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RED ROCK
A CHRONICLE OF RECONSTRUCTION
1
SHE GAVE HIM A KOLLING-P1N AND HE SET TO WORK.
Co
F. L. P.
AN OLD-FASHIONED LADY
PREFACE
The Region where the Grays and Carys lired lies
too far from tlic centres of modern progress to be
laid down on any map that will be accessible. And,
as "lie ic ho maps an undiscovered country may place
7 boundaries he will" it need only be said, tJiat
it lies in the South , somewhere in that vague region
partly in one of the ola Southern States and partly
in the yet vaguer land of Memory. It will be spoken
of in this story, as Dr. Cary, General Legate, and
tlie other people who used to live t lie re in old tunes,
spoke of it, in warm affection, as, "the old County" \
or, "the Red Rock section" or just, "My country, sir" \
It was a goodly lan.d in those old times — a rolling
country, lying at the foot of the blue mountain-spurs,
with forests and fields ; rich meadows filled with fat
watered by streams, sparkling anil bubbling
over rocks, or winding under willows and sycamores,
to where the hills melted away in the low, <//.
lands, where the sea once washed and still left its
memory and its name.
The people of that section were the product of a
•n of which it is the J ^uicadeiys to have
Til
VI 11 PREFACE
only words of condemnation. Every ass that passes
by kicks at the dead lion. It was an Oligarchy, they
say, which ruled and lorded it over all but those
favored ones who belonged to it. But has one ever
known the members of a Democracy to rule so justly ?
If they shone in prosperity, much more they shone in
adversity ; if they bore themselves haughtily in their
day of triumph, they have borne defeat with splendid
fortitude. Their old family seats, with everything
else in the world, were lost to them — their dignity
became grandeur. Their entire system crumbled and
fell about them in ruins — they remained unmoved.
They were subjected to the greatest humiliation of
modern times : their slaves were put over them — they
reconquered their section and preserved the civiliza-
tion of the Anglo-Saxon.
No doubt the phrase " Before the war " is at times
somewhat abused. It is just possible that there is a
certain Caleb Balderstonism in the speech at times.
But for those who knew the old County as it was
then, and can contrast it with what it has become
since, no wonder it seems that even the moonlight was
richer and mellower " before the war ' ' than it is now.
For one thing, the moonlight as well as the sunlight
shines brighter in our youth than in maturer age ;
and gold and gossamer amid the rose-bowers reflect it
better than serge and cr$pe amid myrtles and bays.
The great thing is not to despond even though the
brilliancy be dimmed: in the new glitter one need not
necessarily forget the old radiance. Happily, when
one of the wise men insists that it shall be forgotten,
PREFACE IX
and that we shall be wise also, like him, it tvorks
automatically, and we know that he is one of those
u'ho, as has been said, avoiding the land of romance,
44 have missed tJie title of fool at the cost of a celes-
tial crown."
Why should not Miss Thomasia in her faded dress,
whom you shall meet, tell us, if she pleases, of her
"dear father" and of all her "dear cousins" to the
remotest generation ; and Dr. Gary and General Legaie
quote their grandfathers as oracles, alongside the sages
of Plutarch, and say "Sir" and "Madam" at the
end of their sentences? Antiquated, you say? Provin-
cial / Do you, young lady, observe Miss Thomasia
the next time she enters a room, or addresses a ser-
vant ; and do you, good sir, polished by travel and
tact with the most fashionable — second-class — soc /
of two continents, watch General L< v/ Dr. Gary
when they meet Miss Thomasia, or greet the apple-
woman on the corner, or the wagoner on the road.
What an air suddenly comes in with them of old
Courts and polished halls when all gentlemen bowed
low before all ladies, and wore swords to defend their
iumor. What an odor, as it were, of those gardens
which M'afteau fainted, floats in as tJicy enter / Do
not you attempt it. You cannot do it. You are think-
ing of yourself, they of others and the devoirs they
owe them. You are republican and brought up to
consider yourself "as good as any, and better than
most'' Sound doctrine for the citizen, no doubt ; but
it spoils the bow. Even you, Miss or Madam, for all
your silks and satins, cannot do it like Miss Thomasia.
X PREFACE
are imitating the duchess yon saw once, perhaps,
in Hyde Park. The duchess would have imitated
Miss Thomasia. You are at best an imitation; Miss
Thomasia is the reality. Do not laugh at her, or
call her provincial. She belongs to the realm where
sincerity dwells and the heart still rules — the realm
of old-time courtesy and high breeding, and you are
the real provincial. It is a wide realm, though; and
some day, if Heaven be good to you, you may reach
it. But it must be by the highway of Sincerity and
Truth. No other road leads there.
CONTENTS
CHAFTXB PA8B
I. IN WHICH THERE ARE SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS, . 1
II. IN WHICH Two STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK AND
ARE INVITED TO COME AGAIN 11
III. THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN, AND THEIR FOR-
MER HOSTS GO TO MEET THEM, . . . .33
IV. IN WHICH A LONG JUMP is TAKEN, .... 49
V. DR. CART RETURNS FROM THE WAR, AND TAKES AN
INVENTORY OF STOCK, 56
VI. A BROKEN SOLDIER COMBS HOME PROM WAR, . . 63
VIL THB CABT CONFERENCE, 78
Mil. MR. HIRAM STILL TELLS HOW TO BRIDLE A SHY
HORSE, AND CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN His HOB, 86
IX. MB. JONADAB LEECH TURNS UP WITH A CARPET-BAG
AND OPENS His BUREAU, 06
X. THE PROVOBT MAKES His FIRST MOVB, . . .107
XI. THE PBOVOST CATCHES A TARTAR, AND CAPTAIN MID-
DLETON SEEKS THE CONSOLATIONS OF RELIGION. 11*
CAPTAIN ALLEN TAKES THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
AND JACQUKLIN GRAY LOBES His BUTTONS *
•OMB OLD PAPERS 189
Xii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XIII. STEVE ALLEN LEARNS Miss THOMASIA'S SECRET
AND FORSWEARS CARDS 155
XIV. LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT, . .162
XV. CAPTAIN MIDDLETON HAS A TEST OP PEACE, AND
is ORDERED WEST 175
XVI. THE NEW TROOP MEETS THE ENEMY, . . .186
XVII. JACQUELIN GRAY GOES ON A LONG VOYAGE AND
RED ROCK PASSES OUT OF His HANDS, . . 195
XVIII. LEECH AS A STATESMAN AND DR. GARY AS A COL-
LECTOR OP BILLS, 207
XIX. HIRAM STILL COLLECTS His DEBTS, . . .216
XX. LEECH LOOKS HIGHER AND GETS A FALL, . . 228
XXI. DR. GARY MEETS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE AND
LEARNS THAT THE ATHENIANS ALSO PRACTISE
HOSPITALITY, 241
XXII. JACQUELIN GRAY COMES HOME AND CLAIMS A
GRAVEYARD, 252
XXIII. Two NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY, . 264
XXIV. THE TRAVELLERS ARE ENTERTAINED IN A FARM-
HOUSE, 280
XXV. THE TRICK-DOCTOR, 289
XXVI. MAJOR WELCH AND RUTH BECOME RESIDENTS, . 294
XXVII. HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION AND CAP-
TAIN ALLEN CLIMBS FOR CHERRIES, . . 301
CONTENTS Xiii
CHAPTER PAG»
XXVIII. MRS. WELCH ARRIVES AND GIVES HER FIRST LES-
SON IN ENTERPRISE, 320
XXIX. MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST, . . . 330
XXX. SOME OP THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED, . 347
XXXT. JACQUELIN GRAY LEARNS THAT HE is A FOOL,
AND STEVE ASTONISHES MAJOR WELCH, . 365
XXXII. A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS, . . 885
XXXIII. BLAIR CART SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL, . . . 398
XXXIV. LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE, AND TWO
WOMEN Cm-:' K THKM, -HO
XXXV. CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT AND BREAKS THE
LAW, 423
XXXVI. MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE, AND A BLUFF, 436
XXXVII. IN WHICH IT is SHOWN THAT, IN A TRIAL, COUN-
SEL MAT ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY, . 455
XXXVIII. IN WHICH MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP WPTH
MUCH SUCCESS, 473
JJLili. CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD LEECH
OFKKKKD 500
XL. JACQUELIN GRAY AND ANDY STAMPER PAT AN
OLD DEBT, 518
XLI. DR. CART WRITES A LETTER TO AN OLD FRIEND, 531
XLII. CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS, .... .V28
XLIII. Miss WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS, . . 088
XIV CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAQB
XLIV. MIDDLE-TON REVISITS RED ROCK, AND AN OLD
SOLDIER LAYS DOWN His ARMS, . . .544
XLV. CAPTAIN ALLEN HAS AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR, . 559
XLVI. THE OLD LAWYER DECLINES TO SURPRISE THE
COURT, AND SURPRISES LEECH, . . . 572
XLVII. SOME OP THE THREADS ARE TIED, . . .579
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SHE GAVE HIM A ROLLING-PIN AND HE SET TO WORK,
Frontispiece
PACING
PAGE
AMONG THE COMPANY THAT NIGHT THERE WERE TWO GUESTS
WHO "HAPPENED IN" QUITE UNEXPECTEDLY, . .14
THE GIRLS OF THE PLACE TURNED ASIDE, WHENEVER Till Y
MET THEM, AND PASSED BY WITH THEIR HEADS III ID
II 96
HB CARRIED OFF IN TRIUMPH A PAIR OF OLD HORSE-PISTOLS, . 124
KU KLUX— " AWFUL FORMS WRAPPED LIKE GHOSTS IN WIND-
ING-SHEETS,"
BEFORE HIM STOOD, TALL AND GRAY, THE INDIAN-KILLER, . 262
LET YOU BB RUN AWAY WITH AGAIN UNDER
MY VBRT EYES," HB SAID, :?2S
iTEVB iTRKTCHBD, AND, PICKON UP HIS BOOK, DIVED ONCB
MORB INTO THE " IDYLLS OF THE KINO," . . . 876
ma OAVB A 8TBP FORWARD AND WITH A QUICK MOVBMBNT
PULLED THB MASK FROM HIS FACE 406
SPRUNG TO HIS FRIT IN U5COHTi:<.i i \ I I F. AGITATION,
Htt FACR LIVID 464
AND THRRR, IN THB LITTLE PARLOR, 8TBVB AND RUTH WKRB
RED ROCK
CHAPTER I
IK WHICH THERE ABE SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS
THE old Gray plantation, " Red Rock," lay at the high-
est part of the rich rolling country, before it rose too ab-
ruptly in the wooded foothills of the blue mountains away
to the westward. As everybody in the country knew, who
knew anything, it took its name from the great :
as big as a blanket, which appeared on the huge bowlder
in the grove, beside the family grave-yard, at the far end of
the Red Rock gardens. And as was equally well known, or
equally well believed, which amounted almost to the same
thing, that stain was the blood of the Indian chief who had
slain the wife of the first Jacqnelin Gray who came to this
part of the world : the Jacqueliu who hud built the first
house at Red Rock, around the ; <»f which the pres-
ent mansion was erected, and whose portrait, with it.-
ing eyes and fierce look, hung in a black frame over the
mantel, and used to come down as a warning when an \
impended above the house.
The bereft husband had exacted swift retribution of the
murderer, on that very rock, and the Indian's heart blood
had left that deep stain in the darker granite as a perpet-
ual memorial of the swift vengeance of the Jacquelin Grays,
s at least, was what was asserted and believed by the
old negroes (and, perhaps, by some of the whites, too, a
little). And if the negroes did not know, who did ? So
Jacqueliu often pondered.
I
2 RED ROCK
Steve Allen, who was always a reckless talker, however,
used to say that the stain was nothing but a bit of red sand-
stone which had outcropped at the point where that huge
fragment was broken off, and rolled along by a glacier
thousands of years ago, far to the northward ; but this view
was to the other children's minds clearly untenable ; for
there never could have been any glacier there — glaciers, as
they knew from their geographies, being confined to Swit-
zerland, and the world having been created only six thousand
years ago. The children were well grounded by their
mothers and Miss Thomasia in Bible history. Besides,
there was the picture of the " Indian-killer/' in the black
frame nailed in the wall over the fireplace in the great
hall, and one could not go anywhere in the hall without
his fierce eyes following you with a look so intent and
piercing that Mammy Celia was wont to use it half jest-
ingly as a threat effectual with little Jacquelin when he
was refractory — that if he did not mind, the "Indian-
killer" would see him and come after him. How often
Mammy Celia employed it with Jacquelin, and how severe
she used to be with tall, reckless Steve, because he scoffed
at the story, and to tease her, threatened, with appropriate
gesture, to knock the picture out of the frame, and see what
was in the secret cabinet behind it ! What would have
happened had Steve carried out his threat, Jacquelin, as a
boy, quite trembled to think ; for though he admired Steve,
his cousin, above all other mortals, as any small boy admires
one several years his senior, who can ride wild horses and
do things he cannot do, this would have been to engage in
a contest with something supernatural and not mortal.
Still he used to urge Steve to do it, with a certain fascinat-
ing apprehensiveness that made the chills creep up and
down his back. Besides, it would have been very interest-
ing to know whether the Indian's scalp was still in the hol-
low space behind the picture, and if so, whether it was still
bleeding, and that red stain on the bottom of the frame was
really blood,
SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS S
Jacqnelin Gray — the one who figures in these pages — was
born while his father, and his father's consin, Dr. Gary,
of Bird wood, and Mr. Legaie were in Mexico, winning re-
nown in those battles which helped to establish the security
of the United States. He grew up to be just what most
other boys of his station, stature, and blood, living on a
plantation, under similar conditions, would have been.
He was a hale, hearty boy, who adored his cousin, Steve
Allen, because Steve was older and stronger than he ; de-
spised Blair Gary because she was a girl ; disliked Wash
Still, the overseer's son, partly because Steve sneered at
him, and partly because the negro boys disliked him, and
envied every cart-driver and stable-boy on the place. He
used to drive with string " lines " two or four or six of his
black boon companions, giving them the names of his
father's horses in the stable ; or sometimes, even the names
of those steeds of which his Aunt Thomasia, a famous
story-teller, told him in the hour before the candles were
lighted. But if he drove the black boys in harness, it
was because they let him do it, and not because he was
master. If he possessed any privileges or power, ho
• iii not know it. If anything, he thought the advan-
tage rather on their side than on his, as they could play all
the time, while he had to go to school to his Aunt Tho-
masia, whose bell he thought worse than any curfew ; for
tli.it rang only at night, while Miss Thomasia's bell was
sure to tinkle just at the moment when ho was having the
most beautiful time in the world. How gladly would he
have exchanged places to mind the cows and ride the
horses to the stable, and be free all day long ; and wli. n-
ever he could slip off he was with the boys, emulating
them and being adored by tin -m.
Once, indeed, his mastership appeared. Wash Still.
the overseer's son, who was about Steve's age, used to Imlly
the smaller hoys, and one day when Jocquelin was play-
ing about the blacksmith's shop, Wash, who was wait-
ing for a horse to he shod, twisted the arm of Doan, one
4 RED ROCK
of Jacquelin's sable team, until the boy whimpered.
Jacquelin never knew just how it happened, but a sudden
fulness came over him ; he seized a hatchet lying by, and
made an onslaught on Wash, which came near performing
on that youngster the same operation that Wash's au-
gust namesake performed on the celebrated cherry-tree.
Jacquelin received a tremendous whipping from his father
for his vicious attack ; but his defence saved his sable
companions from any further imposition than his own,
and Wash was shortly sent off by his father to school.
As to learning, Jacquelin was not very apt. It was only
when Blair Gary came over one winter and went to school
to Miss Thomasia — and he was laughed at by everyone,
particularly by Steve, because Blair, a girl several years
younger than he, could read Latin better — that Jacquelin
really tried to study. Though no one knew it, many of
the things that Jacquelin did were done in the hope that
Steve might think well of him ; and whether it was riding
wild colts, with the certainty of being thrown and pos-
sibly hurt; diving into deep pools with the prospect of
being drowned, or doing anything else that he was afraid
to do, it was almost sure that it was done because of
Steve.
With some natures the mere performance of an action is
sufficient reward : that man suffers martyrdom ; this one
does a great act ; another lives a devoted, saint's life, im-
pelled solely from within, and with no other idea than to
perform nobly. But these are rare natures : the Christo-
phers, a Kempises and Theresas of the world. The com-
mon herd must have some more material motive : " wine,
or sleep, or praise." That charge was led because a dark —
or blonde-haired girl was waiting somewhere ; that gate
was blown up because an army was standing by, and a
small cross might be worn on the breast for it ; that poem
was written for Lalage, or Laura, Stella, or Saccharissa.
Even the saint was crowned, because somewhere, in retired
monasteries or in distant cities, deeds were sure to be
SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS 6
known at last. So, now it is a big boy's praise, and later
on a fair girl's favor; now the plaudits of the playground,
and a few years hence salvos of artillery and the thanks
of the people. And who shall say they are not worthy
motives ? \Vo are but men, and only the highest win
even these rewards.
Steve Allen had come to Red Rock before Jacquelin
could remember — the year after Steve's father was killed
in Mexico, leading his company up the heights of Cerro
Gordo, and his mother died of fever far down South. Mr.
Gray had brought the boy home on his mother's death ;
so Steve was part of Red Rock. Everybody spoiled him,
•ularly Miss Thomasia, who made him her especial
charge and was notoriously partial to him, and old Peggy,
Steve's "Momma," as she was called, who had come from
the far South with him, and with her sharp eye
sharper tongue was ready to fight the world for him.
Steve was a tall, brown-haired young fellow, as straight \
as a sapling, and with broad shoulders ; gray eyes that
could smile or Hash ; teeth as white as snow, and a chin
that I>r. Gary used to say he must have got from his
mother. He was as supple as an eel. lie could turn
hack-somersaults like a circus man, and as ho was without
fear, so ho was without reverence. He would ;
Thoma-ia. and play practical jokes on Mr. Gray and Dr.
Gary. To show his contempt for the " Indian- Killer," lie
•10 and spent the night on the bloody rock, and
when the other boys crept in a body to see if ho were really
there, he was found by the little party of scared sear
to be tranquilly asleep on the "Indian-Killer' ^rave.
This and similar acts gained Steve Allen, with some, the
; of being in a sort of compact with the spirit of
darkness, and several of the old negroes on the plantation
began to tell of his wonderful powers, a reputation which
Stove was not slow to improve ; and afterward, many a
strange, unearthly sound, that scared the negroes, and
ghostly in; uhidi \\ • rounds of the plan
6 BED ROCK
tation might possibly have been traced to Steve's fertile
brain.
The only persons on the place who did not get on well
with Steve were Hiram Still, the manager, and his son,
Wash. Between them and Steve there was declared en-
mity, if not open war. Steve treated Hiram with super-
ciliousness, and "Wash with open contempt. The old
negroes — who remembered Steve's father, Captain Allen,
Mr. Gray's cousin, and the dislike between him and Hiram
— said it was " bred in the bone."
At length Steve went off to school to Dr. Maule, at
" The Academy," as it was called, no further designation
being needed to distinguish it, as no other academies could
for a moment have entered into competition with it, and
there was a temporary suspension of the supernatural man-
ifestations on the plantation. Jacquelin missed him sorely
and tried to imitate him in many things ; but he knew it
was a poor imitation, for often he could not help being
afraid, whilst Steve did not know what fear was. Jacque-
lin's knees would shake, and his teeth sometimes chatter,
whilst Steve performed his most dangerous feats with
mantling cheeks and dancing eyes. However, the boy
kept on, and began to do things simply because he was
afraid. One day he read how a great general, named Mar-
shal Turenne, on being laughed at because his knees were
shaking as he mounted his horse to go into battle, replied
that if his knees knew where he was going to take them
that day they would shake still more. This incident helped
Jacquelin mightily, and he took his knees into many dan-
gerous places. In time this had its effect, and as his knees
began to shake less he began to grow more self-confident
and conceited. He began to be very proud of himself, and
to take opportunities to show his superiority over others,
which developed with some rapidity the character existent
somewhere in most persons : the prig.
Blair Gary gave the first, if not the final, shock to this
development.
SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS 7
She was the daughter of Dr. Gary, Mr. Gray's cousin,
who lived a few miles off across the river, at "Birdwood,"
perhaps the next most considerable place to Red Rock in
that section. She was a slim little girl with a rather pale
face, large brown eyes, and hair that was always blowing
into them.
She would have given her eyes, no doubt, to have been
accepted as companion by Jacquelin, who was several years
her senior ; but as that young man was now aspiring to be
comrade to Steve and to Blair's brother, Morris, he rele-
gated Blair to the companionship of his small brother,
Rupert, who was as much younger than Blair as sli
younger than himself, and treated her with sovereign dis-
dain. The first shock he received was when he found how
much better Blair could read Latin than he could, and
how much Steve thought of her on that account. After
that, he actually condescended to play with her occasion-
ally, and, sometimes, even to let her follow him about
the plantation to admire his feats, whilst he tried to
revenge himself on her for her superior scholastic attain-
ments by showing her how much more a boy could do
than a girl. It was all in vain. For, with this taunt for
a spur, she would follow him even to the tops of trees,
or the bottoms of ponds: so he determined to show his
superiority by one final and supreme act. This was to
climb to the roof of the "high barn/' as it was called,
and spring off into the top of a tree which spread its
branches below. He had seen Steve do it, but had never
ventured to try it himself. He had often climbed to the
roof, and had fancied himself performing this feat to
escape from pursuing Indians, but had never really
trm plated doing it in fact, until Blair's persistent emula-
tion, daunted by nothing that he attempted, spurred him
to undertake it. So one day, after some boasting, he
( •limbed to the peak of the roof. His heart beat BO as he
down into the green mass far below him and saw the
patches of brown earth through the leaves, that he wished
8 BED ROCK
he had not been so boastful ; bnt there was Blair behind
him. astride of the roof, her eyes fastened on him with a
somewhat defiant gaze. He thought how Steve would jeer
if he knew he had turned back. So, with a call of derision
to Blair to see what " a man could do," he set his teeth,
shut his eyes, and took the jump, and landed safely below,
among the boughs, his outstretched arms gathering them
in as he sank amidst them, until they stopped his descent
and lie found a limb and climbed down, his heart bump-
ing with excitement and pride. Bhiir, he felt sure, was
at last "stumped." As he sprang to the ground and
looked up he saw a sight which made his heart give a
bigger bound than it had ever done in all his life. There
was little Blair on the very peak of the roof, the very
point of the gable, getting ready to follow him. Her face
was white, her lips were compressed, and her eyes were
opened so wide that he could see them even from where
he was. She was poised like a bird ready to fly.
" Blair ! Blair ! " he cried, waving her back. " Don't !
don't ! " But Blair took no heed. She only settled her-
self for a firmer foothold, and the next second, with out-
stretched arms, she sprang into space. Whether it was
that his cry distracted her, or whether her hair blew into
her eyes and made her miss her step, or whether she would
have misjudged her distance anyhow, instead of reaching
the thickly leaved part where Jacqueliu had landed, she
struck where the boughs were much less thick, and came
crashing through : down, down, from bough to bough,
until she landed on the lowest limb, where she stopped for
a second, and then rolled over and fell in a limp little
bundle on the ground, where she lay quite still. Jacquelin
never forgot the feeling he had at that moment. lie was
sure she was dead, and that he was a murderer. In a sec-
ond he was down on his knees, bending over her.
" Blair, Blair," he cried. "Dear Blair, are you hurt ?"
Bnt there was no answer. And he began to whimper in a
Tery unmanly fashion for one who had been so boastful a
SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS 9
moment before, and to pray, too, which is not so unmanly ;
but his wits were about him, and it came to him quite
clearly that, if she were not dead, the best thing to do WM
to unfasten her neck-band and bathe her face. So off to
the nearest water he put as hard as his legs could take
him, and dipped his handkerchief in the horse-trough, and
then, grabbing up a bucket near by, filled it and ran back
with it. Blair was still motionless and white, but he wiped
her little, scratched face and bathed it again and again.
and, presently, to his inexpressible joy, she sighed and half
opened her eyes anil sighed again, and then, as he was still
asking her how she felt, said, faintly :
" I'm all right— I did it."
In his joy Jacquelin actually kissed her. It seemed to
him afterward to mark an epoch.
next quarter of an hour was passed in getting
Blair's breath back. Fortunately for her, if not for her
dress, her clothes had caught hero and there as she came
crashing through the branches, and though the 1
was knocked out of her, and she was shaken and scratched
-•unned, no bones were broken, and she was not
i-ly hurt after all. She proposed that they should
say nothing about it to anyone : she could get his Mammy
to mend her clothes. But this magnanimous offer Jacqne-
lin firmly declined. He was afraid that Blair might be
hurt some way that she did not know, and he declared
that he should go straight and tell it at the house.
•• I'.,it 1 did it myself," persisted little Blair; "you were
not to blame. You called to me not to do it."
•• 1 >id you hear me call ? Then why did you do it ?"
.iise you had done it and said I could not."
•• I'.ut didn't you know you would get hurt ?"
She nodded.
'• 1 thought 80."
Jacquelin looked at her long and seriously, and that
moment a new idea seemed to him to enter his mind :
: all. it might bo as brave to do a dangerous
10 RED ROCK
tiling which yon are afraid to do, as if you are not at all
afraid.
" Blair, you are a brick/' he said ; " you are braver than
any boy I know — as brave as Steve. As brave as Marshal
Tu re line." Which was sweet enough to Blair to make
amends for all her bruises and scratches.
From that time Jacquelin made up his mind that he
would never try to stump her again, but would guard her,
and this sweetened to him the bitterness of having to confess
when he got to* the house. He did it like a man, going to his
father, of whom, at heart, he was mightily afraid, and tell-
ing him the whole story alone without the least reference
to Blair's part in it, taking the entire blame on himself ;
and it was only after he had received the punishment which
was deemed due him that Blair's joint responsibility was
known from her own lips.
This escapade, however, proved a little too much for
the elders, and Jacquelin was sent off to school, to the
Academy at Brutusville, under the learned Doctor Maule,
where, still emulating Steve, who was the leader in most
of the mischief that went on at that famous institution of
learning, he made more reputation by the way he con-
structed a trap to catch one of the masters, Mr. Eliphalet
Bush, than in construing the ancient language which was
that gentleman's particular department.
CHAPTER II
IN WHICH TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK AND ARE
INVITED TO COME AGAIN
EVERYONE knows what a seething ferment there was
for some time before the great explosion in the beginning
of the Sixties — that strange decade that changed the civ-
ilization of the country. Red Rock, like the rest of the
land, was turned from a haunt of peace into a forum.
Politics were rampant; every meeting was a lyceum ; boys
became orators ; young girls wore partisan badges ; chil-
dren used party-catchwords, which they did not under-
stand— except one thing: that they represented "their
side." There existed an irreconcilable difference bet
the two sections of the country. It could not be crushed.
Hydra-headed, it appeared after every extirpation.
One side held slavery right under the double title of the
Bible and of the Constitution. The leader of the other side
said, "If it was not wrong, then nothing was wrong"; but
• •d that he would not interfere with it.
- Bosh !" said Major Legaie. "That is not a man to
condone what ho thinks wrong. If he is elected, it meang_
id of slavery." And so said many others. Most of
them, rather than yield, were for War. To them War \\as
only an episode : a pageant : a threshold to glory. Dr.
Cary, who was a Whig, was opposed to it : he had seen it,
and he took the stump in opposition to Major Legaie.
" \Ve could whip them with pop-^uns." said tho fire-
eaters. Fordyce Lambly and Hurlhul I'»ail were two of
them.
" lint will they ti-ht with that weapon?" asked Dr.
11
12 RED ROCK
. scornfully. Ho never liked L;unl>ly and Bail ; ho
said they hail no convictions. "A man with convictions
may be wrong ; but you know where to meet him, sir.
never know where to find these men."
"Do you know what War is ?" he said in a speech, in
reply to a secession-speech by Major Legaie. " War is 1 1 it-
most terrible of all disasters, except Dishonor. 1 do not
speak of the dangers. For every brave man must face
danger as it comes, and should court glory ; and death
for one's Country is glorious. I speak merely of the
change that War inevitably brings. War is the destruc-
tion of everything that exists. You may fail or yon may
win, but what exists passes, and something different takes
its place. The plough-share becomes a spear, and the
priming-hook a sword; the poor may become richer, but
the rich must become poorer. You are the wealthiest peo-
ple in the world to-day — not in mere riches, but hi wealth.
You may become the poorest. No people who enter a war
wealthy and content ever come out of war so. I do not
say that this is an unanswerable reason for not going to
war. For war may be right at any cost. But it is not to be
entered on unadvisedly or lightly ; but in the fear of God.
It should not be undertaken from mere enthusiasm ; but
deliberately, with a full recognition of its cost, and reso-
lution to support its possible and direst consequences.-"
When he had ended, Mr. Hurlbut Bail, a speaker from
the city, who had come to the county to stir up the peo-
ple, said :
" Oh ! Dr. Gary is nothing but a Cassandra."
" Did Troy fall or not ? " asked Dr. Cary, calmly.
This, of course, changed no one. In times of high feel-
ing debate only fuses opinions into convictions ; only
fans the flames and makes the fire a conflagration.
When the war came the old Doctor flung in his lot with
his friends, and his gravity, that had grown on him of late,
was lighted up by the old fire ; he took his place and per-
formed his part with kindling eyes and an erecter mien.
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 13
Hurlbut Bail became an editor. This, however, was later
on.
The constantly increasing public ferment and the ever-
enlarging and deepening cloud did not prevent the ordi-
nary course of life from flowing in its accustomed chan-
nels : men planned and performed ; sowed and reaped ;
bought and sold, as in ordinary times. And as in the
period before that other flood, there was marrying and
giving in marriage ; so now, with the cloud ever mount-
ing up the sky, men loved and married, and made their
homes as the birds paired and built their nests.
Among those who builded in that period in the Red
Hock district were a young couple, both of them cousins
in some degree of nearly every gentle family in the county,
including the Grays and Carys. And after the blessing by
nl'l .Mr. Langstaff, at St. Ann's, amid the roses and smiles
of the whole neighborhood, they spent their honeymoon,
as the custom was then, in being entertained from house
to house, through the neighborhood. In this round of
gayety they came in due order to Red Rock, whi
tertaiiimcnt was perhaps to be the greatest of all. The
amount of preparation was almost nnpr< !, and the
gentry of the whole county were invited and expected.
As it was a notable occasion and near the holidays, Jae<pie-
lin was permitted to come home from Dr. Maule's on the
joint application of his mother, his Aunt Thomasia, and
Blair Cary ; and Blair was allowed to come over with her
mother and father and spend the night, and was promised
to be allowed to sit up as late as she pleased — a privilege
i he lightly esteemed.
re Allen, with a faint mustache curled above his
smiling mouth, was home from the University, and so
were Morris Gary and the other young fellows ; and the
office in the yard, blue with tobacco-smoke, was as full of
young men and pipes and dogs, as the upstairs chambers in
the mansion were of young girls and ribbons and muslin.
What a heaven that outer office was to Jacqueliu, and
14 RED BOCK
what an angel Steve was to call him "Kid" and let him
adore him !
Among the company that night there were two guests
who "happened in '•'quite unexpectedly, but who were
'•all the more welcome on that account," the host said
graciously in greeting them. They were two gentlemen
from quite another part of the country, or, perhaps, those
resident there would have said, of the world ; as they came
from the North. They had come South on business con-
nected with a sort of traditionary claim to mineral lands
lying somewhere in the range of mountains which could
be seen from the Red Rock plantation. At least, Mr.
Welch, the elder of the two, came on that errand. The
younger, Mr. Lawrence Middleton, came simply for pleas-
ure, and because Mr. Welch, his cousin, had invited him.
He had just spoiled his career at college by engaging, with
his chum and crony, Aurelius Thurston, in the awful crime
of painting the President's gray horse a brilliant red, and
being caught at it. He was suspended for this prank, and
now was spending his time, literally rusticating, seeing a
little of the world, while he made up his mind whether he
should study Law and accept his cousin's offer to go into
his office, or whether he should engage in a manufacturing
business which his family owned. His preference was
rather for the latter, which was now being managed by a
man named Bolter, who had made it very successful ; but
Reely Thurston intended to be a lawyer, and wanted Law-
rence to go in with him ; so he was taking time to consider.
This visit South had inclined him to the law.
Mr. Welch and Middleton had concluded their business
in the mountains : finding the lands they were seeking to
lit- partly in the clouds and partly in the possession of
those whom they had always heard spoken of as "squat-
ters ; " but now found to be a population who had been
there since before the Revolution, and had built villages
and towns. They were now returning home and were
making their way back toward the railroad, half a day's
AMONG THE COMPANY THAT NIGHT THERE WERE TWO GUESTS WHO
•HAPPENED IN" QUITE UNEXPECTEDLY.
TWO STi: ANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 15
journey farther on. They had expected to reach ISrutus-
ville, tlie county scat, that night; but a rain the day
before had washed away the bridges, and compelled them
to take a circuitous route by a ford higher up the river.
There, not knowing the ford, they had almost been swept
away, and would certainly have lost their vehicle but for
the timely appearance of a young countryman, who hap-
pened to come along on his way home from a political
gathering somewhere.
Their deliverer: a certain Mr. Andy Stamper, was so
small that at a distance he looked like a boy, but on nearer
view he niiirht have been anywhere from twenty or twenty-
five to thirty, and he proved extraordinarily active and
efficient. He swam in and helped Middleton get their
boggy out of the river, and then amused Mr. Welch very
much and incensed Middleton by his comments, lie had
just been to a political meeting at the Court House, he
said, where he had heard " the finest speech that ever was
made," fn»m Major Leslie. " lie gave the Yan!
and he " just wished he could get every Yankee in that
river and drown 'em — every dog-goned one I" This as he
was working up to his neck in wai
Mr. Welch could not help laughing at the look on Mid-
'ii's ruddy face.
"Now, where'd you find a Yankee'd go in that ri\vr
ie an' you — or could do it, for that matter?" the
fellow asked of Middleton, confidentially.
" U'o are Yankees," blurted out Middleton, hotly.
••And a plenty of them would." His eye flashed as he
turned to his rescuer.
little countryman's eyea opened wide, and his jaw
•• \\YI1. I'm (lurncd !" he said, slowly, staring in open
shment, and Middleton began to look gratified at
mpressioii he had made.
• You know the tirst I ever seen as wan't
ashamed to own it. Why, yon looks most like we all !"
16 RED ROCK
Middleton flushed; but little Stamper looked so sin
cerely ingenuous that he suddenly burst out laughing.
After that they became very friendly, and the travt'lh-is
learned imu-h of the glories of the Grays and Carys, and
of the charms of a certain Miss Delia Dove, who, Stampei
declared, was as pretty as any young lady that went to the
Brick Church. Stamper offered to guide them, but as lie
refused to take any money for what he had done, and us
he said he was going to see Miss Delia Dove and could
take a nearer cut through the woods to his home, Mr.
Welch declined to accept his offer, and contented himself
with getting him to draw a map of the roads from that
point to the county seat.
"All you've got to do is to follow that map: keep the
main plain road and you can't get out ; but I advise you
to turn in at the first plantation you come to. If you go
to Red Rock you'll have a good time. They're givin' a
party thar to-night. Major Legaie, he left the meetin'
to go thar."
He disappeared at a gallop down a bridle-path through
the woods.
Notwithstanding the young countryman's assurances
and map, the two strangers had gotten " out." The
plantations were large in that section and the roads lead-
ing off to them from the highway, in the dark were all
alike, so that when night fell the two travellers were in
a serious dilemma. They at length came to a gate and
were just considering turning in at it when a carriage
drove up in front of them. A horseman who had been
riding behind the vehicle came forward at a trot, calling
out that he would open the gate.
"I thought you fellows would ha,ve been there hours
ago," he said familiarly to the two strangers as he passed,
evidently mistaking them in the dusk for some of his
friends. " A laggard in love is a dastard in war."
The rest of his speech was lost in the click of the gate-
latch and his apostrophe to his horse. When he found
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 17
that Mr. Welch was a stranger, he changed instantly.
tone became graver and more gracious.
" I beg your pardon, sir. I thought from your vehicle
that you were some of these effeminate youngsters who
have given up the saddle for that new four-wheeled con-
trivance, and are ruining both our strains of horses and of
men/'
Mr. Welch asked if he knew where they could find a
night's lodging.
" Why, at every house in the State, sir, I hope," said
Dr. Gary ; for it was he. " Certainly, at the nearest one.
Drive right in. We are going to our cousins', and they
will be delighted to have you. You are just in good time ;
for there is to be quite a company there to-night." And
refusing to listen for a moment to Mr. Welch's suggestion
that it illicit not be convenient to have strangers, Dr. Cary
held the gate open for them to pass through.
•• 1 )rive in, sir/' he said, in a tone of gracious command.
" I never heard of its being inconvenient to have a gi
and in they drove.
"A gentleman by his voice," the travellers heard him
explaining ft little later into the window of the carriairr
In-hind them. And then lie added, * My only doubt was
vehicle."
After a half-mile drive through the woods they entered
the open iields, and from a hill afar <»IT, <>n top of which
sh'Mie a house lit till it gleamed like a cluster of brill-
iants, a chorus of dogs sent them an incjnirini: .irnrtin.ir.
They passed through a wide ^ate, and ascended a strep
hill through a grove, and Middleton's heart sank at the
id- a of facing an invited company, with a wardrobe that
had been under water within the last two hours. Instant-
ly they were in a group of welcomera, gentlemen, ser-
vants, and dogs; negro boys running; dogs frisking and
yelping and young men laughing about the door of the
newly arrived carriage. While through it all sounded the
placid voice of Dr. Cary reassuring the visitors and in-
8
18 BED ROCK
viting them in. He brought the host to them, and pre-
sented them :
4 • My friends, Mr. Welch and young Mr. Middleton —
my cousin and friend, Mr. Gray." It was his customary
formula in introducing. All men were his friends. And
Mr. Welch shortly observed how his manner changed when-
ever he addressed a lady or a stranger : to one he was al-
ways a courtier, to the other always a host.
As they were ushered into the hall, Middleton's blue
eyes glistened and opened wide at the scene before him.
He found himself facing several score of people clustered
about in one of the handsomest halls he ever saw, some of
whom he took in at the first glance to be remarkably
pretty girls in white and pink, and all with their eyes,
filled with curiosity, bent on the new comers. If Middle-
ton's ruddiness increased tenfold under these glances, it
was only what any other young man's would have done
under similar circumstances, and it was not until he had
been led off under convoy of a tall and very solemn old
servant in a blue coat with brass buttons, and shown into
a large room with mahogany furniture and a bed so high
that it had a set of steps beside it, that he was able to col-
iect his ideas, and recall some of those to whom he had
been introduced. What a terrible fix it was for a fellow
to be in 1 He opened his portmanteau and turned to his
cousin in despair.
"Isn't this a mess?"
"What?"
" This ! I can never go out there. All those girls !
Just look at these clothes ! Everything dripping !— some
of them awfully pretty, too. That one with the dark
eyes ! " lie was down on his knees, raking in his port-
manteau, and dragging the soaking garments out one by
one. " Now, look at that."
" You need not go out. I'll make your excuses. '
"What 1 Of course I'm go-
Just then there was a knock at the door.
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK Itf
" Come in." Middleton finished his sentence.
The door opened slowly and the old servant entered,
bearing with a solemnity that amounted almost to rever-
ence, a waiter with decanters and an array of glasses and
bowls. He was followed by the young boy who had been
introduced as their host's son.
" My father understood that you had a little accident at
the river, and he wishes to know if he cannot lend you
something," said Jacquelin.
Mr. Welch spoke first, his eyes twinkling as he glanced
at his cousin, who stood a picture of indecision and bewil-
derment.
•'• \Vhy yes, my cousin, Mr. Middleton here, would be
greatly obliged, I think. He is a little particular about first
impressions, and the presence of so many charming "
Middleton protested.
14 \Vliy, certainly, sir," Jacquelin began, then turned to
Middleton — " Steve's would fit you — Steve's my cousin —
he's at the University—he's just six feet Wait, sir "
And before they could stop him, he was gone, and a few
minutes later tapped on the door, with his arms full of
clothes.
" Uncle Daniel's as slow as a steer, so I fetched 'em my-
self," he panted, with boyish impatience, as he dropped
the clothes partly on a sofa and partly on the floor.
" Aunt Thomasia was afraid you'd catch cold, so she made
me bring these flannels. She always is afraid you'll catch
cold. Steve told her if you'd take a good swig out of a
bottle 'twould be worth all the flannel in the State —
Steve's always teasing her." With a boy's friendliness he
had established himself now as tin visitors' ally.
•• I'm glad you came to-night. We're going to h:»ve
lots of fun. Were you at the speaking to-day ? They say
the Major made the finest speech ever was heard. Some
say he's better than Calhoun ever was ; just gave the Y.-m-
kees the mischief ! I wish they'd come down here and try
us once, don't you ? "
20 RED ROCK
Mr. Welch glanced amusedly at Middleton, whose face
changed ; but fortunately the boy was too much inter-
ested in the suit Middleton had just put on to notice the
effect.
" I thought Steve's would fit you/' he said, with that
proud satisfaction in his judgment being verified which
characterizes the age of thirteen, and some other ages as
well.
" Steve's nineteen, and he's six feet ! — You are six feet
too ? I thought you were about that. I hope I'll be six
feet. I like that height, don't you ? Steve's at the Uni-
versity, but he don't study much, I reckon. Are you at
college ? — Where ? Oh 1 I know. I had a cousin who
went there. He and two or three other Southern fellows
laid outside of the hall for one of those abolition chaps
who was making a speech, to cut his ears off when he came
out, and they'd have done it if he had come out that way.
I reckon it's a good college, but I'm going to the Univer-
sity when I'm sixteen. I'm thirteen now — You thought I
was older ? I wanted to go to West Point, but my father
won't let me. Maybe, Rupert will go there. I go to
school at the Academy — Doctor Maule's — everybody knows
about him. I tell you, he knows a lot.— You have left col-
lege ? Was it too hot for you ? Were you after some-
body's ears too ? What ! painted the President's horse
red ! Oh ! wasn't that a good one ! I wish I'd been there.
I'll tell Steve and Blair about that. Steve put a cow up
in the Rotunda once. The worst thing I ever did was
making Blair jump off the high barn. I don't count
flinging old Eliphalet Bush in the creek, because I believe
his teeth were false anyhow I But I'll remember painting
that horse. I reckon he was an abolitionist too ? "
So the boy rattled on, his guests drawing him out for the
pleasure of seeing him.
" What State are you from ? Maybe, we are cousins ?"
he said presently, giving the best evidence of his friendli-
ness.
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RKD ROCK 21
14 What ! Mass — a — ! I beg your pardon."
II>- looked so confused that both Mr. Welch and Middle-
ton took some pains to sooth him.
" Yes, of course I was not talking about you ; but I
wouldn't have said anything about Massachusetts if I had
known you came from there. I wouldn't like anybody to
say anything about my State. You won't mind what I
said, will you ? I think Massachusetts the best of the
Northern States — anyhow " And he left them, his
ks still glowing from embarrassment.
This apology, sincerely given, with a certain stress on the
word Northern, amused Mr. Welch, and even Middleton, to
whom it presented, however, an entirely new view.
"Aren't they funny?" asked Middleton of his cousin,
after their young host had left them. " You know I be-
lieve they really think it."
"Larry, you have understated it. They think they
know it."
Jacquelin employed the few moments, in which ho pre-
ceded the visitors to the hall, in telling all he had learned,
and when Mr. Welch and Mitltlleton appeared they found
t in HI. selves in the position of the most distinguished guests.
•'act that they came from the North, and .Taequelin's
account of his mistake, had increased the desire to show
them honor. " The hospitality of the South knows no hiti-
" said Dr. D concluding a gracious half apology
to Mr. Welch f or Jacquel in's error ; and he proceeded deftly
me over a list of great men from Massachusetts, and to
link their names with those of the men of the South whom
she most delighted to honor. His dearest friend at col-
lege, he said, was from New England, and unless ho was
mistaken, Anson Rock field would one day bo heanl of,
Nothing could have been more gracious or more delicately
done ; and when supper was announced, Mr. Welch was
the table by the hostess herself, and his health
was drunk hcfore the groom's. Middleton meanwhile,
found himself no less honored. The artistic feat performed
22 RED ROCK
on the President's horse had made him a noted personage,
and in consequence of this and of the freemasonry which
exists among young college-men, he was soon surrounded
by all the younger portion of the company, and was ex-
changing views with Steve Allen and the other young
fellows with that exaggerated man-of-the-world air which
characterizes the age and occupation of collegians.
" Where is Blair ?" he asked Jacquelin, presently, who
was standing by Steve, open-eyed, drinking in their wis-
dom as only a boy of thirteen can drink in the sapience of
men of nineteen or twenty.
"Over there." Jacquelin nodded toward another part
of the hall. Middleton looked, but all he saw was a little
girl sitting behind a big chair, evidently trying to conceal
herself, and shaking her head violently at Jacquelin, who
was beckoning to her. Jacquelin ran over to her and
caught her by the hand, whereupon there was a little
scuffle between them behind the chair, and as Middleton
watched it he caught her eye. The next second she
rose, smoothed her little white frock with quite an air,
and came straight across with Jacquelin to where they
stood. "This is Blair, Mr. Middleton," the boy said
to the astonished guest. And Miss Blair held out her
hand to him with an odd mixture of the child and the
lady.
" How do you do, sir ? " She evidently considered him
one of the ancients.
" She jump off a high barn 1 " Middleton's eyes opened
wide.
"Blair is the champion jumper of the family/' said
Steve, tall and condescending, catching hold of her half-
teasingly, and drawing her up close to him.
"And she is a brick/' added Master Jacquelin, with
mingled condescension and admiration, which brought the
blushes back to the little girl's cheeks and made her look
very charming. The next moment she was talking to
Middleton about the episode of the painted horse ; ex-
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 23
changing adventures with him, and asking him questions
about his chum, Reely Thurston and his cousin, Ruth
Welch, whom he had mentioned, as if she had known him
always.
It was a night that Middleton never forgot. So com-
pletely was he adopted by his hosts that he could scarcely
believe that he had not been one of them all his life. As
Mr. Welch said truly: they had the gift of hospitality.
Jacquelin and Blair constituted themselves young Middle-
ton's especial hosts, and he made an engagement to visit
with them all the points which they wished to show him,
provided his cousin could accept their invitation to spend
several days there.
In the midst of their talk an old mammy in a white
apron, with a tall bandanna tnrban around her head,
suddenly appeared in a doorway, and dropping a curtsey
made her way over to Blair, like a ship bearing dov/n un-
der full sail. There was a colloquy between the two, in-
audible, but none the less animated and interesting, the
old woman urging something and the little girl arguing
against it. Then Blair went across and appealed to her
mother, who, after a little demurring, came over and spoke
to the mammy, and thereon began further argument.
She was evidently taking Blair's side ; but she was not
commanding, she was rather pleading. Middleton, new to
the customs, was equally surprised and amused to hear tin-
tones of the old colored woman's voice :
•• \\V1I, jiat a little while." Then as she turned on her
way oat, she said, half audibly :
"You all gwine ruin my chile* looks, meek in' her set
up so late. How she gwine have any complexion, settin'
u p all t i mes o* night?" As she passed out, however, many
of the ladies spoke to her, and they must have said pleas-
ant things ; for before she reached the door she was
smiling and curtseying right and left, and carried her
head as high as a princess. As for Blair, her eyes were
dancing with joy at her victory, and when the plump
24 RED ROCK
figure of the mammy disappeared she gave a little frisk of
delight
There were no more speeches that could wound the sen-
sibilities of the guests ; but there was plenty of discus-
sion. All the young men were ardent politicians, and
Mitldleton, who was nothing himself, was partly amused
and partly horrified at the violence of some of their senti-
ments. Personally, he agreed with them in the main
about Slavery or, at least, about Abolitionism. He
thought Slavery rather a fine thing, and recalled that his
grandfather or his great-grandfather, he couldn't be cer-
tain which, had owned a number of slaves. He was con-
scious of some pride in this — though his cousin, Patience
Welch, who was an extreme abolitionist, was always be-
moaning the fact.
But he was thunderstruck to hear a young orator of six-
teen or seventeen declaim about breaking up the Union,
under certain circumstances, as if it were a worthless old
hulk, stuck in the mud. It had never occurred to Mid-
dleton that it was possible, and he had always understood
that it was not. However, he was reassured by the warmth
with which others defended the Union, and the ardor with
which toasts were drunk to it. Jacquelin himself was a
stanch Democrat, like his father. He confided to Mid-
dleton that Blair was a Whig, because her father was one ;
but that a girl did not know any better, and that she
really did not know the difference between them.
The entertainment consisted of dancing — quadrilles and
" the Lancers," and after awhile, the old Virginia reel.
In the first, all the young people joined, and in the last,
some of the old ones as well. Middleton heard Steve
urging their host's sister, Miss Gray — " Cousin Thomasia "
as Steve called her — a sweet patrician-faced lady, to come
and dance with him, and when she smilingly refused, teas-
iiiLT her about Major Legaie. She gave him a little tap
with her fan and sent him off with smiling eyes, which,
after following the handsome boy across the hall, sad-
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 26
dened a second later as she lifted the fan close to her face
to arrange the feathers. Steve mischievously whisked
Blair off from under Jacquelin's nose and took her to the
far end of the line of laughing girls ranged across the
hall, responding to Jacqueliu's earnest protest that he was
just going to dance with her himself, with a push — that
unanswerable logic of a bigger boy.
" But you did not ask me ! " said Miss Blair to Jacque-
lin, readily taking the stronger side against her sworn
friend.
"Never mind, I'm not going to dance with you any
more/' pouted Jacquelin as he turned off, his head higher
than usual, to which Miss Blair promptly replied: "I
don't care if yon don't" And she held her head higher
than his, dancing through her reel apparently with double
enjoyment because of his discomfiture. Then when the
reel had been danced again and again, with double couples
and fours, to ever-quickening music and ever-increasing
mirth, until it was a maze of muslin and radiance and
laughter, there was a pause for rest. And someone
the piano struck up a song, and this drew the crowd.
Many of the girls, and some of the young men, had pleas-
ant voices, which made up by their natural sweetness and
simplicity for want of training, and the choruses drew
all the young people, except a few who seemed to find
essary to seek something — fans or glasses of water,
in the most secluded and unlikely corners, and always in
plea.
'1 here was one song — a new one which had just been
picked up somewhere by someone and brought there, and
they were all trying to recall it — about " Dixie-land." It
seemed that Blair sang it, and there was a universal re-
quest for her to sin^ it ; hut the little girl was shy and
d to run away. Finally, however, she was brought
back and, under coaxing from Steve and Jacquelin, was
persuud.-d ; and she stood up by the piano and with her
cheeks glowing and her child's-voice quavering at first ai
26 RED ROCK
the prominence given her, sang it through. Middleton
had heard the song once at a minstrel-show not long be-
fore, and had thought it rather a " catchy " thing ; but
now, when the child sang it, lie found its melody. But
when the chorus came, he was astonished at the feeling it
evoked. It ran :
•* Away down south in Dixie, away, away —
In Dixie land, I'll take my stand,
To live and die for Dixie land-
Away, away, away down south in Dixie."
It was a burst of genuine feeling, universal, enthusiastic,
that made the old walls resound. Even the young couples
came from their secluded coverts to join in. It was so
tremendous that Dr. Gary, who was standing near Mr.
Welch, said to him, gravely :
" A gleam of the current that is dammed up ? "
" If the bank ever breaks what will happen ? " asked
Mr. Welch.
" A flood."
" Then the right will survive/'
" The strongest," said Dr. Gary.
The guest saw that there was deep feeling whenever any
political subject was touched on, and he turned to a less
dangerous theme. The walls of the hall and drawing-room
were covered with pictures ; scenes from the Mythology ;
battle-pieces ; old portraits : all hung together in a sort of
friendly confusion. The portraits were nearly all in rich-
colored dresses: men in velvets or uniforms, ladies in satins
and crinolines, representing the fashions and faces of
many generations of Jacquelin-Grays. But one, the
most striking figure of them all, stood alone to itself in a
space just over the great fireplace. He was a man still
young, clad in a hunter's garb. A dark rock loomed be-
hind him. His rifle lay at his feet, apparently broken,
and his face wore an expression of such determination that
one knew at once that, whatever he had been, he had been
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 27
a master. The other paintings were portraits ; this was
tlit- man. To add to its distinction, while the other pict-
ures were in frames richly gilded and carved, this was in
straight black boards apparently built into the wall, as if
it had been meant to stand him there and cut him off from
all the rest of the world. Wherever one turned in the
hall those piercing eyes followed him. Mr. Welch had
been for some time observing the picture.
"An extraordinary picture. It has a singular fascina-
tion for me," he said, as his host turned to him. " One
might almost fancy it allegorical, and yet, it is intensely
human. An indubitable portrait ? I never saw a stronger
face."
His host smiled.
" Yes. It has a somewhat curious history, though
whether it is exactly a portrait or not we do not know. It
is, or is supposed to be, the portrait of an ancestor of mine,
the first of my name who came to this country. He had
been unfortunate on the other side — so the story goes— was
a scholar, and had been a soldier under Cromwell and lost
all his property. He fell in love with a young lady whose
father was on the King's side, and married her against
her parents' wishes and came over here. He built a house
on this very spot when it was the frontier, and his wife
was afterward murdered by the Indians, leaving him one
child. It is said that he killed the Indian with his naked
hands just beside a great rock that stands in the grave-
yard beyond the garden, a short distance from the house.
He afterward had that picture painted and placed there.
It is reported to be a Lely. It has always been recogni/e<l
as a fine picture, and in all the successive changes it has
IH en left there. This present house was built around the
fireplace of the old one. In this way a story has grown up
about the picture, that it is connected with the fortunes
of the house. You know how superstitious the negroes
• 1 am not surprised," said Mr. Welch, examining the
28 BED ROCK
picture more closely. " I never saw a lonelier man. That
blai'k frame shutting it in seems to have something to do
with the effect."
" The tradition has possibly had a good effect. There
used to be a recess behind it that was used as a cupboard,
perhaps a secret cabinet, because of this very superstition.
The picture fell down once a few years ago and I found a
number of old papers in there, and put some more in my-
self.
" Here, you can see the paint on the frame, where it
fell. It was in the early summer, and one of the servants
was just painting the hearth red, and a sudden gust of
wind slammed a door and jarred the picture down, and it
fell, getting that paint on it. You never saw anyone so
frightened as that boy was. And I think my overseer was
also," he laughed. "He happened to be present, settling
up some matters with which I had entrusted him in the
South, and although he is a remarkably sensible man — so
sensible that I had given him my bonds for a very consid-
erable amount — one for a very large amount, indeed, in
case he should need them in the matter I refer to, and he
had managed the affair with the greatest shrewdness, bring-
ing my bond1* back — he was as much frightened almost as
the boy. You'd have thought that the fall of the pict-
ure portended my immediate death. I took advantage
of the circumstance to put the papers in the cupboard,
and, to ease his mind, made Still nail the picture up,
so that it will never come down again, at least, in my life-
time."
" I had no idea the whites were so superstitious," said
Major Welch.
" Well, I do not suppose he really believed it. But, do
you know, after that they began to say that stain on it was
blood ? And here again."
He pointed to where three or four little foot-tracks, as
of a child's bare foot, were dimly seen on the hard white
floor near the hearth.
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 29
" My little boy, Rupert, was playing in the hall at the
time I mention, dabbling his feet in the paint, and the
same wind that blew down the picture scattered my
papers, and he ran across the floor and finally stepped
on one. There, you can see just where he caught it :
the little heel is there, and the print of the toes is on
the bond behind the picture. His mother would never
allow the prints to be scoured out, and so they have re-
mained. And now, I understand, they say the tracks are
blood."
" On such slim evidence, perhaps other and weightier
superstitions have been built," said Mr. Welch, smiling.
Next morning, as Mr. Welch wished to see a Southern
plantation, he deferred his departure until the afternoon,
and rode over the place with Mr. Gray. Middleton was
taken by his young hosts to see all the things of interest
about the plantation: the high barn from which Blair
had jumped into the tree, the bloody rock beside which
the "Indian-Killer" had been buried, and the very spot
where Steve had slept that night; together with many
other points, whilst Mr. Welch was taken to see the ser-
vants' quarters, the hands working and singing in the
fields, and such things as interested him. The plan-
tation surpassed any he had yet seen. It was a little world
in itself — a sort of feudal domain : the great house on its
lofty hill, surrounded by gardens; the broad lields stretdi-
ing away in every direction, with waving grain or green
pastures dotted with sheep and cattle, and all shut in and
bounded by the distant woods.
During this tour Mr. Langstaff, the rector, made to
Mr. Welch an observation that he thought there were evi-
dences that the Garden of Eden was situated not far from
that spot, and certainly within the limits of the State.
Major Welch smiled at the old clergyman's ingenuous-
ness, but was graver when, as they strolled through the
negro quarters, he began to speak earnestly of the bless-
ings of Slavery. He pointed out the clean cabins, each
30 RED ROCK
gurrounded by its little yard and with its garden ; the
laughing children and smiling mothers curtseying from
their doors. The guest remained silent, and the old gen-
tleman took it for assent.
" Why, sir, I have just prepared a paper which my
friends think establishes incontrovertibly that Slavery is
based on the Scriptures, and is, as it were, a divine insti-
tution." Mr. Welch looked up to see how the other gen-
tlemen took this. They were all grave, except Dr. Gary,
usually the gravest, around whose mouth a slight smile
flickered, and in whose eyes, as they met Major Welch's,
there was a little gleam of amusement.
" It is written, ( A servant of servants shall he be/ You
will not deny that ?" asked the old preacher, a little of
the smouldering fire of the controversialist sparkling for
a moment in his face.
"Well, no, I don't think I will."
"Then that settles it."
"Well, perhaps not altogether," said Mr. Welch.
" There may be an economical sin. But I do not wish to
engage in a polemical controversy. I will only say that down
here you do not seem to me to appreciate fully how strong
the feeling of the world at present is against Slavery. It
seems to me, that Slavery is doomed as much as the Stage-
coach, and the Sailing vessel."
" My dear sir," declared Mr. Gray, " I cannot agree
with you. We interfere with nobody ; all we demand is
that they shall not interfere with us."
"It is precisely that which you cannot enforce," said
Mr. Welch. " I do not wish to engage in a discussion in
which neither of us could convince the other ; but I think
I have not defined my position intelligibly. You interfere
with everyone — with every nation — and you are only ten-
ants at will of your system — only tenants by sufferance of
the world."
" Oh ! my dear sir 1 " exclaimed his host, his face
slightly flushed ; and then the subject was politely changed,
TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK 31
and Mr. Welch was conscious that it was not to be opened
•gain.
The only additional observation made was by a gentle-
man who had been introduced to Mr. Welch as the leading
lawyer of the county, a portly man with a round face and
keen eyes. " Well, as George IV. remarked, it will last my
time," he said.
Before the young people had seen half the interesting
places of which Jacquelin had told Middleton, they were
recalled to the house. Jacquelin's face fell.
" School ! " he said in disgust.
As they returned on a road leading up to a farmhouse
on a hill, they passed a somewhat rickety buggy containing
a plain-looking young girl, a little older than Blair, driven
by a thin-shouldered youngster of eighteen or nineteen, who
returned Jacquelin's and Blair's greeting, with a surly air.
Middleton thought he checked the girl for her pleasant
bow. At any rate, he heard his voice in a cross tone, scold-
ing her after they had passed.
" That's Washy Still and Virgy, the overseer's children,"
explained someone.
"And he's just as mean to her as he can be. She's
afraid of him. I'll be bound I wouldn't be afraid of him I "
broke out Blair, her eyes growing suddenly sparkling at
the idoa of wrong to one of her sex. Middleton looked
down at her glowing face and thought it unlikely.
On arrival at the house it proved that Jacquelin's fears
were well-founded. It had been decided that he must go
back to school. Jacquelin appealed to his Aunt Tho-
masia to intercede for him, and she did so, as she always
interceded for everyone, but it was in vain. It was an age
of law, and the law had to be obeyed.
As Middleton was passing from the room he occupied, to
the hall, he came on. Blair. She was seated in a window,
almost behind the curtain and he would have passed by
without seeing her but for a movement she made to
sere 311 ho rself entirely. Curiosity and mischief prompted
82 BED ROCK
'Hing man to go up and peep at her. She hail a,
book in her hand, which she held dowii as if to keep out
of sight, and as he looked at her he thought she had been
crying. A glance at the book showed it was " Virgil," and
Middleton supposed, from some personal experience, that
the tears were connected -with the book. So he offered to
construe her lesson for her. She let him do it, and he was
just congratulating himself that he was doing it toler-
ably well when she corrected him. At the same moment
Jacquelin came in. lie too looked unusually downcast,
and Blair turned away her face, and then suddenly sprang
up and ran away.
" What's the matter ? " asked Middleton. " Can't she
read her lesson ? "
"No : she can read that well enough. You just ought
to hear her read Latin. I wish I could do it as well as
she does, that's all ! I'd make old Eliphalet open his
eyes. She's crying because I've got to go back to school
— I wish I were grown up, I bet I wouldn't go to school
any more ! I hate school, and I hate old Eliphalet, and
I hate old Maule — no, I don't quite hate him ; but I hate
school and I'm going to paint his horse blue, if he licks
the life out of me." After which explosion the young-
ster appeared relieved, and went off to prepare for the
inevitable.
When he rode away with Doan behind him, his last call
back was to Middleton, to be sure and remember his
promise to come back again, and to bring Beely Thurstor
with him.
CHAPTER III
SHE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN; AND THEIR FORMER
HOSTS GO TO MEET THEM
BOTH Larry Middleton and Mr. Welch were to visit
Bed Rock again ; but under circumstances little antici-
pated by anyone at tbe time the invitation to return was
given.
When Middleton came of age he turned over the manu-
facturing business he hail inherited, to the family's a
Mr. Bolter, and, on leaving college, accented the invita-
tion of his cousin, Mr. Welch, to go in his law-oHicu
IK made only one condition: that the same invitation
should be extended to his college chum, Keely Thurston,
whom Middleton described to Mr. \Wlch as "at once tho
roundest and squarest fellow" in his class. Tin
enough for Mr. Welch, and within a few months the two
young men were at adjoining desks, professing to practise
law and really practising whatever other young gcntlemrn
of their age ami kind are given to doing : a combination
of loafing, working, and airing themselves for tho bend it,
of the rest of mankind, particularly of that portion that
wears bonnets and petticoats.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Welch were glad to have Middleton
with them ; for Mrs. Welch was fond of him as a near re-
lation, and one who in personal appearance and address
was a worthy representative of the old stock from which
they had both come. And she had this further reason
for wishing to have Middlrton near her : that she had I..MLT
observed his tendency to be affected unduly, as she termed
a '*?
34 RED ROCK
it, by his surroundings, and she meant to counteract this
defect of character by her personal influence.
It was enough for Mrs. "Welch to see a defect of any
kind to wish to correct it, and her wish was usually but
a step in advance of her action. One might see this in the
broad brow above which the hair was brushed so very
smoothly ; in the deep gray eyes ; in the firm mouth with
its fine, even teeth ; in the strong chin, almost too strong
for a woman ; and especially, in the set of her head, and
the absolute straightness of her back. She was at heart
a missionary : one of those intrepid and unbending spirits
who have carried their principles through the world by
the sheer energy of their belief. She would no more
have bowed in the house of Rimmon than she would have
committed theft. If she had lived in Rome, she would
have died before taking a pinch of incense for Diana, un-
less, indeed, she had been on the other side, when she
would have fed the lions with fervor. If she had been in
Spain on Torquemada's side, she could have sung Te
Deums at an auto-da-fe. As someone said of her, she
would have burned like a candle. The only difficulty
was that she wanted others to burn too — which they were
not always so ready to do. As a girl, she had been on
the eve of going out as missionary to the Sandwich Isl-
ands, when she heard the splendid oratory of one of the
new apostles of abolitionism, one evening in company with
Mr. Welch, then a young engineer, when her philan-
thropical direction changed from West to South, and she
devoted herself thenceforth to the cause of the negroes —
and of the young engineer.
She had great hopes of Lawrence Middleton and de-
plored the influence on him of the young man whom he
had chosen at college as his especial friend ; and she grieved
over the effect that his visit South, already described, had
on him. He had come home much impressed by the
diurm of the life there. Indeed, he had become actually
an apologist for Slavery. But Mrs. Welch did not despair.
THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN 85
She never despaired. It implied weakness, and so, sin.
She was urgent to have Larry Middleton accept her hus-
band's proposal to take a place in his office, and though
she would have preferred to separate him from young
Thurston, as to whom she had misgivings, yet when he
made this condition she yielded ; for it brought Middletou
where she could influence him, and had, at least, this ad-
vantage : that it gave her two persons to work on instead
of one.
When her daughter, Ruth Welch, a young Miss with
sparkling eyes, came home in her vacations, it was natural
that she should be thrown a great deal with her cousin,
and the only singular thing was that Mrs. Welch appeared
inclined to minimize the importance of the relationship.
This, however, made little difference to the gay, fun-lov-
ing girl, who, enjoying her emancipation from school,
tyrannized over the two young sprigs of the Law to her
heart's content. She soon reduced Thurston to a condi-
tion of abject slavery which might well have called forth
the intervention of so ardent an emancipator as her
mother, and did, indeed, excite some solicitude in her
maternal bosom. Mrs. Welch was beginning to be very
anxious about him when events, suddenly crowding on
each other, gave her something widely different to think
of, and unexpectedly relieved her from this cause of care
to give her others far weightier.
i the young men had become politicians. Middle-
ton was a Whig, though he admitted he did not see how
Slavery could be interfered with ; while Thurston an-
nounced tenets of the opposite party, particularly when
Mrs. Welch \v;us present.
< -In ml which had been gathering so long above the
•i try suddenly burst.
Middleton and Thurston were sitting in their office one
afternoon when t here was a scamper outside ; the door was
flnng open, and :i paper thrown in— an extra still wet from
the press. Thurstou seized it, his seat being nearest the
86 RED ROCK
door, and gave a long whistle as his eye fell on the black
headlines :
The Flag Fired on: Open Rebellion. The
Union Must Be Saved At Any Cost. Etc., etc.
He sank into his seat and read rapidly the whole ac-
count, ending with the call for troops to put down the lle-
bellion ; while Middleton listened with a set face. When
Thurston was through, he flung the paper down and sat
back in his chair, thinking intently. The next moment
he hammered his fist on his desk and sprang to his feet,
his face white with resolve.
" By God ! I'll go/'
With a single inquiring look at Middleton, he turned
to the door and walked out. A moment later Middleton
J^sked his desk and followed him. The street was al-
ready filling with people, crowding to hear the details, and
the buzz of voices was growing louder.
Within a few hours the two young men were both en-
rolled in a company of volunteers which was being gotten
up — Middleton, in right of his stature and family connec-
tions, as a Sergeant, and little Thurston as a Corporal, and
were at work getting others enrolled.
As they were so engaged, Tlmrston's attention was ar-
rested by a man in the crowd who was especially violent
in his denunciations, and was urging everybody to enlist.
His voice had a peculiar, penetrating whine. As Thurston
could not remember the man among those who had signed
the roll, he asked him his name.
" Leech, Jonadab Leech/' he said.
When Thurston looked at the roster, the name was not
on it, and the next time Leech came up in the crowd, the
little Corporal called him :
"Here ; you have forgotten to put your name down."
To his surprise, Leech drew back and actually turned
pale.
THE VISITORS START SOUTH AG \IN 87
" What's the matter ?" asked Thurston,
" I have a wife/'
The little volunteer gave a sniff.
" All right — send her in jour place. I gaess she'd do
as well."
" If he has, he's trying to get rid of her," said someone
standing by, in un undertone.
•• Why — ah ! — my eyes are bad ; I'm too near-sigh:
" Your eyes be hanged I You can see well enough to
read this paper."
" I — ah !— I cannot see in the dark at all/* stammered
Leech as a number of the new volunteers crowded around
them.
" Neither can I — neither can anybody but a cat/' de-
i the little Corporal, and the crowd around cheered
him. Leech vanished.
••Who is he?" asked Thurston, as Leech disap-
peared.
•• He is a clerk in old Bolter's commissary."
The crowd was patriotic.
There was great excitement in the town all night : bells
rang; crowds marched up and down the streets singing;
stopping at the houses of those who had been opposed to
ultra measures, and calling on them to put up flags to show
their loyalty. The name of Jonadab Leech appeared in the
papers next morning as one of the street-orators who made
;iost blood-thirsty speech.
Next day was Sunday. Sober second thought had suc-
ceeded the excitement of the previous day, the faces of the
people showed it. The churches were overflowing. The
preachers all alluded to the crisis that had come, and
the tears of the congregations testified how deeply they
were moved. After church, by a common impulse, every-
one went to the public square to learn the news. The
•» was packed. Suddenly on the pole that stood above
the old court-house, someone ran up the flair. At the
instant that, it broke forth the breeze caught it, and
88 BED ROCK
it fluttered out full and straight, pointing to the south-
ward. The effect was electric. A great cheer burst from
the crowd helow. As it died down, a young man's
clear voice struck up " My Country, 'Tis of Thee/' and
the next moment the whole crowd was singing and weep-
ing.
That flag and that song made more soldiers from the old
town than all the newspapers and all the speeches, and
Larry Middleton, for having struck up the song, found him-
self suddenly of more note in his own home than he could
have been later if he had stormed a battery.
Loudest among the shouters was the street-orator of the
evening before, Jonadab Leech, the clerk in Bolter's com-
missary.
Within a week the two young men were on their way
South.
A little later, Mr. Welch, having taken time to settle
up his affairs, and also those of his cousin, Larry Middle-
ton, went off to join the first corps of engineers from his
State, with abundance of tears from Ruth and a blessing
from his wife, whose mouth was never firmer, or her eye
clearer, than when she kissed him, and bade him God-
speed.
She replied to the astonished query of Mrs. Bolter,
" Yon did not cry ? " with another question :
" Why should I cry, when I knew it was his duty ? If
I had wept it would have been because I could not go my-
self to strike a blow for the freedom of the poor Afri-
can \»
" You are an unusually strong woman/' said Mrs. Bol-
ter, with a shake of her head, and, indeed, Mrs. Welch
looked it ; for though Bolter had gone to Washington, he
had not gone to war, but to see about contracts.
Just at the time that the two young students from
Mr. Welch's office were in the street of their town en-
rolling their names as soldiers to fight for the flag of
THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN 89
the Union, the young men, and the elders as well, whom
Middleton had met at Red Rock a thousand miles to the
southward, were engaged in similar work — enlisting to
fight against Invasion, to fight for their State.
There had been much discussion — much dissension in
the old county, and all others like it, during the interim
since the night when Middleton and Mr. Welch had ap-
peared unexpectedly at Red Rock among the wedding
guests. Some were for radical measures, for Secession, for
War ; others were conservative. Many were for the Union.
Matters more than once had reached a white heat in that
section, and it had looked for a long time as though an
explosion must come. Yet the cooler heads had controlled,
and when the final elections for the body that was to settle
the momentous questions at issue at last came on, the most
conservative men in the country had been selected. In our
county, Dr. Gary and Mr. Bagby, both strong Union men,
had been chosen over Major Legaie and Mr. Gray, both
t Democrats ; and one, the former, a hot Secession-
ist.
When they arrived at the capital to attend the session
of the Convention they found, perhaps, the most dis-
tinguished body that had sat in the State in fifty years.
In this great crisis both sides had put forward their best
men, and in face of the Hearing j.rril the wildest grew
conservative. The body declared for Peace.
Affairs moved rapidly, however; excitement grew ; feel-
ing changed. Vet the more conservative prevailed.
One morning Dr. Cary received a report of a great pub-
li«- meeting held at the county seat, instnietini: him to
vote for Secession. Many of his old supporters had signed
it. II vd the resolutions at the desk, and stated
fully and strongly, amid rheers from the
side.
" Now you will vote with us ?" said one of the leaders
on that sidr.
" Not if every man in my county instructed me."
40 RED ROCK
" Then you must resign ? "
" Not if every man in my county demanded it.**
"Are you the only wise man in the. county ?"
The voice trembled. Feeling was rising.
The Doctor was looking his questioner full in the
eyes.
" If they signed such a paper, I should think so."
And there were cheers from his side, and the vote was
staved for that day tit least. Dr. Gary made an appeal for
the Union that men remembered all their lives. However
they disagreed with him, they were moved by him. But
the magazine was being stored fuller every moment.
Then the spark fell and the explosion came.
A week after this the call for troops by the President
to put down Rebellion appeared in an extra in the city
where the Convention sat.
Invasion !
The whole people rose. From the time of Varrus down
they had done so. The defences that conservatives like
Dr. Gary had laboriously built up were swept away in an in-
stant. The State went out with a rush.
At the announcement the population poured into the
streets and public squares in a great demonstration. It
was tremendous — a maelstrom — a tornado — a conflagration.
Men were caught up and tossed on platforms, that ap-
peared as if by magic from nowhere, to make speeches ;
bonfires were lighted and bells were rung ; but the crowd
shouted louder than the ringing of the bells, for it meant
War : none could now withstand it. Suddenly from some
public place a gun, which had been found and run out,
boomed through the dusk, and the crowd roared louder
than before, and made a rush in that direction, cheering
as if for a great victory.
Dr. Gary, stalking through the throng, silent and white,
was recognized and lifted unresisting to a platform.
After a great roar, the tumult hushed down for a mo-
ment ; for he was waiting with close-shut mouth and blaz-
THE VISITORS 8TAKT SOUTH AOAIX 41
ing eye, and he had the reputation of being, when he
chose to exert himself, an orator. Besides, it was not yet
known what he would do, and he was a power in his sec-
tion.
He broke the silence with a calm voice that went every-
where. Without appearing to be strong, his voice was one
of those strange instruments that filled every building
with its finest tone and reached over every crowd to its
farthest limit. With a gesture that, as men said after-
ward, seemed to sweep the horizon, he began :
ne time has passed for talking. Go home and pre-
pare for War. For it is on us."
" Oh ! there is not going to be any war/' cried someone,
and a part of the crowd cheered. Dr. Gary turned on them.
-• No war ? We are at war now — with the greatest
power on earth : the power of universal progress. It is
not the North that we shall have to fight, but the world.
Go home and make ready. If we have talked like fools,
we shall at least fight like men."
That night Dr. Gary walked into his lodgings alone and
seated himself in the dusk. His old body-ser
quin, silent and dark, brought a light and set it c<>:
for him. He did not speak a word ; but his minis-
n8 were unusually attentive and every movement
expressed adherence and sympathy. Suddenly his master
broke the silence :
irquin, <lo you want to be fre«
"Lawd Gawd I* exclaimed Tarquin, stopping quite still
and gazing in amazement. " Me ! Free ?"
••If you do I will set you free, and give you money
enough to live in Philadelphia**
», suh ; Marster, you know I don' wan* be free," said
.in.
•k my trunk. I am going home."
'• Wh-n. n]
io not know exactly ; but shortly."
.in a week Dr. Gary was back at home, working,
42 BED ROCK
along with Major Legaie and the other secessionists,
making preparation for equipping the companies that the
county was going to send to the war.
What a revolution that week had made in the old
county ! In the face of the menace of invasion, after but
ten days one would scarcely have known it. All division
was ended : all parties were one. It was as if the county
had declared war by itself and felt the whole burden of the
struggle on its shoulders. From having been one of the
most quiet, peaceful and conservative corners of the uni-
verse, where a fox-hunt or an evening-party was the
chief excitement of the year, and where the advent of a
stranger was enough to convulse the entire community,
it became suddenly a training ground and a camp, filled
with bustle and preparation and the sound of arms. The
haze of dust from men galloping by, hung over the high-
ways all day long, and the cross-roads and the county seat,
where the musters used to meet quarterly and where the
Fourth of July celebrations were held, became scenes of
almost metropolitan activity.
Men appeared to spring from the ground as in the days
of Cadmus, ready for war. Red Rock and Birdwood be-
came recruiting-stations and depots of supply. From the
big estates men came ; from the small homesteads amid
their orchards, and from the cabins back among the pines
— all eager for war and with a new light in their eyes.
Everyone was in the movement. Major Legaie was a
colonel and Mr. Gray was a captain ; Dr. Gary was sur-
geon, and even old Mr. Langstaff, under that fire of en-
thusiasm, doffed his cassock for a uniform, merged his ec-
clesiastical title of rector in the military one of chaplain,
and made amends for the pacific nature of his prescribed
prayers in church, by praying before his company outside,
prayers as diverse from the benignity of his nature, as the
curses of Ezekiel or Jeremiah from the benediction of St.
John the Aged.
Miss Thomasia, who was always trying to meet some
THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN 43
wants which only the sensitiveness of her own spirit appre-
hended, enlarged her little academy in the office at Red
Rock, so as to take in all the children of the men around
who had enlisted ; made them between their lessons pick
lint, and opened her exercises daily with the most martial
hymns she could find in the prayer-book, feeling in her sim-
ple heart that she could do God no better service than to
inculcate an undying patriotism along with*undying piety.
As for Blair, she had long deserted the anti-war side, horse,
foot, and dragoons, and sewed on uniforms and picked lint ;
wore badges of palmetto, and single stars on little blue
flags sewed somewhat crookedly in the front of her frocks,
and sang " Dixie/' " Maryland/' and " The Bonny Blue
Flag "all the time.
Steve Allen and Morris Gary, on an hour's notice, had
left the University where all the students were flocking
into companies, and with pistols and sabres strapped about
their slender waists galloped up to the county seat to-
gether one afternoon, in a cloud of dust, having outsped
their telegrams, and, amid huzzas and the waving of hand-
kerchiefs from the carriages lining the roadside, spurred
their sweating horses straight to the end of the line that
was drilling under Colonel Legaie in the field beside the
court-house. And so, with radiant faces and bounding
hearts were enlisted for the war. Little Andy Stamper,
the rescuer of the two visitors at the ford, was already
there in line at the far end on one of his father's two farm-
horses; and Jacquelin, on a blooded colt, was trying to k«vp
as near in line with him as his excited four-year-old would
permit. Even the servants, for whom some on the other
v ere pledging their blood, were warmly interested,
an<l were acting more like clansmen than slaves.
Hiram Still. .Mr. Gray's tall manager, had a sudden re-
turn of his old enemy, rlieu mutism, and was so drawn up
that lie had to go on crotches ; but was as enthusiastic as
anyone, and lent money to help equip the companies — h-nt
i to the county, it is true, but to Mr. Gray and Dr.
44 RED ROCK
I'ary on their joint security. He and Andy Stamper were
not on good terms, yet he even offered to lend money to
Andy Stamper to buy a horse with. Jacquelin, however,
spared Andy this mortification.
The boy, emancipated from school, partly because his
father was going off so shortly to the war, and partly be-
cause Dr. MauJe himself had enlisted and Mr. Eliphalet
J>ush, his successor, was not considered altogether sound
politically, spent his time breaking his colt to stand the
excitement of cavalry drill. Jacquelin and Andy were
sworn friends, and hearing that Andy had applied to Hi-
ram Still to borrow money to buy a horse with, Jacquelin
asked his father's consent to give him his colt, and was re-
warded by the pick of the horses on the place, after the
carriage horses, his father's own riding horse and Steve's.
Jt was a proud moment for the boy when he rode the high-
mettled bay he chose, over to the old Stamper place.
Andy, in a new gray jacket, was sitting on the front
steps, polishing his scabbard and accoutrements, old Mrs.
Stamper was in her low, split-bottomed chair behind him,
knitting a yarn sock for her soldier, and Delia Dove, with
her plump cheeks glowing under her calico sun-bonnet,
which she had pushed back from her round face, was seated
on the bench in the little porch, toying with the wisteria-
vine above her, and looking down on Andy with her black
eyes softer than usual.
Andy rose to greet Jacquelin as the boy galloped up to
the gate.
" Come in, Jack. What's up ? Look out or he'll
git you off him. That's the way to set him I All I " as
Jacquelin swung himself down.
" Here's a present for you/' said Jacquelin.
« What ? "
" This horse 1 "
" What ! "
" Yes : he's mine : papa gave him to me this morning
and said I might give him to you. I took the pick "
THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN 40
'•' \Vell, by — " Andy was too much dazed to swear.
"Jack—" This also ended. "Now let that Hiram
Still ask for security. Delia, I'll lick a regiment." He
his sweetheart, who suddenly turned and caught
Jacquelin and kissed him violently, bringing the red blood
to the boy's fresh face.
" If you'll do that to me I'll give him to you right now.
I) d 'f I don't !" And the little recruit looked Mi>s
Delia Dove in the eyes and gave a shake of his head for
emphasis. The girl looked for one moment as if she were
going to accept his offer. Then as Andy squared himself
and opened his arms wide she considered; and, with a toss
of her head and a sparkle in her eyes, turned away.
That moment the latch clicked and Hiram Still's daugh-
ter, Virgy, stood beside them, shy and silent, veiled within
her sun-bonnet
" Mr. Stamper, pappy says if you'll come over to set
him about that business o' yourn, maybe he can make out
to help you out."
She delivered the message automatically, and, with a shy
plaice at Jacquelin, and another, somewhat dilTon-nt. at
Delia Dove, retired once more within the deep recesses of
her sun-bonnet.
" \\V11. you tell your pappy that I say I'm imu-h ohliged
:i ; but I ain't got any business with him that I knows
on ; 't somebody else's done helped me out." The voice
was kind, though the words were sarcastic.
••3, sir. Good-even'." And with another shy glniu-o
and nod to each one in turn, the girl turned and went off
M noiselessly as a hare.
hit girl always gives me the creeps," said Delia, when
v had reached a safe distance.
" How about Washy ?" asked Andy, at which Delia only
miffed disdainfully.
Jacqnelin Gray was not the only one of the youngsters
whose patriotic fervor was rewarded. The ladies of the
neighborhood made a banner for each of the companies that
46 BED ROCK
went forth, and Blair Gary was selected to present the
banner to the Red Hock company, which she did from the
court-house balcony, with her laughing eyes sobered by
excitement, her glowing face growing white and pink by
turns, and her little tremulous speech, written by her
father and carefully conned by heart for days, much swal-
lowed and almost inaudible in face of the large crowd
filling all the space around, and of the brave company
drawn up in the road below her. But she got through
it — that part about "emulating the Spartan youth who
came back with his shield or on it," and all ; and at the
close she carried- everyone away by a natural clasp of her
little brown hands over her heart, as she said, " And don't
you let them take it away from you, not ever," outstretching
her arms to her father, who sat with moist eyes at one end
of the line a little below her, with Jacquelin close beside
him, his eyes like saucers for interest in, and admiration
of, Blair.
"Blair, that's the best speech that ever was made," cried
the boy, enthusiastically, when he saw her ; " and Steve says
so, too. Don't you wish I was old enough to go ? " The
little girl's cheeks glowed with pleasure.
The evening before Jacquelin's father went off, he called
Jacquelin into his office, and rising, shut the door himself.
They were alone, and Jacquelin was mystified. He had
never before been summoned for an interview with his
father unless it were for a lecture, or worse. He hastily
ran over in his mind his recent acts, but he could recall
nothing that merited even censure, and curiosity took the
place of wonderment. Wonder came back, however, when
his father, motioning him to a seat, stood before him and
began to address him in an entirely new and unknown tone.
He talked to him as if he were a man. Jacquelin suddenly
felt all his old timidity of his father vanish, and a new
spirit, as it were, rise up in his heart. His father told him
that now that he was going away to the war, he might never
come back ; but he left, he said, with the assurance that
THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN 47
whatever happened, he would be worthily succeeded ; and
he said that he was proud of him, and had the fullest con-
litk-nce in him. He had never said anything like this to
jtit'liii before, in all his life, and the boy felt a new sen-
sation. He had no idea that his father had ever been satis-
fied with him, much less been proud of him. It was like
opening the skies and giving him a glimpse beyond them
into a new heaven. The boy suddenly rose, and flung his
arms about his father's neck, and clung there, pouring out
his heart to him. Then he sat down again, feeling like a
shriven soul, and the father and son understood each other
like two school-fellows.
Mr. Gray told Jacquelin of his will. He had left his
mother everything ; but it would be the same thing as if he
had left it to him and Rupert. He, as the oldest, was to
have Red Rock, and Rupert the estate in the South. " I
leave it to her, and I leave her to you," he said, putting
his hand on the boy's shoulder. Jacquelin listened, his
mind suddenly sobered and expanded to a man's measure.
"And, Jacquelin/' he said, " keep the old place. Make
any sacrifice to do that. Landholding is one of the safe-
guards of a gentry. Our people, for six generations, have
never sold an acre, and I never knew a man who sold land
that throve."
• % I will keep it, father," said the boy, earnestly.
There were some debts, but not enough to amount to any-
thing, his father told him ; the principal one was to Hiram
Still. Still had wanted him to keep his money, and he had
done so. It could be paid any time, if necessary. Still
was a better man than he was given credit for. A bad
made those who did not know him well, suspicious
of him. But he was the best businessman he had <
known, and he believed devoted to his interest. His
father, old Mr. Still, had been overseer for Jacqnelin's
grand fat JUT when Mr. Gray was a boy, and ho could not
forget him, and though Still was at present in poor health,
he had contracted the disease while in their service at the
48 RED ROCK
South, and he would be glad to have him kept in his posi-
tion as long as lie treated the negroes well, and cared to
remain.
"And, Jacquelin, one other thing : be a father to Ru-
pert. See that he gets an education. It is the one patri-
mony that no accident — not even war — can take away."
Jacquelin promised his father that he would remember
his injunctions, and try faithfully to keep them, every one ;
and when the two walked out, it was arm in arm like two
brothers, and the old servants, looking at them, nodded
their heads, and talked with pride of Jacquelin's growing
resemblance to his grandfather.
Next day the companies raised in the county started
off to the war, taking almost every man of serviceable age
and strength, and many who were not.
When they marched away it was like a triumphal pro-
cession. The blue haze of spring lay over the woods, soft-
ening the landscape, and filling it with peace. Tears were
on some cheeks, no doubt ; and many eyes were dimmed ;
but kerchiefs and scarfs were waved by many who could
not see, and fervent prayers went up from many hearts
when + \G lips were too tremulous to speak.
CHAPTER IV
IX WHICH A LONG JUMP IS TAKEN
IT is not proposed to attempt any relation of that part
of the lives of the people in this record which was covered
by the four years of war. That period was too tremendous
to be made a mere fragment of any history. " After that
the deluge."
What pen could properly tell the story of those foui
yean; what fittingly record the glory of that struggle,
hopeless from the beginning, yet ever appearing to pluck
success from the very abyss of impossibility, and by the
sheer power of unconquerable valor to reverse the laws of
nature and create the consummation it desired, in the face
<»f insuperable force ?
It was a great formative force in every life that partici-
pated in it. It stamped itself on every face. The whole
country emptied itself into it. They went into it boys,
and came out of it men — striplings, and came out of it
heroes. Bat the eye once fastened on that flaming fire
would be blinded for any lesser light.
It is what took place after the war rather than what oc-
curred daring the struggle that this chronicle is concerned
If the part that the men played in the war mnst be
passed over in silence as too large for this history, how
much more impossible would it be to describe fitly the part
that the women performed. It was a harder part to fill,
yet they filled it to the brim, good measure, overflowing.
It is no disparagement to the men to say that whatever
courage they displayed, it was less than that which the
4 - 49
50 RED ROCK
women showed. Wherever a Southern woman stood dur-
ing those four years, there in her small person was a
garrison of the South, impregnable.
Year after year the mills of war ground steadily array
after array, and crushed province after province, and still
tlie ranks filled and poured with intrepid daring into the
abyss of destruction, to be ground like their predecessors
to dust ; until at the end there was nothing left to grind.
Some day the historian, annalist or novelist, may arise to tell
the mighty story, but meantime this pen must pass it by as
too great a theme, and deal with the times that come after.
One or two incidents, however, must be mentioned to
fill the break and explain what came afterward.
Colonel Gray, who had been early promoted, fell at the
head of his regiment on one of those great days which are
the milestones of history.
His body was brought home and buried in the old
graveyard at Red Rock among generations of Grays, of
whom, as old Mr. Langstaff, who had been bodily haled
back to his parish by his congregation, said to the neigh-
bors and servants about the grave, not one was a better or
a braver man, or a truer gentleman. Colonel Gray's burial
marked one of the steps of the war in that retired neigh-
borhood.
When it was all over, and the neighbors had gone home,
and the servants had retired to their quarters, hushed to
that vague quietude that follows the last putting away in
the earth of those who have been near to us, Jacquelin came
out of the office where he had held that last interview
with his father, and walked into his mother's room. His
shoulders were square and his figure erect. Mrs. Gray
rose from her knees as he entered, and stood before him in
her black dress, her face deadly white ; her eyes, full of
fear, fastened on his face.
"Mamma — " He stopped as if that were all he had to
say, and, perhaps, it was ; for Mrs. Gray seated herself
calmly.
IN WHICH A LONG JUMP IS TAKEN 61
" Yes, my son." The fine, sad eyes grew wistful. How
like he was to his father !
— " Because, you know, there ought to be one of us in
the old company, mamma/' he said, quite as though he
had spoken the other sentence.
" Yes, my son, I know/' And the mother sighed, her
heart breaking in spite of her resolve to be brave.
•• — And I am the only man of the name now — and I am
fifteen and a whole head taller than Andy Stamper."
" Yes, I know, my son." She had noticed it that day,
and had known this would come.
" And he is one of the best soldiers in the army — He
said so. And if — if anything happens, you have Rupert."
He went on arguing, as though his mother had not agreed
witli him.
•• Yes, my son, I know." And Mrs. Gray rose suddenly
and flung herself into his arms and hugged him and clung
to him, and wept on his shoulder, as though he were his
father.
So the change comes : the boy in little trousers sud-
denly stands before the mother a man ; the little girl who
was in her pinafores yesterday, to-day has stepped into
full-blown womanhood ; and the children have gone ; the
old has passed ; and the new is here.
General Legaie offered to make a place on his staff for
Jacquelin ; bat Jacquelin declined it. He wished to go
into the Red Rock troop, of which Steve Allen was now
Captain.
cause, mamma, all the men are in it, and Steve has
refused a majority to stay with them, and there must be
one of the Grays in the old company/' he said with a rise
Doan, of course, expected to go with Ins master ; but
Mrs. Gray vetoed this; she was afraid Doan might be
i : young men were so rash. She remembered that.
Doan was his mother's only son. So, by a compromise, Old
Waverley wai sent. He bad so much judgment, she said.
62 RED ROCK
The year after Jacquelin went away to the army the
tide of war rolled nearer to the old county, and the next
year, that which, had been deemed impossible befell : it
swept over it.
When the invading army had passed, the county was
scarcely recognizable.
Jacquelin's career in the army was only that of many
others — indeed, of many thousands of others : he went in a
boy, but a boy who could ride any horse, and all day and
all night ; sleep on stones or in mud ; and if told to go
anywhere, would go as firmly and as surely among bayonets
or belching guns as if it were in a garden of roses.
Being the youngest man in his company, he might nat-
urally have been a favorite in any case ; but when he was
always ready to stand an extra tour of guard-duty, or to
do anything else for a comrade, it placed his popularity
beyond question. They used to call him " The baby ; "
but after a sharp cavalry fight on a hill-top one afternoon
they stopped this. Legaie's brigade charged, and find-
ing infantry entrenched, were retiring amid smoke and
dust and bullets, when Jacquelin, missing Morris Gary,
who had been near him but a moment before, suddenly
turned and galloped back through the smoke. Two or
three men shouted and stopped, and Steve suddenly
dashed back after the boy, followed by Andy Stamper and
the whole company. There was a rally with the whole
Red Rock troop in the lead, Steve Allen, with little Andy
Stamper close behind, shouting and sabering like mad,
which changed the fortune of the day.
Poor Morris was found under his horse, past help ; but
they brought his body out of the fray, and Jacquelin sent
him home, with a letter which was harder to write than
any charge he had ever made or was to make — harder
even than to tell Dr. Gary, who was at the field hospital
and who received the announcement with only a sudden
tightening of the mouth and whitening of the face.
After that, Andy Stamper "allowed that Jacquelin's
IN WHICH A LONG JUMP 18 TAKEN 53
cradle was big enough for him " (Andy), which it cer
tainly was, by linear measurement, at least.
Blair's letter to Jacquelin in reply was more to him
than General Legaie's mention of his name in his re
port.
Blair was growing up to be almost a woman now.
"ii, as well as men, age rapidly amid battles, and
nearly every letter Jacquelin received from home con-
tained something about her. " What a pretty girl Blair
has grown to be. You have no idea how we all lean on
her/' his mother wrote. Or Miss Thomasia would say :
"I wish you could have heard Blair sing in church last
Sunday. Her voice has developed unspeakable sweetness.
It reminded me of her grandmother, when I can first re-
.her her."
It was not a great while after this that Jacquelin him-
self went down one day, and had to be fought over, and
though ho fared better than poor Morris Gary, in that the
bullet which brought him down only smashed his leg in-
stead of finding his heart, it resulted in Steve getting both
himself and his horse shot, and Jacquelin being left in the
enemy's hands, along with Andy Stamper, who had fought
over him, like the game little bantam that ho was, until a,
big Irish Sergeant knocked him in the head with a carbine-
barrel and came near ending the line of the Stampers then
and tin iv. Happily, Andy came to after a while, and was
taken along with Jacquelin and sent to Point Lookout.
Jacquelin and Andy stayed in prison a long time ; Andy
because he was a hardy and untamed little warrior, of the
kind which was drawn last for exchange; and Jacquelin
partly because he was unable to travel on account of his
wound and partly because he would not accept an ex-
change to leave Andy.
One day, however, Andy got a letter which seriously af-
fected him. It told him that Delia Dove was said to be
going to marry Mr. Still. \Vithin a week little Andy.
whose constitution had hitli* ii<> appeared of iron, was in
64 RED ROCK
the hospital. The doctor told Jacqnelin that he thought
he was seriously ill, and might die.
That night Jacquelin scribbled a line to Andy and per-
suaded a nurse, Miss Bush, a small woman with thin
hair, a sharp nose and a complaining voice, but gentle
eyes and a kind heart, to get it to him. It ran : " Hold
on for Delia's sake. "We'll get exchanged before long."
•'• Who is Delia ?" asked the nurse, looking at the paper
doubtfully. It was against orders to carry notes.
"His sweetheart."
The nurse took the note.
In a week Andy was ready to be out of the hospital.
The next morning Jacquelin and the doctor had a long
talk, and later on, Jacquelin and the nurse ; and when the
next draft for exchange came, the name of Jacquelin Gray
was on it. But Andy Stamper's was not. So the nurse
told Jacquelin. Another note was written and conveyed
by Miss Bush, and that evening, when the line of prisoners
for exchange marched out of the prison yard, Andy
Stamper, with his old blanket pulled up around his face
and a crutch under his arm, was in it. Jacquelin was
watching from a corner of the hospital window while the
line was inspected. Andy answered the questions all
right — Private in Company A, — th Cavalry ; captured at
; wounded in leg ; and just left hospital. As the
last guard filed out behind the ragged line and the big
gate swung to, Jacquelin hobbled back to his cot and lay
with his face to the wall. The nurse came by presently
and stopping, looked down at him.
" Now you've gone and ruined your chance for ever,"
she said in the querulous tone habitual with her.
Jacquelin shut his eyes tightly, then opened them and
without a word gazed straight at the wall not a foot before
him. Suddenly the woman bent close down over him and
kissed him.
" You are a dear boy." The next instant she went
back to her duty.
IN WHICH A LONG JUMP IS TAKEN 65
An effort was made to get an exchange for Jacqnelin,
the principal agents being a nurse in the prison-hospital
and a philanthropical friend of hers, a Mrs. Welch,
through whom the nurse had secured her position ; but
the answer was conclusive :
" Jacquelin Gray has already been exchanged."
As for Andy, when he reached home he found the re-
port about Miss Delia Dove to be at least premature. It
was not only Mr. Washington Still, but Hiram as well,
who was unpleasantly attentive to her, and Miss Delia,
after the first burst of genuine delight at Andy's unex-
pected appearance, proceeded to use the prerogative of
her sex and wring her lover's heart by pretending to be
pleased by his new rival's attentions. Andy, accordingly,
did not stay long at home, but accepting the renewed
proffer of a loan from Hiram Still to buy a horse, was
soon back with the old company, sadly wasted by this time
and only kept up by the new recruits, on whom Andy
looked with disdain.
When Wash Still was drafted from the dispensary de-
partment of the hospital service it was some consolation
o was at least banished from dangerous proximity to
Miss Delia, but it was hard to have to accept him as a com-
rade, and Andy's sunburned nose was always turned up
when Wash was around.
•• \Vashy Still in place of Jacquelin Gray," he sniffed ;
"a dinged little 'pothecary-shop sweeper for a boy as
didn't mind bullets no mo' than flies. I bet he's got pills
in that pistol now I And he to be a-settin' up to Delia
Dove!"
However, a few months later Andy had his reward.
So it happened, that when the end came, Andy was
back with the old company, and Jacquelin was still iu
prison.
CHAPTER V
DR. GARY RETURNS FROM THE WAR, AND TAKES AN
INVENTORY OF STOCK
THE home-coming of the men who went to the war was
about the same time of the year that most of them went
forth. While the troops of the victorious army were
parading amid the acclaims of multitudes, the remnants
of that other army that had met and defeated them so
often were making their way back to their dismantled
homes, with everything they had fought for lost, save
honor. They came home singly or in squads from north-
ward, eastward and westward, wherever their commands
happened to be when the final collapse came. And but
for certain physical landmarks they would scarcely have
known the old neighborhood. The blue mountains still '
stretched across the skyline, with the nearer spurs nestled
at their feet ; the streams still ran through the little
valleys between the hills, under their willows and syca-
mores, as they ran when Steve Allen and Jacquelin and
the other boys fished and swam in them ; but the bridges
were gone, and the fishing-holes were dammed with fallen
trees, some of them cut down during the battles that had
been fought on their banks. And the roads made by the
army-wagons often turned out through the unfenced fields
and the pillaged and fire-scorched forests.
Dr. Gary, now known as Major Gary, from his title as
surgeon in General Legaie's brigade, and Captain Allen
and Sergeant Stamper came home together as they had
ridden away together through the April haze four years
before. They had started from the place of their surren-
der with a considerable company, who had dropped off
56
DR. GARY RETURNS FROM THE WAR 67
from time to time as they had arrived at the roads which
took them their several ways, and these three were the
last to separate. When they parted, it was at the forks
where the old brick church had stood when they last
passed that way. The ohurch had gone down in the track
of war. Nothing remained of it now except fragments of
ills, and even these were already half hidden by the
thicket which had grown up around them. It brought
the whole situation very close home to them ; for they all
had memories of it : Dr. Gary had buried his father and
mother there, and Stamper and Delia Dove had been mar-
ried in it a year before. And they did not have a great
many words to speak — perhaps, none at all at the very
last— only a " Well — Well I" with a rising inflection, and
something like a sigh ; and then, after a long pause, from
the older officer, a sudden : " Well, good-by, Steve ;
— good-by, Sergeant. We'll have to begin over again. —
God bless you — Come over and see me. Good-by." And
from each of the other two, "Good-by, Major — I will ; —
Good-by, Tarquin," to the Major's tall, gray-hairod body-
servant, waiting silently, on his weary horse ; then a couple
of hard handgrips and silence ; and the horses went plash*
ing off in the mud, slow and sullen, reluctant to leave
each other. All turned once to look back ; caught each
other's glances and waved tln-ir hand* ; and then rode on
through the mini, their heads sunk on their chests, and
the officer's two body-servants, old Tarquin and \
v, following silently behind their masters.
meeting at home was in the dusk.
The little group waiting on the hill-top at Dr. Gary's for
the small cavalcade as they rodo up through the wan in $
light had been waiting and watching for days ; but there
were no words spoken at the inert ing. Only, Mrs. Gary
walked out from the others and met her husband a part
• way down the hill, and Blair followed hem moment
after.
When the doctor reached his door, walking between hit*
68 BED ROCK
wife and daughter, an arm around each, he turned to his
old servant, who was holding the horses :
" Tarquin, you are free. I present you the horse you
rode home. Take the saddles off, and turn them out."
And he walked into the house, shaking by the hand the
servants clustered about the door.
It was only when he was inside, facing the portrait of a
young boy with handsome, dark eyes, that he gave way.
The very next day Dr. Gary, to use a commercial phrase,
began to "take stock."
{^Taking stock " is always a serious thing to do, and it
must come often into every thoughtful man's life. He is
his own ledger. In all cases he must look back and meas-
ure himself by himself. Perhaps some hour brings him
some question on which all must hinge. It may come un-
expectedly, or he may have seen it advancing with inevi-
table steps. He may have brought it on himself, or he
may have fought strenuously against it. It is all the
same. I It comes straight down upon him, a cyclone threat-
ening W overwhelm him, and he must meet it either as
a brave man or a craven. It comes, sweeps past or over
him and leaves him in its track, unscathed or wounded
or slain. But it comes. And this is Life. The ancients
called it Fate ; we call it Providence or Chance, or the
result of natural laws. But by whatever name known, it
is inscrutable. |
So Dr. CaTy felt that soft spring morning as he stood
on the front porch of the roomy and rambling old man-
sion, where the Carys had had their seat and had made
the Birdwood hospitality celebrated for more than two
hundred years, and looked across the wide lawn, once well
trimmed and filled with shrubbery and flowers, now ragged
and torn. His eye took in the whole scene. The wide
fields, once teeming with life, stretched before him now
empty and silent ; the fences were broken down or had
disappeared altogether. And yet the grass was fresh and
green, the trees and bushes were just bursting from bud to
DK. GARY RETURNS FROM THE WAR 69
leaf ; the far-off mountains rose blue and tender across the
newlv washed sky ; the birds were flitting and singing
-ly, and somewhere, around the house, a young girl's
voice was singing sweeter than any of the birds. The
look on the old soldier's face was for a moment one of
gravity, if not of dejection ; but it passed away the
instant, as Blair's song reached him and as a step
sounded behind him, and a hand was laid lightly on his
shoulder, followed by an even softer touch on his arm, as
his wife's face rested for a moment against it. At the
caressing touch his expression changed, he looked down
in her eyes and, when he spoke, it was with a new light
in his own eyes and a new tone in his voice.
•• \Vell, Bess, we'll begin all over again. We have
each other, and we have Blair, and we have — the land. It
is as much as our forefathers began with. At least, I
think we have the land — I don't suppose they'll take that
away. If they do — why, we have each other and Blair,
anyhow. If we only had the boy ! " He turned his face
away.
"He died for his country," said the mother, though
her voice belied the courage of her words.
" He died like a soldier : with nil his wounds before."
He looked down into his wife's eyes.
" Yes." And she sighed deeply.
" We have to take care of what's left. Where is Jim
Sherwood ? I have not seen him."
•• He has gone."
• \V hat ! " The Doctor gave a whistle of amazement.
" I'd almost as soon have expected Mammy Krenda and
in to leave." Jim was one of the most trusted men
about tin- plare, a sort of ju-.-a.-h.-r and leader, and had mar-
ried, as his third wife, Mammy Krendu's daughter, Jane.
•• Yf-:. Jim has gone. He went two weeks ago, and I
was rather glad he went," said Mrs. Gary. " He had never
been quite the same since the Yankees came through ; you
know he behaved very budly then. He had changed more
60 BED ROCK
than almost anyone of them who remained. He had been
preaching a good deal lately, and appeared to be stirring
the others up more than I liked. There seemed to have
been some influence at work among them that I could not
understand. It was said that Mr. Still, Helen's manager —
But I don't know/' — she broke off. " I heard them one
night, at the house, and went out to the church where they
were, and found them in a great state of excitement. They
quieted down when I appeared. That repulsive creature,
Mr. Gray's Moses, was there, and I ordered him home, and
gave them a talk, and the next morning Jim Sherwood was
missing too, and a few days later Jane said that she had to
go also. I told them they were free, but if they remained
here they must observe my regulations. I put Gideon in
charge and told him you would look to him to keep order
till you came. And he has done so to the best of his iibil-
ity, I believe. I hear that he gave Jim Sherwood to un-
derstand that he would have no more of his preaching here
for the present, and that if he wanted to preach for Hiram
Still he could go to Red Eock and do it, not here. And
now you are here, this is the end of my stewardship, and I
surrender it into your hands."
She made her husband, half-mockingly, a profound
curtsey — perhaps to turn off the serious thoughts which
her -words called up. But the Doctor declared that, at
least, one of her slaves recognized too well the blessing of
servitude to such a mistress to wish for freedom, and that
he declined to assume control.
" Why, Bess, we men fought a quarter of the war and
you women fought three-quarters. Do you imagine we
want to depose you ? "
Just then a young girl came around the corner of the
house, her dark eyes full of light ; her hair blown back
from her forehead by the morning breeze, and her hands
full of jonquils and other early flowers. Her face was glow-
ing with the exercise she has been taking, and her whole
person was radiant with youth.
DR. CARY RETURNS FROM THE WAR 61
" The morn is breaking. Here comes Aurora," said her
father, gazing at her fondly, at which Miss Blair's cheeks
glowed only the more.
It was proposed by the Doctor that they should invite to
dinner such of their friends as had arrived at home and
could be reached.
" Our first reunion/' said Mrs. Gary, smiling, and she
began to give what she called her menu, in which, corn-
bread, dried fruit, black-eyed pease, and welcome figured as
the principal dishes. She laughed at her husband's dumb
amazement.
•33," said the Doctor, humbly, " I retract what I said
a little while ago about our having fought a fourth of the
war — it \va> the speech of a braggart." And having fol-
lowed her with his eyes, as she went into the house, he
walked around to have a talk with his negroes.
lie found a number of them congregated and evidently
expecting something of the kind.
" Giueon, tell the men I wish to speak to them."
M minutes they had collected. Ho called them
all up, and standing on the portico of the office where he
had been accustomed to speak with them, addressed a few
calm words to them.
For a moment he went over the past. They had been
faithful servants, he eu 1 he was glad to be able to
say this to them. Now there were to be new relations be-
tween them. II.- told them they wen- Ere*— OH which
there was an audible murmur of acquiescence — and they
could leave, if they pleased. There was another murmur
of satisfaction. But if they remained they would have
to work and be subject to his authority.
Upon this many of the older ones signified their assent,
while some of the others turned and, looking back, called
to some one in the rear of the crowd :
" Gome, Brer Sherrod, you done heah de noration ; now
come and gi' de 'sponge/'
A low, stout negro, of middle age, whom the Doctor had
62 RED ROCK
not before noticed, came forward somewhat sheepishly,
but with a certain swagger in his gait. It was evidently
concerted. The Doctor's mind acted quickly. At the
speaker's first word, he cut him short.
" I decline to allow Jim Sherwood to be the spokes-
man," he said. " He does not belong here. I left him in
a position of trust, and he has failed in it. Fall to the
rear ; I make no terms with outsiders."
Taken by surprise at the tone of authority, the exhorter
fell or was moved back, in sudden confusion, while the
doctor went on :
"Gideon, I appoint you ; you have proved trustworthy.
This place has supported two hundred souls in the past,
and we can make it do so again. Tell them that all those
who remain here and work under you, including Sher-
wood, shall be supported and treated fairly and paid what
is proper if it takes every acre I have to do it ; the others
can go and find homes elsewhere." He turned on his heel
and walked into the house.
The next day there was a good force at work in the
fields.
Some of those he had addressed had gone off in the
night ; but most of them remained, and the Doctor told
Mrs. Gary he thought things would work out all right ; he
was ready to accept present conditions, and matters would
adjust themselves.
" Time is the adjuster," he said.
CHAPTER VI
A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES HOME FROM WAR
IT was a little over two weeks or, perhaps, three, after
the Confederate armies had laid down their arms and dis-
banded, and the rest of the men from the county had
turned their faces homeward with, or without, their paroles
in their pockets, that a train which had been crawling all
night over the shaky track, stopped "in the morning near the
little station, or what remained of it, on the edge of the
county, where persons bound for nearly all that region got
oil. A passenger was helped down by the conductor and
brakeman and was laid, with his crutch and blanket, as
gently as might be, on a bank a little way from the track.
"Are you all right now? Do you think you can get
on ? You are sure someone will come for you ? " asked
the train men.
" Oh ! yes ; I feel better already." And the young fel-
low stretched out his hands in the gray dawn and felt the
moist earth on either side of him almost tenderly.
As the railroad nu n (limbed back into the car they were
conversing together in low tones.
" Unless his friends come before ma^y hours they won't
flnd him," said one of them. " I don't know but what we
ought to a' brought him along, any way."
But Jacquelin Gray had more staying power than they
gave him credit for, and the very touch of the soil he
loved did him good. He dragged himself a little way up,
stretched himself out under a tree on the grass near
where they had laid him, and went to sleep like a baby.
The sun came up over the dewy trees and warmed him,
63
64 RED ROCK
and lie only turned and slept on, dreaming that lie had
escaped from prison and reached the old county too weary
to go any farther, and so, lay down on a bank and waited
for someone to come for him. How often he had dreamed
that, and had awaked to find himself in his old cot in the
hospital, maybe, with the guard peering down at him
with his lantern. Suddenly a shadow fell across his face,
and he woke and looked up. Yes, there was the guard,
three or four of them, gazing down on him in their blue
uniform.
" Jacquelin Gray. No. — . Ward ten," he muttered
wearily, as he used to do in the hospital, and was closing
his eyes again when he awaked fully. Two or three Fed-
eral soldiers, one of them an officer, a little fellow with
blue eyes, were leaning over him, and a cavalry company
was yonder at rest, in the road below him. He was free
after all, back in the old county.
The Lieutenant asked him his name and how he came
there, and he told them.
" Where are you going ? "
" Home ! " with a little flash in his eye.
" Where is that ? "
"Above here, across the country, in the Red Rock
neighborhood — beyond Br u tusville. "
" Why, we are going that way ourselves — we were going
to give you a decent burial ; but maybe we can do you a
better turn if you are not ready for immortality ; we've an
ambulance along, and here's the best substitute for the
honor we offered you."
The little Lieutenant was so cheery as he pressed the
canteen to Jacquelin's lips that the latter could not help
feeling better.
The Captain, who had remained with the company, came
over, on his handsome horse, picking his way through the
debris lying about.
" So he is alive after all ?" he asked as he rode up.
" Alive ? Well, if you'd seen the way he took this 1 *
A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES HOME FROM WAR 65
Ami the Lieutenant shook his canteen up beside his ear,
us if to gauge its remaining contents ; then held it to
kin.
M Have another pull ? No ? All right — when you want
it. Von aren't the first reb's had a swig at it."
•i he repeated to his superior, a tall, handsome fellow,
what Jacquelin had told him as to his name and destina-
tion. In an instant the Captain had sprung from his horse.
•ijuelin Cray! lied Bock I— By JoY« ! It can't
be !" II' • -:u!vd down at the man on the ground.
" Do you mean to say that you live at a place called
'Red Rock* — a great plantation, with a big rock by a
burial-ground, and a red stain on it, said to be an Indian's
blood
Jac<pielin nodded.
H \\\.ll by ! What's the matter witli you ? AY
Have you been I' What are you dressed this way for ? — I
an old plantation where there was a wedding — or a
wedding-; -ut live years ago — ? " he broke out, as
Acre impossible to believe it. "And— a little girl,
^••nit-thing, sang ?"
Jocqueliu nodded.
. ••<. that's the pla.v— Miss Blair Gary. But who
Arc — ? What d" u- about ?"
,.-11. I'm— "Here, Reely, call Sergeant (XMean ; tell
him to send the ambulance here directly," interrupted the
Ho turned back to Jacquelin.
" !>>.:;'; inlu-r me Y I'm Middleton — Lawrence
eton. l)«.ii't you remember? I happeiied in that
night with Mr. Welch, and you took care of us? i'\(
forgotten it."
* 1 remember it — you painted the horse red," said
• :
••s— it was really this fellow, Reely Thurstnn. Ho
is the one that got in<- into all that tmulilc. And !
to a lot more , i>ut \vheru have you been
you look like
ft
66 RED ROCK
Jacquelin told him.
By this time several of the people from the few houses
in the neighborhood of the station, who had at first kept
aloof from the troop of soldiers and gazed at them from a
distance, had come up, seeing that they had a Confederate
with them. They recognized Jacquelin and began to talk
about his appearance, and to make cutting speeches as to
the treatment he had undergone.
" We ain't forgot your Pa," some of them said.
"Nor you neither," said one of the women, who added
that she was Andy Stamper's cousin.
They wanted Jacquelin to stay with them and let them
take care of him until his mother could send for him.
Captain Allen had been down to see about him, and Andy
Stamper had been there several times, and had said that if
he didn't hear anything from him next time, he was going
North to see about him, if he had to ride his old horse
there.
Jacquelin, however, was so anxious to get home that,
notwithstanding the pressing invitations of his friends, he
accepted the offer of the Federal officers, and, after getting
a cup of coffee from Andy's cousin — who said it was the first
she had had in three years — he was helped up in the am-
bulance and was driven off.
The company, it seemed, had come up from the city
the day before and had encamped a little below the sta-
tion, and was marching to Brutusville, where it was to
be posted.
Julius, General Legaie's old butler, met them near the
court-house and plunged out in the mud and wrung
Jacquelin's hand, thanking God for his return.
The old butler was on the lookout for his master,
who had not come home yet, and about whom he was
beginning to be very uneasy. The General had gone South
somewhere " to keep on fighting" Julius told Jacquelin,
and he invited him to come by and spend the night, and
offered to go on himself and let his mother know be had
A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES HOME FROM WAR 67
come. The old fellow, in his best clothes — a high hat and
an old bine coat with brass buttons — and with his best
manners, caused much amusement to the soldiers, and
Lieutenant Thurston undertook to tease him,
" You haven't any master now," he said.
The old servant looked at him.
"I ain't? Does you think I'se a free nigger?* he
asked, sharply, "'Cause I ain't 1"
" Yes, but I mean we've taken your master prisoner."
"You is?" He looked at hi m again keenly. "Nor,
you ain't. It'll teck a bigger man 'n you to teck my
master prisoner — And he ain' big as you nuther," he saicl,
with a snap of his eyes. " He ain't de kind dat s'renders."
•• \\Vll have to stand in on this together," said the little
Lieutenant across to Jacquelin, as the laugh went round ;
and then to Julius, with a wave of his hand toward
Jacquelin, "Well, what do you say to that gentleman's
having surrender*
The old darky was quick enough, however.
"lie was shot, and besides you never got him. I know
you never got nigh enough to him in battle to shoot him."
•• I think you'll have to go this alone," said Jacqne-
lin. Tli-- :mt ad mitted himself routed.
Late that evening Jacquelin's ambulance was toiling up
tin1 hill to Red Rock, while the troop of cavalry, sent to
keep order in that section, with its tents pitched in the
-house yard und<T the big trees, were taking a sur-
vey of the place they had come to govern. Little Thur-
Bton, who, as they rode in, had caught sight of a plump
young girl gax .-in from the open door of the old
'-t office, with mingled curiosity and defiance, declared
it was not half as bad as some places h.- had hem in
in the South. At that moment, as it happened. Miss
>oth Dockett, the young lady in question, daughter
of Mr. Dockett, the old County Clerk, was describing to
•T the little Lieutenant as the most ridiculous
and odious-looking little person in the world.
68 RED ROCK
It was night when Jacquelin reached home ; but so keen
\yas the watch in those times, that the ambulance had been
heard in the dark, so that when he arrived there was quite
a crowd on the lawn ready to receive him, and the next
moment he was in his mother's arms'.
Sergeant O'Meara, who had been detailed to go on with
the ambulance, took back to the court-house an account
of the meeting.
" It was wurruth the drive," he said, "to see 'um whan
we got there. An' if I'd been th' Gineral himself, or the
Captain, they couldn't 'a* made more fuss over me.
Bedad I I thought they moust tak* me for a Gineral
at least ; but no, ut was me native gintilitee. I was that
proud of meself I almost shed tears of j'y. The only
thing I lacked was some wan to say me so gran' that could
appreciate me. An ould gintleman — a Docther Major
Gary — a good Oirish naim, bedad ! — was there to say wan
of the leddies, and ivery toime a leddy cooms in, oop he
gits, and bows very gran', an' the leddy bows an' passes by,
an' down he sets, an' I watches him out o' the tail of me
eye, an' ivery toime he gits oup, oup I gits too. An' I
says:
(( 'I always rise for the leddies ; me mither was a leddy/
an' he says, with a verra gran' bow : ' Yis,' he says, e an'
her son is a gintleman, too.' What dy'e think o' that ?
An' I says, ' Yis, I know he is.' "
Next morning Jacquelin was in a very softened mood.
The joy of being free and at home again was tempered by
memory of the past and realization of the present ; but he
was filled with a profound feeling which, perhaps, he him-
self could not have named. As he hobbled out to the
front portico and gazed around on the wide fields spread
out below him, with that winding ribbon of tender green,
where the river ran between its borders of willows and
sycamores, he renewed his resolve to follow in his father's
footsteps. He would keep the place at all sacrifices. He
was in this pleasant frame of mind when Hiram Still cam*
A BUOKEN SOLDIER COMES iio.MK 1 i:«)M AVAR 69
around the house. Still had aged during the war, his
voice had become more confidential.
As he came up to Jacquelin, the latter, notwithstanding
his outstretched hand and warm words, had a sudden re-
turn of his old feeling of suspicion and dislike.
" Mr. Jacquelin, I swan, I am glad to see you, suh —
an' to see you lookin' so well. I told yo' Ma you'd come
all right. An' I told that Yankee what brought
you up last night that 'twas a shame they treated you as
they done, and if you hadn't come back all right we'd V
come up thar an' cleaned 'em out. Yes, sir, we would
that.
"I sent him off this mornin' — saw him acrost the ford
myself ;" he added, lowering his voice confidentially, " be-
cause I don't like to have 'em prowling around my place —
our place — too much. Stirs up th' niggers so you can't get
no work out of 'em. And I didn't like that fellow's looks,
particularly. Well, I certainly am glad to see you lookin'
so well."
Jacquelin felt doubly rebuked for his nnjust suspicions,
and, as a compensation, told Mr. Still of his last conversa-
tion with his father, and of what his father had said of
him. Still was moved almost to tears.
• uir father was the best friend I ever had in this
k," he said. " I'll never—" he had to turn
hia face away. "You can't do no :han your
>, indeed," Jacquelin agreed to that. All he wished
was to do just what his father had done — Ho was not well ;
and ho *ln m M leave the management of the place to Mr.
Still, just as his father had done — at least, till they knew
how things stood, he added.
re was a slight return of a look which had been
once or t\\ ill's downcast eyes, and he raised them
to take a covert glance at Jacquelin's face. Jacquelin,
however, did not see it. He was really suffering gr
from hia wound ; and the expression he caught on Still's
70 BED ROCK
face was only one of deep concern. He asked after Still's
family.
"Wash had gone to the city to study medicine, Still said.
4 •' AVe pore folks as ain't got a fine plantation like this has
got to have a trade or something."
Virgy was at home keeping house for him. She was
a good big girl now — " most grown like Miss Blair," he
added.
There was a slight tone in the manager's voice which
somehow grated on Jacquelin a little, he did not know
why. And he changed the subject rather shortly.
Some time he wished to talk to Mr. Still about that Deep-
run plantation in the South, he said, as he had attended
to stocking it and knew more about it than anyone else ;
but he did not think he was equal to it just then. Still
agreed that this was right, also that the first thing for
Jacquelin to do now was to take care of himself and get
well.
Just then Andy Stamper came round the house, with a
bucket in one hand and a bunch of flowers in the other.
At sight of Jacquelin his face lit up with pleasure. Before
Andy could nod to Hiram the latter had gone, with a
queer look on his face, and something not unlike a slink
in his gait.
The bucket Andy had brought was full of eggs, which
Delia Dove, Andy said, had sent Jacquelin, and she had
sent the flowers too.
t( I never see anyone like her for chickens an' flowers,"
said Andy. " She's a good friend o' yours. I thought when
I got home I wa'n't goin' to get her after all. I thought
she'd V sent me back to P'int Lookout," he laughed.
His expression changed after a moment.
"I see Hiram's been to see you — to wish you well ?
Don't know what's the reason, he kind o' cuts out when-
ever I come 'roun'. Looks almost like he's got some'n*
ag'inst me ; yet he done me a mighty good turn when I
was married ; he come and insisted on lendin' me some
A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES ROME FROM WAR 71
money, not only to buy a horse with fer the ole woman:
but a horse to go back in th' army with — a whole basket-
ful of money, and he's been Ipndin' all arotin' the neigh-
borhood ; an' don't seem to be in no hurry to git it back —
If you jest give him a little slip o' writin' on yo' land,
all. Yet, somehow, he always reminds me of a
mink, kind of slippy-like. He don't do things all at once.
He didn't toll me he wanted no deed; but after I was
gone, he got one from the old lady — said 'twould be all
right, and I could pay him any time ; he jest wanted it
in case he died, and she didn' know no better than to sign
ir. I'm goin' to pay him off, first money I git. I never
would V borrowed it 'cept I was so anxious to go back in
•my— an* to git Delia. Hiram thought he was sure
to win." The little soldier's face always lighted up when
he referred to his wife.
Jacquelin protested that he thought Still a better fellow
v would admit, and added that his father had
always esteemed him highly.
• Yea, I know that ; but the Colonel didn't know him,
irk, and he wasn't lookin' out f<»r him. I don't like
a ma- understand. If ymi know lio's a liar, you
needn't b'lieve him ; but if you aint found him o
gets a; that sort. I know he us't to
be a liar, an* I don e folks recovers from that dis-
ease. So I'm goin' to pay him oiT. An' you do the same.
I tell "'s a schemer, an' he's lookin' up."
Just icro was a light step behind them, a shadow
•i tin- veranda, which, to one of them, at least,
followed by an apparition of light — as, with a smothnvd
cry of, "Jacqudin!" a yonng girl, her hair blowing about
ii'-r brow, ran forward, and a> the wounded soldier
around his neck. UJair <'ary looked liko
a row as she drew back in a pretty confusion, her blush«-s
•r every iimn
, how pretty yon've grown I" exclaim- d
Jacquelin. thinking only of 1,,-r hrauty.
72 KED ROOK
" Well, you talk as if you were very much surprised,"
and Miss Blair bridled with pretended indignation.
" Oh ! No— Of course, not. I only—
" Oh ! yes, you do," and she tossed her pretty head with
well-feigned disdain. " You are as bold with your com-
pliments as you were with your sword."
She turned from him to Sergeant Stamper, who was re-
garding her with open-mouthed admiration.
" How do you do, Sergeant Stamper ? How's Delia ?
And how are her new chickens ? Tell her she isn't to keep
on sending them all to me. I am going to learn to raise
them for myself now."
" I daren't tell her that," said the little fellow. " You
know I can't do nothin' with Delia Dove. You're the only
one can do that. If I tell her that, she'd discharge me,
an' sen* me 'way from the place."
" I'm glad to see she's breaking you in so well," laughed
Blair.
In a short time all the soldiers from the old county who
were left were back at home, together with some who were
not originally from that county, but who, having nowhere
better to go, and no means to go with, even if they had
had, and finding themselves stranded by the receding tide,
pitched their tents permanently where they had only in-
tended to bivouac, and thus, by the simple process of stay-
ing there, became permanent residents.
The day after that on which Jacquelin arrived, General
Legaie, to the delight of old Julius and of such other
servants as yet remained on his place, turned up, dusty,
and worn, but still serene and undispirited. He marched
into his dismantled mansion with as proud a step as when
he left it, and took possession of it as though it had been
a castle. With him was an officer to whom the General
offered the hospitalities of the house as though it had been
a palace, and to whom he paid as courtly attention as if
he had been a prince.
A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES HOME FROM WAR 7
"This is Julius, Captain, of whom I have spoken to
you," he said, after he had shaken hands with the old but-
ler, and with the score of other negroes who had rushed
out and gathered around him on hearing of his arrival.
" Julius will attend to you, and unless he has lost some of
his art you will confess that I have not exaggerated his
abilities." He faced his guest and made him alow bow.
"1 hope, Captain, you will consider this your home as
long as you wish. Julius, the Captain will stay with us
for the present, and I suspect he'd like a julep." And
with a wave of the hand the little General transferred the
responsibility of his guest to the old butler, who stood
bowing, dividing his glances between those of affection
for his master and of shrewd inspection of the visitor.
\vas a tall, spare man, rather sallow than
dark, but with a piercing, black eye, and a closely shut
mouth under a long, black, drooping mustache. He ac-
knowledged the General's speech with a civil word, and
Julius's bow with a nod and a look, short but keen and
inquirinir. and thru, flinging himself into the best seat,
leant his head hack and half dosed his eyes, while the
eral went out and received the negroes, who, with smiling
faces, were still gathering on the news of his arrival.
B guest did not rise from his
chair ; but turned his head slowly from time to time, until
his eyes had rested on every in the ii.-Id of his vis-
mi^ht have been making an appraisement.
General, in fact, did not know any more of his
Julius knew. Jb-li on him only that
uxmatafork in the mad, resting, stretched out on
a couple of fence-rails, while his horso nibbled and picked
at the grass and leaves II-MI- by. Tin- ^ray uniform, some-
fresher than those the General was accustom..! to,
attracted the General's attention, and when Captai'
Baffle, as the stranger cull e<l himself, asked him the nearest
waytoBn or to some genii use. th
once invited him to his home. Ho had heard, he
74 BED ROOK
stated, that a company of Yankees had already been sent
to Brutusville ; but he could show him the way to a house
where gentlemen had lived in the past, and where, if he
thought he would pass muster, one was about to live
again. And with this invitation Captain McRaffle became
an inmate of Thornleigh, as the General's place was called,
and might have stayed there indefinitely had not unfore-
seen contingencies caused him to remove his quarters.
Just as the General returned from his reception on the
veranda, the old butler entered with a waiter and two ju-
leps sparkling in their glasses. At sight of them the Gen-
eral beamed, and even the guest's cold eyes lit up.
" On my soul ! he is the most remarkable fellow in the
world/' declared the General to his visitor. " Where did
you get this?"
" Well, you see, suh," said Julius, " de Yankees over
yander was givin' out rations, and I thought I'd git a few,
so's to be ready for you 'ginst you come."
The General smiled delightedly, and between the sips
of his julep proceeded to extract from Julius all the news
of the county since his last visit, a year or more before,
and to give a running commentary of his own for the en-
lightenment of his guest, who, it must be said, appeared
not quite as much interested in it all as he might have
been.
All the people on the place, Julius said, had been over
to the court-house already to see the soldiers, but most of
them had come back. He had been there himself one day,
but had returned the same evening, as he would not leave
the place unguarded at night.
" The most faithful fellow that ever was on earth ; lie
would die for me ! " asserted the General, in a delighted
aside to his guest, who received the encomium somewhat
coldly, and on the first opportunity that he could do so
(unobserved, gave the old butler another of those looks
that appeared like a flash of cold steel.
Dr. Gary had been down the day before to inquire after
A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES HOME FROY V\R 75
the General. — "An old and valued friend of :».ine, the
•trgeon in the State — ought to have been made
on-General of the army," interpolated the General to
The Doctor had said the ladies were well, and were
iniirhty anxious about the General — "Yes, sir, Miss Tho-
masia was very well, indeed."
Gray — a very old — I mean — ah — Jcnr friend of
mine — sister of Colonel Gray," the General explained to
his guest. " On my word, I believe her intuitions are in-
fallible. I never knew her at fault in her estimate of a
man in my life."
The Doctor had left word asking if he would not come
up to dinner next day, Julius continued :
" Bless my soul ! Of course I will — and I'll take you
too, Captain ; they will be delighted to see you — M«~t
charming people in the world ! "
So the General annotated old Julius's bulletin, gilding
everyone and everything with the gold of his own ingenu-
ous heart.
The — ah — soldiers had left an order for him as soon as
he came, to come to the court-house to swear to some-
thing, said Julius, doubtfully.
.1 see the soldiers d - condemned first ! " bristled
"I shall go to pay my respects to the ladies
'1 Rock and Bird wood to-morrow— the two
iful places in all the country, sir." This to Captain
McKuflle, who received even this stirring information with-
out undue warmth ; but wh.-n their backs were turned, in-
spected again both the General and old .lulius.
Nexf. morning the Genrral invited his guest to accom-
pany him, but Captain M.-lialnV was not feeling well, he
and he thought if the General would leave him,
he would remain quiet. Or, perhaps, if he felt better, he
it? over t<> . nty seat and reconnoitre a little.
s liked to know the strength of the force 1
him.
76 KED ROCK
" A most excellent rule," the General declared, with acU
miration.
So the General, having given the Captain one of the two
very limp shirts which "the though tf illness of a dear friend,
Gary, of Birdwood," had provided for him, arrayed
himself in the other and set out to pay his respects to his
friends in the upper end of the county, leaving his guest
stretched out on a lounge.
He had not been gone long when the Captain ordered
his horse and rode off in the direction of the court-house.
On arriving at the county seat the new-comer rode
straight to the tavern, and dismounting, gave his horse to
a servant and walked in. As he entered he gave one of
those swift, keen glances, and then asked for Mrs. Witch er,
the landlady. When she arrived, a languid, delicate-look-
ing woman, the Captain was all graciousness, and, in a
few moments, Mrs. Witcher was equally complacent. In
fact, the new-comer had decided on the first glance that
this was good enough for him, at least, till he could do
better. The Captain told Mrs. Witcher that he had not
had a really square meal in two months, and had not slept
in a bed in six months.
"A floor, madam, or a table, so it is long enough, is
all I desire. Upon my word and honor I don't think I
could sleep in a bed/'
But Mrs. Witcher insisted that he should try, and so
the Captain condescended to make the experiment, after
giving her a somewhat detailed account of his extensive
family connection, and of an even larger circle of friends,
which included the commanding Generals of all the armies
aud jverybody else of note in the country besides.
" Well, this suits me," he said as he walked into the
room assigned him. " Jim, who occupied this room last ?"
he :-sked the darky — whose name happened to be Paul.
" Well, I forgits the gent'man's name, he died in dis
room."
"Did he? How?"
A BROKEN SOLDIER COME* HOME FROM WAR 77
" Jes' so, suh. He died right in dat bed, 'cans I help*
to lay him out."
•• \\~ell, maybe I'll die in it myself. See that the sheets
are clean/' said Captain McRaffle, composedly. " What
are you standing there gaping at ? Do you suppose I
mind a man's dying? I've killed a hundred men."
"Suh!"
'* Yes, two hundred — and slept in a coffin myself to
boot." And the Captain turned on the negro so dark and
saturnine a face that " Jim " withdrew in a hurry, and
ten minutes later was informing the other negroes that
there was a man in the house that hud been dead and
"done riz agin."
And this was the equipment with which Captain McRaf-
fie began life as a resident of Brntusville.
CHAPTER VII
THE GARY CONFERENCE
THE meeting at Bird wood was a notable occasion. It
was, in a way, the outward and visible sign of the return
of peace. Someone said it looked like the old St. Ann
congregation risen from the dead, to which Miss Thomusia
added, that the gentlemen, at least, were now all immortal,
and the General, with his hand on his heart, gallantly re-
sponded that the ladies had always been so. The speech,
however, left some faces grave, for there were a number
of vacant places that could not be forgotten.
Jacquelin, under the excitement of his arrival, felt him-
self sufficiently restored and stimulated to join his mother
and Aunt Thomasia, and be driven over to Birdwood,
and though he suffered a good deal from the condition of
the roads, yet when Blair ran forward and offered her
shoulder for " his otlier crutch," he felt as though a bad
wound might after all have some compensations.
Steve Allen was the life of the company. He had rid-
den over on his black horse, "Hot-Spur/' that, like himself,
had been wounded several times in the last campaigns,
though never seriously. He spent his time teasing Blair.
He declared that Jacquelin was holding on to his crutch
only to excite sympathy, and that his own greatest cause
for hatred of the Yankees now was either that they had
not shot him instead of Jack, or had not killed Jack, and
he offered to go out and let anyone shoot him immediately
for one single pitying glance like those he said Blair was
lavishing on Jack.
Jacquelin, with a vivid memory of the morning before,
78
THE CART CONFERENCE 79
tad meant to kiss Blair on his arrival, yet when they met
is seized with a sudden panic, and could hardly look
nto her eyes. She appeared to have grown taller and
older since yesterday, as well as prettier, and when Steve,
on arriving, insolently caught and kissed her before them
all, on the plea of cousinship, Jacquelin was conscious of
a pang of consuming jealousy, and for the first time in
his life would gladly have thrashed Steve.
as one thing that marred the occasion somewhat,
or miirht have done so under other circumstances. The
entire negro population, who could travel, moved by some
idea that the arrival of the Federal soldiers concerned
them, were flocking to the county seat, leaving the fields
deserted and the cabins empty.
visitors had found the roads lined with them as they
came al.»ng. They were all civil, hutN7hat could it mean ?
S.im,- of the young men, like Steve and Jacquelin, were
much stirred up about it, and talked of organizing qnietlv
1 y if the need should arise. Dr. Cary, how-
and the older ones, opposed anything of the kind.
>r^ani/.ation whatever would In- viewed with great sus-
pieion by the authorities, and might be regarded as a breach
of their parole, and was not needed. They were already
organized simply by being what they were. And, indeed.
though gaunt and weather-beaten, in their old worn uni-
forms they were a martial-looking set. Therewasnota man
who had not looked Death in the eyes many a time,
and the stare had left something notable in every f;
It was a lovely day, and the early flowers were peeping
M if to !>•• >efore they came too far that winter
had gone for good. The soft haze of Spring was over the
.
one person who was wanting, to make the company
complete, was the little General. They were just discuss-
i'id were wonder in LT if he had -rone to .Mexico;
and Steve, seated at Miss Thomasia's side, was t»
.i.oiit him, declaring that, in his opinion, it was ft
80 RED ROCK
pretty widow, whose husband hud been in the General's
brigade and had been shot, that the General had gone
South after ; when a horseman was seen riding rapidly
across the open field far below, taking the ditches as lie
fame to them. When he div\v m-arer he was recognized
to be none other than the gallant little General himself.
As he came trotting across the lawn, among the great trees,
he presented a martial figure, and handkerchiefs were
waved to him, and many cheers were given, so that he was
quite overcome when he dismounted in the midst of a
number of his old soldiers, and found himself literally
taken in the arms of both the men and the ladies.
The General beamed, as he gazed around with a look
that showed that he thought life might still be worth liv-
ing if only he could meet occasionally such a reception as
had just been given him. Others smiled too ; for it was
known that the General had been an almost life-long lov-
er and suitor of Miss Thomasia Gray, whose twenty years'
failure to smile on him had in no way damped his ardor
or dimmed his hope. In fact, the old soldier, in his faded
gray, with his bronzed, worn, highbred face, was nearer
achieving the object of his life at that moment than he
had ever been in the whole twenty years of his pursuit.
Had the occasion come fifteen or even ten years ear-
lier, he might have done so ; but Miss Thomasia had
reached the point when to marry appeared to her ridicu-
lous, and the only successful rival of the shaft of Cupid
is the shaft of Ridicule.
At such a meeting as this there were necessarily many
serious things to be considered. One was the question of
bread ; another of existence. None could look around
on the wide, deserted fields and fail to take in this. Every-
thing like civil government had disappeared. There was
not a civil officer left in the State. From Governor to
justices of the peace, every office had been vacated. The
Birdwood meeting was the first in the county at which
was had any discussion of a plan for the preservation of
THE CART CONFERENCE 81
order. Even this was informal and unpremeditated ; hut
when it reached the ears of Colonel Krafton, the new com-
mander of that district, who had just arrived, it had taken
on quite another complexion, and the " Gary Conference,"
as it came to be called, was productive of some very far-
reaching consequences to certain of those who partici-
pated in it, and to the county itself.
As to some matters broached at Bird wood that day,
there was wide diversity of opinion among those present.
Dr. Gary was in favor of accepting the issues as settled
<>f making friends with the high authorities —
as had already been done by some in other parts of the
State, and of other States.
" Never I never ! " declared General Legaie, with whom •
were most of tne others. " They have done their worst ;
they have invaded us, and taken our negroes from us.
Let them bear the responsibilities they have assumed."
It was easy to see, from the enthusiasm which greeted
tin < . on which side the sympathy lay.
.0 worst! General* Legaie ?" exclaimed Dr. Gary.
ie worst will becoming for years. 'After the .-word
comes the canker worm.' Mark my words : the first terms
offered are always the best. I should not. be surpri-
if you were to live to see negroes invested with the eluc-
ranchise."
Impossible! Preposterous I Incredible !" declared
General Legaie, his words being echoed by most of those
It seems almost impossible and quite inn-edible, yet
to an «.ld man many tilings appear possible that are in-
credible," said Dr. ( .try.
- We will die before such an infamy should be perpe-
trated ! " protested General Legaie, with spirit.
trouble is, that dying would do no good ;
only those who know how to live can now save :n-
try," said the Doctor, gravely.
••id Whig looked so earnest — BO imposing, as he
6
82 RED ROCK
stood, tall and white, his eyes flashing tinder their beetling
brows, that though, perhaps, few agreed with him, all
were impressed, and by a common and tacit consent their
position was not pressed, at least for the present. The
little General even agreed to accompany Dr. Gary at some
near date, to give his views, along with Dr. Gary's, to the
new Commander of the district, Colonel Krafton, in order,
the General stated, that the Commander might understand
precisely the attitude of all persons in their county.
Steve Allen, and the other young soldiers who were
there, found themselves sufficiently entertained, fighting
over their battles, as though they had been the commanding
generals, and laying off new campaigns in a fresh and dif-
ferent field ; meantime, getting their hands in, adoring
and teasing their young hostess, who was related to, or con-
nected with, most of them. They had left Blair Gary, a
dimple-faced, tangle-haired romp of thirteen or fourteen,
with saucy eyes, which even then, as they danced behind
their dark lashes, promised the best substitute for beauty.
They now found her sprung up to a slender young lady of
" quite seventeen," whose demureness and new-born dig-
nity were the more bewitching, because they were belied by
her laughing glances. Mars has ever been the captive of
Venus as well as her conqueror, and more than Steve Al-
len and Jacquelin Gray fell victims at the first fire from
those " deadly batteries," as Steve afterward characterized
Blair Gary's eyes, in his first poem to Belinda — published
in the Brutusville Guardian. But they all declared
they saw at once that they stood no chance with Jack
Gray, whose face wore <( that sickly look," as Steve called
it, which, he said, " every woman thought interesting and
none could resist. " Over all of which nonsense, Miss
Blair's dark eyes twinkled with the pleasure of a girl who
is too young to comprehend it quite fully, but yet finds it
1 wonderfully delightful. As for Jacquelin, to him she was
\ no longer mortal : he had robed her in radiance and lifted
| her among the stars.
THE CART CONFERENCE 83
The older people found not less pleasnre in the reunion
than their juniors, and appeared to have grown young again.
And while the youngsters were out on the grass at Miss
Blairs feet, in more senses than one, the General and Dr.
( 'ury and the other seniors were on the vine-covered portico,
discussing grave questions of state-craft, showing precisely
how and when the Confederacy might have been saved and
made the greatest power on earth — together with other
serious matters. The General teased himself as of old
about Miss Thomasia, and the Doctor teased them both.
The General had been noted formerly as a great precision-
ist in matters of dress, as well as in all other matters, and
now, when he stalked about the veranda, with his old
uniform-coat buttoned to the chin as jauntily as ever, and
with a limp bit of white showing above the collar and at
the wrists, in which he evidently took much pride, the
Doctor, who knew where the shirt came from, and that,
like the one which he himself had on, it was made
from an under-garment of one of the ladies, could not
help rallying him a little. The Doctor wisely took ad-
vantage of Mrs. Gary's absence from the room to do this,
1m t had got no farther than to congratulate the General
on the luxury of fresh linen and to receive from him the
gallant assurance that he had felt on putting it on that
morning, as a knight of old might have felt when he
donned his armor prepared by virgin hands, when Mrs.
Gary entered and, recognizing instantly from her husband's
look of suspicious innocence and Miss Thomasia's expn >-
.-i'»ii, that some mischief was going on, pounced on him
promptly and bore lii in o IT. When he returned from the
"judgment chamber," as lie called it, he was under a
solemn pledge not to OJM -n the subject again to the Gen-
eral, which he observed to the best of his ability, though
he kept Miss Thomasia on thorns, by coming as near to it as
he dared with a duo regard to himself in view of his wife's
watchfulness.
In fact, these men were thoroughly enjoying homo life
84 RED ROCK
after the long interval of hardship and deprivation, and
neither the sorrow of the past nor the gloom of the pres-
ent could wholly depress them. The future, fortunately,
they could not know. Then, among young people there
must be joy, if there be not death ; and fun is as natural as
or flowers in spring or any other outbudding of a new
and bounding life.
So, even amid the ruins, the flowers bloomed and there
were fun and gayety. Hope was easily worth all the other
spirits in Pandora's box put together.
Before the company separated they began to talk even
of a party, and, to meet the objections of old Mr. Lang-
staff and some others, it was agreed that it should be a
contribution-entertainment and that the proceeds should
go to the wounded soldiers and soldiers' widows, of the
county. This Steve declared was a deep-laid scheme on
the part of Jacquelin Gray. It was already decided on
when the Doctor 'returned to the sitting-room, after Mrs.
Gary had summoned him thence, and the question under
advisement was whether the Yankee officers at the court-
house should be invited. Steve Allen had started it.
The ladies were a unit.
" No, indeed ; not one of them should set his foot inside
the door ; not a girl would dance with one of them." On
this point Miss Blair was very emphatic, and her laughing
eyes lost their gleam of sunlight and flashed forth a sud-
den spark which showed deeper depths behind those dark
lashes than had appeared at any time before.
"I'll bet you do," said Steve. He stretched out his
long legs, settled himself, and looked at Blair with that
patronizing air which always exasperated her.
" Fll bet I don't ! " — with her head up, and her color
deepening a little at the bravado of using such a word.
"I'll bet my horse you'll break a set with Jack for
the Yankee captain," declared Steve.
" Don't want your old horse, he's too full of lead/' said
Blair.
THE CART CONFERENCE 8T>
" Then I'll bet yon his horse."
" It's a good one/' said Jacquelin from his place on the
lounge. " Blood-bay, with three white feet and a blaze on
his nose."
" He's mine," asserted Steve with a nod of his head.
•• How will you get it ?" asked Blair.
" Steve knows several ways of getting horses," laughed
one of the other young men.
"Shut up, you fool," telegraphed Steve with his lips,
glaneini: quickly at Miss Thomasia, who was beaming on
him with kindly eyes.
It is surprising what little things have influence. That
a flash, with the firmer lines which came for a sec-
ond in the young girl's face, did more to bind the young
men to her footstool than all the fun and gayety she had
shown.
The men were not so unanimous on the point touching
the exclusion of the officers. Most of tin i with
.lies, but one or two were inclined to the other side.
•• Men like to fancy themselves broader and more judi-
cial than women," said Miss Thomasia, placidly.
Jacquelin mentioned casually that Middleton was not
only quite a gentlemanly fellow, but a strikingly hand.«»mo
"A Yankee soldier good-looking! I'll not believe
;• 'dared Miss P>luir, promptly.
This debate created a diversion in their fu\<>r. and it
was suggested and agreed to, as a compromise, that they
should "wait until after a St. Ann Sunday, and see what
the officers looked like. No doubt some of them would
come to church, and then they could determine what thej
would do."
This idea was feminine, and, to offset it, it was re-de-
clared that at present they were "unanimously opposed
to regarding them in any other light than that of bitter
CHAPTER VIII
MR. HIRAM STILL TELLS HOW TO BRIDLE A SHY HORSE,
AND CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN HIS HOE
So Peace spread her white wings, extending her serenity
and shedding her sweetness even in those regions where
war had passed along.
Without wasting time or repining about the past, Dr.
Gary and General Legaie and the other men began to pick
up such of the tangled and broken threads of the old life
as could be found, and to form with them the new. They
mended the worn vehicles, patched up the old harness and
gear, broke their war-horses to drive, and set in to live
bravely and cheerfully, in as nearly the old manner as they
could. They had, they believed, made the greatest fight
on record. They had not only maintained, but had in-
creased, the renown of their race for military achievement
— the reputation which they most highly valued. They
had been overwhelmed, not whipped ; cast down, but not
destroyed. They still had the old spirit, the unconquer-
able spirit of their race, and, above all, they had the South.
Dr. Gary determined to use every effort to restore at
once the old state of affairs, and, to this end, to offer
homes and employment to all his old servants.
Accordingly, he rode down to the county seat one day
to have an interview with the officers there. He went
alone, because he did not know precisely how he would be
received, and, besides, there was by no means general ap-
proval of his course among his friends.
He found that the ranking officer, Captain Middleton,
had been summoned that morning to the city by Colonel
86
CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN HIS HOE 87
Krafton, the provost in command there. The next in com-
mand, however, Lieutenant Thnrston, was very civil and
obliging to the Doctor, and, on learning of his plans, took
steps to further them.
The officer summoned all the negroes who were hanging
around the village, to assemble on the court-green, told
them of the Doctor's offer, and, after a short talk to them,
ordered all the Doctor's old servants who were present, and
had not secured employment elsewhere, to return home
and go to work on the wages he had agreed the Doctor
should pay. For, as he said to Middleton when he re-
turned :
" By Gad ! Larry, I was not sure whether I was talking
to Don Quixote or old Dr. Filgrave — I know he is cousin
:n both, for he told me so — he is a cousin to everybody
in the United States. And, besides, I was so bored with
those niggers hanging around, looking pitiful, and that
tall, whispering fellow, Still, who tells about the way he
had to act during the war to keep the people from knowing
he was on our side, that I would have ord'-ivd every nigger
in the country to go with the old gentleman if he had
wanted them. By the way, he is the father of the girl
they say is so devilishly pretty, and he asked after yon
most particularly. Ah ! Larry, I am a diplomat. I have
missed my calling/' And, as he looked at his tall, good-
looking superior, the little Lieutenant's eyes twinkled
above the bowl of his pipe, which was much the shape of
himself.
The engagement to furnish his negroes rations I>r.
Gary was enabled to make, because on his arrival at the
y seat he had fallen in with Hiram Still, who had of-
to lend him a sum of money, which he said he hap-
pened to have by him. Hiram had been down to take the
oath of allegiance, he told the Doctor.
" I been wonderin' to myself what I was to do with that
money — and what I turned all them Confrd. notes into
gold and greenbacks for/' he said. " Fact is, I thought
88 BED ROCK
myself a plum fool for doin' it ; but I says, ' Well, gold's
gold, whichever way it goes/ So I either bought land or
gold. But 't does look 's if Providence had somethin' to do
with it, sure 'nough. I ain't got a bit o' use for it — you
can take it and pay me just when it's convenient."
Still had never been a favorite with Dr. Gary, though
the latter confessed that he could cite no positive ground
for his dislike. When he thought of his antipathy at all,
he always traced it back to two things — one that Legaie
always disliked Still, the other that when Still had his
attack of inflammatory rheumatism at the outbreak of
the war, the symptoms were such as to baffle the Doctor's
science. " That's a pretty ground for a reasonable man to
found an antipathy on," reflected the Doctor.
As the Doctor and Hiram rode back together toward
home, Still was so bitter in his denunciation of the Fed-
erals and of their action touching the negroes, that the
Doctor actually felt it his duty to lecture him. They were
all one country now, he said, and they should accept the
result as determined. But Still said, "Never 1" He had
only taken the oath of allegiance, he declared, because he
had heard he would be arrested unless he did. But he
had taken it with a mental reservation. This shocked
the Doctor so much that he rebuked him with sternness,
on which Still explained that he did not mean exactly that,
but that he had heard that if a man took an oath under
threats he was absolved from it.
" There was some such legal quibble/' the Doctor ad-
mitted, with a sniff, but he was " very sure that no brave
man would ever take an oath for such a reason, and no
honest one would ever break one." He rode off with his
head very high.
When Still reached home that evening he was in un-
commonly good spirits. He was pleasanter than usual to
his daughter, who appeared the plainer because of the con-
trast that her shabby clothes presented to the showy suit
which her brother wore. It was to his son, however, that
CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN HIS HOE tf'J
Mr. Still showed his particular good-humor. Wash had just
come home for a little visit from the city, where he had
been ever since his return from the army, and where he
was now studying medicine. He was a tall, slim fellow,
very much like his father in appearance, though in place
of the rather good-tempered expression which usually sat
on the latter's face, Wash's look was usually sour and dis-
contented.
••Ah, Wash, my son, I did a good stroke of business for
you to-day," said the father that evening at supper.
11 What was it? Did you buy another farm ? You'll
.. buying so much land." replied his son, pleasantly.
i put aside the iinirra.-iousness of the reply. 1I>
accustomed to his son's slurs.
•• Yes and no." He winked at Virgy, to whom he had
already confided something of his stroke of business. lie
glanced at the door to see that no one was listening, and
dropped his voice to his confidential pitch. "I lent
'••ctor a leetle money." He nodded with satisfaction.
Wash became interested ; but the next instant attempt-
ed to appear indifferent.
• I I«»w mueh ? What security did he give ?"
•• Ifon than he'll he able to pay for some time, and the
security's all riirht. Aha 1 I thought that would wake
you up. I'll lend him some more one of these days and
we'll get the pay — with interest." .lie winked at his
son knowingly. '• Wh- tryin* to ketch a shy hor.-e,
imw him the bridle ; when you've got him, then — I"
lie made a gesture of slipping on a halter. This
of philosophy appeared to satisfy the young man and
to atone for the apparent unwisdom of his father's ac-
!!>• irot into such a good- humor that he began to
talk pleasantly with his sister and to ask her about the
young men in the neighborhood.
It wa* striking to see how she changed at the n«.ti-
brother took of her. The listless look dkij >pea red. and her
eyes brightened and made her face appear really interesting.
90 RED ROCK
Presently the young man said :
" How's Lord Jacquelin ? " At the unexpected ques-
tion the blood mounted to the girl's face, and after an
appealing look she dropped her eyes quickly.
When the end of the month came, Dr. Gary summoned
his hands and paid them their wages one by one, according
to his contract with Thurston, checking each name, as he
paid them, on a pay-roll he had prepared. Their reception
of the payment varied with the spirit of the men ; some
being gay and facetious ; others taking it with exaggerated
gravity. It was the first time they had ever received stip-
ulated wages for their services, and it was an event.
The Doctor was well satisfied with the result, and went
in to make the same settlement with the house-servants.
The first he met was Mammy Krenda, and he handed her
the amount he had agreed on with Thurston as a woman's
wages. The old woman took it quietly. This was a
relief. Mrs. Gary had been opposed to his paying her
anything ; she had felt sure that the mammy would feel
offended. " Why, she is a member of the family," she
said. "We can't pay her wages." The Doctor, how-
ever, deemed himself bound by his engagement with
Thurston. He had said he would pay all wages, and he
would do so. So when the mammy took the money with
her usual curtsey, in one way the Doctor's spirits rose,
though he was conscious of a little tug at his heart, as if
the old ties had somehow been loosened. He rallied, how-
ever, at the reflection that he could satisfy his wife, at last,
that he knew human nature more profoundly than she
did — a doctrine he had secretly cherished, but had never
been entirely successful in establishing.
In this satisfactory state of mind, not wishing to sever
entirely the tie with the mammy, as the old woman still
stood waiting, he, after a moment, said kindly and with
great dignity :
" Those are your wages, mammy."
CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN HIS HOE Ul
" My what, sir?" The Doctor was conscious of a cer-
tain c lulling of the atmosphere. He looked out of the
window to avoid her gaze.
"Your wages — I — ah — have determined — I — think it
better from this time to — ah — ." He had no idea it was
so difficult. Why had he not got Mrs. Gary to attend to
this — why had he, indeed, not taken her advice ? Pshaw ! —
He had to face the facts ; so he would do it. He sum-
moned courage and turned and looked at the old woman.
She was in the act of putting the money carefully on the
corner of the table by her, and if the Doctor had difficulty
in meeting her gaze, she had none in looking at him.
Her eyes were fastened on him like two little shining
beads. They stuck him like pins. The Doctor felt as he
used to feel when a young man he went to pay his ad-
dresses to his wife — lie was conscious that whenever he
met Krenda she was inspecting him, searching his inmost
soul — looking through and through him. He had to as-
sert himself.
" You see, I promised the Federal officer at the court-
house to pay everyone wages," he began with an effort,
looking at the old woman.
" How much does you pay Miss Bessie?"
" How much what?"
" }\'ages." He had no idea one word could convey so
much contempt.
w Why, nothing — of course "
Old Krenda lifted her head.
" I'm gwine 'way."
« \Vh;it!"
' I'm fcaivd you'll charge me bode!'9 She had ex-
panded. "I ken git a little house somewheres, I reckon
—or I ken go to th* city and miss — chillun."
" Mammy — you don't understand—" The Doctor was
in surh a dilemma. If his wife would only come
What a fool he was, not to have known that his wife
knew more about it than he did.
KKI) UOCK
" Won't you accept tho money as a gift from me ?" lie
said at last, desperately.
"Nor — I ara'gwinefclcftit!" The gesture was even
more final than the tone. With a sniff, she turned and
walked out, leaving the Doctor feeling like a school-boy.
He rose after a few minutes and went to his wife's room
I to get her to make his peace. The door was shut, but he
1 opened it. The scene within was one that remained with
him through life. His* wife was weeping, and the mammy
and Blair were in each other's arms. The only words he
heard were from the mammy.
" Ef jest my ole marster could come back. He'd know
I didn' do it for no wages."
" Oh ! mammy, he knows it too ! "
The Doctor was never conscious of being so much alone
in his life, and it took some time to make his peace.
In the same way that the old planters and landowners
set in to restore the old places, the younger men also went
to work. Necessity is a good spur and pride is another.
Stamper, with Delia Dove "for overseer," as he said,
was already beginning to make an impression on his little
place. As he had " kept her from having an overseer," he
said, the best thing he could do was to "let her be one."
"Talk about th' slaves bein' free, Mr. Jack ! they won't
all be free long's Delia Dove's got me on her place." The
little Sergeant's chuckle showed how truly he enjoyed that
servitude. " She owns me, but she treats me well," he
laughed.
The Stamper place, amid its locusts and apple-trees, with
its hipped roof and dormer-windows, small as it was, was
as old as Red Rock — at least as the new mansion, with its
imposing porticoes and extended wings, built around the
big fireplace of the old house — and little Andy, though be-
ing somewhat taciturn he never said anything about it,
was as proud of this fact as he was of being himself rather
than Hiram Still. He had got an old army wagon from
somewhere and was now beginning his farming opera-
CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN* His HOE 93
tions in earnest. It had had " U. S." on it, but though
Andy insisted that the letters stood for "US" not for the
ites, Delia 1 >o\ e had declined to ride in the vehicle
as long as it had such characters st;; n it. As Mrs.
Stamper was obdur ly finally was forced to save her
•ilities, which he did by substituting "D" for " U."
This, he said, would stand either for " Delia Stamper," or
'• D— d States."
jiielin Gray was almost the only one of the men who
was not able to go to work. His wound showed a tendency
to break out afresh.
Steve Allen intended to practise law as soon as matters
settled themselves. As yet, however, he could not entire.
in any profession. He had not yet determined to take the
oath of allegiance. Meantime, to the great happiness of
his cousins, especially of Miss Thomasia, he dufern
ing to the county seat and, moved by the grassy uj>
ance of the once beautifully cultivated fields of Red I
began farming. Perhaps, it was sheer pride and dislike of
meeting Middloton at the court-house under circumstances
so different from those under which they had met
perhaps it was the pleasure of bein.i: near llirdwnod that
. It was very pleasant when his day's work was
done, to don his old gray jacket, play gentleman once
more, and ride across the river of an evening ; loun-
the grass under the bi> trees at Birduo-.d. :>nd fcease Hlair
Gary about Jacquelin, until her eyes Hashed, and she let out
at him, as he used to say, 'Mike a newly bridled iilhv'
So he hitched his war-horses, Hotspur and Kate, to ploughs
and ploughed day by day, while he made his boy, Jerry,
plough furrow for furrow near him, under promise of half
of his share of their crop if he kept up, and of the worst
" lambing " he had ever had in his life if he did not. Jerry
was a long, slim, young negro, as black as tar. He was the
grandson of old Peggy, Steve's mammy, and had
from the fur South. Where Steve had got him durinjr the
war no one knew except Steve and Jerry themsmres.
94 RED ROCK
Steve said he found him hanging to a tree and cut him
down because he wanted the rope ; but that if he had
known Jerry as well then as he did afterward, he would
have left him hanging. At this explanation, Jerry always
grinned, exhibiting two rows of white teeth which looked
like corn from a full ear. Jerry was a drunkard, a liar,
and a thief. But one thing was certain : he adored Steve,
who in return for that virtue bore delinquencies which no
one else in the world would have tolerated. Jerry had one
other trait which recommended him to his master : he was
as brave as a lion ; he would not have been afraid of the devil
himself unless he had taken on the shape of Mr. Steven-
son Allen, of whom alone Jerry stood in wholesome awe.
Steve's bucolic operations came somewhat suddenly to an
end. One evening, after a hard day's work, he met Wash
Still dressed up and driving a new buggy, turning in at
Dr. Gary's gate. He was " going to consult Dr. Gary about
a case/' he said. Next day, as Steve was working in the
field, he saw Wash driving down the hill from the man-
ager's house with the same well-appointed rig. Steve
stopped in the row and looked at him as he drove past.
Just then Jerry came up. His eye followed his master's,
and his face took on an expression of scorn.
"Umph! things is tunned sort o' upside down," he
grunted. " Overseer's son drivin' buggy, and gent'mens in
de fielV Steve smiled at Jerry's use of the plural. The
next moment Hiram Still rode down the hill, and turn-
ing his horse in Steve's direction came across the field.
" He sutney don' like you, Gun'l," said Jerry, " an' he
don' like the Cap'n neider ;" by which last, he designated
Jacquelin. Jerry always gave military titles to those he
liked — the highest to Steve, of course. " He say it do him
good to see you wuckin' in the fiel' like a nigger, and some
day he hope to set in de gret-house and see you doin' it."
Still passed quite close to Captain Allen, and as he did
BO, reined in his horse, and sat ^okin^ down. a.t
$s he came to the end of his row.
CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN HIS HOB 95
•' We all have to come to it, at last, Captain," he said.
Whether it was his words, and the look on his face, or
whether Steve had in tended anyhow to do what he did, he
•it'll up, and shot a glance at the Manager.
" You think so ? Well, you are mistaken." He raised
his hoe and stuck it in the ground up to the eye.
" There," he said to Still, in a tone of command, " take
that home. That's the last time I'll ever touch a hoe as
long us 1 live. I've brains enough to make my living by
. and if I haven't, I mean to starve ! " He walked past
the overseer with his head so straight, that Still began to
explain that he had meant no offence. But Steve took no
further notice of him.
rry, you can keep on ; I'll see that you get your part
of the crop."
• r— I ain't gwine to hit anur lick, nurr — I'll starve
wi<l yer." And Jerry lifted his hoe and drove it into the
ground; looked at Still superciliously, and followed his
master with as near an imitation of his manner and gait as
he could achieve.
It was only when Steve was out of hearing, that Still's
look changed. He clenched his fist, and shook it after
voting man.
" 111 bring you to it yet," he growled.
That evening Steve announced his intention of begin
ning immediately the practice of his profession.
CHAPTER IX
MR. JONADAB LEECH TURNS UP WITH A CARPET-BAG
AND OPENS HIS BUREAU
THE young officers at the court-house meantime had fared
very well. It is true that most of the residents treated
them coldly, if civilly, and that the girls of the place, of
whom there were quite a number, turned aside whenever
they met them, and passed by with their heads held high,
and their eyes straight to the front, flashing daggers. But
this the young men were from experience more or less
used to.
Reely Thurston told Middleton that if he would leave
matters to him, he would engineer him through the cam-
paign, and before it was over would be warbling ditties with
all the pretty girls in a way to make his cousin, Miss Euth
Welch, green with envy. The lieutenant began by parad-
ing up and down on his very fine horse ; but the only result
he attained was to hear a plump young girl ask another in
a clear voice, evidently meant for him to hear, " What
poor Southerner," she supposed, " that little Yankee stole
that horse from ! " He recognized the speaker as the
young lady he had seen looking at them from the door of
the clerk's office the morning of their arrival.
Brntusville, the county seat where they wen1 posted, was
a pretty little straggling country village of old-fashioned
houses amid groves of fine old trees, lying along the main
road of the county, where it wound among shady slopes,
with the blue mountain range in the distance. Most of
the houses were hip-roofed and gray with age. The river —
the same stream that divided Red Rock from Birdwood —
96
"I I Ml 1 1 ACE TURNED ASIDE, WHENEVER THEY MET THEM.
AMD PASSED BY WITH THEIR HEADS MfcLD HIGH.
MR. JOXADAB LEECH TURNS UP 97
near the village, broadening as it reached the more
i-ountry and received the waters of one or two other
. ore the war there had been talk of estab-
lishing deep-water connections with the lower country, as
the last rapid- «»f any extent were not far below Brutusvillc,
l>r. C'ary, however, had humorously suggested that they
\ lind it easier to macadamize the river than to make
hie.
i-nunty seat had suffered, like the rest of the county,
during the war ; but as it happened, the main body of the
enemy had been kept out of the place by high water, and
ne old trees did much to conceal the sears that had
been made.
. brick court-house in the middle of the green,
peeping out from among the trees, with its great, classical
portico, was esteemed by the residents of the village to he,
mott imposing structure in the world. Mr.
Dockett, the clerk — who had tilled this position for nearly
forty years, with the exception of the brief period when,
fired by martial enthusiasm, he had gone off with Captain
's company — told Lieutenant Thurston a day or two
lutter's arrival, that while he had never 1..
Greece or, indeed, out of the State, ho had been informed
DM who had been there that the court-house was, per-
haps, in some respects. m»iv pn-f.vt than any building i x
13. Lieutenant Thurston said he had never been to
Greece either, hut he was quite sure it was. He also
added that he considered Mr. Dmkett's own house a very
beautiful one, and thought that it showed e\idenees, in its
same classical taste that Mr. Dockett
admired so min-h. Mr. Dockett, while aeeepting the com-
•.t with due modesty, answered that if the lieutenant
wished to see a beautiful bouse he should •
. ' be \oung oHieer gently
in to talk of all the people and af-
• •ighborh .uding the charms of tho
7
98 BED HOCK
From this, it will be seen that the little Lieutenant was
already laying his mines, and preparing to make good his
promise to Middleton to engineer him through the cam-
paign.
The compliment to the Dockett mansion was not with-
out its effect on the genius who presided in that classic and
comfortable abode, and, at length, Mrs. Dockett, a plump
and energetic woman, had, with some prevision, though in
a manner to make her beneficiaries sensible of her conde-
scension, acceded to the young men's request to take them
as boarders, and allow them to occupy a wing-room in her
house.
Thus Middleton and Thurston were able to write Ruth
Welch a glowing account of their "headquarters in an
old colonial mansion," and of the " beautiful maiden " who
sang them "songs of the South."
The songs, however, that Miss Dockett sang, though as
Thurston said truly, they were in one sense sung for
them, were not sung in the sense Lieutenant Thurstou
implied. They were hardly just the sort that Miss Ruth
Welch would have approved of, and were certainly not
what Mrs. Welch would have tolerated. For they were
all of the most ultra-Southern spirit and tendency, and
breathed the deadliest defiance to everyone and every-
thing Northern. Miss Dockett was not pretty, except as
youth and wholesomeness give beauty ; but she was a
cheery maiden, with blue eyes, white teeth, rosy cheeks,
and a profusion of hair, and though she had no training,
she possessed a pleasant voice and sang naturally and
agreeably — at least to one who, liko Thurston, had not too
much ear for music. Thurston once had the temerity to
ask for a song — for which he received a merited rebuff.
Of course she would not sing for a Yankee, said the young
lady, with a toss of her head and an increased elevation
of her little nose, and immediately she left the room.
When, however, the young officers were in their rooms,
she sang all the Southern songs she knew. One, in par-
MR. JONADAB LEECH TURNS UP 99
ticnlar, she rendered with great spirit. It had jnst been
written. It began :
«* Oh ! I'm a good old rebel,
Now, that's just what I am ;
For this * Fair land of f reedom,*
I do not care a-t all. "
Another verse ran :
44 Three hundred thousand Yankees
Lays dead in Southern das',
We got three hundred thousand
Before they conquered us ;
Tln-y died of Southern fi-vrr,
Of Southern steel and shot ;
I wish they were thn-i- million,
Instead of what we got."
The continued iteration of this sanguinary melody float-
ing in at the open window finally induced the little Lieu-
tenant, in his own room one afternoon, to raise, in op-
position, his own voice, which was none of the most
melodious, in the strains of" The Star-Spangled Banner."
Hut he had got no further than the second invocation to
" the land of the free and the home of the bravo," when
there was a rush of footsteps outside, followed by a p.. mul-
ing on his door, and on his opening the door Mrs. Dock-
ett bore down on him with so much fire in her eye that
Reely was quite overwhelmed. And when she gave him
notice that she would have no Yankee songs sung in her
house, and that he must either "quit the house or quit
howling," little Thurston, partly amused and partly
daunted, and with the wide difTcivnce between Mrs.
Dockett's fried chicken and heat-biscuit and the mess-
table "truck" before his eyes, promised t«> a«b>pt the
latter course — " ^cm-rally."
Fortunately the young officers were too much accus-
tomed to such defiances to feel very serious about them, and
i
100 RED ROCK
they went on ingratiating themselves with Miss Dockett — .
Thurston by his fun and good-humor, and Middleton by
his gentlemanly bearing and his linn management of the
negroes who hung around the eamp.
The peace and comfort of the young men, however,
were suddenly much threatened by the arrival of a new
official, not under their jurisdiction, though under Colonel
Krafton, who had sent him up, specially charged with all
matters relating to the negroes.
He arrived one afternoon with only a carpet-bag ; took
a room in the hotel, and, as if already familiar with the
ground, immediately dispatched a note to Mrs. Dockett
asking quarters in her house. Even had the new-comer
preferred his application as a request it might ha-ve been
rejected ; but he demanded it quite as a right ; the line
which he sent up by a negro servant being rather in the
nature of an order than a petition to Mrs. Dockett to pre-
pare the best room in her house for his head-quarters. It
was signed e< Jonadab Leech, Provost-Marshal, command-
ing/' etc., etc. But the new official did not know Mrs.
Dockett. The order raised a breeze which came near blow-
ing the two officers, whom she had accepted and domiciled
in her house, out of the quarters she had vouchsafed them.
She sailed down upon them with the letter in her hand ;
and, as Thurston said, with colors flying and guns ready
for action. But, fortunately, little Thurston was equal to
the emergency. He glanced at the paper the enraged lady
showed him and requested to be allowed possession of it
for a moment. When he had apparently studied it atten-
tively, he looked up.
" I do not know that I quite comprehend. Do I under-
stand you to insist on taking this man in ? " He was
never so innocent-looking. Mrs. Dockett gasped :
"What! ! Ta— ke in the man that wrote that!" She
visibly expanded.
"-—Because if you do, Captain Middleton and I shall
have to move our quarters. I happen to know this man
MR. JONADAB LEECH TURNS UP 101
• nally — slightly — that is, I once had a transaction
with him as an oilier r which resulted unpleasantly. His
ions are entirely different from ours; he being
charged with matters relating to the freedmen, their care
and support ; while ours are military and relate to the
government of the county and the maintenance of }
(He glanced at Mrs. Dockett, who was snitling ominously.)
wo shall uphold him in all proper exercise of his
power, and recognize his authority as an officer within the
scope of his own jurisdiction, I must say that for personal
reasons his presence would 1..- distasteful to me, and 1
think I can speak for Captain Middle-ton (here he looked
at his frit-nd iiujuirinu'Iy). and if you contemplate
_: him in, I should prefer to remove my own quarters
back to camp."
The little Lieutenant had gathered dignity as he pro-
ceeded, and he di-lm-ivd tin- d^e of his oration with
quite the manner of an orator. Ih- had spoken so rapidly
Mrs. Dockett had not had a moment to get in a
word. He closed with a most impressive bow, while Mid-
dleton gazed at him with mingled amusement and ad-
ion.
Mrs. Dockett discovered the wind t .«n mipletely out
of her sails, and found herself acf ^lly forced into the.
position of making a tack and ! .vin^ rather to olTer an
apology to the ruffled little officer.
She had never dreamed of preferring this new-eomer
to them, she declared. She could not but say that th.-y
had always acted in a most gentlemanly way, so far as she
was concerned. She had, indeed, been most agreeably sur-
prised. She had never, for a moment, dreamed of permit-
ting this impudent upstart, whoever he was, to come in-
to her house. Let him go to some of his colored friends.
Of coarse, if they wished to leave her bouse— they mn>t
do so. Her head was rising again. Thurston hastened to
inh-rpose.
Not at all— they were most charmed, etc. Only he
102 RED ROCK
didn't know but she might not care to have them remain
— and they could not do so if this man came.
"He's not coming. Let him try it." And the irate
lady sailed out to deliver her broadside to the new enemy
that had borne down on her.
She had no sooner disappeared than the Lieutenant's
face fell.
" Gad ! Larry, we are undone. It's that Leech who used
to live with old Bolter, and about whom they told the
story of his trying to persuade his wife to let him get a
divorce, and who shirked all through the war. Unless we
can get rid of him it's all up. We're ruined."
' ' Freeze him out," Middleton said, briefly. " You've
begun well."
"Freeze— - ? Freeze a snow-bank! That's his cli-
mate. He'd freeze in ! " The little Lieutenant
named a very hot place.
Thurston had not been too soon in placing the line of
discrimination clearly between themselves and the Provost
Marshal, for the arrival of the latter in the county at once
caused a change of conditions.
On receipt of Mrs. Dockett's decisive and stinging reply
Leech immediately made application to Captain Middleton
to enforce his requisition, but, to his indignation, he was
informed that they were the only boarders, and that Mrs.
Dockett managed her own domestic affairs : which, indeed,
was no more than the truth. To revenge himself, the Pro-
vost took possession of Mr. Dockett's office, and opened
his bureau in it, crowding the old official into a back room
of the building. Here, too, however, he was doomed to dis-
appointment and mortification ; for, on the old clerk's rep-
resentation of the danger to his records, and of their value,
enforced by Mrs. Dockett's persuasive arguments, Leech
was required by Middleton to surrender possession and
take up his quarters in an unoccupied building on the other
side of the road. Here he opened his office under a flaring
sign bearing the words, " FREEDMEN'S BUREAU."
MR. JONADAB LEECH TURNS UP 103
So the Provost, being baffled here, had to content him-
self, as he might, at the court-house tavern, where he soon
tf a new campaign. His principal trouble there, lay
in the presence of the dark, sallow Captain McRaffle,
whose saturnine face scowled at him from the upper end
of the table, and kept him in a state of constant irritation.
The only speech the Captain ever addressed to him was to
ask if he played cards, and on his saying he "never played
games," he appeared to take no further interest in him.
The Provost, however, kept his eye on him.
The effect of the Provost's appearance was felt immedi-
ately. The news of his arrival seemed to have spread
in a night, and the next day the roads were filled with
Mgroei.
" De wud had come for 'em/' they said. They " had to
go to de Cap'n to git de papers out o' de buro." Only
the old house-servants were left, and even they were some-
excited.
I time those who left their homes did not return so
quickly. Immediately after the news of the surrender
came, a good many of the negroes had gone off and -
lished settlements to tin -niselves. The chief settlement in
the Ked Rock neighborhood was known as " The Bend,"
from the fact that it was in a section half surrounded by
a curve of the river. It was accessible from both sides of
the river, and in the past had been much associated with
runaway negroes.
It had always been an unsavory spot in the county, and
now, the negroes congregating there, it had come into
greater ill repute than ever. It was dubbed with some de-
rision, "Africa." Here Jim Sherwood and Moses had
built cabins, and shortly many others gathered al><mt them.
This, however, might not have amounted to much had not
another matter come to light.
Pro Y0«t WM summoning the negroes and enrolling
>v hundred*, exciting them with stories of what the
Government proposed to do for them, and telling them
104 RED ROCK
><>st pernicious lies : that they need not work, and
that the liovernment was going to IVed them and give
them all "forty acres and a mule apiece."
:i the oldtT negroes were somewhat excited by these
tales, and, finally. Mammy Kivnda asked Dr. Gary if it
was true that the Government was going to give them all
land.
" Of course not. Who says so ? " asked the Doctor.
" I heah so/' said the old woman. Even she was be-
ginning to be afraid to tell what she had heard.
Contemporaneously with this, an unprecedented amount
of lawlessness suddenly appeared : chicken-houses wen?
robbed ; sheep and pigs and even cattle were stolen, with-
out there being any authority to take cognizance of the
thefts or any power to punish.
Andy Stamper and several others of the neighbors came
over to see Dr. Gary about the matter. They had been
to the court-house the day before " to see about things/'
Andy said, and "had found every nigger in the county
piled up in front of that Leech's door/'
" They're talkin' about every one of 'em gittin' forty
acres and a mule, Doctor," said little Andy, with a
twinkle in his eye ; but a grim look about his mouth.
" The biggest men down thar are that Jim Sherwood of
yours ; that trick-doctor nigger of Miss' Gray's, Moses
Swift, and a tall, black nigger of General Legaie's, named
Nicholas Ash. They're doin' most of the talkin'. Well,
I ;iint got but eighty acres — jest about enough for two
of 'em," added Andy, the grim lines deepening about
his mouth ; "but I'm mighty sorry for them two as tries
to git 'em — I told Hiram so." The twinkle had disap-
peared from his blue eyes, like the flash on a ripple, and
the eyes were as quiet and gray as the water after the
ripple had pa.— <'<!.
"Hiram, he's the chief adviser and friend of ihe new
man. T thought ho was hatchin' something. He was
down then; inside of the ofliee —^looked like a shot cat
MR. JONADAB LP:EC11 TUBNS UP 105
when I come in — said he was tryin' to git some hands,
i watch him. lie's a goin* over. He was at the nig-
ger meetin'-house th* other night. I heard some white
i was there; hut I couldn't git at who 'twas till old
let it out."
Dr. Gary told of his conversation with Still a few days
before ; hut the little Sergeant was not convinced.
'• Whenever he talks, that's the time you know he ain't
goin' to do it," he said.
Still's attentions to Miss Delia Dove had not only quick-
ened Andy's jealousy, but had sharpened his suspicion
generally, and he had followed his movements closely.
Still had quickly become assured that the two young
liers in command at the county seat were not the kind
for him to impress. And when the new officer came he
had at once proceeded to inspect him.
Leech was expecting him ; for though they had i
met. Still had already secretly placed himself in communi-
on with Krafton, the Provost-Marshal in the city.
The new Provost was not pleasing to look on. He
man spare in figure and with a slight stoop in his shoulders
— 'i ipicnt perhaps on a habit he had of keeping his gaze
j round. He had mild blue eyes, and a long, sallow
8, with u thin nose, had teeth-, and a chin that ended
almost in a point. Ho rarely showed temper, lie p>
.is a good-natured, easy-going fellow, cracking jokes
with anyone who would listen to him, and indulging in
i1 which made up in loiidness what it lacked in
. When he walked, it was with a peculiar, sinn-
inotion. The lines in his face gave him so sour an
pression that Steve Allen, ju<t after he moved to the court-
ise to practise law, said that Leech, from his look, must
be as great a stench in his own nostrils as in those of
oth' -. This speech brought Steve Leech's nndy-
. though he veiled it well enough at the moment
and simply hided his time.
••• >-!- Marshal w;is not a prepossessing person
106 BED ROCK
even to Still ; but Mrs. Gray's manager had large schemes
in his mind* and the new-comer appeared a likely person
to aid him in carrying them out. They soon became ad-
visers for each other.
"You can't do nothin' with them two young men," the
« er told the Provost. "I've done gauged 'em. I know
'em as soon as I see 'em, and I tell you they don't think
no more of folks like you and me than of the dirt under
their feet. They're for the aristocrats."
He shortly gauged the Provost.
" When I know what a man wants, I know how to git at
hi m," he said to his son Wash, afterward. " He wants to get
up — but first he wants money — and we must let him see it.
I lent him a leetle too — just to grease the skillet. When
you've lent a man money you've got a halter on him."
" You're a mighty big fool to lend your money to a
man you don't know anything about. You'll never get it
back," observed Wash, surlily.
" Ah I Won't I ? Trust me ; I never lend money that
I don't get it back in one shape or another — with interest
too. I don't expect to get that back." He dropped his
voice. " That's what I call a purchase — not a loan. Don't
try to fry your chicken till you've greased the pan, my son."
" Something in that," admitted the young medical stu-
dent. They were sitting on the little front porch of the
overseer's house, and Hiram Still's eye took in the scene
about him — the wide fields, the rich, low-grounds, the chim-
neys of the mansion-house peeping from the grove of great
tree? on its high hill a half mile away. His face lit up.
" Ah ! Wash, if you trust your old pappy, you'll see
some mighty changes in this here county. What'd you
say if you was to see yourself some day settin' up in that
big hall yonder, with, say, a pretty young lady from acrost
the river, and that Steve and Mr. Jacquelin ploughin' in
thefurrer ?"
" By G— d ! I'd love it," declared Wash, decisively, his
good-humor thoroughly restored.
CHAPTER X
THE PROVOST MAKES HIS FIRST MOYB
ii shortly determined to give the neighborhood ac
illustration of his power, and, striking, he struck high.
A few days after the Provost's arrival Dr. Gary received
a summons to appear before him at the court-house next
day. It was issued on the complaint of " the Rev. James
wood/' and was signed, "Jonadab Leech, Provost
commanding," etc.
General Legaie, who was at Birdwood when the soldier
win) served the summons arrived, was urgent that Dr.
should refuse to obey it; but the Doctor said he
would go. He would obey the law. He would not, how-
ever report to Leech, but to Captain Middleton, the rank-
•fficer. The General said if the Doctor would persist
in going, he would go with him to represent him. So next
morning the two old officers rode down to the Court-house
together, the General very martial, and Dr. Cary very calm.
When they reached the county seat they found "the
street," or road in front of " the green," which was occu-
pied by the camp of the soldiers, filled with negroes, men
and women. They had made booths of boughs in the fence- 1
corners, where they were living like children at play, 1
and ware all in the gayest spirits, laughing and shouting j
and "larking" among themselves, presenting in this regard
a very different state of mind from that of the two gentle-
men. They were, however, respectful enough to them,
and when the riders inquired whore the commanding
officer was, there were plenty of offers to show them, and
more than enough to hold tluir horses. Some of them
107
108 RED ROCK
indicated that the commander was in the old store on the
roadside, which appeared from the throng about it to be
the centre of interest to the crowd.
"Dat ain't nuttin but the buro, sir ; the ones you wants
to see is up yonder at .Miss' Dockett's; I knows de ones
you wants to see/' said Tom, one of the Doctor's old ser-
vants, with great pride.
To settle the question, the Doctor dismounted and
walked in, giving his horse to the old man to hold.
The front of the store was full of negroes, packed to-
gether as thick as they could stand, and simply waiting.
They made way for the Doctor and he passed through to
the rear, where there was a little partition walling off a
back room. The door was ajar, and inside were seated two
men, one a stranger in uniform, the other, a man who
sat with his back to the door, and who, at the moment that
the Doctor approached, was leaning for.ward, talking to the
Provost in a low, earnest half-whisper. As the visitor
knocked the official glanced up and the other man turned
quickly and looked over his shoulder. Seeing Dr. Gary he
sprang to his feet. It was Hiram Still. •
"I wish to see the officer in command/' announced the
Doctor. " Good-morning Mr. Still/' His tone expressed
surprise.
" I am the officer in command/' said the official, shortly.
"Ah ! you are not Captain Middleton ? I believe he is
in command."
"No, I guess not. I'm Captain Leech , head of the
Freedmen's Bureau." His voice was thin but assertive,
and he spoke as if he had been contradicted.
"Ah I It is the regular officer I wish to see."
"I'm regular enough, I guess, and if it's anything
about the freedmen you'll find, I guess, I'm the one to
see." lie turned from the Doctor with studied indiffer-
ence and motioned to his companion to resume his seat.
The latter, however, came forward. He had apparently
recovered somewhat from his confusion.
THE PROVOST MAKES HIS FIRST MOVE 109
"This is Dr. Gary, one of the rinost gentlemen in our
county," he <aid to the officer, as if he were making
speech, and then turned to the Doctor: "Captain Le.
so irentleman to see about getting our hands back.
[ am just down here about that n<
'i had been looking at the Doctor with new interest.
"So you're Dr. Gary ?" ho said. "Well, I'm the one for
to see. I summoned you to appear before me to know
why you turned the Kev. Mr. Sherwood out of his h
manner was growing more and more insolent, and the
Doctor stiffened. The only notice he took was to look
Leech's head.
•• Ah ! I believe I will go and see Captain Middleton,"
he suid, with dignity. "Good-morning," and he walked
: held somewhat higher than when lie went in,
leaving Leech fuming in impotent rage, and Still to give
Head of the Bureau behind his back a very different
estimate of him from that which he had just deelared so
loudly in his presence.
" He's one of that same sort with your young men."
said the manager, "only more so. What did I tell you ?
he won't talk to you! He wants to talk to Captain
Middleton. You trust me, I'll ke.-p you informed. I
•w 'em all. Not that he ain't better than most, •
he's natn rally kind-hearted and would do well enough if let
alone, but he can't help it. It's bred in the bone. But
too smart for 'em. I was too smart for 'em durin'
. and I am still." He gave the Provost a confiden-
tial wink.
, he'll find out who I am before ho gets through,"
said Le< guess he'll find I'm about as big a man
as Captain Middleton." He squared back his thin shoul- i
ders and puffed out his chest " 1*11 show him." He \
turned to the door. \
'a it— that's it," smiled Still, delightedly.
Meantime Dr. Gary hod joined General Legate, and with
the single remark that it was "the commanding officer, not
110 BED ROOK
the commissary," that they wanted to see, they rode up
the hill.
When the two gentlemen arrived at Mrs. Dockett's they
fonnd that energetic lady, trowel in hand, among her
flowers, and were received by her with so much distinction
that it produced immediately a great impression on her
two lodgers, who, unseen, were observing them from their
window.
" Gad ! Larry, there's Don Quixote, and he's brought
his cousin, Dr. Filgrave, along with him. He must be a
lieutenant-general at least. See the way the old lady is
smiling ! I must learn his secret." And the little Lieu-
tenant sprang to the mirror and rattled on as Middleton
got ready for the interview which he anticipated, and the
two gentlemen came slowly up the walk, bareheaded, with
Mrs. Dockett, talking energetically, between them.
The next moment there was a tramp outside the door,
and with that rap, which Thurston said was a model for
the last trump, Mrs. Dockett herself flung open the door
and announced, with a wave of her hand :
" General Legaie and Major Gary/'
The two visitors were received with great respect. Mid-
dleton was at his best, and in the face of a somewhat
depressing gravity on the two old officers' part, tried to
give the interview a friendly turn by recalling pleasantly
his visit to Red Eock before the war, and his recollection
of Dr. Gary and his daughter. He ventured even to inquire
after her. He supposed she was a good big girl now ?
"Yes, she was almost quite grown and was enjoying
very good health," said the Doctor, bowing civilly, and he
proceeded forthwith to state the cause of their visit, while
Thurston introduced tc the General, somewhat irrelevantly,
the subject of fishing.
Captain Middleton listened respectfully to all the two
gentlemen had to say. lie agreed with them as to the ne-
cessity of establishing some form of civil government in
the counties, and believed thut steps would be taken to do
THE PROVOST MAKES HIS FIRST MOVE 111
BO as soon as possible. Meantime he should preserve or-
to the negroes, except in the line of
ler, were, however, rather beyond his prov-
md properly under the control of an entirely dis-
tinct branch, which was just being organized, with head-
quarters for the State, in the city. He said he would go
with Dr. Gary before the Provost and see that In-
not annoyed by any frivolous charge. So he accompanied
the two gentlemen back to Leech's office and attended the
trial. It was galling enough to the two gentlemen as it
was ; and but for the presence of Middleton might have
been much more so. Leech's blue eyes snapped with
pleasure at the reappearance of the old officers, but were
filled with a vague disquiet at the presence of their com-
panion. However, lie immediately proceeded with much
importance to take up the case. The "trial "was held
• court-house, and t >st sat in the judge's
Beat The negroes around took in quickly that something
unusual was happening, and the court-room was thronged
with them, all filled with curiosity, and many of the
ones wearing on their faces a preternatural solemnity.
Sherwood was present, in a black coat, his countenance
expressive of comical self-importance. Pr. Gary and Gen
era! Legaie sat behind the bar. the Doctor, somewhat
paler than usual, his head up. his mouth compressed, and
his thin nostrils dilating ; the General's eyes glowing with
the fire that smouldered beneath. Middleton sat off to one
side, a little in front of the bar, a silent but observant
spectator.
The case was stated by Leech, and without the useless
formality of examining the complainant who had alreadv
given his story, Dr. Gary was asked by the Provost, why
he had driven Sherwood off.
Doctor rose and made his statement. When he
first stood up the compression of his lips showed the feel-
ing nnder which he labored ; hut the next second he had
mattered himself, and when he spoke it was with as much
;\
112 11 KD ROCK
t as if he were addressing the Chief Justice. The
land was hi<, and ho claimed that lie would have had the
right to drive the man off had he wished to do so ; but, as
a matter of fact, he had not done so — he had not done so
on account of Sherwood's wife, who was the daughter
of the old mammy in his family, and a valued servant. lie
had only deposed him from being the manager.
The Provost was manifestly a little disconcerted by this
announcement. He glanced about him. The Doctor had
evidently made an impression.
" Can you prove this ? " he asked, sharply. The General
wriggled in his chair, his hands clutching the sides, and
the Doctor for a second looked a trifle more grim. lie
drew in a long breath.
."Well, my word has usually been taken as proof of a
fact I stated," he said, slowly. "But if you desire further
proof, there are several of my old servants present who will
corroborate what I state. Perhaps you might be willing
to accept their testimony ?" He looked the Provost in the
eyes, and then glanced around half humorously. " Tom ! "
he called to the old man who had held his horse, and who
was now standing in the front row. " Will you state what
occurred, to this — ah — officer ? "
"Yas, suh — I'll groberate ev'y wud you say — 'cus' I
wuz dyah," asserted Tom, with manifest pride.
" Dat's so/' called out one or two others, not to be out-
done by Tom, and the tide set in for the Doctor.
The Provost, in this state of the case, declared that the
charge was not sustained, and he felt it his duty to dismiss
the complaint. He, however, would take this occasion to
state his views on the duties of the former owners to their
slaves ; and he delivered a long and somewhat rambling
discourse on the subject, manifestly designed for the sable
part of his audience. When he concluded, and just as he
started to rise, the General sprang to his feet. The Doc-
tor looked at him with some curiosity, perhaps not
umningled with anxiety, for the General's eyes were
THE PROVOST MAKES HIS FIRST MOVE 113
blazing. With an effort, however, the General controlled
himself.
•• IVrinit me to say,' Mr. Provost, that your views, like
those of a good many people of your class, are more valu-
able to yourself than to others." He bowed low.
" Dat's so, too ! " called out Tom, who was still in a
corroborative mood, on which there was a guffaw from the
negroes. And with this shot, the General, after looking
the Provost steadily in the eyes, turned on his heel and
stalked out of the court-house, leaving Leech trying inef-
fectually to look as if he, as well as others, appreciated the
humor of Tom's speech.
As they came out, Middleton took occasion to reopen
their former conversation as to the necessity of establishing
some form of civil government in the counties. He be-
. he said, that the two gentlemen might find it bet-
ter to apply to the head of the bureau in this section —
Colonel Krafton — rather than to attempt to secure any co-
op .-ration from Leech, who, he said, was only a subordinate,
and really had little authority.
Middleton and Thurston quickly felt the beneficial ef-
fect of their civility to the old officers, in the increasing
cordiality shown them by their landlady. Mrs. Dockett
gave them a full account of both visitors, their pedigrees
and position, not omitting a glowing picture of the beauty
and charms of the daughter of Dr. Can. and a hint
that she was bound to marry either Jacquelin (I ray, the
; I Jock, or her cousin, Captain Stevenson
Allen, \vh«», Mrs. Dockett declared, was the finest, ynung
man in the world, and had applied to her for table-board
day.
was interesting, at least to Thurston, who d eel a ml
he was succeeding so well with Miss Poekett.
it was necessary to utili/e Middlemen's figure. Events,
however, were moving without Thurston's agency.
r.came to Middleton from head-quarters a day
or two later to go to the upper end of the county and in-
8
114 RED ROCK
vestigate certain " mysterious meetings" which, it was re-
ported, were being held in that section.
The list given of those who participated in such meetings
made Middleton whistle. It contained the names of Dr.
Gary, General Legaie, Captain Allen, and nearly every
man of prominence in the county.
The name given him, as that of the person who could
furnish him with information, was Hiram Still ; and the
order contained explicit directions where to meet him.
He would find him at a certain hour at the house of a
colored man, named Nicholas Ash.
So the Captain rode up to a small cabin situated in a
little valley near the Red Rock place, and had an interview
with Still, who appeared to Middleton far more mysterious
than anything else he discovered on his trip. The meet-
ings referred to, seemed to be only those social gatherings
which Dr. Gary had already spoken of to the young officer.
When Middleton prepared to leave, Mr. Still offered to
show him a nearer way back by the ford below the old
bridge that had been destroyed during the war, and as it
was late in the afternoon, Middleton accepted his offer.
They were almost at the ford when an old carriage came
out of the road which led down from the Red Rock plan-
tation, and turned into the main road just before them.
Still pulled up his horse, and, excusing himself from going
any farther, on the ground that if Middleton followed the
carriage he would be all right, turned back. All anyone
had to do, he said, was to keep down the river a little, so as
not to hit the sunken timbers ; but not to go too far down
or he would get over a ledge of rock and into deep water.
As the road was narrow and Middleton supposed that
the driver knew the ford, he kept behind the carriage, and
let it cross before him. One of the horses appeared to be
afraid of the water, and the driver had to whip him to
force him in. So when he entered the stream he was
plunging, and, continuing to plunge, he got among the
sunken timbers and fell.
THE PROVOST MARKS HIS FIRST MOVE lit)
Middleton was so close behind the carriage that he could
hear the voices of two ladies inside, one of whom was ap-
parently much alarmed, whilst the other was soothing her,
and encouraging the driver. He heard her say:
" There's no danger, Cousin Thomasia. Gideon can
manage them." But there was some danger, and " Cousin
Thomasia '' appeared to know it. The danger was that the
frightened horses might turn and pull the vehicle around,
upsetting it in the deep water below, and as the fallen
horse struggled, Middleton dashed in on the lower side,
itching the near horse, steadied him whilst the other
got up. Then, springing from his own horse, he caught
the other just as he got to his feet, and held to him until
they reached the farther bank, where he assisted the
driver in bringing them to a stand-still, and enabled the
ladies to get out and see what damage had been done.
II had taken in, even as he passed the carriage in the
. that the two occupants were an elderly lady and a
young lady, the latter of whom appeared to be holding the
former ; but it was after he reached the bank that he
observed that the younger of the two ladies was one of the
• •st girls he had ever seen. And the next second he
recognized her as Miss Gary. She evidently recognized
him too. As she turned to thank him, after she had
; her companion from the carriage, the color rose to
her face, appearing the deeper and more charming because
A hich had just preceded it, and which it so
rapidly followed ; and there was a look in her eyes which
was part shy embarrassment and part merriment. He
saw that she knew him, but she did not admit it.
II' I.eiran t«> examine busily the harness, which was old,
and had been broken in several places. He had some straps
on his saddle, he said, which he would ir«-t. The girl
ked him. with quid dignity, but declined (irmly.
. wmild not trouble him. Gideon could mend it.
and she could hold the horses. She bowed to him, with
grave eyes, and made a movement toward the horse, hold-
116 RED ROCK
ing out her ungloved hand to catch the bridle, and say-
ing, " Whoa, boy/' in a voice which Middleton thought
might have tamed Bucephalus. Miss Thoinasia, how-
ever, mildly but firmly interposed.
" No, indeed, my dear, I'll never get into that carriage
again behind those dreadful horses, unless this — this — gen-
tleman (the word was a little difficult) stays right by their
. 1 ;im the greatest coward in the world/' she said to
Middleton in the most confiding and friendly manner ; "I
am afraid of everything." (Then to her companion again,
in a lower tone:) "It is very hard to be beholden to a
Yankee ; but it is much better than having your neck
broken. And we are very much obliged to you, sir, I
assure you. Blair, my dear, let the " She paused and
took breath.
" Yankee" said Middleton, in a clear voice, much
amused, as he worked diligently at a strap.
" — Gentleman help us. Don't be too obstinate. Nothing
distinguishes a lady more than her manner of giving in/'
So, as Middleton was already at work, the girl could do
nothing but yield. He got his straps, and soon had the
breaks repaired, and, having, at Miss Thomasia's request,
held the horses while the ladies re-entered the vehicle, and
then having started them off, he stood aside and saluted as
they passed, catching, accidentally, Miss Gary's eyes, which
were once more grave. The only remark she had volun-
teered to him outside of the subject of the broken harness
was in praise of his horse, which was, indeed, a magnificent
animal.
A few minutes later, the young Captain galloped by the
carriage, but he did not glance in, he simply saluted as he
passed, with eyes straight to the front.
When he reached home that night Larry Middleton was
graver than usual ; but little Thurston, after hearing of
the adventure, was in better spirits than he had shown for
some time. He glanced at Middleton's half-discontented
face, and burst out :
nil. PROVOST MAKES HIS FIRST MOVE 117
"'Oh! cast that shadow from thy brow.' It was
clearly Providence. Why, Larry, after that they are ob-
1 to invite us to dinn
•• Why. she didn't even speak to me/' growled Middle-
ton, puffing away at his pipe. " And I know she recog-
1 me, just as clearly as I did her."
" Of course, she recognized you — recognized you as one
of the enemies of her country — a hated oppressor — a des-
picable Yankee. Did you expect her to fall on your neck
and weep ? On my soul ! she's a girl of spirit ! Like my
own adorable Elizabeth ! All the same, we're as good for
invitations to whatever they give as a dollar is for a dough-
nut."
: when a day or two later a note from Dr. Gary, in a
1 handwriting and equally formal words, was brought
to Captain Middleton, thanking him for his "opportune
ourteous aid" to his daughter and cousin, Lieu-
it Thurston declared that it was an invitation to
Middleton's wedding.
CHAPTER XI
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR, AND CAPTAIN MID-
DLETON SEEKS THE CONSOLATIONS OF RELIGION
STEVE ALLEN ou his removal to the county seat after his
sudden abandonment of farming, had taken up his quar-
ters in an old building, fronting on the court-green near
the Clerk's office, and with its rear opening on a little lane
which led to two of the principal roads in the county.
From the evening of his arrival Steve took possession of
the entire village. He wore his old cavalry uniform, the
only suit he possessed, and, with his slouched hat set on
one side of his handsome head, carried himself so inde-
pendently that he was regarded with some disfavor by the
two young officers, whom he on his side treated with just
that manner which appeared to him most exasperating to
each of them. He was immediately the most popular man
in the place. He played cards with the men, and marbles
with the boys ; made love to the girls, and teased the old
women ; joked with the soldiers, especially with the big
Irish Sergeant, Dennis O'Meara, and fought the war over
with the officers. He boldly asserted that the Confeder-
ates had been victorious in every battle they had ever
fought, and had, as someone said, simply "worn them-
selves out whipping the Yankees," a line of tactics which
exasperated even little Thurston, until he one day sur-
prised a gleam of such amused satisfaction in Steve's gray
eyes that he afterward avoided the ambuscade and enjoyed
the diversion of seeing Leech, and even Middleton, caught.
Leech had been warned in advance by Mr. Still of
Steve Allen's intention to settle at the county seat, and im-
118
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR 119
on Steve's arrival had notified him to appear be-
fore him as Provost and exhibit his parole. From that
time Steve had taken Leech as his prey. Knowing that
the Provost was not the proper officer, he did not obey the
order, and repaid Leech ^ insolence with burning contempt,
failing, on occasion, to fire some shafts at him which
penetrated and stung.
nil Legaie and Dr. Gary, after their experience with
Leech, determined to lose no more time than was necessary
in adopting the suggestion of Captain Middleton and
going to see the Commandant of the Freedmen's Bureau
in the city. The General, however, stipulated that he
should not be expected to do more than state his views to
the officer in command. This he was willing to do, as he
was going with Dr. Gary to the city, where the Doctor wafl
to see Mr. Ledger and conclude the negotiation for a loan
to re-stock his plantation.
It happened, however, that when General Legaie and
Dr. Gary called on Colonel Krafton, two other visitors from
• •ounty had been to see that officer : I lira in Still and
Laedh.
The two gentlemen were kept waiting for some time
after their names had been taken in by the sentinel be-
fore they were admitted to the Chief Provost's presence,
and every minute of that period the General grew hotter
and hotter, and walked up and down the little ante-room
with more and more dignity.
"Dr. Johnson before Lord Chesterfield," said the
Doctor, laughing at his friend's impatience and indigna-
•• l>r. Johnson before a «l",ir !" was the little f.Yneral's
retort. ••Why, .-ir. I never treated a negro in my life
as he has treated us."
At last, however, they were ad mi:
man with closely crop] MM 1 in.n-gray
<>\v ami a heavy jaw, was seated at his
desk writing. He did not look up when they rattredj hut
120 BED ROCK
said, "Sit down," and wrote on. When he was through,
he culled out, and a sentinel entered.
''Send that off at once — or — wait where you are. I
may have another to send/' He turned to the two visitors
who were still standing.
"Well?*1
" I am Major Gary," that gentleman said, advancing,
"And this is General Legaie." He bowed gravely.
" Oh 1 I know you," said the officer. He turned to
his desk and searched for something.
" Oh ! — I was not aware that I had had the pleasure
of meeting you before," said the Doctor, brightening.
'• Where was it, sir ? I regret that my memory has not
served me better." He seated himself.
" I did not say I had met you — I said I knew you, and
I do. I know you both."
" Oh ! I thought I should not have forgotten," said the
Doctor.
" No, nor you won't. I have a report of you, and know
why you've come." He shook his head as he turned to
them. " I'm Colonel Kraf ton, Provost of this district, and
I mean to be the Provost, and you might as well under-
stand it now as hereafter."
" Oh !" said the Doctor, rising slowly from the seat he
had taken.
"I know about your conferences, and your meetings,
and the terms you propose to dictate to me ; but I will
show you that I am in authority here and I don't propose
to be dictated to, either ; do you understand ? I don't want
any of your advice. When I want you I'll send for you ;
do you understand ? "
The Doctor, who had waited in a sort of maze for the
Provost to pause, turned to his friend, whose face was per-
fectly white and whose usually pleasant eyes had a red rim
around the irises.
" I beg your pardon, General Legaie, I thought we
should find a gentleman, but "
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR 121
{•
" I never did, Major," said the little General. " But I
had no idea we should find such a dog as this." He
turned to the Provost, and, with a bow, fixed his eyes on"
him. But that officer looked at the sentry and said :
" Open the door."
The General looked out of it, expecting a file of soldiers
to arrest them, and straightened himself for the ordeal.
There was none there, however. The General's counte-
nance fell.
" I said ' dog, ' but I apologize to that animal, and say —
' / " He turned his eyes once more on the Provost.
" 1 shall be at the Brandon tavern until the evening
Do you understand that ? " he said, addressing the Provost.
He stalked out, his nose high in the air, his heels ringing
on the floor.
As soon as they were outside, the Doctor began to
apologize to the General again ; but the latter, having
blown of! his steam, and fully appreciating his friend's
mortification, was very handsome about it. He had at
a sly hope that the Provost officer might consult
some friend who would insist on his taking up the insult,
-o give him a satisfaction which he was at that mo-
very eager for. None came that evening, ho\\
and as the next day none had come, the General was
forced to return home unsatisfied.
effect of Dr. Gary's and General Legaie's interview
with Colonel Krafton was shortly felt in the county.
•w days later an order came for an inquisition to
be made from house to house for arms. The labor this
red was so great that it was divided up. In the
of the county where General Leslie lived, the in-
vestigation was made by Middleton, who conducted him-
self throughout with due propriety, even deelariui^ it, as
Legaie reported, "an unpleasant duty."
; 11 every case a gentleman's word." never toiu-h-
ing a tiling exeept. perhaps, where there would be an
army musket or pistol. G Legaie's old duelling-
122 RED ROCK
pistols, which his butler, Julius, hud hidden and taken care
of all during the war, were left unmolested, and the young
officer went so far as to express, the General stated, a
"somewhat critical admiration for them," observing that
they were the first genuine duelling-pistols he had ever
seen. On this the General — though, as he declared, it re-
quired all his politeness to do so— could not but make the
offer that in case Captain Middleton should ever have
occasion to use a pair they were entirely at his service.
In the Red Rock and Birdwood neighborhood, the
people were not so fortunate. There the inquisition was
conducted by Leech — partly, perhaps, because the two
young officers did not wish to pay their first visit to Dr.
Gary's on such an errand, and partly because Leech re-
quested to be allowed to assist in the work.
Though the other officers knew nothing of it, Leech had
two reasons for wishing to conduct the search for arms at
Dr. Gary's. He had not forgotten Dr. Gary's action and
look the day of the trial. The other reason was hatred of
Steve Allen. " I'll show him what I can smell," he said to
Still, who smiled contentedly.
" It won't do to fool with him too much, personally,"
Still warned him. " He's a dangerous man. They're all
of 'em dangerous, you hear me."
" Fll show 'em who I am, before Fm through with 'em,"
said Leech.
Thus the inquisition for arms was peculiarly grateful to
Leech.
Leech had a squad of men under his command, which
made him feel as if he were really an officer, and he gave
them orders as though he were leading them to a battle.
He intimated that they might be met with force, and as-
serted that, if so, he should act promptly. On riding up to
the Doctor's a Sabbatic stillness reigned over everything.
The Doctor was not at home that day, having gone to the
city to see the General in command there about the appoint-
ment of magistrates and other civil officers for the county,
TIIK PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR 123
and, as Mrs. Gary had a sick headache, the blinds were
closed, and Blair and old Mammy Krenda were keeping
sound hushed. It was a soft, balmy afternoon, when
all nature seemed to doze. The sunlight lay on the fields
and grass, and the trees and shrubbery rustled softly in
summer breeze.
Flinging himself from his horse, the Provost banged on
the door loudly and, without waiting for anyone to answer
his summons, stalked noisily into the house with his
men behind him. Both Blair and Mammy Krenda pro-
tested against his invading one particular apartment.
Blair planted herself in front of the door. She was
dressed in a simple white dress, and her face was almost as
white as the dress.
• \\ it's in there ?" asked Leech.
" Nothing. My mother is in there with a sick headache.''
•• Ah-h-h!" said Leech, derisively. He caught Blair
by the arm roughly. Blair drew back, the color flaming
in her cheeks, and the old negro woman stepped up in her
place, bristling with anger. - —
the young girl's eyes as she drew herself up
abashed the Provost. Bui he recovered himself and, push-
ing old Krenda roughly aside, opened the door. There he
flung open the blinds and rumina.i:« -«1 in the drawers, turn-
ing everything out on the floor, and carried off in triumph
a pair of old, horseman's pistols which had belonged to the
Doctor's grandfather in the Revolutionary War, and had
been changed from flintlock to percussion at the outbreak
of the recent hostilities.
Leech had just come out of this room when Jaequelin
Gray drove up. He stopped outside for a moment to ask
what the presence of the soldiers meant, and then came
hobbling on his crutches into the h
he entered, Blair turned t<» him with a gesture, partly
of relief and partly of apprehension.
"Oh, Jacqnel The rest was only a sob. The
blood flushed Jacquelin's pale face, and he passed by In T.
124 RED ROCK
te By what authority do you commit this outrage ?" he
asked Leech.
" By authority enough for you. By what authority do
you dare to interfere with an officer in the discharge of his
duty, you limping, rebel dog ? If you know what is good
for you, you'll take yourself off pretty quick." Leech took
in his squad with a wave of his hand, and encountering
Jacquelin's blazing eyes and a certain motion of his crutch,
moved a little nearer to his men, laying his hand on his
pistol as he did so.
Blair made a gesture to stop Jacquelin ; but he took no heed
of it. He moved on his crutches nearer to the Provost.
"I demand to know your authority, dog/' he said, ig-
noring both Leech's threat and Blair's imploring look.
"I'll show you. Seize him and search him," said
Leech, falling behind his squad and adding an epithet not
necessary to be repeated.
"I am not armed; if I were — " said Jacquelin. At
Blair's gesture he stopped.
" Well, what would you do ?" Leech asked after wait-
ing a moment for Jacquelin to proceed. " You hear what
he says, Sergeant?" He addressed the bluff, red-haired
Irishman who wore a sergeant's chevrons.
" Sames to me he says nothin' at tall," said the Ser-
geant, who was the same man that had had charge of the
ambulance in which Jacquelin had been brought home the
day he arrived, and who had been a little grumpy ever
since he had been put under Leech's command.
" Arrest him and if he offers any resistance, tie him
securely to a tree outside," ordered Leech.
" Does Captain Middleton know of this ? " Jacquelin
asked the Sergeant.
" Well, you see, it's arders froni headquarrters, an' I
guess the Cap'n thaught bayin' a ferrut was a little more
in his line." The Sergeant nodded his head in the direc-
tion of Leech, who had called the other men and gone on
ostentatiously with his search.
HE CARRIED OFF IN TRIUMPH A PAIR OF OLD HORSE-PISTOLS.
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TAKTAR l'J."i
Just then, however, the Provost encountered a fresh
enemy. If Mrs. Gary and .Miss Blair deemed it more dig-
nified and ladylike to preserve absolute silence during this
Mammy Krenda had no such inconvenient views.
M woman had nursed both Mrs. Cary and her daugh-
ter. She was, indeed, what her title implied, and had all
her life held the position of a member of the family. In
her master's a: e considered herself responsible, and
she had followed Leech from room to room, dogging his
step, and now, emboldened by Jacquelin's presence,
forth, pouring out on the Provost the vials of her
wrath which, instead of beinir exhausted by use, gathered
volume and virulence with every minute.
" Vans, I know jest what sort you is/' she said, mock-
ingly: "you is the sort o* houu'-dog that ain't got sperit
enough to figt a ole hyah, let alone a coon; but
comes sneakin' into folks' kitchen, try in' to steal a scrap
from chillerns' mouths when folks' backs air turned ! I
ain't talkin' to you all," she explained, with ready tact,
to the squad of privates who showed in their counte-
nances some appreciation of her homely, but apt illustra-
tion ; "I know you all's got to do it if you' marsters lull's
you to. Nor, I'm talkin' to him. 1 declare I'm riirht
glad my marster ain't at horn.- ; I'm feared he'd sile
his shoe k r dutty body out de do'." She stood
with her arms akimbo, and her eyes half-closed in de-
I touch, with an ill-suppressed snicker from one of
the men behind, proved too much for the leader's self-con-
trol, and he turned in a rage :
" Shot up, you black hag," he snarled, angrily, " or I'll
—-I'll—" He paused, hunting for a threat which would
appall her. "I'll tie you to a tree outside and wear out a
hickory on yo
If he thought to quell the old woman by this, however,
be was mistaken. He only infuriated her the more.
.-u will, will you 1 " she biased, straightening herself
126 RED ROCK
up and walking np close to him. "Do yon know what
would happen if you did ? My marster would cut your
heart out o' you ; but I wouldn't lef you for him to do it !
You ain't fitten for him to tetch. De ain' nobody uver
tetched me since my mammy whipped me last ; and she
died when I was twelve years ole' ; an' ef you lay your
hand 'pon me I'll wear you out tell you ain't got a piece o'
skin on you as big as dat ! — see ? " She walked up close
to him and indicating the long, pink nail on her clawlike
little-finger, poked a black and sinewy little fist close up
under the Provost's very nose.
" Now—" she panted : " Heah me ; tetch me ! "
But Leech had recovered himself. He quailed before
the two blazing coals of fire that appeared ready to dart at
him, and recognizing the fact that even his men were
against him and, like Jacquelin, were secretly enjoying his
discomfiture, he angrily ordered them out of the house
and concealed as best he could his consuming inward
rage.
Incensed by Jacquelin's look of satisfaction at the old
mammy's attack, Leech took him along with him, threat-
ening him with dire punishment for interfering with a
Union officer in the discharge of his duty ; but learning
from the Sergeant that Jacquelin was "a friend of the
Captain's," he released him, assuring him of the fortunate
escape he had, and promising him very different treat-
ment " next time." Jacquelin returned no answer what-
ever until at the end, when he said, looking him deep in
the eyes, " It may not be next time, you dog ; but some
time will be my time."
When Dr. Gary reached home that evening, both Mrs.
Gary and Blair congratulated themselves afresh that he
had been absent during the Provost's visit. The first
mention of the man's conduct had such an effect on him
that Mrs. Gary, who had already interviewed both her
daughter and the mammy on the propriety of giving a
somewhat modified account of the visitation, felt it neces-
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR 127
sary to make even yet lighter of it than she had intended.
Tin- Doctor grew very quiet, and his usually pleasant mouth
shut close, bringing his chin out strongly and giving him
an uncommonly stern appearance. Mrs. Gary whipped
around suddenly and gave the matter a humorous turn.
But the Doctor was not to be diverted ; the insolence of
i's action to Blair, and of penetrating into his wifi-'s
chumher, hud sunk in deeply, and a little later, having left
his wife's sick-room, he called up the mammy. If M is.
possessed instincts and powers of self-control which
enabled her to efface her sense of injury in presence of a
greater danger, the old servant hud no such cultivated fac-
ulty. At the first mention of the matter by the Doctor,
her sense of injury rose again, her outraged pride came
to the surface once more, and in the presence of him
to whom she had always looked for protection her self-
control gave out.
She started to tell the story lightly, as she knew her
ss wished done, but, at the first word, broke down
Muldenly heirun to whimper and rock.
When it had all come out between sobs of rage and mor-
tification, her master sent her away soothed with a sense
of his sympathy and of the coming retribution which lie
would exact.
When the Doctor saw Mrs. Gary again, he was as plural
as a May-mo n :-hups more placid than usual. He
thought himself very clever indeed. But no man is clever
enough to deceive his wife if she suspects him, and Mrs.
Gary read him as though he hud been an open book. As a
result, before he 1. ft h, -r room she had exacted a promise
from him not under any circumstances to seek a personal
interview with Leech, or even to go to the court-house for
some time.
The story of the old negro woman's terrible tongue-lash-
ing of the Provost got abroad. He had attempted to use
both command and persuasion to prevent his men from
telling it, but even the bribery of a free treat at a store on
128 BED KOCK
the roadside, which was a liberality he had never been
known to display before, failed to secure the desired secrecy,
and the story reached the court-house almost as quickly as
he. Sergeant 0'Meara related it to the camp with great
gusto.
" Bedad ! " said he, " the ould woman looked like wan
of theyse little black game-burruds whan a dog comes
around her chicks, with her fithers all oop on her back
and her wings spraid, and the Lif tenant — if he is a Lif ten-
ant, which I don't say he is, moind — he looked as red as
a turkey-cock and didn't show much moor courege. She
was a very discriminatin' person, bedad ! She picked me
out for a gintleman and the sutler for a dog, and bedad !
she wasn't far wrong in ayether. Only you're not to say
I towld you, for whan a gintleman drinks a man's whiskey
it doesn't become him to tell tales on him."
Perhaps it was well for Mr. Jonadab Leech that the
matter got abroad, for it gave the incident a lighter turn
than it otherwise would have had. As it was, there was
a storm of indignation in the county, and next day there
were more of the old Confederate soldiers in the village
than had been there since the war closed. In their gray
uniforms, faded as they were, they looked imposing.
Leech spent the day in the precincts of the camp. A
deputation, with Steve Allen at their head, waited on
Middleton and had a short interview with him, in which
they told him that they proposed to obey the laws, but
they did not propose to permit ladies to be insulted.
" For I tell you now, Captain Middleton," said Steve,
*' before we will allow our women to be insulted, we will
kill every man of you. We are not afraid to do it." He
spoke as quietly as though he were saying the most ordi-
nary thing in the world. Middleton faced him calmly.
The two men looked in each other's eyes, and recognized
each other's connive.
"Your threat has no effect on me/' said Middleton;
" but I wish to say that before I will allow any woman to
TJIK I'HOVOST CATCHES A TARTAR 129
bo insulted, I will kill every mail in my command.
nant L< not in my ••ommaml, though in a
•re subjert to my authority ; but the matter shall bo
•mill-ilia!
What <" ;u the interview whieh took place be-
Middleton ami Leech was not known at the time,
L Still to advise him. Even
negroes \\ . ing on him more eoldly.
* I blOWfl if he lavs his ban' 'pon me, I'm gwinc to cut
t tall, hla-'k young negro in the
crowd as Leech passed, on his way to his otl'u-e. It was
h to hear. Leeob had QOl
learned to distingui.-h blae :iam.vs and he did not
;al to the emergency. " These quality-nig-
gers ain't used to bein' talked to so," ho explained to Leech ;
y won't stand it from nobody but quality,
ist as stuck up as their masters, and
talk t You got to humor 'em. The way
to manage 'em is through their preachers. Git Sherrod
and give him a place in the commissary. He's that old
hag's son-in-law, and he's a preacher. I always manage 'em
* rs/'
f taking Still's ad vice, in one way, so far sur-
passed Leech's highest expectation, that he could not but
\\as a genius. One other appointment
Still suggested, and that was of a ne^ro who had be-
longed t». > was be . have as
06 with • 1 as Sherwood had in the
.< Still said," with Jim Sh<
to att- -id Doctor Moses to manage t'
place, I think me and -»rter manage to git along
on earth.
•• got to do with them/' he added, sinking his
Toice almost to a M 1 to!
• work yo1 "I I.- waved his
baud U)W;i it, the money you
130 RED ROCK
say yon can, I can make it over and over fer you faster
than nigger-trad in*. You jest git Krafton to stand by you
and that old feller Bolter to stake us, and we're all right.
" You've got to git rid of this young Captain. One of
you's got to go some time, and tho one as holds out longest
will win. 'Twon't do to let him git too strong a hold
down here. — Now this party they're gittin' up ? If they
invite your young men — you might work that string.
But you can't quarrel with him now. You say he's in
with your Mrs. Welch. Better work the nigger racket.
That's the strong card now. Git some more boxes from
Mrs. Welch and let me put 'em where they'll do most good.
Niggers loves clo'es mo' than money. Don't fall out with
our young man yet — keep in with a man till you have
ot under-holt, then you can fling him."
Meantime, while this conference was going on, Middle-
ton was in a far less complacent frame of mind. He had
just left the camp that afternoon and was on his way to
his quarters, when, at a turn in the street, he came on a
group of young gentlemen surrounding a young lady who
was dressed in a riding-habit, and was giving an animated
account of some occurrence. As soon as he turned the
corner, he was too close on them to turn back ; so he
had to pass. He instantly recognized Miss Gary, though
her back was toward him : the trim figure, abundant hair,
and musical voice were not to be forgotten.
" I don't think you need any guard, so long as you have
Mammy Krenda," laughed one of the young men.
" No, with her for the rank and file, I am just waiting
for Captain M — I mean to meet him some day, and "
" Hush — here he is now."
" I don't care." She tossed her head.
Middleton could not help hearing whpt she said, or see-
ing the gesture that stopped her.
He passed on, touching his cap to one or two of the
young men, who returned the salute. But Miss Gary took
no more notice of him than if he had been a dog.
THE FRO YOST CATCHES A TARTAR 151
Thurston had reached their room a little before Middle-
ton arrived. H was in nnnsnally good spirits, having
just relieved his mind by cursing Leech heartily t«>
Dockett, and thus re-establishing himself with that young
lady, who had been turning her back on him ever since she
had heard of the incident at Birdwood. In reward for
this act of reparation, tin* y«>ung lady had condescended to
t Thurston of the entertainment which the
young people proposed to p nd the little officer had
made up his mi: if possible, he and Middleton
should be invit !. II.- had just lit his pipe and was, as
he said, laving out his campaign, when Middleton en-
tered and, tossing his sword in a corner, without a word,
lit a cigar, flung himself in an armchair and gazed moodily
out of the window. The i ;iit watched his f
in silence, with a more serious look on his face than usu-
ally found lodgement on that cheerful countenance. The
cloud remained on Middleton 's brow, but the Lieutenant's
face cleared up, and presently, between the puffs of his
he said :
"Larry, yon need the consolations of religion."
Middleton, without taking his eyes from the distance,
turned hi* rigar in his mouth and remained silent.
" And I'm going to make yon sit under the ministra-
<s of the i . Langs tuff "
' " growled Middleton, turning his eye on
him.
" —For your soul's good and your eyes' comfort," con-
tinued the Lieutenant placidly. " For they do say, Larry,
that he preaches t > t tiest lot of unrepentant, stony-
hearted, fair rebels that ever combi:. \v <>f Heaven
with the hatred of their Mlow-raortals. You are running
to waste, Larry, and I must utilize you."
"Jackass!" mattered Middleton, but he looked at
raton, who smoked solemnly.
•r they say, Larry, there's going to be a dancing*
party, and we must be there, you know."
132 RED HOCK
Middleton's face, which had begun to clear up, clouded
again.
" What's the good of it ? Not one of 'em would speak
to us. I met one just now — and she looked at me — they
all look at me, or by me — as if I were a snake ! "
" As you are, Larry — a snake in the grass/' interjected
the little Lieutenant. " Pretty ? "
"As a peach — Can't you he serious a minute?" — for
Thurston's eyes were twinkling. " Every one looks as if
she hated me."
"As they ought to, Larry; for you're their enemy."
Thurston settled back with his pipe between his lips, and
chuckled to himself. " You ought to see the way they
"look at me, Larry. I know you, Alexander. You're not
satisfied with your success with Miss Ruth, and Miss Rock-
field, and every other girl in the North, but you must
conquer other worlds ; and you sigh because they don't
capitulate as soon as they see your advance-guard."
"Don't be an ass, Thurs!" Middleton interrupted.
" You know as well as I, that I never said a word to Ruth
Welch in my life — or thought of doing so. When her
father was wounded so badly, it happened that I had a
scratch too, and I saw something more of her than I other-
wise should have done, and that is all there is about it.
Besides, we are cousins, and you know how that is. Her
mother would have seen me in perdition before she would
have consented to anything between us ; and as to Edith
Rockfield-
But the little Lieutenant did not care about Miss Rock-
field. It was Miss Welch he was interested in. So lie
cut in, breaking into a snatch of a song :
" Sure, Kate Riley she's me cousin.
Harry, I have cousins too ;
If ye like such close relations,
I have cousins close as you."
He slipped down farther in his chair, his heels up on
the table, and his hands clasped above his curly head.
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR
(t If you don't stop that howling, old Mrs. Dockett will
come and turn you out again," growled Middle-ton.
ie, Larry, my dear. I can warble all I like now.
I'm promoted."
omoted ! How?"
M 1 >on't you see I sit next to the butter, now ?"
« Fool I — lint I'm used to being treated with a reason-
able degree of civility ; " Middleton went on, as if he had
not been interrupted, »• and I've put my.-elf out more to
be polite here than I ever did in my life, and yet, by Jove !
little vixens turn up their noses at me as if — as if —
Why, they look as if they felt about me precisely as I
i bout Leech ! "
!!«• looked out of the window gloomily, and his friend
.'•d him fora moment with an amused expression in
'.ue eyes.
•• Larry, they don't know what great men we are, do
Yon km»w that's one of the things that has always
struck me? I wonder how girls can have such a good
when they don't know me. I suppose it's the
of the poor young things ! But they shall
and you, too. We'll give the girls a tivai
lay ; we'll go to church, and later to the ball/'
" Church ! You go to church ! "
Captain turned his head and looked at his friend
with su«-h blank ama/.emenL that the Lieutenant actually
color
"Yes," he nodded. ''You d d Pharisee! — you
think you are the only one that knows anything about
:». because that little gir — cousin of yours — con-
verted you ; you're nothing hu- anyhow. But
I'm a chuivhmaii, I am. I've got a prayer-book — some-
--and I've found out all about the ehun-h here,
old pivai-her in the county, named Longstuff or
LangBtuff or something, and he pr- ce a month at
.iirrh cii:' D miles above here, when- they
•ay all tic in the country congregate to pray
134 RED ROCK
for the salvation of Jeff Davis and the d nation of the
Yankees — poor misguided, lovely creatures that they are !
— as if we weren't certain enough of it anyhow, without
their making it a subject of their special petition. I'm go-
ing to have a look at 'em. We'll nave our trappings rubbed
up, and I'll coach your dissenting, condemned soul on the
proper church tactics, and we'll have the handsomest pair
of horses in the county and show 'em as fine a pair of true-
riding, pious young Yanks as ever charged into a pretty
girl's heart. We'll dodge Leech and go in as churchmen.
That's one place he's not likely to follow us. What do
you say ? Oh, I've got a great head on me I I'll be a
general some day ! "
" If you don't get it knocked off for your impudence/'
suggested Middleton.
So the equipments were burnished up ; the horses were
carefully groomed ; the uniforms were brushed and pressed
afiesh, and when Sunday morning came, the two young offi-
cers, having dodged Leech, who had been trying all the
week to find out what was on "foot, rode off, in full and daz-
zling panoply, like conquering young heroes, to impress, at
least, the fairer portion of their " subjects," as Thurston
called them. They were, in fact, a showy pair as they
rode along, for both men were capital horsemen, little
Thurston looking at least a foot higher on his tall bay
than when lifted only by his own short, plump legs ; and
on their arrival at church, which they purposely timed to
occur after the services should have begun, they felt that
they could not have been more effective.
The contrast between them and the rest of the assem-
blage was striking. The grove about the church was well
filled with animals and vehicles ; but all having a worn
and shabby appearance : thin horses and mules, and rick-
ety wagons, with here and there an old carriage standing
out among them, like old gentlemen at a county gather-
ing. A group of men under one of the trees turned and
gazed curiously at the pair as they rode up and tied their
THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR 135
showy horses to " swinging limbs," and then strode si-
lentlv toward the church, where the sound of a chant,
not badly rendered, told that the services were already be-
gun.
The entrance of the blue-coats created quite as much of
a sensation as they could have expected, even if the signs
of it were, perhaps, not quite as apparent as they had an-
icd, and they marched to a vacant seat, feeling very
hot and by no means as effective as they had proposed to
do. Little Thurston dropped down on his knees and bowed
his head, and Middleton, with a new feeling of Thurston's
superior genius, followed his " tactics."
This was good generalship, for no one could know that
•ung reprobates were mopping their perspiring
faces and setting every button straight, instead of being
bowed in reverential devotion. No one entered their pew,
and they were left alone. Several who came in the church
after them, and might have turned to their pew, on seeing
the blue uniforms, passed by with what looked very like a
toss of the head. But what Thurston failed his "straight
flush "was when ho drew out his ]>ra\vr-l>ook — which he
had found "somewhere" — and hriran to follow the scr-
. in a distinctly reverential voice.
As many eyes were bent on them at this as had been
ed to them when they first appeared, and Miss
; lasin, adjusting her spectacles to satisfy herself beyond
doubt if her eyes were not deceiving her, dropped them on
the floor and cracked one of the glasses. For the idea of
kee soldier using a prayer-book had never occurred
to any female member of that congregation any more than
it had that a certain distinguish^! !.« in^ used i', popularly
supposed to be also clad in blue uniform, of sulphurous
flame. The favorable impression made by this move was
apparent to ti en, and Middleton stepped on
Thuraton's toe, so heavily as almost to make him s \\.-.ir with
ng at once to convey his admiration and to call
Thurston's attention to a < Ity young girl in the
136 KKI) KOCK
clioir, whose eyes happened to fall that way, and whom he
indicated as Miss Oary. Stove Allen was with her now,
singing out of the same book with her, as if lie had never
thrown a card or taken a drink in his life.
The self-.irrat illation of the two officers was, however,
of hrief duration. The next moment there was a heavy
tread and a sabre-clatter behind them, and turning with
the rest of the congregation to look, there was Leech
stalking up the aisle. lie made directly toward the
officers, and had Middleton been at the entrance of the
pew he might, perhaps, in the frame of mind into which
the sight threw him, have openly refused the new-comer
admittance. Thurston, however, was nearer the entrance,
and nothing of the kind occurred. He simply moved down
to the door of the pew, and was so deeply immersed in his
devotions at that particular instant, that even the actual
pressure of Leech's hand on his arm failed to arouse him,
and the Provost, after standing a moment waiting for him
to move, stepped into a pew behind, and sat down in the
corner by himself.
The change in sentiment created by the Provost's ap-
pearance was strong enough actually to be felt by the
young men, and Middleton looked in Thurston's eyes with
such helpless rage in his own that the little Lieutenant
almost burst out laughing, and had to drop his prayer-
book and stoop for it to compose himself.
Still the congregation was mystified. It was pretty gen-
erally supposed that it was not mere piety which brought
the young officers there. Some thought it was to insult
them ; some to show off their fine horses — some suggested
that it was to watch and report on their old rector, the Rev.
Mr. Langstaff, one of the best and Godliest of men, whose
ardor as a Confederate was only equalled by his zeal as a
Christian. But Steve Allen — speaking with the oracular
wisdom of a seer, who, in addition to his prophetic power,
has also been behind the scenes — declared that they had
come to look at the pretty girls, and further avowed that
Tin: rnovosT CATCHES A TARTAR 137
In't blame them, because there were the prettiest
girls in the world, right in that church, and, as for him,
he was ready to walk right up, on the spot, with any one of
. from Miss Tlnunasia to iir, and Mr. Lang-
••nild settle t lie whole matter for them, in five min-
utes. Though, of course, he added, if General Legaie had
any preference, he himself would waive his privilege (as
having spoken first) and let the General lead the way, as
he had often done before on occasion. To which proposal.
made in the aisle after church, when the weekly levee was
the General responded that, he was "quite ready to
lead so gallant a subaltern, if Miss — " his eye sought
Thomosia's placid face — "ah ! if — any lady could be
found," etc.
e was right — he very often was, though frequently he
wisdom in an envelope of nous-
;is conceded after the young officers had ridden away,
ad •• acted decently enough, but for those odious
uniforms," and had showed no sign beyond nudg-
ing I-.: . !. -talT prayed for the !
dent of tho Confederate States, with an unction only
equalled by the fervor with which the entire congregation
had responded "Amen" — at least, that the first t\
them had showed no sign. The third, however, had p
To bo sure, he had come a!' :liers.
and they had - to make it appear as if they
wished to avoid recognizing him. and had gone away alone.
But * prove ? Were they not all all
1 -jvost had 8&t in a pew by hi: d did
not have a uniform exactly like the others, he had never
:ring the prayers, but had sat bolt upright
.rhotit the whole service, staring around. And when
d for, had he not scowled and en-
deavored to t< What if they had
appeared to ignore him ? Might not this hr nil a part of
th"ir lid, *' when the hounds
were all in a I yoaooaldnol tell a good dog from
138 RED HOCK
a bad one." This simile was considered good by most of
the male members of the congregation ; but there were
dissenters. Mrs. Gray remembered that those two young
men sent Jacquelin home the day he arrived ; and the
General remembered the civility of one of them in the
performance of a most disagreeable duty ; Miss Thomasia
recalled the closely followed prayer-book, and some of the
other ladies objected to hunting similes at church.
However, when, after service, the two young officers
left the church and marched straight to their horses, even
without the presence of Leech to offend them — for they
had clearly told him they did not wish his company—
they were far less composed than their martial mien and
jingling spurs might have appeared to indicate.
CHAPTER XII
CAPTAIN' VI. I !i: OATH OF ALLEGIANCE AND
JA > GRAY LOSES HIS BUTTONS AND SOME
OLD PAPERS
I absence of all civil government and the disorgani-
zation of the plantations were producing great inc«
ience. Much thieving was going on everywhere, and there
was beginning to be an unwonted amount of lawlessness :
sheep and hogs were being stolen. ran horses and
cattle. Dr. Gary and Mr. Bagby united \\itli some
> of the more conciliatory men in the State, to re-
quest the establishment of some form of government, and
a sort of provisional civil government was shortly estab-
lished in the country. Mr. Dockett was appointed Clerk
of the county, Dr. Gary was commissioned a magistrate
. and, at his solicitation, Andy Stamper was
appointed constable.
Meanwhile, Steve A llm had become the most pr
nent citizen of the county seat. lie had taken an old
building in one corner of the court-gr
soon became the most popular place of resort in the
Tillage, for the young mm. It was rumon d that some-
law was practised in Steve's olliee. and
ighte often bnrned till daybreak, and shouts of
laughter came through the open windows. Stories got
abroad of poker-parties held there in the late hours of the
summer night*. Neit ..r Thurston had
ever been invited t Steve still held himself stiffly
with the two officers, 1> ident occurred which sud-
v broke down the barrier.
m
140 RED ROCK
Steve had never taken the oatli of allegiance. This was
not known at the time of his arrival ;it the court-house, and
he had started in to practise law, and had gone on without
anv question as to it ever being raised, until Still noli lied
Leech. " If you could git up a, row between him and your
young man, Middlelon." said he, "you might get rid of
one enemy, maybe two ; for, I tell you, he won't stand no
foolin'. Make Middleton make him take the oath. 1
don't believe he'll do it — I b'lieve he'll go away first/'
Leech summoned Steve to exhibit his parole ; and on his
failing to obey, laid the matter before Middleton.
When Leech disclosed the object of his visit, Thurslon
was lounging in an armchair, with his pipe. He started
up. Was it possible that such a flagrant violation of the
law had been going on ? He gazed at the Provost blandly.
" It was and is," said Leech, sententiously. " This man
never misses an opportunity to treat the Government and
its representatives with contempt."
"I have heard so," said Thurston, adopting Leech's
tone. " I have heard that he has even said that some of
the representatives of the Government were a stench in
their own nostrils."
Leech winced and glanced at Thurston ; but he was as
innocent as a dove.
"It is time to make an example of him," proceeded the
Lieutenant, still apparently arguing with his superior.
" And I think it would be well to have him brought up at
once and the most rigid oath administered to him. Why
should not Lieutenant Leech administer it ? I should
like to see him do it, and he might take occasion t<>
Captain Allen a sound homily on his duties as a citizen of
this great Republic and his cause for gratitude. It might
lead him to mend the error of his ways."
Nothing could have been more pleasing to Leech. lie
jumped at the proposal, and said he would give this young
rebel a lecture that he would not soon forget, and if he
refused to take the oath would clap him in jail. Middle-
CAPTAIN ALLEN TAKES THE OATH 141
ton a and that evening was set for the ceremony,
ami Middleton and Tim rs ton said they would go down and
see the oath administered.
That evening Steve was surprised to find his office-door
iily darkened hy a squad of soldiers who had come to
arrest him and take him before the Provost.
•• What is it for ?" Arrests by the Provost were not un-
:ion.
"To take the oath."
There was a laugh at Steve's expense ; for it was known
by his friends that he prided himself on not having yet
sworn allegiance to the Government.
" Go and take your medicine, and pay me that little
you bet you would not take it this month," said Mr-
Raffle, with a half SIIC«T.
- I'll credit it on one of your I 0 IPs," said Steve, dryly.
II • was man-hod across to the Provost's ollice, his
Ifl following to see the issue. Just as they arrived,
Middleton and Thurston came in, looking a little sheepish
they found, as the result oi their conspiracy,
guarded by a file of men. Leech took out a box of good
I offered them to the officers. He did not oilVr
to anyone else, but laid them on the tahle. and
with a rap for silence, began his homily. He made it
; and lonir. II. • dwelt with particular emphasis on
ne licence of a Government that, after a wicked re-
bellion, p.-nnr Is to return to their allegiance and
receive again all the benefits of the Union — becoming, in-
deed, one with her other citizens. This concluded, he
B the oath. Everyone present, p«-rhap
pected Steve to refuse to take it. Instead of which, ho
took it without a word. There was a moment of breath-
less silence.
• I understand th-'ii that we are, so to speak, now one?"
twlingly.
" Ah I yes," said Leech, turning away to try to hide his
surprise from Thurston.
142 KED ROOK
"Then, gentlemen, have some of our cigars?" Steve
took up the box, lit a cigar himself and coolly handed them
around. .
As he offered them to Thurston the little Lieutenant
said :
" Captain, the honors are yours."
The next moment Steve tossed his cigar contemptuously
out of the door.
" Come over to my office, gentlemen ; I have a box that
a gentleman has sent me. I think they will have a bet-
ter flavor than these. Good-evening, Lieutenant Leech.
Will you join us, gentlemen ?" This was to Middleton
and Thurston, and the invitation was accepted.
They adjourned to Steve's "law-office/' where they pro-
ceeded to while away the hours in a manner which has
sweetened, if not made, many an armistice. Fortune
from the start perched herself on Steve's side as if to try
and compensate him for other and greater reverses ; and
at last little Thurston, having lost the best part of a
month's pay, said that if Leech's cigars were not as good
as Steve's, they were, at least, less expensive.
' f You fellows don't know any more about poker than you
do about joking/' said Steve, imperturbably, as he raked
in a pot. "If I'd known about this before, I wouldn't
have taken that oath. I'd have done like McRaffle there.
This is too easy."
" You play just as much as I do," said McRaffle, quickly.
"Yes; but in more select company." Steve said qui-
etly. " Not with boys."
McRaffle's cold face flushed slightly, and he started to
reply, but glanced quickly round the table and reconsid-
ered. Steve was placidly shuffling the cards.
No man likes to have his poker-game assailed, and Mid-
dleton and Thurston were no exceptions.
"You're outclassed, Captain," said Steve. "I'd be
riding that whitefoot bay of yours in a week, if you played
with me."
CAPTAIN ALLKX TAKES THE OATH 143
" Make a jackpot and Til give you a chance/' said Mid •
•n, firing up.
Steve, as the winner, was not in a position to stop. The
s had warmed up.
•• Y make it a jackpot, and let that decide which is
iggest blower/' laughed someone.
e dealt and Middleton looked pleased, as he well
:. None of the others had more than a pair, and
they passed out. Steve had three hearts and a pair. IK*
was about to throw the cards down when he caught Mid-
dleton's look of content, and hesitated.
"Com. Idleton.
Steve's fingers tightened on his cards, and Middleton
discarded two, showing that he held three of a kind.
• I've got you beat," he said.
•at? I tell you, you don't know the game," said
Steve, airily. He coolly discarded his pair.
lon't ? Ill bet you a hundred dollars, I've got you
Steve picked up two cards. "I'll see you and raise
yon/' said he. " I bet you five hundred against your
whitefoot horse yon haven't."
•ne/'said Middleton.
.eepyour horse, boy," said Steve. "I was the best
poker player in my brigade." lie leaned over to put his
cards down. But • >n was game and was ahead of
him.
"It's a bet," he said, layin.ir his hand on the table.
was a sigh from the others : he had three
Steve laid his beside them, and tin-re was a shout. He
had drawn a flush.
w I'll buy the horse back from you, if you wish
;unk you. I'\e promised him to a lady," said Steve.
Nex eve rode his new horse to Bird wood and,
with a twinkle in his eyes, offered him to IJlair.
"How did you get him ?" asked the girl.
144 KKD ROCK
"Captured him," laughed Steve, "Tell your friend
not to play poker with UK* — or MrUattUv" lie added.
Blair's eyed Hashed and sin- at tacked Steve vigorously.
She would not have him oflVring to present her a part of
his gaming- winnings. lie was bct-ominir a scandal to the
neighborhood ; leading the young men off.
" Yourig Larry, for instance ? " smiled Steve. " Or
Captain BfcBaffle?"
"No. You know very well whom I mean," declared
Blair. "Rupert thinks it fine to imitate you." The smile
was still on Steve's face, and Blair paused to take breath ;
then half closing her eyes as if she were sighting care-
fully— " And couples your name with Captain McRaf-
fle's," she added.
A light of satisfaction came into her eyes as she saw
the shaft go home. A deeper hue reddened Steve's sun-
browned face.
"Who was the young lady who bet me not long
ago, against that very horse, that she would not dance
with a certain Yankee Captain ? Where's her pious ex-
ample ?"
Blair's face flushed. " I did wrong. But I did not ex-
pect you, Captain Allen who prides himself 011 his chiv-
alry, to shelter himself behind a girl." She bowed low,
and turned away in apparent disdain, enjoying the success
of her shot.
Just at that moment Miss Thomasia joined them.
" What are you two quarrelling about ? " The next mo-
ment she glanced at Steve and a troubled look came into
her eyes.
''Nothing. We aren't quarrelling, are we Blair?"
Steve held out his hand in sign of peace.
" Yes. Steve has just charged "
Steve began to make signs to Blair.
" — Steve has just charged," proceeded Miss Blair, ignor-
ing his efforts to stop her, " that all his shortcomings are
due to the example set him by a woman."
OAPTAIH AI.LKX TAKKS THE OATH 145
" They all do it, my dear, from Adam d«>\\
lucidly.
il'T sex was to be defended even against her idol.
•• Th'-re/' said Blair, triumphantly t<
lock phrase," said Steve. "And what I'd like
is, did not Adam tell the truth ?"
•• "i '.-. : '1! he did. Ami l'\ e i;.. doubt he tried
to keep poor Eve between him and the angel's sword.
Now you, at least be as brave as he, and tell Cousin Th»>-
masia the truth and see what she s,
Once more Steve began to signal Blair. Hut MissTho-
masia her :escue. Perhaps, she wanted to
save him. She he^an to ask about Rupert. She was evi-
ly anxious about the boy.
.as because of what Blair said about Kupert,
or because of the look of distress that eame in Miss
lusia's eyes at the mention of the story of S
•ig, Steve had an interview with Captain Middleton
ly afterward, and, as a result, when lie told him the
in which he. found himself, the horse v
lleton's possession, until Middleton left the
county, when he became Steve's by purchase.
As time w« -w began to fall bet
Jaoqoelin and the sun. Steve was in love with !
waa always with her; his name was always on her
lips, and here frequently on his. She rode his hmse : and
he often came to Red Rock with her. And as Jacquelin
watched, he knew he had no chance. It cut deeper than
anyone ever knew ; hut .Jae^uelin fought it out and won.
Ho would not let it come between him and Steve. Steve
had always been like a brother. He would still love Blair.
'I'h is was not forbidden him. Not every knight always won
his great love. It was the loyalty. n<>t t he success, that was
knightly. If she loved Steve, hecould make her happier than
Jacquelin himself ever could have done. And Jacquelin,
if God gave him power, would rejoice with them in \
The preparations for the contemplated entertainment
10
146 RED ROCK
for the benefit of the poor wounded Confederate soldiers
in the county were already begun. It was to be given ;.l
Red Rock, and the managers waited only for Jacquelin
to recover somewhat from a set-back he had had after
liis meeting with Leech at Dr. Gary's. Blair Gary had
offers from at least a dozen escorts ; but Steve was the
fortunate contestant. Miss Dockett was so much inter-
ested in her preparations that the two lodgers caught
the fever, and found themselves in the position of ad-
mirers and part advisers as to a costume for an enter-
tainment to which they were not considered good enough
to be invited. Little Thurston had to purchase a part
of it in the city, where he went on a visit, and, truth
to tell, finding that the small amount entrusted to him
— which was all that could be got together even by
Mrs. Dockett's diligence, stimulated by her natural pride
in her daughter's first ball — was not sufficient to purchase
material as fine as he thought suited to adorn the plump
person of a young lady who had condescended to warble
with him, he added to it a small sum from his own by no
means over-plethoric pocket, and then lied about it after-
ward like a trooper and a gentleman.
" Well, I always heard a Yankee was a good hand at a
bargain," declared Mrs. Dockett ; "but you are the best I
ever knew." And this was Thurston's reward.
The officers had given up hope of being invited to the
assembly, when one evening two formal notes, requesting
their company, were brought by Steve's boy Jerry. They
were signed simply, " The Committee."
"And now," said Middleton, "we're in a bigger hole
than before ; for it's for the benefit of the rebels ; and if
that gets out — But, perhaps it will not?"
" Gets out ? Of course it will get out. Everything one
doesn't want to get out, gets out ; but yet we must go.
Does not our high sense of duty require us to sacrifice our
personal prejudices so far as to keep an eye on this first
large assemblage of rebels ? "
CAPTAIN ALLEN TAKES THE OATH 147
" Iieely, you're a genius," said Middleton, in open ad-
miration.
" Of course I am/' was the Lieutenant's modest reply.
!iial notes of acceptance were sent, and the two young
officers were soon as busy as anyone making their prepara-
for their " summer campaign/' as Thurston called it.
ordered new boots, and Thurston a whole suit, for the
on. Thurston, in the seclusion of their room, drilled
Middleton sedulously in the Old Virginia reel, so as to as-
i the native and, as he profanely termed it, "make
sure of the capture of the fish Middleton had found in the
ford.*
An evening or two later, the mail was brought in, and in
e two official letters for Middleton. As he read them,
•e fell, and he flung them across to Thurston, who,
as he glanced at them, gave an ejaculation hardly consist-
ent with the high-church principles he so proudly vaunted.
One was an order forbidding, for the present, all public
gatherings at night, under any guise whatever, except in
churches; the other forbade the wearing of any Confederate
uniform or garment 'forming part of a uniform, or, at least
(as persons might not have any other clothes whatever),
brass buttons, braid, chevrons, etc., which were the insignia
of a uniform. These were to be cut off or covered. These
were general orders, and the officers in command stationed
throughout the country were directed to see them enforced.
iis comes of having a d — d tailor for President," said
the little Lieutenant. " I always did hate 'em ; and to
think I've ordered a new uniform for it too I Your wed-
ding, Ldirry, will not come off as soon as I antici]
: e's one consolation ; one tailor will have to wait
some time."
v appeared to please the Lieutenant so much that,
as he glanced over the orders again, he began to whistle,
the Captain looked on despondently. The whis-
tling grew loader as Thurston read on, and he suddenly
bounced up.
148 KEU KOCK
" I've got it, Larry. Are you a Mason ?"
"No. Why?"
" Oh ! Nothing — I was just thinking of that old Masonic
lodge where the chaplain preached and Leech led in prayer,
You issue your orders — and leave me to manage it : this
tailoring part is what's going to play the deuce. I can
settle the other — I'm a churchman — I ought to have been
a bishop."
As Thurston foresaw, it was the order touching the uni-
forms which gave the greatest offence, and in the indigna-
tion which this aroused, the other was almost lost sight of.
It was intended to show the negroes, the old residents said,
that the Southerners were completely in subjection to the
Federal authorities. Which view gained some ground
from the fact that the orders were issued by Leech, who
appeared to be charged with their enforcement.
The next day there was a storm in the county.
The little General made old Julius burnish up his but-
tons until they shone like gold, and then rode into the vil-
lage to interview the officer in command. He was stopped
on the street by Leech, and was ordered to cut them off
immediately if he did not wish him to do it for him, on
which the gallant old Confederate stated to that functionary
as placidly as he might have returned an answer to Miss
Thomasia on the subject of roses, that if Leech so much as
attempted to lay his hand on him, he would kill him im-
mediately ; and the look in his eyes was so resolute and
so piercing that Leech, who supposed from this that he
was fully armed, slunk away to secure a squad of soldiers
to enforce his order. The General rode serenely on to
find Middleton. No one was present at the interview.
But it became known afterward that the General had
begun by an intimation that he was ready to renew his
polite offer of the pair of duelling pistols to Captain
Middleton, if the Captain wished to give a gentleman who
found himself temporarily in a somewhat embarrassing
position, a gentleman's satisfaction ; and that ho had come
CAPTAIN AJ.LEN TAKES Till. OATH 149
away, not, indeed, with this satisfaction, but, at least, with
steera for the young men, whom lie continued to
of as " most gentlemanly young fellows " ; and he
1 his buttons with cloth.
- .e Allen let Miss Thomasia cover his with cre"pe,
and having led Leech into questioning him as to tin-
>r this, said that it was mourning because a certain
cowardly hound had only barked at Mammy Krenda one
f attempting to touch her, and giving her
the opportunity to cut the skin from him. Dr. Gary
found his buttons cut off by Mrs. Gary and Miss Blair —
" to prevent," Blair said, '• their being defiled by sacri-
li hands."
Jacquelin Gray was at this time confined to his lounge,
by his wound ; but it had this drop of consolation for his
'•r and Aunt Thomasia, that so long as he •!
there he could not be subjected to what others underwent.
y reckon • ver, without their host.
On< .11 Leech rode into the Red Rock yard with a
squad of soldiers at his back, and riding across the grass
to the very door, dismounted and stamped up the
and, without waiting for an answer to his loud rap,
stalked into the hall, with his men behind him. \Vli-
had come from no one know ; for he had ridden in the
back way. It ..l'trrwards that he had stopped
t he overseer's house.
At the mou: eh appeared in the hall, Jacquc-
id lying on his lounge, with Blair C'ary and Kuprrt
sitting beside him, and the first he knew of the Provost's
presence was when Blair, with an exclamation, sprang to
her feet. Jle turned and faced Leech as he entered the
•• Provost appeared du/.rd by the scene In-fore
him ; for scores of eyas were fastened on him from the
walls, and he stood for a moment rooted to the spot,
gaze fixed on the face of the "Indian-killer"
over the big fireplace. That strange embodiment of
resolve seemed almost to appal him. The next instant,
150 RED ROCK
with a gesture, he came forward to where Jacquelin lay.
At the same moment Blair retired to seek Mrs. Gray and
Miss Thomasia. Leech's eyes followed her as she went out.
• • Well, sir, what do you want ? " Jacquelin asked,
haughtily.
" Take off your coat."
It was the form of order given to negroes when they
were to be thrashed. Jacquelin's face flushed.
"What for?"
" Because if you don't, I'll take it off for you. I im-un
to cut these buttons off."
"You can cut them off." Jacquelin had grown quiet,
and his face was white. Kupert drew nearer to him, his
cheeks flushed and his breath coming quickly.
" I guess I can," sneered the Provost. He came up to
the lounge, pushing Eupert aside, who interposed between
them. He leaned over and cut the buttons from the
jacket, one by one.
" Fll send these to my girl," he said, tauntingly — " Un-
less you want them for yours," he added, with a meaning
laugh. Jacquelin controlled himself to speak quietly.
" Tell your master that some day I will call him to ac-
count for this outrage."
" Young puppies bark, but don't bite," sneered the
Provost.
In an instant Eupert was on him, and, boy as he was,
he struck the Provost a blow which, taking him unawares,
staggered him. Leech recovered himself, however, and seiz-
ing the boy, slapped him furiously several times. Jacque-
lin was on his feet in a moment. He sprang toward the
Provost, but the men interposed, and he sank back on his
lounge, breathless and white.
" Hound, for that I will some day make a negro whip
you within an inch of your life," he said, beside himself.
Leech grinned in triumph and, walking up, leant over
him officiously, as though to see if there were still any
buttons left.
CAPTAIN ALLEN TAKES THE OATH 151
As he did so, Jacquelin raised himself and slapped him
the face. Leech with an oath sprang back and
1 out a pistol; and possibly but for an ac<
which gave time for the intervention of his men, Jacque-
lin Gray's career would have ended then.
He looked so cool, however, and withal so handsome
and intrepid as he lay back and gazed into Leech's
denouncing him fiercely and daring him to shoot, that
Leech hesitated and turned toward his men for encourage-
ment. As he did so, the door opened hastily and a curi-
ous thing happened. The great full-length portrait over
the big fireplace, loosened, perhaps, by the scuffle with
;-t, or by the jar of the door as Mrs. Gray and Miss
Thomasia, entered, slipped in its frame and at the moment
Leech turned, fell forward, sending the Provost
staggering back among his startled men. When Leech
recovered, his men interfered. They were not ready to see
a man murdered before his mother. Baffled in th
Provost determined on another revenge. He swore he
would have Jacqtielin hanged, and made his men take him
id put him on a horse. Jacquelin was unable to sit
in the saddle, and fell off in a faint. At this moment
Hiram Still, whom Mrs. Gray had summoned. < amo up
and interposed. At first, the Provost was not amenable
even to Still's expostulations ; hut at length lie pressed
a wagon and hadJacqudin put in it, and hauled him off
to the court-house, to jail, still swearing he would have him
hanged. Mrs. Gray, having sent off by Klair in hot haste
to follow her, directed Still to replace the
-I'd her carriage, and, without waiting, set
out for the court-house, accompanied by Miss Thomasia
and Hnpert.
v had hardly left, when Still went into the house-to
set the picture back in its place. It was surrounded by a
group .us. half-frightened servants who, with awe,
v gazed on it and on the yawning hole in the
wall, making comments, full of foreboding. Still sent
152 RED ROCK
them all off except Doan, whom he kept to help him set
the picture back in place. It was necessary to get np on a
chair and Iran half way in the hole and examine the
where the nails were to be driven, and this Still did
himself, making an examination of the entire recess, even
moving a number of bundles of old papers.
" Ah ! " he said, with a deep inspiration, as he ran his
eye over one bundle, which he laid off to one side, lie
sent Doan out to get him some long nails, for, as he ex-
plained, he meant now to nail the picture up to stand till
judgment day. The negro went with a mutter, half timid,
half jest, that he wouldn't stay in that hole by himself not
for the whole Red Rock plantation and every mule on it.
While he was absent Still was not idle. Doan had no
sooner disappeared than the manager seized the bundle of
papers he had laid to one side, and, hastily cutting the
string which bound it, extracted several papers.
" I thought I remembered which one it was in," he
murmured. "I didn't know when it was put in here as
I'd ever git hold of it again/' He held the papers up so
as to get the light over his shoulder on them.
" Yes, that's the big bond with the paint on it, payable
to me. I thought 'twa'n't cancelled."
He was so busy with the papers that he did not see the
faces, outside the window, pressed against the pane, or
hear Doan enter, and did not know he had returned until
his shadow fell across the hearth. He slipped the papers
in his pocket so hastily that one of them fell out and
would have fluttered down on the floor had he not caught
it. He turned on the negro :
"How did you come in, fool ?" he asked, with a start,
as he rammed the paper back in his pocket.
" I come in by de do'/' said Doan, sullenly.
The portrait was soon nailed back, this time Still driving
the nails in to make sure they wouldn't come out again.
Meanwhile the ladies were making their way to the
court-house. It was quite dusk when they reached the
CAPTAIN ALLEN TAKES THE OATH 153
county seat and, to their surprise, the wagon had not
yet arrived. Miss Thomasia was in great distress over
it, and was sure that Leech had executed his threat
~t Jacquelin. But Mrs. Gary, though much disturbed,
thought that more probably they had taken another road
and had travelled more slowly. This, indeed, proved to
be the case, and some hours later, Leech and his prisoner
turned up.
Mrs. Gray had not been idle. On reaching the court-
house she sent at once for General Legaie, and drove to
Mrs. Dockett's, where she knew the commanding officer
had his quarters. There she found the family at supper,
and it may be safely asserted that no meal was ever more
unceremoniously interrupted. Mrs. Dockett no sooner
: Mrs. Gray's name, than she left the table and \\vnt
to receive her, and having in the first two minutes learned
the cause of her visit, she swept back into the dining-
room and swooped down on the two young officers, with a
volubility which, at least, terminated the meal, and looked
for a little while as if it would also terminate the relation
of hostess and guest She announced that Leech hail
broken into Mrs. Gray's house, assaulted her son, and
finally dragged him from his dying bed and. n<> <l<>u1it, hail
murdered him in the woods. And she summoned ti
officers to assert immediately their authority and exeeute
summary justice on the Provost, if they ever wished to eat
another meal under her roof. Not that Mrs. Pork, -it
really took the view that Miss Thomasia took, for outside,
;id already reassured Mrs. Gray, giving her calmly
most excellent reasons to K!H»W that I., .-.-h would n,-\.-r
dare to injure her son. But she felt that she had a war-
;rid picture in Miss Thomasia's foreboding,
and she could not resist the pleasure of presenting it in
all its blackness. Fortunately, Middleton. with his quirt
maun- ho chose, be impressive enough.
!!'• listened to Mrs. Gray's slairmrnt ealmly ; was very
grave, but Vei to her, and though lie did not
154 RED ROCK
promise to release her son, or indicate what would be done
in the matter, he assured her that Jacquelin should have
proper treatment on his arrival, and promised that she
should have access to him.
Suddenly Rupert, who had been crying on the way down
whenever he could do so unobserved, stepped forward from
behind his mother, where he had been standing.
*' I struck him first, and I am the one to hang, not my
brother." His face which had been red when he began,
paled suddenly, and his lip quivered a little ; but his head
was held straight and his eyes were steady and were filled
with light.
Mrs. Gray started to speak ; but her voice trembled and
failed her, and she could only hold out her hand to the
boy. Middleton's eyes softened.
" No one will be hanged/' he said. Then added, grave-
ly : " But you shouldn't have struck him."
" He called my brother a puppy," said the boy, defiantly,
his eyes flashing, "and Til let no one do that — not you,
nor anyone."
That night Thurston said to Middleton :
" Gad, Larry, I said I ought to be a bishop, but you
ought to be one — the way you preached to that boy, and
I'd give a thousand dollars for him."
" I wish you were Captain," growled Middleton.
"He looked like a little game-cock, didn't he ? "
When the prisoner arrived, about midnight, under his
guard, everything was found ready for his reception, and
his mother was detailed to nurse him, to which, probably,
was due the failure of Leech's and one other's plan.
CHAPTER XIII
STEVE ALLBX LEARNS MISS THOMASIA's SECRET AND
FOR.MV I:\KS CARDS
'I'm: roughness of the treatment Jacquelin had received
at Leech's hands caused his wound to break out afresh, and
for a time he was seriously ill. But he had some compen-
-.3. Every girl in the neighborhood deemed him her
especial favorite and charge. And from time to time, in
the door walked, floated, or entered somehow, a god
and with her came heaven. Her entrance was always a
miracle ; she lit up the room, radiance took the place of
gloom ; the racked nerves found a sudden anodyne, and in
the mere joy of her presence, Jacquelin forgot that 1.
crippled. id to him, sat l>y him, soothed him,
1 with him, sympathized with him, turned darkness
into light, and pain, at least, into fortitude. How divinely
tender her eyes could grow as some sudden paroxysm
wruii# his nerves, and brought a flush to his wan c: !
How solicitous was her voice ! I low soft her touch ! And
how much she knew ! Asmuch as Aunt Tlmmasia ! How
could a young girl have read so much ! It stimulated
Jacqnelin, and he began to emulate her, as in old days,
unti; became a habit.
Under these influences Jacquelin actually began to get
lleton passed by one even in ir and saw the y<»un^ irirl
rose-bow • nida, by Jacquelin's lounge,
reading to him. The soft cadences of a charming voice
were borne to him mu rmurously. A strange pang of loneli-
ness shot through him. That far-away visit in the past
seemed to rise up before him, and the long years were sud-
100
156 KKD KOCK
drnly obliterated. He was back, a visitor at a beautiful
old country - place, where joy and hospitality reigned.
Jacquelin was a handsome, bright-faced boy again, and
Blair was a little girl, with those wonderful eyes and con-
fiding ways. Middleton wondered if he should suddenly
turn and walk in on them, with a reminder of that old
time, how they would receive him. He was half-minded
to do it, and actually paused. He would go in and say,
"Here, the war is over — let's be friends." But suddenly a
man passed him and glanced up in his face and saluted.
It was Leech, and Middleton saw him look across to
where the invalid and his fair young nurse sat on the
shaded veranda, and knew what his thoughts were. The
spell was broken. Middleton stepped down from romance
to the hard ground of reality, and passed on to give his
orders for the evening.
Jacquelin's arrest and illness had come near breaking up
the entertainment (a name which had been substituted for
ball, to meet the scruples of Miss Thomasia and some other
pious ladies). But this Jacquelin would on no account
hear of. Besides, after the order forbidding public gath-
erings at night, it would look like truckling. As, how-
ever, in the family's absence, the assembly could not be
held at Red Rock, it was decided to have it at the court-
house, where Jacquelin now was. This concession was
made ; the largest and best building there for such an en-
tertainment was one used as a Masonic hall, and occasion-
ally as a place for religious services. This hall was se-
lected. Who was responsible for its selection was not
actually known. Thurston told Middleton that when he
said he ought to have been a bishop, he placed his abilities
far too low — that really he ought to have been a pope.
But he did not appear in the matter at all except to meet
the objections raised by Leech, and to silence that official
by an allusion to his recent pious ministrations in that
building. Steve Allen was the chief advocate of the hall,
and took the lead in its selection and also in its defence j
STEVE ALLEN FORSWEARS CARO3 157
for some objection was made by others than Leech to hav-
ing a party in this building, and on very different grounds.
Thomasia and some others who were not entirely sat-
isfied anyhow about dancing, thought that it was certainly
more likely to be wrong in a room which hud been some-
used, however rarely, for religious services, and it
took some skill to overrule their objections. Tliurston
<> Mrs. Dockett that it had never been consecrated.
"So far from it," said ^Irs. Dockett, " it has been dese-
crated." (The last service held in it had been held by a
Union chaplain, who had come up from town and preached
in it to the soldiers, with Leech on the front bench.)
Miss Thomasia, being for once in accord with both
Thurston and Steve, gave in, and actually lent her aid and
counsel, at least so far as related to the embellishment of
the hall, and of some who were to attend there. She vent-
ured her advice to Steve in only one matter relating to
the outside. Having found him at work one evening,
making a short rustic bench to be placed under one of the
trees in the yard, she said she hoped he did not intend that
• o people, and that young man scandalously r-
that he was making it short on purpose for her and the
General; and, in the face of her offended d impu-
G ral had cn^ed him to do it,
jad Driven him the measurements.
ove Allen, I am too old to talk to me so,"
said Miss Thomasia.
me, Cousin Thomasia; 'tis the <«Ynernl." JMT-
sisted Steve, and thru, as the little faded lady still re-
d grave and i! Meurd up and glanced
at her. Stepping to her side, ho slipped his arm round
like a big stalwart son. and. looking down in her
face with kindly eyes, said, tenderly :
Thomasia, there aren't any of "em like you now-
adays. They don't make 'em so any more. The mould's
broke seated the 1 y gently on the bench,
pleased and mollified, find flung himself on the gross nt her
iS& RED BOOK
feet, and the two had a long, confidential talk, from which
both derived much comfort, and Steve much profit (ho
said). At least, he learned something new, and when as
the dew began to fall Miss Thomasia rose, it was with a
better insight into the nature of the reckless young fel-
low ; and Steve, on his part, had a new feeling for Miss
Thomasia, and led her in with a new tenderness. For
Miss Thomasia had told the young man, what she had never
admitted to a soul in all her life — that the reason the Gen-
eral, or anyone else, had never won her was that long ago
her heart had been given to another — " the handsomest,
most brilliant man I ever saw," she said — who had loved
her, she believed, with all his soul, but had not been strong
enough to resist, even for her sake, the temptation of two
besetting sins — drink and gambling — and she had obeyed
her father, and given him up.
Steve was lying full length on his back at her feet, his
face turned to her, and his clasped hands under his head.
" Cousin Thomasia, who was he, and what became of
him ? " he asked, gently.
" He was your father, Steve, and you might have
been — " The voice was so low that the young man did
not catch the last word. He unclasped his hands, and
placed one forearm quickly across his face, and lay quite
still for a minute or two. Then he moved it. Miss Thoma-
sia was sitting quite motionless, her eyes in her lap, and
with the fading light of the evening sky slanting under
the trees and resting on her face and soft, silvered hair.
She sighed so softly it might have been only breathing.
" I never knew it," said Steve, gently ; " but I might
have known."
He rose slowly, and leaning over her, kissed her ten-
derly, and she laid her head on his shoulder.
" Yes, Steve, now you know."
And Steve said, yes, and kissed her again like a son.
" Cousin Thomasia," he said, presently, " I will not say
I will never drmk again ; but I will promise you not to
gamble again, and I will not drink to excess any more/'
STEVE ALLEN FORSWEARS CARDS 159
" Oh ! Steve, if yon knew how I have prayed for you ! "
said the little lady, softly.
•• \Vell, maybe, Cousin Thomasia, this is in answer to
it," said Steve, half seriously.
There was as much preparation for the entertainment
as there had ever been in the old times for the greatest
ball given at Red Rock or Birdwood. Some of the guests
from distant neighborhoods came several days before-
hand to be in time, or to help superintend, and stayed
at the houses of their friends near the county seat. Even
the General's bachelor establishment was transformed for
the occasion into a nest of doves, who, it was said, put
up more little knick-knacks than he had ever seen, and
made the old fellow more comfortable than he had ever
been before in all his life.
Thus the little village, which for some time had been
hardly more than a camp, over-run with negro camp-fol-
lowers, suddenly took on a new air and freshened up, with
young girls in cool dresses and big hats on the streets, or
making pleasant groups under the trees in the yards on
the slopes outside the hamlet, from which laughter ami
singing to the music of guitars floated down to the village
below. The negroes themselves joined in, and readily
full into old habits, putting themselves in the way of the
:s, whom they overwhelmed with compliments, and
ins, and offers of service.
\liddleton and Thurston wont in and out
to their duties, drilling ami inspecting
uml keeping their eyes open, less for treason than for
retty girls who had come suddenly upon (hem like
:•.•* after a spring rain. They met a few of them
i- through Steve Alien or Mrs. Dockett, whose
house was tilled with them; hut the new-comers tr
with sueh umleniahle coolness that there was little
t to pro-erute the ae(|iiaintanee. Even
plump Miss Dockett stiff. -veptiMy. ami treated
. than sin- had ever
exhibited since he had made those wonderful bargains.
160 KI:I) ROCK
Only one man in the whole village appeared absolutely
out of humor over the stir and preparations, and that wad
Leech. The plan which he and Still had laid down to
prevent the assembly having failed, Leech determined to
break it up, at all hazards. Still was in constant, if secret,
conference with him. They hud told Sherwood and Moses
that they could prevent it. If it were held in spite of
them, it would prove that they were less powerful than
they pretended to be.
Leech would go to town and obtain a peremptory order
forbidding this very meeting.
" Have it made out so you can give it, yourself," coun-
selled Still. " Wait till the last minute and then spring
it on 'em. We'll show 'em we're not to be treated as they
please. They don't know me yet, but they soon will. I've
got that as will make some of 'em wince. I'll show 'em
who Hiram Still is." He tapped his pocket significantly.
So it was decided, and Leech went off to the city to use
his influence with Colonel Krafton, while Still was to pre-
pare a foundation for his interference, through the negro
leaders, Sherwood, Moses, and Nicholas Ash.
That evening there was a little more stir among the
negroes about the court-house than had been observed
before. Sherwood and Moses were there, sent down by
Still, and that night they held a meeting — a religions
meeting it was called — at which there was some singing
and praying, and much speaking or preaching — the two
preachers being Sherwood and Moses. They could bo
heard all over the village, and at length their shouting and
excitement reached such a pitch and attracted so much
attention that some of the residents walked down to the
place where they were congregated, to look into the matter.
Moses was speaking at the moment, mounted on an im-
promptu platform, swaying his body back and forth, and
pouring forth a doctrine as voluble in words as it was vio-
lent in sound and gesture, whilst his audience surged around
him, swaying and shouting, and exciting themselves into a
STEVE ALL1-X FoUStt'KARS CARDS 101
sort of wild frenzy. The white men who had gat!:
ed silently and sullenly to the sounds rising in
unison with the speaker's voice. Some were of the
opinion that he ought to be stopped at once and the
meeting broken up, and there were plenty of offers to do
: . A more prudent head, however, had adopted an-
course. Dr. Gary, who happened to be in the
village that night, hearing what was going on, and know-
ing what might occur at any moment, called on the officer
in command, and stated to him the danger of a collision.
Captain Middleton walked down to the meeting with him
to make his own observation. Only a few moments
.sulhVed. The violence of the speaker, who was now danc-
ing back and forth ; the excitement of the dusky crowd
pressing about him ; the gathering of white men on the
edge of the throng, speaking in low, earnest tones, their
eyes turned to the speaker, suggested prompt measures.
"Don't de Book say, as we shall inherit the nth ?"
cried the speaker, and his audience moaned and sv.
and shouted in as
" An* ain't de harvest white fur de laborer ?"
• Yas — yas," shouted the audience. "White fur de
laborer ! "
" Unless you stop them, Captain, we shall ; for we know
that It is necessary and that it will be a kindness to them."
said the Doctor, qnietly ; and the officer recognizing the
lity, though he little understood the Doctor's full
ling, assented promptly. Ho pushed his way through
! rong, followed by the Doctor. He stopped the speak-
er and mounted the platform, and in :i few words forbade
any further speaking and ordered the crowd to disperse,
did almost immediately, dissolving like magic
before the officer's order. Then he turned to the speaker,
and with a s!. :iman<l for his notion commanded
hi MI to leave the village. The trick-doctor cringed, and
with ii whine of acquiescence bowed himself off.
11
CHAPTER XIV
LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT
WHEN Leech returned from the city, next day, he was in
such good spirits that Steve and Thurston both arrived at
a similar conclusion, and decided that there was some mis-
chief brewing. Steve called Jerry and had a talk with
him.
About sunset Leech mounted his horse at his stable and
rode out of the village through a back lane. He was to
meet Still that night at Nicholas Ash's. Still and his
son met him according to appointment, and the details of
their plan were arranged.
Leech found that he had an ally stronger than he had
dreamed of. Still showed him that he was a much richer
man than he had ever admitted. He not only held the
bonds of Dr. Gary, given for the money he had lent the
Doctor, and a bond of his late employer, Mr. Gray, of
which Leech already knew ; but he held another bond of
Mr. Gray for an amount large enough to swallow up his
entire estate. Leech could scarcely believe his eyes. Mrs.
Gray did not know of its existence ; but the bond was un-
doubtedly genuine. Mrs. Gray herself, Still said, would
admit that. He had a satisfactory explanation for her ig-
norance, as well as for the fact that he had never before
mentioned to Leech that he held so large a claim against
the Gray estate. He had made the money by negro-trading
quietly, before the war, and had lent it to Mr. Gray to
stock a plantation, which he, as Mr. Gray's agent, had
bought for him in the far South. And he had not men-
tioned it to Mrs. Gray or anyone else for a very simple
162
LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT 163
reason. He had promised Mr. Gray that he would never
trouble Mrs. Gray about the bonds during her life.
Leech did not believe this ; but there were the bonds —
one a small one, and one a very big one, and Still had of
late hinted several times at something that he was storing
up for the proper moment.
" I told you I didn't care if you killed that young
Jacquelin that night," he laughed. " Why didn't you do
it ? I must say I never allowed that he'd git thar alive."
" Neither did I," suggested Leech. " And I believe it
did him good."
•• I don't know about that," said Still, enigmatically;
" but I wouldn't V shed no tears over him. But if you do
as I tell you, we'll git even and have a leetle somethin' to
. You just work Krafton and get your friends to
back you, and you and mell own this county. I'll see
that Moses is there on time, if he don't have an inch of
skin left on him."
A rumor had meantime got abroad at the county seat
that an order had been secured by Leech forbidding the
assembly, and that though Middleton knew nothing of it
as yet, Leech would spring it at the proper time and try
to prevent the assembly. There was much excitement
it. A number of young men dropped in at Steve
Allen's office to ascertain the truth of the report, and
there was a rather general expression of opinion that the
ball would take place whether Leech had such an order
or not.
" Go and ask Middleton, directly," advised Jacquelin,
and Steve did so. Middleton said he had no knowledge on
the subject, and knew of no one to whom such an order
should be addressed except himself.
Jerry, who was lounging sleepily not far from Leech's
office, was called in by Steve and interrogated again with
•ions of what would happen incase
he should be deceiving him. But Jerry was firm. He
reiterated again and again bis fervent wish for a speedy
164 KI-D ROCK
dissolution and a perpetual condemnation of the most
lurid character, if every word lie had spoken were not
more than true. Loech, lie declared, had the paper in his
pocket, ami had road it to Sherwood and Moses and Nich-
olas in his back office, and was going to deliver it to Cap-
tain Middleton next day, the day set for the entertainment.
"I lies to urrers ; but the Cun'l knows I wouldn' lie to
him," protested Jerry, in final asseveration.
" That's so — he knows better," said Steve ; and Jerry,
with a grin, went back to his post in sight of Leech's
back door.
Steve, with a new light in his face, went up to Mrs.
Dockett's and had a little talk with Miss Dockett and one
or two of the young ladies there, and in ten minutes, with
locked doors, they were busy sewing for life. It must
have been something very amusing they were engaged in,
to judge from the laughter that floated down from their
windows.
That night Hiram Still, with his son, was on his way
back to Red Rock from his meeting with Leech, while
Leech was riding back to the court-house.
It was about ten o'clock and the moon was covered by
clouds ; Leech was riding along, thinking of the plans
he had formed and the manner of publishing his order,
and of the effect it would have in establishing his posi-
tion in the county. He had got within a mile or two of
the village when, in a little " bottom " in a lonely piece
of woods, just before reaching a fork in the road, there
was an owl-hoot behind him, and another, as if in response,
a little ahead of him. The next moment his horse started
violently, as a dark object which Leech had noticed when
still at a distance from it, but thought merely a bush,
moved out into the road immediately before him. His
heart jumped into his throat, for it was not like anything
earthly. In the darkness, it looked as much like a small
elephant with a howdah on it, as anything else ; but he did
not have time to think much about it, for the next instant
LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT 165
it was close on him right across the road, a lingo inu filed
figure on a high, shapeless beast. Leech's horse snorted and
Another figure was behind him, closing in on
him. Leech pulled in his frightened horse; for somewhere
about the middle of the dark figure lowering above him
tin- re was a momentary flash of steel. Leech thought of
his own pistol, but the great figure moved closer to him,
very close to him, and stopped. Not a word was said.
The figure simply sat in front of him, silent and motion-
less, while the other moved up on the other side and did
the same. Leech's tongue was sticking to his mouth.
The stillness and silence wore more awful than any
could have been. He tried to speak, but his lips could
iy frame the words. Presently he managed to falter :
- What do you want?"
re was no answer, and again the silence became worse
than ever. The voices of the katydids sounded far and
are you?"
re was not a word. Only the figures pressed closer
to him.
What— what do you want?"
Silence and the katydids in the woods.
4 • I^et me go by. I have no money."
There was no answer, and motion, only
the gleam of steel again. Then the two figures, pr.
olotfe against the Provost, silently turned Ins horse around
and moved slowly off into the woods, without a word, with
• •tween them.
tried to pull np his reins ; they were held on either
side, and an arm was thrown around him.
\ here are yon going ?" faltered Leech.
••y moved on without a word.
foil I will— I will give "
A hag or something was suddenly thrown ovor his head
and pressed down to his elbows, w the same mo-
ment were pinioned to his side. s pistol was taken.
166 RED ROCK
He was afraid to cry out, and perhaps could not have done
so even had he tried.
The next instant a hand was put into his breast pocket
and his pocket-book and all his papers were taken out ; he
was conscious of a match being struck and a light made,
and that his papers were being looked over. He thought
he heard one of his captors say, ' ' Ah ! " and the next mo-
ment the papers and pocket-book were put back in his
pocket, and the light was extinguished ; the bag was drawn
from over his head, and his captors rode off through the
woods. When he tried to move he discovered that his
horse was tied to a bush and he had to dismount to untie
him. His pistol was lying at the foot of the sapling.
Long before he had finished loosing his horse, the sound of
his two waylayers had died out.
As the Provost entered the village the sour expression on
his face deepened. The clouds had disappeared and the
summer night was perfect ; the village lay before him, a
picture of peace ; the glint of white beneath the court-
house trees being just enough to suggest that the tents
there were hidden. The streets were filled with a careless
throng, and all the sounds were those of merriment : laugh-
ter and shouting, and the twang of banjos. There was never
an unlikelier field for such a plan as the Provost had in mind.
He rode through like a shadow, silencing the negroes
and scowling at the whites, and as soon as he had put up
his horse, he called on Captain Middleton. It was not a
long interview, but it was a stormy one, and when the
Provost came out of the Captain's office he had thrown
down the gauntlet and there was an open breach between
them. He had complained to Middleton of being beset by
highwaymen and robbed of his order, and Middleton had
told him plainly he did not believe a word he said.
" How did you get such an order ? If there was such
an order, why was it not addressed to me ? " he asked.
Leech said that he declined to be interrogated, but he
would soon show him that he had authority.
LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT 167
hen you will have to bring some better evidence than
your own word," said Middleton, coldly.
Leech fired up and attempted a bolder tone than he had
ever dared use before with Middleton, and actually forbade
the meeting the following night. The young Captain,
however, gave him to understand that he himself was the
commandant there and that for another word, order or no
order, he would place him under arrest, which step at that
moment would have so interfered with Leech's plans that
he had not ventured to push the matter further.
Next night the long-talked-of entertainment came off
duly, and Miss Blair Gary and-Miss Elizabeth Dockett and
the other girls who had waited so long, showed their little
plain, sweet, white and pink dresses which they had made
themselves, and their prettier white throats and pink
and lovely flashing eyes which God had made ; and danced
with tlu-ir gray-jacketed escorts, their little feet slipped
in their little slippers, many of which were high-heeled
and faded with age, having belonged to their mothers, and
grandmothers — even great-grandmothers — and enjo\
all as much as ever the former wearers of the slippers did in
their full glory of satin and lace. For of such is the King-
dom of Youth.
The Yankee officers attended, very dignified, and were
treated politely, but not warmly, of course, only just so
civilly as to show that Southerners knew what was due to
guest* even when they were enemies ; but not so warmly
as to let them forget that they were foes.
This, however, made little difference to the young
for the civility which it was felt was " their d
guests" was H to make a marked contrast with :i
past in which not a soul in petticoats had noticed them,
ie girls were pretty enough to satisfy them at first,
even if there was no other privilege conferred than merely
that primal right of the cat in the proverb. Everyone,
however, meant to be civil, and for the time, at least, at
ptm,
168 RED ROCK
But there was more than this ; the night was perfect •,
the breath of flowers and shrubbery came in through the
open windows ; the moon was almost at her full, and her
soft light was lying on the grass, mantling the trees, and
filling the night with that amber mellowness which some-
times comes in summer, and seems to bring a special peace-
fulness.
The camp lay hidden in the distance, and the throng in
the streets hung on the fences, listening to the music, or
laughed and danced in full sympathy with the occasion.
Steve Allen constituted himself the especial host of the
two officers. It was by him that Middleton and Thur-
ston were introduced to most of the girls, and to the older
ladies, who sat at the end of the room farthest from the
music, their eyes, filled with light, following their daugh-
ters or others whose success was near to their hearts, or,
like Miss Thomasia, beaming a benediction on the whole
throng of happy dancers.
Still, an hour after the dancing began, the one person
whom Middleton particularly wished to meet had not ap-
peared, and Middleton, who had been planning for a week
what he should say to Miss Gary, found himself with a vague
feeling of dissatisfaction. Little Thurston was capering
around as if to the manner born ; perspiring at every pore ;
paying attention to half the girls in the room, and casting
glances at Miss Dockett languishing enough, as Middleton
said, to lay the foundation for a breach of promise suit. But
Middleton could not get into the spirit of the occasion.
He asked a number of girls to dance, but they were all
" engaged," and politely showed their cards. So Mid-
dleton fell back. General Legaie, and the other older
gentlemen courteously drew him into their conversation,
and the General rallied him, with an old bachelor's license,
on not dancing, declaring that the sight of such girls was
the true1 fountain of youth ; but the young Captain was
not in the mood for fun. A vague feeling of unrest was
on him. The order that Leech had mentioned ; the Pro-
LEECH SECURES AN ORDEK AIsD LOSES IT 1GO
Cost's positive manner ; the warning that he had given ;
the covert threat he had dared to employ, all began to
recnr to Middleton and worry him. lie felt that he would
be responsible if any trouble should occur. Ho went out
and walked through the village. A light was shining under
the door of Leech's office ; but all was as it had been: good-
humor everywhere. The moonlight soothed him and the
pleasant greetings as he passed served to restore his good-
humor, and he returned to the ball. As he did so an old
high-backed carriage, which he thought he recognized,
made its way slowly past him. The driver was explaining
to someone who walked beside him the cause of his delay.
" Dat fool hoss — you can't git him in de water to save
your life. He'll breck ev'y thing to pieces fust. But my
young Mistis, she's dyah now, an' she's de queen on 'em all,
I tell you. You go dyah an' look at her th'oo do winder,"
he wound up with a proud laugh.
As Middleton re-entered the ball-room there was q;
group near the door surrounding someone who was the
centre of attraction, and whom Captain Allen was teasing.
" Oh ! You'll dance with him. He loft because you
had not come, but I have sent for him. He's saved a set
<sly for }
1 won't. Ho has done no such thing, and I
dance with you either, unless you go away and let mo
alone." The voice was a charming one.
• I'll bet you do. 1 understand why yon made old
Gideon drive you up the stream that evening; l>u
can't expect him to be mooning on the hank of every crook
in iho county, you know "
iiat settles it for you, Steve," said the voice over be-
the heads. "Jack, I have the sexrnth danrc with
you as well as the first and fourth," she called to.Jarqm lin
who was seated against the wall. tchos besido him.
"Jack never was any hand at arith ;<l besides
he can't dance," declared Allen, as I i prnfisscd his
gruti
170 KED ROOK
Just then Allen caught sight of Middleton, over the
heads of the others.
" Ah ! here — Captain Middleton, I want to present you
to my cousin, Miss Blair Gary, who wishes to know how
you happened not to be — " He caught his cousin's eye,
and changed his speech " — who has a question to ask you.
Captain Middleton — Miss Gary." The others made way
for Middleton, and he stepped forward and bowed low.
She was all in white, and was blazing with brass buttons.
They were her only ornaments, except a single old jewel
consisting of a ruby surrounded by diamonds. She wore
bracelets of the buttons on her arms, and a necklace of
larger ones on a band around her white throat. A broad
belt of them girdled her little waist.
As Middleton bowed, he caught her eye and the same
look of mingled defiance and amusement which he remem-
bered so well at the ford. He hardly knew whether to
laugh or be grave, and was conscious that he was growing
red, as her look changed into one of triumph. He re-
mained grave, however, and rallied enough to ask her for
a dance. She bowed. They were all engaged.
"I have the seventh — to sit out, I believe?" said
Jacquelin Gray maliciously, from his seat, for Steve's ben-
efit. Miss Blair looked at her card ; — then to Jacquelin :
"You only believe? As you have forgotten so far as
to have a doubt about it, the seventh is not engaged,"
said the young coquette, with a curtsey. She turned. " I
will give it to you, Captain Middleton." She looked at
Jacquelin and with a little — only the least little toss of
the head, took the arm of a young man who had just
claimed his set, and bowing to Middleton moved off, leav-
ing both Steve and Jacquelin looking a trifle blank.
" That girl's the most unaccountable creature that ever
was on earth," growled Jacquelin. " I'll be hanged if I'll
be treated so 1 " He looked across the room after her
floating form.
" Go slow, old man, go slow," said Steve. " You'll be
LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT 171
1 that way and come again for more. And you
know you will."
Jacquelin growled. He knew in his heart it was true.
Middlcton thought that the seventh set would never
come, but, like everything else in life, it came at last, and
though there were three claimants for it, the one who
was the final judge decided for Middleton and walked
off with him, calmly leaving both the other aspirants
finning and scowling.
" You can't fight him Jack," said Steve with a laugh to
his cousin, who was muttering to himself, " because I'd
first have to fight you, you know."
Having thus punished both her admirers, Miss Gary
declined to dance — whether to keep her word ; to avoid
;ig too much the young Federal Captain, or to soothe
the ruffled spirits of his unsuccessful competitors, who may
tell ? For no one can thread the mazes of a girl's caprice.
But this made little difference to Middleton. They
strolled outside and found a seat. The moonlight ap-
peared to Middleton more charming than he ever remem-
bered it, and he discovered something which he had
never known before. He wanted to please this girl as he
never recalled having wanted to please any other, and he
was conscious that it was a difficult, if not an impossible
task. It was as though he lay in face of a foe, one who
appeared at the outset stronger than he. Yet she did not
appear to be attempting anything. She was simply in
opposition to him, that was all. She appeared so unaf-
fected and simple that, remembering what he had just
Been of her coquetry, he wondered if she could be as
natural as she seemed to be. Her gaze was so direct, her
yoice so placid, her manner so self-possessed, that he felt
she had the advantage of him. And all the time he
wanted to please 1
In the course of their conversation she spoke of her
brotl
Middleton had not remembered that she had a brother.
172 KKD KOOK
" Where is he ?" he asked.
" He was killed." She spoke very quietly.
" Oh ! " he said, softly. " I beg your pardon."
" He was killed at Jacquelin Gray's side, and Jacquulin
brought his body out under fire — just as Steve afterward
tried to bring Jack." She sighed deeply, and her eyes
seemed to say, " You can understand now ?"
Middleton had a strange sensation. He had never be-
fore looked in the eyes of a woman whose brother had
been killed, possibly by his command. He hated Jacque-
lin, but in a way he was grateful to him too ; for it was
the first time Miss Gary had softened at all.
" I believe that all your men went in the army," he said,
feeling about for a new subject,
" Of course."
" And some of your ladies ? " he smiled.
"All of them." Up went her head again.
" I wonder that you were ever conquered ? "
" Conquered ! We were not conquered." She looked
it, as she stood there in the moonlight. Middleton had a
sudden thrill that it would be worth his life to win such a
girl, and she had never given him even one friendly glance.
He could not help thinking,
"What would Thnrston say ?"
A partner came and claimed his set, and Middleton was
left outside. He sat for a moment thinking how lonely
her departure had made the place. He had never felt this
way about any other girl. Just then a strange sound, like
distant shouting, came through the stillness. Middleton
rose and strolled down to the gpte. There were fewer people
in the street. A man came hurrying along and spoke to
another. His voice was so excited that it arrested Middle-
ton's attention, and he caught the last of his sentence.
" It ought to be broke up at once. Go in there and call
Captain Allen and McRaffle out."
"What's that ?" asked Middleton, walking out of the
gate, and up to him
LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT
"A nigger-meetin' down yonder/' answered the man,
sullenly. "If it ain't broken up there'll be trouble,
b started it by reading a paper he had, tellin' 'em the
(Jov'ment wants the party broke up, and then he put
Sherrod up, and now that yaller nigger, Dr. Moses, is up.
Leech's !>• In1 'em liquor, and unless it's stopped
there'll be the devil to pay."
" I'll see about it," said Middleton. He walked rapidly
down in the direction the man had indicated. He was
sensible, as he passed along, of some change, and, presently,
; sound of a man speaking at the top of his voice
to him, followed shortly by a roar of applause. Hu
hurried on and passed a group of half a dozen white men,
some of whom were advocating sending for " reinforce-
," as they said, while others were insisting that they
should go right in on them at once. All were uni
to one thing : that the meeting ought to be stop
we don't," said one, " there'll be trouble, and we
might's well do it at once. I can do it by mysolf."
Some one said something about " the Yankee officers."
•• Yankees be blanked \» said the other. "Wasn't it
that scoundrel Leech as started it all ? He's been worki:i'
all day. I got wind of it up at home ; — that's the
reason I come dow »t to do it ourselves." It
was Andy Stamper.
Just then they saw Middleton and followed him. offering
advice and services. All they wanted was autl
ri Middleton arrived, ho agreed with them that the
speaking ought to bo stopped at once. He had never seen,
. The entire negro population of the place
appeared to be packed there, moaning and singing.
ging each other and shouting, whilst Moses, the HOL
had ordered to leave town, was on the platform, tossing
his arms in a sort of frenzy and calling on them to rise
prove they were the chosen people. "God had
brought their enemies all together in one place," he cried,
"and all that waa needed was for Samson to arise and
174 RED ROCK
prove his strength. Their deliverer was at hand. " Ain't
you heah dat de wud done come from de New Jerusalem,
an' ain't my name Moses — Moses ? Moses is my name I" he
shouted, intoning the words in a sort of wild frenzy. The
shout that greeted him proved the danger of his course.
"D — n him, Til stop his mouth/' said one of the young
men, pushing his way through the throng, but Middleton
was before him. He forced his way, followed by the
others, through the crowd which gave way before him
at his command, and, when still some yards away from the
platform, he ordered the speaker to cease. But Moses was
either too drunk or too excited to heed, and went on
shouting his singsong.
C"I'll lead you to de burnin' bush," he cried. "I'll
give you de promise Ian'." As it happened, a man
standing in the crowd had a carriage-whip in his hand.
~The Captain snatched it from him and sprang on the plat-
form, and the next instant was raining on the would-be
prophet and leader such a thrashing as he had never had
in his life. The effect was miraculous. The first lash of
the heavy whip took the preacher by surprise and dazed
him ; the second recalled him to himself and stripped his
prophetic character from him, leaving him nothing but a
whining, miserable creature, who was trying to deceive and
7 mislead others as miserable and more ignorant than himself.
As the Captain laid the blows on fast and thick, Moses
cringed and finally broke and fled from the platform, fol-
lowed by the jeers and shouts of the crowd who had just
been ready to follow him in any violence, if, indeed, he
would have had the courage to lead them. And when the
irate officer appeared ready to turn his whip on them, and
did accompany his peremptory order that they should dis-
perse at once, with a few contemptuous lashes at those
nearest him, they broke and ran with as much good-humor
as they had shown an hour previously, when they were danc-
ing and shuffling in the street, before Jjeech and his agents
got hold of them,
CHAPTER XV
CAPTAIN MIDDLETON HAS A TEST OF PEACE, AND IS
ORDERED WEST
THE next day there was much stir in the connty, at least
about the court-house, and it was known that Middleton
had summoned Leech before him and had had an interview
with him, which rumor said was stormy, and that it had
ended by the Provost being sent to his room, it was said,
r arrest.
So much was certain, Middleton after this took charge
of matters which up to this time Leech had been attending
to, and Leech romaim-d out of sight until he left the place,
which he did two days later. One of the first steps Mid-
dleton took was to summon the negroes before him and
give them a talk. And he closed his speech by a warning
that they should keep order wherever they were, declaring,
f there were any repetition of Moses's performance
<>f the previous night the offender would not escape so
easily.
The effect of his act was admirable. By nightfall nearly
every negro who was not employed about the county seat
had left, and within two days many of them were at work,
back old homes.
lleton found himself suddenly as popular as he had
formerly been unpopular, receiving visits and invitations
from half the gentlemen in the place, so that Thurston
it was just the old story : he set the triggers and
worked everything, and Middleton just walked in and
took the game.
" Here I have been working like a nigger/' he said to
175
176 RED ROCK
Middleton, " watching around and following that fellow
Leech in all his rascality; displaying the most consummate
[iialities of leadership, and singing my head off, and you
happen to come along, pick up a driver's whip and let into
a drunken rascal, talk a lot of rot next morning, and in
five minutes do what I with all my genius haven't been
able to do in as many months. It's the old story, Larry,
it's fate ! What did I tell you ? Long legs are worth
more to a man than a long head. But, Larry, look out
for Leech. He's a blood-sucker. Tra-la ; I have an en-
gagement. Might as well get some of the good of your
glory, old man, while it lasts, you know. Beauty fadeth
as a flower." And leaving Middleton over his report, the
cheery little Lieutenant went off to have a ride with Miss
Dockett, who, in view of certain professions of his and pro-
ceedings of his Captain's the night before, had honored
him so far as to vouchsafe him that privilege.
Reely Thurston's half humorous warning to his friend
was not without foundation, as both he and Middleton
knew, and within a week the Captain was up to his ears in
reports and correspondence relative to his conduct in the
county.
The quietness of everything around him was a fact to
which he pointed with pride ; the restoration of order
throughout the county was a proof of the wisdom of
his course. Crime had diminished ; order had been re-
stored ; good feeling had grown up ; the negroes had re-
turned to work, and were getting regular wages. They
were already beginning to save a little and some were buy-
ing land. The whites had accepted the status of affairs
in good faith and were, he believed, turning all their
energies to meet the exigencies of the time in the best way
they could. In a word, peace was fully restored in the
territory under his command. He congratulated himself
that lie was able to state a condition of affairs so entirely
in accord with the observation of the commander-in-chief
of the armies, who about that time visited the State and
CAPTAIN MII>I»LI:TON is OI:I>KKKI> \VI-:ST 177
nilar report on it. Even Beelj Tlmrston oom-
mended Middletnir's report, and confided to Miss Dockett,
who was beginning to receive such confidences mon
, that "Larry had somewhere, in that hiirh
of his, a deuced lot of brains." a compliment which
>ung Captain would have taken more gratefully from
him than from any other soul on earth.
;ht-r cause of content was just then beginning to
have its effect on Middleton. Miss Gary was beginning to
iim with some degree of Christian charity, and actu-
ally condescended to take a ride with him on horseback,
and when he proved himself sufficiently appreciative of
honor, took another.
So things went, and before the summer evenings
young Captain had ridden to the point where he
had ¥ ' :1U the confidences which a young
man in h <•$ is likely to give the prettiest girl in
role of acquaintance, especially when she is the only
one whose eyes soften a little at the recital, and who re-
.> a bit by giving just a little of her own. Not
Miss Cary for a moment allowed Middleton to forge- 1
on the one great subject always present, the world stre
between them. They were enemi.-. Betwi i there
was never more ti. . B. fl n wmild he his friend
Med ; b:; BOI9. That was all ! Hi :
. so to speak, exchanged courtesies with his ; but,
on the first suggestion of a sign / t« li.-r rill* pits.
She always wore, when she . gray cap, which
oton, without asking any questions, knew had 1« < n
'T*8. It was a bodge, and the \(.uiiLr ma:
ogniied it as sue! still wore her brass buttons,
him one of them. One fttteri
as they w- in \\hi.-h lie had told
• Knth \\ ,1'lliiitf somewhat on their
i^y stopped at
'i rescue r borne fell, and h.- askrd her
casually if aho would give him one of the buttons to sun>
U
178 RED ROCK
his life. She quietly said "No," and he believed her.
Yet this made little difference to the young man. lie
was not in love with her, he was sure. He only enjoyed
her. And the summer evenings which he spent at Bird-
wood, or riding with her through the arching woods, were
the pleasantest he had ever known. As they watered
their horses at the ford that afternoon no less than four
other couples came riding up on their way home, and
there was quite a little levee held in the limpid stream,
Middleton finding himself taken into the talk and raillery
quite as a member of the circle. The far-off call of
ploughmen to their teams in the low-grounds of Red Rock
and the distant lowing of cattle in the pastures came
muffled on the soft air, while a woodlark in the woods
along the waterside sang its brilliant song to its tardy
mate with a triumph born only of security and peace.
As Captain Middleton looked at the faded gray coats and
his blue one, the numbers doubled by the reflection in the
placid stream, and listened to the laughter about him, he
could not but think what a picture and proof of peace it
was. And Miss Gary was the prettiest girl in the party.
Suddenly one of the horses became restive, and slashed
away at the nearest horse to him. Blair, in pulling her
horse out of the way, got under an overhanging bough
and her cap was knocked from her head into the water.
She gave a little cry of dismay as it floated down the
stream, and at her call more than one of the young men
turned his horse to recover the cap ; but Middleton was
nearest, and he spurred straight into the deep water below
the ledge and swam for the cap, reaching it just before
the others got it. He was pleased at the applause he re-
ceived when he returned.
Miss Gary only said " thank you," as she might have
said it if he had picked the cap from the floor.
Not all the county people, however, acquiesced so entirely
in receiving Middleton on so friendly a basis; some did not
see why a Yankee officer should be taken up as a friend.
CAPTAIN MIDDLETON IS ORDERED WEST 179
There was one young man who did not appreciate at
Middleton 's mode of exhibiting his friendliness.
and Middleton had become very good friends ; but
;elin Gray, as jealous as Othello, grew more and more
reserved toward the young officer, and began to give himself
many airs about his attentions to Blair Gary. If anything,
this only incited Blair to show Middleton greater favor, and
at last the young lady gave Jacquelin to understand that
she intended to do just as she pleased and did not propose
to be held accountable by him for anything whatever.
The evening of the ride on which Blair lost her cap and
Middleton recovered it for her, Jacquelin had driven
over " to see the doctor/' he said, and found her gone off
with Middleton. As Dr. Gary was away, visiting his
patients, which Jacquelin might have known, and Mr-.
was confined to her room that day, Jacquelin was
left to himself and had plenty of time as he sat on the
porch all alone, to chew the cud of bitter fancy, and reflect
on the caprices of a part of the human race. He was not
consoled when Mammy Krenda came out and, with
kindly sympathy, said :
• You too late — you better make haste an* git off dem
crutches, honey, and git 'pon horseback. Crutches can't
keep up with horses." She disappeared within and Jacque-
lin was left in a flame of jealousy. By the time Blair ar-
he was in just the state of mind to inako a fool of
himself. When Jacrpu-lin ho^in the interview, he. per-
haps, had no idea of going as far as his heat carried him ;
i'pily he lost his head — or as much of a head
as a man can have who is deeply in love and, having
gone to see his sweetheart, finds her off riding with a rival.
It was quite dusk when the riders rode slowly up the ave-
They stopped at the gate, and Jacquelin could hear
s cordial invitation to her companion to come in and
take with them. Middleton declined.
•• I'.ut I'm afraid you will catch cold, riding so far in wet
clothes," she urged. He, however, had to return inv
180 RED ROCK
mediately, lie declared, and after a few more words he
galloped off, while Blair came on to the house.
" Why, Jacqueliu ! You here all by yourself ! " she ex-
claimed. She bent over him quickly to prevent his rising
for her. Had Jacqueliu been .cool enough to note her
voice it might have saved him ; but lie was not even look-
ing at her. ' His manner hauled her up short, and the next
instant hers had changed. She seated herself and tried
for a few moments to be light and divert him. She told of
the episode at the ford. Jacquelin, however, was not to be
diverted, and, taking the silence which presently fell on
her for a confession, he began to assume a bolder tone, and
proceeded to take her to task for her conduct.
"It was an outrage — an outrage on — Steve. It was
shameful," he said, "that with such a man as Steve offering
his heart to her, she should be boldly encouraging a Yankee
officer, so that everybody in the county was talking about
it." It was when he said it was an outrage on Steve that
the explosion came. Blair was on her feet in a second.
"Jacquelin I" she exclaimed, with a gasp. The next
second she had found her voice. He had never seen her as
she became. It was a new Blair standing above him,
tall and straight in the dusk, her frame trembling, her
voice vibrating. She positively flamed with indignation,
not because of the charge, but against him for making it.
" Whose business is it ? " she asked him, with glowing
cheeks and flashing eyes. If her father and mother did
not object, had he a right to interfere ? If Steve were not
satisfied, could not he take care of himself ? Who had given
him such a right ? And before Jacquelin could recover
from his surprise, she had burst into tears and rushed into
the house.
Jacquelin drove home in black despair. He had been
put wholly in the wrong, and yet he felt that he had had
right originally on his side. His whole past appeared sud-
denly rooted up ; his whole future destroyed by this new-
comer, this hostile interloper. How he would love to have
CAPTAIN MIDDLKTOX IS ORDERED WEST 181
cause of personal quarrel with him ! How gladly he
would put it all to the test of one meeting. Yet what ha -1
Middleton done but win fairly ! and he had been a gentle-
man always. Jacquelin was forced to admit this. Hut
oh ! if he only had a just cause of quarrel 1 Let him look
out hereafter. But — if he were to meet him and he should
fall, what would he the consequence ? He would only
'•'air's happiness and have destroyed his only
hope. He almost ground his teeth at his helpli-
ne he drove home through the dusk. He did not know
•: milieu t Blair Gary, with locked door, was
;ur in her little white-eurtained room, her anger no
long' him, but against herself.
lin awoke the next morning it was with a
Kinking at the heart. Blair was lost to him fore\
light, however, is a great restorer of courage and. little
tie, his spirits revived, until by evening he U-gan to
If a most ill-used person, and to fancy Blair
pardon. He even found himself nursing an idea
1 write a note ; but instead of that, he heard
: h-t «»n had been up to see her UL . once
more his heart sank and his anger rose. He would
at ho was not to bo trampled on and insulted as she
When Middleton arrived at the court-honse the after-
noon of his ride, he found an order i ran>t\ -mug hi-
pany to a frontier post in the far Northwest. They were
to leave immediately.
same train by which the old company was to go was
to bring its successor.
afternoon before his company left, Middleton rode
;u 1. II'- had given no one any notice, ami lie
arrived unexpectedly. No one was in sight. The lawn
appeared as deserted as if i heart of a wilder-
ness, es were as quiet as if Nature herself
asleep, and the sound «.f a do?e <•< down in the
; th«- «i! iig his horse,
182 RED ROCK
Mkldleton walked up through the grove. As he passed
along he happened to cast his eyes in the direction of the
little double building, which was off to one side at some
distance back of the dwelling, and seeing the old mammy
enter one of the doors he turned that way, thinking that
she might come out, and he would ask if the family were
at home. He stopped in front of the nearest door and
looked in. It was the kitchen, and he was facing, not the
mammy — who as a matter of fact, had entered another
door — but Miss Gary herself. She was dressed in a white
dress, and her skirt was turned back and pinned about her
slender waist ; her sleeves were rolled up, showing her
round, white arms. She was busy with a bread-tray.
Middleton would have drawn back, but Blair looked up
and their eyes met. There was a moment of half embar-
rassment, and Middleton was about to draw back and apolo-
gize for his intrusion, but before he could do so she came
forward, smiling.
(e Won't you come in ? " she said, " or will you walk into
the house ? " The color had mounted to her cheeks, and
the half mocking smile had still a little embarrassment in
it ; but Middleton thought she had never looked so charm-
ing. His heart gave a bound.
" Can you doubt what I will do ? " He stepped over
the high threshold. " Even if I be but scullion "
"You must have been taking lessons from the General.
Here — no one was ever allowed in here who would not
work." She gave him a rolling-pin, and he set to work
with it industriously.
" This comes of your doing," she said, still smiling. " I
am the only cook left. Why don't you detail me one ? If
you were worth a button you would."
"How would I do?" hazarded Middleton. "I'm a
pretty good cook."
" Aunt Betty wouldn't have let you come into the kitchen
if you handled your rolling-pin that way. Let me show
you."
CAPTAIN MIDDLETON IS ORDERED WEST 183
"Which i- the best argument yet for the change of
cooks," said Middleton, guilefully holding the rolling-pin
more and more awkwardly, for the very pleasure of being
_rht by her. " Now, don't you think I am worth a,
button ? "
"No, but you may learn."
•• I'n fortunately, I am going away."
"Are you ?— When are you coming back ?" — A polite
little tone coming into her voice.
"Never." He tried to say it as indifferently as he had
said it in practising when lie rode up, which he liked
better than the tragic "NEvr.u ! " which he had first pro-
posed to himself ; and all the time he was watching her
out of the tail of his eye. She said nothing, and he felt a
disappointed.
" We are ordered away — " he began. She was busying
herself about something. But he was sure she had heard.
•'—to the Northwest to keep the Indians down," he pro-
oeeded
"Oh \" She turned quickly toward him, and their eyes
•• \\ < •'!. I hope you'll be as successful and find your task
as pleasant there as you have here." II. -r head had gone
up, a- it di-1 on the veranda the night of the ball.
• * 1 do not appear to have been particularly successful
here, on began, banteringly, then walked over to
her side. "Miss Gary, do you think I have, really en
• hy — yes," she began ; then she glanced up and found
know — I thought "
: lleton, "you did not."
Just at that moment a shadow fell across the light, and
Mammy Krenda stood in the door.
•clare!" she exclaimed, with well-feigned
astoti 'A Lit in the worP air yon doin' in this
i ought she was addressing Middleton, and
184 RED ROCK
he began to stammer a reply ; but it was ber young mis-
tress whose presence there appeared to scandalize the old
woman.
" Don't you know yon am* got no business in heah ? I
can't turn my back to git no thin', but what you come in-
terferin' vvid my things. Go right in de house dis minute
and put yo' nice clo'es on. I air really ashamed o' you to
let a gent — a — anybody see you dat way." She was push-
ing Blair out gently. " I don' know what she air doin' in
heah/' she said to Middleton, addressing him for the first
time, and with some disdain in her manner, as if she
wished him to understand that he had no business there
either.
As Blair passed him on her way out she said to him in a
whisper, with a low laugh :
" That's a yarn. I do nearly all the cooking since our
cook went off, but she thinks it's beneath my dignity to be
caught at it."
They did not go into the house, but walked over through
the grove and sat down on the grass on the farther slope
overlooking the rolling lands, with the blue spurs in the dis-
tance. There Middleton threw himself at Blair's feet. He
had made up his mind to stake all before he left. As the
old mammy passed from the kitchen to the house she made
a little detour and cast a glance through the grove. The
glint of a white dress through the trees caught her eye, and
she gave a little sniff as she went on.
An hour later, Middleton, his face as grave as it had ever
been in battle, mounted his horse and rode away without
returning to the house, and Blair Gary walked back through
the grove alone. She turned across to the smaller house
which the old mammy occupied. It was empty, and she
entered and flung herself on the snowy counterpaned bed.
The old woman came in a moment later. She gave the
girl a swift glance, and, turning to the window, dropped
the while curtain to shut out the slanting afternoon sun.
" 'Taint no use to 'sturb yo'self, honey ; he am' gone,"
CAPTAIN MIDDLETON IS ORDERED WEST 185
she said, sympathizingly. " He comin' back jest so sho' as
"He has gone/' said Blair, suddenly, with some vehe-
mence. "I have sent him away. I wish he had never
come." But was she thinking of Middleton ?
The old woman hud turned and was looking down at her
where she stood.
" An' I glad you is/' she said. "I ain't like Yankees,
no way. Dat deah Leech man - "
•• Kammy," said Blair, rising, "I do not wish you to
speak so of a gentleman — who — who has been our guest."
Yes, honey, dat's so/' said the old woman, simply,
without the least surprise. " Mammy, won't say no more
about him. What I got to do wid abusin* a gent'mau, no-
how
" Oh ! Mammy ! " said the girl, throwing her arms about
her, and the old woman only said :
•• Yea, honey — yes — yes. But don't you pester yoreself.
1 all come ri"-
Next evening the news that Middleton and his company
were ordered away was known. Jacquelin was conscious
of his heart giving a bound of joy. lie would be only
cool and chilling to Blair and show her by his m
how disapprovingly he regarded her con \ fu-r a lit-
tle, this mood changed and he began to think it would he
more manly to be only very dignified and yet show her that.
he was above harboring little feelings. He would be gen-
erous and fon however, he met Blair, she
was so far from showing any contrition, that she wa*
ally savage to him; so that instead of having an oj.port unity
to display his lofty feelings, Jacqiu lin found him-df t1
into a aiti; ' the strongest hostility to h«-r.
-••I, but in vain. .!a<-«|uol
himself now really agj. all..w
im. II- 1- ie?ti itj toward him was
almost in
CHAPTER XVI
THE NEW TROOP MEETS THE ENEMY
THE difference between the old company and the new
one which came in its place, was marked in many ways
besides color, and the latter had not been in the county an
hour before the people knew that the struggle was on, and
set themselves to prepare for it.
The evening of the arrival of the new company, Jerry
entered Captain Allen's office somewhat hastily, and busied
himself with suspicious industry. Presently Steve looked
at him amusedly.
" Well, what do you want now ? — grandmother dead
again ? If you get drunk Fll thrash you within an inch
of your life."
Jerry giggled.
"Done sent a company o' niggers heah," he announced,
with something very like a grin as he cut his eyes at his
master.
"Negroes — hey?" Steve's expression did not change
a particle, and Jerry looked disappointed. If anything,
there was a little more light in Steve's eyes, but they were
ga/.ing out of the window, and Jerry could not see them.
" Leech back ?" asked Mr. Allen, indifferently.
"Don' know, suh— I'll fine out." The look on Jerry's
face once more became pleasant.
Just then the sound of a distant bugle came in at the
window, and Steve rose and walked to the door of his office.
The doorg of several other offices were filled about the same
moment. Steve walked down to the fence in front of the
court green, and stood leaning against it listlessly, watching
186
THE NEW TROOP MEETS TIIE ENEMY 187
as the company came up the road, with bugle blowing, dust
. and a crowd of young negroes running beside them.
•• Halt !" The Captain, a stout, red-faced man, turned
his horse, and waved his sword to the negroes in the road.
"Pull that fence down." He indicated the panel where
Steve stood, adding a string of oaths to stir the negroes
from their dulness. A dozen men jnmped toward the
fence. Steve never budged an inch. With his arms rest-
ing on the rail, he looked the Captain in the eye calmly,
then looked at the negroes before him, and kept his place.
Except for a slight dilatation of the nostrils he might not
have known that there was a soldier within a hundred
miles. The men hesitated a second, then, just as the Cap-
tain began to swear again, ran to the next panel and tore
it down even with the ground, dragging the posts out of
their holes, and making a wide breach through which the
(.•DIM puny passed into the court-yard to the old camp which
Middleton's company had occupied.
As Steve turned away he said to a man near him :
" Sevmt y-nine negroes, and three white men. We can
manage them. Jerry, saddle my horse, and find out when
Leech is coming back — and where Captain McRaffle is."
" Yes, suh," and Jerry, with a shrewd look, disappeared.
When Jerry returned, his master was writing, and as he
did not look up, Jerry went into the inner room, and
shortly brought out a pair of saddle-bags, and a pair of
•Is.
Steve had just finished his letters, and was sealing them.
Jerry gave his report.
"Nor, suh, he ain' come yet ; but dee's 'spectin* of him,
de Cap'n says. Cap'n M. -Ratllt -. he's away, too."
14 I thought as ranch. Take this letter over to the Gen-
eral. These two are for Mr. Hurley and Mr. Garden. If
•>t here, come up to Dr. Cary's to-morrow morning."
S suh— yo' horse is in de stable. Til take de saddle
bags over dy:.
Steve bucklt 4ol on under his coat, put the other
188 KED ROCK
in his saddle-bags, and went out. He sauntered across
to where the company was pitching camp. The throng of
negroes was already increasing. A tall, black sergi'imt,
with great pompousness, was superintending the placing
of the lines, cursing and damning his men, with much im-
portance, for the benefit of the crowd around. Sweeping
the crowd aside, Steve walked right up to him.
"Boy, where's your Captain ?" The Sergeant turned
and faced him. Perhaps, had Steve been ten feet off the
soldier might have been insolent ; but Captain Allen was
close up to him, and there was that about him, and the
tone of command in which he spoke, which demanded
obedience. The Sergeant instinctively pointed to the
other side of the camp.
" Go and tell him that Captain Allen wishes to speak to
him. Go on." Impelled by the tone of authority, the
imperative gesture, and the evident impression made on
the crowd, the Sergeant moved off, with Steve at his heels.
" Dat's one o' my young marsters — he wuz a gret soldier/'
said one of the old negroes just outside the camp to a squad
near him.
Steve and the Sergeant found the Captain sitting against
a tree smoking. He was a heavy-looking man, with a red
face. Steve took in the familiarity with which the Ser-
geant addressed him, and governed himself accordingly.
" Here, boy — " Steve gave the negro a five-dollar note,
not the less coolly because it was his last ; thanked him as
he would have done any other servant, only, perhaps, with
a little more condescension, and addressed himself to the
officer.
" Captain, I am Captain Allen, and I have come to have
an understanding with you at the outset."
Perhaps, his very assurance stood him in stead. Had he
been a victor dictating terms he could not have done it
more coolly.
" You have seventy-nine men and three officers — I have
ten times as many."
THE NEW TROOP MKET3 THE ENEMY 180
" Major Leech — told me — " began the Captain.
"Your Major Leech is a liar, and a coward, and you
will find it so. We propose to obey the laws, but we do
not mean to be governed by negroes, and if you attempt it
you will commit a great mistake." He walked back through
the camp inspecting the horses, leaving the other to wonder
who and what he could be.
Ten minutes later the officer had called a guard, but
Steve was already riding out the back lane toward the up-
irt of the county.
Leech arrived on the next train after that which brought
the new troops. He opened a law office in a part of the
building occupied by his commissary, and announced him-
self as a practitioner of the law, as well as the Provost of
the county.
He had evidently strengthened his hands during his ab-
sence. Krafton, who appeared now to be the chief author-
ity in the State, was in constant communication with him.
Leech boasted openly that he had had Middleton's com-
pany removed, and he began to exercise new functions.
The new company seemed to be under his authority.
lin a few weeks Dr. Gary and the other civil officers
in the county received notices from L* -in^ their
commissions on the ground, among others, that they had
exceeded their powers. Still was appointed Justice of the
Peace in place of Dr. Gary, and Nicholas Ash was made
Constable. Their services were not in Immediate requisi-
tion, however, as, for the time being, Leech appeared to pre-
fer to exercise his military, rather than his civil, powers.
He began, forthwith, to send out the soldiers in squads on
tours throughout the county, partly to distribute rations,
partly to patrol the country.
They had not been at this business long when they be-
gan bullying and tyrannizing over the people and terroriz-
ing them as far as possible. At first, they devoted th.-ir
energies p ly to the whites, and tho negroes were
both impressed and affected by their power and insolence
190 RED ROCK
But after more than one of the marauders were shot, they
began to go in large parties, and soon turned their energies
against the negroes as well as against the former masters,
and were quickly almost as obnoxious to the blacks as to
the whites. Their action caused intense excitement in the
county.
Steve Allen had almost abandoned his law practice, or at
least his office, and spent his time visiting about in the ad-
joining counties. Leech took it as a sign of timidity and
breathed the freer that the insolent young lawyer was away.
"I mean to drive him and that Jacquelin Gray out of
the county/' he boasted to Still. "Til make it too hot
for him."
" Wish you could," answered Still, devoutly. " But
don't you go too fast. They ain't the sort to drive easy.
They was taken up late. And if you push 'em too hard
there'll be trouble."
Leech sneered. He wished Allen would do something
so he might get his hand on him.
" You don't mean nothin' to you ? 'Cause if he got
his hand on you first "
" No— I ain't afraid of him. He ain't such a fool as to
do anything to me. I am the Government of the United
States !" The Provost puffed out his bosom, and with a
look of satisfaction glanced at himself in a mirror.
" He ain't afeared of the Gov'ment or nothin' else. I
wish he was," declared Still, sincerely.
" Well, he'd better be," asserted Leech. " As soon as
1 get things straight, I mean to make him give an account
of himself."
Someone soon gave an account of himself. A consid-
erable party of the men of the negro troop, under com-
mand of a sergeant, was ' ' raiding," one afternoon, in the
upper end of the county, when an incident occurred
which had a signal effect on both the company and the
county. They had already "raided" several places on
their tour an4 wer$ on their way home, their saddle-^ ws
THE NEW TROOP MEETS THE ENEMY 191
ornamented with the trophies of their rapacity: from sheep
to ladies' bonnets, when toward sunset they stopped near
the edge of the Red Rock plantation, at a roadside store,
of which Mr. Andy Stamper had recently become the owner.
Mr. Stamper was absent, and the store was in charge
of his agent, an old soldier named Michael.
The men demanded liquor. They took all they wanted,
and called in a number of negroes and made them
drunk also. Old Waverley, who had come to the store
to make some little purchases, was sitting on a block,
smoking. Him they tried to induce to drink too, and
when he declined, they hustled him a good deal and
finally kicked him out into the road. He was a " worth-
less old fool who didn't deserve to be free," they said.
Thru in their drunken folly they began to talk of going
t«> IiV-1 Rock and ordering supper before returning to
camp. It would be a fine thing to take possession of that
big house and have supper, and they would raid Stan
also on the way. They knew all about both places, and
declared that they ought both to be burnt down. Mean-
time, they demanded more liquor, which the storekeeper
seemed suddenly ready to furnish. Ho made a sign to old
Waverley, and the latter slipped off and took a path
ijh the woods. The nearest place was a little home-
stead on the roadside, belonging to a man named Deals ;
but there was no one there but a woman : Iu-r husband
had gone up to Mr. Stamper's, she told Waverley. So
warning her as to the squad of negroes, the old man set
out aa hard as he could for home. Before he was through
the woods, however, li Uupert, riding down to the
store on his colt, a handsome gray, and to him he gave
notice, telling him that the store-keeper was doing what
he conld to hold the men there. Kupert wheeled his
horse, and was off like a shot, and when Waverley
emerged from the woods, he saw the boy a half mile away,
not to Red Rock ; but to the Stamper place,
.1 stood oat, off to one side, clear on its little hill, a
BED ROCK
straight column of smoke going up in the still evening air.
It seemed to the old man that there were a number of
horses standing about in the yard, and it occurred to him
to wonder if the soldiers could possibly have gotten there
already. If so, his young master would be in danger of
being hurt. But if the horsemen were soldiers they did
not remain long ; for in a few minutes Waverley saw a
number of men mount and the whole party ride rapidly
away down the hill, with Rupert on his gray colt among
them. Waverley caught one more glimpse of the riders
as they disappeared at a gallop in the wood, going in the
direction of the store, and then he hurried on to lied Rock,
where he found everything quiet.
Jacquelin was ill in bed that day, and Steve Allen had
left the house about noon. Rupert had gone to the store
for the mail. Waverley did not tell anything about having
seen Rupert go off with the men from Stamper's ; but he
turned and hurried back to the store, thinking now only
of Rupert. He had not gone far when he heard a shot or
two fired, and then on a sudden a dozen or more. The
old fellow broke into a run. When he reached the edge
of the woods from which he could see the Deals's home-
stead he stopped appalled.
A half dozen negroes lay on the ground dead or dying,
and a half dozen young white men, among them Captain
McRaffle, were engaged either reloading their pistols or
talking. Rupert was sitting on his horse at a little dis-
tance.
The little company of men Waverley had seen were a
few who had gathered together on hearing of the raid that
was taking place in the neighborhood that day. They too
had heard of the contemplated visit to Red Rock and the
Stamper place ; for Jerry had got from someone that
morning a hint that a descent was to be made on these
places.
Shortly after Waverley had left the store the squad of
soldiers had started for Red Rock j but, thinking to make
•Mil, M;\V TKooP MKKT< THE l.XKMY
.11 sweep as they went, they had stopped at the little
on the way, where Waverley had warned tin- \\ •
and where tin-- well, to take another drink. They
were engaged in the pleasant amusement of looting this
. shooting chickens, etc., when the company that
ley had seen ride off from Stamper's came upon them.
wll for Mrs. JVals that the young men arrived when
they did, for the troopers were tired of merely destroying
-ty. and just as the white men rode up they had
her. II'T scream hastened the rescuing party.
No one knew for a long time who composed the party ;
for in live minutes every one of the raiders was stretched on
the ground, and the two or three neighborhood-negroes
who were with them were sworn to secrecy under threats
loo much to wish to break their oaths.
re was excitement enough in the county that niirht,
• •bed the court-house, which, owing
to the ig of the roads, it did not do till next morn-
•iie citizens were prepared for the < .<•<>. The
comrades of tli' y would burn tl
1 age and ' and sword throiiL >unty ; but it
was too grave an led through too
lessly. The officers suddenly awoke to the gravity of the
!i w;is well for them. They were, no doubt,
ig so by «.f two MI-
hundred grave- looking men • riding
by every road that 1« d to it. >il.-nt and dusty and
icy were I condition, and thrv
lucked ju- 'i.'ii-ii M< i t« h ing troops ;
•lough to • . Th< 1 seri-
:i that M>1 in their deliberate
mover; . -!uti«m 01
jiiprc— i-s all who hrhold it. Tin; negroes a lioi it
.lai^'e wh Q a flurry of excitement >im-e
.1 had hern erowdin .- the ramp
M and in. -It. -.1
out of sig: rs (juicted at, the appear-
II
194 I:I:D ROCK
ance of that steadily increasing force of resolute and or-
derly men gathered along the fences, facing the camp.
General Legaie and Dr. Gary were their spokesmen,
and they held an interview with the Captain, in which
they gave him to understand certain things : They would
obey his orders, they said, if he sent them by a single
messenger ; but if armed bodies of negroes continued to
ravage the country they would not be responsible for the
consequences.
Leech was not to be found that afternoon. He had
' ' gone to the city. " Jerry learned afterward and told
Captain Allen that he did not go until that night, and that
when the crowd was there he was hidden at Hiram Still's.
An .investigation of the outbreak was held, and as a con-
sequence Captain McRaffle and several young men left the
county, among them Rupert Gray, who was sent off to
school to an academy which was not known to the neigh-
bors generally. Another result was that the old county
got a bad name with those who were controlling the des-
tiny of the State, which clung to it for many years. Andy
Stamper was arrested for the affair, and was taken, hand-
cuffed, by Leech and thrown in jail. Fortunately for him,
however, it was shown that he was absent from the county
that day, and he was discharged. All of these things,
however, at the time were little cared for by the residents
there, for the negro troop was removed and two white
y companies were sent in its place. The disorder breaking
( out wherever negro troops were stationed had attracted
\_attention and caused the substitution of white soldiers.
CHAPTER XVII
JACQUELIN GRAY GOES ON A LONG VOYAGE AND RED
ROCK PASSES OUT OF HIS HANDS
•2UELIN had never recovered from the rough hand-
ling which he had received that night from Leech. His
wound had broken out afresh and he was now confined to
1 all the time. There was one cause which, perhaps,
more than all the rest, weighed him down, and that, cer-
tainly. Dr. C'ary did not know, though, no doubt, Mrs.
and M re. Gray knew. It was a secret wound, deeper
than that which Dr. Gary was treating. He had never been
the same since the evening of his misunderstanding with
Blair Gary. The affair in which the negro soldiers were
killed, and Ku peri's and Steve's part in it, with the ?
sity of sending Rupert away, and the consequences which
followed, seemed to be the finishing stroke, and it appeared
to be only a question of a few months with Jacqiu-lin.
One other reason for hi v Dr. Gary had. Re-
ports of threats made by Leech came to the Doctor.
Another arrest, and he will go," said Dr. Gary. " \\V
must get him away. Send him first to a city where he
ran have better surgical treatment than he is ahle to re-
ceive in the country. Tln-n. when he is fit f«»r it, put him
on a sailing vessel and send him around the world." H..W
cleverly he had managed it, thought the Doctor !
Mrs. Gray also had her own reasons for wishing to get
.Tae.juelin away, though they were imt mainly what Dr.
1 •ImuLrht. With a keener infill than the <r<>nd One-
tor had, she had seen Blair Gary's change and its effect on
Jacquelin. And she eagerly sought to carry out the Doc-
tor's suggestions. The chi«-f dinienhy in the way was
105
196 KKD KOCK
want of funds. The denial ids of the plantation, according
to Mr. Still's account, had been enough of late to consume
everything that was made on it. The negroes had to be
supported whether they worked or not, and the estate was
running behind.
The Doctor felt certain he could manage the matter of
means. Hiram Still had just offered to lend him a further
sum. Indeed, Still had himself brought up the matter of
JacqueliVs health, and had even asked the Doctor if he did
not think a long visit somewhere might do Jacquelin good.
" He is a strange mixture, that man Still. He is un-
doubtedly a very kind-hearted man," asserted the Doctor.
Mrs. Gray did not altogether agree with her cousin in
his estimate of Still ; she had her own opinion of him ;
but she was somewhat mollified by hearing of his interest
in Jacqueline's welfare. She could not, however, allow her
cousin to borrow money in his own name on her account,
but, in the face of Jacquelin's steady decline, she finally
yielded and bowed her pride so far as to permit the Doctor
to borrow it for her, only stipulating that the plate and
pictures in the house should be pledged to secure it. This
would relieve her partly from personal obligations to Still.
One other stipulation she made : that Jacquelin was not to
know of the loan.
When the Doctor applied to Still he obtained the loan
without difficulty, and Still, having taken an assignment
of the plate and pictures, agreed without hesitation to his
condition of silence, even expressing the deepest interest
in Jacquelin's welfare, and reiterating his protestations of
friendship for him and Mrs. Gray.
" It is the most curious thing/' said the Doctor to Mrs.
Gary, afterward : " I never apply to that man without
his doing what I ask. I always expect to be refused. I
am always surprised — and yet my suspicion is not relieved
— I do not know why it is. I think I must be a very sus-
picious man."
Mrs, Gary's mouth shut closely, But she would not add
JACQUELIN GRAY GOES ON A VOYAGE ](J7
to her husband's worries by a suggestion, the very idea of
which she thought was an indignity.
" I wish you hud not applied to him," she said. "I
do not want to bo under any obligations to him whatever.
I do not think Helen should have asked it of you."
" Oh ! my dear ! " said the Doctor. " She didn't ask it
of me, I offered it to her."
" I cannot bear him," declared Mrs. Gary, with the tone
of one who delivers a convincing argument. "And the
son is more intolerable than the father. It requires all my
politeness to prevent my asking him out of the house when-
he comes. He comes here entirely too often."
" My dear, he is a young doctor who is trying to practise
his profession, and needs advice," expostulated the old
doctor, but Mrs. Gary was not to bo convin
" A young doctor, indeed ! a young — " The rest of the
ice was lost as she went out with her head in the air.
Whim the matter of removing Jacquelin was bn»a< -hrd to
:i new and unexpected diilirulty arose. Ho refused
to go. The idea of his getting better treatment than I>r.
Gary was able to give was, he said, all nonsense, and they
could not stand the expense of such a plan as was pro;
In this emergency his mother was forced to bow In r pride
She summoned Blair Gary as an ally. Blair so far
as to add ; ssion of vs to the mother's, be-
came she did not know how to refuse; hut. with a
an's finesse, she kept herself within limitations, whi<di
Jaoqu least, would understand. She came over on
a visit, and went in to see him, and took occasion to say
that she thought be ought to go t \vag a
Tery prim and stiff little speech th .
lin's face show of color that ' . on it
for months, n ied his eyes to her almost eagerly.
So impassive, though, was she, that the tii^'o faded .
» yon ask me to g
o— I have nothing to do with it. I only think yon
ought to do what your mother wishes." The mouth waa
198 RED ROCK
closer than usual. There was a little deeper color in her
face now.
" Oh ! it was only a moral idea you wished to inculcate ? "
" If you choose to call it so." The mouth drew closer.
"Well— will you ask me ?"
" I don't mind doing it — for your mother." It was no
accident that a woman was chosen to be the oracle at Delphi.
Jacquelin could make no more.of the face before him than
if he had never seen it before, and he had studied it for
years.
Jacquelin agreed to go to the hospital. So he was sent
off to the city, where an operation was performed to re-
move some of the splintered bone and relieve him. And
as soon as he was well enough he was sent off on a sailing
vessel trading to China. He thus escaped the increasing
afflictions that were coming on the county, and his mother,
who would have torn out her heart for him, for fcur he
would come home if he knew the state of affairs, kept every-
thing from him, and bore her burdens alone.
The burdens were heavy.
The next few years which passed brought more changes
to the old county than any years of the war. The war had
destroyed the Institution of slavery ; the years of the carpet-
bagger's domination well-nigh destroyed the South. As
Miss Thornasia said, sighing, it was the fulfilment of the
old prophecy : " After the sword shall come the canker-
worm." And the Doctor's speech was recalled by some :
" You ask for war, but you do not know what it is. A
fool can start a conflagration, but the Sanhedrim cannot
stop it. War is never done. It leaves its baleful' seed for
generations."
Dr. Gary, when he uttered this statement, had little idea
how true it was.
Events had proved that although the people were im-
poverished, their spirit was not broken. Unhappily, the
power was in the hands of those who did not understand
them, and Leech and his fellows had their ear. It was
JACQUELIN GRAY GOES ON A VOYAGE 199
deemed proper to pnt them in absolute control. Leech
wrote the authorities that he and his party must have power
to preserve the Union ; he wrote to Mrs. Welch that they
must have it to preserve the poor freedinen. The authori-
• romised it, and kept the promise. It was insanity.
One provision gave the ballot to the former slave, just as
it was taken from the former master. An act was so
shrewdly framed that, while it appeared simply to be in-
tended to secure loyalty to the Union, it was aimed to strike
from the rolls of citizenship almost the entire white pop-
ulation of the South ; that is, all who would not swear
they had never given aid or comfort to the Confederacy.
It was so all-embracing that it came to be known as the
" ironclad " oath.
is the greatest Revolution since the time of Poland,"
said Dr. Gary, his nostrils dilating with ire. " They have
thrown down the man of intelligence, character, and
property, and have set up the slave and the miscreant,
i is con federate wit h Kphraim/ More is yet to come."
he salvation of the Union," wrote Leech to Mrs.
h, who was the head of an organization that sent boxes
of clothes to the negroes through Leech. Leech was be-
ginning to think himself the Union.
While General Legaie and Steve Allen were discussing
constitutional rights and privileges, and declaring that they
would never yield assent to any measures of the kind pro-
posed, a more arbitrary act than these was com in!
the State itself wus suddenly swept out of existence, and a
.ry government was substituted in its place ; the very
name of the State on which those gentlemen and their an-
oeators had prided themselves for generations was extin-
••d and lost in that of "Military District, Number
." •) old State, with all others like it, ceased to
Colonel Krafton was the chief authority in that part of
the State, and Major Leech, as he was now called, was his
represent: . And between them they had
the enforceni 1 the measures that were adopted.
200 BED ROCK
When their hands were deemed strong enough, it was de-
termined to give them the form of popular government.
It was an easy process ; for the whites had been disfran-
chised, and only the negroes and those who had taken the
ironclad oath could vote.
At the first election that was held under the new system,
the spectacle was a curious one. Kraf ton was the candidate
for governor. Most of the disfranchised whites stayed
away, haughtily or sullenly, from the polls, where ballots
were cast under a guard of soldiers. But others went to
see the strange sight, and to vent their derision on the de
tested officials who were in charge. Dr. Gary and General
Legaie, with most men of their age and stamp, remained
at home in haughty and impotent indignation.
" Why should I go to see my former wagon-driver stand-
ing for the seat my grandfather resigned from the United
States Senate to take ?" asked General Legaie, proudly.
Steve Allen and Andy Stamper, however, and many of
the young men were on hand.
Leech and Nicholas Ash were the candidates for the Leg-
islature, and Steve went to the poll where he thought it
likely Leech would be. Steve had become a leader among
the whites. Both men knew that it was now a fight to the
finish between them, and both always acted in full con-
sciousness of the fact. Leech counted on his power, and
the force he could always summon to his aid, to hold Steve
in check until he should have committed some rashness
which would enable him to destroy him. Steve was con-
scious that Leech was personally afraid of him, and he
relied on this fact — taking every occasion to assert him-
self— as the master of a treacherous animal keeps ever
facing him, holding him with the spell of an unflinching
eye.
The negroes were led in lines to cast their votes.
It was a notable tiling that in all the county there was
not an angry word that day between a white man and a
negro. Leech, in a letter to Mrs. Welch describing the
JACQUKLIX GRAY GOES ON A VOYAGE 201
occasion, declared that the quietness with which the elec-
tion passed off was due wholly to the presence of the
sol'lu-ry, and he was very eloquent in his denunciation of
no surrounded him, and who were held
only by fear of the bayonets about them. But this
was not true. The situation was too novel not to be in-
and there was feeling, but it was suppressed. It
was a strange sight, the polls guarded by soldiers ; the
iiu-n who had controlled the country standing by, disfrun-
i, and the lines of blacks who had just been slaves,
and not one in one hundred of whom could read their bal-
lots, voting on questions which were to decide the fate
of the State. There were many gibes flung at the new
voters by the disfranchised spectators, but they were mainly
good-natured.
horn are you voting for, Uncle Gideon?" asked
Steve of one of the old Red Rock negr<
"Marse Steve, you know who I votin' for bcttcr'n I
does myself."
To another :
m are you voting for ?*
' mo a little tobacker, Marse Steve, an' Til tell
you." Ai it was given, he turned to the cr
*'>r? I done forgit. Oh I yes— old Mr.
' ilat he name?**
•• Well, he's a good one to vote for — he's d«
Stove.
•• Mi ! ifl hfrf \Vhrn did he die? "protested the old
I^IUM! astoniHi
,' for him— you'se votin' for
nod another younger negro, indignant at the
old man's ignorance.
"Is I? ho ? He's one I am* never heard on.
Mane Stove, i .now who I votin' for— I jis know
'»', dat's
raised a laugh at Stove's expense which was led by
Leech, and to atone for it the old servant added :
202 RED ROCK
" I done forgit de gent'man's name."
" The gentlemen you are voting for are Leech and
Nicholas Ash/' said Steve.
" Marse Steve, you know dey ain* no gent'niens," said the
old fellow, undisturbed by the fact that Leech was present.
" Uncle Tom, you know something, anyhow," said
Steve, enjoying the Provost's discomfiture.
The only white man of any note in the upper end of the
county who took the new " ironclad " oath was Hiram.
Still. Andy Stamper met him after Hiram had voted.
Still tried to dodge him.
" Don't run, Hiram," said the little Sergeant, con-
temptuously, " I ain't a going to hurt ye. The war's over.
If I had known at the time you was givin' the Yanks in-
formation, I might V done it once — and I would advise
you, Hiram, never to give 'em too much information about
me now. You've already giv' 'em too much once about
me. See there ? " He stretched out his arm and showed
a purple mark on his wrist. It was the scar that had been
left by the handcuff when he was arrested for the riot at
Deal's. "It won't come out. You understand?" The
little fellow's eyes shot at the renegade so piercing a glance
that Still cowered and muttered that he had nothing to do
with him one way or another.
" Maybe, if you didn't give no aid and comfort to the
rebels you'd like to give me back that little piece of paper
you took from my old mother to secure the price of that
horse you let me have to go back in the army ? " drawled
Stamper, while one or two onlookers laughed.
The renegade made his escape as quickly as possible.
Still's reply to the contempt that was visited on him w:ss
to bring suit on the bonds he held. Leech was his coun-
sel. One of the first suits was against Andy Stamper.
Andy was promptly sold out under the deed which had
been given during the war ; the place was bought by Still,
and Andy and Delia rented another little house. This
was only the beginning, however.
JACQUELIN GRAY GOES ON A VOYAGE 203
AY hen Still flung away his mask, he went as far as he
It was now open war, and ho had thrown in his
fortune with the other side.
Dr. Gary received a note one morning from Mrs. Gray
asking him to come and see her immediately. He found
her in a state of agitation very unusual with her. She
had the night before received a letter from Still, stating
iie was a creditor of her husband's estate and held his
for over fifty thousand dollars. Mrs. Gray had
:i that there were some outstanding debts of her
husband due him, though she had supposed they were
v paid off — but fifty thousand dollars I It would
•• Why, it is incredible/' declared the Doctor. "Quite
iible ! The man is crazy. You need give yo
no uneasiness whatever about it. I will see him and clear
up the whole matter."
. even as the Doctor spoke, he recalled certain hints
of Still's, dropped from time to time, recently, as to bal-
ances due by his former employer on old accounts con-
nected with his Southern estate, and Mr. Gray was a very
easy man, thought the Doctor, who believed himself one of
keenest and most methodical of men.
Women love to have encouragement from men, even
thongh they may feel the reverse of what they are told to
believe. So Mrs. Gray and Miss Thomasia were more
comforted than they rould have found ground for.
\Yhrn Dr. Can-did look into the matter, to his amaze-
ment he found that the bonds were in existence. Still gave
the account of them which he had already given to Leech,
and produced some corroborative evidence in the shape of
: to the transaction of buying and stocking
the sngar plantation. There was hope for awhile that the
tight be able to throw some light on
the matter, but, on investigation, it +nrnQd out that they
were and Afrs. Gray herself, on
seeing the big bon 1 it genuine, and declared
204 RED ROCK
that she remembered her husband once spoke of it, though
she thought he had told her it was all settled. She hunted
all through his papers, but though she found other bonds
of his which he had taken in she could find no record of
this big one. Jacquelin was written to, but in his reply
he said that no matter what the cost, he wanted his
father's debts paid. So no defence was made to the suit
which Still had instituted by Leech as his counsel, and
judgment was obtained by default. And soon afterward
the Red Rock place, with everything on it, was sold under
this judgment and was bought in by Still for less than
the amount of his claim.
Jacquelin was still abroad and Mrs. Gray purposely kept
him in ignorance of what was going on; for her chief
anxiety at this time was to prevent Jacquelin from return-
ing home until all this matter was ended. He had written
that his health was steadily improving.
Mrs. Gray did not remain at Red Rock twenty-four
hoars after Still became its owner. She and Miss Tho-
masia moved next day to Dr. Gary's, where they were
offered a home. She congratulated herself anew that
morning that Jacquelin was yet absent.
Mrs. Gray and Miss Thomasia walked out with their
heads up, bidding good-by to their old servants, who had
assembled outside of the house, their faces full of concern
and sorrow.
There was hardly a negro on the place who was not there.
However they might follow Still in politics, they had not
yet learned to forget the old ties that bound them in other
matters to their old masters, and they were profoundly af-
fected by this step, which they could all appreciate.
" I drives you away, my mistis," said the driver, old
Waverley. "I prays Gord I may live to drive you back."
"Not me, Waverley ; but, maybe, this boy," said Mrs.
Gray, laying her hand on Rupert's shoulder.
" Yes'm, we heah him say he comin* back," said the old
driver, with pride. " Gord knows we hopes so."
JACQUEL1N GRAY GOES ON A VOYAGE 205
Just then Hiram Still, accompanied by Leech, rode up
into the yard. He had evidently kq»t himself informed as
to Mrs. Gray's movements. He rode across the grass and
gave orders to the negroes to clear away. Mrs. Gray took
not the least notice of him, but, outraged by his insolence,
Rupert suddenly sprang forward and denounced him pas-
sionately. His mother checked him : " Rupert, my son."
But the boy was wild with anger. "We are coming bark
some day," he cried to Still. " You have robbed us ; but
wait till my brother returns."
Both Still and Leech laughed, and Still ostentatiously
ordered the negroes off. Still moved in that afternoon.
Before Still had been installed in his new mansion
v-four hours he repented of his indiscretion, if not
of his insolence. He was absent a part of the evening,
and on his return ho heard that Captain Allen had been
to see him. The face of the servant who gave the message
tuM more than the words he delivered.
" What did he want ? " Still asked, sharply.
" He say he want to see you, and he want to see you
pussonally." The negro looked significant.
" Well, he knows where to find mo."
• Yes, he say he gwine fine you — dat's hnccome he come,
an' he gwine keep on till he do fine you." Still's heart
sank.
" I don't know what he wants with me," he growled, as
he turned away and went into the house. The great hall
filled with pictures had never looked so big or so dark.
The eyes fastened on him from the walls seemed to search
him. Those of the " Indian-Killer" pierced him wlu-r-
he went.
"Curse them; they are all alike," he growl.. 1.
wish I had let them have the d d rubbish. I would,
but for having to take that one down."
Poor Virgy, who had been given the room that had for-
merly been Jacquelin's, came toward him. She was scared
and lonely in her new surroundings, and had been crying.
206 BED ROOK
This increased her father's ill-humor. He inquired if she
had seen Captain Allen. She had, but he had only bowed
to her ; all he had said was to the servant.
" Did he seem excited ?" Still asked.
"No, he only looked quiet. He looked like one of
those pictures up there." It was an unlucky illustration.
Her father broke out on her so severely that she ran to her
own room weeping. It was only of late that he had begem
to be so harsh.
Still, left alone, sat down and without delay wrote a let-
ter to Captain Allen, expressing regret thai he had been
away when he called. He also wrote a letter to Dr. Gary,
which he sent out that night, apologizing to Mrs. Gray and
calling heaven to witness that he had not meant to offend
her, and did not even know she was on the place when he
rode up. He did not wait for replies. The next morning
before daylight he left for the city.
" I would not mind one of them," he complained to his
counsel, Leech. " Fm as good a man as any one of 'em ;
but you don't know 'em. They stick together like Ind-
ians, and if one of 'em got hurt, the whole tribe would
come down on me like hornets."
" Wait till we get ready for 'em," counselled Leech.
"We'll bring their pride down. We'll be more than a
match for the whole tribe. Wait till I get in the Legis-
lature ; I'll pass some laws that will settle 'em." His blue
eyes were glistening and he was opening his hands and
shutting them tightly in a way he had, as if he were crush-
ing something in his palms.
" That's it— that's it," said Still, eagerly.
CHAPTER XVIII
LEECH AS A STATESMAN AND DR. GARY AS A COLLECTOR
OF BILLS
Wm:x Leech arrived at the capital in the capacity of
man he found the field even better than he had antici-
. It was a strange assembly that was gathered to-
gether to reconstruct and make laws for a great State after
of revolution. The large majority were negroes who,
a few years before, had been barbers, porters in hotels,
cart-drivers, or body-servants, with a few new-comers to the
State, like Leech himself : nomadic adventurers, who, on
account of the emallness of their personal belongings.
1 "carpet-baggers." Besides these, a few whites
in hope of gain, had allied themselves with the new-
comers ; and a small sprinkling of tho old residents, who
t her been Union men or had had the;r disabilities re-
moved, and represented constituencies where there were
<>groe«. They were as distinguishable as statues in
of a mob. But the multitude of negroes who
tbly balls gave the majority an appear-
• f Ix-ini: overwhelming. They filled the porticos and
vestibules, and thronged the corridors and galleries in ;i
dense mass, revelling in their newly ae<jiiire<l privileges.
The air was heavy with the smoke of bad cigars, which.
however, was not wholly without use, as the scent of tho
tobacco served at least one good purpose ; the floors were
ry with tobacco- juice. Tho crowd was loud, pom-
pons, and good-nature.]. Leech looked with curiosity on
the curious spectacle. He had had no idea what a use-
ful band of coadjutors he would bave. He took a survey
207
208 RED ROCK
of the field and made his calculations quickly and with
shrewdness. He would be a leader.
" Looks like a corn-shuckin'," said Still, who had ac-
companied his friend to the capital to see him take his seat.
" A good head-man could get a heap of corn shucked."
"Does look a little like a checker-board/' assented
Leech, "and I mean to be one of the kings. It's keep
ahead or get run over in this crowd, and I'm smart as any
of 'em. There's a good cow to milk, and the one as milks
her first will get the cream." His metaphors were becom-
ing bucolic, as befitted a man who was beginning to set up
as a planter.
" The cream's in the drippin's," corrected Still.
" Not of this cow," said Leech.
Leech soon came to be regarded as quite a financier. He
talked learnedly of bonds and debentures, of per cents, and
guarantees, and dividends, of which more than half the
body did not even know the meaning. Once, when he was
speaking of the thousands of " bonds " he would put on a
railway to the mile, one of his confreres asked what he
would put in so many barns.
" Ain't you heah him say he's gwine have a million </
stock ?" asked another colored statesman, contemptuously.
The answer was satisfactory.
The amount of spoil which in time was found to be di-
vided was something of which not even Leech himself, at
first, had any idea. The railways, the public printing, in-
surance, and all internal improvements, were fertile fields
for the exercise of his genius. He was shortly an undis-
puted power. He followed his simple rule : he led.
When someone offered a resolution to put down new mat-
ting in the Assembly hall, Leech amended to substitute
Brussels carpet. To prove his liberality he added mahog-
any furniture, and handsome pier-glasses. The bills went
up into the scores of thousands ; but that was nothing.
As Leech said, they did not pay them. If rumors were true,
not only did Leech not pay the bills, he partly received
LEECH AS A STATESMAN 209
their proceeds. His aspirations were growing every day.
He had no trouble in carrying his measures through. He
turned his committee-room — or one of his rooms, for he
hud several — into a saloon, where he kept whiskey, cham-
pagne, and cigars always free for those who were on his side.
"Leech's bar " became a State institution. It was open
night and day for the whole eight years of his service. He
said he found it cheaper than direct payment, and then he
lumped all the costs in one item and had them paid by one
appropriation bill, as "sundries." Why should he pay, he
asked, for expenditures which were for the public benefit ?
And, indeed, why ? As for himself, he boasted with great
pride when the matter came up at a later time, that lie
never touched a drop.
He had "found the very field for his genius." Ho
boasted to Still : "I always know I had sense. Old Kraf-
ton thinks he's running the party. But I'm a doin' it.
'Some day he'll wake up and find I'm not only a doin' that,
runnin* the State too. I mean to be governor." His
eyes twinkled pleasantly.
•• Don't wake him up too soon," counselled Still.
One of the statesman's acts was to obtain a charter for
'.way to run from the Mp through his county
to the mountains. Among ti :>orators wore him-
self, ill's son, and
" Hoi -A.il you build thi< road ? " asked Mr. TTu-kclton,
an old gentleman who had been a Union man always — one
of the few old residents of the State in the body.
we'll manage that," declared Leech, lightly.
"We are going to teach you old moss-backs a few thi
Ho had an act passed making the
guarantee the bonds. The old resident raised a question
as to the danger to the credit of the Stale if it should -••>
ness of endorsing private enterprises.
he credit of the State 1" Leech exclaimed. " What.
is the credit of the State to us ? As long as the bonds sell
she has credit, hasn't she .
U
210 RED ROCK
This argument »vas unanswerable.
" But how will you pay these bonds ? " urged Mr. Has
kelton.
" I will tell you how we will pay them ; we will pa^
them by taxes/' replied Leech.
"Ay-yi! Dat's it I" shouted the dusky throng about
him.
" Someone has to pay those taxes/'
"Yes, but who ?" Leech turned to his associates who
were hanging on his words. " Do you pay them ? "
" Nor, dat we don't," shouted Nicholas Ash.
" No, the white people pay them — and we mean to
make them pay them," declared Leech.
This declaration was received with an outburst of ap-
plause, not unmingled with laughter, for his audience had
some appreciation of humor.
" Lands will only stand so much tax," insisted his inter-
locutor ; " if you raise taxes beyond this point you will de-
feat your own purpose, for the lands will be forfeited. We
cannot pay them. We are already flat on our backs/'
" That's where we want you," retorted Leech, and there
was a roar of approval.
The old gentleman remained calm.
" Then what will you do ? " he persisted.
" Then we will take them ourselves," asserted Leech,
boldly. He looked around on the dusky throng behind
him, and up at the gallery, black with faces. " We will
make the State give them as homes to the people who are
really entitled to them. They know how to work them."
A great shout of applause went up from floor and gallery.
Only the old gentleman, gray and pallid, with burning
eyes stood unmoved amid the tumult.
( ' You cannot do this. It will be robbery."
The crowd, somewhat disturbed by his earnestness,
looked at Leech to hear how he would meet this fact.
He was equal to the emergency.
" Robbery, is it ? " he shouted, waving his arms, and
LI I 01 AS A STATESMAN 211
advancing down the aisle. "Then it is only paying
robbery for robbery. Yon have been the robbers I You
robbed the Indians of these lands, to start with. You
went to Africa and stole these free colored people from
their happy homes and made them slaves. You robbed
them of their freedom, and you have robbed them ever
since of their wages. Now you say we cannot pay them a
little of what you owe them ? We will do it, and do it
by law. We have the majority and by — ! we will make
the laws. If you white gentlemen cannot pay the taxes
on your homes, we'll put some colored ones there to get
the benefit." He shook his hand violently in the vehe-
mence of his speech. And again the crowd roared.
" Don't shake your finger in my face/' said the old man
so quietly that only Leech heard it. He backed off.
became an undisputed leader. "By — ! I had no
idea I was such an orator," he said to Still, smiling.
" I haven't made such a speech as that since just before
the war. I made that old coon admit he was fiat on his
" A coon fights better on his back V any other way,"
warned Still.
1 put some hunters on this coon that will keep him
quiet enough," said Leech. " I'll arm a hundred thousand
niggm."
Leech made good his promises. The expenditures w* nt
np beyond belief. But to meet the expenses taxes were 1 : > i < 1
until they rose to double, quadruple, and, in some parts of
the State, ten times what they had been. Meantime he had
been in communication with Mr. Bolter, who had come
down and paid him and Still a Hying visit, and a part of
the bonds of his railroad were " placed."
The taxes, as was predicted, went far beyond the ability
of the landowners to pay them, and vast numbers of plan-
tations throughout the State were forfeited. To meet
this exigency, Leech was as good as his word. A measure
was introduced and a Laud Commission was appointed to
212 RED ROOK
take charge of such forfeited lands and sell them to hia
followers on long terms, of fifteen to twenty years. Leech
was a member of the general Commission and Still was ap-
pointed agent of the Board in his section of the State.
Still was a very active commissioner — " efficient," the
Commission called him.
Several places were sold which shortly were resold to
Leech and Still. Leech added to a place he bought on the
edge of Brutusville, adjoining General Legaie's, the planta-
tions of two old gentlemen near him. Sherwood had bought
one and Moses the other. Leech gave them " a fair ad-
vance." He said it was "all square." He was now wait-
ing for General Legaie's place.
Leech built himself a large house, and furnished it with
furniture richer than that in any other house in the county.
It was rumored that he was preparing his house for Virgy
Still.
Nicholas Ash bought a plantation and a buggy and be-
gan to drive fast horses. Many of their fellow-lawmakers
bloomed out in the same way. They were the only ones
who now rode in carriages. Their proceedings did not
affect themselves only. They reached Dr. Gary and General
Legaie and the old proprietors on their plantations, quite
as directly, though in the opposite way. The spoils that
Leech, Still, Governor Kraf ton and their followers received,
someone else paid. And just when they were needed most,
the negroes abandoned the fields. No one could expect
statesmen to work. Cattle, jewels, and plate were sold as
long as they lasted, to meet the piled-up taxes ; but in time
there was nothing left to sell, and the plantations began to
go. In the Red Rock neighborhood, rumors were abroad
as to the destiny of the various places. A deeper gravity
settled on Dr. Gary's serious face, and General Legaie's
lively countenance was taking on an expression not far
from grim. It was less the financial ruin that was over-
whelming them than the dishonor to the State. It was a
Btab in their bosoms.
LEECH AS A STATESMAN 213
Mr. Ledger was making inquiries as to the possibility
of their reducing shortly their indebtedness to him, and
the Doctor was forced to write him a frank statement of
affairs. He had never worked so hard in his life, he wrote;
he had never had so much practice ; but he could collect
nothing, and it was all he could do to meet his taxes.
11 \Vliy don't you collect your bills ?" naturally inquired
Ledger.
" Collect my bills ? " replied the Doctor. " How can I
press my neighbors who are as poor, and poorer, than I am? "
However, inspired by Mr. Ledger's application, the Doc-
tor did try to collect some of the money due him. Ho
diil not send out his bills. He had never done that in his
life. Instead, he rode around on a collecting-tour. IK*
was successful in getting some money ; for he applied first
to such of his debtors as were thriftiest. Andy Stamper,
who had just returned from town where he had been sell-
ing sumac, chickens, and other produce, paid him with
thanks the whole of his bill, and only expressed surprise,
it was so small. "Why I thought, Doctor, 'twould
be three or four times that ?" said Andy. " I've kept a
sort of account of the times you've been to my house, and
seems to me 't ought to be ? "
>, sir, that's all I have against yon/' said the Doctor,
ily ; replying earnestly to Andy's voluhle thanks.
i eh obliged to you." Ho did not tell Andy
he had divided his accounts by time and had had
1 work to bring himself to apply for anything.
< and one or two other instances in the beginning of
his tour quite relieved the Doctor ; for they showed that,
at least, some of his neighbors had some money. So he
rode on. He soon found, however, that he had gl<
the richest places first. On his way home he applied to
- of his patients with far diflV: Jts. Not only
was tl ; \ -TV sorrowful ; but the tale of
poverty that several of them told was so moving that the
Doctor, instead of receiving anything from them, distrib-
214 RED ROOK
amongst them what he hud already collected, saving
they were poorer than himself. So when he reached home
that evening lie had no more than when he rode away.
"AVell, Bess," he said, "it is the first time I ever
dunned a debtor, and it is the last." Mrs. Gary looked at
him with the expression in her eyes with which a mother
looks at a child.
" I think it is just as well," she said, smiling.
"You must go and see old Mrs. Bellows/'' he said. " She
is in great trouble for fear they'll sell her place."
Blair Gary, like her mother, watched with constant anx-
iety the change in her father. His hair was becoming
white, and his face was growing more worn.
At length, a plan which she had been forming for some
time took definite shape. She announced her intention
of applying for one of the common schools which had been
opened in the neighborhood. When she first proposed
the plan, it was received as if she were crazy — but her
father and mother soon found that they no longer had a
child to deal with, but a woman of sense and force of char-
acter. The reasons she gave were so clear and unanswer-
able that at length she overcame all objections and obtained
the consent of all the members of the family except Mammy
Krenda. The only point on which her father stood out for
was that she should not apply for one of the schools under
the new county-managers. A compromise was effected and
she became the teacher of the school that had been built
by the old residents. The Mammy still stood out. The
idea of "her child" teaching a common school outraged
the old woman's sense of propriety, and threw her into a
state of violent agitation. She finally yielded, but only on
condition that she might accompany her mistress to the
school every day.
This she did, and when Miss Blair secured the little
school at the fork in the road not far from their big gate,
the old mammy was to be seen every day, sitting in a corner
grim and a little supercilious, knitting busily, while her
LEECH AS A STATESMAN 215
ver and anon wandered over the classes before her,
transfixing the individual who was receiving her mistress's
attention with so sharp a glance that the luckless wight
was often disconcerted thereby.
As ol.l Mr. Haskelton had said, the old residents were
flat on their backs. Leech was of this opinion when he
passed his measures. But remembering Still's warning, to
make sure, as the troops had been withdrawn from the
county, he put through a bill to organize a State militia,
:• which large numbers of the negroes in the old
county and throughout the State were formed in com-
panies.
He had other plans hatching which he thought they
would subserve.
CHAPTER XIX
HIRAM STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS
THE old Doctor had become the general adviser of his
neighbors. There was that in his calm face and quiet man-
ner which somehow soothed and sent them away with a feel-
ing of being sympathized with, even when no practical aid
was rendered. "I believe more people consults the old
Doctor than does Mr. Bagby and General Legaie together,"
said Andy Stamper ; "and he don't know any more about
the way to do business these days than my baby. To be
sure, they all seem to be helped somehow by gohiV
It was soon a problem whether the Doctor could keep
his own place from falling into the hands of the Commis-
sion. He had often wondered why it had not been listed,
for he had not been able to keep the taxes down. Though
he did not know, however, Hiram Still did.
All this while Blair had some secret on her mind. She
was always working. She would be up before sunrise,
looking after her chickens ; and in the afternoons, when
she came from school, and all day in the summer, she
would be busy about the kitchen or in some shaded spot,
back among the fruit trees, where kettles were hung over
fires, and Mrs. Cary at times gave advice, and Mammy
Krenda moved about with her arms full of dry wood, in
a mist of blue smoke. Sometimes Steve Allen lounged
in the shade, at the edge of the cloud, giving Blair what
he termed his legal advice, and teasing Mammy Krenda
into threats of setting him on fire "before his time."
'• Milking preserves and pickles," was all the answer the
Doctor got to his inquiries. Yet for all Miss Blair's work
216
HIKA.M STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS 217
there did not seem to be any increase in the preserves that
came to the table, and when her father inquired once if
all her JUV.-LTVCS and pickles were spoilt, though she went
with a laugh and a blush and brought him some, he saw
no increase in them afterward. She appeared suddenly to
have a great many dealings with Mr. and Mrs. Stamper,
and several times Andy Stamper's wagon came in the Doc-
absence and took away loads of jars which were
transported to the railroad, and when the Doctor accident-
ally met Andy and inquired of him as to his load and its
destination, Andy gave a very shuffling and cloudy reply
about some preserves his wife and some of her friends
were sending to town. Indeed, when the Doctor reached
home on that occasion, he spoke of it, declaring that M is.
Stamper was a very remarkable young woman ; she act-
ually sent off wagon-loads of preserves. He asked Blair
teasingly how it was that Mrs. Stamper could do this while
they could hardly get enough for the table. Blair only
laughed and made a warning sign to Mammy Krenda,
who was sniffing ominously and had to leave the room.
At length the secret came out One day the Doctor
home worn out The taxes were due again. Blair
he room, and n turning, placed a roll of mon
. It was her salary \vhi.h she had saved, to-
gether with the proceeds of the kettle in the orchard.
> you, papa," she said, as she thn
arms rot; .-ck. " These are my preserves.**
The old gentleman was too moved to speak before she
had run out of the room. After a little he went to find
hi* wife. That was the sanctuary he always sought, in joy
and sorrow.
• 1 rtofcoa now he know de Stampers ain1 de on'ies*
ones kin meek preserves," said Mammy Krenda, with a sniff.
ir "M Mrs. Bellows came to sec tlu
Doctor. Mrs. Bellows was the aunt <>f Delia Dove. H-T
husband had been a blacksmith, and had died the year
attar the war. i owned a little place near the fork
218 BED ROCK
in the road, just on the edge of the Birdwood plantation,
where her husband had in old times made a good living. The
house was a little cottage set back amid apple and peach
trees some hundreds of yards from the shop. Since her
husband's death, Andy Stamper and Delia Dove had
helped her; but now, since Andy had been turned out of
his old home and was paying for another, the times had
grown so hard that it was not a great deal they could do.
Andy thought they'd better let this place go and that she
should come and live with them, but the old woman had
refused, and now her place among many others had been
forfeited and was on the list of those advertised for sale.
And Mrs. Bellows came to Dr. Gary. Still had his eye on
her home, and intended to buy it for the Commission.
Andy had heard that Nicholas Ash wanted it, and that
Still had promised it to him — ' t just out of spite to Andy
and Delia," the old woman said. She was in a great state
of excitement.
" I been tellin* Andy 'twant no use to be fightin' Still,"
she wailed; "he's too smart for him. If he could git
hold o' Red Rock, Andy might V known he could beat
Mm."
Dr. Gary sat in deep reflection for a moment. He had
a pang as he thought of the money he had made Andy
pay. The sum saved by Blair was only a small part of the
taxes due on Birdwood, but was enough to pay all the
back taxes and redemption fees on Mrs. Bellows's place.
It looked like Providence. The Doctor sent her awziy
comforted. Still's plans with regard to the Bellows place
soon became an assured fact. He boasted of what he
would do. He would show Andy Stamper who he was.
The fact that it would be Delia Dove's was enough for
him, and it became known throughout the county that the
Commission would take it. When the day of sale came,
little Andy was on hand at the county seat. Still was
there too, and so was Nicholas Ash. Still tried to find out
why Andy came. He knew he did not have the money to
IT I HAM STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS 219
• lie place. lie thought it was to pick a quarrel with
him; but Andy's face was inscrutable.
lor the formality of the law, a party interested could
redeem the land at any time before it was sold, paying the
amount due to the clerk, with interest and fees. Still ex-
amined the list just before the crying began. The Bellows
pla<-e was still on it. So the auction began. Andy was
closeted with old Mr. Dockett, whose duty it was, as clerk,
to receive the redemption money ; but when the sale
started, he came out and sauntered up into the crowd.
•ral places belonging to persons whose names began
witi a put up and knocked down to "Hiram Still,
Commissioner," and as each one went to him there were
groans and hoots, and counterbalancing cheers from the
negroes. At length the Bellows place was reached. The
amount of taxes for the several years for which it was
delinquent was stated, ami the sheriff, a creature of Leech's,
offered the place. '1 I silence throughout
crowd, for it was known that it was between Still and
Stamper. Still was the only bidd< -r. The crowd loo
at Stamper, but he never stirred. He looked the most in-
different man on the ground. Still, on the other side of
crowd, whispered with Ash and made a sign to the
sheriff, and the latter, ha lo his preliminary notice,
.
" And there being no other bid than that of the Com-
missioner, I knock this place also down to —
••re was a movement, and a voice interrupted him.
s you don't. That place has been r ." Andy
spoke quietly, but with a sudden bla/.e in his eyes. He
! up th« certificate of pa\ incut, gripped in his hand.
and looked across at Hiram Still.
re was a moment's pause, and then < li. , r after cheer
broke out f whites; and the long, j»«
up feeling against Still burst forth so vehemently that ho
bed deep into the middle of the throng of
blacks about him, and soon b ft the ground.
220 RKD ROOK
The 'excitement and anxiety, however, proved too much
for old Mrs. Bellows, and she died suddenly a few nights
later.
" One more notch on the score against Hiram and
Major Leech/' said Andy Stamper, grimly, as he turned
the key in the door of the empty house, and, taking it out,
put it in his pocket.
Andy's wife, as the old woman's heir, was the owner of
the place ; but a few days after Mrs. Bellows's death Andy
rode up to Dr. Gary's door.
Delia had sent him over, he said (he always laid the
credit of such tilings on Delia, he was simply clay in the
potter's hands). — Delia had sent him to say that the place
belonged to Miss Blair. " She had found out where the
money came from which bought it back, and she wan't goin'
to take it. She couldn't take care of the place anyhow —
'twas all she could do to keep the place they had now ; and
she would not have this one if she was to pay taxes on it.
All she wanted, was to beat Hiram. So if Miss Blair
wouldn't take it, she s'posed Nicholas Ash would git it
next year, after all."
Andy pulled out a deed, made in due form to Miss Blair
Gary, and delivered it to the Doctor, meeting every objec-
tion which the Doctor raised, with a reason so cogent that
it really looked as if he were simply trying to shield Delia
Dove from some overwhelming calamity. So the Doctor
finally agreed to hold the place for his daughter, though
only as security for the sum advanced, and with the stipu-
lation that Andy should at any time have the privilege of
redeeming it. It was well for Dr. Gary that he had placed
his money as he did.
A few days after this sale at the county seat, Dr. Gary
received a letter from Mr. Ledger, telling him that the
condition of affairs had become so gloomy that his corre-
spondents in the North were notifying him that they could
not continue tlicir advances to him at present, and as the
notes given him by Dr. Gary and General Lcgaie, which
HIRAM STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS 221
had already been renewed several times, were about to fall
due again, he found himself under the disagreeable neces-
sity of asking that they would arrange to pay them at their
next maturity. General Legaie, who had received a simi-
lar letter, rode up to see Dr. Cary next morning, and the
following day they went to the city together. They rode on
horseback, as they had no money to pay even the small
sum necessary for the railway fares.
When the Doctor and General Legaie called on Mr.
T he was at the moment talking to a youngish, vigor-
ous-looking man, whose new clothes and alert speech gave
him almost a foreign air beside the stately manner of the
two old gentlemen. Mr. Clough, the stranger, rose to go,
but both Dr. Cary imd General Legaie begged him to re-
main, declaring that they had " no secrets to discuss," and
that they should themselves leave if he did so, as he had
been there first.
They had exhausted every resource in their power to
raise the means to pay Mr. Ledger, they said. And now
had come to him with a proposition. They lookt-d at
other for support. It manifestly cost an effort to
make it. They proposed that he should take, at a proper
valuation, so much of their lands as would nurt his debt.
A sigh followed the proposal. It was evidently a, relief to
ha\e got it out.
"It is good land, and not an acre has ever been sold
from the original grant," said Dr. Cary. It manifestly
added to the value of the terms offered.
" My dear sirs, what would I do with your lands ?" said
-odger. " I ahvady have the security of the lands in
addition to your personal obligation. My advice to you is
to try and sell them — or, at least, so much of them as will
enable you to discharge your debts. There are one or two
men up in your section who have plenty of money. — This
man Leech— and that man Still— they are land-buyers.
Why don't you sell to them P"
" What !" exclaimed both Dr. Gary and General Legaie,
222 BED BOCK
in one breath. " Sell our old family places to that man
Leech ? "
" My dear sirs, it will come to this, I fear — or worse.
My correspondents are all calling in their loans. I know
that Mr. Still would not be averse to buying a part of your
place or, indeed, all of it, Doctor ; and I think Leech
would like to have yours, General."
The two old gentlemen stiffened.
" Why, that man Leech is a thief !" said the little Gen-
eral, with the air of one making a revelation. " He could
not pay me a dollar that had not been stolen, and that fel-
low Still, he's a harpy, sir."
" Yes, I know, but I tell you frankly, gentlemen, it i&
your only chance. They mean to tax your land until you
will find it impossible to hold on to it."
•" In that case we should not wish to put it off even on
those men," said the Doctor with dignity, rising. " I
shall see if I cannot raise the money elsewhere to relieve
you. Meantime I shall hold on to the old place as long as
I can. I must make one more effort." And the two old
gentlemen bowed themselves out!
"A very striking-looking pair," said the stranger, "but
they don't seem to have much business in them."
" No," said Mr. Ledger, " they haven't. They are about
as able to cope with the present as two babies." He sat
in deep abstraction for a minute and then broke out sud-
denly : "But I'll tell you what : if you up yonder would
just hold off they could clean up that pen on the hill
in fifteen minutes. And I believe it would be the best
thing for you to have them do it." His eyes blazed with
a light that gave his visitor a new idea of him.
In consequence of this talk, Mr. Clough, when he had
concluded his business, went for amusement to observe the
proceedings of the State Legislature which was in session.
It was undoubtedly strange to see laws being enacted by a
body composed of blacks who but a few years before had
been slaves, and he went away with a carious sense Qt the
HIRAM STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS 223
incongruity of the thing. But it was only amusing to him.
They appeared good-natured and rather like big children
playing at something which grown people do. His only
trouble was the two old gentlemen.
" Of course it is all nonsense, those slaves being legisla-
tors," he admitted to Major Welch, on his arrival at home,
and to his father-in-law, Senator Kockfield. " But they
are led by white men who know their business. The fact
is, they appear to know it so well that I advise calling in
all the debts at once."
Wliat simply amused this casual visitor, however, was a
stab in the heart of the two old gentlemen he had met.
Dr. Gary and General Legaie returned home without be-
ing able to raise anywhere the money that was due.
In reply to the letter announcing this, Dr. Gary re-
1 a letter from Mr. Ledger, informing him that he had
had an offer from someone to take up the Doctor's
notes, and he had felt it his duty to notify him before he
assigned them. The person who had made the offer had
insisted that his name should not be known at pr<
but lie had intimated that it was with friendly intentions
toward Dr. Gary, though Mr. Ledger stated, he would not
like the Doctor to rely too much on this intimation. JKi
would much prefer that Dr. Gary should take up the notes
himself, and lie would not for a moment urge him if it
were not that lie himself was absolutely obliged to have
noney to meet his obligations.
To this letter the Doctor replied promptly. Mr. Ledger
must accept the offer from his unnamed correspondent if it
;i mere business transaction, and the Doctor only asked
that lie would do so without in any way laying him under
any obligation to the person referred to, for a pretended
kindness.
••The old Doctor evidently knows his man/' was Mr.
;^er*s reflection.
The next day Hiram Still held Dr. Gary's notes ae-
cured by deed of trust on the whole Birdwood estate.
224 BED BOOK
Still was sitting in the big hall at Red Rock on his return
home, and he took out the notes and laid them on the
table before his son.
" Ah 1 Dr. Wash/' he said, with a gleam in his eyes ;
" things is comin' roun'. Now you've got it all your own
way. With them cards in your hand if you can't win the
game, you ain't as good a player as yer pappy. I don't
want nothin' for myself, I just want 'em to know who I
am — that's all. And with you over yonder at the old Doc-
tor's, and Virgy in Congress or maybe even in the Gover-
nor's house down yonder, I reckon they'll begin to find
out who Hiram Still is."
The son was evidently pleased at the prospect spread
out before him, and his countenance relaxed.
" 'Twon't do to let Leech get too far ahead — I'm always
telling you so.'* Young Still was beginning to show some
jealousy of Leech of late.
"Ahead? He ain't ahead. He just thinks he is."
The speaker's voice changed. *' What's the matter with
Virgy these days? I've done set her up in the biggest
house in the county, and brought the man who's goin' to
be one of the biggest men in the State to want her to
marry him, and she won't have nothin' to do with him.
It clean beats my time. I don't know what's got into her.
She ain't never been the same since I brought her here.
Looks like these pictures round here sort o' freezes her
up."
As he glanced around Hiram Still looked as if he were
freezing up a little himself.
" She's a fool," said the brother, amiably.
" I thought maybe she's been kind o' ailin'an' I'd git the
old Doctor to come and see her. Say what you please, he
have a kind o' way with him women folks seems to like.
But she won't hear of it."
" She's just a fool. Let her alone for awhile, anyhow."
His father looked at him keenly.
*' Well, you go ahead — and as soon as you've got your
HIRAM STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS
fill y safe, well take up t'other horse — time enough. Thar's
the bridle." He touched the notes on the table and
winked at his son.
Dr. Still, armed with the assurance which the possession
of Dr. Gary's notes gave, drove over to Birdwood tlu
next evening in a double buggy. He was met by Dr. Gary,
who treated him with his usual graciousness, and who so
promptly assumed that the visit was merely a professional
one that the caller never found the opportunity to uiule-
him.
When Washington Still arrived at home that night his
father was watching for him with eagerness. He met him
as the buggy drove up into the yard ; but Wash's face was
sphinx-like. It was not until nearly bedtime, when the
father had reinforced his courage with several drinks of
whiskey, that he got courage to open the subject directly.
•• Well, what news ?" he asked, with an attempt at jo-
viality.
" None," said Wash, shortly.
" How'd you come out ? "
"Same way I went in." This was not encouraging,
.Mother glass added to Mr. Still's spirit.
•• Mow wassho lookin' ?"
" Didn't see her. — Didn't see anybody hut the old
tor; never do see anybody but him — and tin- old ni«rirer that
opens the door. Ho thought I'd come over to consult him
about that sick nigger down at the mill, so 1 let him think
so. I wish the d— d nigger would die !
' And you didn't even ask for
The young man shifted in his chair.
" What's the use I That old fool's got a way with him.
know how it is. If he wa'n't so d— d polite I"
"Ah! Washy, you're skoered," said the father,
;i idle a filly if you're afeanl to go
•>on don't git up I'll ^ over thnr
myself, first thing you know. Why don't you write her a
15
226 BED ROOK
" What's the good ! I know'm. She wouldn't look at
me. She's for Lord Jacquelin or Captain Steve Allen/'
" She wouldn't ! " Still rose from his chair in the in-
tensity of his feeling. "By she shall ! I'll make
her/'
" Make her ! You think she's Virgy? She ain't."
A day or two later a letter from Dr. Still was brought to
Birdwood by a messenger. Dr. Gary received it. It was
on tinted paper and was for Blair. That afternoon another
messenger bore back the same letter unopened, together
with one from Dr. Gary, to the effect that his daughter
was not accustomed to receive letters from young men, and
that such a correspondence would not be agreeable to him.
Dr. Still was waiting with impatience for a reply to
his missive. He was not especially sanguine. Even his
father's hope could not reassure him. When he looked
at the letter his countenance fell. He had not expected
this. It was a complete overthrow. It not only was a
total destruction of his hopes respecting Miss Gary, but it
appeared to expose a great gulf fixed between him and all his
social hopes. He had not known till then how much he
had built on them. In an instant his feeling changed.
He was enraged with Blair, enraged with Dr. Gary, enraged
with Jacquelin Gray and Captain Allen, and enraged with
his father who had counselled him to take the step. He
took the letter to his father, and threw it on the table be-
fore him.
"Read that."
Hiram Still took np the letter and, putting on his glasses,
read it laboriously. His face turned as red as his son's
had turned white.. He slammed the letter on the table
and hammered his clenched fist down on it.
" You ain't good enough for 'em ! Well, I'll show 'em.
I'll turn 'em out in the road and make their place a
nigger settlement. I'll show 'em who they're turnin'
their noses up at. 'I'll show 'em who Hiram Still is. I'll
make Leech Governor, and turn him loose on 'em, if it
HIRAM STILL COLLECTS BIS DEBTS 227
takes every cent I've got in the world." He filled his
glass. " We'll show 'em yet who we are. When I'm settin'
re and you're settin' np thar they'll begin to think
maybe after all they've made a little mistake."
Still was as good as his word. Within a day or two, Dr.
i letter from him asking the payment of his
obligations which he held. He assigned the necessity he
was undei to raise a large sum of money himself.
The Doctor wrote in reply that it was quite impossible
for him t-> raise the money to pay the debts, and begged
that Still would without delay take the necessary steps to
dose the matter np. assuring him that he should not only
not throw any obstacle in his way, but would further his
object as far ar lay in his power.
Steve urged the Doctor to make a fight, declaring that
he could defer the sale for at least two years, maybe more,
and times might change ; but Dr. Gary declined.
• • What can I do ? I owe a debt and I cannot pay it I
might as well save the man the mortification of telling u
multitude of unnecessary lies."
So in a litt-e while Still, through Leech, his counsel,
had subjected the Doctor's property to his debts and was in
possession of Bird wood as well as Red Rock.
Mrs. Gary and Blair I* roses and jonquils and with
the Doctor mcvod to the old Bellows place, where tiny
were as happy as they had ever been in the days of their
greatest pi-oaperity. OldTarquin, \\ h<» accompanied them,
observed bis master closely and followed his example, car-
rying his head as high as if ho still walked the }>!<; halls
and polished floors of Birdwood. Mammy Krcmla alone
was unhappy. She could not reconcile herself to the
change. The idea of "dat nigger-trader an' overseer
"11 marster's place, in.' r young mistis
hftvin' to live in de blacksmiJT house/' was more than the
old woman could bear.
CHAPTER XX
LEECH LOOKS HIGHER AND GETS A FALL
MAJOR LEECH was now one of the leading men in the
State. No one had been so successful in his measures.
He boasted openly that he owned his own county. Carried
it in his breeches pocket, he said.
Hiram Still had become the largest property-holder in
the county. " I don't know so much about these here pa-
per stocks," he said to his son. " But I know good land,
and when you've got land you've got it, and everybody
knows you've got it."
It was understood now that Leech was courting Still's
daughter, and it began to be rumored that reinforced by
this alliance, after the next election he would probably be
the leader in the State. He was spoken of as a possible
candidate for the Governorship, the election for which was
to come off the following year.
The people were now as flat on their backs as even Leech
could wish.
Fortunately there is a law by which conditions through
their very excess are sometimes rectified. Absolute success
often bears in it the seeds of its own destruction. With the
power to make such laws as they wanted, and to gild all
their acts with the tinsel of apparent authority, Leech and
his associates had been so successful that they had lost all
reckoning of opposition, and in their security had begun to
quarrel among themselves.
The present Governor, Kraf ton, was a candidate for re-
election, and his city organ declared that Leech was
pledged to him* He had " made Leech," it said. " Leech
828
• •II LOOKS m<;m-:i: AND GI
was bound to him by every tit- of irratiuide and honor."
Leech in private sneered at the idea. " Does he think I'm
bound to him for life ? Ain't he rich enough •* I >
want t«> keep all the pie for himself ? Why don't h
that rent to the State for the railroad him and his crowd
leased ? He talk about beatin' me ! I'll show him. Y<>n
wait until after next session and all h — 1 can't beat
he said to Hiram Still. He did not say this to the Gov-
ernor. But perhaps even counting this Leech did not
count all the forces against him. Emboldened by the
quietude which had existed so long, Leech moved more
openly. He believed he was strong enough now for any-
thing. Success- was at length turning even Still's head.
" You got to keep yourself before the people, and do it
all the time. If you don't they'll forgit you, and some-
body else will reap your harvest," Still explained to his
ally.
nybody as reaps for me is welcome to all he gets,"
said Leech.
The campaign opened, and soon Leech was as prom-
inent as he could have wished. However prostrate the
people were, they were not ready to have Leech for the
Governor of the State, and they so declared. At a public
meeting that was held, Steve Alien in a speech declared
• Krafton is a robber ; but Leech is a thief."
Both Leech and Still were sensible of the stir ; but they
did not heed it. Leech was daily strengthening himself.
When the rumor started that the whites were rou.-iiiir
«p and were beginning to think of organizing in o;
tion, Leech only laughed.
" Ki.-k. will they?" said he. "I want 'em to kick.
I'm fixed for 'em now. I've got the power 1 want, behind
me now, and the more they kick the more they'll frit the
-. I guess you're beginning to find nut I'm |
well seated ?" he added triumphantly to Still. Still could
not but admit that it was so.
"Fact is, things're goin' almost too smooth," he said.
230 RED ROCK
" You're hard to please/' growled Leech.
" No ; but you know, sometimes I'm most afeered I'll
wake up and find it a dream. Here I am settin' up, a gen
til-man here in this big house that I used to stand over
yonder on the hill in the blazin' sun and just look at, and
wonder if I ever would have one even as good as the one
1 was then in as my own ; and yonder are you, one of the
big men in the State, and maybe will be Governor some
day, who knows ? " Leech accepted the compliment with
becoming condescension.
" That was a great stroke of yours to git the State to
endorse the bonds and then git your man Bolter down here
to put up that money. If this thing keeps up we soon
won't have to ask nobody any odds," pursue d Still.
" I don't ask any of 'em any odds now. When I get my
militia fully organized, I'm going to make u move that will
make things crack. And old Kraf ton will come down too.
He thinks he's driving, and he's just holding the end of
the reins."
" I don't count so much on your militia as I do on your
friends. I know these people, and I tell you, you can't
keep 'em down with niggers. If you try that you'll have a
bust up 't will blow you — somewhere you won't want to
be," cautioned Still. " I never was so much in favor of
that militia business as you was. Comes to a fight, the
whites will beat every time — and it costs too much. My
taxes this year'll be "
Leech frowned.
" Your taxes ! If it hadn't been for high taxes I'd like
to know where you'd been. You're always talkin' about
knowin' these people. You're afraid of 'em. I'm not. I
suppose it's natural ; we've whipped you.''
There was a sudden lower in Still's eye at the sneer.
"You're always talkin' about havin' w] lipped us. You
ain't whipped us so much," he growled. "If you ain't
afraid of 'em, whyn't you take up what Steve Allen said to
you t'other day when he told you he'd be Governor before
II LOOKS HIGHER AND GETS A FALL 231
yon was, ami >alle<l yon — ur worse than Krafton ? He's
'ices enouirh.'"
• Y . . ami you'll see how I'll take it up. I'll take
him up. I've got the government behind me, and when
I'm Governor and get a judge such as I want, you'll see
things working even enough."
•- Well, 't won't do for us to quarrel, Major. We're like
two steers yoked together," Still said, conciliatorily. " Only
don't go too fast at first — or you may break your team down
you irit anywhere near where you want to go."
When Still was alone with his son after this interview
he told him that Leech was in danger of ruining every-
thing.
" He's gittin' sp'iled. We must keep the brakes on him
or hr'll bust the wagon all to pieces. If he gits up t<
he won't remember me and you," observed Mr. Still.
•• Where would I be now if I hadn't gone a little keerful?1'
"Careful," corrected his son, superciliously.
•hen ; I can't keep up with your book
learnin*. But I know a few things, and he's about to make
a fool of himself. He wants to break with old Krafton be-
t's time, and I ain't sure he's strong enough yet to do
it We may have to call on Krafton yet, and 'twon't do to
let him go till we get Leech settled. He's goin' too fast
with his niggers. We've got to keep the brakes on
him."
Leech soon perfected the organization of his negroes.
The League fii 'nidcus. Be had quite an army
:<«d. At first ' lc.1 without arms, or with only
the old muskets which had come down from tin- war ; but
in a little tima a consignment of new rinYs came from
••••, and at their next drill the hands ap;
armed and equipped with new army muskets ami ammu-
>las Ash was captain of one company, ami
»T was under command of Sherwood. Leeol
IML: nrtie.-r in the county. I'mlcr
the law, K is Governor, had the power to accept or
232 RED ROCK
refuse any company that organized and offered itself. The
effect of the new organization on the negroes was immedi-
ately felt. They became insolent and swaggering. The
fields were absolutely abandoned. Should they handle hoes
when they could carry guns ! Should they plough when
they were the State guard !
When Leech's new companies drilled, the roadsides were
lined with their admirers. They filled the streets and took
possession of the sidewalks, yelling, and hustling out of
their way any who might be on them. Ladies walking on
the street were met and shoved off into the mud. In a
little while, whenever the militia were out, the whites dis-
appeared almost wholly from the streets. But the men
were to be found gathered together at some central place,
quiet, and apparently without any object, but grim and
earnest. Steve Allen was likely to be among them.
Steve organized a company and offered its services to the
Governor, asking to be commissioned and armed. Only
negro companies were being commissioned. The Governor
referred him to Leech, who was, he said, the Commandant
in that section. The next time Steve met Leech he said :
" Major Leech, your man Kraf ton says if you'll recom-
mend it he'll commission a company I have." Leech
hemmed and stammered a little.
" No need to be in a hurry about it, Major," said Steve,
enjoying his embarrassment. " When you want 'em let me
know. I'll have 'em ready," and he passed on with cheery
insolence, leaving the carpet-bagger with an ugly look in
his pale blue eyes.
Leech conferred with Still, who counselled that they
should move with deliberation. Leech had grown impa-
tient, lie thought himself strong enough now to overawe
the whites. Night meetings were being held everywhere,
at which Leech addressed his followers. Their response
was almost an outbreak.
A number of acts were committed that incensed the peo-
ple greatly. Andy Stamper, with his wagon full of chickens
II LOOKS IIUlIIKi: AND GETS A FALL 233
and eggs, was coming along the road when he met one of
the companies, followed by the crowd of negroes that usu-
ally atten 1 rills. In a few minutes the wagon was
thrown down a bank and upset, the eggs were all smashed,
and little Andy, fighting desperately with his whip, was
knocked senseless and left on the roadside, unconscious.
He said afterward it served him right for being such a fool
as to go without his pistol, and that if he had had it he
would have whipped the whole company. Mrs. Gary and
Blair and Miss Thomasia came near having a similar experi-
ence. They were stopped on the road in their old can
and nothing but Mrs. Gary's spirit and old Gideon's pres-
ence of mind saved them perhaps from worse usage. -Mrs.
however, stepped out and stood beside her ]
umdiug that they should not be touched, \vhii
old driver, standing up in the boot of the carriage, talked
BO defiantly and looked so belligerent that he preserved his
mistresses from anything worse than being turned out
ly into the woods and very much frightened.
These things caused much excitcn.
The first movement in the campaign was a great meet-
ing that was held at the county seat. The negroes were
gammoned from several comities round, and there was to
be a great master of Leech's "new militia." It was a
grave time in the county. All such assemh!
ous now, more for what mi ght happen than for anything
iad ever happened yet. Hut this one was especially
serious. It w;. L, rrh would launch 1:;
as a candidate for Gov< . d \vmld outline \\\< policy.
l-resence of his militia was held to be a part <>t his
plan to overawe ; ••.-itinn that mi^ht arise. So
i was the tension that many of the women and chil-
vcre sent out of the village, and those that remained
r houses.
v f<>r the meeting at tin- OOOHty scat ram.-.
• n of tin- county, win'
colored, were present, and the negro companies were out in
234 RED ROCK
force, marching and parading up and down in the same
field in which the white troops had paraded just be-
fore going off to the war. Many remarked on it that day.
It served to emphasize the change that a few years had
brought. When the parade was over, the companies took
possession of the court green, and were allowed to bivak
ranks preparatory to being called under arms again, when
they were to be addressed on the issues of the campaign.
The negroes, with a few white men among them — so few
as not to make the slightest impression in the great dusky
throng — were assembled on the court green. The whites
were outside.
There was gravity, but good-humor.
Steve Allen, particularly, appeared to be in high spirits.
To see the way the crowd was divided it might have looked
as if they were hostile troops. Only, the whites apparently
had no arms. But they had almost the formation of sol-
diery waiting at rest. Steve sauntered up into the crowd
of negroes and made his way to where Leech stood well sur-
rounded, talking to some of the leaders.
" Well, Colonel, how goes it ? You seem to have a
good many troops to-day. We heard you were going to
have a muster, and we came down to see the drill."
The speech was received good-temperedly by the ne-
groes, many of whom Steve spoke to by name good-hu-
moredly.
Leech did not appreciate the jest, and moved off with a
scowl. The young man, however, was not to be shaken off
so. He followed the other to the edge of the crowd, and
there his manner changed.
" Mr. Leech/' he said, slowly, with sudden seriousness
and with tllat deep intonation which alwa}7s called up to
Leech that night in the woods when he had been waylaid
and kidnapped. "Mr. Leech, you are on trial to-day.
Don't make a false step. You are the controlling spirit of
these negroes. They await but your word. So do we. If
a hand is lifted you will never be Governor. We have stood
C8 IIKJIIER AND GETS A FALL 235
all we propose to stand. Yon are standing on a powder
!_'•-•• veil warning."
IK- turned off and walked back to his own crowd.
as the b< • «'<-h that had been made to I.
in a long time. His \\ hole battalion of guards were on the
is, and a sign from him would have lodged Steve in
lilj wliieh frowned behind the old brick clerk's office.
d ataind to order his arrest; but as he glanced at
him there was agleam in Steve's gray eyes which restrained
him. They were fixed on him steadily, and the men be-
hind him suddenly seemed to have taken on something like
. Until that moment Leech had no idea what a force
it was. There were men of all classes in the ranks. He
seemed suddenly the focus of all eyes. They were fa-
on him with a cold hostility that made him shiver. He
had a sudden catching at the heart. 1 le sent for Still and
had a conference with him. Still advised a pacific course.
" Too many of 'em," he said. " And they are ready for
yon."
Leech adopted Still's advice. In the face of Steve's
BMOaoe and thai crowd "f .Lrrim-lo.,kin]ur mm he «juailcd.
His name was put forward, and many promises were made
nary enough, but it was not by himself.
after a long conf< h Leech and Still.
was t! ^peaker of the occasion, and Leech kept him-
u the background all day.
The policy laid down by Nicholas Ash, even after his
caution from Leech and Still, was bad enough. "
say the taxes are too high/' declared the negro statesman.
"I tell you, and Colonel Leech tells y« in't hi-h
enough, and when he's Governor the \ '11 be higher yet. \\ e
are goin' to raise 'em— yee, we are goin' to rai < Ym till we
bankr every one, and then the land will go to the
ones as ought to have it, and if anybody interfere! with
yon, you've got guns and you know how to
itise greeted this exposition of Leech's
he earnest counsel of Dr. Gary and some
236 i:i:i> i:ocK
of the older and cooler heads kept the younger men quiet,
But the day passed oil' (jiik'tly. The only exception was
an altercation between Captain McRattlo and a negro.
Leech's name hail been suggested for the Governorship,
and had taken wi-11. So he was satisfied. That night the
negroes paraded in companies through the village, keeping
to a sort of chant about raising taxes and getting the
lands and driving out the whites.
As Dr. Gary rode home that evening on his old horse,
Still and Leech passed him in a new buggy drawn by a
pair of fine horses which young Dr. Still had just got.
Both men spoke to Dr. Gary, but the Doctor had turned his
head away so as not to see them. It was the nearest his
heart would let him come to cutting a man direct.
Next night after dark there was a meeting, at which were
present nearly all the men whose names have appeared in
this chronicle, except Dr. Gary and one or two of the older
gentlemen, and a number more besides.
The place selected for the meeting was the old hospital,
a rambling, stone house with wings, and extensive cellars
under it.' It was in a cleft between two hills, surrounded
by a dense grove, which made it at all times somewhat
gloomy. It had been used as a field-hospital in a battle
fought near by, and on this account had always borne
u bad name among the negroes, who told grewsome tales of
the legs and arms hacked off there and flung out of the
windows, and of the ghostly scenes enacted there now after
nightfall, and gave it a wide berth.
After the war, a cyclone had blown down or twisted off
many of the trees around the mansion, and had taken the
roof off a part of the building and blown in one of the
wings, killing several of the persons who then occupied it,
which casualty the superstition of the negroes readily set
down to avciiLrinir wrath. The rest of the house had stood
the storm ; but since that time the building had never been
repaired and had sunk into a state of mournful dilapida-
tion, and few negroes iu the county could have been in-
LEECH LOOKS HIGHER AND GETS A FALL 237
duced to go there even in daylight. The fields had sprung
up in dense pines, and the roads leading out to the high-
ways had grown up and were now hardly distinguishable.
It had escaped even the rapacious clutch of Land Commis-
sioner Still.
The night after the speaking at the court-house there
was a meeting of ghostly riders at this old place, which had
any of the negroes around seen, they would have had some
grounds for thinking the tales told of the dead coming
back from their graves true.
Pickets, with men and horses heavily shrouded, were
posted at every outlet from the plantation, and the riders
rode for some distance in tfce beds of streams, so that when
the hoof-tracks reached certain points, they seemed sud-
denly to disappear from the earth.
Kurnors had already come from other sections of a new
force that had arisen, a force composed of ghostly night-
riders. It was known as the " Invisible Empire," and the
negroes had already been in a tremor of subdued excitement ;
but up to this time this county had been so quiet, and
Leech had been so supreme, that they had not taken in
that the Ku Klux might reach there.
After the muster of Leech's militia at the county seat the
companies had been dismissed and the members had strag-
gled to their homes, taking with them their arms and ac-
coutrements, with all the pride and pomp of newly decor-
ated children. But their triumph was short-lived.
In the dead of night, when the cabins and settlements
were wrapped in slumber, came a visitation, passing
through the county from settlement to settlement and
from cabin to cabin, in silence, but with a thoroughness that
showed the most perfect organization. When morning
dawned every gun and every round of ammunition which
had been issued throughout the county, except those at the
county seat, and some few score that had been conveyed to
other places than the homes of the men who had
bad been taken away.
238 RED BOOK
In most cases the seizure was accomplished quietly, the
surprise being so complete as to prevent wholly any resist-
ance. All that the dejected warriors could tell next day
was that there had been a noise outside, the door hud
been opened ; the yard had been found full of awful forms
wrapped like ghosts in winding-sheets, some of whom hud
entered the houses, picked up the guns and ammunition,
and without a word walked out and disappeared.
In other instances, the seizure had not been so easily ef-
fected, and in some few places there had been force exerted
and violence used. But in every case the guns had been
taken either peaceably or by force, and the man who hud
resisted had only called down OJL his head severity. One
man only had been seriously hurt. It was the man with
whom McRaffle had had the difficulty.
The whites had not been wholly exempt.
Leech had spent the night at Hiram Still's. They had
talked over the events of the meeting and the whole situa-
tion. Ash's speech proposing Leech for Governor had
taken well with the negroes, and for the whites they did not
care. The whites had evidently been overawed. This was
Leech's interpretation of their quietude. Leech was tri-
umphant. It was the justification of his p?an in arming
his followers. He laid oif his future plans v, hen he should
have fuller powers. His only regret was that lie had not
had Steve Allen arrested for threatening him. But that
would come before long.
" D — n him ! I wish he was dead," he growled.
" Go slow, Colonel ; if wishes could kill, he'd V been
dt -ad long ago — and maybe so would you," laughed Still.
" What a unpleasant laugh you have," frowned
Leech. He did not often allow himself the luxury of a
frown ; but he found it effective with Still.
Next morning Leech was aroused by his host calling to
him hastily to get up. Still was as white as death.
"What is it ?" demanded Leech.
"Get up and come out quick. Hell's broke loose/'
I
KLUX— "AWFUL FORMS WRAPPED LIKE GHOSTS IN WINDING-SHEETS'
LEKCII LOOKS HIGHER AND GETS A FALL 239
When I. me out, Still pointed him to a picture
drawn with red chalk on the floor of the portico, a fairly
good representation of the "Indian-killer." There were
also three crosses cut in the bark of one of the trees in
front of the door.
"What does that mean?"
" Means some rascals are trying to scare you : we'll scare
them."
But Still was not reassured. Anything relating to the
" Indian-killer " always discomposed him. He had to take
several drinks to bring back his courage — and when about
breakfast-time the news began to come to them of the vis-
itation that had boon made through the county during the
t , Leech, too, began to look pale.
By m i« 1-day they knew the full extent and completeness
of the stroke. A new and unknown force had suddenly
arisen. The negroes were paralyzed with terror. Many
of them believed that the riders were really supernatural,
and they told, with ashy faces, of the marvellous thinirs
had done. Some of them had said that they had just
come from hell to warn them, and they had drunk bucket-
fuls of water, which the negroes could hear "sizzling " as
it ran down their thro
lusk both Leech and Still had disappeared. They
;iat the organization of the negroes was wholly de-
stroyed, and unless something were done, and done irnme-
v, they would be stampeded beyond hope. They
(1 off to the city to lay their grievances before the
Governor, and claim the aid of the full power of the
•utive.
found the Governor much exercised, indeed, about
the attack on his militia; but to their consternation he
was even more enraged against themselves by the announce-
ment of Leech's prospective candidacy in opposition to
him. He declared that ho had aided Leoch in all his
scliriii.s, with the express understanding that the latter
should give him his unqualified support for re-election, and
240 BED KOCK
ho flatly charged him with treachery in announcing himself
a candidate in opposition to him, and declined to interfere
unless Leech at onco retired.
In this dilemma Leech promptly denied that he had ever
announced himself as a candidate.
Well, he allowed Nicholas Ash to do it, which amounted
to the same thing, the Governor asserted.
Leech repudiated any responsibility for Ash's action, and
denied absolutely that he had any idea whatever of running
against the Governor, for whom he asseverated the greatest
friendship.
Thus the matter was ostensibly patched up, and Leech
and Still received some assurance that action would be
taken. When, however, they left the presence of the Gov-
ernor, it was to take a room and hold a private conference
at which it was decided that their only hope lay in secur-
ing immediately the backing of those powers on whose
support the Governor himself relied to be sustained."
" I know him," whispered Still. " You didn't fool him.
He ain't never goin' to help you. May look like he's
standin' by you ; but he ain't. We've got to go up yonder.
Bolter's obliged to stand by us. He's too deep in." He
chucked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction in
which his noon-shadow was pointing. Leech agreed with
him, and instead of returning home, the two paid a some-
what extended visit to the seat of government, where they
posed as patriots and advocates of law and order, and were
admitted to conferences with the most potent men in the
councils of the nation, before whom they laid their case.
CHAPTER XXI
DR. GARY MEETS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE AND LEARNS
THAT THE ATHENIANS ALSO PRACTISE HOSPITALITY
THE Ku Klux raid, as it was called, created a great
commotion, not only in onr county but in other quarters
as well. There hid been in other sections growlings and
•enings, altercations, collisions, and outbreaks of more
or less magnitude, but no outbreak so systematic, so ex-
tensive, and so threatening as this had hitherto occurred.
and it caused a sensation. It was talked about as " ;i
rebellion/' calling for the suspension of the writs of privi-
lege and the exercise of the strongest powers of the Govern-
ment.
When therefore Leech and Still appeared at the nation-
;t;il, as suitors appealing for aid to maintain tin
and even to secure their lives, they found open cars and
ready sympathizers. They were met by Mr. Bolter, who
mainly had taken the bonds of their new railway, which
was not yet built, and who was known as a wealthy capi-
talist. Thus they appeared as men of substance and stand-
ing, well introduced, and as they spoke with doubtful
endorsement of the Governor they were even regarded as
more than commonly conservative, and their tale was given
unbounded credit.
When they returned home it was with the conviction
that their mission had been completely successful ; they
had not only secured the immediate object of their visit,
and obtained the promise of the strongest backing that
could be given against their enemies, but they had pained
even a more important victory. They had instilled doubt s
16 ail
242 BED ROCK
as to both the sincerity and the wisdom of the Governor •,
had, as Still said, " loosed a lynch-pin for him," and had
established themselves as the true and proper persons to be
consulted and supported. Thus they had secured, as they
hoped, the future control of the State. They were in an
ecstasy, and when a little later the new judge was appointed,
and proved to be Hurlbut Bail, the man Bolter had rec-
ommended against one the Governor had backed, they
felt themselves to be masters of the situation.
"When the mission of Leech and Still became known in
the old county it created grave concern. A meeting was
held and Dr. Gary and General Legaie, with one or two
others of the highest standing, were appointed a committee
to go on and lay their side of the case before the author-
ities and see what they could do to counteract the effect of
the work of Leech and his associates.
It was the first time Dr. Gary and General Legaie had
been to the national capital or, indeed, out of the State,
since the war, and they were astonished to see what prog-
ress had been made in that brief period.
They found themselves, on merely crossing a river, sud-
denly landed in a city as wholly different from anything
they had seen since the war as if it had been a foreign
capital. The handsome streets and busy thoroughfares
filled with well-dressed throngs ; gay with flashing equi-
pages, and all the insignia of wealth, appeared all the
more brilliant from the sudden contrast. As the party
walked through the city they appeared to themselves to be
almost the poorest persons they saw, at least among the
whites. The city was full of negroes at this time. These
seemed to represent mainly the two extremes of prosperity
and poverty. The gentlemen could not walk on the street
without being applied to by some old man or woman who
was in want, and who, as long as the visitors had anything
to give, needed only to ask to be assisted.
" \Ve are like lost souls on the banks of the Styx,"
said Dr. Gary. " I feel as much a stranger as if I were on
Pi:. ( AIIY MKKTS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE
another planet. And to think that onr grandfathers helped
to make this nation I"
" To think that we ever surrendered ! " exclaimed Gen-
eral Legaie, with a flash in his eye.
They took lodgings at a little boarding-house, and called
next day in a body on the Head of the Nation, but were
unable to see him ; then they waited on one after another
of several high officers of the Government whom they
<id to be dominant in the national councils. Some
they failed to get access to; others heard them civilly, but
with undisguised coldness. At one place they were treated
rudely by a negro door-keeper, whose manner was so in-
solent that the General turned on him sharply with a word
and a gesture that sent him bouncing inside the door.
After this interview, as Dr. Gary was making his way back
to his boarding-house, he met one of his old servants. The
negro was undisguisedly glad to see him. He wrung his
hand again and again.
>u's de fust frien', master, Fs seen since I been
heah!"hesai<l.
n You are the first friend, John, I have seen/' said tho
Doctor, smiling. He put his hand in his pocket and gave
the old man a bank-note.
As the Doctor was engaged in this colloquy he was
observed with kindly interest or amusement by many
passers-by — among them, by an elderly and handsomely
drooocd couple, accompanied by a very pretty girl, who
were strolling along, and loitered for a moment within
earshot to observe the two strangers.
• Wii.i: a picturesque figure!" said tho lady as tiny
passed on.
* \Vi,;.-!i one?"
•• \\Y1I. Loth. I almost thought of them as one. I
wish, Alice, you could have got a sketch of them as they
e to
•• Ho is a Southerner— from his voice," said her husband,
who was Judge Rockfield, one of the ablest and most noted
244 RED ROCK
men at that time in public life ; one of the wisest in coun-
cil, and who, though his conservatism in that period of
fierce passion kept him from being as prominent as some
who were more violent and more radical, yet was esteemed
one of the ablest and soundest men in the country.
He was a Senator from his State, and the owner of one of
the leading and most powerful journals in the country.
Dr. Gary, having given the old negro his address, took a
street-car to try to overhaul his friends. It was quite full,
and the Doctor secured the last vacant seat. A few blocks
farther on, several persons boarded the car, among them
the elderly gentleman and his wife and daughter, already
mentioned, and another lady. The Doctor rose instantly.
" Will you take my seat, madam ? " he said to the near-
est lady, with a bow. The other ladies were still left
standing, though there were many men seated ; but the
next second a young fellow farther down the car rose, and
gave up his seat. As he took his stand the Doctor caught
his eye.
" ' The Athenians praise hospitality, the Lacedemonians
practise it,' " he said in a distinct voice that went through
the car, and with a bow to the young fellow which
brought a blush of pride to his pleasant face.
The next moment the gentleman who had entered with
his wife touched the Doctor on his arm.
" I beg your pardon: is your name Gary ?"
"Yes, air."
" Can this be John Gary of Birdwood ? "
"Yes, sir."
" Don't you remember Anson Rockfield ? "
" Why, Rockfield, my old college-mate ! " exclaimed the
Doctor. The two men grasped each other's hands with a
warmth which drew to them the attention and interest of
the whole car. " Rockfield, you see I am still quoting
Plutarch," said the Doctor.
" And still practising his principles/' said the Senator,
Bmiling, as he presented him to his wife.
1HI. CART MEETS Aff OLD COLLEGE MATE 245
" My dear, this is the man to whom you are indebted
for w is good in me. But for him I should have
gone to the d — 1 years before you knew me."
"lie gives me far too much credit, madam, and himself
far too little/' said the Doctor. " I am sure that ever to
have been able to win the prizes he has won he must have
been always worthy, as worthy as a man can be of a
woman/' He bowed low to Mrs. .Rockfield.
Senator Rockfield urged the Doctor to come at once to
his house and be his guest while in the city, an invitation
which his wife promptly seconded with much graciousness.
" Let us show you that some of the Athenians practise
as well as ;ospitality," she said, smiling.
the Doctor excused himself from accept-
ing the invitation, but said that with Mrs. Rockfield'
mission he would call and pay his respects, and he did so
that evening.
As a result of this meeting an audience was arranged for
him and his friends next day with the President, who
i them with great civility, though he gave them no
assurance that ho would accept their views, and fun
no clew to lead them to think they had made any impres-
sion at all. They came away, therefore, somewhat down-
cast.
••re the Southerners left for home. Senator Rncklield
! on Dr. Gary and, taking him aside, had a long talk
with him, explaining somewhat the situation and th-
he had felt himself compelled to take. He wound up,
however, with an appeal that Dr. Cary would not ]«
fences to divide them and would allow him
to render him personally any assistance that his situation
ini^lit call for.
.in ri<-h now, Gary/' ho said ; " while you have suf-
fered reverses and may have found your means im;
andyoura-lf at times even cran i"ne Doctor thought
how little he knew of the nal facta.) "It is the fortune
of war, and I want you to allow me to help you. I sup-
246 RED ROCK
pose you must have lost a good deal ? " he said, interroga-
tively.
A change passed over the old Doctor's face. Reminis-
cence, pain, resolution were all at work, and the pleasant
light wlik-li had been there did not return, but in its place
was rather the shade of deepened fortitude.
" No," he said, quietly. " < War cannot plunder Virtue.'
I have learned that a quiet mind is richer than a crown."
" Still, I know that the war must have injured you
some," urged the Senator. " We were chums in old times
and I want it to be so now. I have never forgotten what
you were to me, and what I told my wife of your influence
on me was less than the fact. Why, Gary, I even learnt
my politics from you," he said, with a twinkle in his eye.
Dr. Gary thanked him, but was firm. He could think
of nothing he could do for him.
" Except this : think of us as men. Come down and
see for yourself."
" Still practising Plutarch," said the Senator. " Well,
the time may come, even if it has not come yet, and I
want you to promise me that when it does, you will call
on me — either for yourself or any friend of yours. It will
be a favor to me, Gary," he added, with a new tone in his
voice, seeing the look on the Doctor's face. " Somehow,
you have turned back the dial, and taken me back to the
time when we were young and fresh, and full of high
hopes and — yes — aspirations, and I had not found out how
d — d mean and sordid the world is. It will be a favor to
me."
"All right, I will," said the Doctor, "if my friends
need it." And the two friends shook hands.
So the Commission from the old county returned home.
Captain Allen of late spent more and more of his time at
Dr. Gary's. His attitude toward Blair was one of gallantry
mingled with protection and homage ; but that was his
attitude toward every girl ; so Blair was under no delusion
about it, and between them was always waged a warfare that
DR. CART MEETS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE 247
was half pleasantry. To Mammy Krenda, however, the
young man's relation to her mistress meant much more.
No one ever looked at Blair that the old mammy did not
tly interpret it as a confession and a declaration,
and having done this she instantly formed her judgment,
and took her stand. She had divined the ambition of Dr.
Still long before that aspiring young man dispatched to
Ifin Blair that tinted note which was the real if not the
immediate cause of the Carys' removal from Birdwood to
the Bellows cottage. And during those preliminary visits
which the young physician had made to the old one, the
old woman had with her sharp eyes penetrated his assumed
disguise and made him shiver. Dr. Still knew that
though Dr. Gary was taking him at his word and believed
he really came so often to talk of medicine and seek ad-
vice, yet the old mammy discerned his real object, and de-
spised him.
In Captain Allen's case it was different. Though the
old woman and he were ostensibly always at war and never
were together without his teasing her and her firing a shot
in return at him, yet, at heart, she adored him. His dis-
tinguished appearance and his leading position, taken with
his cordial and real friendliness toward herself, made him
a favorite with her — and the speech he had made to Mid-
dleton on her account and his hostility to Leech made her
his slave.
Her manner to him was always capricious and fault-find-
ing, as became the jealous guardian of Miss Blair; but
"old Argos," as Captain Allen called her, was his warm
ally and he knew it. She took too many occasions to
promote his and Hlair's wishes, as she understood them.
for him to doubt it, and, possibly, it was as much due to
h'-r misapprehension as to anything else, that Steve was
drawn on to do what, but for Blair's good sense, might
have imperilled both his happiness and hers.
Since the stir created by the Ku Klnx raid, Captain
Allen had exercised more precaution than he was accus-
248 RED ROCK
tomed to do. All sorts of rumors were afloat as to
what the Government had promised on the instigation of
Leech and Still. Captain Allen's name was mentioned in
all of them. Steve, in consequence, had of late been at
the court-house less continuously than usual. And from
equally natural causes, he had been much more at Dr.
Gary's. To Mammy Krenda's innuendoes, he laughingly
replied that it was healthier near the mountains — to which
the old woman retorted that she knew what mountains he
was trying to climb.
One afternoon he rode up to Dr. Gary's a little earlier
than usual, and, finding the family absent, turned his
horse out in the yard and lounged on the porch, awaiting
their arrival. He had not been there long when Mammy
Krenda appeared. Steve watched her for a moment with
amusement. He knew she had come out to talk to him.
" What are you prowling about here for, you old Ku
Klux witch, you ?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye.
Mammy Krenda gave a sniff.
" Ku Klux ! Ku Klux ! ! If prowlin' mecks Ku Klux,
I wonder what you wuz doin' last night ? An' what you
doin' now ? "
" Jerry's been around, the drunken rascal ! " thought
Steve to himself. He knew Jerry was courting a grand-
daughter of old Krenda's.
" How's Jerry coming on with his courting ?" he asked,
irrelevantly.
" N'em mind about Jerry," said the old mammy.
" Jerry know mo' 'bout co'tin' than some other folks."
This was interesting, and Steve, seeing that she had
something on her mind, gave her a lead. He learned that
the old woman thought her " chile" was not well — that she
was " pesterin' herself mightily " about something, and,
what was more astonishing, that Mammy Krenda held that
he himself was in a measure responsible for it.
A little deft handling and a delicate cross-examination
soon satisfied Steve that Jacquelin stood no chance. He
DR. GARY MEETS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE
hinted as to Middleton. Mammy Krenda threw up her
. " She ain' gwine many no Yankee come pokin' in
folks' kitchen."
That disposed of it so far as Middleton was concerned.
' • I low about McRaffle ? He's always hanging around ? "
laughed Steve.
Krenda gave a sniff and started on.
" Dat man what been in a coffin ! Jes' soon marry a
lizard ! You know she am' go* marry dat man ! She
wouldn' look at him ! "
"Well, who is it ?" demanded Steve.
The old woman turned MI id faced him ; gave him a
penetrating glance, and, with a toss of her turbaned-head,
walked into the house.
Steve sat on the porch for some time in deep reflection,
and then rising, walked across the grass, saddled his horse
and rode quietly away. All the past came before him and
all the present too. Could it be possible that he hud been
the cause of Middleton's repulse and of Jacquelin's fail-
ure ? It had never occurred to him. Yet, this was un-
doubtedly the old mammy's theory. She had as good as
told him that he was the cause of Blair's disquietude, and
in the light of her revelation it all seemed reasonable
enough. This was the secret of her attitude toward
Jacquelin. If she GAied f»»r him, it was his duty to marry
her. And where could he ever find her superior ? Who
was BO good and fine ? Such were his reflection*.
So one evening when he was with Blair, he suddenly
began to speak to her as he had never done before. Blair
was not looking at him, and she . lightly. Bui
Steve did not respond BO. He had grown serious. Blair
looked at him quickly ; her smile died out, and the color
flushed her face. Could Steve be in earnest ? She gazed
at him curiously ; but unhesitatingly; only a look almost
of sorrow came into her eyes. Steve went «m and said
1. When he had finish'
denly sat down by him ami put her hand over hi She
250 EED ROCK
was perfectly composed and her eyes looked frankly into
his.
"No, Steve — you are mistaken/' she said, quietly.
"You have misunderstood your feelings. You do not
love me — at least, you are not in love with me. You love
me I believe, devotedly, and I thank God for it every day
of my life ; as I love you as a sister — but you are not in
love with me. You would help me, relieve me, spare me
trouble and anxiety, save me from Captain — M — Middle-
ton — and you see no reason why we should not marry.
But there is one reason. You are not in love with me
and I am not in love with you." She was speaking so
gravely and her eyes were looking into his so frankly and
with such true friendliness that Steve, though feeling some-
what flat at his repulse, could not deny what she said.
"I know the difference," she went on, quietly. She
paused and reflected and, to Steve's surprise, suddenly
changed and choked up. " I have had men in love with
me — and — " Her voice faltered. She looked down, put
her hand to her eyes and with a cry of, " Oh ! Steve ! "
buried her face against his shoulder. " I seem to curse
everyone that loves me."
In an instant Steve's strong arm was around her and he
was comforting her like an older brother. His sympathy
opened the girl's heart, and drew out the secret of her un-
happiness as nothing else could have done. Blair had re-
vealed her feelings to him as she had hardly before revealed
them even to herself. It was the old story of misunder-
standing, and high spirit ; stung pride, hot words, and vain
regret — regret not for herself ; but only for others. Her
u M happiness was that she had brought sorrow to others. It
was because of her that Jacquelin had left home, and that
his mother was dying of a broken heart. Steve tried to
comfort her. She was all wrong, he assured her — she took
a wholly erroneous view of the matter. But it was not a
success. Jacquelin, she knew, had incurred Leech's per-
sonal hatred on her account, and that was the primary
DR. CART MEETS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE 251
cause of his exile. All the other trouble had flowed from
it : his mother's decline was owing to her repining for
Jacquelin and her anxiety about Rupert, who, cut off from
and influence, was beginning to show
symptoms of wildness. All these Blair traced back to
Folly.
Steve, having failed in his effort to comfort her by ar-
gument, took another method and boldly assailed her
whole idea as unreasonable and morbid. lie threatened
to write to Jacquelin and fetch him home, and he would
have Rupert back at once, and keep him straight too, and
if Leech molested him, he would have him to settle with.
The effect of this was just what Steve had anticipated.
Hlair suddenly took the opposite tack ; but in the battle
that ensued she showed that she had recovered at least a
part of her spirit.
Steve that evening sent Jacquelin a letter intend
meet him on the arrival of his vessel, telling him of his
mother's declining health and urging him to hasten home.
He also wrote to the head of the school where Rupert was.
CHAPTER XXII
JACQUEUX GRAY COMES HOME AND CLAIMS A GRAVE-
YARD
WHEN Jacqn lin Gray returned home, his arrival was
wholly unexpected. His ship had reached port only a
few days before and he had planned to take his friends by
surprise, and, without giving any notice, had at once started
for home. He would hardly have been known for the
same man : in place of the pallid and almost bed-ridden
invalid who had been borne away on a stretcher a year
or two back, appeared a vigorous, weather-browned man,
almost as stalwart as Steve himself. The first to recognize
him was Waverley, who had been sent to the railroad by
Mrs. Gray to try and get news of him.
" Well b'fo' de Lord !" exclaimed the old man, " ef dat
ain't ! — " He paused and took another scrutinizing look,
and, with a bound forward, broke out again. " Marse
Jack, you done riz f'um de dead. Ef I didn* think 'twas
my ole marster — er de Injun-Killer. Bless de Lord ! —
you's jest in time. My mistis sen' me down fur a letter —
she say she 'bleeged to have a letter to-day. But dis de
bes' letter could V come in dis wull fur her. Yas, suh,
she'll git well now." He took in the whole crowd confi-
dentially. He was wringing Jacquelin's hand in an ecstasy
of joy, and the welcome of the others was not less warm, if
less voluble. Under it all, however, was something that
struck Jacquelin and went to his heart — something plain-
tive— different from what he had expected. The negroes
too had changed. The hearty laughter had given place to
something that had the sound of bravado in it. The shin-
252
JACQUELIN GRAY COMES HOME 253
ing teeth were not seen as of old. Old Waverle/s words
sent a chill through him. What could they mean ?
How was his mother ? And aunt — and all the others ?
— at Birdwood and everywhere ? he asked.
His mistress had been " mighty po'ly, mighty po'ly in-
deed/' the old servant said. "Been jes' piniu' fur you to
git back. What meek you stay so long, Marse Jack ? Hit
must be a long ways 'roun de wull ? But she'll be all
right now. De Doctor say you de bes' physic she could
git. All de others is well."
"And all at Birdwood ? " asked Jacquelin.
"'Tain't Budwood you's axin' 'bout. Washy Still, he's
at Budwood. Dem you want know 'bout is at Mis' Bel-
lers ! Washy Still thought he wuz gwine git one o' dem
whar wuz at Budwood ; but he ain't do it. Rich or no
rich, dee tun up dey nose at him — and all he git wuz de
nest arter de bud done fly. Dee look higher'n him I
knows. But I mighty glad you come. Marse Steve, he's
dyah. He's a big man now. You's done stay away too
long. He's one o' de leaders."
What could this mean ?
As Jacquelin drove homeward with the old man he dis-
covered what it meant ; for Waverley was not one to take
the edge from a blow. He had a sympathetic heart and
he made the most of it.
" Marse Jack, de debble is done broke loose, sho 1 " he
wound up. "De overseer is in de gret house, and de
gent'man's in de blacksmiff shop. I wonders sometimes
dat old Injun-Killer don' come down out de picture sho
'nough — like so many o' dem dead folks what comin' out
dey graves."
•• What's that ?" asked Jacquelin.
" Dat's what dee tells me," protested Waverley. " De
woods and roads is full on 'em at night. An* you can't git
a nigger to stir out by hisself arter dark. I b'lioves it,
and BO does plenty o' urra," He gave a little nenrous
laugh.
254 RED ROCK
" What nonsense is this ? " demanded Jacquelin.
" 'Tain' no nonsense, Marse Jack. 'Tis de fatal truf-~
Since sich doin's been goin' on, de graves won* hole 'em.
De's some knows 'tain* no nonsense Dee done been to de
house o' several o' dese sarsy niggers whar done got dee
heads turned and gin 'em warnin' an' a leetle tetch o'
what's comin' to 'em. Dee went to Moses' house turr
night an' gin him warnin'. Moses wa'nt dyah ; but dee
done lef him de wud — cut three cross marks in de tree
right side he do ' ; an' he wife say dee leetle mo' drink de
well dry. One on 'em say he shot in de battle nigh heah
and was cut up in de ole horspittle, and dat he jes come
from torment to gi' Moses an' Sherrod an' Nicholas Ash
warnin'. Dee say he drink six water-bucketfuls and hit
run down he guzzle sizzlin' jes like po'in' 't on hot stove.
Moses say he don' mine 'em ; but I tell you he better ! "
A sudden gleam of shrewdness crossed the old fellow's face.
" Things had done got pretty bad, Marse Jack/' the old
man went on, confidentially. "Hiram Still and Cun'l
Leech, dee owned ev'y thing, and ef you didn't do what dee
say you couldn' turn roun'. Hiram, he turn' me out my
shop jes soon as he got our place ; an' soon as he fine he
couldn't git my young mistis, he turn* de Doctor out.
Look like he and dat urr man, Leech, sutney is got a
grudge 'ginst all o' we all. Dee done put dee cross marks
'ginst Hiram too. Some say 'twas de Injun-Killer. Leech
say he don' mine 'em — he's gwine to be gov'ner an' he say
he'll know how to settle 'em ; but Hiram, sence he fine dat
mark on de porch and on de tree, he walks right smart
lighter'n he did."
As they neared the county seat they met a body of
negroes marching. The officers yelled at them to get out
of the way, and old Waverley pulled out to one side.
" What are they ? " asked Jacquelin.
" Dem!s Cun'l Leech's soldiers," said Waverley —
" dem's de mellish. When you meets dem you got to git
out 'n de way, I tell you,"
JACQQELIN GRAY COMES HOME 2f)5
The change in the aspect of the county in the few years
of his absence impressed Jacqnelin. It seemed to him
greater even than that which had taken place during
the war. The fields were more grown up ; the houses
more dilapidated. But as much as these warned him,
Jaequelin was not prepared for the change which on his
arrival at Dr. Gary's he found had taken place.
His mother's appearance struck a chill to his heart.
His mother had become an old woman. She had kept
everything from him that could disturb him. He was
shocked at the change which illness had made in her, and
all lie could do was to try and conceal his anguish.
He sought Dr. Gary and had a long talk with him ; but
the Doctor could not hold out any hope. It waa simply
a general breakdown, he told him : the effect of years of
anxiety. " You cannot transplant old trees/' he said, sadly.
Jacquelin ground his teeth in speechless self-reproach.
" Ah ! my dear Jacquelin, there are some things that
even you could not have changed," said the Doctor, with a
deep sigh.
As Jacquelin looked at him the expression on the old
physician's face went to his heart.
" Yes, I know," he said, softly. " Ah I well, well pull
through."
•• You young men, perhaps; not we old ones. We are
too broken to weather the storm. Your father was the
fortunate one."
As the young man went out from this interview he met
Blair. She had just come in from her school ; her cheeks
were all aglow and she gave him a warm handclasp — and
her eyes, after the first glance into his, fell. He was sure
from what he had heard that she was engaged to Steve, and
he had rehearsed a hundred times how he should meet her.
Now like a puff of wind went all his strong resolutions. It
was as though he had opened a door toward the sunrise.
Afresh sense of her charm earn.- OY6T him as though he
had just discovered her. lk-r |»IX.M n-e appeared to him to
RED ROCK
fill all the place. She had grown in beauty since he went
away. She was blushing and laughing and running away
from Steve, who had met her outside and told her of
Jacquelin's arrival, and was calling to her through the
door to come back ; but after shaking hands with Jacquelin
she sped on upstairs, with a little side glance at him as she
ran up. She had never appeared so beautiful to Jacquelin.
and his heart leaped up in him at her charm. It was the
vision that had gone with him all around the globe. He
followed her with his eyes. As she turned at the top of
the stairs his heart sank ; for, leaning down over the banis-
ters, she gave Steve a glance so full of meaning that
Jacquelin took it all in in an instant.
"Fm going to tell him," called Steve, teasingly.
" No, you promised me you would not, Steve," and she
was gone.
Jacquelin turned to the door.
Steve called him :
" Jack, Jack, come here."
But Jacquelin could not stand seeing him at that mo-
ment. He wanted to be alone, and he went out to meet
the full realization of it all by himself.
Jacquelin made up his mind at once. Although Doctor
and Mrs. Gary pressed him to stay with them, he felt
that he could not live in the house with Blair. How could
he sit by and see her and Steve day by day ! Steve was as
a brother to him, and Blair, from her manner, meant to be
a sister ; but he could not endure it. He declared his in-
tention of starting at once to practise law. Steve offered
him a partnership, meeting Jacquelin's objection that it
would not be fair, with the statement that he would make
Jacquelin do all the work, as he proposed to be a states-
man.
So, as the Doctor had said that a change and occupation
in household duties might possibly do Mrs. Gray good,
Jacquelin rented a small farm between the Carys' and the
old hospital-place on the river, and they moved there. His
JACQUELIN GRAY COMES HOME 257
mother and Miss Thomasia furnished it with the assistance
of Mrs. Gary, and Blair, and other neighbors ; the old
pieces of furniture and other odds and ends giving, as
Miss Thomasia said, " a distinction which even the mean-
ness of the structure itself could not impair. For, my
" she said to Blair, who was visiting them the even-
ing after they had made their exodus from Dr. Gary's
to their new home, " I have often heard my grandfather
say that nothing characterized gentle-people more than dig-
nity under misfortune." And she smoothed down her
faded dress and resumed her knitting with an air which
HIair in vain tried to reproduce to her father on her return.
Jacquelin was vaguely conscious that a change had come,
not only over the old county since he left it, but over his
friends also. Not merely had the places gone down, hut
the people themselves were somewhat changed. They
looked downcast ; thciir tone, formerly jovial and cheery,
t tinge of bitterness. In those few years a ditterence
between him and them had grown up. lie did not analyze
it, but it was enough to disquiet him. Had his point of
view changed •* 1 i defects which he thought he
could remedy. Those he was with, apparently saw none,
-imply plodded on, as though oblivious of the fads.
; le him unhappy. He, determined to use his uni.
view, as he deemed it, to instruct and aid those who
lacked his ad vantages. It si him that, in his travels,
his horizon had widened. On the high seas or in a for-
ei^n land, it had been the flag of the nation that he wanted
to see* He had begun to realize the idea of a g-eat nation
that should be known and respected wherever a s*.»ip cor, Id
sail or a traveller could penetrate ; of a re-united co;
in whi -h the people of both sides, retaining all the best
of both sides, should vie with each other in building up
. and should equally receive all its benefits. !!«•
had pondered mm-h on this, and In- thought he had discov-
ered the way to accomplish it. in a mmplote acceptance ol
the new situation.
17
258 BED ROOK
It was a great blow to Jacquelin to find on his return
what extraordinary changes had taken place in the county :
Still, occupying not only his old home, but Dr. Gary's ;
Leech the supreme power in all public matters in the
county ; Nicholas Ash driving a carriage, with money that
must have been stolen ; and almost the entire gentry of the
State either turned out of their homes or just holding on,
while those whom he had left half-amused children playing
at the game of freedmen, were parading around the coun-
try in all the bravery and insolence of an armed mob. All
this was a shock to him. He spoke of his views to Dr.
Gary. The Doctor was the person who had first suggested
the idea to his mind, and was the one who, he felt, was the
soundest and safest guide to follow. In the little that he
had seen of him since his return he had found him, as he
knew he would be, precisely the same he had always been,
absolutel}r calm and unruffled. To his astonishment the
Doctor shook his head.
" It is Utopian. I thought so myself formerly and, as you
may remember, incurred much animadversion and some
obloquy. I did not care a button about that. But I am
not sure that General Legaie and those who agreed with
him, whose action I at that time thought the height of
folly, were not nearer right than I was. I am sure my
principle was correct, and, perhaps, had they yielded and
gone in with us at the beginning it might have been differ-
ent ; but I am not certain as to it now." He bowed his
head in deep and painful reflection.
" It is now vae victis, and the only hope is in resistance,"
he proceeded, sadly. " Yielding is esteemed simply a con-
fession of cowardice. The miscreants who rule us know
no restraint except fear. You will be astonished when I
tell you that the last few years have almost overthrown the
views I have held for a lifetime. I am nearer agreeing
with Legaie than I ever was in my whole life." The old
fellow shook his head in deep despondency over this fatal
declension-,
JACQUEIJN GRAY COML* 1H>ME
Jacquelin did not agree with him. He had all a young
man's confidence. He determined that he would effect his
by law. He shortly had an illustration of what the
Doctor meant.
Mrs. Gray was failing steadily. The strain she had un-
dergone had been too much for her. She had lived only
until Jacquelin's return.
To the end, all her heart was on her old home. In those
last days she went back constantly to the time when she
had come as a bride to her home adorned with all that love
and forethought could devise. The war and the long
years of struggle seemed to have been blotted out and her
memoiy appeared only to retain and to dwell on every
scene of the old life. One of her constant thoughts was :
If she could only have lain at the old home, at her hus-
band's side I So. she passed quietly away. In the watches
of the ~ast night, when no one was with her but Jacquelin,
after she had talked to him of Rupert and confided him to
his care, she asked Jacquelin if he thought she might ever
be taken home. His father and she had picked out the
spot under one of the great trees.
"Mother," said Jacquelin, kneeling beside her and hold-
ing one of her thin, transparent hands in his, " if I live
and God is good to me, you shall lie there."
He had consulted General Lcgaie and Steve on the sub-
ject, and they both had thought that the burying-grouiul
had not been conveyed in the deed to Still, though Leech,
to whom, as counsel for Still, they had broached the mat-
ter, asserted that it had been included.
The day Mrs. Gray died, Dr. Gary wrote a note to Still
on Jacquelin's behalf, though without his knowledge, in-
dicating his cousin's wish to bury his mother beside his
father, and saying that it would not be held to affect any
question of ownership at issue between them.
To this Still rcpl while he should be " very glad
to do anything that Dr. Gary or any member of his family
asked for themselve*" he would not permit any outsider tc
260 BED ROCK
be buried on his place, especially one who had insulted
him ; that he did not acknowledge that any question ex-
isted as to his title ; and that he was prepared to show that,
if so, it was unfounded. He added that he was " going to
remove the tomb-stones, cut down the trees, clear up the
place, and get rid of the old grave-yard altogether/'
A part of the letter was evidently written by a lawyer.
Dr. Gary felt that he could not withhold this notification
from Jacquelin. Before doing so, however, he consulted
General Legaie. The little General's eyes snapped as he
read the letter. " Ah I if he were only a gentleman ! " lie
sighed. The next moment he broke out. " I'll lay my
riding-whip across the dog's shoulders ! That's what I'll
do." The Doctor tried to soothe him. He would show
the letter to Jacquelin, he said. The General protested.
" My dear sir, if you do, there will be trouble. Young
men are so rash. They have not the calm deliberation that
we have.'5 The Doctor, recalling his conversation with
Jacquelin, said he thought he could rely on his wisdom.
" If he sees that letter there will be trouble," asserted the
General, " or he is not the nephew of his — ahem ! not the
son of his father." However, the Doctor was firm. So he
broke the matter to Jacquelin. To their surprise, Jacquelin
took it very quietly ; he did not say anything nor apj>ii:ir
to mind it a great deal. The General's countenance fell.
" Young men have changed since my day," he said, sadly.
So Mrs. Gray was buried in what had been a part of the
church-yard of the old brick-church, and Jacquelin, walk-
ing with his arm around Rupert, was as quiet as Miss
Thomasia.
That afternoon he excused himself from the further at-
tendance of his friends, left his aunt and Rupert and
walked out alone. He went first to the house of his neigh-
bor, Stamper. Him Jacquelin told of his purpose. Stamper
wished to accompany him ; but he would not permit that.
" Have you got a pistol ? " asked Stamper. No, he was
not armed, he said ; he only wanted hia friend to know,
JACQUELIN GRAY COMES HOME 261
"in case anything should happen." Then he walked
;u the direction of Red Rock, leaving little Stamper
•ig on the bars looking after him rather wistfully un-
til he had disappeared.
Il> had not been gone long when Stamper started after
him. "If he gets hold of him, I'm afeared he'll kill
him." he muttered as he hurried along.
;is after sunset, and Hiram Still was sitting alone in
all at Red Rock, by a table in the drawers of which
he kept his papers. He never liked to sit in the dark,
and had just called for a light. He was waiting for it. He
was not in a good humor, for he had had something of a
qnarrel with Leech, and his son Wash had taken the
latter's side. The young doctor was always taking sides
against him these days. They had made him write Dr.
Gary that he was going to clear up the grave-yard, and he
was not at all sure that it was a good thing to do ; he had
always heard that it was bad luck to break up a grave-yard,
and now they had left him alone in the house. Even the
drink of whiskey he had taken had not restored his good
•its.
y did not the light come? He roared an oath toward
the open door. " D n the lazy niggers ! "
y there was a step, or something like a step,
him — he was not sure about it, for lie must have been
j— and lie looked up. His heart jumped into his
throat. Before him in the hall stood, tall and gray, the
-killer," his eyes blazing like coals of fire.
"Good God!" he gasped.
No, it was F | -it was a man. But it was almost
as bad. Still had not seen Jacqnelin before in two
And he had never i how like the '^Indian-killer"
he was. What did he MU
I : i.e come to see you about the grave-yard," said
Jacquelin. The voice was his father's. It smote Still like
a voice from the dead.
1 wanted to apolog MI ; hut ho could not speak,
262 KED ROCK
his throat was dry. There was a pistol in the drawer be-
fore him and he pulled the drawer open and put his hand
on it. The cold steel recalled him to himself and he divw
it toward him, his courage reviving. Jacquelin must
have heard the sound ; he was right over him.
" If you attempt to draw that pistol on me," he said,
quietly, " I will kill you right where you sit."
Whether it was the man's unstrung condition, or whether
it was Jacquelin's resemblance to the fierce Indian-killer,
as he stood there in the dusk with his eyes burning, his
strong hands twitching, or whether it was his unexpected
stalwartness and fierceness as he towered above the over-
seer, the latter sank back with a whine.
A negro entered at a side door with a light, but stood
still, amazed at the scene, muttering to himself : " Good
Lordy ! »
Jacquelin went on speaking. He told Still that if he
cut down so much as a bush in that grave-yard until he had
a decision of court authorizing him to do so, he would kill
him, even if he had the whole Government of the United
States around him.
"Now, I have come here to tell you this," he said, in
the same quiet, strange voice, "and I have come to tell
you one thing more, that you will not be in this place
always. We are coming back here, the living and the
dead."
Still turned even more livid than before. " What do you
mean?" he gasped.
" What I say, we are coming back." He swept his eye
around the hall, turned on his heel, and walked toward
the picture over the fireplace. Just then a gust of wind
blew out the lamp the negro held, leaving the hall in
gloom. When the servant came back with a light, accord-
ing to the story that he told, Still was raving like a mad-
man, and he drank whiskey and raved all night.
Neither Still nor Jacquelin ever spoke of the interview ;
but a story got abroad in the neighborhood that the old
SfORE HIM STOOD. TALL AND GRAY, THE INDIAN- KILLER.
JACQUELIN GRAY COMES HOME
Indian-killer had appeared to Still the night of Mrs. Gray's
burial and threatened him with death if he should ever
touch the grave-yard. Still said he had never meant to
touch it anyhow, and that Leech had made him put it in
t-tter for a joke. It was, however, a dear joke.
For a time there was quite a coolness between the
friends ; but they had too much in common to be able to
afford to quarrel, so it was made up.
CHAPTER XXIII
TWO NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY
OTHER changes than those already recorded had taken
place in the years that had passed since the day when
Middleton and Thurston, on their way to take command
of a part of the conquered land, had found Jacquelin
Gray outstretched under a tree at the little country station
in the Red Rock County. In this period Middleton had
won promotion in the West, and a wound which had
necessitated a long leave of absence and a tour abroad ;
and finally, his retirement from the service. Reely Thur-
ston, who was now a Captain himself, declared that Mid-
dleton's wound was received in the South and not in the
West, and that if such wounds were to be recognized, he
himself ought to have been sent abroad. The jolly little
officer, however, if he wished to boast of wounds of this
nature, might have cited a later one ; for he had for some
time been a devoted admirer of Miss Ruth Welch, who
had grown from a romping girl to a lively and very hand-
some young lady, and had, as Reely said of her, the warm-
est heart toward all mankind, except a man in love with
her, and the coldest toward him, of any girl in the world.
However this might be, she had turned a very stony heart
toward Thurston in common with a number of others,
and after a season or two at fashionable summer-resorts
was finding, or thinking she was finding, all men insipid
and life very commonplace and hollow. She declared
that she liked Thurston better than any other man except
her father and a half dozen or more others, all of whom
labored under the sole dig a I vantage of being married,
264
T\VO NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY 205
and she fiiuilly, as the price of the continuance of this
somewhat measurable state of feeling, bound the Captain
by the most solemn pledges never to so much as hint at
any desire on his p;irt for a higher degree of affection.
The little soldier would have sworn by all the gods,
higher and lower, to anything that Ruth Welch proposed,
for the privilege of being her slave ; but he could no more
have stopped bringing up the forbidden subject when in
her presence, than he could have sealed up the breath in
his plump and manly bosom. He was always like a cat
that in sight of cream, though knowing he is on his
good behavior, yet, with invincible longing, licks his
chops.
No doubt the game had additional zest for Captain
Tlmrston from the disapproval with which Mrs. Welch al-
ways regarded him. He never approached Miss Kuih
without that lady fluttering around with the semi-comical
distress of an anxious hen that eannot see even the house-
dog approach her chick, without ruffling her feathers and
showing fight.
This ha«l thrown Thurston into a state of rather chronic
opposition to the good lady, and he revenged himself for
the loss of the daughter, by a habit of apparently espousing
ver the mother disapproved of, who on her part,
in a constant effort to prove him in the wrong.
He had even ventured to express open skepticism as to
the wisdom of the steps Mrs. Welch and her Aid Society
had been taking in their philanthropic efforts on behalf of
the freed men ; giving expression to the heretical doctrine
that in the main tin- negroes had been humanely U
before the war, and that the question should be
with now from an economical rather than fnun :i senti-
1 standpoint. He gave it as his opinion that the
people down there knew more about the Negro, and the
questions arising out of the new conditions, than tho.se
who weiv undertaking to settle those rom a
i ud that, if let alone, the questions would settle
2(30 RED ROCK
themselves. While as to Leech, the correspondent of Mrs.
Welch's society, he declared that he would not believe any-
thing he said.
Nothing could have scandalized Mrs. Welch more than
such an utterance. And it is probable that this attitude
on Thurston's part did as much as her real philanthropy
to establish her in the extreme views she held.
For some time past there had ' been appearing in the
Censor, the chief paper in the city where the Welches
lived, a series of letters giving a dreadful, and, what Mrs.
Welch considered, a powerful account of the outrages that
were taking place in the South. According to the writer,
the entire native white population were engaged in nothing
but the systematic murder and mutilation of unoffending
negroes and Northern settlers, who on their side were
wholly without blame and received this persecution with
the most Christian and uncomplaining humility.
The author's name was not given, because, it was stated
in the letters, if it were known, he would at once be mur-
dered. Indeed, it was declared that the letters were not
written for publication at all, but were sent to a philan-
thropic organization composed of the best and most be-
nevolent ladies in the country, who would vouch for the
high standing of the noble Christian gentleman from
whose pen the accounts emanated. As the letters were
from the very section — indeed, from the very neighbor-
hood which Thurston always cited as an evidence of the
beneficent effect of his theory of moderation — Mrs. Welch,
who was the head of the organization to which Leech had
written them, saved them for the purpose of confounding
and, once for all, disposing of Captain Thurston's argu-
ments, together with himself.
So one morning when Thurston was calling on Ruth
Mrs. Welch brought in the whole batch of papers and
plumped them down before him with a triumphant air.
"Now, you read every word before you express an
opinion/' she said, decisively.
TWO NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY 267
While Thurston read, Mrs. Welch, who was enjoying
her triumph, annotated each letter with running com-
ments. These impressed Ruth greatly, but Thurston
wilily kept his face from giving the slightest clew to his
thoughts. When he was through reading, Mrs. Welch drew
a long breath of exultation.
" Well, what do you say to that ?"
" I don't believe it ! " said Thurston, calmly.
'• What ! " Mr>. Welch was lifted out of her chair by
astonishment.
" The writer of that is Jonadab Leech, one of the most
unmitigated "
" Captain Thtirston ! You do not know what you are
talking about ! " exclaimed Mrs. Welch.
" Do you mean to say Leech is not the writer of those
letters?"
" No, I did not say that," said Mrs. Welch, who would
have cut out her tongue before she would have uttered a
falsehood.
" I would not believe Leech on oath," said the Captain.
blandly.
"Oh, well, if that's the stand you take, there's no age
reasoning with you." And with a gesture expressive both
of pity and sorrow that she must wash her hands of him
completely and forever. Mr-. Welch gathered up her papers
and indignantly swept from the room.
When Thurston went away that day he had entrusted
Ruth with an apology for Mrs. Welch capable of being ex-
panded, as circumstances might require, to an unlimited
degree; for Ruth had explained to him how dear to her
mother's heart her charities were. But he had also given
liutli such sound reasons for his views regarding the people
in the region where ho had been stationed that, ho
inciples remained steadfast, the sympathies of the
girl had £one out to those whom he described as in such
incredible difficulties.
"Aak Larry about Miss Blair Cary," he said. "Ask
268 RED ROCK
him which is the better man, Dr. Gary or Jonadab Leech,
and which he'd believe first, that Steve Allen, who is
spoken of as such a ruffian, or Hiram Still, the martyr."
" And how about Miss Dockett ? " Ruth's eyes twin-
kled.
" Miss Dockett ?— Who is Miss Dockett ?" The little
Captain's face wore so comical an expression of counterfeit
innocence and sheepish guilt that the girl burst out laugh-
ing.
" Have you been in love with so many Miss Docketts
that you can't remember which one lived down there ? "
" No — oh, the girl I am in love with ? Miss Ruth — ah,
Dockett wasn't the name. It began with Wei — ." He
looked at Ruth with so languishing an expression that she
held up a warning finger.
"Remember."
He pretended to misunderstand her.
" Certainly I remember^-Ruth Welch/'
Ruth gathered up her tilings to leave.
" Please don't go. — Now that just slipped out. I swear
I'll not say another word on the subject as long as I live,
if you'll just sit down."
" I can't trust you."
"Yes, you can, I swear it; and I'll tell you all abou*
Miss Dockett and— Steve Allen."
This was too much for Ruth, and she reseated herself
with impressive condescension.
Miss Welch was greatly interested for other reasons.
Her father's health had not been very good of late, and ho
luul been thinking of getting a winter home in the South,
where he could be most of the time out of doors, as an old
wound in his chest still troubled him sometimes, and the
doctors said he must not for the present spend another
winter in the North. He had been in correspondence
with this very Mr. Still, who was spoken of so highly in
those letters, about a place just where this trouble was.
Besides, a short time before this conversation of Ruth's
TWO NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY 269
with Thurston, Major Welch had received a letter from
Middleton, who was still abroad, asking him to look into
his affairs. He had always enjoyed a large income, brt
of hue it had, he stated, fallen off, owing, as Mr. Bolter,
his agent, explained, to temporary complications growing
out of extensive investments Bolter had made for him
on joint account with himself in Southern enterprises.
These investments, Mr. Bolter assured him, were perfectly
safe and would yield in a short time immense profits, being
guaranteed by the State, and managed by the strongest
and most successful men down there, who were themselves
deeply interested in the schemes. It had happened, that
the very names Bolter had given as a guarantee of the se-
curity of his investment, had aroused Middleton's anxiety,
and though lie hud no reason, he said, to doubt Bolter, he
did doubt Leech and Still, the men Bolter had mentioned.
Major Welch had made an investigation. And it had
shown him that the investments referred to w«re so exten-
sive as to involve a considerable part of his cousin's estate.
Bolter gave Major Welch what struck the Jutter quite
u an "audience," though, when he learned the Major's
business, he suddenly unbent and became much more
confidential, explaining everything with promptness and
clearness. Bolter was a strong-looking, stout man, with a
round head and a strong face. Mis hn>w was rather low,
but his eyes were keen and his mouth linn. As he sat in
his inner business office, with his clerks in outer pens, he
looked the picture of a successful, self-contained man.
" \Vhy, they fight a railroad coming into their country
as if it wefe a public enemy," he said to Major Welch.
ion they must be pretty formidable antagonists."
"And I have gotten letters warning me and denouncing
the men who have planned and worked up the matter — and
who would carry it through if they were allowed to do so
— as though they were thieves."
He rang a bell and sent for the letters. Among them
WM one from Dr. Gary and another from General Le-
270 RED HOOK
gaie. Though strangers, they said they wrote to him as
one reported to be interested, and protested against the
scheme of Still and Leech, who were destroying the State
and pillaging the people. They contrasted the condition
of the State before the war and at the present time. Dr.
Gary's letter stated that " for purposes of identification "
he would say that both his father and grandfather luid
been Governors of the State. General Legaie's letter was
signed "Late General, C. S. A."
" What are you going to do with such people ! " ex-
claimed Mr. Bolter. " They abuse those men as if they
were pickpockets, and they are the richest and most influ-
ential men in that county, and Leech will, without doubt,
be the next Governor." He handed Major Welch a news-
paper containing a glowing account of Leech's services to
the Commonwealth, and a positive assertion that he would
be the next Governor of the State.
" What did you write them in reply ? " asked Major
Welch, who was taking another glance at the letters.
" Why, I wrote them that I believed I was capable of
conducting my own affairs," said the capitalist, with satis-
faction, running his hands deep in his pockets ; " and if
they would stop thinking about their grandfathers and
the times before the war, and think a little more about
their children and the present, it would be money in their
pockets."
" And what did they reply to that ? "
" Ah — why, I don't believe I ever got any reply to that.
I suppose the moss had covered them by that time," he
laughed. Major Welch looked thoughtful, and the capi-
talist changed his tone.
"In fact I had already made the investments, and I had
to see them through. Major Leech is very friendly to me.
It was through him we were induced to go into the enter-
prise— through him — and because of the opportunities it
offered, at the same time that it was made perfectly safe by
the guarantee of both the counties and the States. He
Ttt'0 NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY 271
» he in my — in our — employ, and he is a very shrewd
fellow, Leech is. That was the way we came to go in, and
it doesn't do to swap horses in the stream."
- .Mrs. \Veleh thinks very highly of him," said Major
\\Ylrh. meditatively. "She has had some correspond-
ence with him on behalf of her charitable society for
the freedmen, and she has been much impressed by
" My only question was whether he was not a little too
philanthropic," said Bolter, significantly. " But since I
have come to find out, I guess he has used his philanthropy
pretty discreetly. He's a very shrewd fellow." His smile
and manner grated on the Major somewhat.
" Perhaps he is too shrewd ?" he suggested, dryly.
" Oh, no, not for me. I have made it a rule in life to
treat every man as a rascal "
" Oh ! " A shadow crossed the Major's brow, which
Bolter was quick to catch.
"Until I found out differently."
" I should think the other would have been rather incon-
venient. " Major Welch changed the subject. " But Cap-
M iddlfton had some sort of trouble with this man, and
has always had a dislike for him. And 1 think I shall go
South and look into matters th
" Oh, well, that's nothing," broke in Bolter, hotly.
" What docs Middle-ton know about business ? That's his
These military officers don'1 understand the \\-oni.
.ire always stieklini: for their d — d dignity, and think
nan ain't willing to wipe up the floor for 'era he's
id to be a rascal."
It was as much the sudden insolence in the capitalist's
tone, as his words that offended Major Welch. He rose to
his feet.
I mi not awar* ing officers, and having risked
lives to save their country, necessarily make-
more narrow or greater fools than those who stayed
at home/' he said, col
272 RED ROOK
The other, after a sharp glance at him, was on his feet
in an instant, his whole manner changed.
" .My dear sir. You have misunderstood me. I assure
you you have." And he proceeded to smooth the Major
down with equal shrewdness and success ; delivering a most
warm and eloquent eulogy on patriotism in general, and on
that of Captain Lawrence Middleton in particular. Truth
to tell, it was not hard to do, as the Major was one of the
most placable of men, except where a principle was in-
volved ; then he was rock.
Bolter wound up by making Major Welch an offer, which
the latter could not but consider handsome, to go South
and represent his interests as well as Middleton's.
" If he is going there he better be on my side than
against me, and his hands would be tied then anyway," re-
flected Bolter.
" You will find our interests identical," he said, seeing
the Major's hesitation. " We are both in the same boat.
And yon will find that I have done by Mr. Middleton just
what I have done for myself. And I have taken every pre-
caution, of that you may be sure. And we are bound to
win. We have the most successful men in the State with us,
bound up by interest, and also as tight as paper can bind
them. We have the law with us, the men who make, and
the men who construe the law, and against us, only a few
old mossbacks and soreheads. If they can beat that com-
bination I should like to see them do it."
The only doubt in Major Welch's mind as to the pro-
priety of a move to the South was on account of his
daughter.
The condition of affairs there made no difference to Major
Welch himself — for he felt that he had the Union behind
him— and he knew it made none to Mrs. Welch. She had
)»(•(•] i working her hands off for two years to send things
to the negroes through these men, Still and Leech. But
with Iluth, who was the apple of her father's eye, it might
be another matter.
CHAPTER XXV
THE TRICK-DOCTOB
Rrm WELCH on awaking, still, perhaps, had some lit-
tle feeling about what she understood to be her hosts' atti-
tude on the question of Northerners, but when on coming
downstairs she was greeted on the veranda by her young
hostess, who presented her with a handful of dewy roses,
and looked as sweet as any one of them, or all of them put
together, her resentment vanished, and, as she expressed
it to her mother afterward, she " went over to the enemy
bag and baggage." As she looked out through the orchard
and across over the fields, glowing after the lust night's rain,
there came to Ruth for the first time that tender feeling
i comes to dwellers in the country, almost like a sweet
. and compensates them for so murh besides, and which
has made so many a poet, whether he has written or not.
ostess took her around the yard to show her he
bushes, particularly one which she said had come from one
i had always been her mother's favorite at their old
home,
" We have not always lived here ? " Her voice had a
little interrogation in it as she looked at Kuth, much as if
•he had said, " You know ? " And just as if she had said
ith answered, softly, "Yes, I know."
"It was almost entirely destroyed once during the war
when a regiment of cavalry camped in the yard," continued
the young hostess, "and we thought it gone ; but to our
delight a little sprig put up next spring, and some day I
hope this may be almost as good as the old one." She
sighed, and her ejes rested on the horizon far away.
18 2SU
290 RED ROCK
:i saw that the roses she had given her had come from
that hush, and she would have liked to stretch out her arms
and take her into a bond of hearty friendship.
Just then Major Welch appeared, and a moment later,
breakfast was announced. When they went into the little
plain dining-room there were other roses in an old blue
bowl on the table, and Ruth saw that they not only made the
table sweet, but were arranged deftly to hide the cracks
and chipped places in the bowl. She was wondering where
Dr. Gary could be, when his daughter apologized for his
absence, explaining that lie had been called up in the night
to go and see a sick woman, and then, in his name, in-
vited them to remain as their guests as long as might be
convenient to them. They ' ' might find it pleasanter than
to stay at Mr. Still's ? " This hospitality the travellers could
not accept, but Ruth appreciated it now, and she would
have appreciated it yet more could she have known that her
young hostess, sitting before her so dainty and fresh, had
cooked their breakfast that morning. When they left af-
ter breakfast, Miss Gary came out to their vehicle, giving
them full directions as to their road. Had her father been
at home, she said, he would have taken pleasure in con-
ducting them himself as far as the river. Uncle Tarquin
would tell them about the ford.
The horse was held by an old colored man, of a dark ma-
hogany hue, with bushy gray hair, and short gray whiskers.
On the approach of the visitors he took off his hat and
greeted them with an air as dignified as Dr. Gary's could
have been. As he took leave of them, he might have been
a host bidding his guests good-by, and he seconded his
mistress's invitation to them to come again.
When they drove off, Ruth somehow felt as if she were
parting from an old friend. Her little hostess's patched
table-cover and darned dress, and cracked china hidden by
the roses, all seemed to come before her, and Ruth glanced at
i ther with something very like tears in her eyes. They
had been in her heart all the morning. Major Welch, how-
THE TRICK-DOOTOB
ever, did not observe it. The fresh, balmy air filled his lungs
like a draught of new life, and he felt an interest in the
country about him, and a right to criticise it. It had been
rich enough before the war, he said, and might be made so
now if the people would but give up their prejudices and
go to work. He added many other criticisms, abstractly
wise and sensible enough. Ruth listened in silence.
As the travellers drove along they passed a small house,
just off the road, hardly more than a double cabin, but it
was set back amid fruit-trees, sheltered by one great oak,
and there was an air of quietude and peace about it which
went to Ruth's soul. £ lady in black, with a white cap on
her gray hair, and a white kerchief on her shoulders, was
sitting out on the little veranda, knitting, and Ruth was
sure that as they drove by she bowed to them.
The sense of peace was still on the girl when they came
on a country store, at a fork in the road a mile below.
There was a well, off to one side, and a small group of ne-
groes stood around it, two or three of them with mus-
kets in their hands, and one with a hare hung at his waist.
Another, who stood with his back to the road and had
a twisted stick in his hand, and an old army haversack
over his shoulder, was, at the moment the wagon drew up,
talking loudly and with vehement gesticulation; and, as
Major Welch stopped to ask a question, Ruth caught the
end of what this man was saying :
"I'm jest as good as any white man, and I'm goin' to
show 'em so. I'm goin' to marry a white 'ooman and meek
white folks wait on me. When I puts my mark iigin a
man he's gone, whether he's a man or a 'ooman, and I'se
done set it now in a gum-;
His hearers were manifestly much impressed by him.
An exclamation of approval went round among them.
little wagon stopping attracted attention, and the
r turned, and then, quickly, as if to make amends
for his loud speech, pulK-d <»tT his hat and came toward th«
vehicle with a curious, cringing motion,
292 BED ROOK
" My master ; my mistis," he said, bowing lower with
each step until his knee almost touched the ground. He was
u somewhat strongly built, dark mulatto, perhaps a little
past middle age and of medium height, and, as he came up to
the vehicle, Ruth thought she had never seen so grotesque a
figure, and she took in by an instinct that this was the trick-
doctor of whom Dr. Gary had spoken. His chin stuck
so far forward that the lower teeth were much outside of the
upper, or, at least, the lower jaw was ; for the teeth looked
as though they had been ground down, and his gums,
as he grinned, showed as blue on the edges as if he had
painted them. His nose was so short and the upper part
of his face receded so much that the nostrils were un-
usually wide, and gave an appearance of a black circle
in his yellow countenance. His forehead was so low that
he had evidently shaved a band across it, and the band ran
around over the top of his flat head, leaving a tuft of coarse
hair right in the middle, and on either side of it were cer-
tain lines which looked as if they had been tattooed. Im-
mediately under these were a pair of little furtive eyes
which looked in quite different directions, and yet moved
so quickly at times that it almost seemed as if they were
both focussed on the same object. Large brass earrings
were in his ears, and about his throat was a necklace of
blue and white beads.
Major Welch, having asked his question, drove on, the
mulatto bowing low at each step as he backed away with
that curious motion toward his companions by the well ;
and Ruth, who had been sitting very close to her fa-
ther, fascinated by the negro's gaze and strange appear-
ance, could hardly wait to get out of hearing before she
whispered : "Oh, father, did you ever see such a repulsive-
looking creature in all your life ? "
The Major admitted that he was an ugly fellow, and
then, as a loud guffaw came to them from the rear, added,
with that reasonable sense of justice which men possess
and are pleased to call wisdom, that he seemed to be
THB TRICK-DOCTOR "293
very civil and was, no doubt, a harmless good-natured
creature.
" I don't know," said Ruth, doubtfully. " I only hope
I shall never set eyes on him again. I should die if I were
to meet him alone."
" Oh, nonsense ! " said her father, reassuringly. " They
are the most good-natured, civil poor creatures in the
world. I used to see them during the war."
The Major was still contesting Dr. Cary's prejudices.
CHAPTER XXVI
MAJOR WELCH AND RUTH BECOME RESIDENTS
IT was yet early in the day, when the travellers drove tip
to Red Rock, and though there were certain things which
showed that the place was not kept up as it had formerly
been, it was far handsomer, and appeared to be more ex-
tensively cultivated, than any plantation they had yet seen.
A long line of barns and stables lay at some little distance
behind the mansion, half screened by the hill, and off to
one side stretched a large garden with shrubbery, appar-
ently somewhat neglected, at the far end of which was a
grove or great thicket of evergreens and other trees.
A tall man with a slight stoop in his shoulders came
down the broad steps, and advanced to meet them as they
drove up.
"Is this Colonel Welch ? " he asked.
" Well, not exactly, but Major Welch," said that gentle-
man, pleasantly, wondering how he could know him, "and
you are— Mr. Still?"
" Yes, sir, I'm the gentleman : I'm Mr. Still — Colonel
Still, some of 'em calls me ; but Fm like yourself, Colonel,
I don't care for titles. The madam, I suppose, sir ? " he
smiled, as he handed Ruth down.
" No, my daughter, Miss Welch," said the Major, a little
stiffly, to Ruth's amusement.
" Ah ! I thought she was a leetle young for you, Colonel ;
but sometimes we old fellows get a chance at a fresh covey
and we most always try to pick a young bird. We're real
glad to see you, ma'am, and to have the honor of enter-
tainin' so fine a young lady in our humble home. My son
Wash, the Doctor, ain't at home this mornin', but he'll be
294
MAJOR WELCH AND RUTH BECOME RESIDENTS
back to-night, and hell know how to make yon have a good
time. He's had advantages his daddy never had/' he ex-
plained.
There was something almost pathetic, Major Welch
thought, in this allusion to his son, and his recognition of
his own failure to measure up to his standard. It made
Major Welch overlook his vulgarity and his attempt to be
familiar. And the Major decided anew that Hiram Still
was not half as black as he had been painted, and that the
opposition to him which he had discovered was nothing
but prejudice.
As they entered the house, both Major Welch and Ruth
stopped on the threshold, with an exclamation. Before
them stretched one of the most striking halls Ruth had
ever seen. At the other end was an open door with a
glimpse of green fields and blue hills in the distance ; but
it was the hall itself that took Ruth's eye. And it was the
picture of the man in the space just over the great fireplace
that caught Major Welch. The "Indian-killer" .
stood before him. Clad in his hunter's garb, with the dark
rock behind him, his broken rifle at his feet, his cap on
the back of his head, and his yellow hair pushed from
under it, his eyes fastened on Major Welch with so calm
and yet so intense a look that Major Welch was almost
startled. That figure had suddenly obliterated the years.
It brought back to him vividly the whole of his former visit.
Ruth, impressed by the expression of her father's face,
and intensely struck by the picture, pressed forward to her
father's side, almost holding her breath.
" I see you're like most folks, ma'am ; you're taken first
thingwith that picture." said Still ; then added, with a half
iid it's the only picture in the batch I don't really
like. But I jist mortally dislikes that, and I'd give it to
anybody who'd take it down from thar, and save me harm-
less." "
II" went off into a half ivverio. Th-- Major was exam-
ining the frame curiously. lie put his finger on a dim,
296 BED ROOK
red smear on the bottom of the frame. Memory was bring*
ing back a long train of recollections. Hardly more than
ten years before, he had stood on that same spot and done
the same thing. This hall was thronged with a gay and
happy and high bred company. He himself was an honored
guest. His gracious host was standing beside him, telling
him the story. He remembered it all. Now — they were
nil gone. It was as if a flood had swept over them.
These inanimate things alone had survived. He ran his
hand along the frame.
The voice of his host broke in on his reflections.
" That thar red paint I see you lookin' at, got on the
frame one day the picture fell down before the war. A
nigger was paintin' the hairth right below it ; it wa'n't
nailed then — and a gust of wind come up sudden and
banged a door and the picture dropped right down in the
paint. Mr. Gray, who used to own this place, was a settin'
right by the winder where his secretary used to stand, and
I had jest come back from the South the day befo' and was
talkin' to Mr. Gray about it in the hall here that minute.
€ Well/ says I to him, ' if I was you, I'd be sort o' skeered
to see that happen ' ; — because thar's a story about it, that
whenever it comes down the old fellow in the graveyard
gits up, and something's goin to happen to the man as lives
here. ' No/ he says, ' Hiram (he always called me Hiram),
Fm not superstitious ; but if anything should happen, I
have confidence in you to know you'd still be faithful — a
faithful -friend to my wife and boys/ he says, in them very
words. And I says to him, ' Mr. Gray, I promise you I
will, faithful. And that's what I've done, Major, I've
kept my word and yet, see how they treat me ! So after I
got the place I nailed the picture in the wall — or rather
just before that," he said in his former natural voice, " and
it ain't been down since, an* it ain't comin' down neither/'
" But does that keep him from coming on his horse as
they say ? Has he ever been seen since you nailed the
frame to the wall ?" Ruth asked.
MAJOR WELCH AND RUTH BECOME RESIDENTS 297
"Well, ma'am, I can only tell you that I ain't never
seen him," said their host, with a faint, little smile.
" Some says he's still ridin', and every time they hears a
horse nicker at night around here they say that's him ; but
I can't say as I believes it."
" Of course you cannot," said the Major, a little ab-
ruptly, " for you know it isn't he ; you have too much
sense. A good head and a good conscience never see ap-
paritions." The Major was still thinking of the past.
" How like he is to a picture I saw at Dr. Gary's, that
they said was of a young Mr. Gray who still lives about
here," said Ruth, recurring to the picture. She turned and
was surprised to see what a change had come over her
host's face. He suddenly changed the subject.
" Well, I'm glad you've come down, Colonel. Only I'm
sorry I didn't know just when you were coming. I'd have
sent my carriage for you. I've been lookin' out for you,
and I've got the prettiest place in the country for you." lu»
said. He nodded over in the direction of the garden . " I
want to take you to see it. It will just suit you. The
house ain't big, but the land's as rich as low grounds.
" And you're the very sort of a man we want here. Ma-
jor. Your name will be wortli a heap to us. !'•
ourselves, you can. conjure with a Gover'ment title like a
trick -doctor. Now, this fall, if you just <ro in
us — How would you like to go to the Legislature?" he
asked, his voice lowered the least bit, and interrupting
himself in a way he had.
" Not at all," said Major Welch. " No politics for me.
Why, I'm not eligible — even if I settle hero. I suppose
there are some requirements in the way of residence and
so fortli
" Oh ! requirements ain't notliin*. We've got the Legis-
lature, you see, and we — There's some several hren elected
ain't hc.-n heiv a* long as you'll hern when the el-
<>;T." H • glanced in h and interrupted
himself again. " The fact is, Major," he explained, in a
298 BED ROOK
somewhat lower key, "we've had to do some things a leetle
out of the regular run — to git the best men we could. But
if we could get a gentleman like yourself "
" No, I'm not in politics," said Major Welch, decisively.
" Fve neither experience nor liking for it, and Fve come for
business purposes "
" Of course, you are quite right, Major, you're just like
me ; but I didn't know what your opinion was. Well,
you've come to the right place for business, Major/' he
said, in so changed a voice that he seemed to be two per-
sons speaking. " It's the garden spot of the world— the
money's jest layin' round to waste on the ground, if the
folks jist had the sense to see it. All it wants is a little
more capital. Colonel Leech and them's been talkin' about
runnin' a railroad through this region. You know after
all's said and done, Colonel, I ain't nothin' but a plain
farmer. I talks about railroads, but, fact is, I'd ruther see
cotton and corn grow 'n the finest railroad's ever run. My
son Wash, the Doctor, he's got education, and he's got city
ways' and wants a railroad, and I says to him, that's all
right, Wash, you have yer railroad and enjoy it, but jist
let yer old pappy set on his porch and see the crops grow.
I've made ten thousand dollars a year clear money on this
place, and that's good enough for me, I says. That may
sound like foolishness to you, Major, but that's my raisin',
and a man can't git over his raisin'/'
This was a philosophic fact which the Major had often
been struck with, and it appeared to him now that he had
a most excellent example of it before him.
As Major Welch was desirous to get settled as soon as pos-
siblr, ho and Ruth rode over that afternoon to take a look
at the place Still had spoken of. A detour of a mile or so
brought them around to a small farm-house with peaked
nx.f and dormer windows, amid big locust-trees, on top
of a hill. Behind it, at a little distance, rose the line of
tirnlM-rr-il spurs that were visible through the hall-door at
Red Rock, and in front a sudden bend brought the river
MAJOR WELCH AND RUTH BECOME RESIDENTS 299
in view, with an old mill on its nearer bank, and the
comb of water flashing over the dam. Ruth gave an ex-
clamation of delight. She sketched rapidly just what they
could do with the place. Still observed her silently, and
when Major Welch inquired what price was asked for the
place, told him that he could not exactly say that it was
for sale. The Major looked so surprised at this, however,
that he explained himself.
" It is this way/' he said, " it is for sale and it ain V
" Well, that's a way I do not understand. Whose is
it ? " said Major Welch, so stiffly that the other changed
his tone.
" Well, the fact is, Colonel, to be honest about it," he
said, " this here place belongs to me ; but I was born on
this here place, not exactly in this house, but on the place,
an' I always thought 't if anything was to happen — if my
son Wash, the Doctor, was to git married or anything, and
take a notion to set up at Red Rock, I might come back
here and live — you see ? "
The Major was mollified. He had not given the man
credit for so much sentiment.
"Of course, if you really wants it — ?" began Still, but
the Major said, no, he would not insist on one's making
such a sacrifice ; that such a feeling did him credit.
So the matter ended in Still's proposing to lease the place
to the Major, which was accepted, Major Welch agreeing
to the first price he named, only saying he supposed it irafl
the customary figure, which Still assured him was the case.
He pointed out to him that the land was unusually rich.
"What's the name of the place ?" asked Ruth.
" \\Y1I. 'tain't got any special name. We call it Stam-
per's," Still said.
" Stamper— Stamper ?" repeated the Major. •< Whore
have I heard that name ? "
"You might 'a f him in romirrtion with the
riot 't took place near here a few years ago, when a dozen
or so soldiers was murdered. Twas up here they hat
300 RED ROCK
the plot and from here they started. They moved away
from here, and I bought it."
It was not in this connection that the Major recalled
the name.
" What was ever done about it ? " he asked.
" No thin*. What could you do ? n demanded Still, trag-
ically.
" Why arrest them and hang them, or send them to
prison/'
Still gave an ejaculation.
" You don't know 'em, Major I But we are gittin* 'em
straight now/' he added.
On their return to Red Rock they found that Still's son,
the Doctor, had arrived. He was a tall, dark, and, at a
distance, a rather handsome young man ; but on nearer
view this impression vanished. His eyes were small and
too close together, like his father's, but instead of the
good-humored expression which these sometimes had, his
had a suspicious and ill-contented look. He dressed show-
ily and evidently took great pride in his personal appear-
ance. He had some education and was fond of making quo-
tations, especially in his father's presence, toward whom
his attitude was one of censoriousness and ill-humor.
His manner to the Major was always polite, and to Ruth
it was especially so ; but to the servants it was arrogant,
and to his father it was little short of contemptuous. The
Major heard him that evening berating someone in so
angry a tone that he thought it was a dog he was scolding,
until he heard Hiram Still's voice in mild expostulation ;
and again at the table that evening Dr. Still spoke to his
fatlior BO sharply for some little breach of table etiquette
that the Major's blood boiled. The meekness with which
the father took his son's rebuke did more to secure for him
the Major's friendship than anything else that occurred
during their stay with him.
CHAPTER XXVH
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION AND CAPTAIN
ALLEN CLIMBS FOE CHERRIES
As Major Welch was anxious to be independent, he de-
clined Still's invitation to stay with him, and within a
week he and Ruth were "camping out" at the Stamper
place, which he had rented, preparing it for the arrival of
Mrs. Welch and their furniture.
As it happened, no one had called on the Welches while
they remained at Still's ; but they were no sooner in their
own house than all the neighbors round began to come to
iem.
Ruth found herself treated as if she were an old friend,
and feeling as if she had known these visitors all her life.
One came in an old wagon and brought two or three chairs,
which were left until Ruth's should come; another
over a mahogany table; a third came with a quarter of
lamb ; all accompanied by some message of apology or
friendliness which made the kindness appear rather done
to the senders than by them.
the contribution which the Carys brought, Ruth
found the two old cups she had admired. She p..
them up and returned them to Blair with the sweetest IK-U'
she knew how to write.
As soon as he was settled, Major Welch went to the
Court-house to examine the records. He had intended to
go alone and had made arrangements, the afternoon be-
fore, with a negro near by to furnish him a horse next day ;
that evening, however. Still, who appeared to know every*
D01
302 RED ROCK
thing that was going on, rode over and asked if he could
not take him down in his buggy. He had to go there on
some business, he explained, and Colonel Leech would be
there and had told him he wanted to see the Major and
talk over some matters, and wanted him to be there too.
The Major would have preferred to go first without Still.
However, there was nothing else to do but to accept
the offer he made of his company ; and the next morning
Still drove over, and they set out together, Ruth saying
that she had plenty to occupy her until her father's return.
They had not been gone very long and Ruth was busy-
ing herself, out in the yard, trimming the old rose-bushes
into some sort of shape, when she heard a step, and looking
up saw coming across the grass, the small man they had
met in the road, who had told them the way to Dr. Gary's.
He wasn't ' ' so very busy just then," he said, and had
come to see if they " mightn't like to have a little hauling
done when their furniture came."
Ruth thought that her father had arranged with Mr.
Still to have it done.
" I ain't particularly busy jest now, and I'd take feed
along — I jest thought I'd like to be neighborly," repeated
the man. "Hiram, I s'pect, he's chargin' you some'n ?"
Ruth supposed so.
" Well, if he ain't directly, he will some way. The best
way to pay Hiram is to pay him right down."
He asked Ruth if she would mind his going in and look-
ing at the house, and, when she assented, he walked
around silently, looking at the two rooms which she
showed him : their sitting-room and her father's room ; then
asked if he could not look into the other room also. This
was Ruth's chamber, and for a second she hesitated to
gratify curiosity carried so far ; but reflecting that he was a
plain countryman, and might possibly misunderstand her
refusal and be wounded, she nodded her assent, and stepped
forward to open the door. He opened it himself, however,
and walked in, stepping on tip-toe. IJe stopped in the
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 303
middle of the room and looked about him, his gaze resting
itly on a nail driven into a strip in the wall just be-
side the bed.
" I was born in this here room," he said, as much to
himself as to her ; then, after a pause : " right in that thar
cornder — and my father was born in it before me and his
father befo' him, and to think that Hiram owns it ! Hi-
ram Still ! Well — well— things do turn out strange —
don't they ? Thar's the very nail my father used to hung
his big silver watch on. I b'lieve I'd give Hiram a hoss
for that nail, ef I knowed where I could get another one
to plough my crop." He walked up and put his hand on
the nail, feeling it softly. Then walked out.
"Thankee, miss. Will you tell yo' pa, Sergeant
StamperM be glad to do what he could for him, and ef lie
wants him jist to let him know ?" He had gone but a
few steps, when he turned back • " And will you tell him
I say he's got to watch out for Hiram ?"
The next moment he was gone, leaving Ruth with a
sinking feeling about her heart. AVhat could he mean ?
She had not long to think of it, however, for just then
she heard the sound of wheels grinding along outside, and
she looked out of the door just as a rickety little wagon
drew up to the door. She recognized the driver as Miss
Gary and walked out to meet her. Beside lllair in the
wagon sat, wrapped up in shawls, though the day was warm,
an elderly lady with a faded face, but with very pleas-
yes, looking down at Ruth from under a brown veil.
I ; u th at first supposed that she was Blair's mother, hut
Blair introduced her as "Cousin Tlmmasia." As they
helped the lady out of the vehicle, Ruth was amused at the
i ration she made. Every step she took she gave some
explanation orexcl; . talking to herself, it appeared,
r than to either of the girls.
"My de en's sake don't let his head go.
Take < UP . r, don't let this drop." (This to 1
about a package wrapped in p..
304 BED ROCK
When at length she was down on the ground, she asked
Blair if her bonnet was on straight : " Because, my dear "
— and Kuth could not for her life tell to whom she was
speaking — "nothing characterizes a woman more than her
bonnet."
Then having been assured that this mark of character
was all right, she turned to Ruth, and said, with the great-
est graciousness :
" How do you do, my dear? You must allow me to kiss
you. I am Cousin Thomasia."
Ruth's surprised look as she greeted her, perhaps, made
her add, " I am everybody's Cousin Thomasia."
It was indeed as she said, she was everybody's Cousin
Thomasia, and before she had been in the house ten min-
utes, Ruth felt as if she were, at least, hers. She accepted
the arm-chair offered her, with the graciousness of a queen,
and spread out her faded skirts with an air which Ruth
noted and forthwith determined to copy. Then she pro-
duced her knitting, and began to knit so quietly that it
was almost as if the yarn and needles had appeared at her
bidding. The next instant she began a search for some-
tiling — began it casually, so casually that she knit between-
times, but the search quickened and the knitting ceased.
"Blair? 1"
" You brought them with you, Cousin Thomasia."
" No, my dear, I left them, I'm sure I left them —
(searching all the time) "right on — Where can they be?"
" I saw you have them in the wagon."
''Then I've dropped them — Oh, dear I dear! What
shall I do?"
" What is it?" asked Ruth.
"My eyes, my dear — and I cannot read a word without
them. Blair, we must go right back and hunt for them."
But Blair was up and searching, not on the floor or in
the road ; but in the folds of Miss Thomasia's dress ; in the
wrappings of the little parcel which she still held in her lap.
"Here they are, Cousin Thomasia," she exclaimed,
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 306
triumphantly drawing them out of the paper. " Right
where you put them/'
Miss Thomasia gave a laugh as fresh as a girl's.
•• \\liy, so I did! How stupid of me!" She seated
herself again, adjusted her glasses and began to unwrap
her parcel.
*• Here, my dear, is a little cutting I have fetched you
from a rose which my dear mother brought from Kenil-
worth Castle, when she accompanied my dear father to
England. I was afraid you might not have any flowers
now, and nothing is such a panacea for loneliness as the
«f a rose-bush. I can speak from experience. The
old one used to grow just over my window at my old
home and I took a cutting witli me when we went away
— General Legaie obtained the privilege of doing so —
»u have no idea how much company it has been to
I will show you how to set it out."
The glasses were on now, and she was examining the
sprig of green in the little pot with profound interest,
while her needles flew.
•• \Vhere was your old home?" Ruth asked, softly.
" Here, my dear — not this place, but all around you.
This was Mrs. Stamper's — one of our p..,,r neigl
But we li 1 Kock."
" Oli ! " .slid K ut h, shocked at having asked the question.
<> matter, my dear," tin- old lady went on. '• Sin«v we
moved we ha\e li\«-d at a little place ri^ht on the
You must come over and let me show you my roses there.
I'ut I don't, think they will ever be equal to the old ones—-
or what the old ones were, for I heal they are nearly all
gone now — I have never been back since I left. I do not
think I could stand seeing that — person in possession of
my father's, and my brother's estate." She sighed for the
first time, and for the first time the needles, as she leant.
back, stopped.
" 1 wrapped up my glasses to keep from seeing it .
drove up the hill. 1 wi.-h they might let me lie th.-iv
M
306 RED ROCK
when 1 die, but I know they will not." Her gaze was out
of the open door. In the silence which followed her words
the sound of a horse's hoofs was heard.
" There is someone outside, my dear/' she said, placidly.
Botli Ruth and Blair looked out.
" Why, it is the General," said Blair, and Ruth won-
dered who the General was, and wondered yet more to detect
something very much like a flutter in Miss Thomasia's
manner. Her hand went to her bonnet ; to her throat ; she
smoothed her already smooth skirts, and glanced around —
ending in a little appealing look to Blair. It was almost as
if a white dove, represented in some sacred mystery, had
suddenly lost tranquillity. When, however, the new visitor
reached the door, Miss Thomasia was quietude itself.
He stepped up to the door and gave a tap with the butt
of his riding-switch before he was aware of the presence of
the three ladies ; then he took off his hat.
"Ladies," he said, with quite a grand bow. At the
same moment, both of the ladies who knew him, spoke,
but Ruth heard only Miss Thomasia' s words :
" My dear, this is General Legaie, of whom you have
often heard, our old and valued friend." Ruth had never
heard of him, but she was struck by him. He was rot
over five feet three inches high : not as tall by several inches
as Ruth herself ; but his head, with curling white hair,
was so set on his shoulders, his form was so straight and
vigorous, and his countenance, with its blue eyes and fine
mouth, so handsome and self-contained, that Ruth thought
she had never seen a more martial figure. She thought
instinctively of a portrait she had once seen of a French
Marshal ; and when the General made his sweeping bow
and addressed her with his placid voice in old-fashioned
phrase as, " Madam," the illusion was complete. Why, he
was absolutely stately. Then he addressed Miss .Thomasia
and Blair, making each of them a bow and a compliment
with such an old-fashioned courtesy that Ruth felt as if
she were reading a novel.
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION" 307
He had hoped to call and pay his respects before, he
told Ruth, when he had finished his greetings; but had
been unavoidably delayed, and it was a cause of sincere re-
gret that he should be so unfortunate as to miss her father.
He had learned of his absence several miles below, but he
would not delay longer paying his devoirs to her ; so had
come on. " And you see the triple reward I receive/' he
said, with a glance which included all three ladies, and a
little laugh of pleasantry over himself.
" See what an adept he is," said Blair : " he compli-
ments us all in one breath."
The General looked at Miss Thomasia as if he were go-
ing to speak directly to her, but she was picking up a
stitch, so he shifted his glance to Blair, and, catching her
eye, laughed heartily.
" Well ? Why didn't you say it ? *
Miss Thomasia knitted placidly.
He shrugged his shoulders, laughed again, and changed
his bantering tone.
4 • I hive you seen Jacqnelin ? " asked Miss Thomasia,
who had calmly ignored the preceding conversation.
"Yes, he's all right — he came back yesterday and has
gone in with Steve Allen. The/11 get along. He's just
the sort of man Steve needed ; he'll be his heavy artillery.
He is looking into the matter of the bonds."
Miss Thomasia sighed.
••Two young gentlemen of the County who are great
is of ours, Miss Welch," explained the General.
Meanwhile, Major Welch and Mr. Still had reached the
• •ounty seat. During their ride, Still had given Major
Welch an account of affairs in the County, and of most of
\ ith whom he would come in contact. Steve Allen
he described as a terrible character. It had been a dread-
ful struggle that he himself and other Union men had had
to wage, he said. Leech was the leading Northern man in
the County, and was going to be Governor. But he waa
RED ROOK
disposed to cantion Major Welch somewhat against even
him. Leech did not exactly understand things ; he did not
rely enough on his white friends. Ho would have turned
out all the \vhito olhVials and filled their places with
negroes. But Still had insisted on keeping, at least, Mr.
Dockett, the Clerk, in ; because he had charge of all tho
records. But Mr. Dockett had not acted exactly right, he
said, and he was afraid at the next election " they'd have
to let him go." He had been " getting mighty unreason-
able." Some people wanted his son, Wash, the Doctor, to
run, but he " didn't know about it ?" he said, with an in-
terrogation in his voice.
Major Welch had supposed that the Doctor would find
his profession more profitable, or at least that it would
take up all his time if he proposed to follow it ; but Still
explained that there was not a great deal of practice, and
that the clerk's place was a "paying office."
When they arrived at Leech's house Major Welch found
it a big, modern affair with a mansard roof, set in the mid-
dle of a treeless lot. To Major Welch's surprise, Leech
was not at home. Still appeared much disconcerted.
As they crossed the yard, the Major observed a sign over
a door : " ALLEN AND GRAY. LAW OFFICE."
" If necessary we could secure their services," he said,
indicating the sign.
Still drew up to his side, and lowered his voice, looking
around : They were the lawyers he had told him of, he
said. That was " that fellow Allen, the leader in all the
trouble that went on."
" Who's Gray ?" The Major was still scanning the sign.
Still gave a curious little laugh.
"He's the one as used to own my place — Mr. Gray's
son. He's a bad one, too. He's just come back and set
up as a lawyer. Fact is, I believe he's set up as one, more
to devil me than anything else."
; or Welch said, dryly, that he did not see why his set«
ting up as a lawyer should bedevil him. Still hesitated.
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION o<)9
" Wc-11, if he thinks he could scare me
" I don't see how he could scare you. I would not let
him scare me," said Major Welch, dryly.
" You don't know 'em, Colonel," said Still. " You don't
know what we Union men have had to go through. They
won't let us buy land, and they won't let us sell it. They
ou because you come from the North, and they hate
me because I don' hate you. I tell you all the truth,
Colonel, and you don't believe it — but you don't know what
we go through down here. We've got to stand together.
You'll see." The mail's voice was so earnest, and his face so
sincere that Major Welch could not help being impressed.
" Well, I'll show him and everyone else pretty quickly
that that is not the way to come at me," said Major Welch,
gravely. " When I get ready to buy, I'll buy where I p
and irrespective of anyone else's views except the seller's."
And he walked up to the door, without seeing the look on
Still's face.
only occupants of the clerk's office were two men ; one
was an old man, evidently the clerk, with a bushy beard and
keen eyes gleaming through a pair of silver spectacles. The
other was a young man and a very handsome one, with a
broad brow, a strongly chiselled chin, and a very grave and
somewhat melancholy face. He was seated in a chair di-
rectly facing the door, examining a bundle of old chancery
- which were spread out on his knee and on a chair he-
side him, and as the visitors entered the door he glanced up.
Major Welch was struck by his fine eyes, and the changed
look that suddenly came into them. Still gave his arm a
convulsive clutch, and Maj«.r \\Vleh knew by instinct that
iun of whom Still had just spoken.
If Jacquclin Gray was really the sort of man Still had
described him to he, and held the opinions Still had attrib-
tO him, he played the hyp«.eritr very well, for he not
only bowed to Major Wel.-h \cryriviliy. if distantly, but to
do so even rose from his seat at some little inconvenience
to himself, as he had to gather up the papers spread on his
310 RED ROCK
knee. It is trne that he took not the least notice of Still,
who included him as well as the clerk in his greeting, the
only evidence he gave of being aware of the presence of
his former manager, being contained in a certain quiver of
the nostrils, as Still passed him.
Major Welch was introduced by Still to the clerk, and
stated his errand, wondering at the change in his compan-
ion's voice.
" He's afraid of that young man," he thought to himself,
and he stiffened a little as the idea occurred to him ; and
at the first opportunity he glanced again at Jacquelin, who
was once more busy with his bundle of papers, in which
he appeared completely absorbed. Still was following the
clerk, who, with his spectacles on the tip of his long nose,
was looking into the files of his deed-books ; but Major
Welch saw that Still was not attending to him ; his eyes
were turned and were fastened on the young lawyer,
quite on the other side of the room. As the Major looked
he was astonished to see Still start and put out his hand
as though to support himself. Following Still's gaze he
glanced across at Jacquelin. He had taken several long,
narrow slips of paper out of the bundle, and was at the in-
stant examining them curiously, oblivious of everything
else. Major Welch looked back at Still, and he was as
white as a ghost. Before he could take it in, Still muttered
something and turned to the door. As he walked out he
tottered so that Major Welch, thinking he was ill, followed
him.
Outside, the air revived Still somewhat, and a drink of
whiskey which he got at the tavern bar, and told the bar-
keeper to make " stiff," set him up a good deal. He had
been feeling badly for some time, he said ; thought he
was a little bilious.
Just as they came out of the bar, they saw young Gray
cross the court-green and go over to his office.
They returned to the clerk's office, and Major Welch
was soon running through the deeds, while Still, after look-
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 311
ing over his shoulder for a moment or two, took a seat
Ur. Dockett and began to talk to him. He appeared
much interested in the old fellow, his family, and all that
belonged to him, and Major \Velch was a little amused at
the old man's short replies.
His attention was attracted by Still's saying casually that
he'd like to see the papers in that old suit of his against
the Gray estate, if he could lay his hands on them, and
the clerk's dry answer that he could lay his hands on any
paper in the office, and that the papers in question were
in the " ended-causes " case. "Mr. Jacquelin Gray was
just looking over them as you came in," he said, as he rose
to get them.
" Well, let him look," Still growled, with a sudden
change of tone. " He can look all he wants, and he
won't git around them bonds."
" Oh, no ! I don't say as he will," the old officer an-
swered.
" I'd like to take 'em home with me — " Still began ; but
the clerk cut him short.
" I can't let you do that. You'll have to look at 'era
here in the office."
•• \Vhy, they're nothin' but— I want Colonel Welch here
to look at 'em — they'll show him how the lands come to
-Til bring 'em back "
" I can't let you take 'em out of the office." His tone
was as dry as ever.
Well! I'd like to know why not? They don't con-
cern nobody but me, and they're all ended."
•• That's the very reason you can't take 'em out ; they're
part of the rerun Is <>f this office "
" \\.ll. I (;in take the bonds out, anyway," Still per-
sisted ; " they is mine, anyhow."
"No, yon can't takr tlirin. ritln-r."
•t often l«»>e \\\+ temper, or show it, if he
did ; hut this time he lost it.
94 Well, I'll show you if I can't, before the year is oat,
312 RED ROOK
Mr. Dockett. Ill show you who I am I " He rose with
much feeling.
"I know who you are.1* The old fellow turned and
shot a piercing glance at him over his spectacles, and
Major Welch watched complacently to see how it would
end.
" Well, if you don't, I mean to make you know it. I'll
show you you don't own this County. I'll show you who
is the bigger man, you or the people of this County. You
think because you been left in this office that you own it ;
but I'll "
"No, I don't/' the old man said, firmly; "I know
you've got negroes enough to turn me out if you choose ;
but I want to tell you that until you do I'm in charge
here, and I run the office according to what I think is my
duty, and the only way to change it is to turn me out. Do
you want to see the papers or not ? You can look at 'em
here just as everybody else does."
" That's right," said Major Welch, meaning to explain
that it was the law. Still took it in a different sense,
however, and quieted down. He would look at them, he
said, sulkily, and, taking the bundle, he picked out the
same slips which young Gray had been examining.
" You're so particular about your old papers," he said,
as he held up one of the slips, " I wonder you don't keep
'em a little better. You got a whole lot o' red ink
smeared on this bond."
" I didn't get it on it." The clerk got up and walked
across the room to look at the paper indicated, adjusting
his spectacles as he did so. One glance sufficed for him.
" That ain't ink, and if 'tis, it didn't get on it in this
office. That stain was on that bond when Leech filed it.
I remember it particularly."
" I don't know anything about that — I know it wa'n't
on it when I give it to him, and I don't remember of ever
having seen it before," Still persisted.
" Well, I remember it well — I remember speaking of it
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 313
to him, because we thought 'twas finger-marks, and he said
'twas on it when you gave it to him."
"Well, I know 'twant," Still repeated, hotly. "If
'twas on thar when he brought it here he got 't on it him-
self, and I'll take my oath to it. Well, that don't make
any difference in the bond, I s'pose ? It's just as good with
that on it as if 'twant ? "
"Oh, yes; that's so," said Mr. Dockett. "If it's all
right every other way, that won't hurt it."
Still looked at him sharply.
As they drove home, Still, after a long period of silence,
suddenly asked Major Welch, within what time after a case
was ended a man could bring a suit to upset it.
" \Vell, I don't know what the statutes of this State are,
but he can generally bring it without limit, on the ground
of fraud," said the Major, "unless he is estopped by
: >-s."
" What's that ?" asked Still, somewhat huskily, ami the
Major started to explain ; but Still was taken with another
of his ill turns.
That same afternoon, a little before Major Welch's re-
turn, Ruth was walking about the yard, looking,
now and then, across the hill, in the direction of Red Rock,
from which her father should soon becoming, when, as
she passed n» -ar a cherry-tree, she observed that some of
: nit was already ripe. One or two branches were not
very high. She hud been feeling a little lonely, and it
occurred to her that it would be great fun to climb the
tree. She had once been a good climber, and she reuu m-
the scoldings she had received for it from her
mother, who regarded it as "essentially frivolous," and
had once, as a punishment, set her to learn all tin- names
of all the branches of a tree which hung on the nursery
wall, and repn-sented, allegorical ly, all the virtues and
vices, together with a perfect network of subsidiary quali-
ties. She could remember many of them now — " Faith,
npe ranee," and so on*
314 RED ROCK
" Dear mamma," she thought, with a pang of homesick-
ness, " I wish she were here now." This reflection only
made her more lonely, and to overcome the feeling she
turned to the more material and attractive tree.
"I could climb that tree easily enough," she said, "and
there's no one to know anything about it. Even mamma
would not mind that much. Besides, I could see papa
from a greater distance and I'll get him some cherries for
his tea."
These last two considerations were sufficient to counter-
balance the idea of maternal disapproval. So Ruth turned
np the skirt of her dress, pinned it so that it would not
be stained, and five minutes later was scrambling up the
tree. Higher and higher she went up, feeling the old
exhilaration of childhood as she climbed. What a fine
view there was from her perch ! the rolling hills, the green
low-grounds, the winding river, the blue mountains be-
hind and, away to the eastward, the level of the tide- water
country almost as blue at the horizon as the riountains
to the westward. How still it was too ! Every sound
was distinct : the lowing of a cow far away toward Red
Rock, the notes of a thrush in a thicket, and the chirp
of a sparrow in an old tree. Ruth wished she could have
described it as she saw it, or, rather, as she felt it, for it
was more feeling than seeing, she thought. But the best
cherries were out toward the ends of the limbs, so she se-
cured a safe position and set to work, gathering them. She
was so engrossed in this occupation that she forgot every-
thing else until she heard the trampling of a horse's feet
somewhere. It was quite in a different direction from
that in which she expected her father, but supposing that
it was he, Ruth gave a little yodel, with which she often
greeted him when at a distance, and climbed out on a
limb that she might look down and see him. How aston-
ished and amused he would be, she thought. Yes, there
he was, coming around the slope just below her, but how
was he going to get across the ditch ? If only that bough
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 315
were not in the way ! Ah ! now she had the bough and
could pull it aside. Heavens ! it was a stranger, and he
was near enough for her to see that he was a young man.
What should she do ? Suppose he should have heard her !
At the moment she looked he was putting his horse at the
ditch — a splendid jump it was. She let the bough go and
edged in toward the body of the tree, listening and half
seeing the rider below through the leaves as he galloped
up into the yard. Perhaps he had not seen her ? She
crouched down. It was a vain hope, for the next instant
he turned his horse's head toward the tree and drew him
in almost under her.
" I say — Is anyone at home ? " he asked. The voice
was a very deep and pleasant one. Although Ruth was
sure he was speaking to her, she did not answer.
" I say, little girl, are Colonel Welch and his daughter
at home?"
This t;me he looked up. So Ruth answered. No, they
were not at home. Her voice sounded curiously quavering.
" Ah ! I'm very sorry. When will they be at home ?
Can you tell me ? "
" Ah ! ur — not exactly," quavered Ruth, crouching still
closer to the tree-trunk and gathering in her skirts.
1 • You have some fine cherries up there I "
Oh, heavens I why didn't he go away 1
To this she made no answer, hoping he would go. He
caught hold of a bough, she thought, to pull some cherries ;
wrapped his reins around it, and the next moment stood
up in his saddle, seized a limit ;tl...ve him and swung linn-
pelf up. In her astonishment iiuth almost stopped breath-
ing.
"I believe I'll try a few— for old times' Bake." he said
to himself, or to her, she could not tell which, and swung
himself higher. "I don't suppose Colonel Welch would
object."
The next swing brought him im to the limb immediately
below liuili, and he turned and locked up at her where she
316 RED ROCK
sat in the fork of the limb. Her face had been burning ever
since she had been discovered, and was burning now ; but
she could not help being amused at the expression which
came into the stranger's eyes as he looked at her. Aston-
ishment, chagrin, and amusement were all stamped there,
mingled together.
" What on earth ! — I beg your pardon—" he began, his
eyes wide open with surprise, gazing straight into hers.
The next instant he burst out laughing, a peal so full of
real mirth that Euth joined in and laughed with all her
might too.
" I'm Captain Allen, Steve Allen — and you are ? "
" Miss Welch — when Fm at home/'
He pulled himself up to the limb on which Euth. sat and
coolly seated himself near her.
" I hope you will be at home — Miss Welch ; for I am.
I used to be very much at home in this tree in old times,
which is my excuse for being here now, though I confess
I never found quite such fruit on it as it seems to bear
to-day/'
The twinkle in his gray eyes and a something in his
lazy voice reminded Euth of Eeely Thurston. The last
part of his speech to her sounded partly as if he meant it,
but partly as if he were half poking fun at her and wished
to see how she would take it. She tried to meet him on
his own ground.
" If you had not made yourself somewhat at home you
would not have found it now." She was very demure.
Steve lifted his eyes to her quickly, and she was rather
nettled to see that he looked much amused at her speech.
" Exactly. You would not have had me act otherwise,
I hope ? We always wish our guests to make themselves
at home. You Yankees don't want to be behind us."
She saw his eyes twinkle, and felt that he had said it to
draw her fire, but she could not forbear firing back.
" No, but sometimes it does not seem necessary, as you
Rebels appear inclined to make yourselves at home — some-
HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 317
times even without an invitation." Her chin went up a
point.
Steve burst out laughing.
"A good square shot. I surrender, Miss Welch."
" What ! so easily ? I thought you Rebels were better
fighters ? I have heard so."
Steve only laughed.
" ' He that fights and runs away/ you know. I can't
run, so I surrender. May I get you some cherries ? The
best are out on the end of the limbs, and I am afraid you
might full." His voice had lost the tone of badinage and
was full of deference and protection.
liuth said she believed that she had all the cherries she
wanted. She hud, perhaps, a dozen — . She was wondering
how she should get down, and was in a panic lest her father
should appear and find her up in the tree with this strange
young man.
In reply to her refusal, however, Steve looked at her
quizzically.
" You want to get down." This in assertion rather
than in question.
•• Y. ." Defiantly.
"And yon can't get down unless I let you ?"
" N — n — " She caught herself quickly, " I thought you
had surrendered ?"
" Can't a prisoner capture his captor ? "
" Not if he has given his parole and is a gentleman/'
Steve whistled softly. His eyes never left her ;
" Will you invite me in 't "
"No."
"Why?"
« Because- — *
"I see." Steve nodded.
" Because my father is not at home.*
" Oh I All the more reason for your having a pro-
" Xo. And I will make no terms with a prisoner."
Sltt RED ROCK
With a laugh Steve let himself down to the limb below,
Then lie stopped and turning looked up at her.
"May I help you down ?" The tone was almost hum-
ble.
" No, I thank you, I can get down." Very firmly.
" I must order your father to remain at home/' he
smiled.
" My father is not one to take orders ; he gives them,"
she said, proudly.
Captain Allen looked up at her, the expression of admi-
ration in his eyes deepened. " I think it likely," he said
with a nod. "Well, I don't always take them so meekly
myself. Good-by. Do you require your prisoner to re-
port at all?" He held out his hand.
" Good-by— I— don't know : No."
He smiled up at her. " You don't know all your privi-
leges. Good-by. I always heard you Yankees were cruel
to prisoners."
It was said in such a way that Ruth did not mind it, and
did not even wish to fire back. The next minute Steve was
on his horse, cantering away without looking back, and
curiously, Ruth, still seated on her leafy perch, was con-
scious of a feeling of blankness.
" I hate that man," she said to herself, " he has been
doing nothing but make fun of me. But he is amusing —
and awfully handsome. And what a splendid rider ! I
wonder if he will have the audacity to come back ? "
As she reached the ground she saw her father far across
the field, coming up the same road along which her visitor
was going away. When the two men met they stopped and
I little talk, during which Ruth watched with curiosity
to see if Captain Allen would return. He did not, how-
It was only a moment and then he cantered on,
leaving Ruth with a half disappointed feeling, and wonder-
ing if he had told her father of their meeting.
When Major Welch arrived, Ruth waited with some ira-
patiencp to d^cover if he had been told. He mentioned
Ill K AM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION 319
that he had met Mr. Allen and thought him a striking-
looking and rather nice fellow ; had invited him to re-
turn, but he said he could not, that he had seen her, and
would call again.
" He is a gentlemanly fellow, hut is said to be one of tho
most uncontrolled men about here, the leader in all the
lawlessness that goes on."
Ruth thought of what the old mammy at Dr. Gary's had
told her. She wished to change the subject.
" Did he say where we met ? " she asked, laughing and
blushing.
" No, only said he had met you."
" I Ie caught me up in a cherry-tree."
" What ! Well, he's a nice fellow," said her father, and
I'utu had begun to think so too.
CHAPTER XXVIII
MRS. WELCH ARRIVES AND GIVES HER FIRST LESSON IK
ENTERPRISE
THE next day, Still called to see Major Welch and made
him a proposition to sell him a part of the Ked Rock
place. On thinking it over, he said, he believed he'd
rather have the Major as a near neighbor than to have him
farther off, and he also believed that the Major would find
it safer to buy from him a place he had got under decree
of court, and had already held quietly for some time, than
to buy a place about which there might be a question and
where he'd be sure to incur the enmity of the old owners.
This reason, to judge from Major Welch's expression,
did not make much impression on him. He did not wish
to incur anyone's enmity, he said. But if he bought hon-
estly, and became the lawful owner of a place, he should
not mind what others thought.
Still shook his head. Major Welch did not know these
people, he said. " And to be honest witli you, Major, I
feel as if having you right here by me was a sort of protec-
tion. They daresn't touch a gentleman who's been in the
Union army, and who's got big friends. And that's one
reason I'd like to have you right close to me."
His manner had something so sincere in it that it was
almost pathetic. So, as he made Major Welch what ap-
peared to be really a very reasonable proposal, not only as to
the Stamper place, but also as to several hundred acres of
the Red Rock land adjoining, the Major agreed to take it
under advisement, and intimated that if the title should
330
MRS. WELCH ARRJ 321
prove all right, and Mrs. Welch should like the idea when
she arrived he would probably purchase.
Within a week or two following Major Welch's trip to
the county seat, and Still's offer to sell him the Stamper
place and a part of Red Rock, Mrs. Welch arrived. Mrs.
Welch, in her impatience, could not wait for the day she
had set and arrived before she was expected. The telegram
she had sent had miscarried,. and when she reached the
station there was no one present to meet her.
A country station is a sad place at best to one who has
just left the bustle and life of a city ; but to be deposited,
bag and baggage, in a strange land and left alone without
anyone to meet you, and without knowing a soul, is forlorn
to the last degree.
Strong as she was, Mrs. Welch, when the train whirled
away and no one came to her, felt a sense of her isola-
tion strike her to the heart. A two-horse •, the
only one in sight, stood near a fence at some little dis-
tance, and for a short while she thought it might have come
for her, and she waited for some moments ; but presently
a tall colored man and a colored woman got into it. The
man was glittering with a shining silk-hat and a long 1-
cloth coat; and the woman was in a brand-new m\l .
wore a vivid bonnet. Even then, it occurred to Mrs. Welch
that, perhaps, the man was the coachman, and, for I
ment, she was buoyed by hope, hut she was doomed to dis-
appointment. The man was talking loudly, and appar-
ently talked to be heard l»y ;.ll around him. Mrs. V
L hear something of what ha Mid. <
" We're all right. We've got 'em down, and we mean
MI down, too, by ! " A shout followed this.
. the bottom rail is on top, and we mean to keep it
BO till the fence rots down, by !" Another burst
• Von jest stick to me and Leech, and
bring you to the promised land. Yas, we're in the saddle,
and we mem to stay there. We've got the Gov'ment bo-
hind Of, and we'll put. a ijun in every colored man's hand
n
RED ROCK
and give him, not a mule, but a horse to ride, and we'll
dress his wife in silk and give her a carriage to ride
in, same's my wife's got."
" Ummh ! heah dat ! Yes, Lord ! Dat's what I want,"
cried an old woman, jumping up and down in her ecstasy,
to the amusement of the others.
" A mule's good 'nough for me — I b'lieve I ruther have
mule 'n hoss, Fse fetched up wid mules," called out some-
one, which raised a great laugh, and some discussion.
" Well, all right ; you shall have your ruther. Every-
one shall take his pick. We'll do the ridin' now."
Mrs. Welch was listening with keen interest. The
speaker, w'ho was Nicholas Ash, the member from Red
Rock, gathered up the reins. As he did so, someone
called :
" You better watch out for de K. K.'s," at which there
was a roar of laughter.
" They's the one's I'm lookin' for. I'm just fixed for
'em, by ! " shouted the statesman.
if Dee ain' gwine meddle wid him," said someone in
the crowd, admiringly.
" Don' know. I wouldn' drive roun' heah and talk
'bout 'um like he does, not for dat mule he gwine gi' me."
The laughter that greeted this showed that others besides
the speaker held the same views.
As the carriage drove off, Mrs. Welch's heart sank.
Her last hope was gone. She was relieved somewhat by
the approach of the station-agent, who up to that time
had been engaged about his duties, and who now, seeing
a lady standing outside, came up to her. Mrs. Welch
told who she was. He had heard that Mrs. Welch was
expected, but did not know the day. No telegrams, such
as she spoke of, had passed through his office, and it was
an all-day's ride up to Red Rock when the roads were bad.
He invited her to remain as his guest. " People right often
did so when they came, unexpected-like."
Mrs. Welch thanked him, but thought she would prefer
MBS. WELCH ARRIVES 323
to go on, if she could get a conveyance, even if she could
go that night only as far as Brutusville.
" Can't I get some sort of wagon ?" she inquired.
The agent gazed at her with a serenity that was in strong
contrast with her growing decisiveness. He did not know
as she could, the mail-wagon went over in the morning
after the early train ; people generally went by that.
Dill Herrick had a sort of a wagon, and folks sometimes
took it if they got there too late for the mail- wagon and
were in too big a hurry to wait till next day. But Dill
was away that day. The wagon was there, but Dill had
gone away on his horse and would not be back till next
day.
All this was told in the most matter-of-fact way, as if
it was quite as much a thing of course as any other order
of nature. Mrs. Welch was on her metal. She would
for once give this sleepy rustic an illustration of energy ;
she would open his eyes.
" Well, is that the only horse anywhere about here ?"
Her tone was energetic, perhaps even exasperated. The
agent was unmoved.
" No'm ; Al Turley's got a sort of a horse, but he don't
work very well. And Al ain't got any wagon."
This was too much for Mrs. Welch.
"Don't you think we might get a horse of on,e man
and the wagon and harness of the other, and put them
together ? " she laughed.
Tho agent was not so sure. Al might be going to use
his horse, and he "didn't work so well, anyhow."
" But he does work ?" Mrs. Welch persisted.
" Oh. yes'm— some. Al ploughs with him."
" Well, now, let's see what a little enterprise will do.
I'll pay well for both horse and wagon."
The agent went off, and after a time came back. Al
1 see what he could do. But again he renewed his
invitation to her to wait until to-morrow. He was almost
urgent ; he painted the difficulties of the journey in the
:'>^4 RED ROCK
gloomiest colors. Mrs. Welch now, however, had set her
mind on carrying out her plans. It had become a matter
of principle with her. She had come down here 10 snow
what energy would accomplish, and she might as well
begin now.
While she waited, she passed her time watching the ne-
groes who were congregated about a small building which
seemed to be part store, part bar-room, though from her
observation the latter was its principal office.
They were a loud and slovenly set, but appeared to be
good-humored, and rather like children engaged in rough
horse-play ; and when their voices sounded most like quar-
relling they would suddenly break out in loud guffaws of
laughter.
They were so boisterous at times that Mrs. Welch was
glad when the station-agent returned and asked if she
wouldn't go over and sit in his house till Al came. She
would have done so, but, as he evidently intended to
remain in the office, she thought it would be a good oppor-
tunity to learn something about the negroes, and perhaps
also to teach him a little on her part.
Were the negroes not improving ? she asked. Her
companion's whole manner changed. She was surprised to
see what a keen glance was suddenly shot at her from un-
der his light brows.
" Not as I can see — You can see 'em yonder for yourself. "
"Do they ever give you trouble ?"
" Me ? — No'm ; don't never give me trouble/' he an-
swered, negligently. " Don' give nobody as much trouble
as they did."
Mrs. Welch was just thinking this corroborative of her
own views when he, with his back to her, stooped for
something, and the butt of a pistol gleamed in his trousers
pocket. Mrs. Welch froze up. She could hardly refrain
from speaking of it. She understood now the signifi-
cance of his speech. Just then there was quite a roar
outside, followed by the rattle of wheels, and the next in-
MRS. WELCH ARRIVES 325
stant Mrs. Welch's vehicle drew up to the door. For a
moment Mrs. Welch's heart failed her, and she regretted
the enterprise which had committed her to such a combi-
nation. In the shafts of a rickety little wagon — the
wheels of which wobbled in ^very direction and made
four distinct tracks — was a riekety little yellow horse
which at that moment, to the great diversion of the crowd
of negroes outside, was apparently attempting to back
the wagon through a fence. One instant he sat down in
the shafts, and the next reared and plunged and tried to
go any way but the right way. Two negroes were holding
on to him while the others were shouting with laughter
<lelight. The driver was a spare, dingy -looking
countryman past middle age, and was sitting in the wagon,
the only creature in sight that appeared to be unmoved by
the excitement. Mrs. Welch's heart sank, and even after
the plunging little animal was quieted she would have de-
clined to go; but it was too late now. She had never put
her hand to the plough and turned back.
" I can manage him," said the driver serenely, seeing
her hesitation. And as there were many assurances that
he was "all right now/' and everyone was expecting her
to get in, she summoned the courage and climbed in.
It was a wearying drive. The roads were the worst
Mrs. Welch had ever seen, bat, in one way, there was ex-
citement enough. The tedium was relieved by the occa-
sional breaking of the harness and the frequent necessity
of dismounting to walk up the hill when the horse balk< «1.
The day before had been very warm, and Mrs. Welch's
journey had not been a comfortable one, and (his last
catastrophe capped the climax. But she did not com-
plain— she considered querulousness a sin — it was a sign
of weakness. Perhaps, she even found a certain satisfac-
ti'.n in her discomfort She had not come for comfort.
But when the harness broke for the half-dozenth time, she
asked:
" Why don't you keep your harness in good order ? *
RED ROCK
The somewhat apathetic look in the driver's face
chan §
•• Taint my harness."
" \\ « 11. whosever it is, why don't he keep it in order ?"
•• You'll have to ask Dill that," he said, dryly.
When, a few minutes later, they came to their next stand
she began again :
•• Why don't you keep your roads repaired and rebuild
your fences ? "
" I don't live about here." This time the tone was a
little shorter.
• • \Vell, it's the same all the way. It's been just as bad
from the start. What is the reason ?" she persisted.
"Indeed, ma'am I don't know," he drawled, "some
says it's the Yankee carpet-baggers steals all the money — "
" \Vell, I don't believe it — I believe it's that the people
are just shiftless," Mrs. Welch fired back.
The man, for answer, only jerked his horse : " Git
up!"
" A dull fellow," thought Mrs. Welch, and presently
she essayed again :
" The Yankees are thrifty enough. In all the North
there is not such a road as this. I wish you could see
their villages, how snug and trig and shipshape they are:
houses painted, fences kept up, everything nice and neat."
" Maybe, that's where they puts the money they steals
down here," said the driver, more dryly than before.
Mrs. Welch grew hot, but she could not help being
amused too.
" It must be an accident, but I'll write that home,"
thought she. She, however, had not much time to think.
For just then they were descending a steep hill and the
breeching gave way, the wagon ran down on the horse, and,
without a second's warning, the little steed, like the Gad-
arine swine, ran violently down the steep hill, and on up
the road. The driver, who was swinging to him for life,
was in the act of assuring Mrs. Welch that she need not be
MRS. WELCH ARRIVES 827
scared as he could hold him, when the rein broke and he
went out suddenly backward over the wheel, and Mrs.
Welch herself must soon have followed him, had not a
horseman unexpectedly dashed up from behind and, spur-
ring his fleet horse beside the tearing little beast in the
wagon, seized the runaway by the bridle and brought it to
a stand-still.
The transition from the expectation of immediate in-
jury, if not death, to absolute security is itself a shock,
and even after the vehicle was quite still, Mrs. Welch, who
had been holding on to its sides with all her might, could
hardly realize her escape. Her first thought was for the
driver.
" Oh ! I'm afraid that poor man is killed ! " she ex-
claimed.
" Oh ! he's all right. I hope you are not hurt, ma-
dam?" said her rescuer, solicitously. "I think I'd bet-
ter hold the horse, or I would come and take you out."
Mrs. Welch assured him that she was not at all hurt,
and she sprang out and declared that she would go back at
once and look after the driver. Just then, however, the
driver appeared, covered with dust, but not otherwise
injnr
" Well, I was just sayin' I'd saved Al, anyhow," he paid
as he came up. " And I'm glad to find, Cap'n, you saved
thr others."
" What are you going to do now?" Mrs. Welch asked
when the driver had finished talking to the gentleman, and
begun to work at the harness.
" I'm going to take you to the Cote-house. I told you
Pddo
•• I'., hind that horse!"
"Ain't nothiir* the matter with the hoss — it's the gear."
• ! think IM liftt. T t.ikc lx-r," the young man who had
rescued II-T Mid, though with a little hesitation. "I can
t.-ikr her behind me, and get her there by the through
way."
RED ROCK
•• \Vhat! On that horse? I can't ride that creature,"
Welch with wide-open eyes, looking at his
ome horse which was still prancing from excitement.
" Why, he's as quiet as a lamb — he's carried double many
a time, and several ladies have ridden him. I could get
you there much quicker than you can drive. All you have
to do is to hold on to me. Whoa, boy ! "
"I know that sort of lamb," declared Mrs. Welch.
'• What shall I do with my trunk?"
The young man's confidence was telling on her and she
was beginning to yield. The choice was between the two
horses and she had had experience with one.
" Oh! your trunk's all right. I'll carry your trunk on,"
agreed the driver. He had finished his mending and was
gathering up his reins.
" Do you mean that you are going to get in there and
try to drive that horse again? "
" That's what I'm agoin' to do 'm."
" Then I'll get in, too," declared Mrs. Welch, firmly.
Her face was pale, but there was a light in her eyes that
made her suddenly handsome. The two men looked at her
and both began to expostulate.
" I made him come, and I don't mean that he shall risk
his neck for me alone," she declared, firmly, gathering up
her skirts. But the horseman suddenly interfered.
" I couldn't let you be run away with again under my
very eyes," he said, smiling, " I might be held accountable
by your dan by your fam your Government."
Mrs. Welch was not accustomed to being talked to in
this way ; but she liked him none the less for it. However,
she would not yield.
It was finally agreed that a trial should be made first
without her. and then, if the horse went all right, she could
get in. Hoth men insisted on this, and as they explained
that the driver could manage the horse better without her,
0he temporized, Indeed she was obliged to do so, for the
young man who hud rescued her told her plainly, though
" I COULDN'T LET YOU BE RUN AWAY WITH AGAIN UNDER MY VERY
EYES," HE SAID.
MRS. WELCH ARRIVES 329
politely, that he would not allow her to get in the wagon
again until the experiment had been made.
After a little time, as the horse appeared to have heen so-
bered by his unwonted exertion, she was allowed to mount
once more, and so proceeded, the young gentleman riding
close beside the horse, to prevent any further trouble.
. Welch at last had time to look at her deliverer.
is a tall, fine-looking young fellow, with the face and
address of a gentleman. A slouch hat, much weather-
stained, and a suit of clothes by no means new, at first
sight made his dress appear negligent, but his voice was
as refined as any Mrs. Welch had ever heard ; his manner
was a mixture of deference and protection, and his face,
with clear, gray eyes, firm mouth, and pleasant smile, gave
him an air of distinction and was one of the most attrac-
tive she had ever seen.
II had introduced himself to her when he first spoke;
Captain Somebody, he said, but as she had been r.
agi tilted at that moment she had not caught the name,
1 until he should mention it again or she
should get a chance to ask the driver. When she did ask
him, she understood him to say Captain Naline.
After a time, as the horse was now quiet and there
were no more bad hills, the gentleman said lie had an en-
. and would have to rjde on. So, \\relch
declar -1C now entirely easy in her mind, he hade
her good-evening and galloped on, and soon afterward
Mrs. AVeldi was met by her husband on his way over to
the station with a carriage.
CHAPTER XX1A
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST
MRS. WELCH had not been in the County forty-eight
hours before she was quite satisfied that this was the field
for her work, and that she was the very laborer for this
field.
In three days the signs of her occupation and energy
were unmistakable. Every room in the little cottage was
scoured afresh, and things were changed within the old
house, and were undergoing a change without, which
would have astonished the departed Stampers.
A gang of darkies, of all ages and sizes, was engaged by
her or collected somehow (perhaps, no one knew just how,
unless Hiram, who distributed the contents of the boxes,
knew), who, Andy Stamper said, looked like harvesters
and got harvest- wages. The rooms were turned inside
out, the yard was cleared up, the fences repaired and white-
washed, and the chambers were papered or painted of a
dark maroon or other rich color, then the fashion, by
Doan, whom Hiram Still sent over for the purpose — Mrs.
JVelch not only superintending actively, but showing, with
real skill, how it ought to be done ; for one of the lady's
maxims was, "What your hands find to do, do with all
your might/' Ruth, during the repairs, took occasion to
pull out carefully the nail on which Andy had told her his
fatlier used to hang his watch, and sent it wrapt in a neat
little parcel to Andy, with a note saying how much pleas-
ure she had in sending it. She did not dream that by this
little act she was making one of the best friends of her life.
Sergeant Stamper drove the nail in a strip beside his own
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST 331
ted. And as he struck the last hlow he turned to his wife,
who with sympathetic eyes was standing by, and said :
" Delia, if I ever fail to do what that young lady
asks me, I hope God will drive the nails in my coffin
next day."
On the arrival of Mrs. Welch, there was a repetition of
those visits of mingled friendliness and curiosity which
had been paid Major Welch and Miss Ruth. And as Ma-
jor Welch and Ruth formed their opinions, so now, Mrs.
Welch formed hers. She prided herself on her reasoning
faculty. She repudiated the idea that woman's intuition
was a substitute for man's reason. She was not going to
hang on any ^such wretched makeshift. She judged men
and things precisely as men did, she said, and the only
difference was that she was quicker than most men.
Dr. Gary and Mrs. Gary called with Miss Thomasia and
Blair ; and General Legaie and Jacquelin Gray and Steve
Allen rode up together one afternoon. The two former
paid only a short visit, but Captain Allen stayed to tea.
Steve treated her with that mingled deference and freedom
which, in just the right proportion, make — at least, in a
young and handsome man — the most charming manners.
II'- even dared to tease Mrs. Welch on the serious sentiments
she expressed, and on her appearance that day in the wagon,
a liberty that neither Ruth nor Major Welch ever venturo]
to take ; and to Ruth's exceeding surprise, her mother, so
far from resenting it, actually appeared to like it. As for
i, her mother surprised a look of real delight in hef
eyes.
It gave her food for thought. " Thatr young man talked
to me ; but he looked at Ruth. What does it mean ? It
might mean one thing — yes, it might mean that ? But it
is impossible!" She put the idea aside as too absurd to
consider. However, she determined to be on her guard.
Mrs. Welch had no time to spend in the sort of hospital-
ity practised by her neighbors. The idea of going over to
a neighbor's to "spend the day," as most of the invitations
832 BED ROOK
she received ran, or of having them come and " spend the
Any" with her as they did with others, was intolerable. It
might have done, she held, for an archaic state of society,
but it was just this terrible waste of time that made the
people about her what she saw them: indolent, and shift-
less and poor. She had " work to do," and she " meant to
do it." So, having called formally at Dr. Gary's, Miss
Gray's, and the other places, the ladies from which hud
called on her, she declined further invitations and began
her "work." She wrote to her Society back at home, that
as she looked around her spirit groaned within her. The har-
vest was ripe — already too ripe, and the over-ripened wheat
was falling, day by day, to the earth and being trampled
in the ground. She wrote also her impressions of her new
neighbors. She was charmed with Miss Thomasia and the
General. The former reminded her of her grandmother,
whom she remembered as a waite-haired old lady knitting
in her armchair, and the General was an old French field-
marshal, of the time of Bayard or Sidney, who had strayed
into this century, and who would not surprise her by ap-
pearing in armor with a sleeve around his helmet, " funny,
dear, old fossil that he is." She was pleased with Miss
Gary and the Doctor, though the former appeared to have
rather too antiquated views of life, and the Doctor was un-
practical to the last degree. They were all densely pre-
judiced ; but that she did not in the least mind ; they were
also universally shiftless, but she had hope. They must
be enlightened and aided (Mrs. Welch was conscious of a
feeling of virtuous charitableness when she penned this. It
was going farther than she had ever deemed it possible she
could go). When it came to the question of the poor blacks,
the whites were all alike. They had not the least idea
of their duty to them : even those she had mentioned as the
most enlightened, regarded them yet as only so many chat-
tels, as still slaves. Finally, she wrote, she could not but
admit that nothing but kindness had been shown to them-
selves since their arrival. One could not but appreciate such
MRS. WKI.m ENTERS THE HARVEST 333
cordiality, even if it were the result of mere impulse rather
than of steady principle. But Mr. Still, the Union man
of whom the Society know, had intimated that it was only
a concerted effort to blind them to the true state of affairs,
and that if they exhibited any independence it would soon
:o. As to this she should be watchful. And she ap-
od for help.
Such was the substance of the first letter that Mrs. Welch
wrote back to her old Reform and Help Society at home,
which was regarded by some of her friends as a roseate-
colored statement of the case. It was even intimated
that it contained evidence that Mrs. Welch was already
succumbing to the very influence she repudiated.
" But they all do it. I never knew anyone go down
there who did not at once abandon all principles and
fall a victim to. the in flu en ces of those people," declared
Mrs. Bolter, who, now that Mrs. Welch had left, repre-
sented the earnest and most active wing of the society.
" May not that prove that perhaps there is something on
their side that we do not understand ? " hazarded one of
the young ladies of the society, Mrs. Clongh, who, as a
daughter of Senator Rockfield, was privileged to express
in.
"Not at all/' declared Mrs. Bolter. "I knew that
Major Wrli-h and Ruth were both hopelessly weak ; but I
confess I did th ink better things of M . Welch.*
" Do you know, now that she has gone, I confess that I
always did think Ruth Welch had more sense — more prac-
tical sense I mean, than her mother," said Mrs. Clough.
"Of course, you do," replied the older lady. Mrs.
Clough colored.
"And my husband thinks so, too."
" Oh! if your husband thinks so— of course!" Mrs. Bol-
ter looked sympathetic and superior. "I supposed ho
thought so." The younger lady colored deeply.
"And my sister thinks ao," she added, with dignity.
" Oh I indeed i I knew the thought some of the younger
554 BED ROOK
members of the connection very attractive," said Mrs.
Bolter.
Mrs. Clough rose, and, with a bow, left the assembly.
She was comforted that evening by hearing her husband
not only commend her views warmly, but abuse Mrs. Bol-
ter as a " stuck-up and ill-bred woman, as vain and vulgar
as Bolter himself," whom he would not trust around the
corner.
" If she is that now, what will she be after she marries
her daughter to Captain Middleton ? " Mrs. Clough said.
" She's had him in tow ever since he came home a week
ago. I do think it is vulgar, the way some women run
after men for their daughters nowadays. She has not
given that poor man an hour's rest since he landed."
" I don't believe there's anything in that. Larry would
not marry one of that family. He knows Bolter too well.
I always thought he would end by marrying Ruth Welch,
and he told me to-day at the club he was going South."
" Oh ! all you men always were silly about Ruth Welch.
You all thought she was the most beautiful creature in
the world," said little Mrs. Clough, with an air not wholly
reconcilable with her attitude at the Aid Society meet-
ing just recorded.
" No, I know one man who made one exception," said
her husband leaning over and kissing her, and thereupon,
as is the way with lovers, began " new matter."
"Captain Middleton is not going South," said Mrs.
Clough, suddenly. " That is, he's going south ; but not
to the South."
" He is not ! Why, he told me he was."
"Well, he's not. He's going to Washington." She
spoke oracularly.
" What's he going there about ? About that old affair ?
You seem to know his plans better than he does. I see
by the papers it's up again. Or about that railroad
scheme Bolter's working at? He's down there now. Larry
said he had to see the Senator,"
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST 335
" No, about a new affair — Larry Middleton is in love
with Alice/' said Mrs. Clough, with entire unconscious-
ness of the singularity of her sudden and unexpected
bouleversement. Her husband turned round on her in
blank amazement.
" Wha-at ! " He strung the word out in his surprise.
" Yes — you men are so blind. He's in love with Alice ;
was with her abroad and came home to see her." She
was suddenly interested in a very small baby-garment she
was sewing on.
"Why, you just said he was in love with Ruth
Welch!"
" Did I ? " she asked, quietly, as calm as a May morn-
ing, and apparently with perfect indifference.
" — And you said Mrs. Bolter would catch him for her
loud, sporty daughter 1"
" Oh ! I believe I did." She was turning a hem.
" One, two, three/' she counted. " Well, she won't get
him." She was interested only in the baby-garment.
" Are they engaged ? "
"Not yet — quite — but almost — Will be in a wnk.
Isn't that a darling?" She held up the garment, and
spanned it with her pink fingers.
" \Vell, you women are curious," said her husband, al-
most with a gasp. "Here you have been abusing Iluth
Welch and Mrs. Bolter and every woman Larry Middleton
knew in the world, and all the time he was dead in love
with your own sister! "
" TJmhm I " She looked up and nodded brightly, then
broke into a laugh. " And you think that's curious ? "
« \\V11. I'm glad of it. Larry's a good fellow. Now I
see it all. I thought he was uncommonly glad to see me
to-day, and when I undertook to cliafT him a little about
i \\Vldi, looked rather ml and silly."
" You didn't I " said his wife, aghast. " What in the
world —
" Oh 1 I'll make it all right the next time I see him.
836 HI.I) KOCK
How was I to know ? I'll write to Alice and congratulate
her."
" Indeed, you'll not. Not a word. You'll ruin every-
thing"
" Why?"
" Why, he hasn't spoken yet "
ts Why, you just said — " He lapsed into reflection.
" Oh I You men are so stupid ! " sighed Mrs. Clough.
"But come, promise me."
And he promised — as we all do — always.
Having despatched her appeal, Mrs. Welch did not
waste time waiting for a response, but was as good as her
word and, like an energetic soul, without waiting a day,
sickle in hand, entered the field alone. Her first step
was what she termed " informing herself." She always
" informed herself " about things ; it was one of the se-
crets of her success, she said.
Her first visit on this tour of inspection was to the
Bend. She selected this as the primary object of her
visitation, because she understood it was the worst place
in the community, and she proposed to go at once to the
very bottom. Dr. Gary had spoken of it as " a festering
spot "; General Legaie had referred to it as " a den of
iniquity." Well, if it were a festering sore it ought
to be treated ; if it were a den it ought to be opened to
the light, she declared. She found it worse than she had
expected ; but this did not deter her. She forth with
set to work to build a school-house near the Bend, and
sent for a woman to come down and take charge of it.
She was ne little surprised one day when she called at a
cabin where she had been told a woman was ill, to have
the door opened by Mrs. Gary. Mrs. Gary invited her in
and thanked her for calling, quite as if she owned the
house. Mrs. Welch had her first gleam of doubt as to
whether she had stated the case to her Society with entire
correctness. She observed that the woman's sheets were
MBS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST 337
old and patched, and she said she would have her Society
make new ones. How could she know that Maria's old
mistress had just brought her these and that she and Blair
had mended them with their own hands ?
It does not require an earthquake to start talk in a rural
community — and Mrs. Welch had not been in her new
home a month, or, for that matter, a week, before she was
the most talked-of woman in the County.
Notwithstanding Hiram Still's desire to keep secret the
fact that he was trying to sell a part of Red Rock to Major
Welch, it was soon rumored around that Major Welch was
to buy the Stamper place and a considerable part of the
old Gray estate. Leech, it was reported, had come up from
town, given a clean title and prepared a deed which was to
be delivered on a certain day. Allowing for exaggerations,
it is astonishing how accurate the bureau of advanced
rumor often is.
Steve Allen and Jacquelin Gray held sundry conferences
in the clerk's office, with the papers in Still's old suit be-
fore them, and it got abroad that they were not going to
permit the sale.
The day before that sot by this exact agency for the final
< in mation of the purchase, a letter was brought for
Major Welch. The messenger who brought it was a hand-
some, spirited-looking boy of seventeen or eighteen, evi-
dently a g»- n tli-man's son. Major Welch was away from
home; but Ruth happened to be in the yard when the boy
rode up. He was mounted on a handsome hay with white
feet, which Ruth recognized as that which Captain Allm
rode. Ruth loved a fine horse, and she wont up to him.
As she approached, the boy sprang to the ground and took
oil his hat with a manner so like Captain Allen's that
Ruth smiled to herself.
"Is — is Major Welch at home?" ho asked. He had
pulled a paper from his pocket and was blushing with a
boy's mrnt.
Buth said her father was not at home, but explained that
23
338 RED ROCK
she would take any letter for him — or — would not he tie
his horse and come in and wait for her father ?
This iuvitation quite overthrew the little structure of
assurance the boy had built up, and he was thrown into
such a state of confusion that Ruth's heart went out to
him.
He thanked her; but he was afraid his horse would
not stand tied. He was stuffing the paper back in his
pocket, hardly aware of what he was doing.
Ruth was sure the horse would stand ; she had seen him
tied ; but she respected the boy's confusion, and offered
again to take the letter for her father. He gave it to her
apparently with reluctance. His cousin, Steve Allen,
had told him to give it to Major Welch himself, he half
stammered.
" Well, I am his daughter, Miss Welch," Ruth said,
" and you can tell Captain Allen that I said I would cer-
tainly deliver it to my father. Won't you tell me who
you are ? " she asked, smiling.
" I'm Rupert Gray, Jacquelin Gray's brother/'
" Oh 1 You have been off at school ? "
" Yes'm. Jacquelin would make me go, but I've come
back for good, now. He says I needn't go any more. He
hasn't got anything to send me any more, anyhow."
This in a very cheery tone. He was partly recovering
from his embarrassment. " Steve wanted to send me to
college, but 1 won't go."
"You won't? Why not?"
"Steve hasn't got any money to send me to college.
Besides, they just want to get me away from here — I know
'em — and I won't go." (With a boy's confidingness.)
" They're afraid I'll get— ' He stopped short.—" But I'm
not afraid. Just let 'em try." He paused, his face
flushed with excitement, and looked straight at her. He
evidently wanted to say something else to her, and she
smiled encouragingly.
"You tell your father not to have anything to do with
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HABVE8T
that Still and that man Leech." His tone was a mixture
of sincerity and persuasiveness.
" Why ? " Ruth smiled.
"Because — one's a carpetbagger and t'other a scala-
wag"
" Why, we are carpetbaggers, too."
" Well — yes — but — . Steve he says so, too. And he
don't want you to get mixed up with Vm. That's the rea-
son." His embarrassment returned for a moment.
" Oh ! Captain Allen says so ? I'm very much obliged
to him, I'm sure," Ruth laughed, but her form straight-
ened and her color deepened.
"No, no, not that way. Steve is a dandy. And so is
Jacquelin. He's just as good as Steve. Never was any-
body like Jacquelin. You ought to know him. That
fellow Leech imprisoned him. But I knocked him down
— I could die for Jacquelin — at least, I think I could.
That's the reason I hate 'em so ! " he broke out, vehe-
mently. " And I don't want you to get mixed up with
'em. You aren't like them. You are more like us."
Ruth smiled at the ingenuousness of this compliment.
"And you tell your father, won't you ?" he repeated.
"Good-evening." He held out his hand, shook hers,
sprung on his horse, and, making her a flourishing how,
galloped away, evidently very proud of his horsemanship.
He left Ruth with a pleasant feeling round her heart,
which she could scarcely have accounted for. She won-
dered what it was that his brother and Captain Allen were
afraid the boy would do.
As for Rupert, when ho returned to Captain Allen lie
was so full of Miss Welch that Steve declared he was in
love with her, and guilefully drew him on to talk of her
and tell, over and over, every detail of his interview. The
charge of being in love the boy denied, of course, but from
that time Ruth, without knowing it, had the truest bless-
ing a girl can have — the ingenuous devotion of a young
boy's heart
340 BED ROOK.
"When her father came home the current of Ruth'a
thoughts was changed.
The letter Rupert had hrought contained a paper, or
rather two papers, addressed to Major Welch. One was a
formal notice to him that the title by which Still held Red
Rock was fraudulent and invalid, and that he would buy
at his peril, as a suit would be brought to rip up the whole
matter and set aside the deed under which Still held.
The paper was signed by Jacquelin Gray and witnessed
by Stevenson Allen as counsel, in whose handwriting it
was. In addition to the formal notice, here was a note to
Major Welch from Captain Allen, in which he stated that
having heard the rumor that Major Welch was contemplat-
ing buying the place in question, he felt it his duty to let
him know at once that such a step would involve him in a
lawsuit, and that possibly it might be very unpleasant for
him.
This letter was a bombshell.
Mrs. Welch took it not as a legal notice, but as a declar-
ation of war, and when that gage was flung down she was
ready to accept it. She came of a stock equally prompt
to be martyrs or fighters. She urged Major Welch to re-
ply plainly at once. It was just a part of the persecu-
tion all loyal people had to go through. Let them see
that they were not afraid. Major Welch was for moving
a little deliberately. He should certainly not be bullied
into receding from his purchase by anything of this kind,
but he would act prudently. He would look again into
the matter and see if there was any foundation for the
charge.
Ruth rallied to the side of her mother and father, and
felt as angry with Mr. Allen and everyone else concerned
in the matter as it was in the nature of her kind heart to
be.
Major Welch's investigation did not proceed exactly on
the lines on which he would have acted at home. He had
to rely oil the men he employed. Both Still and Leech
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST 841
d tluit the notice given was merely an attempt to
bully him. They further furnished him an abstract of
the title, which showed it to be perfectly clear and regular,
and when Major Welch applied in person to the old clerk,
he corroborated this and certified that at that time no cloud
was on the title.
1 1 « • was, however, by no means as gracious toward Ma-
jor Welch as he had been the first time he saw him — was,
on the contrary, rather short in his manner, and, that
gentleman thought, almost regretted to have to give the
certificate.
" Yes, it's all clear to date as far as the records show,"
he said, with careful limitation, in reply to a request from
Major Welch for a certificate, " but if you'll take my ad-
»
Still, who was sitting near, wriggled slightly in his chair.
Major Welch had been a little exasperat&d. " My dear
should be very glad to take your advice generally,
but this is a matter of private business between this gentle
between Mr. Still and myself, and I must be allowed
to act on my own judgment. What I want is not advice,
but a certificate of the state of those titles."
A change came over the old clerk's countcnai: .-. •. Il<>
bowed stiffly. "All right, sir; I reckon you know \<»ur
own business/' he said, dryly, and he made out the certifi-
cate and handed it to Major Welch almost grimly.
Major Welch glanced at it and turned to Still.
"You can have your deeds prepared, Mr. Still. I am
going to town to-morrow and shall be ready to pay over
the money on my return.'' He spoke in a tone for the
and intended to show his resolution.
1 followed him out and suggested that lu-'d as li«-\o
iiim the deeds to put to record then, and he could
pay him when he came back. He was always willing to
man's word. This, however, Major Welch
L consent to.
Still stayed with Major Welch all the rest of the day and
342 RED ROCK
returned home with him: a fellowship which, though some-
what irksome to the Major, he tolerated, because Still,
half-jestihgly, hail-seriously, explained that somehow ho
" felt sort of safer" when he was with the Major.
Two or three days afterward Major Welch, having re-
turned from the capital, paid Still the money and took his
deed ; and it was duly recorded.
The interview in the clerk's office, in which Major
Welch had declined to hear the old clerk's advice, was re-
ported by Mr. Dockett to Steve Allen and Jacquelin Gray
that same evening. The only way to save the place, they
agreed, was to institute their proceedings and file a notice
of a pending suit, or, as the lawyers call it, a Us pcndens.
" He'll hardly be big enough fool to fly in the face of
that/' said Mr. Dockett.
So the very next day a suit was docketed and a Us pen-
dens filed, giving notice that the title to the lands was in
question.
The summonses were delivered to the sheriff, Mr. James
Sherwood ; but this was the day Major Welch spent in the
city, and when the sheriff handed the summons to Still
and showed the one he had for Major Welch, Still took it
from him, saying he would serve it for him.
Thus it happened that when Major Welch paid down
the money he was in ignorance that two suits had already
been instituted to declare the title in Still fraudulent.
Meantime, copies of Mrs. Welch's letter to her friends had
come back to the County, and the effect was instantaneous.
When Mrs. Welch wrote the letter describing her new
home and surroundings, she gave, as has been said, what
she considered a very favorable account of her neighbors.
She had not written the letter for publication, yet, when
the zeal of her friends gave it to the public, she was sensi-
ble of a feeling of gratified pride. There were in it a
number of phrases which, as she looked at them in cold
print, she would in a milder mood have softened ; but she
consoled herself with the reflection that the individuals
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST 343
referred to in the letter would never see it. Alas ! for the
vain trust of those who rely on their obscurity to hide their
indiscretions. The Censor was as well known, even if not
so extensively known, in the old County as in Mrs. Welch's
former home. It had long been known as Leech's organ,
and was taken by more than one of the Red Rock residents.
When the issue containing Mrs. Welch's letter first ap-
peared it raised a breeze. The neighborhood was deeply
stirred and, what appeared most curious to Mrs. Welch was,
that what gave most offence, was her reference to individ-
uals which she had intended to be rather complimentary.
She made up her mind to face boldly the commotion she
had raised and to bear with fortitude whatever it might
bring. She did not know that it was her patronizing at-
titude that gave the most serious offence.
" I don't mind her attack on us, but blame her impu-
dent, patronizing air," declared the little General — " Gen-
eral Fossil/' as Steve called him — "and to think that I
should have put myself out to be especially civil to her I
Steve, you are sv, fond of Northern cherries, I shall let you
do the civilities for us both hereafter." To the (M-neraTs
surprise, Steve actually reddened.
The next time Mrs. Welch met her neighbors she was
conscious of tho difference in their bearing toward her. It
was at old St. Ann's. When she had been there 1
the whole congregation had thronged about her with warm
greetings and friendly words. Now there was am
change. Though Steve Allen and Rupert and Blair, and
a few others came up and spoke to her, the rest of the
ogation contented themselves with returning her
bows coldly from a distance, and several ladies, she was
sure, studiously avoided her greeting.
94 \\.11, sir. I knew she was a oner as soon as I lay my
eye 'pon her," said Andy Stamper (.» a group of his friends
in tho en- at the county seat the next coin
"but know si)- ' . t:iko that t.i
done fixed up the £lace till you wouldn't know it from a
344 RED ROCK
town place. She has painted them old rooms so black
that I)- KIM had to git a candle to see how to do it, and I
was born in one of 'em. I told her I never heard o' paint-
in* nothin' that black befo' but a coffin, but she said it
was her favorite color."
" Tears like that's so too, Sergeant," laughed someone.
" Is Hiram there much ?"
" Oh 1 he goes there ; but you know I don't think she
likes him ; and it's my opinion that Hiram he's afeard of
her as he is of Jacquelin Gray. He talks that soft way
o' hisn aroun' her which he uses when he's afeared o' any-
one. She's gin them niggers the best clo'es you ever see —
coats better then me or you or anyone aroun' heah has
seen since the war. What's curious to me is that though
she don't seem to like niggers and git along with 'em easy-
like and.nat'ral as we all do, in another way she seems to
kind o' want to like 'em. It reminds me of takin' physic :
she takes 'em with a sort o' gulp, but wants to take 'em
and wants to make everybody else do it.
" Now she's been over yonder to the Bend and got 'em
all stirred up, diggin' dreens and whitewashin' and cuttin'
poles for crosslay."
"She'll be tryin' to whitewash them," said one of his
auditors.
" Well, by Jingo ! if she sets her mind to it she'll make
it stick," said Andy. " What gits me is the way she ain't
got some'n better to work on."
Report said that Jacquelin was blossoming into a fine
young lawyer. Steve Allen declared that his practice was
doubling under Jacquelin's devotion to the work — which
was very well, as Steve, whether from contrariness or some
other motive, was becoming a somewhat frequent visitor at
Major Welch's, these days.
The General asserted that if Jacquelin stuck to his of-
fice and studied as ;i siduously as he was doing, he would
be the most learned lawyer in the State. " But he'll kill
MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST 845
himself if he does not stop it. Why, I can see the differ-
ence in him already," he declared to Miss Thomasia, soli-
citously. Miss Thomasia herself had seen the change in
Jacquelin's appearance since his return home. He was
growing thin again, and, if not pale, was at least losing that
ruddy hue of health which he had had on his arrival, and
she expostulated with him, and tried even to get Blair to do
the same ; for Blair always had great influence with him,
she told her. Blair, however, pooh-poohed the matter and
said, indifferently, that she could not see any difference
in him and thought he looked very well. Miss Thomasia
shook her head. Blair did not use to be so hard-hearted.
But, however this was, Jacquelin did not alter his
course. The negroes had become so unruly, that, as Ru-
pert was often away from home, and his aunt was left
alone, he came home every night, though it was often late
before he arrived ; but early in the morning he returned
to the Court-house and spent the day there in his office,
rarely accepting an invitation or taking any holiday.
When he and Blair met, which they did sometimes un-
avoidably, there was a return of the old constraint that
had existed before he went away, and even with Steve he
appeared to be growing silentrand self-absor
Blair had become the mainstay of her family. Uncon-
ly she had slipped into tho position where she was
the prop on which both her father and mother loaned.
She taught her little colored school, and at home was al-
ways busy about something. E I with Mrs. Andy
Stain, I-IMT < hickens, and with Miss Thomasia in
rai. -ing violets. Under her skilful management, the little
cottage amid its wilderness of fruit-trees, in which old Mr.
Kellows had lived, became a rose-bower, and tho
fruit-trees became an orchard with its feet buried in clover.
ller father said of her that she was a perpetual reproduction
of the miracle of the creation— that she created tho sun
andfollov. <•.] it with all tile plant sand ho rbs after, their kind.
Yet. with all these duties, Blair found time to run over
346 RED ROCK
to see Miss Thomasia almost every day or two ; at first shy-
ly and at rare intervals, but, after she found that Jacque-
lin was always at his office, oftener and more freely. She
always declared that a visit to Miss Thomasia was like
reading one of Scott's novels ; that she got back to a land
of chivalry and drank at the springs of pure romance ;
while Miss Thomasia asserted that Blair was a breath of May.
Jacquelin, after a time, came to recognize the traces of
Blair's visits, in the little touches of change and improve-
ment about the house : a pruned rosebush here, a fold of
white curtain there, and he often had to hear her praises
sung by Miss Thomasia's guileless tongue, and listen to the
good lady's lament because Blair and Steve did not proceed
a little more satisfactorily with their affairs. Miss Thomasia
had an idea that it was on account of Steve's former reputa-
tion for wildness. " It would have such a good influence on
Steve/' she declared, " would be just what he needed. I
quite approve of a young lady being coy and maidenly, but,
of course, I know there is an understanding between them,
and I must say, I think Blair is carrying it too far." She
bridled as she always did at. the thought of anyone opposing
Steve. "I know that a man is sometimes driven by a young
lady's cruelty — apparent cruelty — for I am sure Blair would
not wittingly injure anyone — into courses very sad and in-
jurious to him/' Miss Thomasia heaved a sigh and gazed
out of the window, and a moment later resumed her knitting.
"Do you see anything of that — young lady, Miss
Welch ? " she asked Jacquelin, suddenly.
Jacquelin said he had not seen her for some time, except
at church, and once or twice in the village, at a distance.
" I did not suppose you had," said Miss Thomasia. " She
is a very nice, refined girl — has always been very sweet to
me when I have met her — but of course — ." Her lips
closed firmly and she began to knit vigorously, leaving
Jacquelin to wonder what she meant.
"I only wanted to know," she said, presently, and that
was the only explanation she gave.
CHAPTER XXX
SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED
THE difference in the attitude of their neighbors tow
ard them was felt deeply by Major and Mrs. Welch.
Kv.-n I )r. ( 'ary's wonted cordiality had given place, when he
met Mrs. Welch, to grave and formal courtesy. Toward
Major Welch the formality was less marked, while toward
Ruth there was almost the same warmth and friendliness
that had existed before Mrs. Welch's letters were seen.
Ruth received quite as many invitations as before, and
when she met her neighbors they were as cordial to her as
ever. She was conscious that this difference in her case
was intentional, that the old warmth toward her was
studied, and that they meant her to feel that the change
in their attitude did not extend to her. Ruth, ho\\
was far too loyal to her own to accept such attentions ; so
far from accepting, she resented the overtures made lu-r.
and was not slow in letting it be understood. Thnv
one or two exceptions to this general attitude. For
Bluir Cary her liking deepened. Blair was sweeter than
ever to her, and though Ruth felt that this was to make
up to her for the coolness of others, there were a real
warm tli and a true sympathy in Blair, and a delicacy and
charm about her manner of showing them that touehed
Ruth, and she was conscious that day by day she became
drawn more and more closely t<> IHT. She felt that Blair
understood her and sympnthi/rd with h.-r, and that, if
she ever chose to speak, she had in h«-r a friend on whose
bosom she could fling herself and find consolement. Such
S47
348 RED ROCK
friendships are rare. The friend with whom one does not
have to make explanations is God-given.
With her other neighbors Ruth stood on her dignity, in
armed guardfulness. She carried her head higher than
she had ever done in her life, and responded to their
advances with a coldness that soon gained her a reputa-
tion for as much pride as she could have desired, if not
for a good deal of temper. Mrs. Dockett attempted a
sympathetic manner with her, and if subsequent rumors
were any indication, that redoubted champion did not
come off wholly unscathed.
" The little minx has got her mother's tongue," sniffed
the offended lady. " Why, she actually snubbed me —
me! Think of her daring to tell me, when I was giving
her to understand that we knew she was not responsible
for any of the insulting things that had been said about
us, that she always agreed with her mother and father in
everything ! — Which I'll wager she doesn't, unless she's
different from all the other girls I know ! And away she
marched with her little mouth pursed up and her head
held as high as Captain Allen's. She'll know when I try
to be civil to her again ! She's getting her head turned
because Captain Allen said she had some pretension to
good looks."
It must be said, though, on behalf of Mrs. Dockett,
that after the first smart of the rebuff she had' received
was over, she liked Ruth none the less, and after a little
while used to tell the story of Ruth's snubbing her, with
a very humorous take-off of Miss Welch's air and of her
own confusion. And long afterward she admitted that
the first time she really liked Ruth Welch was when she
resented her condescension. " It takes a good woman — or
man either— to stand up to me, you know ! " she said, with
a twinkle of pride and amusement in her bright eyes.
Mrs. Dockett was not by any means the only one to
whom the young lady showed her resentment. Ruth felt
her isolation keenly, though she did not show this gen-
SOME OF THE GRAIN MBS. WELCH REAPED 349
erally, except in a new hauteur. She not only gave up
visiting, and immersed herself in the home duties which
devolved upon her in consequence of her mother's absorp-
tion in her philanthropical work, but she suddenly began
to take a much deeper interest than ever before in that
work itself, riding about and visiting the poor negroes in
whom her mother was interested, and extending her visits
to the poorer whites as well. She was surprised at the fre-
quency with which she met Mrs. Gary and Blair, or, if she
did not meet them, heard of their visits to the people
she was attending. Once or twice she met Miss Thoma-
sia, also, accompanied by old Peggy as her escort. " I
heard that the fence was going to be put up between us
and old Mrs. Granger," explained Miss Thomasia, "and I
am such a poor hand at climbing fences, I am trying to
see her as often as I can before it is done. I do hope the
old woman will die before it is put up." She saw the
astonished look on Ruth's face and laughed heartily.
" You know what I mean, my dear, I am always getting
things wrong. But, are you alone, my lear?"
Ruth said she was alone.
" I don't think it quite right," said Miss Thomasia,
shaking her head. " Steve, I am sure, would be very
glad to accompany you on any of your visitations, and so
would Jacquelin." She was perfectly innocent, but Ruth
was incensed to find herself blushing violently.
It happened that on these visitations, more than once,
Ruth fell in with Captain Allen. She treated him with
marked coldness — with actual savageness, Steve declared
afterward, but at the time, it must be said, it appeared to
have little apparent effect upon that gentleman. Indeed, it
appeared simply to amuse him. He was " riding about on
business," he explained to her. He seemed to have a great
deal of business " to ride about on " of late. Huth always
declined, with much coolness, his request to be allowed to
escort her, but her refusal did not seem to offend him, and
he would turn up unexpectedly the next time she rode oat
350 RED ROCK
alone, cheerful and amused. (One singular thing was
that she rarely saw him when she was accompanied by her
father.) Still she did not stop riding. She did not see
why she should give up her visits of philanthropy, simply
because Captain Allen also happened to have business to
attend to. She began to be conscious that sometimes she
even felt disappointed if on her rides she did not see him
somewhere, and she hated herself for this, and took to dis-
ciplining herself for it by riding on unfrequented roads.
Yet even here, now and then, Captain Allen passed her,
and she began to feel as if he were in some sort doing it
to protect her. On one occasion when he found her on a
somewhat lonely road, he took her to task for riding so
much alone, and told her that she ought not to do it. She
was secretly pleased, but fired up at his manner.
" AVhy? " She looked him defiantly in the eyes.
He appeared confused.
"Why — because — Suppose you should lose your way,
what would you do?" She saw that this was not his
reason.
" I should ask someone," she answered, coolly.
" But whom would you ask? There is no one — except
one old woman, my old Mammy Peggy who lives down in
this direction — who lives anywhere between the old road
that is now stopped up and the creek, and farther back is
a through-cut to the Bend, which you crossed, along which
some of the worst characters in the County travel. They
do not come this side of the creek, for they are afraid ;
I assure you that it is not safe for you to be riding about
through the woods in this way at this time of the evening,
by yourself."
" Why, I see this path — someone must travel it? " Ruth
said. She knew that somewhere down in that direction
was the old hospital-place, which the negroes said was
haunted, and which was rumored to be the meeting-place
of the Ku Klux. Steve looked a little confused.
SOME OF THE (JKAIX MKS. WELCH REAPED 351
"And if no one is down here, there cannot any harm
come to me." She enjoyed her triumph.
" Yet — but you don't understand. People pass this
way going backwards and forwards from — from the Bend —
and elsewhere, and — " He broke off. " You must trust
me and take my word for it," he said, firmly. " It is not
right for you; it is not safe." IK- was so earnest that
Ruth could not help feeling the force of what he said, and
she was at heart secretly pleased, yet she resented his atti-
tude.
« Whom should I be afraid of? Of the Ku Klux?"
She was pleased to see him flush. But when he answeivd
her he spoke seriously :
" Mi- \Velch, there are no Ku Klux here — there never
were any — except once for a little while," he corra
himself, "and there is not one in the County or in the
South who would do you an injury, or with whom, if you
were thrown, you would not bo as safe as if you ^
guarded by a regiment."
Kuth felt that he was telling the truth, and she was con-
scious of the effect he had on her. Yet she rebelled, and
she could not resist firing a shot at him.
-• Thank you," she said, mockingly. "I am relieved to
know they will not murder ladies." Steve flushed hotly,
and, before he could answer, she pressed her advantage
with delight.
"Could you not persuade them to extend their clem-
ency to other poor defenceless creatures? Poor negroes,
f<>r example ? Yon say there never were any Ku Klux in
this County ; how about that night when the State militia
;o raided and their arms taken from them, and when
poor defenceless women were frightened to death. Were
men who did that really ghost
at Steve and was struck with a pang that
she should have allowed herself to be carried so far. She
had m<ant only to sting him and revenge herself, but she
1 struck deeper than she had intended. The look on
852 KED ROCK
Steve's face really awed her, and when he spoke the tone
in his voice was different from any she had ever heard
in it.
" Miss Welch, I did not say there had never been any
Ku Klux in this County — you misunderstood me. I said
there had never been any but once. I myself organized a
bund of Ku Klux regulators — ' a den/ as we called it, in
this County — and we made one raid — the raid you speak
of, when we took the arms from the negroes. I led that
raid. I organized it and led it, because I deemed it abso-
lutely necessary for our protection at the time — for our
salvation. No one was seriously hurt — no women were
frightened to death, as you say. It is true that some wom-
en were frightened, and, no doubt, frightened badly, at
the pranks played that night. We meant to frighten the
men ; if necessary we should have killed them — the lead-
ers— but never to frighten the women. Under the excite-
ment of such an occasion, where there were hundreds of
young men, some full of fun, others wild and reckless,
some unauthorized acts were committed. It had been at-
tempted to guard against them, but some men overstepped
the bounds and there were undoubtedly unjustifiable acts
committed under cover of the disguise adopted. But no
lives were taken, and no great violence was done. The
reports you have heard of it were untrue. I give you my
word of honor as to this. That is the only time there has
been a raid by Ku Klux in this County — and the only time
there will be one. We accomplished our purpose, and we
proved what we could do. The effect was salutary. But
I found that the blackguards and sneaks could take ad-
vantage of the disguise, and under the disguise wreak their
private spite, and by common consent the den was dis-
banded soon after that night. There have been ruffianly
acts committed since that time by men disguised as Ku
Klux ; but not one of the men who were in that raid, so
far as I know, was concerned in them or has «ver worn
the disguise since then. They have sworn solemnly not
\LE OF TilE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED 353
M do so. At least only one — I am not sure as to one/' he
said, almost in reverie ; "but he is an outsider. The place
where they met is the old plantation down here on the
river ; this path leads to it, and at the top of the next hill
I can show you the house. It is only a ruin, and was se-
lected by me because the stories connected with it pro-
tected it from the curiosity of the negroes, and in case of
invasion the woods around, with their paths, furnished a
ready means of escape.
" I have told you the whole story and told you the truth
absolutely, and I hope you will do me the honor to be-
lieve me." His manner and voice were so grave that Ruth
had long lost all her resentment.
" I do," she said, "and I beg your pardon for what I
said."
He bowed. They had reached the crest of the hill.
"There is the house." He held a bough aside and in-
dicated a large rambling mansion below them, almost con-
cealed on one side by the dense growth, while the other side
appeared to be simply a ruin. It lay in a cleft between
two wooded hills around the base of which ran the ri\
and seemed as desolate a place as Ruth had ever seen.
"My showing it to you is a proof that 'the den' is
broken up. Now we will go back."
"I did not need it," she said, "and I will never tell
anyone that I have ever seen it."
To this Captain Allen made no response.
" I must see you safely back to the main road," ho said,
gravely.
Ruth felt that she had struck him deeply, and as they
rode along she cast about in her mind for some way to
lead up to an explanation. It did not come, however, and
at the main road, \\li.-n li er gate was in sight, Captain Allen
pulled in his horse and lifted his hat.
"Good-by."
" Good-evening. 1 will think <>f what you said," she be-
gan, meaning what he had said about her riding out alone.
23
354 RED ROCK
" I would at least like you to think of me as a gentle-
man. " He bowed gravely, and lifting his hat again,
turned and rode slowly away.
Ruth rode home, her mind filled with conflicting emo-
tions. Among them was anger, first with herself and af-
u-rward with Captain Allen.
Miss Welch, on her arrival at home that evening, was in
a singular frame of mind, and was as nearly at war with
everyone as it is possible for a really sweet-tempered girl
to be. Dr. Washington Still had called in her absence
and proffered his professional services for any of her pa-
tients. She broke out against him vehemently, and when
her mother, who was in a mollified state of mind toward the
young man, undertook to defend him, Ruth attacked the
whole Still family — and connections — except Virgy, whom
she admitted to be a poor little kind-hearted thing, and
shocked her mother by denouncing warmly the stories of
the Ku Klux outrages and declaring openly that she did
not believe there had ever been any Ku Klux in the
County, except on the one occasion when they had dis-
armed the negro militia — and that she thought they
had done exactly right, and just what she would have had
them do.
Mrs. Welch was too much shocked to do anything but
gasp.
" Oh ! Ruth, Ruth," she groaned. " That ever my daugh-
ter should say such things ! " But Miss Ruth was too ex-
cited for control just then. She launched out yet more
warmly and shocked her mother by yet more heretical
views, until suddenly, moved by her mother's real pain,
she flung herself into her arms in a passion of remorse and
tears, and declared that she did not mean half of what
she had said, but was a wicked, bad girl who did not ap-
preciate the best and kindest of mothers.
A few days afterward, the man known as the trick-doc-
tor, who called himself " Doctor Moses," came to Major
Welch's and told a pitiful story of an old woman's poverty.
SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED 355
Mrs. Welch gave him some sugar, coffee, and other things
for her, but he asked the ladies to go and see her. She
lived " all by herself, mostly, and hones to see the good
white folks," he said.
" Ef my young Mistis would be so kind as to go and
see her some evenin' I will show her de way." He looked
at Ruth, with a low bow and that smile and uneasy look
which always reminded her of a hyena in a cage.
They promised to go immediately, and he undertook to
describe the road to them.
It was too bad to drive a carriage over — you had to ride
on horseback ; but his young Mistress- would find it, she
was such a good rider.
Ruth could never bear the sight of the negro ; he wa>
the most repulsive creature to her that she had ever seen.
Yet it happened, that from his description of the place
where the old woman lived and of the road that led there,
she was sure it was the same old woman whom Captain
Allen had mentioned to her, that afternoon, as having been
his mammy, and as the one person who lived on the de-
serted plantation. And this, or some other reason — for the
writer by no means wishes to be positive in assigning a
woman's reason — determined Ruth to go and see her.
had expected her father to accompany her, as he frequently
did so, but it happened that day that he was called away
from home, and as her mother received another urgent call
that morning to go and see a sick child. Kuth had cither to
postpone her visit or go alone. She chose the hit t<-r alter-
native, and as soon as the afternoon had cooled a little, she
started off on horseback.
Ever since her interview with Captain All on, she had
been chafing under the sense of obeying his command that
she should not ride through the woods alone. It was less
a request than a command he had given her. She had not
ridden out alone since that evening— at least, she had not
ridden through the wood-roads ; she had stuck to the high-
ways, and she felt a sense of resentment that she had done
356 BED ROOK
so. What right had Captain Allen to issue orders to her P
She would now show him that they had no effect on her.
She would not only go against his wishes, but would go to
the very place he had especially cautioned her against. She
would see that old woman who had once belonged to him,
and perhaps the old woman would some time tell him she
had been there.
Ruth had no difficulty in finding her way. She knew the
road well as far as the point where the disused road led
off from the highway, and she had a good idea of direc-
tion. There she turned into the track that took her down
toward the abandoned plantation, and crossed the zigzag
path that she knew cut through the pines and led down
to the Bend. She remembered Captain Allen's pointing it
out to her that afternoon, and as she approached the path
she galloped her horse rapidly, conscious of a feeling of
exhilaration as she neared it. A quarter of a mile farther
on, the thought occurred to her that it was cowardice to
ride rapidly. Why should she do so ? And though there
was a cloud rising in the west, she pulled her horse down
to a walk. The woods were beautiful and were filled with
the odors of grape-blossoms ; the path was descending,
which assured her that she was on the right track. A lit-
tle farther on, as it had been described to her, it should
cross a stream; so she was pleased to see below her, at
the bottom of a little ravine, the thicket through which the
stream ran. She rode down into the ravine and to the
stream. To her surprise the path appeared suddenly to
stop at the water's edge. There was no outlet on the other
side ; simply a wall of bushes. Suddenly her horse threw
up his head and started violently. At the same moment a
slight noise behind her attracted Ruth's attention. She
turned, and in the path behind her stood the negro, Moses.
The blood deserted Ruth's face. He had always made
her flesh creep, as if he had been a reptile. She had often
found him on the side of the road as she passed along, or
had turned and seen him come out of the woods behind
SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED 357
her, but she had never been so close to him before when
alone. And now to find herself face to face with him in
that lonely place made her heart almost stop. After re-
garding her for a moment silently, the negro began to
move slowly forward, bowing and halting with that peculiar
limp which always reminded Ruth of a species of worm.
She would have fled ; but she saw in an instant that there
was no way of escape. The bushes on either side were like
a wall. The same idea must have passed through the man's
mind. A curious smirk was on his evil face.
" My Mistis," he said, with a grin that showed his yel-
low teeth and horrid gums.
" The path seems to end here," said Ruth, with an effort
commanding her voice.
" Yes, my Mistis ; but I will show you de way. Old
Moses will show you de way. He-he-he." His voice had
a singular feline quality in it. It made Ruth's blood run
cold.
" No — thank you — I can find it — I shall go back up In TO
and look for it." She urged her horse back up tin- path to
pass him. But the negro stepped before the horse and
blocked the way.
" Nor'm — dat ain't de way. I'll show you de way. Jes'
let Doctor Moses show you." He gave his snicker again,
moved closer and put his hand on her bridle.
This a.- 1 (hanged the girl's fear to anger. " Let go my
hridlo, instantly!" Her voice rose suddenly. The tone
of command took the negro by surprise and In- drop pod his
hand; the next second, however, he caught her hi idle
. so roughly that her horse reared and started back,
and if Kuth had not been a good rider she would havo
fall- -n from the saddle.
w \'mgwine to show you." His tone was now dilTeivnt.
He clung to the bridle of the frightened horse. His counte-
•e had changed.
Raising her riding-whip, Ruth struck him with all her
might across the face.
358 RED ROCK
" Let go my bridle ! " she cried. ,
He gave a snarl of rage and sprang at her like a wild
beast ; but her horse whirled and slung him from his feet
and he missed her, only tearing her skirt. It seemed to
Ruth at that moment that she heard the sound of a horse
galloping somewhere, and she gave a scream. It was an-
swered instantly by a shout back over the hill on the path
along which she had come, and the next moment was heard
the swift rush of a horse tearing along on the muffled
wood-path back in the woods.
The negro caught the sound, as he turned to seize Ruth's
bridle again, stopped short and listened intently, then, sud-
denly wheeling, plunged into the bushes and went crashing
away. That same instant, the horseman dashed over the
crest of the hill and came rushing down the path, scatter-
ing the stones before him. And before Ruth could take it
in, Steve Allen, his face whiter than she had ever seen it,
was at her side.
" What is it ? Who was it ? " he asked.
"Nothing. Oh! He frightened me so," she panted.
" Who ? " His voice was imperious.
"That negro."
"What negro ?"
" The one they call Moses— Doctor Moses."
The look that came into Steve's face was for a second
almost terrifying. The next moment, with an effort, he
controlled himself.
" Oh ! it was nothing," he said, lightly. " He is an im-
pudent dog, and must be taught manners ; but don't be
frightened. No one shall hurt you." His voice had sud-
denly grown gentle and soothing, and he led Ruth from
the subject, talking lightly, and calming her.
" I told you not to come here alone, you know ? " he said,
lightly.
His manner reassured Ruth, and she almost smiled as
she said :
" I thought that was a woman's revenge."
SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED 359
" I did not mean it for revenge ; but I want you to prom-
ise me now you will never do it again. Or if you will not
promise me, I want you to promise yourself."
" I will promise you/' said Ruth. She went on to ex-
plain why she came.
" The old woman you speak of wants nothing," he said,
" and you have passed the path that leads to her house.
That negro misled — you did not take the right road to
reach her place. You should have turned off, some dis-
tance back. It was a mere chance — simple Providence,
that I came this way and saw your track and followed you.
If yon wish to see my old Mammy I will show you the way.
It is the nearest house, and the only one we can reach
before that storm comes, and we shall have to hurry even to
get there."
Ruth looked over her shoulder, and was frightened at
the blackness of the cloud that had gathered. There was
a dense stillness, and the air was murky and hot. Almost
at the moment she looked, a streak of flame darted from the
cloud and a terrific peal of thunder followed immediately,
showing that the storm was close on them.
"Come," he said, and, catching her bridle, Captain
Allen headed her horse up the hill. "Mind the In
> him well in hand ; but put him out."
;i urged the horse, and gave him the rein, and they
dashed up the hill, Steve close at her horse's Hank, li
was to be a close graze, even if they escaped at all ; for the
rising wind, coming in a strong blast, was beginning to
rush through the woods, making the trees bend and creak.
The bushes swept past her, ami dragged Ruth's hat from her
head. " Keep on ! Ill get it !" called Steve, and leaning
from his saddle he picked it from tin- ground, and in a
moment was up with her again. The thunder was begin-
ning to crash just above their heads, and as they dashed
along, the air was filled with flying leaves and small boughs,
and liiir drops were bepnnin-j 'tor on them as if
driven from a gun. Ruth heard Steve's voice, but could
360 BED KOCK
not, in the roar of the wind, tell what he said. The next
instant he was beside her, his hand outstretched to steady
her horse. She could not distinguish his words ; but saw
that he meant her to pull in, and she did so. The next
second they were at a path which led off at an angle from
that they were on. Steve turned her horse into it, and a
moment later there appeared a small clearing, on the other
side of which was an old cabin. That instant, however,
the cloud burst upon them, and the rain came in a sheet.
Before Ruth could stop her horse at the door, Steve was on
the ground and had lifted her down as if she had been a
child.
" Run in," he said, and it never occurred to her to op-
pose him. Holding both horses with one hand, Steve
reached across and pushed open the door, and put her in.
An old negro woman, the only occupant, was facing her,
just as she had risen from her chair by the fire, her small
black eyes wide with surprise at the unexpected entrance.
The next moment she advanced toward Ruth.
" Come in, Mistis. Is you wet ? " she asked.
" Thank you — why, yes — I am rather — But " Ruth
turned to the door. She was thinking of her companion,
who was still out in the storm that was driving against the
house.
" Yes, to be sho' you is. I'll shet de do'." The old ne-
gress moved to push it closer to.
" No, don't ! " cried Ruth. " He is out there."
" Who ? Don't you go out dyah, Mistis."
She restrained Ruth, who was about to go out again.
But the door was pushed open from the outside, and Steve,
dripping wet, with a pile of broken pieces of old rails in
his arms and Ruth's saddle in his hand, came in.
• • Marse Steve I My chile ! Fo de L — d ! " exclaimed the
old woman. " Ain't you mighty wet ? " She had left Ruth,
and was feeling Steve's arms and back.
" Wet ? No, I'm as dry as a bone," laughed Steve.
" Here — make up a good fire." He threw the wood on the
SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED 361
hearth and began to pile it on the fire, which had been al-
most extinguished by the rain that came down the big
chimney. "Dry that young lady. Fve got to go out!"
He turned to the door again.
" No — please Y You must not go out ! " cried Ruth,
taking a step toward him.
" I have to go to see after the horses. I must fasten
them/'
" Please don't. They are all right. I don't want you to
go ! " She faced him boldly. " Please don't, for my sake ! "
she pleaded.
Steve hesitated, and looked about him.
" I shall be wretched if you go out." Her face and voice
proved the truth of her assertion.
" I must go. I am already soaking wet ; but I'll come
back directly." His voice was cheerful, and before Ruth
could beg him again, with a sign to the old woman he was
gone, and had pulled the door close to behind him.
" Heah, he say I is to dry you," said the old Mammy,
and she set a chair before the fire and gently but firmly
put Ruth in it, and proceeded to feel her shoes and clothing.
"Dat's my young master — my chile," she said, with pride,
and in answer to Ruth's expostulations. " You're 'bliged
to do what he say, you know. He'll be back torectly."
Ruth felt that the only way to induce Captain Allen to
come in out of the storm was to get dried as quickly as pos-
sible ; so she set to work to help the old woman. Steve did
not come back directly, however, nor for some time, and
not until Ruth sent him word that she was dry, ami he
must come in or she would go out. Then he entered, laugh-
ing at the idea that a rain meant anything to him.
" Why, I am an old soldier. I have slept in such a rain
as that, night after night, and as soundly as a baby. I en-
joy it." His face, as he looked at Ruth sitting before the
fire, showed that he enjoyed something. And as the girl sat
there, her long hair down, her eyes filled with soliciting,
and the bright firelight from the blazing, resinous pine
RED ROCK
shining on her and lighting up the dingy little room, she
made a picture to enjoy.
Old Peggy, bending over her and ministering to her with
pleased officiousness, caught something of the feeling. A
gleam of shrewdness had come into her sharp, black eyes.
" Marse Steve, is dis your lady ?" she asked, suddenly,
with an admiring look at Ruth, whose cheeks flamed.
"No — not — " Steve did not finish the sentence. "What
made you think so ? " He looked very pleased.
" She so consarned about you. She certainly is pretty,"
she said, simply.
Ruth was blushing violently, and Steve said :
"I'm not good enough, Mammy, for any lady."
" Go 'way, Marse Steve ! You know you good 'nough
for anybody. Don't you b'lieve him, young Mistis. I
helt him in dese arms when he wa' n't so big ; " she meas-
ured a length hardly above a span, " and I knows."
Ruth thought so too just then, but she did not know
what to say. Fortunately Steve came to her rescue.
"Mammy, you're the only woman in the world that
thinks that."
" I know better 'n dat ! " declared the old woman, em-
phatically. " You does too, don't you, my Mistis ? " At
which Ruth stammered, "Why, yes," and only blushed
the more. She looked so really distressed that Steve said :
" Come, Mammy, you mustn't embarrass your young
Mistress."
" Nor, indeed — dat I won't. But you see dyah, you
done call her my young Mistis ! " laughed the old woman,
enjoying hugely the confusion of both her visitors.
It was time to go, Steve said. So as the storm had passed,
they came out and he saddled Ruth's horse and handed
her into the saddle. He spoke a few words to the old
woman, to which she gave a quick affirmative reply. As
they rode off, she said, " You mus' come again," which
both of them promised and doubtless intended to do.
The woods were sparkling with the raindrops, and the
SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED 363
sky was as if it had just been newly washed and burnished,
and the earth was covered with water which shone in the
light of the setting son, like pools of crystal.
' Steve bade Miss Welch good-by at her gate. He had
scarcely gotten out of sight of her when he changed his
easy canter to a Ipng gallop, and a look of grim determi-
nation deepened on his face. At the first byway he turned
off from the main-road and made his way by bridle-paths
back to the point where he had rescued Miss Welch.
Here he tied his horse and began to examine the bushes
carefully. He was able at first to follow the track that
the negro had made in his flight ; but after a little distance
it became more difficult. The storm had obliterated the
traces. So Steve returned to the point where he had left
his horse, remounted and rode away. He visited Andy
Stamper's and several other plantations, at all of which lie
stopped, but only for a few moments to speak a word or
two to the men at each, and then galloped on to the next,
his face still grim and his voice intense with determination.
That night a small band of horsemen rode through the
Bend, visiting house after house. They asked for Moses,
the trick-doctor. But Moses was not there. He had left
early the morning before, their informants said, and had
not been back since. There was no doubt as to the truth
of this. There was something about that body of horse-
men, small though it was, riding in pairs, that impressed
whomever they accosted, and it was evident that their in-
formants meant to tell the truth. If, on the first sum-
mons at a door, the inmates peered out curious and loud-
mouthed, they quieted down at the first glance at the
silent horsemen outside.
" What you want with him ?" asked one of the men,
inquisitively. Almost instantly, as if by machinery, two
horsemen moved silently in behind him and cut him out
from the group behind. "You know where he is?
Come along." Their hands were on his collar.
" Nor, sun, b'fo' Gord I don't, gentraens," protested the
864 RED ROCK
negro, almost paralyzed with fright. "I didn't mean
nuttin' in the worP, gentmens."
At a sign from the leader he was released, and was glad
to slip back into obscurity behind the rest of the awe-
struck group, till the horsemen rode on.
It was, no doubt, well for the trick-doctor that his
shrewdness had kept him from his accustomed haunts that
night. He visited the Bend secretly a night or two later ;
but only for a short time, and before morning broke he
was far away, following the woodland paths, moving at his
swift, halting pace, which hour by hour was placing miles
between him and the danger he had discovered. Thus the
County for a time, at least, was rid of his presence, and
both white and blacks breathed freer.
CHAPTER XXXI
JACQUELItf GRAY LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL, AND
STEVE ASTONISHES MAJOR WELCH
THE bill in Jacquelin's suit against Mr. Still was not filed
for some time after the notice was sent and the suit insti-
tuted. But this period was utilized by Steve and Jacque-
lin in hunting up evidence ; and by Mr. Still in holding con-
ferences with Leech and the officers of the court. Moan-
while Steve Allen had met the Welches several times, and
although there was a perceptible coolness in their manner
to him, yet civilities were kept up. As for Steve himself, lie
went on just as he had done before, ignoring the change
and apparently perfectly oblivious of the chilliness with
which he was received.
Yet Steve appeared to have changed. His old cheerful-
ness and joviality seemed to have gone, and he was often
in a state bordering on gloom. As, however, most of those
in that part of the world were at this time in a state of
! gloom, Steve's condition was set down to the gen-
eral cause. Occasionally it occurred to Jacqiu-lin that
some trouble with Blair Gary might have a part in it. J 1 is
Aunt Thomasia's words had stuck in his memory. Steve
• li'i not go to Dr. Gary's as often as he used to go .
when he did go, on his return to the Court-house he was
almost always in one of his fits of depression. Jacquelin
set it down to another exhibition of Blair's habitual capri-
ciousness. It was that Yankee Gap tain that stood in the
way. And Jacquelin hardened his heart, and vowed to
himself that he would not see Blair again.
At length the bill in Jacqnelin's suit was ready.
M8
366 RED ROCK
It was at the end of a hard day's work that Jacquelin
had put the finishing touches to it, and as he com-
pleted the copy from a draft that Steve had made, he
handed it across to Steve to read over. It was a hill to
reopen, on the ground of fraud, the old suit in which Still
had become the purchaser of Red Rock, and to set aside
the conveyance to him and the subsequent conveyance of
a part of his purchase to Major Welch. It went somewhat
into a history of the confidential relation that Still had
borne to Jacquelin's and Rupert's father ; charged that
Still's possession of the bonds was fraudulent, and that
even, if not so, the bonds had been discharged by pro-
ceeds of the estate that had come to the steward's hands.
It charged Still with gross fraud in his accounts, as well
as in the possession of the bonds. It ended by making
Major Welch a party, as a subsequent purchaser, and
charged constructive knowledge on his part of Still's
fraud. Actual knowledge of this by him was expressly
disclaimed, but it was stated that he had knowledge of
facts which should have put him on inquiry. It was
alleged that a formal notice had been served on Major
Welch before he became the purchaser, and it asked that
"an issue out of chancery," as the lawyers term it, might
be awarded to try the question of fraud.
When Steve finished reading the paper, he laid it on his
desk and leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on the
ceiling, in deep thought. Jacquelin did not disturb him ;
but watched him in silence as the expression on his face
deepened into one almost of gloom. Presently Steve
stirred.
" Well, is that all ?" asked Jacquelin.
" Yes." He actually sighed.
" You don't think it will hold ? "
" No. I am sure we shall show fraud — on that rascal's
part — at least, so far as his accounts are concerned. We
have followed up some of his rascality, and I am equally
sure that his possession of the big bond was fraudulent,
JACQUELIN LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 367
Your father never owed him all that money, in the world ;
but how did he get hold of it ? The man in the South
in whose name it was made out is dead, and all his papers
burned. Still turns up with the bond assigned to him,
and says it was given him for negroes he sold. Now, how
shall we meet it ? We know he made money negro- trad ing.
Rupert's story of hearing the conversation with your father
is too vague. He can't explain what your father meant
by his reference to the Indian-killer, and his threats against
Hiram will weaken his testimony. Hiram's afraid of him,
though, and he'd better be. We'll have to send him away.
He's with Mr Ruffle too much."
Jacquelin's face sobered, and he sighed. The thought
of Rupert cost him many sighs these days.
" I am not sure that we have been specific enough in our
charges," Steve continued, "and I am sure the judge will
be against us. He has never gotten over the peeling I
gave him when he first turned Had, and he and Hiram are
as thick as thieves."
" Yes; but, as you say, we'll get at something, and it is
all we can do. I am willing to take the risk for Rupert.
if not for myself. Will you sign as counsel? And I'll
go over to the office and file it. Mr. Dockett said luM
wait for us."
Steve took the pen and dipped it in the ink ; then ULTUMI
leaned back in his chair, and then, after a second's thought .
sat up and signed the paper rapidly, and Jacquelin took it
ami went out. In a few minutes he returned.
" Well, the Rubicon is crossed," ho said, gayly.
Steve did not answer. He was again leaning back in
his chair, deep in thought, his eyes on the ceiling, his face
graver than before.
"Steve, don't bother about the thing any nmrr. We've
done the best we could, and if we fail we fail, that's all."
Mut the other did not respond in the same vein.
" Yes, we've crossed the Rubicon," he said, with some-
thing between a sigh and a yawn.
368 BED ROCK
" Steve, what's the matter ?"
" Oh, nothing."
" Yes, there is— tell me."
" Nothing — I assure yon, there's not."
" And I know better. Confound it ! can't I see some-
thing is going on that I don't understand ? You couldn't,
be gloomier if you had broken with — with your sweet-
heart."
" Well, I have." Steve turned and looked out of the
window to where the light in the clerk's office shone
through the trees.
t( What ! " Jacquelin was on his feet in a second.
"Jack, I'm in love."
et I know that. But what do you mean by — by — that
you have broken with ?"
"That I'm in love with Kuth Welch." He spoke
quietly.
" What — what do you mean ? " Jacquelin's voice fal-
tered.
" What I say — that I've been in love with her ever since
I met her." He was still looking out of the window.
" Steve !" Jacquelin's tone had changed and was full of
deep reproach. As Steve was not looking at him and did
not answer, be went on : " Steve, I don't understand.
Does she know ? " His throat was dry and his voice hard.
" I don't know "
" Steve Allen !" The tone was such that Steve turned
to look at him.
" What's the matter with you ?"
" That's what I have to ask you," said Jacquelin, sternly.
"Are you crazy?"
" I don't know whether I am or not," Steve said, half
bitterly. " But that's the fact, anyhow."
Jacquelin's face had paled, and his form was tense.
"'Steve, if anyone else had told me this of you, he'd not
have stood to complete his sentence. I thought you were
a gentleman," he sneered.
,T.\«JUELIN LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 369
" Jacquelin Gray !" Steve sprang to his feet, and the
two young men stood facing each other, their faces white
and their eyes blazing. Jacquelin spoke first.
94 As Blair Gary has no brother to protect her, I will do
it. I never thought it would have to be against you."
" Blair Gary ? Protect her against me ? In God's
name, what do you mean ?"
" Yon know."
"I swear I do not!"
Jacquelin turned from him with a gesture of contempt ;
but Steve seized him roughly.
" Hy Heaven ! you shall tell me. I feel as if the earth
were giving way before me."
Jacquelin shook him off, but faced him, his whole ex-
pression full of scorn.
" Haven't you been engaged to — engaged to — or as good
as engaged to — or, at least, in love with Blair Gary for
years?"
Steve gazed at him for a moment with a puzzled look
on his face, which gave place the next instant to one of
inexpressible amusement, and then, with a shove which
sent Jacquelin spinning across the room, flung himself
into his chair and burst into a ringing laugh.
"You fool ! you blamed fool I" he exclaimed. " P>ut
I fool, too," he said, standing and facing Jacquelin.
" I think you are." Jacquelin was still grave.
" Why. lilair knows it."
" Knows what ? "
« Knows that I'm in love with Ruth Welch. She di-
vined it long ago and has been my con fid a i
« What il— Steve!— -" The expression on Jacqnolin's
face underwent a dozen changes in as many seconds. As-
tonishment, incredulity, memory, reflection, regret, I>OJM«
—all were there, chasing each other and tumbling over one
anot her in wild confusion. " Steve," he began again in
hopeless amazement, with a tone almost of entreaty, but
«-d short.
370 RED ROCK
"You double-dyed, blind idiot!" exclaimed Steve,
" Don't you know that Blair Gary don't care a button
for me ? never has cared and never will care but for one
man ?"
"Middleton!" Jacquelin turned away with a fierce
gesture.
" No, you jealous fool ! "
" Then, in Heaven's name, who is it ? " Jacquelin
again faced him.
"A blind idiot."
The effect was not what Steve had anticipated. Jacquelin
made a wild gesture of dissent, turned his back, and, walk-
ing to the window, put his forearm against the sash, and
leaned his forehead on it.
" You don't know what you're talking about," he said,
bitterly. "She hates me. She treats me like She
has always done it since that cursed Middleton "
" I don't say she hasn't. I simply say she " Steve
broke off. " She ought to have treated you badly. You
made a fool of yourself, and have been a fool ever since.
But I know she cared for you — before that, and if you had
gone about it in the right way, you'd have won her."
(Jacquelin groaned.) " Instead of that, you must get on
a high horse and put on your high and mighty airs and
try to hector a spirited girl like Blair Gary." (A groan
from the window.) " Why, if I were to treat my horse as
you did her, he'd break my neck."
" Oh, Steve ! "
" And then after she had tried to prove it to you, for you
to go and put it on another's account, of course she kicked
— and she ought to have done so, and has treated you
coldly ever since."
Jacquelin faced him.
" Steve, I loved her so. I have loved her ever since I
was a boy — ever since that day I made her jump off the
barn. It was what kept me alive in prison many a time
when otherwise I'd have gone. And when I came home,
J.U'QUKLIN LEARNS THAT HE 18 A FOOL 371
ready to go down on my knees to her — to die for her, to
find her given to another, or, if not " He stopped
and turned away again.
"Then why didn't you tell her so, instead of outraging
her feelings ? " demanded Steve.
"Because — because I thought you loved her and she
loved you, and I would not !" He turned off and
walked to the window.
Steve rose and went up to him.
" Jacquelin," he said, putting his hand on his shoulder,
and speaking with a new tenderness, " I never knew it —
I never dreamed it. You have been blind, boy. And I
have been worse. I was never in love with her and she
knew it. At first, I simply meant to bedevil you, ami —
Middleton — and then afterward, used to tease her to see her
let out about you ; but that was all. She has known ever
since Ruth Welch came here that I liked her, and now —
that I have become a fool like the rest of you." lie tunu'd
away.
Jacquelin stood for a moment looking at him, a light
dawning on his face.
" Steve, I beg your pardon for what I said." He stood
lost in thought. The next second he rushed out of the
door. In a moment ho was back, and held the hill he had
just filed, in his hand. Steve rose as he entered.
" What have you done ? "
•• I may be a fool— but— " II, • held up the hill and
glancing at it, caught hold of the last sh< , t and began to
it Steve made a spring, but was too late ; Jacquelin
had torn the signature from the paper.
• I'm not such a selfish dog as to let you do it and bar
your chance of happine-<. I did not know. Do you sup-
pose Miss Welch would ever marry you if you signed that
hill
" No. But do you suppose I will not tell her of my part
in bringing the suit ? "
" Of course you will— but she'll forgive you for that."
372 RED ROCK
It was late in the night before their disagreement was
settled.
Steve insisted that he would sign the bill ; he had
brought the suit and he would assume the responsibility
for it. But he had met his match. Jacquelin was firm,
and finally declared that if Steve still held to his decision
he would not press the suit at all. Steve urged Rupert's
interest. Jacquelin said Rupert would still have six
months after he came of age, in which to save his rights.
In this unexpected turn of the case, Steve was forced to
yield ; and Jacquelin recopied the whole bill in his own
hand and filed it the next morning. It was signed by
Jacquelin and Rupert personally, and by General Leguie
as counsel.
It created a sensation in at least two households in the
County.
When Still read the bill, he almost dropped to the floor.
The attack was made on the ground of fraud, and Major
Welch had said the statute of limitations did not apply.
After a conference, however, with Leech, who happened to
be at home, he felt better. Leech assured him that the
bill would not hold good against his possession of the
bonds.
" They'll hold against all creation," said that counsellor,
" if they weren't stolen and ain't been paid."
This declaration did not seem to relieve Still much.
"And they've got to prove both of 'em," added Major
Leech, " and prove 'em before our judge."
Still's face cleared up.
" Well, Welch is obliged to stand by us. We'll go and
see him."
S<», that evening they took a copy of the bill to Major
Welch. Mrs. Welch and Miss Ruth both were in a state
of great excitement and indignation. The idea of fraud
being charged against Major Welch was an outrage that
they could not tolerate.
Major Welch alone was calm and unmoved. It was, after
JACQUELIN LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 373
all, expressly stated that no actual fraud was attributed to
him, and though, of course, he felt keenly having his name
mixed up with such a matter, he had no anxiety as to the
result. He could readily prove that he had had no knowl-
edge whatever of anything to arouse the slightest suspicion.
He should, of course, have to employ counsel. He began
to canvass their names.
" Papa, why don't you get Mr. Allen to represent you ?
They say he is the best lawyer in this part of ihe country,"
said Ruth. She was conscious that her color came as Still
quickly looked at her.
" He's the one that started the whole matter, ma'am."
" Why, I don't see his name to the bill !" the Major
" Ain't it ? Well, anyhow he's the main one. If it
hadn't been for him the suit never would V been brought.
Colonel Leech saw a copy of the bill in his hand-writing in
his office this morning, didn' you, Colonel ?"
Leech declared that he had seen the copy, and corrob-
orated his client in his statement that Captain Allen had
inspired the suit.
Mrs. Welch gave an exclamation of indignation.
"Well, I did not think he would have played the
ikl*
li's face flamed and turned white by turns.
" You don't know him yet," said Still, plaintively,
" Does she, Colonel ? "
" No— he's a bud man." said Leech, unctuously.
" lie is that," said Still. He dropped his voice. "You
lookout for him. Maj.--. ii liter y<m. If I was you
I'd carry a pistol pretty handy." Major Welch gave a
gesture of impatience.
h's eyes flashed a sudden gleam, and her face flamed
again. She rose, walked to the window, and pressed deep
in between the curtains. Still addn-ssod himself to Major
1,.
. " The Colonel says 'tain't goin' to be any trouble to beat
374 RED ROCK
the suit ; that he can git it dismissed on demurrer — if
that's the word? You know I ain't any book -learnin' —
I'm no thin* but a plain farmer. And he says the judge is
sure to "
" Yes — that's it/' said Leech, quickly, with a glance of
warning at him. " I don't cross a bridge till I get to it ;
I've got several in this case, but, as Mr. Bagby says, I be-
lieve in making every defence."
" That may be so ; but I'm going to fight this case on
its merits," declared Major Welch, firmly. " I don't pro-
pose, when a question of fraud is raised, to shelter myself
behind any technicalities. I mean to make it as clear as
day that I had no connection with any fraud. I spoke to
Mr. Bagby when the rumor of a suit was first started, aiul
told him so." Though he spoke quietly his voice had a
ring in it and his face a light on it which made both Mrs.
Welch and Ruth proud of him, and Euth squeezed her
mother's arm, in her joy. How different he looked from
those other men !
Meantime the change in Steve Allen was perceptible to
many who had no idea of the true reason it was so.
Jacquelin set it down to the wrong cause. Miss Tho-
masia, like Jacquelin, laid Steve's despondency at Blair's
door, and the good lady cast about in her mind how she
might draw Blair into a discussion of the subject and give
her some affectionate advice. But as often as she touched
on the subject of love, even in the most distant way, bring-
ing in Jacquelin as a sort of introduction, Blair shied off
from it, so that Miss Thomasia found it more difficult to
accomplish than she had anticipated.
Steve, however, was working on his own lines. His
present situation was intolerable to him. The fact that
his name had not appeared on Jacquelin's bill stuck in his
memory like a thorn. He was lying on the grass under a
tree in the court-green one afternoon reading a book, not
a law-book either, when the sound of horses' feet caught
his ear. He looked up lazily as it came nearer, and soon in
JACQUELIN LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 375
view appeared two riders, a girl and a young man. They
cantered easily along the little street, their laughter com-
ing across to Steve where he lay, his book neglected on the
ground beside him. Steve stretched, and picking up his
book dived once more into the " Idylls of the King." But
the spell was broken. A line from Dante flashed through
his mind. Launcelot and Guinevere ; Tristram and Isolt ;
Geraint and Enid, interested him no more. The reality
had passed before him. Resting his head against the tree,
he tried to go to sleep ; but the minute denizens about in
the grass bothered him, the droning of bees in the locust
boughs above failed to lull him.
" ' I am half sick of shadows/" he murmured to himself,
and he sat up and, resting against the tree, thought deeply.
Another line came to him :
44 On burnished hooves his war-horse trode."
If suddenly sprang to his feet and walked straight to
his office, his face resolute and his step determined. He
was not a girl to be caught in a mesh ! He would be the
other. Jacqnelin was at his desk, deep in a big law-book.
Steve shut the door behind him and stood with his back
against it looking down at his partner.
" Jacquelin, I am going to marry Ruth Welch."
••\\hat!" Jacquelin looked up in blank amazement.
"Oh!" he laughed. "I thought you nn-ant you had
asked her."
"You in i> understand me. It is not conceit. It is de-
termination. I have no idea she will aee«-j»t me now ; hut
she will in the cud. She shall. I will win her." He was
! though hi* words spoke eoneeit , his voi.-e and
had not a trace of it. Jncqiielin too became grave.
"I believe you ran win her if yon try, Steve— nnle-s
someone else i< in the way ; but it is a lonir eha<e. I
yon." Steve's brow clouded for a second, but the shadow
disnj « qnioklj at it oame.
"You don't think (here's anything in that story about
376 RED* ROCK
Wash Still ? " His tone liad a certain fiery contempt in
it. "I tell you there isn't. I'll stake my salvation on
that. An eagle does not mate with a weasel ! "
" No — I do not believe she would, but how about her
mother ? You know what she thinks of us, and what they
say of her missionary ideas, and Wash Still has been play-
ing assiduously on that string of late. He is visiting all
her sick, free — he says. Besides they have not the same
ideas that we have about family and so on, and they don't
know the Stills as we do."
" Not pride of family ! You don't know her. She's
one of the proudest people in the United States, of her
family. I tell you she could give General Legaie six in
the game and beat him. By Jove ! I wish one could do
the old-fashioned way. I'd just ride up and storm the
stronghold and carry her off ! " burst out Steve, straight-
ening up and stretching out his arms, half in jest, half in
earnest, his eyes flashing and his color rising at the thought.
' f Now you have to storm the stronghold all the same,
without carrying her off," Jacquelin laughed.
" No, I'll carry her away some day," asseverated Steve,
confidently. " It's worth all my worthless life and a good
deal more too."
" I think if you get into that spirit you may win her ;
but I'm afraid they'll hardly recognize you in the r61e of
humility. I doubt if they have heard much of you in that
character. How are you going about it ? You have not
seen her since the suit was brought, and I doubt if she
will speak to you."
" She will not ? I'll make her. Whether she speaks or
not, I'll win her."
" There goes your robe of humility. You have to win
her parents first — for you have to ask their permission."
Steve relapsed into thought for a moment, during which
Jacquelin watched him closely.
" Do you think that's necessary ? " he asked, doubtfully,
as if almost to himself.
JACQUELIN LEARNS THAT HE 18 A FOOL 377
" I do, under the circumstances — for you ; not for Wash
Still."
" The gorgon will refuse me "
" Probably — All the same, you have to do it."
Suddenly, with a sigh, Steve came out of his reverie as if
he were emerging from a cloud. His countenance cleared
up and he spoke with decision.
" You are right. I knew you were right all the time.
But I did not want to do it. I will, though. Ill do it if
I lose her." He turned to go out.
•• \Vhen are you going to do it ? "
" Right now." In the presence of contest Steve's face
had got back all its fire, his voice all its ring.
" I believe you'll win her," said Jacquelin.
" I know I shall, some day," said Steve. And a little
later Jacquelin heard him in his room, whistling " Bonny
Dundee," and calling to Jerry to saddle his horse.
Major Welch was sitting on his veranda that afternoon
about sunset when a rider came out of the woods far below,
at a gallop, and continued to gallop all the way up the hill.
There was something about a rapid gallop up hill and down
that always bore Major Welch's mind back to the war. As
the horseman came nearer, Major Welch recognized Captain
Allen. He remembered the advice Still had recently given
him, always to have a pistol handy when he met Allen.
He put the thought away from him with almost a flush of
shame that it should even have crossed his mind. Should
he meet a man at his own door, with a weapon ? Not if lu>
was shot down for it. So, as the rider approached, Major
Welch walked down to meet him at the gate, just as Steve,
uounting, tied his hone.
The young man's face was pale, his manner constrained,
and he was manifestly laboring un«k-r more emotion than
he usually showed. \\ ..ndering what could be the object
of his call, Major Welch met him gravely. Steve held out
his hand and the Major took it formally. At any rate the
mission was peaceful.
378 RED ROCK
" Major Welch, I have come to see you—" he began
hesitatingly, his hat in his hand, and his face flushed.
" Won't you walk up on the veranda and sit down ? "
The Major did not mean to be outdone in civility.
" Not until I have stated the object of my visit. Then,
if you choose to invite me, I shall be very glad to accept."
He had recovered his composure.
The Major was more mystified.
" I have come this evening for a purpose which, per-
haps, will — no doubt will — surprise you." The Major
looked affirmative, and wondered more and more what it
could mean.
"I have come to ask your permission to pay my ad-
dresses to your daughter."
If the Major was expecting to be surprised, he was more
than surprised ; he was dazed — he almost gasped.
"What?"
"I am not surprised that you are astonished." The
younger man, now that the ice was broken, was regaining
his composure. " It is, however, no sudden impulse on
my part." How melodious his deep voice had grown !
Major Welch was sensible of the charm growing upon him
that he had seen exercised in the case of others.
" I have loved your daughter " — (his voice suddenly
sank to a pitch as full of reverence as of softness) — "a
long time ; perhaps not long in duration, but ever since I
knew her. From that evening that I first met her here, I
have loved her." His glance stole toward the tree in which
he had found Ruth that afternoon. " If I can obtain your
consent, and shall find favor in her eyes, I shall be the
happiest and most blessed of men." He gave a deep sigh
of relief. He stood suddenly before Major Welch a differ-
ent being — modest and manly, riot without recognition of
his power, and yet not for a second presuming on it.
Major Welch could not help being impressed by him.
A wave of the old liking that he had had for him when he
first met him came over him.
JACQUELIN LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 379
"Does my daughter know of this?" he asked.
"I hardly know. I have never said anything of it to
her directly, but I do not know how much a girl's instinct
can read. My manner has seemed to myself always that of
a suitor, and at times I have wondered how she could help
reading the thoughts of my heart; they have seemed to
me almost audible. Others have known it for some time ;
at least one other has. I thought your daughter knew it.
Yet now I cannot tell. She has never given me the slight-
est encouragement."
" I thought you were in love with — with someone else ;
with your cousin, and her accepted lover ? Rumor has so
stated it ? " The elder gentleman's manner cooled again as
the thought recurred to him.
Steve smiled.
" Blair Gary ? I do love her — dearly — but only as an ad-
mirer and older brother might. I am aware of the impres-
sion that has existed, but her heart has long been given to
another who has loved her from his boyhood. From cer-
tain causes, which I need not trouble you with and which
occurred before you arrived, differences grew up between
them, and they became estranged ; but the affection re-
mains. Jacquelin does not know it, but in time he will
succeed, and it is one of my most cherished hopes that
some time he will realize that great happiness in store for
him. Meantime, I feel sure that you will consider what I
have said of this as confidential. I have, perhaps, said
more than I should have done."
Major Welch bowed. "Of course I will. And now'I
to say that I am so much taken by surprise by what
you have told me that I scarcely know ju-t what answer to
you at this time. I appreciate the st«-p you have
But it is so strange — so unexpected — that I must
have tim- -M. I must consult my wife, who H
my best adviser and mir daughter's best irnardian. And I
can only say that we wish for nothing but our child's best
and most lasting happiness. I cannot, of course, under
380 KED ROCK
the circumstances renew my invitation to you to come in."
He paused and reflected. " Nor can I hold out to you
any hope. And I think I must ask you not to speak to
my daughter on the subject until I have given my con-
sent."
"I promise you that," said Steve. "I should not have
come to you at all unless I had been prepared to give that
promise."
The young man evidently had something more that he
wished to say ; he hesitated a moment and then began
again.
" One other thing I should tell you. I brought the
suit for Jacquelin and Rupert Gray. Although my name
was not signed to the bill, I brought the suit, and have the
responsibility."
Major Welch could not help a graver look coming into
his face — he felt almost grim, but he tried to choke down
the sensation.
"I was aware of that."
"There is one word more I would like to say, but — not
now — I should possibly be misunderstood. Perhaps the
day may come — May I say in the meantime that I am
not one who changes or is easily disheartened ? I know
that even if I should secure your consent I should have to
make the fight of my life to win your daughter — but I
should do it. I think the prize well worth all, and far
more than all I could give."
He stood diffidently, as though not knowing whether
Major Welch would take his hand if offered. The Major,
however, made the advance and the two men shook hands
ceremoniously and Steve mounted his horse and without
looking back rode off, while Major Welch returned slowly
to the house. The only glance Steve gave was one up
toward the old cherry-tree in the yard.
Mrs. Welch had seen Steve ride up and had watched
with curiosity and some anxiety the conference that had
taken place at the gate. When the Major stated to her
JACQUELIX LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 381
the object of Mr. Allen's visit she was too much surprised
to speak. She, however, received the announcement some-
what differently from the way the Major hud expected.
She was deeply offended. Without an instant's hesitation
she was for despatching an immediate and indignant re-
fusal.
" Of course, you at once refused him and told him what
you thought of his effrontery ?" she said.
- \Vell— no, I did not," said Major Welch. In fact,
thougli the Major had been astonished by Steve's proposal
and had supposed that it would be rejected, it had not oc-
curred to him that his wife would take it in just this way.
" You did not ! Oh, you men ! I wish he had spoken
to me ! It was an opportunity I should not have lost.
But lie would not have dared to face me with his insult-
ing proposal. "
" Well, I don't think he intended it as an insult, and
without intention it cannot be an insult. I think if you
had SOLMI hi in you would have felt this."
" Do you think I would entrust my daughter's happi-
ness to a desperado and a midnight assassin ? "
•• \o, I cannot say that I thought you would — nor
would I. But I am not prepared to say I think him
either an assassin or a desperado."
* \Vull, I am," asserted Mrs. Welch. "I was deceived
in him <>noe and I will not give him a chance again."
" I simply told him that I would confer with you and
give him our answer."
••!(.! will take that as encouragement," declared Mrs.
Welch, " and will be pursuing Ruth and persecuting her."
" No, he will not. He gave mo his word that he would
not speak to her without my — without our consent "
•• ||.« will not keep it." Mrs. Welch's words were not as
tive as ln-r mum
"Yes, he will. I will stan-i :." Major Welch
was thinking of the young man as he had just stood before
him.
RED ROCK
• • Well, I am glad you extracted that much of a pledge
from him. He will not get my consent in this life, I can
re him."
" Nor mine without yours and Ruth's," said Major
Welch, gravi-ly. "I will write him and tell him what you
say. Shall I mention it to Ruth ? "
" No, of course not."
Major Welch did not see why it should be "of course" ;
but lie considered that his wife knew more of such things
than he did, and he accordingly accepted her opinion
without question.
" Where is Ruth ? " he asked.
" She went with Dr. Still to see a sick woman he wanted
me to see. I was not able to go this afternoon when he
called, so I sent her. I don't think there is much the
matter with her."
Major Welch sat for a moment in deep reflection. He
was evidently puzzled. Suddenly he broke the silence.
" Prudence, you don't mean that you wish that — that
you think that young fellow is a suitable — ah — companion
for our daughter ? " That was not the word Major Welch
meant.
" William ! " exclaimed Mrs. Welch. She said no more,
and it was not necessary. Major Welch felt that he had
committed a great mistake — a terrible blunder. A mo-
ment before, he had had the best of the situation, and he
had been conscious of a feeling of somewhat exalted
virtue ; now he had thrown it away. He felt very foolish,
and though he hoped he did not show it, he did show it
plainly. He began to defend himself : a further blunder.
" Well, my dear, how could I know ? That young fel-
low has been coming over here day after day, with his
horses and buggies, on one pretext or another — tagging
after— not after you or me certainly — and you are as civil
to him as if he were the— the President himself, and
actually send the child off with him "
" William ! Send the child off with him !— 1 1 »
JACQUELIN LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL 383
•• Well, no — not exactly that, of course/' said her hus-
band, rather embarrassed, " but permitting her to go, and
thus giving him an opportunity to declare himself, which
he would be a stick not to avail himself of."
"I am glad you retracted that, William," said Mrs.
Welch, with tin- air of one clot-ply aggrieved. " Of course,
I am civil to the young man. I hope I am civil to every-
one. But you little know a mother's heart. I have always
said that no man can understand a woman."
" I believe that's so," said her husband, smiling. " I
know I have often heard your Royal Highness say so. But
did it ever occur to you that it may be because men are
somewhat direct and downright ?"
"Now don't go and insult my sex to cover the density of
yours," said Mrs. Welch. " Confine your attack to one.
If you think that I would allow my daughter to marry
that — that young upstart, you don't know me as well as
you did the first day we met."
" Oh, yes I do ! I know you well enough to know you
are the best and most devoted wife and mother and friend
in the world," declared her husband. "But, you see, I
misunderstood you. I reason simply from the plain facts
that lie right before my eyes "
"And you always will n. land, my dear. Your
sex always will misunderstand until they learn thai woman
is a more complex and finer organism than their clumsy,
primary machine, moved by more delicate and complicated
ves."
" W.ll. I agree to that," said her husband. " Ami I am
very glad to find you agree with m< — that I agree with
you—" he corrected, with a twinkle in his eye, "as to
young man."
Mrs. Welch accepted his surrender with graciousness
find left the room, and the Major sat down and wrote his
reply to Captain Allen.
• •xpressed his unfeigned appreciation <>f the honor
done, but gave him to understand that after conference
384 RED ROCK
with Mrs. Welch they felt it their duty to state to him
that his suit for their daughter would not be acceptable to
them, and he requested him to consider the matter closed.
As soon as he had finished the letter the Major de-
spatched it to Mr. Allen by a messenger.
He had hardly sent it off when Mrs. Welch returned.
Her first question was whether the answer had gone. She
was manifestly disappointed to learn that it had been sent.
" I wish you had let me see it/' she said.
" Oh ! I made it positive enough," declared the Major.
"Yes, I was not thinking of that," Mrs. Welch said,
thoughtfully. " I was afraid you would be too — Men are
BO hasty — so up and down— they don't know how to deal
with such matters as a woman would."
Major Welch turned on her in blank amazement — a
little humor lighting up his face. Mrs. Welch answered
as if he had made a charge.
" You men will never understand us."
" I believe that's so. You women are curious, especially
where your daughters are -concerned. I set the young man
down pretty hard, just as you wished me to do."
Mrs. Welch made a gesture of dissent.
"Not at all — I have reflected on what you said about —
about his not intending to be insulting, and I think you
are right I no more wish to accept his proposal now than
before; all I want is to — ?" She made a gesture — "Oh !
you understand."
"Yes, I think I do," laughed her husband, "Why
cannot women let a man go ?"
CHAPTER XXXII
A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS
THE revelation that Steve made to Jacquelin in their
law-office the night the bill was filed, seemed suddenly to
have opened life again to Jacquelin. Looking back over
the past, he could now see how foolish he had been. Inci-
dents which he had construed one way now, in the light of
Steve's disclosure, took on a new complexion. He appeared
to have sprung suddenly into a new and rarer atmosphere.
Hope was easily worth everything else in Pandora's box.
When he began to visit at Dr. Gary's again, it must be
said, that he could discern no change in Blair. Easy and
• •harming as she always was to others, to him she was as
constrained as formerly. She treated him with the same
coldness that she had always shown him since that fatal
evening when he had taken her to task about Middleton, and
th«n had alleged that it was on Steve's account. H<>
he was not to be cast down now. With the key which Steve
had given him he could afford to wait and was willing to
serve for his mistake, and lie set d<»wn her treatment of
him simply to a woman's caprice. He would hide his time
until the occasion came and then he would win her. Ac-
eording to Steve, she had no idea that ho was still in love
with her, and according to the same expert authority, this
was what she waited for. He had first to prove his love,
and then he should find that he had hers. So through the
long summer months ho served faithfully. Each time
that he saw Blair he found himself more deeply in love
than before; and each time ho feared more to tell her
of it, lest Steve's diagnosis should possibly prove wrong.
25 :JM:>
386 RED ROCK
He knew that the next time he opened the subject it must
be final. 1 1 r oven stood seeing McRaffle visiting Dr. Gary's,
though he fumed and smouldered internally over a man
like McRaffle being in Blair's presence, however smooth he
was. Steve declared that McRaffie was in love with Miss
Welch, but Jacquelin knew better. Steve was such a jeal-
ous creature that he thought everyone was in love with
Miss Welch — even that Wash Still was, whom Miss Welch
would not so much as look at. No, McRaffle was in love
with Blair. Jacquelin knew it — just as he knew that Mid-
dleton was. She could not bear McRaffle, of course ; but the
thought of Middleton often crossed Jacquelin's mind, and
discomposed him. He had heard of the honors Middleton
had won in the Northwest and of his retirement from the
service. Blair had told him of it with undue enthusiasm.
Confound him ! When that Indian bullet hit him most
men would have died. Then as his thought ran this way
Jacquelin would haul himself up short, with a feeling of
hot shame that such an ignoble idea could even enter his
mind, and next time he saw Blair would speak of Middle-
ton with unmeasured admiration.
At length he could wait no longer. He would tell her
how he had always loved her. Steve was his confidant, as
he was Steve's, and Steve agreed that this was the thing
to do.
Alas ! for masculine wisdom ! The way of a serpent on
a rock is not harder than that of a maid with a man. An
opportunity presented itself one afternoon in which every-
thing at>peared so propitious that Jacquelin felt as though
the time were made for his occasion. He and Blair had been
to ride. The summer woods had been heavenly in their
peacefulness and charm. Blair had insensibly fallen into
a softer mood than she usually showed him, and, as they
had talked of old times, she had seemed sweeter to him
than ever before. He had spoken to her of Rupert, and of
his anxiety about the boy ; of his association with McRaffle,
and of the influence McRaffle seemed to have obtained over
A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS 387
him ; and Blair had responded with a warmth which had
set his heart to bounding. Mr. McRaffle was a dangerous,
bad man, she declared, and she was doing all she could to
counteract his evil influence over Rupert. Her sweetness
to Jacquelin was such that he had hardly been able to re-
strain himself from opening his heart to her then and there,
and asking her to let the past be bygones and accept his
love. But he had waited until they should reach home,
and now they were at the door. She invited him to stay
to tea. Her voice thrilled him. Jacquelin suddenly began
to speak to her of what was in his heart. She dropped her
eyes and he was conscious that she was trembling. In his
constraint he referred to the past, and faltered something
about Steve having set him right. She looked up quickly.
He did not heed it, but went on and said all he had so
often rehearsed, With a good deal more than he had planned
to say. Perhaps he gathered confidence as he went on —
perhaps he showed it a little too much ; for he became
conscious somehow that she was not as responsive as she
had been just before.
When he was quite through, he waited. She also
waited a moment, and then began.
She did not care for him, except as a relative, and she
never expected to marry at all. She was not looking at
him, and was evidently speaking under strong feeling.
Jacquelin's hopes were all dashed to the ground. His
throat felt parched, and when he tried to speak again his
lips did not frame his words easily.
• May I ask if you care for anyone else ? " ho demanded,
in a constrained voice.
She did not know that he had any right to ask her such
>tion. She had already told him that she never
expected to marry anyone." She had grown more for*
mal.
Jacquelin was sure now that she cared for Middle ton,
and she had simply misled Steve.
•• What did you tell Steve ? " he asked.
388 RED ROCK
She faced him, her figure quite straight and strong, her
flashing eyes fastened searchingly on his face.
" So that's the reason you have come ! Steve told you
to come, and you have come to say what he told you to
say. Well, go back to him and tell him I say he was
mistaken." Her lip curled as she turned on her heel.
" No — no — Blair — wait one moment ! " But she had
walked slowly into the house, and Jacquelin saw her
climb the stair.
A moment later he mounted his horse, and came slowly
away down the road he knew so well, the road to Vain
regret, beyond which, somewhere, lies Despair.
He knew now it was Middleton who had barred his
way, and that to keep her secret, Blair had misled Steve.
He might have forgiven her all else, but he could not
forgive that.
When Jacquelin announced the result of his proposal
to Steve, that wise counsellor laughed at him. He could
make it up in ten minutes, he declared, and he rode up to
see Blair next day. His interview lasted somewhat longer
than he had expected, and most of the time he had been
defending himself against Blair's scathing attack. When
he left, it was with a feeling that he had done both Blair
and Jacquelin an injury, and when he saw Jacquelin, he
summed up his position briefly: "Well, Jack, I give it
up. I thought I knew something of men and women ;
but I give up women."
After his interview with Major Welch, Captain Allen had
appeared to be in better spirits than he had been in for some
time. Even the letter he received from that gentleman did
not wholly dash his hopes, and though they occasionally
sank, they as often rallied again. We know from the
greatest of novelists that when a man is cudgelling his
brains for other rhymes to "sorrow" besides "borrow"
and " to-morrow," he is nearer light than he thinks.
Steve found this safety-scape.
Jacquelin did not write poetry or even "poems" on
A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS 389
the subject of his disappointment; but his cheek-bonea
i to show more, and his chin began to take on a
firmer set.
But Captain Allen was soon plunged as deep in the abyss
as Jacquelin.
He was sitting in his office looking out of the window
one afternoon, a habit that had grown on him of late,
when a pair of riders, a lady and her escort, rode up the
street, in plain view of where he sat. At sight of the
trim figure sitting her horse so jauntily, Steve's heart
gave a bound and a light came into his eyes. The next
instant a cloud followed as he recognized Miss Welch's
companion as Dr. Washington Still. Humor had reported
that Dr. Still was with her a good deal of late. Miss
Thomasia and Blair had met them one evening visiting a
poor woman together. McRaftle had taken the trouble to
state that he had frequently met them.
Steve could not believe that such a girl as Ruth Welch
could be accepting the addresses of such a man as young
Dr. Still. She could not know him. He followed th<
with his eyes, as long as she was in view. For som»
ments afterward he sat with a dogged resolution on his
face; but it gradually faded away, and ho rose and wmt
out, passing down to the street, lie had not seen Ituth
Welch face to face since the filing of ,!ac«jiu-lin's suit. But
she had never been absent from his thoughts for a moment.
lie had heard that both she and Mrs. \\Yleh had a great
deal of feeling about the suit, and that both had spoken
bitterly of him ; but Major Welch had received him civilly,
even though he had denied hid request to be allowed to
offer himself as Ruth's suitor.
\\ . : h a combination of emotions, rather than with any
single idea in his mind, Steve strode into the village and up
the street. He wanted to get away, and he wanted to be
near her and have a look in her face ; but he had no definite
intention of letting her see him, none, at least, of meeting
her. But as he turned a corner into a shady street they
390 RED ROCK
coming back and Steve saw that even at a distance
Ruth Welch knew him. He could not turn back ; so kept
on, and as they passed him he raised his hat. Miss Welch's
escort, with ;i supercilious look on his face, raised his hat ;
but the girl looked Steve full in the eyes and cut him dead.
The blood sprang into Steve's face. For any sign she
gave, except a sudden whitening, and a contraction of the
mouth, she might never have seen him before in all her
life. The next second Steve heard her voice starting ap-
parently a very animated conversation with her escort, and
heard him reply :
"Hurrah! for you, that will settle him \" and break
into a loud laugh.
Steve did not return to his office that evening. He
spent the night wandering about in blind and hopeless
gloom. But had Mr. Allen known what occurred during
the remainder of that ride he might have found in it some
consolation.
Miss Ruth had hardly gotten out of hearing of Captain
Allen, and her escort had scarcely had time to turn over
in his mind his enjoyment of his rival's discomfiture and
his own triumph, when the young lady inexplicably
changed and turned on him so viciously and with so biting
a sarcasm that he was almost dumfounded. The occa-
sion for her change was so slight that Wash Still was com-
pletely mystified. It was only some slighting little speech
he made about the man she had just cut dead.
" Why don't you say that to Captain Allen? " she asked,
with a sudden flush on her face and a flash in her eyes.
"You, at least, have not the excuse of not speaking to him."
Women have this in common with the I>eity, that their
ways are past finding out. The young doctor was com-
pletely mystified ; but he could not comprehend how Miss
Welch could have cut Captain Allen without it, in some
way, redounding to his own advantage, and, notwithstand-
ing her fierceness and coldness toward him, he believed it
was a favorable time for him
A CUT DIRKCT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS 391
The ride home through the woods in the soft summer
afternoon presented an opportunity he had been seeking for
some time, and the attitude Ruth had shown toward his
rival appeared to him to indicate that everything was pro-
pitious. Even her attack he construed as only a flash of
feminine caprice. After her little explosion, Miss T\felch
had lapsed into silence, and rode with her eyes on her
horse's mane and her lips firmly closed. The young man
took it for remorse for her conduct, and drawing up to her
side, began to talk of himself and of his affairs. Ruth
listened in silence — so silently, indeed, that she scarcely
seemed to be listening at all — and the young doctor was
moved to enlarge somewhat eloquently on his prospects as
the owner of both Birdwood and Red Rock, the hand-
somest places in the County. Presently, however, he
changed, and as they reached a shady place in the road,
began to address her. He stated that he thought she had
given him reason to hope he might be successful. The
change in Ruth was electric. She gave suddenly a vehe-
ment gesture of wild dissent :
"Oh! No! no! Don't!" she cried, and drew her
horse to a stand, turning in the road and facing the young
man. "No! no! You have misunderstood me! How
con Id you think so? I have never done it I I never
dreamed of it ! It is impossible ! " The deep color sprang
to her face, but the next moment she controlled herself by
a strong effort, and faced the young man again. " Dr.
Still," she said, calmly and with deep earnestness, " I am
sure that, wittingly, I never gave you the least warrant to
think— to suppose that I mnl<l— that you might say to
me what you have said. My conscience tells me this ; hut
if I have ever done or said anything that appeared to you
to be a ground to build u hope on^l am deeply sorry, and
humbly beg your pardon. I beg you to believe me, I never
intended it I do not wish to appear hard or — cruel, but
t tell you now that there is not the slightest hope for
* u, und never will be. I do not love you, I never could
KKD ROCK
love, and I will never marry, you, never/' She could not
have spoken more strongly.
The young man's face, which had begun by being pale,
had now turned crimson, and he broke out, almost violently
— reiterating that she had given him ground to think him-
self favored. He cited the rides she had taken with him.
Euth's eyes opened wide and her form straightened :
" I do not wish to discuss this further. I have told you
the simple truth. I should prefer that you go on ahead of
me — I prefer to ride home alone."
"Why did you cut Steve Allen this evening? " Dr. Still
persisted, angrily.
Euth's face hardened.
" Certainly not on your account/' she said, coldly, " or
for any reason that you will understand. Go ; I will ride
home alone."
" I used to think you were in love with him, and so did
everybody else," persisted he ; " but it can't be him. Is
it that young jackanapes, Eupert Gray ? He's in love
with you, but I didn't suppose you to be in love with a
boy like that."
Euth's face flamed with indignation.
" By what right do you question me as to such things ?
Go, I will ride home alone." She drew her horse back
and away from him. The young man hesitated for a
moment, but Euth was inexorable.
" If you please — go I " she said, coldly, pointing down
the road.
" Well, I will go," he burst out, angrily. " But Eupert
Gray and the whole set of 'em had better look out for
me," and with a growl of rage, he struck his horse and
galloped away.
Miss Welch rode on alone, her heart moved by conflict-
ing emotions — indignation, apprehension — and yet others,
deeper than these. What right had this man to treat her
so ? She flushed again with indignation as she thought
of his insolence. It seemed to her almost an insult to
A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS 393
have been addressed by him. She went over in her mind
her conduct toward him. There never was one thing of
which he could have a right to complain. Of this she
was sure. It could not be otherwise, for she had never
for a moment been free from a consciousness of antipathy
to him. Then she went over her present situation, the
situation of her father and mother, now so lonely and cut
off from everyone. The cool, still woods, the deserted
road, the far-reaching silence, were such as to inspire lone-
liness and sadness, and Ruth was on the verge of tears
when the gallop of a horse came to her from ahead. She
wondered if it could be Wash Still returning, and a mo-
mentary wave of apprehension swept over her. The next
instant Rupert Gray cantered in sight. Ruth's first
thought was one of relief, the next was that she ought to
be cool to him. But as the boy galloped up to her, his
young face glowing with pleasure, and reined in his horse,
all her intended formality disappeared, and she returned
his greeting cordially.
" Well, I am in luck/' he exclaimed. " Mayn't I ride
home with you? " He had assumed her consent, and turned
his horse without waiting for it.
" I am afraid you may be going somewhere and I may
detain you."
"No, indeed; I am ray own master," he said, with u
toss of his head. " resides, I don't like you to be riding
so late all by yourself."
The imitation of Steve Allen's protecting man nor was
so unmistakable that Ruth could not help smiling.
"Oh! I'm not afraid. Noone would interfere with me."
"They'd better not! If they did, they'd soon lu-ar
from me," declared the boy, warmly, with that mannish
toss of the head which boys have. " I'd soon show 'em
who Rupert Gray is. Oh ! I say ! I met Washy Still up
the road yonder, a little way back, looking as sour a*
vinegar, and yon ought to have seen the way I cut him.
I passed him just like this" (giving an imitation of his
394 RED ROCK
stare), "and yon just ought to have seen the way he
looked. He looked as if he'd have liked to shoot me."
He burst into a clear, merry laugh.
The boy's description of himself was so exactly like the
way Ruth had treated Steve, that she could not forbear
smiling. The smile died away, however, and an expres-
sion of seriousness took its place.
" Rupert, I don't think it well to make enemies of peo-
ple "
"Who ? Of Washy Still ? Pshaw ! He knows I hate
him — and he hates me. I don't care. I want him to hate
me. I'll make him hate me worse before I'm done." It
was the braggadocio of a boy.
Ruth thought of the gleam of hate that had come into
the man's eyes. " He might do you an injury."
" Who ? Washy Still ? Let him try it. I'm a better
man than he is, any day. But he'd never try it. He's
afraid to look me in the eyes. You don't like him, do
you ? " he asked with sudden earnestness.
" No, but I think you underestimate him."
" Pshaw ! He can't hurt you — not unless you took his
physic — no other way. I asked if you liked him, because
— because some people thought you did, and I said you
didn't — I knew you didn't. I say, I want to ask you some-
thing. I wish you wouldn't let him come to see you."
"Why?"
" Why, because he is not a man you ought to associate
with — he is not a gentleman. He's a sneak, and his father's
a thief. He stole our place — just stole it — besides every-
thing else he's stolen."
" Why, you say we — my father had something to do with
that," said Ruth, quietly.
" What ! Yon ! Your father ?— I said he stole ! " He
reined up his horse, in his amazement.
" In your suit or bill, or whatever you call it." Ruth
felt that it was cruel in her to strike him such a blow, yet
she enjoyed it.
A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS
" I never did — we never did — you are mistaken," stam-
mered the boy. " Why, I wouldn't have done it for the
whole of Red Rock — no more would Steve. Let me ex-
plain. I know all about it."
Ruth looked acquiescent, and as they walked their horses
along under the trees the boy tried to explain the matter.
He was not very lucid, for he was often confused ; but he
made clear the desire they had had to keep Major Welch
out of the matter, and the sincerity of their motive in giv-
ing him the notice before he should buy, and the anxiety
they had had and the care they had taken to make it clear
in their suit that no charge of personal knowledge by him
was intended. He also informed Ruth of Steve's action in
the matter, and of the episode in the office that night when
the bill was signed, or, at least, of as much of it as he had
heard.
" But why did he do that ? " asked Ruth.
" Don't you know ? "
« N— o." Very doubtfully and shyly.
" Steve's in love with you ! "
• • What ? Oh, no ! You are mistaken." Ruth was con-
scious that her reply was silly and weak, and that she was
blushing violently.
" Yes, he is — dead in love. Why, everybody knows it
—at least Jack does, and Blair does, and I do. Ami I
am. too," he added, warmly. The boy's ingenuous decla-
ration steadied Ruth and soothed her. She looked at him
with a pleased and gratified light on her face.
*< I am — I am dead in love with you, too. I think you
10 prettiest and sweetest and kimU-st young lady in
the whole world — just as nice as Blair, every bit; an<l 1
just wish I was older— I just wish you could marry me."
He was blushing and turning white by turns, and tho
expression on his young face was so ingenuous and sweet
and modest, and the light in his eyes so adoring, that tho
girl's heart went out to him. She drew her horse over to
his side, and put her hand softly on his arm.
396 RED ROOK
" Rupert, you are a dear, sweet boy, and, at least, you
will let me be your best friend, and you will be mine," she
said, sweetly.
" Yes, I will, and I think you are just as good as you
can be, and Til be just like your own brother, if you will
let me."
" Indeed, I will, and we will always be sister and brother
to each other. "
" Thank you/' he said, simply. A moment later he
said, reining in his horse, " I say, if you think that suit
means anything against your father, I'll have it stopped."
" No, no, Rupert ; I am satisfied," Ruth protested,
with a smile.
" Because I can do it ; Jack and Steve would do any-
thing for me, and I would do anything for you. It was
mainly on my account, anyhow, that they brought it, I
believe," he added. " They said I was a minor ; but, you
know, Fll soon be of age — Fm seventeen now. I don't
know why boys have to be boys, anyhow ! I don't see
why they can't be men at once."
" I think I knpw," Ruth smiled, gazing at him pleas-
antly.
" And, I say, I want to tell you one thing about Steve.
He isn't what people take him to be. You know ? — Just
clever and dashing and wild and reckless. He's the best
and kindest fellow in the world. You ask Aunt Thomasia
and Blair and Aunt Peggy and Uncle Waverley and old
Mrs. Turley, and all the poor people about the County.
And he's as brave as Julius Caesar. I want to tell you
that of him, and you know I wouldn't tell you if 'twa'n't
so."
" I know," said Ruth, looking at him more pleasantly
than ever.
They were at the gate now, and Ruth invited him in ;
but Rupert said he had an engagement.
" There is one thing I want to ask you to do," said
Ruth, rather doubtfully.
A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS 397
"What is it?" he asked, brightening ; and then, as
she hesitated : " Anything ! I'll do it. I'll do anything
for you, Miss Kuth ; indeed, I will."
" No ; it is not for me, but for yourself," said Ruth,
who was thinking of a report that Rupert had been asso-
ciating lately with some very wild young men, and she had
it in her mind to ask him not to do so any more. " But,
no ; I'll ask you next time I see you, maybe," she added,
after a pause.
" All right ; I promise you I'll do it."
He said good-by, and galloped away through the dusk.
Ruth stood for some time looking after him, and then
turned and entered the house, and went softly to her
room.
Ruth did not think it necessary to tell her mother or
father of the incidents of her ride, except that Rupert
had ridden home with her. She shrank instinctively
from speaking even to her mother of what had occurred
on the ride. She felt a certain humiliation in tli.
Dr. Still had ventured to address her. Her only con-
solation was that she knew she had never given him any
right to speak so to her. She had never gone anywhere
with him except from a sense of duty, and h:i<l never been
anything but coldly polite to him. She was n-!:i\«,l t<>
hear a few days later that Dr. Still had left the County,
and, rumor said, had gone to the city to practise hi
fession. Anyhow, he was gone, and Ruth felt much re-
lieved, and buried her uncomfortable secret in her own
bosom.
CHAPTER XXXIII
BLAIR CAET SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL
A NEW cause of grievance against Mrs. Welch had aris-
en in the County in her conduct of her school near the
Bend. Colored schools were not a novelty in the County.
Blair Gary had for two years or more taught the colored
school near her home. But Mrs. Welch had made a new
departure. The other school had been talked over and de-
liberated on until it was in some sense the outcome of the
concert of the neighborhood. Dr. Gary gave the land and
the timber. " Whether it will amount to anything else, I
cannot say ; but it will amount to this, sir," said the Doc-
tor to General Legaie, " I shall have done the best I could
for my old servants." And on this, General Legaie, who
had been the most violent opponent of it all, had sent his
ox-team to haul the stocks to the mill. " Not because I
believe it will accomplish any good, sir ; but because a gen-
tleman can do no less than sustain other gentlemen who
have assumed obligations."
Thus Miss Blair's school was regarded in part as repre-
sentative of the old system. When, however, Mrs. Welch
started her school, she consulted no one and asked no
assistance — at least, of the county people. The aid she
sought was only from her friends at the North, and when
she received it, she set in, chose her place and built her
school, giving out at the same time that it was to be used
for sewing classes, debating societies, and other public
purposes. Thus this school came to be considered as a for-
eign institution, conducted on foreign principles, and in
opposition to the school already established by the neigh-
398
BLAIR CARY SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL 399
borhood. Mrs. AVelch not only built a much larger and
handsomer structure than any other school-house in that
section, but she planted vines to cover the porch, and in-
troduced a system of prizes and rewards so far beyond any-
thing heretofore known in the County, that shortly not
only most of the scholars who had attended Blair's school
left, but those from other schools much farther off began
to flock to Mrs. Welch's seminary.
The first teacher Mrs. Welch secured to take charge of the
institution was a slender, delicate young woman with deep
eyes, thin cheeks, and a worn face, who by her too assiduous
devotion to what she deemed her duty and an entire disre-
1 of all prudence, soon reduced herself to such a low
condition of health that Dr. Gary, who was called in, in-
sisted that she should be sent back to her old home. The
iu'\t teacher, Miss Slipley, was one who had testimonials
high enough to justify the idea that she was qualified to
teach in Tubingen.
She was a young woman of about thirty, with somewhat
pronounced views and a very pronounci-d manner : her
face was plain, but she had a good figure, of which Mrs.
Welch, who herself had a fine figure, thought she was mueli
too vain, and as her views relating to the conduct of the
school by no means coincided with those of Mrs. Welch,
matters were shortly not as harmonious between the two
as they might have been. She soon began to complain of
the discomforts of her situation an<l her lack of associa-
tion. Mrs. Welch deplored this, hut thought that Miss
Slipley should find IUT true reward in the sense of d u t y per-
formed, and told her so plainly. This, Miss Slipley said,
was well enough when one had a husband and family to
support her, but she had had n.. idea that she was to live in
a wilderness, where her only associates were negroes, and
where not a man ever spoke to her, except to bow distantly.
So after a little time, she had thrown up her position and
gone home, and shortly 1 had married. This, to
Mrs. Welch, explained all her high airs. Just then Mrs.
400 RED ROCK
Welch received a letter from a young woman she knew,
asking her to look out for a position for her. During the
war this applicant had been a nurse in a hospital, where
Mrs. Welch had learned something of her efficiency. So
when Miss Slipley left, Mrs. Welch wrote Miss Bush to
come.
" She, at least, will not have Miss Slipley's very objec-
tionable drawbacks — for, if I remember aright, Miss Bush
has no figure at all," said Mrs. Welch. " Heaven save me
from women with figures ! When an ugly woman has noth-
ing else, she is always showing her figure or her feet."
When Miss Bush arrived Mrs. Welch found her impres-
sions verified. She was a homely little body, yet with kind
eyes and a pleasant mouth. She acceded cheerfully to all
Mrs. Welch's views. She was perfectly willing to live with
the woman at whose house it had been arranged that she
should board ; she wished, she said, to live unobtrusively.
She was in deep mourning and wore a heavy veil.
Miss Bush had not been in her position long before Mrs.
Welch felt that at last she had found the very person for
the place. She was as quiet as a mouse, and not afraid
of any work whatever. She not only taught, but wholly
effaced herself, and, in fact, proved a perfect treasure.
By the negroes she was called Miss May (a contraction
for Mary), which went abroad as her family name.
Miss May proved to be a strict disciplinarian, and a firm
believer in the somewhat obsolete, but not less wise doc-
trine, that to spare the rod is to spoil the child, and as
this came to be known, it had the effect of establishing her
in the good esteem of the neighborhood. Thus, though
no one visited her, Miss May received on all hands a re-
spectful regard. This was suddenly jeopardized at the
opening of the new campaign, by a report that the school-
house, in addition to its purposes as a school-building,
was being used as a public hall by negroes for their Union-
league meetings. Leech, whose headquarters were now in
the city, had come up to take charge of the canvass, and
BLAIR GARY SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL 401
had boasted that he would make it hot for his opponents
— a boast he appeared likely to make good. He attended
the meetings at the new school-house, and it was reported
that he had made a speech in which he said that the whites
owed the negroes everything ; that the time had come for
payment, and that matches were only five cents a box,
and if barns were burned they belonged to them. The re-
port of this speech was carried through the County next
day. One night shortly afterward Andy Stamper's store
was burned to the ground, and this was followed by the
burning of several barns throughout Red Rock and the
adjoining counties.
The reappearance of the masked order that had almost
disappeared followed immediately in some places. A meet-
ing was held in Brutusville, denouncing the outrage of such
speeches as those of Leech, at which Dr. Gary pn
and Steve Allen and General Legaie, Jacquelin Gray and
Captain McRaffle spoke, but there was no reap]"
this County of the masked men. MdfalnY denounced the
nd teacher of the new school with so much heat
that Steve Allen declared he was as incendiary as Lc<
McRaffle sneered that Steve appeared to have br
very suddenly a champion of the carpet -ha^p-r, \\ :
and Steve retorted that at least he did not try to bor-
row from people and then vilify them, hut that Captain
McRaffle could find another cause to qua nvl with him if
he wished it. For a long t re had been had blood
between Steve and McRaffle. Among other caun
M< Itaffle's evil influence over Hup.
>ert Gray had been growing of late more and more
independent, associating with McRaffle and a number of
the wildest fellows in the County, and showing a tendency
to recklessnes- had caused all his friends much con-
cern. Jacquelin tried toconnscl and control him, hut the boy
was wayward and heedless. l.v.p.-rt thought it was hard
that he was to be under direction at an age when Jacqtie-
lin had already w< as a soldier.
M
402 KED BOCK
When his brother took him to task for going off with
some of the wilder young men in their escapades, Kupert
only lau^hi'd at him.
" Why, Jack, it's you I am emulating. As Cousin John
C'iiry would say, ' The trophies of Miltiades will not let
me sleep/" And when Captain Allen tried to counsel
him seriously, he floored that gentleman by saying that he
had learned both to drink and to play poker from him.
He was, however, devoted to Blair, and she appeared to have
much influence with him ; so Steve and Jacquelin tried to
keep him with her as much as possible.
One evening shortly after the public m gating at which
Steve and McRaffle had had their quarrel, Rupert appeared
to be somewhat restless. Blair had learned the signs and
knew that in such cases it was likely to be due to Rupert's
having heard that some mischief was on foot, and she used
to devise all sorts of schemes to keep the boy occupied.
She soon discovered now what was the matter. Rupert
had heard a rumor that a movement was about to be di-
rected against Miss May's school. None of the men he
was intimate with knew much about it. It was only a
rumor. Steve and Jacquelin were both away from the
County attending Court in another county. Blair was
much disturbed.
" Why, they are going to do it on your account," said
Rupert. " They say this school was started to break up
your school."
" Nonsense ! Do they think that's the way to help me?
The teacher is a woman," urged Blair. Rupert's counte-
nance fell.
" They aren't going to trouble her — are just going to
the negroes so there won't be any more meetings held
there. Some say she's kin to Leech — or something."
' ' She is nothing of the kind," asserted Blair. " Ruth
Welch told me she had never seen Mr. Leech, and declined
positively to see him. When is it to be ?"
" To-night."
BLAIR GARY SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL 403
Blair lamented the absence of Jacqnelin and Steve. If
they were but at home they would, she knew, prevent this
outrage.
" Oh ! Jacquelin and Steve ! They are nothing but old
fogies," laughed Rupert. " McRaffle, he's the man ! "
With a toss of his head he broke into a snatch of Bonny
Dundee.
Blair watched him gravely for a moment.
"Rupert," she said, " Captain McRaffle is nothing but
a gambler and an adventurer. He is not worthy to be
named in the same breath with — with Steve and — your
brother any mofc than he is to be named with my father.
This is the proof of it, that he is going to try to interfere
with a woman. Why does he not go after Colonel Leech,
who made the speech there ? " Rupert's face grew grave.
Bhiir pressed her advantage.
" He is a coward ; for he would never dare to under-
take such a thing if your brother and Steve were at home.
He takes advantage of their absence to do this, when he
knows that Miss May has no defender."
>ert's eye flashed.
•• Hy George ! I never thought of that," he burst out.
"She has got a defender. I'll go there and stand guard
myself. You needn't have any fear, Blair, if I'm there."
!!•• hit<-lird his coat around in such a way as to display the
butt of a huge pistol. . Blair could not help smilini:. But
this was not what she wanted. She was afraid to send
KM port to guard tin- place. He had not judgment enough.
If what the boy had heard were true, something might
happen to liim if he went there. She knew that he would
i it with his life ; but she was afraid of the conse-
es. So she set to work to put Rupert on another tack.
1 him to go down to the county seat and learn
what he could of the plans, and try to keep the men from
coming at all. This scheme was by no means as agreeable
to Rupert as the other, but he finally yielded, and set out.
Blair watched him ride away through the orchard, the even-
404 RED ROCK
ing light falling softly around him as he cantered off. She
sat still for a little while thinking. Suddenly she rose,
and going into the house found her mother and held a
short consultation with her. A few moments later she
came out with her hat on, and disappeared among the
apple-trees, walking rapidly in the same direction Rupert
had taken. Her last act as she left the house was to call
softly to her mother :
" When Rupert comes back send him after me. I will
wait for him at Mr. Stamper's."
It had occurred to her that Andy Stamper would do
what she was afraid to have a rash boy like Rupert at-
tempt. Andy hated Leech, to whom he charged the burn-
ing of his store ; but he was devoted to Miss Welch. And
he had told Blair of seeing Miss May once pull down her
veil to keep from looking at Leech.
When, however, Blair arrived at the Stampers's Mr.
Stamper was absent. But she found an heroic enough ally
in his representative, Mrs. Delia, to make up for all other
deficiencies. The idea of the possibility of an injury to
one of her sex fired that vigorous soul with a flame not to
be quenched.
" I jest wish my Andy was here/' she lamented. " He'd
soon straighten 'em out. Not as I cares, Miss Blair, about
the school, or the teacher," she said, with careful limita-
tion ; "for I don't like none of '.em, and I'd be glad if
they'd all go back where they come from. The old school
was good enough for me, and them as can't find enough
in white folks to work on, outdoes me. But — a man as
can't git a man to have a fuss with and has to go after a
woman, Delia Stamper jist wants to git hold of him. I
never did like that Cap'n McRaffler, anyhow. He owes
Andy a hundred and twenty-nine dollars, and if I hadn't
stopt Andy from givin' him things — that's what I call it —
jest givin' 'em to him — sellin' on credit, he'd a owed us
five hundred. He knows better th'n to fool with me."
She gave a belligerent shake of her head. " I'll tell you
BLAIR CARY SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL • 405
what, Miss Blair," she suddenly broke out. " Our men
folks are all away. If they are comin' after women, let's
give 'em some women to meet as know how to deal with 'em.
I wants to meet Captain McKufller, anyhow/' Another
shake of the head was given, this time up and down, and
her black eyes began to sparkle. Blair looked at her with
new satisfaction.
" That is what I wish. That is why I came, " she said.
" Can you leave your children ? "
"They are all right/' said Mrs.' Stamper, with kindling
eyes. " I ain't been on such an expedition not since the
war. I'll leave word for Andy to come as soon as he gits
home."
As they sallied forth, Mrs. Stamper put into her pocket
a big pistol and her knitting. " One gives me courage to
take the other," she said.
1 1 was a mile or two through the woods to the school-
house, and the novel guards arrived at their post none too
soon. As they emerged from the woods into the little
ng on one side of which stood the church and on the
other the new school-house, the waning moon was just
rising above the tree-tops, casting a ghostly light through
the trees and deepening the shadows. The school-house
was considerably larger than any other in the neighbor-
hood, and over one end of the porch Miss May had trained
a Virginia creeper. The two guards took their seats in
the shadow of the vine. They were both somewhat awed
by the situation, but from different causes. Blair'
ing was due to the strangeness of her situation out
there, surrounded by dark woods filled with (ho cries of
night insects and the mournful call of the whip-poor-
will. Mrs. Stamper confessed that the graves amid the
weeds around rch were what disquieted her. For
she boasted that she " was not af eared of that man living/'
But she admitted mournfully, •• I am certainly af eared of
ghosts."
The two sentinels had but a short time to wait They
406 RED ROCK
luul not been there long before the tramp of horses \\ as
hi-ard. and in a little while from the woods opposite them
emerged a cavalcade of, perhaps, a dozen horsemen. Mrs.
Stamper clutched Blair with a grip of terror, for men and
s were heavily shrouded and looked ghostly enough.
Blair was trembling, but not from fear, only from excite-
ment. The presence of the enemy suddenly strung her up,
and she put her hand on her companion encouragingly.
Just then one of the men burst into a loud laugh. Mrs.
Delia's grip relaxed.
" I know that laugh," she said, with a sigh 'of deep relief.
"Jest let him ride up here and try some of his shenaiiigin ! "
She began to pull at her pistol, but Blair seized her.
" For heaven's sake, don't," she whispered ; and Mrs.
Stamper let the pistol go, and they squeezed back into the
shadow. Just then the men rode up to the school-house
door. They were discussing what they should do. " Burn
the house down," declared the leader. " Drive the old
hag away." But this met with fierce opposition.
" I didn't come out here to burn any house down," said
one of the men, "and I'm not going to do it. You can
put your notice up and come along."
" Ah ! you're afraid," sneered the other.
There was a movement among the horsemen, and the
man so charged rode up to the head of the column and
pulled his horse in front of the leader. There was a gleam
of steel in the light of the moon.
" Take that back, or I'll make you prove it," he said,
angrily. " Ride out there and draw your pistol ; we'll
let Jim here give the word, and we'll see who's afraid."
Their companions crowded around them to make peace.
The leader apologized. The sentiment of the crowd was
evidently against him.
"Now get down and fix up your notice to Leech, and
let's be going," said one of the peacemakers.
The leader dismounted and started up to the door. As
he did so, one of the two young women stepped forward.
SHE GAVE A STEP FOtfWAKH AM> WITH A QUICK MOVEMENT PULLED THE
MASK FROM HIS FACE.
BLAIR CART SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL 407
" What do you want ? " asked Mrs. Stamper. The man
positively staggered from surprise, and a murmur of as-
tonishment broke from the horsemen. Mrs. Stamper did
not give them time to recover. With true soldierly in-
stinct she pressed her advantage. " I know what you
want/' she said, with scorn. " You want to scare a poor
woman who ain't got anybody to defend her. You ain't
so much against niggers and carpet-baggers as you make
out. I know you."
" You know nothing of the kind," growled the man, an-
grily, in a deep voice. He had recovered himself. "What
business have you here ? Go home, wherever that may be,
and leave the Invisible Empire to execute its dread de-
crees."
"Dread fiddlesticks!" exclaimed Mrs. Stamper. "I
don't know you, don't I ? " She gave a step forward and,
with a quick movement, caught and pulled the mask from
his face. "I don't know you, Captain McRaftle ? And
you don't know me, do you?" With an oath the man
made a grab for his mask, and, snatching it from her, has-
tily replaced it. She laughed triumphantly. "No, I
didn't know you, Captain • McRaffle. I've got cause to
know you. And you ought to be ashamed of yo
coming out here to harm a poor woman. So ought all of
you ; and you are, I know, every mother's son of you. If
you want to do anything, why don't you do it to mm. and
openly, like Andy Stamper and Capt'n Allen ? "
hasn't been so long since they were in the o
•>d McRaffle.
•• Yes, and, when they were, there were gentlemen in it,"
fired back Mrs. Stamper; "and they went after nun. n».t
won i
" We didn't come to trouble any woman ; we came to
give notice that no more mV n^ and speeches
about burning houses were to be held heiv," growled Mc-
RaP
" Yes ; so you set an example by wanting to burn down
108 BED ROCK
houses yourself ? That's the way yon wanted to give no-
tice, if it hadn't been for those gentlemen there."
" She's too much for you, Cap tain, " laughed his com-
rades.
" "We're trying to help out our own people, and to keep
the carpet-baggers from breaking up Miss Gary's school/'
said McRaffle, trying to defend himself.
" No doubt Miss Gary will be much obliged to you."
" No doubt she will. I have good reason to know she
will," affirmed McRaffle; "and you'll do well not to be
interfering with our work." There was a movement in
the corner behind Mrs. Stamper.
" Ah ! Well, I'll let her thank you in person," said
Mrs. Stamper, falling back with a low bow, as Miss Gary
herself advanced from the shadow. The astonishment of
the men was not less than it had been when Mrs. Stamper
first confronted them.
Blair spoke in a clear, quiet voice that at once enforced
attention. She disclaimed indignantly the charge that
had just been made by the leader, and seconded all that
Mrs. Stamper had said. Her friends, if she had any in the
party, could not, she declared, do her a worse service than
to interfere with this school. She knew that its patrons
had reprobated the advantage that had been taken of their
action in allowing the building to be used as a public hall.
When she was through, several of the riders asked leave
to accompany her and Mrs. Stamper home, assuring her
that the school-house would not be interfered with.
This offer, however, they declined. They were "not
afraid," they said.
" We don't think you need tell us that," laughed sev-
eral of the men.
Just then there was the sound of horses galloping at
top speed, and in a second Rupert Gray and Andy Stamper
dashed up breathless.
Mrs. Stampei and Miss Gary explained the situation.
Hearing from Mrs. Stamper what McRaffle had said about
BLAIR CART SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL 409
Blair, Rupert flashed out that he would settle with Cap-
tain Me Raffle about it later.
For a moment or two it looked as if there might be a
serious misunderstanding. But Blair, seconded by the
men who had offered to conduct them home and by Mrs.
Stamper, quieted matters ; and the cavalcade of masked
men rode away in one direction, whilst Andy and Rupert
rode off in the other with the two young women behind
them, leaving the little school-house as peaceful in the
moonlight as if there had never been a sound except the
cicalas' cry and the whip-poor-wills call within a hundred
miles.
The incident had some far-reaching consequences. Only
a day or two later Captain McRaffle went to town ; and a
short time after there was quite a sensation in the county
a notice in Leech's organ', announcing that Colonel
tfle, long disgusted with the brutal methods of the
outlaws who disgraced the State, had severed his connec-
tion with the party that employed such methods; that,
I, lie had long since done so, but had refrained from
making public his decision in order that he might obtain
information as to the organization, and thus render his
country higher service than he could otherwise d<>.
next issue of the paper announced the appointment
of "the able counsellor, Colonel M« Kaffle," to the oll'uv
of Commissioner of the Court, in which position, it stated,
his experience and skill would prove of l>le benefit
16 count
It was, perhaps, well for the new commissioner that
his office was in the city.
CHAPTER XXXIV
LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE, AND TWO WOMEN
CHECK THEM
THE departure of Leech and Still from the County was
followed by the quieting down which always signalized
their absence. The County breathed the freer and enjoyed
the calm, knowing that when they returned there would
be a renewed girding of loins for the struggle which the
approaching campaign would inevitably bring. It was
not even disquieted over the rumors of some unusual
move which, it was reported, the Government, on the
application of Leech and Still, would make to strengthen
their hands. These rumors had been going on so long
that they were hardly heeded now. It would be time
enough to meet the storm when it came, as it had met
others ; meanwhile, the people of Red Rock would enjoy
the calm that had befallen. The calm would be broken
when Leech and Still returned for the trial of the Red
Rock case at the approaching term of court. Steve Allen
and Jacquelin, meanwhile, were applying all their energies
to preparation for the trial. Rupert, filled with the desire
to do his part, was riding up and down the County notify-
ing their witnesses, and, it must be said, talking with a
boy's imprudence of what they were going to do at the
trial. "They were going to show that Still was a thief,
and were going to run him and Leech out of the County/'
etc.
Rupert left home one morning to go to the railway, prom-
ising to return that evening. Jacquelin sat up for him,
ut he did not come ; and as he did not appear next morn-
410
LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE 411
ing, and no word had come from him, Jacquelin rode
down in the evening to see about him. At the station he
learned that Rupert had been there, but had left a little
before dark, the evening before, to return home. lie hud
fallen in with three or four men who had just come from
the city on the train, and were making inquiries concern-
ing the various places and residents in the upper end of
the County, something about all of which they had ap-
l to know. They said they were interested in timber
lands and had a good deal of law business they wished at-
tended to, and they wanted advice as to who were the best
TS of the County ; and Rupert said he could tell tlu-m
all ab«mt the lawyers : that General Legaie and Mr. I
were the best old lawyers, and his brother and Steve A llm
were the best young lawyers. They asked him aliout
Leech and McRaffle.
Leech wasn't anything. Yes, he was — he was a thief,
and so was Still. Still had stolen his father's bonds ; but
wait until he himself got on the stand, he'd show him up !
tfle was a turncoat hound, who had stolen niom-y
from a woman and then tried to run her out of the
County.
One of the men who lived about the station told .1;
liu that he had gone up and tried to get Rupert away from
the strangers, and urged him to go home, but that the boy
was too excited by this time to know what he was doing.
" lie was talking pretty wildly," he said, "and was
abusing Leech and Still and pretty much all the Rads. I
didn't mind that so much, hut In- was blowing :il»ou:
old affair when the negro soldiers were shot, and about
A.K.'s and the capture of the arms, and was telling
what he did about it. Y«.u know how a boy will do I
And I put in to stop him. but he wouldn't be hearsaid.
He said these men were friends of his and had come up to
employ yon all in a lawsuit, ami km-w Leech and Still
were a parcel of rascals. So 1 1. t him alone, and he went
off. with 'em, along with a wagon they'd hired, saying he
412 BED ROCK
was going to show them the country, and I supposed he
was safe home."
By midnight the whole population of that part of the
County was out, white and black, and the latter were as
much interested as the former. All sorts of speculation
was indulged in, and all sorts of rumors started. Some
thought he had been murdered, and others believed he
and his companion had gotten on a spree and had prob-
ably gone off together to some adjoining county, or even
had turned at some point and gone to the city ; but the
search continued. Meantime, unknown to the searchers,
an unexpected ally had entered the field.
That evening Ruth Welch was sitting at home quietly
reading when a servant brought a message that a man was
at the door asking to see Major Welch. It happened that
Major Welch was absent in town, and Mrs. Welch had
driven over that afternoon to see a sick woman. So Ruth
went out to see the man. He was a stranger, and Ruth
was at once struck by something peculiar about him. He
was a little unsteady on his feet, his voice was thick, and,
at first, he did not appear to quite take in what Ruth told
him. He had been sent, he repeated several times, to tell
" Mazhur Welth" that they had taken his advice and had
made the first arrest, and bagged the man who had given
the information that started that riot, and had gotten evi-
dence enough from him to hang him and to haul in the
others too.
" But I don't understand," said the girl. " What is all
this about ? Who's been arrested, and who is to be hung ?
My father has never advised the arrest of anyone."
"Tha's all I know, miss," said the man. " At least,
tha's all I was to tell. I was told to bring him that mes-
sage, and I guess it's so, 'cause they've got the young
fellow shut up in a jail since last night and as drunk as a
monkey, and don't anybody know he's there — tha's a good
joke, ain't it ? — and to-morrow mornin' they'll take him
to the city and lodge him in the jail there, and 't '11 go
LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE 413
pretty hard with him. Don't anybody know he's there,
and they're ban tin' every wheres for him." He appeared
to think this a, great joke.
" Bat I don't understand at all whom you mean ? "
" The young one. They bagged him, and they're after
the two older ones too," he said, confidentially. He was so
repulsive that Ruth shrank back.
" The one they calls Rupert ; but they're after the two
head devils — his brother and that Allen one. Them's the
ones the colonel and your friend over there want to jug."
He jerked his thumb in the direction of Red Rock.
It all flashed on the girl in a moment.
" Oh ! They have arrested Mr. Rupert Gray, and they
want Mr. Jacquelin Gray and Captain Allen ? Who has
arrested him ?"
" The d — tectives. But them's the ones had it done —
Major Leech and Mist* Still." He winked elaborately, in
a way that caused Ruth to stiffen with indignation.
" What was it for ? " she asked, coldly.
•• IY>r murder — killin* them men three or four years
back. They've got the dead wood on 'em now — since the
young one told all about it."
" Has he confessed ? What did he say ? "
"Enough to hang him and them too, I heard. Yon
see they tanked him up and led him on till he put his
head in the noose. Oh ! they're pretty slick ones, tlu-in
detectives is. They got him to pilot 'em most to the jail
door, and then they slipped him in there, to keep him till
they take him to the city to-morrow. He was so drunk —
don't nobody know who he was, and he didn't know him-
self. And they huntin* all over the country for him ! "
He laughed till he had to support himself against the
door.
The expression on Ruth's face was such that the man
noticed it.
" Oh ! don't you mind it, miss. I don't think they're
after the young one. They're after the two elder ones, and
414 BED ROOK
if he gives it away so they ever get them they'll be easy on
him."
Ruth uttered an exclamation of disgust.
" He'll never give it away— She checked herself.
"Don't know — a man'll do a heap to save his own
neck." He made a gesture, drawing his hand across his
throat significantly.
"I know that young man, and I say he'll die before
he'd betray anyone — much less his cousin and brother."
"Well, maybe so."
Just as the messenger turned away Ruth caught sight of
someone standing in the shrubbery, and as the man went
out of the gate the person came forward. It was Virgy Still.
She appeared to be in a state of great agitation, and
began to tell Ruth a story in which her father and Rupert
Gray and Major Leech were all mixed up so incoherently
that, but that Ruth had just heard the facts, she could
never have been able to unravel it. At length Ruth was
able to calm her and to get her account. She had sent
a man over to tell Ruth, but she was so afraid he had
not come that she had followed him. "They want to
get rid of Mr. Rupert. It has something to do with the
case against pa and your father. They are afraid Mr.
Rupert will give evidence against them, and they mean
to put him in jail and keep him from doing it. Do you
know what it is ? "
Ruth shook her head.
" I do not either. I heard them talking about it, but I
did not understand what it was. They ain't after Mr.
Rupert ; they're after Mr. Jacquelin and Captain Allen."
She suddenly burst into tears. « <
" Oh, Miss Ruth," she sobbed, " you don't know — you
don't know "
" I don't know what ?" asked Ruth, gently.
"He is the only one that was always kind to me."
"Who?"
" Mr. Jacquelin. He was always good to me ; when I
LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE 416
was a little bit of girl he was always kind to me. And now
lie hates me, and I never wanted the place I"
"Oh, I don't think he does," said Ixiith, consolingly.
•• Ves, he does; I know he does," sobbed the girl.
" And I never wanted the place. I have been miserable
ever since I went there."
IJuth looked at her with new sympathy. The idea that
the poor girl was in love with Jacquelin had never crossed
her mind. She felt an unspeakable pity for her.
" And now they want me to marry Mr. Leech," moaned
the girl, " and I hate him — I hate him ! Oh, I wish we
never had had the place. I know he would not want to
marry me if pa did not have it, and could not help him
get the governorship. Arid I hate him. I hope we'll lose
the case."
" I would not marry anyone I did not want to marry/'
said Ruth.
" Oh, you don't know," said Virgy. " You don't know
Wash. And pa wants me to marry him too ; he says he'll
be Governor. Pa loves me, but he won't hear to my not
marrying. And I'll have to do it — unless we lose the
case/' she added.
She rose and went away, leaving Ruth with a new idea
in her mind.
li sat still for a few moments in deep thought. Sud-
denly she sprang up, and, calling a servant, ordered her
horse. While it was being got she seized a pencil and
scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper, which »lu> put
in her pocket.
She blushed to find what an interest she took in (lie
matter, and how warmly h< r feeling was enlisted on the
side opposed to that which she felt she ought to espouse.
And she hated herself to recognize the cause. She tried
to think that it was on account of the poor wild boy, or on
account of Blair Gary and Miss Thomasia ; hut no, she
kn« \\ it was not on ..tint— at least, not mainly so—
but on account of ui.
416 BED ROCK
When her horse came, Rnth muttered something to the
servant about telling her mother that she would be back
in a little while ; sprang into the saddle and galloped
away, leaving the negro gazing after her with wonderment,
and mumbling over the message she had given him.
Blair Gary was one of the best horsewomen in the State,
and it was fortunate for Ruth Welch's project that night
that, emulating her friend, she also had become a capital
horsewoman, self-possessed and perfectly fearless ; else she
could not have managed the high-mettled, spirited horse
she rode.
Ruth knew her road well, and as soon as she turned into
the highway that led to the county seat she let her horse
out, and they fairly flew. She passed a number of men,
riding all of them toward the court-house, but she dashed
by them too rapidly for them to speak to her or to recog-
nize her in the dark. As she came near the village the
riders increased in numbers, so she drew in her horse and
turned into a by-lane which skirted the back of the court-
green and led near the lawyers' offices. Jumping her horse
over the low fence, she tied him to a swinging limb of a
tree where he would be in the shadow, and, with a pat or
two to quiet him and keep him from whinnying, she made
her way on foot into the court-green. There were a num-
ber of lights and many men moving about over across the
street that ran between the tavern and the court-green ;
but not a light was visible in any of the offices. Ruth
walkecLdown as far as she dared, keeping close beside the
fence, and tried to recognize some of the men who were
moving about on the tavern veranda or in the road before
it ; but there was not one that she knew. While she was
listening the sound of a horse galloping rapidly came from
the direction of the road that led to the railway, and the
next minute the rider dashed up. Ruth's heart gave a
bound as she recognized Captain Allen. His coming seemed
to give her a sense of security and protection. She felt
reassured and certain that now everything would be all
LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE 417
riirht. As Steve spra!i£ from his horse, he was surrounded
liy the crowd with eager questions. His first words, how-
ever, damped Ruth's hopes.
No, no trace had been found of Rupert. Jacquelin and
many others were still searching for him, ;ind would keep
it up. No, he felt sure he hud not been murdered by any
negro — that he had not been murdered at all. He would
be found in time, etc. All this in answer to questions.
Suddenly he singled out one man and drew him away
from the crowd, and to Ruth's horror they came across the
road straight toward where she stood. She gave herself
up for lost. She turned and would have fled, but she
could not. Instead, she simply dropped down on the
ground and cowered beside the fence. They came and
t against the fence within ten feet of her, on the otlu-r
side, and began to talk. The other person was a stranger
to Ruth ; but his voice was that of an educated man, and
Steve Allen called him Helford, which Ruth remembcivd
to have heard somewhere before.
" Well, where is he ?" the stranger asked Steve, as soon
as they were out of earshot of the crowd.
" Somewhere, shut up — hidden/' said Allen.
"Drunk P/1
" Yes, and that's not the worst of it"
* What do you mean ? He'll turn up all ri-lit."
" Ymi think so ! He'll turn up in jail, and you and I
shall too, if we don't mind. He's been trapped and spir-
.— by detectives, sent up here on j
" \\ hat ! Oh, nonsense! You'r. the boy.
Many another young fellow's gone off and disappeared, to
h nothing worse than a splitting head and
somewhat damaged morals. You yourself, forinstai
when you were not much older than he "
refer mind about tha Steve; "wait
until I t«ll \nu all, and you'll see. I'm n..i Lrmn to being
scary, I think."
He went on to tell of Rupert's falling in >\ith the men
27
418 RED ROOK
at the station, and of his disappearance, including all that
his friends had learned of him both before and after he
left. The man gave a low whistle of amazement and
dismay.
" The little fool ! What makes you think they were
detectives?" lie was groping for a shred of encourage-
ment.
" I know it," said Steve ; and he gave his reasons.
Ruth was astonished to see how closely his reasoning fol-
lowed and unravelled the facts as she knew them.
" Well, where is he now ? Back in the city ?"
"No. They haven't got him there yet. They have hid
him somewhere and are keeping him drunk, and will try
taking him off by night."
" Well, what are you going to do ? "
"Find him and take him away from them," said Steve.
" If Leech or Still were in the County Fd find him in an
hour ; but they're both in the city — been away a fortnight
hatching this thing."
"All right, I'm with you. But where'll we look ? You
say Leech and Still are both away in the city, and you
don't think he's at either of their places ? Where can
he be?"
" I don't know, but I'll find out if he's above ground,"
said Steve, "and some day I'll call Jonadab Leech and
Hiram Still to a settling."
" I'll tell you, Allen, where you may find him, or, at any
rate, find a trace of him. At that new carpet-bagger's, Mr.
Welch's."
" Nonsense ! Why don't you look in my office ?"
" You may say so ; but I'll tell you you'd better look.
You all over here think he's different from the rest : but I
tell you he isn't. When it comes to these questions, they're
all tarred with the same stick, and a d d black stick
it is."
Ruth stirred with indignation. She wished she could
have sprung up and faced him.
LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE 419
" We won't discuss that," said Steve, coldly. " Major
Welch certainly differs widely from you and me on all
political questions — perhaps on many other questions.
But he is a gentleman, and I'll stake my life on his being
ignorant of anything like this. Gentlemen are the same
the world over in matters of honor."
"Well, maybe so — if you think so," said the other, im-
pressed by Steve's seriousness. "But I don't see why you
should think he's so different from all the rest of them.
You didn't use to find one Yankee so much better than
another."
Steve declared haughtily that he did not wish to discuss
that question further, and that he would have his horse
fed and go to his office to make out a few notices and be
ready to start off again in an hour.
" The roads are all picketed, and if they get him to the
city it will be by a route they won't want to take them-
selves," he said grimly, as he turned away.
"Suppose he's already in jail somewhere ?" asked his
friend.
" We'll take him out," said Steve, stopping short.
" There isn't a jail in this commonwealth that will hold
him, if I discover where he is."
"All right, we'll be with you, old fellow," said his
friend, his good-humor restored ; "and if we could get a
pull at some of your carpet-bag friends at the same time
so much the better. You are not the only one who IK. 1.1s
a due-bill of McRaffle's, and has a score against Leech.
He arrested my father and kept him in jail a week." His
voice hail .Mi<l<l«-nly grown bitter.
11 they moved off, Ruth rose and crept hurriedly
away, stealing along by the fence until she was in the
shadow of the offices. She knew she had not a moment to
lose. She went up to the offices and scanned the doors.
Fortunately, by even the faint glimmer of the stars she
could make out the big names on the signs. She tried the
door on which was the name of "Allen and Gray," and,
420 RED ROCK
finding it locked, slipped her envelope under it and crept
quickly away.
She was just in time, for she heard steps behind her and
caught sight of a tall figure striding across the green
toward the door she had just left. She found and
mounted her horse and rode away, keeping well in the
shadow of the trees. As she turned into the road at a
sharp canter she almost ran over an old negro who was
walking rapidly toward the village. It was so close that
she could not avoid calling out to him ; but she was not
quite in time, for her horse touched him enough to topple
him over. Euth pulled in instantly and, turning around,
went back to the man, who was scrambling to his feet
grumbling and mumbling to himself :
" Who d'name o* King dat ridin' over me ? "
Ruth recognized old Waverley.
" Oh ! Are you hurt, uncle ? I hope not. I'm so
sorry. It was so dark I couldn't see you," she said, solici-
tously. The tone removed the old man's irritation im-
mediately.
" Yes'm — 'tis mighty dark, sho nough. Nor'm, I ain
hut none — jes kind o' skeered, dat's all. I did'n hut yo'
hoss, did I ? Ken you tell me, is dee done heah anything
o' my young marster ? I jes hurryin' down heah to git
de lates' wud 'bout him."
Ruth told him that his young master had not been seen
yet ; but that he would certainly be found within the next
twenty-four hours, and that she was sure he would be dis-
covered to be all right.
" Well, I certney is glad to heah you say dat, mistis,"
said the old fellow, "'cause my mistis is almost distracted,
and so is he mammy and all de fam'ly. I done walked
down heah three times to-day to git de news, an' I know I
ain' gwine shet my eyes till he found. Hits all de wuck
of dat Cun'l Leech an' dat debble, Hiram Still, an' he son.
I knows 'em1," he broke out, fiercely, "and I'll git at de
bottom of it yit." He came near and gazed up at Ruth
LEECH AND STILL HAKE A MOVE 421
with a look of snch keen scrutiny, that to get away from
him Until made her horse start. " I shall have to let him
go," she said, and at a touch of her heel her horse bounded
away.
" I knows your hoss and I knows you too, now/' said
the old man, looking after her as she dashed away in the
darkness. " Well, well I" and he went on into the village.
When Ruth reached home, to her relief she found that
her mother had not yet returned. A message hud come
that Miss Bush was ill and she would be detained until
very late, but would certainly be back by bed-time.
CHAPTER XXXV
CAPTAIN" ALLEN FINDS RUPERT AND BREAKS THE LAW
WHEN Steve Allen stepped across his threshold he
caught the gleam of something white lying on the floor
just inside the door-sill. He picked up the slip of paper
and, striking a light, looked at it. The writing on it was
in a cramped backhand that Steve did not know and could
hardly read. At last, however, he made it out :
" Your friend is in jail here on charge of murder. Will
be taken to city to-night for trial/' It had been signed,
" A Friend/' but this had been much scratched over and
was almost illegible. Steve read the words again and
again. Suddenly he left his office and walked quickly
around the back part of the court-green, looking in all the
corners and dark places. It had occurred to him that he
had heard someone retreating as he approached his office.
Everything, however was quiet, and the only sound he
heard was that of a horse galloping on the road some dis-
tance away. As he stood still to listen again it died away.
In a few minutes he had called his friend Helford into his
office and laid before him his information. Helford re-
ceived it coldly — thought it might be a trick to throw
them off the track and obtain delay. He argued that even
if it would have been possible for Rupert Gray to be put
in jail right under their noses, he could not have been
kept there all day without its being discovered. Steve was
of a different opinion. Perdue, the jailer, was a creature
of Leech's and Still's. Something assured him that the
information was true, and he laid his plans accord-
ingly. The men who were at the county seat were re-
quested fco wait, without being told what was the reason ;
422
CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT 423
riders were sent oft to call in the searchers who were still
engaged, a rendezvous near the village being appointed.
Steve, leaving the men present under charge of Helford,
rode off as if to continue the search ; but a short distance
down the road he turned, and, riding back by another way,
tied his horse and returned to the court-green. He en-
tered at the rear, walked up to the jail and rang the bell.
After some delay a man peeped at him through the wicket
and asked who it was. Steve gave his name, and said
he wanted to see the prisoner who had been brought in
the night before. The man hesitated a second, then said
there was no such prisoner there. lie took a half step
backward to close the shutter, but Steve was too quick
for him. He was sure from the jailer's manner that he
was lying to him. The next second there was a scraping
sound on the grating and the man found a pistol-barrel
gleaming at him through the bars, right under his nose.
"Stir, and you are a dead man," said Steve. " Open
the door/'
'• I ain't got the keys."
" Call for them. Don't stir ! I'll give you till I count
five : one — two — three "
" Here they are, sir." The pistol-barrel was shining
right in his face, and Steve's eyes were piercing him
through the bars. He unlocked the door, and Steve
stepped in.
•• Take me to Mr. Gray's cell instantly, and remember a
single word from you means your death." Steve expected
to be taken to one of the front rooms in which the pris-
oners of better condition were usually kept ; but his guide
went on, and at length stopped at the door of one of the
worst cells in the place, where the most abandoned crimi-
nals were usually confined. Two negro prisoners, in an-
other cell, seeing Captain Allen, howled at him in glee
through rs.
"Yon don't mean to say that you've put him in here P"
Steve asked, sternly.
424 BED BOOK
" That's orders," said the man, and added, explanatorily,
as he fumbled at the lock. " You see, he was pretty wild
when they brought him here."
" Don't defend it," said Steve, in a voice which brought
the turnkey up shaking.
"No, suh — no, suh — I ain* defendin' it. I jest tellin*
you." He unlocked the door.
' " Walk in," said Steve, and, pushing the other ahead, he
stepped in behind him and took his light. It was so dark
that he could not at first make out anything inside ; but
after a moment a yet darker spot in the general gloom be-
came dimly discernible.
" Kupert? " Steve called. At the voice the dark shadow
stirred. " Kupert Gray ? "
There was a cry from the dark corner.
" Steve ! Oh, Steve ! Steve ! "
" Come here," said Steve, who was keeping close beside
the jailer.
"I can't. Oh, Steve!"
" Why not ? — Over there ! " he said, with a motion to the
jailer, to walk before him.
" I'm chained."
" What 1 " The young man turned and caught the
jailer by the shoulder, and with a single twist of his pow-
erful arm sent him before him spinning into the corner of
the room. Stooping, Steve felt the boy and the chain by
which he was bound to a great ring in the wall. The
next second he faced the keeper.
"Dog I"
For a moment the man thought he was as good as dead.
Steve's eyes blazed like coals of fire, and he looked like
a lion about to spring. The man began to protest his
innocence, swearing with a hundred oaths that he had
nothing to do with it ; that it was all Leech's doings — his
orders and other men's work. He himself had tried to
prevent it.
Steve cut him short.
CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS KUPEIIT 425
"Liar, save yourself the trouble. "What are their
names ? Where are they ? "
"I don't know. They've gone, I don't know where.
They went away this mornin' before light."
" Get the key and unlock that chain."
The man swore that lie did not have it — the men had
taken it with them.
Steve reflected a moment. He had no time to lose.
"Oh, Steve ! nevermind me," broke in Rupert, his self-
possession recovered. " Go — I'm not worth saving. Oh,
Steve ! if you only knew I I have done you an irreparable
injury. I don't mind myself, but " His voice failed
him and his words ended in a sob. "I'm not crying be-
cause I'm here or am afraid," he said, presently. "But if
you only knew "
Steve Allen leant down over him and, throwing his arm
around him, kissed him as if he had been a child.
" That's all right," he said, tenderly, and whispered
something which made the boy exclaim :
" Oh, Steve ! Steve !" The next moment he said, sol-
emnly, "I promise you that I will never touch another
drop of liquor again as long as I live."
" Never mind about that now," said Steve.
"But I want to promise. I want to make you that
promise. It would help me, Steve, I have never broken
my word."
" Wait until you are free," said Steve, indulgently. IK-
turned to the keeper, who still stood cowering in the corner.
" Come— walk before mo." As they left the cell he said
to him : " lii a half-hour two hundred men will be heir.
These doors will go like paper. If the;» find that boy
chained and you are here, your life will not be worth a
button. Nothing but God Almighty could save you." He
left him at the front door and wejit out. A number of men
were already assembling about the jail. It tran
afterward that old Waverley had seen Steve enter the jail,
and, fearing that he might not get out again, had told
426 RED HOOK
Andy Stamper, who had just arrived. As Steve came out
of the door Andy stepped np to him.
" We were going in after you," he said.
Steve took him aside and had a talk with him, telling
him the state of the case and putting him in charge until
his return.
" If Perdue wants to come out, let him do so," he said, as
he left him. As he walked across the green he fell in with
Waverley, who gave an exclamation of joy.
" I sutney is glad to see you. I was mighty feared dee'd
keep you in dyah." He was very full of something he
wanted to tell him. Steve did not have time to listen then,
but said he wanted him, and took him along.
" Well, jes' tell me dis, Marse Steve ; is you foun' my
young marster ? "
" Yes, we have."
" Well, thank Gord for dat ! " exclaimed old Waverley.
•« Whar is he ? "
Steve pointed back to the jail. " In there."
The old man gave an outcry.
" In dyah 1 My young marster ? My marster and mistis*
son ! Go way, Marse Steve — you jokin* ; don't fool me
'bout dat."
" He's in there, and in chains ; and I want you to cut
them off him," said Steve.
The old man broke out into a tirade. He ended :
" Dat I will ! De's a blacksmiff shop yonder. I'll git a
hammer and cole chisel d'rectly." He started off. When
he arrived, the shop had already been levied on for sledges
and other implements.
The crowd was beginning to be excited. Steve took
charge at once. He spoke a few words in a calm, level,
assured tone ; stated the fact of Rupert Gray's arrest by
Leech's order, not for his own offence, but more for that
of others, of his imprisonment in irons in the jail, and of
his own intention to take him out. And he declared his
belief that it was the desire of those assembled, that he
CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT 427
should command them, and expressed his readiness to
do so.
The response they gave showed their assent.
Then they must obey his orders.
They would, they said.
" The first is — absolute silence."
" Yes, that's right," came from all sides.
'" The second is, that we will release our friend, but take
no other step — commit no other violence than that of
breaking the doors and taking him out."
" Oh, h — 1 1 We'll hang every d d nigger and dog
in the place," broke in a voice near him. Steve wheeled
around and faced the speaker. He was a man named
Bushman, a turbulent fellow. 'As quick as thought the
pistol that had been shining under Perdue's nose a little
before was gleaming before this man's eyes.
" Step out and go home I " Steve pointed up the road.
The man began to growl.
" Go," said Steve, imperiously, and the crowd applauded.
"That's right, send him off." They opened a path
through which the ruffian slunk, growling, away.
" Now, men, fall in."
They fell in like soldiers, and Steve marched them off to
the spot he had appointed as the place for others to join
;
The rendezvous was in a pine forest a little off the road,
and only a quarter of a mile or so back of the village.
Near the road the pines were thick, having sprung up
since the war ; but here, in a space of some hundreds of
each way, the trees, the remnants of a former growth,
were larger ami le.-s orowdedj leaving the ground open and
covered with a thick matting of "tags," on which the
11 as noiselessly as on a thick carpet, ami where even
the tramp of horses made hardly u sound. It was an
impressive body assembled in the darkness, silent
and grim, the stillness broken only l.y the- muffled stamp-
ing and tramping of a restless h«»i>e, by an almost in.ui-
428 BED ROOK
dible murmnr, or an order given in a low, quiet tone.
15y a sort of soldierly instinct the line had fallen into al-
most regimental form, and, from time to time, as new
recruits came np, directed by the pickets on the roads out-
side, the}7", too, fell into order.
Just as they were about to move, a horseman galloped
up, and a murmur went through the ranks.
"Dr. Gary!"
Whether it was surprise, pleasure, or regret, one at first
could scarcely have told.
" Where is Captain Allen ? " asked the Doctor, and
pushed his way to the head of the line. A colloquy took
place between him and Steve in subdued but earnest tones,
the Doctor urging something, Steve replying, while the
men waited, interested, but patient. The older man w;is
evidently protesting, the other defending. At length Dr.
Gary said :
" Well, let me speak a word to them."
" Certainly/' assented Steve, and turned to the men.
"Dr. Gary disagrees with us as to the propriety of
the step we are about to take and urges its abandonment.
He desires to present his views. You will hear him with
the respect due to the best and wisest among us." He
drew back his horse, and the Doctor rode forward and be-
gan to speak.
" First, I wish you to know that I am with you, heart
and soul — for better, for worse ; flesh of your flesh, and
bone of your bone. Next to my God and my wife and
child, I love my relatives and neighbors. Of all my rela-
tives, perhaps, I love best that boy lying in yonder jail,
and I would give my life to save him. But I could not
kneel to my God to-night if I did not declare to you my
belief — my profound conviction — that this is not the way
to go about it. I know that *the wrongs we are suf-
fering cry to God, but I urge you to unite with me in
trying to remedy them by law, and not by violence. Let us
unite and make an appeal to the enlightened sense of the
CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT 429
American people, of the world, which they will be forced to
hear. Violence on our side is the only ground which they
can urge for their justification. It is a terrible weapon we
are furnishing them, and with it, not only can they defeat
iow, but they can injure us for years to come."
II went on for ten or fifteen minutes, urging his views
with impressive force. Never was a stronger appeal made.
But it fell on stony ears. The crowd was touched by
him, but remained unchanged. It had resolved, and its
decision was unaltered. When he ended, there was, for a
moment, a low murmur all through the ranks, which died
down, and they looked to their captain. Steve did not
hesitate. In a firm, calm voice he said :
" For the first time in my life almost, I find myself un-
able to agree in a matter of principle with the man y.»u
have just heard. At the same time, this may be only my
personal feeling, and, recognizing the force of what he has
said, I wish all who may think as he does to full out of line.
The rest will remain as they are. If all shall leave, feel-
ing as I do I shall still undertake to rescue Rupert Gray.
Those who disagree with me will ride forward/'
There was a rustle and movement all down the ranks,
bnt not a man stirred from his place. As the men looked
along the line and took in the fact, there went up a low,
suppressed sound of gratification and exultation.
lence, men," said the captain. He turned his horse
to face Dr. Gary.
" Dr. Gary, I beg you to believe that wo all recognize
the wisdom of your views and their unselfishness, and we
promise yon that no violence shall be offered a soul beyond
forcing the doors and liberating the boy."
A murmur of assent came from the ranks. Dr. Gary
bowed*
" I shall wait at the tavern," ho said, "to seo if my ser-
vices may be of any use."
Steve detailed two men to conduct him through the
guards, and he rode slowly away.
430 RED ROCK
A few minutes later Captain Allen gave the order, and,
wheeling, the column marched off through the dusk.
Steve had made the men disguise themselves by tying
strips of cotton across their faces. He himself wore no
mask. When he arrived at the jail he learned from Andy
Stamper that Perdue had taken advantage of the hint
given him and had escaped.
" I had hard work at first to git him out," said Andy.
" I had to go up to the door and talk to him ; but when he
found what was comin', he was glad enough to go. I let
him slip by, and last I seen of him, he was cuttin' for the
woods like a fox with the pack right on him. If he kept
up that lick he's about ten miles off by this time."
The breaking into the jail was not a difficult matter.
It meant only a few minutes' work bursting open the outer
door with a heavy sledge-hammer, and a little more in
battering down the iron inner doors. During the whole
time the crowd without was as quiet as the grave, the
silence broken only by the orders given and the ringing
blows of the iron hammers. But it was very different in-
side. The two or three negroes confined within were wild
with terror. They all thought that the mob was after
them, and that their last hour was come ; and they who an
hour before had hooted at the visitor, yelled and prayed
and besought mercy in agonies of abject terror. When
the squad detailed by Steve passed on to the cell in which
Rupert was confined and began to break down the door,
these creatures quieted a little, but even then they prayed
earnestly, their faces, ashy with fear in the glare of the
torches, pressed to the bars and their eyeballs almost start-
ing from their sockets. When the door gave way the low
cry that came up from the party sent them flying and
trembling back into the darkness of their cells.
It took a considerable time to cut the irons that bound
the prisoner, who, under the excitement of the rescuing
party's entrance, had been overjoyed, but a moment later
had keeled over into Andy Stamper's arms. Under the
CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT 431
. blows of the old blacksmith's hammer, even thai was
at length accomplished, and the rescuers moved out bear-
ing Rupert with them. As they emerged from the build-
ith the boy in their arms, the long-pent-up feeling of
the crowd outside burst forth in one wild cheer, which
rang through the village and was heard miles away on the
roads. It was quickly hushed ; the crowd withdrew into
the woods, and in a few minutes the jail was left in the
darkness as silent as the desert.
The news of the assault on the jail and the liberation of
the prisoner thrilled through the County next morning,
and the thrill extended far beyond the confines of the sec-
tion immediately interested. The party of detectives who
were waiting to take their prisoner to the city made their
way by night through the country to a distant station, to
take the cars ; and Leech and McRaffle, who had come on
the morning train to meet them, deemed it prudent to
catch it on its way back and return to the city.
Ruth, the morning after her visit to the court-house and
the rescue of Rupert, was in a state of great unrest.
Finally she mounted her horse and paid a visit to Blair
Gary. They were all in intense excitement. liuth her-
self was sensible of constraint ; but she had an object in
view which made it necessary to overcome it. So she
chatted on easily, almost gayly. At length she made an
excuse to get Blair oil by herself. In the seclusion of
Blair's room the secret came out. Kuih. on her part,
: ijtert was to be sent oil ; Blair did not know
where. One difficulty was the want of means to send
him. 'Phis Ruth had divined. With a burning face, she
told Blair she had a great favor to ask of her; and when
Blair wonderingly assented, she took from her pocket a roll
of money — what seemed to Blair an almost vast amount.
It was her own, she said ; and the favor was : that Blair
would h.-ljt her to get that money to Kupcrt without any-
one knowing where it came from. She wanted Rupert to
go out to the West and join Reel) Thurston there. Blair
432 RED TCOCK
<K-m urred at this. Captain Thurston was an army of-
licer, and Rupert was She paused. Ruth flushed.
She would be guaranty that Thurston would stand his
friend.
There was also another thing which Blair discovered,
though she did not tell Ruth that she had done so. She
simply rose and kissed her. This discovery decided her to
accept Ruth's offer. It seemed to draw Ruth nearer to
her and to make her one with themselves. So she told
Ruth where Rupert was. He was at that time at the
house of Steve's old mammy, Peggy. He was to be con-
ducted out of the County that night. Whether he cculd
be persuaded to go to Captain Thurston, Blair did not
know ; but she promised to aid Ruth so far as to suggest
it, and try to persuade him to do so. There were two
difficulties. One was that she might be watched, and it
might lead to Rupert's re-arrest. She did not state what
the other was. But Ruth knew. She, too, could divine
things without their being explained. If, however, Blair
could not meet Jacquelin Gray, there was no reason
why Ruth herself could not. And she determined to
go. Suddenly Blair changed. She, too, would go. She
could not let Ruth go alone.
That evening, toward dusk, old Peggy was " turning
about " in her little yard, when the sound of horses' feet
caught her ear. As quick as thought the old woman ran
to her door and spoke a few words to some one inside, and
the next moment the back door opened and a figure
sprang across the small cleared space that divided the
cabin from the woods, and disappeared among the trees.
In a little while the riders appeared in sight, and when
the old negress turned, to her surprise, they were two
ladies. When they took off their veils, to old Peggy's
still greater astonishment, they were Miss Blair and the
young lady who had visited her with her young master
the evening of the rain-storm.
The old woman greeted them pleasantly, but when they
CAPTAIN ALLK.V FINDS KTI'KKT 433
they wanted to see Rupert Gray, her suspicions re-
turned ai^iin.
" lie ain't heah," she said, shortly. "What you want
wid him ?" Her eyes gleamed with shrewdness.
" We want to see him/'
" Well, you won' see him heah."
They began to cajole.
" Can't you trust me ?" asked Blair.
But old Peggy was firm.
"I don' trus' nobody. I ain* got nothin' 't all to do
wid it. Why n't you go ax Marse Steve ? " she asked
Ruth, suddenly. Ruth's face flushed.
The dilemma was unexpectedly relieved by the appear-
ance of Rupert himself. From his covert he had recog-
i the visitors, and could not resist the temptation to
join them. Old Peggy was in a great state of excitement
at his appearance. She began to scold him soundly for
his imprudence. But the boy only laughed at her.
Blair and Ruth took him aside and began to broach the
object of their visit. At first he was obstinate. He would
not hear of the plan they proposed. In fact, he was not
going away at all, he declared.. Ho would not be run
out of the County. He would stay and fight it out. and
let them try him, if they wished to get all they wanted.
howed the butt of a pistol, with boyish pride.
In this state of the case, Ruth began to plead with him
on his brother's account, and Blair, as her arLrument, took
Steve. They said he was bound in honor t«> Lr<>, if they
wished it. Kuth deftly put in a word about Thu
ami t: •unity the trip would give Rupert toraea tin-
world. He could join in the campaigns against the In-
dians out there, if he wished ; and, finally, she he^rd him
to go and join Thnraton, as a favor to her.
These arguments at length prevailed, and Rupert
ho would go.
As his friends were soon to come for him. the nrjHs had
to leave, which they did after binding old Peggy over
434 BED ROCK
with many solrmn promises not to breathe to a single soul
a word of their visit. "If she does," said Rupert, "Til
come back lu-re and make her think the Ku Klux are
after her." The old woman laughed at the threat.
" Go 'way from heah, boy ! What you know 'bout Ku
Klux ? You done told too much 'bout 'em now."
This home-thrust shut Eupert up. Blair put into his
hand the package that Ruth had given her and kissed him
good-by, and he turned to Ruth.
Ruth said, as she took his hand, " Rupert, I am going to
ask you to grant me that favor you once promised me you
would grant."
The boy's eyes lit up.
" I will do it."
"I want you to promise me you will not drink any
more."
" I promise," he said, softly, and bent over and kissed
her hand. As he stood up, the girl leant forward and
kissed him. He turned to Blair and, throwing his arms
around her neck, suddenly burst into tears.
" Oh, Blair, Blair," he sobbed, " I can't go."
The girls soothed him, and when they left a little later
he was calm and firm.
Within a little time other detectives came, and some
who were not known as detectives performed the functions
of that office. But no trace of the rescued boy was found.
The nearest approach to a clew was a report that Andy
Stamper and old Waverley, a short time after the breaking
into the jail, took a long journey with Andy's covered
wagon into another State, " selling things," and that Steve
Allen and several other men were about the same time in
the same region, and even rode with the wagon for some
days.
However, this was not traced up. And it illustrates the
. that two accounts of the affair of the rescue were
published and given circulation : one that the prisoner
was rescued by his friends, the other that he was taken
CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT 436
from the jail by a band of Ku Klux outlaws and murdered,
because he had confessed to having taken part in some of
their outrages and had given information as to his accom-
plices. This was the story that was most widely circulated
in some parts of the country and was finally accepted.
CHAPTER XXXVI
MB. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE, AND A BLUFF
THE term approached at which the Eed Rock suit was
to be tried, and both parties made preparations for it. A
number of the prominent members of the Bar had volun-
teered as Jacquelin's counsel. They knew the character of
the new judge, Bail, and they considered Jacquelin's cause
that of every man in the State. Leech, on his side, had as-
sociated with him as counsel for Still several lawyers of well-
known ability, if of less recognized integrity ; and Major
Welch had retained old Mr. Bagby to represent his in-
terest. As the term drew near, Still applied to Mr. Bagby
to represent him too. The old lawyer declined. The in-
terest of his client, Major Welch, might in some way con-
flict, though he could not see how ; in away he already rep-
resented Still, since to protect his client he had to look
after Still's title also. " Besides, Still already had lawyers
enough to ruin his case," he said, " and he would charge
him a big fee." But these reasons were not sufficient for
Still. He wished Mr. Bagby to represent him. He told
him Leech had employed those others ; but he wanted a
man he knew. " There wasn't a man in the State could
carry a jury like Mr. Bagby, and he did not mind the fee."
Flattery is a key that fits many locks. So the old law-
yer consented, after consulting Major Welch, and notifying
Still that if at any time or at any point in the case he
found his interest conflicting with Major Welch's he would
give him up. Still grew more anxious and sought so many
interviews with the old counsellor that finally his patience
wore out, and he gave his new client to understand that
436
MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 437**
he had other business, and if he wanted so much of his
time he must increase his fees. Still consented even to
tliis, with the effect of arousing suspicion on the old law-
yer's part that there must be something in his client's case
which he did not understand. "Something in it he has
not let out/' reflected the old lawyer. "I must get at
it."
Not very long after this arrangement, Still asked Mr.
Bagby to come and see him at his home on business of
great importance, alleging as a reason for his not going to
see Mr. Bagby that he was too unwell to travel. The note
for some reason offended Mr. Bagby. However, as he had
to go to Major Welch's that night, he rode by Red Rock
to see Still. He found him in a state of great anxiety
and nervousness. Still went over the same ground that
lie had been over with him already several times ; wanted
to know what he thought of the bill, and of the Grays'
chances of success. The old lawyer frowned. Up to the
time of beginning a suit he was ready to be doubtful,
prudent, cautious, even anxious, in advising; but the fight
once begun he was in it to the end ; doubt disappeared ;
defeat was not among the possibilities. It was an intel-
lectual contest and he rejoiced in it ; put into it every
inTve and every power he possessed, and was ready to
tiMinple down every adversary from the sheriff who served
the writ, to the Supreme Court itself. So now, when
Still, almost at the entrance of the term, was whimpering
as to his chances, the old lawyer answered him with scant
courtesy.
" The bill ? I think the same of it I thought when you
asked me before ; that it is a good bill in certain respects
and a poor one in others ; — good as to your accounts show-
ing rents and profits, and too general as to the bonds. It's
a good thing you got hold of so much of Gray's paper. I
knew he was a free liver and a careless man; hut J had
no idea he owed so much money." lie was speaking rat i
to himself.
•±d8 BED ROCK
" What do yon mean ? " faltered Still, his face flushing
and then growing pale.
"That if they can prove what they allege about the
crops in the years just before and after the war, they'll
sweep you for rents and profits, and you'll need the bonds. "
He reflected for a minute, then looked at Still.
" Mr. Still, tell me exactly how you came by that big
bond/' He shut his eyes to listen, so did not see the
change that came over his client's face.
" What'd you think of a compromise ? " asked Still, sud-
denly.
" Have they offered one ? "
" Well, not exactly," said Still, who was lying ; "but I
know they'd like to make one. WhatM you think of our
kind of broaching the subject ? "
" What ! You ? After that bill aspersing your charac-
ter ! " He looked at Still keenly. " Do as you please !
But Major Welch will offer no compromise." He rose and
walked off from Still for a moment, formulating in his
mind some sentence that would relieve him from his re-
lation of counsel to him. It was the first time he had
been in the house since Still's occupancy ; and as he paced
across the hall, the pictures lining the walls arrested his
attention, and he began to examine them. He stopped
in front of the "Indian-killer," and gazed at it atten-
tively.
" Astonishingly like him I" he muttered, musingly ; and
then after another look he asked, " Do you know whether
there really was a cabinet behind that picture or not ? "
Still did not answer, but his face turned a sudden white.
The old lawyer had his back to him. He stepped up
nearer the picture and began to examine the frame more
closely. "I believe there is," he said, musingly. "Yes,
that red paint goes under." He took out a large pocket-
knife. " Those nails are loose. I believe 111 see. "
He inserted the blade of his knife and began to prize at
the frame.
MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 439
« My G— d ! don't do that ! " exclaimed Still ; and, giv-
ing a bound, he seized the old lawyer's arm.
The latter turned on him in blank amazement. Still's
face was as white as death.
" What in the d — 1 is the matter with you ?" demanded
Mr. Bagby.
"Don't! for God's sake!" stammered Still, and stag-
gered into a chair, the perspiration standing out on his
forehead.
• • \\ 'hat's the matter with you, man ? " Mr. Bagby poured
out a glass of whiskey from a decanter on the table and
gave it to him. The liquor revived him, and in a moment
he began to talk.
It was nothing, he said, with a ghastly attempt at a
smile. He had of late been having a sort of spells ; had
not been sleeping well — his son was giving him some physic
for it ; 'twas a sort of nervousness, and he supposed he just
had one, and couldn't help thinking of that story of the
picture coming down always meaning bad luck, and the
story of the old fellow being seen on horseback at night.
Some of the niggers had been saying that he had been seen
at night once or twice lately riding around, and he sup-
posed that had got in his mind. But of course he didn't
believe any such lies as that.
• I hope not," sniffed the old lawyer. He rose and took
up his hat and saddlebags. Still urged him to stay; he
liad had his horse put in the stable and fed: but Mr.
Bagby said he must go, he wished to see Major Welch. He
had made up his mind that he would not remain in the case
as Still's counsel. He could not get o\cr the feeling that
was something in Still's case which Still had not
confided to him, or the idea of his wishing to compromise
after a charge of fraud ; and the rou^li way in which Still
had seized his arm and had spoken to him had o (Tended
him. So lie would not be his guest. He told Still that
he felt that he could not act further as his counsel, in asso-
ciation with his other counsel. Again Still's face hlai.
V-
440 BED ROCK
He offered to threw them all over — except Leech. He was
obliged to kee^ Leech ; but the others he would let go.
This, lio\w . 3r, Mr. Bagby would not hear of.
As .V was late, and the servants had retired, Still walked
with Mr. Bagby to the stable to get his horse. He con-
tinued to urge him to remain in the suit as his counsel.
But the old lawyer was firm.
As they approached the stables there came to them from
the field over beyond the gardens and toward Major Welch's
the distant neigh of a horse. Still clutched Mr. Bagby's
arm.
« My G— d ! did you hear that ? »
" What ? Yes — one of your horses over in your past-
ure ?"
" No, there ain't no horses over in that field, or in a field
between here and Stamper's house. It's all in crop. That's
over toward the graveyard."
" Oh ! the d 1 ! " the old man exclaimed, impatiently.
But Still seized him.
" Look I Look yonder!" he gasped. The lawyer
looked, and at the moment the outline of a man on horse-
back was clearly defined against the skyline on the crest of
a hill. How far away it was he could not tell ; but appar-
ently it was just behind the dark clump of trees where lay
the old Gray bury ing-ground. The next second the moon
was shrouded and the horseman faded out.
When Mr. Bagby reached Major Welch's, the latter came
out to meet him : he had sat up for him.
"I thought you had come a half-hour ago. I fancied I
heard your horse neigh," he said.
As he went to call a servant, he picked up from a small
side-porch a parcel wrapped around with paper. He took
it in to the light. It was a large bunch of jonquils, ad-
dressed to Ruth.
" Ah ! " thought the old lawyer, with a chuckle, " that
is what our ghostly horseman was doing."
The next morning, when Major Welch and his guest
MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 441
came to breakfast, the table was already decorated with
jonquils, which were lighting it up with their golden
glow ; and one or two of them were pinned on Miss Ruth's
dainty white dress.
Both Major Welch and the guest remarked on the
beauty of the flowers, and the Major mentioned his sur-
prise that Ruth should have left them out on the porch
overnight. The remark was quite casual, and the Major
was not looking at Ruth at the moment ; but the old lawyer
was looking, and his eyes twinkled as he noticed the deep
color that rushed up into the girl's cheeks. No age is too
great to be stirred by the sight of a romance, and the old
fellow's countenance softened as he looked at the young
girl.
" Lucky dog," he thought, " that night rider ! I won-
der who he is ? I'd give my fee in this case to be able to
call up that blush. I remember doing that same thing
once — forty odd years ago. The flowers faded, and the
girl — My dear, will you give me one of those jonquils ? "
he broke off, suddenly, addressing Ruth. Ruth, with a
smile, pinned it on him, and the old man wore it with as
proud a mien as he had ever had after a successful verdict."
The apparition was too much for Hiram Still. A few
days after his interview with Mr. Bagby, Still, without
consulting any of his counsel, took the step on his own ac-
count which he had suggested to the lawyer. If it went
tli rough, he could put it on the ground of friendship for
[tielin's father. He selected his opportunity.
Steve Allen was away that day and Jacquelin Gray was
sitting in his office alone, when there was a heavy, slow
step outside and, after a moment's interval, a knock at the
door. "Come in," Jacquelin call. . 1 ; ;m<l the door opened
slowly at, i Still walked half-way in and stopped
doubtfully. He was pale, and a simper was on his face.
Jacquelin did not stir. II ;-> fao> flushed slightly.
"Go'>.l-mornin'. Mr. Jacqiiflin," said the visitor, in his
most i i ng tone.
442 RED ROCK
" What do yon want ?" Jacquelin asked, coldly.
" Mr. Jacquelin, I thought I'd come and see you when
you was by yourself like, and see if me and you couldn't
come to a understandm' about our suit."
Jacquelin was so taken by surprise that he did not try
to answer immediately, and Still took it for assent and
moved a step farther into the room.
" I don't want no lawyers between us ; we're old friends.
I ain't got nothin' against you, and you ain't got nothin'
against me ; and I don't want no trouble or nothin'. Your
father was the best friend I ever had ; and I jist thought
I'd come like a friend, and see if we couldn't settle things
like old friends — kind of compromise, kind o' ? " He
waved his hands expressively.
Jacquelin found his voice.
" Get out," he said, quietly, with a sudden paling of his
face. Still's jaw dropped. Jacquelin rose to his feet, a
gleam in his eyes.
" Get out." There was a ring in his voice, and he took
a step toward Still. But Still did not wait. He turned
quickly and rushed out of the room, never stopping until
he had got out of the court-green.
He went to the bar of the tavern and ordered two drinks
in rapid succession.
" D — n him !" he said, as he drained off his glass the
second time. " If he had touched me I'd have shot him."
''You're lookin' sort o' puny these days. Been sick ? "
the man at the bar asked.
" Yes — no — I don' know," said Still, gruffly. He went
up and looked at himself in a small fly-speckled, tin-like
mirror on the wall. " I ain't been so mighty well."
" Ik-oil ridiu' pretty hard lately 'bout your suit, I
reckon ? " said the bar-k3eper.
" I don' know. I ain't afeared 'bout it. If they choose
to 3in<( away money tryin' to beat me out o' my property,
I've got about as much as they have, I reckon."
"I reckon you have." The man's manner was so dry
MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 443
that Still cut his eye at him. " Why don't you try him
with a compromise ? " Still looked at him sharply ; but he
was washing a glass, and his face was as impassive as a mask.
" D — n him ! I wouldn't compromise with him to save
his life," said Still. " D' you thiiik I'd compromise with a
man as is aspersed my character ? "
" I d'n' know. I hear there's to be a jury ; and I always
heard, if there's one thing the L — d don' know, it's how a
jury's goin' to decide."
" I ain't afeared of that jury," said Still, on whom the
whiskey was working. " I've got ' He caught a look
of sharpness on the man's face and changed. " I ain't
afeared o' no jury — that jury or no other. And I ain't
afeared o' Jacquelin Gray nor Mr. Steve Allen neither. I
ain't afeared o' no man as walks.: '
" How about them as rides ? " asked the bar-keeper,
dryly.
The effect was electric.
" \Vhat d'you know about them as rides ?" asked Still,
surlily, his face pale.
"Nothin' but what I hear. I hear they's been a rider
seen roun' Red Rock of nights, once or twice lately, ain't
nobody caught up with."
" Some o' these scoundrels been a try in' to skeer me,"
said Still, with an affectation of indifference. " But they
don't know me. I'll try how a bullet '11 act oil 'em next
time I see one of 'em."
"I would," said the bar-keeper. " You'se seen him,
then ? I heard you 1:
Hiram saw that he had been trapped into an admission.
Before he could answer, the man went on :
iiey say down this away it means something's goin' to
happen. How's that old picture been standing of late ? "
Still burst out in a rage, declaring that it had been stand-
ing all right, and would continue to stand till every man
against him was in the hottest region his imagination could
picture. It seemed to him, he sai«l, that everybody in the
444 RED ROOK
Connty was in leagne against him. The bar-keeper hoard
him unmoved ; but, when his customer left, he closed his
door and sauntered over to the office of Allen and Gray.
When Steve returned next day, Jacquelin told him of the
interview with Still. Steve's eyes lit up.
" By Jove ! It means there's something we don't know !
What did you do ? "
" Threatened to kick him out of the room.'"
" I supposed so. But, do you know, Jack," he said, after
a moment's reflection, " I am not sure you did right ?
As a man I feel just as you did ; but as a lawyer I think
we should try and compromise. The case as it stands is a
doubtful one on the law ; but what show do we stand be-
fore his new judge. You know he is hand in glove with
them, and they say was ippointed to try this very case.
Eemember, there is Rupert."
" I tell you what I will do," said Jacquelin, " and it is
the only compromise I will make. You can go to him and
Bay I will agree to dismiss the case. If he will give Rupert
the full half of the place, including the house, and me the
graveyard and Bird wood, with three hundred acres of land,
I will dismiss the suit. You can go to him and say so. It
will still leave him more than the value of Bird wood."
" Birdwood ! What do you want with Bird ? " asked
Steve, in amazement ; but at the moment his eye rested
on Jacquelin's face. Jacquelin was blushing. " Oho ! "
he exclaimed. " I see."
"•Not at all ! " said Jacquelin. " I have no hope what-
ever. Everything has gone wrong with me. I feel as if
as soon as I am interested, the very laws of nature become
reversed ! "
" Nonsense ! The laws of nature are never reversed ! "
exclaimed Steve. "It's nothing but our infernal stu-
pidity or weakness. Have you ever said anything to her
since?"
" No, I am done. She's an iceberg."
" Iceberg ? When I saw her she was a volcano. Besides,
MB. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 445
ice melts," said Steve, sententiously. " I'm engaged in the
process myself."
Jacquelin conld not talk lightly of Blair, and he rose
and quietly walked out of the office. As hie footsteps died
away, Steve sat buck in his chair and fell into a reverie,
induced by Jacquelin's words and his reply.
Jacquelin had just left the office when there was a step
outside, and a knock so timid that Steve felt sure that it
must be a woman. He called to the person to come in ;
the knock, however, was repeated ; so Steve called out
more loudly. The door opened slowly, and a young col-
ored woman put her head in and surveyed the office care-
fully. " Is dat yon, Marse Steve ? " she asked, and in-
serted her whole body. Then turning her back on Steve,
she shut the door.
Steve waited with interest, for his visitor was Martha,
Jerry's wife, who was a maid at Major Welch's. It was not
the first time Martha had consulted him. Now, however,
Steve was puzzled, for on former occasions when she
came to see him, Jerry had been on a spree ; but Steve
had seen Jerry only the evening before, and he was sober.
Steve motioned the girl to a seat and waited.
She was so embarrassed, however, that all she could do
was to tug at something which she held securely tied up
in her apron. Steve tried to help her out.
"Jerry drunk a.irain ? I thought I had given him a
lesson last time that would last him longer."
"Nor, suh, he ain' drunk — yit. But I thought I'd
come to 'suit you." Again she paiuscd, and looked tim-
idly around the room.
• • \Vell, what is it ? Has he threatened to beat you P "
he asked, a shade gathering on his brow. " He knows
what he'll get if ho trios that again."
" Nor, suh," said Martha, quickly ; " I nin* feared o*
dat. He know better 'n dat now— gence yon an' my gran'-
mnther got hold o' him ; hut " — In-r kn«»t came untied,
and suddenly she gained courage — "what I want to 'suit
446 BED ROCK
you about is dis : I want to ax you, — is Mr. Spickit — lowed
to write ' whiskey ' down in my sto'-book ?" She clutched
her book, and gazed at Steve as if the fate of the universe
depended on the answer.
Steve took the book and glanced over it. It was a
small, greasy account-book, such as was kept by persons
who dealt at the little country-stores about the County.
Many of the items were simply " Mdse.," but on the last
two or three pages, the item " Whiskey " appeared with
somewhat undue frequency.
" What do you mean ? " asked Steve.
" Well, you see, it's disaway. Jerry, he gits his whiskey
at Mr. Spickit's — some o' it — an' he say Mr. Spickit shell
write hit down on de book dat way, an "
" Oh ! You don't want him to have it ?" said Steve, a
light breaking on him.
"Nor, suh — dat ain't it. I don' mine he havin' de
whiskey — I don' mine he gittin' all he want — cuz I know
he gwine drink it. But I don' want him to have it put
down dat away on de book. I is a member o' de chutch,
and I don' want whiskey writ all over my book — dat'a
hit ! "
" Oh ! " Steve smiled acquiescingly.
" An' I done tell Jerry so ; an' I done tell Mr. Spickit
so, an' ax him not to do it."
" Well, what do you want ? "
" I wants him to put it down ' merchandise/ dat's all ;
an* I come to ax you, can't you meek Jerry do it dat
away."
" Ah ! I see. Why, certainly I can."
" An' I want to ax you dis : Jerry say, ef I don* stop
meddlin' wid he business, he won' let me have no sto'-
book, an' he gwine lef me ; dat he'll meek you git a di-
vo'ce from me— an' I want to ax you ef he ken lef me jes
cuz I want him to mark it merchandise ? Kin he git a
divorce jes for dat ? " She was far too serious for Steve
to laugh now. IJer face was filled with anxiety.
MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 447
" Of course, he cannot."
•• Well, will you write me dat down, so I ken show it to
him?"
Steve gravely wrote a few lines, which, after reading to
her, he folded with great solemnity and handed her.
They read as follows :
"LEGAL OPINION.
"I am of opinion that it is not a cause for divorce,
either a vinculo matrimonii or a mentd <l thoro, when a
woman insists that the whiskey which her husband drinks,
and which she pays for, shall be entered on her account-
book as Mdse. Given under my hand this day of
, 18—.
"STEVENSON ALLEN,
"Attorney and CounseUor-at-Lau\"
The young woman received the paper with the gn
reverence and relief.
- Thankee, Marse Steve," she said, with repeated bows
and courtesies. " Dis will fix him. I kno\ved dat if I
come to you, you'd tell me do law. Jerry talk like he
know all de law in the wull !" Armed with her weapon,
her courage was returning. " But I'll straighten him out
wi«l ills." She tied her letter up in her apron with claho-
rate care. Suddenly her face grew grave again.
Spose Jerry say he'll trick me cuz I come to you ?"
' Trick you— ^ . in a h. no of contempt.
"Not he himself; but dat he'll git Doct' Moses to do
Her face had grown (jiiitr pair.
" If he says he'll trick yon, tell him I'll lick him. You
come to in.-."
" Yrs, suh." She w:u? evidently much relieved, but
not wholly go. rt'ny H feared <•' him." she said,
plaintively. " II> donfl trirked ,Ianc— Shcrmd's wife — and
a wh..; B siid. St«-\r knew from her face
r was too serious to be laughed at.
448 RED ROCK
"You tell Jerry that if he dares to try it, or even
threatens yon with it, I'll lick the life out of him and dis-
charge him. And as for Moses " His face darkened.
" I don't want you to do that," she said, quickly.
" Well, you tell him so, anyhow. And if I get hold of
Moses, he won't trouble you."
" Yas, suh, I'll tell him ef he try to trick me. 'Cus I
cert'ny is feared o' dat man/' She was going out, when
Steve called her back.
" Ah ! Martha ? How are they all at Major Welch's ? "
"Dee's all right well, thankee, suh," said Martha.
" Sept Miss Ruth — she ain been so mighty well lately."
Steve's face brightened.
"Ah ! What is the matter with her ?" His voice was
divided between solicitude and feigned indifference.
" I don' know, indeed, suh. She's jes sort o' puny —
jes heah lately. She don't eat nuttin'. Dee talk 'bout
sen'in' her 'way."
" Indeed ! " Steve was conscious of a sudden sinking
of the heart.
" I think she ride 'bout too much in de hot sun," ex-
plained Martha, with the air of an authority.
" I have no doubt of it," said Steve.
" She come home tother evenin' right down sick, and
had to go to bed," continued Martha.
" Ah ! when was that ? Why don't they send for a
doctor ?— Dr. Still ?" asked Steve, guilefully.
" Go 'way, Marse Steve, you know dee ain gwine lot djit
man practus on Miss Ruth. Dat's what de matter wid her
now. He come dyah all de time teckin' her out ridin' "
" Why, he's away from the County," declared Steve,
who appeared to have a surprising knowledge of the young
Doctor's movement.
" Yas, suh ; but I talkin' 'bout b'fo' he went way. He
was wid her dat evenin'. Least, he went way wid her, but he
didn't come back wid her." Her tone was so significant
that again the light came into Captain Allen's eyes.
Mil. STILL OFFEUS A COMPROMISE 449
" And he hasn't been back since ? "
"Nor, suh, an' he ain't comin' back nurr."
" And you don't know where Miss Welch is going, or
when?" "
" Nor, suh, she ain' goin* at all. I heah her say she
wa'n't gwine ; but she cert'ny look mighty thin, lieah
lately." The conversation had ended. Steve was in a
, and Martha moved toward the door.
w Well, good-by, Marse Steve. I cert'ny is obliged to
you, an' I gwine send you some eggs soon as my hens be-
gins to lay again."
But Captain Allen told her she did not owe him any-
thing.
" Come again, Martha, whenever you want to know
about anything — anything at all."
When Martha went out she heard him singing.
The story of Still's offer of a compromise to Jacquelin
got abroad, and, notwithstanding the wise doctrine of the
la\v that an offer of compromise shall not be taken as evi-
denee in any case, this particular oflVr was so taken. Still
found himself roundly abused by his counsel for hein<j
such a fool as to propose it. All sorts of rumors began to
fly about. It was said that Mr. Bagby had declined to
act as his counsel. To meet these reports it was t
MTJ to do something, and Still's counsel held a consulta-
tion. It was decided that he should Lri\e an entertainment.
It would show his indilTercnco to the claims of theiiravs
to his plantation, and would prove h 'on in the
County. Leech thought that this would ho a good tiling
to do ; it would anirer the Grays, if it did nothing else. He
could invite Judge Bail up to it.
" Make it a fine one when you do have it," said the coun-
sellor. "I've found chain pair? its way to a man's
heart when you < --t ai it through his pocket"
Mr. » was eager to have such an entertainment.
He, too, appreciated the fineness of the stroke that, on the
29
450 RED ROCK
eve of battle, would show their contempt for the other
side. Besides which, the young physician hud another
motive. Soon after his removal from the County to the
city Dr. Still had become an admirer of Governor Kraf-
ton's daughter. She was the Governor's only child, and
even the Governor's bitterest enemies admitted that he was
a devoted father ; and in the press that was opposed to
him, often side by side with the bitterest attacks c-i the
Governor, was some admiring mention of his handsome
and accomplished daughter. He would have given her the
moon, someone said to General Legaie. " Yes, even if he
had to steal it to do so," said the General. Miss Krafton
had had the best education that the country could afford.
This she had finished off with a year or two of travel
abroad. She had just returned home. She idolized her
father, and perhaps the Governor had not been sorry to
have her out of the country where half the press was daily
filled with the most direct and vehement accusations against
him. The Governor's apologists declared that his most
questionable acts were from the desire to buildup a fortune
for his daughter. It was for her that he had bought the
old Haskelton place, one of the handsomest in the city, and,
pulling down the fine old colonial mansion, had erected on
its site one of the costliest and most bewildering structures
in the State.
It is often the case that the very magnitude of the efforts
made to accomplish a design frustrates it ; and Governor
Krafton, with all his eagerness to be very rich, and his ab-
solute indifference as to the means employed, was always
involved pecuniarily, while the men with whom he worked
appeared to be immensely successful. Until he fell out
with Leech and Still, he had gone in with them in their
railroad and land schemes ; but while everything that they
touched appeared to turn to gold (at least, it was so with
Still ; for there were rumors respecting Leech), the Gov-
ernor was always hard pushed to meet his expenditures.
Still's explanation to his son was that he let others climb
Mfc. STILL OPFEB8 A CuMi'UuAU-z
cac trees and do the shaking, and he stayed on the ground
and gathered the apples. " Kraf ton and Leech has both
made more money than I have," he said, shrewdly ; " but
they have to pay it out to keep their offices, while I "
He completed the sentence by a significant buttoning of
his pocket. " They think that because they get a bigger
sheer generally than I do, they do better. But — it ain't
the water that falls on the ^land that makes the crops ;
it's what sinks in. This thing's got to stop some time, my
son — ground gets worked out — and when the crops are
gethered I know who mine's for." He gazed at his son,
with lingled shrewdness and affection. The young Doctor
also looked pleased. His father's sharpness at times made
up to him for his ignorance and want of education. Dr.
Still was not lacking in smartness himself, and had been
quick enough to see which way Miss Kraf ton's tastes lay.
He had discovered that she was both proud and ambitious
— Not politically. She said she detested politics ; that her
father never allowed politics to be talked before her ; and
when he gave a "political dinner," she did not even come
downstairs. She was ambitious socially. Dr. Still prompt-
ly began to play on this chord. He had prevailed on his
father to set him up a handsome establishment in the
city, and he became deeply library. Ho began to talk of
his family — the Stills had originally luvii Surls, ho said,
and were the same family to which Sir Ui.-hnrd Shvl he-
longed — and to speak of his " old place " and his " old
pictures." He described them with so much eloquence
that Miss Krafton said she wished she could see them.
This gave Dr. Still an idea, and he forthwith he^an to plan
tertainment. As it happened, it was at the very time
Leech had suggested the same thing to 11 ham Still ;
and as his son and Leech rarely agreed about anything
these days, Still was impressed, and the entrrtainment was
determined on. It was to be the "finest party " that had
ever been given at Red Rock. On this all were in
Even Hiram yielded to the general pressure, and admitted
459 BED ROC&
that if yon were " going to send for a man's turn of corn it
was no good to send a boy to mill after it."
He entrusted the arrangements to the young Doctor,
who laid himself out on them. A florist and a band were
to be brought up from the city, and the decorations and sup-
per were to surpass everything that had ever been seen.
A large company was invited, including many guests from
the city, for whom a special train was furnished, and Still,
" to show his good feeling/' extended the invitation to
many of his neighbors. Major and Mrs. Welch and Ruth
were invited. Still remembered that Major Welch had
been to one^entertainment in that house, and he wished to
show him that he could excel even the Grays. Dr. Still
was at first determined that Miss Welch should not come ;
but it was suggested that it would be a greater triumph to
invite her, and more mature reflection decided him that
this was so. He would show her Miss Krafton, and this
would be a greater victory than to omit her from the list
He could not but believe that she would be jealous.
On the evening of the entertainment Major Welch and
Mrs. Welch attended. But Miss Euth did not accompany
them. She was not very well, Mrs. Welch said in re-
ply to Virgy, who, under Dr. Still's wing, was "receiv-
ing " in a stiff, white satin dress, and looking unfeignedly
scared as she held her great bouquet, like an explosive that
might " go off " at any time. Miss Virgy's face, however,
on seeing Mrs. Welch's familiar countenance, lit up, and
she greeted her with real pleasure, and expressed regret
that Ruth hud not come, with a sincerity that made Mrs.
Welch warm toward her. Mrs. Welch liked her better
than she did Miss Krafton, whom she had met casually and
thought a handsome and intelligent, but rather conceited
girl
It was a curious company that Major and Mrs. Welch
found assembled. The strangers from the city included
the judge, who was a dark -looking man with a strong face,
* heavy mouth, and a lowering gray eye ; a number of
MB. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE 453
people of various conditions, whom Mrs. Welch recognized
as men whose names she had heard as connected with
Leech ; and a number of others whom she had never heard
of. But there was not a soul whom she had ever met hefore
socially. Not a member of the St. Ann congregation was
present. Both the Stills were in an ill-humor, and Virgy,
though she was kind and cordial, looked wretchedly un-
liappy. Mrs. Welch was glad that, for once, she had not
permitted her principles to override her instincts, and liacl
left Ruth at home. As she glanced about her, her gaze
rested on her host. Hiram Still was talking to one of his
guests, a small, stumpy, red-headed man with a twinkling
eye and a bristly red mustache, whom Mrs. Welch recog-
nized as an office-holder who had come down from one of
the Northern States.
Still was talking in a high, complaining voice.
" Yes," he said, evidently in answer to a speech by his
guest, " it is a fine party— the finest ever given in this
County. It ought to be ; I've spent enough money on it to
buy a plan tut ion, and to show my friendliness I invited
my neighbors. Some of 'em I didn't have no eall to invite,
— and yet just look around you. I've got a lot of folks
from the city I don't know, and some from the County
I know too well ; but not one of my old neighbors has
come— not one gentleman has put his foot here this
night."
His gnest glanced round the hall, and ended with a
quizzical look up in Still's face. " Of course, what did
you expect ? Do you suppose, Still, if I were a gentleman
I'-l have como to your party? I'd have seen you d— d
first Let's go and have some more champagne."
It was the first time the fact had struck Mrs. Welch. It
was true— there was not a gentleman there except her hus-
••II Mrs. Welch left, shortly aft.>nv;ir.l. Still and his
•4 had evidently got more champagne. Still was vowing
that it was the finest party ever giu n in Hod Rock, even if
454 RED KOCK
there wasn't a gentleman present ; and his guest was laugh-
ing and egging him on. As Major and Mrs. Welch wait-
ed for their carriage, Leech passed with Miss Krafton
on his arm. Mrs. Welch drove home in silence. There
were things she did not wholly understand.
CHAPTER XXXVII
IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT, IN A TRIAL, COUNSEL
MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY
WHEN the Court met, at which the trial of Jacquelin's
suit against Hiram Still was set, all other matters, even
politics, were driven from mind.
It will not be needful to go in detail into the trial of the
case. The examination of the plaintiffs' witnesses occupied
two days. In the contest the defendant, to use the phrase-
ology of another arena, was acknowledged to have " drawn
first blood." On the morning of the trial the two sides,
with their counsel, witnesses, and friends, thronged the
court-house. The counsel, an imposing array, were ranged
along the bar, fronting the bench and the jury-box which
was off to one side, and in which sat seven solemn-looking
negroes and five scarcely less solemn white men. Major
Welch sat beside Mr. Bagby, and during a part of the tin it-
Mrs. Welch and Ruth had chairs behind them. By the
time they were all settled it was announced that the Judge
was coming.
It had been the practice in the County, when the Judge
entered, for the Bar to rise and ivmain standing until he
had mounted the bench, bowed to them, and taken his seat,
whrii they bowed and resumed th«-ir places. It was a
torn brought from the Supreme Court, before which Mr.
Bagby, General Legaie, and others of that bar had prac-
tised in old times.
Now, when the Judge entered he was announced by
Shrnvood, the Sln-rilT. and r.-mir in piv.vdrd by Leech and
Mi: ({attic. And not a man rose. The Judge walked up
450
456 RED ROOK
the steps to his arm-chair, faced the crowd, and for a sec-
ond stood still, as if waiting. Not a lawyer stirred, and
the Judge took his seat. A half scowl was on his brow,
but he banished it and ordered Court to be opened. The
case was called, the parties announced themselves ready,
the jury was impanelled, and the trial was begun. Gen-
eral Legaie was to open the case. It was the custom for
a chair to be placed inside the bar, just at the feet of the
jurors. This chair was usually occupied by one of the
older members of the bar. And as the General had been
growing a little deaf, he had been taking it of late. He
had prepared himself with great care, and was dressed with
the utmost scrupulousness — a black frock coat, white
trousers, a high stock, and immaculate linen — and when
the case was called he stood up. He presented a striking
figure. The gravity of the occasion spoke in every line of
his weather-beaten, high-bred face. To his mind it was
not a mere question of title to property he was to argue ;
it was the question between the old and the new — it was a
civilization that was on trial. He took the papers in his
hand, glanced with some curiosity along the lines of the
jury, and faced the judge.
" If the Court please " he began, in a calm, well-
modulated voice that brought an instant hush over the
whole court-room.
His words appeared to wake the judge from a lethargy.
He, however, took no notice whatever of the General, but
addressed the sheriff.
" Put that man behind the bar."
The Sheriff was mystified, and looked first around him
and then at the judge, in a puzzled way, to see whom he
referred to.
"Bull?"
" Make that man get behind the bar." He simply glanced
at the General. This time the negro took in what he
meant, and lie approached the General doubtfully. The
General had not caught all the words, but he had heard a
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 457
part of it, and lie also looked around. But seeing no one to
be removed, and not understanding the cause of the order,
he was just beginning again : " If the Court please "
when the negro came up to him. The General stopped
and looked at him inquiringly.
• " De Cote say you is to git behine de bar," said the Sher-
iff. The General leaned forward, his hollowed hand raised
to his ear.
" De Cote say you is to git behine de bar."
The General turned sharply to the bench and shot one
piercing look at the Judge ; then, seeming to recollect him-
self, wheeled about, walked across to Steve and laid the pa-
pers of the suit on the bar before him, took up his hat,
turned his back squarely on the Court, and faced the Bar :
" Good-morning, gentlemen." lie made them a low bow,
clapped his hat on his head, and marched out of the court-
room.
It made a sensation. Steve Allen rose and asked the
Court to postpone the case until after dinner, the hour for
which was approaching. General Legaie, he said, was the
leading counsel on their side.
'• Proceed with the case/' said the judge.
It was conceded that the action of General Legaie was a
loss to the plaintiffs' side, but every one on that side sus-
tained him. They did not see how a gentleman could
have done otherwise.
case proceeded without him.
It was attempted to show that Mr. Gray could not have
owed all the money Still claimed, and that, if lie did owe
it. before Still brought suit ho must have received from
Red Rock crops enough to reduce the amount largely, if
not to discharge it.
investigation was fonght at every point by Still's
counsel, and the Judge almost uniformly ruled in favor of
ions, BO that Steve Allen had hard work to
itain hi nit, Hi; eyes flashed and a cloud
lowered on his brow as he noted exception after exception.
RED ROCK
At length the Conrt began to head him off from even this
protection, by ruling, whenever Captain Allen rose, that
he was out of order. When Court adjourned the second
day it was felt that except for the suspicious fact that Still
had not endorsed any credit on the bonds, no fraud had
been shown in his title to them. Witnesses who had been
put on the stand to show facts tending to prove that he
could not have had any such amount of money had been
ruled out. It was conceded that under the Court's rul-
ing no sufficient ground had been established to upset
Still's title. The defendant's counsel were jubilant, and
that night debated whether they should put any witnesses
on the stand at all. Leech was against it. The Judge
was with them, he maintained. Mr. Bagby was acquies-
cent, but Major Welch insisted that, at least, he should
go on the stand to state his connection with the case.
He did not intend that it should appear of record that his
name had been connected with a charge of fraud, and
that, when he had had the opportunity to go on the stand
and deny it, he had failed to do so. Mr. Bagby's eyes lit
up with a gleam of satisfaction as he listened to him, partly
because of pride in his client, and partly, perhaps, because
of the discomfiture of Leech and his client. The old law-
yer was content either way, for he did not see how he could
possibly be hurt, whatever might happen. So, next morn-
ing, the defence began to take evidence, and after they
began to introduce witnesses it was necessary to go fully
into the case. It was, however, plain sailing : wind and
tide, in shape of the sympathy of the Court, were with
them, and as often as Captain Allen interposed objections
they were ruled out. Witnesses were put up to show that
Still had always been a keen business man, and had at va-
rious times lent money to his neighbors, including Mr.
Gray. Mr. Gray's confidence in him was proved, and it
was shown that he had relied on him so far as to send him
South as his agent. Still was ostentatiously offered by
Leech as a witness to prove everything, but was objected
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 459
to on the ground that the other party to the transaction was
and was necessarily held incompetent. All the merit,
however, of what he might prove was secured. An undis-
puted bond of Mr. Gray's was put in proof. It was dated
at the outbreak of the war, and was the bond given for
money to help equip the Red Rock Company. This bond
was taken from the bundle of papers in the old suit
which Still had brought, and whilst it was being examined
the other papers in the file were left spread out on the
bar before Leech, with the big bond lying by itself until
it should be offered in evidence. In this way a presump-
tion was raised as to Still's means and ability to lend
money. Just then it became necessary to show the time
when Still went South, in order to connect the large bond
with that visit An attempt was made to do this, but the
witnesses put on the stand to prove it got confused on
cross-examination and differed among themselves by sev-
eral years. It was now night, and Leech was anxious to
close the case. Things had been going so smoothly that
he was impatient. He glanced around the court-room.
" Is there no one here who was present when you went
or came back ?" he asked Still, with a frown. Still looked
about him.
" Yes, there's a nigger. He was there botli when I
went away and when I came back. He used to work
about the house." He pointed to Doan, who stood be-
hind the bar in the throng of spectators. " But I don't
want to put him on," he whispered. "I don't like him."
" Oh ! nonsense ! It's only a single fact, and if we can
prove it by one witness, it's as good as by a hundred."
He turned and spoke to Doan from his seat.
"Come around and be sworn." Doan came to the
's desk and was sworn, lie was told i that
he need not sit down, as there was only <m(> «|u.>ii..n to be
Jo he stood just in front of the bar, where the
-s were spread on it, looking self-conscious and
but very self-important. Leech put his question.
460 IM:D ROCK
" Do you know when Mr. Still was sent South by Mr.
Gray?"
' " Yes, suh. Cose I does. I was right dyah. See him
de ni.irht he come back."
" \Vell, tell those gentlemen when it was/' said Leech.
A shade of impatience crossed his face as Doan looked
puzzled. " What year it was ? " He leaned over and
touched the big bond lying on the bar before him, prepara-
tory to putting it in evidence. The act seemed to arouse
the negro's intellect.
" Well, I don' know nothin' 'bout what year 'twuz,"
he said, " but I knows when 'twuz."
" Well, when was it ? And how do you know when it
was ? " Leech asked, sharply.
"'Twuz when de big picture o' de ghos' in de gret hall
fall down the lass' time, jesb'fo' dewar. Mr. Still had jes
come back from de Souf de day befo', an' him and marster
wuz in the gret hall togerr talkin' 'bout things, and Mr.
Still had jes ontie he picket-book an* gin marster back de
papers, when de win' blow 'em on de flo' an' de picture
come down out de frame 'quebang, most 'pon top my
haid."
" Stop him ! For God's sake ! stop him," muttered
Still, clutching at Leech's arm. The lawyer did not
catch his words, and turned to him. Still was deadly
pale. " Stop him ! " he murmured. A stillness had
fallen on the court-room, and the crowd was listening.
Leech saw that something had happened.
" Hold on. Stop ! How do you know this ? " His
tone was suddenly combative.
" Hi ! I wuz right dyah onder it, and it leetle mo' fall
'pon top my haid." Doan gave a nod of satisfaction as he
recalled his escape. " Yes, suh, I thought he had got me
dat time sho' ! " he chuckled, with a comical glance at the
negroes before him, who roused up at the reminiscence
and laughed at his whimsical look. " 'Twuz in de spring,
and I wuz paintin' de hearth wid red paint, and marster
COUNSEL MAY ASK OXE QUESTION TOO MANY 461
an* de overseer was tulkin* togerr at de secretary by de
winder 'bout de new plantation down Souf ; an* I wuz doin'
mo* lis'nin 'n paintin', cuz when I heah Mr. Still say he
hadn' buyed all de Ian* an* niggers marster 'spected him
to buy and had done bring he barn back, I wuz wonderin'
what that wuz an' ef deeM sen* any o' our blackfolks down
Souf ; and thunderstorm come up right sudden, an' b'fo' dee
pull de winder down, blowed dem papers, what Mr. Still
bring back an' teck out he pocket an* gi' to marster, off
de secretary down on de flo', and slam de do' so hard de
old Ingiu-killer fall right out de frame mos' 'pon top my
haid. Yas, suh, I wuz dyah sho' !" He was telling the
incident of the picture and not of the papers, and the
crowd was deeply interested. Even the Judge was
amused. Still, with white face, was clutching Leech's
arm, making him signals to stop the witness; and Leech,
not yet wholly comprehending, was waiting for a pause to
do so, without its being too marked. But Doan was too
well launched to stop. He flowed on easily : " I holp Mr.
Still to put de picture back in the frame an' nail 't up after
marster had done put de paper what he call he ' barn,' in
de hole behine it, an' I tell you I didn't like it much
nohow. An* Mr. Still didn' like it much nurr."
" Stop him !" whispered Still, agonizingly.
14 Hriv, tliis is all nonsense," broke in Leech, angrily.
"You don't know what Mr. Still thought. You know
that he came back from the South some year that there
was a thunderstorm, and a picture was blown out of a
frame or fell down. And that's all you know. You don't
know what Mr. Still thought or anything else." But
was by this time at his ease, enjoying the taste of
publicity.
" Yas, suh, I does, cuz I hear him say so. I holp him
nail de picture back after marster had done put dem very
papers Mr. Still gi' him back in de hole behine it An* I
hear Mr. Still toll marater 't ef it wuz him he'd be skeerod,
ouz dee say 'twoi bad luck to anybody in de house ef de
469
picture fall ; and marster say he waVt skeered, dat ef any-
thing happen to him he could trust Mr. Still, an' he'd put
;pers in de hole behine de picture, so ef anyone ever
fine 'em dee'd see what a faithful man he had ; he had
trus* him wid he barn for thousands o' dollars, an' he
brung it back, an* he gwine nail de picture up now so
't \von' come down no mo'."
" Oh ! Your master said he felt he could trust Mr.
Still ? " said Leech, brightening, catching this crumb of
comfort.
" Yas, suh."
" And what did Mr. Still say ?"
"He say he could too/' The crowd laughed.
" And he nailed the picture up securely ?"
"Yas, suh. Iholped him. Marster sont me to teck
Marse Eupert out, cuz he wuz dabblin' he little byah
foots in de paint on de hearth, trackin' up de flo', an' had
done step'pon one o' de barns whar blow1 down, an' mark
it up ; an' he tell me when I come back to bring hammer
an' nails to nail de picture up, an' so I done."
Still was again squeezing his counsel's arm painfully,
whispering him to stop the witness. But Leech had to ask
one more question.
" You brought the nails and nailed it up ? "
"Yes, suh, me an* Mr. Still. An' Marse Rupert lie
come back, and Mr. Jack dyah wid him, an' say he gwine
help too. He wuz always pesterin' roun', dem days."
This in pleasant reminiscence to the crowd.
"You can stand aside," said Leech, contemptuously.
He gave a sigh of relief, and Doan was turning slowly to
g°-
" Hold on." Steve's deep voice broke in. Jacquelin was
whispering to him eagerly. A new light had come into
his eyes, and he was scanning Still's white face, on which
the beads of sweat had stood during the whole examina-
tion. Steve, still listening to Jacquelin's rapid speech,
rose slowly to get the bond lying on the bar. Before he
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 463
could reach it however, McRaffle, one of the counsel as-
sociated with Leech, partly resenting the neglect of him-
self and wishing to earn his fee, leant forward. lie would,
at least, ask one question.
" You nailed it up securely, and that was the last time
it fell." He spoke rather in affirmation than question.
"Nor, suh ; it done fall down two or three times since
Hit fall de day marster wuz kilt, an* hit fall de even-
in' Mr. Still dyah got de papers out de hole agin. Dat's
de evenin' Mr. Leech dyah 'rest Marse Jack. Mr. Leech
know 'bout dat."
Suddenly a voice rang through the court-room.
" It's a lie ! It's all a d— d lie ! " It was Hiram Still,
and he had sprung to his feet in uncontrollable agitation,
•e livid. Every eye was turned on him, and Leech
caiiirht him and pulled him down forcibly into his seat,
rising in his place and addressing the Court.
" If your honor please," he said, " all of this is irrel-
evant. I have no idea what it is all about ; but it has no
ig whatever on this case : a lot of stuff about a pict-
ure fulling down. I shall ask you to exclude it all from
the jury "
" But I will show whether or not it is relevant," asserted
Steve, lie had picked up the bond from the bar and held
it firmly. His voice had a new ring in it.
Leech turned on him angrily, but caught his eye and
quieted down. He addressed the Court again.
" I will show how impossible it is for it to be acc( :
1 ou read or write ?" he demanded of Doan, who stood
much puzzled by what was going on.
"Nor, suh." "
•id you cannot tell one paper from another, can
you?"
for, Bull. Hut ef de paper Mr. Still got out from he-
nine de picture dat evenin' I see him git up in de hole
after you brung Marse Jack away, is de one I see him gi'
marster an' see him put in dyah, hit's got Marse Rupert's
464 RED ROCK
foot-track 'pon it — least his toe-tracks — whar he'd been
dabblin' in tie fresh paint on do hearth ; cuz dat's de reason
marster meek me cyar him out, cuz he step 'pon de barn
whar blown down on de hall-fiV wid red paint, an' track
np de flo' runnin' after it." (Here Steve, with a bow,
handed the bond across to Major Welch.) " I see marster
when he put de paper in de bundle an' Mr. Still put it up
in de hole behiue de picture, an' I see Mr. Still when he
git up in de hole an' teck it out de evenin' de picture fall
down after mistis an* all de white folks come 'way to de
cote-house after Marse Jack. Ef it's de same barn hit's
got he toe-marks on hit in red paint, cuz I can show you
de tracks on de hall flo' now. Hit's dim, but hit's dyah on
de flo' still. Ef you go dyah wid me I can show 't to you."
At this moment Major Welch, who had been holding the
bond in his hand and had studied it carefully, leaned for-
ward and held it out to the negro.
Still, with a gasp, made a grab for Leech, and Leech
reached for the paper; but Major Welch put him aside
without even looking at him.
" Did you ever see that paper before ? " he asked Doan.
Doan's face lit up, and he gave an ejaculation of surprise
and pleasure.
" Yas, suh, dat's de very paper Fse talkin' 'bout." He
took it and held it triumphantly, turning it so it could be
seen. " Dyah's Marse Rupert's little toe-marks 'pon hit
now, jes' like I tell you." And as the paper was viewed,
there, without doubt, were the prints — incontestably the
marks of five little toes, as the exclamation of the specta-
tors certified. Doan was delighted at his justification.
" I knowed he teck it out, cuz I see him when he cut de
string up dyah an' put it in he pocket, an' I see de string
when I put it back," he said, confidentially, to the crowd.
" I see him, an' Unc' Tarquin see him too, cuz he had jes
come over to see 'bout Marse Jack ; an he ax me afterwards
what Mr. Still wuz doin' in de hole up dyah rummagin'
TS."
STILL SPRUNG TO HIS FEET IN
t N< :< >v
LIVID.
.LABLE AGITATION, HIS FACE
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 465
" That's so ! " exclaimed a deep voice back in the crowd.
"I saw him in the hole, and I saw him take some papers
out and put them in his pocket." It was old Tarquin,
standing still and solemn in the front row of the negroes
behind the bar.
The Judge roared for silence, and Leech rose and re-
newed his motion. He denounced the whole story as non-
sensical and absurd.
Steve Allen started to contest the motion ; but the Judge
sustained it, and ruled out Doan's testimony, to which Steve
excepted. Then Leech calmly offered the bond in evi-
dence, and announced that they were through and wanted
no argument.
Steve Allen offered to put Doan on the stand as his wit-
ness, but Leech objected ; the plaintiffs had closed their
case, he said. And so the Court ruled. Steve Allen
claimed the right to put the witness on the stand, assert-
ing that it was in rebuttal. But the Court was firm. The
Judge declined " to hear ghost stories." Steve insisted,
and the Court ordered him to take his scat. He was
"out of order." The case was closed, and he wanted to
Invir no argument. In such a case the verdict of a jury
was not obligatory on the Court, it was only to instruct
the mind of the chancellor. Ho had heard all that the
jury had heard, and his mind was ch-ar. He would in-
struct them to bring in a verdict that no fraud had bcvn
shown, and the defendants would prepare a decree ac-
cordingly.
On this Steve suddenly flamed out. Ho would like to
know, he said, when he had been in order in that court.
It was an outrage on decency ; the rulings of the Court
were a cover for fraud.
He was certainly out of order now. The Judge was
angry, but he was not afraid.
" Take your seat, sir," he shouted. " I will commit you
for contempt." The anger of the Judge cooled Steve's.
" If you do, it will certainly be for contempt," he said,
80
466 RED KOCK
recovering his composure. He was looking the Judge
squarely in the eyes.
" I will put you in jail, sir I'9
" It has no terrors for me. It is more honorable than
your court."
" I will disbar you ! " roared the Judge.
" You have substantially done it in this case," said
Steve.
The Judge was foaming. He turned to the clerk and
commanded him to enter an order immediately striking
Steve's name from the roll of attorneys practising in that
court, and ordered the Sheriff to take him into custody.
The excitement was intense. Instinctively a number of
men, Andy Stamper among them, moved up close to Steve
and stood about him. The colored Sheriff, who had
started, paused and looked at the Judge inquiringly. The
Judge was just beginning to speak again to the Sheriff, but
his attention was arrested.
At this moment Jacquelin rose. His calm manner and
assured voice quieted the hubbub ; and the Judge looked at
him and waited. As his counsel was disbarred, Jacquelin
said, he should ask the Court to allow him to represent
himself at this juncture, and also Iris brother, who was still
a minor. He calmly stated the series of events that had
prevented their knowing before the facts that had just then
been disclosed, and which made everything clear ; and he
asked leave to amend their bill, or to file a new one, on the
ground of after-discovered evidence. With the new light
thrown on the case, he traced Still's action step by step,
and suddenly wound up with a charge that Still had ar-
rested his brother to get him out of the way and destroy
the danger of his testimony. A roar of applause burst
from the white men present, in whom a ray of hope began
to shine once more. Jacquelin sat down.
Of all the people in the court-room the Judge was the
most calm. He was as motionless as a sphinx. As Jacque-
lin took his seat there was a brief pause of deathly still-
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 46V
ness. The Judge looked at Leech and waited. The latter
caught the signal and his face lit up. He put his hand on
the har, and leant forward preparatory to rising to his feet.
Before he could make another motion Major Welch rose,
eye was turned on him. Old Mr. Bagby gazed up at
him, his lips slightly parted, his eyes filled with wonder-
ment. Leech, with his hand resting on the bar and his
body bent forward, waited. The Judge turned his gaze to
Major Welch. The silence became almost palpable. Major
Welch's face was pale, and the lines, as seen in the dim
light, appeared to have deepened in it. His form was erect.
" If your honor please/' he began, " I am a defendant
in this case, and hold as a purchaser under the other de-
fendant a considerable part of the property sought to be
recovered by the plaintiffs. I bought it honestly and paid
for it, believing that it was the land of the man from
whom I bought, and I still hold it. There have been a
number of things since that I have not been able to mi-
nd until now. I have observed closely all that has
gone on here to-day, and have heard all that has just been
said. I wish to say that, as far as I am concerned — so far
as relates to the part of the property formerly belong,
ing to Mr. Jacquelin Gray and his brother now held by
me — I am satisfied. It will not be necessary for the
plaintiffs to take the step that has just been proposed, of
tiling a new bill. From certain facts within my own
knowlL-dir, and wlii.-h I did not understand In-fore, but on
which, what has just taken place has thrown a full light,
I am quite satisfied. And if the complainants will prepare
a proper deed reconveying the land — my part of the land
— to them, I will execute it without further delay, and will
make such restitution as I can. I have lost what I put
into it, which is a considerable part of all I possessed in
the world. But " — he paused far a second — " there is one
thing I have not lost, and I do not propose to lose it. 1
am not willing to hold another man's property which he
lost by fraud." (For the first time he turned and faced the
468 RED ROCK
bar. His voice which, if firm, had been grave and low,
suddenly became strong and full, with a ring in it of
pride.) ''I shall expect them to make a declaration of
record that every transaction, so far as I at least was con-
cerned, was free from any taint of suspicion." He sat down,
amid a deathly silence. The next moment, from all
through the court-room, there was a cheer that almost
took the roof off. The Judge scowled and rapped, but it
was beyond him ; and in spite of his efforts to restore or-
der, the tumult went on wildly, cheer after cheer, not only
for the act, but for the man.
Kuth, who all through the scene had been sitting beside
her mother, holding her arm tightly, her face as white as
her handkerchief, in a fit of uncontrollable emotion burst
into tears and threw herself into her mother's arms ; and
Mrs. Welch's eyes were glistening and her face was lit
by a glow which she did not always permit to rest there.
Old Mr. Bagby had sat half-dazed by his client's action —
wonder, dissatisfaction, and pride all contending in his
countenance for mastery. Before his client was through,
pride conquered, and as Major Welch took his seat the old
lawyer leant forward, placed his hand on the back of Major
Welch's and closed it firmly. That was all.
As Major Welch sat down Jacquelin sprang to his feet.
His face was almost as white as Major Welch's.
" If the Court please " he began. But it was in vain
that he strove to speak. Cheers for Major Welch were
ringing, and the Judge, his face livid with wrath, was rap-
ping. Jacquelin was waving his hand to quiet the crowd.
" If the Court please," he repeated, " I wish to make a
statement."
" Sit down/' said the Judge, shouting angrily to the
Sheriff to restore order. Jacquelin sat down, and the
cheers began to subside.
Leech and his associates had been struck dumb with
astonishment. They gazed on Still in blank dismay, and,
as Jacquelin resumed his seat, Leech leaned ^ver and spoke
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 469
to Still. Still sat motionless, his face ashy, his cheeks
twitching, his eyes dull. Just at that moment there was
a crash outside close to the window. A restive horse had
broken loose. There was a shrill neigh and the sudden
trample of feet as he dashed away through the darkness.
Hiram Still sank forward and rolled from his chair in a
heap on the floor.
The Court adjourned for the night, and the crowd
poured from the court-room.
As Ruth and her mother came out, the darkened green
was full of groups of men all eagerly discussing the occur-
rence and its probable effect on the case. Major Welch's
name was on every lip.
" Danged if I believe he's a Yankee, anyway I" said a
voice in the darkness as Ruth and Mrs. Welch passed by —
a theory which gained this much credit : that several ad-
mitted that, " He certainly was more like our people than
like Yankees/' One, after reflection, said :
" Well, maybe there's some of 'em better than them we
know about."
The ladies passed on in the darkness.
IFi ram Still was taken over to the tavern, and Dr. Gary
worked over him for hours; and later in the night the
report was current that it was only a fit he had had, and
that he was recovering.
Meantime Leech and Still's other counsel held a consul-
tation, and after that Leech was closeted with the Judge in
his room for an hour; and when he left, having learned
that Major Welch had gone home, he mounted his horse
and rode away in the darkness in the direction c>
Rock.
The next morning the Judge adjourned his court for the
term. The illness of Still, the chief party in the cause,
was the ground assigned.
It soon became known that Still was not going to give
up the suit. It was authoritatively announced by Leech.
What Major Welch chose to do had nothing to do with Still.
470 RED ROCK
"If Major Welch was fool enough," Leech said, "to
turn tail at a nigger's lies, which he had been bribed to
tell, and iling away a good plantation, it was none of their
business. But they were going to fight and win their
The Judge left the County, and Still, having recovered
sufficiently, was moved to his home.
The day after the scene in the court-room Jacquelin
(Irav, Steve, and the General had a conference with old
Mr. Bagby, and then together they called on Major Welch.
They stated that, while they appreciated his actioli, they
did not wish him to take such a step as he had proposed
under the excitement of an impulse, and they would pre-
fer to bring the proof and lay it before him to establish
the facts they alleged as beyond question.
"It was this that I wished to say last night," said
Jacquelin ; and then added that he was quite ready to
make the entry of record at once that the Major's holding
of the lands was entirely innocent.
Major Welch heard his visitors through, then said he
preferred not to wait ; he was quite satisfied.
" It might have been an impulse last night, gentlemen,
but it is not an impulse now. I have reflected very deep-
ly, you may be sure ; but I am only confirmed in my inten-
tion, and my act now is that of mature deliberation. I
only wish to say one thing more : that if I were capable of
holding on to this land, my wife would not permit me to
do so."
lie did not tell the visitors that, the night before, he had
been followed home by Leech, who had just come from
an interview with the Judge, and who urged him, on every
ground that he could think of, to reconsider his action and
•t his promise ; assured him of the absolute certainty
of success, and gave him finally the assurance of the Judge
himself, who had promised to dismiss the suit and enter
the decree.
Nor did he tell Jacquelin that the interview with Leech
COUNSEL MAY ASK ONE QUESTION TOO MANY 471
had come suddenly to an end by his telling Leech of what
he knew personally, and that he considered him a proper
counsel for Still, and the Judge a proper judge for him to
try his case before.
Tliis he did not mention, and they did not learn it
long afterward.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
IN" WHICH ME. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP WITH MUCH SUC-
CESS
THE developments of the trial decided Jacqnelin to
offer immediately an amended bill, setting up all the facts
that had come out. Steve Allen went South to follow up
the fresh clew and obtain new evidence, and on his return
it was rumored that he had been successful. Meantime
Still had recovered sufficiently to be taken to a watering-
place — for his health, it was said — and Leech was engaged
in other parts of the State looking after his prospective
canvass for the Governorship. Leech's candidacy and
the final issue of the Eed Rock case had become closely
associated. It was charged that Leech had been engaged
with Still in the attempt to perpetrate a fraud ; and it was
intimated that, if the Red Rock case should be won by the
Grays, it would be followed by the prosecution of Still and
possibly of Leech. Captain Allen's connection with the
case, together with the part he had taken in public matters,
had brought him forward as the leader of the opposition to
Leech, not only in the County, but throughout the State.
Dr. Still was absent, dutifully looking after his father,
and, rumor said, also looking after his own prospects in
another field. Whether these reports were all true or not,
the three men were all absent from the County, and the
County breathed more freely by reason thereof. It was an
unquestioned fact that when they were absent, peace re-
turned.
It was, however, but the calm before the storm.
In the interval that came, Jacquelin once more brought
472
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP
his suit. It was based on the disclosure made at the first
trial, and the bill was this time against Still alone. Major
Welch, as stated, had insisted on reconveying his part of
the land to Jacqnelin. He said he could not sleep with
that land in his possession. So Jacquelin and Rupert were
the owners of it, and Major Welch took it on a lease.
The suit matured, and once more the term of court ap-
proached. The people of the County were in better spirits.
The evidence that Steve had secured in the South was be-
lieved to fill the broken links. On the decision depended
everything. It was recognized on both sides that it was
not now a mere property question, but a fight for suprem-
acy. The old citizens were making a stand against the
new powers. There was talk of Rupert's coming home.
He had been in the West with Captain Thurston, acting
as a volunteer scout, and had distinguished himself for
his bravery. One particular act of gallantry, indeed, had
attracted much attention. In a fight with the Indians, a
negro trooper belonging to one of the companies had been
wounded and during a check had fallen from his horse.
Rupert had heard his cries, and had gone back under a
heavy fire and, lifting him on his horse, had brought him off.
The first that was heard of it in the County was through u
letter of Captain Thurston's to Miss Welch. When K
was written to about it, he said he could not let Stevi- and
Jack have all the honors: "And the fact is," he nilik-d,
"\vlu-n I lirani tho negro boy calling, I could not leave
him to save my life."
Within a month after the reinstitution of the suit, Cap-
tain Thurston's company had come back from the West,
and there was talk of efforts being made to have tho old
prosecution against 1. ismissed. It was reported
that he would come home and testify at the trial. Since
his memory had been refreshed he recollected per
the incident of stepping on the paper.
aors of \\ lit, follmv tho trial were increasing
daily. It was even said that Leech was trying to make up
474 RED ROCK
\vitli Governor Krafton, and that negotiations Were pend-
ing between them by which one of them would become
rnor and the other Senator.
Steve Allen asserted boldly that it was much more likely
that one of them would be in the penitentiary, unless the
other pardoned him. This speech was repeated to Leech,
who blinked uneasily. He went North that night.
In view of these facts, the old County was in better spir-
its than it had enjoyed for some time.
Dr. Washington Still's attentions to his father, after the
father's " attack " at the trial of the Red Rock case, were,
however, not so filial as they were reported to be. Had
the truth been known, he was not so attentive to his father's
interest as he was to that of another member of the Still
family. While the trial and its strange denouement had
affected the elder Still to the point of bringing on a slight
attack of paralysis, it affected Dr. Still also very seriously,
though in a different way.
After the entertainment at Red Rock, Dr. Still fancied
that he saw much improvement in his chances with Miss
Krafton. He had expected to impress her with Red Rock,
and she had been impressed. The pictures had particu-
larly struck her. He had told her of as many of the
portraits as he could remember, inventing names and his-
tories for most of them. He had not thought it necessary
to go into any elaborate explanation, consequently he had
not mentioned the fact that they were the ancestors of the
man who was suing for the recovery of the place. Miss
Krafton had heard of the suit and referred to it casually.
3 1 ill scouted the idea of his title being questioned. His
^randfutlier hail lived there, and his father had been born
on the place. lie did not mention the house in which his
father was born. He only intimated that in some way
they had been straitened in their circumstances before the
war, at some period which he made vaguely distant ; and
he spoke of their later success somewhat as of a recovery
of their estate. The suit, he asserted, had been instigated
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 475
purely by spite. It was simply one of the customary at-
tempts to annoy Union men and Northern settlers — it was
really brought more against Major Welch than his father.
M ;s3 Krafton had met Major Welch, and had declared that
she adored him. Dr. Still's eyes blinked complacently.
3 Krafton was manifestly interested, and the Doctor
after this began to have more hopes of his success than he
had ever had. He allowed himself to fall really in love
with her.
His father's connection with the bonds of his former em-
ployer suddenly threatened to overthrow the whole struct-
ure that Dr. Still was so carefully building. The story
of the bonds was told, with all its accessories, in such news-
papers as were conducted by the old residents ; and although
Miss Krafton might never have heard of it from them, as
she had never seen a copy of such a journal in her life,
the papers that were on her father's side undertook to an-
swer the story. It was an elaborate answer — a complete
answer — if true. It ought to have been complete, for Dr.
Washington Still inspired it, if he did not write it. The
trouble was, it was too complete. It was not content with
answering, it attacked ; and it by innuendo attacked Major
Welch. Miss Krafton might not have believed the story,
if it had been confined to Mr. Gray and Mr. Still ; but
when Major Welch had accepted the story, and, as
stated, had even reconveyed his property to Mr. Gray, it
was a different matter.
Miss Krafton had conceived a high opinion of Major
Welch. He was so different from all others whom she had
seen at the entertainment at Red Rock or had met at her
father's table. She knew of the Welches' high social stand-
ing. She had met Miss Welch, and had been delighted
with her also. The partial similarity of their situations
had drawn her to Ruth, and Ruth's sweetness had charmed
li.-r. When the story of the Red Rock suit came out, Miss
if ton's curiosity was aroused. She wrote to Miss Welch
and asked her about it
47t) BED ROCK
Dr. Still had now begun to press his suit in earnest. He
too had schemes which a union with Governor Krafton
would further. Leech was becoming too constant a visitor
at the governor's mansion to suit the young physician, and
the Litter was planning to forestall him.
When Dr. Still called on Miss Krafton next, after she
had made her inquiry of Miss Welch, as he waited in her
ilra wing-room his eye fell on a letter lying open on a table.
He thought he recognized the handwriting as that of Miss
\\\'lrh ; and as he looked at it to verify this, he caught the
name " Red Rock." He could not resist the temptation
to read what she had said, and, picking up the letter, he
glanced at the first page. It began with a formal regret
that she could not accept Miss Kraf ton's invitation to visit
her, and then continued :
" As to your request to tell you the true story of Mr.
Hiram Still's connection with the Red Rock case, which
the papers have been so full of, I feel " What it was
that she felt, Dr. Still did not discover, for at this point the
page ended, and just then there was a rustle of skirts out-
side the^ door. Dr. Still replaced the letter only in time
to turn and meet Miss Krafton as she entered. He had
never seen her so handsome ; but there was something in
her manner to him which he had never felt before. She
was cold, he thought — almost contemptuous. He wondered
if she could have seen him through the door reading her
letter. Partly to sound her as to this, and partly to meet
the statements which he feared Miss Welch had made, he
turned the conversation to the Welches. He began to
praise them mildly, at the same time speaking of their im-
practicability and prejudices, and incidentally hinting that
Major Welch had sold out to the Grays. To this Miss
Krafton replied so warmly that the young man began to
try another tack. Miss Krafton, however, did not unbend.
She launched out in such eulogy of Major Welch, of Mrs.
Welch, and of Miss Welch that Dr. Still was quite over-
whelmed. He mentioned the account that had appeared in
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 477
her father's organ. Miss Krafton declared that she did
not believe a word of it. Major Welch had stated that it
was wholly untrue. She asserted with spirit, that if she
were a man, she would rather starve than have a dollar
that was not gotten honestly ; and if ever she married, it
would be to a man like Major Welch. Her color had risen
and her eyes were flashing.
Dr. Still gazed at her in a half-dazed way, and a curi-
ous expression came over his face. It was no time for him
to push matters to an extreme.
Well, some women are innocent, he thought, as he came
down the steps. And his eyes had an ugly look in them.
When he reached home his father was waiting for him.
The young man attacked him so furiously that he was
overwhelmed. He began to try to defend himself. IK-
had done nothing, he declared feebly ; but whatever he
had done, had been for his sake. His voice was almost a
whimper.
His son broke out in a fury :
" For my sake ! That's your plea ! And a pretty mess
you've made of it ! Just as I was about to succeed — to
make me the talk of the State ! — to make me appear the
son of a— thief ! You've stood in my way all my life.
But for you, I might have been anything. I am a^liaun-tl
of you— I've always been ashamed of you. But I did not
think you'd have been such a — fool!" 11 walked up
and down the room, wringing his hands and clutching the
air.
"Washy— Washy — hear me/' pleaded the father, rising
totteringly from his arm-chair, and with outstretched hands
trying- to follow his son.
Wash Still made a gesture, half of contempt and half of
rage, and burst out of the door.
As his son slammed the door behind him, Hiram Still
stood for a moment, turned unsteadily to his chair, threw
up his hands, and, tottering, fell full length on the floor.
The newspaper of which MoRaffle was one of the editors
i78 BED ROC£
stated a day or two later that " our fellow-citizens will be
<rhd to Icum that the honored Colonel Hiram Still is rap-
idly recovering from his paralytic stroke, owing to the de-
voted attentions and skill of his son, the eminent young
physician, Dr. Washington Still, for whom we are prepared
to predict a remarkable career." It " further congratulated
all honest men that Colonel Still would be well in time to
attend the trial of the so-called suit, instituted against him
by his political enemies, which suit, to the editor's own
personal knowledge, was neither more nor less than a mali-
cious persecution."
How much Dr. Still paid for this notice was known only
to two men, unless Leech also knew ; for Leech and Mc-
Raffle were becoming very intimate.
It had been supposed that Mr. Hiram Still's illness would
put off the trial of the Red Rock case ; but Mr. Leech,
who had just returned from the North, declared publicly
that the trial would come off as already scheduled, at the
next term. He further intimated that those who were set-
ting traps for him would learn that he could set a few
traps himself. This declaration set at rest the fears that
had been entertained that the Red Rock case would be
postponed.
Leech made good his word, and when it was least antici-
pated sprang the trap he had prepared. It was a complete
surprise and almost a complete success ; and when Leech
counted up his game, he had, with a single exception,
bagged every man in the County from whom he had re-
ceived an affront, or against whom he cherished a grudge.
One Sunday morning, about daylight, as Jerry was re-
turning to Brutusville from some nocturnal excursion,
when only a mile or two from the village, he was startled
to come on a body of cavalry, on the march. They
were headed toward Brutusville, and with them were
Colonel Leech and Captain McRaffle. A shrewd guess
satisfied Jerry that it must mean some mischief to Captain
Allen. Curiosity and interest prompted him to fall in
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 479
with them ; but the men he addressed knew nothing,
and were grumbling at having to take a long night-ride.
Jerry pressed on to the hea-1 of the column, where IK-
saw Leech. He touched his hat, and passed on as if ho
were in a great hurry. Leech, however, called him, and
began to question him, but soon discovered that he was
drunk — too drunk to be wholly intelligent, but, fortu-
nately, sober enough to give a good deal of valuable infor-
mation. Leech {fathered from him that no one had the
slightest idea that troops were coming to Brutusville, un-
Captain Allen had. The Captain, Jerry said, had left
Brutusville the evening before, and had gone to a friend's
in the upper end of the County to spend Sunday. Jerry
knew this, because the Captain had told him to meet him
there with his horse in time for church ; but Jerry was not
going. He " had had enough of that man," he said. He
was not going to work for him any more. The Captain
had threatened to beat him. Here Jerry, at the memory
of his wrongs, fell into a consuming rage, and cursed Cap-
tain Allen so heartily that he almost propitiated Leech.
A as a matter of regret to Leech that Steve Allen was
not in Brutusville, and so could not be arrested at once.
This, however, could be remedied if a part of the company
were detailed to catch him before he learned of their arri-
val. Leech would himself go with the mm who were to
undertake this. He wished to be present, or almost so,
when Captain Allen was arrested. He would have taken
Jerry with him, but Jerry was suddenly so drunk that he
could hardly stand. So, having directed that the negro
should not be allowed to go until after all the contem-
plated arrests had been made, Colonel Leech, with a pla-
toon, took a mad that led to the place where, according to
Jerry, lie should find Captain All^n preparing to attend
church.
It was just daybreak when the remainder of the company
reached the outskirts of the county seat, and, in accordance
with the instruction- 1 been received, began to post
480 RED ROCK
pickets to surround the village. This was done under the
immediate supervision of Captain Me Raffle. Jerry re-
mained with one of the pickets. The morning air appeared
to have revived him astonishingly, and in a little while he
had ingratiated himself with the picket by telling a num-
ber of funny stories of Leech, who did not appear to be at
all popular with the men. He presently insinuated that
he knew where the best whiskey in town was to be secured,
and offered to go and get some for the picket before the
officers took possession. He could slip in and come right
out again without anyone knowing it. On this, and with
a threat of what would be done to him if he failed to return,
he was allowed by the picket to go in. He started off like
a deer. It was surprising how straight he could go when
he moved rapidly !
As soon as he reached the village he struck straight for
the court-green. Jacquelin had spent the night at the
court-house with Steve, and was about to start for home in
the first light of the morning, and, just as Jerry flung him-
self over the fence, Jacquelin came down from the rooms
that he and Steve occupied. Jerry rushed up to him and
began to tell him the story of Leech's return with the sol-
diers. He had come to arrest the Captain, Jerry declared.
At first Jacquelin thought that Jerry was merely drunk ;
but his anxiety on Captain Allen's account, and the clever-
ness of his ruse by which he had outwitted Leech, satisfied
him ; and Jerry's account of Leech's eagerness (for he did
not stick at telling the most egregious lies as to what
Leech had told him) aroused Jacquelin's anxiety for Steve.
Jacquelin, therefore, took instant alarm and sent Jerry to
saddle Steve's horse, while he himself hurried back to
Steve's room and roused him out of bed. At first, Steve
was wholly incredulous. Jerry was just drunk, he declared,
sleepily. But when Jerry appeared, though certainly he
was not sober, he told a story which made Steve grave
enough. The whole expedition was, according to his ac-
count, to capture Steve. Leech and Captain McRaffle and
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 481
the captain of the troop had all said so. Steve's horse was
saddled at the door. Steve still demurred. He'd be con-
demned if he'd run away ; he'd stay, and, if what Jerry said
was true, woulji settle with Leech, the whole score then
and there. He went back into his room and put his pistol
in his pocket This Jacquelin declared was madness. It
would only bring down vengeance on the whole County.
What could Steve do against Government troops ? Jerry
added another argument : " Colonel Leech ain' gwine to
meet him. He done gone off with some other soldiers,"
he asserted.
Steve turned to Jacquelin. " How can I leave you,
Jack ? I'm not a dog."
" Why, what can they do with me ? " laughed Jacquelin.
" They are after you about the Ku Klux, and I was not
even in the country." He was still hurrying him.
Thus urged, Steve consented to go, and mounting his
horse rode out a back way. To his surprise, he found the
lane already picketed. He turned to take another road.
As he wheeled into it he saw a squadron of troops at either
end riding into the village toward him. He was shut in
between them, with a high fence on either side. The only
chance of escaping was across the fields. He acted quickly.
Breasting his horse at the fence, he cleared it, and, dashing
across the court-green, cleared that on the other side, and
so made his way out of the village, taking the fences as he
came to them.
Ten minutes later Jacquelin was arrested on a warrant
sworn out before McRaffle as a commissioner of the court,
and so, during the morning, was nearly every other man
in the village.
Jacquelin no sooner looked at Leech, than he knew that
it was not only Steve that he had come for. As Leech
gazed on him his eyes watered, if his mouth did not ; and
he spoke in a sympathetic whine.
Dr. Gary heard of the raid and of the arrest of his friends
that morning as he came home from Miss Bush's sick >~d.
IS:? RED ROCK
side, by which he had spent the night. He was tired and
fagged ; but he said he must go down to the court-house
and see about the matter. Mrs. Gary and Blair tried to
dissuade him. He needed rest, they urged. And, indeed,
he looked it. His face was worn, and his eyes glowed
deep under his brows.
• • .My dear, I must go. I hear they have made a clean
sweep, and arrested nearly every man in the place."
" They may arrest you, if you go."
" They cannot possibly have anything against me," he
said. " But if they should, it would make no difference.
I must go and see about my friends." The ladies ad-
mitted this.
So he rode off. Mrs. Gary and Blair looked wistfully
after him as he passed slowly down the road through the
apple-trees. He rode more slowly now than he used to do,
and not so erect in the saddle.
He was about half-way to the village when he met Andy
Stamper riding hard, who stopped to give him the news.
They had arrested nearly every man in the village, Andy
said, and were now sending out parties to make arrests in
the country. General Legaie, and Jacquelin Gray, and
Mr. Dockett, and even Mr. Langstaff had been arrested.
Leech had come with them, and the prisoners were being
taken up to Leech's house, where they were to be tried be-
fore McRaffle, the commissioner. Captain Steve had got
away, and had tried to meet Leech ; but Leech was too
smart for that.
" And they are after you and me too, Doctor," said
Andy. " Where are you going ? "
Dr. Gary told him. Andy tried to dissuade him. " What's
the use ? You can't do any good. They'll just arrest you
too. My wife made me come away. I tell you, Doctor,
it's worse than the war," said Andy. "I never would
kave surrendered, if I'd thought it ud 'a come to this."
There was a sudden flash of wrath in his blue eyes. ' ' I've
often been tempted to git even with that Still and that
MB. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 483
Leech, and I've shut my ears and turned away ; but if Fd
known 't 'ud come to this, d — d if I wouldn't have done
it!"
Dr. Gary soothed him with his calm assurance, and as
the Doctor started to go, Andy turned.
••If you're goin', I'm goin' with yon," he said. " But
I must go by and tell Delia Dove."
The Doctor tried to assure him that it was not necessary
for him to surrender himself ; but Andy was firm. " It
might have been all right," he said, if he had not met the
Doctor ; but Delia Dove would never forgive him if he let
the Doctor go into a trouble by himself and he stayed out
— 'twould be too much like running away. " I tell you,
Doctor," said Andy, " if Delia Dove had been where I was,
she'd never 'a surrendered. If there'd been her and a few
more like her, there wouldn't 'a been any surrender."
The Doctor smiled, and, leaving him to go by and make
his peace with Mrs. Stamper, rode slowly on to town.
lit- found the roads picketed as in time of war ; but the
pickets let him through. He had scarcely entered the vil-
lage when he met Leech. He was bustling about with a
bundle of books under his thin arm. The Doctor greeted
him coldly, and Leech returned the greeting almost warmly.
He was really pleased to see the Doctor.
The Doctor expressed his astonishment and indignation
su-p that had been taken. Leech was deprecatory.
" I have heard that I am wanted also, Colonel Leech,"
Kui«l the Doctor, calmly. "I am present to answer any
charge that can be brought against me."
Leech smiled almost sadly. He had no doubt in the
world that the Doctor could do so. Really, he himself
had very little knowledge of the matter, and none at all as
to the Doctor's case. The Doctor could probably find out
by applying to the officer in command. He passed on,
leaving the old gentleman in doubt if he could know what
was going on. Within ten minnteg Dr. Cary was arrested
by an officer accompanied by a file of soldiers. When he
484 RED ROOK
reached Leech's house, he fonnd more of his old friends
assembled there than he could have found anywhere else in
the County that day. It was with mingled feelings that
they met each other. In one way they were deeply in-
censed ; in another, it was so grotesque that they were
amused as one after another they were brought in, with-
out the slightest idea of the cause of their arrest.
However, it soon ceased to be matter for hilarity. The
soldiers who were their guards were simply coldly indiffer-
ent, and ordered them about as they would have done any
other criminals. But Leech was feline. He oozed with
satisfaction and complacency. Andy Stamper was one of
the last to appear, and when he was brought in he was a
sorry sight. He had not been given the privilege of surren-
dering himself. As he was taking leave of his wife a posse
had appeared, with Perdue the jailer at their head, with a
warrant for him. Andy had insisted that he would go and
surrender himself, but would not be arrested. A fight
had ensued, in which though, as Perdue's broken head
testified, Andy had borne himself valorously. Andy had
been overpowered ; and he was brought to jail, fastened on
his mule, with a trace-chain about his body and a bag
over his head. The prisoners were first marched to Leech's
big house, and were called out one by one and taken into a
wing room, where they were arraigned before McRaffle, as
a commissioner, on the charge of treason and rebellion.
The specific act was the attack on the jail that night. The
witnesses were the jailer, Perdue ; a negro who had been in
the jail that night, and Bushman, the man whom Steve Al-
len had ordered out of the ranks for insubordination and
threats against the prisoners. Leech himself was present,
and was the inspiration and director of each prosecution.
He sat beside the Commissioner and instructed him in
every case. Toward Jacquelin he was particularly atten-
tive. He purred around him,
When Dr. Cary's turn came, neither he nor anyone else
had any doubt that he would be at once discharged. He
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 485
was one of the last to be called. He had taken no part
whatever in the attack on the jail ; all that he had done had
been to try and dissnade from it those who made the assault,
and, failing in that, he had waited, in case anyone should be
injured, to render what professional aid might be necessary.
When he was brought before Leech he was sensible at once
of some sort of change in the man. Always somewhat fur-
tive in his manner, the carpet-bagger now had something
feline about him. He had evidently prepared to act a part,
lie was dressed in a long black coat, with a white tie
which gave him a quasi-clerical touch, and his expression
had taken on a sympathetic regretfulness. A light almost
tender, if it had not been so joyous, beamed from his mild
blue eyes, and when he spoke his voice had a singular whine
of apparent self-abnegation. The Doctor was instantly
conscious of the change in him.
" The tiger is loose in this man," he said to himself.
Leech called the Commissioner's attention to the Doctor's
presence, and greeted him sadly. The Doctor acknowl-
edged the salute gravely, and stated to the Commissioner
his views as to the error that had led to his arrest. Before
he was through, however, he was addressing Leech. A
glint shone in Leech's eyes for a second.
"Yes, it would seem so," he said, reflectively, with a
slight twang in his voice. " I should think that all that
would be necessary would be for you to mention it to the
Court." He looked at the Commissioner as if for cor-
•roboration. McRaffle's sallow face actually flushed; but
he kept his eyes on his paper.
" Why, you are the real power," said the Doctor ; "you
are the one who has authority."
Leech smiled almost wanly.
"Oh, no, my dear sir, y«»n do in«> too much honor.
I am but tho humble instrument of the law. I bind and
loose only as it is gi my dear sir." His voice had
grown more nasal and his hlue eyes beamed. He laid
hand tenderly on the Doctor's shoulder and smiled half-
486 RED ROCK
sadly. The Doctor moved a step farther off, his thin nos-
trils quivering slightly.
"Very well. I am not afraid. Only don't my-dear-sir
me, if yon please. I shall state frankly all I know about
the matter, and expect to be discharged now and at once."
• • Yes, that's right. No doubt of it. I shall be glad to
do what I can to further your wishes. I will speak to the
Commissioner." He smiled blandly.
He did so, holding a long whispered conversation with
McRaffle, and the Doctor's case was taken up. The Doctor
made his statement, and made it fully and frankly, and
it was taken down. When, however, it was finished, he
was not discharged. He was asked to give the names of
those who were in the crowd that night, and refused.
Leech approached, and tenderly and solicitously urged
him to do so. " My dear sir, don't you see how impossible
it will be for me to assist you if you persist in what is
really a contempt of court ? "
"Do you suppose I would tell you to save my life ?"
said Dr. Gary.
Leech shook his head sadly. He was really grieved.
" Perhaps your Commissioner might supply you names,"
snapped General Legaie. McRaffle looked up at him and
tried to face his gaze ; but it was in vain. His eyes dropped
before the General's withering scorn.
The Doctor was held "on his own confession," the com-
missioner said. Old Mr. Langstaff was sent on in the
same way ; and by nightfall the entire party were in jail,
sent on to the next term of the court to be held at the
capital.
It was late in the afternoon when the prisoners were
conducted to prison. Leech himself headed the proces-
sion, walking with impressive solemnity a little in advance
of the guard. Quite a large crowd had assembled, mostly
negroes ; though there were some white men on the edges,
looking on with grim faces and glowing eyes, their hats
drawn down and their speech low, hardly articulate mut-
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 487
terings. All day long, since the news of the arrival of
the soldiery and their work, the negroes had been coming
into the village, and they now lined the roadside and
packed the court-green near the jail. As the procession
made its way they followed it with shouts of derision.
" Awe, my Lawd ! Ef dee ain gwine put 'em into de
jail! " cried out a young slattern, shrilly ; at which there
was a shout of laughter.
" Amy, come heah, and look at dis one," shrieked an-
other. " Look at dat ole one. Don't I hope dee'll hang
deoledeble!"
" Shut your mouth, you black huzzy," said a tall old
negro, sternly, in solemn rebuke. The girl gave a shrill,
nervous laugh, and, pulling her friend by the hand, pushed
her way nearer the prisoners.
" Dese heah young gals is too free wid dee monis ! "
complained another old negro to the taller one. Old
Tarquin vouchsafed no answer. His burning eyes were
fastened on his master's tall form as the Doctor march CM!
to the black door before him.
On the edge of the throng, though sufficiently dis-
guised not to be recognized casually, was another form,
also with burning eyes, which were, however, fastened not
on Dr. Gary, but on Colonel Leech. Steve Allen had
come back that day, determined if he met Leech to <
him a pistol and settle the questions between them, on the
spot.
As Dr. Gary passed into the jail, he involuntarily stooped.
As the heavy door closed behind the prisoners, there was
such a wild shout of triumph from the ragged crowd that
surged about the space outside that tin- dull, indifferent
soldiers in line before the door looked up and scowled,
with side glances and mutt, -ehes to each otl
while on the outskirts the white men gathered together
in groups and talked in low tones, their faces dark with
impotent ni<:e. but none the less dangerous because ti
too, were bound by shackles.
488 BED BOOK
Excitement was hardly the name for the extraordinary
sensation the arrests had caused. It was a bolt from a clear
sky. By some curious law, whenever a step was taken
against the whites the negroes became excited ; and the
arrest of so many of the leading men of the County had
thrown them into a condition of the wildest commotion.
They came flocking into the village, forming and march-
ing in a sort of order, with shouts and yells of triumph.
They held meetings about the court-green, preached and
prayed and sang hymns, shouting derisively about the
jail, and yelling insults against the whites. Had anyone
seen the throng, he would never have believed that the wild
mob that hooted and yelled about the village were the
quiet, orderly, and amiable people who but the day before
tilled the fields or laughed about their cabins. It needed
all the power of the troops stationed at the court-house to
restrain them.
It, however, was not only the negroes who were excited.
The news had spread rapidly. The whites also were
aroused, and men from every direction were riding toward
the county seat, their faces stern and grim. By nightfall
the village was overflowing, and they were still arriving.
As always, their presence awed and quieted the negroes.
Many of them stopped outside the town. The presence of
regular soldiers meant the presence of a force they were
compelled to recognize. The two words heard were " the
Government " and " Leech." Suddenly the two had become
one. Leech was the Government, and the Government was
Leech : no longer merely the State — the Carpet-bag Gov-
ernment— but the Government. He represented and was
represented by the blue-coated, silent, impassive men who
were quartered in the court-house and moved indiffer-
ently among the citizens — disliked, but careless whether it
were so or not. The carpet-bagger had suddenly ceased to
be a mere individual — he had become a power. For the
first time he was not only hated, but feared. Men who had
braved his militia, which had outnumbered them twenty to
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 489
one, who had outscowled him face to face a hundred times,
now glanced at him furtively and sank their voices as he
passed. Leech was quick to note the difference, and his
heart swelled with pride. He walked backward and for-
ward through the throng many times, his long coat flapping
behind him, his mild eyes peering through his spectacles,
his wan smile flickering about his mouth, his book, "The
Statutes of the United States," clasped under his arm, his
brow bent as if in meditation. He felt that he was feared,
and it was unction to his spirit. He had bided his time and
had triumphed. Waiting till they least expected it, he
had at one blow struck down every enemy. He, Jonadab
Leech, had done it ; and they were under his feet. They
knew it, and they feared him. He meant them to know it
and fear him. For this reason he had sat by the Commis-
sioner all day and instructed him ; for this reason lie hud
led the march to the jail.
But had he struck all down ? No. One had escaped.
At the thought, Leech's smile died away, and a dark,
threatening look took its place, His chief enemy, the one
he most hated and feared, had escaped. Those he had
caught were well enough, but it was Steve Alien whom he
was after chiefly — Steve Allen, who had scouted and
braved and defied him so oft'-n. who had derided him and
thwarted him and stung him. He had planned the whole
alTair mainly for Steve, and now (he enemy had slipped
throiiLrh his fingers. It turned all the rest of his success
into failure. His triumph changed to dust and ashes on
his lips. He was enraged. He would catch him. One
moment he denounced his escape as treachery, tin-
he boasted that he would find him and bring him in alive
or dead. A rumor came to him that night that Captain
Alh-u was not far off. 1 !•< 1, he was not, but Leech
at the hotel, guarded by soldiers.
h headed, next day, a squad — not a small one
— and visited every house in the neighborhood that Steve
nted, searching the houses and proclaiming his de-
490 BED ROOK
termination to have him, alive or dead. He had the pleas-
ure of searching once more the cottage where Miss
Thomasia lived. Miss Thomasia received him at the door.
She was white with apprehension and indignation. Her
apprehension, however, was not for herself, but for Steve,
who had only just ridden over the hill, and who had
left a message for Leech that he was looking for him,
too. Leech assured her sympathetically that she need not
be disturbed. He had to do his duty — a painful duty, but
it was necessary to execute the law. " ' They who take the
sword shall perish by the sword/ " he said, with a mourn-
ful smile and a shake of the head, and a side look at Miss
Thomasia.
" Yes, I have heard that, and I commend it to you, sir,"
Miss Thomasia declared, with unexpected spirit. " God
is the avenger of the guiltless, and He sometimes employs
those who are persecuted as His instruments."
Leech left there and went to Dr. Gary's. Here, too,
however, he was doomed to disappointment. Mrs. Gary
and Miss Blair had gone down to the court-house to look
after the Doctor, and the family was represented by
Mammy Krenda, whose dark looks and hostile attitude im-
plied too much for Leech to try her. He contented him-
self with announcing to her that he was hunting for Steve
Allen, and had a warrant for his arrest.
" Yes, I heah you* huntin' for him," said the old woman,
quietly. " Well, you better mine some day he don't go
huntin' for you. When he ready, I reckon you'll fine
him."
" I mean to have him, alive or dead," said Leech. " It
don't make any difference to me," he laughed.
" No, I heah say you say dat," replied the old woman,
placidly. " Well, 'twould meek right smart difference to
him, I spec' ; an' when you push folks dat fur, you'se got
to have mighty sho stan'in' place."
This piece of philosophy did not strike home to Leech
at the time ; but a little later it came back to him, and re-
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 491
mained with him so much that it worried him. He re-
turned to the court-house without having accomplished
his mission. lie made up his mind that the old woman
knew where Captain Allen had gone ; but he had too vivid
a recollection of his last contest with her to try her again.
On his arrival at the court-house that evening, however,
he found that Tarquin was there, having accompanied
his mistresses, and he sent a file of soldiers to bring the
old man before him. When Tarquin was brought in, he
looked so stately and showed so much dignity that Leech
for a moment had a feeling that, perhaps, he had made a
mistake. McRaffle was present, sitting with that inscrut-
able look on his dark face. The Commissioner had already
gained a reputation for as much severity in his new office
as rumor had connected with his name in a less authorized
capacity. And Leech had expected the old servant to be
frightened. Instead, his head was so erect and his mouth
so calm that Leech instinctively thought of Dr. Gary.
• However, he began to question the old servant. He
stated that he knew where Captain Allen was, and that
Tarquin had just as well tell. He did not wish to be
severe with him, he said, but it was his duty, as a repre-
sentative of the Government, to ascertain ; and while on
one side was the penalty of the law, on the other was a
high reward. The old fellow listened so silently that
Leech, as he proceeded, began to think he had made an
impression, and a gleam of satisfaction lit up his eyes.
When he was through, there was an expression very like
scorn on old Tarquin's face.
"I don't know where he is, Colonel Lrrrh," he said.
"But do you suppose I would tell you if I did ? If I
betrayed a gentleman, I couldn' look my master in the
face." Leech was taken aback.
"Here, that's all nonsense," he snarlrd. "I'm the
Government, and 111 make you tell." But Tarquin was
unm<>
" You can't terrify me with your threats, Colonel
492 RED ROOK
Leech," he said, calmly. " I served with my master
through the war."
" If you don't tell, Til send you to jail ; that's what 111
do.*
" You have already sent better gentlemen there," said
the old servant, quietly, and with a dignity that floored the
other completely. Leech remembered suddenly Hiram
Still's warning to him long ago, " With these quality nig-
gers, you can't do nothin' that way."
He suddenly tried another course, and began to argue
with Tarquin. It was his duty to the Government which
had set him free, and would pay handsomely. Tarquin
met him again.
" Colonel Leech, my master offered me my freedom
before the war, and I wouldn't take it. You may get
some poor creatures to betray with such a bribe, but no
gentleman will sell himself." He bowed. Leech could
not help enjoying the scowl that came on McRaffle's face.
But the old man was oblivious of it. *
" I have voted with the Government since we were free,
because I thought it my duty ; but I tell you now, suh,
what you are doin' to-day will hurt you mo' than 'twill
help you. What you sow, you've got to reap."
" Ah, pshaw ! " sneered Leech, " I don't believe you
know where Captain Allen is ? "
" I told you I did not," said the old man, with unruffled
dignity.
Leech saw that it was useless to try him further in that
direction, and, thinking that he might have gone too far,
he took out his pocket-book.
" Here ; I was just testing you," he said, with a well-
feigned smile. He extracted a dollar note and held it out.
" Nor, suh ; I don't want your money," said Tarquin,
calmly. He bowed coldly, and, turning slowly, walked out.
Leech sat for some time in deep reflection. He was won-
dering what the secret was that controlled these people
without threats or bribery. Here he was, almost on the
MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 493
point of attaining his highest ambition, and he was be-
ginning to find that he was afraid of the instruments he
employed. He had never seen a negro insolent to one of
the old residents except under the instigation of himself
or someone else like him, and yet to him they were so in-
solent that at times even he could hardly tolerate it. A
strange feeling came to him, as if he were in a cage with
some wild animal whose keeper he had driven away, and
which he had petted and fed until it had gotten beyond
him. He could control it only by continually feeding it,
and it was steadily demanding more and more. Would
the supply from which he had drawn give out ? And
then what would happen ? He was aroused from his
thoughts by Me Raffle. He gave a short laugh.
" Called your hand, rather, didn't he ?"
Leech tried hard to look composed.
" \Vhy didn't you turn him over to me ? I'd have got
it out of him. Trouble about you is, you don't know the
game. You are all right when your hand's full, but you
haven't got the courage to bet on your hand if it's weak.
You either bluster till a child would know you were bluff-
ing, or else you funk and lay your hand down. I told you
you couldn't do anything with these old fellows that have
held on. If they'd been going to come over, they'd have
done so long ago. But if you can't get them, you can
others. You leave it to me, and I'll find out where your
friend Allen is."
" Well, go on and do it, and don't talk so much about
it," snarled Leech, angrily. " I mean to have him, alive
or dead."
" And I rather think you'd prefer the latter," sneered
McRaffle, darkly.
" No ; vengeance belongeth unto God." His tone was
unctuous.
" Look here, Leech," said the other, with cold contempt,
"you make me sick. I've done many things, but I'm
blanked if I ever quoted Scripture to cover my meanness.
494 BED ROCK
You're thinking of Still ; I'm not him. You move hoa\ en
and earth to take your vengeance, and then talk about it
belonging to God. You think you are a God, but you are
a mighty small one. And you can't fool Steve Allen, I tell
you. If you give me a thousand dollars, I'll get him for
you, alive or dead."
" You said you'd get him for two hundred, and I have
offered that reward/' said Leech.
" The price has risen," said McRaffle, coolly. te You
haven't got him, have you ? If Allen runs across you,
you'll wish you had paid me five thousand ; and you better
look out that he don't." He rose and lounged toward the
door.
te TVell, you get him, and we'll t-ilk about the price,"
said Leech.
" We'll talk of it before that, Colonel," said McRaffle,
slowly to himself.
Leech had some compensation next day when he super-
intended the arrangements for the transfer of his prison-
ers to the city. His office was besieged all day with the
friends and relatives of the prisoners, offering bail and
begging their release, or, at least, that ho would allow them
to remain in the County until the time for the term of
court to begin. To all he returned the same answer — he
was " only a humble minister of the law ; the law must
take its course." He found this answer satisfactory. It
implied that he could if he would, and at the same time
left an impression of the inscrutable character of the pun-
ishment to come. He had begun to feel very virtuous.
From being a humble instrument of Providence, he hud
come to feel as if he were a part of Providence itself.
The thought made his bosom swell. It was so sweet to
find himself in this position, that he determined to
lengthen out the pleasure ; so, instead of sending all his
prisoners down to the city at once, he divided them into
two lots and shipped only half of them at first, keeping
the others in jail in the County until another day.
MR. LKECTT PPRIWOB A TRAP 4(J,~>
ason was no one knew at the time. It was charged
nrouncl the County that he wanted to keep Jacquelin Gray
an til he could secure Steve Allen, so that he might march
them do\vn handcuffed together, and that he kept Andy
3tamper and some of the others, so that he might hector
Jaem personally. However that was, he kept these in jail
it Brutusville ; and the others were marched down to the
station handcuffed, under guard of the soldiers, and with a
crowd of yelling, hooting negroes running besido them,
:iing and laughing at them, until one of the officers
drove them to a respectful distance. They were shipped
to the city in a closed box-car, Leech superintending the
shipment personally. Just before starting he approached
Dr. Gary and General Legaie, and said that in considera-
tion of their age he would have them sent down to the sta-
tion in his carnage.
" Thank you. We wish no exemptions made in our cases
different from those accorded our neighbors/' said Dr.
Gary, grimly. The General said nothing; he only looked
.'-way.
"Now, my dear sirs, this is not Christian/' urged
L*eech. " I beg that you will allow me the pleasure ~
The little General turned on him so suddenly and with
such a blaze in his eyes, that Leech sprang back, and hih
sentence was never finished.
"Dog I" was the only word that reached him.
So Dr. Gary and General Legaie went along with the
rest, though they were not handcuffed. Old Mr. Lan.ur-
staff was released on his recognizance, Leech kindly of-
fering the Commissioner to go his hail himself.
On Leech's return from the railroad that night, he re-
qnested the officer in command to go through the jail with
him, and gave him, in a high key, especial orders as to
guarding it secur>
" It will be guarded securely enough," said the Captain,
gruffly. He was beginning to find Leech intolerable.
The last few days' work had sickened him.
490 BED ROCK
" 111 soon have another prisoner, "said Leech as he passed
the door where Jacquelin was confined. — Tie raised his voice
so that it might be heard by those within the cells. — " And
then we shall relieve you."
" Well, I wish you'd do it qnick, for I'm blanked tired
of this business, I can tell you ! " snapped the Captain.
" Oh, it won't be long now. A day or two at most.
"Well have Allen, dead or alive. I had information to-day
that will secure him. And the court will sit immediately
to try them."
The Captain made no answer, except a grunt. Leech
puffed out his bosom.
" A soldier's duty is to obey orders, Captain," he said,
sententiously.
The Captain turned on him suddenly, his red face red-
der than ever. " Look here, you bully these men down
here who haven't anybody to speak up for them ; but don't
you be trying to teach me my duty, Mister Leech, or I'll
break your crooked neck, you hear ?"
He looked so large and threatening that Leech fell back.
In order to appease the ruffled officer and satisfy him that
he was not a coward, Leech, just as he was leaving, said
that he did not care for him to send guards up to his house
that night, as he had been doing.
"All right."
" Of course, I mean until toward bedtime, Captain. I
think it still better to keep them there until I leave. I
have important documents there. You don't know these
people as I do. I shall go to the city to-morrow or next
day. I have business there, and I have the utmost con-
fidence in your ability to manage things. I shall report
your zeal to our friends in Washington."
"All right," grunted the Captain. And Leech went off.
Leech started toward his house. "I'll have him re-
called and get somebody else in his place," he muttered.
He stopped, and, going to his office, lit a lamp and
wrote a letter to the authorities urging a transfer of tho
Mil. LEKCII SPi:iN<;< A TRAP 497
:it company, on the ground that the Captain did not
appear very well adapted for managing the negroes, and
that he feared it was giving encouragement to those they
••• trying to suppress.
When he had written his letter, he sat back and began
to think. He had heard a name that day that had disqui-
eted him. It was the name of the teacher at Mrs. Welch's
school. He had always supposed her name was Miss May,
but it seemed that her name was Miss Bush.
One thing that had worried him in the past more than
he had ever admitted even to himself had like the others,
under the influence of his fortunate star, passed wholly
away. He had married early in life. As his ambition
rose, his wife had been a clog to him. He had tried to get
a divorce ; but this she resisted, and he had failed. She
had, however, consented to a separation. And he had per-
suaded her to give up his name and resume her own, Miss
Bush. He had not heard anything of her in a long time,
and he was quietly moving to get a divorce on the ground
of abandon men t— of her having abandoned him. When
this was done, why should he not marry again? Miss
Krafton was a handsome girl. It would make Krafton his
friend and ally instead of his enemy, and together they
could own the State.
Just then there was a knock at the door. A servant en-
. A lady wanted to see him. Who was it? The
servant did not know. She wanted to see him at once.
Curiosity prevailed. " Show her in," said Leeeh. Sin-
entered a moment later. Leech turned deadly white. It
was Miss Bush. The next moment his fear gave way to
rage. He sprang to his feet. " What are you doing here r
>u come from ? " he snarled,
ited herself on a chair near the door.
1 )on't be angry with me, John," she said, quietly.
' I am angry. Why shouldn't I be angry with you ?
have lied to i
" That I have not." She spoke firmly.
H
498 BED BOCK
•' You havf. What do you call it ? Did you not prom-
i>e IU-VLT to bother me again ?"
" I have not bothered you. I came here to try and pro-
tect you."
" You have. You gave me your word never to come
near me again. What do you want ? "
" I want to talk to you."
" Well, talk quick. I have no time to waste on you. I
am busy."
" I know you are, and I shall not bother you long. I
want you to stop prosecuting Dr. Gary and Mr. Gray and
Captain Allen."
" What do you know about them ? " asked Leech, in un-
feigned astonishment.
" They are friends of friends of mine. Dr. Gary saved
my life not long ago."
"I wish he'd let you — I'll see you first where I wisli
they were now — in blank."
" There is no use in speaking that way, John," she said,
quietly.
" I don't want you to ' John ' me," he snarled. " I tell
you I want you to go away."
"I am going," she said, sadly. " I will go as soon as I
can. I have no money."
" Where is your money ? "
"I lent it to Captain McRaffle to invest."
" More fool you ! "
His manner changed.
"Will you go if I give you the money ?"
"Yes" — his face brightened — "as soon as I have fin-
ished my year here."
He broke out on her furiously.
" That's always the way with you. You are such a liar,
there's no believing you. I wish you were dead."
"I know you do, John; and I do, too;" she said,
wearily. " But the issues of life and death belong to
God."
MB. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP 499
" Oh, that's just a part of your hypocrisy. Here, if I
give you money, will yon go away ? "
" Yes, as soon as I can."
"And will you promise me never to breathe my name to
a soul while you are here, or let anyone know that you
know me ? Will you give me your word on that ? "
" Yes."
He looked at her keenly for a moment.
" Does anyone know that you — that you ever knew
me?"
She flushed faintly, with distress.
" Yes, one person — one only."
Leech sprang to her and seized her roughly.
" And he ? Who is he ? "
" Dr. Gary. I told him when I thought I was dying.
He will not tell."
He gave a cry of rage.
" He ! Pd rather have had anyone else know it." He
flung her from him roughly and stood for a moment lost in
thought. His countenance cleared up. If Dr. Gary had
promised not to tell, he knew he would not do so, if his
life hung on it.
When he spoke it was in a somewhat changed voice.
"Remember, you have sworn that you will never men-
tion it again to a soul, and that you will never come near
me again as long as yon live ! "
"Yes." She looked at him with pleading eyes, inter-
lacing lirr lingers. "Oh, John!" she gaspnl. and then
her voice failed her.
For answer, Leech opened the door and glanced out into
the empty passage, then seized hn- hy the shoulder ami put.
her outside, and, shutting the door, locked it.
A minute later she slowly and silently went down the
dark stairs and oat into tin
CHAPTER XXXIX
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD LEECH OFFERED
LEECH had a bad half -hour ; but when he left his office
his spirits were rising again. He had weathered many a
storm before. It would be hard if he could not weather
this little trouble. He was satisfied that his wife would
keep her word not to divulge his secret to anyone, and if
he could but get her away everything would go all right.
He would be free to marry a handsome and wealthy wom-
an ; and this alliance would give him complete control of
the State. With this, what might he not have — wealth
unlimited, position, unmeasured power — there was no end
to it ! It all stretched before him a shining track with, at
the end — it appeared before him for only one brief mo-
ment— a dazzling point : at the far end of that long track
a great white house, with the broad avenues reaching in
every direction. Why not ? Why should he not be ?
The vision made his head swim. He wiped his hand
across his mouth as though he tasted something actually
material.
He returned to earth, and, locking his office-door, strolled
up the hill. The village was all quiet except for the sen-
tries pacing their beats.
As Leech walked up under the clear stars, the thought
came into his mind once more ; and this time he tried to
follow it step by step. Yes, it was possible. He was rich,
powerful, fortunate. He would be Governor. What might
he not be 1 His enemies had fallen before him — all but
one, and that one could not escape. He would find him,
alive or dead ; and then — wealth — power — revenge I He
600
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD 601
1 his clenched hand and brought it down in the in-
ty of his feeling.
" Yes, by G — d ! I'll have him, alive or dead ! " he ex-
claimed, lie was almost at his gate. Two steps brought
him to it ; and before him in the darkness, waiting for him7"\
tall and silent, stood the man lie wanted. \
"I hear you are hunting for me," said Steve Allen,
quietly. " I am here."
The blood rushed back and forth in Leech's veins as cold
as ice, as hot as fire. What would he not have given for
his guards ! Why had he been such a fool as to dismiss
them ! He thought of his pistol ; but he knew Steve was
quicker witli a pistol than he. So he resorted to craft.
II' would keep him until the guards arrived.
•• How are you, Captain ? Won't you walk in ?" he
said, with a show of ease, though his voice quavered. 1 It-
thought about offering his hand, but feared to do so. If
he could only detain him !
" Thank you. I will." Steve indicated with a wave of
his hand that Leech should precede him ; and Leech walked
before him, knowing that he was his prisoner. Still he
hoped help would come. They went into his library.
Steve took a seat.
•• What did you want with me ?"
" I was only fooling," said Leech, feebly. Steve looked
so placid that he began to feel reassured. "You know
there's a warrant out for your arrest ; and the best thing for
you to do is to surrender quietly. You ran dear yourself
easy enough, and it's just a form. You come with n
I'll do all I can for you." His voice was cajoling, and he
looked at Steve almost tenderly. " You know I was only
fooling about what I said."
Steve looked at him with cold contempt. "You'll find it
ill fooling with a desperate man. Let's drop our masks.
You have made a mistake to push us so far. You have
offered a reward for me, alive or dead. I am hero t<> claim
it. You are my prisoner, and you know it." He gave Leech
502 RED ROCK
a irlaiKv that ina«lo liini shiver. "Sit there, and write what I
tell you." He indicated Leech's desk. Leech, with blanched
face, took his seat. As he did so he glanced furtively at
the clock. Secret as the glance was, Steve saw it.
" Be quick about it, and don't waste a word. I have no
time to spare. Eemember, it was alive or dead you wanted
me/' He dictated the words of a safe-conduct :
" To the Commandant of United States troops in Dis-
trict No. — . Pass the bearer and companions, and render
them all the aid possible. For reasons of State," added
Steve, with a twinkle in his eye, as he glanced over it.
" Now sign it."
Leech signed slowly. He was listening with all his
ears.
"Now another." Steve dictated the following to the
commanding officer in the village: "I have been called
away unexpectedly on business connected with the man I
want, Captain Allen. Take no steps in my absence, and
credit no reports not signed by me personally." Now
sign it, and add this postscript : " I have decided to pursue
a more conciliatory policy toward the prisoners. Please
make them entirely comfortable, and give their friends
access to them." Sign that, and mark it to be delivered in
the morning, and leave it on your table.
" Leave it on my table ? " Leech's face blanched.
" Yes, you are going with me."
Just then steps were heard on the walk outside, and the
murmur of low voices reached them. A gleam of hope
stole into Leech's face. Steve Allen heard too, and he
listened intently. As he turned his eyes again on Leech,
a new light appeared in the latter's eyes ; fear had sudden-
ly changed to joy.
"Aha ! Captain Allen, our positions are reversed again.
Let us drop our masks indeed ! You are my prisoner now.
Those are my sentries. The house is surrounded by sol-
diers. Ah ! ha-ha-ha!" he laughed, leaning back in his
chair, eying Steve, and rubbing his hands in glee.
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD 603
Steve shifted his seat a little, displaying the butt of a
revolver.
• • You fool ! " he said, with that coolness which was
Leech's envy and despair, and which made him in a way
admire Steve more than any other man he knew. "Sup-
pose they are your men ? You are going with me all the
same. If they come in here, you are still my prisoner ; and
one word — one look from you — one bare suspicion on their
part that I am not going on your invitation ; that it is not
voluntary on your part — and you are a dead man." He
loosened his pistol, and, while he listened, sat looking at
Leech with a cool assurance on his face that made Leech
gasp.
There was a sharp knock at the outer door. As Steve
listened his expression changed to one of amusement.
" Call to them to come in, and remember you were
never in greater peril than at this moment."
Leech called, and there was the slow tramp of several
men in the passageway.
"Call them in here."
Leech was becoming puzzled. But he could not keep
down the hope that was dawning on his countenance. He
called, and they approached the door. Steve did not even
turn. He was keeping his eyes on a big gilt mirror that
hunur in front of him and showed both the door and
Leech.
The men reached the door and knocked again ; thru
opened it, and three men in United States uniform stood
in the doorway. Steve's hand left his pistol, and tin* eyes
in the mirror were filled with a more amused smile as
he glanced from tin-in to Leech. A radiant joy sprang
into Leech's face. He gave a dive behind his desk, shout-
ing, " Seize that man. Shoot him if he lifts his hand I"
Nothing of the kind, however, occurred. At a si^n from
Steve, the three men came inside the room and closed the
door belli nd them.
"Come out, Leech. These are my men, not yours/1
504 RED ROCK
said Steve. "You are too big a coward to fool with;
come out. Pull him out, one of you." And the man
st Leech caught him by the arm and dragged him up
on his feet, gasping and white with returning terror as he
saw the trick that had been played him.
"Did you think I was such a fool as that?" Steve
asked, contemptuously. "Come, we have no more time
to lose. Fetch him along, men." He turned to the door,
and the next moment Leech was seized and hustled out at
a trot. The sight of a pistol in the hand of one of the
men kept him quiet. At the door a gag was put into his
mouth, a cap was pulled down over his eyes, and his arms
were pinioned to his side. He was conscious that the
lamps were extinguished, and the key turned in the lock
behind him. Then he was borne to his gate, set on a
horse, and carried off through the darkness at a gallop. lie
gave a groan of terror. " Eemember Andy Stamper," said
one of the men, and Leech remembered well enough. How
far they went the prisoner had no means of knowing. After
awhile the gag was taken from his mouth ; but he was told
that the least outcry would mean his death. They trav-
elled at a brisk gait all night, and he knew that he had
several men in his escort ; but though they at times talked
together in undertones, they did not address him and were
deaf to his speeches. Much of the journey was through
woods, and several times they forded rivers, and toward
the end they must have left all beaten tracks, for they rode
through bushes so dense as almost to sweep him from his
horse ; then they descended a steep hill, forded a stream,
and, a little later, Leech was lifted from his horse, borne,
half-dead with fright and fatigue, into a house, down a
flight of steps, and laid on a bed. One of the men who
brought him in lighted a candle and gave him a drink
of whiskey, which revived him ; and Leech found that he
was in a large room with stone walls, furnished simply,
like a bedroom, and ventilated from the top.
The man who was left with him was a stranger to him,
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD 505
and, as he turned to go, Leech asked him to tell him where
he was and what they were going to do with him. He felt
that it was his last chance.
" Maybe keep you as a hostage, maybe not."
" As a hostage ? "
" That's the Commander's idea. As a hostage tor those
you've arrested, and I reckon what the Capt'n says will
prevail. Good-by." He shut the door and bolted it be-
hind him, leaving Leech alone.
This, then, explained what Steve Allen meant by what
he said. He was a prisoner, to be held as a hostage for
those he had arrested. There was a bed in the room ;
and Leech was so fatigued that he fell asleep, and slept
until he was awakened by the guard bringing him some-
thing to eat. This man, like the others, was masked, and
he refused to talk at all.
' ( What will they do with me ? " asked Leech.
" Depends on what orders you've given about those
you've arrested," said the man in a voice which Leech
knew was feigned. He was going. Leech determined to
make one more effort.
- \Vait, please. I'm rich. No, I'm not rich; but I
have friends who are who would pay well if you — if I
were to get back to them." His voice had grown confi-
dential.
" Shouldn't be surprised." The tone was rather dry ;
but that mi^ht have been due to the fact that the voice
was disguised. And as he appeared acquiescent, Leech
took courage. He moved a little nearer to him. " I
could make it worth your while to let me go," he said,
insinuatingly. The man waited. Leech's hopes revived.
Me Raffle had sold out; why not buy this man? He was
plainer. " Why not let me out?" The guard was con-
g, ' 11 lp DM, and help me get hold of — just help
me, and I will see that you and your friends receive full
Ion, and will make yon r.
The guard Bulled off his mask, It was Steve Allen
506 RED ROCK
himself. " Good-night ;" and he was gone, leaving Leech
with his heart in his mouth.
There was great excitement in the County over the
disappearance of Major Leech ; but it was suppressed ex-
citement, and, curious as it may seem, his absence had
the immediate effect of quieting the negroes. They were
struck with awe at either the boldness or the mystery of
his abduction, and almost within a night after he dis-
appeared they had subsided. One who had seen them
parading and yelling with defiance and delight the day
that Leech led his handcuffed prisoners to the station to
ship them off to prison, would not have recognized the
awe-struck and civil people who now went back and forth
so quietly to their work. It seemed almost a miracle.
All sorts of tales were published in the public press as to
this latest outrage, and there was much denunciation ; but
no action was taken immediately, and for a time, at least,
the old County was once more under the rule of its own
citizens.
Owing partly to the letter Leech had written just before
his disappearance, and partly to the request of the Captain
of the company, who was heartily tired of his work, an order
had been issued transferring that officer's company to an-
other post ; and he had left with his company before the
fact of Leech's abduction became known. An appeal was
made to the Governor to declare the County under mar-
tial law ; but though he talked about it loudly enough, and
made many threats, he did not carry out his threats im-
mediately. Perhaps the Governor was not too anxious
to go into an investigation that might, instead of proving
Leech to have been murdered, result in bringing back
into the field his most formidable rival.
It, however, was deemed by the higher authorities that
something must be done to vindicate the majesty of the
law, and it was decided to send other troops to the County.
The selection of troops, however, had been proved by the
history of the County to be a matter of more than ordi-
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD 507
nary delicacy. Several different bodies had been sent there
without accomplishing what had been hoped for.
It happened that Thurston's command had just re-
turned from the Northwest and was awaiting some dis-
posal. It was remembered that this same troop had once
quieted things in the disturbed region, and had given, at
least, more of a show of peace than any of their numerous
successors had done. This was one view of the case.
There was perhaps another view which may have influ-
enced some. So Thurston was unexpectedly dispatched
with his command to the place from which he had been
ordered several years before. His appearance was a com-
plete surprise to the old residents, and the effect was im-
mediately apparent.
It was not known what it signified. Some thought it
meant the immediate placing of the County under martial
law, and the arrest of the remaining citizens. Others held
differently. "Whatever it meant, the excitement quieted
down. The whites had had experience with this company,
and felt that they could be relied on. The blacks recog-
nized that a stronger power had come among them, and
that it meant order and obedience.
When Captain Thurston dismounted from his horse on
the very ground on which he had dismounted a number of
years before, he had a curious feeling of mingled pleasure
and dissatisfaction. There, amid the big trees, stood the
old court-house, massive and imposing as it had looked
; ay ulu-n In- had guyed old Mr. Dockett about its
architecture, and told him that it was finer than anything
in Athens ; there, were the same great trees ; there the
sain.- rows of old offices, only a little more dilapidated ;
there the same moody faces of the few whites, and the same
crowd of idling negroes lagging about his troop, lie
turn, d and looked at the clerk's office, almost expecting to
see the same rosy, girlish face looking out at him dHiantly.
Instead, a negro in Mack clothes, with a beaver
hat cocked on the side of his head, was lounging in the
608 RED ROCK
door smoking a cigar. It gave the captain an unpleasant
shock ; and as he made arrangements about placing his
camp he wondered where old Mr. Dockett was now, and how
his pretty daughter was coming on. He had not heard
from her since his last campaign. She was probably mar-
ried. The idea gave him an unpleasant sensation. He
always hated to hear of any pretty girl marrying. It
seemed to make the world lonelier. The negro in the door
sauntered across toward the camp and spoke to some of
the soldiers familiarly, his silk hat on the side of his head,
his cigar rolling in his mouth.
" What company is this, men ? "
The words reached the Captain. One of the men who
was working told him shortly.
" Who's your Captain ?"
" There he is."
Thurston had grown stouter, and the negro did not rec-
ognize him.
" That little man ? What's his name ? "
Thurston caught the speech and, before the soldier
could answer, bawled at the negro, " Come here and take
hold of these things, and don't stand there interfering with
the men." The darky looked at him in blank amaze-
ment.
"Who? Me?"
" Yes, you."
" Not me ; you don't know who I am ! " He reared
himself back and stuck his thumbs in his armholes.
"No, and I don't care a hang either," said the little
Captain. " Sergeant, make that man take hold of those
things and put them in place."
" I'm Senator Ash," declared the man, surlily, swelling
with importance, and turning to walk away.
" Halt, there," said the soldier, coldly.
Nicholas Ash turned at the tone, to find the sergeant
quietly taking his pistol from the holster.
" You come back
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD 609
" I'm Senator Ash."
" Well, I don't give a who you are ; if you are Cap-
tain Jack himself, you catch hold there, as the Captain
says, or 'twill be the worse for you. He won't stand no
foolishness. I've seen him string a man up for less than
you have said already." And the weather-beaten soldier
looked so coldly on the senator that the latter deemed it
best to go through the form of obeying, and, swallowing
his rage as best he might, took hold and did his first man-
ual labor in some years.
This was the first official act of Captain Thurston on his
return, and, though it was an accident, it, perhaps, saved
him trouble in the future.
The Captain availed himself of the earliest opportunity to
hunt up his old friends. When he had pitched his camp
and got settled, he sauntered up to Mr. Dockett's. As
he walked along he noted the changes that had occurred
since he went away. The yards were more uncared for, the
houses more dilapidated, and the fences more broken. As
he entered the Dockett yard, he was pleased to observe that
it was kept in its old trim order. The breath of flowers
that he remembered so well, and had always associated with
the place, met him as of old. When he opened the gate he
saw that there were several persons on the porch ; but as
he approached they all rose and disappeared in the house.
There were one or two white dresses in the party. He had
not long to wait. At his knock Mrs. Dockett herself ap-
peared, and he thought he could see the firm set of her
month and the glint in her eyes as she bore down upon
him. She looked much older. She did not appear sur-
prised to see him. She invited him in, but did not say
anything about her daughter ; and at length the Captain
had to ask after her. She was very well, she thanked him.
She had some young friends with her.
In this condition of affairs, Captain Thurston had re-
coarse to stratagem. He adroitly turned the conversation
to Rupert Gray, and began to tell of his success in the
."510 KED KOCK
West, and of the incident when he had showed such brav-
ery while acting as a scout with him. He was conscious
at once of the change in the good lady's manner, and of
the increased interest she betrayed ; so he dilated on it at
some length. No one ever had a warmer historian. He
made Rupert out a hero, and was congratulating himself
secretly on his success, when, with a sniff, Mrs. Dockett de-
clared that she was not surprised at Rupert's acting so. It
was only what she should have expected from one of their
young men, and she was not surprised that the Yankees
should have been obliged to call on him to help them. But
she was surprised that Captain Thurston should have ex-
posed a boy like Rupert, hardly more than a child, to such
danger. Why had he not gone himself to rescue his men ?
Thurston could not help laughing at the turn she gave his
story. This shot appeared, however, to have somewhat
cleared the atmosphere. Mrs. Dockett began to unbend.
She " would see her daughter ; perhaps, she would come
in ; she would like to hear of Rupert." Just then, whether
for this reason or one in which the visitor had a more per-
sonal concern, the door opened and Miss Dockett walked
in unbidden. She, too, had grown older since Thurston
went away ; but the change was not to her disadvantage.
The plump little figure had developed ; the round face had
in it more force ; and she had become, if not a very pret-
ty woman, at least a very comely one. She greeted the
Captain distantly, but not coldly. She began by making
war at once, and that the little officer was used to. It was
only indifference that he could not stand.
" Well, and so you have come back, and I suppose you
will expect us all to get down on our knees to you ? " she
said, her chin a little elevated.
" No, not you. I'll make a treaty with you, if you
won't insist on my getting down on mine to you," he
laughed.
" To me ? J supposed Miss Welch was the only one you
did that to."
CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD 611
This was encouraging, and the little Captain was in-
stantly at his e
Ifla \\vioh? Who is Kin \Velch?"
"Come, now, don't be. trying that with me ; I know all
about it, so you might as well tell me. Perhaps, you'll
nerd my assistance. All the gentlemen seem to be victims
to her charms. Captain Allen thinks there is no one like
her. Some men, when they are discarded, take to drink,
but here they seem to take to Miss Welch/'
• • Well, some men need one kind of stimulant, and some
another ; now, I like niiiu- with a proper mixture of spirit
and sweetening." The little Captain's eyes were helping
him all they could.
"I don't know what you mean, I'm sure." She looked
down coyly.
tv, a sort of peach and honey ?"
" You men have such vulgar similes." The little nose
was turning up.
*• Wt-11, I'll be literary, and say 'a snow and rose-bloom
maiden,'" said the Captain, who had been reading Carlyli*.
• I ;:1 ways think of you in connection with roses and
snow."
The little nose came down, and the Captain's peace was
mad. •. llr l.r^m to tell of Indian fights and long marches
ove* parched or snow-swept plains, where men and horses
dropped. Miss Elizabeth, like Desdemona, to hear did
seriously incline, and the Captain was invited to supper.
CHAPTER XL
JACQUELIN GRAY AND ANDY STAMPER PAY AN OLD DEBT
THE disappearance of Leech had strangely affected Miss
Bush. She was much agitated by it. Her host was sure
at first that Leecli had gone off ; then he was sure he had
been murdered. Miss Bush was accustomed to investigate
for herself. Among her acquaintances was old Peggy,
who lived in the cabin on the abandoned place. Miss Bush,
in her round among the negroes, had found the old woman,
and, in the face of some coldness on the latter's part, had
persisted in showing her kindness, and had finally won
her gratitude, if not her friendship. Soon after Leech's
disappearance she paid old Peggy a visit. Then she went
to see Miss Welch. If Miss Welch would only use her in-
fluence with Captain Allen ! Miss Welch had none ; they
did not even speak. But she made a suggestion.
So, one evening about dusk, just after the arrival of
Thurston with his command, a visitor, deeply veiled, ap-
plied to the sentinel at the gate of the court-green, and
asked leave to see Mr. Jacquelin Gray. The sergeant of
the guard was called, and, after certain formalities, she was
admitted to the clerk's office ; and a few minutes later
Jacquelin Gray came in. The visitor stated, with some
nervousness, that she wished to see him privately, and
Jacquelin, wondering what the stranger could want with
him, walked with her into the inner office. Even there
she appeared greatly embarrassed. She evidently did not
know how to begin, and Jacquelin, to relieve her, asked
her kindly what he could do for her.
" I have a great favor to ask of you," she said.
512
AND ANDY PAY AN (>!.!> I>!T,T 513
"' Well, madam, I do not know what I can do for auy-
i prisoner like me," said Jacquelin, smiling half-
grimly, half-sadly. " But I think I can say that whatever
i .in do I will do."
" I am sure you can. If you cannot, no one can. I want
you to intercede for me with Captain Allen."
" With Steve ! For you ? Why, I do not know where
he is ! And I am sure if he knew you wanted anything he
could grant, he would do it on your own simple request.
Who are you?"
The visitor, after a moment of hesitation, put back her
veil and faced him. " Don't you remember me ? " she
asked, timidly.
Jacquelin looked at her earnestly. For a moment he
was deeply piizzled ; then, as a faint smile came into her
eyes, a light broke on him.
•• Why, Miss Bush ! Wlmt are you doing here ?"
"I urn teaching school. I am the school-teacher at the
Brn.l. .Miss May."
"Is it possible?" He stepped forward and too!
hand warmly. 4* I never knew it. 1 have heard the name,
hut I never connected it with yon. Why did you not let
me know before ? I am very glad to see you, and I <
that anything in the world 1 can do for you I will do."
" You must not promise too fast. Ii is a great favor 1
have to prefer," she said. " And I do not know whether.
when you hear it, you will he willing to help i
•* Well, I know. I have not forgotten the hospital."
She appeared once more deterred from speaking l>y cm-
bar rossm*
•• I want you to save Jonadnb Leech."
•• Wh.-it ! What do you know of him !' " naked Jacque-
lin. in >inccro astonishment.
•• I know he is alive."
You do? What do you know of him ? What is he to
" He is — he was — my husband."
RKD ROCK
•• .Miss Hush!"
" We were separated. But— She stopped in agita-
tion, pulled down her veil, and turned her face away.
,Iar«jiii'lin watched her in silent sympathy.
" I am sure it was his fault," he said.
" Yes, I think it was," brokenly, from under her veil.
•• I If iraa not very kind to me. But I cannot forget that
he was my husband, and the father of my child."
" I will do what I can for you," Jacquelin said, kindly.
" Tell me how you think I can help him. What do you
know of him ? "
She composed herself, and told him what she knew.
She knew where Leech was, and the conditions under
which lie was held. She wanted Jacquelin to interfere
personally. This alone would save him, she believed.
The difficulty was to get Jacquelin free. Here her pow-
ers failed, and she sat looking at Jacquelin in hopeless
anxiety.
Jacquelin thought deeply. Suddenly he roused himself.
"All right, Miss Bush. I will see what I can do. You
are just in time. The order has come this evening, I hear,
for us to go to the city to-morrow. I have never asked a
favor of my keepers ; but I will do it for you, and, if you
will wait in here, I will let you know if there is any
chance."
He went out, leaving the little school-teacher in the dim
office. His first visit was to his fellow-prisoner, Mr. Stamp-
er. It was an extraordinary request that he made of
Thurston a little later : to be allowed to leave his prison
for the night, and take Andy Stamper with him, and to be
lent two good horses. But it was granted. He promised
to be back by daylight, and Thurston knew he would be
back.
" I will be here, dead or alive," said Jacquelin ; and he
and Andy Stamper rode away in the dusk.
Leech was awakened from his slumbers that night by the
trampling of many horses outside, and footsteps and voices
JACQUELIN AND ANDY PAY AN OLD DEBT 515
in the rooms above him. He started up in terror ; for
though he could not catch anything that was said, he
knew from the sound that there must be many men in the
. , and he felt sure that his time had come.
il rose and groped around his chamber. By creeping
up to the chimney and listening intently, he could after
awhile distinguish a part of what was said. To his un-
speakable terror he could hear his own name mentioned
again and again. The men were a body of Ku Klux,
and they were debating what should be done with him.
Most of the voices were low, but now and then one rose.
He heard one man distinctly give his vote that he should
be hanged, and, judging from the muffled applause that
followed, it appeared to meet with much favor. Then he
heard the name of Steve Allen, and the discussion seemed
to be heated. Suddenly, in the midst of it, there was a
general exclamation. A door slammed ; a heavy tread
crossed the floor above him, and dead silence fell. It was
broken by a single voice speaking in the deep tone which
Leech recognized instantly as Steve Allen's. He gave
himself up for lost. But he was astonished at the next
words that caught his ear. Captain Allen's voice was
clearer than the others, or he was speaking louder, and to
the prisoner's surprise he was defending him, or, at least,
was opposing the others. lie was evidently angry. Leech
. him say he was surprised to lind them there and to
Irani why th.-y had DOOM. There was a confused murmur
at this, and Leech heard one voice calling, "Order!
Ord. r ! Remember your \
odnced quiet, and the voice said (evidently
speaking to Captain Allen) :
decision of the Supreme Council. We have
come to take the prisoner and d.-al with him according to
our laws."
"And I tell you," said Captain Allen, his voice rinpni:
out clear and perfectly audible, " that I do not recognize
your laws, and that you shall not have him. He is my
516 RED ROCK
prisoner, and I will defend him with my life. You will
not get him except over my dead body."
There was a suppressed murmur at this, but Captain
Allen continued, speaking firmly and boldly. He went
over the state of affairs in the County, and related his ob-
ject in capturing Leech to hold him as a hostage for his
friends and relatives. To do away with him would be to
destroy the very object with which he had taken him pris-
oner, and would render himself liable for his murder. This
he did not propose to allow. He should hold Leech for
the present, and meantime would be responsible for him;
and he would allow no one to touch a hair of his head.
Leech began to breathe again. It was a strange feeling
to him to be grateful to Steve Allen ; but at that moment
he could have kissed his feet. There was more talking,
but too confused for Leech to catch what was said ; and
whenever Allen spoke it was in the same bold tone, which
showed that he remained firm ; and, at length, Leech could
hear the crowd going. They came down outside the
house, and Leech could hear them getting their horses,
and, finally, they rode away. One thing, however, terrified
the prisoner. The voices of two men talking near the
wall reached him from above. One of them was grum-
bling that Captain Allen should have come and prevented
their carrying out their plan. Who was he, he asked, that
he could come in and defy the decision of the Supreme
Council ? He had left the order, and declared that lie
did not recognize them any longer ; and the speaker did
not like to li ive him or anyone setting himself up and
claiming to be above the order.
" Oh, never mind about that," said the other ; " he
won't be here all the time. We'll come back some time
when he is not here, and deal with that dog as he deserves ;
and then Allen will find out whether he is as big as he
thinks himself."
Just then an order was given by someone, and they rode
off, and left Leech with the drops of sweat standing out
JACQUELIX AND AtfDT PAY AN" OLD DEBT 517
on his forehead. The Bound of their trampling died away,
and there fell a deep silence, broken for a little while
by the faint sound of a distant footstep, which Leech be-
lieved to be that of his captor and guard ; and after a short
time even this died out, and Leech went back to his bed,
trembling with fright, and, finally, sank into a fitful slum-
1 [e had not been asleep a great while when there was
again a sound of horses trampling. Leech sprang up once
more, in an agony of terror. He heard a challenge from
above — " Halt, there ! " — from some one who seemed to be
a guard, and then a colloquy, in which he could distinguish
line; and then his guard seemed to yield. After a
short interval he heard the footsteps of several men com-
ing down the stair that led to his door, and there was a
short consultation outside. He heard someone say, " This
is the place Steve said he is in ; I know it."
They tried the door, and then a voice called him,
" Leech, Leech — Colonel Leech I" He was afraid to an-
swer. He was almost dead with fright. It called again ;
and this time he was glad he had not answered, for he
li»-ard one of the men say, " He forgot to give me the key.
in the door. Wait, I'll get an axe."
II-- went up the stair, and Leech could hear the other
waiting outside. Leech was sure now that his last hour
had come. In his terror he ran to the chimney and at-
to climb up in it. It was too narrow, however;
and all he could do was to get up in it a little way and
draw up his feet. Here he stuck, wedged in. paralyzed
with terror, while he heard the blows outside under which
loor was giving way.
ontly the door was smashed in, and Leech could see
the liu'lit of the torch, or whatever it was, flashed upon
and could hear the voices of the mm.
•• II I'-ard one say, and his heart re-
vived a little : but the next sc . . for he heard
the searchers say, " There is his bed. He has been in it ;
518 KKD ROCK
so he must be here somewhere." They approached the
chimney, and one of them held his torch up.
" Hero he is," he laughed. "Come out, Colonel."
He did not wait for Leech to move, but, reaching up,
caught him by the leg and pulled him down amid a cloud
of dust and soot. Leech must have presented a strange ap-
pearance, for the men, who were masked, burst out laugh-
ing. Leech began to pray for his life, but the men only
laughed.
" Come on, Colonel. We'll present you to your friends as
you are," said one of them, the smaller. " You ought to
be pleased with your looks, for you look just like one of
your friends. You wouldn't know yourself from a nigger."
Leech recognized Andy Stamper, and knew he was lost.
Andy had escaped. He began to beg him, and to make him
all sorts of promises, which Andy cut short.
" Oh, pshaw ! Come along. Shut up. This is no time
for you to be making promises. Come along, and keep
your mouth shut."
They seized him, and dragged him up the steps and
through a door out into the darkness. There, at a little
distance, were two horses, on one of which Andy Stamper
sprang, while the other man made Leech mount up be-
hind him ; and then, springing on the other horse himself,
they set off at a sharp trot. As they mounted, Leech rec-
ognized Jacquelin Gray. He nearly fell from his horse.
As they followed wood-paths he began to have a dim
hope ; not much, however, for he could not think that
these two men could intend him any good. Once, as they
were on a road, the sound of horses' feet ahead reached
them, and the two riders instantly left the road and struck
into the bushes.
" If you get out of this," said Andy Stamper, "and get
back safe to your friends, will you swear you'll never say a
word about it to anybody ? Never a single ?"
" Yes, I'll swear. 1 swear before " said the prisoner,
so quickly that the other had not time to finish his question.
JACQUELIN AND ANDY PAY AN OLD DEBT 519
" That you will never tell anyone a word about this
place, or how you got here, or how you were taken, or any-
thing?"
" Yes, yes. I swear before G — d I never will— never a
word. I swear I won't."
" Let's see. How will you swear it ? " asked the other,
reflectively.
•• I'll swear it on the Bible. I'll swear on a stack of
Bibles."
'* \\re ain't got any Bibles," said the other, dryly.
" I'll give you my word of honor as a gentleman/'
The other only grunted. He was riot much impressed.
" I'll swear before "
Mr. Stamper suddenly roused up to the necessities of
the occasion.
•• I fere," he said, quickly. "Do you swear that, if yon
ever breathe a word as to how you got here, who brought
you, or who took you away, or anything you saw here, or
anything about the place at all, you hope G — d will strike
you dead, and d — n you in h— 1 lire ?"
"Yes. Ill swear it," said Leech, fervently. "I hope
he will d — n me forever if I do."
"And strike you dead ?" repeated Andy, not to admit
any loophole.
:- Yes."
" If that don't keep him nothin' will," said Andy, dryly,
half -aloud; And then beadded, for further srenrity : •• \\ . i.
you'd better keep it, for if you don't, tin- earth won't be 1.1-j
/h to hide you. You won't )i nrr chance."
As they waited, a body of 1. .ivily mullled. n»«lo
[y along the road they had just left, and pa— ed out of
• the woods behind them. It was a body of Ku
Klux making their way ba«-k home. or. perhaps, back to
onse from which Leeeb bad just be.-n taken*
two rescuers rode on and at length emer^'d into a Hold,
and. crossing it, dismounted behind a elump of building.
sky was just beginning to redden with the
RED ROCK
first glimmer of dawn ; and the cheep of a bird announcing
it was heard in the trees as the men tied their horses.
" Come on," said Andy. " In a little while you can
make your promises. " They led Leech between them, hal f-
deail \vith fright and fatigue, and, helping him over a wall,
dragged him up to a door, and, opening it, walked in.
" Who's that ? " asked a man, rising from a sofa, where
he had evidently been asleep.
" Here we are ; back on time," said Jacquelin, gravely.
"Ah! you've got back? Wait. I'll strike a light.
Who's this with you ? "
" A prisoner/' said Andy, with mock solemnity; "but
whether white or black you'll have to tell."
The man struck a light, and Leech, to his astonishment,
found himself in the presence of a Federal officer — of
Reely Thurston.
The two men stared at each other in blank amazement.
And it is probable that, if at that moment their happiness
in finding their chief wish gratified could have been marred,
it would have been by the fact that they owed this to each
other. Perhaps something of this kind must have appeared
in their faces, for Jacquelin laughed.
" Well, you two can settle matters between you. We are
off— to jail," he said. " Now, Major Leech, you can make
good your promises ; and it will depend on whether you see
fit to do so or not, whether we have done a good act or not.
Good-night." He and Andy went off.
The next day the prisoners were sent to the city under
Captain Thurston's personal guard, the little Captain, for
his own private reasons, deciding to take them himself,
Leech accompanied them.
CHAPTER XLI
DR. CARY WRITES A LETTER TO AK OLD FRIEND
THE vows of a considerable part of the human race are
said to be writ in water, but it is by no means only that
sex to whom the poet has attributed this quality, which
possesses it. Quite another part of the race is liable to
forget vows made tinder conditions that have changed.
And Major Leech was of this number. He no sooner
found himself free and guarded by a power strong enough
to protect him than he forgot the oaths he had sworn
so volubly to Andy Stamper that night when he stood
in the darkness of the deserted plantation ; and he ap-
plied himself with all his energy to repair his fortunes
aii'l revenge himself. His enemies were in his power.
With them free he might have to undergo trial himself ;
with them under indictment for offences against the Gov-
ernment, even if they were not convicted, he was free to
push forward his plans. It was too great a temptation for
him to resist, too good an opportunity for him to pass by ;
and perhaps even Andy Stamper did not blame him, or
even expect him to forego it.
The story the returned captive told of his wrongs was
one strange enough to move hearts even less inclined to
espouse his cause than those of the authorities into whose
ears he poured it, and almost immediately after his arrival
the machinery of the law was set in motion. His grudge
against Captain Thurston was as great as that against the
residents of the County— indeed greater ; for he professed
some gratitude for Jacquelin Gray and Stamper, and even
522 BED ROCK
had an offer made them of a sort of pardon, conditional on
their making a full confession of their crimes. But inves-
tigation showed him that for the present he would weaken
himself by attempting to attack Thurston. Thurston had
secured his release. So for the time being he was content
to leave the Captain alone, and apply all his energies to
the prosecution of the enemies against whom he was as-
sured of success.
In a little while he had his grand jury assembled, and
the prisoners were all indicted. An early time was set for
their trial. Dr. Gary was among those indicted.
In this state of the case, it appeared to the Doctor that
the time had come when he could no longer with pro-
priety refrain from applying for help to his old friend,
Senator Rockfield, who had asked him to call on him. It
was no longer a private matter, but a public one. It was
not himself alone that was concerned, but his nearest
friends and neighbors ; and in such a case he could no
longer stand on his pride. Already the prison was in
view ; and the path seemed very straight, and the way of
escape seemed blocked on every side. Step by step they
had been dragged along ; every avenue shut off ; all the
old rights refused ; and it looked as if they were doomed.
So Dr. Gary sat down in prison and wrote a letter to his
old college-mate, setting forth the situation in which he
found himself and his friends, giving him a complete
statement of the case and of all the circumstances relating
to it, and asked that, if in his power, the Senator would
help him.
He told him that unless some action were taken prompt-
ly he saw no escape, and that he seemed doomed to a
felon's cell. The Doctor told his friend that, while he
had been present for a little while with the masked mob
that broke into the jail, he had been so for the purpose of
trying to dissuade them from any act of lawlessness ; and
the part lie had taken could be proved by a hundred wit-
nesses. But all those who had been arrested were indicted
DR. CARY WKITKS TO AN OLD FRIEND
with him, which would prevent their testifying for him;
and if any others were to come forward to testify, they
would simply subject themselves to immediate arrest.
" I can give you no idea," he wrote, " of the condition
of affairs here, and shall offer no proof except my word.
Unless you and I have changed since we knew each other
man to man in that old time long ago, no other proof will
be necessary ; yet if I should attempt to give you a true
picture, I should strain your credulity.
"I think I can say, with Cicero, it is not my crimes,
but my virtues that have destroyed me.
" But if you wish to know the whole state of the case, I
would ask you to come down and see for yourself. Un-
fortunately I shall not be able personally to extend i>
the hospitality of my home ; but if you will go to my house,
my wife and daughter will show you every attention, and
do everything in their power to promote your comfort.
" Lying in jail as I am, under indictment for a scan-
dalous crime, with the penitentiary staring me in the face,
I perhaps should not sign myself as I do ; yet when I call
to mind the long and distinguished line of men of virtue
who have suffered the same fate, and reflect on m\
consciousness of integrity, I believe you would not have
me subscribe myself otherwise than as,
" Your old friend, JOHN CAI
This letter reached Senator Rockfield at an auspicious
one evening after dinner, when ho was resting
Sy at home, enjoying a good cigar, and when his
was mellow. It happened that certain measures
were pending just then, to secure which the Senator's in-
e was greatly desired. It also happened thai a num-
ber of other measures of a very radical character had late-
ly been proposed; and the Senator had gone somewhat
deeply into the Hiil-j- •:. with the result of unearthing an
appal ling state of affairs in tin- whole section fmm which
this letter came. Moreover. u Middleton happened
KKD ROCK
to be at the •Senator's house at that very time, and added
> to those the Senator had learned, which
stirred the Senator deeply.
The Senator's part in the release of the prisoners that
shortly followed Dr. Gary's letter was not known even to
Dr. Gary for some time, and was never known generally.
Senator Rockfield read Dr. Gary's letter all through
twice, and then leaned back in his big chair and thought
profoundly. The letter dropped from his hand to the
floor, and his cigar went out. His wife, seeing that some-
thing was moving him deeply, watched him anxiously,
and at length asked: " What is it?" For answer, the
Senator merely picked up the letter, handed it to her across
the table, and again sat back in deep thought. • She read
it, and looked at him more anxiously than before, her face
puling somewhat. His face, which before had been soft
with reminiscence, had grown stern. He was conscious
that she was looking at him, and conscious of her thoughts
as she was of his. Suddenly he rose to his feet.
" Where are you going ? " she asked, though in reality
she knew.
" To send a telegram."
"IwillcallJolm."
" No, I am going to see Secretary "
He folded the letter and put it into his pocket. At the
mention of the name, the light sprang into her eyes — the
light of contest. She knew that it would be a crucial in-
w, and that her husband's future would depend on it.
" Shall I ring for the carriage ? "
" No, I will walk. I want to cool myself off a little."
He stopped as he reached the door. « He was the first
gentleman of our class," he said. He went out.
A half-hour later, Senator Rocktield was admitted to
the study or private office of the Secretary who had the
direction of matters affecting the South and who controlled
everything which related to it.
He was a man of iron constitution, a tremendous
DK. GARY WRITES TO AN OLD FRIEND
worker, and his study at his home was only a private apart-
ment of his office in the great Government building in
which he presided. His ambition was to preside in a
greater building, over the whole Government. He gave his
life to it. Every other consideration was subordinated. It
was a proof of the Senator's influence that he was admitted
to see him at that hour. And at the instant he appeared
the Secretary was busy writing a momentous document.
As the Senator entered, however, he shot a swift, keen
glance at him, and his face lit up. He took ].
ance at that hour as a proof that he had yielded, or, at
least, was yielding.
" Ah I Senator. Glad to see you," he said, with a smile
which he could make gracious. " I was just thinking of
you. I hope I may consider your visit a token of peace ;
that you recognize the wisdom of our position/'
He was speaking lightly, but the Senator did not re-
spond in the same vein. His face did not relax.
" No, far from it," he said. Without noticing the chair
to which the Secretary waved him, he took Dr. Gary's letter
from his pocket and laid it on the table under the Secre-
tary's nose. " Read that."
The Secretary's face clouded. He took up the letter and
glanced at it ; then began to read it cursorily. As lie did
so his face assumed another expression.
" Well, what of this ? " he asked, coldly. He look
the Senator superciliously. His manner and the sm
his face were like a blow. The Senator's face flushed.
"Just this. That I say this thing has got to stop, by
(J — d !" Ho towered above the Secretary and looked him
full in the eyes. He did not often show feeling. \Vlu-n lie
did he was impressive. A change passed over the other's face.
"And if it don't?"
" I shall rise in my seat to-morrow morning and de-
nounce the whole administration. I shall turn tho whole
influence of my paper against you, and shall fight you to
the end*11
526 KKD ROOK
" Oh ! you won't be so foolish ! " sneered the Secretary.
" I will not ! \Vait and see ! " He leant over and took
up the paper. " I bid you good-evening." He put on his
hat and turned to the door. Before he reached it, how-
ever, the other had reflected.
" Wait. Don't be so hasty."
The Senator paused. The Secretary had risen and was
following him.
" My dear Senator, let me reason with you. .1 think if
you give me ten minutes, I can show you the folly "
Senator Kockfield stiffened. " Good-evening, Mr.
Secretary." He turned back to the door.
" Hold on, Senator, I beg you," said the Secretary.
The Senator turned, this time impatiently. " What
guarantee have I that this letter is true ? " asked the
other, temporizing.
" My word. I was at college with the writer of that
letter. He was my dearest friend."
" Oh ! of course, if you know yourself that those facts
are correct ! Why did you not say so before ? Take a
seat while I read the paper over again."
The Senator seated himself without a word, while the
Secretary read the letter a second time. Presently Senator
Rockfield leant over and lit again the cigar he had let go
out an hour before, and which he had carried all this time
without being aware of it. He knew he had won his game.
When the Secretary was through, he laid the letter down
and, drawing a sheet of paper toward him, began to wrih'.
"When do you want the order issued?" he asked,
presently.
" Immediately. I am going South to-night."
"It will not be necessary. I will issue an order at once
that the prisoners be admitted to bail. In fact, I had in-
tended to do so in a few days, anyhow."
The Senator looked politely acquiescent.
" But I am very glad to do it at once, at your request.
You see, we are obliged to rely on the reports of our agents
DK. OAKY WKITKS TO AN OLD FUIHND 627
down there ; and they report things to be in a very bad
way."
The Senator looked grimly amused.
" No doubt they are."
" I will send you a copy of the order to-morrow. I
hope you will take it as a proof that we really are not quite
as bad as you appear to think us." He began to write
•gain.
The two men parted ceremoniously, and the Senator,
after sending a telegram South, returned to his home-.
As he entered, he found his wife anxiously awaiting
him.
"I won," he said, and she threw herself into his arms.
The effect of this interview was i mined lately felt in the
old County, and after a short time Dr. Cary and the other
:iers confined with him were admitted to bail, and
eventually the prosecutions were dismissed. But this was
not until after the event about to be recorded.
CHAPTER XLII
CAPTAIN" ALLEN" SURRENDERS
THE effect of Leech's return to power was soon visible,
and the gloom in the old County was never so deep as it
became after that. The failure of Steve's daring and
high-handed step but intensified this. It appeared as if a
complete overthrow had come at last.
As is often the case when unexpected failure has come
to brilliant and promising plans, popular opinion veered
suddenly ; and whereas, but a little before, all were
full of wonder at Steve Allen's daring coup, now that it
had failed many were inclined to blame him. He ought
either to have let the Ku Klux, who, it was understood,
had tried to get hold of Leech, deal with him, or else have
let him alone. Now he had but intensified his malice,
as was shown by the rancor with which he was pushing
the prosecutions. He had given Leech a national reputa-
tion, and increased his power to do harm.
Captain Allen was deeply offended by some of the things
suid about him by certain of the members of the secret so-
ciety, and he met them with fierce denunciation of the
whole order. It was, he said, no longer the old organiza-
tion which, he asserted, had acted for the public good, and
with a high purpose. That had ceased to exist. This was
a cowardly body of cut-throats, who rode about the coun-
try under cover of darkness, perpetrating all sorts of out-
rages and villainies for purposes of private vengeance. He
gave them to understand clearly that he was not afraid of
them, and denounced and defied the whole gang.
But one thing Steve could not meet so well. He could
CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS 629
not meet the charge that his wild and reckless act m carry-
ing Leech off had, in the sequel, done harm, and had in-
tensified the hostility shown to the old County, and in-
creased the rigor with which the citizens were tr>
Kven the friends who adhered stoutly to him were forced
to admit that, as it turned out, his carrying Leech off was
unfortunate. The downcast looks and the gloom that ap-
peared everywhere told him how deeply the people were
suffering. Another thing stuck deeper in his heart. He
was at liberty and his friends in prison. Jacquelin was
in prison under indictment when he had taken his place,
and but for him would be a free man.
Steve had thought at times of leaving the State and go-
ing West. Rupert's career there showed what might be
accomplished. But this idea passed away now in the stress
of the present crisis. He would not leave the State in the
hour of her darkness, lie cc-uld not leave his friends. It
would be desertion.
Another cause of anxiety began to make itself apparent
to Captain Allen about the same time. He knew, as the
reader knows, that Captain Aurelius Thurston had long
been an ardent, if a somewhat intermittent, suitor of Mi>s
Welch ; though his information was derived, not from the
cold statement of the chronicler, but through those intui-
tions with which a lover appears to be endowed for his
self-torture as well as for his security. Miss Kuth. it is
had denied the charge, made from timo to time,
respecting Captain Thnrston ; i mow that tl,«
nials are frequently far short of satisfying a lover's jeal-
ousy. Ami it must be confessed that she had never taken
the trouble to state to (' Mien the explicit ami
somewhat decisive condition* under which she had con-
sented to continue the friendship.
Captain ThurHton, thus cut otT fn>m his hal.itnal occu-
pation in that quarter, shortl \ hi* arrival, as has
been seen, went back to his old flame, Miss Elizabeth
Dockctt, and was soon as deeply immersed in that affair
84
630 RED ROCK
as he had ever been with Miss Welch. As Miss Elizabeth,
however, treated him with unexampled rigor, and .Mrs.
Dockett never for an instant permitted him to forget that
he was occupying the position of a tyrant, the Captain
found himself obliged to seek at times the aid of a friendly
ally, and turned for consolation to Miss Welch, who cheer-
fully rendered him in another's behalf all the service she
had declined in her own. Thus the little Captain was
much more welcome at the Welches' home than he had
ever been before, and rumor was kind enough to declare
that his attentions were far from being unacceptable. His
duties at the court-house, as Commandant of the County,
were sufficient to account for all the time he spent there,
including whatever hours he passed at the old Dockett
place among the trees and lilacs, while his presence at the
Welches' could only be attributed to one cause.
This report reached Captain Allen, lounging on the
verandas of his friends, and it did not serve to make his
life as a refugee and exile more agreeable.
Matters were in this condition when the news came that
the next week had been set as the time for the trial of the
Red Rock prisoners. Judge Bail had already arrived, ac-
companied by McRaffie. A special jury was being selected,
and the witnesses were being summoned. They were a set
to make the outlook as dark as possible — Bushman, and
Perdue, and Dr. Moses, and a score of the worst negroes
in the County. Captain Allen knew that Leech had said
he would rather have him than all the other prisoners put
together. And at length came a definite statement that
Leech would abandon the other prosecutions if Allen
would surrender himself and stand trial. It had come
through McRaffle, who claimed to have secured this con-
cession.
Next day, Steve rode down to the court-house, and,
giving his horse to a negro, with directions to send him
to Dr. Gary's, walked across to Captain Thurston's camp.
A number of his friends saw him, and came crowding up
CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS 531
with wonder and curiosity in their faces. Steve spoke to
them cheerily, stopped and chatted lightly for awhile,
and then left them and walked quietly across the green to
imp, leaving them staring after him open-eyed and
with anxious faces. He knocked at the door of the office
which was the Captain's head-quarters, and, on being bid
to enter, opened the door.
Perhaps there was not a man in the world whom Reely
Thurston would not rather have seen at that moment than
Steve Allen. He sprang to his feet as Steve entered, and
stared at him in blank amazement. He had no idea why
he had come, and, for an instant, perhaps, supposed it was
with hostile intent. This idea, however, Steve at once
dissipated by his manner.
" Good-morning, Captain Thurston." He held out his
hand, and, having shaken hands with the Captain, flung
himself into a seat.
" Give me a cigar. I have come to have a talk with
you," he said, lightly. Thrrston handed him a cigar and
lit one himself, his face perplexed and a little troubled as
he pondered on what could possibly have brought him this
visitor. Steve saw his perplexity and smiled.
" I have come to see what terms I can make through
you, Captain, before I give myself up."
" Wait. I am not authorized to make any terms. I
must notify you " Thurston was beginning very seri-
ously. But Steve interrupted him.
" I did not say with you, but through you. I would
not place you in such an embarrassing position. I sup-
pose you would not mind seeing what terms you could
make with your friend, Colonel Leech. " Thurston flushed.
•• lie is no friend of mine/' he said, hotly.
"Oh, I thought you had made up," said Steve, mali-
ciously. " Well, he will be if you give me up to him.
But I thought you might make a little better terms for
me than I could for myself, as he seems to prefer the city
to the country just now, and I fear a communication from
532 RED liOCK
me would not meet with the consideration at his hands
that the closeness of our intimacy a short time since
should secure for it."
" What the d — 1 are you driving at, Allen ? " asked
Thurston. " You know what I think of Leech, and how
he regards me. But that does not alter the fact that I
am sent here to catch — to apprehend you — and if I do my
duty I should have you arrested."
" Of course, Captain Thurston, do your duty/' said
Steve, coolly, his face hardening a little and his upper lip
curling slightly.
" No, no, Allen. I did not mean it that way. I am only
trying to get at what you want. I am a little mystified."
His evident friendliness soothed Steve's feelings, which
had been ruffled by his former speech.
" I want to see whether I would not be accepted as a
propitiatory offering in place of my friends — of others
who have done nothing, and deserve no punishment. I
am the head and front of the whole business. I am re-
sponsible for all they are charged with, and they are not.
And I want to get them released, and give myself up in
their place."
Thurston looked deeply troubled. He shook his head
thoughtfully.
" I do not want to arrest you. I must say that you are
the last person in the world that I wanted to see. But if
you stay here, I must arrest you. If, however, you came
here with any idea that I would — I mean, that I could —
make terms with you, I do not wish to take advantage of
your mistake. There is a door. You can walk out of it
while I go and call the sergeant of the guard."
Steve shook his head.
" No, no. I am going to give myself up, anyhow. It
la tho only thing I can do to help them. Perhaps, if these
scoundrels get me, they may let the others off. I am the
one they are after. But I want you to assist me. You are
a gentleman, and can appreciate my position."
CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS 533
Thurston looked at him a moment, and then reached out
his hand.
"Allen, I promise you I will do all I can."
The two men shook hands across the table ; and Steve,
settling himself comfortably, gave Thurston an account
of all that had taken place between himself and Leech
the night of his capture, and between himself and the
band of Ku Klux the night they had come to take
Leech from the place where he had confined him. He
showed Thurston that he had known of the plan to rescue
him.
" But why did you carry him off ? " asked Thurston.
"I can understand all the rest ; but I do not see how a
man of your sense could have supposed that you could ac-
complish anything by such an act/'
"It was to gain time, Captain Thurston, and to tide
over a crisis ; and that it did. You do not know how des-
perate we are. Let me explain. But for that, Dr. John
Gary and Jacquelin Gray would to-day be wearing convict
suits. Leech had already appointed the time for that I
tided over that crisis."
He went on, and gave Thurston an account of all that
had taken place in the County under Leech's regime since
Thurston had left. It opened the young officer's eyes, and,
when Steve was through, Thurston's face was filled with a
new sympathy.
"Allen, I will do all I can for you," he said, again. And
he did. He wrote to Middleton and his friends.
The news that Stevo Allen had surrendered himself
caused the greatest commotion not only there, but through-
out the rest of the State. Even far outside the South it
was regarded as a most important incident ; and the n. \\s-
papers declared that it was the signal of a complete col-
lapse of the opposition to the Government. Stevo was
represented as every species of brigand, from the sneaking
lawbreaker who entered houses under cover of nijrht to
the dashing, bold, mountain robber and desperado who held
RED ROCK
9 and fought battles with Government troops, and
levied tribute on the surrounding country.
The man who profited by all this was Jonadab Leech.
He immediately took advantage of the turn in affairs to
exploit himself, and to strengthen the foundation of his
re-established plans. When he first heard that Steve
Allen had surrendered himself, he could not believe it ;
but when the report was verified, he was wild with joy.
He told, again and again, with many new embellishments,
the story of his seizure and incarceration, and the horrors
of the midnight meeting when he was tried and condemned
to death without a hearing. (In his later relations there
was an intimation of threats of torture having been used,
and no mention of the mode of his escape.) He had visited
the national capital, and he redoubled his energies in push-
ing the prosecutions of the Ked Rock prisoners. He de-
clared that nothing could be done until these men were
punished, and the authority of the Government asserted.
He contrived effectually to create fresh doubts as to the zeal
of the Governor, and to supplant him as the representative
of the Government. His star was once more in the ascend-
ent. His fortunes were more promising than ever. His
ambition had taken a higher leap, and he felt that now no
power could keep him from the attainment of his wishes.
His whole attitude and relation to his former friends
changed. Why should he handicap himself by attempting
to carry the burden of Still and his tottering fortunes ?
He gave Still plainly to understand that he had higher
aims than merely to obtain a few thousand acres of farm-
ing land. He was now a public man, and affairs of State
were occupying his attention. To be sure, he continued
to act as his counsel, and bled his client for ever-renewed
fees in a way that made Still groan and curse. But this was
all. He was engaged now in loftier aims. His name had
been mentioned in the national Senate, in connection with
the plans for the "pacification" of the section for which
he spoke ; and someone asked, " Who is Colonel Leech ?"
CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS
"I will tell you who he is," said the Senator who was
quoting him. " He is a man who in a short time will
be your compeer on the floor of this body."
This retort was unction to Leech's soul.
Meantime the last hope of the old County was being
destroyed. A black pall seemed to have covered them. The
local press raved in impotent rage, and declared that open
war would be better than the oppression to which they
were subjected.
Just at this juncture, when Steve's surrender and Leech's
triumph seemed to have put the uttermost affliction on
the people, the order which Senator Rockfield had secured
from the authorities came, and the prisoners named in it
were released on bail. The order, however, having been
issued before Captain Allen surrendered himself, did not
include his name or apply to him. So when Dr. Gary,
General Legaie, Jacquelin Gray, Andy Stamper, and the
other residents of Red Rock were released, Captain Allen
was still held, and bail was refused in his case. The issu-
ing of that order and the discharge of the other Red Rock
prisoners inspired Leech to hurry up the prosecution of
Captain AlU-n. Thurston was working for him, and Sena-
tor Rockfield was beginning to investigate matters in the
State. Bolter had written an urgent letter respecting the
railway investments, and had said that Middleton was in-
terested and had come home on Major Welch's advice to
see about the matter, and was talking of coming South.
So Leech could not tell when new difficulties might arise.
It was soon rumored that the Government would make
a test case of the prosecution of Steve Allen, as the leader
and head of the resistance to it. Leech was moving heaven
and earth to secure his conviction, and was staking every-
thing on this issue. Leech did not even deny it. He
rushed forward his prosecution. If he could get Steve
Allen shut up within the walls of a Government prison for
n of years, he would he free to carry out his
and of this he had no doubt. Judge Buil was to try Steve,
536 BED ROCK
and the witnesses were being got together by McRaffle.
Leech did not want to prosecute Steve for a minor offence,
such as the rescue of Rupert. He wished to put him en-
tirely out of the way. A long term only would now satisfy
him. The offences with which Steve was charged were not
grave enough, the penalties not heavy enough. The attack
on the jail had been thrown into the background by the
more recent outrages committed by the Ku Klux. Prose-
cution for the seizure of Leech himself would look like per-
sonal hostility, and weaken his cause ; and, besides, some
awkward facts might come out in the development of the
case. Thurston would be sure to tell how he had escaped,
and the whole story would come out and create sympathy
with the prisoner, and bring ridicule upon himself.
So Leech suddenly made a change of base. He desired
to pose as a public-spirited man. He determined to drop
the prosecution for the attack on the jail, and prosecute
Steve Allen for the Ku Klux outrages, as to which the
Government was more particularly interested. The diffi-
culty was to establish Allen's active connection with the
Ku Klux. Leech knew of his own knowledge, from Allen's
statement to the assembly in the room above his prison that
night, that Steve had left the order and opposed them at
that time, if he had ever belonged to their organization.
So he was somewhat at a loss to prove his connection with
them as an active member. Accident, however, suddenly
threw in his way the means to accomplish his wish, and to
punish two enemies at once.
Leech had been in the upper end of the County looking
after witnesses, when he met Miss Welch, who was on her way
home from Dr. Gary's. She gave him a cold bow, and was
passing on ; but Leech stopped her with an inquiry after
her father.
" He is very well/' said the girl, coldly.
" I suppose he, like all loyal men, is rejoicing over the
capture at last of the head of all the trouble that has been
going on down here ?" Leech's face wore a soft smile.
CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS 637
"I was not aware that Captain Allen was captured. I
thought he surrendered." Ruth's color deepened in spite
of herself.
" Well, we have him safe at last, anyhow/' smiled Leech,
" and I guess we'll keep him. No doubt your father is as
much pleased as anyone. It puts an end to the outrages
down here, and your father, of all men, should rejoice.
He is too good a citizen not to."
" He is too good a man to rejoice in anyone's misfort-
unes," said Ruth, warmly ; "and Captain Allen has had
nothing to do with the outrages you refer to. He never had
anything to do with the Ku Klux except once or twice. I
have his own word for it."
Leech's eyes were resting on her face.
" Ah ! You have it on good authority." His tone was
most polite.
But Ruth fired up.
" I have. Captain Allen is a gentleman ; and when he
says that he has never had anything to do with the Ku
Klux since the first or second time they acted in this Coun-
ty, I am sure it is so. What he has done since then he did
alone." She could not resist this shot.
Leech did not appear to mind it. His mild eyes were
glowing with a sudden light, almost of joy.
" No doubt, no doubt," he murmured. And, as Ruth
was moving on,
"Please remember me kindly to your father and
mother."
As she rode away Leech actually slapped his thigh, and
he smiled all the way home.
CHAPTER XLIII
MISS WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS
RUTH had heard of Captain Allen's surrender the day
after it took place. Mrs. Stamper, passing through from
the railway on her way home from a visit to her husband
in jail, had stopped and told her all about it. Ruth al-
most fell to the ground during Mrs. Stamper's narration.
She could scarcely stand up. When Mrs. Stamper had
passed on, Ruth rushed into the house and was on her way
to her own room when she met her mother.
" What on earth is it, Ruth ? "
" Oh, mamma ! " Ruth began, but was unable to pro-
ceed, and burst into tears. Mrs. Welch also had heard the
story ; and she divined the cause of her agitation, and drew
her into her chamber, and there Ruth opened her heart to
her mother.
" I know I ought to hate him, mamma/' she wept, " but
I do not. I have tried to hate him, and prayed — yes,
prayed to hate him ; but I like him better than any man I
ever met or ever shall meet, and even when I cut him on
the road I liked him. I hate myself ; I am humiliated to
think that I should care for a man who has never said he
loved me."
" But he has said so, Ruth/' declared Mrs. Welch.
" What ? " Ruth's eyes opened wide with a vague awak-
ing something.
" He came to see your father, and asked his consent to
pay you his addresses."
Ruth sprang to her feet as if electrified.
" Mamma ! " The blood rushed to her face and back
638
MISS WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS 639
ajrain. She seized her mother, and poured out question
after question. Her whole person seemed to change. She
looked like a different being. A radiance appeared to have
suddenly settled down upon her and enveloped her. Mrs.
Weleh was carried away by her enthusiasm, and could not
help enjoying her joy. For once she let herself go, and
gave herself up to the delight of thorough and complete
sympathy with her daughter. She told her everything
that had occurred, and Ruth in return told her mother all
that she knew and thought of Steve. Thus Mrs. Welch
became Ruth's confidante, and, in her sympathy with Ruth's
happiness, committed herself on Ruth's side beyond hope
of withdrawal.
Just then Major Welch opened the door. He stopped
and looked in on the scene in wonderment. Ruth rose and
flung herself into his arms.
In the conference that ensued, Ruth, however, found
ground for more distress. Her father had heard the whole
story of Captain Allen's surrender of himself. He had just
got it from Thurston. He also knew of the telegrams
Thurston had received in response to his giving notice of
the surrender, and he was full of anxiety. He was by no
means sure that Captain Allen, however high his motive,
had done a wise act in giving himself up. He did not be-
lieve his action would be effectual to obtain the release of
his friends, and he had put himself in the power of those
who would move heaven and earth to secure his conviction.
The dispatcher that had come from the city clearly indi-
cated this.
Under the new revelation that Major Welch had iveeived.
his interest in Captain Allen naturally increased beyond
measure, and he showed it. His only hope was that proof
as to Captain Allen's case might not be easy. The new
laws tinder which the prosecutions were being pressed
aimed at ivent acts, and it mi-jlit not be possible to prove
Captain Alln,' ipati-.n in these acts.
His carrying Leech off could, of course, be proved ; but
640 RED ROCK
while Leech would naturally push the prosecution for this,
as Leech had returned, the Government might not now take
that so seriously. As her father discussed Captain Allen's
chances earnestly, Ruth sat and listened with bated breath,
her eyes, wide with anxiety, fixed on his face, her hands
tightly clasped, her color coming and going as hope tind
fear alternated.
It was a few days after this, that she had her brief inter-
view with Leech.
The next day after that interview an official rode up to
the door and served a summons on Ruth to appear as a wit-
ness for the prosecution in the case of the Government
against Stevenson Allen. With this notice he brought also
a letter to Major Welch from Leech, who wrote Major
Welch that for reasons of importance to the Government
he had found it necessary to request his daughter's attend-
ance at the trial. The letter was full of expressions
of regret that he should have to cause Major Welch's
daughter any inconvenience. She was the only one, he
said, who could prove certain facts material to the case for
the Government.
As Major Welch read the letter his countenance fell.
Ruth's knowledge of Captain Allen's confession of his
part in the Ku Klux organization had filled out Leech's
case, and Captain Allen was in graver danger than he had
apprehended. The next day it was known in the County
that Ruth had been summoned by Leech, and that the
object of the summons was to have her prove Captain
Allen's confession to her of his part in the acts of the Ku
Klux. It was stated that Leech had written Major Welch
to obtain the information from him, and that Major Welch
had replied that his daughter would be on hand, dead or
alive. The excitement in the community was intense ;
and the feeling against the Welches flamed forth stronger
than it had ever been — stronger even than before the
trial of Jacquelin's case. Intimations of this came to the
Welches, and they could not ride out without encounter-
MISS WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS 541
ing the hostile looks of their neighbors. It was asserted
by some that Major Welch and his daughter had trapped
Steve, and were taking their revenge for his part in
Jacquelin's suit Major Welch received one or two anon-
ymous letters accusing him of this, and warning him to
leave the country without attempting to push his malice
farther.
As the Major treated these letters with the contempt
they deserved, and destroyed them without letting either
Mrs. Welch or Ruth know anything about them, they
would have given him no further concern except for the
fact that he had made up his mind to go North just then
on business. The letters came near preventing his going ;
but as the matter was urgent, he went, and the rumor got
abroad that he had left on account of the letters.
Ruth was in a state of great distress. She hoped she
would die before the day of the trial ; and, indeed, to have
seen her, one might have thought it not unlikely. Dr.
Cary was sent for. He prescribed change of air and scene.
Mrs. Welch shook her head sadly. That was impossible
just now. " You look as though you needed change your-
self, Doctor," she said. And well she might say so. The
Doctor had aged years in the last weeks. His face had
never lost the prison pallor.
" No madam—I think not," he said, calmly, his hand
resting against his breast. Mrs. Welch did not know that
he meant that he was past that now.
" Then you must take a rest," urged Mrs. Welch.
" Yes, I think I shall take a rest before long," said he.
a was out riding one afternoon just after this when
she met old Waverley. She stopped to inquire after Miss
Thomasia who she had heard was ill. The old man was
Actually short to her. " I don1 think she'll last long now,"
he said, so significantly that it pierced the girl's breast like
a knife. Ruth had always felt that Miss Thomasia and she
had one thing in common, and Miss Thomasia had always
been sweet and gracious to her. Now the picture of the
542 RED ROCK
old lady at home, lonely and ill from anxiety and distress,
pursued her. She could not get away from it. At length
she turned her horse, and rode slowly back to the little cot-
tage amid the vines. An air of stillness that was oppressive
surrounded the place. For a few moments Ruth thought
of drawing back and going home. Then her courage re-
turned. She sprang from her horse, and, tying him, walked
up to the door and knocked. The knock was answered by
old Peggy. The old woman's eyes darted fire at Ruth,
as she answered her. She did not know whether Ruth
could see Miss Thomasia or not — she thought not. Miss
Thomasia was asleep. Ruth, however, persisted ; she
would wait until Miss Thomasia waked up. She took her
seat quietly on the little veranda. The old woman looked
puzzled and disappeared. Presently she returned, and
said Miss Thomasia would see Ruth. Ruth went in. Miss
Thomasia was sitting up in a little rocking-chair. Ruth
was astounded to see the difference in her since she saw
her last. She looked years older. She received Ruth civ-
illy, but distantly, and let her do the talking. Ruth kept
well away from the one subject that was uppermost in
both their minds. Presently, however, in face of her im-
penetrable coldness, Ruth could stand it no longer. She
rose to go, and bade the old lady good-by.
" Good-by, my dear," said Miss Thomasia. They were
the words with which she always said her adieus. Her
voice was feeble, and she spoke very low. There was some-
thing in her tone, something of resignation and forgiveness,
that went to Ruth's heart, and as she turned away — a deep
sigh caught her ear. She turned back. Miss Thomasia's
thin hands were tightly clasped, her eyes were shut, and
her lips were trembling. The next moment Ruth was
down on her knees beside her, her head buried in her lap,
pouring out her story.
"I must tell you," she sobbed. "I came to tell you,
and I cannot go away and not tell you. I know you love
him, and I know you hate me. You have a right to hate
MISS WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS 643
me ; they all hate me, and think I am hard and cruel. But
I am not, and neither is my father."
She went on, and, as she told her story, the other lady's
hands came and rested on her head and lifted her up, and
the two women wept together.
A little later Blair came in, and stopped, surprised, on
the threshold. The next moment she and Ruth were in
each other's arms, weeping together ; while Miss Thomasia,
with her face brighter than it had been since the news
reached her of Steve's surrender, smiled on them. Pres-
ently old Peggy opened the door, thinking perhaps Ruth
had been there long enough. She gazed on the scene in
wonder for a moment, and then closed the door. " Well,
dee beats me," she muttered. When Ruth left, Miss
Thomasia looked better than she had done in days, and
Ruth's own heart was lighter. That night Blair asked old
Mr. Bagby if there was no way in which a woman could
avoid giving evidence against a man, if she were summoned
and did not wish to testify.
" One," said the old lawyer " — two : she can die."
CHAPTER XLIV
MIDDLETON EEVISITS RED BOOK, AND AN OLD SOLDIER
LAYS DOWN HIS ARMS
THE account of affairs in the South that Middleton had
got from Senator Rockfield had decided him to go down
there. It awakened old recollections, and recalled a time
in his life which, though there were many things in it
that he would have had otherwise, was on the whole very
pleasant to him. He had tried to do his duty under very
adverse circumstances, and, though he had not been sus-
tained, events had justified him. He happened to he
present in the gallery during the debate in which one Sen-
ator asked, "Who is this man Leech ?" and another re-
plied, ' ' He is a man who will soon be your compeer on this
floor/' The statement had astounded Middleton. Could
it be possible that Dr. Gary, Jacquelin Gray, and General
Legaie were in jail, and that Leech was about to become a
Senator of the United States. It seemed incredible to the
young man. He had in a way kept himself informed as to
the old County, and he knew that there had been trouble
there ; but he had had no idea that things had reached
this pass. That night he had the conversation with Sen-
ator Rockfield about Dr. Gary, and soon afterward he got
a letter from Thurston which finally decided him to go
South and see for himself.
His arrival at Brutusville was regarded very differently
by different people. The Welches were delighted to see
him, and so was Reely Thurston. Leech met him with a
show of much cordiality — extended his hand, and greeted
him with warmth which somehow cooled Middleton. Mid-
544
MIDDLKTOX KEVISIT8 RED ROCK 645
dleton could not for his life help having that old feeling of
repulsion. He was conscious of a change in Leech. In-
stead of his former half-apologetic manner that was almost
obsequious, Leech now was lively and assertive. His air
was that of an equal — indeed, almost of a superior.
The strangest greeting, however, Middleton met with
was from " Dr. Moses/' Moses had returned to the Coun-
ty after the arrival of the troops, and had been much in
evidence about the court-house, where he appeared to be
in Leech's employ. The day after Middleton arrived,
Moses came out of a yard just ahead of him, and ad-
vanced to meet him, hat in hand, grinning and showing
his repulsive teeth and gums. It was almost a shock to
Middleton to see him.
••How's Mass' Middleton? My young master? Glad
to see you back, suh. Does you 'member Moses — ole
Moses?"
" Yes, I remember you," said Middleton, almost grimly.
Tin- negro burst out into a loud guffaw.
" Yns, suh. I knows you 'members Moses. Yaw-yaw-
ynw-ee. Done lay de whup on Mose' back too good not
to 'memlx-i- him, yaw-yaw-yaw-ee. Dat wuz right. Now
you gwine gi' me a quarter for dat." He ln-M out his
hand, his eyes oscillating, in their peculiar way.
Middlrton pitched a dollar into his hand and walked on
hastily, followed by the thanks and prot( -stations of ^ rat-
it udi* of the negro. Ho did not see the look that Moses
shot after him as he followed him at a distance till Mid-
dleton went into Mrs. Dockett's.
As the trick-doctor turned back, he muttered, " Yas,
done lay de whup 'pon Moses' back. Dollar don' pay for
i' Cap'n Middleton now, jes Marse Middleton.
I'nip ! " II-- disappeared with his uneven gait around the
of Leech's law-office.
When Middleton -iod to Mrs. Welch his me
with Moses, to prise she spoke of him with unmit-
igated denotation, and, equally to his surprise, she spoke of
546 RED ROCK
Captain Allen with much less reprobation than from his
knowledge of her views he had anticipated.
Most of the other friends of Middleton received him
with even greater cordiality than he had expected. Mrs.
Dockett invited him to come and occupy his old quarters,
and made him understand distinctly that it was to be as her
guest. She did not board any Yankees now — except Cap-
tain Thurston, of course, The Captain was an old friend,
and she had to take him in for old times' sake ; she could
not let him be starved or poisoned at that miserable hole
of a hotel.
Middleton laughed as he thanked her. He knew which
way the wind was setting with Thurston. He was staying
with his cousins, he said. But he hoped Mrs. Dockett
would be good enough to let him come to dinner some
time and eat some of her fried chicken, which was the
very best in all the world, as he knew by experience. Mrs.
Dockett declared that he was nattering her ; but this Mid-
dleton stoutly repudiated. He had said so in every coun-
try he had visited, and there was no reason why he should
not say so now. In fact, he so nattered Mrs. Dockett that
the good lady declared at the table that evening — gazing
hard at Captain Thurston — that Captain Middleton was
quite a model now that he no longer wore that horrid blue
coat, but dressed like a gentleman. " By Jove ! Larry,"
said Thurston, " you've been acting on the lessons I gave
you. You've captured the brigadier first charge. Keep
on, and you may capture the whole army, my boy."
"You blackguard!" said Middleton. "You yourself
natter and humbug every woman you meet, so that you
think everyone else must be playing the same game."
"Have you told the Senator's daughter about the
chickens in this country ? " drawled Thurston.
For reply, Middleton shied a pillow across at his friend,
" Of course I have, and how about you ?"
"Oh ! I like Mrs. Dockett's chicken too."
To Middleton's surprise Thurston actually flushed a little.
MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK 647
"Reely !"
Thurston's eyes twinkled, and he grew red.
"Well! And she?"
Thurston met his gaze this time.
•• Lurry, how could any sensible woman resist my
charms ? " he laughed.
" Are you engaged ? "
" Only in a military sense — as yet"
" But she likes you ?"
" Larry, she's the most unaccountable creature. "
"Of course."
" You don't know how clever she is."
" To discover your good qualities ? "
" And sweet and kind-hearted."
"To like you?"
"Yes, such a vagabond as I am. And how charming
she can be ! She's about six girls in one — one minute one
thing, the next another."
"That just suits you. You need just about that many
to be in love with."
"She's the only girl in the world I ever was in love
with," asserted Thurston, boldly.
Middleton whistled.
- I fere, you are not talking to her now, but to me.
Have you told Uuth Welch that ?"
" She's my confidante."
" She is ? That accounts for it," said Middleton.
" She likes Allen," said Thurston, explanatorily.
"Oh!"
" And Miss Gary likes Gray." This with a keen look at
Middleton.
"Ah?" After a pause: "\\lmtoldyouso?"
" I have it from the beat authority."
" Miss Gary, or Grav
"No, MissElizabet!
"Oh I" laughed Middleton. " Beely, what a humbng
you are."
548 BED ROOK
" No, only a diplomatist, my dear boy. It's necessary,
to accomplish anything witli the dear creatures/'
The morning after Middleton's arrival he was driving
to the county seat, when at a turn in the road he met Dr.
Gary walking. It had rained the night before, and the
road was muddy and heavy ; but the Doctor was trudging
along with his old black saddle-pockets over his shoul-
der. Middleton pulled up, and sprang out and greeted
him.
'The Doctor returned his greeting cordially, and invited
him to come and see them.
" What are you doing walking ? " asked Middleton.
" Has your horse got away ?"
The Doctor smiled half -grimly. " Yes, some time ago."
The smile died slowly out. " I have no horse now," he
said, gravely. " I lost my horse some time ago, and have
not been able to procure one since." Middleton looked so
shocked that the Doctor added, " Usually my patients, who
are able, send a horse for me ; but sometimes I have those
who are no better off than myself." Once more the smile
flitted across his worn face. •
" Steve sent me his horse when he gave himself up, but
Leech has taken him. He has a brand on him, and Leech
claims, I believe, that he belongs to the Government, and
Leech now is the Government."
" I will see if he is," said Middleton, with a sudden flush
of anger. " I'll put a brand on him."
Middleton asked to be allowed to take the Doctor to his
destination. The old fellow at first demurred ; but on
Middleton's insisting, yielded. It was a little warm walk-
ing, he admitted.
"Why don't you borrow the money to buy a horse?"
asked Middleton, presently. " I wish you would let "
He was going to ask the Doctor to let him lend him the
money ; but the Doctor interrupted him.
" Ah ! sir, I have borrowed too much money already. I
thought then I could pay, I know now I could never pay. "
MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK 549
When they readied the place to which the Doctor was
going, it was a negro cabin.
• • I have to look after them, sir," explained the old fel-
low. " I don't know what they will do when I am gone."
The deep sincerity in his face took away any suggestion
of egotism.
Middletou drove on in deep meditation, trying to unravel
the tangle of his thoughts. As he drove into the village,
he was passed by a carriage and pair. In the carriage sat
Leech and a negro. They were both dressed in long black
broad-cloth coats, and the negro wore a shiny new beaver.
That very afternoon Middletou began to negotiate for a
horse that he thought would suit an old man. His in-
tention was to buy the horse, and when he went away ask
Dr. Gary to keep it for him and use it.
As he was looking at a horse, Leech came by. lie
stopped and looked on, a smile on his sallow face.
" If you want a good horse, don't buy that one. I've
got a lot on my place, and I'll lend you one/' he said.
"Thank you, I prefer to buy," said Middleton, coldly,
examining the horse.
" All right, I'll sell you one— cheap. I've got the finest
lot you ever saw. Some of the old Gary stock," ho added.
"I've no doubt you have," said Middleton, dryly, a
frown gathering on his brow.
" You used to be a better judge of a horse than that,"
laughed Leech.
Mleton straightened up and tunn <] on him so angrily
t Leech stepped back involuntarily. The next instant,
however, he recovered himself.
•i'l a good many changes since yon went away, I
guess?" His voice was full <>f insolence, and his face wore
a provoking smile. Middlrton was trying to control him-
Hrlf. Leech i: rrtnl his silence.
"Some of y nds sort of gone down tho hill ? "
He nodded his head in tin- dhvrtion of the jail beyond the
court-green. His insolence was intolerable.
550 RED ROCK
" Are you trying to be insolent to me ?" demanded Mid-
dleton. He stepped up close in front of Leech. " If
you are, you are making a mistake." His manner and his
face, as he looked Leech in the eyes, abashed even him, and
he changed his tone. He did not mean to offend him, he
said ; he was only ' ' jesting when he called them his
friends/'
" I don't wish to be jested with," said Middleton, coldly,
turning away.
As Leech went on he smiled to himself. te Ah, my
young man, times are changed," he muttered to himself,
softly ; "and if you stay here long you'll find it out !"
Middleton concluded his purchase, and the following
evening rode his new horse up to Dr. Gary's.
That day Leech called Moses into his office. "I see
your friend Captain Middleton is back ? " he said. Moses
uttered a sound that was half a laugh, half a snarl.
"Yas — all dat comes don' go, and all dat goes don'
come" ; he snickered.
" You better not fool with him," said Leech. " He
knows how to manage you." He made a gesture, as if he
were cutting, with a whip, and laughed, tauntingly.
Moses's eyes moved swiftly. "Nor I ain' forgit ; I'se
done learnt some'n' sense den. He better look out."
"You think the Ku Klux would trouble him ?" asked
Leech.
Moses stole a swift look at him. " He better look out,"
he repeated.
" Have some whiskey," said Leech.
There was one man in the County besides Leech who was
not overjoyed to see Middleton. When Jacquelin Gray
heard of his arrival, his countenance fell. Perfect love
may cast out fear, but it does not cast out jealousy ; and
Jacquelin was conscious of a pain in his heart. He did
not know whether Blair Gary liked Middleton now very
much or not, but he feared she did ; and Middleton had
been the cause of his rupture with her. When, there-
MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK 651
fore, he met Middleton he could not pretend that he was
glad to see him. So he greeted him distantly, though
with marked civility. Middleton was unusually cordial to
him ; but this only grated on Jacquelin. There was a
smile in his eyes which Jacquelin, torturing himself as
every fool under like circumstances does, interpreted as a
glance of triumph, if not of positive compassion. This was
the more biting to Jacquelin because it was at Dr. Gary's
that they met, and Blair was unusually gay that evening.
Her cheeks, which were sometimes pale, were now flushed,
• [uelin felt, with pleasure at Middleton's presence. She
talked mainly to Middleton, to Jacquelin scarcely at all.
At length Jacquelin rose and said he must go.
•• \Viiy. aren't you going to stay to tea ? I thought you
were?" Blair asked, in genuine surprise. Her color had
suddenly vanished, and she looked at him with a vague
trouble in her eyes.
" Thank you, no," said Jacquelin, shortly. " Good-
evening, Captain Middleton." He bowed ceremoniously.
" I had hoped to have the pleasure of riding back with
you," said Middleton.
" I am walking," said Jacquelin, grimly. He went out.
Blair excused herself hurriedly to Middleton. " Oh !
Jacquelin," she called, " will you take this letter for me,
and mail it to-morrow morning ?"
" Can't I take it ? " asked Middleton. " I am goinjr 1-y
the office."
" Oh ! Jack will take it, thank you."
As she gave Jacquelin the letter she glanced up in his
lace inquiringly. But Jacquelin's eyes avoided hers. 1 !«•
took the letter and stalked out. How he hated Middle-
ton ! And how he hated himself for doing it !
He strode down the road full of bitterness, weaving
himself a nettle- web that stung him at every step. The
moon was just rising above the tree-tops, and its silvery
beams were struggling with the last light from tiie slowly
fading west ; but Jacquelin was all in darkness. All his
552 BED ROCK
plans had come to naught, overthrown by this smiling out-
sider. He groaned in his helpless anguish. Had he not
waited ; tried to keep his ideals ever before him ; served
faithfully ; never for a moment faltered or turned aside for
anyone else ! And what had it availed him ! Here was a
lifetime of devotion flung away for the facile addresses of
. Uis interloper.
At a point in the road, he caught, for a second, just on
top of a hill some distance before him, the outline of a
man's figure clear against the sky in the cleft between the
trees. It moved with a curious dip or limp that reminded
him for a moment of Moses the trick-doctor. The next
second the figure disappeared. When Jacquelin reached
the spot, he stopped and listened ; but there was only
silence and a momentary crackle of a piece of bark as some
night-animal moved up a tree deep within the shadows.
Jacquelin walked on once more, in the dusk of the road
and the deeper gloom of his own thoughts. He could not
go home, because he had told his aunt he would stay at Dr.
Gary's to tea, and she would wish to know why he had
not done so, and when she heard of Middleton would want
to hear all about him, and he could not talk of Middleton
then. So he wandered on.
When he reached home Miss Thomasia had retired, and
he went silently to his room, cursing his fate and Middle-
ton.
Early next morning, Jacquelin was awakened by voices
in the yard. Someone was talking to Miss Thomasia. All
Jacquelin heard was that Captain Middleton had been
shot the night before at the fork of the road that led to
Dr. Gary's. Jacquelin lay still for a second — quite still —
and listened. Gould it be a dream ! The body had been
found right at the fork by Dr. Gary as he was going home
from seeing Sherrod's wife, and he had sent for Mr.
Jacquelin.
J;u:quelin's heart stopped beating. He sprang from bed
and threw open a window. Old Gideon was the speaker.
MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK 653
" What's that ? " asked Jacqnelin.
Gideon repeated the story, with further details.
"Is he dead?"
" Nor, suh, he ain' dead yet ; but de Doctor say he ain'
got much show. Ef he hadn't happened to git dyah
pretty soon after he was shot, he'd been dead pretty soon."
"Thank God!"
Jacquelin had felt like a murderer. The thought of
Blair, stricken in the moment of her joy, came to him
like a stab in his heart. His heart gave a bound that lie
was able to rejoice that Middleton was not dead.
Old Gideon was giving particulars.
" Some thinks 'twas dem Ku Kluxes — some dat dee wuz
after somebody else, whoever 'twuz. I don* know who
'twuz," he asserted, with manifest veracity. " But I sholy
don' 'prove of folkes* shootin' 'roun' at folks dataway, dat
I don't ! Dee done sen* for Mr. Welch and de Capt'n at
the cote-house."
When Jacquelin reached Dr. Gary's he was met by Blair,
white-faced and tearful.
He walked straight up to her and held out his hand.
" Blair." His voice had all the old tenderness. The
lover had disappeared. It was only the old, old friend — the
brotl
" Oh ! Jacquelin ! " And she burst into tears.
Gary's providential appearance on the spot whnv
Middleton lay had undoubtedly saved Middleton's life;
and although at first the wound appeared very desp
his splendid constitution stood him in good stead, and in a
very short time he began to rally. " It is in such instances
V said Dr. Gary, " that a man's habits tell. Nature
conducts h.T campaign with less than half her forces in
action ; it is when an accident comes that the reserves tell."
One of the first things done, after it was known whether
Middleton would survive the immediate shock, was to
telegraph to Miss Rock field.
sudden shock appeared to have driven away all the
554 RED BOOK
cloud of misunderstanding that had so long settled be-
tween Jacqiu'lin and Blair; and although Jacquelin felt
that all was over between them, his self-abnegation
brought him a content to which he had long been a
stranger. Every moment that he could spare he was at
Blair's service ; but she was most of the time at Middle-
ton's bedside, with Ruth, and all Jacquelin could do was to
show by his silent sympathy how deeply he felt for her.
One afternoon she came and asked him to go to the
station for Miss Rockfield.
" Who is Miss Rockfield ? " asked Jacquelin. " I know
she is related to Middleton ; but who is she ?"
" She is Captain Middleton's fiancee," said Blair,
quietly.
" What ! " Jacquelin turned hot and cold by turns.
' 'Blair!"
Blair's eyes were dancing, and her mouth was trembling
with the effort to suppress the sign of her triumph.
Jacquelin positively staggered. He hitched up Middle-
ton's horse and went for Miss Rockfield ; but how he
reached the station and what happened that evening he
always vowed he could never remember. When Miss
Rockfield arrived, Middleton was already out of danger.
The strain, however, had told heavily on Dr. Gary. Still
he refused to rest.
A night or two later, the Doctor had just come home
from a round of visits. He had come by the court-house,
and had paid Steve a visit. Every effort had failed to put
off Steve's trial. Leech had brought the judge, and they
were together at Still's. The Doctor was much depressed.
He would write to Senator Rockfield, and see if he could
not make one more attempt. He looked so fagged and
worn that Mrs. Gary and Blair urged him to put off the
letter. But he said it must be done at once. The day for
the trial was approaching, and every hour was precious
now. So he wrote the letter. Then he lay down on a
lounge.
MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK 655
The next moment there was the clutter of horses'
outside, and a man riding one horse and leading another
dashed tip in the yard at a gallop and gave a shout :
" Aw— Dr. Gary/'
M rs. Cary's countenance fell. The Doctor's face, which
had just before been expressive of extreme fatigue, sud-
denly took on a new expression.
" You cannot go ; it is impossible," declared Mrs. Gary.
The Doctor did not answer. He was listening to the con-
ion going on outside between the messenger and
Mammy Krenda.
" Leech ! " exclaimed Mrs. Gary, and sprang to the
door. " He says that Leech is dying." A light almost of
joy had come into her face. The Doctor rose and passed
out of the door by her.
" What's that ? What is the matter ?" he asked. His
face was as calm as a statue's !
Mrs. Gary reported what she had heard : " Leech was
ill — had been taken with violent cramp, and was having
fit after fit. He was supposed to be dying. He was at
Birdwood."
" You cannot go ; you are worn out," urged Mrs. Gary,
imploringly as the Doctor straightened himself.
" I must go," said the Doctor. He turned back to get
his saddle-hags.
"It is the visitation of God," murmured Mrs. Cary to
herself.
"Not until all medical means have failed," said I)r.
Gary, gravely. The man on the horse, thinking that the
y meant t Doctor was not coming, said :
" They told mo to tell you he'd pay you anything in the
world you asked."
The Doctor turned ami fared him.
" He has not money enough— the Government has not
money enough — to induce me to go, if he were not ill."
said he, slowly. "lam going because he is sick and 1
am a physician."
656 UED ROCK
!I leant clown and kissed his wife, and walked down the
path toward the horses. Mrs. Gary went out with him,
and saw him mount the horse the messenger had brought
and ride away in the darkness. Then she went into the
house with a white face. She did not retire that night.
131 air and she sat up waiting for him.
The sun was almost rising when they saw him come rid-
ing tip through the orchard. As they went out to meet
him, he sat up very straight. The sky was all pearl, and
he seemed to be riding in the sunrise.
As he dismounted he almost fell, but recovered himself
and tied the horse. A messenger would come for him, he
said.
" How is he ? " asked Mrs. Gary.
" Out of danger/' he said. " I am glad I went. He
would have died if he had not been relieved."
Mrs. Gary said nothing. Her eyes were searching his
face, which seemed to have grown thinner in one night.
She threw her arm around him to support him. They
walked up to the door, and he sat down on the step and
passed his hand over his brow. " I am very tired. I have
fought — " he began ; but did not finish the sentence. The
next second he sank forward on the steps.
With a cry to Blair, Mrs. Gary caught him. She raised
him up ; his eyes opened once and rested on Mrs. Gary's
face, and a faint smile came into them. His lips mur-
mured his wife's name, and then Blair's ; and then his eyes
slowly closed, and, with a sigh, his head sank on Mrs.
Gary's arm, and the long fight was done. John Gary, of
Birdwood, had laid down his arms.
Jacquelin was absent from the County when the news of
Dr. Gary's death reached him. At first he could hardly
grasp it. It seemed as if it could not be true. He had
never thought of Dr. Gary's dying, or of the County exist-
ing without him. All of Jacquelin's own family except
Rupert and Miss Thomasia had passed away, and he was
accustomed to death. Many friends had gone. Dr. Gary
MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK 657
had sat at their bedsides and closed their eyes ; but, some-
how, it had never occurred to Jacquelin to think of Death
striking him. He seemed to be a part of the old life — in all
the County, its best and most enduring type; and, now that
lie had gone, Jacquelin felt as though the foundation were
falling out — as though the old life had passed away with him.
The. next thought was of Blair. The two had been so
i tely associated ever since he could remember. He
could hardly think of her as surviving. He hurried home.
As lie neared the neighborhood, every man he met was talk-
ing of the Doctor. They all felt like Jacquelin. They
wondered what would happen, now that the Doctor had
gone. At one place, where Jacquelin had to wait a lit-
tle while, a group were discussing him. They were talk-
ing of him as they remembered him in the war. They were
all poor men ; but they had all been soldiers, and they spoke
of him as of a comrade. lie was always at the front, they
said ; he could hardly have been there more if he had been
the Colonel. If a man was shot, before they knew it there
was Dr. Cary. He said he could save at any time those not
badly wounded ; those who were badly shot he could only
save on the firing-line. And he was as quick to look after
a wounded Yankee as after a Confederate, they asserted.
"A wounded man wasn't an enemy,-" he had .said , " i
a patient." They all had stories of his courage, his en-
durance, his kindness. One told how he had sent a fresh
cow over to the speaker's wife on a time when the children
were sick ; another mentioned how he had come around
once to collect some money, but, finding that they did not
have a cent, had lent them some ho had just collected from
Andy Stamper. A third related how he had kissed and
prayed with a wounded Yankee boy, who was dying and
wanted to see his mother. " He leant down by him," said
the man, "and put his arm around him, and said 'Now
I lay me/ just for all the world like a woman. And, next
minute, after the boy got quiet, he was leaning over get-
ting a ball out of a man right by 1.
558 RED ROCK
There was a long pause after this simple recital, which
had been delivered in a quiet, monotonous tone.
" They say Leech was as good as dead when he got to
him/'
" I'd V let him die a thousand times," swore one, with
deep sincerity.
" Yes. Well, so would I. But, somehow, the Doctor,
he always was different. Seemed like, big as he was, he
couldn't bear any ill feelin's."
There was a silence after this.
It was broken presently by one of the auditors.
"And that was the man they put in jail," he said, bit-
terly.
" Yes, and murdered," responded the others.
Jacquelin rode on. He, too, felt that Dr. Gary had
been murdered.
When he reached Dr. Gary's, the first person he met
was Mammy Krenda. The old woman was the picture of
grief. She did not utter a word, nor did the young man.
She simply opened the door and stood aside while he softly
entered the little room where rested the silent form of
her old master. The quiet figure, the calm, upturned
face, had suddenly ennobled the little apartment. The
hours that had passed had smoothed out the traces of care
and pain, and the Doctor lay in perfect rest. There was,
perhaps, a trace of scorn of the ills he had so long faced,
but Jacquelin did not note it. What he saw was only per-
fect peace, and a face of undisturbed nobility. Ga/ing
down on it, his heart softened ; his bitter thoughts passed
away, and he sank on his knees, and thanked God for such
a life.
He became conscious presently that someone was stand-
ing by him, and he rose and faced Blair. Neither spoke a
word ; but he took her hand and held it, and the next sec-
ond she sank on her knees, and after a moment he knelt
beside her,
CHAPTER XLV
CAPTAIN ALI.KN' HAS AN I N li\ PECTED VISITOR
DR. GARY had hardly been hud away, when the County
had to face another sorrow.
The trial of Captain Allen was set for the next day, and
the county seat was in a fever of expectation and apprehen-
sion. It was the final struggle between the old residents
and the new invaders, and it seemed that the latter must
triumph. There was no hope. It was the beginning of
the complete subjugation of the people. All thoughts were
•d on the little village where the battle was to be
joined and fought. A dark cloud seemed to have settled
like a pall over the pla<v which even the soft afterglow of a
summer evening could not lighten. The breath of flowers
was on the breeze that came from the shrubbery-filled
yards and rustled the trees. Yet the sounds were subdued,
and the faces of the people were gloomy and grim. The
had arrived, and had taken his room in the old
Hotel. Leech, solemn and once more self-assertive, with
still pale from his recent attack, but a gleam of joy
in his pale blue eyes, was quartered with Judge Hail in
the hotel. Some said he was afraid to go to his house;
some that he wanted to be near the Judge, and keep his
mind filled with his in -innat'Kni-. It was hinted that he
was afraid Bail would oiler to sell out. Metallic had (|iiar-
i with Leech and had made such an otTer. He had
also said that the Judge could be rea< i,.d. if the sum ten-
dered were large enough. At least, such was the rumor
about the village. The jury was assembled and kepi to-
-ses had been brought to town and were
MM
560 RED ROCK
also keeping together. The lawyers, with grave faces, wriv
consulting behind locked doors and closely shut windows
— those who represented the Government in a room ad-
joining Leech's, and not far from the Judge's chamber ;
and those who were for the prisoner, among them some
of the ablest lawyers in the State, in Steve's old office.
Mr. Bagby and General Legaie were the leading counsel,
and Jerry lounged about the door like a Bashi-Bazouk.
The crowd in the village was larger than it had been in a
good while. Men were assembled in groups in the suburbs
or on the verandas, sullen and almost awe-struck, dis-
cussing the points in the case with the intelligence of those
trained by sharp experience to know the gravity of such
an occasion and to weigh the chances. It was known that
the principal evidence against Captain Allen was his own
confession. This was his chief danger. Leech (it was no-
ticeable that, when Leech was there, it was not the Govern-
ment, whose soldiers were still quartered in the village, but
Leech that was spoken of as representing the prosecu-
tion)— Leech could not prove any act of his without that.
The lawyers could break down all the witnesses except one
—the one to whom Captain Allen had been fool enough to
talk ; her testimony they could not get around. Mr. Bagby
and General Legaie had said so. Mr. Bagby said that a
man's own confession was the hardest thing in the world
to overcome ; that one was a fool ever to confess anything.
Such were the observations of a group assembled on one of
the street corners, out of hearing of the sentries.
This idea gave the discussion another turn. " Was Cap-
tain Allen really in love with Miss Welch ?" someone ques-
tioned. He had been in love with her beyond a doubt,
but he had stopped visiting her. Some thought she had
led him on, to get all out of him she could ; others that
he had stopped, and that she was taking her revenge.
One element considered that it served him right. Why
should he have to go off after a Yankee girl, whose people
were all against them, when there were plenty of their own
ALLKX HAS AX (JHKXPEOTKD VI-ITOR 561
as pretty and more attractive ? Others took
in fell in love he fell in love, that
was all ; and if he was in love, he had a right to do
—there was no Mason and Dixon line in love. Even
these, however, thought that Miss Welch was taking her
age.
iy Stamper, who had come tip and was grimly listen-
ing with unwonted silence, broke forth with a strong de-
nunciation of such nonsense. He did not believe a word of
it. Miss Welch had been to see Miss Blair Gary and Miss
Thomasia, old Mr. Langstaff and Mr. Bagby, and had done
all she could to keep from testifying. She was " cut up
as the mischief about it," declared Andy. She had wanted
to go away, but Leech was too sharp for her ; he had had
her recognized to appear. He knew he could not convict
the Captain without her. Her father, too, was awfully
troubled about it, and had been to Washington to see what
he could do. He could not bear Leech. Was he not get-
ting ready to sue him about that railroad steal ? Ho had
just come back from the North. They had not come to the
court-house. Perhaps he had been able to do somet!
crowd did not accept Andy's views. Some of them
thought the attitude of Major Welch was all a sham ; that
his anger with Leech was just a pretence, and that i
really in collusion with him. Had he not object'
tain Allen's visiting at his house, and hadn't he done all he
could to trace up Leech when the Captain had him hidden.
id made a big show of giving up when Captain
and Mr. Gray proved Hiram Still's rascality : hut ho had
his time, and he was getting a pretty sweet re\
id been North ; but the speakers believed it was to
j»!Mi the case against the Captain, not to stop it. He
could have stopped it easy enough, if he had chosen. He
was " in with the biggest of 'cm. "
Little Andy chewed in glum silence. Suddenly ho burst
out :
" Well. I say that man don't j.ntciid to nothin'. Wh.
M
662 RKD UOCK
lie likes the Captain or whether he don't, or whether you
like him or whether you don't, is one thing. But what
he is, he is ; and he don't pretend to nothin'. If all Yan-
kees was like him, I wouldn't care how many they was — -
unless I had to fight 'em."
This sententious speech had its effect on the crowd, and
the sergeant was proceeding to expound further his opin-
ion. But just then the sound of wheels was heard ; and the
next moment a close carriage, with a good pair of horses,
drove quickly by them in a cloud of dust. It was recog-
nized as Major Welch's carriage, and, though the curtains
were half-drawn, the group recognized the occupants as
Major and Mrs. Welch and their daughter, and one other
person, who was leaning back. One man thought it looked
like old Mr. Langstaff ; but, of course, it was not he. A
number of groans followed the carriage as it passed on
down the street toward the hotel. Andy's countenance
and stock both fell.
To a man like Steve Allen the sentence which appeared
to wait for him on the morrow was worse than death. He
had faced death scores of times, and would readily have
done so again, on any occasion. But he had never appre-
hended that a shameful sentence, however undeserved,
would be passed on him. Better, a thousand times, that
he had died in battle and lain with his comrades, who had
left honorable names. He summoned to his aid all his for-
titude, and tried to soothe himself with the knowledge that
he had never committed a dishonorable act ; that the cause
of his present situation was the desire to act a noble part
and save others. But do what he might, he could not keep
from his mind the feeling that, deserved or not, a convic-
tion and sentence to the penitentiary placed a stigrna on
him never to be erased. All his high hopes would be
blighted, his future ruined ; he would have brought dis-
grace on his family ; he could never more face men as he
had done heretofore ; he would not be fit to speak to a
lady.
ALLEN HAS AN UM.\t l( IK1; VISITOR 663
He was aware at intervals that this was a weakness, for
he had moments when he recognized that an undeserved sen-
could not degrade; but do what lie might, the hor-
ror of it would come back to him. With it was another
wound. The blow had been struck by her whom he loved.
The girl whom he had given his whole heart to and whom
he had thought the truest, bravest, highest woman in all
the world, to whom he had spoken as he would not have
spoken to any other man or woman, and who, he had
hoped, cared for him, had turned and betrayed him. But for
her he would be free to-morrow. He knew it himself, and
his lawyers, in their last interview with him, just over, had
told him so. They would do what they could ; but the
fact remained that he had confessed his part in the act for
which the prosecution was brought, and they did not see
how they could get around it. Some of them had sug-
i that they had a single chance. The witness v
a condition of high excitement ; and they might, by se-
vere cross-exam i nation, confuse her and destroy the force
of her evidence. This Steve promptly vetoed. He would
not have it done. The lawyers gazed at him in dismay.
•• My dear sir, it is your only chance."
" I do not care, I will not have it," said Steve, firmly.
" I said it, and I will have no cross-examination on that
point"
" That is Quixotic."
"Then I'll be Quixotic. I've been so before. Don
was a gentleman." (Jmn-al Leslie's eyes sparkled
as they rested on him.
Thry had left him, saying good-by with that solemnity
which showed how forlorn their hope was. As they re.i
the outer door and passed across the co\ .. old Mr.
Bagby said, " That is really a most extraordinary yumi.u'
man, . .ink that such a man -h-.uM be in \-
under in<!
The little General breathed a deep and fervent oath.
"What a pity that he could not have married that nice
564 BED ROOK
young lady, Miss "Welch — snch a nice yonng lady ! " pro-
ceeded Mr. Bagby, half in soliloquy.
" Marry her ! Marry that woman ! The viper ! " ex-
ploded the General. " I'd rather die ! "
" Oh, a very nice young lady," pursued Mr. Bagby to
himself, as he walked on, feeling his way in the darkness.
He did not tell the General that he had lately had an in-
terview which had raised Miss Ruth Welch in his esteem
and changed her, in his mind, from the viper which the
General conceived her to be, to the nice young lady of
whom he muttered in the dusk of the summer night.
This interview with his lawyers had been over an hour
ago. Steve was still in the room in which the interview
had been held ; but the high stand which he had taken with
his counsel had now lost some of its loftiness as the hard-
ness of his position stood nakedly before him. After all,
had not this girl betrayed him ? Why should he sacrifice
himself for her ? This thought flitted before Steve,
only for an instant. He put it away from him with a gest-
ure of bitterness. At least he would be a gentleman, what-
ever befell. He took from his pocket a pistol which he
wore when he surrendered, and which had not been taken
from him, and examined it attentively, with a curious ex-
pression on his face. He was thinking deeply. Suddenly
his expression changed. " Never ! Cowardice ! " He
flung the pistol over on the cot by the window. The re-
flection had come to him that it would be taken as a proof
of fear as well as of guilt. And, moreover, the thought
had come that he might still be of use.
The triumph of Leech recurred to him. He very often
thought of Leech — of Leech, who had hounded him down,
and not only him, but others a thousand times better : Dr.
Gary, the high-minded, noble gentleman, the faithful
Christian. Leech, the vampire, sucking the life-blood of
the people ; the harpy, battening on the writhing body of
the prostrate State, had broken Dr. Gary's heart. Jacque-
lin had told Steve how the Doctor looked as he lay in his
ALLEN HAS AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 565
coffin, murdered ; his face full of scars, but calm with the
stamp of immortal courage — like an old knight, paladin
of a lost cause, stricken through the heart in a final charge,
before the light of victory could fade from his brow.
Steve, t'liinking of this, was leaning against the bars of his
open window, looking away into space through the dusk.
The window was in the rear of the jail, and looked down
on a vacant, weed-grown lot, back of the court-green.
Steve became conscious of the presence of two men in the
open space beneath. They had just moved, so as to be in
the shadow of the building, and were right below his win-
dow, conversing earnestly. Suddenly their voices rose,
and Steve was almost startled to recognize Leech and
McRaffle. He could not help hearing what they were
saying. McRaffle was insisting on something, and Leech
was refusing. McRaffle broke out in a passion. He was
evidently under the influence of liquor.
•• You owe it to me. You said you would pay me $1,000
for him, alive or dead," he asserted. " I kept my part of
the bargain ; now, blank you ! stand up to yours."
" If yon had brought him dead, I might have paid ; hut
you did not capture him," said Leech, with a harsh lauirli.
" II- irave himself up."
" \Vell, it was in consequence of the report I circulated,"
insisted McRaffle. "Do.you suppose he'd have given him-
self up, if he had not heard that if lie did so the others
would be released ? "
Leech laughed incredulously. " More fool he I "
id whose idea was that ?"
•• My :*:•;. a i. there's no use to try that game on me.
•rood would that have done, if I had not induced
Miss Welch to tell what your friend was fool enough to con-
fide to her ? Where would we have been but for her testi-
mony ? I f -i yone is entitled to claim the reward I offered,
I am the man. I must protect the Government." He
spoke unctuously.
' You think you are entitled to everything. I know
666 liKD ROCK
how you'll protect the Government ! " sneered Metallic.
"Suppose your important witness won't testify?" he
asked.
" She'll sleep in jail. Til make Bail give her the apart-
ment next her friend/' said Leech, scornfully. " They'll
enjoy that."
Leech never knew how close Death brushed by him that
instant. Steve's pistol was lying on the bed, within a foot
of him. He seized it. He would rid the country of that
cursed presence, and pay his own debt at the same time.
He had cocked the pistol involuntarily, when he came to
himself. Oh ! if he only had him face to face, in an open
field, both armed, he could settle the final score ! He un-
cocked the pistol and flung it away from him.
" Miss Welch won't refuse," Leech went on, " I am
smart enough to know how to deal with women as well as
men." He laughed arrogantly.
" You think so ? You are sometimes too blanked smart
for your own good," said McRaffle.
Leech, stung by the speech, turned on him.
" I'll put you on the stand," he threatened.
et Not much, you won't. I won't testify."
" You're getting pretty squeamish all of a sudden,"
sneered Leech.
McRaffle wheeled on him in a rage.
" Don't you dare sneer at me that way," he said. " If
you do, I'll "
He seized Leech by the shoulder.
"I'll tell how you deal with women — for instance,
with Miss Bush, the school-teacher, alias Mrs. Jonadab
Leech ! " he hissed.
Leech seemed suddenly to shrink up.
" What do you know about — about her ? "
" Put me on the stand, and I'll tell you all you want to
know," said McRaffle, tauntingly. " Perhaps, you don't
want me as a witness now ? Well, I'll tell you what
I'll do. Pay me the thousand dollars, or — I tell you —
ALLEN HAS AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 667
endorse my note for a thousand, and I'll keep quiet. Oth-
er .vise, I'll h;ive to get Dr. Still to endorse it, or maybe
even the Governor," he said, meaningly.
•• Well, if I do, will you swear that you will never open
your mouth again about this to a single soul on earth ? "
" Make it twelve hundred," said McRaffle. " The Gov-
ernor'd give twice that to know of Mrs. Leech. I reckon
it would be some time before you'd dine with Miss Krafton
again."
Leech seized him to stop him.
The rest of the conversation was in a lower key, and
they soon moved off together, leaving Steve still in dark-
ness, literally and figuratively. But he had conquered a
great temptation. This reflection, after a time, brought a
feeling almost of peacef illness. He threw himself on the
bed, and began to go over his life. Presently he began in
humility to look to a Higher- Power.
At that moment his door was opened, and a voice
said :
"A visitor to see you, Capt'n. Will you come to the
parlor ? " The messenger was the old Sergeant, O'Meara,
whom Thurston had placed in charge of the prison.
Steve, after a moment, left his cell and walked slowly
through the corridor to the apartment adjoining the jailer's
quarters, which was dignifled by the name of parlor. It
was lighted by a small lamp, the rays of which hardly
reached the walls. The room was empty. But Steve could
hear from the voices that there were two persons in the
next room. He walked to the open window and v.
with his head resting on his arm against the bars. The
same reverie from which he had been aroused returned.
The door behind him opened and closed softly.
" Captain Allen : oice. Steve turned.
ii !" II- Mood duinfoiinded. Before him.
with IHT | half thrown hack, was Kuth Welch.
She stood just in-ide the door, motionless as though planted
on the spot ; and, as Steve did not move, the whole space
568 KKD ROCK
of the room was between them. Her eyes, which she lifted
for a second to Steve's face, fell.
" Captain Allen/' she began, and then faltered. After
a second, however, with an effort she began again.
" I have come to see you ; to see — to see if there is noth-
ing I can do to — to help you ? "
At the words, Steve's heart hardened.
t( No, thank you, there is nothing/' he said. His voice
was hard and unnatural. She made a movement, almost
as if she shrank back. But she began again, speaking very
slowly and painfully :
" I do not know what to say. But I want — I want to
see if there is nothing ? " She broke off, but began
again : " You don't know how deeply — how terribly —
I " Her voice failed her. She stopped and wrung
her hands. " Is there nothing — nothing I can do ? "
Steve stood like stone. " No, nothing."
She broke the silence that fell.
"I thought there was — there might be. I hoped —
there might be. You do not know how terribly I feel. I
hoped there might be some way for me to help you, to
atone for my wicked folly. I did not know "
Her voice failed again, and she put her handkerchief
quickly to her eyes.
Steve, up to this time, had not volunteered a word or
stirred from where he stood. His heart began to relent,
and he felt that he must say something.
" You need not reproach yourself," he said. " I have
not done so. It was my folly, not yours."
" Oh, no, no ! I will not let you say that," she broke
out, vehemently. " You trusted me. You have been only
brave and noble. But I did not know ! I thought, when
I told it, it would help you. You will believe that, will
you not ? "
She came a step or two nearer in her intensity, and
gazed at him earnestly.
" Yes, if you say so/' said Steve.
ALLKN HAS AN (7HEXPECTKD VISITOR 569
"I do/' she declared, earne.-tly. "I thought, when they
were prosecuting you, that it would set yon in the right
light ; and it seems that dreadful man knew how to distort
it and knew — Oh ! it all seems like a dreadful nightmare !
I have done everything I could. And my father has, too.
Is there no way ? Do you not know of one way in which
my testimony could not betaken?" Her voice faltered,
so that Steve could scarcely catch the words.
"No, none whatsoever."
w Vos. There is one way. I have heard — I have been
told there is one," she persisted, faintly.
"And what is that?" asked Steve, coldly. Suddenly
she broke down.
' • I low can you be so hard on me — so cruel ? " she sobbed.
Steve watched her, at first almost grimly ; but her weep-
ing softened him.
"Miss Welch, do not distress yourself," he said, quietly.
re is no way to help me ; but it is not your fault. I
re what you have told me."
" There is one way," she said.
ad that is?"
" To marry me."
• • What ! " Steve almost tottered.
" To marry me. If you marry me, I could not be made
to testify against you. I have been told so." She had re-
covered her composure and was speaking quite calmly.
" I could not let you do that," sa . firmly.
" I have come to ask you to do it," she went on, speak-
ing quite as if she were but finishing her first sentence.
" And afterward, you could — get — a — a — divorce. I would
go away and hide myself, and nmr trouble you
again." Her composure deserted her, and she buried her
face in lu-r hands. If she r»uld have seen Steve's face at
•nomont — the sudden flame which lit it up— and the
gesture which he made, as though h<- would have caught her
in his arms, and that with which he restrained himself and
reasserted his self-control, she might not have wept. But
570 RED ROCK
she did not see it, and Steve was able to master himself,
though when lie spoke his voice had wholly changed.
" I could not do that," he said, gently, and with a new
tone. " I could not allow you to sacrifice yourself."
"It would not be — Yes, you can," she pleaded.
" No," said Steve, almost sternly. " Do not, I beg
you." He lifted his hand as though to put her from him ;
but suddenly clutched at his heart.
She stopped sobbing. He turned hulf-away.
" Go," he said. " Leave me, please."
His voice could scarcely be heard, and he put his hand
to his forehead. She turned without a word, and moved
slowly toward the door. As she put out her hand to open
it, she suddenly sank in a heap on the floor. In a second
Steve was at her side. He stooped and lifted her, as
though she were a child.
" Ruth," he said ; and, as she opened her eyes, ' ' forgive
me." He caught the hem of her dress and crushed it
against his lips. " I could not let you do that. I could
not let you sacrifice yourself."
" It is no sacrifice. Do you not see ? Oh ! Can you
not see that — I — love ? " She could not complete the
sentence. Her head drooped.
" What ! Ruth ! " Steve stood her up on her feet and
held her at arm's length. " Ruth Welch, for God's snko
do not tell me that unless it is true." His eyes were burn-
ing, and were fastened on her face with a gaze that seemed
almost to scorch her.
"It is true," she said, in a low voice, and tried to turn
her face away. Steve did not stir.
" Wait," he said, hoarsely. "Does your mother know
of this?"
" Yes." She was looking in his eyes now quite calmly.
" Where is she ? "
"In the next room."
Steve suddenly caught her in his arms.
A little later Mrs. Welch and Steve had an interview.
AND THLRE, IN THE LITTLE PARLOR, STEVE AND RUTH WFRh MARRIED.
ALLEN HAS AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 571
told her that while he had loved her daughter better
than his life, ever since the day he had met her, and while
the knowledge that she cared for him had changed the
world for him, that very fact would not permit him to let
her take the step she proposed, lie would not allow her
to sacrifice herself by marrying him when under a criminal
", and with a sentence staring him in the face. Mrs.
i adroitly met this objection with the plausible argu-
ment that it was as much on her daughter's account as on
his that she desired it. She spoke for her husband as well
as for herself. It would prevent the horror of her daughter's
having to appear, and give testimony against him, in open
court. She did not believe Ruth could stand the ordeal.
She knew she would not testify, even though she should he
sent to jail and kept there. This Ruth stoutly confirmed.
A-ould die before she would answer a question.
Mrs. Welch, having come over to Steve's side, was a
powerful ally ; and as Ruth resolutely maintained her posi-
tion that she would die in prison before she would utter
one word, there was nothing else for Steve to do but
yield to their proposal. He raised the point that it was
t<>o late, as it was now midnight, and no license could he
secured or clergyman be found. But Mrs. Welch was
p iv pared to meet this objection. Captain Thurston had
authority under the law to issue the license, and a preacher
could be secured. Indeed, Mr. LangstulT had c..m». down
to the county seat with them.
So in a short time thor preliminaries were settled. A
few friends were brought in quietly : (Jeneral Leiraie. who
on one knee and lifting Ruth's hand kissed it
ently ; Mr. BaLjhy, whose eyes twinkled with deep satis-
faction over a double victory Thnnton and Jacquelin
Gray, and Andy Stamper who had iM wind of the matter
!-k»-d pf . And there in the little
dingy ronm, in tin- presence of these and of Major and
Mrs. AVdch, Bteve Allen and h'utli Welch were married at
midnight by old Mr.
CHAPTER XLVI
THE OLD LAWYER DECLINES TO SURPRISE THE COURT,
AND SURPRISES LEECH
THE next morning the case was called, and the whole
village was astir. In the little conclave held after the mar-
riage it had been discussed whether anything should be
said about it until after the jury was impanelled, when it
could be sprung on Leech, and, in the surprise thus oc-
casioned, the jury be forced to give a verdict of acquittal.
Some were for taking this course, and this was Steve's
wish ; but old Mr. Bagby said, No. He had lost one case,
he said, by allowing his client to act on a sentiment, and
he would not risk another. Sentiment was sentiment, but
law was law. He looked through his spectacles signifi-
cantly at Major Welch. He believed in making every de-
fence as you came to it. So, as Major Welch was sure he
would receive the telegrams he was expecting from the
North, and agreed with Mr. Bagby, this plan was adopted.
It was decided to announce the marriage before the begin-
ning of the trial, and take the postponement that would
almost inevitably occur.
The secret was well kept, and, up to the last moment
before the trial, there was no idea on Leech's part of what
had taken place. He had put on a new and longer black
coat than usual, and a carefully tied white cravat ; and, with
his books and papers clasped to his breast, and his pale
eyes downcast except when he lifted them covertly and
cast a swift glance of conscious triumph around him, he
moved about the court-green busy and noiseless. He was
still haggard from his late illness, but there was an air of
572
THE OLD LAWYER SURPRISES LEECH 673
triumph even in the flapping of his loose coat and the line
of his thin back.
But, notwithstanding Leech's ignorance, an idea had
got abroad that something unusual would happen. The
lawyers for Captain Allen were still grave ; but they wore
a more confldent air than they had exhibited yesterday.
Andy Stamper was chirpy and facetious, and had a look
of deeper mystery than lie was wont to wear except when
events were about to happen. It was known that .Major
Welch, who had just returned from the North, had been
to the railway station after midnight, and had remained
there until daybreak; and it was known, further, that Mrs.
Welch and Miss Welch had left the tavern, and were stay*
ing at Mrs. Dockett's. So there was something in the air.
It was rumored that McRaffle had been sent away by Leech.
When Captain Allen walked across the green from the
jail to the court-house, he wore a look of triumph which
cheered the hearts of his friends. They crowded round
him, to speak to him and shake his hand ; and he laughed
and chatted with them like a victor, not like a prisoner.
.1:111 called to him : "We came near taking you out
of yonder hist night, Captain ; and if you just crook your
finger, we'll clean up the whole gang now. There's several
of the old Company around here yet." Steve looked over
at him and .smiled.
" It's all right, Michael. Don't trouble yourself. "
the crowd pressed after him into the court-house, which
was already jamii.
The case was called, and the Court asked the usual
question whether counsel were ready. Leech replied meek-
ly that the Government was ready, and glanced across at
the array of counsel for the prisoner. After a moment's
hesitation, old Mr. Bagby slowly rose :
" If the Court please!" he said, " we are ready for the
defence ; but before entering on the case, there is a state-
ment which I feel — which we feel — it is proper we should
make, as we do not wish to surprise the Court, or to take
674 TIED ROCK
any advantage of a state of facts which may cause a sur-
prise to the other side."
He turned to Leech, on whose face a look of wonder was
beginning to dawn.
" I believe I see among the list of witnesses summoned
for the prosecution the name of a witness — " (the old law-
yer took up the book containing the list oi! witnesses, and
scanned it as if he had not seen it before) — "of a young
lady — ah — Miss Welch — who, I believe, has been summoned
ah — who I understand has been summoned to prove — all —
to testify to certain statements alleged to have been made
by our client, which are deemed material/' He looked
across at Leech, who was staring at him in vague wonder.
" Am I correct in this, Colonel Leech ? " His voice was
never so unctuous and his manner so civil as when he was
preparing a deadly thrust.
" Umph, I don't know. I believe there is a witness of
that name, to prove some of the prisoner's confessions.
There are a number of others. We are not dependent on
her at all/' said Leech, with insolent indifference.
"Ah \" drawled the old lawyer. " I was misinformed."
With a bow, he took his seat. As he did so, he added,
slowly, " I understood she was a material witness — a very
material witness. If she is not, of course ?" lie
looked benignantly at the jury and shut his lips. He was
apparently relieved. Leech cleared his throat nervously,
He saw he had lost whatever advantage the statement
would have given him.
" I did not mean that. I did not mean to say she is not
a material witness."
The old lawyer turned his eyes on him slowly. " A very
material witness ?"
" Oh, well, yes ; I suppose you might say so."
Mr. Bagby rose again.
"Then I will resume my statement. I am informed
that this young lady to whom I have referred is summoned
to prove certain statements of our client, respecting hiai
THE OIJ> LAWTKB SURPRISKs LKij n 676
supposed connection with the secret and unlawful order
for the suppression of which the law, imder which this
• :i is ostensibly made, was framed. I am informed,
further, that she ; material witness — so material,
1, that but for her testimony it is possible this prose-
cution, in this particular form, might not have taken
place.'*'
Leech cleared his throat ominously, and Mr. Bagby
looked at him benignly.
" I am inclined to credit this report not only from facts
within our own knowledge, but also because I understand
that these conjectured statements, whatever they were,
were made in the course of conversation of a kind peculi-
arly confidential, under seal of a friendship unusually close
and intimate ; and I cannot believe that the learned and
amiable counsel for the Government would have wished to
violate wantonly such a confidence. I can only think he
iered that his duty required it. And lam glad to
say I have his own statement that such was his view of the
case" (he took from his hat a paper and held it in his
hand), •• in a letter which he personally wrote to the young
lady's father.
" It is under these circumstances that I feel it is due t<.
the Court, and may lead to a different disposition of the
case, to say to the Court that the young lady in question is
not an eligible witness in this prosecution." ( I Ir here took
from his hat another paper.) ''Sheilas been united in
the bonds of matrimony to my client, and is at present the
io accused, Captain Stevenson Allen, and thus is
not an eligible witness for or again M him."
II resumed his seat slowly and sedately, amid the
silence which had fallen on the court-room. The next
moment the crowd took in the situation, and the old court-
room rang with cheer after cheer. Even the jury were
moved to ased glances and I
of wo: ! satisfaction.
imult th *s face was a study.
676 RED ROCK
Surprise, dismay, baffled revenge, rage, fear, craftiness, dis-
simulation— all had their place. He looked about him at
the shouting assembly, and gauged all the elements. He
took in Captain Thurston's jolly face, Major Welch's look
of satisfaction, and the shrewd content of old Mr. Bagby,
as Major Welch handed him a batch of telegrams. He saw
the other lawyers' faces light up as the telegrams were
handed on to them and were eagerly scanned. He knew
the wires had been well worked. He calculated all the
chances. And when the judge, with sharp reprimands
and angry threats, had quelled the noise and restored
order, Leech rose.
It was true, he said, that the testimony of the witness
mentioned was material in the aspect of the case as it stood
at present, and it was true that he had summoned Miss
Welch as a witness, only under the strictest sense of duty
and at the greatest cost of pain to himself, as he had al-
ready stated to her father. And he was glad that they at
last recognized it. He had not known that the friend-
ship between the — ah — witness and the prisoner, had been
carried so far — indeed, it seemed that this last degree of
intimacy must have been of quite recent date. Had he
known it, the Court would have been spared some trouble
and the Government considerable expense. As it was,
while he was not prepared to say that the Government
could not compel the witness to testify when the disability
had arisen under such circumstances (here he glanced at
the judge, and read on his countenance that this view was
untenable ; so he added), or could not convict without the
witness, his idea of his duty to the Government was so
high that he was unwilling to risk going to trial under the
circumstances, until he had summoned one or two other
witnesses who could prove the same facts ; and he should
therefore consent to an adjournment till next day.
Mr. Bagby rose. ''You will ask for it," he said, look-
ing at Leech. " We are ready to proceed." He addressed
the Court in a few words, and urged that the case proceed
THE OLD LAWYER SURPRISES LEECH 577
or that the prosecution be dismissed. This Leech " could
not consent to/' and the Court refused it. Then the old
lawyer more firmly insisted that his client be admitted
to bail.
Leech was about to rise to resist this also. At that mo-
ment, however, a dispatch was handed him. It was from
his friends at the national capital, and stated that Major
Welch had secured an order to admit Captain Allen to bail.
Leech turned the dispatch over carelessly, face downward,
leant back, and spoke aloud to the man who had handed it
to him. " I'll send an answer. Wait a little." He rose.
This motion, he said, he should be glad to assent to,
and, indeed, was about to propose himself, as such novel
circumstances had arisen ; and he should be glad to do
anything that would please his friends, especially Major
Welch, and he hoped he might add his congratulations to
the young couple and his friend Major Welch, if it was
not too late. This was received with bows more or less
perfunctory ; only old Mr. Bagby bowed low with mock
gratitude, and General Legaie, twirling his mustache, said
something aloud about a "shameless dog." Tin1 bail
was quickly arranged, and Captain Allen walked out amid
the cheers of the crowd. The delight of the multitude
about the court-green, among whom the story hud rapidly
spread, knew no bounds. There are some things that
strike chords in all hearts, and the happiness of a newly
married couple is one of them. The negroes had responded
to it as quickly as the whites ; and when Captain Allen,
who. immediately on the announcement, had been joined
by his wife, walked from the court-room, with her at his
side blushing and pale by turns, but with her face full of
joy, the enthusiasm of the crowd knew no bounds. Whites
and blacks crowded up to congratulate him, and to shake
his hand and say pleasant things to his wife.
Through this throng Leech had to push as he made his
<>Mi th«- .-ouri -house, his bundle of papers hugged to
his chest. His sallow cheeks were deadly white, and his
87
678 RED ROCK
WBB drawn and white ; but the look of baffled rage in
his i-\ not seen, as he kept them turned to the
ground. He saw many whom he had deemed his closest
followers pressing up to be seen among those who con-
gratulated Captain Allen, and he knew by these weather-
cocks that the wind had turned and the game was lost.
CHAPTER XLVII
SOME OF THE THREADS ARE TIED
IN" the old stories, the climax used to be considered at-
tained when the young couple became engaged. Like the
hero and heroine of the fairy tales of our youth, in that
golden land of " Once-upon-a-time," all that was to be
told after they became engaged was that "they married
and lived happily ever after/' In the modern stories, how-
ever, this seems to be but the beginning of new a<! ventures.
Marriage, which used to be the entrance to bliss unending,
appears to be now but the " gate of the hundred sorr«
and the hero and heroine wed only to find that they l<»\ed
someone else better, and pine to be disunited. They
spend the rest of their lives trying to get unin;
Nothing is so unconventional as to love one's own hushand
or wife, and nothing so tame as to live pure and true to
one's vows in spirit as well as in fact.
It must be said, at once, that this is not a story of that
kind. The people described in it knew nothing of that
sort of existence. Any reader who chooses to go farther
in this history must do so with the full knowledge that.
such is the case, and that the marri.-d life of the yoiniL1;
couples will be found as archaic and pure as that of our
first parents, before modern wisdom discovered that the
serpent was more than the devil, and the tree of knowledge
of good and evil more than a tree of knowledge. Still,
whru we have come so far togetii.i . it is necessary to go a
little fan
Thn 4 be briefly explained, for the bene;
those who may be interested to know, what becan
579
580 RED ROCK
whose story they have been following ; and such as do not
care to read farther, may leave off here and content them-
selves with knowing that they met, if not the fates they
deserved, at least, the fates which life brought, and met
them with undaunted hearts.
The temporary adjournment of the prosecution against
Captain Allen was but preliminary to a continuance, and,
finally, the case was altogether dismissed. The prosecu-
tion of Major Welch's son-in-law was a very different thing
from that of a mere citizen of that unhappy section. But
the investigation that followed proved triumphantly that
Captain Allen's part in the movements that had taken
place had been precisely what he asserted they were, and
that he had done much to break up later the organization
of night-riders.
Not that this was the end of the troubles in the Red
Rock country, and in the section of which it formed a
part, or of the struggle that went on between the people of
that section and Leech and the other vultures who were
preying on them. The talons of those vultures were too
firmly imbedded to be easily dislodged. But in time, the
last of the harpies was put to flight.
As for Leech, there is record of one of the name who,
after holding the leadership of one party in his State, on
the overthrow of that party by the outraged white people
of the State, soon became a partisan on the victorious side.
There is also record of a Leech who, having been during
the "carpet-bagger" regime a man of large means and
political prominence, was known at last mainly on account
of an unsavory story of the manner in which he had tried
to get rid of his wife, and marry another woman. Having
been frustrated in that design through the efforts of a
former political associate, a certain Colonel McRaffle, who
attained a temporary celebrity on account of his disclos-
ures before the Commission that investigated the frauds
in the State, this Leech, it appears, fell into great want,
and was nursed through his last illness by the faithful
SOME OF THE THREADS ARE TIED 581
wife whom he had so ill-treated. Readers may decide for
themselves whether either of these was the once supreme
" carpet-bagger " dictator of Red Rock — if, indeed, they
both were not the same person.
But to narrate all this would lead this history into wholly
other lines.
The day after her marriage, Ruth received a deed which
had just been recorded, conveying to her the part of Red
Rock which Major Welch had bought of Still and restored
to Jacquelin, and with the deed a letter from Jacquelin,
asking her, as Steve's wife, to accept it from him and
Rupert as a wedding present. The letter said things about
Steve over which Ruth shed tears, though her radiant
face showed how happy she was.
" Dr. Moses" had a somewhat curious career. Jacque-
lin's statement of what he saw the night of the attempt-
ed assassination of Middleton cast suspicion on Moses ; and
he was arrested, and arraigned before a negro magistrate.
It was shown that he had made prophecies or threats
against Middleton. But Leech appeared as his counsel,
and at least twenty witnesses testified to the man's hav-
ing been at the Bend all night So he was at once dis-
charged ; and the shooting <>f Middleton was, in the public
press, generally charged to the bands of midnight assassins,
to whom it was the custom at that time to attribute all
outrages that were committed — at least, where the objects
were Northern men. One journal, indeed, alleged that
Jacquelin himself was concerned in it, and charged that his
crowning infamy was the attempt to place the shooting
on " a reputable colored physician in the County — one of
the few men whose education had enabled them to enter
one of the learned professions." The prophecies of Moses,
however, greatly increased his reputation ; his prestige
and power became tremendous, and he was, perhaps, the
person most feared in the whole County by his own race.
Finally, indeed, he became such a dread to them that
they rose, and he was run away from the Bend by his own
KHD ROCK
people. Nothing more was heard of him in the County.
But some years later, in one of the adjoining States, a
negro was hanged by a mob, and an account of it was pub-
lished in the papers. The press of one side stated that he
confessed not only the terrible crime for which he was
hanged, but, in addition, several others sufficiently heinous
to entitle him to be classed as one of the greatest scoundrels
in the world. The other side asserted that he was a phy-
sician of standing, who had at one time enjoyed a large
practice in another State, from which he had been run out
by the bands of masked desperadoes who had terrorized
that section. In proof, it declared that "he died calling
on all present to meet him in heaven." As both sides,
however, concurred in giving his name as Moses ,
and his former domicile as Eed Kock, we have some ground
for supposing that " Dr. Moses/' as Andy Stamper said,
at last came to the end of his rope.
Did our limits permit, the marriage of several other
couples besides Steve and Ruth might be chronicled.
But the novelist cannot tell at one time all he knows. Be
this known, however, that as some citadels are captured by
assault, so others capitulate only after long siege ; and this
both Jacquelin and Captain Thurston discovered.
When the engagement of Captain Thurston and Miss
Elizabeth Dockett was announced to Mrs. Dockett, it was
by Miss Dockett herself. It must be left to the members
of Mrs. Dockett's own sex to say whether Mrs. Dockett
was surprised or not. But if Miss Elizabeth had struck
her flag, Mrs. Dockett had not by any means struck hers.
Her first pronunciamento was that she had not a word to
say against Captain Thurston, who was, she admitted, a
perfect gentleman ; but that she wanted him to under-
stand that everyone who came into that house had to dance
to the tune of Dixie. This the Captain professed he was
prepared to do, and would only ask that he might some-
times be allowed to warble in his own room the Star-
Spangled Banner.
SOME OF THK TIIKKADS ARE TIKD 683
Not long after this, o was to come up
again. Hut a little time before the term of court at which
it was to be tried, an offer of compromise was made to
Jacquelin. It was said that Hiram Still had one night
seen the "Indian Killer" standing by the red-n»rk, and
that this influenced him to make his proposition. Later
on, some said the apparition was Rupert, who had just
come back from the West a stalwart youngster as tall as
Jacquelin.
Under the terms of Still's offer the mansion and a part of
the plantation were to become Jacquelin's and Rupert's,
while the overseer's house, with something like half the
estate, was to remain Mr. Still's.
Jacquelin was, at first, unwilling to make any terms
with Still. He was satisfied that, with the evidence he
now had, he should win his case, and that Still could be
sent to the penitentiary. But Bail was to sit in the case
again, and the upper court was composed of Leech's creat-
; so that no one could be sure of winning his cause,
whatever its merits ; while Still himself was reported to be
so feeble that his death was expected at any time.
prrhaps, other reasons that moved Janjin-
liu. Miss Thninasia, when she heard of Still's oiT.-r,
promptly urged its rejection. She would never allow him
to be lawful owner of an acre of their old plaiv. though,
she addnl, with a sigh, she herself would, perhaps, not
lire to set foot there again.
" Yes, you shall," said Jacquelin ; and he wrote that
night and accepted the terms proposed. His first act was
iltilincnt of his pledge to his mothrr on her death-
bed ; and she was laid beside her husband in the Red Rock
ng-ground, in sight of the old garden in which she
had walked as a bride.
When Miss Thomasia entered the Red Rock door on the
day of urn, she stopp< «1 and rla-.-p.-d her hands tight-
ly. The eyes bent on her, from the walls seemed to beam
on her a welcome.
584 RED ROCK
" Well, thank God for all His mercies ! " she said, fer-
vently ; and, taking her seat in an arm-chair, she spent
most of the afternoon knitting silently and looking round
her with softened eyes and lips that moved constantly,
though they uttered no sound. Later she went out into
the garden, and looked at the remnants of the flowers that
were left ; and there Steve and his wife found her when
they came to take tea with her that first evening, and
there, still later, Jacquelin brought Blair to tell of his
new happiness.
THE END.
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