Joe Johnston's shattered army was at Jackson, about forty-five miles to northward2; beleaguered3 Vicksburg was in the Northwest, a trifle farther away; Natchez lay southwest, still more distant; and nearly twice as far in the south was our heartbroken New Orleans. We had paused to recuperate4 our animals, and there was a rumor5 that we were to get new clothing. Anyhow we had rags with honor, and a right to make as much noise as we chose.
It was being made. The air was in anguish6 with the din7 of tree-felling and log-chopping, of stamping, neighing, braying8, whooping9, guffawing10, and singing--all the daybreak charivari beloved of a camp of Confederate "critter companies." In the midst of it a chum and I sat close together on a log near the mess fire, and as the other boys of the mess lifted their heads from their saddle-tree pillows, from two of them at once came a slow, disdainful acceptance of the final lot of the wicked, made unsolicited on discovering that this chum and I had sat there talking together all night. I had the day before been wheedled11 into letting myself be detailed12 to be a quartermaster's clerk, and this comrade and I were never to snuggle under the one blanket again. The thought forbade slumber13.
"If I go to sleep," I said,--"you know how I dream. I shall have one of those dreams of mine to carry around in my memory for a year, like a bullet in my back." So there the dear fellow had sat all night to give me my hourly powders of reassurance14 that I could be a quartermaster's clerk without shame.
"Certainly you can afford to fill a position which the leader of Ferry's scouts15 has filled just before you."
But my unsoldierly motive16 for going to headquarters kept my misgivings17 alive. I was hungry for the gentilities of camp; to be where Shakespeare was part of the baggage, where Pope was quoted, where Coleridge and Byron and Poe were recited, Macaulay criticized, and "Les Misérables"--Madame Le Vert's Mobile translation--lent round; and where men, when they did steal, stole portable volumes, not currycombs. Ned Ferry had been Major Harper's clerk, but had managed in several instances to display such fitness to lead that General Austin had lately named him for promotion18, and the quartermaster's clerk was now Lieutenant19 Ferry, raised from the ranks for gallantry, and followed ubiquitously by a chosen sixty or so drawn20 from the whole brigade. Could the like occur again? And could it occur to a chap who could not comprehend how it had ever occurred at all?
By and by we breakfasted. After which, my precious horse not having finished his corn, I spread my blanket and let myself doze21, but was soon awakened22 by the shouts of my companions laughing at me for laughing so piteously in my sleep.
"Would I not tell my dream, as nice young men in the Bible always did?"
"No, I would not!" But I had to yield. My dream was that our General had told me a fable23. It was of a young rat, which seeing a cockerel, whose tail was scarcely longer than his own, leap down into a barrel, gather some stray grains of corn and fly out again, was tempted24 to follow his example, but having got in, could only stay there. The boys furnished the moral; it was not complimentary25.
"Well, good-bye, fellows."
"Good-bye, Smith." I have never liked my last name, but at that moment the boys contrived26 to put a kindness of tone into it which made it
almost pleasing. "Good-bye, Smith, remember your failings."
Remember! I had yet to make their discovery. But I was on the eve of making it.
As I passed up the road through the midst of our nearly tentless camp I met a leather-curtained spring-wagon27 to which were attached a pair of little striped-legged mules28 driven by an old negro. Behind him, among the curtains, sat a lady and her black maid. The mistress was of strikingly graceful29 figure, in a most tasteful gown and broad Leghorn hat. Her small hands were daintily gloved. The mules stopped, and through her light veil I saw that she was handsome. Her eyes, full of thought, were blue, and yet were so spirited they might as well have been black, as her hair was. She, or fate for her, had crowded thirty years of life into twenty-five of time.
For many a day I had not seen such charms of feminine attire30, and yet I was not charmed. Every item of her fragrant31 drapery was from the world's open market, hence flagrantly un-Confederate, unpatriotic, reprehensible32. Otherwise it might not have seemed to me that her thin nostrils33 had got their passionateness34 lately.
"Are you not a New Orleans boy?" she asked as I lifted my képi and drew rein35.
Boy! humph! I frowned, made myself long, and confessed I had the honor to be from that city. Whereupon she let her long-lashed eyes take on as ravishing a covetousness36 as though I had been a pretty baby.
"I knew it!" she said delightedly. "But tell me, honor bright,"--she sparkled with amusement--"you're not regularly enlisted37, are you?"
I clenched38 my teeth. "I am nineteen, madam."
Her eyes danced, her brows arched. "Haven't you got"--she hid her smile with an embroidered39 handkerchief--"haven't you got your second figure upside down?" I glared, but with one look of hurt sisterliness she melted me. Then, pensive40 just long enough to say, "I was nineteen once," she shot me a sidelong glance so roguish that I was dumb with indignation and tried to find my mustache, forgetting I had shaved it off to stimulate41 it. She smiled in sweet propitiation and then came gravely to business. "Have you come from beyond the pickets42?"
"No, madam."
"Have you met any officer riding toward them?"
I had not. Her driver gathered the reins43 and I drew back.
"Good-bye, New Orleans soldier-boy," she said, gaily44, and as I raised my cap she gave herself a fetching air and added, "I'll wager45 I know your name."
"Madam,"--my cap went higher, my head lower--"I never bet."
I could not divine what there was ridiculous about me, except a certain damage to my dress, of which she could not possibly be aware as long as I remained in the saddle. Yet plainly she wanted to laugh. I made it as plain that I did not.
"Good-day, sir," she said, with forced severity, but as I smiled apologetically and moved my rein, she broke down under new temptation and, as the wagon moved away, twittered after me unseen,--"Good-bye, Mr. Smith."
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1
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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4
recuperate
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| v.恢复 | |
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rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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8
braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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guffawing
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| v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的现在分词 ) | |
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11
wheedled
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| v.骗取（某物），哄骗（某人干某事）( wheedle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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13
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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14
reassurance
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| n.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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15
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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16
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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28
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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29
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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33
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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34
passionateness
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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36
covetousness
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37
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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38
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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40
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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41
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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42
pickets
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| 罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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43
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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44
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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45
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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