amllton 
 
 Archibald Clavering Gunter 
 
THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
u 
 
 JjVlLMEACOLLECl 
 
Digitized by tlie Internet Arcliive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/billyhamiltonnovOOgunt 
 
Billy Hamilton 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 Archibald Claverinq Qunter 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "Mr. Barnes of New York," " Bob Covington," etc., etc. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE HOriE PUBLISHING COHPANY 
 
 3 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET 
 
Copyright, 1898, 
 By a. C. GUNTER. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 HOW STONEWALL JACKSON CAME TO FREDERICK. 
 
 CHAPTER PAOH 
 
 I. The Cavalry Picket at Norton's Ferry. ... 7 
 
 II. A Sweet Prisoner 21 
 
 III. Who the Duce is She ? 36 
 
 IV. Stonewall Jackson asks a few Questions. . 49 
 V. " Find her, and — make love to her " 57 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THE PROVOST-MARSHAL AT BALTIMORE. 
 
 VI. Major Ananias of Stuart's Cavalry 67 
 
 VII. A Blow in the Dark 77 
 
 VIII. The Luncheon at Guy's 85 
 
 J.X. " Give me five minutes alone with her ". . . 96 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL ENIGMA. 
 
 X. Washington in 1862 104 
 
 XI. Mr. Arago's Treasury Girl 117 
 
 XII. Baker's Secret Service. 125 
 
 XIII. Mrs. Senator Bream's Dance 132 
 
 XIV. The Belle of the Army 142 
 
 XV. The Cigar Store near the War Department. 152 
 
 XVI. Special Order No. 1410., . , .,,....., 164 
 
 602934 
 
4 CONTENTS 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 THE BATTLE FOR HER LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTBR PAGB 
 
 XVII. The Touch of the Mouchard 176 
 
 XVIII. The Nuptials of Damocles 188 
 
 XIX. Lammersdorff the Sutler 200 
 
 XX. Dead Men tell no Tales 212 
 
 XXI. A Night at Port Tobacco 219 
 
 XXII. Quashie, the Secesh Negro 231 
 
 XXIII. " I have been traitor enough " 242 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 THE BATTLE FOR HER LOVE. 
 
 XXIV. " I will go to the Rebel capital " 251 
 
 XXV. Major Billy Hamilton, C. S. A 262 
 
 XXVI. By Day in Richmond 272 
 
 XXVII. By Night in Richmond 283 
 
 XXVIII. The Drooping Colors ... 293 
 
 XXIX. The JEgxs of the Dead President 305 
 
 Appendix 316 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 HOW STONEWALL JACKSON CAME TO 
 FREDERICK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CAVALRY PICKET AT NORTON's FERRY. 
 
 It is night on the Potomac — the night of the 4th of 
 September of the year of our Lord eighteen hundred 
 and sixty-two ; when one man's hand is against an- 
 other man's hand ; when the shadow of a bush may 
 conceal a Confederate sharpshooter ; when the hght of 
 a firefly may develop into the flash of an Enfield whose 
 whistling bullet will bring death — this night when I, 
 William Fairfax Hamilton, captain in command of a 
 troop of the First Union Kentucky Cavalry, am guard- 
 ing Norton's Ford on the Upper Potomac, and prevent- 
 ing the carrying of goods contraband of war, medicines 
 for the Confederate service, despatches from Washing- 
 ton spies, and the crossing of innocent Maryland farm- 
 ers into Virginia to give the Southern generals notice 
 of our movements. 
 
 In addition to this, my instructions specially charge 
 me to furnish, by courier riding for his life, the earliest 
 news of the crossing of the advance divisions of the 
 Confederate army under Stonewall Jackson, now ex- 
 pected to invade Maryland. 
 
 The bulk of my command occupies a knoll covered 
 with second growth of pine and fir, distant fifty yards 
 from the river, along whose banks my sentries are 
 placed. 
 
 5 
 
6 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Immediately behind me, a few yards away, is the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, crossed at this point by a 
 small bridge, which of course is also guarded. Beyond 
 this is the rolling valley of the Monocacy River, which 
 running down from Frederick City joins the Potomac 
 some mile and a half away. To the north, Sugar Loaf 
 Mountain rises. To the west, something over two miles 
 distant, is The Point of Rocks, where the Baltimore 
 & Ohio Railway, coming through the great limestone 
 cliffs of the Potomac gorge from Harper's Ferry — now 
 occupied by General White and Colonel Miles and 
 eleven thousand Union soldiers — turns sharply to the 
 north and runs up the Monocacy Valley on its way to 
 Washington, passing south of Frederick. 
 
 These details of scenery are not apparent to my eye, 
 everythmg being shrouded in the gloom of a summer 
 night, the sky just now made dark by some passing 
 thunder clouds. 
 
 To prevent surprise, or loss of men by sharpshooters, 
 I have ordered no camp-fires shall be lighted this 
 warm September evening. 
 
 I peer into the inky blackness and my feelings are 
 more gloomy than the night itself, as I think of the de- 
 moralization in the capital, which I had left but five 
 days before, being hastily ordered on this service, when 
 Washington was shaking with fear of capture, after 
 Pope's defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, and the 
 Cabinet and War Office were appealing to General 
 McClellan to reorganize the army and save Maryland 
 to the Union. 
 
 I have just returned from my rounds, after very care- 
 fully inspecting the sentries posted near the banks of 
 the river, which is now in this September so low as to 
 be easily fordable, and consequently more difficult to 
 properly patrol and guard. My ears being very wide 
 open to catch any sound from the direction of the Vir- 
 ginia shore which may proclaim the approach of Lee's 
 victorious legions to the boundaries of Maryland— my 
 State — the conversation from some near-by members 
 of my troop, who do not discern me in the dark- 
 ness, comes sharply to my hearing proclaiming that my 
 subordinates appreciate my situation as clearly as I 
 do. 
 
 " I jist about guess," floats to me in Yankee twang, 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 7 
 
 "that if the Rebs swoop over here and capture ' My 
 INIaryland, ' it 11 be tarnation hard on the Cap." 
 
 "Sure, if his State turns traitor, what'll become of 
 the poor divil ? Begob, they say the Cap's the only 
 Union one in the houl family." 
 
 This last is in the tones of Sergeant Lommox, a hard- 
 riding Irishman who somehow has found his way from 
 the British light cavalry service into my Kentucky regi- 
 ment ; although, wherever hard blows are plenty and 
 gunpowder is burnt freely, there are sure to be some 
 of his combative race. 
 
 " Bedad, this is a mixed up scrimmage anyway," the 
 sergeant continues. "Some say we're fighting to free 
 the niggers ; some say we ain't. Tare an' ages, I'm 
 always asking myself when I'm sober what am I fight- 
 ing for anyway? It isn't for grub! Sure, army ra- 
 tions are too divilish bad to make a cat enlist. As for 
 the Cap, they say his own family has cut him dead ; 
 his father fired him out of the house in Baltimore, and 
 his sweetheart spat in his face, because he's fighting 
 for the Union." 
 
 These last remarks as to family and sweetheart are a 
 libel. I have no sweetheart, therefore none spat in 
 my face, and my family are at present blissfully igno- 
 rant that I am a Union officer, and think that I, wear- 
 ing a Confederate uniform and carrying a Confederate 
 commission in my pocket, am fighting under Lee and 
 against my country. 
 
 As I think of the deception I have been compelled 
 to practise on the dear ones of my home, my thoughts 
 of war are obliterated by reflections upon my unhappy 
 social environment. For as soon as it is known to 
 them that I, William Fairfax Hamilton, wear a blue 
 uniform, my hosts of friends in my native city of Bal- 
 timore will be my friends no longer, and my loving 
 sisters and doting father will be mine no more; be- 
 cause I am doing what I was educated to do — fight for 
 my flag. 
 
 My peculiar position has come about in a rather 
 curious manner. 
 
 Before interstate trouble was imminent, in 1857, my 
 father had obtained for me an appointment to the 
 national military academy at West Point. After the 
 secession of South Carolina and formation of the Con- 
 
8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 federacy most of the cadets from the Southern and Bor- 
 der States had tendered their resignations. 
 
 These one and all had been refused by the War De- 
 partment. Thereupon, most of the Southern cadets 
 had, without leave, returned to their own States, and 
 were forthwith entered upon the records of the War 
 Department as having deserted their colors in the face 
 of the enemy. Not wishing such an implied stigma to 
 be placed upon me, my state not having seceded, I, who 
 had always taken a very strict view of a soldier's dis- 
 cipline and duty, had remained, and received my com- 
 mission in that year of the double graduation, 1861, 
 when, with the desire of placing officers in the field as 
 rapidly as possible, the term of instruction at West Point 
 had been greatly shortened ; my class being the later 
 one, B of June, my name not appearing on the rolls as 
 from Maryland, my appointment to the academy hav- 
 ing been made at large by President Buchanan. 
 
 But during my cadetship, I had, perchance from nor- 
 thern associations, perhaps from more conservative and 
 later reflection, but most probably on account of my 
 views of military honor, determined it was my duty to 
 support the flag of the United States. Without going 
 over the pros and cons of a matter that has been 
 argued in the halls of Congress, in all debating societies, 
 in every cross-road tavern of the country, suffice it to 
 say that for reasons sufficient to myself I had made up 
 my mind to serve in the army of the Union ; though 
 greatly fearing it would bring upon me the displeasure 
 of both friends and kindred. 
 
 So, having graduated, instead of resigning and join- 
 ing the Confederates, as my family doubtless hoped 
 and expected, I was still true to the banner under 
 which I had marched from Plebe to First-classman. 
 
 In order to fortify myself in this resolution, I had, 
 without visiting my home, journeyed to Washington 
 and secured from the War Department my commission 
 in one of the new cavalry regiments just being formed, 
 in an attempt to make efficient that branch of the serv- 
 ice, which in the first year or two of the war was the 
 jeer of the Rebels and the disgrace of the Federals, its 
 condition being so pitiable that McClellan took as few 
 cavalry as possible with him to the Peninsula, many 
 so-called troopers being such incompetent horsemen 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 9 
 
 that they could scarce manage their arms and steeds 
 at the same moment. 
 
 In an effort to overcome this, several new mounted 
 regiments were being raised in the Border States, Ken- 
 tucky, Maryland, and Missouri, whose men had been 
 cavaliers from childhood. These were now being 
 rapidly instructed in the school of the trooper, and the 
 nucleus of that great cavalry armament which under 
 Custer and Sheridan did such fine work in the last years 
 of the war, was being formed. 
 
 In the hope of doing my share towards this, I had 
 accepted a captain's commission in the First Kentucky 
 Cavalry, and with this document in my pocket had im- 
 mediately gone to that State to drill and equip my 
 troop — very glad that my duty took me far away from 
 my friends and family in Baltimore. 
 
 Though thoroughly determined to fight upon the 
 Union side, I still shrank from the ordeal of proclaim- 
 ing myself one of the army of Uncle Sam, to the friends 
 of my boyhood in Baltimore and the father and sisters 
 who loved me — all rabid Southerners, and made bitter 
 against all who differed from them by the potent pas- 
 sions of that awful time, when neighbor turned against 
 neighbor, and brother against brother, and friend shot 
 down friend, in the so-called Border States, which suf- 
 fered more from the war than any other of their sister 
 commonwealths. 
 
 Aftermy regiment was organized, equipped, mustered 
 in and drilled, at the end of the opening campaign in 
 Tennessee where my command proved its effectiveness 
 at Forts Henry and Donelson and also at Shiloh ; in 
 very desperation at the inefficiency of the cavalry of 
 the Army of the Potomac, the War Department had 
 ordered us east. 
 
 Here, in the summer of 1862, on reporting at Wash- 
 ington, I succeeded in obtaining a few days' leave of 
 absence. Desperately anxious to see my father and 
 sisters, after telegraphing word of my coming, I, 
 dressed in mufti, had made my appearance at the 
 town-house of my ancestors, in Charles Street, Balti- 
 more, to be received in a manner of which perchance 
 I had had some suspicion, but which my imagination 
 had painted in by no neans the vivid colors that 
 actually took form before my eyes. 
 
10 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Pretty little Birdie, my younger sister, a maid of 
 sweet eighteen, meets me in the hall, looking most 
 charming, her blonde hair done up in fashionable water- 
 fall, and her pretty feet in their Balmoral boots peeping 
 out from skirts enormously crinolined to the extreme 
 of fashion, and throwing her arms around me, cries : 
 "Billy, thank God you're back! — Where have you 
 been these six months ? — Of course it's been something 
 for the cause. How soldierly you look ! " Then 
 between kisses, she suggests : " Now papa has a sur- 
 prise for you. How well you'll look in Confederate 
 gray ! But don't let those horrid Feds know of it, or 
 they'll arrest you at once." This last is whispered in 
 my ear, as if the walls might betray us. 
 
 A moment later, Virginia, my elder sister, a stately 
 young lady of about twenty, makes her appearance, and 
 with equally fervid embrace exclaims : "Billy, thank 
 Heaven you've come — at last ! We've all been anxious 
 for you since you did not return to us after graduation. 
 We sometimes thought you had feared arrest and gone 
 straight to Virginia. Where have you been ? " 
 
 ' ' "That I — I had rather not tell you, " I answer between 
 kisses. 
 
 Something in my manner impresses her. She mut- 
 ters : "Ah, I understand. God bless you, Billy ! You 
 do not wish to compromise us by your revelations." 
 
 "Yes; you — you had better not know," I stammer 
 shamefacedly. To this I add, stroking a moustache 
 which, cultivated assiduously during one campaign, is 
 now quite soldierly : "Is the guv'nor in ? " 
 
 "Yes; he's waiting for you in the library. He 
 didn't wish to speak to you before the servants. You 
 know, some of them — ungrateful creatures — have politi- 
 cal sympathy with our invaders. The poor foolish 
 things think they'll be made free, and do not know 
 they'd starve if they were." 
 
 "Very well; I will go in and see father," I re- 
 mark, my face growing so gloomy that the two darling 
 girls put a pang in my heart by gasping sympatheti- 
 cally : ' ' You must have bad news. You — you've been 
 captured." 
 
 "No, not yet," I mutter. 
 
 Then Birdie suddenly falters : " You've been 
 wounded," and cries: "A — a sabre-cut just healed. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. II 
 
 I see it upon his cheelc," and the next instant the two 
 stab me with their sweet hps as they kiss and cry over a 
 scratch I had received at Shiloh, and whisper : "Thank 
 Heaven ! you've been in our army." 
 
 "Pooh, it is nothing!" 1 mutter, in a hang-dog 
 way, as I put them tenderly from me and open the 
 Hbrary door, to be cordially embraced by my father, 
 a gentleman of old-school manners. 
 
 "My dear boy," he says, his grizzled moustache 
 twitching a little, " you have come home at last. You 
 did not even write to us when you left West Point. I 
 imagine, for fear your letter might be opened by the 
 damned Yankee postmaster, one of the spies upon us. 
 Neither I nor your sisters could bear to go up and see 
 you march under that infernal flag, therefore none of 
 us could witness your graduation. I feared you thought 
 we had slighted you. Where have you been .? " 
 
 Receiving no answer to this, he asks almost severely : 
 " Not shirking your duty, I hope.?" 
 
 "No ! " I answer proudly. 
 
 Then as he sees the slight sabre scratch, his old eyes 
 light with pride, he whispers : "I\Iy own boy! your 
 wound shows me ! " and taking me in his arms, blesses 
 me. 
 
 Good God ! How can I tell my father I received it 
 fighting against the cause he worships ? 
 
 Then he inspects me anxiously, his lips trembling. 
 His eyes have love and even anguish in them as he 
 mutters : ' ' You are the last who bears our name. Still, 
 you must bear it honorably, even if to death." 
 
 Before I can reply to this, he suddenly astounds me ; 
 by whispering, extreme significance in his low voice : 
 "Across in Virginia, Lee, Jackson and Davis know 
 what a West Point education means. The proof of it is 
 here ! " With this he goes to the door and locks it, then 
 draws down the blinds of the library windows, to ensure 
 absolute privacy. As I gaze at him wonderingly, he 
 opens a secret drawer in the old-fashioned wainscoting 
 of the room and produces from among some papers a 
 document of official form. Placing it in my hand, he 
 remarks with a profound bow: "Major Hamilton of 
 the Confederate Army, I greet you." 
 
 As I inspect this document blankly, in a dazed sort 
 of way, I see, with a start of horror, that it is a com- 
 
12 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 mission made out to William Fairfax Hamilton, and 
 signed by Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate 
 States of America, and by Randolph, his Secretary of 
 War. 
 
 The old gentleman chuckles, "A pleasing surprise 
 for you, eh?" then suddenly ejaculates, " Curious, they 
 did not tell you of this in Richmond." 
 
 " I — I was in the West ! " I stammer. 
 
 " Ah, that explains it ! " remarks my father. " I ap- 
 plied for it a year ago, but only received the document 
 recently, the difficulties of transmitting it through the 
 blockade were so great. You see the Southern leaders 
 appreciate your military training : the commission of 
 Major indicates that. Your wound does not incapaci- 
 tate you from active duty ? " he asks nervously. 
 
 " Not at all, I am happy to say." 
 
 "Then you'll be anxious to get into the field once 
 more — to free your native city — all the more eager 
 when you see infamous Federal soldiers marching in 
 the streets of this unhappy town — when you behold 
 accursed Northern guns threatening our very homes — 
 when you note Yankee officers flaunting their damned 
 blue tyrants' uniforms in our streets. " 
 
 These remarks give me a shudder. A blue cloth 
 "tyrant's " uniform is packed securely in my trunk. 
 This, the noise from the hall indicates, is even now 
 being carried upstairs by Jonas and Jumbo, our darky 
 footmen. 
 
 "Of course it is hard to part from you," continues 
 the old gentleman almost brokenly, "but every man 
 must do his duty. Your sisters and I always knew you 
 were doing your devoir." For into his mind never 
 seems to come the thought that my West Point 
 education may have placed in me different views 
 from his as to my duty in this crisis of the nation 
 — that I can fight on any other side but the one he 
 loves. 
 
 Under these circumstances, although with no thought 
 that I will be anything but what I am, an officer of the 
 Union, I can't bring myself to contradict him ; per- 
 chance because I wish a few more kisses from my dear 
 sisters, a few more tender looks from my beloved 
 father, which I know will be no longer mine after they 
 know. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I3 
 
 "Still, I can't carry that accursed paper about with 
 me," I think. 
 
 So, remarking nonchalantly: "For my sisters' 
 safety this had better be destroyed," I am about to place 
 my commission in the Confederate Army in the flame 
 of a wax taper, burning for convenience in sealing 
 letters, after the old-fashioned custom w^hich being 
 a gentleman of the old school, my governor always 
 adheres to. 
 
 But his hand is on my arm. He mutters hoarsely : 
 " Don't shame your sisters, sir, by thinking they would 
 not risk as much as you or I, for the cause they love," 
 
 "If you take it in that light," I return, a choking 
 sensation in my throat, "the document remains with 
 me." With this, I place it carefully in my breast 
 pocket, buttoning my coat over it. For into my mind 
 has flown suddenly the idea that this little paper of 
 Jeff Davis' may in some supreme crisis enable me to 
 do a great thing for my country. "Still, with this on 
 my person," I mutter, "I had better not remain in 
 Baltimore very long." 
 
 "Of course not," he answers. " Go and do your 
 duty. Now step out and join your sisters. I — I will 
 see you, Billy, before you go." 
 
 As I turn from him, I feel I am playing traitor to 
 those I love so dearly ; for the old gentleman has sunk 
 into a chair, and putting his head upon his writing- 
 table, is striving to conceal his emotion. 
 
 In the dining-room, at lunch with my two fair sis- 
 ters, the prospect seems no more reassuring. Guessing 
 what they will say to me when they discover I am one 
 of the blue uniforms they hate, I feel it is almost a re- 
 lief that my loved mother died ten years ago, for I fear 
 I could never have resisted her, had her arms been put 
 about me and her sweet voice lured me from what my 
 Western campaign has confirmed, even more than my 
 West Point education, as my duty. 
 
 Even now, though they do not guess I am recreant ; 
 every tone of my sisters' sweet voices is a temptation 
 to me to fight against my flag. 
 
 As darling Virginia pours out my coffee, she mur- 
 murs, tears coming into her brown eyes : "It'll be 
 hard to part with you again, Billy. I see what papa 
 has told you has already saddened your countenance ; 
 
14 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 but I would to heaven I were a man," her pretty white 
 teeth come together with a snap, "that I might go 
 and strike with you for the South. As it is, we women 
 can only pray for you, and nurse you if we have the 
 opportunity." 
 
 "Oh, don't be so gloomy, Virgie ! " cries dear little 
 Birdie from the other side of the table, attempting a 
 whimpering lightheartedness as she plays with her 
 oysters. "There's a girl in Virginia who'll nurse him 
 in a'manner more to his taste. 'Deed she will ! " 
 
 " Who is that ? " I ask, astonished. 
 
 "The girl to whom you're engaged, sir, of course." 
 This comes indignantly from my elder sister. 
 
 ' ' The girl to whom I am engaged ! What girl } " 
 
 " What ^zV/ /^ Oh goodness, h.e's/orgotle7i his little 
 sweetheart ! " giggles Birdie. 
 
 "Your affianced wife, William, Eva Vernon Ashley. 
 I am surprised at you ! " remarks Virginia in stately 
 severity. 
 
 "That chit?" I laugh. "By George! she had 
 slipped my memory." 
 
 " Chit P Wait till you see her !" ejaculates my elder 
 sister. 
 
 "Oh, yes! Cadets have so viaji_y sweethearts," 
 sneers Birdie. Then she cries with a shudder : " Oh, if 
 I thought you loved some hateful Northern thing ! " 
 
 " No," I reply, stabbing a soft-shell crab, which de- 
 lights my palate after campaign rations. "Behold a 
 free heart." 
 
 "Ah. then, it's all right; true to Eve yet." 
 
 " True to her as to any woman. By-the-by, so Eve 
 is already a woman } The last time I saw her she was 
 ten — a pretty enough nursery witch. But then I was 
 a man of fourteen, and disdained her. " 
 
 ' ' She thinks you protected her ! I can recollect now, 
 as a little tot, how you — you guarded her — though in 
 a very lordly manner, " laughs Virginia. ' ' Besides you 
 mustVemember, my brother, that it has been an under- 
 standing among the families that William Fairfax 
 Hamilton is to wed Eva Vernon Ashley." 
 
 "Yes, I believe there was some talk of that when I 
 was in pinafores and Eve in short skirts," I reply, add- 
 ing with military nonchalance : "Still. I think I hav^ 
 seen girls v/ho looked better," 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 1 5 
 
 " Not girls more beautiful ! " remarks stately Virginia. 
 "Eve is the most lovely thing on either side of the 
 Potomac. She came to us over a year ago — before the 
 fighting began — accompanied by her half-brother, 
 Charlie St. George." 
 
 "You know he's a captain in Colonel Mumford's 
 Second Virginia Cavalry, and awfully handsome," 
 throws in Birdie with a suggestive blush. 
 
 " But the young lady ? " I question sharply. 
 
 "Oh! Eva!" cries my younger sister. "She was 
 nineteen then and lovely enough to make Baltimore 
 men crazjy ; and you know we've got some few beau- 
 ties in this town — at least Captain St. George said 
 so." 
 
 "To you personally P" I query with a smile that 
 makes dear little Birdie's face redder. Then I go on 
 philosophically : "I suppose the young lady has for- 
 gotten about the old-time idea of our parents .? " 
 
 Virginia's answer startles me. "On the contrary," 
 she says, " I am sure Miss Ashley thinks a great deal 
 about it. She knows it was her dead father's wish — 
 our Virginia properties adjoin. Her mother still keeps 
 it before her." 
 
 " Great goodness ! " I cry, " you don't mean to say 
 Eve considers herself as my affianced ! " 
 
 " I know she did when she came here, for she was 
 always asking about you — though she, of course, was 
 too maidenly to write to you. But I am sure when 
 you reach Virginia all you have to do is to go up to 
 Miss Ashley, in your Confederate uniform, and you'll 
 find it all right ! " The Confederate part of this is in a 
 whisper. 
 
 "She didn't leave any anibrotype, daguerreotype or 
 photograph for me, did she } "' I ask in uneasy face- 
 tiousness. 
 
 "Certainly not. Your fiancee, sir, has been brought 
 up, I am happy to say, in Virginia old-school manners, " 
 remarks my elder sister severely. 
 
 "But she stole a photograph of you — the one in the 
 West Point uniform," giggles Birdie. 
 
 "Glad it impressed her favorably," I laugh, in the 
 easy assurance of military youth. 
 
 "Well, I should think it would," murmurs my younger 
 sister, who seems proud of me. ' ' Five feet ten ; dark, 
 
1 6 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 savage eyes ; long, drooping moustache, a Cavalry- 
 man's figure." 
 
 "And a most unblushing assurance! " laughs Vir- 
 ginia, who is proud of me also. "But seriously, Wil- 
 liam, you must think of this affair. The young lady 
 evidently expects some communication from you. 
 Papa said the other day that if we did not hear of 
 you soon, he should strive to forward a letter to her 
 mother." 
 
 "So Miss Ashley is very beautiful? " I ask rather 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Ah, the Stoic has given cry at last!" muimurs 
 Birdie archly. 
 
 "Beautiful?" remarks Virginia scornfully. "Wait 
 till you see her, my military philosopher. Oh, what a 
 belle she'd be if it wasn't for this hateful war. She 
 was in Washington not long ago at her aunt's — the wife 
 of that horrid Border-state Union Senator — but of course 
 Eve would look at none of the Yankee officers who fill 
 that unfortunate town." 
 
 "Well, if she's spent much time in Washington at 
 ]\Irs. Rufus J. Bream's," I remark cynically, " Miss Eva 
 Vernon Ashley has probably very little of the old 
 Virginia ideas in her now ! " 
 
 " Wait till you see her, " laughs Birdie. " She will 
 be a surprise to you — as much as the surprise we have 
 for you in the closet upstairs." 
 
 At this both girls sigh, and edge up to me, and place 
 their arms round my neck and whisper, wiping away 
 stray tears : * ' We put it there when we got your tele- 
 gram." 
 
 "What surprise?"! ask, masculine curiosity over- 
 coming military nonchalance. 
 
 " Run upstairs and see ! " 
 
 Taking them at their word, this I do — to my con- 
 sternation. 
 
 A moment after I am in the room that has been mine 
 since boyhood. On the table are flowers to greet my 
 coming. The next second I have opened the closet 
 door. 
 
 I utter an imprecation of rage ; then my eyes fill 
 with tears. For I am staring at a full-dress, gray. Con- 
 federate major's uniform, silk sash, glittering military 
 collar and magnificent sword. Pinned on it is a paper 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I7 
 
 that shows the Rebel garb is the work of the loving 
 hands of my two sisters — for me, their Union brother. 
 
 Filled with almost despair at the situation that con- 
 fronts me — for it is worse than I even imagined it would 
 be — I stride downstairs and, leaving the house, wan- 
 der aimless and dazed about the streets of my native 
 city. Here my peace of mind is not increased by see- 
 ing a handsome Federal lieutenant, apparently of the 
 artillery, and stationed at Fort McHenry, step into a 
 street car, and every lady, young or old, turn their 
 faces from him, and, as at various times they pass by 
 him, draw their skirts away, as if contact with his 
 uniform were contamination. 
 
 I shiver as I think : " What if I loved any of these fair 
 ones ? " as I remember the fate of my poor friend, George 
 Arden Thornton, of Virginian birth, who graduated two 
 classes before me and took his place in the Union army. 
 After being brevetted for great gallantry at the first battle 
 of Bull Run, lured by the eyes of a lovely Virginia girl 
 and stabbed by her cutting invective, he had resigned 
 his commission, and, when his resignation was refused, 
 taken French leave and galloped across the Potomac 
 to join the Confederate legions of Lee and Jackson. 
 
 Even now there is a curious record written against 
 his name in the annals of the War Department. 
 
 " Dismissed. Having tendered his resignation when in the face of 
 the Rebels." 
 
 Though from all accounts, the said George Arden 
 Thornton was never a coward after he joined the 
 Southern ranks, as many a slashing charge with the 
 rough-riding troopers of Stuart and Fitz Lee bore record. 
 Besides that, he got the girl! 
 
 I stroll into the Maryland Club. There it is no 
 better ; in fact, it is worse ; for many of my old friends, 
 thinking of course I am one of them in sentiment, talk 
 what I consider treason. So, fearful of my temper and 
 to avoid altercations which would surely arise if I 
 expressed my feelings, I leave its charming billiard 
 parlor, where the "Chief" is making one of his famous 
 runs, convinced that Baltimore and I will very shortly 
 be on exceedingly bad terms. If I did my duty, half 
 of them would be in Fort McHenry by evening ; if 
 
1 8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 I did my full miliiary duty — Good Heavens ! — what 
 would happen to my dear father ? 
 
 I cannot stay. I must end the thing, and end it 
 quickly. 
 
 With this idea in my mind, I stride home and impress 
 upon my father and sisters that circumstances con- 
 vince me I must go to the front at once. 
 
 "Ah, I understand," whispers my governor. "You 
 feel with that paper in your pocket, you must be in the 
 ranks of battle." You'll run the blockade across the 
 lower Potomac from Leonardston, I presume," he con- 
 tinues. "Ask for Wat Bowie; he can get you across 
 if any man can," adds the old gentleman, his tones 
 easy though I note his moustache is twitching. 
 
 Then my loved ones almost shake my resolution. 
 My sweet sisters, sobbing as if their hearts would 
 break, whisper: "Go, dear brother, and do your 
 duty ! " 
 
 My father takes me in his arms and mutters : "Pre- 
 sent my compliments to Jefferson Davis in Richmond, 
 my boy ! " 
 
 "I hope to !" I answer, scarce noting the signifi- 
 cance of my remark. 
 
 Then as if to drive the gloom of parting from his 
 mind, my governor suggests : "Of course you'll see 
 your affianced. Tell her mother, with my love, we'll 
 have a grand wedding in a year or two, when the 
 Yanks have fled to Canada." 
 
 "Oh, you mean Miss Ashley," I tryto laugh. "Yes, 
 I'll marry her after the Yanks have fled to Canada." 
 
 With this half-jeering promise on my lips, followed 
 by their blessings, their tears, their love, I get away 
 from the house and fly from Baltimore, cursing myself 
 for not having the moral courage to tell them I am the 
 enemy of their cause. 
 
 In my trunk is the gray Confederate uniform. To 
 leave it were to create astonishment, perhaps doubt, in 
 my sisters' minds. 
 
 In my pocket is Jeff Davis' commission — a very dan- 
 gerous document for a Union Border-State officer to 
 carry, in Maryland in the year 1862. Found upon my 
 person, this would be prima facie evidence of my 
 treason. 
 
 This I must guard against ! 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 19 
 
 Therefore, arriving at Washington, I order the hack- 
 man to drive straight to the War Department, and send 
 up my card. 
 
 To my astonishment, I am almost immediately 
 shown into the private office of that man of blood and 
 iron who held Washington — ay, even this M'hole 
 country — so iirmly in his hand during the last three 
 years of that frightful struggle — Edwin ]\Ic]\I asters 
 Stanton. 
 
 As Madison, the darkey factotum of the secretary, 
 opens the door, and I, entering, make salute, a clear, 
 cold, stately voice greets me with : " You are Captain 
 W. F. Hamilton, of the First Kentucky Cavalry, bre- 
 vetted for gallantry at Shiloh, just returned from a 
 visit to your Rebel friends and relatives in Baltimore ; 
 what do you want with me, sir ? " 
 
 For a moment I stand, astonished at the under-sized 
 figure of the Secretary of War ; then as I look at him 
 he seems to become a giant. The great eyes flash 
 through their glasses at me ; the dilated nostrils appear 
 expanded by latent fire ; the massive forehead, which 
 is for one moment that of a judge, contracts and be- 
 comes that of an inquisitor. ' " Why are you not in 
 uniform ? " is thundered at me. 
 
 I can see anger, even suspicion, in his glance. 
 
 An inspiration prompts me to speak quickly. " I 
 am not in uniform," I say, "because the matter is so 
 urgent. " 
 
 " What is it ?" 
 
 " This ! " I unbutton my coat and place in his hands 
 my Confederate commission. 
 
 Mr. Stanton inspects it for a moment, then chuckles 
 grimly : " Young man, you've saved your neck." 
 
 "My neck ! " I ejaculate with a start. 
 
 "Yes. In an hour you would have been arrested, 
 and with that in your possession, what chance would 
 you have had before a court-martial ? " 
 
 "Arrested.?" 
 
 ' ' Certainly. Baker's detectives report by telegraph 
 that you, a Union officer, visited your family, all of 
 whom are rabid Secessionists, and departed from them, 
 not only without altercation or quarrel, but blessed 
 and caressed by both father and sisters. Two of the 
 Secret Service were with you on the train. Had you 
 
20 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 tried to leave it en route, you would have been seized. 
 You have had a very narrow escape." 
 
 "You do not doubt my loyalty? I, who have 
 turned my back on home and friends for the cause "i " 
 I gasp. 
 
 "Not 710W ! But you Border-State men have so many 
 temptations, Baker keeps his eyes on all of you." 
 
 "Then let me destroy the cursed thing ! " My hand 
 is stretched out to seize the paper and tear it up. 
 
 But the Secretary motions me off, and holding Jeff 
 Davis' commission in his hands, remarks : " You're 
 either a very brave or very rash young man, to have 
 carried this with you ! " Then his eyes that have 
 always been upon me become searching. He queries : 
 "Why did you even take it ? " 
 
 " Because some day — " I cry. 
 
 But he cuts me short. "Some day, you may do a 
 great thing with it — for your country ? " 
 
 "Yes ! " 
 
 "Then keep it, and if the chance comes, do it !" 
 He hands the document back to me and remarks 
 caustically : "I shall not ask you who gave it to you. 
 I know you would not answer, and we must not press 
 you Union men of the Border States too strongly. I 
 can guess your agony in putting yourself apart from 
 friends and kindred, because of your country. Captain 
 Hamilton." 
 
 Then his tone becomes kindly. He laughs : " Going 
 out again with that badge of treason on you ? You are 
 taking great chances, young man. Wait till I make it 
 innoxious to you." He hurriedly writes a few lines 
 empowering me to bear any document whatsoever 
 for the service of the United States, directing I shall 
 be held harmless for having them in my possession. 
 Signing this, he gives me his hand cordially. 
 
 Four weeks after, I find myself this night, in com- 
 mand of a Union picket guarding the Potomac. The 
 river rolls silently beside me, the Stars and Stripes 
 float over me, while my dear father and sisters are 
 praying for me, their loved one, believing me to be 
 fighting for the cause they adore, under the Stars and 
 Bars of the Confederacy. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A SWEET PRISONER. 
 
 Suddenly these gloomy reflections are interrupted by 
 my first lieutenant, Harry Harrod, whispering excitedly 
 in my ear, "Captain, they are crossing from the Vir- 
 ginia side. " 
 
 "Are you sure ? " 
 
 " I hear them ! " 
 
 "Very well," I order. "Take a platoon with you ; 
 go down to the shore again and warn the sentries to 
 be on the alert." 
 
 My first lieutenant departing on his errand, I sum- 
 mon my second. To him I remark, "Mr. Cartwright, 
 is the bridge over the canal ready to fire on the in- 
 stant ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir. It's dry as tinder and we've soaked the 
 timbers with two cases of coal oil to make 'em burn 
 lively." 
 
 "Quite right ! Do not light it without my personal 
 command and order the men to mount on the instant. 
 Don't let the bugle sound 'boots and saddles,' that 
 might be a warning to the enemy. Direct all corporals 
 and sergeants to see that every trooper is prepared for 
 immediate action." 
 
 Then striding to the near-by bivouac where the 
 loquacious Lommox is reclining on the ground, sur- 
 rounded by three or four of his men, I speak rapidly : 
 "Sergeant, are you prepared for your ride to Washing- 
 ton ? " 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir. Though I don't like running away as 
 soon as the Rebs show their cursed heads." 
 
 "Nevertheless, you must fly the moment I give 
 you my report. Make straight for Frederick ; if any 
 Federal troops are in the town, warn them — then on 
 to Washington, communicating to the commanding 
 officers of any United States forces between Frederick 
 and that city the intelligence of the Confederate cross- 
 ing. Why is not your horse ready .'' '" I ask sharply. 
 
22 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "I have me hand on the bastes bridle at this mo- 
 ment, Captain ; though it's too dark to see 'em," an- 
 swers the Irish sergeant with a smothered guffaw. 
 
 Then hurriedly, but silently, I step down to the bank 
 of the Potomac. One of the sentries, as I answer his 
 challenge, mutters: "Don't you hear 'em, Captain 
 Hamilton? By the splashing, they're wagons of some 
 kind." 
 
 "And in a devil of a hurry too," adds Harrod. 
 
 "They can't be part of the Confederate forces," I 
 laugh. " Lee wouldn't invade Maryland with his 
 ammunition trains or artillery as advance guard. Be- 
 sides, these fellows are running away from somebody 
 and scared out of their boots." 
 
 This is now plainly apparent to our ears. 
 
 Over the soft ripple of the waters in the quiet night 
 air comes vividly in excited German accents, "Dunner 
 und blitzen, Fritz ! If dat damned black mule balks 
 vonce more agin mid himshelf, you shoot him, shust 
 as he stands, und cut dem traces like heel ! Mein Gott 
 in himmel ! does you think I'm going to be caught py 
 my own mule? Slash 'im ! Cut the hide out of 'im. 
 I stands de beer all around, boys, ven ve strikes ze 
 Maryland shore." 
 
 "Begorra, you bet he stands the beer all around 
 when he strikes the Maryland shore ! " chuckles ser- 
 geant Lommox, who is now by my side. 
 
 This promised beer seems to have a great effect, not 
 only on my sentries, but on the German's own men. 
 The cracking of whips and the swash of the waters in- 
 dicate the teamsters are crossing rapidly — but not too 
 quickly for my soldiers, who are waiting for them with 
 mouths made thirsty by this hot night. 
 
 "We'll bag 'em all," I think, grimly, as I note from 
 the sound there are not more than four or five wagons. 
 "Harrod," I order my first lieutenant; "pass the 
 word for silence ; let them all get on shore, then not 
 one can escape." 
 
 Two minutes after, five four-mule teams, the drivers 
 cursing in German with great slashing of whips, hol- 
 loaing and hullabalooing, dash out of the quiet ripples 
 of the Potomac and rush up the Maryland shore. 
 
 " Dere's a bridge right along de canal here! Ve 
 makes for it kevick ! " cries the Teuton voice. 
 
BILLY HAMILTOM. 
 
 23 
 
 " Halt there ! Advance and give the countersign ! '' 
 orders the sergeant of the guard, sternly. 
 
 " Mein Himmel, it's dat damned Stuart's cavalry- 
 men. Boys, ve are goners ! " shrieks the affrighted 
 head of the party w^ith a German oath, and an effort is 
 made to turn the rear team into the river. 
 
 " Stay quiet, Dutchie, or be jabers, we'll fill you full 
 of lead," orders Lommox. 
 
 "Who are you.''" I cry; for I am now sure these 
 are not soldiers ; certainly not Jackson's veterans. 
 
 " Gott in Himmel, who are jyou P That is vot is de 
 matter mit me 1 " answers the excited German voice 
 from the darkness. 
 
 " We're Troop A of the First Kentucky Union 
 Cavalry," I shout, instinct telling me the Dutchman is 
 too excited to explain who he is. 
 
 "Union Cavalry ! Boys, ve are saved I " 
 
 "Now, who are you P" 
 
 " Lammersdorff ! So help me Gott ! August Lam- 
 mersdorff! Sutler mid Bank's Corps, and pursued by 
 Lee's whole army. Vip up de mules, Fritz ! Get right 
 avay out of here, mein frient yourshelf, odervise you 
 is a losht man." 
 
 " Bejabers, you're a lost man," cries Lommox, "if 
 you don't put up that beer you promised in the middle 
 of the river when ye reached ' My Maryland.'" 
 
 " All right, de beer goes, but for God's sake let me 
 go away. Here, Fritz, Conrad, make de Union boys 
 comfortable mit demselves. By Shultz's ghost, I 
 thought I vas gone up de spout." 
 
 A spigot is hastily put in a keg of beer in one of the 
 sutler's wagons. I permit my men to accept the Ger- 
 man's hospitality, while I inspect his sutler's permit by 
 the light of a sulphur match. 
 
 " Hab a cigar. Cap.?" Lammersdorff says in eager 
 hospitality. 
 
 " Thank you," I respond, and lighting up one of the 
 purveyor's best per/ec/os, I question the Teuton rapidly : 
 
 "How did you get into Lee's jaws.? Banks is in 
 Washington." 
 
 "Ven Banks falls back from Bealton, I vas left be- 
 hind. Den I has to light out for meinself und vile Lee 
 vas massacreeing Pope, by jingo, I flanks de whole 
 Rebel army and comes behind dem. But ven I gits 
 
24 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 down vere I thinks I'se safe, niein Himmel, I finds 
 Lee vaiting for me to gibe me hell." 
 
 " You say you were pursued by Lee's whole army. 
 What makes you think that?" 
 
 " De Rebs comes on us so shpunky ! " 
 
 "Any other reason ? " 
 
 "Yes, I heard de marching of men like von ob 
 Leettle Mac's big army corps ! " 
 
 "An army corps ? " 
 
 " Und de rumbling of half a dozen batteries of can- 
 nons. You don't mishtake dem for de creekings of 
 sutlers' vagons, does it ? " 
 
 " Half a dozen batteries of artillery ! " 
 
 This information is so important, and Lammersdorff 
 seems so impressed with the fact that he must hurry 
 on, that I detain him only long enough to buy a box 
 of his best cigars, with which I fill my pockets, cigar- 
 case and saddle-pouch, distributing a few to my two 
 lieutenants. 
 
 "Don't keep me here. Captain. For God's sake, 
 let me go on or I'm a losht and a ruined sutler. I has 
 fifty thousand in greenbacks and twenty-five thousand 
 in a commissary's draft on my body," he whispers 
 frightenedly, then breaks out despairingly: "How 
 long do you think dese vagons vould last mit Stuart's 
 hungry devils. Dey'd eat 'em up and drink 'em up 
 and smoke 'em up before I got drew cussing 'em ! " 
 
 "Very well," I answer, " you can go on ! " And I 
 give orders to let him pass the little bridge over the 
 canal. 
 
 " For God's sake, come mit me. Captain ! " begs the 
 good-hearted German, who I can see by the light from 
 my burning cigar, is in shirt sleeves, and the perspira- 
 tion of exertion and anxiety rolling down his round 
 Teuton face. 
 
 " No I I'm guarding this ford. Good-bye ; thanks 
 for your cigars ; I hope we'll meet soon," I add. 
 
 " Gott in Himmel, I hope ve von'i /" 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Because if you shtay here another hour I vill have 
 to go to Richmond or hell to meet you," is cried 
 out to me, as the wagons disappear into the darkness, 
 driven rapidly, the mules trotting as they rush over the 
 little bridge. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 25 
 
 The noise dies away up the Frederick pike ; as not 
 altogether pleased at the German's suggestion, I turn 
 to my duty. 
 
 " Lorn mox," I order, "go to the bridge with your 
 horse and be ready to ride like blazes the moment I 
 give the signal ! '' 
 
 Leaving Harrod in charge of the bridge, I crawl to 
 the front. At the bank of the river, quietly giving the 
 countersign to the sentries who challenge me in low 
 voice, I shortly encounter my second lieutenant. " Do 
 you hear any noises ? " I whisper. 
 
 "There is certainly no sound now of movement 
 across the ford," he replies. " Perhaps they're waiting 
 for a signal." 
 
 A moment after I start with surprise. 
 
 A sentry challenges sharply, 
 
 A low, sweet, delicate, feminine voice comes through 
 the still night air, saying easily: "You are part of 
 Stonewall Jackson's command, I presume.?" 
 
 " Great goodness ! A woman ! " I gasp. 
 
 The next instant I have captured a very pretty pris- 
 oner. At least, I judge so by the voice. For my hand 
 is on the bridle of her horse and the soft voice is saying 
 to me : "Are you some of Stuart's troopers ? " 
 
 "No!" I reply, with military promptness. "You 
 are speaking to Captain Billy Hamilton, of the First 
 Union Kentucky Cavalry." 
 
 ' ' Bt'l/y Hamilton ! " The tone is one of great aston- 
 ishment. "Captain in the First Uyiion Kentucky Cav- 
 alry.?" The voice, for a second I think, indicates 
 disdain. 
 
 "Yes ! My orders are to stop any one crossing the 
 river. " 
 
 "What ! Hinder me from visiting my — my aunt in 
 Leesburg } " 
 
 "Certainly ! — unless you have a pass from the Gen- 
 eral in command of this division, or the War Depart- 
 ment at Washington." 
 
 "0-oh!" This is a sweet, low gasp of dismay. 
 " I had supposed that you military gentlemen consid- 
 ered women non-combatants," adds the girl in piquant 
 savageness ; for her accents tell me she is certainly 
 very young. 
 
26 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Please give me youi name," I demand with mili- 
 tary directness, 
 
 " My — my name ? " 
 
 " Certainly ! " 
 
 " I — I cannot give it you ! " There is a strange em- 
 barrassment in the voice. 
 
 Into this I break, ordering the sentinel sharply, 
 "See who that is in the undergrowth. If he doesn't 
 come out, shoot him at once ! " 
 
 " Don't shoot ! " screams a scared darky voice, in 
 answer to the click of carbine-locks. " 'Fore de Lawd, 
 I'se only de missis' servant." 
 
 "Stop your men ! '' cries the young lady. " Don't 
 shoot ! Quashie, come here! Don't try to fly ! " 
 
 A moment later a figure on horseback draws up be- 
 side her. 
 
 " Lawd-a-massy, dis niggah's most scared to 
 death ! " mutters what is apparently a darky servant. I 
 believe him, as to his fear ; for I can hear in the gloom 
 his teeth chattering like castanets. 
 
 Then the girl orders : "Quashie, you see these 
 men ? " 
 
 " 'Deed I doesn't, missie ; I hears dem. " 
 
 "Don't try to run away from them, and do what 
 they tell you, or you'll be shot at once." 
 
 " Yes, missie. Am dey going to shoot you too ? " 
 
 " I hope not ! You wouldn't kill me, Captain Hamil- 
 ton, would you ? " The tone is coquettish, allur- 
 ing. 
 
 The easy use of my name astonishes me ; but with 
 military gallantry I answer : "Not by the Stars and 
 Stripes!" To this I add: "How did you get here.'' 
 You could not have crossed the bridge." 
 
 "No-o," there is a slight hesitation in her answer. 
 "We — we must have lost our way and come up the 
 river. " 
 
 "Then how did you get over the canal ? " My tone 
 is suspicious. 
 
 " Over the canal? Is there one here.? O heavens! 
 Quashie, we might have fallen in and been drowned ! " 
 
 This is a bare-faced attempt to simulate feminine 
 naivete and female terror. I am about to speak with 
 great severity to my sweet prisoner — for I have made up 
 my mind that she is very sweet — when suddenly there 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 2"] 
 
 is the rattle of dropping shots— not from the river, but 
 from the rear of my command — and sounds of combat. 
 Across the Baltimore and Ohio Canal, the darkness is 
 lighted up by the flashes of carbines and revolvers. 
 
 "Damnation ! " cries Harrod. " We're taken in flank 
 — surrounded ! " 
 
 A second's reflection tells me that the Confederates 
 have crossed the Potomac at White's Ford, further down 
 the river, and we have not been notified by the troops 
 guarding that point. 
 
 " Mount your horse, Lommox ! " I cry, struggling to 
 the bridge. "Ride while you've time! Carry the 
 news, the Rebs are in Maryland ! " 
 
 "Faith, Fm gone!" answers the sergeant, and the 
 sound of his horse's hoofs rings out rapidly on the little 
 bridge and dies away smothered by distance and the 
 noise of firearms. A moment later the flashing of Con- 
 federate carbines tells me he is running the gauntlet. 
 
 But I have no time to speculate on his fate. My own 
 — that of my command — even that of the fair creature 
 who is beside me — occupies my attention. I hurriedly 
 seize the reins of the young lady's horse, for from the 
 movement of her steed I see she is turning it and would 
 gallop across the bridge towards the Confederate lines, 
 
 "If you go to them it is your death !" I whisper, 
 "In the darkness they'll think you one of us. For 
 God's sake keep on the other side of me ! " 
 
 "You wish to be very sure of your prisoner," she 
 mutters. 
 
 " I wish to do what I can to keep you alive." 
 
 "Ah, thank you ! You think your body may inter- 
 cept a bullet that w^ould reach me .? " 
 
 "Yes ! " and I draw her back from the circle of light 
 made by the burning bridge that has been fired by my 
 order and is now blazing briskly. 
 
 This done, I must save my command, if possible ; 
 the weight of fire in our front indicates that at least a 
 regiment is engaging us. However, they are coming on 
 cautiously, thinking we are but a picket, and not know- 
 ing the meagre force that is opposed to them. 
 
 There is but one hope ! — to flank them ! My troop 
 numbers scarce fifty sabres. The force opposed to 
 them, must amount to several hundred. 
 
 Fortunately, but few casualties have yet occurred, 
 
28 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 the darkness preventing any accuracy of aim. 
 " Come with me ! " I whisper to my young lady 
 prisoner. Passing the word for the men to hold their 
 fire and to follow me as silently as possible, I turn my 
 horse's head towards the west. The darkness is our 
 only safety ; were ft daylight, the paucity of our 
 numbers and our route of march would be discovered. 
 Then we would be overwhelmed in a moment ; for 
 though the canal is between us and the enemy — the 
 distance between it and the river is only a short hundred 
 yards and with little cover — their carbine fire would 
 destroy us. 
 
 I soon discover that my flank movement is not a 
 success, for a portion of the Confederate force is appar- 
 ently moving parallel to me. A moment after, guess- 
 ing at our location from ovft" noise, they scourge us by 
 a volley. Three or four of my troopers fall from their 
 saddles. 
 
 Merciful heavens ! Even this portion of the rebel 
 force is a full regiment. A cavalry brigade must be in 
 front of me. Fortunately they have not been able to 
 cross the blazing canal bridge. 
 
 Suddenly a desperate idea strikes me. " Give them 
 one volley to check them," I order. " Now, rfiy men, 
 follow me I " 
 
 " By the Lord ! " whispers Harrod, " you're not 
 going into the river ? " 
 
 ' ' Yes, to the Virginia side ; it is our only chance. 
 We may escape that way. Where is that poor girl ? " 
 I ask anxiously. 
 
 " Here, at your side, my gallant captain, who is 
 trying to take such good care of me," M^hispers the 
 sweet voice. 
 
 " Very well. Please — please keep in front of me. 
 Sergeant, get a few files between this young lady and 
 the enemy." 
 
 " You do nothing but think of my safety ? Thank 
 you ! " And a delicate, soft, exquisitely shaped hand — I 
 can tell that from its feel — seizes mine, and pressing 
 it, sends through every vein a thrill that the danger of 
 death cannot destroy. 
 
 A moment later we stagger the Confederate advance 
 by our rapid carbine fire, and I lead my men down to 
 the river, to ford it. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 29 
 
 " We must hurry," whispers Harrod, "The moon 
 is rising. It will show our small force to them. We 
 will be shot down before we get across." 
 
 " It is our only hope," I return. " What chance 
 would we have, charging a brigade .'' " 
 
 We are scarcely half-way across the river, when two 
 rockets rising from the Maryland side burst into red 
 and white stars. 
 
 I shudder as they are answered from the Virginia 
 shore. The next instant my lieutenant grasps my arm 
 and mutters : " Good God ! We're in front of a whole 
 Rebel division ! " 
 
 For in the first faint light of the rising moon, dark 
 columns of infantry are leaving the shadows of the 
 Virginia woods and entering the river. We can even 
 hear the rumble of artillery and caissons. 
 
 With a muttered oath, my color-sergeant seizes our 
 guidon, and reversing its pole, plunges the flag that 
 will betray us under the water of the river. Obey- 
 ing a wave of my hand, my troop follows me, edging 
 down the river in an attempt to get on the flank of the 
 enemy on the Virginia shore. 
 
 But we are too late. The advance guard and skir- 
 mishers of the Confederate division are already around 
 us in the river, the report of firearms on the Maryland 
 side hurrying them to the support of their cavalry. 
 
 At first they mistake us for part of their own force on 
 the other side of the stream. This gives me a short-lived 
 hope ; for a Rebel infantry captain laughs at me as he 
 urges to greater speed his men, who are fording waist- 
 deep : " Are they making it so hot for Stuart over 
 there that you're retreating ? " 
 
 " Yes," I reply. " Hurry up and support him ! " as 
 I still keep my course down the river. In the thick 
 undergrowth of the Virginia side, we may yet escape 
 — some of us. 
 
 But even as I do this, another column comes into 
 sight below us. 
 
 " That's damned strange ! " cries the Confederate 
 captain after me. " You boys ain't used to run from 
 Yankee cavalry." 
 
 The next second, the rising moon, breaking wholly 
 from the thunder-clouds, brilliantly illuminates the 
 scene. 
 
30 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 " By heaven, there's something wrong here ! Their 
 uniforms are blue ! " cries the Rebel ofhcer. 
 
 " Hanged if they ain't Yanks, flying from Stuart ! " 
 yells one of his men, in the easy discipline of that 
 time. 
 
 " My God ! don't fire ! " I cry, " there's a lady 
 riding with us." 
 
 The next second we are surrounded. With the 
 muskets of a Confederate regiment of infantry levelled 
 at us, and the suspicious clicking of gun-locks in 
 another one marching on our flank, as the order 
 comes : " Make Ready ! " to resist would be useless. 
 I sullenly surrender. 
 
 A moment later we find ourselves deprived of our 
 arms. To our captor's questions, I give the name of 
 my command, and find myself a prisoner. 
 
 " I am glad you did surrender," whispers the sweet 
 voice at my side. " For see ! " and she points down 
 the river ; " There are miles of them ! To resist would 
 simply have meant the slaughter of your brave fellows. " 
 
 I glance, following her hand. A Confederate army 
 corps is on the banks of the Potomac. Turning, I 
 look at her : the moonlight shows me a form light 
 and graceful as a sylph's, clothed in some dark riding- 
 habit that outlines each rounded contour of beauty. 
 
 A second glance — for I give her several — shows me 
 the young lady sits her horse perfectly and manages it 
 with the ease and certainty of an accomplished eques- 
 trienne. Her face is too much in the shadow for me 
 to note all its loveliness — that came to me afterwards 
 — though I can guess it has both youth and beauty 
 from the brightness of her eyes as they look into mine. 
 
 " Thank you," I remark. " You were very kind in 
 not betraying us. It did no good, but, believe me, I 
 appreciate it." 
 
 " You feared I would do that ? " she asks reproach- 
 fully, " when you took such good care of — of " 
 
 " Of my fair prisoner," I murmur suggestively. 
 
 "Your prisoner no longer ! "she laughs. "You've 
 only had a short ten minutes' power over me. And 
 now you're their prisoner. I hope they'll treat you as 
 kindly as you did me." 
 
 ' ' Not much chance of that," I mutter, my voice grow- 
 ing husky, as I think ot a long imprisonment before 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 3 1 
 
 exchang-e. "I suppose they'll send me to Libby Pris- 
 on." Then I ask, perchance even anxiously: "And 
 you ? " 
 
 "Oh, they'll regard me as a non-combatant; these 
 Southerners are very gallant. I presume now I shall 
 be permitted to visit my mother in Leesburg. " Her 
 tone is confident. 
 
 "Your mother ? You said your ataif." 
 
 " I meant both." 
 
 By this time we have been escorted to the Virginia 
 side of the river, and are now brought by our guard to 
 an officer, who, after a few words with his subordinates, 
 inspects us by the light of a blazing pine torch. 
 
 As I am about to give him my name, the gentleman 
 breaks out cordially and eagerly : " Permit me. Captain 
 Hamilton, to introduce myself as Major Thornton of 
 the First Virginia Cavalry, acting provost-marshal of 
 Ewell's Division, Jackson's Corps, of the Army of North- 
 ern Virginia." 
 
 "George ! " I cry out, as I recognize my old West 
 Point friend, who had been a First-classman when I 
 entered: the George Arden Thornton, who, lured by 
 his sweetheart's eyes, had left the ranks of the Blue, 
 and who now is one of Stuart's dashing cavalrymen. 
 
 To this he replies: "Billy, I'm mighty glad to see 
 you, but sorry to see you wearing that uniform." 
 
 Before I can reply to this, he whispers significantly : 
 "By Jove, you're in luck ! I see you have a petticoat 
 with you." 
 
 " A lady I captured, attempting to cross the Poto- 
 mac, " I answer quite loudly, anxious to prevent any 
 embarrassment to the fair creature whose attitude, as 
 well as I can see by the torchlight, indicates impa- 
 tience. 
 
 "And one who would like to have your private ear 
 for a moment. Provost-marshal," returns the beauty 
 somewhat sternly. 
 
 At this Thornton, who is punctilio itself to the fair 
 sex, doffs his slouched hat gallantly, as the young lady 
 continues, a slight embarrassment in her voice : "I — 
 I was so — so fortunate as to be captured by Captain 
 Hamilton. Am I to be considered a non-combatant 
 by you, or am I to have, in one night, the distinction of 
 having been a prisoner of the Army of the Potomac on 
 
32 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 one side of the river, and of the Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia on the other ? " 
 
 " Be assured the Army of Northern Virginia will do 
 its best to keep all such prisoners a.sjyou," returns the 
 Confedate major gallantly, apparently impressed by the 
 sweet tones of his captive's voice. 
 
 "Then — before you put me under guard," laughs 
 the young lady, "permit me to whisper a word in your 
 ear. " 
 
 With this the provost marshal, taking the young lady's 
 horse by the bridle, leads her a short distance from me, 
 and I watch her discontentedly. As she converses ap- 
 parently eagerly and impressively with him, I think, 
 perhaps bitterly : "She, when I captured her, accorded 
 me no such explanation." 
 
 A moment after Thornton turns to me and suggests : 
 "What shall we do with you, my boy in blue? Eh? " 
 
 "Send me to Richmond, I suppose!" I mutter 
 gloomily. 
 
 "No, I've better news than that !" the major says 
 cordially. "We haven't men enough to spare to guard 
 the prisoners we're taking. We shall carry you with 
 us into Frederick and to-morrow parole you until you're 
 exchanged : at least, I believe that is the order at pres- 
 ent. Give me your word, and you can take your 
 horse and go with us comfortably. I shall be crossing 
 the river myself as soon as I give directions about your 
 men, whom we shall parole at once not to serve 
 until exchanged." 
 
 His cheery words make my heart jump ; I am not 
 to suffer confinement in Libby Prison. I go with him 
 to sign the parole of my troop. 
 
 Returning from this, my charming ex-captive rides 
 up to me and remarks, apparent petulance in her tones : 
 " I am not to be permitted to visit my friends in Lees- 
 burg. Like you, / am a prisoner. That awful pro- 
 vost-marshal insists on taking me to Frederick. I shall 
 not be released until Stonewall Jackson gives word to 
 that effect. They — they think me a Union spy ! " 
 
 "I don't imagine they'll shoot you offhand," I reply, 
 delighted that this fair, yet rather mysterious young 
 creature is to journey with me. 
 
 The piquancy in her manner indicates she will make 
 a charming companion on the night ride into Frederick. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. ^^ 
 
 " Oh, I don't suppose they will need to hang me. I 
 shall be executed by refrigeration in this night air, ' 
 laughs the girl. "My riding-habit is wet to the 
 knees." 
 
 "That I shall try to obviate ! " cries Thornton, step- 
 ping up. "Come with me at once; across the river 
 we will give you a camp-fire ! " 
 
 A few moments, and we iind ourselves upon the 
 Maryland side of the river. 
 
 "I see you've delayed us for an hour," remarks 
 the major, gazing on the ruined bridge. 
 
 The Confederates are blowing out a sluice gate and 
 closing a dam, so that the canal will soon be dry — and 
 their engineers are hastily erecting a light bridge or 
 two to replace the one I've destroyed. 
 
 While this is going on a big bivouac fire is rapidly 
 built for us by Thornton's order, and my fair com- 
 panion, wringing out the skirt of her riding-habit in 
 front of it, makes as exquisite a series of silhouettes as 
 fitful flashes ever showed to admiring eyes. Her very 
 occupation compels an innocent abandon that permits 
 most charming hints of a figure as graceful as a naiad's, 
 as she shakes the Potomac water from her clinging 
 skirts. 
 
 But there is no air of coquetry about her, though I 
 catch a glance or two that she steals at me, when she 
 thinks I am not noticing her. In them, I can only see 
 disdain, haughtiness, perchance contempt. 
 
 A moment later I think this idea is caused by the 
 conviction that every Southern woman hates a Union 
 soldier ; for the young lady's voice has become win- 
 ning, her air disingenuous, as she queries: "I sup- 
 pose after your parole you will return to Washington ? " 
 
 Then her eyes become wistful and eager. She whis- 
 pers : "I believe a Southern Union officer like you 
 should be in high favor with the War Department." 
 
 " I am ! " I reply, with the proud assurance of youth, 
 as I stir up the blazing brands, to get a better look at her. 
 
 "Ah ! " she gazes at me wistfully, then murmurs a 
 gracious; "Thank you! My habit is perfectly dry 
 now." 
 
 As she lifts her graceful head, by the flashes of the 
 camp-fire, which is now burning very brightly, I obtain 
 a first thorough impression of her face ; I behold youth, 
 
34 PAhhV HAMILTON. 
 
 beauty, vivacity, combined with a subtle yet charm- 
 ing- fascination. 
 
 My glance is so searching- a blush flies over the ex- 
 quisite features. She murmurs, a bashful embarrass- 
 ment in her tones : ' ' You are satisfied with the inspec- 
 tion of your — your former prisoner, Billy — I mean Cap- 
 tain Hamilton ? " 
 
 This most easy use of my Christian name astounds 
 me. 
 
 " You — you have known me before? " I gasp in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 "No; of course not! Oh! What was I thinking 
 of! What have I said ! " she stammers, growing red 
 as a peony in the firelight. Suddenly she cries ex- 
 citedly as if to avoid further questions : " Look ! See ! 
 Isn't it a glorious sight ! Behold the Confederate army 
 crossing into 'My Maryland.'" 
 
 And the girl's eyes become inspired ! 
 
 From the elevation of our knoll by the river bank, I 
 gaze, and a sight comes to me that takes all else from 
 my mind. 
 
 The veterans of Jackson's advanced divisions are 
 fording the river, that flows waist high here — one con- 
 tinued stream of marching manhood : each eye bright- 
 ening as the bands play "My Maryland" ; each regi- 
 ment cheering as it steps on the soil of the State they 
 think to win and add, a new sister, to the Confederacy. 
 Regiment after regiment of Virginia boys, brigaded 
 under Taliaferro, veterans of many pitched battles, vic- 
 torious on many stricken fields ; their uniforms ragged, 
 their feet sometimes even bare, but their muskets gleam- 
 ing brightly and their cartridge-boxes filled, tramp past 
 us. 
 
 These are followed by Stafford's Louisiana lads, 
 five regiments, that give the wild Rebel yell as they 
 touch the shores of Maryland. 
 
 Somehow, the enthusiasm gets into me. Somehow, I 
 remember I am a Southerner ! Somehow, I want to 
 yell too ! 
 
 But I am recalled to my duty by the sweet voice of 
 my companion saying sarcastically : " Don't you wish 
 you could cheer with them ? " Then as if willing to 
 undo the effect of her words, Miss Variable quickly 
 adds; "Pooh! We're two poor prisoners together. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 35 
 
 Both Southerners, and both on the wrong side, I pre- 
 sume." 
 
 I do not answer this : the sight is too impressive. 
 Silently both of us gaze, the placid river flowing past 
 usswiftlyin the soft moonlight that tinges its ripples. 
 
 From up-stream, borne to us by the breeze, come 
 the sounds of the Confederate engineers throwing, by 
 the light of blazing torches, a pontoon bridge across 
 the Potomac, for the passage of the artillery. To our 
 right, two miles away, distant explosions tell us Stuart's 
 cavalry are blowing up culverts and destroying the 
 Baltimore & Ohio railroad, cutting off the doomed gar- 
 rison of Harper's Ferry from flight, succor or assistance. 
 
 And still we gaze, and still they come : regiment 
 after regiment, column after column — the young man- 
 hood of the South ! Archer's Tennessee Riflemen, from 
 the ridges of the Allegheny ; Thomas' Georgia Infantry 
 and Pender's North Carolinians, their bayonets gleam- 
 ing, their bands playing — not in the glorious panoply 
 of war, but in the stern, dread reality of slaughter and 
 of death. 
 
 Forgetful of dead comrades fallen in Chickahominy 
 swamps, careless of the decimation of the Second 
 Manassas and Chantilly, reckless of everything except 
 that they must win ; triumphant and confident, — for 
 they are marching under a leader who has never lost 
 a battle, — Stonewall Jackson's "foot-cavalry " tramp 
 joyously across the fair Potomac water from bloody 
 fields they have gained to other bloodier ones to be 
 fought. Over all this, as each regiment reaches the 
 Maryland shore, floats one continuous Rebel yell. 
 
 Their losses, as they march, my military eye tells 
 me, have been awful. Brigades are commanded by 
 colonels ; captains lead battalions ; and in one in- 
 stance I note a lieutenant is the ranking officer of a 
 regiment, 
 
 "Oh Heaven! How these darling, ragged, bare- 
 footed, light-hearted heroes have suffered to win ! " 
 sighs my beautiful companion. "Oh mercy!'' she 
 mutters. " Don't look at our glorious boys any more ! 
 To-night they're full of life, hope and courage ; to-mor- 
 row how many of them will die here, right in this State." 
 And the girl bursts out sobbing as if her heart would 
 break. 
 
36 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 But the men we look at, think not of death but of 
 victory ; and the wild yell of triumphant invasion 
 drowns the sad sobs of tender womanhood, — who 
 pities, who sorrows for these light-hearted, devil-may- 
 care Southern boys as they pass on with merry jest and 
 careless laugh to the shambles of South Mountain and 
 Antietam. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHO THE DUCE IS SHE ? 
 
 A FEW moments after, as if to brush away any 
 Southern sentiment she has displayed, Miss Enigma 
 whispers: "Just see to my horse's girths, my gallant 
 cavalryman. Then you can put me in the saddle — for 
 here's Major Thornton come to tell us, I imagine, that 
 we must both make a long jaunt into Frederick." 
 
 "You have divined correctly," returns the gallant 
 Southerner, and he gives directions to the troop of 
 cavalry who are under his immediate orders. 
 
 A moment later, the prettiest foot in the world is 
 put into my eager hand, and I swing Miss Beauty into 
 her saddle. I call her Miss Beauty now ; I have no 
 other name for her. Once or twice I have, at odd 
 times, by deft hints expressed my desire to know this 
 young lady's baptismal appellation ; but at these mo- 
 ments she has grown unusually stupid and doesn't seem 
 to understand what I am suggesting. 
 
 She has apparently been no more explicit with the 
 Confederate Major, for we have hardly mounted and 
 taken a by-path to get away from the marching infan- 
 try who will delay us, when Thornton says gallantly, 
 but decidedly : "Now I must know the name of my 
 prisoner." 
 
 ' ' Not this evening," answers the captive mutinously ; 
 then adds playfully : "I shall not reveal my identity 
 to any one save General Jackson himself; " next mur- 
 murs bashfully : " As if I would have all my friends in 
 Virginia and Maryland know I've been conducted with- 
 out chaperone, by two dashing officers, on an all-night- 
 ride. Besides what would Mrs. Thornton say .? " 
 Then she laughs into the handsome Confederate's face : 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 37 
 
 "Your marriage, more than your desertion to the 
 enemy, brought sad hearts to many Washington beau- 
 ties, I believe." 
 
 "Ah, you're acquainted in Washington .'' " 
 
 "A little." 
 
 With this the two go into a conversation, which I 
 cannot catch, as they are riding side by side, and the 
 narrow country lane compels me to keep in their rear. 
 So I go to meditating as to whether it is only fear of 
 scandal, or some ulterior political or military motive 
 that makes this young lady silent as to her journey, 
 not only to myself, but to the Confederate. Surely she 
 could confide in one of us, I think. 
 
 Then suddenly a spasm, which I have since dis- 
 covered was jealousy, flies through me. Was it in 
 hope of meeting some particular officer of Lee's army 
 that this girl, who from her appearance is of gentle 
 birth and tender breeding, has taken this wild night- 
 ride through the lines of contending armies ? 
 
 But Miss Enigma who rides in front of me gives me 
 little opportunity for further grounds of speculation at 
 present. Thornton's questions perhaps becoming too 
 searching, she suddenly grows so sleepy that she can 
 answer neither of us, though I note she guides her 
 horse as dexterously as before, as we two ride on 
 glumly after her. 
 
 Soon after we enter the main road in advance of the 
 infantry, but behind the cavalry that is hastening to- 
 wards Frederick. 
 
 A moment later, the young lady turns in her saddle 
 and beckons us beside her. As we ride up, she says : 
 " Would you like a sleepy prisoner, or a very gossipy 
 and wide-awake captive. Major Thornton ? " 
 
 " I hardly understand you," mutters the Confederate. 
 
 "Well, I mean that if you put searching military 
 questions to me, I shall be so sleepy I cannot answer 
 them. If you permit me to chat about the affairs of 
 the world, I'll make myself as entertaining as I can, for 
 the courteous manner in which you've treated me this 
 evening." 
 
 "Anything but a silent prisoner ! " laughs the major. 
 
 Whereupon she turns to us, and we enter into a con- 
 versation about general news ; even going as far as 
 Italy and Garibaldi's attempt to capture Rome, and 
 
38 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 from this drift to Washington society and Virginia 
 matters and Maryland affairs, the young lady's babble 
 being so bright, charming and pleasant, that the ride 
 seems very short as we come into Frederick about day- 
 break. 
 
 A huge bonfire of burning commissary stores de- 
 stroyed by the Federal provost-marshal, who has re- 
 treated with the one company under his command, 
 leaving only the sick in hospital behind him, shows 
 me that Lommox has reached here safely and given his 
 warning. 
 
 So chatting, we ride on into the little capital of 
 Maryland. Every moment this young lady's conver- 
 sation gives me more potent hopes of learning her 
 name. Unguardedly, this beauty incognita has ad- 
 mitted she knows several of my Baltimore friends and 
 one or two of my Washington acquaintances. 
 
 "It'll be the devil's own luck if I don't find you out, 
 my elusive charmer, after the hints you have given 
 me," I think cheerily as I assist the young lady from 
 her horse at the entrance of the principal tavern in 
 Frederick Town. 
 
 This is now lighted up with its doors open, and the 
 proprietor is answering Thornton's hurried military 
 questions as to the number of the United States troops 
 that have been in the town, and the direction they 
 have taken, his darky servants going about rather 
 nervously in the presence of the invading Confeder- 
 ates. 
 
 Roused by the noise of Rebel hoofs, a number of the 
 townspeople in hastily-made toilets are thronging 
 about the advanced squadrons of Stuart's Cavalry, 
 gaping at their invaders, who call themselves their 
 friends and say they come to free them. 
 
 "Gol darned if I thought you Rebs — I — I means 
 Confeds — were in fifty miles of us," I hear a farmer, 
 who has come in with early morning vegetables and 
 poultry, say to one of Stuart's troopers, as the cav- 
 alry take all his supplies, and pay, to his astonish- 
 ment and delight, is Yankee greenbacks, and gold, 
 probably gleaned from the Federal dead at Second 
 Manassas. 
 
 His business with the boniface finished, Thornton 
 turns to us and speaks with military promptness. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 39 
 
 "Remember you are both on parole not to leave 
 this hotel without my permit. Have I your word of 
 honor that you will remain here ? " 
 
 " You have," I reply, " and my thanks also for your 
 courtesy. " 
 
 " Have I yours also, INIiss ? " says the Confeder- 
 ate, addressing the young lady, who has not replied to 
 him. 
 
 " And if not ? " answers the fair captive airily. 
 
 "Then I shall be compelled to place a sentry at the 
 door of your chamber," remarks the provost-marshal 
 sternly. "A discourtesy I am loath to be guilty of, 
 to a young lady whom I wish to treat with every pos- 
 sible consideration." 
 
 "Under these circumstances you have my word. 
 Major Thornton," replies the girl. Then, a strange 
 eagerness coming to her voice, she says impulsively : 
 " Only p/ease — please let me see General Jackson as 
 soon as he arrives, you — you don't know how impor- 
 tant it is ! " 
 
 "I will try and accommodate you, but I am a very 
 busy man," answers the Confederate officer. Then he 
 rides hurriedly away, leaving us tvv'o captives looking 
 in each other's face, as I give the darky groom a dollar, 
 and tell him to see our horses are well fed and bedded. 
 
 "You wish to see General Jackson immediately.''" 
 I query meditatively. 
 
 "Yes, of course," answers my ex-captive. " My 
 night's experience makes me anxious to escape from 
 between contending armies." 
 
 "Ah, yes," I reply. "Only I thought your manner 
 indicated that it is more important for Jackson to see 
 you than you to see him. " 
 
 "Goodness, what a suspicious creature you are ! " 
 half laughs Miss Incognita. "Don't you see I am as 
 much a captive as you are ? But, good-morning, I am 
 
 very tired and " Her languid manner indicates that 
 
 she wishes to end the interview. 
 
 "You would like a little beauty sleep, eh.''" I sug- 
 gest, as I assist my fair companion into the hotel and 
 do what I can for her comfort. 
 
 " Of course ! " returns the young lady laughing. To 
 this she adds : "A little would do you no harm also," 
 and trips away attended by the hotel-keeper, leaving 
 
40 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 me chewing my moustache and gazing wonderingly 
 after her. 
 
 Has this interesting creature been caught accident- 
 ally between contending armies, or is she one of the 
 "dyed-in-the-wool" Secession gii Is who'd risk every- 
 thing for their cause, even life itself, and be a bearer 
 of information to the Confederate chieftain, or is she, 
 worse still, the affianced or the wife of some Rebel 
 officer desperately seeking, at the risk of her own per- 
 sonal safety, the lips she loves, the arms she longs for ? 
 
 " Damn it, this last is the worst of all," I think, as 
 my heart sinks. "Better the lover of the Confederate 
 cause than the sweetheart of a Rebel officer. Curse it 
 — how jealous I am becoming." 
 
 A moment later I conclude that Miss Incognita's 
 suggestion as to sleep is a wise one, I have been in 
 the saddle almost continuously for forty-eight hours. 
 
 Five minutes after I am shown into a little bed- 
 chamber whose dormer windows open on the main 
 thoroughfare of Frederick. As I look out, a battery of 
 Confederate artillery is thundering up Market Street, 
 the stars and stripes have been hauled down from the 
 flagpole in front of the town hall, the Rebel banner 
 is flying in its place ; the rising sun gleams on the 
 flashing bayonets of an infantry division marching 
 from the south — Stonewall Jackson has entered Fred- 
 erick. 
 
 Notwithstanding the noise of ammunition trains and 
 the rumbling of artillery, my forty-eight hours in the 
 saddle makes me sleep well and soundly. Once or 
 twice, however, I dream of a fairy figure in a dark 
 gray riding-habit. 
 
 Some unusual and more potent noise in the street 
 awakens me. I spring from my bed and grasp for my 
 absent sabre, thinking for a moment that it is the call 
 to arms. I glance from the window, and look out on 
 a soft Maryland September day. The rattle comes 
 from the drums of a Confederate brigade marching up 
 the street. I see the gray uniforms ; recollections of 
 the preceding night throng upon me. My lack of 
 weapons brings my situation home to me — I remember 
 I am a prisoner. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 4 1 
 
 But appetite in a healthy young man is always a 
 dominant passion. Thoughts of breakfast prevent my 
 growing morbid over my captivity. The officer with 
 meagre rations the night before, rejoices in the chance 
 of a hotel breakfast. 
 
 I glance at my watch ; it is twelve o'clock in the 
 day. 
 
 Making a hasty soldier's toilet, I step below into the 
 main room of the hotel. This is now full of a con- 
 glomeration of Maryland citizens and Confederate offi- 
 cers. The faces of the invaders are full of exultant 
 hope, the countenances of the invaded bear the impress 
 of the mighty passions of that mighty time. All of 
 them betray concern ; some of them indicate joy ; 
 others, though they try to conceal it, bitter animosity 
 and undying hate. 
 
 A few, however, display such tremendous out-spoken 
 enthusiasm and friendship for the Rebel soldiers that I 
 know it means recruits for Lee's invading army. Some 
 of these gibe their neighbors of Union sentiment with 
 vindictive speeches. 
 
 As I elbow my way through the throng, I hear one 
 of them scoffing: "Hi, Jake, Pap Lee and his boys'll 
 make you walk Spanish for telling on Bill Garvey when 
 he took that band of volunteers over the river two 
 months ago." 
 
 "Garvey's in the old Capitol prison," guffaws an- 
 other. _ " You'll know about what his feelings are when 
 you're in Libby yourself. Didn't reckon we knew you'd 
 betrayed us ? Trying the sneak act, eh ? " 
 
 For this remark has produced a deathly pallor in the 
 face of the man addressed, and he is leaving the hotel, 
 the fear of immediate retaliation showing in his shiv- 
 ering limbs. 
 
 But despite the cruel passions of civil war, the nervous 
 tension seems to have made down-hearted Union men 
 and enthusiastic and triumphant Confederate sym- 
 pathizers equally thirsty. The bar-room of the hotel 
 is doing a great business, the chink of glasses sounding 
 merrily, some of stuart's officers remarking that 
 the whiskey is as good north of the Potomac as it is 
 south. Altogether, the scene is one of great excite- 
 ment, brilliancy and elan\ there is cheering on the 
 street, and the bands of the Southern Infantry, as they 
 
42 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 pass the house, are triumphantly playing, " My Mary- 
 land," "Bonnie Blue Flag" and " Dixie." 
 
 In this gathering my blue uniform naturally attracts 
 both attention and comment, A gray-coated captain, 
 after consultation with one or two of his broiher officers, 
 steps to me and asks firmly, but politely, the reason of 
 my presence. To him I return shortly that I am a 
 prisoner under parole. 
 
 As I do so, we recognize each other as classmates at 
 West Point. The Rebel's manner changes, so does 
 mine. We forget we wear different uniforms and fight 
 under opposing flags. The old days on the green 
 parade-ground on the Hudson come back ; the old class 
 feeling so often displayed during all that bloody time 
 returns to us. Personal friendship, that even the awful 
 animosity of that war did not destroy, when dying 
 Armstead begged to be carried to his old chum Han- 
 cock's tent, when Sherman and Johnson, though com- 
 manding opposing armies, were to each other as ' ' Bill " 
 and "Joe," comes to us and makes us clasp hands 
 over the bloody chasm. 
 
 Jeff Crockett, of the Twenty-second Confederate Ten- 
 nessee Infantry, says to Billy Hamilton, of the First 
 Union Kentucky Cavalry : " I am almighty glad to see 
 you, though deuced sorry to see you dressed in blue. But 
 I'll give you a hint ; if you are a prisoner and hungry, 
 you had better feed at once — you may not have long 
 to stay here, and your Yankee commissary is a good 
 way off. Besides," whispers the young officer as I 
 voice my thanks for the information, " there's a deuced 
 pretty girl in the dining-room. Her beauty kept me 
 from eating a few moments ago, and I had the appetite 
 of a government mule." 
 
 "In a gray riding-habit.'' " I ask excitedly. 
 
 "Yes, but I did not look at her dress. It was her 
 face, her face, Ramrod." 
 
 Jeff is calling me by my old class name ; but I hardly 
 listen to him ; for I am turning eagerly to the dining- 
 room with the sudden hope in my heart that I may 
 catch my ex-captive at breakfast. 
 
 Entering, I find that fortune has been kind to me, 
 though for a moment I hardly recognize her. 
 
 Before, her beauty had been partly concealed by the 
 shadows of the night. At best, it had been but the sug- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 43 
 
 gestions of the fitful brands of a camp-fire, of flickerir.g 
 coal-oil lamps, and dim kerosene effects of the countrj^ 
 hotel. This morning, under the soft summer sun that 
 floats through the windows and halos her exquisite per- 
 sonality, her loveliness is a revelation. 
 
 Eyes of deepest blue, sparkling when betraying viva- 
 city, but dark when indicating passion ; forehead, low, 
 as in all beautiful women, but still high enough to 
 predicate brilliant man -catching mentality and that 
 sprightly feminine intuition — instinct- — divination — call 
 it what you will — that seems so weak logically — that 
 is so strong actually ; complexion of mixed lilies and 
 roses; mouth, kissable yet refined — even haughty; 
 chin that would be firm were it not so wom.anly ; a 
 nose, patrician, with just enough retrousse in it to give 
 it piquant witchery and alluring roguery ; chestnut 
 hair, wavy and curling about an exquisitely-formed 
 head, and all this supported by the figure of a nine- 
 teen-year-old Venus, which is a good deal more grace- 
 ful than the seven-and-twenty article. 
 
 This is what strikes my eyes as I place them on my 
 captive of the preceding night. Altogether she is a 
 most charming picture : the riding-habit of the night 
 before seems somehow to have been made by some 
 subtle art as fresh as if it had suffered no contact with 
 Potomac water or dust of Maryland roads. A half- 
 blown rosebud or two, tucked into its bosom, adds 
 to the graceful effect as their perfume floats about 
 her. 
 
 Sleep seems to have made the young lady more do- 
 cile. She looks up at me archly, then a great, red. 
 burning blush flies over her face, the reason of which 
 I cannot guess, though it gives me a rapture which is 
 increased by a soft, liquid Southern accent and piquant 
 daintiness of demeanor. 
 
 " Good-morning, Captain Hamilton," she says cor- 
 dially, though she has become strangely bashful. 
 "Captivity has not destroyed your appetite, I hope." 
 
 " Nor yours either, I can see," I answer, as I inspect 
 the depleted breaklast-table in front of her and take my 
 seat immediately opposite. 
 
 The dining-room is nearly deserted. I felicitate my- 
 self upon chance of tete-a-tete. 
 
 "No trace of cold from your ducking last night ? " I 
 
44 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 question a latent anxiety in my voice that apparently 
 impresses the young lady. 
 
 " You're concerned for my health ? " she says airily ; 
 then suddenly laughs : ' ' Oh, of course_yoM should be ! " 
 and another wave of blushes flies again over her ex- 
 pressive face. A moment later she asks, a peculiar, 
 embarrassed persiflage in her tone : "Why ? " 
 
 "You were my captive when we forded the Poto- 
 mac," I answer. " I always like to take good care of 
 my /(2c?y-prisoners. " 
 
 " Have you had manyp" A sneaking, though wist- 
 ful, eagerness in the inquiry delights me. 
 
 "You are my first," I return; " but the experience 
 is so pleasant I am longing for many more." 
 
 "Plumph! The remark is not so flattering as you 
 intended it to be," laughs the young lady. Apparently 
 she is growing more at her ease. 
 
 There is something familiar about the girl by day- 
 light. Hang it ! where have I seen Miss Alluring be- 
 fore.-' I rack my brain as I order from the attendant 
 darky waiter a supply of provender which apparently 
 astounds my vis-d-vis. 
 
 " Mercy ! Your government rations must be very 
 meagre, my cavalier," she says vivaciously, 
 
 "They are ! This is my first civilized breakfast since 
 I left Washington, six days ago." 
 
 " And you hope to be returning there shortly .? " 
 
 "Yes; unless I'm sent to Libby Prison," I mutter 
 glumly; then I ask eagerly: " And _yo«r fate.? Have 
 you seen General Jackson .? " 
 
 " Pooh ! That was settled early this morning. I'm 
 afraid that great commander thinks I'm a very saucy 
 girl," remarks the young lady piquantly. 
 
 " I hope not ! " I answer gravely. "Stonewall Jack- 
 son is respected by every one. North or South." 
 
 "And why not .? " cries the girl defiantly. "Why 
 shouldn't I give him a piece of my mind, if he treats 
 me like a prisoner and threatens to send me to Rich- 
 mond under guard .? Anyway, I don't care. I suppose 
 I '11 see my mother and my aunt in Leesburg some day 
 — before I die." 
 
 "Why, I thought you were a Southerner!"! say 
 impulsively. 
 
 "And are you not a Southerner .? " she asks, "and 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 45 
 
 yet for the Union ? Are there not cold-blooded South- 
 erners like you and me, who remain on the side that is 
 most convenient for them? But come! Let us run 
 over to the stable and look at our horses ? Here's some 
 sugar for my Bonny Belle." The girl has taken three 
 or four lumps from the bowl. 
 
 She rises and trips to a French window that o]5ens 
 on the veranda at the rear of the house ; from which 
 steps leads to a garden, through which runs a path 
 apparently to the stal)les of the hostelry. 
 
 Standmg with the sun shining on her delicate, pi- 
 quant, patrician face, the green ivy leaves blowing 
 about her graceful figure — what man wouldn't follow 
 her. 
 
 Delighted to know that this beautiful creature is cer- 
 tainly on my side of the political fence, I spring up 
 from the relics of Maryland biscuits, porterhouse steak, 
 and corn-cakes and coffee ; though I blush as I re- 
 member that I, a cavalryman, have, attracted by 
 woman, forgotten my steed's breakfast. 
 
 Stealing a few lumps of saccharine to make my 
 apology to my charger, I follow my beautiful guide 
 across the little garden. 
 
 " Neglected his horse's breakfast ! That's nice for a 
 dashing, yet sleepy dragoon," jeers the girl. 
 
 "I have been in the saddle for forty-eight hours," I 
 mutter shamefacedly. 
 
 " Well, /didn't forget your horse, if you did," laughs 
 the young lady. "When I came out this morning to 
 see after Bonny Belle I took care that your charger — 
 Roderick, you call him, I believe — had everything nec- 
 essary for his comfort." 
 
 We are standing beside the horses now, her pretty 
 little half Arab being stalled next to my heavier Ken- 
 tucky-bred roadster, which has carried me through my 
 first campaign and become a charger in several skir- 
 mishes in Tennessee and Kentucky, and the pitched 
 battle of Shiloh. My companion has petted and given 
 the sweet dainties to her mare. Bonny Belle, while I 
 have made my amends to Roderick, who crunches the 
 lumps of sugar between his strong teeth, and looks at 
 me affectionately from his great big, honest eyes, as I 
 fondle his soft nozzle. 
 
 A moment later Miss Vivacity has tripped beside me 
 
46 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 and is petting my horse also. "What a noble fel- 
 low ! " she says, and inspecting Roderick's good points 
 with the eye of a horsewoman, whispers : "Fit to 
 ride for a man's life ! " 
 
 Ye gods ! How a magnificent horse sets off a beau- 
 tiful woman ! I can see her now, as she stands with 
 one hand over the shoulder of the great chestnut, the 
 closely fitting riding-habit outlining each exquisite 
 contour of her beautiful form ; its skirt, held up by a 
 dainty hand, displaying an equally dainty foot, in 
 tightly fitting, burnished riding-boot : the other little 
 white hand is playing with the flowing mane of my 
 big chestnut. 
 
 A moment later tears come into the girl's eyes. She 
 mutters: "Oh, if these Confederates steal our horses 
 from us ! It — it'll break my heart to lose Bonny 
 Belle ! " 
 
 A glum feeling comes into mine also, as I see in 
 imagination some hard-riding trooper of Stuart's be- 
 striding my favorite war-horse. 
 
 Perchance sympathy makes us both tender to this 
 noble animal : we vie with each other in petting him 
 and caressing him. Suddenly an electric spark flies 
 through me. In fondling my charger's nozzle I have 
 unwittingly touched the beautiful hand of my com- 
 panion, which is stroking it also. 
 
 A blush is on her face as she moves a little away 
 from me. 
 
 I step after her and say : " I hope last night's ad- 
 ventures have made us friends ; that, though you will 
 not give me your name, I may see you again." There 
 is a suppressed passion in my voice, that — fight it 
 down as I may — I can't keep out of it. 
 
 The girl's answer astounds me. "Oh, you will 
 doubtless see me quite often — too often perhaps ; " she 
 jeers — looks at me demurely for a moment — then 
 suddenly bursts into a paroxysm of roguish laughter, 
 
 A little mockery in her cadences makes me more 
 ardent, I mutter: "I shall live in that hope.'" and 
 my voice conveys even more than my words. 
 
 Apparently the beautiful creature at my side thinks 
 so. She turns to me, and with flashing eyes murmurs : 
 " You say pretty things to many women, I suppose, 
 my gallant Captain." Then her voice grows deep per- 
 
BILLY Hamilton. 
 
 47 
 
 chance passionate, as she demands: "Have you the 
 right to ? " 
 
 "Certainly ! "' I answer, ardently, yet carelessly. 
 
 " Think ! " my charmer looks me straight in the 
 eyes. "Are you not engaged? Are you not the 
 affianced of Miss Eva Vernon Ashley, of Virginia ? " 
 
 "Oh, that little witch ? " I laugh. "Egad ! I have 
 not seen her since she was ten." 
 
 "Are you not betrothed to her riozv P " 
 
 "Y-e-s," I mutter, chewing my moustache. "I 
 suppose it's a family arrangement. But then I have 
 not seen her for a great many years." 
 
 "And I have no doubt the girl was ugly," sneers 
 my fair companion. 
 
 "No, on the contrary, she v/as as pretty a little 
 termagant as I ever put eyes on." 
 
 "Ah — ah!" There seems to be a triumph in my 
 inquisitor's voice— why, I cannot for the life of me un- 
 derstand. "You think she may have grown more 
 beautiful.?" she queries eagerly. 
 
 "Yes; but I hardly believe she would come up to 
 a young lady that I have met more recently.'' My 
 accent on the last word is significant. 
 
 "Oho!" The girl is giggling in my face! Then 
 she continues slowly and meditatively, "I su])pose, 
 like most young officers, you're permeated with that 
 naughty soldier sentiment so ably voiced by fickle 
 Tom Moore ? " And she quotes these damnable lines : 
 
 " 'Tis sweet to think that where'er we rove 
 
 We are sure to find something blissful and dear. 
 And that when we're far from the lips we love 
 We've but to make love to the lips we are near." 
 
 "On the contrary," I say, made desperate by the 
 alluring beauty, who seems to scoff the pangs she 
 raises in my heart, "in this case the lips that are 
 near are also the lips that are dear." 
 
 "I — I will tell those words," remarks the young 
 lady, biting her lip, " to — to your fiance'e — " at the word 
 the fair face suddenly grows as red as the roses in her 
 habit. "You shall see what Miss Eva Vernon Ashley 
 of Virginia, thinks of them." With this she suddenly 
 bursts out into such an uncontrollable fit of laughter 
 that it seems almost hysterical. 
 
48 HILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 " You're a deuced curious girl," I meditate glumly, 
 as I look at her; though there is a latent haughtiness 
 in her manner that I cannot understand. 
 
 Just here, perhaps fortunately for me, this extraordi- 
 nary interview is interrupted. Major Thornton enters 
 the stable hurriedly and remarks: "I've been look- 
 ing for you all over the hotel. Come with me, Hamil- 
 ton, at once to General Jackson's headquarters." Then 
 he bows to the young lady — rather coldly, I think. 
 
 "Has my fate been decided upon.?" she asks 
 quickly. 
 
 From her position I cannot see the face, though I 
 note on Thornton's a kind of wary smile as he returns: 
 "You will probably be sent South under a guard." 
 
 "To Richmond.? " asks the piquant prisoner, with 
 apparently forced anxiety. 
 
 "You will pardon me. I cannot discuss this affair 
 with you," answers the Confederate major ; it seems to 
 me, with an affected and exaggerated brusqueness. 
 
 "Ah, you Southerners are not as gallant as Captain 
 Hamilton, the Federal, was to me but a few moments 
 ago." She turns on me a sweet, yet mocking smile. 
 
 Stepping to her, I whisper : " You will forgive words 
 I couldn't help uttering.?" 
 
 "I will, if Miss Eva Ashley will," returns Miss Enig- 
 ma in a low voice ; then suddenly breaks out laughing 
 again. 
 
 "You won't tell me your name ? " 
 
 "Akver/" 
 
 With this answer I am compelled to be content, for 
 Thornton is saying impatiently: "Come quickly, 
 Hamilton, if you would escape Libby Prison." 
 
 We walk out of the stable and cross the garden, the 
 young lady following us, a strange merriment in her 
 beautiful face. In the hotel I whisper to Thornton : 
 "Tell me her name. You must have discovered it by 
 this time." 
 
 " Not on my life, young man ! " is the Confederate's 
 jeering answer. Then he utters this ambiguous sug- 
 gestion : "But you will doubtless know some day to 
 your sorrow." And he, too, goes into an uncontrol- 
 lable fit of merriment. 
 
 " Hang it ! Are they both mad ? " I think. Then I 
 mutter: "Who the deuce is she?" For oh, how I 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. ^n 
 
 want to know ! the exquisite, roguish, pathetic, sym- 
 pathetic, jeering beauty of the giVl I caught upon the 
 banks of the Potomac has surely captured me. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 STONEWALL JACKSON ASKS A FEW QUESTIONS. 
 
 In the main street, checking with some difficulty his 
 merriment, which I look sternly upon, for it seems to 
 me_ there is a mocking ring in it, the Confederate 
 major, forcing his face to seriousness, remarks with 
 military abruptness : "They have a few questions at 
 Headquarters to ask you. If you reply to them satis- 
 factorily. Captain Hamilton, you will probably be 
 paroled at once." 
 
 ' ' And if my answers are not satisfactory ? " I ask 
 moodily. 
 
 "Then, perhaps, sent to Richmond under guard." 
 This suggestion makes me gloomy. I have a pretty 
 shrewd idea of the kind of questions that will be asked 
 me, and have determined not to reply to them. But 
 present military spectacle drives from my mind visions 
 of Libby Prison. 
 
 Evidences of the Confederate occupation are every- 
 where present. A brigade of A. P. Hill's Division is 
 marching up the street, its band playing " In Dixie's 
 Land." The faces of both officers and men are confi- 
 dent and enthusiastic, though their uniforms are worn 
 and ragged. 
 
 Their reception by the inhabitants of Frederick indi- 
 cates a decided variety of political sentiment. In some 
 cases the blinds of the houses are closed, though from 
 behind them eager eyes are scrutinizing the boys in 
 gray as they march past. Some of the other dwellings 
 are open, their occupants, men and women, gazing 
 with curiosity upon the military pageant, with faces 
 showing a sympathy they dare not more openly ex- 
 press. In a few others, however. Southern sentiment 
 is vivaciously, enthusiastically and boldly displayed. 
 One mansion is decorated with Confederate flags, the 
 ladies and gentlemen on its veranda waving their 
 
so BILLY Hamilton. 
 
 handkerchiefs and displaying the Southern colors, 
 while the members of the family distribute to the pass- 
 ing soldiers eatables and clothing such as seem most 
 needed. 
 
 "That's Ross's residence," remarks Thornton. 
 " He's the happiest man in Maryland. You Yanks had 
 him in Fort McHenry for awhile, but now he is able to 
 shout secession as much as he likes without being 
 arrested. He is giving us a banquet this evening. I 
 hope to make up for six months short rations at Mr. 
 Ross's hospitable board." 
 
 "But supposing we Yanks come back," I ask. 
 
 "But you won't, my boy ; we are in Maryland to 
 stay," replies the Confederate, confidently. "Any- 
 way, our friends here are having a good time now. 
 The pent-up enthusiasm of two years is let loose kiting ! 
 They've just torn up and destroyed the office of the 
 Frederick "Examiner," a red hot Black Republican 
 paper. Scholtz, the editor, skedaddled this morning 
 as Jeb Stuart's Cavalry came into town. But here are 
 Jackson's headquarters." 
 
 The number of orderlies holding staff-officers' horses, 
 an occasional brigade or division commander riding 
 up, all indicate the military home of the Confederate 
 chieftain. At present Bradley Johiiston, who has just 
 been appointed provost-marshal of the place, is mak- 
 ing an address in the garden outside to a number 
 of the citizens of Frederick who are congregated 
 about him, assuring them that their private property 
 will be held inviolate, and any supplies taken from 
 them will be paid for in Confederate or Federal money, 
 as they elect ; that any soldier discovered in the 
 slightest transgression against private rights or prop- 
 erty will be summarily and severely punished. 
 
 Making our way through gaping farmers who have 
 come grumblingly to headquarters to present orders 
 for live-stock and provisions gleaned from them by 
 Rebel foraging parties, Thornton ushers me in by a side 
 door. 
 
 Here, after a few whispered words with an orderly, 
 my Confederate friend remarks to me: "You'll have 
 to wait a short time. General Jackson is now engaged 
 with General Stuart." 
 
 With this he leads me into what is apparently the 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 5 1 
 
 main room of the house, where a number of Rebel 
 officers are standing about chatting, and a few more 
 are writing, seemingly very busy over general staff 
 duties. 
 
 As I enter, a little conversation is wafted to me 
 from a red-faced brigadier and a colonel of cavalry, 
 who, in his high boots and plumed slouch hat, looks 
 like an old-time cavalier. Apparently, they have not 
 noticed me, and their words are by no means guarded. 
 
 " We have tried every way to get the information, 
 for General Jackson seems to want it immediately," 
 says the colonel. " You see, none of our command 
 crossed into Maryland earlier than dusk last night, so 
 no trooper or officer of ours can tell. Two of McClel- 
 lan's Army Corps never crossed the Potomac to join 
 Pope. We must know whether any of them have been 
 sent into Harper's Ferry to strengthen that place." 
 
 "Then why the deuce don't you try the cursed 
 Maryland farmers ? " interjects the brigadier, with an 
 oath. 
 
 "We have !" returns the cavalryman. "One half 
 won't tell us if they can ; and the other half have been 
 so busy harvesting their corn that their sleepy, bucolic 
 eyes haven't noticed. Besides, the trains with rein- 
 forcements might have passed through in the night. " 
 
 " By the Lord Harry ! if I were Stuart, I'd get it out 
 of these cursed, no-side Maryland yokels if I had to 
 string 'em up by the thumbs ! " mutters the burly 
 general-officer, whose breath indicates Kentucky 
 Bourbon. 
 
 "But," dissents the colonel, "you know we invade 
 this State as friends, not enemies ! " 
 
 "And the blasted Maryland farmer has by this time 
 discovered that there's lots of Yankee greenbacks for 
 his live stock and grain, delivered to the U. S. Com- 
 missary in Washington," mutters the brigade-command- 
 er. "That's the reason these country louts outside 
 scowl at us — their deliverers — as they take our Confed- 
 erate currency for their farm produce." 
 
 Then his eye suddenly catches my blue uniform, 
 which, with my lack of side-arms, now begins to 
 attract attention from the surrounding warriors in 
 gray. He advances irascibly towards me, and I, catch- 
 ing his name from Thornton, remember him as a 
 
52 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 gentleman I had heard of, in old army lore, as a bully- 
 in Dragoon service on the frontier, where, after eating 
 government pap for thirty years, he had resigned his 
 command at the first rumor of secession, and come 
 East, "to give the Yankees hell," as he expressed 
 it. 
 
 Glaring at the blue uniform he had once worn, 
 this potentate growls : " Who the devil are you ?" 
 
 After learning my rank in the Union Army and the 
 particulars of my capture, this bluff old soldier says 
 to me, the arrogance of authority in his voice : 
 " Come, sir, we want the following information from 
 you, and we must have it quick ! If your answers are 
 satisfactory, we will parole you at once." 
 
 "Isn't that somewhat in the nature of a bribe, 
 General ? " I reply to him. 
 
 " You must be your own judge of that," answers 
 the martinet sharply. "What is the strength of your 
 garrison at Harper's Ferry ? " 
 
 "My military honor will not permit me to answer 
 that question, sir, " I return stiffly. 
 
 " Confound it ! How many men have you at 
 Martinsburg .? " 
 
 " I am unable to state." 
 
 " Hang it ! What is the strength of your command 
 at Winchester .? " 
 
 " I cannot reply." 
 
 " Dash it, don't you mean to give me any informa 
 tion at all .? " 
 
 " Yes. Permit me to be of service to you, General," 
 I say blandly, unheeding Thornton's warning look. 
 "You w'ere educated at West Point — only a great 
 many years before me — you must remember the 
 teachings regarding military secrecy and military 
 honor. I imagine they were just the same in your 
 day as they were in mine." 
 
 " Damn it, sir ; do you mean to teach me my pro- 
 fession .? " roars the Rebel brigadier, getting very red 
 in the face, for some of the staff officers about find 
 great difficulty in choking down their merriment. 
 "Your parole is revoked! " he says to me sternly, then 
 summons a sergeant : " Place this man under imme- 
 diate close arrest ; forward him under guard to Libby 
 Prison in Richmond by the first return wagons ! " 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 53 
 
 My heart sinks at the prospect of long confinement ; 
 perhaps during the whole war. 
 
 Here Thornton comes to my aid. He remarks : 
 "Pardon me; I have General Jackson's orders to 
 conduct Captain Hamilton to him immediately." 
 
 " Then why the devil didn't you say so .-' " growls 
 the blustering brigadier. 
 
 A moment later I hear : "General Jackson desires 
 to see you now." 
 
 An orderly opens the door, and Thornton beckons 
 me into an adjoining apartment. 
 
 As I enter I catch " reinforcements — Harper's 
 Ferry." But I am thinking more of my personal fate 
 than anything else, and I scarce note the words. 
 
 A dashing, bronzed and free-and-easy trooper is just 
 striding out. 
 
 I stare as I recognize, from old West Point history, 
 the great cavalry-commander remembered at the Mili- 
 tary Academy as " Beauty " Stuart. His brow is lofty 
 and his eyes as flashing as a roguish boy's, and his 
 manner as full of juvenile freshness as a Plebe's. 
 
 Can this be the man who has made himself famous 
 as the inventor of the complete-circle-of-the-enemy- 
 raid ? Is this the cavalryman who rides all day and 
 fights all night, and then rides on again ? 
 
 But it is ! 
 
 For a quiet, modest, but mathematically precise voice 
 calls him back : " One moment. General Stuart ; 
 remember I mus! have this information ! 
 
 " General Jackson, yo\x shall have the information ! " 
 says the cavalryman, confidently. " If I can't twist 
 it out of the farmers' boys, I'll " 
 
 " Remember — no threats, nor force ! We come into 
 this State as friends." 
 
 " I'll — I'll wheedle it out of the farmers' girls, along 
 the Baltimore & Ohio railroad." laughs the trooper, 
 stroking his long moustache caressingly. " General, 
 I'm good with the girls ! 
 
 Apparently the dashing Confederate Is good with the 
 girls. For even as he speaks, some pretty little Mary- 
 land maidens are decorating with wreaths of flowers his 
 prancing war-horse, held by an orderly, in the street 
 outside. 
 
 Striding from the house, this rough-riding, hard- 
 
54 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 fighting, non-drinking, never-swearing cavalry general 
 of boyish frankness and youthful elan, steps to the 
 street and swings his long legs, in high boots, over his 
 mettlesome Virginia charger. 
 
 Then leaning laughingly from his saddle, he picks 
 up a little tot, who unabashed offers him a sweet-smell- 
 ing posy. Kissing the child tenderly, he holds it in 
 front of him, and so surrounded by fresh blooming 
 flowers and with innocent childhood in his arms, the 
 Virginia cavalryman is for one moment a picture of 
 peace. 
 
 Then placing the child carefully on the ground, Jeb 
 Stuart becomes a man of war again, and plunging his 
 rowels into his steed, dashes away, singing gayly : 
 
 " If you want to have a good time, 
 J'ine the cavalry I 
 J'ine the cavalry ! " 
 
 Turning from this martial, yet pastoral scene, I 
 anxiously place my eyes on the arbiter of my fate. 
 
 Seemingly too absorbed in thought to notice me, a 
 tall, raw-boned figure, in a faded, battle-worn, undress 
 uniform of the Confederacy, is rapidly, with a peculiar 
 stride, pacing the floor. The two stars on his military 
 collar indicate a major-general.* 
 
 " This is Captain Hamilton — the officer you wish to 
 see. General Jackson," remarks Thornton, saluting. 
 
 As the staff-officer retires, I will confess my view of 
 the Confederate chieftain astonishes me. Can this be 
 the man who has carried victory in his hand on so 
 many stricken fields ? 
 
 Though his aquiline nose and firm lips under the full 
 beard and moustache indicate decision, and his high 
 forehead and massive brows portray both gigantic, 
 intellectual force and power of intense concentration 
 of mind, still his gaze is more that of a student than a 
 warrior, and his manner diffident — even to bashfulness. 
 His smile is winning, his voice has the quiet tones 
 of a reticent professor rather than the sharp command 
 of a military chieftain, though there is a mathematical 
 directness in them as he says to me : "I am sorry to 
 
 * Jackson was not made a Lieutenant-General till after Fredericks- 
 burg. — Ed. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 55 
 
 trouble you, Captain Hamilton, with a few questions, 
 before granting your parole. You had been scouting 
 on the Potomac, I understand, when you were cap- 
 tured ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," I answer promptly. 
 
 " Ah, guarding trains on the Baltimore & Ohio rail- 
 way, I presume," he says. His eyes are meditative. 
 
 " No, sir," I reply carelessly. " There were no 
 trains to guard." 
 
 " Thank you 1 
 
 Suddenly his manner changes. He is no more the 
 student ; he is the military genius — the inspired strate- 
 gist — the commander who holds the forces of war 
 within his grasp. 
 
 " Good God ! What have I carelessly told him ! " 
 
 He has sounded a bell upon his table. A staff- 
 officer enters hurriedly. To him he whispers certain 
 orders with great rapidity, repeating them over, I 
 imagine, from the way he speaks and adding : 
 " See that every division-commander in my corps gets 
 this in duplicate by separate messengers within 
 the hour. " As I stand in the corner of the room and 
 watch the play of his precise yet confident and 
 enthusiastic features, and see the nostrils of the aqui- 
 line nose expanding, and the great eyes, glowing under 
 their prominent brows that give to them such intensity 
 of divination, I start and wonder : "Have my words 
 produced this sudden resolution in the Confederate 
 commander ? " 
 
 All at once it strikes me like a rifle shot. If there 
 were ?io trains to guard on the BaUimore & Ohio rail- 
 road, the only route to Harper's Ferry, no reinforce- 
 ments have gone into this place. Some one must have 
 given the Confederate general exact information as to 
 what was the strength of its garrison a few days before. 
 If they have not been reinforced, by the two corps of 
 INIcClellan'sof which we have no report, he knows the 
 exact Union forces in the doomed fortress. What 
 Stuart's cavalry could not get for him,— what Maryland 
 farmers could 'not or would not give him, — what the 
 blustering brigadier could not bully out of me, the 
 student, in two most politic and deftly worded sen- 
 tences, has drawn from fne. 
 
 1 gaze disconcerted and chagrined out of the window, 
 
56 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 and see staff-officers one after another galloping off 
 hurriedly, and a division-commander and a couple of 
 brigadiers mounting their horses and riding away in 
 sudden haste. 
 
 A moment later, the courteous voice of the Confeder- 
 ate chieftain calls me to him. " There is only one thing 
 more, which can in no way affect the military situation, " 
 he says ; ' ' the young lady you arrested at Norton's Ford 
 last evening — the one captured when you were taken 
 prisoner." There is a pathetic interest in the Confed- 
 erate general's tones. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; what of her ? " I ask anxiously. 
 
 ** Do you know her name .'* 
 
 "No, sir! She absolutely refused to give me any 
 information on that subject ! " 
 
 "Have you any idea of her purpose in attempting 
 to cross the river? " 
 
 "No, sir. " 
 
 "This is on your honor, both as an officer and a 
 gentleman } " 
 
 " It is, sir ! My answers are absolutely coirect." 
 
 "Thank you ! Then you will be paroled as soon as 
 possible." 
 
 A moment later the Confederate General gives direc- 
 tions to this effect to Thornton, who is waiting for me ; 
 then astounds and confuses me again by ordering an 
 aide to bring to him instantly the map of Pennsylvania, 
 and calling the dashing cavalry colonel of the plumed 
 hat in to him, I hear him in distinct voice and direct 
 tones order : 
 
 " Colonel Brien, overtake General Stuart and tell him 
 your regiment is to ride as far as Chambersburg ; I 
 wish to know if any Pennsylvania militia or State 
 troops are gathered at that point. You will make no 
 attack upon them — only so far as is absolutely neces- 
 sary to develop their force. Then return with the in- 
 formation to me." 
 
 " Is this last order intended to befog me ? " I think, as 
 I notice the General glances towards me once or twice. 
 Any way, this places my mind in a muddle. I had 
 supposed General Jackson's point of attack was Har- 
 per's Ferry ; now it seems to me his eye is turned to- 
 wards Harrisburg and Philadelphia. At all events, I 
 am no more sure of his absolute intentions than when 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 57 
 
 I entered. All I know is that my hasty words have 
 given him the information he wanted. 
 
 So we walk out from the headquarters of the man 
 whose genius made for the first two years of the war a 
 triumphant South. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "find her and MAKE LOVE TO HER." 
 
 In the street, the Confederate Major whispers to 
 me : "What do you think of him ? " 
 
 "Think of him.?" I answer. "He is the greatest 
 diplomatist I ever saw. He got out of me as an irrel- 
 evant side remark what that blustering brigadier could 
 not by direct questions." 
 
 "Ah, but you should see the diplomatist m battle" 
 answers my companion, " or on the march. Hang it, 
 he gives us no rest ! We've marched farther, fought 
 more and eaten less than any troops in the history of 
 the world ; and would go faster, if the cursed com- 
 missariat could keep up with us ! " says the major, un- 
 wittingly betraying the great weakness of the Confed- 
 erate army — their commissariat. 
 
 The provisioning their men and foraging their horses 
 was always their embarrassment. 
 
 Even this very day an effective commissariat might 
 have made a change in the whole war. Could Stone- 
 wall Jackson have moved at once, Harper's Ferry 
 would have fallen five days before it did. Jackson's 
 immense Army Corps would have joined the main 
 body of Lee's command at South Mountain. With 
 the Confederate force so increased in power, McCIel- 
 lan's army might have been beaten at Turner's and 
 Crampton's Gaps ; there might have been no Antietam. 
 
 Evidences, though, of the hurried gathering together 
 of provisions are now apparent. A cavalry troop 
 comes up, driving a drove of cattle on the hoof. 
 Shortly after another appears, escorting wagons laden 
 down with forage, corn and provisions. Evidently 
 every effort will be made to get on the march at once. 
 
 "You will have to stay here," remarks my Confed- 
 erate friend as we pause in front of the hotel, " until I 
 
S8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 can escort you from the lines. That I shall be too 
 busy to do before evening. Make yourself comfort- 
 able, and eat another square meal." 
 
 "Thank you," I reply, and hurry into the hostelry. 
 But a square meal is not in my mind — my one thought 
 is to again see the beautiful face I left there this morn- 
 ing. For some very curious speculations have come 
 into my mind regarding Miss Illusive. Why was 
 General Jackson so anxious to discover if I knew her 
 name or her reasons for crossing to the Virginia side ? 
 
 With this purpose I look around the hotel, for I hesi- 
 tate to inquire about my charmer at the office; my 
 questions might perhaps unpleasant produce comment 
 upon the lady of my thoughts. 
 
 I look about the garden. She is not there ! 
 
 I wander to the stables. Our horses are crunching 
 their oats cheerily. Bonny Belle, the pretty half-Arab 
 mare which had borne my companion so bravely the 
 night before, is whinnying for more sugar ; but her fair 
 mistress is not there to give it. 
 
 I recross the garden and return to the hotel, to eat a 
 moody meal. I daudle the time away, lounging about 
 with one of Lammersdorff's cigars in my mouth. 
 Darkness slowly comes upon the scene. 
 
 I stroll out upon the veranda. Sitting in the twilight 
 I find at least quiet ; for though the front of the house 
 is full of customers, the garden is practically deserted. 
 The gnats in the soft summer evening air annoy me. 
 Hoping to escape them, I take my chair, descend to 
 the garden and seat myself, thinkmg the breezes of the 
 evening may blow them away. 
 
 In this position my head is some two feet below the 
 flooring of the balcony. In the darkness, which is aided 
 by some shrubs and the climbing vines of the portico, 
 I am indiscernible from the illuminated portion of the 
 house. A gloomy meditation upon my coming en- 
 forced inactivity until exchanged causes my cigar to 
 die out. This is broken in upon by a soft feminine 
 voice above me. 
 
 It is her voice ; her vivacious accents ! The lady of 
 my quest is speaking apparently to a Confederate 
 officer, by whose side she is promenading the veranda. 
 Who is the gentleman ? I know from his tones he is 
 not Thornton. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 50 
 
 As they walk, when near me I hear their words ; 
 when at the other end of the balcony, I miss them. 
 It seems to me I miss those I want most, though even 
 as it is I hear too much for my own peace of mind ; 
 for this is what comes to me in broken-up, disjointed 
 phrases : 
 
 "Oh ! how great my joy at meeting you ! " What a 
 pleasant walk we've had, dear Charley " 
 
 Then they are at the other end of the veranda. 
 
 My heaven ! What a pang ''dear Charley" gives 
 me. My charmer has come to meet a Confederate 
 beau ! That's the meaning of her night ride between 
 contending armies. 
 
 They are near me again. 
 
 Suddenly my woe at this beautiful girl being the 
 sweetheart of another is destroyed by chagrin, even 
 rage. As she comes near me this time, the young lady 
 is apparently merry. 
 
 "Wasn't it curious?" she is babbling. " My being 
 captured by him, and he a Union officer. It — it was 
 quite embarrassing." There is a delicious naivete and 
 diffidence in the girl's voice. 
 
 "He made a little love to you, I presume, eh.?" 
 says the masculine voice in bantering tones. 
 
 "He — he might have," is murmured in sweet yet 
 bashful accents. "But — but I kept him in order by 
 threatening to tell his fiancee, Miss Eva Vernon Ashley, 
 of Virginia." 
 
 "What?" almost screams the man. "You dis- 
 ciplined his amorous spirit in that way ? Well, of all 
 the cool and original things ! " and the gentleman burst 
 into uproarious laughter. 
 
 " Yes, I've — I've had hysterics over it twice to-day," 
 giggles the young lady. "Oh, Charley, how he looked 
 at me when I taxed him with his engagement ! Ha, 
 ha, ha ! He, he, he! " 
 
 The light, silvery, yet half-mocking cadences of the 
 girl mingle with the deeper guffaws of the man, both 
 dying away as they leave me, for they are pacing to- 
 wards the further end of the veranda. 
 
 With a gesture of rage I toss away my extinguished 
 cigar. Curse it ! they are laughing at me ■' 
 
 But greater anguish is in store. They are approach- 
 ing again. She is saying very tenderly : " Fancy my 
 
6o BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 joy when I saw you, dear Charley, ride by in the street. 
 I'd — I'd not seen your loved face for three long months. " 
 
 And then — my God ! — the sound comes to me of a 
 tender kiss ! 
 
 His affianced or his bride ; I know that now ! For I 
 feel that this girl is one who wouldnever surrender her 
 lips unless she had given her heart in honor. Her pure 
 innocence and noble womanhood have told me that. 
 
 Thank heaven, she has turned and gone into the 
 hotel with her Confederate. I shall suffer no more 
 agony from their half-mocking laughter — from their 
 torturing kisses. 
 
 Permitting a few minutes to elapse, partly to over- 
 come my agitation, and partly that by no chance the 
 girl may suspect I have overheard her tender interview, 
 I rise and stroll into the hostelry, thinking glumly how 
 she must love him. No wonder she doesn't care to 
 have her name known, for the gossip of an army. 
 She took the chances of war to visit her affianced, and 
 he — curse him ! — didn't even seem over-complimented 
 by Miss Beauty's devotion and the risks she took to 
 meet him. 
 
 In the hotel I am almost immediately met by 
 Thornton. He says : "Come with me; I am to take 
 you to the provost-marshal, who will receive your for- 
 mal parole, and then I'm to conduct you out of the 
 Confederate lines." 
 
 " Come on — quick •' " I return savagely. 
 
 "You'd not like to see Miss — Miss Incognita— just 
 for one moment?" asks the Confederate major with 
 a grin. 
 
 "Certainly wo/ .^" my tone makes him start — then I 
 query anxiously : "My horse .-' " 
 
 "That you are to have, Stonewall Jackson, who 
 thinks of everything and every one but himself, told 
 me not to put you down on foot in the road. " 
 
 Delighted that I have saved Roderick, I go to the 
 stable, saddle up hurriedly and rejoin the Confederate 
 major, who mounts and rides with me to the provost- 
 marshal's office. There my parole is formally made 
 out. 
 
 As this is being done I note a cavalry guard un- 
 der a sergeant being told off. 
 
 An hour later I am .shaking Thornton's hand and 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 6l 
 
 bidding him " Good-bye and God bless you!" at the 
 last outlying Confederate picket. 
 
 "You know the name of the young lady?" I can't 
 help saying. 
 
 "Don't ask me any questions about her," he replies • 
 then bursts out laughing. ' 
 
 " You refuse to answer for military reasons .? " I ques- 
 tion half-angrily. 
 
 His reply astounds me : "No ; for social ones ! " 
 
 " What mystery is there about her and me P" I cry 
 sudden inspiration coming to me. ' ' And what are you 
 going to do with her .? " 
 
 "She is to be sent South under guard this evening" 
 replies Thornton. 
 
 "For what reason .? " 
 
 Wis answer almost petrifies me : " Hang it ! We 
 think her a Yankee spy. The girl has even refused to 
 speak to General Jackson. Egad, you ought to hear 
 some of the Secesh maidens in Frederick discuss her, 
 A Virginia girl rude to Stonewall Jackson ! They'd like 
 to tear her eyes out." 
 
 "Impossible ! " I mutter. 
 
 "Nevertheless, the sergeant's guard for her left the 
 provost-marshal's office even as we entered it. You 
 saw them told off. But I must bid you good-bye. 
 Here, we've put you in the road, with a horse. Take 
 one of my pistols ; bushwhackers may be about. 
 Good-bye ; God bless you I Give my love to the Bal- 
 timore girls." 
 
 _ "And my regards to Mrs. Thornton," I reply, as I 
 ride off into the darkness along the pike that leads from 
 Frederick towards Urban a e?i route for Washington. 
 
 Roderick carries me eighteen miles that night to 
 Clarksburg. In proof of the efficiency of the rebel pa- 
 trols, I am halted on this portion of my journey by 
 scouting parties of Stuart's command, and compelled 
 to show my pass from Confederate headquarters no 
 less than five times. 
 
 Judging by the talk of the innkeeper of this place 
 that I am pretty well beyond the sphere of Rebel 
 raiders, I sleep in Clarksburgh. Getting on my way the 
 next morning about eleven o'clock a little adventure 
 comes to me that has considerable effect upon my life, 
 though at the time I think it unimportant. Some few 
 
62 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 miles beyond Middlebrook I overtake five four-mule 
 sutlers' teams, apparently held up by a couple of men 
 in the road. 
 
 "Hello, more Rebel raiders ! " I think, but journey 
 confidently towards them, as I have a Confederate 
 pass in my pocket. On approaching, however, I dis- 
 cover the men on foot wear blue uniforms and are 
 holding an excited discussion with a gentleman who is 
 damning them in High Dutch and Low Dutch, with 
 now and then a Yankee oath with German phrasing. 
 I recognize the tones as Lammersdorffs. 
 
 "Mein Gott in Himmel, is dat you, Cap .? You vas 
 alive mit yourself.?" cries the sutler who, in his shirt- 
 sleeves, and armed only with his black-snake whip, 
 is confronting a scoundrel who is handling a U. S. Army 
 musket. 
 
 "Yes, but captured, as you said I would be," I an- 
 swer, riding up. 
 
 " Den, kevick ! prove you is alive by helping me to 
 stand off dese damned tieving bounty-jumpers who 
 vants to drink my beer for nutting." 
 
 "You lying Dutch huckster ! " cries one of the ruf- 
 fians, " Take that to keep your jaw shut ! " He is a 
 cocking and raising his gun as my revolver cracks. 
 The Confederate had loaded his weapon properly, and 
 the fellow screams with pain as his arm falls to his 
 side. 
 
 Then he and his comrade jump the fence and take to 
 the fields. Gazing after them, I discover the two men 
 are half-drunken stragglers from one of the regiments 
 in camp near Washington, a kind of gentry very prev- 
 alent about the capital in those days. 
 
 * ' Tha nks for your aid and comfort, " says the German 
 gratefully. " I shan't forget dat you saves my life. " 
 Then looking at me with wondering eyes, he mutters : 
 "And de Rebs didn't send you to Richmond?" 
 
 " No ! I am on parole, but hungry." 
 
 "Veil, sit in ze vagon mit me. Von of my boys vill 
 ride your horse, and ve'll eat a Bologna sausage und 
 delicatessen, und crack a bottle of champagne together 
 on your escape from ze Rebs und my escape from 
 dese damned Union robbers. Here, Fritz, hitch ze 
 Cap's horse alongside your offish mule ; ze von dat 
 doesn't kick mit himself." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 63 
 
 I accept the genial sutler's offer, and together we 
 drive towards Washington. We soon come upon scout- 
 ing parties of Union cavalry, of Pleasanton's command, 
 thrown out to mask the movement of McClellan's 
 army corps. 
 
 As we approach Rockville, our way is blocked and 
 our journey made tedious by the infantry of Couchs 
 division, already on the march to attempt to save 
 Harper's Ferry. 
 
 After passing with great difficulty these sunburnt 
 veterans who, just returned from the battles of the 
 Peninsula, are nearly as dirty, though not quite as 
 ragged as " Stonewall " Jackson's boys, we come on 
 Slocum's division, the advance of Franklin's corps, 
 likewise dilapidated by hard service, and the First 
 Massachusetts Battery, led by its gallant young cap- 
 tain, Josiah Porter, that is on its way to take its 
 place at the apex of that fiery crown of artillery that 
 at the Antietam hurled back Lee's last desperate charge 
 of veterans that never had been stopped before. 
 
 " Hello, damn it ! " growls Lammersdorff. "More 
 troops, more dust und more vagons und ardtillery. I'd 
 shust as veil go into camp myself by the road undtil 
 dey passes." 
 
 "To progress on the main high-ways i^' now simply 
 impossible. They are blocked with marching in- 
 fantry and rumbling artillery that is being pushed out 
 from Washington in the attempt to relieve Harper's 
 Ferry. The dust and heat are terrible. 
 
 Bidding adieu to Lammersdorff, I mount my horse, 
 and taking lanes and by-roads, and passing the white 
 tents of new regiments and the brown, weather-beaten 
 ones of veterans still in camp, and batteries whose 
 guns are yet parked, I reach the city that is now not 
 only an armed fortress, but the great gathering-place 
 of all who come to prey upon the revenues of the na- 
 tion in distress and the troops engaged in its defence ; 
 from army contractors, who are here to make their 
 millions out of the government, and gamblers who 
 fleece high-play officers, to courtesans who prey upon 
 the boys in blue after the paymaster has made his 
 rounds — the Washington of the war. 
 
 Evidences of this are on every side of me, as I edge 
 my way past a regiment of marching infantry, amid 
 
64 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 the dust of Pennsylvania Avenue, vi^hose sideM'-alks 
 are crowded by the conglomerate throng of an 1862 
 evening. 
 
 Women of the town, in gay dresses, are trying 
 their allurements, jostling and jesting with the rank 
 and file of the army. Staff, general and mounted 
 line officers are galloping about. Civilians in plain 
 clothes are everywhere mixed wath army blue. The 
 big gambling-houses on Pennsylvania Avenue are 
 lighting up for their night's work with high rolling 
 officers, who will risk and lose their money this 
 evening as recklessly as they will risk and lose their 
 lives a week from now at bloody South Mountain and 
 deadly Antietam. Yet, over, all hangs a certain indis- 
 cribable air of anxiety and excitement — Lee is in Mary- 
 land. 
 
 Forcing my way through this concourse, I finally 
 reach army headquarters to report myself and the 
 capture of my troop. 
 
 Two hours afterwards, as I sit in Williard's smok- 
 ing my after-dinner cigar and listening with one ear to 
 a Jacobin Senator attacking Lincoln for not emancipat- 
 ing the slaves off-hand and putting Fremont at the head 
 of the army, and with the other ear being edified by 
 an Illinois army-contractor, who is busily engaged in 
 obtaining the help of a Western Congressman for his 
 schemes, I am hastily summoned by an orderly to the 
 War Department. 
 
 It is dark when I arrive at the old-fashioned brick 
 building. On hearing my name the officer in waiting 
 tells me that the Secretary will see me shortly. 
 
 Amid hurrying officers and busy heads of depart- 
 ments, surrounded by the semi-panic of rebel invasion, 
 in the midst of the mighty military preparations of the 
 nation in its death-grapple, Edwin McMasters Stanton 
 seems to be able to devote two minutes to me ! 
 
 A few moments after, in his private office, he asks 
 anxiously what I know of Lee's force and Jackson's 
 movements, and listens eagerly, but irritably, to my 
 account of my capture, and the information I give him 
 in regard to the Confederate occupation of Frederick. 
 As I look at the scowling brow, implacable counten- 
 ance, and irascible figure of the head of the War Depart- 
 ment, I do not deem it wise to tell him of the information 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 65 
 
 the Confederate strategist gained from my careless 
 answer to his astute question. 
 
 " If Jackson attacks Harper's Ferry, he will probably 
 get it : he gets most everything ! " mutters the Secre- 
 tary glumly. " God ! Wouldn't I like to have him on 
 the Union side ! " And he goes into a moody medita- 
 tio;i, stroking his long beard reflectively. 
 
 This I dare to interrupt by suggesting : "What is to 
 be done with me until I am exchanged ? " For I don't 
 care much to be sent out on the plains to fight Indians, 
 or to the northern frontier to police it — a disposition 
 that was made at that time of quite a number of Union 
 troops under parole. 
 
 ' ' You .'' " remarks the Secretary, his deep eyes looking 
 at me contemplatively through his glasses. "You.?" 
 Then he suddenly takes me off my feet. He says 
 rapidly : "There was a girl you captured at Norton's 
 Ford, who was brought into Frederick and stayed at 
 the same hotel as you did." 
 
 "There was," I answer, wondering where he got all 
 this information : though Baker's spies are thick as 
 blackberries this September in Maryland. 
 
 "Well, you — you had a little flirtation with her, 
 I am informed. Find her out and make love to 
 her. " 
 
 Here I sweep him off his feet ! 
 
 "Impossible ! " I reply. "She has been sent South 
 under guard, suspected as being a Union Spy." 
 
 "Can I have been mistaken .?" mutters the Secretary. 
 Then he suddenly says : "If you see her in Washing- 
 ton, make love to her and" — his eyes light up with the 
 fire of a Vidocq — "tell me all about her — / wa7il 
 her ! " 
 
 Fortunately, I get out of his presence without his 
 seeing my face. In front of the dimly-lighted War 
 Department, I look up at a shadow in the Secretary's 
 private office — I think of her sweet face and of his 
 police-magistrate, detective, cold, merciless eyes. 
 
 " My God ! He thinks her a Rebel spy ! " I mutter 
 astounded. "This I know to be false!" Then I 
 add savagely: "Damn you. You shall never have 
 her ! " 
 
 But turning away, I jeer myself bitterly : "Nincom- 
 poop I What strange thing has come into your heart 
 
66 
 
 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 ^vveethearf from j" SecrehrvS, T'^''^"'^ «™°Pe"s 
 Stales War Deparlment? ^ ^""""» "^ 'he United 
 
BOOK II. 
 THE PROVOST MARSHAL AT BALTIMORE. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 MAJOR ANANIAS OF STUART's CAVALRY. 
 
 Willard's Hotel being at this time intensely noisy, 
 excessively crow^ded and decidedly expensive, I move 
 to the quieter quarters of an F Street boarding-house 
 and remain in Washington under w^aiting orders, kill- 
 ing time. 
 
 This is not difficult to do ; the excitement would kill 
 almost anything — even time. The general anxiety of 
 everyone fills the place with a pent-up, compressed 
 and latent dread. Every word you hear at Worm ley's 
 restaurant or Willard's Hotel is : " Where is Lee 
 now.?" or "Has Jackson gone into Pennsylvania?" 
 " Do you think he'll get here and capture us ? " 
 ' ' What is McClellan doing ? " " Why hasn't he brought 
 on a battle ? " 
 
 The force attributed to the Confederates, makes me 
 jeer. Once from reliable contrabands it is placed as 
 high as 250,000 cavalry, infantry and artillery with 400 
 guns, and published as a/ac/ by the newspapers. 
 
 Again, it is reported that Jackson has flanked Mc- 
 Clellan and is now in a direct march for Baltimore and 
 about to blow up the bridge over the Patapsco. On 
 hearing this, one of the few ultra-bloodthirsty Jacobin 
 senators summering in Washington, stops abusing the 
 government and is heard to whisper, with white lips : 
 
 "My God ! What will Jackson do with me if I am 
 captured.?" and takes a train for the North within the 
 hour. 
 
 Even in the great gambling-houses on Pennsylvania 
 
 67 
 
68 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Avenue at night, as Government contractors lay their 
 money on cards, the hand of the Rebel is felt hanging 
 over the "Goddess of Chance, " In Chamberlin's, one 
 evening when the stakes were very high, it is related 
 that a luckless gamester, in revenge for his losses, ran 
 in from the street, crying: "My God, gentlemen! 
 Save yourselves and your money ! Stuart's Cavalry is 
 raiding the town ! " 
 
 More curious to relate, in thirty seconds the great 
 establishment was nearly empty, though one cold- 
 blooded croupier coolly remarked : "I guess Jeb 
 Stuart and Stonewall Jack won't git here till after this 
 deal," and raked in every stake left by the fleeing 
 gamesters. 
 
 This anecdote is related to me by young Napoleon 
 Leonidas Finnaker, of Chicago, a clerk in Meigs the 
 Quartermaster-General's office. Little Finnaker oc- 
 cupies the next room to mine at my boarding-house 
 on F Street. 
 
 In the social republic of Mrs. Lorimer's dining-table 
 I soon discover little Nap Finnaker is the most un- 
 blushing braggart and most audacious liar I have ever 
 encountered, and that for concentrated, condensed 
 cheek and assurance he can give points to even the 
 celebrated Beau Hickman, who is still ornamenting 
 Pennsylvania Avenue with his perennial nosegay in 
 his buttonhole. 
 
 Being connected with the Quartermaster-General's 
 Department, little Napoleon thinks it necessary he 
 should assume martial airs, and would wear a uniform 
 it the regulations permitted. In fact, he confidently 
 informs me that it was to keep him out of the army 
 that he was put in General Meigs's office. 
 
 "I would go to the front, my dear fellah. Wild 
 horses couldn't keep me from getting at the Johnnies' 
 throats. The only hope of my frightened mother was 
 a compromise, and so I entered the Quartermaster- 
 General's department ! " he babbles in a voice deep, 
 bass and resonant and of such tremendous power that, 
 looking at his little stature and slight physique, he 
 seems to be all lungs, wind and noise. 
 
 After the first battle of Bull Run, this little swash- 
 buckler had the audacity to bring himself in vv^ounded, 
 though he had spent the whole day in bed, timidly 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 69 
 
 listening for the sound of the approaching Confederate 
 cannon. 
 
 " Good gad, my boy ! " he says to me in a roar, 
 "We military men look at the present situation with 
 extreme concern. Whenever / have encountered 
 'Stonewall' Jackson, I have found him invincible. 
 And — damn it ! — they're not going to move the War 
 Department ! Think of it ! the imbeciles ! We clerks 
 will be butchered to a man ! Stanton sits there grind- 
 ing his teeth as if nothing was happening ; doesn't the 
 idiot know that they'll cut his throat? Haven't they 
 sworn vengeance on him and us for Pope's out- 
 rageously bloodthirsty and foolish proclamation in 
 Northern Virginia } Three hundred thousand Texas 
 bowie-knife cut-throats in Maryland ! And yet, we 
 are staying here to be sacrificed ! Four times in the 
 last three days have I applied for leave, and it has 
 been steadily refused me. They talk of organizing 
 us into a militia company of home guards, for the 
 crisis ! " 
 
 Then suddenly he trembles and whispers in deep 
 voice: "Good God! What is that horrible extra.? 
 Oh, curse it ! What is McClellan doing } " and wan- 
 ders out into the street, with pale face and timid air. 
 
 For the newsboys are crying outside : " Lee in full 
 march for Baltimore ! Maryland Secesh have risen to 
 a man ! Rebel Cavalry raiding to the gates of Harris- 
 burg ! — Panic in Philadelphia ! — Brag threatens Ohio ! 
 Business stopped in Cincinnati 1 " and other pleasing 
 war rumors of that stirring time. 
 
 Every one is on the alert, I among the rest. I run 
 out into the street, and try and pick up news ; for I 
 feel that on this campaign, probably within the week, 
 will be settled the fate of Washington. However, I 
 note with pleasure, that the few soldiers left in the 
 town are much more confident of the success of the 
 Union arms than civilians ; especially those of the 
 troops who have served under Little Mac, as they call 
 him, now that he is again in command. 
 
 So the time flies on. 
 
 On the twelfth of September, it is announced that 
 the advance division of the Federal Army has reoccu- 
 pied Frederick. 
 
 On the thirteenth, that Stonewall Jackson has at- 
 
76 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 tacked Harper's Ferry. Lee has probably fallen back 
 to protect his lieutenant. 
 
 Early on the morning of the fifteenth comes the 
 news of the victory at South Mountain, and the forcing 
 of Turner's and Crampton's gaps by the Union forces, 
 with most exaggerated details ; Lee is reported 
 wounded and the Confederate loss seventeen thousand 
 men. Every military eye is on Harper's Ferry. 
 
 Will it hold out until relieved ? McClellan must be 
 very near to it now ! 
 
 There's no more news from the front — apparently 
 the victory has been over-estimated. All we can learn 
 is that every surgeon, every ambulance, and enormous 
 hospital stores have been sent to Frederick. This 
 indicates a heavy loss to our troops. 
 
 On the morning of the sixteenth, I am again sum- 
 moned to the War Department. Hoping that they 
 have found some employment for me that will not be 
 inconsistent with my parole, I hurry to the old- 
 fashioned brick building. There are now not so many 
 officers about ; most of them are at the front with 
 McClellan, and every man jack of them from the As- 
 sistant Adjutant General to Madison, Stanton's colored 
 factotum, is suspiciously quiet and anxious. 
 
 "Is there any news of Harper's Ferry.?" I ask one 
 of the officials in waiting. 
 
 " No, but a courier must come from McClellan soon 
 to Frederick. To that point the telegraph line has been 
 repaired." 
 
 After some half-hour's waiting, I am ushered into the 
 Secretary's private office by black-faced and white- 
 headed Madison. 
 
 "He's powerful out of sorts this morning," whispers 
 the old darky. "Be careful and rub him the right 
 way." 
 
 As I enter, I feel a presentiment of evil come on me. 
 The cold blue eyes glare at me through their glasses. 
 Hardly recognizing my salute, the Secretary begins : 
 
 "Since our reoccupation of that town, I have had 
 some curious information from Frederick. It is re- 
 ported to me that immediately after your interview at 
 Jackson's headquarters with that general, he gave in- 
 stant orders for his corps to prepare to march. You 
 will state immediately to me what were the exact 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 7I 
 
 questions he put to you £\nd your answers to that Rebel 
 lynx." 
 
 After a moment's pause of consideration, I answer 
 this question truthfully and exactly. 
 
 As I give the two questions of the Confederate 
 general and my careless reply to the last one, the 
 Secretary starts up from his desk, and standing in 
 front of me, breaks out viciously in low, clear-cut, in- 
 cisive, yet measured tones : 
 
 "And_y^«, by your imbecile answer, told him that 
 710 trains had gone over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ! 
 Then, of course, no reinforcements went into Harper's 
 Ferry. Oh ! you're a beauty to let the cat out of the 
 bag ! Curse it, sir, couldn't your little brain guess that 
 that Rebel watch-dog knew that with no reinforcements 
 he could probably capture the place, commanded as 
 it is, by a septuagenarian officer .' " 
 
 And pushing his eyeglasses upon his forehead he 
 glares at me and goes shuffling vindictively about the 
 room. 
 
 Before I can answer this invective from my superior 
 officer, to which I have listened respectfully, fighting 
 down indignant words upon my lips, the door is opened 
 and old Madison makes his appearance, ushering in 
 Colonel Hardie. 
 
 "What the devil, you infernal nigger, are you com- 
 ing in here for, sir .? How dare you break into a pri- 
 vate interview of mine .'' " splutters the head of the 
 United States dogs of war. 
 
 "You will pardon this intrusion, Mr. Secretary," in- 
 terjects the colonel hurriedly. " This telegram could 
 not wait. It is from the front." 
 
 Pulling his eyeglasses down on his nose again, Stan- 
 ton reads the dispatch. As he does so, he looks up 
 from it at me, and his face horrifies me. 
 
 It is the incarnation of the hate of the war. 
 
 "By Heaven!" he mutters, "Harper's Ferry has 
 surrendered and fallen with eleven thousand men. 
 McClellan too late ; Jackson too quick ! It's always so 
 with these Democratic generals and Border-State offi- 
 cers ! " and he glares at me. 
 
 Then he snarls : " It's to this young man, perhaps, I 
 owe this dispatch. Get out of my presence ! Go to 
 the devil!" he thunders. "You'll hear from me! 
 
72 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 You shall remember Harper's Ferry longer than I will. 
 Don't forget that, my Maryland recruit ! " 
 
 As I leave the apartment, I hear him saying, his 
 voice low, his diction clear-cut as if quoted from the 
 book of fate : "By the Eternal ! Give them as many 
 victories as they like, but I'll grind these Southern 
 cavaliers out under the heel of Northern infantry be- 
 fore I get through with them, if it takes a year ! if it 
 takes tivo ; if it takes ien/ So long as I live, I'll pound 
 away at Jeff Davis and his Rebel crew ! " 
 
 Two hours afterward, I am directed to proceed to 
 Baltimore and remain on waiting orders. I am very 
 glad to get away from an official whose ill-will I know 
 I have, and one who can certainly prevent my advance- 
 ment. 
 
 While in Baltimore on waiting orders, I am not com- 
 pelled to wear my uniform. I can again associate with 
 my old-time boyhood comrades and renew the friend- 
 ships of my early youth. I can again receive my dear 
 sister's caresses ; I can once more embrace my father 
 that I revere and honor, despite the difference of our 
 political opinions, if they have not heard I wear the 
 blue. 
 
 A visit to our Charles Street residence soon shows 
 me they have not. I steal a few more kisses from my 
 loved ones under their misunderstanding that I wear 
 the gray. My father's and sisters' astonishment at 
 seeing me is only exceeded by their joy that I have not 
 fallen in the carnage of the recent battles. 
 
 To their eager inquiries, I answer in a shamefaced 
 way, that I have been captured near Frederick when 
 detailed on a scouting party, and having been paroled 
 vintil exchanged, I have naturally come home to live 
 until by cartel I am freed from my obligation not to 
 take up arms. 
 
 "Taken near Frederick .?" mutters my father. "It 
 is curious that the Yankee papers did not mention it ; 
 they generally magnify their slight successes, instead 
 of concealing them. And paroled.? That is a rather 
 unusual complaisance to a Confederate prisoner from 
 Union authorities." 
 
 "Well, I've my orders from Stanton himself," I say, 
 growing more confident, "to live in Baltimore until 
 further directions." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 73 
 
 What my governor's reply would have been I know 
 not ; for Birdie here breaks in enthusiastically : " Cap- 
 tured near Frederick? Billy, you must have been with 
 Jackson ! " 
 
 " I was ! " I answer, the confidence of the liar grow- 
 ing in me. " I saw 'Stonewall' on the afternoon of 
 the fifth. I was at his headquarters with Thornton, of 
 the First Virginia Cavalry." 
 
 "And soon after you were captured, my poor 
 brother.? " interjects Virgie with a kiss. 
 
 "Yes ! In the Federal lines the next day by noon ! " 
 I reply, staving off further inquiry by caresses. To 
 these they all respond ; even my old regime father un- 
 bending and telling me with tears in his eyes that their 
 anxiety has been awful, ever since the second Battle of 
 Manassas. 
 
 " We could get no accounts of the Southern killed 
 and wounded. You don't guess the anxiety of those 
 who wait here to learn of their loved ones in the Con- 
 federate ranks," he remarks. "There's Mrs. Bouvier 
 has an only son in the Maryland Line. William, if 
 you've any tidings of Arthur Bouvier — a lieutenant 
 in Brockenbrough's Battery — you must go at once 
 and give them to his mother. She's a widow now. 
 You remember little Arthur.? you used to play with 
 him ! " 
 
 "Yes, of course," I answer uneasily, "but I did not 
 see him. He must have been in Longstreet's corps." 
 
 "And then, perhaps, you met Charley St. George; 
 you remember Eva's half-brother, he's so handsome 
 — in Mumford's Second Virginia .? " asks Birdie, with 
 very eager eyes. 
 
 "No I I met Stuart and saw Brien of the First Cav- 
 alry, and Thornton and Ruff Crockett of the Tennessee 
 Infantry. But when a man's fighting and riding, and 
 fighting again, social duties take the rear rank de- 
 cidedly ! "' I answer. 
 
 "Then you didn't see Eva } " murmurs Birdie, disap- 
 pointedly. 
 
 " See her .? Of course not ! " is my unabashed reply. 
 " I had something more to do in Viriginia than to look 
 up girls — even my fiancee." I wince at the term, how- 
 ever, as I utter it, for I am thinking of the beautiful 
 creature who stood beside me the only few minutes I 
 
74 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 spent in Virginia while Stonewall Jackson's men crossed 
 the Potomac. 
 
 "And the gray uniform we made for you ? " whispers 
 my elder sister. " We had rather speculated how Miss 
 Ashley would admire you in it." 
 
 "The gray uniform is a thing of the past," I laugh. 
 " You should have seen what was left of it after Cedar 
 Mountain, Second Manassas and Ox Hill. I believe by 
 that time I was as dirty and as ragged as any trooper 
 in Stuart's." 
 
 Great powers, how I am lying ; but mendacity once 
 begun must be carried to the end. I have spoken of 
 battles ; mention compels description. My father and 
 my sisters gather round me closer and listen to the vet- 
 eran Confederate. Their eager anxiety as to my per- 
 sonal adventures has to be satisfied. 
 
 Fortunately, I have seen enough stricken fields, and 
 a battle in Virginia can't be very different from a com- 
 bat in Tennessee. 
 
 I give my loved ones details of Jackson's defence 
 of the railroad embankment at Pope's big defeat. I 
 ride with Stuart on the foray when we capture Cat- 
 lett's station. With him I raid the great Federal 
 Commissary stores at Manassas Junction, and grow- 
 ing vivid I tell how, after living on corn in the ear 
 for a week, we knock off the heads of champagne 
 bottles and drink the vintages of France and feast on 
 canned chicken and lobster-salad, and condensed plum 
 pudtiing, our meal lighted by the blaze of five million 
 dollars worth of Union stores for Pope's hungry army. 
 
 Then both papa and sisters show their love for me 
 by asking more questions, and Major Ananias, of 
 Stuart's Cavalry Division, at last finds himself located 
 definitely as an officer of the Jeff Davis' Legion, an in- 
 timate of Fitz Lee's and on speaking terms with Rosser, 
 Robinson and even Jackson. 
 
 As I think over the matter afterwards, the only apol- 
 ogy I can make for myself, is that if I told the truth, I 
 lost the love of my dear ones, and that one lie leads to 
 another, the very nature of my description requiring the 
 endorsement of detail vivid and exciting as the scenes 
 I described. 
 
 "I'll keep their love and their kisses as long as I 
 can," I think desperately. "They'll hate and despise 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 75 
 
 me so much after they know ; a Httle more delusion 
 and exaggeration won't add to it — all but Birdie ! " 
 
 Of my younger sister I have a little hope — she is so 
 sweet, so amiable, so affectionate to me always — she 
 will not hate her brother /orever, even if he is a Union 
 officer. 
 
 Perhaps my answers might receive more critical an- 
 alysis were they all not so glad to see me safe and un- 
 wounded, and were not the anxieties of the present so 
 great that the events of to-day engross them more than 
 the happenings of yesterday — for as yet the news of 
 Antietam has not arrived. 
 
 In fact, even as I, in our quiet family home on 
 Charles Street, Baltimore, am conversing with my 
 family, the veterans of McClellan and Lee, at Sharps- 
 burg, not a hundred miles away, are slaughtering each 
 other on that desperate and bloody field which decided 
 the fate of Maryland. 
 
 But no news comes to us this day ; the streets of the 
 town are full of people desperately anxious as to the 
 result of a campaign, which means so much for the 
 city, many of its citzens of large property, yet Southern 
 sympathies, apparently dreading the approach of Lee's 
 army victorious and triumphant more even than his de- 
 feat. This curious state of feeling is explained to me 
 at the Maryland Club. 
 
 " Don't you know," whispers George Ransome to me, 
 "the Federal authorities have made little preparations 
 to defend this town from Lee ; but ample for its de- 
 struction in case the Confederates occupy it. They've 
 six mortar boats in the river under Porter, and with 
 bombs from them falling in the streets and the fire of 
 the forts, this place will be a living hell — and then our 
 mothers, wives and women folk." 
 
 The genial club man's face grows white and long as 
 he thinks of his handsome young wife and two pretty 
 children. Many talk of flying on the approach of the 
 army they hope with all their souls will succeed and 
 conquer. 
 
 But my father is made of sterner stuff — on my sug- 
 gestion that he go to New York himself, or at least send 
 Virgie and Birdie there, till the danger's is over, I am 
 met with stern rebuke ; not only from him but from 
 my sisters. 
 
76 BILLY HAMILTOISf. 
 
 "For shame, William ! " they cry. " Fly from the 
 army we love ? Avoid Lee and Jackson when they come 
 to free us ? " 
 
 "You've never seen a bombardment," I dissent ; 
 " you don't know what it's like and I pray God you 
 never will." 
 
 But the next day, the news comes of Antietam. 
 McClellan has saved Maryland to the Union ; Lee, 
 baffled and brought to bay, two days after gets back 
 into Virginia as best he can. 
 
 Heavens ! how I have to struggle to conceal the 
 triumph in my face from my two pretty sisters, who 
 go about with sad, even teary eyes, from my father, 
 whose countenance is as long as Job's tribulations. 
 It is more difficult to lie with the phiz than with the 
 tongue. 
 
 " You — you don't seem downhearted, Billy — even 
 now ! " whispers Birdie. 
 
 " Oh, Lee'll be back again ! " I contrive to utter. 
 
 " Yes, the Southern boys'll never give up. They'll 
 never leave us under the heel of our oppressors ! " 
 ejaculates Virginia confidently and defiantly. Then 
 womanhood coming up in her, she murmurs — " But 
 how many of them have died here for us already." 
 
 But, curiously enough, the excitement of Antietam 
 is soon over. Accustomed by two years of war to its 
 varying chances, Baltimore to my astonishment grows 
 gay in a social sense. I accompany my sisters to re- 
 ceptions and dances, and renew many old acquaint- 
 ances with the Jeunesse dorh of my native city, both 
 male and female. 
 
 The gentlemen look at me with kindly eyes — I have 
 battled in a gray uniform — and am even now a Federal 
 prisoner. 
 
 The young ladies are inclined to make a hero of me ; 
 I have ridden with Stuart and Fitz Lee ; for my sisters 
 have girl's tongues, and every one hears of their dear 
 brother who marched with the Confederates into Mary- 
 land and fought so gallantly under Jackson, though he 
 was taken prisoner by the odious Yankees. 
 
 I am quite the rage at receptions and dances ; 
 and many a Baltimore civilian and club man has 
 ground his teeth as I have led out his sweetheart 
 for the german, or carried his beloved off for soft con- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 77 
 
 servatory flirtation under his jealous eyes. IMy martial 
 air is effective, the scar of my sabre wound most 
 subtly potent with the female heart — for I have re- 
 ceived it in the cause they love. Had it been acquired 
 under the "Stars and Stripes, "the wound for which 
 they adore me would be only a badge of infamy in 
 their bright Southern eyes. 
 
 The war has drifted back to Virginia. In the arms of 
 my dear ones, the delights of peace seem near to me. 
 
 So, blessed by my father, loved, petted and caressed 
 by my sisters, and flattered by the society of the ]Monu- 
 mental City generally, I pass my time in a fool's 
 paradise — almost forgetting that I have eaten the 
 Northern Union apple and must some day be discov- 
 ered and expelled from my present Southern Eden. 
 
 The day of my exodus comes sooner than I expect — • 
 and as, in the case of Adam — by means of a serpent. 
 
 From my social day-dream I awake with a start. 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 A BLOW IN THE DARK, 
 
 I HAVE accompanied my sisters to a dance given by 
 Mrs. Coleman. In the carriage going to Wxq fete we 
 have all been very merry ; Birdie remarking roguishly : 
 "You must be very careful this evening, Cyril, or I 
 shall surely write and tell tales of you to Eva Ashley. 
 Your conduct the other evening with Lulu Davant was 
 outrageous." 
 
 ' ' Indeed ! What was my offence .? " I return, strok- 
 ing my moustache contemplatively, though I know 
 very well to what she refers, for in the bright smiles of 
 one of Baltimore's fairest — and my native city has many 
 who are fairest — I have been trying to forget the charm- 
 ing maid in gray-riding-habit who still seems to haunt 
 me, 
 
 "What was your offence.?" remarks Virginia in 
 stately tones. " Only this — paying too great attention 
 to one young lady when you're engaged to another. 
 Now, William, I know the girls here make much of 
 you — too much," 
 
78 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "But then they know you're a gallant Confederate 
 cavalry-man and can't help it," interjects Birdie get- 
 ting my hand in hers. 
 
 "Still, as a man of honor, my brother," continues 
 my elder sister, "you must remember you are bound 
 to another." 
 
 " Yes, a young lady I'm to marry as soon as the 
 Yanks have fled to Canada," I mutter savagely, Virgie's 
 criticism not being very much to my liking, as Lulu 
 Davant has as pretty blue eyes, as lovely a figure, and 
 as plumply rounded white shoulders as you'll see in a 
 ball-room, and waltzes like Terpsichore herself. 
 
 " You'd not sneer in that way, my brother," answers 
 Virginia, " if you saw the beauty of the girl to whom 
 you're engaged ; if you knew her exalted mind, her 
 exquisite womanhood." 
 
 " Pooh ! That Davant girl is no more to be compared 
 to Eva Ashley than a Union cavalry captain to you, 
 Billy," babbles Birdie airily. 
 
 "Well, I'll try and be more circumspect," I mutter, 
 wincing at the shot my dear little sister has unwittingly 
 given me. 
 
 A couple of minutes later we are in hospitable Mrs. 
 Coleman's parlors which are thronged with the best 
 society of Baltimore, the ladies' white arms and gleam- 
 ing shoulders, being set off by exquisite ball gowns, the 
 gentlemen all in the plain black and white of evening 
 attire de n'gueur, for no blue uniforms ever find their 
 way into the haul monde of Maryland at this epoch. 
 
 A little orchestra is playing merrily. 
 
 As I enter I note we apparently create a sensation ; 
 several near-by couples stop dancing and gaze at me ; 
 a peculiar and by no means cordial expression on their 
 countenances, especially those of the ladies. 
 
 But I hardly appreciate this ; I am a favorite with 
 most of the girls, anyway, and my eye is upon Lulu 
 Davant as the pretty little chick sits in a far'away 
 corner — waiting for me, I fondly think. 
 
 We approach our hostess. 
 
 IMrs. Coleman, though she has a surprised look on 
 her face, greets my sisters kindly though in a curiously 
 sympathetic manner ; to me she gives a cold haughty 
 courtesy then turns to other guests. 
 
 Doing the old regime act I think placidly as I look 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 79 
 
 at the dowager. But having made my duty bow I 
 pass on, too eager for Miss Lulu's smile to pay par- 
 ticular attention to any one else in the room. 
 
 A moment later, I am before this young lady who 
 had listened to my honeyed words for a too short hour 
 in Mrs. Gill's conservatory but the day before and 
 seemed to think them very pleasant — to receive a 
 shock. 
 
 " Miss Lulu," I say, bending over the fair girl whose 
 eyes turn away from mine, "you remember your 
 promise of yesterday evening." 
 
 But the eyes — the blue eyes that had looked into 
 mine so languishingly scarce a day ago — now gaze at 
 me, cold as a Greenland iceberg. Then shuddering 
 slightly Miss Davant turns to a near-by gentleman 
 and murmurs : " Mr. Key, this is our dance, I believe. 
 Supposing we begin now ; the room is a little cold." 
 
 "Oh, dash it," I think glumly, "some one's been 
 telling the fair Lulu of my Virginia engagement. Hang 
 it, if she can be rudely indifferent so can I — till I bring 
 her to her senses. Ah, here's Miss Madeline Reeves, 
 she's pretty enough to make any other girl jealous." 
 
 With this, I step to the piquant Miss Maddie, a 
 brunette who has been quite partial to me ever since 
 she was a dainty, sixteen-year-old lassie, and suggest 
 the honor of a dance. 
 
 But if the blonde Lulu Davant has been icily indif- 
 ferent, the brunette Maddie Reeves simply appears to 
 loathe me. That's the only word that can express the 
 shudder in her exquisite form, the shrinking from me 
 as if I were a viper, as she draws herself up and re- 
 marks to a passing beau: "Mr. Jervaise, would you 
 take pity on me and take me away. I don't like slimy 
 things." 
 
 After one short stare of astonishment, I have a pretty 
 strong suspicion of what is the cause of my tribulation. 
 I hear a maid who within the week has been cordiality 
 itself to me whisper to her escort something about 
 renegade and Yankee spy, as she cuts me dead. 
 
 A very little of this sort of thing goes a good way 
 with me ; the gentlemen's glances 1 return, scorn for 
 scorn, glare for glare; but the ladies — the bright eyes 
 that have looked so caressingly on the cavalryman of 
 Stuart'?., they stab me to my youthful heart. 
 
8o BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Not wishing to spoil my sisters' evening, I edge my 
 way to Virginia. I have little trouble in doing this, 
 though the room is crowded ; for the fair demoiselles 
 clear the way for me, drawing their crinolined jupes 
 aside for my passage very much as if I were a rattle- 
 snake crawling amid their dainty slippers and pretty 
 ankles. 
 
 At my sister's side, I whisper to Virginia, who is in 
 conversation with young Mr. Darrell and apparently 
 has no idea there is anything the matter — "In case I 
 should wander off, could you find somebody to take 
 you and Birdie home .-' " 
 
 Virgie looks at the young and handsome Mr. Darrell 
 and thinks she could. 
 
 "Then make my excuses to Mrs. Coleman," I sug- 
 gest. 
 
 "You are not well, Billy ? " asks my sister anxiously. 
 
 "Quite up to anything," I remark. But I want to 
 behave myself very well and Lulu Davant looks very, 
 very pretty this evening." 
 
 With this ambiguous excuse, I turn and pass out of 
 the salle de da7ise, followed by vicious glances from 
 those of the ladies who look upon my exit. 
 
 I've about made up my mind what the trouble must 
 be. In the dressing-room I get not only evidence of 
 what it is, but also of what has produced it. 
 
 Young Darrell, a high-spirited, kind-hearted young 
 gentleman and great friend and admirer of my elder 
 sister, has hastily followed me. 
 
 He had returned my bow as I had addressed Virginia, 
 but coldly ; he now comes up to me and mutters : 
 ' ' For God's sake, Bill, give me your authority. Let me 
 go down and tell them all that this is a lie from Hell." 
 
 He thrusts a Baltimore evening paper into my hand. 
 His finger is on the paragraph. Reading it, I know 
 how I've been struck and who has struck me. 
 
 " It's all true as Heaven ! " I answer. 
 
 "Good God! You came here to play the spy," 
 mutters Darrell, his face turning white as he thinks of 
 the treason he and his friends have spoken to me when 
 they thought me a Confederate officer. 
 
 " No spy ! " I answer sternly. "I — I concealed my 
 rank in the Union army when I came here, so as to 
 get a few more kind words from my dear old father, a 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 8 1 
 
 few more sweet kisses from my beloved sisters. But 
 now — " 1 loolv at the paper and falter: "These are 
 lost to me forever. Believe nie, " I add, "no treason 
 spoken to me when I was thought an officer of Stuart's 
 will cost any man or woman anything." I offer him 
 my hand. 
 
 But young Darrell mutters: "I pity you, as I do 
 any one who loses friends and kindred, but I pity more 
 your poor father and sisters," and does not see my 
 hand. 
 
 Thornton of the Virginia cavalry, Ruff Crockett of 
 the Tennessee infantry, had given me the greeting of 
 man to man, though they wore the gray and I the 
 blue ; but this young dandy who had never raised 
 sword or pulled trigger draws himself away. Oh, 
 the awful vindictive hate of the non-combatants in 
 those war days ! 
 
 But here is something tangible that I can meet, and 
 fortunately from a 7na7i. 
 
 " I\Ir. Darrell," I remark, "if you think because I 
 am a Union officer, my hand is not worthy your notice, 
 I can draw it across your face. That'll at least make 
 you see it. " 
 
 But he mutters: "My God! I — I can't fight you! 
 I — I am engaged to marry your sister. Virginia has 
 just honored me by accepting my love. When I heard 
 the rumor of this, I felt I must speak to your sister at 
 once so I could be enabled to stand by her thoroughly 
 in this misfortune." 
 
 "Very well," I say sarcastically, as he turns away. 
 "Take my sister's hand instead of mine, Mr. Darrell. 
 It's much prettier, softer and more Southern." 
 
 But with this jeer on my lips I know Darrell is right 
 as to my losing friends and kindred. As I read the 
 paragraph I am sure it has cost me that. 
 
 Curiously enough, the article is very complimentary, 
 the newspaper printing it being a Union one and 
 strongly supporting the Government. 
 
 It reads : 
 
 " We are happy to announce the appointment of Captain William 
 Fairfax Hamilton of the ist Kentucky Union Cavalry as Special 
 Provost Marshal of Maryland. 
 
 This appointment was made under the instructions of Secretary 
 Stanton himself, to reward Captain Hamilton for distinguished 
 
82 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 gallantry at Forts Donaldson and Henry and the Battle of Shiloh 
 in Tennessee, when the rebels threw up their hands. 
 
 Captain tlamilton was unfortunately captured by Jackson during 
 that Rebel general's recent raid into Maryland and being under 
 parole is consequently not able to engage in active service until ex- 
 changed, though eligible for the office of Provost Marshal, in which 
 he can make copperheads and secession sympathizers walk very 
 straight in his native city of Baltimore. For the gallant captain 
 is the son of our well-known capitalist, Carroll Lamar Hamilton of 
 Charles Street, and as such a shining proof to Xhe jemiesse doree oi 
 Baltimore that all of them are not out and out Rebels nor secret 
 aiders nor abettors of Jeff. Davis and his Richmond traitors." 
 
 Following this is the official order of the day : 
 
 " Headquarters Department of Maryland, 
 "Baltimore, Oct. 14th, 1862. 
 " General Orders No. 34. 
 
 "Captain W. F. Hamilton, ist Kentucky Cavalry, in compliance 
 with the orders of the Secretary of War, is hereby appointed Special 
 Provost Marshal of the Department of Maryland and assigned to 
 duty at this headquarters. 
 
 " He will be obeyed and respected accordingly. 
 ♦' By order of 
 
 " Major General John E. Wool, 
 " Comd'g Dept. of Maryland. 
 " Official. 
 
 " James R. Bellow, 
 " Asst- Adj. -General." 
 
 "By Heaven ! " I mutter, as I stride down Mrs. 
 Coleman's steps. That was a blow in the dark, for my 
 imguarded words to Stonewall Jackson at Frederick. 
 
 The crafty subtlety of the attack appalls me. I am 
 made the officer whose very duty compels me to arrest 
 Rebel sympathizers among my old friends and numer- 
 ous relations, all of them apt to get imprisonment for 
 their Southern views. Besides, this will forever cut me 
 off from my father's affection, my sisters' love. 
 
 Evidences of this come to me very fast. 
 
 As I enter my home my father, who has apparently 
 been w^aiting up for me, meets me in the hall with an 
 agonized face. In his hand is a copy of the evening 
 paper, also a document that bears the War Department's 
 l)rand. 
 
 I could not believe what I read in this cursed news- 
 paper, sir," mutters the old gentleman, " though this 
 seems to confirm it." He passes me the envelope 
 addressed Capt. W. F, Hamilton, ist Kentucky Cavalry, 
 on service. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 83 
 
 "Is this for you? " he asks falteringly. 
 
 For answer, I break the seal of the missive. 
 
 It contains the order mentioned in the paper and 
 directs me to report at the Provost Marshal's office, 
 Baltimore, for duty on receipt of it. 
 
 "My God, I — I can't beheve it," stammers my 
 father. Then he cries out to me, "Bill, my boy, tell 
 me it is not true ? " 
 
 " It is, sir," I answer quietly for the old gentleman's 
 grief appalls me. 
 
 " True that you have been a Union officer, while 
 you smuggled yourself into my heart and your sisters' 
 caresses ? Good heavens ! it will break their hearts 
 when they know that the wounds you bear upon your 
 brow are the marks of infamy, not honor." 
 
 " Not that, sir. No scar of manly combat is dishon- 
 orable," I reply. 
 
 But he interrupts me, lashing himself in rage, "Not 
 when received in crushing us under the heel of the 
 Yankee ? My God, my boy — that I adored — deceiv- 
 ing me — crawling into my home as a Confederate 
 officer — when he's a traitor to the South — a traitor to 
 his country." 
 
 " I may be a traitor to the South, but I am not a 
 traitor to my country," I return stoutly. " I have re- 
 ceived an education from this country ; I have fought 
 for this country ; I'll stand by this country — the whole 
 of it, not part of it — till I go under.'' 
 
 "Then out of my house, you damned Yankee scoun- 
 drel," cries my father. " Out of my house ! " 
 
 _ No appeal of mine will he listen to, though I beg 
 him to consider I have a right to my faith, as he has to 
 his. 
 
 It is useless for me to expostulate with him. 
 My father falters: "Heaven forgive you; you've 
 broken my heart," and the banging of his library door 
 is answer to my last word. 
 
 Defiantly I go upstairs, don my blue uniform, and 
 pack my trunk. 
 
 Jonas, the negro footman, with a sad look in his eyes, 
 carries it down and mutters : " Good-bye. God bless 
 you, Massa Bill, then whispers, " I hopes you fight 
 de Rebs like hell," and by my direction goes in search 
 of a cab. 
 
84 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 As I wait for the vehicle I get another greeting. 
 
 A carriage draws hurriedly up. I hear the patter of 
 light slippers on the front steps, as 1 am about to open 
 the door. 
 
 Virginia and Birdie fly in. They have heard the news. 
 
 " Go back with us, Bill," cries my elder sister de- 
 fiantly, "and tell them it is all a dastard lie. Tell 
 
 them " Then she sees my Federal uniform, nad 
 
 pauses petrified, but shuddering. 
 
 As for Birdie, dear little Birdie, she begins to cry as 
 if her heart would break and implores me wildly : 
 "Take it off! Take it off! Take off the horrid 
 thing, Billy. Why, one would think you were an 
 Abolitionist." 
 
 " I am not an Abolitionist," I mutter sullenly. " I 
 am only an officer of the Government of the United 
 States, your country." 
 
 "Our country is the South — when our brothers and 
 sisters live," cries Virginia who is striding about with 
 the air of Lady Macbeth. Then she bursts out laugh- 
 ing in a horrid, jeering, unnatural way : " Oho ! The 
 gallant officer of Stuart's, he who rode with Lee and 
 fought the Yanks with Jackson." 
 
 "Forgive my deception," I cry desperately. "I 
 only deceived you so as to keep your love — your kisses. " 
 
 " Which you have lost forever," returns my stately 
 sister, with white face, and agonized though unforgiv- 
 ing eyes. " Good-bye ! Until you repent in sackclotli 
 and ashes ; no ! in Confederate gray — I call you brother 
 no more. Come, Birdie ! " Virgie turns and walks up 
 the stairs though once I see her falter in her step. 
 
 But Birdie, dear heart, is in my arms ! She is sob- 
 bing : " Good-bye. God bless you, Billy, though I don't 
 suppose I'll ever see you again. You can't fight 
 against our Southern troops, they'll simply kill you, 
 that is all." 
 
 Then she goes faltering on — for my only answer 
 to the dear little girl is a caress: "What will Eva 
 Ashley say when you fight against her friends and burn 
 her Virginia home } She'll despise you. You've lost 
 not only your family but your wife ! But I forgive — 
 I pardon you — you don't know what you're doing, you 
 foolish fellow — my only brother ! 
 
 Then she screams out : " Virgie, come and give him 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. §5 
 
 a kiss ! — be a sister to him ! Father, come and give 
 him your blessing before he dies ! " 
 
 But the scene is too horrible. With a hasty kiss, 
 I break from her clinging arms and run from the 
 house. 
 
 Truly the Secretary knew how to reach the heart of 
 a Border-State Union officer. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE LUNCHEON AT GUY's. 
 
 1 SEND my baggage to an out-of-the-way hotel and 
 the next morning report at the provost-marshal's office 
 for duty. Somehow I get through my work for a 
 miserable three weeks, that is made endurable only 
 by the renewal of a West Point intimacy with an old 
 classmate, Captain Arthur Vermilye, commanding one 
 of two light batteries of the 21st Artillery. 
 
 This young officer is stationed with his regiment at 
 Fort McHenry, and cut off, like myself, from the society 
 of Baltimore ladies by his blue uniform. Naturally, 
 we become even greater chums than in our days at 
 the Academy. Arthur, however, has one advantage 
 over me. On leave, he can run up to New York 
 where his family occupies a distinguished social posi- 
 tion, and being a man of large means, enjoy the de- 
 lights of home, of girls' sweet voices and feminine 
 bright eyes. 
 
 But no social happiness can come to me. The local 
 press have made me prominent, the loyal portion of it 
 eulogizing me as the most uncompromising out-and- 
 out Unionist of the State, the journals of secession pro- 
 clivities sneering at me as strongly as they dare, and 
 hinting I am both a coward and time-server. 
 
 During this time my official business, thank Heaven, 
 is almost entirely routine work, and brings me little in 
 contact with my fellow-townsmen with whom I have 
 been intimate before ; for since Lee's retreat from 
 ^laryland, the government authorities have little fear 
 of Baltimore secessionists, those of them who have 
 
86 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 determined to go to the war having already gone 
 South long ago. 
 
 Still I do my utmost to fill my office efficiently, seiz- 
 ing, one night, in a country house just out of Baltimore, 
 three Confederate sympathizers who are about to cross 
 the Potomac to join the Rebel army under Lee. This 
 makes me all the more hated and, fortunately, feared, 
 for it stops covert newspaper abuse. 
 
 But as a rule my provost-marshal duties are mostly 
 gathering in drunken soldiers who have overstayed 
 their leave of absence, apprehending a few bounty- 
 jumpers, now becoming numerous under the new call 
 for troops, and stopping the underground mail route 
 to Richmond via Leonardstown, by means of which 
 some medicines and supplies, as well as a few volun- 
 teers for the Rebel ranks and returning Southern soldiers 
 who have sneaked over into Maryland to visit relatives, 
 find their way to the South. 
 
 This places me on rather intimate terms with several 
 of Lafayette C. Baker's Secret Service detectives, and 
 likewise produces a long distance acquaintance, by re- 
 ports I secure of them, with quite a number of Rebel 
 blockade runners, Potomac pilots and Maryland under- 
 ground post-office runners, etc., among them the cele- 
 brated Wat Bowie and the renowned Alec, the guide 
 par excellence for Rebel parties crossing to Virginia. 
 
 Of the latter, I arrest none, no evidence being ob- 
 tainable against them at the time, but from the former 
 I receive some inside information one day that causes 
 me to open my ears very wide. 
 
 I, in command of some twenty troopers, have gone 
 down to Leonardstown, accompanied by two of 
 Baker's detectives, by name, Rod Gibbon and Joe 
 Shook. These two gentlemen hunt in couples, Mr. 
 Gibbon, who is a Maryland farmer, and knows the 
 State from one end to the other, being the "bull-dog" 
 of the partnership ; Mr. Shook, a Pennsylvania Dutch- 
 man, from the vicinity of Hanover, just over the State 
 line, who has enough Hebrew lineage connected with 
 his Teuton blood to make him cunning as a Judas 
 Iscariot, acting as the terrier of the firm. 
 
 In their company I brush up Leonardstown to find 
 our suspects as usual not en evidence, our local spies 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 87 
 
 telling me that Bowie has crossed the Potomac, and 
 Alec is probably at Port Tobacco. 
 
 In the Leonardstown hotel, which is a miserable 
 one, as almost all IVIaryland rural taverns were in that 
 day, over a badly cooked and worse served dinner, of 
 which I furnish the only endurable portion in the form 
 of a bottle of whisky from my saddle-pouch, Rod 
 Gibbon and Joe Shook, made sociable by the liquor, 
 go to telling me anecdotes of their war detective life, 
 how they have arrested young ladies of the demi- 
 monde travelling under passes issued by division 
 commanders, how they have broken up Confederate 
 mail routes, how they had even been caught in the 
 Rebel lines during Lee's recent invasion of Maryland, 
 and were never taken for anything but farmers and 
 locals. 
 
 "Ye didn't git off quite so slick. Cap. I seed ye in 
 Frederick just after the Rebs had nailed ye," remarks 
 ]\Ir. Shook with a grin. 
 
 "■ You saw me in Frederick .' " I return, my eyes ex- 
 pressing my surprise and interest. 
 
 " Yas, I war the country farmer selling vegetables 
 and chickens to Stuart's men, when you rode up with 
 a Johnnie officer, and a gal on a dappled mare. Rod, 
 here, war the countryman driving of my wagon. Gee- 
 hosh ! But I'd have guv half a month's wages to have 
 been in yer boots ! " adds the Secret Service lynx with 
 another grin. 
 
 "You'd have liked to have been in my boots when 
 I was a prisoner.' " I ask astonished. 
 
 "Yes, siree, if the gal war the one I've since allowed 
 she might be. -Would yer mind giving me a descrip- 
 tion of her } There warn't no light in front of the 
 house, and gol darn it, we darsn't go into the hotel 
 with the Reb cavalrymen. Some cussed secesh local 
 might have recognized us and guv us away. Both of 
 us war wearing cavalry boots under our jean pants, 
 the Rebs come on us so suddenly. We only jist got 
 warning half an hour afore of Stuart's coming, from 
 Kelly, the telegraph operator, before he took to the 
 woods. Luckily, Kelly's brother war a truck farmer, 
 and that guv us a chance to take suspicion off of us by 
 selling the Johnnies his farm stuff." 
 
 "There warn't no show to make a run of it," inter- 
 
88 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 jects Mr. Gibbon. "We were both so lame we could 
 hardly walk, and our two nags had been ruined by a 
 darn niggah. Besides, we wanted to get a look at the 
 gal. You couldn't give us a description of her, could 
 yer. Cap ? You must have seen her in a leetle better 
 light than we ? " he asks eagerly. 
 
 Somehow, instinct tells me to assent to this. 
 
 " Certainly, I can ! ' I reply. " I saw her the next 
 morning." 
 
 And then instinct tells me to give these two govern- 
 ment blood-hounds such a description of the girl that 
 I captured on the Potomac, they'd look her straight in 
 the face for a day and never dream they had heard of 
 her. 
 
 This I do frankly and fully ; so fully that Rod Gibbon 
 mutters, disconcertedly : ' ' Ye say she's a brunette gal ? 
 Curse me, I thought her a blue-eyed blondy." 
 
 " Then you've had your idea of her for nothing," I 
 reply, and growing curious in my turn, I query : 
 " Why do you want her description .? " 
 
 " Because — I don't suppose it makes much difference 
 in my telling you. Cap. Reckon we're mistook any 
 way," returns Shook. " But Rod and I allowed she 
 war a gal that Stanton had told our boss, Baker, to git 
 at any price. Some highfalutin creature that's got a 
 way of getting inside War Office information somehow, 
 and then gitting it to Reb headquarters slick as grease. 
 We'd kind o' got on her track that very night down by 
 the Potomac. At least, we allowed M'e had, and were 
 riding after her like streaks of lightning along a coun- 
 try lane, when, gol darn it ! suddenly both Rod and 
 me, we were riding neck and neck, both thought we 
 had struck Kingdom come 1 The gal, or her damned 
 niggah, who was called Massie or Quashie, or some 
 such fool name, had stretched a rope knee-high across 
 the lane from one tree to another. Rod and me 
 couldn't do more than limp around for an hour, and 
 our horses were so shook to pieces that we had to leave 
 'em and hire a wagon to git us to Frederick. Of course, 
 as soon as we could, we sneaked away from Stuart's 
 men to where we could git off our cavalry boots and 
 make ourselves look like real Maryland jays all over. 
 The next day Rod strolled back into Frederick to git a 
 look at the gal in the hotel, but on Market Street we 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 89 
 
 heer'd as how the gal war to be sent down South under 
 guard for insulting of Stonewall Jack. So we reckoned 
 she warn't our bird, but since then, I rather guess that 
 Stonewall Jack war too smart for us Secret Service 
 men, just as he'd been too slick for a good many Union 
 ginerals. So, Cap, I'll give you a tactic. If you should 
 happen to see that ere gal, just p'int her out to Baker, 
 and it may make you a Colonel." With this, Shook 
 winks knowingly at me with his cunning gray eyes. 
 
 Now, on my return to Baltimore, this conversation 
 has more effect on me than I will admit to myself. I 
 have had some thoughts of resigning my commission. 
 It may be a year before exchange will place me in the 
 active ranks of the army. I am pretty well aware that 
 advancement will be very slow at best, under the 
 negative enmity of the Secretary. 
 
 But from this moment, my views change. I have 
 entered the army to fight for the Union. Mr. Stanton 
 isnt the Union. In a day, in a week, under the quick 
 changes of the political volcano in Washington, he 
 may be out of office. He certainly will be if McClellan 
 remains General-in-Chief, and everything points to 
 little Mac's retaining his command. Since his victory 
 at Antietam, the Democratic General is the idol of the 
 army ; ay — even of the people, save certain Western 
 politicians who want a Western General in command. 
 
 But underneath my outburst of patriotism, I find a 
 lingering hope of being in some way of aid to a bright 
 face and charming personality, about whom, it seems 
 to me, the meshes of a net dangerous to her liberty — 
 perhaps, even to her life — are being drawn. 
 
 Perchance / was half-way traitor even then ■' At all 
 events, I knew that a certain young lady with blue 
 violet eyes and nut-brown hair would receive succor 
 from me — even in the face of the Secretary of War 
 himself. 
 
 About the end of October, somewhat to my aston- 
 ishment, I receive information that I will shortly be 
 relieved from active duty in Baltimore and again 
 ordered to Washington to await my exchange. 
 
 I am delighted to go — my native city has become to 
 me the saddest spot on earth — for I am in my home, 
 yet homeless. My brother-officers that I associate 
 with are happy ; the Baltimore girls may scorn them, 
 
go BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 but there are awaiting sweethearts in the North. 
 When their furloughs come, welcoming arms and 
 sweet lips will greet them by their firesides. As for me, 
 I am desolate beside my own roof-tree. 
 
 Fortunately, I have never encountered my father. 
 My two sisters I meet one day in the hurrying crowd 
 on Baltimore Street, and find I have now — only 
 ojie. 
 
 Virginia passes me by as coldly and haughtily as if 
 I had never existed as her brother, only I notice she 
 shivers as she draws her dainty skirts away from my 
 contaminating blue, for I happen to be in uniform. 
 
 Birdie, God bless her dear heart, gives me one 
 agonized glance, and the tears well up in her soft eyes 
 as I pass hurriedly on. 
 
 Half a block away a pleading little hand is laid upon 
 my arm. Birdie has run after me. 
 
 "Billy!" she begs. She is almost crying now. 
 " Passing me without a word ? " 
 
 "Virginia cut me as if I were a dog," I mutter, indig- 
 nantly. " Why shouldn't you do the same ? " 
 
 "To my brother?" shudders the girl. "No, no ! 
 Ah ! pity us I You're breaking father's heart. Please — 
 please ! Even if you won't fight for it, don't fight 
 against the cause we love. Think of us a /i///e. Virgie 
 hangs her head in shame when she hears whispers 
 about you. When * spy,' and 'dough-face,' and ' traitor,' 
 and ' coward' come to my ears, I — I can't defend 
 you ; I can only slink away and cry." 
 
 "Don't trouble yourself to defend me, dear Birdie," 
 I whisper. "As for my flirting young lady friends of 
 yesterday " — my voice becomes bitter — " let them say 
 what they please. In regard to my gentleman defam- 
 ers, send them to me ; I can defend my good name 
 and the uniform I wear. But — " I go on, in sarcastic 
 voice : — "Virgie is waiting for you half a block away. 
 The air about her Union brother is too tainted for her 
 Southern nose." 
 
 "But not for me, Billy," sobs Birdie; and putting 
 her arms around me right in the street, my darling 
 little sister kisses me as tenderly as if I wore the gray 
 and not the blue. 
 
 "No," she pouts. "I am not going to Virgie. She 
 can stand there as long as she pleases. I haven't seen 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 91 
 
 you for two weeks. Supposing you take me to lunch 
 with you, my — my brother. " 
 
 That word settles it ! 
 
 "Who could refuse dear little sister anything.'"! 
 answer. "Come along, Birdie, let's forget this cruel 
 war over the rne?iii at Guy's." 
 
 The ' Guy's ' of that day was a fashionable restaurant, 
 but expense was little to me. Fortunately, I had re- 
 ceived from my mother's estate a considerable income, 
 and now, though cut off from any assistance from my 
 father, am, with my pay, financially very comfortable. 
 There is only one obstacle to my sister's lunching with 
 me at Guy's : that is, I have invited for the same meal, 
 at the same place, the only officer I am particularly 
 intimate with in the Baltimore garrison, Arthur Sever- 
 ance Vermilye of New York. 
 
 As we turn off Monument Square into Guy's, I see 
 the handsome fellow standing waiting for me, and re- 
 membering he is of the very best family connections 
 in the Empire City, and in every way my sister's 
 and my social equal, I mutter to myself: "Why 
 not } " 
 
 Two minutes afterward, I lead my classmate to 
 Birdie as she is sitting at table, and to her astonished 
 glance, say : " Permit me to introduce my great friend 
 and class chum. Captain Vermilye, of New York. 
 Arthur, this is my sister. Miss Clara Oriole Hamilton, 
 whom our family has called 'Birdie' since she first 
 chirped. Captain Vermilye had my invitation to 
 lunch." 
 
 " And if he had cut me off from the additional pleas- 
 ure since he added you to the party, Miss Hamilton, I 
 should never have forgiven Ramrod," interjects Ver- 
 milye, giving me my Academy nickname in an easy 
 offhand manner, for the Captain of Artillery sees the 
 embarrassment the first introduction he has ever had 
 to a Baltimore belle brings upon her. 
 
 "I am always pleased to meet a gentleman who has 
 been kind to my brother," remarks Birdie, forced to a 
 cordial tone, though, in truth, she has since confessed 
 to me she thought of running away. "Billy's letters 
 often mentioned you when he was at that awful West 
 Point that has made him " 
 
 " What P" asks Vermilye, bowing hauglitily and 
 
()2 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 getting red in the face, for though desperately anxious 
 to know Baltimore girls — as what young man wouldn't, 
 seeing their beauty day after day — he had even ex- 
 postulated with me when I suggested the introduction, 
 remarking : "It will only embarrass your sister to be 
 rude to me. Hang it ! She's pretty nearly cut your 
 acquaintance though you're her brother, I understand. 
 Curse it ! These Baltimore beauties have got into the 
 habit of scorning us." 
 
 "Nonsense! Come along," I whisper. Its a bad 
 habit we must break them of." This last v^^ith a laugh, 
 for I am in high spirits. At least, I have regained one 
 sister, and Birdie this afternoon looks beautiful enough 
 to make any brother proud ; so beautiful, I have little 
 difficulty in bringing Vermilye over to our table. 
 
 A moment after, Birdie, who of course feels she 
 can't slight his uniform unless she slights mine, finds 
 herself seated at table with two officers in the hated 
 blue, and one of them very handsome and very charm- 
 ing, for never have I seen Arthur exert himself to please 
 as he does at this meal. Fortunately, he has not only 
 a face that is effective with young ladies, but a bear- 
 ing that, though it is punctilio itself, is veiled by that 
 high social art which conceals it. Besides, though 
 perfectly unassuming, and with no suspicion of famil- 
 iarity in his manner, he has a frank style, and an easy 
 honest bo?2hom/'e that forbids man or woman to keep 
 him at arm's length if he wishes to get nearer. 
 
 In this case, apparently, he wishes to get very near 
 Miss Birdie, whose piquant archness seems to be 
 heightened by the latent embarrassment of being cheer- 
 ful with her tyrants, and holding out her metaphorically 
 manacled, though exquisitely gloved, patrician hands 
 in fellowship to her military jailers. 
 
 Seeing Vermilye, who has been longing for feminine 
 society, — the thing he likes and from which he has 
 been cut off in Baltimore, — putting his best foot for- 
 ward, I devote myself to my oysters, partridge and 
 champagne, and permitting him to monopolize my 
 sister's small talk, am delighted to see, after a little 
 the two get to chatting, not as enemies, but as friends, 
 perchance even as a young man and young woman 
 who want to make a mutually good impression. 
 
 Chancing to hear that for social pleasures Captain 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 93 
 
 Vermilye runs up to New York when he can get leave, 
 and very shortly discovering that he moves in the best 
 set in the society of the metropolis, Miss Birdie com- 
 mences to ask that gentleman of the new tigures in 
 the german at Mrs. Belmont's recent ball on Fifth 
 Avenue. 
 
 A few minutes after they discover they have mutual 
 friends in Manhattan, for my sister had been educated 
 at Miss Hayne's Select Academy in Gramercy Park. 
 
 Before I realize it, the two are deep in social chat, 
 repartee, and the polite, yet charmmg nothings that 
 make young ladies and young gentlemen pleasing unto 
 each other. The meal apparently runs along very 
 smoothly on the jjjeasant lines of society, which are 
 about the same everywhere, Captain Vermilye telling 
 my sister of a ball he has lately been to in Washington, 
 that of Mrs. Senator Rufus J. Bream. " By-the-by," 
 he adds, turning to me, "a young lady there men- 
 tioned your name to me. Incidentally she had learned 
 that I had been in the class of 1861, and I presume 
 from that she judged I was your classmate at West 
 Point." 
 
 " Indeed ? " I answer. " A girl in Washington takes 
 enough interest in me to talk about Billy Hamilton ? 
 What's her name anyway.? " 
 
 "She is a Virginia young lady, I believe," answers 
 Arthur carelessly ; "Miss Eva Ashley." 
 
 "Eva Ashley!" cries Birdie excitedly. "Well, I 
 should hope she would take an interest in Billy. She 
 is engaged to be married to him." 
 
 " Engaged to be married to jyou ? " echoes Vermilye, 
 turning his eyes upon me with about the same expres- 
 sion in them as if he had heard I had just won the 
 capital prize in the Havana lottery. " Then I can con- 
 gratulate you on gaining certainly the most beautiful 
 woman in Washington." 
 
 " Why not say Baltimore as well } " adds Birdie en- 
 thusiastically. 
 
 "I would have until this afternoon," remarks the 
 artillery-man pointedly. "You see, I haven't had 
 much opportunity of inspecting Baltimore _/aces ,■ the 
 backs of the young ladies have been generally turned 
 to me when I chanced to encounter them', but now, 
 judging by sample — " 
 
94 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Here I interrupt, for Birdie's face is growing very red 
 under my comrade's impassioned glance. 
 
 "Oh! Go a little further," I say nonchalantly. 
 " Make Miss Eva Ashley the prettiest girl in the world." 
 
 "She is ! " says my sister promptly. "And you are 
 the only man who has not enough interest in her to 
 tind out for yourself. I — I don't believe you'd walk 
 into the next room if your affianced were there at this 
 moment." 
 
 "This is very extraordinary," mutters Vermilye, 
 looking at me so astonished that I hasten to explain : 
 "You see, Arthur, I haven't seen my ^putative Jiancee 
 since we were children. Our families made the ar- 
 rangement for us in our early youth. As for Miss 
 Ashley, I expect the minute she sets eyes on me she 
 will repudiate it, if she has not done so practically 
 already. " 
 
 Vermilye's answer startles, even horrifies me. " I 
 don't think she has," he says slowly. 
 
 "Why not.?" 
 
 "Because I heard the young lady tell an officer, who 
 was inclined to be A^ery attentive to her : ' I always 
 think it right to warn gentlemen that I am already 
 affianced.'" 
 
 This remark gives me a shock. Miss Ashley's faith- 
 fulness may seriously embarrass me. I think glumly 
 of that girl in the gray riding-habit as I gaze on Birdie 
 making play with Captain Vermilye. 
 
 What the deuce has got into my Rebel sister ? She 
 is flirting as if the Union officer were a cavalier of 
 Stuart's. 
 
 As for my \comrade, he apparently is doing his level 
 best, for Miss Birdie's eyes are very bright, and her 
 smile saucy and piquant, and her exquisite features 
 most dangerously pretty in their dainty beauty, as the 
 meal runs along to its close, I throwing in a word or 
 two now and then, merely to show that I am e?i evi- 
 dence. 
 
 As we rise from the table, the only embarrassing 
 incident of the afternoon takes place. Bowing his 
 adieu, Vermilye says, — his eyes fixed eagerly on the fair 
 face that looks so piquant under the little hat that tops 
 the clustering curls: "Miss Hamilton, I hope I shall 
 see you again," * 
 
KILLY HAMILTON. 95 
 
 " Indeed you shall ! " cries Miss Birdie, eagerly liold- 
 ing out her hand to the handsome captain. " Don't 
 fail to call soon." Then she suddenly grows red as 
 fire ; his blue uniform has made her recollect. The 
 next instant, she adds with woman's exquisite tact : 
 "That would be my invitation to you were not my 
 sister and my father so averse to the cause you serve. 
 As for ?ne, I have met to-day two Union officers, one 
 my brother, whom I love, and the other" — she looks 
 shyly at him, — " who — who has given me a very 
 pleasant afternoon." 
 
 " Believe me, I would not embarrass you for the 
 world. Miss Hamilton," returns the Captain. " Under 
 the circumstances, I shall only call by deputy." 
 
 "By deputy P" 
 
 "Yes, I shall take the liberty of sending a bouquet 
 to represent me in your salon to-morrow. You 
 need not fear," he adds hastily, for Birdie is pale now, 
 though her eyes are very bright. " It will be anony- 
 mous. But when you see it, think Arthur Severance 
 Vermilye is bowing before you. " 
 
 Her face flames up at his words, for the gentleman's 
 tone seems to indicate more than he expresses. 
 
 " Indeed I will," answers Birdie heartily and extends 
 her hand, which the Captain takes with old-time defer- 
 ence. 
 
 Then we bid him good-bye, I escorting my sister to 
 the neighborhood of her home. Though the girl seems 
 in high spirits, she says but little until near her Charles 
 Street residence. 
 
 "Don't come any further, Billy," she remarks ner- 
 vously. "If papa saw you he might make a 
 scene." 
 
 "Very well," I reply. "But where and when am I 
 to see you again .'' " 
 
 "I — I don't know," she answers dubiously, prodding 
 the toe of her little boot with one of the petite parasols 
 ladies sported in those days. "Unless" — here she 
 looks at me suddenly and roguishly — "unless you 
 invite me to lunch again ! " 
 
 "All right!" I answer cheeril)^. "Day after to- 
 morrow. Will you come ? " 
 
 " If they don't lock me up," returns Birdie laugh- 
 ingly, but nervously. Then she does grow pale as she 
 
96 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 whispers: "I suppose Virgie will scold me awfully 
 for going- with you. " 
 
 "Pooh," I say, "I know her stately manner. INIiss 
 Virginia Lawrence Hamilton will say ; ' My sister, I do 
 not presume to dictate to you, but I think you should 
 regard papa's wishes in this matter.' But, Birdie, 
 you'll come, even if Virgie does bully you ? " I ask 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Won't I ; with my whole heart ! " 
 
 " Very well, then ; same time, same place ! " 
 
 " Yes, Guy's — one o'clock, Monday." 
 
 " And same party .-' " I add, unable to restrain a little 
 brotherly joke. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Arthur Severance Vermilye, of course." 
 
 "Oh! if you like. He's a — a very charming gen- 
 tleman." 
 
 " Union officers are not so awfully awful.'" I jeer. 
 " Don't kiss his bouquet." 
 
 " What nonsense ! Under the circumstances, that 
 would be equivalent to kissing him," whispers Birdie, 
 haughtily yet bashfully ; then runs away with a very 
 red face, though her saucy nose is quite high in the 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " GIVE ME FIVE MINUTES ALONE WITH HER ? " 
 
 A FEW hours afterwards I meet Captain Vermilye at 
 his quarters. Curiously enough he seems rather glum 
 and out of spirits. But the minute he receives my in- 
 vitation to a second luncheon at which my sister will 
 be present, he brightens up immensely, accepts eagerly, 
 and goes off to billiards with me in the very highest 
 feather. 
 
 The consequence is that we three meet again for 
 luncheon in Guy's Restaurant at the time appointed, 
 but here. Miss Birdie gives me a start. On the previous 
 occasion, she had been very prettily gowned, but her 
 toilet this time is of such stunning style, chic and 
 effectiveness, that I gaze at her astonished, and know 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 97 
 
 the get-up is not for me. In addition, she wears in 
 the bosom of her corsage, a few exquisite rosebuds. 
 
 "Souvenirs of your last call," she says, archly 
 pointing to them, as Captain Vermilye bends over her 
 extended hand. 
 
 So sitting down, the two seem to commence about 
 M'here they left off on the previous luncheon, and with 
 a cordial familiarity that astounds me, proceed to play 
 the game of Adam and Eve. 
 
 " Judging by your tree-and-easy greeting, Captain 
 Vermilye has called several times, Miss Birdie," I 
 mutter roguishly, as I digest my oysters. 
 
 " He has, twice — by bouquet ! Though that is not 
 the most satisfactory way for a young lady to receive 
 a gentleman's visits, " she remarks coquettishly, blushing 
 very prettily as she speaks. 
 
 " Nor the pleasantest way for a gentleman to pay 
 them," returns Vermilye, ardently. 
 
 Then I break in: "No unpleasant social family 
 effects from our last meeting, Birdie } You suggested 
 being locked up in your room," I laugh. 
 
 " Not the slightest. Virgie has never spoken to me 
 about it. Better still, has never spoken to papa. 
 Though doubtless angry with me, she has too noble a 
 nature to think that her prejudice should separate me 
 from my brother." 
 
 This gives me a pang. What will Virgie think of me 
 if, in addition to my own offences, I add the unpar- 
 donable one of putting Birdie in the zone of Union 
 influence, emphasized by a pair of very handsome 
 masculine eyes, a very effective masculine moustache, 
 and a very lover-like manner, for that is what 1 begin 
 to see in Vermilye's tender tones and expressive 
 glances. 
 
 Apparently, this idea strikes Miss Birdie at the same 
 moment, for she grows very red, then turns very pale, 
 and from now on doesn't seem to give much attention 
 to her lunch ; though, perhaps, this is because she 
 pays so much to the dashing artillery captain, whose 
 manner is now so unmistakably gallant that it gives 
 me a start. 
 
 But the_/?/g draws to a close. 
 
 Though Birdie hasn't eaten much, nor drank much 
 for that matter, her face seems strangely flushed and 
 
95 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 her eyes unnaturally brilliant as she says she has had 
 a delightful afternoon. This is evidently intended 
 more for Arthur than for me, at least she looks at him 
 as she makes the remark. 
 
 So Birdie and I walk home again, and this time, 
 instead of being silent, the young lady has a good 
 many roundabout questions to ask me, the drift of all 
 of them deftly turned toward my comrade. 
 
 Though I answer her questions, in an off-hand, big- 
 brother manner, still I think my eulogy of the gallant 
 captain is satisfactory to my pretty sister ; for, as 
 she bids me good-bye, on Charles Street, she says : 
 "Thank you, thank you so much." 
 
 Then she adds, a curious eagerness in her voice : 
 "When do we lunch again ? " 
 
 ' ' Ah, you liked the oysters ; Guy's menu was excel- 
 lent } I say banteringly. 
 
 ' ' Of course I did. When do we lunch ag-am ? " 
 
 " Do you wish me to include the captain ? " 
 
 " Cetainly ! " This is emphasized with a blush, she 
 adding severely : "It would hardly be polite to exclude 
 him now." 
 
 " Very well," I say, " I'll tell Captain Vermilye of 
 your hospitality. Same time, same place, four days 
 from now," 
 
 " That's Friday, but don't mention my suggesting his 
 attendance. It's very bold my lunching with two 
 gentlemen even though one is my brother," murmurs 
 Birdie bashfully. 
 
 So I go off laughingly to tell Vermilye about the 
 arrangement for him. 
 
 To my astonishment the artilleryman has grown 
 more gloomy than ever. More curiously, when I again 
 suggest the proposed entertainment to my brother- 
 officer, he appears about to decline my invitation. 
 
 "Why? What's the matter?" I ask, astonished. 
 " You've nothing to do, and surely have no other 
 social engagements with ladies in Baltimore ! " 
 
 ' ' No ; that's the reason I hesitate to accept your 
 very kind invitation," remarks the captain, chewing 
 his moustache and puffing his cigar in an uneasy and 
 nervous manner very unusual in him. 
 
 " Indeed ! " I say haughtily, and turn away rather 
 inclined to be angry. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 99 
 
 But he stops me. Laying his hand on my arm he 
 says impulsively and impressively : "For God's sake, 
 don't misunderstand me, Bill, and answer me this 
 question : Do you believe in love at first sight ? " 
 
 " Of course I do ! What man of twenty-three 
 doesn't? " 
 
 " Lasting love ?" 
 
 " Yes ; the strongest kind. I am a victim of it my- 
 self" 
 
 " Oho ! " he laughs lightly, then goes on anxiously : 
 "Then you will appreciate my position. To meet 
 your sister at any time would be one of the greatest 
 pleasures of my life, so great a joy that I hesitate to 
 take it. To be very candid with you, Miss Birdie 
 Hamilton" — he lingers quite tenderly over the "Birdie " 
 — " has made a greater and much more positive impres- 
 sion upon me than any young lady I have ever met. 
 Set apart from her by the passions of this damned war, 
 and unable on account of sectional hate and prejudice 
 to visit her father's house, would it be honorable in me 
 to continue meeting this young lady .? Now, as her 
 brother, if you repeat your invitation to me" — his eyes 
 are very eager — " Hang me if I don't accept it, and you 
 may know what to expect ! " 
 
 "Come!" I say cheerily. "If Miss Birdie is the 
 same girl she was yesterday, the minute she doesn't 
 want to see you she'll let you know." 
 
 "Done!" cries Arthur, and his jaws shut together 
 with a click like the sound of one of his own battery 
 trace snaps. Then our hands clasp ; mine, I think, 
 tending to give encouragement, for Vermilye goes off 
 and plays billiards with me and seems in great spirits 
 the whole evening. 
 
 Naturally, I get meditating on this matter. Once or 
 twice I find myself thinking: "Hang it! If Arthur 
 should hold a winning card with my pretty sister, that 
 would be a beautiful revenge upon the governor for 
 turning his back upon me. Tivo blue uniforms in the 
 family ! " Then I mutter : ' ' Why not ? Vermilye is 
 an honorable gentleman, a man of fine family, first- 
 rate position, and large fortune. A much better match 
 for Miss Birdie in every way than some of these Balti- 
 more young gentlemen of long pedigree and impetuous 
 chivalry, but slender means, and no particular manner 
 
loo BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 of improving them. Why should I discredit my own 
 uniform ? Miss Birdie must take her chances in this 
 matter." Here I chuckle to myself, "And hang me, if 
 the dear little girl seems to be very much averse to 
 taking them on her own account ! " 
 
 Still, on consideration I conclude it is hardly fair for 
 my sister to enter upon a defensive campaign without 
 warning. Therefore, by means of one of our old foot- 
 men, Jonas, I smuggle a note to her, and, Miss Birdie 
 meeting me the next day in Monument Square, we go 
 off on a stroll together. 
 
 During this I tell her, by means of masculine hints 
 and brotherly jeers, as indirectly as I can, the impres- 
 sion I think she has made upon my comrade. 
 
 Then, Miss Clara Oriole Hamilton astounds vie. 
 Though she is sometimes a mass of blushes, and at 
 others her cheeks grow pale, her questions are very 
 straight and to the point. 
 
 "Do you think, Billy," she asks with white lips and 
 anxious eyes, " that aside from all sectional prejudice. 
 Captain Vermilye would not only be a suitable match 
 for your sister, but a man in whose hand you would be 
 happy to place mine and call yourself his brother.? " 
 
 " I do ! " I reply earnestly and frankly. There is 
 something in the girl's face — something in the girl's 
 voice that tells me it is my duty to answer her with a 
 brother's frankness. 
 
 "Thank you," she says, looking at me gratefully ; 
 then astounds me, for she murmurs : "You have made 
 me very happy, but " — here she grows very bashful — 
 " I will think about coming to the lunch. If I do come, 
 you may know that a blue uniform makes no difference 
 to me." Then suddenly she mutters, " Papa and Vir- 
 gie ! " and bursts out crying as if her heart would break. 
 
 To her I falter : "I should not have let you meet 
 him." 
 
 " Don't say that," she whispers impulsively. "God 
 bless you for doing so ! " then runs away from me. 
 
 Of this interview, I say nothing to Arthur. Conse- 
 quently he sits down to lunch with me the next time at 
 Guy's, not guessing that I have given a hint of his pas- 
 sion to my sister. As the hands of the clock move 
 round he glances eagerly and anxiously at the door 
 of the restaurant each time it opens, and grows 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. lOI 
 
 more and more gloomy, for no Birdie comes to brighten 
 our conclave with her smiles. 
 
 I grow gloomy also; though thinking of the mangled 
 state of my own affections I mutter grimly: "The 
 course of true love never did run smooth." 
 
 Suddenly, I see a change in Vermilye's face. It has 
 become radiant as the sun which is streaming through 
 the windows. 
 
 I need not ask the reason. Light footsteps are bring- 
 ing my sweet sister towards us, though there is a pecul- 
 iar set expression in her face as she murmurs : "You 
 will excuse my being late, Billy. I have had a little 
 trouble at home." 
 
 "Was it with the governor.' " I question uneasily. 
 
 " No, with Virgie. She has discovered that I — I take 
 lunch with two blue uniforms.'' And the girl's face 
 grows red as fire. 
 
 As I look upon Vermilye I know that he has deter- 
 mined that no more embarrassment of this kind shall 
 come to my pretty sister. Drawing me a step aside 
 he whispers to me : " For God's sake, give me just five 
 minutes alone with Miss Birdie ! You owe it to me 
 now ! " 
 
 " All right ! But first give me a few minutes inter- 
 view with these oysters, partridge and champagne, "I 
 whisper in his ear. 
 
 I had always known Vermilye to be a man of ex- 
 ceeding grit ; but his resolution of formally asking the 
 hand of a Baltimore belle of ultra-secession proclivities 
 and family, at third time of meeting, and he a Union 
 officer, excites my admiration for his social nerve. 
 
 I glance at Miss Birdie, and notice that my sister's 
 pretty features have an air of agitated bashfulness that 
 is foreign to them, likewise a suspicion of humility that 
 is most unusual in her. She looks to me like the bird 
 in the snare of the fowler. 
 
 " Egad," I think grimly, "some citadels are taken 
 by sudden assault more surely than by slow sap and 
 approach." 
 
 Accordingly the meal runs along, I doing the high 
 spirits for the party ; for though Arthur's conver- 
 sation is easy and unaffected, still there is a tinge of 
 anxiety in his voice, and his tones are mostly low and 
 deep — very much like those I have noticed in men just 
 
I02 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 before they head a desperate charge, where defeat 
 means probably annihilation. At proper opportunity, 
 I stroll out after a light for my cigar, and contrive to 
 occupy myself with the weed for a few minutes, then 
 return — to be astounded ! 
 
 Birdie is sitting alone, with the palest face and 
 brightest eyes. 
 
 Has Miss Rebel given Captain Yankee his cong'e in 
 short order? "So you sent poor Captain Vermilye 
 away," I suggest, chewing my moustache glumly. 
 
 "No. He went of his own accord, to — to buy the 
 engagement ring, I beheve," falters Birdie, her face a 
 mass of color now. Then she says quite haughtily : 
 "You knew what my answer must be, the moment I 
 came under these circumstances to lunch with Arthur. 
 You needn't look surprised at my using his first name ; 
 I 've been thinking of him as Arthur for the last day or 
 two." 
 
 "God bless you !" I say huskily, and hold out my 
 hand. "I know you have selected a gentleman who 
 will make you happy, if you love him." 
 
 ''If\ love him !" says the girl. "Am I not proving 
 that now?" Then she falters : " Good heavens ! Papa 
 and Virgie — how shall I tell them?" 
 
 Gazing at her, I determine that though Vermilye's 
 social nerve is very good, my pretty little sister, with 
 her soft voice and butterfly manner, has even perchance 
 a higher social courage than his, in accepting the hand 
 of a man who wears the uniform her father and her sister 
 hate ; holding herself up to the rage, scorn and hate 
 of every one who has been a companion of her child 
 hood. 
 
 "There's only one thing that I'd like changed in the 
 affair," Birdie whispers pathetically to me. 
 
 " His blue uniform ? " I suggest. 
 
 "Pooh ! I don't think of Arthur in any clothes at all !" 
 says Birdie defiantly. "No, no, of course, I don't 
 mean that. I — Billy, you — you sha'n't laugh at me ! " 
 She is red as fire now and very savage. " I — I wish 
 Arthur were not so extremely rich. They'll say that I 
 was false to my Southern birth, not for love but for 
 money." 
 
 "Pshaw ! " I return in cynic tones. " Don't let that 
 trouble you. You '11 find a very much better chance 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I03 
 
 of winning love's battle with plenty of money behind 
 you than without it." 
 
 " Nonsense !" answers the girl sharply. "You're 
 trying to make me think you are not romantic ; when, 
 Billy, I know you're the most inflammable piece of 
 masculine material on earth." 
 
 "Even more than the clothesless Arthur?" I say, 
 regarding her with the eye of a brother, privileged to 
 joke on such occasions. At which she blushes hotly, 
 and, despite herself, commences to laugh in an hyster- 
 ical, nervous way. 
 
 Fortunately, this is broken in upon by the return of 
 the ardent one. " I 've got the prettiest ring," he whis- 
 pers to her eagerly, " that I could find on Baltimore 
 Street. But we'll not put it on here." He looks at me 
 suggestively as we shake hands and I congratulate 
 him, then remarks in the coolest manner : " I say, Bill, 
 supposing I escort Birdie home this afternoon." 
 
 "Certainly," I reply, for Birdie has given me an im- 
 ploring glance ; though I feel perchance a little pang of 
 jealousy at the thought that when the lover comes, the 
 brother steps quickly to the rear. 
 
 Two or three minutes after I hear them say some- 
 thing about Druid Hill Park, and conclude that Mis? 
 Birdie's jaunt will be a much longer one on her way 
 home than it had been with me. 
 
 "Any way," I cogitate, as I look at the two depart- 
 ing together : " they'll make a very handsome couple. 
 Arthur is the best fellow in the world, and Birdie the 
 best girl I know — except one .' " 
 
BOOK III. 
 A BEAUTIFUL ENIGMA. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WASHINGTON IN 1 862. 
 
 An hour afterwards, at my quarters, a despatch from 
 Washington, ordering me to report forthwith at that 
 city, turns my thoughts for the moment to my own 
 position. 
 
 While I am pondering over this, Vermilye joins me, 
 looking a little happier, if possible, than when he left 
 me. 
 
 " Put on the engagement-ring ? " I say laughingly. 
 
 "Didn't I ! Bill, I 'm the happiest man on earth 1 " 
 
 "No fear of facing papa, eh ? " 
 
 " Not a bit ! I have settled the whole matter with 
 Birdie ; no embarrassment must come to her from which 
 I can relieve her. She shall wear my engagement-ring 
 openly in the light of day. " 
 
 " To-morrow I call upon your father — I introduce my- 
 self in the full uniform of a Captain in the United States 
 artillery — I prove to him that aside from differences of 
 political opinion, I am perfectly fitted to be his son-in- 
 law ; that I have ample fortune to support your sister 
 in every ease, elegance and distinction in life ; that as 
 my wife, she '11 move in the very best set of metro- 
 politan society." 
 
 ' ' With your uniform on, you may count on my gover- 
 nor showing you the door — he did me without mine, 
 in very quick order." 
 
 "Then I shall bow myself out," returns the Captain, 
 " but not until I distinctly inform him that I consider the 
 shoulder-straps I sport no bar to my wedding anybody ! 
 I shall also suggest to him that though I may not enter 
 his house again, there will always be a seat at my fire- 
 side for papa, when he changes his mind, — after I 
 
 104 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 105 
 
 marry his daughter ! For that I am going to do, — war 
 or no war — South or no South — North or no North ! " 
 
 " But supposing INIiss Birdie is restrained? " 
 
 "That she shall not be ! " answers Vermilye, his eyes 
 cold but glinting. "Trust me to hold what my sweet- 
 heart's sweet lips have given unto me. And trust your 
 sister also for keeping her troth." 
 
 ' ' Well, I rather imagine you and the guv'nor will 
 have a decidedly exciting, though perhaps not an en- 
 tirely pleasant interview," I remark grimly. Then I 
 ask : " And Birdie — what does she say about it .-' " 
 
 "Oh, Birdie, I hope, is happy, though I'm sure she's 
 palpitating," laughs the captain. 
 
 "Well, I'm sorry I shall not be here to see it, and 
 aid you," and I show Arthur my order to Washington. 
 
 Then, convinced of the necessity of an adviser as 
 regards my own affairs, and having very much of a 
 brother's feeling for Vermilye, I take him into my con- 
 fidence, explaining the whole of my troubles with the 
 Secretary of War and most of my adventures in Fred- 
 erick — omitting only that of my young lady captive 
 with a gray riding-habit ; I having an extreme diffi- 
 dence about confessing I have fallen in love at almost 
 first sight with a girl whom I am convinced is at least 
 the betrothed, if not the bride, of some Confederate 
 officer. 
 
 To my astonishment, Captain Vermilye, who has a 
 mathematical mind, entirely disagrees with me. He 
 says : " You'll get no promotion. Your chances in the 
 army are naught. You'd better resign at once, Bill." 
 
 " McClellan has the love and confidence of his army. 
 Stanton will not remain Secretary of War," I reply. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, for that very reason McClellan 
 will not remain in command." Here Vermilye's voice 
 grows low and cautious. "There is no wish in Wash- 
 ington to build up a Democratic fetish for the people to 
 vote for at the next presidential election. For that 
 reason McClellan — all the more so because he has 
 lately been victorious — will be deposed from command. 
 Do you suppose Mr. Secretary Stanton will let a gen- 
 eral remain who has branded him with the sentence : 
 "You have done your best to sacrifice this army ! " * 
 
 * See The Army in the Civil War, Vol. V., Antietam and Freder' 
 icksburgh, by General Francis Winthrop Palfry. — Ed. 
 
Io6 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "But McClellan has the army behind him." 
 "That would count for everything were Little Mac 
 a man like Bonaparte. McClellan now is in the posi- 
 tion to play the Caesar. Quite curiously, the Abolition 
 Republicans — and a lot of the Jacobin press — have 
 made it possible for him to play that role, and play it 
 as a patriot.* Let him walk into Washington and 
 say: 'Thou art weighed in the balance and found 
 wanting, I proclaim a provisional government,' — he 
 has the power to do so, for the moment any way ; 
 what the country at large would do afterwards I don't 
 propose to speculate upon. But I have heard such 
 whispers from the officers of the Army of the Potomac 
 that I know that McClellan has only to hint — nay 
 more, not to restrain them — and they will follow him 
 to Washington the moment he has been deposed from 
 command, to ask, with the loud and potent voice of a 
 hundred thousand veterans : ' What is the matter with 
 our victorious general ? ' f He could pose as a patriot, 
 and if he wins the war, be considered the saviour of his 
 country, not only against the politicians in the capital, 
 but against the Southern Confederacy. But if I know 
 anything of the man," adds Vermilye, "Little Mac is 
 too good a soldier, too great a patriot, and too conserv- 
 ative a gentleman to take by the force of bayonets 
 what the gods have given to a Caesar. Therefore he 
 will be deposed ; therefore he will resign his command ; 
 therefore he'll be crushed ! Were Stanton, McClellan, 
 and McClellan, Stanton, I might predict a different 
 ending. Consequently, I say to you, if you have been 
 so unfortunate as to have incurred the displeasure of the 
 Secretary of War, the sooner for your own success in 
 life you take off your shoulder-straps and go to work 
 at something else than soldiering the better for you. 
 
 * See New York Republican journals of that time (1862) ; note the 
 hints in Harper's Weekly, about a provisional government being 
 necessary; read the editorials of Horace Greeley. Unless these were 
 the ravings of lunatics, they meant that the government in Washing- 
 ton was so inefficient, so absolutely incapable of fighting a victorious 
 war, that it should be deposed by somebody. — Eu. 
 
 t It has been creditably reported that immediately on McClellan's 
 removal from command after Antietam there was a meeting of the 
 officers of the Army of the Potomac, called to do this very thing, and 
 had it not been for McClellan's own personal entreaties and influence, 
 it would have been done. — Eu. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. IO7 
 
 Of course this is confidential," whispers the artillery- 
 man. 
 
 "As one brother to another," I say, and make him 
 happy with the speech, though I add glumly : " I do 
 not think I shall take your advice ; at all events, not 
 till I have gone to Washington and seen what is before 
 me." 
 
 " Very well, every one makes his own bed," returns 
 my chum philosophically, "and I've got to see about 
 making mine now." 
 
 So Vermilye goes with me to the Baltimore depot 
 and bids me bo7i voyage. 
 
 Two hours after I am in Washington, and taking up 
 my quarters in my F Street boarding-house, discover 
 that my provost-marshal fame has preceded me, and 
 I am regarded not only as an intense Union man, but 
 as a tremendous cut-the-throat hater of all Southerners. 
 
 Mrs. Lorimer, my landlady, as she greets me at the 
 front door, whispers : "We read in the papers about 
 you, my noble boy, in that hot-bed of secession. I 
 was afraid from what the Baltvnore Comet said, you 
 might be assassinated on the streets of that town for 
 your intense loyalty." 
 
 Mrs. Lorimer poses as the widow of a dead diplo- 
 matist and declares she has been ruined by the aboli- 
 tion of slavery in the District of Columbia ; though as 
 she has been engaged in the boarding-house business 
 for twenty years, this measure of the government can 
 hardly have affected her social status. At all events, 
 it hasn't affected her patriotism, as noting on which 
 side her bread is buttered, her best front parlor being 
 rented to Miss Lucy Albemarle, the beauty of the Treas- 
 ury office and putative niece of the sturdy Union Con- 
 gressman Cobblestone, whose influence has obtaned 
 for Miss Albemarle that appointment, and her other 
 guests being mostly of northern proclivities and senti- 
 ments, Mrs. Imogene Lorimer is now shouting for the 
 Star Spangled Banner as loudly as any boarding- 
 house-keeper in Washington. 
 
 Further evidences of my fame as an intense Unionist 
 come to me at the supper table that evening. Two 
 New England girls, clerks in the Interior department, 
 congratulate me upon my war-record, and a fascinating 
 widow, whose chief occupation is lobbying contractor's 
 
I08 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 bills through congress by her smiles upon its members, 
 glances at me and suggests, rather flirtatiously: "1 
 suppose, now that the Baltimore girls have turned 
 their backs on you, you will thoroughly enjoy feminine 
 Washington society. " This is emphasized by a look 
 of her lustrous and drooping eyes that have been very 
 effective upon legislators during the last session. 
 
 But little Napoleon Finnaker, of the Quartermaster- 
 General's office, perchance thinking to add to his own 
 military splendor and glory by my patriotism, rises 
 from his place at the dining-table, and walking over, 
 taps me on the shoulder, and says loudly and patron- 
 izingly : "We've been talking about you in the War 
 Department, Captain Hamilton." 
 
 "Indeed !" I say surprised. 
 
 "Yes! You've been doing great things in that 
 secession haunt, and doing them nobly. Provost- 
 Marshal in Baltimore!" His voice is a roar. "By 
 the stars and stripes, how your secession relatives must 
 have ground their Rebel teeth when you captured those 
 three Confederate sympathizers! How all your Balti- 
 more friends must love you ! Oh, Yankee Doodle ! I 
 think I see papa's glance, and also hear Miss Virgie's 
 and Miss Birdie's kind words to their Union brother. 
 The papers here state that you were requested to leave 
 Mrs. Coleman's dance the night your appointment was 
 published. I hope you insulted a few of those damned 
 blue-blood copperheads. I would, you bet ! You see, 
 there's a kindred feeling between us two, both out-and- 
 out fighters and both cut off from active service. You, 
 by your parole ; I, by the tears of a widowed mother. 
 By John Brown's body ! I never get down to the Long 
 Bridge but I have a terrible struggle to hold myself 
 from going over into Virginia and having another crack 
 at the Rebs." 
 
 "Yes, you haven't had that pleasure lately," I re- 
 mark sarcastically, Mr. Finnaker's suggestions about 
 Baltimore friends and relatives making me inclined to 
 be surly with him. 
 
 "Yes ! Not since Pope's Second Battle of Bull Run. 
 Then, I rode to the front and as usual had a horse shot 
 under me. Didn't I. Mrs. Lorimer.?" 
 
 This last is in savage interrogation to the landlady 
 who is indulging in a quiet feeble snicker, having surrep- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 109 
 
 titiously served Mr. Finnaker's breakfast to him in bed 
 on the morning of the Second Bull Run, that hero hav- 
 ing- spent that day quivering between bed-clothes. 
 
 But no matter what the opinions of INIrs. Lorimer and 
 her guests are in regard to Mr. Finnaker's war-record, 
 there apparently is none in regard to mine, when I re- 
 port at Secretary Stanton's oftice on Saturday morning, 
 for I am very warmly received by the officers in wait- 
 ing and congratulated on my Baltimore record. 
 
 After dawdling away my time among reporting staff 
 officers, eager army contractors and people with griev- 
 ances of all kinds, from the mother of a deserter who 
 has been sentenced by court-martial to be shot, to a 
 congressman who is kicking about a transportation 
 contract, for my affair now seems to be routine busi- 
 ness, old Madison shows me in once more to the office 
 from which I had departed pursued by official anath- 
 ema. 
 
 In reply to my salute, Mr. Secretary Stanton, who 
 had reviled me on my departure, receives me quite 
 affably upon my return to Washington. 
 
 "Having proved you, I know 1 can trust you now, 
 Captain Hamilton," he says, regarding me quite be- 
 nignly through his glasses and stroking his long beard 
 contemplatively. 
 
 "Proved me.''' I stammer. "I do not understand. 
 Why trust me more now, Mr. Secretary, than you did 
 before .'' " 
 
 " Because I have put you through the furnace, and 
 you have come out molten gold. When I signed the 
 order making you Special Provost-Marshal of Mary- 
 land, where your father and your family and the friends 
 of your youth — all rabid secessionists — were living and 
 plotting, I said : " If he stands this, there's no further 
 doubt of the unhesitating loyalty of Captain William 
 Hamilton." 
 
 "And you," I mutter, "have cut me off from my 
 family — my friends ? They hate me worse than if I 
 were a Northern soldier." 
 
 There is a desperation in my voice that seems to please 
 him. 
 
 "And made you all the better Union man for it," 
 he laughs. "If you could resist their entreaties to 
 lean to the Rebel cause, and have stood up under their 
 
110 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 contempt and contumely for not doing so, I can trust 
 you in the middle of Lee's Rebel army. They hate 
 you — you hate them : that is the proper kind of war 
 feeling : the better hater, the better warrior. Apropos 
 of that, until you're exchanged, I want a man who can 
 resist bright eyes, for a certain purpose. You will re- 
 main in Washington, under full pay." 
 
 "And my duties ? " 
 
 " They will be explained to you when the time comes. 
 Do them well, and I forget your indiscreet answers to 
 Stonewall Jackson's questions before he captured Har- 
 per's Ferry." 
 
 Wondering what the deuce he wants of me, I half 
 laugh : "Thank you for a very pleasant way of spend- 
 ing the days of my parole," and turn to leave him. 
 
 But he calls me back to him and remarks: "You 
 must look to me for promotion. He who stands by 
 me, I stand by him." 
 
 "Thank you once more, Mr. Secretary," I reply, 
 saluting ; and leave him gazing affably after me. 
 
 As why should not he ? For in his pocket he has a 
 document that brought a shriek of discontent, a mutter- 
 ing of rage, from a hundred thousand veterans en- 
 camped in Virginia — the order for his enemy's, but their 
 beloved general's official head. 
 
 Getting out from this interview, I stand for a mo- 
 ment on the lawn in front of the old three-story brick 
 building, with its white facings and semicircular win- 
 dow heads, which at that time was known as "The War 
 Department," the white columns in front of it contrast- 
 ing strongly with the prevailing gray of its time-worn 
 brick, and wonder what the devil Mr. Stanton wants me 
 to do that will require me to resist bright eyes. 
 
 Suddenly a shudder goes through me. Can it be any- 
 thing connected with the subject about which he spoke 
 to me before — my captive of that night on the Potomac ? 
 
 Then I speculate; " Shall I meet her.?" and look 
 round at this great city of the war — this capital sur- 
 rounded by an armed encampment — this place where 
 the delights of peace, the fetes of fashion, the beauty 
 of ladies, mingle with the rumbling of artillery wag- 
 ons, the tramp of marching regiments, and the rattle 
 of anibulances as they glide to the military hospitals .' 
 
 Standing where I am, the city makes a beautiful but 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Ill 
 
 varied panorama, Immediately to my right, set back 
 in its grounds, is the White House, seeming very bright 
 this sunny day— where Abraham Lincohi, with all the 
 cares of a nation in its death-grapple upon his shoul- 
 ders, still maintains that calm serenity, that pleasant 
 bonhomie, that enable him to give tears and sympa- 
 thy to the suffering soldier, jovial Western anecdotes 
 and backwoods' parables to besieging politicians, and 
 ofttimes sound military advice, told with homely com- 
 mon sense, to his erring generals. Beyond that, looms 
 the Treasury Department. 
 
 Directly in front of me across Pennsylvania Avenue 
 stands the building that is now known as Corcoran's 
 Art Gallery, but at this time is occupied by the Quar- 
 termaster-General of the United States Army. To the 
 right of this is Lafayette Square, with its colossal Jack- 
 son statue amid pretty plants and parterres. 
 
 Just across Seventeenth Street, on the corner imme- 
 diately to the west of the War Department, is that well- 
 known old brick bar-room that we used to call Mulloy's, 
 I think, a resort celebrated in those days as being the 
 drinking-place of generals— chiefly political brigadiers. 
 Adjoining this, further to the West, in the direction 
 of Georgetown, are a number of small cigar-stores, low 
 groggeries and places of disreputable savor gradually 
 growing more disreputable as they approach the low 
 flatstowards the Potomac, untilthey reach their apogee 
 of disrepute, crime, drunkenness and lewdness in the 
 district immediately surrounding the great Quarter- 
 master's stores on Twenty-second and G Streets, whose 
 immense warerooms run pretty close to the Potomac, 
 where they join the extensive yards upon the river- 
 bank filled with the lumber and marine supplies of the 
 Quartermaster's Department. Back of these is the 
 Potomac, and beyond its muddy stream the Virginia 
 hills, crowned with their outlying forts and decorated 
 Avith the white encampments of protecting Union troops. 
 On my right hand, in great contrast to the squalor 
 of the low grounds towards the West, runs the same 
 great avenue, but it leads to fashion, wealth, and the 
 struggling concourse of the better half of the inhabi- 
 tants of this war-time capital — the great centre of the 
 hive— from the White House to the Halls of Congress. 
 Carriages roll about ; in them beautiful women, 
 
112 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 fashionably gowned, and sometimes more sober equi- 
 pages carrying cabin et-oflScers or foreign ministers. 
 Generals and staff officers prance about on horseback, 
 though most of these are political warriors, who have 
 never yet smelt powder, and never will if they can 
 help it. 
 
 Along the sidewalks throng the crowds of a great 
 military capital. Officers and soldiers, of the local 
 garrison or called here by military business, con- 
 trast greatly with the hurrying civihans, though their 
 uniforms of dark blue mostly show the signs of hard 
 service and actual war. Government contractors, 
 •who are nearly all very bloodthirsty, crying for 
 Southern gore with their mouths, and fleecing with 
 both hands the public purse, each of them doing 
 the damage of a Rebel regiment, jostle with applicants 
 for office of all kinds and the general political bummers 
 and hangers-on of a great nation which is giving with 
 lavish hand for its protection and its existence — the 
 scavengers of the treasury. Secession-sympathizers, 
 slyly glorying at each victory of Lee or defeat of the 
 Federals, are mixed with the Union masses, the great, 
 strong arms which upheld this country in her travail, 
 and Jacobin politicians, calling every man " copper- 
 head," but themselves. 
 
 These are now leavened with numerous department 
 clerks, both male and female, for the beauties of the 
 Treasury Department, sometimes yclept its "courte- 
 sans," many of them being proteges and cheres amies ot 
 Congressmen and Senators, or those high in political 
 power, have come out this lovely afternoon to give 
 life, beauty, vivacity and wickedness to Pennsylvania 
 Avenue. 
 
 And each and every one upon those crowded streets, 
 is dominated by the awful war-time passions of civil 
 contest. 
 
 Among the gentlemen-attaches of the various offices, 
 I note little Napoleon Finnaker strolling from the 
 Quartermaster-General's counting-rooms opposite. 
 
 As I walk down the avenue he joins me, linking his 
 arm in mine with his usual assurance. There is an air 
 of mystery about the dapper creature as he remarks, 
 with a furtive gesture toward the War Department : 
 " We did a great thing in there to-day." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. II3 
 
 "And what was that ? " I ask laughingly. 
 
 His answer stuns me. 
 
 "We deposed McClellan from command of the Army 
 of the Potomac and put in Burnside. " 
 
 " Impossible ! " I gasp. 
 
 " Fact, just the same. Nobody knows it but a few 
 of us, who are the inside clique. Keep it dark ! " 
 
 " De — deposed from his command ! " I stammer, as 
 the thought flies through me that I am fortunate in 
 having regained Stanton's favor. 
 
 "Yes, deposed — for absolute military incapacity. 
 Let Lee escape from him after Antietam. By the Star- 
 Spangled Banner, if I had been in his line of battle, I'd 
 have shown Little Mac a wrinkle or two ! Why didn't 
 he press Lee ^— press him ! That's the tactic — press 
 HIM ! Between ourselves, we suspect him of dis- 
 loyalty. " 
 
 At this news I give a sigh — as over one hundred 
 thousand other veterans do this day ; — perchance 
 guessing at the military incapacity that is going to 
 doom fourteen thousand of them to useless death and 
 wounds in that great Fredericksburg slaughter-house 
 blunder. 
 
 Whereupon little Finnaker looks at me sternly. He 
 says : "A word of advice to you, my cavalry buck. 
 If you want to get in out of the wet, drop all McClellan 
 sentiment. No Democrat is going to get very far in 
 this army, without a pull-down. Listen to me — I'm 
 on the inside ! " 
 
 And so he seems to be ; for in the course of the next 
 week or two I discover that Napoleon Finnaker seems 
 to be on the inside of everything. War Department 
 secrets in some way drift in to him ; social news is at 
 his finger-ends. For he is quite a dandy at all local 
 balls and parties, dancing in a volunteer uniform that 
 throws a brigadier-general's into the shade. For this 
 very purpose he has formed and recruited, all by him- 
 self, on paper in distant Illinois, a military company — 
 of which he is the sole member — and having elected 
 himself captain of the same. Napoleon has naturally 
 selected his own uniform, which is gorgeous beyond 
 compare. With this he flourishes at social functions, 
 doings the heavy military swell in a very languid, fin- 
 
114 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 nicky, yet at times ferocious manner, especially after 
 battles fought near the capital. 
 
 His babble makes the stroll down the avenue a short 
 one, for he knows every one, and our walk is a run- 
 ning- comment from him on passers-by. 
 
 '•' Look there ! Do you see that gal.? She's Treas- 
 ury — Division C, Room Number 21. Ah, how do you 
 do, Miss Albemarle.?" and he takes off his hat and 
 bows to the department beauty. " Our star boarder," 
 he babbles. "You see, I had something to do with 
 her appointment," he whispers. "Lucy Albemarle's 
 particular friend, Congressman Cobblestone, implored 
 me to use my influence. If you want to get on Cob- 
 blestone's right side, show her attention, but for the 
 Lord's sake don't make him jealous; the aged Con- 
 gressman's like a sultan when the boys get round his 
 putative niece ! " and the little fellow goes into a 
 hideous guffaw. Suddenly he cries : " Oh, by George ! 
 there's Mrs. Senator Rufus J. Bream ! Her equipage — 
 that one dashing up the avenue — two white horses. 
 I selected them for her : I am said to be the best judge 
 of horseflesh in Washington. Rufus is a great chum 
 of mine ; has supported me for promotion twice with 
 the Quartermaster-General. I back him up when he 
 makes his great war speeches. He's the man we war 
 officials like; he has demanded that the quota of troops 
 from every State, except his own, be increased. You 
 should listen to his eloquence ! after I hear him I feel 
 like cutting Southern throats, cursed if I don't." 
 
 Under this gentleman's tutelage, I stroll down the 
 avenue, being introduced by him right and left, and 
 chancing to meet a crony of his, one Henri Dubois 
 Arago, a handsome young Creole, we step into Wil- 
 lard's for a game of billiards. 
 
 " Mr. Arago, besides holding an important clerkship 
 in our office," Napoleon whispers to me between shots, 
 "represents a syndicate that has a permit from us, to 
 buy seized and confiscated rebel cotton in Louisiana. 
 Arago's as black a Republican as Horace Greeley," be 
 adds vivaciously, "and as liberal as a gold-broker 
 with his cash." 
 
 This intense Republicanism in a man from Louisiana 
 seems to me a little curious, though this is easily ap- 
 parent, as Arago dispenses lavish patriotism M'ith a 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. llg 
 
 loud yet melodiously sensuous voice to his surround- 
 ing friends and liberal tips to the billiard attaches dur- 
 ing our hour's exercise with cue and balls. 
 
 Getting away from this, however, I at last find my- 
 self at my. F Street boarding-house, to be surprised by 
 a card requesting the pleasure of my company at a 
 soiree dansaniezX. Mrs. RufusJ. Bream's, on Wednesday, 
 the twelfth of November. 
 
 That evening, on his invitation, in company with 
 Mr. Finnaker, who acts as guide, and Mr. Arago, who 
 joins us, I kill time in the Capitol, seeing a play at 
 Ford's Theatre and afterwards dropping a treasury note 
 in Chamberlin's great gambling-house, where at last 
 McClellan's deposition has got noised about late at 
 night. Here Napoleon swellsaround, among congress- 
 men and army contractors, remarking : " We of the 
 War Department did it," and introducing me as a 
 staunch IMaryland Unionist who as provost-marshal 
 at Baltimore had made the gilded secesh youth of that 
 place toe the loyal line and sing the "Star-Spangled 
 Banner" and "Yankee Doodle" instead of "Dixie." 
 
 To my astonishment, I discover that nearly every 
 one I meet seems to think me not only a Union man, 
 but a personal hater of every Southerner from Jeff Davis 
 down to his lowest rebel private. 
 
 I am too down-hearted over my loss of boyhood's 
 friends and my father's and my sisters' love to take 
 the trouble to deny this, and go about in a gloomy and 
 morose manner w^hich seems to add to the impression 
 that I am a stern and most determined loyalist. 
 
 Leaving Arago, who seems an inveterate and eager 
 gambler, still engaged over the board of green cloth, 
 where his eyes sparkle with love of gain and his black 
 frizzly hair andjet moustache seem to bristle with excite- 
 ment, little Nap Finnaker and I, about two on Sunday 
 morning, stroll out of the brilliantly lighted rooms on 
 our way to our boarding-house. 
 
 On our walk home, probably some recollection of 
 Mrs. Bream's invitation turns my mind to my shadowy 
 fiancee. How will iNIiss Eva Vernon Ashley regard my 
 vindictive Unionism } Perhaps this may give the girl 
 an opportunity she may have been longing for, an ex- 
 cuse to break off the slight bond that connects us, and 
 leave me free — free to follow the girl in the gray riding- 
 
Il6 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 habit. Pshaw ! what good will that do me ? Is not 
 the girl in the gray riding-habit the sweetheart of a 
 Confederate trooper? As we stride along, I ask a few 
 questions of Mr. Finnaker. 
 
 "You're as much au /ait w'lih society as y©u are with 
 the War Department } " 
 
 " Well, rather, my boy ! " 
 
 "You're an intimate friend of Mrs. Senator Rufus J. 
 Bream .? " 
 
 " You bet ! Why do you ask .? " 
 
 "I have an invitation from that lady for a dance at 
 her house next Wednesday." 
 
 "Yes. My mention of your name probably got it 
 for you, my boy. I was telling her last night of your 
 provost-marshal adventure," is the confident answer. 
 
 "You remember a ball Mrs. Bream gave some two 
 or three weeks since.'" 
 
 "Well, I should ejaculate!" His deep voice is 
 strident will pride. "What I don't know about that 
 ball isn't worth knowing ! " 
 
 ' ' Do you recollect meeting there a young lady, Miss 
 Eva Ashley .? " 
 
 "Eva Ashley, the belle of the army? Tra la la la! 
 I danced with her two or three times ! " and little Fin- 
 naker skips about humming the latest waltz ; then goes 
 on : "1 tell you what, my cavalry buck ! she'd suit 
 you ! Miss Eva is as pretty as a new Government 
 ten-thousand-dollar bond, and as good a Unionist as 
 the Goddess of Liberty on it ! " 
 
 "As good a — a Unionist ? " I stammer. 
 
 "Well, rather! She's Mrs. Rufus J. Bream's niece! 
 When she first came to Washington a few months ago, 
 Miss Pocahontas — she comes from Virginia you know 
 — was inclined to be a leetle offish to shoulder-straps, 
 but we boys in blue soon brought her up. Besides, 
 living in his family, who could resist the inspired elo- 
 quence of our great war orator, the Senator himself? 
 Bream's voice is almost as good a one as mine. Miss 
 Eva is now the belle of the Quartermaster's Depart- 
 ment." 
 
 "Ah, and flirts with every brigadier of you, I pre- 
 sume ! " I mutter rather savagely. What dog, even if 
 he doesn't want the bone, but objects to any other cur 
 having: it ! 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. II7 
 
 "Well ! Hm— that is— hm— hm— a little. She's al- 
 ways so excited about our army movements, you 
 know. Lord ! any time, I will talk army to her, I 
 can get half an hour's tete-a-tete. She is so inter- 
 ested in co?i/e?np/a/ed movements, the disposition of our 
 army corps and plans of our generals, don't you see. 
 In a few days I have promised to take her through 
 our Quartermaster-General's Department and let her 
 see its inner workings. Mrs. Bream will act as her 
 chaperone." 
 
 But I make no answer to these remarks ; I am too 
 astonished by them ! That Miss Eva Ashley, the 
 daughter of an old Virginia house, connected with half 
 the leading families across the Potomac, should have 
 become a dyed-in-the-wool Unionist astounds me. 
 
 Finally, I conclude philosophically, if I am a Union 
 officer why shouldn't she be a loyal girl ? Then mutter 
 disconsolately: "Egad! My Baltimore provost-mar- 
 shalship may make her even more faithful to the vows 
 of her early youth than before. By the Lord Harry, 
 at Mrs. Bream's dance I'll see this army belle and — and 
 settle my matter with her ! " 
 
 With this rather grim reflection, I turn in and go to 
 sleep, even amid the all-night bustle of this war-time 
 capital, for several new batteries of light artillery, ap- 
 parently ordered to reinforce the army, are rumbling 
 through the streets on their way to the Long Bridge to 
 cross into Virginia. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MR. ARAGO'S TREASURY GIRL. 
 
 On Sunday, arising late in the day, I spend most of 
 my time in unpacking my baggage and arranging for 
 a prolonged stay in Washington, engaging for this 
 purpose a little private parlor in addition to my bed- 
 room. 
 
 This done, I stroll to Willard's, to find the town ex- 
 cited over the news of McClellan's removal from com- 
 mand, such reports coming of the rage and anguish 
 of his army at being deprived of their beloved chief as 
 
Il8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 make a good many high in authority, in Washington 
 this day, bear very white and anxious faces. 
 
 Early on Monday morning, however, I discover I 
 have an affair on my hands that for the moment drives 
 all else out of my thoughts. 
 
 Coming down to a languid and late breakfast, I find 
 on my plate several letters, bearing the Baltimore post- 
 mark. 
 
 Noting these, little Finnaker, whose eyes seem every- 
 where, forgets his omelette and coffee, and remarks 
 joyously yet jeeringly: "Good news from home, eh.''" 
 and rubs his hands gleefully. "Papa sends his bless- 
 ing and the young ladies their kindest wishes to the 
 Union Provost-Marshal, eh?" 
 
 But I am too busy over my correspondence to break 
 his cursed head, which is my first inipulse. 
 
 As I read, I discover a crisis has come in my family, 
 and that Arthur Vermilye and Birdie Hamilton will 
 very shortly elope. 
 
 In the afternoon, trying to get out of my head this 
 matter, in which I can do no good by personal inter- 
 ference, and may do much harm, I saunter down to 
 see Lieutenant Harrod, of my troop. This young 
 officer, during his parole, is employed as Under-Quarter- 
 master in the great Government Storehouse on twenty- 
 second and G Streets. 
 
 As I pass the office of the War Deparment, I can't 
 help wondering what curious mission Mr. Secretary 
 Stanton intends to employ me upon. Somehow I grow 
 eager to discover it. 
 
 A moment later, passing Malloy's Generals' Bar-Room 
 at the corner, I observe Mr. Henri Arago saunter out 
 of the cigar store just beyond it. This place has been 
 pointed out to me as frequented by secession-sym- 
 pathizers, probably on account of its immediate prox- 
 imity to Mulloy's bar-room ; its hangers-on hoping to 
 pick up stray bits of military information from the con- 
 vivial chat of Union officers over their whisky, most 
 of which will drift across the Potomac by underground 
 mail-routes to Lee and other Southern generals. 
 
 Mr. Arago has apparently been in the place buying 
 a cigar, for he is lighting one as he comes out. As he 
 encounters me, he seems to give a start of annoyance, 
 though a moment after his face becomes cordial. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. II9 
 
 With effusive greeting he offers me a Havana from 
 his case, remarking: "Captain Hamilton, these are 
 the finest Bouquets Especiales in Washington. Permit 
 me to give you a local hint ; if you want a good cigar, 
 Bermudas in there will sell it you, especially if you 
 mention my name. I don't give this information to 
 many people, otherwise the thieving Don would raise 
 the price on me." 
 
 Accepting and lighting up, I find the cigar a mag- 
 nificent one. 
 
 "You passed a very pleasant Sunday, I hope, Mr. 
 Arago," I say carelessly. 
 
 " Yes ; but a curious one for me. I went to church 
 in the evening." 
 
 " I presume you had an attraction .? " 
 
 "Well, yes ; I escorted Mrs. Senator Bream and her 
 niece." 
 
 "Ah, Miss Ashley ! I believe, is very pretty ! " I re- 
 mark. 
 
 At my words, for one moment, a peculiar startled 
 and agitated look flies over Arago's sensitive Creole 
 features. Then suddenly his eyes glow, with the 
 light, I think, of passion. 
 
 " Miss Ashley is very beau-ti-ful," he says softly and 
 lingeringly, as a ring of blue vapor floats out from his 
 rather sensuous lips; "but au revoir. I am behhid 
 my time already at the Quartermaster-General's," and 
 suddenly bidding me good-bye, he hastily crosses the 
 street to take his place, I presume, at his desk in the 
 Government office. 
 
 I carelessly wonder if Arago is smitten by the charms 
 of Miss Ashley ; for several passing expressions I have 
 caught from other officers and gentlemen in the last 
 day or two have conveyed to me the idea that my 
 ^\xi?X\VQ fiancee is very popular in Washington society. 
 
 A few minutes afterward I turn off the avenue, and 
 going down Twenty-second Street make my way 
 through long trains of army wagons, even now loading 
 with supplies for the front, many of them driven by 
 half-drunken teamsters, and approach the Quartermas- 
 ter's immense storehouses. 
 
 In this vicinity I am impressed by two things : first, 
 the generous provision of the Government for the wants 
 of its great army ; second, the enormous preparations 
 
120 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 to despoil, of both virtue and money, the eight thou- 
 sand attaches, clerks, laborers and enlisted men that 
 toil in this Government hive, in surrounding debauch- 
 ery, prepared for them in the numerous low haunts 
 of drink and women that are entrenched about Uncle 
 Sam's depot ; two sides of a great square being one 
 mass of the lowest kind of army groggeries and camp 
 women's houses.* 
 
 In the Depot Quartermaster's office I am heartily 
 greeted by my first lieutenant. Campaigning together 
 has made us strong friends. In answer to my inqui- 
 ries, Harrod informs me that Cartwright, the Junior 
 Lieutenant of the troop, has a desk in the Quarter- 
 master General's main offices during his parole ; that 
 most of the members of the troop until exchanged are 
 being employed on various duties in the great army 
 depots of Washington, and that Sergeant Lommox, who 
 had escaped with despatches from me the night I had 
 been captured, is now acting as mounted orderly at the 
 Quartermaster-General's office. 
 
 With most of this I am already acquainted, as the 
 powers that be have already informed me that they 
 wish to keep my troop intact until exchanged ; then 
 add it in a body to our regiment, which is now at the 
 front, minus Troop A. 
 
 Even while they are talking, among the various 
 orderlies arriving with the numerous requisitions for 
 supplies, Lommox comes riding up, and pullmg from 
 his waist-belt an order from the Quartermaster-General, 
 goes in with it to the Depot-Quartermaster. 
 
 Two minutes afterward the gallant Irishman joins 
 me and Harrod, and saluting, says: "Begorra! 
 Happy I am to see you alive, Cap, though I had a 
 close shave of it meself after I left the little bridge. 
 A hull Rebel regiment let loose on me an' I had to 
 jump the fences and take to the fields. Musha, I think 
 I must have flanked a hull brigade of Rebs. When I 
 saw their force I gave you and the rest of the boys up 
 for lost." 
 
 * Near Twenty-second and G Streets, Headquarters of the Depot 
 Quartermaster, two sides of an entire square were occupied by tiie 
 lowest groggeries, wlierein at all hours of the night could be seen the 
 common soldier, the teamster and the mechanic. — Lafayette C. 
 Baker's Secret Service. — Ed. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 121 
 
 "Well, we were captured while you escaped," I 
 remark. 
 
 "Sure, an' it's little good that did me. I'd jist as 
 well be paroled as the rest of yez. Instead of riding 
 down Rebels, I am only using a fine charger to gallop 
 up and down F Strate with requisitions for supplies 
 and transportation, whin, after Antietam, I hoped to 
 be fighting under Little Mac. But divil a chance I'll 
 get now, they've — they've cut poor Mac's head off." 
 And tears came in the honest trooper's eyes. 
 
 " Well, we'll be exchanged soon," says Harrod 
 cheerily. 
 
 "That's what I am hoping," remarks Lommox. 
 "for it comes hard on to me to take orders from little 
 upshtart Government clerks who have never raised 
 sabre or pulled trigger, and I could baste the life out of 
 'em with one little hand." He extends an enormous paw 
 and goes on savagely, " Ther's that little Napoleon 
 Finniky ! Some day when he puts on style wid me, 
 I'll be knocking his head against the side of the War 
 Office ! " 
 
 "For God's sake, don't do that ! " I say, laughing. 
 "There's the guard-house here as well as a guard-tent 
 at the front." 
 
 ' ' Divil take me ! Don't I know that as well as any 
 of yez ? Begorra, it's always full here ! " remarks the 
 Sergeant, as, with a grin, he mounts his horse and gal- 
 lops on his way to headquarters. 
 
 A few minutes after, Harrod getting leave of absence, 
 anxious to get away from the interminable din of this 
 Government beehive, we stroll out from it, and saunter 
 down towards the Potomac through the great piles of 
 lumber, pontoons, rigging and marine army stores, 
 which have been accumulated for Government use. 
 
 "I imagine we'll be sending a lot of these to the 
 front soon," remarks Harrod, tapping one of the pon- 
 toons. 
 
 "Indeed ! Why ?" I ask carelessly. 
 
 " There's a rumor somehow got round here that the 
 army under Burnside is going to Richmond by way of 
 Fredericksburg. " 
 
 But I pay little heed to this, as we very shortly get to 
 discussing the various members of my troop, whether 
 they can all be got together in a hurry, for both of us 
 
122 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 have a latent hope of quick exchange and active work 
 at the front. I ask individually after the members of 
 my command, for an officer who does not take a per- 
 sonal interest in his men will never get efficient service 
 out of them. Finally, I leave Harrod, after inviting 
 him to join me and Cartwright, our Junior Lieutenant, 
 at a supper at Wormley's the next evening. 
 
 With this idea in my mind, I return to the Quarter- 
 master-General's, to find Cartwright at work at a Gov- 
 ernment desk. In answer to my inquiry as to how he 
 likes clerking, my young fighting lieutenant smiles 
 grimly and dashes his pen away. " By Kentucky Tom- 
 cats," he snarls, " I feel like a rooster with his head cut 
 off. What's a fellow good for Muthout a sword in his 
 hand now.? Do you reckon that dandy Cock-a-doodle 
 would do much towards helping us lick Jeff Davis ? " 
 and he points to little Finnaker who is pushing his way 
 to me and calling out : " How are you, Provost-Mar- 
 shal?" Then Cartwright asks eagerly about our 
 chances of early exchange, and accepts my invitation 
 to meet Harrod and myself the next evening. 
 
 It is growing dark as I leave the Quartermaster- 
 General's Office and go to Wormley's to make my 
 arrangement for a convival evening with my two sub- 
 alterns. Finding I am late for supper at IMrs. Lorimer's, 
 I remain in the restaurant and dine there, and coming 
 out from this, it being now dusk, receive an extraordi- 
 nary surprise. 
 
 I have turned from Pennsylvania Avenue and am 
 walking on one of the more quiet streets. Striding 
 rapidly along, I overtake a lady and gentleman walk- 
 ing in front of me. The gloom prevents my noticing 
 anything except that the lady is very graceful, and the 
 man apparently young and vigorous. Evidently too 
 interested in their conversation, for they are speaking 
 very earnestly together, to notice anybody else, their 
 ears do not catch my overtaking footsteps. 
 
 Hesitating to jostle them, as the sidewalk is narrow, 
 I turn out and cross the street. As I do so, a few 
 words in a familiar voice catch my ear. They are : 
 "Make sure I will give the despatch to Lommox. " 
 The name of my old sergeant attracts my attention. 
 The voice is that of ]\Ir. Arago of the Quartermaster- 
 General's Office. 
 
HILLY HAMILTON. I23 
 
 Arrived on the opposite sidewalk, I happen to glance 
 at them again. They are just passing under the gas- 
 light. 
 
 My heart gives a jump. The lady he is speaking to, 
 as well as I can discern by the flickering light, is my ex- 
 captive of the Potomac. For a moment I stand uncer- 
 tain. Then 1 am sure ! Have I not seen that bright face 
 and those blue eyes lighted up dimly by camp-fire on the 
 Potomac ; by coal-oil lamp in the hotel at Frederick.? 
 After a moment's consideration, I make a step or two 
 to overtake her, to greet her, but they have passed on 
 into the gloom. The rencontre might embarrass her. 
 
 I go to my boarding-house wondering what the 
 deuce she is doing here in Washington ? How is it 
 she's talking to ^Ir. Arago of the Quartermaster- 
 General's Office ? Why has he mentioned to her the 
 name of my sergeant ? Anyway, I can now discover 
 her name. Arago will at least be able to tell me that. 
 
 I go to Willard's, that evening, but he is not there, 
 then later to Chamberlin's. Here Mr. Arago is losing 
 some of the booty of his cotton ventures in Louisiana, 
 for he seems to be in a very bad humor. It is rather 
 difficult to get much opportunity for conversation with 
 a man deep in the mysteries of practical Faro. 
 Besides, in the heterogeneous crowd of even the best 
 Washington gambling-house, any mention of a lady's 
 name would be almost an insult to her. 
 
 However, curiosity drags me on, and, waiting im- 
 patiently, when Mr. Arago ceases play for a few 
 minutes and seats himself at the magnificent supper- 
 table, where a feast fit for Lucullus is served to the 
 votaries of chance each night, I contrive to occupy the 
 chair next him. 
 
 Over our meal, I incidentally remark : "That was a 
 very pretty girl I saw on your arm this evening." 
 
 For a moment he looks at me surprised, and returns 
 uneasily : "I only remember meeting you this morn- 
 ing. Captain Hamilton." 
 
 "No, it was too dark, and you were too interested 
 to see me," I whisper laughingly. "It was on the 
 corner of Thirteenth and E Streets." 
 
 For half a second his moustache twitches ; then he 
 mutters : "You saw her face.? " 
 
 "Only sufficiently to know that she is beautiful." 
 
124 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Ah, yes! diahle ! I remember now, " he laughs; 
 then sneers, showing his white teeth: "Most of the 
 young ladies in Clark's Printing Department of the 
 Treasury are pretty — very pretty." 
 
 A suggestive laugh that comes up from one or two 
 near-by gamesters, who are discussing their terrapin 
 and canvas-backs, at the name of Clark's Printing De- 
 partment young ladies, closes my lips, for at this time 
 there are some curious and horrible rumors floating 
 about Washington in regard to the ladies of that par- 
 ticular department of the Treasury. Many an innocent 
 girl being unjustly judged for the light conduct of her 
 sisters in office.* 
 
 With a shudder, I think : "Can it be possible .? Can 
 she be — .? " But here something comes into my heart 
 that tells me that either I have not seen my lovely ex- 
 captive of the Potomac in his company, or that Henri 
 Dubois Arago is an infernal cur and liar ! " 
 
 If the first, all right ! 
 
 If the second, I will shove his cursed insinuation 
 down his throat at the first convenient opportunity. 
 
 But going home, just the same I have an unpleasant 
 night of it. 
 
 * The minority report presented in Congress, in 1864, presents the 
 following picture of the immoralities which prevailed in the Treasury 
 Department at that time : 
 
 " These affidavits disclose a mass of immorality and profligacy, 
 the more atrocious as these women were employees of Clark, hired 
 and paid by him with the pubhc money. These women seem to have 
 been selected, in the Printing Bureau, for their youth and personal 
 attractions. Neither the laws of God, nor of man, the institution of 
 the Sabbath nor common decencies of life seem to have been 
 respected by Clark in his conduct with these women. A Treasury 
 Bureau — there, where is printed the money — representative, or ex- 
 pressive of all the property and of all the industry of the country, — 
 there, where the wages of labor are more or less regulated, and upon 
 the faith and good conduct of which depends, more or less, every 
 man's prosperity — is converted into a place for debauchery and 
 drinking, the very recital of which is impossible without violating 
 decency. Letters go thence, to clothe females in male attire to visit 
 tlie ' Canterbury ' (a notorious dance-hall). Assignations are 
 made from thence." Sights atid Secrets of the A'ational Capital, bv 
 Dr. John B. Ellis. 
 
 This report was supported by numerous affidavits. — Ed. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 12$ 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 baker's secret service. 
 
 The next day, filled with a desire to be sure in the 
 matter of the girl I saw with Arago, I use the acquaint- 
 ance of a Treasury official whom I know slightly, and 
 under his auspices visit that department, paying par- 
 ticular attention to Mr. Clark's Printing Bureau young 
 ladies, and though I discover many lovely faces and 
 graceful figures in the Treasury building, none of them 
 are the beautiful face and exquisite form for which I 
 am looking. To be as certain as possible I spend 
 the day with this gentleman, taking him to lunch with 
 me at Willard's, and contriving to drop with him into 
 the Bureau several times, and by the evening have 
 made up my mind that it is practically impossible 
 that the young lady in the gray riding habit, M'ith 
 whom I spent those pleasant two hours at Frederick, 
 is one of the employees of Uncle Sam's Printing 
 Bureau. Ergo, Henri Dubois Arago is a liar, but after 
 a little consideration I conclude the present is not the 
 time to shove his lie down his throat. 
 
 Concluding my investigation, I find it is the hour of 
 my appointment with my two lieutenants at Wormley's. 
 In that well-known restaurant, we three ex-warriors, 
 whose sword arms have been cut off by our parole, 
 fight our battles of the Tennessee campaign over again. 
 Our closing toast is : " INIay we soon get to the front." 
 
 The next morning I receive an envelope, the con- 
 tents of which give me a start. Coming direct from 
 the War Department, it directs me to report to Lafayette 
 C. Baker, head of the United States Secret Service, at 
 his office forthwith. With this comes into my mind a 
 presentiment of the duty expected of me. 
 
 Less than an hour afterwards I enter that place of 
 mouchards, which at that time was generally despised 
 by military men for its arrogant authority and frequent 
 violation of constitutional liberty and the rights of the 
 citizen, even in extreme Northern states far removed 
 
126 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 from actual war. There, closeted with the head of the 
 spy bureau and general dirty-work department of the 
 Secret Service I find to my disgust that I have too 
 truly guessed the mission for which they want me. 
 
 After congratulating me upon the staunch Unionism 
 I have shown as provost-marshal of Baltimore, that 
 official, I believe his rank was Major, goes on rapidly : 
 " Captain Hamilton ! You arrested a girl at the 
 crossing of the Potomac on September 4th, the night 
 you and your command were captured by Stonewall 
 Jackson." 
 
 "Yes, sir," I answer. 
 
 "That young woman was brought to the hotel at 
 Frederick with you ? " 
 
 "Certainly ! We were both held as prisoners by the 
 Confederates. " 
 
 ' ' Two of my detectives, Joe Shook and Rod Gibbon, 
 reported to me afterwards that they had reason to think 
 that girl was a rebel spy whom they were in pursuit of 
 that very night. Do you know the woman's name ? " 
 
 " I do not," I answer. "As my captive she refused 
 to give it to me. " 
 
 *'Ah !" 
 
 "She also declined to disclose it to the Confederate 
 officer who had charge of us both after I was captured 
 by the Rebels," I add. 
 
 "Humph! That's a little curious!" mutters my 
 inquisitor. 
 
 "It would be!" I reply. "But I have reason to 
 believe that she was travelling with the intention of 
 visiting her sweetheart, some officer of Jeb Stuart's, 
 and I presume didn't care for army gossip to make too 
 free with her name." 
 
 " Shucks ! What reason did she give you for wish- 
 ing to cross to the Virginia side .? " 
 
 "She said she was going to visit her aunt and 
 mother in Leesburg." 
 
 " You must have seen her in Frederick, she stopped 
 at the same hotel. Give me a description of her. 
 
 I don't like his blunt manner. He is addressing me 
 very much as he would one of his own spies ; but I 
 answer giving him promptly the same false description 
 of the young lady as I gave his emissaries, Shook and 
 Gibbon. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 127 
 
 "Curse it! A brunette ! " he mutters, a disappointed 
 look in his face; then asks eagerly: "You would 
 know her again ? " 
 
 " Certainly ! " 
 
 "Well! I'll be candid with you," he says. "For 
 months we had have reason to believe that in some 
 mighty smart way mside-secrets of the War Depart- 
 ment have been conveyed to the Confederate leaders. 
 Now, there are some pretty big difficulties in doing this 
 thing, I flatter myself First, it's mighty diflicult to get 
 the secrets of the War Department, and second, its 
 rather hard to get them out of Washington ; but some- 
 body who hasn't cared very much for their neck has 
 been doing it, and we think this girl is about the 
 brightest, cutest, tarnationest, smartest critter on earth, 
 and has had something to do with it. We're sur- 
 rounded here by any quantity of half-way Rebel spies. 
 A good portion of the locals of this town are secesh. 
 Half the market-men that travel in with produce from 
 the surrounding country try to take out information 
 with them, and so on from that up. The wives of a 
 few of the Union officers we can't trust ; they are 
 Southerners.* 
 
 "But this makes little difference to us. It is g-e?t- 
 gr<7/ information, and Stonewall Jackson and Lee can 
 guess at it pretty near as accurately as it is given to 
 them, but the information that has been sent across 
 the Potomac by means of the person I am speaking of 
 has been inside vital points and contemplated move- 
 ments that have been very valuable to the Rebel gen- 
 erals. If she isn't the party, we don't want her ; but 
 if she is — ! " he snaps his great jaws together and 
 looks the unutterable ! 
 
 "I don't think she can be the one you want, "I reply. 
 
 * In Richmond, after its capture and occupation by the Federal 
 troops, accurate tracing-drawings of all the forts and fortifications 
 about Washington, taken from the absolute military maps of same 
 made by the Federal engineers, were found among the Rebel docu- 
 ments. They were supposed to have been made by the wife of a 
 prominent U. S. engineer officer, taken secretly in his private office at 
 dead of night, and transmitted out of Washington by means of her 
 brother. This lady was a noted secessionist, though her husband 
 was one of the staunchest Federal officers that helped Uncle Sam 
 put down the Rebellion. — Ed, 
 
t2S BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 " The young lady herself acknowledged to me that she 
 had been saucy to Stonewall Jackson. *' 
 
 ' ' For what reason ? " 
 
 "Well, for holding her a prisoner in Frederick, and 
 not permitting her to go and see her aunt and her 
 mother. She was afterwards sent South under guard, 
 it was creditably reported to me, suspected of being a 
 Union spy." 
 
 "Who told you that?" 
 
 " An officer of Stuart's command." 
 
 " Cock-a-doodle ! of course they'd say anything to 
 save their emissary." Then the head of the Detective 
 Bureau goes on with a grim smile : 
 
 "Some of these things don't go very well together, 
 young man ! Virginia girls are not in the habit oi being 
 saucy to Stonewall Jackson, and if she was in love with 
 the Confederate officer, the chances are she is a thunder- 
 ing big Rebel anyway. At all events, we have a sus- 
 picion that some one moving in the very highest so- 
 ciety here, by means of personal influence, or some 
 other damnable art, gets hold of War Office secrets and 
 sends them across the Potomac, and whether it is man 
 or woman we intend to have 'em. Now what I want 
 you to do is to look about Washington society — your 
 old blue-blood Baltimore family will give you entre'e 
 to all kinds of society here, both Union and Rebel. 
 You're thundering good-looking. Hang it, I think 
 a good many gals 'd look sweet on a cavalry fellow 
 like you!" he mutters with a chuckle. "And if you 
 see this young lady — I notice you speak of her as a 
 young lady of birth, education and breeding." 
 
 " I do ! " I reply, "of the highest." 
 
 "Well, if you see her make a leetle love to her — a 
 few conservatory flirtations ; arm around the waist, 
 head on shoulder, fountain playing softly, band music 
 coming faintly — you young army chaps understand," 
 he chuckled in grim suggestiveness, " and — and tell 
 me what you find out from her. Girls in sentimental 
 moments sometimes let the cat out of the bag, even 
 the cutest of 'em show a bit of its tail ! " 
 
 This cold-blooded proposition to me that I should 
 obtain a young lady's confidence, perhaps even win 
 her affections, in order to turn her over to his brutal 
 hands and stern military punishment, makes my blood 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I29 
 
 fly into my face. I am about to answer hotly, indig- 
 nantly. Suddenly 1 become cool as ice ; I think oiher f 
 The art of a diplomatist comes into me. I reply : "I 
 understand perfectly. If I meet the young lady I will 
 report to you everything I can discover about her." 
 
 "Very well ! go to work at once. There is a party 
 at Mrs. Rufus J. Bream's this evening. Would you 
 lilce me to get you an invite from the Senator? He is 
 with us body and soul." 
 
 " I have one already," I respond. 
 
 "Very well, then! Good-bye; I've got a heap of 
 business to take care of, young man ! — half a dozen 
 bounty-jumpers, three or four deserters, two or three 
 Potomac mail-route chaps, and an English officer 
 who has been trying to get over the river to join Lee's 
 army in Virginia, to attend to this morning. Good-bye, 
 let me know all that you can discover, and quickly ! '' 
 
 But as I am leaving, he steps up to me and whispers : 
 
 "Efficiency in this matter won't hurt your promo- 
 tion in the army ! " 
 
 Getting out of his office I walk down the street, and 
 going to one of the squares, take a breath of purer air. 
 The ineffable insult of asking me, an army officer, to 
 be a spy upon a young and lovely girl ! For a quarter 
 of an hour I have thoughts of throwing up my com- 
 mission. 
 
 Suddenly I mutter : " Resign .? Never ! You have 
 made me a spy. Damn you, I will be a spy, not to aid 
 you but to defeat you : not to destroy her, but to save 
 her ! " 
 
 The thought of a pair of blue eyes, and the recol- 
 lection of the soft brown hair and pretty hand of the 
 girl as she played with Roderick's mane that day in 
 Frederick, the sun shining on her and outlining her ex- 
 quisite figure in its natty gray riding-habit, comes back 
 to me, and somehow I determine, even if it carries 
 with it disgrace, perhaps ruin to me, to stand between 
 that charming personality, whether she's another 
 man's sweetheart or my own, and try to save her 
 from the web being drawn about her pretty self that 
 is dangerous to her liberty, perhaps even to her life. 
 
 My first step in this matter must evidently be to find 
 her. My most direct means of communicating with 
 her, if my suspicious are true, is through Arago. He has 
 
130 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 evidently lied to me in regard to her being one of the 
 Treasury courtesans. Was this intended as a slur 
 upon her, I meditate ? 
 
 Suddenly it comes to me : " No ! it was to prevent 
 my making further inquiry about her. Arago doesnt 
 wish attention attracted to whatever relations he may 
 bear to this young lady." 
 
 I determine to investigate this. Somehow a detec- 
 tive feeling is getting into my veins. 
 
 Two hours afterward, at Willard's, I have the chance 
 of making my test, though it compels me to open my 
 hand quite freely to Mr. Henri Dubois Arago, of the 
 Quartermaster General's office. 
 
 That gentleman and young Mr. Finnaker are play- 
 ing a game of billiards with disastrous results to little 
 Nap, for Arago has a facile Creole touch with his cue 
 that produces many French caroms, but as usual, young 
 Napoleon is trying to bluff things through. They are 
 gambling on the game, Finnaker betting high that 
 Arago will miss his shot, thinking to test that gentle- 
 man's nerve, and losing his money doing it. 
 
 I stroll up to their table, and indulge in general bil- 
 liard-table conversation, making side-bets myself on 
 some shots. 
 
 Soon little Napoleon, whose losses have made him 
 desperate, offers to wager a twenty dollar bill that 
 Arago cannot make his next point. The carom is one 
 of considerable difficulty, but easily within the Creole's 
 powers. I have seen him on the previous afternoon 
 make similar ones, accurately and certainly. 
 
 "You will lose your money," I laugh, but as I speak 
 I see the chance of testing the Creole's interest in the 
 young lady about whom he has lied to me. As he is 
 preparing for the effort, little Finnaker fortunately gives 
 me the opportunity. 
 
 " By-the-bye, Hamilton, where have you been all 
 day ? " he cries, rubbing his hands and looking at me. 
 " You've missed it ! You might have come in and bet 
 against Henri before." 
 
 "Oh! I had some personal business with Baker's 
 Secret Service office." 
 
 ' ' Ah ! look out for them, my boy ! " laughs little Nap, 
 chalking his cue. " But then you are on the inside 1 " 
 
 "Yes 1 ver^f much on the inside." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 131 
 
 "Your Provost-Marshal business, I presume," re- 
 marks Arago, looking up from his cue ball. 
 
 "No," 1 answer. " I was so fortunate as to capture 
 a very pretty girl on the Maryland bank of the Poto- 
 mac one night. They wish me to hunt her up and 
 tell them if I see her in Washington society ! " 
 
 I time this speech to strike Arago just as he attempts 
 the shot. 
 
 At my words a slight but convulsive twitch in his 
 arm makes his billiard essay a fiasco. 
 
 " By Jove, your twenty is mine ! " laughs Finnaker. 
 ' ' Here, take it ! " mutters the Creole, in a half-startled 
 half-dazed tone. Then looking at me, he partly opens 
 his lips as if about to speak, but suddenly turns to the 
 billiard table and continues the game ; though from 
 now on I note his skill seems to have left him, and 
 little Nap Finnaker ends the contest in triumph. 
 
 " Vou've a very good nerve, Mr. Arago ! " I cogitate 
 glumly, "but I gave your ganglions a little pinch 
 that surprised them." 
 
 On my way home to Mrs. Lorimer's I meditate on 
 this matter. Even as I dress for Mrs. Bream's thoughts 
 ofmeetingmyputative>7;zc^g—I\Iiss Ashley— for reports 
 of her beauty, loveliness, chic and general fascination 
 have come to me from so many lips that I can't help 
 having a latent curiosity about her— do not drive Arago 
 and the fleeting vision I saw under the gas-light in 
 Thirteenth and E Streets from my head. 
 
 My reasoning upon this subject brings to me the 
 following startling conclusions : First, Arago must 
 have reasons for wishing his relations to the young 
 lady— whatever they are— to be private and unob- 
 served. Hence his enormous lie about her being one 
 of the Treasury beauties. 
 
 To this is now added my suspicion that he is aware 
 of the young lady being my captive of that night on 
 the Potomac— otherwise, why did my remarks about 
 her and Baker's Secret Service so jar his nerves, that 
 from being an expert with the cue, he became in one 
 second the veriest amateur. She must have told him 
 of that meeting. 
 
 To this suddenly comes with an awful, dismaying 
 bang into my brain— :\Iy God, if Baker's suspicious are 
 true •' 
 
132 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. ^ 
 
 MRS. SENATOR BREAM's DANCE. 
 
 But my meditations on the unknown girl are here 
 broken in upon. Little Finnaker comes striding into 
 my parlor, in his militia uniform. This is a Turko- 
 Zouave dress, of Oriental ferocity. 
 
 " I have a question or two 1 want to ask you, my 
 son of Mars," he says, trying to bring his enormous 
 voice down to a whisper. " But this must be private ! " 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 " I know I can trust you ; your intense loyalty shows 
 me that ■' So I want a hint from you. Though you're 
 in the cavalrv, I presume you studied engineering at ^ 
 West Point?" 
 
 " I did, till my head ached ! " I laugh. 
 
 "Now, this is very dark ! " he steps up to me, and 
 speaks in my ear, his deep voice miaking my tympanum 
 ring: " Orders came from the front to-day to prepare 
 a pontoon train with eighty pontoons and two thousand 
 feet of wooden bridge, with extra anchors and lashings, 
 and forward it to Aquia Creek. Arago sent the requi- 
 sition down to the Depot-quartermaster, special order 
 14 10, by that cursed insolent Irish orderly Lommox, 
 not two hours ago. As a military engineer, what does 
 it mean ? " 
 
 I glance at an elaborate map of Virginia that I have 
 hung on the wall of my parlor, for convenience in fol- 
 lowing the movements of the army. After a minute or 
 two's inspection of this, I reply sharply : " Fredericks- 
 burg ! " 
 
 "Ah, you think it means a pontoon bridge to cross 
 the Rappahannock at that point.?" 
 
 "No," I reply. "I think it means two, perhaps 
 three, pontoon bridges — for Burnside's army to cross 
 at Fredericksburg. If you've reported your orders cor- 
 rectly to me, I should judge that is the route the new 
 commander of the army intends to take to Rich- 
 mond." 
 
felLLY HAMILTOfJ. I33 
 
 " You bet ! What do you think of it ? " asks Finna- 
 ker eagerly. 
 
 " Humph ! If he gets over before Lee can entrench 
 himself back of the city," I remark, "it might not be a 
 bad plan." 
 
 "Well, I think Ambrose understands that; for the 
 orders have come to expedite getting together that 
 pontoon train and start it as fast as possible. We sent the 
 requisition off like a shot ; that insolent beast Lommox 
 was back in five or six minutes, though I think his horse 
 must have thrown him, he was dusty as a badger when 
 he reported back. Now, you must take your oath not 
 to whisper this to anybody!" he adds warily. "I 
 tell too many things now. Some day I may get into 
 trouble over them." 
 
 "Some day you may!" I think grimly; but not 
 wishing to cut off my inside information, I do not voice 
 this. 
 
 While we have been talking, I have finished a 
 most elaborate, and I hope effective, military toilet, 
 for — shall I confess it? — the benefit of Miss Eva Ash- 
 ley. What man does not wish to look his best in the 
 eyes of a beautiful and fascinating girl to whom he 
 has been a childhood sweetheart — at the first meeting 
 after mutual maturity.'' Whether he wants her love or 
 not — no matter how attenuated Cupid's ribbon that 
 once joined them has grown — he wishes the little girl 
 to see that her boy beau, in manhood has not deterio- 
 rated. 
 
 So with my heart beating at the thought of meeting 
 for the first time in seven years my putative _^ancee, 
 and rather wondering what will be the precise nature 
 of her greeting — whether she has not practically for- 
 gotten me — but still with my heart fluttering slightly 
 about the affair, accompanied by Finnaker, I step over 
 to Mrs. Bream's old-fashioned but handsome residence 
 on the north of Lafayette Square. 
 
 The distance is a short one, the night pleasant ; 
 though even as we arrive, quite a string of carriages 
 are putting down various ladies and gentlemen at the 
 wide-open, hospitable portals. Most of the gentlemen, 
 from clanking sabres under their cloaks, and spurs 
 flashing in the gaslight, I discover are in uniform. 
 
 "Yes; it's going to be quite a military affair," re- 
 
134 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 marks little Napoleon to me. " We let in a few Con- 
 gressmen ; some foreign attaches wander in ; but this 
 evening it's mostly the ' boys in blue ' and the girls 
 who love 'em. It is one of four that Mrs. Bream's 
 going to give ; not big crushes like her grand ball, but 
 jolly, happy frolics, where every one knows everybody 
 else — and the prettiest girls in Washington to dance 
 with, flirt with, and make 'em love you." 
 
 Most of this is whispered while we are divesting 
 ourselves of our outer wrappings in the gentlemen's 
 dressing-room. Around us I note, among lots of blue 
 uniforms, a few dress coats, worn mostly by foreign 
 legation attaches ; beside me is Senor Rafael Ortegas, 
 the Spanish first-secretary, also Rupert Schuyler and 
 JackTotten, old West Point friends ; General Broughton 
 of the Engineers reminds me he is also near me, by 
 doing me the honor of treading on my toes. 
 
 I deliver my cavalry cloak and helmet to the inevi- 
 table attendant darky of all Washington residences, 
 though little' Napoleon refuses to surrender his Turko 
 headgear to that fimctionary, probably thinking that it 
 gives him greater martial ferocity. 
 
 "All of us boys from the front ! " remarks Napoleon, 
 who seems to know everybody, looking round at 
 several officers, on temporary leave from the Army of 
 the Potomac — "to-morrow we go out and get at the 
 Rebs again — don't we, comrades ? " 
 
 "By Jove! how I sympathize with your martial 
 ardor, Mr. Finnaker," laughs young Totten of the in- 
 fantry. "Penned up here, with never a chance to 
 shed your blood." 
 
 " Yes, it is sad ! " cries Napoleon unabashed. 
 "Though I'll bet I have had more horses shot under 
 me than any man present ! And at First Bull Run — 
 damn me ! — acting as a volunteer-aide, I was wounded ! 
 If you don't believe me ask Colonel Cameron of the 
 79th New York ! But then he's dead, poor fellow — fell 
 at my side and died in my arms ! Good God ! don't 
 talk of it here ; it might frighten the girls." And the 
 little liar brushes actual tears out of his ferocious eyes. 
 
 Finnaker has told this story so often that it has bC' 
 come a reality to him ; and so strongly was this fiction 
 embedded in his mind that after the war he applied for 
 a pension on it — by special legislation. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I35 
 
 A moment later, I step downstairs to pay my re- 
 spects to my hostess, followed by the little hero, who 
 suggests : "The girls are waiting for us." 
 
 1 had seen Mrs. Senator Bream several times when 
 she visited West Point during my cadetship. At mid- 
 summer hops I had had the honor of dancing with the 
 wife of the distinguished Senator, who is as lovely, 
 pleasant, and hospitable a young matron as ever forgot 
 old husband, — though only for a moment — in the arms 
 of a dashing lieutenant. For Lucy Bream was always 
 the Bo7ia Dea of us cadets ; her happy face, her bright 
 smile, had enlivened many a dress-parade for us, and 
 made charming many a graduation hop. 
 
 As I enter the fete, I observe that the double house 
 is a roomy mansion, old-fashionedly spacious, with 
 rather low ceilings. Its ample parlors are of sufficient 
 extent to give dancing-room to a hundred couples. In 
 the large hall, surrounded by potted plants, a portion 
 of one of the bands of a garrison regiment is playing 
 vigorously, as many dashing fellows are doing the 
 detix temps, each one with a pretty partner, to the 
 dreamy music of Godfrey's " Mabel " waltz, that is just 
 now very popular. 
 
 Elbowing my way discreetly between one or two 
 surrounding wives of Senators and Congressmen, I 
 find myself bowing over the fair hand of Lucy Bream. 
 
 Thirty odd years have fallen lightly on her dimpled 
 shoulders, her soft, brown Virginia eyes are as charm- 
 ing and her voice is as sweet, as when, some twelve 
 years before, she enchanted cadets as pretty Lucy 
 Warrington. She is the youngest sister of Miss Ash- 
 ley's mother. "The baby of the family," I have heard 
 her called in the old time, before she married the rising 
 Border-State politician who afterwards threw away his 
 Democracy and became the great Republican war- 
 horse. 
 
 That political luminary is not in the room. 
 
 Noting my glance, Mrs. Bream remarks : " I'm ex- 
 ceedingly glad to learn that you've escaped from your 
 secession relatives in Baltimore, Captain Hamilton. 
 But you needn't expect the Senator until later ; at 
 present he is occupied on committee business at the 
 capitol. I never see him now until eleven o'clock." 
 This last with a little sigh ; as she loves her old 
 
136 BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 spouse very tenderly — though perhaps not in a Juliet 
 fashion. 
 
 "And — and Miss Ashley?" I ask, gazing about 
 curiously. 
 
 "Oh, Eva vi^ill be down presently — she complained of 
 a slight headache after dinner but finally went out 
 for a walk and fresh air, this beautiful afternoon, and 
 did not return till quite late." To this Mrs. Bream 
 adds significantly, "You and Eve used to be quite 
 friends in the old days ; " and asks me after my father 
 and my sisters. 
 
 "I don't know very much about them at present," 
 I return glumly. 
 
 "No, I presume not," she laughs suggestively ; then 
 murmurs, with the tact of the hostess: "Ah, Mr. 
 Finnaker — as usual here when the pretty girls come-''' 
 and greets Miss Sallie Bridger, a dashing frontier 
 amazon from the plains, and the Misses Alice and 
 Laura Gushing of New York, metropolitan beauties, 
 who are spending a month or two in Washington. 
 
 I turn from my hostess and glance round the room 
 at as pretty a war-time frolic as I have ever seen. 
 
 For Mrs. Bream's party, though it has not all the 
 redundant paraphernalia that have come to later Ameri- 
 can social functions and its young ladies are not all 
 decked in imported Parisian gowns, though the favors 
 in its german will not be made of silver and gold and 
 decked with jewels, has an informal jollity about it 
 that is missing from so many of the more elaborate 
 affairs of the next few decades. 
 
 The girls all look as prttty and happy as wood- 
 nymphs, though half of Ibcui have probably made 
 their own simple dancing frocks ; but in them they 
 are a merry lot of open-hearted, whole-souled dam- 
 sels, many very beautiful, and all very well pleased 
 with the gentlemen in attendance upon them, who are 
 mostly of the younger and fighting blood of the army 
 — dashing fellows on short leave from the front. 
 
 For in those days it was flirting, dancing and loving 
 one day, and shooting, fighting and dying, the next 1 
 Some of the officers about me, even now, are giving 
 their young eyes their hist earthly feast of beautiful 
 women, though they do not know it ; and are making 
 love as persistently to the pretty maidens in their way 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 137 
 
 as if they will live to be centenarians and die with 
 four generations around their bedsides. 
 
 Upon this scene I took philosophically. The strains 
 of the " Mabel " waltz are floating in my ears. 
 
 Mr. Finnaker is saying: " Miss Ashley, let me pre- 
 sent my friend, the ex-Provost-Marshalof Baltimore and 
 gallant Union officer. Captain Hamilton." 
 
 Turning, I bow to a radiant mixture of arch smiles 
 and blushing embarrassment, and murmur: "I have 
 known Miss Ashley before." 
 
 Suddenly the room seems to revolve around me 
 with jiggling dancers ; the music seems to give a 
 mashing crash upon my brain. I see standing before 
 me, as piquantly lovely, as exquisitely beautiful as 
 when she wore the gray riding-habit, my ex-captive of 
 that Potomac night — my charmer of those two happy 
 hours in Frederick. 
 
 Cavalry officers don't faint. Therefore I do not reel 
 and utter a smothered cry, but, chewing my moustache, 
 look sheepishly at her as she sa/s — for women always 
 have social presence of mind : — "No need of an intro- 
 duction, Mr. Finnaker ; Captain Hamilton and I are — 
 are old friends." Then she makes my heart beat with : 
 "Billy, will you give me your arm and take me out on 
 the veranda ? It — it's a little warm here, and as sub- 
 hostess I have been dancing continuously." 
 
 Remembering Mrs. Bream's remark I know the 
 young lady has told a little fib — but it makes me very 
 happy. 
 
 "Yes ; very old friends," I contrive to mutter. 
 "Though I've not seen you for several years." 
 
 At my omission of the Frederick meeting she gives 
 me a grateful glance. 
 
 Again I notice Miss Ashley's tact. 
 
 She says : " Captain Finnaker, you won't mind losing 
 me for a few minutes. I'll give you a dance later in the 
 evening — two of them, if you like" — and sends little 
 Napoleon away very happy both for her dance and 
 his military title. Then placing upon my arm a light 
 hand, the touch of which thrills me from heart to 
 brain, she almost whispers in my ear: "Thank you 
 for not remembering too much." 
 
 In a dazed way, I lead her through circling dancers, 
 and happily get her to a window opening on the bal- 
 
138 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 cony without accident to her light muslin skirts and 
 lacy draperies. 
 
 For she is all in white — diaphanous white. The only 
 color about her — except her cheeks, which are roses 
 and lilies by turns, with varying emotions — is a broad 
 scarf of light pink satin or silk or some other glistening 
 texture that girdles her fairy waist and floats off over 
 the fluttering little flounces of her crinolined skirt to 
 petite pink slippers that come peeping out from 
 under it. 
 
 The gown is very simple ; perhaps it has been made 
 by her own pretty fingers. But — heavens and earth ! 
 — what a magnificent pair of shoulders and arms 
 spring out of it, superb in sculptured beauty, gleaming 
 like ivory and white as driven snow. 
 
 As I draw the curtains back for her to exit in ad- 
 vance of me, I feel as if I could kiss every dimple in 
 them. 
 
 Glancing archly over her shoulder as she passes, out, 
 perhaps the girl catches the spark of proprietorship in 
 my eyes, as I am looking proudly at her and thinking 
 ' ' Afy fiancee ■' " for her fair cheeks grow redder even 
 than they were before. The next instant the blushes 
 leave her face, which grows deathly pale, her eyes blaze, 
 her delicate nostrils expand in haughty coldness ; Miss 
 Eva Ashley is no more the bashful maiden, but the 
 self-possessed beauty of society. 
 
 On the broad veranda, which fortunately is occupied 
 by but few of the ladies and gentlemen of the fete, I 
 silently place a chair for her in a retired nook and an- 
 other for myself. 
 
 A moment later she glances at me shyly, then 
 laughs archly : "Why are you so glum .-* One would 
 think meeting me after childhood's hours, was not 
 pleasant to Sir Galahad. " 
 
 To this I do not immediately reply ; I am gazing on 
 all this loveliness surlily. For, curiously, just at this 
 moment, the memory of the accursed kiss I heard on 
 the Frederick hotel balcony, and the "Dear Charley ! " 
 that brought misery to me as I sat in the gloom of the 
 tavern garden, have made me tremendously jealous. 
 " What right has she — v(\y fiancee" lam thinking, "to 
 dare to let another man salute those lips that should 
 be for me and me only .'' " 
 
BILLY HA^rILTON. 1^9 
 
 Oh ! how constant I have suddenly become to our 
 childhood's engagement. Into my mind has flown with 
 alia Romeo's ardor, " She is my betrothed, and by the 
 Eternal, she shall be no other man's ! " 
 
 Still, as I look at her radiant beauty, softened by the 
 subdued lights that stream from the curtained windows 
 upon Miss Ashley, a sudden and unpleasant reflection 
 intrudes itself upon me : " How will she wow regard the 
 engagement made for us by papa and by mamma? " 
 
 Evidences of this do not come to me immediately, 
 as I seat myself beside her, for the young lady looks at 
 me merrily, though graciously, and murmurs gratefully : 
 "Thank you again for not being ioo explanatory be- 
 fore Mr. Finnaker. I do not care," she whispers, 
 " for my harum-scarum, fly-away escapade that night 
 you were so kind as to — to save my life, Billy, to 
 be common gossip." 
 
 " What makes you think I saved your life .' " 
 
 "Why, one of your poor troopers you ordered to ride 
 behind me was shot down. And you — did you not 
 have a bullet through your clothes as you kept so care- 
 fully between me and the Confederate fire? " 
 
 "Yes, I believe I did lose a button," I murmur; 
 then go on, in a tone whose gloom is deeper than 
 the night : " No wonder you wish it to be a secret, 
 Miss Ashley, when you visited the Confederate Army 
 to meet a handsome young officer 1 " 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir," The blushing girl has 
 become a statue of ice and as haughty as Lucifer. 
 
 "Oh, you need not deny it," I mutter savagely. 
 " Sitting on a chair in the garden at Frederick — in the 
 early evening — as I might be sitting down below this 
 veranda now — I heard you call a gentleman 'Dear 
 Charley ! ' And then — God help me ! — I heard you — " 
 
 "Kiss him?" she laughs, "Why certainly! My 
 half-brother, Charley St. George, of Munford's Second 
 Virginia Cavalry. Of course I kissed him, when I 
 hadn't seen him for months ! " then adds slyly : "And 
 you were — " But she checks herself, biting off the 
 word she is about to utter, next a sudden eagerness, 
 perhaps anxiety, coming into her voice, she asks un- 
 easily : " Tell me all you heard that evening ? " 
 
 "Nothing more!" I reply, and mutter glumly, 
 " Wasn't that enough ? Didn't I suffers© much misery 
 
140 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 that I couldn't bid you good-bye in Frederick that 
 night ? " 
 
 At this she breaks out laughing but remarks in com- 
 mon-sense tone : " Don't be foolish, Billy ! What right 
 would you have had to complain if Miss Ashley had 
 kissed any man ? You've paid so much attention to 
 her since you left West Point." There is a haughty 
 sneer in the patrician face, her nostrils are dilated with 
 lady-like contempt. 
 
 Here despair and Cupid give me a crafty suggestion. 
 I murmur: " Miss Ashley's kisses made little differ- 
 ence to me then, but that one of my ex-captive in the 
 gray riding-habit did mightily." 
 
 "Ah, yes, I perceive ! " says the young lady slowly, 
 and breaks into a slight laugh, in which I can't help 
 joining. 
 
 Then I whisper : "You told Miss Eva Vernon Ash- 
 ley, that you disciplined Captain Billy Hamilton with 
 threats of his fiancee," — she grows rosy at the appella- 
 tion — "when he was about to make a little love to 
 you? You remember you threatened to tell her of my 
 perfidy," I laugh ; I am so happy now. "How did 
 Miss Ashley receive your communication ? " 
 
 " Oh, she knew you were fickle without my telling 
 her," giggles the young lady. Then suddenly she 
 grows, I think, cruelly cold ; she remarks haughtily 
 "You have already taken a tone with me, Captain 
 Hamilton, that years of attention should not allow a 
 gentleman to assume to a lady." 
 
 "Yes, I was jealous, I'll admit it," I say, my voice 
 growing very tender. And carried away by her glori- 
 ous beauty, which is as tantalizing to me, as the for- 
 bidden fruit was to the serpent, I whisper : "Will you 
 not permit me the pleasure of being jealous of you. 
 Eve } " 
 
 It is the first time I have used her Christian name. 
 As it strikes her ear she grows very red, but answers 
 firmly, though laughingly : "Not until you have earned 
 the right, by months and months of devotion." 
 
 Here inspiration comes to me. I answer : "I have 
 already two months to my credit I " 
 
 " Two months } I — I hardly understand you." 
 
 ' ' From the night of September 4th to November 14th, 
 this evening," I whisper, "I have been devoted to 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I4I 
 
 you — not perhaps as Miss Eva Vernon Ashley, but as 
 the beauty of the gray riding-habit. Permit me to 
 unite the two young ladies in one. It is not always we 
 can combine love and duty. You know your mother 
 and my father wish it. I always like to please my 
 governor," I add nonchalantly — thinking I've played a 
 master stroke. 
 
 But I haven't ! 
 
 "Yes; you are ahvays anxious to please your father !" 
 she sneers half-laughingly, "Union soldier and ex- 
 Provost-^Iarshal of Baltimore. Oh, yes, you always 
 enjoy making your governor happy." She rises, as if 
 shaking some insect from her dress, and remarks in 
 icy hauteur: " But please take me in to the dancers; 
 our absence will be noticed, Captain Hamilton." 
 
 " Hang it ! what have I done to displease you now } " 
 I say, hurriedly rising after her. 
 
 " Nothing ; only it is cold here." Her white shoul- 
 ders shiver slightly. "If you prefer the moonlight, 
 stay outside ; but I must go into the ball-room." 
 
 Silently I open the window for her, and she passes 
 into the throng ; and I, gazing after her, see her 
 face, which had been cold to me, light up with gay- 
 smiles as she is surrounded by half-a-dozen blue uni- 
 forms and one or two black dress-coats. A moment 
 after she is whirled away into the dance by young 
 Schuyler, a lieutenant of engineers. 
 
 On my charmer's last vagary I look with gloomy eyes, 
 and stand speculating in the moonlight : " Is it because 
 she thinks me an undutiful son ? or is it because I, a 
 Southerner, am a Union officer? " 
 
 A mon^ent later I speculate again : "Is she devoted 
 to the Union as little Finnaker so proudly asserts .? Has 
 the great War-Senator's eloquence converted her.?" 
 Somehow, it seems to me it would take a good deal more 
 than eloquence to make most Virginia girls anything 
 but the most pestilent of Rebel maidens. I know my 
 eloquence has never converted any of them. "The 
 only thing that has ever seemed to soften them has 
 been making love to them," I chuckle grimly to my- 
 self, as I think of my dear little sister Birdie's icy 
 hauteur growing soft and pliable and sunshiny under 
 handsome Arthur Vermilye's ardent glances. 
 
142 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Suddenly all speculation of this kind is knocked out 
 of my brain with another battering crash ! 
 
 I see Miss Ashley, beautiful as a sylph, come floating 
 through the crowd of dancers, steered by the arm of 
 Henri Dubois Arago, who in plain, civilian, faultless 
 evening dress, is guiding her through the throng with 
 Creole grace and suppleness. 
 
 "She was the girl Henri Arago talked to that night ! " 
 flashes through my mind. "She — Eva Ashley — my 
 fiancee — was the girl he scoffed at as a Treasury 
 wanton ! " 
 
 But noting him, I see his bearing to the young lady 
 is punctilio itself; though as he looks upon her there is 
 something in his eyes that makes me hate him. 
 
 Then with a little gasp I remember what the Chief 
 Detective of the Secret Service Bureau said to me this 
 day. " My heaven ! Can he be right } Is Eva Ashley 
 the woman Lafayette C. Baker and Edmund McMasters 
 Stanton want? " 
 
 That I must discover — for her sake — for my sake : 
 to defend her properly — to keep her from military pun- 
 ishment ! That I must know, and know quickly ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE BELLE OF THE ARMY. 
 
 To do this I must have not only the talent of a Vidocq 
 and the astuteness of a diplomatist, but the cold- 
 blooded s avoir fair e of an indifferent. Can I be that 
 to a woman whom I have loved for two months — 
 whom I have adored for ten minutes .'' 
 
 Schooling myself to my role, which is not an easy 
 one for a dashing, whole-hearted, up-and-down, cut- 
 and-thrust, hit-or-miss cavalry officer, I step into the 
 ball-room and do my devoir, in what would be, under 
 ordinary circumstances, one of the jolliest dances I have 
 ever seen. 
 
 I waltz with Miss Molly Bent, a fascinating little 
 witch from Iowa, flirt with Miss Georgie Langdon of 
 Hartford, have a very charming tete-a-tete with the 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I43 
 
 sprightly Alice Gushing of New York. Sitting on the 
 stairs, a little distance below us, is her brother, Jim 
 Gushing of the infantry, paying his court to the piquant 
 French beauty and soft Southern eyes of Grace Gho- 
 teau, a St. Louis girl whose ancestors were great in 
 the fur-trading line. 
 
 But none of these demoiselles, pretty as they are, 
 sparkling as they are, can keep my glance from fol- 
 lowing the exquisite loveliness of Eva Ashley, as she 
 floats about, first with one cavalier, then with another, 
 apparently dispensing the favors of her hand quite im- 
 partially among the gentlemen about her. 
 
 Though, noting her time and again, I shortly dis- 
 cover that Mr. Arago somehow contrives to have a 
 little the best of any of her attendants. Something in 
 her manner to him makes me grind my teeth : there 
 seems some indescribable, common interest in both 
 this young lady and gentleman — illusive, intangible — 
 but still a bond of some kind between them. Once or 
 twice, as she almost whispers to her Greole beau, I 
 think it is some secret that is theirs and theirs only. 
 
 Determined I will not go near Eve, I still am not 
 able to get her out of my head, and perhaps make 
 rather indifferent company to the young ladies with 
 whom I am talking. 
 
 So, strolling a little further, I get into conversation 
 with our hostess. " By Jove, I'll pump her about her 
 niece ! " I think, and, chatting with Mrs. Bream, I 
 tell her the story of my sister Birdie and her love affair 
 with Gaptain Vermilye of the artillery. 
 
 "Yes; the captain was here at my ball," remarks 
 my hostess. " I thought him a very distinguished gen- 
 tleman, besides being very rich. Your little secession 
 sister's made a good Union match," laughs Lucy, "and 
 I have no doubt your father in his heart of hearts 
 blesses you for it. " 
 
 "Indeed he doesn't! You should have seen the 
 letter he wrote me ! " I reply glumly. 
 
 "Well, it's a good thing, you young people oi oppo- 
 site sides getting together. It won"t make you hate 
 each other so much after the war is over. Now there 
 is my niece," she looks at Eve who is standing at a 
 little distance, talking to a couple of oldish brigadier- 
 generals, " when she came here from Virginia, she 
 
144 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 was quite a vicious little Rebel. But though she says 
 it was my husband's eloquence and argument that 
 have softened her sectional animosity, I rather think 
 you handsome young officers have had more to do 
 with her conversion than the Senator's fiery speeches. 
 By-the-bye," my hostess remarks, "when you were 
 quite young was not it rumored that you were en- 
 gaged — a kind of boy-and-girl affair — to Eve ? " 
 
 "The rumor was true," I say determinedly, "it was 
 ayhc/." 
 
 "But you have not been with her much this even- 
 
 ing 
 
 ? " 
 
 "Why not.''" I reply, knowingly. "We had a 
 pleasant little chat out on the back veranda." 
 
 Suddenly Lucy Bream startles me. She says in 
 American common-sense tones : 
 
 " Why not renew the affair? " 
 
 "You mean it.? " 
 
 "Certainly!" To this, the matron adds, a tone of 
 anxiety in her voice : "Step up to her now, she is speak- 
 ing to Mr. Arago. Between ourselves — this must be 
 confidential — even if you only flirt with her, do me the 
 favor of destroying INIr. Arago's chances. I — I don't 
 like the way Eve is carrying on with that young New 
 Orleans man ; I have spoken to her about it, but my 
 niece laughs it off." 
 
 " I have your good wishes.? " I ask anxiously. 
 
 "Yes! to the fullest extent." Lucy Bream's hand 
 meets mine with hearty grasp ; her frank eyes look into 
 mine encouragingly : I know I have a friend in the 
 camp of my sweetheart. 
 
 Still, something in the matron's eyes makes me 
 whisper: "You think I have a difficult task before 
 me?" 
 
 Her answer is not assuring. " Very ! At least, it 
 would be, young man, if I were Eva Ashley. Engaged 
 to her as a boy, and neglecting her as a man ! In ad- 
 dition, Eve's natural pride has been augmented by her 
 poverty. You see, she is very sensitive now ; her 
 family's losses by this war in the Valley of Virginia 
 have made her poor. And let me tell you, my gallant 
 captain, if she thinks for one moment your neglect of 
 her came from the knowledge of her poverty, good-bye 
 to any hope of her ! I'm not altogether pleased with 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 H5 
 
 your conduct in this matter, Lilly," adds the aunt, 
 looking at me rather savagely. 
 
 " Then for God's sake, let me atone for it ! " 
 
 "Ah! Now that you see Eve's about the prettiest 
 thing in the world " 
 
 " You do not understand. I — I cannot explain — 
 only believe me, I have loved her ever sinee I saw her 
 as a woman ! " 
 
 " Pish ! For an hour ? " 
 
 " No ; for much longer." 
 
 "Tell me ! ' Woman's curiosity is blazing in the 
 eyes of the matron. But this shows me Eve has not 
 made her aunt her confidant of her night ride between 
 the armies. Under the circumstances, I must keep my 
 lips closed. 
 
 "Tell you," I laugh, "when I'm ?narned to your 
 niece." 
 
 This last is a whisper that makes Lucy Bream give 
 a little startled, " Oh ! " 
 
 But though my words are confident, my heart is not 
 equally so. I sit apart and inspect glumly Miss Eva's 
 radiant beauty, from the browii, sunny curls that 
 crown her graceful head to her exquisite feet and ankles 
 disclosed to me in the dance, by her fashionable crino- 
 line, as she waltzes with young Burbank of the cav- 
 alry, or Ortegas, the Legation attache, and exchanges 
 military confidences in out-of-the-way nooks with sev- 
 eral old general officers. 
 
 But suddenly I find my indifference is rewarded. 
 Why is it that women are so apt to run after the cold 
 shoulder .? Seeing I will not go to her, Miss Ashley, to 
 my astonishment, comes to me. 
 
 "You got tired of the moonlight, I presume, Billy," 
 she says, apparently as if she had left me on the best of 
 terms ; then adds, as she drops languidly into a seat 
 beside me : " Found another young lady who likes the 
 moonlit piazza } '' 
 
 " No," I growl. "There is only one here I'd care to 
 share it with. You know who she is." I gaze straight 
 in her face, though I have great difficulty in keeping 
 my lip from twitching. 
 
 "Oho ! Trying to makeup by present ardor for past 
 indifference? " 
 
 " My heaven, how you misjudge me ! My devotion 
 
146 BILLY Hamilton, 
 
 to the girl in the gray riding-habit kept me away from 
 my — my fiancee." I rub the title into Eve till her 
 cheeks blaze — and get a great big hope from it, for she 
 doesn't command me not to use the term, 
 
 " Yes ; that is a redeeming point in your favor," she 
 observes in icy tones. " I don't suppose I should be 
 very angry at any compliment for the young lady you 
 have just mentioned." Then suddenly she whispers ■ 
 "But no more of this here," a tinge of anxiety in her 
 voice ; for the music has ceased, and our words are now 
 quite distinct to those standing near us. 
 
 Then the girl gives me another hope, though this 
 time it is tinctured by rage. She remarks : "No, Mr, 
 Arago, I don't think I can give you the next dance. 
 You see, I haven't seen my old playmate. Captain 
 Hamilton, for several years. We are indulging in rem- 
 inisences. '' 
 
 " Pleasant ones, I hope," mutters the Creole, bowing ; 
 though his tone indicates he would prefer that they 
 were unpleasant, 
 
 "Very pleasant ones! " I interject. "So pleasant 
 that I think I shall have to take Miss Ashley in to 
 supper. " 
 
 "That honor has been already accorded to me 1 " re- 
 plies the clerk in the Quartermaster-General's. 
 
 "Has it, Eve.?" I ask, in old-friend tones, a little 
 emphasis on the young lady's Christian name that 
 makes the gentleman standing before us turn angry, 
 though inquiring eyes on me. 
 
 But here consternation comes to me. Miss Ashley 
 says, an indescribable something in her voice : "Mr. 
 Arago is correct : I have already promised him that he 
 may look after my appetite this evening ; " then adds 
 to him : "1 shall be waiting for you here ; it is after 
 the next dance, I believe." 
 
 And the Creole leaves us, with triumph on his face, 
 while I cogitate dejectedly : "What is it that makes 
 Miss Ashley so complaisant to this gentleman } " 
 Though now she is trying to show me it is only good 
 breeding, for she is saying : "I had already made the 
 engagement with Mr. Arago, so don't wrinkle your 
 brow so savagely, Billy." 
 
 " Curse it ! Is the poor little thing trying to palliate 
 to me her acceptance of the Creole's attentions .'' Hang 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I47 
 
 it ! is she frightened of him ? Still, as I look at the 
 high-bred face, courageous eyes, the haughty and 
 clear-cut nostrils of the girl sitting beside me, it is very 
 difficult to think Eva Vernon Ashley is afraid of any- 
 thing — much less a half-French gentleman from New 
 Orleans, with suave voice and oily smile. 
 
 I must be hating Arago ! I thought him a handsome 
 fellow but yesterday : now he seems to be repulsive. 
 
 But schooling myself to society manners, and deter- 
 mining to make the best use of my time, I do drift into 
 reminiscences with the charming creature at my side. 
 
 It is : "Billy, don't you remember that " "Eva, 
 
 do you recollect when " But these are broken in 
 
 upon by half-a-dozen gentlemen coming and begging 
 for a turn, and finally, to get away from these, 1 sug- 
 gest : " Dance with me .-* " 
 
 "With pleasure ! " says the girl, and putting a dainty 
 hand, light as a falling snowfiake on my shoulder, my 
 arm goes round her waist — the first time I have clasped 
 it since she has become a woman — and I feel the heart of 
 Eva Ashley beat against my own. Somehow, its throb- 
 bing seems to tell me that she loves me — that she has 
 loved me ; somehow, it is as if she felt confidence in my 
 supporting arm — that peace has come to her. In my 
 soul I swear : " She shall never regret it ! " as with the 
 music of that soft, sweet " Olga " waltz floating in our 
 ears, her little feet keep perfect time to my West Point 
 step. For one sweet moment I forget I have a Secret 
 Service suspect in my arms, and think my love can be 
 a happy one. 
 
 Suddenly her heart gives two grand throbbing, wave- 
 like beats against mine. Mr. Arago is saying over my 
 shoulder in happy tones : " I am waiting for my recom- 
 pense. The next is supper." 
 
 Afraid of him ? Hang it, her eyes blaze with triumph 
 and success ! 
 
 As she leaves my arm and puts her hand upon the 
 black sleeve of the Creole beau, it seems to me that 
 Miss Eva Vernon Ashley wants to be very kind this 
 evening to Henri Dubois Arago, Chief Clerk in the 
 Quartermaster-General's office. 
 
 Is it for some mighty service he has rendered to 
 her } Meditating gloomily on this, I follow them to 
 supper. 
 
148 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 With terrapin and champagne, come in Senator 
 Bream and two or three more politicians, bringing 
 with them the awful passions of the war, into our 
 mirth and revelry. Our soldiers fought and forgave ; 
 our politicians never fought and never forgave, and 
 always kept talking about it. 
 
 The conversation which had been that of any joy- 
 ous fete and festivity far from the noise of cannon, 
 now becomes that of an entrenched camp, the enemy 
 not very far away. 
 
 A Jacobin congressman, even as we eat and drink, 
 commences to attack McClellan. Finally young Cap- 
 tain Totten, who is just from the front, with tears in his 
 eyes turns to him and says : " You have never fought 
 under that general — I have ! But if you will join 
 me and stand with me in the next battle — by Heaven, 
 sir I think you'll wish we had him back ! I know / 
 will ! " 
 
 Prophetic words ! Already the advance divisions 
 are in motion for the awful mistake at Fredericksburg 
 where handsome Jack Totten fell. 
 
 Premonitions of this movement commence even now 
 to permeate army circles ; for I hear an engineer officer 
 near me whisper to a young lady : " Mabel , I'm or- 
 dered to the front to-morrow morning ; I suppose 
 there'll be some bridge-building." 
 
 " Oh, Heavens, George ! " gasps his sweetheart, who 
 is looking anxiously in his face ; then she falters : 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because I take with me all the reserves of the 
 engineer battalion especially equipped as pontoniers. " 
 The last of this speech is quite loud. 
 
 At the young officer's words, my jealous eyes, that 
 have never left them, note that Mr. Arago pauses as he is 
 drinking his champagne and gazes, a strange look of 
 ecstatic joy in his face, at the beautiful girl sitting be- 
 side him who is playing with oysters a la Maryland, 
 for this evening Miss Ashley doesn't seem to have much 
 appetite — perhaps some reminiscences of her headache 
 that had taken her out walking in the afternoon, affect- 
 ing her. Then her eyes meet his — no love in them, 
 thank God — only some enormous glory — Eva Ashley 
 has the look of a general who has won a battle. 
 
 Just about here Mrs. Bream comes and takes a seat 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 149 
 
 besida me, remarking with a hostess's anxiety : "You 
 are not eating, Captain Hamilton." 
 
 "No; but I'm drinking," I laugh savagely, and toast 
 the charming matron in another glass of her champagne. 
 
 " You're not getting along as well as you expected? " 
 she whispers, glancing across the room towards her 
 beautiful niece. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I'm doing pretty well," I say, with a 
 confidence that seems to astonish her. 
 
 " Indeed ! How ? " 
 
 "I have discovered the reason of Eva's interest in 
 Mr. Arago. " 
 
 " What is it ? " Again feminine curiosity lights the 
 eyes of pretty Lucy Bream. 
 
 Again I disappoint it. " Tell you— after I'm married 
 to Eve," I whisper, 
 
 "Pooh ! " You're the most disappointing creature I 
 ever saw ! " she laughs, as she rises from my side and 
 goes over to her husband, to make him happy with 
 her wifely attentions. 
 
 And the Senator is very happy ! He is now in the 
 midst of what he thinks a good anecdote. His stri- 
 dent voice, that has lately filled the halls of the Senate, 
 fills the dining-room, and would bring confusion upon 
 little Finnaker, if anything could. 
 
 The conversation has fallen upon Abraham Lincoln, 
 who occupied not only the hearts, but the attention, of 
 the people ; his stories, bons mots and backwoods rep- 
 artee amusing the army at the front and even the 
 copperheads, as they plotted his political downfall at 
 the rear. 
 
 " I've got a new one of Abe's," chuckles the Senator. 
 "To-day, the President and I visited the Quartermaster- 
 General's office. While we were there, the greatest 
 patriotic chatter we either of us had ever heard came 
 resounding in to us. 
 
 " ' Good Lord ! ' says old Abe to me. ' Do you know 
 that reminds me of the explosion of the Belle of Alton 
 on the Wabash in 1842.' 
 
 "'How, so Mr. President?' replied I, preparing 
 to laugh, for I could see the twinkle in Abraham's 
 eye. 
 
 " ' Well, when the Belle 0/ Alton blew up I heard the 
 darndest, biggest, most horrible noise on earth, and 
 
150 BtLLY HAMILTON. 
 
 looking round for the cause of it, darn me, if I could see 
 anything- left — the whole thing was nothing but ?ioise 
 and wifid ■' Little Napoleon Finnaker reminds me of 
 that explosion.'" 
 
 A roar of laughter breaks out from every man and 
 woman of us, and looking about I expect to see Nap 
 crushed and broken. 
 
 But rising with his champagne glass in his hand, the 
 Zouave uniform making him ferocious, the little hero 
 cries: "Thank you, Mr. Senator! Our honored chief 
 knew that the explosion of the Belle 0/ Alton killed one 
 hundred men. By Jove, sir ! he knew I was equally 
 deadly ! Phil Kearney saw me shoot six rebels before 
 he died in my arms at the battle of Chantilly, while I 
 soothed his last anguish. Ask him if you don't believe 
 me .' " And the little fellow gazes at the laughing 
 crowd. 
 
 Then suddenly tears come into his eyes, and he mut- 
 ters, his voice unsteady with champagne: "But Phil 
 — poor Phil Kearney — is dead ! Another comrade 
 gone. Soon perhaps the Rebel bullets will give me my 
 quietus also." 
 
 Curiously, Finnaker's eloquence, tears and cham- 
 pagne grief carry conviction to some. Pretty Ethel 
 Davenport, who has just come from the West, whispers 
 to me : " Is he so awful brave .? " 
 
 "Captain Finnaker is as brave as he looks," I answer 
 laughingly. 
 
 By this time the fiddlers have got to playing again, 
 and the younger contingent saunter out from the jolly 
 supper-room to dance the german. Taking oppor- 
 tunity of the cotillion, I lead out several times Miss 
 Ashley, and once tossing me a flower favor she gives 
 me floral invitation to tread a turn with her. But all 
 the time I see Arago has the best of it ; he gets most of 
 the dances : though once, as I guide her to the strains 
 of the Faust waltz. Eve adds to the brightness of its 
 music one ray of sunshine. Her lips whisper : " Come 
 and see me to-morrow, Billy," 
 
 " And why? " I mutter savagely. 
 
 " We've not /la^ finished our reminiscences." 
 
 " What time ? " I ask eagerly. 
 
 " About three o'clock." This is said consideringly. 
 
 I consider also, and remember Arago's hours of duty 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 151 
 
 must keep him at the Quartermaster-General's all the 
 next afternoon. 
 
 "Very well," I answer briskly, and leave her, not 
 wishing to commence the campaign with too much 
 ardor; though I cannot stand and see her dancing 
 every other figure with that cursed Creole, who seems 
 so ineffably pleased with his success over me. As for 
 the young lady, she is now making play with two 
 or three old general officers in a way that surprises 
 me. 
 
 As I bid Mrs. Bream a hasty adieu, my hostess 
 whispers : "A little more difficult than you reckoned } 
 eh, my captain ? My niece is not picked up again as 
 easily as you imagined." And she casts a significant 
 glance towards the fairylike creature, who is now 
 chatting with old Broughton of the engineers. 
 
 Strolling from the_/?/e in the early morning light, as 
 I walk to my F Street boarding-house I hear the rattle 
 of drums and the tramp of boys in blue. A regiment 
 of infantry, on its march through the city to cross the 
 Long Bridge, and join contending armies in Virginia, 
 blocks my path. Waiting for this to pass, I am joined 
 by old Broughton, that old engineering authority having 
 tramped after me from Mrs. Bream's. 
 
 " Awfully jolly shindig, young man ; regular Ken- 
 tucky frolic ! " he babbles to me, made loquacious 
 by champagne. "Yankee Doodle! how the girls 
 danced that Virginia reel ! Did you see me foot it 
 with that little Ashley witch.? Hang me, sir, I made 
 a hit with her ! Nothing would do, but old Brough- 
 ton must take her out on the balcony ; her bright 
 eyes wanted a little more of him. What she doesn't 
 know about pontoon bridges now — ain't worth know- 
 ing. She's smart and cute as a vivandiere, and 
 beautiful as a topographical map, sir. By heaven, you 
 should have seen her pretty lips as she lisped : ' Dear 
 General, how long a bridge will cross the Rappahan- 
 nock .? ' Guessed Burnside's movement — guessed it 
 like a major-general ! And my God, what shoulders 
 and arms ! Reminds me of Dolly Madison, sir, when 
 I was a plebe — the belle of the army, sir ! " 
 
 But Broughton's remarks don't make much impres- 
 sion upon me at the time, though as I watch the 
 venerable military scientist turn up Pennsylvania 
 
152 
 
 BILLY HAMrLTON. 
 
 Avenue, it seems to me curious that Miss Ashley should 
 be interested in pontoon bridges, 
 
 Then I go home ; but noi to sleep. My soft couch 
 is harder than any bivouac ground I have ever lain 
 upon. I toss about my pillows. A Secret Service 
 suspect ! Good heavens, what curious bond is there 
 between Eva Ashley and Henri Dubois Arago.? Why 
 is she grateful to him P 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE CIGAR STORE NEAR THE WAR-DEPARTMENT. 
 
 I DETERMINE to investigate him. Making inquiries 
 in a casual way, so as not to attract attention, I dis- 
 cover that Mr. Arago has been representing his cotton 
 syndicate in Washington ever since General Butler 
 captured New Orleans — that is, for something over six 
 months — having arrived at the capital bringing strong 
 letters of recommendation on account of his activity 
 in disclosing concealed Rebel arms in New Orleans, 
 and Rebel cotton in the surrounding parishes. In the 
 course of the next two months, — by political influence 
 that the cotton-stealers who have grown rich out of this 
 business have brought to bear. — Mr. Arago has received 
 appointment as a clerk in the Quartermaster-General's 
 office, and rapidly risen in that department on account 
 of executive ability as well as general attention to his 
 duties. 
 
 He has no funds of the government in his hands, 
 therefore no attention is paid to his conspicuous 
 pursuit of the goddess of chance in the great gambling- 
 rooms of Washington, it being generally considered 
 that the Creole's wad of greenbacks comes from his 
 portion of the profits of the cotton-stealing gang. 
 
 He has apparently been on visiting terms at Mrs. 
 Bream's for four or five months, and probably made 
 Miss Ashley's acquaintance at the home of her aunt. 
 Aside from his love of play, nobody has anything to 
 say against him ; and his faro and poker everybody 
 seems to think is his business, not theirs. 
 
 From all accounts he is well in favor with the powers 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 153 
 
 that be, one gentleman giving me a start by remark- 
 ing : "By Jingo I think he's even in touch with Baker's 
 Secret Service Department." 
 
 " What makes you think that? " I ask. 
 
 "Why, I'm incHned to imagine that he kept them 
 from pulling, one evening, Jake Burner's second class 
 gambling-house, that has brought a few paymasters to 
 ruin." 
 
 If this is so, I reflect, Arago must have a good deal 
 of influence with Baker's Secret Service, for that officer 
 generally does his work with grim severity, whenever 
 he gets a chance at gambling-houses that rob Uncle 
 Sam's boys of their money, the houses of ladies who 
 steal virtue from the soldiers, and the general vices of 
 the capital, doing this with the same haughty disregard 
 of constitutional rights that pervades his treatment of 
 copperhead newspapers, democratic politicians and 
 any other persons or things the government desires to 
 squelch. 
 
 But in the afternoon my thoughts of Mr. Arago are 
 practically driven out of my mind by the charms, 
 witcheries and allurements of Miss Ashley. 
 
 At the time appointed, I call at the Lafayette Square 
 residence, and find I have one tremendous advantage 
 over my rival. My entire time is my own ; his is 
 naturally circumscribed by the duties of his office. 
 While he is niaking out quartermaster's requisitions, I 
 can fight Cupid's battle, and, thanks to Lucy Bream, 
 have the delights of iete-a-teie in which to do it. 
 
 Miss Ashley receives me with unaffected ease. Still, 
 all this day there is a latent air of triumph about her. 
 Sometimes I wonder if it is not triumph over me ; for 
 she must know that, no matter how remiss I had been 
 as a lover to Eva Ashley, I am a regular Romeo to my 
 ex-captive of that Potomac night. This I practically 
 suggest to her, though not in direct words. 
 
 To this she remarks, blushing a little : " Yes ; that is 
 a very pleasant way of excusing yourself. But do 
 you know, I like to think of you best as the little 
 boy " 
 
 "Great Scott ! In pinafores .-' " I laugh. 
 
 "Yes; the little boy who guarded me, though he 
 did it in a very lordly way." 
 
 " Guarded _>'o« ? " I say, astonished. 
 
154 BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 "Why, yes. Don't you remember when at school 
 I got into trouble, who assumed my woe ? Billy 
 Hamilton ! When by accident I tore Webster's dic- 
 tionary, who got up and lied for me and said he did 
 it ? Who took from the awful Miss Priscilla Sturgess, 
 the austere Yankee schoolmarm, the whacking that 
 should have fallen on my shoulders ? Billy Hamilton ! 
 Who trounced Sammy Jones, because he teased me ? 
 Billy Hamilton ! " And her eyes look more grate- 
 fully at me than they had done the evening before ; 
 but not so gratefully, I think, as they had gazed upon 
 Arago once or twice the preceding night. 
 
 Still, if she wants to make a hero of me, though I've 
 forgotten about it, I'm agreeable. 
 
 Then / commence to remember also. What a darling 
 little witch Eva was at school — how I had, in the con- 
 ceited manner of the b/g boy, extended my protection 
 over the l?///e girl — how I had permitted her to love me. 
 With this comes the disconcerting thought : " Hang it, 
 I'm doing the loving^ now ! " 
 
 One reminiscence leads to another. We get to chat- 
 ting of old times, and finally I lead her to Frederick 
 Town, and that night on the Potomac. 
 
 But here she stops me with low voice : "As a great 
 favor to me, I beg you to forget that, and never to 
 speak of it. " There is a nervousness in her manner 
 that frightens me, linked as it comes into my mind 
 with the request ot the Secret Service Department. 
 
 "Certainly, your M'ishes are my command," I mur- 
 mur, though I cannot help wondering if she didn't visit 
 a Confederate sweetheart, why does Eva Ashley care 
 so much to have that episode in her life obliterated .? 
 " You know, of course," I add, " I shall never mention 
 this again." 
 
 "Please, never do." 
 
 "Though I can't help thinking of you," I whisper, 
 " with the sunshine playing about you, as you stroked 
 Roderick's mane." 
 
 "Roderick.? Ah, your handsome charger!" Her 
 eyes have lighted with the fire of the Southern horse- 
 woman. "Where is he now ? " 
 
 "Eating his oats, I presume, comfortably in the 
 stable. And Bonny Belle, your pretty half-Arab 
 mare .■* " 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I55 
 
 With twitching lips, the girl mutters : "I have sold 
 her — sold my Bonny Belle," and her beautiful eyes 
 grow full of unshed tears. 
 
 "Sold her ! " I ejaculate. "Why ? " 
 
 "Because — can't you guess it — we, in Virginia, are 
 so very poor ! You do not know what the troops 
 whose uniform you wear have done to us ; how they 
 have oppressed us ! " And the fire in her eyes burns 
 up their tears. 
 
 Then she checks herself and mutters, wringing 
 her hands slightly : " But I must not think of our 
 wrongs. I am here — far away from troubles of that 
 kind. I might be rich — God bless Aunt Lucy's kind 
 heart ! — but my pride won't let me accept too much, 
 even from her. Though this little gown is her present 
 to me." And she glances at the pretty but unpreten- 
 tious dress she is wearing, that, decking her exquisite 
 figure, becomes as beautiful as any robe invented by 
 French modiste. 
 
 "Though we won't speak of Bonny Belle," I remark 
 "I cannot help thinking of you and Roderick, when 
 you played with my charger's mane, and my hand ac- 
 cidentally touched yours. " I look at her dimpled mem- 
 ber with its delicate, white, patrician fingers, and think 
 I have played a master-stroke. 
 
 But I have not ! 
 
 " Ah, but then I reminded you," the young lady says, 
 "that you had a betrothed you had /orgo//en," and her 
 glance grows stern and haughty. Here she falters, her 
 face ablaze with blushes : "No — no; I don't mean that. " 
 
 "Ah yes, you do. Betrothed — that is the word 
 between you and me." 
 
 ' ' Yes, " she says sarcastically, ' ' The betrothed you 
 had forgotten." 
 
 "But still betrothed!" 
 
 " Not at present ! " She draws herself up haughtily, 
 then looks at me, I think, savagely and sadly. 
 
 " You will not let me use that term to you? " 
 
 " Not until you have done a good deal more to earn 
 it than you have so far. Do you think it has been 
 pleasant to my pride to think you had tossed me from 
 even your memory } " 
 
 " But I had not forgotten you, I was always think- 
 ing of the girl in the gray riding-habit." 
 
156 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 This touch perchance makes her slightly more com- 
 plaisant to me ; but as I look at her I can see I am go- 
 ing to have no favored lover's privileges. Those lips 
 that are so tempting, seem a thousand miles away. 
 
 Just at this moment, Lucy Bream comes in and 
 startles me by saying : " Good gracious, you here yet, 
 Billy ? " 
 
 " Holy poker, do you begrudge me a few minutes ! 
 You're not as hospitable as you were last night," I 
 laugh. 
 
 " Is n't two hours long enough iox o. first interview ? " 
 she laughs. " Have you persuaded Eva that she once 
 loved a little boy } " 
 
 Then, oh, the blushes on the face I am gazing at ! 
 
 But the girl says lightly: "It is of such little conse- 
 quence — loving Hltle boys. Loving men is the more 
 important matter." 
 
 But here perhaps a little of the coquette coming into 
 her pansy eyes. Miss Eve gives me one ray of hope. 
 She whispers to the matron : "Can I invite him.?" 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 "To-morrow evening we're going to the theatre, 
 Billy. Would you like to join us in our box at Ford's .? " 
 
 " Wouldn't I .^ I could sit through a whole perform- 
 ance, only looking at your shoulders." 
 
 At this the two ladies burst into merriment, as I, a 
 latent hope in my heart, glancing at my watch, find I 
 have been there two hours. 
 
 Shaking both ladies by the hand, I note Lucy Bream's 
 clasp is cordial and Miss Ashley's but an endured salu- 
 tation. 
 
 Out in the avenue, I mutter to myself : " A long siege, 
 much strategy, and then a desperate assault, before that 
 citadel can be retaken." 
 
 Ah, Billy Hamilton ! When you let a child's love 
 pass away from you, you did not know how precious 
 the woman's would become ! 
 
 During half an hour's walk, I decide upon my plan 
 of campaign. First and foremost, I must make Eve 
 love me — if I can.? Second, I must destroy Arago's 
 influence over her, whatever it is — if possible .? 
 
 I continue my investigations in regard to that 
 gentleman, but with unsatisfactory results. True, he 
 is a gambler, but many dashing, high-spirited young 
 
BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 IS7 
 
 men of that day were votaries of cards and chance, 
 and nobody thought the worse of them for it. 
 
 Still, I think I will see a little more of the gentleman 
 than I have lately ; but tluring the day this is difticult 
 to do, for Arago, and for that matter Finnaker and all 
 in the Quartermaster-General's office, are very busy. 
 
 Late on Friday night, however, 1 discover him at 
 Chamberlin's, Arago is playing as usual, and to my 
 astonishment seems to feel the strain of the game. 
 At least he is nervous — an emotion he has never dis- 
 played at faro before, though I have seen him play 
 for higher stakes. 
 
 On seeing me, however, he seems to become jovial, 
 and giving up the green table, we two take a drink to- 
 gether. During this he jokes : " Been to see your old 
 friend Baker again, eh ? " 
 
 "No," I laugh ; "you need not miss another shot 
 at billiards on his account ; " and rather think I may 
 startle him. 
 
 But to my dismay, the Creole's eyes light up with a 
 triumph he cannot conceal. He becomes extraordi- 
 narily happy and jovial, even laughs with me at his 
 losing his money at billiards to such a duffer as Finna- 
 ker. Then producing his cigar-case, he proffers in his 
 light, elegant and winning Southern manner, one of 
 his famous Bouquets Especiales, in fact, presses two or 
 three upon me, saying : ' ' You looked a little surly, my 
 dear fellow, when I took her away from you to supper 
 the other evening ; but you must get accustomed to 
 that." His eyes grow luminous, and sensuous ; in his 
 imagination I am sure he sees the girl I love and sees 
 her as his oivn. 
 
 "I am not accustomed to getting used to anything 
 I don't like, INIr. Arago, and I object to your tone to 
 me," I remark coolly but imperiously. 
 
 " Ah then, please accept my apologies. I beg your 
 pardon," he murmurs, so humbly that I am compelled 
 to receive his amende. Anyway, I can't quarrel about 
 her in a gambling-house. But even as I do so, I 
 catch his Creole glance once more, and it shocks 
 me. Into his eyes has come a look of pity, perhaps 
 even contempt; he seems to think me but a poor op- 
 ponent in the game he is playing. For somehow it 
 strikes me that the triumph in his eyes comes not alto- 
 
158 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 gether from his success over me in the ball-room with 
 Eva Ashley. He seems to have suddenly taken upon 
 himself a renewed and most buoyant confidence en- 
 tirely unwarranted by the slight advantages of escort- 
 ing Miss Ashley to supper and getting the most of her 
 dances at Mrs. Bream's soiree. 
 
 As I leave him, for now he seems to waste but little 
 attention upon me, having returned to his faro game, 
 crying vivaciously: "I put fifty on the queen, and 
 copper the jack with twenty ! " 1 know that Henri 
 Dubois Arago and I are enemies. 
 
 Going home I turn the matter over in my mind, and 
 this curious suggestion strikes me like a rifle-shot. The 
 Creole knew I had instructions from the Secret Service 
 oi'fice in regard to the young lady I had captured at 
 Norton's Ford ; my foolhardy information to him as I 
 made my billiard test has shown Arago that ! In some 
 way he knows that Eva Ashley is the girl I captured 
 on the Potomac ; furthermore, he must be aware I 
 have recognized her at Mrs. Bream's as my ex-captive. 
 I have told him I have not seen Baker ; ergo, I have 
 not reported my discovery. Perhaps my negligence 
 in this makes him think he has a hold upon me. 
 
 This view of the matter seems a very serious one, 
 as I reflect that every day I fail to report my discovery 
 of the girl I met at Frederick to Uncle Sam's detective 
 bureau, the greater chance Arago has of placing me 
 under the suspicion and condemnation of the War 
 Office, who have made me their spy. 
 
 "By Jove, they may put me in the old Capital pris- 
 on — that tvould give him a fair field, '' I cogitate rue- 
 fully. But dissecting this idea the second time, I 
 throw away any thought of immediate annoyance to 
 Miss Ashley or danger to myself on this point, as Arago 
 has seemed as anxious as I to shield the young lady 
 from scrutiny or surveillance, if his remark about the 
 Treasury young lady indicates anything. 
 
 Anyway, though the concealment of her identity 
 may bring annoyance, perhaps condemnation upon 
 me, she, standing under the very wings of the great 
 War Senator, who I know is truckled to for his vote, 
 eloquence and influence by the government itself, who 
 is regarded as strong a Union man as any War-Senator 
 or War-Governor in the land — the niece of his wife, an 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. ig^ 
 
 inmate of his household — the most that can come to 
 Eva Vernon Ashley will be a most polite request to 
 kindly visit Mr. Stanton in company with her aunt 
 and tell him of her movements during that September 
 evening. " Dash it ! " I laugh, " she's as safe as if she 
 lived in the White House ! Besides — egad ! " I con- 
 tinue, "I can shield myself under her Mang. I have 
 but to mention that though I discovered the young 
 lady, I found that she was of such loyal standing, so 
 intimately connected with the patriotic Senator Bream, 
 that I did not wish to bring his family under any slur 
 that might come to them from Baker's too alert de- 
 tectives." 
 
 "By Jove, with the Senator standing by me, I can 
 rout every government spy from here to Michigan ! " 
 I laugh, and grow rather merry over this matter. 
 
 Smoking the last of Arago's fine cigars the next 
 morning, it suddenly occurs to me I'll have a box or 
 two of these for myself, and incidentally see what 
 Mr. Bermudas says about his customer. 
 
 Consequently, about eleven o'clock on Saturday 
 morning, I wander into the cigar store next to Mulloy's 
 Generals' Bar-room. This has not so many brigadiers 
 in it as on previous occasions. Some of them have 
 gone to the front, for the army is now in motion ; 
 the rest of them are mighty busy in forwarding sup- 
 plies to it and on general staff duties. 
 
 The little cigar-store is very much like any other 
 little cigar-store. It has the inevitable wooden figure 
 of the Indian chief in front of it and, apparently 
 to reduce the rent, a bootblack's stand in the back 
 portion of the shop, at which a darkey, as I make my 
 purchases, is polishing boots at five cents a shine. I 
 am waited upon by Senor Bermudas himself. To him 
 I mention my name, stating Mr. Arago had advised 
 me to try his particular brand of cigars. 
 
 " Caspita! he's a very good customer," says Bermu- 
 das, a genial-mannered Cuban, with a voice soft and 
 soothing as the smoke of his own cigars. 
 
 "Here are the Botiqiiets Especiales — Colorado you 
 wish, Senor Capitan .'' " he remarks. 
 
 Making my selections, I take from a box I purchase, 
 a few cigars for my case. With one in my mouth, I 
 turn about for a light. 
 
l6o BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Here, Quashie," cries Bermudas. "Fire for the 
 Senor," 
 
 At his word the boot-black, who has just finished 
 shining an under-Treasury clerk's shoes, steps to me. 
 As I light my cigar nonchalantly I gaze at him. ''By 
 the Lord, Cuffy," I cry, in the careless tone of one ad- 
 dressing a nigger, "You have got a smashed eye!" 
 For the appearance of one side of the black's face is 
 something terrific. 
 
 "'Deed I has, INIassa," mutters the black promptl5\ 
 "Yo'd t'ink yo' had one too, if a damn U. S. Guber- 
 ment mule smacked you in de jaw wid his behind hoof. 
 Ef yo' don't believe me, yo' jest get behind one of 
 Massa Linkum's teams down near Twenty-secon' an' 
 G Streets." 
 
 "Yes, we must all look out for Uncle Sam. He 
 kicks hard and strong," I laugh, thinking perhaps to 
 give Seiior Bermudas, who is suspected of secession 
 proclivities, a timely warning. 
 
 So, followed by a little laugh from two or three loung- 
 ing purchasers or bystanders, I take my way, carrying 
 two boxes of cigars, smoking which I shall spend some 
 of the most terrific hours that ever came to any man. 
 
 One of these comes to me this very night ! 
 
 About eight o'clock in the evening I stroll down F 
 Street, and turning along Tenth come to Ford's The- 
 atre, a plain stuccoed building, which nearly three 
 years afterwards was brought into most melancholy 
 prominence by the assassination of our nation's Pres- 
 ident after he had done his work upon the earth. 
 
 At present this little theatre is a scene of happy mer- 
 riment and boisterous laughter. 
 
 Though Saturday is technically called "Niggers' 
 night " in the South, a good-sized audience is present, 
 many of them officers ; the enormous local garrison, 
 which generally numbers twenty-five thousand men, 
 assuring that. 
 
 Among the blue uniforms and black coats are scat- 
 tered a good many ladies, quite a contingent of them 
 young, charming and beautiful, but none so lovely as 
 the fair girl who sits beside pretty Mrs. Bream in stage- 
 box A, the two ladies being well backgrounded by the 
 massive form of the truculent War-Senator, who is 
 behind them in black broadcloth coat, cut rather too 
 
DILLY HAiMILTON. l6l 
 
 big^ for him, his low velvet vest displaying a border- 
 state expanse of rumpled and crumpled shirt-front. 
 
 As I enter, a burst of laughter greets me. Every- 
 one is enjoying John E. Owen in his marvellous role 
 of "Solon Shingle" in The People's Lawyer. The next 
 moment I join the box party, greet Mrs, Bream and 
 her niece, shake hands with the Senator, and seat my- 
 self behind Miss Ashley's statuesque shoulders. But 
 get little attention from her, for all through the piece 
 she is laughing till the tears run down her fair cheeks 
 — as for that matter, so are the whole of us, the Senator 
 swallowing a chew of tobacco in his uproarious mer- 
 riment. 
 
 Between the acts we all get to chatting together — 
 for a moment on the play ; afterwards on other mat- 
 ters. Glancing at the audience, Mr. Senator Bream 
 remarks: "I think I'll go down and see poor Gen- 
 eral Braxton." 
 
 " Yes," titters his spouse. "Poor General Braxton 
 is getting up to go out. But why do you call him 
 poor P" 
 
 "Well, the unfortunate fellow's got a secesh wife. 
 She drives him to drink." 
 
 " And how about the unfortunate secesh wife ? " re- 
 marks Miss Ashley suddenly and sarcastically ; then 
 laughs: "I hope, Uncle Rufus, that you don't make 
 Aunt Lucy's having been born in Virginia an excuse 
 for visiting bar-rooms." 
 
 "Not the slightest, my dear. I visit them without 
 excuse," chuckles the Senator ; then whispers, laying 
 an affectionate hand upon his spouse's shoulder : "I 
 have perfect confidence in the patriotism of my wife 
 and the unfaltering loyal Unionism of my dear little 
 niece." With this the political magnate strolls out of 
 the box, leaving Miss Ashley with very red cheeks and 
 a kind of spasm of anguish in her eyes. 
 
 Suddenly she breaks out upon me, as if to get some- 
 thing out of her mind: "You have not told me, my 
 Union Provost-Marshal, how you left your father, and 
 dear Virginia, and sweet little Birdie in Baltimore." 
 
 " Oh, they're quite well, I believe, especially Birdie. 
 I haven't seen much of them since I became sponsor 
 for their loyalty," I mutter. 
 
 "Why especially Birdie ? " asks the girl astonished. 
 
l62 BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 Thus adjured, I recklessly run into a narrative of my 
 return to my family, my posing as trooper in the Jeff 
 Davis' Confederate Legion, my stories of Major Ana- 
 nias's dashing rides with Stuart's cavalry, the awful 
 catastrophe that came upon me when it was announced 
 that I had been appointed Union Provost-Marshal, and 
 from this I pass into a description of handsome Arthur 
 Vermilye, of the artillery, one of my brother officers, 
 winning, with my connivance, sweet little Birdie's 
 love. 
 
 During this, Mrs. Bream has laughed heartily several 
 times, but here her niece startles and horrifies me. I 
 think I hear her sigh out: "What an ineffable apos- 
 tate ? " 
 
 "Oh, you needn't look so severe. Miss," laughs the 
 aunt. "Supposing Miss Birdie does elope, it's an aw- 
 fully good match for her. " 
 
 But the girl, tapping the rail of the box with her fan, 
 nervously, murmurs : " Dear, weak little Birdie." 
 
 " Weak, in gaining handsome Captain Vermilye for 
 a husband .? " ejaculates Lucy Bream. 
 
 Here the girl astounds us both. She swings round 
 on us, her eyes blazing, and remarks: "Weak, in 
 not making Captain Vermilye jump over to her side of 
 the fence to woo her, instead of her crawling through 
 the hedge to his political pasture." Then she goes on, 
 her face seeming inspired by some subtle emotion : 
 "Every girl in this war should at least make one 
 convert. " 
 
 "What convert.? " I ask. 
 
 " TJie ma7i who loves her ■' Every girl should at least 
 do that. Her arms should only go round the man 
 whose heart throbs with her heart — whose triumph is 
 her joy ! " 
 
 " Humph ! " I jeer. "That depends upon who loves 
 the strongest." 
 
 "Ah! Who — loves — the — strongest." This is sighed 
 out. Then, looking into my face, she half sneers : 
 "Who loves the strongest will be the weakest in pa- 
 triotism, eh. Captain Hamilton 1 " 
 
 But I have no chance to answer this. The Senator 
 comes in, wiping his moustache, the curtain goes up, 
 the house breaks into screams of laughter at John E. 
 Owens in that roaring farce, The Live Indian. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 163 
 
 But after this is over, as the green curtain falls, Miss 
 Ashley turns to me, and, with curious change in her 
 manner, permits me to cloak her. As my hands trem- 
 ble arranging the draperies about the beautiful shoul- 
 ders, she gazes at me with a look that makes my heart 
 beat very fast. "Thank you, Billy," she murmurs. 
 "Now you remind me of the little boy that took such 
 good care of the little girl." 
 
 It is not the speech, but the manner of it that causes 
 me to walk on air ; that makes the theatre, half empty 
 now, its plain seats and benches in full view, seem 
 Elysium, as I offer my arm to Eva Ashley and follow 
 Mrs. Bream and her husband from the box. For there 
 is a confiding clutch in the little hand that is on my 
 arm, and the graceful head seems to nestle very close to 
 my shoulder, as we come down the few stairs and step 
 out into the lobby. 
 
 A moment later I put her into the carriage, and she 
 gives me another joy. I\Irs. Bream suggests: "We 
 are to have a little quiet supper at home ; won't you 
 join us .-* " 
 
 "Yes, won't you, Captain Hamilton.?" comes to me 
 in Eve's voice pleadingly. 
 
 For answer, I step in beside her and am, for a short 
 hour, the happiest man in Washington ; for at the little 
 supper-party my goddess seems to have become like 
 the girl that morning at Frederick — free, unaffected, 
 sweet to me. 
 
 I bid them good-bye, and she, running out in the 
 hall after me, whispers: "To-morrow, take me to 
 church — won't you, Billy ? " 
 
 "With Mrs. Bream.?" 
 
 " No ; all by ourselves. I am an Episcopalian." 
 
 "Then if you're an Episcopalian, so am I," I answer. 
 " What is yotir church is m_y church." 
 
 "Ah — then what is f?iy " but whatever is in her 
 
 mind, she checks herself, and extending a gracious 
 hand, says shortly : "Good-night." 
 
 This time it is not an endured salutation. Her soft 
 white fingers clasp mine as I look into her eyes ; but 
 these droop under my glance ; her beautiful head is 
 turned slightly away, in graceful bashfulness. 
 
 "Good-night," she murmurs, and as if afraid of her- 
 self, runs from me. 
 
164 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Good-night," I say, my eyes on fire, my soul in 
 heaven ; and though the night is dark, I walk home 
 amid sunshine. 
 
 As I stride along Lafayette Square, I cogitate : 
 "What the devil has caused this change in her?" But 
 whatever it is, I don't care ; it makes me happy. 
 
 Arriving at my F Street boarding-house, I sit down, 
 and over one of Arago's exquisite Bouquets Esp'eciales I 
 chuckle: "By hookey, my Quartermaster-General's 
 clerk, you haven't much chance when you run against 
 a cavalry boy. Anyway, I'm in heaven ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SPECIAL ORDER NO. I4IO. 
 
 Into this heaven suddenly comes the roll of war ! 
 
 Little Finnaker, hardly waiting for my cheery "Come 
 in," enters the room, his face pale, his eyes excited. 
 "I — I couldn't sleep, I'm so flabbergasted," he whis- 
 pers. " There's the devil to pay with us I" 
 
 "What is it.?" 
 
 " This is dark — but it's hell ! " 
 
 " Well, what's the row now ? " 
 
 "This is most strictly private ! " 
 
 " Have I ever blabbed of your pontoon order?" 
 
 " It's about that ! My God, there's the devil to pay ! 
 You heard me tell you that we sent down a special 
 requisition number 14 lo, to the Depot Quartermaster, 
 calling for eighty pontoons and two thousand feet of 
 bridge, to be got ready at once ? " 
 
 " Yes, certainly." 
 
 "Well, special order 1410 to Depot Quartermaster 
 has been forged or altered. Lee'Il get to Fredericks- 
 burg before our pontoon trains — and then God help 
 Burnside ! " 
 
 "A special order of the Quartermaster-General's 
 forged or altered!" I gasp. "Impossible! I know 
 their checks and routine. " 
 
 "Don't fly off; listen to me ! " breaks in Finnaker. 
 "This evening — only an hour ago — we sent down to 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 165 
 
 ask Depot Quartermaster when he would have requisi- 
 tion 14 10 ready. Curse it, he knocked us off our feet. 
 He replied that requisition No. 14 lo had been filled 
 and ready to start for two days. This astounded us, 
 eighty pontoons and two thousand feet of bridge got 
 ready in a few hours. Meigs sent me down to see 
 about it. At the depot I found there were only eighi 
 pontoons and /wo hundred feet of bridge — good Lord, 
 just a tenth of the order. What use is that to bridge 
 the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg .? " 
 
 "Then it is Fredericksburg.?" I say, chewing the 
 end of my cigar. 
 
 "Yes, we know it now in the department." 
 
 "But how did the mistake occur.? '' 
 
 "That's the devilish part of it. Our order-book 
 copy reads eighty pontoons in both letters and figures, 
 and two thousand feet of bridge in both letters and 
 figures ; and the requisition received and on file at the 
 Depot Quartermaster's reads eight, in both letters and 
 figures, of pontoons, and two hundred feet, in both 
 letters and figures, of bridge. Those eighty pontoons 
 should have moved to-morrow ; at the latest, on Mon- 
 day. You know, Burnside has started his command 
 to-day ; the pontoons were to have met his advanced 
 divisions at Fredericksburg, and Sumner's army corps 
 was to have immediately crossed and instantly en- 
 trenched itself in the heights beyond ; then the cross- 
 ing of the rest of the army would have been assured. 
 Now, if Lee gets there before the pontoons, Burnside 
 is blocked." 
 
 "But how did the mistake occur?" I ask, running 
 through my mind the usual military formula of the 
 Quartermaster-General's office, which would certainly 
 prevent it. 
 
 "The order left us all right ; of that we're certain ! 
 I myself and two other clerks saw Arago give it to 
 Lommox. That damned Irish traitor is under arrest 
 now, for just as sure as Lommox delivered the re- 
 quisition that is now at the Depot Quartermaster's 
 it reads eighi pontoons and two h^mdred feet of 
 bridge." 
 
 "Lommaxa traitor.?" I cry. "Nonsense! He is 
 as blundering and honest an Irishman as ever lived 1 
 How long did he take to deliver the order .? " 
 
1 66 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 " He reported back in ten minutes; six going and 
 four returning." 
 
 "That's quick enough ; five good long blocks each 
 way, after dark, in streets crowded as they are round 
 the Quartermaster's depot. " 
 
 " Yes," remarks Finnaker. " That's the devil of it ! 
 The orderly made about the right time, and it's certain 
 that requisition could not have been changed or forged 
 in a moment. The order reads, — so they tell me — all 
 right, as regards penmanship, at the Depot-Quarter- 
 master's office." 
 
 *' What does Lommax say? " 
 
 " He says nothing, but curses low and deep, and re- 
 peats that he received the order at 6 : 45 and delivered 
 it at 6 : 51 p. m. as shown by the receipts." 
 
 "Then the trouble is with Arago," I cry, anxious to 
 make things hard for my Creole rival. 
 
 " Nonsense ! I and another clerk stood by Arago as 
 he copied it. While it was drying, he went off to wash 
 his hands and ran over to Bermudas's for a few cigars. 
 When he came back we had it sealed in the envelope 
 and I walked out with him and saw him deliver it 
 to Lommax. We were chatting together about some- 
 thing else at the time." 
 
 "Did Arago call your attention to his folding up the 
 order ? " 
 
 "Hang it. He didn't fold the order. I folded it in 
 the presence of Wilkins, the other clerk. My eyes never 
 left the envelope till I saw Arago deliver it to Lommox. 
 I can swear to it ; Arago's all right ; it's that damned 
 Irish traitor certain!" He always looks saucily at me 
 when I boss him ; he's a disloyal scoundrel sure as 
 poor Colonel Ellsworth died in my arms." 
 
 "Pooh," I mutter, "Lommox has risked his life on 
 too many battlefields to be called traitor now. How 
 does Arago take it } " 
 
 "Beautifully ! He's cool as a julep! It is the big 
 guns that are raging. Stanton's over at our office, 
 giving us all fury. Meigs is raising the deuce with his 
 assistants — and they are giving their clerks glory halle- 
 lujah ! As for the Depot-Quartermaster, he says stiffly 
 he obeyed orders as he got 'em and he don't care a cuss 
 for anybody." 
 
 "What are they doing? " 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I67 
 
 " Working like beavers — they'll get the pontoon train 
 off by the 20th, and it may get there in time, but I 
 doubt it — especially if it rains and makes the roads 
 bad — you know Virginia mud." 
 
 ' ' Where's Lommox ? " 
 
 "At his quarters, under arrest and cautioned to say 
 nothing about it. That's the cue of all of us. Good 
 lord, if the newspapers get hold of it — flaming head- 
 lines "Another Blunder!" — "Provisional Govern- 
 ment," and all that, don't you see ! As for Stanton, I 
 heard him say, ' By the God of Heaven, when I catch 
 the traitor who did this I'll hang him high enough for 
 the whole Army to see him, and Lee's Army too ! My 
 lord ! the way he looked make my blood run cold, 
 and I've been in four pitched battles, I have. So keep 
 it dark. Keep it dose. But then I know I can trust 
 you as I would myself ! " 
 
 "Better!" I say grimly as Finnaker goes off ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 The affair, though it interests me, doesn't excite me 
 very much. If the pontoons don't reach Burnside in 
 time and he finds Lee ahead of him and intrenched, 
 he must turn back and try another way to Richmond. 
 I reflect as I puff cigar smoke about me. For at 
 this time, I did not guess the tremendous political 
 and popular pressure that would be brought to bear on 
 that doomed commander to force him on to the awful 
 disaster of Fredericksburg — when, on that dread night 
 of the thirteenth of December, had Stonewall Jackson's 
 advice been followed Lee would probably have made 
 an end of the Army of the Potomac and perhaps the 
 American Union also.* 
 
 As it is, my mind chiefly turns to the predicament of 
 the honest Irish sergeant. " Poor devil Lommox," I 
 mutter. " Lommox ! " What were the words I heard 
 Arago whisper that evening to the girl at the corner of 
 Thirteenth & E Streets .? " Make sure I shall give the 
 despatch to Lo?nmox ■' " The lady on the corner of Thir- 
 teenth & E Streets was Miss Eva Ashley ! 
 
 My God, the girl I love ! " 
 
 Then suddenly Mr. Arago 's exquisite Bouquet Espe- 
 ciale becomes bitter as gall in my mouth — the room 
 grows dark to me ! O powers of Heaven ! what a 
 * See Appendix. — Ed. 
 
l68 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 night I spend ! What can I do — if my half-formed 
 fears are correct? 
 
 Nothing ! — at all events, nothing for the present. 
 
 I try to sleep but cannot, and the next morning going 
 desperately to the Lafayette Square mansion have my 
 anxieties practically knocked out of me. 
 
 In answer to my card, Miss Eve floats down to the 
 parlor looking beautiful as a Venus, fresh as a wood 
 nymph and innocent as an angel. Dressed in some 
 light walking dress, for this Indian-summer day is 
 warm and balmy, she seems to me a fairy, beneficent 
 and charming. " She might carry a little information 
 between lines," I reflect as I look her over with lover's 
 eyes: "many a Southern maid has done that! But 
 block the march of the Army of the Potomac ? — Never ! " 
 
 Comforting myself with this conclusion, I address 
 myself to the object of my fears who stands before me, 
 a delicately-gloved hand extended cordially, but a 
 piquant pout on her coral lips, murmuring reproach- 
 fully : " Captain Brown-Study, you haven't said good- 
 morning," 
 
 " Haven't I ? " I say, with a start. 
 
 "No, and you haven't told me how you liked my 
 dress. I made it myself," she goes on with that most 
 charming, subtle, and deadly coquetry to the masculine 
 heart — that I-lean-on-you business. — What you think 
 is right, goes. — You are so strong and I am so de- 
 pendent. 
 
 Ah, the power of woman through her very weakness ! 
 
 Thus adjured I give the little hand a tender squeeze, 
 cast my eyes over the garment, and taking advantage 
 of my opportunity enjoy a beauty feast. 
 
 But perchance lingering too long over this, my en- 
 chantress bursts out laughing: "What do you know 
 about hoops, ruffles and flounces ? Oh, mercy, the 
 dragoon is trying to talk like Monsieur Worth, that 
 man-milliner in Paris." 
 
 Suddenly she brings to bear upon me another most 
 artful, yet potent feminine witchery. She shows she 
 takes a profound personal interest in me; she cries : 
 "Good Heavens, Billy ! You look as if you had been 
 up all night." 
 
 "No, I went home straight from you." 
 
 "Well, you look fearfully dissipated any way — I — " 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 169 
 
 here she grows bashful and diffidently suggests : "I 
 hope you haven't been gambling at your own rooms," 
 then sighs, "So many young men ruin themselves in 
 that way." 
 
 Catching a glimpse of my face in a neighboring 
 mirror, I perceive that a sleepless and intensely anxious 
 night has given me a decidedly roue appearance this 
 morning. 
 
 I can't tell her what caused it — at all events not until 
 I have to speak to her to save her — so I mutter, with 
 a little yellow laugh, "Well, take me to church. Miss 
 Angel, and let the minister, exhort the dissipation out 
 of me." 
 
 "Come!" and the girl leads the way out of the 
 house towards St. John's. 
 
 It is scarcely a step, but in that moment Eva Ashley 
 changes. Before, the bright girl of earth, she now be- 
 comes the protege'e of Heaven. 
 
 As we enter the portals of the house of God, I know 
 I love a truly good girl ; one who believes in her relig- 
 ion — one who loves her Redeemer. As the soft strains 
 of the organ come to our ears, the beautiful eyes beam 
 devoutly, the exquisite face grows more lovely because 
 it grows more holy. Eva Ashley sinks down kneeling 
 in the pew and whispers her petition to heaven and 
 seems to pass away from earth's troubles and earth's 
 passions. Throughout both service and sermon, I, and 
 all other temporal things, seem apart from her. What 
 sinner could fail to be impressed with such a saint ? 
 And I — rough-riding cavalryman, curiously careless of 
 spiritual things, as most of us were in those days, when 
 death was so near to us — can't help praying with her 
 and feeling in my heart I am not worthy of her. As 
 most men do in the presence of women who are truly 
 good. 
 
 But once in all that holy ceremonial I notice that a 
 thought of the passions of the awful struggle of the 
 outside world come to her and I observe her very 
 closely. Though I pray with my devotee, I can't keep 
 my eyes off her earthly loveliness. I note the graceful 
 head crowned with its clustering curls, the superb con- 
 tours of her gracefully developed figure ; every move- 
 ment, as she kneels, displaying new beauty lines. 
 
 As I do this, my glance catches a little foot, high- 
 
1 7© BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 instepped and perfect in outline and proportion, that 
 has stolen out in its tight-fitting boot from beneath the 
 crinolined skirt. For the life of me I can't keep my 
 eyes off its beauties. The rector is praying for the 
 success of the Union arms. Suddenly the little foot, 
 that has been quiescent, for one moment taps nervously 
 upon the church floor — then with a sudden shiver grows 
 quiet again ; but Eva's body has drawn itself up from 
 very force of emotion. I can see each beauty curve, 
 extend itself, and her clasped hands clench themselves, 
 — the girl is praying with all her heart and all her soul 
 to the God of Battles, Do her petitions ascend to 
 heaven in unison with her pastor's — or is she imploring 
 heaven for victory of the Boys in Gray over the Boys 
 in Blue, as many another Southern maiden prays this 
 November Sunday ? 
 
 She rises, and there is a new look in the beautiful 
 face. The corners of the eyes have become drawn — 
 the curves of the chiselled mouth are rigid — an un- 
 earthly self-devotion is in those delicate features. 
 
 Where have I seen that inspired radiance before? 
 A shiver runs through me as I remember it was in an 
 old picture of the Maid of Orleans. 
 
 That day, as we come out in the whispering crowd 
 from the portals of the House of the God of Peace and 
 Loveinto the presence of cruel war and the emblems of 
 mighty contest — never absent in those dread days from 
 the nation's capital, for orderlies are holding officer's 
 chargers at the entrance of St. John's Church, and 
 ambulances are waiting for the wives and daughters of 
 generals in the field, and across the square an infantry 
 regiment is tramping to the front, its band playing 
 "John Brown's Body" — I catch a little nervous flutter 
 of the graceful hands that hold the prayer-book. 
 
 Gazing on the beauty at my side, I meditate : " My 
 Heaven ! Is Eva Ashley a ' Joan of Arc ? ' My mind 
 suddenly opens. I see that here is a girl who has the 
 soul to do great things. 
 
 A platoon of cavalry comes galloping up as we 
 descend the steps. They halt, the lieutenant springs 
 off his horse and advances toward us. 
 
 My fears for her make me a coward. I think it is a 
 Provost guard. The little hand on my arm seems to 
 clench itself, but the face is calm as a martyr's. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 171 
 
 Dashing Molly Bent comes laughing down the steps 
 behind us. She speaks to Eva. I give a start. My 
 Maid of Orleans is discussing with her friend the latest 
 fashions. 
 
 The Lieutenant has just saluted a Major-General, 
 The cavalry is only the escort of some corps or division 
 commander, to guard him on his ride to histroops in 
 Virginia. 
 
 For the first time in my life I feel I have nerves. 
 But I must know — for her safety I viust know. 
 
 After a few salutations to some legation chaps and 
 one or two young officers who will have word with 
 her, Miss Ashley, getting out of the throng, walks 
 blithely by my side. We are near Senator Bream's 
 front door, the girl remarks casually : " Not so many 
 gentlemen at church as ladies ? " 
 
 "No," I reply. " Were it not for you women the 
 minister might shut up shop." 
 
 "That indicates you would 7iot have come, had I 
 not invited you, Billy." 
 
 "Certainly not 1 This is the first time I have been 
 to church for a year. Have you made many other 
 other proselytes 1 " 
 
 "A few," she half laughs. " Mr. Finnaker and Mr. 
 Arago come sometimes at my solicitation.'' 
 
 "Ah, yes ; but the Quartermaster-General's Office is 
 too busy to-day." 
 
 "Indeed .? " 
 
 "Yes ! " I see my chance and play my card des- 
 perately. "You know they got off that great pon- 
 toon train last night and this morning." 
 
 As my lie strikes the girl ; for one instant, a shivery 
 shudder runs through her limbs ; her face grows pale 
 and drawn, she passes her hand over her eyes as if the 
 sun blinded them. Then drawing herself up as if to 
 bear a blow, Eve, for one second, looks me straight in 
 the face. What she sees there, I don't know — but her 
 lips and cheeks regain their color, her eyes grow sunny, 
 she innocently asks: "What pontoons.?" then not 
 waiting for my answer, laughs: "You military men 
 always think women are interested in your tactics. 
 Are they going to build a bridge over in Virginia ? " 
 
 Great powers ! Am I so poor a liar ? — or is her 
 glance into my heart deeper than I have guessed .? — or 
 
172 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 is her information so sure on the subject, that she knows 
 I haven't told the truth ? 
 
 I don't have much time to speculate on this, we are 
 already at Mrs. Bream's door. 
 
 "Can I take you out walking this afternoon," I ven- 
 ture. 
 
 For a moment the young lady looks as if she would 
 accept, then says, slightly embarrassed : "I — I would, 
 but unfortunately I — I have a prior engagement." 
 
 "With Mr. Arago.?" I ask, both fear and jealousy 
 flying up in me. 
 
 " Y-e-s-^I'm sorry." Then she gives me a crumb of 
 consolation. " You are going to Mrs. Judge Burton's 
 dance on Tuesday, I presume ? " she asks, smiling at 
 me. 
 
 "No — I have not heard of it ! " 
 
 " If I get you an invitation, will you take me } " 
 
 " With pleasure. Does Mrs. Bream go .'' " 
 
 "Perhaps yes — will you take me anyway.?" 
 
 "Won't I \" 
 
 "Thank you." She extends her hand to bid me 
 good-bye, but I seize it and hold it, and whisper words 
 to her that I can't control as I look into the dear face. 
 " For God's sake, take good care of yourself." 
 
 ' ' What do you mean P " Her cheeks are pale and 
 eyes inquiring. 
 
 " What dofi'/ I mean ! " 
 
 " And why ? " A spasm of agony runs over her deli- 
 cate features. Perhaps I am squeezing her little fingers 
 too hard. 
 
 "Because you're so dear to me — darling — ! For- 
 give me — I can't help it — I wouldrtt if I could — I cotildn'l 
 if I would." 
 
 "Oh mercy, what an ambiguous creature you are, 
 Billy ! " laughs my enchantress mockingly, pulling her 
 hand away. "Goodness gracious, every one is look- 
 at you ; the street is crowded. Tuesday evening, nine 
 o'clock : I will get Mrs. Burton's invitation card for 
 you. Good-bye. " 
 
 Then she frightens me. 
 
 I have made two steps down the vestibule stairs. A 
 hand is suddenly laid upon my arm, light as a feather. 
 A soft voice whispers in my ear very sadly, very ten- 
 derly : "You wouldn't care loo much if anything 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I73 
 
 happened? You would forgive me — wouldn't you, 
 Billy ? " 
 
 I turn and catch the eyes, laden with unshed tears. 
 Joy and rapture — in them is love •' Despair and misery 
 — in them is agony! But she flies from me ; the door 
 closes on the figure of my divinity. 
 
 I stagger down the steps and mutter: " God help 
 me — I'm half sure now ! What shall I do to save 
 her ? " 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 THE BATTLE FOR HER LIFE. 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 THE TOUCH OF THE MOUCHARD. 
 
 I KNOW I won't get the facts out of her. God bless 
 her dear heart, she wouldn't tell me ; that would im- 
 plicate me. 
 
 My one chance is Arago, and from what I have dis- 
 covered of this gentleman's coolness, it would take the 
 torture to open his lips. Still I will further investigate 
 him. 
 
 All the afternoon I do this, though not effectively, 
 for I dare not ask directly ; everything must be insinu- 
 tion, suggestion. I can only discover the Quartermas- 
 ter-General's clerk has lots of money, which he says 
 comes to him in gold drafts sent from England. This 
 is perfectly in accord with his connection with the cot- 
 ton syndicate ; the market for that commodity is Eng- 
 land ; there they are paying enormous prices for the 
 white fleece to keep their Manchester operatives from 
 starving. Naturally Arago's profits would come from 
 England. In addition I learn his luck at faro has lately 
 been very bad. 
 
 Suddenly — it is astonishing what slight things a 
 man grasps at when he is falling into an abyss — I 
 am smoking gloomily — suddenly into my throbbing 
 head flies a name, "Quashie.?" Something connects 
 "Quashie" with the girl I love. 
 
 "Quashie" gave me the light for the first of these 
 Bouquets Especiahs I am smoking. Quashie, whose 
 face had been half kicked off by a government mule ; 
 Quashie who — I have it ! Quashie — that's the name of 
 the darky servant who rode by Miss Ashley's side that 
 night on the Potomac. It's a common enough cog- 
 
 174 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 I7S 
 
 nomen among plantation darkies ; still, I'll investigate 
 Quashie. 
 
 Though it is evening, I tramp over to Bermudas's 
 cigar-store and buy another box of the famed weeds. 
 Casually inquiring, I find that Quashie iinished up his 
 boot-blacking early in the afternoon, and can discover 
 nothing more about him. 
 
 Returning gloomily to my room, but slight comfort 
 is brought to me by Mr. Finnaker. That little hero 
 comes bustling in, closes my door mysteriously, locks 
 it, sits down by my side and says : " I've stopped here 
 to smoke a cigar and talk things over with you." He 
 lights up one of my Bouquets Espiciales. " You know, 
 you're the only one we d(7re consult. We haven't got 
 any further in that altered special order No. 14 lo busi- 
 ness." 
 
 "Oh, the pontoons?" I remark, affecting a noncha- 
 lance I do not feel. "What are you doing about 
 it ? " 
 
 "Well," he says, "we're shoving the work on 'em 
 day and night. We'll have the trains ready to start by 
 Thursday, the 20th ; we may get 'em to Burnside in 
 time, and — we're keeping the matter very dark. You 
 see, we're afraid of the infernal newspapers. If the 
 New York Herald knew of it, wouldn't Stanton tear his 
 beard — oh, my ! " The little patriot gives a grimace of 
 disgust. 
 
 " Have you found the traitor who forged the false 
 requisition.?" I ask, with apparent unconcern, though 
 my teeth meet in the end of my cigar. 
 
 "No, we have put that into Baker's hands; the 
 Secret Service is nosing that out," he whispered. " Let 
 Baker alone ; he'll smash the infernal rebel spy like a 
 mosquito." 
 
 "Yes, Baker is very acute," I mutter, with a shiver, 
 as Finnaker, having finished my cigar, leaves me. 
 
 "Too infernally acute!" I think, an hour after- 
 wards, as I still smoke and ponder. 
 
 "No. 1410 — special requisition — altered or forged 
 while passing from the Quartermaster-General's office 
 to the Depot-Quartermaster — the envelope in charge of 
 a trusty and true cavalry sergeant — and delivered over 
 five long city blocks in six minutes ! By heaven, 
 Lommox couldn't have got drunk and sober again in 
 
176 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 that time ! It was no art of liquor that did this. Pish ! 
 no delicate girl could have executed such superb strat- 
 egy. Arago must be the guilty one ! " I laugh to my- 
 self half hysterically. "Still, why her anguish, her 
 anxiety ? " 
 
 I cannot sleep ; it is no use to go to bed. I step out 
 and pace the streets, and my steps will lead me towards 
 one house in Washington. As I stride past on the op- 
 posite side of the street, there are lights in the parlors 
 of Senator Bream's mansion. It is too late to call, 
 otherwise I would go in. Round Lafayette Square I 
 go half a dozen times. 
 
 On my sixth circuit, on Fifteenth Street, somewhere 
 between H and G, I think it is, I encounter Arago. 
 He is apparently on his way from Eva ^shley ; he has 
 doubtless heard her voice within the minute. Jeal- 
 ousy, hatred and distrust flame up in me. 
 
 "Taking a walk. Captain?" he says, after a few 
 words of polite greeting. 
 
 " Yes," I reply. 
 
 "Where are you going, this fine night.?" 
 
 " Anywhere." 
 
 " Oh, very well, come with me, and we'll have sup- 
 per at Chamberlin's and a dash of faro." 
 
 " I'm your man ! " I answer. 
 
 Perhaps in his company some of my vague, yet tor- 
 turing, suspicions will take more definite form. Any- 
 way, in the excitement of play, I may forget — for a 
 minute. 
 
 We stroll towards Chamberlin's together. "Are 
 you going to Mrs. Judge Burton's hop on Tuesday 
 evening.? " I ask for want of other topics. 
 
 ' * I think so, " he remarks nonchalantly. ' ' And you ? " 
 
 "Oh, certainly. I have the pleasure of escorting 
 Miss Eva Ashley." 
 
 This touches him ! He has not heard this before, I 
 can see by the angry expression of his face. He is 
 about to burst out — perhaps I shall get a better hint 
 from his rage than his suavity — but he suddenly checks 
 himself, and murmurs, in rather sarcastic tones : "Then 
 I congratulate you upon the prospect of a very pleas- 
 ant evening." 
 
 "Will you try a cigar?" I say, in equally polite 
 voice. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 177 
 
 ' ' No ! Diahle, yes •' That is what I have been want- 
 ing. Thank you. I see you are smoking my brand." 
 
 "Yes; I took your hint." Then some despairingr 
 inspiration flying into me, I continue: "I went to 
 Bermudas's and selected my cigars yesterday. By-the- 
 bye, they've got a darky boot-black over there who, I 
 should think, was a terrible fighter." 
 
 " Indeed ?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Quashie has got the most fearful eye I 
 ever saw on any nigger. Curious name too : I don't 
 suppose I should remember it, if I hadn't met a darky 
 of the same cognomen, one September night on the 
 Potomac under rather peculiar circumstances." 
 
 Have I struck a rift in his armor .'' The Creole's 
 hands tremble as he lights his cigar. But he steadies 
 himself, and remarks nonchalantly: "Yes, Quashie 
 is rather a common name among our contrabands, I 
 believe." 
 
 We are at the door of the great gambling-house. 
 " On second thoughts I don't think I'll go in," I say. 
 
 " Ah, changed your mind about playing ? " 
 
 "Yes, I feel a little done up to-day." 
 
 "Very well; good-bye. I wish you a pleasant 
 evening at Mrs. Judge Burton's." There is a nasty 
 and sarcastic sneer on his face as he says this and 
 steps into the brilliantly lighted rooms. I turn away, 
 walk home and think of "Quashie " — and her danger. 
 
 I go to bed and try to sleep, to keep my mind calm 
 for the morrow. But when I sleep, I dream horrible 
 things. 
 
 Early the next morning, rising unrefreshed, I bolt a 
 hasty meal and walk over to Bermudas's cigar-store, 
 thinking to find the darky, but Quashie is no more 
 blacking boots, in fact his stand is gone. I am told 
 Quashie has got tired of his job and gone off and joined 
 an army sutler. To hunt for him, among the hundred 
 thousand contrabands that loaf about the forts and 
 camps and thoroughfares of the capital is a practical 
 impossibility. 
 
 Early in the day I receive Mrs. Judge Burton's card 
 of invitation. I think I will go up and thank Eva for 
 it. That's the idea ! Perhaps in her extremity she may 
 confide in me. 
 
 To my concern Miss Ashley is not in, though I find 
 
178 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 IMrs. Bream looking fresh and pretty, notwithstanding 
 there is an air of latent anxiety about her. 
 
 "Eva's gone to visit Mrs. Rignold, " she remarks, 
 
 " Ah ! Far from here ? " 
 
 "Yes, quite a distance, over towards the capitol, 
 Massachusetts Avenue, near E Street." 
 
 " Don't you think I might stroll over and bring Miss 
 Eve home ? " 
 
 "Yes, if she'll let you?" smiles Lucy; then sud- 
 denly she breaks out on me: "What is the matter 
 with the girl .? T>ojyou know ? " 
 
 "No," I reply, summoning the arts of a diplomat. 
 " Nothing serious, I hope. She — she isn't sick .? " 
 
 " No, but there's some gimcrack on her mind." 
 
 " Since when? " 
 
 "Since last evening." 
 
 " What makes you think so } " 
 
 "She walked the floor of her chamber half the night. 
 You've had nothing to do Avith it ? You have not been 
 playing fast and loose with her again ? " 
 
 "On the contrary, she's been playing fast and loose 
 wdth me," I say bitterly. 
 
 "Yes, you don't look over chipper yourself?" re- 
 marks the matron contemplatively. Then she makes 
 my heart jump by saying : "These lover's quarrels ! " 
 
 " O God, if that were all ! " I think. 
 
 "Very well, run off and find her!" laughs Lucy. 
 "I see you're anxious to bring her home. 
 
 With this I walk off; but at Mrs. Rignold's on Mas- 
 sachusetts Avenue, discover to my concern that Miss 
 Ashley is not there and furthermore has not been there. 
 At least, so the servant states at the door. My peace 
 of mind is not added to by learning my sweetheart has 
 some appointment she does not wish her aunt to know 
 of — something she will even deceive her about. 
 
 I go back to Senator Bream's ; Lucy has gone out; 
 the young lady has not returned. 
 
 I call later in the evening. The Senator, his wife 
 and niece, are away at dinner. I wander about aim- 
 lessly, but can do nothing. 
 
 The strain is commencing to tell upon me. Finna- 
 ker remarks it, as he strolls into my rooms late in the 
 evening, when I am pacing the floor. 
 
 "You look seedy, my cavalryman," he observes. 
 
BILLV HAMILTON. I79 
 
 "What you and I need is to be at thef^-ont. This ab- 
 sence from whizzing Minie balls and bursting shells is 
 killing both of us ; " then he suddenly breaks out : " By 
 Bunker Hill, are you in love ? I hear from Arago 
 you took Miss Ashley to church yesterday. Very 
 fetchy girl — very patriotic — very susceptible to the 
 Quartermaster-General's office. If you don't believe 
 me ask Arago." 
 
 " That's the first witness you have cited who hasn't 
 been dead" I mutter savagely. 
 
 "Well, Arago may be soon — if work can do it; we're 
 being ragged to death. That damned order ! " 
 
 "Anything more about its miscarriage.-*" 
 
 "Nothing! Only we keep it close, sir: close as a 
 percussion on the nipple of an Enfield. We've even 
 released Lommox." 
 
 " Has the sergeant said anything further.?" 
 
 "Not a word, I understand; simply sticks to his 
 story — received the order at 6:45 ^"^ delivered it 6:51 
 p. M. as per receipts. Sometimes I think the Depot- 
 quartermaster must be the disloyal villain. There's a 
 traitor somewhere, but Baker'll have him — Baker'll 
 have him ! " With this he goes away, leaving me more 
 miserable than ever. Jealousy is in my mind, as well 
 as love and anxiety. 
 
 The next morning I discover that Baker is engaged 
 in the matter. 
 
 A note is brought to me, directing my immediate 
 presence at the Secret Service office. I go there; 
 fortunately, my nerves are already braced for any 
 blow. 
 
 I get one ! 
 
 " I haven't got much time to give you, Captain 
 Hamilton," says the head of Uncle Sam's spies. "But 
 I thought I'd ask you if you had seen anywhere in 
 Washington the young woman for whom I told you 
 to keep your eye peeled." 
 
 " No," I reply ; "I don't think she is here. At all 
 events, not in fashionable society." 
 
 " All right ; but there's been hell raised here lately." 
 
 " How.?" 
 
 " That's my business. However, I think if the 
 girl's here we'll surely find her ; though I reckon she 
 didn't have anything to do with this ; this is a little too 
 
l8o BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 gigantic for a woman. But still we want to see that 
 girl ; if she should be mixed up in this accursed trea- 
 son, there's ten thousand dollars for all of us. So we've 
 another society buck looking up things also. By-the- 
 bye, it might be as well to consult with him ; he's 
 already landed sub rosa one or two lady Rebels in 
 the Old Capitol prison. He may give you a point." 
 
 " Of course," I mutter. "We — we might hunt in 
 couples." 
 
 " Quite right ! I think you know him already." 
 
 Then the words that come to me from the chief of 
 the Secret Service make my head buzz, " He is Henri 
 Dubois Arago, one of the head-clerks in the Quarter- 
 master General's office, " says the detective. ' ' By your 
 face I see you know him." 
 
 " Don't 1 1 " I contrive to stammer. " He — he plays 
 a devil of a game of poker." 
 
 " Yes ; too much for you, I can see by your phiz, 
 Captain Hamilton." 
 
 " All right ; I'll — I'll meet him at Mrs. Judge Burton's 
 dance to-night, if not earlier." 
 
 " Very well ; only look alive." 
 
 Then I walk out. The sun was shining as I stepped 
 in — it seems dark as an eclipse now. 
 
 Ten thousand dollars for the life of my love ! Arago 
 an agent of the Secret Service ! He has already de- 
 livered up to Uncle Sam's Justice some fair culprits ! 
 Good God, why is he sparing her? Anyway, he has 
 me in his grip. He knows I have seen the girl for 
 whom they are looking and recognized her ; he knows 
 that I have not reported my discovery to the Secret 
 Service Bureau — furthermore, I have denied having seen 
 her. But what do I care for myself P It is she for 
 whom I tremble. 
 
 Still, in my confused mind struggles one ray of hope. 
 Evidently the War Department wishes to keep this 
 awful mistake, or accident, or blunder about the pon- 
 toons as quiet as possible for the present : that may 
 be one element of her safety. 
 
 I look around the great city. I think of its en- 
 circling forts, its vast garrison, each bridge patrolled, 
 every avenue of escape guarded with military discipline 
 and martial rigidity, and mutter to myself: "Oh 
 God, I am helpless ! " 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. l8l 
 
 My almost aimless steps have taken me back to my 
 boarding-house. Here another pang, another surprise 
 of that awful day, comes to me. A letter in an un- 
 known lady's hand is delivered. 
 
 I open it, and turn at once to the signature ; it is 
 from Miss Ashley : then I read, in rather trembling 
 characters : 
 
 " My dear Billy : 
 
 " Pray heaven you don't misjudge me I "When I asked you to take 
 me to Mrs. Burton's dance this evening, I had forgetton that I had 
 made a previous engagement for the escort of Mr. Arago. He 
 insists that I fulfil it ; therefore I beg you don't come to my house 
 for me. 
 
 " Still, for the love of heaven, don't let any pique, indignation or 
 just anger at my inexcusable forgetfulness keep you from being at 
 Mrs. Burton's to-night. Come, if you only come to quarrel with me 
 — but come! It is vital to both of us, if you meant your few wild 
 words when you last clasped my hand ! Come if yoii mean them I 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " Eva. 
 
 " Don't try to see me this afternoon ; but come to-niqht P^ 
 
 First, rage fills me. What hold has this cursed 
 Creole that he should compel the girl I love to cancel 
 her own request to me. By the Lord, is he threaten- 
 ing her.? Why does she beg me not to come to her 
 this afternoon t I clench my fist in jealous rage, as I 
 reflect these are Arago's off-duty hours. 
 
 Then suddenly comes — over all my doubt and mis- 
 ery — one great joy. If the last part of Eva Ashley's 
 letter means anything, it means she loves me. Can I 
 be faithless to her in her extremity .-' Shall I prove to 
 her that I am dastard, that I was liar, when I whispered 
 in her ear last Sunday morning.? 
 
 The climax is approaching. To save her I must be 
 ready to act like lightning. What are the sinews of 
 war — of love.? Money! I overhaul my funds avail- 
 able ; then go down to my bankers, and by pledg- 
 ing certain securities, have placed to my credit cash 
 sufficient for almost any emergency. 
 
 This done, feeling I must regard my sweetheart's 
 request and, fighting with myself, I keep away from 
 Mrs. Bream's big house on Lafayette Square but write 
 Eve, asking her to give me her confidence, her love, 
 — to renew the engagement of our youth — telling her 
 
l82 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 I adore her — telling her I know she is in trouble- 
 begging her to let me bear it for her. 
 
 This despatched, I go down to Willard's and try and 
 kill time knocking the billiard balls about ; but time 
 won't be killed, and goes very slowly. I stride to my 
 F Street boarding-house. Here I pack a valise. In a 
 campaign always be ready for quick movement. 
 
 This done, Finnaker comes bustling in from his 
 clerical duties. 
 
 ' ' By-the-bye, here's a note for you, I got in the hall," 
 he says. 
 
 I tear it open. It is only a line from Durant, the 
 colonel of my regiment, to say he has come in on 
 some regimental business and asking me to call on 
 him at Willard's. "Anything new?" I ask, as I hand 
 him a cigar. Finnaker always tells me more when he 
 is smoking. 
 
 "Nothing ; only ive've released Lommox from arrest, 
 though we haven't put him on duty. We're keeping 
 this thing bottled up, sir — bottled up like champagne ! * 
 Wait till the cork pops — then I pity the traitor." 
 
 " Have a bottle with me — this evening." 
 
 " Won't I— Munn's Extra-Dry ! " 
 
 With him I go down to Mrs. Lorimer's tea, and eat 
 nothing, but drink something to strengthen me for my 
 fate. Finally, I make my toilet and walk to Mrs. Bur- 
 ton's dance about ten o'clock this evening. Fortu- 
 nately, Finnaker is busy with War Department duties, 
 and I am relieved from that little hero's chatter on the 
 way. 
 
 In Mrs. Burton's parlors I find my advent has been 
 deftly heralded. My hostess greeting me, says : "I'm 
 sorry that you were prevented from coming with Mrs. 
 
 * It is a curious fact that the War Department have never ex- 
 plained that, though Burnside sent his order for pontoons on the 
 9th of November originally and both Halleck and Meigs telegraphed 
 about them on the nth and 12th of November, still the Depot 
 Quartermaster at Washington never heard of the pontoon order 
 until the 14th of November. Vide Burnside's testimony. Appendix. 
 
 No elucidation of this matter was attempted even after Fredericks- 
 burg vi^as fought and lost, though the press of the country were 
 denouncing Stanton and Lincoln for the disaster : See Appendix ; 
 Editorials, New York Herald, etc., and Harper's Weekly Cartoon, 
 January 3d, 1863 — Columbia demanding her 15000 sons murdered at 
 Fredericksburg from Lincoln, Stanton, and Halleck. — Ed. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON, 1 83 
 
 Senator Bream and her party ; but better late than 
 never, Captain Hamilton." 
 
 Therefore I know Miss Ashley must be here. 
 
 At first opportunity I look about for her. She is not 
 in the parlor where Mrs. Burton is receiving ; but I see 
 Lucy Bream, looking- very pretty and placid, a few 
 chairs away. 
 
 As I greet her she says: "You missed Eva at 
 Mrs. Rignold's the other afternoon ; she returned al- 
 most immediately after you had left." 
 
 " How is she.? " I ask uneasily. "Any more gim- 
 cracks on the mind and all-night se'ances with her- 
 self.?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; entirely normal once more. Look ! " 
 
 I follow her glance, through the folding doors. And 
 what a picture ! 
 
 Amid the crowd of circling dancers, brave men, and 
 lovely girls in rohes de hal, each one meant to be se- 
 ductive to masculine eyes ; their white arms flashing 
 and shining shoulders gleaming, I see but one ! 
 
 A goddess of beauty, in a toilette made to pull the 
 heart out of a man, is floating with fairy steps to the 
 soft " Dream of the Ocean " waltz. 
 
 Floating ; that's what she is doing ! for all this night 
 the loveliness of Eva Ashley seems to me more of the 
 air than of the earth. 
 
 From the white camellia stuck in her waving curls 
 to the light tulle skirts, flounces and furbelows that 
 wave like billows over her swaying crinoline, beneath 
 which scintillate and gleam superb ankles and petite 
 feet, she has no speck of color, save hot burning 
 blushes vibrating over cheeks that grow pale as lilies 
 as she looks on me. 
 
 Then suddenly into her eyes fly two sparks of emo- 
 tion. In them I see what makes me happy — in all my 
 anxiety— ay — even though the arm of that accursed 
 Creole tyrant circles that lithe waist and presses her to 
 him. 
 
 I know he is her fyra?ii now ! For catching her 
 glance at me, Arago whispers to her. Eve turns her eyes 
 from me — the beautiful orbs grow dim with tears behind 
 them, her proud head droops. I can see her white, 
 sculptured bosom throb tumultuously with the short, 
 rapid beats of some supreme emotion. In my soul I 
 
184 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 know it is fear, not love that causes Eva Vernon Ash- 
 ley to accept the attentions of Henri Dubois Arago. 
 
 What immense motive, what intense strain makes 
 this high-bred Virginia girl, a descendant of one of 
 Rupert's cavaliers, tremble as she looks into the face 
 of the New Orleans drift-away ? Her ancestors were 
 not wont to have their hearts beat in panic-terror 
 as they faced Frenchmen at Crecy, Poitiers or Azin- 
 court. And from the way Stuart's cavalry are fighting 
 across the Potomac now, their blood doesn't seem to 
 have deteriorated. 
 
 Is it the terror of the victim for the mouchard? 
 Shades of Vidocq ! give me a mouchard's cunning to 
 defeat him ! 
 
 No ! better still, give me American pluck to save my 
 love from his two-faced clutch. For if she is guilty in 
 this thing — he must be guilty also. 
 
 Made strong by this idea, I step towards Eve. The 
 dance has ended — she is escorted by another cavalier 
 now — for in all this evening I note Arago treats Miss 
 Ashley, in public, with the punctilio of a Creole and 
 the etiquette of a gentleman. 
 
 The girl, though she is on the arm of one officer is 
 chatting to several others. Into this coterie I insinuate 
 myself. A moment later I am bowing before her and 
 asking for a dance. She extends her programme ; I per- 
 ceive Arago has confiscated half her dances, and the 
 cotillion also. 
 
 " I have come ! " I whisper. " You know what that 
 means. You received my note ? '' 
 
 Her eyes answer mine, then droop, and despite a strug- 
 gle, for I can see Eva is fighting to keep down emotion, 
 her heart throbs wildly. A blush, beginning gradually 
 with pale pink, that makes her face like chiselled coral, 
 grows into a flaming, ruby glow. 
 
 " For heaven's sake, take only one," she falters in 
 my ear. "The one marked with a big cross — yes, that 
 one just before supper — quick, don't linger, he is watch- 
 ing me. Thank you — God bless you." 
 
 I bow and move away, swearing for this humiliation 
 of my love to reckon, at proper time, with him who 
 causes it. 
 
 Then I try to act as other men at fetes and revels. I 
 dance, I flirt, I even laugh. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 185 
 
 The dances drift away. 
 
 Ours comes at last ! 
 
 As she puts her hand upon my arm, Eva Ashley's 
 words startle me. "Waltz with me," she whispers. 
 "Don't talk to me. He's watching-." 
 
 This I do, clutching her to my heart in a desperate 
 way, for I know the crisis of our fate is upon us. 
 
 "The dance is ending. I have not had one word 
 with you," I mutter. 
 
 "Wait!" 
 
 Then I see with what subtle feminine art Miss Ash- 
 ley has arranged her manoeuvre. By very force of 
 being the escort of their party, Mr. Arago is compelled 
 by ballroom etiquette and courtesy to take Mrs. Bream 
 to supper. The refreshment-room is in the basement 
 of the house, reached by a somewhat narrow stairway. 
 Though he looks back lingeringly, longingly, even I 
 think threateningly at the girl, the Creole is compelled 
 to offer his arm and escort Mrs. Bream down, among 
 the first hungry ones, in company with her hostess 
 and several passee dowagers. 
 
 A moment after comes the rush to supper. The 
 stairs are blocked with a crowd of eager matrons, hur- 
 rying girls and their escorts, civil and military; shoulder- 
 straps elbow dress-coats, and gilded spurs play havoc 
 with lace flounces. Henri Arago is cut off from us by 
 the living crush. 
 
 The supper-room not being large enough, the over- 
 flow now seat themselves on the stairway, in one solid 
 phalanx. 
 
 Politeness would keep any gentleman from tramping 
 over silk dresses, deHcate feet, extended crinolines and 
 flounces, if the other cavaliers would permit him. 
 
 The dancing-salons are empty ; though the musicians 
 are still fiddling the march to supper. 
 
 " Come ! " directs my enchantress hurriedly, nerv- 
 ously, bashfully. 
 
 At her word I follow her, to endure the most as- 
 tounding interview perchance woman has ever given 
 to man. 
 
 In a little room of boudoir effects, cut off from the 
 main salons of the house, the girl turns desperately to 
 me and says : "I received your letter, Billy." 
 
 There is a directness in her tones that makes me 
 
l86 BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 start. Her beautiful face, clear-cut as a cameo, is very 
 pale, though the nostrils are dilated and the eyes of 
 unnatural brightness. There is a shrinking modesty 
 about her attitude that makes me pity her though 
 they add to her ethereal beauty. 
 
 "Ah! You understood what I wrote.? — that I love 
 you ? " I murmur. 
 
 "Y-e-s!" 
 
 "That I wish you to revive our engagement.? " 
 
 Her answer disheartens me. 
 
 "Yes ; but I do not think it wise to renew it at this 
 time — under these circumstances." 
 
 " You don't love me ? " 
 
 "I do ! — with my heart — my soul ! " This is sighed 
 out with bashful voice and averted head. 
 
 " Prove it ! " I say desperately. 
 
 "I will! I will marry you to-morrow morning — 
 quietly, secretly." 
 
 "Why not openly.?" 
 
 "I— I dare not." 
 
 "Anyway, I marry you ! " There is unutterable joy 
 in my face. I am taking her into my arms to seize a 
 lover's recompense from the lips that have kept me 
 waiting so long. 
 
 But she, retreating a step, whispers: "Not yet; 
 there is one condition ! " 
 
 "With any condition, I marry you ■' " 
 
 "Then don't look me in the face. Turn your head 
 away, — Billy, please turn your head away." 
 
 Half sulkily, I do so. I hate to take my eyes from 
 off the loveliness that now I feel is mine. 
 
 Is it.? 
 
 To my ears, that can't believe them as I listen, dazed 
 and petrified, come these words, faltered out to me in 
 lowest whisper, as if each fibre of Eve's maiden heart 
 rebelled against them, — as if each word was an agony 
 of virgin modesty, as if she were ashamed the air should 
 catch them : "You — you must promise me — dear one, 
 you must promise me — on your word of honor as a 
 gentleman — nay, on your oath as a man — not to con- 
 sider me your — your — absolute wife until one week has 
 passed from the day I take your name and ring." 
 
 " What do you mean .? " I turn upon her. 
 
 She has faced me desperately. Our eyes meet. She 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I§7 
 
 gasps-. "You know what I mean! For God's sake, 
 don't make nie explain again ! " and turns away. Wave 
 after wave of blushes flies over her face, each deeper 
 than before. That lovely neck, those shining shoul- 
 ders, that gleaming bosom, grow crimson. 
 
 The beautiful head droops. 
 
 She convulsively hides her eyes with her hands. She 
 is sighing : " You — you make it too hard for me. You 
 do not love me ! " 
 
 Flesh and blood cannot withstand such despairing 
 loveliness. ' ' By the oath you wish me to take — by my 
 word of honor as a gentleman, and a man and an officer, 
 I take it!" I mutter, "Good God, I love you well 
 enough to endure even this torture, this degradation ! 
 But for only one week ! " I have got her in my arms 
 now. "Remember that! One week, then my wile, 
 my true wife 1 " 
 
 "Your tnie wife, Billy." Our lips meet in one long 
 clinging kiss. Then she struggles from me and whis- 
 pers rapidly and anxiously : " Meet me at the fountain 
 in Franklin Square at ten o'clock to-morrow morning. 
 I cannot get away before. Have everything ready." 
 
 "You mean the minister and the ring and the 
 license } " 
 
 "Yes, everything. I will meet you." 
 
 "And after the ceremony that has made you mine 
 in law and honor, I suppose you will give me the cold 
 shoulder for Monsieur Arago — for a week," I remark 
 grimly. 
 
 ' ' I am compelled to. " 
 
 " Ah, for a week you will break my heart with 
 jealousy — you will give me no wife's respect and honor 
 — because I am dastard enough to make such a'- 
 ignoble bargain." 
 
 "No — no. Every wifely respect and honor to a 
 gentleman who has aided me in my extremity." 
 
 "Your extremity ? What extremity ? " My fears for 
 her make me stern to her. "Tell me, I demand." 
 
 " To — to save my life ! " 
 
 "Impossible ! Explain ! " 
 
 "I cannot now. There is no time. I must go back 
 to my jailer." 
 
 ' ' Your what P " 
 
 Her words take away my breath. 
 
 "/ — I have been u?ider arrest /or tiventy-four hours." 
 
1 88 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Good Lord ! " 
 
 "Yesterday afternoon Mr. Arago exhibited his secret 
 service United States Deputy Marshal's badge and 
 threatened to handcuff me and take me to the Old 
 Capitol Prison at once, if I didn't consent to marry him." 
 
 My muttered curse startles her, but she goes on : 
 "I am under my parole now not to leave this house 
 without his escort or permission." 
 
 " But your uncle, the great War Senator ! " 
 
 " He daren't help me even if he would. I'm too 
 deep in this time." 
 
 "And to-morrow ?" 
 
 " I will break my parole for your sake to-morrow ! " 
 
 But here a soft suave voice comes floating in to us : 
 " Have you seen Miss Ashley about. Major Hughes.? 
 Mrs. Bream is anxious for her to join us at supper. The 
 crowd is so great on the stairs I had to come by the 
 front door." 
 
 With finger on her lips, my sweetheart, my love, my 
 traitor, my Rebel, my spy, floats out from me to the 
 touch of the moiichard ; and I, half believing this is a 
 dream, want to go after her and take his Creole throat 
 within my hands and wring the life out of his dastard 
 body. 
 
 CHAPTER XVHI. 
 
 THE NUPTIALS OF DAMOCLES. 
 
 But brute force is not the weapon to employ against 
 finesse. I cannot interfere now, though I have to hold 
 myself in my chair ; as I catch his voice speaking com- 
 mandingly to her. It may be but a suspicion : I think 
 I hear him say : "Be careful ; your fate hangs upon 
 your obedience and acquiescence to my rule." 
 
 It dies away ; and sometime after, the parlors begin- 
 ning to fill with dancers, I stroll out of the little room 
 and see my adoration seated with Mrs. Bream and look- 
 ing very sweetly at her Creole captor as he stands before 
 the ladies. 
 
 I am compelled to act as other men. If Eve can 
 finesse, I must also. 
 
 I stroll up to the party and suggest : "Have you 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 189 
 
 had supper enough, Miss Ashley ? " and would offer her 
 my arm to take her downstairs. 
 
 But obeying- a look from the Creole, who stands be- 
 side her, Eve says to me coldly : " Thank you, Captain 
 Hamilton ; Mr. Arago always takes such good care of 
 me at supper that I never need a second bite." 
 
 He leads her off to the dance again, and Lucy Bream 
 looking at me, sneers sarcastically: "A little harder 
 work than you thought, picking up the old love — eh, 
 Billy .? " 
 
 " Rather," I reply, and meditate upon the aunt's deep 
 insight into human character. "Oh, yes; her niece is 
 perfectly normal P " 
 
 But /am not normal. After making pretence of doing 
 a cavalier's duty a little while longer this evening, chat- 
 ting with Miss Laura Cushing of New York, pretend- 
 ing to flirt with dashing Mollie Bent, I getaway from 
 this fete scene ; its laugh is bitter, its gayety distracting 
 to me. I cannot bear to see my promised bride bullied 
 by this damned Creole ; besides, the coming bridegroom 
 has lots to do by to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. 
 
 I hurry to my F Street boarding-house. The sleepy 
 negro servant-girl who opens the door informs me ; 
 "Dere was an Irish soldier to see you twice dis even- 
 ing — late at night, sah." 
 
 " Did he leave his name } " 
 
 "'Deed he did, sah; it war Lummox," replies the 
 wench. " He said he'd rouse you to-morrow mornin'." 
 
 " Oh, Lommox," I laugh. Then suddenly I want to 
 see Lommox ; he may elucidate this matter that is still 
 an enigma to me. If my sweetheart is guilty in regard 
 to that pontoon order, Arago must be guilty also. 
 
 Slipping a dollar into the girl's hand, I say : "When 
 the Irish sergeant calls again, if I'm out, show him to 
 my room and tell him to wait for me. It is important 
 I see him at once." 
 
 " Yes, sah." 
 
 "If you remember, there's five dollars more for 
 
 you." 
 
 " Den I'se suoo I'll neber miss 'um, sah ! " 
 With this I go to my room to think the matter over. 
 If Eve is guilty of the pontoons, her only safety is be- 
 hind the Rebel lines, or in some far-away country ; for 
 I know well enough, in every state of America where 
 
igo BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 the Star Spangled Banner floats, Uncle Sam's Secret 
 Service sooner or later will get her, and I don't marry 
 to become a widower at once. 
 
 But this brings to my mind the infernal oath my com- 
 ing bride has exacted from me, and I tramp my room 
 with rage in my soul and bitterness in my heart. 
 
 I wake from uneasy slumbers early the next morning. 
 It is seven o'clock by my watch when I arise. A 
 license is necessary, with two witnesses as to my 
 identity. If my nuptials are to be kept secret I can 
 ask no intimate friend. "To trust Finnaker is to pro- 
 claim it far and wide. Though I can depend on their 
 silence, I dare not call upon my two lieutenants : if 
 this thing comes to an awful ending, they might be 
 ruined as well as I. Some out-of-the-way Treasury 
 clerk, some buried-alive attache of the Public Li- 
 brary," I think. 
 
 So about half-past eight o'clock I tramp down Penn- 
 sylvania Avenue, racking my brains for proper wit- 
 nesses. In front of a beer-saloon about Seventh Street, 
 yclept Konig Wilhelm, a genial German voice breaks 
 in upon my meditations. With a start I wake up, and 
 find August Lammersdorff, the sutler, is calling to 
 me. 
 
 " Wi'e gehi's, Captain Hamilton ; is your parole lifted 
 yet ? Come in und drink a glass of beer mid me. I'm 
 shust in from der front, und I'm shust going out 
 again." 
 
 Suddenly it flies through me : " Lammersdorff — wit- 
 ness number one. Best in the world ; everybody knows 
 him. He can get me another." 
 
 "With pleasure," I answer. In the saloon I join 
 him in a glass of beer, and over it tell him my 
 wishes." 
 
 "Going to be married, eh.? Dat's a fine way of 
 spending your parole ; dat will make you vant to be 
 von of the home-guards," he laughs, as we sip our lager. 
 " Von't I be your vitness } Vill I get you anodder vit- 
 ness } I vill get you half a dozen vitnesses. Here's 
 mein friend, Herr Schloss, vat is sutler mid Birney's 
 division ; he vill step over mid me." 
 
 So, after another glass of beer, in which Lammers- 
 dorff winking at me says: "To the health of de 
 fust baby," we go down together. The proper declara- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 191 
 
 tions being made, I receive the necessary license to 
 make Miss Evelyn Vernon Ashley my wife. 
 
 Coming- out with this in my pocket, I am still con- 
 versing with the genial Lammersdorff. "Have you had 
 a good trip ? " I ask. 
 
 "Veil, fifteen t'ousand dollars talks." 
 
 "You'll have a lively time if it rains. It looks 
 threatening, too.'' 
 
 " Veil, I dodges Virginia mud dis time. I goes de 
 odder way." 
 
 "How's that?" 
 
 "Veil, de army dey goes to Falmouth, opposite 
 Fredericksburg. I goes down de Maryland side to 
 Port Tobacco, den it's only a few miles ferry across to 
 Aquia Creek, und a short haul to Falmouth." 
 
 "Then a pleasant trip to you," I say. "What time 
 do you leave? " 
 
 "Sometime dis afternoon. If it look like rains I 
 starts early. I goes mid four vagoons. " 
 
 I shake hands with him once more and get on my 
 way. I must find some church where our names will 
 not excite comment or gossip. St. John's won't do. 
 After a little consideration, I select out-of-the-way 
 Christ's Church, down towards the Navy Yard. 
 
 Catching the minister at home, I make arrangements 
 vi^ith him for half-past ten o'clock. Looking at my 
 watch, I find I have no time to lose. I pick up the 
 first decent-looking cab I meet, and from a little con- 
 versation with the driver, judge that his beat being 
 about the Capitol, he has probably never seen Miss 
 Ashley. I get in the carriage and pull down the blinds. 
 I don't care for outside eyes to see me and my bride on 
 our trip about Washington. Inspired by the promise 
 of extra fee, my jehu whips up his horses and I reach 
 Franklin Square in time ; in fact, I'm five minutes 
 ahead of my appointment by my watch. 
 
 Directing the driver to wait for me on I street, I stroll 
 into the grounds, almost deserted at this early hour, for 
 the sun gets up late these November mornings, and the 
 day is threatening. Walking to the fountain, I stand 
 beside it, and for five minutes smoke an uneasy cigar. 
 Then she comes ! Were it under other circumstances 
 and were not my heart full of anxiety and terror for 
 her, I would be the happiest man on earth ; for this 
 
192 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 morning my bride is as piquant and lovely a darling 
 as ever gave joy to heart of groom. 
 
 Her cheeks are full of maiden blushes. A stray curl 
 of hair is floating in the breeze beneath her piquant 
 turban. Her eyes are bright with excitement ; her 
 bearing brisk with the energy of determined action ; 
 her dress captivating audchtc, for the day being threat- 
 ening, she wears a gay Balmoral petticoat that is dis- 
 played by looped up skirt, after the fashion of that day, 
 from beneath which two dainty feet in tight-laced, 
 high-heeled bottipes show themselves occasionally. 
 
 For a moment Eve's delicate fingers falter in my grasp 
 as she asks eagerly : " Is everything ready? " 
 
 "Quite, darling," I answer. "Come with me." 
 And placing her hand in pretty confidence on my arm, 
 she trips by my side as I lead her across the square 
 to where my jehu is waiting. This worthy I have al- 
 ready informed of my destination, charging him to 
 avoid the main thoroughfares and crowded streets. 
 
 I deferentially open the door of the cab ; Eve is 
 about to get in. 
 
 But even as her foot is on the step she turns flutter- 
 ing to me, looks me straight in the face and whispers : 
 " It is not too late. Billy, it isn't pity that makes you 
 do this ? " 
 
 " It is love ! " I answer, gazing into her eyes. 
 
 She knows I tell the truth. "Thank you!" she 
 says, then murmurs : "You do not regret .'* " 
 
 "I regret nothing," I say, "except my unmanly 
 promise — my accursed oath." 
 
 " 0-o-oh ! " With a bashful flutter, my bride is in 
 the cab, turning from me one of the reddest faces I 
 have ever seen. 
 
 Stepping in after her, I close the door. "You have 
 every confidence in me ? " I whisper into her ear, which 
 seems to me like a ruby-tinted shell. 
 
 "Yes ! " A little hand exquisitely gloved is placed 
 in mine trustfully. 
 
 "Then don't you think I deserve a kiss ?" 
 
 "Two of them, Billy." 
 
 Her lips meet mine confidingly, lovingly ; my arm 
 goes round the lithe waist that trembles beneath the 
 pressure of my hand. I am caressing her as an every- 
 day lover does an everyday sweetheart, I take great 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I93 
 
 care to say nothing to add to her agitation, though I am 
 determined that after the ceremony Eve shall give me 
 every explanation it is a wife's duty to accord her 
 husband. 
 
 We get to the minister's sooner than I expect. "Oh 
 mercy, we are there ! '' flutters the girl piquantly, as I 
 assist her out. 
 
 The ceremony takes scarcely a moment. Though 
 Eve falters a little when she promises to obey me ; as 
 I place the ring upon her finger and look into her dear 
 eyes, I know she means to be a loyal wife to me. We 
 sign the register; the minister delivers to my bride, the 
 certificate that proves Evelyn Vernon Ashley is now 
 Evelyn Vernon Hamilton, she folds it up carefully and 
 whispers : " Billy, even if you should hate me for this, 
 I shall always treasure it." 
 
 " Hate you ^ " I whisper. " Love you ! Zove you ■' 
 Love you ! " 
 
 My ardor makes her extremely bashful. She trips 
 down the steps, half laughing, half crying, while the 
 worthy rector, with a goodly fee in his pocket, looks 
 kindly after us as I step down the stairs to the carriage 
 in which Eve is already seated. 
 
 " You can drive back to Franklin Square," I say to 
 the driver — "slowly." 
 
 " Bedad, I understand, yer honor!" answers the 
 hackman cocking his eye at me jovially. Guessing he 
 has been on a bridal outing, he evidently expects a hand- 
 some douceur. 
 
 Then I turn my eyes on my bride. She is in a 
 corner of the carriage, looking as agitatedly diffident 
 as her namesake at interview with the serpent and 
 holding the forbidden fruit in her hand. 
 
 "But it is /who am forbidden to eat!" I reflect 
 grimly. 
 
 Looking on her exquisite loveliness, something in 
 my face frightens her as I step in beside her. She 
 mutters : " For God's sake, remember, Billy ! " 
 
 " I remember my oalli — you remember your vows\ 
 Two kisses,"! say cheerily, "and I'm your obedient 
 servant." 
 
 "As many as you want ; I love you." 
 
 " Now," I go on, "at least I can command from you 
 wifely obedience and wifely frankness. Tell me your 
 
194 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 exact relations with that cursed villain of the United 
 States Secret Service." 
 
 " I — I do not want to give them to you. I will not 
 g-ive them to you ! The knowledge might compromise 
 you. " 
 
 " You must ! I am compromised already." 
 
 "How.? oh Fleaven, how.?" 
 
 " By my love for you. I am going to save you. If 
 not, why did I marry you .? — why did you marry me? " 
 
 "Because — " here the girl frightens me. " Because, 
 Billy," she whispers in my ear, " I feared that in some 
 weak moment I might become poltroon enough to 
 marry him." 
 
 ' ' You — you love him ? " 
 
 ' ' Love him — that dastard, who sells himself for money 
 and then betrays his purchaser.? I loathe — I despise 
 him ! But in some weak moment, Billy, I feared I 
 might, to save my life, promise to marry him. It is 
 not pleasant to die so young, and for what I have done 
 they'd hang me high as Haman. I — I bribed him ; I 
 sold Bonny Belle to give him the money. He now 
 says he did it for love of me." 
 
 "The pontoons for Burnside ? " I whisper, so low she 
 catches it only from the formation of my lips. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then he's as guilty as you are ! " 
 
 "No; Arago only did it to trick me. The forged 
 order was never sent. He told me that yesterday after- 
 noon, and laughed at me." 
 
 "Then he lies ! That forged order was sent. The 
 pontoons have been delayed four days," 
 
 Then, oh the glory that comes into that girl's fac^e ! 
 "Have I given my dear country, the Confederacy, 
 another chance.?" she whispers. "Have I stayed 
 Burnside till Lee has time .? What do I care now if 
 they give me a shameful death .? It will be my glory ! " 
 Then the sunshine in her eyes seems to fill the car- 
 riage with radiance. 
 
 Shuddering for myself — I, the Union officer, who have 
 been made faithless to my cause by love, gaze on this 
 Rebel girl who can love but can't forget her people's 
 battle. 
 
 She has risen in the carriage. But I draw her back to 
 me and mutter: "For God's sake, think of me, who 
 love you — think of the husband who will save you." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. I95 
 
 "Yes, it would be pleasant to live — to see my South 
 free ! Pleasant — " She looks at me, puts her arms 
 round my neck of her own free will and kisses me. 
 
 "Now tell me everything ! " I mutter. 
 
 ' ' I will. When I first came here, anxious to do a little 
 for the South ; full of vengeance — General Milroy had 
 burned the house over my dear mother's head. From 
 some hints I received in Washington, I judged Arago, 
 clerk in the Quartermaster-General's Office, was in the 
 pay of the Confederacy ; tliat he received his money 
 in drafts sent him from England. I met him in society ; 
 sounded him : he gave me some secrets, important 
 ones, one of which I succeeded in delivering the morn- 
 ing after the night you arrested me." 
 
 "Ah ! that was the reason Stonewall Jackson would 
 not have paroled me if I had known your name ! " 
 
 "When I returned here, Arago was glad to again 
 assist me. He said, my being the niece of the patriotic 
 Senator, one of the pillars of the Republican party, 
 made it safer for him to be intimate at our house. A 
 few days ago, he told me his suspicions that Freder- 
 icksburg would be Burnside's route to Richmond. 
 
 ' ' Before leaving our Southern lines, I had held consul- 
 tation with a General of the Confederate Army, who 
 had told me carefully what thing would most cripple 
 the Federal advance by the various routes to Rich- 
 mond, the Shenandoah, the Peninsula, the line of the 
 Rappahannock, either at Fredericksburg or above. At 
 Fredericksburg it was the necessity of pontoons, to 
 bridge the river. 'Keep them from crossing,' he said 
 to me, 'till Lee gets ready for them and if the Yanks 
 cross, by Dixie, there won't many of them get back 
 again.' And I have done it ! " she ejaculates in triumph, 
 then falters : "O Heaven ! what a blow it was to me, 
 when that dastard told me I had failed — that he had 
 trapped me. It was not the dread of imprisonment, 
 though, my gentleman, even as he wooed me, jingled 
 the handcuffs — it wasn't the fear of the gallows, though 
 I saw it over me ; it was the thought that I had failed 
 that crushed me and made me coward with Arago. But 
 now ! now! now ! Her eyes blaze up and glow. Sud- 
 denly she laughs hysterically : " O Billy ! What a 
 Rebel I am ! " and sinks sobbing into my arms while I 
 gaze on her with only one thought in my mind — how to 
 
196 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 save her ! That's all I think of now ! How to save 
 her ! God help me — I have forgotten my duty to my 
 uniform, to my flag, to my country — all but her 
 safety ! " 
 
 The scoundrel Arago is equally guilty with her. I 
 must spare htm — to shield her. Oh, I am a fine Union 
 man on my marriage day ! Ifer safety depends on hts 
 — then hts depends on hers. He dare not denounce her. 
 He has only tried to frighten her to gain her. He's 
 been partially true to his Confederate paymasters — he's 
 been somewhat true to his Union employers. He has 
 been wholly faithless and pitiless to the girl whose 
 beauty has driven him mad to win her — as it has me ? 
 
 As I think, my bride recovers herself and whispers : 
 " I should like to live now. You think you can save 
 me? Her kisses make me strong enough traitor, to 
 swear :" "By Heaven ! No Government spies shall 
 ever take my wife ! " 
 
 We are at Franklin Square. Eve, after her nervous 
 spasm has grown calm again. Herpretty head is held 
 high. She whispers " That is the only break-down 
 of my life. And it was because I thought of you." 
 
 "Very well," I answer, as with a last kiss, I help 
 her from the carriage, " go quietly to your aunt's. 
 But be sure to be at home in an hour from now. By 
 that time I shall call on you ; then I shall have deter- 
 mined what I shall do with you ! " 
 
 My tone is that of dominant husband. She looks at 
 me anxiously but lovingly ; then suddenly whispers : 
 "You — you are going to send me from Washing- 
 ton ? " 
 
 "Probably ! In any event I shall do what I deem 
 best for my wifes safety ! If your only danger came 
 from Arago you might stay here forever. Good-bye. 
 Are you going to tell Aunt Lucy what we've been 
 doing } " 
 
 "Oh, Heaven ! I — I couldn't — I — good-bye, my — 
 my — husband .' " 
 
 Whispering this with a blush she runs lightly from 
 me and I, following her graceful figure with my eye, 
 shudder as I ttiink of the danger that is upon my love 
 — not from Arago — but from others who must have 
 been connected with the successful execution of this 
 plot against our nation. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 197 
 
 Then, dismissing- the hackman with a liberal fee, I 
 g-o back to my rooms on F Street, to find another and 
 immediate element of danger to her. 
 
 As I enter my parlor, Lommox stands erect before 
 me and salutes, his Irish brogue greeting me: " Be- 
 dad, Cap., 1 was afraid you were niver coming." 
 
 "Ah, they asked you to wait for me?" I remark, 
 attempting nonchalance, though my heart is beating 
 wildly, for here is a man who should be able to tell 
 me much. "I supposed you were anxious to see me, 
 and so instructed the servant to tell you to wait." 
 
 " Faith, an' I do want to see ye. Begob, Cap'n, I'm 
 in a divil of a schrape. " 
 
 "Not been drunk again, I hope? " I say severely. 
 
 "Wirrah, if it was only that ! Bad luck to it, if it 
 was only that ! But it's a thing I've got to have advice 
 upon, so I thought I'd come to ye, me ould captain. 
 Tare an' ages, hasn't it been tearing me inside out iver 
 since I've been under arrest ! " 
 
 " Ah, you wish to speak to me confidentially, as if 
 I were your counsel before a court-martial," I suggest. 
 
 •' Faith, an' I do." 
 
 "Very well; open your heart to me." I close my 
 door and lock it. 
 
 "It's about them damned pontoons 1 " says the ser- 
 geant in low voice, getting near me. 
 
 ' ' What pontoons ? " 
 
 "Sure of course ye don't know anything about 'em. 
 Nobody does ; it's a sacret of the War Department. 
 Eighty pontoons and two thousan' fate of bridge 
 ordered from the Depot-Quartermaster last Wednesday 
 evening — ^just a week ago this cursed day. Ye know 
 I'm one of the orderlies at the Quartermaster gineral's ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Well, Arago, one of the head clerks, at 6 : 45 in the 
 avening — it was dark thin — comes out with a requisi- 
 tion, number 1410 they calls it." That bastely Fin- 
 naker was with him. He hands it to me and says : 
 ' Deliver it to the Depot-Quartermaster at once.' " 
 
 "I slip the cursed envelope in my sidebelt. Ye- 
 know they niver tell ye the importance of an order ; 
 it's all damned official routine ; they send a requisition 
 for a box of tacks just the same as if were a requisition 
 that'll send a hundred thousand men to the divil — that 
 
Ig8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 carries the lives of an army in it," the sergeant mutters, 
 with tears in his honest eyes. "Bad luck to 'em ! not a 
 word did the sons of guns tell me it was any extree im- 
 portance ; just handed it and said : ' Take it ! ' 
 
 "With it in my side-belt, I jumps on my horse and 
 turns from Seventeenth Strate into F. Down I goes 
 straight for Twenty-second Strate, aisy trot. The night 
 was as black as a dark-lantern ; there was only a few 
 people in the strate ; not so crowded on the rise as it is 
 further down. 
 
 "Suddenly, out of the darkness, comes to me the 
 swatest voice I iver heard ; a poor girl shrieking, 
 'Oh, God, assist me; a man is insulting me!' By 
 heaven, I'm a soldier and an Irishman ! Bedad, there 
 was a woman, apparently struggling with a niggah. I 
 reined up my charger. What did I think of a damned 
 quartermaster's order, that might be for a pace of rope 
 or a box of tacks. I jumps off me horse to the girl's 
 assistance, and as I jumps off, damned if the niggah 
 didn't butt me in the stomach ; I thought a battering- 
 ram had struck me. Then I up and at him. Biff ! — 
 God save us, how he squealed 1 Biff ! — I chased him 
 for a block. 
 
 "When I came back the girl was holding my 
 charger. 'Thank ye,' she said, 'sergeant.' Sure, how 
 did she know I was sergeant .'' * I think you've dropped 
 something.' She handed me a cursed official envelope. 
 
 " 'Can I do anything more for you, me darlint?' I 
 asked. 
 
 " ' No ; ' and she fled into the darkness. 
 
 "I mounted me horse, and found somehow my side- 
 belt had been cut ; the order must have dropped from 
 it when the niggah butted me. With the envelope in 
 my hand, I gallop down to the Depot-Quartermaster's. 
 I wasn't behind time more than a minute, and deliv- 
 ered it." 
 
 "Well?" I say. 
 
 "Well, murder! That's what it is — murder! The 
 damned order had been changed from eighty pontoons 
 to eight pontoons, and from two thousand fate of road- 
 way to two hundred fate — damn it ! — hardly enough 
 to bridge a trout strame ; and, begob, they meant it 
 for the whole Army of the Potomac to cross the Rappa- 
 hannock. They didn't find out about it for four days ; 
 
BILLY HAMILTON, I99 
 
 then, whirr ! — how things ripped, up at the Quarter- 
 master-Giniral's. 
 
 "They had me up and questioned me. ' Lommox,* 
 said I to meself, ' stick to yer instructions. Ye re- 
 ceived it at 6.45, ye deHvered it at 6.51, by yer re- 
 ceipts ; not much over time in the crowded strate 
 between the Quartermaster-Ginirals office and the 
 depot.' So I stuck to that story through thick and 
 thin, and that's all I told 'em. They put me under 
 arrest. But if they bring me up agin, if they go cross- 
 questioning me, if they make make me tell 'em every- 
 thing I did from the toime I jumped on me charger in 
 front of the Quartermaster-Giniral's office to the toime 
 I raiched the Depot-Quartermaster's — tare an' ages, 
 they'll hang me ! What do ye advise ? Captain, for 
 the love of God, what do ye advise? " 
 
 "Stick to your first story," I answer sharply. 
 "Don't say another word, no matter what questions 
 they ask you. Received the order at 6.45 p.m., de- 
 livered it at 6.51 P.M. 
 
 "You think that's the best way out of a bad affair.? " 
 
 " Yes, I k7ioiv it is ! Besides, the Government won't 
 want to make this too public. They don't care about 
 army blunders being criticised in the newspapers just 
 at present. We make too many of them." 
 
 "Well, then, it's a close mouth I'll have." 
 
 Here I ask anxiously: "What kind of a looking 
 creature was the girl who stopped you ?" 
 
 "How could I tell.? She was muffled up; it was 
 too dark. Ye know what those gas-lamps down there 
 are ; there wasn't one within half a block of us." 
 
 "Billy, Mrs. Bream and I have come to see you," 
 strikes my ear through the closed door. 
 
 It is the voice of my wife ; she has come with her aunt. 
 
 But, before I can recollect for what reason, the 
 sergeant startles me by whispering: "I said I couldn't 
 
 tell the face, but " He has his hand upon his 
 
 heart ; his eyes are blazing. 
 
 "Billy, are you in.? Open the door! Mrs. Bream 
 and I are here." 
 
 "Who is that.?" asks Lommox hoarsely. 
 
 "My sweetheart — my affianced — with her aunt, the 
 wife of a United States Senator. Why do you ask.?" 
 
 "Because if that was not the voice of your swate- 
 
200 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 heart, a high-bred Union young lady, Cap'n Hamilton, 
 I'd say that was the voice of the girl who called me to 
 her help one wake ago and swiped the true order and 
 handed the false requisition back to me." 
 
 "Oh, nonsense!" I break out, though my face is 
 white. Then I cry : "I'll open the door and be with 
 you in a moment. Eve ! " For I must keep her soft 
 tones from betraying her again. 
 
 With this I turn to the sergeant and mutter : " Re- 
 member, Lommox, as you value your own safety, stick 
 to your first story, if you don't want to drag a ball 
 and chain all your natural life. 6 : 45 — 6 : 51 ! Chivalry 
 wouldn't save you before a court-martial. Good-bye." 
 I open the door. " If you want any further advice in 
 the matter, call on me ; I'm your friend. If you want 
 any money in the matter, call on me ; I'm your cap- 
 tain, I stand by you. You're a gallant fellow anyway." 
 
 "God bless you; you give comfort unto me," and 
 stepping out, gallant Irishman that he is, Lommox 
 doffs his forage cap politely to the two beautiful ladies 
 and his eyes light up at the loveliness of the girl who 
 has betrayed him — though he knows it not. 
 
 ' ' Bedad, Cap. , I wish ye and your young lady joy, " he 
 says. "Good luck. God bless your swate face, Miss. 
 I've been your captain's sergeant for many a day." 
 And with military salute, the sergeant strides down 
 the stairs, while I, with the unutterable on my face, 
 motion my wife and her aunt into my parlor ; thinking 
 grimly: "Verily, these are the nuptials of Damocles 
 — to both bride and groom." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LAMMERSDORFF, THE SUTLER. 
 
 As they come in and I close the door on them ; Lucy 
 Bream's speech tells me that she knows at least of our 
 wedding. "Billy ! Billy ! how could you do it ? " she 
 breaks out. 
 
 "Then Eve has told you that I married her this 
 morning? " 
 
 "Yes, you naughty fellow." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 201 
 
 "Well, isn't that excuse enough ? " And I point to 
 the beautiful creature who is standing regarding us, 
 with blushes upon her face, her eyes very bright, her 
 head erect, her nostrils dilated, her pretty nose a little 
 in the air. 
 
 " My husband,'" she says, " I thought it best, on ac- 
 count of a social complication, to tell my aunt I had 
 become your wife. We have come here to consult you 
 about this." She hands me a little note. 
 
 "I cannot understand, that wretch Arago's having 
 the audacity to write such a nasty note ; " says Lucy 
 Bream, savagely. Evidently Eve has told her of noth- 
 ing but our marriage. 
 
 I glance over the billet. It is a communication from 
 Arago, and demands that Eve promise to marry him 
 this evening. To me, reading between the lines, know- 
 ing the circumstances, every sentence is a covert threat. 
 
 "He even writes as if he had power over her!" 
 cries Lucy, angrily, " William, the impertinent scamp 
 should be horsewhipped ! " 
 
 '_' I agree Math you," I say, " and I'm just the man to 
 do it — but this is not the proper time. We have a certain 
 young lady's name to keep above scandal, above gos- 
 sip. Will you help me to do it. Aunt Lucy .? " 
 
 "Aunt Lucy.? — Oh, yes, you have become one of 
 the family, haven't you .? " laughs the pretty matron. 
 " Of course, I'll do anything to keep a naughty girl like 
 Eve, whom I dearly love, out of any trouble what- 
 soever." 
 
 Looking at her, I conclude that I dare not trust Lucy 
 Bream with the awful nature of the real trouble. In 
 justice to her, and her husband, the Senator, I must 
 keep them out of this matter, if possible. "Very well," 
 I say ; " will you excuse me if I ask you to permit me 
 a few minutes' private conversation with my wife, in 
 order that we may settle what is best to be done in an 
 affair in which I do not wish you to be any more in- 
 terested than you can help — being our aunt." 
 
 "Of course," says Lucy. "I'll go into the next 
 room." But at the door she turns, and suggests, 
 roguishly, "I imagine it's kisses, not words, you want 
 with that naughty girl, Billy." 
 
 " Perhaps I'll have a little of both." I reply, as lightly 
 as I can. 
 
202 BILLY HAMILTON 
 
 " Well, I shan't give you too many kisses/' laughs 
 Eve, trying to veil her anxiety by piquancy, "if you 
 question me too savagely about my anti-nupital beaux 
 — Mr. Arago, for instance." 
 
 But as Aunt Lucy closes the door, my heroine's face — 
 great jingo, I'm commencing to regard her in that way ! 
 — loses its lightness, though it doesn't lose its courage. 
 
 I step towards my bride and whisper : "I have but 
 a few hours to save your life ! " 
 
 " Why.?" 
 
 " Lommox ! " 
 
 "Ah ! " her tone tells she understands. 
 
 " If Mr. Stanton questions him, under that lawyer's 
 shrewd examination the sergeant may tell a little about 
 the beautiful voice he recognized in this room — the 
 tones of the girl who substituted a false order for 
 Special Requisition No. 14 lo on G Street a week ago." 
 
 "Ah, you know.? " But her face is still corageous. 
 
 " Everything ! Where's Quashie ? " I question hur- 
 riedly. 
 
 " Outside the lines, I hope, by this time. Privileged 
 contrabands roam everywhere." 
 
 "Yes ; but you — 1 must get you out of Uncle Sam's 
 grip in time. I think I shall send you to England or 
 Europe." I add contemptalively. 
 
 "I won't go there ! " 
 
 "Ah, rebellious already 1" 
 
 "No, my husband; but I don't want to be too far 
 away from my mother in all the trouble this war has 
 brought upon Virginia and you! Send me across the 
 lines — get me across the lines." 
 
 " That would be almost a miracle now." 
 
 " Yes, I know that. At first it was easy ; then it 
 grew difficult ; now it is next to impossible. But still, 
 I've had a little experience in this business already. 
 And you — your knowledge of the Secret Service as 
 provost-marshal should help you." 
 
 " It doesn't ; it only makes me despair. Every con- 
 ductor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is a member 
 of Baker's organization. Every ticket-seller at the 
 Washington Railroad Offices notes where you are 
 going. If you take tickets for Baltimore, and you get 
 off at Leonardstown, or any other route to the Lower 
 Potomac that might lead you into Virginia, you will be 
 
UiLLY HAMILTOtJ. 2o3 
 
 shadowed from that moment — perhaps arrested at 
 once." 
 
 "Yes, I have reason to think that too," she says, 
 poking her pretty foot with the end of her parasol ; 
 then breaks out in self-reproach : "1 should never 
 have let you marry me ! I was mad — crazy — to permit 
 you to wed me and sacrifice yourself Forget I'm your 
 wife. I stay here ! I take my chances ! I'm not afraid 
 of Arago — now that I have triumphed ! " 
 
 "No; he'll never dare denounce you. But others 
 
 may ; and then " I shudder. " No, you're my wife. 
 
 Never for one moment forget that ; never for one 
 moment forget that I will save you." She answers me 
 with her eyes and I go on with military promptness : 
 "Have everything ready to move within two hours. 
 Pack your riding-habit — you've got the dear old gray 
 one," I say, a lover's tones in my voice. "Take the 
 few things you want for such a trip in a very small 
 valise. Be sure to wear a good waterproof and hood ; 
 it's going to rain now. Dress very plainly ; the long 
 rubber cloak will protect you from the weather and 
 serve to hide the beauties of a figure that would attract 
 the eves of every one. Will you obey me ? " 
 
 "Yes, Billy !" 
 
 "God bless you ! " 
 
 "That is what I want you to do — take me to 
 Viginia ! " She puts her arms around my neck and 
 kisses me and murmurs : "Take me to Virginia." 
 
 There seems to be a latent meaning in her words, 
 but I don't analyze it ; her lips make me too much in 
 love with her to think of aught else but the beautiful 
 creature who is my wife. 
 
 I go to the door and opening it say : "Aunt Lucy, 
 our interview didn't take as long as you expected." 
 
 " No ; I thought you'd keep me an hour," answers 
 the matron, adding laughingly as she enters : "Didn't 
 even have a lover's quarrel." 
 
 " No time for that," I reply. "We've made up our 
 minds. I'm going to send Eve to her relatives in 
 Virginia; that will at least stop any immediate compli- 
 cation with Mr. Arago. You can tell him, and it'll be 
 best for you to announce to your friends, generally, 
 that Miss Ashley has taken a trip North. Have you 
 no relatives there she might visit ? " 
 
204 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 " Yes ; the Doubledays, in Southern Illinois ; first 
 cousins ; Eve knows them, though they're on my 
 husband's side. It's an out-of-the-way place ; hasn't 
 got a telegraph station." 
 
 " So much the better. Just quietly circulate this 
 among Washington society." 
 
 "Would it not be better that Eve stayed here ? " 
 
 "No," I reply, "for in that case I should have to 
 horsewhip Mr. Arago the first time I met him." 
 
 "Very well; anything to avoid scandal." 
 
 "Thank you, dear auntie," I say, and give her a 
 nephew's kiss. "To avoid my name being mentioned 
 in the matter, Eve had better meet me — not at your 
 house but Franklin Square, the place from which we 
 eloped this morning. Then I will join her and take 
 her away — at two o'clock." 
 
 "And can you get her through the lines ?" queries 
 Mrs. Bream doubtfully. 
 
 "I can try." 
 
 "And Eve, what do you say ? " asks the aunt. 
 
 "This morning I — I promised to obej'- him," mutters 
 the young lady bashfully. My bride's words give me 
 a throb of joy. 
 
 "Very well, then. Take her, Billy, but oh ! if you're 
 not good to her — if you're not good to her ! " And the 
 Senator's wife shakes a little fist in my face determin- 
 edly. 
 
 "Ah, yes; an aunt-inAdiW, instead of a mother-m- 
 law," I laugh, and give Lucy another kiss. 
 
 They are at the door. But Eve comes to me once 
 again, and putting her arms round my neck, kisses me, 
 whispering : "Take me to Virginia ! " There is a fire 
 in her eye, there's a latent suggestion in her voice, 
 that makes my heart jump. 
 
 Then she leaves me, with the most difficult problem 
 of my life on my hands. My very knowledge of pro- 
 vost-marshal affairs makes me appreciate the tremen- 
 dous obstacles in my path. I might take my bride North 
 easily ; but at no point in the United States would she be 
 safe from Baker's sleuthhounds. To get through the lines 
 has gradually become more and more difficult since the 
 beginning of the war ; and now with Secret Service 
 officers teeming everywhere, with each ford or ferry 
 on the Potomac guarded, from the Cumberland mount- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 205 
 
 ains down to its very mouth, while small gunboats 
 and steam launches are patrolling its navigable waters, 
 to cross it seems to me well-nigh impossible. 
 
 My first difficulty is to get Eve out of Washington. 
 I could take a train to the North M'ith her and run un- 
 questioned to New York ; but if we bought tickets for 
 Baltimore and got off at any way-point, we should 
 certainly be watched, probably apprehended. 
 
 How to get her out of Washington ? 
 
 Suddenly it strikes me. Lammersdorff ! — in a sutler's 
 wagon. Then I think of myself : though on waiting 
 orders I cannot depart from the city without leave of 
 absence. To ask at the provost-marshal's may cause 
 questions. 
 
 In a flash I remember the note from my colonel 
 that arrived the night before. For seven days' leave 
 his signature is perfectly good. I hurry over to my com- 
 mander. Fortunately he is still at Willard's. Colonel 
 Durant is happy to see me ; I had always been a favor- 
 ite of his. 
 
 " I only sent for you, Hamilton, just to sympathize 
 with you on your parole and ask if I could do anything 
 for you." 
 
 "Only one thing," I reply. "It will save me a 
 visit to the Provost-Marshal-General's office. I want 
 leave of absence for seven days. My troop is not 
 detached from your regiment." 
 
 "To visit your family in Baltimore? I thought 
 they had spurned their Union son." 
 
 "Yes, but that's the reason. My sister Birdie has 
 fallen in love with a Union officer. Captain Vermilye 
 of the artillery, I want to help his suit with her." 
 
 " Oh, a good Union girl in the family.? " 
 
 "No," I laugh ; " but a girl who loves a good Union 
 officer." 
 
 "Very well; seven days, with permission to apply 
 to the War Department for thirty days more ; you won't 
 be exchanged within that time," he says glumly as he 
 dashes off the paper. 
 
 "No," I reply ; " I'm afraid not." And with a clasp 
 of his hand I leave him, for Durant is in a hurry now ; 
 he is going to the front again. 
 
 Now Lammersdorff ! I hurry to the -^i?'?/.?^ Wilhehn. 
 The sutler is not there, but I learn where his wagons 
 
206 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 are — at least, where they should be if he has not already 
 gone. Springing on my charger, for I have Roderick 
 in action now, I gallop off to one of the outlying sut- 
 lers' camps of the city, and fortunately find Lammers- 
 dorff not yet departed ; though he is very nearly ready 
 for the road. 
 
 As I have been riding I have been thinking how to 
 approach this man. A sutler's privilege is a very 
 valuable concession ; Lammersdorff will hesitate, even 
 though he thinks I saved his life, to do anything to 
 violate it. 
 
 " Hello, Mein Herr Bridegroom ! Are your running 
 away from your wife already.'' " he laughs, as I come 
 galloping to him. 
 
 "No," I reply. But I'm running away from my 
 mother-in-law ! " 
 
 " Mein Hinimel •' I did dat meinself vonce ! " 
 
 ' ' You are a little too smart, " I continue, "not to sus- 
 pect that my marriage this morning was a kind of 
 secret affair." 
 
 " Ya, I guessed you vas doing it on de sly." 
 
 "Well, my bride's mother is looking for her daughter. 
 You see, the young lady's a little under age. Now I 
 want to get my wife quietly out of Washington with- 
 out going to the railroad depot." 
 
 "Sure ! So you can get on your veddingtour vidout 
 having your hair taken out by the roots." 
 
 "Yes, something of that kind. I have the necessary 
 leave of absence from my colonel, but I don't want to 
 take my wife on my arm and go to the Baltimore & 
 Ohio depot, where I think her mother is waiting for 
 us. " 
 
 "Just so. Veil, vat can I do mid you .-* " 
 
 ' ' You can put me and my vvife in one of your sutler's 
 wagons and drive us out of Washington." 
 
 " But dey vill ask me qvestions crossing the Union 
 bridge, down mid der Navy Yard. " 
 
 " Well they needn't see us." 
 
 " Dat es so ! Dey needn't see you if I put you in 
 ze back of von of dose vhite covered wagons andt'rows 
 a tarpaulin over you. You von't mind riding that vay 
 mid your pretty wife } " 
 
 On second thoughts, I say, "I will only let my 
 wife go with you ; I will ride out on my Charger with 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 207 
 
 my leave of absence in my pocket, and who will stop a 
 Union officer? " 
 
 "Quite right! Ve'll do eberyting to make ze lady 
 commonfortable. " 
 
 " Where shall I put her on board ? " 
 
 " Round back of dat blacksmith's shop. I drive von 
 of de vagons round dere to get de mules shoed. I'll 
 keep it dere ; no von shall know I put any one in dere ; 
 specially as it's getting dark. Good-bye, Captain. 
 Don't be ober un hour in bringing your frau down ; 
 don't stop too long for kisses on de way. Von't youse 
 stop und have anodder drink in Herr Rosen's over dere ? 
 De finest beer in Washington — Sutlers' Lager." 
 
 "No," I reply ; "I haven't time for that; though I 
 thank you all the same." As I clasp his hand, I am 
 thanking him for a good deal more than a glass of beer. 
 Then I ride away in much more buoyant spirits than I 
 had come to meet the genial German, who seems ut- 
 terly unsuspicious of anything but a lovers' escapade. 
 I gallop for my stable, and leave Roderick there saddled. 
 
 Taking a cab, I bolt for the bank and draw five hun- 
 dred dollars. From there I hurry to my boarding- 
 house, slip into a loose undress cavalry uniform, arm 
 myself with sabre and revolvers, and write my holo- 
 graph will, leaving everything I possess to my wife. 
 I hastily tell my landlady I am called to Baltimore, 
 jump into my cab and find myself at Franklin Square 
 in time. Here I am met by Mrs. Bream and Eve, both 
 ladies in waterproofs, as heavy clouds are gathering. 
 
 ' ' I came to bid Eva good-bye and see the last of her. " 
 Aunt Lucy kisses her niece lovingly then whispers 
 anxiously; "You think you can get her through the 
 lines.? " 
 
 " Certainly ! " I say confidently. 
 
 "Very well, then; good-bye." 
 
 There are no onlookers this dark day, and Eve giv- 
 ing her aunt a tender squeeze and loving kiss, which 
 I supplement, my wife puts her hand upon my arm to 
 walk out of the square to the cab. 
 
 " Hello ! Where's your valise ? " I ask. 
 
 "I haven't got any." 
 
 "You must take one." 
 
 "Not on this trip. Eve travelled enough between 
 the lines to know I can't make this journey with bag- 
 
208 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 gage. We would have to leave my valise somewhere ; 
 it might be our ruin, if they tracked us. " 
 
 As Eve speaks I feel she knows her business ; and all 
 through this journey I find she is much more an fait at 
 the finesse, the arts, the subterfuges of a contraband of 
 war, than I. 
 
 "You needn't worry for me," she whispers, "Billy. 
 I'm perfectly comfortable. I have on my riding-habit, 
 its skirts looped up over my petticoat. See ! " she 
 pokes out diffidently an exquisite foot and ankle, and I 
 inspecting, find that though prettily shod, she has use- 
 ful, high-laced, substantial boots. "If we have to 
 ride," she goes on, " it won't take me a minute to pre- 
 pare myself for horseback." 
 
 " What else have you got ? " 
 
 "A six-shooting Colt's." 
 
 "Any money .? " 
 
 "Yes; dear Aunt Lucy gave me fifty dollars. She 
 wanted to press more upon me, but I wouldn't take 
 it." 
 
 By this time I have put Eve in the cab and told the 
 hackman where to drive. We have plenty of time, so 
 I don't hurry the fellow ; I want to have all of my wife s 
 company I can get till I part from her and leave her — 
 God help her ! — to the care of Lammersdorff and fate. 
 
 "Here are two hundred dollars more," I whisper. 
 
 "No, no! " 
 
 " You must ! You're my wife : my property is your 
 property. Here is my will ; keep it, if anything should 
 happen to me." 
 
 "I didn't marry you, Billy, for money or property. 
 I married you for " 
 
 " Love } " 
 
 "Yes, dear. Take me to Virginia, " 
 
 "Well, the property and money goes with me," I 
 whisper, my heart beating fast ; for I have given her a 
 kiss at her sweet v/ords, and I press the greenbacks into 
 her hand. " You must ! — you may need them. You 
 win need them. I command you to take them." 
 
 "0-o-oh! Yes Billy, of course, I promised to obey 
 you, didn't I ? " she remarks, and blushingly tucks away 
 the money under her waterproof. 
 
 Then masculine curiosity coming up in me, I ask hur- 
 riedly : "Tell me one thing. How did you know the 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 209 
 
 exact trip on which the sergeant would carry that or- 
 der?" This is under my breath. 
 
 Her answer comes in equally low tones. 
 
 "We knew about the time the requisition ought to 
 come from the front. All that afternoon Quashic 
 waited in Bermudas's cigar-store. It was understood, 
 when Arago went into the place and came out with a 
 lighted cigar in his mouth, Lommox would carry the 
 requisition the next time he rode down G Street. Arago 
 went into the cigar-store and came out with a lighted 
 cigar a 6 : 40 p. M. I was in a room near by and Quashie 
 and I had just time to get ready." 
 
 " You can trust Quashie .•' " 
 
 "With my life. He fondled me in his arms when I 
 was a little girl ; his wife was my mammee. You can 
 trust him with your life, if he knows you're my hus- 
 band." 
 
 Significant words ; that don't seem to me so signifi- 
 cant as I hear them. 
 
 Then she says suddenly : "Tell me how you're go- 
 ing to get me out of Washington." 
 
 I hurriedly explain every detail to her. 
 
 " I think you've found the only way," she murmurs. 
 "You can trust Lammersdorff.? " 
 
 " Yes ; as long as he thinks I'm only fleeing from my 
 mother-in-law." 
 
 At this, even in her anxiety, Eve bursts out laugh- 
 ing ; then adds: "I'll — I'll prove your story to the 
 sutler, by looking very timid and juvenile, eh?" 
 
 "What do you mean ? " I ask astonished. 
 
 Here to my young husband's eyes comes a very 
 beautiful display. Eve throws oft her hat ; with a 
 few quick movements she pulls out hairpin after hair- 
 pin, then shakes her head vivaciously, and a cloud of 
 soft brown hair, in great locks and tresses, descends 
 from her pretty head in cascades and waves far below 
 her waist. With deft hands she ties a bow of ribbon 
 about her tresses. "Now," she laughs, " I'm a school- 
 girl, and sweet seventeen ! — and have a stern mother 
 from whom I've run away with an eloping trooper," 
 
 " Sixteen, rather," I laugh. For school-girls dressed 
 their hair in that way in those days, and the perfumed 
 locks that fall all about Eve's fair face give her a most 
 juvenile expression. 
 
210 BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 "So I look young and timid enough to be frightened 
 of my awful mamma — eh, Billy? — and my husband 
 too," she murmurs. 
 
 For my arms are around her. I am squeeezing the 
 pliant waist that seems to throb under my hand and 
 kissing the exquisite lips that appear to return my 
 salutes very tenderly. 
 
 We are near the place where we must part. Eve 
 throws both arms about me and pleads: "Be very 
 careful of yourself. Remember you — you have a wife 
 to look after," and blushes very prettily; a mass of 
 charming naivete, bashfulness and I think — love. 
 
 A moment after I assist her from the cab, pay the 
 driver and he disappears in the gloom, for the day 
 is now growing very dark ; a few rain-drops are com- 
 ing down. 
 
 We are a short square from the sutler's camp, and 
 soon stand beside his big, white-covered wagon, drawn 
 by four mules. Inspecting this, I notice that it is well- 
 springed and will travel easily. 
 
 " Lammersdorff, let me introduce you to Mrs. Hamil- 
 ton," I say to the German sutler, who is waiting for 
 us. 
 
 "Ha Ya ! running away from ynudder, eh? Veil, 
 mein liddle frau I'll take care she don't catches you." 
 
 "Yes — please — please, Herr Lammersdorff, keep 
 mamma from seeing me," falters Eve in pretended 
 terror, "She — she might spank me ! " 
 
 "Mein Himmel, your mudder must be a tough old 
 woman ! " laughs the sutler. " But I've got eberyting 
 very commonfortable now in ze back of ze vagoon ; 
 jush step in kevick." 
 
 With a hurried caress I lift Eve in, and she looking 
 out says: "Thank you, Herr Lammersdorff; you've 
 made everything very nice for me, 
 
 "The heavy covering of the wagon will keep the 
 rain and wind from you," I whisper to her ; "I shall 
 overtake you on the road in about two hours." Then 
 I wring Lammersdorff's hand and question: "Your 
 men don't know of this ? " 
 
 "Only the driver of dis team, that is, mein headman 
 Fritz, and he's confidential. I has to let him know. 
 See? " 
 
 It is beginning to rain very heavily, so I change my 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 2ll 
 
 plan somewhat. "I don't want my wife exposed to 
 such a storm as this will be, Lammersdorff, " I say. 
 
 " Ya, it vill be a scrouger ! But your \idd\e /ran 
 vil! be as cosy in dat vagoon as if she was on her 
 Hddle bed ! " 
 
 "I understand that," I answer, "and for that reason 
 shall let her go as far as Port Tobacco with you. From 
 there — to-morrow morning — it may be fine then — I'll 
 drive her back to the railroad. I can hire a buggy 
 there ? " 
 
 "Sure! Dere's a hotel der also," he says with a 
 grin, "but de Brawner House is not demost common- 
 for-table for a veddin' tour — mid a bride." 
 
 "All right. That's settled," I remark and putting 
 my head under the covering of the wagon, I hastily 
 explain the change to Eve, saying : "Don't expect me 
 before Port Tobacco ; that will give me a chance to 
 make a longer de'tour, to throw any one off my track 
 before I join you ! " 
 
 "Very well, Billy, " whispers Eve, "though if any 
 danger comes, I have an idea it will be soon after I 
 leave Washington." 
 
 " Pish, nonsense ! Arago's busy in the Quarter-mas- 
 ter General's office. He can't suspect. Good bye ! " 
 Then two sweet, clinging lips meet mine and, — "Be 
 very careful, Billy," is whispered to me. 
 
 I stride off into the gloomy day. In a few minutes 
 I am at my livery stable and mounting Roderick whom 
 I have prepared for this journey, I ride back towards 
 the sutler's camp. I must see she gets out of Wash- 
 ington safe. 
 
 Overtaking Lammersdorff's wagons just as they 
 reach Union Bridge, with my heart in my mouth I 
 watch them cross. They are scarce questioned by 
 the guard. 
 
 In the rain I stand and gaze till the last wagon has 
 crossed the Eastern Branch, then give a sigh of relief. 
 My bride has at least escaped from Washington. 
 
212 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES. 
 
 Chirping cheerily to my gallant horse, I turn from 
 Union Bridge, the most direct route to Port Tobacco, 
 to pass through the city and make my exit by another 
 outlet. That will perhaps delay pursuit if we are fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 As I ride through the streets, a jeweller's shop 
 catches my eye. 
 
 ' ' By George ! " I think, ' ' my poor bride never had an 
 engagement ring." I dismount, and a few minutes 
 after straddle Roderick again with a glittering bauble 
 in my pocket. 
 
 Then, coming out of the city to the north on the 
 Bladensburg pike, I shortly get past the circle of outly- 
 ing forts. 
 
 I keep along this road as far as the little town of 
 Bladensburg before I change my direction ; then I 
 turn Roderick's head towards the southeast. 
 
 Journeying through country roads, and gradually 
 circling more and to the south, I strike the main pike 
 to Port Tobacco, near Piscataway. 
 
 I have been delayed at the jeweller's so long and have 
 made so extended a detour, that I know my wife must 
 be many miles ahead of me, for, like a careful cam- 
 paigner I have not pressed my charger. 
 
 Meeting, soon after this, a couple of negroes on the 
 road I learn that four sutler's wagons have passed this 
 point nearly two hours ago and a single buggy some- 
 thing over an hour after them. 
 
 But I don't give much thought to this buggy. I am 
 only anxious about the vehicle that carries my bride. 
 
 The rain is falling ; the roads are getting heavy. I 
 ride on, gloomily pondering upon what may come to 
 me and her, in this debatable land that is before us. 
 
 Southeast of Washington are four fertile counties 
 running from the capital to Point Lookout, bounded 
 on the west and south by the Potomac on the east by 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 2l3 
 
 the Chesapeake Bay, no towns in them of more than a 
 few hundred inhabitants ; they are called the Western 
 shore of Maryland. 
 
 It is towards this land my face is turned. I know a 
 good portion of the country is covered with swamps, 
 for as a boy I have hunted over it. I am aware the 
 land has been ruined by tobacco-planting, my family 
 has owned some of it from the days of Lord Balti- 
 more. I am sure most of the inhabitants are Catho- 
 lics, that nearly all of them are Rebels , that a good 
 portion of its population are of comparatively lit- 
 tle education though acute intelligence ; that a great 
 many of them, especially at Port Tobacco, had been 
 engaged before the war in kidnapping and running 
 negro-slaves across the Potomac. But I know they 
 are all a hardy, sturdy crew, and nine-tenths of them 
 would be willing to risk even their lives to give safety 
 to a Confederate spy. 
 
 At this thought my spirits rise. Eve is approaching a 
 land of which the inhabitants are the friends, not the 
 enemies of her cause. Though the country is overrun 
 with Baker's Secret Service detectives, and the river 
 between us and Virginia is patrolled day and night by 
 armed barges, and sometimes by small gunboats ; 
 though even across the Potomac, judging by the move- 
 ments of the Federal armies, will be the Union lines, 
 not the Rebel outposts ; which we can only hope to 
 reach beyond the Rappahannock — I am commencing 
 to have hope. 
 
 So, through Maryland mud Roderick plods, the 
 rain falling on me. But I am well wrapped up, wearing 
 a heavy army coat, and being accustomed to campaig- 
 ning, 1 think little of it for myself. My whole concern 
 is for my wife ; she may be exposed to the storm 
 that is gradually gathering ; still the sutler's wagon 
 will give her some protection. I light one of my 
 Bouquets Especiales and smoke quite contentedly. 
 
 About nine o'clock in the evening, some miles this 
 side of Port Tobacco, I overtake the four white-coated 
 suiter's wagons and raise a shout of joyous greeting. 
 
 It is answered by a white-faced, savage-eyed German, 
 who comes dashing towards me. " Gott in Himmel, 
 Capt'n Hamilton, I didn't egspect such treatment from 
 youse ! " cries Lammersdorff. 
 
2 14 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "What treatment?" 
 
 "Putting- a government spy in main vagoons to get 
 her out of Vashington. O giminy crackies, I loses 
 mein sutler's certification for dis ! " 
 
 " A government spy ? Nonsense ! A girl escaping 
 from her mother. Where is she ? " 
 
 " Dey have taken her away mit demselves. " 
 
 "Taken her away ? Where? How? Tell me ! " 
 
 " Oh veil, I tells you quicker den you likes to hear 
 it. I tells you all about it at court-martial, ven dey 
 puts de ball and chain on me and takes avay my posi- 
 tion as sutler mid Sumner's grand army corps." 
 
 " Damn Sumner's grand army corps ! Tell we where 
 is she ! Quick ! " I cry, half crazy with apprehension. 
 
 "Veil, shust about a mile off here, up comes a man 
 riding a buggy. He says : ' I vant dot girl hiding in 
 your rear behind vagoon.' 
 
 " ' Vat girl? " says I. 
 
 " ' A Rebel spy," shouts he. 
 
 * ' 'You're a liar ! " cries I. ' Datis ausgespielt ! She's 
 de wife of mein friend Captain Hamilton of the United 
 States cavalry." 
 
 " At dis he gives a shriek of rage and despair, and 
 yells: 'You damned disloyal cub of a German, sneak- 
 ing out under sutler's privileges contrabands of war, 
 look at me ! ' He shows me Baker's Secret Service and 
 a United States deputy-marshal's badge, and I faints 
 almost — I knows I am sutler mid Sumner no more ! " 
 
 "Bring her out, Dutchy ! " he cries. 
 
 " But I doesn't have to bring dot gal oout ; for at his 
 words she jumps from de vagoon, cool as an ice-house 
 and lebels a revolver straight for de Secret Service 
 man's heart, which has jumped from his buggy. ' You 
 dastard, die mit yourself !' she cries, and she'd have 
 plumped him sure as Forth of July isn't New Year's. 
 "But knowing I vas fighting for my sutler's comish, 
 I knocks up her arm ; de bullet goes mid de air, und 
 before she has time to do anyd'ings more, de Secret 
 Service man jumps at her and claps a pair of handcuffs 
 on her lekdle white wrists, and pops her into his buggy, 
 und says : ' I arrest you in de name of the United 
 States,' and drives avay mid her. She doesn't scream ; 
 she only gave one little gasp : * Billy ! ' 
 
 " Oh, yes ; she's de girl vat might have been spanked 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 21 5 
 
 by her mudder, she is ! She's de girl vat vas afraid of 
 her mumma, she is ! She vas as brave as George 
 Vashington himself ven he cut down de cherry tree," 
 the German mutters derisively ; then shrieks out: "But 
 God help Lammersdorff ! Dat's vat I am crying ! 
 God help Lammersdorff vat has secreted a Rebel 
 spy ! " 
 
 " God help me!" I moan. Then I whisper to him : 
 " Keep a close mouth about this thing. She's not a 
 Rebel spy ; she's my wife. That villain is the emissary 
 of her mother, though he is a Secret Service man. I 
 know this Arago." 
 
 " Oh, you knows his cursed name ? " 
 
 "Yes, I know his damned heart. Which way did 
 he go .? " 
 
 "Ahead of us, mid de buggy, towards Port Tobacco. " 
 
 " How far is he in advance I " 
 
 "About a mile or two." 
 
 "Then keep your mouth shut!" And driving the 
 rowels into Roderick, I dash through the mud and 
 storm. 
 
 As I ride, I think Arago has doubtless watched Eve, 
 seen her with her aunt join me, observed us take the 
 cab, and noticed her get into the sutler's wagon. We 
 didn't think — I didn't think — of being tracked at the 
 very outset. Then he has come after her, hoping to 
 frighten Eve into listening to his suit. And, if it hadn't 
 been for the foolish sutler, would have got his quietus 
 from the brave girl. But now Arago has her manacled. 
 As I think of the irons on my wife's white wrists I dash 
 the spurs into my steed. 
 
 Fortunately I know this part of the country pretty 
 well. I have shot over it, and a boy's recollections 
 are generally vivid. Besides, I have a horse that in 
 this mud will overtake any buggy that ever wheeled. 
 
 But I must be sure of Arago's course. He will hardly 
 go through Port Tobacco ; still he may not think that I 
 am following at all ; my long detour must have given 
 him confidence. Perhaps he believes I am yet in 
 Washington ; if so, my task will be easier. 
 
 Three or four sutler's wagons are ahead of me ; these 
 I overtake. To my hurried questions one of their 
 drivers replies : " Yes, a buggy passed him five minutes 
 before." Another half-drunken one jeers : "Hurry up. 
 
2l6 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Cap, and you'll catch your gal, I heard her squeal as 
 she went by me ! " 
 
 By this I know Arago must have gone to Port To- 
 bacco ; there are no side-roads from this point on. 
 Made desperate by the teamster's last remark, I put the 
 steel into Roderick. 
 
 Into the miserable little town I gallop, 'mid numerous 
 sutler's teams and provision wagons, on their way to 
 be ferried across the Potomac to Aquia Creek and 
 Burnside. 
 
 Dashing up to the Brawner House, without dismount- 
 ing, I call to the proprietor, who comes upon the por- 
 tico in his shirt-sleeves to greet me. "Get me a drink, 
 quick ! " I order. 
 
 Over his bad whiskey I pump him. A buggy has 
 gone through the town four minutes ago ; it went north 
 towards Baltimore, though it may have turned off to- 
 wards Allan's Fresh. 
 
 "Damn the scoundrel ! he didn't stop here even for 
 a drink," remarks the hotel proprietor. "But he will 
 have a lively time getting anywhere in the mud to- 
 night." 
 
 "Was any one with him .?" I ask eagerly. 
 
 " How could I know, stranger.? His buggy-top war 
 up, his apron war raised, too. 'Taint likely it would be 
 down in this ar storm ! " 
 
 " Did you hear any voices.?" I mutter. 
 
 "Well, I thought I heerd a woman's, but what she 
 war a-saying I couldn't tell. Seemed to me it was kind 
 of plaintive-like." 
 
 This urges me on. "Good-bye," I cry. 
 
 "Aren't ye're a-gowin' to stay to-night.?" 
 
 " Can't ! " I dash the spurs into Roderick. The hotel 
 man turns away, and I think I hear him mutter : 
 " Some damned Secret Service galoot." 
 
 As 1 plunge on in the mud, I inspect my revolvers. 
 The holsters have kept them dry, but to be sure I care- 
 fully re-cap them both and put a little powder into 
 each nipple of the six-shooting dragoon pistols. Good 
 Lord ! I dare not fire at Arago, with my wife beside 
 him in the buggy ! As this strikes me, I loosen my 
 sabre in its scabbard ; it is ground to a razor-blade, 
 like those of the rest of my regiment, for this had now 
 come to be a fashion in our cavalry. The blade has 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 2l7 
 
 done me true service on the battle-field ; may it not 
 do me equal good in private rencontre? 
 
 " Besides " — I am talking to myself now, I am so ex- 
 cited — "it is my duty to arrest the fellow. Hang it ! " 
 I chuckle, "he's a greater traitor than I! It is my 
 duty to kill him ! " With this, into my heart comes 
 that awful maxim : "Dead men tell no tales." Dead — 
 that will be her safety — that will be my safety ! A 
 dead traitor is the glory of a loyal provost-marshal." 
 
 All this time Roderick plunges along the miserable, 
 rutty, muddy, unkept road. Suddenly a problem 
 meets me, which must be decided on the instant. 
 Did Arago turn off to go to Allan's Fresh, or did he 
 skirt the great swamps drained by that stream, and 
 keep the pike towards the Baltimore and Washington 
 railway. I am at the junction of the two roads. 
 
 I spring to the ground. The rain blinds me ; the 
 darkness defeats me : I cannot see his buggy tracks. 
 Suddenly a dazzling flash of lightning illuminates all ; 
 the rickety Virginia rail fence, the low, stunted, swamp 
 foliage , the junction of the two roads. 
 
 By its light, thank God ! I see the plain marks of buggy 
 wheels going north — towards the railroad — towards 
 Baltimore or Washington, whichever way Arago 
 chooses to travel. No doubt now ! There are five 
 miles in which he can't leave this road, and I will 
 have my prey before the end of it. 
 
 I use my spurs again, and Roderick, answering me, 
 shows he is a good mud horse by getting OA'^er this 
 infernal road at tremendous pace. I speak to him, I 
 urge him on : "Good steed," I whisper, "you are rac- 
 ing for my love's safety. " 
 
 Isn't there a noise in front of me .-' By heaven ! 
 — the sound of wheels and a man lashing a horse. He 
 knows he is pursued now. 
 
 Another flash of lightning. By it I see a top-buggy 
 but thirty yards ahead of me. 
 
 A moment later I am by its side. "Surrender, you 
 dog! I arrest you," I cry. 
 
 To me comes Eve's sweet voice warning me "Look 
 out, Billy ; he is going to shoot ! " 
 
 In proof of her words Arago answers only by a pis- 
 tol-shot that, in the darkness, goes wide of me. This 
 fire I dare not return, for my wife is by his side. 
 
2l8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Jump out, Eve, spring from the buggy, so I dare 
 shoot him," I shout. 
 
 Again comes Arago's pistol-shot. His bullet whistles 
 close over my head. 
 
 "Hang you, don't knock up my pistol again! " I 
 hear him cry to Eve. 
 
 No more chances will I take. In this game Arago has 
 the advantage of me, so I put a heavy Colt's dragoon 
 bullet through his horse, and the poor creature falling 
 down in the mud, leaves my enemy stalled in the road 
 — compelled to fight it out with me. 
 
 And on fair terms too. For with a sudden deft move- 
 ment, as the horse has fallen prostrate, Eve, manacled 
 as she is, has jumped from the buggy. 
 
 Arago has sprung after her, for he would have been 
 at my mercy alone in the wagon. So, I leaping from 
 my horse in pursuit of him, we meet together in equal 
 combat ; the girl standing in the darkness with man- 
 acled hands, gazing on the battle for her safety — ay, 
 even for her life, — for I know this accursed brute will 
 sacrifice her in some way by his subtle arts — because 
 she can't marry him — because she is my wife. 
 
 But, thank God, I have a gallant adversary. The 
 Creole, turns upon me. "Captain Hamilton, sur- 
 render !" he cries. "I believe you to be a traitor." 
 
 ^'1 know you are!" I answer grimly. "Your pon- 
 toon treachery has been found out. Stanton has sent 
 me to catch and hang you ! " For I want to make the 
 scoundrel so desperate that, like the trapped fox, he will 
 fight me until I kill him. 
 
 With a snarl of rage, Arago flies at me. Our sabres 
 cross, for he is armed like me. As our blades meet, I 
 know a swordman's steel is crossing mine. 
 
 So we battle, fitful flashes of lightning almost daz- 
 zling our eyes. Then the gloom coming on us, we en- 
 gage from feel of blade, as masters of the weapon 
 fight. 
 
 But at each cut and guard, each lunge and parry, I 
 grow confident. Arago has more the art of the rapier 
 in his wrist than of the broadsword. Beside, my 
 muscles, toughened by actual battle and campaign, 
 will last longer than the Creole's, made effete by dainty 
 suppers and faro table exercise and playing dandy 
 mid Washington's fair ladies. He knows it too, for his 
 
BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 219 
 
 attack becomes desperate. He feels he must end the 
 contest quickly, or it will end against him. 
 
 But I, growing- cooler with each pass and my West 
 Point training coming to me, parry, and parry, and 
 guard and guard, with just enough of feint and riposte 
 to weary his sword arm. 
 
 As I grow cooler, he grows despairing. My God, 
 I fear he'll surrender before I kill him ! 
 
 "Dead men tell no tales," is in my heart. "Dead 
 men tell no tales," is in my arm. 
 
 The lightning flashes. Growing desperate now, he 
 is making play with blade, not giving point, and at 
 that I have him. As he gives full front cut, I turn 
 it off quickly, by a firm high guard, disengage my sabre 
 and giving point en carte, put it through as black a 
 heart as ever beat— straight, strong, full to the hilt— and 
 draw it out with a twist, because the lightning shows me 
 white wrists that I love, her wrists, with his accursed 
 manacles upon them. 
 
 And my bride looking at this dead thing murmurs, 
 " It was dancing with me at this time last night," then 
 shudders : "O Billy this is a ghastly wedding-day of 
 ours ! " and sinks down in the mud, wringing her 
 shackled hands. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A NIGHT AT PORT TOBACCO. 
 
 But my bride must be free at once. 
 
 Scarce waiting for his dying quivers, I hurriedly 
 search with my hand the dead man's clothes and find 
 the key of the little handcuffs that hold the dainty 
 wrists. As I release the delicate hands, I kiss and caress 
 them, and with a vicious fling throw the bands of steel 
 over the fence into the swamp, cursing the dead man's 
 indignity to this creature that I love— that now I must 
 protect. 
 
 _ " Yes, they were pretty little bracelets, weren't they, 
 Billy.?" she sneers. "Mr. Arago was kind enough to 
 inform me he had had them made for me." 
 
 "What dse did he tell you.? " I whisper savagely. 
 
 "That if I did not marry him this very night, he'd 
 
220 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 have me in the Old Capitol Prison to-morrow morn- 
 ing. " 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 "I showed him my wedding ring, and it seemea to 
 drive him half-crazy ; for he swore he'd have you pun- 
 ished as a traitor also, for concealing my identity from 
 Baker's Secret Service." 
 "And after that?" 
 
 "He tried to work upon my fears for you. Arago 
 said : 'You were only married this morning; forget the 
 ring upon your linger. The vows you made this morn- 
 ing are but an empty form.' He promised to spare 
 you, my husband, if I would get divorced from you 
 and marry him. Arago said you would not dare con- 
 test, because he had your life as he had mine within 
 his grip. He treated us as if we were both cowards, 
 Billy. But I struck him in his cruel face M'ith my 
 manacled hands, and you ran your sword through his 
 treacherous heart, and — our enemy is gone." By the 
 lightning I see Eve shudder, as she gazes on the recum- 
 bent form. Then she asks eagerly : "And now what 
 are you going to do ? " 
 
 While she has been talking I have hurriedly but 
 effectively searched the clothes of my dead adver- 
 sary, taking from them a bulky pocket-book, a purse 
 full of money, some knick-knacks and a case of his 
 beloved Bouquets Especiales. 
 
 I toss his cigars away, but light philosophically 
 one of my own, and place the rest of my plunder in 
 Arago's overcoat, which I take from him, together 
 with his United States Deputy Marshal's badge. In 
 the buggy I discover nothing except Arago's pistols. 
 Turning to Eve, I would place the overcoat upon 
 her. 
 
 But she falters: "No — no! not the dead man's 
 coat ! " 
 
 "Then I'll don it myself." This I do; putting my 
 army overcoat on the fair form that is standing in the 
 unceasing rain. 
 
 " And now ? " she questions. 
 
 " Now ! " I pick up Arago's body and throw it 
 over the fence into a dense growth of dogwood and 
 alder. "If they find it," I remark grimly, "it won't 
 amount to much. Dead men, in this debatable 
 
BILLY HAMILTON, 221 
 
 Western shore of Maryland, are common enough at 
 present." 
 
 Here the girl, who has apparently recovered her- 
 self entirely, says sharply: "Give me one of his re- 
 volvers. He took mine from me and threw it away. 
 If it hadn't been for that foolish German, there would 
 have been no need of your killing him, Billy. But 
 we must be moving," she exclaims ; then queries 
 eagerly: "You think Roderick, if we harnessed him, 
 would draw that buggy ? " 
 
 "No; but he will carry you!' 
 
 "Of course he will — the lovely fellow!" and the 
 girl goes to my charger, who, bemg well trained, has 
 hardly moved from his position in the road, puts 
 her arms round his neck and pets him, while I shorten 
 one stirrup and sling the other one upon the pommel 
 of the saddle. 
 
 "Can you ride that way, darling.'"! ask. 
 
 "I can ride any way; bareback, if necessary," 
 returns Eve confidently, "like a boy if you want. I 
 did it when I was a little girl in Virginia. But to-night 
 your McClellan tree there will do well enough for my 
 side-saddle." 
 
 She has turned from me, and with one or two deft 
 movements let down the skirt of her riding-habit. 
 
 ' ' Now," she says, putting her little foot in my hand. 
 Then I swing her to the saddle. 
 
 "Are you comfortable.?" 
 
 ''Yes. But you — you will have to walk, my poor, 
 dismounted trooper." 
 
 "What do I care, as long asj'ow are by my side.''" 
 
 " Well, you can't trudge very far in this storm." 
 
 " Do you know the country .? " I ask anxiously. 
 
 "Pretty well! We've got to go back to Port To- 
 bacco. Were you mounted, we might try Allan's 
 Fresh — a disreputable little hole, but I have friends 
 there. To-morrow you must take me there," she 
 whispers, as I tramp along through the mud and rain 
 by her side. "We must leave early in the morning." 
 
 "Yes," I answer. "If Arago hadn't leave of ab- 
 sence the Secret Service will be looking for him. His 
 disappearance from Washington will be noted ; on his 
 failure to return they will suspect him of the pontoon 
 business ; they will think he has fled. 
 
222 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 " Arago did that work very well," she says pensively. 
 
 "Yes, lured by your beauty," I mutter savagely; 
 for, with man's inconsistency, I am angry at the effect 
 of my wife's supreme loveliness, though I would not 
 have her lose a tittle of it for all the world. 
 
 "And, perhaps, my coquetry," she returns sadly, 
 then breaks out : ' ' But, no ; I don't repent. If he had 
 not loved me, he might not have dared. In this storm 
 the pontoons will never get to Burnside in time." And 
 she would go on in her cursed Rebel style, that makes 
 me furious, for it brings my treachery home to me. 
 
 "I forbid you to talk in that way ! " I say sternly. 
 
 " Oho, a husband's commands ! " 
 
 "Yes; you must remember you are the wife of a 
 Union officer," 
 
 "I have never forgotten that, Billy, and I never 
 will." 
 
 Then I almost curse myself for the words ; for Eve, 
 who had been loving to me before, now seems to grow 
 colder. But the girl throws this off after a little, and 
 goes to discussing hurriedly with me the arrangements 
 we must make early in the morning to transfer her 
 across the Potomac into Virginia. In this she shows 
 herself much more an adept than I. She seems to 
 know those who can be trusted in this part of the 
 country. "If we can find Wat Bowie," she remarks, 
 " he will surely get me across the Potomac. " 
 
 "And me across the Potomac, also." 
 
 "Yes, of course, you are going with me .'' " There is 
 a lurking joy in her voice. "Aren't you, Billy?" 
 
 "Certainly, until I put you beyond the reach of con- 
 tending armies, until I see you safe among your friends, 
 my wife." I whisper determinedly to Eve as we 
 tramp into the muddy street of Port Tobacco. 
 
 This seems to make her very tender to me. She 
 murmurs : "Take me to Virginia ! I can protect you 
 in the Confederate lines. I know that, or I'd go back 
 to Stanton's mercy rather than let you pass beyond 
 this State." With her words, she suddenly leans down 
 from her saddle and puts two dripping arms around 
 my neck, faltering : "What an ungrateful wretch you 
 must think me, Billy." 
 
 In her tones there is love, there is even reproach 
 unto herself ; but they pa^.H? V^Y heart ache. They 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 22^ 
 
 show me my bride has not forgotten my accursed oath ; 
 they indicate that my wife will hold me to it, when 
 I had thought, with Arago dead, she might forego it. 
 
 But I haven't time to dwell on this. Even as I lift 
 her from Roderick's back in front of the Brawner 
 House, new and embarrassing complications come 
 upon us. 
 
 The hotel-keeper, stepping out, says cheerfully : 
 "I thought you'd be back, Cap," then pauses, as- 
 tonished, and whispers : "You've got the gal, but where 
 did you leave him P "' 
 
 Suddenly the query seems to choke in his throat, as 
 Eve, lifting the hood from her lips, whispers a few 
 words into his whiskey-scented face. 
 
 "By Dixie," he gasps in astonishment — then mutters 
 anxiously, "Kin he be trusted?" looking uneasily at 
 me. 
 
 "Certainly ! He is my husband." 
 
 "Then I want to warn you both, there are two 
 Union deputies inside — Baker's Secret Service men : 
 Joe Shook and Rod Gibbon." This last is very much 
 under his breath. 
 
 These words carry concern to me. Shook and Gib- 
 bon, the detectives who had spoken to me about the 
 girl Stanton wanted ! Eve is wearing the same gray 
 riding-habit in which they saw her at Frederick. This 
 is in plain view for she has already thrown off my 
 rain-soaked overcoat and her dripping waterproof. 
 What interrogations to me — what complications to her 
 — may this not produce } 
 
 I hurriedly whisper to her: "Be careful. Those 
 are the two men who followed you that night on the 
 Potomac — the night I arrested you. They saw me lift 
 you from your horse in front of the hotel at Fred- 
 erick. If they recognize you, or think they do, keep 
 your wits." 
 
 But her words reassure me. She laughs : "Oh, I've 
 been in more difficult places than this before." Then 
 suddenly stepping into the lighted hotel hall, she cries 
 loud enough for Shook and Gibbon, who are there, to 
 hear : "Come along, Billy. Thank goodness, we're 
 out of the storm." 
 
 At my entrance, the two detectives springing up, say 
 cordially : " Hello, Captain Hamilton !" 'Then Shook, 
 
224 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 placing his eyes upon Eve's beautiful face, chuckles : 
 "Crackey ! Who's yer gal ? " 
 
 "My wife, of course," I answer. "I brought her 
 down with me as I have to look after some sutlers, 
 in whose business I have an interest. We expected to 
 drive back to Washington to-night." 
 
 " That's a good long jaunt ! '"' 
 
 " Only thirty miles, but too much in this weather. 
 Eve, " I call to me my bride, who is lingering a little 
 bashfully in the background. And she coming to me, 
 I say : *' Mrs. Hamilton, let me present to you Joe 
 Shook and Rod Gibbon, who hunted secesh with me 
 when I was Provost Marshal." 
 
 "Pleased to know ye, missus!" remarks Rod, 
 and then goes on in hayseed humor: "Ye know at 
 fust I kinder reckoned the Cap was taking an outing 
 with " 
 
 "No one else, sir, I hope," interjects Eve severely. 
 "You don't suppose I'd let my husband go driving 
 about the country with any oilier young lady." 
 
 "No — of course not," mutters the detective; then 
 laughs, " By gum, Cap'n Hamilton, you've got a 
 tight hand over yer. Perhaps she won't even let you 
 go down and take a glass with us in the bar-room V 
 But in this speech he suddenly pauses and gazes with 
 inquisitive eyes at the gray riding-habit. 
 
 "Well, what's the matter.-* " I ask anxiously. 
 
 " By Jove ! " cries Rod Gibbon. "Darned if Mrs. 
 Hamilton doesn't look like the gal, as well as I kin tell 
 in the darkness, you had with you in Frederick at the 
 hotel thar." 
 
 " Had a girl with him at Frederick — at the hotel •' Oh ! 
 Billy, Billy ! " shudders Eve, then her eyes flash — she 
 cries : "Don't presume to come near me ! " for I have 
 approached her. " IMay Heaven forgive you — I never 
 will ! " and in a flash she steps to the stairs. " No, no ! 
 don't dare to follow me ! " she says in wild and tearful 
 indignation, then tlies up to the second story where 
 I hear her order : "Give me a private room, hotel- 
 keeper ! " while the two detectives do their best to 
 conceal their merriment. What henpecked husband 
 ever receives sympathy from fellow men } 
 
 " Hang you ! " I say savagely ; "you've put me in 
 a devil of a hole. I'll try and make my peace with 
 
■ BILLY HAMILTON. 225 
 
 her. You swear that girl was only my prisoner, if my 
 wife asks you." 
 
 " Great gosh, Cap, we didn't guess your lady was 
 such a high-flyer," mutters Shook apologetically, as I 
 rush upstairs after Eve. 
 
 I find her standing in an old-fashioned and rather 
 dilapidated chamber. 
 
 Going to her I think she is sobbing, but as she 
 turns her face to me tears of laughter are running down 
 her pretty cheeks. " Didn't I play the jealous wife 
 well ? " she asks merrily. 
 
 "By Jove! you nearly frightened me," I chuckle; 
 but a moment after whisper tenderly : "You \vouldn't 
 laugh, dear, if it had been another girl .? " 
 
 "No!" Her eyes flame up — thank Heaven, with 
 real passion. "No, Billy! That would have broken 
 my heart." 
 
 " Ah, you love me ! " My arm goes round her lithe 
 waist, and I kiss her rapturously. 
 
 "Yes, I love you. God knows how I love you. 
 God knows — God knoM'S " and she is crying now. 
 
 "Crying when I love you — when you are my wife — 
 w^hen we may be happy ? " 
 
 But here she draws herself away from me, gently 
 but uncompromisingly, and says : "Now, you must go 
 away. I'm dripping wet and faint with hunger. Send 
 me something to eat. Let me see if I can't get some 
 dry clothes from some woman about the house." 
 
 " Suppose I sup with you ? " I insinuate. 
 
 "Oh, that will be delightful ! Have the meal sent 
 up here." 
 
 "What do you want.''" 
 
 "Anything — everything — I'm awful hungry! It's 
 ten o'clock at night. Hurry, Billy, send some woman 
 to me quick ! Don't you see I'm dripping wet and you 
 are too ? But I'm better provided than you." 
 
 " How ? " I laugh. 
 
 " Well, just as I left Aunt Lucy's house, I suddenly 
 remembered I was going to a land minus les modes de 
 Paris, so I clapped two pairs of silk stockings in one 
 pocket and my best ball slippers in the other." And 
 she produces, from under her waterproof, a pair of tiny 
 slippers and some dainty hosiery. "Now run away; 
 tell them to get a fire built in this room, quick ! Take 
 
22b BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 care of your wife," she laughs coquettishly ; "that's 
 your duty no7v — take care of your wife." As I turn 
 away, two soft arms are thrown lovingly around me, 
 and Eve's piquant face is against mine, as she whispers : 
 "Hurry the supper, and don't fail to come up with 
 it." 
 
 So I run downstairs and give the necessary orders, 
 and furthermore see they are executed. 
 
 There is no white woman in the house, but a mu- 
 latto girl of pleasant face and willing manner acts as 
 chambermaid ; I send her to Mrs. Hamilton. 
 
 Then I go down into the bar-room, and dry myself 
 before a rousing fire, in company with Joe Shook ancf 
 Rod Gibbon. 
 
 " Got out of your trouble with your high-flyer. Cap ? " 
 whispers the first, as we take a glass of whisky 
 together. 
 
 "Only partially." My face grows so glum that they 
 thoroughly believe me. 
 
 Something like half an hour after this, the mulatto 
 girl puts her head in the doorway and says : " I'se got 
 some supper for you, sah. " 
 
 "Very well/' I answer ; " I'll go with you," and turn 
 to follow her. 
 
 "Comin' down ag'in ? " remarks Rod. 
 
 "I shouldn't wonder," I reply. " If you fellows 
 have got any more good stories to tell me, I'll make a 
 night with you." 
 
 A moment after I'm upstairs again, and gaze aston- 
 ished. The tumble-down room looks cheerful, hickory 
 logs are blazing in the old-fashioned fire-place, and E\e 
 is flitting about over a supper-table, looking as dainty 
 a maiden as ever tripped, in a simple, light, calico dress, 
 very clean, but worn so piquantly she seems like a 
 nymph. 
 
 " Now keep away, Billy," she flutters, as I approach 
 her. "Sit down ! It is our first meal together. How 
 many lumps in your cup .-* " for she is presiding over 
 the teapot. 
 
 "None at all," I laugh. "Kiss the cup." 
 
 "Now, don't be foolish. My lips are for better pur- 
 poses. Oh, I knew you'd kiss me when I said that. 
 But, Billy please — please sit down and behave your- 
 self." No, not beside me ; opposite me." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 227 
 
 And I, obeying instructions, find myself looking for 
 the first time over the family table at my wife. 
 
 There is not much variety to eat ; there's nothing but 
 tea to drink ; but we make a merry meal of it. We 
 have country sausages and spare ribs and some Mary- 
 land biscuits, fresh butter and fresh milk, and a pair of 
 wild ducks ; very plentiful in those regions in that day, 
 but cooked with onions and baked till a gourmand 
 would roll his eyes in horror at them. But of these 
 dainties I make a tremendous repast. And for that 
 matter. Eve plies her knife and fork quite diligently 
 herself. 
 
 This being over, I look at her and produce my cigar- 
 case and say : " Can I ? " 
 
 "Why, certainly ! You know, in a\\ /I'Ule things I'm 
 going to be awfully obedient to you, Billy." 
 
 So while I smoke, I examine Arago's pocketbook. 
 The rest of his articles are of slight consequence : a 
 pen-knife, money, some old gold and silver coins ; 
 among them, a faro chip shows the gambler. 
 
 But the pocketbook ! In it there are two drafts for 
 considerable am mnts upon English bankers, and 
 among other endorsements on one of them is that of 
 " Frazer, Trenholm & Co.," of Liverpool, a firm noto- 
 rious for its dealings with the Rebel government, at 
 Richmond, and at one time understood to be its agent 
 for putting Confederate bonds and Confederate cotton 
 on the English market. Though apparently shielded by 
 numerous other endorsements, one of these drafts has 
 "Frazer, Trenholm & Co.," upon it. 
 
 " Arago must have been taking big chances," I say, 
 as I show these to Eve, and whisper: " INIoney just 
 received from England. When Baker investigates, 
 he'll find the Rebel gold that bought my enemy ! " 
 
 "You — you are going to show these to the War 
 Department ! " she gasps. 
 
 "Certainly ! When I return to Washington. Hang 
 it, I shall be the efficient Union officer — who killed the 
 Rebel spy — who pursued him. Haifa dozen teamsters 
 will swear they saw me riding after him in hot pur- 
 suit." 
 
 "No, no, " she mutters. "Leave the dead alone." 
 To impress me, Eve has approached me. 
 
 " Nonsense ! "I reply. " He was faithless to both 
 
228 13ILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 parties, took his money from either side, and would 
 have made your beauty, also, part of his bribe. The 
 Rebel Government need grieve for him no more than 
 the Federal. " Were it not for Lommox and your part 
 in this accursed pontoon business, I think I'd dare to 
 take you back with me to Washington." 
 
 "Don't talk of that," Eve whispers hurriedly. "I 
 dare not. I — I will not go now ! " Her eyes seek mine 
 with curious, pathetic, appealing intensity. 
 
 There is some motive aside from terror in her voice, 
 that at this moment I cannot fathom, though later on I 
 know. 
 
 "I can't bear to lose you. " I speak into the little 
 ear: "I woiit be parted from you." I have got my 
 arm round her exquisite waist now, that unprotected 
 by corset seems to thrill under my embrace. 
 
 "You must — to save my life, Billy," she falters, her 
 heart beating wildly, her beauty enchanting enough to 
 make a hermit writhe within his cell. 
 
 The sleeves of her dress float back to her dimpled 
 elbows, showing arms of fairest form dazzling and 
 snowy as she strives to unclasp my hand. 
 
 The light cotton gown outlines a figure superb as 
 that of Venus, but bedecked by fairy graces from 
 gleaming neck to petite foot and ankle. 
 
 Her face as she turns it to me is covered with maiden 
 blushes, but piquant, alluring and lovi?ig, as if she 
 would bind me forever to her by a thousand charms ; 
 despite the cruelty with which she means to treat me — 
 for there is a determination in her eyes that makes my 
 heart sink. 
 
 I have drawn her down upon my knee. The pretty 
 slippers are flashing as she struggles in piquant rebel- 
 lion. "Sit here ; be quiet, you alluring little witch ! " 
 I mutter. " You are going to be an obedient wife ? " 
 
 "Yes, yes! Take me to Virginia! Take me to 
 Virginia, Billy. Until then, as you are a gentleman, 
 remember yonx oath, as I in all my life shall remember 
 my vows." Somehow she has slipped from me. Turning 
 she gazes at me sadly and, looking as immaculate as a 
 Madonna, murmurs: "Now good-night, loved one. 
 I shall pray for you this evening." 
 
 "Good-night," I mutter surlily, and turn to the door. 
 But her arms are round me and she is sobbing : "What 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 229 
 
 an I'ngrate I am. You are risking your honor, your 
 life, to save mine ! But don't, don't think me an unre- 
 sponsive wife, Billy. Know that I love you." 
 
 " Love vie I Ha, ha ! Ho, ho ! " I laugh, her beauty 
 driving me to a sarcastic despair. 
 
 " Love _>'fl?^ ! " Her lips quiver, she murmurs brok- 
 enly: "Can't you see! Don't you know, I — I have 
 loved you ever since I was a little girl." 
 
 "Pish! I have killed the man you feared would 
 betray you if he guessed you were my wife ! And 
 yet " 
 
 "And yet I shall hold you to your oath!" she 
 whispers. 
 • " An oath you'll love me better if I break ! " 
 
 "No, no! " 
 
 She has fled from me, then turned at bay for I have 
 followed her. Her eyes shine like stars, her tresses 
 that were banded up have come unbound and fall 
 about her, the soft light of the room tinting them till 
 their brown becomes like floating gold. 
 
 Her beauty makes me forget all else save that I am 
 her husband, and she my wife, whose lips have told 
 me that she loves me. These lips I seek with mine, 
 and to my touch they answer soft, clinging and dewy 
 with a passion that from my eyes has flamed into 
 hers. 
 
 " My own, my bride." I whisper. 
 
 " Billy ! " she sighs to me. 
 
 My hand caressing her white neck, touches a little 
 golden chain from which depends a bauble. I stoop 
 to kiss the gleaming bosom on which it lies. In 
 rounded maiden beauty it throbs to my caress. 
 
 As my lips touch the bauble, my wife cries, a strange 
 triumph in her voice : " Darling, you are kissing the 
 Confederate flag! " 
 
 "Not my flag!" I say sternly, starting back, my 
 hand half raised to take the traitorous emblem of en- 
 amelled gold and diamond stars, from its sweet resting- 
 place. 
 
 But now she is pressing the disloyal thing to her lips 
 and murmuring what seems like a prayer to it and cry- 
 ing : "O happy omen ! " 
 
 " Forget your fetich, dear,'' I whisper, "There are 
 other uses for those sweet lips to-night." 
 
230 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 But suddenly Eve seems to become another being, 
 some other passion dominates her heart. She draws 
 herself up and mutters hoarsely: "Your oath! I 
 hold you to it, as you are a gentleman ! Ay — even as 
 you are my husband ; for without it I would not have 
 wad you — ^dearly as I love you ! No, no ! " 
 
 She tears herself from my arms and stands like a 
 priestess making sacrifice, her eyes flash, she cries : 
 " I have a ditty to my cause ! " 
 
 Then some kind of martyrdom flies over her face, 
 she pleads : " Take me to Virginia, Billy ! take me to 
 Virginia ! No, no, please don't kiss me — forgive me — 
 let me go — your oath — good-night — go." 
 
 For a moment I gaze indignant, but smite her with: 
 " You dare say that to me, your husband.? " 
 
 "Yes — because I love you — because I adore you — 
 because I will have you truly mine!'" She wrings 
 her hands, but her eyes gleam with indomitable re- 
 solve. She throws open the door, and begs : "Remem- 
 ber your oath .f You swore it by all that is sacred. I'll 
 hold you to it if it breaks my heart ! Then shudders 
 pathetically: "Go! — forgive me! GO!" 
 
 Stricken and dazed, yet forced from her by her words, 
 I stagger from the room and stride savagely down 
 the stairs and join Messrs. Shook and Gibbon, and 
 play a game of poker with them and drink whisky 
 with them till almost morning. As we rise from the 
 gaming table, Shook says : " Haven't got squared yit, 
 with your lady, about that Frederick gal, eh Cap ? " 
 
 "No," I mutter, and my tone is so gloomy and my 
 face so savage, that the two believe I have the most 
 jealous spouse on earth. 
 
 As they go away from me, I think I hear Gibbon 
 jeer : "Fired ! " and the two guffaw uproarously. 
 
 But I am too miserable to resent their mirth and sit 
 and ponder over the day that has brought to me a wife 
 who is not a wife, and a homicide that is not a murder. 
 Anyway, I don't repent either. Eve loves me, I'll swear 
 to that ! Arago deserved his death at the hands of 
 any loyal man, I'll take my oath to that I And what 
 do I deserve .? I'm technically a traitor — aiding a Rebel 
 spy to escape — but hang me if any man won't save 
 the woman he loves — if he don't, he may be Union he 
 may be Secesh, but he's not a human being ! 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 23 1 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 QUASHIE, THE SECESH NEGRO. 
 
 The roosters are crowing ; the morning light is com- 
 ing as I think this last. 
 
 Her safety starts me up. Though I first look to her 
 comfort. 
 
 Partially dried underclothes will be neither pleasant 
 nor healthful for my dainty darling. 
 
 I rack my brain to find Eve others. If there is any 
 store in this broken-down village it will hardly be 
 open now, and we must be getting on our way very 
 quickly. 
 
 The mulatto wench make her appearance — telling 
 her my wants she suggests : " Sutlers." 
 
 " Lammersdorff's my man," I think. Telling the 
 girl to hurry up breakfast, and rewarding her with a 
 dollar for her trouble of the night before, I set out to 
 find the German. 
 
 This does not take long in the circumscribed limits 
 of Port Tobacco, which looks even more dilapidated 
 in the sunlight — for, I thank heaven, for Eve's sake, 
 there are indications of clearing in the sky — than the 
 night before shrouded by gloom and obscured by 
 falling rain. 
 
 Passing from the hotel, I wander by the old Court- 
 House in the centre of its unkept square, and in a pad- 
 dock some few hundred yards from this, among a lot of 
 other sutlers'wagons — these purveyors to the army, for 
 their own protection, keeping in this part of the country 
 pretty well together — I find LammersdoriT. 
 
 That worthy German who is just making his toilet 
 beside one of his own teams, on seeing me, looks very 
 mysterious and leading me aside asks cautiously : 
 
 " Did you git her ? " 
 
 " My wife," I answer carelessly. " Of course I did ! 
 she's up at the Brawner House now — has been all 
 night." 
 
 "Veil, for a bridegroom you is an early riser, young 
 
232 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 man, but in dat Brawner House dey has insects dot 
 would make a gobernment mule rise up and shake him- 
 self. Now ver did you leave dat U. S. Marshal chap .' 
 Ven you left me you looks like assassinating." 
 
 "Oh,'' I answer as lightly as I can, "after I took 
 my wife from him, he didn't have any more business 
 about here. You put that matter out of your head ; 
 you 11 never hear of W/rorn him again. ' 
 
 " So ! Dat is good ! Dat Secret Serbice man won't 
 say nutten," remarks the sutler, apparently much re- 
 lieved. Then, I telling him my wants, he adds : "Jake 
 Conrade is your man. He takes drygoods to de young 
 ladies dat follows de army — mid de camp." 
 
 I don't ask what kind of young ladies, but following 
 Lammersdorff to Conrade's wagon, soon find myself 
 supplied with a few pairs of good, strong, ladies' stock- 
 ings and some feminine underclothes that I hope may 
 be of service to replace Eve's soaked garments that can 
 hardly be more than half dry by this time. 
 
 With these in my hand, I seek the Brawner House, 
 and running upstairs knock at the door of my wife's 
 bedroom. 
 
 " Who is it .? " comes to me in her sweet voice. 
 
 " Billy, of course ! " 
 
 " Well, ' Billy-of-course, ' run downstairs at once and 
 tell them to hurry breakfast." 
 
 "Are you nearly ready .? " 
 
 "Certainly, but I — I don't know what to do for 
 stockings. Ball-room hosiery won't suit Maryland 
 roads, and the ones I wore on the journey are simply 
 caked with mud." 
 
 " Well, open the door and see what hubby sends you. 
 I have been out shopping for you." 
 
 " What have you got ? " There is feminine curiosity 
 in the voice, and loud rustling in the room ; the door 
 is opened a very little, and an arm white as purest 
 marble and symmetrical as the lost ones of the Venus 
 of Praxiteles, is extended diffidently groping in the air. 
 It is the left arm. I seize its wrist, and selecting the 
 second finger, press my lips upon the golden circlet 
 that binds her to me. 
 
 Then I quickly add to the wedding ring the bauble 
 I had purchased in Washington, slipping it upon the 
 pretty finger. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 233 
 
 "What — what are you doing?" she whispers. 
 
 "Putting on your engagement-ring," I say. "The 
 one we forgot before our hurried nuptials." 
 
 "You — you are killing me with kindness," is faltered 
 out to me. 
 
 ' ' Then here's some more kindness ! " With this I 
 dr;iw the superb limb to me, and despite a bewitching 
 little scream and slight struggle, I kiss rapturously the 
 dimpled shoulder, and am rewarded by a soft lingering 
 sigh from the other side of the door. Next I place in the 
 little hand the package I have bought from the sutler, 
 and as I run downstairs hear her cry: " You good 
 hubby ! you've got just what your wife wanted. 
 
 A few minutes after, as I sit at the Brawner breakfast 
 table, a natty maid in gray riding-habit trips in to my 
 side. 
 
 Fortunately we are alone, Shook and Gibbon being 
 engaged in sleeping off the whisky of the night before, 
 and I get as sweet a kiss as ever man received. 
 
 "That's for being a good boy, hubby," she says. 
 
 "Ah, the engagement-ring," I laugh. 
 
 She gazes at the two little circlets upon her finger, 
 the one gleaming with a diamond, the other the sim- 
 ple symbol of her vows ; then blushes hotly and 
 laughs : " You — you can give me another one for that, 
 Billy." 
 
 "Certainly! " 
 
 '"■ Now stop making love to me. Quick, let us eat 
 our breakfast and get under way. I've spoken to our 
 landlord, and a lady's nag and side-saddle will be 
 brought round together with Roderick in ten minutes. 
 Eat in a hurry. " 
 
 With this we both address ourselves to very in- 
 different coffee, but good corn cakes, bacon, and fresh 
 fish, my bride explaining hurriedly to me : "I've found 
 out where Wat Bowie is. With his assistance, half our 
 troubles will be over." 
 
 As we finish the meal, there is a sound of horses' 
 hoofs at the door, and settling our bill, I lead my bride 
 out to where a darky is holding Roderick and a half- 
 bred, rather gaunt, but apparently active mare. This 
 nag has upon her back a dilapidated side-saddle. Be- 
 hind it I carefully pack Eve's waterproof and my 
 soldier overcoat for her use in case the rain should 
 
234 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 come again, though the sun is at present shining 
 brightly. 
 
 I arrange the stirrup for her, and a moment after, 
 she placing her little foot confidently in my hand, « 
 swing her into the saddle. Then giving the dark 
 stable boy a dollar, I jump on my charger andweca» 
 ter off, passing a platoon of cavalry that have appa> 
 ently come down to guard the sutlers' teams. Bi 
 these pay little attention to us, the lieutenant in con 
 mand simply saluting my shoulder-straps as I pas 
 him. 
 
 Returning this, I follow Eve — for she is guide no» 
 — along the road over which we had returned the nigl 
 before, but after a half mile we turn out of this, follov 
 ing the track that leads towards the hamlet calle 
 Allan's Fresh. On one side of us are the great swamj 
 drained by the waters of Allan's Creek, which ru 
 into the Wicomico River, that joins the Potomac I 
 the south of us. 
 
 "I'm glad we didn't have to go past that awfi 
 place," remarks Eve with a shudder as we take th^ 
 turn. Then suddenly she starts and ejaculates : "01 
 Billy, how horrible you look ! You haven't washe 
 your face nor combed your hair. I'm sure you've n^ 
 slept. You've — you've not been thinking of — of th 
 man in the road.? " 
 
 "No; that doesn't trouble me very much. I'v 
 seen better men than he fall by the thousands in battle, 
 I mutter. "I played poker all night to kill time." 
 
 Then perhaps catching some reproach in my faca 
 Eve gasps: " How sternly you look at me ; " an* 
 shudders : " You're — you're beginning to — to liate me !'' 
 Suddenly her eyes fill with tears, her coral lips tremble, 
 she begins to cry as if her heart would break. 
 
 What man could resist the sorrow of so beautiful a 
 creature.? I swing my horse close to the side of her 
 mare, my arm goes round her slight waist. I draw 
 the supple figure, in all its rounded beauty, to me, 
 and whisper: "No; I love you. Despite your cruelty 
 — I love you ! " 
 
 "And it is because you love me, "she whispers, " and 
 because / love you, that I feel I am so despicable ! For- 
 give me, Billy ! " Then even as she rides, superb horse- 
 woman that she is, she throws a soft arm round my neck 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 235 
 
 and gives me a kiss that makes my heart throb. Next, 
 dashing her hand across her eyes, she calls cheerily : 
 "Come on, Billy; let's get to Virginia." 
 
 But during this ride, the young lady seems to require 
 a good many little delicate attentions from her cava- 
 lier. Soon 1 have to shorten her stirrup. To do this 
 I lift her from the saddle, and even as I hold her beauti- 
 ful form in my arms she gives me another kiss and 
 says : "That's for being so good to me." 
 
 So the all the time she seems to be trying to make 
 her peace with me by the delicate arts and subtle fas- 
 cinations of a woman who feels that she is doing me a 
 wrong. Sometimes, I have thought since, she was 
 appealing to me to forgive her for the greater wrong 
 she did me afterwards. 
 
 The ride goes along very pleasantly, and a few 
 minutes after this Eve draws up her nag sharply, takes 
 a quick look about her, as if to be sure other surround- 
 ings, then gallops up the road about fifty yards, and 
 turning her mare deftly sends her, in fox-hunting style, 
 over the snake-rail fence into some swamp land. 
 
 A moment after I put Roderick to his leap, and am 
 beside her. "What did you do that for.?" I ask. 
 "Why couldn't you let me open that tumble-down 
 gate for you .? " I point to some bars about fifty yards 
 away. 
 
 "Of course not!" she answers. "To have opened 
 the gate would indicate some one had come in here, 
 and I don't imagine that Lieutenant Wat Bowie wants 
 visitors." 
 
 " Oh, he's in the Confederate service .? " 
 
 "Yes; the partisan service. He was a Maryland 
 lawyer ; I think now he is connected with a gentleman 
 named Mosby, over in Virginia." 
 
 "Mosby! Who is he.?" I ask. For at that time 
 the name of the great guerrilla was just beginning to 
 be known. 
 
 "Oh, he's one of our gallant, dashing fellows. If 
 this war lasts much longer, you'll hear of Mosby," Eve 
 laughs. "A Virginia boy, from Fauquier County. 
 He has been riding with Stuart, but lately has been 
 detached ; I believe, at his own request. Lieutenant 
 Bowie, I presume, has come over for information." 
 
 While she is saying this, we are passing along a 
 
236 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 half effaced trail, the swamp with its low thickets of 
 alder and dogwood, its bigger trees of gum and beach, 
 and scrub swamp oak, enclosing it. So we go winding 
 about. Eve seeming to know the path perfectly. Some 
 half a mile further on we emerge into a little clearing 
 in which is a Virginia shake cabin, with a chimney of 
 mud and stones running up its gable end. 
 
 As we come out of the timber, a couple of curs com- 
 mence to bark savagely, a negro flies out yelling, and 
 two men, springing from the cabin rifle in hand, 
 cover me with their pieces. 
 
 "For God's sake, stop where you are, Billy 1 " cries 
 Eve to me, then rides towards the cabin, waving her 
 white handkerchief and calling : "Put down your 
 guns ! Watt Bowie, Jim Wiltshire, don't you know 
 Eva Ashley.?" Suddenly she laughs. "Why, there's 
 Quashie also ! " 
 
 And the darky gives a yell of delight : " Missie Ebe — 
 Missie Ebe ! You'se got out of de Yanks' clutches. 
 Praise de Lawdy ! Praise de Lawdy ! " and fairly dances 
 with joy. 
 
 A moment later, at her beckoning, I ride up. The 
 two white men look suspiciously at my blue uniform. 
 They still have their rifles in their hands, cocked and 
 ready for action. The negro turns evil eyes on me, for 
 he is one of the curiosities of the war — a Secesh darky ; 
 one whose love for his mistress makes him the enemy 
 of the army that comes to give him freedom. The 
 negro guide who betrayed Ulrick Dahlgren in his raid 
 on Richmond, was one ; Quashie was another ; but, 
 fortunately for the Union arms, there were very few 
 of these black-skinned anomalies. 
 
 "Well, Miss Ashley," remarks the Confederate ap- 
 parently in command, "this is a rather curious 
 visitor you bring us." 
 
 "No/ Miss Ashley," remarks Eve sharply, "but 
 Mrs. Hamilton. The gentleman with me is my 
 husband." 
 
 '* Your husband ! " ejaculates one of the men. 
 
 "What ! " cries the other Confederate; as if they 
 can hardly believe their ears. 
 
 But the darky mutters: " Qh, golly Goliah ! She's 
 married de Yank ; " then astounds us by guffawing : 
 * Clar' to goodness, Miss Ebe, I'se been a-fearin' dis. 
 
BILLY HA!\tn,TON. 
 
 237 
 
 I knovved you was gone on de Yank cap'n eber since 
 he captured you at Frederick." 
 
 "You're quite right, Quashie," laughs my bride 
 blushing vividly ; and continues : " Captain Plarnilton, 
 let me introduce Lieutenant Walter Bowie and Sergeant 
 Jim Wiltshire." 
 
 " Then let me congratulate you, sir," remarks Bowie, 
 his manner growing cordial, "on being the most for- 
 tunate man I know." 
 
 But the other cries out sharply: "Captain Billy 
 Hamilton .? " 
 
 "Certainly," I reply. 
 
 " And you come as ci/riendp " 
 
 " I don't come as an enemy." 
 
 "No enemy.?" chuckles Bowie, "when Provost- 
 Marshal of Baltimore you hunted me through three 
 counties ! " 
 
 "At that time I would have very much liked to see 
 you," I reply. 
 
 "And now that you see me, what do you want with 
 me .? " 
 
 " Well, my wife is too good a Rebel for me to dare to 
 trust her in Washington ; therefore I have brought her 
 to you to ask your assistance in getting her through to 
 the Confederate lines." 
 
 "You guarantee this to be a fact, IMiss Ashley — I 
 mean Mrs. Hamilton ? " queries Bowie earnestly. 
 
 "Certainly! I guarantee that my husband comes 
 here as a friend ; and that he will leave you as a friend," 
 answers Eve decidedly. 
 
 " All right ; it is a flag of truce till this affair is over," 
 laughs the lieutenant pleasantly, "though you could 
 never have escaped from me." And Bowie points to 
 two men who have just shown themselves in the en- 
 trance of the clearing, apparently following behind us 
 on the path that we came. 
 
 A moment later these scouts join us, and receiving 
 orders from the lieutenant, again glide into the under- 
 growth and disappear. "I always like to be sure 
 against surprise," remarks this I\Iaryland lawyer, who 
 has grown into an enterprising and desperate partisan 
 
 "You think you can get us across the Potomac to- 
 night .' " I ask eagerly. 
 
 " That all depends upon the weather. We want to 
 
238 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 cross ourselves. And I believe a storm is blowing up," 
 he points to some clouds that are now gathering. " If 
 it's a black and nasty night, we'll make the attempt. 
 You'll have to leave your horses here ; you can't get 
 them across : but we've good nags on the other 
 side." 
 
 "Where do you intend to cross ? " I ask. 
 
 "We'll have to go pretty well down the river. Mat- 
 tias Point, with two Yankee Army Corps at Aquia Creek 
 and Falmouth, wouldn't do. We'd just run into Burn- 
 side's whole army." 
 
 The accuracy of his information surprises me, but I 
 make no comment upon it. 
 
 "I think we'll have to go as far down as Baynesville 
 at least," he continues. "Then we can probably get 
 over to the Rappahannock near Leedstown, and across 
 that river you'll find your own beloved Dixie's land, 
 Mrs. Hamilton." 
 
 During this conversation, Quashie has been looking 
 me over ; several affectionate little gestures from his 
 loved mistress to me, have gradually changed his 
 manner from animosity and suspicion to respect and 
 regard. Noting this, I laugh: "Quashie how about 
 that black eye ? Was it an In'sh government mule, 
 gave it to you .? " 
 
 At this he gazes at me suspiciously again, but Eve 
 whispering to him, "You may trust your new master, 
 Quashie," the black guffaws ! " Fo' de Lawd, Massa, 
 Capt'n ! It was a U. S. army mule wid sergeant stripes 
 on him arm." 
 
 Into this colloquy Bowie breaks, saying cordially. 
 "Now, just bring your lady. Captain Hamilton, and 
 we'll have lunch. I gathered in a sutler two days 
 ago, Quashie is a first-rate cook, and we're in the land 
 of plenty. Jim and I were just sitting down when the 
 dogs announced your arrival." 
 
 So we all go into the cabin, and there find a generous 
 meal of canned provisions, fried ham, good coffee 
 and some biscuit baked in a Dutch oven, and made of 
 United States Army flour, I notice. So, with a bottle 
 of whisky of excellent quality, we gentlemen contrive 
 to pass the time, I adding to the store of good things 
 some of the famous Bouquets Especiaks from the 
 pouches on Roderick's saddle. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON, 239 
 
 "By Jove, these are beautiful cig^ars ! " remarks 
 Bowie. " Do you know, Captain, about the only hard- 
 ship that I really suffer is the loss of good cigars reg- 
 ularly. When I was practising at the Maryland bar 
 it was twelve or fifteen a day ; now it is one in twelve 
 or fifteen days. " 
 
 Here he is interrupted by the return of the two 
 scouts, who come in to their dinner, their places being 
 immediately taken by Bowie and Wiltshire. These 
 men, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jake Brown, look upon my 
 uniform with considerable distrust. 
 
 " It's kinder lucky you had a lady wid ye. Cap," re- 
 marks Jake. "I'm a sure shot, and you'd a-never got 
 through that ar path a living man, if it hadn't been for 
 that ar riding-habit alongside of you uns. '' 
 
 "And I saved your life.?" cries Eve with affrighted 
 eyes; then she suddenly mutters: "Some time per- 
 haps I will save it again, Billy," and looks at me pa- 
 thetically and all this day seems to cling to me as if 
 she feared what the morrow might bring to us. For 
 Bowie, as he has stepped out, rifle in hand, after scan- 
 ning the sky has remarked : "It's pretty nearly certain 
 we cross the Potomac, or drown in it to-night." 
 
 Following him from the cabin, I find the clouds are 
 gathering fast ; the wind rustling among the swamp 
 foliage is growing stronger. 
 
 Here a little hand is placed upon my shoulder, and 
 Eve whispers : ' ' It's going to storm ; it's getting blacker 
 every minute. They'll never get those pontoons to 
 Frederickburgs in time ! " 
 
 While she is making this remark, I look glumly at 
 her. Every exclamation on this subject shows she is 
 an unrepentant Confederate and the awful political 
 gulf there is between my wife and myself. 
 
 But perhaps catching reproach in my glance, she 
 says coaxingly, taking my big hand in her two little 
 ones: "Forgive me, Billy, for being a Rebel," then 
 bursts out in a tone that startles me : "Pray God you 
 forgive me to-?norroiv, for being a Rebel ! " 
 
 " What do you mean } " 
 
 "I'll — I'll tell you in Virginia — but — not now," she 
 falters ; then begs piteously : " Don't — don't let us part 
 twice," and nestles to me in a way that makes me very 
 tender to her. 
 
2 40 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 I look round, we are alone, at the back of the cabin ; 
 the busy clatter of knives and forks from the scouts in- 
 side denotes they will not interrupt us immediately. 
 
 I sit down upon an old settee and draw my bride 
 upon my knee. Her plumed hat has fallen off her 
 graceful head ; a few stray nut-brown curls blowing 
 about, caress my lips ; the tight fitting riding-habit 
 outlines a form of superb symmetry and rounded 
 beauty ; from beneath the skirt looped up for walking 
 peep two little feet and exquisite ankles. I gaze on 
 this my bride's beauty sadly and sternly. 
 
 She looks at me archly, coquettishly, but noting my 
 glance, her eyes grow full of tears, she murmurs pa- 
 thetically "You — you forgive me.? " 
 
 " For what.''" I ask savagely. 
 
 "You know/" and she hides her face bashfully upon 
 my breast. 
 
 Suddenly she cries : "Billy, I — I musn't love you too 
 much ! " springs from my knee and walking about com- 
 mences to chat with me quite merrily, telling me I 
 ought to wash my face and hands, if not before din- 
 ner, at least after dinner. "Don't look such an awful 
 unkempt trooper," she half laughs, half cries. "Why, 
 one would think you didn't have a wife to take care of 
 you." 
 
 " For God's sake, don't torture me ! " I mutter, and 
 stride glumly off ; but taking her advice, wash my 
 face, and, borrowing a razor from Bowie, who returns 
 about this time and seems to be more of a dandy than 
 the rest of his command, I succeed in shaving myself 
 before a broken piece of mirror. 
 
 Returning the barber's implement to the Rebel lieu- 
 tenant, I suggest: "You're quite a Beau Brummel, 
 aren't you .? " 
 
 "Oh, you mean because I keep this shaving tool .? " 
 he laughs. "Not at all; though I used to be some- 
 tliing of the kind before my trooper days. Three 
 times have I saved myself from Federal troops seek- 
 ing for me by disguising myself as a nigger-wench, 
 and found it convenient to have a clean face on such 
 occasions. It's a matter of business with me, not 
 beauty. Though I don't mind looking my best when 
 we get up a dance in the hills of Fauquier County. 
 and the belles of Upperville trip the measure with us 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 24I 
 
 cavalry lads. Some handsome girls in Virginia, eh, 
 Captain ? " 
 
 "Yes, I think I've shown that I appreciate their 
 beauty," I reply, casting a longing glance at my wife, 
 who is outside the cabin, apparently in a brown study. 
 
 "She's a little down in the mouth, isn't she, Captain 
 Hamilton ? " remarks the Lieutenant sympathetically. 
 " But you can be sure that I'll do my best to take care 
 of her, and there's no girl more popular in Virginia 
 than the young lady you've stolen from us. Why, even 
 Carrie Barton of Fredericksburg, to my mind is not 
 quite as pretty, and she's the toast of Richmond. You 
 — you haven't got another of those cigars ? " he asks 
 longingly. 
 
 "Yes, half a dozen of them ! Help yourself. God 
 bless you, my generous fellow ! " I say, and shake his 
 hand warmly. In fact, all of them now, from enemies 
 seem to have become comrades to me — for this trip. 
 
 Stepping out to my wife, I note there are tears in her 
 eyes, but she brushes them away as I sit down beside 
 her. "You are grieving at leaving the delights and 
 comforts of Washington ? " I suggest. 
 
 "Oh, no, for I'm going to my own people." 
 
 "Ah, but my people are now your people," I say. 
 
 "Not yet," she answers; then whispers in sudden 
 self-reproach: "What will you think of me, Billy, at 
 this time to-morrow ? What?" 
 
 "Always as my wife — my beloved wife." 
 
 "I hope so; and yet " She wrings her hands, 
 
 then murmurs: "Don't let us think of that; let us 
 try to be happy now ; " and charms me by her coque- 
 tries of manner, her exquisite graces of body, intellect 
 and soul, and I love her even more as the storm breaks 
 upon us and we have to retreat to the house. 
 
 But now darkness is coming upon Maryland. The 
 wind is howling through the trees. The scouts have 
 come^ in; Bowie has made all his preparations; 
 Quashie has cooked for us another good meal. 
 
 " Eat hearty, everybody," Jake, our guide chuckles, 
 
 " our next feed'll be in ole Virginia, or " he claps 
 
 his big jaws together with a suggestive snap. 
 
 "Yes, be sure and drink lots of strong coffee, Mrs. 
 Hamilton, the night will be bitter cold upon the water," 
 adds Bowie to my wife. 
 
242 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 As we eat the Lieutenant remarks : " YouVe got to 
 leave the horses here. You can perhaps pick them up 
 when you come back, Captain. Let's go out and make 
 'em comfortable while you're away,'' 
 
 I go with him to a broken-down barn some hundred 
 yards from the cabin, where we do everything possible 
 for Roderick and the mare, leaving them food and water 
 for a week, but not closing the stable door, though 
 putting up the bars in the paddock. 
 
 Returning from this, I am met by Eve and her darky 
 henchman. "Quashie, " she says to him in pleading 
 impressiveness, " remember this gentleman is my 
 husband and your master ; that I love him as my life — 
 better than my life — obey his words as you would mine ; 
 love him, as you do me." 
 
 "I can't do de last, Missie," answers the negro; 
 "but I can do de rest, you kin bet yo' life on it. 
 Dough I nebber 'spected yo'd say dis of a Yankee 
 offisah. Nebber, so help me Gawd ! " 
 
 "Thank you, Quashie," I mutter, and give the black 
 my hand. 
 
 A greeting that apparently astounds him, for he 
 hesitates to take it ; then suddenly seizes it and mutters: 
 " Lawd bless yo' Massa Hamilton ! You do de right 
 t'ing by her an' I do de right t'ing by you'. I'se yo' 
 man from dis time on ! " and goes off to gather his 
 mistress's few belongings. 
 
 "You can trust Quashie now, my Billy," says Eva 
 earnestly. " He is yours as he is mine, with every beat 
 of his true negro heart.'' 
 
 Little words these, but carrying life and death with 
 them, though I know it not. 
 
 CHAPTER XXHL 
 
 •"'l HAVE BEKN TRAITOR ENOUGH ! "' 
 
 "Dear one, you have everything you need for the 
 journey ? " I ask anxiously of the beautiful creature at 
 my side, for her charge to Quashie about me has made 
 me even more tender than before. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 243 
 
 "Everything, my husband, thanks to your purchases 
 this morning. Though you made an awful fit of those 
 stockings ; three sizes too large for my feet." 
 
 "Well, better luck next time," I say, and give her 
 a mighty squeeze. 
 
 Here, Eve starts from me, for Bowie coming out of 
 the cabin laughs : " Stop flirting with your wife, Cap- 
 tain Hamilton, and tramp along after me. We must 
 get under way for Dixie." 
 
 A moment later we follow him, as do the whole 
 party. Guided by Jake Brown, we tramp a long mile, 
 half of it through a swamp trail, the other portion along 
 an unused wood-road ; I supporting Eve and doing 
 the best I can for her in this weary part of the journey. 
 
 At the end of the wood-road we come to a little creek 
 that at low tide would probably be a mud flat, but is 
 now full of water. Moored in this is a light-draught, 
 but good-sized skiff or boat. It holds our party easily ; 
 in fact, it would hold three or four more. Making my 
 wife as comfortable as possible in the stern sheets of 
 this, and shielding her with a tarpaulin that is in the 
 boat as well as some blankets we have brought for 
 her, and every one — God bless them ! — doing as much as 
 possible for my darling's comfort, the boat is shoved 
 off out on the waters, into the darkness. 
 
 But it is guided by skilful hands and rowed by strong 
 arms, and the out-going tide is with us. An hour 
 afterwards we have come out of the Wicomico River, 
 and are on the bosom of the Potomac, which is several 
 miles wide at this point. The night is dark ; the rain 
 is falling heavily. 
 
 "If the lightning doesn't show us to them, we're 
 pretty safe from Yankee patrol boats," whispers Bowie 
 as he steers the craft. 
 
 And the night grows darker, and the rain falls heavier, 
 but fortunately there is little lightning. Though the 
 wind makes a nasty, choppy sea of the Potomac, which 
 is here practically an estuary. 
 
 After dodging one steam launch, the noise of her ma- 
 chinery and sparks from her smoke-stack disclosing 
 her to us, at four o'clock in the morning, some two 
 hours before daylight, we strike the Virginia shore, and 
 running carefully and cautiously down it, make landing 
 somewhere about six in the morning in a little cove 
 
244 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 M'hich is apparently well known to Bowie, about a 
 mile below Baynesville. 
 
 Part of this trip, under the tarpaulin and the blank- 
 ets, I think Eve has slept, for she has spoken little to 
 me except to assure me that she is perfectly comfort- 
 able — that she has made one or two such passages be- 
 fore — that she doesn't mind it in the least, except for 
 my sake ; snuggling- her little hand into mine. 
 
 Leaving the boat by the first light of the morning, 
 we soon reach a farmer's house. 
 
 "One of the right kind!" remarks Wiltshire, and 
 we find it very much of the right kind, for everything 
 that hospitality can suggest is done for us, the daughter 
 of the house giving my wife dry underclothes and 
 making a great deal of her. 
 
 Though, did not Eve assure them that I was her hus- 
 band, my uniform would probably receive a cold wel- 
 come, as the Virginia husbandman and his wife look 
 upon it with by no means cordial eyes. 
 
 In fact, at breakfast, the farmer's daughter, a buxom, 
 chirpy lassie of about eighteen, remarks laughingly : 
 "'Deed I couldn't marry a man dressed in that nasty 
 Yankee blue ! You just get Cap'n Hamilton into nice 
 Confederate gray, and your fellow'll look twice as 
 purty to you — 'deed he will, Miss Ashley ! " 
 
 During the laugh that follows this remark, Eve droops 
 her exquisite head, as if ashamed ; though as I lead her 
 down to put her on the horse, her manner is coquettishly 
 alluring and charmingly tender to me. Still, once or 
 twice, as I speak tenderly to her, she hangs her head and 
 turns away her glance, as if in some great, though 
 latent, distress. "It is the thought that we must part 
 soon," I conclude, and that idea makes my heart 
 heavy also. 
 
 The party is soon on horseback — for information has 
 been brought that there are no Federal forces in the 
 neighborhood, all of these having been drawn into the 
 Union army some thirty miles above us, and Bowie 
 thinks we must start at once. 
 
 So this morning we gallop through Virginia mud 
 from the Potomac to the Rappahannock. The sun has 
 got out again and is shining, and it seems to be a 
 pleasant jaunt to my wife, for the nearer we get to the 
 Confederate lines, the brighter becomes her face, the 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 245 
 
 more buoyant her air, the more loving her manner to 
 me. Though sometimes, as she looks on me, strange 
 spasms of agony seem to run over her sensitive feat- 
 ures, that ripple with each passion of her enthusiastic 
 soul, each thought in her vivacious mind. 
 
 These eccentricities of her face, grow more numerous 
 and more vivid as we cross the Rappahannock on a 
 flat-boat ferry, near Leedstown landing on the opposite 
 bank, a few miles below Port Royal. 
 
 A quarter of an hour after this, we see the Southern 
 flag, and are challenged by a scouting party of the 
 Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry, and Eve cries, a mighty joy 
 in her voice : 
 
 " Here are yny boys in gray ! Hurrah ! the Confe- 
 derate colors." 
 
 Then Bowie and Wiltshire answering the challenge, 
 after a short conference we are passed through the 
 Rebel picket line, and I find myself in the presence of 
 Major Robinson, who is in command of a squadron of 
 his regiment that are patrolling this bank of the river, 
 to see no divisions of the Federals attempt to cross 
 unobserved below Fredericksburg. ' 
 
 Gazing on my uniform, this officer orders me under 
 guard. But, after a few minutes' conference with Eve 
 and Bowie, he returns to me accompanied by my 
 wife. 
 
 " Major Robinson," she says, "permit me to intro- 
 duce my husband — Captain Hamilton of the United 
 States Cavalry." 
 
 " You've not come under a flag of truce, Captain," 
 remarks the Virginia major." 
 
 " Not unless my wife is one." 
 
 "Well, sir, she's better than any flag of truce," 
 answers the Confederate officer gallantly. " Both sides 
 surrender to beauty. As I understand from her, you've 
 brought Mrs. Hamilton into our lines to save her from 
 a very serious complication in Washington, brought 
 about by her devotion to our cause. " 
 
 "Yes, "cries the girl ecstatically. "I have learnt 
 that Longstreet's whole division is entrenched on the 
 heights at Fredericksburg. I kept the Federals back, 
 Billy ; I kept them back ! I did the work of an army 
 corps ! " 
 
 " Better than an army corps ! " remarks the Confede- 
 
246 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 rate major. "Before the Yanks can cross, Jackson 
 will have time to join." 
 
 " They're beaten ! They're beaten before the battle 
 is begun ! " cries Eve in half-delirious joy. 
 
 " Yes ; if Burnside is foolish enough to make the at- 
 tempt now," I think gloomily; then look at my wife 
 with indignation. For she is commencing to make me 
 thoroughly realize that I am a traitor, that in shield- 
 ing her I have been false to my army — my comrades. 
 For I have saved one who has committed a military 
 crime and doomed brave men to death — even though 
 she is my bride. 
 
 But the girl doesn't seem to think so. Her manner 
 is buoyant, her eye proud, her step elated ; and all 
 this tends to make me very firm against the allurements 
 of a beauty that now she turns on my sad heart and 
 brings to bear upon my senses, with every subtle art a 
 girl can use to make a man turn traitor. 
 
 The Confederate officer and my companions of the 
 journey between lines, have, with the instincts of gen- 
 tlemen, moved away from us and left my bride and me 
 alone in a pretty sylvan glade that runs down towards 
 the Rappahannock, which is now muddy with coming 
 torrent, though the sun is bright in the heavens and 
 shines upon the girl, to give her an ethereal loveliness 
 for she has thrown off wraps and waterproof and 
 stands, her eyes ablaze, her fair hair floating in the soft 
 breeze, with every beauty line of her superb figure 
 made apparent by the tight-fitting bodice and draping 
 folds of her soft, clinging riding-habit — to teinpt me. 
 
 Despite my anger, at her, my tone grows very sad as 
 I say ! " We part here ; Eve, we V2usl part here." 
 
 Suddenly, I start and gaze at her astounded ; for 
 now, as she speaks to me, I begin to have a glimmer- 
 ing of the horrible thing she meant by saying : "Take 
 me to Virginia." 
 
 "Part here r''' Do you suppose I could have been 
 so cruel to you my loved one, had I ever intended to 
 part from you again } " She has come to me and put 
 her arms round me : her voice is soft with passion, her 
 eyes dewy with love, she puts her sweet lips up to 
 mine and kisses me with all her soul and whispers 
 bashfully: ''Here is where we hegm to live together 
 as husband and wife ! " 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 247 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean /his f As I told you one night in Wash- 
 ington, every girl should give to the cause she loves 
 the man she loves. You I want to give to my coun- 
 try, for I love you ; it's the greatest sacrifice I can 
 make to it. The more I adore you, the grander my 
 offering ! The more your heroism, the greater will be 
 my glory in you ! " 
 
 "What do you mean ?" I repeat. For even now I 
 cannot understand, I wi'/l not understand the devilish 
 bribe she is proposing. 
 
 "I mean, here is 77iy flag! The one you kissed 
 that night upon my bosom. As you love me, come 
 under it, B-wd fight under it, and I will be the most lov- 
 ing wife to you that ever blessed a man. You shall 
 have my soul, Billy, my soul ! I love you now ! Oh, 
 how I love you, or I would not beg you to do this thing 
 for me." Then she suddenly screams, " Don't look at 
 me that way 1 " for I have tunied awful eyes on her. 
 
 "And this is your price," I whisper to her. "My 
 honor, for your love. This is a good wife's maxim ! 
 this is a true wife's maxim ! I have risked my life to 
 save you — I have tainted my honor to save you — but, 
 damn it, I've been traitor enough ! " 
 
 "Ah, you give me up.-' " She is pleading now, her 
 blue eyes soft and dark as violets with passion. 
 
 ^' Never .''' I say fiercely, as I look upon her beauty. 
 
 "Never ! God bless you for those words Billy ! she 
 sighs. 
 
 "Never! I made an oath to you; I have kept it. 
 For three torturing days I, your husband, have walked 
 by a wife who is not a wife. Every beauty, every 
 charm of your manner, every kiss of your lips, has been 
 to me a temptation, an agony. I have kept tny vow ; 
 you keep yours ! For seven days I swore ; three days 
 have passed; only four remain, then do you keep your 
 vows ! I go with you into the Confederate lines, but 
 not as a Confederate soldier ; I accompany you as 
 your husband, to put you in a place of safety. I go 
 with you into the Rebel lines as a Confederate prisoner. " 
 
 Running from her, I call out hoarsely to the South- 
 ern officer, who is standing some fifty yards away, 
 busy with his men : "Major Robinson, I wish to see 
 you ! " 
 
248 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "At your service, captain," he answers, coming 
 towards me. 
 
 "You know I've been paroled until exchanged," I 
 cry to him. "I demand to rescind my parole. Here 
 is my sword and my side-arms. Send me as a prisoner 
 to Richmond with my wife." Then looking at Eve, 
 who is gasping by my side, I laugh hoarsely : "You, 
 my bride, don't escape from me, your husband ! " 
 
 But the Confederate major, stepping to us, says : "I 
 hardly understand you. You say you wish to rescind 
 your parole, to surrender yourself as my prisoner?" 
 
 "I do!" 
 
 That I refuse to accept, Captain Hamilton. Your 
 parole, once given, is sacred. We have enough to 
 support in our impoverished country, without taking 
 a paroled prisoner there. " 
 
 " You refuse to take me ? " 
 
 "Certainly. A military compact once made is good, 
 and cannot be made void at the wish of one party to 
 the agreement without the consent of the other. I re- 
 fuse to accept the surrender of your parole. You have 
 a quarter of an hour here, under your wife's protection, 
 which acts as a flag of truce ; after that time. Lieuten- 
 ant Bowie and an escort will take you back to the shore 
 of the Potomac. Your wife is too high in our esteem 
 for me to permit you to take any unnecessary risks in 
 escorting her to the safety of our lines." With this the 
 Confederate major walks away, and I see him giving 
 orders to Bowie and Wiltshire and Brown. 
 
 "You see," whispers Eve desperately, "you can 
 come with me in only one way — as a Confederate 
 soldier. Think how I love you ! Don't break both our 
 hearts. Come ! No wife shall be so loving. Come ! " 
 and her soft arms go round me tight and clinging, and 
 her dewy lips give kisses unto mine that might be the 
 foretaste of a paradise. 
 
 "Never!" I whisper doggedly. "Never! I have 
 been traitor enough, and I know it better now than I 
 did when I saved you. You have had your way ; you 
 will part from me, a wife who has never had a hus- 
 band. I will leave you, a husband who is wedded to 
 the memory of a beautiful, a noble, girl, in all but one 
 thing ; she thinks naught of her husband's honor." 
 
 " My God ! Don't reproach me that way! Others 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 249 
 
 have left the United States service for my flag, and 
 hold their heads high enough." 
 
 "But not as you propose — not as military outcasts 
 and deserters. Besides, 1 am not one of them. Thank 
 God, not one of them ! " 
 
 "Then you refuse to accept my obedience as your 
 wife.? " 
 
 "No, on the contrary, I hold you to it," I whisper 
 firmly. " You are mine, my wife, and whether it takes 
 days, or months, or years, you are still mine, my wife ! 
 Here ! — you are going to a land of poverty. Take 
 what money I have about me — take it all ■' " 
 
 " No — no ! If you won't accept my wifely devotion, 
 do you suppose I'm so mean a thing as to take support 
 from you. Here ■' " And with this cry she throws the 
 money I had given her in Washington down at my 
 feet. "I will not accept support from you," she 
 says proudly, "though I, for my part, will give you 
 honor and obedience and love as my husband. I will 
 be your true wife, though parted from you. Your name 
 shall be borne and held and honored by me. That is 
 the only expiation I can give you for my crime." 
 There are tears in her voice. " That's what it is, Billy ; 
 I know it now — an awful crime against love, against 
 jyoti. Had I adored you less, I would have sinned 
 against our love less ! But I wanted you and I to have 
 one soul — one heart, dear one ! That my joy would 
 be your joy ; my triumph, your triumph ! But now, I 
 — O God I've made you hate me. Forgive me — forgive 
 me — forgive me ! " 
 
 " No ; love you — love you — love you ; " I whisper ; 
 for her beauty, in her despair, in my despair, seems to 
 me greater than ever. " I love you — I love you — and 
 even the Confederate lines shall not keep me from you." 
 
 " My God, you'll lose your life ! " 
 
 "But I will win your love. When I pluck that ac- 
 cursed banner down, I'll clutch you to my heart." 
 
 "No — no. Don't hate that flag." 
 
 " I will ! For it stands between you and me. Re- 
 member ! — look on those rings that bind you to me, 
 and know that I will have you. Good-bye." I seize 
 her in my arms. 
 
 Then how she clings to me ! How she begs, how 
 she sobs, how she implores me to forgive her — to love 
 
250 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 her — to go with her. And her caresses are as entranc- 
 ing, as if she were the Goddess of love, and her lips 
 are sweet as an angel's, and her voice pleading as 
 Delilah's, and her witcheries as alluring as a siren's. 
 
 But of a sudden, with a smothered moan, I break 
 from her embraces and run from her — for if I stay, I 
 know my love will destroy the little honor of a soldier 
 that I feel she has left in me. 
 
 Behind me I hear a scream, and soft cries of love ; 
 but I dare not look back. 
 
 I hurry to the Confederate picket, and noting my 
 haggard eyes, the Rebel major says huskily : "These 
 partings with our war-brides are cruel things, Captain 
 Hamilton. I have a girl-wife in Richmond," and his 
 brown moustache twitches. "But good-bye; she's 
 coming after you," he whispers nervously. " Mount 
 your horse ! Get away quick ! Don't give her a sec- 
 ond agony." 
 
 He salutes me, and Bowie and Wilshire and I pass 
 out of the Confederate lines. 
 
 Then I hear Robinson cry : "Good God, she's 
 fainted ! " and something seems to crack in my head ; 
 but I still go forward I — I dare not turn back. 
 
 Bowie's arm is round me for I am reeling in my 
 saddle. 
 
 But I stagger on, benumbed with misery and made 
 half comatose by despair, till four hours afterwards I 
 find myself and the Rebel lieutenant afloat on the Po- 
 tomac. 
 
BOOK V. 
 THE BATTLE FOR HER LOVE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 "l WILL GO TO THE REBEL CAPITAL." 
 
 Two days after this, I awake in the little cabin in 
 the Maryland swamps to which Eve had taken me be- 
 fore we crossed to Virginia. Bowie, who is cooking 
 his breakfast, remarks to me: "You've been out of 
 your head a little, old man ; but you'll pick up soon 
 now." 
 
 "Was I delirious.? " I question. 
 
 "Well, if you weren't," he half laughs, "you had an 
 exciting wedding-day of it. Yesterday I thought I'd 
 see if your delirious notions were/ac/s, and rode over 
 to where you raved about killing a United States Dep- 
 uty-Marshal, and found if you had not slain him, some- 
 body else had done his business just as you described 
 it. A straight thrust eji carte, eh, my boy .? " 
 
 " Did I rave of anything else ? " I ask anxiously. 
 
 " Well, rather !" He looks at me grimly. "I'm in- 
 clined to think, if some of your hallucinations were 
 true, you had a very close call of putting on a gray 
 uniform over in Virginia." Then he turns to me, and 
 the laugh goes out of his voice as he whispers : " I'll 
 take any message, anything you write, anything you 
 wish to send to Mrs. Hamilton. And by the Lord 
 Harry, if you want to go back to your wife, we'll make 
 the trip together ! " 
 
 But I mutter despairingly : " No ; I have been 
 traitor enough ! " and try to stagger to my feet. 
 
 But I am scarce able to stand, and it is two days 
 after this before I mount Roderick. 
 
 "You won't change your mind and go back to 
 Virginia .? " says Bowie in kindly voice to me, as he 
 stands by my charger's side. 
 
252 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 " No, — don't tempt me," I whisper hoarsely. 
 
 "You'd better remain here another day. You're 
 not very strong yet, old man." 
 
 " No ; I will not put any further danger upon you. 
 Besides, my leave of absence expires to-morrow ; I 
 must go to Washington." 
 
 "Then this is all you want me to give Mrs. Hamil- 
 ton ? " remarks the Confederate. And he holds up a 
 note I have written in lead pencil, telling my wife 
 to address any letters for me to the care of my sisters in 
 Baltimore, that I will be true to my vows to her, as she 
 must be true to her vows to me, reminding her of her 
 promise and swearing that I will hold her in my arms 
 soon, war or no war. 
 
 "Well, we all follow our own lights in this contest," 
 says the partisan philosophically ; " and the next time 
 you and I meet, I suppose, Captain Hamilton, we'll be 
 enemies." 
 
 " Not enemies ! " I return ; "though we may be op- 
 posed to each other. For I know what you have done 
 for me, Wat Bowie. You have taken care of a man 
 unable, from misery, to take care of himself. You've 
 got me through the lines, and risked your own life 
 again to watch over me as a brother." 
 
 "Don't thank me too much," answers the gallant 
 fellow kindly. "There's a girl over in Virginia who 
 is a little sweet on you, I imagine ; and we think a 
 mighty sight of her. A heap of my philanthropy was 
 on your bride's account. So good-bye ; present my 
 compliments to Mr. Secretary Stanton and tell him he 
 won't get me again in the Old Capitol Prison where he 
 once had me." Then he laughs. "By Jove, they 
 ought to promote you for slaying that deputy United 
 State marshal, if half you said of him was true." 
 
 But the thought of Arago and what I have to tell the 
 War Department makes me wish to hurry on ; and so 
 one ot those curious partings of Border-State war takes 
 place. Men who may have to fight each other in an 
 hour, grip hands as friends, and I see the last of genial, 
 whole-souled, dashing Wat Bowie — the hate and terror 
 of the Secret Service. For the gallant chap falls, six 
 months afterwards, in his foolhardy raid into Maryland 
 to capture the Union governor of that State, potted 
 from the roadside by a farmer with a bird-gun full of 
 buckshot. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON 253 
 
 Five hours afterwards, just as it is getting dark, I 
 ride up to my F Street boarding-house in Washington, 
 in a most miserable and despairing frame of mind. I 
 had left it braced by excitement and buoyant with 
 bridegroom's hopes ; I come back to it bereft. 
 
 But I have not much time to meditate on my lost 
 love. Little Mr. Finnaker comes in to me: "By 
 Yankee Doodle," he cries, "I've been wanting to see 
 you for the last day. Where have you been .'' " 
 
 "In Baltimore most of the time — on leave of ab- 
 sence." 
 
 "Well, we've got the scoundrel! / found him 1 
 Arago was the traitor ! I always said so — you remem- 
 ber that. I always said so. For three days I tracked 
 the double-dyed Rebel through Maryland swamps. If 
 you don't believe me, ask Arago — but of course you 
 can't ; he's dead ! '' 
 
 "Didjy'on kill him ?" I ask, a curious smile coming 
 over my countenance. 
 
 "Well, not exactly; but I was instrumental in it. 
 His body was brought in yesterday. . Two of Baker's 
 detectives, Shook and Gibbon, have just claimed the 
 ten thousand dollars reward for killing him." 
 
 That evening I call on IMrs. Bream, and whisper to 
 her of the safe arrival of her niece in the Confederate 
 lines ; telling the aunt that I have placed my wife 
 v/here she can easily get to her mother and family. 
 
 "I'm very glad you did send Eve away," remarks 
 Lucy to me, "though I suppose her absence is a great 
 loss to a suddenly ardent bridegroom ; your face shows 
 that, my poor boy. But some rumors the Senator has 
 picked up from some of the War Department officials 
 make him also glad she's gone. The war will soon be 
 over. Burnside is bound to get to Richmond this time ; 
 he is already opposite Fredericksburg. And after we 
 have whipped our Southern friends again into the 
 Union, we'll take young Mrs. Repentant Rebel back to 
 our arms, eh, Billy ? " she laughs good-naturedly. 
 
 It would have been wise of me to have thrown 
 Arago's pocket-book away and never mentioned the sub- 
 ject to any one. But, thinking that some of the data 
 of the traitor may be of use to the War Department in 
 detecting other spies and traitors, the next morning I 
 go up to the War Office and make my report, not to 
 
2 54 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Mr. Stanton in person but to one of his assistants, and 
 deposit the pocket-book with him, telling- of my hav- 
 ing, in an investigation put into my hands by Colonel 
 Baker, become suspicious of Arago — for I dare not 
 mention that I know anything about the pontoon busi- 
 ness — and discovering the traitor flying from Washing- 
 ton, I had pursued him and overtaken him, and on 
 his refusing to surrender, killed him in personal com- 
 bat while attempting to make the arrest. 
 
 My pursuit of Arago is not difficult to prove. Upon 
 investigation, the War Department discover half a dozen 
 teamsters and sutlers who saw me galloping after the 
 Quartermaster-General's clerk's buggy on the wild and 
 stormy night of the 19th of November. This, together 
 with my surrender of the pocket-book and other per- 
 sonal belongings of Arago absolutely defeats Messrs. 
 Shook and Gibbon's claim for the reward for killing the 
 Rebel agent and makes them my eternal and undying 
 enemies. 
 
 Joe Shook, meeting me on one of the streets of 
 Washington, voices his ideas on this subject in the 
 following words : " Darn yer eyes ! Ye've busted us. 
 Cap Hamilton, but look out that we don't bust you. 
 Rod Gibbon and me knows a thing or two, and we're 
 working on it like mice on pie — we are. So look out 
 fur us, you cursed, low-lived, henpecked husband." 
 
 " Keep your insolent tongue to yourself," I reply. 
 "I simply prevented two scoundrels from robbing the 
 Government 1 " 
 
 "And ye'U regret that little biz to yer death — which 
 may come sooner than ye reckon. Cap," snarls the 
 detective at me, the look of a devil in his cold gray 
 eyes. "For Rod Gibbon and I are sworn to do ye ! 
 If one of us don't git ye, 'tother will, sure as pickles is 
 sour, yer grinning cavalry buck ! " 
 
 For I am laughing in the fellow's face a yellow 
 guffaw, his jeer about my wife making me too miser- 
 able to care about his rage. 
 
 Besides, just about this time I become so famous as 
 a dyed-in-the-wool, loyal-to-the-death Union man, 
 that I think a couple of Secret Service detectives, 
 already caught in one fraud, can do me little damage. 
 
 For my sister Birdie elopes with gallant Arthur Ver- 
 milye of the New York Artillery, and this enlevement of 
 
BILLY HAMILTON 255 
 
 a high-bred Baltimore '' seccsh " belle of prominent 
 Southern family by an officer wearing Uncle Sam's 
 uniform is heralded far and wide by the loyal press 
 of America and atlrihuled to my staunch Unionism ; 
 one article stating that when Provost-Marshal of 
 Baltimore I had used my utmost endeavors to bring 
 about the nuptials of my beautiful sister to her Northern 
 lover. It ends: "Long life and strong arm to the 
 most loyal officer, Captain William Fairfax Hamilton, 
 who has taught the Rebs a social lesson." 
 
 As I glumly meditate on this veracious statement, I 
 receive a telegram. It reads : 
 
 " Baltimore, December 2, 1862. 
 "To Capt'n W. F. Hamilton : 
 
 " Meet us at the Baltimore & Ohio depot at 4 p. M., to-day. 
 
 " Birdie and Arthur." 
 
 Arriving at the station on time, an archly beautiful 
 and bashfully blushing bride comes tripping to me, 
 proudly hanging on the arm of the stalwart artillery 
 man. Amid her kisses, my congratulations and 
 Arthur's hearty handshaking, I learn the following : 
 
 Papa, acting the old-time father, had locked Birdie 
 up. By means of the old-time darky footman, Jonas, 
 letters had passed between her and her lover, and the 
 elopement had been planned. Miss Birdie had fled 
 from her home and had been privately married to the 
 man she loves ; who now has her as his war bride. A 
 quick wedding, a short honeymoon ; perhaps the bride- 
 groom will be hastily ordered to the front, I meditate 
 gloomily as I look upon a diamond tear and a ruby 
 (Irop of blood sparkling and gleaming in the betrothal 
 ring on Birdie's pretty finger. 
 
 Even my sister's enthusiastic and vivacious joy 
 doesn't elevate my spirits. When Vermilye, slapping 
 me on the back with a brother's hand, whispers, "Bill, 
 you should go and do likewise ! Where's that pretty 
 Miss Ashley, eh.'* "I only answer him with a hollow 
 groan. I don't deem it wise to confide to him my sec- 
 ret ; the fewer that know of it, the fewer that can be 
 compromised by my having loved, wedded and saved 
 a Rebel spy, whose damage to the Union arms is now 
 shortly to become awfully apparent. 
 
256 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 But though news of impending operations and battle 
 comes from the army scarce fifty miles away, Wash- 
 ington society goes on as gayly and as merrily as if 
 the Angel of Death were not sharpening his sword 
 upon the banks of the Rappahannock. At present, 
 well born, aristocratic Vermilye of the Artillery, on 
 thirty days' leave of absence, with his beautiful bride, 
 is the centre of attraction at fetes and dances. 
 
 Lucy Bream gives a magnificent dinner-party in their 
 honor, at which the great War-Senator toasts me as 
 the most loj^al Union Border-State man — except him- 
 self — in America. 
 
 "By John Brown's body !" he remarks jovially hold- 
 ing up his glass of M'ine. " If I could have kept my 
 Virginia niece here, I believe Billy Hamilton would 
 have completed my conversion of her and made beau- 
 tiful Eva Ashley as absolutely Union, as his brother- 
 officer has made the pretty little flower he has stolen 
 from the ranks of lovely secessionists." 
 
 "Yankee Doodle!" cries Finnaker, who is sitting 
 near me with dashing Molly Bent, "that was not nec- 
 essary, Senator. / had converted Miss Ashley before 
 either of you. I don't like to tell tales ; " he strokes 
 his moustache calmly and simpers: "But if it hadn't 
 been for her mother in Virginia, she might have been 
 here now — and a bride also." 
 
 He looks so very cunning and knowing as he makes 
 his soft insinuation that Aunt Lucy catching my savage 
 eyes bursts out laughing till she chokes. 
 
 While I glare at him in a way that causes the pretty 
 girl at my elbow to giggle: " What makes you look 
 so savagely at Mr. Finnaker, Captain Hamilton ? Do 
 you want to convert a/l the Rebel maids yourself.? " 
 
 " No," 1 reply gallantly ; " there are enough Union 
 beauties near me, without going South for any more." 
 And I gaze at Miss Sallie Reynolds's sweet face and 
 snowy neck and shoulders ; a society compliment in 
 my eyes, though my heart is as heavy as the plum-pud- 
 ding which has just been brought on the table. 
 
 But into this whirl of fashion, gayety, frivolity and 
 patriotism, suddenly, on the 13th of December, comes 
 the report that Burnside has bombarded and captured 
 Fredericksburg, and crossed his army to the South side 
 of the Rappahannock on four pontoon bridges, these 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 257 
 
 having at last arrived at Falmouth. Marvellous to relate, 
 this walking- inlo the trap which Lee, Jackson and 
 Longstreet have been preparing for him quietly on the 
 hills behind the town, for three long weeks, making a 
 strong position, practically unassailable, and absolute- 
 ly impregnable when manned by sixty-five thousand 
 Confederate veterans under their trusted leaders is 
 lieralded as a Union victory.'^ 
 
 The next day comes the report that Burnside has 
 attacked, and from that officer's telegrams and de- 
 spatches, if he has not won, at least he has gained a 
 decided advantage over his opponents. And the jour- 
 nals are full of happy comment, the capital being deli- 
 riously wild with the excitement and joy of victory. 
 But I note that one or two high officials of the War 
 Office, have decidedly anxious, not to say affrighted, 
 faces. 
 
 Then comes the next day. "Disaster " is on every- 
 body's lips; "Defeat" on everybody's tongue. "A 
 gallant army sent to ruin ! '' is placarded on news- 
 paper bulletin boards, and Fredericksburg is known to 
 have been, if not a military crime, at least a military 
 madness. 
 
 And I, reading the long lists of killed and wounded 
 brave men, feel more than ever that I am a traitor ; 
 for I have saved the being whose stratagem had de- 
 layed the army and caused this holocaust. Impressed 
 by this, I long to get to the front and put my life in the 
 balance of actual conflict. I mutter, as I clasp my fore- 
 Lsad with my hands : "Let me make sacrifice for her ! " 
 
 But my parole still hangs over me, and paralyzes 
 my sword-arm. 
 
 About this time suddenly comes the first whisper of 
 delayed pontoons ; a little ripple in the press, which, 
 gradually growing stronger, bursts into a howl of de- 
 nunciation against the War Office, special attention 
 being given and special venom poured out upon the 
 Secretary of War. "f" 
 
 Under these circumstances, Mr. Stanton is probably 
 
 * Vide, New York Herald, Tribune, and all other Northern news- 
 papers of Dec. 13th and 14th of 1862. — Ed. 
 
 t Vide : Editorials of N. Y. Herald, also the celebrated cartoon of 
 Columbia demanding her 15.000 sons murdered at Fredericksburg. 
 from Lincoln, Stanton and Halleck, in Appendix. — Ed. 
 
258 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 in not the best of spirits or temper. At all events, / 
 find it so ; for one morning a provost guard, directed 
 by Messrs. Shook and Gibbon, calls on me at F Street 
 and I find myself, without explanation, removed from 
 the social amenities of my boarding-house to a cell 
 in the Old Capitol prison ; one of m.y detective friends 
 remarking jovially : "Now, by thunder ! we've got ye 
 where we want ye, my meddling captain ! " 
 
 From the seclusion of this government Bastille, I 
 write to the proper authorities, asking for the charges 
 made against me, but my letter receives no answer. 
 
 Agafin I write, demanding to be tried by court-mar- 
 tial on whatever charge is preferred. This appeal pro- 
 duces no greater result than my former letter. 
 
 I send for Senator Bream. He comes to see me, 
 and gives me very cold comfort by saying: " Fd do 
 anything for you, but I can't. Martial law exists, and 
 you'd better make a clean breast of it." 
 
 "Of what.?" 
 
 "I don't know; the War Department keep their 
 mouths very close on your case. But whatever it is, 
 you'd better make a clean breast of it ; then FU see if 
 I can't get you pardoned. Anyway, they've got you, 
 as they have hundreds of others all over the country ; 
 they'll try you when they want to, — or they won't try 
 you. But under martial law, some one has to give up 
 something, sir, for the salvation of the country. If 
 you are a true patriot, you should be willing to suffer 
 for the cause." 
 
 All the time Vermilye sticks by me like a brother, 
 and brings every social influence to bear in my behalf 
 — and he has plenty — but in those days everything 
 was answered by the one plea, " Military necessity." 
 
 So the long months drag away. Paroled by the 
 Rebels, I am imprisoned by the Federals. 
 
 My incarceration is however not particularly rigid. 
 Lucy Bream occasionally, and Birdie quite often, visits 
 me, and newspapers are sent to me. I have my meals 
 forwarded from a first-class hotel. Physically I am 
 comfortable ; mentally I am in Hades ; for I am in an 
 agony of fear about my wife — I dread that Eve will 
 come to deliver herself to Federal mercy — to make me 
 free. And under the circumstances, fear it might even 
 mean her life. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 259 
 
 For during the time, a letter has been brought to me 
 by my eldest sister, who has come from Baltimore to 
 see me. She looks at me and half sneers: "See to 
 what your loyalty has brought you — imprisonment from 
 the Yankees and the contempt of those who love you ! " 
 
 "Are you here for nothing else except to make me 
 more wretched, Virgie ? " I say. 
 
 "No; were it not for a matter of duty, I should 
 have never looked upon your face again." Then she 
 whispers : "This letter arrived from Richmond." 
 
 With a smothered cry I seize and open it, and for one 
 moment my prison becomes a palace ; then I shudder 
 as I read ; for it runs thus : 
 
 " My Darling Husband : 
 
 " I have written to you three times, but I suppose my letters have 
 gone astray, or been lost in the forwarding. 
 
 " So I again write to you, for lately word has been brought to me 
 that you have been imprisoned in Washington, and I fear it is be- 
 cause you have loved me and saved me. If it is for me that you have 
 lost your liberty, I beg you to say to the War Department of the 
 United States that I will come through the lines and surrender my- 
 self to them, rather than that you should suffer for loving too much 
 " Your wife — your true wife — your devoted wife, 
 
 " Eva Vernon Hamilton." 
 
 Though this puts me into a rapture, it sends a thrill 
 of fear through me. I cannot write to my wife from 
 the jail, but I tell my sister — in whose honor I can 
 trust whether she loves me or doesn't love me — of my 
 marriage, and beg her to write my bride for God's 
 sake not to come, no matter what happens to me ; that 
 my only happiness in life is in knowing that she is safe. 
 And Virginia goes away from me with a very white 
 and astounded face, though she has promised to do my 
 bidding. 
 
 Soon after this Birdie comes to me in the despair of 
 many other young brides of that day, to tell me that 
 her husband's battery has been detached from Fort 
 IMcHenry and ordered to active service. 
 
 "I know he's going to be killed, Billy ! " she sobs 
 brokenly. "I know this diamond on my ring means 
 my tear — this ruby on my ring means his blood. 
 That's what it means, Billy. The awful Rebels are 
 marching North ! " for this is just before Gettysburg. 
 "They're going to kill my husband!" then she cries 
 
26o BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 savagely, clenching her little fist, " Oh, how I hate 
 them ! " and goes from me to weep, as Arthur Ver- 
 milye's light battery rolls out of Fort McHenry and up 
 the long dusty roads to join the crown of artillery that 
 at Round Top and Cemetery Ridge checked the highest 
 rolling tide of the Confederacy, when Pickett's Division 
 made their fatal, yet immortal, charge. 
 
 So the summer of 1863 rolls away, the winter passes, 
 and the spring campaign opens, while I am wearing 
 my heart out against the bars of the Old Capitol prison. 
 
 About this time comes Grant from the West, and the 
 great campaign of 1864 begins with the Wilderness. 
 But some three months before this the military hand 
 that has seized me relaxes its grasp. One morning, to 
 my astonishment, a couple of deputy United States 
 marshals — for I have been held by the Secret Service, 
 not by the military arm, as that would have been im- 
 possible without court-martial — convey me in a carriage 
 to the War Department. 
 
 After some formalities and waiting, I am shown into 
 Secretary Stanton's private office. 
 
 He looks at me very much as a cat does a mouse, 
 stroking his long beard reflectively, and remarks, in 
 suave but incisive tones: "Captain Hamilton, I can 
 hang you ! " 
 
 "Not without trial, Mr. Secretary," I reply, and then 
 ask : " For what .? " 
 
 "You escorted a female Rebel spy out of Washing- 
 ton — the very one you were charged to deliver over to 
 Baker of the Secret Service." 
 
 "I escorted my wife out of Washington, I will 
 admit," I say lirmly. 
 
 "Who.?" 
 
 " My wife ! " 
 
 "But I am referring to Miss Ashley ! " 
 
 "So am I. I married her, the day I escorted her 
 out of Washington ! " 
 
 ' ' The devil ! " he mutters, and stares at me astonished 
 as I add : " 
 
 "You can put me on court-martial for that — if you 
 like, Mr. Secretary." 
 
 "But I don't wish to. I don't want any of that 
 matter gone over ; it has passed away now. I wish to 
 spare you. I desire to promote you," he goes on per- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 26 1 
 
 suasively. " I wish to give you a chance to distinguish 
 yourself. / have use for you ■' " 
 
 " How ? " I cry. " Have I been exchanged ? Am 
 I free to go to the front ? " 
 
 "You have been exchanged for six months, and I 
 want you to go further than the fro7it.'' 
 
 "What do you mean, sir.? " 
 
 " You recollect, nearly two years ago you brought 
 me a commission made out to William Fairfax Hamil- 
 ton, as major in the Confederate army and signed by 
 Jefferson Davis, and his secretary-of-war." 
 
 "Certainly, sir ! " 
 
 " You told me that you had kept it in order that some 
 day you might do with it for your country a great 
 thing. That time has now come." 
 
 " Please be more explicit, INIr. Secretary." 
 
 "Well, I mean this. I want to know exactly the 
 strength of the Rebel garrison of Richmond and its for- 
 tifications, and what are the chances of capturing it by 
 a coup de main. They are sending every man they can 
 spare, and lots they can't spare, to Lee's army to 
 oppose Grant's spring campaign. Richmond must soon 
 be pretty well denuded of troops. I want to know the 
 chances of a quick cavalry command reaching Belle 
 Isle prison, releasing the prisoners there and raiding 
 Richmond, before I dare order the movement. I am 
 very explicit with you. Captain Hamilton, I want to 
 know the chances of its success." 
 
 "I will go!" I whisper, with a suddenness and 
 eagerness that astounds him. "If in return for my 
 risk of life and military honor, you agree to grant me 
 the full and free pardon of my wife." 
 
 "The girl that delayed the pont " he checked 
 
 himself and replies sharply. "No, no! Impossible, 
 sir.'" 
 
 " Then, Mr. Secretary, I lift no hand to destroy the 
 Southern Confederacy and place my wife in your 
 power." 
 
 " What's that ! " 
 
 He stares at me savagely, then his blue eyes light up, 
 — he mutters considerately. " It does seem hard for a 
 man to fight to put a halter on his loved one." Next 
 with incisive voice he says quickly : "Though I had 
 sworn never to forgive her — you know the awful thing 
 
262 BTLLV HAMILTON. 
 
 she did — I'll — I'll pardon your wife if she takes the oath 
 of allegiance ! — and you succeed." 
 
 "Mr. Secretary, " I cry, "I will go to the Rebel 
 Capital ! " 
 
 For into my mind has suddenly sprung : "My wife 
 is in Richmond. Though I go there as a spy, Eve 
 cannot betray me ; for I saved her when she was in a 
 strait as dread and as cruel as mine will be. When 
 next I see her — my oath has passed — then she can- 
 not deny me the love of a wife." 
 
 And my face, made gaunt and haggard by the misery 
 of nearly fourteen months' imprisonment, has such a 
 glow of rapture, such a spark of hope in it that the 
 Secretary says : "I see you'll go and do your work. 
 Major Hamilton." — Noting my start at the title, he 
 laughs : "You at least should have Union rank equal 
 to your Rebel one, I'll try to get it for you. I now beg 
 your pardon for imprisoning you ; for I see in your 
 face the fire of patriotism ! " 
 
 But he also sees in my face the flame of love 1 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MAJOR BILLY HAMILTON, C. S. A. 
 
 "You will report to me before you go ; but the 
 sooner you make arrangements to start, the better. 
 Any money or transportation you may want will be 
 furnished you," remarks the head of the Federal War 
 Department. 
 
 " I shall require two days to make my preparations," 
 I say. 
 
 " So long? " he asks impatiently. 
 
 "Yes ; to transform myself from a Union to a Con- 
 federate officer. For I shall take every precaution, as 
 no man will go South of the Potomac with a tighter 
 noose upon his neck than I will, Mr. Secretary." 
 
 With this idea in my head, I step out of the War 
 Office, and make my preparations with corresponding 
 care and accuracy, but very secretly and very privately. 
 
 From my papers I get out the old Confederate com- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 263 
 
 mission. Fortunately, time has made its paper slightly 
 yellow. I increase this, and give it the appearance of 
 having been constantly in my pocketbook by fraying 
 its creases, by staining it with water, salt and fresh, by 
 even rubbing it with mud in one corner, indorsing 
 on its back, in military form, my acceptance of it, 
 dating this 1862, and exposing it to long but moderate 
 heat to give my writing the appearance of time. 
 
 On the Rebel uniform made for me by my sisters, I 
 impress the appearance of having suffered the hardships 
 of war. 
 
 My preparations, which have to be made gradually, 
 especially those in regard to my uniform and my 
 Confederate commission, take me all of two days. It 
 is during this time that cruel military disaster over- 
 takes Mr. Finnaker, of the United States Quartermaster- 
 General's office. 
 
 On my first release from the Old Capitol prison, the 
 little patriot had fought shy of me. But learning in 
 some way that I am to receive additional rank in the 
 Union army, he begins to be chummy once more, 
 coming into my room and smoking my cigars and 
 prattling vivaciously of "what we are going to do 
 with the Rebs. " 
 
 On one of these occasions he is holding forth with 
 great patriotic ardor. "By Bunker Hill, sir, we've got 
 Grant with us now — that Western hero — and he'll go 
 at 'em hammer and tongs ! He doesn't care for a few 
 lives ; he puts his men in and fights to a finish, he does ; 
 just as I would if I were in command. If ten thousand 
 men are slaughtered, what does it matter, when the 
 country is at stake .? If ten thousand men more are 
 butchered — we've got lots — who counts the cost, so 
 long as we save the Union .-* I must go down to the 
 front with Grant ; I haven't fought since Gettysburg. 
 If you don't believe me, ask Gushing, who died in my 
 arms as he fired his last gun into the faces of Pickett's 
 Rebs. But then — God help us all — my brother-in-arms, 
 poor Gushing, is dead." 
 
 "Well," I reply, "here's something that may interest 
 you. It is apparently on military matters, and comes 
 from Illinois. The servant-girl gave it me in the 
 hall for you. Something from your company, eh, 
 Finnaker?" 
 
264 BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 "Oh — ah, yes! of course — about my company!" 
 he stammers, apparently astounded that he should re- 
 ceive a written communication from his command of 
 one — which is himself, in Washington. 
 
 Then as Finnaker opens an official envelope, 
 stamped with the arms of Illinois, and inspects an of- 
 ficial paper bearing the State seal, something horrible 
 seems to happen to the patriot; his face grows ashen 
 pale ; the paper falls from his grasp ; with a low gasj)- 
 ing "Good Lord! I'm drafted!" he sinks half para- 
 lyzed upon a sofa. 
 
 Picking it up, I read a short notice stating that he 
 not being present, the name of Napoleon Leonidas Fin- 
 naker had been drawn by the United States Marshal 
 at the last draft ; that he is ordered to report himself 
 immediately for active service, he having been as- 
 signed to fill up the ranks of the Twenty-Seventh 
 Illinois, now serving in McPherson's Army of the 
 Tennessee. 
 
 "My God ! You see I— I'm drafted— dra//ed to fill 
 the place of a dead man ! By the God of War, Hamil- 
 ton, DRAFTED ! And the slaughter is so awful that sub- 
 stitutes are only for millionaires. DRAFTED ! O 
 Shadow of Death, to be drafted is to be killed ! " 
 
 " Well, you'll have a chance to teach the art of war 
 to McPherson. You'll have to go to the front ! " I sug- 
 gest grimly. 
 
 "To the front.? We'll see if I have. Not by the 
 tears of my widowed mother L Drafted into 'Fighting 
 McPherson's ' corps, who leads his men against the 
 Rebel guns as if they were so many rats in a trap. 
 Drafted ! Call an ambulance ! I — I don't feel quite 
 well." 
 
 And really he is awfully sick, and we have to get an 
 ambulance and send him to the military hospital, done 
 well nigh unto death by a paper pellet, before his first 
 engagement. 
 
 But I haven't time to stay in Washington to see the 
 outcome of Mr. Finnaker's sufferings for his country, 
 and report myself at the War Office, where I state to 
 Mr. Stanton my plans. 
 
 "Understand me, Major," says the secretary, "I 
 can get all the rubbishy, inaccurate information I 
 want. What I wish from you is a military report of 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 265 
 
 the defences of Richmond, about what you estimate 
 its garrison will probably be when Lee masses his 
 whole army to oppose Grant, and what the chances of 
 a rapid coup de main will be against that place and 
 Belle Isle prison by a quick-moving cavalry force." 
 
 "I understand you, perfectly, Mr. Secretary," I 
 reply. 
 
 "Very well, then, you'd better see Baker about the 
 details." 
 
 I do so, and obtain orders for transportation, a sup- 
 ply of Confederate money and a general letter instruct- 
 ing every officer of Federal troops to further my mission 
 in any way in his power. 
 
 Armed with this, I take boat from Washington to 
 Norfolk, judging it best to journey towards the Confed- 
 erate capital as if coming from North Carolina, as less 
 questions will be asked me, travelling from that direc- 
 tion, than if I approach Richmond from the line of the 
 Potomac. 
 
 I have carefully thought over my chances in the 
 matter. The risk of detection by Confederates who 
 have known me as Captain Billy Hamilton of the 
 United States Service has been almost swept away by 
 the awful slaughter of the last year. Wat Bowie has 
 died in Maryland. George Thornton, who had spent 
 the two days with me at Frederick, has fallen gallantly 
 in the great cavalry fight at Brandy Station ; and half 
 of my old classmates at West Point, who had entered 
 the Confederate army, are either dead or disabled. So 
 I, early on Wednesday morning, the 3d of February, 
 1864, cross from Norfolk to the Navy Yard at Ports- 
 mouth, and take the road, escorted by a sergeant and 
 squad of cavalry, towards Suffolk, where the Union 
 lines end and the Confederacy begins. 
 
 Arriving at this place, and passing the very last 
 Federal outpost, in fact journeying some quarter of a 
 mile beyond it, the sergeant, having his strict orders, 
 salutes me and turns about his squad. 
 
 "Understand me," I remark to him. "An hour 
 from now you come here, enter that grove, and take 
 away what you find left there." 
 
 " Certainl)^, Major; those are my instructions," re- 
 plies the non-commissioned officer, and trots away 
 with his troop, along a road whose mud is changing 
 
266 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 into dust, for the weather is mild and little rain has 
 fallen lately. 
 
 The squad of cavalry have no sooner got out of sight 
 than I leap my horse over a broken-down rail fence 
 and ride into the little grove of trees and swamp 
 undergrowth. In the seclusion of an alder thicket, I 
 make a quick and effective toilet, leaving every ves- 
 tige of Unionism behind me, and half an hour after- 
 wards, where the Yankee major had ridden in, a Con- 
 federate major rides forth and takes his way by country 
 roads through the lowland counties of Virginia, arriv- 
 ing that evening, by way of the miserable hamlet 
 called Washed Holes, at a more important town named 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 My journey has been uneventful, for the whole 
 country bears the traces of having been foraged over 
 by both sides. A few negroes are in the roads, and I 
 pass one or two farmers ; but they only return the com- 
 pliments of the season. 
 
 I also pass without difficulty a Rebel vidette of 
 cavalry, my uniform apparently answering for me, 
 the lieutenant in command after a few questions salut- 
 ing, and asking pleasantly: "Where are you bound 
 for. Major?" 
 
 To this I answer : " Richmond ! " stating I've been 
 down towards Gatesville, looking up both cattle and 
 timber for army uses. 
 
 The country tavern in Jerusalem also indicates I am 
 in a land of war. I pay thirty dollars in Confederate 
 currency for a bed (the title to which I have to dis- 
 pute with numerous live stock), and two miserable 
 meals. 
 
 Fortunately, I get plenty of fodder and corn for my 
 horse, whose comfort I look after personally ; for 
 Roderick must be kept in good condition ; upon his 
 strength and fleetness may depend my life. 
 
 The next morning, getting up betimes, I jog along 
 the same kind of country roads to Hicksford, a little 
 town on the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad. 
 
 As I have journeyed on, greater evidences of being 
 in a nation in its death-struggle have reached me. 
 There are even fewer cattle ; nothing but negroes are 
 seen in the fields, and the appearance of the railroad 
 at this point indicates that it is on its last legs also ; 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 267 
 
 that is, if dilapidated rolling-stock and a most execrable 
 roadbed with worn-out rails indicate railroad ineffect- 
 iveness. 
 
 An hour after my arrival a train comes in with a 
 regiment of Confederate troops bound north. Though 
 the men are mostly bareheaded and some barefooted, 
 and a few of them even say they are hungry, they go 
 off as anxious to meet the Yankees as ever. 
 
 While this train is in Hicksford, the problem is forced 
 upon me: "Shall I ride Roderick into Richmond, or 
 journey there by railroad ; for the conductor tells me 
 he can get me a place on one of the cars. 
 
 After a moment's consideration, though it would be 
 perhaps safer for me to journey by rail, especially over 
 the bridges that cross the James River I conclude to 
 endure a two days' delay and ride my horse into the 
 Rebel capital — because I may wish to ride him out 
 again in a hurry. 
 
 Therefore, after spending a rather sleepless night at 
 Hicksford, I press on by country roads and succeed 
 in reaching Petersburg late on Friday afternoon. 
 
 I put up at Jarratt's tavern, I think they called it, and 
 getting Roderick a good feed, about eight o'clock the 
 next morning I say to myself, a quiver in my voice : 
 "This afternoon, Richmond!" and my heart gives 
 a big jump — as what man's wouldn't ? 
 
 I have experienced no trouble thus far, my military 
 appearance making the country people friendly and 
 preventing awkward questions. In fact, for a young 
 man not to wear a uniform would excite comment ; 
 nearly every one seems now to be connected with the 
 Coiifederate service, and the nearer I get to Richmond 
 the more general this becomes. No better disguise 
 could I have on its face than that of a major in the 
 Confederate army, especially with a major's commis- 
 sion en regie in my pocket to back up my assertions, if 
 these were necessary. 
 
 So I ride on ; with every stride of my steed, thinking: 
 not " Nearer to the Rebel capital," but "Nearer to — 
 my wife ! " I am forgetting I'm a Union spy ; I am 
 becoming simply a man journeying to the embraces 
 of his loved one and the delights of home and 
 spouse. 
 
 Filled with these feelings, quite early in the after- 
 
268 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 noon, I reach the Httle town of Manchester, and look- 
 ing across the James River that is pouring over its rocks 
 and round its pretty islands, gaze at Richmond, on its 
 hills that slope down to the broad stream. 
 
 Here I devote an hour or two to finding out what I 
 can of the fortifications south of the river and Belle Isle, 
 the prison camp of captured Union troops. This is on 
 an island about a mile above the bridges and near the 
 Manchester shore. I note that this is guarded only by 
 alow earth embankment and wooden stockade and that 
 there are, as well as I can discover, only two batteries 
 of importance immediately south of Richmond. These 
 observations, I make as complete as I dare, and take 
 my way across Mayo's bridge. 
 
 A considerable number of people, mostly military, 
 though a few of them are civilians, are going in with 
 me to the Confederate capital. I have prepared a 
 forged leave of absence from General Hardee in 
 Tennessee, but it is scarcely glanced at. The guards 
 at the bridge, noting my uniform, simply salute me ; 
 though I perceive they examine much m.ore closely 
 those in the dress of the farmer, the artisan or the 
 merchant. 
 
 I have never been in Richmond, therefore in Wash- 
 ington I have obtained an accurate map of the city from 
 the United States Secret Service, together with a descrip- 
 tion of its various hotels, restaurants and principal 
 thoroughfares. From this I have memorized the main 
 details of the place, so that I can go about without 
 asking too many questions. Having mentally pho- 
 tographed Richmond, I have then destroyed the 
 map. 
 
 In addition to this information, I have also received 
 instructions from the United States Secret Service to 
 communicate if necessary, with one, Lemuel Isaacs, 
 who keeps a small store in a broken-down suburb of 
 the city, called "The Rockets." 
 
 "You whisper in Mr. Isaac's ear 'Cotton is twenty 
 pence a pound in Manchester, England,'" Baker had 
 said to me, "and he will reply to you 'So help me 
 gracious, it is only five cents a pound in Wilmington, 
 North Carolina.' After that introduction, trust in 
 Isaacs as you would in me." 
 
 Fortified with this information and instruction, I put 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 269 
 
 up at the old Monumental Hotel, opposite Capital 
 Square and on the corner of Grace and Ninth streets, 
 not caring to register at the more fashionable and 
 better known Spottswood, where too many Confederate 
 officers may be lounging about and too many of the 
 reporters of the Richmond Bee, Examiner, or Despatch 
 may be dropping in for news items ; but still wishing 
 to select a place at which a Confederate major might 
 creditably live, for all this journey I have kept strictly 
 to my rank in that service. 
 
 Therefore, simply stating that I have been on staff 
 and recruiting duties in Georgia, I walk up to the office 
 of that hostelry and register : Major W. F. Hamilton, 
 C. S. A., Atlanta, and find myself living, not luxurious 
 ly, but at the rate of nearly fifty dollars a day, Confed- 
 erate money. 
 
 My pen trembles slightly as I write my title. For I, 
 with every move, am putting the halter tighter and 
 tighter around my neck. Once suspected, every man 
 and every woman's hand in all this city will be 
 against me — save my wife's. She, I hope, will be 
 true to one who has shielded her in similar extrem- 
 ity. 
 
 But how shall I find her.? How shall I tell her I am 
 here ? 
 
 Though Eve is foremost in my mind, I first address 
 myself to the commission on which I have been sent 
 by Mr. Stanton, and after some consideration conclude 
 that to do this effectively it is best for me to see the 
 gentleman at "The Rockets." 
 
 Taking my way along Main Street, the sidewalks of 
 which are quite filled by an afternoon crowd, which I 
 inspect with hungry eyes, always looking for one face, 
 one form, my wife's, I am soon tramping through the 
 unkempt streets of what is probably the lowest quarter 
 of Richmond. 
 
 For "The Rockets" of that day was the home of the 
 criminal classes, contrabandists of all degrees made it 
 their lurking-place. Federal spies and escapes from 
 military conscription found temporary safety in its 
 dark and dirty shanties ; thouo-h these were leavened 
 by a good many workmen irom big tobacco ware- 
 houses and flour mills in the neighborhood and on the 
 river. 
 
270 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 It is not a very large suburb of Richmond. I soon 
 find the sign of 
 
 LEM ISAACS, 
 
 NOTIONS, PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING. 
 
 Isaacs's is apparently a Cheap John store ; though in 
 peaceful days, it would hardly seem to be a bargain 
 counter ; for I see placarded up in large letters : 
 " Good boots, made of ;T(7/ leather, Dirt Cheap, $175." 
 "Genuine Woollen Stockings, just by blockade, $14. 
 These we guarantee not to be Yankee shoddy." 
 "Corn per bushel $10. Good family hams, I225." 
 
 As I enter confronts me : "Buy quick ! This over- 
 coat has just been marked up from $225 to $300. 
 Things is RISING ! " 
 
 In the dark interior of the dimly lighted store I 
 inquire for Mr. Lemuel Isaacs ; though that seems un- 
 necessary, as there are no customers, and only one 
 person is in the establishment. He is of big black eyes 
 and large hooked nose, and comes to me rubbing his 
 oily hands and saying : " Vat can I do for you? Does 
 you vant a fust-class army overcoat I've just had dyed. " 
 He shows me one of a grizzled black. "Three hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars. It was damned Yankee blue 
 once ; now it is patriotic gray." 
 
 "No," I reply. " I only want to see Mr, Lemuel 
 Isaacs." 
 
 " Dat's my name, mein friend." 
 
 "Very well, Mr. Isaacs, " I whisper to him. "I 
 "just dropped in to inform you that cotton is twenty 
 pence a pound in Manchester, England." 
 
 At this the Hebrew's eyes grow big and gleam 
 affrighted ; his nose, which is large, becomes larger 
 and dilated ; his florid complexion grows as white as 
 the only sack of flour in his store, which is marked 
 "Cheap at $1 a pound." He looks me all over from 
 head to foot ; then his voice trembles as he whispers 
 in return : "So help me gracious, cotton is only five 
 cents in Vilmington, North Carolina ; " next, his eyes 
 growing watery with agitation, mutters : " Vat else 
 does you want of me ? " 
 
 And he trembles as an aspen leaf, as I whisper to 
 l)im, my voice low and trembling also ; "I must knpw 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 27 1 
 
 the number of troops here that are permatient in gar- 
 rison ; not those that are passing through. Home- 
 guards, Boys' Company, Battalion of Department Em- 
 ployees, etc. You understand." 
 
 " Holy Moses, I onderstands. You likes to play vid 
 a man's life ! " he returns. " But I vill find out for 
 you by to-morrow ; and you can bet yer life on what 
 I tells you, Major." 
 
 " You can't give it to me sooner .? " 
 
 "Impossible — to be dead right. And I s'pose you 
 vant it straight as a trial balance." 
 
 " Yes ; otherwise you'd better never let a mutual 
 friend of ours get his hand upon you." 
 
 "Yes, I understand. If de Rebs don't put me 
 through, de Yanks vill make it hot for me. Veil, I 
 know which side is going to win. To-morrow is 
 Sunday ; dis store is closed ; it vouldn't do for you to 
 come here. Meet me on the road by the bank of the 
 James River Canal below Butcherstown. At three 
 p. M. I am dere, vid what you vant — not on paper, but by 
 passing visper. Look out for yourself; dat Winder'll 
 be hell on you if you's cotched ! " 
 
 I know this. I have heard of the Confederate Pro- 
 vost Marshal's mercy to spies before. "All right," I 
 answer. "Three p. m., canal bank," and purchase 
 from him some clean linen at Shylock's prices, as I 
 have brought nothing into Richmond with me, and, in 
 addition, think it wise to carry from his store some 
 package to give reason for my entering it. Then I go 
 away, determined to attempt to obtain by my own 
 observation the knowledge of which I am in search. 
 
 It is now quite late in the day. I pick up what in- 
 formation I can, in the bar-room of the Monumental, 
 as to Home Guards, the Employees' Battalion, the Boys' 
 Company, etc., for the Confederacy apparently is rob- 
 bing not only the grave, but the cradle, for food for 
 powder. So by the time I get to bed I have obtained 
 a pretty general idea of the permanent Richmond gar- 
 rison ; so much so that I think I have something 
 to tell Mr. Stanton that will please that potentate greatly. 
 
 But to encourage gossip I have to gossip myself, 
 and am compelled in chatting with my associates of 
 the Monumental bar-room, over our whiskey, two dol- 
 lars per drink, to give greater detail to my proceedings 
 
272 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 in Georgia than under the circumstances I would wish. 
 I have also learned that beautiful Mrs. Hamilton ia 
 one of the belles of Richmond. 
 
 "A namesake of yours, Major.?" remarks an old, 
 white-headed department clerk who with senile curi- 
 osity has read my name in the register. ' 'A relative .-• " 
 
 "Well, yes," I answer. " By marriage, of course." 
 
 Still all the time I feel, even as I take drinks with 
 the few lounging Confederate officers and one or two 
 clerks of the Rebel War Department who have dropped 
 into this tavern, which is cheaper than the Spottswood, 
 that I am placing a tighter noose about my neck than 
 ever man selected and lived." 
 
 But to-morrow will be Sunday. I know enough of 
 Eve's religious devotion to be sure one of the Episcopal 
 churches will have her lovely form among its worship- 
 pers. To-morrow I shall see my wife ! 
 
 This thought makes the Union spy's heart beat high 
 and puts a flush of joy and rapture on his face, even in 
 the dangers of the Rebel capital. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 BY DAY IN RICHMOND. 
 
 That night I hardly sleep, and the next morning am 
 up betimes. I mount Roderick, and riding about the 
 city, take cursory views of its defences, photographing 
 them in my mind as I move along, for I dare not 
 pause to make any close inspection. As I entered 
 Richmond the day before I had noted that there were 
 only two forts of importance south of the city on the 
 other side of the James, one at Magruder's Hill and the 
 other, Battery 18. In all other directions the capital, 
 I now find both by personal observation and reports I 
 have picked up — the careless conversation of an artil- 
 lery officer at the tavern at Petersburg having been of 
 aid to me — is much better protected. 
 
 On the east, north and northwest sides of the city 
 are sixteen batteries, known by their numbers, some 
 of them of great defensive strength, also Forts Jackson 
 and Johnston. These, properly manned, make Rich- 
 mond pretty safe from armies moving from the Poto- 
 mac, the Shenandoah or Fortress Monroe. 
 
Billy Hamilton. 273 
 
 "South of the James River is their weak point," I 
 think. "There they depend too much on Petersburg 
 and the batteries down the river, which would be of 
 no avail against a quick cavalry raid coming from the 
 w^est, but south of the James, if the bridges can be 
 seized in lime.'' 
 
 Therefore I turn my attention to the bridges on the 
 river and the batteries commanding them. 
 
 My inspection, cursory as it is, takes me till half-past 
 ten o'clock — church-time ■' 
 
 I return to the INIonumental, quite confident my ride 
 has attracted no unusual notice ; too many other 
 Confederate officers are out on horseback, as the city 
 seems quite full of troops ; though most of these ap- 
 pear to be en route for the north, for even this morning 
 three regiments have taken trains on the Richmond & 
 Fredericksburg Railroad. 
 
 At the hotel I improve my toilet as well as a clothes- 
 brush will dissipate the dust and mud of Virginia roads, 
 and looking at my well-worn uniform, am quite con- 
 fident I am about as much of a dandy as the most of 
 the officers in Richmond ; for the Rebel gray has grown 
 gradually shabby since 1861. 
 
 Suddenly the church bells begin to ring. Then oh, 
 how my heart begins to beat too ! For they sing 
 to me. " Soon I shall see her ! " I am no more the 
 skulking spy, with the hand of military justice over 
 him ; I am only a lover who is going to a sweetheart's 
 kisses — a husband who is nearing his wife's arms. 
 
 I have already determined to what church Eve will 
 probably go. It will surely be an Episcopal one. 
 Fortunately for my quest, there are not many of 
 them. Saint Paul's, which I am informed is the 
 fashionable parish, where the Rev. Charles Minne- 
 gerod will preach, and Saint John's, the old-fashioned 
 one in the Colonial Cemetery, with its quaint grave- 
 stones of the last century, upon Church Hill seem the 
 only likely ones. 
 
 The first of these is in the heart of the town, just 
 across Grace Street from my hotel, and will probably 
 be the one in which Eve will worship. If not, I must 
 contrive to leave before the end of the service and try 
 the other. 
 
 St. Paul's bells are sounding as I step over to it, but 
 
274 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 to me they do not seem as loud as the thumping- of my 
 own heart. Still, perchance, no more devout creature 
 ever entered that old-time Episcopal Church and bowed 
 before its altar than Major Billy Hamilton of the Confed- 
 erate service, for no man, even with the guns of battle 
 sounding- in his ears — and there were many of those 
 who worshipped in Richmond in those days — ever felt 
 the Angel of Death was nearer to him. 
 
 The church is just beginning to fill, but at my request 
 I am assigned to a seat in one of the rear pews. My 
 eyes immediately scan the backs of the ladies who are 
 already seated ; Eve certainly is not yet here. 
 
 So I sit and wait, the organ sounding softly to me 
 as the congregation gradually enter, quite a number of 
 the gentlemen being in civilians' dress, members of the 
 Confederate Congress and officials in the State and 
 Treasury Departments. 
 
 "Will she never come ? " 
 
 Then an awful doubt seizes me. Perhaps my wife 
 is not in Richmond this day. Perchance she is sick.? 
 Perhaps — a hundred things may keep her from the 
 House of God on this Sunday of all Sundays ! 
 
 So I sit, my heart growing more despondent, for the 
 church is now quite full. The President of the Confed- 
 eracy and Mrs. Davis have just arrived and gone into 
 their pew, I note by a few whispered words that drift 
 to me. 
 
 Perhaps I had better walk out before the service be- 
 gins, and go to St. John's Church. 
 
 I have half risen in my pew, which is at the very rear 
 of the church, to step out ! 
 
 Through swinging doors, I hear a lady in the vestibule 
 say: "Good-morning, Mrs. Hamilton; your aunt is 
 not here .'' " 
 
 Another voice floats to me, and my heart stops beat- 
 ing. I know the silvery tones ; they have whispered 
 to me : ' ' Billy, I love you ! " too often for me to forget 
 them. Eve is answering : " Thank you, Mrs. Con- 
 way ; my aunt is in Petersburg." 
 
 Then she enters ! 
 
 I dare not turn and look her in the face ; but her gar- 
 ments brush me as she passes, I devour with my eyes 
 the back of her graceful head as she floats up the aisle. 
 
 And then, oh, how I grind my teeth, for an infernally 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 275 
 
 handsome, dashing Confederate lieutenant-colonel is 
 walking beside her. 
 
 I know I have no right to be jealous. Have I not 
 looked at pretty girls in these fifteen months.? Why- 
 should not she have a masculine escort — this morn- 
 ing.? "Would you make her in her beauty, a nun, you 
 fool ? " I growl to myself. But still — still I'd sooner 
 some elderly major-general or decrepit statesman were 
 crawling by my pretty wife's side, than this youthful, 
 erect, dashing, martial figure, who seems so damnably 
 familiar with her ; for I notice him select the Sunday's 
 service for Eve in her prayer-book and they sit quite 
 close together, but that may be because the pew is 
 crowded and ladies' hoop-skirts take up as much room 
 in Richmond as they do in Washington. 
 
 Though I strain my eyes, I cannot see much of my 
 wife ; she being some six pews in front of me, but 
 fortunately not in a direct line. 
 
 At last my opportunity arrives. The congregation 
 is about to rise for a hymn. Alert with love, I start 
 up so as to get view of Eve. She also, inspired by 
 devotion, rises quickly. 
 
 Whether it is my gaze that goes straight to the 
 back of her head, through curls and waterfall, I know 
 not ; but the girl turns slowly. My eager glance 
 catches her side-face ; it seems to draw her beloved 
 countenance fully round to me. 
 
 I note the same nut-brown, wavy hair, the same 
 delicate play of features. The same girl I loved and 
 won and lost on the Potomac, is here standing before 
 me, on the banks of the James. The same beautiful 
 blue eyes that I have dreamed of so often in my cell in 
 the Old Capitol prison are looking into mine. 
 
 My glance catches her's. Eye to eye, we gaze upon 
 and know each other. I am sure of that, for over 
 those radiant features for one instant has come the 
 pallid hue of death. The next, they are lighted by the 
 sunny rays of love. 
 
 Then probably some quick idea of my military 
 danger seems to strike my wife. I note the convul- 
 sive quiver — a little hand laid on her heart. She turns 
 from me, slowly as if fighting to conceal her emotion, 
 half staggers, and convulsively clasping its rail, 
 droops over the pew in front of her, Thoae near 
 
276 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 her doubtless think it is devotion, for her attitude is 
 willowy as a saint's ; but I am sure it is because she 
 knows there is a husband worshipping with her before 
 the same altar, and over his head hang danger and 
 death. 
 
 After this I hardly note my surroundings. A great 
 many of the ladies are in black. This I had expected ; 
 too many gallant fellows are falling for women not to 
 mourn. The minister's sermon comes to me dreamily, 
 though it is impressive, and delivered by a gentleman 
 of Grecian features and soft German accent. 
 
 The music from the organ seems to thrill me in a 
 general kind of way, but I scarcely hear it, being occu- 
 pied in trying to see the loved figure in front of me. 
 Once — yes twice — I notice Eve half turns, as if to look 
 on me again ; then, apparently by a mighty effort, 
 forces herself to the contemplation of her ritual. 
 
 And all the time I am praying, harder than any one 
 else in this church — praying to God that he may bless 
 our love — that I may have her in my arms — a wife — 
 this day in Richmond. 
 
 The service and sermon are over. The organ is 
 playing the voluntary, and I step out of the church, 
 taking care not to be among the very first, but still de- 
 cidedly in advance of my wife. I do not wish to put 
 any greater strain or self-repression upon her than pos- 
 sible. My nerves have been braced for this — to her it 
 must have come suddenly as the crack of doom. 
 
 I pass into the vestibule, which is crowded with 
 friends meeting friends, and boys waiting for girls, 
 just as if gentle peace were upon the land, and 
 the soft strains of "The Bonnie Blue Flag" were 
 not floating up the hill from an infantry band on Main 
 Street where a Texas regiment is tramping through the 
 city to take train for the battle fields on the Rapidan. 
 
 I have already, while in my pew, scribbled my 
 address on a leaf of my pocketbook. This folded up 
 I hold ready to pass to Eve if possible, — as a single un- 
 fortunate word may bring about my undoing. For I 
 know each of these devout-looking general officers, 
 and every one of these dashing young military men, 
 would think he had done a very good Sunday's work 
 in driving his sword through the heart of Mr. Stanton's 
 agent in the Virginia capital. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 277 
 
 Beautiful girls are passing by me, but to my eyes 
 there is only one, the young lady who is coming 
 behind them. Her half-parted lips giving out quick 
 breaths of repressed joy and fear — her virgin heart 
 fluttering — her eyes blazing like stars with quick intel- 
 ligence and seeking mine. 
 
 Our glances meet ; a moment later in the crush for 
 one instant our hands clasp, and with a squeeze of 
 love I leave in my wife's trembling fingers the scrap 
 of paper bearing my present title and address. 
 
 In my ear as she passes by I catch a lingering sigh, 
 "Billy." 
 
 Suddenly the girl's left hand is held up to her face — 
 for some reason it is bereft of glove. On a dainty finger 
 I see gleam the diamond of our troth, above the 
 golden circlet that has made Eve mine by right of man 
 and God — and I am happy. 
 
 But joys are fleeting. A moment later the fixed 
 look leaves her exquisite features. Eve seems as 
 brightly coquettish to attendant cavalier as she did in 
 Washington. "At least," I cogitate, with a curse in 
 my heart, " that handsome young fellow stepping so 
 debonairly beside her imagines she is — to him.'' 
 
 "God of heaven ! is she flirting with him .? He looks 
 so cursedly pleased with himself, she must he ! " 
 
 After greeting a few friends, my wife moves up Ninth 
 and turns along Broad Street with her gallant in close 
 proximity. Once she turns as if to look back, but 
 apparently restrains herself. I follow at some little 
 distance, noting her step is as light, her carriage as 
 graceful and her figure as rounded as when she first 
 enchanted me — that a year has rather added to her 
 charms than taken from them, and fondly think : " All 
 these beauties this day shall belong to me, her hus- 
 band!" 
 
 Suddenly a spasm of rage flies through me. Eve is 
 crossing Eighth Street. Her facile hand has slightly 
 lifted her skirts to save them from a puddle of red 
 Virginia mud, revealing two as pretty little feet as ever 
 tripped Richmond's streets. A passing zephyr plays 
 pranks with her crinoline, giving me a fleeting glimpse 
 of a limb as graceful in its contour, as lovely in its 
 superb outlines as Venus's very own. 
 
 "Great Taylor! Did you see that?" is heard be- 
 
27S BILLY HAMILTON, 
 
 hind me. "Didn't I tell you Eve Hamilton had the 
 prettiest ankles in town ? " 
 
 A side-glance shows me this comes from some boy 
 department clerk. A young infantry lieutenant, scarcely 
 older, is with him. He laughs : "Yes, I saw. She's 
 almighty beautiful. It's an infernal shame she has a 
 husband. Where is old Hamilton, anyway ? " 
 
 " Darn me if I know ! " says the other. "Though 
 he'd better be about. That cavalry buck there is with 
 her everywhere. I saw him take her into the dance at 
 Mrs. Anderson's last week." 
 
 " Do you know his name.?" 
 
 "No; he's some swell cavalry fellow. He runs 
 with the Reeveses, and the Mayos, and that crowd." 
 
 "Which Jakie Suggs doesn't run with," laughs the 
 infantry lieutenant ; and he is doubtless right, as his 
 companion has mentioned the names of some of the 
 most aristocratic Richmond families. 
 
 But these remarks are not comforting to me. Ye 
 gods, how ''old Hamilton" wants to chastise these 
 young insolents, but dares not ! Ah, it requires a cool 
 head to win in this game of love, with the sword above 
 the lover's head. 
 
 So I march on in the crowd, a considerable distance 
 behind her ; no one particularly noticing me, uniforms 
 being the rule, civilian dress the exception, though I 
 hear one officer remark to a young lady : "I imagine 
 he must be from some of the new troops from the 
 Southwest." 
 
 " Why } " she says, half laughing. 
 
 "Well, that major seems over-fed," chuckles the 
 gentleman grimly. "He hasn't the gaunt, racing 
 look of our boys at the front." 
 
 As the crowd drifts apart, some going off at Eighth 
 Street, others disappearing at Seventh, and gradually 
 becoming less and less, my following my wife and her 
 escort — her gallant, I think now — becomes more diffi- 
 cult. 
 
 But, letting them get ahead of me about a block, I 
 note they turn down Fourth Street. Then I quicken 
 my steps, and, passing the corner of Broad and Fourth, 
 look hurriedly down towards Grace Street, and find — to 
 my dismay — they have disappeared. 
 
 Eve must live in some one of the houses in the 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 279 
 
 block of pretty, old-fashioned Virginia residences, but 
 which one? I'hat I cannot immediately determine, as 
 I do not like to inquire. She has my address — I'll hear 
 from her at my hotel. 
 
 I hurry back to the INIonumental and wait. No let- 
 ter ! To my hints, inquiries, and side-remarks, the few 
 people whom I succeed in engaging in conversation, 
 give me no satisfactory information. Nearly all have 
 heard of the beautiful Mrs. Hamilton ; but none know 
 exactly where she lives — they are not in her class in 
 societ3^ If I dared walk up to the Andersons, the 
 Jilayos, or some other of the swells, I could find out in 
 a minute. I go in to dinner at the hotel; I can't 
 stomach its eternal pork and stringy beef and bean 
 coffee, though I know I should eat to keep up my 
 strength for the desperate work ahead of me. 
 
 Suddenly, looking at my watch, I see it is three 
 o'clock. At half-past I must meet the Jew on the 
 banks of the canal below Butchertown. 
 
 Cursing the appointment, I depart for this rendezvous. 
 It is not very difficult to find. Walking along Main 
 Street in exactly the opposite direction to the one I had 
 followed in going to "The Rockets," in the course 
 of a little time I arrive at about the place where I think 
 Mr. Isaacs should be. 
 
 The canal is busy, even on Sunday. Boats are 
 bringing corn, fodder, and a few cattle into the capi- 
 tal from the interior of Virginia. Though these last, I 
 should imagine are growing scarce, judging by the 
 tough beefsteaks wnth which I am furnished at un- 
 heard-of prices at my hotel. 
 
 Along the road near the canal, among quite a little 
 gathering of people, who, taking advantage of the fine 
 day, are strolling up the river, I soon run against Mr. 
 Isaacs. That gentleman is talking to some chum of 
 his, but drops him at my approach and regards me 
 with an anxious eye. As I get close to him I notice 
 his lips are trembling, and once or twice he nearly 
 gasps for breath. 
 
 I remark to him: "Is the price of cotton in "Wil- 
 mington to-day the same as it was yesterday.'' " 
 
 "Ah, so help me, it is always the same, when it is— 
 What price is it in Manchester.? " 
 
 "Twenty pence a pound." 
 
28o BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "Yes sir, I t'inks youse all right. Here is the infor- 
 mation," he whispers to me : "Armory Battalion six 
 hundred. Department clerks enrolled, six hundred and 
 fifty effective. Boy company — boys under age for 
 military service — one hundred and fifty. Two regi- 
 ments of heavy artillery in de forts ; they may be 
 drawn on, and there may be a brigade left here, but de 
 rest vil all go to the front. Perhaps there'll be a couple 
 of regiments of cavalry somewhere around, scouting 
 on the outside of the city. That's as veil as I can find 
 out. Don't come near me no more." 
 
 This about accords with what information I had ob- 
 tained by my own efforts. 
 
 As I turn to go away, consternation comes upon me. 
 
 The man who had been walking with Isaacs, and who 
 had moved away from him as I approached, suddenly 
 returns to us. 
 
 Our eyes meet. God of heaven ! it is Shook, the 
 United States Secret Service officer — the one who had 
 cursed me for having caused him to lose his ten thou- 
 sand dollars reward — the one who had sworn to "do " 
 me to death. 
 
 "By the Eternal!" he mutters, then suddenly 
 guffaws: "Oh, Gee Whizz!" as he glances at my 
 Confederate uniform. With this a sudden devilish 
 lurid glint comes into his gray, unforgiving eyes, and 
 I know that, though Joe Shook will not compromise 
 himself, in some cunning way he means to betray vie 
 to Confederate Military justice, — that Major Billy 
 Hamilton of the C. S. A. is a dead man if he doesn't 
 save himself, and do it very promptly. 
 
 In a dazed kind of funk, I have moved a few steps 
 away ; the Secret Service man is chuckling to himself 
 in a low and horrid tone. 
 
 A squad of Confederate cavalry, part of the provost- 
 guard, headed by a young lieutenant, is cantering along 
 the road. The officer greets my uniform with a 
 salute. 
 
 With this salute comes sudden inspiration. I have 
 the power of my uniform and rank. " Halt your de- 
 tachment, Lieutenant!" I cry. "I have work for 
 you." 
 
 The young officer pulls up his horse like a flash, 
 touches his hat and says : "Your orders, Major." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 28 1 
 
 "Arrest that man ! " I direct, pointing to my enemy. 
 "Arrest that damned Yankee spy !" 
 
 As I speak, the lieutenant's revolver covers the 
 astounded Shook. Three or four of his troopers bring 
 their carbines to a "ready." Two or three more spring 
 off their horses, among them a big, slashing sergeant, 
 who produces a pair of handcuffs. 
 
 " By whose order ? " asks the lieutenant hurriedly. 
 
 " By mine ! " I cry. " Major Hamilton, unattached 
 and on staff duty. I know that fellow to be one of 
 Baker's cursed Secret Service." 
 
 " Seize him at once ! " At their officer's command, 
 the sergeant and two troopers pounce upon and man- 
 acle Joe Shook, whose chuckle has changed into a 
 horrid chatter, and whose face has grown as pallid as 
 the dust of the road on which he is tramping. 
 
 "You damned Maryland Union traitor ! " he shrieks 
 making a spring at me. " I had you in the Old Capitol 
 Prison for fourteen months ! " 
 
 "Oh, you did.?" jeers the Confederate lieutenant. 
 "God help the good Southerner who gets in that 
 Yankee Bastille." Then he orders sternly : "Gag that 
 scoundrel if he makes any more row." 
 
 For Shook is gasping : " He's not a Confederate ofifi- 
 cer ! he's a Union officer — a Union spy ! " 
 
 " Pooh ! " I laugh, to the lieutenant who has turned 
 inquiring eyes upon me. "My commission — my 
 authority." And I produce my paper signed by Jeff 
 Davis and his War Secretary. 
 
 Inspecting these and noting the signatures and the 
 seal of the Confederate War Department, the officer 
 salutes again and remarks : "The Old Capitol Prison 
 only contains true Southerners. That Yankee dog had 
 you there for fourteen months. Major ; it won't take us 
 fourteen days to finish him. You make your formal 
 charges against him to-morrow morning, to-day being 
 Sunday." 
 
 "Certainly," I reply. "At the Provost-Marshal's. 
 At present I am — " I light a cigar ; it is almost the last 
 of the Bouquets Esp'eciales I have brought with me, but 
 still I offer the lieutenant one, which he accepts as if it 
 were a gift from the gods, and continue : " I have been 
 away from Richmond on staff duty in Georgia. This 
 day I shall devote to my wife, as I have been from her 
 
282 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 for a long time. But keep that cursed Yankee very 
 safe. " 
 
 " You damned treacherous turn-coat!" shrieks my 
 victim, who has apparently forgotten in his despair 
 and rage that he was ordered to be quiet. "Why, 
 God help me — as I am a dying man, he was Provost- 
 Marshal of — " 
 
 But he gets no further, for with a crack upon his 
 jaws that makes them quiver, the sergeant growls : 
 "Shut up, you lying dough-face !" and gags the Se- 
 cret Service man with a clothespin he takes from his 
 saddle-pouch, in a manner that shows he is an expert 
 in the art. 
 
 ' ' Oh, we know how to take care of his breed. Major," 
 the non-commissioned officer laughs, then saluting, 
 turns from me, and at a nod from the lieutenant I 
 see Mr. Shook, with his face white as death, run along 
 by the Confederate detachment and disappear, to be 
 shoved into one of the cells of the Provost-Marshal's 
 jail. 
 
 I look around ; Mr. Isaacs has disappeared. I have 
 shifted the noose that was closing round my neck on to 
 that of Joe Shook, my enemy — where it is like to stay. 
 
 But at what a cost ! I give a horrid, half-despairing 
 chuckle, for 1 know I have purchased present safety 
 by absolute destruction if I remain in Richmond until 
 to-morrow. 
 
 To the young lieutenant my commission, my uniform, 
 have seemed correct and undoubted ; on investigation 
 by the Confederate War Department they will be found 
 absolutely false — my commission issued three years 
 before and apparently not accepted. A scrutiny of the 
 rolls of prisoners will also disclose that Captain William 
 Fairfax Hamilton of the First Kentucky Union Cavalry 
 had been captured in Maryland in 1862, and then ex- 
 changed. 
 
 So far, my commission has been my great safety ; 
 but a single doubt of its authenticity once aroused, it 
 will be my worst enemy. 
 
 I half moan to myself: "I shall have to leave here 
 now — this very day — before darkness adds the usual 
 increased military precautions of night as regards 
 egress and ingress to any city under martial law. Then 
 in a kind of agonized despair I mutter : " Not before I 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 283 
 
 speak to her ! Not till I clasp her in my arms ! For 
 my one view of Eve in her grace and her beauty as she 
 has walked up Broad Street, has made me long even 
 more than I did before for the love and kisses of my 
 wife. 
 
 Despite all risk I must find and speak to her at once ! 
 
 I hurry back to the Monumental and pay my bill, 
 stating that I will probably spend the evening at the 
 Westmoreland Club. 
 
 As I am turning away from the hotel office I sudden- 
 ly ask, " No letter for me yet ? " 
 
 "Why, yes, a darky brought it an hour ago." 
 
 It is in her dear handwriting. I tear it open. It 
 reads — ^joy and rapture ! — it reads : 
 
 "My darling HUSBAND: — 
 
 " Come to me at once. Ask for the residence of Mrs. Sanders, 
 my aunt, on Fourth Street, about the middle of the block between 
 Grace and Broad; left-hand side going up from Grace. 
 
 " Oh, what effort it was to keep from showing. I recognized 
 you in church! But I felt that your safety might depend upon 
 my self-control, and I know you came for love of 
 
 " Your devoted wife, 
 
 " Eve." 
 
 Come to herf> Of course I will J 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 BY NIGHT IN RICHMOND. 
 
 Roderick is saddled outside. I mount him, dash 
 along Grace Street and up Fourth, and selecting the 
 house make a mistake in it. But I soon find the right 
 one. 
 
 An old-fashioned colonial residence, bowered in a 
 little shrubbery, is in front of me, as well as I can 
 discover in the dusk. Lights are flickering through 
 the green Venetian blinds of its front parlor. In that 
 room she is waiting for me. 
 
 I nervously open the garden gate. My heavy cavalry 
 boots crunch the gravel of the walk. I have sprung up 
 
284 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 the steps, and with beating heart have rapped upon 
 the entrance to my own hearthstone. 
 
 Even as the knocker reaches the door it is thrown 
 open to me, and I, gazing in, see, standing in front of 
 me, with eager eyes and panting heart and words of 
 love — my wife. Before I am inside the door her kisses 
 are on my lips, her sweet voice is sobbing to me : 
 " Billy 1 Billy ! At last, my Billy ! " and I know upon 
 my breast a wife's heart is resting. 
 
 Then suddenly Eve archly whispers : "Not another 
 kiss till you come into the parlor. Quick, before the 
 servants see how I adore you." 
 
 For I have not been backward with my caresses, and 
 if ever girl got well and thoroughly kissed in short half 
 minute. Eve Hamilton is that one. 
 
 A second later we are in the parlor. Suddenly she 
 mutters: "Parted fifteen months!" and is in my 
 arms again. 
 
 " Now sit down ; make yourself at home, Billy," she 
 says archly ; then murmurs, looking delightfully bash- 
 ful : " You have a right to ; it is a wife who welcomes 
 you." With her word she blushes like a rose, and her 
 Garden- of-Eden namesake coming up in her, eagerly 
 asks : " How do you think I look ? " 
 
 "Like an angel!" I cry; then correct it to "like a 
 bride.'' and holding her before me, as the quick waves 
 of color fly over her vivacious features, I jokingly 
 query: "This is thy toilet for welcoming coming 
 husband, eh?" 
 
 To this she, hiding her head, half sighs, half laughs : 
 "It is, Billy !" 
 
 Gazing upon her beauty, I know Miss Diffidence 
 means it ; for Eve has made a bride's toilet in my 
 honor. In the soft curls that crown her lovely head 
 nestle a few bright flowers. She wears, simple in make 
 and material, as the sad fortunes of these times of siege 
 and war compel, a gown of soft, light muslin, of so 
 sheer a texture that it gives entrancing view of shoul- 
 ders that gleam with ivory brilliancy, and arms that 
 seem like driven snow, and sometimes the quick 
 beating of her heart allows delicious glimpses of an 
 exquisite maiden bosom rounded like Aphrodite's. 
 Girded at the waist by some sash of old, by-gone- 
 days brocade, the dress floats down to little feet in 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 285 
 
 garb I recognize. Turning lover's glance on these, I 
 remark: "Hello! Our best ball slippers and silken 
 stockings we smuggled out of Washington." 
 
 " Oh, Billy, what eyes you have ! " she cries ; then 
 laughs: "Yes, of course!" adding rather sadly: 
 "Our finery must last long here. Once gone, it comes 
 not again." 
 
 A moment later she whispers bashfully: "Stop 
 kissing me and let me look ixtj'ou/" and gazing on 
 the lines imprisonment has set upon my face, mur- 
 murs tenderly : " For fne, Billy ! " Suddenly her eyes 
 light up; she cries : " In Confederate uniform ! You've 
 come to join us ! I have thought that all this day. O 
 Heaven and Earth, how happy you make me, my 
 husband ! " 
 
 But even in my extremity I cannot lie to her. I an- 
 swer : " For your sake alone, I came. Fm still true to 
 my flag." 
 
 "But the Yankees imprisoned you." 
 
 "Still true to my flag ! " 
 
 "I — I cannot understand," stammers the girl, pass- 
 ing her delicate hand over her fair brow. Then of a 
 sudden her face grows deathly white. She gasps : 
 "My heaven ! then you are outside the laws of war ! 
 You've come here to Richmond, with death upon you 
 if discovered." 
 
 "But come for you!" I have her in my arms 
 again, and she is weeping now. " For you. Eve ! I 
 swore the Confederate flag should not stand between 
 us." 
 
 " But you — you cannot remain!" 
 
 " Only till to-morrow ! " I answer brokenly, but de- 
 terminedly, for I have made up my mind to take this 
 risk, desperate as it is. To-morrow morning I fly ; 
 to-night it is my triumph and my love. In this des- 
 perate game, some stake I will pull from it : losing my 
 existence, I will have gained my wife. 
 
 " You will go away to — to-morrow } " Eve murmurs 
 slowly, broken-heartedly. How her arms clutch me ! 
 
 "Yes, early to-morrow morning, taking you with 
 me, if I can," I answer. 
 
 " Desert my kindred in their extremity.-' " she shud- 
 ders ; then says reproachfully: "Billy, you've seen 
 now how we suffer.''" Here, resolution making her 
 
286 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 eyes beam, she springs from me and cries indignantly 
 and determinedly : ' 'Never ! " 
 
 " Ah, you do not love me as a wife ! " I falter, de- 
 spair in my voice ; then ask sternly, seizing her by her 
 w^hite shoulders and making her look me in the face, 
 though her eyes droop under my glance : " What was 
 the import of your letter to me in Washington ? What 
 were the meaning of your kisses to me now?" With 
 this, my arm goes round her waist, for she is sighing 
 and wringing her hands, and tears that make her eyes 
 seem dewy tell me I am winning. 
 
 " I — I love you ! " she falters ; then a sudden deter- 
 mination coming into her eye and voice, whispers : 
 "You shall not reproach me with that again.'" 
 
 " Then prove it I " 
 
 "I " 
 
 "Prove you are wife to me who have dared so much 
 to prove my love for you ! " 
 
 "Billy, I will.'" she cries. Wave after wave of 
 blushes fly over her, each stronger than the other, till 
 face and neck and ivory shoulders gleam like red coral. 
 She is faltering, in so low a voice I scarce can hear : 
 "When you go away to-morrow, you shall not say I 
 do not adore you as well as wife ever loved husband." 
 Her face is hidden upon my breast, and I can feel her 
 virgin bosom throb as if it would burst from the dress 
 that veils its beauty, while I kiss and caress her and 
 thank her for her dear words. 
 
 But here she springs from me ; a startled, affrighted 
 look flies into her face. She gasps : "What will they 
 think of me .? The servants in the house — my aunt, if 
 she learns.-* Your coming here this nighl and going 
 away to-morrow viorniyig. '' 
 
 "They'll think a husband risked his life for love of 
 you," I answer, my eyes blazing. 
 
 "Yes, true heart! " cries the girl, love, passion and 
 devotion in her eyes. "What wife would not dare any- 
 thing for a husband who dares so much for her.? " 
 
 "God bless you ! God forever bless you, my bride," 
 I whisper in the shell-like ear that is nestling so near 
 to me, and, gathering her in my arms, draw on to my 
 knee a mass of beauty, faltering with modesty, made 
 very rosy by excited love, and bright with sparkling 
 t?§r§, These l?,st T soothe by caresses. 
 
BILLY HAMILTOhf. 287 
 
 Then I grow bolder and kiss the dimples on her 
 alluring neck ; but she suddenly springs up and 
 laughs : " Have you had any supper, I3illy ? " 
 
 " Lots ! " I reply. 
 
 "Ah, but you must join me in one meal at home," 
 she says, archly. "Besides, it will look better. I 
 shall tell the servants you are my husband. Then, 
 who shall dare to censure me with being your true and 
 dutiful and loving wife.'' " 
 
 So, after three or four sweet kisses. Eve who has 
 grown strangely bashful and diffident to me, perchance 
 because she notes something in my glance which says : 
 ' ' I a*m your consort ! " runs away from me. 
 
 Soon I can hear her ordering supper, telling the 
 servants her husband, Major Hamilton, has just ar- 
 rived. But once or twice she flits in to me, as if she 
 couldn't bear to have me out of her eyes. On one of 
 these trips she takes my hand, and rather astounds me 
 by kissing it ; then runs bashfully away. 
 
 A moment after I play a trick on her, for, hearing 
 her coming step I open one of the windows, then hide 
 behind the door. 
 
 And she, entering, casts frightened eyes about, and 
 seeing the casement, her face grows ashen, as she 
 sinks down on a chair, gasping : " Bereft ! " 
 
 But my kisses bring color to her cheeks, till she 
 whispers: "Billy, behave! What will the servants 
 think.?" 
 
 " Only," I whisper grimly, " that hubby has been a 
 long time away, and knows a good thing when he's 
 got it." 
 
 The last time Eve comes in, she whispers : "A mo- 
 ment or two more, my darling, and you shall sit on 
 your own hearthstone with the wife of your bosom by 
 your side; " and so goes from me with a very red face, 
 for I have kissed her pretty dimpled shoulders. 
 
 So sitting there quite confidently, I, look upon my 
 modest home, and despite the hand of death which is 
 so near to me, emit a laugh of triumph. 
 
 Just about this time there are some steps at the 
 front door. I glance out. As well as I can see, it is 
 the damned Confederate lieutenant-colonel who had 
 escorted Eve from church. 
 
 "A little surprise for you, my buck. It'll rather as- 
 
aSS BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 tonish you to know 'old Hamilton ' has come home,'* 
 I chuckle. With this, not waiting for the servant, 
 with a Don Cesar de Bazan air, I open the door, and 
 find my suspicions are correct. "Please walk in, sir," 
 I remark in blandest voice. " Mrs. Hamilton will be 
 with you in a minute." 
 
 My easy father-of-the-family air apparently astounds 
 the gentleman. With a surprised and questioning, yet 
 haughty look, he follows me to the parlor. Then 
 turning to me he suggests : " You will pardon me, sir, 
 but I have not had the pleasure ofmeetingyou before." 
 
 "No ; I have been away in Georgia and Tennessee 
 with Hardee and Johnston," I reply. "But permit me 
 to introduce myself. Major Hamilton, the husband of 
 the lady whom you honor with your attentions. Eve 
 will be here in a minute, and I am always pleased to 
 entertain her friends." 
 
 " Egad ! " I say to myself " This military cock-a- 
 doodle will see how my wife loves me, and take his 
 departure with his sword, if not his tail, between his 
 cavalry boots." 
 
 For at my words, the gentleman, who has been 
 gazing at me in a somewhat supercilious way, sud- 
 denly seems dazed and confused, and I hear him mur- 
 mur : " Good God ! " 
 
 " By Yankee-Doodle ! he knows he's got into the 
 wrong house noiv," I chuckle to myself; and cry out : 
 "Eve, come here ; a friend of yours has called upon 
 us, dear .' " 
 
 And she flying in, gives a muffled shriek and falters : 
 "I should have told you! O Heavens! I should 
 have warned you before ! "' 
 
 " Warned me P" 1 say. "It is he you should have 
 warned." And the lire of jealousy lights up my hus- 
 band eyes. 
 
 But she screams out: "No, no! It is Charley St. 
 George ! Billy, don't you remember my half-brother.? " 
 
 At her words, joy comes to me, and 1 laugh. And 
 St. George laughs also, and we three get tittering to- 
 gether ; for Eve has ejaculated : " He was jealous of 
 you before, Charley — at Frederick. You remember : 
 your kiss made Billy so miserable." 
 
 But tragedy cruslies comedy. 
 
 Upon our merriment the young Confederate's voice 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 289 
 
 breaks sternly in : " You come under a flag of truce, 
 Captain Hamilton of the United States Army ? " 
 
 Looking at him, I give a shudder ; for I suddenly 
 think: "This is the one man in all Richmond who 
 will know my story of the Confederate Major is and 
 must be a lie." 
 
 Gazing at me, he suddenly gasps : " Good Heaven ! 
 In Confederate uniform-^o« P" 
 
 To us both now comes a low, stifled scream. Eve 
 shudders : " My God — Billy ! " and commences to wring 
 her hands and mutter : " Sacrificed for love of me ! " 
 
 Then suddenly my wife is before the young officer, 
 entreating, begging, sobbing, murmuring: "Charley, 
 Charley, Charley ! You know my husband came for 
 only one thing — love of me. It is my fault. I kept 
 him from my kisses and my arms. That he is here 
 now to demand a husband's rights, is my crime ! He 
 saved me when he knew I was a spy ; I beg you spare 
 him who comes honorably, not as an enemy, not as a 
 spy, but simply as a lover whom I adore and a hus- 
 band whom I worship." 
 
 To this the Confederate simply mutters in a heart- 
 broken way : " Eve ! You forget my duty .'" 
 
 But she bursts out at him: "Charley, you've been 
 kind to me. Though only my half-brother, you've 
 been a brother to me, and as such you're his brother 
 — my husband's brother. Would you doom him to 
 death .? You know that's what it will be. Would you 
 break my heart } " 
 
 "Heaven help me!" says the young fellow, who 
 has a noble face and martial bearing. "Eve, I can 
 only do my duty. Think of me — don't put me in a 
 false position ; it is not just to me. I have not courted 
 it; the blame is on Captain Hamilton, who, knowing 
 the laws of the war, came here despite them." Then he 
 breaks out half-despairingly : " For God's sake, Billy 
 Hamilton, why didn't you wait until you knew who I 
 was — that I was the one man in Richmond who would 
 know your story was certainly a lie ^ 
 
 "He couldn't wait, Charley, he couldn't v/ait 1 He 
 was jealous ; he was terribly jealous. God bless him 
 for it, he was jealous ! " And the girl is round my 
 neck, with tender kisses, murmuring ; " My husband's 
 jealousy proves his love." 
 
290 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 And I seem happy, too. Even the fear of death, 
 which is very near, doesn't seem to abate my exalta- 
 tion. For Eve's kisses are coming to me as strong with 
 love as ever woman's came to man. 
 
 "I — I am very sorry,' says the Confederate officer, 
 "but I must report this to the Provost-Marshal." 
 
 "No, no! Mercy! Charley, for me, your sister — 
 for him, your brother ■' " 
 
 "Then if Captain Hamilton will swear to me," 
 "that he has come for no other purpose, disguised, 
 into the Confederate lines, than to claim the love of 
 his wife, for twenty-four hours I will forget my honor 
 and my duty," reluctantly whispers poor St. George, 
 who seems more unhappy than I am. "I will for 
 twenty-four hours forget my oath to my government. 
 Besides this, your husband. Eve, must give his word 
 to communicate nothing he has seen or heard within 
 our lines to the cursed Yankee Government at Wash- 
 ington." This last is added sternly and decisively. 
 
 "God bless you ! " My wife is round my rival's neck 
 now, but I am no more jealous. I know as true a 
 spouse as ever this world has seen is mine. 
 
 "Answer!" says St. George to me. "Then I will 
 go away. On your honor as a man, Captain Billy 
 Hamilton, did you come into the Confederate lines 
 with no other object than to see the wife who loves 
 you ? " 
 
 Looking into the cavalryman's face which meets 
 mine anxiously, entreatingly, I do not answer him, 
 
 "Speak, my husband," pleads the girl — her eyes fixed 
 on mine as if they would burn their way into my soul. 
 "Tell him you're no spy upon your wife's kindred." 
 
 Still I do not speak. 
 
 And the Confederate mutters : "Good Heavens, I 
 am sorry ! " His hand is being stretched for his hat, 
 he is turning to go : my wife, white as a statue now, 
 has uttered a little gasping moan : "O God, a spy ! " 
 Then suddenly Eve is again entreating St. George and 
 is holding his arms with her little hands and begging 
 with pallid lips that tremble as they plead: "For 
 God's sake, think ! — Don't widow me before I'm a 
 wife ! Think — /hmk — think ! Charley, think — when I 
 was a little girl you used to be kind to me — when I 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 29 1 
 
 ** You sue for a military outcast ! " says the young 
 Confederate sternly. "Eve, I'm ashamed of you!" 
 and would stride towards the door. 
 
 But I bar his way ; my cocked revolver looks into 
 his face. "Remember, you're unarmed, " I whisper; 
 for, in the safety of his capital and to escort a young 
 lady to church, Colonel St. George has left even his 
 sword behind him. "For your sister's sake, don't 
 make me shoot you ! " I plead, for he is still advancing : 
 then cry sharply ; "Keep back ! " 
 
 "Not for a damned Yankee spy i" he answers, and 
 springs upon me. 
 
 I can't pull trigger upon the brave young fellow ; for 
 Eve is shuddering : " Spare him ! " 
 
 So he, dashing my pistol from me, we grapple and 
 struggle and fight with nature's weapons : he to im- 
 prison me — I to conquer him. Twice I get the best of 
 him, from tricks of wrestle learned in West Point gym- 
 nasium ; but he will noi be fought down ! His muscles 
 have been toughened in a long campaign, while mine 
 have grown inert in a prison cell. God of despair, he 
 has forced me down upon a sofa, he is whispering : 
 "Spy, I have you! " his hands are about my throat 
 to throttle me into insensibility. 
 
 But here, a white figure that has cowered in a corner 
 watching us, with moans of despair and faint cries of 
 misery, suddenly becomes a being of action. She flies 
 to where my sabre, thrown from its scabbard, lies on 
 the floor, and raising this on high with both her hands 
 Eve, with all her strength, with the flat of the blade 
 strikes twice upon my conqueror's head. 
 
 With a muttered " Jezebel ! " at the first stroke ; at 
 the second, Charley St. George staggers and stumbles, 
 and falls senseless upon the floor. 
 
 Dropping the weapon, the girl moans shudderingly : 
 "Heaven forgive me ! I have killed my brother ! " 
 
 But I, inspecting his wounds, say : " With the flat of 
 the sabre .'' Nonsense ! Charley's only stunned ; in 
 half an hour he'll be himself again. Bless you, dar- 
 ling, for saving my life ! " and would put arm about 
 her. 
 
 But she fights from me and cries savar^ely : "God 
 forgive you ! you have made me raise arms against 
 my country ; " then mutters, contempt in her bright 
 
292 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 eyes : "Oh, Heaven ! a spy come for the destruction of 
 my city and my race ! " Next suddenly starts and 
 whispers tremblingly: "Fly in time! There is a 
 noise in the next house ; they've heard us. Fly ! " 
 
 " Yes — taking you with me ! " 
 
 " Impossible ! It would be my death ! They'll 
 never forgive me Fredericksburg ! " She laughs in a 
 ghastly way. 
 
 "For the information I risk my life to gain, my 
 government has promised free pardon to my wife ! 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 "If you take the oath of allegiance." 
 
 " I take the oath of allegiance to that hated flag.!* 
 Never-' " cries the girl, her eyes flaming and in- 
 spired — then a tender light coming in her face, she 
 mutters suddenly : " Fly ! " 
 
 " I will not," I return, doggedly, " I cannot leave 
 the Confederate capital without a pass at night." 
 
 "You must, Billy, you must! But how — how — 
 HOW } " She wrings her hands, then suddenly whis- 
 pers : "I know — one chance !" and runs to the back 
 of the house, where the negro servants, who have 
 heard the struggle, are standing aghast and astounded. 
 
 A minute later she is beside me. Behind her comes 
 a black. 
 
 " Quashie," she speaks low and swift, "you must 
 save my husband. You must get him out of Rich- 
 mond to-night." 
 
 "'Tain't possible ! " 
 
 " You must ! You can do it ; I know you niggers 
 run the blockade whenever you want. Take him by 
 the nigger-way ; get him out !" 
 
 " Save a Yank who's killed Massa St. George } 
 Neber ! " 
 
 " He hasn't killed him ; I struck him down with my 
 own hands; but he's not dead," and she kisses the 
 face of the young Confederate, then begs : " Quashie, 
 save my husband ! Save him as you love me ! " 
 
 "Den I saves him ! " mutters the black solemnly. 
 "Dough I neber fought you'd ask dis for a Yank." 
 
 "God bless you, Quashie ! '' cries the girl, and whis- 
 pers to me : "Go !" 
 
 " Not until you say you love me — you forgive me ! " 
 
 "Go — -you haven't time." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 293 
 
 "Not until you say " 
 
 "Oh, is it not proof enough, that I love you, when I 
 would strike my brother down, when I would raise my 
 arms against the flag I love, iovyou, Billy! " she sobs. 
 
 " I want your kisses ■' " 
 
 "You risked your life, part to gain my pardon, part 
 to — ?" in all her anxiety she's blushing like a rose. 
 
 "To make you my own!" I cry inspired. Her 
 arms are round me ; her sweet lips cling to mine. 
 Her soft voice sighs in awful dread, "Go ! if you love 
 me ! — if you would not have me die in your arms, go •' 
 You have made me a traitor to my friends, my kindred 
 and my cause — but save your life, my husband be- 
 cause I ADORE YOU ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE DROOPING COLORS. 
 
 "Quick ! " cries Quashie, "or yo'se a gone coon ! " 
 He is standing in the hall with a half-filled sack in his 
 hand. 
 
 From the house below us women's voices come in 
 excited tones. 
 
 Following him hurriedly from the house, I spring 
 upon Roderick, and the negro, throwing the sack over 
 the pommel of my saddle and running beside me with 
 a surprising speed, guides me through Richmond's 
 faintly lighted streets. 
 
 A moment after we are up the hill, on Broad Street. 
 The black is leading me towards the North, for I note 
 we cross the tracks of the Fredericksburg & Richmond 
 Railway. 
 
 " Won't come to no guards and pickets yet a while," 
 says Quashie to me ; then remarks : " Ef dey gits me 
 dey'U raise de deble wid me. An' just to t'ink fo' help- 
 ing a damn Yankee out of de hole ! But — " he looks 
 at me as he trots beside Roderick—" yo'se safe, sah. 
 When my missey said if dey kill yo' dey kill har, yo'se 
 safe, if I can make yo'. An' what Quashie ain't up to 
 'bout dis country ain't no account, no way," he adds 
 confidently. 
 
 This proves to be the fact. How I get out of Rich- 
 
294 
 
 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 mond I don't know ! Were it not for the black, I am 
 satisfied I would have fallen half a dozen times into 
 the hands of the numerous and alert Rebel patrols, 
 which he dodges with darky subtlty. Round piles 
 of lumber, by deserted railroad tracks and unused 
 freight cars — through a dirty creek m which he wades 
 to his waist he leads me. Then the houses growing 
 less frequent, he takes to rough places, and trails 
 probably unknown to any but the negroes, and once 
 or twice conducts me across lots, nosing his way in 
 the darkness through the thickets and underbrush in a 
 manner that astounds me. 
 
 So we keep on for hours — all traces of the town have 
 been left behind us long ago. About daylight in the 
 morning Quashie says : " We's got to stop soon, sah. 
 Darsn't travel by daylight ; get gobbled up shuah. " 
 
 ' ' Where am 1 ? " I ask, looking at my watch. 
 " We have been travelling nearly eight hours." 
 
 "Yo'se on Stonewall Jackson's old battle-groun', 
 Cold Harbor. Yo' Yanks should 'member dat , dat's 
 where yo' got fury," he chuckles savagely. "An 
 I hopes yo' get de deble agin." 
 
 But soon after this, getting into what Quashie calls 
 "a nice swamp," he remarks : "We stays heah all 
 day, sah." 
 
 " Well — but something to eat." 
 
 " I'se looked out for dat. Trust a niggah in the 
 woods. Whaugh ! Whaugh I What's in dat sack in 
 front of you'se ? " 
 
 As he chuckles, the black produces from the bag 
 some bread made of middlings, a few slices of boiled 
 bacon and a piece of beef that for lean, gaunt, stringi- 
 ness could discount the worst army ration I ever 
 encountered. 
 
 " Besides, I'se got some beans to make coffee with." 
 remarks Quashie philosophically, as he builds, with 
 the art of a negro who has been a coon-hunter, a 
 fire that produces little smoke, and producing a tin pan 
 from the sack fills it with water from a creek running 
 by us and proceeds to make his bean coffee. Over 
 this, with the philosophy of an old campaigner, I 
 join him, and if we do not make a luxurious meal, 
 we at least finish nearly everything in sight, for our 
 all-night's travel has made us ravenous. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 295 
 
 Then looking at my horse, I say: "We must do 
 something for him. Quashie, you must get Roderick 
 some provender." 
 
 "Very well, sah, but I don't want no money," for I 
 have produced a roll of Confederate currency. " Dere's 
 only one safe way to git it, and dat's to steal it. I'll 
 bring you'se some fodder and stuff for yo' nag." 
 
 Leaving me in this place, which is secluded enough, 
 though very damp, the darky disappears. 
 
 Heavens and earth ! How helpless I feel, knowing 
 practically nothing of the country. For I had intended 
 to go down by a more direct route to the Peninsula, 
 by the Charles city road, on the South of the Chicka- 
 hominy, which would probably — I judge from what 
 Quashie had told me on our night-march — have been 
 my destruction. So, smoking a corn-cob pipe, for I 
 have exhausted my cigars, I wait for the negro. 
 
 Presently I hear the sound of horses' hoofs. Crawl- 
 ing to the edge of undergrowth and peering out, I see 
 the gleam of arms going round a turn of the road. 
 A Confederate vidette must have passed me scarce a 
 minute before. 
 
 Then I cogitate : " If Quashie deserts me, what route 
 shall I take ? What shall I do ? " and have just about 
 cursed the negro for a traitor, when he returns, bring- 
 ing with him a sack of corn and fodder for Roderick. 
 
 After feeding the horse, the negro and I go to 
 sleep, leaving my nag contentedly munching. 
 
 That evening, under Quashie's guidance, we again 
 set forth. By swamp-paths and side-tracks, and 
 every round-about way to avoid the main roads of the 
 country, that are picketed with Confederate cavalry, 
 we travel down the Peninsula. About ten o'clock in 
 the evening we pass Tunstal's Station, giving that a 
 wide berth, for the negro remarks : " One side or 
 t'other am always dere, and it's generally us uns. " 
 
 So, gradually getting nearer Williamsburg and the 
 Union lines we journey on until just after daybreak ; 
 When Quashie whispers : "Stop ! Dar's rangers ahead 
 of us." 
 
 But my answer to this is a cry of joy. A patrol of 
 cavalry whose flag floats to the breeze shows me I am 
 in front of United States troops. 
 
 "Guess I won't sfo no further. Dose cursed Yanks 
 
296 BILLV HAMILTON. 
 
 might t'ink I was one of der darned contrabands," 
 chuckles the darky. 
 
 "All right," I answer. "But don't go until I've 
 rewarded you. " 
 
 *• No, sah ! I saved yo' because I lobe my missey. 
 But, so help me Gawd, Cap'n, if yo' come here agin, 
 spyin' out on our people, I'll give yo' away myself. 
 I'se done a powerful bad t'ing." 
 
 "What ? " I say. " Don't you want to he/ree ?" 
 
 " Not free from har ! Does yo' want to be free from 
 har ? " 
 
 "No, Quashie, we're both slaves to the same girl," 
 I say. 
 
 "Yes; dat am de only redeeming point 'bout yo', 
 sah," chuckles the darky contentedly. 
 
 " But you must take a message for her." 
 
 " Ob course." 
 
 "And this money." 
 
 " I doesn't want yer cash." 
 
 " It is not for you ; it is for her — my wife. You see 
 how poor they are in Richmond," And I hurriedly 
 force on the black all the money of any kind I have 
 with me, except a twenty-dollar bill. 
 
 "Well, sah, I s'poseas Miss Ebe says she's yo' wife, 
 it wouldn't be quite right if yo' didn't do a little for har ; 
 specially after she's smashed up my poor massa Charlie 
 for yo'. Dere's no telling what these gals'U do, sah, 
 when they git upish." 
 
 "Quite right, Quashie," I laugh, for I cannot be 
 angry with him ; he has done too much for me. 
 
 " Here, take this to my wife," I mutter huskily, 
 for on a leaf in my pocket-book I have hastily written : 
 "Eve, my darling, the next time I come to Richmond 
 it will not be as a spy, but as a conqueror." And 
 jotting down words of love and endearment, I sign it 
 "Forever your husband. " 
 
 But I have not much time to lose ; the Confederate 
 pickets are on the alert. Some half mile away towards 
 the west a gray squadron appears in the road, and I 
 spur my horse eastward along the pike to meet my ad- 
 vancing friends, who seem to be in force, for the Rebels 
 retire without firing a shot. 
 
 " Three minutes after, waving a white handkerchief, 
 I ride into the Union lines and drawing a long breath, 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 297 
 
 for the first time in a week, feel that I am safe from a 
 dastard's death. 
 
 Making my report to the officer in command, but 
 being unable to show anything that indicates I am not 
 a Rebel, for I have dared to carry no Union papers nor 
 insignia with me, I am placed under guard and taken 
 to Fortress Monroe. Here everything is soon made 
 very pleasant for me. My valise that 1 left in Suffolk, 
 has arrived there ; the General commanding, having 
 instructions about me. 
 
 That afternoon I take boat for Washington, and 
 early on Thursday present myself at the War Depart- 
 ment. Gazing at me, the Secretary smiles grimly, and 
 remarks : "You look as if you had come out of the 
 jaws of death." 
 
 For, notwithstanding two days of comparative rest, 
 I am still fearfully haggard and gaunt, from the tre- 
 mendous strain of my journey to the Rebel capital. 
 
 "I have come from Richmond, sir; that is about 
 the same," I answer. 
 
 " Well, I never expected to see you again ! " he 
 chuckles ; then suddenly and eagerly asks for my re- 
 port. 
 
 This I present to him, giving him an account of the 
 various Home Guards' Armory Battalion, Boys' Com- 
 pany, etc., likewise a description and sketches from 
 memory of the fortifications about Richmond. 
 
 Concluding I say : "The city is susceptible of attack 
 by a quick raiding party, if the bridges across the James 
 River can be seized m lime. If the expedition is com- 
 posed of two cavalry commands, the larger assaulting 
 the line of forts north of the capital with sufficient 
 vigor to hold the Confederate troops manning these de- 
 fences ; a smaller, quick-travelling detachment coming 
 from the West, and on the South of, the James River, 
 can probably successfully either raid Richmond, or 
 capture the Rebel prison at Belle Isle and release the 
 Union prisoners there — but cannot do both." 
 
 " Not raid Richmond and release our prisoners at the 
 same time.''" remarks the Secretary testily. "Why 
 not } " 
 
 "Because by the time the attacking force has re- 
 leased the prisoners on Belle Isle, the alarm will surely 
 be given in Richmond, and the bridges across the 
 
298 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 James River will certainly be so effectively guarded 
 or destroyed, that your raiders will never get into the 
 Confederate capital. You can with good luck either 
 capture Belle Isle or raid Richmond, Mr. Secretary, but 
 to attempt both, will be to fail in both." 
 
 ' ' Humph ! " he says contemplatively. 
 
 Into his meditation I break by asking : "Are you 
 satisfied with my report, sir?" 
 
 "Perfectly." 
 
 "Then my reward, Mr. Secretary?" I demand 
 eagerly. 
 
 "I have sent your name in to the Governor of Ken- 
 tucky for promotion in your old cavalry regiment. 
 You will find your commission downstairs. Major 
 Hamilton." 
 
 "But my reward, Mr. Secretary?" I ask again 
 anxiously. 
 
 " To what do you refer, sir ? " 
 
 " The guerdon for which I braved a disgraceful 
 death — the pardon for my wife." 
 
 "Ah, that shall be made out. I have not forgotten 
 the lady," Mr. Stanton remarks grimly. "I pledge 
 myself the President will sign it. He likes to sign par- 
 dons. It would have created rather a commotion to 
 have hung the niece of our great Border-State War 
 Senator, eh ?" A very beautiful girl ; I have seen her 
 here in Washington myself I don't wonder that in- 
 stead of you catching her, she caught you. Did you 
 meet her in Richmond? " 
 
 "Yes," I mutter. 
 
 "Humph ! A little addition to a short honeymoon, 
 r presume," he chuckles. "Do you think you've per- 
 suaded her to take the oath of allegiance." 
 
 " I fear not," I answer gloomily. 
 
 "Ah, yes ; if we had only the men of the South to 
 fight, we'd have an easier time," remarks the Secretary. 
 "And you, I suppose — you'd like to go to Richmond 
 again ? " he asks. 
 
 "Wouldn't I ? But not as a spy ! " 
 
 "Then I will give you a chance. Your old regiment 
 will march under Sheridan. But this raiding business 
 I shall put in other hands. No man with a wife in 
 Richmond is fitted to burn the Rebel capital. What 
 do you want to do now?" 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 299 
 
 " I want to sleep for a week. " 
 
 So he sends me away, shuddering in my heart as 
 I think, "What may I not have brought upon Eve?" 
 
 Perhaps I should have shuddered more ; for it was 
 on my information that that unfortunate Dahlgren raid 
 was planned, which came to such a horrible ending, 
 and produced so much discussion as to what is civil- 
 ized in warfare. 
 
 The next day I see Birdie, who has taken a handsome 
 furnished house in Washington and lately added to her 
 establishment a prattling goo-goo boy. She is trying 
 to play the Roman matron and not doing it very 
 well. 
 
 " You're going to the front. That's where Arthur is 
 — at the front. He's in Torbert's cavalry division. 
 Billy, do what you can to aid my husband when he's 
 in battle," pleads Birdie, who only knows one detail 
 of war — that gallant men leave their wives' arms and 
 never come back to them. 
 
 "You'll try to save him.?" she whimpers to me; 
 then suddenly cries : "But I know Arthur isn't coming 
 back. Every time I look at this ring he put upon my 
 finger I see in the diamond my tears ; in the ruby, his 
 drop of blood — oh, if this war were only over ! " 
 
 With this plaint in my ear — a cry that bereft women 
 are now raising all over the stricken land, North and 
 South — I leave my sister and ride into Virginia to join 
 my regiment. 
 
 Then comes Grant's big campaign— when he fights 
 and flanks, and fights again and flanks again, from the 
 Wilderness to Spottsylvania and North Anna River and 
 Cold Harbor, and here swinging south of the James and 
 assaulting the Rebel capital from the very point I had 
 selected, as weakest, has laid siege to Petersburg. 
 
 So the summer goes and autumn comes, and I find 
 myself one of the fifteen thousand sabres that, under 
 Sheridan, Torbert and Custer begin to be known as the 
 Great Cavalry Corps. 
 
 We have pursued Early into Virginia, and fought up 
 and down the Shenandoah, by the light of blazing 
 barns and dwellings and old colonial manor-houses, till 
 that once blest but now unhappy valley will no more 
 support the struggling armies that tramp over its dev- 
 astated fields; INIosby's partisans raiding our communi- 
 
300 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 cations and destroying commissary and sutlers' trains 
 in our rear, and Bull-dog- Early fighting us at the front. 
 
 But finally we finish him at Cedar Creek, and as we 
 go into winter quarters in the devastated valley, my 
 regiment, of which I am now Lieutenant-Colonel, both 
 my senior majors having been wounded or disabled, 
 bears on its battle-flag the names of Opequan, Fisher's 
 Hill and Cedar Creek. 
 
 For the last battle I find myself brevetted Brigadier 
 General of Volunteers ; though Vermilye still com- 
 mands his horse battery. 
 
 During the early winter I once or twice visit Wash- 
 ington on leave. From this point, as opportunity has 
 offered, I have forwarded to my wife money, by the 
 uncertain contraband means of communication be- 
 tween Washington and Richmond. Whether she re- 
 ceives it, 1 know not, for no letters reach me from her. 
 
 In February, 1865, Durant, my Colonel, being in- 
 valided, I get orders to prepare for active service, and 
 on the 27th Sheridan begins his celebrated march 
 through Virginia from Winchester to City Point. 
 
 The weather is frightful, the rain tremendous. The 
 mud is beyond description ; but we tramp on through it, 
 and report at City Point, Grant's headquarters, on 
 March 26th. An awful ride — a fearful raid ; but Sheri- 
 dan's cavalry are now ready to help Grant finish Lee. 
 
 Up the James River is Richmond, and no man in all 
 the thirteen thousand sabres that moved out M'ith Little 
 Phil to capture the South Side Railway and smash the 
 right of that skeleton line of Confederates which is 
 now guarding Petersburg is more determined than L 
 My comrades are fighting for the Union, but I am 
 battling not only for that but also for a wife, from 
 whose love the Rebel flag has kept me over two long 
 years. 
 
 Then comes Five Forks, and we cut off the last rail- 
 road by which provisions reach the Confederate army, 
 and force it either to starve, break out or retreat. 
 
 The first it won't do ; the second it can't do; the 
 third it does, and Petersburg is evacuated on the night 
 of the 2d of April, and Richmond on the same day ; 
 though Ewell, in command of the Confederates, leaves 
 it blazing. 
 
 Desperately Lee turns uj) the Appomattox, in search 
 
BILLV HAMILTON. 301 
 
 of safety from our pursuing columns and rations for his 
 starving men — but he gets Httle of either. 
 
 So after six more desperate days, at Appomattox Court 
 House, Lee's wearied and half-starved columns find 
 themselves entirely enveloped. Without provisions, 
 without sleep, they have fought, and marched, and 
 fallen, and died, and dropped out and been captured, 
 to discover Sheridan's cavalry ahead of them and drawn 
 up to dispute the Lynchburg road ; their one avenue 
 to even temporary safety. 
 
 It is the morning of the ninth of April. My regi- 
 ment, after service so hard that we had never seen the 
 like before, are at Appomattox Station, the men half 
 famished, for, if the Rebels starved, we had no full 
 stomachs, all this awful ride, when men went to sleep 
 in their saddles ; for what commissariat could keep 
 up to our flying columns when it was hub-deep for 
 wagons in every Virginia road this pouring April 
 weather. 
 
 Suddenly every worn-out, dozing and hungry trooper 
 of my regiment becomes as fresh as when he first put 
 foot in stirrup — for the word has been passed "At last 
 we are ahead of Longstreet. Now we've got 'em sure / " 
 
 But can we hold them — Lee's veterans of four years 
 grimmest war — in their despair — till our infantry ar- 
 rives ? 
 
 Couriers have been sent to the Fifth Corps ; it must 
 be up early this morning, if it has to march all night. 
 
 But, as day breaks, our veteran infantry is not in 
 sight. 
 
 Nothing for it but to try and stay infantry by cavalry 
 — in these days a military impossibility, and even at that 
 time a desperate thing, the mounted man being already 
 inferior to the foot-soldier for bruising, pitched battle- 
 work. 
 
 For we now see them coming, and know by their 
 battle flags we have to do with men who fought and 
 won so many times under Jackson. 
 
 "By the god of war! It will be hot-'" ejaculates 
 my senior major. "It's the old Stonewall corps — 
 what's left of 'em ! " 
 
 By the Lord! how they come on, in their despair, 
 starving and few of them, but still for one dread hour 
 the old Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
302 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 No sign of the Fifth Corps yet ! We've got to hold 
 them ! 
 
 On the little hills just behind us our horse artillery 
 unlimber, and their light guns pour shell into them, 
 and as they get near, change to grape and canister, 
 cutting bloody gaps in Lee's ragged columns. 
 
 Then we open with our carbines — but stay them 
 not. 
 
 The Rebel yell is sounding as fierce as it did at 
 Chancellorsville. The Rebel musketry is as deadly 
 and as incessant as ever flamed from those gray ranks 
 at Second Bull Run, where they smashed Pope to 
 flinders. 
 
 Our lines give back or are brushed away. Our losses 
 are enormous ; both my senior officers are disabled, 
 and word is brought me that I command the brigade. 
 My regiments, were they not veterans, would be broken, 
 but, still keeping their formation and fighting steadily, 
 are forced from the road, though I contrive to draw 
 them off to our flank and keep my horses within touch 
 of my men. 
 
 But our light artillery is still at it. Having mounted 
 cannoniers, as the Rebels come dangerously close, 
 they limber up, and, darting to new eminences, open 
 again — the guns being served with Yankee coolness 
 and deathly accuracy. 
 
 So the tide of battle flows against us, for we are 
 gradually driven back some half a mile in that last 
 effort of a starving army. 
 
 But every moment that w^e cling to that Lynchburg 
 road adds to our chances and destroys the Rebel hope ; 
 for now blue lines of infantry are coming out of the 
 woods. Chamberlain, by an all-night march, has 
 reached us and is taking position in our rear. Behind 
 him is another brigade. The batteries of the Fifth 
 Corps are getting into place on our flank. 
 
 The rebels see it as well as we. Their fire slackens 
 as Gordon is forming them for their last charge. Taking 
 advantage of the lull I order my brigade to mount — 
 so as to be ready to move aside and disclose our infan- 
 try 
 
 But the Rebels are coming now ! 
 
 They 7nust break through ! It is now or never .' 
 
 Oh, the wild rush of that ragged, starving column ! 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 303 
 
 They're upon us so quickly, so desperately, that one 
 battery of ours, its horses shot down, is surely lost. 
 
 Just to the left of me and my troopers it commands 
 the Lynchburg pike. If it is held all is won ; if it is 
 lost, the Rebel army may break through before our 
 infantry can deploy and form line of battle. 
 
 Its guns are served like lightning ! What's danger 
 of explosion now ? Cannister and grape, and even 
 powder cartridges, are piled beneath the muzzles of the 
 flaming pieces ; their gunners working like clockwork 
 — in the face of death. 
 
 No time to communicate with the division general. 
 Dare I, in this first moment of command, take des- 
 perate military chances ? 
 
 Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! 
 
 Then comes the answering musketry, the Southern 
 cry, the Southern charge ! 
 
 My Heaven ! Through the blue smoke about it I 
 see the battery's guidon, and know Birdie to-night will 
 be a widow. 
 
 "Not if I can prevent that diamond tear, that ruby 
 drop of blood 1 " I send orders to my brigade to charge 
 with the sabre. To my own regiment I cry : " Follow 
 me ! " 
 
 As the Rebel line, with its ferocious yell, dashes up 
 the low hillside, our squadrons jump the fence that sep- 
 arates us from them. Wild riders, these Sheridan cav- 
 alry lads ! 
 
 Then Stonewall's ragged veterans surge around the 
 doomed battery, whose guns are fired in their very 
 faces ; but, as they close over it, my brigade, charging 
 with weight of horse and man, strikes them in flank ! 
 Fifteen hundred unexpected sabres flash down upon 
 them. 
 
 Ah ! How Jackson's old soldiers fight in their de- 
 spair, seeming to want to die ! But, worn out from 
 long marching, faint from long fasting, my horse 
 sweep over them and brush them, struggling and 
 deadly to the last, from off that hillside — those that 
 are left of them. 
 
 They will 710/ have it ! They are forming once more 1 
 
 Bang! Ba?ig .' Bang! go Vermilye's guns again, but 
 that does not phase them ; neither does my carbine fire. 
 
 When suddenly, Crash ! Boom ! Crash ! BOOM ! 
 BOOM 1 
 
304 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 The batteries of the Fifth and Twenty-fourth Corps 
 are opening a cross-fire from both flanks, some thirty- 
 guns scourge them with such an artillery fire they have 
 not felt since Malvern Hill and Gettysburg. They 
 pause ! they falter ! 
 
 In five minutes, everything of that thin gray line is 
 swept away. 
 
 No ! one man I see ; the last fighting Rebel of the 
 Army of Virginia, still charging and still firing and all 
 alone ■' when, of a sudden, a shell bursts beside him 
 and throws his body into the crotch of a near-by tree, 
 from which it hangs, the entrails dangling out. 
 
 A moment later, I am beside Vermilye, who, leaning 
 against one of his brass Napoleons, has a smoking re- 
 volver in one hand, a smoking cigar in the other. A 
 pile of dead Rebels mixed with his slain gunners, and 
 some wounded battery horses, who are moaning out 
 their plaint, are his nearest neighbors. 
 
 "Thank you, old man," says the artillery captain. 
 "You just connected; I've only a slight bayonet 
 scratch," and he attends to the reloading of his guns. 
 Suddenly he asks : ' ' Did you hear that awful shriek 
 the Johnnies gave as they surged over us .? " 
 
 "Certainly. Why?" 
 
 "That was the last Rebel yell you'll ever hear. 
 See ! " he points. 
 
 Right and left behind us dark and blue columns of the 
 old fifth and twenty-fourth corps are in sight. The lead- 
 ing brigades are already in position. 
 
 "Lee's last hope is gone," I mutter ; then cry : "By 
 Heaven ! there's the white flag ! " 
 
 "The sign of coming peace," remarks Vermilye, 
 ' ' and I think I hear him sigh : ' ' Birdie ; " next he asks 
 me anxiously: "What's the matter. Bill.? Are you 
 wounded.? '' 
 
 For there are tears in my eyes. I can hardly see, and 
 my gaze is not upon the army we have conquered, but 
 towards the North where far away lies the Rebel capi- 
 tal ; I am thinking of my dear wife who is in Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 So we wait there, one army holding the other in its 
 death-grip. 
 
 Suddenly, through the ranks flies " Lee surrenders / " 
 Then who can paint the picture ? 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 305 
 
 Pandemonium breaks forth. Those who had doubted, 
 now are sure. From every fence, from each tree-top, 
 from haystacks, from the roofs of near-by farm-houses, 
 where men have climbed to get as near to heaven as 
 as possible in their ecstatic jubilee, comes the cry : 
 " Hosanna ! the war is over I " Officers who have faced 
 death without atremor this very day are sobbing like 
 little children. Veterans who have tasted fire and blood 
 for four long years, are weak as swaddled infants in their 
 overpowering joy. 
 
 But — the other army ! From the vanquished host 
 across the silvery streamlets of the Appomattox comes 
 a noise. I cannot describe it. Some think that it is joy 
 also, they are so tired of fighting for a losing cause. 
 To me it seems like the long, sighing groan of dissolu- 
 tion, for I know, over there, many stout hearts that 
 have battled long and gallantly, are breaking now. 
 
 I have always thought their general's did, as he saw 
 his colors droop, his battle-flags sink, never to float again 
 over the stern array of war — when his starving men 
 crowded about him, and gave defeated " Pap Lee" the 
 same love, the same reverence they would have, had 
 they placed the victor's crown upon his brow this Palm 
 Sunday evening on which drooped the colors of the 
 dead Confederacy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE ^GIS OF THE DEAD PRESIDENT. 
 
 That evening, sitting in my tent — as army wagons 
 have reached us now — one wounded spirit of the other 
 host comes to me. For the armies are fraternizing ; 
 this evening, we are giving our starving adversaries 
 bread, instead of bullets. 
 
 My orderly announces : "A Confederate officer 
 would like to see you, General." 
 
 I spring up, and see a haggard face. "Charley St. 
 George ! " I cry, my hand outstretched. 
 
 He takes it, but mutters: "You had better have 
 pulled trigger on me that night in Richmond, Hamil- 
 ton. I would have been happier now." 
 
 "Nonsense ! You're only twenty-seven. Life is 
 
3o6 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 before you. Sit down; have some supper with me." 
 And I direct my servant, a bright colored boy, to put 
 everything I have on the blanket which acts as table 
 and table-cloth. 
 
 " Thank you. I have already eaten of Uncle Sam's 
 food," he says gloomily; "but I will take some 
 whisky." 
 
 "Now what can I do for you ? " 
 
 *' Nothing. I have come to ask about Eve." 
 
 "About her ? " I cry, my heart in my throat. "She 
 is in Richmond." 
 
 "No, she left it two months ago to join her mother, 
 somewhere in the valley of Virginia. Our people in 
 Richmond were not kind to her, after they knew she 
 was the wife of a Union spy. You owe Eve a great 
 deal, Colonel, for your visit to her," he says sadly, smit- 
 ing his hands together. "She must be very poor. 
 She may be in want. I can't even leave here until 
 paroled." 
 
 " I'll find her ! " I cry. "God bless you, St. George 
 for telling me this. I'll do everything for her and your 
 mother." 
 
 At which he give me a grateful look and murmurs, 
 in his old time Southern manner: " I thank you sir !" 
 and goes away dejectedly as I hurry to my corps 
 commander to ask for leave. 
 
 This my corps commander declines to grant on his 
 personal responsibility, though he forwards my ap- 
 plication to Washington. 
 
 Where can my wife be ? 
 
 I put an advertisement for her in the Richmond Whig; 
 which is still being published and forward another to 
 the Washington papers. 
 
 From the War Department early in May I receive a 
 hasty order to report forthwith in that city. 
 
 Doing this as hurriedly as possible, I enter the 
 Federal capital, now tremendously excited over the 
 trial of the conspirators for the murder of President 
 Lincoln, whose extended hand, bearing peace for the 
 suffering South, has been paralyzed by the assassin 
 Booth. 
 
 At the War Department, to my astonishment, I am 
 ordered to report for duty to General Hancock, whose 
 headquarters are at Winchester. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 307 
 
 On the streets, I find the capital enraged and made 
 more bitter than before against all who had aided 
 the "lost cause," on account of the crime of the 
 Northern assassin who had stricken down the Presi- 
 dent they had loved. In all the turmoil of passion in 
 that capital I have but one thought — tidings of Eve. I 
 hurry to Lucy Bream's ; she may be able to tell me 
 something about her niece ; and in her parlor, hear 
 news that gives me a chill of horror. 
 
 "I'm awfully glad you've come, Billy," says that 
 matron eagerly, though her face has a very anxious 
 look on it. " You're not a day too soon ! " 
 
 "Too soon for what .-' " 
 
 "Too soon to save your wife and get her out of the 
 country." 
 
 " What — do — you — mean ? " I stammer. 
 
 "You know how the public mind is excited ! You 
 are aware how Baker's detectives are anxious to make 
 a good showing. You know how the assassination of 
 our poor martyred President has made the politicians 
 so bitter against the South. Even my husband is very 
 bloodthirsty now. " 
 
 "Then why didn't he go to the front? He could 
 have had all the Southern blood he wanted when we 
 were fighting," I remark grimly. 
 
 "Hush! Don't talk that way. One would think 
 you were not a Union man, Rufus J. had his patriotic 
 duties in the halls of Congress." 
 
 " But what about Eve.?" I break in anxiously. 
 
 "You know she got into an awful scrape when she 
 was here in Washington." 
 
 " Nobody knows that better than I." 
 
 "Oh, yes; you were imprisoned for fourteen months 
 on account of her, weren't you, and even the Senator's 
 influence couldn't get you out. But Rufus is going to 
 speak for you when your name is sent in for a brigadier 
 generalship of volunteers, so you mustn't say a word 
 against him." 
 
 "But Eve?" I ask, impatiently. 
 
 "Well, my husband tells me that — that they could 
 hang her for those awful Fredericksburg pontoons," 
 whispers Mrs. Bream nervously. 
 
 "Baker's Secret Service people are working her 
 gase up," continues the iiiatron. "They hate you, 
 
3o8 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 Rod Gibbon, I believe that's his name, told the Senator 
 that you betrayed one of their men, his chum Joe Shook, 
 to death in Richmond. They know a blow at your 
 wife is a blow at you ! " 
 
 " Yes ; they know I love her," I mutter. 
 
 "They've got an order for her arrest, and " 
 
 "They know where she is.? " I falter. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " What ? Where is she ? " 
 
 "In Luray, Virginia." 
 
 " How did they discover this ? " 
 
 "Well, Eve wrote me. I only got her letter yester- 
 day morning, it was delayed some days in the post- 
 office, I am sure it has been opened. She's Hving with 
 her mother there ; they're very poor. She sent for the 
 clothes she had left here when you ran away with 
 her. " 
 
 " Luray ? " I interject. " God bless you, Aunt Lucy, 
 for telling me where she is ! I'm ordered to Winchester 
 — near her." 
 
 "You're going?" says Mrs. Bream; for I have 
 sprung up. "You have not received Eve's letter.? " 
 
 "What letter.?" 
 
 " The one she writes she sent you .? " Here I break 
 out: "The Secret Service — they have intercepted it! 
 I must go at once ! " 
 
 And I astonish the plump and pretty matron by 
 giving her a nephew's salute, and rush from the house, 
 a tremendous anxiety in my mind. But outside I get 
 my thoughts together, and suddenly give a cry of joy. 
 I clutch a paper that I have carried on my breast 
 through a year's battle and know I have the murdered 
 President's segis to protect my love, the pardon for 
 which I had risked my life as spy in Rebel capital ! 
 And I thank God that though dead, the mercy of the 
 nation's martyr still survives him to guard my love 
 against Uncle Sam's detective agency. 
 
 With Lommox, who is still sergeant in my regiment, 
 and has been detailed to accompany me, I hurry to 
 Winchester. Here I am very pleasantly received both 
 by Hancock, who is in command, and General Torbert, 
 under whom I had served in the Valley Campaign. 
 
 "We've orders here to place you, in charge of one of 
 the small reconstruction districts in this State ; prob- 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 309 
 
 ably because the Government thought your being a 
 Border State man would enable you to understand the 
 people here better than some more full-fledged Yankee. 
 P'or we want to make everything deuced pleasant to 
 the Johnnies, now they've laid down their arms and are 
 no more Johnnies," remarks the gallant cavalry com- 
 mander. "You can have your choice of Upperville, 
 Strasburg, Luray, Harrisburg, Charlottesville." 
 "Luray ! " I cry, so sharply it startles him. 
 "Ay, you know the place," he says, "You've 
 ridden through that valley a dozen times, either after 
 Fitz Lee or from him. But remember, you don't go 
 there to devastate this time ; instead of burning barns, 
 you're to serve out rations. Some young lady there 
 you've seen as you rode through ? " he queries laugh- 
 ingly, "made you choose the place so rapidly.? " 
 
 "Yes — my wife," I answer, and astound him. 
 
 "Oh, then, you'd like to get on your road at once ? " 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 With my order to take command of the district, 
 five hours more and I am in Luray, a pretty little 
 hamletin that beautiful valley ; onefortunately that had 
 escaped the torch, though the country about it, even 
 on this lovely spring day as I approach it still shows 
 the hands of war. Burned barns and the standing 
 chimneys and charred beams of homesteads marking 
 where the armies had marched the year before. 
 
 At the_ Federal headquarters of this Httle town, which 
 is occupied now by the wing of an infantry regiment 
 and a couple of squadrons of cavalry for patrol duty, 
 though their troopers' horses are growing fat, I have 
 to give five minutes to business with my second in 
 command, Major Wilcox, of the Foot Regiment. 
 
 "You've no idea, Colonel," remarks the major to 
 me, "of the amount of destitution." 
 
 "I can guess at it," I say. "I helped to cause it." 
 
 "We're issuing rations to over a hundred families, 
 and some of them people of distinction, education and 
 former wealth." 
 
 "They are willing to apply to us ?" I ask, knowing 
 Old Dominion pride. 
 
 " Some of them don't," he says. "There's a very 
 pretty woman, who lives up the main street, haughty 
 as a Juno ; you know these Virginia beauties, and her 
 
310 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 mother, an old g-rajide dame a la Martha Washington, 
 she hasn't applied, though, I fear, they're nearly 
 starving." 
 
 "Can't we do something for them ? " 
 
 " I have," remarks the major. " I have just ordered 
 rations to be sent them, and added a few little luxuries 
 from our sutler's stores, on my own account. By the 
 bye, the lady is a namesake of yours." 
 
 "Mrs. Hamilton.?" 
 
 "Yes. You seem excited ; a relative .? " 
 
 "Only my wife ! God bless you for your charity to 
 her, Wilcox ! " I cry and wring the major's hand. 
 
 Suddenly my junior's voice becomes husky. He 
 mutters : " Then — I — I fear I have some unpleasant 
 news for you." 
 
 "What.?" 
 
 "A Secret Service man — one Rodmond Gibbon — 
 wearing a U. S. Deputy Marshal's badge, was here not 
 fifteen minutes ago. He has an order for your wife's 
 arrest for treason." 
 
 "And you permitted him to execute it.?"- 
 
 "I — I had no other course left open to me." 
 
 "But I have!" I say cheerfully. "I have a free 
 pardon for my wife in my pocket." 
 
 " I'm delighted to hear it ! " says the major, briskly. 
 
 "Just order a squad of cavalry for me," I direct 
 hastily. " Where do they live .? " 
 
 "Not three hundred yards from here. You can see 
 the Secret Service man's and his two assistants' horses 
 in front of it." 
 
 Two minutes after, with Lommox and a cavalry 
 squad clattering behind me, I ride up to the house and 
 dismount. 
 
 It is a little two-story cottage, amid some slight 
 shrubbery and unkept flowers. As I inspect it all 
 seems quiet inside, though two or three negroes are 
 grouped about, looking in curiously. One of them is 
 holding the horses of the three government agents, 
 who are apparently in the house. 
 
 Throwing Roderick's rein to my orderly, I enter the 
 little garden, stride up the path, and rap with my 
 knuckles vipon the door, which is minus a knocker. 
 
 Nobody answers my summons. The door is on a 
 latch ; I hurriedly open it and stride into the little hall. 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 31I 
 
 A voice, sweet and liquid, comes to me from an ad- 
 joining room. It is saying calmly, courageously : "I 
 will go with you, gentlemen. There is no need of 
 using force ; I have no other option." 
 
 My heart jumps to the accents — they are my 
 wife's. 
 
 Then I hear Rod Gibbon's nasal tones, snarling and 
 savage: " By Gol, you played it on me last time at 
 the tavern in Port Tobacco. The jealous wife, eh? — 
 jealous of yourself. By the bones of poor Joe Shook, 
 we'll make the Colonel's heart shriek through you, my 
 beauty. High treason ! They're going to hang one 
 woman in Washington now, and perhaps we'll sling 
 up another. By gum, I think I'll handcuff you." 
 
 But he gets no further, for throwing open the door 
 I see Eve stand, as beautiful as a Venus, as haughty 
 as a Juno, her eyes blazing, her nostrils dilated. 
 Fronting her is my brutal enemy. Behind her is a lady 
 of the old regime, her face white as her hair and draped 
 upon the wall of the room an old Confederate flag. 
 
 Into this group I stride, and say in savage calm- 
 ness : "You cur, don't dare to touch her ! " 
 
 "By gum! The Colonel!" cries Gibbon, starting 
 back; then he chuckles : "I'm glad ye're here, so ye 
 kin squirm as I clap my handcuffs on your wife's 
 wrists ; " adding triumphantly : "It does me good to 
 arrest her under yer very eyes." 
 
 "Put down your hands ! " I command and cover him 
 with my revolver. 
 
 As for Eve, she has made one step towards me and 
 sighed : "Billy ! " then swayed a little ; but stood still, 
 too wise to encumber me with her arms, in case of 
 conflict. 
 
 "By whose order.? " mutters the detective. 
 
 " By mine ! — the General commanding this district !" 
 I answer. "I have a pardon for this lady in my 
 pocket." 
 
 "Great Gosh ! From — from whom ? " 
 
 "From the dead President — Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 "Shucks ! That ain't no good now." 
 
 ' ' Good as his noble soul ; and you know it ! Now 
 get out of here ! " I have given a signal, and the 
 squad, headed by Lommox, has come trooping in. 
 " Hustle this fellow and his followers out ! " I order. 
 
312 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 "If they make any trouble, put them in the guard- 
 house, for disturbing the peace of the district." 
 
 "Curse you!" cries Gibbon; and would spring at 
 me; but Lommox has him by the throat. "Damn 
 you ! You murdered my chum, poor Joe Shook, in 
 Richmond ! I'll have ye yit ! That pardon aint no 
 good unless she takes the oath of allegiance." 
 
 " Take the oath of allegiance ? Never ! " cries Eve, 
 who from a marble statue now becomes an indignant 
 woman with blazing face. 
 
 "Then I as her husband will take it for her!" I 
 proclaim. 
 
 At my words, my wife gives a gasp — looks reproach- 
 fully at me and commences to sway and tremble. 
 
 "That won't work ! She's got to take it personally, 
 and you know it," cries the disappointed Secret Service 
 man, as he is hustled out by Lommox and his 
 squad. 
 
 ' ' Theii she shall ! " I answer. 
 
 And we are alone together — the girl's mother, my 
 wife and I. Standing before them, I fear that I have 
 one of the most difficult contests of my life ; for I am 
 perfectly aware my wife must take the oath personally, 
 to make the pardon of avail ; and she doesn't look like 
 taking the oath now. 
 
 Though she has come to me and kissed me, and put 
 her arms around me and murmured : " My husband !" 
 she has pleaded : " For God's sake, Billy, don't try and 
 make me untrue to my cause — to desert it when its 
 banner is torn down." 
 
 And the mother has said haughtily : " This comes of 
 marrying a Yankee spy." 
 
 "What your daughter and my wife was, Madame — 
 only, on the other side," I answer. Then bowing to 
 Mrs. Ashley, I say : " Mother ! " at which she gives a 
 ghastly laugh, " I beg you to let me settle this matter 
 with my wife." 
 
 Eve's glance seconds my request. 
 
 So the Virginia matron, turning away with a stately 
 air, leaves me with my bride. 
 
 To her I whisper, my soul in my voice : "Loved 
 one, are we to be parted again .? " 
 
 " No, no, Billy ! " " Never again. I — I have been 
 unhappy enough." 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 313 
 
 Sitting down, I draw the blushing girl on my knee. 
 To her I say : ' '■ To be with me, you must do this thing ! 
 Not that they'll hang you. I don't fear that ! " I 
 mutter with a shudder. "But great trouble will come 
 on you and on me, your husband." 
 
 " But, oh, it seems so cowardly ! " She wrings her 
 hands, though her eyes blaze. 
 
 "Eve, shall my visit as a spy to Richmond, when I 
 braved the fate of a military outcast, to gain one look 
 at your dear face, and to obtain your pardon from the 
 Union Government, be nothing ?" I ask sternly. 
 
 " Ah, that was the price they paid you ! " cries the 
 girl. "My safety for the risk of your life. That was 
 why you took the awful risk for me — for me — my hus- 
 band ! " and her teary eyes look gratefully at me. 
 
 ' ' Yes ! Now, is it a living husband or a dead cause ? " 
 I mutter. 
 
 Pressing her to my heart, the throbbing of her bosom 
 tells the struggle in it. For one moment she falters, 
 then says, her voice clear as a bell, with determina- 
 tion : "You — you!" and adds, with sweet docility: 
 "Billy, I'll do what you wish ;" but, sinking on her 
 knees, buries her head in my lap, almost as if 
 ashamed. 
 
 TTien and there, for I believe in taking women in 
 their moods, I administer the formal oath of allegiance 
 to the United States to my wife, she sobbing it out 
 after me. Then rising up slowly, she takes the banner 
 of her dead cause from the wall reverently, and fon- 
 dles it and cries over it, as I saw Lee's veterans do to 
 their battle-flags after he had surrendered. 
 
 I step silently out to let her bury the dead thing she 
 had loved. 
 
 On the porch there is a noise of moving impedi- 
 me7ita. Lommox, with a squad of men, is bringing 
 in not only army rations and provisions, but every 
 luxury in the way of eatables that my thoughtful sec- 
 ond in command has gathered up for my house- 
 keeping ; likewise two trunks, one apparently for- 
 warded from Washington. 
 
 " Bedad, I don't know what to do with this ! " re- 
 marks the sergeant. 
 
 "Take the provisions to the kitchen," I order. **I 
 will arrange for the trunks." 
 
314 BILLY HAMILTON. 
 
 I step back, and opening the little parlor door, my 
 wife's arms close round me, and the Confederate flag 
 has disappeared. 
 
 "Now, darling, you are the wife of a Union geji- 
 eral," I say briskly. "You can do so much good 
 about here. You know your people's necessities. We 
 are their friends now." 
 
 "Yes, Billy, I'll show them how we Yanks" — she 
 shivers as she speaks — "love these poor surrendered 
 Johnnies ! " 
 
 " But here are some trunks," I say. 
 
 "For me?" Eve is out in the hall. "From Lucy 
 Bream ! My clothes ! " she cries, and looking at her 
 plain, home-spun gown, her face grows joyous at the 
 thought of pretty dresses : as what woman's wouldn't 
 who had famished for Paris modes and fashions for two 
 long years. 
 
 " Hump ! But there's another trunk here," I mutter, 
 looking at a small one marked W. F. H. 
 
 "Yours, Billy?" 
 
 "Yes, darling." 
 
 She blushes brightly, then laughs: "I — I'll attend 
 to that." 
 
 A few moments after I hear my wife command : 
 " Lommox, take the General's trunk upstairs and put it 
 beside mine." 
 
 "Faith!" chuckles the Irish sergeant, "that's the 
 place I think he has been wanting to get it the last 
 thrae years. " 
 
 Some little time after the sergeant salutes me, 
 scratches his head, looks curiously at me, and re- 
 marks : " Bless yer lady's swate voice, yer honor, she 
 knows me name is Lommox. She's a beautiful voice 
 that won't go out of my head, and there is a darky 
 sawing wood in the back-yard who knows my name is 
 Lommox, too. His head's about the size of the one 
 that took the wind out of my stomach on G Street. 
 Yer lady's going to take the oath of allegiance, I makes 
 bould to hope, Gineral ? " 
 
 "She has already done it. But why this rigma- 
 role ? " I say severely. 
 
 "Bedad, between ourselves, don't yer think it would 
 have been better for us both if her swate voice had 
 taken the oath of allegiance thrae years ago — before — 
 
BILLY HAMILTON. 315 
 
 before that pontoon affair? " suggests the Irishman rue- 
 fully. 
 
 "Half an hour afterwards, a girl dressed in white 
 muslin, with big ribbon sash and delicate hosiery 
 and slippers, flutters down tome. She cries : "Wasn't 
 Lucy Bream a darling? She not only sent my old 
 clothes, but lots of new ones." Then suggests bash- 
 fully : " How do I look? " 
 
 "Like a bride!" I say; "though I've told you 
 that on two other occasions. This time, however, it 
 goes /" 
 
 "Oh, Bill! " 
 
 " Now come with me. I want to register your oath 
 of allegiance." 
 
 "Must I, publicly, to a Federal officer?" 
 
 " Yes, dear." 
 
 " Very well ! I am going to do everything you 
 say." Her lovely eyes beam on me. She murmurs : 
 " You see I am going to be a very good wife, Billy. I 
 have to — to make up for lost time." 
 
 So, going with me, Eve registers her oath unaffect- 
 edly, yet tearfully, in Uncle Sam's book of repentant 
 Johnnies. 
 
 At the entrance of our home, on our return, I see a 
 stern -looking darky gazing at me. 
 
 "By the Lord Harry, it's Quassie ! " I cry. 
 
 "Yes, sah, and I don't regret saving yo' life, sah, 
 seeing yo've sent us the best rations in the ole Valley 
 of Virginia. Reckon Giner'l Grant won't live no higher 
 to-night than my Sally and me. Dar's gwine to be 
 champagne on yo' wife's table, sah, to-night. Some- 
 thing I haven't heard pop for four years. Praise de 
 Lawd, peace, and plenty hath come upon the land." 
 
 But this effusion is interrupted by a stately lady, 
 who steps out and says: "William, my son, dinner 
 is ready." 
 
 "Mother!" I laugh, and give mamma-in-law a 
 hearty kiss. 
 
 "Billy!" cries Eve, "come upstairs and dress for 
 supper." 
 
 "Which room?" I ask, running after her. 
 
 "Why, ours, of course. " 
 
 FINIS. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 * General Burtiside'' s Testifnony before Committee of Congress : 
 
 On the nights of the nth and 12th of November, after discover- 
 ing my plan fully to them (Generals Halleck and Meigs) there (at 
 Warrenton), they sat down and sent telegrams to Washington 
 which, as I supposed, fully covered the case and would secure the 
 starting of the pontoon trains at once. I could have sent officers of 
 my own to Washington to attend to those matters, and perhaps I 
 made a mistake in not doing so, as General Halleck afterward told 
 me that I ought not to have trusted to them in Washington for the 
 details. 
 
 In reply, General Woodbury telegraphed back, the pontoon train 
 would start on Sunday morning probably, and certainly on Monday 
 morning, which would have been on the i6th and 17th of November, 
 which would have been in time. They did not however start until the 
 20th, and on that day it commenced raining, which delayed them so 
 much, the roads became so bad, that when they came to Dumfries 
 they floated the pontoons off the wagons. We then sent to Wash- 
 ington for a steamer, and carried them down to Aquia Creek by 
 water, sending the wagons round by land. The pontoons did not 
 get here until the 22d or 23d of November. * * * * 
 
 On the 15th of November I started the column down the road to 
 Fredericksburg, not knowing anything about the delay in the start 
 of the pontoons, because the telegram announcing the delay did not 
 reach Warrenton Junction until I had left to come down here with 
 
 the troops. 
 
 ***** 
 
 By Mr. Gooch : Do I understand you to say that it was your un- 
 derstanding that General Halleck and General Meigs, while at your 
 headquarters in Warrenton, and before you commenced the move- 
 ment of your army, sent orders to Washington for the pontoons to be 
 immediately forwarded to Falmouth ? 
 
 Answer : That was my understanding, surely. 
 
 Question: In your judgment, could the pontoons have been for- 
 warded to you in time for you to have crossed the Rappahannock 
 when you expected, if all possible efforts had been made by those 
 charged with that duty ? 
 
 Answer: Yes, sir, if they had received their orders in time. 
 
 Question : Did the non-arrival of these pontoons at the time you 
 expected prevent your crossing when you expected to cross, and in- 
 terfere with the success of your plans ? 
 
 Answer : Yes, sir. 
 
 New York Herald, December 18, 1862. 
 
 " Radicals of the War Department practically superseded Bum- 
 side as they had effectively superseded McClellan, If the army was 
 
 316 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 delayed before Fredericksburg by the non-arrival of pontoons, the 
 radicals were responsible. ... It was the duty of the War Depart- 
 ment to have had the pontoon trains on the bank of the river so 
 that the army might immediately cross." 
 
 From a second editorial of the same paper and same date : 
 
 " It is not the peril of another advance of the ragged armies of 
 Jeff Davis on Washington, nor the danger of foreign intervention ; 
 but it is the danger of the total loss of the confidence of our loyal 
 people in the success of the war under President Lincoln's adminis- 
 tration. . . . Men commanding the confidence of the country must 
 take the places of the blundering fanatics and scheming politicians 
 who distract the counsels of the cabinet, and the places of the in- 
 competent martinets of the War Ofiice. 
 
 In Harper's Weekly of Jany. 3d., 1863, appeared 
 
 The Celebrated Cartoon of Columbia Demanding from 
 Lincoln, Stanton and Halleck her 15,000 Sons Murdered 
 at Fredericksburg. 
 
 Columbia is depicted as standing in indignant denunciation of 
 Lincoln, who is dressed as a Western hoosier, with Stanton and 
 Halleck behind him. 
 
 Columbia : "Where are my 15,000 sons, murdered at Fredericks- 
 burg ? " 
 
 Old Abe : This reminds me of a little joke — " 
 
 Columbia : "Go tell that joke at Springfield." 
 
 This was followed by the Guillotine cartoon attack- 
 ing most violently the President and War Office. 
 
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