THE 
 
 VETERAN OF THE GMND ARMY. 
 
 
 
 BY THE BROTHERS COBB, 
 
 MEMBERS OF POST 80, G. A. R., DEPARTMENT OF MASS. 
 
 A THRILLING LIFE STORY, 
 
 DESIGNED TO SET FORTH THE TRUE AND LOFTY CHARACTER OF THE 
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, 
 
 AND MORE PARTICULARLY FOR THE SUBLIME PURPOSE OF BINDING THOSE WHO 
 
 WENT TO THE RESCUE OF THEIR COUNTRY, IN HER HOUR OF PERIL, MORE 
 
 CLOSELY IN ONE GREAT BROTHERHOOD, AS WELL AS TO INCUI*- 
 
 CATE AND PERPETUATE AMONG ITS MEMBERS 
 
 SENTIMENTS OF 
 
 FRATERNITY, CHARITY, MD LOYALTY. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL ALLEGORICAL PRESENTATION PAGE, 
 
 FROM THE PENCIL OF THOMAS NAST, THE EMINENT AMERICAN 
 
 ARTIST, AND A FULL PAGE FRONTISPIECE 
 
 BY THE AUTHORS. 
 
 SOX.D ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 I. N. RICHARDSON & CO., 
 
 NO. 68 CORNHILL. 
 
 1871.
 
 Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 CYRUS AND DARIUS COBB, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS : WELCH, BIGELOW, & Co., 
 CAMBRIDGE.
 
 draittr ^rmg at % 
 
 WHOSE SUBLIME PURPOSE IS TO BIND THE DEFENDERS OF THE 
 
 UNION IN ONE GREAT BROTHERHOOD J TO GUARD AND 
 
 PROTECT THE FAMILIES OF THEIR FALLEN COM- 
 
 RADES, DEAD, AND OF THEIR DISABLED 
 
 COMRADES, LIVING ; TO TEND THE 
 
 EVERLASTING FIRES ON 
 
 THE SACRED ALTAR 
 
 OF LIBERTY, 
 
 THIS WORK IS FRATERNALLY DEDICATED 
 
 CYRUS AND DARIUS COBB, 
 
 Post 30, Dep't Mats.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 NIGHT was settling over the city of New York. It was 
 in the fall of 1866. Wall Street had been through 
 one of its fiercest campaigns of that year ; but now, as the 
 darkened sky looked down on this field of many battles, it 
 gazed upon a field of silence. The bulls had retired tri- 
 umphant, the bears discomfited. In other words, one set 
 of speculators had gone home to count up their increased 
 fortunes ; the other to contemplate their ruin. 
 
 About eight o'clock a man issued from a broker's office 
 near the Treasury Building, and looking upwards, around, 
 and then downwards, as if he were uncertain whether he 
 trod on solid earth or not, he turned and wended his way 
 with an unsteady step to his store ; for this man was not a 
 professional speculator, but a dry-goods merchant, who had 
 caught the fever of speculation. 
 
 As he passed through the store to his counting-room, the 
 few clerks who remained for special duty looked after him, 
 and exchanged significant glances. 
 
 Closing the door of the counting-room, he fell into a 
 chair and buried his face in his hands. 
 
 As the gas-light strikes down upon him while he thus 
 sits, a picture of despair, his thin, yellowish hair matted 
 with perspiration, and his long, bony fingers clutched and
 
 6 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 quivering in the midst of these scanty locks, one cannot 
 withhold from him a profound sympathy. 
 
 At length he uncovers his face, and rising, he paces up 
 and down the office. Presently he stops, and resting one 
 hand on the desk, he fixes his eye on a photograph which 
 hangs on the partition that separates the counting-room 
 from the store, and mutters to himself. 
 
 The name of this merchant who suffers so much is Jonas 
 Cringar. 
 
 As he stands before us, he appears to be a little over fifty 
 years of age. He is tall, and his shoulders are somewhat 
 bent. His thin hair, and rather bristly beard, which he 
 wears full and of moderate length, are mixed sandy and 
 yellow. His eyes are blue, and have a cast in them ; and 
 while they indicate a kindness of disposition, they also 
 convey an impression of obliquity in his character. His 
 nose is nearly straight. 
 
 His mouth has a peculiar expression. It is somewhat 
 long and well compressed, as it appears under the trimmed 
 mustache; but mingled with this compression, which to 
 the casual eye would convey an idea of great firmness, is 
 an expression of weakness, not unlike that which is seen 
 in the mouths of certain inebriates. 
 
 The whole face, in moments of excitement, is drawn 
 down and elongated. 
 
 As he gazed on the photograph, which was the likeness 
 of a man dressed in the uniform of a captain of infantry, 
 his muttering gave place to a silent look of intense mental 
 anguish, his face being drawn down to an extraordinary 
 degree. 
 
 Suddenly he started, looked at his watch, and with an 
 effort at self-control, stepped to the door, and told the re- 
 maining clerks they could leave and he would lock up.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 7 
 
 Cringar stood looking at the clerks as they retired. One 
 seemed to delay. 
 
 " Will you leave ? " cried the merchant in a harsh 
 voice. 
 
 The clerk turned at the sound of this voice ; but if he 
 was intending to speak, he was silenced by the haggard 
 expression of his employer's face, and quietly turning to 
 the door, he was about to open it, when a man entered 
 from the street. 
 
 " Garvin ! " muttered the clerk as he passed him ; " he 's 
 doing Cringar no good. Any one can see that with half 
 an eye." 
 
 As this man entered, Jonas Cringar trembled, and drew 
 back into the counting-room. 
 
 The new-comer walked through the store, while his 
 boots seemed to vindictively grind the dust of the floor at 
 every step ; and as he crossed the threshold of the count- 
 ing-room, he extended his hand to the merchant, and ex- 
 claimed in a strong, rasping voice : 
 
 " How are you ? " 
 
 Cringar instinctively drew back. But as his eye met 
 the glance of his visitor, he stepped forward and took the 
 proffered hand, allowing his to remain till the other saw fit 
 to drop it ; which doing, the latter seated himself, not re- 
 moving his eyes from the merchant. 
 
 It is plain that he is a man of power. As he removes 
 his hat, which is still done without taking his eyes from 
 Cringar, the light brings his head and features out in bold 
 relief, affording a striking contrast to the appearance of the 
 merchant. 
 
 His head and face are broad, the complexion dark. That 
 which first strikes the beholder is the eye and mouth. The 
 iris is of a greenish-gray hue, which usually is rather dark,
 
 8 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 and not remarkably brilliant. But when the mind and 
 will seem actively at work, as at the present time, there 
 appears a light ring, which expands and contracts, some- 
 times almost filling the space around the pupil, and again 
 forming simply a narrow band, giving the iris an appear- 
 ance of varied colors, and an expression as cruel as in the 
 eye of the beast of prey. 
 
 There is, however, with their fixedness of look, a certain 
 restlessness in these eyes, scarcely to be called a motion, as 
 if they were ever on the watch at a post of danger. The 
 mouth unites in this restlessness. 
 
 The upper lip, though firm and biting, has a continual 
 tendency to show the white upper teeth, as if it were in 
 constant expectation of these fangs leaping out to fasten 
 themselves on a victim. 
 
 The upper lip and chin are shaven, the whiskers start- 
 ing from the corners of the mouth, and extending in a 
 downward angle back of the jaw. 
 
 His forehead is capacious, and rounds into thin, dark 
 hair, which is sprinkled (as are the whiskers) with gray, 
 and fast giving way to baldness, with also a peculiar dry- 
 ness, as if the heat of an incessantly plotting brain were 
 gradually withering it away. 
 
 Such was the man who now sat with his eye fixed on 
 the haggard merchant. His name was Daniel Garvin ; his 
 business a Wall Street broker. 
 
 " You don't look well to-night, Cringar," he said, after a 
 quick glance to the photograph and.back again. 
 
 " No, I 'm not feeling well to-night." 
 
 " The battle 's been too much for you, eh ? " And Garvin 
 laid his hat on a chair near him, and slowly rubbed the 
 palms of his hands. 
 
 The only answer Cringar gave was an inward groan.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 9 
 
 " You went with the bears, eh ? " 
 
 " I understood from you " 
 
 " Pshaw, man ! well, what ? you understood what ? " 
 
 " I understood that we should be sure to win." And 
 Jonas Cringar again groaned. 
 
 " This is your reward." 
 
 " My reward ? " 
 
 " For not putting faith in me" 
 
 " You always bear the market." 
 
 " Not always. For instance, to-day a man with eyes 
 half open could n't have failed to see how the thing was 
 going to turn. There are times when a man must doff his 
 claws and don his horns." 
 
 Garvin gave vent to a rapid guttural laugh as he uttered 
 this witticism, but Cringar looked as if this mirth would be as 
 appropriate over a new-made grave. Eising from his chair, 
 he walked to the door, turning his back to his tormentor. 
 
 The broker contemplated him a moment, while the rings 
 in his eyes seemed to gleam with a phosphorescent light. 
 Suddenly he spoke with his abrupt, harsh voice : 
 
 " Cringar ! " 
 
 The merchant turned as if he had received a shock from 
 a galvanic battery. As he met the deadly eyes of the 
 broker, he blanched, for he saw there was a struggle com- 
 ing, and to enter into a struggle with this man was to 
 engage with a relentless foe. 
 
 " Cringar, you 're not playing true with me." 
 
 The merchant was sjomg. 
 
 " Playing true with you, sir ! " he exclaimed, in a voice 
 which indicated a courage of which he was capable at 
 times. " Do you have the face to fling that at me ? " 
 
 The broker's eye gleamed with a grim smile, and his 
 upper lip begun to play, revealing his fangs.
 
 10 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 "What am I to-night, sir?" continued Cringar, "and 
 who has brought me to it ? " 
 
 " Well, what are you ? " rejoined Garvin, in a sarcastic 
 voice, exquisitely cutting. 
 
 " A ruined man ! " 
 
 " Not so fast, not so fast, Mr. Cringar. You 're not 
 ruined yet." 
 
 " Ay, a ruined man ! " 
 
 The merchant's countenance assumed an aspect of pro- 
 found desperation. 
 
 " Pshaw, man ! " said Garvin, who now changed his voice 
 to a tone in which consolation and contempt vied for the 
 mastery ; " so long as a man is a man he should n't de- 
 spair. Now I think I can get you out of the bog, and set 
 you on your pins all right." 
 
 Jonas Criugar turned on the broker fiercely. 
 
 " Despair ! Set me on my pins all right ! Be done with 
 these lies ! " 
 
 Daniel Garvin sprang to his feet. But this time his 
 eyes met the eyes of a man who, not lacking in a certain 
 degree of strength, was now roused to desperation. The 
 merchant waved his hand for the broker to be seated, and 
 his rounded shoulders straightened into something like 
 majesty. 
 
 " I say, be done, Daniel Garvin, and hear me ! You 
 have deceived me from beginning to end ! Professing to 
 take me into your confidence, that you might get mine, you 
 have made me your dupe, and the victim of your machina- 
 tions ! You it is who have tempted me from my legitimate 
 business into speculation, and the crimes which this dam- 
 nable curse gives birth to ! I am a defaulter, and, with no 
 power left to help myself, I am ruined. To-day's business 
 has finished me ! I am gone ! "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. II 
 
 With these last words the merchant sank into his 
 chair, and covered his face with his hand. 
 
 Garvin's eye seemed for a moment to be disturbed by a 
 sentiment of pity. But if so, it was only for a moment ; 
 for it instantly settled into a cruel, triumphant look, as he 
 contemplated his victim. 
 
 " You speak like a madman, Cringar," he at length said. 
 
 The merchant's only response was a tighter clasping of 
 his forehead in his bony fingers. 
 
 " You speak like a boy who, thinking he can swim, fol- 
 lows another who goes into deep water, and because he finds 
 he can't swim, he splutters out that the other has drowned 
 him." 
 
 The merchant did not move. 
 
 " You are pleased to say that you are a defaulter through 
 my machinations, as you call it. This is nonsense. Be- 
 cause you take money of a company in which you have a 
 strong interest, and, as treasurer, deem it wise to invest it 
 for a short time for the benefit of the company, is that a 
 crime ? If you did n't succeed, it was your misfortune, but 
 no crime." 
 
 Cringar raised his head, and viewed this utterer of 
 plausible sophistries with gloomy eyes. 
 
 " Your sentiments, sir," he said, " are destroying scores 
 of men who have stood as I once stood. It 's of no use. 
 I 'm a defaulter, and the world has got to know it." 
 
 " Why has it ? You 're not a dead beat." 
 
 " I am a dead beat. I have lost forty thousand dollars 
 of the company's money, and curse the day I ever touched 
 it ; and to-day I have given notes that cover all my avail- 
 able property, including every cent I have in this store." 
 
 He now rose, and, turning, gazed in gloomy despair 
 through the counting-room window into the store.
 
 12 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND AEMT. 
 
 The broker also rose. Unobserved by the merchant he 
 stood before the photograph, and bent upon it a dark, ma- 
 levolent gaze. Then he placed his hand on Cringar's 
 shoulder. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 , Cringar," said Garvin in a voice which he knew 
 well how to use, " I can get you out of all this diffi- 
 culty. Perhaps my method of doing business is. n't the 
 method for you to adopt. Now that you have come out so 
 unfortunately, I 'm inclined to think it is so. If I made a 
 mistake in judgment in this respect, it is unfair to make 
 me guilty of much that is worse. I have meant you well, 
 as I call my conscience to witness. I don't mean to say 
 that my methods of doing business are perfect, when viewed 
 by the standard of the old style. Speculation may be a 
 dangerous thing, and may lead to acts as risky as war 
 does, and to strategic deception, as war does ; but war is 
 necessary at times, and so is speculation." 
 
 His auditor did not move, so he continued. 
 
 " Now that you are dead beat, and say it 's of no use for 
 you to try to keep your head up any longer, in short 
 ruined, as you put it, what harm can there be in giving 
 me a fair chance of bringing you out ? I can do it." 
 
 These last words were spoken with strong emphasis, and 
 caused the merchant to turn. 
 
 Garvin smiled in his face. 
 
 " Cringar," he said, showing his white teeth, while his 
 ring-gleaming eyes restlessly passed and repassed from one 
 eye of the merchant to the other, " Criugar, if you really
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 13 
 
 consider yourself dead, what harm in letting me try a little 
 surgery, with the guaranty that I will make you live ? " 
 
 Jonas Cringar's mouth began to work, and his face to 
 elongate in a manner which the broker understood. 
 
 He knew he had conquered. 
 
 He took the merchant's unresisting hand. 
 
 " Now, Cringar," he said, " let us be friends ; at least," he 
 added with a smile, " until we have you out of this ter- 
 rible fix." 
 
 Cringar was not convinced of Garvin's sincerity. But 
 it was life or death with him, and he now listened with 
 the resignation of despair to anything he might propose. 
 
 When he told Garvin that he had made him a victim of 
 his machinations, he told the truth. 
 
 But he was not the chief object of these machinations. 
 
 He was simply the tool. 
 
 The original of the photograph which we have seen the 
 merchant contemplate with such emotion, and the broker 
 with such malignity, is the man on whom the latter's evil 
 eye is ultimately fixed. 
 
 The name of this man is Allen Paige, half-brother to 
 Garvin, and partner to Cringar. 
 
 A merchant in uniform is but one of the many sublime 
 anomalies of the Eebellion. 
 
 From the opening of this mighty struggle for the de- 
 struction of freedom on the one hand, and the mainte- 
 nance of it on the other, Allen Paige yearned to join the 
 conflict. 
 
 For over three years it was impossible. 
 
 In the fall of 1864 he would endure it no longer. He 
 determined it should no longer be impossible. Leaving 
 the business in charge of his partner, he went to the front 
 with the rank of Captain.
 
 14 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 He fought in the Army of the Potomac, and rapidly 
 mounted to the rank of lieutenant-Colonel. 
 
 At the battle of Petersburg he was wounded for the 
 first time. A ball from a Eebel sharpshooter struck him 
 in the right breast as he was bending forward, and pen- 
 etrated to the lower part of the spine. It was a frightful 
 wound ; but no vital was hit, and he was not killed. He 
 commenced to die from that time, however, and had been 
 slowly but surely wasting away. 
 
 Though younger than Cringar, he was the senior partner, 
 the style of the firm being PAIGE & CRINGAR, for his supe- 
 rior tact and energy had been mainly instrumental in 
 building up the business. 
 
 But though shrewd and energetic in his business, he was 
 free and open-hearted, to a fault. Quick to trust those 
 whom he called his friends, and slow to suspect them. 
 
 Up to the time of his return, wounded and disabled, 
 from the war, and for several months afterwards, nothing 
 was done by Jonas Cringar in violation of good faith with 
 his partner. 
 
 But within the past two or three months a change had 
 taken place. A serpent had commenced to wind about 
 Jonas Cringar. This serpent was Daniel Garvin. 
 
 The half-brothers took their characters, each from his 
 father. Daniel's father, the mother's first husband, was a 
 dark, scheming, tyrannical man, who made his wife miser- 
 able. Allen's father, the second husband, was a noble, 
 open, generous man, who made his wife the happiest of 
 women. 
 
 After his mother's second marriage, and the birth of Al- 
 len, Daniel felt himself outlawed. He heard much of his 
 dark father and his resemblance to him.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 15 
 
 He hated his half-brother, but his natural craftiness 
 warned him to hate in secret. He concealed it by a gen- 
 eral moodiness, under cover of which he would, in boy- 
 hood, dart out and make his unsuspecting brother feel the 
 weight of his pent-up vengeance. 
 
 It thus occurred that while he, with more or less fre- 
 quency, gave open expression to his hatred, it was not at- 
 tributed to hatred, but to the ungovernable display of a 
 bad and moody temper. 
 
 The mother and second husband were now dead; and 
 Daniel's secret enmity was not diminished by the manner 
 in which the property had been bequeathed. The bulk of 
 it went to the detested half-brother. 
 
 Avarice is not the least of the dark passions that govern 
 a nature like Daniel's. When he found himself compari- 
 tively disinherited, his hatred was resolved into implacable 
 vengeance, and his avarice devoured him with an un- 
 quenchable thirst for his brother's riches. 
 
 But the stronger his internal passions, the more solici- 
 tously he concealed them. 
 
 When Allen Paige returned with his terrible wound, 
 Daniel Garvin made pretence of sympathy. He called at 
 the house, and his countenance assumed an expression of the 
 prdfoundest pity as the wound was unbound and exposed 
 to sight. He declared, with well-simulated impulsive can- 
 dor, that he had up to the moment he first beheld this fear- 
 ful wound entertained toward Allen a feeling of bitter- 
 ness ; but to look upon him now would turn a heart of 
 stone. He clasped him by the hand, and helped dress his 
 wound : and who so tender as one of these men when his 
 schemes demand it ? 
 
 But the only sincere emotion that found a place in his 
 bosom, as he now often stood by the side of his suffering
 
 16 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 half-brother, was the secret but intense satisfaction with 
 which he saw that he was gradually and surely dying ! 
 
 We will return to Jonas Cringar, 
 
 Through this man of complicated strength and weakness, 
 Garvin commenced active operations. 
 
 A short time before Paige's enlistment an agreement had 
 been signed between the partners, that neither should en- 
 gage in any outside speculations. 
 
 This was a barrier. If once broken, it would place him 
 between these two partners, enabling him to take the ene- 
 my in detail. 
 
 With his varied arts he labored to entangle Cringar in 
 the interdicted outside speculations. He was successful. 
 Fire brought in contact with wood is not more certain of 
 kindling a flame than was the flaming temptation of specu- 
 lation rampant in those days, and spreading like some 
 vast conflagration of starting into a blaze the lust for 
 wealth of Jonas Cringar, when once the broker's arts had 
 been brought to bear upon him. 
 
 Once entangled, and the victim could only struggle. 
 The history of scores who have been held up to notoriety 
 in these past few years is his history. 
 
 The demon of speculation first devoured all his own im- 
 mediately available means ; then into its maw went forty 
 thousand dollars, held by him as treasurer of a Nevada 
 silver mining company ; and now, on the day which opens 
 this tale, he has given notes, with collateral security, 
 which cover all property he had remaining. 
 
 Through it all his evil genius was leading him on with 
 false hopes and pictures of chimerical fortunes. For once, 
 as we have seen, he had in his desperation been able to tear 
 himself from Daniel Garvin, and trust his fortunes in an- 
 other broker's hands.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 17 
 
 
 
 In his downward course, beside his criminal use of the 
 funds intrusted to him as treasurer, he had committed acts 
 which, as he thought of them, made him tremble. 
 ***** 
 
 At length Garvin had his struggling victim in his power. 
 He now prepared to push forward his ultimate design. 
 
 A few days previous to their introduction to the reader, 
 he had dropped into Cringar's ear a dark and diabolical 
 hint. 
 
 This hint revealed, as in a twilight, an atrocious plot. 
 
 This plot was the robbery of the widow and orphan chil- 
 dren of the patriot half-brother. 
 
 By means of his subtle arts, he had been appointed, with 
 Cringar, executor of his step-brother's will. As executors, 
 they would accomplish the work. 
 
 Jonas Cringar had entertained a sincere affection for his 
 partner, and had been received into his home as one of the 
 family. But he possessed not the character for a long fight 
 against the powers of darkness, for the sake either of affec- 
 tion or principle. 
 
 On this day that had decided his fate in "Wall Street, he 
 had, as has been before stated, ventured to make an effort 
 for freedom, by engaging the services of another broker. 
 He had got wind of a certain great combiriation of the 
 bears, and having possession of what he believed to be val- 
 uable points, he put up a margin on a large amount of the 
 beared stock ; and as the tide, to the dismay of all bears, 
 unexpectedly set in against them, " more margin " was 
 called for, and again " more margin," each time with a yet 
 more frantic voice, and at each call the merchant covering 
 with yet increasing desperation, till the crash came, and 
 blasted his last hope. 
 . x "We have seen him stagger to his store, and have wit- 
 
 B
 
 18 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 nessed liis anguish, alone, and his desperation in the pres- 
 ence of Daniel Garvin. 
 
 We left him passively awaiting a proposition from the 
 broker. 
 
 " I will tell you what I will do," said Garvin. " I will 
 give you the advantage of knowledge which I possess 
 of the operations of a certain ring, that I am not per- 
 mitted to speak of now to any one outside of it. Suffice 
 it that you have seen me win, and I tell you I shall win 
 again." 
 
 " My margin," uttered the merchant in a gloomy voice. 
 
 " That is what I am coming to. There is no difficulty 
 about it at all. I will give you acknowledgment of margin 
 without cash down. I recognize that you have n't always 
 been fortunate in your ventures with me, but now I am 
 master of secrets that will insure success, taurine or ursine. 
 You can repay me afterwards." 
 
 A gleam of hope lit up the gloom of the merchant. 
 
 " Mr. Garvin," he said, " give me a start that will enable 
 me to pay that money back in the treasury of the Bald- 
 Eagle Silver Mining Company, and I'll bless you with 
 prayers." 
 
 " It shall be done ! " exclaimed the broker decisively, 
 bringing his ' hand with a familiar slap on Cringar's 
 knee. 
 
 Then fixing his malevolent eye on the wavering orb of 
 the merchant, he said in a low, ominous voice, 
 
 " But, Cringar, the night is going by, and I have im- 
 portant business to propose, which cannot be longer de- 
 layed." 
 
 Cringar's eyes suddenly became fixed in a frightened 
 stare, but he remained silent. 
 
 " First take that away," said the broker in a voice in
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 19 
 
 which command and guilt mingled ; and he pointed to the 
 photograph of his half-brother. 
 
 Cringar hesitated, but starting spasmodically from his 
 chair, he took down the photograph and set it on the floor 
 outside the counting-room, face to against the wall. 
 
 When he had again seated himself, the broker proceeded 
 to disclose his plot against the original of this unendurable 
 photograph. 
 
 As Daniel Garvin commenced to unfold his diabolical 
 scheme, the perspiration which had disappeared from the 
 merchant's forehead began again to make its appearance ; 
 and it increased as the broker proceeded, until, no longer 
 able to endure the terrible eye that was fixed upon him, 
 he dropped his head into his hands, and soon he formed a 
 repetition of the picture which he presented just after 
 entering the counting-room from the street. His hair 
 again became matted, and his long bony fingers again 
 quiveringly clutched his head under the scanty locks. 
 
 The broker marked the effect he was producing with 
 Satanic triumph. Each separate matted lock, and each 
 long, quivering finger, seemed to cry out to him, 
 
 " Master, beJwld your slave ! " 
 
 At length he finished, and then sat contemplating the 
 suffering merchant, who seemed too stunned to move. 
 
 Jonas Cringar finally raised his head, and as his face met 
 the light it seemed to have grown, in the last five minutes, 
 twenty years older. It was drawn to an unwonted length, 
 and his chest heaved as if some heavy weight were press- 
 ing upon it. 
 
 He rose from his seat, and with an unsteady, and sort of 
 tottering stride, he passed and repassed between the door 
 and chair, clutching the back of the latter each time he 
 approached it, as if for support.
 
 20 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 At last he stopped with his hand clasping the back of 
 the chair, and turned to Garvin. 
 
 At this instant the store door was thrown open and a 
 man hastened to the counting-room and exclaimed, 
 
 " Mr. Paige is dying ! " 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE chamber in which Allen Paige had been confined 
 an invalid for so long a time was located in the L of 
 the house, which was situated on West Twenty-seventh 
 Street, It received the sun throughout the greater part of 
 the day, and this fact, together with its seclusion from the 
 noise of passing vehicles, had rendered it peculiarly favor- 
 able as a room for an invalid unusually sensitive to chill 
 and noise. Here, with his wife and daughter to attend 
 him, he spent month after month of uncomplaining illness, 
 rather inspiring those around him with buoyant spirits, 
 than seeming to need such inspiration himself. 
 
 As we have said, his nature was free and generous, and 
 his desire to cause no trouble on his account, combined 
 with a natural elasticity of spirits, had filled this sick- 
 chamber with an almost perpetual sunshine, even when 
 the clouds hid the sun in the sky. We say almost perpetual, 
 for times there were when even his elastic courage was 
 unable to conquer the pain which would occasionally come 
 on in an unexpected moment, and seizing him in its grip, 
 compel a groan of agony. 
 
 Such moments served, however, to reveal in stronger 
 light the fortitude of this patient sufferer; and not un- 
 frequently the affectionate mother or daughter, touched
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 21 
 
 too deeply by this display of suffering, and by the thought 
 of much more suffering which was endured in silence, be- 
 ing unable to control their emotions would hastily quit the 
 room and weep. 
 
 But he was not often deceived. The reddened eye 
 would tell the tale, and then he would put on so playful 
 and sportive an air that she who but a short time before 
 was weeping would now find herself smiling and laughing 
 as if all were enjoyment. 
 
 It was rare that these devoted nurses permitted any one 
 to take their place ; and often as the wounded soldier lay 
 and gazed upon them in the -midst of their tender labors, 
 he would silently call down upon them the benedictions 
 of Heaven. 
 
 Isabel, the wife of Allen Paige, was one of those wo- 
 men of whom many are found to redeem the sex from the 
 obloquy, which is often unjustly attached to it through that 
 class whose houses are the dry-good stores, and whose fire- 
 sides are the opera. 
 
 Her appearance prepossesses the beholder at once. Of 
 medium height, her countenance especially impresses one 
 with its goodness. She possesses beauty to a high degree ; 
 but her air is so marked of one who devotes herself to the 
 duties of life, to the entire exclusion of all vanity, that 
 the beholder instinctively shrinks from gazing upon her 
 countenance with any thought of this beauty only as it 
 expresses her virtues. Her form is noble, and a grace 
 pervades it, which advancing years cannot remove. 
 
 Emma, the eldest daughter, is nineteen years of age, and 
 rarely does the eye find such pleasure as in the contempla- 
 tion of this charming girl. 
 
 She is not so tall as her mother, but equally well pro- 
 portioned, her form impressing one with an exquisite
 
 22 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 combination of lightness, grace, and maidenly dignity. 
 Her eye is of a dark hazel; her nose nearly Grecian in 
 its outline, and imparting life and character; her mouth 
 full and finely formed, with a certain action, as the lips 
 meet in the middle, which we have observed to be accompa- 
 nied with purity ; her face is a full oval, with an expression, 
 as the cheek descends in a rich curve from the ear to the 
 chin, which implies great force of character with a remark- 
 ably affectionate disposition ; her hair is of a rich brown, 
 and is slightly brushed away in a waving roll from a classic 
 forehead, which, with its purely feminine air of thought, 
 affords a fit crown for all the other beauties of the face. 
 
 Besides Emma, there are three other children of this fam- 
 ily : Alice, a charming and faithful young girl of thirteen 
 years, who proves herself of great aid in the attendance on 
 her father; Albert, a thoughtful boy, two years younger, 
 who, even at this early age, is at the head of the first class 
 of the public school ; and Little Dorrit, as they call her, 
 her name being Dora, who is seven years old, and the pet 
 of the whole family. 
 
 On the day previous to the one which has opened our 
 story, Allen Paige had begun to sink rapidly, and as this 
 succeeding day dragged its painful hours, it was evident 
 that the moment of dissolution was near at hand. 
 
 He seemed insensible most of the day, but as evening 
 approached he indicated returning consciousness. 
 
 It was about six o'clock. He had in his wanderings been 
 giving orders to his men, whom he fancied marching with 
 him into battle. 
 
 " By the right flank ! Steady, men ! Halt ! Eeady 
 aim fire ! Steady ! Fire at will ! First Company 
 deploy as skirmishers ! " were incoherently uttered at inter- 
 vals, as he might imagine himself a line or field officer.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 23 
 
 There was something inexpressibly touching in the man- 
 ner of the mother and eldest daughter, as they listened to 
 this raving re-enactment of these terrible scenes of battle. 
 
 While grief took possession of their countenances, there 
 was yet mingled with it an expression of tender pride, as 
 they seemed to witness in his unconscious pictures those 
 acts of bravery which had won him distinction in the field. 
 They saw their husband and father marching to his duty as 
 a patriot who loved his country and was ready to die for it ; 
 and, in their sorrow, their souls seemed pervaded by the 
 lofty sentiment that, though spared to them for so many 
 months, now were they ready to yield him a sacrifice on 
 the altar of his country. 
 
 A soldier's family, his widow, his orphan children ; 
 they who gave their protector and support to their coun- 
 try, strengthening him with their love, encouragement, and 
 blessing, and thanking God that they could give one to 
 fight for Liberty ; what objects more worthy the protec- 
 tion of a preserved nation ? 
 
 Such thoughts cannot fail to inspire the breast of him who 
 beholds the scene around the dying bed of this patriot soldier. 
 
 As the dying man was in the midst of an order to storm 
 the breastworks of the enemy, he awoke to consciousness. 
 
 At this instant the rays of the setting sun were cast in 
 golden light across his face. 
 
 The wife made a movement to close the curtain, but by 
 a look he detained her. 
 
 " Let it rest upon me," he faintly uttered. " I would 
 fain let this messenger from the skies baptize me before I 
 go hence. Ah ! how near heaven seems to me now ! " 
 
 By a beautiful coincidence, as he uttered these words, 
 a soft strain of music floated through the air, and seemed 
 to mingle its harmonies with these baptizing rays of the 
 golden sun.
 
 24 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 
 
 This music, so enchanting and so opportune, was pro- 
 duced by a quartette of male and female voices, who were 
 rehearsing that beautiful chant, " THY WILL BE DONE," in 
 tones of exquisite harmony and sentiment. 
 
 As the closing words of each verse, " THY WILL BE DONE," 
 floated into the chamber, and reached the ears of the dying 
 patriot, his countenance kindled with adoration, and his 
 dimming eyes turned to heaven, while his lips moved as if 
 he were joining in the chant with invisible angels. 
 
 It was not sorrow; it was not grief; but tears rolled 
 down the cheeks of the mother and daughter, and they 
 knelt by the bedside, and with clasped hands silently 
 united in this inspired prayer to Heaven, while Alice and 
 her brother Albert stood in reverent awe, their youthful 
 toiils penetrated by the touching sacredness of this scene. 
 
 As the third verse was bearing these adoring souls up- 
 ward to God, the door was silently opened by the servant, 
 and a young man crossed the threshold. 
 
 The scene before him caused him to pause, and he stood 
 immovable as he contemplated this profoundly impressive 
 picture. 
 
 The sun's rays had passed the face of the soldier, and 
 now with even a yet more glorious light, appeared to encir- 
 cle his head with the sacred nimbus, while the music, fill- 
 ing the room from an unseen source, seemed in combina- 
 tion with this light to come from the unseen world. 
 
 This young man was of a nature rendering him unusu- 
 ally impressible to such a scene ; and as he stood by the 
 threshold without moving, a trembling seized him, and his 
 eyes were suffused with tears. His effeminate face, slight- 
 ly touched with a downy beard, his full blue eyes, and fine, 
 light, wavy hair, at once indicate this sensitive nature, com- 
 bined as they are with a slight and delicate form.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 25 
 
 His soul is evidently kindred with the soul of the family 
 before him, for his emotions seem not merely quickened by 
 the outward picture, but from a deep sympathy of spirit. 
 
 The last tones of the chant now hover through the room, 
 and as they die away, the golden light, lingering a moment 
 afterwards, like some sweet refrain, passes away with them, 
 leaving silence and the shades of evening in their place. 
 
 Allen Paige now turned his head, and the wife and 
 daughter rose. Looking toward the door he smiled, and 
 Mrs. Paige, turning, discovered the visitor. 
 
 He was now greeted as if he were one of the family, and 
 he came forward and spoke to his uncle ; for, strange as 
 was the anomaly, this light, delicate, and ethereal young 
 man was the son of Daniel Garvin. 
 
 And yet not so strange, for he was a complete transcript 
 of his mother, whose delicate organization, with her uncon- 
 trollable sensitiveness, had yielded to the harsh contact 
 of the father's unfeeling and aggressive nature, and found 
 that peace in death which she never found after her mar- 
 riage in life. 
 
 William, for this was his name, now offered to act as 
 nurse for a while ; and with the promise that he would call 
 them at the first indication of a change, the family, yielding 
 to the desires of the now somewhat reviving patient, left 
 the room for a brief respite from the cares of the sick- 
 chamber, and to attend to necessary household duties. 
 
 Soon after they had retired, the soldier fell into a quiet 
 sleep. 
 
 He slept thus for about two hours. When he awoke 
 it was evident the end was approaching. There was a 
 marked change, which the doctor, who came in a few 
 moments afterwards, pronounced the change of death. 
 
 The family were now called to the bedside, and the 
 
 2
 
 26 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 dying man, having expressed a desire that his brother and 
 partner should be present before he passed away, William 
 Garvin volunteered to seek them. 
 
 It was he who entered the store so suddenly, and gave 
 the announcement as recorded at the close of the second 
 chapter. 
 
 On the utterance of this announcement, the broker took 
 his hat, and, with a meaning glance at the merchant, went 
 out of the counting-room in silence. 
 
 Jonas Cringar followed, also in silence. 
 
 Both were startled ; but while Daniel Garvin recovered 
 himself immediately, the merchant shivered perceptibly 
 as he followed the former out of the store, and his long 
 hands clenched and unclenched themselves incessantly, 
 indicating a terrible conflict. 
 
 As they entered the chamber, Allen Paige greeted them 
 with a look which long afterwards haunted Jonas Cringar, 
 and then turned his eyes with an imploring glance on 
 his family. 
 
 They approached the bed, but, as the dying soldier at- 
 tempted to speak, his tongue refused its office, and with 
 another of those looks, which were destined to disturb the 
 future sleep of the merchant, he relapsed into unconscious- 
 ness. 
 
 Had the invisible beings, whom the dying so often con- 
 template, warned this devoted husband and father of the 
 diabolical plot of which his loved ones were the intended 
 victims ? 
 
 None here can tell ; but such a thought penetrated to the 
 guilty conscience of Jonas Cringar, and he trembled as 
 the devils tremble who believe that there is one God. 
 
 The soldier now commenced re-enacting the martial 
 scenes of his military life.
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. 27 
 
 At length "he began talking in tones of the profoundest 
 affection of a comrade, whom he spoke of only as Pres- 
 cott. 
 
 " Who is this Prescott ? " asked Daniel Garvin, who 
 seemed slightly ill at ease. 
 
 " He was a dear friend of Mr. Paige. He was a lieuten- 
 ant of cavalry. His name is Prescott Marland," replied 
 Mrs. Paige. 
 
 "Father seems to have loved him as a son, and has 
 often wished that we were acquainted with him," added 
 Emma. 
 
 As Emma said this, William Garvin turned suddenly to- 
 ward her, and his delicate features were disturbed by an 
 expression which caused a slight blush to suffuse her face. 
 In another instant he seemed to realize where he was, and 
 the solemnity of the event in which he was then to a de- 
 gree an actor, and with a frown of self-reproach he turned 
 his gaze to the dying. 
 
 The patriot's utterances' now grew fainter and more and 
 more incoherent. 
 
 At length he lay still and silent, and it seemed as if the 
 spirit had finally departed. 
 
 But suddenly he started from his pillow with that ap- 
 parently supermundane strength which the dying so often 
 reveal, and, waving his arm, he shouted : " Forward, men ! 
 To-day you conquer ! Remember your country ! " 
 
 Then sinking back, he gave signs of the last moments. 
 His eye began to glaze, and his breath to labor. 
 
 At this instant the door opened, and a tall man of 
 majestic, military bearing silently entered the room, and, 
 reverentially approaching the bed, gazed on the expiring 
 patriot with an expression of profound solemnity. 
 
 With one exception he was unobserved by those around
 
 28 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 the bed, who watched with all-absorbing attention the 
 last signs of life in the form before them. 
 
 The broker was the only one who observed this new- 
 comer, and as he fixed his sinister eye upon him he felt a 
 nameless foreboding. 
 
 The eye of the stranger, as if drawn by the power of 
 magnetism, turned for a moment from the dying soldier, 
 and met the eye that was fixed upon him. ' Unconscious- 
 ly, probably, to himself, his own assumed a look of iron 
 sternness, and it seemed to the inwardly quailing broker as 
 if it penetrated his most secret thoughts. Turning his gaze 
 again on the patriot, his countenance reassumed its expres- 
 sion of tender solemnity. 
 
 Presently the face of Allen Paige was lit up by a divine 
 smile. His eye seemed for an instant to break through the 
 glaze that was rapidly covering it, and look into heaven, 
 and his lips moved as if he were speaking to the awaiting 
 angels ; and then the spirit of the brave soldier passed to 
 its home, to be greeted by the patriots of all the past ages, 
 while the mortal face lay white and still, with that last 
 divine smile to relieve the coldness of death. 
 
 As the family now gathered with weeping eyes around 
 the motionless form of him who had loved them so much, 
 the stranger silently withdrew, followed by the furtive 
 glance of Daniel Garvin.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. 29 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 AFTEK a few words of formal consolation, Daniel 
 Garvin and Jonas Cringar took their departure, glad 
 to escape that chamber, where their consciences seemed to 
 hear the solemn denunciations of the dead. 
 
 When they had arrived in the street, Cringar turned to- 
 wards the broker, and opened his lips to speak ; but there 
 was a look about the latter which, for the present, at least, 
 compelled him to remain silent. 
 
 The arch-schemer had not been so absorbed by the im- 
 pressive scene through which they had just passed as to 
 fail to take exact note of every change of expression which 
 in turn agitated the countenance of the merchant. As we 
 have seen, it was a face calculated to reveal in a strong 
 manner the character of the soul's emotions, and the bro- 
 ker easily read the fierce but suppressed struggle that was 
 going on within him. 
 
 The reader can readily imagine the nature of this in- 
 ternal conflict. The effect of the look which Allen Paige 
 cast upon him when he entered the room, together with 
 subsequent influences of that death-bed scene of one whom 
 he had learned to love, and who had never failed to trust 
 him, brought into action the strongest elements of virtue 
 he possessed. As he contemplated the family of this dy- 
 ing friend, and thought of the diabolical nature of the plot 
 which the broker had opened to him just as he received 
 the announcement that called him to this scene, his heart 
 had nearly rent his bosom ; and his haggard face was con- 
 torted in such a manner, that, while the casual observer
 
 30 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 would mistake it for the struggle of grief, Garvin well 
 knew that a crisis was approaching in the soul of this 
 wretched man. 
 
 The broker understood the situation, and prepared him- 
 self to meet the decisions of a perturbed conscience with 
 the force of an unyielding will. Accordingly, when the 
 merchant turned to speak to him in the street, he silenced 
 him with his look, well apprehending the nature of the in- 
 tended speech. 
 
 But Cringar had been too profoundly affected by the 
 mental conflict through which he had passed to be silenced 
 for any length of time. 
 
 After parsing into Fifth Avenue, and by some half-dozen 
 blocks, he suddenly stopped, and turning fiercely upon his 
 tempter, he poured forth a storm of invective ; and in the 
 midst of it declared his determination to be done with both 
 him and his diabolical schemes, let come what might. 
 
 During this harangue the face of Daniel Garvin became 
 more agitated than we have yet seen it. His eyes burned 
 with lurid fires, and his upper lip seemed to both turn and 
 shrink back, to reveal in all their glistening array the 
 white fangs beneath it, while the entire expression seemed 
 formed of a devilish grin. 
 
 " You are grateful," he said, in a voice harsh and hissing, 
 but low, after the merchant had come to a stop from ex- 
 haustion. " In the first place, you talk too loud, and in the 
 next place you talk like an idiot ! " 
 
 " None of your damnable thrusts and cuts ! I '11 have 
 none of them ! " exclaimed Cringar with desperate courage. 
 
 " Cuts ! so you have decided to cut me, have you ? " 
 
 " Cut you, yes ! and may the devils incarnate quarter 
 you too ! If you dare push this thing, may the dead curse 
 you!"
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 31 
 
 The broker quietly approached a lamp-post that was 
 near "by, and taking out a large wallet, opened it and drew 
 forth a piece of paper. He then motioned for the mer- 
 chant to approach. 
 
 Cringar obeyed, and Garvin held the paper under his 
 eyes, so that the light of the street lamp should fall direct- 
 ly upon it. 
 
 At sight of this paper the merchant paled, and, stagger- 
 ing back, uttered a groan. 
 
 A patrolman who had heard Jonas Cringar's harangue, 
 and drawn near, now apprehended some foul play, and ad- 
 vanced to the spot. 
 
 "It is nothing," said Garvin; "my friend hasn't been 
 rightly used above here, and his excitement has made him 
 unwell." 
 
 " Yes, it is nothing," said the merchant in a faint, broken 
 voice, : " nothing, I assure you." 
 
 The watchman withdrew. 
 
 " Well, what do you say now ? " said the broker, as he 
 carefully folded the paper, and replaced it in his pocket- 
 book. 
 
 Cringar remained stunned and silent. 
 
 Garvin said no more, but, taking the unresisting arm of 
 the other, he led him away as one would draw a rudderless 
 craft along the shore. 
 
 That night was a terrific one for Jonas Cringar. 
 
 After parting with Garvin, he went to his store, for he 
 could not go home, and there throughout the long, gloomy 
 hours he could have been seen, now pacing the floor with 
 staggering steps, and now fallen in a chair, the picture 
 of hopeless despair. 
 
 "A forger," he muttered to himself. "Branded as a for- 
 ger ! no, no ! ah, my God ! "
 
 32 THE VETEKAN OF THE GKAND AEMY. 
 
 This paper, which, we have seen to produce so powerful 
 an effect on the astounded merchant was a note made to 
 the order of one Samuel Townsend, whose name was writ- 
 ten across the back as indorser. 
 
 This name was a forgery. 
 
 The forger was Jonas Cringar. 
 
 Speculation the cause. 
 
 And this same speculation has led many another of its 
 votaries to the' commission of crime equally heinous. 
 
 But they have not been detected. 
 
 It is the nature of speculation to pervert the channels 
 of business, and corrupt financial character. Men who 
 would repel with abhorrence the temptation to certain acts, 
 before plunging into the Stygian stream of speculation, 
 would, after this plunge, take to them as kindly as the 
 lamb to salt. 
 
 So with Jonas Cringar, who, it will be borne in mind, 
 was continually led on by the Satanic influence of Daniel 
 Garvin. " Kiting," " shoving," and the like, with all their 
 attendant slips, lies, and mortifications, became the order 
 of the day ; until, in an evil hour, the merchant, when 
 pressed to desperation through the secret machinations of 
 Garvin, made out a note, and with only a few moments 
 left to save himself at the bank, forged the name of an 
 opulent friend, which name was gold in the market, and 
 " shoved it through," intending to take care of it the next 
 day, " no one being the wiser," said he o himself, " and 
 much good done, and no harm." 
 
 As vain as the sophistry with which one instalment af- 
 ter another of the funds of the Bald Eagle Silver Mining 
 Company had been cast into the abyss ! 
 
 -An eye was on this desperate merchant. 
 
 Early the following day, Daniel Garvin despatched a
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 33 
 
 trusty messenger to take up this note. It was in the 
 hands of a private banker ; and Cringar had requested him 
 to hold it, and keep the transaction strictly private on ac- 
 count of peculiar circumstances which he could not make 
 known ; he to take it up within six days, paying two per 
 cent a day. 
 
 The messenger professed to come from Jonas Cringar, 
 and laying down good money for it, the banker delivered 
 it, nothing showing that it was not all right. 
 
 Four days' time had elapsed, and during these four days 
 the merchant had this note constantly in mind ; for now 
 that he had done the act, done it, it is true, without in- 
 tending crime, he began to realize the consequences if 
 he should be brought face to face with it before the public 
 eye ; and it was the thought of this forged paper, which he 
 supposed still in the hands of the banker, whom in his dis- 
 tracted efforts to save himself he had not seen since nego- 
 tiating the note, that seized his soul in a yet more relent- 
 less grip when he contemplated his utter ruin, as previous- 
 ly described. 
 
 " A forger ! Branded as a forger ! " exclaimed this vic- 
 tim of another's wiles and his own cupidity ; and he 
 wrung his hands in despair. 
 
 The Devil triumphed. Before the streaks of dawn began 
 to appear in the eastern horizon, he was the slave of Daniel 
 Garvin. 
 
 The broker did not hurry down to see Jonas Cringar. 
 He felt too sure of his prey to do this, but instead he oc- 
 cupied his time in laying out the diabolical work, which 
 had for its object the robbery of everything from the 
 widow and orphan children of his patriot brother. 
 
 Among other things he did not fail to call to see the 
 corpse, and offer some words of consolation to the living, 
 2* c
 
 34 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 and of admiration of the dead. That he was able to do so 
 without exciting suspicion was proof of his mastery of hy- 
 pocritical arts ; for while he uttered these words, his heart 
 "beat with an exultation which few could conceal, and his 
 mind was busy with malevolent purposes. 
 
 In due course of time the will was read and entered for 
 probate. 
 
 Through Garvin's influence, Allen Paige, with his accus- 
 tomed generosity and lack of suspicion, had declared his 
 executors exempt from giving bonds, thus providing one 
 important step for the ruin of his own family. 
 
 Where legal or strict business transactions are concerned, 
 let it be remembered that generosity may so act as to turn 
 the edge of the sword from those who deserve it to those 
 who are innocent, and whom it would be the last to in- 
 tentionally injure. 
 
 The operations of the schemer now commenced. 
 
 First there came whisperings of complications, and of 
 the revelations of transactions which threatened to change 
 the entire aspect of the affairs of the estate. Isabel 
 Paige would not believe these things ; but in times when 
 the reputation for judgment of no merchant seemed to be 
 proof against his dabbling in speculation, when it was 
 no uncommon thing for a man to die reputed to be rich, 
 while really his estate would be found inadequate to meet 
 the liabilities, it was by no means a difficult task for 
 the executors of her late husband's will to impress the 
 public mind with the truth of whatever they might be 
 pleased to assert. 
 
 Although Mrs. Paige paid but little heed to these whis- 
 perings, feeling sure, from a knowledge of much of her 
 husband's business (for like a wise man he secured a good 
 wife, and then confided in her), that they had no good foun-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 35 
 
 dation, yet erelong she began to practically feel the ef- 
 fects of these pretended revelations. 
 
 As executors of Allen Paige's will, it was the duty of 
 Daniel Garvin and his abject slave, Jonas Cringar, to retain 
 all property, real or personal, belonging to the estate, in- 
 cluding moneys, until its liabilities should have been fully 
 ascertained. Under these conditions, it is not difficult to 
 conceive of the position into which Mrs. Paige found her- 
 self thrown. For a while she was enabled to get along 
 without serious inconvenience, by means of available funds 
 left her by her husband, but erelong she began to feel the 
 band as it was being drawn around her. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 A FEW weeks after the death of Allen Paige, Mrs. Paige 
 and Emma were seated in the library, the one sewing 
 and the other embroidering. At first, after the loved form 
 had been consigned to the grave, no place seemed so utterly 
 lonesome to them as did this library. Here Allen Paige 
 had spent much of his home life, among the books which 
 lined the walls ; and the room seemed peculiarly a part of 
 him, the everlasting absence of whom caused the very foot- 
 falls to echo through the house. 
 
 But, as day succeeded day, the feeling began to change, 
 and in this room of all others, except, perhaps, the chamber 
 in which he had been so long confined, they came to feel 
 as if he were near unto them. Here, therefore, they would 
 now often come and sit. 
 
 Each seemed busy with her own thoughts.
 
 36 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 I 
 
 " Mother," said Emma at length, " I can't help thinking 
 of the Deering family." 
 
 Mrs. Paige looked up with an air of anxious interest. 
 
 " Do you think they are in trouble ? " she asked. 
 
 " I cannot keep them off my mind." 
 
 " You know Mrs. Deering sent word by Alice that Joseph 
 had a place, and they should n't need any more assistance." 
 
 Emma said " yes," but did not seem satisfied. She con- 
 tinued awhile embroidering and thinking. At length she 
 again spoke : 
 
 " Mother, I feel anxious about them, and I cannot help it." 
 
 " But, my child, they would send word." 
 
 Emma slowly shook her head. 
 
 " You know, mother, Mr. Stanfield recently died, and it 
 is said he left his business in a bad state." 
 
 " I have heard so." 
 
 As Mrs. Paige uttered this, her countenance assumed an 
 expression of anxiety, as if she were thinking of the reports 
 about her late husband's estate, which Daniel Garvin was 
 so insidiously circulating. 
 
 " And," continued Emma, " supposing they had to dis- 
 charge employees from the store, and Joseph were one of 
 these, how would they be situated ? " 
 
 " Would not Mrs. Deering let us know ? " 
 
 " I fear not. You must consider, mother, her pride. She 
 is a soldier's widow ; and though she has been compelled, 
 through the forgetfulness of the people her husband fought 
 for, to depend much on charity as if she were a beggar " 
 
 " Too true ! " 
 
 " it has been hard for her spirit, as we well know. 
 And I believe she would have starved rather than be 
 treated as a beggar, if we had not found her out, and made 
 her feel that she could accept bounty from us, because we 
 were also a soldier's, family."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 37 
 
 Emma's cheeks glowed as she spoke. 
 
 " And do you think she will now hesitate to call ? " 
 asked Mrs. Paige. 
 
 " I fear it. She sent so decided a message that they 
 could get along comfortably for a good while to come. 
 And you know even with us she has felt much humiliation." 
 
 " She has shown a good spirit, however." 
 
 " Yes, and I know she has felt sincerely grateful. But 
 she has also felt under too great obligations. 0, how I 
 do wish there would be a society formed to look after 
 soldiers' families, like the Masons and Odd Fellows, and 
 societies of that kind ! " 
 
 " By whom would you have it formed ? " 
 
 " By SOLDIERS and SAILORS ! those noble men who 
 fought on land and sea for their country ! " exclaimed 
 Emma, her eyes beaming with a light as if inspired by 
 her father's presence. 
 
 At this instant William Garvin entered. 
 
 At sight of his beautiful cousin, with her countenance 
 flushed, and her eye beaming with the noble sentiments 
 that moved her, he trembled. 
 
 " Ah ! " cried Emma, " here 's Cousin William, and he 
 shall be my escort ! " 
 
 " Where are you going ? " asked Mrs. Paige. 
 
 " To Look after the Deerings," answered Emma ; " and 
 William must go with me." 
 
 "With the greatest pleasure," responded William, his 
 face flushing with happiness. 
 
 As the reader has probably inferred, this delicate young 
 man, with a temperament of the most exquisite sensibility, 
 loved his beautiful cousin. 
 
 Though they had been together as cousins from early 
 childhood, William Garvin had scarcely entered his teens
 
 38 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 before lie began to look up to Emma as an object of ado- 
 ration. He secretly worshipped her, and at any time he 
 would have laid down his life for her, as an enthusiast will 
 for his religion. But this love he had never made known. 
 Xothinir he dreaded more. It was not associated with 
 
 O 
 
 ideas of possession ; she seemed too far above liim for 
 that. But he contemplated her with a sort of rapture, as 
 a being whom he could not conceive of as the wife of 
 any mortal man. When she would speak of her shoe- 
 maker or dentist, he wondered how these men could dare 
 profane her by their commonplace touch. He looked upon 
 the brush that brushed her hair, and the combs, and all 
 other articles of her toilet, as favored far beyond such ar- 
 ticles used by other women. He was, in truth, jealous of 
 them. 
 
 He had become an artist by profession, and the influence 
 of this profession tended to enhance the sentiments of ado- 
 ration which held such an all-powerful sway in his soul. 
 
 Emma's desire, therefore, that he should accompany her 
 to look up the Deerings made him the happiest of men. 
 
 "You mustn't be gone long," said Mrs. Paige, "for it 
 is now late. And if you are out after dark in that part of 
 the city, I shall feel anxious, for you know several acts 
 of violence have been recently committed there, almost in 
 broad daylight." 
 
 "Do not fear," answered Emma, "I have William for a 
 protector." 
 
 On uttering this last remark she smiled on her cousin, 
 and went out, he following with a throbbing heart. 
 
 The Deering family had lived in a tenement situated in 
 a court running from Third Avenue, and thither Emma, 
 accompanied by her cousin, directed her steps. 
 
 She found them gone.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 39 
 
 She inquired of women and children about the place 
 where they had moved to ; but they did not seem to know. 
 
 At length an old woman of haggish appearance came to 
 the door next to the one in which the Deerings had lived. 
 
 " Git out ! away wid ye ! " she cried, brushing the dirty 
 children right and left ; and then, adjusting her crimped 
 cotton cap, which flared up broadly in front, she called out 
 to the cousins, 
 
 " Is 't the sowldhier's family ye 're looking for ? " 
 
 " Yes, their name is Deering," answered Emma, eagerly, 
 at the same time approaching the hag. 
 
 " Yis, by the name of Deering. You 're come to help 
 thim, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes, we fear they are in want ; and if you can direct 
 us where to find them, we shall be much obliged to you." 
 
 " Yis, yis, I know ye would, sure. Well, by me sowl ! I 
 pithy that poor sowldhier's family, and Margarit Eoone is 
 the woman that '11 dirict ye to thim without any thanks 
 at all, sure. Holy Mither, protect us ! but meself is the 
 woman that would be sthruck dead with pithy for sich as 
 thim, and espishally the little cripple, Jasus protect 
 her ! " 
 
 " If you will tell us," interrupted Emma, getting a little 
 impatient with the old woman's volubility. 
 
 " Ah, throth ! an' it 's meself that '11 do that same. Ye 
 '11 be goin' down to the Avenoo below this, and " 
 
 " Second Avenue ? " 
 
 " Sicond Avenoo is it ? Yis, the Sicond Avenoo, so it 
 is. Well, ye '11 be going down to the Sicond Avenoo, an' 
 thin ye '11 be afther kaping your way along up till yez pass 
 Fortieth Strate and along beyond that till yez get up to 
 Forty-sivinth Strate ; an' it 's down that same strate ; it 's 
 Margarit Eoone that 's sure indade. Thin it 's meself that
 
 40 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 must think " Here the hag commenced rubbing her 
 mottled forehead. " Well, thin, ye '11 find an open space, 
 that ye '11 be after knowing on account of the large excar- 
 vations, an' there ye '11 find a small bit of a house, which 
 is afther being not the one ye 'd be wanting ; but the next 
 house is a high, slim buildin', wid archways for the win- 
 ders ye '11 sure an' know it." 
 
 " And is that the house ? " asked Emma, now beginning 
 to fear that the sun would go down before the old woman's 
 tongue would stop its wagging. 
 
 " The same, bless your swate pretty coontenance, me 
 lady ! I 've talked much, but it 's Margarit Koone that 
 would talk much more for the sake of the sowldhier's 
 family." 
 
 William Garvin, who had remained silent up to this 
 time, was vastly pleased with the old woman's compliment 
 of his cousin's face, and from an impulsive desire to in- 
 crease this admiration he exclaimed, 
 
 " And this lady is a soldier's daughter ? " 
 
 "Holy Mary bless her!" returned the beldam, with a 
 grimace, " and thin Margarit Eoone is sivenfold rajoiced to 
 send yez on your way." 
 
 On the utterance of this benediction, the cousins depart- 
 ed, and the hag withdrew her frilled cap into the door, at 
 the same time muttering through her broken teeth, 
 
 " Bad luck to thim ! if they hunt till they find the 
 house meself has given thim, it's the widow of Patrick 
 Uoone pace to his blessed sowl ! that hopes much 
 good it may do thim ! May purgatory take the sowls 
 of the whole brood of thim ! " 
 
 This hag was the widow of one of the rioters of 
 July, 1863, who was killed by the military. The very 
 name of soldier made her gnash her teeth with rage ; but
 
 THE VETEKAX OF THE GEAND AKMY. 41 
 
 she was cunning and did not always show it. In the 
 present instance she gnashed her teeth in secret, and 
 sent her inquirers on a fruitless errand. 
 
 The cousins rode up to Forty-seventh Street as the hag 
 had directed, and then proceeded to search for the house 
 she had described. There being no such house, their search 
 was of course in vain. They went up and down, and up 
 and down, from one street to another, for Emma was of 
 pertinacious temper when aroused, and William was only 
 too happy to have the time extended to the last moment 
 that thus enabled him to act as her protector. 
 
 Eelying on the old woman's direction, Emma had not 
 stopped to make inquiries at the 'court about the condition 
 of the Deering family, or why they had left their former 
 lodgings ; but now as she was seeking them in vain, the 
 words of the hag in reference to them, and her own fears, 
 served to impel her on to find them if it were a possible 
 thing, her excited fancy picturing them turned out of the 
 old quarters, and now dying of starvation. 
 
 So, though night was coming on, she still persevered, 
 while her cousin, absorbed in the delight of acting as her 
 protector, forgot the dangers which were likely to attend 
 this delay, in a part of the city where violence was of 
 almost daily occurrence. 
 
 In the mean time let us return to the beldam. 
 
 After retiring into her den, she continued to mutter and 
 gnash her broken teeth, cursing soldiers and Abraham Lin- 
 coln, - " the nagur," as she called him, and wishing that 
 his soul might be in purgatory. 
 
 At length, in the height of her solitary fury, she sud- 
 denly gnashed her fangs with such vehemence that one 
 of them broke, and she spit it out with a sound between a 
 hiss and a growl ; and bounding from her chair, with her
 
 42 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 back rounded over, as if projected by a spring, she bran- 
 dished her bony fist, and with a horrible grin that com- 
 pletely overspread her repulsive visage, she exclaimed, 
 
 " The fine sowldhier's daughter! its Mammy Eoone that '11 
 furnish yez with the night's lodgings where your marvil- 
 lous beauty will be appraciated ! and where they love the 
 mimory of the sowldhier ! " 
 
 Then taking down an old hood and shawl from a nail 
 driven in the wooden partition, she put them on ; and with 
 her dried and shrunken lips drawn back from her broken 
 teeth, and her bloodshot eyes glittering with diabolical 
 passion, she opened the door and passed out. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A HALF-HOUR had elapsed after the departure of the 
 old woman, when a stranger entered the court and 
 looked intently about. The women held their gossip, and 
 the children ceased their noisy play, and, drawing back, 
 gazed up at him with open mouths and wondering eyes, 
 overcome with childish awe. 
 
 The appearance of this man is remarkable. 
 
 His stature is lofty and martial in its bearing. It rises 
 considerably above six feet, and is so finely proportioned 
 that only by comparison is his full height realized. 
 
 His head is large. His face is wide, and at the same 
 time projects forward with aggressive energy. The nose 
 aquiline ; the cheek-bone high ; the jaw long and massive, 
 extending the chin downwards without detracting from its 
 executive strength; the lips somewhat thick, but closely 
 compressed.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 43 
 
 The eyes are gray ; and, combined with a sternness that 
 indicates long habit of command, is a contemplative fixed- 
 ness, giving an effect of profundity to the expression of an 
 iron will. 
 
 This is enhanced by a remarkable scar, that deeply and 
 widely indents his left cheek-bone. 
 
 His hair is dark and thick, and appears in clustering 
 locks under his small felt hat, which, though of civilian 
 form, has the military bend to it. His beard has the cav- 
 alry cut, the mustache and imperial only being worn. 
 
 Imperiousness, severity, high temper, quick passions, 
 magnanimity, and humor can be traced through his physi- 
 ognomy to his nature ; which in earlier years have evidently 
 held independent sway, but have been by a tremendous 
 experience compelled to harmonious action. 
 
 In his massive head, which rounds out from his small 
 hat, with its wide and capacious front, is seen an intellect 
 corresponding with his physical power. 
 
 The forehead is a forehead of plans and strategy, and it 
 is evident that he cannot be easily circumvented. His age 
 is difficult to judge, but he appears to be about fifty. 
 
 All were so busy staring at this man that no one thought 
 of speaking to him, though he had asked twice if the Deer- 
 ings lived there. 
 
 At length a washerwoman, who was evidently American 
 born, came forward, and, looking about on the gaping peo- 
 ple, cried out, 
 
 " Are you all deaf ? Do you keep the gentleman stand- 
 ing there with no answer for him ? And what is it, sir ? " 
 she added, addressing the stranger. 
 
 " I have been told that a family by the name of Deering 
 lives here." 
 
 " The soldier's family."
 
 44 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " The same." 
 
 " They Ve gone." 
 
 The stranger looked disappointed. 
 
 " Can you tell me where they have moved to ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 The woman shook her head. 
 
 A little girl now ventured to come forward. 
 
 " Please, sir, I think I can tell you." 
 ; The stranger bent upon her a look which encouraged her. 
 
 " I heard Mammy Koone tell a gentleman and lady this 
 afternoon that they had moved to a tall, slim house, next 
 to a short one, next to an open place, on Forty-seventh 
 Street." 
 
 " Thank you, my child," said the stranger, taking out a 
 coin and giving her. " And who were the gentleman and 
 lady that came here ? " 
 
 " I don't know their names, sir. But the gentleman was 
 small and slim," here the child's eyes wandered up and 
 down the gigantic form before her, " and the lady was 
 very handsome, and I heard the gentleman say the lady 
 was a soldier's daughter." 
 
 The grave countenance of the stranger lit up with in- 
 terest. 
 
 " A soldier's daughter ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir. I heard him say so to Mammy Roone." 
 
 The stranger now turned to go. But just as he had left 
 the court he felt a hand placed on his arm, and a voice 
 said, 
 
 " I would spake wid ye, sir." 
 
 On looking around he beheld a little Irishwoman, who 
 had a face which, though pitted with the small-pox, was 
 kind. 
 
 There was so much solicitude in her countenance that 
 he bent his head at once.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 45 
 
 " Mammy Eoone does n't mane well by thim that was 
 here this same afthernoon." 
 
 This was uttered in a sort of hoarse whisper. 
 
 The stranger's brow darkened. 
 
 " What mean you ? " 
 
 " This sure, sir, an' it 's not Mary Connelly that would 
 tell ye an unthruth. It 's riskisome, sir, to be tellin' ye 
 what I have on me tongue, but I could n't slape in peace 
 if I did not teU ye." 
 
 " Well, my good woman, what is it ? " 
 
 " Well, thin, I 'in nixt neighbor to Mammy Roone, an* 
 afther she had sent the beautiful young soldhier's daughter 
 an' the fine young gintleman away wid a diriction that I 
 don't believe is thrue at all, she carried on in her room like 
 the wicked Satan himself ; an' I heard her spittin' fire, an' 
 ciy out with a horrible laugh, that she 'd secure lodgings 
 for the young lady, where them that knows could appra- 
 ciate her beauty." 
 
 The expression that took possession of the stranger's 
 features so startled the little woman that her tongue seemed 
 suddenly frozen in her mouth. 
 
 " Well ! " he exclaimed, under his breath, " what more ?" 
 
 The poor woman now began to tremble before the as- 
 pect of this man ; but a reassuring look which appeared in 
 the midst of his frown gave her courage again. 
 
 " And thin, you honor, she went away with a slam, an' 
 she 's no friend of the soldhier nor the soldhier's family, sir, 
 for it was her old man, Patrick Roone, that was killed in 
 the murdhering riot. An' sure she made the family you 'd 
 be afther feel her wicked spite, and a betther family lives 
 not in this blessed city." 
 
 The stranger's military mind grasped the whole plot. 
 
 Placing his hand on the little woman's shoulder, " If it
 
 46 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 is as we fear," he said, " you shall neither come to harm 
 for informing me, nor go unrewarded ! " and then has- 
 tened away for that part of the city to which the hag had 
 directed the cousins. 
 
 The little woman gazed after him, at the same time talk- 
 ing to herself. 
 
 " He 's a wondherful man," she uttered. " It 's meself can 
 tell by his eye. An' he 's a soldhier too, if Mary Connelly 
 knows ought of mankind. It *wa,s an awful cut he got on 
 his powerful face, sure ! " 
 
 She now watched him awhile in silence, her face lit up 
 with a gleam of profound satisfaction. 
 Presently she again spoke to herself : 
 " Now, look well to yourselves, ye mane-spirited hire- 
 lings of Mammy Eoone ! If ye dare do harm to her who 
 is the soldhier's daughter, I pithy ye ! I pithy ye ! " 
 And with this she went back into the court. 
 It was now dusk. 
 
 ***** 
 The sun had disappeared behind the house-tops of the 
 great city, when Emma found herself weary and discour- 
 aged, after her long and unavailing search. 
 
 " William," she said at length, " I fear we must give up 
 our search, and leave this poor family, Heaven only knows 
 in what a state of destitution ! " 
 
 William was about to answer, when Emma uttered an 
 exclamation, and pointed down the street. 
 " It is the old woman," cried William. 
 William was not mistaken. Rapidly approaching them 
 with a halting gait was the beldam, who had suddenly ap- 
 peared in view from an intersecting street. 
 
 When near enough to be heard, she cried out between 
 gasping breaths,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 47 
 
 " The blissed Virgin be praised ! Mammy Eoone has 
 found ye at last ! It 's been a hard thramp for me aged 
 bones ; but it 's your dear silves that 's found, any way ! 
 Me sowl was throubled for all of yez ; for afther ye had 
 gone from me sight, it 's meself that feared I had been 
 wrong in the diriction, an' Margarit Eoone was n't the 
 woman to set back in her aizy-chair, an' think of yez not 
 finding the sowldhier's family, the family it 's Mam Eoone 
 that can swear on the blissed Book she 'd cut off this poor 
 bit of a shrivelled hand for ! An' ye 're a sowldhier's 
 daughther yourself, me swate young lady " 
 
 " We have not been able to find the house you directed 
 us to," interrupted Emma, impatiently. 
 
 " Ah, but the blissed Virgin only knows how Mammy 
 Eoone, you see they call me Mammy ginerally," here 
 the old woman showed some of her broken teeth, " an' 
 it 's afther sounding a sort of social like but let me see 
 as I was about to tell yez, the blissed Virgin only knows 
 how Mammy Eoone can rattle with her tongue, but her 
 heart is right, as the hiven of hivens knows, so hilp me 
 God ! an' I '11 prove it to yez same, for hav' n't I hobbled 
 up the long distance to make it certain that ye 'd find the 
 poor unfortunates, Hivin bless thim ! for " 
 
 Mammy here wiped her eyes with her dirty shawl, and 
 then exclaimed, 
 
 " But the good Lord protict us, me sweet lady ! it 's get- 
 tin' dark, an' it 's no place for sich as you to be out afther 
 this hour. Come with me, an' it 's meself that '11 prisintly 
 show ye the house ; for I need not the name of the strate to 
 find it." 
 
 Having spent so much time hunting in vain, Emma 
 could not think of returning home without finally see- 
 ing the family, whose sufferings were continually pictured
 
 48 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 in her excited mind, and whom she now felt certain of 
 meeting in a short time, under the guidance of this old 
 woman, whose worst trait she thought was her volubility. 
 
 As for William Garvin, he was but too happy in yield- 
 ing to the will of his cousin. 
 
 The hag now led them from street to street, shaking her 
 head as she went, and saying, 
 
 " It 's not near. Ye 've wandered far. But it 's meself 
 that '11 lead ye straight to the house." 
 
 But it now began to grow dark, and the old woman as- 
 sumed a plaintive voice. 
 
 " Me poor eyes ! me poor eyes ! the darkness throubles 
 thim ; but niver mind." 
 
 So from street to street she led her victims, every now 
 and then turning away her head, that they might not see 
 the drawing back of her shrivelled lips. 
 
 Objects were rapidly growing indistinct. 
 
 The hag had now led the cousins to a district which, 
 even in that part of the city, was marked as God-forsaken 
 and solitary. 
 
 Emma's heart began to be troubled with an oppressive 
 dread. 
 
 Her cousin's face indicated that he also was not free 
 from oppressive fears. 
 
 They now came to a spot where the very houses seemed 
 more like dens of robbers than abodes of honest people. 
 
 As they entered this precinct, the form of a young man 
 of bold free step appeared from a cross-street several rods 
 behind them. 
 
 He paused in surprise as he beheld the group in the 
 dusk before him, and intently observed them. 
 
 Presently he turned, and looking down the street from 
 which he had just emerged, he whistled softly, and then 
 beckoned with his hand s
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 49 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 ABOUT the time the stranger was parting from the lit- 
 tle woman with the pitted face, two young men left 
 Central Park by one of the eastern gates, and wended their 
 way to East River. 
 
 One of them instantly strikes the attention by his fine 
 athletic form and noble countenance. His full and hand- 
 some oval face, with its dark eye, open forehead, freely 
 chiselled nose and mouth, and dimpled chin, captivates 
 even the masculine beholder. There is an air of freedom 
 and boldness about him, which indicates that he has, even 
 at his early age, seen much of the world. 
 
 This bold and handsome young man's name is Prescott 
 Marland. He it was who occupied the wandering thoughts 
 of Allen Paige in his last moments, and the speaking of 
 whom by Emma caused the glance from her enamored 
 cousin. 
 
 He has just come from the West, and is sauntering over 
 the city of New York, with which he has made himself 
 pretty thoroughly acquainted in former years. His pres- 
 ent companion is a clerk, who has been for some time in 
 the employ of Jonas Cringar, and who has got off early 
 this afternoon to take a stroll with him through the 
 Park. 
 
 The sun had just set when they arrived at the river ; and 
 as the last rays disappeared, the moon, as if by some aerial 
 signal, rose full and clear above the eastern horizon. 
 
 Soon its white rays passed over Long Island, and de- 
 scended with glistening beauty on the river ; the long slim
 
 50 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 form of Blackwell's Island lying in the midst like some 
 sleeping denizen of tlie deep. 
 
 Prescott Marland contemplated the beautiful scene before 
 him for a while in silence. 
 
 Presently he exclaimed, as if to himself, 
 
 " OLD THORBOLT ! " 
 
 His companion looked at him in surprise. 
 
 Marland laughed. 
 
 " This moon brings Thorbolt before me," he said. 
 
 "Thorbolt?" 
 
 " Yes, Thorbolt, or Old Thorbolt, as we used to some- 
 times call him." 
 
 " Who 's he ? " asked the puzzled clerk. 
 
 " As strong and brave a man as ever wielded sabre." 
 
 " A soldier, then." 
 
 "Yes, a soldier and a VETERAN!" exclaimed Marland, 
 with admiring energy. 
 
 " Come, now, there 's a story. Tell it." 
 
 "With all my heart. You see Thorbolt's name was 
 really General Hammond, General Julius Hammond. 
 He 's had a tremendous experience in his day. He went 
 into the war with Mexico when he was sixteen, and gun- 
 powder and steel have been his food ever since. But I tell 
 you what it is, he 's no adventurer by any means. He has 
 a mind equal to his body ; if he had n't have had he never 
 would have lived to see this day, in spite of his gigantic 
 strength and heroic courage. He 's great for strategy." 
 
 " Well, how did he get his name of Thorbolt ? " 
 
 " That 's what I 'm coming to. In the first place, you 
 must understand that few men could match him either for 
 size or strength. If you were to be cut in two, and your 
 upper half put on top of me, your head would be about on 
 a level with his."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 51 
 
 " A pleasing picture." 
 
 " To be sure," rejoined Marland, laughing. " A sort of 
 half-and-half picture. Well, that gives you an idea of his 
 height. But there 's his breadth." 
 
 " Which could be suggested, I suppose, by putting me 
 under a trip-hammer." 
 
 " Exactly." 
 
 " And then roll me up to get an idea of his thickness." 
 
 " Capital. The long roll. That long roll never was 
 able to get more than half through before Old Thorbolt 
 would come striding out of his tent, armed and equipped 
 for the fight." 
 
 " OLD THORBOLT. Now will you please tell me about 
 that, without any more joking ? " 
 
 " Certainly. As I was saying, Colonel Hammond he 
 was colonel then was a man of gigantic stature, and 
 with a strength which would inevitably break some of our 
 bones, if he should hit us with his clenched fist. The long 
 roll came one night, and pretty soon we had it. The moon 
 was up in the east as full and bright as it is there across 
 the river. Hammond was the first into it. Our column 
 was ordered to his support. It was a grand sight, that 
 fight ! The Eebs had advanced up a sort of valley, and 
 when we came in view, there was the Colonel at the head 
 of his column, slashing into them as if they were so many 
 corn-stalks. The moon was shining right down the valley, 
 so we could see everything almost as plain as by daylight. 
 It seemed to make Hammond stand out like some aveng- 
 ing god. A Norwegian a Major, who had just joined 
 our regiment was riding by my side ; and after watching 
 the Colonel a moment, he asked, 
 
 "'Who is he?' 
 
 " ' Colonel Hammond,' said I.
 
 52 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " He misunderstood. 
 
 "'Hammer!' he exclaimed, 'Hammer! He is Thor's 
 Hammer!' 
 
 " Then, as the Colonel's sabre threw off the gleams of the 
 moonlight, a Eebel seeming to go down at every sweep, he 
 cried out again, 
 
 " ' Thor's Hammer ! No, 't is the BOLT of Thor ! ' 
 
 " ' Yes, Thorbolt ! ' cried another officer. ' That 's the 
 name for him ! Thunder and lightning ! the old Scandina- 
 vian God himself could n't do better ! ' 
 
 " That 's the way he got the name. Sometimes we used 
 to put the ' Old ' on, because he was one of that kind. He 
 looks and acts fifty, but he is n't more than forty to-day. I 
 tell you what it is, those kind of men have iron wills, 
 the kind that get ' Old' stuck on to them early." 
 
 " So that 's the way he got his soubriquet ? " said the clerk. 
 
 "Yes, and I never see a moonlight like this, that it 
 does n't remind me of it." 
 
 They now turned, and sauntered down the river. 
 
 " This is as good as a romance," said the clerk, as they 
 walked along. " Tell me more about him." 
 
 " Ah ! you ought to see him ! It 's a tremendous scar 
 he 's got on his cheek ! " 
 
 " How did that come ? " 
 
 " In a fight with a Eebel infantry-man." 
 
 " What, swords ? " 
 
 " No. In a charge on Rebel infantry his horse was shot 
 under him. A Rebel private rushed forward to transfix him. 
 But Old Thorbolt was ready for the fellow. He leaped to 
 his feet, and at it they went, sabre and bayonet. Those 
 that saw the duel said it was fine. You see the Rebel was 
 a herculean soldier, and they made the sparks fly like a 
 blacksmith's hammer on red-hot iron. Presently they both
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 53 
 
 fell at the same instant, the Eebel with Thorbolt's sabre 
 through his body, and the Colonel with the Rebel's bayonet 
 driven through his cheek-bone into his mouth." 
 
 " Ugh !" ejaculated the clerk, with a grimace. 
 
 " It was a terrible wound, that 's a fact," said Marland, 
 smiling at his companion's contorted face. " But he was 
 more fortunate at another time." 
 
 " I should hope so." 
 
 " He was dismounted, and lay wounded on the ground, 
 when two or three Rebels attacked him at once with the 
 bayonet. But he warded off every one of their dastardly 
 thrusts, until they were finally put to flight by reinforce- 
 ments." 
 
 " I should think he would keep that sword." 
 
 " He does. It is hanging in his library, with other me- 
 mentos and trophies, with gaps that you can almost put 
 your finger in, made by his powerful blows against the 
 edges of the bayonets." 
 
 " You speak of his library. Is he a book-man as well as 
 a warrior ? " 
 
 " Yes. You know I told you his mind was equal to his 
 body. He has an extensive library, which he uses to as 
 much purpose as he did his halting-grounds." 
 
 " His halting-grounds ? What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 " Simply this. Whenever the column in which he held 
 command came to a halt, it was his custom, instead of 
 laying back with his eyes shut, to scrutinize the sur- 
 rounding country, and then start a discussion with other 
 officers as to where a surprise might be attempted by the 
 enemy, and what should be clone in case of one. In this 
 way he made himself master of the situation." 
 
 " Good ! He must have been as able an officer as he 
 was terrible as a fighter."
 
 54 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " He 's one of the first cavalry leaders of the age." 
 
 They now struck an avenue, through which they con- 
 tinued their way. 
 
 Both walked on awhile, thinking. 
 
 " I am greatly interested in this Veteran of yours," at 
 length said the clerk "It seems to me he must feel a 
 good deal safer in this part of the city at midnight than I 
 should." 
 
 As he said this he began to look about him with suspi- 
 cious glances. 
 
 Perhaps the sight of the Penitentiary on Blackwell's 
 Island, from which he had just turned, did not inspire him 
 with the calmest of thoughts. 
 
 " Yes," responded Prescott, laughing, and looking around 
 with a mind evidently untouched by solicitude, or such 
 fancies as the nervous are apt to indulge in lonely places, 
 " a man who has been through with what he has is n't 
 much disturbed by such places as these. His California 
 experience, when he was a mere boy, was enough to in- 
 ure him to New York dangers." 
 
 " Did he see much of life there ? " 
 
 " A good deal of it. He was scarcely twenty when he 
 was made sheriff, and any one who lived in California six- 
 teen or eighteen years ago knows what that means." 
 
 " It means a good deal of danger, I suppose," said the 
 clerk, looking about him again. 
 
 "It means pistol-muzzles lining the walls of his hut, 
 like the cells of a hornet's nest, in the daytime, and 
 knives hanging by hairs from the roof, like the stalactites 
 in the Mammoth Cave, in the night-time." 
 
 The clerk laughed aloud, and then, glancing around, 
 lowered his tone, and said, 
 
 " It must be an enjoyable life."
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 55 
 
 " It really was to one of his make. I '11 give you one 
 little incident before we part," he added, as they now ap- 
 proached the street where they were to separate. "You 
 will bear in mind that this was in his youth. Yet with all 
 his wildness then, one can see the same traits, only in a 
 crude state, in the reckless sheriff of California which 
 afterwards appeared in such grand form in the Eebellion. 
 In both cases he was always studying his ground, and his 
 mind was restlessly engaged in mastering probable strategic 
 points. But we are nearing the corner, and so for the inci- 
 dent, which is only one of many. You see, while he was 
 sheriff there was a desperado at the mines who had defied 
 all other sheriffs, having killed one of them and wounded 
 another. Julius promised to arrest him. He found him 
 in front of a liquor-shanty. ' I have come to arrest you,' 
 said he. ' All right,' returned the desperado ; ' but let 's 
 come in and take a drink.' 'Very well.' They went 
 in. The liquor was poured out, and each raised his glass. 
 Julius stood leaning against the counter, with his glass in 
 his left hand and his right hand thrust in his side coat- 
 pocket. Now, you see, this pocket was lined with leather, 
 and so formed as to receive a pistol like a leathern case, 
 directing the muzzle to the front of the coat. There was a 
 pistol all loaded and cocked in this pocket, and Julius held 
 it grasped in his hand so that it covered the desperado's 
 body. The desperado, who also held his glass in his left 
 hand, lowered it for an instant, looked at it, and then raised 
 it again. At the same time he made a movement of his 
 right hand. Julius kept on sipping. The desperado took 
 another look at his glass, and commenced scratching his 
 face close to the ear. But Julius kept on sipping. Sud- 
 denly the desperado left off scratching, and, as quick as 
 you can wink, drew a -bowie-knife from behind his neck.
 
 56 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 But while the knife was in the air the pistol in Julius's 
 pocket exploded, and the assassin fell to the ground a 
 dead man." 
 
 The clerk shuddered as Marland finished this short but 
 graphic tale ; and as he parted from him the dusk of even- 
 ing seemed loaded with dismal gloom, while the moonlight 
 that touched the house-tops had something ghastly about it. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE nervous and hastening step of the clerk was 
 rapidly bearing him away from a spot which ex- 
 erted so dismal an influence upon him, when his progress 
 was arrested by the sound of a low whistle. He turned, 
 and saw Marland beckoning to him. 
 
 The reader has already seen this action of Prescott Mar- 
 land, for he was the young man with the bold free step 
 who appeared as Emma Paige and William Garvin, ac- 
 companied by the beldam, entered the forbidding precinct 
 which seemed so fitted for the dens of crime. 
 
 Prescott's manner did not serve to allay the apprehen- 
 sions which had disturbed the breast of the clerk ; but his 
 pride would not permit him to do otherwise than respond 
 to his companion's signal. As he approached Marland, the 
 latter placed his hand to his mouth to enjoin silence, and 
 pointed to the group which had so fixed his attention. 
 
 "Who are they ?" asked the clerk. 
 
 " It 's more than I can tell you," said Marland. " But if 
 something is n't in the wind, then I 'm no judge, that 's 
 all."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 57 
 
 At this moment the objects of their scrutiny stopped, and 
 then they heard the voice of the hag, which was raised on 
 a louder key than heretofore, expostulating with her vic- 
 tims, and assuring them that they were near the house they 
 sought. 
 
 " Let 's come around on their flank," whispered Prescott, 
 " and find out what all this means." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " exclaimed the clerk, in a whisper. " What 's 
 the use ? We '11 only get ourselves into a scrape." 
 
 " Use or no use, I 'm bound to see what it all means." 
 
 " Leave that to the police." 
 
 " Come now, Billings (Marland thus addressed the clerk), 
 there 's a young lady, who I '11 swear, even in this light, 
 is beautiful ; and a young fellow with her that Old Thor- 
 bolt might use for a cane, if his backbone were stiff enough ; 
 and if ever a hag meant mischief, I believe that one does. 
 I 'm in for it." 
 
 On the utterance of these last words Marland started off 
 to come around on the group by a side street. The clerk, 
 seeing there was no help for it, followed. 
 
 Let us return to the cousins and Mammy Eoone. 
 
 The dread, which the former began to experience before 
 reaching the spot in which Prescott Marland discovered 
 them, now increased to such a degree that they halted, as 
 we have seen ; and Emma, casting on the old woman a look 
 of strong suspicion, refused to go any farther in the direc- 
 tion she was leading them. 
 
 As we have also observed, the beldam now pitched her 
 voice to a high key. 
 
 " Oche ! and is it meself you suspict, me darling ? Nay ! 
 nay ! ye would n't be for thinking so evil of poor Mammy 
 Eoone !" 
 
 "I certainly do not like the way you are leading us 
 about," returned Emma, with some severity.
 
 58 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " It does n't look right to me, I must confess," joined in 
 William Garvin. 
 
 " me honies ' " cried the hag in a plaintive voice, " to 
 think that meself, with the good name that I Ve earned, 
 and labored hard to kape, should come undher such a look 
 as ye jist now cast upon me ! Meself, that 's hobbled away 
 down to the place we 're treading this blessed moment, to 
 be of assistance to ye ! Arrah, me swate lady, and me 
 fine young gentleman! ye '11 never suspicion Mammy 
 Eoone more when once ye Ve turned into yonder strate ; 
 for now, bless the name of Jasus ! it 's meself that recog- 
 nizes the spot at last that we 're seeking." 
 
 As she was uttering the last portion of this characteristic 
 speech, the old woman had suddenly taken a step, and 
 extended her body forward, while her face lit up with an 
 expression of joyful intelligence. 
 
 " Come ! come ! " she exclaimed, seizing Emma by the 
 sleeve. " Ye '11 be glad to see the sowldhier's family at 
 last!" 
 
 The cousins now moved reluctantly forward. 
 
 On their right was a dark, lonesome-looking alley. As 
 they passed this alley William Garvin held his breath ; for 
 he observed the dim forms of three men, and he was sure 
 these men were watching them. 
 
 Catching his cousin by the opposite sleeve to that which 
 the old woman had grasped, he whispered, 
 
 " Let us go back, in Heaven's name ! This old woman is 
 leading us " 
 
 He was interrupted by a movement of Emma, who, on 
 turning as he began whispering to her, started back, and 
 uttered a slight cry. 
 
 William followed the direction of her frightened glance, 
 and also started back ; for he now beheld the three dim
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 59 
 
 forms issuing from the alley, and approaching them with 
 a sinister air of mischief. 
 
 The old woman did not appear at first to observe them. 
 When Emma started back and uttered the cry, she broke 
 forth with, 
 
 " Arrah, me darlint ! but your nerves are not sthrong. In- 
 dade it is that as old as is Mammy Eoone, she 's not to be 
 frightened by the dark looks of the strate " 
 
 Her eyes now fell on the three figures that were ap- 
 proaching. Stretching her head forward, she placed her 
 hand above her eyes, and peered through the dusk upon 
 them. 
 
 " Me sight is dim," she uttered in a hoarse whisper, " but 
 I like not the looks of thim that 's coming this way." 
 
 Then, suddenly retreating, she gave vent to a suppressed 
 shriek, and with the cry, " The Holy One be wid us ! " 
 she hobbled off, moaning and ejaculating in the most dismal 
 tones of fear and alarm. 
 
 As for Emma, she stood trembling, not knowing which 
 way to move; while William Garvin, who might have 
 hastened away under other circumstances, now placed 
 himself between his cousin and the three sinister-looking 
 men, whose intentions could not be mistaken. 
 
 As the slight form of this devoted lover stands erect and 
 defiant, the spirit inspired with a courage which knows 
 nothing but that the beloved object is in danger, one in- 
 stinctively longs to see it expand into the proportions of 
 a giant that shall be commensurate to this courage. 
 
 As it is, however, a laugh issues from one of the three 
 ruffians, and he exclaims, 
 
 " Stand where you are a minnit, my fine chick, an' I '11 
 pen a description of ye for the newspapers." 
 
 The other ruffians responded to this speech with a hoarse 
 laugh.
 
 60 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 William Garvin's face changed from pale to red, and 
 then grew pale again. He was in a desperate situation. 
 The scoundrels whom he confronted were evidently accus- 
 tomed to rough business. The one who addressed him 
 was a burly, powerful fellow, who seemed strong enough 
 to break his delicate form across his knee ; while his com- 
 panions, though not his equals in strength, had an aspect 
 quite as ferocious ; and either seemed strong enough to 
 fling this delicate, yet devoted protector with a single hand 
 from one side of the street to the other. 
 
 When within a pace or two of the cousins these three 
 ruffians stopped for a moment, and contemplated them 
 with a leer. 
 
 " Now, my Hercules, what 's the use of making a dis- 
 turbance in this 'ere peaceable neighborhood ? " 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! " hoarsely again responded the other 
 two. 
 
 " We 're peaceable citizens, we are ; and seem' this 'ere 
 female being carried off by such a ruffian as you be, an' 
 no mistake (another hoarse laugh), we 're bound to do our 
 duty, an' rescue the same." 
 
 With these words he advanced. 
 
 Emma had now recovered herself, and her native spirit 
 came to her aid. 
 
 Stepping forward, she confronted this leading ruffian 
 with a look such as compelled him to halt in his tracks. 
 
 " Villain ! " she exclaimed, " leave us and go your way ! " 
 
 There was silence for a moment. 
 
 Then one of the rear scoundrels cried out, 
 
 " blinkers ! ain't she a pictur, though ! " 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! Dick 's afeared of her ! " responded the 
 other. " I say, On to the rescue ! save her from the young 
 reprobate ! "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 61 
 
 With this the last speaker pushed forward, and grasped 
 Emma by the arm. 
 
 William, who up to this moment could not entirely 
 realize that any living man, however degraded, would dare 
 profane the object of his adoration with the hand of vio- 
 lence, was by this act wrought to the pitch of frenzy. With 
 a loud cry he sprang upon the wretch who had grasped his 
 cousin. 
 
 The attack was so sudden and unexpected that the 
 object of it fell back in momentary confusion. But the 
 leader, whom they called Dick, catching the frenzied as- 
 sailant in his powerful arms, threw him violently upon the 
 ground, where he lay stunned and immovable ; then crying 
 out, " No more tomfoolery ! let us be off ! " he seized Emma 
 around the waist. 
 
 Emma uttered a shriek that penetrated far into the ap- 
 proaching night. 
 
 Prescott Marland and the clerk were just entering the 
 street below when they heard this shriek. 
 
 They hastened forward and beheld Emma struggling in 
 the arms of the leading ruffian, while the others were 
 making an effort to gag her. 
 
 " By Heavens ! " exclaimed Prescott, " we are just in time 
 for that crowd ! " and he bounded up the street. 
 
 The clerk was for a moment staggered ; but though his 
 former fancies had been generated by the gloom through a 
 nervous organization, and in an imaginative mind, yet now 
 that the reality was before him, his naturally courageous 
 nature quickly prepared itself to meet the conflict. Closing 
 his lips, and clenching his hands, he followed his companion 
 with nerves drawn taut like so many springs. 
 
 As he sped on his way he caught a glimpse of an old 
 woman, whom he judged to be the one he had seen with
 
 62 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 the cousins, peering around the opposite corner upon the 
 struggling group. 
 
 " By Jove ! " exclaimed the clerk to himself, as the ath- 
 letic form of Prescott Marland went bounding on before 
 him; "if he don't give 'em a taste of his gymnastics then 
 I '11 give in!" 
 
 In the mean time Marland rapidly approached the scene 
 of outrage with long leaps; and it seemed as if several 
 yards yet intervened, when with one tremendous bound he 
 planted a blow on the side of the head of the ruffian Dick 
 that caused him to drop his intended victim, and stagger 
 half stunned against a doorway, near which the struggle was 
 taking place. Then, drawing Emma back, he extended his 
 clenched hand which had just struck so powerful a blow, 
 and cried out, 
 
 " Scoundrels ! take yourselves off, or I '11 teach you a 
 lesson that 11 make you behave yourselves in future ! " 
 
 With a curse the stricken ruffian, who had now recovered 
 himself, sprang forward, and, foaming with rage, yelled in 
 a hoarse voice, 
 
 " Who dares strike Dick Smasher ? D n him ! I '11 
 see to his life insurance ! " 
 
 With this he aimed a fearful blow at the head of the 
 young athlete. 
 
 But though encumbered as he was by Emma, whom he 
 supported on his left arm, Prescott skilfully caught this 
 blow, and at the same time, by a dexterous stroke of his 
 foot, sent his burly but too impetuous assailant sprawling 
 on the ground. 
 
 The other two ruffians, who had shrunk back from Pres- 
 cott's first onset, now, from both shame and rage, made a 
 rush towards him. 
 
 But the clerk had now arrived. As we have said, his
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 63 
 
 nerves, as he followed his companion, were toughened like 
 so many springs. When, therefore, he reached the scene 
 of conflict, just as these two scoundrels were about attack- 
 ing Prescott, his body was launched upon one of them as if 
 shot from an engine, and in the next instant the fellow 
 was staggering to and fro with the clerk's hand tightly 
 clasped about his windpipe. 
 
 The third ruffian succeeded in planting a blow on Mar- 
 land's cheek, and, having a ring on his finger, he brought 
 blood. Then, standing back, he drew a knife. 
 
 Stung by this cut, and perceiving that the moment had 
 come for the use of all his resources, Prescott relaxed his 
 hold of Emma, and, throwing all his power into his left arm, 
 he delivered such a return under the ear of his new assail- 
 ant that he was knocked clean from his feet, and fell far back- 
 ward across the body of William Garvin, as insensible as 
 he on whom he had fallen, while his knife, which he had 
 had no time to use, rattled upon the opposite sidewalk. 
 
 As he now turned on the again-recovered Dick Smasher, 
 as this herculean shoulder-hitter grimly called himself, 
 the staggering ruffian, whose windpipe was compressed under 
 the tightening fingers of the brave and nervous clerk, fell 
 gasping beneath his assailant, who still continued to tighten 
 his grasp. 
 
 On seeing his two accomplices down, the leader backed 
 a few paces, and looked anxiously around. 
 
 " Curse it ! " he muttered. " This fellow 's seen the ele- 
 phant, and no mistake. Hang me if I would n't like the 
 Doctor's lancet ! " 
 
 On the utterance of this sanguinary wish, he glanced at 
 the insensible form of the man whom Prescott's left arm 
 had just laid out, and whose soubriquet was evidently " The 
 Doctor."
 
 64 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 But in the next moment he seemed ashamed of his cow- 
 ardly wish ; for, with a sound half-way between a pshaw and 
 a hiss, he advanced to meet Marland's attack. 
 
 The latter delivered a tremendous blow; but the object 
 of it had been taught by his former experience that, if he 
 had any pugilistic skill, he must use it. Making his best 
 effort, therefore, he succeeded in partially parrying the 
 attack, and at the same time attempted a counter. This 
 fell with some effect on his opponent ; but, in return, he 
 received a stroke that sent him once more staggering back 
 in confusion. 
 
 At the same moment, the ruffian, under the unrelaxing 
 clutch of the clerk, sank into insensibility. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 EMMA had witnessed the scene which had been en- 
 acted quicker than I have been able to write it in a 
 sort of stupor. The appearance of the ruffians, the cruel treat- 
 ment of her devoted cousin, the seizure of herself, the ar- 
 rival of Prescott Marland and the clerk, and the subsequent 
 struggle, all had rushed into these few moments in such a 
 manner as to stupefy her without causing her to faint. But 
 now, as she beheld the huge form of Dick Smasher again 
 fall back before the power of Prescott's arm, and then saw 
 the clerk rise from the immovable ruffian whom he had 
 throttled, she experienced a reaction, and clasped her hands 
 with an emotion of hopeful gratitude ; and as Prescott ad- 
 vanced to follow up his last blow, she instinctively started 
 forward also, as if she would lend to her preserver the as- 
 sistance of her own brave spirit.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 65 
 
 At this instant she heard a yell, and on looking down 
 the street she beheld two more burly figures rapidly ap- 
 proaching the spot. She started back, and for the first time 
 gave utterance to a moan. 
 
 " Oh, will not help come ? " she murmured. 
 
 At the same moment a, hooded old head was quickly 
 thrust beyond the corner whence these men had issued, 
 followed by a shrivelled clenched hand, from which fell 
 back the tattered fringe of an old plaid shawl. They re- 
 mained only for an instant, and then were as quickly with- 
 drawn. 
 
 When Prescott discovered the approach of these lawless 
 reinforcements, his attention was diverted. Dick Smasher 
 took advantage of this diversion, and, rushing in, he seized 
 him in his powerful arms, at the same time crying to one 
 of the fresh confederates, 
 
 " Take the girl, and cheese it ! " 
 
 The other ruffian in the mean time had drawn a pistol, 
 and, levelling it on the clerk, pulled the trigger. 
 
 It missed fire, and with a curse he hurled it at the clerk's 
 head, who was just in time to dodge it, and then prepared 
 to close on him. 
 
 But the latter was not prepared to meet him by force, 
 for his encounter with his throttled victim had left his 
 nerves somewhat unstrung by the reaction; so, step- 
 ping back and thrusting his hand into his bosom, he ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 "Beware!" 
 
 The ruffian, who was a coward, feared a deadly weapon 
 and held back. 
 
 While this was going on, a fierce struggle was taking 
 place between Dick Smasher and Prescott Marland. 
 
 The villain, whom the leader had ordered to seize Emma,
 
 66 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 had hastened to obey, and clasped this beautiful girl in his 
 brutal arms. 
 
 She now gave vent to loud shrieks, and struggled des- 
 perately. But the ruffian held her in a strong grasp, and 
 bore her rapidly down the street, using his best efforts to 
 smother her cries. 
 
 As Emma's first shriek pierced the air, William Garvin 
 stirred, as if this shriek from his cousin penetrated ears 
 insensible to all other sounds. Then, as cry succeeded cry, 
 his eyes opened, and he raised his head and the upper 
 portion of his body, and, sustaining himself feebly by his 
 elbow, he looked around. 
 
 The first thing that met his gaze was the prostrate form 
 of the ruffian, who had been knocked insensible by Marland, 
 lying across his own body. Then he saw the forms of Pres- 
 cott and Dick Smasher still engaged in a fierce struggle. 
 But his eyes passed quickly to the receding figure of the 
 ruffian, who bore his cousin in his foul grasp. 
 
 As he beheld the one whom he so much adored thus 
 being dragged away to a terrible fate, his orbs threatened 
 to tear themselves from their sockets, his countenance as- 
 sumed an aspect of ghastly horror, and he gave vent to a 
 loud groan. 
 
 "0 God! O God!" was aU that burst from his lips. 
 His soul was overwhelmed. 
 
 But even that short, ejaculatory prayer from a soul so 
 crushed seemed to have been heard; for scarcely had it 
 passed his lips when he saw a tall, gigantic form, which 
 seemed to his distorted vision to loom nearly to the house- 
 tops, enter the street just below the spot where, for a mo- 
 ment, the ruffian was compelled to halt by the struggles of 
 his beautiful victim. 
 
 He beheld in the dim light this form advance upon the
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND ATIMY. 67 
 
 ruffian with fearful strides, and, seizing him by the arms, 
 unclasp his hold of his cousin, and, lifting him in the air, 
 hurl him sheer beyond the corner whence appeared the 
 head and hand of the hooded hag. 
 
 This was followed by a hoarse shriek of alarm, which 
 seemed to issue from an aged female voice, and then all 
 was silent. 
 
 William now, with unutterable emotions of joy, saw his 
 beloved cousin taken under the protection of her titanic 
 deliverer. 
 
 This man of such terrible strength, who had arrived at 
 a moment so opportune, is recognized by the reader as the 
 stranger who had been sent this way by the little woman 
 with the pitted face. 
 
 Having taken Emma under his protection, he advanced 
 toward the scene of a still fierce struggle between Prescott 
 and Smasher. 
 
 " I beg you to leave me," William now heard his cousin 
 exclaim, "and hasten to aid that brave young man, who 
 needs you so much ! " 
 
 Even in the midst of this fearful scene, poor William 
 experienced the pangs of an indefinable jealousy. 
 
 The stranger, seeing that Emma was for the present safe, 
 advanced with a long, quick stride, and, laying hold of 
 Dick Smasher with his right hand, he tore him from Mar- 
 land as a man would tear a weed from the ground, and, 
 shaking him violently, exclaimed, 
 
 " Scoundrel ! What means this outrage ? " 
 
 He was interrupted by the entrance upon the scene of a 
 policeman, who had been attracted to the spot by Emma's 
 shrieks. 
 
 The ruffian, whom the clerk had so cunningly kept at 
 bay, now cleared the spot at a bound, and sped away at a 
 rapid pace.
 
 68 TiE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 His leader, with a curse, took advantage of a moment's 
 relaxation in the hold of the stranger, who turned toward 
 Emma as the confederate fled past her, and with a desper- 
 ate effort tore himself free, and followed this confederate, 
 evidently the worse for the severe handling he had received 
 from the athletic Marland. 
 
 With the departure of his cowardly assailant, the clerk 
 now had time to look at the colossal stranger, who had so 
 opportunely come to the rescue. 
 
 " By Jove ! " he exclaimed to himself, as his first glance 
 ran up and down the majestic figure before him ; " there 's 
 power enough for a score of these fellows ! " 
 
 His eye now fell on the scar, and his voice became audi- 
 ble as he again exclaimed, 
 
 " Old Thorbolt or the !" 
 
 He was interrupted by Prescott. In his excitement 
 this spirited champion had not entirely withdrawn his eye 
 from his late antagonist; but as his ears were greeted 
 by the audible -voice of the clerk, he turned his gaze on 
 the stranger. Starting forward, he caught his hand, and 
 cried, 
 
 " By heavens ! General Hammond ! " 
 
 " What ! Marland ! " responded the stranger. 
 
 "Yes, Prescott Marland, and no one else, General. 
 Well, this is a meeting ! " exclaimed Prescott, in a tone of 
 delighted astonishment. 
 
 They were here interrupted by the patrolman. 
 
 " What 's the trouble ? " he asked. 
 
 " This young lady, with that young gentleman, was led 
 here by a miserable hag, and then attacked by these scoun- 
 drels," answered Prescott. 
 
 The patrolman gave a signal for aid, and then turned 
 his attention to the two ruffians who had been lying in-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 69 
 
 sensible. William Garvin had revived sufficiently to 
 work himself clear of the one that lay across him, who 
 by his movements had been stirred into signs of returning 
 life. 
 
 Emma and William were preparing to express their 
 gratitude for the timely succor which had preserved the 
 former from the terrible snare that the old hag had laid 
 for her, when the recognition took place between General 
 Hammond, or "Thorbolt" (we will also call him the 
 Veteran), and Prescott Marland, as we have described. 
 
 Their attention had been chiefly drawn to the stranger, 
 whose majestic presence, combined with the marvellous 
 display of power which had appeared in his treatment of 
 strong and desperate ruffians, served to inspire in their 
 breasts a sentiment in which awe mingled with gratitude. 
 But when the name of Prescott Marland was uttered, the 
 eyes of both were turned upon him. 
 
 The emotions of these two cousins at this moment it 
 would be difficult to analyze. 
 
 Emma's instincts at once told her that the object of her 
 father's friendship and praise and this handsome young 
 man of heroic strength and courage could be none other 
 than one and the same person. The ideal which had 
 gradually and almost unconsciously formed itself in her 
 bosom and the real that now stood before her were one 
 also. A secret delight took possession of her heart, and a 
 crimson blush suffused her rounded cheek. 
 
 Her cousin's emotions were more conflicting. 
 
 Though insensible during Prescott's heroic display, he 
 apprehended the truth ; and that gratitude he was on the 
 point of expressing was at once disturbed by a pang 
 which only such a soul, for so many years absorbed in the 
 adoration of the object of its love, could experience.
 
 70 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 He, poor fellow, when he would have protected her, had 
 been thrown to the earth like a child. But this young 
 man had saved her. Humiliation, therefore, mingled with 
 this pang. 
 
 Emma was the first to recover herself, and, without wait- 
 ing for formalities, she advanced and expressed her thanks 
 in such a manner as to thrill the heart of her young pre- 
 server with pleasure. 
 
 William, whose fate it seemed to be to experience 
 jealous emotions on the utterance of Prescott Marland's 
 name, on occasions when, to his sensitive and morbid con- 
 science, such emotions were not less than criminal, now, 
 internally accusing himself, approached the group, and 
 joined his expressions with those of his cousin. After 
 warm words of gratitude, he said, turning to Prescott, 
 
 " Did I not understand you to say your name was Pres- 
 cott Marland." 
 
 "You did." 
 
 Emma again blushed. Her heart beat quickly, for she 
 perceived that her cousin was doing what she herself 
 would like to have done, but could not. 
 
 "Were you acquainted with an officer in the army 
 named Allen Paige ? " 
 
 Prescott's fine countenance lit up with pleasing memory. 
 
 " I knew him weU. We were in the same hospital, and 
 we came to own everything that' was sent us in common. 
 Yes, I knew him well, and learned to love him, too," he 
 added with feeling. 
 
 O 
 
 Emma's countenance flushed with pleasure; then the 
 blood receded somewhat from her cheeks, and her eyes 
 became suffused with tears. 
 
 Prescott observed her emotion. With an impulse he 
 took her hand, and exclaimed,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 71 
 
 " Can it be possible that this is his daughter, of whom 
 he so loved to speak ? " 
 
 " It is his daughter Emma," interposed William. 
 
 As Prescott looked into her beautiful yet tearful eyes, 
 with an ardor borrowed from his remembrance of one whom 
 he had held in such deep regard, he suddenly experienced 
 a thrill which caused him to drop the hand he had taken, 
 while he felt the blood mantling either cheek. 
 
 William, whose whole soul was poured into his eyes, re- 
 ceived the impression of this scene, even in that dim light, 
 as the sensitive plate of the photographer receives the im- 
 pressions of nature. 
 
 As Emma was the first to recover herself when both she 
 and William were thrown into confusion by the utterance of 
 Prescott Marland's name, so now she first regained sufficient 
 self-control to break the spell which had been so subtly 
 and unexpectedly cast upon them. 
 
 She turned to the Veteran. 
 
 Prescott understood her. He inwardly rebuked himself 
 for what he scarcely knew. At the instant he seized her 
 hand her tears had told him that the fearful wound Colonel 
 Paige had received in the same series of battles in which 
 he had received his own last wound (for he had been 
 wounded more than once) had proved fatal; and yet, in 
 the place of the consolation it was on his lips to utter, he 
 realized that he had been overcome by an emotion which 
 his conscience pronounced selfish. 
 
 He did not then know that the tender emotions and 
 sympathies of grief oftentimes act as the swiftest conduc- 
 tors for the subtle magnetism of love. 
 
 " General," he said, while he still felt the blood tingling 
 his cheeks, " this is, as you have just now heard, the daugh- 
 ter of my friend, Colonel Paige."
 
 72 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The Veteran took her hand, and gazed down upon her 
 with a grave and benignant air. 
 
 " Miss Paige," he said, " aside from the satisfaction it 
 gives me to see you relieved from these lawless men, it is 
 tenfold gratifying to know that we have rendered a service 
 to the child of a patriot and a comrade, especially the 
 child of one whose patriotic devotion has left her an or- 
 phan." 
 
 The reader has undoubtedly recognized in the Veteran 
 the stranger who so silently entered and departed from the 
 chamber of the heaven-crowned patriot. 
 
 The manner of this man, who had so recently displayed 
 such marvellous power, together with his words which he 
 uttered with deep feeling, brought the tears again to Em- 
 ma's eyes. 
 
 A second patrolman appeared now in response to the 
 signal of the first; and the Veteran, offering his arm to 
 Emma, led the way from the street, followed by Prescott, 
 William, and the clerk. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AS they left the recent scene of lawless violence, the 
 rescuers and rescued became more thoroughly intro- 
 duced to each other. 
 
 " Billings," said Marland, with a half-laugh, " I did n't 
 expect that you would so soon have visual evidence of the 
 truth of what I was telling you a little while ago." 
 The clerk looked at the Veteran. 
 " No" he said ; and then he muttered to himself,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 73 
 
 " Thorbolt, Thorbolt, a very appropriate name, I 'm 
 sure. He made them bolt, anyhow." 
 
 This, however, was not muttered so low as to escape the 
 quick ear and apprehension of the Veteran, who glanced 
 upon Prescott with a smile. 
 
 " Still at it, I see," he said. 
 
 "Well, who knows," returned Prescott, "if I had not 
 chanced to have been romancing to my companion here, 
 I might not have seen Miss Paige and her cousin as I did." 
 
 He then related how he had seen them in company with 
 the old woman, of his immediate suspicions and consequent 
 action in conjunction with the clerk. 
 
 " Who was this old woman ? " asked the Veteran. " It 
 must have been her scream I heard when I threw the fel- 
 low whom I first took hold of." 
 
 " She called herself Margaret Eoone," answered Emma. 
 
 "And Mammy Eoone," interposed William Garviii, 
 " which I think much more appropriate." 
 
 The young lover was gratified by the glance of approval 
 from the Veteran, on whose arm he beheld his cousin rest 
 with sentiments of pride. 
 
 Emma now proceeded to give an account of their adven- 
 tures up to the moment that Dick Smasher and his confed- 
 erates attempted to carry out Mammy Eoone's diabolical plot. 
 
 " Oh!" she exclaimed, as she finished, "what will become 
 of the poor family whom I have sought so long in vain ? " 
 and this noble girl seemed at once to forget all the perils 
 and violence through which she had just passed, as the pic- 
 ture of the destitute family of whom she had been speaking 
 came before her mind. 
 
 " General," said Prescott Marland, gravely, " of all places 
 New York is the one for an organization which has been 
 recently formed in the West." 
 
 4
 
 74 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The Veteran gave Prescott a significant look. Then, ex- 
 cusing himself a moment, he relinquished Emma's arm, and 
 taking his friend aside, he conversed with him in a low 
 voice. 
 
 Then, returning, he again took Emma's arm, and said : 
 
 " It gratifies me to know that not only is Mr. Marland a 
 comrade, as one of the army who fought for freedom, but 
 he is also a comrade in an association, to which, of all the 
 million soldiers who have returned from the battle-ground 
 of the Kebellion, there is not one of good standing who 
 should not unite himself." 
 
 " Ay ! his duty to his country and to his brother soldier 
 is not entirely fulfilled until he does ! " responded Prescott. 
 
 " What is the name of this association ? " asked the 
 clerk. 
 
 "THE GRAND ARMY OF THE EEPUBLIC." 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed Emma, moved by the impressive 
 tone with which the Veteran uttered this name, " is it pos- 
 sible that a political organization can excite such senti- 
 ments ? " 
 
 " The Veteran and Prescott exchanged glances. 
 
 " A political organization ? " repeated the former. 
 
 " Yes," continued Emma, " I heard a gentleman but a 
 few days since, speaking of an organization, called The 
 Grand Army of the Eepublic, as a political organization." 
 
 Daniel Garvin was this gentleman. 
 
 The countenance of the Veteran grew stern, and his 
 eye for an instant seemed to range over the vast Union. 
 Emma beheld this expression, and wondered. 
 
 " Did the gentleman fight for the Union ? " he at length 
 inquired. 
 
 " He did not." 
 
 " Did he aid the Union cause in any way ? "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 75 
 
 " I regret to say he did not." 
 
 " Did he not aid the foes of his country ? " again asked 
 the Veteran, looking down at Emma with an expression 
 that caused her to shrink. 
 
 Emma did not answer for her cousin's sake ; she did not 
 wish to give utterance to her suspicions, and what she had 
 heard others say, in his presence. 
 
 " I read your answer, Miss Paige. It is not necessary 
 for you to speak. Even as during the war the enemies of 
 our country South and North blasphemed the name of 
 Heaven, and calumniated the name of him whom we now 
 call the Martyred President, so do they now distil their poi- 
 son, by which they would hope to destroy an organization 
 upon which the sainted Lincoln, if he could now speak to 
 us, would pour the blessings of his great and loving heart ! 
 Yes, I will prophesy that, as the Grand Army of the Ee- 
 public sweeps over the land, those who will scoff at it, 
 who will denounce it as a political organization, who will 
 use all manner of means to oppose it, these men shall 
 be found to have been openly or secretly engaged in the 
 inexpiable crime of this atrocious Eebellion ! " 
 
 The Veteran spoke with such vehemence, and in a man- 
 ner so impressive, that his auditors did not venture to break 
 the silence, when he for a moment ceased. 
 
 He continued : 
 
 " My dear young lady, I know well I speak to one who, 
 when this organization shall have become established in 
 your city, will be among the foremost women to aid it with 
 your work and influence. Women may the God in 
 heaven bless them ! stood by the soldiers through the 
 war, and they will stand by them in their noble work, now 
 that we are in the midst of peace. If you find this Grand 
 Army of the Eepublic to be devoted to the welfare of the
 
 76 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 widows and orphans of the patriot dead, and of disabled 
 soldiers and sailors yet living, will you not give it your 
 countenance ? " 
 
 "Nothing would make me happier," responded Emma, 
 with tears in her eyes. 
 
 " I knew it," uttered the Veteran, while he contemplated 
 this noble girl with grave and tender interest, " No other 
 answer could have come from the daughter of one who in 
 his last moments inspired me with a yet deeper veneration 
 for those heroes who, as civilians, left all and encoun- 
 tered the horrors of war for the sake of the Union." 
 
 Emma looked up with questioning wonderment, and 
 William Garvin was equally amazed. 
 
 Said the Veteran, gently : 
 
 " I entered the chamber of your sainted father at the 
 moment he was about ascending to the arms of his com- 
 rades who had gone before him. I simply came and went. 
 You did not see me." 
 
 As he uttered these last words he remembered the for- 
 bidding face of Daniel Garvin, that alone had been turned 
 upon him in that chamber, and a look of severity crossed 
 his features. In the next instant this face was associated 
 in his mind with the person who had declared to Emma 
 that the Grand Army of the Bepublic was a political or- 
 ganization. 
 
 Emma, on her part, when she thus heard, for the first 
 time, of the presence of this remarkable man at the death- 
 bed of her father, experienced a profound emotion, in which 
 awe was indefinably mingled, as if, in that solemn hour, 
 Heaven had woven in his future with the future of her 
 own family. 
 
 The Veteran returned to the subject of the Grand 
 Army.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AKMY. 77 
 
 " Your answer, I repeat, is worthy of that father. And 
 now know that it is the spirit of this organization to seek 
 out the widow and orphans of the soldier, as you have 
 sought them to-day. This is a sublime duty to which it 
 binds itself, and to which it will never be found recreant." 
 
 " Ah ! " exclaimed Emma, with joy. " Then was my wish 
 granted before I had uttered it." 
 
 " Did you wish for such an association ? " 
 
 " It was this very afternoon I uttered the wish." 
 
 " Then is it granted." 
 
 " And then am I happy ! " responded Emma. " And so 
 it has nothing to do with politics, after all ? " 
 
 "Nothing. To dabble in politics would be simply sui- 
 cidal. There are men who believe we are thus foolish, 
 because they are deceived in regard to our object; but, 
 in the main, this report is the invention of those who, 
 having expressed a hope that every soldier who fought 
 for 'the Union might find a grave in the Southern swamps, 
 now display the same malignant spirit in their efforts to 
 injure the efficiency of organized effort to relieve the fami- 
 lies whose husbands and fathers found that grave." 
 
 The clerk, who did not lack in penetration of human 
 character, had listened to the Veteran with evident re- 
 spect. 
 
 "General," he said, "I have myself been prejudiced 
 against this organization by statements to the effect that 
 it was controlled by political demagogues and the like ; 
 but you have removed those prejudices. To hear you is to 
 believe." 
 
 " I thank you," returned the Veteran, with a grave smile. 
 " But allow me to add," he said, his smile giving way to 
 an expression of deep determination, " that there are seri- 
 ous abuses in the treatment of the men who fought to put
 
 78 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 down the Rebellion, which demand and will receive our 
 attention." 
 
 " General," said the clerk, while a look of apprehension 
 crossed his features, " I would like to ask you one question, 
 if you will permit me." 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Do you think because a man is a Democrat that he is 
 necessarily wanting in devotion to the soldier, and all that 
 appertains to the objects for which the Grand Army of the 
 Eepublic was formed ? " 
 
 " By no means, sir. Some of the most zealous members 
 of our organization West are Democrats. Some of the 
 strongest friends of the soldier that I have known are also 
 Democrats. I recall to mind a Democrat living in my 
 native city, Boston, who is a great favorite of the soldiers. 
 They have no better friend. His purse is open to them 
 at all times. He makes no display of his charity, but 
 widows and orphans of our fallen comrades'bless him." 
 
 " Pray who is this generous Democrat ? " asked Emma, 
 
 The Veteran gave utterance to a pleased laugh 
 
 " He might even now hear me, and blush, if I should 
 speak his whole name aloud, so I '11 beg you to rest sat- 
 isfied with the familiar appellation, used by his friends, 
 UNCLE NAT." 
 
 "I am gratified by your answer to my question, Gen- 
 eral," said the clerk. "To tell you the truth, my own 
 father, whom I deeply respect, is a Democrat, and he also 
 is, and always has been, a strong friend of the soldier. I 
 asked you the question, because you know many think that 
 if a man is a Democrat he must necessarily be opposed to 
 the soldier." 
 
 " Far from it. In the workings of our organization we 
 
 o O 
 
 allow no invidious distinctions. Any man who is a true
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 79 
 
 friend of the Constitution and the Union is sure to be a 
 friend of the soldier, and is so recognized, it matters not 
 loy what political creed he is known." 
 
 " And how is it with the nationalities ? " again asked the 
 clerk. 
 
 " The same. No distinctions are for a moment enter- 
 tained. All worthy soldiers who fought for the Union are 
 welcomed to our ranks as comrades and brothers." 
 
 "What do they think of the Irish ? " 
 
 The clerk uttered this with significant emphasis. 
 
 " The Irish ? " returned the Veteran, with rather a stern 
 glance on the clerk. " I have studied that nation with at- 
 tention, and will answer you in my own way. This war 
 saw no braver men. Some of the very best of my own 
 command were Irish. The true Irishman is a natural pa- 
 triot. The Irishman who abetted the Eebellion was false 
 to his nationality. In the two women with whom we 
 have had to do this afternoon we have examples of the two 
 classes. The old woman who led Miss Emma into such 
 danger because she was a soldier's daughter represents a 
 falsehood ; the little woman who warned me of the 
 other's infamous plot represents the truth. The possibili- 
 ties of a race are seen in its representative men. Ireland 
 has furnished such men in numbers sufficient for a dozen 
 nationalities. The Wild Irishman is a negative evidence 
 of the possibilities of his race. The greater the capacity for 
 wildness the greater the capacity for civilization. And it 
 would seem as if the Almighty had reserved the Celtic race 
 as. grafting-stock, with its extraordinary capacity, for the 
 complete civilization of the world. The Irish stand among 
 the greatest men in the history of England, and to-day 
 Irish blood runs in the veins of some of the most enlight- 
 ened and progressive men of America. And it is in view
 
 80 THE VETERAN OF 1HE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 of these things that those who are to influence the future 
 of the Irish of this country should realize their solemn re- 
 sponsibility, and see to it that the peasantry, who compose 
 the great mass of this foreign element, be educated to a 
 proper conception of the genius of our institutions. It is 
 the true Celtic character that the Grand Army of the 
 Kepublic respect, and would see developed from one end 
 of the Union to the other. 
 
 " General ! " exclaimed Prescott Marland, with earnest- 
 ness, " as a member of the Grand Army, I thank you for 
 those words. It is the wish of every man who truly loves 
 his country to see fully developed the innate national char- 
 acter of this vast element of our population." 
 
 "Very good!" responded the clerk. "But," he added, 
 with a facetious laugh, " how do you account for the Irish 
 bulls?" 
 
 " 'T is their mother wit in confusion," said Prescott. 
 
 " Their swift imagination, which underlies their wit, 
 trips their unschooled tongue," rejoined the Veteran. 
 
 The conversation was here interrupted by an approach- 
 ing car, which the cousins entered, accompanied by the 
 Veteran and Prescott Marland, the clerk here parting com- 
 pany to return home in another direction. 
 
 The Veteran and Prescott parted with the cousins at 
 East 27th Street ; the former responding to a warm invita- 
 tion to visit the home of their departed comrade, Allen 
 Paige, by promising to do so at the earliest opportunity, 
 at the same time also promising Emma that she should 
 hear more of the Grand Army and its beneficent purposes.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 81 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 0"N" the third floor of an old building in the rear of the 
 Bowery, and but little more than a stone's-throw from 
 Cooper Institute, Emma might have found the objects of 
 her anxious search, had she been properly directed. They 
 had been driven hither by the raising of the rent of their 
 former lodgings, which, through the machinations of 
 Mammy Eoone, was put exorbitantly high for a place 
 so wretched. 
 
 The walls of the apartment into which the reader is intro- 
 duced are cracked and stained, and the rough worn floor 
 bears signs of equal hard usage and neglect ; but it is evi- 
 dent that neatness and order are doing their utmost to 
 relieve the room of its unsightly aspect. 
 
 Yet this neatness and order only serve to increase the 
 pity of the beholder; for he realizes that the occupants 
 have seen better times, and that this destitution is in 
 gloomy contrast to former comfort. 
 
 Joseph Deering had gone out in the th New York, 
 
 and had never returned. He fell in the terrible Peninsular 
 campaign. Though able to comfortably support his family 
 by his daily labor, yet when his faithful hands could no 
 more aid them, they immediately began to experience the 
 pressure of want. 
 
 - The condition of Mrs. Deering's health, who had been 
 more or less ill for several years, enhanced the misfortune 
 of her husband's death. 
 
 Her family consisted of a boy, Joseph, one girl eight 
 years old, named Mary, and a little crippled one, a girl also, 
 
 4* F
 
 82 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 whose name was Etta, six years old. This unfortunate 
 little girl was injured by a horse and chaise, which ran 
 over her the year before. 
 
 Joseph, who was fourteen years of age, had managed to 
 do something for the support of the family ; but in these 
 times of high prices it seemed but a single drop. 
 
 It is on the same afternoon the incidents narrated in 
 the preceding chapters occurred that we look in upon this 
 family of the soldier, doomed to an incessant struggle with 
 privation. 
 
 The mother is seated in an old straight-backed rocking- 
 chair, an heirloom of her family, which she can never part 
 with, and contemplates her two little girls with a sorrow 
 she can scarcely control. 
 
 The picture which thus awakens her grief is -the sight 
 of Mary endeavoring to soothe the little cripple, who is 
 suffering from hunger. 
 
 " Joseph will bring you something, my poor little sister," 
 said Mary, with a simple faith that sent a new pang to her 
 mother's heart. 
 
 At this moment the door opened and "Joseph came in. 
 
 Mrs. Deering looked at him, but did not speak. 
 
 The boy went up to her, and, kissing her on the forehead, 
 said, 
 
 " I have n't done as well as I expected to, mother, but we 
 won't despair." 
 
 " No, no, my son, we '11 not despair." 
 
 "It would be ungrateful to God, you know, dear 
 mother? 1 
 
 "Yes, ungrateful to God." 
 
 " So, dear mother, we '11 take courage." 
 
 As Joseph said this he put his arm around his mother's 
 neck and again kissed her.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 83 
 
 She could no longer contain herself, but gave vent to 
 her emotions in tears. 
 
 The boy remained silent, while the look of a matured 
 man overspread his features. 
 
 At length she grew calmer, and Joseph said, 
 
 " Mother, we ought to go to Mrs. Paige." 
 
 Mrs. Deering was silent. 
 
 " Because," continued Joseph, " if we trust truly in God, 
 we will be reasonable, and not be proud." 
 
 " Yes, Joseph." 
 
 As the mother thus responded she experienced contend- 
 ing emotions. Pride, and the thought of rumors that had 
 come to her ears of the lamentable state in which Mr. 
 Paige had left his affairs, impelled her to the one side, 
 and the hunger of her little ones impelled her to the 
 other. 
 
 The latter influence at length triumphed, and she said, 
 
 " It is well, my son." 
 
 As she uttered these few words she seemed for a mo- 
 ment to forget her sorrows in the contemplation of her 
 devoted son. 
 
 And well may she thus contemplate this noble boy. 
 He is worthy to be called the son of the soldier who had 
 leaped to the defence of the old flag when it was first 
 trampled underfoot by Eebels. He is never in despair, but 
 in the darkest hours his spirit seems to rise in a never- 
 failing trust in Heaven. 
 
 We have seen him just now sustaining his mother, and 
 uttering sentiments that would seem natural to one twice 
 his years. Thus it always was with him, and the other 
 children had come to look upon him as a protector. 
 
 This family is but a type of families throughout the 
 land, families of soldiers who died for their country ;
 
 84 THE TETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 and they have been left to struggle with want, enduring 
 their sufferings in silence rather than seem to come before 
 the world as beggars. 
 
 These families, who had given to the Union their hus- 
 bands and fathers, were being rapidly buried in the obliv- 
 ion of public selfishness. The promise made to these 
 patriots when they left for the war, that their wives and 
 children should find protectors in a preserved and grateful 
 people, if they should fall, was passing into the dusty 
 archives of history. 
 
 The"n appeared a protecting arm, the arm of the 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE KEPUBLIC. 
 
 This arm was formed by COMRADES. 
 
 The civilian, though individually generous in heart, is 
 apt to forget : the soldier, never. 
 
 The soldier reminds : the civilian responds. 
 
 The Deerings had found in the Paiges benevolent friends. 
 Mrs. Deering, like many another fallen soldier's widow, 
 had found it hard to meet the position into which the death 
 of her husband had thrown her, the position which de- 
 manded that she make known her need and destitution, 
 and be compelled to come before the world as an object of 
 charity. 
 
 For they who could justly command the gratitude of 
 the preserved republic were fast coming to be treated as 
 if, unfortunate victims of misalliances, they had been left 
 to the mercies of a cold world by the death or desertion 
 of criminal husbands. 
 
 Thus it happened that soldiers' families starved all over 
 
 the land for which those soldiers had sacrificed their lives, 
 
 starved rather than yield to the demands which they 
 
 felt to be a violation of the memory of their husbands and 
 
 fathers.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 85 
 
 But Allen Paige's family was a soldier's family, and they 
 knew well how to soften the edge of charitable giving by 
 throwing over it the sentiment of duty which one comrade 
 owed another. 
 
 Yet still this kindness Mrs. Deering had felt should 
 not be imposed upon ; therefore had she often lived in 
 want, rather than seem to presume ; until Allen Paige 
 would, perhaps, in the midst of his own pain, turn to his 
 wife or Emma and say, 
 
 " I fear Mrs. Deering may be suffering. Won't you send 
 down and see ? " 
 
 Alice, who loved to go on these errands, usually went ; 
 and on her reporting the state of the case, the suffering 
 family would instantly be relieved. 
 
 For some little time, up to within a few days of the 
 opening of this chapter, Joseph had been in the position of 
 errand-boy in the store of Mr. Stanfield, a kind mer- 
 chant. He, however, had recently died, and left his busi- 
 ness in so confused and dubious a condition, that several 
 employees had to be discharged, and among these was 
 Joseph. "While he held this situation they managed to 
 get on quite comfortably ; and when, some two weeks 
 before Mr. Paige's death, Alice made her last benevolent 
 call, she was assured by Mrs. Deering that they should 
 probably need no further assistance. 
 
 Since the death of Mr. Paige Mrs. Deering's reluctance 
 to trouble them with her wants had, from the combined 
 causes known to the reader, increased to such an extent, 
 that it is doubtful whether she would have appealed to 
 their charity for herself before she had experienced yet far 
 greater destitution; but the sight of her children suffer- 
 ing from hunger caused her to yield to the pleading of her 
 boy.
 
 86 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Having, as we have seen, prevailed with his mother, 
 Joseph received her kiss and blessing, and, putting on his 
 cap, went out. 
 
 As soon as he had departed Mary came up to her mother, 
 and laid her head in her lap, while the little one looked 
 up and cried, 
 
 "I'm glad Joseph is going to get something to eat. 
 I 'm hungry, dear mamma ! " 
 
 Joseph hastened on his errand, each step seeming to 
 bring food to the mouths of his mother and little sis- 
 ters. 
 
 Mrs. Paige received him with great kindness. It was 
 more than kindness, for her eyes filled with tears as she 
 contemplated this noble boy, whom her husband thought 
 much of on account of his devotion to his mother. 
 
 She questioned him closely about their situation, at the 
 same time telling him of the departure of Emma and 
 William to seek them. 
 
 Through all Joseph's efforts to brighten the gloom of 
 their poverty she saw the truth ; and it was then that she 
 gave way to an inward dread, as she thought of her execu- 
 tors and her late husband's estate. 
 
 Her own inconveniences, the result of Daniel Garvin's 
 schemes, had not sufficed to excite that dread ; but the con- 
 templation of this poor family's destitution, who had de- 
 pended so much on their benevolence, for the first time 
 aroused her mind to a vague conception of her possible 
 future. 
 
 She left Joseph alone in the drawing-room while she 
 repaired to the pantry. 
 
 As he sat in this room he gazed around on the walls, and 
 thought of the wealth which could buy all these fine paint- 
 ings and engravings ; and then he looked at the bronze
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 87 
 
 and marble groups which adorned the room, then on the 
 carved furniture, and a sigh unconsciously escaped him. 
 
 " They are all very happy," he thought. " To be sure, 
 Mr. Paige is dead ; but it is n't like father's being 
 dead." 
 
 Then he thought of his poor mother and little sisters, 
 and sighed again. 
 
 It was very still, with the exception of the rumbling of 
 teams outside; and his imagination, which was naturally 
 active, began to picture the enjoyments of this wealthy 
 family, in whose drawing-room he was now sitting. 
 
 "They can buy whatever they want," he ruminated. 
 " They are not cold, for they can buy warm clothes and have 
 fires."' 
 
 Here he fixed his eyes on the ornamented register, which 
 was already sending out the heat to warm the chilly air of 
 late autumn. " Ah, yes, they can be very happy here " ; and 
 Joseph fell to musing on the blessing of riches. 
 
 He was interrupted by the entrance of Mrs. Paige, with 
 a basket filled with bread, meat, crackers, and the like, in 
 one hand, and a basket of fruit in the other. 
 
 Just then a visitor was announced, and Daniel Garvin 
 was ushered in. 
 
 At sight of this man Joseph shrank back. He remem- 
 bered his face to be the cruel, forbidding face which was in 
 the carnage that ran over his little sister Mary. 
 
 Joseph remembered aright. It was the face of the 
 broker that he then saw. 
 
 Garvin's horse was high-spirited and given to rearing. 
 This little child was playing in the street, and the horse 
 coming upon her, Garvin shouted to her to get out of the 
 way. She was so intently engaged with her play that she 
 neither saw nor heard. The horse reared, and then shied
 
 88 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 to one side, but not far enough to save the child from the 
 wheels, which passed over her, and made her a cripple for 
 life. 
 
 What Joseph remembered was the harsh and unfeeling 
 expression of Garvin's face, and the way in which he drove 
 on, without stopping to see what harm he had done. 
 
 He had never again seen him until this instant; and 
 now as he looked at him he shrank back. 
 
 But he also experienced the same feeling of stern in- 
 dignation with which he looked after him on that day. 
 
 The broker beheld the shrinking, yet stern and indignant 
 boy with displeasure, and a frown gathered on his sinister 
 brow. 
 
 Mrs. Paige saw this frown, but did not divine its inean- 
 ing, though she observed the boy's manner. 
 
 Neither did Joseph, who had good reason to see it. 
 
 The boy thought it was because he, being so ill-dressed, 
 was found in this rich and beautiful drawing-room ; for he 
 did not know how he had looked at the broker. 
 
 But Daniel Garvin scowled because he had come in to 
 see how his schemes worked, and he had been unexpectedly 
 met by Joseph's stern, indignant gaze, which seemed to 
 pierce his soul. 
 
 "Who is this boy ?" he said harshly. 
 
 Mrs. Paige turned toward the broker with a look of sur- 
 prise. Her face slightly flushed, and her form was instinc- 
 tively erected. 
 
 Her voice, however, was calm. 
 
 " He is the son of a soldier who was killed in the war " 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 Now this "ah !" was short, but uttered as it was, and 
 accompanied by a supercilious glance, first at Joseph, then 
 at Mrs. Paige, and then on the baskets, it possessed a deep
 
 THE VETEKAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 89 
 
 significance. Mrs. Paige now assumed an air which had 
 its effect; for no man could behave like a boor in Isa- 
 bel Paige's .presence, and not be made to feel her rebuke. 
 
 "Yes," he added in a manner considerably modulated, 
 and yet so artfully graduated that it would seem to be the 
 result of his own thoughts, "yes, yes, the son of a fallen 
 soldier. Well, yes ; you 're a good boy, I hope ? " 
 
 Joseph made no answer to this patronizing question ; but 
 beginning to feel very awkward in that fine room, with the 
 broker's sinister eyes running up and down his patched 
 clothing, he looked to the floor and blushed painfully. 
 
 Mrs. Paige came to his rescue. 
 
 " Yes, I can speak for him, Mr. Garvin, as being one of 
 the best of boys." 
 
 Saying which she took him kindly by the hand to lead 
 him out. * 
 
 " By no means," exclaimed the broker, on seeing her 
 movement. " I have only dropped in for an instant, and 
 my time is up." 
 
 He looked at his watch, and with the ejaculation, " So 
 late ! " he bowed himself out, evidently not desirous of 
 lengthening his visit for that time. 
 
 Both Mrs. Paige and the boy breathed more freely when 
 this man had freed them of his ill-boding presence. 
 
 Joseph began to stammer out apologies for having in- 
 truded himself. 
 
 " Do not let your mind be troubled, my dear boy," said 
 his benefactress. " But why did you look at him so when 
 he came in ? " 
 
 Joseph glanced down on his old clothes at this question. 
 
 Mrs. Paige read his thoughts. 
 
 " You looked at him as if you had seen him before," she 
 added.
 
 90 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Never but once," replied Joseph, as his face began to 
 gather the .same expression which it assumed when the 
 broker came in. 
 
 Mrs. Paige saw there was something to be explained, and 
 she drew from Joseph his story. 
 
 Having finished the story, so full of significance to her 
 who had already herself begun to feel the malevolence of 
 this man, she gave him the baskets, and an order on the 
 wood and coal dealer, and sent him home to cheer those 
 who were anxiously awaiting him. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SEVERAL weeks had passed. Mrs. Paige had been, 
 made to feel more and more the cordon that was being 
 drawn around her. For a while after his visit, when he 
 met Joseph in the drawing-room, Daniel Garvin had 
 deemed it advisable to reassume his plausible and hypo- 
 critical manner ; but as he watched the final development 
 of his plans his fangs again began to show themselves. 
 
 At length the time arrived when she felt that her mind 
 must fully prepare itself for whatever might happen. - 
 
 As a first step she determined to ascertain, if possible, 
 the intentions of her executors. She therefore wrote to 
 Jonas Cringar. 
 
 This was the note : 
 
 JONAS CRINGAK, ESQ. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Will you be so kind as to call and see me this 
 evening. I confess to feeling much anxiety regarding the settle- 
 ment of Mr. Paige's estate. Besides your own expressed fears, 
 I have heard many rumors of a nature calculated to have long
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND AEMY. 91 
 
 ago alarmed me, if I had not been sustained by a very strong 
 confidence in the business character of my dear husband. But 
 even this confidence will not suffice to sustain me without some 
 more definite statement of affairs,, as things now appear. 
 
 I write you because I have learned to esteem you as Allen's 
 long-trusted partner and friend, and can consult with you with 
 greater freedom than I can with Mr. Garvin. 
 
 Trusting you will grant my request, I remain 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 ISABEL PAIGE. 
 
 When Jonas Cringar received this note his face Was agi- 
 tated by conflicting emotions. He read it over two or 
 three times, as if first his eyes read it, then his mind, then 
 his conscience. 
 
 Finally he crumpled it in his nervous fingers, resting his 
 hand on his knee, and gazed before him in a sort of stupor. 
 
 Presently he heaved a sigh, and exclaimed, 
 
 "My God!" 
 
 Without saying more, he took his hat and went out, the 
 clerks gazing after him with looks which said, 
 
 " His conscience troubles him." 
 
 That evening Mrs. Paige sat in the drawing-room, anx- 
 iously awaiting the merchant. 
 
 As she sat there she contemplated the paintings, statu- 
 ary, and carved furniture, which had thrown Joseph into 
 such a deep revery, and sighed. 
 
 In the midst of this revery the door-bell rang, and 
 Jonas Cringar was ushered in. 
 
 As he entered the door he glanced around the room where 
 he had spent so many hours with his late partner, and his 
 conscience smote him with such violence that for a moment 
 he did not move, and he visibly trembled. 
 
 Mrs. Paige observed his emotion ; but though she partly
 
 92 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 interpreted it, she did not dream of the hidden anguish 
 of this unhappy man, nor of the fearful struggle which 
 was incessantly going on within him. 
 
 She advanced to meet him. 
 
 " I thank you for coming," she said. " I am now anxious 
 to hear all that you know or think about the condition of 
 the estate." 
 
 The merchant continued to hold her hand in his embar- 
 rassment, but could not at once find words to answer her. 
 But at length his tongue was loosened a little, and with a 
 halting speech he said, 
 
 " Mrs. Paige, I really thank you for reposing confidence 
 in me. I really shall be happy to tell you all I know 
 or think." 
 
 Poor slave ! It was the last thing he intended to do. 
 
 He being seated, Mrs. Paige at once entered into the 
 business for which she had sent for him. 
 
 " Mr. Cringar, there have been many reports that have 
 come to my ears, as you well know, some of them very in- 
 jurious to my departed husband's reputation ; but these I 
 cannot afford to notice, only as they affect the hearts and 
 feelings of those who hold his memory dear, and who are 
 jealous of his good name. It is to you that I must look 
 for the information that is to govern our future actions." 
 
 Cringar, during this speech, had been exerting himself, 
 with all the mental strength he possessed, to acquire the 
 firmness necessary to carry him through the coming ordeal ; 
 and Mrs. Paige had not been unobservant of the varying 
 expression of his countenance. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Paige," he said, " you must prepare your 
 mind for the worst." 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " I am rejoiced to hear it."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 93 
 
 . " You have the worst to tell me ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Cringar now hesitated, and looked from the ceiling, where 
 he had cast his eyes when he had begun to speak, down to 
 the floor ; for he was not yet able to look the intended vic- 
 tim of his wickedness in the face. 
 
 " You will oblige me by at once telling me the whole," 
 uttered Mrs. Paige, with anxious severity. . 
 
 This compelled the merchant to turn his eyes upon her, 
 but they instantly turned off again. 
 
 " You must give up the idea of indulging in acts of be- 
 nevolence, my dear madam, even toward soldiers' families." 
 
 " Mr. Cringar, I have not requested you to come to give 
 me such advice as this. Tell me the truth as regards my 
 husband's business, and I will judge what I can give to 
 others." 
 
 Jonas Cringar, now driven to a corner, broke out with 
 desperation, 
 
 " Well, then all is lost ! " 
 
 Mrs. Paige turned pale, but retained her composure. 
 
 "All?" 
 
 " Yes ! all ! everything ! " 
 
 " It is impossible ! " 
 
 " Ah, madam ! I knew you would say so ! " exclaimed 
 the merchant, in a voice in which sympathetic distress and 
 remorse were strangely mingled. 
 
 " And have I not reason to say so ? " asked this wronged 
 woman, who, though inwardly agitated, fixed a penetrating 
 gaze upon the guilty merchant. 
 
 He quailed before this gaze. 
 
 But now he felt that all his resources must be brought 
 to bear, or he should have to answer for bad work to Dan- 
 iel Garvin.
 
 94 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 That natural obliquity of character, which has been inti- 
 mated as belonging to him now came into play and gave 
 him what might be called (if we may be allowed a rather 
 uncouth figure) a second mental wind. 
 
 Having thus gathered strength, he for the first time was 
 able to look his interlocutor fairly in the face. 
 
 " You certainly have reason to think so, dear madam ; 
 but Mr. Garvin and myself can submit statements to you 
 which will convince you that all I say is true." 
 " May I ask what those statements are ? " 
 " Certainly ; and I will say that they seem to be sup- 
 ported by the most conclusive evidence." 
 "Well." 
 
 " Some of them are claims of a most unexpected nature ; 
 while others have to do with transactions which, while I 
 very deeply lamented them at the time, yet I have kept 
 silent about them, hoping something would turn up to 
 mitigate their evils." 
 "Well." 
 
 "Well, then, Mr. Paige, like too many victims of the 
 fever which has prevailed in business circles for the past 
 few years, has, it seems, risked everything in speculation, 
 and in every instance very unfortunately." 
 
 Jonas Cringar stopped a moment, but the intended victim 
 of his abominable falsehoods remained silent. 
 
 Gathering strength by working either knee in those 
 nervous, bony hands, he continued : 
 
 "You see, my dear Mrs. Paige, this speculative fever 
 seized many a man as honest and upright as my late 
 partner. Character did not come into the question at all. 
 It had no more to do with a man's reputation than typhoid 
 fever, or typhus fever, or any other fever." 
 
 The merchant now extended one of his hands, as if
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 95 
 
 about to deliver a lecture on the morality and immorality 
 of speculation. 
 
 Mrs. Paige interrupted him. 
 
 " Mr. Cringar," she said, " I do not need that you should 
 defend Mr. Paige's character to me. I will thank you " 
 
 " Well, then, well, then, you see there have been 
 very bad complications in our own business on account of it. 
 Drawing from one's legitimate business so incessantly to 
 allay this terrible fever, it brings things to a fearful pass, 
 madam. You see there it was, his losing so many thou- 
 sands in his cotton speculation, it was a bad beginning." 
 
 " Mr. Cringar," uttered Isabel Paige, in a subdued but 
 steady voice, " you speak to me in riddles." 
 
 " I suppose so ; it must seem so, my dear madam," re- 
 turned Cringar, whom the reader will readily perceive to 
 be devoid of all necessary qualifications for such an inter- 
 view as this which he had undertaken. " It 's a riddle 
 to all of us, the way in which what seemed an ample 
 fortune has vanished. It seems like a dream, madam, and 
 if I 'm a little incoherent, ascribe it to the difficulty I expe- 
 rience in trying to make known to you facts which I know 
 must astound you and make you miserable." 
 
 " This cotton, Mr. Cringar," said the soldier's widow, in 
 whom now a feeling of contempt was mingling with her 
 apprehensions, "I am aware that Mr. Paige once had a 
 transaction in cotton ; but he informed me that he had 
 made much money by it, and he was not accustomed to 
 utter an untruth." 
 
 " Ah, madam, it is n't for me, who loved him like a 
 brother, to cast any aspersions upon the character of my 
 late partner, or throw doubts on his integrity. But the 
 fact of it is, madam, he undoubtedly supposed when he 
 told you that he had cleared a profit on that cotton, that he
 
 96 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 had really done so. The market was rising very rapidly, 
 and he was n't the only man who counted on profits before 
 his time. But he was so unfortunate as to hold on too 
 long, though I kept advising him to let it go ; and the re- 
 sult was a heavy loss." 
 
 " He never told me of this, Mr. Cringar." 
 
 " It is one of the unfortunate features of speculation, 
 my dear madam," spoke this abject tool, who was begin- 
 ning to find his tongue, " one of the unfortunate features 
 of speculation, that even the noblest and most open-hearted 
 men will be so shamed by their losses, they dare not 
 say anything about them to others, often feeling the most 
 reluctant to make them known to those who really have 
 the greatest claims on their confidence. In fact, now that 
 you speak of it, Mi's. Paige, I recall to mind," continued 
 the merchant, lifting his right hand half-way to his lips, 
 with the long forefinger extended, and at the same time 
 bent like a claw, " yes, I recall to mind very distinctly his 
 saying to me once, when I was urging him to sell out, even 
 at a small loss rather than suffer a greater one, ' Jonas,' 
 for he always spoke to me familiarly, ' Jonas, I have told 
 my wife that I am good for a large profit on this cotton, and 
 I intend to stick,' excuse me, madam ; that 's a phrase 
 sometimes used in speculation, and I wish to quote his 
 exact language, ' I intend to stick till the market takes 
 another jump.' " 
 
 At this moment Emma came in from the street, ac- 
 companied by Alice, and opened the door of the draw- 
 ing-room, when, perceiving her mother and Jonas Cringar 
 alone, and comprehending at a glance somewhat the nature 
 of the business between them, she made a move to retire. 
 But Mrs. Paige requested her to enter. 
 
 This action on the part of the mother was the result of 
 a sudden inspiration.
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. 97 
 
 She had not been deceived by the apparent candor of 
 the merchant, clothed though it was by such verbosity 
 as he had displayed. She had by no means a superficial 
 knowledge of human nature ; she had closely observed 
 Jonas Cringar while he so desperately labored to acquit 
 himself properly in the business he had undertaken, and 
 apprehended that some powerful influence had been ex- 
 erted to subdue the natural impulses which she was certain 
 his heart felt toward the family of his late partner. She 
 therefore, on seeing Emma and Alice, instantly formed a 
 resolve to re-enforce these impulses. 
 
 " Emma," she said, " will you and Alice please sing that 
 duet which Mr. Cringar loved so much to hear when he 
 came to see your father." 
 
 Emma was surprised by this request, for it was the first 
 time her mother had desired them to sing since their 
 father's death. 
 
 As for the merchant, he already began to experience 
 those reactionary emotions on which Mrs. Paige had calcu- 
 lated. He was silent, however. 
 
 Emma went up to the piano with Alice, and opening it 
 for the first time for many weeks, turned and said, while 
 she looked inquiringly toward the merchant, 
 
 " Mr. Cringar loved to hear more than one duet ? " 
 
 The merchant said nothing in answer to this remark, 
 but his face betrayed the internal struggle of his soul. 
 
 " Your German song, Stille Naclit" said Mrs. Paige. 
 
 This beautiful trio, sung as a duet by the sisters, so 
 well calculated both to touch and soothe the spirit in its 
 varied moods and to awake in the soul the tenderest rem- 
 iniscences, began at once to produce a remarkable effect 
 on the already agitated countenance of Jonas Cringar. 
 The German words had formerly been interpreted to him,
 
 98 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 
 
 so that he understood their meaning, while they lent 
 to the song a sweetness which no translation could have 
 
 done. 
 
 Emma and Alice had not sung this song since their 
 father died, and though their tones were firm when they 
 began, thoughts of this beloved father soon caused their 
 voices to tremble, and the exertion they were compelled to 
 make to master their emotions served but to enhance the 
 touching effect of the music. 
 
 This, added to the natural character of the song, seemed 
 to bring the merchant into the very presence of the de- 
 parted soldier, and with an audible groan he buried his face 
 in his hands. 
 
 Mrs. Paige now rose, and, advancing, placed her hand on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 At this instant the bell sounded through the house with 
 a loud, harsh ring. 
 
 As his ears were greeted by this ominous sound, Jonas 
 Cringar suddenly lifted his head, clasped the arm of the 
 chair with his quivering hand, and gazed at the door 
 with a face so distorted with fear, that Emma and Alice, 
 who had turned when the bell rang, stopped in the last 
 measures of the song, startled and alarmed by his extraor- 
 dinary aspect; while the mother seemed to divine the 
 cause of this agitation, to which her own heart to a degree 
 responded. 
 
 In another moment the thick and ursine form of Daniel 
 Garvin presented itself at the threshold. 
 
 " I trust I do not intrude," he said in a rasping voice, 
 at the same time sending a terrific glance at the blanching 
 merchant. 
 
 The ladies made no answer, but Jonas Cringar muttered 
 in a scarcely audible voice,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 99 
 
 " You 're entirely welcome." 
 
 " I thought so," returned the broker, coming forward and 
 making a formal bow to all in the room at once, while 
 his upper lip drew back so as to expose his threatening 
 teeth. 
 
 Then taking a chair he turned to Mrs. Paige and 
 said : 
 
 " I -was at Mr. Cringar's store a short time since, and, 
 though I did not find him there, I found your note re- 
 questing him to meet you here this evening, on business 
 concerning the estate of your late husband. And not- 
 withstanding you intimated, madam, that it might not be 
 so agreeable a task for me to perform as for him, I at once 
 decided that you should not be left half enlightened from 
 any lack of zeal on my part, and therefore I am here, at 
 your service, madam." 
 
 The closing words of this speech, " at you service, mad- 
 am," were uttered in a tone in which the hidden sarcasm 
 of it culminated, being also accompanied by a slight bow. 
 
 Mrs. Paige heard him through with a firm, steady look ; 
 while Jonas Cringar, having cast his eyes on the speaker 
 when he commenced, withdrew them and riveted them to 
 the carpet with a look of distress on Garvin's informing 
 the widow of his finding the note. He immediately cursed 
 himself for his carelessness. 
 
 The broker waited a moment, while he changed his 
 glance from Mrs. Paige to the daughters, who still re- 
 mained at the piano, and then to the merchant. 
 
 Then he asked in a harsh, cutting voice, 
 
 " Is the business finished ? or is this music only serving 
 you as an interlude ? " 
 
 We have before seen that Cringar was not without spirit ; 
 and the overbearing manner of the broker toward this
 
 100 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 family, for whom lie really had so high a regard, and 
 who, through his villanous schemes, were now on the brink 
 of ruin, served to rouse him for an instant from his lethargic 
 fears. 
 
 He leaned forward in his chair, and fixed on Garvin a 
 look of indignant rebuke. 
 
 " The music," he answered, " was an act of attention to 
 one who has spent many happy hours in this house." 
 
 The only answer the broker vouchsafed to this was a 
 gleam of his malevolent eye, and an apparently uncon- 
 scious movement of his hand to the pocket from which he 
 had taken the damning paper on the night of Allen Paige's 
 death. 
 
 The merchant turned pale, and again sank helplessly 
 back. * . 
 
 Mrs. Paige now spoke. 
 
 "Mr. Garvin, Mr. Cringar had barely commenced de- 
 tailing the condition hi what he is pleased to affirm my 
 late husband's business was in when he left me. What he 
 has already told me I must say to you as I have said to 
 him, that it is impossible." 
 
 " What have you told her ? " demanded Garvin, sharply, 
 fixing his ringed orb on the once more cowering eye of the 
 merchant. 
 
 " The cotton," was Cringar's simple answer. 
 
 "Well, what of it ?" returned the broker, while a frown 
 began to darken his features. 
 
 " Simply this," said Mrs. Paige, "that what he has told 
 me about Mr. Paige's cotton transaction is entirely contra- 
 dictory to my husband's own statements, and is to me 
 incredible." 
 
 Garvin's features now began to gather that expression 
 which we have beheld at the crises of his interviews with
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 101 
 
 the merchant. On beholding these signs of an approaching 
 scene, Cringar closed his eyes and shuddered. 
 
 Having darkened his direful visage with the gloomy 
 clouds of the coming storm, the broker prepared to let 
 loose the thunder. 
 
 " Madam ! " he exclaimed, in his harshest and most pene- 
 trating accents, " we have found our work sufficiently un- 
 grateful, without the addition of your own ingratitude. 
 Your husband, madam, appears to have been a rash and 
 reckless man ; and when he appointed his partner and my- 
 self as executors of his estate, he seems to have calculated 
 on our friendship to conceal his folly." 
 
 Mrs. Paige now made a motion as if she would interrupt ; 
 but Garvin extended his right hand, and cried, 
 
 " You must hear me, madam ! " 
 
 She remained silent. 
 
 " Now, madam, I will at once, to business. You may 
 believe my statements or not, but let me assure you 
 your belief does n't affect the result. We Ve not taken 
 oath to act according to your belief, but according to law. 
 Know then that Mr. Allen Paige's accounts show up a loss 
 of some twenty thousand dollars in cotton, losses amount- 
 ing to over seventy-five thousand dollars in mining and 
 oil, and thousands with Mr. Cringar himself in cotton 
 goods, and also from complications in their business, re- 
 sulting from his speculative mania. Is this not so, Mr. 
 Cringar ? " 
 
 The merchant did not seem to hear this question. 
 
 The broker bent his lurid eyes upon him, and repeated 
 it in a voice that would seem to penetrate to the mer- 
 chant's marrow. 
 
 " Jonas Cringar, is this not sc ? " 
 
 The wretched man looked up like a defenceless animal 
 wounded by a beast of prey, and said in a faint voice,
 
 102 THE VETEKAN OF THE GEAND AKMY. 
 
 " It is all too true ! too true ! " 
 
 " And now, madam," continued Garvin, rising from his 
 chair, " it is my duty to inform you, without further delay, 
 that you can no longer support this costly house, for it is 
 not yours. It must be sold to pay the debts of the estate, 
 and that immediately. And let me tell you, as a sort of 
 guardian," the broker could not keep entirely back the 
 appearance of a sardonic grin as he said this, " that you 
 must either live on the charity of others, or seek some 
 means of support with your daughters here," he turned 
 his satanic visage on Emma and Alice, "who, I am 
 happy to see, look hearty and strong." 
 
 Mrs. Paige had risen at the last of this heartless speech, 
 and stood, overwhelmed with conflicting emotions, support- 
 ing herself at the table. She was moved by profound in- 
 dignation, not unmingled with disgust ; but at the same 
 time her soul sickened with the conviction that the man 
 before her held the power to make real all that, in his 
 words, threatened her and her family. She stood gazing 
 on this diabolical destroyer of her peace, while her various 
 emotions displayed themselves on her countenance, but she 
 could find no words. 
 
 Daniel Garvin enjoyed for a space the distressed con- 
 fusion of this unhappy widow of his patriotic half-brother, 
 and then, drawing back his upper lip, he said, 
 
 " Mrs. Paige, I would add " 
 
 Ere he could say more Emma stepped forward to her 
 mother's rescue. 
 
 Her beautiful face was flushed, and her clear hazel eyes 
 were lit by an indignation so deep and strong that even 
 Daniel Garvin could not meet their gaze unmoved. As 
 she thus stood before him, with her form erect, and her 
 head thrown back, she recalled to the mind of this unnat-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 103 
 
 ural uncle her father, when his t generous and impulsive 
 spirit would be stirred by passion. As this recollection 
 thus crossed his mind, he experienced a secret smiting of 
 his conscience, which mingled with emotions of dark and 
 brooding triumph. 
 
 "Sir!" exclaimed this noble daughter, in a voice cor- 
 responding with her looks, " you have said you came here 
 on business. That business is for the present finished. 
 Whatever of truth or falsehood there may be in your 
 statements, my mother can hear no more. We would be 
 alone." 
 
 " Certainly, my dear," returned Garvin ; and, taking his 
 hat, he withdrew, followed by Jonas Cringar. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 A FEW days after the interview between Mrs. Paige 
 and the merchant and broker, Emma sat meditating 
 in her room. She thought of Cringar and her uncle, 
 and a shudder went through her frame. A woful future 
 loomed before her vision. She thought, too, of her mother, 
 who had just risen from an illness brought on by the reve- 
 lation, in all its fulness, of the atrocious plot which the 
 previous whisperings and rumors had presaged, and her eyes 
 were wet with tears. The events of the past few days 
 had proved too much for even her brave and elastic nature. 
 Her cheeks had paled, and a shade of blue appeared under 
 her hazel eyes, which gave signs of anxiety and weeping. 
 
 In her sorrow, however, there were two figures which 
 continually came to her mind ; these were the figures of 
 the Veteran and Prescott Marland. The former rose be-
 
 104 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 fore her as a power which was indefinably mingled with 
 her future. When the image of her father came to her 
 mind, this majestic form ever seemed to accompany it. 
 She could not think of one without recalling the other. 
 
 But from the Veteran she invariably passed to another, 
 who was also associated in her mind with her father. This 
 association was, however, of a more tender character. When 
 she thought of him, the blood slightly flushed the pale 
 cheeks, and the saddened eye kindled with the heart's 
 involuntary emotions. 
 
 She would continually recall to her mind the look which 
 appeared in his eyes, when he took her by the hand after 
 his brave contest with the ruffians who had assaulted her. 
 The look was only for an instant, but it was none the less to 
 be remembered. It was one of those impressions that pass 
 beyond the retina of the eye, beyond the brain, to be in- 
 eflaceably fixed within the heart itself, where it remains 
 forever. 
 
 Her own soul had responded to the thrill which was 
 experienced by Prescott when he held her hand, and which 
 was simultaneous with the look so vividly impressed upon 
 her heart. But scarcely would she acknowledge it to her- 
 self. 
 
 It is a charming feature of virgin love, that the maiden 
 who experiences its first throbs not only shrinks from the 
 thought that it may be perceived by the world, but she 
 will even shut out her own common self from the scrutiny ; 
 and while the budding sentiment is nursed in the most 
 secret and the tenderest depths of the heart, she closes the 
 eye of introspection just enough to lend a delicate fascina- 
 tion to what it beholds ; like one who, gazing at the dawn, 
 gently closes the lid that its glory may be seen through 
 the lashes, and acquire a dreamlike charm and beauty.
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 105 
 
 It was from this maidenly "by-play, probably, that the 
 Veteran was generally first allowed to assume definite 
 shape in her mind. It would seem as if he was kept in 
 the foreground, that her own mind might rest satisfied that 
 the heart was not playing false ; while in reality the ob- 
 ject held in the distance was continually drawing the mind 
 away, lit up in an entrancing haze by the rays of the 
 golden sunlight. 
 
 As Emma sat in her room on the day we have men- 
 tioned, she had, as we have said, been thinking of those 
 things which filled her heart with apprehension and grief. 
 
 At length her thoughts began to dwell on the Veteran 
 and Prescott Marland. Neither had as yet responded to 
 her invitation to visit the home of their comrade, her own 
 sainted father. They had promised to do so, and she could 
 not readily believe the promise would be broken. 
 
 Yet, after weeks had passed, and one day succeeded an- 
 other with no word from either, a fear began to steal into 
 her mind that their adieus, made when they parted on the 
 evening they had so strangley met, might, perchance, be 
 the last. 
 
 While in the midst of these thoughts she heard a knock 
 at the door. 
 
 " Come in," she said. 
 
 The maid entered, bearing a card on which was written 
 the name of Prescott Marland. 
 
 This name, announcing the presence, below, of one of 
 whom she was at that moment so earnestly thinking, 
 caused the telltale blood to mount to her cheeks. 
 
 " Tell him," she said in some confusion, " that I will be 
 down in a few moments." 
 
 The maid, who had observed her mistress's confusion, 
 retired, saying to herself, " It is the common lot ! " while 
 
 5*
 
 1C 8 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Emma hastily prepared herself to meet one who had 
 recently occupied so large a share of her thoughts. 
 
 " Mr. Marland," said Emma, as she entered the drawing- 
 room into which Prescott had been ushered, " I welcome 
 you to the home of my dear father and your friend." 
 
 " I thank you, Miss Paige ; but I would amend your 
 kind welcome." 
 
 " You may do so," returned Emma, with a smile. 
 
 " You said, ' my dear father and your friend.' I would 
 say, ' my dear father and your dear friend.' " 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 An expression of tender sadness mingled with her smile, 
 as Emma uttered this response. At the same time she 
 experienced a sentiment of pride, on hearing such words 
 from one of whom her father had spoken so highly, and 
 whom she herself looked upon as the type of nobleness. 
 
 "My father never dreamed of such a first meeting as 
 was ours, when he used to speak so warmly of your friend- 
 ship," she said. 
 
 " Neither did I," returned Prescott, " when he used to 
 speak of you in our . conversations at the hospital. And 
 yet, Miss Paige, being of a somewhat romantic turn of 
 mind, I wiU confess that my knowledge of the father, 
 added to the pictures he drew of his daughter, led me into 
 youthful dreams of saving her from some great peril ; and 
 here the dream is fulfilled, that is, in a measure." 
 
 Both blushed. Such youthful dreams are associated with 
 ideal love ; and what Prescott intended in the commence- 
 ment to be a gallant remark was to both, before he had 
 finished, evidently something that went much further than 
 gallantry. 
 
 "You say, 'in a measure,'" remarked Emma, after a 
 moment's silence. " Why in a measure ? "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 107 
 
 " Because others were engaged in the rescue as well as 
 myself," laughingly answered Prescott. 
 
 " I am grateful to all," returned Emma ; " but if it had 
 not been for your courage and strength, Mr. Marland, I 
 fear I should not now be here to welcome you." 
 
 Having discharged himself of his duty, which modesty 
 demanded to others, Prescott was but too happy to hear 
 his praises from lips so charming. 
 
 Both now felt more at their ease, and the conversation 
 flowed on with a mutual enjoyment which each secretly 
 wished might be prolonged into hours. That confidence 
 which underlies all true affection began to manifest itself 
 in a manner which a reader of the human heart would at 
 once interpret. 
 
 None had greater reason to repose confidence in each 
 other, at this early stage of their acquaintance, than 
 these young people. That noble and affectionate father, 
 whom both loved, one as a parent and the other as a 
 
 
 
 friend, had brought them together in spirit long before 
 they had known each other in mortal form. As we have 
 seen, their very hearts had reached out toward each other 
 in response to the utterances of the now beatified patriot ; 
 and it only remained that the ideal they had each drawn 
 be tested by the presence of the real. 
 
 This test, made under circumstances, as formerly narrated, 
 so favorable to the heart's emotions, had confirmed all that 
 the ideal had fondly pictured ; and now, as they conversed, 
 they seemed to have been acquainted for years. 
 
 Emma had apologized in behalf of her mother, on ac- 
 count of illness, at an early stage of the visit. When she 
 thus apologized, the ill-boding presence of Daniel Garvin 
 came to her mind, as he appeared on the night that he 
 revealed the future he had prepared for them. She shud-
 
 108 ' THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 dered at this recollection, and for a moment seemed to 
 forget even the presence of her visitor. 
 
 Prescott observed her agitation, but ascribed it to emo- 
 tions connected with her mother's illness and father's 
 death. She had more than once felt impelled to reveal to 
 him the situation of affairs, and the cause of her mother's 
 illness, which would explain also the evidences of sorrow 
 that appeared on her own countenance ; for, with woman's 
 intuition, she knew that he not only perceived these evi- 
 dences, but that his mind was disturbed with conjectures 
 as to their cause. 
 
 At length, in the course of this interview, in which 
 minutes seemed to these youthful hearts but seconds, 
 Emma was sent for by her mother. Excusing herself for 
 a few moments, she left Prescott alone. 
 
 He now contemplated, as had Joseph on a former occa- 
 sion, the evidences of affluence which surrounded him. 
 Like Joseph he admired the works of art, though, unlike 
 this poor boy, the richly carved furniture did not so much 
 engross his attention, nor did the warmth which came from 
 the ornamented registers remind him of a cold mother and 
 sisters in a home of want ; for though his family were not 
 wealthy, they never lacked for those things essential to 
 comfort, and had, moreover, been able to gratify, to a con- 
 siderable extent, their naturally fine taste. But, as I have 
 said, Prescott contemplated the works of art about him 
 with admiration. 
 
 The paintings had been evidently selected for their true 
 artistic qualities. Harmony, force, and freedom indicated 
 the master, while here and there a small painting, in which 
 crudities mingled with the* touches of genius, confirmed the 
 reputation won by Allen Paige, of kindly encouraging the 
 young and struggling artist.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AKMY. ' 109 
 
 The statuary indicated equally good taste. In the 
 midst of classic copies appeared some of the famous groups 
 by John Kogers, which present in so vivid and instructive 
 a manner the various phases of the Eebellion. 
 
 But what fastened the attention of this already ardent 
 lover more than all else was a water-color, in one corner 
 of which, as he approached it, his quick eye had detected 
 the name of Emma Paige. It was much above the standard 
 of the usual artistic performances of young ladies (no im- 
 putation is intended; the young women of America are 
 showing a commendable zeal in the direction of art culture, 
 and are worthily improving their opportunities), being 
 characterized by originality, and a freedom from the con- 
 ventional hardness and stiffness which results from a false 
 idea as to what constitutes finish. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was a vista, formed by lofty 
 and graceful elms, through which appeared the western 
 sky in the glory of an autumnal sunset. Walking down 
 this vista, their forms borrowing a slight glory from the 
 distance against which they were boldly painted, were a 
 youth and a maiden hand in hand. 
 
 Prescott stood entranced before this picture, forgetting 
 all else ; and as the rumbling of the carriages without had 
 combined with the silence within to enhance the abstraction 
 of Joseph's mind, as he profoundly meditated on the vicis- 
 situdes of earthly fortunes, so now this rumbling in the 
 street, combined with the silence about him, served to 
 deepen Prescott's contemplations, as he gazed on those two 
 forms against the golden sky. 
 
 With the fervor of newly awakened passion his heart 
 read a prophecy in this picture. It seemed as if the 
 lovely artist had painted herself, thus hand in hand with 
 him.
 
 110 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Ah ! the egotism of love, and yet its insidious and tor- 
 menting fears ! The smitten lover absorbs all things to 
 himself, and yet his heart is an unceasing victim of un- 
 certainty and apprehension. Does one who fancies him- 
 self in love not experience this ? then he is not in 
 love. 
 
 Thus with the young lover who contemplates this picture 
 from the hand of the one he loves. His heart pictures that 
 fair hand giving to each touch a prophetic meaning, and he 
 the object of that prophecy. Then immediately it is op- 
 pressed with doubtful thoughts. " Is her love not pledged 
 to another? And even if it is not, what claims have I, 
 Prescott Marland, a rough fellow, a fellow who has been 
 knocking around the world, and got the smell of camp-fires 
 on me. A hand " (here he eyes his large muscular hand) 
 well enough to knock a rascal down with who insults her, 
 but hardly the hand to clasp her delicate little fingers, 
 a fellow that needs smoothing down before he can expect 
 to win one like her." Then, in his enamored musings, he 
 pictured this lovely girl as the one of all others to make 
 him the man he wanted to be. Under her potent influence 
 he would become as gentle as a lamb, and his hasty pas- 
 sions only be reserved for her defence. And all the time 
 the distant rumbling of the teams and the surrounding 
 silence lent their aid to the increasing and all-absorbing 
 influence of the picture before him. 
 
 While thus standing, rapt in tender contemplation of 
 her sketch, Emma so lightly entered the room that he did 
 not hear her. He so stood that, while his back was mostly 
 turned toward her, a quarter- view of his face was revealed. 
 In this view the profounder manifestations of the soul often 
 appear on the countenance with remarkable effect. In the 
 present instance Prescott's expressive face, though so nearly
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. Ill 
 
 turned from her, revealed, in combination with his attitude, 
 the nature of the thoughts which agitated his soul with 
 such tender and conflicting emotions. 
 
 In an instant this fair girl's cheeks were covered with 
 blushes. 
 
 That the reader may understand the cause of this charm- 
 ing confusion, it is necessary for us to remark that she had 
 more than once stood before that same picture, as her visitor 
 now stood before it, and formed into living portraits the 
 figures of the two lovers who were wending their way down 
 the romantic vista. 
 
 These portraits were Prescott Marland and herself ! 
 
 Becoming suddenly aware of her presence, Prescott 
 turned. Thus finding himself surprised in the midst of 
 his enamored thoughts, and perceiving the blushes on 
 the fair face of her who had so engrossed his meditations, 
 this dreaming lover felt himself detected, and blush re- 
 sponded to blush. 
 
 A celebrated preacher and lecturer recently informed his 
 audience that he never saw two young people in love that 
 he did n't wish himself one of them. We doubt not that if 
 he could have looked in at the moment Prescott turned, he 
 would have had but little hesitation in deciding that such 
 a wish here would have been legitimate. 
 
 They now resumed their seats. 
 
 " Miss Paige," said Prescott, impelled by his momentary 
 confusion to utter what first came to his mind, " I have 
 been admiring your art-treasures, for such I must call them. 
 You certainly must be very happy in the possession of so 
 many mementos of your father, to whose taste, judging 
 from his conversations with me at the hospital, these walls 
 are largely indebted. I should think," he continued, seeing 
 that his listener remained silent, " that you would always
 
 112 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 wish to remain here. To your mother everything must be 
 especially dear " 
 
 Ere he could go on Emma had quickly covered her face 
 with her handkerchief, and then, with one great struggle to 
 control herself, she broke into violent weeping. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 AS we have remarked, Prescott, in his momentary 
 confusion, uttered that which first came to his mind. 
 He could have said nothing, to one whose soul had already 
 been so deeply agitated, more calculated to affect hei in the 
 manner which now threw him into dismay. 
 
 He began inwardly to berate himself as a stupid fellow, 
 who thus early gave indubitable evidence of his unfitness 
 for a mind so sensitive and refined. 
 
 " Why did I talk to her in that way ? " he said to him- 
 self. " Could n't I have seen that her grief for her father'? 
 death is as keen as ever ? " 
 
 But Emma did not thus accuse him. Even in the midst 
 of her sobbing she felt drawn still nearer to him. 
 
 " Miss Emma," he at length said, at the same time rising 
 and placing his right hand tenderly on her arm, " forgive 
 me for touching a. tender chord so roughly." 
 
 This was the first time he had called her by her given 
 name. 
 
 From an irresistible impulse, Emma raised her own 
 right hand, while the other still covered her face. Pres- 
 cott saw this movement. He withdrew his from her arm, 
 and in the next instant their two hands were clasped 
 together.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 113 
 
 For a moment it seemed as though each heart was pour- 
 ing all its streams of life into the other, and then the hands 
 unclapsed. 
 
 In the common routine of life, months could not have 
 accomplished what was attained in that moment toward 
 establishing relations of confidence between these two 
 souls. 
 
 Emma suddenly, as it were, found herself with one to 
 whom she could unbosom all her sorrows. 
 
 When their hands were unclasped, Prescott said, 
 
 " Let me be a brother to you." 
 
 " Ah yes ! an elder brother. Do you know," con- 
 tinued Emma, now wiping away the tears, while she 
 smiled upon him through her glistening lashes, " do 
 you know that I have longed for an elder brother, 
 in whom to confide, for several weeks past ? And my 
 dear mother needs a son. You will be a son to her, 
 will you not ? " 
 
 " I will," responded Prescott. 
 
 The delightful emotion, on hearing himself thus as- 
 sociated with the mother's name as her son was quickly 
 resolved into a profound sentiment of devotion to the 
 widow and orphan children of his comrade. 
 
 " I suspect," he continued, " that you have other causes 
 for sorrow beside the death of your father. Is it here that 
 I can help you ? " 
 
 " Alas ! I can hardly tell ! " exclaimed Emma, " but you 
 shall know all." 
 
 She thereupon gave Prescott a detailed account of all 
 that had occurred ; of the appointment of Jonas Cringar 
 and her uncle as executors ; and of the whisperings and 
 rumors, followed by the scene which was described in the 
 previous chapter, and in which Garvin declared to them
 
 114 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 their state of beggary. When she came to her mother's 
 illness the tears again filled her eyes. 
 
 Prescott's fine countenance assumed varied expressions 
 as Emma recounted this tale. Sympathy, indignation, and 
 contempt, in turn, displayed themselves. But when he be- 
 held these tears his wrath broke forth. 
 
 " Villains ! " he exclaimed. " We will see ! " At the 
 same time he rested his clenched hand on his knee. 
 
 " Poor mother ! " continued Emma. " She hardly knows 
 how to act. If my uncle told the truth, then she cannot 
 "bear to think that for a day she is living on the property 
 of others ; for not only are we left penniless, but the estate 
 is in debt." 
 
 " What does your mother propose to do ? " 
 
 " She has n't been able to think. She was taken ill the 
 night of the interview with Mr. Cringar and my uncle, and 
 any effort to think of this business makes her dizzy." 
 
 " Then please tell her not to think at present. I believe 
 there is a base plot under all this, and I know of one who 
 can ferret it out, if such is the case." 
 
 Emma looked at Prescott with inquiring interest. 
 
 " It is Thorbolt." 
 
 " General Hammond ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But would General Hammond trouble himself for us ? " 
 
 " Your father sacrificed his life on the altar of his coun- 
 try. His death leaves his family exposed to what I believe 
 a villanous plot. When I shall have laid all the circum- 
 stances before the General, depend on his hearty co-opera- 
 tion with me. He has leisure, which enables him to do 
 much that otherwise he could not do. It will not be the 
 first time. I cannot now tell you of the number of the 
 families of his comrades he has aided in different ways."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 115 
 
 " But my father was not a member of your Order, and \ve 
 cannot be considered as destitute." 
 
 " Ah, Miss Emma ! here lies one of the noblest charac- 
 teristics of our organization. We do not confine our bene- 
 factions to its members. We reach out to all Union soldiers, 
 or their families, who suffer. Of course one of our promi- 
 nent duties is to seek out those families of the soldier who 
 are in need, and relieve their wants. Our fund, which is 
 devoted to this purpose, is often called a Charity fund, but 
 it should always be called a Eelief fund. When we aided 
 our comrades, who were suffering on the field for want of 
 food or clothing, we did not call our help charity, but re- 
 lief. So with those who demand our aid at home. They 
 are not objects of charity, they justly claim relief; and 
 therefore the fund which accomplishes this should be called 
 the Eelief fund. Charity presupposes no obligation, in 
 the common acceptation of that term, on the part of the 
 donor, whereas the suffering families of the patriot soldier 
 have claims which no lack of memory can obliterate from 
 the records of a preserved Union." 
 
 " True ! oh, how true ! It is what we always told the 
 Deerings. Father would say, ' Tell Mrs. Deering that if I 
 had been lying a sufferer on the field, and her husband had 
 been at hand, he would have given me all the aid in his 
 power as a comrade ; and now that I cannot be of aid to 
 him as a comrade I want to do my duty to his family.' " 
 
 " Yes, your father's sentiments are the sentiments of our 
 Order. He did his duty as an individual ; the Grand Army 
 is formed that as an organization it may enable the million 
 of returned soldiers to do their duty in the same way, as 
 ONE. But I have not fully answered your former remark. 
 Though the more prominent work, which the Grand Army 
 has laid out for itself, is the relief of soldiers' families who
 
 116 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 are in want, yet it intends also to fulfil the spirit of the 
 law!" 
 
 " The spirit of the law ? " repeated Emma, with an in- 
 quiring smile. 
 
 " It is an expression that came ready to my lips. This is 
 what I mean by it," returned Prescott, to whose ardor in the 
 cause of the Grand Army was added an exquisite happiness 
 in thus being permitted to expound its principles to one in 
 whose presence he so loved to linger, and whom, in the 
 swift pictures that crossed his enamored imagination, he 
 associated with himself in the noble labors he contemplated 
 in connection with the future work of the organization 
 which so engrossed his attention, " this is what I mean 
 by it : I mean that the Grand Army of the Republic in- 
 tends to see fulfilled the spirit of all promises made to the 
 soldier when he left his home and went to the field to help 
 put down the Rebellion. When those promises were made, 
 the country was in danger, and the men who went forth to 
 save it departed with " God bless yous ! " that filled the 
 whole Northern air. If they should fall their families 
 would be adopted by a grateful people, and know naught 
 else but comfort ; and to their memory should be erected 
 monuments to remind future generations of their heroic 
 patriotism and a nation's gratitude. If they should escape 
 the dangers of war and return in safety, then would they 
 in person feel this undying gratitude. Nothing that could 
 be done for them should be left undone. They would be 
 objects of special favor ; and, other things being equal, the 
 name of soldier would be the talisman that should open 
 the way to employment at all times. All this, and much 
 more, rang forth as in an anthem, and with a fervor it 
 seemed as if the chill of a hundred winters could not cooL" 
 
 " You speak only words of truth," uttered Emma, who
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GKAND AEMY. 117 
 
 had listened to Prescott's words with unutterable emotions. 
 " How well do I remember all that was said when my own 
 father went to the war ; but," she added, " do you not think 
 many of these promises have been fulfilled ? " 
 
 " I do. There are, in every community, men who forget 
 not their obligations. And God bless the loyal press of the 
 country for the sympathy they have displayed toward the 
 soldier! The press is a great power in the land, Miss 
 Emma ; and it has done much to keep alive the memory of 
 those obligations, so freely acknowledged by the loyal citi- 
 zens while war still made them tremble. I would not speak 
 too harshly. Forgetfulness of obligations is a tendency of 
 public bodies ; and therefore it is that the soldiers are com- 
 bining that they may keep alive the public memory, and act 
 as executors of the consequent public will." 
 
 " And will this not accomplish what my dear father so 
 often desired ? He used to say that none could so value 
 liberty as those who had offered up their lives for it ; and 
 he hoped the returned soldiers would so unite that the deep 
 love of the Bepublic, which service in the field had im- 
 planted in their breasts, would be infused into the hearts 
 of the whole nation, and forever kept alive." 
 
 " It will, Miss Emma. Your father presaged in his hope 
 one of the great principles of our Order. So long as the 
 Grand Army of the Eepublic lives, liberty cannot die ! " 
 
 During this conversation on the Grand Army, Emma's 
 soul had been moved by the profoundest emotions; but 
 now her beautiful countenance glowed as by inspiration. 
 Eaising her humid eyes to heaven, " father ! " she ex- 
 claimed, "ask kind Heaven to look down and bless 
 these noble men ! All that you prayed for so earnestly, 
 when you lay on your bed of suffering, they are to accom- 
 plish!"
 
 118 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 
 
 Prescott was in turn profoundly affected as he gazed 
 upon the face of this lovely girl, thus lit up by her exalted 
 emotions, and listened to the words which she uttered with 
 such inspired accent to her sainted father. He, in that mo- 
 ment, realized the holiness to which the sentiment of pure 
 love is akin ; for while his soul went out with hers in that 
 touching appeal, his heart went out with it, and he prayed 
 God that a woman, gifted with a nature so elevated, might 
 yet aid him as a companion in the patriotic labors he con- 
 templated for the future. 
 
 When Emma lowered her eyes she met Prescott's ardent 
 gaze, in which inspiration and rapture mingled. A slight 
 blush suffused her already glowing countenance ; but it 
 was not the blush of shame. It seemed to lend a yet more 
 exalted character to her expression. 
 
 " Prescott," she uttered in a voice of surpassing sweet- 
 ness, as if all further form had been swept away by this 
 holy and lofty communion, " I feel that it is God who is 
 calling into existence this noble unity of the nation's sol- 
 diers. You are to fulfil a sacred mission. The blessings 
 of liberty will be yours, and the blessings of the widow and 
 the fatherless ! " Her hand, which she had raised in an 
 earnest gesture, now feU to her side, and her eyes were 
 dimmed with tears. "My dear father," she continued, 
 " would have been made very happy if he had met with 
 you before he passed away. Your name was on his lips, 
 while he was unconscious, in his last moments." 
 
 Prescott's own eyes glistened with tender sympathy as 
 he said in answer : 
 
 " I cannot express to you the gratification it gives me to 
 hear of the regard in which I was held by your father. He 
 was brave and noble, and when you tell me of his senti- 
 ments, which so accord with the spirit and purpose of the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 119 
 
 Grand Army, I feel spurred on to work with still greater zeal 
 for an organization I love so much. But, Emma," he added, 
 with a half-affectionate, half-venturesome smile, as the 
 name " Emma " fell from his lips, " I have not even yet 
 fully answered your question, the question concerning 
 the General's interest in your case, as a member of the 
 Grand Army. Let me assure you that he will sacrifice 
 much in behalf of Allen Paige's family. And if once he 
 is satisfied that there is foul play on the part of the execu- 
 tors, depend upon it he will not leave a stone unturned to 
 confound these men." 
 
 "Ah, Prescott!" returned Emma, who having uttered that 
 name when inspired by her exalted emotions, now repeated 
 it with a freedom which the circumstances of that first ut- 
 terance seemed in a subtle manner to insure for all com- 
 ing time, "ah, Prescott! I now feel that we have friends 
 about us, come whatever may." 
 
 "Ay, and I trust the day is not far distant, when 
 throughout the land there will not be one family of the 
 soldier who can say there are not watchful friends about 
 them." 
 
 With this ardent wish, Prescott took his leave, and 
 Emma, after musing awhile alone, returned to her mother, 
 to whom she recounted that portion of the interview which 
 interested her in so special a manner.
 
 120 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 TWO months have rolled away, and now, on the day this 
 chapter opens, a storm is howling through the streets 
 and byways with wild and savage fury. 
 
 Late in the afternoon a man of colossal stature, who wore 
 a military overcoat that effectually protected him from the 
 wind and sleet, turned from Fifth Avenue and entered 
 West Twenty-Seventh Street. It was the Veteran. 
 
 Arriving at the house he sought, he mounted the steps 
 and rang the bell. 
 
 It would seem as if the noise of the wind prevailed 
 throughout the house, for there was no response. 
 
 He again pulled the bell-handle, but more vigorously 
 than before, for the storm followed him up the steps and 
 blew his cape uncomfortably about his head. 
 
 This time the ring was answered. A servant opened the 
 door. 
 
 " Is Mrs.. Paige within ?" inquired the Veteran. 
 
 " Mrs. Paige ? " repeated the servant, wonderingly. " I 've 
 been in this house but since this morning same ; but I 
 think no sich woman lives here." 
 
 A harsh voice now sounded through the hall. 
 
 " Who has that front door open ? " it exclaimed. " Shut 
 it instantly ! " 
 
 At the same moment the dark visage of Daniel Garvin 
 appeared at the farther end of the hall, from an opened door. 
 
 A scowl of impatience disturbed his sardonic counte- 
 nance ; and the wind, that whistled through the house, blew 
 his thin dry hair about in such a manner that the first
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 121 
 
 thought of the Veteran, as he beheld him, was of a man 
 touched with the insanity of a demoniac. 
 
 The broker, on his part, left an expletive unuttered, as 
 the looming form of the Veteran met his gaze, covered with 
 the driving sleet, the face half concealed by the flying cape. 
 
 " Ask the gentleman in, and close the door ! " he cried, 
 advancing into the hall. 
 
 The Veteran stepped inside, followed by the sleet, and 
 the servant closed the door against the storm. 
 
 As these two men now stood face to face, undisturbed by 
 the fury of the elements, they at once recognized each 
 other. 
 
 " I seek Mrs. Paige," said the Veteran, at the same time 
 fixing on the broker a look that made him inwardly quail. 
 
 " She does not now reside here." 
 
 There was in the broker's tone a slight touch of fierce- 
 ness, as if his own secret trembling somewhat maddened 
 him. 
 
 " She has moved then ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Will you be so kind as to inform me where ? " 
 
 " I cannot." 
 
 As the broker uttered this sententious reply, in a voice 
 which combined a snarl with a perceptible tone of defiance, 
 the Veteran bent upon him a penetrating gaze, and his 
 countenance assumed its expression of iron sternness, while 
 the object of his gaze cursed himself for his lack of self- 
 command. 
 
 " Excuse me for troubling you," he said ; and opening the 
 door he passed out, letting in the howling storm again for 
 an instant, which flew through the hall, and once more 
 sported with the broker's dry and scanty locks. 
 
 An hour subsequent to this scene Prescott Marland, on 
 
 6
 
 122 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 entering his boarding-house, found the Veteran awaiting 
 him. 
 
 " General," he exclaimed, clasping both of the Veteran's 
 hands in his own, " I fear all is lost, and the family of our 
 comrade ruined ! " 
 
 " Let us be calm," said the Veteran, who, at the same 
 time he experienced the deepest sympathy for his friend's 
 distress, could scarcely forbear a smile at this impulsive 
 evidence of his all-absorbing interest in the family of Allen 
 Paige. 
 
 " Ah, yes, General ! " returned Prescott, " that is the word, 
 * be calm ' ; but with me it has been impossible for many a 
 day. Villains that they are ! " he cried, releasing the Vet- 
 eran's hands, and clenching his muscular fists, " I could 
 mash their accursed heads till they could plot no more ! 
 Executors ! Heaven save the mark, Executors ! Exe- 
 cutioners! that's the word, and executioners of the in- 
 nocent ! Worse than executioners ! Eobbers ! thieves ! 
 the foulest of thieves ! and God only knows whether they 
 will not have been murderers in reality ! " he added, while 
 the tears started to his eyes. 
 
 " Lieutenant," said the Veteran with emotion, " you know 
 how I feel for both them and you ; but feeling alone can do 
 but little good. If the family of a comrade is in trouble, 
 depend on my assistance." 
 
 " Ah, General ! but you may have to do almost every- 
 thing ! " 
 
 " Then I will do it." 
 
 As the Veteran uttered these words with undemonstra- 
 tive firmness, Prescott Marland seized his hand, and a single 
 tear hung for a moment on the lashes, and then dampened 
 his cheek. 
 
 " God bless you, General ! " he exclaimed. " I told her
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 123 
 
 it would be so i " Then his countenance immediately gave 
 way to an expression of deep dejection. "But," he -con- 
 tinued, "I fear that even you can do nothing now. 0, 
 why did you not come sooner ? " 
 
 " I did not get your second letter till four says ago." 
 
 " 0, these mails ! these mails ! Do you know, General, 
 that I felt like flying Lack to the West " (Prescott had just 
 returned from a visit to the West when he called at the 
 house of Mrs. Paige two months before), " and seeking you 
 ahead of that letter. I knew it would be so. It was fate ! " 
 
 " Do not use that word," said the Veteran, gently. " Say, 
 rather, Providence. He who ascribes the events of life to 
 fate has not the strength to work with which he possesses 
 who ascribes them to Providence. As soon as I received 
 your letter, informing me of the imminent danger to which 
 this family was exposed by the speedy action of the execu- 
 tors, I immediately made my arrangements and started for 
 ISTew York. I arrived here this afternoon, and at once 
 called to see you. Xot finding you in, I proceeded to West 
 Twenty-Seventh Street, and there learned sufficient to con- 
 firm my worst fears." 
 
 " Yes, instead of the happy family of our dead comrade, 
 you found the accursed uncle ! " 
 
 " I presumed it was Colonel Paige's brother." 
 
 " In the name of Heaven ! call him the /laT/'-brother 
 or the s^ep-brother that 's even better but don't, don't 
 call this unmitigated scoundrel Allen Paige's brother .' " 
 
 An almost imperceptible smile flitted across the stem 
 face of the Veteran. 
 
 " I presume it was this step-brother I met there. It was 
 the same face I saw in Colonel Paige's chamber." 
 
 " That 's the man, a man with a dark, piratical look, 
 that showed his teeth, and had a bald head, and whiskers
 
 124 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 cut in this way ? " responded Prescott, at the same time 
 putting the thumb and forefinger of each hand to either 
 corner of his mouth, and bringing them down with a quick 
 jerk. v 
 
 " The same. I judged he lived there." 
 
 " Yes, and there is where the refinement of his devilish 
 spirit appears. In my letter I wrote you that this Garvin 
 and a man whom I believe to be only his miserable tool " 
 
 " Jonas Cringar ? " 
 
 " That 's the man ! a man that looks as if the crack of 
 doom was continually sounding in his ears ! a wretched- 
 looking man, who goes about after Garvin as if this black 
 schemer had a rope around his neck ! Well, as I was say- 
 ing in my letter, I told you that these men were preparing 
 to sell off all property of the estate immediately, and, un- 
 less they were soon headed off, they would have Mrs. Paige, 
 Emma, and the children turned out of doors." 
 
 "Yes; and, Prescott, you cannot imagine my feelings 
 when I read this information in a letter I should have re- 
 ceived nearly a month before." 
 
 As the Veteran uttered this, he displayed more feeling 
 than had heretofore appeared on his countenance. 
 
 " I think I can imagine your feelings, General. Well, 
 you did not appear ; they went at it, and have done their 
 damnable work ! " 
 
 " And you could do nothing ? " 
 
 " Nothing. That Garvin is too deep for me. Villany is 
 his trade ; and commerce, finances, and law are right under 
 his hands, and such hands ! did you ever notice them?" 
 
 " I have only seen him twice, and his hand I did not 
 observe," replied the Veteran, his features again relaxing. 
 
 "A hand that looks as if it were made up of five bloated, 
 broken-backed lizards and a flattened toad. Well, every-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND AP.MY. 125 
 
 thing is under his ugly hands. He, with Cringar, filed the 
 inventories, and got out the license to sell ; and the more 
 I tried to look into it the more I was afraid to do it, for 
 fear of tipping over the dish ; and as I expected you on 
 every day, for you know you told me, when you left, you 
 should undoubtedly be back here last month, even without 
 the incentive of my letter, I held off till it was too 
 late." 
 
 " And all is gone ? " 
 
 " All ! everything ! Turned out of that home, in which 
 they had lived so many years, and which the memory of 
 Mr. Paige their husband and father, and our comrade 
 made so dear to them ! And with a devilish refinement of 
 cruelty Garvin bid off the house and all that was in it, 
 affirming, with tears in his crocodile eyes, that he could n't 
 endure to see the house which his lamented brother's taste 
 had made so attractive pass into the hands of a stranger ! 
 And there he lives, the sneaking hound ! " 
 
 " And do you feel certain still that there is fraud in the 
 case ? " 
 
 s " I would be willing to swear to it. Mrs. Paige tells me 
 that her husband trusted her in all things, and that, if such 
 a state of affairs had existed in his business, he never 
 would have concealed it from her. To assert it to be 
 otherwise is to assert' that he deceived her in the most 
 cruel manner, and that this noble patriot was guilty of a 
 gross falsehood." 
 
 "Are there no friends that would help her, friends 
 who knew him well, and would credit her statements ? " 
 
 " None. General, after you have lived in New York a 
 few years you will realize that business men here have no 
 time to attend to other people's affairs. And even if there 
 were, there seems to be no one who is not easily convinced
 
 126 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 by these cunning executors that Allen Paige followed in 
 the track of scores of merchants, who could lay claim to 
 cooler heads than he was known to possess. I tell you, 
 General, New York has, of late, been one vast caldron of 
 financial whirlpools ; and like those rotary gulfs that sud- 
 denly spring to the surface of the caldron below Niagara 
 Bridge and suck everything down within their reach, so 
 have these speculative whirlpools ingulfed, one after an- 
 other, many who have stood among the highest in this 
 city. No, Mrs. Paige can depend on no one here. You 
 must bear in mind that both Garvin and Cringar stand 
 high before the world ; and there is not one to be found 
 so unselfish as to venture to unmask them, even if he be- 
 lieved they were rascals ; especially as they have had every- 
 thing all their own way, and have worked up the whole 
 business in such a manner that it is next to impossible to 
 discover a flaw." 
 
 " I see how the matter stands,*' uttered the Veteran, 
 bending his head in deep thought. 
 
 "And they are driven from, their home!" exclaimed 
 Prescott, with a voice in which the passions of rage and 
 grief were mingled. 
 
 The Veteran did not seem to hear this outburst. His 
 eyes still remained fixed to the floor in deep meditation. 
 
 Marland, struck by his appearance, remained silent also, 
 and observed him with anxious interest. 
 
 In the mean while the storm was whistling and mourn- 
 ing without; and presently the thoughts of the young 
 lover reverted back to the time when he stood before the 
 sketch in Mrs. Paige's drawing-room, thinking of her who 
 then seemed in the midst of opulence, while the silence 
 was only broken by the distant rumbling of the busy city. 
 As his mind returned to the present, with the stern face
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 127 
 
 of the Veteran bent in thought -before him in the contem- 
 plation of the situation, which involved the picture of this 
 loved one driven like a wanderer from that opulent and 
 happy home, while instead of the soothing sounds of dis- 
 tant vehicles his ears were filled with the shrieks and 
 howls of the driving storm, his heart threatened to give 
 way to its powerful but pent-up emotions. 
 
 He again watched the countenance of Thorbolt with 
 anxious attention. 
 
 At length he perceived the strong muscles of the Vet- 
 eran's cheeks those muscles which seem only to respond 
 to the action of a conquering will begin to articulate 
 themselves, like some commanding face of the great mas- 
 ters ; while on the brow there appeared rather a general 
 air of awakened irresistible power than a frown of emo- 
 tional resolution. 
 
 This look, as Prescott gazed, seemed to grow for a space, 
 until even he, who had seen Thorbolt in some of his 
 grandest moments, thought he never could have conceived 
 of a mortal being displaying in his expression such an air 
 of invincible strength. 
 
 Suddenly this remarkable man, whose face now seemed 
 fixed in a cast of iron, rose to his feet ; and bending his 
 stern gray eye on the young lieutenant, he spoke in a tone 
 so deep and penetrating that his listener, whose mind was 
 somewhat overwrought, instinctively started back in his 
 chair. 
 
 " Prescott," he said, " I see my duty to the end. I am 
 convinced of the foulness of this business. So be that the 
 Lord gives me his assistance, I pledge you I will work till 
 the question of villany or no villany is solved. The com- 
 rade who has gone above," he continued, pointing upwards, 
 " shall not, I trust, have reason to complain of lack of effort
 
 128 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 on the part of comrades left by Heaven to perform that 
 work, which it seems those who went not to the war are 
 scarcely expected to attend to." 
 
 Prescott sprang from his chair, and seizing his comrade's 
 hand, pressed it in silence. 
 
 The Veteran then took his departure. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 "VTEAR an old cobbler's shop in Vandam Street stands a 
 -i- ^ brick house, which, though not in a state of dilapida- 
 tion, exhibits the weather-beaten signs of age. 
 
 The apartments on the third floor of this house have not 
 the unsightly aspect of the room in which the family of the 
 soldier, Joseph Deering, were presented to the reader. The 
 appearance is, however, humble, and indicates a certain de- 
 gree of want. An evidence there is of a struggle with the 
 inexorable demands and necessities of life. 
 
 Here live now the family of the soldier, Allen Paige. 
 
 These apartments consist of a kitchen and dining-room 
 combined, two chambers, and a small bedroom. 
 
 Driven from their home by the implacable vengeance' of 
 the broker, they have fled to this uninviting precinct of the 
 ever-changing city of New York, to struggle with the situ- 
 ation into which they have been precipitated. 
 
 Sorrow has succeeded sorrow. Scarcely have they begun 
 to recover from the profound grief into which they were 
 thrown by the sentence of exile pronounced upon them by 
 the unrelenting voice of Daniel Garvin, when bereavement 
 again threatens them through the dangerous illness of their 
 little boy Albert.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 129 
 
 His overwrought brain had yielded to the mental anguish 
 which, young as he was, he experienced on account of the 
 treatment his beloved mother had undergone from the 
 heartless and unnatural uncle. 
 
 An overwrought brain ! 
 
 This unfortunate boy's case impels us to a brief digres- 
 sion, which we make with the conviction that the subject 
 glanced at by us concerns, to an important degree, the fu- 
 ture welfare of our nation to which the Grand Army of the 
 Eepublic is so ardently devoted; for that which vitally 
 concerns the intellectual and moral welfare of our children 
 concerns the country in the coming generation. 
 
 Albert has fallen a victim to the pernicious system, ex- 
 isting in various forms throughout our schools, of forcing 
 the intellect by means of extraneous incentives. All in- 
 centives, involving prizes and the like, and which inev- 
 itably result in invidious comparisons, are antagonistic to 
 healthy intellectual and moral development. And while 
 they may seem, in special cases, to spur on the object of 
 their influence to extraordinary efforts, they fail in a very 
 signal manner to accomplish the good it is their professed 
 purpose to attain. 
 
 No incentive can be depended upon for the greatest 
 number which is not founded in broad and unselfish prin- 
 ciples. A few may be caught up in the whirl of an un- 
 healthily aroused emulation, but the remainder look on, 
 first with juvenile contempt, then with a blighting apathy, 
 which gathers influence over the mind it seizes in proportion 
 as a morbid ambition urges on those other tender minds, 
 whose love of study has become transformed into a feverish 
 desire for the coveted prize. And we regret to say that the 
 teacher does not always escape the insidious influence of 
 these selfish principles of action. 
 
 6 I
 
 130 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Pure patriotism was the great power that annihilated the 
 Rebellion. The selfish ambition for prizes (in which we in- 
 clude high military position) was the Rebellion's greatest 
 ally perhaps not excluding even copperheadism which 
 this pure patriotism had to contend against. It culminated 
 in defeat after defeat, till the strong hand of General 
 Grant brought it into subjection. And to all observing men 
 this important victory of the great commander presaged all 
 future victories. By all means, let the efficient be placed in 
 responsible positions, but not for the purpose of feeding 
 their vanity. 
 
 An impressive manifestation, in the late war, of the 
 truth we would enforce was the manner in which the sol- 
 dier would, on sight of his country's flag, forget all prom- 
 ised honors, and, inspired by the principles of pure patriot- 
 ism, implanted silently and unconsciously in his breast, and 
 led by that all-potent emblem, rush on into the cannon's 
 mouth to die ; while, perchance, the commanding officer of 
 his division gazed on the field from the rear, gnawed by 
 disappointed ambition, and secretly exulting over the dread- 
 ful sacrifice offered up before his unquiet eye, because he 
 knew it was hopeless, and likely to defeat the general in 
 command, whom possibly he looked upon as an arrogant 
 upstart, occupying the place with which he himself should 
 have been honored. While the statement may be severe, it 
 yet seems but just, to remark that this malign spirit was but 
 a legitimate outshoot from those motives with which the 
 young are impelled on to unnatural and demoralizing efforts. 
 And we tnist that the Grand Army of the Republic, from 
 which we expect so much in behalf of our country's future 
 welfare, will never be compromised in its workings by that 
 selfish ambition which lusts for personal aggrandizement at 
 the expense of the common good.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 131 
 
 The hypothesis, that the excitement of selfishness is the 
 great aid to the attainment of lasting good, will undoubt- 
 edly be acknowledged a manifest absurdity by all. Such, 
 however, is the basis on which the pernicious system re- 
 ferred to is founded. Forgetf ulness of self, and single- 
 minded devotion to duty and truth, are the principles on 
 which this vast nation, with its future conflicting interests, 
 must rest its great hope. 
 
 But it is a lamentable truth, that demoralization is not 
 the only result of unnatural incentive in connection with 
 our schools.* Prostration, sickness, and death are of fre- 
 quent occurrence, bearing from the sight of an expectant 
 world many a bright young intellect, that might, under 
 proper influence, have remained to develop into powerful 
 minds, fitted for the great work of life. 
 
 The white and blue ribbons, associated with the prizes 
 that are held up before the children of many schools as 
 the bait is held before cattle to be gathered for the sham- 
 bles, are symbols, one of the gravestones which mark 
 the last resting-place of many a tender form that has yielded 
 to an over-wrought, undeveloped mind, and the other of 
 the sky, to which the bereaved parents gaze as they con- 
 template the premature death of their promising children. 
 
 As we stated in a former chapter, Albert, who was but 
 eleven years old, was of precocious mind, and even at that 
 early age stood at the head of his school. We spoke of it 
 then in a manner that would seem to indicate pride in the 
 statement. If so, we made a serious mistake. Eather 
 should a sentiment of fear have pervaded that statement. It 
 would have been confirmed by the results. This little boy, 
 
 * We congratulate Boston on the final abolishment of the prize system 
 in its grammar schools, due, in a great degree, to the earnest and persis* 
 "ent efforts of the Superintendent.
 
 132 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 now rendered doubly precious to a widowed mother, driven 
 in a day from affluence to want, at the same time that her 
 departed husband's good name was covered with obloquy, 
 this precious boy had been brought down to a bed of sick- 
 ness and impending death by the unnatural tension brought 
 to bear on his brain, through the pernicious practice we 
 have spoken of. 
 
 It is due Mrs. Paige to remark that she had admonished 
 this ambitious child against overworking himself ; but often, 
 when every other eye in the house was closed in slumber, 
 he could have been seen sitting up in his bed in the old 
 home, studying by the gas-light near him. 
 
 It was through this means that the boy had been 
 brought to a condition which prepared the way for the 
 wickedness of his uncle to finally prostrate him on a bed 
 of sickness. 
 
 At first, seized by what appeared to be a simple cold, 
 Albert is now threatened with death from brain-fever. Mrs. 
 Paige sits by the side of the bed, nearly worn down with 
 her distress and anxiety, moistening her palm with cooling 
 water, and then passing it gently over her boy's forehead. 
 No one else is in the room. Emma is away, and Alice is 
 preparing supper in the kitchen. 
 
 It is the same hour in which the Veteran appeared in 
 his sleet-covered garments at the door of that mansion 
 on which the mother's mind now so often and so sadly 
 dwells. The storm, which has seemed so fit an accom- 
 paniment to the scene that occurred between the two 
 remarkable men who represent the two opposing forces of 
 our story, and which had shrieked into the ears of Prescott 
 Marland as he contemplated the silent figure of the ab- 
 sorbed Thorbolt, sweeps past the window of this sick- 
 chamber with wild and dismal sound.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 133 
 
 Albert, who had been lying with closed eyes, opened 
 them and cast upon his mother a look which, though laden 
 with the languor of sickness, conveyed an unutterable ex- 
 pression of filial love and gratitude. He then closed them 
 again. 
 
 " Do you feel better, my child ? " asked Mrs. Paige, bend- 
 ing over him. 
 
 Albert did not answer. 
 
 She repeated the question, but Albert did not speak. 
 
 All at once a scowl came over his forehead, and he began 
 to mutter incoherently. 
 
 The mother started from her chair in dismay. 
 
 Ah ! the difference between the unconsciousness of the 
 father, dying from a wound received in the defence of his 
 country, and this dread symptom of a terrible fever ! 
 
 She raised her clasped hands to heaven. Her eyes, 
 which were uplifted, yielded to an overwhelming emotion, 
 and the tears of agony poured down her care-worn cheeks. 
 
 " Father in Heaven ! " she cried, " spare him ! spare 
 my boy ! " 
 
 Then she again bent over her child, and taking his head 
 tenderly in her arm, she bathed his face with her tears. 
 
 " What is it that wets my cheek ? " he exclaimed, star- 
 ing up at this suffering mother. " It rains," he muttered, 
 as his lids began to droop. Suddenly they were again 
 raised, and his face assumed a look of terror, and he cried 
 in a sort of muttered shriek : " Don't turn mother out in 
 such a storm as this, Uncle Garvin ! O Uncle, don't ! 
 not my darling mother ! " 
 
 This was more than the afflicted woman could endure. 
 Her head sank upon the pillow, and, with her arm still 
 around the neck of her boy, she uttered a loud wail of 
 grief.
 
 134 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Alice heard this cry, and hastened from the kitchen in 
 alarm. 
 
 When she beheld her mother thus completely over- 
 whelmed with woe, and heard the mutterings of her wan- 
 dering brother mingled with the utterances of this sorrow, 
 the picture of her dying father rose vividly to her mind. 
 With frantic haste she rushed to the bedside, threw her arms 
 about her mother, and cried, 
 
 " Mother, dear mother ! he is n't dying ! mother, 
 no!" 
 
 The mother, without raising her head, threw the disen- 
 gaged arm around the terror-stricken daughter, and pressed 
 her to her bosom ; and for a while her convulsive sobs and 
 the wailing storm, as it drove the sleet against the win- 
 dow-panes, was the only answer. 
 
 Once there seemed in the midst of the tempest's wail a 
 mocking laugh. We had nigh said it could easily be fancied 
 the laugh of the half-brother ; but no, even Daniel 
 Garvin could not have looked in upon this scene unmoved, 
 and without experiencing an irrepressible pang of remorse. 
 
 While this sad group were thus expressing the passions 
 of grief, anguish, and terror, another figure entered the 
 outer room, having just come from the street. 
 
 It was Emma, who wore a water-proof which was 
 covered with the sleet. 
 
 She had just returned from a visit in answer to an ad- 
 vertisement. This advertisement was for a teacher, who 
 could give instruction both in music and the French 
 language. She had seen it in a paper dating two days 
 back, which had been wrapped around a bundle that was 
 brought to them, and, fearing to delay a moment, she put 
 on her things and went out into the storm to respond to 
 it ; but her errand was fruitless, it had been answered 
 the day before, and an engagement made.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 135 
 
 As she entered this outer room her countenance bore 
 evidence of a mental struggle just passed, which had 
 evidently yielded to a determination to be cheerful. Look- 
 ing out from her water-proof hood was a face bearing 
 testimony to its contact with the storm, but lit by an 
 encouraging smile. 
 
 Her attention was first attracted to a cake which was 
 burning in the oven. She at once hastened to take it out, 
 wondering what could have happened to Alice, who usually 
 performed her household duties with so much faithfulness 
 and care. 
 
 Then, in the midst of the noise of the elements without, 
 she heard for the first time the sounds of grief in the sick- 
 chamber. - 
 
 Hastening to the door, she looked in and beheld the 
 mournful group. There lay the mother as she had fallen on 
 the side of the bed, supporting Alice in one arm, and with 
 the other enfolding the neck of her suffering brother. She 
 saw this brother's eyes glazed in unconsciousness, and 
 heard his incoherent mutterings, with which were mingled 
 the mother's deep and convulsive sobs. 
 
 As we have seen, Emma's nature was strong, but it had 
 now nearly given way. Her first impulse was to rush to 
 the bedside with a terror-fraught cry, as Alice had done ; 
 but with a mighty effort, which seemed to her to be aided 
 by a higher power, she controlled herself. 
 
 Advancing to the bedside softly, she gently placed her 
 left hand under her mother's head, and with her right she 
 soothed her temples. Her palm was still cold from con- 
 tact with the outer air, and this, with the exquisite touch 
 of filial tenderness, together with Emma's gentle and sooth- 
 ing words, began to produce a visible effect on the dis- 
 tracted mother.
 
 136 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Alice also, over whom the mind of Emma had always 
 held a gentle sway, began to experience the quieting in- 
 fluence of her sister's presence. 
 
 And it would seem as if the boy himself felt this 
 sister's soothing influence ; for after having made a few 
 passes over her mother's forehead, she alternated between 
 hers and his, and in a few moments he sank into a restful 
 sleep. 
 
 After Mrs. Paige had sufficiently recovered her com- 
 posure, she seated herself and conversed with Emma re- 
 garding her mission. 
 
 " You know, mother," she said, " I did not expect it, but 
 I thought it only my duty to try." 
 
 Mrs.. Paige contemplated her with an air of grateful 
 affection. 
 
 " My dear daughter," she said, " I do not know what we 
 should do if it were not for you." 
 
 " Ah, dear mother," returned this devoted daughter and 
 sister, " I would that I could do a hundred times more." 
 Then with an expression of unconscious sadness she 
 said, " I can do but little. I would like to earn money 
 enough to make us aU comfortable, but you know I am 
 only a woman, and I cannot get the pay I could if I were 
 a man." And as a mournful smile made more touching 
 her look of sadness, she added, " I do not know but that I 
 should become a Woman's Rights advocate, if by so doing 
 I could help raise the wages of women who have to sup- 
 port those they love, as I now wish to support you." 
 
 Mrs. Paige's gaze was now directed to Emma's neck, 
 and with a quick start she exclaimed, 
 
 " Emma, you have lost your pin ! " 
 
 Emma instantly placed her hand over the spot where 
 her mother had seen the pin before she went out, as if she 
 would conceal it.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 137 
 
 " It is gone ! " uttered the mother in a voice of deep con- 
 cern. " I fear you have indeed lost it ! " 
 
 This pin had been a gift from the father. 
 
 Emma now produced a package, and hastily untying it, 
 exposed to view various little dainties so welcome to the 
 sick. 
 
 " You know the doctor said Albert needed these, and so 
 I bought them." 
 
 Mrs. Paige cast upon Emma a quick glance of pain. 
 
 Emma understood it, and again put her hand instinc- 
 tively to her neck. 
 
 " It is n't sold, dear mother. I am to redeem it." 
 
 She had pawned it. 
 
 The mother rose in silence, and approaching Emma, 
 placed her hand upon her head, and kissed her on her 
 brow. Then with a hastening but feeble step she passed 
 from the chamber into the small bedroom, where little 
 Dorrit had all this time been asleep, the tears starting 
 down her cheeks as she closed the door. 
 
 At the same moment a bold rap sounded at the kitchen 
 door. 
 
 Alice answered the summons, and Prescott Marland 
 entered. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 EMMA, who had been profoundly affected by her 
 mother's manner, heard Prescott's voice in greeting, 
 and confusion immediately displayed itself. The pin, 
 which had been the cause of the scene he had so nearly 
 interrupted, seemed at this instant to have left a space at
 
 138 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 her neck so perceptible, that she felt certain it would be 
 observed by their visitor; and like one excited by the 
 consciousness of guilt, she, poor girl ! could not help fancy- 
 ing him at once divining the reason. 
 
 It were easy to say she should not feel ashamed, but, on 
 the other hand, should be sustained by a consciousness of 
 duty nobly performed. The necessities consequent on a 
 change of situation from affluence to privation, however, do 
 not always succeed in compelling at once the instinctive 
 and involuntary emotions to meet their inexorable demands. 
 Perhaps this is one of the most touching features of those 
 trials which follow in the wake of misfortune. A strong 
 will and a resigned spirit will sustain the mind and soul 
 under the most adverse circumstances, and the demeanor 
 ordinarily reveal but little of the inward trial ; but the in- 
 voluntary emotions of the heart ever arid anon arise to 
 remind the sufferer of what has been in a manner that 
 rends and pierces. 
 
 It were vain, also, to say to this abashed girl, with the 
 supposed taint of the pawn-shop still on her skirts : " Pres- 
 cott Marland is a young man of a high and generous 
 nature, and he will respect you tenfold more when he shall 
 come to know of this thing you have done. He will pro- 
 foundly appreciate your self-sacrifice and the nobility of 
 your spirit." 
 
 All this will be well afterwards, but at just this time her 
 heart experiences a sinking sensation, and her cheeks are 
 tinged with a slight blush of shame. 
 
 She casts about for another pin to take its place ; but 
 there is no time to carry the desires of her mind into 
 execution, for Prescott, accompanied by Alice, is on the 
 threshold. 
 
 It is a face that would carry cheerfulness into the dun-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 139 
 
 geon itself ; and with it a form that looks as if its great 
 delight is to be out in such a storm as is raging without, 
 and buffet with the winds. 
 
 In an instant Emma's distress on account of the pin 
 was gone. She now only saw this noble specimen of 
 young manhood coming to greet her, coming with his 
 great heart and courageous nature, to shed, in that chamber 
 of sickness and privation, an atmosphere of health and 
 hope. 
 
 0, how strong her impulse to throw herself into his arms, 
 and claim that protection which had been denied by the 
 unnatural uncle ! 
 
 BROTHER ! 
 
 SISTER ! 
 
 Thus they entitled each other, and they did so in full 
 sincerity. But would William Garvin have so announced 
 it, had he flown by on the gale, and looked through the 
 window at the moment Prescott stood upon that threshold ? 
 It is not probable. 
 
 And yet this spoken relation of brother and sister is the 
 result, not of self-deception, but of the most manly deli- 
 cacy; for it is evident that if Prescott should press his 
 suit, the " brother " and " sister " would disappear as mist 
 before the sun. But he fealizes that, under the peculiar 
 circumstances, much that may be done on his part will, 
 from an accepted brother, do less violence to a natural 
 sensitiveness than if done by an accepted lover. 
 
 He has now come from his interview with the Veteran, 
 and a look of hope lights up his handsome features. 
 
 His air is contagious, and through Emma's soul there 
 darts an indefinable emotion of kindred hope. 
 
 " Emma," he said, advancing and taking her hand, " Gen- 
 eral Hammond arrived from the West to-day."
 
 140 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 He spoke somewhat loudly, and Emma, at the same time 
 that a gleam of a yet more definable hope overspread her 
 features, placed her finger to her lips, and pointed to the 
 now deeply slumbering boy. 
 
 Prescott lowered his tone, and for a moment gazed upon 
 Emma's face in silence, as he perceived the traces of the 
 trial to which her spirit had been that day subjected. She 
 understood this gaze, and her eyes were bedewed with 
 tears. 
 
 The ardent but high-souled Marland could scarcely re- 
 frain from at once embracing her in his strong, protecting 
 arms, and giving vent to the full expression of his all- 
 absorbing love. But he commanded himself, and leading 
 her to a chair with the careful tenderness of a devoted 
 elder brother, he narrated to her the interview which had 
 just occurred between himself and the Veteran. 
 
 Emma, on her part, told him of the dangerous turn 
 which Albert's illness had taken. 
 
 She was still speaking when Mrs. Paige came from the 
 bedroom, her swollen eyes telling of the anguish through 
 which she had passed. As Prescott rose and greeted her 
 the sick boy began to show signs of restlessness. 
 
 The mother looked up at a watch which was hanging by 
 the bed. 
 
 This watch was the last gift of her husband, to com- 
 memorate the twentieth anniversary of their wedding-day. 
 She had up to the present moment held the gift, with oth- 
 ers, as mementos so sacred, that she could entertain no 
 thought of in any way disposing of them; but in that little 
 room she had yielded, after a severe but noble struck ; 
 
 oO ' 
 
 and she had come forth resolved to follow the example of 
 her devoted daughter, whose precious token of her father 
 was in the hands of the pawnbroker, and devote all
 
 THE VETEEAX OF THE GRAND ALMY. 141 
 
 mementos, everything not absolutely essential to the sus- 
 tenance of life, to the support of that family which should 
 never beg of living man, so long as they possessed one ob- 
 ject of the least possible value not absolutely necessary to 
 keep the soul and body together. 
 
 But as she now looked at this watch, she started and 
 exclaimed in a suppressed voice, 
 
 " The time has passed when the medicine should be 
 given him ! " And hastening to the mantel-piece, she took 
 the medicine and spoon, and approached the bedside. 
 
 Prescott extended his hand. 
 
 " Don't awake him, I beg of you. It may be his death. 
 No medicine can take- the place of sleep, in such a case as 
 this. I once sat up with a little nephew of mine, who 
 had been given over by the doctors. He was suffering 
 from brain-fever, and was unconscious. For several days 
 and nights he seemed to have scarcely slept. As his moth- 
 er left me with him on this night, which all expected to be 
 his last, she opened a bureau drawer and showed me a 
 plaid piece of goods, and, with tears in her eyes, she re- 
 peated those lines, suggested by an old saying, 
 
 ' Death often stays his hand 
 
 When friends prepare the shroud, 
 And joy returns to saddened hearts 
 When life dispels the cloud.' 
 
 It was the last resort of despair, 'a superstitious little act, 
 as you probably know, which many sorrowing ones indulge 
 in, springing from hearts that would make the last effort 
 in their power to drive back the dreaded messenger. "When 
 I was left alone with my charge I at once commenced 
 gently passing my hand down from his knees to the extrem- 
 ities of his feet, which I drew out soothingly as I relin- 
 quished them to recommence at the knee. When I began,
 
 142 THE VETERAN OF THE CRAXD ARMY. 
 
 his head was tossing from side to side in the most painful 
 restlessness ; but soon it settled into the pillow, and he 
 began to slumber. When at different times he would show 
 signs of awakening from this slumber, I would assist the 
 manipulations on his feet by a low humming sound like a 
 top or a humblebee." 
 
 " And what was the result ? " asked Emma, eagerly. 
 
 " The result was, I kept him asleep nine hours ; and 
 though I ignored the hours I was instructed to give him 
 medicine, the doctors, the next morning, announced a re- 
 markable change for the better." 
 
 " And did he wear the plaid ? " 
 
 " He did ; and is now a strong boy who wears sack and 
 waistcoat." 
 
 The mother had listened with absorbed attention, while 
 Emma hung on every word, as if this story, from the lips 
 of him whom she secretly idolized and believed capable 
 of accomplishing almost anything in the power of man, 
 was an account of her own brother's redemption from 
 death. 
 
 " I will show you," continued Prescott ; and approaching 
 the invalid, who now moved restlessly as if about to awake, 
 he placed his hand under the quilt, and stroked his feet as 
 he had described, at the same time producing the humming 
 sound with his lips. 
 
 The effect was remarkable. The boy almost instantly 
 settled his heated cheek in the pillow, and commenced 
 breathing deeply. As Prescott continued his labors he 
 breathed more and more easily, and his cheek settled still 
 deeper into the pillow, until with a sigh he went off into a 
 slumber so gentle, and yet so profound, that the mother, 
 reading the prophecy of life, took Prescott's disengaged 
 hand between her own, and said,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 143 
 
 " It seems to me as if you had been sent to us by Heav- 
 en ! Your friendship and presence ever seem to me a 
 blessing ! " 
 
 Emma cast upon Prescott a look of inexpressible hap- 
 piness. 
 
 He remained through the evening, and when he left, the 
 boy was still sleeping. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 AT the time the incidents narrated in our story oc- 
 curred, the New York Surrogate's office was situated 
 on Park Row, up one flight of stairs. It was a long room, 
 by no means diminutive in size ; but its capacity was far 
 
 from commensurate with the immense amount of busi- 
 
 
 
 ness there transacted. The accumulating posthumous docu- 
 ments of generations, that had come and gone in this great 
 city whose numbers had rolled up like some vast invading 
 army, were overflowing all available space, and demanded 
 more ample accommodation. Since the date of these inci- 
 dents, therefore, the office has been transferred to its pres- 
 ent commodious quarters ; and we learn with satisfaction 
 that the newly elected Surrogate is eminently qualified for 
 the arduous and increasing responsibilities devolving upon 
 this office, which requires in such a marked degree that 
 judgment should be tempered by courtesy and consider- 
 ation.* 
 
 * This seems to the atithors a fitting opportunity of expressing their 
 obligations to the Hon. Amos G. Hull, who, through his legal ability, 
 courtesy, and honor, rendered them important favors during an experience 
 which has afforded groundwork for a considerable portion of this narra- 
 tive.
 
 144 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 On the third day following the events recorded in the 
 preceding pages, Mr. , Surrogate's clerk, was, as usual, 
 "buried in the midst of wills, inventories, and clouds of 
 other papers, which only a clerk of the Surrogate's office, 
 or Probate Court, can really appreciate. 
 
 Men and women nre seated or standing, awaiting their 
 turn to be heard. They are mostly persons who, as execu- 
 tors or administrators, or recipients of some deceased 
 friend's bounty, or, perchance, simply the objects of his 
 remembrance, have come here to subject this clerk, with 
 others, to an endless series of questioning and cross-ques- 
 tioning, most of them without counsel, and therefore the 
 more dogmatic and troublesome. 
 
 " I 've been left out of my sister's will ! " says a sharp- 
 faced, vinegary looking woman, evidently unmarried, as she 
 hastens to take her turn, " and I 'd like to know whether 
 I Ve got the law on my side or not ! " 
 
 " That 's for your counsel to answer, madam," courteously 
 replies the clerk, turning to the next applicant. 
 
 " But don't you give full information here, all about 
 wills, and who 's got their rights, and who has n't ? " per- 
 sists the incorrigible applicant. 
 
 " Let me advise you, madam," says the clerk somewhat 
 testily, "if you have been left out of a will where you 
 ought to have been in it, to apply at once to counsel. We 
 can do nothing for you here." 
 
 The questioner stares at the speaker a moment, who pre- 
 pares to listen to the next in turn, and seeing persistence 
 is no longer of avail, she retires mumbling. 
 
 The next applicant, behind whom the clerk observed 
 a man of remarkable height, with a deep scar on his 
 
 cheek, was evidently a young man with whom Mr. 
 
 was acquainted.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 145 
 
 The reader is also acquainted with him, somewhat, for it 
 is Billings, formerly Cringar's dry goods clerk, now his 
 book-keeper. 
 
 " How are you, Billings ? " said the clerk " Any hitch 
 in your business ? " 
 
 " I don't call it a hitch exactly, but I 'm bothered by 
 Tom Greeder, who says he '11 come down on me if I don't 
 pay him his part of my brother's legacy at once. It 's only 
 a hundred dollars, anyway." 
 
 " What did you tell him ? " 
 
 " I told him I must have a chance, as executor, to turn, and 
 I should n't pay a cent till I had, if I knew what was law." 
 
 " Eight ! The law 's on your side. Anything else ? " 
 
 " I should like to look a moment at the records of the 
 Paige estate." 
 
 " Allen Paige ?" 
 
 " Yes. Cringar, you know, is one of the executors." 
 
 " Yes," responded the clerk, as he turned for the records 
 with a grimace. " Do you know much about this affair ? " 
 he said in a low voice as he handed them to Billings, at 
 the same time casting a cautious glance around, as if this 
 were an unusual style of questioning for him to indulge in. 
 
 The tall stranger heard this question, and slightly inclined 
 his head. 
 
 " I know a little about it," answered Billings. " Why, 
 do you know anything ? " 
 
 The stranger listened attentively. 
 
 The Surrogate's clerk cast a quick glance at this man. 
 
 " I 'm in no hurry," uttered the object of his scrutiny. 
 
 Though the book-keeper knew this voice very well, he 
 did not turn. 
 
 " If I did, it would n't do for me to say so," replied Mr. 
 
 , with a half-laugh. 
 
 7 j
 
 146 THE VETEIIAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Do you believe it is all right ? " said Billings, in an 
 abrupt, cross-questioning tone, loud enough for the stranger 
 to hear. 
 
 The clerk did not answer this question, but the pene- 
 trating gray eyes of him who was watching read his 
 mind. 
 
 Handing the papers to Billings, Mr. said, in a 
 
 manner that indicated a consciousness of having slightly 
 infringed on the proprieties of his office, " They are open 
 to your inspection," and then turned his attention to the 
 applicant who had been so attentively watching him. 
 
 The stranger stepped aside. 
 
 " I will give way to my neighbor," he said. " In the 
 mean time, if you and this young gentleman will permit 
 me, I should be pleased to glance at these papers, which, if 
 my ears caught the name aright, concern the estate of 
 Allen Paige, who happened to have been a warm friend 
 of an acquaintance of mine." 
 
 " I have no objections to your looking them over whatev- 
 er," said Billings. " I also have an acquaintance to whom 
 Mr. Paige was a dear friend, and therefore we are well 
 met." 
 
 The book-keeper and the stranger, whom the reader has 
 readily recognized, now proceeded to examine the papers 
 put in by Cringar and Garvin as executors of Allen Paige's 
 estate. It is needless to say that they had understood 
 each other from the first. 
 
 We will see how this came about. 
 
 On the night succeeding his interview with Prescott 
 Marland, the Veteran lay awake, revolving in his mind the 
 whole business to which he had resolved to devote him- 
 self, for the sake of the family of a fallen comrade. As 
 we have formerly stated, his mind was of a high strategic
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 147 
 
 order. He could do nothing without taking a survey of 
 all the bearings of the work in hand. 
 
 The following morning he waited on Prescott. 
 
 " I need a point to start with," he said, after he had ob- 
 tained all the particulars Prescott could give. " Perhaps 
 you can help me to it." 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " Communication with some one who is able to open 
 Cringar more or less to me." 
 
 Prescott thought. 
 
 The Veteran continued : 
 
 " Cringar is undoubtedly a tool, as you have before said. 
 Garvin is the scoundrel at heart, and the leader in this 
 business. But it is evident that Garvin works much 
 through Cringar. I would work through Cringar also, 
 flank the one through the other. If I can confound the 
 merchant, I have the broker in my grasp. If I may judge 
 from what little I have seen and heard, Garvin is a man 
 remarkably astute and wary, and he would have those 
 about him that could not be readily used by others. I there- 
 fore must have some one, if possible, who is constantly 
 about Cringar." 
 
 " The very man ! " exclaimed Prescott. 
 
 "Who?" 
 I " Billings." 
 
 " Billings ? " 
 
 " The clerk who throttled that fellow the night we met 
 Emma Paige." 
 
 "Ah, yes. And a young man of much acuteness, I 
 judge." 
 
 " You 're right there. The very man ! the very man ! 
 He 's been a clerk in Cringar's store, and is now one of the 
 book-keepers. Only three days ago he told me it was no-
 
 148 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 torious in the whole store, that Cringar was troubled with 
 a bad conscience. He pronounces him the most miserable 
 and God-forsaken looking man he has ever laid his eyes 
 on. The very ghost of a man, he calls him, and an un- 
 shrived one at that." 
 
 " I am well pleased. Between this book-keeper, hard 
 work, and Cringar's conscience, I have hopes of accom- 
 plishing something." 
 
 " Do you think you can fix them ? " cried Prescott in 
 excitement, as the picture of the family, suffering from 
 sickness and privation, which he visited the day before, 
 came to his mind. 
 
 ".Be calm," said the Veteran, kindly. "I can promise 
 nothing more than work. The situation in which we now 
 find things has been legally as well as publicly indorsed, 
 and while I promise you that, if nothing unforeseen pre- 
 vents, I will not cease working till I get to the bottom of 
 the whole business, yet in what state I shall find that busi- 
 ness remains to be seen." 
 
 " You are right," returned Prescott in a subdued voice, 
 " perfectly right." 
 
 " So let us to the work I would see this young book- 
 keeper at once." 
 
 " You say you do not wish to touch Daniel Garvin at 
 present ? " 
 
 " Not directly. Why ? " 
 
 " Because if you did, I think I know of one who would 
 assist you." 
 "Who?" 
 
 " His son, William, whom we met with his cousin Emma 
 that night." 
 
 " Why do you think so ? " 
 
 " Because he thinks everything of the family, especially 
 of Emma."
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 149 
 
 The Veteran cast a penetrating glance into the counte- 
 nance of the young lieutenant, but he observed no jeal- 
 ousy there. 
 
 " That may be, Prescott," he said ; " but he appeared to 
 me to be a young man who would not readily act against 
 his own father. While it is evident that his attachments 
 are strong, it is also evident that his conscience is equally 
 tender." 
 
 "You may be correct. But still, General, I 'm confident 
 that you already hold a strong influence over his mind." 
 
 " Ah ; and how do you know this ? " 
 
 " From his own talk. He 's just the person, General, for 
 you to hold with magnetic power. He 's an artist, with 
 a woman's organization, and a fanciful imagination that 
 seems to me decidedly morbid. He says that picture of 
 your appearance in the street, when Emma's shrieks awoke 
 him from unconsciousness, and he beheld her in the arms 
 of the abducting scoundrel, is before his eyes continually, 
 by day and by night. If he sits down to think, it 's there. 
 If he sleeps, it 's there. If he reads, or listens to sermon or 
 lecture, it 's there, always right before him. He affirms 
 it 's a vision that conveys to his mind a realization of Ho- 
 mer's description of Jove in the midst of war. And by 
 this very Jove ! I verily believe he looks on you as a sort 
 of god incarnate ! I told him how you got your sobriquet 
 of Thorbolt, and you would have laughed to see how so- 
 berly he took it. He looked as if, to his mind, you ought 
 to have been christened with it." 
 
 "Pshaw! Lieutenant!" uttered the Veteran, not over- 
 displeased by this flattering account of a young artist's 
 infatuation. Up to your old camp tricks, I see." 
 
 " Not a bit of it, General. That 's the way this young 
 cousin talks. And between that and his infatuation for 
 Emma "
 
 150 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The Veteran smiled. 
 
 "You think I ought to be jealous, I suppose," uttered the 
 Lieutenant, interrupting himself, and speaking with a free- 
 dom to the Veteran in which he would have indulged 
 before no other person ; " but it does n't take that course. 
 On the contrary, it delights me to see it. You know 
 what I would n't say to any one else but you, that I think 
 her an angel, and I want everybody else to think so. 
 Now that her young cousin's whole soul is absorbed in her, 
 and he looks upon her as a very goddess " 
 
 " In that case (begging Mrs. Hammond's pardon) I ought 
 to be the one to marry her it seems to me," interrupted the 
 Veteran, who could be facetious at times. 
 
 " O, because he makes you a god, eh ! " rejoined Pres- 
 cott, relishing Thorbolt's good-natured sally. " Well, what 
 I was going to say is this, that putting his infatuation for 
 you and his infatuation for his cousin together, and know- 
 ing as he must somewhat, at least, of his father's charac- 
 ter, I have no doubt that he would yield to your influence, 
 if it directed him in work that should be of aid to one I 
 know he idolizes." 
 
 Ah ! the difference between strength and weakness ! 
 Prescott is strong, William is weak. The one takes 
 pride in the other's love, as flattering evidence of the esti- 
 mation in which the object of his own love is held. The 
 other looks upon his rival's love as the iconoclast that shat- 
 ters the divine image of his own fond dreams. 
 
 " I trust," said the Veteran, " that I shall never find it 
 necessary to set him at work against his own father ; though 
 Heaven only knows, in such an affair as this, what instru- 
 mentalities will have to be used before we get through 
 with it"
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 151 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 THE result of the interview between General Hammond 
 and Prescott Marland was the immediate introduc- 
 tion of the former to the book-keeper. Billings. 
 
 They found in this young man a ready and willing as- 
 sistant. He had by no means been unobservant of all the 
 external indications of remorse on the part of his employ- 
 er, Jonas Cringar, and of the satanic influence of this 
 wretched man's destroyer, Daniel Garvin. The broker 
 came often into the store, and the merchant made him an 
 occasional messenger to Garvin's office, so that his opportu- 
 nities for observation were good ; but he had detected 
 nothing beyond what was revealed by the general actions 
 of the two men. When, however, the Veteran cautiously 
 opened his business to him he at once entered into the 
 spirit of the work ; for he was convinced of the existence 
 of an unprincipled plot, and his nature, besides leading 
 him into sympathy with the wronged, was calculated to 
 enjoy the labor of ferreting out this evidently dark and 
 wicked scheme. 
 
 The first documents the Veteran desired to examine were 
 the records at the Surrogate's office. But it was necessary 
 for him to so accomplish this that wind of his errand 
 should not get to the ears of Daniel Garvin. What rela- 
 tions existed between this deep schemer and the Surrogate's 
 office he had no means of knowing. That a direct visit 
 from a man of his appearance for the purpose of examin- 
 ing the records would excite attention, his past experience 
 had warned him would be inevitable ; and yet these records
 
 152 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 he must see himself, preparatory to the work he had un- 
 dertaken. 
 
 His astute mind had been perplexed by this part of the 
 business, and up to the time of his introduction to the 
 book-keeper he had not been able to see his way clear. He 
 was still turning and revolving it in his mind. 
 
 As soon as he was convinced that Billings was enlisted 
 heart and soul in the undertaking, and could be implicitly 
 trusted, he made known his perplexity regarding the 
 records. 
 
 " Good ! " cried the book-keeper. " I can help you out 
 of that difficulty at once ! " 
 
 The Veteran bent on him a look of surprised inquiry. 
 
 " I 'm acquainted with Mr. , recording clerk," said 
 
 Billings in answer to this look. 
 
 " Then we can work it ! " exclaimed the Veteran with 
 an air of relief and satisfaction. 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 " This is excellent ! We will proceed at once to business." 
 
 " I will obtain the items for you, myself, General." 
 
 " I thank you, but I prefer to see the records in person." 
 
 " Then depend on my hearty assistance here, and any- 
 where else, where I can be of service." 
 
 " Thanks." 
 
 The reader has already witnessed the manner in which 
 the book-keeper kept his word, up to the point where we 
 left him with the Veteran at the Surrogate's office, examin- 
 ing the records. 
 
 The Veteran was for a moment staggered. There was a 
 boldness and openness in the statements of the inventories 
 that he was hardly prepared for. He could detect no ap- 
 pearance of a trumped-up job. Names, dates, everything
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 153 
 
 necessary for a clear, unequivocal return by the executors 
 of the estate, were here in black and white. 
 
 The book-keeper, who understood something of these 
 things, cast a blank look at his staggered companion. 
 
 " It 's a hard show," he said. 
 
 The Veteran did not answer, but studiously examined 
 the statements. 
 
 At length the expression of his face changed from its 
 surprise to a look of deep determination, and he said, 
 
 " This Garvin is either not the rogue we have taken 
 him to be, or he is a marvellous expert in villany. Which 
 horn of the dilemma do you choose ? " 
 
 The book-keeper thought a moment over this somewhat 
 unexpected question, and then answered, 
 
 " The latter." 
 
 " That he is a marvellous villain ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I think your choice a good one." 
 
 " It is yours ? " 
 
 " It is. This man is an able tactician. He would have 
 made his mark in the Eebel army." 
 
 " But not in ours ? " 
 
 " No. His mark must be an infamous one." 
 
 " What, General ! do you think all in the Eebel army 
 who made a mark made an infamous one ? " 
 
 " 2STo ; but it was a place for infamous work" 
 
 " I do not understand the connection." 
 
 " Good men may be led into infamous business," returned 
 the Veteran, with his grave smile. 
 
 " Ah yes," ejaculated Billings, depressing his brows in 
 thought. 
 
 " While very good men were engaged in the Rebellion, 
 very bad men imparted to it its ruling spirit." 
 7*
 
 154 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Like this Garvin," responded the book-keeper, the de- 
 pression of his brows gathering into a scowl. 
 
 " Yes. And here is where the absurdity of those men 
 appears, who, because there were some men in the Bebel- 
 lion that were misled, therefore they are to be placed on 
 an equality, in history, with the vast army of patriots 
 who brought them to their senses. What should we think 
 of a youth, who, having heretofore enjoyed a good charac- 
 ter, is enticed into a criminal transaction ; and being par- 
 doned, he claims as much credit for his earnest labors in 
 behalf of crime as can he whose loyal efforts defeated both 
 him and his accomplices ? " 
 
 " Or as though we should succeed in knocking this array 
 of figures, presented by Cringar and Garvin, into a thou- 
 sand atoms, and put the rascals in jail, and then, forsooth, 
 they cry from their bars, ' We did nobly ! Write us down 
 as criminals devoted to our cause, and therefore entitled to 
 glory ! ' It seems to me, now that I think of it, quite as 
 bad as that." 
 
 " In many cases it certainly does," returned the Veteran. 
 "But let us come back to Garvin in earnest. As I re- 
 marked, this man is an able tactician, and with the p'osition 
 he now holds in this affair, I am willing to acknowledge 
 that it seems a desperate undertaking to attempt to drive 
 him from his works." 
 
 " For my part, General, I confess I should never dare 
 undertake it." 
 
 " That would depend, I think," answered the Veteran, 
 closely studying the physiognomy of the book-keeper. 
 Then turning his attention to the records, he requested his 
 companion to cautiously write down such items as he 
 should read off. 
 
 Billings took out his memorandum-book, and holding it
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 155 
 
 so that no one behind could see his movements, pro- 
 ceeded to do so. 
 
 In a long list of items, prepared with that sagacity on 
 which the unprincipled learn so much to depend, there 
 were entered one or two statements, which, from their im- 
 portant relation to the development of this story, we will 
 here record for the benefit of the reader. 
 
 The first of these was an account of indebtedness to 
 Jonas Cringar for settlement of note for $ 50,000, given by 
 Allen Paige to one Eichard Slaycut, in payment for 25,000 
 shares of stock in the Long Eidge Silver and Copper Mining 
 Company of Montana, at $ 2 per share, said note bearing- 
 date October 2, 1864, to run six months, and indorsed by 
 said Jonas Cringar. The second was also indebtedness to 
 Jonas Cringar, for settlement of note for $ 12,000 to Slaycut 
 & Drorblude, in payment for 8,000 shares of stock in 
 the Pulverizing Gold Mining Company of Colorado, at 
 $ 1.50 per share, bearing date October 4, 1864, to run four 
 months, indorsed by said Jonas Cringar. The third 
 was an account of indebtedness to one Timothy Augoring, 
 by privately protested note for one fifth interest in the 
 Pioneer Oil Well, $ 15,000, said note bearing date October 
 9, 1864. 
 
 Besides these bold and startling statements, there were 
 accounts of indebtedness to the concern of Paige & Grin- 
 gar, amounting to nearly $ 45,000. 
 
 At length the Veteran stopped dictating to the book- 
 keeper, and silently ran his eye up and down the formida- 
 ble columns. 
 
 " Have you done," asked Billings. 
 
 " Yes. We have, I think, all I require. I have seen to 
 my satisfaction how the enemy marshals his forces." 
 
 " General," said the book-keeper, " I don't pretend to
 
 156 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 know much about law ; but I '11 tell you how this appears 
 to me." 
 
 "Well" 
 
 " It appears like a pretty thoroughly locked up safe." 
 
 " Very true," responded the Veteran with an air of con- 
 cern. "But," he continued, while his features assumed 
 that stern aspect on which we have before had reason to 
 remark, " have you known of a safe that has defied the 
 continued efforts of determined men ? " 
 
 " I must acknowledge I have not, though I am somewhat 
 interested, just now, in a new burglar-proof lock myself. 
 To tell you the truth, I Ve come to the conclusion that 
 iron and steel are no proof against brains." 
 
 "It is so. Neither is the sagacity of a rascal proof 
 against the determination of circumspect honesty." 
 
 " That is true also." 
 
 All this time the Veteran had been busy studying the 
 records before him. 
 
 " This is a formidable array," he said, in continuance of 
 their conversation, " and I can detect no flaw in it. It is 
 consistent with itself in every part. The flanks are well 
 guarded. The position seems impregnable, the forces in- 
 vincible ; but only by battle can the reality be revealed. 
 
 The book-keeper, who had seen much of men in his as yet 
 brief life, contemplated his companion with sentiments of the 
 profoundest admiration. Though he may not have known 
 so much as many others about law, he knew enough to 
 realize that the array of statements and figures put in by 
 the executors of Allen Paige's estate, and there displayed 
 in those records, with such a man as Daniel Garvin behind 
 them, was of so formidable a character that probably no 
 lawyer could be found to attack them, at any price, if he 
 valued a special reputation for success. And yet here stood
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 157 
 
 a man, whose education had been almost entirely in the 
 field, who contemplated the impending battle with this 
 powerful broker, intrenched as he was behind legal works 
 that would seem to defy the power of men to storm, with 
 a calmness of determination such as would characterize but 
 few, even with a fair and easy contest before them. 
 
 Finally the Veteran gave the records a slight push 
 toward the book-keeper, and then with the off-hand re- 
 mark, " A sad piece of work, but very thoroughly done," 
 which he uttered aloud, he turned away, informing the 
 Surrogate's clerk who was busy with an old German 
 that had come all the way from Chicago to inquire about 
 a will his son Hans had left in New York for him when 
 he died that he would have to call at a future time. 
 
 Billings returned the records to the clerk, and said in a 
 low voice, 
 
 " Mr. , for very important reasons, which I will 
 
 make known to you at another time, will you be so good 
 as to mention this visit of mine, and this gentleman's, 
 also, to no one ? " 
 
 " By no means, if you so desire. But that is a man I 
 should like to be introduced to, Billings." 
 
 " At another time, if you will be so gracious as to wait." 
 
 " Certainly," replied the clerk with a slight laugh ; and 
 then he turned his attention again to the poor old German, 
 with whose case he really sympathized, while the book- 
 keeper accompanied the Veteran from the office. 
 
 As they descended the stairs, the latter said, 
 
 " Billings, there is one piece of business, whereby Mr. 
 Paige is asserted to have lost a great deal of money, which 
 it seems does not enter into the settlement of the estate." 
 
 " What is that \ " 
 
 " His cotton speculatioa I understand that that was
 
 158 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 given Mrs. Paige as one of the losses which reduced the 
 estate." 
 
 " You understood aright. I overheard Cringar and Gar- 
 vin talking about that myself, not long ago. It seemed to 
 me as though they intended some one to hear, as a blind." 
 
 " They have treated it rather as an open matter then ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The Veteran with a sudden movement placed his hand 
 on the book-keeper's arm. 
 
 " Was the cotton bought in New York ? " 
 
 " I am quite certain it was." 
 
 " Is it possible for you to obtain the name of the house 
 he bought it of." 
 
 " I will try and make it possible." 
 
 " Thank you. You speak like a man of success." 
 
 " You think of making an attack there ? " 
 
 ^1 wall skirmish a little. Their fortress, which seems 
 so impregnable under their masterly engineering, may yet 
 have its weak point." 
 
 They now parted at one of the entrances of City Hall 
 Park 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DANIEL GARVIN'S office was, three years ago, in 
 the basement of a building, on the left side of Wall 
 Street, about midway between William and Pearl Streets. 
 At the left, as one entered the door, was a counter with a 
 desk upon it for the transaction of general business. In 
 the rear was a small room, partitioned off, in which was 
 transacted business of a more confidential nature ; and the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 159 
 
 reader will readily surmise that -with Daniel Garvin such a 
 room would find considerable use. 
 
 It is evening. Garvin has done a hard day's work, and 
 made money. He has given " points " to men who called 
 him a. friend, and thereby put them on the wrong scent, 
 and then taken them in, points and all, through a third 
 party. The victims think he is a fellow- victim ; but now, 
 as he is left alone, he sits by the gas-light and reckons up 
 his plunder. 
 
 That conscience yet deals with him, in its own way, is 
 made evident by the manner in which he starts and glances 
 at the street door, which is locked, as a sudden and unex- 
 pected click of the large latch strikes his ear. He looks 
 through the partition window with a restless scowl, but re- 
 ceding steps indicate that the threatened intruder simply 
 raised the latch to look in as he passed by, or ask direction 
 to some place or person he was seeking. 
 
 The broker went on counting up his booty, every now 
 and then casting a look of impatience toward the street. 
 
 At length footsteps, slow and shambling, were heard 
 descending from the sidewalk, and then three raps, par- 
 taking of the nature of these shambling steps, sounded on 
 the door. 
 
 The broker instantly gathered his papers into a drawer, 
 and then advancing to the door with his grinding tread, he 
 turned the key with a quick, abrupt movement, and ad- 
 mitted the visitor. 
 
 " Cringar ! " he said imperiously, " I have been waiting 
 for you ! " 
 
 " I am sorry," answered the merchant, meekly ; " but I 
 have come as promptly as I could." 
 
 Garvin uttered a " humph ! " and led the way into the 
 back room.
 
 160 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The strong picture which Prescott Marland had drawn 
 of Jonas Cringar, in his interview with the Veteran the 
 day the latter arrived in New York from the "West, was 
 not an exaggerated one. As he now follows the broker 
 into the lighted apartment he presents an object of un- 
 utterable misery. His shoulders, which in the opening 
 chapter of this tale we described as somewhat stooping, 
 now round over upon his chest, as if the weight and cares 
 of troublesome years had borne them down. His step is 
 feeble, uncertain, and shuffling. 
 
 As he seats himself his countenance comes into full 
 view. It is a pitiable countenance, haggard, worn, and 
 weary. It looks as if all spirit were gone; as though 
 death were prevented from claiming its own only by the 
 infusion of a will outside this miserable man, the will 
 of his master, Daniel Garvin, who appears to hold his 
 shattered mind and body together by a species of mental 
 galvanism. 
 
 That habit of painfully elongating his facial muscles 
 seems, under the incessant action of remorse, to have set- 
 tled into absolute fixedness, imparting an impression of 
 terrible internal suffering. 
 
 The broker sat for a moment in silence, contemplating 
 with a secret emotion of diabolical triumph this ghastly 
 work of his hands. 
 
 Cringar, on his part, once ventured to raise his down- 
 cast eyes to his destroyer's, in which the rings began now 
 to display themselves with deadly distinctness ; but he 
 could endure this no longer than a passing moment. With 
 a perceptible shudder his gaze again fell to the floor, and 
 he sat like some statue of despair. 
 
 Garvin suddenly broke the silence. 
 
 "Cringar!" he exclaimed with his penetrating voice, 
 " are you playing me false again ? "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 161 
 
 " Playing you false ! " uttered this broken victim, raising 
 his eyes this time with a look of terror, " playing you false ! 
 Before God " 
 
 " What have you to do with God now ? You had bet- 
 ter take your oath on the Devil ! " was the broker's blas- 
 phemous interruption. 
 
 Garvin was an atheist. 
 
 Cringar, who was naturally possessed of strong religious 
 feelings, experienced an emotion of horror at this remark ; 
 and for an instant he was impressed with a feeling, as if 
 the being before him was himself the Fiend Incarnate. 
 His eyes, in place of falling as on the former occasion, 
 became riveted to the demoniacal orbs before him. by a 
 terrible fascination. 
 
 The broker burst into a loud, contemptuous laugh. 
 
 " You are losing your senses, man ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " I think I am," returned the merchant, whose eyes had 
 been released by this laugh, and now fell again to the floor, 
 while a tremor went through his shattered frame. 
 
 The -broker's laugh continued for a single moment, and 
 then it closed as abruptly as it had opened ; and bending 
 his annihilating eye on his victim, his face darkened, and 
 his brows met. 
 
 " Cringar," he said, " some one is playing me false ! Have 
 you seen Baling lately ? " 
 
 As he put this question he bent a scrutinizing gaze on 
 the merchant. 
 
 " I Ve not seen him for two weeks." 
 
 " His books have been examined." 
 
 The merchant started in affright. 
 
 " His books examined ! " he cried hoarsely. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " By whom ? "
 
 162 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " An enemy." 
 
 " An enemy ? " 
 
 " An enemy." 
 
 " Impossible ! " 
 
 " I lie then ? " 
 
 " You lie ? I protest " 
 
 " Bah ! I tell you that an enemy has been through 
 Baling's accounts." 
 
 " And and discovered all ! " 
 
 " Fool ! " 
 
 "Your pardon!" ejaculated the miserable merchant, 
 shrinking back. 
 
 " Do you think I leave business open in th'at way ? " 
 
 " My head is not strong, I did not think." 
 
 The broker contemplated the miserable object of his 
 mental by-play with scornful pity. 
 
 " Is nothing discovered, then ? " at length asked Cringar, 
 tremblingly. 
 
 " Nothing, sir. I do not leave my tracks to be followed 
 up by every spy that happens behind me." 
 
 " I am aware of it, Mr. Garvin," returned Cringar, reviv- 
 ing a little under a change in Garvin's voice. 
 
 The broker grimly smiled. 
 
 " I will tell you, sir, and then you can judge," said this 
 scheming egotist, at the same time throwing himself back 
 in his chair, and thrusting the thumb of his left hand into 
 the armhole of his vest. "You have not forgotten, sir, 
 that Mr. Baling, being my very particular friend, changed 
 the date of Mr. Allen Paige's purchase to meet the facts in 
 the case." 
 
 " That is, he found a mistake in his entry and rectified 
 it," joined in Jonas Cringar with a sickly smile, his anxiety 
 to hold the good-will of his master, who he perceived had
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 103 
 
 some reason to suspect him of treachery, now beginning to 
 unloosen his tongue. 
 
 " You have it. You now talk like a man of sense," re- 
 sponded the broker. " In the meanwhile let me go over 
 this business a little, for circumstances may occur that will 
 require your memory to be clear." 
 
 The merchant, encouraged, straightened a little, and pre- 
 pared respectfully to listen. 
 
 The broker, on his part, thrust his thumb still deeper 
 into the armhole of his vest, and expanding his chest by a 
 slow inspiration, prepared with the egotism of plotting vil- 
 lany to rehearse his sagacious performances. 
 
 " As you probably recollect, the original entry was dated 
 August 3d. When I called to see him, last November, he 
 acknowledged the error on its being pointed out to him by 
 so particular and trustworthy a friend as myself, and imme- 
 diately set it right by a proper attendance to the day-book. 
 And by two simple touches the ledger was made properly 
 to accord with it." 
 
 "By inserting the figure 2," again uttered the abject 
 merchant, " and changing 8 into 9. It was a very sagacious 
 bit of business." 
 
 " A just correction, you mean, Mr. Cringar." 
 
 " A just correction, I should have said." 
 
 "And thus August 3d was properly transformed into 
 August 23d, and $ 87,315, amount, into $ 97,315, with the 
 more marked success, inasmuch as there happened to be 
 ample space left between the t of August and the figure 3 ; 
 and the 8 was more like a 9 than an 8 at the start. All 
 this you have not forgotten." 
 
 " By no means, sir. It is a monument of your r 
 justice." 
 
 " Of Mr. Baling's justice, you probably intended to say."
 
 164 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " I should have said, of Mr. Baling's justice." 
 
 " Thus, as you perceive, making an important difference 
 between buying cotton on the 3d of August, at a dollar 
 sixty-eight cents, to be sold on the 24th, at an advance of 
 twenty cents to the pound, and buying it on the 23d of 
 August, at a dollar eighty-seven cents, to be held and put 
 on a sinking market, September 24th, at a loss of forty- 
 eight cents to the pound." 
 
 " A very important difference." 
 
 " A difference so important, that instead of ten thousand 
 dollars' profit appearing in favor of my deceased brother's 
 estate, a loss of over twenty thousand is the just entry." 
 
 " It is quite true." 
 
 "A transaction, so consistent with the excitement of 
 those days, is doubted by no one, who recollects the great 
 whirl that caught up the brains of deeper men than Mr. 
 Paige." 
 
 " No one can doubt it." 
 
 " They remember that cotton started in June from about 
 a dollar, and went up like a pyrotechnic serpent, every 
 now and then taking a downward twist, to mount upwards 
 with a still fiercer rush, and dazzling the eyes of all be- 
 holders." 
 
 " Yes, all were dazzled. And when Allen went in at 
 one sixty-eight, I feared " 
 
 " At one eighty-seven, sir ! " thundered the broker. 
 
 " Pardon my treacherous memory ! " uttered the mer- 
 chant, sinking back in a sort of cowering stupefaction. 
 
 " See to it that your treacherous memory does n't play 
 its treachery with me elsewhere, sir ! " returned the broker, 
 at the same time slowly rubbing the outside of his breast- 
 pocket, as if by an unconscious movement. 
 
 The merchant blanched.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 165 
 
 " Yes, sir. You will recollect the excitement with which 
 your partner hurried to Baling & Co., and bought one hun- 
 dred and eleven bales of middling, at one dollar and eighty- 
 seven cents, amid the hot predictions that the market 
 wouldn't stop till cotton soared the Heavens, toward 
 which it was going, only knew where." 
 
 " I recollect it perfectly well," responded Cringar, reviv- 
 ing a little. " The Eed Eiver expedition started it up, 
 the fall of Atlanta sent it back. My partner was so un- 
 fortunate as to take it on the turn." 
 
 " Very true. I am glad to perceive your memory improv- 
 ing. Your partner my lamented brother " (the merchant 
 sickened at this heartless attempt at humor) "was so 
 unfortunate as to fall into the snare set by those predic- 
 tions, and put in his money, and held on to his cotton 
 when the market began to fall, convinced it was one of 
 those twisting descents, preparatory to another grand up- 
 ward flight ; and down he went with it, scarcely giving him 
 time to think, till, as he passed one forty, he threw the 
 whole lot over to save himself ; and not a day too soon, for 
 you undoubtedly recollect that a blank appears in the 
 quotations after this, till four days later it lights on one 
 twenty to one twenty-five. There was wailing and gnash- 
 ing of teeth in those days, was there not, sir ? " asked the 
 broker with a sardonic grin. 
 
 " A lamentable amount of it," responded the merchant. 
 
 " Your memory is now clear on all these points, and be- 
 yond the chance of slipping or treachery ? " continued 
 Garvin, with a significant emphasis on the last wprd. 
 
 "Beyond all doubt, sir, beyond all doubt, I assure 
 you."
 
 166 THE VETEBAN OF THE GKAND ABMY. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 THE broker now contemplated Cringar for a while in 
 silence. He moved a little, that his own eyes might 
 be relieved from the direct glare of the gas, as he threw 
 into them all his reserved power of penetration, while he 
 brought them to bear on the very soul of his victim. In- 
 stantly he made this change his pupils expanded with mar- 
 vellous rapidity, and the rings increased with the intensity 
 of their lurid light in proportion as this action of the pu- 
 pils diminished their width. At the same time the upper 
 lip drew slowly back, more slowly than we have yet seen 
 it, and in a manner that gave to his glistening fangs their 
 deadliest aspect. 
 
 Cringar, though he did not venture to look up, having 
 invariably dropped his eyes after each response to the fore- 
 going recapitulation and admonitions of Daniel Garvin, 
 felt this deadly scrutiny of the broker, and trembled. He 
 was not conscious of any overt act of treachery, but he 
 was conscious of a state of rebellion within, which only 
 the terrible power his tormentor held over him prevented 
 from breaking forth with violence. 
 
 The most positively abject, under a crushing power, are 
 those who, possessing a certain kind of strength themselves, 
 have vainly contended against this power, their struggles 
 only serving to exhaust them and leave their contending 
 spirit demoralized and broken ; which now and then, it is 
 true, flashes up under its fearful trial, but in a manner that 
 but too surely indicates its helpless condition. 
 
 Suddenly the broker spoke.
 
 THE VETERAN OP THE GltAXD ARMY. 167 
 
 " Cringar," he said, " if I thought you were so much as 
 turning the little finger of your hand, I would " Here 
 he tapped his breast-pocket with two or three strokes, made 
 with such venomous rapidity that one is instantly reminded 
 of the simile of the lizards, uttered by the excited Mar- 
 land in his interview with the Veteran. 
 
 The merchant, whose spirit, under the reaction of the 
 broker's sustained, imperious, and penetrating gaze, was 
 preparing to make one of those rebellious, nickering efforts 
 to which we have alluded, threw up his head with a fright- 
 ened stare ; and in a tremulous voice he ejaculated, 
 
 " Ah, great God ! " Then as Garvin- continued his stu- 
 dious gaze, he uttered in a broken voice, " Mr. Garvin 
 give me a Bible and I will swear ! " 
 
 The broker responded with another mocking laugh. 
 
 " Never mind your calf-bound paper ! " he exclaimed. 
 " I '11 trust my eyes quicker than I will your God-packed 
 oaths. You are innocent. That 's my verdict. Now I '11 
 tell you what has been done." 
 
 As the broker gave vent to this second blasphemous 
 mockery, Jonas Cringar, who had been wrought up to a 
 high pitch of terror by the former's significant, reptile-like 
 action at his breast-pocket, could not withdraw his startled 
 gaze from the blasphemer's face, and for a moment he fan- 
 cied himself in the regions Infernal. 
 
 These fancies were not diminished by the action of the 
 gas-light, which suddenly failed, ere Garvin had finished 
 the last word of his sacrilegious speech, and after seeming 
 for a moment to cling to the burner, went out. 
 
 Garvin uttered a curse, and rising from his chair, groped 
 about the room for a match, which finding, he lit it and 
 looked about him. 
 
 " There 's water in the pipes," he muttered. " It 's
 
 168 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 
 
 played me the same trick before. It 's gone for this night, 
 that 's certain." 
 
 Cringar, who was overcome with dread, now rose. 
 
 " I will come in at another time," he said in a quivering 
 voice. " Don't trouble yourself on my account." 
 
 " Keep your seat, sir ! " commanded the broker in a sharp, 
 snarling voice. " I '11 furnish a light ! " 
 
 Cringar fell back in his chair as though he had been 
 shot. 
 
 The match in Garvin's fingers here burned out. Lighting 
 another he went to an old stand in one corner of the room, 
 and opening the drawer, took out a small piece of candle. 
 He lit this, and then looked about for something that would 
 serve as a candlestick. 
 
 " Ah, I have it ! " he exclaimed ; and he approached an 
 odd-looking parcel, lying on the floor in another corner. 
 " That boy of mine can do some good with his mud, which 
 I think you and I will acknowledge in a moment, Mr. Crin- 
 gar." 
 
 Undoing the thick brown paper, he brought to view a 
 small mess of modelling clay, which William Garvin had 
 left until the next morning. Then he took an empty 
 tin box from the shelf, and filling it with the damp clay, 
 punched a hole with his ugly thumb, and inserting the bit 
 of candle placed it on the table, and rubbed the clay from 
 his hands with an almost comical air of triumph. 
 
 "No need of going home yet, Mr. Cringar," said he, 
 thrusting his thumb into the armhole of his vest again. 
 " Gas companies are not allowed to control Daniel Garvin's 
 business. Now, sir, I '11 proceed to recount to you what 
 has been done." 
 
 " I shall be happy to hear," responded Cringar, resigning 
 himself.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 169 
 
 " No doubt. Well, as I have told you, Baling's books 
 have been examined, and with direct reference to that 
 transaction of my worthy half-brother." 
 
 The merchant again looked frightened. 
 
 " Fear not," said the broker contemptuously ; " but listen. 
 Baling came the other day and informed me that a man 
 had been to his office, while he was out, and under one 
 plausible pretext and another had with great sagacity en- 
 deavored to work on his clerk to let him look at the accounts 
 of sales for 1864. ' But,' says Baling, ' Bob 's got his eye 
 teeth cut, and he would n't give him so much as a squint 
 till he had seen me. So he told the stranger to call again.' 
 In the mean time Baling had come to me to let me know 
 what was up, for his suspicions pointed to this ill-advised 
 purchase of your partner ; which, you will bear in mind, 
 though justly corrected on the books, he would naturally 
 feel sensitive about, inasmuch as he is not often com- 
 mitted to such mistakes, and more especially to blun- 
 ders where ten thousand dollars are made instead of twenty 
 thousand lost. You can understand his feelings, Mr. Grin- 
 gar?" 
 
 "Very well, sir, indeed. I understand them very 
 well" 
 
 " Now, sir, what do you suppose I said to him ? " 
 
 "To Mr. Baling?" " 
 . " Yes, sir, Mr. Baling." 
 
 " Eeally, sir, you must have told him not to allow it." 
 
 " The books not to be examined you mean ? " 
 
 " Certainly, sir." 
 
 " Then certainly, sir, I have to inform you that I did no 
 such thing." 
 
 " Great Heavens ! you " 
 
 " Told him by all means to open his whole safeful of 
 
 8
 
 170 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 books to the inquisitive gentleman, if lie wanted to look at 
 them." 
 
 The merchant stared at Garvin in dismay. 
 
 The broker gave utterance to a guttural laugh of self- 
 satisfaction, a tone of contempt for the terrified merchant 
 being mingled with it. 
 
 " Well, do you take me for a fool that is not to be pre- 
 pared for this sort of exigency ? Know, sir, that I have 
 made this cotton a bold point. I apprehended that it would 
 be one of the first points attacked, if any one should ever 
 be fool enough to assail us ; and now, sir, let them examine. 
 What do they find ? They find a faultless entry. A day- 
 book out of the reach of microscopes and chemicals. I 
 paid money, sir, to have that daybook put in condition. 
 Daniel Garvin leaves nothing to chance, nothing, sir. 
 The daybook being all right, the ledger was easily adjusted. 
 Now, sir, the more boldly they are pushed under the eyes 
 of curious persons the more thoroughly are these presump- 
 tuous meddlers repulsed, and beaten off from further 
 attempts." 
 
 " I trust this will happen in the present instance." 
 
 " Depend upon it, sir, that such is the case." 
 
 " This man has visited Mr. Baling's office a second 
 time?" 
 
 " He has, and went away with a flea in his ear. Do you 
 not see the great point of this business, sir ? Mr. Paige, 
 who is declared by his admiring friends to have been a man 
 of immaculate integrity and above all lies, is known to 
 have reported that he cleared a large profit on his cotton 
 speculation. The mining and oil-well business they con- 
 fess they never heard him talk about, and perhaps for a 
 very good reason, Mr. Cringar," here the broker indulged 
 in a low ironical fit of laughter, and closed it by repeating,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 171 
 
 "and perhaps for a very good reason, Mr. Cringar." He con- 
 tinued: "Well, sir, these admirable friends become sagacious 
 friends. ( Let us ascertain the name of the firm he bought 
 the cotton of, and judge by the quotations,' they say to 
 themselves. So with profound cunning they find out that 
 he bought of Baling & Co. They go in, ask to see his 
 books with a depth of shrewd simplicity to be admired, 
 and find out for themselves that he bought on a market 
 that must have inevitably let him down. They then find 
 their eyes opened to the revelation, that their much-es- 
 teemed and lamented friend was no exception to the scores 
 of deluded merchants of this inflammable city, who could 
 tell a business lie as easily as they could eat their supper, 
 provided they had the money left to pay for it. They will 
 then give up the scent in disgust. Do you see it, sir ? " 
 
 The merchant did see it, and his soul was seized with 
 renewed pangs of remorse, as Garvin thus pictured the 
 ruined reputation of the partner, whom he had loved, which 
 was but an accompaniment to the ruin of his unfortunate 
 family. These pangs refused him speech. 
 
 The broker divined his thoughts, and his own soul was 
 filled with quivering rage. 
 
 This depraved schemer was not, as we have before inti- 
 mated, free from the secret scourgings of his conscience. 
 Could he have slain this conscience it would long ago have 
 ceased to exist. This being beyond his power, all he could 
 do was to throw about his heart the thick veil of wicked- 
 ness, to make it, if possible, deaf to the voice of the ever- 
 living and faithful monitor. But this veil would occasion- 
 ally be rent ; and then, in addition to the dull sounds that 
 never ceased to be heard, and which placed him before the 
 pure enjoyments of the world somewhat as one racked with 
 inward pain is situated while he endeavors to listen to an
 
 172 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 entertainment, his exposed heart would be penetrated by a 
 voice so quick, so sharp, so terrible, that he would inward- 
 ly tremble with a sort of desperate fury. Atheist that 
 he was, there would in these moments sweep over him the 
 overwhelming truth that there is a God that judgeth in 
 the earth. The realization would be irresistibly forced 
 upon his self-absorbing egotism, that over him was held 
 the all-controlling power of a Supreme Master. 
 
 In the present instance he was subject to one of these 
 secret dramas of the soul. He had, in the self-compla- 
 cency of his criminal triumph, yielded somewhat to im- 
 pulse ; and his vanity, which with such men, in conjunc- 
 tion with their inordinate egotism, partakes of the spirit of 
 monomania, had been allowed to lead in his recital to 
 Jonas Cringar. While thus indulging this vanity, his mind 
 had been more or less preoccupied with his self-exultant 
 utterances, and he had consequently failed to observe those 
 signs of the internal workings of his victim's soul which 
 he usually so well understood. But when he closed his 
 abominable dissertation with the abrupt question, " Do you 
 see it, sir ? " and received only silence in return, he sud- 
 denly bent his piercing gaze on the conscience-smitten 
 merchant. Then it was that the reaction of his own in- 
 dulged weakness, combined with the reaction, also, upon 
 himself of his listener's terrible remorse, caused the veil 
 about his heart to be rent as never before ; and then fol- 
 lowed his furious perturbation. 
 
 Cringar's first intimation of the existence of this rage 
 was the grating sound of Garvin's teeth, as they gnashed 
 together. Thus recalled to his senses he raised his eyes. 
 
 He had seen the broker many times with an aspect that 
 struck him with terror, but never had he appeared to him 
 so horrible as now. His eyes had broken from their in-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 173 
 
 tense gleam into a consuming blaze, which appeared to 
 shoot forth, as it were, from two caverns ; the beetling 
 brows were bent into one continuous black ridge, and the 
 prominent high cheekbones seemed to press outward and 
 upward to oppose themselves to these ridges, while the 
 sockets between them had the appearance of being drawn 
 far back into the head. An unusual darkness seemed to 
 gather on the skin, and the upper lip twitched with a spas- 
 modic action, revealing the grinding teeth in contrast with 
 this darkening flesh, and, to the merchant's agitated mind, 
 in ghastly combination with the cavernous fires above. 
 
 As Jonas Cringar beheld this sombre and terrific visage, 
 a cold sweat burst from the pores of his creeping skin, and 
 for the third time during this interview he felt that horrid 
 shuddering of the soul, which he had so often heard pic- 
 tured as the disembodied spirit's first experience when 
 ushered into the precincts of the damned. 
 
 "Wretch ! " finally exclaimed this wrathful semblance of 
 a madman, " do you sit there leading me on to gabble into 
 your heedless ass's ears, while you are thinking how to 
 betray me ? " 
 
 " Before a just God ! " 
 
 The broker sprang to his feet. 
 
 " Fool ! scoundrel ! idiot ! dare to speak that name here 
 again, and I '11 show you that I am God in this place ! " 
 
 " In God's name, hush ! " cried the merchant, rising also 
 to his feet, while a look of solemn terror took possession of 
 his features ; " hush ! or He will strike you dead ! " 
 
 At this instant a wild peal of laughter rose into the 
 night air, which was immediately followed by a shrill voice, 
 singing with a jumbling accent, . 
 
 " My gentle sirs, be very kind ! 
 Your candle 's out,
 
 174 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 My gentle sirs ! 
 
 You '11 be found out, 
 
 My gentle sirs ! 
 
 But gentle me you cannot find ! " 
 
 As their ears were greeted by this laughter, the broker 
 and merchant both started back, appalled by what seemed 
 so unearthly an interruption. Their distended eyes were 
 simultaneously directed toward the back window whence 
 the laughter came, and there they beheld an impish face, 
 pressed against the pane, while from its mouth issued the 
 gibberish transcribed above. 
 
 The diabolical character of the scene was enhanced to 
 these startled beholders by the candle's verification of the 
 singer's words; for having burned to the bottom of the 
 hole made by Garvin's thumb, it now sent up, preparatory 
 to going slowly out, a ghastly, bluish light, which clung 
 to the sides of the cavity as it ascended, as if the greasy 
 substance of the clay lent itself to the flame. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! " burst from the throat of the broker, as 
 the face swiftly disappeared on the utterance of the last 
 word of the song. " It 's simple Sal, the janitor's daughter ! 
 You look frightened, sir," he said, turning to the trembling 
 merchant, while he closed his jaws and compressed his 
 lips in a powerful effort to control his own agitation. 
 
 The merchant was incapable of speech. The broker's 
 awful blasphemy, the effort of his own solemn adjuration, 
 the laugh, the song, with its idiotic, but to him its deadly 
 prophecy, the dying, ghastly flame of the clay-entombed 
 candle, and the broker's guttural, fear-fraught laugh, which 
 penetrated his ears with an effect scarcely less horrid than 
 the laugh of the idiot, all had left him utterly unstrung 
 and speechless. 
 
 As Garvin was about again to speak, the blue flame ran
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 175 
 
 up the socket of clay, and, hanging for a moment in the 
 air, went out like a vanishing spirit, leaving the room in 
 utter darkness. 
 
 The broker grumbled out a strongly aspirated but sup- 
 pressed curse. 
 
 " Take your hat, Cringar, and come along ! " he grumbled. 
 " No more talk to-night ! " 
 
 Cringar obeyed with alacrity, and hurried from the office 
 as if he sought to escape the awful curse that he felt was 
 now brooding there. 
 
 Garvin scowled in the darkness as he followed him ; 
 and while he locked the door with his right hand, he 
 brandished his left, clenched and unseen by the object of 
 his malignant ire, and with the fourth line of the idiot's 
 impish song still ringing in his ears, he muttered, 
 
 " Craven ! dare to fail me, and Daniel Garvin will teach 
 you whose God can be depended upon ! " . 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 IT is a warm and pleasant day. A train is passing over 
 the track of the New Jersey Central, and* as we shall 
 find in the third car a spirit as bright, as buoyant, and 
 warm as the sunlight, we will enter by touching this talis- 
 man which I hold in my hand, the author's pen. 
 
 It is Prescott Marland of whom we speak He sits by 
 the open window for in New Jersey a warm April day 
 is like a summer's day in a more Northern clime. 
 
 " Ice-cream candy ! " 
 
 Prescott stops the boy who cries this, and takes from his 
 vest-pocket a ten-cent scrip.
 
 176 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The boy hands him a paper of the candy. 
 
 As Prescott receives it he catches sight of a little fellow, 
 who, sitting on the opposite side, has turned and now wist- 
 fully eyes the paper. 
 
 Prescott, on the instant, whipped out another piece of 
 currency,, which proved to "be twenty-five cents, and 
 taking a second parcel from the basket handed it to the 
 longing boy, who blushed, stammered out a " Thank you, 
 sir ! " and then proceeded, without more ado, to tear away 
 the paper and devour its contents. 
 
 As the young vender was preparing to give the fifteen 
 cents change, Prescott asked him if he could afford to eat 
 much of the candy himself. 
 
 "As much as my hide Id be worth, sir ! Dad don't 'low 
 it." 
 
 " Well, then, give me back five cents, and sit down beside 
 me here (the boy was a neat-looking lad) and eat a paper 
 at my expense, if you have time. I want to talk with 
 you." 
 
 The little vender, with the characteristic freedom of a boy 
 of his class, immediately responded to Prescott's invitation. 
 
 The young Lieutenant had seen at a glance that this 
 boy was intelligent ; and if there was anything he relished 
 while travelling, it was to gather information from those 
 sources which are passed unheeded by most travellers. As 
 the lad ate his candy he led him into conversation, and 
 gleaned much knowledge. 
 
 " I make a good deal of money for dad here some days," 
 said the boy in the course of the conversation. " But it 's 
 strange how it works ! Some days everybody likes candy, 
 and then some days they don't. I tell you what it is, I 
 likes them days when the mammas bring in their little 
 youngsters to see New York ; then, whew ! how it goes ! "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 177 
 
 " I* suppose you have your ups and downs in this busi- 
 ness, as they have in all others," rejoined Prescott with a 
 smile. 
 
 " Yes, and no mistake. That 's what Joe Deering said 
 when I took his place." 
 
 " Joe Deering ! " exclaimed Prescott. . ^ 
 
 "Yes, Joe Deering. And a mighty fine chap he was, 
 too. I liked that chum, I did ; and if he should get well, 
 and come back here for this place, I 'd be glad to give it to 
 him." 
 
 " Is his father living ? " inquired the Lieutenant, anx- 
 iously. 
 
 " His father, no ! He was killed at the war ! " 
 
 As the lad gave this answer, a man who sat in the next 
 seat, front, turned his head half round to listen. He was 
 about thirty, and had a look of energy. 
 
 " It is the same," uttered Prescott, in a ruminating voice. 
 
 The boy looked up at his interlocutor with an inquisitive 
 air of surprise. 
 
 " Do you know what regiment his father went out in ? " 
 
 " No, I don't," said the lad, scratching his head ; " but 
 I '11 teU you what I do know, and that is that he was 
 killed under McClellan." 
 
 " It 's the same. Do you know where they live ? " 
 
 " No, I don't. He did live on the Bowery ; but I went 
 up there one time to see him, and they were gone." 
 
 " Yes, the Bowery. That 's where they lived. What do 
 you think has became of them ? " asked Prescott, anx- 
 iously. 
 
 " I can't tell you. Are they acquaintances of yours, sir ? " 
 
 " I have friends, my boy, that knew them," replied Pres- 
 cott, at the same time that his mind flew off to her whom 
 he first met while she was in search of Joseph Deer- 
 8* L
 
 178 THE VETERAN OF THE .GRAND ARMY. 
 
 ing's family. He then thought of her anxiety for this 
 family, who had disappeared from the old house on the 
 Bowery, since he first met her, and for whose welfare she 
 still experienced a deep solicitude. 
 
 The lad observed his emotion, but misunderstood his 
 silence. 
 
 " Excuse me, sir," he said. " I don't want to be asking 
 impudent questions ; that ain't my business." 
 
 Prescott smiled in the midst of his anxiety. 
 
 " Your question was n't at all impudent, my boy. But 
 I 'm sorry you can't tell me where he lives. Do you 
 think they are in want ? " 
 
 The listener in front here turned his head a little more. 
 
 " I 'm afraid they are badly off," said the boy. "He told 
 me his mother was sick, and he's got two little sisters, 
 and he supported 'em all, and when he had to give up 
 sick himself, I tell you he felt bad, and I felt bad too, sir ; 
 for he was a fine fellow and no mistake. I wish I knew 
 where they lived. You 'd help 'em, I reckon ? " 
 
 " Yes, my boy, I would." 
 
 " I knowed you 'd say it, sir ! You see, sir, it 's a soldier's 
 family ; and I 've heard a good many that rides in and out 
 here say soldiers' families ought n't to be made beggars 
 of, and allowed to starve after fighting for the stars and 
 stripes." 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed the man in front. 
 
 " And I say amen to that," responded Prescott. 
 
 The boy looked up keenly at both nten, and then mut- 
 tered to himself, " Soldiers ! " 
 
 " Prescott at the same time fixed 'his eye on the stranger, 
 and reaching forward his hand, said, 
 
 " Comrade." 
 
 The other accepted the proffered hand, and said in re- 
 sponse,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 179 
 
 " I thought you had seen service. Glad to see a soldier 
 any time." 
 
 " That 's my mind exactly," returned Prescott. 
 
 The stranger now looked toward the boy's seat. 
 
 " Take it," said the lad, rising ; and thanking Prescott he 
 picked up his basket and went to the rear of the car, for 
 his vending was through with for that trip. 
 
 Prescott's new acquaintance now came and sat by his 
 side. 
 
 " I 've been listening to your talk with the lad about 
 that soldier's family. It seems to me they must be seeing 
 hard times, if that boy tells the truth." 
 
 " I don't doubt him." 
 
 " Neither do I." 
 
 " I 've known of this family before ; and I know that if 
 the mother is sick, and that boy Joseph too, they are starv- 
 ing unless they Ve been helped," said Prescott. 
 
 His companion frowned. 
 
 " Promises ! promises ! promises ! that was the song ! " 
 he muttered. " Do you think," he continued, " that this 
 would have happened four years ago ? " 
 
 " I do not." 
 
 " Or, say, when the Merrimack threw these Atlantic cities 
 into a ferment, threatening them with destruction ? " 
 
 " This family would not have then been forgotten." 
 
 " No." 
 
 " But, after all, it 's human nature." 
 
 " 'T is true. It 's human nature." 
 
 " And therefore we must n't reflect too hard on the peo- 
 ple at large, provided they '11 sustain others in doing what 
 they have n't the time to think of doing themselves." 
 
 " That 's so ! I 'm a little riled now and then when I 
 hear of this soldier's family starving, and that soldier's
 
 180 TH2 VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 family freezing, and no one seeming to look out for 
 them, and when I call to mind the pledges the people who 
 stayed at home made to the fathers of these families, 
 before they were shot down by the Eebels ; but, as you say, 
 it 's human nature, and the best thing to do is for the sol- 
 diers, themselves, to go to work in such a way to make 
 these pledges good that the citizens will take hold and 
 help us." 
 
 " You have it. It 's the only sensible way. Look here, 
 what 's the use of a man's crying out broken pledges ! to a 
 railroad train that 's left him behind, because they promised 
 to take him on and did n't, and stand yelling to the winds, 
 letting the next train pass by instead of hopping on ! " 
 
 Prescott's new companion laughed. 
 
 "That's the idea!" said he. "It's no use at all. If 
 human nature 's human nature, I suppose we Ve got to treat 
 it as human nature. In short, we 've got to keep up with 
 it." 
 
 "Yes, and if soldiers can't do it, who can?" rejoined 
 Prescott, laughing in his turn. " Now let me tell you," he 
 continued, " what is going to do it." 
 
 " Go on," said the other with a significant look 
 
 " An association." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " An organization." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " An association of the soldiers themselves, organized 
 efforts." 
 
 " You have it ! " 
 
 Prescott looked at his companion intently, and then ut- 
 tered the three words, 
 
 "G. A. E." 
 
 The other looked in turn. " I take it you are a member 
 of the G. A. K.," he said.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 181 
 
 Prescott nodded. 
 
 "Glad to hear it, comrade," exclaimed the companion 
 clasping him again by the hand in fraternal greeting. 
 " We Ve just organized in New York." 
 
 " You are engaged in this New York movement then ? " 
 
 " Yes. If any city needs us it is New York." 
 
 " True. You will have cases enough to attend to." 
 
 " True again. And that is the reason we should be at it. 
 We shall have enough to do. I presume I must look upon 
 you as my senior as a comrade ? " 
 
 " I joined in Illinois, in the first of it." 
 
 " Well, it 's wonderful how it 's going ! " 
 
 " Yes, wonderful ! And yet not so much to be wondered 
 at. The men that went into this war are n't the kind, gen- 
 erally speaking, to stand, after the war's over, and see the 
 families of their comrades suffer." 
 
 " That 's so, comrade, every word ! And I 'm confident 
 that every true-hearted soldier will take hold with us as 
 soon as he knows what we are about." 
 
 " We shall have to contend against one thing." 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 " The outcries of our enemies." 
 
 " They can't hurt us." 
 
 " Excuse me, comrade ; but I think they can." 
 
 "Not materially." 
 
 " For the time being, at least." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " By their usual vituperative statements. You see we 
 are necessarily a secret organization. Men have a good 
 deal to say about secret societies, but I '11 tell you what it is, 
 you Ve got to put powder and ball pretty well out of sight 
 to make them do the work when the priming sets them 
 off. But here 's the chance for our enemies. They '11
 
 182 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 have more stories to tell about us than there were colors in 
 Joseph's coat." 
 
 " Bah ! I Ve heard their stories ; but who '11 believe 
 them ? " 
 
 " A great many ; for, do you see, we are compelled to con- 
 fine ourselves to denials. What we may or may not do 
 cannot be proved in all cases to outsiders, inasmuch as they 
 are not admitted to our meetings to see for themselves." 
 
 " It is true. But I believe in the end their libels will 
 do us good." 
 
 " I believe so, too. Libels, with but few exceptions, in- 
 evitably work that way." 
 
 " When I hear them talking about ' pandering to military 
 ambition,' a ' political machine,' and the like, I think to 
 myself that such venomous attacks will be sure to react on 
 those that make them." 
 
 ^All this, however, is an admonition." 
 
 " An admonition ? " 
 
 " That we cannot be too strict in eschewing all these 
 things. The very fact that we consider it important to 
 refute the accusations of our enemies, should be sufficient 
 warning that such indulgences would be inimical and dis- 
 astrous to the Order." 
 
 " I agree with you there. I have understood that some 
 of the soldiers' and sailors' clubs lent themselves to this 
 outside business, and accordingly lost the confidence of 
 the community." 
 
 " Yes, many of those clubs seem to have been formed 
 rather for the purpose of making their voices heard in 
 complaints than for good hard work in behalf of those who 
 honestly stood in need of fraternal aid. And when men 
 gather together to complain, they simply offer themselves 
 to the first intriguer that happens along."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 183 
 
 " That 's true. Still, we should give due credit to these 
 clubs. They have undoubtedly done much good." 
 
 " Undoubtedly. But they did not form a responsible 
 body, whereby the part is accountable to the whole. They 
 have been valuable as forerunners of our present organi- 
 zation." 
 
 " I see that." 
 
 " From their very nature they were not calculated to 
 resist the strong current that was bearing, and would al- 
 ways bear, against them, as it will bear against us, and 
 which we are sure to withstand." 
 
 As Prescott uttered this remark, a booming sound an- 
 nounced that the train was advancing upon the long bridge 
 that spans Newark Bay. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 THE two soldiers gazed in silence for a moment over 
 the calm, sunlit water, dotted here and there by 
 small craft that lazily awaited any " cat's-paws " which 
 might occasionally touch their sails as they swiftly passed, 
 ruffling the water in their shifting course. 
 
 " This bridge offers a very good illustration of your re- 
 mark," said Prescott's companion, who had withdrawn his 
 gaze from the distance, and directed it to the powerful 
 current immediately under them. " When the contractor 
 undertook to build it there was a great cry that he would 
 fail. The rush of water, as you see, is very powerful here, 
 and it was predicted that his attempt would be his ruin ; 
 for this current would, before winter and spring had done 
 with it, send it down the stream to be sold for old lumber."
 
 184 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " I have heard something x about it," said Prescott, with 
 interest; and he gazed on the rushing waters as they 
 tore away from the bridge in their onward course, as if in 
 rage at their impotent efforts to rend its foundations. 
 
 "Former experience lent force to these doleful predic- 
 tions ; but the contractor put good hard sense against past 
 failures and present predictions combined. This is how he 
 did it. He sank a great mass of stone with every pile, all 
 so fastened together that an earthquake would have to 
 come along to undo the job." 
 
 "We are riding over a stone quarry then, I should 
 think," said Prescott, laughing. 
 
 " That 's about what it amounts to. And if this current 
 can lug off a stone quarry it can lug off this bridge. Now, 
 comrade, the foundations of an Order like ours must be 
 the same. As you say, there will ever be strong currents 
 bearing upon it, and it must be founded in the granite of 
 strict and consistent principles to stand against them." 
 
 "I like to hear you talk that way," rejoined Pres- 
 cott, bringing a hand emphatically down on the other's 
 knee. " Many entertain the idea that all that soldiers can 
 have in mind, in gathering together, is to cut' up their old 
 camp shines, and keep their hands in so as to slaughter, 
 one of these days, every unlucky dog who does n't happen 
 to think as they do." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! you are about right there. There 's a certain 
 class of men that 's mighty afraid of soldiers ! " 
 
 " Yes," returned Prescott with a significant glance at a 
 hard-visaged old fellow, sitting just back, whom he had 
 observed to scowl when the word soldier, uttered by them, 
 had once met his ear; "and well they might be, seeing we 
 have been so successful in putting down their friends." 
 
 " Of course," said the other, " they will stand ready to
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 185 
 
 denounce everything as politics, or dangerously military, 
 that they can possibly get hold of." 
 
 " Certainly. It 's in their nature. But all we Ve got to 
 do is to be sure our base is right, and then push on, undis- 
 turbed by every little crack of a buckshot musket that 
 we hear in the woods." 
 
 "There 's one thing about it. We shall often have to fight 
 down unprincipled opposition in one form or another, and 
 no doubt when we do so they '11 raise the hue and cry of 
 ' Politics ! ' as their last resource." 
 
 " yes, there are men mean enough Jfor anything ; and 
 if to carry out their petty spite they knew they were surely 
 exposing a thousand families of the soldier to starvation, 
 it would make no difference. They would probably say 
 ' D n the soldier, and his family too ! ' and let drive their 
 venom with a louder hiss than ever." 
 
 The hard-faced old fellow behind heard this remark, and 
 winced perceptibly, while Prescott, who had kept one eye 
 on him, put his hand to his mouth and nudged his com- 
 panion. At the same time he bent his head to the other's 
 ear and whispered, 
 
 " An old copperhead in the rear rank ! " 
 
 " Let 's ask him to subscribe for the new Post ! " returned 
 the other with a grimace. 
 
 " He 's been posted as much as he '11 bear, I 'm thinking," 
 rejoined Prescott. 
 
 His comrade laughed, and turning his head, took in, 
 with an offhand glance, the features of the object of this 
 sally. 
 
 He instantly turned back to Marland. 
 
 " I know the old fellow like a book. It 's Copperhead 
 Snarling, that 's what the boys all call him. He ought 
 to have been hung. But General Dix did the next-best
 
 186 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY/ 
 
 thing, he put him into Fort Lafayette. Why, that old 
 sinner would work night and day, if he thought he could 
 do us an injury. A son of his was drafted, and the young 
 scion had to go ; and when he thinks it 's for his interest 
 the hypocrite prates about his ' soldier loy ! ' I should n't 
 be at all astonished yet, if through this ' soldier boy ' he 
 were to work away with malcontents to get up some kind 
 of a flash opposition concern ; and as he 's always yelled 
 ' Constitution ! ' when we Ve shouted ' Republic ! ' he 'd be 
 sure and stick that into the name somewhere ; and, again, as 
 we should be powerful by that time he would undoubtedly 
 advocate stealing all the thunder from us he could, and 
 back it up by proposing to harness as much of our name 
 on as they could trot under." 
 
 " Who knows ? " returned Prescott, amused. " Of course 
 they would give a wide berth to politics, seeing that is the 
 cry with which they fill the air, when they denounce the 
 Grand Army of the Eepublic." 
 
 " Lord, yes, sir ! they would undoubtedly give politics a 
 wide berth, that is, in this way : They would probably 
 come up from their sea of troubles groaning and sobbing, 
 declaring to the world that, seeing no chance in the Grand 
 Army of the Eepublic rampant with its political dem- 
 agoguism they were going to have an organization so 
 free from politics, so pure and immaculate, that as none 
 but those of their own stripe could live in it, they should 
 have it understood that here these harmonious spirits could 
 find a political asylum, and none others." 
 
 " Well, well ! " replied Prescott, still more amused. " I '11 
 note that down, and if it happens, I '11 call you a prophet. 
 
 * 
 
 * Aside from the brusque language of Prescott's hearty comrade, espe- 
 cially that having direct reference to the man behind him, whom he called 
 Copperhead Snarling, his implied prophecy seems in the main to hare
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 187 
 
 But coming back to the G. A. E. in New York, I am greatly 
 rejoiced to see the work going on. I have known of this 
 movement, for, besides a slight influence I have been able 
 to exert to this end, I have a friend who has been able to 
 effect a good deal more. 
 
 " Is he from the West ? " 
 
 " He is." 
 
 " I think I know whom you mean." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " General Hammond." 
 
 " You have it at the first guess." 
 
 " His soul seems done up in the Grand Army." 
 
 " It is. He would assist a deserving comrade at the risk 
 of his life." 
 
 " I have no doubt of it, from what I 've heard of him." 
 
 " One such man giving his heart and soul to the cause, 
 after having the time he has had to thoroughly understand 
 it, does more to refute the slanders and libels of our enemies 
 than could reams of foolscap." 
 
 " 'T is true. But now tell me of the family you were 
 talking about with the candy-boy. That seems to be one 
 of the first cases for us to attend to." 
 
 " It is a family named Deering. The soldier's name was 
 Joseph Deering. He went out in a New York regiment, 
 and was killed in the Peninsular campaign, under McClel- 
 lan," answered Prescott. 
 
 The other took out a memorandum-book, and proceeded 
 to write this information down. 
 
 been fulfilled by individuals, who have recently taken preliminary steps 
 toward organizing a society, to be called The Grand Army of the Consti- 
 tution ; the manifest absurdity of whose position is, that, while they make 
 pretence of complaint, on the ground of politics, against the G. A. R., 
 one of whose cardinal principles is the exclusion of politics, they them- 
 selves make politics the distinctive feature of their organization.
 
 188 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Prescott watched his companion's movements with in- 
 tense satisfaction. Not only did he realize that a system- 
 atic effort would now be made to seek out and relieve this 
 family, whose situation had so excited his sympathies, but 
 he could bear the cheerful news to that other soldier's 
 family ; for even in the midst of their own trials they for- 
 got not these suffering ones, whom they could not trace 
 after they had left the old house in the Bowery. 
 " I trust you will find them," he said. 
 " If they are to be found in New York, we '11 find them," 
 said the other with decision. At the same time he turned 
 the leaf of his memorandum-book 
 
 Prescott observed several names entered, with directions. 
 Among these his eye detected one that looked familiar. As 
 it was written very hastily he did not feel quite certain. 
 " Can I look over your list ? " he asked. 
 " Certainly. They are all soldiers' families. They are to 
 be looked up." 
 
 Prescott took the book, and examined it with an anxious 
 eye. 
 
 " You have the name of Allen Paige here, I perceive," he 
 said, slightly flushing. * . 
 
 " Yes. He was a true soldier. He was reported to be 
 wealthy when he died, but it was found that speculation 
 had ruined him ; and I understand his family are in a state 
 of destitution, and are really objects of relief." 
 
 Prescott reddened so suddenly that he was obliged to 
 turn and gaze out of the opposite car-windows, with an air 
 as if he had unexpectedly caught sight of an object of 
 great curiosity. 
 
 It was a hard thing for an ardent lover to see the name 
 of his loved one's family written down in a list of the des- 
 titute, to be aided from a Relief fund.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 189 
 
 He recovered himself as quickly as possible, and turned 
 to his comrade. 
 
 " I do not think this family will need your aid," he said. 
 " I am quite well acquainted with them ; and though they 
 suffer privation, they go on the principle that everything 
 they own, that seems in the least degree superfluous, must 
 go toward their support before they will consent to receive 
 aid from others." 
 
 " That 's the spirit I like ! " exclaimed the other. " But 
 look here," said he, thoughtfully ; " sometimes these are the 
 very kind who have the true pride of a soldier's family 
 that allow themselves to suffer too much before accepting 
 relief. Now I don't pretend to know much about this 
 family, but I was told something by a comrade that looks 
 as though they were in a hard situation." 
 
 " What was it ? " inquired Prescott, whose emotions were 
 growing every moment more painful. 
 
 "You see, he happened to be in a pawnbroker's shop 
 the other day, and I will relate to you what occurred just 
 as he gave it to me, dialect and all. The Jew was slightly 
 acquainted with him, and it seems he had heard of the 
 Grand Army ; so he asked him if the soldiers were going 
 to have Posts in New York. Comrade Walker told him 
 1 Yes.' ' Veil den,' says he, ' I 'sh glad of it, for I likes der 
 soldiers first-rate. I was always a goot Union man. Now 
 look here,' and he took a box out of his safe, ' I show not 
 der pawns to everypody that comes into mine establishment, 
 boot you ish von good Union soldier, and I vill show you 
 someding, and tell you der story. In der midst of der 
 great storm, mit der sleet and wind and cold wedder, dat 
 we have stronger than never were yet sence der month of 
 January, dare come into mine shop a young lady mit der 
 face so sweet and beautiful under der what you call 'im
 
 190 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 vater-proof hood, all covered mit der sleet, and der sweet 
 face looking so sad and worn mit der sorrow, that mine 
 heart was very mooch touched. And then, ven she takes 
 off der pin and tells me she vants to pawn it, and I see 
 dat it must pe der portrait of her fader, and ish one vary 
 fine-looking man, as you see, I felt mit mine eyes as if I 
 must cry, and I advanced more than ever were yet py me, 
 and I say to mineself while she give von big sob when 
 I takes der pin an' gives her der monish if I was von 
 soldier, I would go and work mit all my might and main, 
 and make von big society of der soldiers; and mit der 
 same I would help the family of der soldier because, yoii 
 tiiik of it, and you vill see dat der world ish vary apt to 
 forget der big promises made to der brave soldier, ven he 
 goes off to der wars. Their heads, and der houses, and der 
 money-boxes, dey all pe safe and sound, and dey say to 
 der poor soldier, ' Have a dundering jolly time at der war, 
 you fine fellers, eh ! An' mit der time you pe gone, I pay 
 von hundred dollar to buy substitute for der town.' And 
 then dey botton up their pokets, and mit der hands dey 
 pat on der pocket-book jest so, and say, ' Der war, it tarn 
 near ruin me, an' I can give no more monish. Der soldier 
 dat was killed was von tamned unlucky dog, and his fam- 
 ily, dey must go to de authorities or to der tuyfel ! ' Well, 
 den, mit mine eyes dey pe snapping ven I tink of dis, I say 
 to der young lady, ' Vill you not take der seat and warm 
 yourself ? ' but she was in von great haste, and mit der 'tank 
 you,' she opens der door and flies away in def big storm." 
 
 " Well, all this while Comrade Walker was keeping his 
 ear open to Isaac, and at the same time staring in amaze- 
 ment at the pin. 'You know der soldier?' said the Jew. 
 ' Yes,' said Walker. You see it was Allen Paige, his Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel before Petersburg, but he did n't let on to
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 191 
 
 the pawnbroker. He just asked what was to pay, and told 
 him to please say nothing to any one, but to keep the pin 
 safe, and if it was not called for he would redeem it ; for 
 you see he felt mighty sensitive about the matter ; he 
 thought a good deal of Colonel Paige, and had heard a 
 great deal of his family. The Jew's figure was a high one, 
 compared to what pawnbrokers usually advance on their 
 pawned securities, which went to show that his talk was 
 not all gab, but that he really felt for Colonel Paige's 
 daughter, who undoubtedly was the one that called at his 
 shop." 
 
 The speaker now stopped in surprise, and looked intently 
 at his companion. 
 
 Prescott's face indicated the profound strength of his 
 varied emotions. 
 
 His comrade's recital of the Jew's quaint but touching 
 story had produced an effect, which the former little im- 
 agined as he rattled off the dialect of the kind-hearted 
 pawnbroker. Prescott had observed the absence of that 
 pin from Emma's beautiful throat, but he had said nothing. 
 Now it was explained to him, and in a manner that wrung 
 his heart again and again. 
 
 The Pawnbroker ! 
 
 One usually hears this name in connection with the for- 
 tunes of a loved friend with dread. There are men who 
 serve to redeem this business of the traditionary, hard- 
 hearted avariciousness usually associated with it, one pawn- 
 broker of our acquaintance being of unusually generous and 
 open-hearted disposition, who has kept goods months after 
 the expiration of the time allowed by law to redeem them, 
 from pure kind-heartedness ; but this does not render the 
 knowledge that a dear and beloved friend has been driven 
 to the pawn-shop in order to sustain existence the less sig-
 
 192 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 
 
 nificant of privation, and a consequent source of apprehen- 
 sive dread. 
 
 But with Prescott Marland dread formed only a part of 
 his present emotions. A sort of horror seized him ; for he 
 had good reason to remember the storm which the Jew 
 had described ; and the picture so vividly drawn of that 
 devoted daughter and sister, flying in the driving, blinding 
 sleet to a pawnbroker's shop to pledge her dear, sainted 
 father's gift, that those she loved might live, was one well 
 calculated to stir this generous and ardent lover's soul to 
 its profoundest depths. He could scarcely repress a groan 
 of anguish. 
 
 " What ails you, comrade ? " asked his companion, 
 somewhat startled. 
 
 "Nothing," replied Prescott, making a great effort to 
 recover his self-composure. "I may tell you at some 
 future time." He added, " I am well acquainted with this 
 family, and I promise you the Post shall be notified if they 
 need your assistance." 
 
 The train now entered the depot on North Eiver, and 
 the two soldiers, taking the boat, parted in New York 
 City. 
 
 As they were about separating, Prescott said, with a half- 
 . laugh, 
 
 " Comrade, I seem to have known you so well from the 
 first, I 've not taken the pains to ask your name." 
 
 " The same with me. My name is Charles Eoberts." 
 
 " And mine Prescott Marland." 
 
 " Good by, comrade." 
 
 "Good by."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 193 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 rilHE reader has surmised that the examination of Baling 
 -I- & Co.'s books, as recounted by the broker to Jonas 
 Cringar in Chapter XXI., was made at the instigation of 
 the Veteran. We left him, at the time he parted with the 
 book-keeper after the visit to the Surrogate's office, thinking 
 of the cotton speculation in which Allen Paige was known 
 to have been engaged, having expressed to Billings his 
 judgment that here might, perchance, be found the weak 
 point of the enemy's fortifications. 
 
 With this man .of action, to think was to do. He accord- 
 ingly determined at once to feel out the strength in this 
 direction. 
 
 He again found in the book-keeper a ready assistant. 
 Through his aid he ascertained that the cotton was bought 
 of Baling & Co., cotton dealers. The next thing was to 
 examine the books of this firm. The Veteran did not deem 
 it policy to appear in person for the purpose of examining 
 these books ; Billings therefore undertook to perform this 
 service. Disguising himself sufficiently to prevent recog- 
 nition by any one who might have seen him in Cringar's 
 store, he proceeded to the work with much sagacity ; but, 
 as Garvin had reported to the merchant, his sagacity did 
 not succeed in hoodwinking Baling, who, having previously 
 been warned by the broker, was on the alert for any move- 
 ment of this kind. 
 
 We have also learned, through the broker, of the entire 
 freedom given to the Veteran's assistant in his examination 
 of the books.
 
 194 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Billings's report to the Veteran was in accordance with 
 Daniel Garvin's statements to the merchant. He had 
 found no evidence that the accounts had been tampered 
 with; on the contrary, all appeared in regular order. 
 When, therefore, they came to compare the report with 
 the quotations of the cotton market of that day, they saw 
 naught but very conclusive evidence, that Allen Paige must 
 have lost by his venture in cotton. 
 
 The book-keeper, who had looked with such dismay upon 
 the array of statements in the inventories filed by Cringar 
 and Garvin at the Surrogate's office, viewed with equal 
 dfsmay the result of his visit to the house of Baling & Co. 
 
 The Veteran sat in deep thought. 
 
 Suddenly he seized the paper on which Billings had 
 cautiously transcribed the entries from Baling & Co.'s 
 books, and fixing his eye on a particular portion of it, he 
 spoke with an energy which almost startled his companion. 
 
 " I can rely on every word, letter, and mark ? " 
 
 "Toucan." 
 
 " These marks I can rely upon to go over the world 
 with, if necessary ? " 
 
 " I TL stake my life on them ! " returned the book-keeper, 
 surveying the Veteran with a puzzled air. 
 
 " Time is wasted in New York ! Next week I go to 
 Boston ! " 
 
 The book-keeper looked amazed ; but his brief aquaint- 
 ance had taught him that the Veteran was, in a case like 
 this, neither to "be fathomed nor questioned. 
 
 On the same afternoon that comrades Marland and Eob- 
 erts were entering New York by the New Jersey Central 
 the Veteran took the Fall River boat for Boston. 
 
 This man of a former cosmopolitan life was always glad
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 195 
 
 to see his native town, with all its little foibles, and crooked 
 streets. His experience in the wide world had, in his later 
 years, taught him to hold in profound respect the character 
 of a city whose voice could ever be depended upon in the 
 cause of the great humanity. Like some stanch old uncle, 
 who, while he occasionally entertains his neighbors with 
 his innocent conceits and happy self-complacency, yet is 
 held in profound respect by all lovers of their fellow-men, 
 so seemed this good old city of Boston to its now famous 
 Thorbolt. 
 
 But the Veteran had more important business on hand 
 than the sentimental contemplation of this city of his 
 birth. 
 
 At an early hour we find him in the Merchants' Ex- 
 change. 
 
 " Is Mr. Drammen in ? " he inquired. 
 
 Drammen was a Norwegian, who had fought with a 
 strong arm under the flag of his adopted country. He 
 now had charge of the books of the Exchange. 
 
 The Veteran was informed that he was out, but would 
 be in soon. 
 
 While waiting for him he looked over the gold quota- 
 tions of the previous day, which had not yet been erased 
 from the board. This gradually led him into a revery, in 
 which the circumstances and incidents associated with his 
 present mission to Boston passed one by one in review. 
 These quotations brought before him with especial vivid- 
 ness the gloomy and satanic visage of Daniel Garvin, the 
 Wall Street broker who, perchance, had swindled some 
 confiding customer by means of those very figures as 
 it had appeared before him in that home which, having 
 driven from it his patriot brother's family, he now defiled 
 with his own presence. He recalled the look of this
 
 196 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND AltMY. 
 
 heartless schemer while he questioned him on that stormy 
 day, a look in which ferocity seemed combined with 
 an irrepressible fear ; and a look also that had fastened 
 itself deep in the mind of him who was now in revery, 
 spurring him on in his self-imposed task for the sake 
 of the plotter's victims. That distorted visage rose above 
 the solid phalanx of statements and figures in the Sur- 
 rogate's office ; it peered over the entries transcribed from 
 the books of Baling & Co., its ferocity rousing his soul 
 in behalf of those suffering loved ones of his fallen com- 
 rade, its fear fastening upon his mind the conviction 
 that behind all statements, figures, and entries was that 
 weakness of guilt which an unswerving energy might 
 sooner or later reach and confound. 
 
 His meditations were interrupted by Drammen, who, 
 having returned, was informed of the visitor's desire to see 
 him. 
 
 The Norwegian did not require two glances to tell him 
 that a soldier stood before him. The greeting, therefore, 
 on the Veteran's introducing himself, was, though between 
 strangers, as warm as if they had been friends for twenty 
 years. 
 
 " How can I serve you ? " inquired Drammen. 
 
 " By allowing me to see the reports of cotton shipments 
 from New York for the summer and fall of 1864." 
 
 " That you shaU see at once," replied Drammen ; and 
 in a few moments he brought the book which contained 
 the reports of the arrival of merchandise during' the 
 period mentioned by the Veteran. He opened the book 
 to the month of July, 1864, and then excusing himself 
 for a few moments, left the Veteran to examine it at 
 his leisure. 
 
 The latter instinctively turned several leaves at once,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 197 
 
 which brought him into October. Then he turned slowly 
 back. 
 
 Scarcely had he commenced doing so when his eye 
 caught an entry of 111 bales of cotton, to 0. U. Waite 
 & Co. Even his strong heart sunk. If this was the lot of 
 111 bales bought and sold by Allen Paige, the date of the 
 arrival, September 28th, corroborated Cringar's and Gar- 
 vin's statements. At this time the market had been fall- 
 ing at a terrible pace, as had been described by Garvin 
 in his interview with Cringar, the week previous, at his 
 office in Wall Street. 
 
 Drammen was now returning, and the Veteran, raising 
 his eyes awaited his approach with a calm, grave counte- 
 nance, although his heart was secretly troubled. 
 
 " This is all the information to be obtained from your 
 books ? " 
 
 " It is." 
 
 The Veteran fingered a few of the leaves, and as he 
 directed his eyes again to the book, he released them, 
 one after another, in an abstracted manner. 
 
 He started. Great as was his self-command, a quick 
 flush appeared on either cheek, and he sharply bent the 
 falling leaf as he threw it back. 
 
 On the left-hand page, where he now held the book 
 open, was another record of 111 bales, to F. Jaques & Co., 
 and this date was August 25th ! 
 
 " Comrade," he said, addressing Drammen, " I am here 
 on an errand, of which you will please say nothing, 
 that concerns the family of a soldier. I find recorded in 
 this book the arrival of two lots. It is of the utmost im- 
 portance that I obtain further information regarding them. 
 Can I not obtain it of the parties to whom they were 
 shipped ? "
 
 198 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 t 
 
 " I think you can," answered Drammen. " I am acquainted 
 with both firms, and will call on them with you as soon as 
 I am disengaged, if you desire." 
 
 "Thank you. It would be a great favor. How soon 
 will you be at liberty ? " 
 
 " In an hour." 
 
 " I will call on the minuta" 
 
 " I will be ready for you." 
 
 At the end of an hour the Veteran promptly appeared, 
 and they departed on their errand, which to the Veteran 
 contained so much of import. 
 
 Waite & Co. were near at hand, on Kilby Street, and 
 thither they first directed their steps. 
 
 Neither member of the firm was in, but both were ex- 
 pected every moment. 
 
 While waiting in the office, or rather room, of this enter- 
 prising house, the battle-scarred warrior had an opportunity 
 of witnessing such a series of skirmishes as it had not 
 before been his good fortune to behold. 
 
 In a long row of bins, situated on one side of the room, 
 which extended from front to rear of the building, was 
 thrown loose cotton that had once served as samples, to- 
 gether with old samples still rolled up in their papers, and 
 having, to the Veteran's military eye, the appearance of 
 dismantled guns. On a counter in the middle of the 
 room was deposited a lot ready for present use, while the 
 floor about him was white with others exposed to view 
 like so many cotton dumplings, and so arranged as to 
 receive the light to the best advantage. .Each paper con- 
 tained as many samples as there were bales to be sold, 
 unless the number of the latter compelled the use of more 
 than one paper, which was exceptional. 
 
 Presently a young man rushed in as if madness had 
 seized him, and looking wildly about, shouted,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 199 
 
 " Where 's Waite ? Where 's Lookum ? " 
 
 " Will be in soon," answered the clerk. 
 
 " Can sell that lot of a hundred and fifty bales mid- 
 dling. Must have it right away ! " 
 
 "Who' to?" 
 
 The cotton broker for such was the excited visitor 
 put his forefinger quickly to the side of his nose in an inim- 
 itable manner, at the same time squinting toward the door. 
 
 This significant glance was explained by the entrance of 
 a second broker on the scene. He was older than the first, 
 but evidently quite as active, with a slight tendency to 
 obesity, which indicated a happy possession of what was 
 known in cotton circles, as well as in camp, as " cheek." 
 
 Without any ado he made for a large lot of the opened 
 samples, and turned up the paper to read the marks. 
 
 " Eight up to sample ? " said he, picking a bit of cotton 
 from one of the cotton dumplings, and drawing the staple 
 rapidly between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, 
 followed by a vigorous snap. 
 
 " Eight straight up ! " answered the clerk. 
 
 Without another word this second comer proceeded to 
 roll the paper, and turn in the ends with a skill only at- 
 tained by cotton-men. 
 
 " Hallo ! " cried the first, reddening with anxiety and 
 anger, " who told you you might have those samples ? " 
 
 " Met Waite on the street a minute and a half ago, and 
 he told me I might take 'em." 
 
 "Yes!" cried the younger broker, turning toward the 
 clerk, " but Lookum promised 'em to me, and I can sell 'em 
 too ! " 
 
 "What time ? " asked the clerk. 
 
 " He said I might have 'em at ten o'clock" 
 
 The second broker laughed, at the same time giving the
 
 200 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 roll a swing as he held it by one end, and bringing it to 
 bear like a small cannon upon his younger competitor ; and 
 then squinting along the top cried, " Bang ! " with so loud 
 and abrupt a tone that even the Veteran, whose ears had 
 rang with thousands of cannon-peals, started in his chair. 
 
 " You 're a dead man ! " exclaimed this facetious broker. 
 "Don't you see you 're time 's up and ten minutes to 
 spare ? " And with this he disappeared, leaving this young 
 competitor standing where he had been shot, red with dis- 
 appointment, and chagrin that the other should have got 
 the better of him. 
 
 " Curse that Bumineer's cheek ! " he spluttered out, to the 
 silent amusement of the Veteran. " Why did n't you stop 
 him, Philbut ? He '11 sell to my man ! That 's what he 's 
 after O, hang his confounded cheek ! P-s-h ! I 'm done 
 for on that job ! He '11 seU him, if cheek '11 do it ! " 
 
 The clerk laughed. 
 
 Just then in glided another broker, with a look as if he 
 could ferret out a rat, though its hole ran zigzag through 
 to China. Casting a look of contempt on his young brother 
 of the craft, and a glance of suspicion at the Veteran, 
 while he gave a slight nod to Drammen, he went straight 
 up to the clerk and whispered in his ear. 
 
 The clerk whispered an answer, accompanying it by a 
 nod at the young victim of another's " cheek," and then 
 sweeping this nod around to the door. 
 
 The new-comer gnawed his lip, and glided from the 
 room with a swiftness which evidently meant sharp compe- 
 tition with some other dealer's samples. 
 
 The disappointed applicant cried out, as this man slipped 
 from the room, 
 
 " By thunder ! I bet he '11 settle Bummeer's hash for him 
 yet ! He 's on the soft with Evans, and '11 sell to him, I '11 
 wager coat, hat, and boots ! "
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GKAND AEMY. 201 
 
 As he was speaking with his head turned to the clerk, 
 in danced another young man with a sort of hungry, de- 
 vouring look 
 
 " Evans after cotton ? " he exclaimed, rushing up, and 
 catching the speaker by the arm. " By Jove ! say ! 
 what does he want ? I took .supper with his agent's grand- 
 father yesterday. I can sell him, you bet ! "What does he 
 want ? " 
 
 " 0, you git ! " cried the other. " Go 'nd find out what 
 he wants ! And then get the cotton if you can, that 's 
 what 's the matter ! " 
 
 In their eagerness and excitement none of these compet- 
 ing brokers had paid any apparent attention to the presence 
 of the Veteran and Drammen, except the third comer. This 
 gave the Grand Army hero an opportunity of resting, by 
 pleasant observation, a mind which had for several days 
 been severely taxed in its efforts to unravel the dark and 
 complicated plot which the subtle brain of Daniel Garvin 
 had woven with such consummate art. To a man of his ob- 
 servation the scene he had just witnessed was as enjoyable 
 and recreative as a comedy. And we have been led to 
 delineate this little episode, from a sympathy with the state 
 of tension to which the mind of this hard and indefatigable 
 mental worker for the good of others had been brought. 
 There was something, too, in the appearance of the white, 
 fleecy cotton, flung about like foam on a surf-beaten shore, 
 which captivated his eye, and lent its aid in soothing his 
 mind. 
 
 Soon after the departure of the fourth broker Waite en- 
 tered, and on recognizing the Veteran came forward and 
 shook him heartily by the hand. 
 
 9*
 
 202 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 EKEEAL," said the cotton-dealer, " I 'm very gkd to 
 
 see you ! " 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 " Is there anything I can do for you ? " 
 
 " I Ve called on you for a slight favor." 
 
 " I 'm sorry for that. I was in hopes it was an impor- 
 tant favor. I am continually wishing something might 
 turn up that would give me an opportunity of returning 
 your kindness to me in Eebeldom." 
 
 " Say nothing about it, Mr. Waite. It was my duty to 
 protect you, as a sound Union man. Nothing pleased me 
 more, while in this Eebeldom you speak of, than to see an 
 out-and-out cotton man that was an out-and-out Union 
 man." 
 
 The Veteran, at one time in the Southwest, had rendered 
 an important service to Mr. Waite, who was down there 
 buying cotton under the protection of the government, and 
 who, at the time of the service, was threatened with ruin 
 through suspicion excited by a rival cotton-buyer, of being 
 in treasonable intercourse with the enemy. It was only 
 through the good judgment and decision of the Veteran 
 that he escaped. 
 
 " Well, if you don't want anything said about it I won't 
 say it ; but make the favors I can do for you as large as 
 possible." 
 
 " Thank you again. The fact is, though I remarked it 
 was a slight favor I had to ask of you, I will do it the jus- 
 tice to say it is of great importance to me."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 203 
 
 " Well, I 'm glad of that. Now please name it." 
 
 " It is that you let me look at your invoice book for 
 September, 1864. A lot of one hundred and eleven bales 
 of cotton arrived on the 28th of that month for you." 
 
 " Yes," returned the cotton-dealer, laughing, " I recollect 
 it very well. I lost more 'money than it would take to 
 buy a first-class farm by that lot of cotton. You see it 
 came down reeling from a dollar ninety to a dollar eighty, 
 and there it tumbled about awhile, and then took a long 
 downward lurch to one fifty. The day it stood there I got 
 a telegram from New York that a party who had one hun- 
 dred and eleven bales was thoroughly demoralized, with a 
 good many others, and would sell five cents less than market 
 price to get rid of it. "Well, I 'm willing to acknowledge that 
 I was fool enough to think that the market would get sober 
 again, stop its reeling and tumbling, and take another 
 flight upward, so I telegraphed on to buy it, intending 
 to hold it. And hold it I did, till it burned my fingers 
 to the bone." 
 
 This rapid account by the cotton-dealer fell with the 
 weight of lead on the ear of his listener. It was in striking 
 accordance with the reports of Garvin which he had gath- 
 ered, confirmed as they were by the copy Billings had made 
 from the books of Baling & Co. 
 
 In the mean time Waite had obtained the invoice book 
 the Veteran desired. The latter opened to the entry he 
 sought, and then with a long-drawn breath proceeded to 
 copy it into his memorandum-book. 
 
 The cotton-dealer was too well-bred to ask any questions 
 on the strength of the privilege he was granting his former 
 benefactor. 
 
 The Veteran, on his part, simply said, 
 
 " Mr. Waite, I am greatly obliged to you. At a future
 
 204 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 
 
 time I may be free to make known to you my object for 
 this as it probably seems to you rather strange visit. 
 I wish to ask a similar favor of Messrs. Jaques & Co. Do 
 you think they will grant it ? " 
 
 " I at least will accompany you with pleasure, if you 
 desire, and open the way," replied the cotton-dealer, with 
 an air that indicated probable difficulty. 
 
 " Very good," said Drammen. " General, I should be 
 glad to accompany you, but the truth is, Mr. Waite can do 
 more for you than I, and I am therefore glad to resign you 
 into his hands. If convenient to you, I shall be very much 
 pleased to learn if you find all you desire." 
 
 " You shall know, comrade, and many thanks to you," 
 responded the Veteran, shaking him warmly by the hand. 
 
 This large-hearted sailor then returned to his duties at 
 the News Rooms, and the cotton-dealer departed with his 
 charge for the house of Jaques & Co. 
 
 "Jaques is a little sore on the soldier business," said 
 Waite, as he led the way to his brother dealer's rooms. 
 " He 's lost money by them." 
 
 " How 's that ? " 
 
 " Well, the fact is, he got bitten a good deal worse than 
 I did, and all because he would n't believe the South could 
 be subdued. He made money in the first of it because he 
 judged more correctly than a good many others that the 
 South would fight longer than ninety days, and would make 
 downright war of it ; so he laid in cotton, and sold at an 
 immense profit. But you see he pinned his faith at the 
 wrong end, when he went about declaring that Sherman 
 would be destroyed, and Grant was a humbug, and Lee 
 would whip them out yet. He lost money by it. Then, 
 again, after Lee's surrender he fastened on the guerillas, 
 and those kind of fellows who started the Ku Klux, and
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 205 
 
 prophesied such a state of anarchy that cotton could n't be 
 raised, which would bring the price up again. But his 
 guerillas were soon disposed of ; and I happened to be in 
 the Southwest when this Grand Army of the Republic, 
 that 's springing up over the land, settled the Ku Klux 
 business in Mississippi, Tennessee, and thereabouts, as quick 
 as lightning is quicker than a lame cow." 
 
 " Yes, the Grand Army did a good work there," responded 
 the Veteran. 
 
 " It 's a fine institution, this Grand Army of the Repub- 
 lic ; and for one I think it 's high time that the soldiers 
 formed such an organization," continued the cotton-dealer. 
 " I have done what I could for the families of fallen sol- 
 diers, because I promised to do so when these brave fellows 
 left them in our charge. But the difficulty is to find them 
 out. They are mostly people who are not given to begging 
 any more than you or I; and it is a fact that many a 
 family, in a most distressing condition, is unwilling to 
 compete with forward beggars, who always stand ready to 
 impose themselves upon the charitable whether they are 
 needy or not. But, as I understand this Grand Army 
 business, they are formed so as to bring organized work 
 into the field, and act, so to speak, as responsible agents 
 of the public, who through them can be sure of giv- 
 ing aid where it belongs, and thus intelligently keep their 
 promises. Certain acquaintances of mine are down on this 
 organization, but between you and me, they did n't do much 
 for the Union ; and I happen to know that the families of 
 our fallen braves might go a long way toward starvation 
 before they would get any help from them. This G. A. R., 
 as you call it, has taken root in Boston, and my calcula- 
 tions are out if it does n't flourish like a green bay-tree." 
 
 " I 'm pleased to hear you speak, as a citizen, in such 
 strong and just terms of our Order," said the Veteran.
 
 206 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " I take it you 're a member, General ? " 
 
 " I am. I joined in the West." 
 
 " Glad to know it. Excuse me for saying that my expe- 
 rience with you on the Mississippi assures me that the 
 Order and its objects will not suffer from your hands." 
 
 " I thank you. I shall endeavor to do all that lies in 
 my power for an organization which I know every Ameri- 
 can, loyal at heart, will sustain when he comes to under- 
 stand it." 
 
 " True ! " responded the cotton-dealer. Then studying 
 the Veteran for a moment, he said to himself, " One such 
 man is enough to give the lie to a thousand vilifiers of 
 the association ^which he so nobly represents." 
 
 They now arrived at the rooms of Jaques & Co. 
 
 Here the Veteran had another opportunity of observing 
 the peculiar rush and scramble of the cotton brokerage 
 business, which, as one of the results of the war, had been 
 transformed from a business whereby a few strong and in- 
 fluential houses had been built up in the mercantile com- 
 munity, to an occupation in which vastly increased num- 
 bers contended, each separate day, for such morsels as 
 might be offered them ; though there still remained those 
 old houses to remind one of what had been. 
 
 Jaques, who had been engaged in his private office, soon 
 joined his visitors, and Waite made known the object of 
 their call. 
 
 This speculator had, as "Waite had said, lost much money 
 through the courage and pertinacity of the Northern sol- 
 dier, and the Veteran did not fail to detect an expression 
 of annoyance as he was introduced by his military title. 
 
 " You would like to look at my books ? Humph ! an 
 unusual request from a stranger, sir." 
 
 " I grant it, Mr. Jaques," said the Veteran with a dig-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 207 
 
 nified courtesy, which, in combination with the air of na- 
 ture's royalty that sat upon his face, began at once to affect 
 the somewhat irascible and very suspicious Jaques. 
 
 Jaques was also made to feel, by the presence and man- 
 ner of this man, that he was likely to make a fool of him- 
 self by any useless attempt at " bluff," which speculators 
 are apt to indulge in. He had seen enough of human 
 nature to perceive that his strange visitor was not one to 
 be easily baffled or trifled with; and though himself a 
 strong man, he could not entirely suppress a feeling of 
 admiration, conflicting with his annoyance at sight of a 
 leader of Union soldiery, as he viewed this noble speci- 
 men of manhood. 
 
 The Veteran in the mean time contemplated the cotton 
 speculator (such we entitle Jaques in contradistinction to 
 the term cotton dealer as applied to Waite, the latter having 
 always been engaged in cotton as a business, while the 
 former simply took it up after the war opened as a specu- 
 lation) with the solicitous attention of one who feels that 
 much is at stake, in what he judged might appear to Jaques 
 as an inquisitive and impertinent request, and of a charac- 
 ter naturally repugnant to all speculators, especially one of 
 Jaques's business predilections. He questioned to himself 
 whether he should not make known to Jaques what he 
 wished to transcribe from his books, and render his request 
 more simple by asking him to do it for him ; but his mili- 
 tary experience at once gave the negative, until, at least, 
 he had pushed the speculator to the utmost on the original 
 request ; for this experience had made him wary of plots, 
 and all that appertained to them; and, working in the 
 dark as he was, it was impossible for him to judge how 
 far the ramifications of the subtle Garvin's schemes might 
 have extended in the direction of this very speculator, who
 
 208 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AEMT. 
 
 perhaps held in his books the identical secret, which, if the 
 astute broker had been wise enough to foresee all the pos- 
 sible contingencies connected with his nefarious business 
 (this, however, being where the most cunning scoundrels 
 are weak), he might have provided against by enlisting the 
 speculative Jaques in his interest, though it is but justice 
 to Jaques to remark, that it could have been done only by 
 means of artful lies, as he was evidently not a man to 
 knowingly assist Garvin in his damnable undertaking. 
 
 " I assure you, sir," he said after a pause, " I would not 
 ask this favor, unusual as it must appear to you, if it did 
 not have to do with important business which I am not at 
 liberty to even hint at just now, but which I pledge you 
 does not compromise nor in the least affect you." 
 
 " Mr. Jaques," interposed Waite, " my experience with 
 General Hammond enables me to indorse, heart and hand, 
 any assurance he may give you. It was he, if you will 
 recollect, who saved me from ruin, down South, in sixty- 
 four." 
 
 The cotton speculator's face relaxed. 
 
 " My friend does not allow himself to forget that," said 
 the Veteran, while a smile flitted over his features. " Please 
 consider it nothing but an officer's duty ; who, if he had 
 not been under the fear of a court-martial, might have 
 demanded half the proceeds of that venture of Mr. Waite's 
 as a condition of performing it." 
 
 Waite shook his head, and Jaques's face relaxed yet 
 more. 
 
 " I believe," continued the Veteran, perceiving this to be 
 the moment for the final charge, " that you will grant me 
 the favor when I tell you that perhaps it may lead to as 
 important results in behalf of others, whom I cannot now 
 name, as was the result of my official action in behalf
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 209 
 
 of our friend, Mr. Waite. Come to me, sir, and ask to 
 look over my own books as an idle pastime, or from some 
 private motive which I am not sure will not compromise 
 me, and you may depend upon a positive denial ; but as- 
 sure me, as a man of honor, that much good to others may 
 result, and that it shall not affect me in the least, and, sir, 
 you shall be welcome to look from beginning to end." 
 
 The cotton speculator, whose eyes had been riveted on 
 the Veteran's commanding features, which sent forth the 
 influence of his strong will as he spoke, now gave vent to a 
 quick, yielding laugh. 
 
 " General," he said, " I make no pretence of love for the 
 Northern soldier ; on the other hand, I owe him a grudge. 
 But you have prevailed, and what no outsider has done yet 
 I '11 permit you to do. You can look at my books." 
 
 " Thank you. I simply desire to look at your invoices for 
 the summer and fall of 1864." 
 
 " Look through the whole if you want to," laughed 
 Jaques, who only offered another example of the effective 
 power of the Veteran's magnetic will. Then ordering one 
 of the book-keepers to furnish his visitor with what he 
 desired, he entered into conversation with his friend, the 
 cotton-dealer. 
 
 The Veteran being furnished with the entries of ar- 
 rivals, turned to August 25th, 1864. 
 
 At the instant his eye fell upon the record Jaques hap- 
 pened to glance toward him. 
 
 " Waite ! " he exclaimed under his breath ; " look at 
 your friend, the General ! " 
 
 The cotton-dealer looked, and he with Jaques beheld the 
 Veteran with his eye seeming to pour out his whole great 
 soul upon the page before him, and then suddenly change to 
 an expression which, to their astonished gaze, seemed fraught
 
 210 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 with impending retribution to some object of his thoughts ; 
 while his right hand, with which he had turned the leaves, 
 was clenched as if he held a sabre in his grasp. 
 
 This was only for a moment. As suddenly as they had 
 before changed, his features now assumed that air of settled 
 sternness, so habitual to them when he contemplated the ac- 
 complishment of important work demanding powerful will 
 and energy. 
 
 Then he took his memorandum-book, and they saw him 
 copy the record with a motion of his pencil which seemed 
 at each stroke as though it must leave a mark that could 
 never be effaced. 
 
 When he had finished transcribing he scanned both origi- 
 nal and copy with great care, as if each separate line were 
 an object of his scrutiny, and then closed the book with an 
 action as though he would securely shut the page from 
 the curious eyes of men. 
 
 That evening, after notifying his comrade at the Ex- 
 change as he had promised, he took the express-train for 
 New York. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WHILE plots and counter-plots are opposing each 
 other under the direction of minds subtle, power- 
 ful, and persevering, we will visit the present abode of 
 wretched unfortunates who have indirectly fallen victims 
 to the machinations of one of these minds. 
 
 We enter Baxter Street, and ascend a dilapidated tene- 
 ment, in front of which a crowd of ragged and dirty chil- 
 dren are amusing themselves by hooting after a drunkard, 
 every now and then one bolder than the rest running up
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 211 
 
 and pelting him with handfuls of the filth and garbage 
 which here reek with pestilential odors. 
 
 We mount flight after flight, the banisters here and 
 there hroken away, and threatening each moment to yield 
 under our hands, while the rickety stairs shake beneath 
 our weight at every step. 
 
 Finally after occasional halts, from an instinctive fear 
 that the stairs are really about to give way beneath us, we 
 reach the attic floor of the tenement, where we perceive two 
 doors hanging so loosely to their hinges and fastenings 
 that a child, if he should desire to enter as a burglar, could 
 break them down with his slight weight. 
 
 We knock at the first door. There is no response. We 
 glance through the cracks, and judging it is empty, we do 
 not lift the latch, but proceed to the second door. 
 
 We knock at this also. It swings on its hinges, and we 
 step into the midst of one of those scenes of woe which 
 in the great city of New York abound in such pitiable 
 numbers, and yet of which comparatively so few are 
 known to those who would reduce them. 
 
 In a low garret, not more than twelve feet square, the 
 roof broken and gaping, and the shattered skylight scarcely 
 admitting one- dull ray through the mass of old rags and 
 paper which bulge from the warped sashes, while a cold, 
 drizzling rain imparts a penetrating chill to tha noxious 
 air, in this fireless, exposed and almost sunless garret 
 were huddled together the unfortunate family of the soldier 
 Joseph Deering. 
 
 In one corner, on an old tattered mattress, lay an ema- 
 ciated lad, hardly covered by the rags which served as a 
 quilt, whom it would be difficult to recognize as that noble 
 boy we have formerly seen to sustain the spirits of his 
 mother with such exemplary fortitude, and on whom his 
 little sisters had learned to look as a protector.
 
 212 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Bending over him is his mother, scarcely less emaciated 
 than himself, giving him a drink from a stained earthen 
 mug, while at the foot of the mattress sits Mary and the 
 little crippled sister, shivering under their scanty clothes, 
 their childish faces gaunt with want and starvation. The 
 garments of mother and children seem in perfect keep- 
 ing with the dreary garret, so worn, so thin, and tattered 
 are they. 
 
 The soul yearns to fly to their rescue, and the heart 
 bleeds in the contemplation of this harrowing scene. But 
 we cannot help them, for it is only by our mental vision that 
 we behold them. Solid feet of flesh and blood must ascend 
 those shaking stairs ; a real hand must raise the broken 
 latch ; a face that actually pales at sight of this group, and 
 eyes that actually see them, and fill with pitying tears, 
 must appear at the dilapidated door before aid can come 
 to them. 
 
 Misfortune has driven these unhappy beings downward 
 with a swift and relentless hand. Since we last beheld 
 them their course to this appalling stage of destitution has 
 been like a benighted traveller tumbling headlong down 
 some rugged precipice. 
 
 Sickness had seized the mother while they lived on the 
 Bowery, and, unable to pay the rent of even these dingy 
 lodgings, they were compelled to take yet meaner quarters. 
 Here they had just begun to eke out a miserable existence 
 through the little that Joseph was able to earn by vending 
 candy on the New Jersey Central Eoad, when this devoted 
 boy was himself prostrated, and they were heartlessly driv- 
 en forth, the mother wan, emaciated, broken-hearted, and 
 poor Joseph stooping, tottering, and nearly blind with 
 his fever, to find a refuge in this. cold and gloomy garret, 
 where starvation has caught them in its tightening gripe,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 213 
 
 and Death stands waiting with his grim and sombre pres- 
 ence. 
 
 When Mrs. Deering was taken sick Joseph went to 
 West Twenty-Seventh Street to see Mrs. Paige, whom he 
 had not visited for several weeks, but on whom he had 
 promised to call at the time he announced to her his situa- 
 tion as candy-vender, if they should be threatened with new 
 difficulties ; for though Allen Paige's widow was then suf- 
 fering from the effects of her interview with Cringar and 
 Garvin, she did not forget the family of that other soldier 
 who had fallen in the same cause which had claimed the 
 life of her own husband. 
 
 This sensitive boy was met at the door, as was the Vet- 
 eran, by the man, who had, in his youthful mind, seemed 
 the incarnation of those diabolical fiends of which he had 
 often read in his story-books. 
 
 " Boy ! " cried Garvin, who, on opening the door, beheld 
 the lad that had so penetrated his guilty conscience with 
 his look on his former visit to this house, " boy ! what 
 do you want here ? " 
 
 Joseph was nigh staggering backward down the steps, as 
 he was thus greeted by the voice and visage of this malev- 
 olent being, whose presence was so abhorrent to his sensi- 
 tive mind. Steadying himself, however, he asked in a tone 
 which, though determined, quivered with his emotions, 
 
 " Is Mrs. Paige within ? " 
 
 " Mrs. Paige, you young vagabond ! " replied the broker, 
 showing his teeth. " What do you mean by your imperti- 
 nence ? Mrs. Paige is poorer than you are do you under- 
 stand ? and is probably begging! do you understand 
 me, boy ? " (Joseph stood staring with amazement and 
 grief, but could utter no response.) " And be off with you 
 and do likewise ! but dare to come here again to do it and 
 I '11 shut you up in jail ! "
 
 214 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " She don't live here, then ? " stammered Joseph, who 
 was determined to have an answer to his question, not- 
 withstanding his injured pride, his grief and confusion. 
 
 " You young scapegrace ! " exclaimed Garvin, showing a 
 few more of his teeth, " this house is occupied by me ! Did 
 I not just tell you that she was poorer than you are ? No, 
 you impudent soldier's cub, she does not live here ! She 
 lodges as you do ! Be off ! " 
 
 "Where " 
 
 Before Joseph, who had wonderful persistence, could say 
 any more, Garvin slammed the door in his face, and the 
 confounded hoy heard his vindictive footsteps receding 
 through the hall. 
 
 When Mrs. Deering heard from the lips of her son the 
 recital of what we have just related, her heart beat in 
 sympathy and sorrow for those who had been in the past 
 so kind to them, and her own trials were for the mo- 
 ment forgotten in the thought of their probable suffer- 
 ings ; and the first impulse was to urge her boy to try if 
 he could not make enough at his candy-vending and occa- 
 sional choring to enable them to offer some return to 
 these friends, who in their prosperity had been so kind 
 to them. 
 
 But, alas! Joseph's sickness forbade even the first ef- 
 fort toward carrying out so noble an impulse, and now, 
 instead of proffering a testimonial of their gratitude to 
 those who had so often aided them, they are presented to 
 our eyes in a state of such deep despair that it would seem 
 as if thoughts of the world around them had ceased to 
 move their souls. 
 
 At the instant our gaze fell upon them the mother was 
 moistening the parched lips of her boy with water from 
 the earthen mug. She knelt by the side of the tattered
 
 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 215 
 
 mattress, which was stretched on the floor, there being no 
 bed or other furniture except a single broken chair. 
 
 Joseph, whose head she slightly raised, took a little 
 of the water, and then fell back exhausted and painfully 
 gasping. 
 
 Mrs. Deering passed her thin, worn hand over his fore- 
 head. 
 
 He turned his eyes toward her, and even in his helpless 
 condition his tender filial care and affection displayed it- 
 self. 
 
 " Mother," he murmured, scarcely able to speak above a 
 whisper, while his voice was broken by his ominous gasps, 
 " your poor thin arm trembles very much. Don't 
 please trouble yourself any more for me." 
 
 This arm was the one on which she rested, as she bent 
 over him. 
 
 The mother remained silent, her arm still trembling un- 
 der its but too slight weight, while her hollow eyes looked 
 as if tears had ceased to flow from their exhausted foun- 
 tains. 
 
 Joseph again spoke. 
 
 " Thank you, dear mother. I feel better 
 now " ; and then with an effort that sadly contradicted his 
 words, he turned his head away, and lay like one dying. 
 
 She withdrew the hand, and letting it drop mechanically 
 upon the mattress, raised her tearless eyes to heaven. 
 
 Her appearance at this moment would have excited in 
 the breast of the beholder the deepest commiseration. 
 Kneeling there on the floor of that desolate garret, witli 
 either hand resting on the torn mattress, her thin, gaunt 
 form bent with suffering, while it perceptibly shivered with 
 the cold, damp, penetrating air, and her sick boy lying be- 
 fore her wasted nigh unto death with both fever and star-
 
 216 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 vation, all this was of a character to awaken in the soul 
 the profoundest pity, not unmingled with a feeling as if 
 death in this group was making itself visible. But as the 
 gaze rested on her upturned eyes, there was presented in 
 the whole a picture in which was realized the appalling 
 solemnity of the spirit, still confined within its earthly 
 tabernacle, reaching out beyond the dark presence of im- 
 pending death, and pouring forth the awful anguish of its 
 tearless, almost emotionless despair into that invisible world, 
 which seemed to have closed in upon her while the visible 
 had receded from her presence. 
 
 The endless turmoil of the great metropolis, the strug- 
 gles of ambition, the strife for wealth, all vain displays, 
 and acts of hardened pride, pass in imagination by this 
 silent figure of despair, and in the contrast appear an 
 empty, mocking train, shadows, as it were, before the 
 dread reality. 
 
 A human being, driven by incessant blows of misfortune 
 to the uttermost depths of poverty and desolation, in the 
 midst of a great community, as hopeless of aid as the dy- 
 ing wanderer lost in some boundless desert, is an object 
 that never fails to move the most hardened heart, un- 
 less it be of some monster who may have worked for the 
 accomplishment of this very end, and the cry of sym- 
 pathy and horror which goes up throughout the land, 
 when such a case is discovered and made known, is the 
 strongest evidence that the great public heart is equal to 
 the prevention, through charity, of this suffering, if efficient 
 means are but adopted to bring it before the public eye. 
 
 As this desolate and dying mother of sick and dying- 
 children thus remains without motion, her eyes cast toward 
 heaven with the glassiness of that last terrible moment, 
 when the soul prepares itself for insanity or death, the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 217 
 
 heart of one who looks upon this scene is torn with sym- 
 pathetic grief. 
 
 By one of those coincidences which so often occur, and 
 which seem to have assigned to them a special part in the 
 great drama of humanity, we see the two mothers of the 
 soldiers' families which occupy so prominent a place in our 
 narration, each brought first to a state of privation by the 
 death of the husband and father, and then plunged into the 
 darkness of sorrow by the dangerous illness of her darling 
 boy. But, oh ! if Mrs. Paige, when her heart was wellnigh 
 breaking with grief, could have had suddenly revealed to 
 her by the hand of Heaven the appalling anguish of this 
 other soldier's widow, her heart would have forgotten its 
 own agony in pity for her sister's woe. 
 
 While this unhappy widow of the soldier whose bones 
 were mouldering near the spot where he fell in defence of 
 the Union was thus transfixed by her mute despair, her 
 dying boy lay silent, as he had turned when she withdrew 
 her hand from his head. 
 
 Presently he turned back sufficiently to cast his feeble 
 glance upon his mother. As he did so his gaze became 
 suddenly fastened on her uplifted face, and two tears com- 
 menced rolling down his emaciated cheeks. 
 
 " Mother ! " he uttered in his weak, gasping tones, " dear 
 mother ! look on your boy Joseph ! " 
 
 The mother continued for an instant fixed in the atti- 
 tude in which Joseph had beheld her. Then a quiver 
 shook her frame, and her glassy eyes were directed to her 
 boy. 
 
 A divine smile rested on his worn and pallid countenance ; 
 and while the tears were slowly stealing down his cheeks, 
 his eyes beamed with a light that seemed the reflection of 
 heaven. 
 
 10
 
 218 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 When she looked down upon him he turned his gaze 
 upward, and in a voice which, though labored, was per- 
 vaded by an ineffable sweetness, he said, 
 
 " Dear mother, God is near ! " 
 
 The poor woman continued to look at him with tearless 
 eyes, while her body bent gradually toward him. 
 
 He again turned his gaze upon her, and his heaven- 
 full eye beamed into hers. 
 
 At that instant she thought she heard angels singing 
 in the air above her. Through the broken roof the heavenly 
 visitors seemed to come and go, coming to behold, and 
 going to bring others that they inignt see her boy Joseph, 
 who was so much like them ; who, ever being so near to 
 God, could never know the chastisement of despair. 
 
 Her eyes were fastened upon his for a while, dry and with 
 no motion of the lids, while all the time the presence of the 
 angels seemed to her a beautiful reality. 
 
 " Mother," again said Joseph, " father is very near to 
 us!" 
 
 On the utterance of these words the mother's lids began 
 to relax, dampness suffused those eyes which had given such 
 dread signs of an impending mortal wreck, and lifting her 
 right hand from the mattress she placed it on Joseph's head. 
 Then, as the tears slowly welled up from those fountains 
 which had so long refused their blessed relief, she looked 
 above, and in tones nearly as weak as her boy's, but strong 
 in their fervor, she solemnly invoked upon him the bless- 
 ings of an ever- watchful Heaven. 
 
 And then slowly her hand settled upon the roll that served 
 the sick boy for a pillow, and her head bent gradually down, 
 the tears now coming thick and fast, while the angelic com- 
 pany above seemed departing with songs of prophetic joy. 
 
 Yielding at length .to the full sway of her long pent-up
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 219 
 
 emotions, the now profoundly agitated mother laid her head 
 beside that of her boy, and gave vent to an outburst of 
 weeping. 
 
 Suddenly Joseph, whose hearing was at the present time 
 preternaturally acute, gave a quick start, and slightly rais- 
 ing his head bent it forward to listen. 
 
 " It inquires for us," he faintly exclaimed. 
 
 The mother looked up, and wiping the tears from her eyes, 
 gazed upon her son with an expression of alarm, for she 
 thought he heard those voices which presage death. 
 
 Mary and the little crippled Etta, who, overcome with 
 cold and hunger, had been shivering and silent witnesses of 
 the foregoing scene, also stared upon Joseph as he started 
 up so suddenly and uttered words so wild. 
 
 " What do you hear, my son ? " said the mother, sooth- 
 ingly. 
 
 " The voice. It inquires for Mrs. Leering, and he is 
 coming ! " 
 
 As Joseph uttered these words his hollow eyes opened 
 wide, and were directed with an intense gaze toward the 
 door. , 
 
 The mother cast one quick glance to heaven, and then di- 
 recting her gaze also toward the door, she listened intently. 
 
 Soon she heard energetic footsteps ascending the stairs 
 below. 
 
 They reached the second landing, and then stopped. 
 
 Then a female voice cried out, 
 
 " You must go to the top ! " 
 
 Again the steps were heard ascending, the frail stairs 
 creaking as they mounted. 
 
 In another moment they resounded on the floor outside, 
 and then the latch was raised, and a man with a kind, 
 hearty face opened the door.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 He started back, and his countenance assumed a look of 
 horror. 
 
 " Great God ! " he exclaimed. " Is this a soldier's 
 family I " 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 WE will pass to another scene. About five o'clock 
 on the afternoon of the second day following the 
 visit of the Veteran to Boston, Daniel Garvin had just 
 crossed from Brooklyn by the Fulton Ferry, and was 
 going up the slip, when he felt himself plucked by the 
 sleeve. He turned, and beheld the anxious features of 
 Baling, the cotton speculator. 
 
 " A moment with you, if you can possibly spare it," said 
 the latter in a low, hasty voice. 
 
 Garvin at once led the way to the waiting-room. 
 
 " What is it ? " inquired Garvin in a tone indicating a 
 mind ill at ease, as soon as they had seated themselves in 
 a distant part of the room. 
 
 " Jaques & Co. have had a visitor this week" 
 
 " Jaques & Co.?" 
 
 " Cotton-dealers in Boston." 
 
 " What of them ? " demanded Garvin, in a startled voice 
 of apprehension. 
 
 " They bought Paige's cotton of Peeling & Co." 
 
 The broker's face grew dark. 
 
 "Who called on them ?" 
 
 " Jaques, who was in my place this morning, and who, 
 you are aware, knows nothing of this Paige affair " 
 
 " The man who called is what I want."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 221 
 
 " I am coming to it. Jaques was talking about business 
 affairs in Boston, when presently he commenced telling me 
 of this visitor ' 
 
 " Who ? who was the man ? " 
 
 " He described him as a tall man, of imposing appear- 
 ance, with a deep scar on his face, introduced to him by 
 Waite, a brother dealer, as General Hammond," replied 
 Baling, casting on Garvin a glance full of significance. 
 
 The broker audibly ground his teeth. 
 
 " He said," continued Baling, " that this General Ham- 
 mond was very anxious to look at his cotton entries for the 
 summer and fall of 1864, and that he was determined to 
 refuse at first ; but the man had such a commanding and 
 seductive way with him, besides having saved his friend 
 Waite from ruin in the South during the war " 
 
 " That he let him look ! " again interrupted Garvin with 
 a malignant, yet apprehensive sneer. 
 
 " He did." 
 
 " No more ! Not a moment is to be lost ! " And the 
 broker hastened from the waiting-room, that grinding step 
 having now mingled with it evidences of nervousness and 
 confusion. 
 
 " May every Union soldier, sound or crippled, be cursed, 
 if there is a God to curse them ! " muttered this inwardly 
 quaking blasphemer, as he pursued his way up Fulton 
 Street. " This presumptuous giant thinks, then, to crush 
 me under his clumsy carcass ! We will see ! " Then rub- 
 bing his forehead with a rapid and savage-like motion for 
 an instant, he said with fierce impatience, " His first move ? 
 Where does he strike ? " 
 
 For a few moments he seemed in perplexed thought. 
 Then suddenly increasing his already rapid step into a long 
 stride, he exclaimed,
 
 222 THE VETEEAN OF THE CEAND AEMY. 
 
 " Cringar, you grovelling imbecile ! if he has put on 
 the screws and you have given in with your idiotic snivel- 
 ling, woe be to you ! I '11 soon put you under inspection ! " 
 ***** 
 
 It is about an hour previous to the foregoing scene. 
 The reader is introduced into the private office of Jonas 
 Cringar. 
 
 The merchant is now given to long spells of lonely rumi- 
 nations, if by such a term can be called the silent but 
 terrible chastisements of remorse that holds him like one 
 petrified with horror, and presents to his guilty soul those 
 pictures which only remorse can summon to the inward 
 eye. 
 
 But terrible as were these inflictions of a violated con- 
 science, they did not alone operate to reduce this victim 
 of another's wiles to his present wretched and miserable 
 condition. Over him was continually held the lash of fear 
 by the unrelenting Garvin. 
 
 In the hands of the ever-watchful broker was held the 
 damning evidence of crime, by which his irretrievable ruin 
 could be compassed at any moment. But besides the 
 forgery Garvin always carried in his breast-pocket, to 
 which pocket we have seen him direct the eyes of the 
 cowering merchant at certain stages of their former inter- 
 views, this master of atrocious schemes held another source 
 of power by which to govern his abject accomplice. 
 
 It will be recollected that among other criminal acts 
 committed by Jonas Cringar, in that downward course in 
 speculation which had been directed by the treacherous 
 broker, was the defalcation of forty thousand dollars, as 
 treasurer of the Bald Eagle Silver Mining Company. 
 This defalcation, the reader will also remember, Garvin was 
 to help Cringar provide against, in consideration of what,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 223 
 
 with a sort of grim humor, he termed unsuccessful ven- 
 tures with him in Wall Street, and for the base work he 
 was expected to perform in the future. 
 
 As will be readily seen, the broker's own interest de- 
 manded that this defalcation be shielded from discovery ; 
 for inasmuch as the merchant, as Allen Paige's partner, was 
 the chief and most reliable instrument in his hands for the 
 accomplishment of his infamous purpose, it was necessary 
 that Cringar's credit, before the world, should remain un- 
 tarnished. He had, therefore, purchased stock in the Bald 
 Eagle Company, and, through his powerful influence, first 
 been made a Director, and then by those means which all 
 who have been intimately connected with joint-stock com- 
 panies will readily comprehend, the payment of dividends 
 was postponed, and time secured for such manipulations as 
 were necessary to accomplish his object. 
 
 But this arch schemer was not so simple as to keep his 
 promise made to the ruined merchant, that he would, by 
 giving him credit for margins, put him on the up grade of 
 speculative profits, and thus enable him to relieve himself 
 of his terrible financial embarrassment. On the other hand, 
 he continued to hold him over the same gulf above which 
 he dangled in the opening of our story, while he compelled 
 his tongue and hands to move like some wretched autom- 
 aton, at the bidding of his own will. 
 
 As the reader is now ushered inj;o his presence, Jonas 
 Cringar sits lost to the existence of the outer world, and 
 looks more than usually haggard and abstracted. 
 
 His mind has been more frequently buried than ever in 
 the deep gloom of criminal darkness and remorse, since the 
 fearful interview with Daniel Garvin, at the latter's office, 
 which we last recorded. 
 
 In the midst of the appalling blasphemy of the broker,
 
 224 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 combined as it was with expressions, threats, and an appear- 
 ance, calculated to drive almost to frenzy his already shat- 
 tered mind, the merchant now ever in his tormenting im- 
 agination heard the laughter peal, and saw the impish face 
 of simple Sal, as it was horribly presented to his startled 
 gaze, pressed against the window-pane ; while from the 
 mouth issued that song of idiotic gibberish, which to his 
 guilty spirit seemed fraught with the prophecy of doom. 
 
 As he now sits before us, his torturing fancies revert 
 again and again to this scene. The laughter, the face, the 
 song are incessantly in his ears and before his eyes ; and 
 ever and anon he repeats those words, which, sung by a 
 mischievous idiot, have power to haunt his guilty soul as if 
 uttered by unearthly voices, 
 
 " My gentle sirs, be very kind / 
 Your candle 's out, 
 My gentle sirs ! 
 You 'LL BE FOUND our, 
 
 MY GENTLE SIRS ! 
 
 But gentle me you cannot find I " 
 
 While an outraged conscience was thus lashing this un- 
 happy merchant's soul, a visitor entered the outer counting- 
 room who seemed to have come at this particular hour by 
 command of the dread Nemesis. 
 
 It was the Veteran. 
 
 Billings, the book-deeper, was at that moment the only 
 person in the counting-room. 
 
 He stepped forward, took the Veteran's hand, and in a 
 low voice said, 
 
 " He is within, and has given orders, as usual, not to be 
 interrupted. He's growing worse every day. I really 
 think we have reason to pity him." 
 
 "Sinful as he has been, he has evidently been sinned
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GKAND AEMY. 225 
 
 against," returned the Veteran, gravely. " I would see him 
 at once." 
 
 " That you shall, orders or no orders. He has been par- 
 ticularly blue to-day, and I 'm inclined to think he 's in a 
 good condition to come under your hands." 
 
 With this the book-keeper opened the door of the private 
 office. 
 
 Cringar, who was at the instant repeating the idiot's 
 prophecy for the fiftieth time, heard the turning of the 
 door-knob, and gazed up with a startled frown. But 
 instantly he beheld the grand and severe countenance of 
 the Veteran he sank back in his chair, while an expression 
 of abject terror displayed itself on his cadaverous visage. 
 
 A description of this stern, battle-scarred stranger had 
 been given the now trembling merchant by Daniel Garvin, 
 who, from the hour he was confronted by him in the house 
 which he had robbed from the family of his half-brother, 
 could not shake from his mind the haunting conviction 
 that in that visitor, whose glance had for the second time 
 caused him to quail, he had found a dangerous and untiring 
 foe, against whom it was necessary for his victimized and 
 unskilled accomplice to be warned. 
 
 The Veteran closed the door, and stood contemplating 
 the terrified wretch in silence. 
 
 The merchant could not remove his gaze from the deep, 
 searching eye that was upon him, which he felt to be read- 
 ing his guilty soul to its innermost depths ; and as his vis- 
 itor sustained his own gaze, his eye seeming each moment 
 to increase in its penetrating power, this miserable man 
 began to feel as if oppressed by some frightful nightmare, 
 and his whole being seemed ready to give vent to one pro- 
 longed cry. 
 
 At length the Veteran seated himself, and still sternly 
 - 10*
 
 226 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 contemplating the terror-stricken merchant, he said in a 
 low deep voice, which to his auditor's ears sounded like the 
 voice of his inexorable judge, 
 
 " Is this Jonas Cringar, executor of the estate of Allen 
 Paige?" 
 
 The merchant appeared incapable of speaking, for his 
 voice seemed lost in the gaze, which still remained rivet- 
 ed, as if frozen with nightmare, on his visitor's judge-like 
 visage. 
 
 The Veteran repeated his inquiry, 
 
 " Is this Jonas Cringar, executor of the estate of Allen 
 Paige ? " 
 
 On the repetition of this question Jonas Cringar aroused 
 himself, and in a subdued, broken voice answered, 
 
 " That is my name." 
 
 "You have associated with you one Daniel Garvin, 
 broker ? " 
 
 Instantly the sound of Daniel Garvin's name fell on his 
 ears the merchant experienced, in an extraordinary manner, 
 the effect of another power in opposition to that now ex- 
 erted by his questioner. It was the power of him whose 
 name had been pronounced. 
 
 It at once served to bring fear into opposition with fright. 
 On the utterance of the name, Cringar instinctively withdrew 
 his eye from the Veteran's, and cast a hasty, startled glance 
 at the window. Then rising he went to this window and 
 gave the curtain a twitch, though it was already drawn, 
 and then with a sweeping stare around the room he resumed 
 his seat, while the perspiration began to appear from the 
 internal commotion into which the presence of the Veteran 
 and the utterance of the broker's name had precipitated 
 him. 
 
 The Veteran did not fail to observe closely this sudden
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 227 
 
 display of a conflicting fear ; he surmised the cause of it, 
 and immediately made up his mind how he should act. 
 
 " Mr. Cringar," he said, in a modulated and yet dignified 
 tone, " am I not justly informed that yourself and Daniel 
 Garvin are executors of the late Allen Paige's estate ? " 
 
 " I must refer you, sir," answered Cringar, with a sort 
 of desperate firmness, " to Mr. Garvin, if you wish informa- 
 tion on this business." 
 
 " Indeed, Mr. Cringar, I had supposed, you having been 
 Mr. Paige's partner, and I also having been given to under- 
 stand that your relations with him were very intimate, that 
 I could obtain certain information from you of all others." 
 
 As the Veteran uttered this speech, he had allowed his 
 voice and manner to approach gradually that degree of depth 
 and severity which he had momentarily relinquished. 
 
 The merchant felt this change, but the stormy visage of 
 Daniel Garvin, together with that repulsive hand directed 
 to the side-pocket in which he carried his large wallet, came 
 up before him, and casting another glance toward the cur- 
 tained window, he said with peevish impatience, 
 
 " When Mr. Paige was living I knew more than any one 
 else about his business ; but now he is dead, you must go 
 to another man." 
 
 "Jonas Cringar ! " exclaimed the Veteran in a voice of vast 
 but subdued power, " does not the dead Allen Paige some- 
 times engage your guilty thoughts?" And leaning his 
 massive form slightly forward, his face assumed that ap- 
 pearance of overwhelming power we have formerly wit- 
 nessed, while his stern gray eye was bent on the merchant 
 with a look before which this gasping wretch shrank as 
 from the eye of Heaven. 
 
 Blanching to a deadly pallidness, Jonas Cringar stared 
 upon the Veteran Avith open mouth, his haggard features
 
 228 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 drawn, and slightly quivering. The avenging spirit of his 
 former partner seemed to his frenzied imagination to be 
 lending his supernatural aid to the power of that annihi- 
 lating gaze. Mechanically reaching for the arms of the 
 large chair in which he sat, he grasped them in his long 
 bony fingers, which trembled as if stricken with palsy. 
 
 "Allen Paige ! " he gasped, " what do you know of the 
 dead Allen Paige ? " 
 
 The Veteran did not answer, but continued that terrible 
 gaze, which seemed scorching the merchant's soul, and roll- 
 ing it up like a heated parchment. 
 
 For an instant Jonas Cringar, by a sort of preternatural 
 fascination, lost sight of the definite form and features of 
 his terrible visitor; and in their place there appeared to 
 his guilt-distorted fancy the image of Allen Paige, casting 
 upon him that last expiring look, that mute appeal, which 
 had haunted him by day and by night, until he were ready 
 to cry from depths, compared to which the effort of the 
 actor on the stage is but simple mouthing, 
 
 " STILL IT CRIED, SLEEP NO MORE ! " 
 
 At length his gaping mouth spasmodically closed 
 itself, and then in a suppressed, but agonized voice, he 
 shrieked, 
 
 " Allen ! before God, my heart was not guilty ! " 
 
 This seemed to break the spell. Immediately those 
 haunting, ghostly features vanished, and in their place still 
 remained, confronting him, the silent, immovable, and 
 sombre visage of his visitor. 
 
 His hands relaxed their hold of the arms of his chair, 
 and then with a profound sigh, in which was mingled the 
 ejaculation, " my God ! " he carried them to his face. 
 
 The Veteran still remained silent. 
 
 Suddenly the merchant sprang to his feet, and with an-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 229 
 
 other of those frightened glances at the window, he broke 
 into a storm of invective, pouring out upon the Veteran a 
 torrent of insane fury. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVIII. 
 
 THE Veteran sat heneath Jonas Cringar's sudden and 
 unexpected attack with the same calmness with 
 which he had, day after day, sat in his saddle in the midst 
 of Rebel shot and shell. He was a profound student of 
 the human soul, and accordingly did not fail to understand 
 the symptoms of the merchant's insane fury ; and we can- 
 not better liken this remarkable scene than to the mad- 
 dened waves dashing in foam and spray against some lofty 
 rock-ribbed cliff. 
 
 Finally Cringar was on the verge of being overcome by 
 his own foaming rage, which was lashed on by pictures of 
 the impending vengeance of Daniel Garvin. He evidently 
 realized this, and with one last effort he advanced upon his 
 silent visitor with clenched fist, and in a voice to be com- 
 pared only to the frenzied utterance of men, who, overcome 
 in battle by rage and fright, will rush with gaping mouth 
 and wide-stretched eyes upon the bayonet or sabre-point, 
 he cried, 
 
 " Liar ! spy ! insulter of a weak and broken man ! be- 
 gone ! begone I say ! or I '11 give you into the hands of 
 the police ! " 
 
 " Hush ! " commanded the object of this outburst in a 
 calm, admonitory voice, at the same time waving his hand 
 toward the door, " hush ! or you will be heard ! "
 
 230 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " I care not ! Your black-mail game has failed here : so 
 be gone ! Be off, I say ! " 
 
 The door at this moment was slightly opened, and Bil- 
 lings, the book-keeper, looked in. 
 
 The Veteran now rose, and drawing a paper from his 
 pocket, he put his mouth to Cringar's ear and exclaimed in 
 a voice of muttering thunder, 
 
 " Shall I proclaim your guilt in the open ears of the 
 entire city ! " Then presenting the paper to his astounded 
 gaze he said, " This is my evidence ! " 
 
 The merchant dropped into his chair as from a stroke of 
 electricity, and the book-keeper softly closed the door. 
 
 It seemed the fate of this miserable man to have some 
 damning written evidence of his crimes thrust before his 
 eyes, at the moment of arousing himself to the highest 
 pitch of what, to his frenzied mind, might perchance have 
 appeared annihilating fury. The reader will recollect that 
 the destroying evidence in the hands of Daniel Garvin over- 
 whelmed him under somewhat similar circumstances. 
 
 This was the paper which we have just seen produce so 
 remarkable an effect on the astounded merchant : 
 
 " One hundred eleven (111) Bales of Cotton, bought by 
 F. Jaques & Co., Boston, of A. M. Peerling & Co., Brokers, 
 New York, August 23d, 1864 
 
 " MARKS, A. N. Z." 
 
 The Veteran proceeded quietly to open another paper, 
 and holding it before Cringar said in a calm voice, 
 
 " Here is a list of quotations, dating from August 1st to 
 October 1st." 
 
 The merchant looked at this list mechanically for a mo-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 231 
 
 merit, and then falling back in a sort of stupor, scalding 
 tears began to trickle down his haggard cheeks, and in a 
 voice of unutterable despair he exclaimed, 
 
 " My God ! the idiot's song ! Who can save me now ! " 
 
 " Confide in me, and I will do my utmost for you," said 
 the Veteran. 
 
 Cringar did riot seem to hear at first ; but continued in a 
 half-conscious state, while the tears slowly forced them- 
 selves from his weary, bloodshot eyes. 
 
 The Veteran contemplated this human wreck with sen- 
 timents of sincere commiseration. 
 
 At length the merchant looked up in the midst of his 
 tears, and, as if he had but just heard the assurance ad- 
 dressed to him, said, 
 
 " You will help me, do you say ? " 
 
 " Yes. I pledge you my word that if you will but con- 
 fide in me, and reveal all you know of this business, I will 
 spare no effort to shield you from such harm as it is in the 
 power of man to prevent." 
 
 " Your name ? " 
 
 This brief question was uttered in an indescribable 
 voice. 
 
 " Julius Hammond." 
 
 " Julius Hammond ? " repeated the merchant, who be- 
 gan to show signs of returning life. " General of Union 
 cavalry ? " 
 
 " The same." 
 
 " I have heard of you. Your honor and humanity I can- 
 not doubt." 
 
 As Jonas Cringar uttered these words he dropped his 
 head, closed his eyes, and drawing a long heavy sigh, 
 seemed lost, for the time being, to all that surrounded him. 
 
 The Veteran had not miscalculated.
 
 232 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The striking appearance of his physiognomy, as observed 
 by Jaques and Waite while he was copying the entry from 
 the former's book, will be remembered by the reader. It 
 presaged danger to those he was arrayed against. From that 
 entry he bore away with him a weapon which in his hands 
 was destined, as we have seen, to be formidable. Having, 
 from the descriptions given him, formed a clear conception 
 of the character and present moral and mental condition of 
 Jonas Cringar, he did not deem it necessary to further risk 
 exposing his plans to the enemy by an attempt to gain add- 
 ed information of Peeling & Co., whom he perceived by the 
 entry to have been the New York brokers that sold to 
 Jaques & Co., but determined to move at once upon the 
 shattered merchant, calculating with a judgment that had 
 often confounded the Rebels at the moment they saw vic- 
 tory perching on their banners, that he could by an opening 
 charge so demoralize the object of his attack, as, at the 
 right moment, to overwhelm him with the evidence he now 
 possessed. We have witnessed the result. 
 
 The potent mental force which he brought to bear upon 
 the weakened and distracted mind of Jonas Crin<rar was 
 
 O 
 
 aided in a remarkable degree by the superstitious and 
 guilty terror with which, as we have seen, his thoughts 
 had almost incessantly reverted to the song of Simple Sal, 
 and pictured it as the prophecy of an impending doom ; so 
 that when, at the height of his crazy reaction, his accuser 
 with crushing power suddenly confronted him with the 
 paper, whose contents we have transcribed, his diseased 
 fancy instantaneously conjured up the hideous face of the 
 singing idiot grinning from the midst of the writing before 
 him, while into his soul seemed to thunder the judgment 
 he had dreaded with such awful premonition. This state 
 of frenzied commotion did not at first permit him to ques-
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 233 
 
 tion whether his visitor could compass his and Garvin's 
 downfall by means of this evidence ; the picture of certain 
 retribution and final ruin, as held in the hands of this 
 strange man, was the only object presented to his mental 
 vision. 
 
 But as he now sat with head dropped and eyes closed, 
 he realized that this man pitied him, and his mind began 
 confusedly to revolve the situation into which he found 
 himself so, suddenly and unexpectedly thrown. 
 
 At length the Veteran broke the silence. 
 
 " Mr. Cringar," he said, in a low, soothing voice, with a 
 tenderness singularly characteristic of men of his physical 
 and mental power, " the evidence I hold in my possession 
 is for the purpose of saving a wronged family from the fate 
 to which a heartless and unprincipled man would consign 
 them. This man I propose to punish, but not you. You 
 have done great wrong to this family, but you can atone 
 for it." 
 
 These words penetrated to the depths of the merchant's 
 heart. He was moved by an almost overpowering impulse 
 to throw himself before the Veteran like a child, and utter 
 aloud all that was passing within him. 
 
 But a remarkable revulsion took place. 
 
 Suddenly opening his eyes he rose to his feet, and with 
 one more of those fearful glances at the curtained window, 
 he exclaimed in a frenzied voice, at the same time smiting 
 his breast, 
 
 " God ! how that reckless act has bound me here ! " 
 
 The Veteran gazed upon him in astonishment. 
 
 Cringar instantly reseated himself and sat for a while in 
 silence, startled by his own outburst. Then after another 
 internal struggle he addressee! the Veteran. 
 
 " General Hammond," he said, " I am in the power of a
 
 234 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. 
 
 man who, so long as lie holds that power, can and will de- 
 stroy me the instant it is for his interest to do so. I pray 
 you believe me, sir, when I say that I am ready to do 
 everything I possibly can, even to the giving of my life if 
 necessary and God knows it would not be giving much 
 now ! to atone for the part I have taken in wronging the 
 family of my former partner, whom, sir, I esteemed and 
 loved." His voice was here choked ; controlling his emo- 
 tions, he went on : " But, sir, this man, Daniel Garvin, 
 of whom- you have just spoken, carries constantly about him 
 a paper by which he can crush me at any moment, and 
 render useless any attempt you may make through me to 
 restore to their rights those whom he, with my constrained 
 assistance, has so wickedly defrauded." 
 
 " What is the nature of this paper ? " 
 
 " A note." 
 
 " Only a note ? " 
 
 " An indorsement." 
 
 " Simply an indorsement ? " 
 
 " To you alone I tell it : an indorsement forged by my 
 hand." 
 
 The Veteran did not speak. 
 
 " A reckless act ; done, sir, in a moment of desperation, 
 when threatened with ruin by speculation, as many another 
 criminal act has been done by many another man in this 
 city within these past few years. I realized not what I 
 was doing, General Hammond, until it w r as done." 
 
 The merchant then confessed to the Veteran the manner 
 in which he had been led on to his ruin, through the 
 agency of speculation, by Daniel Garvin, and was then 
 made use of to carry out the broker's long-contemplated 
 plot against the name and family of Allen Paige. 
 
 In the course of this confession Cringar conveyed to his
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 235 
 
 listener a full idea of the position which Garvin then 
 occupied, the power he wielded, the manner in which he 
 held the Paige estate, and the instrumentalities he had at 
 command in connection with it. 
 
 The Veteran, as will be readily imagined, lent to this 
 recital an earnest attention. His comprehensive mind 
 grasped the whole situation as Cringar unfolded the details 
 that composed it. He perceived that, whatever might be 
 the ultimate result of his other criminal acts, in the unfor- 
 tunate forgery, of which Cringar had been so recklessly 
 guilty, lay an insuperable barrier to his progress, so long 
 as it remained in the hands of Daniel Garvin. He saw at 
 a glance, that the subtle broker had so marshalled his other 
 forces, that if Cringar, whom he evidently had never trusted, 
 should finally threaten to be dangerous, he could instantly 
 destroy him by means of the damning evidence of crime 
 he possessed, and then hold his position against all " bab- 
 bling " he might indulge in. This leader of cavalry had 
 not been unobservant of the labyrihthian courses of the law. 
 That possession was " nine points " of it he was very thor- 
 oughly convinced, especially when this possession was 
 backed up by moneyed power and influence in New York 
 City. He saw that if he were to undertake to use Cringar 
 as evidence, and move directly against the broker with that 
 forgery in his possession, he not only would himself give 
 the signal for Cringar's immediate destruction, but would 
 plunge the whole business into a contest where money in 
 unlimited amounts must be supplied, or defeat inevitably 
 result. 
 
 Strategy, not money, must do the work for him. Mind 
 he could depend upon ; money he had not for such a con- 
 test. 
 
 As he now sat in that office, while Cringar watched him
 
 236 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 with intense anxiety, these things passed in swift review 
 before his mind. He had accomplished much up to this 
 moment, but he realized that work was before him, and a 
 false step would ruin all. 
 
 His decision was taken; and Cringar experienced an 
 indefinable hope as he witnessed the expression of that 
 decision on those grand features, which, but a short time 
 before, had so terrified him. 
 
 The Veteran rose to depart. 
 
 " Mr. Cringar," he said, " I must enjoin upon you, in this 
 matter, absolute secrecy and silence." 
 
 The merchant bowed his head. 
 
 A pause ensued ; and then Cringar, in a broken voice, 
 said, 
 
 " The boy, Albert, I heard he was very ill." And with 
 a smile of unspeakable sadness he added, " Mr. Cringar was 
 a great favorite of his." 
 
 " The boy," answered the Veteran, feelingly, " is out of 
 danger, and is doing well." 
 
 He moved toward the door as he spoke, while the mer- 
 chant, having fallen back in his chair apparently exhausted 
 by this interview, sat with his eyes cast to the floor, a prey 
 to melancholy thoughts. The departing visitor had scarcely 
 opened the door when a well-known voice was heard out- 
 side. 
 
 The instant this voice struck the ears of the exhausted 
 and abstracted Cringar, he seemed to forget all else, and 
 the old look of terror took possession of his countenance. 
 His whole body trembled violently, and the cold sweat 
 started oiit anew upon his forehead. 
 
 " Fear not," said the Veteran in a firm but soothing tone, 
 as he turned and beheld the effect this voice had produced 
 on the merchant. " It is not his interest at present to 
 destroy your reputation."
 
 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 237 
 
 He then passed out, closing the door behind him. 
 
 He was met by Daniel Garvin, who, having stopped to 
 question the book-keeper, was now advancing toward the 
 private office. 
 
 The broker's malevolent eye shot forth a gleam of defiant 
 and revengeful rage, which the Veteran met with a glance 
 fraught with what the book-keeper afterwards described as 
 that deadly calmness which, in a voyage to the tropics, 
 made a few years previous, he had observed to be ominous 
 of an approaching tempest. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 THE scene we have depicted occurred on Thursday. 
 Friday the Veteran sat in his room, deeply engaged in 
 revolving plans for the intricate work that was before him, 
 when Prescott Marland was ushered in. 
 
 " General ! " he exclaimed, " I have just seen two as pre- 
 cious scoundrels as walk the streets of New York ! " 
 
 " Indeed ! and who are they, pray ? " 
 
 " Slaycut and Drorblude ! " 
 
 " Slaycut and Drorblude ! " repeated the Veteran. 
 
 " The same ! " cried Prescott, snapping his fingers. " And 
 if I don't draw blood out of both of 'em, then I 'm no friend 
 of the Paige family, that 's all ! " 
 
 The Veteran smiled. There was an irresistible tendency 
 on the part of Prescott to make this grave man smile, no 
 matter under what circumstances. If the latter had, like 
 an old Eoman consul, been in position where he must con- 
 demn this young friend to death, it were a question whether 
 the condemned would not have compelled a significant
 
 238 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 relaxation of his judge's features, before he had done with 
 him. 
 
 " I will tell you how it was," continued Marland. " You 
 see I happened to be in Cringar's place to speak with Bil- 
 lings, when I heard the sound of voices in the private office. 
 I recognized Garvin's and Cringar's ; but I was more par- 
 ticularly struck with the others. There was something 
 about them that sounded familiar, and I asked Billings 
 who was in there. 
 
 " ' Slaycut and Drorblude talking with Garvin and Grin- 
 gar,' said he. 
 
 " ' What, the men who held Allen Paige's notes for min- 
 ing stock ? ' cried I, all of a sudden smelling a mighty big 
 rat. 
 
 "'Hush!' whispered Billings. 'Not so loud! They 
 are the gentlemen named in the inventory put in by Grin- 
 gar and Garvin, and wonderfully attractive -looking men 
 they are too.' 
 
 " Just then the door opened, and, by Jove ! if there were 
 n't two of the biggest rascals that ever cursed Montana, 
 grinning and nodding like circus clowns. The moment 
 their eyes fell on me, back they started, one of their boots 
 coming down on Garvin's corns, I should judge by the 
 growl, and there they stood staring at me. 'T was a rich 
 sight ! " exclaimed Prescott, laughing. " I did n't move a 
 peg ; but remained calm and majestic, like the ghost of 
 Hamlet's father, and fancied I heard them mutter 
 their teeth, 
 
 ' Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned, 
 Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, 
 Be thy intents wicked or charitable, 
 Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, 
 That I will speak to thee.'
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 239 
 
 " But if that was their intention, that precious pirate of a 
 Garvin did n't give 'em time to carry it out ; for, drawing 
 them back with that ugly hand of his, he slammed the 
 door to, first sending a look at me that had more of the 
 cut-throat in it than anything of the kind I 've seen for a 
 good while." 
 
 " Well, you Ve got them shut up with Garvin for the 
 purpose of telling him who you are ; now please tell me 
 who they are," said the Veteran with interest. 
 
 " In about three words : they are by name, as I knew 
 them West, Jim Fitch and Sam Eatter, two blacklegs and 
 cut-throats who got jugged one day, and the same night 
 the miners went up to lynch 'em and found them gone. 
 That 's the last I ever saw or heard of them till they burst 
 upon me in the glory of Garvin's presence." 
 
 " So they never pre-empted out there ? " 
 
 " Well, as to that I can't say. But if they did, it was to 
 swindle the green ones with." 
 
 " A good many intelligent men have been swindled by 
 those kind of fellows, here in New York," said the Veteran, 
 seriously. 
 
 " Very true," returned Prescott, sobered by the Veteran's 
 manner. 
 
 " ' Even a scoundrel may pre-empt, and on the basis of real 
 property get up a swindle here that it would be difficult to 
 get behind, if there were plenty of money to stop one's 
 progress." 
 
 " It is indeed so," said Prescott, in a meditative vpice. 
 " That Garvin seems to have things knotted up badly." 
 
 " As I will show you," responded the Veteran ; and 
 thereupon he proceeded to give Prescott a succinct account 
 of his interview with Cringar on the previous day, and its 
 results. " This discovery of yours," he said in conclusion,
 
 240 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " is of the utmost importance in the future working of my 
 plans, though it may not produce results so immediate as 
 you had hoped." 
 
 "Yes," replied Prescott, "I see how it is. Law chas- 
 tises scoundrels, and protects them too. That is to say, 
 a rogue may swindle a victim, and then hop behind the 
 technical meshes of the law for safety. And if he 's got 
 money enough, Heaven only knows how long he will stay 
 there! General, I think lynch-law is a capital thing 
 sometimes." 
 
 " A desperate remedy, but effective in desperate cases." 
 
 They now parted. 
 
 On the evening immediately after the foregoing conver- 
 sation between the Veteran and Prescott Marland, Daniel 
 Garvin might have been seen, hat in hand, about taking 
 his departure from the house of Dr. Pennell, who at that 
 time had charge of a private mad-house in the upper part 
 of the city. 
 
 " You understand everything clearly, Doctor ? " said the 
 broker, as he proceeded first to smooth his hat with his 
 hand, and then to draw his handkerchief slowly around it, 
 as if he would leave no stubborn ruffle unsubdued. " You 
 will not forget that a nephew of such promise must receive 
 from you a very special care." 
 
 The doctor, whose form was not unlike Garvin's, but 
 whose visage, though partaking somewhat of the bony struc- 
 ture of his visitor's, was of a complexion light, sandy, and 
 freckled, this doctor gave vent to a subdued but sinister 
 laugh, and said, 
 
 " Do not fear, Mr. Garvin. If your nephew is the un- 
 fortunate victim of the hallucination you have described, 
 he must necessarily receive from us more than usual care.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 241 
 
 I know of no cases so dangerous as these patients whose 
 mania consists in the fancy that all about them are thieves 
 and assassins." 
 
 " You will have the carriage there at the hour ? " 
 
 " Without fail" 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 A day passes by, when Prescott Marland on entering his 
 boarding-house in the evening receives the following note, 
 written in pencil : 
 
 MR. MARLAND. 
 
 I have called to see you, but do not find you in. I have 
 just discovered a little girl, dyiug from starvation, whom I 
 have ascertained to be the unfortunate child of a soldier, named 
 Joseph Deering, who was killed in the war of the Rebellion. 1 
 have sent temporary relief ; but I am unexpectedly compelled 
 to leave the city by the afternoon train, and therefore am pre- 
 vented from doing all my heart dictates. I have been directed 
 to you as one who belongs to an association that helps the 
 suffering families of the fallen brave. In God's name, then, 
 delay not in this case ! To provide against all accidents I have 
 ordered the same hackman that drove me to the place where 
 this wretched little girl is now lying a skeleton to call for you 
 at eight o'clock. Heaven pity the unfortunate ! 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 EDWARD SMALL, 
 
 A Friend of the Soldier. 
 
 Prescott called the landlady. 
 
 " How long ago was this left here ? " he asked. 
 
 "About two hours ago," answered the landlady. "The 
 gentleman who left it seemed much disappointed at not 
 finding you in, and said he would like to write a line for 
 you. So he came in and wrote the note I have given you, 
 and begged me not to forget to deliver it the instant you 
 returned, for life or death might hang on it." 
 
 11 p
 
 242 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 
 
 " Strange ! " muttered Prescott, after the landlady bad 
 left him. " Why did n't he inquire where I could be 
 found ? But all men are not born Solomons, and he must 
 have been in a driving hurry. Well, he 's a good fellow, 
 and has done what he could, that 's evident." 
 
 He now commenced pacing his room impatiently, at the 
 same time re-reading the letter. 
 
 " Why did n't the man think to tell me where she was ? " 
 he again muttered. " The hackman be hanged ! I should 
 have been half-way there by this time, instead of making 
 these boards creak under my boots ! Poor child ! Poor 
 child ! And what of the rest of this unhappy family ? 
 Dead, perhaps ! " Then, after a silent pacing of several 
 moments, he clenched his hand and exclaimed, " If that 
 coachman is five minutes late I '11 strangle him ! " 
 
 But the hack drove up to the door just on the hour. 
 
 " I had promised myself to strangle you if you were 
 behind time," said Prescott, with a half-laugh, as he pre- 
 pared to enter the coach. 
 
 "No danger of that on such an errand as this, sir, I 
 assure you." 
 
 " That 's a good fellow ! Don't spare the horses." 
 
 " Never fear, sir." 
 
 The clatter of the horses' hoofs and the rattling of the 
 coach-wheels gave evidence to Prescott that the coachman 
 was in earnest. 
 
 The drive seemed long and interminable to the anx- 
 ious soldier. The coach whirled from street to street 
 until he thought the whole city must have been travelled 
 over. 
 
 Finally they stopped before a tenement in which Pres- 
 cott, as he beheld it by the gas-light, judged poverty 
 reigned in all its hideous deformity, and the coachman
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 243 
 
 sprang to the sidewalk. He was instantly accosted by a 
 man who had evidently been waiting, and who now spoke 
 a few words to him in a low tone. 
 
 "All right," he returned loud enough for his passenger 
 to hear. 
 
 Then opening the coach door, he said, 
 
 " The girl has been carried to more comfortable quarters 
 just above. Shall I drive you there ? " 
 
 " Don't stop to ask, but drive ahead." 
 
 The coach again rattled over the pavements, and pres- 
 ently drew up before a substantial brick building. 
 
 "She has been brought here," said the driver, as he 
 opened the door to let Prescott out. 
 
 The door of the house was opened as he ascended the 
 steps. 
 
 He entered, and the hackman, with a meaning gesture, 
 remounted his seat, and taking the reins in his hands 
 prepared to drive off. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX 
 
 THE door closed on the young Lieutenant with an 
 ominous sound that did not fail to strike ears ren- 
 dered alert by service in the midst of an enemy's country. 
 Impatient though he was to see the child he had been 
 ostensibly driven hither to help, his soldierly intuitions 
 caused him to take a glance about him. 
 
 He heard a distant howl, and at the same time a power- 
 fully built man with a brutal face crossed the lower end of 
 the hall, glancing toward him, as he passed, with a wolfish 
 look.
 
 244 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 He perceived, also, that the man who had admitted him 
 was strongly built, with the same wolfish countenance. 
 
 All at once a terrible suspicion flashed across his mind. 
 He would test it. 
 
 " A moment," he said, stepping back. " I wish to speak 
 to the coachman." 
 
 He laid hold of the door, but he could not open it ! 
 
 Turning to the man by his side he said in a low but 
 commanding voice, 
 
 " Will you be so kind as to open this door ? " 
 
 "You had better see the child first," answered the man 
 with an ill-concealed look of brutal triumph. 
 
 "Open this door 1" 
 
 The young Lieutenant's eyes blazed as he uttered the 
 command in a tone as short, quick, and distinct, as he 
 would have given an order on the battle-field. 
 
 The man saw his game was up, and with a mocking 
 laugh he said, 
 
 " Them ain't the sort of orders we calculate to obey in 
 this 'ere place, my young cove." 
 
 Prescott now shook the door violently. 
 
 " Open it ! " he cried, " or I '11 batter it down with your 
 skull!" 
 
 '"Well!" exclaimed the fellow, sending a leering glance 
 down the hall where the other man had crossed, "if 'ere 
 ain't a mad un, an' no mistake ! " Then, putting his hand 
 to his mouth, he cried : " Say, Gryper ! here 's a patient 
 that 's crazy as a loon ! Jest bear a hand ! " 
 
 Prescott's terrible suspicion was confirmed. He was in 
 a mad-house I 
 
 But this active and determined young soldier was not 
 one to yield without a struggle to the fate prepared for him. 
 With a spring as quick as the tiger's he planted a blow on
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 245 
 
 the attendant's forehead that felled him like an ox. Then 
 leaping to the door he hastily sought the fastenings. 
 
 Suddenly he felt himself clasped by two powerful arms 
 around the body ; and then he was dragged back from the 
 door. 
 
 In another moment he heard the sound of many feet, 
 a cloth was thrown over his head, and as numberless 
 strong hands were laid on him he was tripped up by a 
 skilful and vigorous stroke, and, after one tremendous 
 struggle, lay at the mercy of his assailants. 
 
 He thought with a shudder of the strait-jacket, and 
 expected every moment to feel its horrid embrace. This 
 did not seem, however, to be the intention of his captors 
 at present. They simply bound his hands, and then a 
 rough voice commanded him to rise. 
 
 " 1 11 obey no orders here ! " he exclaimed in muffled 
 tones, but with determination. 
 
 " He 's dangerous ! secure him and put him in No. 7 ! " 
 cried a shrill voice from the hall above. 
 
 " Tie his feet, and we '11 obey the doctor's orders ! " 
 responded he who had bid him rise. 
 
 His feet were bound accordingly, and then he felt him- 
 self raised in two or three pairs of sturdy arms, and borne 
 away, his head still covered by the cloth, while another 
 of his captors, whom he recognized as the attendant he 
 had knocked down, sang out with frightful cadence, 
 
 " The dead ! the dead ! who '11 bear the dead ? 
 The coffin waits ! who '11 bear the dead ? " 
 
 which was followed by a laugh of mocking merriment, 
 accompanied by the scuffling of feet. 
 
 He heard door after door open, until at length he felt a 
 current of cool air at the same time that he found him- 
 self being carried down a flight of stairs.
 
 246 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 He now heard howls, and peals of insane laughter, and 
 for an instant he thought himself in the confines of Pande- 
 monium. He could not prevent a shudder as he wondered 
 if those that bore him were about to fling him into the 
 den of one of these howling wretches, as the Caesars drove 
 the doomed Christian martyrs into the jaws of roaring 
 beasts of prey. 
 
 When the suspicion flashed across, his mind in the hall 
 above that he was in a mad-house, instantaneously with 
 that suspicion had come before him the sinister and mur- 
 derous visages of Garvin, Slaycut, alias Fitch, and Dror- 
 blude, alias Ratter. That this was a sequence of that 
 unexpected meeting of the previous day he was fully con- 
 vinced; and knowing well that no crime would be too 
 great for them, and having already become aware of Gar- 
 vin's diabolical method of accomplishing his aims, he had 
 good cause to shudder as he now felt himself borne down 
 into that chilly air, and heard the howls and laughter of 
 the confined maniacs. 
 
 The voice that had bawled the sombre cadence above 
 now sang again, this time the singer bringing his foot down 
 with emphasis on the descending steps in measure to his 
 atrocious verse : 
 
 " Sweet songsters of this stony deep, 
 
 We bring you merry company. 
 He '11 make ye laugh, he '11 make ye weep, 
 He will, I swear by Jemminy ! " 
 
 The young Lieutenant felt the arms under him shake 
 with the suppressed laughter that followed this essay. 
 Then a voice at his head cried out, 
 
 " Stop that, Mat ! You '11 make me laugh till I drop 
 'im!" 
 
 "All right," responded the singer, closing a guttunil
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 247 
 
 laugh in which he had himself indulged by repeating in a 
 sort of double bass hum, 
 
 " The dead ! the dead ! who '11 bear the dead ? 
 The coffin waits ! who '11 bear the dead ? " 
 
 By this time they had reached the bottom of the stair- 
 way, and Prescott felt as if he would like just one leg free 
 to kick the malicious songster, who was evidently affected 
 by the crazy atmosphere about him, from basement to roof. 
 
 The next moment he was thrust into a cell, in which he 
 heard the incoherent gibbering of a maniac, the cords were 
 cut from his limbs, the thick door was closed with a dull 
 slam, and the bolt turned upon him. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXI. 
 
 DANIEL GAEVIN" again waits in his office after the 
 shades and silence of night have succeeded the din 
 and confusion of the day's financial struggles. He has 
 reckoned his gains, and, on this occasion, his losses, and 
 now sits with one hand clenched upon the table, while the 
 deep-wrinkling scowl, and the general look of bitterness, 
 fierceness, and hatred that mark his unattractive features, 
 tell of some unusual agitation. 
 
 That look of self-complacency and self-confidence, for- 
 merly so characteristic of him, has given place to an ex- 
 pression in which passionate and desperate determination 
 predominates. 
 
 At a moment when he had congratulated himself on the 
 success of his long-contemplated schemes, whereby avarice 
 and revenge were to be satiated ; when, with the air of 
 some devastating monster of the fairy-books, he beheld
 
 248 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 before him nothing but impotence and fear, and had al- 
 ready begun to mock his unfortunate victims, who seemed 
 beyond all chance of aid, at this moment a champion 
 had appeared upon the scene, whose puissant blows had 
 already shattered the gateway of his infernal fortress, 
 and now threatened to lop off his own abhorrent head. 
 
 Daniel Garvin prided himself on the power of his intel- 
 lect to accomplish what he might undertake. He revelled, 
 as we have seen, in the game in which living men should 
 stand as the pieces on his chess-board. He had come to 
 believe himself invincible in any such game, when suffi- 
 cient inducements were offered for him to engage in it 
 with the whole force of his will. But he now sits with 
 his clenched hand upon the table, and his features distorted 
 by desperate passion, because he has suddenly found him- 
 self in danger of utter defeat in the contest of intellectual 
 forces, and is compelled to resort for safety to those means 
 which, while he is capable of any deed that promises to 
 save him from defeat and ruin, he has heretofore ascribed to 
 the ignorant and brutal villains of a sensational romance. 
 
 At length a low series of raps on the outer doo: caused 
 him to start with a sort of guilty terror that was un- 
 doubtedly new in his experience, and for a moment he 
 stared toward the door without attempting to rise. 
 
 A renewal of the raps brought him to his feet, and going 
 to the door with a creeping step which we have not before 
 seen in him, he unfastened it, when the hag, Mammy 
 Roone, walked in. > 
 
 Tin's man of inordinate egotism becomes almost an ob- 
 ject of pity, as we behold him now compelled to lead this 
 revolting old woman into his private office, there to make 
 her a partner in the execution of his endangered schemes. 
 
 She remained with him an hour.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 249 
 
 "When they came forth two faces presented themselves 
 that would have furnished studies not often obtained by 
 even a Le Brun. Mammy Eoone's horrible visage was lit 
 up by a ferocious smile, while the dark face of the broker 
 was made scarcely less horrible by an expression in which 
 devilish malignancy was mingled with an irrepressible 
 fear, and withal an air of fierce disgust and loathing, as 
 he furtively glanced at the foul instrument of his designs. 
 
 An hour afterwards Mammy Eoone was in secret con- 
 ference with two characters whom we have also met with 
 before, Dick Smasher, and him whom that burly ruf- 
 fian denominated the " Doctor." 
 
 " Well, me lads," said the hag, after having opened the 
 business she had on hand, " how does ye like this swate 
 job ? for swate it must be to both of yez, I 'm thinking." 
 
 " Yes, sweet and pretty," answered Dick Smasher. " I 'd 
 give that mighty fine soldier a few taps that 'd put 'im to 
 sleep according to regulation." 
 
 This witticism caused the " Doctor " to break out into a 
 fit of thin, dyspeptic laughter. 
 
 " S-h ! " commanded Mammy Eoone, her own repulsive 
 features relaxing into a responsive grin, which revealed in 
 all their horrid array the broken fangs that she would 
 have so relished to fasten in Emma's soft and rounded 
 flesh; "do ye both mind that the walls about us have 
 ears ! " 
 
 " All right, mammy," returned the " Doctor " ; " but that 
 'ere joke about the taps broke on me all of a sudden. 
 You see the pictur' of Dick's tapping that 'ere big sheep's 
 head for tallow was too funny. Why, dagger it ! atween 
 his taps and my lancet we '11 have 'im laid out on his 
 bunk quick 'n regulation specifies. Won't we, Dick ? " 
 n*
 
 250 THE VETEKAN OF THE GEAND AKMY. 
 
 " Don't ye go for being so confident, Doctor," said Dick, 
 dubiously. " You were fast asleep, yerself, when this big 
 fellow got his fives on me." 
 
 The " Doctor " did n't seem to relish this reminder. 
 
 " Niver ye mind," broke in the old woman, as she ob- 
 served the scowl on his murderous-looking features. " The 
 Smasher himself did n't come away from the young gin- 
 tleman's fine fist without a beauty spot ; that 's what ye '11 
 not be denying, me honey." 
 
 The powerful shoulder-hitter could bear twitting better 
 than his weaker but more murderous companion. 
 
 " No, I 11 deny it not ! " he exclaimed. " That young 
 chicken 's got the true grit, and th' science to back it up. 
 I 'd give 'im a shake of my hand any time he 'd ask for it." 
 
 " D n him ! " muttered the other, " I 'd give 'im a prick 
 of my lancet ! " 
 
 "Well, never mind about that, young man," returned 
 Dick. "Give 'im a taste of yer blood-letter when you 
 get the chance ; but let me tell you that the man you Ve 
 got to deal with, if ye take hold of this 'ere job, ain't so 
 sure of taking a lancet. Ye 'd better have a plenty of 
 powder and ball, and the Devil take the ' peeler ' that dis- 
 turbs ye!" 
 
 " Yis, it 's betther to be prepared ag'inst accidents ; an' 
 that is what me owld man would always be afther saying, 
 the Holy Virgin protict his blissed soul ! and tin thousand 
 curses descind on the heads of every mither's son of a 
 Union sowldhier in Purgatory ! " 
 
 As Mammy Eoone commenced this sentence, she spoke 
 in a low subdued voice ; but ere she had ended her tones 
 had risen on memory of the deceased Patrick Eoone's 
 fate to a pitch of savage frenzy. 
 
 "Easy!" uttered Dick Smasher, with a glance at the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 251 
 
 walls of the room. " Don't be forgetting that ye told us a 
 spell ago that walls have ears. Now, I guess the Doctor 
 and myself will undertake this delicate job, for that leetle 
 pile of greenbacks ye Ve agreed to lay down. How is 
 it with ye, Doctor?" 
 
 " Count me in, an' this ere professional instrument, too/' 
 returned the " Doctor," at the same time drawing a long, 
 keen knife from his bosom, and laying it down with a 
 smile of satisfaction on the table. 
 
 " Bah ! " muttered Dick Smasher to himself. " I 'd bet 
 ten to one I could knock the wind out of him every time 
 afore he could scratch my waistcoat with his confounded 
 skin-pricker ! " 
 
 " Ye '11 say it 's a good bit of work Mammy Eoone's 
 secured for yez whin ye '11 be afther countin' thim same 
 granebacks," hissed rather than spoke the beldam, who 
 could not suppress a grin that made her auditors question 
 
 whether they were not themselves in Purgatory. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Days had passed, and nothing had been heard from Pres- 
 cott Marland. The Veteran had called repeatedly at his 
 boarding-house, but his landlady, of whom Prescott was a 
 favorite, and who was in a great state of alarm, could give 
 only one answer, which was that she had heard nothing 
 from him since the evening she had delivered him the 
 note left by the stranger who had displayed such extraor- 
 dinary anxiety. 
 
 The Veteran endeavored to assure her that she need feel 
 no alarm ; but she had learned to expect any form of crime 
 in New York, and her fears could not be allayed. As for 
 himself he had his own thoughts. Prescott's disappearance 
 immediately followed his visit to him when he made known 
 his rencounter with the Western impostors at Cringar's
 
 252 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 store, and his quick mind was not long left in doubt as to 
 the man whose interests were involved in this disappear- 
 ance, and whose scruples would not interfere with any 
 action necessary to secure his own safety, or the safety of 
 a scheme which the discovery made by Prescott would so 
 seriously compromise. 
 
 It was about ten o'clock at night. He was returning to 
 
 o o 
 
 his rooms after a visit to Prescott's boarding-house, where 
 he had been detained by an endless string of surmises from 
 the landlady regarding her favorite boarder's extraordinary 
 absence. 
 
 Suddenly he felt himself plucked by the sleeve, and on 
 turning discovered a boy who seemed to be in great trepi- 
 dation. 
 
 After looking cautiously around, this boy thrust a piece 
 of folded paper into his hand, and then placing his finger 
 to his lips he whispered, " I durn't risk being seen with 
 you," and then with the words, "I '11 see you ag'in to- 
 morrow," he disappeared. 
 
 Two thoughts instantly flashed through the Veteran's 
 mind. One was the suspicion that here was some kind of 
 trap set for him similar to that which he was assured had 
 been set for Prescott ; the other was the hope that it might 
 possibly convey bona fide intelligence of the whereabouts 
 of his missing young friend. 
 
 Approaching the nearest street-lamp, he opened the 
 paper and read the following, written in a coarse hand : 
 
 " General Hamond i am hired to watch a young man named 
 Prescot marl and. i carnt Stand it no longer and if You wil 
 com and help me we can git him away, he told me to call you 
 thorbolt and then you wood know that he is Realy here, come 
 tonite or i am Affrade it wil be to late, i send my son with 
 this meet me at haf parst ten at the corner of prince and 
 Green streets."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 253 
 
 The Veteran read this singular missive over two or three 
 times. Was it indeed a trap for himself, or did it really 
 open the way to the discovery of the trap into which 
 Prescott had been inveigled ? The question was, Would 
 he risk forsaking his comrade by refusing to go to the 
 place appointed by this note, or would he risk his own 
 safety by going ? 
 
 With a man of his character the time occupied by such 
 a discussion was but short. He balanced a heavy walking- 
 stick in his hand an instant, and then stepping up to a 
 patrolman who, in a doorway near by, had been a silent 
 observer of all that had passed, he inquired the way to the 
 place designated in the note. The latter instructed him as 
 desired, and he directed -his steps accordingly. 
 
 But this patrolman, though a silent observer, had not 
 been an uninterested one. He had recognized the boy by 
 the street-lamp, and he instantly suspected foul play. He 
 said nothing to the Veteran, however, but followed him at 
 a distance just sufficient to keep him in sight. 
 
 At length the object of this watchful officer's attention 
 passed out of his beat. 
 
 Another was soon notified, who continued on the track. 
 
 Finally, after one or two inquiries of passers-by, the 
 Veteran found himself nearing the appointed spot. 
 
 He now began very ardently to hope that the missive was 
 genuine, and that he might hear something of the young 
 Lieutenant, whom he loved as a son ; and especially was 
 he anxious that something might result to clear the gloom 
 which the ominous absence of this noble and generous 
 friend had cast over that home in Vandam Street, where 
 his presence had come to be depended upon as the sun- 
 light. 
 
 But this hope did not cause him to relax his grasp on 
 his heavy walking-stick.
 
 254 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAXD ARMY. 
 
 Suddenly as he passed a small alley his meditations 
 were aroused by what sounded to his ears as a cry of dis- 
 tress. 
 
 He stopped and listened. The cry again reached him, 
 and this time it was surely a smothered appeal for help, 
 and was accompanied by sounds of a murderous struggle. 
 
 Tightening the gripe upon his heavy cane, he hastened 
 with his long stride down the alley. 
 
 This alley opened into a small yard piled with rubbish, 
 in which the Veteran speedily found himself. Here he 
 stopped and looked about him. 
 
 At the same instant a slung-shot descended obliquely 
 from behind with tremendous force, and striking on the 
 side of the hat, fell with great violence on his shoulder. 
 
 Simultaneously with this attack a man with a motion 
 like a great rat sprang from behind a pile of old wood, with 
 a long knife in his hand ; and as he saw the gigantic figure 
 before him reel under the blow of the slung-shot, he cried 
 with a suppressed yell of uncontrollable exultation as he 
 leaped for this figure while his deadly blade threw off a 
 swift gleam in the starlight, 
 
 " One for the Lancet and Mammy Eoone ! " 
 
 But he reckoned without his host. The unusual height 
 of the intended victim had disconcerted his confederate's aim, 
 and though reeling under the assault at his back, the Veteran 
 instantly proved that he was not disabled ; for raising his 
 walking-stick with the instinct of a cavalryman, he made 
 a rear moulcaut, and catching the glint of the murderous 
 steel in the uplifted hand of his second assailant he brought 
 his improvised but formidable weapon down with a front 
 cut, delivering so fearful a blow that the skull upon which 
 it descended was crashed in like a shell, and the " Doc- 
 tor " dropped to the ground, with the knife still grasped in
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 255 
 
 his hand, but not again to be used with its owner's vaunted 
 professional skill, for that owner was now dead. 
 
 With a curse Dick Smasher, whose aim with the slung- 
 
 * O 
 
 shot had been so faulty, now drew a pistol, levelled it at 
 the head of the man, who through his prodigious strength 
 threatened to become master of the situation, and fired. 
 
 The massive form of the Veteran swayed for a moment, 
 and then fell extended at full length on the earth. 
 
 An alarm now pierced the air, and steps were heard 
 hurrying along the street and up the alley, and the as- 
 sassin, with a curse on all intermeddling " peelers," leaped 
 the fence and disappeared just as the patrolman who had 
 been following the Veteran entered the yard. 
 
 With a watchman's habit, the new-comer took a hasty 
 survey of the field, and then listened. In the next instant 
 he had sprung the fence in pursuit of footsteps which his 
 quick ears detected as retreating steps of guilt. 
 
 As he disappeared a second patrolman entered on the 
 scene, who proceeded to examine the two lifeless men that 
 . lay extended before him. 
 
 When he lifted the Veteran's head a stream of crimson 
 blood flowed from a wound just above the ear. 
 
 " He 's gone ! and a superb specimen of a man too," he 
 muttered, as he let the head fall back. 
 
 Then he went to the other, and when his hand came in 
 contact with the " Doctor's " broken skull he gave utter- 
 ance to a loud " Whew ! " and then, as he cast his eye from 
 the glittering knife, still clasped by the dead ruffian, to the 
 heavy cane also grasped in the muscular hand of its lifeless 
 owner, he exclaimed, 
 
 " This fellow might as well have had a tin sword ! ' 
 
 Eising, he looked around and muttered to himself, while 
 he awaited the signal from the first patrolman.
 
 256 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 . In another moment that officer reappeared, his pursuit 
 having been unsuccessful. 
 
 Men who had heard both pistol-shot and alarm now 
 entered the yard and tendered their aid, while windows in 
 the neighborhood were opened and utterances of horror fol- 
 lowed as the startled gazers beheld two inanimate bodies 
 carried away, leaving what their strained eyes detected in 
 the bright starlight as dark stains on the gravel and rotten 
 boards of the old yard beneath them. 
 
 As the sombre burdens were borne into the street, a 
 small man of active movements arrived, and with pencil 
 and memorandum-book in hand passed from one body to 
 the other, making examinations and asking questions of 
 the patrolmen, which they attentively answered, he being 
 a newspaper reporter. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXII. 
 
 Ethe old house on Yandam Street there was anxiety 
 and sorrow. We have seen the Veteran almost for- 
 getting any probable danger to himself, as he neared the 
 place of rendezvous appointed in the note which the boy 
 had given him, in the hope that something might really 
 result to clear the gloom from the hearts of those who had 
 so learned to love the noble and generous Prescott Mar- 
 land. 
 
 The mother loved him as a son, and the young chil- 
 dren as a brother ; and both mother and children experi- 
 enced a distress resulting from the mysterious disappear- 
 ance of their favorite, which the sympathetic reader will 
 readily comprehend.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 257 
 
 We say a favorite ; but while this word conveys an idea 
 of the sentiments of welcome with which they were wont 
 to receive him to their now humble home, it does by no 
 means express the profound feelings of gratitude and affec- 
 tion which they entertained toward him. He was ever so 
 thoughtful, so kind, so considerate; and, withal, he had 
 such a way of raising them out of a consciousness of their 
 present sad condition, and placing them for the time being 
 in a bright sunlight, which had the effect of making their 
 hearts lighter and their lives happier during the time that 
 intervened between his visits. 
 
 And then he of all others had a power, peculiarly his 
 own, of shedding a lustre over the memory of the patriot 
 husband and father. While the world without had allowed 
 itself to be led by a designing knave into a universal judg- 
 ment, which was but little short of a denunciation of that 
 husband and father for reckless and unscrupulous conduct 
 in business, this feature in Prescott's character, this fidelity 
 to the memory of one between whom and himself there 
 had existed an affection so pure and noble, and so worthy 
 the great cause the defence of which had brought them 
 together wounded and disabled, this rare, unswerving 
 fidelity was calculated, as the reader may readily imagine, 
 to surround him in the midst of this home with a sort of 
 halo, as if the unseen spirit of the patriot blessed him for 
 his steadfast devotion to that sacred friendship. 
 
 We may readily surmise, then, what sorrow, what grief 
 must have been theirs as they waited day after day with 
 no word from this missing friend. 
 
 But what shall be said of the secret anguish of that 
 heart which, under the formal relation of brother and 
 sister, had suffered itself to become gradually so absorbed 
 that its very life depended upon the responsive love of the
 
 258 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 heart of him over whose fate there hung such a terrible 
 uncertainty ? 
 
 Darkness seemed suddenly to have closed in upon her 
 young life. As she looked back on her existence in that 
 home of privation, as it was before this object of her su- 
 preme love had so strangely disappeared, she wondered 
 how, with him so often by her side, she could have ever 
 supposed it otherwise than a haven of unalloyed happiness ; 
 her heart offering an example of that great truth, that in 
 life, as well as in art, the highest lights and deepest shades 
 are relative, depending for their effect on those contrasts 
 which the hand of Providence throws into the existence of 
 men with all-wise and beneficent spirit. 
 
 In the midst of their gloomy anxiety this distressed 
 family had indeed found one friend whose influence was 
 strongly exerted toward buoying up their tried and dejected 
 spirits. This friend was the Veteran. They knew that if 
 Prescott was alive Thorbolt would never rest till be had been 
 found. His self-sacrificing efforts for themselves they had 
 almost forgotten in the contemplation of his untiring labors 
 to solve the mystery that hung around his comrade's dis- 
 appearance. Since the latter's abduction he had not failed 
 to call on them every day, and though unable to report 
 any definite progress in the direction which now interested 
 all so deeply, yet his presence served to lighten the gloom, 
 and inspire them with some of that spirit which in him 
 seemed ever to ride the storm with an unwavering faith 
 in the Almighty Disposer of events. 
 
 On the same evening that he was led into the snare of 
 assassins through his anxiety for the fate of his comrade, 
 he had made one of these welcome calls, and had, by more 
 than ordinary effort, succeeded in planting in their hearts 
 a feeling of hope such as they had not before experienced ;
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 259 
 
 and when he left them the mother had turned to Emma 
 and said, 
 
 " This self-sacrificing soldier deserves the richest bless- 
 ings which Heaven can vouchsafe ! He seems a grand 
 and noble guardian, and I feel myself to be a child in his 
 presence ! " 
 
 But not many hours were to pass ere another blow was 
 to fall, which would wellnigh crush them to the earth. 
 
 On the morning following this last-mentioned visit of 
 the Veteran, the family were seated around their humble 
 breakfast-table, of whom Albert, who was now convales- 
 cent, formed one of the number, when a light nervous rap 
 announced a visitor. 
 
 Alice opened the door, and William Garvin entered, 
 looking pale and anxious. 
 
 This innocent son of a guilty father was an occasional 
 visitor to the present home of his aunt and cousins, but 
 never had he called before at this hour of the day. An 
 event, therefore, so unusual, together with his agitation, 
 filled Mrs. Paige and Emma with emotions of vague 
 alarm. 
 
 "William observed the effect produced by his unexpected 
 visit, which tended to increase his agitation, and caused 
 him to stammer somewhat in his speech as, unfolding a 
 paper he held in his hand, he hurriedly said, 
 
 " Happening this way this morning, and hearing the 
 news-boys crying a murder in the city last night, I bought 
 a paper ; and I could not go home without first bringing it 
 to you." 
 
 Then pointing to a flaming paragraph headed " HOR- 
 RIBLE MURDER ! " he handed the paper to his anxious 
 auditors. 
 
 This is what they read :
 
 260 THE VETERAN OF TUB GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " HORRIBLE MURDER ! ! ! 
 "A GENERAL OF THE UNION ARMY THE VICTIM ! 
 
 " Last night one of the most horrible affairs that has ever 
 cursed this city of horrible deeds occurred about half past ten 
 o'clock, in the vicinity of Prince Street. At the time mentioned 
 Patrolman McNeal was instructed by Patrolman Owen that 
 a stranger who had just left his beat, and whom he pointed out 
 ahead, was likely to be led on to some foul play, and suggested 
 his keeping his eye on him. Officer McNeal accordingly followed 
 and kept him in sight. Presently he observed the stranger, 
 who was evidently a man of much more than ordinary size, 
 turn suddenly into an alleyway. He now quickened his steps, 
 and had nearly arrived at the passage when he heard the sharp 
 report of a pistol. Hastening down the alley he discovered in 
 a small back yard two bodies stretched on the earth. He 
 instantly sounded an alarm, and thinking he heard the footsteps 
 of the flying assassin in an adjoining yard he gave pursuit, but 
 without success. Returning he found Patrolman Darley on 
 the ground. Here was a fearful sight. In a pool of gore lay 
 the victim, a man of immense size, with a fearful wound from, 
 a bullet in the side of his head, who was instantly identified by 
 Patrolman McNeal, himself a returned soldier, as General Ham- 
 mond, the celebrated cavalry leader. And even in death his 
 terrible arm seems to have proved too formidable for at least 
 one of his assailants. In his hand was still grasped a heavy 
 cane, while near him lay the second body which was instantly 
 recognized as the body of a low and desperate character who 
 
 has usually gone under the sobriquet of the Doctm with his 
 
 skull smashed in by what was evidently a powerful blow from 
 this cane. Persons attracted to the spot by the report of the 
 pistol and the watchman's alarm now lent their aid, and the 
 bodies were conveyed to the station-house. Those who were on 
 the ground immediately after the assassination pronounce the 
 appearance of the murdered soldier to have been, with all its
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 261 
 
 horror, singularly impressive. So great was his size that it 
 required four strong men to carry him. His face was a grand 
 one in that sleep of sudden death ; and a deep, wide scar hol- 
 lowed out his left cheekbone in a manner sufficient alone to 
 identify him. To what a fate has this veteran of a hundred 
 battles been doomed ! " 
 
 Emma, who had borne up so bravely under circum- 
 stances that would try the strongest natures, turned deadly 
 pale, and fell back fainting into the chair from which she 
 had risen to read that terrible account. 
 
 Mrs. Paige, whose hopes, kindled by a knowledge of the 
 labors of the Veteran in her behalf, were in this instant 
 utterly extinguished, turned in alarm to her daughter, and 
 dropping that fatal paper, hastened to her assistance, while 
 Alice, also hastening to her aid, exclaimed, 
 
 " O mother ! what has happened ? Is Prescott ? " 
 
 "No," interrupted the mother with a warning gesture. 
 " A kind Heaven must have spared him to us." 
 
 In the mean time Albert had sprung for the paper, and 
 his quick eye having caught the name of General Ham- 
 mond in the account of the murder, he hastened to Alice, 
 his "eyes filled with grief and horror, and whispered the 
 story in her ear. 
 
 Alice's face in turn expressed her startled emotions, as 
 she continued her efforts to revive her fainting sister. 
 
 William Garvin on his part stood rooted to the floor, 
 looking as if he felt himself to be guilty of the murder 
 and all this sudden anguish. 
 
 When Emma fainted his first impulse was to spring to 
 her support ; but instantly he saw the mother hasten to 
 perform this office a reaction occurred. Instead of flying 
 to her assistance he felt like flying frt..i her presence.
 
 262 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 MOEE sensitive and more morbid even than when we 
 parted with him on the evening of his adventure 
 with the ruffians who attempted to abduct his cousin, the 
 broker's son now presents a complete type of a young, sen- 
 sitive, overwrought mind, scarcely more able to endure 
 contact with the every-day world than are certain invalids 
 to endure direct rays of the sun, who from a singular dis- 
 ease of the nervous system experience the most acute 
 physical suffering if brought in contact with such a light. 
 
 But with this increased morbid sensitiveness has in- 
 creased his secret adoration of his charming cousin. To 
 the effect of her beauty has been added the influence of her 
 misfortunes. With his idealizing and dreaming mind noth- 
 ing could have happened more calculated to enhance his 
 infatuation than the event by which she had been driven 
 from the home where in early days he had been wont to 
 join with her in the sports of childhood, and where as years 
 advanced his love had taken root and grown to be almost 
 his only life. 
 
 He had watched the progress of the intimacy between 
 Emma and Prescott Marland with feelings that are well- 
 nigh indescribable. Jealousy is scarcely the word to express 
 these emotions. It does not comprehend that feeling in 
 which wonderment and a profound incredulity are mingled 
 with a deep, vague, tormenting anguish, as if one who has 
 lived in the rapturous contemplation of a spirit whom he 
 believes to be his guardian angel, should awake after a trou- 
 blesome dream to find this spirit suddenly incarnated and
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 263 
 
 borne away before his eyes by a man of the most un- 
 doubted flesh and blood of this material world. 
 
 When the news of Prescott's disappearance reached his 
 ears he experienced sensations equally indescribable. The 
 first impression was as if a dark shadow had quickly 
 vanished from before him. Then in its place came an- 
 other shadow caused by thoughts of the inevitable anguish 
 of her whom he so adored. As we have formerly remarked, 
 his love for her was not associated with ideas of posses- 
 sion; it was an adoration through which he saw her a 
 being to be possessed by no mortal man, but who, exempt 
 from the weaknesses of the common humanity, was created 
 to live near the sky, on the ideal mount and in the ideal 
 shades allotted her by his adoring fancies. Therefore 
 thoughts of possible grief, whatever the cause, disturbing 
 the happiness of this idealized queen of his secluded life 
 would invariably throw a shadow across his heart. 
 
 As days passed and Prescott's fate seemed mor6 and 
 more certain, he began to experience a feeling which par- 
 took somewhat of superstition, as though no man could 
 possibly presume to cast such glances as he had observed 
 Prescott direct toward Emma, and live long enough to 
 consummate his desires in possession. And that such a 
 sentiment existed in this highly fanciful and morbid mind 
 is not so much to be wondered at when we remember that 
 even the strongest natures will yield to like feelings, 
 such as refusing with vague dread to give a child a name 
 which has been borne successively by two or three genera- 
 tions of ancestors, all of whom have died young and under 
 the same circumstances-; and other innumerable displays 
 of this sort, which those not concerned may smile at, but 
 who, when the test shall come to them, will probably be 
 found to govern their actions by similar motives.
 
 264 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 But toward the Veteran this young artist entertained 
 sentiments as exaggerated in their way as were his senti- 
 ments toward his fair cousin. As Prescott had informed 
 Thorbolt in the interview that resulted in his introduction 
 to Billings the book-keeper, he had affirmed that the pic- 
 ture of this man of immense stature, as he first appeared 
 in the street when he was awakened to consciousness by 
 Emma's shrieks, and saw her struggling in the arms of the 
 desperate ruffian who was bearing her away, was before his 
 eyes continually by day and in his dreams by night, a 
 vision that conveyed to his mind a realization of Homer's 
 description of Jove in the midst of war. 
 
 Emma he associated with the angels ; the Veteran with 
 the gods. There was that in the majesty of the latter's 
 mien and the lofty dignity of his mind which had the 
 effect to overwhelm him. When in his presence he seemed 
 to have no mind of his own nor individuality. All seemed 
 absorbed in that grand character whose smile or frown 
 caused the sun of his life, for the time being, either to 
 shine with inspiring lustre or disappear behind dark and 
 gloomy clouds. 
 
 The Veteran had met William at the house in which the 
 Paiges now lived, and had requested the family to make 
 known to him his desire that nothing of his own visits to 
 their home should be mentioned outside to any person 
 whatever ; thus by this request including his father with- 
 out specifying him. Emma had taken it upon herself to 
 convey this request to William ; and coming from such a 
 source, and through such a channel, it was made ten times 
 more binding than the law of the Medes and Persians. 
 
 So far as his father was concerned, however, there was 
 not the slightest danger ; for, though he did not in the 
 least apprehend the foul business of which this parent had
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 265 
 
 been guilty, his intuitions told him that relations existed 
 between the broker and his half-brother's family which 
 utterly forbade any reference to his visits there. We 
 would here remark that the Paiges were careful never to 
 express, in any way, their opinion of the father's actions in 
 the presence of the son. 
 
 When William Garvin opened the paper in the street 
 and read the dreadful news, he had nearly fallen to the 
 pavement. The shock was tremendous. An unspeakable 
 horror seized his senses as if the very sun had turned 
 blood red, and then left the world in impenetrable dark- 
 ness. 
 
 That man of sublime strength ! of superhuman power ! 
 with the majesty of a god ! he dead ! murdered ! killed 
 in an obscure back yard by a beastly ruffian, the bullet 
 even tainted with the penitentiary that disgorged him ! 
 
 This young idealist was stupefied, and for an instant 
 everything around him was in a whirl. The earth itself 
 seemed rolling from beneath his feet, and the passers-by 
 appeared as unreal shadows luridly lit up by red letters 
 which formed the word "MURDER!" 
 
 Immediately he had gathered his scattered senses, and 
 was able to look at the reality with a degree of under- 
 standing, he hastened to Yandam Street, near which he 
 often wandered in the early morning, and conveyed the 
 dreadful news in the manner we have described. 
 
 As we have said, his first impulse when his cousin 
 fainted was to spring to her support, and then as the 
 mother hastened to her assistance the second impulse was 
 to fly. He felt guilty of what was to him an inexcusable 
 rashness in thus bursting in upon them with his startling 
 and melancholy intelligence, and for a few moments he 
 presented a picture of the most acute mental misery. 
 12
 
 266 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 But now, as he stood gazing upon the anguish-stricken 
 group before him, he suddenly experienced an emotion, 
 vague but deep, which first caused within him a strange 
 and ominous tremor, that was followed almost instantly by 
 an overwhelming sensation as if the very soul were break- 
 ing up and losing its past identity. 
 
 This remarkable agitation was the result of a powerful 
 reaction. Stupefied as he was by the perusal in the 
 street of the account of the murder, he had, as we have 
 seen, thought of nothing after but to rush to the family of 
 his deceased uncle to break to them the news. But now 
 as he contemplated his cousin rendered almost unconscious 
 by the terrible blow this announcement had inflicted, the 
 full realization of the Veteran's mortality, with all its de- 
 pendences on the natural laws that governed him with the 
 rest of our common humanity, swept in upon him. And 
 then his ideal world seemed a chaos, without shape and void, 
 and for a moment objects around him were in a sort of 
 maze, as if the outer world were passing away from his 
 vision. 
 
 But presently these objects began to reassume a definite 
 aspect. His now reviving cousin especially stood out in 
 strong relief to his vision like the central figure of an effec- 
 tive painting, and the object of his gaze happening at that 
 moment to lift her sorrowful eyes to his face was startled 
 by the new, strange look which appeared there ; and con- 
 fused, withal, for it was an unmistakable expression of the 
 most intense and all-devouring love. That gaze which 
 heretofore had beamed upon her with a timid adoration, 
 and which she had ascribed to the natural ardency of a 
 young artist, who would contemplate with the same expres- 
 sion everything in nature to which his soul might, in an 
 ideal sense, be devoted, this gaze had suddenly trans-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 267 
 
 formed itself, and now gave evidence of emotions which no 
 heart of woman can mistake. 
 
 A blush instantly tinged the cheeks of this maiden, 
 whose paleness, combined with her look of deep sorrow, 
 only served to enhance in the eyes of the young artist that 
 beauty which to him was so transcendent. Instead of fall- 
 ing to the ground, as but an hour before he would have 
 expected, if, perchance, he should blindly permit himself 
 to meet her eye with a glance of such fervid love, his gaze 
 remained fixed, while it continued to increase in the in- 
 tensity of its ardor until its object, no longer able to endure 
 it, cast down her eyes with a look of deep pain. 
 
 A vague thought entered Emma's mind that this sudden 
 and extraordinary display of passion was but a sequence of 
 Prescott Marland's disappearance, and the assassination of 
 the Veteran, and an exclamation that was on her lips, 
 when she revived and encountered his gaze, was only 
 uttered by her heart. 
 
 " Heaven ! " was the unspoken utterance, " this 
 friend murdered ! Then never shall we see dear Prescott 
 again ! " 
 
 The mother, who was bending over Emma, now rose, 
 and seeing William still standing, requested him to be 
 seated. 
 
 Her voice thus addressing him broke the spell ; the hot 
 blood rushed to the very roots of his hair, and stammering 
 out an incoherent excuse, he hastily departed in the greatest 
 confusion, leaving the family to indulge in sacred privacy 
 a grief with which was mingled a feeling of utter loneliness 
 and desolation.
 
 268 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 THE merchant and the broker both read that morning 
 the news of the assassination. 
 
 On Jonas Cringar the blow descended with even more 
 deadly force than was experienced by the family of his 
 former partner. Since the hour of the Veteran's visit to 
 his office the broker had concentrated upon this unhappy 
 man the entire reserve power of his malevolent will, and 
 his eye seemed scarcely a moment to be elsewhere than upon 
 his tormented victim. But while the merchant had nearly 
 sunk under his renewed torments he did not utterly lose 
 the hope which the Veteran at the close of his interview 
 with him had inspired in his breast. He felt like a cap- 
 tive, who, being tortured at the stake, expects each instant 
 to hear the rifle-shots of rescuing friends. 
 
 The reader may well imagine his emotions, then, when 
 he opened the morning paper, after his now usual night of 
 sleeplessness and horrid dreams, and read the account 
 which we have transcribed on a former page. 
 
 With him the blow came with the more crushing weight, 
 for he instantly recognized in this bloody deed the hand of 
 Daniel Garvin ; and to the mercy of a desperate assassin, 
 as well as an infamous schemer and robber, he felt himself 
 now given up beyond all hope. 
 
 As for Daniel Garvin, when he heard the cries of the 
 news-boys he could not entirely conceal a look of fierce 
 expectation as he bought a paper and opened it. 
 
 He read the story, and instantly the cries seemed di- 
 rected toward him ; and with the announcement of a
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 269 
 
 " Horrible Murder " his ears were pierced with what 
 seemed to him the word " MURDERER " continually re- 
 peated. The gnashing of his teeth, the exultant yet 
 fearful and guilty light in his eye, and the irrepressible 
 shudder which seized him while he strode the street with 
 the paper clutched convulsively in his quivering hand, 
 told of the terrible commotion within, and the fierce efforts 
 this hirer of assassins was making to control himself. 
 
 Arrived at his office, the first thing his eye fell upon was 
 the same detailed account with its flaming heading con- 
 fronting him on a table, where the paper containing it 
 had been thrown by the clerk. 
 
 He seized it instantly and bore it from sight into his 
 private office, as if he feared his guilt was there pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 After a while the fever into which his sudden sense of 
 an enormous guilt had thrown him somewhat subsided, 
 and this untiring plotter, having given orders not to be in- 
 terrupted for an hour, began, like the spider that has beaten 
 off his enemy, to take a survey of his broken web prepara- 
 tory to making it whole again. 
 
 With his head buried in his hands he gathered his 
 thoughts as best he could, and concentrated them on plans 
 for future work. 
 
 * # * * * 
 
 Several days had passed, and the broker again sat in his 
 rear office plunged in deep and troubled meditation. Sud- 
 denly he rose, and proceeding to the door ordered the 
 messenger to go immediately for his son William. 
 
 In due course of time William arrived, and was imme- 
 diately closeted with his father. 
 
 " William," said the broker, seating his son opposite him 
 and then looking intently into his face, " William, you 
 are old enough to marry."
 
 270 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 William reddened and slightly trembled, but made no 
 answer. 
 
 " Would you not like to marry ? " 
 
 The young artist blushed still deeper, but continued 
 silent, while he gazed at his father with evident fear. 
 
 " Tell me, boy, would you not like to marry ? " repeated 
 the broker in a voice intended to be soothing, but in which 
 the penetrating quality of an authoritative will predomi- 
 nated. 
 
 "I I can can not say," stammered the son. 
 
 " Pshaw, my boy ! " returned the father with a grim 
 smile, " it would be the making of you. You would be a 
 stronger and a happier man by marrying." 
 
 The young artist displayed great agitation, but answered 
 not. 
 
 The broker now bent forward, and bringing his face close 
 to William's, he said, 
 
 " I would have you marry immediately, William." 
 
 The young artist now stared on his father with unmis- 
 takable consternation. This father was about to command, 
 and he had never up to this time dared to disobey him. 
 
 "Don't be so frightened," said Daniel Garvin, with a 
 light laugh. " She 's neither a stranger nor a bugbear, if 
 your father is any judge of a beautiful young woman. I 
 would have you marry your cousin Emma." 
 
 William's stare changed into a wild sort of gleam, and 
 the hot blood rushed tumultuously through his veins, turn- 
 ing his face and neck to a bright scarlet. 
 
 " How does it please you, boy ? " 
 
 Within the time which had passed since he hurried in 
 such confusion from the presence of that adored cousin, 
 whose lids had drooped beneath the look which had never
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 271 
 
 before appeared in his timid glances, William Garvin's 
 whole being had been, as it were, a scene of incessant and 
 increasing tumult. The blow that had overthrown the 
 ideal in which he had enshrined the grand Thorbolt had 
 also disturbed the ideal world in which he had spiritualized 
 his cousin, and suddenly, as we have formerly seen, passion 
 revealed its ardent presence ; and during those days there 
 had been going on a strong conflict between the old ideal 
 and this new passion, which, in violation of long-cherished 
 sentiments, began to fill his heart with vague thoughts of 
 possession. But the old ideal was tenacious in its hold on 
 this young heart with its exquisite sensibilities, and its 
 influence was strongly exerted toward subjugating what 
 the timid and morbidly fearful lover felt to be a passion, 
 which, if it should gain full possession of him, would drive 
 him to despair; for while she had heretofore seemed an 
 angel to be not even approached with words of earthly 
 love, she now had to his mind all the beauty of an angel, 
 with the addition of that terrible capacity for scorn and 
 contempt which sensitive and timid young lovers so much 
 fear in the beautiful object of their secret adoration. 
 
 Then, again, in the midst of this internal commotion 
 appeared the dark presence of his father in a storm of 
 fury, and commanding him to desist from desires so obnox- 
 ious to himself ; and thoughts of disobedience to this im- 
 perious autocrat were calculated to make him turn pale at 
 the very idea. 
 
 He was, in short, shaken like a reed in the wind, and his 
 soul tossed about as a plaything by the contending emo- 
 tions with which he was agitated. 
 
 Now it happened that while suffering the most unendur- 
 able pangs of heart and soul he had yet experienced, he 
 received the commands of the broker to attend upon hi in
 
 272 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 at his office immediately. The message, breaking in upon 
 him at this instant with such peremptory sternness, filled 
 him with dismay. He was assured that his father, whom 
 he looked upon as one able to read all men a's if a glass 
 were set in their bosoms, had scrutinized him for the past 
 few days as if he were searching the most secret depths of 
 his heart ; and to be brought before his stern and pene- 
 trating eye, with his breast in such an extraordinary state 
 of commotion, was to him a terrible ordeal. 
 
 Tremblingly, therefore, had this young artist entered 
 into his dread father's presence, to be confronted by that 
 gaze before which he had learned to shrink when it would 
 read his hidden thoughts. 
 
 The strange and abrupt manner in which the broker had 
 opened the interview did by no means tend to allay the 
 fears with which the son had come before him. This idol- 
 izing worshipper, whose love had inflicted upon him such 
 exquisite torments, felt certain that his father had dis- 
 covered all, and in order to head off that love was about to 
 command him to marry some young woman of his own 
 selection ; and the dismay with which he had received the 
 command from the messenger to hasten hither was in- 
 creased tenfold, and began speedily to display itself on his 
 countenance in that look of consternation which we have 
 observed. 
 
 His emotion then, when the inexorable father pro- 
 nounced the name of his cousin, we must leave to the 
 imagination of the reader, which can see so much more 
 than our pen can delineate. 
 
 When the broker said, " How does it please you, boy ? " 
 the young artist could scarcely contain himself ; but that 
 natural cunning which love puts on to protect itself, even 
 in the most innocent bosom, came to his aid in time to
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 273 
 
 modify somewhat, at least, the impulse that threatened 
 to overpower him ; though, as it was, the display of his 
 feelings partook of vehemence. Eising to his feet, he 
 seized one of his father's hands in both of his, and in a 
 voice of extreme agitation, he exclaimed, 
 
 " My dear father, I do not think I have ever .disobeyed 
 you ! " 
 
 " No, my son," said the broker graciously, " you have 
 been an obedient child." 
 
 " Then great as is this command which you are pleased 
 to give me, I will not even now venture to disobey 
 you!" 
 
 " You are a good son, a good son," responded the fa- 
 ther, at the same time casting an admonitory look toward 
 the door to indicate that his son must not speak so loud. 
 
 " But, father," stammered William in a lowered but not 
 less agitated voice, " will she obey ? " 
 
 " Who ? your cousin ? " 
 
 " Yes Emma." 
 
 The broker gave vent to a self-complacent laugh. 
 
 " Borrow no trouble in that direction, my boy," he said, 
 purring his son's upper hand with his own disengaged 
 palm. " Your own consent obtained, and I trust you will 
 not change your mind, there will be no difficulty in that 
 direction." 
 
 The implied deference to the young lover's will did not 
 fail to produce its effect. 
 
 " Father ! " exclaimed the youth, warmly, " your will is 
 law in such a case as this, and it will be impossible for my 
 mind to change ! " , 
 
 "A good son, a very good son," again said the father. 
 "Your cousin is very beautiful," he added, while the 
 slightest of smiles appeared, which an attentive observer 
 12* B
 
 274 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 would have pronounced grim, but which the infatuated 
 young artist took to be a smile of kindly pleasure. 
 
 " Yes," answered William with an emotion he could not 
 conceal, " she is beautiful very beautiful ! " Then with 
 a look of deep concern, in which the light of jealousy ap- 
 peared, he said, " She has thought much of another." 
 
 " You mean the young soldier," returned Daniel Garvin, 
 with an expression which, while it startled his son, the 
 latter could not interpret, "Phillip Mar 
 
 " Prescott Marland," interrupted the son, correcting the 
 apparent mistake of his father, whose memory was not so 
 bad as its owner would make it appear. 
 
 "Ah, yes ! Prescott Marland ! " 
 
 " He thought a great deal of Emma." 
 
 " And Emma of him, you say," rejoined the broker, with 
 a satirical smile. 
 
 " I fear so, father," uttered the young artist ; and his 
 brow was bent into a scowl which for the first time indi- 
 cated that, while he was a transcript of his mother in the 
 common acceptation of the term, there was hidden away in 
 his composition an infusion of his father's blood. 
 
 " You need fear him not ! " said the broker, harshly. 
 " This young man was an impostor ' " 
 
 " They think him dead." 
 
 "Very likely he is," returned Daniel Garvin, with a 
 twitch of his brows. " Now go, and say nothing. T will 
 arrange for the bridal. So prepare yourself." 
 
 William obeyed his father's command, and departed 
 without another word.*
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 275 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 IT is necessary that we explain the strange move which 
 we have just seen the broker initiate. 
 
 With the incarceration of Prescott Marland in the mad- 
 house, followed by the startling yet fiercely welcome news 
 of the Veteran's assassination, Daniel Garvin, as we have 
 seen, proceeded to bend his thoughts as best he could to 
 the consideration of the future. 
 
 The blow which his schemes had received from the hand 
 of the Veteran had unsettled his inordinate egotism, and 
 shaken him in his own estimation. He attempted with a 
 sort of desperation to shut out such convictions as would 
 naturally follow so severe a jar, but they came in forms too 
 potent for his resistance. But now as he sat day after day 
 in his private office, a conscious murderer, having been 
 compelled by the power of another to resort to foul assas- 
 sination as the only means left for that intellect of his 
 which he had heretofore considered so all-powerful, he 
 felt himself tossed on the waves of circumstance, and his 
 thoughts were troubled by a distraction which was an 
 unusual experience of his astute brain. 
 
 In the midst of these confused deliberations one thought 
 leaped into his mind, and for the time being took entire 
 possession of it. It was no more nor less than the mar- 
 riage of Emma Paige to his son William. Here was a 
 waist anchor to be thrown out in case of storms, which he 
 now could but feel were likely to burst upon him at any 
 moment, for he had come to look with ill-suppressed 
 fear on the existence of that organization from which had
 
 276 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 issued the two champions who had given him so hard a 
 combat, and which, for aught he knew, might furnish a 
 hundred more to do battle in the same cause. 
 
 Like a monarch who seeks to intermarry a member of 
 his family into the royal family of another kingdom, that 
 he may there have power, so did this scheming broker con- 
 ceive that if his son were married into the family of his 
 deceased half-brother, he would be provided with a base on 
 which he could fall back if occasion demanded. 
 
 His hate for this family did not interfere with the 
 plan, for his son was scarcely more to him than the son 
 of an utter stranger. If the boy had taken after him, and 
 as he grew up manifested an interest in his own hard 
 money-getting business, he might, perchance, have enter- 
 tained toward him a degree of paternal feeling. But he 
 did not take after him ; on the contrary, he had inherited 
 his character from his mother, whom Daniel Garvin re- 
 membered, as a weak, sickly, and, to him, complaining 
 woman, who cost him a heavy doctor's bill ; and, more- 
 over, he stupidly took to making pictures like a girl, 
 and whined sentiment like an idiot, instead, of making 
 calculations and counting money like a man. Occasion- 
 ally he 'had discovered lurking in his disposition a faint 
 shadow, as it were, of his own, but so vague that only 
 under extraordinary circumstances, when it would assume 
 a more distinct form, could he perceive any semblance to 
 himself. 
 
 There was, therefore, nothing in this direction to prevent 
 him from using the young lover as a tool, for that he was a 
 most enraptured lover, and that his cousin was the object 
 of his love, he had long and silently been aware. A tool 
 would this young artist be, to follow the beck of his hand 
 as undeviatingly as the chisel follows the hand of the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 277 
 
 master mechanic, not ready by calculation to do a base 
 deed, but subservient to a will that would move him as 
 by the hand of fate. 
 
 Regarding Emma, he understood her spirit of devotion 
 to her mother and sisters, he knew well their present 
 condition, their poverty and privation ; and he calculated 
 on drawing those strings of a devoted daughter's heart, 
 which every reader has undoubtedly seen worked by some 
 wealthy villain in story or drama, from whom we might 
 suspect he had taken his own cue, if it were possible to 
 imagine him either reading a story or beholding a drama, 
 which not being able thus to imagine, we must ascribe it 
 to his own deep study of men and things around him. 
 
 On this morning, while in the midst of confused medita- 
 tions, he came suddenly to a decision which resulted in the 
 mterview we have described. 
 
 When William Garvin was released from the presence of 
 his father, he flew as on wings through the streets toward 
 his studio. His feet seemed scarcely to touch the pave- 
 ments, and all about him as he sped along had the appear- 
 ance of a dream. Everything seemed beneath him and 
 his head had nearly touched the clouds. 
 
 Arrived at the studio he locked the door and threw him- 
 self on the lounge, and clasped his throbbing forehead with 
 his hand. 
 
 As the light streamed clown from the upper portion of 
 one window, which only remained uncurtained, it fell 
 directly upon this fevered youth, and rev.ealed him a 
 figure suitable for a representation of the fabled lover 
 whom the pangs of love drove mad. 
 
 As one gazes about this studio he is not impressed with 
 the presence of a thorough and proficient genius, but per- 
 ceives, instead, those crude, vague, ambitious efforts of a
 
 278 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 young man, who, with an all-absorbing yet baseless enthu- 
 siasm, is essentially lacking in the important requisites of 
 a successful artist ; here and there, it is true, displaying an 
 exceptionally striking effect, or tolerably drawn figure, 
 which, however, are rather the result of accident than per- 
 formances that are sure to be repeated. A certain grace, 
 innate in himself, pervades much that he has done, but it 
 is the grace with which the child, if his motions be grace- 
 ful, will draw his untutored pencil over the paper before he 
 can read the print which he may, perchance, be defacing. 
 
 In short, the works we behold are a complete expression 
 of the character which has conceived them, one of those 
 natures of extreme sensibility, with emotional tempera- 
 ment, and aspirations which never permit him to touch 
 the solid earth ; but leaping as he supposes the winged 
 steed that is to bear him to the region where art only ex- 
 ists, he awakes after a comparatively fruitless life to find 
 that he has been astride a wooden horse, the rocking of 
 which has to his dazed imagination seemed the progress 
 of flying. 
 
 Perhaps no difference exists in the world more marked 
 than that which lies between the man of true artistic 
 genius and him who, with a highly sensitive and morbid 
 disposition, talks of art, and dreams a comparatively 
 inactive life away in the midst of shifting clouds. The 
 former is possessed of the most concentrated energies, and 
 will, like Michael Angelo, hew a law-giving Moses, paint a 
 Sistine ceiling, defy a Pope of Borne, or defend the fortifi- 
 cations of a native Florence ; the latter has no self-made 
 type in history, for he makes no history, passing through 
 the world like a fleeting shadow, except that his emotional 
 nature, with its morbid sensibility and impressibility, is 
 ever a source of exquisite torment and unrest.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 279 
 
 In the young man who has -now thrown himself upon 
 the lounge we see an example of the latter type. Artist 
 we call him, for as such he has written his name on his 
 cards and tacked it on his door ; and so entrancing are his 
 daily dreams in connection with art that we have not the 
 heart to deny him a title in which he takes such infinite 
 pride. 
 
 The subdued light and solitary silence of the studio by 
 no means tended to diminish the burning fever which 
 now seemed to threaten him with utter prostration. His 
 body surged with the surging blood, and presently both 
 hands were pressed hard upon his temples as if his senses 
 were threatening to leave by these avenues. 
 
 At length he rose, and approached an easel on which 
 was a painting covered with crimson cloth. He nervously 
 snatched this covering from the picture, and stood gazing 
 upon it with unutterable rapture. It, was a portrait of his 
 lovely cousin. Having drawn in the outlines from a 
 photograph which Emma had given him with her own 
 hand several months before, he had occupied himself day 
 after day during those hours when he could lock his door 
 against all intruding visitors, in giving vent with his pen- 
 cil to the ecstasies which so completely mastered him. 
 
 Indifferent though it was as a work of art, it was yet 
 characterized by an expression which only such sentiments 
 and emotions as had directed this entranced lover's hand 
 could have conveyed to the canvas. 
 
 He stood before it a moment as if spell-bound, and then 
 dropping into a chair he shaded his eyes for an instant 
 with his hand, while a look of the most incredulous joy 
 overspread his delicate countenance. 
 
 Then again rising to his feet he quickly advanced to the 
 painting and pressed his lips to it. Instantly on perform-
 
 280 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 ing this act his entire face and neck were suffused with a 
 deep blush, and a tremor took possession of his slight 
 frame. 
 
 " heavens ! " he exclaimed in an uncontrollable trans- 
 port, " can it be possible that my father has thus ordained 
 my happiness ! " And now giving rein to his emotions, as 
 if madness had actually seized him, he covered the fore- 
 head, eyes, cheeks, lips, with kisses of rapture. 
 
 Just before this culmination of his ungovernable emo- 
 tions two knocks had been given outside, the second after 
 a moment's interval of waiting ; but the infatuated young 
 artist had not heard them. His senses seemed closed to 
 all things except this picture of his idol. But now the 
 door, which in his excitement he had left unlocked, was 
 opened and closed with a hand so firm that but little noise 
 was made, and then a stately form appeared beyond the 
 screen and there stopped, as if he, whose presence was so 
 unbeknown to , the owner of the studio, were transfixed 
 with amazement. 
 
 The portrait was partly turned toward him, while the 
 face of the young artist w r as to the same degree turned 
 away. He had entered upon the scene just as the broker's 
 son was in the midst of his final rhapsodies. 
 
 Mingled with the wild display of his intoxicating love 
 were the most impetuous and incoherent utterances. 
 
 " My father commanded this ? Dearest cousin ! are 
 you indeed mine ? Yes, you shall be happy, for my father 
 says it ! You will be his daughter, and you shall no 
 longer suffer ! Np ! No ! I will make you happy with 
 my kisses ! Thus ! and thus ! and thus ! " Then with 
 a sudden vehemence he kissed the lips again and again, 
 and exclaimed, with a voice in which the tones of his 
 father's voice were perceptible, " Prescott Marland was a
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 281 
 
 traitor ! a . despicable traitor ! and not worthy so much as 
 the faintest smile of these lips ! " 
 
 This vehement denunciation of the bold and generous 
 Lieutenant seemed to startle him into a realization of the 
 outer world, and he cast his eye about him with a fright- 
 ened glance of apprehension. 
 
 In the next instant he had staggered back against the 
 wall, with his hands outstretched for support, while his 
 effeminate features, recently so deeply suffused with his hot 
 blood, turned to a livid white, as he gazed appalled on that 
 silent visitor. 
 
 It was the Veteran, pale and worn with recent suffering, 
 which served to enhance the expression of commanding 
 sternness and severity with which he now contemplated 
 the awe-stricken youth before him. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 AN hour subsequent to the incidents narrated in the 
 last chapter the Veteran came forth from the studio 
 of William Garvin, with a countenance in which an inef- 
 fable expression of pity was mingled with a look of inex- 
 orable resolution. 
 
 We will explain to the reader first, this apparent resur- 
 rection from the dead, and then the cause of this strange 
 visit to the studio. 
 
 The wound inflicted by the bullet from Dick Smasher's 
 pistol was severe, but not mortal. The ball struck the 
 skull obliquely, and glanced off, tearing the scalp badly, and 
 rendering the intended victim of the shot insensible. He 
 awoke to consciousness at the station-house, not long after
 
 282 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND ARMY 
 
 he had been conveyed thither, and on being informed by 
 Officer McNeal, who was by when he revived, of all that 
 had happened, including the appearance of the reporter on 
 the scene, his unresting brain, alive to the situation even 
 after this terrible shock, at once apprehended who was the 
 instigator of the attempted assassination, and he took 
 action accordingly. To his great satisfaction he found 
 McXeal to be not only a soldier, as stated in the report 
 of the attempted murder, but a comrade, and ready to 
 assist him in the design he had in view, which was to 
 let the report of his death remain uncontradicted in the 
 papers, until he was ready to show himself in person, 
 and the more effectually confound the schemer whose 
 plans and actions would now be based on the supposition 
 of his death. 
 
 McXeal not only securely provided against discovery by 
 any who might come to the station-house, but he took the 
 Veteran to his own home that night, and there kept him 
 until he was convalescent. 
 
 The object of his strange visit to William Garvin's studio, 
 which was the first made after his confinement, was noth- 
 ing less than the employment of the young artist as an 
 agent against the designs of his own father. 
 
 To a man" of the Veteran's high principles of action it 
 cost much anxious consideration before he could decide to 
 make this move, a circumstance the more marked as his 
 decisions were usually made with clearness and rapidity 
 after acquiring a careful knowledge of his ground. The 
 reader will recall the earnest expression of a hope, made to 
 Prescott Marland as recorded in a former chapter, that he 
 might never find it necessary to set this young man at 
 work against his own father, together with that utterance 
 of prophetic fears in his concluding words : " Though
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 283 
 
 Heaven only knows, in such an affair as this, what instru- 
 mentalities will have to be used before we get through with 
 it." But the necessity for immediate action was now im- 
 perative, and no other instrument was to him available for 
 the accomplishment of that which was now all-important to 
 his plans : .namely, the recovery of Jonas Cringar's forgery. 
 
 When he entered the studio, as we have described, he 
 was first amazed to behold a youth, who had always im- 
 pressed him as singularly shy and timid, thus kissing a 
 portrait in the frenzied madness of love; but the next 
 moment, when he had recognized a resemblance to Emma 
 Paige, and heard his wild utterances, closing with the 
 vehement denunciation of Prescott Marland, his amaze- 
 ment was changed into a feeling of the sternest severity, 
 for he saw in those utterances the motive spirit of the 
 unprincipled and scheming father. 
 
 Nothing could have more effectually subserved his pur- 
 pose than this remarkable manner of his introduction. 
 Those sensations with which William Garvin had read of 
 the Veteran's assassination, the morning succeeding the 
 murderous attempt upon him, were not stronger than were 
 .the counter-sensations, so to speak, which he experienced 
 when, in the midst of his frantic demonstrations of love 
 and wild and vehement utterances, he turned and found 
 himself as by supernatural agencies in the presence of him 
 whom he had thought dead. 
 
 We have told the reader how the ideal image into which 
 he had formed the Veteran, making him as one of the 
 gods, was shattered by the announcement of his murder in 
 an obscure yard by common ruffians. But how can we 
 describe the emotions with which he now beheld that 
 formerly idealized being standing thus unsummoned and 
 unheralded in his studio, his lofty form almost lost in the
 
 284 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 dim shades there pervading, while the pale and slightly 
 attenuated face which received the descending and con- 
 centrated rays from the upper portion of the curtained win- 
 dow was bent upon him, with its strong lights and deep 
 shadows, in the full power of its impressive grandeur ? As 
 he staggered against the wall appalled by this sombre 
 vision, which at that moment was as terrible to his con- 
 science as it was sombre to his sight, his mind seemed 
 swept up as by a whirlwind, and then sent dizzy and help- 
 less into the grasp of him who now appeared vested with 
 attributes far transcending those which his idealizing 
 fancies had conjured up for him before the news of the 
 assassination. 
 
 His heart was seized with a deadly sickness, for a voice 
 seemed to thunder to his soul that the presence of this 
 apparent vanquisher of death itself was the signal for the 
 annihilation of those fevered hopes which, alas ! had been 
 so fiercely kindled to be extinguished in one short hour ! 
 
 But even with all this endured, it were a question 
 whether if that which was to come had been hurled in 
 upon him unaccompanied by the sustaining will of his 
 visitor, his distracted mind would not have yielded to the 
 blow. As it was, the shock, when the full purpose of the 
 Veteran's visit was in the course of that next hour revealed 
 to him, had wellmgh left him utterly undone. 
 
 Subject though he was to the will of the Veteran, almost 
 as the volition of the mesmeric subject has been affirmed 
 to be under the absolute control of the mesroerizer, yet for 
 a brief space there ensued a struggle which threatened to 
 burst the bonds of that powerful influence, and render vain 
 the purposes of this extraordinary visit. But the Veteran 
 relied not' alone on the power of his great will; he de- 
 pended chiefly on the justice of his cause, his will acting as
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 285 
 
 a necessary instrument by which to press home this justice 
 so that the mind of William Garvin, while it might be sub- 
 jugated by forces not to be resisted, would in this condition 
 be made to realize the righteousness of the task allotted 
 him in the role of the remarkable drama that was being 
 enacted. Profoundly versed in the mysteries of the human 
 heart, this man, with a comprehensiveness of mind equal to 
 the strength of his will, proceeded to bring to the aid of 
 his object that all-devouring love which the broker's son 
 experienced for his cousin, in combination with those 
 qualities he inherited from his mother. 
 
 Without revealing all the heinousness of the father's 
 crime, he had made known sufficient to serve his pur- 
 poses. At first, though told by one whom he looked upon 
 as reflecting the virtues of Heaven itself, the spirit of the 
 astounded son rose against the arraignment of that father 
 who had but just now ordained so infinite a happiness for 
 him ; but his visitor soon compelled this spirit to yield to 
 the truth, though the realization of it nearly drove him to 
 despair. 
 
 But we will not occupy time and space in recounting the 
 details of an interview the like of which, fortunately, the 
 events of life do not compel often to be enacted. Suffice it 
 to say, that when the Veteran went forth from the studio, 
 with his inexorable resolution softened by the heart's unut- 
 terable pity, he left a soul, which he had found so full of 
 wild ecstasy and joy, now crushed under what to the hap- 
 less youth seemed the iron hand of a relentless fate. 
 
 Night gradually advanced, and the studio grew dark 
 while the light that descended through the half-curtained 
 window came only from the stars ; but still that slight form 
 remained silent and motionless, as if it we're wrought from 
 the inanimate clay in which he himself had formerly en- 
 deavored to embody his impracticable dreams.
 
 286 THE VETERAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 WE will return to Prescott Marland, whom we left 
 thrust into the cell of a mad-house, with the thongs 
 which bound him severed and the door locked against him, 
 while his ears were greeted by the gibbering of a maniac. 
 
 With the use of his limbs he instantly rose to his feet, 
 and the gibbering ceased. He looked about him and found 
 himself in a square cell, with walls of stone and a small, 
 heavily grated window, which was dimly defined against 
 the slightly illuminated atmosphere of night without. But 
 what especially attracted his attention was the appearance 
 of two lights, which he knew to be the eyes of a human 
 being, glaring upon him from the darkness of one of the 
 rear corners of the cell. 
 
 Suddenly this corner was lit up by dim, greenish rays 
 from above, and Prescott beheld a maniac chained to the 
 wall, his face long and haggard, with the beard and hair 
 standing out like quills of the porcupine, sitting on a 
 square stone fixed to the floor, while with his elbows on 
 his knees he gnawed the finger-nails of either hand, and 
 silently glared upon his new companion. 
 
 Prescott comprehended the situation in an instant. The 
 cell, the maniac, and the light, which he perceived to issue 
 from an aperture in which was set a bull's-eye of greenish 
 hue, were all intended to carry out a diabolical object, 
 such as he had read of in published accounts of places of 
 this kind. He knew that abject submission, lunacy, or 
 death, one of these three, was now the only end to be ex- 
 pected unless he could escape a prison so horrible.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 287 
 
 Presently the madman began again to mumble as he 
 gnawed his nails, while his eyes remained fixed with their 
 wild glare oh the young Lieutenant. 
 
 Pres'cott, who had studied somewhat into the laws that 
 govern the eccentric courses of insanity, began with a stout 
 heart to consider how he should conduct himself toward 
 his crazy fellow-prisoner. It occurred to him that, even 
 with this raving maniac, he might so exert a strong will 
 directed by an alert mind as to make himself, to a degree 
 at least, master of the situation, and by this means enjoy 
 perhaps some immunity from the terrible fate which it 
 seemed probable had been prepared for him. 
 
 While this indomitable young soldier was busy with his 
 thoughts the madman continued to stare upon him, his 
 mutterings increasing with a sort of guttural violence pre- 
 paratory to an outburst. 
 
 Suddenly he leaped to his feet, and, brandishing his 
 clenched hands before him, his countenance assumed a look 
 of defiant rage. 
 
 " Vile shadow-legs ! " he yelled in a screeching voice, " I 
 saw it with these eyes ! You shot him to get your fur- 
 lough of sixty days ! He writhed ! he writhed ! he writhed ! 
 0, how he writhed ! " screamed the madman, gnashing his 
 teeth and raising his hands in the air. Then advancing on 
 Prescott he exclaimed, " You lie, you Rebel dog ! You shot 
 him for a furlough ! He fell on your accursed dead line 
 when he dropped his crutch, and you shot him, and he 
 writhed and kicked his one leg, and you mocked him and 
 grinned at him ! He was my brother, you infernal mon- 
 ster ! and I '11 tear your heart no, no ! I '11 splinter it, 
 for 't is made for the hammer ! " And, rushing to the 
 length of his chain, he beat the air with furious blows of 
 his fist, while Prescott stood just out of reach calmly meet- 
 ing the frenzied eye before him with a steady gaze.
 
 288 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The young Lieutenant at once apprehended that he was 
 in the presence of a Union soldier, who had been driven 
 mad by terrible suffering while in the hands of the Rebels 
 as a prisoner, and whose raving recalled to his mind, with an 
 inward horror that even surpassed the feeling aroused by 
 his own present terrible situation, the atrocious order from 
 Rebel head-quarters that " Any sentinel killing a Federal 
 soldier, approaching the dead line, shall receive a furlough 
 of sixty days ; while for wounding one, he shall receive a 
 furlough for thirty days." 
 
 All at once the maniac ceased smiting the air, and falling 
 back a pace, stared at the object of his insane fury, and 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Thou art no Rebel, to brave me with such a front as 
 that!" 
 
 Prescott, whose eye still remained steadily fixed, now 
 cried in a sharp military voice of command, 
 
 "About face!" 
 
 The mad soldier instantly brought his feet into position, 
 and obeyed the order, the chains clanking with his movement. 
 
 " Forward march ! " 
 
 The left foot struck out with a prompt step, and a direct 
 line of march was taken to the stone seat. 
 
 " Halt ! about face ! " 
 
 These orders were obeyed with the same alacrity, and 
 the maniac stood with his left hand hanging by his side, 
 and his right slightly raised, with the fingers bent as if he 
 held a gun at shoulder arms. 
 
 Prescott now felt in his pockets for paper and pencil ; 
 but he found them empty, which recalled the action of 
 hands about these pockets during the struggle in the hall. 
 Without showing his momentary discomposure, lie made a 
 movement as if about to write on a tablet, and said, in the 
 same voice of command,
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 289 
 
 " Your full name and rank ? " 
 
 " Charles Albertson Lenning, Third Corporal ! " 
 
 " You are commended for your promptness and soldierly 
 appearance, Corporal Lenning. Left face ! Arms port ! 
 Break ranks ! March ! " 
 
 The mad soldier, whose wild and shrunken visage lit 
 up with a gleam of pleasure at the compliment of his 
 improvised commander, having " broken ranks," sat down 
 on the stone, tore a shred from his tattered clothing, and 
 picking up his chain commenced rubbing it as if it were 
 a part of his accoutrements, which the compliment he 
 had received had spurred him on to polish with unusual 
 care. 
 
 Prescott now retired to another stone seat on the op- 
 posite side of the cell, and sitting down contemplated this 
 miserable victim of Eebel cruelty with thoughts so absorb- 
 ing that he forgot for a while that he himself was reserved 
 for a fate perhaps equally as cruel. The maniac recalled 
 to mind the reports that continually came into camp dur- 
 ing the war of the horrible sufferings of Union prisoners ; 
 and he again experienced that feeling of bitter hatred of 
 the savage and barbarous spirit displayed by the South- 
 ern leaders which myriads of his comrades felt who ner- 
 vously grasped their weapons and strained their eyes in 
 the direction of the scene of those Eebel atrocities. 
 
 This present bitterness was not diminished by the 
 thought of the odious sentiments which had already found 
 expression in the land by some who enjoyed the reputa- 
 tion of loyalty during the war, by men who did not know 
 the difference between magnanimity and the most abject 
 toadyism, men who with indecent haste were rushing to 
 necks that an enlightened mercy had spared from the noose, 
 and clasping them with eager arms, were crying with 
 13 a
 
 290 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 heart-sickening fervor : " Dear friends ! we rejoice to see 
 you once more in our fold ! Utter not even a word of 
 apology, but allow us to hang like penitents on these noble 
 bosoms and we shall be happy ! You displayed as much 
 heroism, as much devotion to a principle, as we of the 
 North, and your motives were as high and noble ! Forgive 
 you ? We shall be but too happy if you forgive us ! " 
 
 We say that the thought of the prevalence of sentiments 
 such as these did not serve to allay the bitterness of the 
 young Lieutenant's heart as he contemplated the human 
 wreck before him. Here was a being driven mad through 
 the terrible sufferings inflicted by the very objects of this 
 disgraceful flunkyism, a being doomed day after day to 
 reproduce in his ravings the impression of the awful scenes 
 in which he had been both actor and witness. 
 
 This young soldier represented the true magnanimity of 
 the war, inasmuch as he* represented the spirit of the North- 
 ern armies, a magnanimity which can only belong to that 
 high courage, that lofty devotion to principle, which causes 
 him who possesses it to hazard his own life to preserve 
 that of his country. The solemnity of the conflict is felt 
 by him as by no other. Puerilities and mawkish senti- 
 ment are sloughed off. He comes to see things in the 
 true reality of their bearing. He apprehends, with the 
 profound est philosopher, that, while thousands of men, 
 through ignorance of those principles by which humanity 
 alone can live, may have been deluded into a monstrous 
 Rebellion, and their crime palliated accordingly ; yet no 
 intelligent leaders could have been guilty of the brutalities 
 practised upon Union prisoners, and at the same time have 
 believed themselves in the right. He realizes that such 
 atrocities are the revelation of their consciousness of guilt, 
 writing, as it were, in characters that flame with the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 291 
 
 fires of Hell, " We fight against God and the powers of 
 Heaven ! " 
 
 Our young hero represents the spirit which found such 
 noble expression in the great commander of our armies, 
 now the chief magistrate of that Union he did so much 
 to preserve among the nations. General Grant fought the 
 Eebellion with iron hand ; but he stood ready to receive 
 the truly repentant, as the father received the prodigal 
 son. He did not demand that they should grovel before 
 him as captives before a conqueror. All he required was 
 that they practically acknowledge their error by submit- 
 ting to the arbitrament of the sword, and henceforth con- 
 duct themselves like good citizens. While on the one 
 hand he suppresses with unflinching resolution the out- 
 breaks of a rampant rebellious spirit, on the other he nom- 
 inates to an important office one who, though prominent 
 and active in the war, is equally so in efforts that prove 
 his enlightened repentance. 
 
 A desire for sleep finally terminated Prescott's thoughts 
 in this direction. The maniac, now mumbling to himself, 
 still continued polishing the links of his chain which in 
 his insane fancy he had metamorphosed into his accoutre- 
 ments, and the young Lieutenant began to cogitate some 
 plan by which he could secure himself against an immedi- 
 ate interruption by his crazy cell-mate. 
 
 Presently an idea struck him. He possessed admirable 
 powers of imitation ; so putting his hand to his mouth he 
 sounded the tattoo like a bugle a short distance off. 
 
 The instant it struck the ears of the maniac he stopped 
 his rubbing, and with the remark, " Old Hiram 's prompt 
 to-night ! " he carefully put aside both rag and chain, and, 
 extending himself on the stone floor, was soon fast asleep. 
 
 Prescott, who could not help smiling with amusement at
 
 292 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 the success of his stratagem, though in the midst of cir- 
 cumstances so gloomy and depressing, now laid himself 
 down for slumber, which after a while bore him away as 
 he was in the midst of thoughts of her who was to suffer 
 such anguish from his sudden and mysterious absence. 
 
 He slept with tolerable soundness for several hours, when 
 he was awakened by the howling of the maniac, who was 
 raving again on his prison life with the Rebels. 
 
 " O God ! " he screamed, " don't shoot him ! He 's my 
 brother, I tell you ! Don't you see he 's got but one 
 leg ? He 's a cripple, you hireling of the Devil ! He 's 
 starving and weak, and fell against it ! O God o' mercy ! 
 he 's fired ! " Here the maniac covered his eyes with his 
 hands, and stood trembling. Suddenly uncovering them 
 he glared in front of him, and staggering back cried, " He 
 writhes ! he writhes ! " Then bursting into a fit of wild 
 laughter he exclaimed, " Have a care, you lantern-jawed 
 Eeb ! or he '11 kick your grinning teeth out ! Ha, ha, ha ! 
 Have a care, I say ! He kicks ! he kicks ! Tell Bob Lee 
 he kicks!" 
 
 Prescott siispected that he had been put in this cell with 
 his brother-soldier to carry out a grim jest of his persecu- 
 tors, who expected to have him utterly broken of his sleep, 
 which, with the terrible presence of the madman, and the 
 damp, noxious air of the cell, would secure the result they 
 aimed at. He therefore decided to act cautiously, and let 
 them be confirmed in the idea that his rest and quiet were 
 at the mercy of the maniac ; so lying quietly, and making 
 no noise, he allowed him to rave on with his screaming, 
 howling, and laughter, to be heard by any one above who 
 perchance might be awake. 
 
 The mad soldier abruptly changed the scene of his terri- 
 ble fantasms. Suddenly beginning to rush about as far
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 293 
 
 as his clanking chain would permit, he cried as he waved his 
 hands toward the door, " Drive in the pickets ! Drive 'em 
 in ! Drive 'em in ! Now scamper ! " he yelled with another 
 wild laugh, " scamper, you infernal Johnnies ! Bang ! 
 Bang ! Take that and be off ! Hi, hi, there ! Ha, ha, ha, 
 ha, ha ! " He was evidently, with his imaginary prisoners, 
 hunting down the vermin of one of his prisons. 
 
 Thus he continued to rave, shifting from one horrible 
 scene to another, and picturing some of them so vividly in 
 his madness that Prescott shuddered as he listened. 
 
 Finally, when the latter judged his purpose in reference 
 to those above had been sufficiently accomplished, he cried 
 in suppressed but commanding tones, 
 
 " Corporal Lenning, silence your men, and go to sleep ! " 
 
 The mad corporal immediately responded by a loud 
 " Hist ! " as if to his men, and again lying down was soon 
 once more asleep. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 LONG, interminable days, and long and gloomy nights 
 passed by. What with the incessant exertion of his 
 will on the maniac, the cold, damp cell, and the meagre 
 food, which, with a wretched attempt at wit, the brutal 
 attendant had once informed him " was such rations as 
 was ruin to the government to furnish two such drones in 
 the service," these rations, as the reader will infer from 
 the remark, being divided between him and his mad mess- 
 mate, the strong and robust Prescott Marland was grow- 
 ing thin, pale, and anxious. 
 
 Once he had sprung upon this attendant as he came to 
 the door, but besides being powerful himself the fellow had
 
 294 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 called reinforcements, and the young soldier was tumbled 
 about in his cell, promised short rations for a few days, and 
 threatened with the " walking-over-him " performance, 
 which meant that a heavy, powerful attendant would break 
 in his ribs with his knees, if he tried it again. 
 
 But just as even the elastic and buoyant spirit of Pres- 
 cott Marland was about to settle into a sort of dull despair 
 an event occurred on which the watchful doctor and his 
 wolf-like, vigilant attendants had not calculated. 
 
 One night, when all was still throughout the mad-house, 
 Prescott, who was awake, heard a peculiar clicking sound 
 at his door; in another moment the hinges slightly 
 creaked, and some one whispered, 
 
 " Is Marland here ? " 
 
 Prescott instantly returned the answer, also in a whis- 
 per, - 
 
 "lam here." 
 
 " I am a friend, come ! " 
 
 Prescott went to the door. 
 
 " Who are you ? " he asked. 
 
 " A friend who will open every door between ourselves 
 and freedom in an hour." 
 
 Prescott thought a moment. 
 
 " I understand you," said the other, while the young 
 Lieutenant was made aware that this strange and unex- 
 pected friend was silently laughing. " But I am no more 
 crazy than you are. I 'm an unfortunate inventor, that is 
 all But I can't stop here to talk ! Come with me into 
 the open air, or stay here, as you choose. I have that 
 here " and he showed two pieces of bent wire " which 
 will pass us along without tickets." 
 
 The maniac, who had also been asleep, now stirred, and 
 Prescott, startled for fear his voice would expose the open
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 295 
 
 door, darted out, and in another moment the inventor had 
 silently closed it, and, taking his companion by the sleeve, 
 began ascending a stairway. 
 
 The young Lieutenant looked back and mentally uttered 
 a " good-by," and sighed as he thought of the unfortunate 
 being whom he had learned to regard, with all his raving 
 madness, with the sympathy of a messmate. 
 
 " If I succeed in getting out of here, my poor comrade, 
 you shall have better quarters than this nest of devils fur- 
 nishes you ! " he exclaimed to himself as he cautiously 
 mounted the stairs. 
 
 As each succeeding door was reached his guide proved 
 as good as his word. To Prescott's astonishment, bolt after 
 bolt of the heavy locks, which fastened insane patients and 
 sane prisoners alike in this abominable and falsely named 
 asylum, yielded to the pressure of his simple implements, 
 and flew back to let them pass. 
 
 Once they stopped in suspense, startled by a noise above. 
 It was only the voice of a harmless lunatic. They heard 
 nothing else and went on. 
 
 They neared the hall which led to the front door. 
 
 " Here," whispered the inventor, " is the doctor's private 
 Office." 
 
 A thought struck Fresco tt. 
 
 " If I but had a light," said he, " I would like to take a 
 survey of this same office." 
 
 " It shall be done," said his companion with another of 
 those silent laughs. Opening the door with his magic 
 wires he bade Prescott enter, and following him took a 
 match from some cotton-padding which he got at through 
 a rent in his vest, and lit it, at the same time saying with 
 a grin, "When these stupid fellows prove a match for 
 Jacob Easter then Jacob Easter '11 give up the match."
 
 296 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 Prescott's eyes now fell upon a small nursery -lamp, 
 which had evidently been left there that night by Dr. 
 Pennell in somewhat of a hurry, inasmuch as the cap was 
 left carelessly hanging. After a little effort the lamp was 
 lighted, and the young Lieutenant, with the assistance of 
 the inventor, quickly proceeded to business. 
 
 With the aid of smaller instruments than he had been 
 using, which he improvised from the wire of the doctor's 
 gas-shade, the inventor rapidly opened desk, drawers, and 
 safe, the lock of which was not complicated, and all papers 
 that Prescott could lay hands on were confiscated as con- 
 traband of war. Tying them into a bundle quicker even 
 than he had ever packed his knapsack on a ten minutes' 
 notice to march, he gave the word to his companion to put 
 out the light, and left the office with a look of supreme 
 satisfaction. 
 
 When they arrived at the front door Prescott's heart beat 
 with quickened pulse as in anticipation he breathed the 
 free air of heaven into those lungs that had for so many 
 days inhaled the pestiferous vapors of his cell 
 
 This lock gave the inventor more trouble than had any 
 of the others. 
 
 While he was working away at the obstinate bolts they 
 heard a loud yawn ; and then a rough voice, which Prescott 
 recognized as the one that sung his funeral dirge when he 
 was borne to his gloomy quarters, called out, 
 
 " Betty ! have done with that scratching ! You know 
 what I told ye if ye did n't stop that kind of night 
 work ! " 
 
 The inventor reached out his hand, and placed it over 
 the young Lieutenant's mouth as a warning for perfect 
 silence ; but the latter was already as motionless as were 
 he and the scouts whom he often commanded, when in the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 297 
 
 night they would suddenly find themselves in the vicinity 
 of Rebel pickets, though as he listened a light would have 
 revealed a face in which the determination to die rather 
 than again be incarcerated was strongly apparent. 
 
 But nothing more was heard. Silence again reigned 
 throughout the mad-house, broken only by a faint howl, 
 which Prescott shudderingly fancied to be the wail of the 
 mad corporal on finding his commander gone, and once 
 more the inventor essayed to pick the last lock, his very- 
 fingers seeming conscious of the necessity for the most 
 extreme caution. 
 
 Presently one or two sounds, so slight that they could 
 hardly be called clicks, were heard, and then the door was 
 silently swung on its hinges, and in another instant the 
 two captives stood in the open air. 
 
 Closing the door as quickly and silently as he had opened 
 it, the inventor exclaimed in a whisper, 
 
 " Now the sooner our legs carry us out of this the 
 better ! " 
 
 And thereupon they sped away, keeping a lookout for 
 patrolmen, who might take them to be thieves. 
 
 When they felt confident that they had put themselves 
 beyond all attempts at pursuit, they slackened their pace 
 and fell into conversation. 
 
 Prescott expressed his astonishment at what had just 
 been done by his companion. 
 
 " If I had been told all this I should scarcely have be- 
 lieved the story," he said. 
 
 The inventor laughed. " With the exception of taking 
 along a companion as I have to-night, all this has been 
 done before in a much larger place than this den of iniqui- 
 ty, and under more extraordinary circumstances. The free- 
 dom given me enabled me, with eyes and ears made alert 
 
 13*
 
 298 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 by a speedy knowledge of the character of the place, to post 
 myself in regard to your sanity and the number of your 
 cell; and as for my performance with my wires, if you 
 would like to hear it, I will tell you what happened in 
 Massachusetts several years ago, which really suggested to 
 me what you have just seen me do." 
 
 " Now is the very time to hear it," answered Prescott. 
 " After my incarceration in that terrible cell with the rav- 
 ings of a madman forever in my ears, nothing would please 
 me more than a narrative of more wonderful exploits than 
 yours has been to-night." 
 
 " It happened several years ago in Boston and vicinity, 
 and the actor was an inventor like myself," said the other. 
 " He had been quite sick, his illness threatening to settle 
 on the lungs. One day he was attacked with a paroxysm, 
 as near as I could ascertain, and he cried out for air. Those 
 about him would give him none. He was suffocating, 
 and again demanded air, telling the servant to let down 
 the window; but he was again refused, and interference 
 combined with the refusal in a manner which tended to ex- 
 cite his already fevered brain, and a will naturally intense 
 and calculated to repel such interference. His chest was 
 now terribly oppressed, and leaping from his bed he opened 
 the window himself. It was immediately closed by one 
 whom he considered had no authority to do so. This 
 treatment, together with his condition, which those about 
 him should have seen required that his wish be granted, 
 increased his paroxysm to such a degree that he rushed out 
 of the room and through the entry crying, " Air ! air ! " and 
 reaching the front door he kicked out the side-lights and 
 commenced breathing the fresh air into his laboring 
 lungs. 
 
 " The cry now arose, ' He 's mad ! he 's mad ! ' and strong
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 299 
 
 men for whom he entertained an intense personal dislike 
 were sent for, and forthwith everything was done to in- 
 crease a temporary paroxysm started by congestion and 
 aggravated by unwise treatment into the symptoms of 
 madness. While the men whom he so intensely disliked 
 were hastening to ignorantly do all in their power to in- 
 crease these symptoms, he was making his way to the yard 
 for " air ! more air ! " 
 
 " The end of it was, he was driven an hour or so after- 
 wards to the Somerville Asylum, and there treated as in- 
 sane. He had a high spirit, and would not brook being 
 treated as a madman. He did not choose to lie and cringe, 
 nor did he wish to adopt the policy of enduring his treat- 
 ment with pretended patience. He behaved as you or I 
 would, if any one should come to our houses and undertake 
 to treat us as if we were crazy. If you have studied the 
 history of insanity to any extent, you will readily appre- 
 hend that if once a sane man gets into an asylum as an in- 
 sane man, any display of that high spirit with which sanity 
 will repel insulting and unjust treatment will be set down, 
 with perhaps rare exceptions, as the evidence of in- 
 sanity ! 
 
 " ' I am going to leave your place,' said my fellow-crafts- 
 man one day to Dr. , 'and you can't prevent me.' 
 
 The doctor smiled. But his smiling didn't prevent his 
 so-called patient from keeping his word ; for being allowed 
 to walk in the garden, one day he secured an apple-twig, 
 and that night with this and a piece of wire he picked 
 every lock that stood in his way, and went home." 
 
 " It seems incredible ! " exclaimed Prescott. 
 
 " Hold on," said the inventor. " I have n't finished yet. 
 You see this going directly home was to me the only really 
 insane act he seems to have committed.' The doctor sent
 
 300 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 right over there as soon as he found him gone, and his 
 wife, whom I understand to have been a woman of rare 
 excellence, was induced by the ill-considered warnings that 
 were poured into her ears, to give her consent that he be 
 again incarcerated. He was accordingly seized and taken 
 back to the asylum, where he complained he was treated 
 worse than he was before, and he declared that his 
 former treatment was bad enough. He told Dr. a sec- 
 ond time that he should leave. I don't recollect distinctly 
 what he reported the doctor's answer to be, but I think it 
 was a threat of severe punishment if he should attempt it. 
 But go he did, in spite of an extra watch that was set on 
 him, this time picking his way out with a wire and bent 
 nail, if I remember aright." 
 
 " And did they catch him again ? " asked Prescott, 
 deeply interested in this remarkable account. 
 
 "They did not. He hid in a cornfield the rest of the 
 night, and then contrived to send a message to his wife 
 through relations in Charlestown, informing her of his 
 escape, and telling her that if she would send word that he 
 could return home and remain in peace, he would come ; 
 but if not, he should leave the place, I think forever." 
 
 " And she sent the .promise ? " said Prescott. 
 
 " Yes. And the striking part is, that this man who had 
 been twice incarcerated in an asylum, escaping the first time 
 and then the second, in spite of the doctor who pronounced 
 him insane, and treated him as such, and, according to his 
 statements, in a manner to be condemned, this man to- 
 day is exactly the man, as to sanity, that he was when he 
 picked his way out of the asylum ; and yet since that time 
 he not only has borne a sound reputation as a worthy and 
 useful citizen, but has produced an invention the value of 
 which may be judged from innumerable^ infringements, and
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 301 
 
 has fought his way back in some degree to the pecuniary 
 position which he enjoyed before his sickness, but which he 
 lost during this illness through the dishonesty of others ; 
 moreover, having lost his first wife, he has again married, 
 
 which is the only evidence of insanity, I presume, that 
 even Dr. would venture to adduce." * 
 
 Prescott, who had continued beyond the corner where he 
 was to turn, that he might not interrupt his companion's 
 interesting narration, now stopped, and after a moment's 
 thought he said, 
 
 " This seems to me an impressive lesson in reference to 
 private asylums. If such a case could happen in a public 
 asylum under the direction of a State which is known to 
 devote so much attention to the subject of insanity, what 
 may we not expect of those private mad-houses where it is 
 for the interest of the proprietors to have their establish- 
 ments well filled, and which, say what men please, are to a 
 degree irresponsible ? Of course this villain, from whose 
 clutches we have just escaped, is an exception. He evi- 
 dently is a monster who, like the wolves that put on the 
 preacher's garb as a covering for their crimes, institutes a 
 private mad-house as a means for his own infamous ends, 
 
 and if I have that here," he said tapping the bundle of 
 papers taken from Dr. PennelTs office, " that will in any 
 way enable me to break up his den, I shall account my 
 sojourn under his roof as well recompensed. But aside 
 from this fellow, I think there is something about private 
 mad-houses which requires that they be looked into." 
 
 " You speak my thought," responded the inventor, shak- 
 ing hands with the young Lieutenant. " I know myself to 
 be the intended victim of designing men, and I suppose 
 
 * This account is literally true, the authors being personally cognizant 
 of the facts.
 
 302 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 you know equally as well from whence your madness 
 springs ! " 
 
 " I presume I do," returned Prescott, compressing his 
 lips in a manner that boded ill to those whom the inven- 
 tor's words called up to Ms mind. Then with another 
 shake of the hand they parted, promising to see each other 
 again. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 PEESCOTT had scarcely passed a dozen blocks when a 
 man suddenly appeared from a side street, and met 
 him on the corner under a street-lamp. 
 
 " Hallo ! " exclaimed this man. " Why, comrade ! what 
 in the name of these short hours brings you here ? " 
 
 Prescott saw to his surprise that it was Charles Eoberts. 
 
 Grasping his hand he in turn exclaimed, 
 
 " Comrade Eoberts ! You here this time of night ! " 
 
 "Well," said Eoberts, laughing, "my presence answers 
 your question, but my question remains unanswered." 
 
 " True," returned Prescott, with a change of countenance. 
 " I promise to tell you at some other time, and also why I 
 am looking a little strange and sickly, which I perceive you 
 are wondering at." 
 
 " All right." And as the countenance of the other also 
 changed he said, " I am just returning from a comrade who 
 will tell no more of his adventures here. I watched with 
 him. He died two hours ago, and I remained to help at- 
 tend to the body." 
 
 " Does he leave a family ? " 
 
 " Yes, but they shall be cared for." 
 
 " They are poor, then ? "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 303 
 
 " Yes ; but, thank God ! we are now so organized that we 
 can get at many of our comrades' families and relieve them, 
 from the funds with which so many of our generous citi- 
 zens respond to our call. Fortunately one or two of these 
 children are nearly old enough to help the whole family, 
 and all they need is a little bridging over." 
 
 The Deering family was continually in Prescott's mind. 
 He now asked Eoberts if he had yet heard from them. 
 
 " Heard from them ! Heavens, comrade ! Save me from 
 another sight like that ! " 
 
 " My worst fears were realized, then ! " 
 
 " Eealized, comrade ! You could not have pictured it ! 
 Up, up, up I went, the broken and rickety stairs threaten- 
 ing to crush in at. every step, and then I opened a door 
 that was ready to fall at a touch, and there was a sight that 
 beggars my tongue to describe to you ! My first exclama- 
 tion was, ' Great God I is this a soldier's family ? ' I Ve 
 read of such scenes, but I never saw one before. They 
 were dying of starvation, comrade, in a wretched, dilapi- 
 dated attic, the roof broken in, and no fire ! Another day 
 of such sickness and starvation would have finished the 
 boy, and two days would have seen the sad work com- 
 pleted ! Scarcely was there flesh enough on the whole 
 four from which to draw a single drop of blood. Their 
 eyes were as sunken as the eyes of the dead, and their 
 faces looked like masks of parchment ! And the cold was 
 raw enough to make me shiver even in my warm gar- 
 ments ! " 
 
 " And they but meagrely dressed ? " uttered Prescott, 
 forgetting his own recent trials in the contemplation of this 
 suffering family. 
 
 " ' Dressed ! ' Comrade, if I could but have marched that 
 wife and those three children of a fallen soldier through
 
 304 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 these streets as they- then looked, with their pinched and 
 sickly visages, and their_ attenuated forms draggling ,with 
 their scant and tattered garments, and placed a banner over 
 them with the motto, ' BEHOLD A FAMILY OF THE COUNTRY'S 
 DEFENDERS ! ' I fear me more than one heart would have 
 bled that does not often move with emotion, and eyes that 
 rarely weep would have viewed the passing train through 
 tears they could not hold back ! " 
 
 " But, thank God, you have found them ! " exclaimed 
 Prescott, deeply affected. 
 
 " Yes. It was a long, close search, but I persevered and 
 traced them at last. My first move was to obtain nourish- 
 ing food. Ah, comrade ! you should have seen the two 
 little girls eat ! The crippled one would have killed her- 
 self if I had not stood by to watch her. Then I had 
 them removed to comfortable quarters, and they are all 
 doing well It won't be long before Joseph will be able to 
 go to work for their support." 
 
 " From all accounts this Joseph is a noble boy, and de- 
 serves a better position than vending candy on the cars." 
 
 " The Grand Army will attend to that. As soon as he is 
 .sufficiently recovered he shall not want for a good situation 
 that will pay him enough to make them comfortable, with 
 what the mother may be able to earn ; and the G. A. R will 
 see that she has plenty to do, at a price that will pay for 
 her labor." 
 
 " Comrade ! " exclaimed Prescott, clasping the other's 
 hand, " may Heaven bless the soldier who conceived and 
 initiated the Grand Army of the Eepublic ! This one fam- 
 ily preserved from so terrible a death is sufficient to repay 
 our Order in this city for years of labor ! " 
 
 " True, comrade ! every word true ! But this is only one 
 of many cases though the others may not be so bad
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 305 
 
 which we have already taken in hand, and which would 
 probably not have been reached by any but ourselves. The 
 idea of the soldier taking care of the family of the soldier 
 has been tested to the satisfaction of every one who desires 
 that the vows made to the Union volunteer when he en- 
 listed shall be sacredly fulfilled. And I tell you, comrade, 
 I think every day of the talk we had on the train about 
 the principles of our Order. As one case after another 
 comes up where we find soldiers' families in want and are 
 able to relieve them, they each add emphasis to that prin- 
 ciple whereby we are to eschew all acts which demoralize, 
 and which are sure in the end to prove disastrous. 
 
 "I knew your experience here would confirm in your 
 mind all we 'then said." 
 
 " My observation 'has also shown me that care must be 
 taken not to tire our friends by incessant cries dinned into 
 their ears. Let us be bold, but circumspect ; not backward 
 in pressing the just claims of the soldier, but judicious in 
 so doing. If Justice herself bawls with a loud voice she is 
 repelled, you know that, comrade, and the soldier can- 
 not expect to fare better. Let us rather imitate our own 
 victorious commanders, whose heads and arms did the 
 work, the tongue wagging sufficiently for the purpose, but 
 no more." 
 
 " You are right, comrade. ' The soldier should make it a 
 point to teach rather than be taught that practical com- 
 mon sense which it is believed service in the field imparts. 
 Of course it is the impulse of the soldier to fight ; but it 
 is also his training to see that he fights to some purpose." 
 
 " That 's so every time ! As regards politics, I by no 
 means would advise silence where citizens as represented 
 by their local governments manifestly fail year after year 
 to keep their pledges to the soldiers, as in the case of monu-
 
 306 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 ments to the memory of the fallen, and other forms in 
 which the promises of a nation can only be fulfilled 
 through such governments. Here it may become absolutely 
 necessary that the soldiers rise in their united strength and 
 enforce the fulfilment of these pledges. But not as politi- 
 cians, simply as the executors of justice." 
 
 " And executors of the loyal and patriotic spirit of the 
 country too." 
 
 " Yes. But this once accomplished, let the soldier not 
 display weakness, and become demoralized by the smell 
 of the political blood which may have been necessarily 
 spilt in the operation. Let him fall back to his proper 
 base, and attend to the work that belongs to him ; and if 
 he wishes to engage in politics simply as a politician, let 
 him not advance his claims in this business as a mem- 
 ber of the Grand Army of the Eepublic, nor in any way 
 attempt to involve the G-. A. R in political schemes. My 
 sentiments on this subject have been made if possible the 
 more decided by a letter which I received last week from a 
 soldier, where no Post has yet been organized, who writes 
 that a soldiers' club to which he belongs, though flourishing 
 a short time since, is now threatened with dissolution from 
 tampering with politics, having not only lost the respect and 
 sympathy of the citizens, but created dissension in their 
 own ranks. The difficulty was, they were made use of by 
 an ambitious member, under the specious plea that if he 
 got into office he should look out for the soldier at every 
 turn." 
 
 " A good warning," replied Prescott. " In view of all - 
 these things, it is gratifying to know that the national 
 officers of the Order are so strict and emphatic in their in- 
 junctions to shun all such causes of disaffection in organ- 
 ized bodies."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 307 
 
 " And no Order should be kept more pure than ours," 
 responded Roberts. "Besides its beneficent work, the 
 Grand Army of the Republic is to stand as the representa- 
 tive of that loyalty and patriotism which has in so sublime 
 a manner been displayed in the recent conflict of liberty 
 and freedom against slavery and servitude, which in a 
 day transformed the American citizen into a soldier with 
 rifle on his shoulder and knapsack at his back, and sus- 
 tained him through the horrors of one of the most terrible 
 of wars, with a spirit which only a great cause can inspire ! 
 Comrade, I think you will agree with me that the princi- 
 ples which govern our Order are the only principles that 
 can insure a thorough and enduring harmony between 
 the North and South. No reconciliation can endure which 
 is not founded in justice ; and especially is no reconcilia- 
 tion sure to abide between the North and South that is 
 not founded in that justice which is the result of single- 
 minded devotion to the highest and best interests of the 
 whole country as a country of freedom. And who so likely 
 to appreciate the sacred institutions of liberty as those 
 who have fought to maintain them ? They had too solemn 
 a duty to perform easily to forget that for which they 
 offered up their lives. No ; let our principles of Fraternity, 
 Charity, and Loyalty abide and perform their high mission, 
 uncontaminated by those influences which, emanating from 
 private ambition and political aspirations, can only touch 
 to destroy." 
 
 " Nobly uttered, comrade ! " exclaimed Prescott. " There 
 's not a true member of the G. A. R. that will not indorse 
 that ! While outside issues can only tend to diminish the 
 efficiency in respect to charity, a proper consideration of 
 these great principles of which you speak can but enhance 
 that efficiency by inspiring within us yet higher and more
 
 308 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 enduring motives of action. I do not understand you to 
 oppose the sentiment," he continued, " which demands that 
 the soldier, other things being equal, shall have the prefer- 
 ence in all offices of trust and emolument at the disposal 
 of the government they fought to preserve ; and that the 
 promises of citizens, to the effect that the deserving soldier 
 should not lack for employment if their efforts could secure 
 it for him, and other assurances of this kind, be fulfilled in 
 the spirit with which they were made." 
 
 " No, indeed ! On the contrary, I stand ready to pro- 
 nounce any other line of conduct, by either government or 
 citizens, as ingratitude and a violation of their pledges. I 
 regret to say that there have been too many instances in 
 connection with government employ where the just claims 
 of the soldier have been ignored. It is well known, for 
 example, that at the navy-yards such cases have occurred 
 with reprehensible frequency, and demand the rebuke of 
 the loyal public ! " 
 
 " You express my own mind. I am convinced these are 
 the sentiments of all just and candid citizens, and to your 
 last words they would give an outspoken response, were 
 they knowing to the facts." 
 
 Prescott and Eoberts were now about to part. 
 
 " Tell me, comrade," said the young Lieutenant, " where 
 the Deering family may be found. There are those who 
 will not let many hours pass before visiting them in their 
 new quarters." 
 
 Eoberts, taking out the .memorandum-book in which 
 Prescott had with such painful emotions seen the name of 
 Allen Paige's family entered, stopped by a street-lamp and 
 wrote the. desired direction on a leaf, and tearing it out, 
 gave it to him. 
 
 " Thank you," said Prescott, reading it : "Joseph Deering 's
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 309 
 
 family, No. Eighth Avenue" And the noble fellow act- 
 ually forgot for the moment the anticipated delight of once 
 more being in Emma's presence, in thinking of the hap- 
 piness of the whole family when he should give them this 
 direction, and tell them what the Grand Army had done 
 for the poor sufferers to whom it would guide them. 
 
 " You promised to tell me if the family of Allen Paige 
 should need aid from us," said Eoberts. . " Have you heard 
 from them lately ? " 
 
 " I shall probably see them ' to-morrow," replied Prescott, 
 while a shadow passed over his face ; " and if they need 
 assistance, I '11 not fail to inform you. Good night." 
 
 "Goodnight" 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 OUR present chapter opens not far from the Bowery, in 
 Chatham Street. "We enter a building which seems 
 nodding to its neighbor over the way ; and, mounting three 
 flights of stairs, pass into a kind of loft, now occupied by 
 one of those characters which only New York and Cali- 
 fornia combined can produce. 
 
 As the occupant is out for a few moments, we will take 
 a survey of this singular chamber. One would think, at 
 first sight, that he was inside a menagerie. Bear and buf- 
 falo skins form the bed ; a panther-skin covers one wooden 
 chair and the hide of a wolf another. A skin so worn 
 that it would be difficult to name it is spread upon the 
 floor as a mat ; and the boards which form the walls of the 
 room are covered with a variety of unique California relics, 
 such as an eccentric adventurer would be likely to bring 
 East as trophies of his exploits in that famous region. The
 
 310 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 effect of these embellishments was enhanced by two fan- 
 tastic suits, such as are worn by circus clowns. 
 
 A lasso coiled over a nail, one end carried in a pictu- 
 resque way over two or three adjoining nails, tells of ex- 
 ploits on the prairies with the national weapon of the 
 Mexicans, which perchance brought down the poor buffalo 
 whose hide now serves for a couch. 
 
 Several cannon-balls of various sizes appear in one cor- 
 ner of the loft, not far from which lies a small pile of hides 
 that bear evidence of long and rough usage ; while in dif- 
 ferent parts of the room are heavy weights, clubs, and 
 other implements suggestive of athletic amusement. 
 
 Presently the proprietor of this grotesque apartment en- 
 ters, and we behold a man of powerful frame, with a face 
 combining simplicity and shrewdness. His gait has that 
 peculiar rolling motion characteristic of the powerful gym- 
 nast, whereby is indicated the perfect "floating" of the 
 hips, which seems to be the very foundation of that statu- 
 esque grace, yet unrivalled, that characterizes the works 
 of the ancient Greeks. 
 
 Preparing his dress for exercise, he takes a couple of the 
 largest clubs and flourishes them about his head as though 
 they were made of bamboo. Then he picks up two of the 
 heaviest weights, and gives them such a handling as indi- 
 cates prodigious strength. 
 
 After practising awhile with these weights, he puts them 
 down, and approaches that part of the loft where lie the 
 cannon-balls and worn hides. Drawing the latter a little 
 farther into the room he spreads them so as to cover a cir- 
 cular space about four feet in diameter, and then grasping 
 a large ball he proceeds to the performance of the remark- 
 able feats of the circus arena, that causes the spectator to 
 hold his breath as he follows the round mass of iron run-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 311 
 
 ning about the arms and chest of the performer, and thrown 
 high in the air to fall heavily upon his massive neck 
 
 The use of the skins is now apparent, for as he allows 
 the ball to come to the floor after each performance, it 
 falls on them with so deadened a sound that those below 
 cannot be disturbed in the least. 
 
 We will give a brief sketch of this extraordinary 
 character. 
 
 His real name we never learned. He went by two 
 aliases, Wrenchy and Saxey ; as the former is the name 
 by which he was more generally known, we will use it 
 ourselves. During the Mexican war he went out in Ste- 
 phenson's notorious New York regiment, which was or- 
 dered to California. After it was disbanded there, "Wrenchy 
 fell into the ranks of that lawless faction known as the 
 Hounds, which was composed of the most reckless char- 
 acters who gathered so rapidly in California when the 
 gold-fever spread through the country. Deserters from 
 merchant-vessels and men-of-w#r helped fill their ranks, 
 in which Stephenson's discharged volunteers were the mas- 
 ter spirits. These Hounds were led by such men as Sam 
 Eoberts and Jack Powers, the latter of whom is reported 
 to have once hired ten men, at $ 25 a day, to take three 
 wagon-loads of specie, won by gambling, from the mines 
 down to Stockton. Men like Billy Mulligan and Wrenchy 
 associated with him as special aids. There was a certain 
 picturesqueness about this band, their hats being adorned 
 with strings of beads and a handkerchief, to distinguish 
 them from the Coyotes, the opposing faction, which was 
 composed of those determined to sustain the laws, and 
 protect the foreigners, who were chiefly Chilians and Seno- 
 rians, and whom the Hounds made the special objects of 
 their persecution.
 
 312 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The term Coyotes was applied by the Hounds to their op- 
 ponents because the latter were industrious miners, always 
 burrowing in the ground like the small prairie-wolf of that 
 name. It acquired additional significance from the fact that 
 often the lawless miner and the law-abiding miner would 
 stake out claims that joined on the same lead, and then 
 while the former would rest on his pickaxe the other would 
 dig down to the gold, and when there 'would occasionally 
 burrow into his lazy neighbor's claim, replacing ore with 
 dirt. On the other hand, the lawless fellows would often 
 wait till these industrious miners had struck gold, and then 
 leap in and drive them off, sending the contents of their 
 pistols after them as they fled through the camp. Hence 
 the term Hounds, the chief occupation of the dog for which 
 they were thus named being to hunt down the coyote on 
 the prairies when crossing with the trains. 
 
 An idea of the state of society in California at this period 
 may be formed from the fact that in Tuolumne County, 
 with a population of 15,000, there were 1,700 murders in 
 one year, and the only man hanged was a man that stole a 
 mule ! 
 
 "While engaged in his lawless proceedings as a Hound, 
 Wrenchy would have lost his life on one occasion, had it 
 not been for the interposition, under circumstances of rare 
 magnanimity, of Julius Hammond, who was then acting as 
 sheriff, and who appreciated what was really good in the man. 
 
 After running a course of this kind of life he travelled 
 with Winde & Provost's circus as the " Strong Man," and 
 was famous as a " cannon-ball tosser," besides being a first- 
 rate acrobat and clown. 
 
 The Rebellion brought him East ; he having enlisted in 
 the California Battalion 'which was attached to the Second 
 Massachusetts Cavalry ; and he is now back again in New
 
 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 313 
 
 York, the practice in which we see him at present engaged 
 indicating that he still catches cannon-balls on his neck to 
 put bread into his stomach, which occupation his remarka- 
 ble constitution has enabled him to continue beyond the 
 age usually attained by such men. 
 
 After changing awhile to two smaller balls, the gymnast 
 returned to the large one, and with the cry, " Come, my 
 little mouse ! run ! run ! run ! " he commenced rolling it 
 about on his person until it seemed alive. Presently grasp- 
 ing it in both hands he gave it a more than ordinarily 
 strong toss, and bent his head to receive it as usual on his 
 neck. 
 
 Just as it was reaching its highest altitude the door 
 opened, and a man with a strong, bear-like form, full black 
 beard, and green spectacles entered. 
 
 He started back in alarm as his eye fell on the heavy 
 sphere of iron just beginning to descend upon the bended 
 neck of the athlete ; and when it struck with its terrible 
 weight he could not suppress an ejaculation. 
 
 The clown turned, and on seeing his alarmed visitor 
 cried out with a laugh, " Hyer* stranger! coming into 
 the show as a deadhead ? Ye look scared, old hoss ! Con- 
 science bad, eh ? Then 1 11 set one of my mice after ye ! " 
 
 His mice were, as we have seen, his cannon-balls. 
 
 As "Wrenchy thus addressed him, the visitor started in 
 alarm, for his conscience instinctively made that in earnest 
 which the athlete only meant in play. 
 
 That his conscience is bad the reader will at once appre- 
 hend when we inform him that this bearded stranger with 
 the green spectacles is none other than the redoubtable 
 Daniel Garvin, who as we now look at him recalls a state- 
 ment we heard some time ago, that insanity ran in this 
 
 * Pronounced Hi-yar'. 
 14
 
 314 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 family of bilious temperament and intense passions. His 
 present errand, undertaken in so questionable a guise, has 
 certainly an insane tinge to it. 
 
 He has found himself driven into a corner, and he 
 rushes hither and thither like a wild animal who is irre- 
 sistibly driven into an enclosure by converging fires. 
 
 This deep-dyed sinner realizes that the wicked have no 
 place to stand upon, and when the desperate clutch which 
 they have fastened on the object of their criminal cupidity 
 is threatened, they move their feet to find no firm and solid 
 earth, nothing but miry and slippery places. 
 
 The disconcerted broker, the forces of whose intellect 
 have become to a degree demoralized, has received news of 
 the failure of the attempt to assassinate the Veteran, and 
 like the worst class of Southern Eebels, who, after their 
 power had been broken in a fair fight, savagely resorted to 
 the most brutal means to continue their flagrant work, 
 so this unprincipled man of schemes can see no way 
 through his own iniquitous business except by a continu- 
 ance of such atrocious instrumentalities as he has already 
 found himself compelled to use. 
 
 It did not take the athlete long to learn the object of 
 his visitor. He had met such men before, but he inwardly 
 pronounced the broker the greatest scoundrel of them all, 
 and resolved to repay him for so complimentary a call, 
 which was made under the supposition that he was a cold- 
 blooded hireling. As a man of quaint humor, also, he 
 perceived that game for a little entertainment was here 
 offered him. 
 
 This singular being therefore met his would-be employer 
 in the performance of a dastardly deed full half-way, and 
 put on such an air that Satan himself, with all his reputed 
 shrewdness, would have been taken in were he in Garvin's
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 315 
 
 place. As his visitor opened his business in a manner as 
 cautiously as one would cut a bit of steel from the cornea 
 of a machinist's eye, the clown lit up his face with a gleam 
 of savage intelligence, mingled with fear and apprehension. 
 He fixed upon the broker a look of the most intense sus- 
 picion, and cast his glance with subdued fierceness well 
 assumed on one of the heavy clubs near by. In short, he 
 ogled his tempter into the self-complacent idea that his 
 never-failing sagacity had discovered in the returned Cali- 
 fornian a criminal, on whose secret consciousness of guilt 
 he could work with his usual subtlety and mastery of the 
 manipulative art. The result was, that in the course of an 
 hour this clown of the strong muscle, with a face so simple, 
 and yet so shrewd, was in possession of the whole plot. 
 
 He also had the name of the intended victim ; and this 
 was where he felt as if he had nearly exposed himself. 
 When the broker first uttered it, the old-time Hound and re- 
 cent soldier gave a start which caused a shade of suspicion 
 to pass over the ever- wary face of the schemer. Wrenchy 
 perceived this, and hastened to remove it. Frowning and 
 gnashing his teeth, he exclaimed in a suppressed but in- 
 tensely vindictive voice, 
 
 " Was this Hammond in California in 1849 as a sheriff? " 
 
 " He was," returned the broker with triumphant empha- 
 sis. 
 
 " Then may the Devil take him, when I Ve done with 
 him ! You perhaps have heard of the Hounds, a fine set 
 of fellows in California at that time ? " 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " Well ! " cried the " cannon-ball tosser," in a voice like 
 the rolling of distant thunder, " I was a Hound, and this 
 Hammond was a sheriff ! " And he fixed on the broker a 
 diabolical look which brought to the face of the latter a
 
 316 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 gleam of secret exultation. In another moment the latter 
 was nodding with a look of the most infusive and sympa- 
 thetic villany. 
 
 " I see ! I see ! " he said, showing his own white teeth 
 under his false mustache, in a manner which suggested to 
 the athlete a charnel-house lit up by the moonlight. 
 " Those rascally sheriffs ! They were the ones that ought 
 to have been hung ! " 
 
 Wrenchy continued to chew his self-generated rage, and 
 looked with a furtive scowl toward a heavy horse-pistol 
 which helped adorn the side of the loft. 
 
 At that moment the clock struck seven, and this well- 
 assumed villain sprang to his feet, and turning slightly 
 away, as if, with the instinct of guilt, to conceal his watch, 
 a gold one which he had carried as a keepsake for fif- 
 teen years, he exclaimed, 
 
 " Too many irons in the fire spoils the whole ! If I have 
 n't slipped up on this other engagement I 'm a lucky dog ! " 
 Then suddenly lowering his voice almost to a whisper, he 
 said, " Be here to-morrow at this time, and " with a 
 knowing and ferocious leer " we '11 start this job to our 
 mutual satisfaction." 
 
 The broker departed, saying to himself with an intelli- 
 gent nod, 
 
 " That watch had the snuff of blood about it. This is 
 verily a most unconscionable villain ! "
 
 THE VETEKAN OF THE GKAND AEMY? 317 
 
 CHAPTEK XLI. 
 
 ABOUT the time the foregoing visit was made by the 
 broker to the fantastic apartment of the athlete, the 
 object of his conspiracy was closeted with Jonas Cringar. 
 
 The pen would fail to convey an idea of the emotions 
 experienced by the desolate merchant when he received in- 
 formation from Billings, the book-keeper, that the Veteran 
 was not dead as reported, but was actually at that moment 
 moving with the old indomitable will in the working of his 
 plans to confound the now desperate Garvin. It seemed 
 to his reacting spirit as if the very hand of Heaven had 
 reached down to direct the battle against his Satanic 
 tempter. 
 
 The interveiw in question was of a very different 
 character from the one we have formerly described, as the 
 reader will readily imagine. Jonas Cringar greeted the 
 Veteran, not with the stare of consternation which was 
 then his welcome, but his haggard face bore a look of joy 
 unutterable. And this joy was not for himself alone, 
 but for those whom he had so deeply wronged ; for since 
 his heart had been opened to the Veteran on that first 
 visit he had continually prayed to God that the promise 
 regarding the family of Allen Paige, which the presence of 
 his visitor then awakened in his soul, might in some provi- 
 dential manner be fulfilled. 
 
 The Veteran gave an account of the attempted assassi- 
 nation, and the manner in which he had secluded himself 
 during his recovery ; and then after speaking of the Paige 
 family (whose rejoicing on once more seeing their friend
 
 318 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 alive was one of those scenes which brightened a life that 
 had seen many shadows), and the ominous disappearance 
 of Prescott Marland, he came to the subject of the forgery. 
 He told Cringar of the visit to the studio of William Gar- 
 vin for the purpose we have previously mentioned. 
 
 " It is very sad ! " uttered the merchant, while the look 
 of wearing pain on his features increased in such a manner 
 as to indicate the direction of his thoughts. " How much 
 does one reckless act cost ! A son against a father ! Gen- 
 eral, if this unhappy young man accomplishes the object you 
 have assigned him he secures his own father's downfall ! " 
 
 " It is not pleasant to think of," said the Veteran with 
 deep feeling. "More especially has it become painful 
 since his interview with me last evening. He came to me 
 and wept as he told me of the trial which his heart had 
 experienced, since he consented to undertake the recovery 
 of that forgery. I could see that it was in danger of driv- 
 ing him mad, and I am informed that madness runs 
 somewhat in that blood." 
 
 " My God ! " ejaculated the merchant under his breath 
 as he recalled the broker's appearance that night when 
 Simple Sal's laugh burst upon them, " I think it does ! " 
 
 " He told me," continued the Veteran, " that he had 
 wrought himself up to an attempt night before last, but 
 the Laocoon so distracted his mind that he was utterly un- 
 fitted for the work." 
 
 " The Laocoon ! " exclaimed Cringar in astonishment. 
 
 " Yes. He said that with his mind strung to the work- 
 ing-point, but still in despair at the very thought that he 
 must do it, he was passing down Broadway, and thinking 
 to find a little relief from a distraction which was little 
 short of craziness, he entered an art store to view the 
 works there on exhibition. Nothing could fix his attention.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 319 
 
 All seemed in a whirl. Presently he came to a small copy 
 of the Laocoon in alabaster. This commanded more of 
 his attention, for the agony which the ancient sculptor 
 has depicted with such power was to him a reflex of his 
 own internal state. He said it held him as by fascination, 
 and he seemed to exult in measuring his own torments 
 with theirs. But erelong the group was changed, to him, 
 into a terrible vision. The two sons became as mist be- 
 fore his eyes, and the father alone riveted his gaze. The 
 awful agony and anguish which is expressed in the face 
 and throughout the entire body held him in a trance of 
 stupefied horror, for he had suddenly seen that struggling 
 priest of Neptune transformed into his own father, and 
 himself he saw in the dread serpent whose fangs, charged 
 to his frenzied mind with venom, were fastened in the pal- 
 pitating side ! He felt himself rooted to the floor, and his 
 soul cried out to him, as if it were another being separate 
 from himself, ' The fangs of the, son are prepared for the 
 father ! Let him strike and see his father die ! ' Then he 
 said the statue and the serpent seemed to live, and he wit- 
 nessed as a reality the dying struggles of the one, while 
 the skin of the other swelled and quivered, and its eyes 
 shot forth flames, as the folds tightened about its victim, 
 and its jaws, with their deadly fangs, closed deeper and 
 deeper into the purpling flesh. Then everything swam, 
 and he knew no more till he found himself lying on a 
 couch with a group of persons around him, from whom he 
 learned that he had fainted." 
 
 " This is indeed terrible ! " exclaimed the merchant, 
 through whom there shot a pang of remorse wellnigh as 
 overwhelming as the anguish described by the wretched 
 young artist. 
 
 " So terrible," said the Veteran, " that I could not do
 
 320 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 otherwise than tell him that he should be released from 
 the unnatural office, for the present, at least, and I 
 would, if possible, study up some other means of accom- 
 plishing the object." 
 
 " And this made him happy ! " 
 
 " I cannot say so much as that," returned the Veteran, 
 thoughtfully. " He seemed distressed by an internal con- 
 flict. He knows that those whom he deeply esteems are 
 in their turn suffering from the fangs of their unnatural 
 relative, and will continue to suffer till the power which 
 he obtained by treachery shall have been taken from 
 him." 
 
 The merchant now became absorbed in the most gloomy 
 thoughts, and the Veteran took his leave, after a few kindly 
 words, which the former responded to without seeming to 
 understand. 
 
 That evening the Veteran sat in his room, meditating on 
 the interview with William Garvin which he had described 
 to the merchant, and turning over in his mind one expe- 
 dient after another by which he might attain his end with- 
 out the aid of this miserable son of the guilty broker. 
 
 While in the midst of these meditations a rap sounded 
 on his door. He opened it and Wrenchy stood before him ! 
 
 They recognized each other at once, and their greeting 
 was a hearty one. Especially was this the case with the 
 gymnast, who ever remembered the Veteran with gratitude 
 for saving his life. 
 
 After a little introductory talk about the old times, 
 Wrenchy entered at once on the business for which he had 
 called, with an account of the extraordinary visit made 
 him that evening by the man with the black beard and 
 green spectacles. His description was close, and the ready
 
 THE YETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 321 
 
 mind of the Veteran found no difficulty in identifying this 
 strange and s&iister visitor. 
 
 " When he came to your name I was pretty nigh spoil- 
 ing the whole thing," said the clown. " But I caught my 
 balance, and gave him such a taste of the diabolical that he 
 saw you pinned right there before his black devil's eyes ! " 
 
 " You are to meet him again to-morrow ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The Veteran's brows were for a moment contracted in 
 thought, and then a smile that was scarcely perceptible 
 stole over his face. 
 
 "Wrenchy," said he, "do you think you could handle 
 your fingers with your former skill ? " 
 
 By one of those apparent anomalies of nature this 
 "strong man," who tossed cannon-balls so easily that he 
 called them his "mice," was wonderfully expert in the 
 manipulation of minute objects. 
 
 " Quien sabe ? " he laughed, mixing his dialect as he and 
 the Veteran were wont to do in California, "Who know?" 
 Then he added, " If you will stand up a moment, I will 
 show you." 
 
 The Veteran stood up. 
 
 " Now," said the ex-Hound, " the day was when I could 
 engage a man's attention and then show him this." 
 
 The Veteran looked casually down at the other's extended 
 palm, and to his astonishment he saw his watch therein. 
 
 " I '11 put it back," said Wrenchy ; and he proceeded to 
 attach it to the chain and replace it in the fob. " Hyer ! " 
 he exclaimed, and making a pretence of stooping for it, he 
 presented the Veteran with his memorandum-book. 
 
 "A truce ! " cried the latter, laughing. " If my eyes ever 
 trouble me 1 11 get you to take them out ! But for the 
 time being I '11 keep them to look upon a document which 
 
 14* U
 
 322 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 I believe, with your skill, you can obtain as readily as you 
 just now obtained my memorandum-book." And there- 
 upon he proceeded to enlighten the athlete as to the object 
 of the question which caused his remarkable display of the 
 sleight-of-hand talent. This object was to engage him in 
 a plan for the recovery of the forgery and the release of 
 William Garvin. 
 
 The gymnast gave emphatic approval. It was a work 
 that pleased him. His honest course of life for several 
 years past had afforded him no opportunity for the actual 
 use of his accomplishments in this direction, though he 
 had from habit and taste kept up his skill, occasionally de- 
 lighting a circle of friends by tricks of magic, in which he 
 excelled, and which to see this Hercules perform was like 
 witnessing the exquisitely finished boxing of the grizzly 
 bear. 
 
 " For once we can give the ' cly-faker ' profession a touch 
 of honesty," he said with a broad grin. 
 
 The Veteran experienced a deep feeling of relief when 
 he thought of the load that would be taken from the suf- 
 fering heart of William Garvin, if his object could thus be 
 accomplished through the very instrumentality which the 
 broker would make use of for his own heinous ends, thus 
 doing his work through the laws of retribution. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLII. 
 
 ON the following day the disguised broker again ap- 
 peared at the apartment of the gymnast, according to 
 appointment. He was received by that odd genius in the 
 fantastic suit of a clown. The latter did not take up much
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 323 
 
 time in preliminaries on this occasion, but at once pro- 
 ceeded to call the attention of his would-be employer to 
 the lasso which hung festooned upon the wall. 
 
 The eyes of the latter glistened under his green specta- 
 cles. This thong of raw-hide in the hands of the " cannon- 
 ball tosser " and around the neck of the man who stood so 
 stubbornly in his way would be absolutely certain to give 
 that man his quietus without noise or confusion. His 
 power would avail him nothing with this about his throat. 
 
 Wrenchy watched him with an expression of grim hu- 
 mor, which the broker mistook for suppressed exultation at 
 the thought of this opportunity for vengeance. 
 
 "Are you dead sure of your mark?" asked the spectacled 
 Garvin, while his mouth seemed to water as his teeth 
 slightly appeared through his false mustache. 
 
 The clown, who at one time was known in California as 
 a vaquero (herdsman), "silently took the lasso from the wall. 
 
 " Esta paso" * he said ; and with a smile which the broker 
 still interpreted as the smile of anticipated triumph over 
 his old enemy, he put the coil on his left arm and pro- 
 ceeded to unwind it to a sufficient length for present use. 
 Then with a quick movement the noose flew in the air and 
 a large empty box, that was standing upright in one corner 
 of the loft, was drawn toward him. 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried the bearded spectator. " Are you as 
 sure of a man ? " 
 
 " Hyer ! vm corrajo vejez estafado ! " )* returned the 
 clown ; and having released the box, the lasso was the 
 next instant flying through the room toward the broker's 
 head, and before he could so much as move his tongue he 
 found himself bound to his chair a helpless prisoner. 
 
 "Ha, ha! Hyer!" laughed the acrobatic clown turning 
 
 * This way. t " Here ! you cussed old sharper ! "
 
 324 THE VETEBAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 
 
 a double somersault, while the simple expression on his 
 countenance, of which we have before spoken, assumed a 
 look of the most innocent glee. " How is that for man, 
 beast, or devil ? I care not for the word ! " 
 
 The broker neither enjoyed the fun of being lassoed, nor 
 did he relish the sportive language which the eccentric 
 gymnast seemed to apply to him in English, taking aside 
 the Mexican dialect, which was Greek to him. He tried 
 to put a good face on the matter, however. 
 
 " A very good illustration," he said with a forced laugh, 
 while he bit his lips with vexation; "a very convincing 
 illustration indeed ! " At the same time he winced under 
 the tightening lasso. 
 
 With another laugh of what seemed simple and mis- 
 chievous glee, Wrenchy cried, "Now for it!" and with a 
 sudden pull down came broker and chair with a crash. 
 " Heigh-ho ! master ! " he exclaimed, rushing to the aid of 
 his sprawling victim; "this old clown has carried the 
 joke too far ! He forgot himself, and mistook you for a 
 ' greaser ' ! " and grasping the prostrate Garvin he tumbled 
 him about in rude apparent efforts to right him, until the 
 discomforted plotter cursed the clumsy fellow from the 
 bottom of his soul. Then seizing the hat which rolled off 
 on the floor when its owner fell, Wrenchy put it on the 
 broker's head and, with a stroke he had learned years be- 
 fore on the Bowery, he knocked it over his eyes, sending 
 the green spectacles down over the end of his nose. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " once more laughed the irreverant acrobat. 
 " You must be the Evil One himself to put this clumsiness 
 into old Wrenchy ! His skilful hands are turned to the 
 paws of a lout ! " 
 
 Finally he succeeded in raising his dupe, who ventured 
 only to mutter his curses between his teeth, while he re- 
 adjusted his spectacles and clothing.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 325 
 
 " You perceive, master," said the clown with a grin, that 
 this bit of raw-hide is sure. I will explain its peculiarities. 
 You will see that it is plaited, and rendered elastic by 
 greasing, which makes ^it as soft and pliable as silk. 
 'T is a very remarkable piece of ingenuity, sir, if you 
 will please examine it" 
 
 " I 've tested it very well, my good fellow, very well in- 
 deed," replied the broker with a painfully responsive grin, 
 still inwardly boiling with rage at the treatment he had 
 endured. " I have n't time for a particular examination. 
 You can let your old California friend attend to that, and 
 assist him by starting his eyes out a little." 
 
 The gymnast could scarcely refrain from compelling this 
 murderous broker's own eyes to start out by a compression 
 of his windpipe in his powerful fingers, as he uttered this 
 fiendish remark. But he carried out the part he had as- 
 signed himself, and his designing visitor at length departed, 
 rubbing his ugly hands with self-congratulation, though 
 mingled with this self-congratulation was an inward trem- 
 bling, arising from a consciousness of guilt which one 
 attempt at assassination had not been quite able to harden 
 
 him to. 
 
 ***** 
 
 On the night of the second interview between the broker 
 and his fancied hireling, which we have just transcribed, 
 William Garvin sat in his room, hour after hour, a victim 
 of the most conflicting and disturbing thoughts. It was, 
 in fact, a state of mind but little short of frenzy. 
 
 The reader has already been informed, in the account 
 given by the Veteran to Jonas Cringar, of the terrible ex- 
 perience through w r hich the distracted young artist had 
 passed since his visit to his studio. After the interview 
 referred to by the former, which resulted in his releasing
 
 326 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 the broker's ^on for the time being, the sufferings of this 
 miserable youth rather increased than diminished. He felt 
 himself compelled to act upon his own responsibility ; arid 
 the very claims of justice which had compelled the Veteran 
 to assign him a part so repugnant to his feelings now ap- 
 pealed with direct force to his heart. 
 
 He saw the family to which for so many years he had 
 seemed but little less than a son suffering from wrongs 
 perpetrated by his own father. He saw her by whom his 
 life had been so absorbed living in penury and want. He 
 saw them all, in his mind's eye, in the attitude of pleading, 
 and he heard them in imagination praying him to perform 
 that act which the man, whose word he dreamed not 
 of doubting, had told him would secure the restoration 
 of their property, and relief from their present state of 
 destitution. 
 
 So his mind surged from side to side till it was nearly 
 prostrated by its tumultuous unrest. If he performed the 
 act, his father would be given by his hands into the power 
 of his foes, and probably over to destruction. If he did 
 not do it, the family in which was the object of his wild 
 idolatry might remain in misery forever. With the insight 
 we have given the reader into the mental character and 
 morbid condition of this young man, he can readily com- 
 prehend the state in which we now find him, after two 
 days and nights of such internal conflict. 
 
 In the afternoon his mind had surged toward the execu- 
 tion of the deed, the ever-present vision of Emma and her 
 family, in which \ the majestic but to him now sorrowful 
 figure of the Veteran appeared, proving a stronger influence 
 than the picture of a guilty father's retribution ; and not 
 far from the very hour in which that parent was engaged 
 in hiring a supposed assassin to do murder, this struggling 
 son had finally resolved to secure the forgery.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 327 
 
 His plan was to abstract the forged paper from the bro- 
 ker's pocket-book while he was asleep. To insure that 
 sleep, for he paled and trembled at the thought of the 
 slumberer awaking while he was engaged in the contem- 
 plated act, he determined to administer a sleeping-potion 
 by means of the tea which his father was sure to drink in 
 the evening. Having often been obliged to take somnific 
 drugs to secure sleep himself, he had carried out this part 
 of his design with but little difficulty. 
 
 But now as he sat in his room after the father had re- 
 tired, he was again compelled to undergo an internal con- 
 flict ; for the strain on his overwrought mind, from the effort 
 already made toward the accomplishment of his object, had 
 been followed by a reaction ; and for a while he was again 
 threatened with prostration and utter inability to carry out 
 what he had now begun. Again his mind surged to and 
 fro, and in his mental anguish he was ready to cry out, 
 
 " Great Power of Heaven ! take me hence ! " 
 
 It was considerably after midnight when once more that 
 desperate resolve took possession of his spirit, and with a 
 wild start he hastened to his door, opened it convulsively, 
 and stole swiftly toward his father's chamber, carrying in 
 his left hand a small metal lamp. 
 
 He reached forth his right hand to turn the knob, when 
 to his dismay quick, heavy footsteps were heard within, 
 and the door opened. 
 
 Confronting him was the livid, furious face of the broker. 
 
 Seizing his son by the throat he bent this face down to 
 his, and exclaimed in a hissing voice, 
 
 " Vile thief and burglar ! what have you stolen from my 
 pocket-book ? " 
 
 " Nothing ! before God, nothing ! " shrieked the son, 
 overcome with mortal terror.
 
 328 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND* ARMY. 
 
 " Nothing ! you dauber of canvas ! You lie ! " cried the 
 foaming broker, shaking the young artist till the lamp fell 
 extinguished from his hand, and it seemed as though with 
 this rough usage and his own terror he must drop lifeless 
 to the floor. 
 
 " no, no ! " again shrieked the gasping youth. " I 
 swear ! I swear ! father ! I swear ! " 
 
 "As that damnable Cringar swore, you chattering cat- 
 bird ! " And at thoughts of Cringar and the Veteran Daniel 
 Garvin shook his son still more violently. "Swear, you 
 young imp ! I '11 teach you to utter oaths that '11 burst 
 your windpipe ! " William's throat now began to gurgle. 
 " The paper ! " yelled the broker like a madman. " If you 
 don't give it up right here on this spot, and instantly, I '11 
 kiU you!" 
 
 At that moment the commotion of alarmed servants 
 above served to bring the furious man to a consciousness of 
 what he was doing. Eelaxing his hold from his son's 
 throat, he grasped him by the collar and, dragging him into 
 the chamber, he slammed to the door. 
 
 The young artist now fell on his knees and declared in 
 the most piteous and heart-rending tones that he had not 
 taken the paper. 
 
 " Why were you at my door at this time of night ? " de- 
 manded the father in a voice that was still filled with 
 rage. 
 
 " You you looked sick and wretched at supper, and I 
 could not go to bed for thinking of you, and I came to see 
 if you slept ! " uttered the trembling youth with a readi- 
 ness which fright often imparts. 
 
 William Garvin was not given to uttering lies, and this 
 one caused a blush of shame to tinge the deadly pallor 
 of his cheeks.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 329 
 
 For an instant the broker continued to fix his blazing 
 eye on his son, and then suddenly his features, which had 
 begun slightly to relax, once more grew black, contorted 
 by an expression in which impotent fury and startled fear 
 were darkly mingled. Opening the door he flung the youth 
 from the room, and then again closing it with a loud slam 
 he turned the key, and commenced pacing the floor with 
 strides that even surpassed those with which he started for 
 Jonas Cringar, after the information given him by Baling 
 at the Fulton Ferry. 
 
 " The cannon-ball clown ! " he hissed between his grind- 
 ing teeth. " Duped ! Daniel Garvin duped ! Duped by a 
 clown ! Lassoed like a mule, and robbed like a fool ! A 
 rhyme, Daniel Garvin ! You 've made a rhyme ! Go to 
 work and write poetry for monuments, and first see to it 
 that your own epitaph is written ! " 
 
 The last of this speech was uttered with a bitter laugh, 
 and one is startled by its strangeness. 
 
 The furious schemer's large pocket-book lying open on 
 the stand by the bed suggests the cause of this remarkable 
 demonstration. 
 
 The sleeping-potion which "William had prepared for his 
 father might have proved sufficienly strong for himself, but 
 its effect on an organization so powerful as the broker's, 
 more than usually excited as it was by his recent interview 
 with the athlete, was of short duration. 
 
 Not long before the young artist grasped his lamp in the 
 desperate resolution to finish the work he had begun, 
 Daniel Garvin, who had thrown himself undressed on his 
 bed, awoke with a violent headache, and troublesome 
 thoughts began to sweep through his mind, as was now 
 usual with him at the dead of night. 
 
 He thought of the Veteran, and his face lit up with ex-
 
 330 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 ultation as he ruminated on the sure vengeance which 
 would now be visited on his enemy through the athlete 
 and his lasso. Then he passed to the merchant, and his 
 heart gloated over the retribution he intended for this man, 
 whom he hated with all the intensity of his brooding na- 
 ture for the traitorous part he felt certain he had acted 
 against him. 
 
 While in the midst of his revengeful pictures he rose 
 and sat on the side of his bed. His lamp still burned, 
 and he drew forth his pocket-book now a frequent habit 
 with him to feast his eyes on the evidence by which 
 at any moment he could tumble the merchant into the 
 abyss of irretrievable ruin. 
 
 " Strange ! " he muttered, as he opened the wallet, to 
 find the forgery missing from the place in which he usu- 
 ally carried it. " It is not easy for Daniel Garvin to con- 
 fess it, even to Daniel Garvin, but truly his head is not so 
 clear of late. I like not this confusion," he added, tapping 
 his forehead. "The time was when Daniel Garvin could 
 put his papers away twenty years running, if necessary, 
 and never in the wrong place ; but there seems to be a little 
 trouble here." 
 
 With this he commenced nervously searching for the 
 missing forgery among his other papers. But it was no- 
 where to be found ! 
 
 " I 've been plundered ! " he exclaimed in a suppressed 
 voice of rage and consternation, and throwing the pocket- 
 book upon the stand he leaped to his feet. 
 
 At that instant his ears caught the sound of creeping 
 feet outside ; in another moment he was at the door, and 
 then ensued the scene we have described. 
 
 Throughout the remainder of that night sleep visited 
 neither the lids of the father nor son.
 
 THE VETEEAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. 331 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 ONCE more to the old house on Vandam Street. 
 We have spoken of the joy with which the sorrow- 
 ing family of Allen Paige had greeted that noble friend, 
 whom they supposed had been murdered. On the evening 
 following the night of Prescott Marland's escape from the 
 mad-house they sat talking of this friend with a gratitude 
 and an affection which only such devotion as he, a com- 
 parative stranger, had displayed in their behalf could 
 command. 
 
 " Do you observe, mother," said Emma with much feeling, 
 " how pale he is ? I fear his anxiety for us has led him to 
 forget himself in so soon recommencing his arduous labors 
 for us." 
 
 "I have observed it," responded the mother, sadly. " And 
 it grieves me. I spoke to him yesterday, and admonished 
 him to think more of his own welfare, but he answered 
 me in such a manner that I could say nothing more. One 
 feels in his presence as if he knew what was best, and so 
 must needs leave him to act according to a judgment 
 which seems beyond questioning. He appears very anxious 
 about Prescott, whom he evidently loves as we all do." 
 
 A blush tinged Emma's cheek ; and then tears filled her 
 eyes. Mrs. Paige observed this emotion, and with a moth- 
 er's sympathy was about to change the subject of conver- 
 sation, when a well-known knock at the door announced a 
 visit from the one of whom they had been speaking. 
 
 With the words we have heard uttered by Mrs. Paige 
 and her daughter regarding the appearance of this soldier
 
 332 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 so fraternally devoted to the interests of a comrade's family, 
 one is struck by the paleness of his massive face. It is 
 evident that anxiety for others has caused him, after the 
 confinement from his wound, to venture prematurely on 
 those labors which demand so great an exertion of the 
 mind and will 
 
 But the observer almost immediately forgets this appear- 
 ance of illness in an expression of suppressed joy, which 
 beams from his deep gray eye, and pervades his strong, 
 benignant features. He himself sees that this expression 
 has attracted the attention of those who now greet him, 
 and he hastens to say, 
 
 " My friends, I have to inform you that one great source 
 of power held heretofore by Daniel Garvin has been taken 
 from him ; and I am now able to tell you that the pros- 
 pect of the restitution of your rights is very favorable." 
 
 This did not seem to explain that emotion which still lit 
 up his countenance. 
 
 His gaze now fell on Emma's face, and he observed the 
 tears still standing in her saddened eyes. A look of inex- 
 pressible tenderness overspread his features. 
 
 " Perhaps we shall have a visitor soon," he said in a gen- 
 tle voice. 
 
 Through Emma's tears there instantly appeared a light 
 which brought to the countenance of the Veteran a smile 
 so kind and yet so grave, that, while a blush again height- 
 ened the color of the fair girl's cheek, she was strangely 
 moved, as if the presence of her father accompanied this 
 apparently Heaven-appointed friend. 
 
 At that moment another knock was heard at the door. 
 
 Emma partly started from her chair to answer it, but as 
 Albert hastened to do this she gave a quick glance at the 
 Veteran, and sank back trembling in her seat while the 
 tell-tale crimson mounted to her cheeks.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 333 
 
 Albert opened the door, and Prescott Marland crossed 
 the threshold, and stood before them, that handsome, gen- 
 erous face, though pale and thin by his incarceration, still 
 beaming with the old hope-inspiring smile. 
 
 The greeting which now followed caused the young 
 Lieutenant to declare to himself that for a repetition of it 
 he would willingly endure another imprisonment like that 
 from which he had just escaped. 
 
 That day the Veteran had told him of the success which 
 had attended the mission of the gymnast, who, it is need- 
 less to inform the reader, had abstracted the forgery when 
 he gave the broker such a rude handling, and knocked his 
 hat over his eyes, while he was sprawled on the floor, 
 and as he took Emma's hand he experienced in his hope a 
 thrill of delight which he did not care entirely to suppress, 
 as he looked into her eyes and thought of the possibility 
 of being permitted erelong to throw off the bonds which 
 for so many months had restrained him, and declare with 
 all the fervor he then felt the deep, strong love which trial 
 had but served to render even tenfold more ardent than it 
 was the day he was surprised gazing on the sunset picture. 
 
 Mingled with Emma's joy was a feeling of pain, as she 
 beheld his features so thin and pale ; and the indignation 
 of both herself and the rest of the family may well be 
 imagined, as they listened to the story of the manner in 
 which he had been entrapped and held in worse than soli- 
 tary confinement. When, however, he came to the de- 
 scription of his escape through the ingenuity of the in- 
 ventor, and told them of his adventure in Dr. Pennell's 
 private office, their countenances were expressive of lively 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Their sympathies were strongly excited toward the poor 
 mad corporal with whom he had been incarcerated.
 
 334 THE 'VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 "It is the height of cruelty to confine even the most 
 dangerous victim of insanity in such a cell as that ! " ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Paige. 
 
 " Do not fear but that the cruelty and the rascality, in 
 New York at least, of that sweet villain of a mad-house doc- 
 tor will come to a speedy termination," said Prescott, with 
 a voice of decision. " My raid on his private office was a 
 very successful one, as both he and Garvin will find out to 
 their cost, besides a few others who have used this mad- 
 house for their infamous purposes ! " 
 
 But he had another pleasant surprise in store for them, 
 in the report he had to render of the Deering family. 
 
 Nothing could have more effectually served to call forth 
 a display of the goodness of this family of Allen Paige 
 than the young Lieutenant's recital of what had been told 
 him by Charles Eoberts. They forgot the hopes for them- 
 selves, which the Veteran and Prescott had inspired, in lis- 
 tening to the story of those unfortunate ones, compared to 
 whose sufferings their own seemed to them as naught. The 
 account of their discovery, after a long and seemingly hope- 
 less search, by a comrade of the Grand Army of the Eepublic, 
 and of their immediate relief by the Post, called forth such 
 expressions as would have made the heart of the comrade 
 who reads this thrill with pleasure, had he been there to 
 hear them. 
 
 The two members of the G. A. E. who were then in their 
 presence forgot all else for the moment, as they listened to 
 the words of blessing poured out on their Order by those 
 who in their prosperity had undertaken the same office 
 which had devolved on the Grand Army. 
 
 " I have never felt so proud of our organization as I do 
 at this moment!" said the Veteran. "I would that all 
 loyal citizens might hear you ! "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 335 
 
 " We are not worthy such attention from all loyal citi- 
 zens," replied Mrs. Paige. " But there is one I have recently 
 heard of who is." 
 
 " Who is that ? " asked Prescott, with interest. 
 
 " A lady in Salem, Massachusetts, who, when suffering 
 so much from disease that she was obliged to lie day after 
 day in one position without being moved, held up her 
 hands and knit stockings for the soldiers who were fighting 
 for her country." 
 
 " And does she still live ? " asked the Veteran. 
 
 " She does ; and is the same devoted friend of the soldier." 
 
 " Then let the united prayers of the Grand Army of the 
 Eepublic ascend for her to that God who blesses the good ! " 
 
 The Veteran uttered these words in a voice so fraught 
 with the deep emotions which this brief story had awak- 
 ened, that we opine the angels who heard it bore the bene- 
 diction to her who has proved so worthy of it. 
 
 That was a happy evening for the family of Allen Paige, 
 happier than any evening they had seen for many months ; 
 and as the Veteran and Prescott took their leave, the latter 
 clasped Emma's hand closer than had formerly been his 
 wont, which she returned with a look that attended him in 
 his dreams. 
 
 Yes, that family was happy; for though the resources 
 and pertinacity of their wily persecutor had taught them 
 that the morrow might not realize the hope of to-day, yet 
 that " son and brother " whom they loved so much was not 
 dead, but living.
 
 336 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIV. 
 
 JONAS CBINGAR sat alone in his private office, after 
 all but Billings had departed from the store. He 
 held in his hand a letter which had just been given him 
 by the book-keeper. It was from the Veteran, informing 
 him that he had had an interview with the President and 
 four of the most influential Directors of the Bald Eagle 
 Silver Mining Company, to whom he had stated all that 
 was necessary for his purpose, and who, though shocked 
 and confounded on learning of the merchant's defalcation, 
 had under the circumstances decided to waive immediate 
 action, and await the development of the movement which 
 the Veteran had initiated. The President, he wrote, freely 
 told him in the course of the interview he had with him 
 before seeing the Directors, that both he and some of his 
 associates on the board had for some time past viewed the 
 broker with suspicion, who, as the reader will recollect, had 
 purchased stock and managed to become an officer of this 
 company that he might, through his influence and manipu- 
 lative skill, cover Cringar's defalcation till such time as*its 
 exposure would not endanger his own criminal operations. 
 
 As the merchant now sat with this letter in his left 
 hand, which hung over the arm of his chair, he gave evi- 
 dence of a marked change for the better. Though still 
 bearing that worn and haggard look, there was apparent 
 on his countenance an indescribable expression of relief, 
 which told of a realization that the clutch on his throat 
 by his hell-inspired tormentor had been loosened by a 
 friendly hand.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 The Veteran, to whom the gymnast had brought the 
 forgery immediately after the departure from the loft of his 
 guilty dupe, chose, for judicious reasons, to retain the docu- 
 ment till he had seen all his plans safely carried out. This 
 the merchant expected ; but it gave him very little un- 
 easiness, for he knew he had nothing to fear in that direc- 
 tion if he proved himself as good as his word, in endeavor- 
 ing with all his power to atone for the wrong he had done 
 the family of his former partner. He knew, also, that in 
 the Veteran he had a friend who looked kindly upon him ; 
 who, while he did not fail to condemn his guilty acts, yet 
 realized that with a heart not naturally bad he had through 
 his weaknesses been made the victim of a strong and de- 
 signing man ; and he felt that if there were any hope of 
 rising left, this magnanimous soldier would be disposed to 
 do his utmost to assist him. 
 
 " Satan is always near when you 're thinking about 
 him," is a saying which is often confirmed ; and in Jonas 
 Cringar's case it now held good ; for just as he was absorbed 
 in thoughts of that relentless tormentor, from whose clutch 
 he congratulated himself he was about to escape, Garvin'.-j 
 well-known voice was heard questioning the book-keeper, 
 who was preparing to leave the store for the night. 
 
 Its tone was hoarse and unusually vindictive, and for the 
 instant the merchant shrank cowering in his chair. 
 
 The door opened and the broker's visage was thrust in, 
 distorted with an absolute grin of baffled rage. 
 
 On sight of this diabolical visage Jonas Cringar trem- 
 bled with his old terror, and the sweat began as in former 
 times to appear on his forehead. But as the broker con- 
 tinued to stand at the threshold, bending upon him his 
 lurid eye, in which unsteadiness was now perceptible, he 
 brought to his aid his native strength, and with the realiza- 
 
 15 V
 
 338 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 tion that the dark-browed man before him had lost that by 
 which he had formerly held such terrible power over him, 
 speedily subdued much of his agitation, and fastened his 
 gaze on the other's countenance with a firm and determined 
 air. 
 
 Garvin could not endure this. Closing the door and 
 striding into the room, he brandished his fist, and cried in 
 a voice that was choked with rage, 
 
 " Jtmas Cringar ! do you think you are to escape me ? " 
 Then as he compressed his beetling brows still farther over 
 his eyes, he almost whispered as he hissed these three 
 words, leaving a marked interval between each one, and 
 increasing his vindictive emphasis as he uttered them, 
 " Traitor ! defaulter ! FORGER ! " 
 
 The merchant quailed under this attack, and as his 
 paling countenance gave evidence of his fear the broker 
 laughed derisively. 
 
 " Let me tell you, Jonas Cringar," he exclaimed with 
 fierce sarcasm, " by breaking faith with Daniel Garvin you 
 have incurred his terrible vengeance, and thrown yourself 
 into the jaws of destruction ! " 
 
 Cringar recovered himself sufficiently to look with a 
 steadier eye on this baffled but still threatening plotter. 
 It was impossible, how r ever, for him to suppress an agita- 
 tion which resulted both from the influence of his un- 
 welcome visitor's presence, and the consciousness of guilt 
 which still haunted him with the fear of retribution. 
 
 " Mr. Garvin," he said conciliatingly, " I do not under- 
 stand this language. You are very hasty." 
 
 This attempt at conciliation, instead of sinking to the 
 very floor under Daniel Garvin's threatening words, was so 
 significant of the change wrought in their relative posi- 
 tions, that the broker could scarcely contain himself. Ap-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 339 
 
 preaching nearer the merchant, he assumed such an aspect 
 as caused his former victim to tremble for his life, and 
 instinctively to push back his chair with his foot. 
 
 " Clown ! " 
 
 As Daniel Garvin uttered this epithet the word recalled 
 the clown who had made such a dupe of him, and his 
 passion, which seemed to have overleaped all bounds, 
 verged on the ravings of insanity. 
 
 " Clown ! " he reiterated. " That is the word for such a 
 traitor and swindler ! " 
 
 Jonas Cringar was stung to the quick. 
 
 " Have a care, sir ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 If the conciliatory words before used by the merchant 
 had the effect to stir the depths of Garvin's wrath, this 
 admonition of one whom he had so long and exultingly 
 held in the most abject mental slavery now served to 
 destroy any self-control he might have had remaining. 
 Seizing Cringar by the throat, as he had his son when he 
 discovered him at his chamber door, he shook him violently, 
 growling savagely through his clenched teeth, 
 
 " ' Have a care ! ' ; do you tell me to have a care ? Say, 
 dog of a forger ! do you tell me to have a care ? I will 
 teach you who is master ! Give me back that paper you 
 hired an accursed monkey to steal from me ! " 
 
 " I did not ! " uttered Cringar in a stifled voice, as he 
 strove in vain with his shattered strength against the pow- 
 erful and infuriated broker. 
 
 " Liar ! " returned the latter, closing his hand still tighter 
 about the throat of the strangling merchant. " I knew 
 you the night that Simple Sal gave us a bit of her jargon ! 
 Damn you ! you crept out of the door like a skulking 
 traitor ! and I determined then that if you dared to fail me 
 I 'd teach you whose God was to be depended upon ! and I
 
 340 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 will, you sanctimonious hound ! " This word hound again 
 recalled the California clown, and with a renewed burst 
 of fury he shook Jonas Cringar against the wall, crying, 
 "Hound! fox! wolf! cat! and " 
 
 The raging broker released his grasp as he observed a 
 sudden expression of joy appear in the eyes of the mer- 
 chant ; and while his teeth still remained apart to let the 
 interrupted epithet pass between them, a heavy hand was 
 laid upon him and he was dragged back with irresistible 
 power. 
 
 " Mr. Garvin," said a deep, stern voice, " you are fond 
 0f violent deeds." 
 
 Garvin turned, and found himself confronted by the 
 Veteran. The expression of his face was for an instant 
 hideous. The entire strength of his diabolical nature 
 seemed to concentrate itself in his dark visage. Hatred, 
 spite, fury, desperation, each contributed to the seething 
 caldron within, as foul as the caldron of Hecate's witches. 
 His eyes, whose unsteadiness was noticeable as he appeared 
 to Cringar, rolled under the black and lowering brows, send- 
 ing out shifting and lightning-like gleams ; the cheeks be- 
 came mottled like a reptile; while the upper lip played 
 with spasmodic jerks, showing his teeth in a manner that 
 imparted unwonted fierceness to all the features. 
 
 The Veteran instinctively stepped back as if a poisonous 
 thing had suddenly sprung into his path. Then bending 
 upon this repulsive visage a look of grave severity, he said 
 in a calm voice of still greater depth, 
 
 "Daniel Garvin, neither the assassin nor the strangler 
 will now avail." 
 
 For a moment the broker seemed about to spring like a 
 foaming beast upon this calm and intrepid soldier; then 
 suddenly turning he went to a chair, leisurely took his
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 341 
 
 seat, and with a ferocious grin similar to the one with 
 which he had greeted Cringar, but kindled by a still in- 
 tenser passion, he cast his glittering glance from the Vet- 
 eran to the merchant. 
 
 " Fools ! " he exclaimed in a tone of the bitterest scorn, 
 " do you think you have a child to play with ? This is 
 Jonas Cringar, I believe ? " he said with mock gravity, 
 grinning at the merchant, while his eye blazed upon him 
 with a look which startled his former slave into a respon- 
 .sive nod. Then directing his glance to the Veteran he 
 said, " And this is General Hammond, alias Thorbolt, if I 
 mistake not ? " 
 
 The response in this case was such a look of the firm 
 gray eye, whose power seemed enhanced by the pallor 
 caused by his own guilty act, that he was for a moment 
 discomfited, and his eye rolled toward the door, and then 
 back to the merchant, at sight of whom he regained his 
 voice. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Jonas Cringar and General Thorbolt Ham- 
 mond," uttered he with a sarcastic snarl, "you think you 
 have let 's see you called it the right bower, the left 
 bower, ace, king, and queen in California, I believe, Mr. ex- 
 Coyote ? ha, ha ! you perceive I 'm good-natured and in 
 excellent spirits ! Well that is a word I repeat wdl, 
 thinking you have these cards, you propose to sweep the 
 stakes without so much as asking me to show my hand." 
 
 Then taking pencil and blank-book from his pocket, 
 he wrote down several items in silence, while the Vet- 
 eran as silently observed him, both puzzled and startled 
 by the strange conduct and appearance of this thwarted 
 schemer. 
 
 " There," said the latter, tearing out the leaf on which 
 he had been writing, and holding it up in view of his
 
 342 THE VETEEAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 auditors ; " you will perceive that one or two tricks can 
 be made in an humble way, even with such a bad hand as 
 has been dealt to me. Here," he said, laying the point of 
 his pencil on the item specified, " is a card which calls to 
 mind one Richard Slaycut, and here another that reminds 
 one of Slaycut and Drorblude, and others that you can ex- 
 amine after the game is played. A certain card has been 
 spirited away from my deal, on which, gentlemen, you con- 
 gratulate yourselves as leaving me with no alternative but 
 to throw up the game. But really, my worthy gamesters, 
 you expose a greenness much to be wondered at. Jonas 
 Cringar ! " he cried with an unexpected and startling fierce- 
 ness, " so you think because my pocket-book has been rifled 
 that you can go with this sheriff Thorbolt, and perjure 
 yourself with lies about certain documentary statements, 
 and be believed, do you ? " Then waiting till he had given 
 vent to a sneering laugh, he said, " The Bald Eagle Silver 
 Mining Company will make excellent judges in this case. 
 Do you suppose," he added with an appearance of his old 
 concentrated power, " that Daniel Garvin is a verdant fool 
 to attempt the game with only one trump card ? " 
 
 " Make no calculations in that direction," said the Vet- 
 eran, gravely, " the majority of the officers of the company 
 to which you refer have been informed of everything." 
 
 "A pleasant deception, sir, for passing amusement," 
 uttered the broker, who could not entirely conceal a look of 
 dismay. 
 
 " They understand the part their unhappy treasurer has 
 enacted, and the part you have performed so skilfully." 
 
 Daniel Garvin first showed his teeth, and then bit his 
 under lip till it bled. 
 
 " I care not ! " he exclaimed, rising from his chair. 
 " Bury forgeries, defalcations, and all the rest, beneath the
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAXD ARMY. 343 
 
 crust of the earth, and I tell you in the name of Daniel 
 Garvin's power, that that which my hand is on cannot be 
 taken from me ! " 
 
 " You refer to the property of Allen Paige's estate, I pre- 
 sume ? " said the Veteran, his countenance beginning to as- 
 sume that air which indicated the massing of his mental 
 forces. 
 
 " My property, is what I mean ! " returned the broker in 
 a voice now loud and harsh. "My property, and none 
 other!" 
 
 " You mean by this, that the property which belongs to 
 the widow and orphan children of your patriot half-brother 
 you do not presume to keep longer from them ? " 
 
 " Patriot ! " cried Daniel Garvin with a look of the most 
 intense hatred. " Patriot ! A curse to all such patriots, 
 who went down to slay their Southern brethren ! As for 
 the dam and cubs of this particular patriot, let the male- 
 dictions of the South light on their heads, but no property 
 do you wring out of me for them ! " 
 
 The broker now took a stride toward the door. 
 
 " Hold ! " cried the Veteran in commanding tones. 
 " Daniel Garvin, I have not done with you yet ! "
 
 344 THE VETEKAN OF THE GEAND AEMY. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLV. 
 
 GARVIlSr stopped in his tracks, as his eye encountered 
 the Veteran's commanding look, which corresponded 
 with his voice. 
 
 "Daniel Garvin," repeated the Veteran, who was de- 
 termined if possible to bring the plotter to terms at this 
 interview, " know you aught of such a man as Dr. 
 PenneU ? " 
 
 The broker retreated before both the look and the ques- 
 tion, while a startled expression he could not control took 
 possession of his features. 
 
 The Veteran again spoke : 
 
 " You have heard of a soldier named Prescott Mar- 
 land ? " 
 
 The conspirator stared at his questioner an instant, and 
 then making a powerful effort, controlled to a degree his 
 agitated features and sat down. 
 
 " A lieutenant, whom Mr. Paige met at the hospital ? " 
 he said in his craftiest voice. 
 
 "The same." 
 
 " You perceive by my answer that I have heard of him, 
 that is all." 
 
 " Your name has travelled an equal distance, for he also 
 has heard of you." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " If I mistake not he had the pleasure of meeting you 
 once in this office." 
 
 " You alarm me ! My memory, which has always served 
 me well, has seriously failed if this be so."
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 345 
 
 " It matters not. We will suppose an incident. 
 
 " I will not take your time." 
 
 " I will be brief. A young soldier is in a counting-room. 
 A door to the inner office is opened, and he sees before him 
 two desperate criminals who escaped merited punishment 
 by breaking jail. These men, under aliases, are serving 
 another criminal, who, being present, eyes this young sol- 
 dier with a look that means mischief. The next day the 
 young man receives a note, begging him to attend to a 
 case of charity, and is decoyed into a mad-house. After 
 days and nights of treatment that plainly meant murder, 
 he. escapes with a fellow-sufferer." 
 
 " Bah ! what care I for this old woman's story ? " 
 
 " A moment. On their way out they stop at the Doc- 
 tor's private office ; the companion opens the door, and all 
 valuable papers are secured." 
 
 The broker started, but instantly controlled himself. 
 " Your story, sir, is too long and broad," he said, and was 
 again about to rise. 
 
 " I will close," returned the Yeteran, waving him, with a 
 powerful look, back to his seat. "Among these papers are 
 documents which furnish irrefutable evidence against the 
 party through whose machinations this young soldier was 
 incarcerated." 
 
 Daniel Garvin's face suddenly grew black, and losing his 
 self-control he muttered as he ground his teeth, 
 
 " Has the doctor, too, betrayed me ? He pledged him- 
 self to burn everything ! Why have I not heard of this ? ' 
 At the same instant the door opened with a quick move- 
 ment, and Prescott Marland entered. 
 
 " Ah, General ! " he exclaimed, " I have been looking for 
 you!" Then with a side-glance of scorn at Garvin, he 
 whispered, "Those rascals have fled the city!' 
 
 15*
 
 346 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Slaycut and Drorblude ? " said the Veteran aloud, who 
 desired that Daniel Garvin should understand. 
 
 " Yes," returned Prescott, who, perceiving the intention 
 of his friend, turned with a mock bow toward the broker, 
 " Slaycut, alias Fitch, and Drorblude, alias Ratter, have 
 disappeared as speedily as they did from the mines ; and 
 one Augoring, oil-merchant, has kept them company." 
 
 Garvin, who had started almost from his chair on seeing 
 the young Lieutenant, now returned his sarcastic bow with 
 a look which caused the object of it to exclaim, 
 
 " By Jove ! you ought to have been jailer at Anderson- 
 ville ! " 
 
 The Veteran gave Prescott an admonitory glance; but 
 the latter did not see it, for his eyes were fastened in won- 
 derment on the broker. 
 
 This baffled and penned-up master of plots and men, as 
 he had deemed himself, now bore an aspect absolutely 
 frightful. As we have seen, both Cringai and the Veteran 
 had wrought him up to a fury which threatened to pass the 
 bounds of sanity ; but now with his full situation before 
 him, his plots and crimes gathering like messengers of 
 vengeance about his own head, the words and manner 
 of the young Lieutenant seemed to have inflicted the final 
 blow. The combined expression of a wild beast and a 
 venomous reptile at bay could alone give an idea of the 
 looks of this infuriated man. 
 
 Catching the Vetetan's arm, the young Lieutenant 
 pointed at the hideous head as if it were a mask without 
 sight or hearing, and cried, 
 
 " By Heavens ! General, he 's mad ! " 
 
 Billings, the book-keeper, who, observing Garvin's ap- 
 pearance as he came in, had remained to be ready for any 
 emergency, now appeared at the door.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 347 
 
 The instant the broker's eye lit on this young man he 
 sprang to his feet, and pointing at him with a quiverin 
 finger he drew a poniard from his breast, and leaping to- 
 ward the merchant with his finger still extended toward 
 the book-keeper, he cried in a voice that vied with the un- 
 earthly noise of a flying shell, 
 
 " The tool of your perfidious treachery is .there ! Here 
 the instrument of my vengeance ! " 
 
 Jonas Cringar raised his hands with a half-articulated 
 cry for mercy. The broker responded with a horrible 
 laugh, and clove the air with his dagger. 
 
 In the next instant he was hurled with tremendous 
 force to the other end of the office, and the Veteran, now 
 fully aroused, turned upon him with a face the passionate 
 power of which passes all description. 
 
 " Assassin ! " he exclaimed in tones that rolled like the 
 heavy artillery with widen he had so often mingled his 
 voice, " assassin ! and hirer of assassins ! are you not satis- 
 fied with your attempts at human life ? Do not beldams, 
 ruffians, mad-house doctors, and desperados serve to satiate 
 your wolfish appetite ? " 
 
 " Beldams I " cried the would-be assassin, half-stunned 
 by the treatment he had received from the Veteran. "And 
 has that toothless hag also blown the deed I paid her for ? " 
 
 " Your deeds are all made known," returned the Veteran, 
 now advancing toward the broker, who still held the pon- 
 iard in his hand. 
 
 Garvin perceived the object of this man whose strength 
 he had just felt, and drawing slightly back he raised his 
 weapon. 
 
 The Veteran's eyes now began to blaze with internal fires 
 such as Prescott had often seen preparatory to battle. But 
 his demeanor was calm, and his gaze as steady as the sun.
 
 348 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Give me the dagger ! " he said, in a low, commanding 
 voice. 
 
 The broker glared upon him with rolling eye, and then 
 drawing back his upper lip he revealed in all their threat- 
 ening array his white, glistening teeth. 
 
 The Veteran understood this look. Bending his gaze 
 with still greater force of will upon those unsteady glaring 
 eyes, he advanced with a firm step, while his pale face as- 
 sumed an air which was absolutely solemn in the grandeur 
 of its concentrated strength. 
 
 He came within the length of his own arm of Garvin's 
 uplifted wrist. The latter continued to return his gaze 
 with his own fierce glare, but he did not move his threat- 
 ening hand. 
 
 Prescott and the book-keeper remained silent witnesses 
 of this scene, while the merchant sat half stupefied by his 
 impending death, and unexpected escape. Prescott's first 
 impulse had been to spring to the unarmed Thorbolt's as- 
 sistance, for the broker with Ms thick heavy frame was not 
 to be despised, even without his weapon. But there was 
 that in the air of the Veteran as his towering form con- 
 fronted the muscular, but now somewhat shrinking figure 
 before him, which forbade interference, and the young sol- 
 dier held back. 
 
 One more step was taken. The broker made a move- 
 ment of his arm ; but it was too late. The Veteran's iron 
 grip was on his wrist. He prepared, for a furious struggle ; 
 but his antagonist tightened his grasp, and with a yell 
 of rage rather than of pain the dagger dropped from his 
 rigid fingers. 
 
 " Attempt no more murders ! " said the Veteran, relaxing 
 his hold. " The arm of an Almighty God is against you, 
 and your own crimes have confounded you!"
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 349 
 
 The broker burst into a laugh, which chilled the blood 
 of those who listened. 
 
 " ' An Almighty God ! ' " he sneered, " that was what 
 Cringar talked about one night. You remember it, don't 
 you, my boy ? " he cried, looking at the shrinking mer- 
 chant across the office, " the night Simple Sal gave us 
 the anthem! She was a pretty young wench, was Sal, 
 with her flattened face framed by the window-sash ! eh, 
 Cringar ! You looked scared that night, poor dotard ! 
 You see," he continued, addressing the Veteran, with a 
 profound bow, " this same Simple Sal sang words which to 
 a weak, superstitious mind were not agreeable. I 'm no 
 singer, but my old friend there, who has fought the bold 
 battle of life, and robbed his beloved partner's family of 
 everything they possessed, he has a very fine voice, 
 full and sonorous ; and by the will of Daniel Garvin ! I 
 swear he could ring the chorus right well with the sweet 
 songstress of that memorable night. Let's see, Cringar," 
 and he again looked at the merchant; "it ran somewhat 
 in this way, if I recollect aright, 
 
 ' My gentle sirs, be very kind ! 
 Your candle 's out, 
 My gentle sirs ! 
 You '11 be found out, 
 My gentle sirs ! 
 But gentle me you cannot find ! ' 
 
 Ha. ha ! she withdrew with great alacrity, and left my 
 friend gaping as if he 'd spied the Devil ! You see there 
 was something in that song, General Thorbolt, that shocked 
 his guilty soul 
 
 ' You '11 be found out, 
 My gentle sirs ! ' 
 
 I remember it all very well, for I 've hummed it a good
 
 350 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 many times since. It struck me, sir, it struck me very 
 ridiculously, the whole thing, Cringar and all ! " Then 
 with another burst of laughter he exclaimed, "An Al- 
 mighty God ! The arm of an Almighty God is against 
 me ! " And now straightening himself, and smiting his 
 chest, he cried : " Daniel Garvin is sufficient unto himself ! 
 If there is an Almighty God, let him take care of the im- 
 beciles ! Drop the curtain and pick up the swords ! the 
 play is over ! ha, ha, ha ! Good evening, gentlemen, a right 
 pleasant good evening " ; and being near the open door he 
 stepped off with a quick movement, similar to the> action 
 of a man intoxicated, who with unsteady head starts briskly 
 away in a straight line to convince himself and others that 
 he is sober. 
 
 The Veteran gazed after him with a perplexed counte- 
 nance, while Prescott and Billings exchanged meaning 
 glances. The latter tapped his forehead with his finger, 
 and Jonas Cringar looked toward the door, muttering to 
 himself, 
 
 "His soul was haunted by that song as well as mine." 
 
 Suddenly, as the wind whistled through the store, the 
 Veteran started forward. 
 
 "This is wrong]" he exclaimed. "If I mistake not, 
 that man has lost his wits, and may be even now doing 
 violence as a madman ! " and hastening to the outer door, 
 which Garvin had left open, he looked in every direction. 
 But the retreating broker had disappeared. 
 
 The sky was overcast with heavy clouds, and the wind 
 that had been rising for the past half-hour now blew vio- 
 lently through the street, slamming unfastened blinds and 
 shutters to and fro with a loud noise, the creaking signs 
 joining in the dismal concert. 
 
 Presently the sound of rain was heard swiftly advan-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GEAND ARMY. 351 
 
 cing, and in another moment it swept by the store in a 
 flooding torrent. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Toward midnight two sailors were leaning over the taff- 
 rail of a brig that lay at anchor in East River. 
 
 " If this continues," said one of these men, " Hell Gate 
 will have to wait for the Betsey Jane." 
 
 " I am afraid it will," returned the other, impatiently, as 
 he watched the scudding white-caps fly before the wind 
 that whistled loudly in the rigging. 
 
 The rain, which had held up for a space, now poured 
 down in sheets, and began to run in streams through the 
 scuppers. 
 
 " By the- shades of old Nep ! " cried the second speaker, 
 " I think I '11 turn in out of this ! " and he moved to- 
 ward the gangway. 
 
 " Hist ! " cried the other in a loud whisper, pointing to 
 the pier near which they were anchored. " Yonder conies 
 a man who is either drunk or crazy ! His head is bare, 
 and, by my own bald pate ! as near as I can make out 
 through the rain and darkness with this dim light, Ms hair 
 is but a poor covering." 
 
 His companion turned ; but not having the sharp sight 
 of the other, he could only discern an outline of a man 
 striding from side to side at the end of the pier. 
 
 As he was about to speak a shrill, harsh, mocking voice 
 pierced the storm, and the sailors both listened intently. 
 
 " Blow your rain ! " cried the apparition on the wharf, 
 brandishing his arms wildly in the air. "Whistle, ye 
 noisy winds ! You 're dark enough to whistle well ! Ha, 
 ha ! Ye are negroes all, and whistle the hallelujah of your 
 freedom, eh ! " A shrieking gust now tore through the 
 storm. " Ay, join in with your sweet voices, you black and
 
 352 THE VETEEAX OF THE GRASD AEMY. 
 
 devilish imps ! join in, I say ! That ape that set you free, 
 let him direct you ! Hear ye not my command ? Hear 
 and tremble when I proclaim myself ! My name is Daniel 
 Garvin ! Ha, ha ! shriek with terror, for if ye cross him 
 in one single note of your dinning concert he '11 be quick 
 with vengeance ! " 
 
 " He 's mad ! " exclaimed the sailor who first discovered 
 him. 
 
 " As a March hare ! " 
 
 " Hush ! He 's at it again ! " 
 
 " Vengeance ! vengeance ! " screamed the voice. " Pour 
 down your vengeance on this bald head ! Let it receive 
 thy vengeance without stint, thou frowning Heaven ! 'T is 
 a traitorous crown ! a perfidious crown ! " And he beat his 
 bared head with fury. " Burst it, ye elements ! Crack the 
 skull with your hammer, old Scandinavian Thor ! " 
 
 The madman suddenly dropped his hands, and coming 
 to the edge of the pier, looked straight toward the spell- 
 bound mariners, and with a low bow he broke into a fit of 
 wild, ironical laughter. 
 
 "Your servant!" he cried. "General Thorbolt, your 
 servant, your most humble servant ! What ! you give 
 return with an air so patronizing that methinks you take 
 me for a portrait-painter ! Ah, you hypocrite ! I under- 
 stand it ! Folded in that tail which I see coiled beneath 
 your skirts is the writ ! The writ, do you hear ! Cease 
 your nocturnal din ! " he yelled, with a commanding gesture 
 toward the heavens. " Cease ! for Daniel Garvin would be 
 heard ! The writ, I say ! You have the writ ! but where 's 
 your man ? Uncoil your harpoon tail and hang by it to 
 the yard-arm ! Grin like the clown who entertained me 
 with his gambols ! Laugh ! laugh ! I '11 count you as you 
 laugh ! Jonas Cringar, lead the file, and as you pass by
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 353 
 
 split your sides with merriment ! And you, you foul deni- 
 zen 'twixt heaven and hell ! you smiling she-wolf, end off 
 the train, and crack your laughter through your broken 
 fangs ! Come haste your steps, for I 'm choleric, and feel 
 my temper rising ! " 
 
 " Let us go to him," said the sailor who had spoken first 
 before, " or he will drown himself." 
 
 " Ay, ay ! but we must do it carefully. A man like that 
 is dangerous." 
 
 Without more ado, they proceeded as quietly as possible 
 to lower the stern boat, which was out of sight of the mad- 
 man, who continued to rave. 
 
 " Heigh-ho ! heigh-ho ! " he now cried with an exult- 
 ant laugh. " How well the heavens tune their strains to 
 the music here ! " and he beat his breast. " 'T is a secret ! 
 Blow it not, sympathizing Boreas, and I '11 tell you what 
 it is ! I Ve built an organ here, and the imps of hell pump 
 in the wind, while the facile fingers of their master play 
 the keys ! the pedals ? ha, ha, ha ! With his cloven foot 
 he has a knack that beats them all ! " Then smiting his 
 breast with blows that resounded through the storm, he 
 howled : " Pump in the wind, you lazy imps ! The organ 
 groans ! Satan, you defy the very laws of sound ! The 
 temple shakes to its foundation with your pealing tones ! 
 Now let the choir sing the glory of Daniel Garvin, vic- 
 torious ! Sing ! rend your lungs, but you must sing ! Ay, 
 All-ruling God ! Satan's music vies with thine ! Cringar 
 prated, in his fear, of thee ! and in spite of thee I Ve 
 crushed him ! Ay, Daniel Garvin is a god unto himself ! 
 Sing with a louder strain, ye voices ! Satan drowns you 
 with his roof-cracking notes ! " 
 
 As the mad broker recommenced the furious blows on 
 his breast, his eye caught sight of the boat which at that
 
 354 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND AEMY. 
 
 instant appeared shooting out from behind the stern of the 
 brig, and with a renewed burst of laughter, he yelled, 
 
 " Too late ! Erie 's gone ! Down with your hands 
 and cease your clamor ! " turning his eyes to the storm. 
 " You '11 break in the walls with your loud-mouthed bids. 
 The bulls have it ! do you hear ? The bulls, I say ! Go 
 home, ye bears, and lap your chops for honey ! " He then 
 bowed low to the sailors. " What ! gone short, and want 
 Daniel Garvin to help you out ? Go to my namesake, 
 Uncle Dan ! He '11 give you a lift, if your hair and claws 
 are long enough ! " 
 
 The sailors, who for a moment had rested on their oars, 
 now renewed their strokes with vigor. 
 
 " What ! " howled the maniac, straightening himself. 
 " Are ye all traitors ! Tell me you come for stock ! I see 
 your irons ! Your fetters are not for me ! Melt them into 
 Union grape, and pepper well that thin-shanked Jonas, and 
 the fangless she- wolf ! " Then with a final peal of laugh- 
 ter that curdled the blood of the laboring oarsmen he 
 screamed : " So ye think to cage the strong-horned bull ! 
 You 're mad ! These bawling winds are mad ! The heavens 
 are mad ! Ay, the whole world is mad ! and I '11 be mad 
 unless I go hence, quickly ! One ! Avast, you bailiff 
 water-bugs ! Two I If I rise from the immersion, slip 
 your fingers o'er my watered scalp ! Three, I I 'm 
 gone ! " And leaping to the opposite side of the pier he 
 plunged into the river. 
 
 With a cry of horror the sailors pulled to the spot where 
 he disappeared ; but even the eddies which his body cre- 
 ated as it went down were mingled with the waves, and 
 they watched in vain for his reappearance.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 355 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 A MONTH has passed since the incidents occurred 
 which have just been narrated. We are in that 
 drawing-room in which we have witnessed scenes de- 
 scribed in former chapters. All is as . it was then, 
 the same paintings hang in their old places, the same 
 pieces of statuary stand on the accustomed pedestals and 
 brackets, the same piano awaits the familiar touch in its 
 own corner, and the same furniture with its rich carvings 
 invites one to sit and ruminate like Joseph Deering over 
 the comforts of competency. 
 
 But now steps approach the door which, in a manner 
 still more pleasing than all we have just surveyed, tells 
 us of the change this past month has brought about. 
 
 The door is opened, and a face appears in lovely con- 
 trast to the forbidding visage which greeted the Veteran 
 on that stormy day when he came to this house and found 
 the family of Allen Paige turned from beneath its roof. 
 It is the face of Emma Paige, radiant with happiness ; 
 for she has just left her mother sitting in that room 
 where the patriot husband was tended in his illness, and 
 contemplating the dear objects sacredly associated with 
 his memory, which bring tears of mingled joy and sad- 
 ness to her eyes. 
 
 A brief statement of the circumstances which have led 
 to this happy result is all that is necessary. 
 
 Directed by the information given by the sailors, the 
 axithorities searched for the body of the mad suicide, and 
 after two days' grappling found it at a considerable distance
 
 356 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 below the pier from which he made his fatal leap. The 
 body was instantly identified as that of Daniel Garvin, 
 and was buried with feelings of grief and desolation by 
 his son William. 
 
 With the broker dead, the young artist hastened to make 
 all the restitution in his power for the wrongs committed 
 by his father. He was assisted in this work by Jonas 
 Cringar, who was well acquainted with the details of the 
 operation by which Daniel Garvin had defrauded the 
 family of his half-brother, and who worked day and night 
 in this labor, with a sort of happiness which seemed to 
 him more like a dream than the reality. 
 
 William, whose conscience, as the reader is aware, was 
 naturally tender, and whose few days' experience before 
 and after his father's tragical death had done the work 
 of twenty years, was not content with an exact resti- 
 tution of actual property taken by the broker ; he also de- 
 sired to mend as far as possible the harm which he had 
 done for which the law could claim no compensation. In 
 such work he had a wise counsellor in the Veteran, whom 
 he looked up to with perhaps greater reverence than ever 
 before. 
 
 Among other things to be accomplished in this direction 
 was such judicious assistance for Cringar as would enable 
 him to repair, in a degree, his broken life, which had 
 been shattered through the machinations of his tempter; 
 the guilt for which he himself was responsible having 
 been expiated in the terrible sufferings he had experienced. 
 Through the influence of the Veteran an arrangement was 
 made with the Bald Eagle Silver Mining Company, by 
 which the merchant was to return the money he was re- 
 sponsible for by semiannual instalments with interest, 
 William Garvin guaranteeing the same. To enable him
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 357 
 
 to do this, as well as re-establish himself in business, Wil- 
 liam, under the advice of the Veteran, advanced sufficient 
 to clear pressing liabilities, and set him well on his feet. 
 All this the son was amply able to perform, the father hav- 
 ing left property amounting in value to nearly two hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 The Paiges found their old home comparatively undis- 
 turbed, one of the great sources of enjoyment on the part 
 of the broker while he occupied it having been to gaze 
 around on the evidences of former comforts experienced by 
 his half-brother, and that family to whom, then, it was ap- 
 parently lost forever. 
 
 The past few months seemed to them like a shadowy 
 dream, from which sometimes they could hardly believe 
 themselves yet awakened. There was a feeling of strange- 
 ness when they first passed from room to room, as though 
 they had been absent for years. Their recent experience 
 had been so crowded with events and trials that it seemed 
 a separate life, not to be measured by the ordinary divisions 
 of time. This served rather to enhance the unspeakable 
 happiness with which they moved in the midst of those 
 sacred associations from which they had so nearly been for 
 all time excluded. 
 
 Emma had enjoyed a communion with her mother in 
 the room which had been sanctified by the impressive death 
 of the husband and father, and in which Daniel Garvin 
 had not obtruded his unholy presence after the first day he 
 moved in ; for here his conscience disturbed his gloating 
 vengeance to a degree which, while he with characteristic 
 pride refused to acknowledge it, compelled him neverthe- 
 less to retire, no more to cross its threshold. Mother 
 and daughter had wept together as they talked of the loved 
 one who there passed away ; and in the interchange of their
 
 358 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 hearts' grateful sentiments they had not failed to bless the 
 comrade of this loved one, through whose labors they were 
 returned to these cherished scenes. And now the heroine 
 of our story, radiant with that happiness which reflected 
 the tearful yet soul-awakening joy of her whom she had 
 left alone, entered the drawing-room and gazed around with 
 beaming eye. Then approaching the piano she opened it 
 and touched the keys. 
 
 Ah! the heaven-inspired notes which the spirit that 
 deeply feels may bring from this responsive instrument ! 
 Under the delicate hand of that fair girl, from whose heart 
 welled emotions she would express in music, the chords 
 swept forth and filled the room, giving her feelings an 
 utterance that words could never yield ; and intermingled 
 with them was an air gently yet sadly floating, telling of a 
 soul whose bliss soared to those ideal realms where joy and 
 sadness dwell inseparably together. 
 
 One now came to the door and listened. He had entered 
 the hall without ringing, for he had been affectionately 
 forbidden to rmll the bell when he came to visit this home. 
 He listened with his head slightly bowed as if his heart 
 would unite with hers in the utterance of those prayerful 
 and blissful emotions. 
 
 The harmony grew deeper, and the melody more tender, 
 until the instrument seemed voluntarily pouring out its 
 notes from a living spirit. Then suddenly from these strains 
 a simple accompaniment stole tremblingly forth, and Emma 
 with heaving breast and glistening eye commenced to sing. 
 
 He who stood without now wiped the tear from his 
 cheek as he listened, for she was singing "HOME, SWEET 
 HOME ! " 
 
 Her voice trembled as she sang, but the heart sustained 
 it, and it hovered in the air with touching sweetness :
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 359 
 
 "Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, 
 Be it ever so humble, there 's no place like home ; 
 A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, 
 Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. 
 Home, home, sweet, sweet home, 
 Be it ever so humble, there 's no place like home. 
 
 "An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain, 
 0, give me my lowly thatched cottage again, 
 The birds singing gayly, that come at my call ; 
 0, give me that sweet peace of mind, dearer than all. 
 Home, home, sweet, sweet home, 
 Be it ever so humble, there 's no place like home." 
 
 As the last note died tremulously away, Prescott opened 
 the door. Emma rose to meet him, a smile lighting up her 
 tearful eyes. 
 
 As he took her hand he said, 
 
 " Emma, I have been a listener for several moments. If 
 I have thus stolen rare happiness I must beg you to for- 
 give me." 
 
 The blush that suffused her cheek when he entered 
 deepened. 
 
 " You must not turn flatterer now," she answered, drop- 
 ping her eye before his ardent gaze. 
 
 " I cannot flatter you," he" returned with a smile, but in 
 a voice not free from agitation. " Such music is beyond 
 even my powers of flattery." 
 
 Then bending over the piano he began looking in a 
 searching manner along the sounding-board and under the 
 wires. 
 
 Emma, who anticipated some quaint turn of Prescott's 
 humor, followed him with her eyes in pleased silence. 
 
 " I do not find them," he said, at length, raising his head. 
 
 " What do you seek there ? " 
 
 "Angels."
 
 360 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 "Prescott " 
 
 " You must not scold me, dear sister," exclaimed the 
 young Lieutenant, " for I mean no harm ! " 
 
 "You have surely turned to a giddy -headed flatterer," 
 rejoined Emma, who, while rebuking him with a severity 
 which does not often so partake of tenderness, did not fail 
 to observe traces of the feelings with which he had listened 
 to her song. " When one begins flattering a friend 't is a 
 warning that the esteem between them needs the aid of a 
 ready tongue." 
 
 "It may be so, it must be so if you say 't is so " 
 
 " Fy, Prescott ! you are in strong mood for flattery to- 
 day." 
 
 "Dear sister," said the young Lieutenant, a look now 
 appearing on his handsome face to which, with maidenly 
 intuition, Emma responded with a fluttering heart, " I can- 
 not satisfy you with my speech-making. I pray you, there- 
 fore, let me sit and listen to more of the music which you 
 would have me call so poor." 
 
 Emma concealed a slight confusion which began to mani- 
 fest itself by hastily seating herself at the piano in re- 
 sponse to this request. 
 
 " I did not ask you to call it ^>oor, but I fear you '11 have 
 reason to do so," she said as she swept the keys. " You 
 know I am out of practice." 
 
 This reference to the recent past touched Prescott deeply, 
 and he gazed on Emma with an expression w T hich told how 
 deeply his heart was moved. 
 
 Sheet after sheet was played,, the fair performer now 
 throwing a sentiment into her instrument which caused the 
 heart of her listener to thrill with the magnetism with 
 which the notes were 'charged. In that improvisation to 
 which Prescott had given such rapt attention at the door,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 361 
 
 the spirit had found its utterance ; in these performances 
 the heart was plainly speaking, and time stole swiftly 
 on. 
 
 At length Emma ceased playing, and rose from the 
 piano. Prescott's head was slightly inclined forward, and 
 his eyes raised in the same degree as their gaze was fixed 
 upon her with all-absorbing love. 
 
 Involuntarily from her own eyes there beamed a respon- 
 sive look, and then the lids drooped as if to conceal what 
 the maidenly heart would not prematurely make known. 
 
 The enamored lover was entranced by the picture now 
 presented by this charming girl. With an irresistible im- 
 pulse he rose and took her hand. 
 
 "Emma," he said softly, "will you walk with me? 
 There is a beautiful sunset I have longed for many a day 
 to gaze upon with you." 
 
 She cast upon him a quick glance, and then suffered 
 herself to be led to the painting, which had been enshrined 
 in the memory of both. 
 
 " Emma," he said yet more tenderly, " when I first stood 
 before this picture my heart formed it into a reality. My 
 fancies gave a name to those two figures wiiose souls seem 
 so united in the midst of that western glory." 
 
 As he thus spoke he pressed her hand more closely. 
 
 " Do you not see, dear Emma, that a halo surrounds 
 them ? Their lives are to be happy, for they love one 
 another " 
 
 Her hand trembled in his. 
 
 " And their hands are clasped as they behold together 
 the glowing scene ; for each knows the love which burns 
 in the heart of the other." 
 
 Deep blushes came and went as Emma gazed on the 
 picture, which seemed all of a golden haze. 
 
 16
 
 362 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Darling ! " whispered the lover, suddenly raising her 
 hand to his lips, " shall not the picture I formed when I 
 first stood here be made reality? I called those figures 
 You and I!" 
 
 In another moment that lovely head was nestled on his 
 bosom, while his arm gently stole around her waist ; and 
 then as her face turned up to his, that first lingering kiss 
 was given through which two yearning hearts pour the 
 sweet current of their souls. 
 
 An hour flew by, and the mother entered the room. The 
 lovers were sitting side by side ; their faces, covered with 
 gentle confusion, told the tale. She smiled with a happi- 
 ness which only the mother can experience who realizes 
 that her daughter is beloved by a man she can herself love 
 and trust as a son. 
 
 Prescott came forward, and said, 
 
 " Mother, will you not give me a pledge that will insure 
 my right to call you ' mother ' for all time ? " 
 
 Mrs. Paige led the young soldier to her daughter, and 
 placed his hand in hers. 
 
 " My dear children," she said, " I bless you ! It is the 
 blessing of a happy mother's heart. And," she uttered, 
 raising her eyes above, while she held their hands clasped 
 in hers, " there is one that has gone before us, whose bless- 
 ing I believe is joined with mine." 
 
 Tears filled Emma's eyes, and she felt Prescott's hand 
 press hers, as if he said, " In memory of that dear parent, 
 I consecrate my soul to your happiness ! " 
 
 Then she thought of another. 
 
 " Ah ! " she uttered to herself. " My happiness would 
 be complete if he were here." 
 
 The wishes of her heart were unexpectedly answered ;
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 363 
 
 for scarcely had she uttered them when the Veteran was 
 ushered into their presence. 
 
 In the countenances of the happy group before him he 
 read all that had taken place. 
 
 " They await your blessing," said Mrs. Paige. 
 
 The Veteran advanced, and placing a hand on either 
 head, he uttered a benediction so fervent and impressive 
 that the tears trembled on Emma's lids, and Prescott's 
 eyes glistened with sympathetic feeling. 
 
 There was that in the appearance of the grand and ma- 
 majestic warrior which added solemnity to this touching 
 scene. The pallor of his countenance had increased, and 
 there was a look in his eye that seemed to come from 
 depths, which, when observed in any person, convey an im- 
 pression that the spirit is already gazing into that land 
 where it is to find its eternal home. To Emma, who had 
 from the first ever associated the Veteran with her father 
 in a manner she could scarcely explain, this appearance 
 was especially affecting. At the same time that she felt 
 as if the benediction insured the kindly care of Heaven 
 for the years of wedded life that might be hers, there was 
 also an impression as though he who gave it was about 
 being separated from them by the space that divides the 
 visible from the invisible world. 
 
 But the object of these thoughts soon restored cheerful- 
 ness to the hearts of all ; and Alice, having now joined 
 them, the two sisters entertained the company with duets 
 which were enchanting to the soul of the happy Prescott, 
 and to which the Veteran seemed to listen with an inward 
 ear as he gave attention with an air of deep meditation.
 
 364 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 THIS story, Comrade Boberts, sounds like the creation 
 of a novelist's brain. And has it really occurred 
 right around us here in New York ? " 
 
 " All right here among us." 
 
 " Allen Paige's family have certainly given it a tone of 
 reality I '11 confess. Their donations to the Grand Army 
 surpass anything I have yet heard of." 
 
 "Yes indeed! In these donations you see the expres- 
 sions of benevolence and gratitude combined. It is a re- 
 markable shifting of the scenes in this every-day life of 
 ours. It seems scarcely yesterday since I enjoined it on 
 Comrade Marland to notify us if this family should need 
 aid; and now here we are almost staggering under the load 
 of contributions sent in by them." 
 
 " 'T is a marvellous change, truly. You know I have 
 followed them in one way with unusual interest." 
 
 " Through the breastpin ? " 
 
 " Yes. I shall not soon forget my feelings when I went 
 into old Meinshon's pawn-shop and saw that pin with the 
 likeness of our brave Colonel, and heard the Jew's story 
 about his daughter coming in that stormy day and pawn- 
 ing it." 
 
 Eoberts smiled. 
 
 "I can understand much better now," he said to his 
 companion, in whom the reader will recognize the comrade 
 he had spoken of to Prescott on the cars as the one who 
 gave him the quaint but touching story told by the kind- 
 hearted pawnbroker, and with whom he was now return-
 
 THE VETEKAN OF THE GRAND AliMY. 365 
 
 ing from a Post meeting, " I can understand much better 
 now, Comrade Walker, why the Lieutenant was so deeply 
 affected when he saw Allen Paige's family entered on my 
 relief-list, and heard the story of the breastpin." He 
 thereupon gave Walker an account of his first meeting 
 with^ Prescott on the New Jersey Central train. 
 
 " That must have been hard," returned the latter. " But 
 he is well repaid now, for of all beautiful girls I have had 
 the good fortune to meet, I think she is the most beau- 
 tiful." 
 
 " There is soul there, as well as a handsome face." 
 
 "That is the secret. She has the true beauty; and I 
 observe that while every one gazes at her with admiration, 
 she wins all by her goodness. Comrade Marland is a lucky 
 fellow." 
 
 " He deserves to be a lucky fellow." 
 
 " That 's so. There 's not a soldier but is ready to con- 
 gratulate him. He has a grand' start in life as partner in 
 that store." 
 
 " Yes. But the benefits will not be on one side, let me 
 tell you. The Lieutenant goes in to take charge of the 
 Paige interest, and he '11 double it in a short time, or I 'm 
 no judge of men." 
 
 " He '11 be sure to succeed, or I 'm no judge of women." 
 
 " What do you mean by that," asked Eoberts, laughingly. 
 
 " I mean that, with such a wife as he is to have, he can- 
 not fail. I have remarked that good wives are a strong 
 guaranty of a man's success in life." 
 
 " I agree to that." 
 
 " My friend the pawnbroker has an exalted opinion of 
 Miss Paige. It was only the day after she had been to re- 
 deem the pin in person, that I called to learn if it was still 
 there. He gave me an account in his graphic broken Eng-
 
 366 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 lish of tliis second visit of hers. She must have appre- 
 ciated his goodness of heart, for he being a pretty deep 
 student of human nature, besides entertaining a sincere 
 admiration for her, was desirous of engaging her in con- 
 versation ; and she indulged him with a courtesy and good 
 sense which so delighted him that he lost a customer, who 
 came, waited, and went, in his enthusiasm to recount to 
 me his interview with her." 
 
 " Have you heard how Comrade Marland first met her ? " 
 
 " I have not." 
 
 Eoberts narrated the circumstances as Prescott himself 
 had related them to him. 
 
 " That diabolical old woman ought to have been hung ! " 
 exclaimed Walker when his companion had finished. 
 
 "You hit nearer than you suppose. It was this old hag 
 that Garvin hired to put Thorbolt out of the way. She it 
 was that set those assassins on him." 
 
 " Who found that out ?" 
 
 "The General himself. You see, when he was struck 
 with the slung-shot by one of the scoundrels, the other 
 thought he was done for, and he was so full of exulta- 
 tion that when he sprang at him with his knife he was 
 fool enough to cry out, ' One for the Lancet and Mammy 
 Eoone ! ' This, together with the identification of the 
 scamp, who was called Doctor, whose skull, you will 
 recollect, was broken in by a front cut of Thorbolt's 
 cane, put the police on the track. But she was too 
 wary for them, and made off with the fellow who they 
 say fired the pistol, Dick Smasher they call him, and 
 neither of them are likely to be seen in these parts for one 
 while. It is a bit of consolation to know, however, that if 
 this precious beldam and her hireling haven't got their 
 deserts, the little Irishwoman who warned General Ham-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 367 
 
 mond of Mammy Eoone's plot against Miss Paige has ; for 
 the family employ her continually, and give her enough to 
 keep her from want for a score of years." 
 
 " Good ! That 's what I call gratitude to the humble ! " 
 exclaimed Walker. " So Billings was in that adventure," 
 he added. " I 'm slightly "acquainted with him. He 's 
 book-keeper at Cringar's, and seems to be a pretty smart 
 fellow." 
 
 " That he is," returned Eoberts. " He has been of great 
 service in the Paige and Garvin affairs ; and Marland tells 
 me he will eventually enter the concern. And from what 
 the Lieutenant has dropped, I judge that he is going to 
 take his chances and wait for Emma Paige's younger sister, 
 Alice, a girl who promises in a few years to be as charming 
 a young woman as her elder sister, and who seems to have 
 a high opinion of him." 
 
 " Marland must have looked as though he had just broke 
 a Eebel prison when you met him the night he escaped from 
 the mad-house," said Walker after a moment's silence. 
 
 " He did, indeed ! He saw my surprise, and promised at 
 a future time to tell me about what had happened, which 
 he did. 'T was a thrilling story, as you can imagine. It 
 was a marvellous piece of business, that inventor's pick- 
 ing their way out." 
 
 " I should say so. But the best part of that story is the 
 raid on the Doctor's private office. 
 
 "I agree with you there, Comrade," replied Koberts, 
 laughing. "And what is still better, Prescott captured 
 enough to break up the den, and drive the Doctor and his 
 whole pack from the city. I shall not soon forget the 
 way he told me that his cell-mate, the mad Corporal, had 
 got into comfortable quarters. You would have thought he 
 was talking about a comrade that had gone all through the 
 war with him."
 
 368 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Comrade Marland has a warm heart." 
 
 " Yes, as warm as it is bold. I like him. I 've yet to 
 see the man that does n't. I venture to say he '11 not soon 
 forget the inventor." 
 
 "No, I guess not! Judging from his knowledge of 
 curious inventions, I 'm inclined to think they 've ' seen 
 much of each other since their escape." 
 
 "Well, I must leave you here," said Walker, parting 
 from his comrade. After proceeding a few paces, he 
 turned quickly and said, 
 
 "Comrade Eoberts, write that tale out and read it to 
 the Post." 
 
 CHAPTEK XLVIII. 
 
 MAY had departed. June had come, with its fresh, 
 green verdure, its wild-flowers, its feathered song- 
 sters, and its balmy days. 
 
 In a chamber overlooking the placid Hudson lay one 
 whose great strength would have seemed sufficient to 
 hold back for years to come that mighty Conqueror of 
 all that is earthly in mortal man. 
 
 It was the Veteran. He was repaying with his life the 
 efforts it had been his privilege to make in behalf of a 
 comrade's wronged and outraged family. Those premoni- 
 tory signs which had filled with sadness the hearts of this 
 family were being realized as prophetic. In his anxiety 
 for them he rose too soon from a sick-bed, which, with 
 the arduous mental as well as the physical labor he at 
 once engaged in, had completed the work a life of ex- 
 posure and numerous wounds had done much to ac- 
 celerate.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 369 
 
 His iron will had sustained him till all was done for 
 which he had labored ; then a fatal relapse set in, and the 
 final breaking up came with that suddenness which often 
 marks the end of powerful men ; and now at the close of 
 a June day that had been unusually calm and tranquil, he 
 lay serenely awaiting the orders from Head-quarters to join 
 that great army on whose banners are inscribed celestial 
 mottoes. 
 
 The windows, were open, and the joyous songs of birds 
 filled the air, harmonizing with the divine beauty of this 
 scene, in which Death was clothed in bright garments, 
 making ready to give the final summons with beatifis 
 smiles. 
 
 The dying Veteran had fallen into a brief sleep. When 
 he awoke he turned to the nurse who was attending 
 him in this his last illness, and asked in a voice which, 
 though weak, indicated its former depth and richness, 
 "Have they not come?" 
 
 At this moment sounds of an approaching carriage were 
 heard, and presently Mrs. Paige, Prescott, Emma, and Al- 
 bert entered the room. 
 
 The Veteran greeted them cheerfully, and took each by 
 the hand. 
 
 " You are not all here," he said, after Albert had come to 
 the bedside. 
 
 Mrs. Paige looked at Emma. " You need not fear," said 
 the Veteran with a smile ; " I want you all around me. 
 You know the sick are whimsical at times." 
 
 Emma went out, and returned with Alice and Little 
 Dorrit. As the latter was led to him she exclaimed, 
 
 " O Uncle Thorbolt, I 'm sorry you are sick ! You are 
 so good, I know God will get you well ! " 
 
 He again smiled, and reaching forth his hand, which 
 
 16* *
 
 370 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 liis strength still permitted, he placed it gently on her head, 
 saying, 
 
 " My little pet, God has been very kind to Uncle Thor- 
 bolt, and he will take him soon where he cannot be sick 
 again." 
 
 The child evidently understood these words; for tears 
 came into her eyes, and hiding her face in the folds of 
 her mother's dress, she gave vent to her childish grief. 
 
 The dying soldier followed her with his eye, and then 
 turned an imploring glance on Mrs. Paige. 
 
 " I pray you," he said, " teach this little one to look on 
 Death as an angel of brightness ; not the enemy, but the 
 friend of mankind. Teach her so that she shall visit the 
 tomb without dread, without sorrow. He who is called to 
 a distant land to enjoy extraordinary good fortune is not 
 mourned ; neither is the family which bids him a temporary 
 farewell bereaved beyond the first pangs of parting. Bather 
 are they rejoiced at the good fortune of the one they love. 
 So is it with what we term death. Those who are called 
 above go to a land in which is insured a happiness sur- 
 passing our conception. Were it not that this last chill 
 to my mortal frame is on me, I fear my self-control would 
 not avail against the manifestations of my joy, as I think 
 of that world for which I shall so soon depart." 
 
 The little group about him listened with a kind of awe 
 to words like these, spoken by one who felt himself passing 
 away from this life. Mrs. Paige, especially, who in her 
 Samaritan labors had witnessed many death scenes in the 
 course of her experience, never before beheld one so im- 
 pressive as this. Here indeed was the type of a Christian 
 soldier ; one who, before that stage was reached when 
 the dying so often gaze with ecstasy into the world 
 which they are about to enter, lay calmly on his pillow,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 371 
 
 and with a clear knowledge of his approaching end, dis- 
 coursed with the faith and clearness of a Christian phi- 
 losopher. And how beautiful his views of death ! As she 
 listened, Mrs. Paige vowed silently to Heaven that her 
 little- girl should never know, if her efforts could avail, the 
 fear which makes a dread visitant of that Presence which 
 is truly a seraphic angel conie to welcome home the 
 Heaven-bound spirit. 
 
 The Veteran continued. 
 
 " The ' City of the Dead ' is calm and peaceful. And 
 forgive an old comrade," he added, turning his gaze with a 
 smile upon Prescott, " for presuming to preach to you ; but 
 I would say, so live that this ' City ' shall ever be pleasant 
 to you. Not simply a place of curious epitaphs, or tasty 
 works of art, but a spot in which the very mounds shall 
 speak to you of Heaven, and hold you in elevating medi- 
 tation ; making your heart pure, and inspiring you with 
 higher resolutions to perform the duty which God has 
 assigned you as your share of work before he takes you 
 hence. Prescott, it is a state of mind to be thankful for, 
 when one can say, ' This is a beautiful world, and I con- 
 tinually experience a happiness I cannot express; but 
 nevertheless I blissfully contemplate that moment when the 
 Lord shall say, " Thy work is done. Come up hither." ' 
 
 Prescott, whose eyes had filled when the Veteran com- 
 menced addressing him, now bowed his head ; and taking 
 his dying comrade's hand in his, he inwardly prayed that 
 sentiments like these might actuate his life, and that in 
 death the Lord might find him so well prepared as he who 
 thus addressed him. 
 
 The Veteran now lay silent for a while, a slight com- 
 pression of his mouth indicating temporary pain. 
 
 "When Emma saw this, she was obliged to turn away to 
 conceal her emotion.
 
 372 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Are they not coming also ? " he said at length, raising 
 his eyes. 
 
 " Who ? " asked Prescott. 
 
 " Mr. Cringar, and his book-keeper, or rather his and 
 your book-keeper," he added, smilingly correcting himself 
 in a manner which, recalling as it did the labors he had 
 undergone for their sakes, touched them all to the heart. 
 
 " They will be here soon," answered the young Lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 " Jonas Cringar has suffered deeply," continued the Vet- 
 eran as if to himself. " Think you," he said, again looking 
 up, " that he could have been happy in the ' City of the 
 Dead,' when he was so sorely oppressed with his guilt ? " 
 
 Prescott shook his head. 
 
 Albert now went to the window, and looking out, ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 " They are coming, General Hammond, Mr. Cringar 
 and Mr. Billings." 
 
 " Thank you, my dear boy," returned the Veteran in a 
 gracious way that reminded those about him of the times 
 that had passed " You would make me a good aid, were I 
 in the service just now." 
 
 Albert, who was an impressible lad, drew back and 
 silently wept. 
 
 The merchant and book-keeper entered the room directly 
 after, and were received by their dying friend in the same 
 cheerful way he had greeted the others. His reception of 
 the former was accompanied by a look which caused this 
 man, so recently broken and wretched, to join his left hand 
 with his right; and he thus stood for several moments 
 clasping in both of his the hand that had greeted him, and 
 gazing with an expression of veneration and gratitude on 
 the face of the -magnanimous Thorbolt.
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 373 
 
 " My friend," he said at length ; but his voice faltered, 
 and he could not go on. 
 
 The Veteran regarded him from his pillow with so kind 
 an air that he exclaimed from an irresistible impulse, 
 
 " Dear General ! If the Lord would but take my life for 
 yours, I would gladly give it ! " 
 
 " Ah, no," responded the Veteran, " you are to be of great 
 service to them all." And he looked around affectionately 
 on those who stood witnessing this scene. 
 
 " Ever thinking of others ! " murmured the book-keeper, 
 whose countenance was expressive of deep reverence. 
 
 The merchant unclasped his hands, and forgetting for the 
 moment all else around him, raised them imploringly to 
 Heaven. 
 
 " God ! " he exclaimed, '" take me, a poor, shattered, 
 broken-down man, and restore him who has done so 
 much good ! " 
 
 All were deeply affected ; and so earnest was the prayer, 
 it seemed for an instant as though it must Ire answered ; 
 as if he, so shattered by his past sufferings, would be taken 
 as the offering for him who was lately so strong and effi- 
 cient a worker among his fellow-men. 
 
 Jonas Cringar continued his upward gaze, while his 
 hands folded themselves as they slowly fell, like one await- 
 ing a response to his soul-uttered petition. 
 
 The tranquil object of this prayer remained silent until 
 the suppliant lowered his tearful eyes. Then he said, 
 
 "To you, my friend, is reserved a noble work. In that 
 great city which has recently witnessed so much that is 
 eventful to you, destitution and misery hold multitudes of 
 victims. Believe them as you shall have the means to do 
 so. No happier life is passed than in constant works of 
 benevolence. No happier death is there .than that which
 
 374 THE VETEKAN OF THE GKAND ARMY. 
 
 is attended by the blessings of those whom he that is 
 passing away has aided in life." 
 
 " Such shall be my work ! " uttered the merchant in a 
 fervent voice. " God has been very kind to me who was so 
 guilty, and I will repay it by acts of kindness to his suffer- 
 ing children. May my death-bed be like this ! " 
 
 " Ah ! you can make it far happier in that respect," said 
 the Veteran, with a sad smile. " I have done little. You can 
 do much; for keep to your good resolutions, and Heaven 
 will prosper you." 
 
 Jonas Cringar bowed his head in silence. 
 
 The soldier now cast his eyes toward the open window 
 through which he could gaze off to the southwest. As he 
 did so his face lit up with a gleam of pleasure, and he 
 exclaimed in a stronger voice than he had yet used, 
 
 " How grandly those rugged clouds are piled one upon 
 the other ! They catch the beams of the setting sun ! 
 How warm, how radiant are the last rays of day ! My 
 friends, so may it be with the last hours of human life. 
 They should be the happiest and most glorious of all." 
 
 He gazed awhile in silence with an expression of solemn 
 admiration. "They marshal for the thunder," he continued. 
 " How obediently do they array themselves at the beck of 
 Heaven ! They make ready to hurl their fear-inspiring 
 bolts ; but as we behold their Great Commander with the 
 eye of childish faith, directing them with an all-wise hand, 
 they teach humility ; for with their towering grandeur, 
 their threatening fronts, and their dread artillery, they yield 
 unquestioning obedience to his orders. Oh ! how strong 
 is man, when with humble heart he listens to the word of 
 God, and believing all tilings well, fights the good fight in 
 the panoply of Heaven ! He then surpasses these cloudy 
 Titans with their thunderbolts, as the spirit, made in the 
 image of its Creator, surpasses all inanimate matter ! "
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 375 
 
 The listening group which had gathered in sorrow 
 around his death-bed gazed on this departing warrior with 
 amazement and awe. The term " comfort the dying " was 
 reversed. He was their comforter ; and in these last mo- 
 ments their impressive teacher also. 
 
 He now closed his eyes, and his breathing indicated that 
 he had sunk into a gentle sleep. 
 
 Presently the rumbling of distant thunder broke the per- 
 vading stillness. The sleeper moved, but did not awake. 
 Another distant peal rolled over the earth. As its reverbe- 
 rations entered the chamber, the Veteran partly raised his 
 closed lids, and said, 
 
 " "Well, boys, the ball 's opened ! What regiment has 
 the advance to-day ? " 
 
 Then suddenly he looked up. 
 
 " What ! " he said smilingly as his glance fell on Pres- 
 cott, " is old Thorbolt sleeping on his post ? " 
 
 At that moment the deepening thunder again re-echoed 
 through the sky. The soldier's eye gleamed for an instant, 
 lit by the old martial fire, and then he spoke : 
 
 " Prescott, I would have given much to see that charge 
 of Zagonyi's Body-Guard in Missouri, when the four Phil- 
 adelphia brothers went in together for the Union." 
 
 " The brothers Newhall ? " returned the young Lieuten- 
 ant, desirous of preventing pain to the Veteran's mind by 
 a silence which would imply grief. 
 
 " Yes, the brothers Newhall. It must have been a noble 
 picture ! The East and West were joined hand in hand in 
 that charge." 
 
 "Yes," responded Prescott, "and through the war too, 
 General." 
 
 " Ah, yes ! to the end. They were hand in hand to the 
 end. The Army of the Potomac grasped the Rebellion by
 
 376 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 the throat, and the Army of the Cumberland crushed in 
 its trunk. May they ever work together. God be praised 
 that erelong there will be no sectional North and South ! 
 The dividing line is vanishing, and soon fraternal feelings 
 will extend to the Gulf ; and then will there be the great 
 East and West to behold the rising and setting of the sun." 
 
 The heavy rumbling of the distant thunder continued, 
 and while listening to its reverberations the Veteran's 
 eye again revealed the old fire. 
 
 Presently he said, as if speaking to himself : 
 
 " The Union-loving States ! sisters, bound by common 
 bonds of pride and grief, pride that each like a Spartan 
 mother had sent out its myriads of children to fight for 
 liberty, grief when thousands were laid low amid the 
 thunders of war which vied with these that echo through 
 the sky, and pride again that each fallen son had found 
 a patriot's grave ! Every State sent forth its heroes, whose 
 record enriches its archives." Then suddenly turning his 
 gaze on the young Lieutenant he exclaimed with unwonted 
 energy : " The dead shall not be forgotten ! The States shall 
 not forget them ! Neither shall the Eepublic ! Their memory 
 shall be held even more sacred in the next generation than 
 in this ! Neither shall the living whom the dead have left 
 pass from the minds of this nation ! Prescott, I feel that 
 the moment is not far distant when my tongue is to fail 
 me. I would therefore adjure you as a Comrade to ever 
 hold high the standard of that Order which, like this 
 voice of Heaven that ' succeeds the thunder-clap, shall 
 sustain the tones with which Liberty made the whole 
 earth tremble!" 
 
 Prescott bent his head, while his face, reflecting the sol- 
 emn inspiration of the dying Thorbolt, glowed with the 
 soul's deep and holy resolve. The heavens seemed cogni-
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 377 
 
 
 
 zant of this scene; for at that moment the lightning darted 
 for the first time from the clouds upon which the Veteran 
 had gazed, and was followed by a peal much nearer than 
 those that had preceded it, which thundered over the now 
 darkening world 'with a sound that impressed the silent 
 group as if the Eternal Voice were speaking to them. 
 
 Soon these clouds were lit up by almost incessant flashes; 
 and as the twilight pervading the room was illuminated by 
 the lurid glare, those who still listened in awed silence 
 to the nearing thunder gazed steadfastly on the upturned 
 face. As the mighty concussions shook the earth beneath 
 them, that face, so grand in health, now assumed an as- 
 pect of sublimity. It seemed to partake of the character 
 of those white, rugged cloud -tops, which so often pre- 
 sent colossal semblances of men, with marked features 
 and swelling muscles, the effect increased by the infinite 
 sky beyond, against which they stand out in surpass- 
 ing relief. The spirit was evidently moved by scenes 
 of war, which the thunder-storm with its vivid flashes 
 called up before the great cavalry leader's fading sight; 
 while immediately beyond, the eternal heaven appeared to 
 enhance the power of this last manifestation of enkindled 
 mortality. 
 
 Erelong this expression gave way to a look of ineffable 
 tranquillity, which the resounding heavens served but to 
 increase. It was a look that gave those who gazed a 
 realization of the tranquillity to come, when with the 
 mortal body laid off, the spirit may labor on, if such be 
 the will of God, rendered infinitely more efficient by the 
 heavenly peace, which even on the earth so signally 
 adds to the powers of him who is blessed with its divine 
 presence. 
 
 Silence still pervaded the room, except that occasionally
 
 378 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 an awed whisper might have been heard, as the eye was 
 directed toward the Veteran, who lay as if contemplating 
 scenes beyond their power to conceive. In the midst of 
 this silence the door was gently opened, and a slight form 
 stood trembling at the threshold. It wa's William Garvin. 
 
 As he thus stands hesitating to come forward, one is re- 
 minded of the time he stood by the door of Allen Paige's 
 chamber, when that patriot was passing to the higher life ; 
 except that now he is much thinner even than he was 
 then, and there are plainly perceptible the marks of wear- 
 ing anguish. 
 
 The "Veteran seemed at once to realize the presence of 
 this new-comer. Looking toward him he smiled, and 
 beckoned him to his bedside. 
 
 The young artist, his face quivering with emotion, has- 
 tened to obey, and falling on his knees, clasped the Veter- 
 an's hand. Breaking into loud sobs,, he covered it with his 
 tears. 
 
 "O my friend!" he uttered between his sobs, "my 
 friend ! my friend ! Do not leave me now ! Ah ! if I 
 too could die ! " 
 
 "William," said the Veteran, gently, while a slight damp- 
 ness suffused those eyes whose fountains were now gradu- 
 ally drying up, " your turn will come in due time. If I 
 am you* friend, what do you think He can be, who in his 
 providence is taking me home ? " He stopped a moment, 
 for he could not sustain his speech as he had previously, 
 and then continued in a voice in which was mingled deep 
 solemnity and touching pathos : " Look, William, to that 
 dear Father who, as I lie here awaiting the final call, I 
 tell you is kinder than you can ever realize in your present 
 existence. And you have a Guide, who has made known 
 this Father. Learn of Him, follow His counsels, and tell
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 379 
 
 me when you shall join me in Heaven if happiness has 
 not been yours." 
 
 William, with a renewed outburst of grief, kissed the 
 Veteran's hand, and sobbed, 
 
 " I '11 try ! yes ! yes ! I '11 stay and try ! Alone ! alone \ 
 I shall be indeed alone ! " 
 
 " HE will ever be near you." 
 
 "Ever near me," repeated the desolate youth. Rising 
 then to his feet, he leaned over the bed with an irresistible 
 impulse and kissed the broad, pale forehead, exclaiming, 
 " Farewell, my best of friends ! farewell ! " Then turning, 
 he approached Emma and Prescott, and convulsively seiz- 
 ing the hand of each, he placed one in the other. He tried 
 to speak; but his voice failed him, and with one silent, 
 pleading look for forgiveness which Emma returned with 
 tearful eyes, he hastened from the room to spend his brief 
 remaining life in travelling over the world, and doing 
 good with the money the broker had left, deriving from 
 his acts of benevolence and a prayerful spirit the comfort 
 the dying warrior had promised him. 
 
 ***** 
 
 It was nigh unto midnight. The storm had passed, and 
 the thunder had hushed its voice. Hushed, too, was the 
 voice of the Veteran, for he had slept his last sleep. He 
 commenced sinking rapidly immediately after the storm 
 had ceased, as if the grand commotion of the elements 
 had lent the spirit strength to stay for a space the pro- 
 gress of dissolution. For several hours he had in his 
 unconscious intervals re-enacted, as did the patriot mer- 
 chant, the scenes of battle through which he had passed, 
 and now the windows of that mortal casement were needed 
 no more, for the soul had left the mortal to put on immor- 
 tality.
 
 380 THE VETERAN OF THE GBAND AEMY. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 IT is the 30th of May, 1868. The bells toll throughout 
 the land, the booming minute-gun mingles its tones 
 with their brazen notes, and columns of marching men, 
 with votive garlands in their hands, move to the graves of 
 their fallen comrades to the measure of the solemn dirge. 
 
 It is MEMORIAL DAY, the day instituted by the Grand 
 Army of the Kepublic for decorating the graves of the 
 Union dead. 
 
 It is a day ordained for the expression of a nation's 
 grateful heart. The bells, the guns, the dirge, the solemn 
 tread, the draped flag, all speak the nation's sorrow. But 
 the garlands, they speak the love which ennobles and 
 sanctifies all grief. As the angels look down upon our 
 land this day, they see these floral offerings wet with many 
 tears. 
 
 Nothing connected with the history of the Eebellion 
 will command the respect of future generations in a more 
 marked degree than this national memorial service. It 
 derives no part of its impressiveness from ambition, love 
 of strife, or taste for adventure ; but as a bereaved family 
 gather around the last resting-places- of their dear ones, 
 and strew the graves with flowers, and consecrate them 
 with prayer and affection's silent tear, so on this day does 
 a grateful nation gather about the mounds where sleep the 
 patriot dead, with floral offerings to their memory. 
 
 As the future reader of history shall look back on this 
 sublime observance, he will exclaim, " The nation had a 
 living soul!"
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 381 
 
 It has been objected to this service that it will serve to 
 perpetuate ill-feeling between the two sections of the coun- 
 try. Such fears are groundless. No complete harmony is 
 possible without sincere contrition on the part of those who 
 took up arms against their country ; and no sincere contri- 
 tion is possible, unless they perceive their wrong, and stand 
 ready to thank those who saved them from accomplishing 
 their own ruin. When they once stand in this position, 
 they will express in stronger terms their gratitude to the 
 memory of their country's defenders than it is possible 
 for them to do who took no part in the fratricidal strife. 
 
 Those who are continually uttering their fears, as one 
 form of permanent memorial to the Union dead follows 
 another, that all these things will keep alive the bitterness 
 of the South, represent no spirit of magnanimity, but rather 
 that disposition which in private life is forever expressing 
 apprehensions of ceaseless troubles between one party and 
 another, thereby aggravating difficulties which but for their 
 folly would be speedily adjusted. Reconciliation is not se- 
 cured by timid fears, but by boldness in doing what is right. 
 
 We turn and gaze upon the lineaments of a martyred 
 soldier, a general of the Union armies who loved his 
 country, who fought for it in the highest spirit of patriot- 
 ism, and died a sacrifice on its holy altar. Shall his coun- 
 trymen, who revere his memory, abstain from a public ex- 
 pression of their sentiments for fear of injuring the feelings 
 of those who slew him while fighting to uphold the Stars 
 and Stripes ? If he could speak to us, would he not say that 
 they who advocate a course so pernicious are but inviting 
 a future repetition of the great crime of the recent Rebel- 
 lion ? If all the patriot dead could rise and speak to us 
 from the spirit which actuated their going forth to offer up 
 their lives for freedom, would they not tell us that these
 
 382 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 baneful utterances should serve to make all loyal men the 
 more strenuous in their determination to 'perpetuate those 
 memories that make the love of country and its liberty to 
 be prized and held in the highest honor ? For such unwise 
 deference to the feelings of pardoned Rebels offers a pre- 
 mium to their crime ; and future generations will look back 
 to see nothing but a duel in that which was the most mo- 
 mentous war that the world had witnessed, a duel where 
 the opposing parties met to fight, and then shake hands, 
 with a tacit understanding that when their honor is again 
 wounded they will fight it out, and again shake hands. 
 
 Let us not be in haste. So deep a wound as this country 
 has just received cannot be healed in a day ; and the future 
 welfare of the whole body politic must not be endangered 
 through anxiety to secure so factitious a result. Let the 
 healing process go on through the healthy co-operation of 
 natural laws, and then it will be lasting. And among the 
 manifestations of these laws is the country's testimonial 
 to the memory of its defenders. 
 
 On this first Memorial Tfay a group were gathered about 
 two grassy mounds rising side by side, and strewn with 
 garlands of flowers. Of those who composed the group 
 there was one who could not fail to attract attention by the 
 loveliness of her inspired countenance. Taking in each hand 
 a wreath, she advanced between these graves, and lifting 
 her eyes to heaven she for a moment moved her lips in 
 silence, and then kneeling, kissed the wreaths and placed 
 them on the mounds. Then a young man went gently for- 
 ward and raised her. 
 
 " Prescott," she said, " their comrades have strewn their 
 graves with these precious garlands, and your dear hand 
 was with them. 0, bless you all ! I weep, dear husband,
 
 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 383 
 
 but I am not unhappy." And she whom we have known as 
 Emma Paige leaned her head on the bosom of Prescott 
 Marland, her husband, while tears she could not restrain 
 flowed like a silent river down her cheeks. 
 
 The graves, on which she had placed her heart's offering 
 with such holy affection, were the last resting-places of all 
 that was mortal of Allen Paige and the Veteran. 
 
 The relatives of the latter, who was unmarried, notwith- 
 standing a pleasant jest uttered to the young Lieutenant 
 which the reader may possibly remember, had, on learning 
 the circumstances, cheerfully consented that he should be 
 thus buried beside that comrade whose widowed wife and 
 fatherless children had found in him so noble a benefactor. 
 
 The mother, Alice, Albert, and Little Dorrit also, all 
 were there ; and with them were the merchant, and he who, 
 formerly a book-keeper, is now a partner. 
 
 Mrs. Paige, whose own memorial offerings had been given, 
 approached those two whom wedlock had made her own, 
 and looking upon the mounds with eyes that bore the signs 
 of recent weeping she said with ineffable tenderness, 
 
 " Our hearts are indeed made both sad and happy this 
 day. Sadness we feel ; but ah ! it is a blessed privilege to 
 have them here, side by side, to receive these tokens of 
 our love and gratitude. And 0, how happy the assurance, 
 that by the hands of those who call them comrades these 
 precious mounds shall in tlje years to come be strewn with 
 love's garlands, like these sweet flowers they have placed 
 here to-day with such fraternal tenderness ! " For a mo- 
 ment she gazed upon the graves in silence ; then she said, 
 "It was indeed a Heaven-inspired thought, to bind the 
 army here remaining with that army gone before with 
 these memorials of the heart's deep affection." 
 
 When she ceased, a faint strain of music floated through
 
 384 THE VETERAN OF THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 the air from a distant cemetery. As it reached the widow's 
 ears she looked above, and with the eye of faith beheld the 
 myriads of transfigured comrades gathered together, and 
 chanting to the Lord God, while in sacred accompani- 
 ment the pealing notes of the celestial organ rose with 
 their swelling voices through the archways of Eternal 
 Heaven. And she saw hosts of angels bearing in their 
 hands immortal wreaths, with which to crown each com- 
 rade as he shall pass from earth to join in responsive an- 
 thems to the annual utterance of a nation's prayer, till 
 the last surviving Soldier of the Union shall have per- 
 formed the sacred office of Memorial Day, and then 
 ascended to receive upon his brow the final wreath, and 
 answer to the heavenly roll-call, " HERE ! " 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Cambridge : Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.