v^ THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY THE WILMER COLLECTION OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS PRESENTED BY RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. / a & WILMER COLLECno THE EIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OB, THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. BY MAET A. HOWE. NEW YORK: JOHISr BEADBUEi^ (successor to II. DOOLADT,) 49 WALKER STREET. 1864. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the jear 1661, by MARY. A, HOWE, In the OfiBceof the Clerk of the United States Conrt, for the Southern District of New York. W. H. Tixsox, Stereotrper, Joh:? J. Reed., Printer, 43 Centre S*. , N. Y. 43 Centre St, X. Y. Mt Bkother, WILLIAM HILLS, Serving in the First Regiment of Masaachusetts VolunieerB, These pages are affectionately inscribed, with a sister's earnest assurance that not alone our country's brave defenders suffer in this our hour of national anguish ; but that many who obey no bugle call, listen to no cannon's roar, bear, nevertheless, their full share in the nation's sorrow, through lasting ties of kindred and of sympathy. 602964 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGB I. — In the Sunshine, Y II.— In the Shade, . 18 III.— Changeful Skies, . 33 lY.— Gathering Clouds, .... . 64 v.— Xo Ray of Cheer, . 72 VI. — Disenchantment, . 85 VII.— Rifts of Brightness through Darksome Gloom, 106 VIII.— Correspondence, . 120 IX.— News, . 136 X. — ^Prisoner's Diary, . 149 XI.— The Midnight Flitting, . . . . . 111 XII.— Love in Disguise, 193 XIII.— Ward for Incurables, . . . |k» • 206 XIV.— Home, . 226 XV.— Reaping the Whirlwind, . . . , . 240 XVI.— The Rebound, . . . • . 254 XVII.— Charity, . 264 XVIII.— An Old Actor in a Xew Guise, . 289 XIX. — The Clandestine Interview, . 303 XX.— Rejected Proposals, . 312 XXI.— Advice Gratis, . 327 XXII. — Chance Encounters, .... » . 341 XXIII.— Conclusion, . . 859 THE RIYAL YOLUATTEERS; OE, THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES, CHAPTEE I. IN" THE SUXSHINE. Sullenly tlie lowering war-cloud brooded over the thriving western city, whose marvellous growth in all material prosperity had been suddenly checked by the devastating influence of the fierce conflict, rending kin from kin asunder, and transforming friends and neighbors into vindictive and remorseless foes and as- sailants. The tread of armed men was becoming a familiar sound throughout the streets, while on the evening breeze, as well as day's more sultry airs, floated up from encampments in the environs martial strains from bugle and clarion, mingling with the drum's deep roll. A body of Union soldiery had been fired upon by an excited crowd cheering wildly for Jefi". Davis and the South. The fire had taken eflect on harmless pedes- trians, some random shots even entering dwelling-houses to the utter consternation of their peaceful inmates, 8 THE EIVAL volunteers; OR, adding fresh fuel to tlic flames of animosity already raging throngliont tlie length and breadth of the State. A mysterious red chalk-mark had been discovered beneath the threshold of more than one dwelling harbor- ing inmates suspected of secession proclivities, and the sinister rumor had been bruited round, that houses thus designated were to be given up to plunder and pillage, and razed to the ground under cover of night — a rumor so terrifying to the Secessionists, that more than one family, hastily packing up their most precious valu- ables, betook themselves therewith to their carriages, leaving the city with all speed, spending the entire night in the fields, and not venturing to return in the morning until a servant had first been sent out in recon- noisance, to ascertain if haply their own roof-trees re- mained to shelter them. Li the midst of all this fearful foreboding and deadly virulence, one spacious mansion, the gilding of its cor- nices fresh and bright, the paint of its frescoes scarcely dry, echoed only to sounds of mirth and festivity. Ko loud, spirit-stirring peals of music here, only those light, airy tones inspiring languid " poetry of motion." TTho could have dreamed — to have seen these men be- curled and be-perfumed, these women be-jewelled and be-gemmed, floating in clouds of gossamer lace and gauzy tissue through the mazes of the circling dance, or exchanging with their companions that gay-hued conversational efflorescence which is generally the nearest approach to real interchange of thought per- mitted by such a scene — that outside lurked grim hor- ror, stalked ghastly carnage, its trail the death-scent in the air. Within the lofty apartments shone dazzling splendor — without, crouched squalid misery grovelling in moral mire : within was beauty, grace, tashioii, the gay, careless laugh, the polished gleam of wit foiled by repartee as keen — without, the angry scowl of the foot- THE BLACK TLUME niFLES. 9 sore guard as his eye rested on the colored lanterns illuminating the garden that separated the house from the street, or his ear caught the tones of the band, which, instead of discoursing such dulcet strains, should have been sounding forth spirited appeals to young men and okl, to rise up in their might and nerve their strong right arms to valiant deeds in defence of country and home. Let me personalize a few of the actors in the festal throng. This portly, red-faced, middle-aged gentleman, 'with pompous air of ownership, as who should say, " Behold the extent of my possessions, and beholding the same, be ye thereby abased," is Mr. Caruthers, the bachelor host of the entertainment ; and the exquisitely attired brunette, stylish in appearance and with coldly polished manners, calculated rather to command re- spect than to conciliate regard, is a younger sister who mis the position of hostess in receiving and 2^i*oviding amusement for her brother's guests. His eye rests not ill-pleased upon the graceful, buoyant figure of a fair young girl, whose claims to notice merit at least a pass- ing description. She i& a little above the average height, her flexile, willowy form wholly free from that wasp- like contortion of the waist (hideous deformity ! syno- nym with slow and lingering decay) which so utterly destroys symmetry of contour in so many of our young countrywomen. Her luxuriant amber hair falls in thick, heavy curls over a well-rounded neck, by no means of ivory whiteness, but of delicate, creamy flesh- tint. Her brow is perhaps too full and heavy for the lower part of the face, but this one scarcely remem- bers when marking the sparkling vivacity of the deep hazel eyes, the flitting hues of the changeful cheek, and f the varying expression of the mobile "mouth. Gentle and winning as were her manners', there was, neverthe- less, something in her erect bearing, in the stately turn 1* 10 THE RIVAJL TOLUNTEEKS ; OR, of her handsome head, that showed she Tvas hardly the person to submit passively to a wrong or. an indignity ; tliat those hazel eyes could flash with ire, as well as dance with mirth or melt with tenderness ; that beneath that girlish exterior dwelt a high, indomitable spirit, which would bear her bravely up under trials that would crush a feebler nature into the very depths of de- spondency. To explain why I thus particularize the attractions of Minnie Brandon, I may as Avell state at once that she is the bride-elect of the host, whose thoughts, as he listened to the playful raillery with which she parried the jesting adulation lavished upon her, ran nearly in this wise : " How perfectly at ease she seems, although this is probably the first time she ever took part in such a brilliant assemblage. She will grace well the station to which I propose raising her, and do credit to my taste and my fortune ; I could not have chosen better. Sister Dian wished me to wait until the wedding recep- tion, which will come oft' some time next month, I suppose, before throwing open my house for the envy and inspection of all comers. But by that time my eastern customers wall be oft", and I was bound to show them that we Westerners could do up this sort of thing in as good shape as they of the older cities. How poor Lucy Sears would enjoy being here ! but then my fine- lady sisters would either turn her the cold shoulder, or show oft* her gentle, girlish, winning ways in a per- fectly ridiculous light ; for she hasn't Minnie's ready wit and never-failing tact to protect herself with, ^o, I have selected wisely — Minnie shall rule here in the high position nature has so well qualified her to fill, and Lucy I will persuade to friendship. Dear, credu- lous child, she listens to me as though I were an oracle, and never gainsays any word of mine. I shall have no difficulty in prevailing upon her to relinquish the THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 11 claims she must now learn to look upon as null and void." A distinguislied-looking foreigner, whose silk net sasli with bullion fringe, gold-bordered shoulder-straps, and the silver-embroidered spread eagles thereupon, denoted Iris official rank in the Federal army, came up to solicit Miss Brandon's hand for the German. " By Jove, she is splendid," thought Mr. Caruthers, as, with courteous ease, she accepted the honor with an air which seemed to intimate that she was conferring an equal honor in return. '^ I suppose it is a conscious- ness of the high social position to which our union will raise her that makes her receive distinctions which would drive any other woman in the room half out of her senses with delight, in this quiet, unmoved fashion. "Why, she couldn't be more completely self-composed if she were at home in her father's shabby-genteel par- lor — horrid musty place — scantily furnished in every- thing but books ; they are plentiful enough in all con- science ; books in cases, books on shelves, books on tables, books on slabs, books in chairs, and books on the floor. Whatever a man wants to stultify himself for, with bolting such a lot of dead men's dust passes my poor comprehension. The clear, running stream of thought, fresh from living minds, for me. I want to read the look of a man's eye, and to watch the turn of his face when talking, that I may see if he is speaking me true, or only trying to start me off on a false trail for purposes of his own ; and these ^ signs of what one is really thinking is just what print hides, and that is why I care precious little about it, save as an advertising and news medium. But, heigho ! this is not entertaining my company. I must stir round and get up some sort of small talk to suit each one. I shall be thankful when it is over, for if I didn't know it was pleasure, I should say that this laying 12 THE EIVAL TOLUNTEEES; OE, one's self out to amuse folks one wishes at tlie bottom of the Dead Sea, and be hanged to 'em, is more like downright drudgery than anything I've come across in counting-room or warehouse for many a day." If the success of an entertainment is to be gauged by the apparent enjoyment it confers on its partakei-s, then was tiiis of Mr. Caruthers an unequivocal success. '' I hope the evening has been a pleasant one to you," he said to Minnie Brandon, as lie handed her to the carriage he had placed at her disposal. *' Perfectly delightful," was the prompt and animated response. Soon the environs — I cannot say suburbs, for in these comparatively new western cities the line of demarca- tion between crowded dwellings and untamed wilds is often clearly and sharply detined, instead of being mel- lowed and toned down by gradual process of suburban outgrowtli — of the town were reached, and a drive of several miles brought her in front of a large, low, ramb- ling cottage, so irregularly designed that it gave one the idea of having been built piecemeal, and dovetailed together by clumsy devices in the form of mortised roof and gabled projections. With springy, elastic step she hurried across the entry into the room where a man., crowned with the venerable locks of age, awaited her return. " I am sorry to have kept you up so late, father ; but I was so enchanted with the charming gaities of the evening, that I could not tear myself away sooner. Such delicious music under a little awning just outside the canvas pavilion erected purposely for the dancers, and entered from the drawing-room thi'ough the open French windows. I must sliow you over the house some day ; the paintings and the statuary in marble and bronze you will find well worth looking at. But I have not yet shown you the crowning proof of Mr. Caruthers' THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 13 princely mnnificence ; behold his latest gift to one whom he clelighteth to honor." She threw off her silken xxir-dessus^ and with tri- umphant air courted her father's critical inspection. ''A costly gift, indeed," he coldly remarked ; '' dia- monds in Etruscan setting of rare design." "Yes; necklace, cross, ring and yni. Those pokey Pike girls, who never let pass an opportunity for givino- me a slight or an affront when I was meet recipient for such amiable attentions', were half dead with q\\\j in their poor cameoes and corals." A look of mild reproof stole to the face of Mr. Bran- don, whose white clerical neck-tie sufficiently indicated the profession he had long since resigned in favor of the repose befitting his declining years and congenial to his studious habits. " I am sorry, Minnie, to hear you use language so strongly savoring of petty malice ; the ornaments of a me.ek and quiet spirit far outbalance " • " Please don't, father ; my spirits are so light, that I am like a butterfly in the sunshine, and I cannot bear a breath of chill." "But the chilling breath of trial will come, dear child ; worse than tliat, the fierce blast and the howl- ing tempest ; it is the tender plumaged butterflv wings that are soonest bruised and torn in misfortune's ra^ino- gale." "^ "" Her face clouded for an instant, but as quickly brightened again. " You have often told me, father, that of all species of borrowing, the one in which trouble constitutes the loan from the future is the most profitless ; so I v/iil bask in the sunshine till the clouds gather and actually break over my poor head." She removed the flower-wreath from her amber tresses, and began untwisting tho slender wire that 14r THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, bound rosebuds, heath and fuschias to the tiny stalk of myrtle which had held them in durance sweet. One by one, she placed the detached florets in a shallow, crim- son glass, remarking : '' I shall press them, in order to preseiwe some re- membrance of the happy hours that have sped all too fleetly. Another very pleasant association is also con- nectjed witli this wreath. Miss Dian Caruthers, under pretence of arranging a loosened sprig of mignonette, pinned this to my shoulder." The speaker lianded him a blue satin star, fringed with red, on whicli was wrought in letters of pearl, " Star of the Evening." " The tribute was so grateful to me," she added, " because it tended to prove that the family are not averse to his marrying one so much his inferior in for- tune and social position as myself. Tliink of it, father, as soon as he can get out of business and settle up afi'airs connected with it, we are to spend a couple of years abroad. I shall see St. Peter's marvellous dome, the bronzes of Benvenuto Cellini, the arches of Augustus and Trajan, with all the glories of old-world art, about whicli I have so often read to you. But I must away to bed if I would be rested for the drive Mr. Caruthers has promised me to-morrow, with the dashing pair of bays he has just purchased. Good night." Once in her own room, she removed the brilliants from neck and arm, replacing them in the ebony casket which had held them at presentation. Then withdraw- in o- the glittering jewels, she drew them across her dainty palm with light, caressing motion, a dewy lustre in her half-veiled eyes, on her parted lips a joyous smile ; giving little thought to the value of the gems at Avhich she gazed, prizing them chiefly for the regard which had prompted their bestowal. " To no other person in the wide world would he THE BLACK PLU3IE RIFLES. 15 offer gifts like these," slie mentally assured herself. " I will strive, by all means, to make myself worthy of a devotion so freely given on his part, on mine so little deserved. I will improve myself, store my mind with themes^ for discourse, both grave and gay, that he may never tire of his choice." Li a totally diverse channel flowed the perturbed stream of her father's cogitations below stairs. " Is the girl bewitched," he asked himself, with puz- zled air, " that her simple, refined tastes should so sud- denly give place to this feverish thirst for di'ess and display ? She used to be a sensible, intelligent com- panion for me, reading and talking of what she read understandingly ; but now she is "constantly running after some novelty or other, and there is no repose about her. Can it be possible that a commouplace, matter-of-fact man like Mr. Caruthers, whose reading list is principally comprised in day-book and ledger, can have turned a head like hers ? Well, more absurd things than that have happened in this odd world of ours, where the flimsiest fallacies often shut out the light of truth from our dim, uncertain vision. I tliiuk if one studies one's self to good purpose, one grows more lenient to others' foibles as one grows old. If Minnie is happy in her enchanted air-castle, why should I seek to tumble it about her ears ? It does seem hard, now that she is all I have left, to see her interest so entirely absorbed in a comparative stranger, while my preferences are no longer consulted nor even remem- bered. I shall not so much as hint a remonstrance, however, for I have not yet forgotten the burning resent- ment arising from my interference with her eld'cr sister's matrimonial plans. Poor Susan, she would have thrown herself away on a smooth-tongued dissembler, so devoid of all sense of moral propriety as to make his boasts of the mean imderhanded practices by which he had bam- 16 THE EIVAL Y0LU2S-TEERS ; OR, boozled and defrauded everybody with whom he had had any dealings. AVhen I strove to save her from a fiite so wretched, she resolutely refused to see my con- duct in any other light than tliat of an unnatural parent, wdio Avitli cruel malignity thwarted her must clicrislied wishes. I forbade young Makepeace crossing my threshold, and she met him by stealth. I explained to her the real character of the man as the ground of my objection to ber union with him. He told her that I despised and persecuted him on account of his humble calling, thus establishing a fresh claim on her ready sympatbies. She inherited a tendency to pulmonary complaint, and I noticed with alarm her slight, hacking cougb, and tbe too vivid flush on her cheek. 1 sent ber up to Lake Superior for the benefit of change. What did he do but engage himself to work in one of the copper mines, and contrive to see her daily ! Then the sterling integrity of her better nature asserted itself. Sbe awoke to a clear consciousness of her own delin- quency in tbe systematic course of deception she had been practising toward me, came straight home, con- fessed all, blaming herself so much that I couldn't have added a word of censure if my life had depended on it, wound up by declaring that she could die if need be, but that no wrong should come to any one through her means, and fell swooning at my feet. I could see that she grew thinner every day after that, and as a forlorn hope, determined to try and prevail on Makepeace to so far modify bis course of life, that I could tolerate him as a son-in-law. I found him in a yacht on the lake in company with a wealtliy Chicago banker and his only child, a beautiful and accomplished girl. My words of warning and counsel the young man heeded no more than tlie idle wind. I couldn't get hold of him, for he seemed entirely destitute of that moral sense whicb dis- criminates between right and wroiig. ' You must look THE BLACK PLUME TIFLES. 17 sharp after Su&an,' said he, without seeming to be aware of his own insolence, as we parted, ' for she is yerv impulsive and susceptible, and if she should be guilty with others, of conduct as imprudent and indis- creet\^s that she has shown toward me, she would cer- tainly be talked about, l^ot that I shall ever betray her ; you surely do not think so ill of me as to appre- hend any step of that sort on my part.' '' I was choking with rage, and could have knocked the puppy down with a will. ' If you wish to blazon the fact of having won a trusting girl's affections,' said I, 'under false pretences of being what you are not, a true and honest man ; and to state furthermore that as goon as your baseness became thoroughly known you was forbidden her father's premises, set about it as soon as you like, thus affording fresh evidence, if such were needed, to prove you the "despicable double-dealer you are.' ' I'd no idea a clergyman of your experience ever so far foro;ot his principles as to let his temper run_ away with him in this highly unclerical fashion,' said the irreverent scoffer. I let the remark pass without reply, and we have never changed words since. He married the banker's daughter, squandered her fortune, and then deserted her. A costly monolith marks the little space of earth which is all she now needs ; but her rest is not sweeter than that of my poor girl beneath the village sod. " How my thoughts linger over the past, because the present is such a blank, I suppose. Come here, Omer, doo- : you are about the best friend a man could have after all. 'Never longing to be gone when I want you beside me, and never obtruding when you're not wanted. Watching me, with drowsy, half-closed eyes, while I read ; sober when I'm sad, frolicsome when I'm glad : I'd rather part with half my acquaintances than with you, dumb friend." 18 T^E RIVAL YOLUNTEERS; OK, CHAPTEE II. IN TEE SHADE. PuxcTTArLT at the appointed hour, 'Mr. Caruthers' inettlesome bays, attached to a light, open buggy, drew up in front of Mr. Brandon's cottage. Minnie, looking as fresh and blooming as though she had not danced half the previous night, was quickly seated in the vehi- cle. Rapidly they spun over the road, space swiftly devoured by the nimble-footed steeds, until a half score of miles intervened betwee^i them and their starting- place. The panting horses slackened their pace on reaching a steep acclivity, whfen the sharp rattle of musketry, and the drums' measured roll, became dis- tinctly audible. Mr. Caruthers and his companion exchanged startled, significant glances. "A parade, possibly," he suggested, his look contradict- ing his words ; " we will soon find out what is going on." Quickening the speed of his horses by a gesture of the hand, they soon reached the summit of the ridge. " Xo mock fighting here," he exclaimed. ^' An en- gagement between our forces and those of the enemy." Minnie turned deadly pale. '' See the drivers of vehicles galloping their horses down the road ; let us follow their example, and fly too, while we may." *' Don't alarm yourself, child. Tliey have no artillery that I can see ; and even if they had, we are so much, higher than those long double lines of men, warring with each other to the death, that we are beyond reach of harm. We may never again find opportunity to look on a scene like this." " Let us not look on it now. It makes my blood run THE BLACK PLUME RIFUES. 19 cold, this wholesale slaughter ; it is no sight for a weak woman's eyes." He darted an impatient glance at the wan, imploring face raised so entreatingly to his own. " I wish we had come in the close carriage, and then I could have sent you off in charge of the coachman. Were you ever afflicted with that fearful feminine visi- tation known as hysterics ?" A glowing tinge of red flashed to her cheek. " Never, Mr. Caruthers. I will remain since you desire it." " That is right. I am glad to see you act as though you were gifted with at least some small modicum of common sense, which is more than can be said of many of your sex (he bowed, as though conscious of having bestowed a merited compliment). Your eyes are younger and clearer than mine ; look over the plain and tell me which are our men." '^ Those at the right or easterly side of the field, which slopes gradually backward to the treacherous marsh in which it loses itself. How the smoke- wi-eaths curl about the stars and stripes, glorious emblem of the nation's greatness, hereafter doubly sacred, doubly dear, since so many eyes beloved have glazed in death's films while guarding from stain of dishonor the hallowed emblem, consecrated by the baptism of fire through which our fathers passed, in order to bequeath us a legacy so price- less as that it symbolizes." '* Don't stop to talk of that now. Has either side gained the advantage, can you see ?" " I can see better than I can describe. Skirmishers seem more active just now than those drawn up in line of battle. Hark ! what means that shrill, imperative bugle-note? It must be a signal, for the scattering troops rally in column ; and now comes a perfect blaze of musketry along the entire lines. Ah! here comes 20 THE r.ivAL volunteers; oe, one "wlio can tell von much better than I the progress of atfairs." Mr. Caruthers turned to speak to Colonel Yanburgh, a meritorious officer, who had retired from active service with honorable scars and honorable mention, and who now hobbled up on crutches to the side of the vehicle. ^' How goes the tide of success below ?" asked Mr. Caruthers. " Let me take in all the bearings of the case and you shall have my opinion for what it is worth," calmly responded the new comer, seating himself at the foot of a tree, and sweeping the prospect w4th a powerful pocket- glass. ''I should say they are about equally matched as regards numbers. The enemy are plucky and impetu- ous ; but our men are firm as a rock, and stand fire bet- ter than could be expected from those so lately but raw recruits. They are gradually lessening the space, too, between themselves and the foe, leaving the wounded in their rear, to be picked up and cared for by the sur- geons and their assistants." " Leaving, also," sighed Minnie, through her tears, '• many a fallen, nameless hero, who has gone nobly to a patriot's doom, and no longer needs even our pity ; but Heaven grant the balm of consolation to the stricken hearts that, in speechless sorrow, mourn at home, in utter desolation of spirit, the loved and lost !" " Brava !" shouted the colonel, tossing his cap in the air in the exuberance of approving delight ; " our lines are taking the double-quick — the attacking force has always the advantage when it comes to close quarters. Charge bayonet !" he shouted, with the enthusiasm of one familiar with said charge. Suddenly his gladness was changed into desolation. '' Ten thousand perditions !" he milttered, hoarsely, replacing his cap with an air of profound chagrin, " our THE BLACK PLUIilE EIFLES. 21 guards ought not to let them fall into a trap of this sort. Perhaps the guards are not to blame. There's a signal from bngle and drum, and there goes an aide from the general's staif to the battalions in reserve. It is alniost more than flesh and blood can bear to pause in the midst of a brilliant charge that was nearly sure to rout the enemy, and fall back to their former position. They do so in good order, that's one comfort." " But why should they fall back just as victory was to crown their efforts ?" sharply queried Mr. Caruthers. " Can't you see, man, those regiments of infantry marching to the relief of the enemy ?" somewhat tartly responded the colonel. " I'm afraid that isn't the worst we have to dread, either, unless my wits are much at fault. There is some mischief brewing behind that scanty belt of pines skirting the hill at the opposite side of the field ; if I were only a little higher up I should be able to make it out. If my broken leg, that never healed rightly from want of proper care, wasn't such a disability, I'd climb this dead pine and settle my doubts one way or the other. I will climb it, if I'm a knock-kneed crip- ple forever after ; there will be plenty of the same sort to keep me company before the sun goes down, or I am far out in my calculations." He tossed his crutches aside, and after more than one futile eflbrt, succeeded in attaining the required alti- tude, and with it the view for which it had been under- taken. ''Pluto and purgatory! it is just as I feared," he called out from his new post of observation, " cannons, caissons and all, protected by an efiicient guard. There, they have planted their battery in the place of all places where it can do us most harm. There it booms, a deadly, disastrous, enfilading fire, that makes our brave fellows bite the dust in numbers, it makes a tough old veteran sicken to think of reckoning. There comes a 22 THK EIVAX Y0LUXTEER8 ; OB, fresh shower of grape and shrapnell, and the color-guard has not escaped scathless. The flag wavers in unsteady hands. Cheer up, comrades, never let those glorious folds dip to traitorous rebel foe. There thev float, the stars and stripes, free to the breeze once more. Our lines are in confusion ; ther break, fall back, leaving the ground strewn with the dead and the dving ; re-form, strengthen themselves by alignment of battalions in reserve, and once more show the enemy a bold, deter- mined front. There go a couple of the general's aids, who ride as if life and death depended on their speed. I foresee their purpose. You are right, General Seit- zel, better sacritice five hundred of the very flower of your army in capturing that battery, than to have your ranks jnown down in this way. Away go the detach- ment of "infantry into the very jaws of death on their desperate venture. Doomed, doomed! they know not the strength of the force against wliich they are j^itted. "What boots it that tliej^ form into line in separate divisions so as to avoid the cannons' shot and shell, when a more dreadful foe lurks for them in ambush ! Now they are so near that the cannon's angle of elevation hurls its missiles over their heads. How eagerly they press fo^'ward, believing an easy victory almost won. Suddenly from the underbrush fronting the battery springs up a rebel regiment, discharging a volley of musketry full in the faces of our advancing troops. That is right, my men, flee, scatter, never risk a bayonet charge from an exultant foe, when you are confused by an unexpected assault, and inclined to panic through heavy loss. Xow pluck up good heart, and start fair and fresh once more, but not as quarry for the craven brood that still infests the brushwood. Make a circuit in small force to the open :>pace at the rear of the bat- tery, cutting down all opposition in the way, leaving the main body to occupy the enemy by feints of attack THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 23 in front. The deed is done, the gunners silenced, the battery in our possession, and a fierce hand-to-hand conflict raging between the two regiments." " What of the main engagement in the plain below ?" asked Mr. Caruthers. " Nothing but disaster there ; a terrific bayonet charge, in which our men are borne down by "sheer brute force of superior numbers. They yield the ground, step by step, each one obstinately contested at countless cost. This will never do ; there is such a thing as car- rying bravery to the extent of foolhardy bravado. "Why will they not sm-render when the odds are so fearfully against them ? Will they w^ait to be forced back into that bog, and killed to the last man ?" " Let us go ; it is half killing me," entreated Minnie, shaking from head to foot, her face blanched to the very lips with an ashen pallor. '^ You need have no fear," returned Mr. Caruthers ; " I assure you there is not the least occasion ; we are quite beyond range of the artillery, and there isn't the slightest cause for alarm ; you can't be hurt, make yourself perfectly at ease on that point." "Without an added word of protest, she shut out the scenes of ghastly carnage that thrilled her weak, womanly nerves with acutest anguish, by burying her face in her handkerchief. She was roused from the aching sense of misery that had wrought her keenly sympathetic nature to its highest point of intensity, by a jubilant shout from Colonel Yanburgh. "Here they come at last; just what we need, a powerful body of well-mounted cavalry. On, hearts of oak, on to the rescue, before the bodies and souls that still hold together have parted company. How like a whirlwind they thunder down that rolling slope, hurl- ing themselves with resistless fury upon the enemy's right, which, with the reserve in echelon, forms into 24: THE KIYAL VOLU^sTEERS ; OE, square to receive them. Tlie liorses — noble beasts, I can pity and admire them, while glorying still more ia the daring and gallantry of their noble riders — obey curb and spur to a nicety, and dash, without sign of fear, upon the bristling wall of bayonets that will^leave many of them battered hulks to feed carrion crows and breed pestilence in the air. " There comes as brave a man as is to be found in our ranks, young Stanwood, staff officer, who never knew what it was to fear mortal man ; charged with orders of importance, I'd willingly lay wager, or he'd never ride that splendid bhick charger of his at such a break-neck gallop as to make the white foam fly from his lips and churn out from his saddle-girths. Evidently he seeks to communicate with cavalry official, or he would not thus expose himself in advance of our lines. Crack I there goes a rifle shot from behind a vine-covered paling, and the horse's chest is crimson with gore ; a second, and this time it is the rider Avho is hit. Malignant fate, to shield him from whizzing bullet and bursting shell, and then yield him inglorious prey to the lurking assas- sin's fatal aim. The order- bearer reels in his saddle, but still keeps a firm hold of the bridle-rein. He will die like the dauntless hero he would have lived, ready to give his last breath jn his country's service, straining every nerve to fulfill the commission intrusted to his charge. It is not thus decreed. He is under higher orders than those of his commanding general now. The reins fall from his loosened grasp ; his head bends for- ward until his plumed hat nearly touches his horse's neck. He has lost all control over the animal, which, leaps and plunges, maddened with pain. It rears on its hind legs, beating the air wildl}^ with its front hoofs, then partially loses balance, is almost down, staggers to its feet, makes a single spring forward, and falls heavily, a dead, crushing weight, upon its luckless rider. Poor THE B7.ACK PLUiir, EIFLEa. 25 Stanwoocl, puro pfitriot, iinflincliing supporter of a holy cause, would I were near to lend a helping hand in this jonr hour of direful need ; to aid in phicing you whej'C your last breath shouhl not be quenched in suf- focation." '- Peace, poor, tortured soul !" murmured Minnie, in reverent, awe-struck tones, her dim eyes blinded by unshed tears; "Heaven's benison be thine, since earthly succor is not for thee." "It is now the enemy's turn to cower, their own bat- tery turned against them," called out their inlbrmant from the dead pine, in tone once more raised to pitch exultant. " Their lines are in confusion ; they break and flee in disorder, pursued by our cavalry and light troops, the others only waiting to restore order in their columns before hurrying off in the same direction. Here come medical directors with hospital attendants and ambu- lances, which will all be needed. Men crawl dovrn from trees, crawl out of pits and hollows, crawl forth from brier and dingle, staring warily about them. Why can- not some of them picket those riderless horses, whose every srep maims or mangles some wounded soldier? I'll hobble down to the plain myself; it isn't much that I can do, but a kind word goes a good way sometimes. I found that out when I lay half dead in a Mexican lazaretto. There were none but glum, scovrling faces about me, excepting that of a gaunt old chore-woman, whom I made twenty excuses a day to see; for, though she was homely enough in all conscience, she was the only living creature from whom I received a look or word of compassion, and it is like the horror of soli- tary confinement to l3e deprived of that." With some difficulty he came down from his post of observation, and picking uj) his crutches, laboriously ^commenced the descent of the hill, Mr. Caruthers cau- tiously following, and eyeing with distrust every bank 2 28 THE RIVAL TOLUXTEERS; OR, or bush that miglit screen a stra^^rgler from the scene of the late conflict. '' What alls yon, child ?" asked the limping pedestrian, of a little "boy vritli a tin pail on his arm, \vho pressed his hand to Ins forehead, as if giddy or sick, swaying to and fro, and groping his way along with wavering, un- certain footsteps. '' Mother sent me to hring his dinner to father, who has been working on the road ; but I couldn't find him, and something I didn't see struck me in the side ; I'm liurted bad." The tin pail to which he had clung while strength lasted was suddenly dropped. The speaker threw up his arms, and with a long drawn gasp, a single convul- sive shudder, fell forward a corpse almost beneath the wheels of tbe vehicle. As they neared the plain, sights and sounds of suffer- ing multiplied about them. One wounded officer, fevered by burning tliirst, dragged himself to the edge of a stag- nant pool, and in attempting to adjust his drinking-tube in the slimy water to filter the same for use, lost his bal- ance and plunged incontinently into the oozy slush, which would have proved his burial-place but for the united exertions of the colonel and a man whom he summoned to his aid, Mr. Caruthers never once dream- ing of soiling his spotless kids and snowy linen by prof- fering assistance on the occasion. Afair-haired girl was borne past on a litter of boughs ; lier long lashes resting on her colorless cheek; her heavy, dishevelled tresses falling over the pale blue dress, which would flutter at heart-beat of hers never again. " How came she here ?" Mr. Caruthers paused to in- quire. "She was out for a walk with her betrothed," ex-, plained, with grave courtesy, one of the bearers of the THE BLACK PLUME TvIFLES. 'ST rude trestle ; '^'^nd I suppose tliev were so miicli taken up ill talking over plans for the future as to pay small lieed to signs of approaching danger until escape from it was impossible. Her intended husband belonged to the Home Guard, a splendid marksman, and when he saw that he had really lost her for this life, he instantly seized npon tbe mnsket of a dead soldier, crying out, ' jSow, oil my bleeding country ! with my wbole heart do I esj)ouse thy cause,' and rushed into the thickest of the lio'ht." Slowly they once more wended their way onward. "Stop !" entreated Minnie, as the pale, rigid face of a young man borne past on a stretcher riveted her gaze, '• tbat is Morland Ellsmead, do let me get out and take a nearer look at him." She sprang impulsively to her feet, and in another in- stant v>'ould have been on the ground if Mr. Caruthers' restraining grasp had not forced her back to the seat from which she had just risen. '• If you wish any inquiries made, I will make them for you, if you will oblige me by doing nothing to ren- der yourself conspicuous," he observed, in tones of cold reproval. '' But Morland is such an old friend of ours," she re- monstrated. " He was my fathers pupil once ; and we chased squirrels in the woods, and gathered wild-flowers and nuts together when- we were children and play- mates. He may be dying now ; I 'nimt speak to him, I should never forgive myself if I lost such an oj)por- tunity." Once more slie attempted to put in practice the pur- pose her words implied, and once more she failed to achieve her intent. '' Understand me. Miss Brandon," he remarked, in freezing accents ; '' I have no desire to see the lady who will one day bear my name (a name of as sterling weight 28 THE niVAL VOLUXTEEKS; OR, as the best on 'Change) ; preside with grace and pro priety, I liope, over a iionschold estaViisliment which, for bounty and liberality, lias not in tlie whole city its superior; and dispense with a pride becoming to her high station, but Avithout any of the upstart forwardness an\l atfectations of oddity which are so apt to make the conduct of those who liave suddenly been elevated from the humbler to the higher walks of life supremely ridiculous" — lie paused abruptly, his speech arrested by a look he could not fathom from the wide-open eyes that were looking straight into his. " Wiiat I mean is, Minnie," he resumed, with a voice and manner somewhat modilied, " tliat I do not v/ish to see one, whose fair name and fame it will soon be my privilege to guard, familiarly jostled by a motley, non- descript crowd such as is fast collecting here. A wo- man cannot pay too strict a regard to appearances, and should never overstep a conventionality even, or hazard the remotest chance of acquiring an unenviable noto- riety." To these concluding pLatitudes Minnie turned a deaf ear, her whole attention being for the moment concen- trated on the white, motionless face, shaded by curls of chestnut-brown hair, that lay so still and impassive be- neath her anxious gaze. A man standing near, super- intending the arrangement of cushions and blankets for a sotdier with shattered collar-bone, noticing her expression of eager, almost hopeless incpiiry, Avitli de- meanor sympathetic and respectful, explained that Mr. Ellsmead was not wounded, but merely stunned by the concussion of a spent ball, which had just grazed his head in its rebound from some obstruction in its course. Minnie thanked her informant with grateful warmth, and Mr. Caruthers, jerking his reins impatiently, urged his steeds to a rapid pace. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 29 " I do wish, Minnie," lie averred, in tone irascible, as soon as they were beyond earshot of casual eaves- dropper, "that yon wonld be a little more retiring and feminine in your deportment toward strangers, especially SHch as do not stand on a footing of equality with ns. After I had oifered to make any needful inquiries, re- garding the young man in whose fiite you manifested such a remarkable solicitude, it was in exceedingly bad taste, to say the least, for you to still persist in making yourself the centre of observation to such a motley- throng. I wonder if a woman, with the least pretension to good looks, could be so circnmstanced that the vain longing to show off her attractions would not be the mainspring to her every act." Minnie turned on him a glance in which resentment was overborne by a look of boundless surprise. " If you think, Mr. Caruthers," she returned, in tone as cold and hard as his own, " that I am capable of being swayed by paltry motive of mere personal dis- play in the midst of the agonizing scenes through which we have jnst passed, you do me a cruel injustice, and are far from comprehending my real character." " Quite likely 1 it is no very transparent one," he carelessly subjoined; ''and it is sometimes quite too deep for sounding by an out-spoken man like me, who uses plain words to convey a plain, intelligible mean- ing, and has no need of roundabout ways and means for making himself understood." Minnie closed her eyes quickly to crush the tears that had gathered beneath their lids. She was too deeply wounded to venture any attempt at self-vindication. For miles the silence between them remained unbroken. She was the first to speak. " I am deeply grieved, Mr. Caruthers, that I should have been so unfortunate as to shock your perceptions of what true feminine propriety requires of those who 30 THE RIVAL VOLUXTEEES ; OR, aim to practice it ; the only reparation I can malce, now that I know your views on the subject, is to strive faith- ftilly to conform to them in every particuUir ; this it s]iain)e niv constant and unwearying eftbrt to accom- plish." " Is it possible that has been running in your Lead all this time f " Had you forgotten it ?" " Completely : I have more sober realities to fret about. This confounded secession mania is raising the very deuce with business. WJiat with the blockade, barricades, batteries and eartli works, the Mississippi is shut up tight as a vice — no outlet for bacon and corn, no inlet for silks and wines. Pardon me, this is no meet subject of discourse for a lady's ear. Did you un- derstand'what I was talking about?" '' Perfectly, and thank you for speaking to me as though I wei-e a rational being," she replied, with an in- tonatiun of bitterness that was thrown away on his ob- tuse perceptions. "Everything is at loggerheads in the mercantile com- munity just now," he resumed; *' my last champagne was a villi anously transparent sham ; the last tobacco I bought for my meerschaum was enough to harrow a man's soul up for a whole day after smoking it; and tea and coffee are rising to an unprecedentedly high figure — how w^e are to live through such straits is more than I can tell. Where are the dividends from my railway shares coming from, with the rails torn up, freight and fare stopped ? How am I to collect my rents,, with my tenants off to the war, and their fami- lies thinking n-iv)re of their own seltish interests than of paying my lawful dues? We have to run after the cus- toi'ners who used to run after us, and half of them aren't woi'th the trouble of cat chin o; at that — failing up, sell ing out at a ruinous discount, and skulking round, if THE BLACK PLUME EITLES. 31 jou refuse a dividend of five cents on a dollar, in all sorts of on t-of-tlie-way lurking places, as hard to find as a needle in a liav-movr. Xo very consoling fact, either, to he told hy those who know the most of statecraft that "we have hy no means reached the crisis of the financial pressure as yet." Once more the speaker lapsed into silence. They were nearing the cottage when, bowing with air apolo- getic, he said, "I have left you long to yonr own tlioughts ; I hope they have run on pleasanter themes than mine." '•I was thinking," she rejoined, in -wearily dejected tone, ''what a relief it was to he told that Morland Ellsmead was only stunned, not dangerously wounded." Mr. Caruthers did not seem particularly gratified at the intelligence conveyed through this admission. At the first sight of his daughter's troubled face, Mr. Brandon saw that the ]ileasant anticipations with which she had looked forward to her drive had not been real- ized. She gave him a sadly vristful glance, as seating herself near him, she removed her light Leghorn hat, trifling abstractedly with the heron's plume, which was its sole adornment. "Our butterfly is not in the sunshine to-day," he quietly remarked. " I have looked on a sight, father, that w^ould make murky clouds on the fairest sky that ever smiled. From the top of Pine Hidge we witnessed an engagement be- tween the National and Confederate forces. I hope my vision may never be blasted by such another sight." ''Which side "was victorious?" " Ours ; but only after a severe repulse, which must have resulted in utter defeat, we were so greatly out- numbered by the enemy, but for the opportune arrival of reinforcenients. When our men, horse and foot, had driven the foe from the field, we drove slowlv across it. 32 THE KIYAL YOLUNTEEES ; OR, The faces of the dead I saw Avore a peculiar livid ex- pression, the resiiU, I think, of the fatal o^un-shot wonnd3 through which life's tide had ebbed ; it was so unlike the look of calm, placid repose of my mothers face when 1 strewed liowers on lier pillow, knowing that to their lovely tints she was blind, that through earthly sense the sweetness of their perfume could not reach her, and yet, urged on by a feeling I could riot over- come, and would not if I could, that she did somehow recognize and appreciate these last tributes of filial love it was in my power to render unto her. What a sad house was ours for the first year after she left us. I could not see a sable pall or a funeral lU'ocession with- out my eyes being blinded by tears. I thought of so many little kindnesses I might have rendered, and did not, because she was so uncomplaining I never knew her need of them until it was too late." Mr. Brandon's eyes moistened with the tender remi- niscences her words had recalled. " Those who die by swift-winged messenger of des- truction, Minnie, while nobly contending in a righteous cause, are less to be pitied than those who sit by lonely, desolate firesides, nursing vain, regretful longings for the dead and buried past, which locks in its cofiers the sounds for lack of which the ear is forever unsatisfied ; the sights which alone can bring gladness to the eyes, making the waste places of the earth to bud and blos- som as the rose. All honor and glory to the patriot heroes who fall in defence of the Right; but sudden death by bursting shell or sabre stroke is scarcely harder to bear than the clinging memories which haunt the bereaved heart with delusive phantoms of a happiness that might have been. Fatal the marksman's aim, but gyief has also deadly weapon, venomed shaft in its quiver " Minnie drew a long breath ; her thoughts dwelt on THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 3^ the imuierited rebuke she had received from one to Avhoni her sacredlj pledged word had yielded the right of control over her future desti^3^ '• The same words from other lips would have been ncthing," she said to herself, ''but I have so worn luy heart on my sleeve for him, that it is very bitter to re- ceive a blow in return for my trust." " What is it, Minnie ? Have you kept back from me any cause for your unusual disquietude'^" asked her father, noting the look of extreme despondency stamped on her expressive features. She started, colored violently, and stammered a scarce coherent reply, l^ot even to him could she reveal the words of cold^-eproval, forgotten by their speaker almost as soon as uttered, which rankled sorely in her thoughts. She was learning that embittered lesson which all but the shallowest natures must, sooner or later, learn — to suffer and be still. CIIAPTEK III. CHAiq-GEFUL SKIES. OxcE within the sanctuary of her own chamber, she takes from her dressing-table the jewel-casket already mentioned. What wills she with it ? Surely her heavy, tear-stained eyes will not regain their lustre through the sparkle of gems. Full well^recks she of this, as,^ placing the casket in a small walnut-wood box, and adding to its contents a locket, a miniature at which she does not even stop to glance, she slides the same beneath her bureau, saying to herself, " There let it remain for the present." 2* ti THE niYAL VOLUXTEEES ; OE, l^early a week elapsed before Mr. Caruthers again came to the cottage. '• I can liardlj stop to sit down," were almost his first words ; " for I'm so harassed by business cares that I have lianlly a minute to spare, and fairly lilchcd time to run down and ask after your health." " It was very kind of you, I'm sure ;,but how did you come? I do not see your horse or veliiclo." "I left the liorse in the shade ot* the walnuts yonder, it is so sunny here." '' As you are in snch haste, let me drive a mile or two "with you on your return; I would like the walk back." " I should like nothing better than to have you go ; very good of you to offer, I'm sure ; but, unfortunately, I have a friend with me, and must defer the j^leasure of a drive with yourself to a more favorable opportunity." The slight confusion in his manner did not escape her penetrating glance. " Only a young relative," he explained, in reply to her look, for she had asked no question ; and turned to lavish voluble praise upon the shrubs in full bloom beneath the window. She gathered him a bunch of thes3 gorgeously tinted censers of sweet incense, and then accompanied him as far as the garden-ofate, where he bade licr "Good-day" in a tone so decisive, that she was strongly inclined to the belief that he was fearful of her accompanying him fartlier, and desirous of baffling any such attempt on her part. Filled with a vague dis- trust, which was all the more tormenting that it had no tangible base on which to rest, instead of returning to the cottage, she made her way to the top of what was known as Sugar-Loaf Hill, commanding the view of a long stretch of level vale, through which wound the road leading toward the city. She had acknowledged to herself no definite purpose in toiling up the ascent, but her eager glance across the extended valley would THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 35 have betrayed to acute observer the clue to her secret motive. Her gaze rested on the object it had sought; tlicre were the dashing bays creeping along at a snail's pace, hardly consistent with their driver's recent lament at being unable to snatch more than briefest respite from harassing business cares, and by his side, the droop- ing bine feather in her charming hat, jauntily looped up at the rim, distinctly visible, sat a lady in whose con- versation, judging from his attitude of rapt attention, he was deeply interested. Slowly and sadly Minnie wended her way homevrard, oppressed by cause so slight or so subtle as to defy all attempts at mental analysis or verbal embodiment. The next day she accompanied her father in a drive to the city, and on a crowded sidewalk canght a brief glimpse of a lady in jaunty hat with drooping blue feather, who carried in her hand the identical bunch of scarlet geranium, ever-blooming rose and scented laurel she had herself presented to Mr. Carnthers the previous afternoon. This little incident, trivial and nnimportant though it seem, was yet sufficient to poison for its beholder every fount of joy. From the maze of sus- picion and perplexity into which it threw her, she found herself utterly powerless to escape. The deep, strong tones of Mr. Carnthers' voice, as he came up the garden-walk with her father late in the week, half disarmed her of her doubts ; surely that frank, outspoken voice would never convey to her message of guile or deceit. She met the speaker with a look of the keenest scrutiny, which be returned with one of smiling good humor. '-' I have just come from Marchmont's greeneries, and here is a bouquet — monstrous in size, but selecting from such a wealth of sweets, I couldn't make it smaller — which I had the gardener cut expressly for you. Here are scentless roses, blue, wliite and purple campanula; 36 THE KiTAL volunteers; or, and camelias, Tvhicli are good for iiotliiDg but to be looked at ; it is ainoiigst these carnations and heliotro})e blossoms that you must seek for perfume such as you will ]iever find in odor-cases. Tliese pas^ion-llowers arc said to speak a language intelligible to the initiated, of uliich I am not one ; ])ray enlighten my ignorauce, Miss Brandon, from the fullness of vour own know- ledge." " I am quite as un instructed in floral lore as yourself," she returned, unable to throw oft' the slight shade of restraint that still chilled her manner ; noticing which, he redoubled his eftbrts to cheer and enliven her. '• I will not ask you to go with me for a drive to-day," said be, " our last experimeiit in that line not having led us into scenes tbat could exactly be called inspirit- ini^: ; but please favor me with your company for a short walk." Without demur she acceded to bis proposal, and they strolled foith arm-in-arm. Having been long accus- tonied, througli motives of self-interest, to the close study and observation of mankind, and dealing with a character as transparent and free from art of guile as was that of his companion, he was not slow in ferreting out the cause of her uneasiness, and applying efficacious antidote. '* One reason for my visiting you to-day," he care- lessly remarked, breaking ground by cautious and guarded approach toward the theme which he well knew to be uppermost in her thoughts, " is. to solicit your kind nliicjs in beludf or'a young j^/Y^/erjr^V, a disTant connection of n.iine, who comes amongst us an entire stranger to our h.ihits, ways and customs. Miss Sears may be neither very brilliant nor very. learned — rhat last fact rather a desideratum in a woman, 1 think — but she has such a flow of spirits that you can never tire of her; I never heard an ill-natured word from her lips, and she THE BLACK PLUME TvIFLES. 37 is so sweet-tempered, that on acquaintance you cannot help liking lier." Minnie's look said as plainly as words conld liave spoken, that she was not indisj^osed to resist the elFect of said allurements, and tliat all sweetness from that flower nnsoen mig^ht as well be wasted on the desert air as on senses steeled like hers against their bewitchments. IMr. Caruthers saw the mistake he had made in praising one woman to another, already half disposed to regard her as a rival, and hastened, so far as lay in his power, to retrieve this vital blunder. " Let me tell you something of Lucy Sears' ante- cedents, Miss Brandon, that you may see how utterly forlorn her condition would be if it were not for the friendly aid 1 felt it my duty to bestow on the lonely orphan girl who would otherwise have been thrown penniless upon the uncertain charities of a sellish world. Her father, Gregory Sears, was one of nature's oddities, who lacked nothing in the way of intelligence and ability, excepting connnon sense. I don't suppose lie was to blame for the infirmities that seem to have been born with him ; but they were the cause of great tribulation to his parents. He was quick and apt at book learning and soon knew more than his masters in that line; but set him to swapping jack-knives or jews-harj)S with the biggest noodle in school, and he was sure to get the worst end of the bargain. His father, who was a grazier in a small way, used to set him to watch the cattle and sheep, but generally found him in some shady nook, book in hand, its margins all scribbled over with rhyme and his wits gone wool-gathering to the ends of the earth, where his sheep might have been too, tor all his interfering to prevent." " Then he was a poet," suggested Minnie. *'I suppose so, poor fellow; he couldn't help it — always star-gazing, and so falling into the open pitfalls 38 THE riVAL VOLrNTEERS; OE, Ijinp: unheeded at his feet. Of course he fell in love, as die phrase goes — yonr improvident, sentimental dreamer always does that — with a white-handed, lilv- hrowed, incfiicient sylph, who rapt him into tlie seventh heaven of Elysinm by reading the 'effusions of his muse,' as she called his jingling metres, with the air of a tragedy queen on the stage (I don't mean that she raved and stamped, and tore her hair like Lady Mc- Ghastlin after she had poured a drop of melted lead in her husband's ear, but she did the pathetic to a tnrn, with real tears in her eyes), and she encouraged him to publish his rhymes. Quite naturally, the operation proved a losing one on his ]:)art ; for, though the news- paper critics said one wouldn't be likely to fiill asleep over the book, which found a ready local sale, and wasn't very bad stuff to take, if one got weather-bound at a country tavern or any other out-of-the-way place where a billiard-room or a bowling-alley was an unat- tainable luxury, he lacked the enterprise to place it properly before the public and make it pay. After his marriage, affairs were far from mending ; for his wife, who could sweep the streets with the air and the grace of a seraph, knew just as much, no more, no less, than one of those celestial beatitudes about anything in the way of useful employment. A more comfortless, ill-arranged home than })Oor Gregory's I never saw. " I offered him a situation as clerk in a branch house at Kew York connected with our firm. He was a good penman and quick accountant, the only trouble being that nothing would cure his mania for dabbling in verse. "With a whole string of charges waiting to be entered on the books, he would, as likely as any way, be found up in the loft, on a pile of gunny-bags, putting meadows green and running brooks into lines chopped of an equal length, and bringing up with a certam similarity of Bound. It was this habit of losing himself in his own THE BLACK PLTJME EIFLZS. 39 fancies that indirectly cansed his death. He was so in- considerate as to lose himself in a brown stndy directly beneath the scnttle, down which, from an upper story, tlie boYS were lowerino* a large quantity of lieavy mer- chandise. They got ^tircd, I suppose, didirt adjust the ropes as carefully as they ought in handlmg such Aveio-lity boxes; one of them slipped from its fastennigs before it had half reached the ground floor, and strikmg Grei^ory on the head killed him on the spot. ''I went to lse^v York as soon as I heard of the acci- dent, and found the young wido^^— she did set her life by him, there's no mistake about that— in a truly piti- able condition, yiolent hysterics alternating with com- plete prostration of the neryous system. There neyer was a woman worse calculated to push her way upward in the world, or to do anything in the way of earning her own liyelihood. I couldn't help pitying her, though she provoked me out of all patience by constantly parad- ing her 2:rief to the friends for whom she sent as soon as she was'^able to receiye them, and to whom she talked Yohibly of the virtues of the deceased and her own irre- parable loss, shedding torrents of tears the while.. The grief that spends itself in words iS not the kind that cuts deepest, I'm inclined to think." " You are right," assented Minnie ; '' it is the un- spoken sorrow whose betrayal would lead to humiliation or abasement in one's own self-respect, to which sympathy would give but an added pang, that eats like iron into the soul. It is only in deeds brought about by wrong and dissimulation that this intolerable sort of endurance, nnshared and unsolaced, becomes imperative in a proud, self-reliant nature." . . He glanced at her a little uneasily, and resumed, m a lower tone : '' Your eyes accuse me, if your words do not.^ lou surely would not have had me, the only person liviag on 40 THE niVAL TOL^^'TEEES. OE, "whom tliey had tlie sliadow of a claim, leave the widow and Jier fatherless child — Lucy was only ten then — with the wolf almost at their door? Easily swayed hj generous impulses yourself, I made sni'e you would ap- pi'ove rather than condemn the same in others.'' lie had struck the right cIkmxI at las', and the vihra- tion.s respon.-ive to his toucli were exactly what he could have wished. She was ashamed of the suspicions she now accused herself of having entertained without a shadow of cause ; and in her eagerness to atone for the injustice of which she^ supposed herself to have been guilty toward her companion, she passed at once to the opposite extreme of boundless trust, for which she had, perhaps, as little reason as for the cankering doubts that had poisoned her peace. He was not slow to perceive the advantage he had gained, nor to actli])on it. "1 do most wai'udy approve your generosity," she hastened to assure him; " it is just t'le sort of nobly-dis- interested act 1 should have expected from you under the circumstances." ''Thanks for your good opinion. We will not pursue the subject lurther. I cannot suppose that you will feel toward utter strangers anything like the degree of interest with which I regard those 1 have been so fortu- nate as to befriend." " Pray go on, ]\Ir. Carnthers, I will not look upon any one whom you call friend as a stranger. Mrs. Sears and hei little daughter were left in dependent circum- stances, I gathered from what, you said." "The furniture of their lodgings, a few books, a half dozen prints or so, and their clothing, w^ere all they could call their own. I tried to make her understand her true condition, and to lind out her plans for the future ; but if she had any understanding, 1 couldn't draw it out ; and as to plans, I could take my oath with a clear conscience that she need never plead guilty to THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 41 any such iDclictment When I asked her if she intended to remain where she was, she said it made no difference where slie lived, or what became of her, now that slie had nothino; left worth living for. 'But you must live somewIiereV said I. ' I trust'my sojourn in this wretched world may be short,' said she, l^eginning to cry ; ' and if by any sort of drudgery I can obtain the bare means of subsistence, the liumblest shelter, and the coarsest fare, I slnill be m.ore than content. Henceforth I shall look upon life as a burden to be borne, not as a good to be desired.' She stuck so to generalities, that I had to pin her down to a plain question, by asking her if she thought she could earn her own support if I could pre- vail on some of my friends to give the little girl a heme ? Didn't she rave "then ? asking me if my heart was as hard as the nether millstone, that I could think of sepa- rating a widowed mother from the only dear object she had left upon earth. I had a great mind to leave her to settle that point at her leisure, and I would have done 60, only I knew she was jifsi gull enough to run through her small possessions in the'briefest possible time, and come upon my hands more destitute than ever. "I had a small tenement vacant in Troy, which I offered her, rent free, promising to superintend her re- moval to the same if she would go at once. She made as great an outcry at the idea of being carried away from her friends and her husband's last resting-place, as though I had been trying to wrong instead of to benefit her, but finally closed with my proposal. I left her comforlably settled in her new quarters, with a supply of fuel, and provisions that would not need hasty replen- ishment. 'I shall soon obtaiu some sort of employ- ment,' were her parting Avords, ' when I shall at once cancel my hidebtedness to you, as I wish to be under no obligations to one who never appreciated my precious Gregory's matchless gifts ; and instead of placing him 42 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OB, in a position wlicnce his untrammelled spirit could have llowi). on i^inions free, to the vaulted cini)yre?\n, bound him dovrn to the pert'orinauce of such taskwork as more common natures mip:]it as well have fuliilled." '' An odd M"c\j of expressing pTititude, it seems to me." '' So I thought ; she appeared to be so mncli in dread of lowering her dignity by acknowledging the receipt of a favor, that she resolutely persuaded herself none snch had been conferred. I received a letter from her within a month after reaching home. She had been learning to make thin vests and coats, she wrote, from a widow Avoman and lier daughtei-, to wliom she had given their board in return for instructions received. She under- stood her trade (the word she underlined, as thougli 1 were somehow to bhame for her being forced to apply it to herself,) perfecth', and could obtain plenty of work from the shops. Tlie only trouble was she could not 'Sew rapidly enough by hand to compete with those who, by the help of sewing-machines, could stitch up seams in as many minutes as it tool^'her hours to do with her needle. Jf she only had some friend of whom she could bori-ovr fifty dollars to purchase one of these invaluable assistants to female toil, she ti'usted soon to be able to repay what she owed me with interest. She actually proposed selling her watch to raise the needful sum, as, she said, a poor person could get along without the time of day, but the means of gaining a subsistence were in- dispensable. In reply, I ordered one of Ladd &: "Web- ster's machines to be boxed up and sent to her, hoping it would bind her over to keep the peace for ever after. It didn't answer {he purpose long. The next letter I re- ceived was such a high-flown mess of rodomontade that I couldn't for the life of me make out what the woman was driving at. She talked of inspiration, and the soul of art ; of low, grovelling natures, that had no afiinity with those goaded on in an erratic, comet-like THE BLACK PLUME ELFLES. 4t orbit of eccentric course by the divine aiilatTis baser spirits could never fathom or comprehend. Then she had lots to say of Michael Angclo, and several other old painters who died years ago •" and I conclnded, jis she didn't see fit to explain her pnrposes in an intelhgiblo manner, to go on to Troy myself, and see what new hobby the widow had started off on this time. " to Troy I went ; and the instant the slipshod servant girl admitted me, 1 Avas conscions of the same aspect of nntidy discomfort that had always somehow pervaded Greo:ory's home. The entry smelled of frjing-pans and rancid gravy drippings, and the cnrtains of the room into which I was shown were yellow and dingy, the carpet ragged and soiled, and the filthy table-cloth fur- nishins: e'ntertainment for ravenons squads of vagrant flies. 1 was kept waiting half an hour, and then snch a figure as presented itself to my astonished view ! Wearing a nondescript article of calico attire — a cross, I should s'ay, between a tunic and a dressing-gown—over grey flannel trousers, red velvet sHppers with ponited toes, and on its head a bhie cloth cap trimmed with tinseh" „„ . ^ " Had the poor creature really lost her senses ? asked Minnie, with apparent interest. ^^ '• It is my impression that she never had any to lose, was the cool rejoinder. "There were some rough sketches done on Bristol board, the glasses kept in place over them by a binding of brown paper, hanging against the walls ; and, to show a becoming interest in all that pertained to my charming relative, I asked if they were little Lucy's liandiwork. 'By no means,' said the widow, tart as a snapdragon ; ' a mere child like her could no more comprehend the mysteries involved in the study and composition of high-art productions like these, than a sign painter could illuminate an ancient missal?' 'Are they crayons?' asked I. 'Monochromes,' replied 44 THE RIVAL volunteers; OR, slie ; and offered to take thenr down for my closer in- spection. I objected to putting her to the trouble, for I had liad enough ot' the wretched daubs; hut as she liad made up lier mind that I was to pass critical judgment on them, pass judgment I did, to the best of my ability. * This,' said slie, 'is Poudaliiinc, a lovely peasant-girl uf Bretagne. Did you ever see such hands on a living person ?' ' Xever,' said I ; ' but I have seen tbem won- derfully like on the wooden dolls I used to buy little Lucy.' She snatched away the portrait, and put another in its place. 'This,' she explained, 'is Medora, watch- ing, by night, the return, which will not happen in time for her to see it, of the bandit chief who is her lord. See how picturesquely her long floating hair streams out on thcpinions of the passing breeze!' 'It seems to be in a dreadful snarl,' said I, 'and she will tear it half out by the roots before she ever gets a line-toothed comb through it.' ' Don't, 1 entreat,' said she (not Medora, but the widow), ' take views so prosaic of incarnation so poetical. A work of art is to be looked at in an ideal light, don't you perceive?' ' Kot exactly,' said I; 'I take things as they come, and if the light in which a picture is placed comes through dingy, floppy curtains, I can't alter the fiict, as I see.' She gave me a look that didn't seem quite friendly as she whisked Medora oft' my knee, and put a female who seenjed on the point of going raving distracted in her place. ' Of what does this remind you V asked Cousin Lucy, drawing herself np with something of the old tragedy air. ' Of a woman "with a dislocated neck,' I answered, ' her head is so twisted over the left shoulder.' To my surprise, Mrs. Sears seemed rather pleased at my reply. ' I thought,' said she, ' that the subject of this monochrome had been so faithfully and vigorously treated that it would provoke you into the betrayal of some strong emotion, either of admiratiou or repugnance — the latter, perhaps, being TnE BLACK PLUME KIFLE8. 45 tlie more approprifite tribute to the po^er of the artist, ^y]\o wrought out this female figure as an impersonation of Horror. Examine tlie lineaments more closely ; isn't every feature instinct with that passion that cnrdles onr blood and makes our flesh creep V . ' Ten times more natural than life,' said I ; ' the figure really seems as tliough it might step forth, in actual bodily presence, and use^those sharp finger-nails to evil purpose.' Then I seriously advised tlieir exhibiter to throw the ugly- visagcd harpies amongst the rubbish to which they rightfally belonged, and offered to send her on sonie really well-executed engravings from my own collection. Instead of appearing pleased at my proposed gift, she put her handkerchief to her eyes and threatened me vrith a lachrymal shower, which I dreaded above all things. I thought I would try the effect of a compliment, by way of averting the impending storm. ' Have your own portrait and that of your child taken,' I suggested ; 'for why should your walls be disfigured by these scrawn}-, hollow-eyed ogresses, when beauty and grace are so liandy for portrayal V " She caught "^the bait readily ; said that her good .looks were nothing to her now that the only eyes she cared to please were closed forever; that she did not expect me to approve the new project she was most anxious to carry out. I had never appreciated poor Gregory's talents, and she had no reason to hope for a greater display of leniency tov\^ard her own. I begged her to explain her project at once ; and she told me that she found needlework a most irksome en.^plo}^- ment, and would much prefer painting pictures instead. I asked if the sewing-machine had not worked well, and she confessed that she never could learn to manage it so as not to waste thread, crook needles, skip stitches, and make such fringed seams that the shopkeepers found fault with her work and refused to employ her. * My 46 THE KIYAX VOLUXTEZrvS; OR, heart Tvas not in my task,' said she ; ' bnt, in bodying forth, TV'ith tiie pencil's magic toucli, the ideal creations of my iiiisband's lofty genius, I shall find active call for all my higher faculties. In the first place, liowever, it will be necessary to go through a regular course of in- struction. I would tike to take lessons of Madame do FrijDonne — forty dollars a quarter is her price for tuition — who sometimes sells a single painting as higli as three hundred dollars, and earns a handsome support by her art. If you will lend me a helping hand now, at the outset of my new career, you shall be repaid out of the first profits it brings me in.' Of course, I was delighted to comply Avith a request holding out such tempting prospect of a rich return ; so I became responsible for the j^ainting lessons, and only heard occasionally from the artist for the two succeeding years. '• At the end of that time, business calling me on to "New York, I went a little out of my way to call on the widow. While several blocks distant I heard the rattle of piano-keys from Mrs. Sears' sitting-room, mingling with two voices, tenor and treble, acco'i-ding with about the etiect one would naturally expect from a hurdy- gurdy and a corn-stalk fiddle playing in concert. I found a foreign-looking man with thin, sharp features,' an eye lik^ a live coal, and long, black hair, parted in the middle, acting as grand performer in the instrumental accompaniment to this concatenation of sweet sounds. The widow, too, seemed quite rejuvenated, with frills to her gown, shamrock bracelets on her arms, and all sorts of odds and ends on her head. The music stopped on my entrance, and the long-haired pianist, with a profusion of smiles and gestures, bowed himself out of the room. 'Who is thaUellow?' i asked. 'That gen- tleman,' replied Mrs. Sears, with severe dignity, 'is Fro- te-ssor Anglocini, my music-teacher, and this piano is his. His charges for instruction — none but the first. THE BLACK PLUME P.IFLES. 47 families can afford to employ him — are nsiiallj con- sidered exorbitant ; but out of regard to my reduced circumstances, lie has treated me with the utmost liberality. I may say that my lessons actually cost me nothing, as it is very little more trouble to cook and lay the table for three than for two ; and I only give him his board in return for his invaluable services.' 'But who provides the means for furnishing household sup- plies V I asked, confounded at her cool way of stating the case ; and inclined to the belief that, instead of being the shallow innocent I had taken her for, she was about as long-headed a schemer as a man could well have to deal with. ' Thank you,' said she, ' for reminding me of a subject about which I have been very anxious to consult you. These vulgar trades-people have become so insolent and pressing in their demands, that I most earnestly beseech of you to find some means of relieving me from their persecutions. You cannot imagine how excessively annoying it is to a woman of refined sensi- bilities to be waylaid and accosted in the street by a clamorous dun. I have suffered more in this way than I can possibly describe to you. Only think of it — I had planned a cosy little dinner-party, simple soups, birds, sherbet, sangaree, ices, and fruits, in honor of the arrival of some distinguished Italians, friends of the Professor. I had my best gilt dinner service, a birtliday gift from my lamented Gregory, with the silver-plate hired for the occasion, on the side-board, when who should make his appearance, with a bill as long as your arm, but the provision dealer round the corner. He was very civil and smooth-tongued, so was I, and thought I had smoothed dov/n his ruflied plumes ; but conceive my overpowering resentment, when the heartless wretch had the unparelleled effrontery to come back with an officer, and march off* with plate, dinner-set, and all. Of course, the owner of the silver looked out for his pro- 48 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, perty, br.t my i^ilt service was gone forever; and no one can imagine the intensity of my mortification in being obliged to pass soup to a gentleman so tlioroiiglily ac^ciis- tomed as is the Professor to the formula of well-bred observance, in a bowl, with latten spoon as accompani- ment.' '•Instead of attending to lier twaddling prate, I inquired how much and how many she owed^ and found I had some pretty heavy bills to pay on her account. I paid them, there was nothing else to be done, since I had undertaken the burden of their support ; but I had no idea of being almoner to a pack of make-shift foreigners, wlio got their living by their v.-its. My sweet cousin abused me like a pickpocket when I pro- posed removing her to a cheap boarding-house ; declaring that she should have nothing left worth living for, if I interru]3ted her in the prosecution of her musical studies. I told her they would soon get to be an old story with her, and she would tire of them as she had of making pictures. No, she said ; painting she had been forced to resign because she found it was seriousl}^ impairing her eye- sight, while the odors of the colors was undermining her health ; but to music she was deeply anxious to devote herself for the sake of her child. Little Lucy had an aptitude for rhythm and vocalization, which, if properly cultivated, she might one day turn to good account. ' My constitution.' pathetically stated Gregory's well-pre- served relict, ' has been so shattered by repeated blows of misfortune that I am unfitted for continuous effort, and can look forward to nothing better than becoming a useless cumberer of the ground, a burden ivpon society at large, perhaps, if the friends in whom i may have vainly trusted should prove false in this my hour of sorest need. Having nothing further to hope for myself in this weary world, I would devote the declining rem- nant of my days to the task of so developing my daugh- THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 49 ter's talents, as to make them best contribute to her own maintenance, thus sparing her that galling sense of ^ de- pendence which is, and must continue to be, the blight and bane of my existence.' " There is gratitude for you ; she would graciously condescend to accept from me the means of support, all the while petuhmtly bemoaning the hard fate which had subjected her to the humiliation of submitting to obligation so unwelcome. Obligation, did I say ? she felt nothing of the kind. She was one of those essen- tially selfish persons to whom you may give ninety-nine times without any shadow of return ; but, refrain from giving the one hundredth, and see what a crop of enmity your favors will have sown for your own special reaping." '' You have spoken thus far only of the mother," sugr gested Minnie, with slightly rising color, " while it is the daughter of whom I am most curious to hear." " I saw very little of the child during her mother's life- time, but when Mrs. Sears went off in a rapid decline, I was left with an awkward responsibility on my hands, considering my bachelor estate. What was I to do with a pretty, petted, wilful, attractive girl of fifteen? I asked the question a great many times, always failing to gain any satisfactory reply." " Then she was quite a charming person, this young Miss ?" interrogatively suggested Minnie, the slight quiver of the muscles about the mouth betraying the anxiety with which she awaited his response. " I do not know how she seemed to others. To me, her lively flow of spirits, her disposition to make the best of everything, even her harmless little aftectations of a spite and malice it was not in her gentle nature really to entertain, aflPorded me an unfailing fund of amusement, and kept the old house' from knowing a dull moment while she was in it." 50 THE KIVAL V0LFXTEEES;'0E, " To ^liat house do you allude ?" asked Minnie, witli an air of cold restraint. " To the old family mansion in Orland Park, where my mother had kindly consented to receive the orphan, and superintend the progress of her education, which liad betn sadly neglected, so I was told. Lucy would have got along well enough at the Park, if she had had only n.y mother to deal with; but my stately, puncti- lious sisters were bent on disliking my ward from the iirst, and reproved, brow-beat, and lectured the poor child till she hadn't a minute's peace of her life. They were pinks of propriety, bound up in rigid convention- alisms which no earthly motive could have induced them to overstep ; she danced, and sang, and laughed, and chatted in utter defiance of those stringent rules of etiquette which were their law and gospel. I was at my wits' ends, trying to steer a clear course between the two factions. There were never-ending complaints of her unformed manners and peculiar ways, which I did not much mind so long as Lucy kept up good heart and showed no signs of falling a victim to this i)etty tyranny." " What did they see in her behavior to provoke such repeated censures V Minnie curiously inquired. " Xothing worthy of death or of stripes, so far as I could make out," was the careless rejoinder. " She loved j)leasure better than study, which was natural enough at her age and with her cheerful temperament, and hid ' Jane Eyre ' and ' My Kovel ' under her French exer- cises, reading the stories by stealth. When practising at the piano, she would slip aside her ' Zauberflote,' or some operatic gem, and rattle off some noisy reel or hornpipe, winding up, perhaps, with ' Sweet Youth of Lochrain,' and ' Peggy on her old Black Cart.' Then she had a habit, when she came in from a walk, of toss- ins: her hat into one chair, her scarf into a second, and THE BLACK PLUME HIFLES. 51 lier gloves and parasol into a third, giving tlie room an appearance of disorder whicli Dian couldn't tolerate. She had a fancy, too, for running into the neighbors, bareheaded, and with bare arms and shoulders, and for singing on the balcony, which my sisters insisted that she did solely for the purpose of attracting attention from passers by. She chatted at the area gate with the' ice man, the dirt-boy, or anybody else who would give her back a pleasant word or smile, and horrified Dian by tossing forget-me-nots to her music-master, and play- ing 2)olkas on a jews-harp for the servants to dance by in the kitchen. ^N'one of these were legally indictable offences, you perceive, but they shocked my sisters' sense of decorum, until they declared that my ward, as they persisted in calling Lucy, was so hoydenish and underbred that she was scarcely presentable to persons of ordinary refinement. They began to treat her with cold, stinging slight and neglect. When she opened the piano, they retreated to the most distant part of the house, as if to avoid its sound. She was requested to study in her own dressing-room, and was rarely sent for to meet any of their visitors. If a pleasure excursion were planned, she was never asked to make one of the party. When they went out for a drive, she was not offered a seat in the carriage. In a thousand ways she was made to feel that she was an unwelcome inter- loper, who had no rightful or recognized place in the household. " Business called me to Liverpool. When told that I must leave her for a time, the poor girl cried as though her heart would break, and beo^s^ed to £ro with me. Gom- pliance with such a request was snnply out of the ques- tion, and I told her so. She readily acquiesced in my decision ; she never was one of your self-willed vixens, bent on carrying their own purposes at all hazards — at least she never attempted to thwart any plan of mine. 52 THE KIYAL YOLU^TEE^vS; OK, " I was away from home two months, and on my return I noticed a great change in Lucy Sears. She liad grown quiet, reserved, womanly. She was not looking well either, and her eyes showed frequent traces of weeping, but she made no complaints. My sisters treated her with the same studious coldness as heretofore ; but she betrayed no token of annoyance at their undisguised antipathv. I resolved to send her away to boarding- school. J. supposed she would be delighted at this ar- rangement ; but, to my surprise, she entreated to remain where she was. ' I will not get in your sisters' way,' she said, with a humility that touched me to the quick, ' if you will let me stay ; but pray do not send me quite away from the only friend and benefactor I have in the world.' It was a hard case for the lonely orphan to be sent amongst entire strangers ; wasn't it, Miss Brandon ?" " Very hard,'' she returned, in her most frigid man- ner, " when she seemed to have been so warmly attached to her guardian." '' It was no more than natural, when he was the only person to whom she could turn lor kindness or comfort," admitted unsuspecting Mr. Caruthers. " After this im- plied admission of a preference so flattering, I was nr cessarily bound, as a man of honor, to remove her from an influence which might become too powerful for her to resist, and so wreck her happiness without the least fault committed on her part." Minnie flashed at him a glance of anxious, troubled inquiry, which he was too much absorbed in his own re- miniscences to observe. " I was firmly convinced that, for her own sake, she must go. I wrote to the principal of a seminary, and arranged terms for her board and tuition ; but when I saw how Lucy grieved over the prospect of our imme- diate separation, I exerted myself to the utmost to relieve her despondency. ' Keep up good courage,' said THE BLACK PLrME EIFLES. 53 I, ' study hard, perfect yourself in all the modern accom- plishments, attend carefully to the precept and exam- ple you doubtless will receiye. in grace of manner and elegant ease of address, which I lack, but which the future Mrs. Carutliers must not be deficient in.' AYas I to blame that she put a construction on my words they y^ere neyer intended to conyey ? She took it for granted that there was some sort of tacit understanding between us; and as I could not, without a gross yiolation of all rules of gallantry, humiliate and mortify her by explain- ing and correcting her mistake, there was nothing left for me but to humor it as best I might, trusting to time to unravel the tangled vreh of fate." " Leaying her in the meantime to the fancied security of a false trust, which absence might but strengthen ! — was not this a cruel kindness, Mr. Caruthers V '' Absence was quite as likely to efface all remem- brance of the youthful attachment she had so unguard- edly betrayed; and that would haye put matters all right at once." Minnie's cheek flushed and paled as she ventured her next suggestion : " Then your o^yn feelings were not in any way involved in the result of this experiment you w^ere trying on those of your ward." " I beg your pardon, Miss Brandon ; I am a plain man, and like plain speaking. I do not ^uite catch the drift of your last remark." " I mean that— if the regard you had reason to sup- pose this inexperienced girl entertained for you stood the test of time and absence, what course w^ould you have adopted in such contingency? Would you have awak- ened her abruptly from her dearly-cherished delusion ? or would you have fulfilled the expectations you knew your words had raised ?" "That would have depended on circumstances," he replied, with an air of careless indiflerence. 54: TnE RIVAL YOLUNTEEP.S ; OR, " I am not to be thus easily baffled," thought his fair querist, both cheek and eve brilliantly aglow. "In Avhat circumstances?" she dauntlessly persiited. " I am quite unable to tell, as they never occuiTcd," he curtly replied, somewhat irritated by her pertinacity. '' I have spoken of ni}" own personal affairs much more freely than is my wont, in order that you might knoAV, if any exaggerated rumors concerning the subject that I have been explaining — to your satisfaction, 1 hope — should reach you, exactly how much and how little cre- dence to give them. I dare say there was no occasion for my raking up the past in this fashion ; but I always aim to have every transaction of mine open and above board. Let those who will, stoop to trick and chicanery, it is not my way." CHAPTEPw lY. QATnEEIXG CLOUDS. It was with a heavy, depressing weight on her spirits that Minnie Brandon returned to the cottage. The lurking demon of doubt had crept into the pure Eden of her faith ; left its trail on the sweet lilies of her trust ; tainted all the odor-laden air with its pestilent breath. She sat down at tlie open window, heeding nothing of the sights and sounds passing about her, every faculty of her being concentrated in the effort of recalling every "word, tone and look accompanying the recent conversa- tion between herself and Mr. Caruthers. The entrance of her father with a couple of letters, one directed to herself, disturbed her profitless musings. With languid, THE BLACK PLTJilE KIFLES. 55 listless air, she broke the seal to her epistle, unfolding a closely-written sheet of note-paper, presenting, when held at a little distance, the appearance of a most deli- cate and elegant specimen of chirographr, but proving, on closer inspection, very difficult of decipherment. Thus its content s ran : ^' Miss Bra:ndon : — I have a very serious reason for penning you these few lines, which I have lain awake all night thinking over, ho]Ding 3"ou will excuse the liberty, as I am not acquainted with you, and never, to my knowledge, so much as laid eyes on your face. Bat for air that, I have something to say to you that ought to be said, and the sooner it is over with the better for all our sakes. I consider it my solemn duty to warn you against placing your affections upon Mr. Caruthers ; and if you don't heed my warning, there is no telling where the mis- chief will stop ; for 1 am very resolute and determined when once I set about a thing, and I shall leave no stone unturned to defeat the machinations set on foot to sunder the ties binding me to my affianced lover. You had bet- ter give him up of your own accord, otherwise he will be taken out of your toils in a way that will make no end of gossip and scandal. I send you this note, hoping that mild measures may serve my purpose ; but despise these, and set me at bay, if you dare ; I have no fear of being worsted in the end. " Excuse me, I did not mean to threaten you ; let me state facts, and you will see that my claim on Mr. Car- uthers is older and more firmly established than yours. Our engagement has lasted three years, and is at this moment as binding as ever it was. Our wedding-day was appointed last autumn ; but, an unavoidable cause, that could neither be foreseen nor prevented, occurred to postpone it — only to postpone it, mark you-^and I haven't a shadow of doubt that fate will prove more propitious when the appointment is renewed. 56 THE RIVAI. YOLITNTEERS; OR, " That was a terrible evening for me when I looked througli the lace-cnrtained window, where the blind was not quite drawn clown, and saw him doing the honors of his splendid new house with such a grand and lofty air, knowing, as I did, that mv rightful place was by his side. I felt better AvJien he told me tliat he didn't know I was in the city ; as, indeed, lie didn't; for I had not ap- prised him of my coming, fearing he would oppose it, and so frustrate my purpose of being near him. I have no intention of returning to Troy, although he strongly nrges my doing so, as he thinks I should be safer there than here, until these war-clouds blow over. I am will- ing to run all that sort of risk for the sake of the de- lightful society he so kindly devotes to my entertain- ment. I ride out with him every day, and not an even- ing passes without my seeing him. " I close by warning you, afresh, to beware of striv- ing to beguile my promised husband away from the true and faithful allegiance he owes to me. Even if your arts did in some sort succeed, the day that brought you such success would be an evil day for you. We are strangers now ; Heaven grant that we remain so ; we could never meet as friends. I do not sign my name, not because I am ashamed of it, but because you would be none the wiser for reading such signature. ' Minnie folded this strangely worded epistle, with a look of added perplexity on her troubled face. Her suspicions pointed at once to Lncy Sears as the writer, and she carefully noted and compared several striking coincidences between Mr. Caruthers' confession and that conveyed to her in epistolary form. ^'He can find plenty of time to devote to her, while to me his visits are of the briefest," she said to herself with untold bit terness. " You have bad news, I fe^r," said Mr. Brandon, with mild solicitude. THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 5T ^' l^ot exactly news," she returned, with wearily de- jected ah-, " at least, I hesitate to receive it as such until I know who sends it. I shall make every effort in my power to ascertain the truth or falsehood of the accusations contained in this anonymous letter; if they be false, I will do injustice to no one by repeating them — if true, you shall know all if I have the heart to tell you." " An anonymous letter," repeated Mr. Brandon ; " the most contemptible mode of sending barbed shafts from hidden shelter that was ever invented. Depend upon it that the writer who sends accusations he has not the manhood to substantiate by his real signature, has no very creditable motives for withholding the same. Do not give yourself a moment's uneasiness from cause so entirely undeserving of notice. I have news more re- liable which will call me away to Chicago for a few days. But with marauding parties ready to start up at every turn, I dare not leave you here, with only old Chloe as protector. Perhaps you would like to pass the time of my absence with the Caruthers." She shook her head. " Miss Dian is housekeeper for her brother, at present, and nothing would induce me to take any step that might be construed into the appearance even of an attempt on my part to court his society. Leave me, if you please, with my mother's cousins, Miss Honour and Wilhelmine Courcelle." ''Two single women, all by themselves; not much safer than leaving you here." " They are such bold, resolute, self-reliant persons that I shall have no fears with them ; besides, their house is fto far from any ordinary line of travel that it is not likely to be molested. "My casket of jewelry I shall carry to Mr. Caruthers, requesting him to lock it up in the safe with his plate." 2* 53 THE mvAL volunteers; or, *' Wliy not put it in the blind closet leading from the cellar-arcli "i j\I. Moellon designed that hidden recess specially as a place in which to secrete his valuables." " In case of lire my casket would be lost. 1 would rather leave it as I first proposed." One reason for her persistence in this plan was, that she had resolved on showing the letter which had so deeply disquieted her to Mr. Caruthers, watching the expression of his face Avhile he read the missive, and drawing therefrom her own conclusions as to the truth or lalsity of these anonymous revelations. ''Let me but know the worst," she said to herself, " and I Avill call up my best fortitude to meet it ; but this wretched state of uncertainty and suspense I will not submit to a moment longer than is absolutely necessary." On reaching the door of the mansion from which she had last issued in mood of festal mirth, she was per- mitted by the servant, who recognized his prospective mistress, to pass directly to Miss Dian's dressing-room, where the latter, before a tall Psyche glass, was, with minutest care, arranging the folds of her robe to more harmonious flow. Her brother was out of town, she said, and readily agreed to take charge of the casket until his return. When Minnie started for home the former accompanied her for a short walk. Up the broad thoroughfare, down which their promenade extended, dashed a pair of spirited bays, whose driver was in the thoughts of both pedestrians. Minnie caught sight of a fair smiling face shaded by drooping blue feathers, as her companion tried to hurry her beneath an ivy-covered archway. The young girl maintained her ground reso- lutely. '' If you know, Miss Caruthers, the lady driving with your brother, please to tell me who she is." Miss Dian hesitated, scarcely knowing what reply it would be most desii*able to make. THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. * 59 "I already have her name," desperately ventured Minnie ; '' I merely wish to know the estimation m which you hold her. Your brother seems to consider her a very charming person, whom I could not fail to hke on ^""^'TlweTwhere he and I diiFer," asserted Miss Dian, with warmth. " Lucy Sears is a pretty-laced, solt-man- nered, selfish shallow-pate, gifted with the same sort of cunning as other inferior animals. I cannot deny that she can be verv amiable— when it suits her purpose, it suits her purpose to be all honey and sweetness to my brother, and so she always wears velvet gloves for him. He thinks it is for him alone her blandisnments are ex- erted. Fool ! I have seen her put on as many airs and graces to fascinate the music-master Kilby paid lor tiirt- ino- with her ; at least, that was the main accomphsh- ment she acouired from him. Strange how much sooner even men of sense, in other matters, take to a pretty simpering woman than to one who knows_ enough to conduct herself like a responsible human being. '' Did Mr. Caruthers ever make her direct x^roposals of marriao;e?" abruptly asked Minnie. ''Heavens! don't startle me with such a preposterous suo:o;estion. What sort of a figure would she cut ma family like ours ? Absurd 1 incredible ! ^^ever allude to the possibihty of such an occurrence again it you ao not wish to seriouslv ofiend me. Her silly chatter amuses him, that is all. Come back and remain witii me while your father is away, and we will make t.ie house so gay and lively that all outside attractions shall pale in comparison." -, t i^r- • ar " I am in no mirthful mood," pleaded Mmnie ; i cannot come." ^ . ly '' ]^ot when it is to rescue ivilby from the arts ot an unscrupulous schemer, who will leave no means untried to bind him to her interests ?" GO ' THE RIVAL volunteers; OR, "^ot even for that. Mr. Caruthers is old enoiigli to know his own mind, and to act npon such knowledge. He has the right to select the society most congenial to him ; if that does not happen to be mine, tliere is no help for it. As to stooping to court the attention he sees fit to bestow on another, nothing would induce me to adopt a course so derogatory to my own dignity and self-respect." " The love cannot be very strong that can thus easily be overmastered by pride." Forbearing all reply to the covert reproach conveyed through these words, Minnie took brief leave of her com- panion, and, with an air of unruffled composure, pro- ceeded on her way. It was not until her feet once more pressed the greensward a considerable distance outside the city's limits, that she gave free scope to the bitter tears wrung forth by mortified pride and slighted regard. It was only for a brief space that she groped her way along, half blinded by passionate weeping, half choked by stifling sobs, then, drying her eyes, her step grew firm and her look composed, as she said to herself, " It is better to sufter through another's wrong-doing than through one's own — to be sinned against than sinning. My father was right when he said that no one whose conscience rose not up in accusation against him could experience the deepest wretchedness of human woe." Before reaching home, she had overcome every trace of emotion ; but an acute observer might have remarked that in her whole air was a tinge of unusual sadness, mai-ked by an added ex]3ression of gentle deference to- ward the parent she revered. When tea was over, she proposed reading aloud to him, and, with a look of gratified expectancy, he threw himself on the couch, prepared to listen. From the works of the grnnd old masters of English song, lining the book- case, she took down volume after volume, cull- THE BLACK PLUME PJFLES. 61 ing extracts here and there as fancj prompted — extracts, by some subtle instinct chosen, permeated through and through by plaintive ontgush of human grief from some chastened soul, striving in vain yearn- ing to soar upward on wings of finite melody, if, haply, it may catch but faintest echoes from those infinite har- monies to whose entrancing strains earthly perceptions are sealed for all time. Unconsciously she read these outpourings of a sorrow which none can escape, but not all can express, with a depth of feeling, an earnestness of appreciation, which attracted her father's notice. Raieiug himself on his elbow, he closely scanned the readers face. " Something must have gone seriously wrong with her," thought he ; " it is only through afflictions of our own that we learn to enter, heart and soul, into those of others." She paused, gravely thoughtful, as she finished tlie perusal of Hood's '' Song of a Shirt," quietly remarking, '' It must be most wearing, wearisome eftbrt, the ill-paid drudgery, the never-ending toil by which the poor needlewoman, by slow stitches, earns the scant pittance that keeps body and soul together; but the heart may be heavy with its own bitterness where no physical want is known." " Life, you will learn, Minnie, as you know more of it, is no holiday gift to even its most favored j^os- sessor. We must all fight the good fight of faith with the evil that is within us as well as without. Our spiritual weapons are to be kept bright by constant war- fare with the sins that do so easily beset us ; and yet, in the midst of the conflict we must daily wage, we have also to watch narrowly, lest, in such strite, we sacrifice all the sweet charities of life — the meekness, patience, and long-suflPering which would lend us to bless even our enemies, and to minister unto th-ir needs, if sick or in 62 THE RIVAL VOLUXTEEES; OE, prison, even tliou2,\h we may have been the chosen in- struments for inflicting on them God's vengeance for wicked misdeeds." " If I ever learn to be patient and tolerant like your- self, it will be through much tribulation," Minnie frankly admitted ; " at present, any sort of treachery or double- dealing rouses in me the most unqualilied resentment." He waited for her to proceed ; but, fearing that some unguarded word might betray the secret source of her uneasiness, she remained persistently silent. With undefined purpose of fathoming the motive for her reserve, he asked, '' Did you see Mr. Caruthers to-day ?" ^' Not to speak witlvhim?" was the laconic reply. " How did it come to pass that you met without speaking to him ?" " It is not easy to call out from a crowded side-walk to a gentleman driving up a thronged street," returned Minnie, with a disingenuousness for which she heartily despised herself. The sound of wheels on the carriage-sweep outside sent a rosy flush to her cheek. Had Mr. Caruthers, on learning of her father's contemplated journey from his sister, come to urge her remaining with them during his absence ? Cliloe opened the door to admit a small boy with bill for repairing hay-cutter. Sick at heart from eflect of chimerical fancy, as unsubstantial as bursting bubble or evanescent rainbow tint, Minnie stole away to her own room, hoping in sleep to lose the aching sense of unrest she could not otherwise hope to escape. Isext morning there was a little flutter of expectancy in her manner as she glanced toward the road at the sound of every vehicle that chanced to pass ; but as noontide drew near, and she gradually settled into the conviction that he would sufier her to depart without any attempt at explanation or leave-taking, a look of THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 63 imwontecl pride and resolve stamped itself on features generally a reflex to all kindly and gentle emotions. Throughout the long drive conveying her to the tem- porary place of abode she had chosen, she maintained an almost unbroken silence. Her father, noticing her ab- straction, soon desisted from all efforts at conversation, saying to himself, " She must work out life's problem in her own way. Heaven help her; I can't. It is the human lot to learn wisdom through no teacher save hard experience." Xot thus forbearing those two notable housewives and sagacious managers of ploughing and planting, sowing and reaping, Miss Honour and AYilhehnine Courcelle, who would have scorned to claim protection from any livino^ beino:, deemins; themselves fullv equal to the task of asserting and maintaining their rjghts, as well as re- dressing their wrongs. Industrious, frugal, indomitable of will, with decided o]3inion3 of their own, which they were not at all backward in promulgating, in season or out of season, any indulgence of sentiment was likely to meet but scant Vavor from the elderly, matter-of-fact spinsters. Jealous of any innovations upon the customs which had descended to them with their estate from their immediate ancestors, no carpets covered their well- waxed floors, no modern furniture was permitted to oust from their time-honored places the comfortless oaken chairs and leather-covered benches, and no fresh print disputed possession with the wretchedly-executed family portraits staring woodenly from the walls. Stanch Unionists, their sharp-tongued assaults on those inclined to symj)athize with the insurgents won them enemies by the score. Perhaps a glance at the well-thumbed con- tents of their booVshelves may give a more accurate impression of their mental habitudes than could be otherwise conveyed in form as concise. Here is the "Bee-Keeper's Manual," "Hints for Bearing Young 64 THE RIVAL volunteers; OR, Stock," " Every Man his own Veterinarian,'^ " Insects injurious to Vegetation," *' Fertilizers best adapted to ditferent Soils," "ISTotes on the Use of Nitrates and Ammonia in A£:riculture," " E^say on Irriiration," *' Directions for Grape-culture," ''The Horticulturist," " A Treatise on Political Economy," " Condition of the Laboring-Classes in Great Britain," "Monarchy, Auto- cracy, and Democracy," " Spitallields Weavers and Corn- wall Miners," " Statistics of English Domestic Service," "Prince Albert's Address to the Servants' Provident Society." It will be perceived by this brief glance at the Misses Courcelles' supply of reading material, how eminently utilitarian the taste directing their studies, Minnie was not long suffered to remain idle. " Come, and make this yeast with your own hands," directed Miss Honour, "that you may know how to impart to a servant, if need be, so useful a piece of information. It is well for the mistress of a household to understand all these things, even if she has not so much as to turn the silver faucet supplying her daily bath. AVe Avait upon our- selves from choice ; but we know what it is to be served like ladies — to be perfumed in fine laces and brocade, with one servant to fan away the heat and another to brush away the iiies — we know what it isn't, too ; it isn't good for low spirits or dyspepsia ; so we harden our hands, bronze our faces, strengthen our muscles, and lengthen our lives by wholesome toil. "Who ques- tions the wisdom of our course ?" " Why make us out worse than we are ?" asked Wilhelmine. "Why not confess tliat, in all this pinch- ing and saving, we act from a higher motive than any which could arise from mere personal aims ?" " As Minnie's mother was a Courcelle, it may not be *amiss to comply with your suggestion," returned Miss Honour, with dignity. "It was my father's life-long THE BLACK PLUilE EIFLES. 65 desire to manumit liis slaves ; but as most of tliem came to him by way of dower with our mother, there were imsurmountable obstacles in the way of his carrying out his purpose ; which he died bequeathing to ns. His intentions we could easily have fulfilled by disposing of this 2:>lace ; but could we let Pre-Fleuri, which our great grandfathers made to bud and blossom as the rose, pass into the hands of strans^ers? ISTot if any means of ours could prevent it. Pre-Fleuri, without the curtail- ment of a single acre, shall be handed down to our nephew Falkland Courcelle, the only male survivor bearing the family name. God willing, we will also leave our servants free, and with some provision -for the future ; if they would only work half as hard as we do, this might easily be effected ; but they would ratber take their ease when they can get it, living from hand to mouth, than to lay up store for the rainy day, which they never think of so long as the sun shines, l^ow, there's. Jim, weighs two hundred, and is tough as a rhinoceros ; with the exception of what I lay out for his clothes, I promised him the whole of his wages to put by as a fund to accumulate for the support of his wife and children. I thought the idea of working for himself would spur him on to make the most of his ■ oj)portunities, but he is less diligent and faithful in others' employ than he was in ours. I have often asked myself if generations of forced servitude have destroyed all tendency to thrift and self-reliance in many of our colored population ; if they have been so long habituated to look to a master for the supply of all their wants that they are no longer animated by a desire for freedom and the means of obtaining an independent support sufficiently strong to make them put forth their best en- ergies to grasp the same. " I hardly think this can be so, for why did Prince Albert, of blessed memory, deliver an address, in w^hich 66 THE RIVAL TOLUNTEERS; OK, ^ he declared ' the largest of all the classes of her majesty's subjects in England is the class of domestic servants,' to the ' Servants Provident Society,' if they had not needed stringent reminder of the duty of making suit- able provision for their declining years? That they do not make such provision is proved by the fact that a majority of their number look forward to nothing better than an old age of pauperism, with the ahnshouse, per- haps, as final place of refuge when their laboring days are over. Kone of my people must ever be allowed to sink into a state of beggary and destitution like that." " What do you want, sir ?" This curt interrogatory was addressed to a cadaverous looking individual, seedy and threadbare of garb, slouch- ing of gait, scowling of brow, and repellant of mien, who had approached unseen, and paused outside the window. " Something to eat," was the equally curt rejoinder. " Why should an able-bodied man like you beg, when our quota is not made up, and Government needs every arm that can be raised in its defence 1" " I sprained my ankle by a fall three days ago, all that time I have spent dragging myself thus far toward home. Give me a piece of bread or I shall faint with hunger by the wayside." •* Isn't that the rebel uniform you have on ?" " I scorn to deny my colors ; I am heart and hand with the cause of our young republic." " Then, go ^starve ; or get your bread from the trai- tors you serve." " iBeware, madam, beware." " Beware of what, insolent vagabond ?" '* Beware of turning a famishing man empty-handed from your door ; beware of the heavy curse with which he would repay the pittance withheld from his sore necessities." THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 67 " Do give liim something, Cousin Honour," intreated Minnie, with troubled, anxious look. ''Xot a crust," was the inflexible rejoinder, "will 1 bestow on one who has served in this wicked and cause- less rebellion." With a fierce malediction the man turned aw a v. " I would not like to have any one give me a look like that," said Minnie, with an air of extreme discom- posure. '' I've learned not to be scared before I'm hurt," was the indilferent reply. '-The fellow has enough to do looking out for his own forage without seeking to do me an ill turn." The speaker left the room on household cares intent. Looking from the window, Minnie saw the stranger pick up a cob, on which a few kernels of corn still remained, and crushing the same beneath the heavy hilt of his dirk, devour them with apparent voracity. '" He shall not go away with fierce hunger gnawing at his vitals, if I have to sufier myself to prevent it," thouo-ht she. " I know that nothino^ here is mine to be- r 1 stow ; but I can go without my dinner — that is mine while father pays my board — and without wronging any one, give the hungry man the benefit of my absti- nence." Hastening into the pantry, she hurriedly prepared some sandwiches, and adding to the same a slice of cheese and a strip of honeycomb, speedily overtook therewith the forlorn outcast. His rugged face softened as he accepted her simple oflering, and while he lunched off the grassy mead, she folded a thick, imper- vious leaf, plucked from the velvet plant, into the form of a cup, and filling it from a running brook, presented it to her o-uest lor the nonce. On resumino; his walk he v>'as pleased graciously to observe, '' If you should ever stand in need of a rebel's aid, 68 THE P.IYAL volunteers; OPv, even tlioiigli it should be mine — Lambeth, don't forget the name — I hope it may be as freely given as that you have rendered unto me." When the dinner liour drew on, Minnie quietly saun- tered forth for a waik, lioping by this means to avoid the embarrassment of unwelcome questioning. On her return she was met by Miss Honour witli the tart in- junction, "You must learn to be punctual at your meals, or you won't fare very well while you are with us ; we never keep the table waiting for anybody." " I am very glad, Cousin Honour, that you did not break the rule on my account ; when I am not punctual at my meals, it is because I prefer going without them ; you are not to give yourself the least trouble on tliat score, it would annoy me if you did." Minnie spoke in a mild, even tone, as with air serene, she commenced hemming a cambric band. Miss Courcelle relented. "My remark was merely intended as a caution for the future," she said, deprecatingly ; " living a life of monotonous routine, my sister and I, it is but natural that we should grow methodical in our habits, and for the short time you are to remain with us, it will be easier for you to conform to our ways than for us to change them." " Most certainly," assented Minnie, " I will endeavor in all things to adapt myself to the mode of life most agreeable to you." " Spoken like the sensible girl you are ; let the past be overlooked ; come out with me and get some dinner." "I beg your pardon, Cousin Honour; but I have already told you that if I had cared for my dinner I should have been here at the appointed time." " Are you sick, child ?" " Perfectly well, I thank you." " You needn't thank me, there's no occasion ; I never THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 69 knew a porcupine temper before amongstthe Courcelles. Is your father an irascible sort of person ?" ''My lather is a gentleman,-' averred Minnie, with a slight show of resentment. '^^ And yet his daughter is so waspish that at a word of reproof she flies into a pet, and like a peevish, self- willed child balked of its whim, sulks and lasts the whole day long, and will be bought over to good behavior bj nothino; short of sugar-plums and penny trumpets." " I a'ssure you, once for all, that I am not in the least inclined to sulk ; and as to my fasting, I have a reason for that which is perfectly satisfactory^- to me,^ but which I could scarcely explain to your satisfaction." Miss Courcelle was not accustomed to being baffled and mystified in this w^ay, and her ire rose accordingly. She descanted fluently on the social evils wrought by ill-judging almsgivers who encourage vagrancy and pauperism by their indiscriminate gifts, bestowed alike upon those who were ready to lay down life in their country's defence and those who were striving, by any means, fair or foul, to rend it asunder. Not that any of her strictures were addressed to Minnie, whose presence she studiously ignored, even at tea-table, failing to ex- tend to her those little civilities ordinarily incident thereto. It was in sadly dejected mood that the weary girl betook herself to her room for the night. As she sat with her head bowed on her hands, her re- flections were far from inspiriting. " I verily thought I was doing a good and charitable deed in practising an act of self-denial for the benefit of a famishing fellow-creature; but Honour has so confused my perceptions of goodness and mercy by persistently harping on the folly of encouraging vagrancy and the criminality of givino; aid and comfort to the enemy, that I am half persuaded my conduct has been rather repre- hensible than otherwise," pondered the bewildered girl. TO THE KIVAL Y0LXJ2fTEZRS ; OK, " Good intentions are certainly meritorious, so far as they go, but there are so many ^vays of carrying them out ! and if one happens to take a wrong one, or even a misstep in a right, down one plumps into the very depths of despair. If one could only do exactly as other folks do, it would be a great saving of perplexity, though it must be fearfully irksome and humdrum to be all trudg- ing along together in the dusty, beaten highway, when the wild birds are singing, the cool dews sparkling, and the water voices rippling sweet, in the scented hedge- rows hiding, mayhap, a thorn, to pierce over venture- some hand. How I have flattered myself that my intel- ligence was quite equal to that of the average of woman- kind ; now, i incline to the belief that that opinion was nothing more than a snare and a delusion calculated to entrap me into the commission of all sorts of absurdi- ties which I should have avoided if I had entertained a more moderate estimate of my own faculties. I have been simply wise in my own conceit ; there is no blink- ing the fact, which won't become the more j^leasant from fearing to look it fall in the face. How sure I was that I had secured the strong, deathless regard that was to be my shield and safeguard for a lifetime — now I am sure of nothing save the unspeakably dreary present. Xot a line have I received from Mr. Caruthers, not even so much as an inquiry after my welfare, since I came here, although our wedding-day is appointed, and my bridal robe, with its laces and flutings, lays half hn- ished on my bed at home. Xeglect is the portion meted out to me, devoted attention quite likely being reserved for another. I never exchanged words with Lucy Sears, but I feel capable of hating her desperately." There Avas a light tap at the door, followed by the im- mediate entrance of Jtliss Courcelle. '' Here is a letter marked ' With dispatch,' " said she, " so I brought it you at once." THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 71 A brilliant glow flashed over Minnie's tell-tale face as she took the welcome missive, with the instantaneous conviction that it came from him who held her thoughts in sway. She could not read it with those cold, unsym- pathetic eyes upon her, ready to note every trilling change of expression. Finding she had nothing to gain by prolonging her stay, Miss Honour considerately ter- minated it. With beaming glance Minnie examined her letter's address, which was in the handwriting of her father. The lirst revulsion of thwarted expectancy chased the roses from her cheek, then she reproached herself bitterly for the filial ingratitude of which she had been guilty, in casting aside as of little worth, the loving-kindness which had crowned all her days with blessing, while remembering but too faithfully one who gave not faithful remembrance in response. She broke the envelope with listless languor, possess- ing herself of the contents inclosed. Mr. Brandon had been ill with a feverish cold, which had greatly aggravated the bronchial aifection from which he had been long a sufferer. He had reached the city on his return journey, and would have driven out for her that afternoon, but fearing the effect of the chill night air, had concluded to wait until morning, when she might look for his early arrival. Full of a tender compunction for the little thought she had bestowed during his absence on one who had watched over her own welfare with untiring solicitude, she retired to rest. ISTo sweet dreams soothed her light and broken slum- bers. Men's hoarse voices, a woman's cry of distress, startled her from sleep unrestful ; both voice and cry were real. 72 CHAPTER Y. IsO EAY OF CHEER. The burning smart in lier eyes on awakening, Minnie at first assumed to be the result of having '' cried her- self to sleep ;" but quickly became aware that her room "svas rapidly filling with a dense smoke. Terror gave speed to her movements as she hastily dressed herself, lier chamber was in a wing at a rear angle of the house, to the front of which she could onl}^ gain access by de- scending one flight of stairs and ascending a second. She opened the door and stepj)ed upon the landing, caught a glimpse of the fiercely darting tongues of hungry flame lapping the staircase mouldings, shut out quickly the heavy sutfocating volumes of smoke envelop- ing her, and sought some safer mode of egress. Softly raising a window commanding a partial view of the main body of the dwelling, she saw a 7iumber of horses tied to a railing near the barn ; heard Miss Courcelle's stifled cries for help, piteous appeals for mercy — cries and appeals answered by cruel taunts and mocking, brutal jibes that sent a creeping sensation to the roots of her hair, filling her with an overpowering desire to escape from those capable of utterance so revolting. Slie could hear the loud bang of doors, the fall of heavy footsteps below, and felt that there was no time to be lost in eflecting her retreat. Closing the window as noiselessly as it had been opened, she cautiously raised the one at the gable end of the room, crept therefrom to the roof of a porch ad- joining, reached the ground by aid of a grape trellis, and was away on fleet step she knew not, scarcely cared whither, if she might but evade detection, avoid pur- THE BLACK FLUME RIFLES. 73 Biiit. The skj was partially overcast ; but the moon, occasionally emerging from its cloudy screen, gave suf- ficient lii!;ht to prove that she was traversing the short- est and most direct path leading to the sparsely wooded upland slope where she hoped to find safe refuge until dawn, which could not be lar oK She had soon more liglit than was at all desirable. Tiie devouring flames had twined in fiery folds about the upper portions of the dwelling, towering heavenward in the majesty of resist- less might, casting a lurid glare on objects far and near. Di-eading discovery and capture above all else, she glanced eagerly about in search of a temporary hiding- place. Assuredly, near the place where she was stand- ing, there was formerly a shepherd's hut ; true, but its site was now blackened by a smouldering heap of ruins, and what had been its tenant hung dangling, a lifeless mass, from a lower limb of the Chickasaw plum-tree, which in life had been the old man's pride and delight. A dihipidated sheep-pen afibrded the covert she sought. Scarcely^had she availed herself of its shelter, when a low, regular sound on the ground beside her added greatly to'^her alarm. "More triumphantly leaped heavenward the eartli-fed flames, illumining with more vivid glare all the landscape round. By this added light Minnie saw, with a shiver of terror, that she was standing^ be- side the sleeping figure of a man wearing the Confede- rate uniform. She could even detect the outlines of his musket, the glitter of the unsheathed knife grasped in his hand. With bated breath and cautious tread she stole from her transient place of shelter, and swiftly sped toward the wooded slope. The shades of night deepened about her; the roof of the burning house had fallen in, and the moon was veiled in a fleecy cloud. Hark ! is it the sound of a footstep she hears in close pursuit ? Trem- bling with fright, every nerve strung to its highest 4 7-i THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, pitch of intensity, every muscle strained to extremest effort, she paused not to ask herself if her pursuer might not be a phantom of her own overwrought fancv ; but, "without so much as turning her head over her shoukler to convince herself by sight that it was no hideous delu- sion inspiring her with vain terrors, she fied straight on toward the sanctuary she had first proposed to herself as a goal. The wood is almost gained. Beneath the shelter of a low-hanging branch of a hackberry-tree she safely passes ; but in flying the ills she knew, she has given no heed to those she wot not of, and is first reminded of the same by finding herself in the powerful grasp of a manly arm. Her stifled shriek was instantly suppressed through affect of the reassuring whisper : " Hush ! you are safe ; it is I, Morland Ellsmead." Tlie act of stooping to utter those whispered words in all human probability saved the speaker's life, as a musket-ball whizzed through the empty space his head had just previously occupied, and lodged in the splin- tered trunk of the tree behind him. He bore her, half fainting with terror, to the protecting shelter of a shelv- ing bank, and leaving her there, crept cautiously and stealthily back, peering with strained and eager gaze at every suspicious-looking object that might by any pos- sibility resolve itself into a lurking assassin's form. Fail- ing to discover any trace of his late assailant, he return- ed to the terror-stricken fugitive, whose forlorn help- lessness furnished claim indisj)utable on every kindly oliice in his power to render. '• Do !iOt leave n^e," she entreated : " I am so thankful to be in char.ge of one 1 can fully and freely trust." The assurance of perfect confidence, thus unwittingly conveyed, fell as gratefully on the ear of her listener as genial sun-ray on plant benumbed and chill. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLE3. 75 *^ Hush ! an incautious sound may bring destruction on us both," he said, warninglv, in tone so subdued that it was only by an effort tha^ she caught the import of his words. He T)ressed his liand firmly, in token of silence, on the restless, trembling foot tha'r, with unconscious flutter amongst the dry leaves on the bank, might have betrayed their proximity to lurking foe. She instantly controlled this outward token of inward tremor, and only the night wind's gentle plaint breathed through the catalpas of sadness "and of sighing. A faint streak of grey in the east betokened the com- ing dawn ; and by its aid she was able to discern objects which had hitherto escaped her observation. Grasping her companion's arm, she pointed, with a thrill of appre- hension, to the crouching figure of an armed man who was gradually nearing them by slow and guarded ap- proach, -^r -r^n ^' Only a companion sentinel," exclaimed Mr. Ellsmead ; " there are a long line of us belonging to the outposts in the rear. That is a signal of danger he is giving me. Hist ! that slight stir in the leaves may be forerunner of fatal blow." ,, " It is but the wind moaning through the catalpas. Enjoining silence by gesture imperative, he crept away from her, taking advantage of bush, tree, shadow and hillock to mask his stealthy advance; A few ram- utes, and he was lost to her sight. Her heart beat audiblv, as with anxious longing she awaited his return. The piercing call of a night-bird rung shrilly forth on the silent air, instantly succeeded by the sharp report of a musket. A sensation of tingling pain shot through her nerves. Had she looked her last on Morland Ellsmead? Wel- come sight, that of his returning figure. She gave him her hand frankly, in words, few and glowing, 70 THE mvAL volunteers; or, expressing her joj and relief tliat he was still un- harmed. Passing her, he approached the next sentinel on guard sufficiently near to communicate with him by means of telegrapliic signals from the hand, receiving similar telegram in reply. With a heavy sigh, as of one re- lieved by the performance of a duty painful but inexor- able, her companion resumed his weary watch. lie climbed a tree somewhat overlooking its fellows, and with a powerful pocket-glass swept the prospect for miles around. Day was breaking fast, and afforded him clear view for his fruitless survey. "We are seldom molested after this hour," said he, on his descent ; " I may venture now to ask what brought you here at such a time ?" " The house where I was stopping with relatives, while my father was away at Chicago, was set on fire by rebel guerillas, I suppose, and I lied for dear life." " That, then, was the fiame I saw reddening up the whole southern sky ?" " Quite likely. 'Now let me ask you a question, Mor- land. I heard the report of a musket while you were away from me. What did it mean V^ " It meant that I had traced the prowling villain who shot -at me to his secret skulking-place ; and I did not forget the brave comrades who have been picked off from our line by this sharpshooter's aim." A prolonged shiver shook her frame. " You are more than half afraid of the man who, for any cause, defaces form created in his Maker's image," he doubtfully suggested. '• It is not that, Morland ; but an enemy defeated is an enemy no longer, and it is terrible to think of a fel- low-being wrestling alone with his death-agony, while we are so near." " Set your heart at rest on that point. I startled him THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 77 from his lurking place by a ventriloqiial trick nature gave me tlie faculty for practising, and — my aim was sure. I know better than you, because through stern experience, the fearful responsibilities of a soldier's life ; and knowing, I do not -shrink from accepting them even when it comes to taking the life of others or to render- ing up my own. One can do no more than yield up life for a friend, and for one's country— the dear, native mother earth that smiles at us through tears and flowers, feeds us from her bounteous stores, clothes us in coats of many colors, and when we have done with her gra- cious gifts, folds us tenderly away in the last close embrace mortal may know — when torn by faction, wounded in the house of its friends, one can do no less. Deeds committ-ed in individual self-defence, however unjustifiable, in themselves considered, are sometimes pardoned, nay, approved, for the sake of the motive prompting their commission ; but when it is the national existence which is at stake, how much more heroic and exalted the incentive impelling those rallying to the rescue, to sacrifice on the altar of country every blessing that country has given ; all that makes life precious ; life itself, if that alone will serve the country's needs. From no mean, mercenary motive ; for no cause less sacred than that which tires the ardent patriot's breast, would I consent to battle unto death with those who are foes to me through the simple reason that they are foes i;o a government which has not only ruled its own peo- ple with mild, beneficent sw&y, but has provided happy refuge %)V thousands of the oppressed from foreign lands, who now bring brave hearts and willing hands to the support of their foster-land. But enough of this ; if you supped on horrors, that is no reason why you should be forced to breakfast on the same. I hear you are to be married soon." He could not have introduced less grateful topic of discourse. She merely bowed an afiirmative. 78 THE EIVAL VOLUXTEEKS; OE, " I never should liavo sought yon to ask the question ; but since opj^ortunity so kindly befriends nie, pray gratify my curiosity by telling me why you singled out Mr. Oarutbers from all other adorers as the fiivorcd individual to be blest with that little monosyllable outside barbarians might sigh their lives out in vain to win." The inflated style in which this query was proposed, by reminding her of the continuous neglect she had received from one who held her plighted troth as though it were a gift scarce worth the holding, stung her "to quick and impatient retort. '' Do talk like a rational being, Morland. The train of adorers you so liberally bestow on me is but a myth of your own fancying. Scatter the shadows that people your dreams ; it can'be no difhcult task." " Your word is law. Presto ! change ! begone ! There they vanish ; but here remains Mr. Caruthers ; why, in preference to all the others, was he made the happy recipient of your lifelong regard ?" " Must I tell you again that ' all the others ' didn't care a straw for me ? He did, or seemed to do so. If that isn't a good reason, I can't help it ; I don't keep the commodity ready cut and dried to dispense in justi- fication of every step I take. Men reason from the head, women from the heart." " Ah ! then this is an affair of the heart." Her cheek flushed and her eye lit ; but she vouch- safed no verbal reply to this indirect query. He saw that he had disconcerted, possibly provoked, Jfer, and changing his tactics, arming himself with the lighter weapons of gay ])ersiflarje^ he returned with renev/ed zest to the attack. " I can fancy Mr. Caruthers making out schedules of lading, examining invoices of merchandise, fingering drafts, acceptances and bills of exchange ; but imagina- tion utterly fails when I try to put my mind's eye on THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. T9 Mr. Carutliers enacting tlie role of sigliing Bwain and beseeching lover." " I don't see why yon should put yourself to the trou- ble of any such uncalled for stretch of fancy," Minnie dryly retorted. u Yery true ; when you can so easily render "unneces- sary any further blundering attempts in that direction. Take pity on one of the uninitiated, and give me some vague idea of the terms in which our brave wooer urged his successful suit." '' I have half a mind to quarrel with you seriously, instead. Mr. Caruthers is no sighing swain, no love- sick boy to make a fool of himself by prating of sickly sentiment ; he just asked me in straightforward, manly fashion to marry him, and that was enough." It was now Morland's turn to redden with resentment called forth by the unwonted bitterness of her tone, and the contemptuous emphasis he thought she had placed on the word " boy," intended, so he supposed, as scorn- ful reminder of the fact of his having recently attained his majority. Piqued and indignant, he was thrown ofi' the strict guard he had hitherto maintained over himself, and to his lips leaped hasty, impulsive words he regretted almost as soon as spoken. " It would not have been enough," he asserted with warmth, " if I had been in Mr. Caruthers' position. I pity the man with soul so dead that he can't talk senti- ment and act it, too, on fitting occasions. Given Mr. Cg-ruthers' opportunity, I should inevitably have made a fool. of myself by saying, ' I love you,' Minnie, before venturing on the proposal that would have sealed my fate." She drew a little aside from him, with an air of quiet, womanly reserve. " I beg your pardon, Mr. Ellsmead, but this topic is distasteful to me ; we will change it, if you please, for another." 80 THE RIVAL VOLUlsTTEERS; OE, The topic was dropped abrnptlj instead of being exchanged for another. Mr. Ellsmead concealed his enibarrassment by turning his back on his companion and examining tlie contents of his cartridge box, while saying to himself, ''A most precious noodle am I; I needn't have told her that I should inevitably make a fool of myself if opportunity were but given ; any dolt might predict that without the help of astrology." "]S'ow, that it is nearly sunrise, I think I might return to Pre-Fleuri," proposed Minnie, with ill-con- cealed uneasiness. "Return to the site of a house that lias been burned ; across a district infested by guerillas ; absurd ! the third relief will soon take our places, and then I will give you in charge to the sergeant or corporal who will, without doubt, be able to devise some means of restoring you to your friends." She oj^ened lier eyes wide in startled wonderment. "Have I been guilty of transgressing any of your laws and regulations by CvTming within your lines, that you propose surrendering me to official control ?" " That is the best means I can devise for ensuring your safe departure." " Thank you ; but when my fatlier, who comes to carry me home this morning, finds only a beap of ruins in place of the house where lie expects to find me, he will be deeply anxious on my account. I must prevent this by being on the spot to explain to him what has happened. I am not afraid, by daylight, to cross the open fields alone; I would much rather do so than sub- ject you to the awkwardness of explaining to guard officials the cause of my accidental appearance bere." " Then I will accompany you to the end of my beat, and protect you while you are within range of my mus- ket ; more I cannot do." She rose instantly, and he walked beside ber, silent and sad, detaining her a moment at parting. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 81 " We may never meet again, Miss Brandon ; pardon mj tlionglitless, ill-considered speech ; and give me some word of kindly farewell." " It is I, Morland, who ought rather to entreat yonr par- don for veiling my real feelings in utterances whose inex- plicable bitterness you quite naturally resented. I was so sore at heart that your light words were as a sharp probe from which I shrank. Grateful remembrances for your timely succor, I shall always cherish. Good- bye." From leafy covert he watched her retreating figure. The golden sunlight flooded vale and slope, but day's lovely radiance was lost on him for the shadow that lay darkling at his heart. '' Young, admired, with a brilliant marriage in pros- pect, she is yet unhappy," thought he ; '' would that I had the riglit to claim her coniidence, to comfort and console. It is well, I suppose, to proclaim the vanity of riches, and to inveigh against the same, but there are cases in which liltliy lucre alone can act as counterpoise to the happiness of a man's life. If I had possessed but a tithe of Caruthers' glittering dross wherewith to pro- vide her a fitting home, he would have found an ear- nest and determined rival in his path. I richly deserved the rebuff she gave me, and like her none the less for having had the sense and spirit to bestow it. Strange that she, of all women, should have found her way here, when I have so scrupulously avoided her ever since I discovered that she was coming between me and my own thoughts, in a way that left me fit to think of nothing else. She is wondrous fair, and I must forget if I would be free." She stopped at the sheep-pen whence, scarcely two hours before, she had fled in wildest dismay, and through the chinks at its side, surveyed the smoking embers marking the scene of the fire. It was nine 4* S2 THE KIYAL VOLUXTEEES ; OR, o'clock when her father arrived, by which time a num- ber of neighboring farmers had collected in little knots, talking excitedly. From one of these Mr. Brandon withdrew, as his danghter approached, saying hurriedly: " Let us go, child ; this is no place for you." She noticed that his hand shook as he helped her into their gig, " Did you learn," she asked, ^' what became of Cou- sin Honour and Wilhelmine ?" " I did, Minnie ; but there is no use in speaking of what is all over. They are beyond reach of harm now, and there is no need of harrowing up my feelings by recounting deeds of brutal iiendishness that will, sooner or later, recoil on their perpetrators if there is justice on earth or in Heaven." " I see that you are looking pale and worn," she sub- joined, instantly taking the cue he had given. '' Was it iDad news that called you to Chicago ?" " Yes ; news of the fatal illness of a tried and valued friend. Do you remember Dr. Thornton ?" *' Quite well. He was a liberal Christian gentleman, as ready to encourage real worth as to rebuke fraud and pretence ; his wife was a true gentlewoman, too." " !She ^is in great aiHiction now. Her husband breathed his last on the very day of my arrival, and she is left in destitute circumstances. The doctor was always too generous for his own good. To the needy but meritorious students of his Institute, his charges were almost nominal ; he endorsed for friends and lost heavily by the process ; and the disease of which he died was contracted in gratuitous attendance on a deserted outcast to v/hom no one else acted the part of good Samaritan. She came on with me as far as the city, where she purposes renting a small house of Mr. Caruthers — she is a relative of the family, she tells me — and supporting herself by taking boarders." THE BLACK PLU^IE RIFLES. 83 « What, then, becomes of the Medical Institute of wliicli Dr. Thornton was head ?" " It will be closed for the present, and I shall take charge of one of the departments— its duties will not be burdensome, or consume too much of my time— when it is reopened ; that is, as soon as you and Mr. Caru- thers are married, if you ever are." -, . t ^ The significant emphasis he placed on this doubt- implyino; particle made her sicken with apprehension of whatVas to follow. She strove to start some other subject of discourse, no matter what its theme, so it trenched not on the one topic to which she dreaded even to allude, and forced herself to the utterance of those trivial platitudes so often used to conceal the gnawings of hidden pain. In the close companionship of home, Mr. Brandon could not fail to note the great change that had come over his sole surviving child. Her moods were change- ful and uncertain, corresponding with the feeling ot doubt and uncertainty shrouding her future. Periods of forced and fitful gaiety surrendered without apparent cause to attacks of profound depression. Shunning him in a measure, when with him she read aloud for his gratification, or kept up an incessant flow of small-talk that baffled his penetration and allayed the anxiety her pale face and drooping gait might otherwise have occasioned. Mr. Brandon, having occasion to go to the city, m- vited his daughter to accompany him, an invitation she promptly declined. Tlie instant she caught a glimpse of him on his return, she said to herself, " He brings me ill tidings, and I am not prepared to hear them with composure. I cannot meet him quite yet ; I must have time to steady my nerves— to school myself into listening to whatever he may have to tell, without betraying that wretched weak- 84: TTTE r.IVAL Y0LU2s-TEERS ; OR, ness to T^'liich, until I was tried and found lacking, I tliono^ht I had too much character to yield. To what depths of selt-abasenient liave I fallen when I can thus be moved at thought of one who gives no thought to me. I could despise m^^self for so feebly submitting to this galling chain of bondage ; but self-loatln'ng cannot be mine to bear so long as the knowledge of my infirmity is safe in my own keeping, and the darts of ridicule, cold comment or contemptuous pity cannot be levelled at me. I shall bless the day in which I can return his neglect with an indifference that is not feigned ; but such victory conies not yet." ''Minnie," called Mr. Brandon, from the foot of the staircase, " I have something particular to say to you ; come down." " I knew it," thought she ; then to him over the baluster, " I will be with you in a minute, father." Dashing the tears from her eyes, and laving them from the contents of her water-basin, she descended with tranquil air, a snatcli of song on her smiling lips, to the sitting-room. So little do we often know of the real life of those whom we meet daily at the social board, with wliom we share the same sheltering roof, and to whom we deem ourselves bound by closest ties of kinship and of confidence. " I saw Mr. Caruthers in the city to-day," her father remarked, exactly as she had expected he would remark. " Let us not talk of him, please. So long as he does not see fit to intrust to me any information regarding hi^ plans and movements, I would rather hear nothing Oi'tiie same, not even the mention of his name." Ml". Brandon noticed tiiat, though lier voice was steiidy, her accent firm, her face was white and rigid with unflinching cflbrt at self-control. "With impulse of tenderest compassion, he drew her to his side. " Do not suppose that I am blind, and cannot see what THE BLACK PLrME HTFLlES. 85 you are enduring, dear child ; you may suffer and give no sign in words, but I discover your grief, and share it, for ail that." " Don't degrade me in my own esteem by pityiug my weakness," she began ; but, findino- her lips quivering and her eyes Ulling, she abruptly withdrew the hand he had taken, and hurriedly returned to her room, where he heard her pacing to and fro with restless, disordered step. He, toOj walked the room with perturbed air. " It is unaccountably foolish of her, so sensible as she has always seemed," he discontentedly soliloquized, "to distress lierself so* sorely from such a cause. I can't help pitying her for all that ; I had youthful illusions myself once on a day. Oh, me I what long years have gone by since then." At tea-table it required all the self-command of which Minnie was mistress to carry out the customary for ins of observance, and to direct the flow of discourse into its ordinary channels. After asking a second time for a cup of tea, Mr. Brandon received, in compliance with his re- quest, the sugar-bowl and a spoon-holder, an oversight he considerately rectified without directing her attention to the same. CHAPTEK YL DISENCHANTMENT. When Minnie took the evening paper to read aloud to her father, as was her wont, he'frustrated her purpose by remarking decisively — " " The reading can wait, I wish to talk with you now. Mrs. Thornton I found settled in Lier new home at Bel- 86 THE nivAL volunteers; or, herbe, a quiet little snuggery just beyond sound of city turmoil, and she wished me to say to you that she was anxious to receive a call as soon as you could possibly make it convenient to come her way." " I will certainly call on her the first time I go in town." '' You had better go to-morrow ; I make it a special request that you do so. There is no use in striving to buoy yourself up with false hopes ; cast aside everything in the way of factitious support, and face the facts of your actual position with that calm self-reliance which you are capable of summoning to your aid in an emergency like the present. I am sure no daughter of mine will ever sacrifice the womanly dignity which is her shield and guard by complaining of any man's neglect, or by pining for the regard that is not willingly bestowed." Scalding tears were in Minnie's eyes, a burning glow on her cheek, as, with unfaltering accent, she replied, " I make no complaints, and intend to make none. You shall see, as soon as the first shock of surprise is over, and I have accustomed myself a little to the possibility of all my air-castles being shattered, that you have not overrated my powers of endurance. Give me time, and you shall have no cause to reprove me a second time for any show of weakness." '^ Heaven knows, dear child, that my words were not spoken in censure or reproval." " Lam sure of it ; you are too kind to be harsh ; but I am so sore at heart that what is meant as balm acts as bane. Have patience awhile, and I will bring no dis- credit on your name." " It is not of my own name or my own credit that I am thinking ; they rest on too firm a basis to need props of support ; but solely of what is for your best interests. If I could further these by any course of procedure cal- culated to place the relations between yourself and Mr. THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 87 Carutliers on a happier footing tlian the existing one, withon. lowering you by throwing you at his feet as suppliant for compassion, I would undertake the office at a minute's warning ; as matters stand, I cannot see my way clear to the accomplishment of_ any such pur- pose. Do yon agree with me on the subject ?" '' I ou2:ht to, but I feel as well as reason. I have not released "Mr. Carutliers from the promise binding him to me ; I hope it may not come to that. This girl, Lucy 8'ears, has many claims on his kindness and atten- tion ; an orphan, she has been accustomed to look to him for support, as her mother did before her. She is deeply attached to him, an attachment he regrets and humors without reciprocating." " Why, then, is he so much with her ?" " She courts his society, and came on here in opposi- tion to his express wishes." '' Who told you this ?" '• Mr. Caruthers himself." " Let me advise you, Minnie, not to be over credulous regarding any man's professions ; but when his words and deeds do not tally, sift and weigh the latter much more carefully than the former. It is cruel, I know, to shake thus your faith in human goodness ; but better the bitter rind enfolding the kernel of truth, than the false fruit, fair to the eye, but turning to ashes in the mouth. I repeat, be not over credulous." Kext forenoon found Minnie Brandon in the plainly- furnished sitting-room of the doctor's widow, a tall, thin, dark-haired woman, whose expression of quick intelli- gence redeemed her face from the charge of positive ugliness. '' Your father called on me yesterday," said Mrs. Thornton, " and I sent for you to come to me, although I should not have done so, steeped in sorrow and unfit for companionship as I am, if i had not had something of importance to communicate." 88 THE RiTAL TOL^^*TEEEs ; on, Minnie Tvas in the act of thanking the speaker for the kind consideration manifested in her belialf, when she started with snrprise at siglit of a miniature, lying on the table near, a seeming counterpart to one she had often slipped inside her belt. " Mr. Oaruthers is a relative of yours, so 1 am told, Mrs. Thornton." *• True ; but that miniature does not belong to me." " To whom, then ?" " To a young lady who is boarding with me ; her name is Sears." " Can you tell me how this picture came in her pos- session V " It was Mr. Caruthers' gift ; she has others of far greater value bestowed by the same hand." " Pray tell me all you know or suspect at once. This dealing forth your information by driblets only keeps me on the tenter-hooks of suspense. Speak straight out, and let me know the worst I have to dread." '' As you will. In all human probability Lucy Sears will one day become Mrs. Caruthers ; and I, for one, think her admirably well qualified to fill such position." The speaker was shocked at tlie effect of her words. Minnie turned deadly pale and clutched at the table for support. Mrs. Thornton handed her a bottle of salts, and she revived from the momentary attack of faintness that had nearly overpowered her. " Excuse me, Mi-s. Thornton ; you placed the fears I had scarcely admitted, even to myself, so suddenly in tangible form before me, that I could not help recoil as sudden ; there will be no recurrence of a similar nature. You know the relations, subsisting between myself and the original of this miniatui'e f " Yes ; and knowing, deeply deplore the same." Minnie looked her surprise at this singular admission, so strikingly at variance with the felicitations she had "^•p?)ii wont to receive on her approaching bridal. THE BLACE PLUME RIFLES. 89 ^' Even more on yoiir own account than on his," pei> sisted Mrs. Thornton; "I regret that any lasting tie should bind jou one to the other. You make friends and companions of voiir favorite authors ; he would fall asleep with such dull companionship. You are sensitive and high- wrought ; he so phlegmatic that he would hardly feel a blow which would crush you. He 'would lacerate your feelings in a thousand ways without even being avrare that he had hurt you, and instead of resent- ment or remonstrance, yon would brood over his unin- tentional slights, magnifying them into crnel wrongs perhaps, until you lost the gay vivacity that was your principal charm in his eyes, losing which, your last hold on his affections would be gone. I have studied him closely, knoAving that you were engaged to him, during the evenings he has spent with us, and it is my firm conviction that yon could not have selected a more nnsuitable partner for life." " Then he spends part of his evenings with you ?" " jS"ot particularly with me ; it is the society of Miss Sears that he seeks. Every spare minute he can snatch from business cares is devoted to her. You must have suffered severely from his neglect ; how much harder would it be to endure if you were his wife, and he always trying to escape j)re5ence irksome to him." Minnie assumed stately, almost resentful air; it was bitter enough to know herself neglected for another, too galling quite, to be reminded in plain words of fact so unpalatable. There was a soft rustle of silk on the stairs. " She is coming down," said Mrs. Thornton, in a low tone ; " now you will have an opijortunity of seeing what she is like." " Do not introduce me," Minnie hastily entreated. A pretty, fair-haired blonde, with ' well-cut features and a delicately tinted complexion, glided gracefully into the room. 90 THE KIVAL TOLUNTEEBS; OE, " I bclievG I left my miniature on yonr table, Mrs. Tliornton ; ah, here it is. I am so worn out with bela- boring that horrid piano, that I am going ont to refresh myself with an ice. Dear me, what a relief it would be if some accomplishment would come in fashion that would not require such a tedious amoimt of application as practising. If Mr. Caruthers should call while I am out, please say to him that I have gone to the confec- tioner's (he knows which one), and that I have earned my ride by working like a galley-slave for two mortal hours at that tiresome instrument." " Do not hurry away. Miss Lucy, but sit down and help entertain my young friend, Miss Bur-r." " Delighted to entertain Miss — I beg pardon — did not quite catch the name. Lovely weather, isn't it ? Did you see the parade of the lancers yesterday ?" '' I did not have the pleasure of witnessing the specta- cle," replied Minnie, watching with absorbing interest every change in the dimpled face, every turn of the symmetrical figure beside her. '• Then you missed a sight well worth beholding. I proved my patriotism by being in the street nearly all day, and waving my handkerchief in answer to repeated huzzas till my arm fairly ached with the effort. Such splendidly burnished spears — I wonder if they kill folks with them — with the sweetest little flags floating from their shafts. I should have enjoyed the sight amazingly, if a horse hadn't stepped on the back breadth of my best Bilk ; it will be such a fearful job to turn it upside down." " You must feel a strong interest in the struggle at present convulsing the nation," suggested Minnie, re- garding her companion with a look of doubtful inquiry. " Oh, intense," was the prompt response. " I went out to Camp Bolivar, the other day, and the hideous cavalry I saw there, mounted on caissons and galloping round the field, belching forth flame and smoke, gavo THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 91 me sncli a turn, I hardly got over it all night. You should have seen the prancing and curvetting of the offi- cers' chargers ; it was almost equal to the equestrian scene in the Hippodrome, where somebody or other I remember to have seen in mythology, drove a chariot with four horses a-breast. There were quantities of infantry, too, drilling in squadrons and pontoons all about the camp. So sad to think of their being sent off to be shot at. I do wish the authorities would listen to the emancipation plan, and make people stop killing each other." " Then you are in favor of immediate emancipation or abolition," suggested Minnie, in some confusion as regarded the speaker's meaning. " O dear, no. I think the abolitionists, wdth a finger in everybody's pie, are worse than all the other parties put together. But we are really drifting into politics, and as we don't have to vote, and as nobody cares a fip what we think about national affairs, where is the use of our muddling our heads over what. doesn't concern us ? What do you think of my new hat, Mrs. Thorn- ton ?" " I liked the one with the blue feathers." '' That does very well as a plain, serviceable article, but this is perfectly captivating ; I positively went into raptures at the first glance of it through the shop- window in which it hung. Look at this gorgeous plume, three shades of purple tipped with Solferino, and this purple velvet j^uffing banded with gold and fastened. with a clasp of amethysts. Excuse me. Miss , for not wishing to discuss politics with you ; but to tell the plain truth, I get as puzzled trying to understand what all the fighting is about, as I sometimes do over a piece of music in six flats, where the naturals and accidentals are enough to drive one to distraction." Minnie rested her face on her hand with a weary air, making no attempt to resume the conversation. »2 TEE RIVAL TOLUXTEEKS ; OR, Tlie wearer of tlie gorgeous hat rose to depart. " If Mr. Caruthers should come, Mrs. Tliornton, obh'ge me by telling him that three garnets arc gone from my buchle, and he must have tliem replaced, as I can't live without it, for it fits all my belts, and I can't wear his miniature without a belt ; don't forget that part of the message, as all the rest hangs by that. I left the buckle on my bureau after all — I must run up for it." A bitter smile curled Minnie's lip as slie watched the bland and smiling speaker as she tripped lightly up the staircase. '' And that is the woman who has robbed me of my rest, and stolen away my peace. A rare bit of art, that reference to his miniature." There was a ring at the bell, the door opened, and a man's step sounded through the liall — a step tliat set Minnie's cheeks aglow and her heart tumultuously astir. Mrs. Thornton hurried out to receive her land- lord. '' Come in, Mr. Caruthers." " Xo, I'm obliged to you ; I cannot leave my horses. Is Miss Sears ready to go to a military review with me ?" " She was about starting for a walk, and has run up stairs ; she will be down in an instant." " Yery well ; I hope you are thoroughly comfortable in your new domicile. Report to me any needed alterations or repairs, and they shall be promptly .attended to." How those hearty, cordial tones called forth echoes from the past which still in Minnie's faithful memory fondly lingered. His next words struck cold and chill on her ear, and the sweet echoes of lang-syne died away in plaint of ineffable sadness. '* Here comes our queen of violets, all purple and gold. A\^ho could resist such a pov/erful battery of charms ?" THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 93 Minnie strnggled for breatli as though she had been undergoing the tortures of siiifoeation, pressing her hand over her mouth to repress the sobs that ahnost forced themselves from lier lips. A short allegory she had read when a child, came unbidden to her jho-ugh^:^. Thus it ran : A party of pilgrims set forth from a bleak and sterile plain for a fair and fertile land, rich in abundance of all things good for man. A chart was their only guide. Their way was rugged, painful oft, sometimes shut in by flinty rocks, sorely wounding their tender feet, and at others rendered nearly impassable by thickets of bramble and briar that cruelly lacerated the hands raised to put them aside. All the while that these pilgrims, footsore and weary with plodding onward in their toilsome way, forced thus tlieir painful march along, they could clearly dis- cern the sights, detect the sounds of the tempting Vales of Pleasaunce to which the mountain slopes bordering their rugged path descended on either side. There, in spicy groves, the false and fickle sirens sang in tones of entrancement so delicious, that the unwary ear, athirst for the unheard harmonies -audible only to those loosed from fleshly bonds, turns eagerly to quench its thirst from the sparkling cup whose dregs are death. There, too, in course nearly parallel to the rough, mountainous pass they trode, ran delightfully sheltered avenues, bordered by clustering shades, where birds of golden plumage toyed and lingered — bordered by marble grottoes, where bloomed floral gems of subtlest potency, and where Bacchante proftered cup of circean spell. And it came to pass that many of the pilgrims, faint with the burden and heat of the day, turned with longing eyes toward the bowers of ease and indulgence, whose varied allurements placed in marked contrast the bar- ren waste in which their rugged pathway seemed inter- minably to lose itself, saying to themselves, we will but Btep aside for a moment to screen ourselves from the 94 THE EIYAL VOLUXTEERS ; OR, noontide sun, and to slake our thirst at these sparklirig cisterns, which our chart sajs are broken and hold no water, but whose contents we will test for ourselves. So the worldy-wise speakers turned aside, with purpose of speedy return ; but it was not until sated with revelry, cloyed with sybaritic luxury, that they bethought them of retracing their steps; but trusting to treacherous guides, they failed in their attempt, never rejoining the Ikithfnl few who struggled on through all opposing obstacles, reaching, with the scar of many a conflict in proof of their unblenching valor, that fair land where those that monrn shall rejoice, and they that weep shall be comforted. Not much of an allegory this ; but coming to Minnie's remembrance as it did at a moment of sore trial, it soothed and strengthened her. " I have still an object, one as high and holy as any to which mortal can aspire, to live for," she said to her- self. '• If my steps have been uncertain and blunder- ing, no irretrievably false one have I yet taken, and henceforth I must be doubly on my guard against such. If Mr. Caruthers wrongs me; I am not to let such wrong eat out from my better nature all those sweet ana fentle charities, without which woman is a monster. Teither am I to hate the rival, who has never intention- ally done me a harm, and never consciously looked on my face." " How do you like the young lady's appearance, now that you have seen her, Minnie ?" " Have they gone, Mrs. Thornton ?" ^' Yes ; Ave minutes since, and I have spoken to you twice without receiving any answer." " Pardon my inattention. I do not think Miss Sears is a person I should select as a friend," replied Minnie, striving to express her real opinion freed from all tinge of bitterness. " Do not let prejudice blind you to facts. So far as I TH2 BLACK FLUME RIFLES. 95 can see, slie is singularlj good-humored and warm- hearted, with amiable and engaging manners. I know your characters are wholly dissimilar ; but if she drinks less deeply than you of life's draught, she thereby escapes the lees you are sure to quaff." '' It was not o't* her depth or shallowness I was think- ing. One values a friend for goodness and worth, aside from all considerations of intellectual excellence, and it is in respect to the former that I think Miss Sears lack- ing. Why does she put on those pretty little affected ways, if it be not to hide what she really^ is ?" '■^ Those airy, sprightly graces are just what Mr. Caruthers finds irresistibly attractive." A slight contraction showed for an instant on Minnie's brow, but she rejoined quietly, " Xo manner conveying the impression of hollow insincerity can ever be attrac- tive to me." " I fear you are still cherishing a feeling of resentful dislike toward one who does not deserve it. Lucy Sears saw and loved Mr. Caruthers years before he ever made your acquaintance, bestowing on him a regard as great as he was capable of returning. It was you, not she, who made the fatal mistake of over-estimating his real character, of exalting him into a peerless ideal ; and I, who look through the calm eyes of a disinterested spectator, do earnestly assure you that Miss Lucy's intervention is a blessing to be grateful for, rather than an evil to deplore, as it saves you the slow misery of seeing charm by charm unwind from an illusion dearly cherished, but an illusion still." Minnie drew a long breath, while a look of deep dis- quiet rested on her saddened face. " I almost lose the sense of my own identity at times, Mrs. Thornton ; so secure as seemed my future, but brief space ago, and now I'm all afloat on a chopping sea, with neither rudder nor compass as guide. Tell me, is % THE RIVAL volunteers; or, nothing true under the sun ? Did charm by charm unwind that robed your idol ?" Low and trcnnilous th^ faltering response : "I made no mistake in my estimate of the sainted dead, whose departure has to me brought Heaven nearer.'' " Pardon my thoughtlessness," entreated the contrite Minnie ; '' in the sellishness of my own sorrow, I forgot that you liad a far greater to bear." " Let us not talk of that, or I shall be unnerved quite. We will speak instead of what it nearly Concerns you to know. A confidential clerk, a relative of Mr. Caru- thers, was accidentally killed in a branch liouse con- nected with the firm in this city, and he supported the widow and orplian until the death of the former. Then a brother of Mrs. Sears, a graceless knave, I have been told, wdio keeps a billiard saloon and bowling-alley in one of our southern cities, thought he could turn his niece's beauty and vivacity to good account in his own interests, and did his best to ingratiate himself with her and induce her to accompany him to his southern home. Li this design he would probably have succeeded, if Mr. Caruthers, knowing him to be wholly nnfit for the trust he sought to assume, had not foiled his plan by carrying Lucy to live with his mother and sisters. Such a tura^.oil as this step created ! The Misses Caruthers were models of elegant and fastidious propriety, and Lucy, it must be acknowledged, was something of a hoyden, and by no means inclined to submit with do- cility to the restrictions of a rigid code of manners. She w^as pronounced coarse, illiterate, underbred ; and there was no end to the slights and annoyances she was forced to undergo. "A girl of your acnte perceptions and high spirit would never have remained, no matter what the penalty of escape, where such stinging aflfronts were of daily re- THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 97 cnrrence ; but Miss Lucy is sensitive onlv to actual per- sonal discomforts, and never frets over ills that, to a mind of liner mould, would be almost unbearable. In- deed, she is extremelv even-tempered, and I never heard lier make use of a liarsh or angry expression to, or of, any one. Wlien Mr. Caruthers discovered that there vfas to be a never-ending succession of petty persecutions for the poor girl as long as she remained Avith his family, he sent her to the Female Seminary at Troy — an obligation she would not so readily have accepted had it not been understood between them that her education was to fit her for the position she would one day occupy as ^his wife. That such understanding mutually existed I have positive proof.*' " You do not mean to tell me that such understand- ing has existed from that time until the present ?" " I could not satisfy you in regard to that point ; but I can tell jou. wliat it is much more essential for you to know, that it would hav^e been better for all parties if such understanding had continued to exist. As I have intimated before, she v,-ill make him a much more suit- able partner for life than you, with your best endeavors, ever can. She looks up to him as a woman should to the man she marries ; chronicles his every serious remark as though it were the utterance of an oracle, to be reli- giously preserved, and finds food for mirth in Avhat seems to me the perfection of dullness. Excuse me for remind- ing you that my work in the kitchen remains at a stand- still while I am up-stairs, and that although I would gladly urge you to prolong your stay, pressing duties forbid me the pleasure. Let me advise you to write at once to Mr. Caruthers, not with reproaches or upbraid- ing, but in the mild terms your own sense of discretion would naturally incline you to adopt, and release hi n from the engagement still binding him to you. This, under the circumstances, is much the most dignifi.e-i 5 98 THE PvIVAl, TOLUNTEEES; OR, course for you to pursue, as it will spare you the morti- fication of being actually deserted, thus depriving gossip of its sharpest sting in the shape of hypocritical condo- lances and simulated pity, which you might otherwise find very galling to endure." As Minnie raised her parasol, on reaching the side- walk, a scrap of paper loosened itself from the fringe and •fluttered to her feet. Picking it up, and bestowing on it a hasty glance, she placed it in her card-case. On reaching homo, she proceeded to put Mrs. Thorn- ton's advice in practice, by writing Mr. Caruthers a note releasing him from all ties binding him to herself. The scrap of writing she had picked up from the side- walk recurred to memory, and she hastened to examine it — nothing of special interest, one would say, only a list of feminine purchases — laces, gloves, pinking, per- fumery. AYord by word, letter by letter, did Minnie compare the list with the anonymous communication previously described — the hand-writing- in both was the same. " If I had any doubts before," she said to herself, '' this sets them all at rest. Lucy Sears wrote me that letter, and certainly her epistolary and conversational style are widely at variance. How prettily she mouths her words in speaking I as one who could manage to perfection the Dorrit-governess mode of prune-and-prism surface address ; but in writing, where she has nothing to gain by the assumption of winning gentleness, she can threaten with the sharpest, and put forward her claims without mincing matters in the least. Not one particle of faith have I in her artlessness, which is a mere blind to screen her plotting and scheming. She boldly accuses me of practising wiles to keep Mr. Caruthers in my toils, and it is generally your over-suspicious person who best de- serves to be suspected. '' I have written Mr. Caruthers that I give him up of THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. . 99 my own free will ; I do not give him np of my own free will, and I will never tell liim that I do. He may be false to me, but I will never be false to — myself. It may, as Mrs. Thornton says, be the most dignitied course for me to dismiss him ; but am I to sacritice truth for the preservation of my dignity? Heaven forfend! Shall mine be the hand to place any obstacle opposing his return in the w^ay of the frank, free-hearted gentleman, who is S3 interwoven with all my p)lans for the future that it seems one long stretch of blank desolation with- out him ? I will do nothing of the sort. I could find it in my heart, even now, if he would but throw off the hallucination that enthralls him, and come to me with perfect candor of confession and acknowledgment, to overlook the past ; to trust and believe in him, as I was once so happy in trusting and believing." Long she sat in saddest musing, then tore the note she had been writing into tiny bits, saying to herself, as she scattered them from the open window, '* Thus pass away my shattered hopes unless ]iis hand bind them together once more." Gathering up the half finished bridal robe, w^itli its costly laces and delicate needlework, she care- fully laid it away in an unused drawer with the apos- trophe, '' There rest thee ever, unless thou canst become joyous instead of grievous reminder." bay after day dragged by with such a wearisome sameness that she was strongly disposed to believe that any sort of certainty would be a relief in comparison with this lingering torture of prolonged suspense ; these ever recurring doubts and lears ; the sudden gleams of hope quenched as suddenly in moods of despondent gloom, which, at times, made life seem a burden to be patiently endured, rather than the most glorious boon ever bestowed on creature by creator divine. She was walking on the broad veranda, several days later in the week, watching the rosy, purpling twilight 100 THE RIVAL volunteers; OR, shades curtaining the west, wlien a gentleman she at once recognized as Mr. Carnthers' legal adviser rode slowly np the avenue liedgcd in by Osage orange, and throwing the reins on his horse's neck, approached her with courteous greeting. " You will come in and see my father, Mr. Anverne ?" " isot unless you fear taking cold out here. I have but few Avords to say, and will not detain you long. I am not used to wasting time in beating about the bush, but wlien I have a thing to say, put it in as plain words as I can find to serve my purpose. A certain client of mine, you will readily surmise who, is placed, by an odd complication of circumstances, in a most trying position, from which you alone can extricate him." He paused, looking his listener full in the face, as if to discover the impression his first words had produced. Her heart beat high and her color rose as she firmly rejoined, '' I shall be happy to do anything in my power toward relieving your client from any embarrassment he may be enduring on my account. Have the good- ness to explain, at once, what it is I am required to do." ^•I will come directly to the point at issue, as you re- quest. When Mr. Caruthers made you proposals of marriage, he never contemplated the possibility of any occasion arising that might render such proposal im- practicable of realization. Such occasion has arisen in the shape of an entangling correspondence, carried on years ago and almost forgotten, with one Miss Lucy Sears. Most unfortunately for in.y client, these letters distinctly admit the fact of his engagement to their re- cipient, which gives her counsellor the whip-hand over us. In spite of this dravrback, I think we might even- tuall}' have brought the young woman to some reason- able species of compromise by settling her at a fashion- able watering-place on a fair retiring pension ; but, as ill-luck would have it, her uncle, keen as a brier and as THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 101 unscrupiilons a knave as ever breathed, must turn up just in time to frustrate our weU-concerted plans." ''Then Mr. Caruthers really desires to break the ties binding him to the voung lady you speak of." "Desires nothing^nore earnestly, I do assure you." " And I must confess that I can see no way in which any elibrt of mine can absolve him from redeeming his pledged word to another w'oman." This remark, proving to the wary advocate that he had thus far rather damaged than advanced his client's cause, drove him at once to the adoption of a new course of tactics. "Suspend judgment, if you please, nntil you have heard me through, when you will be better able to form a correct estimate of the side issues involved in this case. This Yanwaring, uncle of contestant, carried on a lucrative business iu the billiard and ten-pin line at Mobile; but, in an evil hour, he had the ill-breeding and execrable taste, and be hanged to him, to utter sarcastic and oliensive remarks regarding the Southern Confede- racy when there were none but Confederates near to listen — addlehead, to quarrel with his own bread and butter ! — and, as a natural consequence, after receiving pointed allusions to a coat of down maintaining^ its con- sistence through adhesion to viscid woof of pitch-pine extraction, is drummed out of town, and, of all places in the world, turns up here, where his absence is a de- sideratum most devoutly to be prayed for. Breach of promise suit — ten thousand dollars damages — is what the fellow threatens; and, more's the pity, he has the means at disposal for putting his threat in practice. This amount, large as it is, Mr. Caruthers could easily have raised, and treble the sum, in ordinary times ; but he has met vrith heavy losses, in ways I need not stop to specify, of late ; and in the severe financial crisis at present paralyzing merca,ntile enterprise, it would bo 102 THE r.IYAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, far from convenient for him to nndertake the prosecu- tion of an expensive law-suit." A look of Avounded pride, of affection scorned, turn- ing to gall and bitterness the love turned baek to prey upon itself, stamped itself on her white and rigid face. "His mere convenience,'' thought she, ''outweighs anv considerations for my happiness. It was in his own well-being that all his purposes centred ; mine centred there too; this was no exchange, it was a robbery; he took the cream of my life and made me no return. This is a wrong for which there is no redress, whose betrayal, even, is a burning sho.me to woman. I must bear it with- out resentment or demur ; it cannot last forever." "You are not attending. Miss Brandon, to what I ■wish to ask for my own satisfaction, from no other mo- tive. I desire distinctly to state a very simple cpiestion. If Mr. Caruthers should think best to recognize and carry to its usual ultimatum his engagements with the woman who holds him in her power, would you resort to effectual method of interference with such proce- dure?" " The woman who holds him in her power !" repeated Minnie, vrith painfully bewildered air. "Pardons, a thousand, Miss Brandon; my words were not intended to convey the impression that you do not equally hold him in your power ; what I am anxious to ascertain is^ if you have any intention of exerting such power in a manner detrimental to my client's in- terests, h' any advance step of his in an opposing direc- tion sliould place him at the mercy of such mischance." " Wljy should you make suggestions to me in that blind way, Mr. Auverne ? It is for suspected criminals such wary cross-questionings are usually reserved. I treat you with the frankness due a friend; and you return the same with the cautious diplomacy one uses to keep an enemy at a safe distance. If you will speak THE BLACK PLU2>IE EIFLES. 103 to me in the plain terms for wliicli you recently nvowed a preference, yon shall have reply as plain," '^ Be it so. If Mr. Caruthers should conclude to make Lucy Sears his wife, should yon indict him for breaoli of promise in a count of your own ?" Minnie's pale cheek flushed crimson. '^ I understand your meaning now, thoroughly, Mr. Auverne, and you shall have a straightforward answer according to promise ; but first I beg that yon will deal as openly with me when I ask if Mr. Caruthers origi- nated the inquiry you just now made. Does he wish to know if he can be on with the old lovo without fear of trouble from the new ?" '' Your question is wholly irrelevant, I do assure you, wholly irrelcTant." '' Is it a fair rule that demands free reply to your questions, Vv^hile mine are answered or put aside at your option ?" '• But it imports you nothing to know whether I pursue these inquiries solely to gratify my own curi- osity, or to satisfy " Pie paused, at a loss for fitting terms in which to con- clude his assertion. With a bitter smile curling her lip, she completed the sentence for him. " Or to satisfy my client as to the probability of your attempting to wring from him some portion of his for- tune in case of certain contingency. You view this case, Mr. Auverne, exclusively in its professional aspect, while 1 see it through the refracting medium of my own feelings. It imports me much to know whether you are interrogating me in accordance with his instructions, or simply from motives of your own." "I have no personal motives whatever influencing my present course, my conduct being wholly controlled by a reference to the advancement of my client's in- terests ; I do not see how these can be prejudiced by 104 THE EIVAL YOLITNTEERS; OR, imparting the information jou are desirous of obtaining. It is Mr. Carutliers who wishes to know whether, if the contingency to which you but now alluded should 0CCU1-, you would institute legal procedure against him in your own behalf." The color slowly faded from Minnie's face, and her firm, upright attitude gaye place to one of dejected languor. " It is too true," she sadly admitted to herself, scarce heeding her companion's presence, " that I haye been tormenting inyself all this time oyer an illusory creation of my own fancy ; and I am too thankful, at last, to be thoroughly disenchanted. Mr. Caruthers accused me, not long ago, of oyerstepping the bounds of strict femi- nine decorum, in addressing a remark or an inquiry to a stranger ; but I will never be guilty of pursuing a course that would Gubject me to the notoriety I would as soon die as brave. What! I to provoke critical com- ment from crowded court-room wliile seeking golden balm for a wounded heart ! / parade my wrons^s and be laughed at as lovelorn damsel wearing the willow for truant swain ! / make myself a study for eyes as coldly curious as those of the naturalist welcoming fresh speci- mens of ichthyosaurus to his fossiliferous treasures ! ISTo ; I have neither reparation to seek, nor injuries requiring redress. I have been the victim of my own amazing stupidity, for which I alone am to blame. I need the pity of no living being ; and I would resent nothing more deeply tlian any display of a compassion which, in my case, Avould be an unequivocal indignity. Come into tlie cottage a moment; I wish to write a brief note which you will do me the favor to convey to Mr. Caruthers." Bowing assent, Mr. Auverne followed her into the house. She wrote a few hastily -penned lines, j^i'^sent- ing the same for the lawyer's perusal. " There's the answer I promised you, sir. I am rea^^ The black pluisis eifles. 105 to seal and direct as soon as you have given it the sanc- tion of your approval." He read as folio wb : " Mr. Caetjthers : " Dear Sir — I do voluntarily, of my own fullest and freest accord, release you from all ties hitherto existing between us. Permit me to offer my most sincere felici- tations on your prospective union with one whose win- ning attractiveness will, I trust, efface any unpleasant reminiscences that might otherwise associate themselves with your memories of the past. " Believe me, when I tell you that I now see what I might sooner have discerned, if I had not hardened myself against conviction, that I should have made you a uiost unsuitable partner for life ; and I rejoice at the accident, if there be such a thing, that has severed the relations between us. I make this admission in no spirit of bitterness or upbraiding; acknowledging, with deepest contrition and humility, the false impressions by which my conduct has been swayed. I have acted on erroneous data, having formed incorrect estimate of your true character; and I hasten to make the only reparation in my power, that of confessing my mistake and releasing you from the obligations which have be- come burdensome to both. " If a sadder, I trust I am a wiser woman, and remain as ever " Your kindly well-wisher, " Minnie Beaxdon." Mr. Auverne rose with an air of the utmost com- plaisance, briskly pi-eparing to take leave. " Eeally, Miss Brandon, you have done this very handsomely; not sacrificing your own dignity, and sparing us all cost and trouble. I thank you in my client's behalf." 5* 106 THE KITAL VOLU>'TEEnS ; OE, ^'I have no claims on vonr gratitude," she rejoined, with proud liumility. ''It was not to spare my own dignity or Mr. Caruthers' convenience that I wrote; but to speak the trut]\ or what seemed such to me ; and to atone, so far as might be, for my own blunders in this miserable aft'air." The lawyer smiled blandly, as he drew on his lavender gauntlets. " A little quixotic in your notions of justice and self- abnegation yet, I see. Well, for a young person, that is better than to err in the opposite extreme ; for it is a fault time will be sure to correct — yes ; a fault on M'liich years and experience will be sure to act as infallible specific." She turned from him with slightly impatient gesture, saying to herself, '' Time has not corrected the fault in my father, and while I have his example before me, I shall never believe in the necessity of growing selfish as one grows old." CHAPTEE YU. EITTS OF BKIGHTNESS THROUGH DARKSOME GL003I. FoF. a few days, aimless and listless, Minnie groped her way blindly along through the shattered fra.o:ments cast about her by the downfall of the unsubstantial fabric of hope in which she had lately accustomed herself to dwell. The society she had once sought with avidity, she now as persistently avoided. Gentle, uncomplain- ing, unwearied in attentions to her father's comfort, to- ward all others her manners wore an icy chill, calculated THE BLACK PLU^TE EIFLES 107 to check prying v.nd inquisitive remark. The faintest allusion to 'Mr. Caruthers was sufficient to make her treblv guard every approach to her coniidence; and many a word spoken in unaffected sympathy she con- strued as expression of contemptuous pity, and resented accordinglv. ^ ^ ^ ^ i She was not one to yield supinely, for any protracted period, to influence so depressing. Her own personal griefs paled into insigniiicance in contrast with tne frio-htfully accumulatiiis: evils wherewith the monster rebellion was scourgino: the land ; her own aching sense of disappointment and loss was partially forgotten m efforts to aid those who were risking all that man on earth holds dear in upholding the nation's honor, de- fending the nation's life. Coarse denims affordea her an unwonted species of needlework, while strong grey flannel passed nimbly through her fingers ; and she learned, alas ! to fashion snowy robes for cold, insensate forms— precious memorials of what has been. Weeks came and went in sad succession, finding her busy hands never idle. Her employment was one cal- culated to make her soberly thoughtful; and she was no lono-er forced to mask a heavy heart by countenance oi smiTino- serenitv. The truth was gradually dawmn^g on her perceptions that life was no holiday gift to be trifled away at the option of its receiver, but a sacred loan, lor whose improvement we are held strictly accountable. In deciding on any course to be pursued, her first ques- tion was no longer. Would I like it ? but. Would it be ri o*ht ? Thus she sat and sewed and thought, one bleak and gusty winter's eve, when dead leaves rustled drearily along the drear earth, and the voice of the wind was like a sick child's wail. Mr. Brandon had been suiter- ino- for several days with a severe sore-throat; and Minnie, after having applied a fomentation of hops, was 108 TnE RIVAL VOLUNTEErwS ; OR, bidding liim good-night on the stairs, when the rapid tread of horses' hoofs smote lier ear. Extinguishing the night-candle she held in her hand, slie darted back to the room they had just left, raised the window long enough to convince herself that there were at least a dozen horsemen approaching the house, closed and refastened the window, hastily rejoining her father. " The guerillas !*' she whispered, quaking with appre- hension. *' It may be that it is only forage and plunder they seek ; if so, we had best hide ourselves. The barn and ricks are easily found." " Better lose them and all else than life ; in the brick cellar-arch, with the heavily clamped oaken door, we shall be safe. Poor old Chloe, what is to become of her VI " jSTever mind her ; she belongs to the privileged race, and will not be harmed by eitlier side." At sound of a loud knock at the outer door with a whip-handle, the speakers descended hastily to their chosen places of refuge. The creaking of boots and the banging of doors soon gave evidence that the marauders had effected an entrance. " Plark !" whispered Minnie, clutching her father's arm, '• there is a step on the cellar stairs." A cautious and stealthy step it was, gliding nearer and nearer, until a ray of light streamed beneath the door of the arch. Speechless with apprehension, Minnie's grasp unconsciously tightened on her father's arm. The soft coal and kindlings were only separated from them by a brick wall. Was the house to be set on fire ? She breathed more freely as the step retreated, passing up the stairway. Short the respite granted for self-gratulation. Half a dozen men were soon ransacking the cellar. " Here is a likely place to look for valuables," cried THT: black PLUifE EIFLES. 109 one, striking witli his mnsket the door of the arch. *• Ab, ha ! what is this? A trapped fox, bj the knave of clubs! Here is a key in the lock; hunt up jour pincers, Jack, and be sprj about it ; let's see whether It is an elk or a coon we've run to earth." JSToiselesslj Miunie abstracted the key from its ward. " Great good that does jou," called a voice outside. "Here, give us a charge of powder, Jack, and I will try the metal of this lock." There was an explosion, succeeded by a violent shake at the door. The lock had been blown off; but a strono iron bolt was still firmly secured in its socket. A heavy stick of timber was procured to aid their operations in battering down the door. " They will soon be in here," whispered Minnie to her father. " 1 on must hide in the dark closet ; for, if dis- covered, they would hang you to the first tree." " But you ! remember Honour and Wilhelmine !" "They had made themselves obnoxious by bitter de- nunciations of the rebel cause amongst its supporters, before vrhom I have been very guarded in my remarks! Quick, or it will be too late." She grasped the row of shelves at the end of the arch, when, swinging forward on hinges, it disclosed a narrow cell lined with brick and closely cemented. Eeluctantly, and in compliance with his daughter's urgent entreaties, Mr. Brandon passed behind the shelves, and suffered them to be swung back to their original position. The door partially gave way at' last, and a man in grey uniform, with light moustaches, and audacious, rollicking swagger, sprang through the opening. '-By my certes, a fairer prize than I had "hoped to capture," he cried, with a bold glance of admiring inso- lence.^ " Here's to our better acquaintance. Drink to me with thine eyes, sweet, and pledo-e me in sparklino- draughts." r o ItO THE EIVAL VOL-C^TTinEES ; OB, *^ Shame on yon, Brent, for insulting a defenceless woman," remonstrated one of his followers. '^ Now, a murrain seize npon thee, incomprehensible dolt, for the foul-mouthed suspicion crossing thy lips ! Talk of insult, when knightly devoirs make the staple in the order of exercises. Heed not his loose tongue, my charming Amarylla, but bless the fate that threw you into the hands of one w4io never yet refused, to fly to the succor of beauty in distress. You are frightened, over- come, poor trembling fawn, let me reassure you, let mo ofibr my arm as support." Minnie shrank from him with uncontrollable aversion. To be sure she had not provoked the wrath of any by stric- tures on the rebellion ; but this availed her naught while in the power of a man whose love was greatly more to be dreaded than his hate. " Don't be coy," he said, with a slight frown. *' A soldier's rough courtesy is not to be lightly scorned. Give me your hand, or I will take it." Knowing resistance to be worse than vain, she submit- ted to his escort up the narrow stairway. While the cottage was ransacked for purposes of waste and pillage, Mr. Brandon's horse was saddled and Min- nie seated thereupon. So great was her dread that her father might emerge from his hiding-place and be cap- tured, or that the nouse might be lired and he left to perish in the flames, that apprehensions on her own ac- count assumed, for the moment, a place of secondary importance in her estimation. It was only on riding off with the ];)illagers that she awoke to a clear sense of her forlorn and helpless condition, aggravated, as it was, by assiduities she dared not resent from her special captor. They had passed, without interruption, two or three miles on tlieir way, when a horseman from the roadside called out, in imperative tone, " Halt, fiiends, and receive ordei*s." THE BLi-CK PLUME RIFLES. Ill "Our ciiief!" ejaculated Brent, in a tone of extreme surprise. " We are all here, and await orders, Lam- beth." " Lambeth !" cried Minnie, with a sudden thrill of joy and hope ; " that is the name I was bidden to remember. Help me to escape ! restore me to my home !" " This is in palpable infringement of plain commands, Brent. How comes it that this young woman makes one of your number?" "I entreat of you absolution without too stringent confession, or the severe penance of forsaking the error of my ways. Of a verity this young damsel is blessed not only with a comely countenance, but hath fair gifts of speech, w^hich, with time and opportunity, I shall teach her to employ unto my edification. In alleviation of the rigors and hardships entailed by our nomadic style of life, you surely would not interdict the solace " Have done with this foolery," sternly interposed the chief of the band. " Would you stop to have out your joke with the hangman's noose preparing for your neck ? We are tracked, pursued; away to the rendezvous — the lime-stone cave on Kathben Bluff. I will be there al- most as soon as yourselves. Quick! begone I" Waving on his men with gesture imperious, he seized Minnie's bridle-rein. " Wliere is your home, young woman? Tell me in few words ; I've not an instant to lose." In concise phrase she gave him the information he sought. lie accompanied her within sight of the cottage, wheeled, then curbed his horse for a few words at parting, " Bid me God speed, benefactress mine ; for you know not the dangers from which I have rescued you. My 112 ' THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, ways are of the roughest, my deeds not wliat they should be ; but I liave not deserved ill of you, for I have not rendered unto you evil for good. It is years since I saw a preacher's desk, or listened to a preacher's warning ; but, taking my text from your acts, this say I unto you. If thine enemy be an hungered or athirst, not even a cup of cold Vv'ater, bestOwed in pure charity, shall fail of its reward." '' I will treasure vour words. God speed you to the right!" On reaching the cottage, she dismounted and hastily entered the front door, which stood wide open. All was Btill ; no one astir, no light in the house. Groping her way to the kitchen, she lit a candle and proceeded there- with to the sitting-room, where broken chairs, tables smashed and overturaed, torn books, and shattered shelves and cases, afforded vivid reminder of rebel raid. Hurrying np-stairs, she rapped at the door of her father's sleeping-room. There was no answer. She en- tered the chamber and found it tenantless, the bed not having besn disturbed. Could it be that the dark closet hiid been so long closed that its air had become un- breathable, and that in escaping the hangman's rope he had met death by suffocation ? With flying feet, she made her way to the cellar. The doors were all open, even to the inner one of shelves, which concealed nothing. Through every room in the house she searched ; but to no purpose, her father was not to be found. Old Chloe had slept undisturbed through all the din, and undisturbed Minnie left her, returning to the stable, unsaddling her horse, and leav- ing the animal in comfortable quarters for the night. Deeply anxious on account of her father's inexplicabh absence, she was not in the least inclined to sleep ; and, Piter closing and fastening the doors, she sat down by THE BLACK PLU3IE EIFLES. 113 the sitting-room winclo^v, where the monrnfiil Trail of the iinrcstful wind mingled not untitlj with the restless surging of her own perturbed spirit. Long, and fraught with many a nameless terror, were the leaden-footed hours. Her heart leaped to her throat at sound so slight that, under ordinary circumstances, it would have passed without notice. Her ears do not deceive her now ; that is surely the sound of horses' hoofs on the hard-trod avenue. On the alert for any contingency, and determined not to be sur- prised by friend or foe, she darted from the house, and, making rapid detour of the barn, took shelter behind a clump of junipers, whence she maintained strict outlook over the approaching horsemen. They were three in number; and, greatly to her relief, she detected the tones of her father's voice addressed in friendly re- mark to one of his companions. There was no further occasion for concealment. Father and daughter ex- pressed mutual delight at being assured of each others' safety. By the light of a lantern, speedily procured, she" saw that yet another craved her welcome. It was Morland Ellsmead's hand that cordially grasped her own. " Let us adjourn to the house while the horses rest," proposed Mr. Brandon. '* Morland can stay if he likes," returned the third of the trio, the son of a neighboring farmer; "but, as to my poor nags, they have to work carting sand to the brick- kiln all day to-morrow, so I must be oil'. Good-night, or good-morning, rather." The remaining three entered the cottage together. The story of Minnie's safe return was soon related. Then Mr. Brandon explained that, leaving his retreat in time to ascertain the direction taken by his daughter's captors, he had roused the neighbors and started in swift pursuit. For several miles they found little diS- 114 TEE EIVAL VOLUXTEEP.S ; OR, culty in tracinc: the marauders, but farther or., it was only by close and careful scrutiny that V.iey could detect the prints of tlie horses' hoofs, which disappeared alto- getlier on nearing the base of the riv^er-side bluff. Minnie turned on their guest a questioning look, which plainly asked, " How came tou to be of tho party «" " I will explain all in the morning," he replied to her glance ; " but 3^our father is quite worn out now ; leave me on guard here, while you both seek needed rest." " There is no need of your staying up to watch," demurred Mr. Brandon ; " we have always a spare bed for a friend." *' I dare not risk the acceptance of luxury so unusual, in which case I should be sure to oversleep. It is now three, and I must leave at six." " Then make yourself as comfortable as circumstances will allow. Take a nap on the sofa ; there is one arm and a cushion left. My throat is like a fresh scald from this irritating night-air ; but what of that ? we are all safe, for whicii I am devoutly thankful. Dear me ! what good did these vandals find in destroying what was nothing to them, much to me ? Here is an anno- tated edition of Paley, invaluable as a work of reference, torn and mutilated in a most barbarous fashion." While Mr. Brandon was bemoaning the fate of his long-cherished volumes, and striving to restore contents to covers from which they had been rudely sundered, Morland Ellsmead, holding open the door for Minnie to pass, murmured, scarcely louder than a vrhisper, " Thank Heaven, you are safe ; I would have risked my life to serve you." She responded by a grateful look, and passed up the stair-case with a smile of pleasure wreathing her lips ; sorely wounded by slight and neglect from source whence she had least expected it, this sincere avowal of THE BLACK PLUME EITLES. 116 interest in her welfare, of earnest, respectful cympathy in her behalf, fell like balm of healing on the aching spirit pining in secret over unprovoked wrongs. The varied causes of excitement she had undergone precluded all possibility of sleep, and she was early astir. Believing herself the only person awake in the house, she stole noiselessly down-stairs, but as her foot touched the entry carpet, the outer door opened, and Morland Ellsmead gave her morning salutation. " I have been out to look after my horse ; it is very kind of you to let me see you before I go." A delicate tinge of carmine dyed Minnie's cheek. " I knew you had to leave early, Mr. Ellsmead, and I am going down to the kitchen to hurry Chloe's prepara- tions for breakfast." " Time enough for that when I have explained to you how I happened here. In five minutes I can tell you all ; and, in all probability, I shall not soon have a chance of speaking with yon again. I want your advice ; I need it." " Mine, oh ! Morland, when my own footsteps are so wavering and uncertain that I have oft to retrace them with bitter pain." " Happy for you that they are not irretraceable. JSTow sit on the sofa beside me, and teach me to bear my burdens as patiently and uncomplainingly as you bear your own. My period of enlistment expired yes- terday ; I have been offered a salary of fifteen hundred a year as agent in a woollen factory, and I have been offered thirteen dollars a month to serve as private in the ranks of a brigade recruiting for service in a south- ern field. Give me your counsel ; shall I go or stay ?" " Does the country need you ?" " The country needs me ; and I have no ties ; not even those of friendship to hinder my departure." " There you do greatly err ; my friends are not so 116 THE RIVAL VOLU>'TEERS; OK, many but that one stricken from the roll makes griev- ons loss ; and yet, at risk of having one friend the less, if any word of mine could encourage him to volunteer in country's defence, such word, no matter what the cost of speaking it, should not be AvithhchL" Beneath the eager scrutiny of liis searching gaze, her eyes drooped and the carmine deepened to crimson on her clieek. " A fair promise, freely given ; now will I test your power of fulfillment. Three words I spoke to you, once, for which you gave me merited rebuff; shoitld I repeat them, would your reply be still the same ?" " Do not trouble yourself by vain repetition ; I have the words quite by heart." '' Because my lips spoke them ?" " Because your lips spoke them, Morland." ^' Repeat them yourself that I may be doubly sure memory has not played you false." Crimsoning to the very temples, she gave the triple- worded countersign he sought. Tones commingling as gently as odor-laden breeze sighing through sweets of woodland bloom, transformed that homely cottage parlor into realm of fairy enchant- ment for its occupants. Swift sped minutes all too fleet- ing — minutes burdened with harmony delicious from that old, old song that first floated on the golden airs of Paradise. "How time has flown, Minnie; I must leave you, and leave much I wished to say unspoken." " Wait one moment, Morland, I must tell you tliis. The sacred cause that claims your best services, claims mine also. It is but little I can accomplish : but let me earn the record — ' She hath done what she could,' and it will be well with me. We weak women cannot, like you, strike strong blows in defence of the right, but we can, at least, spend our best energies in care and THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 117 tendance of those who are brought, helpless and siiffer- iiio- from the battle-iield, wliich is no place for iemmme tread. My fat]ier is going to Chicago ; I am gomg to St. Marc Hospital." _ "To St. Marc Hospital, one of the largest and most crowded in the vicinity ! oh, Minnie, you know not what you do ; you wlio have been so guarded m the seclusion of home ; so delicately and tenderly reared, to be brought in contact with coarse, even vicious natures, to have your motives misconstrued, to '- Hush, Morland. Are you to be exposed to the fierce breath of battle-roar, to deadly rifle and mnsket- hail, to thirsty blade of gleaming steel, to seething rush of cannon ball, while I sit supinely down, the ^mds ot heaven not permitted to visit my cheek too roughly i Woman was created, if I have read my Bible aright, to be faithful help-meet unto man; does she fulfill the pur- pose of her being, if in his hour of sorest trial, through mere stress of conventionalism, she is induced to torteit her dearest earthly prerogative ? Our greatest generals are subiected to misconstruction and to contumely, and why should I shrink from enduring, m my own humble degree, my lot and part in the deep anguish which afaicts the land, and every true child o± the soil in its borders?" ^ . -, , .^ . " I glory in your patriotism, Mmnie ; but it seems to me there are ways in which you might make yourself useful, without depriving yourself of the shieldmg and protecting influences of home." - Providence has seemed to open a way lor me m a different direction. Listen while I tell you how_;_ and, oh ! Morland, give me an encouraging word, it you can, as I don't quite see my way clear ; and it is very hard, at times, to take the responsibility of decidmg on my own course of action. Dr. Waldo, who attended my mother in her last illness, is now directing sm-geon 118 THE RIVAL TOLUXTEERS; OR, at St. Marc's, '^•here he wishes me to come, not as nurse, for there is a sufficiency of male attendance in the sick wards, but as directress in the preparation of extracts, infusions, the herbal restoratives and medicaments he Ion or ago taught me to compound ; permitting me to search the woods and fields fur anodyne and alterative, instead of sending me with a Latin prescription to the apothecary's for less harmless draught. I have bidden you God speed in your loftier spliere of eflort ; Heaven knows the words sending you from my side, mayhap forever, were not easily spoken, and will you be less generous in bidding me haste onward in the way duty bids me tread ?" ^' If it be duty that beckons, you onward, Minnie, heaven forbid that hand of mine should place stumbling- block in your path. Be true to your own sense of right, and there is no fear of your being false to me." He drew out his silver hunting- watch. " It lacks but three minutes of my hour for starting ; I must not linger here." " I forgot your breakfast, Morland ; how shall I apol- ogize ?" " xSo apology is necessary ; I, too, forgot it." She walked with him as he led his horse down the orange-hedged avenue. In almost unbroken silence they traversed the way, which had never seemed so short. The rustic gate which must witness their part- ing was reached all too soon. " Farewell, Minnie, my own ; if I am stricken down by sabre-thrust or cannon-ball, I shall be content to be tended by no hand but yours. Pardon, my last words shall not be of theme so gloomy. Let us rather look forward with hope to that glorious hour, when this unnatural antagonism between those who should bo friends and brothers, hapj)ily overcome, our union may THE BLACK PLUilE RIFLES. 119 be consummated with that of these now alienated States. I shall perform my duties all the better for knowing how faithfully you will cling to yours ; and if, mayhap, I look on your face for the last time, there is a fairer land of promise where time, the destroyer, can- not come." '' I will keep your words as talisman, if my own life- task should seem ever over-burdensome when I am left to bear it alone." He drew a plain gold ring from his own and slipped it on her finger; it was much too large, and she returned it to him. '' I have no need of any such reminder, Morland ; your photograph will remain faithfully mirrored in my remembrance, though no sun-rays stamped it there. Neither do you, I trust, need any parting token to bring me to your thoughts." " But one, Minnie, one keepsake for memory only — voiceless token from unsullied lips taken — thanks ; I'm away." She watched his receding figure with contending emotions of pride, regret and tenderness, nntil it disap- peared over the brow of a gently undulating slope. Once more, with strained vision, she caught sight of him making his way up tlie opposing ascent. He saw her, too, and removing his cap, waved her parting salute therewith. ItVith brimming eyes she returned the signal. " Gone, gone ; and if he should never return, could I ever forgive myself for having spoken the words that gave him to the noblest cause for which man ever fought and died. He came to me for encouragement ; I gave it him, but who is to encourage me? My words bade him hie forth to — ' The glorious strife which is the joy of men — ' 120 THE RIVAL volunteers; OR, but had I counselled him to hours of silken ease, when his brave brethren are pouring out blood like water for the regeneration of the land, would he have spoken to me as he has spoken, words that will be mine for al ages to come, no matter what the future may have in store for me? I understand, now, how Hector's patriot- ism overcame liis affection, so that he could say to Andromache, at parting— [I could not love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honor more.' -' CHAPTER YIII. COERESPONDEXCE. Ox the afternoon of the day on which she had parted from one whom she seemed to have won and lost in an hour, she received from him the following brief note, which certainly had no merit, so far as literary ability was concerned, to commend it to the repeated perusals it received : '' My dearest Mixxie : — On parting from you this morning, my courage broke down entirely, at thought that no link of communication was left between us. I must hear from you ; positively m^ist. There is no knowing to what infection you may be exposed at St. Marc's, and if you do not write me a favorable account of the place, I shall not consent to your remain- ing in it. "' Excuse that blot ; there are four wide-awakes play- THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 121 ing eiiclire on this bencb, and tliey joggle so I can't write straiglit, and gabble so I can't think straight eirher, fur tliat matter. *• I liave been sworn into service, and have received mv new uniform. There goes tap of drum for dress- j^arade. Two minutes, prithee, betbre 1 fall into line. Confound the rub-a-dubster ! ho is newly appointed, and delighteth in exercise of a little brief authority. I inclose you the number of our regiment, and will send you address in full as soon as our companies are let- tered. Pray write to — ^ '^ Tours nntil deatli, '^ MOELAXD." '' True as steel," she said to herself, on folding this brief epistle. '' Strange that writers should parcel out plays into artificial division of comedy and of tragedy, when, in real life, there is usually in each day's experi- ence a combination of both." ]\Iinnie had thought, on returning to the cottage, to explain to her father, as soon as practicable, the new turn of affairs in her own destiny ; but the bronchial derangement from which he had been suffering had been so much aggravated by anxiety and exposure that for several days he vras unable to swallow, or to speak a loud word, and she could do nothing save guard him from intrusion, and insure him the undisturbed repose on which nature insisted while making unavoidable re- pairs. Even when lie was able to take his nsual place in the sitting-room, his daughter shrank from enterin.g on a theme which might agitate him, thereby retarding his recovery. She was spared the embarrassment by a new and unexpected move on his part. ^' Sit down beside me, child, while I talk over with you the perplexities it is but right you should know and 6 123 THE KIVAL VOLU-NTEERS ; OK, share. Last week I liatl what I considered an ample in- come to support our pLain style of living; this week, mj circumstances have so essentially changed that I don't see quite clera-ly what course to adopt. The pow- der factory in which my fortune was principally invested, and from which my annual income was chiefly derivable, lias been torn down by the rebels. The damages i'all mostly to my account, as the Insurance Ofiices are natu- rally shy of taking risks on buildings covering highly explosive merchandise. jS"ow comes the claim on my patriotism, much quickened, I own, by the rutiianly as- sault of a fev\' nights since. Yv^e have been so mnch accustomed to the peace and security conferred by our free government that we prize it no more than the free air of heaven ; but the liour has now come when every loyal supporter of the Law and the Constitution must fly to their support, or be content to go dovrn with them, and be buried in the ruins from which cliaos and anarchy will spring in rank and noisome growth. I, for one, am fully ready to assume my share of the national burden. Recruits for Union service are rapidly filling our ranks ; arms will be supplied with all possible dispatch ; but to make these latter available, ammunition must be in equally abundant supply. This is vrhere we are lacking, and forms my motive for desiring to rebuild the mill without a moment's unnecessary delay ; it is want of re- quisite funds alone that stays my hand. The bears have control of the Brokers' Board at present, so that I should not realize half their intrinsic value from the forced sale of bank and railv\-ay shares; there is no means of raising the requisite amount, that I can see, save through a mortgage, as heavy as it will bear, on this place. If vou were provided for I should not hesitate an instant m adopting this course." '• Then do not hesitate an instant now. I am young and strong, and quite as ready as yourself to submit to THE BLACK PLUME PvIFLES. 123 nny sacrifice that would conduce to the country's wel- fare. If Morland Ellsmead returns safely from the southern expedition on vrhich he is bound, he will seek yonr consent to our marriage. While he is devoting his best enei'gies to cause so glorions, think you I should be content to sit supinely down without contributing my mite to the Xational Treasury ? I only await your per- mission to take my place at St. Marc's, as assistant in preparing comforts and delicacies for its sick and wounded inmates. Here comes Dr. AYaldo, who first proposed the plan to me. I ^vill leave you to discuss the matter with him." '• Good morning, Miss Brandon,'' said the doctor, briskly entering the room ; " I have come for your deci- sion, agreeably to promise." " I have decided in the affirmative, on condition of your obtaining my father's approval," she returned, effecting a hasty retreat. Mr. Brandon remained long enough at the cottage to make such dispositions of his estate as were necessitated by his new project, and then took his departure for Chicago. Minnie had been long enough installed in her new office to learn that it was no sinecure, when a letter, written on a half sheet of soiled and crumpled paper, was placed in her hand. Thus she read : " Deakest, ^nxE : — As there is to be a mail-bag made up by the regiment, I claim the privilege of raising my quota tov\^ard filling its columns. " We are halting now, after a forced march of thirty miles, on our way to join the main corps of the West- ern Army. We are made to feel, every step of our pro- gress, that we are in an enemy's country, l^^ot even a glass of lemonade or a basket of fruit do we dare to -take as gift or purchase, from fear of being poisoned ; 124 tut: nivAL volunteers; or, and any man straggling from the ranks does go at 2:>eril of funiisliing sknll as football for rebel pastime. In passing through woods — luckily for us, the trees liere- abouts are generally tall, without low In-anches or un- derbrush — our advimce-guard and flankers have to be every instant on the alert. In open, unobstructed plains, the cavalry deploy for our protection ; bridges Ave enfilade with our guns, and in passing through vil- lages, v/hich we avoid when we can, witliout making too wide a circuit, we plant our heaviest artillery in the most advantageous positions for being conspicuously viewed by tlie villagers. Some grow reckless under this continued exposure to imminent danger ; but I never looked so warily to every step as now that each one may be my last. '' Tell Mrs. Burt that her son, who marclied at my left hand, gave me his musket to carry wliile he ran for a drink to a brook which he saw through the poplars, and he has not since been seen or heard from. lie will probably turn up in some rebel stronghold. '•' I send you my address, the name of the town being one which we shall, in all human probability, reach in a couple of days. After that, I know nothing of our intended destination, as wx are not informed of our commander's plans. '' I must close now, as I am only off guard four hours, and there is a button to tighten on my coat, the brass pieces on my equipments to brighten, even if my gun doesn't need a touch from emery paper. " Send me some word of cheer, Minnie ; and believe that, at each remove, ^ my heart untravelled fondly turns to thee.' " Heaven bless and hold thee in most sacred keeping. " Yours, devotedly, '- MOKLAND." THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 125 Weary and dispirited as slie was, tliis letter inspired its recipient witlifresli energj, and she at once set about lior reply, wliicli is here given entire : hansted by all the labors of the day that I thought no ln?^ury could be coiin^arable to that of resting my tired iiead on my.piiiow ; but you have proved my mistake by giving me the opportunity of communicating with yoa through written channel, an opportunity I improve with delighted alacrity. Xot that I am complaining of fatigue, mind you, as I am bound to you by still closer ties throu^^h knowledge that this most glorious cause of a country s salvation claims your best powers as well as my own. " You ask of me some word of cheer. Hov*^ shall 1 give it, Morland, when I know not but that, even as I write, some mortal peril may be lying in wait for you ? Will it cheer you to know that I hold you ever in fond and faitl:iful remembrance, thinking of you not only each day but each hour, and many times in the hour ? Shall I tell you that the letter you stole time from hours which should have been given to needed repose, to in- dite, is more precious than gold of Oj^hir — more dearly prized than gem from richest mine? Are you smiling at my extravagance ? Be it so ; if I can provoke you to mirth I care not, though it be at my own expense ? " Possibly it may interest you to know how my days are passed. Mrs. Stanton, a widowed sister of I)r. "Waldo, is our principal directress, and a m.ost stringent disciplinarian. We have each our duties to be per- fjrmed at all hazards ; my position, it seems, is that of maid-of-all-work, as I turn my hand to everything, from making- a broth to stitchino^ a bandao-e, or writino; a let- ter lor some poor fellow who craves memorial from some true heart as do I from one I belieye my own. 126 THE TvIVAL VOLUXTEERS; OR, " I rise at five and mp.ke my toilette, so inelaborate that it is, perhaps, not beyond dull masculine compre- hension, so I will describe its most salient pecnliarities. First, retrenched skirts without the least pretense to voluminous flow ; for in meeting each other on the stairs, a dozen times a minnte, no one desires to claim exclusive right of way. Then comes a dress of grej serge, which does not "rustle, and is easily kept clean. jS^ow comes the crowning abomination in the way of offence against good taste with which Mrs. Stanton, in the plenitude of her power, has seen fit; to afflict her long-suffering liandmaidens. Curls, for cooks, she deems wholly inadmissible ; nets are a pet aversion of hers ; so we are reduced to the wretched alternative of wear- ing the most excruciatingly nnbecoming lawn caps envious malignity ever devised. Well, I don't care, since — you are not here to see ; but with all humility be it written, earthly vanities are so far from having palled on my taste, that if I should catch a glimpse of you coming up the linden walk in plain view, instead of setting my cap for you, I should toss it into the near- est coi-ner, and resort, at once, to every outward adorn- ing that might give me grace and comeliness in your eyes. "What folly is this I Candidly, you are disposed to far over-estimate me ; and althougli^ it is very flattering to be exalted to a higher place in" your esteem than my own worth justifles,"truth is always best and safest in tlie end. 1 must sj^are you the violent revulsion you would be sure to experience if you slionld stumble, without any preparation of previous warning, upon the unwelcome fact that the woman on whom you had been lavishing your heart's best riches had nothing but her trutli and constancy to recommend her, and was a very ordinary specimen of humanity after a^I. " All this space, and only my toilette completed ! THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 127 You have no idea vrliat a variety of capricious likes and dislikes, in the way of food, we have to consult in com- pounding refections for tlie sick wards. One poor fel- low, who is wasted to a shadow vvdth pulmonary con- sumption, has lived on scraped sweet apples for a month ; a second takes nothing, as his digestives lack the vigor for attempting functional action, but the expressed juices of meats ; a third, who is almost speechless with inci- pient laryngeal paralysis, can swallow nothing but stimulants ; while a fourth contrives to subsist some- how on narcotics, soda and lemon juice. The pervading spirit of manly fortitude and resignation with which tuey submit to the sufiering and deprivation inseparable from their lot, acts as effectual check to any complaints in which I might otherwise be inclined to indulge. " In one respect, I have striven to copy the example of the hospital surgeons, who, whatever their own indi- vidual trials and perplexities, permit no trace of them to become apparent to their patients. Dr. Waldo v.'iil perform the most grave and critical operations in the amputation room, and then with air as blandly disen- p'ao^ed as thou2:h he had inst risen from couch of cush- ioned ease, go ii"om cot to cot addressing to occupant of eacli some cheerful word of soothing or encouragement, falling like gentlest anodyne on spirits sore through sympathy with material ills. '" i wished to give you a list of my employments throughout the day, but space fails me. •' Pray do not expose yourself rashly, for the country needs every one of its brave defenders, and evil (which Heaven avert) befalling you, woidd be, to me, as though it had fallen on myself. " liemembering how precious is every assurance of your continued Siifety, do not withhold the same irom 128 THE EivAL volunteers; or, Scarcely more tliaii a week elapsed before she received the ensuing response to her epistle : '- My dkae Girl : — I told you once that, given the opportunity, I should inevitably make a fool of myself, i^.ud as you vrere graciously pleased to furnish tlie occa- sion, 1 have attested my veracity by making the most of ir. Can you imagine a man cutdng up capers that v.'ould do credit to a confirmed idiot, and going into raptures over a mere sheet of paper covered with dain- tiest sweej^s and curves, just because it happened to express some feelings of kindly interest in behalf of your humble servant ? Of course, you can conceive of no- thing so ineffably absurd ; let us have done with such puerile nonsense. " Do not expect anything in the way of caligraphy from me, as I am sitting on a stump, using a tin plate as writing-desk, with the boom of artillery practice sound- ing in my ears. '• We have had a brush with the enem;r, whicli might have been a serious affair if it had occurred earlier in the day, which it would have done, if our original plan had not been modilied by circu/nstances I have not space to detail. The treachery of a negro guide, who decoyed us into a well-planned ambuscade (tlie sort of thing that the insidious foe always does plan well, for it must be conceded the Southron is as far ahead of ub in subtle trick of strategy, as European southron has shown himself over northern opponent, from the time that Spanish diplomacy outwitted Briton's astute queen to the present, when a wily Gallic hand directs the moves of a continent's chess-board), came near resulting in overwhelming disaster. '' It was within an hour of sundown ; the main body of our civision had safely passed a dangerous deiile, wi.ich its baggage train vritli its convoy was about to TUB BLACK plu:me kifles. 129 enter, Avlien from a large cave, whose entrance had been so artfully concealed as to have escaped the notice of lynx-eyed vidette and patrol, poured forth the enemy ill force, and after unmasking batteries, gave us a tem- pest of shell and canister, and swooped down upon us, yelling like so many — beg pardon — d s incarnate. bur re^'iment formed part of the reserve held back in case of emergency like the present. We vrere ordered to stack knapsacks and prepare for immediate action. Tiie enemy had the advantage of us in being fresh, vrliile we were spent with a weary day's march, and liad eaten nothing since mid-day. The object of the attack soon became apparent ; it was the wagon train our assailants were bent on capturing ; the last thing to lose in a re2:ijn where all forage which could not be removed was destroyed to prevent it falling into our hands. We fora'ot there was such a thing as being hungry and tired, and fought like tigers ; not one of us but would as soon have died as seen our subsistence stores go to the sustenance of those greedy cormorants. The ene- my's guns were but inditferently served, or we should haVe been terribly cut up. As it was, many of the horses attached to the train were shot, and if we had not had spare horses to fill their places, our loss would have been irremediable. I must tell you the last we saw of our personal gear. A parcel of negroes. Con- federates in collusion with our false guide very likely, had taken possession of our knapsacks, and were scat- tering about and destroying such articles as did not suit theirlm mediate needs. One brawny son of Ethiop had crowned his woolly pate with a bright-colored fatigue- cap, and strutted round in great pomp and circumstance, clad in a bugler's scarlet suit which had tickled his bar- baric taste. " When we had kept the enemy at bay long enough to give the convoy a fair start in advance, you should 6* 180 THE RIVAL volunteers; OR, have seen us run, tlie cavalry and light artillery bring ing up the rear. Talk of the double-quick ! quadruple- quick, and sextuple-quick was all ihat saved us to iiglit anotlier day. " I think the climate must agree with me, as I slept on the ground la^tnigli!-, without either blanket or over- coat, and feel no ill effects from the exposure ; on the contrary, am blessed with an appetite which is much better than comfortable, considering the scantiness of the rations doled out by our commissary. " I cannot request you to write me, as I do not know where to ask you to direct. You shall hear from me as soon as I can remove this obstacle to our correspon- dence, and pray respond promptly to '* Yours most faithfully, '• MOELAND." Several weeks passed before Minnie's eyes were again gladdened by sight of the handwriting which had grown familiar through much repetition of vain reading. I transcribe the missive which gave to her eyes fresh lus- tre, to her cheek an added tint of bloom : '•' Carnrosville, Jan. 20, 1862. " Best remembered Feiexd : — I have been through such an exhaustive process of labor and fatigue since last I wrote you, that 1 have scarcely sufficient vitality left for the mental effort of giving you an account, even the most cursory, of the difficulties we have had to over- come in reaching this place. Since the affair of which I Avrote you in my last, and for which the general of the division complimented our gallantry, our regiment had seen much diit\^ on the rear-guard, which has been peculiarly exposed to the sharp shooting of the guerillar bands forever prowling on our ffanks and rear. I do not know what it is to fall asleep with that sense of" THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 131 security which is inciespensable to any repose worth the name ; and as a consequence, my shimbers are so dis- turbed by visions of attack and assault that they do not refresh me, and I am v^eary all the time. '•We tool: this town after a slight show of resist- ance from the inhabitants ; and I belong to the de- tachment left to occupy it, as it is of considerable strategic importance, owing to its railroad junction affording us line of communication ^vith base of sup- plies. " The women here belong to such a species of non- descript as I never saw before, and hope never to see agaiu. Ignoring all the graces, they are ready to aid the fray by those nnderhanded meaus which weak cun- ning suffcrests. If they wish to throw off the guards with which chivalry protects them against life's severer ills, let them fight us on equal terms — meet us in fair and honorable conflict, as I, for one, ani strongly op- posed to having mj head broken by missiles from a chamber window, or to being knocked down with a rolling-pin and dispatched v/ith a skewer. When the gentler sex proves false to its benign mission, and aggravates instead of softening asperities quickened to nuwholesome growth in tronblous times like these, let it expect an exceediug bitter penalty for its betrayal of sacred trust. When I look at these fierce inciters of deadly strife, it is to turn, in thought, with tenfold ten- derness to one who would gladly spur ns on to deeds of high emprise in patriot struggle ; but whose hand, bear- ing to us merciful healing, Avill never come armed with rod of wrath. '- Do you remember Gustave Ashmore, captain of our company, and as big a poltroon as ever breathed ? A supercilious fop, whose equipments are not likely to bs tarnished through use, and whose chief military accom- plishment consists in shewing a clepn pair of heels to 132 THE EIYAL YOLUXTEEKS ; OK, tlie enemy ; he lias been promoted to a majorship, and Lis place bestowed on a lily-livered milksop who hap- pened to be well connected, and brought letters of recommendation to our General from inlluential rela- tives at home. Well, I have not been sparing of myself in the country's service ; I have never fled from the post of duty because it was the post of danger ; and yet, if I return, I fear I shall bring but few laurels to lay at your feet. I have neither patronage nor the impudence needful to push on my way to advancement, and it is sometimes hard to stand aside in the ranks and let a worse man step into the honors he has never earned. " Our detachment is so small fur the performance of the duty assigned it, that we are all overworked. Our labors vrill be lii>;htened when we have finished throw- ino^ up a lort on the hill overlooking the junction. "When I say fort, do not imagine heavy ramparts with bastions of solid masonry, for that would give you an erroneous idea of our stronghold, which comprises two or three acres of ground, is walled in by logs, with em- bankments of earth on the inside reaching a little higher than a man's head. Outside, a moat, fifteen feet deep by twelve in width, extends, or will when com- pleted, around the structure, which is octagonal and will look tolerably formidable when our thirty-two pounders are mounted. If you did but know the labor dire I have gone through delving in this hard soil ! My hands have been so blistered that I could scarcely handle a musket ; face and ears are blistered too; for tlie sun already runs high^ imd I miss my havelock s:idly, as it cannot be replaced. '^ I fear this is but a drowsy production, and well it may be, for — pardon lack of gallantry implied by the admission — I have been surprised, off guard, by more t'lan one nap since commencing the above. Send me some coveted assurance of undiminished regard, and you THE BLACK PLU^E EIFLES. 133 sliall receive 1:0 lifeless response. Xo one who lias not ex- perienced it, can fathom the intensity of eager longing felt by tlie soldier, suddenly y^-renched from all the dearly-cherished associations of former years, for some expression of kindly interest from the loved ones left be- hind. On this hint, please write to " Moeland." The reply to the above ran as follows : " St. TiLvRc's, Jan. 2G, 1832. ^- My deas Moeland : — I received your most fer- vently welcomed letter late last evening, and should have done myself the pleasure of replying at once, only I sat up until midnight making for you this havelock, which, if it but give you in the receiving a tithe of the pleasure it has given mo in the making — thinking con- stantly for whom I wrought — will proVe, humble as it is, one of the good gifts, blessing alike donor and reci- pient. "Of that part of your letter which most deeply moved me I will first speak. Do not be depressed, Morland, because those less deserving of promodon than yourself are preferred over you. Biography teaches us that few indeed of the really wise and de- serving enter, during this life, into the full joy of their labors. We can do our very best in the way of effort, but, best beloved, we cannot control results. The country, torn and bleeding throu^■h fiercely-contending factions, claims the best and noblest manhood of her eons ill her defence : and yours, I am sure, she will not claim in vain, whether you labor with or without the appreciation so dear to every generous heart. The army must have men as well as officers ; commanded as well as commanders. What would a building be good for that vras made of turret and tower, of balfry and spire, of peak and pinuaclcj v/ithout a substi'ucture cravci glittor..x3 134 TUT. EIVAL V0LUNTEF.E3 ; OH acjeqiiate to the support of its top-licavj petensions. Better a true soldier, by all odds, with garments soiled and frayed in obedience to duty's call, than the titled 1 Vho keeps his yelyet facings spotless, and his ing blade stainless in its scabbard, while richly earning a coward's fate. " You speak of winning laurels to lay at my feet, rather crown witli laurels of noble, persistent endeavor tlie country's thorn-pressed brow, that we may the sooner rejoice in her restoration to peace and ours to each other. Come back to me with integrity unim- peached, unimpeacliable, and I ask no more. I speak strongly on this point, because when I was all adrift on the surging sea of doubt and uncertainty, when through one man's deceit I grew skeptical of others' truth and othei-s' sincerity, it was you who gave me back the blessed boon of renewed trust in human goodness ; a boon of which no hand saye yours can deprive me — which calamity. Heaven in its mercy avert. " I cannot write more, as the clock is striking five, and duties claim every instant of my time throughout the day. '• Whatever neglect you may experience from other sources, rest assured that you will have none to com- plain of from '' Yours evermore, " MUS'IS'IE." With a lighter heart than she had known for weeks, the writer of the above set about the performance of her daily tasks, and more than one brow, corrugated with tense lines of pain, smoothed beneath her speaking glance of earnest sympathy. Isow that her betrothed had reached a comparatively permanent place of des- tination, whence she could obtain frequent intelligence of his movements, her apprehensions on his account had gi-eatly Gubsided. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLE5. 135 " In a week, at farthest, I shall hear from him again," Bhesaid to herself, counting the intervening days as the J, one by on.e, slipped past, bringing nearer the period terminating this fond anticipation — fond but fal- lacious, as ten days went by without bringing her a line from one wliose prolonged silence began to excite her keenest anxiety. On the fourteenth day from the date of her last epistle, she partially relieved her intolerable suspense by penning and dispatching the subjoined : ''My deapc Morla^'d: — Do, I entreat of you, from motives of compassion, if none other, find some means of conveying to me the assurance that you still remain unharmed ; and, if this be not so, pray let me know the worst I have to fear for you. Are you wounded ? then you must have some comrade near v/ho will mercifully tell me to what extent, thus giving me something tangible on which to wreak my ceaseless apprehensions, and relieving me from these terrible phantoms imagina- tion keeps conjuring up. Can it be possible that fancy is playing me a trick? — that my nerves have lost tone and impose on my credulity but fah^e presentments of V\'hat seems so real? — or, is this pale, indistinct vision, that forever haunts me, ^waking or sleeping, of one stricken down in life's early flush, sorrowing, suiiering, deserted, something of graver import than the baseless fabric of a dream? Am I clairvoyant, and, through some subtle sj^iritual intercommunion, has your misery, in reflex form, become my own ? " Away, idle terrors ! You told me, Morland, that your powers of endurance vrero overtaxed ; and they have failed at last — nothing worse. You are worn out, and need rest ; that is aU. You have so exhausted your besi: .energies in patriotic service that your nerveless hand has not strength to respond to friendly call. To the comrade who gives yon kindly tendance you will 136 THE niTAL TOLU^'TEEnS ; OR, not delegate the task you will soon be able to undertake yourself. You can no more write me by proxy than I, thus circumstanced, could thus write you. I will mode- rate my request ; you are not to write me a letter, if it would cost you wearisome effort, but just write my name on this envelope I inclose and return it to me by mail. The mere sight of the familiar characters, traced by your own pen, would restore me to fresh life and happiness. " Do not delay, Morland, for you know not the wretchedness your unexplained silence costs — " Minnie." CHAPTEE IX. K E W S . The faint glimmer of hope with which Minnie awaited a reply to her letter was doomed to fade in disappoint- ment, as no reply ever came. With a feverish restless- ness, she hurried from one task to another, striving to bury recollection in a ceaseless round of employment. ISTever had her fingers been more deftly nimble, or her step more light, than now when her heart was like lead in her bosom. One final resort, an appeal for information to the captain of the company in which Morhind had enlisted, remained unto her ; and to this she had recourse, writing the word '' urgent," in conspicuous capitals on the en- velope inclosing her m.issive. To this, after a tedious period of expectancy, she re- ceived the following brief reply : THE BLACK PLL.ME KIFLES. 137 '•Captain Briscom was killed at the late severe en- gagement at Eover's Landiniv, fortv miles south of this Pi^'i^-e. '•Respectfully, '^A. L.Clyde, " Secretary of Division. ^^ This announcement Minnie read with blurred vision ii the caj)tain had taken part in the conflict, his com- pany, ot course, had shared its dano;ers. After protracted and painful deliberation, she addressed a few concisely worded inquiries to the secretary who had already oohged her by intelligence conveved in the above note regardnig the losses sustained by Company B. In reply' she was informed that it had'' suffered severely, only tliirtj-tln-ee of its members being fit for active service. Ihe neld, unfortunately, had been left in possession ol the enemy, our wounded being brouodit off next day under a flag of truce. Morland EUsmead's name was not amongst these, neither was it to be found in any oifaciai report. Tnis communication, furnisliing particulars so scant yet so cruelly suggestive, fell from the reader's tremhlino- hand, vrhde her features hardened into a look of rio-jd despair. She did not think or reason, remaining duiiib in attitude bent and motionless, beneath the blow that had stricken her. '• Has anything gone wrong with you?" asked ]Mrs. btanton, crossmg to the corner of the kitchen where jiiinnie sat. For answer, she picked up the letter she had dropped and handed it to her questioner. " It seems from this that none but the dead were left on the battle-field,^'- remarked Mrs. Stanton, as she nnished the perusal of the note, in what, to her com- panion, seemed a cold, unfeeling tone : " and \i naturally follows that" "^ 138 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, " Pray, do not go on,-' Minnie tremulously implored, "do not frame it into words ; it may not be so bad as our fears make it." " Can I do anything for you ?" " Yes ; let me go away where I can be quite by my- self — away up to the closet in tiie attic, where I can be alone — all, sole alone." "But. my poor child, you know ]iow much, with all these fresh arrivals, we need 3-our help." " I know it, Mrs. Stanton ; but you must give me a little time to still this heavy pain in my head — this heavier ache at my heart. Heaven forgive me! how shall I again learn to labor with zeal in a cause trebly dear because lie was Avith it, heart and soul ?" In -using the past tense, the speaker had unwittingly framed into words the burden of her grief. Does not the woe-fraught cry, "He was, and is no- more!" form sad, md refrain to all our national lyrics now ! " Take your own time ; we will get along without you until you have a little recovered from the" shock of this sudden news. Go ; and come back as soon as vou arc able." As Minnie crept up the front staircase, the light, laughing tones of a couple of visitors, relatives to a con- valescing patient, floated dovrn to her from the landing. What had she to do with mirth? The sounds smote on her ear like those of cruel mockery. She retraced her steps, gaining her liavcn of refuge by a back stairway. Closing the door behind her, she turned the large wooden button barring outer entrance. Her chosen place of re- treat might have been six feet square ; on one side were piled promiscuously together rolls of bandage, splints, nannel wrappers, and loose quilted slippers. Making for herself a place to sit down amongst all this sick-room paraphernalia, and crossing her arms over a package of old linen, she bent her throbbing head thereupon. If THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 139 shetliouglit at all, it was in disjointed, desultory fashion, expressing itself in broken, ejacnlatorj phrase, as thus — '' Has all the cream of my life gone so soon ? and is the rest to be duty — only duty ? I can bear it, or it would not be sent { but life seems long to look forward to — ^veariiy, drearily long. You were always true, Morland ; you are true still. Better eyen this than to know you false ; better to lose you for this life than to loss you forever. If you are not mine for this present time, you are mine for all time to come. You have earned your release ; I will be patient in yr ell-doing until mine is also earned J' The sun went down on her grief, and still she sat mo- tionless, her head bowed on her arms. There was a tap at the door. '' Yf ho is it ?" she asked. "It is I, Mrs. Stanton. Aren't you coming down?" '• ]^ot now. Give me until to-morrow morning, please." "Bat you are not going to sleep in this uncomfortable place V ^ " Isot to sleep. I only wish to remain where I am sure of being undisturbed." '• Shall I send you up a cup of tea ?" " You are yery kind ; bat I wish for nothing." "^oL even for a lio-ht ?" " TsTot even for that, I thank Mrs. Stanton went softly away. On the stairs she met her brother, and stopped liim to say : " Minnie Brandon Jias received news of the probable death of the young man to yvdiom she was engaged. She takes it so deeply to heart that I fear she will make her- self ill, and we cannot spare her just now." " 0/ course we can't : she can turn her hand to any- thing, and is never tired or out of sorts ; I will attend to 140 THE KIVAL VOLUXTHEKS; OR, lier case in the morning. Send me the poppy-leaf cat- aplasm as soon as it is prepared." The honr of midnight found Minnie sitting upright on her unique couch, her eyes gazing blankly inio space, not^ even noling tlie pitchy darkness of her little cell, vrhich was lighted only by a pane of glass over the door. " His name has been mentioned in no official report," she said to herself; '' and no news is not necessarily bad news. Tiiere are a thousand chances in his favor. I did bnt jump at a rash conclusion when I so hastily gave him up as lost. He may have fallen into the hands of the enemy, and there is*^ the hope of his being released on parole, if he would accept release on such terms, or of his being exchanged. He may have been wounded, and have crawled away to some safe place of shelter. If I could but go to him, and give him the kindly tend- ance he needs ; it may not be. It is enough for me to know that he still lives. My consciousness cannot thus mock me with vain lono-inirs. This sweet, consolinic presence conies as precious solace in my hour of sore trial — came of itself; I did not seek it, 'and it is only good gifts that come freely, like heaven's descending dews. Ko, Morland ; it is not as of one gone to his long, last rest, that I think of you, bnt as of one suffer- ing ills I am powerless to aveit. You must endure ; I must labor and strive in the way wherein it is appointed unto me to walk. I will not sit me down in idle repin- ing over what I cannot alleviate. I will seek, through rest, to gain strength for the morrow's duties." Contrary to her anticipations, sleep steeped lier senses in balmy repose, and she rose calm and refreshed at her usual hour. There was a large accession of inmates to the hospital ; and in incessant occupation with lancet and trephine, splint and band, Dr. AValdo forgot the -ise which no louo-er needed his care. She was a little THE BLACK PLUME IIIFLES. 141 absent-minded, at times, v/ith the air of one searcliing vainly for tlie nnseen and the nnreal — the impalpable something which just escaped hei* vision ; bnt aside from this, she went bravely on, with unfaltering step, in the course she had marked out for herself. No smile ever came to lier Jips, but she was blessed with tliat calm peace and self-approval which is the best substi- tute for happiness. It v/as only at the hour for the post- boy's arrival that she became uneasy and restless. It was hard to receive, as repeated reply to her^eager in- quiries, "ISothing to-day for you, Miss." Ker spirit almost fainted within her as she occasionally reflected that the most dearly cherished hope of her life had no foundation more stable than that afforded by her ovai settled convictions. Early springtime came, spreading carpet of living green on prairie slope and sunny vale, and garlanding with delicate bloom the nectarine and the pink rareripe. Bees hummed in the shrubs, birds sang on the trees, but to Minnie came sound more welcome, sight more joyous than rarest tone or sweetest flower. It was with a cry of rapturous delight that she recognized the handwriting on the package handed her by the post-boy. In that in- stant's joy was obliterated every trace of the long hours of tedious waiting that had preceded it. She felt no immediate desire to ascertain the contents of the little package that, like an enchanted wand, had, by one wave, brushed away the lowering clouds that threatened to darken all her future. It w^as enough for her to know that he was alive and well ; yes, well, for no feeble, nerveless hand ever traced those bold, Arm slopes and curves on which she gazed. A one-armed soldier waited for her to write a letter at his dictation. He was a sturdy backwoodsman, rough but honest. She sat down at the small table beside his cot and arranged pen, ink and paper. 14:2 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, " Now, Mr. Hobson, I ain ready to commence. What shall I write?'' " Wal, I reckon, yon may as well tote in my love and respects stronsj ; a whole mst on 'em won't do no harm. '•But wouldn't it be better to let that come in toward the clos3 of the letter V ••• Mebbe so ; I don't care where yon bring it in, if you only do it up brown, and enough of it. Now I'll begin again. You tell Polly that taint no use grumbling at the ways o' Pr-jvidence — she's kind o' riled up when things get into a snarl, is Polly ; and files into raving, distracted hy-ster-ics, which ain't to be wondered at, seiin' a woman ain't a reasonin' creetur, though as good- hearted as ever drew the breath o' life, and no mure ac- countable for a fit of the tantrums than a nanny-goat for butting at a brier-bush and gnawing the bark oft' my best garden sweetin', for natnr' made 'em so — and it's what I tole 'er an' tole 'er again, line upon line, and pre- cept upon precept, that fall that the murrain got afoul of tiie sheep, and the cattle distemper was lively, and kicking Bill backed down the trap-door that shiftless Dave had left open at the back of his stall, into the pig- pen, and hung himself by the neck till he was stone dead ; and little Cyrus got a bean up his nose ; and baby crawled into the sink-spout and nigh about got choked to death; an', to cap tiie apax, mumps, measles and shakes lit on all the young ones at once, and turned our log sharjty into a regular hospital. You can't blame Polly, can yoa now? fort'.iinking that bedlam had broke loose and was bent on raising Cain about our cl3arin'." " Your good wife seems to have been subjected to heavy trials; but you surely do not wish me to repeat to her what must already be familiar to her recollection." " Jerusalem ! I should hope not. Just tell the dear soul not to be down in the mouth and work herself into THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 143 an awful stew, but to keep a stiff upper lip, for we ain't in so bad a kittle of fish as manj a likely cliap bas fell into — things might be worse, a master sight worse." " May I ask to what things you specially refer ?" '" I sliouldn't think a body need to ask that, when it's plain to see that I have got to wear one empty frock- sleeve all tlie rest of my days." " Has Ivirs. ilobson been informed of this misfor- tune r' '• It stands to reason that she liaint v/hen I have to make my mark every time I sign my name, and don't know one letter from t'other. Tiiis is the very first time I've got a chance to send a vrord home, though it's many I should have liked to send." " Xo doubt of it. I think I can send the word you wish spoken now." She bent over the table, wrote for a few minutes rapidly, then read aloud to him wdiat she had written. On finishing the perusal, she failed of the approving look she had tiiought to w^in. ''You are not pleased wdtli my vray of stating the case," she said, questioningly. '• Oil, it isn't that ; but you have worded it so cruel genteel that, I reckon, Polly won't never know what you are drivin' at. You see, we are plain, homespun folks ; and she likes my homely words, because she is used to 'em, an' never had 'em used to hurt her, better than the newfangledest ones you could scaix3 up, no matter how 'cute they was." " She shall have your very words, Mr. Hobson. "What next do you wish said ?" '• Tell her it was my left arm that was shot away, and my right is as sound as a drum ; and don't forget to mention that though I got an ugly wipe across the face, not one of the pesky varmints can boast of havin' hit -Silas Hobson in the back. Matters ain't so bad as they 1-14 THE iiivAL voi.i'nti:i:rs ; oi?, might be,. by a long chalk; Tin vrortb a dozen dead men yet ; tor my eyesight is tip-top yet, an' I can bito off a cartridge with the best on 'em. Ask Jier what signifies tlie loss of an arm, wben our next-door neigh- bur, llolf Karl, bad bis bead blew off witb a liowitzei", and poor Gretscben will never get a hearty grip from bis strong band agin.'' " Wait nniil I iinish wbat you have already told me," said Minnie, her band gliding over the paper ; adding in a few minntes, " Xow I am ready for wbat you bave to say." '- Perbaps yon would tbink it sounded Hat if 1 was to say right out wbat was in my thoughts." 'vKever mind wbat / tliink ; it is to tbose wbo will be tliankful to bave your real tbougbts that you are v\-riting, not to me." '* Tbat is so ; and here goes. Tell Polly Pve forded no end of water-courses sence Pve been a-sogering, but Pd give more for one look at Pinfisli brook witli the water-wheel I wbittled out for our Cy. tban for all tbe mill privileges on the wbole of 'em. Pd rutlier see one of the stuntedest of our witcb-bazels tban a wbole woods full of tbe tallest kind of bawtborn, hickory and yellow- wood tree. And come to women, Pve seen 'em in their silks and satins tbat would coax a man's secrets ont of liim, like Delilab of old, and give bim up to the Philis- tines witbout no more ado. - If handsome is as band- some does, tben my bomespun Polly is tbe best of the lot ; and you tell her so, witb my lovin' duty and ever- lastin' respects. You ain't laugbin' at me, be yon, young woman ?" ''• L)id yo!i tbink I could be so beartless. sir, wben I am writing wbat your dear ones at bome will be proud and glad to know, tbat, in absence, you bold tbem in constant and steadfast remembrance ?" " That's tbe talk ; I sbouldn't mind a tcucb or two THE BLACK PLUME niFLES. 145 of that kind o' swectnin', jest to top off- with, when you've stowed away all the hearty Yicliials." The missive was completed, at last, entirely to the satisfaction of its projector. It was late when Minnie retired to the closet she had, throiigli chaim of prior occupancy, appropriated as dor- mitory, by ti-ansferring thereto the husk mattress which had been hers in the crowded sleeping- ward hitherto shared with lier companions. It was late, as I said, but even had night merged in the " wee sma' hours beyant the twal," she wouid not longer have delayed an exami- nation of the precious package whose receipt had given a fresh tinge to her cheek, fresh inipulse to languid motive, and renewed vigor to her entire being. *The removal of the outer wrapping disclosed to her view one of those little, closely-ruled books, in water-proof binding, and provided with rubber pencil-case, soldiers sometimes use in keeping their accounts. Well filled was the diminutive volume — a manuscript duodecimo written for no eye save hers. She read, or rather devoured, the pages. " Laurenstein IlEiGnTS, Mar. 6. *' Absent tet ever with me : — ISTow that I can raise my head from the pillow, which is a luxury I once feared it would never again be mine to enjoy, I will expend any extra strength I can spare, in recounting to one who lives in my dreams, waking and sleeping, at morn and noon and even, the means which brought me to this comfortable retreat. " You may remember my telling you, the last tim3 I wrote, that 1 was almost worn out with using pick and spade, a kind of labor to which I was wholly unaccas- tomed. First my hands were blistered, then raw, and after taking cold in them, painfully inflamed. I did well enough till my api)etite gave out, and then work 7 146 THE KIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, was a weariness to body and spirit, using up the tissues wliicli a prudent soldier, beyond all other men, should hold back as reserve, in case of sudden onslaught from that ever-vigilant foe of camp life, disease, or to repair any unexpected drain on the vital energies, liable at any moment to occur. However, I toiled on with right good will, cheering myself with the thought that the moat was nearly comiDlcted and then I could rest, for it would only be a case of emergency that would compel me to shoulder arms with my swollen and bandaged hands. That emergency came. We were supplied with two days' rations and marched over the rear bridge of tha fort at midnight, that the villagers might not sus- pect our departure. Of our place of destination I was profoundly ignorant ; a soldier obeys orders, but asks no questions. " My musket I slung over my shoulders, by permis- sion, as I could not grasp its stock with my sore and stiffened fingers. Had it not been for our frequent halts, I must have sunk from exhaustion. As it was, flashes of heat darted through my veins, succeeded by cold, shivering chills. An irritability for which I could not account took 23ossession of me ; a parching thirst that would not be quenched, though I filled and emptied ray canteen at every brook we crossed, tormented me. " When the sun came out, I was ready to drop be- neath its scorching rays that made me feel like a wilted weed. All day long, save during brief periods of rest, we marched on. I longed. for the going down of the sun tliat I might throw o-ff the grievous burden of gun and haversack, while the others ate their hard bread for supper. Xature, at last, would endure no longer ; the way was uneven, I lost my footing and fell to the ground unable to rise again, A mist was before my eyes for a few minutes, and when it cleared away, one of my comrades, who had dragged me to a tree and THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 147 leaned nic against it, was pouring water on my head. He lianded me a ticket on which was written ; "'The hearer has my permission to fall out of the ranks, he heing nnahle to proceed with the regiment. '' ' E. H. GiLMAx, Captain of Company B^ " So I was left alone, at the edge of a dark pine forest, where I couldn't help thinking there was much probahiiity that my bones might bleach. I crawled into the shade of a clump of chinquapin, whose dry rustling leaves would, in a measure, screen me from the obser- vation of passers-by. There I lay, helpless and still, not sleeping, but in a dull, heavy stupor from which nothing aroused me. That protracted lethargy, during which I scarcely felt or thought, was a mercy, I am sure ; for it prevented my dwelUng on the deplorable condition in which I found myself. My feet were in as bad a state as my hands, owing to my long march in boots whose inner soles were made of an apology for leather, worked up from odds and ends of the same reduced to pulp and passed between rollers, being thus pressed into sheets, ht companions for the shoddy sometimes imposed upon unwary contractors. With hands inflamed, feet ulcer- ated, and fever raging in my veins, you will see that my prospects of escape Avere not flattering. Fortunately I was blessed with a plentiful supply of cold water from a spring in the rocks. For a time, I needed nothing more. " In a few days the fever exhausted itself ; and then I needed those little acts of care and kindness so indis- pensable to the recovery of the sick. In the full strength of vigorous health, one may be self-reliant, self-sus- tained ; but when prostrate by weakness, one craves kindly tendance from other hands, fi-iendly tones from other lips, and gentle looks from other eyes. It was a burdensome efl'ort for me to fill my canteen from the 148 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, spring, and soak in a tin cnp the bit of Lard bread which was all tlic food I took, or had to take. '' Do you remember how little Paul Dombey nsed to try and make out what the waters were saying as they glided out from the sliadows of the dead past, and hur- ried alono;, Avith many-voiced murmur, to the shadows of the unknown future ? Something of that sort I expe- rienced as I lay on my couch of leaves in the sombre shade of that dim old wood. My brain, as matter of course, shared the general prostration of my entire sys- teui, and if it conveyed to my spiritual being impres- sions vague, shadowy and unreal, was hardly to be held accountable, as it would have been under more normal influences. It was the voice of the wind in the solitary pines to which I hearkened, in changeful mood, as its tones soothed me to rest or moved me to sadness. I strained my ears to catch the breezy whisper, at times, and again it swelled into accents of piteous entreaty, of sad and hopeless longing. One niglit, during which I never once closed my eyes, rose on the air the shriek of the blast, torn and rent by the coming tempest. I rolled myself beneath a shelving rock to escape the violence of the threatening storm. I was driven almost to frenzy by the howling of the elements, which subsided toward morning into those mournful, dirge-like tones we chant at the graves of those we love. If it seem strange to you that I could have been thus deeply moved by cause so inadequate, you must remember that I was weak as a child, and correspondingly childish. Besides, I was quite alone ; and have not solitary prisoners been known to lavish their regards on a weed, a mouse, a mole or a beetle, as a last desperate resort for com- panionship ? " When my two days' rations were exhausted, I was strong enough to bind up my feet with rags, and hobble along by aid of a stout cudgel, a short distance at a THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 149 time. I thought it my safest course to keep the shelter of the wood, for I knew that if I should fall in with the guerillas, I siiould be shot down with as little com- punction as though I were a dog. " My prospects of forage vrere of the scantiest ; as the few niits of last year's growth 1 picked up under an occasional hickory or chinquapin formed my main de- pendence. " 1 will write you more to-morrow, as I am unable to proceed at present, my pencil flying from my fingers when I strive to grasp it firmly." CHAPTEE X PEISOXER S DIAEY. Mar. 7. — It was but a short distance I could drag myself along at a time, wearily trailing my musket after me, so I followed the course of a narrow stream leading northwardly, that I might not be forced to en- croach on my small remnant of strength in searching for water. On its bank, I came across a sort of wild thorn-apple tree, to w^hose leafless branches still clung a considerable quantity of the fruit, which, though softened by frost, w^as not to be despised by one whose commissary stores were in such a state of depletion as mine. As I could neither climb the tree nor fell it, I had recourse to a forked stick in pulling down its branches, from which I partly filled my empty haver- sack. A silver-grey squirrel bounced out of a hole in the trunk and was off in a twinkling. To the little crea- ture's provident foresight I owed a timely supply of shell-barks, acorns, wild oats, and corn, which 1 appro- 150 THE rJVAL VOLUXTEERS; OR, priated -sTithoiit scruple, and proceeded on my way rejoicing in the i)roud consciousness of being a man of means once more. The longer I followed the windings of the stream the fartlier it seemed to lead me into the depths of the forest, until I became convinced that, if nearing tlie fort at all, it was by a most circuitous route. At last, I approached an opening, and my eyes were gladdened at sight of human habitation, a humble dwelling of a single story, with cow-stable attached. I resolved to reconnoitre the position during the night, and to be governed by .the result. The near discharge of a gun gave me a violent start. I made off, through a copse of ground laurel, as fast as hands and feet would carry me ; and was just congratu- lating myself on escape from imminent peril, when crack went a second shot, which brought an involuntary cry to my lips, for I was hit. Another instant, and a man whose name I could not, and cannot now recall, although I recognized him as belonging to one of the regiments of our brigade, was bending over me, mutter- ing with a look of consternation and horror, "Too con- founded bad, by Jove! Who would have thought to find one of our fellows here ?" Through the slit he cut in the leg of my pantaloons, the blood spirted up in jets, showing that an artery had been sundered. Tearing his red silk handkerchief into strips, he bound the same as ligature above and below the wound, tightening the higher bandage by running his bayonet beneath it, and giving the blade a double turn, after which he dressed the hurt as well as the means at his disposal would allow. Gathering a pile of leaves for my pillow, and folding about me the blan- ket he had worn strapped across his shoulders, I was," aside from the fiery tingling of the deep flesh-wound throbbing through my injured limb, more comfortably THE BLACK PLUilE RIFLES. 151 circumstanced than I had been since taking np "^'ith forest-lodgings. Opening his haversack, my hospitable host tempted me ^vith its delicacies — parched corn, boiled chestnuts, and freshlv-baked oat-cake. " A gift of reconciliation," said he ; " pray partake. Yon know I would not purposely have harmed a hair of your head. On all fours as you were, I mistook you in the laurel shrubs for a villainous wolf-hound which sprang upon and would have throttled me, if I had not clubbed my musket and fended off the brute. •See how he tore my sleeve and lacerated my arm. You need nothing I can get for you now, unless it be a draught of fresh water, which I will bring from the well I saw near the house below," He started, taking his gun, but leaving his haversack with contents temptingly displayed beside me. I was roused to a sense of anxious foreboding by the sound of a pistol-shot soon after his departure, and waited long for his return ; waiting in vain. He never came back to me ; and I have heard nothing of him from that day to this. I thought my trials had already been tolerably severe ; but they sank into insignificance in comparison with what followed. Kext day, my wound was much more painful, and I couldn't move even a toe without hurting the tense and swollen muscles. For food I had not the least desire, but the claims of thirst became, each hour, more importunate. Swarms of gnats clus- tered about me, and drove me half frantic with their stings. Winged bugs from some rhododendrons near seemed sociably inclined, and one audacious ear-wig really frightened me by repeated attempts to carry auricular portcullis by a bold dash. Toward nightfall, my craving for water became so m-gent that I determined to see how far locomotion was possible to me ; but only succeeded in raising myself on 152 THE MTAL VOLUNTEERS; OR, my elbow, when I was forced to lie down again, half fainting with pain. The dew gathered on tne tender laurel slioots, and the cool drops were grateful to my parched ton_2;ue. A rain soft and continuous commenced at dawn. In one sense, this was a relief, for I caught the descending moistui-e in my mouth, absorbed it through my pores, and thus, in some slight measure, alleviated the feverish tliirst that was fast degenerating into a burning scald from thi15at to stomach. But as every benefit "in this woe-worn world of ours has its corresponding drawback, this steadily-pouring rain soon chilled me to the very marrow, and added greatly to my sufferings. In all my joints were such wringing pains that they made me writhe, which only irritated my wound ; but worst of all to bear, was a sharp, darting ache that took its rise in the temples, coursed with various turnings and branchings down both sides of the face, and brought up in the teeth with such a sharp turn, that they seemed bent on quitting altogether, and were so nearly wrenched out of their sockets, that I couldn't shut my mourii. Two days went by in this way, and then the sun came out once more — came out with a perfect blaze of brightness that penetrated like sharp blades through my weak eyes into my weaker brain. Again my ])oor throat throbbed and burned with a dry heat that filled me with a maddening; lona^ins: for a coolino^*draui2:ht. I think my senses must have slightly wandered at times, as I more than once started from an attack of drowsy lethargy to implore a cup of cold water from an liiiiiginary bystander, who, tantalizingly placed the refreshing beverage just beyond my reach. I have heard persons complain of being light-headed ; if that was the feeling I experienced, pray Heaven I never be called upon to endure it again. It was as though the THE BLACK PLU3IE RIFLES. 153 eartli vras solid and enduring, while I -^vas so light and visionary, that there were no sufficient ties to bind me to its friendlj liold — a hold to which I clung with the tenacity of a drowning man to a straw. I could not keep my eyes oii* a tree, a locust, I believe, which stood a short distance from where I lay. Its flexile, willowy branches, as they bent toward me, swayed by the wind, seemed about to raise me from the ground, and waft me away to realms viewless and afar, w ith the strength of desperation, I strove with all the might of my being to retain my hold on this mortal sphere, by withstanding the allnrements tempting me to soar upward in untried flight, and grasping the laurels so flriidy rooted to earth. There was a footstep, a soft, velvety, treacherous step on the dry leaves about me ; it drew stealthily nearer, but yet inspired me with no fear. The sharp pointed muzzle, the lean, hungry jaws, armed with deadly in- cisors, approaching so dangerously near ray unguarded throat, yet awoke in me no terror. Full in the eyes of the savage beast that had lacerated tlie arm to which I owed my then helpless condition I looked without blenching. Dr. Livingstone, the celebrated African explorer, tells us, if I am not mistaken, that, on being seized upon by a lion, he felt, after the first rough shake by the formidable monster, neither pain nor apprehen- sion of what was to follow. This, it seems to me, is easily accounted for. The wolf-hound had not laid a fang on me, and yet I was as indifferent to his talons' gripe as though I had not been fully exposed to their powerful grasp. Through physical sufl'ei'ing, added to the dread that my spiritual being might become a wreck before its release from material organism, I had so nearly reached the acme of human endurance that an additional pang would have driven me to insensibility or insanity. In mercy the final blow was withheld. 7* 154 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEEES; OR, The hound suddenly sniffed the air, and betook him- self to the forest depths. A heavy step drew near, and a stalwart negro stood before me. Scarcely deignim^ me a look, he critically examined my musket, and leaned it against the trunk of a tree. Next he lunched composedly from the haver- sack ; but started up in a fluster, emptying his mouth hurriedly, and stuffing his pockets with the remnants of his repast, as the sound of approaching hoofs caught his ear. A call, like the clear note of a flute, vibrated on the air. '* Here I am. Missis ; com in','' responded my sable visitor. A lady, who, at flrst sight, made me think of Scot's Die Yernon, she managed her spirited steed with such an easy, off-hand grace, rode up. If you would know what she was like in feature, look at the Maid of Sara- goza. in colored crayons, over your mantel — the same oval face, raven-black hair, almond-shaped eyes, sliglitly depressed at their inner corners, full of seeming languor, but veiling a latent fire that tells you the dagger at her girdle may be worn for other purposes than mere ornament. "Why are you not at your hoeing, Grumbo?" she asked with severity. " I'se jest gwine. Missis ; I'se only dun ben snarin' a coon for that bressed Rose." The lady reined her horse up beside me. "How long have you been lying here?" she asked, with that compassion which is the birth-right of your sex. I strove to answer ; but, to my surprise, found that I could not articulate a single s^dlable. Springing lightly to the ground, she unfastened a small wicker flask from the ring attaching it to her belt, and pouring some wine THE BLACK PLr:M:E HIFLES. 155 into the tin cup beside me, held it to my lips. My throat ^VRS so sore and swollen that I could not swallow a drop, and came near strangulation in making the attempt. " Here, Grumbo, go for a couple of servants, and see that they bring cushions and whatever is needful for carrying a sick man ; Aunt Winifred will direct you." She remained beside me, her bridle rein thrown care- lessly over her arm, while her behests were carried into effect. I was thankful for the protection of her presence, although her manner was marked by that air of haughty disdain, so often acquired through constant association with flatterers or inferiors. The servants arrived promptly, and she sprang to her seat in the saddle, scarcely pressing, with her slenderly arched foot, the broad, ebon palm aiding her as step in mounting. In passing the small dwelling of a single story I have already mentioned, I noticed that it had been burned to the ground. Through a broad gateway my carriers bore me, up an ascending carriage-sweep, bordered on either side by double rows of the golden-belled cycanthea. Kounding a]i acclivity, studded with magnolia and cottonwood, we came in sight of a large stone villa, with a highly ornate tower, balconies, arcades, verandas, and all the modern pretensions to elegance and symmetry of archi- tectural design. At the carriage-porch my benefactress met us, and, at a sign from her, 1 was borne through hall and corridor up the velvet-piled staircase, whose panelled mirrors showed me a face I at first mistook for that of a stranger — a face haggard and worn, with nntrimmed beard and matted hair, with bloodshot eyes and farrowed brow^ — my own. IS"© one who has not suffered as I had, untended and alone, with the earth for a, couch and the sky for a covering, can conceive the depth of my gratitude and 156 THE EITAL YOTUXTEEKS ; OR, my content at finding myself kindly provided for be- neatli the shelter of a comfortable roof. The chamber assigned ine was a large airy apartment commanding a fine view of the grounds. The windows were barred and grated — bat what of that ? Disease, in my case, Avas more potent jailer than any other to whose watch and ward 1 could have been subjected. A surgeon was summoned to my aid, and, for the first time, my wound was properly dressed. For three days I lay in a sort of stupor, partially induced by soothing drugs that lulled the pain and granted me rest. Then came that depressing faintness resulting from a sickly, fitful craving for nutriment which the system has no power to digest or assimilate. I didn't know this, how- ever, and prayed for food with the pertinacity of a street beggar who wishes to get the servant away from the door that petty piherings may be safely ventured on. In a feeble whisper I assured the doctor that I was actually starving, and tried to put the case pathetically by telling him that when shipwrecked mariners, or Arctic voyagers, beleaguered by frost and snow, nar- rated their struggles fur subsistence, everybody listened with the deepest commiseration, but when it was only a poor wretch of a patient who was famisiiing scientifically, under lawful medical ban, he was welcome to do so at his leisure, while Levite, Pharisee, Samaritan and all passed by on the other side. " Mj dear fellow," said the doctor, with blandest good- humor, *'I must really congratulate you on your im- proved prospects. Your symptoms are more favorable thcin I had reasjn to anticipate." " What symptoms ?" I asked, sulkily. " Tills excessive irritability, tor one," he returned, " is, almost invariald}^, one of the earliest precursors of con- valescence. Then your complaints of hunger arc just what I could have wished — ^highly encouraging." THE BLACK PLTTITE EIFLES. 157 My indignation and disgust I had no words to express. To think of the creature's prating of irritability when I had only uttered the calmest protest against slow murder by famine, and sitting calmly by expressing gratilica- tion at the pangs of hunger he was forcing me to undergo. If I had told him what I thought of this heartless persecution of one helpless to resist the tyranny of professional dictum, it would have been in language far from complimentary ; but I had sense enough to restrain all expression of resentment, and to ask with a show of outward calmness how soon I was to be allowed something to eat. '' Your appetite is naturally fastidious, at present," said he, whisking a speck of dust from his faultless patent- leathers ; '' we nmst allow it to become a trifle more nor- mal in its importunities before it will be safe to yield to its demands. I will look at your tongue. Better, de- cidedly ; clearing at the edges, with less irritation of the oesophagus. Can you think now of a thimbleful of any sort of conserve you could relish ?" *' Hang conserves," I answered, crossly ; ^' I don't care a straw for anything by way of relish ; but I should be thankful for a scrap of wholesome, nourishing food, if it were nothing better than a bit of corn-dodger, to stop this dying faintncss which is as hard as pain to bear." '' I know it," he admitted, with pretended sympathy, " and it is what we cannot at once alleviate. How would the wing of a canvas-back, if boiled until very tender, with macaroni, and a morsel of lettuce, suit you ?" " To a charm. How soon can I have them ?" " We will decide that point next time I call. If I have succeeded in rousing your torpid digestives to a state of more normal activity than they have hitherto evinced, I have accomplished all, and more than all, I proposed eflecting at this visit. Am use your fancy by conjuring up all the dainty dishes Miss T\'inifred will have the 158 THE RIYAL VOLrNTEEHS ; OE, pleasure of preparing for you as soon as jou take off your ir.rs — from the unruly member, I mean. If 3'ou can work off any of this surplus spleen by hard thoughts of the doctor, so much the better for you, and none the worse for him — lie is used to it." I thouglit this adding insult to injury, and scowled at him, as, with urbane sauvity, he wished me '' a very good day." I must close my record for to-day, as giddiness already warns me that I have exceeded the limits of my slowly- returning strength. To-morrow, if possible, I shall re- sume tlie pencil which affords me, at once, employment and recreation. Mar. 10. — I can write but a few lines for your con- templated perusal to-day, Minnie; for Dr. Bolus, ne Saltonstall, has put an injunction on paper and pencil, in order to restrain within bounds what he terms my irregular mode of procedure therewith. The fact is, that I so exhausted myself by over-exertion on Friday that I have scarcely been able to open my eyes or raise my head from the pillow since, and have gone back to hyoscyamus and lupuline as quietants. I bear the in- terdiction with the greater equanimity that it will be all the same to you whether I write now or a week hence ; as, owing to interruptions and irregularities in postal service, I have no means of communicating with you by letter or otherwise. I have not as yet told you anything about the inmates of this luxurious abode, because I have had very little to tell. The jauntily-dressed man-servant who looped a cord about my wrist, and fastened it to the bell-spring that was beyond my reach, that I might ring for him when needful, never fails to obey my summons promptly, and serves me with ready civility, but evidently looks upon me as no friend to the house, and never wastes on me a single superfluous word. THE BLACK PLUME EITLES. 159 Miss Holmes — Aunt "Winifred, as they call her — is a kind-hearted, elderly maiden, who makes me lotions and herb-drinks, and is the only living being about the place -who ever condescends to enter into conversation with nie. Through her I learn that the name of the lady who rescued me from a lingering death is Elanwood ; that siie is only child of Judge Carroll, a man of considerable local celebrity, and wife of a rebel officer to whom she has been less than a year wedded. Energetic, self-reli- ant, rather educated than accomplished, gifted with rare personal charms, and an heiress in her own right, no wonder that she exerts an influence not usually accorded a woman, not only tln-oughout her own plantation, but over the community at large. These fearless, spirited southern women, when their fathers, husbands, and brothers are serving in the army, dauntlessly brave _ many a peril, and follow many a masculine avocation in a way that shocks our stricter sense of propriety ; but it cannot be denied, after all, that this fervor of feminine partisanship, encouraged rather than repressed by the chivalry, is a source of strength to their cause. Pray Heaven that the trying necessities of the hour never force you to cast aside the delicate mantle of feminine reserve screening you from rude or vulgar gaze, and to brave the rough gales your form is too slight to withstand ; grasping the heavy brand never meant for such tender hands. If my hopes miglit but be index to your happi- ness, rest assured all would bo well with you. Wednesday, Mar. 12. — Yesterday was the first time that, by aid of a crutch and the doctor's arm, I was able to get across the room, and to sit for a couple of hours at the window. It was very painful to straighten out the contracted muscles of my wounded leg, but I was amply repaid for the suffering by the pleasure of looking forth on a scene so fair as the one greeting my sight. A cold grapery, with its white and purple clusters of luscious 160 THE KITAL TOL^^'TEE^.S ; OR, fruit, first caught my eye on a southern slope. The shrubs dottino: the hillside lawn were already draped in cool spring robes of tender green, sometimes efiloretted with gold nnd silver, ruby, garnet and amethystine tint. A triple row of budding ma])les screened the huts of the negroes from observation. Farther on, I watched their leisurely labors in the hemp and tobacco fields. As 1 thus indolently watched others toil, Mrs. Elan- wood, whom I had scarcely seen since the day of my arrival, emerged from a side-door, followed by a couple of servants bearing a large heavy carpet, which they commenced beating, after carrying it to the rear of the premises. Her horse was led to the entrance-door, and from step to saddle she sprang without aid, and gal- lopped away to the field where her laborers were em- ployed. Not a hoe or spade but moved more quickly at her approach. She seemed possessed of an exuber- ant vitality that inspired others with something of her own energy. Was the woman ubiquitous? Scarcel}^ five minutes had elapsed since 1 saw her picking her way along the ridges and furrows of the open fields, and there she was a mile away, throwing her bridle-rein to a colored youth, and entering a saw-mill on the stream. My door opened, and Miss Holmes softly entered. After congratulating me on my improved appearance, she drew a chair for herself to the opposite window. '• Dear me," she sighed, " that irrepressible Adrienne will give us no rest. Up with the dawn, she seems inca- pable of fatigue, and we lag after her with tired steps, trying to second her plans. Is that Aclimed, her sad- dle-horse, at the saw-mill yonder ?" " If Adrienne be Mrs. Elanwood, she dismounted but a moment previous to your entrance." "Pardon me — the same. She has received orders for lumber from the commandant at ' Brentford Barracks,' THE BLACK PLUME PaFLES. 161 wliicli she chooses to see filled, as she prides herself on having the entire estate as well managed during the General's absence as when he was here to sn])eriiitend affairs. So absurd for a lady of refilled and elegant culture to bother her head with sorting timber and planks, rafters and joists, boarding and fiooring, as she does. Do jou see that carpet she has had dragged up from the drawing-room floor this morning?" ''I have been looking at it ; a splendid piece of weav- ing and coloring." '' I thought so when I applauded its selection at I^ash- ville. The idea of cutting up a medallion like that for soldiers' bunks and floor-cloths ! but she will have it so. "When I remonstrated that a three-ply, or bocking even, would do just as well for the rougli wear and tear to which it would be exposed, she shut me up with — ' Bock- ing for the poor fellows who are blanketless, and you so please ; but for the master of Laurenstein there is no- thing at Laurenstein too good. He shall have soft car- pets, and snowy linen, and palatable viands so long as there is strength in this poor hand to prepare them, and skill in this poor head to cunningly devise methods for conveying them to him.' I do believe she would screen the opening to his tent with the canopied curtains of lace and brocatelle if he would but express a half wish to that efi'ect. As though, with all his cares, he would stop to notice whether he trod on straw or velvet, looked through lace or tatters ; he anight, though, if it was her hand that bestowed the gift. " AYhy, we used to call him the confirmed bachelor — he used to dance with me, and has twice the age of my niece — he was so unimpressionable, in his lordly inde- pendence, scarcely glancing long enough at a woman to faee if she were a crow or a swan. That's the sort of man, so secure as he deems himself in his trebly-barred mail of haughty indifference, to be enthralled beyond all 162 hope of release, if suddenly taken olT his guard. He went often to discuss questions of state with the judge; and when he waxed eloquent over our sectional wrongs from those who, reaping the full benefit of our prosper- ity, whicli puts bread in the mouths of nortliern me- chanic and manufacturer, in return for which they seek by all means to embarrass our progress and cast a bone of contention in our path — one whicli they Avill gnaw to their cost if they do not drop it soon — Adrienne, who was present with nie at these interviews, and gets hold of burning words when her enthusiasm is roused, elec- trified him by the zeal with which she echoed and sustained his opinions. It was through the iiead she reached his heart, w^liich she holds none the less securely, perhaps, on that account. I always thought him singu- larly unobservant of trivial events, but in all matters pertaiuing to Adrienne his eyes are of the keenest ; not a bud in her braids, not the fall of a fold, not the float of a frill escapes him ; singular, isn't it ?" " It does not seem so to me," I replied. Do you know of whom I was thinking ? — Minnie. " See, she resumed, they are tearing down the beau- tiful iron fence that was so lately put up ; that goes with the chairs in the veranda and the railings of the balconies, for cannon-balls, I suppose. I wouldn't be surprised if the safe, with all its plate, went next. How I chatter to a stranger. I hope I have given you some- thing to think of and help pass away the hours which must go slowly with so much pain, and so few objects to fill them. Have you sat up long enough ? and shall I send Meldrone to your assistance ^" I was not quite ready to forego my freshly acquired privilege of sight-seeing ; and she left me to enjoy it unin- terruptedly. The carpet was freed from dust and car- ried into the house, Mrs. Elanwood disappearing along with it. I was thinking of pulling the cord at my wrist I THE BLACK PLUME PJFLES. 163 for help to aid me in returning to bed, Tvhen she re- appeared in Yelvet cap aiul closely-iitting jacket, and commenced firing at a target — a rude wooden figure of a man — aiming mostly at tlie heart, and proving herself quite an accomplished markswoman in that direction; though I couldn't help thinking there were more agree- able ways in which a lovely woman might approach a man's heart, than through the agency of a pistol- shot. Monday^ Mar. 2^. — It is more than a week since I have touched paper or pencil, for the weather has been 60 delightfully bland and summer-like, that I have, per order of Dr.'^Saltonstall, devoted my whole vitality to the process of recuperating in the open air. First, Mel- drone dragged me about in an old garden-chair he rummaged the attic to find ; but now I stroll about the grounds with only the drawback of a not very noticeable limp, When Mrs. Elanwood found that I was well enough to walk, she exacted my word of honor that I would not step outside certain prescribed limits ; this move on her part precluding all chance of escape, had it been other- wise practicable. I must tell you of a little occurrence happening yes- terday, which I shouldn't deem worth recounting at another time ; but now that we are unhappily at vari- ance with this people, any candid expression of their opinion ought to be of interest to us, as it never does any harm to look on both sides of a case, however firmly we may be grounded in the faith that our own side is wholly right, the opposing one wholly wrong. You must know that the negro chapel, a rough structure of pine boards near their quarters, although not within sight of the villa, was plainly within hear- ing of the same, fl was roused from a reverie, in the summer-house where I was lounging, by a succession 164 THE EIVAL YOLUXTEERS; OK, of tlie most discordant yells and shrieks that ever burst on astounded n-iortal's ear. Fire or insurrection was the least I could suppose those direful sounds to por- tend. Ci'eeping along in the shade of the shrubbery, I cautiously niado my way to the rear of the chapel whence all this din proceeded. Tlie position I was enabled to gain in the shadow of a shelving rock, afforded me, through an unglazed window with open shutter, an unobstructed view of the proceedings within, while I remained myself invisible. It verily seemed to me that the whole congregation, judging from the writhings and contortions of men, women and children, had been suddenly smitten with St. Yitus's dance ; while no exhibition-room short of Bedlam could have poured forth such a harrowing con- catenation of discordant sounds. While one shouted "Glory, hallelujah !" a second bellowed at the top of his voice, /' With cherubim and seraphim, O speak thy praises forth;" a third besought in excruciating falsetto, "Cry out and shout, O daughter of Zion;" and in shrill treble came cries of, " Bress de Lord, Amen ;'' witli a variety of kindred invocations. I must confess that I was deeply shocked at this seeming parody on the sacred rites of divine service. The door oppo&i<-e my post of observance was pushed slowly open, and Mrs. Ehmwood, holding up her cloth riding-skirt (she had just been to visit a sick child of the miller) in one daintily gauntleted hand, wliile in the other she carried a scarlet-handled riding-whip, banded with gold, looked with aspect of severe reproval about the shrieking assemblage. As one after another caught her look, so resolute, so replete with wordless censure, their voices died gradually away, until only an occa- sional subdued adjuration gave trace of the deafening uproar her entrance had hushed. Then she spoke : THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 165 " When jonr master was at home, vre had no such nnseenily tumult as this to quell ; and it is thus you make good jour promises to conduct yourselves with all decency and propriety while he is away, fighting the hardly-contested battles that insure our safety. Is it seemly, think you, to desecrate these quiet hours of Sabbath rest by yellings and hootings that remind one of a disgraceful street brawl ? Parson Cole, what excuse have you to ofl'er in palliation of the pernicious example you were setting your flock ?" This question was addressed to the chosen expounder of Holy Writ, occupying the rude pinewood desk he had been vigorously belaboring by way of emphasis to his soaring elocutionary flights. Thus appealed to, the embarrassed parson winked at the obese deacon who, after much fumbling in a leathern pouch, from which plugs of tobacco, broken pipes, fish-hooks and willow whistles persistently obtruded themselves on his unwill- ing notice, drew forth a rusty key, and fitting the same to the lock of the desk door, thereby granted the cleri- cal culprit release. Hanging his head with an air tech- nically termed sheepish, the reverend transgressor ap- proached his fair accuser. *' 'Taint none o' my fault. Missis ; all dis yere screech- in' an hollerin' ; it was all trou' Brudder Broadfoot dat de rumpus was brewed. What business hab he to git up on dat bench an' go to spoundin, when he no preacher, no notin, when I holdin' forth in de desk to all dese yere hardened worshippers of dere trespasses and sins ? Eight in de midst of my peroration, dis stiff-necked brudder bust right out a prayin' on his own hook, an' when all dese yere black sheep see dis one ole wether gwine ober de fence, ober dey all goes after him, each one a hollerin louder'n todder. Den what could I do, Missis, but push right straight on in de eben tenor ob my way ? Wasn't I put here to break de bread of truf to dese yere vile 166 . THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, worms ob de dust, an' was I to be blowed off de track by de vile bref of such a scum as dat Broadfoot ? I spects not. When he roared like a mighty bull o' Ijashan, what could I do but put in all de louder to drown him out? Didn't I liab a duty to perform to de congregation, which was mine, not his'n ?" "A strange way you took of performing it. What good did it do your congregation your outroaring it and him ?" '' Bress your heart, Missis, you no see dat ? How de sheep gwine to hear de voice ob de shepherd, 'less he cry out an' shout louder dan all de rest ob 'em ? More'n dat, how de good God to hear me widout I pitch my pipes louder'n all de oders ?" " He can hear the faintest whisper ; even a thought that is not breathed in words ; never forget that." "What ! Massa God hear dis misable sinner, when all his flock liftin' up dere voices like de mighty rushin' waters dat carries all afore 'em ?" "Even so. Parson Cole; through the thunder's roll and the liurri(5ane's crash, the faintest breath from a praying soul mounts upward to the great white throne. Remember, God is not deaf to the prayers of his chosen ; that he is not to be mocked with vain repetitions of idle sound; and remembering this, let me hear of no more noisy disturbances like the present." She turned to leave, and more than one voice cried in tone of penitent fondness : " God bless you, Missis ; you no hab to s-pesk again." I, too, hastened to make good my retreat ; but as I turned a corner of the chapel, I came face to face with the mistress of the Heights. " You here!" she ejaculated, with a look of startled surprise, which quickly gave place to a crimson flush of indignation on her cheek, an angry blaze in her eye, as she said in the low tones of suppressed resentment : THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES, 16T 'i You bave broken TOur parole, sir ; you are outside tbe prescribed bounds ; I will take good care tbat you find no opportunity for a repetition of tbe oifence." I endeavored to explain to ber tbat it was tbrougb purest inadvertence, wben tbrown off my guard by sounds whicb I feared portended evil to ber bousebold, tbat I bad overstepped tbe limits assigned me. " You anticipated notbing sbort of tbe rising of the neo-roes, an anticipation in wbicb tbe wish was fatber to tbe tbouo-bt," sbe returned, with a contemptuous curl of tbe lip. "^ " Do not flatter yourself, sir, tbat any sucb rare spectacular entertainment awaits you. My people are too good a set to be tampered witb— not an evil, base-beailed ingrate amongst tbem ; for every irreclaim- able knave or vagabond is relentlessly weeded out, to avoid contamination for tbe rest, and sent to our penal colonies— our Siberia, our Tan Dieman's Land— tbe rice plantations Soutb. It is you, and tbe like of you, wbo steal amongst us under cover of friendly, guise, dog our footsteps, prowl about our servants' quarters, and— but tbis is no place for v^rds like these. Come with me to the magnolia walk." I followed as requested, until we were beyond bearmg of any of the congregation disposed to become eaves- droppers. I feared even to parry ber reproaches, so much as attempt refuting ber ar2:uments, lest I should be drawn into an altercation tbat might prove strongly prejudicial to my own interests. Thus it was she wbo resumed : "It is your demoniac philanthropy that prevents our teaching and trainins; our dependents as many of us would gladly do. AVe cannot permit the unlettered hinds to learn tbe alphabet, in peace, from fear of in- cendiary pamphlets wherein most noble and Christian gentlemen do most Cbristianly proclaim doctrines which, Tf carried to strict logical result, would place the dagger 168 THE RIVAL YOLUNTEERS ; OR, of the assassin, the weapon of the malefactor, in hands now true to tlieir trust. Yes ; it is you, and such as yon, who would turn to curses the blessings they now shower upon us — who would teach them to tear the hand that feeds them, and to render not unto Ciesar the things that are Caesar's due.'' I protested that she wronged me foully by her ground- less suspicions ; but she was too much under the sway of their influence to heed my protest, which she cut short by her own vehement flow of speech. " I have been a quixotic fool," she cried, impulsively, " to extend the rites of friendly hospitality to one whose very garb — the cannon cross on whose cap front pro- claims him foe to all my heart holds dear. Are these hewers of wood and drawers of water — these untutored children of a semi-barbaric race, who are but half brouglit under the yoke of civilization as yet — fit sub- jects for freedom and self-government, think you? MVho would be free, himself must strike the blow.' So far from being ready to do this, our colored laborers have thus far shown no disposition to improve to the utmost the blow others have struck in their supposed behalf. It is for us they still have delved and trenched ; and, drive us too far to the wall, sir, and we will show you for whom they will fight. If you don't find your contrabands more ready to tax your charities than to render you diligent service, set me down as one who prognosticates falsely of these trying times. By my troth, but it would be a most edifying spectacle — oh, a most rare and suggestive spectacle — to see these faith- ful bondmen defending their righiful masters against tlie assaults of tlieir would-be liberators; and this is what it would come to unless you find an opportunity (Heaven avert the same) for imposing on the ignorant THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 169 credulity of the "blacks somo fiinciM tale of possible or snpposable wrong, and so turn to gall and wormwood tiie love they bear ns. This is wliat yon will hnd no second chance of accomplishing on this yjlantation." '• I have neither sought, nor do I wisli to seek, the accomplishment of any such purpose as that to which YOU refer," I firmly but quietly assured her. " Then why are you in armed league with those who would either subjugate or exterminate ns root and brauclr?" '• AYhen a traitor is shot, he is neither subjugated nor exterminated; he simply receives tlie just penalty for liis crime ;. put tlie singular noun in the plural, and the principle remains still the same. When one or many rebel against a government which has been true to i'^s constitutional obligations, one or many, if persisting in rebellion, must reap the penalty to the hard and bitter cnd."^ " You do but play npon words, and split straws of lingual nicety. What is it you do seek in this murder- ous conflict ?" '' To maintain, in its full integrity, at all hazards of blood and treasure, this great and growing empire, marked, by nature herself, one and indivisible, through its great arteries of noble waters, its many-veined streams, and its mountain vertebrne of rocky ridge and low-browed hill." " And it is this glorious empire whose disrnption you have precipitated through rash, ill-considered attempts to raise the secial status of a race not yet fitted for such elevation — it is not the violent who take the kingdom of Heaven by storm. ' God's mills grind slow,' and when short-sighted man, in his puny miglit, piles on crude theory and Utopian nostrum, as infallible specific for all the evil wherewith the great Physician sees fit to medi- cine this sick world, ten to one but he gets entangled in 8 170 THE rJTAL VOLUNTEERS J OR, the machinery lie strives to accelerate in speed — that is, if he be not one of those who bind heavy burdens for other men's shoulders, which he touches not with so much as a little linger — dragging thousands of his deluded followers to their doom, instead of hastening the millennium. For my part, I am content to take the world as I find it ; walking, day by day, with steps as little faltering as may be, in the path of duty, so far as it is made plain unto me, and never pinning my faith to the skirts of those sanguinary reformers whose specious schemes grasp consequences too vast to be comprehended by any finite mind. I will see you again to-morrow morning, until which time keep your jjersonal liberty and make the most of it.'' Bending her head slightly, in haughty salute, she passed on. AVhat could she mean, I asked myself, by bidding me make the most of my liberty until next 1 saw her? Had I offended her beyond forgiveness by inadvertently infringing the strict letter of my parole i I surely had refrained, sorely against my will from exasperating her by opposing argument ; and was I to be subjected to close imprisonment, or some Worse penance, in expiation of the otfence ? I could but wait and see. Last night, I need hardly tell you, I was restless and wakeful with apprehensions of what the day might bring forth. Early this morning I was summoned to the lady s presence. She bade me a frigid " good morning," as I entered the sewing-room, scarcely raising her eyes from the breadths of linen she was tearing into strips and passing to her female attendant to be pieced into bandages. " I am engaged just this moment," said she ; " oblige me by passing into the next apartment — that door to the right — \\*here I will attend you presently." She came quite soon enough, unfolding her purpose without circumlocution or delay. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 171 " Your parole, given informally and only to a ■^roman," she commenced, " can hardly be deemed a stringently binding obligation ; and I have decided to submit a new proposal, or rather a series of them, to your considera- tion. It is at your option to join the other federal prisoners at Guard Barracks ; to be liberated on parole registered by proper authorities; or, if you prefer re- maining here until your health is more fully reestab- lished, you can do so by consenting to have a ball and chain attached to your leg by an iron band, as material guaranty for your good faith and honesty of purpose." I ^vas not slow in deciding which of the three to choose. I had heard so much of the ferocities practised toward prisoners in southern jails that I was strongly disinclined to testing such dangers and hardships in my own person. If I were liberated on my word of honor,. I was debarred the privilege of entering military service again during the present war, an exemption of which 1 was by no means disposed to avail myself; sol declared my preference tor the ball and chain, hoping it might not prove a serious hindrance to my natural facilities for locomotion. CHAPTEE XI. THE MIDNIGUT FLITTING. Wedxesday, Ajyril 2. — I am so differently situated, my condition and prospects so diametrically changed, since last I jotted down, solely for your own perusal, my dear Minnie, some faint record of my daily experiences, that it is only by an effort of memory I am able to re- Bume the broken thread of mj narrative. 172 THE RIVAL TOLUXTEEnS ; OE, I found mj i\q\v badge of imprisonment a.miich more serious encumbrance than I had anticipated. Think of an eighr-pound cannon-ball and heavy iron anklet, fastened bv a lock, whose key my ca])tor retained, to be worn as constant ornament. Then the chain attaching ball and ring was so short that I could only take the ball in ray hand by stooping so much that it made my gait resemble that of a borse with head tethered to fore foot by a short halter. If I got tired of stooping forward and limping like a cripple about the place, I had only to drag my pretty locket after me when straightway it caught at bush or slirub, stalk or vine, and sent me pitching lieadlong to earth. I became so disgusted with the scratches, bruises and bloody noses I gained through in- voluntary experiment in this species of ground and lofty tumbling, that I gave up my daily strolls, remaining mostly in my own chamber moodily discontent. A steady rain, of several daj's' continuance, but added to my gloom. Miss Holmes brought me books from the library, and, by many a kindly feminine wile, strove to lighten my hours of their weariness ; but I was so per- versely inclined toward wretchedness that I neither was, nor aifected to be, grateful. She told me tiiat they were daily expecting a visit from the General, who had received promise of brief furlough, and I heard her q-s one who heareth not, de- voutly — I had very nearly written, savagely — hoj^ing that he might prove an accomplished Petruchio, and that I might catch some faint glimpse of his method for taming this modern Kate, who had shorn me of freedom by expedient at once irritating and eifective. It was late in the afternoon of Thursday last, when, as I sat hidden from prying eyes in the friendly shade of closely clipped thorn and liriodendron hedge, Mrs. Elanwood, in rustling silks and soft white lace, her hair agleam with scarlet salvia buds, flitted across the ve- THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 1Y3 raiKla, clown the steps, and out upon the lawn, to meet — • psha ! that the General I — that stout, broad-chested man, Avhose resolute beariiig is attenn^ered by an expression of the most winning and gx'nial humor ; who looks the very personation of Hail-fellow-well-met to any and all he might deem worth the meeting — a practised shrew- tamerl — never ! .nnless — well — it is the snnthat oftenest disroljcs the traveller of his cloak, and it is only on rare occasions that surly Boreas successfully copes with his more ardent rival. The haughty mistress of Laurenstein bovred before her liege lord with gently submissive grace — aye, bowed nntil the scarlet salvia buds touched his shoulder-knot, but she spoke not a word save, " At last ! oh Guy !" When she raised her head there were tears on her cheek ; I did not think it had been in those proud eyes to weep. They passed so near the bench on which I sat that I conld accurately note every change in his aspect, every turn of his voice. '' I had purposed spending a couple of days in going over the plantation with you," said he ; '' but found it impossible in the present condition of our forces to make arrangements for' so long an absence ; I must leave you in an hour." '' Only an hour, Guy, when you have been such an age away !" Homesick and heartsick, I hobbled back to my chamber. Only an hour ! O Minnie, what would I not give for but five minutes' speech with you ? — for one sight of your face, one sound of your voice, if yielded in assur- ance of unswerving truth and constancy ! It was nearly mKlnight, and I had not slept. ^ Sweet strains of music floated in through the grated windows, while ine rich, deep tones of men's voices, mingled 174: THE RIVAL VOLU^'TEEES ; OR, with the lighter cadence of flute and viol. I arose and set my door ajar. '' Adrienne," called !R[is3 Hohncs at her niece's door, "some of the neiglibors having come to pay their respects to the General, and finding him gone, have decided, it seems, to compliment you -with a serenade. Will you go down and speak with them ?" '' I will,'' was the prompt reply, " and that to some purpose, or I do much mistake myself." Cnrions to hear what she would say, I dressed hastily ; and crossing the landing, stepped out upon the balcony commanding a view of the arcade, where, as nearly as I could judge, some twenty men were assem- bled. Mrs. Elanwood glided amongst them with reso- lute step, demeanor firm and digniried, not a trace of color on her olive cheek, but her eyes brilliantly aglow with the fire of the eager impulse that hurried her on. She stood directly beneath the colored lantern sus- pended from an arch, so that I could distinctly perceive her robe's silken sheen, and the scarlet buds in her raven hair. " It is on no grateful errand I come to you, gentle- men," slie began, in those low, emotional tones which, carrying with them the conviction of earnest sincerity and deep feeling, go straight from the heart of the sj)eaker to that of the listener. '* In ordinary times I snould welcome you to the best cheer Laurenstein has power to confer on the guests it holds in high esteem ; but bear Avith me, I do beseech, kind friends, Lauren- stein aliords but cold comfort to its mistress now, and of such as I have not, of that can I not give unto thee. '' I have no heart to listen to tlie soft discourse of Bweet music, thereby beguiling my wakeful hours of the deep depression that drives sleep from my pillow, when strains as sweet, but sad, sacl^ daily wail forth THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 1T5 mournful dirge over the graves of the "brave and early- fallen — when I cannot tell how soon such dirge may sound in parting honor of one whose life is as dear to me as is my own. " I know that this must seem to you but churlish and ungracious return for the kindly purpose that brought you here ; but can I permit n:iyself recreation while those I love are enduring danger, privation, and death, in camp and field? Shall I sit in silken ease and luxury, vrhile they toil' day and night, with head, heart, and hand, in furtherance of our young nation's cause ? Shall I give my hours to vain musings, to fond regrets, seeking in music delicious consolement for every anx- ious ill ? ISTot so ; still let my harp rest, as long it hath rested, in idle disuse against the wall, and spiders alone find pastime in the cobwebbed cover of my guitar. " With my weak hand, and faint, timorous spirit, I cannot brave the dangers of gory battle-field, and snatch from Mars' grim front the immortal laurels which only heroes wear ; not for cowardly woman's brow the victor's wreath, the conqueror's crown ; but bear me witness, that what I could do by w^ay of aid and comfort has been freely done ; and of such as I had to bestovv^ have I given with no niggard hand. Xo requisition on my time or toil have I deemed too bur- densome for prompt and cheerful compliance. My choicest possessions, my ceaseless endeavors, my most untiring energies, have I freely rendered in promotion of the cause which is uppermost in all my thoughts. Of my poor best naught have I grudgingly withheld. You, gentlemen — of your superior ability, can you say as much ? '' I know how gaily the troubadour, in days of old. Bang roundelay to ladye-fayre, but it was on his return from the war, not while the heel of the oppressor was still pressed firmly on his country's neck. Come to me 176 THE rJVAL TOLUNTEEnS ; OE, as triiiinpliaiit conquerors of a vandal foe, and I will greet you in far other words than these. Conquer for us the peace that shall give us the right to sit secure in the shadow of vine and fig-tree, doing as we will with our own, no longer cursed by that pharisaical anathema, ' Stand aside, I am holier than thou,' and 1 will meet you with eager, grateful welcome, with goodly cheer, the harp's liquid, mellow-dropping tones, and all joyous de- monstrations of festal mirth and gladness. ISTot so fast ; I spoke but now of goodly cheer, forgetting how rapidly our substance is melting away beneath war's consuming blaze, ^ay; what matters'^ it though I h'dvc but ii dinner of herbs to set before you ? better that and lovo therewith, than a stalled ox and this fierce sectional hatred withal. '' Bethink you, fellow-townsmen, that the world stands ready to note your every deed of lofty prowess and daring valor ; and let your deeds come up to the high standard worthy to win a world-wide renown and vindicate your boasted chivalry. JS'ever give our noble and magnanimous ally across the sea — an ally who per- mits no opportunity to pass for encouraging us by lavish panegyric while persistently vilifying our north- ern foes — cause to blush for tlie belligerent she has honored by substantial j^roof of her friendly sympa- thy. Let us deserve the invaluable moral support 60 unflinchingly accorded us by a people of kindred tongue and race, who have so faithfully upheld and justided our righteous cause. We all know with how much greater zeal and courage a work is undertaken and pursued when fanned by the breath of generous appruval and applause, than when smothered by the wet blanket of obloquy and opprobrium. Why, an evil name will hang a dog; and if die Korth has not gained an ill name through dogged support of an evil cause, it is because dirt won't stick, for she has been pelted THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 177 with all shades and varieties of abusive, infamous cpitliet. '• Think, too, of all the material as well as moral aid we have received from our grandly liberal, though un- acknowledged ally. What loss of time and treasure has she not risked from ihe blockading fleet oif our shores, in sending to us through tortuous, unfrequented channels, under tlie favoring veil of niglit, the means and munitions we could ill hav^e spared, and could not otherwise have obtained ? Our medicine chests testify to her bounty ; our stands of arms as well ; our heavy guns and many a deadly projectile that has sent myriads of meddlesome Yankees to unshriven graves. " Countless the thanks we owe to this great and dis- interested nation, which, generously overlooking our occasional reverses and partial defeats, suffers no suc- cess that crowns our efforts to go unchronicled or un- praised. With the glorious and invincible champion of civilization enlisted in our sacred cause, can you. longer hesitate to enliSt yourselves therein? " Pardon me if my words seem scant of grace and courtesy ; come to Laurenstein in happier times, and you sb.all have greeting befitting our improved condi- tion ; till then, farewell." Without awaiting response of any kind, she abruptly reentered the house, and I heard the rustle of her robes on the staircase. It was her own hands that closed and barred the window through which I had made egress, thus fastening me out upon the balcony. I remained quite still until the last visitor had departed, and Mel- drone had extinguished the light in the archway lan- tern. I was debating the chances of escape and probabilities of recapture. By making knovrn my exclusion from the premises, I could easily return to the comfortable room, t]ie luxurious bed from which I had recently risen. I 8* 1 7S THE RIVAL VOLITXTEEES ; OK, admit the prospect of resuming my broken repose v^ag tempting. I ^viis still weak, my freslily-healed wound often irritable, at times painful, and needed the care and attention I was liere sure of receiving. Yes, sure, but for liow long a period ? Just so long as suited the whim of Laurenstein's imperious mistress, not another hour. Should I hold my future destiny subject to a woman's caprice ? the more especially one who looked upon n^ as a dangerous interloper, who might, if allowed the boon of untrammelled movement, throw incendiary torch amongst the inflammable material which her own safety damanded that she should take stringent j^recau- tions to sedulously guard against such malicious de- signs ! Furthermore, she had plainly intimated to me that I was only to remain at the Heights until my health was fully reestablished; and what then? A southern jail, with its pestilent odors, its undisguised iilth, its disgusting vermin, its fever-breeding malaria of respired and rerespired human breath, and its ruf- fianly, brutal guards. Better hea^n's pure air than the stifling fumes of such over-crowded dens; better nature's wholesome neglect than the tender mercies given with cruel purpose. Ko tie of honor bound me to Laurenstein ; 1 had been absolved from my parole ; I would go. I rose fully re- solved on carrying out my purpose. Tlic clank of the chain I wore against the iron railing of the balcony aroused me to what I had half forgotten, a vivid sense of my own hampered condition. I sat down and care- fully Vcconsidered the whole matter, ending by taking a mental inventory of my entire personal effects. Of a strong pair of serviceable shoes, with stockings to match, I was right glad to And myself the possessor. My ne- ther integuments, also, thanks to the General's well-fllled wardrobe, were beyond suspicion of rent or darn. In pockets to same I found a strong clasp knife and a THE BLACK PLOIE RIFLES. 179 couple of handkerchiefs, one of silk and one of linen. My nnder-clothing was unexceptionable ; and in the pocket to mj grey flannel was safely stowed this little book jou are now reading, with interest I would fain hope. A coat of blue soldiers' cloth, with cap of the same material, completed my outfit — a scant one, you will admit, considering the forced marches I had re- solyed to undertake ; for I had resolyed to risk the chance of flight, and nothing remained for me saye to employ to the best adyantage the limited resources at my disposal. To gain the terrace below, I had to descend fifteen feet, by an iron trellis, about which a prairie rose was closely entwined. To do this without the iron danglet at my ankle disturbing the inmates of the house by its noisy clatter, was clearly out of the question. Tearing in two my linen handkerchief, I coyered the ball, and wound the chain in its soft folds. Kext I fastened one corner of my bandanna to the chain, just below its at- tachment to the pretty bauble forced upon my wear, firmly securing the other to my belt. My descent was more painful than perilous, as my hands were seyerely lacerated by the sharp thorns of the rose. I did not allow such a trifle as this to delay my departure for an instant. Shaping my course by the stars, I made all possible haste to increase the space be- tween Laurenstein and my own fugitiye self before the early dawn. A broad stream intercepted my way — a stream whose ordinary volume had been so much aug- mented by recent rains that it was no longer fordable. Swimming was not to be thought of ; and I was obliged to seek the road and cross a bridge, where I was exposed to imminent danger of detection through the portions still retained of my military outfit. A rebel sentinel shouted at me from a distance, which call I received as signal for taking the double-quick, and gaining the shel- ter -pf a stony ridge. ISO on, In the course of the forenoon, I came across a lierd of cows quietly browsing on a secluded liillside, and no- thing loatli, prepared to hreak my fast on fiesli lacteal supply. Approaching a likely-looking rpiadrni;ed, with the most amiable and insinuating demonstrations, I seated myself at her right in approved fashion, and was about to commence the milking process, when the vicious and unreliable bovine female left me sprawling on my back ; and the last I saw of her, she was clearing a five-rail fence, with her hoofs in the air and her noso tending earthward. The sun had nearly reached the zenith, and still 1 kept unwilling fasf. I verily .believe that there is no whet to appetite like lack of means wherewith to appease the same. A man in a fenced inclosure was se;ting out a bed of onions, of wdiicli he had a plentiful supply in re- serve. I prophesied that on liis return from dinner he would find his supply decreased. With impatience, for the goadings of hunger are not promotive of the milder virtues, I awaited his departure, which came in due tiiric. He took his gun, but left my coveted fare. Kot mine so soon as I thought. I was about venturing forth from cover, when the on ion-plant lt drew a tin pail from a cypress clunlp, and seating himself on a knoll in full view of the prize on obtaining which I had so confi- dently reckoned, commenced munching his noontide meal. This untoward combination of opposing forces necessitated the adoption of a fresh system of tactics on my part. I waited the man's return to his labor, and then, by slow and cautious approach, made my way to the cypress clump, where I gained possession of the din- ner-pail, and won a second ])rize, in the form of a flint he must have dropped, proving tliat it was an old-fash- ioned flint-lock shooting-iron he carried. On bacon and bread I lunched vrith gusto, and, much refreshed, resumed my tramp, feeling tlie charm of the loving, vagrant life I led; lacking only the friend to THE BLACK PLU:ME EIFLES. 181 "svliom I would fain have whispered, " How sweet is solitude !" I walked nearly the whole of the ensuing night, only resting a couple of hours toward daybreak. As soon as it was sufficiently light to do so, I extracted, to the best of my ability, the rankling thorns' from my hands. The life of a vagrant did not seem quite so alhiring, now that I v/as at my wits' ends to devise means for pro- curing a morsel of tbod. I was about to turn aside from my course to avoid a small lonely hut, when its door opened and a large- framed, masculine looking woman, strode forth, hatchet in hand, and after proceeding a short distance to the rear of her humble abode, began chopping some dry brushwood and binding the same into fagots. She had left the door open behind her ; and the opportunity for reconnoissance was too good to be lo^t. I made cautious advances and narrowly scanned the premises. Not a living creature within, save a purring tabby stretched before the fire upon the hearth. I entered without hesi- tation. A hoe-Cctke was baking on a shingle placed at a proper angle of declination before the glovring hard- wood embers. Without one compunctious twinge for depriving an unofiending human female of her break- fast, into my tin pail I slid the hoe-cake, and looked about for any additional supplies that might be forth- coming. A bottle of goose oil I courteously declined ; but lest I should seem insensible to the hospitality of mine involuntary hostess, I stuffed my coat pockets with a bountiful supply of cream cheese, and drained a bumper from the milk-pan. A bowl of yeast and basin of tallow drippings I also passed by without exacting contribution therefrom ; but for this neglect I amply atoned by deluging my hoe-cake with the contents of the maple-sugar jug, and pocketing a handful of savory muriate from the salt-celhir. 182 THE RIVAL VOLTTNTF^EKS ; OE, I was startled by the sudden clatter of falling metal — it was only the frightened cat, wliich had thrown down shovel and tongs in the hurry of escape — and decamped with my booty. ]S'ei<"her that day, nor the first half of the next, was I under the disagreeable necessity of re- newing my supplies. My last crumb of cheese disap- peared for Sunday's breakfast ; and as evening shades drew on I grew desperate in my search for some means ot* satiating the ravenous hunger gnawing at my vitals. Little did I think, when I used to read in the daily 2:>iints, with most lofty and unmitigated contempt, of the depredations committed by paltry chicken-roost thieves, that your most humble and most devoted would ever be included in category so despicable. But even so has it come to pass ; and I have therefrom educed this moral : Xever look with pharisaical contempt upon sinning publican, until you have been tried in the same school of experience, and from such trial come out scathless. I can do better than some of these needy wretches who must beg, starve or steal — namely, plead in exculpation of my offence. • If the world did not owe me a living, and I am not prepared to assert or substantiate any special claims on its bounty, Eebeldom did, in return for cheating me out of a handsome salary, and reducing me to the condition of a penniless wanderer on the face of the earth. If they had cheated me, hadn't I as good a right to re- taliate as they to transgress the common rules of honesty ? Kow don't be hyperlogical, and ask how two wrongs make a right, and knock my argumentative stilts from, under me. Assuredly, if it be an easy matter, as sages admit, to set forth plausible arguments in support of foregone conclusions, I can frame better vindication than the above. I see where my mistake has lain — in trusting to plain and homely phrase rather than the varnish of elegant, THE BLACK PLITME EIFLES. 183 polished epithet. What man of high social standing likes to be termed a speculator in the fancies, while a heavy operator in the stock-jobbing line hasabont it the ring of the true coin of respectability ? I will not stoop to tlie petty criminality of robbing a hen-roost; but a soldier in an enemy's territory must, as a simple matter of necessity, forage for his subsistence — a self-evident truth ; I \vill not villainously poach upon, but I will most respectably forage, my neighbor's preserves. My theory thus satisfactorily disposed of, under the conve- nient rule of military necessity, I proceed with serene self-approval to record the practical workings of the same. As I said, the deepening shades of twilight were cur- taining the western skies. An unpretending farm-house was half concealed by tall cottonwood trees, Avhile on a low-branched cypress roosted a score or so of domestic fowls. I waited until every light had disappeared from the windows before attempting the execution of my plan. A lusty chanticleer I singled out as my prize. Evi- dently the stupid bird was attached to his native soil, and did not relisti the idea of having the Confiscation Act carried into effect on his own behoof, and was plainly inclined to show fight, giving me an ugly dig with his spur that roused my pluck and made me bent on securing him at any cost short of my own capture. Grasping him firmly by both legs I swung him olf his perch. As if from pure spite, he set up a series of the direst squawkings possible for a feathered throat to emit. I stopped that fun by a skilful turn of the wrist, but not until the mischief had been done according to the de- sign of the defunct fowl. The door of the house opened, a man's voice cried, " Speak to liim, Growler," and an overgrown mongrel cur leaped upon my track. 184 THE RIVAL TOLrXTEERS ; OR, Catching a bludgeon from the wood-pile, I started oil on a run ; but an instant's reflection convinced nie tliat ir was folly to think of out-distancing such a ])nrsuer; I turned suddenly and faced the ferocious brute, which nuide a spring lor my throat. Avoiding the same by a backward volt, I brought my club down on his skull to such good purpose that he dropped senseless for an instant, and then slunk howling away toward the house. A musketball whizzing past showed that I was not yet safe from pursuit, lleacliing the crest of a hill, I rolled down its 02:)posite side, and on gaining the foot of the descent, crept along, veiling my progress by a young growth of Cottonwood on the river bank. ]N"ot until I liad put miles of space between myself and the pilfered hen-roost, did I dare to flatter myself that I should be permitted to enjoy the feast I liad risked so much in purloining. While the darkness lasted I dared make no attempt at lighting a fire, lest the smoke arising therefrom should betray my whereabouts to some lurking foe still dogging my steps. Daybreak found me travei-sing a precipitou's bluff overhanging the river. From crag to crag I let myself down toward the water's edge. Ben'eath a beetling cliff projecting far over the stream, I safely crept, hug- ging myself with the sense of security its shelter afforded. Preparations for my morning rej)ast were entered upon witii a zest of which the dwellers in stated habitations can form but a feeble conception. By the aid of my flint, punk-wood with which I had filled one pocket, and dry twigs and branches, I had soon a crackling fire, in front of which I suspended, by a twisted willow withe, the plucked fowl in readiness for the occasion. My tin-pall served as dripping-pan, the salt with which 1 had provided myself in case of contingency came not amisb ; and but brief time elapsed THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 185 before my olfactories ^ere greeted with gratefully appe- tizing odors. JSeciire from molestation, Tvitli a supply of creature comforts sufficient for my immediate need, rest, peace and plenty, the blessings that crovv^ned the hour, my heart expanded in deep thankfulness to the Giver of all these mercies. Do not make the mistake of supposing that I was perfectly, or even approximatively content with the condition in which I found myself, when I was only relatively so — thankful that things were no worse. In this transitional period of our being, where hope and aspiration are amongst our choicest pleasures ; if, all our longings satisfied, we had no blessings to crave for the future, palled to satiety by the good gifts of this life, what greater boon than speedy release from the " fitful fever" Avhich for ns would be over? Pardon my ser- monizing ; it was morn of Sabbath rest to me ; and in the restless onflow of the unquiet waters hurrying on- ward to meet the turbulent sea, in whose mighty em- brace they are borne over mountain wave, in t'oam- capped crest to — calm haven of rest ! — no ; to be dashed, spent and helpless, upon a foreign shore, and by it be thrust back with the ebbing tide destined to lave the borders of another continent — I found my text. I started to tell you one special reason for my lack of content. I was so lame that walking was a burdensome efibrt ; and this fact weighed heavily on my spirits, forcibly reminding me of the severe and protracted suf- ferings I had undergone when languishing, untended and alone, beneath the whispering pines that seemed as sorrow-stricken as myself. The wounded leg had be- come painful through over-use. and against the other, just above the knee, the eight-pound ball had knocked, as I ran, until the flesh was black and blue, and the muscles so weak and strained as to be scarcely fit for active service. I racked my brain in attempts to devise 186 THE lUYAL VOLUNTEERS ; OE, some metliod for ridcling myself of the cncumbranco svliicli proved sucli a serious clog to all my movements. With a stone I tried to break the lock of the iron band, and only succeeded in half breaking an ankle bone. "With a piece of rougli-edged qnartz I rasped away with a Avill at tlie chain and j^roduced not the slightest im- jn'ession. Finding my eiforts fruitless I desisted there- from, philosophically determining to make the best of matters I could not mend. After breakfasting luxuriously, I lay down on a conch of diy twigs, and lulled by the soothing sweep and plash of the dreamy waters, slept soundly. It lacked scarcely more than an hour of noon when I awoke. With re- n'ewed courage I climbed to the top of the bluff; and ignoring, as far as practicable, the awkward limp in my gait, resumed my forward tramp. ^' Providence still holds me in its kindly keeping," I said to myself, as I heard the clink of a blacksmith's hammer, and caught sight of the sparks rising from his forge. I had not long to wait before, casting aside his leather apron, he donned a decent coat, and started in the direction of the smoke-wreaths I saw curling upward through the trees at no great distance. I hastened to improve the opportunity created by his absence. Minutes were precious, and 1 lost several searching vainly for the iniplement my purpose re- quired ; I was successful at last. Placing my foot beside the top of the anvil, with a few bold hammer- strokes I drove the cold chisel nearly through the chain, close to my ankle, and twisting off the remaining por- tion of the link, turned exulting in my freedom — turned to feel the grasp of brawny arms upon my shoulders ; to be thrust summarily forward into a closet lighted only through the warped seams of its roughly-boarded walls, while its soot-smouched floor was littered with THE BLACK PLUME PJFLES. 187 the nondescript odds and ends nsually to be found in this sort of smith ery. A heavy T3olt was turned in the lock ; and plenty of time was given me to reflect on tlie nature of the new position in Y/hieh I so unexpectedly found myself. The prospect was not encouraging ; but I am naturally of sanguine temperament, and was by no means inclined to despair. Let the smith be called away from tlie shop, for ever so brief a period, and I would try the effi- cacy of sledge-hammer blows on the boarding, old and brittle, of this impromptu lock-up. The words of a speaker outside strengthened my resolve to improve to the utmost the first opportunity for escape. I jot down his remarks. " I say, Daggett, where is the use, when provisions are so scarce and high, where is the use of wasting our substance on these northern locusts that are swarming all over our land. Where is the use of taking the bread out of our childrens' mouths to put into those of these bloody-minded Hessians ! Our minister — let him preach mercy and good works, he is paid to, and can afford to cant for his hire — came to me with a paper and wanted me to put down something for the sick prisoners in jail. ' Xot a red,' says I, ' do you get out of me. We don't want any prisoners ; and the sooner they are under the ground the better.' What I said to him, I say to all. Kot one that falls into my clutch shall ever escape to tell the tale. The malignants outnumber us, and we must outmanceuvre them until we are numerically their equals. Mercy to them, now, is cruelty to ourselves ; and I'd slay my own son if I caught him oftering so much as a cup of cold water for their aid and comfort." You will readily perceive that vindictive expressions like the above vrere but ill calculated to add to my com- fort. Comers and goers came and went ; and steadily sounded the clink of the smith's hammer through the 188 THE RIVAL YOLUXTEERS ; OR, long liours of tli.it dreary afternoon. It was nearly niglitlall wlien tlic blast at the forge and thej-ing of the anvil ceased. The lad who had been blowing the bel- lows was dismissed. The heavy onter doors were swung together and hasped inside. ^To what did all this pre- paration tend ? Was I to meet foul end in that foul den, and be put under ground with the least possible delay ? I would defend myself to the last extremity ; but the remembrance of the bravrny ligure that had so easily overpowered and forced me into durance vile was not a reassuring one. I am not ashamed to own that Biy heart beat a. little more quickly as I heard the heavy step of my captor approaching my cell. The strong bolt was turned back in its lock. I grasped a bar of iron, determined to sell my life as dearly as possible. The door swung open, and I saw for the first time, by the light of the lantern he bore, tbe face of my captor — as open and honest a face as one would care to look upon. " I had to be a trifle rough, or it would have been all over with you by this time," he said, with grulf hearti- ness of tone and manner. " Throw down your weapon — you see I p.m unarmed — and then we can treat on equal terms." Fearing treachery, and dreading to be taken una- wares, I hesitated to comply with his request. " You misdoubt me, which is a kind of treatment Eli Buckvv'ood isn't given to putting up witli, from friend or foe ; but being a stranger, and not knowing that my reputation for fair and honorable dealing is as good as that of any other man, I don't care who he is. Til let it pass for what it's worth. Hold on to your knock-down argument, if it eases your feelings, and come out to this bench where we can have a talk." Disarmed of suspicion by the candor of his bearing, I abandoned the defensive, and took the seat to which he pointed me. THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 189 " I Lave been shoeing horses all the afternoon," he explained, " for tlie Lone-sta.r Rangers ; and if they had once caught a sight of that frontlet on jour cap, or that stamp on yonr buttons, salt wouldn't have saved you. It don't do to show Federal colors here, young man, tliough my lieart warms tovrard the old flag whenever I see'it. It is a long time since I have said as much as that, for I am the only Unionist in the neighborhood ; my own sons, even, are in the rebel army, and their mother sides with them. Tell me how and why yon are here, and I will do the best I can for yon." I related to him the occurrences that had brought me to so sorry a plight, in far fewer words than I have used in describing the same to yon. He soon removed the iron band from my anlde, and then led the way to a stable at the rear of his dwelling. " I would offer yon my spare bed with right good will," said he ; " only I couldn't do so without Mrs. Buckwood's knowledge, and it is always safer not to take a woman into a man's counsels where life and death depend on keeping a secret. You had better get into this covered cart and make no noise until you hear from me again." In less tiian an hour he brought me some supper and an old coverlet. " Eat at your leisure," said he, '* while I keep guard outside." I waited no second bidding, but proceeded to discuss corn-bread and cold sausage with as keen an appetite as though I had not fared sumptuously during the earlier half of the day. On the hay-mow, with a carriage cusliion as pillow, I found a comfortable place for repose. I must have slept but lightly, for I was fully aroused from my slumbers by a cltck of the barn-door latch. " This way, Jim,"" said a cautious voice ; " and don't 190 THE RIVAL VOLUXTEERS ; OR, run afoul of the calf and set old Brindle a-lowing, or we shall liave all sorts of a,hullybaloo. Blast your pic- ture, thai: is the cow's stanchion you arc fuinblins^ at ; lead your ringboned nag into this stall, can't you ?'' There was a sound of horses' hoofs on the planked floor, after whicli the speaker resumed : '• Give me the saddles, and I will put them into the cart, as I know exactly where it stands. Kow you lit- ter down the horses — here is the straw on the barn- floor — and, if I can find my way in the dark to the grain-chest and the hay-mow, we need not disturb the old folks till morning." I began to feel an interest more absorbing than agree- able relative to the purposed movements of these new- comers. Strongly disinclined to follow the course pro- verbially attributed to misery, of making strange bed- fellows, I preferred rather to resign my berth than to share it with any. Hastily depositing cushion and coverlet on top of the cart cover, 1 pulled up the hay from the side of the barn until I had hollowed out a space sufficientl}^ large to contain a single person, and having ensconced my- self in the recess thus obtained, I drew the covering of hay about me, defying the machinations of all midnight disturbers of balmy rest. Up the ladder came the unhallowed interloper, and I cringed involuntarily as the tines of his fork sought undesirable propinquity with the shrinking muscles of — yours truly. Added to this cause of uneasiness was a second, quite as serious. The finely powdered dust arising from the disturbed con- tents of the mow penetrated throat and nostrils to such a degree that I had almost an irrepressible desire to sneeze — an inclination, however, which yielded, as other ideas supposed to be irrepressible have and will yield, to the force of persistent repression. I firmly willed the maintenance of silence, and silence I maintained. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 191 The sound of receding steps on the ladder, I welcomed as one betokening release from impending danger. "All right now, Jim," said the previous speaker; " the back window is always left unfastened ; we will take a cold snack from the buttery, and 1 could find my way to the bed-room under the eaves if it were too dark to see my hand before me." It was a relief to be left once more in undisputed pos- session of stable precincts. Throwing off my stifling herbal spread, I assumed posture as comfortable as cir- cumstances would admit, and once more addressed my- self to repose. Sleep was blandly poising itself with dreamy pinion on my eye-lids, when I was roused to sudden consciousness bj the distinct utterance of .a single whispered word — • " Ellsmead." It must be my friend the smith, thought I, as to none other have I revealed my name. Thus it proved. " I would have been glad," said he, " to have given you the advantage of a good night's rest ; but it is not so ordained. My plans were well laid, but they were all brought to naught by the unexpected return — for how long a stay I have not learned — of my son and a young comrade of his. Unbeknown to them, I heard them slying in at the back window, rattling away at the knife- box and pickle-jar, and tip-toeing up the staircase. ^ Thej are asleep now, for I passed the light across their eyes without their even blinking. Ton must be off before they wake, as I wouldn't be answerable for the conse- quences if they should detect me harboring a sworn enemy to the Confederacy. Here is one of the boys' caps, which you had better wear in place of that mili- tary tile, which mio^ht serve as death-warrant with one of our fire-eaters, rut on this jerkin of mine, too ; for, though I can't say much in praise of the fit, it may save you a closer one *^from hempen cravat. The lads sleep 1II2 TUK KITAL volunteers; OR, soundly after tlieir long jannt, I'll warrant you ; but I'll run no'risk lor all that. Go out to the bars yonder and wait for nic. If tlie trampling of the horses should dis- turb the youngsters they will find no one but me to deal with;' ^ I obeyed without question or comment. lie soon joined me at tlie appointed rendezyous, riding one horse, and leading a second which he signed me to mount. A ride of ten or twelve miles brought us to a secluded stone cottage which gave few external tokens of occupancy. A sharp summons from a whip handle brought a middle-aged man to the door. '• Ah, Buckwood, it does me good to see you ; come in, and let me make you welcome to a bachelor's fjire." "Thanks for your hospitality; but I must be home by daybreak or I shall be missed. I rode over to ask you to add another to the many good turns I owe you. This young man belongs to tlie Federal ranks, and is anxious to rejoin his regiment. Find out where it is (you see the papers), do what you can to further him on bio way, and consider me freshly beholden to you." This request was faithfully complied with. I am sitting, now, in the Rainsford station house, waiting for the next downward train, which will leave me within twenty miles of the garrison where our divi- sion is at present posted. I wish I could tell you how to direct a letter to me ; for, aside from a sight of yourself, nothing would so gladden my eyes as a glimpse at that dainty caligraphy over which I have enacted such fondly foolish rhapsodies. I will write you again at the earliest opportunity ; but remember, my dear girl, that a soldier in the field has no will of his own, but is wholly at the command of his superior officers. Owing to the fatigue of marches and counter-marches, the restraint? of strict military disci- pline, and the thousand vicissitudes to which we are ex- THE BLACK FLUME niFLES. 193 poaocl, -with the best will in the world, I may be imable to convey to you one single word of intelligence. Do not forget this, if yon should fail to hear from nie regu- larly. Iloj^e for tlie best ; look not for clouds while the sky is blight ; and strive to so live, as I, Heaven help- ing nie, will also strive, that, thougli we should miss of liap[)iness here, the immortal Hereafter should yet be ours. See how I linger over these parting words, loath to sever the last faint tie binding me to one in whom I have unshaken trust. CHAPTEE Xn. LOVE IN DISGUISE. Soft tears rained over Minnie's face as she concluded the perusal of the narrative penned, or rather peuciiled, in her behoof. " He would not place in me such unreserved confi- dence," she said to herself, '' if he were not v»'orthy a ehnilar confidence in return ; and he lias it — in life or death, he has my undivided trust. I never can lose Morland as I lost Mr. Caruthers ; for, even if he should fall, upholding a glorious cause, and take all earthly sun- light out of my skies — ' It i,4 not fill of life to llvo, nor r.ll of dcr.th to die.' " TTith the precious manuscript volume beneath her pillow, slie slept soundly for a brief period ; and, buoyed up by sweet consciousness of unconfessed support, re- sumed, with renewed coui-age, the sober burden of daih duty it was hers to bear. 9 194 THE PJVAL volunteers; oe, Days meri]:ecl into weeks, and not an added line from Morland. The bitterness of hope deferred she partially assuaged by self-framed excuse for his prolonged silence. Postal arrangements were not always to be depended upon. He might liave been unexpectedly ordered to a distant field of service, where he was cut oil from all facilities for communication with friends. He might, as before, be keeping a diary, whose receipt would dissi- pate, on the instant, the shade of gloom darkening all lier life. At all events he had bidden her hope for the best, and she strove to comply with his bidding, taking up her appointed tasks meekly and uncomplainingly, although with scant show of cheerfulness, endeavoring to inspire in others the peace and happiness which were strangers to her own breast. If a letter was to be writ- ten in the sick-wards, no one could express like her the unappeased yearnings of friendship, the protracted severance of tenderer ties ; for, fresh from her own heart's bitterness, she drew the inspiration enabling her to divine another's grief. Small wonder that she became a favorite attendant amongst the patients ; for no voice was more gentle, no look more kindly, no hand more ready for any and every needful service than that of the pale sad-eyed girl who strove to forget her own sense of trial in ministering to that of others. She was in the kitchen, following directions from the presiding matron, when word was brought the latter that callers were awaiting her in the small room set apart for the reception of transient visitors. As Mrs. Stanton was too deeply engaged to brook interruption from such a source, Minnie was deputed as bearer of explanations and apologies for the non-appearance of the former. The young deputy was surprised, on entering the re- ception room, at finding herself face to face with Miss THE BLACK PLU2IE r.IFLES. 195 Lncj Sears, who graciously accepted i\Irs. Stanton's ex- cuses, adding, wich persuasive mien. "I think I have ah-eady enjoyed the pleasure of making your acquain- tance — Miss Burr, if my memory serves me rightly." "AYe met at Mrs. Thornton's," assented Minnie, shrinking from any correction of the speaker's mistake regarding her name, or, indeed, from any move calcu- lated to improve their acquaintance. " Allow me, Miss Burr, to present my friend, Miss Lily Barton, and our obliging escort, Monsieur Meurice." Minnie exjDressed a gratification not profoundly felt, and received appropriate response from a young lady alert of movement, of manner frank and unrestrained, and of speech fluent and outspoken, while a second acknowledgment was tendered by a young gentleman in glossy moustaches, atrociously perfumed locks, imimacu- late primrose kids, and with a certain dainty accent of our home-bred idioms betraying his foreign extraction. Profuse in compliments was Mons. Meurice ; and, according but brief abstracted reply, Minnie turned in time to see Miss Sears touch the arm of her friend with her parasol, whereupon the two exchanged glances of smiling significance, and went so far as to titter aloud. Surprised and indignant at this exhibition of imper- tinent ill-breeding, Minnie met the same by a look of cold inquiry addressed to whoever chose to answer the same. Miss Barton replied : "We must seem very rude to you, Miss Burr; and, pardon us, we were rude. It seems so very odd to see one so young in a plain muslin cap such as thin-locked dowagers and antiqua-ted spinsters wear, that we could but smile at the incongruity of the effect. It is like putting new wine in old bottles — a happy simile that, eh? Mons. Meurice? Let me have the advantage of youi' cultivated taste." 19G THE KivAL volunteehs; or, " Mademoiselle does me too much honor. T presume not to venture a word on such matters when the arbiters most gracious and most charmingly unappi'oacliahle through our less ethereal comprehensions do make tiiem- S'jives to stoop in elucidation of theories conflicting nouveUes^ ravisaantes.^'^ "That is just jour way, Mons. Meurice ; we ask what you think, and you set us aside with a comjui- ment, which is more easily bestowed than a reflection which you keep for those worthy the gift." " Ah ! Heaven ! I am in despair. IIow have I so unfortunate been as one grand false step to make, and ofiend past the retrieve. Make me to see the way of amend that I do, contrite, seek it instantly to prome- nade." " Don't distress yourself about her nonsense," inter- jected Miss Sears; "Lily is only trying to draw you out, she was so delighted with your discriminating admiration of those lovely coifi:\ires at Madame Flan- cibel's." Monsieur laid his hand upon his left waistcoat pocket, and professed himself enchanted at the prospect of being drawn and quartered, or by any other mode of excru- ciating torture, to be made to subserve the lightest caprice of the sex, whose frown was the shadow of Hades, and whose smile was the iris-hue of Paradise. '• That will do," smilingly responded Miss Lily. " Your protestations and abasement are so evidently sincere, that the ofl:ended goddess is thereby propiti- ated ; the more readily since you displayed the most unexceptionable taste in selecting for me tlie head-dress of orange and jet which you pronounced the chef- d'Oiuvre of the establishment." " Treason," cried Miss Sears, with mock-tragic air. '- Faithless deceiver! did you not make oath that the rose-colored spangles on the silver-wound chenille was THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 197 a perfect triumph of art, and llie gem of the collec- tion ?" ' • '*Fcr a delicate complexion, pearly vrhite, only tinted witli pink, in truth, yes. For a brunette, brilliant con- trasts, gold and jet." "Tliank yon. I am nnusnally particnlar about the oi-nan^.ents 1 pui'chased to-day, as they are to be Vv'orn to the Lancers' charity ball, where I shall occupy a con- spicuous position, as principal patroness of the enter- tainment, in which the claims of benevolence and of social festivity are delightfully harmonized. Mr. Caru- thers has generously placed Moiitalbon Hall at our dis- posal. We have issued two hundred tickets, gentlemen only paying for admission, which, of course, they will be alad to prove their love of country by doing, as tlie net proceeds of the affair, after the niusic and refresh- ments are paid for, all go to the ' Gamble xlddition Society.' Kow that you have selected my head-dress, Arnaud, you must plan the remainder of my costume to match. Shall I wear my blue moire with bands of embossed velvet ?" "Decidedly not; moires and velvets are too little ethereal for sylphs to float in through mazy dance. The rose-pink in Mademoiselle's cheek is enough for color, let it alone ; heightening will not it improve, and lowering does but dim its native bloom. Coral for the lips, carnation for the cheeks, sapphire for the eyes, and not an added tint, say I." " You are a sad flatterer, Arnaud," said Miss Lucy, with a bhish and a smile. '' You have not yet specified a single article for my toilette." " A thousand pardons ; but the wearer does furnish theme so much more attractive than costume the most recherc/ie that I marvellously from my subject do find myself beguiled to stray. The robe, is it ? of which you would have me to speak. Something light and airy as 198 THE FvITAL TOLrNTEERS ; OB, gossamer, I Tronld advise, ^itli puffings about tlio slionlders no lieavier than the breath of a song, or the vibrations of ' El Zepateado.' " " Yon are vague, not to say poetical. Monsieur." '' My tlienie, Mademoiselle ; all the fault of mj ther:ie. Am I to blame that there are some so essea- tially poetic of inspiration, that mortal may not ap- proach them through conveyance of plain prose speech f "Tliere, that vvill do, Monsieur; you have exerted yourself quite sufficiently for the present. I will mer- cifully grant you a short respite. Shall I send you two or three complimentary tickets for our ball. Miss Burr? We are seriously embarrassed from kick of gentlemen, so many have enlisted for the war; you may have friends who would like to attend you." " I am obliged by your kindness, of whicli it is impos- sible to avail myself." " What a sliame ! I would not consent to be made a flight of, witli poky widows' weeds, and a higli-necked dress like a Quaker, for all the prim old hospital matrons that ever brcatlied." '• You mistake ; Mrs. Stanton places no irksome restraint on my movements. I have become so accus- tomed to sights and sounds of sufiering here, to descrip- tions and apprehensions of it elsewhere, that it would but sadden me the more to go where others are gay. Here is my post of duty, and here will I remain, thank- ful to bear my poor part in the country's sorrow." '• We are as ready to do our part as anybody else," asserted Miss. Sears, brisiling in defence of the patriot- ism she fancied had been impugned. '• I am sure I never worked so hard in my life as I have done lately, crocheting caps, slippers, and mittens for the young officers at Camp Bolivar. It is sad, I know, to see the best men in the city going oil' to the battle-field ; but one can't be always sighing ; though it is enough to THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 199 break one's lieart to tliink how many of the poor fellows will come back maimed and disfigured for life. Dear me, I couldn't many a man who returned with a friglit- fully scarred face, like young Selmore's, or one who was doomed to stump about for the rest of his days on a wooden leg. Could you, Miss Burr ?" Minnie's face paled perceptibly, and her eyes invo- luntarily filled. . " It is painful to think of such casualties for those dear to us ; but if I loved another as my own life, he would only be the dearer to me, the more he needed my care ; so long as his mortal garb was sufficient to clothe his spirit, so long should he be my very own, aye, longer yet — mine still in Heaven, if haply it should'^be mine." '' I do think, Miss Burr, that over confinement has somewhat unhinged your faculties, you talk in such a sti-ained, impassioned way, for a person of your years. Do you mean to say that you would walk down one of our fashionable thoroughfares with a man whose face was black as a moor's from accidental gunpowder dis- charge; or who was such a wreck of humanity as to excite the pitying gaze of every passer by ?" " In such case, I would care to frequent no fashionable thoroughfare. Ko eyes, save those of tenderest com- passion should rest on disfigurement earned in cause so glorious. ]^ot in crowded streets, but rather on grassy prairie slopes, would I strive to be unto him help meet in his endurance of stripes gained in support of justice and right." "One would think she was in love, she makes the case so personal in application," smilingly remarked Miss Sears. '* Why not ?" queried Mons. Meurice, with a look that brought the crimson to her cheek. " We are wasting time, and forgetting our errand," 200 THE RIVAL TOLUNTEEES; OE, suggested Miss Barton. ""Will the liospital regulations permit our seeing one of tlie patients, if we sLould ask it ?" '' Put yonr application in the singular, if yon please," Iiastilj interposod Miss Sears, "rifrnn no risk of con- tagion by needlessly thrusting myself into unwholesome wards wlierc there is no knowing liow many infectious disorders are to be had without the asking. You have robbed my flower-stand of its very choicest treasures — exotics from Mr. Caruthers' conseryatory — pray, let that content you as my share of the contribution ; and not give me a fit of low spirits, and expose me to the chance of catchinsr a fever, bv drasrs^in!? me where I have no wish to go. " She has reason," averred Monsieur, with a shrug. " "Why lacerate her nerves without force, and of chord exquisite rare, by the sights most miserable excruciate ? Go you both who have of adamant the brace, and con- template, without one fracture of the sensibility acute, sncli scenes as tiirill with pangs the sjnrituelle superla- tive, the incarnadine most rhapsodous of j)oet-tire and music-tone." Miss Barton gave the speaker a look of surprise, not unmingled with annoyance. "If you will have the goodness, sir, to come out of your fine frenzy and condescend to ordinary modes of speech, such as every-day mortals, not grossly ignorant of the plainest rules of syntax and all that, generally use, I will strive to make myself intelligible to your transcendental perceptions." Monsieur bowed with a slight air of pique. He had a thorough detestation of a sharp woman ur a sarcastic woman, and, although finding amusement in laughing at, and mystifying others, was by no means pleased at having the tables turned and being laughed at himself, especially by one of the sex ^vllich he had all his life THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 201 looked upon as composed of cliarming trillers, fit sub- jects for flattery and j^er^z/^/^/^, when creation's impe- rious lords saw fit to unbend from serious employ and stoop to mirth and relaxation. An awkward pause ensued, which Minnie broke by assuring the visitors that none but the nearest relatives of tlieir occupants were allowed to visit the sick-wards. '' We niay at least inquire after, and leave a bunch of fl(»wers for, a friend, may we not?" asked Miss Lily. '' Certainly," replied Minnie ; " I will see that any message or gift that you may intrust to my care is faith- fully transmitted to whomsoever you may direct." " Hear her talk of friends, when she never so much as chauged words with Lieutenant Lonsdale," airily interpolated Miss Sears. '' 1 am better acquainted with him, for all that, than with many who pass as my intimates," stoutly insisted Miss Barton. " He lived next door to some Kew Eng- land friends of mine with whom I spent a week last fall. He enlisted then, but his widowed mother (he was the only son left at home with her) repented at the last mo- ment, and procured a substitute to go in his stead, he obtaining a situation as clerk in one of our mercantile houses. An urgent requisition for troops induced him to join a battalion recruiting at Camp Bolivar. Lie was severely wounded, i hear ; and being an almost entire stranger in the city, I have m^ide bold to bring him this little floral ofl'ering, not daring to intrude on him any more serviceable p'ift." " i am happy to be able to give you a good account of Mr. Lonsdale ; he is out of danger, and is rapidly improving. I acted, yesterday, as Lis amanuensis ; writing, at his dictation, a long 'letter to his mother." " A very nice person ; she will be overjoyed to hear that he is in a tair way of recovery. I will leave my bouquet in your charge ; and please be careful not to ^02 THE TvIVAL VOLU:^TEEES; OR, drop this carte de visite held bj the ribbon, as I think he knows me by sight if not by name." While handing tlie nosegay to Minnie, a spray of delicately-scented llorets fell to the floor. " Ah ! Heavens ! what covert treason," cried Mon- sieur, with affected dismay. stoo})ing to raise the fallen spray. " Do you know, Mademoiselle, wliat fatal gift you were about sending to this unfortunate young man ?" " What gift do you maan, Monsieur Meurice V *' Nothing less than love-in-disgnise, an exotic of most rare charm and subtlety, fair demoiselle." Miss Lily reddened with resentment. *-If you read me riddles, yourself must furnish solu- tion ; 1 am not apt that way." " Spare me the infliction unbearable of your dis- pleasure. Is it possible that you did not know the name of this harmless-looking blossom, which has, nevertheless, its own appointed means of striking shai-p and under disguise. Examine, while to you I recount its qualities recondite. Behold its petals of Tyrian pur- ple, its scarlet filaments, its heart of gold. Then comes the flower-cup which of it has for the description nothing worthy of to note. But now of it note well all the niys- tery. In these bracts, as in a nutshell, it does lie in a manner most admirable of nature for the purpose to secern. That tiny row of leaflets at base of calyx, dost observe ?" '• Those are what you refer to, of course," said Miss Sears, cai'elessly toucliing the calycle to which he pointed and instantly drawing back her hand with a slight cry of pain. '• What do you mean, Monsieur, by serving me such a shabby trick I I could not have thought it of you ; I do nut like practical jokes -when they bring one to harm. I am excessively angry with you." THE BLACK PLUME ELFLES. 203 " I am exalted into rapture and depressed into the misery the most poignant. I welcome the anger as bet- ter than the inditference ; but how can I endure sight of the suffering that hand so sweet and espiegle unto itself hath drawn ? Ah del ! rash descendant of an over-curious ancestress, had you but been content to await due course of explanation botanique, you of it should not have been brought to sudden grief. We here of it have not — how of him call you the name ? one guej^e^ thanks — yes, one v^asp. These bracts have hidden nettle-stings ; comprehend you the disguise ?" " As well as I care to comprehend anything to be learned at such cost. Pah, how my finger tingles. Throw the vile prickly weed out at the window, Mon- sieur, as I will throw the whole plant when 1 reach home — a much-to-be-dreaded and most villainously vile plant, with its false pretences and treacherous lures. I'll none of it ; its very name brands it infamous. Love- in-disguise — why should love, if true, seek any disguise ? why fear to express itself openly like any other honest emotion ?" " Ah me ! Mademoiselle, why ?" She darted at the speaker a quick glance of startled surprise, toying uneasily with her fan. " The question is of your own asking, Monsieur ; answer it, if you think it worth your while." " Then I have your sanction for speaking freely." She changed color beneath his searching look, but replied with air of assumed indifference, " Speak on, if you like ; I place no hindrance in your way." *' Thank you from my heart," he said, bending low to her ; " I am not prepared to take advantage, on the instant, of Mademoiselle's graciously accorded permis- sion, which shall be remembered at season more propi- tious—do not fear but it shall be remembered and acted 204 THE EiYAL TOLr>'TEr.ns ; or, on. Behold licrc of you the fan. The clasp of its san- dal-wood supports, in your grasp agitated and uncon- scious, has snapped asunder. Sutter that I to smith of silver do carry it for repair.'' With graceful assurance, lie took it from her unresist- ing hand. " I will return it to-morrow. "Will that be soon enough ?"' '' I am in no hurry ; I have another, and have no immediate use for this." She spoke in an oddly fluttered way, which seemed rather to augment than detract from Monsieur's equa- nimity. His superior coolness and self-possession gave liim incalculable advantage in every wary move. " Delays are fatal," he'dcclared, with a Arm compres- sion of his moustached lip. " I will to myself do the honor to call when it has the hour of eight at the even- ing to-morrow." "' Tiiat will answer to a marvel, as I shall be away at the naval exhibition with Mr. Caruthers at that time ; but you can leave the fan with my landlady, whose memory may be trusted." " Pardon ; but I have not the honor of Madame's acquaintance ; besides, you forget tlie lecture botanique I am to deliver by permission explicit and of conde- scension the most sweet and captivating. I will have of the pleasure to pay of my respects when it has eleven of the morning after the exhibition." " Yery Avell ; I shall most likely be out for a prome- nade, as*^! generally am at that part of the forenoon." '' What sort of cress-purposes are you two sparring with T' curiously quei'ed Miss Barton. '•Too subtle ones to be trapped in words like silly flies in amber," he returned with a shrug; "but — who lives shall see." "Well, you have contrived between you to hang THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 205 a tolerably weighty burden of discourse on a peg so ligiit as a French nettle in bloom. Throw it aside. Mon- sieur, and take this pansy, which is pretty and harmless." "I prefer my goro^eoiis floral queen, in its purple and gold ; it is a souvenir." " As you please. Let us go, for my poor nosegay is already beginning to wither in this warm room." The three took their departure. Mens. Meurice all yolubility and subseryience ; Miss Sears laboring under a sense of constraint and embarrassment she strove vainly to subdue ; and Miss Barton keenly observant of her companions. Minnie carried the bunch of flowers to the patient for whom it had been left ; but as his eyes were closed, either in sleep or through disinclination for the effort of speech, she put the boucjuet in a glass of water, and leaving it beside his cot, softly withdrew. Down to the kitchen she ran, where Mrs. Stanton was still employed in hurrying forward the preparation of specified incarnativcs. Minnie gave prompt and efficient aid, wliile her free thoughts roamed widely from the scene of her labors. " Miss Sears wrote truly," thought she, " when she told me that we could never meet as friends. She takes all the earnestness out of my best purposes, with her talk of gems, and gauds, and adornings, when heads tliat are dearer to us than all Golconda's gems may be lying low ; the hands we have held lovingly in our own stiff- ening on the dank sod, and tlie heart we would gladly shield with our own sending forth its last tlirob, far away from kindred Lud home. Oh me! who am I, that I should thus unchantably judge another? It is not long, long as it seems, since I too v/ore costly brilliants — wore them not meekly either — gloating at thought of the envy I thereby inspired. Eemeinbering my own follies, let me be lenient to those of others. 208 THE RIVAL VOLITXTEEES ; OR, How foolisli of me, when thrown off my guard by her suggestions of shattered limbs and maimed forms, to pour fortTi, as I did, the deepest feelings of my inner life — feelings I should have sacredly held in my most guarded consciousness, instead of exposing them to tlie derisive scorn of one who could never comprehend their fervor. Idiot! shall I ever learn better than to wear my heart on my sleeve when daws are by ? At all events I stand a chance of rapidly attaining unto the Christian grace of humility, unless I reach a higher place in my own good opinion than any to which I am at present disposed to aspire. CHAPTEK XIII. WAKD FOE IXCUEABLES. Mixnie's busy hands and busier thoughts were sud- denly suspended in action by a message from Dr. TTaldo, requesting her to join him in the laboratory. Supposing that he wished to send his sister some directions requir- ing special accuracy of verbal transmission, Minnie hastened to obey the summons. The doctor, busy as he was with percolators, h Iters, crucibles and retorts, paused at once to hand her a scrap of soiled paper on which her own name had been scrawled with a pencil. Her eyes dilated over the paper, and her cheek blanched to a livid pallor. For an instant she found speech impossible, and then with difiicultv articulated : " Where did you get this V "I took it from the hand of a poor soldier but re- THE BLA.CK PLUME EIFLES. 20? centlv brought here, who has evidently but a few hours to live." '* His name — did you learn that V^ " Ellsmead, so the man said wlio left him here. Poor fellosv, he lins thrown away his last chance of life, it seems, by insisting, with a persistence that would brook no denial, on being conveyed to St. Marc's, when his recovery depended solely on his being kept perfectly quiet." " Where is he now ?" " In the ward for incurables," was the calm reply. In her own mind she accused the speaker of stony- hearted indifference in pronouncing words unmoved that wruns: her verv soul with anofuish. " I am bound to Morland Ellsmead by marriage en- gagement," she piteously acknowledged, " and entreat you to tell me his exact condition." The doctor carefully adjusted the neck of a retort be- fore replying. " You must give me a minute's time ; for I have listened, of late, to so many similar recountals, that I cannot, without some little consideration, recall the pre- cise case to which you adverr." He Immmed a tune abstractedly while watching an infnsi(jn of ptelia trifoliata, Avhich he slowly stirred with a porcelain spoon. " Please tell me, as soon as you can call to mind, what I am deeply anxious to hear," implored Minnie, in tone of urgent appeal. The doctor hummed on, without raising liis eyes from his employment. He was not the man to be hurried at another's beck. When he had taken due time for reflec- tion, he, as if prompted by the occurrence of a sudden thought, drew a small memorandum-book from a side pocket and ran ins eye down the pages as he tuj-ned the leaves. 20S THE RITAL VOLTT^TTEERS ; OE, *' Yon see, Miss Brandon, that mv momory is so over- burdened that I have to ado]~>t all practicable modes of aid and relief; and I find one in jottini:^ down some faint indications of the treatment best adapted to each indi- vidual case. Here is what will help me to the diagnosis in which vou are particularly interested." He read aloud : '•EUsmead — imminently critical. Food, if any be desired, simple, niucila2:inou5 drinks. Medicine: altera- tive, nervine, mildly sedative. Outward application : lobelia inflata, antispasmodic ; viburnumoxy coccus^ same ; camicum haccatum^ rubefacient." ^'I have it now; it is tetanus of whose effects we are more immediately aj^prehensive. Do you com- prehend ?" " Lock-jaw," she returned, with quickened breath and quivering: lip. " That is it ; one of the most malignant forms a disease can assume." "You speak of it as a form assumed by disease — what is the disease itself?" '^ It springs from a complicated laceration of the ten- dons of the foot, which might have united, healed, and left the epidermis to cicatrize, if he would but have remained content wdiere he was, instead of dragging hhnsolf back here to die." " Then it is only his foot that is injured ?" " Bless you, that would have been a trifle but for su- pervening e"^ects, resulting from causes draining the system of irs vitality, and almost exhausting his recupe- rative energy. He lay for two days on the battio-tiell, faint and nearly unconscious, through loss of blood from a vround inliicted by a sabre stroke, doubtless intendel for the neck, but luckily falling on the upper part of tha THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 209 ami. Then a coward, who ought to be gibbeted for striking one too weak to return tlie blow, gave liim a bayonetdonnge, probably meant for the heart, bat for- tunately failing of its mark, though completely per- forating the left lung and breaking one of the ribs." " That was the fatal wound, then, doctor ?'' "Xo ; a man may breathe as easily through one lung and a moiety of a second, as go through life on one leg. We might call him w^ell, that is, pathologically speak- ing, free from disease, although, of course, not sonnd of life and. limb, like one in full possession of every organ and function whose normal activity constitutes health in the highest sense of the term. The trouble with our patient was, that when he was at last borne from the Held and placed in comparatively comfortable quarters, he wouldn't keep his mind at rest long enough to give nature, aided by art, time to effect needed renovations ; nothing would do short of St. Marc's. It is a hard case, I admit ; but we meet so many hard cases now, that one more or less can hardly be expected to call forth any special interest." "But this case calls forth ray most especinl and ab- sorbing interest. You will surely let me see Mr. Ells- mead. I may go with you to the ward for incurables?" "]l^o woman ever does go there ; you will be content to return, afier a brief look at the w^ounded soldier, if I will let you go ?" " Why may I not stay and smooth his way for him down to the very last ?" '' Child, you do not know what you ask. You have not the nerve, no woman has, to endure the sights and sounds you would have to see there. Why, the cries and groans of the poor fellows when their wounds are being probed and dressed, accustomed as I am to such scenes, sometimes move me so deeply that I am long ia shaking off their depressing effect." 210 THE RIVAL TOLUXTEERS; OR, *' It -would be strange if I could not bear expressions of pain wliicli they must endure." " Come v.'ith me; and wlien 3-011 have seen the reality, and calculated the cost of your undertaking, you will probably think better of it ; but if you decide that you can bear it, I will do what I can to facilitate "the per- formance of the arduous duties vou take upon vour- self." " I am deeply grateful for this kindness ; one must learn to bear what is of necessity to be borne." Together they ascended the broad staircase. " ^vlly do you put those whose condition you regard as most hopeless in the top story of the building ?" she asked as they reached an upper flight of stairs. " Because their nervous systems are so overstrung, that their senses are sharpened to an almost preternatu- ral acutencss, until we have amongst them those to whom a sight of the sun would be positive torture, and the sound of a footfall, overhead, actual misery. This highest ward is more readily darkened, more easily kept quiet than those below." --"He opened the door as he spoke, motioning her to ' enter. ''Tread lightly; some of them may be sleeping. I am glad you wear felt slippers and skirts that do not rustle." He closed the door softly behind him. Coming di- rectly from a landing, bright from the sun's glare through a large skylight in the roof, to an apartment with closed shutters and drawn blinds, Minnie could at iirst but dimly discern the outlines of surrounding ob- jects. Her heart fairly sank within her as she did trace the ghastly lineaments of more than one doomed occu- pant of the narrovv- pallets ranged in rows down the ward. Here was an emaciated unfortunate, Laving had his jaw shot away, who waB taking, through a glass tube THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 211 he had not sufficient strength to raise in liis own behalf, the slight qnaiititj of liquid nutriment wlicrewlth was eked out the small remnant of his daj'S ; there another, with glazing eye and clammy brow, who grasped his attendant's hand, murmuring feebly : " I can't see you ; but don't go, it will soon be over." Her face blanched, and a strong shudder shook her frame. "Is it too much for you?" asked the surgeon. "Xo;" she resolutely replied ; "it is too much for them." " It seems cruel to leave you here," he said, feelingly; "but perhaps it would be a greater cruelly to take you away." At gesture from the speaker, she paused beside a cot whereon lay the worn, emaciate frame of a seeming stranger, whose very posture, one arm thrown over the head which was drawn painfully to one side, was indi- cative of exhaustion and unrest. Those lustreless, half- closed eyes, that forehead corrugated by premature wrinkles, the face pinched and vv^orn, the lips pale, tight-drawn, the beard matted, the hair unshorn — what was there here to remind her of one upon whom she had last looked in the full strength and prime of early- manhood — of the voice which had besought her love- troth — of the glance that had read and responded to her own — of the parting kiss that still in memory thrilled on her lips? "That wreck jMorland Ellsmead!" she ejaculated, doubtingly, and with an appealing look at her conduc- tor, as if half desirous that he might be able to contra- dict her words. " It is but rarely that a visitor to this ward is able to recognize a friend," the surgeon assured her. " Since you are bent upon it — I don't pretend to deny that it may soften your regrets in after years ; I never pretend 212 THE r.ITAL TOLUNTEEES; OE, to dictate in such affairs — wLy, oven stay and smooth his Avay, if you liave the heart f')r it, through the few hours, or dr.ys at farthest, that will put him beyond reach of our soothing^ if he be not ah'oady beyond such reach." *• I cannot do my best for him if you bid u:ie despair,'' she plaintively remonstrated. " Do your best and I will do mine, prescribing as faithfully as tliough I were more sanguine of the result. Woman's tender and vigilant care, the tliousand trilling needs of the sick to whicli her line intuitive sympathies naturally fit her to minister, are sometimes of marvel- lous efticacy, as I have frequently, in the course of a long and extensive practice, had occasion to observe. I have but brief time to spare, as we are constantly in receipt of fresh arrivals to-day, so I will explain to you, as clearly' as I can, the mode of treatment I propose adopting in the present case, knowing that, with your natural aptitude and the experience acquired below stairs, you are capable of intelligently cari-ying out my directions. First, I will endeavor to make your posi- tion as tenable as circumstances will allow. " Here, Franz, catch hold of that foot-board and help me lift this bedstead into this recess. 'J hat will do; you are very hand v. Xow run into the splint-room and bring me one of the largest screens you can find — you understand, green glazed paper tacked to frames." The messenger quickly returned with the portable screen, which was placed before the recessed roo^n. " Now that I have done what I could in the way of providing for your seclusion, Miss Braiidon, give me your closest atteniion while 1 explain the professional dicta you are to vary as varying phases of the disease require. Tlie side and foot have been dressed for the day — pass them by. This mixture, to be outwardly applied to the lower part of the face and to the throat, THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 213 cannot be too frenuentlj nscd. Here is a soft brasli to facilitate its application. If the spasmodic muscular contraction should abate in severity, so that you could introduce hetvreen the patient's -teeth this small, flat- tened cylinder, hll it with this gclsernhmin — ah, it's the powder I have; 111 leave it in liquid form — and ad- minister it without delay. If he should still be restless, tossing about and moaning, don't let him waste his strength in that sort of useless effort. Opium is so ob- viously depressing to vitality, that I dare not prescribe it in cases of extreme prostration ; but here are valerian, hyoscyamus, lupuline, Scutellaria — directions for use ac- companying each — with which I may safely trust you. In case of severe pain, moisten your handkerchief with ether, allowing him to inhale it at intervals, and spar- ingly. If, which I have not the remotest anticipation will occur, he should manifest the slightest desire for food, give a teaspoonful of this restorative cordial, followed by one, or more if he can take it, of elm-bark tea, which is both demulcent and nutritive." The speaker lefc, at call of pressing duties demand- ing immediate attention, and she was in sole tendance of her all-engrossing charge. She laid her hand on the shrunken wrist whose feeble intermittent flutter but faintly betokened life. A sense of awe and isola- tion such as she could nowhere else have experienced, made her spirit quail within her. She had with her the one dearest object in earth's gift, and yet she "had him not; for a dead blank wall of unconsciousness as effectually barred her from his presence as though floods of sea and mountains of space had intervened. Per- haps in the whole dull round of human sorrow none casts on the heart a more withering shadow of forlorn desolation than this of sitting beside the form of one be- loved while the spirit it enshrines is withheld from our converse by the inexorable bonds of insensibility. She 214 THE RIVAL VOLUZCTEEES ; OR, busied herself constantly about the suflerer, never per- mitting the liniment to dry on face or throat, while ho knew notliing of tlie loving watchcare by whicli she un- weaiiedly strove to win him back to life. Hour after hour went by, and still the faint flutter at his heart, the scarce perceptible pulse at his wrist, were the only assurances that he might still be classed amongst the livipLg. At last there came a change, a reddening of the skin beneath the liniment, a slight moisture on the heated brow, a stifled moan, and the hand that had lain mo- tionless on the spread was slowly raised. The wan lips moved, pronouncing but a single word. "Ilarkf' She bent over him in an agony of sob'citude " What is it you hear, Morland ? Speak to me, if it be but a word." With a shudder he murmured : "The solemn tolling of a far-off bell." Scalding tears gushed to her eyes ; it is possible that, through power of anticipation, she realized, for the mo- ment, the exceeding bitterness of bereavement. Dr. AYaldo looked in upon her in passing. " You must not confine yourself too closely here, Miss Brandon ; run down stairs, rinse out your mouth wirh vineo^ar, and take a turn in the vard for a breath ot air.'' " Xever mind me. Doctor. What do you think of him ?" ^'Have you noticed any change in his symptoms?'* " He has spoken a few words." "Intelligibly? and did he recognize you?" She shook her head in sad denial. "It is not of good omen, this protracted lethargy. 1 had supposed he would rally a little before the very last ; but in these cases of extreme exhaustion we can THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 21 5 predicate nothing witli any approach to certainty. All I ^Yill venture to affirm is, that^he ca,n't hold out in this ^vaylong; and you may look for a change, either for better or worse, at any moment." The speaker passed on, leaving her alone ^itli the grief which was only less than despair. She knew not whether to wish the weary hours away, trusting that their flight might bring assuaging balm to the sufferer's relief, or to supplicate that their tardy progress might be yet further stayed ; because she knew not whether the waning hours were to bring her consolation, or a cor- roboration of her worst fears. A kindly attendant, in ministering to the needs of a patient on the opposite side of the screen, caught a glimpse of her deeply anxious face and came at once to her side. " Poor fellow ! he is dying, isn't he ? How his fingei-s catch at the bed-clothes ; that is a sign it is almost over." "It is nervousness and exhaustion," returned Minnie, gulping down a sob ; for she remembered well this iden- tical movement in her dying sister's hand. Grasping that of her charge, she restrained its aimless wanderings in a clasp firm but gentle. O, joyous revulsion from the numbing misery of de- spair to even the faintest glimmer of hope ! His eyes opened, faint and bloodshot, but meeting hers with a glance of half-conscious recognition. The rigid muscu- lar contraction so far relaxed that, with little difficulty, she succeeded in administering the gelseminmn accord- ing to direction. His lids slowly drooped over his weary eyes, and for a few minutes he remained perfectly quiet ; then she perceived that his lips were moving, and bent to catch their whispered accents. " I could bear the pain, Minnie, but my strength is gone." 216 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, She gave liim a teaspoonful of restorative cordial, which Jie swallowed v/iih effort, and one of the tea as welL The potion acting favorably was, at frequent in- tervals, repeated. 13ut, as iiis strength faintly revived, so also cjnichened the pain in ratio so disproportionate that nature "was almost overpowered in its feeble attempt to rally. Tiic Land she held in her own felt as though it had been dipped in iced water, so moist was it with a cold dew ; and every breath he exhaled terminated in a scarce audible moan. She bethought her, then, of that blessed anossthetic agent which, to suffering humanity, has proved boon so beneficent. Pouring ether upon her handkerchief, slio so held it that he could inhale its stupefying fumes, and soon had tlie satisfaction of noting that his breathing grew more quiet and regular, after which he sank into that fitful, uiirefreshing sleep which is the best substi- tute for healthful, wholesome slumber artificial aids to repose can superinduce. Lrief the respite permitted by even this poor apology fur rest. A sensation of deadly faintness swept through his en- tire system. lie vainly clutched at her sleave. '' Save me ; I am sinking, sinking quite away. I think this must be death,*' She crushed the tears beneath her lids ; it was no time to give way to weakness, so long as a forlorn hope of saving him remained. '• Sal-volatile, quick," she cried to the nurse, still busy with Iiis charge on the other side of the screen. The stimulant was brought, mixed with water. She moistened the sick man's lips with the same, as he was no longer able to swallow, bathing his forehead and chafing his temples. Slow and lingering his return to conscious life, if life, the mere tact of drawing his breath in torture could be called. THE CLACK PLUME EIFLES. 217 Throngli the long night-watches she hung over him in nnrelievecl suspense, often bending her ear to catch, the "breath that assured her he still lived. The morning brought vrith it Dr. Waldo, his sister, and an accompanying surgeon. " Como with me while the patient's wounds are dressed," proposed- Mrs. Stanton, leading away the worn- out watcher. " What sort of pencil-case was that the doctor held in his hand?" asked Minnie of her conductress, as thej descended the stairs. '•The pencil is of lunar caustic, the case of aluminum, I think, the only metal the nitrate will not corrode." " Why did he have it with him ?" " To try and eat out the morbid growth in the pa- tient's foot, which would not heal otherwise." " It must be a painful process." ''It- would be if its object were not unconscious, Tv^hich is the condition most favorable for its perform- ance." Just one hour Minnie allowed herself for rest and re- freshment, before returning to her post. For days, her helpless charge seemed hovering on the very brink of eternity; deadly attacks of faintness alternating with those of fierce wringing pain that strung his flaccid nerves to their highest point of tension. Through it all, love faithful and untiring, fanned with gentlest breath the feeble spark of vitality that, but for such unwearied tendance, must, in all human probability, have gone out forever. The wound in his side forced him to a single con- strained posture, whose continued observance became an unspeakable weariness. "If some one would but raise my shoulders a trifle, it would be an indescribable relief," he imploringly sug- gested. 10 218 THE EivAL volunteers; ok, " 1 can do that "by passing my arm beneath your pil- low, so as to bring your head a little higher. There ; are you easier now ?" ''Very much so ; the change is such a rest." In the more comfortable position thus afforded, he soon fell into a calm and tranquil sleep. As hour after hour went by, her own position became one of painful constraint ; but this might be his saving sleep, and she was by no means disposed to cavil at its length. Mrs. Stanton stepped behind the screen. " I have come, at my brother's request, to take your place for a half hour or so." '- It is very kind of you both, busy as you are, to think of me ; but this is the first time, since he came here, that he has slept without some sort of anodyne, and it would be cruelty to disturb him now." " It is not to be thought of; I will run up again when I find time. Is there nothing I can do for you now?" " My throat is so dry and parched that 1 am in con- stant dread of coughing, which would awaken him in an instant ; a swallow of the elm- water in that cup mio:ht remedy this." the cup was handed to her. As Mrs. Stanton pushed aside the screen in passing out, Minnie caught a glimpse of a plain pine coffin, which two men were passing through a side entrance still farther down the ward. She was thanklul that her precious charge was not awake to behold a sight so startlingly suggestive to one in his enfeebled condition — more thankful still that his ear was not cognizant to the sound of the hoarse rattling breath of a leUoy\'-sufterer whose last earthly conflict was almost over. These were not sights and sounds calculated to promote the recovery of one whose overstrung nerves quivered and thrilled at a tone or a look as only sick nerves can quiver and thrill at cause so apparently trivial. THE BLACK PIOIE EIPLE! 219 m such sight, however, met Morland's gaze as his 6} es opened upon the tenderly watchful face^e^press ve W fh^ n^ d""""' 't ^" rP'-'^^'^l pi-ospect of Tov r? atl;nio>U'ZfCl"°' '''•''^='"?' '1^^ ^^™^^ t° di^^'-t l^iB by he efllrte of V:^"^g.='^°ft;t^ide of action occasioned >>y ine enoits ot long inert digestives to resume tlio H~ ' 1" 1^' "'T^'^ P'-«''-^^t^d disuse, had beco i: iiLsome and almost beyond power of attem'pt. Ws^ teMioZ.o 'S''^" '""'' '' ^'' fi'-^* -"« to distract o r:^'tL^i^i- fc:s3reSt;ttro^= tedmm by conversing with liiSi • or, tl7» „ \ t .^Vained from more Cti SasioTaltoiToSret ^;ell kno^^g that the exertion of replying or e en of Tho'tfr" '''^^ ''°""' *'"-°^" «"-°^^ the fSot of he cot • iho term aniusenient was not one appreciable bv a l?e,■ chee;* 'f' ''"«"'''™f ?""*««" ^ ^^'t the igof^rhe" cheeifu face now and then bestowing on him a gracious nod and smde ; of the deft lingers so'thriftily bifsy wl^h ^je defaced garment he had c^Tst aside as worthiest bore wth It a certain indefinable charm which was not Si'i .ti:!.r^"^'T- ^-'t-s^t'-^i^ewa'inirderc- laoie a tiame of mmd as a man with lacerated cellular o at^^ir'nto "'f 7' !f"^'°"^ °°"^^' reasonably'aSSo talk fbr a tH. ^Jf^ ^^J'. ™ ore, and he was abli to sSiexiStiS''^ ^' ^ '"-' -*''-* d-g- of sub- '--That man's voice sounds familiar to me " he mo-e than once remarked, as the patient on the o^posHe sii: 220 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEEES; OR, of tlie screen gave orders to a nurse in attendance. " I have it,'' lie said at last ; " he is the soldier I met in the woods, near Laurenstein. Please, Minnie, now that he is once more left to himself, to ask him if he would like to renew the acqnaintiince of the man he shot in mis- take for a hound." The reply that she brought hack in answer to this message was an eager affirmative. Tiie screen was drawn a little aside that the wounded patriots might obtain a sight of each other. Each uttered an exclamation of surprise at the worn and haggard face of the other. " I never yet kne^v the name of the man wdiose death I feared to have caused," said the stranger ; " permit me to ask it now." ^' Private EUsmead, they called me in the ranks." *' And this young lady T' " Is Miss Minnie Brandon." The querist started at sound of her name. " Pardon my seeming rudeness. Is she a relative ?" " She is not," replied Morland, somewhat stiffly. Minnie reddened, but said with quiet, womanly dignity : " He is more than a friend ; I have his pleds^ed word to that effect." '' Thank you, I understand," returned the stranger, in courteous acknowledgment. "As I am strongly desirous of improving the acquaintance so casually com- menced, I should give you my name ; but I have a whim for passing myself off under a false one ; so call me Ash by ; I can answer to that as easily as to a more high-sounding cognomen. What did you think of my not returning that day I left vou half dead in the forest V " I feared some fatal mischance had befallen you." " And so there had. I got my death-wound that day. THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 221 I had to go near the house joii will remember to have seen, in order to obtain the water for which you were thirsting. I had just risen from filling the canteen at the brook, when a pistol-shot struck me in the right side of the chest, passing through the lung and frac- turing the shoulder-blade. As I recoiled a few steps before falling, I caught just a glimpse of a white lace sleeve, and a woman's hand, holding a pistol, drawn inside an open window of the house I reminded you of. There I lay bleeding internally and externally, as miserable a wretch as was to be found on the footstool. The thought that another lay not far away in case quite as deplorable, and through my means, was far enough from giving me consolement. It is the misery that finds no company, no safety-valve in speech, that is heaviest to bear, " I was so weak and faint, that I could Itardly raise my heavy eyelids ; but for all that, I was aware of the light step that stole to my side. I heard the rustle of a silken gown, and, without seeing her, knew that a woman was bending over me. I waited for some word of sympathy, some tenderly pitying tone to assuage the intensity of my anguisli, for it seemed to me that I could not endure more and live ; and that no human being without a heart harder than the nether millstone, could look unmoved on jDangs that almost stopped my pulse, and took my breath away. "'Die, dastard,' hissed the low tones of malignant female venom ; ' now, Gorham, have I begun to execute mv vow of vengeance for the foul murder that left me childless.' " I raised my look to the cold, stern face so vindic- tively bent on my own, and begged for a drink of water. " She glared on me in a way that 1 cannot better describe than by saying that it reminded me of a wild 222 THE PviYAL volunteers; ok, beast gloating over its prey. Save tlirous^li her glance, she did not speak. As she went awaj, "l noticed that slie bore a respectable appearance, clad in a narrow- skirted 1)1 ack silk, with a decent cap covering her grey locks. She entered tlie house, but soon came back with a tin basin in her hand. "• ' Her words and looks belie her,' I said to myself; 'she has some spark of humanity left in her yet ; she is bringing some freshly-made tea to quench my thirst.' " She raised the basin and dashed its contents full in my face — some sort of alkaline preparation it must have held, judging from the caustic smart it caused in my eyes and nostrils. Ko tongue can describe the unutter- able rage that boiled in my veins at this unprovoked and barbarous assault on ane whose sufferings were already well nigh past endurance. " I never had a sister ; my mother died when I was so young, that she has always held a saint's place in my memory ; and this accounts, in some degree, for the exalted place woman has always held in my estimation as the incarnation of all mild and gentle virtues, one to shield, to toil for, to protect to the very death ; but when, instead of the benign ministrant 1 had loved to jDicture her, she stood forth a stealthy and treacherous assassin, my feelings underwent a sudden and violent revulsion, the intensity of my hate being proportionate to the chivalric regard it had displaced. Av'hen she out- raged all the diviner instincts of womanhood, by for^ng herself into tlie arena of strife and bloodshed, from which man and nature had conspired to shut her out, she Avas no longer a creature privileged with defence, but an enemy to be attacked and disarmed. I swore that no brother officer should ever receive liis death-blow from the same hand that had dealt mine. From the necessity of the case, I combined in my own person the triple function of victim, judge and jury. What say THE BLACK PLUME ELFLES. 223 yoii, Ellsmead, ought I to have left this fiend in female form to go at large and repeat the crime of murder ?" Morland raised quicMj his glance to Minnie's face, as though loath to pronounce judgment against any member of the sex toward which he was tolerant for her sake. " She was a dangerous and hardened criminal, and death but her just desert,"' slowly faltered Minnie. Mr. Ashby started. '^ You have avoided the only difficulty in the case. Miss Brandon ; she undoubtedly deserved a criminal's doom ; but was it right to mete out to her such doom vrithout the benefit of law or clergy ? I asked myself no sucli question at the time. I held it to be a sacred obligation I owed to the innocent, to punish one guilty of so dark a crime, and greatly feared that my last hour might come, and the earth not be rid of her. Had my strength been equal to my will, brief the time she should have had wherein to shrive herself ; as it was, I had to wait and watch my opportunity, husbanding well my resources, not wasting, by so much as a groan, one single particle of that waning strength, every iota of which I should need in carrying out my purpose. '• As evening drew on, I kept a close watch on the house that no one might enter it imbeknown to me, as I wished to make sure that she was quite by herself on the premises. I satisfied myself that such was the case. I thought the hours would never go by; but, at last, heard a clock striking ten. She came out with alighted lantern in her hand, and passed it slowly, several times, back and forth across my eyes. I had[ noticed, as she approached, the glitter of a sharp blade ; and, not know- ing for what purpose it might be intended, I discreetly composed my features to the most rigid immobility they were capable of assuming. Evidently convinced that 1 224: THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS; OR, was beyond the need of any further assiduities, she left me without spcakins^. " I waited an hour after she had fjistened the windows and blown out her li^ht, before proceeding to put my plan into execution. JSTo one who has not gone throngli the same can form any conception of the torture I under- went in wri tiling myself over the ground from the spot where I had been lying to a window directly beneath the stairs by which she had gone up to her bed-room. At every move the blood gushed from my wound, and the pain was like that of a shovelful of live coals heaped across my chest. " It was a work of time and patience to tear off a por- tion of my muslin shirt-sleeve, which I placed carefully beneath the wooden sill, and, adding a few dead twigs from an ailing shrub, lit the pile with a match from the little metallic box I never go without, and the deed was done. The house was soon in flames, and I dragged myself away from the fatal spot. " The dry timbers roared and crackled with awful distinctness on the still night air ; but that was not the sound I was listening for. The cry of a frightened bird came up from the woods ; but not for that was 1 bark- ening with strained and eager expectancy. The distant baying of a hound came from afar ; but that was not the one sound I waited to hear. It came — wild with fear, shrill with terror — a woman's shriek, sharp, sudden, as suddenly stifled by the densely rising smoke. " The single staircase leading to the upper story was all ablaze — no hope of escape by that. A white face appeared at the window, weak, trembling hands tried to throw up the sash which resisted their efforts. " Did her eyes and nostrils smart as, thanks to her barbarous malignity, my own had done not many hours before ? A man is half dehumanized when maddened by rage or any other blind, ungovernable passion. I THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 225 could have looked with composure on her last throes even though knowing my own were likelv soon to follow. "^ ^ " Let me not dwell on such a theme. The roof fell m, and all was over. "I looked for death, and even hoped for it, as my onlv chance of relief. ' j j " JN^exc morning, a farmer, driving with a load of corn to the Laurenstein grist-mill, got off his wa^on and came to look at the scene of the fire. He discovered me, of course. I offered him my w^atch if he would place me m charge of any stanch Union man he might happen to know. My offer would probably Jiave been of but little avail, as he could easily hitve appropriated any valuables in my possession, had he not proved to be himself a firm Unionist. He took me home with him, and gave me the kindest care until i tound means of travelling north to join my friends ; I migiit have spared myself the trouble, as the relatives I sought had fallen victims to guerilla outrage. I came here m preference to testing the accommodations of a crowded hotel. ]^ow, Ellsmead, let me hear how you escaped from the fearful position in which I left you." " I will tell you all— it exhausts him to talk more than a few minutes at a time— when he is sufficiently rested to set me right on any points I might accidentally mis- take. You can see, by this cold dew on his forehead and the tremor of his hands, that even listening would weary him just at present. You shall hear all, but not now." 10^ 226 THE RIVAL YOLUNTEEKS ; OK, CHAPTEE XIY. HOME. Pleasant sights, and perfumes no less pleasing, were in the airy, cheery room where lay the sufferer but re- cently removed thither from crowded hospital wxird. Let me describe the room, and you will see that I liave not over-estimated its attractiveness. A cool straw matting is on the floor ; in the corners are tasteful tri- angular book-shelves, suspended by a framework of var- ni'shed pine-cones ; on the walls are prints- etched from paintings by masters celebrated in the old world, in home-made frames of variegated leaves from the new. Tlie windows contribute to the room its best of charm. Through climbing rose-sprays fall fleckered rays of soft- ened light — creeps in the fragrant breath of unobtrusive mignonette, and odor more pronounced from the brilliant sydonia, showy of petal and of perfume alluringly subtle. Of all these alleviatives to the sharp ills that descend as time-honored heirlooms, from one generation to another of the human family, the sole occupant of the room, a man young in years but with the furrows of stern en- durance on his brow, was keenly sensible. The door opened, and a sunny faced young woman, dressed in plain and cheap material, but with that per- fect adaptation of shade and contour to the style of the wearer that constitutes true elegance of attire, stole quietly to his bedside. " How is m_v patient, this morning ?" "Better, Minnie ; the songs of birds are not like the sounds to which one became accustomed at St. Marc's, and the scent of these roses brings with it no unpleasant reminder like that of tinctures and drugs. It was for- THE BLACK PLUilE EIFLES. 227 tunate for us that your father lost his voice in that last severe bronchial attack which forced him to quit his post at the Institute. A god-send to us this ill-wind to our host. Eh, Ashbv? There, that is the second time I have spoken to him and received no answer. Do see if anvthing has gone amiss with the poor fellow." Noiselessly she crossed the room, looking in upon the bed-ridden occupant of the adjoining apartment. " He is sleeping, Morland ; speak low or we shall dis- turb him. He is so much afraid of putting us to the slightest trouble on his account, that the least we can do in return for his kindly consideration is to repay it with consideration as kind. How much more happy he seems here than he was at St. Marc's. How strongly he in- sisted on coming here with us, and wouldn't take ' jN'o ' for an answer." " That is where he was right ; hospital accommoda- tions are very different from the tender cares of home ; and, if Mr. Ashby were with his own relatives, he couldn't be more faithfully tended than he is here. A precious pair of incurables that spring-wagon, with its mattress and cushions, and its horse upon the full walk, brought you as recruits, didn't it ?" " You are no longer to class yourself amongst the in- curables ; on the list of convalescents we have you, remember. Think how light are your sufferings in comparison with those vou bore in the dreary,, bitter past." " I do think of it, and with thankfulness, dear con- soler ; but let me tell you one thing. I had hope of ultimate recovery to buoy me up then ; now that has gone, and with it half my courage." '^ Why will you talk in this dispiriting way ? Only yesterday, the doctor told me you were out of danger and improving daily." '^ Did he tell you that the sundered tendons in my 228 THE TvITAL TOLUNTEEP.S ; OE, foot are dead ? — that the whole foot will probably wither, quite likclj as high as the knee ? — tliat I shall never walk again without the help of crutches ? — that, young as I am, I have outlived my usefulness? Oh, Minnie ! that is the hardest of all to bear — not a creature in all this weary world the better for my being alive in it." " Morl'and, my own, you are not to talk to me in that despondent tone ; it is not right ; it is not true ; you are not wont to distress me with phrase so ill applied. Not a creature in the world the better for your living in it ! Do I not rejoice at every gleam of comfort that comes to you ? Do you ever sorrow that my sorrow is not in- calculably greater than if it rose from source purely per- sonal to myself^ Your gladness is mine, with tenfold increase ; in your grief, too, I proclaim myself rightful participant ; and if you deny my claim you wrong yourself as deeply as you wrung me." '• You are looking at the case from a standpoint en- tirely opposed to the one I occupy. The very fact that my ills come doubly barbed to you does but strengthen my resolve not to selfishly inflict upon you such burden doubly weighted. I would have devoted my life gladly to the pleasing task of making yours happy ; but as this is not to be, let me explain to you, calml}^ and candidly, the process of reasoning by which 1 arrived at the conclusion that it is better for us to part." " I will listen to what you have to say in vindication of the course you have decided on pursuing; but I give you fair warning that I shall do my very best to uj)set the reasoning you deem so conclusive." " Fully appreciating the friendly malice of this threat, I have, lirst, to request that you will give me full j^arti- culars concerning the destruc;iun of the powder mill in Avhich the whole of your father's available funds were invested." THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 229 " Certainly, if that Trill interest yon. The mill was built, as I think you have already been told, of lime- stone and iron, to prevent the possibility of its being set on fire. In addition to this precaution, a sufficient guard to defend it against assault was left in the build- ing every night. There was a great scarcity of work- men, so many had enlisted, and the agent for the Com- pany engaged one, who, as it has since been discovered, was in the rebels' interest. It takes but a spark, as you are aware, to blow up a powder mill ; that spark was thrown by a traitor's hand, and the Vv'hole structure left a mass of ruins." " And your father's fortune in ruins beside. Do not look startled ; we will talk the matter over calmly. Broken in health, weighed down by increasing infirmi- ties, he will have quite enough to do in obtaining his own livelihood, without taking the burden of my sup- port upon his heavily-laden shoulders. As I have lost the power to earn my living in serving my country, surely the country ought to provide some sort of asylum, however humble, for those who served it faithfully while strength held out. I shall nnike inquiries, and ascertain if there is not some such place of refuge for disabled cripples like me. Of course I have long con- sidered the engagement null and void, binding you to such a stranded wreck as I." " My ' stranded wreck ' I refuse, point blank, to leave to the mercy of the waves. What ! you would solicit aid from the country ; but that lordly arrogance, which is the most easily besetting sin of your imperious sex, will not let you stoop to accept help from one who would work for you with pleasure and alacrity a thou- sandfold greater than for herself. Were you my supe- rior in strength, I would lean on you gladly ; but while I am the stronger of the two, you must bow that proud spirit, and even learn to kan on me. You are 230 THE RIVAL YOLUXTEEES; OH, goinor to no asylum save such as I can provide foi you.'" *' But, Minnie, what does a delicately-reared little womanlike you know about earning a living? What could slender hands like those do toward providing for our maintenance?" " Do not speak too slightingly of my abilities for gain- ing a livelihood until they have been thoroughly tested. I know I cannot scour and scrub like our hard-palmed Cliloe ; but if I cannot put these hands, whose capabili- ties for useful employment you are pleased to doubt, to occupation as respectable and remunerative as many a mode of labor others profitably pursue, it will then be time to write me down an imbecile, and incapable. Music has always been to me a recreation ; I can make of it something better. I was last year offered a situation as soj^rano singer in a quartette city choir; I had not the courage to accept the offer then ; I have found the courage to do so now. Then, I could give lessons on the piano, or teach a juvenile singing school. Miss Caruthers would, I am sure, aid me in procuring pupils, and that is a sort of favor I could ask of her without any diminution of my own self-respect. Some one spoke ; was it you ?" " Not a word." " Then it must have been Mr. Ashby." She crossed to the open door of his room. '^ You called to me, I think," " Yes ; I wish you would bring me writing mate- rials ; there are a few friends in the city I wish to see, while I have strength to converse." She brought him paper, pencil, and the little book whose cover he proposed using as writing-desk. He was not even able to raise his head without her assist- ance, which she freely rendered, propping it up with pil- lows. He strove to grasp the pencil, but it slipped THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 231 from his nerveless fingers, tlie little book sliding from liis hand. " Let me write for yon, Mr. Ashbj ; it is over-taxing your strength to make the attempt." ^' j^o ; this is the last labor of love I shall ever nn- dertal^e, and if I can bnt accomplish it, it will remain nnto me a sweet memory to my very latest breath." ' By dint of persevering effort he succeeded in tracing a few irregular lines. Folding and directing his brief missive, he requested that it might at once be sent to the office, and sank back in a state of complete ex- haustion. 'Next morning, a vehicle containing three persons made its appearance at the garden gate, fronting the cottage. One of the three alighted and ran up the walk. Minnie met him at the outer door. " Good morning, Miss Brandon. I am in great haste, but sit down in this hall chair a mhiute, as I have news for your special delectation, if the proverbial curiosity of your sex has not been grossly exaggerated. Think of tidings direct from Mr. Caruthers ! Isn't that a tempting bait ?" " Xot particularly so, Mr. Auverne ; although I am still glad to be assured of his welfare." " Tell that to some one who has had less chance than I for studying j)oor human nature in its phases mutable and perverse. If I had nothing but his welfare to in- form you of, I'd not waste breath in telling what you wouldn't care one snaj) of your finger to hear. Poor Caruthers is in no end of trouble ; so call up your choicest feminine malice in delighted anticipation of revenge for past slights." " I have no such malignant feeling to gratify, I do most earnestly assure you. There was a mutual mis- take between us, that was all ; and as it was discovered in season to admit of effectual remedy, there was no $S2 THE EIYAL TOLUXTEERS ; OR, lasting harm clone. He misunderstood me as com- pletely as I misunderstood him ; I bear him no grudge on that account, as I hope and trust he bears none toward me." " I can never quite make you out, Miss Brandon ; you certainly are not destitute of quick feeling, tlie result of the vivid, emotional nature incidental to your temperament ; it must be that you have unusual power of self-command." " I perceive that you suspect me of some sort of re- serve or equivocation, it matters the less what, that your suspicion is groundless. . I have seen so much of sulfering in those long months last gone by, that I have learned to look on life with a sadder eye than most j^er- sons of my years. It seems to me that there is already enough of human sorrow in the world ; if I can do nothing toward assuaging the same, I can, at least, refrain from adding by word or thought to the misery of any fellow-mortal. Believe it or not, I should be glad to receive assurance of Mr. Caruthers' welfare ; and if any evil has befallen him, no one will regret it more sincerely than myself." " You heard, of course, that he went off as captain of the Black Plume RiHes, who were ordered south more than a month ago." '• I heard notliing of the kind ; a hospital is no place for news excepting for those sick and disabled ; and here, with three invalids to be cared for, we have lived in the most rigid seclusion." " It was in strong opposition to his own will that Mr. Caruthers was forced into military service. He was captain of the Black Plumes a dozen years back or so, when they were only called upon to do esiort duty or meet on public parade, and as his name still remainec^ on the roster of the legion, he Avas called u^^on to head his company, and leave with them at twenty-four hours' THE BLACK PLU:^IE EIFLES. 233 notice. Xot that lie was actnallv compelled to go ; but if he had deserted his post in' the country's "present strait, public opinion, not a pleasant thing to brave, would have set in strongly against him. It was with a rueful countenance he started; for his wedding day had been agreed upon, and a trip to Europe planned in lionor of the occasion." How vividly these words of tlie lawyer recalled to Minnie's recollection the time when she '^had thought to look with Mr. Caruthers on sculptured fountain, carved arch, storied wall, and all the monuments through which old-w^orld Art has proclaimed itself immortal. With a little sigh she returned to memory's crypt the dead illu sion erstwhile so vital, so fondly cherished. " I am sorry for his disappointment," she said, gently; " it must have been hard to bear." " He found it so. I do not believe there was as heavy a heart in the company as its commander bore away with him. Good cause he had, too, for not a trump has turned up for him in the game of life since, l^sot- withstanding my earnest expostulations against the adoption of a course so unwise, he persisted in present- ing Miss Sears with a warranted deed of that superb new mansion of his. I told him repeatedly, that it w^ould be far safer not to place in her unlimited trust, but rather to so arrange matters as to foster in her a whole- some sense of dependence on his generosity. To the policy of keeping her dependent on himself lie was not in the least opposed ; but it seems that he had a presen- timent of coming evil, and was not inclined to leave his bride elect to the tender charities of his mother and sisters, who detest her most cordially. I think that by this time he rues the folly that led him to set my counsel at naught." " Why, has Miss Sears abused his confidence ?" " Of course she has ; exactly as I predicted she would 234 THE KivAL yolu2;teers; or, do. Xot that she is in the least wicked or malicious of intent — it would take a .deeper stjio of woman — no offence intended, I beg leave to protest ; for that — but she is just the sort of person that i would no more trust with the unrestricted control of a fortune than a mis- chievous urchin in dangerous proximity with match-box and shavings. Last week I heard that Mr. Caruthers had had an arm shot off, and was otherwise frightfully nnitilated ; three days later jMiss Sears was married, and she is now on her way to Paris." " You surprise me : Mr. Caruthers could not have been fit to travel so soon after receiving such severe in- juries." " You are quite right ; Mr. Caruthei'^ is in a southern hospital, and Lucy Sears has been guilty of the unpar- donable folly of marrying a Frenchman, a quondam music-master of hers, who, if I am not far out in my reckoning, will lead her a sorrier life than any she ever began to dream of. "What possessed her to absolutely throw away her chances for happiness I can't begin to imagine. The worst aspect of the affair is, that the mar- riage ceremonial was conducted under very suspicious auspices 5 and, if I am right in my conjecture, that the observance was not conducted in strict conformity with legal usage. She has sown the wind, and must reap its natural product in due course of time. She seemed very much out of spirits when she came to me, not a week since, requesting my advice with regard to let- ting her house, ready furnished, for three years. She obtained a tenant for the time specified, at twenty-five hundred per annum (rents have fallen, as you are aware), and on that amount, in a number of the continental cities, they can live in luxurious style, hiring an apart- ment in an antique palace, with a chariot and four, and lackevs to correspond, if bent on ostentatious display. Poor Caruthers!" THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 235 " Poor Miss Sears rather, if yoii have any reason to believe that her marriage has not been legally solemn- ized," " It may be nothing more than a snspicion on my 2:)art, strengthened by the nnprincipled character of the groom, of which I became convinced throngh conflict- ing evidence he once gave in a case where I was enir ployed as counsel. I will tell you the flaws I see cause to suspect in the preliminaries to this marriage, if not in its actual solemnization. So far as I have been able to discover, there were no published bands. Another cir- cumstance that would bear inquiry is, that Monsieur Meurice is a Catholic, and it was not according to Catho- lic ritual, if indeed it was in accordance with any esta- blished form of church ceremonial, for such occasions made and provided, that this wedding was conducted. In my opinion, it is only her fortune that Monsieur is after ; let him once get that into his possession, and, in my belief, her hold on him would be greatly weak- ened, if not wholly destroyed. The day she called on me for advice, she consulted me as to the expediency of selling her house — a measure I strenuously opposed, as it would place her entirely at his mercy. I will tell you how it chanced that I was the first one, aside from the bogus clergyman ofiiciating at the rite, to get an inkling of the game that was being played. I was walking in great haste, down an avenue, when a woman, closely veiled and in a grey travelling suit, started to come down the broad flight of stone steps leading from the covered porch of the Gresham boarding-house. The heels of her boots being too high and tapering for secure foothold, she made a misstep and woidd have fallen if I had not lent her a helping hand. I recognized and spoke to her, addressing her as Miss Sears. ' Allow me — Madame Meurice' — corrected a man, got up in the highest style of art, and overpoweringly perfumed with 236 THE RIVAL VOLU>.'TEErwS ; 01?, 'lilv-dew' and 'breath of balm perennial.' She intro- duced me to her husband, and he made me acquainted ^vith the Rev. Abcdnego Witherspoon, ^vho, it seems, had just united them in'the holy bonds of wedlock. An odd spoon, I must say, the parson looked, with a long cigar in his mouth, a knowing leer of the eye, a hat set jauntily on one side, a flashy 'waistcoat, and a stunning neck-tie.^ I jumped at once' to the conclusion that the swaggering Witherspoon was much more likely to have received t!ie hand of fellowship from some '^sporting brother of the turf than from any of the regularly ordained sacerdotal authorities. Those superstitiously inclined might have found a bad omen, also, in the fact, that the sun did not shine on the bride. The first drops of a thunder-shower sprinkled her dress as she stepped across the sidewalk to the carriage in waiting, as if the skies wept— did you know 1 could be poetical, Miss Brandon ?— at the poor child's sad fate. The truth is, that she is such an impulsive, warm-hearted, foolish, confiding, shallow creature, that she interests me by her very need of such interest ; and I would a thousand times quicker do her a good turn than one of your strong- minded females, who demand a favor at the sword's point, never of grace or courtesy, and ask of you no bet- ter concession than to keep out of their sunshine. "Who is this Mr. Ashby that has written me to come to him at my earliest possible convenience ?" ''I supposed you was a friend of his when I saw, yes- terday, that his letter was directed to you, as he said he wished to see some friends fi-om the city before his strength failed ; and I supposed it was in answer to that summons you came." " I have no recollection of ever having seen a man of that name ; but let me go to him and I will soon find out what he wants." Minnie, having ascertained that the sick man was THE BLACK PLUME TJFLES. 237 awake, and eagerly desirous of an immediate interview with the lawyer, communicated this fact to the latter, who proceeded at once to the invalid's room. Xearly an hour elapsed before the legal gentleman came hurriedly out of the apartment toVhich he had been shown, and the two men who had remained out- side in the carriage were beckoned in, accompanying him to the room he had just quitted. A minute later, Mr. Auverne once more made his appearance, this time motioning Minnie to follow him. '_• The effort of directing a disposition of his effects has quite overcome him," explained the lawyer in a sub- dued tone. " He has asked for you ; prepare yourself to see a great change in him.'' Mr. Ashby held out his hand to her as she approached his bedside. ''Quick I" he adjured her. Springing forward, she grasped his ice-cold palm. " Air !" he entreated, gasping for breath. Mr. Auverne threw open the window near the head of the bed. Minnie raised the head of the sufferer on her arm, that he might be the sooner revived by the en- tering breeze. ^ In vain for him, the breath of the wind that fanned his cheek.^ For the last time has his hand been clasped ; for it is his no longer. jSTever again will that head be pillowed on friendry arm ; for the mysterious intelligence that made it human and precious has fled. One more straggling mortal has been swept from life's narrow strand by the resistless waves of that viewless, boundless sea that will, full soon, wash also our shallow footprints from the sandv shores of time. Morland Ellsmead, for the first time in many weeks, had been able to don dressing-gown and slippers, and 238 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, Bat m an easy-chair, enjoying with the zest of a novel experience, the a*oses and their foliage of vivid green draping the window of his room. About him were grouped the members of the little household. Mr. Auverne had been reading aloud tlie will he had recently drawn up for the deceased. It Avas not a lengthy document ; but its verbose technical repetitions there is no occasion to chronicle. The brief conversa- tion I am about to record will sufficiently explain itself. "He kept his secret well," remarked the lawyer; " not one of you having ever suspected that the pros- pective benefactor you were entertaining unawares was none other than Falkland Courcelle." " If I had but known he was my mother's nearest surviving relative," Minnie regretfully subjoined, '• I should have felt more at liberty than I did to olier ' the constant attentions his condition required, but which he was so slow to claim." " I am sure you have nothing to reproach yourself with on the score of neglect," Morland warmly inter- posed. " K he had been your own brother you could not have been more kind." "He had the satisfaction of knowing," added Mr. Auverne, " that your kindness proceeded from purely disinterested motives— a rarity in this self-seeking gene- ration. His incognito also gave him the opportunity of thoroughly convincing himself that you were worthy of the fine inheritance he has bequeathed to you, or rather to Mr. Ellsmead, which is a different means of reaching the same result. Only a single restriction,- and that not difficult of compliance, clogging his acceptance of the estate; that he shall assume the name of Courcelle on the day of his marriage v\dth Miss Brandon, when the title deeds of Pre-Fleuri are to be placed in his posses- sion. A highly valuable piece of property it is, too, with its rich alluvial soil adapted to every species of THE BLACK PLUME RIFLES. 239 fiulture, ample tenements for all the laborers it may re- quire to carry it on, and the roomy brick mansion-honse, spacious if old-fashioned and ill-contrived, built by the grandfather of the present testator. To-be sure, the place look^, with its nntilled fields, and unpruned fruit- trees, a little forlorn and deserted, just now ; but occu- pancy and anything like tolerable husbandry will remedy this temporary neglect, and make it the garden it nsed to be. Exact to "the verge of punctiliousness, this Mr. Courcelle has been in carrying out the washes of his deceased annts. He not only stipulates for the enfranchisement of their colored dependents, bnt has, in addition to this liberality, made suitable provision for their support in case of sickness or destitution. "Wish- ing you many years enjoyment of your newly-acquired fortune, I may also wish you a very ' Good day.' " Minnie watched the laVyer as he drove a\yay, and then drawing a low stool near the chair in which Mor- land reclined, sat down beside him. " You see," she said, in a tone of snbdued thankful- ness, '' that, after all the impatience you have felt at the helpless condition to which wounds ""nobly earned have reduced you, Providence has marked out for yon a path of usefulness. You will soon, we have good ground for hoping, be strong enough to oversee the laborers on your estate, and then you will once more have it in your power to aid the cause you have so zeal- ously upheld, and to make your life a blessing to others in the many ways your own generous heart will dictate." " I put 'in my claim for the first guerdon to be dis- pensed," interposed Mr. Brandon— ''namely, a quiet nook for book-cases -and book-worm in the new home." " It would not be home without the dear father he has been to me, the true friend and sao-e adviser he has always proved himself to you, would it, Morland ?" "I have not yet become accustomed to my new hon- 24:0 THE KITAL VOLUNTEERS J OR, ors, Minnie. I have become soused to being the object of Mr. Brandon's bounty, that I can hardly persuade myself that the privilege of returning, in part, tiie heavy obligations I owe him is really mine to enjoy; for what- ever I give to one so near to you will be scarcely a gift, as the means for giving came through your relative, and solely on your account.'' CHAPTEE XY. eeapixCt the whirlwind. Chill moaned the autumn winds about the corners and casements of a small, plain dwelling; but the little parlor inside was bright and cosey, and beside the grate with its glowing jets of flickering flame sat two women — their conversation will tell who. " 1 did not know, Mrs. Thornton, that so much wretch- edness could be crowded into so short a time as that which has passed since I left you. I look ten years older than when I went away from here, you must have noticed that." " You certainly are looking pale and worn ; but you have only yourself to thank for it. It would have been better for you to have heeded my warning when I re- peatedly told you that whoever trangressed the plain rules of right must pay the bitter penalty to the utter- most farthing." "I suppose what you say is true, but it is none the more consoling on that account. "Will this wind never have done with its dismal wail about the corner? Has every pleasant sound gone out of the world, or is it THE BLACK PLUME KIFLES. 24:1 that my ear will take in nothing but broken and jangled chords ? I tried the piano to-day, and it mnst be sadly out of tune, for everything I undertook to play was as dismal as this howlino; wind. JSTothino- that I undertake prospers. Since 1 have gone wrong everything goes wrong with me. How coukl I have been so infatuated as to take the course I did ? It is too late to talk of that; I have cause enough for present worriment. A woman isn't fit to have the care of renting and repair- ing an elegantly furnished house like mine ; it was a gift from Pandora's box, and has brought nothing but heart-burnings and misery in its train; while I keep it I never expect to know a moment's peace, and shall cer- tainly never be safe from the pursuit of Monsieur Meu- rice. I am in deadly terror of that man, he has such treacherous, wily ways of gaining any purpose on which lie has fairly set his heart. I deprive myself of every pleasant out-of-door sight from fear of seeing him. I sit in my chamber with locked door, and window-shades closely drawn, lest b}' some sly underhanded device he should gain access to the lower part of the house, and so find his way to me. "When I go out for a walk it is with a double veil over my face and by the least fre- quented streets. It is a horribly unnatural life to lead, this skulking round and shrinking from the light of day, from the eye of all human kind, as I have done since I escaped the toils in which nobody but a shallow witling like me would have been caught." "Why, Lucy, you are in worse spirits than you were yesterday. Has anything new happened to distress you ? I>[ow I think of it, you have been gloomier than before ever since you went to see Lav/jer Auverno." * " I have had good reason for being so. He vv^ent with me to look at my house, and such a state as we found il in I The carved walnut of the furniture and balustei scrolls all scratched up with pins by the children ; the 11 242 THE KivAL volunteers; on, canvas carpets of the basement stoiy riddled like a sieve with the sharp points of their tops; frescoes soiled and defaced bv hard usuage, damasks and canopies full of moths, and gildings tarnished and peelins: from their frames for the want of drying and airing, i could have cried at sight of that lovely statuette of Lurline, en- cliantress of the Ivre, who harped so sweetly on the shore tliat the fishes gambolled at her feet to listen — there she was with her nose broken off and stuck on with vile, colored cement. "Who would buy a sea-nymph with a patched up nose like that ? I could not have been more unfortunate in the selection of a tenant. A quarter's rent due, but not a cent of it forthcoming. Worse than that, I am almost sure they have exchanged those rich brocatelle curtains in the large drawing-room for others of the same color, but made of some sort of cheap cotton and worsted stuff.*' " I should think you would prefer having your house stand empty to seeing it injured in this way." '' So I would, if I had any other source of income ; and even as it is, I would rather run the risk of finding another tenant than keep the one I have ; but Mr, Auverne says it is impossible to summarily e;ject them. There is another thing that troubles me ; I have received a reply to the letter I wrote Mr. Carutliers, deprecating his anger and entreating his forgiveness. I do not know what to make of his answer. As nearly as I can find out, he doesn't seem disposed to overlook or pardon the past, letting bygones be bygones. Here is what he writes, or rather somebody for him, the writing is not in his hand : " ' Come to me. I ^^11 hear the story from you own lips or not at all.' -' What shall I do ? I can't go." " Certainly you can go ; the entire route between this place and the town where he is lying wounded is entirely THE BLACK PLUIME RIFLES. 243 " O, it is not anv clanger on the ioiirnej tliat I dread." ''What then?" '' I dread to meet the man whom I have given good cause to overwhebn me vrith npbraiding and reproach." " It is very generous of him, I thinls:, to be willing to hear jou in jour own vindication." " But I cannot vindicate myself — there's the sting, Whatever should I saj to him ?" " Tell him the whole story as he requests — tell it with- out the slightest concealment or prevarication, as you told it to me on your first return." " O, Mrs. Thornton, he would never listen with the indulgent forbearance you showed me. How shall I ever confess to him the ungrateful return I have made for all the benefits he has showered upon me?" ''It is the only wise and safe course left you to pursue." " But, supposing he should be stern and severe, re- proving me harshly for my misdoings — I have been through so much that I never could endure it." '• Do you merit anything better at his hands ?" '• Perhaps not ; but my deserving it doesn't make it any the easier for me to bear. He will say that I left him because he was maimed and disfigured for life ; but, I am sure, it wasn't that, though I did once declare that I never could marry a cripple, or be seen promenading Grand Avenue with such a one ; but I have learned, since then, to value a kind and feeling heart as I never valued one before." " Say this to Mi*. Caruthers rather than to me, Lucy, and I am convinced you will have no cause to regret your openness and candor. I earnestly recommend you to go to him, at once, in compliance with his express desire." '• Well, what must be, must. If I stop to think it over, I shall never find courage to start, so I will not 244 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, take time for reflection, but go straight to j\[r. Auverne for some papers and directions I shall need on my journey." A most dreary, drizzly and comfortless journey it proved, but one not marked by any mishap worthy of note. Tlie hack she had taken at the station-house drew up in front of a handsome and commodious stone mansion. '* This is the street and number to which you directed me to drive," announced the hackman, lowering the steps for her to descend. '* There must be some mistake," she objected, draw- ing back with a look of hesitation and mistrust ; '' this splendid structure neyer could have been intended for a hospital." ^' Certingly not ; they don't have them dandy curtains and marble cuttings and curvings to hospittles. The fact is, this structur has come to a better use, by all odds, than its owner ever meant it for. The man as built it — a powerful rich man, too — has gone off a rebeleering ; and, to come up with him, they have confiscated liis house, which is full of sick soldiers, and peace be to their ashes, and all whom it may concern. Shall I take your portmanteau, or whatever you call it ?" '' Thank you ; I can take it myself, it is quite light." '' Shall I give a pull at the door-bell ?" "I need not put you to any farther trouble; here is your fare. Can I see Mr. Caruthers ? " she asked of the servant who answered her summons at the door. " I don't know of anything to prevent," was the stolid reply; "but perhaps you had better ask himself. That is his room, the third on the first landing ; ' green-room,' it says on the label 'tied to the key, so you can't miss it." AVith slow, reluctant step, Lucy followed the direc- tions thus given, pausing before the oi)en door of the room she sought, thus gaining an unobstructed view of THE BLACK PLUME ETFLES. 24:5 its occupant. How different the reality from the scene her fancy had pictnred. She had expected to find Mr. CaVnthers surrounded by all the discomforts of the roughly constructed hospital barracks she had seen at Camp Boli\"ar; but there he sat in a luxuriously fur- nished apartment, a little paler and thinner than for- merly, whereby lie was in personal appearance much in:iproved. A slight discoloration of cheek and forehead, a deep scar on the left temple, and the right arm sus- pended in a sling, were the only visible effects of the wounds he had received. Xot an item in his surround- ings escaped her penetrating gaze. In a capacious arm-chair upholstered in green plush, he comfortably lounged. A newspaper he had appar- ently been reading was held carelessly in his left hand. The dressing-robe of Chinese fabric he wore was faced at cuff and collar with crimson satin, curiously picked out with elaborate stitching. Little threads of gold glistened in the maroon-colored velvet of his slippers. His eyes complacently rested on a slender-necked Bohemian jar filled with choicest flowers; he always had a weakness for lovely colors and sweet odors. For the first time his intended visitor, herself as yet unperceived, bethought her of her own haggard, forlorn appearance, and travel-stained attire. Creeping to the head of the staircase, she consulted the mirror which, from the back of a^ alcove, reflected a group of J^ereids in alabaster. Disconsolate enough the, living image reflected by the glass. A pale, sad face, with heavy eyes of rueful look ; a grey bonnet of flabby cap crown and unbecoming scoop ; the strings creased and crum- pled, ruches disconsolately drooping, and flowers so limp that threads of the tinted muslin whence they derived their origin, all too distinctly revealed them- selves. " I am looking and feeling my very worst," she said 246 THE RIVAL TOLUXTEERS ; OR, to herself; " but it is too late to mend matters now ; a bold dash is all that remains to me, and the quicker it is made the sooner it will be over." She made an attempt to smooth her hair, rubbed some blotches of mud from her travellinir dress, pulled out the bow at her cliin, and tapped at Mr. Caruthers' door. lie turned with listless, languid air, and without the least appearance of surprise, looked her calmly in the face. "Is it possible," he composedly inquired, "that I liave the pleasure of addressing Madame Meurice ? Pray be seated, Madame." The little conciliatory speech deprecatory of his anger, and begging that he would not wholly condemn her until he had given her an opportunity for stating all the circumstances palliative of her ofience fled her memory on the instant. She had been prepared to meet his reproaches with free and contrite confession, with humiliatory and abject acknowledgment even ; but this immovable inditterence from one who had never before hesitated in manifesting, both by word and deed, the warmest interest in her welfare, overcame her entirely, and she sank into the first seat that came in her way, wholly oblivious of the fact that she had been guilty of the rudeness of leaving his question unan- swered. " You sent for me, and I have come," she said, with a dreary sigh. ^ " It was more than I had a right to expect ; it was not of a piece with your ordinary conduct of late," he moodily rejoined ; addiug, with scant courtesy, " your appearance shows that you have had a stormy and tire- some journey, Madame Meurice." " I Vv'ish you would not call me by that name ; I lay no claim to it now." " You had better lay claim to it ; I can tell you that. THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 247 Of your treatment of me I have notliing to say ; don't flatter yonrsclf that you liaye hurt me too seriously for recoyery; I shall get over it. False as you haye proved, I have no desire to see you go from bad to worse. You have made your choice, and must abide by it. You can't be so entirely devoid of common sense as to suppose that, in a miff, you can throw off your husband's name and take another ; such a suicidal step leaves you — nowhere. I talk with you as Madame Meurice, or I talk with you not at all." His listener colored deeply with indecision, bewilder- ment, and distress. An embarrassing silence ensued, which she broke as soon as she could trust her yoice to speak, by saying, '' I am rejoiced to find your injuries so much less serious than I had feared. AYe heard that your arm was shot off, and your skull most probably fractured." " The wild way in which unofficial army reports usu- ally fly. It was my horse that was shot under me. I procured another which turned out as yicious a brute as ever yielded to curb and spur ; not that he ever did yield to them, or showed himself in the slightest degree in- clined that way. His worst trick was stopping suddenly, at the top of his speed, and pitching his rider oyer his head. That was the way he served me, sending me head- long oyer a stone wall, breaking my arm in two places ; and, I really thought, at first, crushing in my forehead like a bandbox. You thought so too — thought I was fairly shelyed, and so hastened to secure the first eligible ofler that turned up, by way of consolation for my loss." '' Do show some mercy ; I haye suflered so much," Lucy piteously im.plored. He was not mercifully disposed, and went on. " Dolt that I was to dream of faith and constancy from a creature who finds her aptest type in the shifting winds that blow as they list. The return you have 248 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, made for the trust I placed in you ; for all the efforts I liave made to secure your happiness and well-being; for all the pains I took to provide for your comfortable maintenance, in case I should fall in battle — for all this kindness and forethought, I say that your return has been that of a base and thankless ingrate. Can you deny it ?" '- 1 cannot deny it," she faltered, with bitter, burning tears in her eyes. " How long," he asked, with gathering wrath, " since you became infatuated with this moustached exquisite of a foreigner ?" " I never was infatuated with him," she earnestly pro- tested. " Well, then, since you beg the plainer question, how long is it since you were married ? " I never was really married." Ml-. Caruthers' brow grew black as night, and his whole face stern to the verge of austerity. " Xever really married !" he enunciated with wither- ing accent; " then you had better have died than have gone off with that man, as you did, with no wedding symbol on your lingei', no solemnly pledged vow on your lip. It is true, then, that you have no rightful claim to any name other than that you have always borne." " It is true," she hesitatingly admitted, averting her glance, and cowering beneath his look. " That I should live to hear you confess to accusation that no one but yourself could have made me deem credible of belief; to learn that the woman who sat as a petted child on my knee, and beguiled me of my time with her innocent prattle, has given just cause to any for mocking gibe and scoff. Know, Lucy Sears, that it is hard enough for a man to face the scorn of the world ; but to a woman, it is blight, infamy, ruin. As well might a lily attempt to withstand the hurricane's rush, THE BLACK PLOIE KIFLES. 249 as a ^oman think to brave the blasting breath of pub- lic scandal.'' At lirst she had been shocked and bewildered by his words, and deeply pained bv his manner of speaking them ; but it was not until she uoted the scorniiil flash of his eye, the contemptuous curl of his lip, that the fall significance of the withering rebuke he had uttered burst upon her amazed comprehension. Then the scalding tears in her eyes were qnenched in the burning gleam of anger ; and through her entire being seethed a sense of wrong and outrage as concen- trated and intense as it was in her nature to know. Tossing back the hair from her heated brow, and un- consciously crushino- the artificial flowers wreathed across her head, she impetuously made reply : " I have been weak and imprudent, quite likely ; I have been duped and deceived, very surely ; but a God- forsaken creature for woman to shun and man to sneer at, nexer. I did not know you could be so hard and cruel. I did not know that you could with only words — Vv'ords ? — daggers ! so strike me to \\\(i heart. Let me go. I^To one has scufted at me but yon ; and I will put such space between us that you shall not wound me by a second blow like this." She groped her way blindly toward the door; but unable to proceed more than a few steps, sank half fainting upon a lounge, crushing her bonnet against the cushions supporting her head. Mr. Caruthers was seriously alarmed at the unlooked- for eft'ect his words had produced. " Do not agitate yourself in this way," he soothingly entreated. " I must have drawn a wrong inference from your admission ; don't think of it again ; there is no harm done." She neither moved nor spoke. 11* 250 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, He crossed hastily to her side, and with his left arm turned her head so that he could see the face. Her eyes were closed, her pearly teeth just visible be- tween the white and parted lips. His sudden aharm deepened into the gravest appre- liension, betrayed by the assertion through which he sought to reassure himself: " It cannot be that a woman is so easily killed." Removing her bonnet so awkwardly as greatly to add to its defacement, lie tossed it upon the floor ; and dip- ping his handkerchief in water, laid it wet and dripping on her head. She opened her eyes, closing them with an involun- tary frown as they met his own. " I hope you are better, my dear." "Better," was all she said. He fidgeted uneasily about, stepping on that unfor- tunate bonnet, not at all to the improvement of its al- ready dilapidated condition. A brilliant idea occurred to him. " Let me give you a glass of wine, Lucy, it will re- vive you." " Not an,y ; a physician prescribed it for me when I was ill at Paris and it has ever since been unpalatable to me from unpalatable associations." She sighed heavily ; his kindly intended proffer had awakened a train of thought full of pain and humilia- tion. He pressed a glass of water upon her acceptance, and the draught revived her. '• Don't mind what I said, Lucy ; if I took your words in a vrrong sense, it was nothing worse than a mistake, and a very natural one, all things considered. I have not yet heard your story, recollect ; tell it me now ; it shall have my undivided attention, and every circum- Btance shall be most carefully weighed and sifted." THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 251 " A sifting aud weighing of mj very life ! It is more than I could bear. How can you ask it of me ? — to sub- mit a second time to the dagger thrust that has struck me to the earth ? Isn't one blow enough ? Aren't you satisfied ? Do you want to kill me ?" '• You are very unreasonable ; I do not wish even to grieve you. If I misinterpreted your admission, say that it was owing to my own obtuseness, and let it pass. We will talk the matter over together, kindly and can- didly, as soon as you are a little more composed." " I shall leave, then ; this air stifles me. There is but one subject I wish to speak of before I go ; that is your house, which is in a sad condition, owing to the alDuse and neglect it has received at the hands of its present tenant." "Your house, you mean." '^ Mine no longer. I never could consent to be heavily indebted to one who holds me in such light esteem as your words imply." " Will you never forget that ?" "Is your own memory so little retentive, that you think mine like a sieve that holds no water? I do not say that I shall never forget; I shall try to put this msierable meeting out of my thoughts, but the time for forgetfulness has not come yet. I shall consult Lawyer Auverne, as soon as possible, as to the proper steps to be taken for restoring to you the property that is yours." " But what will you do ? Where will you go ?" " It matters little what or where, so I do but get far enough away from — from — my friends. Speaking of Mr. Auverne reminds me that he gave me a paper, just before I started, which he said would explain to you much better than I could — the law phrases he used were so hard for me to remember — all tlie causes that had operated to set me free from any future control on the part of Monsieur Maurice." 252 THE EITAL YOLUXTEERS ; OR, "Bj all means let me have the paper, which should have been lianded me at jonr earliest arrivaL You will at least do me the favor to remain while I examine its contents." '^ I will stay since you ask it; but you will please make my detention as brief as may be.*' Pie bowed acquiescence. Not yet wholly relieved from the giddiness that op- pressed her, she leaned her head upon a small inlaid table, which she drew beside the lounge. Mr. Caruthers had not finished reading the first page of the paper she had presented him, when a thin, stu- dious-looking man entered the room without even the formality of a rap at the door. The former received the new-comer with easy courtesy. " I need nothing more to-day in the way of ])rofes- sional aid, my dear doctor; but I should be greatly obliged to you if you would receive this young lady, a ward of mine — Miss Sears, Dr. Cairnes — as your guest for the night. Tiiinking me much more seriously wounded than I am, she has made great efi:brts to reach me, is sadly fatigued, and beneath your hospitable roof will find the rest she needs, that is if you accede to my request." '' I would accede to one far more serious for the sake of obliging you, sir. Your vrard does, indeed, look as though she needed rest ; and Mrs. Cairnes and my daughters will be happy to sbow her every attention in their power." Both speakers turned toward Lucy for some expres- sion of assent or acknowledgnient, but she neithei- no- ticed nor replied to their questioning looks. Her eyes were fixed on the fioor, her brow contracted, and iier lips firmly compressed. Across her forehead was a deep purple indentation, caused by the sharp edge of the table against which it had rested. THE BLACK PLOlfi RIFLE3. 253 For the second time since her arrival, ISlr. Carutbers -^ent to lier side, bending on her a glance of compassion wholly thrown away on its object, as she had not even observed his approach. '• Lncy," he gently inanired, '*have you heard what we have been saying ?" " She started, colored, and impulsively withdrew tlie hand he had taken. " What is it you are asking of me, sir ?" '• Only that you will go home with my good friend, Dr. Cairnes, and find the rest you need after the fatigue of your hurried journey." " Gail I have a room quite to myself where you pro- pose sending me ?" '' That, or anything else you may require to make yon comfortable," the doctor hastened to assure her. '' How soon can we start ?" " Directly, if 3^ou wish it." The alacrity with which she rose, bent her bonnet into presentable shape, tied it on, and announced her readi- ness for immediate departure, sufficiently attested the sincerity of her desire to be gone. A shade of mortification crept to Mr. Caruthers' face. " I shall see you again, before you leave town, Lucy?" Her eyes flashed forth a prompt and indignant de- nial. '• I insist on seeing you," he peremptorily subjoined, *• to return to you papers I hold in my possession, if for no other reason. You will come to me to-morrow ?" " 1 will come since you exact it," she coldly responded, avoiding his glance, and not even taking the hand he held out to her at parting. " When your son goes to school in the morning, doc- tor, will you let him walk round this way with Miss Sears?" 254 THE RIVAL VOLUIS^TEERS; OE, " I will do better than that, by leaving her here on my earliest round of calls." '^ I am greatly indebted to you ; command me, if there is any favor I can bestow in return." CHAPTEE XYI. THE FwEBOUND. Dr. Catkxes, knowing his companion to be a stranger to the locality, pointed out to her such objects of note as would be likely to reward the attention of an unac- customed observer ; but she paid so little heed to his remarks that he soon desisted therefrom. Declining to join the cheerful home circle in the physician's parlor, she was shown directly to her own Bleephig-room, where, unrestrained b}^ curious eyes, she could indulge in wretchedness to the top of her bent. Ignoring the summons to the tea-table, she paced her room with rapid, restless step until she was completely exhausted, when, retiring for the night, she cried her- self asleep, and slept soundly until morning. When she awoke, clouds and mist had disappeared, and the cheery sunshine flooded her room with its bright and gladsome presence. Her spirits rebounded from their deep depression at sight of the genial sunny aspect na- ture had once more assumed. A bell rang below stairs. Some one rapped at her door, and a silvery girlish voice called out : '* The dressing-bell ; breakfast will be served in half an hour." She joined the family at their morning meal, and THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. ^55 scarcely a trace of gloom marked lier demeanor as she listened to the lively, playful chat of the younger mem- bers of the domestic group. Far more light and elastic the step with which she returned to her room than the one by which she had entered it on the previous after- noon. Seating herself on a cushioned stool, and burying her face in her hands, she pondered long on the ever accu- mulating difficulties of her position ; and strove, to the best of her ability, to ascertain the method most avail- able for extricating herself from her embarrassments. " I told him he had struck me to the earth," she said to herself, with a gleam almost vindictive in her eye ; '' let him make the most of the triumph in his power to strike so heavily which that admission gave him ; he will never wring such another weak cry from my lips. Am I so abject and spiritless a creature as to allow my- self to be crushed by the weight of a mere opinion — and a false one at that! It was because the blow came so imexpectedly that it stunned me for a time. Kow that I am on my guard, I cannot be stricken down unawares in that way again. '• I humbled myself to entreat his forgiveness, and in return he humbled me to the very dust • I will never again abase myself thus, only to gain additional abasement. " I sued for pardon, he denied it ; and the hour for such suit is past. Oh, Monsieur Meurice ! see to what a pass your arts and wiles and guile have brought their victim. Would to Heaven I had never seen your fair face or listened to your false vows. But for you, I should never have gained the hatred which hm replaced the love that once was mine. Hatred ! Mr. Caruthers does not think me worth it ; he despises me, and cuts me to the soul with taunts the most unbearable that could be levelled at a woman. Well, that is all over now ; for the short time that I must be with him, once 256 THE niTAL TOLU^•TEERS ; OR, more, I will steel myself against any thrust he may attem])t to aim at me. '' Why did he so strongly insist on seeing me again before I left town ? Perliaps to make arrangements for my restoring the house he gave me; but "svliy should I restore it? He will think no worse of me if I keep it than he thinks of me now. I have already forfeited his good opinion, and cannot lose it over again. To be sure, I promised to return his gift ; but tlien I was so beside myself with rage and resentment when the pro- mise was given that it could scarcely be considered as binding. Xow I think of it, it was no promise, but sim- ply an offer, on my part, which he failed to accept when it was made. I have a right to change my mind, and change it I will. What could I do by way of earning my own support? Make soldiers' shirts at ninepence a day? I never could endure the confinement and pri- vation incident to such a life; and I am not going to endure it. A poor needlewoman I need not and I will not become. " Cn the whole, I mio'ht be a o:reat deal worse off than I am. An heiress in my own right, with full lib- erty to come and go as I choose, many might deem mine a most enviable lot. I may think so myself in time, if I can only sunder all associations with the past, and move to some place where there will be nothing to re- mind me of these last few wretched months. Mr. Au- verne is right ; it is better, far better, for me to retain my property in my own keeping than to resign it to that of any living person. The lawyer is the safest counsellor, and the best friend I have — so long as he is sure of his fees. "If Mr. Caruthers had been inconsolable at my de- sertion of him, he would be less taken up than he is with all those little luxuries he has gathered about him. Men don't die of broken hearts, nor vromen neither ; and THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 25T I'm the last person to be gnilty of siicli a follj. I have not hurt him, did he say ? jN'either has he hurt me. Is he fastidious and particidar to a nicety in matters of dress ? so am I. Does he aifect rich silks, lovely colors, and costly embroideries ? so do I. Is his mind so much at ease that he can devote his attention to all sorts of elegant apparelling ? so is mine. I will not go to him a second time looking like the forlorn, forsaken outcast I did yesterday ; he shall not again have the advantage over me in that respect. 1 never can satis- factorily acquit mj^self when weighed down by tlie pain- ful consciousness of a dowdy bonnet and crumpled face trimmings." She started up with an alacrity indicative of her newly- formed resolve. Robing herself in bonnet and cape, she went down to the breakfast-room in search of Jenny Cairnes, a lively, spirited miss of sixteen. "I wish to make a few trifling purchases," Lucy con- fided to Miss Jenny ; "is it quite safe for me to traverse your streets alone ?" "Peifcctly safe; but please' take me with you. A shopping expedition ! I have not enjoyed such a feli- city for an age. Do let me tell mamma you require my services as chaperone ; I should fill the office admi- rably, I am of austerity so formidable, and of dignity so unapproachable." "Then you must be quickly ready, as I have no time to lose." " In a trice." ■ They were soon on their way. Exhilarated by the clear, bracing air, brisk movement, and sight of the stir and bustle in the thronged streets, Lucy listened to the playful rattle of her companion Avith an interest she had not accorded to the valuable information imparted by the doctor on the previous day. A dapper young gentleman from an opj)osite side- walk dolled his beaver to Miss Jenny. 258 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, "Young Lieutenant Ganer, at lionie on furlough," she cxchiiincd ; "very agreeable; did yon ever know a mnsic-niaster — he was mine before his enlistment — who Tras not ?" Lucy's gaiety fled on the instant ; she turned pale, and gave her companion a searching look, vaguely sus- picious that she might in some way have gained an ink- ling of her own private personal history. The young girl met her look with one of perfect open- ness and cordiality ; and, ashamed of her suspicion, Lucy strove to atone for it by resuming her former demeanor ; in this she succeeded, but the dull aciiing sense of mis- ery so imintentionally aroused was not easily subdued. '' One of the most delightful of mimics, was Franz Gauer," Jenny rattled on ; " the way in which he imi- tated the leading stars at the opera, tenor and baritone, hitting off the peculiarities of each, was irresistibly couiic. He would go down into the thorough-bass till his voice was lost in a hoarse growl, and then he would soar up a couple of octaves, note by note, until he wound up vrith a diminuendo of excruciating wire- drawn squeak. What could I do but laugh? Papa heard me, one day, and sent for raeto come to his study when my lesson was over. If there is anything I do dread, it is to be summoned to that study ; for, though he doesn't scold, like mamma, he isn't to be coaxed like her, either ; and his word, once given, is never re- tracted. He only said to me, that I might practice my old pieces, for the present, and consider my lessons sus- pended. I understood the reproof as well as though it had been set forth in plainer terms. I wonder if most girls find it easy to put on dignity with their first long dresses ; it did not come easy to me. Before that dread- ful assumption of womanly paraphernalia, I could be as jolly as 1 liked, without check or hindrance; but since then, I can't bound a ball, or climb a tree by way of calisthenics, or drive a donkey cart, or get up a bit of THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 269 masqiiei-cade in burglar costume to frighten the maids, and so squeeze a little fun out of tin's drj rind of life, than straight comes the reproof: ' You had much better be storing your mind with useful knowledge than play- ing this sort of childish prank.' Thej are talking, now, of sending me to a boarding-school; I wish 1 knew what it was like. Were you ever at such an institu- tion ?" " I was a pupil in one for several years." " How nice ; you can tell me so much I wish to know. "Was the discipline very stringent ?" " The rules seemed strict to me ; but I presume they were not more so than they ought to have been to secure the confidence of the seminary's patrons." " But what if the rules were transgressed ? was there a penalty in such a case ?" " Of course there was, or where would have been the use of the regulations ?" "How barbarous! "What! actual punishment in an establishment fitted up solely for young ladies ?" " Certainly ; actual enough of its kind." " What kind was it ?" " O ! there were various modes of correction, accord- ing to the circumstances of the offence." " Don't put me off so, please ; if you would not think me impertinently curious, I would like to ask you a plain question — may I ?" " As many as you like." " Did you ever break a boarding-school rule ?" " Yes ; a number 6f them." " Do tell me what they Avere, and all about it." " I will, as clearly as 1 can. In the large dining -hall a number of tables were laid, and, at a side one, the teachers of foreign languages always took their meals ; and their pupils, sometimes one class and sometimes another, breakfasted and dined with them. Xow, it was 260 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, a rule at tliis table that not a word slioiild be spoken exceptinp^ in French, that the speakei'S might learn to converse in that lanL::iiage with facility. " One day we had lor dinner mock turtle soup ; and, as I couldn't for the life of me remember the French name for it, I awkwardly enoHgh had to go without. Then a clam-cliowder was brought on, and there was no sucli dish set down in Chouquet, or any of the printed lists of viands I had in my pocket. Monsieur Lancens, a brother of Mademoiselle, who presided that day, understood my dilemma, but would not help me to the chowder unless I sent a special request for it through Fifitte, who couldn't speak a word of English. I whis- pered Mademoiselle, who sat next me, merely asking her to pronounce the term I wanted, in her own language. '' All she said was ' You have been guilty of breaking a rule, Miss Sears, if the offence is repeated I shall deem it my duty to report you.' " " AVhy did you not catch the word from some of the other pupils ?" "Tiieir orders were given to the table-maid in so low a tone that it escaped me. Tired of the quizzical looks meeting me on all sides, I asked to be excused, and left the hall. Instead of 2:oino; to my chamber, I tliono^ht I would go out to one of the music-rooms in a building detached from the main body of the seminary. In crossing a passage, I saw the cook with a large tray full of pies going into the pantry. On coming out, siie left the door open behind her, while she went to refill her tray. I had lost my dinner sorely against my will ; and without stopping to think of consequences, I darted into the pantry, seized a ])ie, and, prize in hand, ran up to my room. I lost some time in looking for my fruit- knife that had been mislaid, and by the time I found it dinner was over and the girls trooping up-stairs. That Bound did not disturb me, bat another one did. This is THE black: TLUIIE ETFLES. 261 what a person was saying in the hall below : * This is not the first time pilferers have foniid their way to the pantry. The real culprit shall be exposed. Let every pupil's room be thoroughly searched. Close yonr doors, young ladies, and remain where you are.' I learned from my room-mate that not one of the teachers had come up-stairs, and tucking my pilfered tropliy nnder my cape, I darted down the first flight and safely de- posited my unfortunate prize in Mademoiselle's band- box, under her Sunday bonnet." " So you turned the laugh on her ; good." '' i^ot so good as one would think ; for Mademoiselle Lancens owed, me a grudge, and she was not the woman to forget that sort of debt. She only waited her oppor- tunity to pay me with interest." " And did she get what she waited for ?" " You shall hear. Emma Ford, my room-mate, and I always went to chnrch with Mademoiselle. In the same pevv' with ns sat a tolerably prepossessing stranger, whom we called Master Slender, he was so slight of fig- ure. I noticed that Emma always contrived to occupy the seat next to him, and I strongly suspected that the notes they took of the sermons would scarcely have tallied Yv-ith the heads of the discourses preached by the clergy- man. 'Mademoiselle seemed to see nothing amiss, in- deed was wonderfully unobservant for one usually so sharp-sighted. " One' day when we were out, under charge of a teacher, buying a few articles we needed, I noticed Emma sliding a tiny fish-hook into a clasped division of her porte-monnaie. I was curious to know the- pur- pose to which this odd purchase vv^as to be applied; but as she did not seem disposed to be communicative, my curiosity remained uugraiified for the time. Somehow Emma lost all rehsh lor her studies, and was more than once repremanded for ill-prepared lessons. As a gene- 262 THE RIVAL volunteers; or, ral rule, I was an excellent sleeper, never once waking throii2:li the nifi^ht : bnt I was foolish enou^rh to huv a cosmetic of a street vender, who assured me that it would not only remove all tan and freckles, but would also marvellously heighten and beautify the complexion ; it heightened mine with a vengeance, smarting like fire, and eating the skin half off my face. That wns why I. couldn't sleep, and that was how I happened to find out the mystery of the fish-hook. We were to be in bed, with lights all out, at ten ; that was the rule, strictly en- forced. My face pained me so that I could not close my eyes ; but as I had nothing but my own credulous folly to blame for it, I held my peace and made no complaint. The clock was striking eleven when Emma got up, put on slippers and wrapper, and softly raised the window. The moon was at the full, and I could see distinctly every movement she made. Taking the hook, to which a folded paper was attached, she let it down from the casement by means of a cord, and then hauled in her line, having hooked a missive superior in size as in quality, I presume, from the look of edification with' which she read it, to the one she had thrown out. " Her next venture in this novel species of angling was less successful. She had thrown out her line^ baited as before ; but suddenly lost hold of it with a stifled cry of afiright. Forgetting that she was unaware of my knowledge of her indiscretion, I was at her side in an instant, looking from the window to find out the cause of her agitation and dismay. It was easily accounted for. There were two men, the husband of our principal and a porter, holding Master Slender by the arms ; and there, at tlie casement of the window below ours, was Mademoiselle Lancens, drawing in the cord, with its baited hook. JN'ext morning we were both sent for to enter the presence of teachers and scholars in state as- sembled. I thought poor Emma, who hadn't slept a THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 263 Tvink all night, and who was natnrally proud, shy, and keenly sensitive to disgrace, wonld have sunk into the ground at the prospect before her. I got off with only a reprimand for my complicity in the affair ; but Emma's note — a most sweet and delectable billet-doux, they called it — Avas read aloud, as a wannng to all the pupils then and there assembled. She half cried her eyes out with regret and mortification, and scarcely held her head up for a week ; but she learned a lesson she will never forget, and one learned all the more easily for having been learned while she was young." *' I think she was most severely punished for an of- fence no more serious than a mere harmless flirtation," decisively affirmed Miss Jenny. " Harmless flirtation ! there'^is no such thing," asserted her companion, with emphasis. " Where one person trifles with the feelings of another, it may. be sport to the trifler, but to the one trifled with it is almost She paused abruptly, her voice unsteady and her sight obscured by gathering tears. An arch look was in Jenny's bright eyes, a mirthful sally just ready to escape her lips; but something in Lucy's face checked her purpose of playful raillery, and they walked on in silence until they reached a milli- ner's shop, which they entered together. Xumerous were the parcels borne by the shop-boy who followed them on their return. The doctor sent word to his guest that in half an horn- he would be ready to start on his first round of profes- sional calls. This time was quite short enough for mak- ing a toilette she had determined should be unexception- able as to style and material. First her curled tresses were smoothly brushed and looped back by the jewelled comb, partially restraining their luxuriance. A violet- colored jacket, of Lyons velvet, was worn over a dress 264 THE Rrv'AL volunteers; or, of plain royal purple silk ; both bonnet and cape being of similar material in shade and texture, the former de- corated with flowers of rose sublime, powdered with pearl dust, and falls of lace Avorth scores of times its weight in gold ; Paris boots, of irrcproacliable form and finish, and snowy kids, of lii: exact, completed her cos- tume. "What a lovely outfit!" exclaimed Miss Jenny, as Lucy presented herself in the breakfast-room to take leave of her kindly entertainers ; " I did not know you were so bonny." The young girl's compliment was, under the circum- stances calling it forth, appreciated at more than its full value. Dr. Cairncs had also a remark to oft'er in regard to the improved a^^pearance of their transient visitor. " Nothing like a brisk shopping expedition for femi- nine ailments," he good-humoredly asserted — '• nothing in the whole pharmacopoeia to rival it in eliicacy." CHAPTER XYII. CHARITY. Yery different the calm, self-possessed, elegantly attired woman who now sought Mr. Caruthers' pre- sence from the timid, shrinking penitent, who, in travel- stained garments, and with hesitating, reluctant step came to him on the previous day. Then she had come to confess a wrong ; now she had one she deemed far deeper, to resent. Then it was as a humble suppliant she had presented herself; now it was as one determined THE BLACK PLUMS PwIFLES. . 265 to siiiTencler no riglit, no matter what the inducement to forego pnch determination. Anticipating an inter- view ])ainful as well as profitless, she was fully resolved to avail herself of the first tolerable excuse that might arise^.for abridging it. Mr. Caruthers rose to receive her ; a courtesv he had not extended on the occasion of her previous visit, and drew a chair for her near his own. After a mutual ex- change of the ordinary forms of greeting, a silence ensued which seemed to embarrass him ; but to which die submitted with immovable composure, furtively consultino^ her watch, as thoui^h calculatino- the time of her departure. " You are looking much refreshed by your night's rest," he ventured at random. Vigilant, alert, watchfully on guard against any man- oeuvres threatening the outposts of firm resolve defend- ing the stronghold of dignified reserve she deemed im- pregnable, her reply was warily and cautiously worded. " Quite recovered, I thank you, from the fatigue of having travelled forty-eight hours without sleep. "To be broken of my rest, even for one night, always makes me stupid next day ; but doubling the infliction really gives me the appearance of having been through a severe fit of illness. I dread my return unspeakably, and shall be too happy when it is over with. How soon does the next up-train start, and how shall I man- age to procure a hack to take me to the depot ?" '' The next train starts in an hour ; but you surely do not think of leaving so soon as that." ^' 1 must, positively mttst^ I have decided to make my permanent home in one of the Eastern States ; the ex- act locality I can more readily select after the tour of inspection I am eagerly desirous to undertake, as soon as I can arrange jvith Mr. Auverne for ejecting the pre- sent tenant and obtaining a new one for my house." 266 THE RIVAL volunteers; oe, Mr. Canithers was so far discomposed by this assump- tion of cool eelf-relianco on the part of one wlio had long yielded to his most L'ghtlv-expressed opinion with boundless deference, that he betrayed his uneasiness, both by his perturbed look and by the restless way in which he trifled with the tasselled cord of his dressing- gown. '' I wish to have a candid talk with you^ I^^icy ; and you really put me out of all patience by falling back upon your dignity in this way, and being so frigidly unapproachable." " Better, a thousand times better, reproaches for fri- gidity and reserve, than scoffs and sneers for incon- siderate levity or imprudent concessions." " Why will you so disagreeably harp npon that un- fortunate expression of mine? If I could unsay the words J would ; but as that is impossible, I can do no more than to wish them unsaid, vrhich I do from the bottom of my heart. If this is not a full and ample apology for a hasty, ill-considered remark, I do not know how to make one. Is it accepted ?" " Certainly ; after humbling myself to sue for your forgiveness, and receiving from you contemptuous scorn in return, I could not have dreamed of being be- holden to you for a condescension like this ; accept my warmest thanks for the same. Kow that this little difficulty is happily adjusted, will you allow me to wish you a very good morning, and to seek a conveyance for " ^ " Adjusted ! nothing of the sort. The legal bearings of the case I have from Mr. Auverne, but your own version of the affair is what I now want, to make the chain of evidence complete in my own mind. I agree with him that, Monsieur Meurice is an accomplished chevalier, with principles conveniently elastic; and that in the eye of the law you are blameless in act and THE ELACK PLUME EIFLES. 267 intent; but admitting all tliis, I am still strongly desir- ous of hearing from yourself the many particulars you alone can give, and to which I am prepared to listen with the lenient indulgence of a long-tried friend." '* Lucy's look evinced a decided dTsinclination for the fulfillment of this intimation. " That is the way in which I thought you would listen w^hen I came to you yesterday ; but I soon found out my mistake. Since I am free from blame, why should you wish to know more ? If you really have such a wish, I will make full confession to Lawyer Auverne, and he can Avrite it down for you, or repeat it to you if you prefer communicating with him directly." "But, incomprehensible creature that you are, would you rather confide in Mr. Auyerne, a comparative stranger, than in me, whom you have known since you was a child ?" '' Strangers haven't it in their power to strike as friends can. Yes ; I would rather tell all to Mr. Au- yerne, and haye you learn it through him. Let us con- sider that as agreed upon. How" long will it take to driye from here to the station-house ?" " Confound the station-house ! you'ye nothing what- eyer to do with it at present. (Jnderstand that I do not consider it agreed upon that I am to learn from any superfluous go-betvreen what it is my fixed purpose to learn from yourself, if at all." Lucy sighed drearily. " Why should you be so exacting ? I am not so strong as you think me. I am not accustomed to hard words ; they hurt me ; why should you compel me to submit to them?" " Will you neyer comprehend that you haye nothing of the sort to dread from me? Are you so used to being imposed upon that you can't take an honest man 268 THE RIVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OR, at Lis ^vord ? Didn't I tell you that I would listen as a friend, to what you have to tell me?" " But I would a thousand times rather you listened as ^l^ranger." " As'^a stranger let it he, then, if that will suit you better." "' You cannot mahe yourself a stranger ; I cannot think of you as such." " Perhaps not ; I think I have some trifling claim on your acquaintance, if not your regard, owing to some slight favors I was able to render your mother ; and which, I presume, have not entirely escaped your me- mory." Yigilant as was her guard, here was a movement so unexpected, that, taken by surprise, she was forced from her position, abandoning her outer line of de- fence. '' I have not forgotten what my mother owed to your generosity ; she must have sadly tried your patience at times, as I have tried it since. You have a claim on my gratitude, and on my confidence, too ; you shall have it, however reluctantly it maybe given. Where shall I begin ? at the very outset of my acquaintance with Monsieur Meurice ?" '' At the very outset, if you please." ^' It was you who first introduced me to him, when I was little more than a child, as my music master ; and I always liked to laugh and chat with him because he was lively and agreeable ; natural enough, wasn't it ?" ^' Perfectly so ; what next ?" " The first time liis attentions became so marked as to be seriously annoying, was a couple of days before you went off with your company. Tiie circumstances were so trivial, and his words so lose their meaning on repe- tition, that I am not siu'e of being able to explain to your comprehension. He went to St. Marc's Hospital THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES, 269 with Miss Barton and myself, she wishing to present a biiDcli of flowers to a pa'^tient. Amongst tliem was one lie called iove-in-disguise ; it came from your own con- servatory."' " I never had such a plant in my collection. Whal: was the blossom like ?'' ^' The petals were something like those of a pansy, on ly all of one color, a rich deep pnrple." '^With a row of barbed thorns so fine yon wonld nevei' see them" ''That is it; I thought them stinging nettles, and when I got one in my linger, through incautious hand- ling of the flower, I "said thoughtlessly that^ the very name of the plant was enough to condemn it, as true love had no need of a disguise, and might openly ex- press itself like any other lionest emotion. Tliis he took as a sort of challenge to make me a declaration, at least so he said, when he called on me the day you left. I can't tell you how it all came about; he was so much deeper than I, that I often found it difticnlt to make out his precise meaning ; and it is impossible for me to de- scribe what I never clearly comprehended. He seemed, before I was aware of any such intention on his part, to take it for granted that there was a tacit agreement or understanding between us, and all I could do or say wouldn't shake him out of this conviction." '•Bnt if you knew the assumption to be unfounded, why didn't you contradict it outright, and let him know, once for all, that he was laboring under a total misap- prehension regarding the facts of the case?" "That is what I tried to do; but he only shrugged his shoulders and said, ' Mademoiselle does but aliect ; Mademoiselle is not so obtuse ;' and, as I didn't want him to think me a downright simpleton, I did aii'ect to com- prehend matters about which I was really quite in the dark." 270 THE EIVAL TOLU^■TEEKS ; OR, " But why should you be so anxious to stand well in tliis man's good opinion, that you were willing to make any SHcriiicc to eliect sncli a purpose f ' •'All owing to a foolish habit I have of striving to please my friends. I have learned a lesson, I think, that will cure me of such folly for the future." '^ I am sorry to hear you speak in that way ; and should regret still more to see 3'ou exchange the open, winning, unsuspecting manner that has always seemed one of your best charms to me, for a cold, repellant, suspicious demeanor entirely foreign to your real char- acter. Choose wisely the friends on whom to lavish your regard and your confidence, and then you cannot trust too unreservedly, or strive too earnestly to win the approbation you crave." "But there is the difficulty," objected Lucy. ''Are mistakes in such choice always to be avoided? Did you never make such a one yourself?" Mr. Caruthcrs actually blushed. '' I will not drag you to the confessional and then de- cline obeying your summons tO;the same, Lucy. AVhat will you say when I tell you that I did once seriously intend making Miss Brandon my wife ?" *' If any other had told me this I could not have be- lieved it ot* you, Mr. Caruthers." " Neither would I have believed, save through your own admission, that you could have jilted me for that glib-tongued Frenchman." " But I thought you a very paragon of excellence, too noble and upright to stoop to any species of deceit." " Just wiiat 1 thought of you, Lucy Sears. Since we live in glass houses let us not throw stones at each other ; it is worse than useless ; it is unsafe and full of danger." '•You really did care for this Miss Brandon, then, after all?" " Not a straw. I was proud of her beauty, grace and THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 271 intelligence, and tlioii,2jlit they would do great credit to my handsome establishment. Yon know I always sought your society in preference to hers, or that of any other person. Sbe wearied me unspeakably with her inter- minahie raptures about the sayings and doings of old poets and playwrights that were dead and in their graves centuries ago. As though there wasn't enough to think about in these stirring times, without pottering amongst the dry-as-dust relics of a past that has had its day, and might as well step aside and give the present a chance. There was another thing that made her presence almost irksome to me, and that was the consciousness of the lalse part I was acting toward her. I don't see how your stage actor can play the lover to perfection when it is only make-believe, and mnst say that I fonnd it much more like work than play, the only time I ever tried it ; besides, it irritated me to that degree that I was repeatedly guilty of treating Miss Brandon with a lack of consideration, not to say a positive harshness, that she was far from meriting at my hands. There, my confession is ended ; you see by my frank unreserve that 1 am acting no double part with yon, so proceed freely and unrestrainedly with yonr own story." " I saw a great deal of Monsieur," she resumed, with an alacrity and animation she had not previously ex- hibited, " and, to tell the plain truth, his companionship was the only solace I had. Yon do not see what need I had of solace ; I will explain. I had lost my own self- approval, I had sunk in my own estimation ; for I knew, after the sacred promise I gave yon, on the day of your departure, that 1 was a base, imworthy ingrate to violate it. Monsieur Avas the only person v/ho overcame my scruples and reconciled me to myself, so he was always welcome. He so persistently assured me that you and I were wholly unfitted for each other, through disparity of years and diversity of taste and disposition, that I 272 THE ETVAL VOLUNTEERS ; OE, was more than half persuaded that he was right — while I was with him. Left alone again, the nphraidings of my own conscience were absolutely insupportable, \intil lie persnaded me anew that there was not the least occa- sum for such self-reproaches. My health failed ; I felt more than ever the need of kindly sympathy ; and he was the only person in the world from whom I was always sure of receiving it." "There you do me injustice, Lucy. If I did not write you as soon as you could have expected to hear from me, it was because my duties were arduous, and my time not at my own disposal. When I did send you a letter, as kindly worded as I knew hoAv to make it, you never answered it." " I wrote you an answer, but it was never sent." " How was that ?" " I was putting on my bonnet and scarf to carry the letter to the office, when Monsieur Meurice came in and read your name on the envelope. ^ This reminds me,' said he, ' that I have also to write Mr. Cnruthers, and it is best that he should hear from us both at once. He was one of my most useful patrons when I lirst came to this country, and he is not to think that I am capable of making an ungrateful return for past favors. Un- doubtedly you have informed him that, being convinced that a union between you would not be conducive to the happiness of either, you terminated the engagement and took the initiative in fostering the attachment and encouraging the advances of one without whom exist- ence would be to you a blank. Let me read what you have written, and I will but reiterate the same; suiely lie will not refuse credence to the concurrent testimony of two impartial witnesses.' '' I couldn't endure to have him read the letter, so I tore it up, and there was an end of it." " Did not Mrs. Thornton perceive the pernicious influ- THE BLACK PLUIME RIFLES. 273 ence that was gaining sway over you, and warn you against yielding to it ?" ^ '• She gave me no warning, but she treated me with a distant coldness that repelled my confidence, and often spoke in a way that reminded me most painlhlly of my blameworthy conduct toward yourself. One warm day we were sitting together in the hall, the door open so that the air might draw through the outer blind, which was closed, when she began comparing your character with that of Monsieur Meurice, greatly to his disadvan- tage. I never heard her so cutting and severe. She had another listener, too, although neither of us knew it at the time. Monsieur, himself, from the steps where he was waiting for a break in our conversation before ringing, heard every word that passed between us. After that, he insisted on placing me beyond the reach of what he called Mrs. Tliornton's intermeddling and officious tyranny, and gave me no peace until I con- sented to remove to a boarding-house of his own selec- tion. It seems incomprehensible to me, now, that I should so readily have complied with all his suggestions, however unusual. I can only think of a rashly ven- turesome fly that has incautiously approached a spider's web, unaware of the danger, until hopelessly entangled in its toils. " Miss Barton called on me by his invitation, and in his presence congratulated me on my approaching nuptials. I denied, point blank, that there was any oc- casion for such congratulation. She turned to Monsieur w^ith a look of qestioning surprise. He bent on me a look of the most bland and tender forbearance, as he said : ' Mignonne chmce^ she is indisposed with agacement of the nerves, and nothing sh-dl be spoken of to her an- noyance. Does she affect publicity, we are open-mouth- ed to all the world ; does she choose rather to screen herself, like the enchanting Undine, in draperies of 12* 274 THE lilVAL VOLTXTEEUS; OR, transparent reserve, Tve are silent as the grave.' I did not wish to make myself ridiculous, and so gave up all attempts at denial or remonstrance. '• Then came news that my nncle had been instantly killed by the accidental explosion of a mortar on board one of the gunboats in which he had sailed with the great naval expedition. Kext avc heard that you was seriously if not fatally wounded, and my last hope seemed to centre in Monsieur Meurice. My health broke down completely, and I was scarcely able to leave my room. The physician he called in recommend- ed change of air and scene, and proposed a sea-voyage as my surest, if not my only, chance of recovery. What were you saying, Mr. Caruthers ?" " That the whole plan was a detestable and nefarious league against a defencsless and unsuspecting woman, and I would to like pay the conspirators in so vile a scheme their just duos. Proceed ; unravel the rest of the plot." '• I caught at the idea of change with an eagerness 1 am at a loss to account for. I had been so miserable in that boarding-house that everything connected vrith it had a melancholy cast, and 1 longed to get away. The doctor said this craving for change was generally found associated with a debility like mine, and that it would disappear, my wretchedly low spirits also, under the re- novating eflects of the bracing sea air. It was he wdio proposed my marriage with Monsieur previous to un- dertaking the voyage. I had gone too far to recede. I seemed to have lost all power of volition, and resigned myself passively to the current of events. I was too weak to resist. " We were to have been married at the Church of the Messiah ; but the doctor objected that the publicity and fatigue would necessitate too much exertion for one in my feeble state, so it was decided that the ceremony should take place privately in the boarding-house par- THE BLACK PLTj:irE EIFLES. 275 lor. He promised to be present, but sent excnses and regreta at^tlie last moment, on account of pressing pro- fessional engagements, so that not a single person was present at die wedding excepting tlie clergyman who officiated, on the occasion." " Did it not occur to you, Lucy, that this was a very BingLilar way, to say the least of it, of conducting a ce- remonial ci the kind?'' " Certainly it did ; but you must remember that I was very singularly circumstanced. I was too weak to re- ceive a crowd, of guests, even if I had had a father's house to invite them to, instead of being the w\aif I was; and as I have already told you, the doctor had decided that the eiiect of appearing in a crowded church was one I ought not to undertake." ^' Who was this doctor ?" " IS'obody I ever saw or heard of, before or since his attendance on me. His name was Denton." ''- Another humbug, I'll be bound. Was ever a wo- man with the slightest claim to ordinary sagacity so easily hoodwinked and entrapped ? Did it not strike you as unusual tiiut there were no published bans, and that no marriage certificate had been procured ?" '' Marriage certificate ! I never saw such a document in my life. I thought it was the intended groom who always looked out for that sort of marriage preliminary. Do women generally go round hunting up ban and certificate I I never heard of such a thing." " Quite likely ; it is not every woman who is so un- fortunate as to place herself in the power of an unscru- pulous adventurer who is ready to trample under foot any law, human or divine, that interferes with the ac- complishment of his own selfish schemes. Did the sea- voyage answer your expectations?" *' Far from it. I was scarcely able to leave my state- room during the entire passage." 276 THE EIVAL YOLUNTEEKS; OK, " And Monsieur ; did lie devote himself constantly to the pleasing task of beguiling your hours of their tediousness f " He was not intentionally neglectful ; hut it would have made him ill, so he said, to be shut up as I was ; and I couldn't go on deck or into the saloon, where he spent most of his time." " You met him when meals were served, of course." " Xo, indeed ; I conld not go down the cabin stairs ; it made n:iy head swim to ivy. He sent me, by tlie stewardess, such delicacies as were procurable on board a steamer, but I scarcely tasted them. I cannot tell you how thankful I was when that tii-esome voyage was over, and I could get the sound of tramping feet and jarring macliinery out of my head. " We had a lovely suite of rooms at Paris, overlook- ing a charming court-yard with vases and statues and fountains. Monsieur was very kind and attentive, and tlie shop -windows — O they were fascinating beyond descriplion ! Such satins ! such embroideries ! such laces! such shawls! — such splendor of coloring and maguificeuce of material I never feasted my eyes on be- fore. And the price a mere hagatelle ; I trimmed my underskirts with flouncings that I wear for sleeve dra- peries now. JIy thoughts being diverted from myself by all this novelty of display, I rapidly improved in health, strength, and spirits. " We were out for a walk, one day, Monsieur and I, when we accidentally met an acquaintance of mine, a brother of an old schoolmate, Emma Ford. I was de- lighted at the sight of a familiar face, and at sound of the language I had been brought up to speak and hear. Monsieur professed to be equally delighted, and invited, even urged, Mr. Ford to dine with us at the notel ; and after he had accepted this invitation, insisted on his rc- mainiuor with us for the eveuin^r — ^so he staid. We THE BLACK PLUilE RIFLES. 277 were all three in high good-humor, or at least, I sup- posed we were — I have learned, since then, not to rely too strongly on the evidence furnished' bj appearances. Monsieur ordered a little supper at ten, and after that had been discussed, left us for awhile, from an unavoid- able cause of absence, so he said. When he returned, Mr. Ford was teaching me to play, with a curiously painted set of cards, a game called 'Fates.' We offer- ed to throw up the game when he came in, as an odd number would have spoiled all ; but he so cordially in- sisted on our finishing it, that we kept on. " 1 had not the remotest idea that anything had gone wrong until after our guest had taken leave. The door was scarcely closed behind him, when Monsieur began to rave like a madman. No protestations of mine calmed his rage in the least. No denunciations that he could heap upon me seemed in his opinion too severe. He said I would find that I had a very different- person to deal with from that uxorious C^uthers; and swore that he would be the dupe of no woman's coquetries. He bade me rue the day in which I chan^^ed his friend- ship to an enmity that would overleap all difliculties in the pursuit of revenge. He was terrible in his wrath ; a cold, cruel gleam in his eyes ; his lips drawn back from his teeth ; and his words coming so fast, in his own tongue, that 1 was not always able to catch their full significance. He concluded by warning me not to try his patience too far, or he should be driven to a method of retaliation it was at any moment in his power to make, by disavowing a marriage whose vali- dity he defied me to prove. "That was the first time that the singular circum- st-:inces attending our marriage occurred to me as a matter of doubt and apprehension ; and I lay awake the whole night thinking them over. I could not make up my mind that Monsieur really had the power of ful- 2Y8 THE RIVAL VOLUXTEEKS; OS, filling .1 threat whoso accomplishment would have left me — -nobody ; but his violent exhibition of temper, with his imjiist and intemperate language, had taught me to fear and mistrust him ; and I looked forward with a sinking heart to tlie prospect of repeated bickerings and altercations I had every reason to expect. " He went out next morning, directly after break- fast, saying that he was going to spend the day with a friend ; but I had an uncomfortable suspicion that he was lurking somewhere in the vicinity, in order to play the spy upon my movements. Mr. Ford called accord- ing to agreement, to pay his parting respects before his departure for Bordeaux. Of course I declined seeing, him. " Soon after he went away there was a light knock at my dressing-room door. On opening it, I found the trim little maid, Cynthine. who always answered my bell, standing outside. '^ ' Is Madame quite alone V she asked, with a mys- terious air. " ' Quite alone,' I replied, not a little surprised at her intruding upon me without being summoned. " Stepping inside the door, she pushed it together behind her, and held out a letter, saying that she had been requested to place it in my own hand when no one else was present. Suspecting some trick on the part of Monsieur, and not wishing to lend my aid in furtherance of any such artifice, I hesitated about taking the letter, and asked where she got it. " ' From a discreet youth, who ran away before I had time to ask his name,' she answered, with a smile, half saucy and half demure ; ' and if I can be of any ser- vice. Madame may command my utmost discretion.' " She dropped the letter in my hand, and tripped away. " I scarcely heeded her words at the time they were THE black: plume eifles. 27S spoken, but I after^vards recalled them, greatly to my own advantage. " Catting the envelope, and nnfolding the large sheet of paper it held, the lirst words that caught my eye were, 'private and confidential,' written in a bold, firm, masculine hand, and inclosed in l-.rackets. It was but the work of an instant to turn to tiie signature, which v.-as that of Lawyer Auverne. 1 knew it must be a matter of grave moment that would induce him not only to write me, but to take the pains he must have taken to convey the letter directly to my own keep- ing." '' Xot so difficult a matter as it might seem at first thought. Mr. Auverne has a nephew who is studying surgery at Paris, and your letter was doubtless sent under cover to him. Do not let me interrupt you longer." " The lawyer wrote me that he had received a letter from Monsieur Meurice, postmarked Xew York, and dated the very day we took passage by steamer from that city, directing him to sell the house you deeded to me, even at a heavy discount on its original cost and real valae, and pledging himself to obtain my written sanction to the procedure whenever it should be needed. Mr. Auverne protested most earnestly against putting my name to any paper Monsieur Meurice might request me to sign. The remainder of the communication convinced me that his threat of disavowing our marriage was no idle menace, but a fearful weapon that he really had the power to wield against me. You will agree with me when I tell you wiiat that remainder was. '' When I read that Mr. Auverne had just been instru- mental in sending a fellow, calling himself ]^ed Fran- zelman, to the penitentiary, for going round nights bre-aking windows, and making a very good thing of it by turning glazier daytimes, and setting the glass that, iZO. THE EIYAL TOLTyrEEKS ; OR, but for his liandiTrork, never would have needed setting, I couldn't see Avhat tliat had to do with my case. It was not until I reached a paragraph informing me tiiat Abednego Witherspoon, the man who married us, and Ked Franzelman were one and the same person, that I waked up to the full enormity of Xed's delinquencies. It seems that he liad owned a flat-boat, by means of which he had plied a very profitable trade on the Mis- sissippi, nntil that river fell into the control of the insur- gents, and he was driven out of employ. Then he turned his hand to any sort of occupation that came in his way ; nothing came amiss, only provided it was suf- ficiently remunerative. He could pick a lock, or preach a sermon ; give good advice, or follow evil counsel ; expatiate with unction on the just deserts of all wrong- doers, of whom he was chief, or practice a trick with loaded dice ; but he could bring no satisfactory proof that he was a regularly ordained minister of any estab- lished persuasion. " The perusal of this letter left my thoughts in a per- fect whirl. The ground I was beginning to believe secure, seemed once more sliding from under my feet. The reason for Monsieur's kindness and devotion was all explained ; he would cajole me with fair words until my fortune was his, and then he was at full liberty to cast me off, when and how he pleased. If he is free to cast me off, I said to myself, then am I equally free to go ; but oh I the fearful price of accepting such freedom. I thought of meeting those from whom I had received notes of congratulation as Madame Meurice, after hav- ing resumed the name of Lucy Sears. It never occurred to me that, in forsaking him, I was exposing myself to the crushing sort of blow you gave me, or I should have shrunk still more from the trying ordeal I was forced to ]3ass through in order to escape the false position into which I had been artfdly lured. The ties that bound THE BLACK PLUME EIFLES. 281 me to this man had already become hateful and galling to me ; but not on that account would I have dreamed of rending them asunder ; not until I found that they were bonds basely forged, to be as basely riven when they had served the selfish designs of their forger, did I fully and firmly, witli such deliberate resolve as in my intense excitement I was capable of forming, decide to throw ofi" the name I had no right to bear, and to fiee from a bondage to which I had been subjected through fraud and deceit. '• I never was accustomed to the responsibility of thinking and acting for myself in matters of import- ance ; and, alone as I was, a stranger in a strange city, I was sadly perplexed as to the safest and speediest means of carrying out my plan, undetected by Monsieur Meurice. In this strait, I bethought me of Cynthine's offer of assistance, and made up my mind that I could not do better than to avail myself of the 'discretion' she had been so ready to place at my service. Ringing for her, I explained so much of my intentions as was necessary to win her to my interests, and then secured her hearty cooperation by the present of a blue mus- lin dress, with a lovely set of turquoise ornaments to match." " You did excellently well for a novice ; what next?" "I had not the means at hand for defraying my travelling expenses on the voyage home." " A serious drawback that ; you could not have had one more so." " I had to place more confidence in Cynthine than I originally decided on. I did not dare to go myself to a pawnbroker's, from fear of being seen and followed by Monsieur, so I was obliged to trust my diamond brace- let to her, and she disposed of it for little more than half its real value." 282 THE EIVAL V0LU2sTEEKS; OE, '* You Iind reason to be tliankfiil tliat you got that amount, or ever laid eyes on tiio girl agciin, with sucli a preminm on dishonesty as that in her keeping." '•I know nothing ot' h»er trustworthiness in general, but she proved faithful and grateful in my case, I will say that for her. Fortunately, she had a brother who was a voUiirier, and one of the hotel porters as sweet- heart. I did not like to run the risk of having my trunks carried out by the main entrance, lest they should be discovered by Monsieur Meurice, and my whole plan of flight be frustrated. Cynthine seemed to have an intuitive perception of all the exigencies of the case, and to And means for obviating them with a readiness and facility of which I was wdiolly incapable." " A French woman for an intrigue," sententiously interpolated Mr. Caruthers. '' But there was no intrigue in my way of effecting my escape," remonstrated Lucy, with a look of jDcrtur- batiou and distress. '• I did not niean to assert that there was anything of the kind, only that your maid evidently thought there was, which made it the same thing fur her, rendering her a much more valuable auxiliary than she might otherwise have been. Let me hear how she overcame the difficulties of extricating you from a position more perilous than you seem to have been aware of; for if Monsieur Meurice had once suspected your purpose, ho would have moved heaven and earth to thwart it." " I was fully aware of that ; and my dread of doing anything to arouse such suspicion on his part, almost unfitted me for taking the needful precautions for insuring the success of my plan. My own trunks were left undisturbed in the closet, and a couple of new ones, of much cheaper make, were procured for me by the porter already mentioned, for which I paid exorbi- tantly." THE BLACK PLTJiME EIFLE8. 283 ^' Of course the fellow looked out for his commission," remarked Mr. Cariitliers, with quick mercantile com- prehension. '' He marked the cards, in a coarse, legible hand, with the assumed name, Clarice Godefrov, under which I was to travel, and tacked them to the trunks, which Cjnthine packed in a linen closet leading from the land- ing, carrying my wearing apparel there as she needed it. While she was thus occupied, I sat in the parlor, listening to every step in the corridor, ready to give her warning at. the first intimation of Monsieur's approach. If he had come in, I never could have retained an appearance of even tolerable composure, and my agita- tion must have betrayed to his quick perceptions that something unusual was going on ; and he would not have rested a minute until he had found out Vvdiat it was. A rap at the door sent my heart to my throat, and me to my feet. I gave Cynthine a signal to keep out of the way, and went to the door, where a shop-boy handed me a box of embroidered neck-ties that Monsieur had just purchased, proving to me that he had not left town as he had asserted his intention of doing. This made me more than ever anxious to get away before his return ; and dragging Cynthine out of the linen closet, where she had fled at my signal of danger, I begged her to hasten preparations for my departure by every means in her power. We were not again interrupted. My baggage left by way of the servants' hall. '•I was all ready to start when Cynthine placed a crumpled scrap of paper and a pencil in my hand. '''One moment, Madame, before putting on your gloves. Henri says, will you be pleased to write down the name of the city you are going to, and he will drop you a line, directed to Clarice Godefroy, if anything should happen, in the course of the day, which that lady ought to be made to know.' " 284 THE EITAL VOLVXTEEES ; OE, " Grateful for the girl's kindly forethought in my be- half, I gh'idly complied with her request. " Going down equipped only M'itii reticule and ])ara- solette, as if for an ordinary shopping expedition, I entered a hack, called for nie by a servant from the nearest stand, and Avas set down at a fashionable milli- ner's, where I bought a few trifles to account for my appearance in the sliop, which I left by a door opening on a diflerent street from tlie one by which I had en- tered. Satisfying myself that I was neither followed nor observed, I walked rapidly to the corner of an obscure lane, where I met the voiturier with the con- veyance specially provided to take me to the railway station, where my trunks had already preceded me. I was so relieved when the cars moved off at a rate of speed that promised soon to put a sate distance between me and the city from which I had fled. Several sliglit detentions occurring on the way, put me in an ag