As Strahan disappeared in the winding of the avenue a sudden andterrible thought occurred to Mrs. Merwyn. She glanced at her son,who had walked to the farther end of the piazza, and stood for amoment with his back towards her. His manly proportions made herrealize, as she had never done before, that he had attained hismajority,--that he was his own master. He had said he would notfight against the North, but, as far as the South was concerned,he had never committed himself. And then his terrible will!
She went to her room and thought. He was in a land seething withexcitement and patriotic fervor. She knew not what influences aday might bring to bear upon him. Above all else she feared tauntsfor lack of courage. She knew that her own passionate pride sleptin his breast and on a few occasions she had seen its manifestations.As a rule he was too healthful, too well organized and indolent,to be easily irritated, while in serious matters he had not beencrossed. She knew enough of life to be aware that his manhood hadnever been awakened or even deeply moved, and she was eager indeedto accomplish their mission in the States and return to conditionsof life not so electrical.
In the mean time she felt that she must use every precaution. Shesummoned a maid and asked that her son should be sent to her.
The young man soon lounged in, and threw himself into an easy chair.
His mother looked at him fixedly for a moment, and then asked, "Whyis young Strahan in THAT uniform?"
"I didn't ask him," was the careless reply. "Obviously, however,because he has entered the service in some capacity."
"Did he not suggest that it would be a very proper thing for youto do, also?"
"Oh, of course. He wouldn't be Strahan if he hadn't. He has a highappreciation of a 'little brief authority,' especially if vested inhimself. Believing himself to be so heroic he is inclined to callothers to account."
"I trust you have rated such vaporings at their worth."
"I have not rated them at all. What do I care for little Strahanor his opinions? Nil."
"Shall you see much of him while we are compelled to remain in thisdetestable land?"
"More of him than of any one else, probably. We were boys together,and he amuses me. What is more to the point, if I make a Union officermy associate I disarm hostile criticism and throw an additionalsafeguard around my property. There is no telling to what desperatestraits the Northern authorities may be reduced, and I don't proposeto give them any grounds for confiscation."
"You are remarkably prudent, Willard, for a young man of Southerndescent."
"I am of Northern descent also," he replied, with a light laugh."Father was as strong a Northern man--so I imagine--as you are aSouthern woman, and so, by a natural law, I am neutral, brought toa standstill by two equal and opposite forces."
The intense partisan looked at him with perplexity, and for a momentfelt a strange and almost superstitious belief in his words. Wasthere a reciprocal relation of forces which would render her schemesfutile? She shared in the secret hopes and ambitions of the Southernleaders. Had Northern and Southern blood so neutralized the heartof this youth that he was indifferent to both sections? and had she,by long residence abroad, and indulgence, made him so cosmopolitanthat he merely looked upon the world as "his oyster"? She wasnot the first parent who, having failed to instil noble, naturalprinciples in childhood, is surprised and troubled at the outcomeof a mind developing under influences unknown or unheeded. Thatthe South would be triumphant she never doubted a moment. It wouldnot merely achieve independence, but also a power that would growlike the vegetation of its genial climate, and extend until thetapering Isthmus of Panama became the national boundary of theempire. But what part would be taken by this strange son who seemedequally endowed with graceful indolence and indomitable will? Werehis tireless strength and energy to accomplish nothing better thanthe climbing of distant mountains? and would he maintain indifferencetowards a struggle for a dominion beyond Oriental dreams? Physicallyand mentally he seemed capable of doing what he chose; practicallyhe chose to do what he pleased from hour to hour. Amusing himselfwith a languid, good-natured disregard of what he looked upon astrivial affairs, he was like adamant the moment a supreme and justadvantage was his. He was her husband over agaim, with strangedifferences. What could she do at the present moment but the thingshe proposed to do?
"Willard," she said, slowly, and in a voice that pierced hisindifference, "have you any regard for me?"
"Certainly. Have I shown any want of respect?"
"That is not the question at all. You are young, Willard, and youlive in the future. I live much in the past. My early home was inthe South, where my family, for generations, has been eminent. Isit strange, then, that I should love that sunny land?"
"No, mamma."
"Well, all I ask at present is that you will promise me never,under any motive, to take up arms against that land of my ancestors."
"I have not the slightest disposition to do so."
"Willard, what to-day is, is. Neither you nor I know what shall beon the morrow. I never expected to marry a Northern man, yet I didso; nor should I regret it if I consulted my heart only. He wasdifferent from all his race. I did not foresee what was coming,or I could have torn my heart out before involving myself in theseNorthern complications. I cannot change the past, but I must providefor the future. O Willard, to your eyes your Northern fortune seemslarge. But a few years will pass before you will be shown whata trifle it is compared with the prizes of power and wealth thatwill be bestowed upon loyal Southerners. You have an ancestry, anability, that would naturally place you among the foremost. Terribleas would be the sacrifice on my part, I could still give you myblessing if you imitated young Strahan in one respect, and devotedyourself heart, soul, and sword to our cause."
"The probable result would be that you and my sisters wouldbe penniless, I sleeping in mud, and living on junk and hoe-cake.Another result, probable, only a little more remote, is that thebuzzards would pick my bones. Faugh! Oh, no. I've settled thatquestion, and it's a bore to think a question over twice. Thereare thousands of Americans in Europe. Their wisdom suits me untilthis tea-pot tempest is over. If any one doubts my courage I'llprove it fast enough, but, if I had my way, the politicians, Northand South, should do their own fighting and starving."
"But, Willard, our leaders are not mere politicians. They are menof grand, far-reaching schemes, and when their plans are accomplished,they will attain regal power and wealth."
"Visions, mamma, visions. I have enough of my father's blood inmy veins to be able to look at both sides of a question. Strahanasked me severely if I did not read the papers;" and he laughedlightly. "Well, I do read them, at least enough of them to pickout a few grains of truth from all the chaff. The North and Southhave begun fighting like two bull-dogs, and it's just a questionwhich has the longer wind and the more endurance. The chances areall in favor of the North. I shall not throw myself and propertyaway for the sake of a bare possibility. That's settled."
"Have you ice-water in your veins?" his mother asked, passionately.
"I have your blood, madam, and my father's, hence I am what I am."
"Well, then you must be a man of honor, of your word. Will youpromise never to take arms against the South?"
"I have told you I have no disposition to do so."
"The promise, then, can cost you little, and it will be a reliefto my mind."
"Oh, well, mamma, if it will make you feel any easier, I promisewith one exception. Both South and North must keep their hands offthe property my father gave me."
"If Southern leaders were dictating terms in New York City, as theywill, ere long, they would never touch your property."
"They had better not."
"You know what I mean, Willard. I ask you never to assume thishated Northern uniform, or put your foot on Southern soil with ahostile purpose."
"Yes, I can promise that."
"Swear it to me then, by your mother's honor and your father'smemory."
"Is not my word sufficient?"
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"These things are sacred to me, and I wish them treated in a sacredmanner. If you will do this my mind will be at rest and I may beable to do more for you in the future."
"To satisfy you, I swear never to put on the Northern uniform orto enter the South with a hostile purpose."
She stepped forward and touched his forehead with her lips, as shesaid: "The compact is sealed. Your oath is registered on earth andin heaven. Your simple word as a man of honor will satisfy me asto one other request. I wish you never to speak to any one of thissolemn covenant between us."
"I'm not in the habit of gossiping over family affairs," he replied,haughtily.
"I know that, and also that your delicacy of feeling would keepyou from speaking of a matter so sacred to me. But I am older andmore experienced than you, and I shall feel safer if you promise.You would not gossip about it, of course. You might refer to itto some friend or to the woman who became your wife. I can foreseecomplications which might make it better that it should be utterlyunknown. You little know how I dream and plan for you, and I onlyask you never to speak of this interview and its character to aliving soul."
"Certainly, mother, I can promise this. I should feel it smallbusiness to babble about anything which you take so to heart. Thesevisions of empire occupy your mind and do no harm. I only hope youwill meet your disappointment philosophically. Good-by now tilllunch."
"Poor mamma!" thought the young man, as he started out for a walk;"she rails against Northern fanatics, forgetting that it is justpossible to be a little fanatical on the Southern side of the line."
As he strode along in the sunshine his oath weighed upon him nomore than if he had promised not to go out in his sail-boat thatday.
At last, after surmounting a rather steep hill, he threw himselfon the grass under the shade of a tree. "It's going to be awfullyslow and stupid here," he muttered, "and it will be a month ortwo before we can return. I hoped to be back in time to join theMontagues in climbing Mont Blanc, and here I am tied up betweenthese mole-hill mountains and city law-offices. How shall I everget through with the time?"
A pony-phaeton, containing two ladies, appeared at the foot ofthe hill and slowly approached. His eyes rested on it in languidindifference, but, as it drew nearer, the younger of the two ladiesfixed his attention. Her charming summer costume at first satisfiedhis taste, and, as her features became distinct, he was surprisedat their beauty, as he thought at first; but he soon felt thatanimation redeemed the face from mere prettiness. The young girlwas talking earnestly, but a sudden movement of the horse causedher to glance toward the road-side, and she encountered the darkeyes of a stranger. Her words ceased instantly. A slight frowncontracted her brow, and, touching her horse with her whip, shepassed on rapidly.
"By Jove! Strahan is right. If I have many such countrywomen inthe neighborhood, I ought to find amusement."
He rose and sauntered after the phaeton, and saw that it turned inat a pretty little cottage, embowered in vines and trees. Making amental note of the locality, he bent his steps in another direction,laughing as he thought: "From that one glance I am sure that thoseblue eyes will kindle more than one fellow before they are quenched.I wonder if Strahan knows her. Well, here, perhaps, is a chancefor a summer lark. If Strahan is enamored I'd like to cut him out,for by all the fiends of dulness I must find something to do."
Strahan had accepted an invitation to lunch at the Vosburghs' thatday, and arrived, hot and flushed, from his second morning's drill.
"Well!" he exclaimed, "I've seen the great Mogul."
"I believe I have also," replied Marian. "Has he not short andslightly curly hair, dark eyes, and an impudent stare?"
"I don't recognize the 'stare' exactly. Merwyn is polite enoughin his way, and confound his way! But the rest of your descriptiontallies. Where did you see him?"
She explained.
"That was he, accomplishing his usual day's work. O ye dogs of war!how I would like to have him in my squad one of these July days!Miss Marian, I'd wear your shoe-tie in my cap the rest of my life,if you would humble that fellow and make him feel that he neverspoke to a titled lady abroad who had not her equal in some Americangirl. It just enrages me to see a New-York man, no better born thanmyself, putting on such superior and indifferent airs. If he'd cometo me and say, 'Strahan, I'm a rebel, I'm going to fight and killyou if I can,' I'd shake hands with him as I did not to-day. I'dtreat him like a jolly, square fellow, until we came face to facein a fair fight, and then--the fortune of war. As it was, I feltlike taking him by the collar and shaking him out of his languidgrace. He told me to mind my own business so politely that Icouldn't take offence, although he gave scarcely any other reasonthan that he proposed to mind his. When I met his Southern motheron the piazza, she looked at me in my uniform at first as if I hadbeen a toad. They are rebels at heart, and yet they stand aloof andsneer at the North, from which they derive protection and revenue.I made his eyes flash once though," chuckled the young fellow inconclusion.
Marian laughed heartily as she said: "Mr. Strahan, if you fightas well as you talk, I foresee Southern reverses. You have no ideahow your indignation becomes you. 'As well-born,' did you say? Why,my good friend, you are worth a wilderness of such lackadaisicalfellows. Ciphers don't count unless they stand after a significantfigure; neither do such men, unless stronger men use them."
"Your arithmetic is at fault, Miss Marian. Ciphers do have thepower of pushing a significant figure way back to the right ofthe decimal point, and, as a practical fact, these elegant humanciphers usually stand before good men and true in society. I don'tbelieve it would be so with you, but few of us would stand a chancewith most girls should this rich American, with his foreign airsand graces, enter the lists against us."
In her sincerity and earnestness, she took his hand and said: "Ithank you for your tribute. You are right. Though this person hadthe wealth of the Indies, and every external grace, he could not bemy friend unless he were a MAN. I've talked with papa a good deal,and believe there are men in the Southern army just as honest andpatriotic as you are; but no cold-blooded, selfish betwixt-and-betweensshall ever take my hand."
"Make me a promise," cried Strahan, giving the hand he held a heartyand an approving shake.
"Well?"
"If opportunity offers, make this fellow bite the dust."
"We'll see about that. I may not think it worth the while, and Icertainly shall not compromise myself in the slightest degree."
"But if I bring him here you will be polite to him?"
"Just about as polite as he was to you, I imagine."
"Miss Marian, I wouldn't have any harm come to you for the wideworld. If--if anything should turn out amiss I'd shoot him, Icertainly would."
The girl's only answer was a merry peal of laughter.
CHAPTER XII.
"A VOW."
An Original Belle Page 13
