A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY - Edward Payson Roe (best color ebook reader TXT) 📗

(Exit Of Laura'S First Knight)

Haldane Was Given But Little Time For Quiet Study, For, Before The Year

Closed, Tidings Came From His Mother, Who Was Then In italy, That She

Was Ill And Wished to See Him. Poor Mrs. Haldane Had At Last Begun To

Understand Her Son'S Character Better, And To Realize That He Would

Retrieve The Past. She Also Reproached herself That She Had Not Been

More Sympathetic And Helpful To Him, And Was Not A Little Jealous That

He Should Have Found Better And More Appreciative Friends Than Herself.

And, At Last, When She Was Taken Ill, She Longed to See Him, And He Lost

Not A Moment In reaching Her Side.

 

 

 

Her Illness, However, Did Not Prove Very Serious, And She Improved

Rapidly After A Young Gentleman Appeared who Was So Refined in his

Manners, So Considerate And Deferential In his Bearing Toward Her That

She Could Scarcely Believe That He Was The Same With The Wild, Wretched

Youth Who Had Been In jail, And, What Was Almost As Bad, Who Had Worked

In A Mill.

 

 

 

Haldane Made The Most Of His Opportunities In seeing What Was Beautiful

In Nature And Art While In the Old World, But His Thoughts Turned with

Increasing Frequency To His Own Land--Not Only Because It Contained the

Friends He Loved so Well, But Also Because Events Were Now Rapidly

Culminating For That Great Struggle Between The Two Jarring Sections

That Will Eventually Form A Better And Closer Union On The Basis Of A

Mutual Respect, And A Better And Truer Knowledge Of Each Other.

 

 

 

When Mrs. Haldane Saw That Her Son Was Determined to Take Part In the

Conflict, He Began To Seem To Her More Like His Old Unreasonable Self.

She Feebly Remonstrated as A Matter Of Course, And Proved to Her Own

Satisfaction That It Was Utter Folly For A Young Man Who Had The

Enjoyment Of Such Large Wealth As Her Son To Risk The Loss Of Everything

In The Hardships And Dangers Of War. He Was As Kind And Considerate As

Possible, But She Saw From The Old And Well-Remembered expression Of His

Eyes That He Would Carry Out His Own Will Nevertheless, And Therefore

She And His Sisters Reluctantly Returned with Him.

 

 

 

Having Safely Installed them In their Old Home, And Proved by The Aid Of

Dr. Marks And Some Other Leading Citizens Of His Native City That They

Had No Further Occasion To Seclude Themselves From The World, He

Returned to Hillaton To Aid In organizing a Regiment That Was Being

Recruited there, And In which Mr. Ivison Had Assured him Of A

Commission. By Means Of The Acquaintances He Had Made Through His Old

Mission Class, He Was Able To Secure Enlistments Rapidly, And Although

Much Of The Material That He Brought In was Unpromising In its First

Appearance, He Seemed to Have The Faculty Of Transforming The Slouching

Dilapidated fellows Into Soldiers, And It Passed into General Remark

That "Haldane'S Company Was The Roughest To Start With And The Best

Disciplined and Most Soldierly Of Them All When Ordered to The Seat Of

War."

 

 

 

The Colonelcy Of The Regiment Was Given To Mr. Beaumont, Not Only On

Account Of His Position, But Also Because Of His Large Liberality In

Fitting It Out. He Took A Vast Interest In the Aesthetic Features Of Its

Equipment, Style Of Uniform, And Like Matters, And He Did Most Excellent

Service In insisting On Neatness, Good Care Of Weapons, And A

Soldier-Like Bearing From The First.

 

 

 

While Active In this Work He Rose Again In laura'S Esteem, For He Seemed

More Manly And Energetic Than He Had Shown Himself To Be Before; And

What Was Still More In his Favor, He Had Less Time For The Indulgence Of

His Taste As A Connoisseur With Her Fair But Often Weary Face As The

Object Of Contemplation.

 

 

 

She, With Many Others, Visited the Drill-Ground Almost Daily, And When

She Saw The Tall And Graceful Form Of Mr. Beaumont Issuing From The

Colonel'S Tent, When She Saw Him Mount His Superb White Horse, Which He

Managed with Perfect Skill, When She Saw The Sun Glinting On His Elegant

Sword And Gold Epaulets, And Heard His Sonorous Orders To The Men, She

Almost Felt That All Hillaton Was Right, And That She Had Reason To Be

Proud Of Him, And To Be As Happy As The Envious Belles Of The City

Deemed her To Be. But In spite Of Herself, Her Eyes Would Wander From

The Central Figure To Plain Captain Haldane, Who, Ignoring The Admiring

Throng, Was Giving His Whole Attention To His Duty.

 

 

 

Before She Was Aware, The Thought Began To Creep Into Her Mind, However,

That To One Man These Scenes Were Military Pageants, And To The Other

They Meant Stern And Uncompromising War.

 

 

 

This Impression Had Speedy Confirmation, For One Evening When Both Mr.

Beaumont And Haldane Happened to Be Present, Mrs. Arnot Remarked in

Effect That Her Heart Misgive Her When She Looked into The Future, And

That The Prospect Of A Bloody War Between People Of One Race And Faith

Was Simply Horrible.

 

 

 

"It Will Not Be Very Bloody," Remarked mr. Beaumont, Lightly. "After

Things Have Gone About So Far The Politicians On Both Sides Will Step In

And Patch Up A Compromise. Our Policy At The North Is To Make An

Imposing Demonstration. This Will Have The Effect Of Bringing The

Fire-Eaters To Their Senses, And If This Won'T Answer We Must Get Enough

Men Together To Walk Right Over The South, And End The Nonsense At Once.

I Have Travelled through The South, And Know That It Can Be Done."

 

 

 

"Pardon Me, Colonel," Said Haldane, "But Since We Are Not On The

Drill-Ground I Have A Right To Differ With You. I Anticipate A Very

Bloody, And, Perhaps, A Long War. I Have Not Seen So Much Of The South,

But I Have Seen Something Of Its People. The Greatest Heroism I Ever Saw

Manifested in my Life Was By A Young Southern Girl, And If Such Are

Their Women We Shall Find The Men Foemen Abundantly Worthy Of Our Steel.

We Shall Indeed have To Literally Walk Over Them, That Is, Such Of Us As

Are Left And Able To Walk. I Agree With Mrs. Arnot, And I Tremble For

The Future Of My Country."

 

 

 

Mr. Beaumont Forgot Himself For Once So Far As To Say, "Oh, If You Find

Such Cause For Trembling--" But Laura'S Indignant Face Checked further

Utterance.

 

 

 

"I Propose To Do My Duty," Said Haldane, With A Quiet Smile, Though A

Quick Flush Showed that He Felt The Slur, "And It Will Be Your Duty,

Colonel, To See That I Do."

 

 

 

"You Have Taught Us That The Word Duty Means A Great Deal To You,

Egbert," Said Mrs. Arnot, And Then The Matter Dropped. But The Animus Of

Each Man Had Been Quite Clearly Revealed, And The Question Would Rise In

Laura'S Mind, "Does Not The One Belittle The Occasion Because Little

Himself?" Although She Dreaded the Coming War Inexpressibly, She Took

Haldane'S View Of It. His Tribute To Her Cousin Amy Also Touched a Very

Tender Chord.

 

 

 

On The Ground Of Having Secured so Many Recruits Mr. Ivison Urged that

Haldane Should Have The Rank Of Major, But At That Time Those Things

Were Controlled largely By Political Influence And Favoritism, And There

Were Still Not A Few In hillaton Who Both Thought And Spoke Of The Young

Man'S Past Record As A Good Reason Why He Should Not Have Any Rank At

All. He Quietly Took What Was Given Him And Asked for Nothing More.

 

 

 

All Now Know That Mr. Beaumont'S View Was Not Correct, And As The

Conflict Thickened and Deepened that Elegant Gentleman Became More And

More Disgusted. Not That He Lacked personal Courage, But, As He Often

Remarked, It Was The "Horrid Style Of Living" That He Could Not Endure.

He Could Not Find An Aesthetic Element In the Blinding Dust Or

Unfathomable Mud Of Virginia.

 

 

 

As Was Usually The Case, There Was In the Regiment A Soldier Gifted with

The Power And Taste For Letter-Writing, And He Kept The Local Papers

Quite Well Posted concerning affairs In the Regiment. One Item

Concerning Beaumont Will Indicate The Condition Of His Mind. After

Describing The "Awful" Nature Of The Roads And Weather, The Writer

Added, "The Colonel Looks As If In a Chronic State Of Disgust."

 

 

 

Suddenly The Regiment Was Ordered to The Far Southwest. This Was More

Than Beaumont Could Endure, For In his View Life In that Region Would Be

A Burden Under Any Circumstances. He Coolly Thought The Matter Over, And

Concluded that He Would Rather Go Home, Marry Laura, And Take A Tour In

Europe, And Promptly Executed the First Part Of His Plan By Resigning On

Account Of Ill-Health. He Had A Bad Cold, It Is True, Which Had Chiefly

Gone To His Head And Made Him Very Uncomfortable, And So Inflamed his

Nose That The Examining Physician Misjudged the Exemplary Gentleman,

Recommending That His Resignation Be Accepted, More From The Fear That

His Habits Were Bad Than From Any Other Cause. But By The Time He

Reached hillaton His Nose Was Itself Again, And He As Elegant As Ever.

The Political Major Had Long Since Disappeared, And So Haldane Started

For His Distant Field Of Duty As Lieutenant-Colonel.

 

 

 

The Regimental Letter-Writer Chronicled this Promotion In the Hillaton

"Courier" With Evident Satisfaction.

 

 

 

"Lieut.-Col. Haldane," He Wrote, "Is Respected by All And Liked by The

Majority. He Keeps Us Rigidly To Our Duty, But Is Kind And Considerate

Nevertheless. He Is The Most Useful Officer I Ever Heard Of. Now He Is

Chaplain And Again He Is Surgeon. He Coaxes The Money Away From The Men

And Sends It Home To Their Families, Otherwise Much Of It Would Be Lost

In Gambling. Many A Mother And Wife In hillaton Hears From The Absent

Oftener Because The Colonel Urges The Boys To Write, And Writes For

Those Who Are Unable. To Give You A Sample Of The Man I Will Tell You

What I Saw Not Long Ago. The Roads Were Horrible As Usual, And Some Of

The Men Were Getting Played out On The March. The First Thing I Knew A

Sick Man Was On The Major'S Horse (He Was Major Then), And He Was

Trudging along In the Mud With The Rest Of Us, And Carrying The Muskets

Of Three Other Men Who Were Badly Used up. [Footnote: I Cannot Refrain

Here From Paying a Tribute To My Old Schoolmate And Friend, Major James

Cromwell, Of The 124Th New York Volunteers, Whom I Have Seen Plodding

Along In the Mud In a November Storm, A Sick Soldier Riding His Horse,

While He Carried the Accoutrements Of Other Men Who Were Giving Out From

Exhaustion. Major Cromwell Was Killed while Leading a Charge At The

Battle Of Gettysburg. ] We Want The People Of Hillaton To Understand,

That If Any Of Us Get Back We Won'T Hear Anything More Against Haldane.

Nice, Pretty Fellows, Who Don'T Like To Get Their Boots Muddy, As Our

Ex-Colonel, For Instance, May Be More To Their Taste, But They Ain'T To

Ours."

 

 

 

Laura Read This Letter With Cheeks That Reddened with Shame And Then

Grew Very Pale.

 

 

 

"Auntie," She Said, Showing It To Mrs. Arnot, "I Cannot Marry That Man.

I Would Rather Die First."

 

 

 

"I Do Not Wonder That You Feel So," Replied mrs. Arnot Emphatically.

"With All His Wealth And Culture I Neither Would Nor Could Marry Him,

And Would Tell Him So. I Have Felt Sure That You Would Come To This

Conclusion, But I Wished your Own Heart And Conscience To Decide The

Matter."

 

 

 

But Before Laura Could Say To Mr. Beaumont That Which She Felt She Must,

And Yet Which She Dreaded, For His Sake, To Speak, A Social Earthquake

Took Place In hillaton.

 

 

 

Mr. Arnot Was Arrested! But For The Promptness Of His Friends To Give

Bail For His Appearance, He Would Have Been Taken From His Private

Office To Prison As Poor Haldane Had Been Years Before.

 

 

 

It Would Be Wearisome To Tell The Long Story Of His Financial Distress,

Which He Characteristically Kept Concealed from His Wife. Experiences

Like His Are Only Too Common. With His Passion For Business He Had

Extended it To The Utmost Limit Of His Capital. Then Came A Time Of

Great Depression And Contraction. Prompted by A Will That Had Never Been

Thwarted, And A Passion For Routine Which Could Endure No Change, He

Made Herculean Effort To Keep Everything Moving On With Mechanical

Regularity. His Strong Business Foresight Detected the Coming Change For

The Better In the Business World, And With Him It Was Only A Question Of

Bridging Over The Intervening Gulf. He Sank His Own Property In