? I have been
hoping that you would call. Please to come in," said the
mistress of the house.
" Mrs. Burton, how is Miss Conyers ? Is she quite well ? "
anxiously inquired Erminie, as she followed the widow into
the little parlor.
"Why, my darling child, she is gone," answered Mrs.
Burton, as she sat a chair for her visitor.
" Gone ! " echoed Erminie, in dismay, sinking into the
offered seat, and gazing at the speaker.
" Yes, my dear gone. She has been gone these three
days."
" And without taking leave of me ! " said Erminie, in a
sorrowful voice.
" My dear, she left a letter for you. And I ought to have
sent it over before this. But you see I had nobody to send
it by but one of my daughters. And we are all so busy
working upon a lot of havelocks that must be finished by
Saturday, that we can't take time to eat or sleep, or hardly
to say our prayers. But I did mean to steal time to bring
the letter over to you this blessed evening. I will go and
get it now," said the widow, leaving the room.
" Gone ! 1 can scarcely realize it. Though indeed she
has often hinted to me that she might leave the city at any
moment," said Erminie, as she arose to receive the letter
from the landlady when the latter returned to the room and
put it into her hand.
Britomarte's letter was dated on the very evening of the
day on which' Justin's regiment had marched. It was written
in Miss Conyers' usually firm and clear chirograph y, and ran
thus :
" MY DEAR AND GENTLE FRIEND : Duty, or what I be-
lieve to be such, calls me hence very suddenly. I have no
ABOUT BRTTOMARTE. 105
time to bid you farewell in person, even if I could trust my-
self to such a parting interview. From time to time I will
write and let you know where and how I am. I hope that
you also will keep me advised of your well-being. For the
present, a letter addressed ' B. C., Baltimore Post Office, till
called for,' will find me. Give my love to Elfie. And, dear
and good Erminie, accept my love and my prayers, which
are always offered up for you. BKITOMARTE."
When Erminie had finished reading this letter, she
dropped again into her chair, covered her face with her hands
and wept.
Mrs. Burton brought her a glass of water, saying :
" Drink this, my dear ; it will revive you."
Erminie drank the water, and returned the tumbler to the
landlady, and said :
"Dear Mrs. Burton, please tell me all about it. She
went away the evening she wrote this letter, or the next
morning ?"
" The same evening, my dear. The evening of the day
on which the brigade marched," said the widow, placing the
empty tumbler on the table, and taking the chair nearest
her visitor.
" Yes ? " exclaimed Erminie, in tearful eagerness.
" You never heard of anything so sudden in your life !
You know, your old negro man, Uncle Bob, had been here
in the morning to bring her a note."
" It was from me."
" Well ; so she went away with Uncle Bob, and staid
away all day."
" She was with me."
" At seven o'clock, w r hile we were at tea I and my girls
she came in. I jumped up to make fresh tea for her; but
she stopped me, saying that she would take nothing then,
but might make a cup for herself by and by. And so she
106 HOW HE WON HER.
hurried through the parlor and up into her own bedroom.
She looked very much agitated, and that is the sacred truth.
I spoke of her appearance to my girls ; and they thought it
was because she was grieving after some friends who might
have gone with the brigade."
" Yes, that was it," said Erminie, frankly.
" Later in the evening she came down. I and my girls
were still at work. I thought she wanted her tea, and again
I got up to make her some ; but again she stopped me, saying
something like this :
" Mrs. Burton, I am about to leave you I must do so
to-night. Would you mind sending Johnny to call a car-
riage for me ? '
( " Now Johnny is my nephew, on a visit to me at pres-
ent.) I looked at her in perfect astonishment to hear her
talk of leaving me so suddenly at that hour of the night.
And when I looked I saw her face was as white as marble
and nearly as hard in its expression of settled determina-
tion.
"'My dear Miss Conyers,' I said, 'I hope you have
heard no bad news that takes you away to-night. Hadn't
you better wait till to-morrow ? It is very late to leave the
house.' "
" ' I must go nevertheless. Can you let Johnny call a
carriage for me ? ' she said.
" I declare I was so struck all in a heap that I hardly
knew whether I was standing on my head or my heels.
Johnny was drawing pictures on the slate by my side.
And the livery stable was no great distance off; so I said
' Yes,' and sent the boy right away to call the carriage.
" And she went up stairs to put on her things, and I
went down into the kitchen to make her a cup of tea and a
round of toast; for I knew I should have time to do it,
because the livery men would be at least twenty minutes
getting the carriage ready; and the kettle was already
ABOUT BRITOMARTE. 107
boiling ; and I was determined she shouldn't go out of my
house without her tea. So, sure enough in about ten min-
utes I had it all ready, and took it up on the waiter, and
set it on the parlor table. She was sitting there, with her
bonnet and shawl on, and her traveling basket in her hand.
"'Try and eat a bit, my dear,' I said. 'You will have
plenty of time. The carriage won't be here for ten minutes
yet.'
" She smiled and thanked me her own gracious way, that
always reminds me of a princess, though I never saw one,
and she sat down and drank the tea and ate the toast, and
by that time the carriage came, little Johnny riding on the
box with the driver.
" So she got up and sent the driver up to her room to
bring her trunk down ; and while he was doing that, she
took out her little purse and paid me the week's board,
though it wanted two days of being due. And then she
gave me this letter for you.
" And when the man had put her trunk on the carriage,
she bade us all good-bye.
"'But where are you going, my dear?' I asked, as I
held her hand, unwilling oh, yes, the Lord knows how
unwilling to see her go.
" ' To Baltimore,' she answered.
" ' But there is no train to-night,' I said.
" ' I shall go by the very first train in the morning. In
order to make sure of it, I shall stop to-night at the best
hotel that I can find nearest the station.'
" And so, kissing me and thanking me for what she called
my motherly kindness to her, she went out.
" ' But you will write and let us know how you are ? ' I
called after her.
"'Yes, yes,' she answered, waiving her hand from the
carriage which was then driving off."
The widow ceased to speak, and Erminie, leaning her
head upon her hand, sighed deeply.
1.08 HOW HE WON HEK.
" And is that all you can tell me, Mrs. Burton ? n
inquired Miss Eosenthal.
" Every bit, my dear."
" You haven't heard a word from her since ? "
" Not one word."
" Have you the least idea of what she intends to do in
Baltimore ? "
" Not the least. She went away so suddenly that I
hadn't time to question her much, even if she would have
submitted to be questioned. Dear me, it all passed like a
flash of lightning. Before I could realize that s-he was
going, she was gone ! " said the widow. Then, after a
short pause, she inquired : " Have you any suspicion what
she intends to do, Miss Rosenthal ? "
" Indeed no. I wish to Heaven I had ! " answered
Erminie, mournfully.
And then, finding that she could learn no more to throw
light on the mystery of Britomarte's departure, she arose,
thanked the widow for the information given, and left the
house.
On reaching the parsonage, Erminie found luncheon
ready, and Elfie waiting for her.
" Minie," said that impatient young lady, "if you are of
the heavens, heavenly, and can live without eating, I'll
have you know that I'm ' of the earth, earthy,' and can't do
without victuals. It was seven o'clock when we breakfasted,
and now it is three."
" My dearest Elfie, always eat when you are hungry, and
don't wait for me. I have been to Britomarte's boarding
house," said Erminie.
" Yes, I know, and found her all right, I dare say."
" I found her place empty. She has left ! "
" ' Left ! ' " echoed Elfie in astonishment.
Yes. Oh, what a pity ! "
" But where has she gone ? "
ABOUT BRITOMARTE. 109
" To Baltimore ; but to what part of the city we do not
know. She gave no address, but simply ' TV. TV., Balti-
more post office.' Here is the letter she left me. The
landlady could tell me little more than the letter," said
Erininie, handing it to Elfie.
" l My heyes ! ' as the cockneys observe, here is a go !
Have you any idea what she is going to do, Erminie ? "
" Not the slightest ! "
" I have, then ! "
"What? What?"
"She is going into the army ! "
"Oh, Elfie! never!"
" I tell you s"he is ! I am just as sure of it as I am of
my own life ! Else why should she go off without taking
leave of us ? "
i Why, indeed ! " repeated Erminie.
"You see she didn't want to be cross-questioned, as to
her intentions."
" She might not have wished to be cross-questioned ; and
yet she might have had no such intention as you suspect,"
said Erminie.
" Bosh ! I tell you, Erminie, she has gone into the army.
You know what her sentiments are ! You know what her
spirit, courage, and independence are ! You know that she
is not responsible to any human being in the world for her
actions! And you also know what a consummate actress
she is, and how perfectly she would enact the part of a
soldier. And finally, Erminie, you know, for you have often
heard her declare, that she will keep the laws of God and
man, and in other respects do as she pleases ! "
" Yes, yes, yes ! I know all that you have said. But,
oh ! Heaven forbid that she should have done as you
suppose," sighed Erminie.
" She has done the deed ! And neither you nor I could
prevent her from doing it ! So now come sit down and
HO HOW HE WON HER.
have some luncheon ! Pap's gone, Ethel's gone, Justin's
gone, Alberta's gone, (but she's a good riddance of bad
rubbish !) and now Britomarte's gone ! All are gone but
me ! But take comfort, Minie, dear ! Though all the rest
are gone, I will never go ! I will never leave you alone ! "
said Elfie, with some real feeling, and with full faith that
she could keep the promise she had made.
But Elfie "reckoned without her host." Destiny, had
ordained that she should be torn away from her friend and
carried off by guerrillas.
Erminie wrote to Britomarte, entreating her to return to
Washington, or at least to write and satisfy her anxious
friends as to her prospects.
By return mail she received an answer, in which Miss
Conyers thanked her for her affectionate interest, but begged
her to dismiss anxiety and trust Britomarte's welfare to
Britomarte's wit.
But Erminie's anxiety was only diverted to another
quarter. That evening's papers brought news of a severe
battle in which Justin's regiment had been engaged, and in
which the Union arms were victorious.
And Erminie suffered the most acute anxiety until she
received a letter from her brother full of good news of the
victory and kind messages to friends, proving that he was
quite well.
And Erminie's soul rejoiced in thanksgiving.
Indeed, that summer of victories had so raised the spirits
of all loyal people in Washington, as well as elsewhere, that
long discontinued festivities began to be resumed; and,
among the rest, picnic excursions became frequent.
The fine weather lingered long that season, and the early
autumn was followed by an Indian Summer of unparalleled
beauty and geniality.
In the very midst of that delicious season, when any
rational human being, free from care or pain, might have
ABOUT BRITOMARTE. Ill
been happy in any place, Elfie grew weary of the pleasant
parsonage and wished for a change of scene, " if only for a
day," she said.
And so, instigated, no doubt, by the great enemy of man-
kind, she went about among her young acquaintances idle
young ladies, with nothing to do, and worse than idle young
men who had dodged the draft, and she proposed to get up
a picnic party to go to The Great Falls of the Potomac,
of all places in the world.
" You know, Erminie," she argued, in defending herself
to her hostess, " I have been shut up in this beleagured city
so long, for nearly three years, unable to get into the coun-
try on account of the guerrilla's, that indeed I feel like a
prisoner longing to escape."
" But I thought you promised not to leave me," said Er-
minie, who (though from no selfish motive) disapproved the
venture altogether.
" Neither do I intend to leave you. I intend that you
shall go too. Think, Erminie ! the weather is so perfectly
beautiful ! pleasanter than we could have it at any other
season of the year. It is just dry and cool and bright
enough to be entirely delightful ! "
"But, Elfie, in these unsettled times and that unsettled
neighborhood it is scarcely prudent to have a picnic."
" Oh, gammon ! There is nothing to be dreaded from
the guerrillas now. Of the three great bands that ravage
the banks of the Potomac, not one is in the neighborhood
of Washington not within a hundred miles. Monck is
in the Shenandoah Valley, where he has enough to do to
take care of himself and his command. The ' Free Sword '
is a fugitive and his band dispersed or hiding in the fast-
nesses of the Alleghanies. And my traitor, set fire to him !
must be very far away indeed, since he has not been heard
of for so many months, I tell you it will be as safe as safety
to have a picnic excursion to the Great Falls -so far as
the guerrillas are concerned," pouted Elfie.
112 HOW HE WON HER.
"Yes, perhaps, so far as they are concerned. But the
guerrillas are not the only dangers, or the most likely ones
to beset you, Elfie. The country you would have to pass
through is infested with stragglers and deserters from both
armies. And these are equally as cruel and ruthless as the
guerrillas. Indeed, we hear of many more outrages from
the former than the latter."
" So we do, but not along that road particularly. What
should our pickets be about, to let such beasts of prey ram-
page all over the country ? "
" Our pickets themselves get shot down frequently."
" Oh, bosh ! You're trying to frighten me, Erminie. /
will go. So there, now. The autumn woods are perfectly
enchanting now, and I'm just dying to see them. And I
haven't had a glimpse of the * Ole Virginny Shore ' for
three years, and I'm dying to see that also. And I never,
in the whole course of my life, set eyes upon a live guer-
rilla, or a dead one, either, for that matter, and I'm dying
to have a ' skrimmage ' with them. Erminie, I'd go all the
sooner if I thought there was the slightest chance of our
having a skirmish with guerrillas. But there's-no such
good luck, unfortunately. Our excursion will be as safe as
the perfection of dullness could desire."
" Oh, you perverse girl. I see that you are bent upon
running the risk, so I shall say no more about it," said
Erminie.
"Say no more about it, and think no more about it
about its imaginary dangers, I mean for no dangers really
exist. And you will go with us, Erminie ? "
" No, dear ; I have failed to persuade you to give up the
excursion, but I cannot join you in it."
" You are afraid of the guerrillas, or stragglers, or
deserters," mocked Elfie.
"No, really I am not honestly not," said Erminie.
"Then why not go with us?"
ABOUT BRITOMARTE. 113
" Because, Elfie, I don't like to leave my poor wounded
boys in the hospitals. There are some of them that look
for their ' sister/ as they call me, every day."
" You make yourself a slave to those same boys," crossly
exclaimed Elfie.
" No, I don't. I am free to go and come as I please. I
can go and comfort them, or stay away and neglect them,
as I like, but they are bond wounded, fevered, weary of
their beds, and utterly helpless, they must depend upon the
pleasure or caprice of free, healthy people to come to see
them. And there is the pity of it, Elfie."
" I wish to goodness you would have a little pity on
yourself," grumbled Elfie.
Erminie smiled.
" Thefe is not the slightest danger of any one of us fail-
ing in pity for ourselves, Elfie," she said.
"Then give yourself a holiday once in a way, and go
with us on our picnic excursion. Now, do now, do, Minie
that's a darling ! "
" I would like to oblige you, Elfie dear, and I should not
dislike the trip up the river this beautiful Indian summer
weather, but I cannot go with you this time."
" Well, upon my word, you ' sainted girls ' as I have
heard more than one white-cravated and blue-spectacled
young parson call you, are the most stubborn and ' stiff-
necked generation ' that ever was ! I do believe you refuse
just out of opposition to me."
" No, Elfie. Listen, dear : During the three days that I
was prevented from going to the hospital, one of my poor
boys died. And he wanted to see me, and kept asking for
me and looking for me poor, helpless boy ! as long as he
lingered in life. I shall never cease to be sorry for my ab-
sence then ; and now, as long as there shall remain a
wounded and bed-ridden soldier in these hospitals, whom
my presence can comfort or cheer, I will never leave the
7
114 HOW HE WON HER.
city for a party of pleasure. No dying eyes shall ever
again strain themselves to look for me in vain ! " said Er-
minie, gravely and earnestly.
" Oh ! Erminie, dear, you are a saint, and I fear I very
much fear, that you will be a martyr, too ! " said Elfie, more
seriously than she had yet spoken ; for she was at length
really and deeply touched by the words of Erminie.
But the Lutheran's orphan daughter slowly shook her
head, gravely answering :
" Don't misapply such terms of praise to me, dear Elfie.
' Saint ' and ' martyr ' are holy names that few in this age
of the world deserve to bear, and I least of all."
" Oh ! you mean, I suppose, that the only way to be a
saint is to abjure the world and cleanliness and live alone,
in sackcloth and ashes ; and to be a martyr, is to set up
some new doctrine and die for it," said Elfie.
"No, you mocker you know that I mean no such
thing," laughed Erminie.
" I'm glad you don't ; for I hold that the man or woman
who devotes him or herself to the service of their suffering
fellow-creatures, is as good a saint as ever preferred his own
company to other people's filthy sackcloth to clean linen ;
and he or she who dies in such a service, I hold to be as
good a martyr as ever offered up his life for a difference of
opinion in politics or theology ! "
" So do I, Elfie," said Erminie.
And here the talk stopped.
This conversation occurred on the Wednesday of that
week.
And the picnic excursion that most disastrous picnic
excursion was fixed for the following Saturday.
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 115
CHAPTER IX.
S UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PIC NIC.
Outlaw and free thief,
Landless and lawless,
Through the world fare I,
Thoughtless of life.
Outlaw and free thief,
My kinsmen have left me,
And no kinsmen need I
Till my kinsmen need me.
My sword is my father,
My shield is rny mother,
My ship is my sister.
My horse is my brother. CHARUSS KINGSLET.
WE have seen that Miss Rosenthal could not succeed in
prevailing on her perverse guest to abandon the picnic
excursion. And, indeed, the sanguine young people who
came on the next day to the Parsonage to arrange with
Miss Fielding the details of the festival, contrived to re-
assure Erminie as to the perfect safety of the expedition.
"The roads are guarded on hoth sides by our pickets,
and the country for miles back is quite free from dangerous
characters," said Mr. Allison, a young man of fortune, who
had a substitute in the field, risking his life in Mr. Allison's
stead.
" Besides, we shall all go armed to the teeth, and deter-
mined to die if necessary, in defence of the ladies ! " said
Mr. Jim Mini, a very small young man, with a " wee face
and little yellow beard," but with, I do believe, the soul of
a hero, for he had done his very best to get into the army,
and had been rejected a score of times upon the ground of
physical disability.
" But to use your own phrase," said Erminie, smiling,
" ' will it pay ' in enjoyment to go upon a party of pleasure
when you have to go ' armed to the teeth/ and keep up a
vjgilant watch all the time ? "
" Oh, dear, yes ! a spice of danger will only add zest to
116 HOW HE WON HER.
the adventure. I agree with Miss Fielding that nothing
could be more piquant than an encounter with Monck and
his fierce band," put in Mr. Montgomery Fitz Smithers, a
huge six-footer, with the body of a giant and the spirit of a
pigmy, who had crept out of the draft upon the plea of
being the only nephew of a maiden aunt, or something of
the sort.
"The spice of danger you speak of may add to your
enjoyment, gentlemen; but it. can scarcely add to the com-
fort of the young ladies of your party," said Erminie.
" I do assure you, Miss Wothenthall, that the danger is
altogweder imaginawy. Our awmes are only pwecaution-
ary measures against the bare possibility of mere annoy-
ance ; and evwy awangement shall be made for the comfort
of the ladies," lisped Mr. Lew Billingcoo, a very exquisite
dandy, whose chief merits lay in a neat little figure, a
round little head, a nice little face, and a " cute " little
moustache, as to person ; and a jet black suit, snow white
linen, pure diamond studs, new kid gloves, fresh pocket
handkerchief, and a rare hot-house flower stuck into his
button-hole, as to dress.
" Only a clerk," he spent all his small income on his out-
ward adornments, and hoped to marry an heiress who should
pay his board bill and make his fortune.
Mr. Billingcoo paid the most devoted attention to every
one of the few " moneyed " young ladies of his acquaintance,
and he expected all pretty girls who were not moneyed to
pay devoted attention to him ; and more's the pity he
was not always disappointed.
Woe betide this exquisite young gentleman if he should
fall into the hands of the " roughs " of Monck's, or any other
guerrilla's band !
Erminie, convinced against her will, offered no farther
opposition to the picnic excursion, but set about, with affec-
tionate zeal, to forward the views of the party.
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 117
Old Frederica, the cook, was directed to boil a ham and a
leg of mutton, and to roast a turkey and a pair of fowls.
Erminie herself made lemon pies and pound cakes, besides
giving Elfie a carte blanche to order or prepare anything she
liked ; for she wished that the hamper from the parsonage
should be excelled by none.
Mr. Allison, being the rich man of the party, provided the
most costly wines to be procured.
Mr. Montgomery Fitz Smithers, the faint-hearted colossus,
furnished a band of music consisting of four pieces.
Mr. Jim Mim, the " feeble but ferocious " hero, nearly
ruined himself in the purchase of West India sweetmeats,
French candies, English potted meats, a-nd other rare deli-
cacies.
Mr. Lew Billingcoo, the exquisite, contributed himself,
his guitar and a bouquet of fragrant exotics for every young
lady.
Two of these young men Mr. Allison and Mr. Mini
had mothers and sisters, who were of course members of the
picnic ; Mr. Smithers had a maiden aunt, and Mr. Billing-
coo a grandmamma, who was such a lively old lady that she
was always ready for any frolic that might be set on foot by
the young people ; and these ladies were also to be of the
company. Besides these there were many other ladies and
gentlemen, making in all a company of thirty or thirty-
five.
There were three ways of reaching the Great Falls from
Washington and Georgetown. The first was by the Eiver
road ; but that was in a very bad condition from the con-
stant passage of trains of army wagons and ambulances, and
droves of mules and horses. The second by the Conduit
road, leading past the new water works; but this was
objectionable for the same reasons as was the Eiver road.
The third way was by the Chesapeake and Ohio canal ; and
this way was certainly free from the objections that could
be urged against the former two.
118 HOW HE WON HER.
So, after changing their minds half a dozen times from the
River road to the Conduit road, and back again from the
Conduit road to the River road, our party gave up both as
impracticable and determined to go by the canal, and to
charter the bright little steamboat Gadfly to take them.
The picnickers wished to pay for this boat by subscription ;
but Allison, the millionaire, insisted upon taking it in his
own name and being at all the charges for transportation.
A cook, a couple of waiters and a chambermaid, all colored
people, were engaged to attend upon the company.
At length the long expected, ardently desired, eventful
Saturday came.
The picnickers were to assemble at the parsonage. And
by five o'clock in the morning, Erminie, whom you know
to be the very soul of kindness, had a comfortable breakfast
prepared for the whole party, who were all on hand by a
quarter past five. By six o'clock four ambulances and a
baggage wagon, all borrowed from the quarter-master's de-
partment, were in attendance to convey the whole party
with all their stores to High street, Georgetown, where
they were to take the boat, and where also the band of music
and the colored waiters, cook and chambermaid were to
meet them.
Many hands make labor light, 'tis said; and so the young
men, h-aving breakfasted to their satisfaction on Erminie's
strong coffee, fried chickens, broiled ham, rice cakes and
rolls, set to work with a will and soon loaded the baggage
wagon with their stores. There were about thirty ladies
and gentlemen comprising this picnic party, and they ex-
pected to be gone but twelve hours ; but their stores were
enough to feed three hundred people for the same time.
When the last package was put into the baggage wagon,
the gentlemen assisted the ladies into the ambulances, and
followed them there : and the train started Erminie stand-
ing in the door a-nd looking after them, smiling and waving
adieu.
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 119
The sun had not yet risen, but the clearness of the dark
hlue sky at the zenith, and the bright red flush of the
Eastern horizon surely promised a fine day.
The horses were fresh of course, and travelled at a fine
exhilarating rate. And so great was the glee of the picnic
party, that they could scarcely refrain from breaking into
song, even there in the streets. They were only enabled to
restrain themselves by thinking how they would sing when,
once free of the city and town.
An hour's rapid jolting brought them to the lock in
Georgetown, where the little canal steamboat Gadfly, with
the Union flag flying, lay puffing- and blowing as with impa-
tience to receive them. Their colored band of musicians and
their colored servants were standing on the deck waiting for
them.
The party quickly alighted from their ambulances, and
went on board the boat.
The servants speedily unloaded the baggage-wagon, and
transferred the stores to the deck.
And just as the sun arose, the band of music struck up
Hail Columbia, and the little steamer blew her shrill signal
whistle, and started for up the country.
Past the useful and necessary, but excessively ugly ware-
houses, past the lumber yards and fish market, past the
Aqueduct Bridge and the suburban grog-shops, steamed the
little Gadfly, until she was well free of the town and its
suburbs, and in a comparatively quiet country, with the
narrow tow path and the broad river on the south, and the
narrow road and rocky precipice on the north.
The party were all on deck, and as soon as they dared
do so they broke into song. First they sang "Hail
Columbia/' because the band was playing that tune. Then
in turn followed " Yankee Doodle," " The Star Spangled
Banner," " Rally Round the Flag, Boys," " John Brown,"
'' We are Coining, Father Abraham," " the Year ob
120 HOW HE WON HER.
Jubillo," " Just Before the Battle," and, in fact, one aftei
another, every popular song of the day. If music had been
their profession, and if they had been well paid for singing
so many songs at one time, they would have thought that
they had been working too hard, and they would have felt
very tired; but as they were singing only for their own
amusement, they were insensible to fatigue. But then you
see it makes all the difference whether our violent exertions
are called work or play. There are those who fretfully play
at work, and those who cheerfully work at play, and those
who invariably do both.
Our picnickers were very perseveringly working at play.
They were, indeed, so taken up with their singing, that
thev found themselves at the picturesque Chain Bridge
Military Depot, four miles above Georgetown, before they
knew where they were.
" How far do you call it from here to the Great Falls ?"
inquired Ben. Allison of one of the young officers of the
post, as the steamer was passing through the lock.
" Some call it nine miles only, but / think it nine of the
very longest miles / ever travelled," laughingly answered
the young man.
The boat passed the lock, steamed on her way, and soon
left the Chain Bridge behind.
They were now coming into a wild, romantic, and beauti-
fu 1 region of country.
On the north side of the canal arose the lofty, dark gray
rocks, like pallisades, from every crevice of which grew the
hardy evergreen, or sprang the bright mountain rrll. Along
the foot of this rocky precipice, at equal distances, nestled
the picturesque huts of the pickets, each hut built of rough
logs, with the bark on, aiid thatched with evergreen boughs
of fir, pine or cedar, and having in front its little camp-fire,
and its group of three or four soldiers.
As the little steamboat glided past these stations, the pic-
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 121
nickers cheered these picket guards, and pelted them well
with apples, oranges, cocoa nuts, poundcakes, and packets
of newspapers.
And the pickets in return cheered them, and threw into
their boat hares, quails, and partridges, that they had killed
in that country, so abounding in game.
All this was on the right hand of the way, and north
side of the canal.
On the opposite, or south side, and divided from it only
by the narrow tow-path, rolled the broad river, and beyond
that arose the wooded hills of Virginia, now gorgeous in the
variegated hues of autumn foliage.
"I think this is the most delightful season for a picnic
excursion of this sort, for really the summer is as much
too hot as the winter is too cold for an outdoor party of
pleasure. What do you think, Mr. Billingcoo ? " inquired
Elfie of the exquisite, who was standing by her side, as she
gazed on the beautiful scenery, and basked in the genial
sunshine.
" I think you are quite wight, Mith Fielding, and I quite
agwee with you. It ith a gweat pity Mith Wothenthal
could not be induthed to join uth."
"Isn't it now! And she would Iteve prevented me from
coming if she could have done so ! The idea of any one
imagining danger in this excursion ! I wonder where the
danger is to come from ! Here is a line of picket guards
on one side of us and the river on the other. I should like
to know how the guerrillas, even if they were in the neigh-
borhood, could pass either. I wish they would for my part !
I should enjoy a smart skirmish with Monck and his men !
Heigh-ho ! there is no such good luck. Our picnic excur-
sion is going to be just as tame a party of pleasure as
though we were in the pipinest times of peace. I tell you,
Mr. Billingcoo, as far as my experience goes, this war's a
sell, like most other things in lite."
122 HOW HE WON HER.
" Weally now ? you don't mean it ! "
" I do. Here it has been going on for more than three
years, and I have been living -all this time at what they call
1 the seat of war/ and I haven't seen one great battle or
even one little skirmish yet ! " grumbled Elfie.
"And do you weally with to witneth an engagement,
Mith Fielding ? "
" I really do."
" How would an engagement thealed with a wedding
wing do, in lack of an engagement with the enemy ? "
lisped the exquisite, caressing his moustache.
" If you like to talk rubbish, Mr. Billingcoo, there are
some young ladies at the other end of the boat w r ho will
listen to you with the utmost patience all day long," said
Elfie, coldly.
" Weally, now ? Ith that tho ? But thuppothe I pwefer
your company ? "
" Then you will have to talk sense or be silent."
"Mith Fielding, you are cwuel."
" Mr. Billingcoo, you are absurd ! "
" Tho I've heard. I 1 wonder if it ith weally twue. I
will go and athk niy grandmamma," said the young gentle-
man, coolly playing with, the tea-rose in his button-hole,
and sauntering off to join the lively old lady, and leaving
Elfie to wonder whether she had not got the worst of it in
the word fencing.
So the boat glided along, on that delightful morning,
through the wild and picturesque scenery of the Upper
Potomac.
And our excursionists, notwithstanding that they were on
a party of pleasure, really enjoyed themselves.
It was yet early in the day, when they reached the Great
Falls of the Potomac, where the mighty river, rushing on
between huge precipices, clothed with evergreen woods, falls
into a vast basin, or cauldron, where, among great, jagged
rocks, it roars and foams in frightful eddies and whirlpools.
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 123
In that dry, Indian summer weather, the river was so
lo'V at the falls, that any brave and dexterous leaper, who
w*uld not mind risking life and limb, by springing, from
rc-ik to rock, across the whirlpools, might have passed dry-
st d from shore to shore.
The boat stopped there.
The military officer in charge of the commissary depot
ca ne down from the block-house to see the visitors.
After bowing to the ladies, and shaking hands with Mr.
A] '.ison, who was his old acquaintance, and learning that
th3 visitors were a company of picnickers on a party of
pleasure, he courteously invited them all to come on shore,
and accept such hospitality as h'is quarters were able to
aFord.
But, knowing from personal experience that the accom-
modations of the block-house were not of the most tempt-
ing description, Allison, on the part of the company,
thanked the captain, declined the invitation, and pressed
him, instead, to Join them at their lunch, and accompany
them afterwards as guide in their rambles through the
magnificent scenery of the place.
The captain readily agreed to this proposition, and then
eagerly inquired if they had brought the morning papers
along.
" Lots of them," answered Allison, laughing. " I
thought of that before I came away. I knew that the most
acceptable offering I could bring to men stationed at these
sequestered outposts would be the daily papers. I knew it
would be too early for the newsboys; so before reporting
myself at the parsonage, where our party assembled to start,
I went the rounds of the printing-offices and astonished the
printers by buying up the morning papers by hundreds.
And we have been distributing them to the picket guards
all along our way. And groat gifts our boys thought them,
I assure you. However, don't be alarmed ; we have saved
enough for you."
124 HOW HE WON HER.
And so saying, Allison handed over a packet of news-
papers, that was as welcome to the officer in command of
this outpost, as ever was news from home to an exile
ahroad.
Meanwhile, with laughing and jesting, and much merri-
ment, the picnickers were leaving the hoat.
The hampers were brought on shore ; a nice, high spot, a
natural opening in the forest, was selected ; the cloth was
kid on the dry, burnished grass, and the feast was spread
a light repast of fruits, cakes and wines, for it was yet too
early to think of dinner.
" But how about the guerrillas ? Heard or seen anything
of Monck and his band of brigands, lately ? " inquired Mr.
Allison of the captain, as they all gathered around the
luncheon, and sat down upon t-he grass.
" Not a breath, not a sign of them for many weeks past,"
answered the officer.
" That's good. I'm glad to hear that. I shouldn't like
to have a raid made upon our party to-day."
This was said jestingly, and the captain laughed as he
replied :
" Oh, no fear of that. The guerrillas keep far enough
away from our neighborhood. ; A11 quiet along the
Potomac,' I do assure you."
So in the evergreen wood they chatted, and jested, and
laughed over the prolonged luncheon.
At length they all a-rose from the grass, and began to
prepare for their ramble. The ladies hoisted their parasols,
the gentlemen put on their wide-awakes, and everybody
asked everybody else
" Where shall we go first ? "
" Have you ever seen the Lady's Leap ? " inquired the
captain.
" No never," answered a score of voices.
"Nor the Devil's Dripping Pan ? "
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 125
"No."
" Nor the Eagle's Eyrie ? "
" No, for no one but myself of this company has ever
been here before," answered Allison for all his party.
" Then we had better visit them in turn," counselled the
captain.
And everybody answered
"Yes."
And the whole party, led on by the captain and Mr.
Allison, set out on their excursion.
They went first to the Lady's Leap, a lofty rock over-
looking the Falls, where a lovesick girl was reputed to have
taken a fatal leap into the river below.
Next they visited the Devil's Dripping Pan, a great
basin of rock nearly circular in form.
Finally they took a look at the Eagle's Eyrie, the highest
point of land within many miles of the place.
And then, fatigued with their long ramble, they returned
to their boat to rest.'
Now, had the programme of the excursion been carried
out to the letter, a great mischance might have been
averted. But it was not.
Elfie, at least, seemed possessed by the evil one, who
inspired her with a love of adventure. She would not hear
of terminating the excursion at the Great Falls. It was a
glorious afternoon, and having visited the most striking
scenes around the Falls, she wished to go farther up the
river.
The captain, who had returned with them on the boat,
sided with Elfie.
" It would be a pity," he said, " to turn back without
having seen the fine scenery above. Why, you might even
run up as high as the Point of Kocks a magnificent
view."
" To be sure we might," said Elfie j " and even if we
126 HOW HE WON HER.
should be late in returning, there will be moonlight'to come
home by. It will be perfectly delightful."
" And we have everything along to make us comfortable,"
said Allison.
In fact, when the extension of their expedition was once
fairly and broadly proposed and discussed, it was unani-
mously agreed upon.
And it was decided that they should immediately start
for the upper river, should stop and dine at the Point of
Hocks, and then return home by moonlight.
To be sure Elfie felt a few twinges of conscience when
she thought how great would be Erminie's anxiety at her
prolonged absence, but Elfie, with a mental jerk, exclaimed
to herself:
11 Bother ! if she shouldn't be worrying about me, she
would be worrying about somebody else some dying sol-
dier in the hospital, some starving refugee from the South,
or some condemned criminal in his cell. It's all the same
to her."
And so the picnickers bade adieu to their new friend,
the commander of the blockhouse, and their boat steamed
away up the canal for the Point of Rocks.
Above the Falls the scenery was much finer than it was
below. The river was narrower, and higher ; and the huge
frowning precipices on each shore darker and loftier.
The company, with their lately exuberant spirits some-
what toned down by the fatigues of the day, no longer
sang jubilant Union songs with uproarious choruses; but
sat silently enjoying the beauty of the scene, or quietly
conversing with each other, or listening to Mr. Billingcoo,
who, with his guitar in his hands and his eyes turned up,
reclined on the deck and sung lispingly to his own accom-
paniment one of Thomas Moore's sentimental songs :
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 127
" Kow gently here, ray gondolier,
Tho thoftly wake the tide,
That not an ear, on earth, thall hear
But herth to whom we glide.
Ah, did we take for Heaven above
But half the painth that we
Take day and night for woraan'th lore,
What angelth we thould be ! "
So he sang the whole song through, dwelling upon the
last word and lingering on the last note with his fingers on
the chords of the instrument and his eyes fixed on the
clouds in the sky, like one possessed ; until Elfie awoke him
with this criticism :
" It is very fine indeed, Mr. Billingcoo, only it would
take a very powerful effort of imagination to transform this
matter-of-fact steam-packet to a Venetian gondola. How-
ever, I really think we have the advantage of your gondo-
lier. For we are gliding by the most beautiful scenery
in the whole world, and he appears to have had nothing
better in that way than narrow canals and high stone
walls."
" Mith Fielding, have you no thentiment at all ? "
pathetically inquired the injured minstrel.
" None whatever. Nature seems to have been out of the
article when she formed me," answered Elfie.
" Oh, do, Mr. Billingcoo, sing another sweet thing like
that ! " pleaded a poetical young lady.
"And do, Mr. Billingcoo !" chimed in a chorus of others.
And the troubadour suffered himself to be entreated and
sang lispingly several other " sweet things," to the accom-
paniment of his guitar all of which the young ladies
wafmly applauded.
So glided away the glorious Indian Summer afternoon ;
and as the sun was sinking to his splendid setting, the
steamer neared the Point of Rocks.
" We had better stop here. This is a more convenient
place to land and dine than we could find without going on
128 HOW HE WON HER.
some distance above the Point. And besides it is really
growing late," said Mr. Allison.
The company eagerly assented to the plan, and the boat
was stopped where the canal passed under the shadow of a
great precipice crowned with pine woods.
" If we can get to the top of this rock, there is a fine
table land well protected from the wind, which I find is
rising, and well shaded from the sun by pine trees, and also
commanding one of the most magnificent panoramic pros-
pects in the country. That table land will be an excellent
place to dine," exclaimed Mr. Allison, while he and his
friends were getting ready to leave the boat.
They found a way to the top of the steep ; and the
gentlemen climbed carefully, helping the ladies up along
with them.
Their attendant's followed with the hampers of provis-
ions.
When the whole party arrived at the summit they found
a level piece of ground covered with dry grass, and encircled
except upon the river side, with a girdle of pine trees.
" It seems made for the very purpose we are about to put
it to," said the lively old lady, as she sank panting, but
joyous upon the ground.
" Oh, what a stupendous what an overpowering breadth
of view ! " exclaimed Elfie, in honest wonder and admira-
tion, as she reached the summit and looked around, letting
her eyes rove from East to West and from North to South.
" I feel now for the first time in my life that I actually live
on the outside of the earth's surface ; and I see for myself
that it is really round ; and I even begin to realize that it is
a vast globe rolling through the immensity of space ! "
" It looks dreadfully lonely though," observed a young
lady, with a shudder.
" Yes what a solitude ! Far as the eye can reach on
every side a forest of autumn foliage, with only here and
UNEXPECTED GUEST AT A PICNIC. 129
there a grey rock looming up, and the river rolling deeply
through it all. Not a house, not a chimney, nor even smoke,
to indicate human habitations near ! "
While the company were gazing upon the vast panorama
around them, and descanting upon its beauties, some of the
attendants were building fires on the ground, hanging kettles
over the blaze, and putting the hares, quails and patridges,
which were already dressed for the gridiron, upon the coals ;
others were laying the table-cloth and arranging the dinner
service.
Mr. Allison having seen to the careful transportation of
his costly wines, now joined the group on the edge of the
precipice.
Looking down upon the chaos of grey rock below them
he smiled and quoted :
" ' The ragged rascals rage round rugged rocks.' Now, I
wonder what on earth put that choice specimen of ingenious
alliteration into my head ? " he laughingly inquired.
" The ' wugged wockth ' of courthe," lisped Mr. Bil-
lingcoo.
" Yes ; but where are the ' ragged rascals ? ' " laughed
Allison.
" Vewy twue ! Here are the ' wugged wockth,' but where
are the ' wagged wathcalth ? ' " repeated the dandy.
The question was answered by a yell more terrible and
ferocious than ever startled a sleeping backwoods settle-
ment when a tribe of ruthless savages woke it up to
slaughter.
And forth from the cover of the pine woods leaped a
band of fierce brigands, brandishing their bayonets.
8
130 HOW HE WON HER.
CHAPTER X.
AS THE LION WO OS HIS BRIDE.
So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung.
So light to the saddle before her, he sprung. SCOTT.
OXE amazed and startled look assured the party that the
guerrillas were upon them.
Some of the young ladies fell upon their faces, screaming
with terror.
Others turned to fly, but were met and opposed by the
bayonets of the guerrillas, who fenced them on all sides.
Only Elfie stood her ground. She placed her back against
the bole of a pine tree and called those frantic girls around
her, saying :
" Stand fast ! Stand firm ! it is the best way it is the
only way ! "
" To arms ! gentlemen all ! Let us die in defence of the
ladies ! " shouted valiant little Mr. Mim, drawing his slender
sword from his cane and throwing himself before the group
of young ladies who had now gathered, frightened and
trembling, around Elfie as their queen.
Not another man followed his example.
" Surrender, you blasted Yankees, before we make crows'
meat of you ! " shouted a gigantic guerrilla, who seemed to
be the leader of the band, leaping into the centre of the
area, followed by many of his men.
Elfie stooped and whispered to her chivalric little
champion.
" Mr. Mim, resistance is quite vain ! You will only get
yourself cut to pieces by these wretches ! Throw down
your sword ! "
" Miss Fielding, I will be cut into ten thousand flinders
before they shall come at you and the other ladies ! " cried
the little hero.
AS THE LIOH WOOS HIS BRIDE. 131
" These are Goldsborough's guerrillas ; and the giant who
is leading them is the savage Mutchison, his second in
command. I know him by his picture in the illustrated
papers. Give me your dirk to defend myself, and then
surrender, Mr. Mim."
" My dirk ! Certainly, if you want it, Miss Fielding ;
but I will never surrender ! " said the little knight, begin-
ning to disengage the required weapon from its resting-place.
Then he had to let it go in a hurry, and throw himself
upon his guard ; for the colossus whom Elfie had called
Mutchison was leaping towards him, brandishing his sabre.
Little Mim met and parried the stroke that was aimed at
him.
And then followed several rapid passes. But the combat
was very unequal. Mim and Mutchison, as to their respec-
tive sizes, were like David and Goliath. And poor tiny
Mim had no miraculous sling ! When they had crossed
swords several times, Mutchison sang out :
' Yield, you little fool ! "
"Never!" shouted Mim, parrying the strokes as well as
he could, and watching for a chance to run his gigantic
antagonist through the body.
" Surrender, you blamed idiot ! I don't want to kill such
a midge as you ! " cried the guerrilla, without ceasing to lay
on.
" Then you needn't ; but take care of yourself, for I want
to kill you \ Ah, ha ! " exclaimed Mim, as he found his
opportunity and ran his rapier an inch or two into the guer-
rilla's flesh.
" Here goes then, blame you ! I was only playing at
first ; I am fighting now ! " exclaimed the angry guerrilla.
There were a few more rapid passes, and then Mutchison
sent the rapier flying from Mim's hand, and with a sweep-
ing back stroke struck him under the knees, and brought
him suddenly to the ground.
132 HOW HE WON HER.
For the first time Elfie screamed, and covered her eyes.
"Now beg for quarter, you cursed little idiot ! " roared the
guerrilla, with his foot upon the small hero's chest.
" Never ! I'll die before I'll ask my life from you ! " an-
swered Mira, defiantly.
" Well, you're a spirited little gnat, that's certain ! And
I'll give you your life. Get up ! " laughed Hutchison, re-
moving his foot from Mini's chest, and turning away to look
after his men.
Elfie stooped to raise her fallen champion.
" Oh Mim ! Mim, dear, are you hurt ? " she said, giving
him her hand to assist him in rising.
c No I- m furious ! Let me up and at him ! " exclaimed
the mite, struggling to his feet and looking about for his
rapier.
" But, dear Mim, you can't you mustn't ! You stand in
the position of a paroled prisoner now. The man spared
your life ! "
" I didn't ask him ! and I'll cut off his head ! "
" So you shall the minute you are at liberty to do so ; but
now you must keep your implied parole," said Elfie, holding
him fast ; for she was really fond of the brave little fellow,
in a sisterly sort of fashion, and she could not bear that he
should recklessly and uselessly fling away his life.
Meanwhile Mutchinson turned to his band, who now
filled the whole area.
" Hoi, my men ! No bloodshed ! Disarm these dainty
gentlemen without hurting them ! afterwards we will know
what to do with them ! " roared the guerrilla leader.
No need to caution the men against bloodshed ! There
was nothing to provoke the most wanton to it ! Little
Mim, to his everlasting honor and glory, had been the only
man to show fight. The others had not even made a pre-
tence of resistance. Where would have been the use ?
" What could they 'gainst the shock of hell? "
AS THE LION WOOS HIS BRIDE. 133
The picnic party numbered about thirty-five persons, of
whom eighteen were ladies. There were, then, but seven-
teen gentlemen ; and against them two hundred fierce guer-
rillas !
Successful resistance was clearly impossible, and the pic-
nickers yielded without a blow !
" Come ! " said Mutchison, striding into the midst of
the area and gazing around upon his "ragged rascals."
" Come ! I think the first thing to be done is to exchange
clothing with these well-dressed gentlemen, as far as they
will go ; and those among you, my brave boys, who don't
get a nice garment, shall have its equivalent in money or
jewelry, of which I suppose there is no lack among the
company present."
A shout of approbation from the band responded to this
speech.
" I think I see a gentleman there whose elegant holiday
attire seems to have been made especially for me ! " said
Mutchison, indicating the tall, athletic form of Mr. Mont-
gomery Fitz Smithers, who, not feeling elated by this dis-
tinguished notice, retired behind his companions and
squatted down out of sight.
"But the ladies must withdraw while we make our
toilet. Here, Carter, you and Gates march these girls to
the other end of the woods and guard them; and, hark
you ! if any man of you attempts to kiss one of them until
I give the word dash him ! I'll hang him as high as
Haman ! "
Two guerrillas stepped out from the crowd, and, with
fixed bayonets drove the young ladies, like a flock of sheep,
to the opposite edge of the pine woods.
No one resisted, not even Elfie ; for she had no desire to
remain and witness the interchange of good offices between
the guerrillas and the gentlemen of her party.
" And now to business ! I don't like to inconvenience
134 HOW HE WON HER.
you, my young friends, but necessity has no law ! and really
our necessities are very great none of us having had a
change of linen for two months past ! " said Hutchison.
Again I say that successful resistance was clearly im-
possible.
The guerrillas began to strip and throw their foul rags in
a nauseous heap in the middle of the ring.
And the unlucky young men had to divest themselves of
their elegant festive dresses. Their fine black broadcloth
coats and trousers, their glossy satin vests, their pure white
linen shirts, their hats, shoes, socks, neckties, pocket-
handkerchiefs, gloves, scarf pins, studs, watches, chains and
purses were all taken from them and distributed among the
guerrillas.
And then they were ordered to clothe themselves with
the wretched slough just cast by these bandits.
And it was at once ludicrous and lamentable to see these
unhappy youths poking and picking about with sticks in
the heap of rank rags, in search of the least objectionable,
where, upon examination, every one seemed worse than the
others.
" Come, come, don't be so hard to please or you will take
cold ! These clothes were worn by us long enough without
complaint ! Thunderation ! why don't you make haste and
dress yourselves ? " roared Mutchison.
And the miserable young men had no alternative but
to obey, and clothe themselves from the odoriferous mound
before them.
The greater number of the poor fellows submitted ruefully
enough to this degrading transformation.
Only Mr. Allison bore the mischance with philosophy.
" There are worse misfortunes at sea ! " he said, as he
invested himself in a nondescript garment of which it was
almost impossible to tell the original form or material, and
which now hung about him like sea-weed. " ; A little water
AS THE LION WOOS HIS BRIDE. 135
clears us from this deed ! ' In other words, when we get back
ome, a warm bath and a change of dress will make us all
right ! " he added.
" Come you ! brother giant, I'm waiting for you ! " impa-
tiently cried Hutchison to Fitz Smithers, who, with Billingcoo
\vas putting off the evil hour of undressing as long as
possible.
"Come ! Blazes, men ! will you make haste, or shall I
holp you ? "
Fitz Smithers sprang a yard from the ground in his fright,
and then began nervously to strip himself.
" And you, sir ! what are you about ? Here are several
of my poor fellows waiting for your clothes ! Off with
them instantly ! " thundered Hutchison, addressing himself
to the afflicted dandy, who would rather have died than dis-
robe.
"Oh lor! oh dear! I can't indeed I can't! I "
whimpered Billingcoo.
" Oh ! you can't, can't you ? Here, Covington here's a
young gentleman not used to waiting on himself wants his
valet. Come and help him to undress," shouted Hutchison.
A short, stout, bull-necked, black-muzzled guerrilla came
forward to execute the order, and looked around for the
victim.
" There, that dainty darling with the rose stuck in his
button-hole," said the leader.
" Oh, don't! Oh, pleathe don't ! I'll pay for them. I'll
ranthom them. Iwill indeed. My monthly pay will be due
in two or three dayth, and when I get it, I will thend you
the money from Wathington. Indeed I will, general. I'm a
man of honor," pleaded Billingcoo.
" Take off his coat ! " roared Hutchison.
"Oh, don't touch me with thuch thocking dirty handth ;
I'll let you have my coat," said the poor fellow, carefully
removing the tea rose from his button-hole, and handing
136 HOW HE WON HER
over the garment, " but leave me the retht of my clotheth,
do, now, general, and I'll thend you lotht of money from
Wathington."
" Take off his trousers ! You see he can't do it for him-
self ! " thundered Mutchison.
The black-muzzled approached to obey.
"No, don't! don't come too near me! You are thuch a
thocking nuithanth ! " cried the exquisite, shrinking in dis-
gust. " I will give you my 'panth, and they are quite new
bought for thith occathon. But leave me my under gar-
menth. Do, general. Do leave me my under garmenth.
For dethenthy's sake, you know. Do, now, general ! " pleaded
the poor fellow, with tears in his eyes.
" I am no more a general than you are a man, you
nincompoop. I am one of Colonel Goldsborough's captains,
that's all. Here, Covington, peel him peel him ? "
" Oh, no, no, no ! don't touch me with thothe awful
handth ! Take all take everything, mitherable man that I
am!" wept the dandy, throwing off one garment after
another, to the great amusement of his companions, who,
having completed their exchange of dress, now forgot their
own miseries in watching the ludicrous distress of Bil-
lingcoo.
When, with shivering frame and chattering teeth, he at
length approached the mound of rags to clothe himself, and
began to poke about in it with a stick to find something
possible to put on, suddenly burst into a flood of tears,
exclaiming:
" I wouldn't mind their being tho wagged, but they are
tho thockingly unclean, and tbo tho inthecty ! "
" Never mind their being insecty, Billingcoo. There are
worse misfortunes at sea," repeated Allison.
While the miserable youth was investing his dainty
person in these revolting garments, there was a shout
among the guerrillas near, and one of them exclaimed :
AS THE LION WOOS HIS BRIDE. 137
" There is another fellow who hasn't peeled himself,
Captain ! "
Mutchison turned and saw little Mim standing at the foot
of the great pine tree where Elfie had ordered him to
remain, for this champion would no more have disobeyed
his queen than would the renewed Knight of La Mancha
the fair lady of Toboso.
" Oh, my plucky pigmy ! Let him alone, I say ! I won't
have him touched ! He deserves to keep his clean clothes
for showing so much spirit. And dash me if I don't hang
the first man that lays a finger on him ! " roared the giant.
Then turning about, he shouted, until his voice reached
the other end of the wood :
" Hoi ! Carter ! Gates ! march the ladies back again !
We're dressed to receive them ! "
And as the young ladies, driven before the fixed bayonets
of the two guerrillas, approached the scene, they gazed
upon their late companions with ludicrous consternation.
Scarcely a gentleman of the party was recognizable. All '
were in rags that hung about them in shreds like strings,
fringes, tags anything but clothes. Some had hats with a
rim, but no crown, others crowns, but no rim ; no one had a
whole tile, and even those who were favored with half a one
had no shoes, and those who had shoes had no hats. Some
had trousers whose ragged legs dangled just below their
knees, but no coats ; others had apologies for coats, but
nether garments of which the less said the better. And all
pervaded with an atmosphere that would have driven away
any set of ladies not marched in at the point of the
bayonet.
Some of these victims shrunk out of sight in the crowd,
as their fair friends drew near; others turned the mischance
into a joke. Poor Billingcoo, who was in the worst plight
of all, because he had hud the last pickings of the rags,
tried to hide himself from Eliie's laughing eyes, but oould
not succeed.
138 HOW HE WON. HER.
" Oh, Mith Fielding," he cried, with the tears running
down his face, " don't look at me ! Turn away your eyeth,
for they break my heart ! "
At this Elfie burst into an irrepressible fit of laughter, in
which she was joined by all her companions, whose sense of
the ludicrous, for the time being, overcame their terrors.
" Oh, grandma ! thee how they laugh at me ! And who
can blame them? for only thee what a guy fox the
wretcheth have made of me ! " wept Billingcoo.
" Don't be a simpleton, Lew. And don't call bad names.
Thank Providence that you've saved your life with the loss
of your clothes," said the old lad} 7 .
Here the voice of Mutchison roared above all other
noises :
""Hoi! Grinnel! Have the dinner dished up ! we'll dine
sumptuously on the fare provided by our entertainers, the
picnic party ! And afterwards we'll have a dance, for I see
they've got a band here. Hoi ! you nigger minstrels !
Tune up your instruments. We'll march to our meals to
the sound of music ! Come ! strike up ! "
The terrified darkies, either knowing no better or forget-
ting in their fright all they ought to have remembered,
struck up " Hail Columbia/'
" Not that ! Not that ! dash you ! What do you mean,
burn you ? Dixie ! ' play Dixie ! ' " thundered Mutch-
ison.
The panic-stricken musicians obeyed as well as they
could, and struck up "Dixie," though in rather a quavering
and uncertain style.
" Come, gentlemen and ladies, now to dinner, and after-
wards to the dance. Boys, you who are in evening dresses,
each select the lady of his choice and lead her gallantly.
And that reminds me ! My brave little knight of the pig-
mies, take the lady you would have died to defend you see
uo harm has happened to her and conduct her to dinner I
AS THE LION WO OS HIS BRIDE. 139
' None but the brave,
None but the brave,
None but the BKAVE deserve the fair ! ' "
Before Mini could reply, Elfie, to keep him out of mis-
chief and also to escape the escort of any of the guerrilla
hand, seized his hand firmly and drew it through her arm.
"Age before beauty ! And I would not be remiss in
courtesy. I have a grandmamma of my own somewhere
down in Dixie!" exclaimed Mutchison, dancing up to the
old lady, tucking her under his arm and leading the way to
the dinner table, followed by Elfie and Mim, and members
of the guerrilla band leading young ladies, who were too
much frightened to offer any sort of opposition.
" Now don't be scared, girls. Take it coolly as you can.
Bless your hearts, these men aint agoing to hurt a hair of
your heads. And this adventure with guerrillas will be
something for you to talk about to your grandchildren when
your hair is as gray as mine is now," said the lively old
lady, as she settled herself comfortably upon a little hillock
of dry grass that Mutchison had found for her, near the
table cloth where the feast was spread. And such a feast !
There were oysters, fish and game; baked and boiled
meats ; poultry ; pastry ; canned fruits ; confectionary ; ale,
wine and brandy.
Such " gentlemen" as had ladies on their arms gathered
around the outer edge of the " spread " a gentleman and
lady sitting alternately.
Before seating himself, Mutchison looked about and
thought he saw great discontent among the famished mem-
bers of his band who were left outside of this favored circle
around the tablecloth, and so he sang out:
" Boys ! there are provisions enough in the hampers,
boxes and barrels over there around the cooking fires, to
feed the whole band. Away with you and help your-
selves!"
140 * HOW HE WON HER.
The starved ragamuffins needed no second bidding, but
started off en masse for the reserved stores.
The dinner at which Mutchison presided, went off very
merrily for the guerrillas; not so very much so for the
picnickers.
Hutchison drank a great deal more of Allison's choice
brandy than was good for him ; and towards the last of the
feast he lost his temper, and began to swear at the waiters
and bully the musicians ; and then he apologized to the
ladies for forgetting their presence, laying the blame on his
camp life, deprived of their refining influence.
The feast was very prolonged, and Mutchison and his
boon companions chose to linger still longer over their wine ;
but he would on no account permit the ladies to retire. Ho
had been too long debarred from their delightful society to
give it up easily, he said.
Meanwhile the sun had set ; and Mntchison ordered some
of his men to light pine knots and hold them aloft, to
illuminate the scene.
And a score or two of these primitive torches made the
whole area sufficiently light.
When at length the feast came to an end, Mutchison rose
from his seat, crying out ;
" A dance ! a dance ! Strike up the Virginia reel,
'darkies ! That is the figure that will take in an unlimited
number of performers. And here is a natural hall large
enough to allow a reel a quarter of a mile long. And dash
me to dust if every man-jack sha'ii't join ! Take your
partners, gentlemen ; I've got mine ! "
And instigated by the very spirit of mischief, he seized
the lively old lady, who was too wise to resist, and trotted
her off to the head of the reel to open the ball.
" Come, my little miniature hero ; don't be backward !
Bring the lady of your worship along ! " cried Mutchison.
And Elfie, to keep her little champion out of trouble,
drew him into the reel.
AS THE LION WOOS HIS BRIDE. 141
The guerrillas, with their unwilling partners, followed.
And even the wretched youth of the picnic party were
compelled to join the orgies.
And a reel commenced, wild as the dance of witches in
Kirk Alloway, where old Nick was piper.
" The mirth and fun grew fast and furious!
The piper loud and louder blew!
The dancers fast and faster flew !
They reeled, they set, they crossed, they "
Suddenly, in the midst of these orgies, a cheer was heard
from the men in the back ground. And an officer, mounted,
and attended by his staff, galloped up in the midst of the
area.
" My traitor ! " exclaimed Elfie, under her breath, as she
recognized Albert Goldsborough.
A very handsome man was this guerrilla chief this
licensed brigand, who bore a colonel's commission. He was
taller and stouter than when first presented to the reader;
his hair and beard were of a darker and richer auburn ; his
face and figure more martial and dignified than heretofore.
So Elfie thought as she covertly watched him.
He dashed into the midst of his band and raised his
hand, exclaiming :
" Break up your bivouac ! Boots and saddles ! A
squadron of the enemy's cavalry are out in search of us :
and they have struck our trail ! "
A yell of defiance responded to this announcement, as
the men all started to go in search of their horses, which
were left tied in the pine woods.
A few men, however, remained, guarding the prisoners.
" Leave these people to find their way home as they can !
We cannot be encumbered with them ! And Mutchison !
seize that girl and bring her along after me ! that girl in
the claret-colored dress ! " cried Goldsborough.
" Claret ? " repeated Mutchison, looking around in per-
plexity ; for he was very considerably " fuddled."
142 HOW HE WON HER.
" Seize the girl in the red stuff gown, and bring her after
me ! " cried Goldsborough, as he turned and rode off.
" Oh ! " exclaimed Mutchison.
And without more ado he pounced upon Elfie, threw her
over his great shoulders and bore her off, she screaming and
struggling violently, in the direction taken by Golds-
borough.
Little Mim sprang instantly to the rescue, gave chase,
overtook the giant, and attempted to stop him by seizing
his leg. The act nearly threw the guerrilla down, but he
quickly recovered himself, whirled around, and with the
iron handle of his sword aimed a blow on the head of Mim,
which struck the little hero, bleeding and senseless, to
the ground.
" Oh, you villain ! I'll have you hanged for that ! "
screamed Elfie.
" Oh no, you won't ! I'll give you a better sweetheart
than that little fellow ! " laughed Mutchison, and he contin-
ued his flight, no one else daring to stop him, until he
reached a clearing in the pines' where the whole cavalry
force of Goldsborough's guerrillas were preparing to mount.
i Colonel Goldsborough was in the midst,
s "Mutchison, set that girl on the horse behind me, and
secure her to my waist with these two straps ! " said Golds-
borough.
And Mutchison prepared to obey.
Now had Elfie been a very dignified young lady she
would have been too proud to resist where resistance was
vain. But Elfie had more temper than dignity. And so
she fought and kicked and scratched and bit and screamed
and scolded with all her might and main, and left upon the
face of Mutchison marks of her teeth and nails that he
would be likely to carry to his grave.
" Thunderation ! what a little tiger-cat! Look here,
girl ! if you leave the prints of your fingers on my face in
A MOONLIGHT FLIGHT. 143
that style, the men will be taking me for your lusband,
and the colonel wouldn't like that ! " laughed Mutchison.
After much difficulty Elfie was conquered, and bound
upon her seat behind her captor, who put spurs to liis horse
and bore her off in triumph !
CHAPTER XL
A MOONLIGHT FLIGHT.
" She is won ! we are gone over bank, bush and scaur ;
They'll have fleet steeds that follow," quoth young Lochinvar,
So daring in love and so dauntless in war.
Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar? SCOTT.
HAVING left orders for his men to scatter and spread
themselves through the forest and take different roads to
their secret rendezvous, the guerrilla colonel took the moun-
tain path and flew over it at a reckless rate, with as little
regard to his captive's cries* as to his own neck.
Elfie was seated on the horse behind him and securely
bound by a strong leathern girdle that passed around her
waist arid was clasped in front of his.
Elfie never ceased to struggle and to scold. Her arms
were free and she could reach hie head, so she cuffed his
cheeks and pulled his hair with all her might and main.
And she poured out scorn like lava on him.
But Goldsborough treated the pummelling and pulling as
caresses, and the scolding as compliments ; indeed, he
scarcely noticed the one or replied to the other ; until, after
having reached the top of the mountain, they began to
descend into a deep wooded dell, by a path so narrow and
difficult that it was necessary to slacken speed.
" Unbind me ! Put me down ! Shame of manhood !
how dare you treat me so ? " cried Elfie, furiously, seizing
his ears and making her nails almost meet through them.
144 HOW HE WON HER.
" Blazes ! what a little tigress she is, to be sure ! I shall
have to cut her claws/' laughed Albert Goldsborough.
" I'll cut your throat ! " cried Elfie.
" Oh, no you won't, my dear ! You will love me too well.
You'll love me as well as the Sabine girls loved the Eoman
youths who carried them off against their wills, just as I
am carrying you ! " laughed Albert.
" I'll see you hanged first ! " fired Elfie. t
" Of course you will, my dear ! around your neck !
Come, come, Elfie ! Stop trying to tear my ears out by the
roots, for I don't think you'll succeed. And do be reasona-
ble ! You don't know what a gay life we are going to lead
here in the green wood. Your most romantic dreams will
be realized. You'll think that you have slipped out of the
nineteenth century and slid down into the twelfth. You'll
fancy yourself in Epping forest, living with Eobin Hood
and his merry men except that we don't wear Lincoln
green, Elfie ; but Confederate gray. Come ! shall I be
your Robin Hood ? And will you be my maid Marion ? "
"I'll be your death ! " blazed Elfie.
" Oh, no you won't, my dear. You'll do as I said
before."
" What are you going to do with me, you demon ? "
" Marry you, my angel ! "
" Marry me !" cried Elfie, nearly choking with rage.
" Yes, my dear. We have a ' Friar Tuck ' in our band,
who will gladly solemnize the nuptial rites and dispense
with the formality of a license or a wedding ring."
" And do you think do you think, you matchless vil-
lain ! " cried Elfie, again seizing his ears with her nails and
wringing them with all her strength, " do you really think
that I will consent to such an outrage ? "
" Friar Tuck will dispense with the bride's^ consent as
well as with the license, and the wedding ring ! " answered
Goldsborough, coolly.
A MOONLIGHT PLIGHT. 145
" Oh, villain ! I hope I do hope that neither steel nor
ball may ever save you from the halter ! " gasped Elfie,
giving his ears a most vicious wring.
" See here, my girl, we are coming to the ford ! and we
must be careful ! Just give my ears a holiday for a few
minutes, will you, while you draw u-p your feet and fold
your skirts up over your lap to keep them from getting
we^" said Albert, as they emerged from the wooded gorge
of the mountain and descended to the banks of the river,
now shining like a stream of fluid silver, in the broad
moonlight.
" I won't ! I don't care if I do get wet, or drown either !
I'd be glad to drown, if I thought I could drown you with
me ! " exclaimed Elfie.
" See how she loves me ! she is willing to meet death
itself if shared with me," mocked Albert. So here we go."
And he plunged into the river.
Splash ! splash ! splash ! they went through the water,
making the foam fly in every direction.
The gallant horse, heavily laden as he was, bravely
breasted the current, and reached the opposite shore in
safety.
" Elfie, my darling, do you know why I made this last
raid into Maryland ? " inquired the guerrilla, as they strug-
gled up the slippery bank.
" No, nor care, you miscreant ! " snapped Elfie.
" Can't you guess ? "
" To burn barns, and steal cattle, and rob hen-roosts, I
suppose," sneered Elfie.
"No. I went simply to fetch you, and for no other
reason in the world," answered Albert.
" Me ! How on earth did you know I was there ? " in-
quired Elfie, thrown off her guard by unbounded astonish-
ment.
" By the same means through which I become acquainted
9
146 HOW HE WON HER.
with most events that pass in Washington by my spies.
I learned that you were getting up a picnic to go to the
Great Falls. And I determined to intercept your return."
" Oh, the traitress ! It was Alberta. It was no one but
Alberta that informed you. For I remember I mentioned
to her at breakfast that morning, that I wanted to get up a
picnic to go up the river ! " indignantly exclaimed Elfie.
" Well, yes, it was Alberta who first told me of the in-
tended excursion. But she did not tell me the day it was
to come off."
" ~No, for the day was not fixed when she ran away, the
ingrate, so she could not have told you."
" But one of my other spies, who was a member of your
picnic party could."
" A spy in our picnic party ! That is false, you villain !
Albert Goldsborough, have you become mendacious as well
as thievish ? The members of our picnic party were loyal.
We would have taken no others," angrily cried Elfie.
"As far as you know," laughed Goldsborough ; adding :
" Now, mv dear, I don't mind telling you, because I never
intend to let you go back to report it, that there are no
people in the world so profuse in their expressions of loyalty
as my spies in Washington ! "
They were now ascending a steep and narrow path, leading
from the river banks up to the rocks above, and slippery
and dangerous from the many fallen leaves. Albert Golds-
borough was riding very cautiously, leaning forward over
his horse's neck to preserve the equilibrium of weight,
and guiding him carefully. Once or twice the horse slipped
and stumbled, but recovered himself immediately.
Elfie saw all this, and enraged by Goldsborough's boast
that he never intended to let her go back, she recklessly set
herself to overturn horse and riders together. She was
securely bound, you already know, with a broad leathern
girdle to Albert's waist ; but her limbs were all free. So
A MOONLIGHT FLIGHT. 147
she raised herself as well as she could from her seat, and
laying hold of Goldsborough's shoulders, pulled and
hung back with all her might to bring the weight behind,
while she pummelled the horse's flanks to make him rear
and lose his balance.
" What are you about, Elfie ? Do you wish to make the
horse fall ! " exclaimed Albert.
" That is just what I am trying to do, you villain ! I don't
care if the horse rolls over backwards, on to us, and we all
go rolling over and over each other, till we fall to the bottom
of the precipice, a ball of crushed bones ! " screamed Elfie,
pulling and tugging and kicking, and doing all she could to
effect her purpose ; but in vain.
She made the horse slip and stumble, and shake his head
impatiently when he recovered himself; but that was all.
At last, breathless and exhausted, she ceased her efforts.
Albert turned his head and laughed at her.
" Why, my dear, this old horse is a veteran ! He has
been in too many pitched battles, and in too many neck or
nothing hunts he has forded too many rivers, climbed too
many mountains, faced too many batteries, and ridden down
too many fixed bayonets to be disturbed by trifles ! And
here we are at the top of the mountain ; so you needn't
resume your efforts to pitch us down," he added, as they
reached the summit, and entered a thick copse wood of
cedars, where here and there grew gigantic forest trees.
"I'll make him dash your brains out against some of
these trees ! " cried Elfie. And she tried another experi-
ment. She raised herself in her seat, screamed, halloed,
shouted, and made the most unearthly noises to frighten
the horse and make him run away ; but all to no purpose ;
and once more she ceased for want of breath.
" How well you'll sleep to-night, after all these violent
exertions ! " laughed Albert Goldsborough ; " and the good
night's rest will be about all the good that you will obtaui
bv the stupendous efforts. Blesa you, my dear, the old
148 HOW HE WON HER.
horse is used to the roar of hattle and the thunder of can-
non ! It isn't likely that he is going to suffer himself to
be annoyed by your little two-penny trumpet ! "
" I'll take out every pin I have about me, and stick them
up to their heads-,- in his hide ! " screamed Elfie, beginning
to do as she threatened.
"Try it. They'll rus-t there before he takes any notice.
Lord love you, girl, what are pins to bayonets ! He is used
to having bayonets stuck into him ! " mocked the colonel.
" Albert Goldsborough ! you basest of all base mis-
creants ! where are you daring to take me ? " demanded
Elfie, beginning to shake with her increasing sense of
shame and rage and terror.
" To the green wood, you fairest of all beauties ! To the
green wood, though it would not be so very green at this
season of the year if it were not for the pines and cedars !
To the green wood, to be married to Eobin Hood, by his
chaplain Friar Tuck, and to be Robin's Maid Marion, and
live among his merry men forever ! "
" If I cannot succeed in killing you before I leave this
seat, I'll do it afterwards ! I will, as surely as I am my
mother's daughter ! " fiercely exclaimed Elfie, springing
once more up from her seat, and seizing her captor's ears,
and trying her very utmost to wring and tear them off.
At that moment the clatter of horse's feet was heard
behind, and the next the huge form of Mutchison appeared,
galloping rapidly after his chief.
Goldsborough halted until his officer came up.
" What news ? " demanded the colonel.
" Good ! Our scouts come in and report that the enemy's
cavalry, out in search of us, have gone off on a false scent,
that I took care to have laid for them. Our men have
divided themselves in small parties and taken separate
roads, and will rendezvous at the Black Bear's Pass, as you
ordered. But, good gracious, Colonel, now I look at you,
have you been in a battle ? "
A MOONLIGHT FLIGHT. 149
"No except with this little wildcat here in which she
has done all the fighting ! " laughed Goldsborough.
" Your ears are each one clot of gore ! "
"I dare say, though they feel to me as if they were each
one hall of fire ! See here, Mutchison much as I dislike
to restrain a young lady, we shall have to confine her
hands, or I shall not- have an ear, or a lock of hair left on
my head ! Take this pocket-handkerchief and tie her
hands."
" Pity it hadn't heen done first, colonel ! It would have
saved your beauty from being spoiled, and mine too.
Tliunderation ! I would as leave try to tie a catamount,
with a thousand claws ! " exclaimed Mutchison, as he
sought to secure the hands of Elfie, who fought, scratched,
and bit with so much effect that the guerrilla's face and
eyes came to great grief before he succeeded in binding
her.
After that they rode on more quietly through the woods,
though Elfie did not cease to use her tongue, even if she
could not use her hands.
" Yes, you murderer ! don't think but what I'll have you
hanged for killing Mim, for I'm sure you have killed him ! "
Elfie exclaimed, for the first time bursting into tears of
passionate sorrow as well as of rage.
" That little tiny fellow ! What if I did ? You didn't
call him a man, did you ? " chuckled Mutchison.
" Yes, you monster ! a thousand times more of a man
than you and your master either, ever was ! " sobbed Elfie.
" Why, he wasn't bigger than one of my legs ! "
" Don't sneer at his size, you coarse brute ! He had more
spirit than all your cut-throat, chicken-stealing tribe put to-
gether. You huge brutes, if you have any soul at all, have
it diluted with too much body to make it worth anything ! "
cried Elfie, with hot scorn.
" Oh, come, now. Don't be vindictive. If I did
150 HOW HE WON HER.
knock the little fellow on the head, I promised you a bigger
sweetheart, and you've got him," chuckled the guerilla.
" Mutchison, let this cease. I desire that Miss Fielding
may be treated with all the consideration possible under the
circumstances," said Colonel Goldsborough, sternly.
" Oh, that's it, is it ? Then I must order myself accord-
ingly," muttered the guerrilla to himself, but he raised his
hat to his colonel in token of obedience.
They rode on silently through the woods a little while
longer, and then Goldsborough said:
"We bivouac with the Tree Sword' to-night, and to-
morrow, if the road should be clear, go on to our rendezvous
at the Black Bear's Pass. I think that we are not very far
from Corson's encampment now, are we ? "
" It is in a clearing in this forest somewhere, and I think
that this path leads to it, Colonel. We shall see in a little
while," answered Mutchison.
" So we stop with the Free Sword, do we, to-night ? And
we shall see Alberta ! And if we do " exclaimed Elfie,
setting her teeth and drawing in her breath.
" You'll tear her eyes out if we leave your hands free,"
laughed the huge guerrilla.
" Mutchison ! " exclaimed Colonel Goldsborough.
" I beg your pardon, Colonel. I will say no more," re-
plied the man.
And they pursued their way in silence, until the forest
grew thinner, and they seemed to be approaching a clear-
ing.
" I see lights gleaming through the distance. Can they
be the campfires of the Free Sword ! " inquired Golds-
borough.
"Yes, Colonel, I think so," answered Mutchison, as
they emerged from the thicket into a small, open space.
The next moment they came upon a picket guard, and
were challenged.
A MOONLIGHT PLIGHT. 151
Who goes there ? "
" Friends ! " answered the colonel.
"Advance, friends, and give the countersign."
" I don't know your countersign, but you know me well
enough, Robinson. I am Colonel Goldsborough."
"Very sorry, Colonel, but I can't let you pass without
the countersign."
" I am on a visit to your chief, in answer to his repeated
invitations."
"Very sorry, Colonel, but it is as much as my life is
worth to let you pass."
" Call the corporal of the guard, then, blame you."
The word was passed for the corporal of the guard, who
presently appeared upon the scene.
" Here is Colonel Goldsborough wants to pass and doesn't
know the countersign," explained the picket.
"You know me well enough, Jenkins," said Goldsbor-
ough, addressing the petty officer.
" Yes, sir but I dare not pass you without my colonel's
orders, though. If you will wait, I will send a messenger
up to his quarters," said the corporal.
"Do, then, and be quick about it," exclaimed Goldsbor-
ough, impatiently.
While waiting for the return of the messenger, Golds-
borough looked about with some curiosity, for this was a
new encampment of the Free Sword, to which his brother-
in-arms had never been before.
He saw that they were in a very small clearing, where
the trees had been cut down to make room and furnish ma-
terial for a picket's hut, that stood in the very midst of the
small, open space. Before this hut was burning a fire of
brushwood, and around it were three or four guerrillas at
rest, beside the sentry on duty.
Presently the messenger returned in attendance upon the
Free Sword, who came in person to receive his brother-in-
arms.
152 HOW HE WON HER.
Vittorio Corsoni was not much changed in personal
appearance since we saw him last. Originally very dark in
complexion, exposure to the sun, wind and weather could
not make him much darker, and he had the same long, black
curls, small, white teeth, and large, melancholy eyes eyes
that had so mesmerized every woman that had ever come
under their influence, and so he witched Alberta Goldsborough
to her destruction, and he had the same slight, agile and
graceful figure that so reminded the beholder of a tiger. He
wore a uniform of black cloth, with a crimson sash around
his waist, a sword by his side, and a black wide-awake hat,
with a black feather, fastened with a great fiery carbuncle.
He walked briskly up to Goldsborough to embrace him
after the Italian fashion, and in doing so noticed the young
lady on the horse behind him, and he raised his cap to the
lady before he offered to greet her cavalier.
Albert bent low from his saddle to meet the advance
of his friend, who, after kissing him on both cheeks, started
back, exclaiming:
" But, good Heavens, Goldsborough ! what has happened
to your ears ? Have they been torn off ? "
"No," laughed Albert; "they have been clawed off,
chawed off by this little catamount on the horse behind
me ! "
"Vittorio Corsoni, don't you know me? I am Elfrida
Yielding, your old pupil."
" Know you, fair lady ? Perhaps not at first. I am glad
to do so now. Welcome to my poor camp," said the Free
Sword, removing his hat and holding it in his hand.
" Colonel Corsoni, you used to be a gentleman. You will
protect me, I hope, from this miscreant who has torn me
away from my friends and brought me here."
" Fair lady, we brothers-in-arms support each other in love
as in war," said Yittorio gently.
" But he brought me here against my will ! " cried Elfie,
indignantly.
A MOONLIGHT FLIGHT. 153
11 Sweet lady, stratagem is as fair in love as in war "
"But there was no stratagem. He brought me here by
violence ! "
" It was the violence of passion inspired by your too de-
lightful beauty. Gentle lady, you ' must forgive him,"
answered Vittorio. And then, with a deep bow, he turned
away from Elfie, and, addressing Albert, inquired :
" Shall we move forward ? "
" If you please, Corsoni," answered Colonel Goldsborough.
And the party started Albert Goldsborough letting his
horse pace slowly while Vittorio Corsoni walked by his side.
" I would dismount and walk with you willingly if I
were not so burdened and hampered." laughed Albert.
" Burdened with beauty, hampered with happiness,"
murmured Vittorio gallantly.
But at the last words of his colonel, Mutchison had
jumped oif his horse, the use of which he now respectfully
pressed upon the Free Sword.
Vittorio laughed and accepted it, saying that it would
enable him the better to keep up with his companions.
" I might have come on horseback if I had thought of it;
but the distance was so short, and I was so eager to relieve
you from the embarrassment of being stopped by the guard,
that it never occurred to me to get into the the saddle,"
said the Free Sword, as he rode on beside his brother-in-
arms.
Their way lay again through the forest, until they came
to another little clearing, with another hut and another
guard, at which the Free SAVord gave the countersign, and
passed with his party.
Then they rode slowly on through the bushes while the
two guerrilfa leaders conversed in a low tone about the
plans of their next campaigns, until they came to a grass-
grown old road, on the other side of which was a low stone
wall and a rusty iron gate guarded by a small porter's
lodge.
154 HOW HE WON HER.
Before the gate paced a sentinel, and from the porter's
lodge, which was turned into a guard house, gleamed a dim
light.
Corsoni gave the countersign and passed his party into
an area that seemed once to have been the ornamented
grounds of some magnificent country seat.
A fine old avenue of elm trees led from the lodge to the
distant mansion, from the upper and lower windows of
which gleamed dim lights.
All over the lawn, among dilapidated arbors, and dried-up
fish ponds, and dead flower beds, were scattered the rude,
hastily constructed huts of the guerrillas.
Here and there groups of horses, already saddled and
bridled, were tied, as if kept for use at an instant's warning.
Passing all these, Corsoni led his party up to the man-
sion, a large, two-story, double-fronted, white stone house,
with basement and attic, and with a porch running its
whole width in front, supported by huge stone pillars. A
flight of stone steps led up to this porch, and to the double
hall doors.
A sentinel paced to and fro before the house.-
Corsoni dismounted and called a guerrilla to take his
horse.
Goldsborough unbuckled the belt that held Elfie to him,
and beckoned Mutchison to come and lift her off.
Elfie, who had not spoken since her vain appeal to Cor-
soni, suffered herself to be removed in silence.
Goldsborough alighted and immediately unbound Elfie's
hand, saying :
" I beg your pardon for having ordered this, my darling,
but if I had not done so, I should have lost my scalp and
my ears."
The first use Elfie made of her freed hands was to dash
her fists, one after the other, into Goklsborough's face.
He laughed and dodged the blows, and then took one of
Elfie's hands to draw in his arm and lead her on.
THE OUTLAWS LOVE. 155
But the enraged girl snatched her hand away, exclaim-
ing:
" Go on ! I will follow, since I must. And if I seem to
yield now to circumstances, it is only as the tiger crouches
for a surer spring ! Albert Goldsborough, I will have your
life for this ! "
"The devotion of my whole life, Elfie," he answered
gravely.
Corsoni was standing at the foot of the stone steps waiv-
ing his hands for them to come on.
CHAPTEE XII.
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE.
I know not. I ask not if guilt's in that heart;
But I know that I love thee, whatever thou art. MOOBE.
THEY followed him up into the porch and through the
double doors to a broad, unfurnished central hall, where
several guerrillas were on guard.
Four doors on the right hand and four on the left opened
into rooms on each side of this hall.
Corsoni led the way to the third door on the right hand,
saying :
" My dear wife is in there. Had we not better consign
Miss Fielding to her care ? "
" Thanks, yes ! My fair travelling companion has been
on horseback, riding hard and exerting herself in other
violent exercises for about six hours ; and must be greatly
in need of aid and comfort just now," answered Golds-
borough.
Corsoni opened the door and holding it open, bowed and
said :
156 HOW HE WON HER.
"Miss Fielding, my dear wife is in there. Will you
enter ? "
But before Elfie could answer, and indeed wh.le Vittorio
was still speaking, Alberta herself came out, and taking
Elfie in her arms, kissed her on both cheeks, saying :
" Welcome to the greenwood, Elfie ! " and drew her into
the room.
It was a spacious apartment, with a wide fireplace. Over
the fireplace was a richly-carved mantel-shelf. In the wall
above there was an old fresco painting. A wood fire burned
on the hearth. Each side the chimney were tall windows,
reaching from floor to ceiling.
Every part of the room was dilapidated, and not by the
gentle action of time but by the- merciless desecration of
war. The beautiful figures in the carved marble mantel-
piece were chipped and broken off. The fresco painting
was scraped until its subject could not even be guessed at.
The glass in the windows was in many places broken and
replaced by pasteboard. The gorgeous historical paper that
had once covered the walls now hung in strips.
And the room was almost entirely unfurnished ; floor
and windows were bare of covering. In one corner stood a
rude, temporary bedstead, the work of some guerrilla car-
penter ; and on it was laid a mattress and pillows, with the
redeeming accessories of clean sheets and blankets. There
was a rough table, supporting a tin basin and a stone
pitcher of water ; with a clean towel laid over them. One
low chair and two or three rude three-legged stools com-
pleted the " conveniences " of the room.
Alberta led Elfie into this room, took the pillows off her
bed, and put them on the chair, one on the seat and the
other against the back, and made Elfie sit down and rest
her bruised and tired frame.
" Alberta, had you any hand in this ? " said Elfie, bursting
into tears.
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE. 157
" In what, dear ? " inquired the guerrilla's wife, who was
now stooping over the fire, bringing the brands together
with her naked hands, because she had no tongs.
"With this outrageous act of bringing me off? "
Alberta made the fire blaze up cheerfully, and then
answered :
"When I made my escape from Washington, I fell in
with some of Albert's men, who guided me to their colonel.
I found that he had been instrumental in the deliverance of
my dear Vittorio, who was then with him. When Albert
heard where I had been and whom I had seen, he had a
thousand questions to ask about you, all of which I an-
swered as well as I could. Among the rest I told him that
you were planning a picnic to the Great Falls. That was
all I had to do with your abduction, Elfie."
" Was that, really, all ? Did you not encourage him in
it?"
"No ! At the time I spoke of the proposed picnic I had
no idea that he would dream of such a desperate deed as to
cross the river and seize you, as it were, from between the
very teeth of the Federal forces ! It was a mad act ; but
he loves you madly, Elfie ! " said the guerrilla's wife.
She then passed to the door and called one of her
husband's men, and in a low tone gave him an order, and
then she drew a stool to the side of Elfie and sat down,
saying :
" I am the only woman in the encampment, and I have
to wait upon myself or be waited on by men. I generally
prefer the former. You will sup and sleep alone with me
to-night, Elfie, and I will keep you with me, and guard you
from annoyance until a chaplain can be found to marry you
to Albert, and give him the legal right to protect you."
" Marry me to that guerrilla ! Never ! Never ! It can-
not be done legally without my consent, and that they shall
never have ! The villain threatened to find a minister who
158 HOW HE WON H J 7 R .
would dispense with the bride's consent, as well as with the
marriage license and the wedding ring ! But oh, Alberta,
you will not permit this outrage to be perpetrated under
your roof ! You are a lady, or you were one once at least,
the daughter of a gentleman. You will protect me ! " ex-
claimed Elfie, losing, in the failure of her physical strength,
half her courage.
" I will protect you so far as I am able to do so. Be
sure of that, Elfie. But you do surprise me beyond
measure, Elfie. I thought you loved Albert Goldsborough,"
said the guerrilla's wife in amazement.
" Love that horse-stealing, house-firing vagrant ! " indig-
nantly exclaimed Elfie.
Alberta passed coolly over these injurious epithets,
which were certainly as applicable to Vittorio Corsoni as
they were to Albert Goldsborough, and she answered
calmly :
" You certainly loved him once, when he had done noth-
ing to distinguish himself, and if you truly loved him then,
you love him still, for true love knows no ' shadow of turn-
ing."'
" He whom I loved then was a gentleman, or I thought
him such, not a barn burner, not a hen-roost robber ! " an-
swered Elfie, contemptuously.
Again Alberta ignored the degrading terms that were
applied to the guerrilla chief; for in truth nothing on earth
had power to move her impassive nature, unless it were
something nearly concerning Vittorio Corsoni, her idolized
lover-husband, and she said :
" Albert Goldsborough was destined by his parents and
by mine to marry me, and you knew it from the first, yet
you saw him and loved him, and won his love. Not that I
regretted your success. I was very glad to be well rid of
my cousin, for I was fully determined to marry Vittorio
Corsoni, my beloved. But you took him away from me,
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE. 159
only, it seems, to cast him off from yourself. In truth, I
cannot understand such inconstancy," she gravely added.
" Yon cannot ! Do you suppose, then, that my love can
survive esteem, and walk hand in hand with contempt ? "
said Elfie, scornfully.
" No, I do not. Nor has Albert Goldsborough done any-
thing worthy of contempt, but everything worthy of ad-
miration."
" Pouncing upon me, and carrying me off by main force
against my will, was among the rest of his admirable
achievements, I suppose you think," sneered Elfie.
" Yes, for it was a brave deed."
" Very brave, to kidnap a weak girl."
" Yes, it was, for he seized that girl, as I s'aid before, from
between the teeth of the enemy. Elfie, have you any idea
what he risked when he crossed the river for your sake?"
gravely inquired Alberta.
" He risked the halter, I suppose, and I wish to goodness
he had got it," answered Elfie, bitterly.
" Yes, he did, heartless girl. He risked capture and an
ignominious death for your sake. He risked all knowingly
and willingly, for when, for love of you, he crossed the
Potomac, he knew that Scott's Nine Hundred and they
are your guerrillas, Elfie were on the north side of the
river below the Monooacy, and that Rosenthal's cavalry
were on the same side above the Monocacy, and f hat the
scouts of one or the other force would be sure to strike his
trail."
" Rosenthal's cavalry! " echoed Elfie, passing over every-
thing else in her surprise at hearing this phrase.
"Yes, Rosenthal's cavalry. You didn't know that
Major Rosenthal is in command of the regiment in which
he first enlisted as a private soldier, did you ? "
"Major Rosenthal! No."
" That proves how much earlier and more accurate our
information is than vours."
160 HOW H F WON H E K .
" Or how much better the devil is served than the Lord ! "
muttered Elfie.
" But our information is obtained for nothing from devoted
friends, who risk their lives to keep us posted as to the
movements of the enemy, and yours, when you get any, is
purchased at high prices from mercenaries, who sleep when
they should watch, and invent fictions when they should
chronicle truths."
" But Major Rosenthal ! Did you say Major Rosen-
thai ? " pursued Elfie, still harping on Justin.
" Yes. He was promoted to a majority for gallantry in
the field."
" And he is in command of his regiment ? "
" I told you so."
" But how is that ? "
" In the very last battle in which his regiment was
engaged the colonel was dangerously wounded, the lieuten-
ant colonel was taken prisoner, and the senior major killed ;
so that the command of the regiment devolved on Major
Rosenthal. His regiment was soon after ordered to W.
And he is now crossing the valley. Observe how early and
how accurate is our information. Now to get back to Albert
Goldsborough. With Scott's Nine Hundred in Montgomery
and Rosenthal's cavalry in Frederick, your lover, when he
crossed the river for your sake rushed recklessly between two
fires."
" I wish to Heaven the fires had closed upon him and
made an end of him and his horse-thieves then and there ! "
bitterly exclaimed Elfie.
" You don't ! If you ever loved him, you love him still.
If you ever loved him, you love him more than ever for the
perils he has braved for your sake," said Alberta, posi-
tively.
" I tell you" passionately began Elfie ; but she was in-
terrupted by a low rap at the door.
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE. 161
Come in," said Alberta.
And the door opened and a young guerrilla entered, bring-
ing in one hand a kettle of hot water, which he sat down on
the hearth before the fire, and holding in the other hand a
paper parcel.
" That is my good boy," said Alberta, as she stirred the
fire to make it burn and keep the kettle hot " that is my
good boy ! But, Gill, what shall we do for tea ? Use saffron
root again ? "
" No, ma'am ! See here. Captain Mutchison sent you
this with his compliments," said the young man whom Al-
berta called Gill, handing over the paper parcel that he had
held in his hand
" Tea ! real tea ! " said Alberta, holding the parcel up to
her face and gratefully inhaling its fragrance. " Oh, tell the
captain I am ever so much obliged to him. Elfie, child, I
have not had a cup of tea since I took one with Erminie at
the parsonage. But I am very glad to have some now, for
your sake as well as mine."
" I suspect that tea is a part of the spoils of our picnic,"
replied Elfie.
" Nothing in life more likely. Now do you know that
circumstance actually adds piquancy to its flavor ! " ex-
claimed Alberta, as she went to an .old glass cupboard in a
corner of the room and took from it a small tin tea pot, in
which she poured a portion of the tea, and afterwards filled
it up with boiling water and set it on the hearth to draw.
Meanwhile the young guerrilla, who had left the room,
returned, bearing a small rude pine table and a coarse crash
table cloth, which he arranged for supper.
Alberta took from her corner cupboard a few cracked cups,
saucers and plates, and set them upon the table, while her
guerrilla waiter went out and brought in a loaf of bread, a
plate of broiled chicken and a paper of loaf sugar.
" Gill, my boy, you are the prince of purveyors ! " said
10
162 HOW HE \VON HEK.
Alberta, as she received the good things and arranged them
to her liking.
"All these with the compliments of Captain Mutohison,"
said Gill, as he delivered them over.
" Of course ! spoils of our picnic," exclaimed Elfie.
" And this," said Gill, who had again flitted out empty-
handed and now flitted in with a canteen of fresh milk,
" this with Abershaw's compliments."
" Eich new milk for our tea ! This is indeed a luxury.
Where did it come from, Gill ? "
"Abershaw drove in a herd of cows this evening,"
answered the boy.
" One would really think that we were living the border
life of Scotland in the olden time, when cow-stealing was
the most pdpular profession among the landed gentry and
their retainers," mused Elfie.
" Never mind. Don't quarrel with your supper, my dear.
When you have led a guerrilla life as long as I have,
you will learn to take what is set before you and be
thankful. Gill ! is that thunder ? " inquired Alberta, as
a low muttering sound was heard in the air outside.
"Yes, ma'am, there is an awful black cloud rising. The
men think there will be a storm a great storm."
" It is very late in the season for a thunder-storm. But
then it has been so unusally warm. Gill ! "
" Yes, ma'am."
" Are all our men on this side the river ? "
" Yes, ma'am."
" And havg all Colonel Goldsborough's force re-crossed?"
" All ma'am."
" Then I am glad the storm is coming up ! The river
will rise and the fords be impassable, and so pursuit will be
cut off, even if the enemy should be so mad as to wish to
' beard the lion in his den.' You can retire now, Gill."
The young guerrilla pulled his forelock by way of making
a bow, and then left the room.
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE. 163
" Come, Elfie, draw up your chair," said Alberta, as she
set the tea-pot on the table.
" I would like to wash iny hands first," said Elfie, hold-
ing up her fingers.
" Good HEAVENS ! " exclaimed Alberta, in real, down-
right consternation. " What have you been about, Elfie ?
Who have you been butchering ? I am accustomed to the
sight of blood, but I never saw such a pair of hands in all
my life ! What ever have you been doing with them ? "
" I have been proving how well I love Guerrilla Golds-
borough, and how willing I was to be carried off by him.
I have heard that it is considered an ignominy for a man to
lose his ears, and I knew that Guerrilla Goldsborough
deserved such ignominy ; and I have been doing my best to
inflict it upon him ! " replied Elfie, as she went to the wash
basin which Alberta had filled with water for her.
" You do not mean to say that you tried to tear his ears
off with your nails ! " exclaimed Alberta, in amazement.
" If he has got any ears left it isn't my fault," replied
Elfie, defiantly, as she wiped her hands and sat down to the
tea-table.
" Well," said Alberta, " I have sometimes had to look on
while hamlets were burning and spies hanging, but I could
not have done anything like that."
Notwithstanding that Elfie had been seized and carried
off by guerrillas, and ought to have been in despair, she
was not. On the contrary, she was hungry ; and so she
made a very good supper, and with very little asistance from
Alberta, she cleared the table of everything eatable on it.
Meanwhile outside the thunder rolled, the lightning
flashed, and the rain poured.
It was not a storm to alarm any one who was not exposed
to its fury; for at that season of the year thunder and
lightning could not be very violent or dangerous. But
the rain ! Surely, since the deluge never had rain fallen in
such torrents.
164 HOW HE WON HER.
" The fords will be impassable for a week," said Alberta,
exultingly, as she went to the window and looked out and
listened to the pouring, dashing, lashing rain.
Elfie sighed deeply, thinking that the rise in the river
would make rescue for her all the more unlikely.
Alberta went to the door of her room and called Gill,
who seemed to be on duty in the hall outside.
" Take away this service, Gill," she said.
And the youth, to make short work, stretched the door
wide open and lifted the table, with all upon it, and carried
it bodily out of the room.
Alberta and Elfie drew in their chairs to the fire.
"You do not know, Elfie, what a respite from anxiety it
is to me to be sure of one night's undisturbed rest ! This
storm that is raging outside will lull me to repose as the
sweetest music in the world would fail to do," said Alberta,
with a sigh of intense relief.
" But how and why ? " inquired Elfie.
" Oh, because I know while the storm is raging and the
rain is pouring the river is also rising, and the fords will be
impassable, and our camp will be safe from attack for one
night, and we may sleep in peace ! Oh, Elfie ! unless you
had lived as I have lived for the last three years, in the
midst of ' war's alarms,' you could never realize what a
blessed relief there is in the feeling sure that we may sleep
in peace for one night ! "
" Oh ! Alberta, what a life for you for you, a daughter
of the house of Goldsborough reared in luxury and refine-
ment ! How can you bear it ? Why do you bear it ?
Why do you not accept Erminie's offer, and seek refuge
with her ? " earnestly inquired Elfie.
"Why? Do you ask me why?" exclaimed Alberta,
and her cold eyes, fixed upon the fire before her, dilated
and burned, and her impassive face glowed as she replied:
* My lot is cast with his and with his cause ! "
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE. 165
" Oh, Alberta ! when you were in Washington, you told us
that you had taken the oath of allegiance, in good faith,
and that you meant to keep it! And here I find you
among the guerrillas again ! sympathizing with them, aid-
ing and comforting them in every way ! Have you no
respect for your oath, no regard for yourself, no fear even of
your God ? " inquired Elfie.
A strange smile passed over the face of the guerrilla's
wife ; still gazing straight before her into the fire, she an-
swered, slowly :
" I have one idol, one religion, one rule of action !
Elfrida, nearly four years have passed since I left all, to
share the fortunes of Vittorio Corsoni, my beloved ! Dark
enough those fortunes have been, Heaven knows ! But I
have never repented becoming his wife never, Elfie !
Neither of us have known a shadow of turning in our at-
tachment to each other. And now I would not exchange my
condition as the outlaw's wife to be the most honored lady
in the land ! Nor would he part with me for a kingdom !
We are all in all to each other. He is more to me than
ever lover or husband was to woman before ! I am more to
him than ever was sweetheart or wife to man ! We are
one ; we can never be divided. Nothing no, nothing shall
ever part us ! not life, not death, not eternity ! In all the
gloom and horror of our downward course and downward
it is, Elfie downward even to the depths of hell ! we
have the one, great, deep joy of knowing that we go on
together, inseparable forever ! Yes, on earth or in hades,
inseparable forever! I will never again leave him, or be
left by him, for a single day. On the only one occasion
when we parted since our marriage, he was captured, tried
and condemned to die. I found my way to Washington,
determined to deliver him or to die with him. Yes, if I
could not procure his release, I was determined to do that
which should place me by his side in the prison, or send me
swiftly after him to the scaffold ! "
166 HOW HE WON HEB.
" Oh, Alberta ! you mako my blood run cold ! " exclaimed
Elfie.
"In such a pursuit, what were oaths to me ? I had one
iJol my Vittorio ! one religion his service ! one rule of
action his welfare ! Happily his release was effected by a
stronger arm and a shrewder wit than mine. And he is
with me once more, and henceforth we part no more.
Where he stays, I will stay ; where he goes, I will go.
What he dares that will I dare. The pains and privations
he suffers I will share, and when he ceases to live I will
die ! "
Alberta ceased to speak, but continued, with her hands
clasped upon her knees, to gaze into the fire.
Elfie did not answer these wild words; she remained
silent struck dumb, as it seemed, with astonishment at the
vehement earnestness of self-devotion in one she had
deemed so cold and calm. What could have inspired
Alberta with this self-sacrificing, soul sacrificing passion ?
Was it the beauty, fire and enthusiasm of the young Italian,
who had so successfully wooed her? Certainly Vittorio
Corsoni, if not as handsome as a grand Apollo, was as
beautiful as a lithe Adonis. But then he was so very dark ;
and how any woman could really and desperately love such
a slight Adonis, with such dark hair and eyes, Elfie could
not imagine ! How could she, when she herself was but a
little bit of a creature, with hair and eyes as dark as Vittorio's
own, and when her ideal of ' a fine figure of a man ' was a
tall, fair-haired Apollo?
While Elfie sat gazing into the fire, and musing over
these mysteries, there came a soft tap at the door.
Alberta sprang up eagerly and went to open it. The
voice of Vittorio Corsoni was heard to say :
" It is late, love. It is nearly two o'clock."
" I know it is," murmured Alberta.
" How will you dispose of your guest ? "
THE OUTLAW'S LOVE. 167
" She must sleep with me, Vittorio, dearest. She is but
an inexperienced girl ; and there is no place in this house,
full of rough soldiers, where she can sleep in peace except
with me, the only woman in the camp," said Alberta.
A deep sigh from Corsoni followed these words, and then
he murmured in a lower tone :
" I had just been congratiilating myself that we should
all rest, without thinking of an attack to-night ! But, as
Heaven hears me, I would rather sit with you, and watch
all night in the hourly expectation of an assault and a
battle, than be banished from you, though we pass the night
in peace ! "
Alberta replied in a low and tender murmur, inaudible to
all but the ears for whom it was intended.
A whispered conference ensued, and then Corsini said :
"Well, love, I shall lie on the floor outside your door to-
night, and like a faithful dog will guard your slumbers."
" It is only for a few hours," she said.
And then followed a few more gentle, inaudible murmurs,
and Colonel Corsoni left the door. And Alberta closed and
fastened it, and returned to her friend.
" It is late, Elfie ! And you must be excessively tired
after your long ride. Get ready for bed, child ! You shall
be quite safe with me," said the guerrilla's wife, beginning
to put the chunks of fire together to keep them burning
through the night.
Elfie took her little watch from its hiding-place and
looked at the time. It was nearly three o'clock. And
feeling really almost worn out with fatigue, she undressed
herself and went to bed, and fell fast asleep even before
Alberta laid down beside her.
Meanwhile, without the storm raged, the wind howled
and shrieked, the rain poured and dashed ; and the roaring
of the rising waters was heard above it all !
And to the battle-worn guerrillas, sweeter than the music
168 HOW HE WON HER-
of the spheres, sounded this warring of the elements, for it
assured them of one night's safety.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ALARM.
What's the business
That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley
The dwellers in the house? SHAKSPEARE.
The foe ! they come ! they come ! BTBOU.
ELFIE slept long and deeply. In the wild guerrilla
camp something like military discipline was kept up, and
at four o'clock the reveille was beat ; hut even the sound of
the rolling drum close under her windows failed to arouse
this tired young sleeper.
Alberta arose, pale, weary and shivering, in the chilly
dawn of the autumn morning.
She opened one of the windows, letting in the faint light
of day, and the weight of a heavy dampness.
The storm had passed, the sky was clear, and the air was
still ; but the ground was strewn thickly with fallen leaves,
the trees were bared and broken, and the rain drops hung
glittering upon all.
Through the obscurity she could see the huts of the men
with their dim fires hastily kindled to cook their break-
fasts.
After fastening back the shutters, she let down the win-
dow and turned to set the room in order. She drew the
chunks of fire together and put on more wood from a pile
that lay handy in the chimney corner. Then she fillwd a
kettle from a pail of water in the cupboard, and hung it
over the blazing fire.
While thus employed she heard a low rapping at her
door, and she went to see who was there.
THE ALARM. 169
It was her husband ; and he met her as if he had been
parted from her for a year.
" May I come in ?" at length he said.
"No, dear Vittorio, for our visitor still sleeps. When
she is up and is dressed, then you may," she answered.
" Heaven knows I bear our fair guest no malice ; yet I
wish Satan had her rather than she should be here dividing
us whom nothing else has ever parted/' complained
Corsoni.
" So does she, I think ! " replied Alberta, with a shrug.
" I am going now. What can I do for you ? "
Send Gill for orders."
Vittorio kissed her suddenly and hurried away.
Alberta went on with her preparations for breakfast.
She cut slices from a stale loaf of bread and set them down
before the fire to toast. And then she sat down to wait for
two events the appearance of Gill and the awakening of
Elfie. She had to wait some time before either event
occurred.
Then came another rap at the door. She got up and
opened it, inquiring :
" Is it you, Gill ? "
" No, Madam, it is Haddycraff," answered a voice.
" Haddycraff! Why, where is Gill ? " inquired Alberta.
" Can't be found, Madam, anywhere in the camp. Seems
he hasn't been seen since the height of the storm last night.
The men think he has deserted, and that he is no better
than a Yankee spy ! "
" Is that possible ? " exclaimed the guerrilla's wife, in
amazement.
" It is certain that he has gone, madam, and it is likely
he was a spy ! "
" That boy that mere child ! Why, he didn't look to be
more than sixteen years old ! "
"Madam, some of the men say now that they don't
believe he was a boy at all, but a woman in disguise."
170 HOW HE WON HER.
" Nonsense ! What absurd notions they take in their
heads."
" It is only some of them, ma'am. There are others that
think he is one of Rosenthal's men. Now that his disap.
pearance has set people to thinking and talking, there is one
says he is the image of an orderly he saw with Major Eosen-
thal."
" Yes ; doubtless every one of you will have a reminis-
cence, or a suspicion, or an inspiration regarding the poor
lad ! What does your colonel say ? "
" He says nothing ; he acts. He has sent out men in
pursuit of the boy, with orders to bring him back, dead or
alive ! "
" Oh, Heavens ! when will these horrors cease ! " groaned
Alberta, wringing her hands.
" The colonel sent me here to take my orders from you,
madam," said the man, suggestively.
" Yes, yes, yes," answered Alberta, absently, passing her
hand to and fro over her forehead.
" Can't I do anything for you, madam ? " inquired Had-
dycraif, after a few minutes of silence and inactivity.
" Yes ! Oh, I am so sorry to hear what you told me
about that poor boy Yes, I want something additional
prepared for our guest's breakfast. I do not believe that he
is a spy ! Anything will do. Dress a chicken, or a
partridge, or anything you may have handy, and bring it in.
He was weary of the hardships of his life, and wanted
to go home. Deserter he may be, but spy never ! What do
you think, Haddycraff?"
" I think, ma'am, as he has only been with us five days
he hasn't had time to get tired of us ; and we can none of
us account for his sudden disappearance upon any other
ground than that of his having been a spy. However, if
the boys find him and bring him in alive, we shall get to the
bottom of the mystery ; for you know how the colonel can
sift a spy first and hang him afterwards."
THE ALARM. 171
" Heaven of Heavens, yes ! "
" Anything else, ma'am, if you please ? "
" Yes Poor boy ! can it be possible ? You may
bring me a table and a clean table cloth. Bring them to
the door and rap. I will take them in."
" That is all, ma'am ? "
" Yes go."
The man left the door, but the guerrilla's wife stood like
one in a maze.
" Poor, poor lad," she murmured. " He will have not the
slightest chance of escape. They will hunt him with that
pair of Siberian bloodhounds, I suppose. Yet if he is a
spy, I shall rejoice at his being taken ; for if it were possi-
ble for him to escape, he might yes, he might betray
Corsoni to death. Yes, I shall rejoice when he is taken !
Yet I will plead for his life as I never pleaded for a life be-
fore ! "
She was interrupted by the arrival of the table at the
door, and she went and took it in, laid the cloth, and
arranged the camp breakfast service on it.
In the midst of her work she was disturbed by a
slight noise behind her. Turning round, she saw Elfie
sitting up in bed, with her hands clasping her temples,
her black hair flying loose, and her eyes -staring around
in bewilderment.
Alberta put down the knives and forks that were in
her hand, and went to the side of her guest.
" You slept well, Elfie. You never even stirred during
the night. I hope you feel better this morning," said Al-
berta.
" Yes ; I slept so soundly that when I opened my eyes I
couldn't remember what had happened to me, or where I was.
It seemed to me that I was still dreaming, or that I had
been transferred here by magic. Ah, the villain ! Won't
I make him pay for it ! "
172 HOW HE WON HER.
" Of whom do you speak, Elfie ? "
" Guerrilla Goldsborough, the girl-stealer. I will make
him wish that he himself had been carried off by Satan,
rather than carried off me ! "
" I am glad to see you in such good spirits, Elfie."
" Yes, last night I was jaded to death with fatigue. After
the good night's rest I feel revived. The new day has
brought new strength and resolution. And before it is
over, I shall have persuaded Colonel Corsoni to send me
across the lines."
"My poor girl, I hope you may succeed in doing so,
said Alberta, gravely.
" I know I shall. For whatever else the Free Sword
may be, he is a gentleman. And none but a caitiff would
keep a girl a prisoner against her will to please anybody,"
said Elfie, confidently.
" I do think, if my dear Yittorio suspected that you
are really and truly here against your will, he would do
everything in his power to restore you to your friends.
But you see, Elfie, he knew of the attachment existing be-
tween you and Albert, and he cannot understand your re-
luctance to remain with him. He judges all women by his
own wife, who left all to follow him and share his fate."
" Then he shall understand me. He shall know that I
am loyal and free. He shall^ judge me by myself alone.
And when he does this, as a gentleman and a soldier, he
will restore me to my friends," said Elfie, positively.
" In what manner ? "
" He can send me under a flag of truce to the nearest
Federal fort."
" Ah, dear Elfie, would the flag of truce from a guerrilla
chief be respected by your Federal officers ? Would that
of Corsoni of all others, of Corsoni an outlaw with a
price on his head ? What are you thinking of, my poor
child ? " said Alberta.
THE ALARM. 173
" I am sorry Vittorio is outlawed. Sorrier still that he
ever did anything to place himself in such a dreadful posi-
tion. But let whoever may be outlawed or inlawed, I am
resolved to be in the Federal lines before night," said Elfie,
throwing the cover off her, preparatory, to rising.
As she did so, she noticed the large printed U. S. on the
head of the blanket. While she was staring at it, Alberta
laughed and said :
" Yes, that is a Yankee blanket. Why, my child, the
Yankee manufacturers work for us now, just as they did
before the war, only now we don't pay them for it. Why,
Elfie, if it were not for dashing and successful raids upon
Yankee encampments, our soldiers would go into battle as
bare-backed as the Bersekers of old."
Elfie stepped down upon the floor and began to make
her toilet, while Alberta carefully spread up the bed and
opened the window behind it.
" It is not what either of us were brought up to, Elfie, this
breakfasting in our bedroom ; but I have endured much
greater hardships than this."
Elfie shrugged her shoulders in silence, and went on
dressing.
And by the time she was ready for breakfast, breakfast
was ready for her.
Haddycraff came to the door and rapped, and Alberta went
and received from him a large dish of fried chicken and a
pitcher of milk, which was all that was wanted to complete
the preparations for the morning meal.
Alberta set them on the table and then put up the teapot
and the plate of toast.
" We have no butter to-day, Elfie, but Abershaw has got
a dairyman, and with all these cows, I dare say we shall
have some for to-morrow, " said Alberta.
" To-morrow. I hope a great many things will happen
before to-morrow," said Elfie.
174 HOW HE WON HER.
And they both sat down to the table.
Alberta poured out a cup of tea, and set it before her guest
and said :
" Try some of that fried chicken, Elfie. Haddycraff is a
very good cook."
" And I suppose some Union farmer's hen-roost has been
robbed to supply his larder," replied Elfie rather ungrate-
fuly, as she stuck her broken fork into the crisply fried
breast of chicken, and transferred it to her cracked plate.
" Of course ; how else should we be fed ? " laughed
Alberta.
Elfie had a healthy young appetite, and notwithstanding
her captivity and her conscience, she made a hearty meal.
Not so did Alberta. Every movement and expression of
this unhappy woman betrayed the anxious and habitual
vigilance of the fighting and flying guerrilla life. Forget-
ting her companion, she would turn her head and stare
through the open window, straining her eyes to see what
might be going on at a distant point of the encampment
in the line of her vision, or else holding her cup of tea sus-
pended between her saucer and her lips, while she listened
to the sounds outside the house.
" For goodness sake, Alberta, make a breakfast. You
have scarcely eaten a morsel of food or drank a drop of tea.
What ails you ? What are you watching and listening for?
You cannot fear an attack from the Union troops this morn-
ing. You said yourself the river would be too high for
days to admit of their crossing," said Elfie, impatiently.
" It is not of them I am thinking," answered Alberta,
making an effort to sip her tea.
" Of what then ? I declare you look like a fugitive from
justice fearing an arrest. Something ails you."
" Something always does. Elfie, did you notice the boy
that waited on us at supper last night ? "
" I saw a boy, bringing in kettles and things, and I
THE ALARM. 175
heard you call him Grill, or something. I never noticed him
particularly. Why should I, little cocatrice of a brigand ! "
snapped Elfie.
" He was very well worth looking at. A pretty boy,
about sixteen years of age, with the blackest hair and
rosiest cheeks I ever saw in a lad. He sought refuge with
the Free Sword about a week ago. He told a sad tale oh,
it was a very common one of how his home had been
sacked and burned and his father and brother killed and
himself taken prisoner by the Yankees ; and how at last he
had made his escape and reached our- encampment."
" Young scamp ! better he had been sent to join his
father and brother than lived to become a guerrilla."
" Upon my word, Elfie, you are not very polite to me
all things considered," said Alberta.
" I have no right to be ' all things considered,' " retorted
Elfie.
" I do the best I can for you, under the circumstances."
" And I behave as well as I can, ' under the circum-
stances.' "
" Of what do you complain ? "
"That I am kept here against my will."
" Not by me. But let us return to our mutton. This
boy, Elfie. Too delicate for rough military work, the
colonel placed him about me as a sort of page. I declare?
in five days the gentle boy quite won my hea-rt. But
" How would the Free Sword like the idea of the
pretty page winning his lady's heart ? " jeered Elfie,
maliciously.
" Girl ! I am deeply and thoroughly ashamed of you !
My interest in the lonely boy is sisterly, motherly what
you will. And Colonel Corsoni knows that the woman who
gladly gave up earth and heaven for his love, is his own
soul and body for time and eternity. He knows that I am
176 HOW HE WON HER.
fond of the boy ; but he knows also that I would cast that
boy into a burning fire if it were to please him Corsoni ! "
" Well, but what about the blessed boy. Is it he that
you are watching and listening for?"
" Yes, yes, yes ! He has disappeared. The men say
that he was a spy. Some say that he is no boy, but a dis-
guised girl. Others deny that and pretend to recognize
him, now that it is too late, as an orderly whom they had
seen in attendance upon Major Rosenthal."
" Whe-ew ! " exclaimed Elfie under her breath, as a light
broke slowly over her face.
"Now Colonel Corsoni has sent out men in pursuit of the
boy. If he really was a spy, and succeeds in effecting his
escape, he will make for the nearest fort in the lines form-
ing the Southern Defences of Washington, which are on
this side of the river, you know ; and he will betray the
retreat of the Free Sword and bring the enemy upon us
probably before we can escape."
" Lord grant he may ! " muttered Elfie between her
teeth.
"And on the other hand, if he should be re-captured, he
will certainly be doomed to death, for the Free Sword never
yet spared a spy. Every way I look the prospect is full of
horror. It is for our returning scouts with their prisoner
that I listen so anxiously.
" You say that Colonel Corsoni never yet spared a spy."
" Never."
" He will spare this one," said Elfie, positively.
" How do you know that ? " demanded Alberta sharply.
" By reasons."
" What reasons ? "
" I cannot tell you. That is, I do not feel at liberty to
do so."
" HARK ! "
" What is the matter ? "
THE ALARM. 177
" They are coming ! " exclaimed Alberta.
And at this moment the galloping of horses was heard,
followed by the sound of many eager voices and the tramp-
ling of many hasty feet.
The next instant the door was thrown open by the guer-
rilla Mutchison, who stalked into the room.
The two young women started up in alarm.
" What is the matter ? " demanded Alberta.
" Madam ! " exclaimed Mutchison, speaking in haste and
trepidation, " the boy Gill has betrayed us ! The scouts
who went out in search of him have returned and report a
body of the enemy's cavalry near ! "
And without another word he pounced upon Elfie, lifted
and threw her over his shoulder and bore her, screaming
and struggling from the room.
Alberta started forward to stop him, but before she had
gone two paces she met Colonel Corsoni, who came hurry-
ing towards her.
He was armed and equipped for his ride, and he carried in
his hand the black hat and feather fastened by the flaming
carbuncle button.
" Alberta, dearest quick ! Your horse is ready and
waiting beside my own ! " he exclaimed. And he seized up
her dark hooded cloak and with his own hands wrapped it
about her form, i
" It is true then ! The enemy is upon us ! " she cried.
" Two companies of cavalary armed with their accursed
Henry rifles ! sixteen-shooters, that they may load up on a
Sunday and fire off all the week! What can my ninety
almost unarmed men do against such a force ? "
" Oh ! fly ! fly, Vittorio ! And here ! take that burning
carbuncle from your hat ! You are known by it. And its
rays shoot so far in the sunlight."
" I would almost as willingly be captured as remove the
gem, your gift, Alberta ! placed, where it shines, by your
hand ! "
11
178 HOW HE WON HER.
"Then my hand will remove it again!" said Corsoni's
wife, hastily unfastening the fiery stone and concealing it
in her bosom.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FLIGHT.
And there wan mounting in hot haste. BYBON.
THEN Corsoni seized her hand and drew her into the
yard, where the men already mounted awaited their chief.
Corsoni placed his wife on her horse and then mounted
his own.
Alberta, turning around, saw Elfie bound hand and foot
behind Goldsborough, who was firmly seated on one of the
most powerful roadsters she had ever seen.
Elfie could no longer fight or struggle, but she scolded
and remonstrated as vigorously as ever.
" Men if you are men and not monsters how dare you
look on and see such an outrage as this accomplished ! "
she cried, addressing the band at large.
But the men were busy with their curbs, restraining
restive horses, that were as eager to fly as their masters ;
and they had no attention to bestow on Elfie.
" Colonel Corsoni, are you a gentleman, and will you per-
mit this violence to be done me ? " she demanded of the
Free Sword.
But the guerrilla chief was marshaling his band, and did
not even hear her words.
" Alberta, Alberta, why do you not interfere ? You
promised that no wrong should be done me that you could
prevent!" she screamed, turning her head the only part
of her person she could move towards Madame Corsoni.
THE PLIGHT. 179
" Would to heaven I could prevent this, Elfie ! " ex-
claimed the guerrilla's wife. Then turning to her cousin,
she said, sharply :
"Albert Goldsborough, if you have a spark of manhood
left, release the girl and leave her here. The Federals will
find he-r when they come, and protect her, until they can
send her to her friends."
"Ha, ha, ha! Quite right, Alberta," laughed Colonel
Goldsborough. " As lady and chieftainess you could not say
less. Though, of course, your interference was a mere form ;
for you know as well as I do that Elfie would not thank you
for hindering me ; because at heart she is just as willing to
be carried off as I am to take her."
" Oh, you you you unutterably, contemptible miscre-
ant ! " cried Elfie, at a loss for names base enough to bestow
on her captor.
But at that instant the order was given to move for-
ward ; and Goldsborough put spurs to his horse and
bounded away.
The troop started very much as a company of fox
hunters start when the fox has broken cover all in
wildest haste and disorder, the first object being to get
away as quickly as possible the great difference that in
this case the party were the hunted instead of the
hunters.
They galloped, without drawing rein, until they had
put miles and miles between themselves and their late
encampment.
Then, oa the edge of another great forest, they slackened
pace to breathe their horses.
When all the troop the men and horses covered with
dust and reeking with sweat rode up, their chief lifted his
hand and spoke to them ;
" ATTENTION! Scatter yourselves through the forest, and
rendezvous to-night at the Black Bear's Pass, where we
join Colonel Goldsborough's force."
180 HOW HE WON HER.
Then they entered the forest by different paths, and
scattered themselves according to order.
Some little distance into the forest Colonel Corsoni and
Alberta rode side by side.
" So we go to Goldsborough's encampment," she said.
"Yes. This morning, when the scouts brought in the
news that the enemy's cavalry, informed by the little spy
Gill, was after us, we called a hasty council of war Golds-
borough, myself, Mutchison, and Abershaw ; when it was
decided that we should consolidate the remnant of our
bands, at the Black Bear's Pass, there to wait for Monck,
who is expected down from the Shenandoah Valley, to plan
another raid into Pennsylvania or Maryland. Ah, what a
hard life this for you, my tenderly reared love ! " said the
guerrilla chief, suddenly breaking off from his talk of rapine
and bloodshed, to gaze with ineffable tenderness upon his
companion.
"My Free Sword," exclaimed his wife, fondly and
proudly, "it is the life of my heart's choosing. I am
happy oh, believe me I am always happy by your side !
only miserable when absent from you. And you never
wish me absent, do you, Vittorio?"
" God knows, never ! " exclaimed the Free Sword, fer-
vently. " I am such an egotist as to want you always with
me, cost you w T hat it may."
" ' Such an egotist ' are you, in making me so happy ?
Listen, my chief oh, my dearest, listen : I am orthodox
and I believe in Heaven and in hell. But I will have no
Heaven that you do not share, my own ! And death and
hell are less terrible to me than the thought of parting from
you," she murmured, still fondly and proudly, as she had
spoken before.
" Then by the splendor of Heaven we will never part
again no, not for a day ! "
Their hands met in a clasp as fervent as the pledge of a
THE FLIGHT. 181
first betrothal, and then they rode on again in silence for
some moments, until the clatter of a horse's feet was heard
behind them, and Goldsborough galloped up, with Elfie still
bound behind him. He lifted his hat gallantly as he
passed Madam Corsoni.
" Oh, Vittorio ! " exclaimed Alberta, as the horseman and
his captive sped out of sight.
" What is it, love ? " inquired Colonel Corsoni.
" Elfie ! nothing can be done for her until we reach our
destination, I suppose. But, oh, when we do, pray try to
effect the deliverance of Elfie. It is shameful in Albert
Goldsborough to carry her off against her will."
" My dearest, do you suppose for a moment that it is
really against her will ? I do not," laughed the Free
Sword.
" It is bitterly against her will ! I do not understand
how it can be so ; since I know that she loved him once !
but I see that it is ! " said his wife, earnestly.
Colonel Corsoni gayly shook his head.
" It is, indeed, as I say ! Strange as it may sound, she
seems really to hate the lover she once loved so fondly ! "
" And for no personal offence against her ? For a mere
difference of opinion in regard to this war ? Impossible !
Dearest, you should know that no woman who truly loved,
ever discarded her lover for a mere difference of opinion in
religion or politics ! And that Elfie truly loved Albert, and
even sought to win his love, I had an opportunity of prov-
ing ! Oh, I watched them with too much interest in the
play to be mistaken ! I was too anxious that the little
black-eyed witch should win him, and so remove a trouble-
some suitor to yourself and a hateful rival from my path ;
not to have discovered the truth ! "
" Oh yes, I know that she did once love him, and seek to
win and succeed in winning his heart ! But all that is over
now ! "
182 HOW HE WON HER.
" And has a woman the right, do you think, to win a
man's heart and then throw it away ? "
" No, certainly ! "
" See here, dearest ; she not only loved him and won hia
love ; but she betrothed herself to him. And he at least
has been faithful to that betrothal. Listen, my own ! If
Elfrida were not the promised wife of Goldsborough, I
would not look on for an instant and permit her to be carried
off by him; or, being his promised wife, if her feelings had
really changed towards him, I would not interfere to deliver
her from his power. But neither of these hypotheses exist.
At heart she loves him still ; loves him more than ever, that
he has proved his love, by daring so much for her sake !
But Elfie is given to heroics real heroics and mock heroics.
She has embraced the cause of the Union ! It is her cue
to hate ' treason ' and to love 'patriotism.' And left to her-
self she will sacrifice her lover, whom she adores, for her
country that she only thinks she adores ! But let Golds-
borough succeed in carrying her off, and making her his
wife, by force if you like to call it so, and Elfie will be as
happy as a queen in the greenwood."
" But only see how she resisted her abduction ! See how
she wounded her captor in her struggles to escape ! "
" All done to deceive herself, as well as her lover, into
the idea that she hates him as a ' traitor ' ought to be hated
according to her creed ! Ha, ha, ha ! We shall have a
stormy wedding at the Black Bear's Pass to-morrow ; but
in a day or two the storm will have passed and all will be
sunshine ! " laughed Vittorio, gayly.
"But how, in heaven's name, is any marriage to take
place without the woman's consent ? Elfie may be carried
off and kept prisoner by physical force; but no physical
force on earth can make her the wife of Albert Golds-
borough ! "
" He will find a way to make her consent to marry him,
THE FLIGHT. 183
and make her confess that she loves him, too ! " laughed
Vittorio.
" Judging from what I had seen, I should think she
would tear him to pieces first ! "
" She can't i He's tough ! She'll tear him frightfully,
no doubt ! But he will stand a great deal of tearing from
those pretty hands, with the certainty that it will all end in
their caressing him. But this path is becoming very narrow
and obstructed. Let me go before, dearest, and put aside
the branches for you," said Colonel Corsoni, taking the
lead.
So they journeyed on until sometime in the afternoon,
when once more they encountered Goldsborough and Elfie.
He was pausing at a forest rivulet to let his horse drink.
" We need something to drink as well as our beasts.
What do you think, Colonel ? " inquired Goldsborough.
In reply Corsoni handed the speaker a flask of brandy,
from which Goldsborough took a deep draught.
" That is a genuine article, Colonel, where ever you got it
from," he said, handing back the flask to its owner.
" A present from Mutchison," said Corsoni.
" Oh ! spoils from the picnic -just so ! " answered Albert.
Then turning to his companion, he said " Mrs. Golds-
borough, I am aware that you never touch anything
stronger than tea or lemonade. Unfortunately we have
neither to ofter you. However, the clearest of springs
sparkles below us, and if you would like a draught of fresh
water "
" Hold your tongue ! Don't speak to me, miscreant ! "
flashed Elfie, losing her patience.
Meanwhile Colonel Corsoni had leaped from his saddle,
and dipped up from the spring a can of water, which he now
held to Elfie's lips.
She was choking with thirst, so she drank it all and bowed
her head in thanks.
184 HOW HE WON HEK.
" Now I think we want foddering as well as watering.
Corsoni, my friend, what is the condition of the subsistence
department ? "
The Free Sword, who was about to render the same ser-
vice to his wife that he had just rendered to Elfie, handed
the can of water to Alberta, and then took from some depos-
itory about his horse a tin box of ham sandwiches, which he
delivered to Colonel Goldsborough.
" More spoils from the picnic, I suppose," said Albert,
as he received them.
" Yes, I judge so, since they came from Mutchison,"
answered Corsoni.
" Exactly. Well, Mrs. Goldsborough, if you would like
some of these sandwiches, and will promise not to scalp me,
I will free your hands long enough for you to satisfy your
hunger," said Elfie's lover.
" You poltroon ! I would see you eaten up by snakes
sooner than I would touch a morsel of food from your
thievish and blood-stained hands ! If I cannot free myself
in any other way, I can by starving myself to death ! " ex-
claimed Elfie.
" Two words to that, Mrs. Albert Goldsborough ! You
may think you have a right to destroy yourself. But I'm
dashed if you have any right to destroy my wife, after all the
trouble I have had to get her," said Albert, as he put spurs
to his horse and bounded away.
Some little time Corsoni and Alberta lingered to take a
light luncheon, and then they also followed after him.
They continued their way through the forest, which grew
thicker and darker as they penetrated deeper into its recesses.
At length, however, they reached higher ground, where the
trees grew thinner.
And just as the moon arose they began to ascend that
almost inaccessible part of the mountains known as the
Black Bear's Pass.
THE FLIGHT. 185
Steep, winding, difficult and dangerous was the way.
The side of the mountain up which the path wound was
nearly perpendicular, broken into rocks, cut up with torrents
and obstructed with a ragged, scrubby copse-wood of ever-
green. The precipice towered a thousand feet above them
on their right hand, and fell a thousand feet below them on
their left. A single false step must have precipitated horses
and riders to death.
Corsoni went in advance and Alberta followed on her sure
footed animal. Neither the guerrilla chief nor his devoted
wife thought or cared for the present imminent danger ; for
oh ! a more horrible fate threatened them daily in Corsoni's
possible re-arrest than could be braved in a quick and mer-
ciful death by falling over this precipice. Indeed, the more
terrible the dangers of the path the more assured was the
heart of the guerrilla's wife, since the perils of the way
seemed to promise them immunity from pursuit.
They went on, slowly ascending this " devil's ladder," as
Corsoni laughingly characterized it, until at last they heard
voices in advance.
They had once more come unexpectedly upon Golds-
borough and Elfie. The former was saying :
11 Now, if your hands were free, my fair wife, you would
have a fine opportunity of rolling us both down to destruc-
tion."
" No matter, wretch. ' What's not paid is but delayed.'
I shall be in at your death yet. The one burning aspiration
of my soul is to live to see you hanged, Albert Goldsbor-
ough ! " she exclaimed.
" So you shall, Mrs. Albert around your pretty neck,
my sweet wife, as I said before," retorted Goldsborough.
It was while this tender interchange of affection was
going on that Corsoni and Alberta rode up and halted
behind the party.
"What's the matter ahead there?" inquired the Free
Sword. " Can't you get on ? "
186 HOW HE WON HER.
"Yes, but very slowly. My horse carries double, you
may remember. Besides, Mrs. Goldsborough is timid, and
does not like me to go any faster," replied Albert.
" It is false, you caitiff! I don't care how fast you go
the faster the better, so that you go to the old Nick!"
flashed Elfie.
" And take you with me ? " queried Albert.
" Hold your tongue ! " snapped Elfie.
" Go on, my dear Goldsborough, do," recommended
Corsoni.
" I am going. I only stop once in a way for a little love
making with my bonny bride here, which is but natural in
the honeymoon, you know," said Albert, as he carefully pro-
ceeded on his way.
Corsoni and Alberta followed.
The pass became more and more steep, winding, difficult
and dangerous. The rocks were more broken, the torrents
more swollen, the copsewood more tangled and treacherous.
The precipice now rose five hundred feet on their right
hand, and fell fifteen hundred on their left. The false step
which might precipitate horses and riders to death seemed
imminent.
Alberta's spirits actually rose with the perils and perplex-
ities of the ascent, for these seemed absolutely to insure the
fugitives against pursuit.
" I do not think the Yankee heroes will care to track us
up this path," said Alberta, exultingly.
" No, I do not think they will. Besides, one single reso-
lute and well armed man, stationed at the head of this pass,
could keep it against an advancing army," replied the Free
Sword.
An hour more of toilsome and terrible climbing brought
them to the top of the mountain.
The full moon Avas now at the zenith, and shone brightly
down upon a scene which was as great a curiosity in its
THE FLIGHT. 187
way as the Natural Bridge itself. It seemed a fort of
Nature's own forming. Saucer-shaped was the top of the
mountain, and surrounded by a natural breastwork of earth
and rocks, in the clefts of which grew sturdy evergreens.
Within this naturally enclosed space, which was about a
mile in circumference, was a picturesque spectacle groups
pf men, droves of horses, and many camp-fires. But here
seemed no sign of shelter for man or beast.
Colonel Goldsborough had arrived just before Corsoni and
Alberta. He had unbound his captive, who was seated in
sulky silence on the ground, and he now turned to receive
the Free Sword.
" Welcome to the Devil's Eetreat, for such is the delect-
able name by which this natural fortification goes. See,
your men are here before you, and they are already prepar-
ing for the comfort of Madam," he said.
Corsoni laughed and thanked his host, and then alighted
and lifted his wife off her horse.
" You must be nearly dead with fatigue, beloved," he
whispered, tenderly, as he took a blanket from one of his
men, threw it to the ground, and gently seated Alberta on
it.
Meanwhile, some of Corsoni's band busied themselves
with cutting down saplings, driving stakes into the ground,
weaving walls, and roofing in a temporary shelter for Cor-
soni's beloved wife beloved by all the band for her devo-
tion to their chief and their cause.
" Come sit on this blanket with me, Elfie. You will take
cold on the bare ground, child," said Alberta, kindly.
And the captive, who felt a sort of limited sense of safety
in the presence of the chieftainess, earne and sat down
beside her.
When Alberta's pretty, picturesque hut of fragrant
evergreens was finished, Haddycraff came to her and said :
" Your shell or Ls ready, lady. Come into it. Abershaw
will bring you tea."
188 HOW HE WON HER.
Alberta thanked her faithful follower, and gave her hand
to her female companion, saying :
" Come, Elfie ; yov. shall share my hut, and rest under
my protection to-night as last night."
And Elfie, whose young joints, to be sure, were stiff with
long constraint and hard riding, gladly availed herself of
Alberta's aid in rising.
" Ah, the wretch ! what pain he has put me to, with all
the rest of my wrongs ! Every bone in my body aches as
if I were a hundred years old. Oh ! that fate would turn
the tables and give that man over to my tender mercies
for one day ! " she cried, as she struggled painfully to her
feet.
" Fate may well do so, Elfie, and if it should, you will
remember nothing of Albert but that he was the lover and
the beloved of your earliest youth," said Alberta, in a low
and gentle voice, as she led the way taken by Haddycraff
towards her hut.
It was built against the highest part of that natural wall
of rocks, and it was sheltered from the north wind by a
thick clump of cedars that grew above them.
The walls were built of stakes driven into the ground,
with cedar boughs woven thickly between them ; and the
roof was made of sticks laid across the top, with cedar
boughs piled and pressed down on them. The flooring,
which was also the bedding, was made of dry leaves, with a
large, clean camp blanket laid over them. The door was
just a simple opening left large enough for a woman to go
in and out, and before it hung a small, clean piece of a
camp blanket, fastened with wooden pins to the roof.
Beside this door stood Abershaw, another of Alberta's
devoted followers, and at his feet lay a large bundle wrapped
in a Mclntosh waterproof covering.
" I was the last to leave the encampment, Madam. I
lingered behind, with the colonel's leave, to load two mules
THE FLIGHT. 189
with the camp furniture of your room. Here is a part of
it," he said, stooping and beginning to open the bundle.
" And so you ran the risk of capture for the sake of
securing these comforts for me, Abershaw ? " said the
colonel's wife, with some emotion.
"Danger and duty seems to be the same thing in our
wild life, Madam ; and I am only too glad to meet the one
and brave the other in your services," said this gallant
guerrilla, lifting his hat.
" Warmest thanks, Abershaw. But the colonel will know
better than I do how to return such kindness."
Again the man lifted his hat, and then, pointing to the
opposite side of the area, he said :
" The supper is nearly ready at the fire over there,
Madam. Will you and the young lady join the colonel and
his guest there, or will you have your tea brought here ? "
"We will join the colonel's party, Abershaw," said
Corsoni's wife.
" Alberta, you will do as you please ; but as for me, I will
starve sooner than break bread in Albert Goldsborough's
detestable company ! " indignantly exclaimed Elfie.
Abershaw turned with an involuntary gaze of amaze-
ment at the enraged girl ; for he, like most of the men,
naturally supposed the young lady to be the willing com-
panion of her lover's flight.
But Alberta calmly replied :
"Very well, Abershaw. You hear what Miss Fielding
says. Bring our suppers here."
The man bowed and turned away.
" I am sorry if I have disconcerted you, Alberta ; but if
my life depended on my doing so, I could not eat and drink
with that dastardly kidnapper ! " said Elfie.
" It does not matter much to me, dear. Let's drop the
subject for the present. We will speak of it presently,"
said Alberta, who was stooping over and examining the
contents of the bundle that Abershaw had brought.
190 HOW HE WON HER.
It proved to contain a supply of pillows, clean sheets and
blankets, from Alberta's press in the old plantation house.
" How kind and thoughtful of that man ! How truly
bound he is to the colonel and myself ! " murmured Alberta.
" He seems to be a very superior person, that Abershaw.
Very superior to his condition, I mean," said Elfie.
" There are several such among the devoted followers of
the Free Sword," proudly answered Alberta.
" And you you are like a queen, with your court about
you, here in the green wood," continued Elfie.
"As you may be, if you like the sovereignty," replied
the chieftainess, who was now engaged in spreading the
clean sheets and blankets, and placing the pillows upon the
fragrant bed of dried leaves in her hut.
When this was done, she came out of the hut, and sat
down with Elfie before the door.
And presently was seen approaching a small procession
across the area.
First came Abershaw, with a table-cloth thrown over his
right arm, and a sugar bowl hugged under his left ; a tea-
pot in one hand, and a milk jug in the other. After him
followed Haddycraff with a large plate of bread and butter
and a big dish of stewed rabbits. Behind them came
another man, loaded with cups, saucers, plates, spoons, knives
and forks.
When Abershaw reached the front of the hut, he spread
the table-cloth over the ground, and arranged the supper
upon it, and then dismissed his assistants, and remained to
wait on the wife of his chief and her companion.
The two young women sat down to the feast.
Nothing on earth ever took away Elfie's appetite, and as
she was now very hungry not having eaten a morsel since
the morning she fell to with great gusto.
Not so Alberta. For one thing, the guerrilla's wife had
broken her fast with those ham sandwiches in the after-
THE FLIGHT. lyi
noon ; and for another, she was troubled with many subjects
of anxiety. So she ate but little, and talked a great deal.
"Abershaw, is it certain, do you think, that Gill really
did betray us ? "
"Not a doubt of it, Madam. He was a spy from the
first. Tubman swears now, though it did not occur to him
at first, that he is the same boy he has seen in attendance
upon Major Rosenthal. Tubman, you know, Madam, was
a conscript in the Union army, and deserted to us."
" No, I didn't know it. But I think it is a pity Tubman
did not recognize the boy at first," said Alberta
" I don't think he saw much of the boy, ma'am."
" Abershaw 1 You were the last to leave the encamp-
ment ! Did you see any sign of the nearer approach of
the enemy's cavalry, before you left ? "
"Yes, Madam. I went up into the attic and climbed
through the skylight on to the roof of the house, and with my
leld-glass I saw their approach. Their advance was just
rising up from the other side to the top of the Hogsback
hill not two miles off. I got away with my loaded mules
as fast as I could ; and thanks to the thickness of the forest,
eluded pursuit."
" Do you think, Abershaw, that we are quite safe from
pursuit here ? "
"Safe from surprise at least, Madam. The pass is
strongly picketed at short intervals for two miles down."
" Is Monck's battalion expected soon, do you know ? "
" Hourly, Madam."
" Will they come up by the same way that we did ? "
"No, Madam ; by the opposite side, which is much easier
of ascent. Our straggling men are also arriving by scores ;
the Colonel will soon re-organize his whole force ; and when
Monck's men join us, we shall be able to hold this post
against any nnmber that may be brought against it."
" But we are not to remain here."
192 HOW HE WON HJ*R.
"No, Madam. As soon as our whole force, including the
three independent commands, is mustered, there is to be
another great raid into Pennsylvania or Maryland, before
the winter sets in."
Alberta clasped her hands together, with a look of woe
unutterable and indescribable.
" Will you have anything more, Madam ? " inquired her
attendant, who had not seen the misery on her face.
"No, Abershaw. Take all those things away! You
have finished, I believe, Elfie ? "
" Yes ; ever so long ago ! "
" Remove them, Abershaw ; and pray ask Colonel
Corsoni if he will step here and see me before I retire."
The man promptly obeyed the order by piling up as much
of the cracked crockery and broken cutlery as he could
carry, and walking off with his arms full.
He came back a second time with an assistant who
helped him to take away all that was left ; and he gave
message to Madam Corsoni to the effect that the colonel
would attend her immediately.
When the two men had finally left the spot, and the Free
Sword was seen approaching it, Elfie retired within the hut
leaving the husband and wife together.
COL'ONEL ROSENTHAL. 193
CHAPTER XV.
COLONEL ROSENTHAL.
His eyebrow dark and eye of Ore
Showed spirit proud and prompt, to Ire;
Yet lines of thought upon his cheek,
Did deep design and counsel speak;
His forehead by his casque worn bare,
His thick moustache and curling hair,
Dark brown and grizzled here and there,
But more through toil than age.
His square turned joints and strength of limb
Showed him no carpet knight so trim,
But in close flght a champion grim,
In camps a leader sage. SCOTT.
LEAVING Elfie in the hands of the guerrillas, we must
go and look after Justin, from whom we have been separated
too long.
It is true that we have heard of him from time to time,
and by little fragments of news picked up here and there,
we have been able to keep track of his movements since he
left us.
We know, for instance, that his regiment has been en-
gaged in several sharp skirmishes, such as would be set
down as great battles in any other country than this, the
theatre of our colossal war, and that in every one of these
fights he distinguished himself alike by his personal cour-
age and his military skill.
We have heard that, for gallant and meritorious conduct,
he was promoted to the rank of major, and that, by the
death or disabling of his superior officers, the temporary
command of his regiment, then on duty at H., devolved
upon him.
Now it happened that upon the very morning of Elfie's
fatal picnic excursion, the colonel of Justin's regiment,
being convalescent, returned to his post of duty. Major
Kosenthal was relieved, and for faithful and efficient services,
was promoted to the rank of colonel, and ordered to assume
12
194 HOW HE WON HER.
the command of the Cavalry, then stationed at W., in
the valley.
The next morning Colonel Kosenthal, mounted on a noble
war-horse, set forth to cross the Blue Ridge, en route for his
distant destination. He was attended by a single orderly,
Sergeant Hay, the friendless youth whom Britomarte had
kissed and blessed on the moving of the brigade, and who
was thenceforth the object of Justin's especial care.
The valley was free, or supposed to be free, from guerrillas,
and therefore a body guard was deemed unnecessary.
It was a glorious autumn morning after the storm, and
the passage of the mountains on this route was neither
difficult nor dangerous. And it was yet early in the fore-
noon when Colonel Rosenthal, having crossed the ridge in
safety, descended into the old turnpike stage road, leading
though a dense forest towards W., which was still far
distant.
But the glory of the morning had no power to lighten
the gloom that overshadowed the young officer's spirit.
In truth, he had both public and private matter for
depression.
The former was of course grief for the wide-spread ruin
wrought by the war. and sickness of soul with " hope
deferred " by its long continuance and indefinitely post-
poned end, and was shared by every patriot in the land, and
every philanthropist in the world.
The latter was in distress about his sister Erminie and his
beloved Britomarte, and his intense anxiety concerning
the fate of a young orderly sergeant, whom, while in tem-
porary command of the regiment, he had detailed on special
duty, and who had left him about seven days previous to
this, and had not yet been heard from.
This boy was an especial favorite with his superior officer.
Soon after the regiment had left Washington, and while it
was lying at City Point, he had enlisted. Since that, for
COLONEL ROSENTHAL. 195
cleanliness, sobriety, diligence, fidelity, and, in short, all
soldierly good qualities, he had been steadily promoted
until he had reached the rank of sergeant.
As by instinct Justin Rosenthal soon singled the boy out
from his comrades, and selected him as one of his own
orderlies, Hay being the other.
Now it occurred that while Major Rosenthal was in com-
mand of the regiment at H., there came rumors of the re-
appearance of the terrible Free Sword on the east side of
the Blue Ridge. He was reported to be in the neighbor-
hood of L., re-organizing his band of desperadoes, who
were flocking to his standard by scores, by fifties and by
hundreds.
It was whispered that there was a plan on foot to mass
the tbree great bands respectively commanded by Monck,
Corsoni and Goldsborough ; then to cross the river above
tiie Point of Rocks, slip down behind the line of forts, and
make a sudden dash into Washington.
Such were the rumors among the country people; but
whether they were true or false, or by whom, or upon what
ground they had been started, no one could tell.
Reconnoitering parties had been sent to beat up the
country in the neighborhood of L. ; but they had returned
without having seen or heard anything about the dreaded
Free Sword or any of his followers.
Either he was not there, or his encampment was well con-
cealed, and the people of the country were keeping his
secret.
And as for Monck's and Goldsborough's bands, there
was not even a rumor suggestive of their whereabouts.
It became now advisable to send some person of equal
tact a-nd courage, who should go among the country people
in the vicinity of L., pass for a secessionist, discover the
retreat of the Free Sword, penetrate to his camp, and find
out what foundation there might be for all the rumors that
were afloat.
196 HOW HE WON HEK.
The duty must be undertaken voluntarily of course ; but
no one in the regiment was found willing to go upon this
dangerous expedition, until Will. Wing, the major's
second orderly, proffered his services for the forlorn hope.
His major was surprised and softened by this devotion in
one so young and tender as this boy, and he kindly and
candidly set before him the extreme perils of the enterprise.
But Wing was firm, and respectfully represented that his
very youth would be his protection, as it would render him
an object of less suspicion to the enemy ; and he begged
that he might be permitted to render the required service
to his country.
So the major had consented, and the young orderly, dis-
guised in a suit of confederate gray, had left H. some seven
days before, and since that he had not been seen or heard
from.
And now Colonel Eosenthal's soul was pierced by remorse
for having suffered the boy to go upon such a fatal errand,
and by grief for his probable fate ; for scarcely a doubt
remained upon the colonel's mind that his spy b.ad been
discovered, and had fallen a victim to the vengeance of the
terrible Free Sword.
With a spirit burdened and darkened by these thoughts
and feelings, Colonel Rosenthal rode on his way.
So few travellers passed this old, deserted turnpike road,
that the sound of horse's feet, galloping rapidly towards
him, startled Justin and caused him* to look up ; when, to
his unspeakable joy, he recognized Wing.
Smiling, the boy saluted his officer and sprang from his
horse.
" Oh, Wing, my child ! I am so rejoiced to see you safe
back again ! What news ? " eagerly exclaimed Colonel
Rosenthal.
" Great news, Major," said Wing, who knew nothing of
his officer's new rise in rank " great news, sir ! I have
COLONEL ROSENTHAL.
met with a complete success. I have unearthed Corsoni
and delivered him and his band over to our forces."
" That is glorious ! Wing, you shall have a lieutenant's
commission for that ! "
" Thanks, Major ; if the new commission is not to
remove me from your side," said the orderly.
" Foolish boy ! Do you weigh your attachment to me
against such an honor as that ? "
" No ; Heaven knows I do not ; for my attachment to
you would so weigh down the honor that it would send the
lieutenant's commission flying ! "
" We shall not be separated, Wing. I shall take good
care of that. I am going on to W. to take command of a
cavalry regiment there. After you are promoted, if you
should be found capable of fulfilling the duties of the office,
you shall be my adjutant and live at my head quarters.
But where were you flying so fast when I met you, Wing? "
" To report to you, Colonel."
" At H. ? "
" Yes, sir."
"Well, you have an opportunity of reporting here.
Mount your horse, Wing, and ride on with me. I have
managed to get you a-nd Hay detached from your late regi-
ment, and transferred to the one of which I am about to
assume the command ; so that you may both be near me, as
formerly."
"Thanks, Colonel," answered Wing, springing lightly
into his saddle.
" Now give me a full report of your expedition, Wing.
Yet let it be a brief one, since 'brevity is the soul of
wit.'
"It shall be brief as a military order, my Colonel.
When I left the camp, seven days since, with the rebel
prisoner's clothes on my back and the rebel soldier's pass in
my pocket, and your pass rolled up into the compass of a
198 HOW HE WON HER.
hazel-nut and wrapped in water-proof skin, tucked into my
cheek like a quid of tobacco, so that I could even swallow it
in a case of extreme emergency, I took the way to L.,
avoiding the highway and keeping pretty much to the coun-
try roads and bridle-paths. I stopped at the farm-houses,
ostensibly to procure food or lodging, but really to get
information. I passed for a confederate soldier on leave
going home to L. to see my friends ; and to prove my words
true, I showed them the pass that we took from the prisoner
William Gill, whom we captured near C."
" But, Wing, there was danger in that."
" Sir, there was danger in every step of the expedition.
I was prepared to meet it."
" Brave boy ! But suppose you had met with people who
knew the person of this William Gill."
" Sir, I had to risk that, and to use some little address.
On coming to a farm-house, at the close of the day, for
instance, I would be taken at once by my uniform to be a
confederate soldier, and I would be received and treated
kindly. Soon I would take an opportunity of asking my
entertainers if they knew a family of the name of Gill.
Almost invariably it happened that they knew no such family
personally ; though in some instances they knew of them. I
would express myself sorry for that, as I was a connection of
that family myself and had been in hopes of meeting friends
on my road. When my entertainers betrayed suspicion of
me, which was very seldom, I showed Gill's pass, which at
once dissipated all their doubts."
" Well, and what did you hear from these people ? "
" Plenty of abuse of the Yankees, Colonel, which was
quite natural, and in which I joined so boisterously and
with such seeming malignity as sometimes even to provoke
an apology for these same Yankees from their confederate
foes. ' Some of them Union fellows were not so very bad,
after all/ the rebels admitted."
COLONEL ROSENTHAL. 199
"Well, but about the Free Sword?" inquired Colonel
Eosenthal.
" I heard nothing for the firs-t two days. Near noon, on
the second day of my journey, I fell in with a party of our
foragers. I was stopped immediately as a rebel But I
took out my quid of water-proof skin, and unrolled and
exhibited your pass, and told my story. I passed the night
with them, and from them I learned that on the preceding
night they had surrounded the house of a certain notorious
bushwhacker named Gill, with orders to arrest him and his
sons ; that they had been fired upon from the windows of
the house, and several of their number wounded and two
killed ; that they had then fired the house and burned out
the bushwhackers. The father and one son were killed in
the fight that followed, and the other sou was taken pris-
oner. There was another son, they said, who had been cap-
tured some six weeks before. I explained to the men that
this first captured son was the one I was personating, and
that the affair of the previous night would aid rne very much
in keeping up the character. In the morning I left them
and went on my journey, striking deeper into the forest."
"I hope you soon struck the trail of the Free Sword."
" Sooner than I expected. Look you, sir : I did not spare
my flesh and blood. I gashed myself with several wounds,
to make it appear that I had been in a fight. Nor did I
spare the Confederate uniform. I burned and scorched it
in several places, to make it seem that I had barely escaped
with my life from the burning homestead."
" You have a great deal of craft for one so young,
Wing."
" ' Necessity is the mother of invention,' it is said, sir.
In this 'forlorn plight' I went on my way, until, near
nightfall, I came to a lonely farm-house, on the edge
of the forest, where there were some extremely ragged
Confederate soldiers, smoking and drinking. I dragged my-
200 HOW HE WON HER.
self to their presence, and told them my piteous story : how
I was a Confederate soldier on leave ; how I was going home
to see my father and brothers, when, on the very night of
my arrival, their house was burned, and they themselves
bayonetted by the Yankee soldiers ; and how I had barely
escaped with my life."
" There again you ran a risk, Wing ! Suppose these sol-
diers had personally known the Gills ? "
" I provided for that, Colonel. The first question I
groaned forth was whether they knew the Gills. 'No none
of them knew the family personally, though one man said
he had heard of them, and that they had a son in the Con-
federate army. So you see, my Colonel, all the rest was easy
enough. I had only to say that I was that son, and to tell
them my piteous story."
" But suppose some one of their number had known the
son by sight, and so had detected you ? "
" Suppose the earth had opened under my feet, Colonel ?
I beg your pardon for speaking so lightly, sir ; but one was
as likely to happen as the other. Both were possible, but
neither probable. However, I had even provided for the
remote contingency of detection before committing myself in
my story. I had ascertained by observation that no one
among them knew by sight any member of the Gill family.
If they had, I should have passed myself as a distant con-
nection, bearing the same name."
" Go on, my boy."
" One of the men Haddycraff asked me how long I had
to serve in the regiment to which I belonged. I -answered,
no time at all. That my leave in point of fact amounted to
a discharge ; for that before the leave should expire, my time
of service would be out."
" And what was your motive in telling that story, Gill ?
Was it that you had got your hand in, or rather your tongue
in, to the invention line of business, and couldn't get it out
again ? " laughed Colonel Eosenthal.
COLONEL ROSENTHAL. 201
" Not at all, sir ; I had a motive in saying that. I saw
that the men among whom I found myself were members of
come guerrilla gang, and that they were after recruits. The
event proved that I was quite right, for Sergeant Haddycraff
slapping me smartly upon the shoulder, exclaimed heartily:
" ' Well, my brave hoy, a soldier does not sit down to
weep over his wrongs, like a woman ; he rises up to avenge
them like a man ! "
" ' And that I mean to do on every blamed Unionist I
can find ! ' I answered.
" ' Quite right. Now you're a-chatting. That's the talk !
Now to help you to do this, how would you like to take ser-
vice under one of our gallant independent leaders ? ' he
asked.
" ' One of the guerrilla chiefs, do you mean ? ' I inquired.
"'That's what the lying Yankees call us, blast them!
We are no more guerrillas than we are Cossacks ! ' ex-
claimed Haddycraff angrily.
" ' But for my part, I thank the Yankees for bestowing
it. I should glory in the name of guerrilla,' I said.
" ' Ha, ha, ha ! we have made it a terror to the clock-
peddling heroes who have mistaken their vocation and come
down here to fight us,' chuckled Haddycraff.
" ' To be a gallant guerrilla is the height of my ambition/
I said.
" ' Then how would you like service under the brave Free
Sword?' ^
"'The Free Sword!' I exclaimed, with enthusiasm.
' Oh, Heaven ! I should think it almost too much glory to
hope for, to live and die in the service of the great Free
Sword ! '
" ' And I tell you what, my boy, your ardent admiration
of Colonel Corsoni is shared by at least one-half the youth
in Virginia.'
" 'But the cursed Yankees who burned my father's house
202 HOW HE WON HER.
were saying among themselves that the force of the Free
Sword was entirely broken up and scattered to the four
winds, and that it never could be re-organized,' I said.
"'Ho, ho, ho! And that is all they know about it,
laughed Haddycraff ; ' and if you choose to go with me, and
take service under the Free Sword, you may know for your-
self how little truth there is in those reports.'
" Well, my colonel, I agreed to accompany the guerrillas
to the camp of their chief. And so, when they had feasted
at the expense of the farm people, who were mostly women
and negroes, and had loaded their mules with farm produce,
for which they paid in veritable greenbacks, we all took the
road through the woods for some miles, and then turned out
of the road in the thickest depths of the pathless forest, and
with no other guide than a pocket compass, found our way
to the encampment of the Free Sword."
" And where was that ? "
" On an old deserted plantation in a clearing of that same
forest. The approaches to the encampment were very strong-
ly picketed. There was strict military discipline observed.
We reached head quarters just as they were beating the
reveille, and in twenty minutes afterwards I was ushered
into the presence of the Free Sword. A very handsome
fellow is this celebrated guerrilla chief, my colonel, looking
every inch a brigand leader, however, and reminding one
strongly of ' Fra Diavolo ' in the opera."
" Yes, yes I know the personal appearance of Vittorio
Corsoni. I knew him well in former days. He was a young
Italian adventurer, and at the first opportunity took to the
guerrilla life as naturally as a duck to water. How were you
received by him ? "
" Very, very kindly. He bent those large, dark eyes so
earnestly upon me while I was telling my piteous story of
coming back to find a burning homestead and a murdered
father, with his ' hoary head all dabbled with his blood,' that
COLONEL ROSENTHAL. 203
to escape his intense gaze I had to cover my face with my
hands and take refuge behind a flood of tears. And then
what do you think happened, Colonel ? "
"What?"
" I felt the hand of the Free Sword laid gently on my
head gently as a woman's hand and I heard his voice,
saying:
" ' You shall stay with me and be my son, and I will avenge
you on your adversaries.' It was as if the voice of a god of
Olympus had spoken."
"Are you an enthusiast, Wing?" inquired Col. Eosen-
thal.
"Perhaps, sir. Then, at least, when I looked up and saw
tears of compassion standing in brave Corsoni's eyes com-
passion for me, come to his camp to betray him, I felt for a
moment as if I were the caitiff and traitor, and he were the
hero and patriot; and I assure you, my Colonel, that I had
to remember he was in arms against our government before
I could reconcile myself to the part I had to play."
" One might think you had fallen in love with the inter-
esting brigand ! "
" That would have been quite impossible for me, sir '
Yet I do not wonder that his wife did ! nor that she keeps
close to his side through all the evils and dangers of his
wild life ! "
" You talk like a woman, Wing," exclaimed the colonel,
laughing.
" Perhaps I do, sir ; but I acted like a man ! like a very
man ! " retorted Wing, sarcastically ; " for I betrayed the
host of whom I pretended to seek refuge, and who promised
to protect me and avenge my supposed injuries ! "
" And now you talk like one particular woman whom I
could name ! But proceed, my boy ! How did you get on
in the camp of the Free Sword ? "
" Very successfully ! He said that I was not stout
204 HOW HE WON HER.
enough for their liard, military duty, so he placed me in
attendance upon his wife. But I had ample opportunities
of finding out their plans; for the Free Sword had no
secrets from the devoted companions of his dangers. I
learned, little by little, that there was certainly a plan on
foot to consolidate the three great guerrilla hands, to make
a raid into Pennsylvania or Maryland ; they had not decided
which was to he the theatre of the invasion. They were
waiting for the arrival of Colonel Goldsborough, who was
daily expected.
Go on."
"Well, sir, I remained in the camp of the Free Sword
for five days ; hut I learned nothing more, because there
was really nothing more to learn. But on the evening of
tha fifth day there was a surprise."
" Ah ! "
"Not from our forces. The surprise was the sudden
arrival of Colonel Goldsborough with a female captive. He
came in the dead of night, with his prisoner hound on the
horse behind him, and attended by a single officer, the
notorious Nicholas Hutchison, whose gigantic proportions
have in no degree been exaggerated by report."
"Umph!"
"We learned from that loud-mouthed Hutchison, who
told the story with great gusto, that their band had surpris-
ed a picnic party near the Point of Hocks ; had exchanged
their own foul and ragged clothing for the holiday dresses
of the gentlemen, as far as they would go ; had eaten up
the picnic dinner and finished the evening by a ball in
which they danced with the ladies of the party ; and finally
had broken up their bivouac in a hurry at the arrival of
their chief and the announcement of a squadron of Yankee
cavalry near, and had brought off one young lady captive,
leaving all the others to find their way home as they
could."
COLONEL R08ENTHAL. 205
" Where was this picnic party from ? "
Washington."
" And what young lady was that who was taken cap-
tive?" inquired Colonel Bosenthal, with a vdawning of
anxiety.
"Hutchison called her Miss Fielding; Colonel Golds-
borough called her Elfie."
" Good Heaven ! "
" What is the matter, sir ? "
" I know the young lady. She is an old friend of my
sister. Go on, Wing."
"Well, sir, the young lady was placed under the care of
Madam Corsoni, who made her comfortable that is, as
comfortable as any creature whose every breath was a male-
diction could be made."
" The young lady did not bear her captivity very patient-
ly, then ? "
"Patiently! I tell you, my Colonel, if I had been
Albert Goldsborough I had rather carried off bodily a well
grown she-tiger. She had torn his hair and whiskers
out by the roots and had nearly clawed both his ears off.
His jaws will have to be bandaged for a month ; and if he
doesn't get erysipelas from his wounds, I don't know what
will prevent him. Afterwards, while she was in the care of
Madam Corsoni, as I said before, she did nothing but
breathe maledictions against him and his band."
"Very natural and extremely like her. Well, my boy,
you say that was on the evening of the fifth day ; you must
have left soon after that."
" Yes, sir, I did. That night the Free Sword, much to
his distaste, had to give up his half of his lady's chamber
to her new guest; for as Madam Corsoni was the only
other woman in the encampment, she insisted on keeping
the young girl under her own immediate protection."
"And she was quite right. Proceed, Wing."
206 HOW HE WON HER.
"That night the Free Sword, being banished from hia
wife's quarters, passed the hours with his guest, Colonel
Goldsborough, in consultation upon the combination of
their forces for the projected raid. I kept the door. In
that interview it was decided that the three great bands re-
spectively commanded by Colonel Corsoni, Goldsborcmgh
and Monck, should rendezvous at the Black Bear's Pass,
where the greater portion of Goldsborough's guerrillas had
already preceded them, and where Monck's horde was ex-
pected to join them. It was arranged that they should
march the next day, if the weather should permit."
"Well! Goon."
"When I had heard so much, my Colonel, I thought it
was about time for me to make my escape from the Free
Sword's camp and carry the information to the nearest
Federal Fort. Soon as I was relieved from duty at the
office door, I took measures to get off unobserved. Fortu-
nately for me, there was a terrible storm arose. Under its
cover I made my escape."
" How did you pass their pickets, my boy ? "
"I crawled through the dense and pathless woods be-
tween the picket stations, until I got quite clear of the en-
campment. Fate still favored me. Outside I caught a
horse all saddled and bridled, that seemed to have broken
away from his fastenings somewhere. Once mounted on
the horse, I dashed on as fast as possible towards Fort R.,
where I arrived just before sunrise. I was stopped and
questioned by our own pickets. I had no pass-word, of
course ; but I told my story and was taken under guard up
to head quarters, where again to Colonel D. I told my story.
And in fifteen minutes or less time, two companies of
cavalry were mounted and off after the Free Sword. I was
detained in a sort of honorable captivity for several hours,
and finally dismissed with a pass to return to my regiment
at H."
COLONEL BOSENTHAL. 207
"Before leaving Fort E., did you hear from the com-
panies that went out after Corsoni ? "
" Yes, sir ; some of the men returned to report to Col. W.
that my information was correct ; that they had found the
camp of the Free Sword just where I had reported it to he ;
but that the hand had prohably received information of the
approach of our forces, for that they had hastily evacuated
the premises."
" Then Corsoni and his band were not captured ? "
"No, sir; but the cavalry were still in search of them
when I left."
"And that is all, Wing?"
" That is all, sir."
" Well, Wing, I hardly know for which quality you de-
serve the most praise : for your 'shrewdness, or for your
courage. If I have any influence in the proper quarters
you shall receive a lieutenant's commission for this ser-
vice."
" Thanks, Colonel."
"And if the Free Sword should really be captured upon
the information given by you, you will be entitled to a con-
siderable portion of the large reward offered for his appre-
hension."
" Your pardon, sir. What I did was done for the service
of my country and for the pleasure of my Colonel. But
not to save myself from perishing would I touch a cent of
the blood money ! "
" Upon the whole I think you are right, Wing. In your
place, I would not touch the reward, certainly. But the
lieutenant's commission that is an affair of another color,
eh, boy?"
"Yes, sir. I hope I have earned that, or shall earn it in
some nobler manner than spying out and giving information
against outlaws."
As they spoke, they emerged from the forest out upon the
broad high road that skirted it.
208 HOW HE WON HER.
"We are now about thirty miles from W., I think,
Wing? " said the colonel.
" Thirty-eight," answered the boy.
"So far? Well, at least we shall reach the town by
nightfall," concluded the colonel.
CHAPTEK XVI.
THE MEETING.
" Ho ! who rides there ?
The tramp of hoof, the flash of steel
The rebels round them coining."
AND they turned to the right, and rode along the edge of
the forest for some four or five miles, when they saw ap-
proaching them from the opposite direction a body of horse-
men.
"That must be a detachment of our cavalry, Wing,
What do you think?"
" I think it is, sir. But I can't be sure yet. The clouds
of dust prevent my seeing them clearly," answered the
boy.
" And then they are so far off. Let me see," said the
Colonel, taking out his field-glass and " sighting " the
approaching party.
" I am nearly sure they are our men, sir," said Hay,
speaking for the first time.
"Yes, it is a detachment of the cavalry now stationed
at W. What is afoot, I wonder ? " exclaimed the Colonel
putting spurs to his horse and galloping forward to meet
the advancing party.
The officer in command of the squadron rode out to receive
him.
THE MEETING. 209
The two met like old friends,
" Ho ! Colonel Kosenthal ! Happy to see you. Heard of
your promotion this morning. Allow me to congratulate
no, not you, but the regiment, on the acquisition of so
brave a soldier and able an officer. I wish my company
belonged to your regiment," said the cavalry officer.
" Thanks, Major O'lSTeale. But what's out ? "
" What's out ? The guerrillas. They are swarming into
this neighborhood like seven year locusts. Goldsborough's
guerrillas have made a raid upon a party of excursionists
near the Point of Kocks, and robbed them of everything
even to the clothes they stood up in even to their sacred
linen ? "
" Yes, I heard of that. A squadron of cavalry from Fort
W. is out after them, but they are encamped somewhere near
the Black Bear's Pass, far enough from here," said Colonel
Rosenthal.
" Ah! is that so? Then there is no chance of falling in
with them hereabouts ? "
"None in the world."
" And the Free Sword has re-appeared ! "
"He has joined issue with Groldsborough, and their
forces are united."
" Are you certain of that ? "
" I am quite certain of that, and I am half suspicious
that you are out on a wild goose chase if you are after
guerillas," laughed Colonel Eosenthal.
" Not quite so fast. You have accounted satisfactorily
for the Free Sword and for Goldsborough. But here is
Monck suddenly sprung up with all his band from Heaven
knows where. And they are ravaging the country right
and left. It is after Monck especially, and not after the
other two, that we are sent out," said Major O'Neale.
"Monek, I think, will be found somewhere in the
neighborhood of the Black Bear's Pass, where he is ex-
13
210 HOW HE WON HER.
pected to combine with Goldsborough and Corsoni for a nen
raid on an extensive scale. Thanks to the courage and dis-
cretion of my young orderly here, whom I sent as a spy
into the camp of the Free Sword, I am in possession of all
their plans, which I intend to reveal to General W. as soon
as I get into the town."
Major O'Neale deigned to turn his eyes for a moment
upon the young orderly whom Col. Rosen thai had praised ;
but the question of the guerrillas was of too absorbing in-
terest to admit of a moment's wandering from the subject,
and so he replied :
" Your information, obtained by so much courage and
tact, and at so great a risk, may be very correct. I have no
doubt that Corsoni and Goldsborough may both be at the
Black Bear's Pass, and that Monck may be on his way to
join them ; but, in the meantime, it is certain that he is
ravaging the country about here. I suppose a score of
fugitives have rushed into W. within the last twelve hours
with tales of Monde's burnings and wastings."
" Then there can be no mistake about his near neighbor-
hood."
" None in the world. But the question is, where did his
band spring from ? One would think that they had sprung
full grown, armed and equipped, out of the ground, like the
myrmidons of classic story."
" These vast forests afford too good a cover for these
bandits. They should all be levelled," said Colonel
Rosenthal.
" But what a Herculean labor. And think how many of
them have been levelled But you, Colonel, you ara
going on to W. ? "
" Of course."
"And with only these two orderlies by way of a body
guard ?
" Just as you see."
THE MEETING. 211
"I strongly advise you not to do so. The road is
certainly very unsafe," said Major O'Neale.
" It is the road you have just passed ? "
"Yes."
"And you saw nothing of these reported guerrillas?"
" No not a hair ! But then they would not be apt to
show themselves to a force like ours. But you and your
two orderlies, Colonel, would be a great temptation to them.
If I might do so, I should strongly urge you not to go for-
ward, but to turn back with us ! "
"I am ordered to proceed to W. immediately to take
command of my regiment, and I must- go on," said Colonel
Rosenthal, decisively.
" Then allow me to detail a portion of my men to guard
you on your way, Colonel."
" Not on any account. It would be very unwise for you
to do so ; for the withdrawal of such a number of your men
as could be of any sort of use to me, in case of an encoun-
ter with Monck, would so weaken your force as to leave it
liable to capture. No, I must go on with my boys and trust
to Providence," said Colonel Eosenthal.
Major O'Neale still respectfully remonstrated, but with
little effect.
" If you were to divide your men you would render your
own force inefficient, without affording me adequate protec-
tion," said Colonel Rosenthal.
And so the friends parted each going opposite ways
Major O'Neale and his command towards the ridge, and
Colonel Rosenthal and his orderlies towards W.
The colonel with his attendants rode on a mile or two, and
then, as the sun was sinking to his setting, they entered an
arm of the forest.
" After all, I doubt whether we shall reach W. before
dark. We must be still twenty-five miles off," remarked
Colonel Rosenthal.
212 HOW HE WON HER.
" Sir, we are thirty," answered Wing.
" These Virginia miles are certainly the longest I evel
travelled," laughed Colonel Eosenthal.
They went on, their path becoming narrower and more
obstructed as they penetrated farther and farther into the
depths of the forest. Sunset faded into twilight and twi-
light deepened into night. And the road became so narrow
and obstructed that they had to ride in single file Wing
going before, Colonel Eosenthal riding in the middle and
Hay bringing up the rear. So they proceeded slowly and
silently for some distance, until at length Colonel Eosenthal
drawing rein, called to his advance guard :
" Wing ! "
"Yes, sir."
" Fall behind, my boy ! If we are to have the honor of
meeting Major Monck, or any of his men, I would prefer
to be ' to the fore ' to welcome them.
The young orderly obeyed promptly, though unwillingly
enough, for he would have preferred to make of his own
person a shield and breastplate to guard his colonel's
precious life.
" I say, Wing," whispered young Hay, as once more they
rode nearly side by side, "this is a demon of a dark road
to meet tho guerrillas in ! "
" So it is," admitted Wing.
" How far are we from W. now ? "
" About twenty-two miles."
" When does the moon rise, do you know ? "
" About nine o'clock."
" And it is not more than seven now. And we have two
hours of black darkness before us."
" Oh, we shall get into W. by the time the moon rises."
"And who will thank the moon for rising then? We
want light now 1 "
" Well we have light. I am sure the stars are coming
out very brightly," said Wing, encouragingly.
THE MEETING. 213
But Hay declined to be encouraged.
" Oh, yes ! the stars are bright enough what we can see
of them through the upper branches of these thick cedar
trees," grumbled Hay.
"Look," said Wing, as they were passing through a
fordable stream that crossed their path " look how clearly
the stars are reflected in the water under our feet ! and
then tell me if you do not see enough of them and if they
are not bright."
" Well, I suppose our eyes are getting used to the dark-
ness, and we can see better now, that is all," grumbled
Hay.
After crossing the stream, they found the forest road a
little clearer, so that Wing was enabled to ride up side by
side with his colonel.
" We are not more than twenty miles from W. now, sir,"
said the boy, cheerfully.
" Twenty Virginia miles, Wing, which means twenty-five
of any other sort," replied the colonel.
''Hist! what is that?" cried Wing, in a low, breathless
voice.
" What ? " inquired the colonel, drawing rein.
il Where ? " questioned Hay, riding up.
" That glittering object on the left hand of the road ! Oh,
I see what it is now ! " exclaimed Wing.
And they all looked and saw not only one bayonet, but
twenty or thirty, projecting from the thicket each side of
the road, and gleaming faintly in the starlight.
" It is the guerrilla band. Retreat ! " cried Colonel Ros-
enthal, raising his hand and turning his horse's head. His
two followers also turned.
But their road in the rear was bristling each side with
bayonets. Retreat was cut off.
"Dash forward, then !" exclaimed Colonel Rosenthal,
drawing his sword, wheeling, and putting spurs to his
horse.
214 HOW HE WON HEE.
"HALT, you cursed Yankees ! " yelled a guerrilla, leaping
into the middle of the road, followed by all his band, who
closed in upon the three travellers, surrounding them with
a fence of fixed bayonets.
Of course the travellers had no other alternative than to
halt.
" Surrender, blast you ! " thundered the same voice that
had ordered the halt.
" Bring your leader here, or conduct us to his presence,"
said Colonel Kosenthal, sternly.
" I am the leader of this band, curse you ! Hand me
your sword before I wrench it out of your hand ! " roared
the brute.
" I think you would find that a rather difficult feat to
perform, my friend," said the colonel, grasping his weapon
with a firmer hold, and frowning so sternly that the guer-
rilla, surrounded by his band as he was, quailed before the
soldier.
" Will you hand me your sword, dash you ? " thundered
the bully, at length plucking up a spirit.
tl No not to 3 r ou ! I ordered you to take me to your
chief, or to bring him to me," said Colonel Kosenthal,
firmly.
" And who are you, curse you, to give orders here ? " de-
manded the guerrilla.
" I am one who will be obeyed," answered the colonel.
The guerrilla replied by a volley of oaths which were,
however, interrupted by another member of the band, who
came suddenly upon the scene, and " spoke as one having
authority."
" Crowfield, what is the meaning of this ? "
" It is this blasted Yankee prisoner, who won't give up
his sword until I tear it from his beastly hands. Demands
to be taken before Major Monck, or to have Major Monck
brought to him devil burn him ! " answered the savage.
THE MEETING. 215
" Crowfield, you are wrong. This is Colonel Rosenthal,
and Major Monck's orders were strict, that when he should
be taken, he should be treated with courtesy, and conducted
at once to his head quarters."
" Oh, yes ! that's the way with the major ! He'll take a
prisoner, feast a prisoner, and then hang a prisoner ; but all
in courtesy ! Oh, yes ! whatever the major does is always
done in courtesy. As for me, I'd rather blast a Yankee and
let him go, than bless him and hang him, as our major does.
You'll find worse fellows in the world than I am, if you
wouldn't give me up your sword, Colonel Prisoner," said
the guerrilla, nodding to Colonel Rosenthal.
" Sergeant Crowfield, you are drunk ! and I'll give you
until four o'clock to-morrow morning to get sober in ! "
" Captain Bannister, you're a heap drunker 'n I am, and
BO I'll give you until four o'clock to-morrow afternoon to get
sober in ! w
" You are under arrest, sir. Blake ! take his musket and
look after him," said the angry officer.
When these orders were obeyed, Captain Bannister
turned to the prisoner and said :
" Colonel Rosenthal, we will take you to Major Monck's
head quarters that are only about three miles from this
spot."
Colonel Rosenthal bowed gravely and silently.
The guerrilla captain then placed a guard around the
prisoners, and marshalled his band, and gave the order to
march.
The body, consisting of about sixtj r well-armed men,
moved forward upon the same road leading towards W., for
some three quarters of a mile, and struck into a path on the
right hand side of their way winding into the very inner-
most recesses of the wilderness.
Colonel Rosenthnl rode on without exchanging a word
with one of his ccuard.
216 HOW HE WON HER.
Wing and Hay conversed in, whispers whenever they
could do so with impunity.
" Here's a go ! " muttered Hay. " I wish the colonel
had taken Major O'Neale's advice ;ind turned back with the
cavalry."
" So do not I. The gallant colonel had done his duty,
and the result is with the Lord," answered Wing.
" Yes, I know. But this Monck doesn't care for Lord
or devil. He is as much worse than the Free Sword as an
assassin is worse than a mere duellist. He is the coldest
blooded demon alive ! You will never see him excited ;
but he has been known to hang a prisoner before the door
of his quarters, and sit down and eat his breakfast while
enjoying a full view of the death agonies of the hanging and
struggling victim ! ''
" May Heaven protect and deliver our colonel ! " ex-
claimed Wing, clasping his hands in prayer.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE GUERRILLA'S ENCAMPMENT.
Into a forest far they thence him led,
Where was their dwelling in a plesisant shade,
. With mountains round about environed,
And mighty woods which did the valley shade,
And like a stately theatre it made,
Spreading itself into a spacious plain;
And in the midst a little river played
Amongst the pumy stones and seemed to 'plain
"With gentle murmur that his course they did restrain. EPENSSK.
THE forest was almost impenetrably thick and intensely
dark. The closely intermingling boughs overhead shut out
every ray of starlight. And the moon had not yet risen.
The darkness, the stillness and the silence of this wilderness
was very solemn and almost appalling and overpowering.
Iso object could be seen ; they moved through thickest night
THE GUERRILLA'S ENCAMPMENT. 217
and blackest shadow ; nothing could be felt but the damp-
ness of the air and the cold touch of the clustering leaves,
and no sound could be heard but the muffled tread of their
horses' hoofs, the hoarse hoot of an owl, or the shrill cry of
the whippowil.
Their progress through the forest was necessarily very
slow, for the band was partly on foot, and the cavalry
had to accomodate its pace to the infantry, whom it did not
wish to leave behind. The path also was often so narrow
and obstructed that they had to march in single file, Captain
Bannister leading the way, followed by Colonel Eosenthal
and a guard and young Wing, and another guard and Hay,
and then the horse and lastly the foot.
After marching on in this tedious manner for nearly forty
minutes, they came suddenly upon a picket guard so well con-
cealed that though they the pickets could command the
approach to their station, no one not familiar with their
cover could suspect their presence there.
" All in the darkness, the arriving band was challenged
with the usual :
" Who goes there ? "
Captain Bannister answered and gave the pass-word : and
then exclaimed :
" You are as dark as the Stygian lake here, Griffin !
What the d do you mean by it ? I had nearly ridden
over you."
" The orders were to show no lights, Captain."
Humph ! What is the news, Griffin ? "
11 Wiley has captured a sutler's wagon with a lot of
liquor and provisions, Captain. The major will feast you
all to-night and give the men double rations, and to-morrow
we are to have double rations of food and grog also."
" That is good news indeed, Griffin, to men who have
been on short commons as long as we have."
" Hope you've had success, Captain. So dark I can't see
who is with you, sir."
218 HOW HE WON HER.
" Yes, we have secured the rich prize we went to seek.
Good night, Griffin," said Bannister, passing on his way, fol-
lowed by all his band.
The approach to Monck's camp was very strongly pick-
eted ; they passed several other guards, but all concealed in
thick wood and deep darkness, out of which they watched
and listened like crouching tigers for their prey.
At length the band emerged from the forest and came
upon the deep and narrow river, beyond which arose a
nearly perpendicular range of mountains, dimly seen in the
star-light.
Here the officer in command of the party halted and
took a whistle from his pocket and blew a shrill blast.
It was answered from the other side ; and almost immedi-
ately the plash of oars was heard, and a ferry-boat was seen
to move across the water.
It was little better than a scow ; but it accommodated the
three prisoners with their immediate guard. When they
were all in the boat, Captain Bannister told the ferryman to
make haste and put them across the river ; and the ferry-
man and his assistants promptly obeyed, laying themselves
to their oars with good will.
While they were crossing the captain questioned the
ferryman ;
" What news in the camp, Home ? "
" Well, sir, Sergeant Wiley and about thirty of the men
surprised a sutler's wagon that was a straggling behind its
train, and captured it, with three prisoners and a quantity
of stores. All the men but the pickets had double rations.
The major wouldn't give them double because he wanted
them to be very sharp to-night ; but to-morrow they are to
have double grog as well as double rations."
" Yes I heard about that. Anything else ? "
"Well, sir, Captain Miller has gone out with his company
to waylay a train of army wagons as our scouts report to be
THE GUERRILLA'S ENCAMPMENT. 219
crossing the valley, on their way to W. ; but he is not ex-
pected back to-night."
" I am sorry to hear that. I think it was a bad move.
The valley is all up, bristling with Yankee rifles. A little
devil' of a spy got into the camp of the Free Sword, and
afterwards ran away and betrayed his retreat to the Yan-
kees. He had to evacuate his camp in great haste."
" What a blasted bit of bad luck ! " exclaimed the ferry-
man.
" Yes ; and that is not all. G-oldsborough well, he's not
the first great soldier that ever lost the world for a woman
Goldsborough, instigated by the demon, made a dash across
the river below the Point of Rocks and surprised a picnic
party for no other purpose than to carry off a certain girl."
" What a blamed fool begging you pardon, Captain ! "
" Yes, he was all that. And, the result of all this is,
that there are no less than three companies of cavalry out in
search of us in different directions. The chances are that
Miller will meet with some of them."
As Captain Bannister spoke the boat grated upon the
sands of the shore, and the party prepared to land.
The captain walked his horse out first, and was followed
by the others of the party in the same manner.
Leaving the ferryman to go back after the remainder of
the band, Captain Bannister led his party by a steep,
narrow and winding path up the mountain side, passing
many picket guards, by whom they were challenged, and to
whom he gave the countersign.
As they reached the summit, the moon, large, round, and
red as a ball of fire, was rising behind a dark, green cedar
wood in the valley before them.
" There are the head quarters of Major Monck," said the
captain to his prisoner, pointing down into the thickly
wooded valley.
He then led the way down this side of the mountain by
220 HOW HE WON HEK.
a path as steep, narrow and winding as that by which they
had ascended on the other side, and they met as many
pickets as before.
Arrived at the foot of the precipice, the captain led the
way into the cedar thicket, " where path there was none ; "
but by some occult method of his own, or some signs unin-
telligible to the uninitiated, he took his party on until they
came to a low worm-fence surrounding a clearing in the
very centre of the woods.
At regular intervals of space sentinels marched to and fro
before this fence.
One of them challenged Captain Bannister, who gave the
countersign, and immediately passed with his party through
the gate.
Within the rude enclosure, which seemed to have been an
old field, there was a busy, picturesque, enlivening scene.
Camp fires were scattered all over the area, and around
them were grouped the men some cooking their rations ;
some eating their suppers ; some drinking whiskey, smoking
pipes, and playing cards, and some lying flat upon their
stomachs, with their limbs extended, their elbows resting
on the ground, and their heads bowed upon their hands,
while, by the light of the blazing pine-knots, they studied
the pictorial papers which were a part of the plunder that
had been taken from the captured sutler's wagon.
Through this crowd the captain conducted his party
towards an old, common-looking and rather dilapidated
farm-house that stood among its out-buildings at the farther
end of the area. Beyond these buildings groups of cows
and horses might be dimly seen.
The whole place was a combination of a ruined farm and
a military encampment.
The house itself, on nearer approach, was seen to be a
large, rude wooden building of one story, with a very steep
roof, and with a rough piazza running the whole length of
THE GUERRILLA'S ENCAMPMENT. 221
the front. One large door, with a window on each side,
opened upon this. Here also were groups of men lounging
on the steps and in the corners, while before the door a
sentinel stood guard.
Captain Bannister dismounted, and signed to his
prisoners to do the same. Then he called a man to take
the horses, and beckoned the prisoners to follow him.
He led them by the front door into a large passage run-
ning through to the back of the house, and from which
other doors opened leading into rooms on the right and left.
This passage was dimly lighted by a tallow candle, stuck
into a tin sconce nailed against the wall.
Several soldiers were lounging here, and three or four
were guarding a small group of prisoners at the farther end
of the place.
A sentinel stood before the second door on the left hand.
" Remain here with your attendants if you please, Col-
onel, while I go in and make my report to my major," said
Captain Bannister, politely addressing his captive.
Then turning to some of the lounging soldiers, he called
them to come and guard these prisoners.
Four of the men approached at his bidding, and gathered
around Colonel Eosenthal and his young orderlies.
Meanwhile the captain entered the second door on the
left, which was guarded by a sentinel, and which was prob-
ably the office of the guerrilla chief.
Colonel Eosenthal, left with his party, looked around
apon the contracted scene, noticed the dilapidated walls,
the uneven floor, the ricketty doors of the hall, and the
rugged, wretched, famished aspect of its guerrilla occupants.
Then he turned his eyes towards the extreme back of the
place, where, in a dark corner, were the three other prisoners,
with their guard about them.
Two of these prisoners were men, and they were standing
up, and even in this obscure light, Colonel Eosenthal
222 HOW HE WON HER.
thought he could recognize something familiar in the aspect
of the taller of these men.
The third prisoner was a woman, and was seated on the
ground, with her apron thrown over her head.
While Justin was still looking at the group, and trying
to remember who the tall man might be, the latter stooped
and whispered to the woman, who then suddenly threw her
apron down and turned her head.
Justin was standing where the faint light of the candle
in the sconce fell upon him, and, though he could not dis-
tinctly see the other prisoners in their obscure corner, they
could see him quite plainly.
So, the instant after the woman had turned her head
towards him, she leaped up and sprang past her guards
before they could prevent her, and almost threw herself into
Justin's arms, exclaiming frantically:
" Okh, glory be to the Lord ! is it yourself, Mr. Rosen-
thai, dear ? And how is Miss Conyers, sure ? "
" JUDITH ! " cried Justin, in unbounded astonishment.
" Och, yis ; it's meself, sure, Lorrd kape me ! "
"I am glad and sorry to see you, my girl. How came
you here ? " inquired Justin.
" And is it how came I here ? Sure didn't thim bastes
iv gorrillas divil burn thim, for they're worse nor the
pirates thiinselves didn't they saize our wagon, and rob us
iv every blessed thing we possessed in the world, and thin
bring us here ? That the Lorrd may smite thim ! " ex-
claimed Judith, fervently.
"Then you belonged to that sutler's wagon which was
captured ? " inquired Justin.
" First and foremost, I belonged to the divil himself, or I
niver would be torminted as I am ! " said Judith, impati-
ently.
" But you were in the sutler's wagon, were you not ? "
again inquired Justin.
THE GUERRILLA'S ENCAMPMENT. 223
" Oh, ay, yes ; bad luck to it, I was in the sutler's wagon
whin thim hay thins saized it. And be the same token, I
hope you've come with your army to hang ivery one iv
thim ! "
" Why, Judith, what are you thinking of, my girl ?
Don't you see that I am a prisoner like yourself? " said
Justin.
" You a prisoner ! Sure the thaives niver had the im-
pudence to make you a prisoner ? " exclaimed Judith, in
consternation.
" It is as you see, my girl," answered Colonel Rosenthal,
smiling in spite of his misfortunes.
" Thin the world must be coming to an ind ! And serve
it right ; for it's a baste iv a world altogether, where a
Christian can't sail upon the say without the fear iv ship-
wrecks, and desert islands, and say-fights, and pirates, and
the like ; and can't travel upon the land itself without fall-
ing among thaives ! " exclaimed the woman.
"But, Judith, my girl, how did you happen to be among
the sutlers ? " inquired Justin.
" D'ye see me gay Tom there, with his head bound Tip ?
He is always getting his crown cracked, is me gay Tom.
If he hadn't a hard Scotch head, he'd been dead long ago.
D'ye see him, mind ? "
" Yes," replied Justin, now turning to look again at the
tall man, and recognizing McAlpine.
" Well, sure, me gay Tom, bad luck to his Scotch greedi-
ness for money, must turn sutler, so he must. And so that
was the way I came to be a-mong them ; for ye didn't think
I was going to lave him to his own devices so far as to let
him go alone, did ye ? "
" I don't know," laughed Justin ; " but how came you to
be captured ? "
" Sure the divil got- into the horses, and we couldn't make
them go along, and keep up with the train j and we fell
224 HOW HE WON HER.
behind ! That was how it was, let alone the fact that if
there is any sort iv a misfortune at all at all, going round,
meself i-s always sure to fall into it ! Sure and wasn't I
shipwrecked, and left for dead on a baste iv an island?
And didn't I meet with thim haythen iv pirates, and get
into a say fight ? And don't it follow in coorse that whin I
took to the suttling line iv business I should fall among
thaives? Sure it's me luck! Tom! bad manners to ye !
why don't ye come and spake to the gentleman ? " inquired
Judith, suddenly breaking off from her discourse, and ad-
dressing her husband.
McAlpine, nodding and growling something in reply,
made a step forward to comply with this suggestion. But
the guard who had permitted the woman to talk to the new
prisoner, would on no account allow the man to do so, and
Judith's gay Tom had to keep his place.
CHAPTER XVIII
The fellow was a sordid soul
Such as does murder for a meed;
Who, but of fear, knows no control,
Because his conscience, seared and foul,
tfeels not the import of his deed;
One whose brute feeling ne'er aspires
Beyond his own more brute desires.
Such tools the Tempter ever needs
To do the savage at of deeds,
For them no vision'd terrors daunt,
Their nights no fancied spectres haunt. SCOTT.
AT this moment Captain Bannister came out of Monck's
room, and addressing his prisoner, said :
" Major Monck is not prepared to see you this evening.
You will be in my charge for the night, and I will try to
make your captivity as agreeable as may be consistent with
my duty and your safety."
M C N C K . 225
Justin bowed in acknowledgment of this courtesy, but
made no other answer.
The captain then dismissed the guard from his own three
prisoners, and requested the latter to follow him.
He opened a door on the right hand of the hall, and im-
mediately opposite Monck's door, and led them into a
large, square room, with a low ceiling and bare walls,
windows and floor.
It was poorly furnished with a camp bedstead, a pine
table, and half a dozen three-legged stools, all of which
seemed to be the workmanship of an amateur carpenter,
and with an old mahogany beaufet, a worm-eaten walnut
wash-stand and a dilapidated arm-chair that appeared to be
a part of the original furniture of the farmhouse, left
behind by the owners as too worthless to carry away.
The huge fireplace contained nothing but charcoal and
ashes ; the fire had gone out hours before.
" Bring some kindling wood here quickly, Ellis, and if
there is none handy, take one of the back shutters off the
hinges, and split it up. We must have a fire here directly.
This place is as damp and musty as a vault. And here !
Tell Thomas we want supper immediately," were the orders
issued by Captain Bannister to his orderly, as they all en-
tered the dreary room.
" Sit down, Colonel Rosenthal," he continued, pushing a
dilapidated arm-chair towards his prisoner guest. " And
boys, you needn't stand on my account. Find stools and
seat yourselves," he added, addressing Wing and Hay.
He himself stood with his back leaning against the fire-
less chimney.
Very soon the man called Ellis entered with his arms full
of kindling wood, that seemed to be the fragments of a
broken up green door or shutter.
A fire was soon lighted, and its cheerful blaze illumined
the whole room.
14
22b H o w ii K w o -N- ii i: n .
"Now supper as soon as possible, Ellis," said the captain,
as he stood and spread his hands oefore the flame.
"Thomas is getting it ready as fast as he can, sir''
answered the man.
" What have you got to give us ? "
"Chickens a-nd ducks, sir; brought away from a Union
hen-house by Atkins aud some of our boys to-day, and ham,
and tea, and coffee, and sugar, got along with the sutler's
stores," said the man, with a low, half uttered chuckle.
"Come, we shall fare sumptuously!" laughed Bannister.
" But here, Ellis, this light wood will soon burn out.
Bring in one or tw r o heavy green logs, and throw them on
to keep the fire," he added.
The man left the room to obey, and presently returned
with the logs, which he threw upon the fire.
He was soon followed by another man with a dish of
fried chickens in one hand, and a plate of broiled ham in
the other, both of which he set upon the table.
"We have to dispense with table-cloths in camp, Colo-
nel," said Bannister, laughing, as he stood and arranged
the two dishes to his liking.
Meantime the cook made several journeys to and from the
room, during which he placed upon the table bread, biscuits,
butter, tea, coffee, sugar, condensed milk, cheese, and, last
and best of all SALT.
" Heaven ! how thankful to fate I am for that sutler's
wagon, even if it had furnished us with nothing but salt !
Do you know, Colonel, that one of the greatest privations
of our lives is the lack of that once cheap and common nec-
essary of life, table salt ! The river supplies us with fish,
the forests with game, the farms with meat, poultry, eggs,
vegetables, and breadstuffs ; but where oh ! where are we
to obtain a continuous supply of salt ? One of our boys,
a prisoner in the old Capitol at Washington, was permitted
to write home to his friends. He wrote: 'Everything is
M O N C K . 27
d d here except in one respect : wt have salt in our
soup ! ' That letter was suppressed when it reached our
camp. That one line would have formed much too great a
temptation for our men to permit themselves to he taken
prisoners, so that they might get salt to their soup ! But
come, Colonel, while I talk the coffee is cooling. Sit up, sit
up, and try to make the best of matters by making a good
meal," said Captain Bannister ; and with this " grace
before meat," he seated himself at the table and began to
help his prisoner guest.
Justin, notwithstanding his misfortunes, really did make
a good meal, though not a very merry one ; for he was hun-
gry, he was also tired, and likewise a little sulky, as indeed
what prisoner would not be ?
When the two officers had supped and were satisfied, the
two boys, Wing and Hay, were supplied with supper.
After which the camp service was cleared away by Ellis
and Thomas.
" I can offer you half my hard bed, Colonel ; but the
boys will have to take each a blanket and content them-
selves with the bare floor," said Captain Bannister.
Again Justin bowed in silence. He could feed, because
feeding is one of the absolute necessities of life ; but he
could not converse complacently with his captor.
The programme pointed out by Bannister was followed.
Justin Rosenthal laid down to take his night's rest beside
his guerrilla captor.
Hay wrapped himself in the blanket that was given him
and stretched his chilled and tired frame upon the hearth
before the fire.
But Wing went prowling about the room until he found
a large closet ; and then he asked permission to sleep within
it. And as the closet communicated only with the room,
and had no outlet by which the prisoner could escape, this
permission was readily granted.
228 HOW HE WON HER
Only Hay was dissatisfied.
" It's just like that sulky, unsocial fellow, "Wing always
poking himself off by himself ; and yes, by ganny ! always
finding a place to poke himself into besides," growled the
boy, as he settled himself to rest.
Fatigue is such a solicitor of sleep, that with a clear con-
science and a sound constitution a tired man must sleep
under the most inauspicious circumstances.
So Justin Eosenthal, despite his captivity, fell into a
deep and dreamless slumber that lasted until morning, when
the beating of the reveille* in the guerrilla camp aroused
him. But even then, on first waking, he thought it was
the reveille of his own camp. And it was not until he saw
his bedfellow rising that he recollected his circumstances.
" I hope you have slept well, Colonel," exclaimed his
captor, who was then standing by the bed, drawing on his
trowsers.
" Thank you, yes," rather surlily answered Justin.
And there the brief conversation ended.
As for young Hay, he slept so soundly that it required
several sharp salutes from the boots of Bannister before he
could be brought to consciousness.
'"Come, you little Yankee whelp ! up with you there ! Is
that the way yon Union fellows sleep in camp when the
reveille is rolling in your ears ? Because if it is, I don't
wonder we whip you wherever we meet you. Up I say ! "
exclaimed Bannister, with a vigorous blow from his boots.
"Aw-w-w! Yes," yawned poor Hay, but half awake,
and dreaming that he was surprised by the enemy in his
own camp. " Aw-w-w ! yes. Any of the Eebs round ? "
"'Any of the Eebs round,' you little reptile? Well,
yes, I reckon the Eebs are round slightuously ! " laughed
the captain.
Hay got up, stretched himself, stared about, saw his col-
onel, and then recollected everything.
M O N C K . 229
But it was not until the two officers were quite dressed
that Wing caine out of the closet where he had passed the
night.
Soon afterwards Captain Bannister's two men came in and
arranged the room, kindled the fire, and set the table for
breakfast, and placed upon it strong coffee, sugar, milk
and cream ; and good bread, butter, ham and fish.
After breakfast Captain Bannister went to Monck for
instructions, and after an absence of half an hour returned
to his prisoners, and addressing Colonel Eosenthal, said :
" Major Monck is not well this morning, and will not be
able to see you for some hours. But he has authorized me
to take your parole, and.give you the freedom of the camp."
Since there was no good alternative Justin gave his
parole.
" Now go where you please within the limits of this
camp, Colonel, and return when you like to this room, which
will be your quarters. But report to me, if you please, at
sharp noon," said Captain Bannister.
Justin bowed acquiescence ; but his ..heart was too full of
chagrin and mortification to permit him to speak.
The privilege granted to Colonel Eosenthal was also
extended to his orderlies, who gladly availed themselves of
it by getting permission of their colonel to leave the room,
and leaving it immediately.
Colonel Rosenthal also strolled out into the air.
The morning was clear and frosty ; and the scenery
around the old farm-house was very fine. Nearest the
house there was an old garden, in which a few late roses
still bloomed, and a few fall vegetables grew. Farther on
there were apple and peach orchards, but the trees were
stripped of their fruit. Beyond these were old fields,
studded here and there with monstrous forest trees.
Around the whole was a circle of thick woods. And
behind them arose the wall of mountains.
230 HOW HE WON HER.
When Justin Kosenthal went out upon the camp ground,
in front of the house, he found the drums heating and the
men mustering for the company drill.
He saw Hay standing gazing upon the scene. His other
orderly was nowhere to he seen.
"Where is Wing ? " inquired Justin.
"I don't know, sir; he walked away hy himself. He
never stops with me, or any of the hoys, when he can help
it," answered Hay, touching his cap.
Colonel Eosenthal nodded, and strolled on, followed hy
Hay.
" So it appears that the great Major Monck cannot receive
us this morning," said Colonel Rosenthal, speaking more
to himself than to his orderly.
"No, sir! May I tell you why, sir?" briskly asked
Hay.
" Why, they say that he is indisposed."
"He is getting over a glorious old drunk, sir ! "
Hay ! "
"Yes, he is, sir! The men are all saying it I I heard
them muttering about it. They whisper that the ' intoxi-
fied brute ' that's what they called him fuddled himself
last night with the sutler's brandy, and couldn't lift his
head from his pillow this morning, if it had been to save
the camp."
" The men speak so of their leader, Hay ? "
"Yes, sir! in whisperings and mutterings ! But you
know how sharp my ears are, sir ! and I used them and
heard enough to feel sure that the great Monck's band are
what they call disinfected."
" Disaffected, you mean, my boy."
"Well, sir, disa/fected, if that means that they have
taken a misliking to their commander."
" It means something of the sort, if it is true, Hay,"
said his colonel.
M O N C K . 231
They strolled on, and passed through a broken gate into
the old garden, where they came upon Wing, standing
among the bushes, and gazing in a meditative manner upon
a bunch of pale, autumn roses he had just gathered.
" A penny for your thoughts, my boy/' said Colonel Ros-
enthal, kindly.
" They are not worth the penny, sir. I was only think-
ing of these pale roses trying to bloom in the frosty air ;
how like they are to human hopes trying still to keep alive
in the midst of cold and killing disappointment and des-
pair."
"The roses will bloom again in spring, and hope revive
again in heaven, Wing," said Colonel Rosenthal, laying his
hand kindly on the boy's head.
After that the three strolled on together for a while and
then separated, each going his own way.
At noon Colonel Rosenthal, according to his promise, re-
turned to the house, to report himself. He went straight
to his quarters, where he found Wing and Hay also wait-
ing; and where they were soon after joined by Captain
Bannister.
" All right," answered the latter, when his prisoners had
formally reported.
" And now, Colonel Rosenthal," he added, Major Monck
is prepared to receive yeu, and I am ready to escort you to
his presence."
Justin bowed and followed Bannister, who led the way
out of the room, across the hall, and through the opposite
door, that admitted them into the apartment occupied by
Monck. t
It was a chamber exactly similar in size and appearance
to the one they had just left. But it was furnished rudely
as an office or sitting-room, with rough-hewn tables, chairs,
stands and shelves. The floor, walls and windows were
bare, but there was a fine fire of pine wood blazing iu the
232 HOW HE WON HER.
chimney, and diffusing an air of cheerfulness even over this
dreary scene.
Four or fire soldiers lounged about the room, standing
before the fire or gazing out of the windows.
A large, square deal table stood in the middle of the
floor. Seated at it, and gazing at a map spread out before
him, was the guerrilla Monck. This notorious leader, hated
even by his own men, needs here a particular description.
In the first place, he did not look the least like the popular
idea of a guerrilla, or even of a soldier. He looked far
more like a rogue and a hypocrite.
He was a very large, fat, fair man, with a round head,
covered with short cropped flaxen hair, a big white face,
pale grey eyes, and full, sensual lips. He was dressed in a
loose fitting suit of Confederate gray. And his broad-
brimmed, soft felt hat lay on the table before him. If he
had been really intoxicated the night before, there was
little in his lymphatic appearance to betray the fact now.
All these circumstances Colonel Rosenthal had time to
observe while waiting for the great leader to look up from
his map, and deign to notice his visitors.
CHAPTER XIX.
A COLD-BLOODED SENTENCE.
'Tis now past midnight, and by eight to-morrow
Thou must be made immortal. . If I must die,
I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it to my breast. SHAKSFEABK.
AT length Monck looked up from his map, but he turned
his heavy white face towards Colonel Eosenthal and stared
with his big blue eyes straight through that gentleman's
head as if it had not stood in his line of vision. Monck was
A COLD-BLOODED SENTENCE. *2"3
evidently iu a maze, being still bewildered with his geo-
graphical puzzles
With a courteous bow and wave of his hand towards his
companions, Captain Bannister motioned him up to the
guerrilla chief and presented him.
" Colonel Eosenthal, of the Cavalry. Major Monck."
" Colonel Eosenthal, I am very glad to see you very
glad indeed ! I can say these words with more truth than
they are usually said. Indeed I was so desirous of enter-
taining you, that hearing you were on your way to W., at-
tended by a single orderly, I sent out a special detachment
of my best men to meet and escort you here. Again I say
I am delighted to make your acquaintance. How are you,
sir ? " said Monck, with a sort of cold jocularity, extending
his fat hand to his prisoner.
But Colonel Eosenthal ignored the hand and retreating a
step, bowed coldly.
" Take a seat, sir take a seat. Make yourself at home.
We hope to enjoy the pleasure of your company for a good
long while. We shall hold you in a sort of honorable cap-
tivity, as a hostage for the safety of some of our poor fel-
lows now pining in the clock-peddlers' prisons. Sit down,
sir. Pra} r sit down. But let us find a chair first. Here !
you ! Hoskins ! bring a chair this way for the gentleman.
I hope we shall spend a pleasant season together, Colonel
Eosenthal."
One of the men brought forward a rude wooden chair,
probably of camp manufacture, and Justin threw himself
into it.
Monck squared himself for a talk. Placing his big hands
upon his fat knees, and staring blankly straight before him,
as seemed his senseless habit, he began by saying :
" I hope, sir, you found your quarters agreeable."
" I believe, sir, Captain Bannister did his best to make
them so," answered Justin, coldly.
234 HOW HE WON HER.
" That was right. By the way, Captain Bannister, you
can retire," said Monck, turnir.^ towards his officer, who
immediately left the room.
" And your rations, sir ? How were they ? inquired
Monck, squaring towards his prisoner again.
" I found no fault with them."
" That is well. Nor, to tell the honest truth, do I think
that you had any reason to do so. We have a plenty of
provender just now. The capture of that sutler's wagon
was a great stroke of good fortune. It came in the nick of
time, when we were expecting distinguished company, you
see ho ! ho ! ho ! Well, I am glad you find yourself so
comfortable, Colonel."
Again Justin bowed gravely.
" So Grant is to have the command of the Army of the
Potomac ! " said Monck, suddenly.
" I have heard nothing to that effect, Major Monck,"
replied Justin, coldly.
" That's strange ! And we knew all about it."
Justin made no reply.
^ " And General W. is in the Valley again ? " said the
guerilla, interrogatively.
" Major Monck, you must be aware that I cannot con-
verse with you upon military affairs," said Justin.
" Humph ! not even upon subjects the details of which
are as familiar to us as they are to your cabinet at Wash-
ington, or to your general officers in council ! Bless you,
man, we have our friends in your cabinet, in your Congress,
in your councils and even in your very detective police
force ! Ha, ha, ha ! ho, ho, ho ! Why, man, we know the
contents of the sealed orders with which your ships-of-war
sail, long before the commanders who hold them have
broken them open ! We knew where Banks was going,
though all the loyal people of the United States, and all
the naval and military officers, were in a frenzy of curiosity
and wonder as to f he meaning of the expedition ! "
A COLD-BLOODED SENTENCE. 235
" I know nothing of your means of information, Major
Monck ; but I do know that I cannot converse with you on
the subject."
" Quite right ! I beg your pardon ! Let us talk of
something else. My poor fellows up there in your Old
Capitol Prison at Washington ! How do you treat them ?
give them enough to eat and drink? "
" Assuredly we do, sir. However little I may know, by
experience, of our military prison discipline, I am quite cer-
tain that our prisoners are well fed, well clothed, and well
sheltered," said Justin, gravely.
" That is as it should be, especially as to the feeding. I
shouldn't mind so much your hanging one of our men now
and then when you can find hanging matter against him ;
because hanging is short work, and soon over ; and I do the
like myself occasionally ; but I do abhor the idea of your
starving the poor fellows ! Being a good feeder myself, I
feel pity for a famishing man. And so long as I have food
for myself and men I divide it fairly with my prisoners. I
never, under any circumstances, stint my prisoner ; though
sometimes, in the way of -retaliation for some poor devil of a
bushwhacker that you have strung up to a roadside tree,
and to give my boys something to look at, and keep them in
a good humor, I have to hang a Yankee ! Colonel, you
smoke ? Try one of those cigars ; you will find.them excel-
lent. Yonder Scotch sutler is a good judge of tobacco and
whiskey. I never met with better Habanas or better old
Mononghahela than what we took from his wagon. Again
I say it was a capital stroke of good fortune, the falling upon
that sutler. Try cftie of these cigars, Colonel."
" Thanks no. I seldom smoke in the morning,"
answered Justin, coldly.
"Here, Pearson, bring that parcel of newspapers that we
took from the sutler's wagon," called Monck.
A soldier advanced from a remote part of the room,
236 HOW HE WON HER.
bringing in his arms a large bundle of papers, which he
laid upon the table.
" Colonel Kosenthal, here are Boston, New York, Phila-
delphia, Baltimore and Washington papers. None of them
are over two days old, and therefore as likely to be new to
you as they were to me. Pray take them, and amuse your-
self while I try to study out this cursed course on the map.
You will remain here and dine with me to-day. And you
will make yourself at home in the house, and within the
limits of the camp consider yourself at liberty."
Justin bowed, took up the parcel of papers, and with-
drew to an unoccupied window seat to look over them.
And Monck resumed the study of his map, probably
trying to make out the shortest and safest route to the
rendezvous at the Black Bear's Pass.
So several hours went by quietly enough.
Monck remained seated at the table, tracing lines on his
map and making memoranda on his paper, or receiving
reports and giving instructions to the officers and men who
were continually coming and going.
Colonel Rosenthal remained in the window-seat, occupied
with his newspapers.
At length, about four o'clock in the afternoon, Monck im-
patiently arose from the table, and sweeping his maps and
papers into a heap, exclaimed :
" Put all these things out of my sight. The more I
puzzle myself over them, the more I addle my brains.
And tell them to serve dinner immediately. I want it."
Two of the men came forward and cleared the table,
sweeping the things that were on top of it into a drawer
below it. And then they went out to attend to the dinner.
Monck stretched his huge limbs, yawned like a clap of
thunder, and began to walk heavily up and down the old
floor, shaking the ricketty house as with the tread of an
elephant
Meanwhile his attendant soldiers came in and arranged
A C OT/D-BLO OD ED SENTENCE. 237
the table for dinner, by spreading over it a white cloth, and
plnring upon it a miscellaneous assortment of cracked
crockery ware and nicked cutlery.
Then they brought in the dishes a boiled ham, a roast
turkey, and vegetables, which, with a bottle of pale brandy
and another of old rye whiskey, they sat upon the dinner
table, after which they arranged a second course of pastries
and jellies, and a dessert of fruits, nuts, and light wines on.
a side-table.
" Heaven bless the Scotch sutler ! " exclaimed Monck, as
he saw all these luxuries. " Come, Colonel, draw up to the
table and help me to enjoy the good victuals set before us.
Forget that we are foes, and let us be good fellows for once !
What is that the Russian poet says ?
' When at the board let hate forget
The bitterest words of yesterday,
For where the bread and salt have met
All thoughts of hate should pass away.'
Come ! do not let us be worse Christians than the
Cossack ! Sit up, sit up ! " said Monck, placing a chair for
himself and one for Colonel Eosenthal at the table.
Thus pressed, Justin laid aside his newspapers and came
and seated himself at the board.
An orderly waited on the two officers.
Monck carved the" turkey, and requested Colonel
Kosenthal to cut the ham.
The orderly handed the plates, and the dinner com-
menced.
Monck, the guerrilla, is said never to have appeared to
greater advantage than when seated at the head of his own
table. He was really, as he had proclaimed himself to be,
a good feeder. He was also a good drinker, and he enjoyed
eating and drinking excessively, especially in the company
of an agreeable companion, such as he was disposed to con-
sider his prisoner.
238 HOW HE VI* O N HER.
Monck was obstinate and stolid, and disposed to enjoy
himself; so he either would not, or could not, perceive that
Colonel Rosenthal shared his society under protest, or had
done so, rather ; for now the Kussian's rhyme was running
in Justin's head, and somewhat modifying his feelings :
" Where the bread and salt are met
All thoughts of hate should pass away."
The dinner was very protracted. The major, and of
course his prisoner guest, lingered long over the first course,
longer still over the second, and longest over the third ; so
that it was after six o'clock, and growing dark, when
Monck called out to his attendants :
" Clear the table now ; and bring us lights, and more
brandy, and pipes, and tobacco. We'll make a night of
it ! And here ! throw some more logs on to the fire.
Let us have a roaring blaze ! "
Monck's orders were promptly obeyed. The table was
cleared of the debris of the dessert, and pipes, tobacco,
cigars, brandy and whiskey set upon it ; and two candles
stuck into black bottles, were placed beside them. Lastly,
four or five huge pine logs were thrown upon the fire, which
now burst into a broad flame, illumining the whole room
with a cheerful light.
Colonel Rosenthal. seeing these preparations for " making
a night of it," arose from his chair to leave the table.
But Monck, with friendly earnestness, laid his sledge-
hammer hand upon the prisoner guest's shoulder and forced
him back into his seat, saying cordially :
" No, no, no ! Don't often get a boon companion, and can't
let you go ! You needn't drink, since you don't like it ! but
you have no German blood in you, as your name would in-
dicate, if you don't like a good smoke ! Sit down and try
some of these cigars."
Thus pressed, Colonel Eosenthal resumed his seat.
A COLD-BLOODED SENTENCE. 239
An hour went by, during which the blazing wood-fire
roared and crackled in the chimney, lighting up the whole
room in which Monck and his prisoner sat at table
Monck smoking and drinking, his prisoner smoking and
thinking.
Occasionally, as through the day officers, and men came to
make reports and receive instructions and went away to
execute orders. These were the only interruptions, and they
were very brief ones. And at length these also ceased.
The tattoo was beat, the guards set, and the camp subsided
t-o repose, and the guerrilla chief and his guest were left in
peace.
But not for any long time. Another hour was passing
slowly by, when the stillness was broken by an unusual noise
without.
Monck took the pipe from his mouth, and turned his head
to listen.
The noise increased and became uproarious. A great clat-
ter of horses' hoofs, as from a large body of cavalry dashing
into the camp, mingled with loud cries, oaths and curses,
and a confusion of strange sounds, filled the air, and nearly
deafened and bewildered those who tried to listen and under-
stand.
" I'm blasted if I don't think the Yankees have surprised
the camp ! " exclaimed Monck, starting to his feet to run
out.
At the door he paused and turned suddenly to Justin,
and saying:
" Remember your parole and stay where you are." And
then he rushed through the door, banging it after him.
Left to himself, Justin listened anxiously to the sounds
without. Had the Union cavalry gained clue to Monck's
retreat and surprised his camp ? He earnestly hoped
that it might be so, and he closed his eyes and strained
his fars to hear. And the noise continued in all its chaos
210 HOW HE WON HER.
and sounds, but i-t told him nothing definitely. And no one
came into the room of whom he might make inquiries, for
in the excitement of the hour every man was on the scene
of action outside. And he himself was bound by his parole
to remain where he was.
As he listened in keen anxiety and heavy suspense, he
thought that the noise without was certainly not that of an
engagement. There was no firing of shots, no ringing of
steel, no sound of battle whatever. Only the prancing of
horses and the yelling of men. Certainly if the confusion
was caused by the onslaught of the Union cavalry, the
guerrillas must have yielded without a blow. And that was
scarcely a supposable case either with men of their fierce
nature and reckless courage.
Still as he listened the noise began to subside ; the horses
ceased to prance, the men to yell. And then it occurred to
Justin that all this excitement might have been kindled by
the return of Monck's own foragers from their late raid.
Nothing more likely, he decided.
At length, when perhaps half an hour had passed, and
quiet seemed to have been restored without, Major Monck
re-entered the room, and resumed his seat at the table.
" May one inquire what all the noise was about ? " ques-
tioned Justin.
" Oh, nothing in particular nothing unusual fortune of
war," answered Monck, evasively. Then raising his voice,
he bawled out, "Here, Hoskins, bring two fresh candles.
These are burning so low that they are about to slip down
into the bottles."
The man called Hoskins came in, bringing the required
articles, and with the increase of light, Justin saw that a
great change had passed over his host. The face of the
guerrilla chief, always white and heavy, was now stern and
set with some grim purpose.
"Throw more "logs on the fire, Hoskins. It is nearly
A COLD-BLOODED SENTENCE. 241
out," he said, as he drummed thoughtfully on the table with
his fat fingers.
Hoskins obeyed the order given him, and once more the
fire blazed up.
" Now bring more brandy. Some of that Dry London
Dock and Otard, mind you ; and more cigars, some of the
best," he added.
The man sat two bottles and one parcel on the table, and
then waited farther directions.
"You may go, now," said Monck. And Hoskins left
the room.
Justin looked at his host and wondered what had hap-
pened, and surmised that the foraging party must have
come to bitter grief, so to have changed the aspect of this
unirnpressible man.
" I am sure that something unpleasant has occurred to
you, Major," said Justin.
" Oh, no, no nothing at all but what we are used to,"
replied Monck, who was in the act of drawing the cork
from one of the brandy bottles. When he had done so, he
poured out a large glass of brandy and pushed it towards
his guest, and said :
" You have drank nothing, neither wine nor liquor, to-
day. Oblige me by trying this fine old Otard."
" Thanks, no. I would rather not," answered Justin.
" Are you a member of the Total Abstinence Society,
then ? "
" Oh, no ! I take a little brandy now and then, when I
really need it," replied Justin.
"You need it now, or you will need it before many
minutes are over your head. I beg that you will drink,"
insisted Monck without a smile on his face.
" Oh, well, if you make so strong a point of it. I am
under no pledge," replied Justin, laughing again as he
raised the glass to his lips.
15
242 HOW HE WON HER.
"That is right. It will brace you up," said Monck.
And with that he filled a large tumbler with brandy for
himself and tossed it off, and then another and another,
until the bottle was empty.
The quantity of brandy that would have intoxicated
almost any other man only steadied him. To use a common
phrase, he was himself again the same cold, cruel, sensual
monster, who could order a poor wretch hung up by the
neck to a tree before his tent ; and have the door left open,
so that while eating his breakfast he might enjoy the dying
agonies of the victim. In a word, he was the same man
that he was reported, but that Justin had never really be-
lieved him to be.
"Take a cigar, Colonel. I see that Hoskins has brought
us a really good lot. Bless that Scotch sutler ! Try this
one. The sedative effects of good tobacco upon a man's
nerves is really incomparable," said Monck. handing what
he considered a choice cigar to Colonel Eosenthal, and then
selecting and lighting one for himself.
They puffed away in silence for awhile, and then Monck
remowng his "weed" to knock the ashes off, looked in-
tently upon the face of his companion and inquired :
" How do you feel, Colonel Rosenthal ? "
" Quite well, thank you," answered Justin, raising his
eyebrows in surprise.
" That's right ! Pretty strongly braced up, eh ? "
" Quite so ! "
" Glad to know it. Able to bear a pretty severe shock ?"
" I do not know. What do you mean ? " exclaimed
Justin, uneasily.
"Because I shall have to give you a devil of a shock
presently."
"In the name of Heaven what has happened? Have
you any ill news of my friends ? " anxiously inquired
Colonel Eosenthal.
A C O L D - B L O D K 1) SENTENCE. 243
"No," said Monck, coolly replacing the cigar in his
mouth and drawing the end of it into a bright coal. " No ;
no ill news of your friends ! ill news for your friends, how-
ever?"
" What do you mean, Major Monck ? "
" Colonel Kosenthal, you are a brave man ? " said Monck,
semi-interrogatively.
" My friends think so."
" And your foes know so."
Justin bowed his head in acknowledgment of this com-
pliment.
" Well, Colonel Rosenthal, as a brave man, you have no
fear of death," said Monck, coolly throwing away his stump
of cigar and lighting another.
" At least I have faced it often enough," replied Justin.
" And faced it fearlessly, no doubt."
" I trust so. But really I do not know to what this talk
is tending."
" No, you really do not seem to know. And that is the
worst of it. This breaking of bad news is a very difficult
matter, especially when the hearer does not help the speaker
by jumping half way to the conclusion. But to return to
our mutton our dead mutton ! So you have faced death,
and faced it fearlessly ; death in the field, and death in the
hospital ; death sharp and sudden as a sabre stroke, and
death slow and painful as the gnawing of the worm that
never dies ! "
" I have looked upon death in all these aspects," answered
Colonel Kosenthal, gravely.
" And he has no terrors for you
" ' For come he slow or come he fast,
He is but death that comes at last,'
I suppose you think, eh, Colonel Eosenthal ? "
" I have said so. But I would be glad to know why you
press these questions upon me."
244 HOW HE WON HER.
"Now, do you see, I don't think you would be glad to
know ? ' Ignorance is bliss,' my dear fellow, most especi-
ally in your case. Take some more brandy."
" No, thanks ; no more for me. Tell me to what all this
talk tends, Major Monck."
" ' Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till you
approve the deed,' I might say, only I can't, because, you
see, the ' deed ' can't be done without your knowledge, and,
when it is done, you will be very far past ' approving ' it !
Really, this Old London Dock is very much finer than
the Otard. Let me persuade you to try it."
" No ! Tell me what you mean by this strange dis-
course."
" Well, if you insist upon it, I will. Besides, it is really
time to tell you. But light your cigar first. We can
smoke while we talk. Well, then, I mean that I shall have
to hang you in about an hour from this."
CHAPTEE XX.
THE WHISPER.
He speaketh low, he speaketh calm,
"Ride fast, my master, ride,
Or e'er within the broadening dark
The narrow shadows hide.
Ere night I shall be near to thee
Now ride, my master, ride
Ere night, as parted spirits cleave
To mortals too beloved to leave,
I shall be by thy side ! " E. B. BEOWHINO.
"ES, Colonel Rosenthal, I shall have to hang you in
about an hour from this."
Having pronounced this dreadful sentence in the coolest
manner, Monck tossed off his tumbler of brandy, and then
looked up to see what effect the words had had upon his in-
tended victim,
THE WHISPEK. 245
Colonel Rosenthal's countenance was not changed in the
slightest degree. He was still sitting back in his chair,
contemplating Monck with that expression of mingled curi-
osity and perplexity with which he had hitherto listened to
the guerrilla chieftain's strange discourse.
It was now Monck's turn to stare with astonishment at
his prisoner.
" Well, I'm dashed ! if ever I saw a fellow receive a sen-
tence of death so coolly in all my life ! Thunder, man, did
you hear what I said to you ? I have just told you that I
shall have to hang you in about an hour ! " exclaimed the
chieftain.
" I heard you, Major Monck," coldly and haughtily
replied the captive.
" You did, eh ? Well, upon my word, you take things
coolly for a young one. What do you think of it ? What
have you got to say ? "
" Certainly I cannot think you speak seriously, Major
Monck, and I must say that your jest is a very coarse and
brutal one, not even to be excused upon the plea of intoxica-
tion," said Colonel Kosenthal, in strong disgust.
" I'm blasted if I ever was more serious or more sober in
my life ! It's a very serious and sober business, let me tell
you, and a blamed disagreeable one into the bargain espec-
ially at night, when the rites have to be solemnized by
torchlight. We might wait until the moon rises, only we
shall be obliged to get away from here under cover of the
darkness, and we must execute you before we move. A
devil of a bore ! I had no idea, when I invited you to dine
with me, that I should have to finish up the evening's
entertainment by hanging you. But you see how it is.
Fortune of war. Fortune of war."
" Major Monck, I must request you, if you please, to
desist from this brutal style of jesting, which is certainly as
degrading to you as it is insulting to me," said Colonel
Rosenthal with calm dignity.
246 HOW HE WON HER.
" Jesting, jesting, say you ! Dashed if I ever felt less
like jesting in my life ! blazes, man, don't you see that I'm
in blood earnest ? But come, light another cigar. Here's
a good one ; try it do. We have plenty of time ; let's
see," said Monck, pushing a fine cigar towards his prisoner,
and taking out his watch to consult it " Oh, yes, plenty of
time to smoke another cigar apiece. Let us make ourselves
comfortable. It is now only five minutes past eight, and
we needn't hang you until nine ; that will give us an hour
to finish up your job neatly, and then get away under cover
of the darkness, before the moon rises at ten. Come, light
your weed, and let's enjoy each other's company while we
can."
" Major Monck, if you will persist in this offensive style
of joke, I, as a prisoner, have no power to prevent you. So
pray proceed until you become tired. And don't on any
account cease for my sake, as I shall not give myself the
trouble to listen to you," said Justin, drawing a paper from
his pocket and beginning to read.
" Joke ! Heaven and earth, man ! can't you see that this
is no joke ! Here you are within " Monck again referred
to his watch and then continued "within fifty minutes
of your execution, and you persist in calling it a joke ! "
Justin Rosenthal was assuredly a brave man. He had
frequently faced death fearlessly even in its most fearful
forms. But now, as a conviction of Monck's real meaning
forced itself upon his soul, he shuddered in spite of himself
and grew a shade paler.
" Major Monck," he said, gravely, " you will not dare to
carry out your design ! You will not dare to commit this
cold-blooded murder ! "
"I should like to know what it is that I would not dare
to do ! But this is no cold-blooded murder, Colonel Kosen-
thal. For reasons that appear good to me I condemn a
prisoner to death and order his execution. A dashed disa-
THE WHISPER. 247
greeable duty, as I said before especially when it has to be
done upon a man one has been dining with. I had no
thought of winding up our social evening in this way. But
you heard the row outside ? "
" I heard it," curtly replied Justin.
" Well, it was about you."
Me ! "
' Yes. You see a party of my poor fellows went out
yesterday to intercept some Yankee commissary stores that
were on their way across the valley. But my poor boys
were themselves intercepted by a squadron of Yankee cav-
alry that came from W. to look after them. There was
an engagement, and my men were routed with considerable
loss. Some were taken prisoners ; and some were hung up
to the roadside trees to dry in the sun. Those who escaped
b} T flight rushed into the camp in great haste and disorder this
evening."
" Thank Heaven ! " exclaimed Justin.
"Exactly; but you see this thing works two ways.
For instance, when they learned we had a Yankee colonel
here as a prisoner you heard the row they raised ? they
called for your life in retaliation of their murdered comrades.
I could not in common justice refuse them so reasonable a
request. And so, Colonel Rosenthal," said Monck, once
more coolly consulting his watch, " as it is now half-past
eight o'clock, you have 'just thirty minutes to live.' "
" Oh, Heaven ! " groaned Justin, dropping his head upon
his hands and thinking of his young sister in her desolate
orphanage, and of another still dearer than that sister, and
realizing how the news of his dreadful doom would break
those loving hearts.
" Come, come, man alive ! " exclaimed Monck, heartily,
" don't be cast down because you are going to be strung up !
Fortune of war, you know ; and it may be iny fate to-morrow
if I fall into the hands of the clock peddlers ! Come, drink
248 HOW HE WON HER.
your brandy it will set you up. And here : take something
substantial with it," he added, rising from his place and
going to the side-table to bring a plate of biscuits.
At that moment Justin felt a light hand laid upon his
head. He looked up and saw Wing standing beside him.
The boy was deadly pale, but perfectly calm.
" Listen, my Colonel," he whispered : " there is one
chance left to you for life. You know that we have heard
of Monck, how he "
The remainder of the sentence was breathed into the ear
of Justin Eosenthal, whose countenance immediately
cleared up.
" You have saved me again, Wing ! But you you, my
boy ? " he exclaimed, in a low tone.
" Oh, leave me to myself and to God ! I shall be safe
I am always safe ! Oh, believe it ! believe it when I swear
it to you. Hush ! that monster is coming back ! " said
Wing, retreating to the door.
In fact, at that moment Monck did return, bringing in
one hand a plate of biscuits, and in the other a plate of
cheese, which he set before his prisoner, saying :
" Come ! ' let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow
we die ; ' or, rather, to-night, at least, you do !"
" All right ! " exclaimed Justin, laughing. " A soldier
must be ready to meet death at any moment and in any
manner. Your health, Major Monck ! " he added, pouring
a little brandy into his glass.
" That's your sort ! That's the way I like to see a man
meet the King of Terrors ! Come I will pledge you in
this glass, and then I suppose we must go out and begin
the ceremonies. Thunder ! how time flies ! It is actually
a quarter to nine. We must make haste," said Monck,
filling his glass and approaching to touch the glass that
Justin held towards him.
As thf glasses clinked, the eyes of the two men met } and
THE WHISPER. 249
Justin, with a peculiar gesture, too slight to be noticed by
an ordinary observer, raised his to his lips, and then set it
down.
The glass of Monck nearly fell from his hand. He
stared steadily at his prisoner for a full minute and then
demanded :
" What was that for ? Was that an accident or not ? "
" What, an accident ? " inquired Justin, innocently.
" That that ! Are you But nonsense ! I suppose it
was an accident. Come, Colonel Kosenthal ! ten minutes to
nine, and we have got to go out. Come ! it will be all over
in a few minutes. What I do is not done in malice, and I
hope you will bear no malice towards me," said Monck,
rising from the table.
" None whatever. In pledge of which, before we leave
the board, let us shake hands," said Justin, rising, and
offering his hand to the guerrilla.
"Quite right!" exclaimed Monck, heartily, clapping his
fat hand into the extended palm of Justin, who gave it a
peculiar grip and shake.
Suddenly Monck sank down into his seat as if he had
been shot.
" Then it wasn't an accident ! " he exclaimed, staring at
his intended victim.
No."
" And you are "
Yes."
" Then I'm dashed if I can hang you ! And a devil of a
dilemma it places me in ! " muttered the guerrilla chieftain,
placing his great hands upon his knees, and dropping his
head upon his breast in deep thought.
Justin resumed his seat, and sat as calmly as if he had
been at his own table, for he felt that he was now as safe as
if he had been in his own camp.
" And time is flying ! And presently some of the men
50 HOW HE WON HER.
who were charged with the preparations for the execution
will be at the door, to tell me that all is ready, and to ask
for the prisoner ! And in their present state of excitement,
the rascals the mutinous rascals would take you out and
hang you whether I like it or don't like it ; a devil of a
dilemma ! I had better get you off from here as quietly as
possible eh, Colonel Eosenthal ? "
" As you like. It is your affair," said Justin, coolly.
Monck scratched his head, repeating at intervals :
" A devil of a dilemma ! "
Then he got up and went to the door and spoke to the
sentinel on duty there, saying :
" Eushley, pass the word for Captain Bannister to come
here."
Then he began to walk uneasily up and down the floor.
In a very few minutes Captain Bannister came in, wear-
ing a grave and anxious expression of countenance.
Monck met him near the door, drew his arm within his
own, and walked him off towards one of windows ; but not
until Justin had heard Bannister say, in a low voice :
" Nothing has occurred since my connection with this
band that has so seriously distressed me as the doom of this
gentleman. Major Monck, if it be possible, save him! His
execution would cover us with obloquy."
" That is just what I sent for you to consult about," an-
swered Monck, as they both passed, arm in arm, out of
Justin's hearing.
They stood within the recess of the window, conversing
in a low tone, for some ten or fifteen minutes, at the end of
which Monck nodded his head and approached the table.
He took writing materials from the drawer, sat down and
hastily scratched off a few lines on a slip of paper, which he
handed to Captain Bannister, saying :
" You will leave this room by the back door, which will
take you into the back yard. Go then through the garden
THE WHISPER. 251
and orchard, and around by the old field, and so make a
circuit to the ferry. In that way you will escape showing
your prisoner to the disaffected men who have come in from
that luckless expedition. As for the other men, it does not
matter, as they are not nearly so blood-thirsty ! The devil
is in it that I should have to pass a prisoner out of camp in
this surreptitious way. No matter. "Wait until we join our
forces with that of Goldsborough and the Free Sword, and
we will see whether better discipline cannot be maintained
among these wild colts."
Captain Bannister received the written paper with a bow
and then turned towards Justin.
" Colonel Eosenthal," said Monck, " I place you in the
hands of Captain Bannister, who will see you safely beyond
our lines."
Justin bowed grimly, and then inquired :
" My two orderlies ? "
" Their lives will be safe. We don't hang children ! We
shall hold them prisoners until they are exchanged. And
now, for Heaven's sake, be off with yourself, and leave me
to settle with those howling furies outside."
Thus urged, Justin followed Captain Bannister, who con-
ducted him through the back door into a back yard, where
they mounted two horses that stood ready saddled and
bridled ; and thence they rode through the garden and the
orchard, and round where the edge of the woods skirted the
old field, and by that covered path to the ferry, where they
were challenged by the sentinel on duty.
Bannister gave the countersign, and passed with his
companion.
The old ferryman came out of his house at the captain's
summons, and got his boat ready. And in a few minutes
Justin was safely landed on the other side of the river.
His guard, however, did not leave him until they had passed
all the pickets, and reached the extreme outposts of the
guerrillas' encampment.
252 HOW HE WON HER.
Then Captain Bannister took from his pocket the paper
that Monck had given him, and handed it to Justin, say-
ing:
" In case you should meet with any scouts of our band,
you have only to show them this paper, and you will pass
unmolested."
Justin took the paper with a bow, and then thanked
Captain Bannister for all his courtesy.
" You will follow this path through the wood until you
reach the turnpike road leading to W. the same road upon
which our men first surprised you," said Captain Ban-
nister.
" Thanks ! All right. I shall find the way," answered
Justin.
And the two men parted Captain Bannister returning
towards the camp and Colonel Rosenthal proceeding on his
way.
It was the same dark and narrow path, through the thick,
impenetrable forest, that he had travelled as a prisoner on
the night previous. And his progress was of course as slow
and difficult now as it had been then.
His soul was troubled, too, for the boys he had left behind.
He was somewhat comforted by the assurance of Monck
that their lives should be safe, and he was cheered by the
recollection of Wing's words ; but still he was most anxious
to get on to W., that he might at once see to the exchange
of the prisoners.
Two hours of slow riding brought him to the high road,
upon which he emerged just as the moon was rising, and
flooding all the valley with light.'
Here, where there was no obstruction, he put spurs to his
horse, and flew along at a furious rate of speed for several
miles, when suddenly his horse fell lame.
He dismounted, and examined the creature's feet, hoping
that he should find a pebble, or some transient irritation of
THE WHISPER. * 253
that sort, the removal of which should restore the horse to
the free use of his limbs. But he found nothing, and was
at length forced to give up the search in the belief that the
cause of lameness was something more serious and perma-
nent than he had supposed. Justin was as merciful as he
was courageous. He did not mount again ; but, taking the
bridle in his hand, walked on, leading the steed after him.
In this manner he had progressed slowly over another
mile of the road, when he suddenly heard the clatter of
horse's hoofs behind, and the next moment Wing rode up,
and drew rein beside him.
" Wing ! " he joyfully exclaimed.
" Yes, my Colonel, Wing. I am like the bad penny,
always coming back to you," said the lad gayly, as he dis-
mounted, and leading his horse, walked by his colonel's
side.
" Oh, my dear boy ! I am so delighted to see you safe !
But how does it happen that you are here ? "
" My Colonel, it is easily explained. After I had given
you that hint
" Ah, yes that hint, my boy ! It saved my life.
And that is the third time you have come between me and
certain death, my child," said Justin, earnestly.
" I was going to say that after I left the room, the guards,
obeying orders that had been given them, no doubt, took me
up into a back attic and locked me in."
" Humph ! "
" It was a place of utter darkness, and at first I could
not see my hand before me. But gradually as my eyes be-
came accustomed to the scene, I made out the form of a
dormer window. While I was straining my eyes towards
that square of thinner darkness, for it was no more, I heard
a scraping and scratching on the outside of the window."
"Well?"
" I went to see what it meant. I found that the noise
254 ' HOW HE WON HER.
proceeded from the branch of a tall elm tree that was blown
by the wind across the window. Then a means of escape
suggested itself to me. I tried the window and found that
I could hoist it. Then I peered out and perceived that
with a little dexterity I might seize the branch of the elm
and swing myself into the body of the tree, from whence I
could easily get down to the ground."
" A dangerous experiment."
"But I had no other alternative, than to try it. I
turned back into the room and felt my way along the wall
until I came to the door. I felt up and down the door to
find whether there was any fastening by which I could
secure it on the inside. I found a strong iron "bolt. And I
immediately bolted it, so that if any one should come, they
should not at once discover my flight."
" Your old precaution, Wing."
" Yes, sir. Then I went to the window, got out upon
the sill, seized the branches of the elm and swung myself
into the body of the tree, from which I climbed down to
the ground. The back part of the encampment is not
strongly guarded, you know. By creeping and crawling
through the bushes and keeping in the deep shadows, I
reached at last a path skirting the wood. I came along
under the shadow of the wood until I heard a horseman
galloping towards me. Then I took out the little revolver
that I had carried safely in my bosom through all my ad-
ventures, and I cocked it to have it in readiness."
"Ah!"
" The horseman came on, saw me and ordered me to halt.
I replied with my revolver. And he dropped from his
saddle. I went up and seized the horse by the bridle while
I disengaged the foot of the rider from the stirrup. Then,
still holding the horse by the bridle with one hand, I rifled
tV pockets of the rider with the other. I took from them
no.i.iiig Lut a box of wax matches and a written paper
which I found contained the countersign. Then I mounted
THE WHISPER. 255
the horse and rode down to the ferry, gave the countersign
to the sleepy sentinel and to the tipsy ferryman, and was
put across the river without difficulty. I made the best of
my way through the forest, giving the countersign wherever
challenged, until I passed heyond Monck's lines and reached
the high-road. And here I am."
" Wing, I have heard of a charmed life, but you seem to
possess a charmed liberty. There is no such thing as keep-
ing you a prisoner. But this rider whom you shot from
his horse. Do you know who he was, my boy ? " inquired
Justin, uneasily.
" Yes, sir. Captain Bannister."
" Oh, Wing, what a fatal necessity ! I am so sorry ! He
was a gallant fellow, if he was a guerrilla. And he was re-
turning from seeing me safe through the lines ! "
" I am sorry too, sir, but it couldn't be helped. And if
the thing was to be done over again, I should have to do it
over again," said Wing with a sigh.
" Where is your comrade ? Where is Hay ? " inquired
Colonel Kosenthal.
" I do not know, sir. I have not seen him since we ate
our supper together this evening, but I presume he is still
in the guerrilla camp. But what is the matter with your
horse, sir ? "
" He has fallen lame, Wing."
" A pebble in his shoe, perhaps ? "
" No ; I have examined carefully ; there is nothing of the
kind."
" Will you let me look, sir ? "
" Certainly, if you like," said the colonel, taking the
bridles of both horses in his hands so as to leave Wing at
liberty to make the examination he wished.
" See here, sir. It was not a pebble, but it was some-
thing worse," said the boy, drawing a thorn from the
horse's foot, and holding it up to view.
256 HOW HE WON HER.
" Now, then, why couldn't I have seen that ? " exclaimed
Justin, in some surprise and impatience.
" Because it was not easy to be seen, sir. I did not see
it. I felt it with the ends of my fingers."
" You have a very delicate touch, Wing as delicate as a
woman s.
" I think you can mount your horse now, sir. I think
he will go without trouble," said the hoy.
" And Colonel Rosenthal got into his saddle and rode on
towards W., followed by his favorite orderly.
Day was breaking when they rode into the town.
They went immediately to the head quarters of Gen-
eral W., to whom Colonel Eosenthal reported.
Active preparations were set on foot in W. for an expedi-
tion against the guerrilla bands who were now ascertained to
have joined forces at the Black Bear's Pass, from which
point they were preparing to make a descent upon Mary-
land.
Ard now it is time to return to Elfie, and see how she
faree "'"tli her wild lover.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP.
Now, my co-mates and brothers in this cause,
Hath not our custom made this life more sweet
Than that of city pomp ? Are not these .rocks
More free from peril than the envious town?
Here we but feel the penalty of Adam
The seasons' difference, as the frosty fancy
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind ;
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
This is no flattery ; these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am. SHXKSP
WHILE Vittorio and Alberta talked together outside the
door, Elfie entered the leafy hut and threw herself down
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP.
257
upon the fragrant pallet that had been spread for her
accommodation.
Her shelter was like a fairy bower. Wherever she
stretched her hands out towards the walls, or the floor, or
the ceiling, she found leaves. Yet the hut was not so com-
pactly built as to prevent the moonbeams from shining in
between the loosely woven pine boughs ; so the place was
dappled over with spots of moonlight ; and filled with the
fragrance of pine blooms ; and cheered with the chirp of
insects that sung from every twig.
Elfie lay and rested well, luxuriously ; but she could not
sleep. Outside they were beating the tattoo, and the guer-
rillas were putting away their horses or hurrying to their
quarters; and the rolling of the drums, the prancing of the
steeds, and the tramping of the men would have kept Elfie
awake, even if her own troubled thoughts had not banished
sleep from her eyes.
" It is just what that wretch said ! " thought Elfie " it is
just as if I had lost my footing on the nineteenth century
and slipped down into the tenth, and lighted in Epping For-
est, in the days of bold Eobin Hood and his merry men.
What a place for a civilized and Christian girl to find herself
in ! the lair of outlaws ; for I really do suppose the guerrillas
are no better ! Not that the life would be so bad either if
it were not for the cause ' the CAUSE, my soul ! ' No bed
was ever softer or more elastic than this pallet spread upon
the leaves ; no air was ever so sweet as this that comes laden
with the fragrance of the mountain' forest ; and no serenade
was ever so soothing as the small sing-song of these little
m'nstrels of the bark. If this were only a Union ca-rnp,
and Albert were a patriot, how happy I would be ! If
if
And here Elfie, pierced to the soul by the poignant
thought of what " might have, been," began to weep.
" Good night, dearest, good night ! Remember if you needs
16
258 HOW HE WON HER.
must go upon this expedition, I go with you. At noon-day
or at midnight, it matters not to me ; I shall be ready. No
toils, no perils, no privations shall dismay me, Vittorio ! I
dread but one evil in this world : separation from you ; and
that evil you have promised that I shall never suffer. Be-
member, dearest, remember ! "
These were the words addressed to the Free Sword b} y hrs
devoted wife before she left him, raised the curtain, and en-
tered the hut.
She found Elfie still sobbing. She went and knelt down
by the pallet, and gently inquired :
Why, Elfie Elfie, dear ! what is the matter ? Why
should you weep ? Why should any one weep whose best
beloved is nob- in deadly peril as mine is ? Speak to me,
Elfie ! Tell me why you weep so much."
" It is abou out that wretch Go oldsborough ! " sobbed
Elfie. " Not because he has brought me off by force. I am
not thinking of that now; for if he had been true to his
country, he needn't have brought me off by strength of arm.
I would have accompanied him willingly anywhere any-
where over the earth : into the camp into the wilderness
into the battle ! For you know, Alberta, that we women
who scream at the sight of a black beetle, can nevertheless
face a battery by the side of one we love ! And if he ha/1
been loyal oh ! if he had been loyal, I should have loved
him so well ! I should have honored him so greatly ! And
if he should have been fated to come out of the war with
the loss of both his arms and both his legs, I should still
have married him. Yes and a thousand times yos ! I
would all the sooner have married him that I might be
hands and feet to him forever. But he has lost his iroxon,
Alberta. And oh ! you do not know it, perhaps you cannot
understand, it may be ; but his treason his treason was
the heaviest blow that ever fell upon me, and to-night it
weighs heavy as lead upon my heart. Oh ! if he had been
true oh ! if he had been true ! "
4
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP. 259
"Elfie," said Alberta, gently and soothingly, "by this
vehement outburst of sorrow, I perceive that you love Al-
bert still."
" I do not ! I love no traitor ! " passionately broke forth
the girl.
" Elfie ! how can you speak so unjustly and cruelly of your
lover ! "
" I speak truly of him! "
" Elfie ! let me say one word in Albert's defence ! "
"What is it?"
He thinks he is right ! "
" Oh, Alberta ! how can he think so ? How can any man
think so."
" He thinks he is right, as many a gallant leader in the
Confederate army thinks ! To his idea of right he has sac-
rificed all that he possesses on earth, as many a Southern
patriot has done ! "
" Alberta ! we have talked of this before. We have been
over and over the argument until my heart and soul are both
sick of it ! And besides, you may preach all day and yet
you will never make me believe that light is darkness, or
that treason is patriotism ! Bosh ! Who do you think is a
fool ? " snapped Elfie, abruptly turning her face away.
" I think every narrow-minded and prejudiced person is a
fool, for that matter, Elfie ! I do not wish to convince you
of anything in particular, Elfie ! I only wish to engage
your charitable construction for those who happen to differ
from you in opinion and especially for the lover, of whom
it pains you so much to think ill."
Elfie made no reply, but with her face to the wall, con-
tinued so sob.
Alberta tried to soothe her, but in vain, for Elfie was
inconsolable.
Nevertheless, the chieftain's wife sat by the pallet until
her guest had sobbed herself to sleep, and slept like a tired
child.
260 HOW HE WON HER.
Then the unhappy lady threw herself upon her own bed,
and fell into a fitful slumber.
Elfie slept long and well, and did not awake until the
beating of the reveille aroused her.
" It is like enchantment," she said, sitting up on her
pallet, and gazing around on the leafy walls of her hut,
through the interstices of which the first rays of the rising
sun pierced redly.
Alberta was already up and dressed. She brought a
clean towel and some water in a broken bowl, and set them
before her guest, saying with a smile :
" You must make the best toilet you can under the cir-
cumstances, my dear. We are not even so well off here as
we were at the old mansion house."
Elfie followed the advice of her hostess as well as she
could. And by the time she had washed her face and
arranged her hair and her dress, Alberta was ready to take
her out, where, upon the dried grass before the hut, a sub-
stantial breakfast was spread.
The Free Sword joined them at the meal.
" I am sorry to tell you, Miss Fielding," he said, with a
bow to Elfie, "that Colonel Goldsborough has left the
camp for an absence of several days."
Elfie looked up in surprise.
" He has left you in our charge, and I need scarcely say
that we will do all in our power to make you comfortable,"
he continued.
" I thank you very much, Colonel Corsoni, for your news.
I am very glad to hear that the kidnapper has taken his
departure. And I fervently pray he may never return,"
said Elfie.
Vittorio Corsoni shrugged his shoulders.
"He may never return, indeed, Miss Fielding, for the
duty he has voluntarily assumed is one of great danger as
well as of^reat honor."
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP. 261
" Oh, no fear for him. He will be back again all too
soon and too surely. It is absolutely wonderful what care
Satan takes of his own," said Elfie.
Again Vittorio shrugged his shoulders, and the conversa-
tion ended. And soon after the breakfast came to a close,
and Corsoni arose and left the spot.
All that day, men in large munbers continued to arrive
at the rendezvous some who were returning stragglers,
Borne who had been absent on leave, and some who were
new recruits. All that day there were company drills in
various parts of the camp.
During the afternoon Alberta and Elfie took a ramble
through the wild wood that encircled the camp, but came
back to their green hut in time for the early tea that Aber-
shaw had prepared, and at which the Free Sword joined
them.
And Elfie's second night on the mountain passed very
much as the first had done.
Several days went by in this manner, and still new men
continued to come and swell the numbers of the band.
But Albert Goldsborough did not return, npr did Monck,
whose arrival was daily expected, make his appearance.
Elfie could perceive that the Free Sword was growing
extremely anxious on the subject of the prolonged absence
of the two guerrilla leaders. ,
Elfie kept a sharp look-out. And on the seventh day of
Goldsborough 's absence, she discovered that Colonel Corsoni
sent out scouts on the perilous duty of looking after the
missing men.
On the morning of the eighth day, Elfie was as usual
aroused by the rolling of the reveille.
She arose and began to arrange her dress, while waiting
for Alberta, whom she did not see, but who, she naturally
supposed, had, as usual, left the hut to procure water for
their morning ablutions.
262 HOW HE WON HER.
While Elfie was fastening her boddice, she saw the cur-
tain of her doorway lifted, and a bowl of water and a clean
towel pushed into the hut. N
She took them and began to wash her face and hands,
still momentarily expecting the appearance of Alberta, at
whose prolonged absence she was beginning to wonder.
At length, when she was quite ready for breakfast, and a
little tired of -waiting for \lberta, she lifted the curtain of
her doorway, and passed out of the hut.
There, to her surprise, she found a breakfast arranged for
one, and Hutchison as waiter, in attendance.
" What is the meaning of this, you monstrous villain ?
Where is Madame Corsoni ? And how dare you show your
face before me ? " indignantly demanded Elfie.
" One question at a time, young lady, if you please. The
meaning of this is your breakfast, with me to serve it.
Madame Corsoni has gone with her husband, who, at the
head of all his command, left the camp at midnight. I
show my face to tell you this," answered Mutchison
grimly.
" Alberta gone ! " breathlessly exclaimed Elfie.
" Yes ; she always goes with her husband. I wish to the
Lord I had such a wife."
" Heaven and earth ! what will become of me ? "
exclaimed Elfie, in a greater panic than she had ever yet
experienced.
"Matrimony will become of you, my dear young lady.
Colonel Goldsborough arrived here last night, some three
hours before the departure of the Eree Sword. He brought
the marriage license from the county court house with him.
And he is now making active preparations for the wedding,
which must take place before we march, which we shall do
at sharp noon. Come, young lady. I can imagine that a
bride has but little appetite on the morning of her wedding
day. But allow me at least to- pour out for you a cup of
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP. 26
" You monster ! you miscreant ! I would see you and
your master both in the deepest pit of perdition, before I
would take anything from you ! " furiously exclaimed Elfie,
dashing the cup of coffee from the hand of Mutchison, and
turning and rushing into the hut.
But ah ! she had no means of fastening frerself within,
or keeping any one else without, that frail shelter. Nothing
but a curtain hung between her and her pursuers.
And that curtain was presently lifted by Albert Goldsbor-
ough, who entered the hut and stood before his beloved.
Elfie whirled around upon him and stood like a stag at
bay.
" Wretch ! coward ! miscreant ! shame on you for forcing
yourself into my presence, where I have no means of keep-
ing you out ! " she fiercely exclaimed.
" Elfie ! nonsense, my darling ! You know that I love
you more than life ; and you know that I know you love
me ; and so
But before Albert Goldsborough had got off half of this
fine speech, Elfie, who was resolved not to remain alone with
him for a moment, had bounded past him and through the
door- way, to find herself on the bosom of Mutchison, who
had spread out his arms to intercept her flight. Elfie im-
mediately drove her nails into his face.
" Catamountains ! Here ! take her off me, colonel ! I
wouldn't so much mind if she was my own sweetheart ; but
I'm dashed if I like to be clapper-clawed by yours ! It
don't pay ! It's all thorns and no roses ! " laughed the
giant, as he tore Elfie away from his face and held her at
arm's length towards Goldsborough, who snatched her to
his heart and began to speak to her.
But Elfie stuck her fingers in her ears and screamed until
she woke all the mountain echoes.
Then Albert threw his right arm around her, and brought
down her hands from her ears and held them firmly with
264 HOW HE WON HER.
his right hand, while with his left he covered her lips to
^t-,p hi-r shrieks, and forte her to hear him.
"Elfie," he said, "you know that I love you more than
life. And you know that /know you love me. And it is
right that we should be married ; but right or wrong, I am
resolved to marry you to-day. Listen, you mad girl !
Here you are in a guerrilla camp ; the only woman in it.
You have no longer Alberta's protection. And unless you
have a husband, what is to become of your good name ?
What do you suppose people will say of you ? " he demand-
ed, removing his hand from her lips.
" What do I suppose people will say of me ? What do
you suppose I care ? Could they say worse of me than
that I should be your wife ? " fiercely demanded Elfie,
struggling vainly to free herself.
" Yes, Elfie. You know very well that they may say far
worse of you than that, iinless I prevent them. But they
never shall say it, Elfie. I have got the marriage license
and the wedding ring, and the minister is in my hut, only
waiting my message to come and marry us."
" Xo minister will ever marry us against my consent ! "
" Elfie, I have said that to the Eeverend Mr. Simmons
which convinces him that it is duty to marry us. Come,
Mutchison ; we have no more time to lose. Go fetch the
parson/' ordered Albert Goldsborough.
The giant started on the errand.
" Ho ! " called Goldsborough after him.
Mutchison looked back.
" Don't let any of the men know what's up. We don't
want to afford them a spectacle in camp. See that they are
kept at a proper distance from this."
" All right, sir," said the giant, striding on his way.
Albert Goldsborough raised Elfie in his anus and bore
her into the hut.
" Mind this ! " said Elfie, whose very lips were white
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP. 265
with rage, while her black eyes seemed to scintillate sparks
of fire " mind this, Albert Goldsborough ! If you persist
in this purpose, and if you succeed in carrying it out I
will kill you!-"
" Perhaps you will, Elfie. You really look as if you
would ; but I will risk it," said Albert, firmly.
Presently Mutdhison returned to the hut, and said :
" The parson is coming, sir."
" Mutchison, come here," said Albert Goldsborough.
And the giant came to his side.
" Mutchison, there was once a princess of France who
was as obstinately opposed to matrimony as our bride here.
Even when this princess stood with her intended husband
before the altar she refused to say ' Yes ' to the all impor-
tant question as to whether she would take that man to be
her wedded husband. So her father went behind her, put his
hands upon her obstinate little head and bent it forward with
a nod of assent."
" And ' a nod is as good as a wink,' " said Mutchison.
" Certainly and better, in these instances ; for it is a sign
of affirmation and means yes."
" The parson is at the door, sir," exclaimed Mutchison,
seeing a shadow move before the curtain.
"Well, let him wait a moment, until I explain your part
to you."
All the time they were speaking Elfie was struggling
violently to free herself. And now again Albert Goldsborough
threw his left arm around her and caught and confined her
two hands with his left hand, while with his right hand he
covered her mouth to stifle her screams, that were again
splitting the air.
" Don't smother her, sir," said Mutchison.
"I will not. She has fine nostrils, especially when they
are inflated with rage, and I leave them free for breathing
purposes. Now then, Mutchison ; I want you to place your-
266 HOW HE WON HER.
self immediately behind this obstinate little bride, and when
the parson asks her if she will take this man to be her
wedded husband, for better for worse, (and she will find him
much better than she hopes,) I want you to put your hand
upon her obstinate little head and bend it forward with a
very emphatic nod of assent, as the King of France did in
the case of his disobedient daughter. Get yourself into
position. And then I will call on the parson."
"All right, colonel," said Hutchison, taking up his stand
immediately behind Elfie, who was only pausing to gather
strength for a fresh resistance.
" Come in, if you please, Mr. Simmons," called out
Goldsborough.
And the parson lifted the curtain, and entered the hut.
He was a tall, thin, light-haired man, very pale, nervous
and consumptive. He was evidently a captive among the
guerrillas, and as evidently frightened half to death.
"Hand him the license, Hutchison. Hutchison is here
in the three-fold capacity of bride's father, bridegroom's best
man, and witness of the marriage," said Goldsborough.
Hutchison stepped forward, and placed the license in the
trembling hands of the minister, and then stepped back,
and resumed his position behind Elfie.
" Now proceed, sir, if you please," said Goldsborough.
The nervous minister unfolded and examined the license,
and then put it into his pocket, from which he took a small
prayer-book.
Opening the book, he commenced the marriage ceremony.
And in his extreme trepidation, he commenced at the wrong
end:
'' l Forasmuch as this man and this woman hath con-
sented ' "
" I have not consented ! I had rather be hanged ! "
screamed Elfie, who had succeeded in wriggling her head free
from the hand of her captor.
THE MOUNTAIN CAMP. 267
In this panic the parson dropped his book, and fell into
an ague fit.
" This wretch has carried me off by force ! He is marry-
ing me by force ! I will never " spluttered Elfie so far ;
but just here Albert succeeded in getting his hand over her
mouth, and silenced her again.
Hutchison picked up the prayer-book and restored it to its
owner.
" Go on ! " thundered Goldsborough, with a furious stamp
of his foot, that nearly caused the startled preacher to drop
the volume again.
" Young lady, I have no option but to go on. I act under
compulsion, as you do," said the preacher, beginning again ;
" ' Forasmuch as this ' "
" Oh, Mr. Simmons ! you look like a good man," begged
Elfie, who had twisted her head free " and you may have
sisters of your own ; for their sakes "
But here Albert Goldsborough stopped her mouth again,
and roared at the unfortunate parson to proceed.
"You see, young lady, I have no alternative but to do
what I am about to do. The man threatened to hang me
if I refused," pleaded the minister.
" And the man will keep his word," added Goldsborough.
" And I have an old mother, and sisters also, as you sug-
gested, depending on me for support. So I must do the
bidding of this man. And besides, my dear young lady, as
you are in the power of these men, it is far better that you
should be lawfully married to their leader, If one of my
young sisters were in your place, unless she could be im-
mediately rescued, I should thank the first one in authority
to lawfully marry her to her captor."
" Come, then ! Stop this nonsense, and go on ! or we
will find a way to quicken your motions ! " thundered
Goldsborough.
Thus strongly urged, the poor preacher once more opened
268 HOW HE WON HER.
his book, found the place, and commenced the marriage
ceremony.
The rites proceeded quietly enough, for Elfie's hands
were held too fast, and her lips were covered too closely, for
her to offer any successful resistance.
When the bridegroom was asked :
" ' Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife f ' "
Goldsborough answered in a loud, firm, sonorous voice :
"'IwilL'"
When the similar question was put to the bride, Hutchi-
son clapped his hand upon Elfie's head and bent it down in
assent.
When the minister, proceeding with the ceremony, in-
quired :
" ' Who giveth this woman to be married to this
man ? ' "
Hutchison answered, in a bold voice :
The ring was then farced upon the bride's finger, and the
marriage ceremony was concluded in the usual manner.
" And now take notice that I have done this deed under
compulsion ! I wash my hands of the sin, and cast it upon
the backs of those to whom it belongs ! " said the persecuted
preacher, turning to leave the hut.
" Exactly ! our backs are broad enough to bear it," laugh-
ed Albert Goldsborough. Then turning to Hutchison, he
said: "Go after him, and make him a tumbler of milk
punch to set him up again. And leave me alone with my
wife, that I may reconcile her to her husband."
THE MARCH.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE MARCH.
Come away ! come away !
Hark to the summons !
Come in your war array,
Gentiles and commons!
Leave un tended the herd,
The flock without shelter ',
Leave the corpse uuinterred,
The bride at the altar, SCOTT.
IT was written of an old usurper of the throne of
England, that "having gained the kingdom by fraud and
by cruelty, he nevertheless governed it in justice and in
mercy."
Something like the same policy prevailed in Colonel
Goldsborough's conduct towards his captive bride.
Having gained her hand by force, he was willing to win
her favor by forbearance.
No sooner had the curtain dropped behind the retreating
form of Hutchison, than Albert Goldsborough turned
towards Elfie, and sank upon one knee at her feet; and
though the action was indeed rather melo-dramatic, I do not
see, under the circumstances, how he could have done less
than thus humble himself.
The insolent abductor was all at once turned into the
pleading lover. He earnestly prayed her to pardon him.
" Elfie, my best beloved my only beloved, you will trj
to forgive me for this violence ! " he murmured, in a low
and gentle tone.
" If I do, Albert Goldsborough, I pray that Heaven may
never forgive me ! " she answered, passionately.
"My darling Elfie, Heaven never records our wicked
prayers. If it did we should all be doomed ! " he said,
gently taking her hand.
" Don't touch me, you wretch, unless you wish to drive
270 BOW HE WON HER.
me raving mad. I tell you I am on the brink of frenzy
now ! and frenzy may give me strength to slay you ! " she
exclaimed, struggling and snatching her hand from h
grasp.
" Elfie, listen to me ! " he pleaded.
But Elfie drowned his murmuring voice in a torrent of
bitter scorn and furious invective, which she poured upon
him without stint or measure.
He let her scold until she had exhausted herself, and
had to pause for want of breath ; then he took advantage
of her silence and answered, gently :
"Elfie, to all your cruel reproaches I have but this to say
in my defence I love you ; I have loved you ever since
I first saw you, and I believe that you love me. In
this belief, Elfie, I could not leave you among the Yankees
to be perverted by them, to be set against your own old
State, your faithful friends, and your one true lover, I
could not, my Elfie."
You ou ! You ou ! " began Elfie, but she was too
much out of breath to proceed, and so Albert resumed :
"I could not give you up to trie Yankees, Elfie. I could
not, my dear. And so, at the imminent risk not only of
my own life, but of the lives of all my command, I crossed
the river and brought you away."
"A great risk you ran, truly, to come with your two
hundred armed guerrillas upon a harmless pleasure party of
less than forty persons," passionately and scornfully cried
Elfie, who had now recovered her voice.
" Yes, Elfie, it was a great risk an imminent risk, as I
said for we crossed and landed between two forts whose
ecouts were out in search of us. And in three hours after
our crossing, a squadron of cavalry, armed with their mur-
derous six-shooters, were on our trail. But I would have
risked much more than life for you, my Elfie."
' Bisk ' again," sneered Elfie. " I don't see it. The
THE MARCH. 271
only risk that was run for my sake that day was run by the
only man of our party ; for I hold that little Mim was the
only male creature that proved himself a man on that
occasion."
" I wonder, now, if that little atom is my rival ? " said
Albert, musingly.
"Yes, he is ! " exclaimed Elfie, spitefully catching at the
idea ; " he just is ! I love and admire little Mim beyond
everything. I love his little finger better than I ever did
your whole person. He is a true hero, and I worship the
very ground he walks on ! "
" Very pleasant words for me to hear, Elfie."
" I don't care whether they are or not. They are true.
I am dying in love with little Mim. And when I get back
to Washington, I mean to ask him to marry me as soon as
ever Oh, my good gracious, I can't, either!" exclaimed
Elfie, suddenly breaking off and bursting into tears of rage
at the recollection that she was married already to Golds-
borough.
" No, you can't ! Polygamy is not lawful in this land, at
least not for ladies," lauglflft Albert Goldsborough.
"You will be hanged some day, shortly, and then I shall
be a widow," sobbed Elfie.
" Come, come, my darling girl, why do you keep up this
comedy ? Do you think that I could be jealous of your
little champion ? Do you think that I believe for a
moment in your professions either of regard for him or de-
testation for me ? No, dear Elfie. I have a confidence in
your love and faith that your words and actions cannot
shake. Listen, my darling girl "
" I don't want to hear a word you have to say, Albert
Goldsborough."
"But, my dear, in common justice you must. Listen,
Elfie for we must march soon, and the time for explana-
tion and defence is short. I have told you that, loving you
272 HOW HE WON HER.
beyond measure, and believing in your unaltered love for me,
I could not leave you among the Yankees. I could not,
Elfie. And so, at the imminent risk of my life, and the
lives of all my band, I crossed the river, and brought you
off from between the very teeth of the enemy."
"You have bragged of all that before," sneered Elfie.
" I could not have believed in your persistent opposition to
my wishes, Elfie ; else, perhaps, I should have spared you
and myself this trial."
" When you made the discovery, why did you not send
me back to my friends ? " demanded Elfie.
" It was too late even if it had been in other respects possi-
ble to do so ! Once having run away with you, and above
all having retained you for days in my custody, there was
no retreat ! The departure of Alberta this morning, leaving
you alone, the only woman in the guerrilla camp, made your
immediate marriage a necessity. And so, Elfie, I have mar-
ried you, even by force ; but I trust to win your forgiveness
by forbearance. The deed is done, Elfie, that makes you my
wife ! But now that it is done, you shall be as sacred to me
as my sister. And more so ! fd^I will never touch your lips,
or even take your hand again, without your leave ! That
you will forgive me and love me I am sure sure as that
you are woman ! We shall march in an hour, and of course
you go with us ! I will do everything I possibly can do for
your happiness, except to give you up to the Yankees, to be
taught to hate and despise your old State and old friends !
You are a child of the South and belong to your mother,
and must live among her children."
Elfie still sobbed, but now, as it seemed, with less of rage
then of grief.
He was still at her feet.
"Get up!" she said at length, impatiently. "You've
made a brate of yourself, but you needn't make a fool of
yourself by remaining in that absurd position, Albert Grolds-
borough ! Get up ! "
THE MARCH. 273
"Not until I have obtained your forgiveness, Elfie. Oh,
Elfie, dearest, I loved you so entirely. The thought of you
was never for an instant absent from my inind, by day or
by night, in the tent or in the field. Elfie, for the sake of
the undivided love I bore you, forgive me ; for the sake of
the forbearance that I have sworn to observe towards you,
and that will cost me so much, forgive me ! " he pleaded.
"If you will will keep your word with me, and treat
eat me as your sister, I will forgive give you for the
past ! " sobbed Elfie.
" Heaven bless you for that much, my darling ! That is
one step gained," he said, rising.
" And oh, if you had only been tru true to your country
in her trial ! Oh, if you had only been tru true to your
country ! " she wept.
"I was true to my country, Elfie. I am true to my
country. I shall always be true to my country. Old
Virginia is my country, and I am true as truth to her. I
go with her where she goes to destruction, if she should
be cursed with failure, to dominion, if she should be crowned
with success," replied the guerrilla leader, as he turned,
lifted the curtain, and left the hut
" Oh, if he'd been true ! Oh, if he'd been true ! " Elfie
continued to sob.
Soon all was bustle in the guerrilla camp. The men were
mustering and mounting, and preparing to move. The
guerrillas marched with very little baggage, as everybody
knows. And so the band was soon read} 7 .
In about half an hour after leaving the hut, Colonel
Goldsborough returned to it, lifted the curtain, and once
more presented himself before Elfie.
" My dearest girl, we are about to go down the mountain.
The pass is a difficult and dangerous one, as you know
more dangerous still in the descent than in the ascent. And
for your safety it is best that you should ride behind me, as
17
274 HOW HE WON HER.
you did before. Still, keeping the spirit as well as the
letter of my promise to you, El fie, I must give you your
choice of three modes of conveyance. You may ride
behind me, or you may ride behind Parson Simmons, or
you may ride alone on a sure-footed little mountain pony
which is at your service."
" I will take the mountain pony, if you please," said
Elfie.
" But will you feel quite safe to do so, down these perilous
passes ? "
"I am a mountain girl, if you will please to remember,
and the horse, you say, is a mountain pony."
" Very well, Elfie, I will have it brought to the door of
your hut," said Colonel Goldsborough, going out.
In five minutes he returned with the pony, and came in
for Elfie.
Sulkilv enough the girl went out with him.
Goldsborough's steed, the parson's cob, and Elfie's pony
stood saddled and bridled before the hut.
The parson was there also, apparently in charge of the
three horses, whose bridles he held gathered in his hands.
And the unfortunate man seemed to have rather more than
he could do to hold them.
"Elfie," said Albert Goldsborough, laughing, "I prom-
ised not even to touch your hand without your leave ; and I
mean to keep my promise. Therefore I must ask your
gracious permission, before lifting you into your seat. Will
you grant it ? "
"No!" said Elfie, placing her hand upon the pommel,
and springing into her saddle as lightly as if she were an
elf indeed. . [.':
" Mr. Simmons, mount your horse. You are to be the
immediate advance guard of this lady, and ride directly in
front of her ; and please to recollect that your life is the
hostage of her safety," said Colonel Goldsborough, as he
threw himself into his saddle.
THE MARCH. 275
" Is is her pony a safe one ? " stammered the perse-
cuted preacher, as he clambered up into his seat.
" Her pony is all right," laughed Albert. " Go ahead ! "
The band, under the immediate charge of Hutchison,
was now defiling through the narrow pass leading from the
table land down the side of the mountain.
Colonel Goldsborough, with his two captives, took the same
direction. He rode on the right side of Elfie, while the
preacher rode on the left, until they came to the narrow pass
down which the line of mounted men was winding like
some huge serpent.
Then Goldsborough ordered the preacher to precede Elfie,
while he himself should follow her, thus forming a guard
of honor immediately before and behind the captive bride.
In this manner they commenced the descent of the dan-
gerous mountain pass.
Albert Goldsborough, in the spirit of his promise, forbore
to force his conversation upon his companion.
Elfie rode -on in sulky silence until her tongue was tired
of keeping still, when she opened her mouth and spake:
" I thought the ' Devil's Dripping Pan,' or ' Soup Dish/
or whatever you call your horrid place up there on the
mountain top, was to be the general rendezvous of your
bands."
" We thought so too, Elfie."
"And that you and Corsoni, with your commands, had
met there to wait for the arrival of Monck and his men."
" Such was our plan."
" And here Corsoni moves with his command at midnight,
and you march with yours at mid-day ! "
" Just so, Elfie ! "
" In truth, then, it seems to me that you gentlemen
horse-thieves don't know your own minds any more than
honester men." ^
" When a spy gets into our camps, Elfie, and discovers
276 Hv)W HE WON HER.
all our secrets, he is apt to defeat all our plans. That little
devil of a Gill, who got into Corsoni's camp, not only
betrayed his retreat to the enemy, but, as we have lately
learned, he discovered 'and revealed the secret of this ren-
dezvous. This made it necessary for us to choose another
place of gathering, to which we are now going, Elfie. I
don't mind telling you these things, my dear, since it is
utterly imposible for you to betray us," said Albert.
And now, as the dangers of the road demanded all their
attention, the conversation ceased.
The poor preacher held his very breath for fear as he
looked up, on the right, to a precipice that towered a thou-
sand feet above him ; and then down on the left to another
precipice that descended a thousand feet below him ; and,
last, along the ledge of path that lay before him, so narrow,
with such slender space to move in, that a single swerve
must have sent horse and rider down to destruction.
" Look sharp there ! or you will be gone in an instant ! "
roared Albert Goldsborough, throwing the nervous parson
into such a panic as nearly precipitated the catastrophe he
had intended to prevent.
Elfie laughed. Her nerves were so firm and her pony so
sure-footed that she felt quite safe even when perched upon
the edge of a precipice where a goat could hardly have
found footing.
The persecuted preacher was trembling from head to
foot.
" I know," he complained, " that even if I live to reach
the bottom of this mountain, which is very unlikely, I shall
be good for nothing all the rest of my life."
As he said this, the party of three, passing around a pro-
jecting rock, came in sight of the rear of the band, who
were winding down the narrow pass in single file below
them.
" Hayden ! " cried Colonel G-oldsborough, calling out to
one of the rear men, who immediately halted.
THE MARCH.
277
" Hayden, dismount and turn your horse loose and come
here and take the parson's bridle and lead his beast, or we
shall have an accident."
The soldier addressed smiled good-humoredly as he mur-
mured something to his comrade about the " inconvenience
of having women and parsons encumbering them on their
march ; " and then lie dismounted, knotted up his bridle, so
that it should not get entangled under his horse's feet, and
leaving his well-trained steed to walk soberly down the
path, he came and took the preacher's bridle and led his cob
carefully along the perilous pass.
In this manner they continued their dangerous journey
until they reached the foot of the mountain.
" Thank Heaven it is over ! " piously exclaimed the
parson, as they found themselves safe at the entrance of a
wooded valley.
There was no road; but, guided by a pocket, compass,
the band took their way westward through the forest, until,
after marching for about three miles, they came out upon
an open plain, dappled here and there with detached groves
of trees and gradually ascending towards a range of wooded
hills in the distance before them.
278 HOW HE WON HER.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE BATTLE.
And now there breathed that haunted afr
The sons of sires who conquered there,
With arms to strike and souls to dare
As quick, as far as they!
o o
He woke to die 'mid flame and smoke.
And shout, and groan, and sabre stroke,
And death shots falling thick and fast
As lightning from a mountain cloud. FITZ GEEEN HALLECK.
"THERE is our new rendezvous," said Colonel Golds-
borough, pointing to the distant range of wooded hills,
where the autumn foliage was now glowing redly under the
rays of the descending sun, and towards which the whole
band was now moving leisurely.
But they had not marched more than a mile when Mut-
chison, who had been- riding in advance of the whole line,
came suddenly galloping back to the rear with every mark
of hurry and excitement.
He drew rein beside his superior officer, and handed him
a field-glass, saying hastily :
Colonel, look there ! "
" What is it ? " inquired Goldsborough, raising the in-
strument to his eyes.
" There, at our rendezvous : the cloud of dust, the smoke,
and hark ! there is the sound of musketry ! There must be
a battle going on there, Colonel ! "
" THERE is ! " hurriedly exclaimed Goldsborough.
"Mutchison, dash forward. Send half a dozen men back
to guard the prisoners, who must remain here while we
join battle. Then get the band in order. Form on com-
pany front ; and march ! I will be with you as soon as I
have provided for the safety of these ! "
Mutchison wheeled his horse and galloped forward, carry-
ing with him a ?loud of dust, in which he soon disappeared.
THE BATTLE. 279
Goldsborough looked around for a place of safety in
which to bestow his captive bride and her clerical com-
panion.
Nothing better offered than a grove of trees, in the
midst of which sparkled a cool spring, now, however, rather
choked with fallen autumn leaves.
He led his party there and requested them to dismount.
The poor parson very willingly obeyed, and got off the
horse of which he was heartily tired.
" I suppose there is nothing left now but to submit to our
fate and trust in Providence," said Elfie, as she also dis-
mounted and seated herself upon a heap of dried leaves
that the wind had drifted against the roots of a great oak
tree.
" Yes, my dear young lady, that is it ! We are in the
power of the men of Belial, but the arm of the Lord is
mighty to deliver us," murmured Mr. Simmons, when Col-
onel Goldsborough had passed out of hearing ; he Golds-
borough having taken the bridles of the two horses and
led them to the other extremity of the grove, where he se-
cured them to the trees.
" You see he has led away our horses so as to prevent us
from taking advantage of the battle to escape by flight ! "
said Elfie, despondently.
" I see ! I see, my dear young lady ! but the arm of the
Lord is strong to save. But hush ! here comes the son of
Beelzebub ! " said the preacher, as the guerrilla leader
returned.
And in a few minutes the near galloping of other horses
was heard, and the six men sent back by Mutchison rode
up, in a cloud of dust.
" Guard these two prisoners until farther orders ! " said
Colonel Goldsborough, as he put spurs to his horse and
dashed omvanl after his band.
Ht- fl.'\v over the plain at a tremendous rate of speed, yet
it was some ten minutes before he came up with his band.
280 HOW HE WON HER.
They were now within half a mile of their rendezvons,
where the black, heavy clouds of dust and smoke, and the
continuous sound of firing, assured them that a fierce battle
was going on.
On reaching his band, Colonel Goldsborough did but stop
long enough to breathe his horse. And then he commanded
a halt, and raising his hand cried out :
" Attention, my men ! The rendezvous has been sur-
prised by the enemy ! The Free Sword seems hard be-
set ! We must free him ! To the rescue, then ! "
A shout from the men responded to this speech.
"Attention! Forward! March!"
The guerrillas galloped as gayly onwards towards the field
of blood " as to a festival."
As they approached the scene of action the evidences
of a fearful engagement encircled them.
Ascending the hill, they entered into a dense atmos-
phere of black and sulphurous smoke and dust through
which sabres glanced and firearms blazed, and horses and
riders loomed and vanished, and from which arose the con-
fused sounds of the shouts of men, the neighs of steeds, the
clash of steel, the report of musketry, and the shrieks and
groans of the wounded and the dying.
Over fallen steeds and writhing men through flashing
sabre strokes and whistling rifle shots through smoke and
dust through blood and fire the guerrillas dashed, strik-
ing here and there striking everywhere where the blue coat
of a Union soldier could be seen in the chaos.
It was a general melee, more terrible in its effects than
any pitched battle could have been. It was a mutual mas-
sacre, in which no quarter was asked or given. Such was
the engagement at Hill, long to be remembered in the
bloody annals of the Valley.
Neither Monck nor any of his officers or men were to be
seen anywhere on the field. It seemed evident that his forces
THE BATTLE. 281
had not joined those of Colonel Corsoni, whose command had
engaged the Federals alone.
In the thickest carnage might he seen the form of the
Free Sword, an inspired form a very Demon of Destruction
dealing death-blows right and left striking everywhere,
and always with fatal effects ; struck at from every quarter,
hut always in vain ! He seemed to hear a charmed life, and
to wield an invincible weapon.
And by his side oh, sight of fear and horror ! ly his
side, in the fiercest of the fight, rode his devoted wife ! Why
she was there why he permitted her to be there no one
could tell. Whether he had no wish or no power to with-
stand the force and fire of her will that clung to him so
desperately for life or death, or whether they had been sur-
prised too suddenly to be separated, is not known. All that
is certainly known is that she was with him throughout that
bloody day. She seemed to ride scathless through that
scene of slaughter, unharming and unharmed ! Who, in-
deed, would have willingly hurt her ?
At the moment that Goldsborough with his band rode up,
the Free Sword and his two hundred faithful followers were
fighting desperately against an overwhelming force.
Goldsborough brought to his relief nearly two hundred
more men. Yet still the united forces of the two leaders
numbered less than four hundred ill-armed and ill-disciplined
guerrillas ; and these were opposed to the whole regiment,
of Rosenthal's well-trained veteran cavalry, armed with their
death-dealing Henry rifles those sixteen shooters, that
augmented their fighting powers more than ten-fold.
The guerrillas fought well, fearlessly, recklessly.
But who could doubt the issue ?
Again and again the voice of the young Federal com-
mander was heard above the din of battle, calling upon
those brave, misguided men to surrender and save them-
selves.
282 HOW HE WON HER.
In vain ! He might as well have roared to the roaring
winds !
The hattle raged with increasing fury. The waves of war
rolled east, rolled west, as the hard-pressed guerrillas' fell
hack, or rallying for a space, pushed forward.
At length, towards sunset, the guerrillas began to scatter
and fly.
Colonel Goldshorongh tried to rally them, hut in vain.
Their desperate courage had suddenly failed. Goldshorongh
looked around for the cause of this panic ; and he discovered
it in the absence of their idolized leader!
It was true. Neither the brave Free Sword nor his
heroic wife could anywhere be seen on the field. The fiery
spirit that had animated and inspired the whole hand was
gone. And fear had fallen upon his followers. And all
who were not dead, wounded or prisoners, were flying in all
directions hotly pursued by the Federals.
Colonel Goldsborough, seeing that the day was lost,
wheeled around, put spurs to his horse, and dashed down
the hill-side, in the direction of the grove where he had
left Elfie and the parson under guard.
THE FATE OF THE FREE SWORD. 283
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE FATE OF THE FREE SWOBD.
"No more, there is no more," he said,
" To lift the sword for now !
For thee my fields were won,
And thou hast perished."
They might have chained him as before
That stony form he stood.
For the power was stricken from his arm,
As from his lips the blood. KEHANS.
RIDING recklessly over the dead and dying, Albert
Goldsborough rushed onward, until at the entrance of an
old turnpike road he was arrested by a sight that might
have stopped an army in its flight.
In the dust, on the ground, knelt Vittorio Corsoni, the
terrible Free Sword, supporting in his arms the pale form
of his beloved wife, and gazing down on her still face in
unutterable anguish and despair. Beside him lay his hat
and plume and his sword, cast off as though useless to him
evermore.
" Dead ! " exclaimed Albert Goldsborough, in horror and
amazement.
The Free Sword did not reply or look up ; he did not
even seem to see or hear the man who addressed him.
The sound of approaching horses' feet startled Colonel
Goldsborough from his trance of amazement.
" Corsoni ! It is no use to sit there and be captured !
Up and fly ! all is lost ! " he exclaimed, putting spurs to
his horse and speeding away.
" Yes, all is lost ! " murmured the Free Sword, without
removing his eyes from the dead face over which he bent.
Another horseman came thundering up in a cloud of
dust. It was Mutchison.
" Fly ! fly, Colonel Corsoni ! Rosenthal is within a
hundred yards of you ! And all is over ! " shouted the
giant, as he rushed past without drawing rein.
284 HOW HE WON HER.
"Yes, all is over," muttered the Free Sword, dropping
his face down to the cold face beneath him.
" Up and away ! We are dead beat ! " shouted another
equestrian whirlwind that rushed past him.
"Dead beat ! " echoed the Free Sword, mechanically.
Abershaw was the next who came. He hurriedly dashed
up, threw himself from his saddle, and led his horse up to
his chief, hastily exclaiming :
".Colonel Corsoni ! For heaven's sake, fly ! There is not
a moment to be lost ! Rosenthal is a few yards behind !
Here ! I have brought you a fresh horse ! Mount and
away ! Save yourself ! "
The Free Sword lifted his despairing eyes to the face of
his faithful follower and pointed in silence to the still form
in his arms.
" Madam Corsoni fainted ! ISTo wonder, poor lady ! Well,
I will stay and take care of her. It does not matter so
much if I am captured ; I shall be treated as a prisoner of
war. But you, Colonel ! oh, you know the doom that
awaits you if you are taken ! Mount my horse ! Fly and
save yourself!"
"Save myself! From what ? The worst has happened
that could possibly befall me. Oh, Abershaw, look here !
and tell me if my life is worth the saving now ! " cried
Corsoni, in a heart-broken voice, as he pointed to the dead
face of his wife.
" Dead ! killed ! Oh, Heaven, how did that happen ? "
exclaimed Abershaw, overwhelmed by the sight.
"A Minie ball. She saw the murderous rifle aimed,
and threw herself before me, and received in her heart the
shot that was intended for my bosom ! " said Corsoni, in a
voice of such deep despair that his follower groaned aloud.
But time pressed, pressed fearfully ; a life hung on every
minute ! And Abershaw could not leave his chief to in-
dulge in sorrow.
THE FATE OF THE FTCEE SWORD. 285
" My Colonel my brave Free Sword ! " he exclaimed,
" rouse yourself ! A soldier should not yield to grief any
more than to fear."
Corsoni sadly shook his head.
" Corne, coine, my chief, look up. Think of all your
glorious achievements in the cause of the young Confed-
eracy "
" It was for her for her, and she is gone," moaned
Corsoni.
" Then up and avenge her ! Think of all that you have
already done, of all that you may still do for the cause.
Think what a career opens before you. When the Confed-
eracy triumphs-^"
Corsoni impatiently waved his hand and shook his head.
" The Confederacy," said the Free Sword, bitterly.
" What do you suppose I really cared for the Confederacy ?
I am a foreigner. What are your civil wars to me ? It
was for her I drew my sword. She bade me draw it in the
cause of the Confederacy, and I did it, as, if she had bid me
draw it in the cause of the Union, or of the Lord, or of the
Devil, I would have done it. It was for her ! for her ! and
now she is gone ! oh, my pale love ! This was not what I
took you from your convent for," he added, gazing with
infinite sorrow on the still face.
Then he turned to his follower, saying :
" But go and save yourself, Abershaw. You have yet
something to live for."
" No ; I shall stay with you and her," firmly replied the
man.
Even as Abershaw spoke their pursuers dashed up.
" Ah, here you are, you demon. Yield ! " thundered the
foremost soldier, dismounting.
" I yield," gently replied the Free Sword.
Colonel Kosenthal rode up, attended by his staff, among
whom was Wing Wing, his adjutant, with the first lieu-
tenant's straps upon his shoulders.
286 HOW HE WON HER.
" You are a prisoner, Colonel Corsoni. Deliver up your
sword," said Justin, gravely, as he dismounted. My
God!"
This last exclamation was struck from his lips by the
sight of Alberta's dead body in the arms of her heart-broken
husband.
And the most inveterate pursuers of the Free Sword were
now gathered around him with looks of pity in their war-
worn faces.
Colonel Eosenthal lifted his hand, and silently waved
these men away.
And all retired except Adjutant Wing.
" I am very sorry for this, Corsoni, very, very sorry," said
Justin compassionately.
The Free Sword looked up. His youthful face seemed
suddenly to have grown old and haggard with unutterable
woe. Then he gently laid down the form of his wife, and
struggled to his feet, and put his hand to his side for the
sword that was no longer there. He looked about to find
and deliver it to his captor. As he did so, the blood sud-
denly gushed in torrents from an unsuspected wound in his
breast, and his face became livid.
" You are hurt, Corsoni," said Justin, in a pitiful voice.
" Am I ? I didn't know," answered the Free Sword, as
he reeled and fell beside the body of his wife DEAD.
AFTER THE BATTLE. 287
CHAPTER XXV.
AFTER THE BATTLE.
Oh, womanly she prayed in tent,
When none beside did wake !
Oh, womanly she paled in flght
For one beloved's sake !
And her little hand defiled with blood,
Her tender tears of womanhood
Most woman-pure did make. E. B. BROWNING.
ADJUTANT WING knelt down beside the dead and took
two fresh white pocket-handkerchiefs from his hosom
Adjutant Wing was rather dainty for a soldier, in some
of his habits, and constantly exposed himself to the raillery
of his companions by his weakness for clean linen. He
now covered with the handkerchiefs the poor dead faces,
and, still kneeling, gazed upon the two bodies, while great
tears rolled slowly down his cheeks.
" You are weeping, Wing," said Colonel Eosenthal,
kindly.
" I cannot cannot help it," said the boy, sobbing aloud.
" When I look at these two, and remember that they were
kind to me, and that I betrayed them to this death, I
cannot help it. Oh, my Colonel, I have shed some bitter
tears in my life. But these are the bitterest that ever fell
from my eyes ! "
" Wing, what you did was done as a sacred duty in the
service of your country."
" Yes, I know ; but the duty was very revolting to me.
Once I said that nothing on earth could ever induce me
to become a spy ; but that was before the war, and I was
in no condition to judge of the matter."
As Wing sobbed forth these words Colonel Eosenthal
started and looked at him wistfully for a minute ; then,
seemingly satisfied by the scrutiny, he said :
" Our military duties are often revolting to us, my boy ;
ogg HOW HE WON HER.
but still they are duties sacred duties and must be per-
formed. I suppose the judge who pronounces a sentence of
death, and the sheriff who executes it, both feel their duty
to be a painful one ; but they do it. I am sorry for these
people, Wing very, very sorry for them ; but they were
traitors."
" Oh, call them no hard names over their still, cold bodies,
my Colonel. Their lips are mute and cannot reply. They
thought they were right, and so thinking, they were true to
themselves, and true, oh heaven, how true to each other!
Theirs was a rare love, my Colonel ; stronger than life and
death ! " wept Wing.
" Perhaps the fate that they have just met was, under all
the circumstances, the best for them," said Justin.
"Oh! how much the best! Poor lady!" said Wing,
uncovering the face of Alberta and gazing tenderly upon it.
" Poor, poor lady ! She had but one great dread in all her
dreadful life to be separated from her beloved. She had
but one earnest prayer to be with him always, forever and
ever. Her prayer is granted. As she clung to him through
all his desperate life, so he would not desert her even in.
death ! no, not even to save himself from certain capture
and from the shameful scaffold. Call them traitors, if you
must ; but they were true as truth to each other true in
life and in death ! And they are inseparable for all eternity.
Poor girl ! I remember her words once when speaking of
Dante's story of Franceses and Paulo in Hell : ' It might
have been worse,' she said. ' One might have been in
Heaven!' And I knew that she was thinking of herself
and her 'Free Sword.' "
As Wing spoke, he reverently covered the faces of the
dead and arose from his knees.
Oh, my Colonel," he next said, " after all, I think that
those who have fallen in this war may be happier than
those who survive, burdened with the memory of its
horrors ! "
AFTER THE BATTLE. 289
At that moment the sound of many horses' feet was heard
approaching, and presently a squad of Union cavalry rode
up, having Albert Goldsborough, Abershaw, Haddycraff,
and other guerrilla officers as prisoners.
" We cut off their retreat, sir," reported the officer in
command of the party.
Colonel Kosenthal advanced to receive the sword of the
guerrilla leader.
Goldsborough handed it over in perfect silence. There
was not a word spoken between the two.
Then Colonel Eosenthal ordered the prisoners taken to
the rear and guarded.
Next he beckoned an officer, and directed him to take
charge of the remains of the Free Sword and his unfortu-
nate wife, and to see to their removal, and their preparation
for decent interment.
Finally, he called Wing and Hay (who had succeeded in
making his escape from Monck's camp) to attend him, and
rode off to inspect in person a certain locality in the neigh-
borhood, where he proposed that his regiment should bivouac
for the night.
They followed the old turnpike road down the hill, until
they came to the open plain, across which Goldsborough's
men had marched that day.
Straight before them, under the dark eastern horizon, was
dimly seen a grove, or piece of woods.
" There is the place where we shall halt to-night, Wing.
As we have no tents, the trees must give us shelter. And I
am told that there is a fine spring of water. Our tired and
hungry men will be comfortable there," said Colonel Eosen-
thal, pointing to the grove.
" And the wounded, my Colonel ? " inquired Wing,
gently.
" You always remember the wounded, my boy. Well,
they will be taken care of. Captain Hopkins and Surgeon
18
290 HOW HE WON HER.
Sharpe are in charge of the wounded. And lest you should
also think the dead may be neglected, I will inform you that
Lieutenant Barnwell and Chaplain Jones are intrusted with
the arrangements for their Christian burial. Are you satis-
fied now, Wing ? "
" Thanks, my Colonel, for your information, and also for
your kind indulgence of what might be called impertinence
in me," said Wing, respectfully raising his cap.
Colonel Rosenthal smiled wistfully, but uid not reply.
The sun had long set, and the moon had not yet risen.
But it was a clear, bright, starlight night, and they continued
their way across the plain, strangely soothed by the sweet
stillness and peacefulness of the scene.
They rode along, drawing nearer and nearer to the grove j
until at length, when they were within a few hundred yards
of it, they were startled by screams issuing from its shadows,
a woman's piercing screams, mingled with cries of
"Murder! Murder! Help! Help!"
CHAPTER XXVI.
ELFIE IN THE GROVE.
Ask me not what the maiden foels.
Left in that dreadful hour alone ;
Perchance her reason stoops or reels
Perchance a courage not her own,
Braces her mind to desperate tone. SCOTT.
" QUICK, boys ! There is something dreadful going on in
that grove ! Some woman in extreme peril ! " hastily ex-
claimed Justin Rosenthal, as he put spurs to his horse, and
galloped forward, hotly followed by Wing and Hay.
The grove, at the point at which they approached it, was
too thickly grown to admit the entrance of their horses.
ELFIE IN THE GROVE. 291
So Colonel Kosenthal threw himself from his saddle, fas-
tened his horse to a tree, drew his sword and plunged into
the thicket.
This example was quickly followed by his companions.
The cries of distress had ceased ; and the silence and the
darkness of the place rendered it rather difficult for our Don
Quixote to decide where to turn his steps and the point of
his sword for the delivery of the distressed damsel.
" We must scatter ourselves, boys ! Each must take a
different direction and beat about the woods until we dis-
cover the cause of those cries ! And he who first comes
upon the scene of violence must shout for the others ! Now
go ! And may Heaven grant that we may be in time ! "
hastily exclaimed Justin, waving his sword in the directions
he wished the others to take, and then turning and striking
deeper into the shadows of the grove.
It was very still and dark. Nothing could be seen but
the occasional glance of a star, peeping down between the
upper branches of the trees ; and nothing could be heard
but the ripple of a stream, hidden somewhere in the deep,
dry undergrowth of the thicket.
Justin was completely bewildered, knowing not which
way to turn.
" The unfortunate woman, whoever she is, must be
murdered or worse before this! At all events, she is
silenced," he said to himself.
At that moment another cry arose ; but this time it was
a man's voice weak, quavering, cracked but unmistakably
a man's voice, crying :
"Help! Murder! Help! Oh, all good Christians,
help ! "
" Gracious Heavens ! has the woman got the better now,
and is she killing the man ; or what is the meaning of this
second outcry ? " exclaimed the colonel, in droll perplexity.
And guided by the cries, he clutched his sword with a
292 HOW HE WON HER.
firmer clasp, and strode on in the direction from which they
came. He had not gone many yards before the cries arose
for the third time ; and now, as in the first instance, it was
the woman's voice, screaming :
"Murder! Murder! Help! Help!"
" This is very perplexing. Apparently there are two of
them in distress, and they take turns in yelling," said Jus-
tin, as he rushed on towards the scene of action.
Suddenly he came upon it. Striking through the thicket,
he entered an opening in the grove where the clear bright
starlight shone down upon a strange picture a man, and a
woman, each bound to a tree, only a few yards from each
other.
" Help ! Murder ! Help ! " shrieked the man.
"Don't come near me, you monster! I have a revolver
concealed in my bosom and I will shoot you as soon as I
would a mad dog ! " screamed the woman. .
" ELFIE ! " exclaimed Justin Kosenthal, in astonishment,
advancing towards her.
" Oh, Justin dear ! Justin, is it you ? Thank Heaven !
But I took you for a prowling guerrilla ! " cried Elfie, strug-
gling to free herself enough to welcome him.
" I was drawn here by your cries for help, Elfie. But
who had the insolence and barbarity to treat you in this
manner ? " demanded Colonel Eosenthal, as with his sword
he severed the cords that bound the girl and set her free.
" Let me sit down and breathe, and then I'll tell you
all about it," said Elfie, with a sigh of relief, as she sank
down on a heap of dry leaves at the foot of the tree.
Justin stood looking at her with eyes full of doubt, pity
and anxiety.
" Don't stand staring at me as if I had two heads, man !
Go and set the parson free. He is a Christian hero, he is !
and by that time I shall recover my breath and be able to
talk to you," said Elfie, with something of her old snappish-
ELFIE IN THE GROVE. 293
ness. And truly the poor girl had had enough to make her
feel cross and nervous.
" I beg your pardon, Elfie," said Justin, smiling, as he
turned to obey her.
He cut the cords that bound the minister, who immedi-
ately stretched his arms, and then dropped upon the ground
with a fervent :
" Thank goodness ! "
At that moment Wing and Hay came up from different
points On seeing Elfie, Wing started and withdrew a
little into the shade.
Justin went up to him said :
" I suppose you were led here by the cries, as I was ? "
" Yes, sir, they resounded through every part of the
grove, I assure you."
" Well, I hope there has been no great harm done. We
found a parson and the young lady whom you met as a cap-
tive among the guerrillas, bound here to a couple of trees.
I do not quite understand the affair yet ; but they are
apparently uninjured. Now go, Wing take Hay with you,
and ride back to the field. Tell Lieutenant-Colonel Wedge-
wood that we shall encamp in and around this grove to-
night. Tell him to send all the men here who are riot
engaged in looking after the wounded and the dead, or in
guarding the prisoners."
Wing bowed, beckoned Hay to follow him and left the
scene.
Justin turned and seated himself on a fragment of rock
near the bank of leaves on which Elfie rested.
" I am very glad, Elfie, to find you safe at last/' he said,
a little dubiously.
" Yes, thank Heaven, I have passed safely through the
terrible days of my captivity," said Elfie.
"I can answer for that. The men of Belial, bad as they
were, didn't dare to harm a hair of her head. From their
294 HOW HE WON HER.
chief downward, they all treated her with respect," said the
preacher.
" Hold your tongue, Mr. Simmons. I don't need that
you should endorse me. I have little reason to be grateful
to you, goodness knows, for saving your life at the expense
of my liberty," snapped Elfie.
The preacher bowed his head under this rebuke. And
Justin Eosenthal looked from one to the other in per-
plexity.
" I will explain, Justin ; but it-is a long story, I can tell
you. I have been through a campaign since I saw you last,"
said Elfie.
" But before you begin, my dear young lady, let me ask
the captain here a question. Sir, might you have a morsel
to eat or drink about you ? " piteously inquired the poor
consumptive preacher.
" No, I mightn't, I am sorry to say," smiled Justin.
"You see we haven't broken our fast since the morning.
And I feel a sort of inward sinking. And if you had a scrap
of hard tack or a drop of old rye "
" I regret very much that I have nothing of the sort.
You know that we cavalry rangers, out after guerrillas, carry
no provisions. We look to live on the country," said Col-
onel Eosenthal.
The poor preacher laid his thin hands over his empty
bread-basket, and groaned aloud. Even Elfie pitied him.
" Never mind, Mr. Simmons," she said, " you heard the
order given by Colonel Eosenthal. The men will be here
presently, and you may depend they will not come empty-
handed. We shall have a sumptuous supper presently."
With this piece of comfort the preacher tried to content
himself.
" And now, Elfie," said Justin Eosenthal.
" Well, I suppose you heard that our picnic party was
surprised by the guerrillas, and that I was carried off? "
L F I E IN THE GROVE. 295
" Yes, I heard of that, Elfie, through a spy I sent into
the camp of the Free Sword. Tell me, my dear little friend,
what happened after the spy had left," said Justin.
And Elfie began and related in detail all her adventures
while a captive among the guerrillas. She told the story
with firmness, and even with humor, until she came to
describe her forced marriage, when she suddenly burst into
tears of rage and shame, and wept and sobbed as if her
heart would break.
When Justin had heard the whole story of the marriage,
he laid his hand upon Elfie's bowed black head in a protect-
ing and reassuring manner, and laughed as he said :
" Why, Elfie, the marriage is not binding upon you, unless
you choose to make it so by yourself acknowledging its vali-
dity. If you protest against it as a forced marriage, and
bring this clergyman here as your witness, it cannot hold
good."
" But there was a li license ! and a ring ring ! and an
ordain dained minister ! and even a man man to give me
away ! and all was reg reg reg regular ! " answered
Elfie, scarcely able to articulate through her gasping sobs.
"Nonsense, my dear girl ! The vital, valid, lawful part
of the affair, without which all the rest was all invalid, null
and void, was wanting," laughed Justin.
" And what was that at ? " sobbed Elfie.
" The consent of the woman, of course ! "
" Oh, but they had that ! "
ELFIE ! "
" They took it by force, as they took me. That man an
who acted as my pap pap papa, took me by my neck
and hair and bobbed my head down three or four times in
the most positive manner, as if he meant me to say, 'Yes,
yes, YES ! ' and the ceremony went on."
" The villain ! But, Elfie, my dear, that was no consent.
Nonsense, my child ! You are no more bound in law or
296 HOW HE WON HER.
gospel to your guerrilla abductor than you are to any other
savage you can think of. Give yourself no uneasiness on
that subject, Miss Fielding" said Justin, with an inten-
tional emphasis on Elfie's maiden name.
Apparently Elfie was not grateful for the consideration.
" Justin Rosenthal, I'll thank you not to call me ' Miss
Fielding ! ' How do I know but what I am Mrs. Golds-
borough ? I hate to be placed in an equivocal position ; and
I won't be neither, there ! Call me Elfie. The name given
me in baptism is the only one either you or I can feel dead
sure I am entitled to bear ! " exclaimed the girl, passion-
ately.
" Very well, my child. Just as you please ! " laughed
Justin, with a shrug of his shoulders.
Elfie pouted so long in silence that Justin found it neces-
sary to recall her to her narrative.
" Come, Elfie," he said, "tell me how you and your com-
panion in captivity happened to be bound to these trees ? "
" You know," answered Elfie, " I told you how when
Albert Goldsborough found that a battle was in progress on
the hill, he made us dismount, and took away our horses,
and set a mounted guard of six guerrillas to watch us."
Yes."
" Well, they watched us closely enough for a while. I
couldn't stir, even to walk about and stretch my cramped
limbs, without being threatened with a rifle levelled at
me ! "
" The wretches ! "
" And all that time we heard the firing in the distance,
and knew that a great battle was going on between the
guerrillas and our own troops. And we prayed heartily for
the success of our men."
" Your prayers were heard, El He."
" Of course we could not guess which way the tide of
victory would turn. We could only see the clouds upon
ELFIE IN THE GROVE. 297
clouds of black and sulphurous smoke rolling over the hill,
and hear the continual firing, and smell the suffocating
fumes of gunpowder that were overpowering even at this
distance."
" That was because the wind blew straight from the hill
in this direction."
" In this way several hours passed, and then we began to
hear the thunder of flying horsemen crossing the plain.
And one of our guard rode out to reconnoitre, and came
back in a hurry, exclaiming :
" ' By the devil ! if the clock peddlers haven't beaten us !
Our men are flj'ing as fast as their horses can carry them
before the Yankee cavalry ! I am not agoing to stay here
guarding a girl and a parson, until I am captured ! What
do you say, boys ? '
" Apparently the e boys ' agreed with their companion.
They rode together and consulted in a low voice and in
great excitement, while we still felt, as it seemed, the very
earth shake with the thunder of the flying and chasing
horsemen. Meanwhile I felt great hopes of being allowed
to escape. My hopes were soon destroyed, however, by the
words of the corporal, who had command of the guard.
" ' It will never do to let them get off, blast them ! any
more than it will do for us to stay here and be captured by
the Yankees ! I'll tell you what, boys ! we will tie them to
trees, so that if the colonel does come back to look for them
which I doubt very much if he will, even if he should
have escaped being killed or wounded, or taken prisoner
he will find them ; that's all ! Now what do you say to
that!'
" The corporal's proposal was adopted by acclamation.
And the wretches .immediately seized us and bound us, each
to a tree, as you found us, Justin. And then they mounted
their horses an? galloped away, and we saw no more of
them."
298 HOW HE WON HEK.
" Nor of any others ? "
"No! we remained here, while the night grew darker,
and darker. We still occasionally felt the earth shake under
the thunder of the flying and following horsemen ; but no
one entered the grove. And after a while even that noise
ceased."
" Were you frightened, Elfie ? "
" No, not until a wolf or some other wild animal came up
and stood before me, and looked up in my face with his fiery
eyes, as if he were balancing the question whether he
should eat me then, or take his supper a few minutes later.
I felt my flesh creep and my blood grow cold then, Justin !
And T screamed with all my might. And the creature took
to its heels and ran away ! "
Poor Elfie I"
"After that Mr. Simmons and I, thinking that some of
our men might be about, took our turns in crying, ' Help '
and ' Murder.' And at last, just as our lungs were giving
out, you came to our relief, Justin."
"And that is all!"
" Yes, except this, Justin ! In the midst of our own
personal distress, we still remembered to thank Heaven for^
giving us the victory ! "
As Elfie spoke, the sound of an approaching troop of
horses was heard. And soon they seemed to have drawn up
on the outskirts of the grove.
Wing came to report to his colonel.
" The regiment has arrived on the ground, sir. Also the
army wagons with the commissary stores that were sent
after us from W. Lieutenant Colonel Wedgewood has dis-
patched messengers to hurry up the ambulances for the
transportation of the wounded, who are now receiving all
the attention that it is possible to bestow upon them in
their present position. To-morrow I hope to be able to
submit to you a correct report of the killed, wounded and
prisoners."
EL FIE IN THE GROVE. 299
" Quite right, Adjutant," said Colonel Kosenthal. Then,
changing his tone a little, he continued : " And now, Wing,
I think you had better remain here with this young lady
and the preacher, while I go to take a look at my poor
fellows."
And with a bow to Elfie and her companion, Justin
Kosenthal walked away from them.
Now all was cheerful bustle in and around the grove.
The men dismounted, took their saddles from their horses,
and secured the weary beasts to the trees on the outer edge
of the grove.
Then they began active preparations for refreshment and
rest. They unloaded the army wagons, and every man
watered and foddered his horse before thinking of himself.
Then some went to work kindling tires to cook by ; others
began preparing food ; others again busied themselves with
building rude shelters of boughs to protect them from the
night air.
By the orders of Colonel Rosenthal, a party of the men
went to that part of the grove where Elfie and her com-
panions were waiting, and there, under the immediate
direction of Adjutant Wing, they constructed a comfortable
hut of cedar boughs for Elfie's accommodation.
And soon in front of this hut a good supper was served
of strong coffee, with white sugar and condensed milk, and
broiled ham, with fried potatoes, and loaf bread and camp
biscuits.
Elfie, Mr. Simmons, Colonel Kosenthal and Wing sat
down to this supper. And though every one of them pla3~ed
well their parts, the poor, consumpti^ preacher excelled
them all in gastronomic feats.
During the meal, which was eaten by torch light, strange
glances were observed to pass between Elfie and Wing.
From time to time Elfie looked furtively at the young
adjutant, who sedulously avoided her glances. But at
800 HOW HE WON HER.
length, when Wing surprised Elfie gazing steadily at him
he opened his dark eyes to their widest extent and favored
her with a stare of astonishment that at once put an end
to the play.
After supper Elfie retired to her hut where, upon a bed
of leaves, she slept comfortably, guarded on one side of her
dwelling by the old minister, and on the other side by the
young adjutant.
CHAPTER XXVII.
KEQUIESCAT I5f PACE.
Shut out from them the bitter word.
And serpent hiss of scorning.
Nor let the storms of yesterday
Disturb their quiet morning;
Breathe over them forgetfulness
Of all save deeds of kindness,
And save to tears of pitying eyes,
Press down their lids in blindness. WHITTIER.
THE next day was devoted to a solemn duty. The dead
were buried where they had fallen on the battle field.
All except Alberta and Vittorio.
Our soldiers felt that they must find a grave in conse-
crated ground in which to place the poor woman, and also
that they must lay beside her the husband for whom she so
vainly died.
So after they had given Christian burial to the heroic
dead, they placed the remains of the Free Sword and his
wife in an army hearse and conveyed them to a little, old,
deserted country churchyard, some three miles distant on
the road to W., where the chaplain of the regiment read
over them the funeral service, and where they were finally
laid side by side in their resting-place not unwept.
The tears of Elfie, who attended the funeral, fell like rain.
" REQUIESCAT IN PACE. 801
And even Wing, who was charged with the husiness of the
burial, was said to have dimmed the smart gold lace of his
adjutant's uniform with drops of sorrow.
The wounded were tenderly laid in ambulances, and sent
on to W. under an escort of one company of cavalry.
As Elfie evinced the utmost impatience to return home,
and as Colonel Bosenthal was anxious to be rid of all en-
cumbrances, so that he might immediately go after Monck,
he next morning sent Miss Fielding under a guard of honor,
commanded by Adjutant Wing, to the Point of Rocks,
from which she was to take the evening train to Wash-
ington.
It was while waiting at a Union farmhouse near the
station, that Elfie learned the final ending of the picnic
party. The old farmer informed her that after the guer-
rillas fled, leaving the excursionists on the hill, they the
excursionists went down to look for their boat, with the
intention of returning to the city by the same way in
which they had come.
But on reaching the foot of the hill and the side of
the canal, they found that their boat had been robbed of
all its movable effects, and then scuttled and sunk.
The unfortunate creatures had nothing to do but to
return to the top of the hill and lay down to sleep as
well as they could in the open air.
The next morning, cold, hungry, and cruelly stiff and
sore in all their limbs, they set out to walk to the Point
of Rocks, to wait for the train to Washington.
But such a starved and wretched set of ragamuffins
they looked, that the conductor of the train, when it came,
distrusted them, and refused to take them on until they
had told and proved their story.
Such was the account of the picnic party given by the
old farmer to Elfie.
" But there was one of their number who was hurt a
302 HOW HE WON HER.
young man a little man with light hair and blue eyes.
Do you know anything about him ? ; ' inquired Elfie.
" Oh, yes," answered the old farmer, quickly. " Oh, yes
he was very badly hurt, indeed. They brought him here
on an old door, two men supporting him in front, and
two behind. And they put him on the train, and took him
on to the city with them."
" Do you do you think that he was dangerously hurt ? "
breathlessly inquired Elfie.
"Well, Miss, I should think he was. His skull was
fractured."
" Oh, Heaven of Heavens ! I hope not I earnestly
hope not ! Did you did you hear anything of him after-
wards ? " said Elfie, clasping her hands tightly, as if she were
rather entreating a favorable answer than asking for a true
one.
"No, Miss, I never heard a breath of him afterwards.
Was he a relation or friend of yours ? "
" Oh, no only an acquaintance of a few weeks. But I
would like to know his fate."
"Well, then, Miss, seeing that he is not a relation of
yours, nor likewise a very intimate friend, I might as well
be frank with you. I don't think he could have got over
that hurt. You see he was very badly hurt. His skull was
fractured. And he had laid all night without a doctor's
assistance. And he was quite insensible when he was
brought here next morning. You wouldn't have known he
was alive if you hadn't put your ear down close to his
mouth ; so faint and low was his breathing. And then,
you see, there was that long journey back to Washington.
All enough to kill him. Everything against him. And he
such a little bit of a fellow. And so I don't think it possi-
ble he could have got over it," said the farmer.
" Oh, Mim ! dear Mim ! it was all for my sake ! And
if you really are killed I shall break my heart ! I know I
shall ! " cried Elfie, wringing her hands and weeping.
R'QTJIESCAT IN PACE. 803
"Miss Fielding," said Adjutant Wing, " there is good hope
to believe that the young man is not killed. While I was
a prisoner in Monck's camp I got hold of a morning paper
in which the return of the picnic party was chronicled, and
young Mim mentioned as ' seriously ' injured. ' Seriously/
mind ; not dangerously. And newspaper paragraphs seldom
or never understate a thing."
" That is very true, Adjutant, and very hopeful," said
Elfie, wiping her eyes ; " very hopeful ; but I wish I was
assured of his safety."
" You will be so, I trust, in a very few hours. The train
will be here at six, and you will be in Washington before
ten," said Wing.
The old farmer's hospitable wife was busy preparing as
good an evening meal as her limited means allowed her to
get up for her guests.
When it was ready she invited them, to a table covered
with tea, milk and butter, home-made bread, ham and eggs ;
and broiled chicken, honey and preserves.
Elfie and Wing did much honor to this meal ; and by the
time it was ended the train of cars was heard thundering
onward towards the station.
Elfie took leave of her kind host and hostess, thanking
them earnestly for their hospitality.
Wing placed the young lady in a comfortable seat in the
best car ; and the train started again on its way to Wash-
ington.
And soon after Adjutant Wing called his men together
and set out to join his regiment.
804 HOW HE WON HER.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ELFIE'S RETURN.
One by one, thy duties wait thee,
Let thy whole strength go to each,
Let nq future dreams elate thee,
Learn thou first what these can teach.
One by one, bright gifts from Heaven,
Joys are sent thee here below ;
Take them readily when given,
Beady, too, to le't them go. A. A. PBOCTEB.
IT was nearly ten o'clock when the train steamed into
the station. Elfie got out on the platform. As she had no
luggage to look after nor even a parasol nor a hand-bag to
encumber her, she quickly made her way to the street,
where omnibus-drivers and cab-men were cracking their
whips, and vociferating their routes ; and where porters
were quarreling over their loads, and policemen adding much
to the general noise and confusion.
Elfie had not been robbed by the guerrillas ; and she had
still in her pocket the little portmonnie, well filled with
" green-backs " and " fractional currency," that her father
had given her some weeks before, when he had gone to join
his regiment. So she called a carriage, taking care to pass
by all those with yelling drivers, and to select one in charge
of a well-conducted coachman.
" Where to, Miss ? " inquired the latter, touching his hat,
after he had assisted Miss Fielding into her seat.
Elfie gave him the direction. The man got upon his
box. And the carriage was driven off towards the par-
sonage.
"Now I wonder if my sudden arrival will shock Er-
minie very much ? Or if it does, if the shock will hurt
her ? She has no reason whatever to expect me. She may
even have retired to bed. Perhaps I ought rather to go to
a hotel to-night, and send for Dr. Sales in the morning, and
ELFIE'S RETURN. 305
get him to break the news gently to Erminie," mused
Elfie, as she sat back in her carriage.
But she did not act upon her thought. On the contrary,
she exclaimed to herself:
" Bosh ! it won't be such a shock to her, after all ! I am
not returning from the grave! She had no reason to be-
lieve me dead? And if she had had, though she loved me
very much, she didn't love me to such excess as to die of
joy at my resurrection. And besides, I couldn't possibly
wait till to-morrow to see her, and to hear from dear little
Mim."
And upon this decision Elfie rested, laying back at ease
in her cushions until the carriage reached the gates of the
parsonage.
Then she eagerly looked out to see if there were any
external signs by which she could guess whether the house-
hold had retired for the night.
" All right ! I see the lights gleaming through the
library shutters, and I know by them Erminie is still up,"
she said to herself, as the carriage stopped and the coach-
man got down and opened the door.
" Here is the Collar agreed upon for your fare ! And
here is half a dollar extra to reward you for not roaring
at travellers like the other hackmen did ! " said Elfie, as
she quickly thrust the money into the man's hand, and
opened the gate.
As the carriage drove off again, she ran up the walk
leading from the gate to the front door of the house. And
when she reached it she seized the bell-pull and rang a peal
like a fire-alarm.
The door was opened by old Uncle Bob, who, on seeing
his young mistress, jumped a yard backward, exclaiming :
Praise the Lord, Miss Elfie ! is this you ? "
" Yes ! yes ! Where is Erminie ? " cried Elfie, and with-
out waiting for an answer, she rushed past the old man,
19
306 HOW HE WON HER.
tore open the library door, and bounced in upon the young
mistress of the mansion.
Erminie, looking like some fair spirit of peace, sat in her
deep arm-chair by the library table, reading by the light of
a shaded gas-burner.
On raising her eyes to see who it was who rushed into her
presence so rudely, and recognizing Elfie, she laid down her
book and arose and opened her arms, and folded the wild
girl fondly to her bosom, while her tears fell warmly on the
little, black head.
" Thank Heaven for your safe return ! Oh, Elfie, my
dear, I am so happy to have you back again ! " said
Erminie, gently releasing Elfie, and placing her in the
easiest resting-chair.
" I was half afraid to come upon you so suddenly,
Erminie, dear. I was afraid I should shock you. But in-
deed, indeed, I had not self-denial enough to go to a hotel
and stop all night, and wait until I could send for Dr. Sales
to break the news to you."
" I am very glad you came at once to the house, my dear.
The other proceeding would have been highly improper in a
young lady, travelling alone, in a city full of soldiers," said
Erminie.
" ' Full of soldiers ! ' fiddle-de-dee ! I have been march-
ing and counter marching, fighting and flying, among sol-
diers and guerrillas, for the last ten days ! So I have no
reason to be frightened at them. But I am glad I didn't
startle you by pouncing in upon you so unexpectedly."
" You startled me a little, dear ; but it was with a very
pleasant shock."
" And oh ! I was so impatient to see you, and to hear
from my brave little Mim. Oh, Erminie, can you tell me
about my little Mim ? " anxiously inquired Elfie.
" He is quite out of danger, and is getting well fast."
" Thank Heaven for that ! I should never have got over
ELFIE'S RETURN. 807
his death if he had died, the dear little hero ! But he ivas
in danger ? "
" Oh, yes. However, that is quite past. I saw him this
morning. I went to see him every day, for your sake,
Elfie."
" Heaven hless you for that, dear ! Erininie, were you
very anxious about me when I didn't get home that night ? "
" I was uneasy," replied the Lutheran minister's daugh-
ter, who was hy no means " gushing," and never exagger-
ated her emotions. " 1 was uneasy : hut I thought you
must have decided to prolong your excursion, and I knew
you were with a large party, well able to protect you."
" Umph umph ! " said Elfie, who was slightly disap-
pointed in not having created a greater sensation. " Umph
umph ! But next day, when the excursionists got back,
bringing little Mim with his skull fractured, and the news
that I had been carried off by guerrillas ! How then, Er-
minie ? "
" I was very much shocked, and very anxious at first ;
and I called on some of the ladies to learn the facts. And
when I discovered that it was your cousin and old adorer,
Albert Goldsborough, who had carried you off, I felt re-
assured."
" Upon what ground, if one might inquire ? " demanded
Elfie, rather piqued at her friend's self-possession.
" Upon that of a certainty that Albert Goldsborough
would allow no injury to be done you. I foresaw that he
would detain you in a sort of honorable captivity for a
while, and use all his influence and eloquence to induce or
persuade you to marry him ; and that when he should fail
to do so, he would send you back to your home, as he has
apparently done."
" Indeed ! Well, you have a good deal to learn from me
yet, Erminie," said Elfie.
" You shall tell me all your experience since you left me
308 HOW HE WON HER.
dear; but not until you have had rest and refreshments
My curiosity can wait," said Miss Eosenthal, touching the
bell.
Catherine came to answer the summons. She had heard
frcm Old Bob of the arrival, and now she came in eager,
smiling diffident, and curtesying to welcome Miss Fielding.
" Come and shake hands with me if you are glad to see
me, girl ! and don't stand there bobbing at me like a
Chinese madarin. That is no way to welcome a friend who
has returned safely from captivity among the guerrillas,"
said Elfie, heartily offering her hand to the German girl,
who snatched and pressed it to her heart and lips.
" Now, my dear Elfie, what will you have prepared ?
The fire, I know, is in full blast in the kitchen range, and
there is a plenty of hot water in the boiler, and plenty of
provisions in the pantry. Order what you like, my dear.
You are at home here, you know," said Erminie.
"I know I am, thanks to your boundless hospitality.
But I had a substantial meal hours ago at an old farm-house
near the railway station at the Point of Kocks. What I
want first of all is a warm bath and a change of clothes.
Oh, just only think of it, I have been ten days without the
one or the other ! "
"Dear me!" said Erminie, opening her brown eyes in
dismay.
If Miss Rosenthal had heard that her friend had been
under fire in forty separate fights in this time, it would not
have shocked her so much.
" It is a fact, Erminie. And I tell you the deprivation
has cured me of one folly," said Elfie, nodding her head.
" What is that ? "
" The desire to serve as a soldier in the ranks. There is
too much grime mixed up with the glory. I shouldn't so
much mind the sabre strokes, nor the shot and shell, nor
even the commissary coffee, salt pork and hard tack. But
ELFIE S RETURN. O0
I wouldn't no, not even for the sake of my country would
I endure the lack of clean linen and fresh water and the
abundance of dirt and 'inthects" as my friend Billingcoo
delicately puts it. So I think I will leave the men who are
not fastidious to fight the battles, and wear the breeches,
and I will rest contented with crinoline and cleanliness for
the remainder of my life."
" I think you would do well," answered Erminie. " But
now, after your bath and change of clothing, you will re-
quire something. What shall it be ? A glass of mulled
wine, a cup of coffee and sandwiches ? "
" A cup of tea and a round of toast, if you please, my
dear. I couldn't go anything heavier than that. After-
wards we will have such a talk ! You have no idea how
much I have got to tell you, Erminie."
" Then you shall have your bath immediately, after which
you shall slip on a dressing gown and come to my bed-room.
I will order your tea served there, where we can talk at
ease."
" You angel ! There ! I don't want to say anything
sentimental or sickening, but you are an angel, if I know
anything about the cloudy creatures, which perhaps I don't.
A mere mortal might have put me off with my own room,
or any other one in this big house ; but you take me to
yours ; consequently you are an angel ! "
" Nonsense, Elfie."
" Oh, yes, I dare say it is nonsense nothing more likely.
Whenever I speak from my heart I am apt to talk nonsense,
I believe."
And then, as Catherine was waiting to attend her, Elfie
arose, gave her friend a rousing kiss and left the library.
An hour later than this, at about eleven o'clock in the
night, Elfie, thoroughly refreshed with her warm bath and
fresh clothing, and wrapped in a white merino dressing
gown, and with her feet thrust into white fur slippers, sat
810 H \V II E \V OK HER.
in an easy chair before the bright little wood-fire in
Erminie's bed-room.
Erminie sat opposite to her, and between them stood a
stand with a little tete-a-tete silver and porcelain tea-
service.
And while she took her tea, which Erminie shared for
sociability sake, Elfie related her adventures among the
guerrillas.
" I have so much to tell you, Erminie dear, that indeed I
do not know where to begin. But first tell me : Have
you heard from your brother or from Britomarte lately ? "
" They they are safe ? " gasped Erminie, in sudden,
deadly fear.
" They are both safe at this present moment. At least it
is fair to presume that they are, for your brother was alive
and well at seven o'clock this morning ; and Britomarte
was alive and well at seven o'clock this evening."
" You saw them ? You saw them both ? My brother
and and Britomarte ? " anxiously inquired Erminie.
" Now I didn't say all that. I said they were alive and
well at the times I stated. I will add that they were at
liberty, in good spirits, and in no sort of danger," said
Elfie.
"You speak of them as if they were together are
they ? "
" I spoke in no such manner. Nor I did not mean to do
so. Together indeed! That's likely. But you haven't
answered my question yet. You 'haven't told me when you
heard from your brother and from your friend."
" I got a letter from my dear Justin little more than a
week ago. He had just been appointed to the command of
a regiment of cavalry on duty at W. And he was about to
start for that place immediately. His letter was post-
marked H."
"Yes 5 well, I believe he is still in command of that
ELFIE 'S RETURN. 811
regiment. But now as to Britomarte. When did you hear
from her ? "
" About a fortnight ago. A letter postmarked Baltimore
reached me, merely saying that she was well, and giving me
the mysterious information that you were under the protec-
tion of Madam Corsoni."
" Oh, Alberta ! Poor, poor Alberta ! " sighed Elfie.
" What about her, my dear ? " inquired Miss Rosenthal.
" Oh, Erminie, as I said before, I have so much to tell
you ! You have no idea where Britomarte is ? "
"None in the world, unless she is*living in obscurity
somewhere in Baltimore and perhaps acting on the stage
under an assumed name. Her letters give me no informa-
tion of her manner of life, and they bear no address except
the broad one Baltimore."
" She is not in Baltimore. She is, however, acting under
an assumed name an important part, in the greatest drama
and on the broadest stage the world has ever seen."
" In the name of Heaven, Elfie, what do you. mean ? "
demanded Erminie.
" I have no right to explain. I had no right even to say
as much as I have said. But this I will impart That it
is to Britomarte's tact, courage and heroism that / owe my
deliverance from a fate far worse than death, and Colonel
Rosenthal owes the most signal victory of his military
career ! a victory that has rid the Valley of the Shenan-
doah from one of its greatest scourges, and that will cer-
tainly make the victor a brigadier-general," said Elfie, in
sympathetic pride.
"You astonish me more and more. You amaze me,
Elfie! Was Britomarte a spy?" inquired Erminie, her
large brown eyes dilating to double their size.
" I am not in Britomarte's confidence. And if I were so,
or even if I had discovered her secrets by chance, I, who
owe my earthly salvation to her I should be an ingrate and
812 HOW HE WON HER.
a traitor to betray her. So you see I cannot clearly explain
my words. But I will relate my adventures among the
guerrillas; and when you have heard them you may judge
for yourself and guess what you like ; so that you hold your
tongue as discreetly, or rather, let us hope, more discreetly
than I have held mine," said Elfie, as she poured out for her-
self another cup of tea.
" Do so, then, my dear. I am very anxious to hear all
you have to tell me," urged Erminie.
Elfie drank her tea and then began the story of her cap-
tivity.
As she spoke of the spy in the camp of the Free Sword,
Erminie nodded her head several times with a look of com-
prehension ; but she made no comment in words.
When Elfie came to speak of her forced marriage she
wept with anger and mortification ; but Erminie assured
her, as Justin had done before, that the marriage was null
and void in law.
" MARRIAGE is MUTUAL CONSENT, Elfie, and there was
no mutual consent there," she urged.
" You may be right, or you may be wrong, Erminie. I
shall take counsel of both clergymen and lawyers before I
venture to decide a question in which my honor is concerned.
I would rather be a wretched wife than an erring woman
anytime. But let me go on with my story. Ah, Heaven !
the worst is behind ! There were greater sufferers than
myself in it ! "
" Justin ? " anxiously exclaimed Erminie.
" I told you before that he was alive and well. Have you
forgotten that ? "
" Who then ? "
" Alberta ! poor, poor Alberta ! "
" You spoke of her just now. Of course she could not
have been otherwise than most wretched in the life she led,
poor woman ! But I hope no greater misfortune overtook
her ! " said Erminie.
ELFIE'S RETURN. 313
" I will tell you," sighed Elfie.
And then she resumed the thread of her narrative, des-
cribing the march of Goldsborough's guerrillas and the
battle of the hill, in which Colonel Rosenthal routed the
guerrillas, and in which the Free Sword and his wife were
killed.
" Killed ! Oh, merciful Heaven, not that ! Don't say
that Alberta was killed in battle ! " exclaimed Erminie,
clasping her hand tightly, while her eyes dilated with horror
and ama ement.
" Yes, she was killed," wept Elfie.
"But how was that?"
" Oh, it seems that she would not leave him. You know
what a will she had. She would not leave him. She rode
by his side through all that bloody day! This is the way
I heard the story : His horse was shot xinder him. She
jumped from her saddle and insisted on his mounting hers,
and at that moment she saw one of our sharpshooters aim a
rifle at him, and quick as lightning she threw herself before
him and received the shot in her heart ! Oh ! Erminie, it
was a' deadly minie ball ! It passed quite through her body,
killing her instantly, and entered the bosom which she tried
to shield, wounding it mortally."
" Oh ! Heaven of Heavens ! " exclaimed Erminie, sobbing
for pity.
" So the same ball killed them both ; but not at the same
instant. He, in his great sorrow, never felt his own wound !
He bore her off the field, and sat down with her under the
trees at the entrance of an old turnpike road. His disap-
pearance seemed to decide the fortunes of the day. The
guerrillas lost hope and fled. Some fled down the old turn-
pike road ; and, seeing Corsoni sitting there with his dead
wife in his arms, they urged him to get up and fly for his
life ; but he paid no attention to them. They told him that
our cavalry were in hot pursuit, and would certainly capture
314 HOW HE WON HER.
him if he should remain where he was. But he scarcely
seemed to hear their words. They reminded him that when
he should be taken an ignominious 'death awaited him. He
did not seem to care for that or for anything on earth but
the face of his dead wife, for he never lifted his eyes from
it."
" His heart must have been broken ! " wept Elfie.
" It was ! Justin says it would have moved his bitterest
enemy to compassion to have seen him when he was cap-
tured. Some of our cavalr}' men rode up and very naturally
swore at him, and called him hard names, and ordered him
to yield. He did not return railing for railing, but without
lifting his face from the still face of his wife, he answered
simply, 'I yield.' Justin rode up, and, seeing this sight,
ordered the men to withdraw ; and then he himself advanced
to receive Corsoni's sword. But first he spoke some few
words of sympathy and compassion for the prisoner's awful
sorrow. Corsoni did not once reply ; but laid the bod}'' of his
beloved wife down and arose to deliver up his sword. In the
act of doing so "
Elfie broke down and wept convulsively for some moments
before she could resume her story.
" The blood began to spout like a fountain from a wound
in his chest. And Justin said, ' You are hurt.' And he
answered Am I ? I didn't know.' And with these words
on his lips he fell dead beside his dead wife."
Erminie was weeping ; and it was some time before she
could speak. When she did, it was to say :
" Perhaps theirs was the best fate that could have befallen
them I mean under the dreadful circumstances."
" We all thought so. They were buried side by side in an
old country churchyard. It spoke well for the tenderness of
our poor soldiers that, tired as they were, they were willing
to march three miles to lay the poor woman's remains in
consecrated ground ; and they laid her husband's body be-
side her."
ELFIE'S VISIT TO LITTLE MIM. 315
u May they rest in peace ! " said Erminie, solemnly.
Amen," breathed Elfie.
The two girls fell into a thoughtful silence until Erminie
arose to ring the bell for Catherine to remove the tea ser-
vice.
And then, as it was twelve o'clock, the friends kissed each
other good night, arid Elfie went to her own old room that
Catherine had prepared for her.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ELFIE'S VISIT TO LITTLE MIM.
One by one thy griefs shall meet thee,
Do not fear an armed band ;
One will fade as others greet thee,
Shadows passing through the laud.
Do not look at life's long sorrow;
See how small each moment's pain;
God will help thee for to-morrow,
So each day, begin again. A. A. PEOOTOK.
" WELL, here it is, and a meagre account enough," said
Elfie, opening the morning paper as she sat with Erminie
at breakfast in the library " not ten lines of description, if
it were put in common type, but filling nearly a whole
column in great capital letters like posters."
" What is it, dear ? " inquired Erminie, who was arrang-
ing her cups and saucers on the breakfast tray.
" The morning paper's account of the engagement I
described to you at full length last night."
" Eead it aloud, dear, while I pour out our coffee."
" It is hardly worth reading. It isn't a hundredth part
of what I told you myself. But if you want to hear it,
here goes :
" ' BATTLE OF BLEAK HILL. DEFEAT OF THE GTTEB-
KILLAS. DEATH OF THE NOTORIOUS FKEE SWORD."
316- HOW HE WON HER.
Elfie read these headings, which were all in very con-
spicuous type. And then she went on with the description
of the fight, with the details of which our readers are
already familiar.
" I suppose that the .news came by the same train that
brought me last night, although it could not be made public
until this morning," said Elfie, as she laid aside the paper.
When they had finished breakfast, and the young mis-
tress of the house had issued her orders for the day to cook,
housemaid and man servant, the two young ladies went up
stairs together.
" I can't attend you in your rounds through the hospitals
this morning, Erminie dear, for I must go first to see little
Mim," said Elfie, as they parted on the landing, each to
seek her own room.
" But you will go with me this afternoon ? " urged
Erminie, with her hand on the knob of her door.
" Oh, yes certainly," answered Elfie, as .she disappeared
in her chamber.
The two girls came down together dressed to go out.
But they parted at the gate, as their paths lay in opposite
directions.
Erminie entered the little carriage that was to take her
first to the Douglas Hospital.
Elfie walked rapidly towards Pennsylvania Avenue,
where she stopped a Navy Yard car, which took her to the
eastern suburbs of the city.
She got out of the car at the corner of a quiet street,
mostly built up in small, detached houses, with small flower
yards before them.
Elfie walked briskly on until she reached a little cottage
in a large garden full of fruit trees, where Mim lived with
his maiden aunts, four little bits of old ladies, with thin
faces and fair hair and blue eyes, who were as like as peas
in a pod " to each other and to Mim himself, who loved
ELFIE'S VISIT TO LITTLE MIM. 317
them sincerely, and who supported them willingly off his
small salary as salesman in a fancy bazaar. " They had all
lived single for his sake, and brought him up from a baby,"
said credulous little Mim, " and now he would live single
for their sakes, and take care of them in their age."
Elfie, in her eagerness, pulled open the garden gate, and
ran up the walk and rang the hell.
One of the little old ladies opened the door.
" Oh, Miss Suzy, how is Mr. Mim ? And can I see
him?" the visitor exclaimed.
" Oh, Miss Elfie, I am so glad to see you back safe. And
Mim is much better, thank you. And of course you can see
him immediately, for I do think the sight of you will quite
set him up. But maybe I'd better go and break it to him
first. His poor head is rather weak yet, and a sudden shock
might bring on the fever again."
" Yes, I think you had better do so, Miss Suzy, and I will
wait here until you come back."
" Do. And I will send sisters to see you. They will be
so glad you've come," said the little old lady, as she left the
room.
Elfie sat down in the pleasant, rural-like parlor, with its
plain, old-fashioned furniture and chintz curtains and chair
covers, and waited until she was joined by the three other
little old ladies, Miss Sophy, Miss Sary and Miss Molly,
who all came running to her, and who all kissed her and
made a great crowing over her until the return of their elder
sister.
Miss Suzy led Elfie up stairs to a clean, whitewashed and
white-curtained chamber, where, in a white-covered easy
chair, little Mim, in his dressing gown and slippers, and
with his head bound up, reclined.
He made an effort to rise and receive his visitor, but fell
back immediately upon his cushions.
" Oh, Mim, dear, don't try to get up, please. I will come
818 HOW HE WON HEK.
and sit quite close to you, if Miss Suzy will let me," said
Elfie, gently going to his side, and taking his thin hand,
and looking piteously in his pale face.
" Miss Fielding, this is so kind of you to come to see
me. It does me so much good. You can't think how-
anxious I have heen to hear of your safety. I think
anxiety kept me back from recovery more than anything
else. I am so grateful to you for taking the trouble of
coming to see me to-day," said the little hero.
" Oh, Mim, dear, what is there I wouldn't do to show my
sense of your worth and my obligation to you ! " said Elfie,
with feeling, as she seated herself in the chair that Miss
Suzy had been holding behind her, and mutely pressing her
to take.
"You overwhelm me, Miss Fielding you do, indeed,"
said little Mim, with emotion. " I have the greatest respect
for you, and for all the ladies, and I thought it was no more
than just natural to lay down my life for you, if necessary
what any man would do for any lady."
"But, dear Mim, we had proof enough that day that
there wasn't a man on the ground who was willing to risk
getting his head broken to save me from being carried off by
the guerrillas, except yourself. Oh, dear Mim, what shall I
ever do to prove how much I thank and honor you ? "
Little Mini blushed up to the edges of his hair, and could
not find words to reply.
" Ok, dear, deary me," sighed Miss Suzy to herself, " I
hope she won't marry him out'n gratitude. I truly hope
and trust she won't marry him out'n gratitude. Her prop-
erty is all constipated by the rebels, and he hasn't the
means, with his little salary, of supporting us and a wife,
and a whole lot of little ones besides. Lord have messy
upon us I "
While Miss Suzy thus bemoaned herself, little Mim found
his tongue, and answered, like a miniature Bayard or
Roland :
ELFIE'S VISIT TO LITTLE MIM. 319
"Miss Fielding, I now thank Heaven for my broken
head, and for every pain that I have suffered in your cause.
Miss Fielding, I would have had not only my head, but
every bone in my body broken, to have proved my regard
for you, or for any of the ladies, and to have awakened such
esteem in your mind would haA^e been consolation and
reward enough," he added with enthusiasm.
" Oh, Lord, its coming," moaned Miss Suzy to herself,
"it's coming! I know it's coming. They'll be engaged
before she leaves the room, and married before the month
is out."
Elfie laid her hand lightly on the bandaged head.
" Did you suffer much pain, Mr. Mini ? "
" No, Miss Fielding nothing to speak of," he answered,
slightingly. And then, as if to change conversation from
himself, he laughed and said, " Not near so much as some
others."
" Why, Mim, dear, what do you mean ? Were any of
the others injured ? Not that I care if every coward among
them had had his neck broken, so that you were safe. But
I thought that you were the only one wounded."
" So I was, Miss Fielding. But I had rather had my
wound than been compelled to change cloties with any of
those guerrillas, and caught what some of my companions
caught ! On my own account I bear no malice to that big
man, for, if he did break my head, he left me my clean
clothes."
Elfie laughed at the recollection of the exchange.
" Such a set of disreputable ragamuffins as they looked,
Miss Fielding ! I heard afterwards that some of them were
denied and driven away from their own doors, and had
some trouble before they could make themselves recognized
by their own landladies."
" Served them right, the cowards ! It would have served
them right if they had been made to wear those tatters for
the rest of their lives ! "
320 HOW HE WON HER
" I think you are hard on them, Miss Fielding. What
could seventeen men do against two hundred guerrillas ? "
" They could have died," said Elfie, ruthlessly.
" Yes, but, Miss Fielding, the guerrillas didn't want to
kill them4 they only wanted to take their victuals and
clothes and dance with their partners."
" They could have resisted, and got their heads broken,
as you did, my brave Mim ! They could have proved their
manhood in that way, if they had had any manhood to
prove. But I suppose they really had not. You were the
only man among them, Mim, dear," said Elfie.
Again little Mim was overwhelmed and dumbfounded.
"Oh lor!" sighed Miss Suzy to herself " Oh dear!
Now they're getting on dangerous ground again. I know,
if I wasn't in the room, she'd offer to marry him out'n
gratitude, and he'd accept, and then there ! But I'll take
care not to leave the room while she is in it. If he makes
an excuse to get rid of me by asking me. to go and fetch
anything, I'll just knock on the floor for some one to come
up and bring it. For stir from this room I will not !" she
grimly resolved.
Apparently little Mim also thought that the conversation
was getting upon dangerous ground, for again he diverted
it from himself.
" I don't know, after all, but what it would have been
better if they had resisted the exchange of clothing and
got broken heads rather than what they did get. Though
indeed they might have got both, for that matter."
" What was it, Mr. Mim ? " inquired Elfie, very indis-
creetly. People ought to be very cautious how they ask
questions.
" Well, Miss Fielding, a sort of irritating a a sort of
irritating a a a sort of irritating RASH!" at last
triumphantly exclaimed little Mim, elated at having found
an inofff-nsive word to describe the calamity that had over-
taken his companions.
ELFIE'S VISIT TO LITTLE HIM. 821
" Glad to hear it," said remorseless Elfie " hope what-
ever it is, it will ' irritate ' them for the rest of their mortal
career."
"But of all the victims," laughed little Mim, "the
greatest sufferer was that dandy fellow what was his
name ? Nincomfool ? Sickapoop ? Billydoo ? Whatever
was the fellow's name ? The one with the tea-rose in his
button-hole, who played the guitar and cried and begged so
when the big guerrilla made him give up his fine raiment
and clothe himself in rags Sickafool ? Billypoop ? "
" Billingcoo ? " suggested Elfie.
"Yes thanks. I knew his name was something that
put one in mind of turtle doves and love-letters ! Oh !
Miss Fielding ! " And little Mim laughed.
" What is it, then ? What about Billingcoo ? "
" I don't think he got the rash ; but I do think he
suffered under the impression that he had absorbed through
the pores of his skin the greater half of the weight of rags
he wore. He spends his whole income in vapor baths and
cologne water ! "
" Poor dandy ! I hope and trust he may be drafted after
the next enrollment ! Three years of military duty would
take the nonsense out of him," said Elfie, as, much to the
relief of Miss Suzy, she arose to take leave.
" You will stay a little longer with me ? " politely
pleaded little Mim.
" I would gladly do so ; but I promised Miss Rosenthal
to be home to an early dinner, so as to be able to go with
her to the hospitals this afternoon," said Elfie.
" Every one is praising Miss Eosenthal. She is called
the Angel of the Hospitals," said Mim.
" She is rightly so called."
" She has been very kind to me also finding time in the
midst of all her engagements to come to see me"
v I owe her another debt of gratitude in that, Mr. Mim.
20
322 HOW HE AVON HER.
Now good-bye for the present," said Elfie, holding out her
hand.
" You will come again ? " he inquired, looking up pitiably
through his hollow eyes.
" Indeed I will come often. I will come every day ; and
to-morrow I will find you some fruit and flowers, late as it
is in the season ; and I will bring you the last good new-
novel that I can find."
" Oh no ! don't trouble yourself in that way, Miss Yield-
ing. Bring yourself! that will be all sufficient for me,"
said little Mim, gallantly.
"I will bring m3self and whatever else I please, Mr.
Mim. So there now ! Now good-bye for to-day. And
remember that, present or absent, I shall never forget your
brave defence of me, Mr. Mim."
" Good bye, and God bless you for this delightful visit,
Miss Fielding."
And so Elfie left the room, escorted by Miss Suzy, who
though she really liked her young visitor very well, was
now heartily glad to see her out.
In the room below the other sisters had a nice little
luncheon spread out upon a table covered with a clean cloth.
Tea and toast; chipped beef and light biscuits; and stewed
apples and new milk.
They pressed Elfie so hospitably that she was obliged to
sit down and partake of the refreshments.
After which she thanked them and took leave.
When Elfie was fairly out of the front garden-gate,
Miss Suzy closed the house-door, and then turned to her
sisters and raised her finger in mysterious warning.
" What ever is the matter now ? " inquired Miss Molly,
and echoed Miss Sophy and Miss Sarah, gazing at their
elder sister in perplexity and uneasiness.
"We don't wan't Jim to marry, do we ? " she inquired.
"Oh lor'!" exclaimed the other sisters, in horrified
chorus.
MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL. 323
"Well, then, we must keep a good look-out! She's a
nice girl and I like her ! but if we don't take care, she'll
marry Jim, whether or no ! "
" Marry Jim ! " echoed all the other sisters.
"And if Miss Suzy had said, " She will murder Jim,"
and they had believed her, her words could not have caused
more consternation.
" Yes, she will ! " repeated the elder sister.
" Marry Jim ! Our Jim ! Oh no ! she's a pretty girl, and
a clever girl, and a good girl ! and we like her ! but we
can't afford to let her have our Jim ! Our Jim must not
marry ! "
CHAPTER XXX.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL.
Forgot were hatred, wrongs and fears;
The plaintive voice alone she hears,
Sees but the dying man. SCOTT.
WHEN Elfie got back to the parsonage she found Erminie
waiting for her in the library, where the dinner table for
two had been set.
At Elfie's age girls can eat a hearty luncheon and imme-
diately afterwards eat a hearty dinner, and suffer no incon-
venience from indigestion either.
So Elfie sat do\yn to the table and opened her napkin.
" How is Mr. Mini ? " kindly inquired Erminie.
" Poor fellow ! I do believe but for his strict temperance
habits, that blow would have killed him. As it is, he is
getting well fast, just as you told me. His head is weak
yet, though. And I took care not to excite him. I didn't
breathe a word to him of my adventures among the
324 HOW HE WON HER.
guerrillas. I allowed him to take it for granted that I had
been sent home under a flag of truce."
And he knows nothing of your forced marriage ? "
"Not a word."
" Nor of the battle with the guerrillas ? "
"No."
"But I should think he would see that in the news-
papers."
"They don't allow him to look at one in the present
state of his health. But, Erminie, tell me about your pro-
te'ge's in the hospitals."
" Nearly all my boys are doing very well, Elfie. Two of
them only, will die. One has his mother with him, and if
mother and son were not both such earnest Christians it
would half break my heart to see them, for she is an old
woman and he is' her youngest son and only surviving child.
The other boy is far from every friend he has in the world,
and so he is my own peculiar charge. He too is a child of
God, and will meet death as serenely as if he were eighty
years old instead of eighteen. Just as I left the hospital
they told me that a train of ambulances had arrived, bring-
ing in a large number of wounded from some recent battle-
field. So we shall have a plenty of work on our hands,
Elfie. I have four hampers of lint sent me from the North.
And directly after dinner we shall have to take a carriage
and carry it to the hospitals. It must be wanted now."
" Oh, Heaven help us, Erminie ! We not only ' sup full
of horrors,' but it seems to me we rise, breakfast, dine, sup
and sleep full of horrors, in these war times. I don't know
how you can stand it, Erminie. Has it hardened or
strengthened you ? "
" Strengthened me, I hope, dearest," answered Miss
Rosenthal, as she arose from the table.
Bob was despatched to the livery stable where Erminie
kept her little carriage and horse. And Catherine was
MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL. 825
sent up into the attic to the linen room to fetch down the
hampers of lint.
And so, when Erminie and Elfie came down ready dressei
to go out, they found the carriage at the door and the ham-
pers stowed within it, and old Bob on the coachman's box.
"Drive to the hospital, Robert," said Miss Rosenthal.
And the horse started.
A drive of some twenty minutes brought them to the
front of the extensive buildings.
" I declare, it looks like a funeral here," said Elfie, notic-
ing the crowd of ambulances that were drawn up before the
hospital.
But when the two girls alighted and Elfie had a nearer
view and saw wounded men piled like slaughtered cattle in
those ambulances, and bleeding men carried up the steps of
the hospital ; and when they entered the building and she
found the atmosphere pervaded with the scent of fresh
blood, and the staircase slippery with gore, she could re-
strain herself no longer, but screamed and hid her face
against Erminie's black robe.
'^Elfie ! Elfie ! if you cannot command your feelings, my
dear, you must return to the carriage. You can do no good
here unless you are calm and strong," whispered Erminie.
" Oh, but I never saw anything so horrible ! It is like
human shambles, and it turns me sick. I have been here
many, many times, but never saw anything like this ! "
shuddered Elfie.
"Because you have never before happened to be here
when they were bringing in the recently wounded. You
had better go back to the carriage, Elfie."
" No, no : pray let me go on with you. I will not give
way again, indeed I will not," said Elfie, lifting her face.
And she kept her promise, although there passed her at
that moment two soldiers, bearing between them a ghastly
burden a man with a livid face, and a bandaged head crim-
soned with blood.
326 HOW HE -VON HER.
Old Bob, with a hamper of lint under each arm, followed
the two young ladies.
Erminie led the way up the first flight of stairs to the
first floor, and turned at once to the clothing room attached
to that ward, and under the charge of a Sister of Mercy.
It was a room furnished all around with shelves and
drawers like a dry goods store, and filled with ready made
under clothing, dressing gowns, hed linen and nappery.
A mild-eyed, hlack-robed young sister arose to receive the
visitor.
"I have brought you a fresh supply of lint, Sister
Agnes," said Erminie.
" Ah, yes ; we are very glad to have it ; it is very much
wanted. "VVe had not near enough fcr the fresh cases we
have received to-day."
"From what battle-field do these come, Sister, do you
know?"
"I don't. Some of them came up by the steamboats.
So I suppose there has been another battle somewhere down
the river. And some of them, I know, came by railroad
from the valley, where there has been a fight with the
guerrillas."
" Oh ! " said Erminie.
And then as time was too precious to be spent in talking,
she took up the large basket of oranges she had brought,
and bowing adieu to this " mistress of the robes," she passed
down the corridor, attended by Erminie, and followed by
Bob, who had been back to the carriage, and had returned
with a large basket of jellies and fruits.
" I visited one-half the wards this morning, and I must
look into the others this afternoon," said Erminie, as she
turned to the right and opened a door leading into a long
room, furnished with a double row of little white beds, on
most of which lay wounded men.
Smiles of glad welcome greeted this young angel visitant
as soon as she appeared.
MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL. 327
"Here, Elfie. You take this basket of oranges, dear,
and go down one row of beds wbile I go down tbe other.
And give each man one. Sister Frances says that the men
in this ward may all eat fruit," said Erminie.
Elfie took the basket of oranges, and went down the row
of beds as she was bid, pausing at each to speak a kind and
cheering word, and to give an orange.
At length she reached the very last little bed in the
corner, and without looking at its occupant, she said :
" Well, you are the last, but you will not be the worst
served, soldier. Here is the very finest orange in the
whole lot. Just as if I had saved it on purpose for you.
I hope it will refresh you. And I hope you are not badly
wounded."
" Elfie ! " in a feeble voice exclaimed the wounded man.
" Great Heaven ! " cried the girl, starting, and nearly
dropping her basket of oranges.
She stood beside the bed of Albert Goldsborough.
" Elfie, didn't you know me ? " he sadly and faintly in-
quired.
"No. I was picking out tne biggest orange for the man
who had to wait the longest, and so I didn't look at you,
and didn't know you. You might have been sure of that.
And now that I do know you, 1 take back all I said and all
I gave. Hand me that orange. I have nothing for you."
"Not even forgiveness, Elfie?" he sighed, as he restored
the fruit.
"Nothing," she answered grimly, turning from him and
walking back.
The hospital beds were very narrow and very near
together. The wounded soldier that occupied the one next
to Albert Goldsborough, heard and saw all that had parsed
between him and Elfie.
Now turning painfully on his side, he stretched out his
hand towards Goldsborough and said :
328 HOW HE WON HER.
"Here, Eeb., take half my orange. Do now you're
welcome to it. A Eeb. boy gave me half his bread and
water while we lay together on the battle field before I was
brought here; and I haven't forgot that yet! Take half
tny orange, Eeb., or if you're thirsty take the whole."
Albert Goldsborough smiled and shook his head, saying :
" I thank you, but cannot take it. The lady who gave it
would not like the transfer."
Elfie heard all this and felt ashamed. She stopped short
and burst into tears. She was almost hysterical with con-
tradictory emotions. But she knew it would never do to
make a scene in the ward of a hospital.
" The noble soldiers ! they cherish no feelings of bitter
malignity against our brave foes. It is only we, miserable,
mean, little non-combatants, who never risked our lives in
the cause, who are as venemous an reptiles ! I will follow
the example of our dear Union boy there," thought Elfie,
as she hurried to the side of the young soldier of whom she
Lad spoken, and said, with emotion :
' You are better than I am ! You are a brave, good,
generous fellow, and I hope I shall know more of you.''
The young soldier smiled and said, a little obscurely :
" You see, Miss, we must save the Union at any cost ; but
we don't all hate each other for all that."
"3STo," replied. Elfie, humbly. And she passed on to
Goldsborough's bed and said :
" Albert, I didn't mean it indeed I didn't ! Take the
orange again, dear do ! It isn't you that I am angry with.
It is treason. And my feelings are so contradictory pull
so violently opposite ways that I feel as if my very- soul
was being drawn asunder by wild horses ! Oh, if you had
been true to your country! Oh, if you had only been
true!" she exclaimed, dropping on her knees and hiding
her face on the edge of his bed while she sobbed convul-
sively
MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL. 329
She felt his hand laid softly on her head, and presently
afterwards she heard him groan a low, deep, irrepressible
groan, that seemed to have heen wrung from him hy extreme
agony.
Elfie lifted her tearful face and took his hand in hers.
That hand was burning with fever.
" Are you wounded, Albert ? Are you wounded badly ?
Tell me, dear."
Yes, Elfie, badly."
" I knew that you were taken prisoner ; but I had no
idea that you were hurt until I saw you here. How did it
happen ? Tell me all about it, dear, unless it troubles you
to talk. If it does, don't speak."
" It relieves me to talk to you, Elfie. When I turned
from the lost battle field, it was to hurry to the spot where
I left you to provide for your safety. But I was pursued ;
and when I was about half way across the plain, between
the hill and the grove, a minie ball from a sharpshooter
struck my leg above the knee and shattered the bone "
Oh ! my dear"
" Almost at the same time I saw a troop of horse gal-
loping from the opposite direction. In a moment, Elfie, I
was surrounded and captured. And they took me at once
to Colonel Rosenthal. But, Elfie, as I sat there in my sad-
dle before him, my limb hung, a shattered, useless, helpless
mass beside my horse's flank. I did not speak as I handed
him my sword. I was very glad not to be spoken to ; for if
I had been obliged to open my compressed lips to answer I
should have groaned in agony. And I didn't want my
enemy to hear me do that."
" Oh, Albert, I am sorry ! I am so sorry ! Is it very
painful now, dear ? Have they dressed it well ? "
" They have dressed it very well, Elfie ; and they are
trying to save it ; but it is so very painful now that I doubt
if they can do so."
330 HOW HE WON HER.
"Oh, Albert, there is no danger of your losing youi
limb!"
" We shall know by to-morrow morning whether we can
save it or not. But, Elfie, I am not so anxious to save my
limb as I am to obtain your forgiveness for the great wrong
that I did you," he said.
"Oh! Albert, dear, don't talk of that. It is past; and
don't you see, dear, that I am friends with you ? "
" Thanks, Elfie thanks ! You should understand, Elfie,
that farce of a marriage, with the license, and ring, and
parson, and prayer book, all regular, was yet of no sort of
value in law, unless it should be ratified by your consent/'
he said.
"I know I know, Albert. But do not let us talk of
such exciting things. Your fever is rising, and here
comes Erminie."
Miss Eosenthal had not passed down her side of the ward
as quickly as Elfie had passed down hers. Erminie's walk
was more like that of a physician in charge. She was
familiar there. She had to stop by the side of every bed
and hold a conversation with the patient or a consultation
with the nurse. And so her progress was slow.
"Now, however, having got to the end of her row of beds,
she approached her friend, and saw the new patient.
" Albert Goldsborough ! is it possible ! " she exclaimed, in
surprise surprise immediately suppressed by her habitual
caution as a hospital visitor.
" Yes, Miss Kosenthal, I am here," he answered.
" I am very, very sorry to see you lying thus," said Er-
minie, taking his hand, and laying her finger upon his pulse.
"You are feverish, and must not give me a word of explan-
ation yet. Elfie, my dear, your presence is no sedative just
now," she added, turning to the weeping girl ; " so you may
go down. Inquire your way to the office of the surgeon in
charge, and ask him, in my name, to send one of his assist-
MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL. 331
ants here ; for here is a patient who needs immediate atten-
tion."
Elfie arose ; but, before leaving the spot, stooped over the
wounded man and kissed his forehead, murmuring :
" Good-bye, Albert. If you ever doubted my reconcilia-
tion to you, believe it now."
" Thanks, dear Elfie ! You will come again ? " he said,
holding her hand and detaining her.
" Yes, I will come as often and stay as long as they will
let me," she sobbed.
" Now go, Elfie dear. Go at once. He }s suffering ex-
tremely for want of attention; and his wound must be
looked to immediately," urged Erminie.
Elfie sat her basket of oranges within Goldsborough's
reach and pointed imploringly to it, and she had the comfort
of seeing him smile, and take one and put it to his lips,
before she left the ward.
In a very few minutes one of the young assistant surgeons
came up in answer to Miss Rosenthal's summons, and stood
beside the bed of the intensely suffering man.
" Yes, Miss Kosenthal, his wound must be looked to im-
mediately," said the young man.
And Erminie got up to go.
" Good-bye, Colonel Goldsborough. I will see you again
to-morrow, when I hope you will be better," she said,
gently.
"Good-bye, Miss Rosenthal; and a thousand earnest
thanks."
When Erminie had entered the carriage, and had given
her order to the coachman to drive to the Emory Hospital,
and when they were once more on their way, she turned to
her silent companion and said :
" Elfie, my dear, you must be very careful what you do,
unless you would fetter your whole life with that forced
marriage. As it stands now, without your consent it
832 HOW HE WON HER.
is not binding on you. With your consent it becomes indi*
soluble."
" I have not consented," said Elfie.
" My dear, not in words, perhaps ; but actions speak
louder than words. There is such a thing as constructive
consent. Your manner may be so construed, Elfie, as to
forge you fetters that you cannot break in all your life. I
speak in warning, to save your future from misery, my
dear."
" Oh, Erminie ! would you have had me act otherwise
than I did to the wounded, perhaps dying man ? Oh,
Erminie ! I tried I did indeed I tried to be firm and
hard and cruel, but I could not ! I could not ! And when I
saw his face blanched, and his eyes drawn in, and his lips
wrung with the agony he was trying to bear in silence, I
I could couldn't be unkind to him ! " wept Elfie, burying
her face in Enninie's mantle.
"Nor would I have you be unkind, Elfie, my dear," said
Miss E/osenthal, caressing her. " Be as kind as you please.
Do everything for him that Christian love inspires. Only
take care that you give him no hold upon your future life."
" Oh, Erminie ! Erminie ! I never had much self-control !
And since my soul has been so torn between my old love
and my hatred of treason, I have less! Oh, Erminie, I
cannot say to myself that I will go 'thus far and no
farther ! ' "
" Then I do not understand you, love. I only wished to
caution you, that you should not, through inadvertence,
forge chains for yourself that it would gall you to wear."
" Oh, Erminie ! no ! you don't understand me ! How
should you, when I don't understand myself? When I saw
him at the head of his band ; strong, rampant, insolent ; in
arms against the government ; doing his arrogant will with
everybody, and with myself among the rest. I hated him,
or I thought I did ! And I prayed that he might come to
MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL. 333
this, and come to worse! And now, when I see him
stretched, broken, helpless, and writhing in agony in that
bed, as if it was a rack, I feel as if my cruel prayers had
been granted, and I had brought him to it ! " she wept.
"That is morbid, Elfie. Whatever brought Colonel
Goldsborough a wounded prisoner to our hospital it was not
your prayers ! For we know that heaven never hears the
praj^ers for vengeance. But one word, Elfie. If Colonel
Goldsborough rises from his bed again, do you mean to
ratify with your consent that forced marriage ? "
" If he rises ! Oh, Erminie ! you have looked upon too
many wounded men not to know when you see the face of
a dying one ! Oh, Erminie ! you must see that he will
never, never rise from that bed ! " said Elfie, breaking into
fresh sobs.
"No, no, Elfie, I see no such thing ; that ghastly look of
agony is by no means the look of death, which is usually
very peaceful. No, Elfie, Colonel Goldsborough may possi-
bly lose his leg ; but he has a very fine constitution. And
I see no earthly reason why he should lose his life. It is
in anticipation of his recovery that I warn you not to allow
your compassion for him in his present condition to com-
promise your future relations with him. But here we are
at the Emory," said Miss Kosenthal, as the carriage drew
up before the gates of the hospital.
334 HOW HE WON HER.
CHAPTER XXXI.
POOR ELFIE'S HONEYMOON.
Can this be death ? Then what is life, or death ?
Speak ! " But he spoke not. "Wake ! " But still he slept ;
But yesterday and who had mightier breath ?
A thousand warriors by his word were kept
In awe. He said, as the centurian saith
"Go," and he goeth ; " Come," and he steppeth forth.
The trump and bugle till he spake were dumb,
And now naught left him but the muffled drum. BYBON.
THE next morning it was Elfie who was all impatience
to get off to the hospitals. On nearly all former occasions
when Elfie was to be her companion in her rounds among
the sick and wounded soldiers, Erminie had been very
much " tried " by her friend's dilatory habits. But this
morning Elfie was dressed and had the carriage at the door
long before Erminie had got through her domestic duties
of the forenoon. And so Elfie spent the time in walking
impatiently up and down the hall, until at length Erminie
made her appearance in bonnet and shawl.
" You will go to the hospital first ? " inquired Elfie,
anxiously, thinking and speaking as if the hospital in which
Albert Goldsborough lay were the only one in the city.
" Yes, dear ; for your sake I will go to ' the' hospital first.
After which we will visit the others. But, Elfie, dear,
excuse me if I repeat my warning of yesterday. Be as
kind as you please ; but take care not to compromise your-
self."
" Now, Erminie, when did I ever take care of myself, in
any way ? You might as well ask a fish to fly. I cannot
say to my heart, 'thus far no farther.' I never could.
Besides, Erminie, his livid, agonized face has haunted me
all the night through. Don't say any more to me, please.
I don't want to lose my self-possession again this morning.
I don't want to go to the hospital with red eyes," said Elfie.
POOR EL TIE'S HONEYMOON. 335
" Well, my dear, I will say no more but this : Since
you cannot take care of yourself, I pray Heaven to take
care of you," said Miss Rosenthal.
They entered the carriage and were rapidly driven to the
hospital.
Arrived there, they found all signs of yesterday's horrors
effaced. The wounded had been all properly cared for, and
the halls, stairs and lobbies had been washed.
Erminie had her usual short interview with the surgeon
in charge, and then passed up, accompanied by Elfie, to the
wards on the second floor. Elfie went at once to the ward
in which Albert Goldsborough had been placed. She
passed hastily between the two long lines of little beds,
until she came to the end, when she stopped and uttered a
half-suppressed cry.
Albert Goldsborough's bed was empty.
She turned her wild dilated eyes, full of the question her
lips could not utter, towards the Union soldier who occupied
the next bed.
" Yes, poor fellow ! " said the soldier, " they've taken him
to the operating room."
" l The operating room ! ' " gasped Elfie, with suspended
breath.
"Yes, Miss."
" But why have they taken him there ? " she found
power at last to ask.
" To amputate his leg, poor fellow ! "
" ' To amputate his leg ! ' " exclaimed Elfie, again echo-
ing the soldier's words.
" Yes, Miss, it was the only way of saving his life, it
seems. This morning when the assistant-surgeon looked at
his wound, he sent immediately for the surgeon in charge,
and they both examined it together and decided that the
leg must be taken off at once, if the man's life was to be
saved.
336 HOW HE WON HER.
Elfie, unable to stand, sank pale and trembling down
upon Albert Goldsborough's empty bed, and sitting there,
with clasped hands and strained eyes, waited for the soldier's
farther words.
" The poor fellow objected very much ; said that his leg
had ceased to give any pain at all ; that it was quite easy ;
and, except for weakness, he never felt better in his life ;
he had had the best night's rest he had ever enjoyed ; his
leg hadn't troubled him once ; and he had waked up this
morning quite refreshed though rather feeble."
" Then why did they persist in the operation ? " cried
Elfie.
" To save his life, Miss, as they explained to him. His
freedom from pain was, under the circumstances, the worst
possible symptom. Mortification had commenced in the
wound and was rapidly extending upward, and it became
necessary to amputate the limb without delay."
" And then he consented ? " wept Elfie.
"Yes, Miss."
" How long was that ago ? "
"They removed him about ten minutes before you en-
tered the ward, Miss."
" So they are even now at their dreadful work ! They
have him even now stretched upon the ghastly operating
board, and are torturing his nerves and flesh with knife and
saw!" shuddered Elfie. "Oh, Albert! oh, my love, my
love, if I could bear it for you ! "
And the loyal Union girl, who had discarded and defied
her rebel lover in the days of his pride and his power, and
who had believed her own words when she told him that
the one burning aspiration of her he"art was to see him
hanged for his treason, now burst into a convulsion of sob,
and wept over his sufferings the sorest tears she had ever
shed in her life.
"Don't distress yourself so much, Miss. He will not
POOR ELFIE'S HONEYMOON. 337
feel it. He will know nothing after he is stretched upon
the operating board until it is all over. They are going to
give him chloroform," said the young soldier, trying to
comfort the weeping woman.
Elfie struggled to regain her self-command. She recol-
lected with compunction that the hospital ward was not the
place to indulge in the exhibition of strong emotions.
" Listen, Miss," said the soldier boy " I know he will
not feel it. See, Miss I had my leg taken off two weeks
ago, and I never felt it ; and just look how well I'm getting
over it."
There was an instantaneous sympathy in all the words
and looks and actions of the impulsive girl.
" You had your leg taken off! And you are so quiet and
patient and cheerful under it all ! Oh, my poor boy, I
didn't know it ! I didn't, indeed, my poor child, or I
wouldn't have been so indifferent to you ! " she said, speak-
ing to this young soldier, near her own age, as if he had
been her son, or her little brother; and kneeling down by
his bed to bring her compassionate face closer to his own.
" It is nothing near so bad as you seem to think, Miss.
Bless you ! see how many have lost both legs, or both arms,
or one of each. And see how many have lost their lives !
I consider myself one of the lucky ones, Miss. Only I
don't dare to write and tell mother yet. I don't know that
I shall ever tell her. What would be the use ? I think I
shall wait and not go home until I get the bran new patent
leg Uncle Sam is going to give me ; and then I shall walk
in on mother, in a new pair of boots, and she will never
know what is in them, or that one of my limbs has gone to
the grave before me."
" Are you your mother's only son ? " inquired Elfie, still
kneeling by the bed.
" Oh, no, Miss," answered the boy, smiling ; " and
neither is she a widow. Mother has a husband and seven
21
338 HOW HE WON HER.
sons in the war. I am only her youngest. But, bless you,
Miss, she loves us all as if each was her only one."
"But if her husband and all her sons are in the war, who
is at home with her ? " inquired Elfie, not, however, forget-
ting the man on the table in the operating room, even while
feeling much interest in the new object of her sympathy.
"Our sister is at home with mother. And I really do
believe," added the boy, smiling archly, " that nothing but
their crinoline keeps them out of the army ! "
" Nothing but our crinoline, if that is to stand for our
sex, keeps thousands of us out of the army ! " said Elfie.
At that moment the door at this end of the ward opened,
and a litle bustle ensued.
Elfie arose from her position, and held her breath in awe.
Through the door a small procession like a funeral train
entered the ward.
Four men bore between them a bier on which was spread
a narrow mattress, with the motionless form of a man
extended at full length on it, and covered with a white
sheet, and altogether looking like a dead body.
Behind the bier walked the assistant-surgeon.
This procession was simply that of the hospital nurses
bringing in the mutilated man, still in the deep swoon of
chloroform, and under the personal direction of the doctor.
But as they approached, Elfie turned deadly pale and
faint, and gasped forth the inquiry :
" Is he gone ? Oh, is he gone ? Has he died under that
dreadful operation ? "
" Oh, no, Miss," said the young soldier, kindly ; " he is
only unconscious. They will recover him as soon as they
get him on the cot again."
Elfie caught her breath and clasped her hands, and strug-
gled for composure.
The soldier nurses lifted the mattress, with its nearly
lifeless burden, and laid it on the cot, and then turned down
POOR ELFIE'S HONEYMOON. 339
the sheet, and revealed the face of Albert Goldsborough,
livid, but quiet, like the faces of those who have recently
fallen asleep in death.
Elfie, holding her hands upon her heart, drew near, and
took courage to ask the assistant surgeon :
"Doctor, oh, Doctor, how did he bear the operation?
Will he survive it ? Oh, will he ? "
The surgeon turned, and seeing the anxious and pleading
face, guessed at once that the inquirer was " something " to
the sufferer, and answered perhaps more kindly than truly :
" Yes, Miss, we hope he will do well. You are a friend
or relative of this man ? "
" Dear me, Doctor, if you were not a very recent arrival
here, you would know me as well as you know the dis-
pensary. I have been in the habit of coming here daily,
with little intermission, for the last three years," said Elfie,
rather impatiently evading the doctor's question.
" I have been here only for the last fortnight," he re-
plied.
" Oh, I was away during that time. But I was here
yesterday with Miss Eosenthal, and I brought you her
message to come to this very patient."
" Oh, yes, I remember. But now my dear young lady,"
said the surgeon, who had not once taken his finger from
the pulse of the man on the cot, since he had been laid
there, " now my patient shows signs of recovery, and he
must positively see no one near him but his physician and
nurse. I must beg you to retire."
" But, Doctor, I I am his friend," said Elfie, at length
driven to this confession.
" If you were his mother or his sister, his wife or his
sweetheart, I could not let you see him, or rather, I could
not let him see you, when he wakes," said the surgeon,
firmly, though kindly.
" Yes, Elfie, dear, you must let me take you away. Any
840 HOW HE WON HER.
sudden shock might be fatal to him when he wakes," said
Erminie, who had come unperceived to her side.
Elfie turned away, with difficulty restraining her sohs.
She paused a moment by the side of her new acquaintance
on the next cot.
" Good bve, young soldier," she said. " I shall see you
again to-morrow. And I hope we shall know you better.
You are one of the heroes of this war. And I feel sure
that your past courage in the field equalled your present
fortitude in the hospital."
The boy blushed and smiled to hear such warm praises
from such pretty lips, and he watched Elfie as long as she
remained visible in the ward.
As soon as the two girls were in the little carriage again,
Elfie suddenly seized Erminie and hysterically exclaimed :
" Oh, Erminie ! Oh, Erminie ! You saw him ! You
saw how livid and sunken he looked ! "
" Yes, dear, I saw him."
" Oh, Erminie ! you have been tending the sick and
wounded in the hospitals for nearly four years, and you have
had a great deal of experience. You know almost as much
as the head surgeon himself, and a great deal more than
these young under graduates, who take off a man's limb so
deftly. And you saw how he looked. Will he live ? Will
he live ? "
"I hope and trust so, my dear," said Miss Eosenthal
gently.
When people say they hope and trust, they always mean
they don't believe," cried Elfie, wringing her hands.
Miss Eosenthal tried to turn the conversation.
" You forgot to keep your appointment with your little
champion yesterday, Elfie."
" I had forgotten the very existence of little Mim,"
sobbed Elfie.
" Shall I tell the coachman to set you down there ? It is
directly on our way to the Emory Hospital."
POOR ELFIE'S HONEYMOON. 341
" No, tell him to drive me first to the nearest bookseller's,
and then to the next fruit shop. I mustn't go empty-
handed when I do go," said Elfie, remorsefully.
Miss Rosenthal gave the proper directions, the coachman
drove to the designated places, and Elfie made her pur-
chases, and in due time was set down at the gate of little
Mim's cottage.
" Call and pick me up as you come hack from the Emory,
Erminie," said Elfie, as she passed through the gate.
"Certainly," smiled Miss Rosenthal as she entered the
carriage, which immediately drove off.
Elfie was well received by the little old Misses Mini all
the better received because she had missed her appointment
with them on the day before. It argued well for them they
thought that she was not so over fond of Jim's society, and
perhaps she was not so over anxious to marry him after all,
they said, nodding their heads together.
Little Mim himself welcomed his visitor with an effusion
.of gratitude. He stopped her apologies with his thanks,
and accepted her books, and her fruit, and her company
with delight.
Elfie sat two hours with him ; but she refrained from men-
tioning the presence of Albert Goldsborough in the hospital.
She refrained from two reasons : the fear of exciting the
injured man, and the dread of hearing him abuse one who
was now only the object of her compassion, her anxiety, and
her affection.
It was late in the afternoon when Miss Eosenthal called
in the carriage, paid little Mim a short visit, and then took
Elfie home.
The next morning Elfie was all feverish impatience to get
to the hospital where Goldsborough lay.
And Erminie so strongly sympathized with her in her
anxiety that she despatched her domestic affairs in great
haste, and was seated beside Elfie in the little carriage an
hour earlier than usual.
342 HOW HE WON HER.
They drove rapidly to the hospital, and while Miss Ros-
enthal was holding a consultation with the sister in charge
of the clothing room, Elfie hurried to the second floor and
entered the ward where her patient lay.
Merely bowing to the nurses in attendance, she passed
swiftly up hetween the rows of beds, but paused suddenly
beside that which sustained the wasted form of her lover,
who seemed to be sleeping, or swooning ; she could not
tell which.
A great change had passed over the face and form of
Albert Goldsborough since the day before. His face was
more livid and sunken then ever ; black shadows had gath-
ered in the hollows of his eyes, and temples, and cheeks, and
around his pallid lips, which, drawn tightly apart showed
the dry, glistening teeth between them. His eyes were
half open and half opaque like the eyes of the dying. His
shrunken form beneath the closely clinging counterpane,
revealed the rapid wasting of flesh and muscle that had
gone on even in the last few hours.
As soon as Elfie's eyes fell upon him she suppressed the
scream that rose to her mouth, and turned in agonized
inquiry to her friend on the next cot.
"Oh, what has happened since last night?" she fal-
tered.
" I am very sorry to tell you, Miss, but for some reason or
other the stump broke out bleeding in the night, and there
was a very exhausting hemmorrhage before it could be
stopped again."
" And is there great danger ? " faintly inquired Elfie,
sinking upon the chair that stood between the two beds.
" Well no, Miss, we all hope not, if it doesn't break out
again," answered the young soldier, hesitatingly.
" But can it break out again ? Is it likely *-*;do so ? "
anxiously inquired Elfie, now gazing in distress upon the
ghastly face of her lover, and now turning appealingly to
her new friend.
POOR EL FIB'S HONEYMOON. 343
" Well perhaps not, Miss," said the young soldier, pain-
fully suppressing the truth to avoid wounding her.
Again Elfie's gaze was fixed upon the fallen face of her
lover, who opened his eyes and recognized her with a wan
smile.
"Thank you for coming, my love. I knew you would
come to me. They told me, when I asked for you, that you
came yesterday, but that they could not let you stay to see
me. I knew that you would come again to-day, Elfie," he
said, feebly holding out his hand to her.
" Oh ! Albert, dear, my heart bleeds for you," she cried,
trying to keep back her rising tears.
You know my fate, Elfie ? "
" Oh no, dear ; none but the Omniscient can know that.
But I feel sure, if you will only keep quiet and not let
that happen again, you will get well. Come, Albert, I will
not excite myself or you either. But I will not leave you
again, dear. I will stay with you until until you get well.
See ! " she said, drawing from her pocket the wedding-ring
that she had once indignantly torn from her finger, but still
refrained from destroying. " See, I put on your ring I
put it on ^ now of my own accord, willingly, gladly, so that
I may stay and nurse you ! See ! "
"Elfie darling! stop! mind what you are about! Do
not compromise yourself ! I may live ! " said the almost
dying man, laying his feeble hand on hers."
" Heaven grant that you may ! But now see ! " she said,
slipping the ring firmly upon her finger, and adding " I
will never leave you more, Albert, never, never."
" Ah, my poor girl ! I alwaj^s knew you loved your
'traitor/ although you hated his treason!" exclaimed
Goldsborough, feebly raising the ringed hand, and pressing
it to his, lips.
At that moment the surgeon, in making his rounds, came
up to Go isborough's bed. At a short distance he was fol-
344 HOW HE WON HER.
lowed by Miss Eosenthal and one of the nurses in close
consultation.
While the surgeon was feeling the pulse of his patient,
Elfie was straining her ears to catch the words of the con-
versation between Miss Rosenthal and the nurse. At
length, as they drew nearer, she heard the latter say :
"No, Miss, the surgeon seems to think there is no hope
in the world for his life ! His death is but the question of a
few days or hours."
Elfie knew that the hospital nurse was speaking of Albert
Goldsborough, and though, from his appearance, she might
have been prepared, and perhaps was prepared, to hear such
a sentence, yet for an instant her senses reeled and she
caught the back of the cbair for support.
Then with an effort she recovered her self-control, and
turned her eyes on the face of the assistant surgeon, who
was still examining his patient, and tried to read in its ex-
pression some reversal of the nurse's sentence.
But the surgeon's face was quite impassible.
Presently, however, he looked up and addressed Elfie.
" Young lady, I do not wish to be discourteous," he said,
very gentty, "but my patient's condition demands the
strictest quiet, and will not admit of his seeing visitors.
Therefore, I must request you to retire."
For all answer, Elfie deliberately arose and took off her
gloves, mantle, and bonnet, and laid them on the empty
chair. And then, while the surgeon was staring at her as
if to see what she would do next, she answered firmly :
"No, doctor, I cannot leave him. I must remain with
him until until he leaves the hospital."
" But, my dear young lady "
" Say no more, doctor. I will not leave him. My place
is by his side. I am his wife."
And so saying, she came to the side of the cot and placed
her hanc in that of the dying man, who closed his wan
THE REBEL ON HIS RAIDS NO MORE. 345
fingers over it, and raised his eyes, full of unspeakable love,
to her pitying face.
In the utmost perplexity, the surgeon turned towards
Miss Kosenthal for an explanation.
" Yes, doctor," said Erminie, gravely and sweetly, " she
has a right to stay with him. She is his wife."
CHAPTEE XXXII.
"THE REBEL RIDES ON HIS RAIDS NO MORE."
Do not cheat her heart and tell her,
" Grief will pass away,
Hope for fairer times in future,
And forget to-day "
Tell her, if you will, that sorrow
Tell her that the lesson taught her
Far outweighs the pain. A. A. PROOTOK.
So Elfie was permitted to remain in the ward and nurse
her hushand. There was no provision in the hospital for
extra nurses, and every woman who came to attend the
sick bed of husband, son or brother, had to take the chance
of catching a wink of sleep or a mite of food or drop of
drink as best she could.
As Erminie was about to take leave of her friend, she
stooped and whispered :
" You do well to remain, dear Elfie, but there are no ac-
commodations for you here, so I will send Bob back with
such comforts as I think you will be most likely to need,
and I will also speak to Sister Agnes to let you have the
use of her dormitory sometimes, and I hope your health will
not suffer."
" Thanks ! a thousand heartfelt thanks, dear Erminie,
for all your kindness, and above all, for the greatest kind-
ness of not blaming me for this," said Elfie.
" My poor girl, I never shall dream of blaming you now,"
346 HOW HE WON HEE.
murmured Miss Rosenthal, turning away to conceal her
emotion.
While they had been speaking, Albert Goldsborough,
with his hand clasped in Elfie's, had dropped into one of
those light and fitful slumbers that attend the dying.
When Erminie had left her, Elfie remained holding the
hand of the sinking man until he awoke with a start, and
looking up at her with a smile, murmured faintly :
" Yes, you are there. It is no dream. You are there."
" Yes, I am here, never to leave you again, Albert."
" But let me keep hold of your hand, so that if I drop
asleep again, I may know, even in my dreams, that I have
you."
She gave him both her hands, caressing his, and looking
on him with unspeakable tenderness.
" Elfie, my darling," he murmured, " when I look at
you so, and think how I wronged you, it almost breaks my
heart ! I am sorry ! I am sorry ! "
" Albert, dear, don't look so ! don't speak so ! You have
done me no wrong at all none, none, I say. But if
if
" If what, Elfie ? "
. " Oh ! if I could only hear you say say "
" Say what, my darling girl ? "
" Say that that you are sorry sorry for taking up arms
against your native land ! " sobbed Elfie.
With a spasm of pain Goldsborough turned his face to
the wall.
" Oh, Albert ! I would give my life this day to hear you
say that, and say it truly! Heaven knows I would! I
would ! my own love ! " cried Elfie, sobbing as if her heart
would burst ; yet knowing that such indulgence of emotion
was wrong in herself and injurious to the wounded man,
and trying hard to compose herself.
With difficulty Goldsborough turned his head and
THE KE15KL OX HIS RAIDS NO MORE. 347
shoulders, the half of his hody that he could move, around
towards her and faced her again.
"Elfie," he said, sadly and frankly, "if I were conscious
of having done wrong, I should be sorry for it now, or
never. ' A death-bed 's a detector of the heart,' 'tis said.
If the course you blame so bitterly had been a career of
crime, I should know it now, if ever, and I should atone for
it by a death-bed repentance. And you, and all who think
with you, would unite in approving and consoling the peni-
tent. But when I speak my next words, Elfie, you and
yours may harden your hearts against me. I cannot help
tii at. For, Elfie, not to secure the good will of the people
around me not even to secure your sweet presence, which
is the only earthly consolation I have now left in life will I
deceive myself, or you, or them. Listen, Elfie, and then
leave me if you must. Here lying in the hospital, wounded
and dying, and surrounded by the enemies of my country,
and in danger of losing your love, I tell you I am not sorry
for what I have done. I do not repent the course I have
pursued. I know now, -as I knew then, that I was and am
right. There, Elfie ! That is the faith in which I shall
live and die. You, Elfie, think differently. And I do not
blame you. The freedom of opinion that I claim for my-
self I give to all others. Now then, my dearest, if your
conscience commands you to leave me, leave me. And if
you go, I shall not reproach you, even in my thoughts. I
shall thank you from the bottom of my heart for all past
kindness ; I shall love you as long as I live, and I shall
bless you with my dying breath. Now go, my beloved, if
indeed you must."
" Oh, Albert ! " exclaimed Elfie, struggling to suppress
her tears, " you know I will never leave you while you live !
never, Albert, never ! I cannot convert you, but I cannot
help loving you ! " she added, stooping and pressing her
lips to his.
348 HOW HE WON HER.
" My poor, dear girl, I wish we could think alike ! " lie
murmured, feebly caressing her head, that lay so near his
"And now let us talk no more of this horrible war. Let
us forget for a while the madness of the rebellion," said
Elfie.
" Not just yet, my Elfie. I must justify myself in your
eyes, for your sake, if possible," he murmured.
" Oh ! do not do not ! Oh ! say no more. You are
already too much excited. I was very wrong to have started
the subject. I have raised your fever; and the doctor
would serve me right to turn me out of the hospital," said
Elfie.
" My dear girl, you have not excited -me. Don't you see
that I am past all that. Elfie ? Besides, I must say more
in self-justification. Only to you, Elfie. I would not stoop
to justify myself to another," he proudly added.
" Go on, then, but don't don't fatigue yourself:"
"Listen, then, my darling girl: You and I are diamet-
rically opposed to each other on the subject of this civil
war, are we not ? "
"Yes, yes; more's the pity."
"So say I, 'More's the pity.' And yet, diametrically
opposed as we are, we are each of us true to our firmest
convictions of duty, are we not ? "
" I truly believe so," admitted Elfie.
" And so far each of us is right. We are both right in
adhering to what we conscientiously believe to be our
duty."
Elfie was puzzled and silenced. Goldsborough went on.
" We should either of us be very wrong to give up our
honest convictions of duty merely to please the other."
Elfie was still perplexed and dumb-foundered.
" Listen, my darling. In the old days of intolerance,
religious persecution was the great madness. The one
THE REBEL ON HIS RAIDS NO MORE. 349
Christian sect that happened to "be dominant persecuted all
other Christian sects, and for the glory of God, roasted
them alive ; and the other Christian sects, still for the
glory of God submitted to be roasted, and hoped for
the crown of martyrdom. But by and by the tables
would be turned, and the dominant sect would be down
find some other sect would be up and the persecutors
would become the persecuted, and the roasters the
roasted. And again, whatever was done or suffered on
either hand was for the sake of conscience and for the glory
of God. Now, Elfie, in the face of such facts as history
gives, when men so honestly differed in such mighty issues
that they were ready to sacrifice each other and to yield up
their own lives, each in defence of his own peculiar convic-
tions, what have you to say ? "
" Why, that there are many wrong ways and but one
right one, if we could only find it," said Elfie.
" Yes, if we could only find it," smiled Goldsborough ;
" but in the difficulty each must take the way he thinks to
be the right way; and to him it will be the right way.
Elfie, my darling, the days of intolerance are passing away.
Keligious intolerance is a thing of the past. Political in-
tolerance and social intolerance will follow it into oblivion.
Meanwhile "
" Meanwhile, dear Albert, you are talking too much. Do
not think it necessary to justify yourself to me. Let me
stop all with this " she said, stooping and pressing her
lips to his. " I love you, Albert, I love you I love you ;
that is the one thing I am surest of now. There, close
your eyes and try to sleep, with my hand in yours, and my
face near yours," she murmured, dropping her head on the
edge of his pillow.
He smiled, and with one hand clasped in hers, and the
other laid lightly among the black tresses of her bended
head, he closed his eyes, and tried to rest.
350 H O r/ HE WON HER.
v
He was in that state of physical decline when conversa-
tion is not exciting but exhausting. He was very much
exhausted, and he slept.
Even in that crowded ward they were, from their position,
nearly isolated. The cot was in the corner, with a window
at each angle ; and their nearest neighbor was the young
Union soldier who had lost his leg. The boy, from a sense
of politeness, had turned his back upon them, and was
occupying his attention with a newspaper.
Elfie's patient slept, and Elfie never moved and scarcely
breathed, lest she should disturb him.
How long the days in the hospital seemed. People came
and went. A low hum of conversation prevailed.
Once Elfie was conscious that a consultation was going
on by the bedside of a patient half way down the row of
beds on the opposite side of the ward. And soon after she
heard a little bustle of preparation, and she saw a proces-
sion like a funeral train bearing that patient on his mat-
tress on a bier from the ward to the operating room.
The procession had to pass her to go out by the door at
her end of the ward. And as it went by, she knew that
another victim was about to lose a limb and, perhaps, his
life also.
This victim never came back.
In an hour afterwards Elfie learned from the nurses that
he had died under the knife, and had been taken to the
dead house.
The dinner hour for the patients came. And the beef
tea, wine whey, chicken broth, milk punch, boiled rice, calf s
foot jelly, and whatever else had been ordered, or provided,
was served around.
It was sometime before Albert Goldsborough awoke ; but
\vhen he did a choice was given him among all the delicacies
furnished to the sick. He had no appetite, but was con-
sumed by a great thirst. So he asked only for iced lemon-
ade, and got it.
THE REBEL ON HIS RAIDS NO MORE. 351
Elfie raised his head while he drank it.
" That will do, my dearest," he said, drawing a deep
breath of relief when he had drained the glass. " Only keep
me in a plenty of this, and I shall do well. Cooling drink is
the only material want I have left me," he added, smiling.
" You shall have a water cooler full of it set by the bed,
so that I can draw it ice cold from the spigot whenever you
like," said Elfie, as she laid his head back on the pillow.
" But you, my darling ! What provision is there here for
your comfort ? How will you eat and drink ? Where will
you sleep ? " he anxiously inquired.
" All right. Don't distress yourself, Albert, Erminie will
send me my meals. And Sister Agnes will give me the use
of her room, when I require it," answered Elfie.
Albert Goldsborough seemed very much refreshed by his
long sleep and his cool drink, and now he was inclined to
talk a little more.
" Elfie," he said, " if I die, my widow will be one of the
wealthiest women in Virginia."
" Dear Albert, you are a great deal better. You are not
going to die. And if you were, I know very well that
wealth would never console your widow for your loss. But
you will live, Albert. You will get over this and live ! "
" If I do live, Elfie, I will atone to you for all I have
made you suffer. If I die, I have the comfort of knowing
that yon will be very rich in this world's goods."
" Pray pray don't talk so, dear."
" I must, Elfie ! I must explain, while I can, my worldly
position, that you may understand it and know how to pro-
ceed in the- event of my death. Elfie, my uncle and aunt
Goldsborough, and their unhappy daughter, being all dead,
and there being no other heirs, all the vast estates appertain-
ing to the elder branch of the Goldsborough family fall to me,
as heir-at-law. The mansion in Eichmond, the villa on the
sea-side, and the plantation in the valley are all mine. The
352 HOW HE WON HER.
plantation-house is in ruins, I believe ; but tbe land is there,
of course. And the rest of the property everywhere is
intact; and, united to my own hereditary acres, makes a
vast estate."
" As if I cared for that ! Oh, Albert, I only care to see
you get well," she murmured.
" And I will get well, to please you, if I can, Elfie. And
as I said before, if I live, I will devote my life to your hap-
piness. If I die, I will leave you the wealthiest widow in
Virginia. For, Elfie, listen, my dear whichever party
conquers, you will be all right. If the Confederacy triumphs,
as the widow of a Confederate officer, you will succeed to the
half of my estate. If the Union triumphs, as the daughter
of a Union officer, and as an unquestionably loyal woman,
you will still be allowed your widow's rights to the one-half
of my estates, although the other half may be confiscated
by the conquerors."
" Albert ! Albert ! if you will talk so, I cannot help it,
of course ! but you distress me very much," wept Elfie.
" I have done, tny dear girl. I will say no more. And
although you could not bear to hear my words just now,
you will think of them in calmer moments, and act on them
in after days or your father or friends will for you. Give
me your hand once more, beloved, and I will try to sleep
Elfie gave him her hand and dropped her head on the
pillow beside him, and again his exhausted frame sunk to
rest.
On this occasion he slept longer than on the former one.
And Elfie never moved and scarcely breathed, until she felt
a hand laid lightly on her shoulder, and looking up saw
Sister Agnes standing by her.
" Miss Kosenthal has sent your dinner, and also a box of
necessaries, which I have placed in my room. Will you
come now ?" whispered the sister.
THE REBEL ON HIS RAIDS NO MORE. 353
Elfie shook her head and pointed to the sleeping man,
whose hand still firmly clasped her own.
And just at that moment, as if the sleeper dreamed or
divined that she was asked to leave him, he started and
closed his fingers upon hers with a convulsive grip.
" You see ? " whispered Elfie.
" I see. I will keep jour dinner warm and come again
after a while," said the sister, stealing softly away.
The hours crept slowly by and the afternoon waned
towards evening.
At four o'clock the patients had their tea, but Albert did
not awake.
At six o'clock the assistant-surgeons in charge of the
wards made their rounds. These rounds were always
attended with some little bustle, and the bustle always
awoke nervous sleepers. It awoke Goldsborough.
" Here still, my guardian angel," he said, smiling grate-
fully on his watcher.
" Here always, Albert. What will you have now ? The
others had their tea two hours ago. You can have yours
now, if you like."
" No, nothing so warm as tea. A draught of that deli-
rious lemonade. I am so thirsty."
Elfie filled a glass from a pitcher of iced lemonade that
she kept at hand, and then she lifted his head while he
drank it.
"Ah, that is so refreshing," he said, with a sigh of
pleasure, as she laid him gently back on his pillow.
At that moment the surgeon in charge and Sister Agnes
came up together.
"Well, you are looking much better this afternoon. I
think the presence of this lady is a great restorative," said
the doctor, cheerfully addressing Goldsborough.
" So great a restorative that it will save me if anything
can," smiled Albert.
22
854 HOW HE WON HER.
"Well, now, we must look at your leg. And we must
ask the lady to retire while we do so."
Elfie hesitated, until Albert turned to her and said :
"Yes, darling, go. You need to be relieved from duty
here for a little while, and now is your best opportunity.
You shall return when they have done."
" Come with me," said Sister Agnes.
And Elfie stooped and kissed her husband, and then
arose and followed the nurse.
"Oh, Sister Agnes," said Elfie, when they had left the
ward, "you have experience; you can tell me; don't you
think he is much better ? "
" Yes, I certainly do," replied the Sister of Mercy, glad
to be able to give the anxious young questioner some real
encouragement.
"And don't you think he will get well?" eagerly
inquired Elfie.
" I think there are good grounds to hope so," answered
the sister : " there is certainly a great change for the better
in him since this morning."
" Sister Agnes, is there any particular danger that may
threate'n him, and can I guard against it in any way ? "
" My dear, I will be frank with you. There is a possi-
bility of another hemorrhage from his wound. You can
guard against that by keeping him quiet and following the
doctor's directions in all matters."
" Oh, I will be so careful," said Elfie.
And by this time they had reached the little refectory
used by Sister Agnes and her companions, and where
Elfie's dinner awaited her. A simple dinner of boiled
chicken and mashed potatoes, rice pudding and green tea.
" I added the green tea, my dear, to keep you awake. I
suppose you will want to watch to-night ? "
" O D J es y es ! Many thanks for your kind thoughtful*
ness," said Elfie, earnestly.
THE EEBEL ON HIS RAIDS NO MORE. 355
When Elfie had finished her light repast, Sister Agnes
took her to a small sleeping room in the third story, con-
taining two little white beds, two little wash-stands and
two chairs and having no other furniture.
" Sister Mary-Joseph and myself sleep here. That is my
bed by the window. I advise you to lie down on it and rest
for an hour or two before you return to your patient. He
will be well taken care of during your absence, never fear,"
said Sister Agnes.
" You are very good, but I would rather go back, when I
have bathed my face and arranged my dress. Where is the
box Miss Eosenthal sent me, please ? "
"Here it is," said the sister, drawing a medium sized
trunk from under the bed.
The key was tied to one of the handles, and Elfie untied
it and opened the trunk. Erminie had sent her a soft gray
merino wrapper, suitable for nursing, a soft pair of cloth
slippers, a change of clothing and a great plenty of fresh
pocket-handerchiefs and towels.
Elfie dressed herself in these comfortable habiliments,
and then requested her guide to show her back to her ward.
"For I never could find the right way by myself, I am
sure," she said.
The sister complied with her request and attended her to
the door of the ward, where she left her.
A few steps within the room Elfie met the assistant
surgeon, and stopped him to put the same questions she
had already put to the sister.
" He is much better, doctor, isn't he ? He will recover,
won't he ? "
"We have good reason to hope so, Madam," answered
the surgeon.
" But I cannot get him to take any nourishment. He
has no appetite ; only a great thirst, and he will take noth-
ing except lemonade," complained Elfie,
366 HOW HE WON HER.
" Then do not force nourishment upon him. Give him
the drink he craves," said the surgeon hurrying past her to
attend to his other business.
Elfie went down between the two rows of little white
beds until she came to the corner where Albert Golds-
borough lay.
He was wide awake, and waiting for her. He seemed
refreshed, and cheerful.
" I have been looking for you, my darling. The doctor
has given me an opiate, and ordered me to go to sleep, as
if one could go to sleep to order ! I could not do so with-
out your hand in mine. Sit by my bed, dear Elfie, and let
me feel that you are there while I sink to rest," he said.
And Elfie took up her old position, with her hand clasped
in his, and her cheek on the edge of his pillow.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
AT PEACE.
Here lurks no treason here no envy swells,
Here grows no damned grudges ; here are no storms,
lo noise, but silence and eternal sleep. SHAKSPEABE.
DUKTNG Elfie's absence from the ward all the sick and
wounded had been made as comfortable as circumstances
would permit for the night. The greater number of them
had been quieted by opium. And even those who could not
sleep lay in benign repose, under the influence of that
blessed but much abused gift of God." Certainly the
great good of opium never was so realized and appreciated
as in the military hospitals during the war.
Here, for instance, in this one ward, were as many as
fifty patients, in every stage of wounds, fever and suffering;
AT PEACE. 857
so nervous, so restless, so excitable, as not to be able to bear
a ray of light, or a sound of noise ; yet exposed to the
bright flaring of the gas-burners ; to the irrepressible
groans, tossings and complainings of their companions ; and
to the necessary movements of the doctors, nurses and as-
sistants.
Think of that you who, when you have a nervous head-
ache, cannot bear the light of a taper, or the fall of a foot-
step in your room at night.
Where silence, stillness and darkness seemed the very
necessary conditions of life, these sufferers had only noise,
hurry and glare. And this was quite inevitable in the
crowded wards. And from these causes alone delirium and
death must have often ensued but for the benign influence
of opium.
The nurses administered it pure, or in combination with
such other medicines as each case might require. And
then the restless, irritable sufferers ceased to disturb them-
selves and others with their tossings and groanings ; and
with their wounds dressed, their heads cooled, and their
nerves quieted, lay under their smoothly straightened white
counterpanes in perfect repose. And now that the patients
were quiet, the nurses also were still, and the gas was
turned low. And peace descended like a blessing on the
place.
As Elfie sat beside her patient, and looked down along
the lines of white beds, with their calm occupants, she
thought that there was something of Heaven in the aspect
of the scene.
While she so looked, she observed in the farthest corner
of the room, near the last bed on the opposite side, a group
gathered.
She saw that this group consisted of a surgeon, a chaplain
and a nurse. Presently the chaplain knelt by the bed, and
began to pray in a low tone, audible only to the patient on
the bed, and the people who stood around it.
858 HOW HE WON HER.
In a few minutes the chaplain arose, stood silently by the
patient for awhile, and then, with the surgeon, left the
ward. And the nurse drew the sheet up over the face of
the dead.
And though all passed so quietly, Elfie knew that a
soldier's soul had departed.
Some twenty minutes passed away, and then four men
came in at the lower door, with a bier, upon which they
placed the mattress with the dead man, and carried him
out.
And all this was accomplished silently, without disturb-
ing the other patients in the ward.
The nurse, when her duties to the dead were done, came
softly stepping up to Elfie's side.
" Some poor fellow has gone to his rest. Who was it ? "
inquired Elfie.
" Poor young Carnes, the boy in whom Miss Kosenthal
was so much interested. We have been expecting his
death for many days. And now he is gone. He passed
away perfectly conscious and perfectly resigned. And he
left his love, and his little pocket testament to Miss
Eosenthal," said the nurse. And then she went her way
to her other duties.
Tears stood in Elfie's eyes.
" And yet he is only one among thousands and thousands
who have perished like him, in the flower of their youth.
Oh, this war ! this war ! " she sighed.
Then she looked down upon her own patient. He was
sleeping peacefully under the influence of the opiate.
The hours passed quietly on towards midnight. Elfie
with her hand held prisoner the hand of her patient, and
her head resting on the edge of his pillow, fell asleep.
The nurse passing softly on her rounds of inspection,
paused to gaze on this scene, the poor mutilated man and
his weary wife, both sleeping so peacefully, and so uncon-
AT PEACE. 359
scious of the danger that was evident to the nurse's experi-
ence.
"Poor things," she murmured, "let them sleep while
they may."
Elfie slept several hours. When she awoke it was near
day. She looked at her little watch and saw that it was
four o'clock in the morning.
Her patient was still sleeping very calmly, although she
had, on waking up, unconsciously drawn her hand from
his.
" Oh, he is a great deal better ! a great deal hetter ! He
will he sure to get well ! " said Elfie, gazing with satisfaction
and thankfulness upon the calmly sleeping face.
She hathed her own eyes and temples from a little pocket
flacon of cologne water to wake herself up more effectually,
and then she sat cheerfully watching for the dawn, and fre-
quently looking 'down upon the face of her patient.
An hour more had passed when, looking upon Golds-
horough's face, she fancied that it had changed, and grown
paler and more sunken. While gazing intently, to he sure
she was right, she hecame sensible of a sound of dull, soft
trickling and dropping. Thinking of nothing but that her
jug might be leaking and her lemonade wasting, she hastily
arose to examine ; and her eyes fell upon a sight that made
her senses reel : beside the bed was a crimson pool formed
from a stream of blood that trickled and dropped from
under the counterpane.
In an instant Elfie knew what had happened. The hem-
orrhage had broken out again, and the patient was fast
bleeding to death in his opium sleep.
Suppressing the scream that arose to her lips, Elfie flow
noiselessly down the ward to the spot where the nurses
and night-watchers sat, and breathlessly told them of the
fatality.
One of the nurses hastened out to fetch a surgeon, and
the other accompanied Elfie back to her patient.
360 HOW HE WON H3R.
The woman immediately uncovered the stump of tha
mutilated limh, and placing her hand to the lips of the
wound, pressed them together to stop the hemorrhage
until the surgeon should arrive.
The action awoke the sleeper. He gasped for breath and
stared around him in bewilderment.
Eifie was already by his side, with her hand in his.
But his feeble hand had no longer the power to close on
hers.
He was dying fast.
" What has happened ? " he panted, turning his eyes,
wild with the approaching struggle, up to the face of Elfie.
" My love, my love, it is only your wound bleeding a
little. We will stop it soon," she replied, in a low and
soothing tone, repressing all exhibition of the despair that
was nearly breaking her heart.
" I I am dying, Elfie ! Pray pray for me, darling,"
he gasped.
Elfie sank on her knees, and spreading her arms ovei
him, prayed fervently :
" Oh, Heavenly Father, forgive him, forgive, and receive
him and bless him, for our Savior's sake," she cried ovei
and over again, in the earnestness of her supplication.
" Amen, Amen," he breathed, at every interval of hei
prayer.
" Oh, my love, my love ! Christ will atone to God for all
your sins. And I I will do all I can to atone to man 1"
wept Elfie, as she arose from her knees.,
The surgeon came hurrying to the scene. But a single
glance at the dying man assured him that all his own
medical skill, all the world's medical skill would never suc-
ceed in saving him now.
Albert Goldsborough turned his fading eyes on his wife,
and feebly tried to raise his hand. She understood him and
bowed her head, and took his hand and passed it around hei
neck.
AT PEACE. 361
t( Elfie forgive forgive " he breathed and then failed.
"Oh, my dear love, I have nothing to forgive," she
wept, pressing her lips to his clammy brow.
"Bless you Elfie Bless " he panted, and stopped.
His eyes glazed and his head dropped.
He was dead, in Elfie's arms.
"He is gone, my dear. Come away," said the gentle
voice of Sister Agnes, who had come softly to the side of
the bed.
Elfie laid her beloved burden back upon the pillow, gazed
at the dead face in unutterable love and grief, pressed her
lips upon the cold brow, and then turned and gave her hand
to Sister Agnes, who led her from the room.
Well it was for Elfie that she was not of a temperament
to suppress her emotions.
As soon as she had reached the little bedroom in the
third story she threw herself into her friend's arms and
burst into a flood of tears."
The Sister of Mercy, young in years, but old in her ex-
perience of sorrow, let the mourner weep and sob, until she
had exhausted the violence of her emotions.
Then she led her to one of the beds and made her lie
down upon it, and soothed her with tender caresses and
gentle words.
And then saying that she would go and send a messenger
for Miss Rosenthal, she left Elfie to repose.
It was still very early in the morning, just about sunrise^
when Erminie came in her carriage, in answer to the sum-
mons, and was shown immediately to the little room occupied
by Elfie.
On seeing her friend, Elfie started up and fell upon
Erminie's bosom and gave way to another outburst of sor-
row.
Erminie silently embraced and supported her until the
paroxysm was over. Then she made Elfie lie down again
362 HOW HE WON HER.
on her bed until Sister Agnes had brought up a cup of tea
and a piece of dry toast, which they persuaded her to take.
"And now, my dear," said Erminie, when Elfie had
drained the cup, "you must put on your bonnet and mantle
and return home with me. The carriage is waiting at the
door."
" Oh, Erminie ! I cannot I cannot leave him here ! "
wept Elfie.
" And you shall not, dear. I have spoken to the surge-on
in charge, and he will speak to those in authority and take
the necessary measures to have the remains of Colonel
Goldsborough removed to our house, where the funeral shall
be solemnized," said Miss Eosenthal.
" Oil, Erminie ! how can I ever thank and bless you
enough ! " exclaimed Elfie.
The Lutheran minister's orphan daughter stooped and
kissed the sorrowing girl, and then with her own hands put
on Elfie's shawl and bonnet and made her ready for her
ride.
Lastly, Miss Rosenthal, in a gracefiil and earnest manner,
thanked Sister Agnes for her kindness to Elfie, and then
took leave.
When they were in the carriage, Erminie said :
" Grive yourself no uneasiness about the details of this sad
duty, Elfie. I will send for the proper people and have
everything done to your satisfaction."
" Oh, thanks, thanks, with all my heart and soul ! " wept
Elfie.
When they reached the parsonage, Erminie made Elfie
undress and go to bed, and soon had the comfort of seeing
the weeping girl sob herself to sleep.
Erminie sent for her friend, Dr. Sales, and put all the
arrangements for the funeral in his hands. And then she
sat down and wrote a letter to Elfie's father, telling him all
that had happened, and begging him to get leave and come
to his daughter as soon as possible.
AT PEACE.
363
This letter, as it afterwards appeared, never reached
Major Fielding, who happened at the very time of its post-
ing to be on his way to Washington.
The funeral of Albert Goldsborongh took place on Sun-
day. He was interred in the same burial ground where the
remains of the deceased members of the Bosenthal family
reposed.
Elfie returned from the grave sorrowful but composed,
and that night she was blessed with the first quiet sleep
that had visited her weary mind and body since her meeting
with her wounded husband in the hospital.
On the next day, Monday, Elfie, dressed in her widow's
weeds, was seated in the library, seeking comfort and guid-
ance from the pages of the Holy Scriptures, when she heard
the street door-bell ring.
And the moment after the library door was opened, and
Major Fielding entered the room.
Seeing a quiet little woman sitting there in widow's weeds,
with her fine hair concealed under a widow's cap, and know-
ing nothing at all of what had happened to his daughter
within the last few weeks, the honest major supposed that
he had made a mistake, and intruded upon one of Miss
Rosenthal's visitors. And with an
" I beg your pardon, Madam ; I was told that I should
find my daughter here," he was about to back out, when
Elfie looked up, and exclaiming:
" Papa ! papa ! oh, don't you know me ? " started up and
flung herself into his arms, and sobbing violently, clung to
him.
" Elfie ! you ! You in this dress ! And weeping so !
What is the meaning of it all ? " demanded the old soldier,
in unbounded astonishment.
" Oh, papa, papa dear, don't blame me, and don't blame
him, or my heart will break ! " sobbed Elfie.
" But what do you mean, girl ? Blame who ? Blame
what ? " cried the major in amazement.
364 HOW HE WON HER.
" Oh, papa, I couldn't help it, dear, indeed I couldn't !
Neither could he," she wept.
" Help what ? Compose yourself, and explain, if you can,
girl. Why do you weep ? why are you wearing this dress ? "
said the major, sinking into the nearest chair, and drawing
Elfie down upon his lap.
" Papa, I was carried off hy guerrillas and obliged to
do it. And indeed, I am not sorry I did it now. And he
was mortally wounded, papa, and dying in the hospital,
and after all we did love each other so much, and that was
how it was. Oh, papa dear, don't be angry with me, or you
will kill me ! " said Elfie, bursting into a fresh flood of tears.
" I am not angry, but I believe I am half crazed. Will
you tell me, Elfie, why you grieve so bitterly, and why you,
who never were a wife, should be wearing a widow's dress ? "
said the patient veteran.
" 1 told you how it was, papa. I told old you how it
was. 0, don't blame us, papa, or if you must blame any-
body, let it be me. It was all my fault. Don't blame him ;
he can't defend himself any longer. You may rail at him,
but he cannot reply. His lips are mute now, and the dust
lies on them," cried Elfie, breaking into hysterical sobs.
In despair of gaining any clear information from his dis-'
tracted daughter, Major Fielding arose and placed her
gently in the chair, and then went and rang the bell.
Bob answered it.
" Is Miss Eosenthal in the house ? "
" Yes, sir."
" Will you ask her to come here, if she pleases ? "
Bob disappeared.
In a moment after Erminie entered and greeted Major
Fielding with grave and sweet courtesy.
"Erminie, my dear, tell me the meaning of this. I can't
get a coherent word out of this hysterical girl," said Major
Fielding.
AT PEACE. 365
"But did't you get my letter of Friday last?" in-
quired Miss Bosenthal.
"No, my dear; for on Friday last I left for Wash-
ington."
" Then I have a serious story to tell you, Major Field-
ing; but I will tell it as briefly as possible. Sit down/'
said Miss Eosenthal.
Major Fielding took a chair. Miss Eosenthal seated
herself; and while Elfie sobbed softly behind her pocket
handkerchief, and the major listened attentively, Erminie
told the story of Elfie's abduction by the guerrillas, her.
forced marriage to Albert Goldsborough, the surprise of the
guerrilla camp by the Federals, the defeat and death of the
Free Sword, and the capture of Goldsborough, the deliver-
ance of Elfie, and her subsequent meeting with her husband
in the hospital, and all that followed thereupon.
" Oh, papa ! papa ! do not reproach me, dear ! do not, or
my heart will break ! " sobbed Elfie, as she once again threw
herself into his arms.
" I have no thought of reproaching you, my poor girl,"
said the- gentle father, caressing his child.
" And do not blame him, papa ! oh, do not blame him !
He is dead now ! " she wept.
. " And the dead are sacred, my girl," said the major, gath-
ering his child closer to his bosom.
366 HOW HE WON HER.
CHAPTEE XXXIV.
WING'S GALLANT CHARGE.
"Spare man nor steed, use utmost speed.
Before the pun goes down,
You, sir, must ride." the colonel cried,
" As far as Pendletown."
"Colonel," the brave young man Baith,
" To hear is to obey !
Comrades ! the path is fringed with death I
Who rides with me to-day ? " EDSIDJJDUS SCOTUS.
EVERY one knows how hopefully the campaign of the
Spring of 1864 opened. In almost every engagement the
Union arms triumphed.
Colonel Rosenthal's regiment performed their parts of
duty, suffered their share of casualties and received their
meed of glory.
But the glory of war is inseparable from the gloom of
death. The regiment was decimated. And it had to be
filled up with raw recruits. And Adjutant Wing, for
" gallant and meritorious conduct," was promoted to the
rank of Captain and placed at the head of Company K. in
a position rendered vacant by the casualties of war.
At this time the regiment was stationed at the town of C.
On the afternoon of the day when Wing received his
captain's commission, he entered the quarters of his colonel,
and saluting him respectfully, said in a tone rather of
reproach than of gratitude, for he was by no means elated at
the change :
" I presume that I have to thank you for this promotion,
sir ? "
" Not so, adjutant. I confess that I am selfish enough
to desire always to retain you at headquarters. No I had
nothing to do with the affair beyond speaking of you as you
deserved in my report. With a soldier, to hear is to obey,
Wing. And whether I like to lose my adjutant or not, and*
WING'S GALLANT CHARGE. 367
whether you like to leave the office or not, you must assume
command of your company before the dress-parade at sun-
set," said Colonel Rosenthal.
Wing bowed and left his colonel's presence.
And at the dress-parade he appeared with his captain's
straps at the head of his company.
But if Wing was not satisfied with his promotion, neither
was his company satisfied with their captain. Apparently
there was no love lost between them.
When the dress parade was over and the men at liberty
to rove over the camp and gath6r in groups to smoke or
gossip, the members of company K were heard to indulge
in mutterings of discontent, not loud but deep. Before the
appointment of Wing as their captain, company K had
been commanded by a tall, stalwart, athletic first lieutenant,
who was very popular among the men. And this circum-
stance made the "baby adjutant," as they called him, still
less acceptable as their captain.
" To put that little fellow over us ! a mere lad ! " indig-
nantly growled Sergeant Copley.
" Looks like a girl in boy's clothes ! " grumbled Corporal
Bang.
" Boy,' girl ? ' Why he is a mere infant ! " exclaimed
Corporal West.
" A mere threadpaper ! a mere cobweb ! I wonder how
he'll stand fire ! " laughed Sergeant Jones.
" I wonder what the devil the Secretary of War could
have been thinking of!" muttered Corporal Quartz.
" I should like to see him in an engagement once ! " said
Copley.
" And so should I ! "
" And I ! " muttered each malcontent in his turn.
For even so freely would the best disciplined soldiers can-
vass the characters of their superior officers, in their
absence.
368 HOW HE WON HER.
"I'll tell you what, boys," said Sergeant Hay, "you are
talking of one you know nothing about. Captain Wing has
been in the service less than a year and has already distin-
guished himself on several notable occasions."
" Oh yes ! we dare say he made a very good spy to creep
into guerrilla camps. We heard all about that. And no
doubt he was a very fair accountant and kept the regimental
books in good order. But we want to see him under fire
before we throw up our caps and hurrah for him as our cap-
tain," laughed West.
" He has been under fire a score of times and never
blenched. And I can tell you this, my comrades : When
you do see him under fire, you will see one who will not
drive you like sheep, but lead you like men. You will see
one who will not get behind a tree during the engagement
and cry ' Go on, boys ! ' as some of our gallant officers
have done ; but who will dash on in advance and shout to
you ( Coins on, boys ! ' And if he does not inspire your
whole company with valor, I know nothing of him."
"We shall see," said Sergeant Jones, incredulously.
" We shall see," echoed the others.
Very soon they had an opportunity of seeing.
The next morning the third battalion of the regiment
under Major Kerr, the same battalion to which Company K
belonged, was ordered to march to P. to destroy certain salt-
petre works belonging to the enemy. P. was a well forti-
fied town, distant about forty miles from C., and the inter-
vening country was infested with guerrillas.
The orders were issued at seven o'clock in the morning.
By half-past seven the battalion was under arms, with two
days' rations. And at eight o'clock they marched.
Their road lay for some miles through the mountainous
and hea-vily wooded country east of C. Then through open
fields and meadows, and lastly into the depths of the valley
forest.
WING'S GALLANT CHARGE. 369
At noon they halted for an hour's rest and refreshment,
that men and horses might be in. good fighting order when
they should arrive at their destination.
Then they continued their march until they emerged
from the forest and entered upon the more open country,
diversified with hills and valleys, groves and meadows,
brooks and rivers.
Winding between the hills, striking across the meadows
and fording the rivers, they at length came in sight of the
entrenched saltpetre works.
Then a momentary halt was called ; an order was given ;
the bugle sounded the charge, and the whole cavalry force
advanced at a gallop.
A fierce fire was immediately opened upon them from
behind the breastworks.
In the hail of bullets a man fell here and there, and a
riderless horse bounded out of the line of march and rushed
madly over the plain. And these gallant men dashed
onward under that storm of death to take the works by
assault.
But presently a more serious danger menaced them. The
one section of a battery possessed by the rebels of this post
consisted of two guns. These guns were now brought into
position and trained so as to bear directly upon the right
flank of the approaching column ; and the first shot fired,
at so short a distance, took fatal effect, tearing its way
through, and leaving a track of death filled up with riders
and horses overthrown, struggling, wounded, mutilated,
dying, or dead.
" CAPTAIN WING ! advance with your company and take
that battery ! " shouted the major commanding the expedi-
tion.
For one instant Wing looked up astonished ; for the
order was a desperate one, and the duty well nigh a forlorn
hope.
23
370 HOW HE WON II E R .
Only for that instant did Wing betray his amazement.
Then lie fully verified the prediction of Hay. Waving hia
sabre above his head he shouted :
"^.Coine on, boys ! " put spurs to his horse and dashed for-
ward, leading the charge.
What man among them would not have followed that
" light, inspired form," to seek glory even " in the cannon's
mouth ? "
Like an angel of destruction he rushed onward, followed
by all his men.
The enemy, seeing this new movement, turned their guns
as quickly as possible upon the charging party.
The first shot in this direction, as on the former occasion,
tore its wa} 7 through the centre of the advancing body,
strewing mutilated and dying men and horses in its track,
and leaving even those who were unhurt half disabled by
their restive horses.
They were now approaching the battery by a very broad
road, bordered on each side by high wooded banks.
An instant's hesitation now on the part of Wing must
have been fatal to the success of the expedition. But there
was no such hesitation.
" CLOSE ON THE CENTRE FORWARD ! " came the deep,
sweet, solemn tones of the young leader.
And the men closed in close columns, filling up the gap
torn by the cannon ball, and, over the dead and dying, gal-
loped onward.
Again came the shot booming from the battery, and ripping
its way through the middle of the advancing column, scat-
tering men and horses dead and dying upon the ground.
" CLOSE ON THE CENTRE FORWARD ! " again sounded
the voice of the young leader.
And again the men filled up the gap and galloped on-
ward.
Once more a shot came splitting its way through the
WING'S GALLANT CHARGE. 371
middle of the column, strewing its patli with the dead and
the dying. Once more came the solemn voice of the leader.
" CLOSE ON THE CENTRE FORWARD ! "
And as before the men closed up the column and continued
the march.
A fourth, a fifth, and a sixth shot was fired, each with tre-
mendous effect.
And after each was still to be heard, like the voice of an
inexorable fate, the solemn tones of the young leader, issuing
his immutable order :
" CLOSE ON THE CENTRE FORWARD ! "
And although their number was reduced by the loss of at
least one third of their men, they grimly closed column over
the dead and the dying, and pushed onward.
And in three minutes after the sixth shot had been fired,
they were upon the works, engaged in a stern hand to hand
conflict with the enemy.
After a short, sharp struggle of less than half an hour
they took the battery, captured two guns, and fifty rounds
of ammunition, and thirty prisoners.
The way into the town from this quarter was now clear.
And Wing marched in at the head of his company. And
soon over the rebel works the Union flag waved in triumph.
About twenty minutes later Major Kerr, at the head of the
other three companies, marched into the town. His men
had suffered much under the galling fire of musketry that
had opposed their entrance previous to Wing's taking pos-
session of the town.
One captain, two lieutenants and about twenty privates
were killed. And two lieutenants and about forty privates
were severely wounded.
Major Kerr came up just in time to relieve Captain Wing
of a certain responsibility that he always detested namely
the burning of the town.
Wing's taste was more for fighting than for destruction,
372 HOW HE WON HER.
and naturally Tie had taken the town, but hesitated to burn
it.
Major Kerr's taste was more for destruction than for
fighting, therefore he had let Wing capture the town, and
had followed him in to destroy it.
Wing pleaded hard for the salvation of private dwelling
houses, but, in fact, it was impossible to effectually destroy
the saltpetre works without sacrificing the whole town.
The women and children were sent out to a place of
safety. The prisoners were dispatched to the rear; and
then the work of destruction commenced.
And that night witnessed an awful conflagration, that
lighted up a vast amphitheatre of country, and carried con-
sternation as far as its flames were seen.
And the next morning the sun arose upon a blackened
and smoking mass of ruins, where once the thriving village
had stood.
The forenoon was employed by our troops in burying the
dead and in attending to the wounded. These last men-
tioned were placed in ambulances to be transported back
toC.
And at midday the battalion was under arms and pre-
pared to march.
They reached C. about nightfall, carrying with them the
news of the complete success of the expedition.
Major Kerr made a true report of the action, giving
Captain Wing his just dues of praise.
And the next morning Colonel Kosenthal sent for Wing,
and expressed his high approbation of that young officer's
heroism.
" There is not a man in my company, Colonel, who does
not merit as much praise as you have kindly bestowed upon,
me," answered Wing respectfully.
"And they shall receive it. But the wonder to me is,
Wing, that you were not hurt, leading the men as you did
WING'S GALLANT CHARGE. 373
to that terrible charge. You were not even slightly
wounded, were you ? "
"Not even scratched, Colonel."
" Pray do you wear a magic armor under your uniform,
Wing ? "
" Not that I know of, Colonel," laughed the young
officer.
" You have been in at least half a dozen battles, and
never once been wounded."
" Never yet, Colonel. But I have a presentiment that if
I ever am struck, 1 shall not be wounded but killed," said
the boy officer gravely.
" Nonsense, Wing, I don't believe in presentiments. I
never had a presentiment fulfilled in my life," laughed the
colonel.
At that moment an orderly entered the quarters, saluted,
and handed a small sealed packet to his colonel.
Colonel Kosenthal broke it open and read it hastily,
changed color as he never had done on the most fiercely
fought battle field, and then he passed the paper to Wing,
saying :
" You see it is a telegram summoning me immediately to
Washington, arid it must be acted upon without delay,"
Wing also grew very pale as he read the dispatch. He
returned it without a word.
Colonel Eosenthal immediately put himself in communi-
cation with the gent' nil commanding his division, and the
next day, having obtained a short furlough, left for Wash-
ington.
A very few hours after the departure of Colonel Kosenthal,
Captain Wing applied for ten days' leave of absence for the
purpose of visiting a dear friend supposed to be at the
point of death.
As this was the first occasion upon which the brave
young officer had made an application of the sort and as he
374 HOW HE WON HER.
had so recently rendered a distinguished service, it was
promptly granted him.
And the next morning Wing also left for Washington.
CHAPTER XXXV,
DEATH LIGHTS.
Thy cheek too quickly flushes, o'er thine eye
The shadows come and go too fast ;
Thy tears gush forth too soon, and in thy voice
Are sounds of tenderness too passionate
?or peace on earth ! Oh, therefore, child of song,
'Tis well thou should' st depart. II KM AN s.
IN the months that had elapsed since Albert Golds-
borough's death, and in the steady performance of every
duty, Elfie had recovered her serenity and cheerfulness.
The idea of atonement was very strong in Elfie, and
under its influence, she devoted herself to the service of
the sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals with a zeal
equal to that of Erminie.
" I know," she said, " that only our Saviour can atone to
God for our sins. But sometimes we may atone to man. I
will do all I can for the suffering soldiers until the war is
over. And then if I really do come into the widow's share
of poor Albert's fortune, I will not appropriate one dollar's
worth of it to myself. I will give it all to the orphans of
the war, to the orphans of both sides, for the children are
not accountable for the actions of their fathers, and far be
from us the presumption of arrogating to ourselves the
divine prerogative of visiting the sins of the fathers upon
the children," she would add.
And Erminie always approved her plans, and encouraged
her to hope for their successful operation.
So the winter and the spring months had passed, and the
DEATH LIGHTS. 375
early summer found the youthful widow serene and cheerful
in the discharge of her duties.
There was very little to vary the monotony of this
domestic life.
Major Fielding had not been home since the notable
occasion upon which his daughter had given him such a
surprise.
Justin was with his regiment at C.
Captain Ethel was in command of the gunboat Fire-King,
on the Potomac.
And Britomarte was in parts unknown.
Yet letters from every one" of these came very often.
On one especial morning a whole budget of news arrived.
There was one from Major Fielding to his daugher, announ-
cing his speedy arrival on a short leave. There was one
from Justin to his sister, filled with good news of his mili-
tary success and his personal well-being. There was one
from Lieutenant Ethel, promising a short visit to the city,
and a call upon his fair friends at the parsonage. And lastly
there was one from Britomarte, postmarked Baltimore, and
filled with the warmest expressions of affection for Erminie,
and the most satisfactory statements concerning her own
health and success. But where she was living, or what she
was doing, remained unrevealed secrets.
Elfie, to whom Erminie read the letter, screwed up her
mouth, and looked like "she could an' if she would" "a
tale unfold," but she didn't.
And besides, Elfie was interested in the other letters, and
preferred to talk of them and their subjects her father's
promised visit, Justin's encouraging successes, and even
3 T oung Ethel's prospective call.
" It is likely that pap and Etjiel will both be here to-day
or to-morro\v, Erminie, don't you think ? " she inquired.
Erminie coincided with her in opinion.
That morning the young ladies lingered so long over their
376 HOW HE WON HER.
breakfast table and their delightful letters, that it was rather
later than usual when they set off for the hospitals.
" The morning is so delicious that we will walk, I think,
Elfie," said Miss Rosenthal, as they emerged from the front
door.
" All right. I would rather walk," agreed Elfie.
And they set out at a brisk pace.
"Erminie, I always knew you had a very light, elastic
step, but indeed, to-day you seem to walk with ' winged feet,'
as Homer has it. And now I look at you, your cheeks are
flushed, and your eyes are dancing. It is all of a piece, and
all equally the effect of those delightful letters, I do suppose,"
said Elfie.
" I do suppose it is. And yet I do not know. But cer-
tainly, though I have always been in good health, I never
felt so well in my life as I do now. I feel as if some strong,
divine elixir in my brains gave me a new sense of life. But
I am talking too much of myself and my own sensations.
What nonsense. Let us speak of something else. Young
Ethel. I have a great respect for that gallant young officer,
Elfie. And if your father comes to make us any sort of a
long visit, I shall invite Ethel to stop at the parsonage, as
he did during his last sojourn in Washington," said Miss
Eosenthal.
" That will be very agreeable only it will curtail us of
our liberties. No more sailing all over the house, at al'
hours of the day and night, in our white wrappers and slip-
pers," replied Elfie.
And so chatting, the young ladies went on their way, that
bright summer morning, towards the hospital.
From ward to ward Erminie went, carrying everywhere
the same bright smile that shoue with such strange, supernal
beauty that morning.
And the soldiers whom she cheered and comforted said to
each other, when she had passed by, how she looked like
DEATH LIGHTS. 377
an angel from Heaven, with the celestial light still around
her.
They walked the rounds of three other hospitals, and then
Erminie spoke of turning their steps homeward.
But Elfie remonstrated.
" I'll tell you what, Miss Rosenthal, you may be exhila-
rated by some divine elixir, or you may be borne on by in-
visible wings, but as for me, I have nothing but my mortal
flesh and blood and bones to uphold me, and I am just so
tired that my limbs are ready to bend under me, and my
back aches as if I were a hundred years old," she said.
" Under these circumstances we must take a carriage, I
suppose," smiled Erminie.
And the carriage was called, and they drove home.
Erminie did not go out again to the hospitals that after-
noon.
She was expecting a small party of friends to take tea and
spend the evening, and it was necessary to make some pre-
parations for them.
So after an early luncheon Erminie and Elfie began to
gather flowers to decorate the drawing-room, and the
dining room and library.
" My pap is very fond of company. I hope he will arrive
this evening. It would be such a pleasant surprise for him
to meet a party of his friends here," said Elfie, as she
arranged a large bush of odorous magnolia-grandiflora to
sit on the drawing-room hearth.
" I think it quite likely that your hopes will be realized,
Elfie," answered Erminie, who was delicately placing a bou-
quet of lilies and roses in a vase for the centre table.
When their preparations were completed, Elfie saun-
tered up to her room to lie down and indulge in her usual
afternoon nap.
But Erminie went to inspect the condition of her pastry,
and to order certain fresh delicacies prepared for the evening
378 HOW HE WON HER.
feast. And then she called her housemaid, and went up
stairs, and had the rooms she intended to assign to Major
Fielding and Captain Ethel arranged under her own eyes
for the reception of their inmates.
When Elfie awoke from her sleep she found Erminie
still actively engaged.
"'My heyes ! ' as the cockneys say, what has come to
you, Ermiuie ? You have heen on your feet the whole day.
You have walked twenty miles at least, if the ground you've
gone over was all stretched out in a line ; and you have
heen hard at work ever since you got home, and you look as
fresh and brilliant as a blush rose with the morning dew
upon it. Really, now, aint you tired ? " inquired Elfie, as
she entered the dining-room where Erminie was decorating
the tea-table.
"Not in the least," said Miss Rosenthal, smiling brightly.
" But now, my dear Elfie, it is time for us to dress ourselves.
Our friends will come early because the summer evenings
are so short."
Elfie yawned dismally.
" Now I haven't been half so hard at work as you have,
and I have had a good nap besides, and yet I feel more like
lolling in a rocking chair than putting myself into an even-
ing dress," she said, as she sauntered away to make her
toilet.
An hour later, just as the sun set, leaving a clear, beauti-
ful twilight, Ermiuie and Elfie met in the drawing-room to
wait for the coming of their company.
Elfie looked very pretty in her thin, black grenadine
dress, with jet jewelry, and the little cap of white illusion
that contrasted so well with her raven hair.
But Erminie looked dazzlingly beautiful not from the
effect of her toilet, for nothing could be cooler or quieter
than her dress a pure white grenadine, embroidered' in
sprigs of black silk, and trimmed with white lace and black
DEATH LIGHTS. 379
ribbon. It was her face, her countenance, that was so radi-
ant. Her cheeks and lips were flushed with a bright carna-
tion color ; her eyes were sparkling with animation ; even
her auburn hair seemed to glitter with a sort of electric
splendor.
Elfie gazed on her in wonder and admiration.
" Well, Erminie, you were always indisputably beautiful ;
but now Well, there ! You almost alarm me ! You
look as if there was some inward glory shining through you
and making your earthly beauty heavenly ! " she said.
" Nonsense, love ! Don't you turn flatterer, or I shall
lose my respect for you," laughed Erminie.
"Flatterer ! There ! look in the glass and see for yourself
whether I have flattered you! Come, it is still light enough
for you to see, or if it is not, you will make the light ! " said
Elfie, turning her friend forcibly around to face the tall pier
glass that stood between the two back windows.
" Absurd ! I am in good health and good spirits that
is the whole secret," said Miss Rosenthal, laughing and
blushing, and breaking away from the too ardent admiration
of Elfie.
And at that moment the first bevy of visitors arrived,
and little Mini and his four little maiden aunts were shown
into the drawing-room.
Erminie received her visitors with courtesy, but Elfie
welcomed them with effusion.
Erminie entertained Mr. Mim in the drawing-room, while
Elfie took the four Misses Mim up stairs to lay off their
bonnets and put on their head dresses.
The next party that arrived consisted of Mr. Billingcoo,
his grandmother, and his guitar.
And the old lady was shown up stairs to the dressing-
room where she found the Misses Mini with Elfie.
After them came other friends of the family ; and by
seven o'clock the whole company was assembled, and enjoy-
380 HOW HE WON HER.
ing themselves by sauntering through the moonlit walks of
the beautiful grounds in the rear of the house.
" I am expecting Major Fielding this evening," said
Erminie to little Mim, who was walking by her side.
" I am so glad to hear that. I always had the greatest
respect for Major Fielding, as well as for for his daughter
and for all the ladies ! "
Little Mim, whenever he was betrayed into any expres-
sion of admiration or regard for EJfie, invariably added " all
the ladies " as a saving clause. Now, however, though he
walked and talked with Erminie, his eyes and his thoughts
followed Elfie as she sauntered on in front of them by the
side of Dr. Sales.
" They both reciprocate your regard, I am very sure,"
said Erminie, kindly.
" Miss Kosenthal," said the little fellow solemnly, " when
I learned all in a moment that she was married and
widowed, you might have floored me with a feather. I beg
your pardon for using a slang phrase, but there is nothing
that can so well express the effect the news had upon me.
And even now I can't seem to get over it. And when
I think of what she used to be, and look at her now in her
widow's dress, it seems as if I could not recognize her for
herself. It is just as if some splendid oriole was suddenly
changed into a blackbird," he said, with a profound sigh.
"The mere effect of her dress, Mr. Mim. Elfie is still
herself. Naturally, she grieved over the tragic death of
Albert Goldsborough, yet not so bitterly as she had grieved
over the treason that separated them as lovers three years
ago. It was then that the iron entered the soul of Elfie.
But she bas been stronger ever since."
"She is a heroic girl ! And so are all the ladies!"
answered little Mim, tempering enthusiasm with prudence.
" Well ! Well ! Where are you all ? And who is com-
ing to welcome me ? " called out the cheery voice of Majo*
Fielding, issuing from the back porch of the house.
DEATH LIGHTS. 381
With a cry of joy, Elfie dropped the arm of Dr. Sales,
turned and sprang past all her friends, and darted up the
gravel walk to meet her fti'her, and threw herself into his
arms.
Erminie followed her to welcome the veteran.
" And here is a stranger I have brought with me ! Cap-
tain Ethel! Bless you, I found him on the wharf! con-
scripted him, and made him come," heartily exclaimed the
major, doing three or four things at the same time kissing
his daughter, shaking hands with his hostess, and present-
ing his friend.
"I am delighted to see you, Major Fielding, and I thank
you cordially for bringing our frjphd with you ! Captain
Ethel, I congratulate you on your new promotion/' said
Miss Rosenthal, warmly welcoming her guest.
Young Ethel bowed low in acknowledgment of those
courteous words; and then he offered Erminie his arm;
and they followed Major Fielding and his daughter, who
had preceded them, down the garden walk.
Major Fielding was surprised and pleased to meet so
many of his old friends, and he insisted on believing that
they had come purposely to meet him.
Captain Ethel was duly presented to such of the company
as were not personally known to him.
And then, as the evening air was growing damp, the
company adjourned form the garden to the house, where tea
was soon served.
After tea they went into the lighted drawing-room, where
Mr. Billingcoo entertained the ladies with some of his best
songs, accompanying himself upon his guitar.
And when he had tired himself and his audience, Erminie
delighted her friends with some of her finest music on the
pianoforte.
But Erminie's radiant and dazzling beauty was the one
theme of wonder and admiration among her guests. The
382 HOW HE WON HER.
almost divine splendor of that beauty had escaped their
observation in the moonlit garden ; but now in the lighted
drawing-room it struck them with something like amaze-
ment.
"How lovely Miss Rosenthal looks this evening! I
never in my life saw, or even imagined anything so bril-
liantly beautiful as her face," said sober Dr. Sales to old
Major Fielding.
" Yes ! I have been watching her. She always was a
perfect beauty, you know ! but now she's a perfect angel ! "
answered the major.
And unconscious of the admiration she was exciting,
Erminie played and sang unweariedly.
When she arose from the piano, old Mrs. Billingcoo went
to her side, and looking at her attentively, said :
" Your cheeks and lips are like scarlet roses, my love !
and your eyes are like diamonds ! Are you sure you are
quite well?"
Erminie's silvery laugh rang out clearly and joyously, and
almost startlingly, from her who was always so quiet.
" My dear Mrs. Billingcoo, I never felt so well in my life !
Like Wordsworth's little maid, I feel my ' life in every
limb ' ! " she said. And she immediately left the room to
order ice cream and strawberries, for the refreshment of her
guests.
A little later in the evening, when the company was
thinking of breaking up, Miss Susy Mini, watching Erminie,
said:
" I am sure Miss Eosenthal is keeping up by great effort !
I wonder if she hasn't been taking ammonia or some-
thing ! "
" Ammonia ! " indignantly exclaimed Elfie. " Erminie
never takes anything of that sort ! "
" Then what makes her looks so ? And what makes her
act so ? Her cheeks are blooming like roses, and her eyea
DEATH LIGHTS. 383
are sparkling like gems ! And her spirits are running away
with her ! It ain't natural, say what you will ! And if she
hasn't been taking ammonia, or if she isn't putting all this
on, she's in danger."
" In danger ! " echoed Eifie, in alarm.
" Yes, child ! "
" Of what ? "
" Fever ! "
" Nonsense, Miss Susy, you are always trying to frighten
one ! Danger ? Fever ? Why, Erminie has been looking
and acting just this way all day ! Only growing more bril-
liant and beautiful every hour," said Elfie, angrily and all
the more so because she seeretty shared Miss Susy's fears.
" Well, my dear, I hope I'm wrong. But at any rate, I
think that we had all better go home, especially as it is
nearly midnight. And when we are gone you had better
get Miss Biosenthal to bed as soon as possible."
And so saying, Miss Susy proceeded to act upon her own
words, by setting the example of departure.
The other guests followed in turn. And at a few minutes
after twelve the company had all gone, with the exception,
of course, of Major Fielding, who was to remain ; and Cap-
tian Ethel, who Erminie insisted should stay.
At a hint dropped by Elfie, these two gentlemen soon
took the bed-room candles that were ready for them, and
bade good night to^ their hostess. ,
" Are you tired, Erminie ? " anxiously inquired Elfie, as
she paused for a moment at the bed-room door of her
friend.
" Tired ? No ! not in the least," laughed Erminie.
" Are you sure ? " persisted Elfie.
" Why, of course I am ! I tell you I never felt so well
in my life."
" I am glad to hear it ; and I wont detain you. Good
night," said Elfie, kissing her friend and noticing with
wonder the still undimmed splendor of her beauty.
384 HOW HE WON HER.
" Good night," smiled Ermiuic, vanishing through the
door.
Elfie went on to her own chamber, and as soon as her
head touched the pillow fell fast asleep.
Elfie slept late the next morning, so late, in fact, that she
was at last awakened by Catherine, who came to her with a
scared face, roused her and said :
" If you please, ma'am, I wish you would come to Miss
Rosen thai ! "
" Erminie ! what's the matter with her ? " exclaimed
Elfie, starting up in -alarm.
" Indeed I don't know, ma'am ; but she is very ill ; and
seems to be raving mad."
Elfie sprang out of bed, threw on a dressing-gown, thrust
her naked feet into slippers, and ran at once to the chamber
of Erminie.
There upon the bed lay the good and beautiful girl, un-
conscious of all that was passing around her, and rolling
and raving with fever and delirium.
In the extremity of terror, Elfie ran down just as she was,
to the library, where her father was sitting alone waiting
for his breakfast.
Breathlessly she told him what had happened, and dis-
patched him to get a physician, saying that he could get
one more quickly than a servant could.
Then she hurried back to her tossing and raving friend.
In half an hour the family physician arrived. After
making a careful examination of his patient, he came out
of the room and sought Major Fielding.
" What do you think of her ? " anxiously inquired the
major.
" Telegraph for her brother immediately," answered the
doctor.
His orders were obeyed, and the same morning the mes-
sage was flashed along the wires that was to bring Justin to
the bedside of his beloved sister.
THE DEATH WATCH. 385
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE DEATH WATCH.
He came, with that disheartening fear,
Which all who love beneath the sky
Feel when they gux.e on what is clear
The dreadful thought that it must die !
That desolating thought which comes
Into men's happiest hours and homes,
Whose melancholy boding flings
Death's shadow o'er the brightest things,
Sicklies the maiden's bloom, and spreads
The grave beneath young lovers' heads ! MOORE.
BY the agency of the powerful medicines administered,
Erminie's high excitement was calmed. The beautiful,
tossing arms were stilled, and lay lightly resting on the
coverlet. The fiery flush died out of her cheeks, the terri-
ble light softened in her eyes, and her lovely face, now
white and motionless as marble, lay reposing in perfect
peace upon her pillow.
Elfie watched on one side of her bed, and Catherine on
the other.
Major Fielding and Captain Ethel forbore to go out, even
for a walk. In their keen anxiety for the patient, and their
earnest desire to render assistance should their services
be required, they remained in the library, reading or pre-
tending to read, but really listening and watching for every
sound and sight that could suggest anything relative to the
condition of Erminie.
Dr. Burney came three times in the course of that day.
Major Fielding and his daughter asked the physician
many questions concerning the nature of the sufferer's ill-
ness, and the chances of her recovery, and they received
answers from him which were intended to be encouraging,
but which were really depressing.
Miss Eosenthal's brain and nervous system were very
much affected, he said. The disease was paroxysmal in its
24
886 HOW HE WON HER,,
tendency. She was now composed, and if a reaction into
fever and delirium could be prevented, she would do well.
This was all the satisfaction they could get from her
medical attendant.
Ah, "if."
Every means, short of drugging her into the sleep of
death with sedatives and opiates, were taken to prevent a
relapse into her fearful frenzy.
Elfie sat by the bed all night, and administered all the
medicines with her own hands, and kept ice to the head and
mustard to the feet and wrists of her patient.
But all this was in vain, or attended with only a partial
Towards midnight Erminie's cheeks and lips began to
flush ; she moved restlessly, and muttered in her sleep.
Elfie renewed the medicine, the ice and the mustard, but
with little effect.
The evil symptoms increased rapidly, and before morning
Erminie was again, with blazing eyes and burning cheeks,
raving and tossing in an agony of fever and frenzy.
In the extremity of terror Elfie dispatched first her
father and then Captain Ethel, who were both watching the
night out in the library, to fetch the physician.
But Dr. Burney happened to be with a lady patient whom
he could not leave abruptly, and so it followed that the sun
rose before he made his appearance by Erminie's bedside.
A fearful, a terrible vision, met him there. The beautiful
and angelic girl seemed to be turned into a raging and
foaming demoniac; and it required the united efforts of Elfie
and Catharine to hold her down on her bed.
Violent remedies had to be resorted to now to allay the
frightful cerebral excitement cupping, leeching and bleed-
ing were tried in turn; and in reducing the sufferer to
calmness, they almost reduced her to death.
And her medical attendant knew, and her anxious friend
THE DEATH WATCH. 387
feared, that as the second attack of frenzy had heen more
violent than the first, so the third attack must be the most
violent, and would prohably end in death.
Thus the approaching night was anticipated in horrible
dread.
Meanwhile Erminie lay in the collapse of exhaustion
pale and faded as a broken lily without motion, speech, or
color, almost without blood, breath, or life.
From time to time Elfie, weeping and watching, moistened
the poor girl's lips with a little melted ice.
Towards evening there seemed to be a change. Erminie
moved and sighed. And then opened her eyes and breathed.
Elfie bent over her.
" Why " began Erminie, and then she ceased.
Elfie bent lower, and softly inquired :
" What is that you say, dear ? "
" Why am I " again commenced Erminie, with an
effort ; but again her voice failed for weakness.
" Why are you here in bed, do you mean to ask, dear ? "
suggested Elfie. .
Erminie nodded.
" You over-exerted yourself and have had an attack of
illness ; but you are better now much better, thank
Heaven," answered Elfie, cheerfully.
" How bloodless they " panted Erminie, looking with
surprise at her pale fingers, and speaking in the feeble and
pointless way common with persons affected as she was, and
breaking down before she finished her sentence.
" They were always very white, you know, dear, those
fair fingers," said Elfie, encouragingly.
" No rosy rosy-tipped " murmured Erminie, who,
when she had been well in mind and body, had been with^
out the least vanity.
" So they will be again, dear. Never mind your fingers.
Will you try to swallow a teaspoonful of this arrow -root ? "
coaxed Elfie.
388 HOW HE WON HER.
Erminie, apparently only to please her nurse, nodded
assent and opened her mouth like a bird to receive the atom
of nourishment. But the effort was too much for her weak-
ness, and when she had swallowed it she gulped, shuddered
and shook her head in refusal of anything more.
After a little while she raised her eyes so wistfully to her
nurse that Elfie bent down over her to hear what she might
have to say.
"How long have " breathed Erminie, faintly,
breaking off.
" How long have you been ill, do you mean, dear ? Only
since the day before yesterday," replied Elfie.
"What makes so weak ? " panted Erminie.
" Only your illness ; but you are better now, and you will
soon be strong again."
You think so ? "
" I know so, dearest. But you must not fatigue yourself
by talking so much. Try to sleep."
And before Elfie had well spoken this advice, Erminie
had dropped as suddenly into sleep as a stone falls into a
well.
But this sleep was not quiet like the preceding one.
As evening approached the sleeper became restless : toss-
ing her limbs about, rolling her head, and rolling her eyes,
and muttering in approaching delirium.
But why should I repeat the horrors of that second
night ? It was but a reproduction of those of the first
one. ,
Again desperate remedies were applied to meet violent
symptoms. And again the frenzy was subdued to quiet-
ness, but the sufferer meanwhile brought nearly to dissolu-
tion. And her medical attendant might well have said,
with the conqueror of old :
" Another such a victory and I am ruined."
By noon next day Erminie lay in sleep or stupor, with
THE DEATH WATCH. 389
scarcely a sign of life in her aspect, with scarcely a hope of
life in prospect.
Elfie was forced to leave her for a few hours, that she
Elfie might recruit herself with a bath and a nap.
But early in the afternoon the faithful girl was again by
the bedside of her friend.
To her surprise she thought she saw symptoms of a
favorable change.
Erminie was breathing softly. She opened her eyes, and
seeing Elfie, tried to put out her hand.
Elfie took that pale hand and kissed it, and then stooped
and kissed the still paler brow.
Elfie ! " breathed the sick girl.
" What is it, dearest ? "
"Must I die?"
"Nonsense, no, my dear, you are in no sort of danger."
Erminie smiled sadly and turned away her eyes.
Presently her lips moved as if she would have spoken, and
Elfie stooped to hear.
I W ant "
" What, dear Erminie ? "
" My pastor please."
" I will send for him, dear Erminie."
" Soon now ! " panted the sinking girl.
" Yes, now, dearest, you shall have him," said Elfie, who
beckoned to Catherine to take her place at the bedside ; and
then left the room to have the wish of her friend gratified.
Dr. Sales, the beloved and venerated pastor of the
Rosenthal family had, since her father's death, stood in a
father's position towards Erminie.
With the deepest distress he had heard of that good girl's
illness. He had called every day to sfttf 3r or to aak after
her.
He had not yet been permitted to make his presence
known to her. But once or twice, while she lay in stupor,
390 HOW HE WON HEK.
he had stood over her unconscious form, gazing anxiously
down on her death-like face ; or he had knelt beside her bed,
praying silently for her recovery.
It was, therefore, without surprise that Elfie, when she
went down stairs, found the pastor waiting in the hall.
" Oh, Dr. Sales, I am so glad to see you ! I had just
come down to send for you," she eagerly exclaimed.
" How is our dear child this morning ? " anxiously in-
quired the pastor.
Elfie burst into tears.
" Worse ? " breathlessly demanded the old man.
" Oh, how can I tell you ? Heaven only knows ! Her
last paroxysm of fever and delirium was less violent ; but
then such powerful depletives have been used ; and it has
left her weak almost unto death. But she is conscious now,
and has asked for you."
" Can you show me at once into her room ? "
" Oh yes, come," said Elfie, softly leading the way up-
stairs and into Erminie's chamber.
Catherine still sat beside the bed fanning the sinking
girl, who had again suddenly dropped into sleep or stupor ;
it was impossible to say which.
" You will not disturb her ? " whispered Elfie, anxiously.
" Certainly not. I will sit here quietly until she awakens
or returns to consciousness," replied the pastor, in a low
tone.
At a sign from Elfie the girl Catherine arose and left the
room. And the pastor seated himself in the vacant chair,
and took the palm leaf and fanned Erminie, while he watched
for her awakening.
And the room Was very cool, shady, and quiet, and so the
sleeper lay calmly Deposing for nearly an hour, and then she
softly opened her eyes and looked with a gentle, bewildered
gaze upon the figure of the preacher seated by her bed.
" Do you know me, my child ? " whispered the pastor.
THE DEATH WATCH. 391
She feebly moved her hand and smiled.
" You sent for me, dear child," went on Dr. Sales.
She nodded, and then turned her eyes anxiously towards
Elfie, who came and bent down to hear what Erminie should
have to say.
" Something to give me " Erminie panted and stopped.
" Strength, do you mean, my dear ? " inquired Elfie.
Erminie nodded.
Elfie poured out some liquid from a vial into a spoon and
put it to her lips.
Erminie swallowed with difficulty, but seemed to be revived
by the dose.
" Now, dear, go and leave me with my pastor please,"
she murmured.
And Elfie gave the purport of these words to the pastor,
and then left the room.
Erminie turned her fading eyes upon the anxious face of
her old friend.
He stooped over her to hear what she might wish to
say.
" Dear friend, must I die ? " she whispered.
" I pray not I earnestly pray not, my child," answered
the pastor, with ill-suppressed emotion.
" But you believe that I must."
No, no"
" Don't try to deceive y/mrself or me, dear friend. You
believe that I must die. All the others seem to know that
I must. I see it in every face."
" My child, my child, the Lord of Heaven and earth is
also the Lord of life and death. He is able to save to the
uttermost the body as well as the soul. Pray and believe
and live," said the pastor, trying to control his agitation.
" I would rather submit myself to His will. I do not fear
death. But "
Erminie paused, her strength failed, her senses wandered
for a moment, her eyes filmed over, and her chin dropped.
392 HOW HE WON HER.
Was it a swoon ? Or was it death ?
In great disturbance Dr. Sales poured some Cologne watei
upon a fresh handkerchief, and bathed her head and face, and
held it to her nose, that she might inhale the reviving
And in a few moments he had the comfort of seeing her
draw a deep breath and open her eyes. She did not know
that she had fainted, for she took up the sentence just where
she had left it off.
" For the sake of others, I ought to know my condition, so
as to arrange my affairs."
" My child, you are fatiguing yourself too much. Let me
entreat you to be quiet."
" No ; I must speak while I can. I feel I have no
strength to make any but a verbal will. And Justin is
not here. And so you will listen to me."
" Speak on, then, dear child, but take your time do not
weary yourself."
And with many pauses and rests between her words, Er-
minie spoke.
" You know, dear friend, the large property left me by my
uncles ? "
" Yes."
" Well, if I die without a will, Justin, as my heir-at-law,
will come into possession of the whole."
" Certainly."
" And I cannot make a will, but I know that I can trust
my dear brother to execute my wishes as conscientiously as
if they were expressed in the most legally drawn up testa-
ment that ever was framed."
" Indeed you may, my dear," replied the pastor, as he
once more bathed her face and head in the reviving Cologne
water.
"Well, please tell Justin, then, my last dying wishes."
The doctor took out his note-book and pencil to assist hia
memory, if future need should be.
THE DEATH WATCH. 393
u I wish Justin to take one-third of the whole of my
property for himself, and to give a second third to Brito-
inarte Conyers, whom I feel sure that he will eventually
marry, and to give the remaining third "
Dr. Sales wrote all this down in his note-hook, and then
looked up to see why Erminie did not continue. And he
saw that she had again grown deadly faint.
" Oh, Father in Heaven ! she is hastening her own death
hy all this effort," cried the pastor, in deep distress, as he
threw down his note-book and caught up a bottle of Cologne
water and freely bathed her face, head and hands.
Again she rallied, smiled, and pointed to the note book,
mutely begging him to take it up and proceed with his
work.
" My child, my child, you are too feeble for all this exer-
tion. I must insist upon your resting for awhile," said Dr.
Sales.
"Kest long rest will come very soon. But now I
must go on," persisted the sinking girl, pointing to the note
book.
Dr. Sales shook his head. Erminie turned on him an
imploring look, and her eyes filled with tears.
" You cannot resist the prayer of the dying, and the
most important part of my bequest is behind. The remain-
ing third "
Here, with a sigh, Dr. Sales took up his note book.
" The remaining third of my property I wish Justin
to devote to the relief of the aged and indigent mothers left
destitute by the death of their soldier sons."
The pastor wrote this down and then looked up for further
instructions.
" That is all," said Erminie, simply.
Dr. Sales would willingly have inquired her reasons for
making this bequest to the mothers rather than to the
widows and orphans of the war ; but he refrained from
taxing her strength with an explanation.
394 HOW HE WON HER.
She, however, saw the question in his face, and freely
answered it.
"Every one thinks of the widows and orphans of the
war. All the concerts and fairs got up for the sufferers
hy the war are for the widows and orphans. And this is
right so far as it goes, for the widows and orphans must be
cared for. But no one thinks of the aged and indigent
mothers whose sons have fallen in battle. And this is all
wrong ; for these old mothers are perhaps the greatest suf-
ferers of all. The widow may find another husband, and the
orphan another father, but the desolate mother who has lost
her son in battle finds never another to fill his place in the
' aching void ' of her heart. Therefore will I try to relieve
the wants, if I cannot comfort the hearts, of the mothers."
These last words were almost inaudible, and before
they were well uttered, the fair young saint had fainted
quite away.
In the utmost distress Dr. Sales rang the bell, which
brought Catherine and Elfie to the room.
All the three used their best efforts to restore the
swooning girl.
And after some time these efforts were rewarded with
success.
The excitement of her interview with Dr. Sales had
been far too great for the strength of the sinking girl.
She recovered from her swoon of exhaustion, but it was
only to pass into a state of nervous restlessness, that speedily
progressed into feverish delirium and arose to raging
frenzy.
Another awful night with the sufferer tried all the endur-
ance of her attendants.
It was late in the morning before the raving madness
subsided and the patient sank into a fatal coma.
The visit of the physician in the forenoon left not a hope
in the world for her life.
THE DEATH WATCH. S95
The minister came and prayed by her bedside, but she
heard him not.
She lay in a stupor that every one felt must end in
death.
"And her brother has not arrived!" exclamed Elfie,
wringing her hands.
" But she has left her last words for him with me," said
Dr. Sales.
The physician went away, feeling certain that at his next
visit he should see the white crape badge upon the door that
should warn him a bright young life had left the earth.
The minister remained in the room, watching with Elfie
beside the death-bed, and praying God for strength for all
to bear the approaching, overwhelming bereavement.
The house was kept very quiet very unreasonably so,
since nothing on earth could now disturb the calm dreamer
on the bed. But nevertheless it was kept so very quiet.
Straw was laid before the line of garden wall fencing the
road, tp deaden even at that distance the sound of passing
vehicles. The door-knocker was muffled and the wires of
the bells were cut. Locks and hinges were oiled. And
every man and woman in the place wore list slippers, and
moved in silence and murmured in whispers.
Very, very still was the place. So that there was no
warning of the approaching traveller, until the door of the
sick room softly opened and Catherine crept in and whis-
pered to Elfie :
" Mr. Justin has come."
With the old familiar household servants Colonel Kosen-
thal was still Mr. Justin.
Elfie started up, and signing to Catherine to take her
place, slipped out of the room and down stairs and passed
into the library, where she naturally expected to find
Justin.
He was pacing silently up and down the floor. On her
entrance he turned quickly and demanded eagerly :
896 HOW HE WON HER.
How is she ? How is she ? "
"Oh, Justin!" exclaimed Elfie, dropping into a chair
and bursting into tears.
"Dead? dead?" cried Justin, breathlessly, starting
towards her and seizing her hand.
" Not yet ! not yet ! Oh, Justin ! "
But dying ? "
Elfie nodded her head and burst into heavier sobs.
Justin threw himself into a chair, covered his face with
his hands and groaned in anguish.
And so they remained a few moments Elfie sobbing
heavily, Justin struggling for composure.
At length Elfie arose and with a still heaving bosom
went to her companion and said :
" You had better see her now while while she while
she still lives."
" Is she conscious ? " groaned Justin.
Elfie shook her head.
" Oh, how how did she take this fatal fever ? " inquired
Justin, as he arose to follow his conductor.
" How ? Can you doubt ? By her unremitted devotion to
the soldiers in the hospitals. Oh, Justin, Justin ! If ever
yet a young saint won a crown of martyrdom, your sister
will. She visited the fever wards that every one else except
surgeons and nurses avoided. She ministered to scores of
the fever-stricken, and comforted and saved many. But
now, you will see the end."
As Elfie murmured these last words they reached the
door of Erminie's chamber, which had been left standing
open for the freer ventilation of the room.
" Come in," said Elfie, leading the way.
Justin, with a depressed and reverend bearing, followed
Elfie up to the bedside of his sister.
Dr. Sales and Catherine were in attendance, but both
silently made way for the afflicted brother, who now stood
gazing upon the wreck of his beautiful only slate.-.
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR. 397
There she lay, still, white, cold and almost lifeless as
marble.
Justin's great frame shook with the terrible storm of
sorrow that he could not wholly repress.
For a few moments the venerable pastor held back in
respect to the sacredness of the brother's grief. Then he
went slowly to the side of Justin, took his hand, and said :
" You know how much I feel with you. My grief and
sense of loss is scarcely less than your own. But we know
also where to look for strength to endure."
Justin wrung the pastor's hand in silence, and then sunk
down in the chair that some friendly hand had placed for
him.
Leaving the three faithful guardians by the bedside of the
sinking girl, Elfie went down to have all manner of com-
forts and refreshments prepared for the new!} 7 arrived
brother. And then, when she had made everything ready,
she returned to the chamber of Erminie, and whispered to
Justin that his dressing-room was prepared, and that his
luncheon would be put upon the table as soon as he should
be ready to eat it.
More for the purpose of getting away to indulge his sor-
row in solitude than for any other reason, Justin arose and
left the chamber.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR.
Hushed wore his angel's lips, but still their bland
And beautiful expressiou seemed to melt
With love that could not die. CAMPBELL.
" You should lie down and try to get some rest, my poor
child. You look quite worn out/' whispered Dr. Sales,
398 HOW HE WON HER.
looking compassionately on Elfie's thin, white face, and
tremulous frame.
" I will, when Justin returns to the room. I must sleep
an hour or two this afternoon, so as to be able to watch with
her through the night, if indeed she should live so long,"
assented Elfie.
And when Justin resumed his place by the bedside, Elfie
retired to seek her much needed sleep, warning them all to
have her called if any change should take place in Errninie.
It was as well Elfie went away when she did, for if she
had remained in the sick room five minutes longer, no one
would have been able to persuade her to go to rest.
For scarcely was the tired girl safe within her sanctuary,
before old Frederica came hobbling up stairs, and put her
head into the door of the sick-room.
Justin arose softly and went to her.
" What is it, Frederica ? " he asked.
" I want Miss Elfie."
"She has gone to lie down. She must not be disturbed
on any account. Can I supply her place ? "
"Well, she asked for Miss Elfie, sir. But if Miss Elfie
can't see her, I suppose you can."
See who ? "
" Miss Conyers, sir."
"Miss CONYERS !" exclaimed Justin.
And all the joy his sorrow could admit for companionship
rushed into his heart. But then came wonder and perplex-
ity, and he repeated slowly " Miss Conyers ? "
" Yes, sir, Miss Conyers, and she's just offen a long jour-
ney, and she looks completely wored out."
" I will see her immediately," said Justin.
And he stole to the bedside, whispered the news of the
arrival to Dr. Sales, and then he followed old Frederica
from the room, and down the stairs.
He opened the library door.
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR. 399
There stood Britomarte, sun-burned, dusty, travel-stained,
almost unrecognizable, but undoubtedly Britomarte.
l ' Britomarte ! Miss Conyers ! " exclaimed Justin, going
towards her with both hands stretched forth.
She met him and seized his hands as she exclaimed :
" How is your sister ? How is my dear Erminie ? "
" Oh, Britomarte ! Oh, my friend, in what an hour of
sorrow we meet ! "
" She is not gone ? " hurriedly breathed Miss Conyers.
" No, not gone, but she is an angel prepared for Heaven,
and she is going," groaned Justin.
" Oh, what is it ? What is it that is killing her ? " wept
Britomarte.
Justin told her, as Elfie had told him :
" A malignant fever, caught in the hospital during her
attendance upon the sick soldiers."
Elfie ? where is she ? How is she ? "
" Well, except that she is very much fatigued with inces-
sant watching. She is gone to lie down for a few hours."
" And when can I see my dear Erminie ? "
"At any time. Nothing disturbs her now. Would to
Heaven it could. But I warn you, dear Britomarte, that
the sight will almost break your heart."
" Take me to her, please," said Miss Conyers, rising and
taking off her dusty bonnet and shawl.
Justin led the way up stairs to the chamber of death, and
Britomarte went up to the bedside and stood gazing upon
the ruins of her beautiful friend as Justin had gazed before ;
and the watchers now made way for her as they had once
made way for him; and after a few minutes Britomarte sank,
sobbing, upon her knees, and buried her head in the bed-
clothes.
They let her weep on undisturbed until the storm of grief
had exhausted its violence and left her quiet, and then Jus-
tin and Dr. Sales approached, and each took a hand of hers,
400 HOW HE WON HEE.
and they raised her from the floor and placed her on the
chair.
"Your grief is one that is shared by us all. All who
knew and loved her will be awfully bereaved. Only God
can comfort us," said the pastor, gravely, as he pressed the
hand of Miss Conyers.
At that moment old Frederica again appeared at the door,
ushering in the medical attendant.
The physician in solemn silence shook hands with Dr.
Sales, Justin and Britomarte, and then proceeded to examine
his patient.
He lingered some fifteen or twenty minutes at the bedside
with his finger on her pulse, his eyes on her countenance, or
his ear near her lips counting, watching, or listening for
the ebb, or flow, or pause of the currents of life.
At length he made his report : no change in the patient
for better or worse. He gave his prescriptions, certain
draughts and powders, to be administered under certain con-
tingencies ; and he issued his orders to be summoned imme-
diately should any change take place in her, and then he
took leave and went away.
The afternoon passed off and no change took place in Er-
minie. She lay on her bed, like a dead girl on her bier, or
like a stone effigy on a tomb, and her watchers sat around
her motionless as statues.
As for Elfie, shut away in her distant room, she slept the
deep sleep of weariness until after sunset, when she awoke
with a start, feeling guilty that she had slept so long. Be-
fore even hurrying on her clothes, she threw a large shawl
around her and slipped down the back stairs to inquire of
Frederica about Erin in ie.
" She is still the same no better, but no worse," replied
the housekeeper. " And now, Miss Elfie, you had better go
back to your room and take a 'freshing bath ; and by the
time you are dressed, I will bring you a cup of tea and a
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR. 401
round of toast," added old Frederica, wisely suppressing the
fact of Miss Conyers' arrival, lest Elfie, in her impatience to
meet her friend, should deprive herself of the comfort and
refreshment so much needed.
So Elfie, ignorant of Britomarte's presence in the house,
took her bath and afterwards her tea, and feeling refreshed
and strengthened, went immediately to the sick room, and
walked directly to the bed where Erminie still lay, a beauti-
ful, white, motionless form, and where the watchers still sat
like statues.
In the absorption of all her thoughts with the subject of
the sick girl, Elfie had not noticed that there was a stranger
present. She looked down upon the marble face, pressed
her lips to the cold mouth and the colder brow, laid her hand
upon the faintly beating heart, dropped fast tears upon the
quiescent form, and murmured :
"No change! no change! Oh, Heaven, will she pass
away in this manner, without recognizing any of her friends ?
What does the doctor say, Justin ? "
"He can give no decided opinion," sighed the brother.
Then, seeing that Elfie's attention continued to be so fixed
upon the patient that she entirely overlooked the visitor, he
added :
" Elfie, do you see Miss Conyers ? "
And Britomarte arose and held out her hand.
Elfie gave a start and uttered a cry that must have aroused
any patient not in a state of coma.
" You you here ! Where did you drop from ? When
did you come ? Oh ! but I am so glad to see you ; or I
should be so, if I could feel glad of anything now," eagerly
yet cautiously exclaimed Elfie, in half suppressed excitement
and a half smothered voice.
" I came last from Baltimore. I got here at two o'clock
this afternoon," whispered Miss Conyers.
25
402 HOW HE WON HER.
" At two o'clock ! That was just when I laid down*
Why didn't they call me ? "
" We would not permit you to be disturbed," said Brito-
marte.
" My dear Elfie," said Justin, " Miss Conyers has arrived
off a long and dusty journey, and needs hospitable atten-
tions of all sorts. May I ask you to take my dear sister's
place as hostess, and do the honors of the house to her ? "
" Of course, of course," hurriedly whispered Elfie ; and
she beckoned Britomarte, who followed her from the room.
First Elfie gave orders to old Frederica to prepare a light
repast for the guest. And then she led Britomarte to a
chamber up stairs, where she supplied her with water, towels,
and a complete change of clothes.
And afterwards, while Miss Conyers sat drinking tea,
she poured into her ear the history of her strange meeting
with Goldsborough in the hospital, and his tragic death.
Much of this Britomarte had heard before, by letters
from Erminie ; but now she heard for the first time the
full particulars of the affair.
Elfie then talked of Erminie and her fatal devotion to
the sufferers in the fever wards of the hospital, and the
martyrdom in which that devotion was about to end. And
at that point she burst into tears.
" Take comfort," said Miss Conyers. " I have watched
her attentively for the last five or six hours. And friends
and physicians may all be mistaken at last ; and youth and
constitution may eventually triumph."
" Well, 1 hope so ; or rather I would hope if I could,"
sighed Elfie, despondently.
And then they talked of other matters.
Elfie had her own theory, true or false, of Britomarte's
hidden life ; and so she forbore to ask Miss Conyers any
questions about her manner of existence.
And indeed in a little while they returned to the sick
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR. 403
room, where the beautiful Erininie still lay on her bed like
a dead girl on her bier.
The gentlemen went down stairs to their late and com-
fortless dinner; for meals were now very irregular in this
house of woe.
After dinner Dr. Sales went away.
And that evening the watch for the night was arranged
in this manner:
"Elfie, having been refreshed by her long afternoon's nap,
was to sit up from eight o'clock until two, and then she
was to be relieved by Britomarte.
Miss Conyers, being fatigued by her long journey, was
to go to bed at eight o'clock, and rest until two, when she
was to rise and relieve Elfie.
Accordingly, at eight o'clock Britomarte retired ; and
Elfie having drank several large cups of strong green tea
to keep herself wide awake, took her seat in the big easy
chair near the head of Erminie's bed.
She had nothing to do but to think. She could neither
read nor sew ; for there was no light in the room but the
dim taper that burnt upon the hearth. The whole house
was very silent. The three gentlemen, Justin, Major
Fielding, Captain Ethel, were reading, or trying to read, in
the library below.
The two servants, old Frederica and Catherine, her niece,
were seated in their kitchen.
And the one man servant, old Bob, was dozing in a sort
of porter's chair in the hall near the front door, to be easily
within call.
Elfie looked forward wearily, drearily to her six hours of
lonely vigilance. Nothing but her love for Erminie could
have borne through its solitude and tediousness.
Even the first two hours, between eight and ten, when
she had waking company in the house, seemed awful in
solitude and interminable in tediousness.
404 HOW HE WON HER.
All was so silent that she heard the sound of the very
first footfalls of the family preparing to retire, and it filled
her with a strange, nervous Sense of desolation and dread.
First came the echo of the distant steps of the women
servants going by the hack stairs to their rooms in the
attic.
Next came the three gentlemen np the front stairs.
They all paused at the door of the sick room, to hear the
last report of Erminie's condition before taking a final
leave for the night.
Elfie went to meet them and gave her cheerless bulletin
No change."
Justin came in on tip-toes and gazed mournfully on his
sister for a few moments, and then kissed her pallid brow
and stole away.
And the three gentlemen went up another flight of stairs,
separated to their several apartments and retired to bed.
Lastly Elfie heard Old Bob drag his mattress up the
kitchen stairs and along the hall to the front door, across
which he laid it down ; for there, like a big watch-dog, he
slept all night to guard the door, and also to be at hand to
let the doctor in should he call during the night or very
early in the morning. The tumbling rather than the laying
down of Old Bob on his mattress was the last social sound
that Elfie heard to keep her company.
After that all about the house was as still as the tomb.
Though Elfie hated snorers, now. so nervous and excitable
did she feel, that she would have been glad to hear Old
Bob snore most sonorously. But apparently the porter was
a deep and silent sleeper.
Every five or ten minutes Elfie stooped over her patient ;
but the still white face, so like the face of the dead, filled
her with terror. She could sometimes scarcely forbear
screaming and running from the room. But she controlled
herself and watched on.
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR. 405
" What has come over me ? " she asked of herself. " I
am naturally no coward ; and yet here I am listening and
watching and starting as if expected to hear, or see, or
suffer something hideous. Is it that I am out of sorts
through broken rest and irregular meals fatigue of body
and anxiety of mind ? Or is it the effect of the green tea ?
Or is it the near proximity of death that gives all my sur-
roundings a supernatural aspect and throws over my spirit
an atmosphere of awe and dread ? I will walk awhile."
And so saying, Elfie arose and paced up and down the
floor. Her feet, cased in velvet slippers and walking over
a soft carpet, made no noise. So Elfie paced back and forth
many times, until she had walked a mile or two, if the dis-
tance had all been stretched out in a line.
Then when she had thoroughly fatigued herself, she sat
down again in her easy chair. Her act had been a very
imprudent one ; it had tired her and made her sleepy.
Indeed, she was just dropping off to sleep when the striking
of the clock aroused her.
It was a very softly, silvery sounding clock ; but it was
enough to startle an irritable napper; and Elfie awoke with
a spring, thinking that she had very nearly fallen asleep j
but having no idea that she really had done so.
The clock chimed twelve.
And Elfie, to occupy her mind and keep herself awake,
commenced quoting poetry ; another imprudent act, for how-
ever appropriate were the lines to the time and scene, they
were ill chosen for the occasion, because they made her the
more nervous, though not the less sleepy. The lines she
quoted were these :
" "Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion on the world."
And so on to the end.
Before Elfie got to the end she had dropped asleep again,
406 HOW HE WON HER.
and she slept on until she was once more aroused by the
silvery striking of the clock. It chimed "one," and she
sprang up with a guilty pang.
" Goodness ! I had nearly been asleep again. One o'clock !
well, the time does pass. Only one hour more of this dread-
ful watch. I must try to keep awake somehow. It will
never do to let Britomarte catch me, a sentinel, sleeping on
my post. She is used to military discipline, and might take
it into her head that I ought to be shot. And indeed I
think she would be right. What a brute I am, even to feel
like going to sleep beside this dying angel ! " exclaimed Elfie,
rising and looking over her charge.
" No change oh, no change, my poor, sweet martyr," she
said, as she kissed the pale brow and then resumed her seat.
" Yes, I must keep awake somehow. Let me try more
poetry, though nothing but the horrible recurs to my memory
to-night," said Elfie, yawning.
" Now o'er the one-half world
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreaius abuse
x The curtained sleep ; now witchcraft "
Elfie lost herself, nodded forward, caught herself up and
began again, "Now witchcraft," and nodded, and then re-
sumed, " Witchcraft," and then she fell fast asleep.
Now what followed Elfie could never exactly account for,
could never even understand whether it were reality or
" witchcraft," indeed. '
But this was what took place, or seemed to do so.
Elfie thought that she was again on the point of dropping
to sleep, when she became conscious that a tall, handsome,
black-haired and black-dressed man stood beside her. She
seemed only half awake, and took the man for Justin, and
was about to speak to him, when she suddenly recognized
the Eebel General Eastworth, supposed to be then in the
entrenched lines of Charleston, helping to defend the city,
but also reported to have been killed in the last assault by
the Union forces.
THE GHOSTLY VISITOR. 407
Before Elfie recovered from her astonishment so as to be
able to call out, the man, or the ghost, whichever it was,
stretched forth his arm, and placed a moist sponge, envel-
oped in a white handkerchief, to her nose. And Elfie
was at once exhilarated and overwhelmed by a strange, de-
licious odor, that intoxicated her with a wild yet sweet
delirium, and deprived her of both the will and the power to
change her position.
Sitting there, perfectly powerless, yet perfectly conscious,
unable to move or to speak, she yet heard and saw all that
The tall man pinned the sponge in the handkerchief to her
boddice directly under her nose, so that, with her head rest-
ing on her breast, she must continue to breathe the fumes.
Then he turned and dropped on his knees by the bed so
as to bring his dark, agonized brow nearer to the level of the
beautiful pale face pillowed there, and he kissed the cold lips
passionately and wept.
" Oh ! my dearest, my dearest, is it even so ? I am here
at the risk of my life, of my honor, only to look upon your
sweet eyes once more before they are hidden forever in the
grave, only to hear your gentle voice speak forgiveness before
it is hushed forever in death ! But your eyes are closed
your lips are mute and your wings are already spread for
Heaven ! Oh, Erminie ! Erminie ! how could I ever have
weighed my mad ambition against your holy love ! Oh, my
darling ! my darling ! that I could offer up my life in ransom
for yours ! I would give my life to restore you, my love !
nay, I would give my life merely to hoar those sweet silent
lips speak one word forgiveness ! "
And here the strong man bowed his head upon the sides
of the bed and wept convulsively.
And now came the strangest part of the strange vision.
Elfie, witnessing all that occurred, as in a nightmare
dream from which she sought in vain to wake, saw also this
strange phenomenon.
408 HOW HE WON HER.
The white-robed form of Erminie slowly arose to a sitting
posture ; the golden glory of her auburn hair fell around
her like a halo ; her face shone " as the face of an angel ; "
she stretched forth her fair arms and let her fair hands fall
softly and slowly as snow-flakes upon the bowed black head
beneath them ; and she murmured, in a grave, sweet, silvery
cadence :
" 'Tis not for me to say the Heavenly word. But you
sought me and I love you. You saved my dear father from
a dreadful doom, aud I bless you. May the Lord speak
forgiveness to your soul, my love."
Yes, to Elfie's incredulous amazement, she who, for
twenty-four hours, had lain on her bed " like a marble girl
on a marble slab," incapable of being moved to conscious-
ness by the gentle words and caresses of her only brother,
or by the tender tears and kisses of her bosom friend, had
been stirred to life and roused to response by the passionate
appeal of her ghostly lover !
Simultaneously with this strange discovery, there was a
ringing as of many bells in Elfie's ears, a dancing as of
many lights in Elfie's eyes, and the whole vision was
whirled away from her in a delirious carnival of glory.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
ELFIE'S VISION.
Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence
Speak, I charge ye ! SHAKSPEABK.
" ELFIE ! why, Elfie, wake up."
It was the voice of Britomarte, speaking in a low but
eager tone as she gently shook the girl to rouse her.
ELFIE'S VISION. 409
Elfie yawned, stretched her arms, and gazed around in
perplexity.
"Elfie ! what, Elfie ! asleep on your post ! In the army
we I mean they shoot sentinels for such derelictions from
duty," said Miss Conyers.
Qw ow ow ! " gaped Elfie, " is he gone ? "
" Gone ! Who gone ? "
" General Eastworth, or his fetch ! "
" General Eastworth ! You are dreaming, Elfie. Wake
up ! I wonder that you should have allowed yourself to go
to sleep."
" I have not been asleep for one minute not for one
minute during my whole six hours' watch, though I have
been near dropping off several times ; but I managed to
keep wide awake," said Elfie, with the usual self-delusion of
such drowsy delinquents.
" Why, Elfie, I found you sleeping so soundly that I
could scarcely wake you."
" Ow ow ow ! " yawned the culprit. " I tell you I have
not been asleep one instant. I have been chlo ro formed
by General Eastworth. That's what's the matter."
Chloroformed by General Eastworth ! ' Why, Elfie,
you are not even yet awake. You are still dreaming and
talking in your sleep. House yourself, girl ! "
" Rouse myself, indeed. I never was so broad awake
in the whole course of my life as I have been within the
last hour. My eyes have been stretched so wide open with
astonishment that I don't believe I shall ever be able to
close them again. General Eastworth, or his fetch, has been
here, and Erminie has spoken with him. There what do
you think of that ? "
" I think you are talking at random. I think you are
still under the influence of your dream. You must have
been very far gone in the ' land of Nod ' to be so long in
getting back again. It is well that your patient has lain so
410 HOW HE WON HEK.
quietly all this while as not to need your attentions," said
Miss Conyers, in a rebuking manner. " I wonder how long
you slept. Can you remember what hour the clock struck
last ? " she inquired.
" I should think I could," replied Elfie, crossly, for she
was irritated at the incredulity of her friend " I should
just think I could ! I was broad awake, repeating a passage
of Shakspeare to myself, suitable to the time and circum-
stances, when I heard the clock strike ' one/ and at the same
time I saw standing by me a man."
Nonsense, Elfie ! "
" No, it was a man. First I thought it was Justin come
in to ask after his sister. And I looked up to speak to him,
and then I recognized General Eastworth. The sight
of him here, and at this hour, took away my breath, and
before I could recover it he chloroformed me not at first to
insensibility, but to powerlessness. I could neither move
nor speak, but I saw and heard all that went on. The
Eebel General Eastworth has been here in this room within
the last hour. And Erminie has spoken with him."
" Elfie, this is moonstruck madness."
" No, it isn't ; it is truth and soberness. He bent over
her, wept over her, knelt by her bed and apostrophized her
as one does the dead. And she rose up and laid her hands
upon his head, and blessed him and forgave him. And then
the whole scene passed from my senses to the ringing of sil-
very bells and the flashing of Drummond lights. I suppose
the chloroform he had pinned under my nose produced its
full effect, and throw me into unconsciousness. But I have
a v y clear recollection of what happened before. And I
am willing to make an affidavit that General Eastworth
has been here, and that Erminie has spoken to him."
" Good Heavens, Elfie, how can you be so utterly
irrational ? General Eastworth is in the besieged city of
Charleston, helping to defend it, if he is not in his grave,
ELFIE 's VISION. 411
as is reported. So it is clearly impossible he could be here.
And, Erminie, see for yourself. She is prostrate, as she has
been for many hours, without sense or motion."
" So I hear you say. But I must believe the evidence of
my own eyes and ears for all that," pouted Elfie.
" I think I can explain this, my dear. You say you
heard the clock strike ' one,' and immediately saw the man
at your side, and the strange play began. Now I will tell
you what probably happened. As the clock struck 'one,'
you fell asleep. In the meantime, our doctor, returning
from some late professional visit, and knowing that old Bob
was sleeping at the hall door, called to see our patient. He
was admitted, and came up into the room, and you, half
awakened by his entrance, and oppressed with indigestion
and nightmare you would eat new cheese for supper, Elfie,
though I warned you not to do it you imagined the harm-
less medical attendant to be the Rebel General, and you
dreamed the rest."
" Well, if I did ! But what is the use of talking to
you matter-of-fact folks ? You believe nothing that isn't
evident to your own senses. I wonder you believe in the
Christian Eevelation ! " angrily exclaimed Elfie.
" Go to bed, my dear, and when you have had a good
wholesome sleep, you will rise in a better and more reasona-
ble mood. And to-morrow we can easily find out from old
Bob if the doctor or any one else called during the night.
Come, Elfie, take my advice and retire," recommended Miss
Conyers.
" ' Retire ' indeed ! Do you think, after the supernatural
horrors of this night, I can retire and compose myself to
sleep ? No indeed ! "
" Then if yon remain here you must compose yourself to
silence, my love. I think 1 see a change coming over our
patient and our talk may disturb her."
" Pray Heaven she may not be rising into another parox-
412 HOW HE WON HER.
ysm of fever and delirium. She could not outlive anothe*
attack," said Elfie, quick to take alarm.
"Be quiet, please," whispered Miss Conyers.
And Elfie sat down on a low stool at the foot of the bed
and said not another word.
Miss Conyers took her place in the large easy chair beside
the head of the bed, from which position she could easily
watch the countenance of Erminie.
The clock struck three and the morning was coming on
apace.
All was cool and quiet in the room ; and another hour
passed slowly by ; arid in the sweet light of the early dawn
the night taper on the hearth burned dimly.
Miss Conyers arose and put it out. And then she went
to the windows and opened them all to let in the light and
air of the lovely summer morning.
Then she -went to the bedside to examine the condition of
her charge. And she saw a change that caused her heart to
leap for joy ! a change for the better, slight, but so decided
that she knew the crisis had passed favorably that physi-
cians and friends had all really been mistaken that youth
and constitution had conquered, and that she, whom they
had all called the " dying girl," was about to recover.
True, Ermiaie lay as still- as she had lain for twenty-four
hours ; but not as cold or death-like. Her face was calm ;
her flesh was soft, warm and moist ; and her breathing was
low, gentle and regular.
" Thank God, thank God ! " breathed Britomarte, sink-
ing on her knees to offer up this ovation of gratitude.
" What is it ? " murmured Elfie.
" SHE WILL LIVE ! " joyfully exclaimed Britomarte, rising
from her knees.
" Oh, thank Heaven ! Oh, what a happiness for Justin
and for us all ! " exclaimed Elfie, in full sympathy.
" But now, my dear," said Miss Conyers, " I must retire
ELFIE'S VISION. 413
a little from the bedside. Her coma has passed into health-
ful sleep, from which she will presently awake. And when
she does awake, she must not, just at first, see me, whom
she is not prepared to see by her bedside. The surprise
might hurt her."
" Certainly, I will take your place here," answered Elfie.
And they were about to effect the change, when a sweet,
low voice stole on their ears :
" Britomarte, dear Britomarte, is that you, love ? When
did you arrive ? "
And calmly, sweetly, naturally, Erminie turned her gentle
eyes and held out her thin hand to welcome her friend.
" My own best loved, my darling, my angel, T am so happy
to see you better," murmured Miss Conyers, with tremulous
tones and tearful eyes.
" And I I am so very glad to see you, too. Have
the servants attended to your wants and made you comfort-
able ? Is your room arranged to your liking ? " affection-
ately inquired Erminie, whose first thoughts on recovering
her consciousness were for the welfare of others. Her voice
was faint, but clear and calm and well sustained as she
spoke.
" They have made me very comfortable, dear girl. Don't
disquiet yourself," replied Miss Conyers, tenderly stroking
Erminie's hair.
" I know the best regulated households will get out of
order when the mistress is ill. And I have been very ill ;
but, thank Heaven, I am better now."
" Yes, thank Heaven, you are better now, sweet friend."
" And you are sure you have not been neglected ? "
Quite sure, dear. You know that Elfie has been ' act-
ing ' mistress during your illness."
" Yes, 'but I know that dear Elfie has been with me all the
time in this room. Whenever I have had a glimpse of con-
sciousness I have seen her by my bed. Dear Elfie ! " con-
414 HOW HE WON HER.
tinned Erminie, turning to her nurse " dear, dear Elfie,
how shall I ever be grateful enough to you ? "
There shall he no such word as grateful ' between you
and me, Erminie. Or, if there must be, it is I who must be
grateful first to the Lord for giving me so dear a friend
and continuing her to me ; and next to you for your love
since childhood, and your protection since the war."
" Don't say that, Elfie," said Erminie.
"Oh, my darling, I am so rejoiced that you are bet-
ter!" exclaimed Elfie.
" So am I," said Erminie, frankly. " I have something
to live for now. And I had rather live, if it please the
Lord. My father is living"
As Erminie spoke these last four inexplicable words, Elfie
started violently, and even Britomarte changed countenance.
They were both alarmed. They both thought that Erminie
had been talking too much and had become dangerously
excited, and that another paroxysm of fever and delirium
was imminent.
But this was not so. With Erminie convalescence had
set in strongly and decidedly, supported by her young and
vigorous constitution. And when the two girls looked again
at Erminie they were reassured by lier perfect ease and
quietness.
" Did you hear me say, girls, that my dear father is liv-
ing ? " she calmly inquired.
" Yes," said Miss Conyers, speaking with an apparent
composure that was very far from her real condition " yes ;
but why do you think so ? I mean, how do you know it ? "
" I will tell you, dear, some other time. Now I do not
feel equal to the theme. And besides Elfie, dear," she
said, turning to her nurse, " I am so hungry."
It was a "word and a blow," for before Erminie had
finished speaking Elfie had whisked from the room.
And in ten minutes she returned with a little tray cov-
ELF IE 'S VISION. 415
ered with a white napkin, and a cup of weak green tea, and
a round of delicate brown toast.
Erminie drank the tea with a great enjoyment, and even
ate a morsel of the toast.
" I could drink another, only I do not think it would he
prudent, and so I will refrain," she said, as she gently
pushed away the tray."
"No, it would not he prudent, dear. When the doctor
comes, we will ask what you may take, and how much of it.
And I only hope he may say you may eat and drink as
much as ever you like of whatever you fancy," said Elfie,
as she removed the little service.
"Elfie, darling, did I dream I saw, or did I really see my
dear brother Justin by my bed ? " inquired Erminie, with
an effort at recollection.
" You really saw him, love. He is in the house," replied
Elfie, very much relieved to find the way opened so easily
for introducing Justin, without too greatly surprising
Erminie in her weak condition.
" I thought so. I had glimpses of consciousness when I
saw you by my bed, and that did not perplex me, because I
knew, of course, that you were always here. But some-
times, in those same glimpses, I seemed to see Justin, and
before I could confirm the impression, I was snatched away
again from all knowledge of surrounding things. When
did he come?"
" Yesterday, a few hours before Britomarte's arrival," said
Elfie.
" It is very early in the morning now ? " inquired
Erminie.
" The sun is just rising."
"And Justin is not up yet. When he rises, let him
know that I want to see him. And now I must rest,
please," said Erminie.
Britomarte and Elfie between them raised her up. Bri-
416 HOW HE WON HER.
tomarte supported her, while Elfie turned and beat up the
pillows, and straightened the sheet. And then they laid
her comfortably down, and made all tidy around her while
she fell asleep.
Then Catherine was called to watch the sleeper, while
Britomarte and Elfie went to make their morning toilets,
and to take the early breakfast of which they stood so much
in need.
Meanwhile the news of Erminie's convalescence spread
through the house, filling every heart with surprise and joy,
for every member of the household dearly loved the amiable
young mistress.
Old Bob, taking up " Mr. Justin's " hot water, gladdened
the brother's heart with the intelligence of his sister's
rescue from the grave.
And Colonel Rosenthal hastened through his morning
exercises, and hurried down into the library, where he found
Britomarte and Elfie at breakfast.
" Is it true ? " he eagerly inquired, as he joined them, and
before even tendering the conventional " Good morning."
" Thank Heaven, yes. All danger is past," replied Bri-
tomarte.
" Has the doctor said so ? "
"The doctor has not been here this morning. But it
needs no doctor to tell that Erminie is raised from death,"
said Elfie.
" Can I see her now ? " inquired Justin.
" She knows you are here. She has asked to see you as
soon as you should be up and dressed. But she is sleeping
now, and so you must wait until she wakes. Meanwhile,
you had better draw up your chair and take breakfast
with us."
Justin followed this advice and seated himself at the
table.
Domestic affairs were administered in a very easy, not
to say loose manner, since the illness of Erminie.
ELFIE'S VISION. 417
The members of the family and the guests came down to
breakfast when they were ready, and ate it when it was
prepared, without waiting for others.
Thus it happened that our family party were half through
with the morning meal before Major Fielding and Captaia
Ethel made their appearance.
Hot coffee and hot chops were ordered for the new
comers, who, after the morning greetings, took their places
at the table, and the meal progressed.
Major Fielding and Captain Ethel were then made happy
with the news of Erminie's convalescence.
" And the doctor is sure that all danger is past ? " in-
quired Major Fielding.
" We are sure that all danger is past, but the doctor has
not seen her this morning," said Miss Conyers.
" I humbly beg your pardon, Miss," said old Bob, who
was waiting on the table. " I humbly beg your pardon,
Miss, but the doctor have seen her this morning. He have
been here airly, very airly indeed, Miss in fact, before
day."
" Indeed ! " exclaimed Miss Conyers, whose memory im-
mediately reverted to Elfie's dream, or vision, and her own
Britomarte's version of it.
" Yes, indeed, Miss. He rousened me up outen my sleep
to let him in."
Miss Conyers here looked archly at Elfie, whose face ex-
hibited a curiously blended expression of mirth, relief and
mortification ; for she was struck with the ludicrous aspect
the affair now assumed, and she was glad to have a super-
natural mystery cleared up ; but she was also ashamed of
the part she had played in the farce.
" Do you know at what precise hour the doctor came ? "
inquired Miss Conyers.
" Yes, Miss. It must abeen 'bout 'tween one and two
o'clock. Way I know it is this : Just arter he came down
26
418 HOW HE WON HER.
stairs, and I let him out ag'in, I heerd the hall clock strike
two."
" How long do you suppose he was up stairs ? " inquired
Miss Conyers.
" Well, nigh upon an hour I should say, Miss. You see
I kept awake to let him out."
Britomarte looked at Elfie and burst into an irrepressible
fit of laughter.
Elfie pouted, sulked, and finally caught the infection and
laughed heartily for company.
" There seems to be some joke here that we of the mas-
culine persuasion are shut out from enjoying. Pray, may
I, without indiscretion, inquire into its nature ? " asked
Major Fielding.
And Justin and Ethel, by their looks at least, seconded
the motion.
"It. is Elfie's secret," laughed Miss Conyers.
" Well, you may tell it, Britomarte," laughed also Elfie.
" It seems, then," said Miss Conyers, " that this young
lady had the watch ; that, wearied out with many days of
lost rest, she fell asleep at her post ; and, having indulged
in new cheese for supper, she had the nightmare ; and so,
when the doctor paid his nocturnal visit, she took him for
the Rebel General Eastworth, and because she couldn't
wake, imagined that he had chloroformed her to prevent her
giving the alarm."
And here Major Fielding burst into a laugh, in which he
was joined by Justin, Ethel, Britomarte and even Elfie.
But then their hearts were lightened of so gi^at a load
that it was easy to rouse them to laughter.
After breakfast, Major Fielding and Captain Ethel,
knowing that they, in any case, would not be permitted to
see Miss Eosenthal that day, and feeling relieved of all
anxiety on her account, went out to take a walk, and trans-
act some business that had been neglected during Ermmie'a
illnesr
ELFIE'S VISION. 419
As soon as Erminie was awake, and had been refreshed
by ablutions and a change of dress, Justin was summoned
to her room.
He found her lying on her bed, with her head raised by
many pillows, looking wan, fair and transparent, and yet so
much better than she had seemed the day before.
Repressing his strong feelings he advanced to her bed-
side, stooped over her and kissed her gently, saying softly :
" My dear Erminie ! my dear, dear sister ! how thankful
to Heaven I am to find you so much improved."
She put her arms around his neck, and drew him closer
to her heart, and returned his fond kiss ; but all in silence.
Very quiet was the interview between this devoted
brother and sister.
" I am so happy having you here, sitting by me and hold-
ing my hand," whispered Erminie, with her fingers clasped
in his.
"And I am so happy to be here, and to see you so much
better," murmured Justin.
" When you left us you wore a captain's straps ; now
you wear the colonel's eagle," said Erminie, proudly.
" Yes, dear sister ; and my greatest pride in wearing them
is that they give you pleasure."
" You will have a general's star before long.
" I will try to earn them for your sake, sweet sister."
" Have you seen much of Britomarte ? "
"Yes, dear."
" Do you know where she lives, what she does ? "
" She has told me nothing, dear, of her residence or oc-
cupation. She keeps her secret," answered Justin, rather
evasively.
But Erminie was not extreme to mark the flaws in his
reply. She started another subject.
" Justin," she said, " I am sure our dear father lives."
"Heaven grant that he may, my dear," said Justin,
420 HOW HE WON HER.
humoring what he supposed to be the fancy of a weak
invalid, but recollecting with a pang the body removed
from its humble grave on the battle field of Bull Eun, and
interred in the family burial lot in the cemetery at Wash-
ington.
I am not strong enough now to tell you how I know this ;
but I will explain it in a day or two."
" You shall take your own time, love," said Justin.
So quietly they conversed together until the entrance of
the doctor.
He had been received by poor, old, stupid Frederica, who
had omitted to tell him the good news about his patient,
probably under the impression that he was fully aware of
Erminie's condition. And he had not made the usual in-
quiry of " How is Miss Kosenthal this morning ? " because
he shrunk from asking the question until he should reach the
sick room. He had not seen the other members of the
family, and so he came into Erminie's presence all unen-
lightened as to the favorable change in her condition.
And the first thing he saw was Erminie, propped up on
pillows, conversing cheerfully with her brother.
" Bless *is ! here is a change ! " he exclaimed, with a
smile, as he walked up to the bedside. " How are we this
morning ? " he asked, taking the chair vacated for him by
Justin, and feeling the pulse of his patient.
" Getting well as fast as possible, Doctor," smiled Er-
minie.
" Yes, yes, we are getting well fast ! "We can relish a
little chicken broth this morning, can we not ? "
" I think we can," she answered.
" And a half a glass of port wine. And to-morrow it may
be a whole glass."
Erminie nodded.
" She will require no more medicine, only careful nursittg
and dieting," said the doctor, turning to Justin.
ELF IE' s VISION. 421
* I am very glad to hear you say so, Doctor Burney. Bid
you see indications of this favorable change when you visited
her early this morning ? "
"Early this morning? I have not been here before this
morning," said the doctor, in some surprise.
" Well, then, in the night, perhaps, I should rather say ;
as it was but a little past one o'clock when you called," said
Justin, correcting himself.
" I called ! " repeated the doctor.
" Between one and two in the night," explained Justin.
" My dear sir, you are mistaken ! I have not been here
since six last evening," said the doctor.
" Indeed ! Then who " began Justin ; but he imme-
diately caught up his words. Here was a mystery ; but it
would never do to worry Erminie's mind with it. So he
"Whatever could have made you think I was here in the
night ? " inquired the doctor.
" It was a mistake, either of mine or somebody else's,"
evasively replied Justin.
" But who said I was here ? " persisted the doctor.
" One of the servants, I believe, fancied that you had
called."
" Which one ? "
" Old Bob."
" Oh, ah, he dreamed it ! I was six miles from here be-
tween one and two o'clock. I was out at a diabolical old
place called Witch Elms, attending the death-bed of an an-
tediluvian old woman, named Miss Pole."
While Colonel Rosenthal and Doctor Burney conversed
together, Erminie listened attentively, turning towards each
as he spoke. Occasionally an arch smile played over her
expressive features, as though she thought she could, if she
pleased, explain the mystery that so puzzled her physician
and her brother. But when she heard the name of the old
lady at Witch Elms, she said :
422 HOW HE WON HER.
"I knew Miss Pole slightly. She was the great grand-
aunt of my dear friend, Miss Conyers. I called at Witch
Elms once. The reminiscence is not a pleasant one. Still
I hope the old lady was well prepared for the last great
change."
" I doubt it," said the doctor. " She died very much as I
imagine she had lived. And she left me two very strange
commissions. The first was to deliver into the hands of
Britomarte Conyers a certain packet not to be opened until
after her funeral. The second was to forbid Miss Conyers
from attending that funeral. I shall discharge both, before
leaving the house this morning."
" Strange commissions, indeed. But then Miss Pole was
a very strange woman."
" Yes. And now, my dear Miss Kosenthal, I think you
have talked long enough. A new convalescent, like a new-
born babe, has but two great duties to perform to eat and
sleep alternately. Here comes our good Catherine with your
chicken broth. So we will now leave you to discuss that,
the most wholesome subject that can occupy your thoughts
just now.
And so saying, the doctor smiled and bowed and walked
out of the room, accompanied by Justin.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
BOB'S SPECTRE.
It was about to speak when the cook crew,
And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. SHAKSPEAEE.
" COME into the library, if you please, Dr. Burney. I
wish to send for old Bob, and confront him with you, and
clear up this mystery of the midnight visitor," said Justin,
leading the way to the favorite room.
BOB'S SPECTRE. 423
" Nonsense, my young friend. There is no mystery in
the matter. Our honest old Bob supped off pork chops and
had the nightmare and dreamed of a visitor/' laughed the
doctor, as he followed the colonel.
" These two persons of very opposite characters and posi-
tions must have had the nightmare at the same time and
dreamed the same dream/' said Justin, as he opened the li-
brary door.
When the two gentlemen entered this favorite room, they
found Britomarte and Elfie, waiting for the termination of
the doctor's visit to Erminie before they should return to her
side.
They now arose and received the doctor's greetings and
congratulations upon the convalescence of their friend, and
then they were about to withdraw, when Justin stopped
them.
" Remain, if you please, for a few moments, young ladies.
I am about to call up old Robert and confront him with Dr.
Burney and investigate this affair of the nocturnal visitor,"
he said.
" But I thought that was already settled. It was the
doctor who came in the night, was it not ? " inquired Bri-
tomarte.
"No, my dear Miss Conyers, whoever it was, it was not
the doctor," replied the gentleman in question.
Justin rang the bell, and old Bob answered it.
" Sit down, doctor. Young ladies, pray resume your
seats," said Justin, as he set the example by placing
himself in a chair.
Bob stood in the door, waiting orders.
" Come here," said Colonel Rosenthal.
The man obeyed, looking puzzled and frightened and
very much like a prisoner who was arraigned and who
expected to be found guilty.
" Now tell us who it was that you let in last night."
424 HOW HE WON HER.
" The doctor there, sar," answered Bob, without a mo-
ment's hesitation.
" My good friend, you never were more mistaken in your
life. I can prove an alibi. I was six miles from the spot
at the hour you admitted the visitor," said Dr. Burney.
Old Bob's jaws dropped and his eyes opened.
" Is that so, sar ? " he asked, in a piteous tone.
" Yes, that is so. Now try to recollect yourself and re-
flect whether you did not fall asleep and dream the whole
thing."
" No, marser ! no, sar ! it might a been de debbil, or it
might a been a ghost, or it might a been a token of my
death, but it warn't no dream. Dis chile war too wide
awake for dat ! " exclaimed Bob, as his hair seemed to
straighten dut with a retrospective terror.
" Now see you here, Bob. Look at me, and tell me
really whether the person you admitted, or think you
admitted, resembled me," said Dr. Burney.
" Lor 5 forgive me, Marse Doctor, now I does look at you,
sar, and calls up my memorandum, it seems to me as the
the other one was more taller and more darker com-
plected than you is, sar. It must a been a spirit, sar, come
to warn me as my days war numbered/' shuddered the old
man.
"Fudge, old fellow ! All our days are numbered, for that
matter. Colonel " and here the doctor turned to address
Justin " you said that there was another witness in this
case who was it ? "
"Elfie," said Justin, "have I your permission to
speak?"
" Yes, certainly," replied the young lady addressed.
" Well, then, Mrs. Goldsborough was the other witness.
At the same hour at which old Bob admitted the mysterious
visitor, Mrs. Goldsborough was watching by the bed of my
sister, when she was suddenly aware of the presence of a
BOB'S SPECTRE. 425
man by her side. Taking him at first to be myself, she was
about to speak, when, on looking closer, she recognized, or
thinks she recognized, the Rebel General Eastworth, sup-
posed to have been killed at Charleston."
" I am quite certain I recognized him," put in Elfie.
" Well, then, she is quite certain she recognized him.
She was at first so stupefied with astonishment that she
could not call out. And before she could recover her self-
possession and give the alarm, he applied chloroform to her
nostrils, and deprived her of the power of moving and
speaking, although not of hearing and seeing."
" I heard and saw everything that occurred in the first
few minutes of his presence there," added Elfie.
" She asserts that he spoke to my sister, succeeded even in
arousing her attention, and calling her back to full, though
transient consciousness, and gaining her forgiveness and her
blessing."
" And by that time," added Elfie, the chloroform that he
had secured under my nostrils so completely overcame me,
that I knew nothing more until Britomarte aroused me."
" And is that all ? " inquired the doctor.
" Yes, and enough, too, I should think," answered Elfie.
" And what is your opinion of all this, Colonel ? "
inquired the doctor.
" I am perplexed beyond measure, and as yet can form
no possible opinion. General Eastworth has been in
Charleston, South Carolina, for the last twelve months.
He is reported to have been killed within the last week. I
can make nothing of it."
" / am not perplexed. / can make something of it. I
believe that General Eastworth is in Washington city in
disguise, that he has become acquainted with the notorious
fact of Erminie's illness, and also with the less well known
facts of the doctor's frequent night calls, and old Bob's
position in the front hall, to open the front door at all hours,
426 HOW HE WON HE R,.
and I believe that he boldly ventured in to see his once
betrothed. Bosh ! who do you think is a fool ? Didn't I
see and hear him with my own eyes and ears ? True, I
was staggered in my conviction of identity when old Bob
insisted that it was the doctor he let in ; but now that the
doctor says it was not he, I am convinced it was General
Eastworth, and that General Eastworth is now in Washing-
ton city, as a spy, most likely," said Elfie, with great posi-
tiveness.
" Pray, have you read the morning papers, Miss I beg
your pardon Mrs. Goldsborough ? " emphatically inquired
the doctor.
I have not," said Elfie ; why ? "
" Nor you, colonel ? " he next asked of Justin.
" I have glanced over them only. We have all been too
much occupied with my sister to read them with much
attention or interest," replied Justin.
"Then probably this little paragraph, concerning the
gentleman we have been discussing, has escaped your atten-
tion."
" What is it ? " inquired Elfie.
" Bead it," said Justin.
The doctor opened the paper he held in his hand and
read:
"THE EEBEL GENERAL EASTWORTH. The report of the
death of this notorious leader is undoubtedly well founded.
The Reverend Doctor Kobinson, returned from Charleston
under a flag of truce, confirms the tale. On the morning
of the twelfth instant General Eastworth, while riding
along the eastern defences of the city, was instantly killed
by a shell from one of our gun-boats."
" There," said the doctor, folding up the paper " what
do you think of that ? "
No one answered. Every one seemed dumb-foundered.
Old Bob was the first to break the silence. Seeing
amazement on every face, he gasped out :
BOB'S SPECTRE. 427
" Wha wha wha wha what does all dat mean ?"
"It means that you let in a ghost, Uncle Bob!" ex-
claimed Elfie, mischievously.
"Wha wha wha what ghost?" stammered the old
man, with chattering teeth, starting eyes, and ashen cheeks.
"The ghost of the Eebel General Eastworth, who was
killed in Charleston," said Elfie.
" Oh, my Lor' ! my Lor' ! my Lor' ! I'm a dead nigger I"
exclaimed old Boh, with all the superstitious terrors of his
race strong upon him.
" You may leave the room, Boh," said Colonel Eosenthal.
And the old man hurried away to tell the wonderful
story in the kitchen, and then to hetake himself to his
prayers.
" Now, then, Mrs. Goldshorough, what do you say ? "
inquired the doctor.
"I say that I am of the same opinion still. I helieve
that story of General Eastworth's death to be a mere canard,
or more than that, a stratagem to cover his surreptitious
visit to Washington. I tell you I saw and heard him with
my own eyes and ears ; and I am willing to go before the
provost marshal and l6dge the information under oath, that
the great Eebel general was in Washington city, and in
this house, last night between the hours of one and two !
If you think my story wants confirmation, let Justin ques-
tion his sister as to who her visitor last night was. I was
strongly tempted to do so myself; but I refrained from con-
sideration for Erminie's weak state. But let Justin ques-
tion her now."
" Thanks no, if you please," said the doctor, emphati-
cally " not with my sanction. Colonel Eosenthal and
ladies, I must earnestly request you not even to allude to
this strange event in my patient's hearing. In every point
of view, the subject would be a dangerously exciting one to
her. But I strongly advise you to have the cash-box and
428 HOW HE WON HER.
plate chest examined, and a detective policeman sent for.
With all respect for your opinion, Mrs. Goldsborough, I
must believe that an accomplished burglar has found his
way into the house, and probably effected a robbery."
And with these words the doctor turned to Miss Conyers,
silently placed a packet and letter in her hands, took up
his hat, shook hands with his friends, and went away.
" It will do no harm to follow his advice, Elfie," said
Justin, touching the bell once more. " We will see if there
is anything missing. If there has been a robbery, it will
be clear that the strange visitor was a burglar. If there
has been no robbery, there will be no harm in your going
to the provost marshal and giving the information as you
suggest."
Old Frederica answered the bell, and apologized for pre-
senting herself by saying :
" If you please, sir, black Bob, he's not in a fit state to
come ; he's perfectly glowered with the fright."
" Never mind, Frederica ; you'll do. We have reason to
suspect that a robber got into the house last night. Have
you missed anything ? "
" Lor', sir, no not a thing."
" Make a thorough search ; and especially make a careful
examination of the plate chest ; and then come and report
to me."
Frederica left the room to obey.
And then the group broke up.
Justin went to look to the iron chest where money and
documents were kept.
Britomarte, with a face paler than usual, withdrew to
examine the letter and parcel placed in her hands by the
doctor.
Elfie went back to the chamber of Erminie.
Meanwhile a thorough search was made of the premises.
Not an article was missing. No robbery had been perpe-
BOB'S SPECTRE. 429
trated. No vestige of a robber was to be found. And the
mystery thickened.
When Elfie came out of Erminie's room, she found Justin
on the watch for her.
" Come here, my dear girl," he whispered, withdrawing
her out of earshot of Erminie's attendants. " I am inclined
to be of your opinion in this matter. The result of our
investigation is that no trace of a burglar can be found.
Therefore I think your conjecture as to the presence of
General Eastworth in the city, and his identity with the
mysterious visitor of last night, may be founded in truth.
His intimate knowledge of the interior arrangements of
our house would certainly favor his visiting it in that secret
manner.
" When I discovered that the visitor was not the doctor,
I was convinced that it was Eastworth who came. I have
not had a doubt about fye matter since," said Elfie.
" Then you had better come with me and give informa-
tion at the provost marshal's office directly."
" Bless my soul and body ! Well, I said I was willing to
go, and I'll go ; but now it comes to the point I don't like
the office at all," said Elfie, as she hurried off to get her
bonnet and mantle.
In a few minutes Justin took her out in a carriage to do
the disagreeable duty he had recommended. They were
gone but an hour, at the end of which Elfie returned in
rather a bad humor, and Justin with a very grave face.
They had both been subjected to a close cross examina-
tion.
Elfie threw off her bonnet and mantle, and hurried into
the room of Erminie, whom 1 she found quietly sleeping.
Catherine had the watch.
" Where is Miss Conyers ? " inquired Elfie.
" I don't know, ma'am. She hasn't been in this room
since breakfast."
430 HOW HE WON HER.
Strange ! I'll go and look for her," said Elfie, risk g.
to leave the chamber.
But at the door she met Britomarte, in a travelling
dress, and looking very pale and haggard.
" For Heaven's sake, what is the matter ? " exclaimed
Elfie, starting back.
" Is Erminie awake ? " inquired Miss Conyers, disregard-
ing her friend's question.
" No ; but what is the matter with you, Britomarte ? "
" I have had news that will compel me to leave you to-
day."
" To leave us to-day ! "
" Yes ; but I must wait until Erminie awakes to take
leave of her."
" Woman of mystery ! what is your news and where are
you going? " exclaimed Elfie, half in pity half in mirth.
" You must excuse me from explaining, Elfie. You
know, for I have told you, that there is a secret in my life.
You must respect it," said Britomarte, gravely.
"There is more than one secret, I imagine. Well, I will
respect them all, Britomarte," said her companion.
While they spoke, Erminie awoke, very much refreshed
by her nap.
" How do you feel, dearest ? " inquired Miss Conyers.
"Very well full of returning life. But you you look
pale and sad, Britomarte. What troubles you ? " anxiously
inquired Erminie.
" The duty of leaving you immediately, my darling. No,
do not say a word to hinder me, love. You know that
nothing but the most absolute necessity could induce me to
go now; and that I must go," -said Miss Conyers, seeing
that her friend was about to expostulate.
" Well, well, I must submit, I suppose ! but you will
come back soon ?" sighed Erminie.
" As soon as possible, love ! And now God bless you,
BOB'S SPECTRE. 481
darling, and send you a full and speedy recovery ! " said
Miss Conyers, stooping and kissing her friend.
" And God keep you in all your ways, my best beloved,"
breathed Erminie, returning the caress.
" Good bye, Elfie ! " said Britomarte, as she wrung
Elfrida's hand and left the room.
On her way to the library to seek Justin, she met him in
the hall.
" Good-bye, Justin ! " she exclaimed, holding out her
hand.
" What ! " he cried.
" Good-bye ! "
" You don't mean it ! "
" Yes, I do ! "
"Where are you going? "
"About my business, Justin," sadly smiled Miss Con-
yers.
" But excuse me ! What business ? "
" That is my secret, if you please, Justin."
" Pardon my impertinence," said Colonel Rosenthal, with.
a mortified air ; " but I hoped to speak to you, Britomarte,
on that one subject which day and night has occupied my
thoughts since I first met you!" he said, taking her hand
and seeking to detain her.
" Let that subject rest, if not forever, at least till after
the war is over."
" And then ? "'
" Then we may neither of us wish to resume it."
" Britomarte, are you not wantonly trifling with my
happiness and yours ? "
"I have no time for 'trifling' of any sort. It would be
well, besides, if we thought a little less of ' happiness,' and a
little more of duty. Justin, my carriage is waiting to take
me to the station, where I must not miss the train. Good-
bye!" said Britomarte, withdrawing her hand from his
clasp.
432 H O W HE \V O X HER.
"No, let me see you to the station, at least," said Justin,
taking his hat, opening the hall-door, and escorting her to
the carriage, into which he followed her.
They caught the train just hefore it started.
Miss Conyers had no luggage but a hand-bag, and there-
fore she was the more easily enabled to get into her seat in
the ladies' car in time.
Justin bade her a hasty adieu, and returned home.
******
As soon as Erminie was convalescent Justin took leave
of her and returned to his regiment. And in the course
of a few weeks, two or more of our young friends went
to the front little Mim as a volunteer, and Mr. Billingcoo
as a drafted man.
CHAPTER XL.
ON THE BATTLE FfELD.
TWHS the battle field, and the starless night
Hiftig dark o'er tho dead and the dying,
And the wind passed by, with a dirge and a moan,
Where the youug and the brave were lying. L. E. L.
IT was the night after the terrible battle of Cold Harbor.
Both armies had fallen back. The dead and wounded lay
where they had dropped. Among the latter was Colonel
Rosenthal, who had been struck down while charging in
front of his regiment. Young Wing, at the hazard of life
and even of dearer honor, went in search of his colonel.
Wandering in the darkness over that field of blood, he came
suddenly upon a fallen horse and rider, and knew by the
instinct of affection that he had found whom he sought.
" Is that you, Wing ? " hoarsely whispered a feeble
voice, as the young officer threw himself down on the
ground.
ON THE BATTLE FIELD. 433
" Yes, yes, my colonel, it is I," sobbed Wing.
" How did you find me, my boy, on this cbaotic field,
tinder this dark sky ? "
" How ? Oh, how does the faithful dog find his fallen
master amid such confusion ? I saw you when you fell. I
noticed where you lay. I could not come to you in the
hurly-burly of that charge "
" Ah ! a gallant charge, Wing ! a glorious charge ! It
was fine to fall in such a charge as that ! "
" Yes, my Colonel. But I have come to help you now.
How can I do so ? Where are you hurt ? " said Wing,
groping about, and feeling man and horse under his hands.
"I do not know where I am hurt, Wing. But the horsa
has fallen on me, partly," groaned the colonel.
" Stay ! if I can find a musket or a carbine and there
must be many scattered over this field I can use it as a
lever and raise the weight from you, my Colonel," said
Wing, moving about in search of the instruments required.
In his motions he touched with his feet what he supposed
to be the dead body of a soldier. And he elicited a deep
prolonged groan.
" Ah ! I am so sorry ! did I hurt you ? " tenderly inquired
Wing, stooping to address this new claimant of his sym-
pathy.
" Oh, no only roused me," moaned the wounded boy.
l Can I do anything for you ? " asked Wing.
Water! water!"
Wing had a canteen filled with water, and he took the
stopper off and put it to the mouth of the boy, who drank
greedily.
" That was good ! Now I can die comfortably. Friend,
are you Yank, or Secesh ? "
" Yank.," said Wing.
" Well, never mind. What are we fighting for, I won-
der ? I'm Secesh. Put your hand in my bosom, Yank
27
434 HOW HE WON HER.
Take out a powder-flask cover that you will find there. My
sister worked it and gave it to me before I left home to join
the army. Keep it, Yank. "
" I will keep it for your sister and send it to her if you
will tell me where she lives," said Wing.
" Her name is Ellen Jenkins. She lives " And here
the speaker's voice failed.
" She lives ? " said Wing, listening attentively.
" In Eich in "Eich " panted the dying boy.
Wing snatched a flask of brandy from his bosom and
placed it to the lips of the young soldier.
Too late ! There was but the gurgling death rattle in
his throat. He could neither swallow nor articulate.
"Do you mean to say that she lives in Eichmond?"
gently inquired Wing, taking the hand of the boy, who
closed his fingers upon the hand of Wing and nodded
earnestly.
And the next moment all was over.
Wing sighed and turned the young soldier on his back,
and straightened out his limbs and closed his eyes, placing
two pennies upon the lids to keep them down.
While performing these last offices he had several times
touched a carbine that lay beside the dead boy.
Now he took it up and returned to the spot where Justin
Eosenthal lay partly under the burden of the horse.
" Oh, my Colonel ! I have been away so long ! But I
found a dying soldier, moaning for water, before I found the
carbine. And I had to minister to his wants, and even
receive his last breath and close his eyes, before I could
come back to you," said Wing.
" You were right, my boy. But now the wind has risen
a little and blown the fog away. Can you see where to
place the end of the carbine so as to raise the weight of the
horse from my limbs ? "
" Yes, my Colonel, I can," said Wing, poking the end of
ON THE BATTLE FIELD. 435
the weapon under the body of the horse that lay directly
across one of Justin's limbs, and prying it up a little way.
" There that is already a great relief. A little higher
raise ii a little higher, Wing, and I shall be able to draw
my^imb from under it and crawl away," said Justin.
And Wing put forth all his strength, and pryed up the
weight, and lifted it clear of the crushed limb beneath it,
and held it so, until Justin Rosenthal crawled away.
Then Wing let the dead horse drop to the ground, while
he rushed to his colonel.
A danger that neither had dreamed of was now threaten-
ing the life of Justin Kosenthal.
It appeared that the Minie ball which had killed his
horse under him had also passed through his own leg, sever-
ing some important vein or artery. The dead weight of the
horse falling upon this limb, had closed the orifice, and
stopped the bleeding. But now, at the removal of the
weight, the wound burst out again, and the life-stream of
the man was running fast away. He lay panting, fainting,
almost dying, when Wing came up to him.
" My Colonel ! oh, what is the matter ? " inquired Wing,
in a voice vibrating with anxiety.
" I think that I am dying, Wing. But come here, boy.
Come close. Stoop down and listen to me."
" But what is it ? oh, my Colonel, what is it ? Where is
your wound ? What can I do for you ? " wailed Wing,
weeping like a woman and wringing his hands.
" I think that the femoral artery is severed, Wing, and
that I am bleeding to death."
" Oh, no, no, no ! " groaned Wing.
tl Cease lamenting, dear boy. Mine is but a soldier's fate.
How egotistical to bemoan it. Only remember, Wing ?
and tell my dear sister that I fell in the glorious charge of
Wilson's cavalry at Cold Harbor."
" I will tell her ! I will tell her ! But I cannot give you
436 HOW HE WON HER.
np ! I WILL not give you up ! You must not die ! You
SHALL not die ! Where is this severed artery ? I will
pinch it together with my fingers until I stop the bleeding,
and I will hold it so all night and all day, and many nights
and days, if necessary, until surgical relief comes to you ! "
cried Wing.
"Ah, my boy, you must hurry from this spot. Every
hour that you stay here is fraught with death. You are
actually within the rebel lines, Wing. How you ever suc-
ceeded in getting here undetected I cannot imagine, unless
both chance and the darkness of the night favored you.
But now, my boy, you must receive my last message for one
I love, and you must hurry back before daylight betrays
you to the enemy and to captivity," said Colonel Eosenthal,
gravely.
" Where is your wound ? oh, where ? Help me to find
it, that I may stanch the blood," said Wing, feeling blindly
about the body of his colonel.
"Well, well, here, if* you will have it. Here, in my
right leg," answered Justin, in a voice that was every
instant falling fainter.
Wing felt the leg of the trowsers soaked in blood ; he
snatched his dagger from his belt, and ripped it up, so as to
get to the wound. And he took his handkerchief, and
bound it around the limb just above the knee, and drew it
as tight as possible, and tied it fast, and so he checked the
fast flow of blood.
"Thanks, Wing. Thanks, my dear boy. I think you
have helped me for the present. Now hear my last message
to one I love, and then turn and fly save yourself," said
Justin, solemnly.
"Tell me, then, your last message. What is it?" in-
quired Wing.
" Say to my beloved sister that I fell leading on my regi-
ment in Wilson's glorious charge at Cold Harbor. Say if
ON THE BATTLE FIELD. 437
I could have chosen the manner of my death, I would have
chosen this. Bid her bestow my property on the bereaved
of this war the bereaved of both sides. For the widows
and orphans and old mothers of the rebel soldiers are as
much to be pitied as those of our own. Bid her, when the
war is over, to open wide her heart and home for the return-
ing prodigals. Bid her do all she can, in her limited
woman's way, to heal the wounds of the country, to
reconcile enemies, and to bring back peace. And give her
my love and my blessing. Will you remember to deliver
all this message, Wing ? "
" Oh, yes ! I will ! I will ! But is this the only message
you have to send ? " sobbed Wing.
" The only one," answered Justin.
" And is there no other no other that you remember in
this awful hour none to whom you would wish to send a
parting word ? " wept Wing.
" None there is none ! " answered Justin solemnly.
" No woman as dear, or dearer than a sister, to whom you
would like to send some some last word of love ? oh,
speak, if there be, and I will bear your message faithfully,
sacredly, silently, until I meet with her for whom it ia in-
tended ! Oh, think ! oh, speak ! is there none none but
your sister to whom you would send such a message ? "
pleaded Wing.
" There is none ! " answered Justin, solemnly. "Beyond
this field of blood, there is none but my sister to whom I
care to send a message."
Wing sat down and wept convulsively.
After a little while Justin put out his hand, and taking
that of Wing pressed it, and drew it to his lips and kissed it,
and said :
" Britomarte ! "
With a violent start the hand was snatched away, but
almost immediately it was returned and re-clasped.
488 HOW HE WON HER.
" Britomarte now in this supreme hour now, with my
life-blood oozing slowly but surely away with my hours
nay, my very minutes mumbered may I venture to recog-
nize you and call you by your name ? may I venture to
confess that I recognized you from the beginning ? " he
pleaded, still holding and caressing her hand.
11 Justin ! Justin, my beloved ! my beloved ! " exclaimed
Britomarte, whom we shall no longer call by her assumed
name of Wing. And she dropped her head upon his bosom
and sobbed aloud. He folded his arms around her, and she
sobbed until her passion of grief had exhausted itself.
Then she raised her head and wiped her eyes.
"I am dying, Britomarte! that is nothing; a soldier's
fate no more. But stoop, my darling, and put your lips
to mine, and give me the kiss the kiss that my heart has
hungered for through all these weary years ! " he pleaded.
She stooped and pressed her lips to his in long, clinging,
passionate kisses, murmuring between them :
" If you die, I die with you, Justin ! I can not survive
you, my beloved ! I feel my heart sinking with your ebbing
life ! But oh ! that we had our days to live over again ! oh,
that we had ! I would not then repulse your dear love,
Justin ; I would not ! I would not ! Ah ! how could I
have been so unwomanly, so inhuman, as to repel such a
heart as yours. Oh, live, Justin ! live, that I may undo
the work of years, and make you happy if I can ! "
" My dearest ! if anything could make me live in this
world, it would be your love, that makes me so happy. But
if I die here, Britomarte, we shall live in another and a
better world, where all mists shall be cleared from our
vision where we shall know each other as we are, and love
each other eternally," he said, gently caressing her.
" Oh, try to live ! to live in this world yet a little while,
dear Justin. There is a great deal in trying, you know.
Pray to the Lord to help you ! Ah, do not cheat yourself
ON THE BATTLE FIELD. 439
out of your beautiful youth-time on this dear earth ! The
other world may be bright enough, but it is not this sweet,
familiar earth ! Ah, try to live, dear Justin ! let me look
at your wound. It has ceased to ooze ! it has indeed, dear.
The blood is coagulated all around the binding. You
"WILL live if you only make a strong effort," urged Brito-
marte.
Her words were like the elixir of life. They put new
strength into the sinking man.
" If it depends upon me, my dearest one, I shall not die !
I will try to live, Britomarte, since life holds out the
promise of so much happiness in your love ! "
"That is right! You WILL live! I know it I feel
it!"
" But, my darling, you must go now. Every minute you
remain here is fraught with danger to your honor and your
liberty. Go, dear Britomarte, go ! "
" No, I will not leave you ! I will stay here and watch
you. And now I think of it, you must keep your limb per-
fectly still. The least motion may set k to bleeding
again."
" I will, my dearest, I will. But go now do go ! "
" I said that I would not leave you, and I meant it ! "
" But every moment of your stay is replete with peril to
you ! Squads of rebel soldiers pass every now and then to
plunder the dying and the dead. And the fog is blowing
away, and it is getting clearer and lighter every minute,
and if they come this way and discover you, they will cap-
ture you immediately."
" So they will you, Justin, if they discover your rank.
And I am resolved to stay and share your fate," she firmly
replied.
" Oh, Britomarte ! Britomarte ! think of the horrors of
the Libby Prison ! How could you a woman bear them I
Reflect and fly, Britomarte ! Fly, and save yourself in
time ! " he urged.
440 HOW HE WON HER.
" If I were able to take you up on my shoulders and
bear you off from the battle field, as ^Eneas bore bis father
from burning Troy, I would do so_ But as I am not able
so to save you, I will stay and share your fate. ' Horrors
of the Libby Prison ? ' Oh, Justin ! there is nothing in
this world so hard to bear as separation from those we love.
Nothing, Justin, nothing ! I know it, I feel it. I said so,
Justin, when you left me to go into the army ; and so I
disguised myself and followed you to the field. And I say
so now, kneeling by your side in this vale of blood. I am
now your promised wife, and nothing on earth shall ever
part me from your side unless I should be torn by violence
away. If you go to Libby, I go to Libby ; happier if I
share your fate in that foul prison and pest-house than I
could be anywhere else on earth."
" But, Britomarte, for your own sake for my sake ! "
" Justin, my beloved, I abjured my womanhood, disguised
myself and followed you to battle ; I have been by your
side on twenty well fought fields ; I have dared what
woman never dared before, that I might be ever with you !
Justin, Justin, my true love ! my husband for time and
eternity ! never again ask me to leave you I " she exclaimed,
her voice and all her frame trembling with emotion.
" I will not ! Before heaven, I promise it ! I will never
ask you, I will never consent to your leaving me ! " fer-
vently, earnestly, solemnly replied Justin, closing his hand
upon her.
" That is well ! Now let us talk calmly together, while
we wait for what may happen. And now tell me, Justin,
how it was that you recognized me, as you did, from the
beginning ? I thought I was well disguised, and I am a
good actress; with almost a Protean power of changing my
face, and with a ventriloquist's gift of changing my voice ! "
she said.
" Yes, you were well disguised ! wonderfully well ! You
ON THE BATTLE FIELD. 441
had sacrificed your luxuriant and beautiful, dark brown
tresses, and had put on a skull-cap wig of short, stiff,
bristling flaxen hair, and drawn it tight and low over your
forehead, making the latter much narrower than nature had
formed it. You had shaved off your arched black eyebrows,
giving your face the bald look corresponding to the short,
stiff hair, and quite altering the expression of your eyes.
You had widened your mouth by two deep hidden lines in
the corner. Altogether you had made, as you women say,
' a figure of yourself,' which was not Britomarte. You had
put yourself in the uniform of a United States soldier.
And you always carried four or five pebbles in your mouth,
to make you speak thickly like a German," said Justin.
" And yet you recognized me ? "
" Yes ; when I saw you in the ranks flaxen hair, bald
face, wide mouth, soldier's clothes and Dutchman's voice to
the contrary notwithstanding in the ugly, awkward little
raw recruit, to my unbounded amazement I recognized my
beautiful Britomarte Conyers," he answered, smiling.
Many times in her military career had Britomarte's
cheeks crimsoned for her own wounded womanhood ; but
never so deeply as now.
" Oh, Justin, Justin ! " she said, covering her face with
her hands, and forgetting that he could not plainly see it
in that obscure light " Oh, Justin, it was for your sake,
my dearest, that I transformed and disfigured myself so."
" I know it, dear Britomarte, I know it."
" Division from your side was worse than death to me
worse than division of soul from body. I felt that I must
be with you, at all costs, but I thought that you would
never find me out. I wished to serve you as a faithful
little brother, with my identity unsuspected. Oh, Justin,
Justin ! you never misunderstood or wronged me in your
thoughts after you recognized me, I know ! " she passionate-
ly exclaimed.
442 HOW HE WON HER.
I never did."
" Had I known that you had discovered me, I would have
vrnished from your sight ! "
" I know it, dear Britomarte, I know it ! for I know you.
There is not, Britomarte, in the universe a creature who
understands and appreciates you and your motives so truly
and justly as I can and as I do."
" I feel sure of that," murmured Britomarte.
Justin pressed her hand and relapsed into silence. He
was really very faint and weak from excessive loss of blood ;
and the transient strength lent him by excitement was be-
ginning to fail.
Britomarte took from her pocket some pieces of hard
biscuit, soaked them in the brandy from her flask and put
them bit by bit into his mouth.
When he was sufficiently revived by these refreshments,
she inquired:
" Dear Justin, when you recognized me in the ranks, how
was it that you did not whisper private information of the
fact and get me quietly mustered out ? "
" My first impulse was to do just that very thing. But
I seldom permit myself to act upon impulse ; and so I re-
flected that I had no right to betray your secret, or to inter-
fere with your plans, or in any way invade your free agency ;
and I resolved to let you take your own course and to pro-
tect you in it as far as in me lay."
" Oh, Justin, dear Justin ! good and true in all things,
how much I- " her voice broke down and she wept.
" And now, love, forgive me in what I am about to ex-
plain to you because, if I live, I am to be your husband,
am I not ? "
" Oh, yes, yes," she answered, earnestly.
" And if I die, still we are to be one forever ? "
" Forever and ever ! "
u Why, then, we are bound together as fast as though all
ON THE BATTLE FIELD. 443
the courts in the country had issued our marriage license,
and all the churches in Christendom had consecrated our
union."
" We are, my own dear love."
" Then you will let me speak as plainly to you as to my
wife."
" Just as plainly. .Yes."
" Well, theji, the very day on which you were mustered
in, when I recognized you, I asked myself with a shudder,
Where will she eat ? Where will she sleep ? With whom
will she associate ? How will she maintain her sacred
womanly reserve in this crowded camp, where four or five
soldiers occupy a tent together ? And then it was that I
felt the strong impulse to give private information of your
sex, and have you quietly mustered out ; hut as I said be-
fore, I reflected that I had no right to betray your secret, or
restrain your free agency, and I resolved to let you go on
your own way, but to protect you in it, and so I immediate-
ly selected you as my orderly, and assigned you a nook in
my own quarters, where your woman's holy privacy would
be, and ever has been, inviolate."
" Oh, Justin, dear love, honored husband, a thousand
blessings on you for all your tender care," she said, stoop-
ing and pressing her lips to his.
He put his arms around her, and she wept to feel how
feeble those strong arms had become, and he fondly returned
her caresses.
" Tell me, now, Justin," she said, " how it happened that
you never once betrayed to me your recognition of me ? "
" I have great powers of reticence and self control. I
knew that to betray my knowledge of you would be to
wound your delicacy and control your actions, and so I con-
stantly guarded "
" Hark ! " exclaimed Britomarte, springing to her feet.
" What is it ? " cried Justin.
444 HOW HE WON HER.
" The Kebels are upon us. Justin ! "
" Well, dear ? "
" If they capture us, do not betray my sex to them, in
any hope that they will respect it. Do not, Justin. Do
not ! "
" Not for a thousand worlds. Your uniform is the best
protection your womanhood could have now," said the
wounded man.
CHAPTER XLL
THE SUEPRTSE.
The tramp of hoof, the flash of steel,
The Eebels round her coming I
The sound and sight hath made her calm,
Sham soldier, genuine woman 1
She stands amid them all unmoved!
The heart supported by the loved
IB strong to meet the foeman. E. B. BBOWHUTO.
"THESE, at least, shall not be dishonored by anything
done to me," said Britomarte, as with her dagger she hastily
cut and tore the captain's straps from her shoulders, and
threw them as far as she could send them.
The sky was clearing, and it was much lighter than it had
been as the marauding party rode up. They dismounted at
a short distance, and came prowling about on foot among the
fallen, to slay the dying, rob the dead.
Britomarte knelt by Justin and held his hand as they
came up, and bent over the group.
" Hullo ! who have we here ? A Yankee colonel, by all
that's lucky. And a Yankee spy to boot. Stoop down and
examine him, Canstop. If he is badly hurt, we'll put
him out of his misery, and appropriate that fine suit of
broadcloth that can be no farther use to him. If he is not
THE SURPRISE. 445
we'll take him prisoner and give him a taste of Libby," said
one who seemed to be the leader of the squad.
" Where are you hurt ? " said the man called Canstop,
who seemed, from his manner, to be some lower grade of
hospital nurse.
" In my leg, only, I think. I am weak from loss of blood,
and stiff from certain bruises received, by my horse falling
on me," answered Justin, calmly.
" All right ; hand over your arms," said the leader.
" You will find my sword somewhere on the field, where I
dropped it from my hand as I fell."
" Your revolver ? "
"Here it is," said Justin, drawing it forth and delivering
it up.
"Your watch?"
"I never before heard that watches were arms," said
Justin, as he passed over his costly chronometer.
" Now your pocket book."
Justin smiled as he answered :
" If it were not that I know you are backed up by a
thousand precedents of your comrades, I should wonder that
you, calling yourselves soldiers, should stoop to rob a
wounded prisoner."
" Hold your noise, you blamed Yankee, and do as you're
bid, or it will be the worse for you."
" I have no pocket book with me," answered Justin,
calmly ; " I left it at head quarters."
" Oh ! expected to be whipped, did you, and so made sure
of the money by leaving it behind. Just like your Yankee
cunning. Come, raise him up, some of you boys, and see if
he can stand upon his legs," said the leader, speaking to his
men.
Two of them lifted Justin up, but it was evident that he
could not stand.
" I see," said the leader. " Lay him down again. Can-
atop, haven't you got a stretcher somewhere handy ? "
4 46 HOW HE WON HER.
"Yes, under the ash tree about a hundred yards from
this."
" Go, some of you, and fetch it."
Two men started at a run, and quickly returned with
the stretcher.
And the wounded prisoner was lifted and laid upon it.
They had now time to attend to the less important cap-
tive.
" Ton are not wounded, at least. What the devil do you
mean by coming within our lines ? " fiercely demanded the
leader.
" I came to succor my colonel, and to share his fate,"
answered Britomarte, firmly.
" Brave boy ! what is your rank among the clock ped-
dlers ? " laughed the leader.
"I am a soldier in the United States army," proudly
replied Britomarte.
Of what grade ? "
" I decline to answer."
"You see 'soldier' is rather a comprehensive term.
General Grant is a soldier "
" Oh, you've found that out, have you ? " said Britomarte,
derisively.
" And every private in his army is a soldier "
" Thanks. You are giving us great praise," laughed
Britomarte.
" I mean, of course, as to name. You are a soldier, and
I ask you of what grade ? "
" And I decline to answer your question."
" All right ; it is your own affair. Only if you call your-
self simply a soldier, you will be treated as a soldier ; that
is to say, you will be put in the lowest part of the prison,
and fed upon the poorest rations. The officers have better
accommodations."
Britomarte trembled, not at the certainty of foul food and
THE SURPRISE. 447
fouler lodging, but at the prospect of being separated from
Justin. So she answered
" As I do not wish to be divided from my colonel, I will
acknowledge that I am a commissioned officer of the line,
as you may see for yourself in my dark blue uniform."
" What is your name, and precise rank ? "
" I decline to answer."
"The fact is, you are a spy, but your reserve will not save
you ! Here. Pettigru ! take his arms, guard him, and
march him after the other prisoner ! " said the leader.
Britomarte gave up her sword, dagger and revolver, and
marched between two rebel soldiers, after the stretcher upon
which four other soldiers were bearing Justin off from the
field.
The leader was about to leave the spot with the re-
mainder of the party, when he heard a weak voice calling
" Sergeant ! "
" Well, who are you ? what's the matter ? "
" One of your company wounded in the hip. Don't
you think you could send a stretcher and have me taken off
the field?"
" I'll see. We are picking up all we can without getting
too near the Yankee lines. Those devils never sleep ! and
we are expecting the battle to be renewed in the morning.
However, I'll attend to your case."
" Sergeant ! "
"Well, what now."
" You have taken two prisoners ? "
"Yes; what then?"
" One was a Yankee Colonel ? "
" Colonel Eosenthal yes, what of it ? "
"Why the other one, Sergeant, was was his sweet-
heart."
"Eh?"
" His sweetheart, Sergeant."
44S HOW HE WON HER.
" How do you know that ? "
" Laying here in the bushes quite near them, but out of
their sight, I overheard their talk not all of it, nor half of
it, for they spoke in a low tone but I overheard enough to
know that she is his sweetheart, and has served with him,
disguised as a soldier, for the last year or so, and that she
is a commissioned officer."
" Ah-h-h, ha-a-a ! " chuckled the Sergeant ; " that's the
reason why she was so close ! but her closeness shall not
save her any more than her sex shall ! We'll treat her as
a spy ! her name, my man ! did you hear her name ? "
" Not the one she went by in the army ; but I think he
called her Bridget Martin, or some such name.
" Ah-h-h, ha-a-a ! Miss Bridget Martin ! I think we shall
let in a little light upon you before long ! I shouldn't
wonder if you were the very ' orderly ' of Colonel Rosenthal
who penetrated the camp of the Free Sword and betrayed
him. We shall see ! Keep up your courage, my man ; I
will send the stretcher back for you as soon as it has depos-
ited the colonel.
And so saying, the sergeant, instead of going to other
parts of the field, as he had intended, turned and followed
the prisoners.
The bearers supporting the stretcher upon which Colonel
Kosenthal la}', moved rapidly onward over the rough ground
to the great distress of the wounded man.
Britomarte was driven closely behind him literally
driven ; for if, after her day and night of severe and ex-
hausting battle and toil, her woman's fragile limbs gave way
for a moment, her steps were promptly quickened by the
point of the bayonet thrust against her shoulders.
So over miles and miles of broken and rocky roads they
were painfully marched to the rear of Lee's army, and to an
old barn that was used as a temporary depot for prison"
THE SURPRISE. 449
Here, to her consternation, Britomarte was thrust in with
a number of fellow captives, who were waiting to be trans-
ported to Richmond, while Colonel Eosenthal was borne off
to the field hospital to have his wound looked to.
There must have been more than a thousand prisoners
crowded into that old barn.
Britomarte, being one of the last taken, found herself
near the door. And when it was closed and barred upon
her, she could get no farther. She was like a late arrival at
an overcrowded lecture-room only this crowd was all stand-
ing, because there was no room to sit or lie down. The
building was broken here and there, and through crevices a
little air got in ; this only prevented the prisoners from be-
ing suffocated. They were a patient and silent band of
victims only here and there was heard a groan wrung from
some sufferer from disease or wounds ; and now and then a
curse struck out from some exasperated soldier who found
himself squeezed nearly to death by the crowd.
Britomarte, being small and slight, sank down, upon the
floor, with her back resting against the closed door. And
notwithstanding her great mental anxietj 7 worn out in
body and mind, and overcome with heat and fatigue she
fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, that lasted perhaps two
hours.
She was rudely awakened by falling backwards. The
door against which she had leaned had been suddenly opened,
and she had gone over.
Half bewildered by the deep sleep and the rude shock
that had ended it, she picked herself up in time to hear the
prison guard shout :
" Come, get out of this, you lazy Yankees ! You've got.
to go to Richmond where you've been trying to get for the.
last three or four years, you know."
The half suffocated prisoners were only glad to get out
28
450 HOW HE WON HER.
into the open air. And though ready to sink with
fasting and weariness, they issued forth.
Many of them dropped down upon the ground to rest
and stretch their stiff and wearied limbs, and wait for the
breakfast which they hoped was coming.
But there was no such good luck in store for them. They
wore ordered to rise and fall in line ; and when, hy reason
of their stiffness and soreness, they were slow to move, they
wore poked and goaded up at the point of the bayonet.
Some of the younger men mere boys, who in their com-
fortable Northern or Western homes, had been used to
warm and plentiful meals, and even during their campaigns
with the army had been provided with regular and excel-
lent rations could not get used to living without -food and
drink. So they complained of hunger and asked for break-
fast.
" ' Breakfast ! ' " was the laughing and probably the
truthful rejoinder" ' breakfast,' is it ? Why we haven't
any for ourselves, how can we give it to you ? But cheer
up, Yanks ! we shall get something to eat on the road, I
dare say, if it's nothing better than raw potatoes or unripe
corn."
The prisoners were immediately formed in line, guarded
on either side by a strong detachment of rebel infantry,
and put en route for Kichmond by one of the plank roads
still covered by Lee's army.
Britomarte, consumed by anxiety for the fate of Justin,
ventured to ask an officer of the guard who was marching
near her, whether he was still in the field hospital, and
what was his state. She spoke in a gentle and winning
tone of voice, and the officer addressed happened to be a
gentleman.
" ' Colonel Rosenthal ? '" he replied. " He is in the am-
bulance ahead of us, with several other Yankee officers who
are slightly wounded, but unable to walk."
THE SURPRISE. 451
** Is his wound a slight one ? "
" I presume it is not a dangerous one, or he would have
been left upon the field. We can have no object in captur-
ing an officer who is likely to die before he can be ex-
changed."
And here the officer, feeling perhaps that his courtesy
had gone far enough in talking to a prisoner, fell back a
little out of ear-shot.
Br:t:marte felt comforted in the knowledge that Justin's
wound was not dangerous, and that he was on the same
road with herself, and would probably be assigned to the
same ward of the same prison with herself.
When they had marched about three miles through a
wasted and desolated country, they came to a cornfield,
where a halt was ordered, and the prisoners were directed
to help themselves, and permitted to rest. The corn was
not near ripe, the ears when the husks were removed being
little bigger than a man's fore-finger, anf the husks still
soft ; and the ground was wet with the recent heavy rains.
Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the famished and fa-
tigued prisoners gladly filled their stomachs with this very
green corn, devouring both grain and husks ; and after-
wards threw their wearied limbs down upon the damp
ground imprudences to be fearfully paid for in the disease
and death that afterwards decimated the crowded popula-
tion of Libby and Belle Isle.
Having eaten and rested in this fatal manner, the order
was given to rise and fall in line, and the inarch was re-
sumed.
All that burning day, when " the sky was brass," they
inarched. Late in the afternoon they halted again in an
orchard, and supped off green apples, and immediately re-
sumed the march.
It was near nightfall when they reached Richmond.
There was a short halt, during which their arrival was
452 HOW HE WON HER.
formally reported to the proper authorities, and orders fot
their disposition taken.
And then they were marched directly to the Libhy and
packed into a prison that was already crowded.
For what follows I am indebted partly to personal obser-
vation, and partly to the report of an officer who was an
inmate of that pest-house for several months.
The Libby, as I saw it in May, 1865, is a great, strong,
oblong building of the simplest structure. It stands quite
alone, a whole block in itself, reaching each way from street
to street. It fronts the water and the wharfs, and backs
upon a city street though front and back are so exactly
alike that it is difficult to say which is which. It has no
wall or yard around it. It stands barely and grimly out be-
tween the streets. It is of two stories, or, counting the
ground floor, of three. Each story is divided, simply and
equally, into three great halls, each big enough for an ordin-
ary church, and running from front to back through the
whole building. Each hall has its sides formed of solid
masonry, and its ends of three immense doors, formed only
of perpendicular iron bars, and reaching from the ceiling to
the floor. Through these bars at the front may be seen the
sidewalk, the river, the wharves, and the busy scenes of
traffic ; through the bars of the back a crowded city street.
Through these opposite, open bars the ventilation is very
good. There is neither bed, bench, water-jug or furniture
of any sort in either hall. But in the right hand corner of
the front there is, in each, a water-spout and sink.
So, amid all the miserable squalor and destitution of the
Libby, there seemed to be three or four necessaries of life in
plenty light, air, water and an open view of earth and
sky.
At least these were my impressions in inspecting it in May,
1865, nearly a year after the events I am now relating.
It was quite dark when our prisoners were halted before
THE SURPRISE.. 453
the Lobby ; but the gas lamps of the street showed the iron
barred front of the building, lined with ghastly faces look-
ing out upon the night. Our men were suffering extremely,
all from fatigue, and many from acute illness brought on by
eating green corn and green apples, and marching under the
burning sun. And many sat down and many dropped upon
the sidewalk before the prison, while waiting for the doors
to be thrown open. A report went round among them that
they were only to be packed up in the Libby for that night ;
and that next morning they were to be divided between Belle
Isle and Castle Thunder.
At last the massive doors were thrown open and the pris-
oners were forced in really forced, for though they made no
sort of resistance, the crowd already there was so great that
it formed an almost impassable obstacle to the entrance of
any more. But our boys were pushed in and pressed upon
this crowd, until it fell heavily back upon itself, to the risk
of great injury and even death to individual prisoners. And
when nearly all were in, and the crowd still bulged through
the open doors, as the contents of an over-full trunk bulges
through its open top, these doors were closed by main force
upon it, just as you would close down the lid of the trunk.
This was not a silent and a patient crowd like that in the
barn had been. The greater number of these men had suf-
fered too long and too terribly. Their state had been bad
enough before this new instalment of prisoners was thrust in
upon them ; now it was immeasurably worse. Here were
men pressed together by thousands in a stone hall that could
not have accommodated a hundred in comfort pressed
together so closely that there was no room to sit or lie down.
To be sure they had air from the open gratings at each
end of the hall ; but the walls on each side were reeking
with moisture and sickening with mould, and the ground
floor under their feet was paved only with round stones like
those in the middle of the streets, and was in many places
454 HOW HE WON HER.
worn with deep holes, where water had gathered, in which
the men stood ankle deep.
Many of these men were suffering from wounds, not
serious in the beginning, else they had not been brought
here, but inflamed and fevered by neglect and ill treatment ;
many were racked with neuralgia and rheumatism from con-
stant exposure to damp and cold ; many were ill from re-
volting forms of disease brought on by foul food. And
added to all this, all were suffering from hunger, thirst and
weariness. And there was no relief and no prospect of
relief.
Here, over these prison doors, might have been inscribed
the awful motto over the gates of Hell :
WHO ENTERS HEKE LEAVES HOPE BEHIND.
Here were agonizing groans and heart-rending prayers ;
heavy complainings and bitter upbraidings ; deeply breath-
ed maledictions and fiercely muttered vows of vengeuce.
The rays of a gas lamp at the corner of the street,
streaming through the grating, lighted up the ghastly faces
of these prisoners with a wild and lurid glare. They look-
ed like the inhabitants of Tartarus. The place seemed at
once a purgatory and a pandemonium.
Britomarte for the first time in all her military career
shuddered with horror.
" Keep near the grating, my dearest, with your face to
the bars, so that you may get as much fresh air as possi-
ble," whispered a faint voice close to her ear.
She turned quickly and saw the face of her lover, pallid
in the lamp-light.
" Justin ! You here ! You in this hall of horrors ! Oh,
I am so sorry ! " she exclaimed, in a low and anxious tone.
" And I am so glad ! And I thought you would be glad
to have me near you," he cheerfully replied.
" Not here not in this torture chamber. Oh, Justin !
weak and wounded, how will you bear it ? "
THE SURPRISE. 456
Much better than I could bear separation from you,
Britomarte," he earnestly answered.
" Your wound, Justin, how is it ? painful ? "
"Not more so than I can well endure," he answered,
smiling.
But to her wistful gaze, his white lips and wrung brow
almost belied his words.
" They might have sent you to a hospital, at least. It
was inhuman to place you here," she said.
" But, my clearest, they placed me just where I wished to
be," he cheerfully said.
And this was true, so true, that he had feigned a greater
strength and a quicker convalescence than he really enjoyed,
in order to be sent to the Libby.
" But how was it that I didn't see you outside ? " she in-
quired.
" Because it was late when I was brought up. I was one
of the last to be packed in," he laughed.
" ' Packed in.' Yes, that is what it is. We are lucky to
be near the grating ; but how will the poor creatures in the
middle of the crowd stand it ? "
" They will not be required to do so long. This is only
a temporary arrangement. I am given to understand that
to-morrow morning we, the newly arrived, will be sent to
Belle Isle. This will relieve the others."
While Justin and Britomarte talked together in this low
tone, Babel, or rather Bedlam, was all around them. The
groans rose to howls, complaints to threats, and prayers to
shrieks.
One voice from the midst of the crowd arose above all the
rest :
" Water, boys for the Lord's sake, water ! Here's a
man fainting. The spout is in the left hand corner near
the front grating. Draw the water and pass it on here,
will you ? "
456 . HOW HE WON HER.
There was a muffled shuffling among the men nearest the
water spout, and then another voice replied :
" The cnp is chained to the spout. We can't pass it."
Groans and curses answered this.
" Here, Justin here is the flask of brandy, with the cup
fitted to it, that I brought for you on the field. Offer it to
them, Justin," said Britomarte, passing the flask that the
Eebels had not taken from her.
From Justin it was passed on from hand to hand, until
it reached the men nearest the water spout. They took
the cup from the bottom of the flask, over which it was
fitted, and they filled it with water, and then passed both
cup and flask from hand to hand until it reached the faint-
ing invalid.
It seemed to be useless, for the voice that had spoken
first was heard again :
" Crowd back, boys. Crowd back, for Heaven's sake !
Never mind flattening yourselves half to death ! Crowd
back, I say ! This man is not fainting he is dying ! Let
him have a little room to lie down and die."
There was an attempt at " crowding back." The attempt
involved increased pressure and pain, and elicited renewed
groans and curses. But four or five feet of room was made,
and the dying man was let down upon the ground. The
"man" was a boy of eighteen. Those immediately around
him saw his face darken with the shadow of death, saw his
eyes glaze, and heard his gasping breath, and the death
rattle in his throat, and they saw, through all, his eager
anxiety and painful effort to speak.
" Don't tell don't tell don't tell " he began to
say many times, and many times he failed.
At length, in one supreme effort, he spoke his whole will.
" Don't tell mother never let her hoar how wretchedly
I die!"
And with these words, his spirit
THE SURPRISE. 457
And the groans and curses and vows of vengeance were
renewed more is the pity, since the pure spirit that had
just departed was doubtlessly reconciled to all things, and
at peace with all men.
It was a night of horror and agony, unutterable and in-
describable. To those who endured it, the eight hours of
darkness seemed eight years of torture. But it passed at
last.
The pale, sickly dawn of day appeared. The gas in the
streets was turned off.
A little while after sunrise the prison doors were opened,
and the prisoners nearest the outlet burst forth, as the con-
tents of an over packed chest when the lid is raised.
Half of them were taken out, and marched, between a
detachment of Eebel infantry, through the streets of the
city en route for Belle Isle.
In one of the most crowded thoroughfares, they were
halted before a grim-looking building with grated windows.
"What place is that ? " inquired Britomarte of the Eebel
soldier beside her.
" It is Castle Thunder," was the gruff reply.
The officer commanding the guard came near.
" Bring that prisoner out of the liues ; " he ordered, point-
ing to Britomarte.
And two soldiers seized her by the two arms.
" Me ! " she exclaimed in surprise, making an involun-
tary but perfectly vain effort of resistance.
" Yes, you, Miss Bridget Martin ! " said the officer.
"What are you about to do with me?" she demanded,
recovering her self-possession, and ceasing to resist where
resistance would be unavailing and undignified.
" We are going to put you in Castle Thunder ; you are
not to be treated as a prisoner of war, but to be tried as a
W
" I ! " she exclaimed, in amazement.
458 HOW HE WON HER.
" Yes, you, Miss Bridget Martin ! " replied the officer in
a mocking tone.
Britomarte looked around in despair for Justin. She
knew, of course, that he could not help her. She only
wished to take leave of him, before going into a captivity
that was likely to end in death. But Justin was nowhere
to be seen. He was, in fact, several hundred yards in
advance of her in the line of march.
So Britomarte was taken into Castle Thunder, and
delivered into the custody of the officer in command of that
prison. First she was led into an office where her supposed
name Bridget Martin was recorded in the prison books,
and where a receipt was taken from the warden for her
person. Then she was conducted to a cell opening on a
corridor on the second floor, and having a broad grated
window looking out upon the street. This cell was about
seven by five in size, and was provided with a narrow
mattress laid upon the floor, and covered with a gray
blanket. There was no other furniture whatever.
Yet still, how much better her situation was here than it
had been in the Libby !
As soon as the door was closed, and the key was turned,
and she found herself alone, she sank down upon the
mattress, for she was more than half dead with fatigue, and
rested with a sense of infinite relief.
When at last she could collect her thoughts, she won-
dered how it was that the rebels had discovered her sex,
and what had put it into their heads that her name was
Bridget Martin. At last her perspicacity penetrated the
truth of the matter some wounded rebel on the field near
them had overheard the conversation between Justin and
herself, and had mistaken her unfamiliar name of Brito-
marte for the common one of Bridget Martin. Farther it
appeared that they did not know the name under which she
had served in the Union army ; so, with a smile, Britomari e
THE SURPRISE. 459
resolved to leave them in ignorance of her identity, and
under their mistake in regard to her name.
She had scarcely formed this resolution when her cell-door
was opened and one of the prison-guard brought in her
breakfast. It was only a small tin cup of Indian corn-meal
gruel ; and it was unsalted ; but Britomarte was more than
half-famished, and she ate this simple food with a good
relish. She asked the guard if there were many prisoners
in the building. He answered :
" Yes, Miss ; four or five in every cell ; but you are put
here alone, because you are a woman."
So, then, even her guard knew her sex ! But, of course !
the name inscribed upon the prison books was Bridget
Martin.
She then asked the guard if she might be permitted to
see the officer in command of the prison.
He answered that he would find out as soon as she should
be relieved.
When he took the empty cup away, and "Britomarte
found herself again alone, she took off her military coat,
ripped open its padding and took out a number of green-
backs ; and then she put on her coat again.
Late in the forenoon the commander of the prison, or
some other officer evidently in authorit3 r , came into the celt
Britomarte arose from her sitting posture on the mattress,
and stood up to receive her visitor.
There was neither chair nor stool, so she could not ask
him to sit down.
" What is it you wish to say to me ? " he inquired.
A vivid blush overspread the face of Britomarte as sho
answered :
" I wish to know whether I may be permitted to pur-
chase garments suitable to my sex ? "
" It is a pity you ever abandoned them," said the officer.
"I do not think so j I have done good service to my
460 HOW HE WON HER.
country while wearing this uniform. But you have not
answered the question."
"I have no authority to answer it. But I will mate
inquiries."
" Thank you," said Britomarte.
And the visitor, who had appeared at her summons, like
a ghost evoked from the shades, now disappeared in the
same manner.
Two or three days passed before the privilege she sued
for was granted to her. But at length she was permitted,
through the agency of the prison officials, to purchase cloth-
ing and re-assume the dress of her sex. Also a chair was
provided her, and coarse but clean sheets, for all of which
she paid heavily in Federal notes ; but thus she enjoyed a
comparative degree of comfort.
CHAPTER XLIL
"THE BEGINNING OF THE END.'
The conflict raged ! The din of arms the yell
Of savage hate the shriek of lagony
The groan of death, commingled in one sound
Of undistinguished horrors ; while the sun,
Retiring slow beneath the plain's far verge,
Shed o'er the quiet hills his fading light. SOUTHEY.
FOB many months Britomarte remained a prisoner in
Castle Thunder. She was not brought to trial as a spy.
She was brought up once or twice for an informal exam-
ination before the provost marshal or some other officer in
authority. But when questioned she remained absolutely
silent; so that no information could be obtained from
her.
And the only witness that could be found to give testi-
mony in her case, was the wounded rebel soldier who had
"THE BEGINNING OF THE END." 401
overheard the conversation between herself and her lover,
and who swore that her name as heard by himself was
Bridget Martin.
So as Bridget Martin she was remanded to prison, where
ehn seemed likely to remain until the end of the war.
That end was not very far off. General Grant was slowly
but surely fighting his \vay to Richmond, winding around
it coil after coil of that " anaconda grasp ever tightening,"
that was destined to destroy the doomed Confederate capi-
tal.
In due time Colonel Eosenthal was exchanged and
released ; but so broken in health from the pains and priva-
tions of his captivity, that when he reported himself for
duty at his brigade headquarters, he was immediately sent
home on sick leave.
And there it required many weeks of Erminie's careful
and skillful nursing before his strength could be restored.
During all this time Justin had been unremitting in his
efforts to hear tidings of Britomarte, and to take measures-
br her release. But none of these efforts were successful.
It will be remembered that when Britomarte was taken
from the prisoners' line of march to be cast into Castle
Thunder, Justin was some two squares ahead, and knew
nothing of her withdrawal.
When the party of prisoners reached Belle Isle, he looked
around for Britomarte, and not seeing her, cautiously
inquired among the men who, some of them, knew her by
sight, but only as " Captain Wing," a commissioned officer
of his regiment.
The men could give no information, until at length the
two or three who had marched nearest to her said that
" Captain Wing " had been taken from the line, when they
were halted in one of the streets of the city j but they
could not tell where " he " had been carried.
He inquired of the guard, who remained dumb.
462 HOW HE WON HER.
Then he questioned the officer of the guard, who gave
him no satisfaction, but, on the contrary, turned cross-
questioner himself, in order to find out who Britomarte was.
Justin saw his drift and became silent.
So his investigations ended for that time, to be renewed
again and again, both at Eichmond and at Washington,
with no better success.
She was a prisoner in a solitary cell in Castle Thunder,
where she was known only by the name which the mistaken
rebel soldier had bestowed upon her ; so it was not probable,
or scarcely possible, that her friends should hear of her con-
dition.
Early in January, Justin, still in very feeble health, but
impatient to serve his country, rejoined his regiment. He
returned to the front, in company with many officers who
had been home on furlough to spend the Christmas holi-
days.
He found that already the spring campaign, destined to
be the last and greatest of the war, was about to open.
Along the whole lines, active preparations were being
made for a new combined assault upon Petersburg and
Eichmond.
General Grant was at City Point, with the whole plan of
the campaign in his comprehensive brain, and directing the
operations of the whole army with consummate skill. There
had been many changes in the army since Colonel Eosen-
thal had fought with them in the battles of Cold Harbor.
Officers by thousands and enlisted men by tens of thousands,
had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, in the scores
of battles that had been fought between the Pamunkey, the
Chickahominy, and the James rivers, and around Peters-
burg. And their places had been filled up with raw
recruits. Veteran privates had developed into commissioned
officers, and officers of the line had grown into regimental,
brigade, and even division commanders. But it was only
"THE BEGINNING OF THE EN D." 463
"gallant and meritorious conduct" in the service that was
thus distinguished.
For instance, little Mim, who, at the battle of the Chick-
ahominy, in June, was only a private soldier in an infantry
regiment, was now major and aid-de-camp on the staff of a
division general, while JBillingcoo, who was mustered in at
the same time with Mini, remained still a very sorry soldier
of the rank and file.
But then Mim was a little hero, ever foremost in the
fight, by his high-hearted bravery and devotion ever inspir-
ing and encouraging all around him, while Billingcoo, in
every engagement, was flagrantly among the skulkers, and
ran away and hid himself whenever he could get an oppor-
tunity to do so.
And singularly enough, Mim, who constantly exposed
himself in the front of battle, seemed, even under a storin
of shot and shell, to bear a charmed life ; while Billingcoo,
who gave his whole mind to the duty of taking care of his
body, was always getting hurt. And once, while hiding
behind barn, one day, to keep out of the range of shot,
he had his ear torn off by a splinter from a shell that came
splitting its way through the timbers of the building.
When Colonel Eosenthal met Mim, he congratulated
that gallant officer on his well-earned advancement.
" Thanks," said the little hero, drawing himself up. " I
always told the recruiting officers, when I offered myself,
that I could do good military service for my country, but
they never agreed with me, and in the face of the fact that
almost every great martial hero the world has known, from
Alexander to Napoleon, was a little man, they repeatedly
refused me. Yes, they refused me until things came to
such a pass that for want of men they were compelled, like
the feast giver in the Bible, to call in ' the maimed, the
halt and the blind.' The Invalid Corps, you know, Colonel,
Then at length they consented to take me"
461 HOW HE WON HER.
" And you have done good service to your country, and
great credit to yourself, Major Mim," answered Justin.
With Billingcoo Justin did not happen to come in con-
tact at all.
And now, about the last of January, the most energetic
arrangements were made to close in around Petersburg and
Richmond. The whole army was in the most active prepa-
ration.
The first object was to seize the South Side Railroad.
To absorb the attention of the enemy, a heavy cannon-
ading was opened upon Petersburg, hurling an overwhelm-
ing tempest of shot and shell into the city.
Under cover of this terrific assault in the front, the sick,
the wounded, the sutlers, the camp followers, with all their
baggage, and all other animate and inanimate incumbrances
to the movements of the army, were dispatched by railroad
to City Point, and all serviceable troops and supplies were
brought up and massed on the left.
As early as three o'clock on Sunday, the fifth of February,
under cover of the" darkness, Gregg's division of cavalry
commenced its march, followed immediately by the Fifth
and Second Corps. The weather was glorious, the roads in
the best condition, and the men in the best spirits.
It was rather a strange coincidence that Colonel Rosen-
thal's last engagement, in which he was wounded and taken
prisoner, had boen in a charge upon Wade Hampton's cav-
alry, and that his first encounter on rejoining his regiment
should be with the same brave foe. But such were the facts,
for
They had advanced but a little way beyond Eeam's Sta-
tion, on the Dinwiddie Court House Road, when they were
met by Wade Hampton's cavalry, with whom they had a
fierce contest for the right of way, before they could pass.
But again they were victorious, and rushed onward like a
whirlwind towards Dinwiddie Court House, encountering
and overwhelming the enemy at every post along the road.
"THE BEGINNING OF THE END." 465
The other divisions advanced by adjacent roads running
in the same general direction, battling every mile of the
way.
But the great battle was fought on Monday, the sixth of
February, at Hatcher's Run, a deep stream passing through
a nearly pathless wilderness, broken into fearful ravines,
stagnant marshes, and heavy woods a locality new to our
soldiers, but perfectly familiar to the enemy.
Here, at length, the farther advance of our army was for
the time effectually checked.
A battle was commenced early in the day, and gradually
increased in violence, until at nightfall it raged with tre-
mendous fury. Gregg's division of cavalry, and Warren's
and Humphrey's corps, were all engaged. Again and again
they pressed forward under a pelting shower of bullets, that
fell thick, fast and blinding as a hailstorm, and again and
again they were driven back, fighting desperately behind
rocks, stumps and trees. So often they fought over the same
ground, that the woods and marshes were strewn thickly
with the dead and dying of both armies, in an undistin-
guishable confusion.
The circumstances were very discouraging to brave men,
but very favorable to skulkers ; and unluckily there were
skulkers in that heroic army, but they were mostly to be
found among the raw recruits soft metal that had not yet
been hardened in the fires of an hundred battles.
Prom time to time staff officers were sent out, like whip-
pers-in of hounds, to hunt up these heroes and hurry them to
their line.
Major Mim, being an active, energetic little fellow, was
dispatched on just such a duty. In the course of his ride
through the wilderness, he came upon Billingcoo lurking in
a thicket.
" Get up and go to your company, sir," said Mini.
" Oh, I can't ! I can't, indeed ! Hear how the thots are
29
466 HOW HE WON HER.
cracking and thnapping about ! And look how the men are
dropping ! Oh, the poor fellowth ! oh, the poor, dear fel-
lowth ! " whimpered Billingcoo.
"For shame, sir! Get up, and go and help the 'poor
fellowths ' you profess to feel so much sympathy for," said
Mirn.
" I can't ! indeed I can't ! The bulleth hurt ! they do
indeed, Mathor ! And the Eebelth fire without the thligh-
teth regard to a man's life ! Oh, look how they are falling !
Oh, poor fellowth ! oh, the poor, poor fellowth ! " howled
Billingcoo. *
" The brave fellows, you mean ; get up and imitate them."
" Oh, I couldn't ! I couldn't for my life ! I thould be
thertain to be killed ! The Eebelth fire tho carelethly, not
minding who they hit ! I feel I thould be killed !
" Suppose you are killed, you poltroon ! what of it ? A
man can die but once ! " exclaimed little Mim, thoroughly
provoked.
" I tell you I've died a thouthand death thinth I've been
in the army ! I've died a hundred death thinth I've been.
in thith thicket ! "
" And you'll die a hundred thousand more if you do not
get over your cowardly fears ! Look at that young fellow
there ! " said Mim, pointing to a young officer at some dis-
tance who, with sword in hand, was gaily cheering on his
men to the conflict.
Billingcoo looked ; but at that moment a shell came tear-
ing and splitting its way through the woods, and when the
smoke cleared away, a horrible picture was revealed between
its rifts. The young officer stood in the same attitude,
w ; th his sword drawn and held at arm's length over his
head, but his whole face was blown off, and nothing but a
gory, crimson, quivering mass of flesh remained where it
had been. For only an instant he stood thus, and then
fell.
'THE BEGINNING OF THE END." 407
Billingcoo uttered a cry of horror and deadly terror, and
threw himself forward upon the ground.
Even Mim shuddered, and covered his eyes for a moment ;
but then recovering herself, he looked up and said :
" It is all over by this time ; the brave young fellow is
out of his misery. Come, Billingcoo ! I have been sent to
hurry up all laggards. Get up ! Pick up your musket
and march ! "
" I tell you I can't there ! and I won't neither there !
Do you think I want to have my fathe blown to pieth like
that young man'th ! I say I can't and I won't' go ! I am
religiouthly oppothed to war ! " answered Billingcoo, lifting
his head for a moment, and then letting it fall.
" You say you can't and you won't ! Well, I say you
must and you shall ! " exclaimed Mim, goading the sides of
the prostrate coward with the point of his drawn sword.
"Oh ! look here now ! That hurth ! Thtop that ! "
cried Billingcoo.
" Get up then, and go to your company ! " said Mim,
goading him more pointedly than ever.
" Oh lor ! oh dear ! oh me ! call this a free country
indeed ! Thtop that now, will you ! It Mirth, I tell you ! "
"Get up, then !" repeated Mim, digging at him again.
But at that moment a minie ball came whizzing towards
them, piercing the leg of Mim and killing his horse, which
instantly fell under him ; so that both rider and horse rolled
on the ground.
"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" shouted Billingcoo. "I
don't bear you any ill-will, old fellow ; but I do think it
therveth you right, and I do thank the goodneth grathiouth
alive for thith great deliveranth ! "
And he jumped up, cut three or four capers in the air,
and ran farther away out of gun-shot ; for the battle was
now surging nearer and nearer to them.
Every one knows that on that night our army was beaten
468 HOW HE WON HER.
back to their intrenchuients upon Hatcher's Run, where
they made a final stand.
The next day, when the wounded were looked up, Mim
was found with his leg hurt beside his dead horse. And
some distance farther on Billingcoo was found dead trans-
fixed with a splinter driven into his body by a shell that
had torn its way through the old log cabin behind which
the poor creature, with his usual fatuity, had hidden himself
in fancied security.
Our army were now in undisputed possession of Hatcher's
Run. And the City Point Railroad was in good working
order up to this post.
But, as every one knows, it was three weeks later, and
after almost incessant fighting along the White Oak Eoad,
culminating in the terrific battle of the Five Forks, that
the South Side Railroad was at length seized and destroyed,
the Confederate army totally routed, and the way opened to
the occupation of Richmond and Petersburg by our troops.
It would be presumptuous in a mere story-writer to dwell
upon these magnificent themes, so much beyond her power
of treatment. This story does not pretend to be a history
of the campaign or of any portion of it ; it is only a simple
narrative of the part taken therein by certain persons in
whom we are interested. And besides, it would be useless
to dilate upon events that are still fresh in the memory of
all. All recollect how from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and from the Lakes to the Gulf how all the land rang
with joy, how all the cities glowed with light, how all the
banners waved in triumph when the vibrating telegraphic
wires flashed East and West flashed North and South
the proud words :
" Richmond and Petersburg ar ours ! One third of
Lee's army is destroyed. And for the rest there is no
escape."
And yet, even among the most loyal of the Union party,
DELIVERANCE AT LAST. 469
vnostly among them perhaps, was this joy mingled with sad-
ness, for they were no alien foes that our arms had van-
quished.
CHAPTEE XLIII.
DELIVERANCE AT LAST.
Who knew, she thought, what the amazement,
The eruption of clatter and blaze ireant,
And if, in this morning of wonder,
Ho outlet mid lightning and thunder,
Lay broad, and her shackles all shivered,
The captive, at last, was delivered?
Aye, that was the open sky o'erhead !
And you saw by the Hash in her forehead.
By the hope in those eyes, broad and steady,
She was leagues o'er the free earth already ROBERT BBOWNINO.
"I was sick, and in prison and ye visited me not! "
AH ! in all our great cities, how many human beings
there are " sick and in prison," whose lot is much more
miserable than that of the poorest beggar who enjoys the
free air! These are not always criminals, but they are
almost always friendless ; for who dreams of visiting
them?"
"I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not!"
These pathetic words of Our Saviour recurred to my mind,
with my recollection of one heroic young woman, who, for
no other crime than that of serving her country according
to her own conscience, was, for a great length of time, con-
fined in the solitary cell of a Confederate prison.
Britomarte, for many weary months, remained a captive
in Castle Thunder. The tediousness, the heaviness, the
wretchedness of this captivity, who can imagine ?
She was more than a suspected spy in the hands of the
enemy, and as such, she was only saved from the usual fate
of a spy by that consideration for her sex which restrained
her captors from putting a woman to death for anything
470 HOW HE WON HER.
less than a capital crime proved upon her not by circum-
stantial evidence, but by direct testimony.
Yet was her captivity even more bitter and terrible than
death. She was debarred from books, newspapers, com-
panionship, and from conversation, even with her guards.
She could get no intelligence of her friends or her country.
Whether Colonel Rosenthal had recovered, or had died of
his wounds, or whether he had been exchanged, or was still
a prisoner at Belle Isle, she could not surmise.
Whether General Grant had crossed the James and in-
vested Eichmond, or whether the Army of the Potomac
had again been beaten back to Washington, she did not
know.
Occasionally, from the shouts that filled the city st3ets
by day, and the lights that illumined the city windows by
night, she conjectured that a Confederate victory had been
gained, or a false report of such a victory spread.
These were her only sources of even conjecture.
In solitude, in silence, in idleness, in close confinement,
intense anxiety and maddening suspense, the heavy days
and nights, the horrible autumn and winter of her captivity
crept slowly into the past. For months her brave soul bore
nobly up.
But as the spring opened, bringing life and light and
beauty to all the earth, but no ray of joy, or hope, or com-
fort, into her prison cell, her body, soul and spirit all broke
down.
These were the darkest hours of her long dreary night of
misery, but like such hours, they fell just before the dawn
of her new, sweet day of joy.
It was the ever memorable second of April, eighteen
hundred and sixty-five. Up to this day, the great Confed-
erate capital had continued confident in its own fancied
security, and even now it was as utterly unconscious of its
fast approaching capture, as was the solitary prisoner in
Castle Thunder of her quickly coming. deliverance
DELIVERANCE AT LAST. 471
It was Sunday, and the sweet Sabbath peace reigned over
the city.
Britomarte sat at the grated window of her cell, as she
had sat how many heavy days and sleepless nights ! She
was almost as fleshless as a skeleton, as bloodless as a
corpse, and as hopeless as a lost spirit. She had been listen-
ing to the solemn Sabbath bells calling the citizens to their
afternoon worship ; she had been watching these citizens,
both male and female, young and old, troop past, in their
quaint, faded, and old-fashioned apparel, that the severity
of the blockade compelled them still to wear, and she had
been wondering wearily at the strange self-delusion and in-
consistency which permitted these people to collect apd
pray like Christians in their churches, and to muster and
make war like heathen upon their brethren.
But now the bells had ceased to ring, the churches were
filled, and the streets were empty. Her head dropped upon
i.er hand, and she sat in dull despair, while the hours crept
slowly by, and the sun sank slowly to his setting.
Then the cry of her heart went up :
" ' How long, Lord, how long ? ' "
Not long now, oh pale prisoner! "The day of the Lord
is at hand, at hand." The sun has set for the last time
upon the Rebel capital. To-morrow it will rise upon a re-
deemed city.
Even now Lee's army is in full retreat. And those Sab-
bath bells you late heard ringing summoned, among others,
one worshipper to church, who ere he left his pew again, re-
ceived a telegram announcing, in effect, that his reign was
over and his city about to be taken.
Even now the trains of cars at the station of the Eich-
mond and Danville Railroad are seized for the use of the
Confederate President and his retinue, who are about to fly
from the falling capital. Breckenridge and his army have
received orders to evacuate Richmond by midnight ; but he
472 HOW HE WON HER.
has resolved to leave behind him a tremendous token of ven-
geance by destroying the city that they could not hold.
There is an ever-increasing noise and confusion through-
out the city, though as yet the people are kept in ignor-
ance and do not know what all the excitement is about.
Britomarte, sitting at the grated window of her prison
cell, and seeing the crowds hurry through the streets,
thought at first that they were the congregations dismissed
from the several churches.
But as the crowds became multitudes, and the confusion
became uproar, she began to think that news of eome
great battle had been received ; but whether the people
were howling over a defeat or hurrahing over a victory,
she could not discover.
While she was enduring this suspense, the door of her
cell was unlocked, and the guard, or turnkey, who attended
her, brought in the cup of unsalted corn meal meal gruel
that formed her usual supper.
For months she had ceased to speak to her guards,
because they had been forbidden to hold any conversa-
tion with her. But now the unexplained uproar of the
Avhole city, the excited looks of this man, and her own
intense anxiety, irresistibly impelled her to question him.
" What is the matter outside ? " she eagerly inquired.
He hesitated a moment, glanced at her anxious counte-
nance, and then, with a harsh laugh, he answered :
" Don't you know ? The Army of the Potomac is utterly
destroyed. Grant and all his generals are taken prisoners,
and are on their way to the city. And the mob mean to
lynch them, if the president and the general don't prevent
it."
" My God ! " exclaimed Britomarte ; and the cup of gruel
fell untasted from her hands.
Having told this bitter falsehood, the guard picked up the
fragments of the broken cup, and, laughing sarcastically,
left the cell, and locked the door.
DELIVERANCE AT LAST. 473
Britomarte remained with her hands lifted in appeal to
Heaven.
Did she then believe the terrible tale ? Not entirely ; nor
did the mocking guard expect that she would do so.
But she was enfeebled and enervated in body and mind by
her long solitary confinement ; and she succumbed to the
shock of that announcement before she could reflect upon its
improbability.
When, however, she had time to recover her composure,
and to arrange her thoughts, she perceived that the guard
had gone too far in hinting that the mob proposed to lynch
the illustrious prisoners said to have been taken. And in
utterly rejecting this part of the story as impossible, she
was led to question the whole of it as improbable. Though
this conclusion saved her from despair, it did not moderate
her anxiety.
She pressed her face to the bars of her prison window,
and watched and listened with " all " her eyes and ears to
discover if possible the true cause of all the uproar in the
city.
The night was now quite dark, or would have been so
but for the gas lamps at the corners.
A torrent of human beings rushed through the streets, a
confusion of many tongues rose on the air.
" What can be the matter? " she asked of herself for the
hundreth time. " If there really should have been a recent
Confederate victory, as the guard stated, I shall soon know.
In that case there will be an impromptu and partial illu-
mination to-night, and a concerted and general one to-
morrow night."
But the hours crept on towards midnight, and there was
no illumination.
Meanwhile the multitude of people, ever increasing in
number and gathering in force, continued tc roll on like a
river with resistless impetuousity through the streets ; and
474 HOW HE WON HER.
the babel of many voices to whirl like a tornado in a cease-
less roar up into the midnight air. Yet these voices were
not the utterances of victors ; these fierce invectives and
deep maledictions were not exclamations of joy or triumph !
What could be their purport then ?
Britomarte could not answer. She could only watch and
listen in intense anxiety and awful suspense.
At length the bell of some neighboring public building
tolled.
And simultaneously with this knell there rolled up into
the cool night air, against the clear purple sky, a huge,
black, crimson and sulphurous volume of smoke !
The illumination was about to appear, but not in the
character she had expected to see it.
This was a fire, she knew, but whence or where she knew
not. She could only watch and listen as before.
The black and crimson smoke speedily burst into flame,
and all the earth and all the heavens were lighted up as by
a general conflagration.
So might have belched forth the subterranean fires of
Vesuvius upon the doomed cities of Herculaneum and
Pompeii !
Viewed from her window, the scene was wild, splendid
and magnificent beyond description. Against the broad-
ening sheets of flame the city buildings stood up black,
stark and spectral, while all the crowded streets between
them formed a Pandemonium.
The ocean of fire rolled on and on. Every nook of the
city was intensely illuminated. The inside of her own cell
was so dazzlingly lighted up that she had to close her
eyes, at intervals, to relieve them of the blinding glare.
And the sea of flame rolled on and on !
And the horror was presently augmented, when, with
tremendous reports that rent the air and shook the ground
like an earthquake, magazine after magazine exploded,
DELIVERANCE AT LAST. 475
sending blazing timbers, bricks, mortar, and every descrip-
tion of ignited missile, whirling through the city ; while a
driving shower of sparks and burning coals fell like the
rain of fire that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah !
" Grant is before the inner line of intrenchments, and is
shelling the city," was the natural conclusion of Britomarte,
as she heard the detonating thunder of the frequent explo-
sions, the dreadful crash of falling buildings, and the fierce
cries of the infuriated mob ; as she saw the flood of flame
and the rain of burning coals.
" And when he takes the city, at what a stupendous cost
of life. It will be utterly destroyed, with all its people.
And we, the Union prisoners, will find our only deliverance
through a death by fire."
And Britomarte sank to her knees, and covered her eyes,
and bowed her head, and prayed not in fear for herself, for
she was brave to meet the fire, but in pity for the innocent
children, the delicate women, the suffering invalids, and all
the helpless and harmless that she thought must go down
with the strong and the guilty in this general destruction.
Long and earnestly she prayed to the Lord of Heaven
and earth to mitigate the horrors of this most horrible
night.
When at length she arose, and looked out upon the burn-
ing city, she beheld a scene which, in its sublime terrors,
overwhelmed her senses, and brought to her appalled soul
the vision of "that dreadful day, that day of wrath," when
the firmament shall melt with a fervid heat, the heavens be
rolled together as a scroll, and the sun, moon and stars be
blotted out.
The flood of flame rolled and roared on and on with
devouring fury ; the rain of fire and burning cinders fell
thick and blinding as a hailstorm. And the explosion
of shells, torpedoes and powder magazines still rent the sky
and shook the earth. And the groans and the curses of
men, and the shrieks of women and children, filled the air !
476 HOW HE WON HER.
Overcome with horror in her weakened condition, she
who had often led the charge in person to the very cannon's
mouth, now shrank away, covered her face with her hands,
reeled and fell on her prison floor in a deadly swoon.
In a mercifully permitted unconsciousness, she lay for
nearly two hours.
When she recovered day had dawned, and the unhallowed
glare of the conflagration was fading in the hlessed heams
of the rising sun.
There were no more explosions. The supposed bombard-
ment seemed to have ceased. And with its cessation, the
shower of sparks, and burning cinders, and the whirling
storm of fiery missiles had passed away. The flames still
raged and roared up into the sky, hut they did not seem to
spread, and they looked paler and less terrible by daylight.
There was still a multitudinous sound of many feet and
many tongues in the streets, but the character of these
sounds had changed. They were eager, joyous, triumph-
ant!
Stiff and sore, bewildered and confused, she arose and
went to the grated window, and looked forth.
Oh ! joy ! joy ! joy ! Deliverance at last ? The street
was filled with a procession of dark figures, but these fig-
ures wore the blue uniform of the United States soldiers !
She recognized them. Her regiment had stood beside
them on many a well-fought field, and last of all at Cold
Harbor, where she had been taken prisoner ! They were a
detachment of the colored soldiers forming Weitzel's Divi-
sion of the gallant Ninth Corps.
And they were about to open her prison doors !
Now, while they halted in the middle of the street in
front of the prison, they were hailed and welcomed with
tears and praises by the colored population that filled the
sidewalk.
They were officered by young white men ; one of those
DELIVERANCE AT LAST. 477
attracted Britomarte's especial attention. He was a gallant
little fellow, full of fire, spirit and vivacity. He was
mounted on a fine horse, and rode hither and thither, main-
taining order among his excited soldiers and their overjoyed
friends.
Britomarte knew him, or had known him, as little Mim,
and he had known and admired her but only as Miss Con-
yers. Afterwards, when she was known as Captain Wing,
and he as Private Mini, she had recognized him again, but
he had not identified her in her new character. At the
battle of Cold Harbor, where she had been taken prisoner,
he had still been a private. Now, however, he wore the
uniform of a commissioned officer, though of what grade
she could not, from her point of view, determine.
She seized the bars of her grated window, and shook and
rattled them ; she put her wasted hand through, them and
waved it ; she called and shouted, but her voice was weak,
and the din below was deafening ; so that she failed to at-
tract attention until Major Mim, happening to look up, saw
the wasted hand waving through the grated window. He
did not recognize Miss Conyers then, but he saw that the
pale hand belonged to an imprisoned woman, and that was
quite enough to fire the blood of such a devoted " squire of
dames " as Major Mim.
He had been just on the point of opening the prison doors
to release such of our people as he might happen to find there,
this being his appointed duty on the premises, but now he
hurried his movements.
Calling to four or five surbordinate officers to follow him,
he entered the prison. There were none to resist him.
The guards had run away hours before.
Britomarte, in her cell, heard the rushing footsteps of her
deliverers. They spread themselves throughout all the lob-
bies of the prison.
But the squad led by little Mim came hurrying towards
478 HOW HE WON HER.
her door, and paused in much excitement before it. This
door was locked and barred on the outside, and it required
some little time and force before it could be broken open.
Then Major Mim, with his face fiery from exertion and
excitement, rushed in.
" You are free, Madam ! " he exclaimed, lifting his cap to
Britomarte, but failing to recognize her.
" Don't you know me " she hesitated a moment to
glance at his straps and ascertain his precise rank " Major
Mim ? Don't you know me ? "
" Heaven and earth ! It is Miss Conyers ! " exclaimed
little Mim, in consternation.
" Or what remains of her," added Britomarte, with a wan
smile.
" In the name of Providence, how came you here ? " de-
manded Mini.
" I was tat en as a suspected spy. The story is too long
to tell you now, Major. But tell me news of our army. I
am dying, yes, dying to hear."
" We have got Richmond," said Mim.
" I see that. But Colonel Eosenthal ? "
" He is with General Grant."
" And General Grant ? "
" Is gone after Lee."
"And Lee?"
" In full retreat down the valley, half his army destroyed,
the other half doomed."
" So Richmond is ours. Thank Heaven ! But oh, why
did you set the city on fire ? Was that necessary ? "
" We set the city on fire ! No, thank Heaven, Miss Con-
yers, the crime of burning this beautiful city does not rest
on our souls. It seems to have been set on fire either by the
evacuating party or by the excited mob, we do not know
which, but we do know that when we marched in we found
the city in flames, and that our first business was to go to
DELIVERANCE AT LAST. 479
work, as fast as we could, to put it out. And although the
wretches that fired the city also cut the hose, we are still, by
the blessing of God, bringing the flames under."
" Thank Heaven for that ! Tell me more news of our
friends. Who has fallen ? Who survive ? "
" Miss Conyers, it seems to me, speaking broadly, that all
who are not killed are promoted. Among the killed, Miss
Conyers, is that gallant young fellow they used to call the
'Destroying Angel,' on account of his fiery impetuosity."
" Who ? " inquired Britomarte.
" You know he who was so adored in the whole brigade.
What was his name again ? I am the. worst hand at
names. I seem to get the idea without the word. What
was it again? Bird? no. Dash? no. Spring? no.
But it was something with a rush in it. WLNG ! That
was it. Ah, poor fellow ! "
" What of him ? " inquired Britomarte, suppressing a
laugh.
"Missing missing for nearly a year past. Dead, of
course ; lost among heaps of dead ill the trenches-, or the
rivers, or the woods, or in the ditches of the Kebel prisons.
Colonel Rosenthal has done all he could to discover traces
of his fate, but in Ifcin. And I really think the uncer-
tainty wears upon the colonel."
"Perhaps Wing may yet be found in some of the rebel
prisons of Richmond," suggested Britomarte.
"Heaven grant it. Yet it is not likely. Come, Miss
Conyers; you look worn and wasted. Let me take you
somewhere where you can be comfortably lodged and
refreshed. Colonel O'Neill has his quarters at the Golds-
borough House. His wife is with him. I know they will
gladly welcome you. Will you let me take you there for
the present ? "
" Thanks, yes ! Anywhere anywhere out of this hor-
rible place ! " said Britomarte.
480 HOW HE WON HER.
Major Mim ordered an ambulance brought up, placed
Miss Conyers in it. and conveyed her to the quarters of
Colonel O'Neill, where she was warmly welcomed and affec-
tionately tended by that gallant officer's amiable wife.
CHAPTER XLIV.
AFTER A WHILE.
Kind hearts there are, yet would the tenderest one
Have limits to its mercy ; God has hone.
And man's forgiveness may be true and sweet,
But yet he stoops to give it. More complete
Is love that lays forgiveness at thy feet.
And pleads with thee to raise it. Only Heaven
Means OKOWNED, not HUMBLED, when it says " Forgiven."
A. A. PROCTOR. '
LET us reverently pass over that awful calamity of April
the fourteenth, which followed so swiftly upon the winged
feet of Victory, quenching all her lights of joy and of
triumph in darkness and in blood. The Nation's holy sor-
row is too sacred a subject to be treated here.
I take up my story at a point of time some weeks later,
when the unnatural and over-strainec^3xcitement of alter-
nated joy and grief, triumph and despair, had in some
measure subsided, and the amazed and distracted people
had in some degree recovered self-possession and calmness ;
when the victorious legions of the army had passed in
grand review before the President and all the high official
dignitaries of the Union, before all the resident representa-
tives of foreign courts, and above all, before the multitude
of grateful and admiring fellow countrymen, who had
gathered in millions to do honor to their patriotism, courage
and devotion, and who, as they looked upon those glorious
veterans, thought that if every man of the rank and file
was not a commissioned officer, nearly every one of them
certainly deserved to be so.
AFTER A WHILE. 481
Promotions were made for " gallant and meritorious con-
duct in the service " that is, so far as there should be room
for them. But if every private soldier of the Union could
have been advanced according to his deserts, we should
have had an army composed Almost entirely of major
generals. There were thousands upon thousands of men
in the ranks, as brave, as true, as skillful, and as devoted, as
many who commanded divisions and corps ; and if these
could not all be promoted it was only because, as I once
heard a schoolboy captain demonstrate to his discontented
company, "All cannot be corporals." But if we cannot
decorate every brave soldier with a pair of shoulder-straps,
we can at least give every one of them our heartfelt honor
and esteem. As for us, we never see the dear old faded
blue uniform anywhere, but our hearts warm to the wearer,
as we think of the marchings and fightings, by day and
night, the fastings and vigils, the wounds and illnesses, the
exposure to freezing cold and burning heat, and all the in-
conceivable sufferings incident to war which the soldier
must have borne for our sakes.
But this is a digression, and we must get back to our
story.
It was a. few days from those of the grand review. The
armies had been disbanded and sent home. The multitudes
of visitors had left the city. And Washington, which had
for weeks been suffering under a plethora of population,
was relieved.
The parsonage, which like every other private house in
Washington and Georgetown had been filled with company,
was now comparatively empty.
The parlor circle consisted only of Erminie, Elfie, Briga-
dier General Kosenthal, Colonel Fielding and Captain Hay.
Lieutenant Colonel Mim and Captain Ethel were frequent
visitors.
30
482 HOW HE WON HER.
By this you will perceive, that all our friends of the army
who had not been killed were promoted.
They were not yet mustered out of the service, and they
were all on duty in Washington.
Poor young Wing was, supposed to have died in one of
the confederate prisons ; but it was noticeable that from the
time General Rosenthal learned the liberation of Miss Con-
yers from Castle Thunder, he ceased to mourn the untimely
fate of Wing.
Britomarte was not in Washington, and no one knew
exactly where she was at this time.
Immediately after her release from Castle Thunder she
had written three letters one to Justin, announcing her
safety, one to Erminie to the same effect, and one to the
Signora Adriana di Bercelloni. And within a week after
the posting of these letters, she had left Richmond for the
North. Lately she had written from New York, announc-
ing her speedy return to Washington. This letter, which
was addressed to Justin, was immediately answered by a
joint one from the brother and sister, entreating Britomarte
to make the parsonage her home, and to let them know
exactly by what train she would arrive, that they might
meet her at the station. They were now waiting her
reply.
It was yet early in the day, and the gentlemen had all
walked out, and Elfie was busy at her favorite pastime of
decorating the drawing-room with flowers, and Erminie,
having issued all her domestic orders for the day, was rest-
ing in an easy chair in her own chamber, when the sound
of wheels was heard turning into the gates and rolling up
the avenue towards the front of the house. It was not an
unusual sound, for there had been a great number of callers
within the last few weeks, so that in fact the inmates of the
cottage were getting tired of them.
Elfie, pausing in the act of arranging a bouquet, uttered
AFTER A WHILE. 483
an exclamation of disgust and wondered why people could
not content themselves at home.
Erminie, seated in her resting-chair in the privacy of her
own room, hoped that the visitor might be no one whom she
should be obliged to see. And she waited for the appear-
ance of the servant to announce the name of the new
comer.
But fifteen or twenty minntes passed and no servant
appeared, though the carriage still remained standing before
the door.
" It is some one for Elfie," said Erminie to herself, as she
sank in her chair to take her ease.
But at that moment she heard footsteps approaching the
chamber, and the next instant the door was thrown open
by Elfie, who, pale and faint, tottered into the chamber and
sank into the nearest seat.
" Elfie ! Elfie, my dear ! in the name of mercy, what has
happened ? " exclaimed Ermiuie, starting up in alarm, for
the least terrible of her conjectures was that some serious
accident had occurred to her own brother or to Elfie's
father.
" Noth nothing has happened ! Nothing bad, I mean !
All good ! Oh, Erminie ! how shall I tell you ! " gasped
Elfie, bursting into a passion of hysterical tears and sobs.
The excess of joy weeps ; the excess of anguish laughs.
" What ? what is this ? Who came in the carriage ? "
breathlessly gasped Erminie, turning pale and cold, yet not
with fear !
" Oh, Erminie, guess ! try to guess ! I am afraid to tell
you ! Who would you rather see of all the world ? " said
Elfie, trembling.
Torrents of fire and of ice alternately seemed to sweep
through the system of the delicate girl, as the blood rushed
to her head and receded to her heart.
484 HOW HE WON HER.
" My father ! It ia my dear father ! " she cried, as she
started up and dashed from the room.
" Yes ! it is he ! " said Elfie.
The drawingroom door stood wide open.
Erniinie flew in and was folded in the arms of her father.
He sank down on the sofa and drew her on his lap ; and
she dropped her head upon his bosom and wept for joy.
And he clasped her in a closer embrace, and for the first
few minutes not one word was spoken between them.
Then the first syllables her lips could frame were of
gratitude to Heaven.
" Thank the Lord ! Oh, thank the Lord ! " she said.
"Amen," solemnly responded the Lutheran minister.
. " My father ! Oh, my beloved father ! "
( My dear, dear child ! "
u Let me look at you ! Is it you indeed ? Is it indeed
you ? " she said, raising heir face from his bosom and push-
ing his head gently a little way from her that she might
examine him at will.
" You see it is I," he said, smiling.
" But how thin you are ! oh, how thin ! how wasted your
dear face is ! Father, you have suffered ! " she said, kissing
him tenderly and repeatedly.
" But my sufferings are over now, dear child," he said.
" You have been all this while in a Confederate prison I
And it will take time to restore you."
" Yes, my child, it will take as many weeks and as many
new-laid eggs to build me up as it took to restore the re-
nowned knight of La Mancha after one of his campaigns,"
said the old man, gaily.
" You suffered so much in that prison ! But don't try to
tell me about it now," she added, hastily ; " tell me what I
shall do for you first. Have you had a good breakfast this
morning? Shall I ring for Bob to bring you a pair of
slippers and get a warm bath ready for you ? Which first,
AFTER A WHILE. 485
dear father ? Oh, I am not in my right senses ! I am mad
with joy, or I should know what to do at once without ask-
ing you. Let me take off your boots like I used to do ! "
And she would have gone down on her knees to perform
this service if he had not prevented her.
" Stay, my daughter. Sit where you are for the present.
On my lap. I like you here. I want to look into your face.
And I want nothing more just yet. Changed, my Minie !
somewhat changed you are in these four years. Not so
bright and blooming as you were ; paler, thinner ; but more
lovely, my darling much more lovely. Ah, I know how
you have passed these years, my Minie. Even in my dis-
tant prison I heard of that young Lutheran Sister of Christ
whose tender mercies were over all sufferers that came under
her care whether Rebel or Loyal. I will tell you about
that presently. But now tell me : how knew you so readily
that I had been in prison all this while ? Who told you ? "
"No one, my dear father. When I heard from Elfie that
you had returned, I easily divined it. Where else should
you have been living all this while, not to have come home
to us? But besides that, dear father, several months ago,
nearly a year ago indeed, when my brain and nervous system
were in an abnormal and exalted condition from the effects
of illness and drugs, I had a dream or vision in which I saw
you in prison."
" Dream ? vision ? My child, you surely do not attach any
importance to such very natural phenomena?"
" I don't know, I will tell you all about my strange ex-
perience some day not now. I will only say this now : that
my dream left upon my mind so strong an impression of
your continued existence in this world, that I was more over-
joyed than surprised when Elfie came to announce your re-
turn. And now that I see you before me, and hear you ad-
mit that you were a captive contiued in a Confederate
488 HOW HE WON HER.
prison, just as I dreamed you were, I cannot help attaching
some significance to my dream."
" A mere coincidence, my little daughter. Millions of
dreams amount to nothing. But if one in a billion seems
prophetic from an accidental coincidence, it is immediately
set down among supernatural phenomena. Nonsense, my
Minie ! The wonder is, not that one dream in a billion
happens to coincide with something in real life, but that
nearly all of them do not. So you have been a little Sister
of Charity in these years, my Minie ? "
" Yes, my father ; but there was really no merit in that.
My heart would have broken else. I had to comfort others
in order to sustain myself."
" Did you then suffer so much, my Minie ? " tenderly in-
quired her father.
"Not more, nor so much as many thousand women have
suffered during this war. But I believe that I was weaker*
than others, and more ready to succumb to sorrow, if I had
not kept myself up in the way I did. First there came
But I will not talk to you of these things now. Father,
dear father, you know How much do you know about Jus-
tin?" she asked, after some embarrassment and hesitation.
" I know all about him, my dear child. I parted with
him not an hour ago, at his head-quarters. I had to go
there first, for there was one with ine who had important
business with him. On reaching the city, I and he who was
with me inquired for Colonel Rosenthal's address, and were
told that General Kosenthal was at his head-quarters. So
we went there, and spent two hours with him."
" My brother must have been tremendously astonished
and overjoyed.''
" He was, my darling. Justin is a stout man, and in the
last four years he has grown stouter. But when he saw me
he was nearer swooning than I ever saw a man in my life.
He first arose to receive me, believing me to be a stranger,
AFTER A WHILE. 487
but when he recognized me he turned white as death, reeled,
caught the edge of his table for support, and fell back into
his seat. It was a full minute before he could recover him-
self and welcome me. You sustained the shock with more
firmness, my Minie."
" Because, dear father, it really was no such great shock
to me. I say, as I said before, that my dream had prepared
me for your return, and I was more overjoyed than surprised
at it."
" Still ' harping ' on your dream, my darling. Never mind
that. You have suffered a great deal in these four dreadful
years, my poor child."
" But I suffer no longer, dear father. I have you and I
have Justin, and even my school friend, Britomarte, all safe.
And I have not a sorrow in the world now," she said gaily.
" Not one, my Minie ? " he inquired, very significantly.
The fair, bright face was suddenly overclouded and dark-
ened. The one unforgotten name arose to her lips. She
covered her face with her hands, and burst into tears.
" I thought so. I thought so, my child. But I did not
mean to torture you in vain. Hope, hope all things, my
Minie," her father said, as he drew her closer to his heart,
and soothed her gently.
Presently she raised her head, and wiped the tears from
her eyes saying :
" How weak and foolish I am. How wrong and thank-
less to weep when I should only rejoice. And I do rejoice.
" Oh, my beloved father, I rejoice from the bottom of my
heart, and thank the Lord from the depths of my soul
that you have, returned to bless us with your precious
presence. I do, dear father, I do ! "
" I know you do, my darling, only you would be still
more joyful and thankful if there could be one otJier by my
side as loyal as I am."
" Oh ; my dear father," said Erminie, shrinking painfully,
488 HOW HE WON HER.
as one who had a wound suddenly probed " my dear father
do not speak of that. Never mind nie. Let us talk of
yourself. Since you will not let me do anything for you
but sit upon your knee, tell me, if it will not tire you to do
so, how it came about that you were reported dead, and that
a body was found and buried as your body, when in fact
you were only taken prisoner ? And above all, how did it
happen that you were kept in prison so long without being
exchanged, or being allowed to communicate with youi
family ? "
" It is a long story, my child, but I will try to tell it
briefly. When my regiment was at Manassas, it was desira-
ble to ascertain the position of the enemy, and the character
of his defences. My colonel knew that the general officers
were very solicitous upon this point. He thought secretly
to procure the information, and to surprise them with it.
He proposed to me to exchange my uniform for the clergy-
man's dress that I had a right to wear, and in that cos-
tume, and with a bundle of tracts in my carpet bag, to
penetrate the enemy's lines as an itinerant preacher, dis-
tribute my tracts, pick up all the information I could get,
and then return to my regiment and give it to him."
" Oh, my dear father, what a dangerous service to put
you on, and at your age, too ! "
" My dear, we thought my age and clerical character
would be the very circumstances to save me from suspicion
and arrest."
" And so you went ? "
" And so I went myself and my colonel being only in
the secret ! In my character of an old itinerant preacher,
I succeeded in getting within the enemy's lines, where I
distributed my tracts among the soldiers, and preached pro-
slavery from the text, ' Servants obey your masters? and
secession from another text, ' Come out from among them.'
I gained ' golden opinions,' and what is more, such impor-
AFTER A WHILE. 489
taut information in regard to the strength, position and
plans of the enemy that, could I have succeeded in carrying
it back to my colonel, it must have totally changed the issue
of that disastrous battle of Bull Eun."
" But you were taken ! " sighed Erminie.
" I was taken ! I started on my return, but some cir-
cumstance, of I know not what nature, excited suspicion.
I was followed, arrested, and brought back."
" Oh, my father ! oh, my dear, dear father ! " exclaimed
Erminie, clasping her hand.
" My child, you see me sitting here in safety ; you feel
my arms around you ; therefore you can bear to hear some
hard facts. I will tell them as shortly and plainly as pos-
sible. The result of my arrest was that I was tried as a
spy and condemned to die."
11 Father ! father ! " exclaimed Erminie, clasping him
closer, as though he were still in danger.
" Here I am, safe and well, little daughter ! I owe my
life to General Eastworth ! His services to the cause of the
Confederacy were considered very great ; his influence was
almost unbounded. He recognized me as soon as he saw
me, and without divulging my real name, which was not
yet discovered, he intervened at the proper point of time,
and got my death-sentence commuted to that of imprison-
ment during the war. I was sent to a Confederate prison
in Charleston."
" And it was there I saw you in my dream," murmured
Erminie, but in a voice too low to attract the attention of
her father, who continued :
" I verily believe that Eastworth procured me to be sent
to Charleston so that he could watch over me, and mitigate
the rigor of my captivity, for he himself had just been
ordered on duty thither. And he has served me like a son
for more than three years."
490 HOW HE WON HER.
" I am very glad to owe this deep debt of gratitude to
General Eastworth," said Erminie in a low voice.
" You will be gladder still to learn that Eastworth, like
the Prodigal Son in the Scriptures, has come to himself!"
" Father ! father ! is this so ? Is this really so ? "
gasped Erminie in a low, breathless tone, as of suspended
rapture.
" It is so, my girl, or I never would have brought up his
name ! There is not a man in the country who mourns
with a deeper sorrow over the fatal madness of the secession
than does General Eastworth. And not that the cause is
lost ! for I feel sure that he would not only have mourned,
but despaired, could it have succeeded."
" Oh, father ! father ! I never expected to be so happy in
this world, or scarcely even in Heaven, as you have made
me with this news ! " exclaimed Erminie, as a ray of almost
divine joy shone through the tears that filled her eyes.
" I rejoice in your happiness, my darling child ! "
" But how came this great change about, my father ? "
" Who can tell that ? Perhaps your tears that ever fell,
your prayers that ever rose for him, were effective ! Per-
haps your devotion to the sufferers by this war brought a
blessing on your head, and grace to him, so that he was
cured of his hallucination ; for it was hallucination with
him. The wisest and best of mortal men, Ermiuie, are
subject to be hallucinated by some master passion. With
one man it may be love ; with another jealousy, hatred or
revenge ; with still another, avarice ; and with the nobler
sort of man it is, too often, ambition ! With Eastworth it
was ambition that warped his reason and silenced his con-
science. And this was not a narrow, personal desire for his
own individual aggrandizement, but a comparatively broad,
unselfish aspiration, for the establishment of his own section
of the country into a nation, as opposed to the whole
country. In this he forgot, for a time, the interests of
AFTER A WHILE. 491
humanity, the interests of posterity, all bound up in the
preservation, intact, of this Union."
" But he rememhers this now ? "
" He remembers this now ! Let me be just to East-
worth ! It is not, I say, the failure of the cause that has
brought about this change in him. I have seen a great
deal of him in the last two years. This change has beea
gradually coming over him in all that time."
"But, father, dear father, he has laid himself liable to
heavy penalties of I know not what weight."
" He has, my dear ; but he is prepared to meet them like
a man."
" His property, his liberty, even his life is forfeit to the
country, is it not ? " inquired Erminie, growing pale, as for
the first time she remembered his danger.
" My child, perhaps so, according to the strict letter of
the law ! But I do not think the people of this country
will have it so ! There is no reason on earth why we, the
free and enlightened people of America should follow the
precedent afforded us by the mingled fear and cruelty of
the old world monarchies. We are too brave and strong to
be vindictive and despotic."
"But what will Eastworth do, father?"
"In the first place he will not expatriate himself. Be
sure of that. He will trust himself to his country as a
son to his mother."
" And you think I have no reason to fear for him ? "
"None; the names of some of the noblest among the
Union officers are pledges for his future good faith."
Erminie heaved a sigh of infinite relief, and then said:
"But we have talked so much of him and so little of
yourself, dear. How was it, precious father, that you never
let me know that you were living ? "
" My darling, the conditions of the commutation of my
Sentence from death to imprisonment were that I should
492 HOW HE WON HER.
hold no communication whatever with my friends across the
lines. Even Eastworth, who did all that was in his power
to mitigate the severity of my fate, could not aid me in
evading these conditions, without a breach of trust. That
was why I could not write to you."
"But I should have supposed some one of our men in
the hands of the Confederate authorities as prisoners of
war, might have heard of your captivity and reported it."
" That was not likely. I was in a solitary cell, and con-
fined under the name in which I had been arrested. No
one but Eastworth knew my real name. And at my desire
he kept it a secret. You heard me say just now, my dear,
that the fame of the little Lutheran Sister of Christ, who
ministered to the sick and wounded, whether Loyal or
Rebel, had reached me even in my distant Southern
prison ? "
" Yes, dear father."
" I will tell you how that was. I once had a guard that
was so very kind to me, so extremely kind to me, that I one
day asked .him plainly why he was so. He answered that
he had been a wounded prisoner in the Douglass Hospital
at Washington, and that a young Union lady had saved his
life by her constant attentions to him, and by bringing him
nice broths, jellies, fruits, wine, tea and coffee, such as, at
that time, could not be furnished to the soldiers."
" Yes," said Erminie, " that must have been before the
Sanitary and Christian Commissions got into operation."
" Do you remember this case, Erminie ? "
" Dear father, there were so many such cases ! I don't
remember this particular one."
" He remembers you. As long as he lives he will re-
member you ! He talked to me about you. He described
your looks and manners and tone of voice. He told me
your name, and said that you had lost your father hi tlio
first buttle of Bull Him. He said that he should ahuiya
AFTEIl A WHILE. 493
be kind to the Union prisoners for your sake. I longed to
tell him that I was your father ; but I could not do so with-
out disclosing my name, which I wished to keep a secret
which then more than ever I determined to keep a secret."
" But why, dear father ? "
" Why ? For your sake more than for any other reason,
my Minie ! "
" For my sake ! "
" Ay, ay ! listen ! You had mourned me as dead. Time
and religion had reconciled you to your loss, and softened
your sorrow. But suppose you had heard that I was liv-
ing, and suffering a painful captivity in a Southern prison ?
Would not all your wounds have been torn open afresh, and
kept open ? Would not your heart have bled both day and
night ? Could you have done your daily duty in the hos-
pitals with the image of your old father a captive in a Con-
federate prison, ever present to your mind ? "
" Oh no, no, no ! "
" Therefore you see I was right in keeping the secret,
and I kept it religiously until the capture of Charleston."
" That was several weeks ago ? " said Erminie, interrog-
atively.
" By which you mean to ask why I did not hasten home
immediately on being released from prison. The reason
was this my Minie. Almost simultaneously with the cap-
ture of Charleston, I was seized with typhus fever. I was
ill some weeks. A man of my age seldom recovers from
typhus fever ; and even when he does, he takes a long time
to rally. As soon as I was able to travel I set out for home.
General Eastvvorth came with me, to take care of me."
" General Eastworth here here in Washington ! " she
exclaimed, slightly starting, flushing and paling.
"Yes, my Minie, and only waiting your permission to
see him."
494 HOW HE WON HER.
" Oh, how shall I meet him ? how must I meet him, my
father?"
" As your true heart dictates, my child."
She bowed her head and covered her face with her
hands.
" Why do you weep, my Minie ? " her father asked, ten-
derly caressing her.
" I do not know. My heart is heavy with its burden of
happiness ! Oh, my father, lay your hand upon my head
and pray for me ! pray for me and bless me ! I am
weak, and I tremble with my happiness ! I am afraid to
be so happy ! "
And she shivered.
He smiled and laid his hand upon her head ; he prayed
for her and blessed her, then he stooped and kissed her,
arose and placed her gently in the chair, and leaving her
alone, stole silently from the room.
When Erminie looked up her father was gone, and her
lover stood in his place.
Pale, silent, sorrowful, mutilated, General Eastworth
stood there, looking down upon Erminie.
Her hands flew out to meet him.
" Oh, welcome ! welcome ! welcome ! " she exclaimed,
with all her heart's warmth welling up in the words.
" You welcome me, Miss Eosenthal ! You welcome
me ? " he whispered, in tones scarcely above his breath.
" With all my heart and soul ! A thousand, thousand
welcomes ! " she cried, with almost overpowering emotion.
" I come to you, Miss Kosenthal, to hear you confirm, if
you will, the gracious words you spoke to me on your bed
of illness near death, that night I came to your room at
the risk of my life ! "
" Then that was no dream ! you were really beside me
there ! " she exclaimed, wonderingly.
" I was really beside you there. Did you doubt it ? "
AFTER A WHILE. 495
" I was so ill that night, I never could feel certain of
what happened. And no one was able to assure me upon
all points. But sit down ! oh, sit ! How pale you are !
You are not fit to stand ! " she said.
" No, I am more fit to kneel to you" he answered mourn-
fully.
But she arose from the great arm-chair, and with gentle
force, compelled him to seat himself in it. Then she drew
an ottoman forward and sat down at his knees, as she had
been accustomed to do in the early days of their betrothal.
" I am so happy to have you here oh, so unspeakably
happy to have you here ! I never hoped to be so happy in
this world again ! " she fervently exclaimed, as she placed
her hand in his.
" What a welcome ! " he said, as the tears rose to his
eyes his eyes that were all unused to such moisture.
" What a welcome, and how unworthy I am to Deceive it !
Do angels always welcome returning sinners so, Er-
minie ? "
" Please do not speak of yourself so to me ; to any one
else you like, but not to me ! I am your betrothed, and I
will hear no ill of you, even from your own lips."
" No, no, Erniinie ! no, no, you angel girl ! I have not
come to bind again upon your young life bonds that were
well broken years ago ! I have forfeited all right to such
great happiness ! All that is changed! "
" But my heart is not changed," she murmured in a low
tone, and blushing deeply.
" My sweet child ! when we were first betrothed I was
twenty years older than you ; although, being then in per-
fect health, I did not seem so. And my wealth was great,
my social position high, and my name honored. Since that
time all is revolutionized with me."
" But not with me ; I am the same," she murmured.
" Look at me, Erniinie ! See what time, toil, care, war,
496 HOW HE WON HER.
grief, pain, remorse "have done for me. I am old and gray
and broken and mutilated," lie said.
" But I love you," she replied.
" To-day I am a poor and penniless man. To-morrow I
may be an exile, or a prisoner."
" But I love you," she repeated.
" And see I am maimed ! I have lost my right arm !
And, worse than all, I have lost it in a bad cause ! "
" Poor right arm ! I would I could give mine to restore
it," she said.
" And oh, Erminie ! my once spotless name is stained
with reproach. Could you bear to wear it ? "
" Yes, for I love you ! Oh, my dearest ! 1 have but that
one little phrase to answer all your words ' I love you ! '
Oh, my betrothed, I love you ! "
He caught her in his arm, he strained her to his bosom,
he burst into tears and wept over her as only a strong man
can weep.
" And oh ! " he cried, " what shall I render unto the
Lord for all His loving kindness and tender mercy, in giv-
ing me this dear woman's heart?
For only Heaven
Means CKOWNED, not humbled, when it says ' forgiven ! ' "
So these two were reconciled, and this was but the fore-
runner of a deeper and broader reconciliation yet to come.
General Eastworth, by the earnest invitation of Dr.
Eosenthal, remained as a guest at the parsonage.
At five o'clock in the afternoon Justin came in, accom-
panied by Mini and Ethel. And a very pleasant dinner
party closed the day.
It was very noticeable that Elfie, who had now nearly
completed her first year of mourning, received young
Ethel's attentions with less of reserve than formerly.
Colonel Fielding certainly smiled on the young naval
officer's suit.
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 497
u Beyond my real esteem and admiration of the young
fellow, and aside from my interest in my daughter's hap-
piness and well-being, I have really a selfish motive for
wishing to promote this marriage," the colonel said in explan-
ation to Dr. Bosenthal.
" And what may that he ? " smiled the doctor.
" Why, as Elfie is my only child, I naturally feel a very
great reluctance to parting with her. And as Ethel will he
at sea more than two-thirds of the time, Elfie will be left
with me. There ! am I a selfish old dog ? I can not help
it ! The old widowed father of an only daughter is very apt
to be so," said the colonel.
The morning succeeding the domiciliation of General
Eastworth at the parsonage, Erminie received -a telegram
from Britomarte, announcing that she would arrive by the
seven P. M. train from Baltimore.
And at the appointed hour Justin and Erminie went to
the station to meet her.
The train was up to time, and Britomarte was soon fondly
received by the brother and sister, who took her at once to
their hearts and home.
CHAPTER XLV.
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT.
And thou shall know, these arms onee curled
About thee, what we knew before,
How LOVE is the greatest good in the world.
Henceforth be loved, as heart can love,
Or brain devise, or hand approve. BHOWNINO.
THE morning of the next day found Justin and Brito-
marte seated together on a sofa in the drawing-room.
" Well, my dearest," began Justin, in a low tone, as he
took her hand and tried to catch her eye, " is Britomarte
31
498 HOW HE WON HER.
prepared to ratify in Justin's favor the promise made by
Wing to his wounded colonel ? "
" Yes," she answered frankly, " for it was a promise given
unconditionally and for all time."
" And how soon shall it be redeemed, Britomarte ? "
" As soon as you please after you have heard something
that I have to tell you. Justin, you have heard a ' secret '
in my family history darkly hinted ? "
" Yes ; and I have heard you plainly assert that such
a secret existed. And I have told you that let it be
what it might, it could not affect my love and esteem
for you, or my earnest desire to make you my wife."
" Thanks, warmest thanks for your generous trust in
me, Justin. The secret indeed was none of mine ; nor
has it turned out to be so dark an one as I had dreaded.
Fortunatel}" it cannot affect us in any manner. But you
shall hear it, if only that you may know how it was that
I grew up to be a man-hater ! "
" I always supposed that there must have been some
deep wrong and suffering at the bottom of all your man-
hatred."
" A long succession of wrongs and sufferings ! But you
shall hear," she said. " There really would seem to have
been a spell laid upon the women of our race ; for as far back
as we can follow household history, every woman of our
blood, from mother to daughter, has married miserably."
" I hope that your marriage will break the spell, Brito-
marte."
" I knoiv that it will, dear Justin. But this curse really
followed or seemed to follow us from generation to genera-
tion."
" And is there no tradition connected with it ? " smiled
Justin.
" None. Why ? "
" Because there ought to be, you know. I am afraid your
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 499
family are not inventive, Miss Conyers. For this is just
such a case as requires a tradition to explain it. And such
a tradition could be so easily invented, to tell us what ances-
tress, by what crime, entailed the curse upon all her female
descendants. For instance, the tale might run How in the
dark ages a certain fair nun of your race broke her vows of
celibacy in favor of a certain gay knight, and in becoming
his wife, by that law of retribution which visits the sins of
the parents upon the children, entailed upon all her daugh-
ters to the end of time the punishment of misery in mar-
riage. You are sure there is no such legend ? "
" Quite," said Britornarte, smiling. " And for the want
of such a legend in explanation of the mystery, I was
obliged to seek the solution of the problem iu the inherent
wickedness of men. When you hear the rest of my story
you will see how I found it there."
" I can even now see that, Britomarte."
" You will excuse me from speaking of my grandfather
and my father, though J remember both perfectly well."
" Certainly, dearest, I understand. Whatever a man's
faults may be, it is not for his descendants to discover them
to others."
"No. But nothing shall prevent my speaking of my
brother-in-law. I had one only sister the daughter of my
mother's first marriage, for my mother was married twice.
This sister was sixteen years old and I was four when our
parents died and we were left to the care of a grand-aunt."
" Miss Pole ? "
" Yes ; but she lived in Washington city then, and saw a
great deal of company, and kept open house. My half
sister was wealthy, having inherited her father's fortune,
which was secured to her ; I was perfectly penniless, for my
father had unfortunately run through every cent of my
mother's little property. While my sister lived single I
never knew a want. But she married married miserably,
500 HOW HE WON HER.
like all her foremothers had done. Her husband was the
celebrated tenor, Adriano di Bercelloni. She heard him sing
at an opera, fell in love with him, became mad, blind,
desperate, threw herself in his way, went everywhere she
could see him, and finally attracted his attention. Mona was
very beautiful as well as very wealthy, and very much in
love with the fascinating tenor. The bait was tempting,
the opportunity good, and so the spendthrift opera singer
ran away with the rich heiress."
" Poor, infatuated girl ! "
" Oh, she did but follow her fate, as all her predecessors
had done before her. But the rage of 'Aunt Pole was
beyond all description. Justin, I have seen something of
war, but I have never seen anything so terrible, so horrible
as that old lady's roused wrath ! "
" I can well believe it. I have seen her once," thought
Justin to himself.
" She stormed and raved and foamed. She forbade me,
on pain of her everlasting vengeance, ever to see, speak of,
or think about my sister. I think the root of her bitterness
grew in this fact that she had to leave her handsome city
house, which really belonged to Mona, and to break up her
showy establishment, which she could no longer support on
Mona's ample fortune. She sent me to school at Belle-
mont, and she returned to Witch Elms, breathing maledic-
tions upon all the world."
" So that was the secret of her misanthropy."
Yes."
" Go on, dear Britomarte."
l I went to school, but I could not obey my aunt in re-
gard to my sister. I loved Mona ; I had no one but her to
love, and all the affections of my heart were concentrated
upon her, I could not refrain from writing to her. I knew
that Bercelloni was singing in Paris. I wrote to my sister,
enclosing my letter to him. In that manner a correspond-
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 501
ence was commenced between my sister and myself, which
was kept up until her death."
" She is dead, then ? " said Justin, gently.
" She has been dead five years. I will tell you all about
that presently. In a very short time Bercelloni contrived
to run through all my sister's fortune, wasting it upon wine,
dice, and other abominations. And then he left her."
" The base villain ! "
"He did but carry out the curse, as all his predecessors
had done before him. For more than a year I had not
heard from my poor sister, when one day, while still at
school, I got a letter from her, post-marked New York a
letter telling me that Bercelloni had left her, that at the
time of his marriage with herself he had another wife
living, although of course she had not suspected it telling
me also that she was in great destitution, that her three
children were all ill with diptheria, and that she had no
money to buy them food or physic, and asking me, for
Heaven's sake, to send her something, to keep her little
ones from dying of want."
" Oh, my dear, what a sad trial for your young heart to
bear."
"No," said Britomarte, "it was only the family fate.
But oh, where was I to get money ? I had not a dollar in
my purse ; I had no jewelry or trinkets such as girls usually
have ; I had not even a watch ; I had only a little gold
thimble, the birth-day gift of my sister years before. It
had cost six dollars. I sold it for two to a schoolmate. I
also sold all my clothing, piece by piece, to the colored peo-
ple of the neighborhood, so that I had but a single change
left. I had to do all this secretly, and at the risk of dis-
covery and expulsion from the school. But by the sacrifice
of effects worth perhaps sixty dollars I realized about
twenty, which I sent to poor Mona."
502 HOW HE WON HER.
u Ah, Britomarte ! To have had the heaviest burdens of
life forced upon you when you were a mere school girl ! "
" It was the family curse. The women, like the mules,
had to hear all the hurdens, and like the scapegoats, had to
carry all the crimes of the men."
" That is all past now, Britomarte forever past. You
shall hear no burden, suffer no sorrow that I can intercept
and take from you."
"I know it, Justin. I know it. God make me worthy
of you, and grateful for your love."
" Hush, hush, my dearest. No more of that. Go on,
with vour domestic history. What came next ? "
" What came next ? Ah, Justin, the money I sent poor
Mona only helped to bury her children. They all died.
Meanwhile, she found a friend in the widow of the elder
Bercelloni. This poor woman had been the second wife of
the father, and was therefore only the step-mother of the
son. She was entirely dependent on her own exertions for
a livelihood, for her selfish step-son would do nothing for
her. But the Signora kept poor Mona from starving, and
after a while procured her an engagement at the same opera
house where she herself was employed as chorus singer.
But I weary you with these petty family details."
"No, no, not in the least. All that in the slightest
degree concerns you interests me. Go on, pray."
"I heard but little of my sister for the next twelve
months. Meanwhile But how is it that secrets transpire,
Justin do you know ? And above all, how is it that
family secrets always come out in an exaggerated form and
distorted shape ? Can any one tell ? "
" Not I, at all events," said Justin, smiling.
" My sister's story transpired, but in a monstrous form.
There was sin and folly, it was whispered, but the folly and
the sin were hers, it was said. Suspicion fell even on me,
of I know not vrhat fault. Ah, you know the poisonous
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 503
ma aria of slander that hung like a pestilential cloud over
me."
" I know ! I know ! But it has cleared away, my dear
cleared away, and left your sky all bright and sunny."
" For a year or more, being my last year at school, I lived
in this deadly atmosphere. Then came the school examin-
ation. You remember all that happened there ? "
" I remember one thing that happened there distinctly.
I met you. And for the first time, and for the whole of my
life, I loved. But proceed, my dearest."
" Do you remember while we were on the boat, waiting
for her to get up her steam, that a negro boy came running
down from the schoolhouse, and jumped aboard and handed
me a letter ? "
" That letter ! Yes, and I remember your excessive agi-
tation, your retirement to your cabin, your isolation all that
day and night, and the awful sorrow on your brow next
morning. I remember all, Britomarte."
" That letter was from the Signora Adriana di Bercelloni.
It announced to me the news ot my sister's awful death.
She was found one morning dead in her bed, with her throat
cut from ear to ear, and lying in a pool of her own blood ! "
" Great Heavens, Britomarte ! "
Britomarte covered her face with her hands, and remained
silent for a few moments. Then she looked up and said :
" Do you wonder now at my strange demeanor on that
occasion ? You remember that on my arrival at Washing-
ton, instead of going to Witch Elms, I hastened immedi-
ately to the station to catch the train for New York ? "
"Yes."
" I reached the city the next day, and hurried to the
humble lodgings of the Signora and got her to accompany
me to the house of my dead sister, where the coroner's
inquBst was still sitting. There we found the Signoi
Adriano di Bercelloni under arrest and under strong suspi-
504 HOW HE WON HER.
cion. There, partly from the information given me by the
Signora, and partly from the evidence elicited by the coro-
ner's inquest, I learned these facts : That my sister had re-
covered her health and beauty ; and had made considerable
progress in her art and in the favor of the public, so that at
the time of her death she was one of the most attractive
singers in the house. Bercelloni came to fulfil an engage-
ment there that summer, and to his amazement found Mona
a member of the company and restored to all her pristine
bloom and beauty, and indeed more lovely and alluring than
he had ever known her to be."
" Sorrow does sometimes give a last, perfecting touch to
beauty," said Justin.
" Yes. Bercelloni seemed always to have loved my sister
by fits and starts. Now he took a violent fancy to her; a
fancy that was stimulated by jealousy into a keen vitality.
But while she was very gracious to every other member of
the troup, she would not vouchsafe a word or a look to the
man who had so basely deceived and deserted her."
" She was right. Her course was the only correct one."
"Yes, but it maddened him. He fiercely claimed her as
his wife, haughtily asserted a husband's rights over her,
and absolutely forbade the manager of the Opera House to
pay her salary to herself ! He told her that the story of
his having had another wife was a mere canard ; that there
was no truth whatever in it ; that he had only invented the
tale to tease her.
" The monstrous villain ! Who could believe him ? "
"Not she, at all events. She denied his statements,
ignored his claims, and defied his anger. He become furi-
ously, frantically jealous. And such was the state of aifairs
between them, when one morning she was found dead in
her bed, and weltering in her blood, as I said. The coro-
ner's inquest, with the usual perspicacity of such bodies,
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 505
found their verdict, ' Suicide.' And as ' a melancholy case
of suicide ' it was recorded in the daily papers."
" Oh, Britomarte ! to think that you should have had
this great sorrow and we who loved you should have known
nothing of- it ! Why, it is even probable that I may have
read that very paragraph describing the ' melancholy case
of suicide/ without the slightest suspicion that it M r as in
the least degree connected with your life. But tell me, how
in the name of justice and common sense did Bercelloni
get off so easily ? "
" Oh, he proved an alibi by half a dozen witnesses."
" Then after all he did not commit the crime."
"Yes he did, but by another hand. He was just the sort
of Italian villain to hire a low ruffian to do the deed he
feared to attempt. And that was the way in which he
managed it. Listen, Justin : At the time that I came
down to Washington on my way to the Rainbows, I went
over to Witch Elms to see my old aunt, to explain to her
why I went to New York so suddenly, and to ask her why
she hac not answered my letter in which I had broken to
her the news of Mona's awful death. When I reached
Witch Elms the very first person whom I saw, the man
who opened the door for me, was Dole, the confidentia.
servant of Bercelloni. His sudden appearance nearly de-
prived me of my breath. I could not understand why he,
of all men should be there, of all places. But he took my
message to the old lady, and while he was gone I went to
the kitchen and asked the old cook, Nan, how this man came
to be there, and in what capacity he served. She told me
that her mistress had advertised for an overseer for her farm,
and that Dole had answered her advertisement, and had
offered himself and had been accepted ; and moreover, that
he had already obtained a great influence over her mis-
tress."
" Was this person you speak of a very large man with, a
606 HOW HE WON HER.
very small head, closely cropped hair and closely shaven
face?"
"Yes; why?"
" I saw him one night when I rode out to Witch Elms,
to inquire for you, that is all ! go on, dearest."
"Old Nan had scarcely finished her account of Mr.
Dole, when that gentleman returned to me with the infor-
mation that my aunt would not see me, and with my un-
opened letter in his hand."
" What a strange old soul ! "
" Well, Justin, I will not weary you with the repetition of
all my attempts to see my old relation. They were quite
fruitless. She knew that my sister was dead, and how she
had died. She knew all that from the public papers, but
that did not melt her. She remained obdurate to the last.
Patience, dear Justin ! my long, dark story is almost at an
end. I am about to give you the sequel of all this."
" Go on, my dearest Britomarte, and believe that I am
listening with the deepest interest and closest attention."
" I pass on to the week of her death. I was here at the
Parsonage helping to nurse your sister at that time, you
remember ? "
" Certainly."
" The doctor came one morning and announced to me the
death of my aunt, and placed a packet in my hand. It con-
sisted of a half dozen newspapers, with certain passages
marked in them. These passages related to the arrest, trial
and execution of a guerrilla named Norse, alias Dipper, alias
DOLE. It was stated that he had confessed to having com-
mitted nine highway robberies, seventeen successful burgla-
ries, and five murders. With these papers there was a writ-
ten manuscript and a note. The note was from the
chaplain of the prison in which he was confined. It waa
addressed to Miss Pole. It explained that the accom-
panying manuscript was the attested confession of the
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST EIGHT. 507
prisoner. Justin, I have that document bj me ; would
you like to look at it ? "
" Not now, dearest ; I would rather you would tell me its
contents. What did the dying culprit confess ? "
" First to having murdered ' Madame Mona,' as my sister
was called, for the sum of a thousand dollars, paid him for
the service by the Signer Adriano di Bercelloni."
" Horrible ! "
" Then to various other offences which would have seemed
like felonies, except by the side of that one enormous
crime."
" You left the Parsonage soon after the receipt of that
packet."
" Yes ; I could not maintain my self-possession sufficiently
well to make me serviceable in a sick room. So I hastened
back to my regiment to lose the keen sense of sorrow in
active military service."
" Oh, my dear Britomarte ! your experience of men has
indeed been very bitter ! "
" So bitter so stringent, Justin, that it contracted and
warped my judgment, until I attributed to your whole sex
the follies and crimes that I had found only in the evil men
immediately about me ! And not only in my own genera-
tion, and in my sister's life, but in the lives of my mother
and my grandmother. Yes, Justin, it is true this strange
chain of coincidences has run through many ages. If all
the women of my race had been like me proud, defiant,
high-spirited, the phenomena might have been easily
explained. It might have been said that they were a race
of viragos who had nothing better to expect than misery in
marriage. But this was not the case, at least with my
immediate foremothers. No gentler women ever lived
than were my mother and my grandmother."
But Britomarte, those gentle women, by too deep a sub-
mission, ruin tbeir domestic happiness as often as the high-
508 HOW HE WON HER.
spirited do by their resistance. Men are not gods, dear love,
and so they are very often spoiled by women. But there is
no danger of your spoiling me in that manner, dear Brito-
marte," laughed Justin.
" Indeed there is not," she answered. " And for this
reason because you would never abuse the power that the
law gives you over the outer circumstances of your wife's
life, or that she herself gives you over the inner world of
her affections."
" I think you do me justice, dear."
" Ah, Justin, I grew up both in feelings and in princi-
ples a man-hater. My narrow personal experiences gave
strength, bitterness and intensity to my feelings, and the
frequent discussions of the topic of the day, ' Woman's
Eights,' gave form, shape and consistency to my opinions.
And I became a very perfect man-hater."
She paused and looked at him.
He was contemplating her with deep tenderness, but he
made no observation, and she continued :
" It was at this very flood tide of my young soul's life that
I first met you, Justin. And soon, to my consternation, I
found that I a pledged man-hater was loving you, Jus-
tin ! loving you with my whole heart, just as all the women
of my race had loved men, to their own destruction. How
I hated and scorned myself for this love ! how I struggled
against it, battled with it, trampled on it, tried to tear it up,
root it out, and utterly destroy it, you well know."
" All ! " smiled Justin.
" Because you see I did not believe in man's love. When
you said to me, 'I love you I want you for my wife,' I
interpreted your words to mean just this ' like your looks,
and I want you for my slave.' Can you wonder that I
resisted my own love and resented yours ? "
He did not answer. He was still contemplating her with
ineffable tenderness and infinite love. And as she met his
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 509
eyes, her eyes softened, beamed and dilated, her cheeks and
lips glowed, and her whole countenance grew beautiful and
radiant from the soul's inner light and life.
" But oh, Justin ! " she murmured, " as my knowledge of
you grew, and my love deepened, what a change came over
my spirit ! First I learned that, though all other men
might be false and base, you were true and noble. Next
came the lesson learned on the Desert Island, where I found
by experience how utterly helpless woman was without her
brother man. I saw that though in civilized countries,
which men had already made habitable for women, by the
building of cities, houses and roads ; the manufacture of
furniture, clothing and utensils ; and the promotion of arts,
sciences and education, a single woman might live well
enough ; yet, in a wilderness, where nothing had been done
where there were no habitations, no manufactures, no
planted crops woman could not possibly exist without
man ; though he might live without her. This was a
humiliating truth to the proud man-hater ; but it was truth,
and as such she accepted it."
" But man would have no motive to live or to labor, if it
were not for his sister, woman," answered Justin.
" Then," she continued, " the war broke out. And that
glorious, awful trial brought out all the grandest traits of
manhood his patriotism, courage, fortitude, self-devotion
until oh, Justin, from being a man-hater, I have almost
become a man-worshipper ! "
"No, don't ! " he said, laughing gaily, catching her hand
and pressing it to his lips ; " don't do it ! In great serious-
ness, I shouldn't like that. Of the two extreme alterna-
tives, I would rather you should continue to be a man-hater,
with a single exception in my favor."
Britomarte smiled at this speech. And before the smile
had left her lips, Elfie opened the door ; but seeing them
510 HOW HE WON HER.
alone, was about to close it again, when Britomarto called
to her :
"Come in, Elfie ! "
She entered, saying :
" There is a couple out in the hall, inquiring for General
Rosenthal. They are on their way to the North, but have
stopped till the next train for the sake of calling to see the
General."
Justin immediately went out into the hall, where he
found Tom and Judith.
They were looking remarkably well ; and the Irish woman
was eager in her expressions of joy at seeing her old friend,
and anxious in her inquiries about Miss Conyers. Justin
stepped to the drawing-room door and called Britomarte
out.
And there ensued a meeting a great deal more noisy and
demonstrative, if not so deeply emotional as any we have
recorded.
Judith and Tom had made money enough in the war to
cover twenty times over their losses Toy Moiick's capture of
their wagon. And they were now going to New York to
start in the grocery and provision line of business. Their
time was limited and they soon took leave, amid the kindest
wishes for their future welfare.
Since Britomarte's arrival at the Parsonage, she had
noticed that Elfie often looked at her with very roguish eyes.
So the first time she found herself alone with that wild
young woman, Miss Conyers said :
" Now I want you to tell me what that means ? Out
with it, Elfie."
" I must ! I can't keep it any longer ! I want to tell you
that I knew, if nobody else did, who was the spy that pene-
trated into the camp of the Free Sword ! "
" Oh, Elfie, speak no more of that ! It was a stern mili-
THE WOMAN'S DEAREST RIGHT. 511
tary necessity, but it will ever remain with me, one of the
darkest memories of the war ! "
" How many names and how many wigs had you, Brito-
marte Wing, Dill, Gill ? You were a very pretty boy in
the blue-black curled wig, as Dill ; but you were a hideous
little fellow, in the short-cropped flaxen wig, as Wing?"
" Elfie," said Miss Conyers, very seriously, " Dill is miss-
ing and will never be found. Wing is dead and buried.
Except yourself, there is but one person in this world who
knows my identity with those two names. How you have
discovered the secret I do not know ! But I must put you
on your honor to respect it."
".Here ! " said Elfie, lifting a Bible from a centre-table,
" I will bind myself by a solemn oath never to mention it
again to any living soul ! not even to Ethel, my betrothed !
not even to you ! Will that satisfy you ? "
"Perfectly, my dear," answered Miss Conyers, kissing
Elfie.
One month later there were three weddings at the Par-
sonage.
Captain Etbel and Elfie were married and sent off to
Colonel Fielding's renovated home at Sunnyslopes, to spend
a sbort honeymoon. And it was agreed that during Ethel's
absences at sea, Elfie should reside there and keep house for
her father, and that should be Ethel's " anchorage " when-
ever he should be ashore.
General Eastworth and Erminie were united, and started
at once for his home in Virginia, where it was arranged that
Doctor Rosenthal should soon join them, with the intention
of residing with them, and helping them in their efforts to
restore order and industry in their own section of country,
and to promote peace and good-will between the North and
the South.
512
HOW HE WON HEK.
Justin and Britomarte were the third couple wedded. It
was decided that they should reside at the Parsonage until
Justin should be mustered out of the service. They went on
a short tour through the Northern States; but returned in
time to celebrate the Great Thanksgiving of that year at
home. The very next morning after their arrival, as they
were seated together, Justin took up the morning paper,
where, among other interesting items, he saw the advertise-
ment of a celebrated ladj r lecturer, who was announced to
deliver a discourse at a certain church that evening, on the
great subject of Woman's Eights.
"Ah, by the way! How about Woman's Hights now,
sweet wife ? " said Justin, as he called her attention to the
advertisement.
" While I live," answered Britomarte, " I will advocate
the rights of woman in general. But for my individual
self, the only right I plead for is woman's dearest right to
be loved to my heart's content all the days of my life ! "