AFTER Blauvelt had left Mr. Vosburgh's breakfast-table in obedienceto his own and Marian's wish to see Strahan at once, the young girllaughed outright--she would laugh easily to-day--and exclaimed:--
"Poor Mr. Merwyn! He is indeed doomed to inglorious inaction. Beforehe could even start on his search, Strahan found him. His part inthis iron age will consist only in furnishing the sinews of warand dispensing canned delicacies in the hospitals. I do feel sorryfor him, for last night he seemed to realize the fact himself. Helooked like a ghost, back in the shadow that he sought when CaptainBlauvelt's story grew tragic. I believe he suffered more in hearingabout the shells than Mr. Blauvelt did in hearing and seeing them."
"It's a curious case," said her father, musingly. "He was and hasbeen suffering deeply from some cause. I have not fully acceptedyour theory yet."
"Since even your sagacity can construct no other, I am satisfiedthat I am right. But I have done scoffing at Mr. Merwyn, and shouldfeel as guilty in doing so as if I had shown contempt for physicaldeformity. I have become so convinced that he suffers terribly fromconsciousness of his weakness, that I now pity him from the depthsof my heart. Just think of a young fellow of his intelligencelistening to such a story as we heard last night and of the inevitablecontrasts that he must have drawn!"
"Fancy also," said her father, smiling, "a forlorn lover seeingyour cheeks aflame and your eyes suffused with tears of sympathyfor young heroes, one of whom was reciting his epic. Strahan issoon to repeat his; then Lane will appear and surpass them all."
"Well," cried Marian, laughing, "you'll admit they form a trio tobe proud of."
"Oh, yes, and will have to admit more, I suppose, before long.Girls never fall in love with trios."
"Nonsense, papa, they are all just like brothers to me." Then therewas a rush of tears to her eyes, and she said, brokenly, "The waris not over yet, and perhaps not one of them will survive."
"Come, my dear," her father reassured her, gently, "you must imitateyour soldier friends, and take each day as it comes. Rememberingwhat they have already passed through, I predict that they allsurvive. The bravest men are the most apt to escape."
Marian's greeting of Strahan was so full of feeling, and so manytears suffused her dark blue eyes, that they inspired false hopesin his breast and unwarranted fears in that of Blauvelt. The heroicaction and tragic experience of the young and boyish Strahan hadtouched the tenderest chords in her heart. Indeed, as she stood,holding his left hand in both her own, they might easily havebeen taken for brother and sister. His eyes were almost as blue ashers, and his brow, where it had not been exposed to the weather,as fair. She knew of his victory over himself. Almost at the sametime with herself, he had cast behind him a weak, selfish, frivolouslife, assuming a manhood which she understood better than others.Therefore, she had for him a tenderness, a gentleness of regard,which her other friends of sterner natures could not inspire. Indeed,so sisterly was her feeling that she could have put her arms abouthis neck and welcomed him with kisses, without one quickening throbof the pulse. But he did not know this then, and his heart boundedwith baseless hopes.
Poor Blauvelt had never cherished many, and the old career withwhich he had tried to be content defined itself anew. He wouldfight out the war, and then give himself up to his art.
He could be induced to stay only long enough to finish his breakfast,and then said: "Strahan can tell me the rest of his story overthe camp-fire before long. My mother has now the first claim, andI must take a morning train in order to reach home to-night."
"I also must go," exclaimed Mr. Vosburgh, looking at his watch,"and shall have to hear your story at second hand from Marian. Restassured," he added, laughing, "it will lose nothing as she tellsit this evening."
"And I order you, Captain Blauvelt, to make this house yourheadquarters when you are in town," said Marian, giving his handa warm pressure in parting. Strahan accompanied his friend to thedepot, then sought his family physician and had his wound dressed.
"I advise that you reach your country home soon," said the doctor;"your pulse is feverish."
The young officer laughed and thought he knew the reason betterthan his medical adviser, and was soon at the side of her whom hebelieved to be the exciting cause of his febrile symptoms.
"Oh," he exclaimed, throwing himself on a lounge, "isn't thisinfinitely better than a stifling Southern prison?" and he lookedaround the cool, shadowy drawing-room, and then at the smiling faceof his fair hostess, as if there were nothing left to be desired.
"You have honestly earned this respite and home visit," she said,taking a low chair beside him, "and now I'm just as eager to hearyour story as I was to listen to that of Captain Blauvelt, lastnight."
"No more eager?" he asked, looking wistfully into her face.
"That would not be fair," she replied, gently. "How can I distinguishbetween my friends, when each one surpasses even my ideal of manlyaction?"
"You will some day," he said, thoughtfully. "You cannot help doingso. It is the law of nature. I know I can never be the equal ofLane and Blauvelt."
"Arthur," she said, gravely, taking his hand, "let me be frank withyou. It will be best for us both. I love you too dearly, I admireand respect you too greatly, to be untrue to your best interestseven for a moment. What's more, I am absolutely sure that you onlywish what is right and best for me. Look into my eyes. Do you notsee that if your name was Arthur Vosburgh, I could scarcely feeldifferently? I do love you more than either Mr. Lane or Mr. Blauvelt.They are my friends in the truest and strongest sense of the word,but--let me tell you the truth--you have come to seem like a youngerbrother. We must be about the same age, but a woman is always olderin her feelings than a man, I think. I don't say this to claim anysuperiority, but to explain why I feel as I do. Since I came toknow--to understand you--indeed, I may say, since we both changedfrom what we were, my thoughts have followed you in a way thatthey would a brother but a year or two younger than myself,--thatis, so far as I can judge, having had no brother. Don't youunderstand me?"
"Yes," he replied, laughing a little ruefully, "up to date."
"Very well," she added, with an answering laugh, "let it be thento date. I shall not tell you that I feel like a sister withoutbeing as frank as one. I have never loved any one in the way--Oh,well, you know. I don't believe these stern times are conducive tosentiment. Come, tell me your story."
"But you'll give me an equal chance with the others," he pleaded.
She now laughed outright. "How do I know what I shall do?" sheasked. "I may come to you some day for sympathy and help. Accordingto the novels, people are stricken down as if by one of your hatefulshells and all broken up. I don't know, but I'm inclined to believethat while a girl can withhold her love from an unworthy object,she cannot deliberately give it here or there as she chooses. Nowam I not talking to you like a sister?"
"Yes, too much so--"
"Oh, come, I have favored you more highly than any one."
"Do not misunderstand me," he said, earnestly, "I'm more gratefulthan I can tell you, but--"
"But tell me your story. There is one thing I can give you atonce,--the closest attention."
"Very well. I only wish you were like one of the enemy's batteries,so I could take you by storm. I'd face all the guns that were atGettysburg for the chance."
"Arthur, dear Arthur, I do know what you have faced from a simplesense of duty and patriotism. Blauvelt was a loyal, generous friend,and he has told us."
"You are wrong. 'The girl I left behind me' was the corps-de-reservefrom which I drew my strength. I believe the same was true ofBlauvelt, and a better, braver fellow never drew breath. He wouldmake a better officer than I, for he is cooler and has more brains."
"Now see here, Major Strahan," cried Marian, in mock dignity,"as your superior officer, I am capable of judging of the meritsof you both, and neither of you can change my estimate. You areinsubordinate, and I shall put you under arrest if you don't tellme how you escaped at once. You
have kept a woman's curiosity incheck almost as long as your brave regiment held the enemy, andthat's your greatest achievement thus far. Proceed. Captain Blauvelthas enabled me to keep an eye on you till you fell and the enemycharged over you. Now you know just where to begin."
"My prosaic story is soon told. Swords and pike-staffs! what alittle martinet you are! Well, the enemy was almost on me. I couldsee their flushed, savage faces. Even in that moment I thought ofyou and whispered, 'Good-by,' and a prayer to God for your happinessflashed through my mind."
"Arthur, don't talk that way. I can't stand it;" and there was arush of tears to her eyes.
"I'm beginning just where you told me to. The next second therewas a sting in my right arm, then something knocked me over and Ilost consciousness for a few moments. I am satisfied, also, thatI was grazed by a bullet that tore my scabbard from my side. WhenI came to my senses, I crawled behind a rock so as not to be shotby our own men, and threw away my sword. I didn't want to surrenderit, you know. Soon after a rebel jerked me to my feet.
"'Can you stand?' he asked.
"'I will try,' I answered.
"'Join that squad of prisoners, then, and travel right smart.'
"I staggered away, too dazed for many clear ideas, and with otherswas hurried about half a mile away to a place filled with the rebelwounded. Here a Union soldier, who happened to have some bandageswith him, dressed my arm. The Confederate surgeons had more thanthey could do to look after their own men. Just before dark allthe prisoners who were able to walk were led into a large field,and a strong guard was placed around us.
"Although my wound was painful, I obtained some sleep, and awokethe next morning with the glad consciousness that life with itschances was still mine. We had little enough to eat that day, andinsufficient water to drink. This foretaste of the rebel commissariatwas enough for me, and I resolved to escape if it were a possiblething."
"You wanted to see me a little, too, didn't you? Nevertheless, youshall have a good lunch before long."
"Such is my fate. First rebel iron and now irony. I began to playthe role of feebleness and exhaustion, and it did not require mucheffort. Of course we were all on the qui vive to see what wouldhappen next, and took an intense interest in the fight of the 3d,which Blauvelt has described. The scene of the battle was hiddenfrom us, but we gathered, from the expression of our guards' facesand the confusion around us, that all had not gone to the enemy'smind, and so were hopeful. In the evening we were marched to theoutskirts of Gettysburg and kept there till the afternoon of the4th, when we started towards Virginia. I hung back and dragged myselfalong, and so was fortunately placed near the rear of the column,and we plodded away. I thanked Heaven that the night promised tobe dark and stormy, and was as vigilant as an Indian, looking formy chance. It seemed long in coming, for at first the guards werevery watchful. At one point I purposely stumbled and fell, hopingto crawl into the bushes, but a rebel was right on me and helpedme up with his bayonet."
"O Arthur!"
"Yes, the risks were great, for we had been told that the first manwho attempted to leave the line would be shot. I lagged behind asif I could not keep up, and so my vigilant guard got ahead of me,and I proposed to try it on with the next fellow. I did not darelook around, for my only chance was to give the impression that Ifell from utter exhaustion. We were winding around a mountain-sideand I saw some dark bushes just beyond me. I staggered towards themand fell just beside them, and lay as if I were dead.
"A minute passed, then another, and then there was no other soundthan the tramp and splash in the muddy road. I edged still fartherand farther from this, my head down the steep bank, and soon foundmyself completely hidden. The comrade next to me either would nottell if he understood my ruse, or else was so weary that he hadnot noticed me. If the guard saw me, he concluded that I was donefor and not worth further bother.
"After the column had passed, I listened to hear if others werecoming, then stumbled down the mountain, knowing that my bestchance was to strike some stream and follow the current. It wouldtake me into a valley where I would be apt to find houses. At lastI became so weary that I lay down in a dense thicket and slept tillmorning. I awoke as hungry as a famished wolf, and saw nothingbut a dense forest on every side. But the brook murmured that itwould guide me, and I now made much better progress in the daylight.At last I reached a little clearing and a wood-chopper's cottage.The man was away, but his wife received me kindly and said I waswelcome to such poor fare and shelter as they had. She gave mea glass of milk and some fried bacon and corn-bread, and I thenlearned all about the nectar and ambrosia of the gods. In theevening her husband came home and said that Lee had been whippedby the Yanks, and that he was retreating rapidly, whereon I drankto the health of my host nearly all the milk given that night byhis lean little cow. He was a good-natured, loutish sort of fellow,and promised to guide me in a day or two to the west of the lineof retreat. He seemed very tearful of falling in with the rebels,and I certainly had seen all I wished of them for the present, soI was as patient as he desired. At last he kept his word and guidedme to a village about six miles away. I learned that Confederatecavalry had been there within twenty-four hours, and, tired as Iwas, I hired a conveyance and was driven to another village fartherto the northwest, for I now had a morbid horror of being recaptured.After a night's rest in a small hamlet, I was taken in a light wagonto the nearest railway station, and came on directly, arriving hereabout six this morning. Finding our house closed, I made a descenton Merwyn. I telegraphed mother last evening that I should be homethis afternoon."
"You should have telegraphed me, also," said Marian, reproachfully."You would have saved me some very sad hours. I did not sleep muchlast night."
"Forgive me. I thoughtlessly wished to give you a surprise, and Icould scarcely believe you cared so much."
"You will always believe it now, Arthur. Merciful Heaven! whatrisks you have had!"
"You have repaid me a thousand-fold. Friend, sister, or wife, youwill always be to me my good genius."
"I wish the war was over," she said, sadly. "I have not heard fromCaptain Lane for weeks, and after the battle the first tidingsfrom Blauvelt was that he was wounded and that you were woundedand missing. I can't tell you how oppressed I was with fear andforeboding."
"How about Lane?" Strahan asked, with interest.
She told him briefly the story she had heard and of the silencewhich had followed.
"He leads us all," was his response. "If he survives the war, hewill win you, Marian."
"You suggest a terrible 'if' and there may be many others. I admitthat he has kindled my imagination more than any man I ever saw, butyou, Arthur, have touched my heart. I could not speak to him, hadhe returned, as I am now speaking to you. I have the odd feelingthat you and I are too near of kin to be anything to each otherexcept just what we are. You are so frank and true to me, that Ican't endure the thought of misleading you, even unintentionally."
"Very well, I'll grow up some day, and as long as you remain free,I'll not give up hope."
"Foolish boy! Grow up, indeed! Who mounted his horse in that stormof shells and bullets in spite of friendly remonstrances, and said,'The men must see us to-day'? What more could any man do? I'm justas proud of you as if my own brother had spoken the words;" andshe took his hand caressingly, then exclaimed, "You are feverish."
A second later her hand was on his brow, and she sprung up andsaid, earnestly, "You should have attention at once."
"I fancy the doctor was right after all," said Strahan, risingalso. "I'll take the one o'clock train and be at home in a coupleof hours."
"I wish you would stay. You can't imagine what a devoted nurse I'llbe."
"Please don't tempt me. It wouldn't be best. Mamma is counting theminutes before my return now, and it will please her if I come onan earlier train. Mountain air and rest will soon bring me around,and I can run down often. I think the fever proceeds simply frommy wound, which hasn't had the best care. I don't feel ser
iouslyill at all."
She ordered iced lemonade at once, lunch was hastened, and thenshe permitted him to depart, with the promise that he would writea line that very night.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A LITTLE REBEL.
An Original Belle Page 39
