As the General read these things aloud I sat biting my nail in the flaming impatience11 of my rage.
“And now what think you?” said he, when he was done.
“I think,” cried I, “that I shall ride at once for the caitiff ears of him.”
The General, seeing my anger, turned to be mighty12 calm. It was a manner of ours that when I was for a rage he would go the other way; I, on my side and by way of requital13, showed never so busy about methods for peace as when the General was for sounding Boots and Saddles. So, beholding14 me eating my fingers in a sort of blood-eagerness to come at the throat of that Ely, the General would be for craft; and to demand proof; and to go upon a litigation of the business among ourselves.
“And now you know,” said the General, with a bitterness in his mouth like aloes, “why I fear preachers and your peace folk. Here is a false tissue against a girl as white as an angel.”
“My soul for that!” I interjected.
“No one not of the cloth, and saved from men's vengeance15 by his coat and ruffle16, would so dare. But now this Ely throws these lies in our laps, and we must sit tied.”
“Yes,” I cried, “I see your meaning right well, and I would give my left hand at the wrist joint17 could any gate be opened through which in honor I might win to the miscreant's heart.” Now the General read the letter to himself; now he knitted his forehead into a snarl18 and brooded while over against him I sat fury-stung.
“Two matters we are to agree on,” said the General at last. “We are not to tell Peg.”
“No,” said I.
“Nor Eaton.”
Now, somehow, I in no fashion, not even the most shadowy, had had Eaton on my slope of thought. It had seemed, in the confusion of wrath19 into which this charge laid on poor Peg had stirred me, as though there were just three folk in interest for our own side, being the General and Peg and myself. The mention of Eaton struck on me in a strange, blistering20 way, and was as much an iron in my soul as the slanders21 of that infamous22 Ely himself. This came to be no more than a blur23 of my wits, however it departed in a blink, and then a feeling somewhat of pleasure succeeded to think Eaton would not be engaged in Peg's defence.
“Peg shall not know,” repeated the General, as he who goes over a manouvre in his mind, “Eaton shall not know. You and I will be enough; and Noah; and mayhap Henry Lee, since I think, Major, you are not the man to be trusted with a reply. You—like myself.—would overflow24 too much, since you own a feeling too deep.”
There was sense in what the General advanced; I was in an ill frame for cunning, and to be cool of quill25 with any specious26 or refutatory letter-writing. I could have indited27 nothing that would not run into a challenge with the first line; and, with the pulpit character of the foe28 to be our answer, that would have been as so much raving29 madness.
“Let us” said the General, again taking up the scrawl30, “examine this precious scorpion's nest in detail, and then we may know best how it should be torn to pieces. This Ely does not make these charges by his own knowledge, but declares how he believes in their truth on the word of some 'extremely honest individual' of this town. This person would be so much the viper31 he must needs hide and crawl under cover; for this Ely also says 'who asks his name withheld32.'”
By this time I had myself in recovery and began to take a part in the thinking.
“First, then,” said I, “is there any accusation33 carried which you, yourself, should contradict?”
“There are two,” returned the General. “This Ely has it that my dear wife knew Peg's bad conduct and condemned34 her for it. That is false; my wife spoke36 of Peg within a six-month; she loved her like her own child; and, I well recall, she kissed Peg when last we left this place. Then, too, Ely asserts how Timberlake was jealous of Eaton before he sailed for the Mediterranean37, hated him as Peg's tempter, and would have slain39 him. That, also, I should know to be a lie; for here,” and the General crossed to a shelf and took down a rich Turkish tobacco pouch40, “is a tobacco pocket which Timberlake sent to Eaton with a letter asking him to give it me when I arrived; and the letter bore date not ten days before Timberlake died. There remain but two great delinquencies alleged41; the one here and the other in New York; and both are capable of proof for either their truth or falsity.”
“And how shall we go about that proof?” I asked.
“As a primary step, then, let us have Noah with us.”
Noah came, and the General put the Ely letter into his dark, nervous hands.
“The gentleman seems marvelously prompt,” said Noah, “to decide a woman's fame away on barest hearsay42. Doubtless he is a good Christian43, but he would make a bad judge.”
“This is what you will do, Noah, if you love me,” said the General: “Go to Philadelphia. Squeeze from this Ely the name of that reptile44 on whose word he starts about this crime against innocence45. Then press to New York for the evidence needed to display the falsehood he tells concerning Peg in that place.”
When Noah had gone forth, the General called in Henry Lee, who was a secret, truthworthy man, and, dictating46 while Lee did the pen work, proceeded to beat the Reverend Ely and his lies as folk beat carpets. The General, when it was done, dismissing Lee, read to me his answer; and I could not so much as add one word. It was as complete a retort, and withal as slashing47 an arraignment48 of this Ely for his own cruel part, as might be compassed with paper and ink. I listened; and I never loved the General half so well before.
“And yet,” observed the General, when he had closed the reading and the letter lay ready for the post, “this Ely is but the mask for some rogue7 who hides behind him.”
There was no more to do now, save wait for Noah's return. I had one ordeal49 of the spirit, however; that was when Peg came next day. I so yearned50 over her in pity, it marked itself in my face and she took some dim account of it. She went away wrong in her hunting for a cause, however.
“What has been the mischance?” said Peg, getting up and standing51 behind my chair with a soft hand on each of my shoulders. “You've had poor news from your farms?”
“A horse dead,” I replied. This was so far true as a word that the letter telling me thereof had but just arrived, and lay open on my table. “Only that a favorite horse has died,” I replied. “But he was one of the General's Truxton colts, and I but loth to lose him.”
It was a soon day thereafter, and we yet waiting for word of Noah, when the General re-opened the affair of the Ely letter.
“The man Ely,” said he, thoughtfully, “has been practiced upon. The Calhoun interest it was which stirred him to this. He would be clay easily moulded for such a purpose, and peculiarly when the potters employed upon him might promise somewhat for his ambition. As against Eaton and Peg, the fellow would needs lack personal motive52, since he knows them not at all. He might find in his bosom53, truly, a part willingness to disturb me, because I broke the heart of his hope for a Florida exaltation. Yet even with that to train his malignancy upon the Eatons, it is clear he must be loaded, primed, and aimed by other hands. Thus do I make the story of it: if Clay be out, as you declare, who is there save Calhoun to put this Ely forward? Then, too, there is the coincidence of method. Ely does there what the Calhoun folk do here.”
“Still,” I returned, for I believed in justice though to an enemy, and would not condemn35 the Vice-President without some open sureness of proof; “still, as Noah explained, these villainies might find act and parcel in Calhoun's interests, and that gentleman be as innocent of personal part as next year's babes.”
“Be that as it may,” retorted the General, “a man is responsible for his dogs. Besides, it is too much to believe that Calhoun has no notice of this war on the Eatons.”
“Oh, as to that,” I replied, “I think there is scant55 doubt. An important movement in his destinies is not to continue for long in the dark, to a keen sight like Calhoun's. However, he might miss details.”
“He knows of these tales against Peg,” declared the General firmly, and as though the question were solved and settled. “Also, by lifting his finger he could end them in the mouths that give them words. When one can do a thing and doesn't do it, that is because one doesn't want to do it, but prefers things as they are. And there you have it. In the mean courses against Peg your Vice-President is accessory. By the Eternal!” swore the General abruptly56, beginning to walk about the floor, “but such perfidy57 makes me to loathe58 the man! I should hate all that comes from him, whether of policy or plan. For where a source is foul59, the stream will be unclean.”
There was now to enter upon the stage one who wrought60 strongly for Peg's defence. But he toiled61 better for himself, for at last he took the White House by it; the General in a gust62 of kindness for what he did in Peg's pure favor making him his heir of politics and laying the presidency63 in his hands with the death of his own second term. This personage, to be so much the ally of Peg, and so fortunate for his own future, was none other than that Van Buren who resigned his Governorship and traveled the long way from Albany to become the General's Secretary of State.
Heretofore I've made suggestion that the General's knowledge of Van Buren was nothing deep, but only narrow and of a surface sort. More; the truth was that now when the General stood in the midst of this Eaton trouble and saw a long strife64 ahead, he was by no sense secure for the coming attitude of his premier65, and went doubt-pricked as to whether or no it would turn to be a friendly one. I could discern some feather of these misgivings66 when one evening over our pipes we dwelt on Marcy and Van Buren, these two being topmost spirits of our party in their state.
Marcy was a bold man, and strong with a burly force; as frank and without fear too, as a soldier, and less the hypocrite than any of his day. He had yet to say, from his seat in the Senate, “The politicians of my state wear no masks of superior goodness and make no pretences67. They are content to preach what they practice. If they be defeated, they expect to step down and out; if they triumph, they look to enjoy the fruits of their victory. They see no harm in the aphorism68, 'To the victor belongs the spoil of the enemy.'” Marcy, I say, had not yet uttered these words in the Senate; but they dwelt with him as a sentiment; he had given them expression in Duff Green's paper; and, since the General said nothing in negation69, they were held to declare the feelings of the administration.
Before this, I have written somewhere, have I not?—for old age can not hold a memory, nor tell a lucid70 story step by step, but forever must wander to the garrulous71 this-side-or-that, with topics alien to the task in hand—how I caught some flash of the General's uncertainty72 of Van Buren and the pose that gentleman would take on? It fell in this kind. I had asked then a question about Van Buren, and how he compared with his fellow captain, Marcy. The General shook uncertain head.
“Van Buren may surprise us,” said he, “and show me wrong besides; but this is what I think. You are to bear in mind, also, that his selection to be at my cabinet right hand was not personal but political. Here is how I hold him.” Now the General spoke with a thoughtful, measured flow of speech, as though his eye were turned to introspection, and he read, as one reads a page of print, his estimate of him whom he sought to weigh. “Van Buren is essentially73 furtive74, lurking75, cat-like. He delights in moonlight politics and follows the byways. He avoids the eye, is seldom in the show ring, and, in making his excursions, sticks to the lanes and keeps off the highways. Few men see, and fewer know, Van Buren. He is sly rather than bold; chicanes rather than assails76; and when attacked he does not fight in that strifish sense of hard knocks. He poisons the springs and streams and standing water; and then he falls back into the hills. Van Buren does with snares78 what others do by blows; traps while others hunt. And yet, in a feline79 way, he likes trouble. Set out a bowl of milk and a bowl of blood, and turn your back. If sure of unobservation, he will lap the blood. But if you stare at him, he dissembles with the milk, purring with fervor80 sedulous81. Ever secret, Van Buren knows of no harder fate than mere82 discovery. His points of power are his egotism, his skill for sly effort, his talent as a trader of politics. Marcy is of another sort. Marcy is vigorous where Van Buren is fine. If a band of music were to go by, Marcy would regard the bass83 drum as the great instrument. Van Buren would prefer the piccolo. Marcy does his war work with an axe84. When any homicide of politics enforces itself upon Van Buren he moves with sack and bowstring. He waits until midnight, and then, with victim gagged and bagged and bound, drowns him in the Bosphorus of party.”
Even as the General spoke, Van Buren was trudging85 up the street; for it would appear that he had come into town the hour before, and now made speed to pay his respects to the General.
While Van Buren was in talk with the General, our first greetings being done, I strove to come by some true account of one who was like to make for much weight in the scales. He was round, short, and by no means superb or imposing86. Standing between the General and myself, and both of us above six feet, he seemed something stunted87. There was a quiet twinkle in his gray, intelligent eye that he drew from his tavern-keeping sire of Kinderhook; the latter being of shrewd Dutch stock, born to count pennies and to save them, and whose profits with his inn found partial coinage in an education above bottles and taprooms for his son. There hovered88 an oily peace about Van Buren; it showed on him like painted color. I was not tremendously impressed of him, I grant you; albeit89, before all was done, I came to better learn him. The man, for a best simile90, was like so much quicksilver. Bright and of surprising weight, he rolled away from a touch and never failed to fit himself scrupulously91 and plausibly92 into every inequality which the surface he rested on presented. He came to be, as you may think, precisely93 the man for the General; since, while the one was as apt for heat as Sahara, and as much the home of hurricanes, the other under no stress was ever known to give or take offence. He would be without quills94, this Van Buren, and yet no porcupine95 in his rattling96 armor went about more perfect to his own defence or so equal for the problem of his own security.
Van Buren made no lengthy97 stay with us; there was a hand-shake, a talk of a moment, a bow, and he was back to his quarters in the Indian Queen.
“And what do you say of him?” asked the General, when now his new secretary was gone.
“Why, sir,” I replied, “I should call your story of the man a good one. But he does not look so strong as you would make him.”
“Why, then,” returned the General, “neither does any other thing of silk.” Then, after a pause: “Just as an insinuation is stronger than a direct charge, so is Van Buren stronger than other men. I warrant you, as we stand here with all our wisdom, he holds our measures more nearly than we hold his.”
The General, you are to observe, and whether early or late, never said a word to Van Buren of Peg and the villain54 forays against her fame; the General was too proud for that. The defence of Peg seemed a thing personal to his heart; with him it owned no place in politics or the business of the state. Therefore, he would ask no man's aid, and folk on that quarrel might be neutral or pick their sides and go what ways they would.
The General, I say, beheld98 nothing of politics in the question of his defence of Peg; it was wholly the thing personal. He never realized, what is clear to you and me, that everything was the thing personal with him, and politics a thing most personal of all. Even now, since he had found the Palmetto coterie99 to be among his enemies, and within short weeks of the birth of his first rancor100 against Calhoun as one who had sought to do him hidden harm while apeing friendship and aiming at his betrayal with a kiss, he had commenced to nourish a steady wrath against that statesman's policies of Secession and States Rights. This latter he was cultivating and feeding in all possible fashion.
One day I came upon him deep within Marshall's definitions of treason as declared in the trial of Aaron Burr.
“There's the law for you,” he cried, with a note of exultation101 in his tone, and thrusting the book at me with one hand while with the other he marked the place; “there's the law of treason so laid down that a wayfaring102 man though a fool should not err38 therein. I shall get it pat to my tongue; I may yet teach it to our Secessionists with a gibbet.”
I put this down to show the climbing of the General's anger against Calhoun; and how it began to spread and feel about to assail77 the Vice-President in his acts and plans and sentiments and hopes. It was, as he said aforetime, “We would foil the villain and save our pretty Peg.”
You may rest sure I made no argument against his law studies; indeed, I think treason a crime which the White House can not understand too well nor hate too thoroughly103, and I never thought so more than in those far days when the General read Marshall and we carried forward our fight for lovely Peg.
While the General spoke no word of the Eatons and their injuries to Van Buren, the latter for a certainty was not long in town before he thereon held converse104 with himself. I would be made wise of this by his coming to me—it was our second encounter—and, with a manner suave105 as cream, asking what to my thought would be a time fitting, and to the lady convenient, for him to call upon our Peg.
“For you must know,” said he, spreading out his smooth hands and regarding the backs of them, being, I think, a trick of his to cover an inability to look one between the eyes, “for you must know, sir, since my wife died, and with no daughter in my house to teach me, my society learning has gone excessively to seed.”
It became my turn to say that society, I was told—for I carried no personal knowledge thereof, having little genius for it—ran now to broken ends and fragments, and would continue so throughout the year. The social season, by word of such experienced parlor106 scouts107 as Pigeon-breast, would not begin until New Year's Day.
“However,” said I, in finale, “you may take it from me that the Eatons will be blithe108 to receive you on any evening you should care to call. There need be no formality; you may pull their latch-string at any hour with every assurance of a welcome.”
“Can not you take me there this evening?” he asked, with a kind of enthusiasm.
“I am only too pleased to be of service.”
The fair truth is I could have hugged the little secretary from gladness for Peg.
That same night, when later I paid my usual visit to the General for a friendly pipe and to finish the day in smoke before we went to bed, I told him of Van Buren's waiting on Peg. The pleasure the news gave him fell across his face like sunlight. But he carried himself in ordinary fashion.
“Why, sir,” said he, “I'm glad that he has been to see the Eatons. Still, no less could have been looked for from a gentleman.”
“But he did better,” I said. “Never have I heard more delicate compliment than he offered to Peg. He says she shall preside at his house for those functions which belong with his position.”
“And that, since he has no wife, will be a vast convenience for him,” responded the General; “this pouring of his guests' tea by our beautiful Peg.”
The General would accept it as a matter of course, but I tell you the tidings of that tea-pouring warmed the cockles of his heart. For myself, I made no effort to hide my satisfaction.
“Is it not a strange thing,” said the General, after a bit, “how one's first impression will go astray? Who could be more true, or more wise, or better bred or founded in whatever makes for the best in a man, than our Van Buren? And yet I thought him sly, and with a hand for selfish design. The man's as simple as a child!”
“He tells me,” I remarked, “that your friend Hoyt of this region warned him you did not like him, and how your great favorite was Calhoun.”
“Hoyt is a presumptuous109 fool,” returned the General, hotly. “I would not give Van Buren's finger for Calhoun. Why should he be favorite of mine who foments110 treason, and schemes to split the nation like a billet of wood!”
Peg was with me betimes next morning to jubilate with dancing pulses over Van Buren to her house the night before.
“For can't you see,” she cried, her cheeks red with the excitement that crowed in her breast, “what a strategic point, as you sons of war would term it,”—Peg was laughing here—“is your little, round, smooth Secretary of State? He carries the grand legation folk in his wake. With them, all ribbons and orders, and the army—for the latter will be bound to us since we are the war department—our receptions should be a blaze of glory and gold braid.”
Here Peg clapped her hands with the glee of it. It was an inspiration to see her so gay.
“I am overcome of delight,” I said, mocking gravity, “to know that we are like to gain so much of ornamentation.” Then, changing my tone: “But of a truth, my little one, I shall forever love our State Secretary for your sweet sake.”
“You brought him,” cried Peg. “What a watch-dog you are to me!” This with sudden warmth. “That is the word, a watch-dog—a faithful watch-dog with a great sleepless111 heart guarding its Peg! And you shall have a collar.”
With that, since I was sitting in my chair and so within her reach, the minx crept up and threw her arms about my neck. It was simply play—the exuberance112 of a born tomboy. And yet I was glad we were alone and no General about, else I would have lived long ere I had heard the last of it. The situation would have fitted like a glove with the General's bent113 of humor, and I should not have cared for his raillery.
Peg clung to my neck like a rose to an oak while I tried softly to loosen her arms. I could not make head against her for fear of hurting her.
“How do you like your collar, watchdog?” she cried, with a chuckle114. “And now the buckle—how do you like that?” Here she laid her velvet115 cheek against my face. “So, watch-dog, you would slip your collar?” This, banteringly. “There; you are free.” And Peg unlocked her arms and stood back smiling, her small, white leopard116 teeth just showing, and her eyes like diamonds. Then donning a satiric117 air: “Sir, you call yourself a gentleman and a politician. You should know, then, there be two honors no man may decline; the one is a presidency and the other is a—lady.”
With this smartness on her lips Peg broke into downright merriment. The little witch was never so charming!
That evening I was sitting alone with the General; each of us silent and within himself, wrapping his own fancies about him like a cloak. I know not on what uplands of conjecture118 the General's thoughts were grazing; for myself, I was dwelling119 on Peg, for I could still feel that soft, warm collar of her two arms clasping my neck.
It is trenching on the wondrous120, too, how the sweet image of a woman will train one's soul for war. No sooner would I take Peg upon the back of my meditations121, than they straightway went plunging122 off to her enemies, and to tire themselves with vain circlings of how best to refute the malice123 of her foes124 and return upon their wicked heads the most of cruelty. Commonly I might be held as one not beyond touch of mercy, and indeed I have spared a painted Creek125 when he stood helpless. But I doubt me if Peg's foes, when by some sleight126 of fate they had fallen within my power, would have found a least loophole of relief. Of a verity127! I think I might have looked long on their writhings ere my heart was touched or my hands raised to stay their tortures.
While I sat in this blood-mood, and shedding in imagination the lives of ones who would persecute128 our innocent, my glance was caught by the General's pistols lying near by on a table. They were of that long, duelling breed belonging with the times, and the General kept them as bright and new as he kept his honor.
“And why are those on parade?” I asked, pointing to the weapons.
“It is the day of the year,” said the General, and his steady voice was low, “whereon I killed Dickenson. This is the one I used,” and he stretched his long arm and offered it for my inspection129. It had a ribbon of black about the butt130. “That is not for Dickenson,” he explained; “it is for her.” Here he indicated that miniature of his wife from which he would never be parted, where it rested on the mantel and looked down upon us with the painted eyes.
“No,” he returned, half sadly; “I do not regret killing him.”
“Tell me of it,” I urged. “I was not about, and Overton went with you to the field.”
The General never named his fight with Dickenson to others, but I was sure he would tell the tale to me. In good truth, I had not asked for it, save that, knowing him far better than I knew myself, I saw what was in his manner to make me believe he would be the lighter132 after the relation.
“Dickenson,” said the General, making no flourish of talk in explanation of a readiness to describe adventures which some folk for the red ending might have shrunk from; “Dickenson was the tool of a conspiracy133 made against my life, and politics was at the bottom of it. I was too popular; I was in the way; the grave was a place for me; thus argued my enemies. And then they went about to draw in Dickenson to be their cat's-paw.
“Dickenson was young and vain, and withal willingly cruel enough to act as my murderer for the illustration it would bring. He counted himself safe, since he was reckoned the surest, quickest hand in all the world. The man could shoot from the hip9 like a flash, and as accurately134 as one might put one's finger.
“Once the plan was laid, Dickenson took a sure course; he spoke evil of my wife.” Here the General picked up the two pistols, a butt in either hand, and looked first upon the one and then upon its fellow. “Following my marriage, with every dollar I owned, I bought these pistols. They are hair-triggers and a breath unhooks them. Also, they are sighted to shoot as fine and as true as the moral law. I gave to their purchase my last dollar, and devoted135 them to the destruction of what scoundrels should vilify136 my wife. They have done their work and never failed me.
“Overton was to act my second, and we would fight in Kentucky, sixty miles away. All day we traveled; the Dickenson party preceded us over the same trail. At every squatter's cabin the inmates137 would call us to the wizard work of Dickenson. Here he shot the head from a fowl138; there he cut the string by which a gourd139 was hanging; now he drove a nail at twenty paces. It was a trick to shake my nerve.
“We would fight in the early morning, each standing to a peg twelve paces apart. Overton won the word and the pistols. I was dressed in a black coat, loose and long, and with no white to show at the throat and coax140 a bullet. We were given our places, I to my joy with my favorite pistol.
“It was conceded by Overton and myself, as we went up and down the business in advance, that Dickenson would kill me. Our hope was that I'd last long enough to kill him—he, the defamer of my wife!
“The thought on our side was for me to brace141 myself and take Dickenson's fire. I could not rival him for quickness or for sureness. And the haste of an attempt would waste and throw away my aim.
“We were put up, I say; the words were to be 'Fire—one—two—three—stop!' We might fire at any moment between 'Fire!' and 'Stop!' And Overton had the word. As I took my place I slipped a bullet into my mouth. I would set my teeth on it to steady my hand.
“Overton cried the word and began the count. With the word 'Fire!' Dickenson's weapon flashed. I heard the roar of it, and felt the numb142, dull shock as the lead crashed into my side. But I sustained myself. I was held on my feet by hate. I thought he had slain me, but with him out of hell I would not rest in my grave.
“When I did not fall, but stood firm, Dickenson started back.
“'My God, I have missed him!' he cried.
“'Step to your peg, sir,' roared Overton, pausing in his count and cocking a pistol; 'step to your peg, or I'll blow your head from your body!'
“Dickenson stood again to his peg and turned his eyes from me; his face was the color of tobacco ashes.
“Overton resumed his count. 'One!' 'Click!'” My pistol caught at half-cock. Overton paused and I re-cocked my pistol; Dickenson white and firm to his peg—a man who had played his life away.
“'Two!' cried Overton.
“My pistol responded; the lead tore its way through the midst of Dickenson's body. He crippled slowly down on one knee; and then he fell along on his face, and next turned over on his back with a sort of twitching143 jerk. I never took my eyes from him.”
“And your wound,” said I, “was a serious one, I well know that.”
“My ribs144 were broken, while my boot was clogged145 with the blood which ran down beneath my garments. The bullet I placed between my teeth was crushed as flat as a two-bit piece.”
“Sir, I was thinking on her”—glancing at the miniature. “I should have killed that man though he had put his bullet through my heart.”
Here the General turned his face towards me; his eyes were shining with the lambent orange glow one sees in the panther's eyes at night.
There was silence, I still looking on the General. His nervous face was twitching. Then the frown on his forehead gave way to quiet sadness. Rising, he stood by the mantel and gazed for long, and tenderly, on the miniature of his dead dear one.
“I have had many titles,” said he, and he spoke whisperingly and as though talking with the picture; “I have had many titles, and the greatest was the one 'her husband.' I have had honors;—I stand the chief of the greatest nation in the greatest age the world has witnessed; and I would give all to hold her hand one moment. They say there is a heaven above us. It will be no heaven unless I meet her there.”
Now while I was in warmest sympathy with the General, his talk would seem to fill me up with darkness. Also, I could feel the two hot arms of Peg burning my neck. That story, too, of the Dickenson fight may be supposed to have set in my nature that animal which lairs147 within each of us, somewhat on truculent148 edge. Abruptly I burst forth:
“And it is a surprising thing,” cried I—ripping out an oath, the last not common with me—“how Eaton abides149 Peg's wrongs. He should have killed a man or two by now.”
“Sir,” returned the General, coming from his reverie with a kind of snap, “sir, no man since Catron has been known to speak a word. Besides, my cabinet men can not go trooping off for Blandensburg at any price. It is one of the drawbacks to a high position of state that it chops one's hands off at the elbow; duels150 are no longer a question.”
“I do not see it thus,” I retorted viciously. “You do not? Look on Aaron Burr—deserted and old and poor, and dying in New York. He came down from his vice-presidency to slay151 one who had maligned152 him for years. And there is his reward.”
“What do I care for that?” cried I. “If it were for Peg, I should leave a throne and perish poor, despised and all alone, but I would strangle the throat that spoke her wrong.”
“Ah! if it were Peg!” And the General, now alert and wholly of this world, gave me that narrow intent glance I resented among the flowers.
What might have been uttered next was cut short by a messenger on the door. He brought word from Noah; he had just come to town, and since it was turned late he would defer153 his call until the morning.
“Let's have him with us now,” cried the General, briskly. “I shall not sleep for hours; and you, I take it, will stay awake in such a cause?”
“I would stand sleepless guard for weeks if it were to defend Peg,” said I.
“Think now and then, my friend, for your own defence.” The General said this with a look both quizzical and grave. Then, without pausing: “Write Noah a note in my name.” While I scribbled154 he walked to and fro. “I must ever ask you to write for me, since I am so unfortunate as to deny a proverb and be one whose sword was ever mightier155 than his pen.”
In the hall I discovered Jim, and told him to depart with our message to the Indian Queen.
“'Course I'll nacherally go, Marse Major,” said Jim, “but I was jes' waitin' to see you-all, an' ask how soon you reckons we'll go caperin' back to Tennessee.”
“Why,” I demanded, “what has made you so soon homesick?”
“It aint that, Marse Major,” and Jim gave to his words a melancholy156 whine157, “but we-all can't stand d'pace yere. For a week Jim was as happy an' chirpy as a drunkard at a barbecue. But since you locks that closet do', Jim's sort o' been obleeged to buy whiskey for himse'f; an' what you think? They charge Jim five cents a drink for whiskey that don't cost two bits a gallon all along d'Cumberland! They's shorely robbers; an' they jes' nacherally takes Jim's money off him so fas' he cotch cold.”
“Go on, you rogue!” said I. “Here is a Mexican dollar to bolster158 your finances. We're not yet bankrupt, Jim.”
Noah came to us spattered of travel, and with the high riding-boots he wore on the road. I took a deal of pleasure for a buoyancy I observed in him, since I read it as a sign of whitest promise. Nor was I to be cast down from that hope.
“You are to know,” said Noah, turning to the General, “that I was two days before your letter with the Reverend Ely. In the first of our conversations he held his head loftily; in the end, he came something under control. Your letter much dismayed him, and after that his courage ran very thin indeed. Now he quite agrees he knew nothing, and was wrong and false in all he wrote. I dragged him to New York with me. I have Mrs. Eaton's innocence here, in these papers.” Noah laid a sealed package by the General's elbow. They were from the Reverend Ely, as well as from the folk of the hotel wherein that Ely said Peg lodged159. “They are oath-made; they prove Mrs. Eaton chaste160 as snow.”
“And how did you make conquest of this Ely?” questioned the General, his eye gratified and spirit a mate for Noah's.
“The power of the press, I should call it,” laughed Noah. “The ignoble161 Ely hath a mighty distaste of unfriendly ink. And I'm an editor. That was it,” went on Noah; “I showed him what might be done. He should stand in the pillory162 of my types for the reasonless defamer he was. Then the dog trembled and came my way with meekness163, asking what he should do. I answered much like the monks164 with the wild Clovis, 'Bend thy neck, proud Sicambrian; adore what thou hast burned, burn what thou hast adored!' In short, I demanded a letter of retractory amends165 to the President; and also that he name his fellow reptile, whose infamous word he claimed for the truth of his scurrility166.”
“And who is he?” demanded the General, as warm as ever I saw him.
By some virtue of telepathic sort, I read the answer before Noah uttered it. And why had I not guessed before! The secret one so falsely in the ear of the shallow Ely was none other than the unctious Reverend Campbell.
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1
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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3
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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4
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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harass
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| vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰 | |
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6
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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7
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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8
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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10
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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12
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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13
requital
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| n.酬劳；报复 | |
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14
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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15
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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16
ruffle
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| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
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17
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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18
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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19
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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20
blistering
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| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
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21
slanders
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| 诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
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22
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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23
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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24
overflow
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| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
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25
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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26
specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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27
indited
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| v.写（文章，信等）创作，赋诗，创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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29
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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30
scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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31
viper
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| n.毒蛇；危险的人 | |
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32
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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33
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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34
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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35
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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36
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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37
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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38
err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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39
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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40
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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41
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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42
hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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43
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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44
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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45
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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46
dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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47
slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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48
arraignment
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| n.提问，传讯，责难 | |
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49
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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50
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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52
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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53
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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54
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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55
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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56
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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57
perfidy
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| n.背信弃义，不忠贞 | |
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58
loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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59
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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60
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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61
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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62
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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63
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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64
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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65
premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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66
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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67
pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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68
aphorism
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| n.格言，警语 | |
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69
negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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70
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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71
garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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72
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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73
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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74
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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75
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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76
assails
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| v.攻击( assail的第三人称单数 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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77
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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78
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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79
feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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80
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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81
sedulous
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| adj.勤勉的，努力的 | |
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82
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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83
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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84
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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85
trudging
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的现在分词形式） | |
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86
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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87
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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88
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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89
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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90
simile
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| n.直喻，明喻 | |
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91
scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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92
plausibly
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| 似真地 | |
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93
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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94
quills
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| n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管 | |
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95
porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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96
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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97
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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98
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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99
coterie
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| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
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100
rancor
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| n.深仇，积怨 | |
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101
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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102
wayfaring
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| adj.旅行的n.徒步旅行 | |
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103
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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104
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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105
suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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106
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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107
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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108
blithe
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| adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的 | |
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109
presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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110
foments
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| v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的第三人称单数 ) | |
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111
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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112
exuberance
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| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
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113
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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114
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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115
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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116
leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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117
satiric
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| adj.讽刺的，挖苦的 | |
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118
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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119
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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120
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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121
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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122
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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123
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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124
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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125
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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126
sleight
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| n.技巧，花招 | |
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127
verity
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| n.真实性 | |
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128
persecute
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| vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰 | |
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129
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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130
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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131
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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132
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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133
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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134
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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135
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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136
vilify
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| v.诽谤，中伤 | |
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137
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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138
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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139
gourd
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| n.葫芦 | |
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140
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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141
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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143
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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144
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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clogged
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| （使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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lairs
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| n.（野兽的）巢穴，窝( lair的名词复数 )；（人的）藏身处 | |
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truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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149
abides
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| 容忍( abide的第三人称单数 )； 等候； 逗留； 停留 | |
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150
duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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151
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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152
maligned
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| vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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153
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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154
scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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155
mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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156
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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157
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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158
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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159
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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160
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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161
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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162
pillory
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| n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众 | |
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163
meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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164
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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165
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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166
scurrility
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| n.粗俗下流；辱骂的言语 | |
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