THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 BY 
 
 LIBBIE MILLER TRAVERS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 COCHRANE PUBLISHING CO. 
 1908
 
 Copyright, 1908, by 
 COCHRANE PUBLISHING CO.,
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 To my brother-in-law, Dr. John Franklin Spaun- 
 hurst of Indianapolis, Indiana, to whom I owe a debt 
 of gratitude, this book is cordially dedicated. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 2228967
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON a midsummer morning of 1860 two horsemen 
 slowly followed a picturesque road in southeastern Ten- 
 nessee. That they were strangers in a strange land was 
 apparent from their remarks, for, while they indulged 
 sparingly in conversation, one of them, who had evidently 
 been cast in a finer mould than his companion, commented 
 with enthusiasm on the beauty of the landscape about 
 them or the magnificence of the distant mountain scenery. 
 The other complained garrulously of the glare of the 
 noonday sun or the condition of the highway over which 
 they traveled. 
 
 Reaching at length a comparatively level stretch of 
 ground, the latter said a trifle impatiently, "Come, Mr. 
 Philip, let's be riding up a bit. It's a pity not to take 
 advantage of this here delightful shady boolyvard." 
 
 "There's no hurry, Tom," the man addressed as Mr. 
 Philip replied quietly, without making the least show of 
 hastening his journey. "If the business outlook here is 
 as promising as the prospect before us we shall not be long 
 in finding a location." 
 
 "You've always too great an eye for the looks o' things, 
 Mr. Philip. You'll be marryin' some slip of a lass with- 
 out a mite o' reason one o' these fine mornin's for the 
 sake o' her bright eye an' her rosy cheek." 
 
 "I've held my own against such wiles for eight and 
 twenty years, Tom, I shall probably be able to manage a 
 while longer," Mr. Philip returned good-naturedly. 
 
 The two rode on in silence for a few minutes until, 
 
 5
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 coming to the brow of a long hill, they obtained a full 
 view of a fine old southern home standing far back among 
 a grove of splendid trees and surrounded by clusters of 
 negro cabins, barns and other outbuildings. 
 
 "What an ideal place," Mr. Philip exclaimed, drawing 
 his horse to a sudden halt that he might dwell upon the 
 scene. 
 
 "It's fine, I'm compelled to admit," Tom answered re- 
 luctantly. "You'd ride many a mile in Yankeedom before 
 you found the like o' this." 
 
 "With us it's different, though," Mr. Philip said with 
 a thoughtful air, half jealous that even his man should 
 contrast his native state to its disparagement with any 
 other spot on earth. "At home the towns are the all- 
 important thing while here the plantation owner is the 
 only aristocrat." 
 
 With this the master, for such he evidently was, con- 
 tinued his way, much to the satisfaction of his companion 
 who bore the unmistakable air which over-indulgence de- 
 velops even in a valuable servant. Leisurely they de- 
 scended the long slope, losing, at length, their view of the 
 plantation buildings ; even more leisurely they climbed the 
 more insignificant elevation before them. As they ap- 
 proached the top of the hill, the great house and its sur- 
 roundings again came within their line of vision, revealing, 
 now, many admirable details not discernible from their 
 former station. 
 
 There was nothing very unusual about the large old- 
 fashioned house resting contentedly on the crest of a long 
 hill. It was so exactly like the type to which it belonged 
 that the traveler suddenly set down before it would have 
 recognized his whereabouts as readily as if "Dixie" had 
 been emblazoned in glowing letters across its portal. 
 There was the broad "gallery" with its lofty columns 
 lifted far above the balconies upon which the windows of 
 
 6
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the second story opened; the wide hall with rooms on 
 either side ; and the long "L" flanked by a back porch of 
 delightfully ample dimensions. The house was half hid- 
 den by stately trees dotted over the broad sloping lawn 
 around whose base wound the highway, lost immediately 
 on the left by a sharp curve, but visible on the right for 
 more than a mile away as it rose and fell with a succes- 
 sion of hills, each towering somewhat above its predeces- 
 sor and giving the impression of a stupendous line of 
 terraces designed and wrought by a Master Builder. An 
 air of permanence was the characteristic feature of the 
 scene. The hills, the trees, the house itself, suggested a 
 yesterday, to-day and forever feeling, very comfortable 
 to one who has crossed over into the shady side of life 
 and begun already to realize the fleeting nature of things 
 terrestrial. 
 
 "Think you, Mr. Philip, that over yonder is the house 
 we're after findin' ?" the servant asked with a jerk of his 
 head in the direction of the miniature village. 
 
 "I'm sure of it," was the quick rejoinder. "It answers 
 perfectly the description given us in the village, a descrip- 
 tion, by the way, not overdrawn, as I was confident it had 
 been when I heard it." 
 
 They were nearing their destination now, for, having 
 once more reached level ground, the road bore to the right, 
 following for a little way the base of the hill upon whose 
 summit stood the great house, passing, at length, the mas 
 sive gateway to the lawn which now as usual, stood open, 
 offering generous hospitality to every passer-by. 
 
 A young girl who sat swinging back and forth in a low 
 easy chair on the veranda, her open book turned carelessly 
 upside down in her lap, her hands clasped idly behind her 
 head, had sighted the travelers as they halted on the top 
 of the distant hill. Dreamily she watched the progress 
 
 7
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 of their journey until they disappeared behind the hither 
 hill, her mind intent upon the book she had been reading. 
 
 "What an insufferable lot of stuff and nonsense! I 
 almost wish I had adhered to my original purpose of let- 
 ting the book alone," she burst forth, forgetting absolutely 
 the existence of the horsemen as soon as they were out 
 of sight. The remark was half soliloquy, half by way of 
 address to her pretty cousin who sat just inside the parlor 
 window. 
 
 "What's stuff and nonsense, Virginia?" a girlish voice 
 inquired. 
 
 "This Uncle Tom's Cabin we have heard so much 
 about," the first speaker said in a positive tone. 
 
 "Do you think so?" came in innocent surprise from 
 behind the long lace curtains. "Why, I read it last 
 summer and it seemed to me a very pathetic tale." 
 
 "It's pathetic enough, but it isn't true," Virginia an- 
 swered. 
 
 "Oh! but novels are never true, you know, Virginia," 
 the girlish voice ventured a trifle tmidly. 
 
 "Pshaw ! what a little goose you are, Kittie! Of course 
 I don't mean the story isn't true. I mean the situations 
 are overdrawn and the prevailing conditions down here 
 are grossly misrepresented. This woman knows no more 
 about slavery and the southern people and their manner 
 of life than Queen Victoria does." 
 
 "Now you speak of it, I think myself the thing was a 
 little overdone. But then, one can imagine such things 
 happening, you know." 
 
 "I can't," was the hasty reply. "Who ever heard of or 
 imagined a darky like Eliza or George Harris? I tell 
 you Kittie, the whole thing, from start to finish, is a 
 gross exaggeration of the evils of slavery and it was 
 never written for the mere sake of the story but to stir 
 up a furor against us in the North." 
 
 8
 
 HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Do you really suppose so, Virginia ?" answered Kittie, 
 who was always ready to follow the lead of her cousin's 
 stronger personality. "Then of course I do not like it. 
 Why cannot the people at the North manage their own 
 affairs and leave us to manage ours? I'm sure we are 
 very capable of doing so." 
 
 "Because they are a detestable lot," Virginia replied 
 scornfully. "For hide-bound prejudice and consummate 
 self-conceit and self -righteousness a Yankee would bear 
 off the palm over all the earth." 
 
 During the conversation Virginia had noted the re- 
 appearance of the travelers on the hill, but so absorbed 
 was she that she had scarcely heeded their approach along 
 the highway, nor did she change her attitude even when 
 they entered the gate and came slowly up the drive. A 
 visitor was never, at any hour, an object of curiosity here. 
 
 Within a few yards of the house the master dismounted 
 and, handing his rein to the servant, walked to the ver- 
 anda steps and stood waiting with uncovered head for the 
 approach of Virginia who had risen as she finished her 
 last remark and advanced to meet him. He was just 
 in time to hear the remark of Kittie, sung out in elevated 
 tones, as she noticed the departure of her cousin with- 
 out being aware of the new arrival. 
 
 "One would think you were thoroughly versed in the 
 characteristics of Yankees, Virginia, the assurance with 
 which you pass judgment upon them." 
 
 Virginia's face grew rosy as a momentary flash which 
 was a sort of invisible smile passed over the countenance 
 of the stranger. Immediately the expression vanished 
 and, deporting himself with polite dignity, the young man 
 said : 
 
 "Is this the home of Mr. Thomas Lee?" 
 
 "It is, yes, sir," Virginia replied smiling, ridding her- 
 
 9
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 self of her embarrassment as suddenly as the visitor had 
 dismissed his amusement. 
 
 "Is Mr. Lee at home ?" the inquisitor continued. 
 
 "He is on the plantation, yes, sir, but he is not in the 
 house just now. He went to a distant field early this 
 morning and has not yet returned," Virginia explained. 
 
 Philip hesitated a moment before asking, "Do I have 
 the honor of addressing Miss Lee?" 
 
 "You do. Mr. Thomas Lee is my father." There was 
 almost a touch of pride in the girl's manner as she made 
 this brief reply. The name of Lee was one of life's 
 blessings which she greatly cherished. 
 
 "Indeed!" Philip said in a cordial tone. "I am pleased 
 to meet you, Miss Lee. My name is Blair and I bear 
 with me a letter of introduction to your father from a 
 friend of his in the North." 
 
 Again the pleased expression beamed in the man's grey 
 eyes, evincing an answering flash from Virginia, who, 
 nevertheless, lost none of her self possession as she 
 replied : 
 
 "Come up, Mr. Blair, will you not, and be seated here 
 in the cool breeze. You must have had a warm ride this 
 morning." 
 
 Blair thanked her courteously as he proceeded to accept 
 the invitation, while the young lady continued: 
 
 "If your business is pressing I can send a messenger 
 for my father and he will come at once, but as he will 
 certainly be in at noon and it is too near that time for you 
 to leave until you have had your dinner, you may as well 
 content yourself here in the shade until he returns." 
 
 Upon this she called to the leader of the woolly-headed 
 troop who had been turning somersaults on the side 
 lawn but who now stood watching with wide eyes the 
 movements of the stranger. "Here, Jake, call Sam to 
 take the gentleman's horses to the barn." 
 
 10
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "You are very kind, Miss Lee," Blair said with a 
 ring of genuine appreciation in his voice. "The reputed 
 hospitality of the Southerner I find to be no fable." 
 
 "I cannot understand, Mr. Blair, how even the 
 Northerner could do less than ask a traveler who stops at 
 his door at noonday to tarry until he has had his dinner," 
 Virginia replied. 
 
 "You have never been in the North, Miss Lee?" Blair 
 said with a rising inflection. 
 
 "No, I have never been in the North." 
 
 "We mean no harm by our reserve, it is our nature. 
 Our entire manner of life is different from yours," the 
 young man said, as if compelled to assume the defensive 
 for the sake of his own State. 
 
 "I gather from your remarks and from your speech 
 and manner that you are from the North, Mr. Blair?" 
 Virginia asked. 
 
 "Yes, I have always lived in Rochester, New York." 
 
 "Ah ! New York ? Well, you might have done worse. 
 Only Massachusetts is utterly beyond endurance," Virginia 
 replied in a tone that was half apologetic and with a 
 rare smile that would have allayed a much stronger 
 prejudice than a speech like Kittie's could arouse. 
 
 "Thank heaven for the auspicious horoscope that de- 
 creed my birth to the west of the Hudson River," Philip 
 ejaculated fervently. "However," he continued without 
 pausing for a reply, "the fates have not been equally 
 kind, I fear, in fixing the moment of my first introduction 
 to your ladyship." 
 
 As he spoke he glanced significantly at the book which 
 Virginia still held. Following the glance, she observed 
 the title standing out in bold relief against the dark green 
 of the binding. 
 
 Raising her eyes once more to the visitor's face, she 
 said with the engaging frankness characteristic of her 
 
 ii
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 conversation, "It isn't a particularly soothing tale, is it? 
 Especially should one entertain an unfortunate prejudice 
 in favor of fairness." Then looking from the guest to 
 the bevy of pickaninnies who had returned to their gam- 
 bols on the side lawn, she continued, "There is nothing 
 so very suggestive of oppression in the faces and actions 
 of those little darkies out there, now, do you think so?" 
 
 All the prejudices of a long line of Puritan ancestors 
 against an odious institution, all the preconceived notions 
 of the Northerner regarding the oppression of the negro 
 on the plantations of the South, were warring in Philip 
 Blair's mind, but the searching blue eyes that were once 
 more turned full upon his face put the whole force to 
 rout and he capitulated. 
 
 "On the contrary, I shouldn't know where to look for 
 a happier lot of children, I am very sure," he returned 
 pleasantly. "I have been enchanted with the place and 
 its surroundings from my first view of it from the hills 
 yonder." 
 
 Mollified by the evident sincerity in the stranger's 
 tone, Virginia was glad to accept the truce and retreat 
 from hostile ground. 
 
 "You are adept at pouring oil on troubled water, Mr. 
 Blair," she hastened to say. "Someone in the village 
 must have enlightened you as to my vulnerable point. 
 I am very fond of my home and it always pleases me 
 to hear it praised. It is a sort of 'love me, love my dog' 
 attachment, you understand. To appreciate it fully, how- 
 ever, you must see the view from the door of the little 
 summer house out there." 
 
 "I shall certainly look forward to enjoying that pleasure 
 before I leave, Miss Lee," Blair answered. "But speak- 
 ing of leaving, I assure you it will seem but a prosaic 
 existence to go back to the ordinary walks of life after 
 having had this glimpse of one of its most poetic phases." 
 
 12
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "The important lesson that what is worth doing at all 
 is worth doing well, is thoroughly inculcated in the 
 North, I see, Mr. Blair," Virginia said with a twinkle of 
 merriment in her eye. 
 
 "You are laughing at me now, Miss Lee, and with 
 some justice, too, I admit. I have allowed my enthusiasm 
 to betray me into a ridiculous profusion," Blair returned 
 jestingly, adding, with another glance at the book in Vir- 
 ginia's lap, "but the occasion is a critical one and I felt it 
 necessary to resort to extreme measures in order to meet 
 it successfully." 
 
 "Ah! you were but rising to the occasion then, I am 
 to understand?" Virginia said interrogatively. 
 
 "Not exactly that, Miss Lee," Blair replied quickly. 
 "I assure you I found the ascent very easy for, in all 
 frankness, I am simply charmed with the scenery here 
 and I never saw a more ideal spot for a home." 
 
 For some minutes Philip had noticed a young man 
 galloping along the road he had, himself, so lately 
 traveled. The rider, who was evidently of the fine gallant 
 type, now came dashing up the drive and, reining his 
 handsome chestnut sorrel alongside the porch near where 
 Virginia sat, tossed a package of letters and papers into 
 her lap. 
 
 "There, Virginia," he said gaily, "I should think that 
 supply would furnish entertainment for the whole family 
 for a week to come." 
 
 "Thank you, Hugh," Virginia replied. "Your frequent 
 trips to the village are a great convenience. We shall 
 miss you sadly when you are gone again. Will you not 
 come in? It is almost dinner time." 
 
 "Not to-day, thanks. I promised the Gov'nor to be 
 back by ten o'clock and I've dilly-dallied much too long 
 already. Is Kittie here I have a message for her." 
 
 "Yes, I'm here, I'll be out directly," Kittie cried from 
 
 13
 
 behind the lace curtain where she still busied herself over 
 a dainty bit of embroidery. 
 
 "Mr. Cunningham, let me introduce Mr. Blair, from 
 Rochester, New York," Virginia said, during the momen- 
 tary pause that ensued. 
 
 Gathering both reins and whip into his left hand, Hugh 
 raised his hat for an instant and then drawing his horse 
 a trifle nearer, held out his hand to Philip who fully 
 responded to the cordial greeting. 
 
 Kittle ran half way down the veranda steps and leaned 
 over the railing with cheeks aflame and long soft curls 
 falling about her neck and shoulders. Acknowledging 
 briefly her introduction to the stranger, she turned her 
 attention with childish eagerness to Hugh, who said: 
 
 "I saw Nell Taylor this morning, Kittie, and she asked 
 me to tell you the pattern you spoke of the other day is 
 ready for you and that she will show you how to em- 
 broider it if you will come in to the village this afternoon. 
 I told her I was coming in again and would do myself the 
 honor of acting as your protector. Is the arrangement 
 agreeable to you?" 
 
 Kittie clapped her little dimpled hands and cried im- 
 pulsively, "Oh ! it will be just fine. I've wanted that pat- 
 tern for days and days. It will be the making of my 
 new frock to have a collar like that to wear with it. What 
 time can we go, Hugh?" 
 
 "Not before three o'clock, I fear, Kittie. I am so late 
 home I can scarcely get around to another trip to the vil- 
 lage earlier." 
 
 "Will that not keep us away too late?" Kittie demurred. 
 "Mamma's hair would be all turned gray if I should be 
 detained until after dark. What do you think, Virginia ?" 
 
 "I think it's all imagination that Hugh cannot be back 
 here before three o'clock," Virginia replied, laughing. 
 "This sense of filial obligation is of sudden development,
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 isn't it, Hugh? If you're going back to the village this 
 afternoon, you may as well stop where you are for 
 dinner." 
 
 "No, 'pon honor, Virginia, I can't do it," Hugh replied. 
 "I've a letter here for the Gov'nor that he's been looking 
 for these two weeks and I must, at least, go over and 
 carry that to him. But I'll manage some way to get 
 back early, Kittie, so you may be ready as soon as you 
 will," he continued, smiling indulgently upon the rosy, 
 happy face that beamed from the veranda steps. 
 
 Kittie's eyes drooped beneath the glance and for a 
 moment the long dark lashes rested against her cheeks. 
 Hugh turned his horse and gave a low whistle that sent 
 him galloping across the lawn, while his good-bye floated 
 gaily back to the veranda. 
 
 The vivid glow on Kittie's cheek, the peculiar bright- 
 ness in her eye, as well as the pretty air of unconcern 
 with which she ventured some commonplace remark to 
 hide her embarrassment, told their own tale. A quick 
 glance of mutual understanding passed between Philip 
 and Virginia as the young girl entered the house and 
 they heard her lithe little feet running swiftly p the 
 stairs to the accompaniment of a merry lay she trilled. 
 Once more the indefinable expression which betokened 
 an inward smile flitted across Blair's grave face and 
 lingered a moment in his grey eyes as he said : 
 
 "She's pretty enough to captivate a whole regiment of 
 men." 
 
 A sudden burst of hearty laughter attracted the atten- 
 tion of Philip and Virginia to the side lawn where Tom 
 was now entertaining Jake and his followers. There was 
 no mistaking the tall, broad-shouldered, muscular man 
 who had paused to exchange greetings with the Irishman 
 and from whom it was evident the laughter had come. 
 
 15
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Philip and Virginia caught the spirit of the occasion and 
 joined quietly in the merriment. 
 
 "Some of Tom's nonsense, I suppose," Blair explained. 
 "He spares no one. He'd sharpen his wits on St. Patrick 
 himself." 
 
 Mr. Lee for he it was, as Philip had rightly con- 
 jectured now left the group and, laughing still and fan- 
 ning his flushed face with his broad-brimmed hat, came 
 around to the front of the house, giving Philip an oppor- 
 tunity to see for himself what manner of man his host 
 was. 
 
 "A veritable gentleman of the old school," was Philip's 
 mental comment, for even the paraphernalia suited to a 
 day among the field hands could not disguise the dignified 
 step and lofty bearing of a typical son of the Old 
 Dominion. 
 
 "Father, we have a guest from the North, Mr. Blair, 
 of Rochester, New York," Virginia said by way of 
 introduction. 
 
 "Ah! Mr. Blair, this is exactly what I like," Mr. Lee 
 began with a frank smile that caused Philip to look 
 quickly at Virginia to satisfy himself it was not merely 
 a reflection from her own face, so very like it seemed to 
 the smile he had been observing with so much interest 
 for an hour or more. But Mr. Lee was going on. "Visits 
 like this are what we need of all things just now. If we 
 knew each other better we should hear less, both North 
 and South, of these portentous mutterings. You are right 
 welcome, be assured." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Lee," Philip returned heartily. "I 
 am made to feel so much at home here that a letter of 
 introduction seems almost superfluous, but you will be 
 glad to receive it, I am quite sure, for the writer's sake." 
 
 Mr. Lee took the letter held out to him and, looking 
 hastily at the subscription, exclaimed, "From Henry 
 
 16
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Long ! It is enough, Mr. Blair. You could bear no surer 
 passport to my favor." 
 
 Henry Long had been a school friend of Mr. Lee's 
 long years before at Harvard and a somewhat unusual 
 thing they had never quite lost each other. The host 
 read the letter through and then, folding it carefully, put 
 it into his pocket before entering on a long conversation 
 concerning the location of certain mills to be backed by 
 northern capital. 
 
 "It is a promising venture, Mr. Blair, there is no doubt 
 as to that," Mr. Lee was saying when Virginia, after a 
 protracted absence, returned to the veranda. She had 
 disappeared immediately after her father's coming and 
 now looked refreshingly cool and tidy and self-possessed 
 in the simple white dress she had donned. Leaning 
 lightly against a massive pillar of the porch, she waited 
 respectfully while Mr. Lee continued: 
 
 "There is but one objection that I can think of, and 
 that is the unsettled political status of the country. I 
 might not be unselfish enough to speak so frankly to every 
 man because the advantage these mills would be, not 
 only to myself, but to all this section of Tennessee, is 
 inestimable. To you, however, I speak as I should to 
 Long himself, and I tell you candidly I consider the objec- 
 tion a serious one and well worth considering." 
 
 What with the vital importance of the projected 
 scheme to his own financial interest and what with the 
 charming dark-haired girl framed in by the trailing green 
 vines of a sweet-scented honeysuckle heavily laden with 
 white and yellow blossoms, Philip was so distracted as 
 to be in danger of hopelessly losing his mental equilibrium. 
 
 "I am sorry to interrupt your conversation, father," 
 Virginia said as Mr. Lee finished speaking, "but it can 
 perhaps be renewed at any time while Dinah refuses to 
 be pacified a minute longer. It is only by the greatest 
 
 17
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 exertion I have persuaded her to wait this long. She 
 says, 'Ev'ry mouthful o' dinner'll done be stark col' an' 
 soggy if we wait 'til Marse Lee's had 'is say out!' ' 
 
 Mr. Lee broke into another of his whole-hearted laughs 
 in which he was joined by Philip. 
 
 "Come, Blair," he said as he arose to enter the house, 
 "as Virginia says, the conversation can wait, but dinner, 
 never. Dinah's word is as inexorable as the laws of the 
 Medes and Persians. We have a way of spoiling our 
 blacks that is shocking to many of our neighbors." 
 
 "It is not altogether a bad policy, either," Blair replied. 
 "A little judicious indulgence is often the cement which 
 strengthens the bond of union between master and 
 servant." 
 
 "I should have bet on you for such a theory, Blair. I 
 saw in that man of yours the earmarks of a liberal use 
 of the cement. He's a regular genius, though, there's 
 no discount on that," said Mr. Lee. 
 
 "Yes, Tom's spoiled, I can't deny, but he's faithful unto 
 death, Mr. Lee. I haven't a doubt he'd risk his life any 
 day for my sake," Blair said with a peculiar ring in his 
 voice that touched a sympathetic chord in Virginia's heart, 
 Yankee though he was. 
 
 Kittie was already in the dining room and Philip's quick 
 eye noted the careful toilet she had made preparatory to 
 the afternoon's outing. 
 
 The guest was duly presented to Mrs. Lee, a trim little 
 body of sprightly address who presided at her table with 
 all the grace and assurance of a mistress who "looketh 
 well to the ways of her household," and, a few minutes 
 later, to Kittie's mother, Mrs. Chester, a woman of the 
 languid, indifferent type so frequently developed in the 
 extreme south. 
 
 "Where's Marion?" asked Mr. Lee as the party took 
 
 18
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 their seats at the table, glancing at the vacant chair be- 
 side Mrs. Chester. 
 
 "I don't know, Thomas," Mrs. Chester replied. "I've 
 not had the energy to come downstairs before, and I 
 haven't seen him since he left our room early this morn- 
 ing. What is to become of the people compelled to stay 
 in Atlanta if it's hotter there than here, I'm sure I can't 
 imagine." 
 
 "Could you have mustered up courage to come down- 
 stairs, you might have suffered less, Aunt Nita," Vir- 
 ginia suggested. "There has been an excellent breeze out 
 on the veranda all morning." 
 
 "To which I can also bear witness," Philip added. "I 
 found it delightfully cool and pleasant there after my 
 ride this morning." 
 
 "But the flies annoy me so out there !" Mrs. Chester 
 complained. "The exertion of continually defending my- 
 self more than counterbalances the effect. of the breeze." 
 
 "Well, come out after dinner, Aunt Nita, and Sallie 
 shall fan you all afternoon and not allow a fly to come 
 near you," Virginia ventured again. 
 
 "No, my dear," Mrs. Chester returned with some em- 
 phasis, "I should not expect so menial a service from a 
 Lee's Summit nigger. You spoil your people outrage- 
 ously, Thomas. It will not be long that a stranger can 
 tell who is master here, you or that privileged character 
 you call your overseer or Webster, here," with a nod 
 in the direction of a dignified old slave who stood behind 
 her brother-in-law's chair. 
 
 "I'll spare you the exertion of arguing the point with 
 me, Juanita," Mr. Lee returned good-naturedly. "Indeed, 
 I but a moment ago confessed the fault to Mr. Blair. 
 However, I'll do myself the justice of saying that I have 
 never yet been troubled with a runaway nigger." 
 
 "That's a keener home thrust than Uncle Thomas 
 
 19
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 realizes, eh, mamma?" said Kittie with a roguish twinkle 
 in her eye as she looked across the table at her mother. 
 
 "There you go, Kittie, taking sides against me, as 
 usual, when but for you and your father I should have 
 Hulda with me now," said Mrs. Chester. Then turn- 
 ing to Mrs. Lee, "Hulda, Margaret, is a nigger after my 
 own heart and in my state of health I should never think 
 of leaving her behind, but Kittie and Marion, who never 
 know an ache or pain, cannot appreciate how necessary it 
 is I should have my own servant with me always." 
 
 "Why, mamma, I can't think what you mean," Kittie 
 chimed in. "It must be the black and tan puppy you 
 are thinking of. We did object to him as a nuisance, but 
 I'm perfectly certain I heard papa urge you to bring 
 Hulda with you and you said it would be a relief to be 
 rid of her impudence for a month or two." 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. Chester, languidly shaving off a 
 goodly slice of golden butter and placing it between the 
 halves of a smoking hot biscuit Mrs. Chester's appetite 
 was certainly not suggestive of the invalid "it is imma- 
 terial who is at fault in the present situation. The im- 
 portant, point is that I shall- not soon be found away from 
 home again without Hulda." 
 
 No one feeling equal to replying to this declaration, 
 there was a lull in the conversation, during which Mr. 
 Lee found opportunity to repeat his inquiries for Mr. 
 Chester. 
 
 "Why, yes, I know where he is," Virginia replied. 
 "He ate his breakfast soon after you ate yours and then 
 took his fishing tackle and a lunch and set out for a 
 whole day along the river." 
 
 "Along the river a day like this!" Mrs. Chester ex- 
 claimed in dismay. "Only think of the snakes and toads 
 and mosquitoes there ! Shakespeare certainly showed his 
 wisdom when he said there's no disputing about tastes." 
 
 20
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Virginia saw Blair raise his eyes and regard Mrs. 
 Chester with changeless cpuntenance for an instant before 
 Kittie exclaimed, "Pray, mamma, if you must indulge 
 yourself in giving both authors and quotations, be a 
 little more accurate as to your connections." 
 
 Kittie was fresh from her Latin reader, and its "De 
 gustibus" was still sounding in her ears. 
 
 Philip's eyes wandered to Virginia's face, and she saw 
 the visionary smile she had so quickly learned to recog- 
 nize. 
 
 "Why, wasn't it Shakespeare who s^id that?" Mrs. 
 Chester returned with imperturbability. "It doesn't 
 matter, though, the principle is the same, and I anfmuch 
 too frail to tax my mind with non-essentials." 
 
 Hoping to turn the conversation to a channel of interest 
 to the guest, Mr. Lee now asked, "Are you fond of fish- 
 ing, Mr. Blair?" 
 
 "Reasonably so, yes, sir, though I am by no means ex- 
 pert at the sport. It is one of the chief forms of recrea- 
 tion with us in Rochester," Blair replied. 
 
 "Yes, of course, I had forgotten you were from the 
 lake region. I was about to propose a day on the river 
 while you are with us, but I see there'd be no novelty for 
 you in that," said Mr. Lee. 
 
 "I should enjoy nothing better, Mr. Lee, if I had the 
 time," Blair answered, "but my stay in this vicinity is, of 
 necessity, very short, and I shall have to forego all pleas- 
 ure excursions for the present. Should my plans de- 
 velop, I shall be here frequently later on, and then, per- 
 haps, I can take advantage of your suggestion." 
 
 "You must certainly be staying with us a week," the 
 host remonstrated. "It will take that long to investigate 
 the situation, and you can go back and forth to the vil- 
 lage as you find it necessary." 
 
 "Thank you, sir," was the reply, "I appreciate your 
 
 21
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 kindness, but I must return to the village this afternoon 
 and interview the men whose names you have given me. 
 If I am sufficiently encouraged I may possibly stay over 
 until the first of next week. It was unfortunate I ar- 
 rived here on Saturday." 
 
 "Fortunate for us, Mr. Blair," said Mrs. Lee. "We 
 shall be attending church in the village in the morning 
 and you must return with us for dinner." 
 
 "Provided only, Mr. Blair, you are able to possess 
 your soul in patience while the Reverend Halliburton de- 
 livers a political homily in the guise of a sermon," Vir- 
 ginia interposed. 
 
 "Provided also you are proof against the monotony of 
 a whole day with the Halliburtons," Kittie supplemented. 
 "You haven't forgotten it is their day again, have you 
 Aunt Margaret?" she asked with a pretty grimace. 
 
 "No, I had not forgotten," answered Mrs. Lee, smiling. 
 
 "If the provisos are all in," said Philip, pausing sig- 
 nificantly for a moment, "I shall venture to accept your 
 invitation, Mrs. Lee. 'Forewarned is forearmed,' and I 
 trust I shall be equal to the occasion." 
 
 "It strikes me as a very inhospitable arrangement for 
 Mr. Blair to remain in the village over night, Margaret," 
 Mr. Lee interposed. "He will have ample time to attend 
 to his business and come back here for supper." 
 
 Blair looked quickly and appealingly at Mrs. Lee, who 
 replied, "Of course, Mr. Blair! How stupid of me not 
 to think of that myself !" 
 
 "O, yes," Kittie urged, "that will be the very thing, 
 and Virginia can come too, and we can all ride together." 
 
 Blair looked at Virginia, appealingly now, without 
 doubt. "Will you come with us, Miss Lee ?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes, I suppose I may as well," Virginia returned, 
 much to the delight of her cousin, who feared Mrs. Ches- 
 ter's opposition to the proposed trip alone with Hugh, for 
 
 22
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Mrs. Chester, along with her other peculiarities, was a 
 stickler for the proprieties. 
 
 "And you will come back with us?" Virginia added, 
 inquiringly. 
 
 "I think I will," Blair answered. "I am allowing myself 
 to be overwhelmed by obligation, Mrs. Lee, but the 
 temptation is very great, especially as we are in disrepute 
 at the village inn, where Tom thoughtlessly asked the wait- 
 ress if they furnished capsules to take the butter in." 
 
 Mr. Lee threw back his head and laughed. "That's 
 pretty good," he said, "pret-ty good especially to one 
 who has sampled the butter at that inn." 
 
 Philip and Mr. Lee now fell to comparing the relative 
 excellences of bass and trout and catfish, each repeating 
 at intervals an amusing bit of experience in the capture 
 of one or another of the varieties. The discussion lasted 
 until the dessert was ended, when Mr. Lee consulted his 
 watch and rose hastily from the table as he said : 
 
 "Excuse me Mr. Blair, I am sorry, but I have an im- 
 portant matter to look after, and must leave you to the 
 ladies for entertainment. To-morrow I hope to see more 
 of you." 
 
 "An apology is altogether unnecessary, sir, as I readily 
 adapt myself to a situation of this kind," Philip rejoined. 
 
 With the exception of Mrs. Chester, who dragged her- 
 self wearily upstairs, the ladies withdrew with Philip to 
 the veranda where Hugh, returning earlier than he had 
 anticipated, found them conversing with the familiarity of 
 old friends. 
 
 Virginia ordered the horses to be brought around, and 
 the gay little cavalcade set forth for Chattanooga, Philip 
 taking his place beside Virginia, and Hugh, according to 
 the arrangement of the morning, devoting himself to 
 Kittie, while Tom showed his democratic spirit by falling 
 behind to match his Irish wit with that of Hugh's black 
 man, Jerry. 
 
 23
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Mr. Lee was a Virginian by birth, of the famous fam- 
 ily of that name. His father, who held large possessions 
 in southern Virginia, died when Thomas was but three 
 years of age. After a brief widowhood, Mrs. Lee mar- 
 ried a Mr. Chester, of Atlanta, Georgia, and was glad to 
 turn over to him the care of the estate and its numerous 
 slaves. Two years later, at the birth of their son, Marion, 
 Mrs. Chester died, leaving her husband as guardian of 
 the two children and custodian of their fortunes. 
 
 Mr. Chester, who was fond of travel and a life of ease 
 and pleasure, took the two little boys to his mother in 
 Atlanta, and, arranging their business affairs as well as 
 his own for a long absence, went abroad, where he spent 
 the remainder of his life wandering from place to place 
 in Europe, Egypt, and southern Asia. He died in Rome 
 shortly after his stepson attained his majority and came 
 into possession of his inheritance. The grandmother had 
 full control of the two boys until Thomas Lee was 
 seventeen years of age, when he was sent, in com- 
 pliance with the terms of his father's will, to Harvard, 
 remaining there until his graduation. His vacations 
 were spent now here, now there, as the newest in- 
 terest dictated, so that in the sixteen years following his 
 mother's death he was only three times at the old home in 
 Virginia. He was twenty-three when he finally returned 
 thither, either to settle down and repair the ravages of 
 time or to sell the place and make some other disposition 
 of his fortune. Finding the plantation sadly dilapidated 
 by long years of neglect, he chose the latter course. Sell- 
 ing both lands and negroes, he set out to look for a new 
 
 24
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 location where he could lay the foundation for a larger 
 and finer estate. 
 
 After several months of travel in western Virginia, 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, and northern Georgia, he found 
 himself one bright spring morning, almost by accident, in 
 the little village of Chattanooga. The buoyancy of the 
 atmosphere, the beauty of the fresh young grass and early 
 flowers, the magnificence of the mountain scenery on 
 every side, made an impression which no lover of the 
 beautiful could resist. 
 
 At that early day there was much land to be bought at 
 reasonable cost about Chattanooga, and, after careful in- 
 vestigation, Mr. Lee, who was charmed with the sur- 
 roundings, purchased a large tract a few miles from the 
 village, and at once entered upon its improvement. Ne- 
 gro quarters were constructed, and slaves, carefully se- 
 lected by himself, were bought and set to work to bring 
 the land as speedily as possible under cultivation. A site 
 for the "great house" was chosen on the sunny side of a 
 long sloping hill, the natural growth of timber was 
 trimmed or cut away, drives and walks were laic! out, and 
 trees planted on either side of them or in little groups on 
 the hillside. 
 
 All these expenditures made such an inroad on Mr. 
 Lee's resources that he deferred the building of the large 
 home he had planned until he should begin to realize some 
 return from his investment. He built for his immediate 
 use a pretty cottage near the main entrance to the prem- 
 ises, in after years to be called the "Loclee," after the 
 custom transplanted from England to old Virginia homes, 
 and to be occupied by the overseer of the plantation. 
 
 While all this was being done in Tennessee, a fair- 
 haired girl, far away in Virginia, was working every day 
 on piles and piles of household linen, quilts, comfortables, 
 and curtains, and making dozens of dainty garments, mar- 
 
 25
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 vellous in ruffles and tucks and laces and embroideries, 
 while with every stitch she sewed in a tender thought or 
 an earnest prayer for the happiness of the new life these 
 preparations betokened. 
 
 A little more than a year passed before the necessary 
 work on the Tennessee plantation was complete, and then, 
 on one of those "rare" days in June, Mr. Lee brought this 
 same fair girl to be the mistress of the new domain. 
 
 Five years sped quickly by. The trees had grown 
 rapidly and were spreading a refreshing shade over the 
 sloping lawn. A permanent dwelling had been built, and 
 the plantation had come to be known far and near as 
 "Lee's Summit," one of the most elegant as well as one of 
 the most hospitable homes in eastern Tennessee. Still no 
 heir appeared to inherit the broad acres and perpetuate 
 the "dynasty" Mr. Lee so fondly hoped to establish. 
 When at last that treasure arrived, it was a little blue- 
 eyed girl whom Mrs. Lee named "Virginia," in loving 
 memory of her native state. There was a wave of dis- 
 appointment in the hearts of the parents at first, but as 
 they watched her develop month by month and year by 
 year into an unusually handsome and intelligent little 
 maid, they were very proud and fond of her and ceased 
 to long for the son that fate seemed to deny them. 
 
 Adjoining Mr. Lee's land on the south was a tine plan- 
 tation, well cultivated and yielding abundant crops every 
 year. It belonged to Mr. Cunningham, a Northerner, 
 who had purchased it as a speculation. Finding it un 
 profitable under the supervision of an overseer, he came, 
 himself, "in the forties," with his wife and little son, to 
 live on the place and take care of it. In a few years it 
 became very valuable and productive, although it was 
 never attractive because the buildings were small and the 
 surroundings were plain and uninviting. 
 
 Coming as they did from one of the farming districts of 
 
 26
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Ohio where, in those days, every man was "as good as the 
 best," the Cunninghams knew nothing of pride of ances- 
 try, but the Lees were quick to detect the real worth hid- 
 den beneath their somewhat unpolished exterior, and a 
 genuine friendship sprang up between the two families. 
 Hugh and Virginia were sworn friends from earliest 
 childhood, and the ultimate union of Lee's Summit and 
 Cunningham's Place was often the subject of pleasantry 
 between the parents of the two children. The passing 
 years gave promise of the fulfillment of this prophetic 
 jesting. Numerous children came to the Christmas 
 gatherings at Lee's Summit or to the summer picnics at 
 the lovely resorts for which the mountains in this region 
 are so famous, but Hugh was unfailing in his attentions 
 to his little playmate. It was always Virginia's sled that 
 he drew up the long hill on those rare occasions when 
 coasting was possible ; it was Virginia's apron into which 
 he dropped the finest and ripest cherries ; it was for Vir- 
 ginia that he hung the May basket in the spring time and 
 hid the colored eggs at Easter ; and it was with her that 
 he divided his store of pecans and chestnuts when fall 
 came. And Virginia? Virginia was an imperious little 
 maid who had an innate belief in the divine right of 
 queens, and she accepted all this devotion graciously, as 
 a little lady should, but without a suspicion that it was 
 more than was justly due her. One day when Hugh ap- 
 pealed to her to prove to their comrades that she was to 
 be his wife when they were grown up, she replied, with a 
 wilful toss of her head : 
 
 "When I am grown up I shall marry the nicest man that 
 I know. If you are that man, Hugh, I'll marry you, but 
 if not, I can't do it, of course." 
 
 Then seeing Hugh's crestfallen look, she added, "But 
 you probably will be the nicest, Hugh, for you are the 
 
 27
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 nicest boy I know now, and I like you better than any- 
 body except father and mother and mammy Lucy." 
 
 Thus spring, summer, autumn, winter, chased each 
 other in quick and oft-repeated succession until our little 
 lady could sing the song of "Seven Times Two" and wait 
 for her story which no bell could ring, no bird could sing, 
 nor any human voice foretell, for who but God could 
 know the tale of gloom and disappointment and despair 
 that awaited almost every southern girl of that awful 
 time? 
 
 In the meantime Mrs. Cunningham died, leaving in her 
 home a vacant place that could never be filled. Hugh's 
 grief was pitiful, and Virginia, filled with horror at the 
 thought of having no mother, was kinder to him than ever 
 before, giving him a larger share of her sweets or fruit 
 or cake and speaking to him in a tone of quaint tender- 
 ness that bespoke the sympathy of her little heart. 
 
 At fourteen she was sent to a young ladies' seminary in 
 Richmond, Virginia, while Hugh, three years older, went 
 to William and Mary College. After that came a long 
 break in their association. Hugh's vacations were almost 
 invariably spent in travel or in summer outings with his 
 college friends. By the end of the fourth year, the two 
 had well nigh outgrown their childhood intimacy, not- 
 withstanding they still kept up a somewhat irregular 
 correspondence. 
 
 Virginia had grown into a charming young woman who 
 bore herself with such consummate grace one almost 
 forgot her two or three inches of superfluous height. Her 
 eyes were dark blue, so dark, indeed, as to seem almost 
 black at times, growing serious or sad or glad with her 
 varying mood; her hair was blue-black to match her 
 eyes, she said wavy and abundant with soft curls escap- 
 ing here and there to fall on brow or neck ; her complex- 
 ion was of that rare hue, not fair nor dark, but delicate 
 
 28
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and bright, found only with blue eyes and black hair. In 
 short, she was of that happy type of women who grow 
 ever handsomer with advancing years and to whom ma- 
 ternal cares and responsibilities bring only a suggestion of 
 stoutness and an added dignity which render them even 
 more charming than in the bloom of youth. Nor was 
 she intellectually less attractive. To the mature practical 
 sense and judgment which were the outgrowth of the inti- 
 mate companionship betwen herself and her father, the 
 four years of experience in Richmond had added that 
 vivacity and wit which a bright mind always acquires 
 through association with others of its kind. 
 
 Thus Hugh found her when he returned from school a 
 few weeks before the opening of our story. He, too, had 
 profited by his advantages, and, though he had still an- 
 other year before him at William and Mary, he had 
 already quite the "air" of the college-bred young man. 
 Indeed, Hugh's aptness in taking on fine manners was 
 rather greater than his ability in feats of intellect. He 
 was pleasing in person and faultlessly dressed on all occa- 
 sions what young girls call a "perfect love of a man." 
 To Kittie Chester he was ideal, and in her youthful inno- 
 cence and candor, she was not able to conceal the state of 
 her unsophisticated little heart during her sojourn at Lee's 
 Summit this eventful summer. 
 
 The meeting of Hugh and Virginia, after their long 
 separation, was sincerely cordial and frank, and they 
 soon renewed the old terms of association. He was her 
 ready knight at all social events, and rode over almost 
 every day on some real or fancied errand or to while 
 away a few hours, if not even a pretence of necessity for 
 his coming could be found. Their relation was stU 1 as 
 indefinite as in childhood. One evening, soon after his 
 return, Virginia walked with him as far as the Lodge, 
 chatting familiarly of old time experiences while they 
 
 29
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 stood waiting for Jerry to bring up the horses. Taking 
 her hand to say good-night, an unwonted seriousness 
 stole into Hugh's face, as he said with more than usual 
 earnestness : 
 
 "Well, Virginia, what do you think of me, am I the 
 nicest man you know?" 
 
 The question was so sudden and so pointed that a 
 blush spread over her face and an expression of surprise 
 came into her eyes for a moment; but she answered 
 frankly, "Why, yes, I don't know but you are, Hugh. 
 But then, you see," she hastened to add, "I know so few 
 men. There was Harry Carter who came with you from 
 college that first summer. He was good looking rather 
 handsome, in fact but I didn't like him very well, and, 
 besides, he could scarcely be called a man then and 1 have 
 not seen him since." 
 
 "O, you wouldn't care for him. He fell into disgrace 
 and was expelled from college long ago, and none of us 
 ever heard from him again." 
 
 "Then there were two or three young men that I met 
 while I was at school, but I didn't know any one of them 
 well enough to decide how 'nice' he was. And, oh ! yes, 
 there was Mr. Whitney, of Richmond, he is the veiy 
 nicest man I know." 
 
 "Eli?" Hugh asked, laughingly. 
 
 "No, not Eli," she replied. "Not so antiquated as Eli, 
 and then, besides, of course I do not think a Yankee the 
 nicest man that I know. Mr. Whitney was manied, 
 though. He was brother-in-law to one of the girls at 
 school, and his wife sometimes invited her sister and 
 some of her friends out to spend Sunday at their home. 
 We were delighted to go, and all the girls were fond of 
 Mr. Whitney. But you know girls always say that all the 
 really 'nice' men are married." 
 
 Virginia was talking somewhat at random now, in an 
 
 30
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 effort to change the subject or gain a little time, for, with 
 all Hugh's lightness of speech, she discerned a certain 
 intensity in his manner which warned her that a critical 
 moment was at hand, and she was by no means ready 
 for it. 
 
 But Hugh was, for once, not to be diverted from his 
 purpose. 
 
 "Then if Mr. Whitney is married he doesn't count, does 
 he ?" he asked with more persistency. 
 
 "Not for a beau, of course not," she answered. 
 
 "Do you remember one day when we were little, telling 
 me that when we were grown up, if I were the 'nicest' man 
 you knew you would marry me?" Hugh asked pointedly. 
 
 "No, I do not remember the occasion, but I probably 
 said it, for I remember that, in my egotism, was always 
 my attitude toward the question," Virginia replied. 
 
 "Do you mean to keep your promise ?" 
 
 "It is scarcely fair to call it a promise, Hugh. You 
 know I am conscientious about promises. Besides that, I 
 am not sufficiently 'grown up' to decide yet. I have had 
 no opportunity to see the world and to know men, and 
 how can I compare you with others ? I must have a few 
 years of experience before I decide. In the meantime, 
 who knows what may happen to your own view of the 
 subject?" 
 
 "Time will not change me. I have had my heart set upon 
 you all these years, and I will content myself the best I 
 can until you are ready to announce your final decision." 
 If this sounded the least bit like a complaint it was only in 
 the words, for he spoke pleasantly, and motioned, as he 
 did so, for Jerry, who stood holding the horses at a short 
 distance, to bring them up. Bidding his companion good- 
 bye, he mounted and rode away, Jerry following a little 
 behind him and grumbling quietly because "Marse Hugh 
 done call fo' 'is hoss so long 'go an' den keep me stannin' 
 
 31
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Youn' waitin' when might's well ben talkin' to Sallie all 
 dat time." 
 
 Virginia walked slowly toward the house, secretly grati- 
 fied that matters were so easily and satisfactorily adjusted 
 for the present. 
 
 After the coming of the Chesters, Lee's Summit was 
 gay with the voices of merry revelers, for Kittie was of a 
 fun-loving nature and was just now in that early dawn 
 which precedes the full glow of young-ladyhood, when 
 every social gathering develops, someway, into a frolic. 
 In the midst of these festivities Hugh found no oppor- 
 tunity to press his suit even had he been inclined to do so, 
 and Virginia was glad of a respite from a subject which 
 she had hitherto thought of as belonging to the far dis- 
 tant future. 
 
 With his half dozen years or so the advantage of 
 Kittie, Hugh between whom and any other girl Virginia 
 always stood could not justly realize the dignity that 
 properly attaches to sweet sixteen, and he petted and 
 spoiled the little beauty in much the same way he had 
 been used to in their childhood, and Kittie, for some un- 
 accountable reason, found him vastly more delightful 
 than the most popular beaux of Atlanta, to say nothing 
 of the simple country swains of Chattanooga and the 
 neighboring plantations. 
 
 This brief retrospect brings us to the day when our 
 story opens with the arrival of Philip Blair at Lee's Sum- 
 mit and, together with the deceptive circumstances at- 
 tendant upon his introduction to Hugh and Kittie, 
 explains the mistake into which he very naturally fell 
 with reference to the relation existing between them.
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HAVING only recently heard a young lady of exquisite 
 literary taste denounce a popular -novel because its people 
 were forever eating, eating, as if the summum bomim 
 of existence were the feeding of the animal, it is with 
 a spirit becomingly apologetic that we so soon again ask 
 the reader to be one of a dinner party at Lee's Summit. 
 And yet, we may as well give warning in the outset to 
 anyone who is excessively spiritual that there must be 
 a deal of eating going on in a household of which Mrs. 
 Lee is the presiding genius. Of this fact a single glance 
 into her cellars and pantries would be sufficiently con- 
 vincing. 
 
 A party of strangely diverse and opposite opinions, 
 this, assembled about the long dining table at Lee's Sum- 
 mit for the two o'clock Sunday dinner. First out of 
 deference to the cloth if not to its present representative 
 there was the Reverend Halliburton, austere of manner, 
 vindictive of countenance, with his wife, also austere of 
 manner, vindictive of countenance. Indeed, Mrs. Hallibur- 
 ton had, in their twenty-five years of connubial bliss, so 
 formed herself upon her husband that when she spoke one 
 involuntarily exclaimed with Gabriel, " 'Tis but the echo." 
 There was Mr. Chester, a wiry, fiery little gentleman 
 of the sanguine type and temperament; Mrs. Chester, 
 with whom the reader is doubtless sufficiently acquainted 
 but with whose weaknesses we must perforce bear as 
 patiently as may be from time to time in these pages ; 
 and Kittie, sweet little Kittie, so utterly unlike her mother 
 that Philip Blair looked quickly toward the father for 
 verification of the law that like produces like utterly 
 unlike her father save for the tinge of auburn that Philip 
 
 33
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 remembered to have noticed glinting in her curls in the 
 sunlight. There was Hugh Cunningham, the gay and 
 debonair, to whom life thus far had revealed itself 
 simply as a pretty bauble ; there was his father, the sturdy, 
 bustling middle-class man of the North who was, in 
 reality, but a graft upon the social order of the South. 
 There were Mr. and Mrs. Lee and Virginia, and Philip 
 Blair, of whose political bias, his birthplace and lifetime 
 residence Rochester, New York is strikingly sug- 
 gestive. 
 
 Philip Blair felt peculiarly comfortable and at home 
 among these people for one who, a little more than 
 twenty-four hours before, had knocked at their door, a 
 stranger. In the brief moments during which he stood 
 waiting by his chair until all were assembled at the table 
 and Mr. Halliburton pronounced a pompous grace, his 
 mind flew back over the incidents of his sojourn here. 
 He thought of the warm welcome accorded him for the 
 sake of Mr. Henry Long ; of Hugh Cunningham's kindly 
 offices in introducing him to influential men in the village ; 
 of the merry party and here a smile for which even Vir- 
 ginia's penetration could have fathomed no adequate 
 cause flitted across his face as a vision arose before 
 him, a vision of his stately home in the far-off northern 
 city, of his stately sister Alice whose every act conformed 
 to the properest conventionalities, of his handsome gray- 
 haired mother, more stately still than all. The interrup- 
 tion was but momentary, for in an instant he found 
 himself once more among the merry party assembled 
 before Nell Taylor's home when he arrived there, by 
 appointment, at five o'clock the afternoon before, to ac- 
 company Hugh and Kittie and Virginia home. Some of 
 the young people were already in their saddles while 
 others waited about the stile for their horses to be brought 
 up. He heard again the happy laughter and friendly 
 
 34
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 greetings as he was introduced all around and felt again 
 the satisfaction with which he fell into line beside Vir- 
 ginia when at last the little procession was under way, 
 tossing a playful remark over his shoulder to Kittie 
 Chester, whose heart, he could well imagine, was going 
 pit-a-pat at prospect of enjoying Hugh's undivided atten- 
 tion for a second time that afternoon. 
 
 But now the hush is broken and the dining room is 
 astir with life as family and guests draw back their chairs 
 and seat themselves at the table, while at a sign from 
 Webster his half-dozen dusky helpers are set scurrying 
 hither and yon at their accustomed tasks. 
 
 There was no time now for Philip to dwell upon the 
 homeward ride or the little journey to the summit of a 
 hill by the road side from which he could look across the 
 boundary line of four states, could see the broad expanse 
 of the Tennessee River upon the left with Chattanooga 
 nestling on its bank, a long sloping highland to the east 
 which Virginia told him was Missionary Ridge, and the 
 towering height of Lookout Mountain on the south, with 
 hills and valleys and rushing streams between all des- 
 tined to become historic ground within half a decade; 
 no time for the laughter and games and dancing during 
 the merry evening that followed or for the songs that 
 Virginia sang in a rich, melodious voice while he stood 
 beside her at the piano and turned her leaves; no time 
 even for the early morning walk in the flower garden 
 or for the moments when he leaned against the door of 
 the little summer house watching the glory that fell upon 
 mountain and hill and stream as the first beams of the 
 rising sun touched them, or for the equal and far more 
 thrilling glory that shone from the sweet, womanly face 
 of the girl beside him no time for any of these things, 
 for Mr. Halliburton had the floor. 
 
 "As I was saying" that worthy gentleman began as 
 
 35
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 he adjusted himself comfortably in his chair, evidently 
 taking up the thread of his discourse where it had been 
 broken off when he was summoned to the dining room 
 "I made the same remark from my pulpit this morning 
 and you, as well as others of my people, have heard me 
 express the same sentiment on former occasions" 
 
 The reverend gentleman here paused to assure himself 
 by a comprehensive glance around the table that he had 
 the undivided attention of his audience before he con- 
 tinued, "All this hue and cry of the Abolitionists is but 
 an unholy exaltation of their own opinions above the 
 express declarations and commands of Holy Writ. Was 
 it not divinely appointed unto the descendants of Ham 
 that they should serve the race of Japheth?" 
 
 "Tut, tut, Mr. Halliburton," interrupted Mr. Chester 
 impatiently, "I never trouble myself to search the scrip- 
 ture for a thing that common sense alone can teach us. 
 Look at the black man do you suppose the Almighty 
 blackened his skin and thickened his skull and flattened 
 his nose and spread his foot out like a Virginia ham for 
 pastime ? I tell you He made the nigger to be subservient 
 to the white man." 
 
 "Subserviency doesn't necessarily mean bondage, 
 though, Chester," Mr. Cunningham hastened to object, 
 thereby arousing, unpremeditatedly, a feeling of good- 
 fellowship in the heart of Philip Blair. 
 
 "As to that, if there is to be quibbling about terms, do 
 we not read of the bondmen and bondmaidens of 
 Abraham and Isaac and Jacob?" asked Mr. Halliburton 
 in a hear-the-conclusion-of-the-whole-matter tone and 
 manner. 
 
 "To be sure!" sanctioned his wife. "I distinctly re- 
 member that Hagar was called the bondwoman." 
 
 Blair was nettled. Lenient as he was toward slavery 
 
 36
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 as exemplified on the Lee plantation, he could not tolerate 
 the narrow bigotry of the Halliburtons. 
 
 "We also read of polygamy as the practice of certain 
 other men 'after God's own heart/ but we should hesitate 
 to believe the institution had God's approval simply be- 
 cause it existed," he argued. "Numerous practices were 
 tolerated in the infancy of the race that would not be 
 countenanced in these days of enlightenment." 
 
 "There is no denying that the trend of civilization 
 is away from all forms of serfdom and slavery," Mr. 
 Lee returned quickly, thereby intercepting a hasty remark 
 which he saw his brother was about to make. "In the 
 eternal economy of things it seems to be a part of God's 
 plan to give every race a show sooner or later. There 
 is no doubt in my mind that slavery must eventually be 
 abolished in the United States, but it must not be done 
 precipitately. It were an injustice to both master and 
 slave to talk of sudden emancipation here." 
 
 "You are right, Mr. Lee," Philip Blair replied earnestly, 
 "and I am glad to assure you that there are thousands of 
 men all over the North who are as conservative as your- 
 self and who stand actively opposed to the extreme 
 measures advocated by the Abolitionists." 
 
 "I have often wondered, Mr. Blair, why the 
 Abolitionists should be so bitter against us," said Vir- 
 ginia inquiringly. "When I go down to the quarters of 
 our blacks and see them so much better cared for than 
 if they were thrown on their own helplessness, so far in 
 advance of what they would have been had they been 
 left in the wilds of Africa, I cannot understand how 
 people can say such things of us as we read in many of 
 your publications." 
 
 "They don't care a rap for the nigger," Mr. Chester 
 interrupted hotly. "It's a matter of jealousy from start to 
 finish. They tried the thing in the North and found it a 
 
 37
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 failure and they're envious of our progress and our 
 prosperity." 
 
 Virginia flushed as Philip's grey eyes met hers for an 
 instant in their transit from Mr. Chester to Mr. Lee 
 at the farther end of the table, who, choosing to ignore 
 the sting of his brother's words, stepped into what might 
 have become an unpleasant situation by replying to his 
 daughter's question. 
 
 "There is, of course, more cause for censure on some 
 plantations than there is here, Virginia. Do you remem- 
 ber the episode at Anderson Black's that so exasperated 
 you?" 
 
 "Do I remember it!" Virginia exclaimed. "Can I 
 ever forget it, is more to the point. It is one of the mile- 
 stones of life to me." 
 
 "I had occasion to make a business trip to a plantation 
 in the western part of the state when Virginia was a 
 little girl and, at her urgent request, I took her with me," 
 Mr. Lee explained. "In the course of our visit, Virginia 
 was playing with the children out by the overseer's house 
 when a slave was brought to him to be punished. The 
 overseer gave him a brutal beating . Virginia, it seems ran 
 to him with flashing eyes and clenched fists and, stamp- 
 ing on the ground, called him a nasty man and threatened 
 to go tell Mr. Black 'if he didn't stop this minute.' Of 
 course the overseer paid no attention. She came flying to 
 the house with angry tears shining in her eyes, shouting 
 breathlessly to Black to come down and stop the thing. 
 When Black finally got at her meaning, he laughed and 
 said, 'You're a pretty little miss when you're mad, but 
 Sambo's a bad nigger and if we didn't round him up 
 occasionally we could not live on the same plantation 
 with him.' " 
 
 "To this day my blood boils and I want to do some- 
 thing to somebody every time I think of it," Virginia 
 
 38
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 cried indignantly. "The word 'man' has never meant 
 quite the same to me since. There were the overseer 
 and Mr. Black and father, all implicated, it seemed to me, 
 in the tragedy. For, I confess that, in my ignorance, I 
 was even a little indignant that father should sit there 
 like a stone while such a thing went on." 
 
 "You see what I mean, though, Virginia," Mr. Lee 
 urged gently. "We must not judge too harshly those who 
 condemn a system which makes such a scene possible." 
 
 "But individual instances should not be taken in con- 
 demnation of the whole," Virginia remonstrated. "I 
 know a man who prays long and loudly at church and yet 
 he never pays a debt without being sued and he always 
 puts all the big fine apples on the top of the basket when 
 he peddles them in the village I heard Nell Taylor say 
 it only the other day. You would not, therefore, say 
 Christianity is a farce and a failure, would you?" 
 
 "That is scarcely a parallel case, Virginia," Mr. Lee 
 said, smiling, "and I very much fear your individual 
 instances are more numerous than you, perhaps, imagine. 
 You base your idea upon the system as you see it here at 
 home or over at Cunningham Place." 
 
 "Anyway, there is more truth than poetry in what 
 Black said," interrupted Mr. Chester. "There is many a 
 nigger that cannot be dealt with any other way but to give 
 him the lash occasionally." 
 
 "At least you must admit, Thomas, you are too easy 
 with them here," Mrs. Chester said with a vim which 
 no other subject could have provoked. "For myself, I 
 like those good old days we read about somewhere, when 
 the lord of the manor sent his serfs out to beat the 
 marshes to keep the frogs still while he slept. That al- 
 ways suggests such a comfortable idea of life to me." 
 
 "One would wish to be sure which party one would 
 belong to, though, mamma," Kittie tore herself from a 
 
 39
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 conversation with Hugh long enough to remark. "Now, 
 you might chance to be one of the serfs and that would 
 be unpleasant, you know." 
 
 "I should be one of the aristocracy, of course," Mrs. 
 Chester returned complacently. 
 
 "I am not so sure about that." Kittie argued. "There 
 are no grandfathers in America, you know." 
 
 "I, at least had a grandfather, as also your Uncle 
 Thomas had," Mrs. Chester declared loftily. There was, 
 in Mrs. Chester's family, an indefinite, but greatly valued, 
 tradition in which the name of Oglethorpe figured among 
 her ancestors and she had a habit of reminding Mr. 
 Chester incidentally now and then of the fact that his 
 progenitors had not been so remotely discernible from 
 the common herd as had her own. 
 
 "A Georgian must be careful about tracing ancestry 
 back too far, though, mother mine, lest he find a great- 
 great-grandfather with a barred window on his escutch- 
 eon," Kittie retorted. 
 
 The laugh which followed relieved Mrs. Chester of the 
 necessity of replying, for which she was truly grateful. 
 Philip was convinced by the vacant look on her face that 
 she had not caught the point of her daughter's witticism. 
 
 "Mamma isn't really so severe as she would have you 
 believe," Kittie went on as the laughter subsided. "She 
 bought Hulda whom she dotes on because she was 
 whipped by her former mistress." 
 
 "Of course," Mrs. Chester answered scornfully. 
 "Respectable families never whip the house servants." 
 
 "Respectability is the leading tenet of mamma's creed," 
 Kittie explained banteringly. "She would not be happy 
 in Heaven if she found some one there not of our own 
 set which is her definition for dw-respectability." 
 
 Philip was highly entertained by these frequent pas- 
 sages between Mrs. Chester and her daughter and now, 
 
 40
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 for several minutes, he had been at some ado to keep 
 from losing some' thrust of Kittie's and at the same time 
 catch the gist of the more substantial conversation in 
 progress at the other end of the table. 
 
 "Do you mean to say, then, that you would be an advo- 
 cate of secession, Lee?" Mr. Cunningham was asking 
 when it became apparent that Mrs. Chester had, for the 
 time, exhausted her vitality and that Kittie was once 
 more engrossed with Hugh. 
 
 Philip was glad now to be relieved of double duty and 
 he listened with much interest for Mr. Lee's reply. 
 
 "No-o," that gentleman returned, shaking his head 
 thoughtfully for a moment, "it would be putting it too 
 strongly to say that I would favor secession. I only sug- 
 gested that as the most plausible solution of the problem. 
 The interests of the North and the South are so absolutely 
 antagonistic that it seems impossible they should ever 
 agree. I consider two governments at peace with each 
 other preferable to an unceasing wrangle under one com- 
 mon government." 
 
 "You would not favor secession?" Mr. Halliburton 
 burst forth, the veins of his heavy countenance swelling 
 visibly with his rising resentment. "I cannot conceive 
 how any southern gentlemen of spirit can make such a 
 statement. Are the descendants of Washington and 
 Jefferson and Madison and of your own illustrious an- 
 cestors, Mr. Lee, to submit to the yoke of the northern 
 tradesman ?" 
 
 "And are our slaves, purchased with our own money, 
 to be taken from us while we sit tamely by without so 
 much as our yea or nay being asked?'' supplemented Mrs. 
 Halliburton. 
 
 "There is no immediate danger of our slaves being 
 taken from us, Mrs. Halliburton," Mr. Lee said calmly. 
 "The day has not come when even a rash man could hope 
 
 41
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 to carry through such an undertaking, and Mr. Lincoln, 
 whatever else he may be, is cool-headed and considerate." 
 
 "Mr. Lincoln has repeatedly declared that he has no 
 intention of trying and no right to try to emancipate 
 the negro if he should be elected," said Philip Blair. 
 "Even were he inclined to do so, he is too sensible to 
 attempt a measure which would alienate a large and 
 powerful element of this nation." 
 
 "Do you mean to say he is not an Abolitionist?" Mr. 
 Chester asked sneeringly. 
 
 "Why, yes, I believe I do," Blair answered slowly, 
 weighing his words carefully as he spoke, "at least not 
 in the offensive sense in which the term is often used. 
 He is an anti-slavery man, but not an Abolitionist." 
 
 "You draw fine distinctions, Mr. Blair," said Hugh 
 Cunningham with the indifference of one to whom the 
 whole subject is a bore. 
 
 "It is a time when fine distinctions are necessary. The 
 question is too important to be dismissed with a few gen- 
 eralizations," Philip replied with a courteous glance at 
 Hugh. Then turning to the host, he continued, "The 
 question of slavery seems not the important one to me, 
 however, Mr. Lee. The right of secession is the real 
 issue before the nation. Slavery is not so much a ques- 
 tion of North against South as it is of Anglo-Saxon 
 civilization against an institution of semi-barbarism. If 
 the North will but have patience and the South will 
 reconcile itself to the inevitable fact of which you spoke 
 a moment ago that all forms of serfdom and slavery are 
 doomed this difference will, in the very nature of things, 
 right itself in time. But secession once started would 
 know no stopping place. If the cotton growing states 
 may secede, so may New England, the Mississippi Valley, 
 the Pacific coast region, while each group may, in turn, 
 he broken into smaller groups, into states, counties, neigh- 
 
 42
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 borhoods. The theory, carried out, is utterly subversive 
 of all government, don't you think?" 
 
 The fire of opposition blazed in Virginia's eyes. Blair 
 had unwittingly touched upon the one theory to which she 
 was passionately attached. 
 
 "But on the other hand, Mr. Blair, to deny the right 
 of secession is virtually to make slaves of the inhabitants 
 of any section that chances to be in the minority," she 
 argued with a vehemence that pardoned the interrup- 
 tion. "The South has never tried to interfere with the 
 local institutions of the North all we ask is to be let 
 alone. No more does the North have a right to bind 
 its conscientious scruples upon us. Slavery may be an 
 institution of semi-barbarism is such, in fact but it is 
 here, and it is a problem not for the North, but for the 
 South, to work out for themselves. Of course, it is 
 harder for us whose fortunes and homes, even, depend 
 upon the continuation of slavery to moralize upon the 
 question than it is for the New Englander to whom its 
 abolition means, personally, so little." 
 
 "To be sure, Miss Lee, and that is why I am saying 
 that the more level-headed citizens of the North do not 
 favor interference with your local interests on the part of 
 the national government," Blair replied. 
 
 "All that pretty theory is but so much nonsense, Mr. 
 Blair," Mr. Chester interposed. "I know and you know 
 and the whole world knows that the North has made up 
 its mind to free the nigger, and the only way for .us to 
 prevent it is to nip the whole thing in the bud by setting 
 up housekeeping for ourselves." 
 
 "I object to the right of secession being always based 
 upon the one question of slavery as if it were the para- 
 mount consideration," Virginia began before Philip could 
 reply to her uncle. "Suppose the emancipation of the 
 black man to have been accomplished, are there not other 
 
 43
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 issues of equally vital importance to us? For instance, 
 having freed the negro, the North might find it to its ad- 
 vantage to enfranchise him, that it might have absolute 
 control of our affairs. Should we submit to such an 
 indignity, do you think, Mr. Blair?" 
 
 "Your illustration befogs your argument, Miss Lee,'' 
 Philip answered laughingly. "There is far greater chance 
 for a restriction of the right of suffrage along intellec- 
 tual lines than for its extension to an ignorant, illiterate 
 and irresponsible class." 
 
 "Well, we'll drop my illustration, then, for I am con- 
 vinced myself it is too absurd to be considered seriously," 
 Virginia said with a smile that precluded the possibility 
 of personal antagonism, "but is not secession the only way 
 to place ourselves beyond danger of all such catas- 
 trophes ?" 
 
 "Do you know what the secession of the Southern 
 States or any part of them would mean, Miss Lee " 
 Philip asked earnestly. 
 
 "Yes, it would mean two governments bitterly opposed 
 to each other, stagnation of business for a time, and pos- 
 sibly very serious trouble until the North is convinced 
 we are in earnest," Virginia replied. 
 
 "It will mean war, civil war, not for a short time but, 
 it may be, for years. The South will be determined to 
 win and the North will never give up the Union until 
 every drop of blood and every dollar of revenue are 
 gone." Blair spoke the words solemnly as if in prophecy 
 of the impending storm. 
 
 "Then let it come!" cried Mr. Chester who, though 
 quiet for some time, had been wrought up to a white 
 heat by the controversy. "The sooner the question is 
 fought to a finish, the better it will be for both sides. 
 Why should we wait for Mr. Lincoln to attempt the 
 abolition of slavery? The day of the approaching elec- 
 
 44
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 tion should decide the course of the Southern States will 
 pursue." 
 
 An intensity that threatened to become painful sat 
 upon the countenances of the more serious members of 
 the company until Virginia, perceiving that all were now 
 ready to leave the table, arose with a tragic air and a 
 significant gesture of her arm as she proclaimed: 
 
 "Almost methinks I see Regulus flourishing his toga as 
 he cries to the Carthaginians, 'Here in this toga I bring 
 you peace and war, which shall it be?' " 
 
 Thus in a burst of laughter and friendly good will, the 
 company dispersed to parlor or veranda or lawn as the 
 fancy of each suggested. 
 
 45
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms 
 
 Which I gaze on so fondly to-day, 
 
 Were to change by to-morrow and fleet in my arms 
 
 Like fairy gifts fading away, 
 Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art, 
 
 Let thy loveliness fade as it will, 
 And around the dear ruins each wish of my heart 
 
 Would entwine itself verdantly still." 
 
 The song was Kittie Chester's and it was sung in a 
 soft, purring little voice peculiarly her own as she leaned 
 out over the side of the Lee carriage, listening to the 
 whirr of the wheels bowling rapidly over the river road. 
 Having endured the droning, monotonous tones of the 
 Reverend Halliburton for half the afternoon, she declared 
 she could no longer trust her disposition to stand the 
 strain and persuaded Virginia to order the carriage. To- 
 gether with Hugh and Philip, they set out on a sight- 
 seeing expedition from which they were now returning. 
 The afternoon had been sultry and the air was still warm 
 and oppressive except for a little distance here and there 
 where a cool breeze floated to them from no one knew 
 where, giving promise of a more tolerable temperature 
 an hour or two later on. 
 
 They had talked of the grass and the flowers and the 
 trees, of the majesty of the slow -going river current as it 
 swept round the curve of Moccasin Bend, of the grandeur 
 of Lookout Mountain frowning upon them from the 
 south, of the beauty of the fading sunset, of the full 
 moon rising big and round and red above the eastern 
 
 46
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 highlands, and of the thousand and one other subjects 
 of interest to enthusiastic youth. 
 
 By and by as conversation lagged, Kittie began hum- 
 ming softly to herself, drifting at length into the words 
 of this little ballad of Tom Moore's. By the time she 
 reached the second verse, Hugh and Virginia had caught 
 the spirit and joined her. Thus encouraged, she con- 
 tinued the singing, ready with some fresh melody almost 
 before the notes of the last had ceased to come back to 
 them from the surrounding hills. The songs were, many 
 of them, new to Philip, for the time had not yet arrived 
 when the popular airs of New York were also the every- 
 day songs of Washington, of New Orleans and of San 
 Francisco, and he enjoyed them along with all the other 
 new things he found in Tennessee. 
 
 Tired out at last, Kittie leaned back among the cushions 
 as the carriage wound slowly around the base of the Lee's 
 Summit hill, entered the gateway and rolled up the long 
 drive. A silence had fallen upon the little party now 
 and no sound was heard except the crunching of the 
 gravel beneath the wheels, Sam on the box whistling 
 softly to himself the notes of the last air that had been 
 sung, and the hum of busy voices, varied now and then 
 by a loud shout, from the direction of the negro quarters. 
 
 "I wonder if you people who are accustomed to it, 
 appreciate your life down here?" Blair said, breaking the 
 silence impulsively. "We have no conception of such an 
 existence in the North. Our men are hustling and push- 
 ing and scheming to raise their financial rating a few 
 notches higher each year than it was the year before and 
 our sisters and mothers are either hustling and pushing 
 and scheming to raise themselves a few notches higher 
 in the social world, or, having reached the top, are so 
 hemmed about and hampered by social restrictions and 
 conventionalities that there is no opportunity for that 
 
 47
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 larger, freer development that is open to you here. I have 
 thought many times to-day, Miss Lee, of that little party 
 of yours last night, arranged on the spur of the moment 
 without so much as a word to your mother about it, and 
 I smile to myself as I compare it with one of my sister 
 Alice's receptions." 
 
 "You have a sister?" Virginia asked quickly with a 
 display of interest that struck Hugh as rather uncalled 
 for. 
 
 "Yes, I have a sister, a little older than yourself, I 
 should say, and a widowed mother. My father died al- 
 most ten years ago," Philip answered with the touch of 
 sadness that always came into his voice when he spoke 
 of his father. "They are loving and loyal and consider- 
 ate my mother and sister are but they are reserved, 
 I think that is the way to put it. I never realized it so 
 thoroughly as I have since yesterday. Why, when Alice 
 entertains, the thing is talked of for weeks if it is an 
 event of any consequence. Mother is consulted on every 
 minutest detail. Long lists of guests are made and re- 
 vised, the menu is arranged and changed again and again, 
 the house is decorated all over with flowers and then, 
 when all is ready, it would start the cold chills creeping 
 all over you to see the dignity with which Alice and 
 mother and perhaps an assistant or two stand for 
 hours inside the drawing-room door to receive the equally 
 stately and dignified guests." 
 
 "Oh ! but that's because you live in a town, Mr. Blair. 
 I utterly abominate towns!" cried Kittie. "We do things 
 more like that in Atlanta than they do here at Uncle 
 Thomas's. Mamma imagines that way of giving parties 
 more aristocratic than what she calls Aunt Margaret's 
 haphazard fashion, and if mamma is anything in life she 
 is aristocratic, you know. For myself, I greatly prefer 
 Aunt Margaret's way. In fact, I often think mamma 
 
 48
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 mistakes being cool to people for being aristocratic. I 
 could live forever at Lee's Summit and be happy." 
 
 "And I, too, Kittie," Philip returned. "Someway this 
 kind of life seems to bring out the very best there is in 
 a man." 
 
 "I often tell them at home how perfectly heavenly it 
 is here, and that the very happiest, happiest days of my 
 life are the vacations I get to spend out here." Kittie 
 was at the superlative age. Her very extravagance 
 softened the New York reserve with which even Philip 
 Blair was perceptibly tainted and he smiled indulgently 
 at her enthusiasm. 
 
 "I fear you must think us exceedingly primitive here, 
 Mr. Blair," Virginia said, laughing as she recalled the 
 free hand with which the party of the evening before 
 had been collected, the hilarity that had pervaded every- 
 thing they did, and Philip's look of concern when he 
 found that her mother had had no word of their coming. 
 
 "If by primitive you mean genuine and natural, I as- 
 suredly do find you so, Miss Lee, and the discovery is 
 most refreshing," Blair answered. 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Blair," Virginia returned in what 
 Blair all along described to himself as the most musical 
 voice he ever heard. "Father always says the apprecia- 
 tion of a manner of life wholly at variance with our own 
 is sure proof of a generous nature and I have always 
 found what father says to be true." 
 
 "I shall endeavor not to disappoint you as you learn 
 my nature better/' Blair answered, adding lightly, "but 
 while we are on the subject, I should like to ask you, 
 Miss Lee, what assurance you had yesterday that it would 
 be convenient for you to take a regular party home with 
 you just at supper time?" 
 
 "Oh, I knew the house would be there and the lawn 
 there, and I know father and mother always make any 
 
 49
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 one welcome that I choose to invite to our home," Vir- 
 ginia replied. 
 
 "But there must be something for such a party to eat, 
 how did you know that necessity would be provided for ? 
 I do not wish to seem inquisitive, but candidly, I am 
 curious to know how you manage these things down 
 here," Blair said so frankly that Virginia could only 
 smile as she replied: 
 
 "Well, there are always apples and peaches and pears 
 and berries and watermelons, if nothing more and 
 mother has always such stores of good things in the 
 cellar and, especially on Saturday, Dinah has the most 
 astonishing lot of baking put away in the pantry, and 
 well, to tell the truth, Mr. Blair I never think about that 
 part at all. We always have been provided for when I 
 bring my friends home with me and I suppose I take it 
 for granted we always shall be." 
 
 Sam, who a few minutes before, had stopped the car- 
 riage not far from the veranda steps, waited for the 
 young people to finish their conversation and alight. 
 
 "Sam," Hugh called as he handed Kittie from the 
 carriage, "if you see Jerry anywhere about, tell him to 
 bring the horses here in about an hour. If I don't stop 
 bringing him over here to loaf with you Lee's Summit 
 nigs, he'll be so trifling I'll never get him broken into 
 service again and he'll have Sallie so spoiled she will be 
 of no kind of use to her mistress." 
 
 "That's a problem that confronts a man the world 
 over, I suppose," Blair said laughingly. "It's my worst 
 complaint against Tom Healy. He's like a balky horse if 
 there's a pretty maid in sight." 
 
 "Where is he, Mr. Blair?" Virginia asked. "I meant 
 to inquire about him yesterday evening but in the com- 
 motion, I forgot it." 
 
 "Oh, he made up his little difference with the waitress, 
 
 50
 
 who proved to be the innkeeper's daughter," Philip an- 
 swered. "The last I saw of him he was begging her to 
 accept a sack of sweets as a peace offering and he called 
 to me to go on to Lee's Summit and said he would come 
 out some time to-day. I suppose he found the maid so 
 enticing he could not tear himself away." 
 
 Seated in the shadow of a huge pillar, Tom Healy 
 overheard Blair's words. A suggestive grin that be- 
 tokened a determination to be even, overspread his coun- 
 tenance. The coveted opportunity came sooner than he 
 had anticipated. Philip, turning on the steps to answer 
 some remark of Kittie's, stumbled over Tom's extended 
 foot before he had otherwise any intimation of his 
 presence. 
 
 "Beg pardon, sure, Mr. Philip," Tom began apolo- 
 getically, rising quickly. "It was careless o' me to have 
 my foot stickin' out like that, but how could I know where 
 you was a goin' to step an' you a tryin' to look at two 
 han'some young ladies at the same time? You mind me 
 o' that story about ol' Judge Warren." 
 
 "What's that?" asked Mr. Lee who, deserted by the 
 guests, sat with his wife on the veranda and who had 
 already learned enough of Tom to be glad of an oppor- 
 tunity to draw him out. 
 
 "Judge Warren," Tom responded readily, "is a fine ol' 
 gentleman back in N'York State, a justice o' the peace, 
 who has the misfortune to be cross-eyed. Mike Flan- 
 nigan is a rough ol' weather-beat sailor in Rochester one 
 o' these here awk'ard men that has trouble with their 
 locomotive organs, one foot always secmin' to say to 
 t'other, 'If you'll let me pass this time I'll let you pass 
 next time,' you understand. Well, one windy March 
 day Mike was a forgin' along with his head down, sorter 
 buttin' the air to make way fer 'is body, when he runs 
 into the well-developed front of the cross-eyed ol' Judge.
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 'Hey there!' cries out Judge Warren, indignant to think 
 he should be put upon by a common run o' shad like 
 Mike Flannigan, 'Why don't you look where you're a 
 goin'?' 'Faith,' Mike yells back, 'an' why don't you go 
 where you're a lookin'?" 
 
 "Tom, you're a knave of the deepest dye," Philip Blair 
 said, laughing at Mr. Lee's enjoyment of Tom's waggish 
 manner rather than at Tom himself, "it was no accident 
 that your foot was sticking out like that, and you know it 
 A fellow as unprincipled as you are isn't to be trusted out 
 of a man's sight. Where have you been all day and what 
 have you been up to? Nothing good, I'll warrant." 
 
 "No, honor bright, Mr. Philip, I ain't done a thing to- 
 day to be ashamed of. You see, the overseer was good 
 enough to ask me to eat dinner down at the Lodge with 
 them to-day an' I promised that pretty little duck at the 
 inn to eat dinner there, an' then there's my 'steady' back 
 in Rochester that always expects to see me on a Sunday 
 afternoon. To split the difference, I spent most o' the 
 day a walkin' up an' down the streets o' Chattanoogy 
 an' wishin' I was triplets so I could be here an' there an' 
 back in N'York State all at the same time." 
 
 "I'm not much of a physician, Tom, but I can diagnose 
 your case easily enough. You're homesick, old boy, and 
 I think I know a remedy. We'll start for Rochester 
 to-morrow," Philip answered indulgently. 
 
 "To-morrow!" exclaimed Mr. Lee and Virginia in the 
 same breath. 
 
 "Yes, I think I'll go home to-morrow," Philip an- 
 swered Virginia first, then turning to Mr. Lee, he con 
 tinued, "I am convinced that it will be wise to postpone 
 further negotiation about the mills until we know the 
 developments of the next few months and, that being 
 true, my business here is, for the present, at an end." 
 
 "That's why I rode out this evenin', sir." said Tom, 
 
 53
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 twirling his hat round and round in his hand. "I thought 
 like as not you'd want to know that if we make our con- 
 nections all right for the North we have to get out o' 
 Chattanoogy on the five o'clock train to-morrow morn- 
 ing. The agent told me so at the station to-day." 
 
 "I see you have the disease badly, Tom," Philip an- 
 swered, smiling. "It's all right, though, it was very 
 thoughtful of you to look after the trains and come out 
 to tell me. I'll ride back with you to the village this 
 evening." 
 
 A chorus of protestation arose from the Lees. "There 
 isn't the least necessity for it," Mrs. Lee insisted. "We 
 always ride in in the morning to take that early train." 
 
 Philip looked quickly at Virginia who stood in the path 
 of light that fell across the veranda from the hallway. 
 Catching the look of invitation in her face, he turned 
 to Mrs. Lee with acceptance as what young man would 
 not? 
 
 "Thank you, Mrs. Lee," he said earnestly. "I shall 
 carry back to the North the pleasantest impression of 
 Tennessee and the very fondest, happiest recollections of 
 the Lee household and the generous hospitality that has 
 been shown me here." 
 
 "The pleasure has been equally ours, Mr. Blair, and I 
 regret that you have allowed the little unpleasantness that 
 seems to threaten just now, to scare you out," returned 
 Mrs. Lee in her sprightly, good-natured manner. "I do 
 not understand this pessimistic mood of Thomas's. It is 
 usually his fault to look too persistently on the bright 
 side of things. I've no doubt the political horizon will be 
 all clear by spring." 
 
 "I trust to God it may be so, Margaret," said Mr. 
 Lee in response to the half bantering tone with which 
 his wife addressed her last remark to himself. "I trust it 
 may be so, but I'm afraid afraid. You see," turning 
 
 53
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 to Blair, "we have so many one-sided men like Hallibur- 
 ton and so many rash, hot-headed men like Marion, it 
 will be hard for the more steady-going among us to hold 
 the balance of power down here." 
 
 "I see it, Mr. Lee, I see it plainly now," Philip an- 
 swered. "In the North we have heard rumors of this 
 secession movement and some of our papers are fran- 
 tically sounding the alarm but the rank and file of our 
 people are paying very little attention to the cry. The 
 question has come to me in a different light down here 
 and I cannot think of disregarding the advice of a cool- 
 headed man like yourself. I am as grateful to you for 
 your wise counsel as for the kindly welcome to your home. 
 But for you, I might have been rash enough to make large 
 investments here to my own ruin." 
 
 "Anyway, you shall not be debarred the hospitality of 
 Lee's Summit, whoever may be president at Washing- 
 ton, Mr. Blair," said Mrs. Lee, cheerily. 
 
 "Thank you again, Mrs. Lee. I shall certainly avail 
 myself of your invitation. I should be sorry if a political 
 difference could interfere seriously with a friendship so 
 pleasantly begun," answered Blair. 
 
 "Now hie yourselves to the dining room," said Mr. Lee, 
 falling into his usual jovial manner, "and find something 
 to eat. There's nothing like a jaunt over our Tennessee 
 hills to sharpen up the appetite." 
 
 "Your lunch is on the table, Virginia," said Mrs. Lee. 
 "We never have supper in regular fashion on Sunday 
 evening, Mr. Blair." 
 
 Kittie was in the gayest humor in the dining room, 
 chattering away like the veriest little mapgie, notwith- 
 standing the thoughtful mood into which her companions 
 had fallen. Hugh, in spite of himself, was a little dis- 
 gruntled at the turn affairs had taken, Blair was ill at 
 east as he revolved the prophetic words of Mr. Lee in his 
 
 54
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 mind, while Virginia was, for a time, more or less occu- 
 pied with the duties of serving even the simple meal. 
 
 "We never require the service of the Macks so late on 
 Sunday evening, Mr. Blair," she explained. "The Sun- 
 day evening meeting at the quarters is the event of the 
 whole week to them and we wouldn't think of unneces- 
 sarily depriving one of them of the pleasure of attending." 
 
 She had scarcely finished speaking when a great volume 
 of weird music came up from the negro cabins. 
 
 "Yes," she said in answer to Philip's inquiring look, 
 "the prayer meeting has begun. Some time when you are 
 here for a longer visit we'll go down to one of their 
 services. You would be surprised to see how much real 
 feeling is often manifest in their rude worship." 
 
 "I am almost ready to build three tabernacles and 
 camp right here for the rest of my life, as it is, Miss Lee. 
 I shouldn't be willing to answer for what I might do if I 
 allowed myself to make an extended visit here," Philip 
 rejoined with an earnestness that smote unpleasantly on 
 Hugh Cunningham's ear. The right of way with Virginia 
 had so long been conceded to him by all the young men of 
 their acquaintance that Philip's manner toward her and 
 his evident misunderstanding of the true situation aroused 
 an unwonted feeling in his heart and brought the un- 
 settled relation between himself and Virginia before him 
 in a new light. 
 
 "Virginia, could you tell me exactly how Dinah makes 
 these little seed cakes," he asked, abruptly changing a 
 subject that, some way, annoyed him. "Berenice can't get 
 them to taste like these at all." 
 
 "Berenice! Think of it, Mr. Blair!" Kittie cried dis- 
 dainfully. "A darky cook called Berenice! Can you 
 imagine anything short of a duchess supporting the dig- 
 nity of a name like that ?" , 
 
 "You might suppose her little short of an empress if 
 
 55
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 you saw the high hand with which she rules things at 
 Cunningham Place," said Virginia. 
 
 "She is a trifle tyrannical," Hugh admitted. "Now, 
 the other day I spoke to her about these cakes. She had 
 made some that were very good but they were not like 
 these a'nd these are what I want. I told her to speak to 
 Dinah and find out how to make them. 'Law sakes! 
 Marse Hugh/ she said indignantly, 'my cookin' done ben 
 satis fyin' to de quality long befo' Dinah Lee ebba set 
 foot in her marsta's kitchen. You s'pose I's gwine ter 
 miliate my sef by axin' her how ter cook!" 
 
 "Never mind, Hugh," Virginia said consolingly, "Dinah 
 has a large jar full of these cakes; I saw them in the 
 pantry this morning, and if you will remind me I'll give 
 you some of them to take home with you." 
 
 "Another evidence that men are only boys grown tall, 
 Blair. I have been carrying tit-bits home from Lee's 
 Summit since I was five years old," Hugh said jestingly. 
 
 After supper the four returned to the veranda where 
 Mr. Lee waited to discuss with Philip in greater detail 
 the subject of the abandoned business enterprise, for he 
 wished very much, in case his forebodings proved ground- 
 less, to secure the proposed mills for Chattanooga. Kittie 
 and Hugh and Mrs. Lee and Virginia, a little apart, con- 
 versed in softened tones of Hugh's return to William 
 and Mary and of Kit-tie's last year in an Atlanta seminary, 
 laying with eager anticipation many a joyous plan for 
 the vacation days of another summer. The persistency 
 with which Kittie included Philip in these plans and with 
 which Hugh left him out was suggestive of the state of 
 
 Meanwhile the August moon, changed now from a 
 great copper-colored ball to a small, silvery-white disc, 
 glided upward from the horizon, flooding all the earth 
 with its soft, uncertain light and "tracing shimmering bro- 
 cades" beneath the trees all over the lawn. The scene 
 
 56
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 was rapturously beautiful. A long dark line of moun- 
 tains hung in gloomy grandeur in the distance, the broad 
 lawn rolled away from the veranda steps until it was lost 
 on every hand in the white mist which hovered over the 
 lowlands like the milky way in the immensity of space. A 
 quarter of a mile away the negro cabins could be seen, 
 singly or in little groups, while from them, the prayer 
 meeting having ended, came sounds of merriment or 
 hilarity, changing ever and anon to strains of sweetest 
 music as some old plantation melody floated out upon the 
 air. 
 
 "The songs of Homer," someone has said, "were a 
 bond of union between the Grecian states." So, in almost 
 equal degree, the negro melodies of anti-bellum days have 
 effaced the boundary lines of states and suggest to us, not 
 Virginia, or Georgia, or Texas, or Tennessee, but Dixie, 
 the sunny land where the heart is always light. 
 
 "Mr. Lee, I have read about scenes like this but I al- 
 ways supposed they belonged exclusively in stories," 
 Philip Blair said as the last notes of a chorus echoed and 
 died away. "You never grow tired of it, do you?" 
 
 "Never," was the ready rejoinder. "I have been here 
 more than a quarter of a century now and the passing 
 year seems always the best yet." 
 
 "I can readily see how people born to a life like this 
 where the system of slavery presents itself almost as a 
 beneficent institution, should resent interference from an 
 outside source," Blair said thoughtfully. 
 
 "And yet as a rule, it is the better class of slaveholders 
 who are the most ready to deprecate the evils of the sys- 
 tem," answered Mr. Lee. 
 
 "I wonder," said Virginia, whether our slaves would 
 really be happier free than they are over there to-night ?" 
 
 "No," answered Blair emphatically, "perhaps never half 
 so happy again. As it is, they need take no care for the 
 
 57
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 morrow. Free, all the cares and privations of life would 
 weigh upon them and, as your father said this morn- 
 ing, they are singularly unprepared for such respon- 
 sibility." 
 
 "Then why should it seem wrong to keep them so? 
 And sometimes it does seem wrong, even to me," said Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 "Well, of course, their happiness is the happiness of 
 irresponsibility, and only a generation or two of freedom 
 can fit them for contact with the world," Philip replied. 
 "The development of the race must be at the expense of 
 those who attain their freedom first." 
 
 "I should hate to think of sacrificing Webster and 
 Dinah and Sallie and Sam to the good of the race," said 
 Virginia, with an earnestness at which Philip smiled as 
 he replied: 
 
 "That reminds me, Miss Lee, that I have heard it said, 
 with reference to the negro, that in the South you love the 
 individual and detest the race, while in the North we 
 adore the race and abhor the individual. I scarcely know 
 which attitude is more to be commended." 
 
 "Why should you be always so concerned about the 
 nigs, anyway, Virginia ?" Hugh asked carelessly. "Their 
 condition is only a part of life, don't you know it is ? You 
 can't set them free, and if you could, how could you do 
 without them? You can't cook your own meals or sew 
 your own dresses. Why should you bother your mind 
 about that kind of thing?" 
 
 "The day is at hand, Hugh, when we must all bother 
 our minds about many unpleasant things," said Mr. Lee 
 kindly. 
 
 "O, I don't know," Hugh replied. "It's election time 
 don't you think that is all? There's never been an elec- 
 tion since I can remember that there has not been more 
 or less of this kind of feeling." 
 
 58
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "As I said to Margaret a while ago, I truly hope you 
 may be right, Hugh, but I still insist I feel a great anxiety 
 concerning the issue of this campaign," said Mr. Lee. 
 
 Jerry now appeared with the horses, and Hugh, re- 
 minding Virginia of the cookies, disappeared with her 
 to the dining-room. 
 
 "I like the presumption of this Yankee, I swear I do," 
 he began, sarcastically, as soon as he found himself alone 
 with Virginia. "He perfectly ignores my existence, and 
 usurps you as completely as if he were the only man on 
 earth. Tis well for us both his time here is short. I 
 should be compelled to assassinate him else." 
 
 "Why, Hugh," returned Virginia, laughing, "what an 
 injustice you do Mr. Blair. He evidently believes himself 
 to be doing you a kindness in making opportunities for 
 you to pay your court to our Kittie." 
 
 "Our Kittie, indeed !" cried Hugh. "Kittie is a dear, to 
 be sure, but it is only yesterday she sat on my knee in 
 short skirts and pinafores." 
 
 "You talk like a patriarch, Hugh. Stop to think of it, 
 you are not so vastly Kittie's senior after all," Virginia 
 said, teasingly. 
 
 "I am twenty-two come next June," Hugh said, resent- 
 fully, putting out his hand to stay her in the dining-room. 
 But the cookies had been wrapped up, tied into a neat par- 
 cel and slipped into Hugh's pocket, and, finding no further 
 necessity for delay, she led the way back to the veranda. 
 With a good-bye to Philip and a good-night all around, 
 Hugh sprang into his saddle and galloped off down the 
 drive. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lee also rose to leave the veranda as soon 
 as Hugh was gone. Pursuant of the plan agreed upon 
 earlier in the evening, they said good-bye as well as good- 
 night, Philip having refused to stop at Lee's Summit over 
 night unless he should be permitted to slip quietly out in 
 
 59
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the morning without waking anyone, and join Tom, who 
 was instructed to have the horses ready at the gate at 
 daybreak. 
 
 Kittie, too, tired out with the merry making of the 
 evening before and the varied pleasures of the long day, 
 held out her hand to Philip. "Good-bye, Mr. Blair," she 
 said. "You must come again next summer and we'll go 
 for some lovely picnics over on the mountains that we 
 could only show you from a distance to-day. You haven't 
 half found out all the delightful things about Tennessee 
 yet." 
 
 "Good-bye Kittie," said Philip, looking admiringly into 
 the bright face turned up toward his own. "It is worth 
 the trip to Tennessee only to have caught a little of the 
 sunshine in your face." 
 
 A moment later Kittie was gone, and Philip, turning to 
 Virginia, said, "I suppose it would really be the white 
 thing for me to go to bed, too, and give you a chance to 
 rest, Miss Lee, but you remember you told me last night 
 you would sing for me to-day, and I haven't sufficient 
 self-denial to release you from your promise. Will you 
 do so now ?" 
 
 "With pleasure," said Virginia, turning toward the 
 parlor. "I believe I did say something to that effect, but 
 the day has been so completely occupied that I had for- 
 gotten about it." 
 
 "I had not forgotten about it," Philip replied, selecting 
 from the music on the piano a favorite song and placing 
 it before her, "but this is the first opportunity I have 
 found to remind you of it. There are so many interest- 
 ing things to be done at Lee's Summit, that even an 
 August day scarcely gives one time for them all." 
 
 An expression which Philip readily recognized came in- 
 to Virginia's face. " 'What is worth doing at all is worth 
 
 60
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 doing well,' " she quoted, as she began running lightly 
 through the prelude to the song before her. 
 
 "I have no idea what they would say at home if I told 
 them the reputation I have acquired down here," Philip 
 replied. "I am regarded there as rather sedate and taci- 
 turn." 
 
 But Virginia had played through her prelude twice al- 
 ready, and she now began her song with only an amusing 
 look of mock astonishment and incredulity as answer to 
 Philip's remark. 
 
 For a long time she sat before the piano, singing one 
 after another of the songs Philip selected for her, or, 
 while she rested, talking those pretty nothings which are 
 so interesting to the parties engaged in the conversation, 
 so meaningless to one who chances to overhear them. 
 Philip leaned across the corner of the piano, scarcely 
 knowing whether she played or sang which pleased 
 him most, the rippling music of her voice or the changing 
 beauty of her face. It was a picture destined to fill his 
 sleeping and his waking dreams for many a day. 
 
 The great, old-fashioned hall clock struck , but 
 
 Philip had something else to think about and forgot to 
 count. He was only vaguely conscious that a man who 
 has to be up before the lark should have been asleep these 
 two hours or more. 
 
 "Thank you, Miss Lee," he said, as Virginia finished 
 the last song, folded the music and laid it aside. "I am 
 far from considering myself a critic in the art, but you 
 seem to me to have a rarely sweet voice and unusual taste 
 in selecting songs that are suited to it, which is half the 
 battle. I doubt not I shall be wishing very much to visit 
 Lee's Summit again before many months." 
 
 "Well, you have father's and mother's invitation, and 
 you may be sure they are sincere," Virginia replied. 
 
 "I hope you do not fail to notice that one voice is lack- 
 
 61
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing to make the invitation unanimous ? A Yankee would 
 scarcely like to venture a visit here without first knowing 
 your mind?" Philip said interrogatively, regarding Vir- 
 ginia with the peculiar expression which was something 
 too grave for a smile and yet had all the softening effect 
 of a smile upon his face. 
 
 "The children of the Old Dominion pride themselves 
 on their hospitality, Mr. Blair, and I am a child of the Old 
 Dominion, a generation or so removed, to be sure, but 
 still with all the old traditions loyally preserved," Virginia 
 answered. 
 
 "It is enough," said Philip, holding out his hand to say 
 good-bye. "I can think of no event or series of events 
 that could keep me from coming back. Circumstances 
 may hasten or retard my visit, but sooner or later you 
 will see me." 
 
 The first glow of dawn was tingeing the eastern hori- 
 zon as Philip arose, dressed hastily, and, quietly descend- 
 ing the stairs, let himself out upon the veranda with as 
 little noise as possible. As if reluctant to quit a spot that 
 had charmed him so much, he paused a moment to look 
 about him. Perhaps by accident, perhaps by design, he 
 raised his eyes to the window which, by some means, he 
 had found to be Virginia's. There, on the little balcony 
 opening from her room, he saw a graceful figure in bright 
 robes like some bird of brilliant plumage. It was Vir- 
 ginia. Having heard his step, she had thrown a loose 
 outer garment about her, thrust her feet into soft slippers, 
 and stepped out upon the balcony to wave a noiseless 
 good-bye to the parting guest. It was another picture 
 for memory's album, and Philip remembered it long the 
 heavy braids of dark hair that fell across her shoulders, 
 the shapely white hand, the smile that greeted the look 
 of glad surprise that leaped into his own face. 
 
 And Virginia? She watched the tall, straight figure 
 
 62
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 turn away, run lightly down the steps, and disappear in 
 the uncertain light. She listened to the click-click of the 
 horses' hoofs unil it died away in the distance, and then 
 crept back to bed where she fell immediately into the un- 
 troubled sleep that is youth's own heritage, and dreamed 
 for two long hours of black knights, mounted warriors, 
 Roman togas and gray eyes through which one could see 
 down into the soul and read its very thoughts.
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 History was made fast in the United States in the 
 months that followed. As a vessel of water will stand at 
 the freezing point for hours and still retain its liquid 
 form, yet at the least "troubling of the waters" will fly in- 
 to a myriad of shining crystals, so great influences had 
 been quietly shaping southern sentiment for almost a cen- 
 tury, yet it required the election of 1860 to crystallize into 
 strong determination that undercurrent of discontent 
 which otherwise might not have asserted itself for years. 
 The flame of disunion, as every one knows, broke out 
 first in South Carolina, spreading rapidly from state to 
 state, until six other assemblies had annulled the bond of 
 union between themselves and the national government. 
 
 Fierce and bitter was the conflict waged in Tennessee, 
 especially in the eastern part, where Thomas Lee gave up 
 every private interest and went from town to town and 
 county to county urging the claims of the union and the 
 dangers of secession. When at last the convention met 
 to determine the course that state would pursue, Mr. Lee 
 was there, and to the final hour used all his influence 
 against disunion. The question having been decided 
 against him, however, like many of his neighbors who had 
 opposed secession, he entered earnestly into the cause his 
 state espoused. He was at once elected to the Confed- 
 erate congress at Richmond, whither he went in July, 
 leaving Mrs. Lee and Virginia, with the aid of the over- 
 seer, to take charge of the plantation. It was a formid- 
 able undertaking for women as inexperienced as they, 
 yet Virginia, who was much the stronger character of 
 the two, entered upon it bravely. The troubles she had 
 been looking for were at hand, and she determined to 
 
 64
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 bear her share of the burden. During the first summer 
 the work in the fields went on as it had always done. 
 Mr. Lee had been careful to keep only such slaves as 
 could be controlled without the extreme punishment re- 
 sorted to on many plantations. Now, in his absence, his 
 wife and daughter were reaping the benefit of his wise 
 management and the mild treatment he had always em- 
 ployed with his negroes. 
 
 Hugh returned in the early autumn, and, for a time, 
 took up the accustomed routine of his life, loitering idly 
 at home in the mornings, riding over to Lee's Summit or 
 making an aimless trip to the village in the afternoon. 
 This air of indifference at a time so critical was exceed- 
 ingly annoying to Virginia, and she made no effort to con- 
 ceal from Hugh her disapproval of his conduct. Finding 
 her more and more frequently engaged in the perform- 
 ance of duties in which he had no interest, absorbed con- 
 tinually by a question which was, in reality, a source of 
 vexation to him, he was constrained to silence on the 
 theme which, though ever uppermost in his own mind, 
 was so evidently no part of Virginia's thoughts. It was 
 not until the Christmas time that he ventured to address 
 her seriously concerning their relation. Under the soft- 
 ening influence of that happy season, he was emboldened 
 by her kindness to ask if he had not, by his long silence, 
 earned a right to speak to her once more of the subject 
 that was always nearest his very heart. 
 
 "You do not have to earn rights with me, Hugh," she 
 answered, reproachfully. "Have I not always been per- 
 fectly frank with you, and have I ever seemed unwilling 
 to listen to whatever you have to say to me ? 1 am sure I 
 am very far from wishing a barrier of any kind to arise 
 between us." 
 
 "Well, then, Virginia, when am I to hope for an answer 
 to the question I wish so much to ask? Are you not 
 
 65
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ready to decide by this time whether you will ever be my 
 wife ?" he asked. 
 
 The teasing propensity which had made Virginia domi- 
 neer over Hugh in their childhood, but which she had for- 
 gotten for these many months, was strong upon her for 
 the moment, and there was a roguish twinkle in her eye 
 as she replied, "Why, Hugh, what would you do with a 
 wife if you had one? Wives cost money, don't you know 
 they do? and I am perfectly certain you never turned an 
 honest penny in your life." 
 
 "Oh ! as to that," Hugh answered, taking her seriously, 
 "you know my father dotes on you, Virginia, and he 
 would increase my allowance, of course. He'd know it 
 takes more to keep two than one." 
 
 At another time Virginia might have been amused by 
 this reply, but just now it revealed such a shockingly 
 trivial conception of life that her jesting mood was 
 checked, and for a moment no suitable reply came to her. 
 Deep down in her heart she was wondering whether Hugh 
 would ever find any of the things worth while in life. 
 Hugh, mistaking her silence, continued : 
 
 "Your father is compelled to be away from home, leav- 
 ing you and your mother alone. Would it not be the 
 natural and proper thing for me to take my place by 
 your side as your protector in his absence ? Will you not 
 give me this right, Virginia ?" 
 
 "Hugh, I cannot," Virginia replied, earnestly. "There 
 is not a single impulse in my heart that would prompt me 
 to such a step. It is not that I have no interest in you, 
 for, in a way, I have, but there are other things far more 
 important to me now than marriage, and I simply have no 
 inclination to consider the subject." 
 
 "But you must remember the times grow more perilous 
 every month. Suppose the lines of war continue to draw 
 more closely about us, you will be exposed to every kind 
 
 66
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 of hardship and privation, and, perhaps, to insult and 
 wrong." 
 
 "There, Hugh, I like that. It is the first serious con- 
 sideration of the war I have ever been able to draw from 
 you. As to our safety, I have no fear. I have studied 
 our lines carefully, and I cannot see how we can think of 
 danger so long as our generals hold their fortifications 
 along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. They are 
 like a great wall between us and the northern army, and I 
 have too implicit faith in the great host of Confederate 
 soldiers standing behind them to think of danger here. 
 Oh ! I have never wished to be a man, but if I were one, 
 I'd not lose a day in going to the defense of the Confed- 
 eracy, because I believe, with all my heart, we are stand- 
 ing for liberty to-day just as much as our forefathers did 
 in the Revolution." 
 
 Hugh winced a little at this. "Do you wish me to go 
 to the war, Virginia ?" he asked. 
 
 "I wish no one to go who does not desire to do so," she 
 replied, "only I cannot conceive how any man can stand 
 aloof from what seems to me a privilege in this time of 
 need." 
 
 "Your father manages to keep out," Hugh suggested. 
 
 "Hugh, did I not know that it is not your better self 
 that prompted that remark I should resent it," Virginia 
 replied. "As it is, I shall only say what you know as well 
 as I, that father does not go to Richmond from choice, 
 but because he is sent there, and feels he is needed there. 
 If you think it is for honor that he goes, you greatly mis- 
 judge him, for he has more than once been solicited to 
 go to the national congress and always refused because 
 he could not be away from home for so long. And as 
 for going to evade service in the field well, I shall not 
 even comment upon such an insinuation." 
 
 "Forgive me, Virginia, it was not right for me to say 
 
 67
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 such a thing to you," Hugh replied. "I know your father 
 always does what he believes to be his duty, of course. 
 I was only nettled because your remark seemed to reflect 
 on father and me for not going into the army." 
 
 "Your father's position I understand and appreciate," 
 Virginia said quickly. "His affections very naturally cling 
 to the national government, yet his personal interests 
 are all with us. It would be hard for him to take up arms 
 on either side." 
 
 "Then, too," said Hugh, "his brothers are already in 
 the field on the union side while he knows that I, if I go 
 at all, will go with the Confederate forces." 
 
 "Do you ever think of going, Hugh?" Virginia asked 
 eagerly. 
 
 The peculiar ring in her voice was not lost upon Hugh. 
 Could a girl love a man and at the same time wish him 
 to enlist as a soldier? It was wholly beyond his compre- 
 hension. 
 
 "Do you wish me to go, Virginia?" he asked sadly. 
 
 "Do you wish to go?" 
 
 "For your sake I might be willing to go," he answered. 
 
 "Ah! but that is not it," she replied. "I want to see 
 a man go because he is willing to fight and die, if need 
 be, for the right." 
 
 "It is a pity, Virginia, that I should not have been 
 made of different stuff, since it is my fate to have grown 
 up loving you," Hugh said disconsolately. "It is simply 
 incomprehensible to me that a man should voluntarily 
 bring hardship and calamity upon himself for the sake 
 of a mere sentiment." As he spoke, he reached out his 
 hand and, taking hers for a moment, said, "I am going 
 now, good-bye. I'll see you again soon." 
 
 He came to Lee's Summit two or three times during 
 the succeeding week but his visits were short and he was 
 silent and thoughtful much of the time. On New Year's 
 
 68
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 day he stalked resolutely into the parlor, where he found 
 Virginia alone. Refusing an invitation to be seated, he 
 stood for some minutes before the fire, holding his hat in 
 one hand while, with the other, he carelessly lashed his 
 riding boot with his whip. Virginia saw from his face 
 that something unusual was in his mind but, knowing his 
 moods, waited for his spirit to move him. 
 
 "Virginia," he at last said slowly, "I am going to Rich- 
 mond to-morrow to enlist." 
 
 "Oh Hugh! I am so glad," Virginia exclaimed. "I 
 always knew you were a good brave fellow and this con- 
 firms me in the belief." 
 
 "No, I am not very good, and I am afraid I am not 
 going for the same reason you would go, but I see no 
 use for me to stay. It is as dull as Cunningham Place 
 over here any more and then well, it will please you, I 
 think, for me to go. Will it not, Virginia?" 
 
 "But I do not want you to go to please me," she said 
 in a disappointed tone. 
 
 "Don't think I expect to gain anything by it," he an- 
 swered quickly. "I didn't mean that I hope to win your 
 favor by going, yet I cannot conceal from myself the fact 
 that I am going more for your sake than for the sake 
 of the cause." 
 
 Virginia sat resting her chin in her hand and gazing 
 silently into the fire. Hugh watched her face narrowly. 
 "Well," she said after a minute or two, "it will help 
 the cause, whatever your incentive may be, and it seems 
 so much more noble to go than to be idling here while 
 so many brave men are sacrificing everything for our 
 rights. But why do you go to Richmond?" 
 
 "Because I want to be in the thickest of the fight and 
 where help is the most needed if I am going at all," he 
 answered. "Besides, there are two or three William 
 and Mary fellows with Lee and that will make things 
 
 69
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 more endurable over there. And Virginia, I may have 
 seemed a little slow in entering, but when the battle is 
 on, you will find, if you hear from me at all, that I am 
 brave enough." 
 
 "I am sure of it, Hugh, and I'll think of you con- 
 stantly. It will be a consolation to me to know that while 
 I may not go myself, I have a representative in the field. 
 Woman's lot in this awful time is to watch and work 
 and weep and pray, and I'll pray for you every day for 
 the success of our arms and the preservation of your 
 life." 
 
 "Thank you very much for saying that. I have faith 
 in your prayers and the thought of them will make me 
 a better man and a braver soldier. But there is another 
 subject that I must speak to you about," he added. 
 "Father, you know, feels it impossible to take either side 
 in this struggle and he is greatly chagrined by the slurs 
 that are cast at him on every hand. He would like to 
 sell the place and the negroes and go abroad until the 
 trouble is settled. He has thought of doing so before, 
 and now that I am going away he is more inclined to do 
 it than ever." 
 
 "Oh! but he can sell only at a great sacrifice now!" 
 Virginia exclaimed in surprise. 
 
 "That is true, of course, but he is convinced that he 
 can sell to better advantage now than he can later on. 
 He says this war is no 'summer hoilday' as some have 
 prophesied, and that every day our property will depre- 
 ciate in value. But would it make any difference in 
 your final decision about our future, Virginia?" 
 
 There was something so boyish and yet so pathetic 
 in the question that, although she smiled, Virginia's voice 
 had a note like fondness in it as she replied : "Not in the 
 least, Hugh. If I ever marry you it will be for yourself 
 and not for your plantation." 
 
 70
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Hugh then asked for Mr. and Mrs. Lee for Mr. Lee 
 was spending the holidays at home. Although surprised 
 by Hugh's sudden determination, Mr. Lee expressed his 
 warm approval while Mrs. Lee could not restrain her 
 tears as she bade him good-bye. 
 
 "It seems almost as if I were sending my own son 
 away to battle," she said affectionately. 
 
 'Thank you, Mrs. Lee. You have taken the place of 
 my mother as nearly as any one could, and I'll try to 
 behave as you would wish your own son to do if you 
 sent him into battle." 
 
 He hurried through the last words of farewell and 
 departed, not looking back until he had passed the lodge 
 and entered the road at the foot of the hill. Then he 
 waved his hand to Virginia who still stood as he had 
 left her on the veranda, thinking she had never been so 
 nearly willing to promise Hugh whatever he might ask 
 as she was at that moment. 
 
 The next day he was gone. Within the month Mr. Lee 
 had returned to Richmond and Mr. Cunningham, having 
 succeeded in disposing of his place and negroes, was far 
 on his way to Europe. Mrs. Lee and Virginia were now 
 alone indeed.
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE sultry August afternoon was drawing to a close 
 and an air of quiet expectancy had succeeded the hum 
 of busy preparation that had gone on all day at Lee's 
 Summit. In marked contrast with the desolation and 
 waste all about it, we find this home, after an absence 
 of a year and a half, looking very much as it did on the 
 day Virginia waved a farewell to Hugh Cunningham, just 
 setting out to be a soldier boy. The freshly mown lawn 
 with its neat walks, smooth drive and well-kept trees 
 and shrubs, was in its usual order. In the garden there 
 were an abundance of fruits and vegetables and a pro- 
 fusion of beautiful flowers, all redolent with the perfume 
 of sweet herbs. 
 
 "Rosemary red and violet blue, 
 Thyme and sweet marjoram, hyssop and rue." 
 
 In the fields the crops were a full fortnight in ad- 
 vance of the best to be found elsewhere, and everything 
 betokened thrift and careful husbandry. The fences 
 were in good repair, the house, the barns and other out- 
 buildings had been recently repainted, and the cabins of 
 the negro quarters, as well as the trunks of the trees in 
 the orchards, gleamed in their bright coats of new white- 
 wash. 
 
 For there were still negro quarters here and negroes to 
 inhabit them, in spite of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and 
 the Emancipation Proclamation. Immediately upon the 
 promulgation of that edict, Mr. Lee returned home and, 
 after explaining the purport of the President's measure, 
 warned his slaves of the difficulties lying in wait for them 
 
 72
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in a world of which they knew nothing and proposed to 
 retain them on the plantation for a fair compensation. 
 Nearly all of them gladly accepted the offer and took 
 their places in the fields the same as in former years. 
 Hudspn was a faithful and competent overseer, while Vir- 
 ginia maintained a careful supervision of the entire 
 place. Thus it had happened that one spot had escaped 
 the wholesale destruction that threatened to obliterate 
 prosperity in all the slave-holding states. 
 
 In the house, on the contrary, were signs of the most 
 stringent economy. No expenditure which was neces- 
 sary to preserve the plantation was spared, but Mrs. Lee 
 and Virginia saved every dollar that was not absolutely 
 demanded for personal and household expenses. They 
 denied themselves all luxuries and many comforts atil 
 conveniences, that they might have as much as possible to 
 give for the relief of the southern soldiers who were 
 beginning to be sadly in need of supplies. Carpets were 
 faded and curtains worn, while much of the luxurious 
 furniture of former days had been sold to meet the con- 
 stantly increasing demands for more food and more cloth- 
 ing at Richmond or Knoxville or Atlanta. After the 
 fall of Vicksburg, news came of suffering and privation 
 among the sick and wounded and Virginia was the lead- 
 ing spirit at Chattanooga in preparing comforts and 
 delicacies to be sent thither. On this occasion, as a last 
 resort, she sold the grand piano which her father had 
 given her when she returned from school at Richmond. 
 There was a keen pang of regret in her heart and a hard 
 look of determination on her face as she saw it carried 
 from the house and, for the first time, deep in her inner 
 being, she was conscious of a passing impulse to count 
 the cost. She put the thought immediately from her and 
 found her consolation in the great quantity of useful sup- 
 
 73
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 plies she was thus able to provide for those who were 
 suffering in the cause she loved. 
 
 The occasion for the excitement at Lee's Summit this 
 August afternoon, was the coming of Hugh Cunningham 
 to spend the furlough granted him as a reward for his 
 gallant services and as a restorative for his strength which 
 had been greatly impaired by wounds and illness. 
 
 Hugh's career as a soldier had been marked by some 
 success. More than once his valor had been the subject 
 of honorable comment by the Richmond press, while his 
 rapid advancement to the rank of Captain attested his 
 claim to such distinction. Gallantly and faithfully, with- 
 out wound or scar, he had served the Army of Virginia 
 in that series of brilliant victories that preceded the in- 
 vasion of Pennsylvania. His reverses began, however, 
 with the defeat of the Confederacy at Gettysburg, where 
 he was so severely wounded that for weeks the Lees were 
 unable to hear anything from him. It was with great 
 joy, therefore, that they learned of his safety and had 
 now, the immediate prospect of seeing him. 
 
 The entire household had spent the day "getting ready" 
 for his reception for, be sure, his renown abroad had 
 in no way lessened the esteem in which he was held by his 
 friends at home. Virginia, especially, had in her mind's 
 eye, re-created him into an ideal character and lo! he 
 stood before her inner vision, in form like the Hugh 
 of eighteen months before, but endowed with all those 
 manly and desirable qualities which she had hitherto 
 fondly but vainly hoped to find in his disposition. She 
 even believed herself to be growing fond of him that is, 
 in the right way and as she stood before her mirror 
 arranging her toilet, she was conscious of a deeper in- 
 terest in her personal appearance than she had felt for 
 many months. She gave an extra pull to her hair to 
 loosen its natural waves from the close confinement 
 
 74
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 placed upon them of late. As she did so, a soft curl or 
 two escaped and fell lovingly about her face, while the 
 golden rays of the setting sun came through the open 
 window and rested like a halo upon her head. It was a 
 beautiful picture and Virginia was sufficiently like other 
 girls to smile with pardonable pride as she looked at the 
 reflection. She wondered what Hugh would think of 
 her, if he would find her changed, and if he would care 
 for her as he once did. Then she glanced at her plain 
 white gown and half wished she had permitted herself 
 the extravagance of a handsome one for this occasion, 
 such as Hugh had been accustomed to see her wear. 
 She retracted the wish on the instant as unworthy of her 
 own high resolves and of the lofty character their guest 
 had developed in the war ! 
 
 Her toilet completed, she went for a last peep into the 
 best chamber to see that all was in readiness there. The 
 prospect was most inviting. The snowy curtains waved 
 back and forth in the evening breeze. The clean, cool 
 linen of the bed was suggestive of rest and comfort. The 
 very flowers which were there in abundance bespoke the 
 welcome of every heart on the plantation. Below stairs, 
 too, similar preparations had been made and Virginia 
 had taken particular care to make an arrangement of the 
 furniture that would display its scarcity as little as pos- 
 sible. Remembering Hugh's one-time lack of zeal for 
 the cause, she hoped he would not notice how many 
 familiar articles had disappeared, but. if he did, she 
 reasoned, he would appreciate the motive which impelled 
 their sale and sanction what she and her mother had 
 done. 
 
 Mrs. Lee was already on the porch when her daughter 
 descended and the servants were gathered about within 
 calling distance, all eager for a glimpse of "Marse Hugh" 
 and of their old friend Jerry, who, with his experience at 
 
 75
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 college and his trip to the war had become a much- 
 traveled gentleman and a veritable hero in their untutored 
 minds. 
 
 Sallie was greatly concerned all day lest some mistake 
 had been made as to Jerry's coming, and appealed so often 
 to "young Missus" for her confirmation of the report that 
 at last, in self-defence, Virginia read the message aloud: 
 "I shall get into Chattanooga by the Knoxville train on 
 Saturday afternoon. Jerry is with me. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 Hugh." 
 
 Sallie's face beamed all over with pleasure, and she 
 hurried away to don her Sunday clothes and make herself 
 as hideous as possible in gorgeous flowers and ribbons of 
 many hues. Thus bedecked, she sat on the front steps 
 with all the anxiety of an expectant child. 
 
 They had waited but a few minutes when a woolly 
 head peeped out from among the branches of a tall tree 
 and an excited voice called out, "Dey's comin' ! I sees de 
 kerrige on top de big hill yander !" The nimble little body 
 slipped to the ground and ran with all speed to announce 
 the glad news to the watchers on the veranda. 
 
 "It may not be our carriage, though," Virginia an- 
 swered. 
 
 "Yes 'tis! Don' I know Marse Lee's kerrige an' de 
 black bosses? 'Sides, it's Sam on de box to be seen 
 plain's day." 
 
 "Now, Jake, no one could tell who was on the box at 
 that distance," Mrs. Lee answered. "Look again to be 
 sure you are not mistaken." 
 
 Jake was a trifle crestfallen, but, hurrying back to the 
 tree, he scaled the highest limb and yelled out trium- 
 phantly, "Yes 'tis! 'Tis Sam on de box, cause I sees de 
 yaller ban' on 'is hat an' de yaller gloves he done tol' us he 
 gwine ter buy fo' de 'casion !" adding after an extra peep, 
 
 76
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "An' dar's anno'er gemman on de box wid Sam. Spect 
 it's Jerry, but shouldn't think he'd ride side an' side a 
 common nigger like Sam!" 
 
 "Be shame, Jake!" Sallie called out. "Co'se Jerry not 
 done got big feeliir cause he's traveled 'bout so much. He 
 nevah go back on 'is ol' frens, I can tell you dat!" 
 
 "Well, you see, Miss Sallie Lee, dat when I gits big an' 
 goes off to de wa', I don' come back an' sociate frenly 
 like wid de niggahs what never been off dis place !'' 
 
 This was a damper to Sallie's feelings, for it was an 
 echo of the fear entertained in her heart all day ; but she 
 was determined not to give in without a struggle, and she 
 shot a scornful glance at Jake and muttered something 
 about "keepin' 'is mouf shet!" 
 
 While this by-play was going on, the carriage came 
 swiftly over the nearest hill, and a shout of joyous wel- 
 come went up from the assembled darkies. Jerry was 
 bowing and smiling on every hand, and even Hugh looked 
 out to wave a greeting to the familiar faces as the car- 
 riage rolled along the shady drive and neared the house 
 that seemed like his own home after the experiences of 
 the last few months. 
 
 Sallie could not refrain from poking Jake in the ribs 
 with a "Dicln' I tell you so ?" as Jerry leaped from the box 
 and bestowed an effusive greeting upon all his old com- 
 panions. Spying Sallie, he rushed at her, and, gathering 
 her in his arms, whirled her hilariously about the yard to 
 the delight and admiration and envy of every black beauty 
 on the premises. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hugh was quite as cordially, though some- 
 what less effusively, greeted by Mrs. Lee and Virginia. 
 
 "Are you glad to see me, Virginia ?" he asked, eagerly, 
 as he observed that Virginia allowed him to retain her 
 hand longer than common courtesy actually demanded. 
 
 "Yes, Hugh, very, very glad," she answered, while hope 
 
 77
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 kindled afresh in Hugh's breast as he noted the soft flush 
 on her cheek and the shy lowering of her eyes, the result, 
 though he did not know it, of her recent air-castle 
 building. 
 
 In his room, Hugh saw the thoughtful care displayed in 
 the preparation for his coming, and further indulged him- 
 self in the belief that at last Virginia was beginning to care 
 for him, A smile of satisfaction passed over his face as 
 the bouquet of beautiful pink roses on the table attracted 
 his attention. Virginia had purposely gathered them from 
 a bush that was his favorite even when they were chil- 
 dren, and the familiar fragrance called to mind many 
 happy scenes in his past life. Just before he left the 
 room he selected a fine, half -opened bud and pinned it on 
 the lapel of his coat. As he did so, a vision of Virginia 
 came back to him as she had looked one summer after- 
 noon long ago, when she stood before him with these same 
 pink roses in her hair and at her throat, fastening one of 
 them in his buttonhole, to show to the world, she laugh- 
 ingly said, that he was the knight of the pink rose for that 
 afternoon. How beautiful she had looked that day ! And 
 almost unconsciously Hugh found himself comparing the 
 woman he had just greeted below stairs with the picture 
 now in his mind. A vague feeling of disappointment 
 came over him which startled him. Had he himself 
 changed, or was Virginia less beautiful than she was three 
 years ago? He felt that it would be treason to say so, 
 and then, as he recalled the sweet womanly face and wel- 
 coming blue eyes, he indignantly renounced the thought, 
 although there was assuredly a change for which he could 
 not account. 
 
 As he came downstairs Virginia met hm in the hall and 
 led the way into the dining-room, whither Mrs. Lee had 
 already preceded them. She took her place at the head of 
 the table as she had been accustomed to do since her 
 
 78
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 father's absence, while Webster obsequiously held back 
 the chair at her right for Hugh to be seated. Webster 
 had served at his master's table ever since Hugh could 
 remember, and he now regarded that young man as a 
 conquering hero to whom even he could scarcely show 
 sufficient deference. 
 
 "You see, Hugh, we are a home party for this one 
 evening. I thought you would probably prefer a quiet 
 meal after your long journey," the hostess said as they 
 sat down. 
 
 "Thank you Mrs. Lee, for your consideration. Nothing 
 else could please me so much as to spend this evening with 
 you and Virginia alone." 
 
 "You will observe, too, Hugh, that this is a supper after 
 your own heart," Virginia said. "We held a conclave to 
 think up all your favorite dishes, and Dinah prepared them 
 just as she knew you always liked them." 
 
 "By the way, we have a great supply of the little seed 
 cakes you used to like so much. Virginia will show you 
 where to find them, and you can help yourself at any 
 time," Mrs. Lee added, laughing. 
 
 "You will probably find my appetite for them all the 
 sharper for having done without them for so long, Mrs. 
 Lee," Hugh replied, adding in a more serious tone, "I can- 
 not tell you all how I thank you for your kndness to me. 
 There is no soldier who feels more joy in returning to his 
 own home than I do in coming here to-day." 
 
 "It is your home, Hugh, in a secondary way," Mrs. Lee 
 said, kindly. "I have always regarded it so since your 
 mother died and left Cunningham Place only half a home 
 for you." 
 
 "You are very good, Mrs. Lee, and I assure you the 
 freedom of Lee's Summit has done much to make up to 
 me for the loneliness at home," Hugh answered, earnestly. 
 
 "There, Hugh," Virginia said, as she handed the quest 
 
 79
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 a well-filled plate, "I hope to see you do full justice to 
 that, although, I confess, I can scarcely wait to get back 
 to the veranda and hear all about the things that have 
 happened to you since you left us. It's what I've been 
 living for ever since the word came that you were to have 
 a furlough." 
 
 "Well, my experiences have been varied enough, I can 
 tell you. They cover all sorts, from the most blood- 
 curdling to the j oiliest and most frivolous," Hugh an- 
 swered, lightly." 
 
 "Really, Hugh?" Virginia exclaimed. "How can men 
 be jolly in constant anticipation of battle or frivolous when 
 gloom and disaster and even death are all about them ?" 
 
 "Pshaw ! Virginia, you take everything too seriously, 
 and you don't know the world. Why, Richmond has been 
 very gay both winters since I went over. There are 
 operas and balls and parties and drives and dinners and 
 calls just as if they had never heard of war and hunger 
 and distress." Hugh's tone betrayed the old carelessness 
 and half impatience that Virginia's ideas formerly drew 
 from him. 
 
 "But Hugh, the soldiers are not interested in such 
 things, are they ? Surely they have not time for frivolity 
 and mere pleasure now ?" Virginia said. 
 
 There was a derisive note in Hugh's laugh that irri- 
 tated Virginia. "O, Virginia, how little you know with 
 all your wisdom!" he returned. "The soldiers are the 
 center and life of the whole thing. Why, every girl is 
 in love with a soldier." 
 
 "Then it isn't true that the army is in need and we 
 should be sending supplies wherever we can collect them ?" 
 she said, indignantly, thinking of her piano and numerous 
 household treasures that had been sacrificed. 
 
 "Yes, that is true, but it's different from what you may 
 have thought. You see, it is this way, the supplies sent 
 
 80
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 are for the common soldiers, the poor who are dependent 
 upon the government for even the necessities of life. The 
 balls and parties are attended by the officers and the rich 
 privates who can afford to indulge in such pleasures." 
 
 "But if the common soldiers are suffering and the 
 southern cause needs money, why do officers or men of 
 whatever station fritter away their incomes instead of 
 helping to maintain the war?" Virginia argued. 
 
 "You make the war and all connected with it too per- 
 sonal, Virginia. It is a national interest, and it's the pur- 
 est folly to talk about supporting it by individual contri- 
 butions." 
 
 "I cannot comprehend your view of the subject," she 
 answered. "My whole soul is in the war, everything I 
 have or hope to have, if necessary is consecrated to it 
 because it is right, and I can never think of it as secondary 
 to any other consideration. Only as the same spirit ani- 
 mates us all, can we hope to succeed against a power 
 which has many times our numbers and our wealth. I 
 had hoped our very devotion could overbalance the odds 
 against us. But we will not disagree, Hugh. You have 
 been a good soldier, and you must have a happy vacation." 
 
 "I have often tried to convince Virginia that she is 
 sacrificing too much for the war," said Mrs. Lee, "but 
 you know whatever she is, she is with her whole soul, 
 Hugh." 
 
 "Of course she is sacrificing too much, I havn't a doubt 
 of that," Hugh replied. "We must look to our individual 
 interests now the same as at any other time, and a little 
 association with the world would convince Virginia of the 
 same." 
 
 "Then we needn't hope to succeed," Virginia said, 
 scornfully, checking a noticeable impulse to say more. 
 
 There was a moment's rather painful silence before 
 Mrs. Lee said, "We have written Mr. Lee of your visit 
 
 81
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and we hope to have him with us several days before your 
 furlough is over." 
 
 "How long is your leave of absence, Hugh ? We must 
 arrange our plans with reference to the length of time you 
 can stay," Virginia said, glad to change a subject that 
 was anything but agreeable. 
 
 "I am due by the last of August if I return. At least, 
 my place must be filled by that time." 
 
 "What can you do but return?" Virginia asked in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 "O, I could get a substitute, but I suppose I will not do 
 it," Hugh replied, with an air of indecision. 
 
 Virginia was disappointed and more or less disgusted 
 with the indifference displayed, but she had determined to 
 make this first evening as pleasant as possible for Hugh, 
 so she let this subject, too, pass, and only said: 
 
 "There are ever so many interesting things to do while 
 you are here. I have been planning a visit to the camp. 
 General Bragg has invited us. Besides, as soon as father 
 comes, the General is coming out for supper, and I am 
 sure that will interest you." 
 
 Hugh doubted whether there was much congeniality 
 between himself and General Bragg, but he well knew the 
 effect such a remark would have upon Virginia, and for 
 once he had tact enough to change the topic of conver- 
 sation. 
 
 It was not until they had finished supper and risen from 
 the table that Hugh,' turning to pour a glass of water 
 from the pitcher that always stood on the sideboard, dis- 
 covered that that piece of furniture was gone and there 
 was only a small table in its stead. He had been pur- 
 posely seated at table so his back was toward the place 
 where it formerly stood. 
 
 "Mrs. Lee," he said, looking inquiringly about the room, 
 "I trust you are not falling into the besetting weakness of 
 
 82
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 womankind for turning the house topsy-turvy by chang- 
 ing the furniture from place to place. I cannot remember 
 the time when the sideboard did not stand here." 
 
 The sideboard was an old one, very large and 
 handsome, which had belonged in the Lee family for 
 two generations, and it was one of the articles that guests 
 at Lee's Summit never forgot. 
 
 Virginia hesitated a moment while a flush of annoy- 
 ance and indecision spread over her face. Then, as if 
 resentful of her own weakness, she said, impatiently: 
 
 "We sold the sideboard." 
 
 "Sold it !" Hugh exclaimed. "Why I thought it was an 
 heirloom that money could not buy." 
 
 "In these days money, enough money, can buy any- 
 thing," was the unsatisfactory reply. 
 
 "But surely it has not come to this?" he said, turning 
 to Mrs. Lee. "I understood that your slaves were at 
 work and the plantation in a prosperous condition. Did 
 you dream that I could remain away from you, enjoying a 
 liberal income, if I had known you were reduced to this ?" 
 
 "It was not necessary to sell the sideboard, Hugh. The 
 plantation has done well, and our income is almost as 
 good as it ever was," Mrs. Lee replied, looking hesitatingly 
 at Virginia. 
 
 "Then I don't understand," Hugh said, vaguely. 
 
 "I sold it to fit out a box to send to the hospital at 
 Vicksburg," Virginia announced defiantly, and, turning 
 as if to dismiss the subject, she walked out to the veranda, 
 Mrs. Lee and Hugh following her. 
 
 Hugh felt nettled by the turn the conversation had 
 taken, and vexed by what he regarded as Virginia's fanati- 
 cism, but he smothered his annoyance, and, settling him- 
 self with a cigar in a commodious easy chair, said cheerily, 
 "This is the grandest old veranda on earth, and I am never 
 so happy as I am right here. I have been in many beauti- 
 
 83
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ful homes in Richmond and Alexandria, but nothing ever 
 quite takes the place of this gallery. And, Mrs. Lee, 
 many a night as I sat about the camp fire or slept 
 beneath a dripping tent I have dreamed that I sat here 
 just as I do now and as I have so often done before." 
 
 "Yes, if father were only here and Mr. Cunningham 
 and Uncle Marion, we might imagine ourselves back 
 once more in the old days," Virginia replied. 
 
 "By the way," Hugh said, "do you know anything of the 
 Chesters lately ? I don't think I have heard a word about 
 them since I went away." 
 
 "Only that Marion is with Johnston's army and has 
 been made Colonel," Mrs. Lee answered. 
 
 "Where are Mrs. Chester and Kittie ?" 
 
 "At their home in Atlanta. We wrote for them to 
 come to us but they preferred to remain nearer Marion, 
 and then, too, they" feel that Atlanta is absolutely secure 
 and rather insist upon our coming to them." 
 
 "It wouldn't be a bad idea in case of the approach of 
 the Union forces/'Hugh replied. 
 
 "Why, do you think there is a particle of danger that 
 General Bragg will not be able to hold Chattanooga?" 
 Virginia asked in surprise. 
 
 "O, there is always some danger, and the indications 
 are that a very strong force will be sent against him 
 soon." 
 
 "But the Federal army is already divided, we hear, and 
 only a part of it is coming this way," Mrs. Lee argued. 
 
 "Rosecrans, who has been sent against Bragg, has a 
 strong army, and, should Burnside be successful at Knox- 
 N ville and join the expedition to Chattanooga, we may well 
 fear the result. Besides, before I left the east, it was 
 already noised about that Hooker, with a large detach- 
 ment from the Army of the Potomac, was on his way 
 west." 
 
 84
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I wonder, daughter, if it might not be best for us to 
 shut up the place and go to Marion's for a few weeks until 
 we know what the result will be?" Mrs. Lee asked 
 anxiously. 
 
 "No, mother, we must not think of it. I have no fear. 
 General Bragg surely knows the situation, and he assures 
 us that he can defend the strongholds in the mountains 
 and protect the village against any force the North can 
 send against him." 
 
 "Men have been certain of success before and yet 
 failed," Hugh suggested. 
 
 "But, Hugh, we can't leave. The negroes would be 
 scattered in a week and the whole place completely de- 
 moralized," Virginia answered. "Even now it is only 
 our personal influence that holds them here. They realize 
 that they can go if they choose to do so, and they see the 
 negroes all about them deserting the plantations." 
 
 "What you say is true, and I see how you feel about it," 
 Hugh replied. "You have succeeded so well here you 
 naturally hesitate about giving up until you are compelled 
 to do so." 
 
 "Unless we are compelled to do so sounds better to me," 
 Virginia said, smiling. 
 
 "Perhaps it does," Hugh said, responding to her mood. 
 "It is probably wise for you to wait a few weeks longer, 
 anyway. Of course it will require some time for the 
 Yanks to accomplish much, to put it in the worst light." 
 
 "But let's forget all that now," Virginia begged. "We 
 are safe here for the present, at least, and we may as well 
 talk of more agreeable things. Tell us, Hugh, about 
 what you've done, about General Lee, and Stonewall Jack- 
 son and his death, about your camp life, the great battles 
 you have been in, and oh! especially about Gettysburg 
 and how you were wounded and how you escaped." 
 
 "You have set me a lengthy task, Virginia," Hugh said, 
 
 85
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 laughing, "but I'll follow up the best I can." Then, be- 
 ginning with his enlistment, he related as connectedly as 
 possible the events of the twenty months of his absence. 
 He dwelt at some length on the fierce contest in which he 
 was wounded, telling of Jerry's faithfulness in finding 
 him and helping him to a sheltering wood. 
 
 "But after all," he added, "we might both have starved 
 there, and I, myself, have died from my wounds, had it 
 not been for two Yankees old acquaintances, too who 
 found me and took me to a farm house where kind people 
 cared for me until I was able to make my way back to 
 our own army. Those two Yankees a New York man 
 and his Irish servant who came here three years ago, do 
 you remember them? Blair, the man's name was, Philip 
 Blair." 
 
 Like a dart the words reached their mark. Did she 
 remember? He was in the Union Army, then, and had, 
 no doubt, forgotten all about Lee's Summit! 
 
 Virginia did not reply. 
 
 "Blair Blair?" Mrs. Lee repeated slowly. "O, yes, 
 the man who came here the last summer Marions were 
 here to see about some mills. I've wondered sometimes 
 what became of him. He has probably been the most of 
 the time in the war. He helped you, did you say, Hugh ?" 
 
 "Yes, he saved my life, in all probability," Hugh re- 
 plied. "You remember that hallucination of his about our 
 Kittie, Virginia?" 
 
 Virginia gave a laughing assent, while Hugh continued : 
 "Well, it still stays with him, it seems. He and that fel- 
 low Healy were with us when I pulled myself out of a 
 half -conscious state in time to hear him say to Healy that 
 for the sake of that little brown-eyed lass in Tennessee 
 he'd give me a chance, and then he and Healy found a 
 place where, as Healy said, they were tryin' to hum Dixie 
 and whistle Yankee Doodle at the same time, and took me 
 
 86
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 to it. He left, though, immediately after he saw me in 
 comfortable quarters with a doctor to look after me, and 
 I have never heard from him since." 
 
 During the remainder of the evening Virginia was un- 
 usually quiet, taking little part in the conversation, al- 
 though she listened with interest to Hugh's stories of 
 army life. 
 
 The next morning Mrs. Lee, Virginia, and Hugh pre- 
 pared to attend services at the village church. Mr. Halli- 
 burton still ministered to the spiritual needs of the de- 
 pleted flock, and, fanatical and unreasonable as he was, 
 Virginia had made an earnest effort to aid him in his 
 work because of his zealous advocacy of the southern 
 cause. 
 
 As the three stood waiting on the veranda for Sam to 
 bring the carriage around, Hugh was not only conscious 
 of the same unaccountable change in Virginia's appear- 
 ance which he had observed the evening before, but of a 
 similar impression with reference to Mrs. Lee. For a 
 moment he dwelt on the puzzling question but, recalling 
 himself immediately, he said in his usual tone of careless 
 good humor: 
 
 "Is Mr. Halliburton as profound as ever, Virginia?" 
 
 "Very much the same, I think. He isn't profound, of 
 course, and he is too extreme in his views, but he is cer- 
 tainly an enthusiastic advocate of the Confederacy and, 
 as such, he deserves our support." 
 
 "Heigh ho! I never thought to see the day when you 
 would resent a mild dash of humor at the Halliburtons' 
 expense," Hugh laughingly replied. 
 
 "I didn't mean to resent your remark, Hugh, but I do 
 try to be as lenient as possible toward Mr. Halliburton's 
 faults out of consideration for his devotion to our cause, 
 blindly fanatical though he may be. He has helped me 
 in everything I have undertaken to do for the relief of 
 
 87
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the soldiers and I am trying hard to be respectful and 
 even helpful to him if I can." 
 
 "What a zealot you are, Virginia. You are of the stuff 
 martyrs are made of. It is a pity I have not more of 
 your zeal," Hugh replied. 
 
 In the meantime, they had entered the carriage and 
 were driven rapidly toward Chattanooga, passing many 
 scenes fraught with happy memories. Here was the pas- 
 ture where they oftenest gathered pecans and chestnuts, 
 yonder was the hill which had been their favorite picnic 
 ground for many years, and away in the distance was the 
 large overhanging rock from which Hugh one time fell 
 and sprained his ankle because he climbed out to its 
 highest pinnacle rather than, in Virginia's presence, take 
 a dare from a boy much older than himself. Virginia 
 and Hugh forgot all about the difference in their present 
 views and opinions, and grew so interested in these 
 reminiscences of their childhood that they were surprised 
 and almost sorry when Sam drew up at the church 
 door with a flourish, assuming an air of superiority over 
 the other negroes standing about as Hugh, with his elegant 
 uniform and military bearing, sprang quickly from the 
 carriage and assisted the ladies to alight. No sooner had 
 the trio disappeared than Sam was accosted by one of his 
 sable brethren. 
 
 "Hey! Sam, don't you come any yo' high an' mighty 
 airs 'roun' me. I's done got to be a free man an' don' do 
 none o' yer drivin' white folks 'roun' an' waitin' on 'em." 
 
 "It's all right 'bout yo' freedom, Ike, but I say it'd be 
 an honah to any man, black or white, to drive de kerrige 
 Marse Hugh was a ridin' in." 
 
 "Why, who's he but jes' Hugh Cunnam dat we's 
 knowed always?" Ike asked contemptuously. 
 
 "Who is he ? He's one de bigges' men in de whole souf . 
 
 88
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 He's been p'moted an' p'moted till he's nex' to Gin'l Lee in 
 de ahmy," Sam retorted. 
 
 "Oh! Sam, you allus feels so sma't cause you belongs 
 to de Lees all you niggahs do ! Dere's bigger folks dan 
 de Lees, I hopes." 
 
 "Pshaw, Ike ! nobody's talkin' 'bout my Marse Lee. I 
 means de great Gin'l Lee what's de head o' de ahmy an' 
 what's some kin to ou' fam'ly, too," Sam couldn't resist 
 adding. "Ain't you nevah heered o' him? Jerry's done 
 tol' me all 'bout 'im." 
 
 "Whar is Jerry? S'pose he's too high flutin' to ride 
 on de same box an' sociate wid a common niggah like 
 you, Sam?" Ike felt that he was scoring one on Sam 
 by this remark. 
 
 "No, suh ! Not by no means. Jerry's got to be mighty 
 sma't but he's as plain an' condesenshus as us fellahs. 
 Sakes lives! niggah, Jerry says he's had de chance to 
 cou't de bes' o' dem Richmon' beauties but 'e wouldn't 
 give Sallie fo' dem all!" As Sam said this, he drove 
 away to hitch the horses in the shade, casting a malicious 
 look at Ike, whose soul weakness if he had one was for 
 the charms of Sallie Lee. 
 
 While this conversation was going on Hugh and the 
 ladies entered the church where the services had already 
 begun. In addition to the regular order of worship, Mr. 
 Halliburton now offered special prayers for the soldiers, 
 the government at Richmond, and the success of the 
 southern arms. Then followed a rather tedious and 
 lenghty sermon which led Hugh to the conclusion that 
 there had been little improvement in two years. 
 
 At the close of the service the young soldier was 
 gratified by the warm greetings of many friends who 
 pressed about him with words of congratulation and ap- 
 proval, while he never showed to better advantage than 
 when, under the inspiration of the hour, he recited to the 
 
 89
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 visitors at Lee's Summit that afternoon many thrilling 
 experiences he had had in old Virginia. 
 
 Virginia's interest in Hugh was re-enkindled. He was 
 once more on the pedestal where, in imagination, she 
 had placed him the day before. Hugh felt the change and 
 was again cosncious of that strange, new hope. He could 
 talk to her now, freely and unreservedly, even approach- 
 ing personalities which at another time it seemed impos- 
 sible to utter, while Virginia did not show, and even 
 scarcely felt, the restraint and aloofness that had char- 
 acterized their association for so long. Mrs. Lee per- 
 ceived the unusual good-fellowship between them when 
 they came in to supper and wondered whether they had 
 not arrived at some new understanding. 
 
 Alas for the perversity of Hugh's misfortune in his 
 wooing of Virginia! As they left the dining room and 
 drew near the parlor door, he called to Virginia, who 
 had gone on before him: 
 
 "Come in here, Virginia, and sing for me. It has been 
 a long time since I have heard any music worth the 
 name." 
 
 It was what Virginia had expected, but dreaded most, 
 to hear. It was to avoid this very request that, with 
 almost unseemly haste, she was hurrying to the veranda. 
 Her first impulse was to put off the inevitable moment 
 by saying she would bring her guitar and sing for him in 
 the moonlight. Instead, she determined to have the worst 
 over at once. 
 
 "There is nothing to come in for, Hugh," she said 
 stolidly. "I may as well confess the truth. The piano has 
 gone the way of the sideboard and various other things 
 you must certainly have missed ere this." 
 
 "Virginia, you cannot mean that you have sold your 
 piano too !" he exclaimed. 
 
 90
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I certainly do mean just that. I have sold the piano 
 too," she declared emphatically. 
 
 "Well, you need a guardian, Virginia, for you are cer- 
 tainly beside yourself," Hugh said curtly. 
 
 "Perhaps you think yourself eligible to that office!" 
 Virginia answered in a tone that effectually quelled 
 Hugh's hopes for the time. 
 
 There was no more "good-fellowship" for that evening 
 and both were glad when it was time to say good-night 
 and go to bed. 
 
 But the clouds of the over-night were swept away by 
 the coming of the morning sun and all went well in the 
 days that followed until an evening came when Nell Tay- 
 lor was to give a large party in honor of the young 
 soldier who had become something of a hero. Indeed, 
 so intermingled with Jerry's wonderful tales were the real 
 facts concerning him, as to make it almost impossible for 
 his nearest friends to unravel the threads and give a cor- 
 rect report of his actual achievements. 
 
 On that evening, Hugh appeared in the parlor fault- 
 lessly attired in dress costume of the latest design. "Why, 
 Virginia, aren't you ready yet?" he asked as he saw her 
 standing by a window toying with a bouquet she held in 
 her hand. 
 
 Virginia realized that a battle was on. 
 
 "Yes, I am ready," she answered. 
 
 "Are you going to wear that dress? I thought this 
 was to be a dress party," he said, glancing at his own 
 reflection in a mirror opposite. 
 
 "I am sorry, Hugh, but this is the best dress I have," 
 she answered with a quaver in her voice. 
 
 "You don't mean it!" he said in astonishment, and 
 then as if struck by a new idea he added, with a tinge 
 of sarcasm in his tone, "Is it possible this is another 
 evidence of your strange fanaticism."
 
 Tears sprang to her eyes and a look of grieved. indigna- 
 tion came into her face. 
 
 "You have no right to speak so to me, Hugh. Nothing 
 I have done has been at your expense. If I choose to 
 sacrifice my own comfort and pleasure in a cause I love, 
 why must I be constantly pursued by your reproaches?" 
 Her voice trembled and she spoke with more bitterness 
 than Hugh had ever seen her display before. 
 
 "Pardon me, Virginia, for my hastiness, but the truth 
 is, I do not feel as you do and much of your self-denial is 
 sheer madness to me." 
 
 "Let us drop the subject now and forever more, Hugh, 
 because we can never agree," Virginia returned. 
 
 "Well, I'll try never to speak of it again, but I feel 
 very much out of place in this array. Perhaps you would 
 like me to change it ?" 
 
 "Oh, no, you will find others dressed as you are. I 
 shall figure as the oddity, of course." 
 
 Here, then was the secret of Virginia's changed appear- 
 ance, Hugh thought to himself as he took his seat beside 
 her in the carriage, and the old spirit of annoyance was 
 apparent in his manner in spite of his effort to conceal it. 
 The party, to which they had both looked forward eagerly, 
 was, in a measure, spoiled by the unfortunate incident. 
 
 92
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE history of the human race is virtually a record 
 of the wars which have been waged by its members upon 
 each other. Great men have flashed like mighty meteors 
 across the sky, leaving a shining track that will gleam 
 adown the ages ; empires in their westward course have 
 risen, flourished, declined and fallen ; whole races have 
 sprung up, fulfilled their mission and become extinct ; all 
 through the instrumentality of war. Political parties, 
 clans, tribes, nations, religions, yea, even that supreme 
 religion whose watchword and precept is love for God and 
 for mankind, have all ridden to victory over the slain 
 bodies of their adversaries. There is an occasional lull 
 in hostilities when pride and passion have spent their fury 
 for a time, and the optimist dares hope the era of arbitra- 
 tion has arrived when "swords shall be beaten into plow- 
 shares and spears into pruning hooks." Alas ! it has too 
 often proven but the pause of the tiger who crouches ere 
 he leaps, to gather new strength by the tension of his 
 muscles and to calculate with greater certainty the dis- 
 tance and direction of his victim. 
 
 We should expect in the infancy of the race, when 
 might was right, to find men fighting out their differences ; 
 but we should also be justified in the hope that with the 
 advancement of civilization, the progress of enlighten- 
 ment, and the development of a lofty religious ideal, the 
 pursuits of war would languish. On the contrary, with 
 each succeeding age, the weapons of warfare become more 
 formidable and the demand more peremptory for stupend- 
 ous navies and large standing armies. 
 
 There have been wars personal, wars political, wars 
 religious, wars of conquest and wars for redress of 
 
 93
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 grievances, civil, wars and wars between alien nations, but 
 unique among them all is the mighty conflict which for 
 four years rent and tore the great Republic and left it 
 mangled and bleeding and prostrate. 
 
 Our Civil War was peculiar in the universality of the 
 interest it excited. The possibility of self-government 
 was on trial before the world and, in the face of the 
 vacillating and unstable condition that had prevailed in the 
 French government during the first half of the nineteenth 
 century, the successful issue of the war of the Rebellion 
 must have given a check to the progress of free institu- 
 tions which many decades could not have overcome; 
 monarchism, laughing in its sleeve, would have cried out, 
 "I told you so," and forthwith tightened its grip upon the 
 nations of the eastern hemisphere. 
 
 \ The Civil War was peculiar in this respect, that it not 
 only involved people of the same race and nationality, 
 but the antagonists were of the same political and social 
 status and they embraced the masses of the people. The 
 French Revolution was a civil war, but it .was between the 
 nobles on one side and the communes on the other; the 
 Wars of the Roses were civil conflicts, but they were con- 1 - 
 fined to the contending royal houses and their adherents 
 among the nobility, to the almost absolute exclusion of the 
 common people so much so, we are told, that the peasant 
 laboring in his field only glanced up at the band of 
 troopers riding by and wondered "what was in the wind 
 to-day." 
 
 In the question that gave rise to the Rebellion, it was 
 also an unusual war. No theory of personal right or 
 individual oppression entered into the contest, and all par- 
 ties were agreed that the government was ideal for the 
 protection of its citizens. From its very inception there 
 had been a difference of opinion as to the nature of the 
 Union, one construction delegating supreme authority to 
 
 94
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the Federal Government and advocating the highest al- 
 legiance of the citizen to that power ; the other, zealously 
 claiming the same prerogative for the several states them- 
 selves. These two theories were each supported by argu- 
 ments pro and con and each had, originally, its adherents 
 throughout the nation, both in the north and in the south. 
 As time passed on and a great question arose, of extreme 
 personal import to one section, but studied and discussed 
 in its moral and religious aspect by the other section, the 
 two theories of government began to fix themselves within 
 territorial boundaries. Federalism gradually permeated 
 the whole fabric of the non-slave-holding states, while the 
 doctrine of states' rights and secession grew apace in the 
 states where that institution existed. As in all revolu-\ 
 tions and reforms, fanatics and demagogues fanned the 
 flame of party spirit in the minds of cooler-headed citizens 
 until North and South stood pitted against each other in 
 the most bitter and frenzied hatred. The war was an \ 
 inevitable consequence. There was no other solution of 
 the problem and, while it was an awful baptism of blood 
 and misery and devastation and woe for the infant . 
 nation, yet it has proven itself the missing corner stone 
 which rendered the foundation of the American Republic 
 unassailable. There can never again be a doubt as to the \ 
 I nature of the tie that binds us. No state or section will 1 
 ever again attempt to sever itself from this union, but I 
 until, in our degeneracy, we are overthrown by some / 
 external power in its pristine integrity, we shall remain 
 
 "like the billows many, like the ocean, one." 
 
 Last of all, and above all, the Civil War was not only ' 
 
 , unique but most extraordinary in the circumstances, that 
 followed it. In no instance can we find the victor and the 
 vanquished returning to their homes to take up the arts 
 of peace and the pursuits of industrial life in the same 
 spirit of submission to the decision of arms that was 
 
 95
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 everywhere demonstrated by the ex-soldiers of this con- 
 flict on either side. Union veterans left their fallen com- 
 rades, friends and brothers asleep 'neath southern skies 
 and came back to their neglected shops and dilapidated 
 farms to try, by renewed zeal and more energetic labor, 
 to regain the losses of four long years. The remnant of 
 Confederate forces laid down their arms and, dejected and 
 despondent at sight of the black desolation which met 
 ' their view where once comfortable and elegant homes and 
 prosperous plantations had smiled upon them, stood still 
 
 G'or a brief space, paralyzed with grief and helplessness; 
 hen began that true reconstruction process which re- 
 claimed the land with such marvelous celerity and gave 
 impetus to the "New South," compared with which the 
 old regime was but a shadow. Nor can an instance be 
 found where the leaders of an unsuccessful rebellion were 
 treated with the clemency that was shown to the civil 
 /and military chiefs of the Confederacy. With unpre- 
 cedented rapidity the philanthropic maxim of the hero 
 of the war, "malice toward none and charity for all" be- 
 came the guiding principle of the land, so that, a few 
 years ago, both in the North and in the South, a smile 
 of mingled scorn and humor met the insinuations of 
 Spanish publications that dissensions still cloud our skies 
 and impending insurrections in the South demand the con- 
 stant watch-care of our standing armies. 
 
 Such was the nature of that war which was in its zenith 
 in the summer of 1863. Bull Run and Chancellorsville, 
 Gettysburg and Vicksburg were in the past and a Con- 
 federate army under General Bragg lay encamped about 
 Chattanooga awaiting the approach of the Federal forces 
 under General Rosecrans. To this camp came Virginia 
 Lee and Hugh Cunningham in response to an invitation 
 from the commander, accompanied by a small party from 
 the town and its vicinity. 
 
 96
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Jerry, as a gentleman of military experience, was al- 
 lowed to attend the expedition and he and Sam made 
 room between them on the driver's seat for Sallie, whose 
 joy was unbounded when "young missus," after some 
 hesitation, permitted her to go in case she promised the 
 most absolute meekness and decorum in her manner. The 
 required promise being given with trembling delight and 
 invocations of the greatest calamities upon her own head 
 if she failed to keep it in the smallest degree, she made 
 herself ready and mounted her seat long before the ap- 
 pointed hour. 
 
 At last Virginia and Hugh themselves appeared and 
 soon they were rolling away in high glee, stopping on the 
 way to take in other young people until the carriage was 
 full, and then hastening to join a similar company at the 
 home of Nell Taylor who had engaged to take the re- 
 mainder of the party. 
 
 It was a gala day for them all, an event long to be re- 
 membered, for it was not often the young men and women 
 of a quiet Tennessee town were the invisted guests of one 
 of the greatest commanders in the Confederate army. 
 
 "Hugh, I suppose this is not much of a novelty and 
 pleasure to you?" said Nell Taylor, glancing over her 
 shoulder at Hugh as she stepped into her own carriage. 
 
 "On the contrary, it is all novel and pleasant to me so 
 far," Hugh answered. 
 
 "But it will not be new to you at the camp. That's 
 the advantage that we who are not in the army have over 
 you," said Annie Baker, a pretty little blonde who sat by 
 his side. Hugh smiled at the thought of this being the 
 advantage of those "who are not in the army," but he 
 only answered pleasantly : 
 
 "It will be altogether new to me to take my supper 
 with the commanding general at his quarters, I assure 
 you, Annie." 
 
 97
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Why, Jerry told our Ned that you often dined with 
 General Lee himself!" she exclaimed, her great blue eyes 
 opening wide in surprise. 
 
 "You must not rely too implicitly on Jerry's tales. I 
 never spoke to General Lee in my life," Hugh replied, 
 laughing at her amazement. 
 
 "Jerry!" she cried, leaning far out of the carriage 
 to make that culprit hear her, "didn't you tell Ned that 
 Captain Cunningham had dined many a time with General 
 Lee in Virginia?" 
 
 "Gar t' goodness, Miss Annie, dunno's Fse seed Ned 
 Baker sence I come back f 'om de wa' " adding as an 
 afterthought, "I s'posed he'd don' lef wid de res' de free 
 niggahs 'roun' heah!" 
 
 To Sam and Sallie he continued in an undertone, "Well, 
 if 'e didn' 'twas hissef 'e had to blame, fer de Gin'l don' 
 ax 'im times out'n number to come to dine an' once, aftah 
 Gettysbu'g whar I rescued Marse Hugh so brave right in 
 de face ob de cannon, he say, 'bring Jerry too w'en you 
 come !' " And now it was Sam's and Sallie's turn to open 
 their eyes with wonder and bow lower than ever before 
 this mighty man. 
 
 Passing quickly through the town, the party came soon 
 to a long stretch of level road, preferring a drive of a 
 little more than two miles, thus making a detour of a 
 ridge of high hills, to a shorter journey directly over the 
 steep ascent of the highlands. 
 
 The way was made short by merry jokes and songs 
 and laughter until, coming upon the brow of a hill, the 
 first glimpse of the camp met their view, stretching far 
 away through the valley and up the slopes of the hills 
 beyond. Cheers and cries of delight burst from every 
 member of the party and some one shouted loudly to the 
 drivers to stop. 
 
 "What a glorious thing to be the commander of a host 
 
 98
 
 like that!" Virginia exclaimed. "If I were a man, I'd 
 sacrifice everything else for such a privilege." 
 
 "I believe it," said Nell Taylor, "and you'd be a host 
 within yourself, Virginia, because you are so brave and 
 true." 
 
 "You know not what you say, Virginia," Hugh said 
 kindly. "You have no idea of the hardships of such a 
 life." 
 
 "No, Nell," Virginia said in answer to the first remark, 
 "If I succeeded, it would be because my heart and soul 
 are in the cause and my whole life would be devoted to 
 it." Turning to Hugh she added, "The very hardships, it 
 seems to me, would be but a spur to urge the true soldier 
 on to greater efforts." 
 
 "It's no use to argue the question with her, Hugh," 
 said Ray Andrews, a young man in the Lee carriage. 
 "She means what she says and I almost believe she could 
 do it if she were a man." He was extremely young, for 
 all save the extremely young men were in this or some 
 distant camp and he doted upon Virginia of all persons. 
 
 A drive of a few minutes brought them to the foot of 
 the hill where they were met by a committee of young 
 officers by whom they were cordially greeted, for a varia- 
 tion of this sort was as welcome to soldiers who had 
 just been going through weeks of inactivity in camp as to 
 the visitors themselves. Having been conducted to the 
 presence .of General Bragg and his staff, a short time was 
 spent in greetings and introductions and then the host 
 proposed to show the party about the headquarters, re- 
 marking casually that he wished to initiate the ladies into 
 all the mysteries of a soldier's life so that in future years 
 when women should have attained their rights, eight of 
 them, at least, would be prepared for their duties. 
 
 "But then the Confederacy will be established and 
 southern women are not clamoring for the ballot," Nell 
 
 99
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Taylor replied, winning such applause that the general 
 acknowledged himself vanquished, but said he would ven- 
 ture to show them the quarters, then, as a mere matter of 
 pastime. Walking up to Virginia, whom he greatly ad- 
 mired for the ability with which she had managed her 
 father's business affairs and for her devotion to the Con- 
 federacy, he offered her his arm, with a low bow, turning 
 to Hugh to say apologetically: 
 
 "Will you loan her to an old man for a little while, 
 Cunningham ?" 
 
 With ready wit and the chivalric spirit of a true 
 southern gentleman, Hugh replied : "Would that I might 
 claim the right to 'loan' her to you, General. I shall make 
 a pleasant tour of the place with your aide-de-camp, by his 
 leave," in response to a gesture of invitation from that 
 individual. 
 
 The younger officers present having quickly made 
 agreeable arrangements with the remainder of the party, 
 they began an inspection of an ideal soldier's home. 
 Everything was in order, for General Bragg was as exact- 
 ing in this respect as the model housekeeper. From the 
 council room, where the commander received his subordin- 
 ates to plan those campaigns and battles that had hitherto 
 been measurably successful and which now served as 
 reception room, to the very stalls where the handsome 
 chargers of the army chiefs were groomed and cared for 
 as if they were in the stables of the millionaire, there 
 was no spot that was not scrupulously neat and clean. 
 
 "Do you keep it like this on common days or is it fixed 
 up to-day for company?" Annie Baker asked saucily as 
 she stood near General Bragg watching busy hands pre- 
 paring the evening meal. 
 
 "The true soldier knows no common day and no holiday, 
 Miss Baker," was the grave response. 
 
 "Does he mean he does keep it so on common days?" 
 
 IOO
 
 she whispered to her escort whose youth and inferior 
 rank put her more at her ease than she felt with the gen- 
 eral, who was unintentionally a little austere in his reply. 
 
 "Yes, it is always so," the young man answered. 
 "Every man under his command performs his daily tasks 
 as he values his position and his honor." 
 
 "That accounts for the congeniality between him and 
 Virginia," Annie said shrewdly. "That's the way she 
 manages at Lee's Summit." 
 
 "Miss Lee seems to be a remarkable young woman," 
 was the reply. "We hear she is to marry Captain 
 Cunningham." 
 
 "Oh, I don't know. There is a sort of general under- 
 standing to that effect, but Virginia is a girl with a mind 
 of her own." 
 
 "Then you think she may not be as anxious as some 
 girls would be about a catch like that? They say he is 
 rich." 
 
 " 'Rich' and 'poor' don't mean anything to Virginia," 
 Annie explained. "Money has been so absolutely no part 
 of any question in her life that she never reckons on that 
 basis at all." 
 
 "Then you think they are not engaged?" 
 
 "No, I am sure they are not." 
 
 "I inferred as much from his remark to the general 
 a while ago." 
 
 "Yes, I noticed that, too," Annie said, "and while Hugh 
 spoke jestingly, yet he meant what he said." 
 
 By this time the headquarters had been thoroughly 
 "done" and someone suggested a drive about the camp 
 in the remaining hour before supper. The guests in their 
 carriages, accompanied by the commander and a half 
 dozen of his subordinates on horseback, prepared to carry 
 out the suggestion. This was made possible by the 
 regularity with which the camp was laid out. The tents 
 
 101
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 were pitched in squares with streets sufficiently wide for 
 narrow driveways, each square being assigned to the 
 members of a company. Away down the valley as far as 
 the eye could see, white tents gleamed in the evening sun, 
 while up the slopes of the hills they were similarly ar- 
 ranged as far as the nature of the ground would permit. 
 Our little company rode for more than a mile into the 
 midst of this strange city, stopping here and there to 
 watch the preparations for supper or to speak to some 
 squad of soldiers sent out on special duties. One com- 
 pany from Alabama had just received several boxes of 
 provisions from home and they were gathered about 
 watching, with eager faces and hilarious voices, the dis- 
 tribution of the contents. Dismounting, General Bragg 
 signified to the guests to alight and they moved among the 
 delighted soldiers, congratulating them and speaking 
 words of cheer to them. A little apart from his com- 
 rades sat a youthful looking boy with a small hamper 
 open by his side. In his hand he held a letter which he 
 had evidently been reading. There was an expression of 
 the most painful dejection and homesickness on his 
 countenance. He attracted Virginia's attention and she 
 stood for some moments regarding him with interest and 
 sympathy and wishing she might speak to him. At length 
 she approached General Bragg and pointed the boy out 
 to him. General Bragg was a kind-hearted man, not- 
 withstanding his brusque manner, and he walked over 
 and laid his hand on the boy's arm, saying gently : 
 
 "What's wrong, my lad, why do you not eat? I see 
 you have a well-filled basket of tempting food." 
 
 The boy looked up with a sorry smile, gratified and 
 pleased by this sympathy from his commander. 
 
 "I can't eat now, it chokes me so," he replied with 
 tears in his voice. "Perhaps to-morrow I'll be all right 
 
 1 02
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and then I'll divide with some of the fellows and we'll 
 have a merry meal." 
 
 "Isn't it pitiful?" said Virginia as they turned away. 
 "When will all this be over, General ?" 
 
 "Not for a long time, I fear. Not until many a lad 
 like this has sighed for home and mother for the last 
 time," he answered sadly. 
 
 Looking at his watch, General Bragg declared there 
 was only time for them to return before the supper hour 
 and, as no one was ever late here, of course sightseeing 
 was for the present at an end. 
 
 At supper the commander sat at the head of the table. 
 He motioned Hugh to take the seat at his right, saying 
 that as a representative of the Army of Virginia he must 
 be considered the guest of honor. Virginia sat at his 
 left, while others were arranged according to the rank 
 of the officer. Virginia was pleased to see Hugh enter 
 with enthusiasm into a private talk with the host con- 
 cerning the army from which he came, the battles in 
 which he had fought, the success already attained in the 
 East, and the prospect for the future. Hugh found, after 
 all, that he had some interests in common with General 
 Bragg. 
 
 After supper there was a review of troops for the en- 
 tertainment of the guests, which consumed the remainder 
 of their time. At its close, dusk was fast settling over the 
 valley and the carriages were reluctantly ordered for 
 departure. General Bragg thanked the young ladies for 
 this bright spot in an otherwise monotonous week, saying 
 that the "waiting time" is the hardest time of all in the 
 life of a soldier. 
 
 "What are you waiting for?" asked Annie Baker 
 innocently. 
 
 "For Rosecrans and the Federal army," the General 
 replied. 
 
 103
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "How many men have you here, General Bragg ?" Nell 
 Taylor asked with a wave of her hand in the direction of 
 the tents. 
 
 "Scarcely nine thousand." 
 
 "Nine thousand!" another young lady exclaimed. 
 "Why, they say in the village that you have near fifty 
 thousand." 
 
 "That means all together. You must understand that 
 what you see here is but a small part of the entire army ?" 
 he explained. 
 
 "Where are the others ?" Annie Baker chimed in. 
 
 "Well, in various places," he answered, smiling. "Over 
 on the other side of those hills in the next valley there 
 are more than ten thousand. A mile or more south of 
 here there is another large army, and yet another down 
 on creek." 
 
 "With all that force you can surely hold the village, 
 don't you think?" Virginia asked anxiously. 
 
 "I hope to do so," was the reply. "In any event, if we 
 find it advisable to evacuate the village, on those heights 
 over yonder," motioning toward Lookout and Missionary 
 Ridge, "I can hold my ground in the face of any force 
 the Federal army can spare to send against me." 
 
 "How glad I am to hear you say that !" exclaimed Vir- 
 ginia. "I am often urged to leave the plantation and go 
 to Atlanta, but so long as you feel secure here, I shall 
 not do it." 
 
 "Do not modify your plans by what I say, Virginia. 
 We are all subject to errors. I only hope I am not mis- 
 taken in this and I have great confidence in our strength." 
 
 "Then mother and I shall stay where we are for the 
 present, at least." 
 
 After a few minutes of additional small talk, the guests 
 at last succeeded in finishing their adieus and departed. 
 On the hill-top they stopped to take a farewell look at the 
 
 104
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 scene below. To their surprise and great delight, they 
 saw the entire camp illuminated by scores of blazing fires. 
 It was a cool night, such as sometimes come in the latter 
 part of August, and the host had ordered this demonstra- 
 tion as a parting salute to the young guests as -well as to 
 give them an idea of soldier life about the camp fire. 
 
 They tarried long, talking over the events of the after- 
 noon, rapt in that thrilling emotion which a military 
 spectacle always inspires. When they felt they could stay 
 no longer, they gave three hearty cheers for the Con- 
 federacy, the camp, and its commander, and then dropping 
 below the crest of the hill, returned once more to every- 
 day life. 
 
 105
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WHEN Hugh and Virginia reached home, they found 
 that Mr. Lee, contrary to his last message, had been 
 given an opportunity to leave Richmond for a few days 
 and had arrived at Lee's Summit during their absence. 
 The familiar tones of his voice came to them from the 
 veranda as the carriage stopped, and Virginia bounded 
 joyfully up the steps with the glad cry : 
 
 "Father ! father ! you wrote us you could not come." 
 
 "You see, I thought by taking you unawares I might 
 catch you napping and get a chance to scold you soundly," 
 he replied, affectionately returning her embrace. 
 
 "Ah ! daddy, you know me too well for that," she said. 
 
 "You may be sure I do, my child," Mr. Lee returned, 
 the jesting gone from his voice and manner. 
 
 With this, he turned to Hugh and grasped his hand 
 warmly as he said : "It seems good to see you here, Hugh. 
 There was a day when I feared I might never greet you 
 like this again. I telegraphed for tidings of you after 
 Gettysburg but could get no satisfactory reply." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Lee. It was very kind of all of you 
 to think of me as you did and very kind of fate to re- 
 serve me for the pleasant visit I have had these two 
 weeks," Hugh replied. 
 
 "Been enjoying it, have you ? I'm glad of that. You'll 
 fight all the better for it when you go back." 
 
 Hugh didn't wince at mention of his return for there 
 was no longer any question about it. He had long ago 
 determined to go back and the subject of a substitute 
 had not been spoken of since the evening of his arrival. 
 He was very much in love with Virginia and, since the 
 occasion of Nell Taylor's party, he had guarded himself 
 
 106
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 so carefully that the most exacting girl could have found 
 no cause for complaint. He had talked with her 
 seriously concerning the war whenever that seemed to 
 be her mood and at no time had he spoken lightly of her 
 opinion or of her actions with regard to it. He would 
 return to his place in the army and remain with it to the 
 end. He knew she would never care for him if he did 
 not go and he half hoped he might win her if he did go. 
 At all events, it was worth trying. 
 
 "Why, father, he doesn't need to fight any better. 
 Hugh was one of the very best soldiers in the Army of 
 Virginia, the papers all said so, "Virginia said with a 
 ring of approval in her voice that was gratifying to 
 Hugh. "He will tell you all about it later on, but first 
 we must hear how you happen to be with us to-night. I 
 know you didn't write us you could not come just for the 
 sake of surprising us." 
 
 "No, daughter, I did not," he answered gravely. In- 
 deed, Mr. Lee had acquired a certain seriousness rarely 
 noticed in his manner in the olden days. "I had no hope 
 of getting away from Richmond at the time I last wrote 
 your mother, but there has been very grave business 
 under consideration and messages had to be brought to 
 General Bragg which could not be entrusted to paper. 
 President Davis selected me to come on this mission and 
 hence my presence here to-night." 
 
 "How glad we are, too," Virginia replied. "It seems 
 like such a long time since you were here and there are 
 so many things I need to talk with you about." 
 
 Something more than the mere pleasure of joyous wel- 
 come sounded in Virginia's voice. There was also the 
 sense of relief which one feels when a heavy burden is 
 shifted for a time from one's own to other, stronger 
 shoulders. 
 
 "My coming cannot be a greater pleasure to any one 
 107
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 else than it is to me, Virginia," Mr. Lee returned, reach- 
 ing out his hand and taking hers in expression of the 
 tender sympathy her very tone inspired. "This life away 
 from home is growing most monotonous. I sometimes 
 feel that our lot at Richmond is worse, even, than service 
 in the field would be. We work and scheme and plan 
 and then wait for others to carry out the plans and things 
 often seem to move slowly and results are often dis- 
 couraging." 
 
 "Why, father, are you despondent now? I don't like 
 your tone and I thought General Bragg looked troubled at 
 times this afternoon. Do you think we are in danger?" 
 Virginia asked anxiously." 
 
 "Oh, I can hardly tell, my dear. Of course we must 
 not be discouraged for that would be fatal to us. We 
 have had numerous reverses lately that make the sky look 
 dark for us just now, but you know the vicissitudes of 
 war are most uncertain. In another month the whole 
 face of things may be changed." 
 
 "What is the feeling at Richmond now, Mr. Lee?" 
 asked Hugh. 
 
 "Well, the southern people are naturally inclined to 
 be hopeful and the speeches in public are buoyant and 
 full of the spirit which General Lee expressed when he 
 said, 'We cannot hope always to win great victories.' But 
 the loss of General Jackson, the failure of the invasion of 
 Pennsylvania, and the fall of Vicksburg cannot but cause 
 great uneasiness in every southern heart. How did you 
 find the camp? And what does Bragg say of the pros- 
 pect?" 
 
 Together Hugh and Virginia recounted the incidents of 
 their visit, dwelling upon what the commander had said as 
 to the strength of his position in the mountains about 
 Chattanooga and the probability of his being able to with- 
 stand the Federal army. 
 
 108
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Oh, if I were only a man!" Virginia exclaimed. "It 
 seems so tame to sit and look on when I'd so love to do 
 something that would help." 
 
 "You do all that could be expected of you, Virginia, 
 and more, when you stay here and look after the place 
 as you have done for two years. You can leave the fight- 
 ing for Hugh who seems able to do full justice to it. I 
 am hoping to see him promoted to an important com- 
 mand ere long," said Mr. Lee. 
 
 "No, Mr. Lee, do not expect too much of me. I have 
 attained as high rank as I am capable of holding. When 
 there is a position to be guarded or a stronghold to be 
 charged, I am well enough, but I have no interest and 
 no ability in the line of managing a battle or planning a 
 campaign." 
 
 "As to that, I fear we have too many heads planning 
 already," was the reply. 
 
 "Why ? Do you think our affairs are not being managed 
 well ?" asked Virginia. 
 
 "I think it would be better if General Lee were made 
 Commander-in-chief of the military department and the 
 direction of the entire army given over to him. He is in 
 a position to know more concerning the proper conduct of 
 the war than any other man, but he is hindered always by 
 the restrictions placed upon him at Richmond, while he 
 has no authority to dictate what shall be done in any part 
 of the field except his own." 
 
 "What will become of us here in the South if we fail, 
 Thomas?" Mrs. Lee asked helplessly. 
 
 "God knows, Margaret," Mr. Lee replied reverently. 
 "No one can imagine the evils that will surround us if 
 we fail. However, we shall have ourselves to blame, in 
 great measure. My sympathies are with the Confederacy, 
 but we have precipitated upon our own heads the 
 calamities that are sure to follow our defeat." 
 
 109
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Don't talk so, I cannot bear to hear it," Virginia 
 exclaimed, indignant and grieved at her father's words. 
 "Are we not in the right and why should we not resist 
 oppression and injustice?" 
 
 "It is not altogether a question of right," Mr. Lee 
 replied. "I fear we were rash to attempt secession when 
 we did, because we were not prepared to sustain ourselves. 
 I said so all along and there has never been a time when 
 I did not doubt the wisdom of the step. However, there 
 is no use falling back to that position. We are into the 
 fight and we must all work together to make the best of it. 
 How much more time do you have here, Hugh?" he 
 asked, dismissing a subject that always brought a shadow 
 of care to his brow. 
 
 "I leave day after to-morrow." 
 
 "So soon? It is well I didn't tarry in Richmond or I 
 should have missed you." 
 
 "I am due August 3ist, and I must leave here by the 
 evening of the 29th, you know." 
 
 "I am sorry for that. I hoped we should have several 
 days here together, but of course I would not detain you 
 from your duty." 
 
 Mr. Lee and Hugh spent the greater part of the next 
 day on horseback, visiting distant fields of the Lee's Sum- 
 mit plantation which Hugh had not seen for years and, 
 late in the afternoon, riding over to Cunningham Place 
 where desolation and ruin confronted them on every hand. 
 
 The man who had purchased the place, found himself 
 unable to retain the slaves in his employ and, disgusted 
 with his bargain, he had left the neighborhood months 
 before. Fields and garden and yard were overgrown 
 with weeds and the buildings, which had been used as 
 places of refuge for straggling bands of soldiers, were so 
 dilapidated that even Hugh could scarcely recognize them 
 except by their location. 
 
 no
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Do you remember, Mr. Lee, a sort of half jest, half 
 earnest understanding there used to be between your 
 family and ours as to the union of these two pieces of 
 land if such an arrangement should be satisfactory to Vir- 
 ginia and me when we were grown up?" Hugh asked as 
 he stood with Mr. Lee looking over the neglected fields. 
 
 Mr. Lee regarded Hugh with a twinkle in his eye, but 
 with a kindly smile as he replied, "Yes, Hugh, I believe 
 I remember something of the kind." 
 
 "Well, as you know," Hugh continued, "the estate 
 which would have been mine has passed into the hands 
 of strangers and, had it not, it lies before you a wilderness 
 of weeds. So far as that part of the understanding is 
 concerned, I can never fulfill it. You must also know, 
 however, that the really vital part of the old arrange- 
 ment, is not only satisfactory to me, but very greatly to 
 be desired." Hugh's manner was the least bit labored and 
 unnatural but he continued bravely, "Should Virginia 
 regard the question in the same light, would the consum- 
 mation of the agreement be satisfactory to you and Mrs. 
 Lee?" 
 
 "It is hard work, I know, Hugh, to ask a man for 
 his only daughter, and it should be it should be," Mr. 
 Lee said earnestly, "for it is asking a great deal. As 
 for Mrs. Lee and myself, we shall be satisfied with what- 
 ever arrangement Virginia may choose to make. I have 
 sometimes fancied that she was not much inclined to 
 marry either you or any other man, but you can try your 
 luck, my boy, and if you succeed you shall have my ap- 
 proval and my blessing, but remember, I do nothing to 
 influence her. I only acquiesce in what she says." 
 
 "Do not suppose I fail to realize the difficulties before 
 me in that direction, Mr. Lee," Hugh said laughingly, 
 adding more seriously, "I know my own limitations and 
 appreciate the fact that I am in many ways no match for 
 
 in
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Virginia, but I am selfish enough to want her neverthe- 
 less." 
 
 "So far as the financial part of that early compact is 
 concerned, you understand, Hugh, that a few months 
 more may put Virginia greatly at disadvantage," said Mr. 
 Lee. 
 
 "You know me too well to suppose that could make 
 any difference. I should then be more thankful than 
 ever that father has placed our affairs in a condition which 
 this war cannot affect," Hugh answered. 
 
 It was nearing sunset now and the two men turned their 
 faces homeward. Conversation lagged by the way for 
 each was sufficiently occupied with his own thoughts. 
 
 Virginia stood on the veranda steps with a fine bouquet 
 of roses in her hand when she saw her father and Hugh 
 turning into the lawn. She waited for Hugh to join her. 
 "So you have been over to the old place, have you? I 
 was sorry when I found you had gone there, I am afraid 
 it will make you sad, Hugh." As she said this she laid 
 her hand gently on Hugh's arm. It was the nearest ap- 
 proach to a caress she had given him since their child- 
 hood, and it touched him as nothing else could have done. 
 Taking the hand in his own, he answered fondly, "It 
 compensates me for any sadness I may have felt to know 
 that you sympathize with me, Virginia." 
 
 Virginia perceived the mistake and, quickly withdraw- 
 ing her hand, she held the roses up playfully for Hugh 
 to catch their fragrance and then, turning, passed on into 
 the house to arrange the bouquet for the supper table. 
 
 Hugh and Virginia had planned a drive into the vil- 
 lage in the evening that Hugh might say good-bye to the 
 Taylors, and the little phaeton stood ready for them when 
 they came out from supper. Virginia ran up to her 
 room for her hat and gloves and quickly joined Hugh 
 who stood waiting on the lawn and who now handed her 
 
 112
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 gently to her seat. There was a softened air in their 
 bearing toward each other, for already the shadows of 
 parting were gathering about them and in those days 
 such shadows gathered with unusual gloom about the de- 
 parting soldier and his friends. 
 
 They spun along swiftly enough until they reached the 
 river road when, turning into it, Hugh suddenly reined 
 the horses to a slower gait. 
 
 " 'The longest way round is the nearest way there,' 
 you know," he said, laughing, "and besides, Virginia, it 
 may be a very long time before I see this road again 
 possibly I may never drive here again," he added gravely. 
 
 "Oh, yes, Hugh," Virginia returned with assumed 
 gaiety, "You'll come back before many months, covered 
 all over with glory and badges and gold medals." 
 
 "Ah! Virginia, there is a reward I'd prize far above 
 badges and gold medals," he said tenderly. "Do you 
 know what it is ?" 
 
 "Yes, I think I do," she answered slowly. 
 
 He waited a moment for her to say more but as she 
 did not, he spoke again in an earnest tone. 
 
 "Have you still nothing to say about this reward I wish 
 so much to win, Virginia? You know that I love you, 
 that I never knew what it was not to love you. There's 
 no occasion for me to dwell upon that. In a remote 
 corner of my heart I cherish you beside the image of my 
 dead mother." 
 
 "Don't speak of your mother, Hugh," Virginia an- 
 swered pleadingly. "That always arouses the old pity 
 of my childhood for you and pity, you know, is not love." 
 
 "No, but it is akin to love and even that means some- 
 thing to me," Hugh returned earnestly with a motion so 
 suggestive of an embrace that Virginia, startled, shrank 
 back into the farthest corner of the seat. 
 
 It was enough. Hugh checked the impulse and con-
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 tinned in a more formal manner, "After almost two years 
 of separation are you any nearer a decision than when I 
 last talked to you about my love? I had not meant to 
 speak of this now, but as the time draws near for me to 
 leave I feel as if I cannot go without asking you once 
 more to give me some word of encouragement." 
 
 "Yes, I believe I am nearer a decision, Hugh. I ad- 
 mire you in many ways and I am very, very fond of you," 
 she replied in a tone half earnest, half apologetic. 
 
 "Well, Virginia, I'll be satisfied with that for the pres- 
 ent if you can give me the least bit of encouragement to 
 try to win a stronger regard than that from you." 
 
 "I am trying hard to give you the best there is in me," 
 she answered. "I am afraid I am not capable of a very 
 strong affection of this kind. I tell you frankly that I do 
 not feel as I imagine a woman should feel in promising 
 a man to marry him." 
 
 "I try to imagine sometimes how it would seem to be 
 actually engaged to you," he said, after looking very 
 earnestly into her face for a moment. "I am perfectly 
 sure I could go back to the army happy if I might take 
 with me your promise to be my wife when the war is 
 over. I could stay willingly and fight bravely all the while 
 if I had the assurance that after all is over I should have 
 you for the rest of my life." 
 
 "I have not much doubt that it will be so, Hugh. I 
 really expect that, eventually, we shall be married, for I 
 can scarcely imagine such a thing as dropping you out of 
 my life entirely. But whenever I think of giving you a 
 promise, a vague feeling of some sort comes over me that 
 some way admonishes me to wait. It is probably a mere 
 fancy, but it is hard for me to put it from me." 
 
 "I wonder if it is because I have sometimes been harsh 
 with you and fault-finding, Virginia? I am sorry for all 
 that, and I'll try not to show that spirit any more. Are 
 
 114
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 you afraid I might be unkind to you ? Is that the strange 
 feeling, Virginia?" 
 
 "Oh, no, no, Hugh. I am sure you would not be un- 
 kind. I have no fear of that. So far as our little differ- 
 ences are concerned, I am learning to overlook those for 
 I suppose all people have them. I do not regard them at 
 all except as they may indicate a lack of absolute con- 
 geniality. What I fear is that my affection for you is 
 more such as I might have had for a brother than such as 
 I should have for a husband. I feel certain no other man 
 could ever seem so much like their own son to father and 
 mother as you do even now, Hugh." 
 
 "I spoke to your father this afternoon on the subject," 
 Hugh said. 
 
 "What did he say?" she asked quickly. 
 
 "He said it should be left entirely with you, that he 
 would acquiesce in your decision," was the candid reply. 
 
 "What a perfect old dear father is. I am sure it would 
 be a satisfaction to him for me to decide in your favor," 
 she said, adding after a brief silence, "I'll tell you ,Hugh, 
 give me until to-morrow and I will answer you definitely. 
 To-night I will think of it seriously and earnestly and 
 before you leave to-morrow I will decide. Indeed, I know 
 of no reason why we may not as well have the question 
 settled before you go away again. It will probably mean 
 greater peace of mind for us both." 
 
 "It seems as though I should be content with that and 
 yet I almost dread to hear the decision. An indefinite 
 hope is better than a definite despair," he replied, de- 
 jectedly. 
 
 They were before Nell Taylor's home now, and for two 
 or three minutes had sat talking, making no motion to- 
 ward alighting. Having been discovered from the house, 
 they were now surrounded by a number of their young
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 friends who had assembled to meet Hugh for the last 
 time. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lee were on the veranda as usual when 
 Hugh and Virginia reached home, but, as it was growing 
 late, they tarried for only a few minutes and then parted 
 for the night. 
 
 When the young girl reached her room she partially 
 undressed, and, throwing on a loose robe, sat down by a 
 window where she could look out into the night and get 
 the benefit of the cool breeze. She had a hard question to 
 decide, and she determined to look it squarely in the face. 
 
 Hugh was a good fellow, morally, she said to herself, 
 which could not be said of every man; he was southern 
 by early adoption, and his sympathies were with the 
 South ; she had known him all her life, and he was, in the 
 main, agreeable to her; he loved her, of that she felt 
 sure, and it counted for a great deal ; and, above all, her 
 parents were fond of him, and he would fall into place in 
 the family as no one else ever could. 
 
 On the other hand, she reasoned, he always fell short of 
 her expectations in earnestness and determination of pur- 
 pose ; he was lacking in the very mental qualities she ad- 
 mired most in men ; she did not truly love him as a hus- 
 band should be loved; but then, she argued, she might 
 never see a man with the qualities she admired, or, if he 
 had those qualities, he might be deficient in other ways; 
 no one could be perfect, and, perhaps, it was perfection 
 she was looking for. Probably, after all, a strong at- 
 tachment and an abiding confidence were the safest ties 
 between husband and wife, and 'that these existed in an 
 extraordinary degree between herself and the playmate of 
 her childhood, she had no doubt. It was not difficult to 
 reason away all her objections except the one fact that 
 she recoiled from giving Hugh a definite promise of 
 marriage. 
 
 116
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Again and again she settled the vexed question and 
 arose to make her preparations for the night; again and 
 again some fresh argument prsented itself and she re- 
 turned to her station by the window to go all over her 
 reasoning once more. Now, she had fully reconciled her- 
 self to giving the desired promise, and she walked reso- 
 lutely to the mirror and began to loosen the heavy coils 
 of dark hair. She smiled at the picture, lifting some of 
 the long, waving locks and admiring them in an absent- 
 minded way. Once she almost imagined she saw a strong, 
 earnest face with grave grey eyes looking over her 
 shoulder in the mirror, but she put the picture indignantly 
 from her mind. What was a strong, earnest face, what 
 were grave grey eyes, when they belonged to a man who 
 was fighting against actually fighting against the cause 
 she loved? It was an insult to Hugh's loyalty and self- 
 sacrifice that such a thought should even suggest itself 
 to her. 
 
 And now a sudden shrinking came over her. She re- 
 called that significant gesture of Hugh's along the river 
 road. If she consented to marry him, would he not ex- 
 pect to take her in his arms and caress her as lovers do in 
 books ? She saw the question in an altogether new light. 
 Indeed, such a procedure would not be proper, for the 
 time was so far away when she would be his wife. "That 
 would be a good excuse," she thought, as she drew the 
 brush caressingly over the hair spread out upon her shoul- 
 der. But then, she argued again, would she not hesitate 
 about offering an excuse ? Would it not seem like a half- 
 hearted promise after all? Again she thought how dif- 
 ferent this was from all her dreams of a betrothal. She 
 dropped into her chair by the window to "think it out" 
 once more. 
 
 No, she couldn't do it, she decided this time. She was 
 sure she didn't love Hugh in the right way at all. There 
 
 117
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 must be something more than this in the passion or why 
 had certain of her friends been so extravagantly happy in 
 their marriages? She had no eager anticipations such 
 as many of them had shown. "Maybe, though, they were 
 easily elated," she said to herself. "Light natures are 
 easily satisfied, of course." On the other hand, she re- 
 called the days of Edith Warren's wedding preparations 
 and the weeks succeeding her marriage. She had never, 
 in all her life, seen a woman seem so perfectly happy; 
 and Edith was not weak, indeed, she was one of the finest 
 characters she had ever known. Yes, she would tell Hugh 
 to-morrow that it would not be just to either of them for 
 her to marry him, and beg him to forget her and to turn 
 his thoughts to some one who could love him as he de- 
 served. Now, there was Kittie Chester. What a pity 
 he had not loved her. She was admirably suited to his 
 style and she would have given him the whole devotion of 
 her childish little heart. It was the irony of fate for him 
 to disregard adoration like that and spend year after year 
 suing for a love as hard to win as her own. She had 
 reached a final conclusion now. Hugh would be disap- 
 pointed but it was best, and she would tell him so to- 
 morrow. She might even suggest Kittie as a panacea for 
 his grief, and she sprang up and began braiding her hair 
 with brisk fingers, a look of determination in her eyes. 
 All went well until she knelt to say her prayer and came, 
 as usual, to ask God's benediction on the soldier boy. She 
 had promised to do this, and she had never neglected it 
 in all the months since Hugh went away. As she spoke 
 his name to-night, a tender sympathy arose in her heart, 
 and she foresaw the unhappiness she was voluntarily pre- 
 paring for one who was sacrificing so much for her and 
 moulding his life according to her wishes. Then followed 
 another half hour of indecision and argument, until, away 
 
 118
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in the small hours of the night, she went to bed fully de- 
 termined what she would do. 
 
 The next morning at the breakfast table, in the presence 
 of her father and mother, she said bravely : 
 
 "Hugh, I have made up my mind, and I want to tell 
 you here where father and mother can give us their ap- 
 proval and their blessing, that if you go back to the war 
 and stay there to the end, be the end what it may, I will 
 marry you when it is over." 
 
 This was not just what Hugh had imagined, and he 
 answered, hesitatingly, "Virginia, I was a knave to force 
 this promise from you. Take it back, and if the time 
 ever comes when you can voluntarily promise me, do so. 
 If not, I have but myself to blame for my disappoint- 
 ment." 
 
 "No, I have thought it all out since last night, and I 
 want it decided. I believe it will be for the best, and 
 mother and father will be pleased, I know." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lee so far listened silently, but now the 
 former interposed, "No, no, daughter, not that. Your 
 course must be purely your own choice without considera- 
 tion of our wishes." 
 
 "O, of course, I know that, father, but I want my choice 
 to be sanctioned by you and mother, and I know Hugh 
 will love you and you will love him almost as if he were 
 your own son. He will compensate, in part, for that son 
 that should have come to you when I did," she said, smil- 
 ing at them through the tears that shone in her eyes. 
 
 "We have been compensated for the loss of him for 
 twenty-one years, Virginia," said Mrs. Lee, lovingly. 
 
 "Well, Hugh, I have made my decision and you will see 
 that it will be all right," Virginia said, in a tone that 
 waived all further discussion, glad to have the question 
 disposed of in this matter of fact and sensible way. 
 
 Her manner waived also all further refer* sr "* to the 
 119
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 subject all day, and she managed so skillfully that at no 
 time was she left alone with Hugh. 
 
 And so, 'twas done, and Virginia began at once trying 
 to fall naturally into her new role and to become accus- 
 tomed to the thought that she had given her word, and her 
 word, once given, could not be broken. 
 
 1 20
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 When Virginia awoke the next morning after Hugh's 
 departure, she was conscious that she had slept later than 
 usual, and even then she lay with her arms thrown above 
 her head in that uncertain state, half-waking, half-sleep- 
 ing, which often succeeds a night of sound slumber. She 
 felt a restfulness and contentment for which she could not 
 account, and in a kind of dream she imagined she had 
 gone back to the old care- free days before the war. Her 
 heart sank as she remembered the war that, of course, 
 must continue to hover over her like a Nemesis but even 
 that did not altogether disturb the calmness that rested 
 upon her spirit. 
 
 By-and-by, as consciousness asserted itself, she felt a 
 vague uneasiness that she should be so perilously near to 
 happiness on this, of all mornings. Hugh was gone, 
 and she should feel sad. Hers was certainly very unlike 
 the state of mind an engaged girl would expect to be in 
 with her lover just gone to the war. Was she glad Hugh 
 was gone? No, she was quite sure she was not glad. 
 She had enjoyed his visit, and it was pleasant in many 
 ways to have him there. No, she was quite sure she was 
 not glad he was gone. She was only glad to be relieved 
 of the immediate necessity of being thrown with him until 
 their changed relation should have become an old story. 
 It was her disposition to be opposed to changes and to pre- 
 fer her usual manner of life. As she thus reasoned with 
 herself, the door opened softly. Aroused by the sound, 
 she raised up to see who the intruder was. It was Sallie 
 with fresh water and towels, and Virginia asked, in a kind 
 of startled tone, "Sallie, am I late this morning?" 
 
 "Yes, Miss, it's better'n seven," the negress replied, 
 
 121
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 adding, by way of apology for her intrusion, "I didn' go 
 fer to wake young miss up, but las' night I don' fergit yer 
 water an' towels an' I had t' fetch 'em in dis mawnin'." 
 
 "What made you forget, Sallie, you seldom do such a 
 thing?" Virginia asked, sleepily. 
 
 "Dunno, Miss, 'less 'twas cos Jerry lef las' night," Sal- 
 lie answered, in a trembling voice, which made her mis- 
 tress half wish she might know just the kind of feeling 
 the simple-hearted girl experienced. 
 
 "Why, Sallie, did you feel so very sad because Jerry 
 went away ?" 
 
 "Yes, Miss, I dunno's I'll evah see Jerry agin," and, 
 bursting into tears, she bolted quickly from the room 
 while her young mistress turned languidly over on her 
 pillow, wondering if it were characteristic of deep or of 
 shallow natures to show such sentiment. 
 
 In this case, she concluded, it was because Sallie had 
 nothing else to think of. Now, she herself could work up 
 a fever -heat of grief and discontent over Hugh's going 
 or her father's either, for that matter if she allowed her 
 mind to dwell upon the danger or the loneliness or the 
 length of time they would be gone. Yes, that was the 
 secret of it all her mind was occupied by other interests, 
 so she had not time for lamenting and grieving. 
 
 When she arose, she made a hasty toilet and hurried 
 downstairs where she found her mother and father just 
 finishing breakfast. 
 
 "I hope you are not sick, Virginia?" Mrs. Lee said, 
 looking at her anxiously. 
 
 "No, indeed, mother. I never felt better in my life. I 
 was only a little lazy and overslept myself. In fact, I 
 have just been pluming myself on my excellent spirits," 
 and Virginia smiled pleasantly at her parents who ex- 
 changed significant glances. The words and manner were 
 a confirmation of the fear Mrs. Lee had confided to her 
 
 122
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 husband over night, that circumstances and not the 
 prompting of her own heart had impelled Virginia to the 
 promise she had made Hugh. 
 
 "Virginia is the most eccentric girl I ever saw," Mrs. 
 Lee had said to her husband in the privacy of their own 
 room. "I do not like the word, but, positively, I have 
 felt to-day that there was no other to apply to her." 
 
 "Why, Margaret, what are you thinking of now ?" her 
 husband asked, indifferently. 
 
 "Was ever such a betrothal heard of as the one we wit- 
 nessed this morning? It was not much like our own, 
 Thomas, was it?" 
 
 "Ah ! but Virginia is not like you, dear, nor like me, so 
 far as that goes. I suppose 'tis as you say, she is strange 
 and does nothing just as other girls do," and Mr. Lee de- 
 liberately wound his watch and put it back into his vest 
 pocket in an absent-minded way, falling immediately into 
 the brown study which was becoming so habitual with 
 him. 
 
 Mrs. Lee noticed his absorption and registered a mental 
 plague upon the war and all connected with it, for Mrs. 
 Lee, like Hugh, saw no occasion for subordinating the 
 most sacred things in life to the war. 
 
 "What time was it, Thomas ?" she asked, in a disturbed 
 tone, not wishing to let the conversation drop, yet not 
 knowing exactly what to say next. 
 
 "It's I forget, if I looked, which I don't think I did," 
 he answered, taking out the watch to look at it again. 
 
 "Yes, Thomas, you looked, but, of course, I didn't ex- 
 pect you to know." 
 
 "It's half-past nine," Mr. Lee answered, musingly. 
 "And you say you think the proceedings to-day a trifle 
 irregular, do you ?" 
 
 "Why, yes, they seemed so to me. Virginia acted 
 unlike herself all day. She avoided Hugh, and she was 
 
 123
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 unnatural when he was near her, and I am sure she looked 
 relieved, and felt so, when he was gone." 
 
 "'Twas imagination, Margaret, or woman's intuition. I 
 didn't notice anything unusual except the matter-of-fact 
 way the thing was settled at breakfast, and I supposed 
 that arose from the general understanding that has always 
 existed about Hugh and Virginia. It's a little like present- 
 ing a friend with a piece of jewelry he has had borrowed 
 for years. There's no novelty in the gift, you know." 
 
 "I thought that was the way you looked at it, and I am 
 afraid Hugh regards it in the same light. The truth is, 
 I don't believe Virginia's heart is in this thing at all." 
 
 "Why does she do it then? No one has ever urged 
 it upon her," said Mr. Lee. 
 
 "Simply because Hugh wishes it and she dislikes to 
 thwart him since he has conducted himself so bravely in 
 the war. The war is getting to be a perfect mania with 
 her, and she sacrifices everything in life to her beloved 
 'cause.' Then, too, I am afraid she persuaded herself to 
 accept Hugh partly out of consideration for us." 
 
 "Well, well, we must look into this. We cannot allow 
 Virginia to sacrifice herself either for us or for the war. 
 You do not think there is any other man in the way, do 
 you?" Mr. Lee scarcely recognized his own voice in the 
 tone of appeal in which he asked this question. In all the 
 ordinary affairs of life, his wife had hidden beneath his 
 love and protection, relying always upon his judgment. 
 In matters of the heart, however, the weakest women 
 reach, by intuition, conclusions that whole years of ob- 
 servation and reasoning could not reveal to men. 
 
 "No," Mrs. Lee answered, a little scornfully. "Of 
 course there is no other man in the way or she could not 
 have promised so coolly to marry Hugh." 
 
 "That seems reasonable enough," was the reply. "You 
 
 124
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 women, Margaret, must have a sixth sense that reveals 
 these things to you." 
 
 "Not at all, my dear. It is unnecessary to have an ex- 
 tra sense to comprehend a thing that is plain as day." 
 
 This was, in substance, the conversation that had 
 aroused in Mr. Lee's mind a doubt as to the wisdom of 
 his daughter's promising to marry Hugh. 
 
 As Virginia took her seat at the table, her father asked 
 gravely, "Daughter, do you think you weighed the ques- 
 tion as seriously as you should before making a compact 
 with Hugh that will affect your whole life ?" 
 
 "Yes, I think I did. I have thought of it in a general 
 way for years ; it has been in my mind most of the time 
 since Hugh came back, and I spent nearly the whole of 
 night before last arguing it with myself. That accounts 
 for my sleepiness this morning," she added, smiling. 
 
 "Well, you have at least not acted without due con- 
 sideration." The words were addressed to his daughter, 
 but Mr. Lee looked appealingly at his wife to see what 
 opinion her face betrayed. 
 
 "It only proves to me that Virginia has not the proper 
 affection for Hugh," Mrs. Lee said sagely. "It didn't 
 take me whole days and nights and weeks and years to 
 decide about you, Thomas." 
 
 "Of course not," Virginia said hastily, "but it isn't 
 every girl who has a chance to marry a man like father," 
 reaching across the corner of the table to pat Mr. Lee's 
 hand affectionately. "And after all, folks, it's all right 
 about the compact," she added soberly. "It's probably 
 what I should do in the end marrying Hugh, I mean 
 and why not promise him now? He went away much 
 happier than if I had not done so. Let us not discuss 
 it any more, please. If you are satisfied with the engage- 
 ment, I am, and we have more important things to think 
 
 125
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and talk about just now. Do you go to the camp to- 
 day?" addressing her father. 
 
 "Yes, immediately," answered Mr. Lee, rising from 
 the table. 
 
 "Invite General Bragg to come out for supper with 
 us one evening before you leave," said Mrs. Lee. 
 
 "Yes, father, do," Virginia urged. "I want to be re- 
 assured about staying here and I know General Bragg 
 will see as I do." 
 
 "All right. Do not look for me before dinner to-day. 
 I may not get back until late in the afternoon," and he 
 hurried out, leaving his wife and daughter to a quiet day 
 by themselves. 
 
 But General Bragg had graver work in hand than 
 visiting with his friends. The "waiting time" was al- 
 most over and the contest for the possession of Chat- 
 tanooga was fast approaching a crisis. So Mr. Lee re- 
 ported when he returned home late in the evening. He 
 had spent the day at the camp in close consultation with 
 the commander and his advisers, and he informed his 
 family that the greater part of his sojourn at home 
 would doubtless be spent in the same way. The im- 
 portance of holding this point was keenly realized by all 
 southern sympathizers. 
 
 In the first place, it was the key to the very heart of 
 the Confederacy and its possession would open the way 
 for the Union army to sweep like a great flood over the 
 southern states. Friends of the secession movement 
 stood aghast at the prospect, while they were clamorously 
 upbraided by its enemies for having been the cause of a 
 situation so perilous. 
 
 In the next place, the loss of Chattanooga would in- 
 volve the utter demoralization of the forces stationed 
 there, which would be most disastrous as they were, next 
 to the Army of Virginia, the main stay of the Con- 
 
 126
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 federacy. Lastly, but perhaps equally important, a de- 
 feat here and now, following closely upon the reverses 
 so recently experienced, would be succeeded by a general 
 despondency and a consequent irretrievable loss in moral 
 and material support of the Confederate cause. It was 
 plainly evident the place must be held or the conflict 
 given up. 
 
 Something of this Mr. Lee explained to Virginia in 
 answer to her anxious inquiries. 
 
 "But General Bragg seemed very confident of success 
 when we were at the camp," she said questioningly. 
 
 "He is confident now, a little more so than the situa- 
 tion justifies, I am afraid," her father replied. 
 
 "Has he had any further information since the day 
 we were there?" 
 
 "O, yes, scouts and stragglers report that Rosecrans 
 has apportioned his forces among his generals and they 
 are .approaching everywhere on the west and south. 
 Word has been brought to him that Knoxville will prove 
 an easy prey to Burnside and, in case that place is lost, 
 our communication with the East will be altogether cut 
 off. Messages and reinforcements can only be sent by 
 way of Atlanta then, involving the most harassing dis- 
 appointment and delay." 
 
 "How fortunate Hugh got away in time to make his 
 connections all right," Mrs. Lee interposed. 
 
 "I shouldn't be surprised if there'd be trouble for 
 me by the last of the week," said Mr. Lee. "And. 
 Margaret, I have been wondering all day if it would not 
 be wise for you and Virginia to return with me." 
 
 "I hardly think Virginia would listen to such a sug- 
 gestion," Mrs. Lee replied, looking hesitatingly at her 
 daughter. 
 
 "Of course, if father insists and you wish to do so. 
 I will not refuse to go, mother, but I do think we shall 
 
 127
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 be throwing away all we have gained by the sacrifices 
 and hardships of these two years," Virginia said 
 earnestly. 
 
 "The chances are that everything will soon be in ruins 
 here anyway, my dear," Mr. Lee said. "I think you will 
 see this whole region a battle ground within three 
 months." 
 
 "At any rate, why go to Richmond? Aunt Nita has 
 repeatedly written for us to come there and why is it 
 not better for us? The danger is even more imminent 
 at Richmond than it is here, while if Bragg should be de- 
 feated here he will retreat toward Atlanta and, combined 
 with Johnston, our forces can hold that city, at least." 
 
 "Let it be Atlanta if you prefer it. I thought of 
 Richmond because I could be with you there, and Hugh, 
 too, a part of the time, perhaps," Mr. Lee answered. 
 
 Virginia was trellising the new growth of a vine over 
 a frame at the corner of the veranda. She worked away 
 after her father ceased speaking, humming softly to her- 
 self, apparently intent upon what she was doing. 
 
 "It would be company for Juanita and Kittie for us 
 to go there," said Mrs. Lee, half divining what Virginia 
 herself scarcely realized, that Hugh's presence was no 
 particular inducement to go to Richmond. 
 
 "I'll tell you, father, let us remain here a little longer. 
 I will consult with General Bragg when you are gone 
 and whenever I find he thinks we are in danger of being 
 cut off from Atlanta, mother and I will go at once. In 
 that way, we'll save the place if possible," Virginia 
 suggested. 
 
 "It may be you are right," Mr. Lee admitted. "In any 
 event, you have Hudson with you and he is thoroughly 
 reliable." 
 
 "What danger do you apprehend for us here, father? 
 Tell me what to expect, that I may be prepared for it." 
 
 128
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "You may expect the fields and garden to be despoiled 
 of every thing eatable by man or beast," Mr. Lee began. 
 
 "Yes, I'd look for that," she answered. 
 
 "You may expect squads of soldiers at any time to 
 require you to have meals prepared for them from two 
 or three of them to dozens, it may be," her father con- 
 tinued. 
 
 "Our own or Federal soldiers, do you mean?*' asked 
 Mrs. Lee. 
 
 "Either. It is the way with war, you know. Armies 
 must be supported and it is usually at the expense of 
 the people among whom they are encamped." 
 
 "What else?" asked Virginia. 
 
 "You may expect the house to be taken possession of 
 by a band of officers," was the reply. 
 
 "It's a shame," cried Virginia indignantly. "What 
 right would any crowd of men have to enter the home of 
 defenseless women and drive them out?" 
 
 "They wouldn't drive you out, probably, and it might 
 be you would be perfectly safe in your own apartments. 
 Such a house would be seized by officers of good rank 
 and, as a rule, they are men of honor," Mr. Lee answered. 
 
 "If it is permissible at all to enter a private house 
 by force, I suppose we may expect it from a horde of 
 Yankees," Virginia said hotly. 
 
 "Not only from Yankees, daughter," her father re- 
 turned mildly. "Any soldiers would do the same. In- 
 deed, it is only the friendly relation between us and 
 Bragg that has spared us so long. It is remarkable that 
 we have escaped the intrusion of our own forces." 
 
 "It wouldn't be quite so exasperating to say the least, 
 if it were our own men," said Mrs. Lee. 
 
 "No, indeed," Virginia exclaimed. "We should then 
 feel we were suffering in a good cause. And besides, we 
 could trust to the honor of our own men, but Yankees! 
 
 129
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 I'll have to be made all over to have confidence in them." 
 
 Mr. Lee laughed at what he called her fanaticism, 
 adding a little proudly that that was the Old Dominion 
 blood showing itself. 
 
 "You see, father," Virginia said, "returning to the 
 question of remaining at home, if mother and I leave 
 we'll lose our hold upon the blacks entirely and they will 
 be scattered far and near, whereas, by staying here, I 
 believe we can keep most of them, no matter what may r 
 happen. If the blacks stay with us, the armies may take 
 the crops and what they will this year. Next spring 
 after the worst is over here, as it will be, of course, we 
 can go to work again the same as ever." 
 
 After this there was no more question of leaving, and 
 Mrs. Lee and Virginia made such preparations as seemed 
 advisable for a sudden invasion and usurpation of their 
 home. Household treasures of silver and china and bric- 
 a-brac were packed and sent to the lodge where Virginia 
 had determined to find refuge in the event of the seizure 
 of their home by Union soldiers. 
 
 Mr. Lee, who was a lover of books, had collected a 
 fine library for the times and the locality in which he 
 lived. These books, together with a store of rare pictures 
 and other relics and art treasures that Mr. Chester had 
 sent his step-son from Europe, Virginia stowed carefully 
 awaj in the library and locked the door, herself carrying 
 the key. + 
 
 As for Mr. Lee, he too was busy during the remain- 
 ing days of his visit, making disposition of horses, 
 vehicles, stores and implements; instructing Hudson and 
 the more intelligent negroes what to do in the event of 
 disturbance from either of the contending armies ; riding 
 into the village or to the camp to consult with General 
 Bragg. 
 
 Conflicting rumors were afloat as to the movements 
 130
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and strength of the Federal army. Everything betokened 
 preparation for action of some sort but in the midst of it 
 all the Confederate commander was not idle. Scouts 
 were out in all directions to collect reports concerning the 
 approaching army, officers were riding hither and thither, 
 examining such places as seemed desirable for battle- 
 fields, or roads which might serve as traps for an attack 
 upon the invading throng. The General himself was 
 sending urgent messages to Mississippi, to Alabama, to 
 Virginia, for all the re-inforcements that could possibly 
 be sent to him. Knoxville was in great danger and with 
 its fall the army at Chattanooga was the sole reliance 
 for the possession of Tennessee. Thus matters stood 
 on the occasion of Mr. Lee's last visit to the camp and 
 thus he informed his wife and daughter when he re- 
 turned home to bid them good-bye before leaving for 
 the east, adding that Bragg had promised to apprise them 
 as regularly as possible of the situation. Mrs. Lee was 
 greatly concerned for their safety and even Virginia's 
 heart sank a little at the prospect before them, but she 
 kept a brave face and a cheerful voice, assuring her father 
 that he need have no uneasiness, that with Hudson so 
 near at hand, they would be personally safe, and that 
 was, after all, the essential thing. Mr. Lee bade them 
 an affectionate farewell and hastened to catch the train 
 for Atlanta, which route he considered it advisable to 
 take rather than risk a hazardous journey 'through a part 
 of the state that might even then be in the hands of the 
 Federals.
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WE have spoken elsewhere of the rapidity with which 
 the people recovered from the effects of the Civil War. 
 It is no less remarkable to note how speedily the old 
 landmarks that once served as monuments of that dis- 
 astrous period have disappeared. Especially is this true 
 of those regions which formed the borderland between 
 the slave and the free states, where the opposing armies 
 surged back and forth with all-devastating might, and 
 where the inhabitants of one house shrank in dismay from 
 the approach of a band of troops in blue, while they of 
 another household fled in terror from sight of the men 
 in grey. 
 
 Fields that once were battle-grounds are now the seats 
 of thriving towns and villages; towns and villages that 
 once were the scenes of brief engagement or of long 
 campaign, have years since replaced the old ruins, bat- 
 tered by shot and shell, with modern homes and hand- 
 some public buildings, and have spread themselves over 
 the adjoining land until the veteran of the "sixty's" 
 could not find to-day the spot where his brother fell by 
 his side or where he himself left his strong right arm to 
 moulder into dust. 
 
 We of the first generation after the war can well 
 remember how there was something on every hand to 
 remind us in bitterness that there had been a rebellion 
 in the land. Here was the long sloping ridge on which 
 the skirmish of '62 was fought; there was the fine old 
 southern home on the outskirts of the town which served 
 as a fort in the battle of '63, with here and there a bullet 
 hole as token of that perilous day; over yonder in the 
 cemetery lay the long, long grave with its white picket 
 
 132
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 fence, that children circled about with bated breath, awe- 
 struck, as it were, by the assurance of our elders that 
 more than two hundred soldiers, unhonored and unknown, 
 slept beneath the grassy mound. 
 
 Then, too could it ever be forgotten there was the 
 white marble slab on the hillside, with its gruesome pic- 
 ture of a man blindfolded and kneeling beside an open 
 coffin, bearing the awful inscription "Murdered, January 
 2oth, 186 ." This, by the horror it inspired, drew like 
 lodestone upon the minds of youthful visitors among the 
 tombs, and they went home with the gathering shades of 
 evening to hear again the pitiful story, a household theme 
 in the vicinity, of a young man who, having returned from 
 the war for a Christmas visit to his friends, was called 
 out from the midst of the family glee by stragglers from 
 a hostile camp nearby, and ruthlessly shot because, for- 
 sooth, he persistently declared his ignorance of an army 
 secret the ruffians wished to discover. 
 
 This is but an instance of tales galore which held their 
 own in the interest excited in the child-mind of a quarter 
 of a century ago with "Jack, the Giant Killer," "George 
 and His Hatchet," and "David and Goliath." There are, 
 doubtless, not a dozen children of the later generation who 
 know of the uncanny tombstone and the battle-scarred 
 house, while the stories of barbarous cruelties perpetrated 
 by a perfidious soldiery have gone the way of the rattle- 
 snake and panther and witch tales of our earlier ancestors 
 in the western wilds. When Father Time has made a 
 few more rounds with his fatal blade, we shall see no 
 trace of the havoc wrought by the four years of civil 
 strife. 
 
 The reader will pardon this diversion from the general 
 thread of our narrative. It is difficult to write a story of 
 the Civil War without falling occasionally into reminis- 
 
 133
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 cences of "ye olden times," which come to us like stray 
 leaves from an old, old chapter in our earlier lives. 
 
 We come now to a period when war settled like a piti- 
 less scourge upon Chattanooga and the surrounding coun- 
 try, when the camp fires of a vast ephemeral city burned 
 for miles and miles along the banks of the Tennessee river, 
 on the slopes of the mountains, and in the valleys between, 
 when the highways were lined with armies on the march 
 and the byways were haunted by refugees or scoured by 
 squads of soldiers deputed to collect supplies. For a 
 time the hostile armies sat like two ferocious bulldogs, 
 now eyeing each other and growling and showing their 
 teeth, by way of intimidating the foe, now walking round 
 and round each other in the hope of finding a vulnerable 
 point ; now threatening an attack, now feigning a retreat, 
 each evincing a determination to hold the ground or die 
 valiantly. 
 
 In the midst of this uncertainty and turmoil our friends 
 at Lee's Summit pursued, as best they could, the "even 
 tenor of their way." In the household, Mrs. Lee observed 
 the same regularity and order to which she was accus- 
 tomed in times of peace, while Hudson and Virginia ex- 
 acted from the blacks the strictest performance of their 
 daily tasks. Almost two weeks had elapsed after Mr. 
 Lee's departure, varied by an occasional encouraging mes- 
 sage from General Bragg, when, late one evening, the 
 following note was delivered to Mrs. Lee : 
 "Dear Madam: 
 
 The move at which I hinted in my last communication 
 to you has been fully determined upon and will be begun 
 to-morrow. Three or four ladies are at present visiting 
 their husbands in our camp, and will be with us on the 
 journey. By making a forced march we can reach Lee's 
 Summit before nightfall, and, as there is not time to get 
 
 134
 
 HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 a reply from you, I am taking the liberty to say that we 
 will make Lee's Summit our resting-place for the night. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Bragg." 
 
 So far were they from feeling annoyed by the prospect, 
 that Mrs. Lee and Virginia awaited the arrival of the ex- 
 pected party with pride and eagerness. Every available 
 room was fitted up as a guest chamber, and a long dining- 
 table extended the full length of the back porch. Its pil- 
 lars, as well as those of the front veranda were twined 
 with vines and flowers and the colors of the Confederacy, 
 while from the highest pinnacle of the house the stars and 
 bars floated on the breeze. This display seemed daring 
 in the face of a hostile army only a few miles distant, but 
 the attitude of the family was too thoroughly known for 
 simulation to be of any avail, even had they been inclined 
 to take advantage of so mean a subterfuge. 
 
 The bustle of preparation was still going on when there 
 was a sound of music in the air, and Jake, the family sen- 
 tinel, came tumbling headlong into the porch, breathless 
 and staring, gasping out : , 
 
 "Dey's comin' Dey's comin'." 
 
 "Who's coming, Jake, and where?" asked his mistress 
 in surprise. , 
 
 "De sojers. More'n a million of 'em, I spect. On de 
 firs' hill an' on de tother'n," he yelled, and away he ran 
 to mount his tree for further reconnoitering. 
 
 Mrs. Lee left her work and hastened to the front door 
 to see for herself what had so excited the urchin. Here 
 she was met by Virginia, who had heard the unwonted 
 noises and come to investigate them. 
 
 "Mother," she said, as she approached, "we must put 
 some restraint upon Jake. He is too boisterous and dis- 
 respectful. Such an uproar before strangers would be 
 
 135
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 exceedingly embarrassing. Jake," as she saw that culprit 
 returning from his self-appointed post, "if you don't be- 
 have better you shall not enter the front yard again for a 
 month. One would think you were fresh from heathen- 
 dom instead of having been born in a Christian land." 
 
 "Law, Miss, I begs yo' pahdon, but it's 'nough to upset 
 Jerry hissef to see de likes o' dat on de hill yander !"and 
 Jake jerked his head toward the approaching columns. 
 By this time his mistress had discovered the fact that a 
 large army was marching over the hill toward her home, 
 and, turning toward Virginia, she said, in dismay : 
 
 "Are they our own men or the enemy ?" 
 
 "Our own, I think. Yes, I am sure they are clad in 
 gray. And see ! they are halting." 
 
 In a moment more a horseman, whom they readily rec- 
 ognized as General Bragg, left the line of march and rode 
 briskly toward the house. The ladies stood in the door- 
 way until he turned in upon the lawn and then came out 
 to the head of the front steps to await him. 
 
 "I realize, Mrs. Lee, how great is my presumption in 
 thus intruding upon you," the General said, bowing very 
 low over Mrs. Lee's hand, "and I can only plead for ex- 
 cuse my implicit confidence in your loyalty and your hos- 
 pitality, two virtues which are equally laudable." 
 
 "I should consider myself unworthy the name of Lee 
 did I not rejoice in such an opportunity to serve my coun- 
 try," Mrs. Lee returned, in her stateliest Virginia manner. 
 
 "That is nobly spoken, lady. It is a pleasure to find 
 that the splendor of the illustrious name is in no way 
 dimmed by its representatives in Tennessee," Bragg gal- 
 lantly replied, adding, as he turned to salute Virginia, 
 "and it is no less gratifying to know that the noblest qual- 
 ities f the race are to be perpetuated for yet another gen- 
 eration." 
 
 136
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "You do me too much honor, General Bragg," Virginia 
 replied, laughing. "I shall be doing violence to my nerv- 
 ous system next, trying to maintain myself in your esti- 
 mation." 
 
 "It will not be necessary, I assure you. It is little short 
 of impossible for my confidence in you to be shaken," the 
 General took time to reply before he said, in his brisk, 
 business-like way, "I rode on in advance of the line, 
 ladies, to consult you as to the accommodation of the 
 soldiers you see in the distance yonder. Will you permit 
 them to encamp in the field and pasture at the foot of the 
 hill there?" 
 
 "Is it a suitable place, do you think, Virginia?" asked 
 Mrs. Lee, turning to her daughter. 
 
 "That is for General Bragg to say, mother," Virginia 
 replied, adding, as she turned toward the General, "Every- 
 thing on the plantation is at your disposal, you have but to 
 make your own choice." 
 
 "You are very kind," Bragg returned, "and I think I 
 will decide on this field, as it will be near at hand for our 
 supervision." r 
 
 Calling to Sam, who was always in evidence when a 
 guest appeared, Virginia said, "Tell Hudson to have a 
 way opened into the pasture in two or three places for the 
 accommodation of the soldiers." 
 
 Sam started off on the run to deliver the message, and 
 the General, remounting, beckoned to his officers on the 
 distant hill. There was a momentary stir along the line, 
 and then the strains of "Dixie" floated across the low- 
 lands, accompanied by the drum beat and the tramp! 
 tramp! tramp! of the on-coming army. Mrs. Lee and 
 Virginia stood speechless, thrilled and enraptured with en- 
 thusiasm. Their visitor rode slowly down the shady 
 drive, thoroughly enjoying the scene before him. And it 
 
 137
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 was a truly beautiful picture. There was a grassy slope 
 with the fine old mansion on its summit, the stately trees 
 with wide-spreading branches, and, at a little distance, the 
 negro quarters, where countless woolly heads peeped out 
 from the doorways or around the corners at the strange 
 spectacle, while here and there an intrepid youth sat 
 perched on the top of his mammy's cabin. At the foot of 
 this slope, with a breadth of several miles, lay the valley 
 of the Tennessee River, whose waters rolled blue and 
 placid in plain view from the hillside lawn. Far in the 
 distance rose the wooded slopes and bare, rugged peaks of 
 a mountain chain. The level drive wound gracefully 
 around the boundary of the lawn, bearing to the right for 
 a little way and then suddenly climbing the steep ascent of 
 those hills where Jake was accustomed to discern the ap- 
 proach of friend or foe. The army marching on their 
 slopes was on dress parade for the sake of the effect of 
 their braveries on the observers along the way, for in war, 
 as in other vocations of life, the favor of the crowd fol- 
 lows in the wake of good fortune and success. At the 
 head of the column came the decorated carriages in which 
 the ladies, handsomely dressed, rode in state, attended on 
 either side by an escort of cavalry gaily caparisoned and 
 glittering in gold and tinsel; officers were similarly ar- 
 rayed, with epaulets and stars and insignia glistening in 
 the sun, while even the common soldiers were imposing 
 and attractive with their neat gray uniforms and gleaming 
 bayonets. 
 
 On, on they came with banners waving, colors flying, 
 bands playing, and an occasional company marching to 
 the music of their own song. Virginia stood spellbound. 
 "It is splendid !" she at length exclaimed in ecstasy. 
 In the light of succeeding events, let us rather exclaim 
 with Napoleon as he looked upon the valiant "Scotch 
 
 138
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Grays" before the battle of Waterloo, "It is a pity!" 
 All this, and doubly, trebly, infinitely more than all this. 
 And for what? A blasting institution, a mistaken prin- 
 ciple, ruined homes, depleted fortunes, a fallen banner, a 
 lost cause! Shall not the children of the victors stretch 
 out the hand of love and compassion to the children of 
 the vanquished and, together with them, be grateful to an 
 over-ruling Providence who has ordered all things well ! 
 
 The carriages moved on until they reached the entrance 
 to the lawn where there was a pause for brief consulta- 
 tion, after which they wound slowly up the drive, the 
 whole party stopping now and then to look at the long 
 line of men marching, marching, marching over the hills 
 and spreading themselves like a vast wave over the camp- 
 ing ground. One could almost imagine them an endless 
 river, flowing, ever flowing, and mingling its waters with 
 the sea. The individual became a part of the mass, he 
 was no longer he, but a part of it. 
 
 The ladies waited, too, for General Bragg who was to 
 present them to their hostess and who tarried to give in- 
 structions as to the arrangement of the camp. Presently 
 he came cantering up the hill, overtaking the party just 
 as they reached the house. 
 
 "Now, Mrs. Lee," the General said when all had been 
 introduced, "these ladies have had a tiresome journey, 
 some of them having come from distant camps to-day. 
 No doubt a short time for rest and repairs of toilet 
 would be a great luxury to them." 
 
 "We had anticipated as much," Mrs. Lee returned. 
 "They will be shown to their rooms at once." 
 
 "I myself will go down to the camp and return at the 
 supper hour with the remainder of our party. What is 
 your pleasure as to the time ?" he asked. 
 
 "An hour hence if that is convenient for you," the 
 hostess replied. 
 
 139
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Be it so," looking at his watch. "A good soldier is 
 never late, you know, Madam," and, raising his hat, he 
 hurried away, while Mrs. Lee turned to her guests whom 
 Virginia was already conducting to their rooms. Before 
 the hour had expired the ladies began to return to the 
 parlor. Ere long the party was completed by the arrival 
 of the gentlemen, showing evidences that even a camp 
 has its facilities for toilet-making. A buzz of conversa- 
 tion filled the rooms until Webster looked in at the 
 door and signified to his mistress that supper was waiting. 
 It would have been most gratifying to Mr. Lee to look 
 in upon the company assembled at his table that Sep- 
 tember evening. It was the very acme of his old-school 
 ideas of jovial hospitality. 
 
 Enjoyment and mirth beamed from every countenance. 
 It was the first camp visit for the ladies present and, 
 notwithstanding the portentous threatenings of battle, 
 the splendid display of the afternoon and the delightful 
 surroundings of the hour had served to produce a truly 
 happy and festive occasion. The guests were enthusiastic 
 in their praise of Mrs. Lee and Virginia as hostesses, 
 while good old Dinah from her post of observation inside 
 the kitchen door fed her own vanity on the compliments 
 paid to the cooking, her broad face beaming all over with 
 a gratified smile when one of the gentlemen called for a 
 third helping to the "finest turkey ever roasted," her fat 
 sides shaking with laughter at the perpetration of some 
 joke within range of her mental vision. As for Webster, 
 the best trained butler on Fifth Avenue could not have 
 conducted himself with more gravity, beckoning to Sallie 
 or Elsie or Meg to carry this and bring that, and imagin- 
 ing himself, in the absence of his master, the sole sup- 
 porter of the honor and dignity of the house. 
 
 Nor was it long before Mrs. Lee discovered that there 
 140
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 were points of common interest between herself and sev- 
 eral of her visitors. 
 
 "Has this always been your home, Mrs. Lee?" one gen- 
 eral asked casually soon after they were seated at the 
 table. 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed," was the quick rejoinder in a tone 
 plainly indicating that Tennessee was all very well at 
 present, but to have been born there, and at her age! 
 It was not to be thought of! "I was born in Virginia," 
 she added proudly. 
 
 "A most excellent nativity, Madam, a most excellent 
 nativity," he replied. "What was your family name?" 
 
 "Graham," she answered. "My maiden name was 
 Margaret Graham." 
 
 "Margaret Graham !" exclaimed a bright-eyed little 
 woman at the farther end of the table. "Why, that was 
 the name of my sister's dearest friend at school in Rich- 
 mond." 
 
 "And who was your sister?" asked Mrs. Lee. 
 
 "Ellen Carter," was the reply. 
 
 "Is it possible? My old friend, Ellen Carter. I have 
 not heard from her in years and I never knew what be- 
 came of her. Where is she?" Mrs. Lee asked with the 
 greatest interest. 
 
 "She married in the North and went to live in Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, and her husband is in the Union army." 
 
 "How unfortunate! That is one of the many dis- 
 tressing features of a civil war," said Virginia, who, in 
 the midst of so much gaiety could not resist a feeling 
 of sadness as she looked from one to another of these 
 stalwart men and wondered if any shadow of possible 
 calamity disturbed them. 
 
 "Yes," Mrs. Wallace returned, " I am in constant 
 dread lest Ellen's husband and mine should be on opposite 
 sides of the same battle one of these days." 
 
 141
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I can easily appreciate your feeling," Mrs. Lee said, 
 "I have always thought it much to be thankful for that 
 we have no near relatives on the other side. As the 
 sister of Ellen Carter, Mrs. Wallace, you are doubly wel- 
 come to my home, and I shall have many questions to ask 
 concerning her before you leave." 
 
 "Thank you. Ellen will be delighted to hear that I 
 have found you and that you remember her so kindly," 
 the guest replied. 
 
 Another conversation led accidentally to the fact that 
 one of the gentlemen knew the Chesters well, had often 
 had business relations with Mr. Chester and had even 
 met him with Johnston's army the year before. 
 
 Supper was almost over when Virginia, in a quiet 
 moment, said inquiringly: 
 
 "I am curious to know, General Bragg, what this 
 move betokens. I cannot understand why you should be 
 marching away from the village. Is it an army secret* 
 that must not be divulged?" 
 
 "It is an army secret, yes, but one of the open sort 
 which admits of discussion among people known to be 
 loyal," Bragg replied with a significant glance at Webster 
 who was, at the moment, the only servant near. Mrs. 
 Lee motioned Webster to her side and whispered an er- 
 rand which he immediately went to execute. 
 
 "Webster is thoroughly trustworthy, I am confident, 
 but of course you do not wish to take any risks," she 
 said. 
 
 "The wife and daughter of Thomas Lee are always to 
 be trusted," the commander began, "and that you may 
 not be alarmed by the movements or our own men, I 
 will tell you that we have determined to evacuate the 
 village." 
 
 "Evacuate! Evacuate the village!" Mrs. Lee and 
 
 142
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Virginia exclaimed together. "Then shall we not leave 
 here at once, Virginia?" Mrs. Lee asked in alarm. 
 
 Virginia looked at the General who continued : 
 
 "No, there is no cause for alarm. I do this because 
 I do not wish to be surrounded in the town and shut 
 off from supplies and thrown into a state of siege as our 
 forces were at Vicksburg. The example is too recent 
 and too disastrous to be followed." 
 
 "But isn't the possession of Chattanooga the object 
 of contention?" the hostess asked doubtfully. 
 
 "The peaceable possession of it, yes," was the reply. 
 "That, we do not propose the Yankees shall have. We 
 shall withdraw our army southward with the appearance 
 of a retreat. Word will be sent out by pretended 
 deserters that we are retreating into Georgia. In reality 
 we shall seize the best positions for battle-grounds and 
 prevent the enemy, if possible, from entering the town. 
 Or, in case they do enter it, we shall be on the heights 
 beyond and in a position to make the place exceedingly 
 dangerous and uncomfortable if not absolutely untenable. 
 You may be sure we shall not give up the town and leave 
 it to the enemy without one of the most desperate 
 struggles of the whole war." 
 
 "And it is to this end that you are on the march now ?" 
 asked Virginia. 
 
 "Exactly," was the emphatic response. "We have not 
 yet definitely located our headquarters but we shall not 
 be farther away than La Fayette." 
 
 "But even that is several miles from us," said Virginia, 
 evidently disturbed by the tidings. 
 
 "A messenger can easily ride the distance in a few 
 hours," he replied, "and unless I am myself very greatly 
 deceived and surprised you may be sure I shall not fail 
 to warn you if there is need of your going to Atlanta. 
 
 143
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 I promised your father to do so, and I shall try to keep 
 faith with him." 
 
 "Well, you'll find me reasonably brave so long as we 
 can have an encouraging message from you occasionally," 
 said Virginia. 
 
 "If it were not for Virginia's determination my courage 
 would all have oozed out long ago," Mrs. Lee declared 
 as she arose from the table and conducted the guests 
 to the veranda where Webster had placed chairs for them 
 and where they could enjoy a fine view of the camp with 
 its blazing fires. 
 
 The gentlemen tarried for a few minutes and then 
 went to the camp to see that all things were made safe for 
 the night. 
 
 "How have you succeeded, Mrs. Lee, in keeping your 
 plantation in such excellent order while ruin prevails 
 
 elsewhere about you?" Mrs. S asked curiously 
 
 when the gentlemen were gone. 
 
 "O, that is chiefly Virginia's skillful management," 
 Mrs. Lee answered laughingly. 
 
 "I have heard that she is a perfectly wonderful girl. 
 General Biagg says she is splendid," said another lady 
 admiringly. 
 
 "O, but that is giving me credit I do not deserve, 
 mother," Virginia hastened to say. "The whole thing, 
 almost, is due to the fact that father was a judicious 
 slave buyer and a considerate master." 
 
 "Many southerners have been that without such reward 
 as we see here," said one woman doubtfully. 
 
 "Not to the extent my father was," Virginia replied. 
 "Our slaves are of the very best character and they 
 venerate my father above freedom itself." 
 
 "But he is away constantly," another interposed. 
 
 "We follow his course and his instructions implicitly 
 when he is away," Virginia replied, "and we are fortunate 
 
 144
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in having an overseer who has made my father's prin- 
 ciples and temper his own in controlling a band of 
 slaves." 
 
 "Why have you escaped the depradations of soldiers, 
 that have fallen so heavily upon so many people?" asked 
 the wife of an officer recently transferred from Kentucky. 
 
 "There is no mystery even about that," Virginia re- 
 plied. "You see, we have hitherto had no union soldiers 
 in our immediate vicinity and by good fortune Gen- 
 eral Bragg is a personal friend of father's and has al- 
 ways had a special admiration for Lee's Summit. His 
 protection, I think, has saved us from the ills that have 
 come upon many of our neighbors." 
 
 "After this delightful visit you will enjoy the pro- 
 tection of more than one Confederate officer," said Mrs. 
 
 "Thank you, I hope we may deserve it." Virginia 
 
 answered. 
 
 "Speaking of changes the war has made," said the 
 Kentucky lady, "you who live down here have no idea 
 what utter desolation there is where I came from. We 
 have had raids from the north and raids from the south 
 and robbery and plundering from unprincipled men who 
 care nothing for either north or south but despoil their 
 neighbors for their own gain until scarcely a vestige re- 
 mains of the prosperity that was ours before the war be- 
 gan. Why, buildings and growing crops alas ! there are 
 no growing crops but houses and barns and negro cabins 
 are often burned in sheer wantonness because they can- 
 not be taken away and the desperadoes are not willing 
 to leave them for their rightful owners. And on the 
 plantations, they dread most of all their freed blacks that 
 know the plan and arrangement of the places where they 
 have been slaves and, having no compunction of con- 
 
 145
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 science, feel themselves justified in stealing or destroying 
 the property of their former masters." 
 
 "Then they have not been properly treated as slaves," 
 Virignia said almost indignantly. 
 
 "O, they are treated as well as they deserve, gen- 
 erally," was the reply. "They are a lazy, ungrateful, 
 unruly set." 
 
 "I know they often seem so," Virginia said, "but our 
 experience has been quite the contrary and I sometimes 
 think masters are at fault for part of the misdemeanors 
 of their slaves. I am sure that not one of our slaves, 
 even those who have left the place, would ever turn 
 his hand against my father or any member of his 
 family." 
 
 "With such masters they are better off than if they 
 
 were_free," said Mrs. S . "They are an improvident 
 
 race, to say the least." 
 
 "Yes, I think myself they are that," Virginia returned, 
 "but I do think they are susceptible to kind treatment." 
 
 From this they drifted into tales and incidents of the 
 >war. One lady, a Mrs. Price, had had a brother in 
 Vicksburg during the siege and she depicted vividly 
 some of the distressing scenes he had witnessed there. 
 
 "No doubt General Bragg has acted wisely not to 
 allow himself to be cooped up in the village here," she 
 said at last. 
 
 "I was greatly concerned when he first spoke of 
 evacuating the village," Virginia replied, "but I have great 
 confidence in his judgment and can easily reconcile myself 
 to the move." 
 
 "I heard him say yesterday that there is only one man 
 in the Federal army he fears and that is General Grant," 
 said Mrs. S . 
 
 "And it is thought in Vicksburg, my brother says, 
 
 146
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 that he will be here within thirty days," Mrs. Price 
 volunteered. 
 
 "We have seen the pomp and pageantry of war to-day, 
 to-night we see it in its social phase ; who can tell how long 
 it will be before we are in the midst of its grim realities," 
 Virginia said musingly. 
 
 "Don't speak of it, Miss Lee," said Mrs. Wallace. She 
 was a timid, shrinking little lady whose husband, it was 
 said, was always in the thickest of the fight. "It simply 
 frightens me to death to think of it." 
 
 Then turning to Mrs. Lee she recalled some amusing 
 incident she had heard her sister tell about school life in 
 Richmond, after which all the ladies fell easily and 
 naturally to relating interesting bits of experience from 
 their own youth. 
 
 So absorbed had they all become that they could 
 scarcely realize more than two hours had passed when 
 the gentlemen returned and informed them that it was 
 ten o'clock and time good soldiers with a hard day be- 
 fore them were in bed. 
 
 It was not until long after the good-nights had been 
 said and silence reigned throughout the house that Vir- 
 ginia retired to the little back room where she and her 
 mother had chosen to sleep in order that their own 
 rooms, which were commodious and comfortable, might 
 be occupied by guests. The scene in the valley had a 
 fascination she could not resist and she sat on the ver- 
 anda until a late hour and until the air of the cool Sep- 
 tember night grew damp and chilly, watching the fires 
 as they died away or blazed afresh with a new supply 
 of fuel, and musing upon the succession of events that 
 had brought them to their present situation. 
 
 When at last she sought her room, she undressed and 
 slipped noiselessly into bed lest she should awaken her 
 mother who was sleeping soundly after the busy, excit- 
 
 147
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing day. Not so with Virginia. She was not nervous, she 
 even felt unusually calm and passive, but she could not 
 sleep. It was an effort almost painful for her to close 
 her eyes and hour after hour, as it seemed to her, she 
 lay staring out of the window at the stars above her. 
 How she regretted that she was shut off from view of 
 the camp. It would be no hardship to lie awake all night 
 if only she might be watching the fires and the men 
 sitting around them, stretched out on their blankets, or 
 walking up and down, up and down, as some of them 
 were doing constantly. How long she lay thus she did 
 not know, but finally without a sense of weariness or 
 sleepiness, she fell into a fitful" slumber from which she 
 was suddenly aroused by the sound of the bugle calling 
 to arms. While she was yet more than half asleep, she 
 sprang up in bed, bewildered and at a loss to realize her 
 surroundings. 
 
 "What is it! What is it!" she exclaimed. And then 
 recalling that her mother slept by her side, she laid her 
 hand gently on her shoulder and said: "Mother, mother, 
 listen ! What does the signal mean and what is the bright 
 light on the hill yonder?" 
 
 When Mrs. Lee was thoroughly aroused she said: "It 
 is the bugle call. There must be something wrong." 
 
 Before she had finished the sentence Virginia was at 
 the window. "See! See!" she exclaimed. "There are 
 fires everywhere. I can count six of them on the hill- 
 tops all along the horizon," and instantly there came 
 to her mind a recollection of those fires that warned 
 the men of Old England of the approach of the dreaded 
 Vikings and called them to arms for defense. Throwing 
 loose robes over their night-dresses, she and her mother 
 rushed out into the large hall and, listening, heard voices 
 in hurried conversation for a moment and then doors 
 flew open everywhere and men hurried past them crying 
 
 148
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 out: "It is the danger signal." "Don't be alarmed." 
 "We are prepared." "There is no danger for you." 
 "Dress yourselves and stay where you are." 
 
 A quarter of an hour went by before a messenger re- 
 lieved the suspense by telling them that the enemy had 
 been seen in large numbers in the valley, apparently com- 
 ing their way, but it was hoped the signal fires, indicat- 
 ing that they had been discovered, would deter them from 
 a nearer approach. 
 
 Another quarter of an hour passed and some of the 
 gentlemen returning announced that word had come from 
 the sentries on the hilltops that the enemy were turning 
 into another road leading toward the village. 
 
 "It seems that for the present we shall not be 
 molested," said General Bragg, "but they have succeeded 
 in spoiling our morning nap. See it is growing light in 
 the east." 
 
 "I neglected to ask last night how early you would 
 have your breakfast, General," said Mrs. Lee apologet- 
 ically. 
 
 "Now that we are up, we may as well have it as early 
 as it is convenient for you, Mrs. Lee. We shall have the 
 more time for our journey and for getting settled in our 
 new quarters," was the reply. 
 
 All was bustle and excitement in house and camp until 
 breakfast was over and ladies, officers and men were 
 ready to depart. General Bragg had required from his 
 subordinates an exact account of the supplies taken from 
 the fields and granaries. In bidding Mrs. Lee good-bye, 
 he showed her the account, asking her to make an esti- 
 mate of what she considered fair compensation for the 
 entertainment of the officers and ladies in her home. 
 
 "Do not think so meanly of me as to suppose I could 
 make a charge for hospitality that would be not only a 
 
 149
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 pleasure but an honor to any southern home," Mrs. Lee 
 replied proudly. 
 
 "It is most generous and kind of you to say so, my 
 dear madam," General Bragg returned. "Let it be as 
 you desire as it respects the entertainment of the guests 
 in the house, and I assure you this visit will be long 
 remembered by us all as one of the bright recollections 
 of our days in Tennessee. As for the supplies for 
 troops, however, they must be paid for in full. It is your 
 right and you must receive it. A few invasions like this 
 would rob Lee's Summit of its proud pre-eminence as a 
 thrifty, orderly plantation." 
 
 "Virginia, dare we receive pay for these things ? What 
 would your father say?" Mrs. Lee said hesitatingly. 
 
 "The question is not open to either you or your father, 
 Miss Lee," the General said as he handed her the ac- 
 count. "I refer you to your overseer concerning the 
 accuracy of this statement. He has been present and, 
 at my request, gave his personal attention to all supplies 
 taken away." 
 
 "It is unnecessary, sir," Virginia replied. "Your 
 word as a gentleman and a Confederate officer does not 
 need corroboration." 
 
 A satisfactory settlement was speedily made and, with 
 a hurried good-bye, Bragg followed the carriages which 
 had already taken their place at the head of the line of 
 march. 
 
 Virginia stood watching the soldiers until the last 
 company disappeared, then turned without a word to 
 enter the house. 
 
 "We shall feel lonely and unprotected for a day or two 
 after all this," her mother said. 
 
 "We are lonely and unprotected," was the disconsolate 
 response. 
 
 150
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 SEVERAL days passed after the visit of the officers and 
 troops, dull and uneventful save for a single message 
 from General Bragg saying there had been no definite 
 change in the situation of the armies. Frequently Hudson 
 or the blacks brought in reports of marching troops seen 
 on distant highways from fields where they were at work, 
 but only occasionally had small forces gone directly past 
 Lee's Summit. Fortunately up to this time, the camps 
 were all too far away for any of those petty annoyances 
 and heavy requisitions of supplies from which many 
 farms and plantations had suffered. Twice had small 
 companies asked for grain or other necessities for the 
 day's demands, but the amounts were inconsiderable and 
 had been furnished uncomplainingly. Now and then, 
 too, short skirmishes were heard when hostile bands met 
 on the march, but such encounters were usually bluster 
 without visible results. 
 
 These demonstrations became more frequent, more 
 furious and more prolonged as the month of September 
 advanced until they culminated in those two awful days 
 which paralyzed every peaceful effort within a circuit 
 of a hundred miles and more, when awe and anxious 
 expectation sat upon every countenance within hearing 
 of the canon's roar and on beyond where tidings flew 
 like wildfire that "battle was on" near the Chickamauga. 
 Little Chickamauga ! a name heretofore unknown beyond 
 the confines of the land through which it flowed, hence- 
 forth made famous and historic by the scenes enacted on 
 those two terrible days. 
 
 The memorable igth of September was Sunday, and 
 Mrs. Lee and Virginia went into the village in the morn-
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing to attend church. All other expeditions away from 
 home they had given up, but this custom they had de- 
 termined to adhere to so long as roads were open and 
 safe for ordinary travel. All morning they had noticed 
 skirmishing and indications of unusual turmoil in the 
 direction where the main body of Confederate troops 
 was known to be encamped. As the services at the church 
 proceeded these threatenings became more frequent and 
 alarming. Mr. Halliburton read an appropriate morning 
 lesson and prayed more earnestly than he had ever been 
 heard to pray before. He began his sermon in a sub- 
 dued tone, pausing occasionally as the noise of battle 
 waxed louder, until all at once there arose such boom- 
 ing of cannon and roaring of artillery that anxiety, con- 
 sternation, awe, settled upon both pastor and congrega- 
 tion. For perhaps the only time in his life Mr. Hallibur- 
 ton was sublime. A moment he stood transfixed, gaz- 
 ing over his trembling flock, then fell upon his knees 
 and bowed his head. Unquestioningly his listeners with 
 one accord followed his example and thus remained 
 while the awful tumult lasted, the very earth trembling 
 and shaking beneath them. At length there came a lull 
 and as the distant sounds grew fainter and less frequent, 
 the kneeling pastor raised his voice in earnest prayer to 
 the God of battles, beseeching rather for peace than for 
 the supremacy of the southern cause, as was his habit. 
 In such an hour the noblest impulses of the human 
 heart are uppermost and the meanest spirit takes on that 
 bond of human sympathy which makes "all the world 
 akin." 
 
 Quietly the little band of worshippers were dismissed 
 and quietly they took their journey homeward. When 
 Mrs. Lee and Virginia reached Lee's Summit, dinner 
 was ready and waiting, Webster said. They looked a 
 
 152
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 moment into each other's faces and Virginia slowly shook 
 her head. 
 
 "Tell Dinah, Webster, she can take the dinner to her 
 cabin for Jake and the other children. It will not be 
 wanted here to-day," said Mrs. Lee. 
 
 All through the afternoon the two women, with 
 blanched faces, sat on the veranda or on the lawn, speak- 
 ing in subdued tones or listening in silent horror to the 
 terrible battle going on. With evening came quiet and 
 repose. Gradually the household fell into its accustomed 
 ways. Mrs. Lee and Virginia ate their suppers and 
 then sat, as usual, on the veranda, talking of the events 
 of the day and wondering as to the results. Jake and 
 his companions turned somersaults or played at leap- 
 frog not far away while now and then an older black 
 stopped to exchange a word with "de missus an' Miss 
 Ginnie." 
 
 "My eye!" said Jake to Isaiah with a wink, "but don' 
 you wish dere'd be battles ev'ry day," and he smacked 
 his lips and "licked his chops" in recollection of the day's 
 feast. 
 
 "Not me!" Isaiah answered scornfully. "Missus git 
 so us' to it she'd nevah give us 'er dinner den." 
 
 "Now der might be sumfin in dat, Isaiah," Jake re- 
 turned meditatively. "I's mighty fraid, do, we nevah 
 tas' ano'er dinner like dat." 
 
 "You Jake ! You Isaiah ! Come heah !" called Dinah. 
 "Don' you know better'n to go botherin' roun' when de 
 missuses is a feelin' troubled? Come heah an' git in yo' 
 wood and kinlins. Don' ye see de cloud in de wes'? Be 
 havin' to make my fiah out'n wet wood nex'," she 
 grumbled as the boys went scampering out to the wood 
 pile. 
 
 It is not necessary to enter into the details of this 
 battle. Every one has read how yet another day of this 
 
 '53
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 disastrous, indecisive struggle left the Union army in 
 questionable possession of the village, the ultimate point 
 of contest between the two armies, and left the Con- 
 federate army, worsted in the fight, in unsatisfactory pos- 
 session of the field, ready to harass and annoy their ad- 
 versary and to reduce them to a state of siege unless 
 reinforcements were speedily received. 
 
 Thus once more the waiting time began for Mrs. Lee 
 and Virginia as well as for the armies in their camps. 
 No message came to them from General Bragg but from 
 flying rumors they gathered there was nothing of im- 
 portance to be told. After nearly a week of suspense, 
 Virginia sent Sam into the village to learn what news he 
 could from the Taylors or other friends, and to see if 
 there were not letters from her father and Hugh. He 
 returned while his mistresses were at dinner and handed 
 the letters to Webster at the door. One was from Nell 
 Taylor, giving them no special information but expressing 
 the writer's sympathy with them in their lonely, isolated 
 condition and assuring them of a welcome whenever they 
 chose to come into the village to her home. 
 
 For Virginia there was a letter from Hugh which she 
 read aloud to her mother. 
 "My Dear Virginia: 
 
 Of course you have expected something more from 
 me than the brief scrawl I sent you on my arrival here 
 but there has been so much to do and yet so little that 
 you would be interested in that, I have postponed wri- 
 ting, waiting for leisure and material for a letter that 
 you would care to read. Even now I fear there is not 
 much to tell. 
 
 I told you in my note how narrowly I escaped the 
 Yankees at Knoxville. The journey from there on was 
 beset with vexations and delays. At one miserable little 
 out-of-the-way place among the mountains I waited three 
 
 154
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 days and had to make a drive of more than sixty miles 
 over the worst roads on earth in order to reach civiliza- 
 tion and continue on my journey. I can tell you my 
 stock of patriotism was below par about that time. It 
 was only the thought of you that prevented me from turn- 
 ing back. I was a few days late but the unavoidable de- 
 lay on the road was accepted as sufficient excuse, espec- 
 ially as there was nothing to do if I had been here. There 
 is still nothing to do. We are all standing as it were, 
 with our faces toward Chattanooga indeed, I am always 
 standing so, you know, Virginia waiting to see what 
 will happen there. 
 
 On the contrary, it is exceedingly gay in the city. We 
 go down there frequently for a change, and' it is a 
 pleasant one, I assure you. I have seen your father 
 there two or three times. How I wish you and your 
 mother had come back with him. I often think when I 
 see a party of handsome girls how you would shine 
 among them. Your personal appearance and your quick 
 intelligence would make you a leader there. Intelligence 
 among women is in great demand these days. 
 
 And another thing, too, Virginia you would be quite 
 the fashion with your self-denial and your small 
 economies. It is pre-eminently the proper thing to appear 
 at social functions in a plain muslin gown or draperies 
 made of fine old lace curtains ferreted out from one of 
 grandmother's chests in the attic. A girl in jewels and 
 new silks would be insufferable to the belles and beaux 
 of Richmond now. This change has come on very sud- 
 denly here. Many people regard it as an indication 
 that we are growing more determined than ever to win 
 in this strife. I myself do not believe it is an indication 
 of anything. It is a mere fashion, a fleeting rage which 
 has happened to catch the fancy of * v ese proud beauties. 
 
 155
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Or, if it means anything, it means that we are nearing 
 the end of our resources. 
 
 Sept. 24th. I have been down to Richmond since wri- 
 ting the above. We hear wild reports of battle on the 
 Chickamauga. They say it was a sweeping victory for 
 the Con feds and that the Yanks showed the white feather 
 disgracefully. Write me the particulars. I can't believe 
 the Yankees ran as they say they did in many parts of 
 the field. 
 
 Pardon the delay in sending this letter. I didn't have 
 time to finish it the other day. Believe me always, yours 
 faithfully, Hugh. 
 
 "How like Hugh that all sounds," said Mrs. Lee as 
 Virginia finished reading, "and a very good letter, too, 
 it seems to me." 
 
 "Do you think so, mother ? I suppose I am by nature 
 perverse and hard to please. It doesn't strike me as a 
 good letter. Hugh is so indifferent and and superficial. 
 Yes, that's the word I want. Now father's letter will 
 have a different ring. You have a letter there from 
 father, haven't you? Read it, mother. Things always 
 look a little brighter for a while after father's letters 
 come." 
 
 Mrs. Lee read aloud: 
 "My dear wife : 
 
 Your welfare at home is my constant anxiety now. 
 Even when I left you in comparative safety, I always 
 paid for the pleasure of a visit at home by a period of 
 unusual dissatisfaction and well, I'd call it homesick- 
 ness if I were a boy. Now that you are surrounded 
 by dangers on every hand, I cannot keep you out of 
 my mind and I regret continually that I did not per- 
 suade Virginia to give up everything there and go to 
 Atlanta where there is no immediate cause for alarm, 
 to say the least I say 'immediate' because, while I do not 
 
 156
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 wish to talk discouragingly to you, yet I fear it is only 
 a question of time until the Union army will close in 
 upon Alanta as they are now surrounding Chattanooga. 
 We hear extravagant reports of the great battle on 
 Chickamauga creek, but their very extravagance excites 
 my suspicion. We have too great a tendency to magnify 
 our victories and to decry and underestimate the valor of 
 of our opponents. The fact is, the North and the South 
 are too closely allied for either to be greatly inferior to 
 the other. The same good Anglo-Saxon blood is in all 
 our veins and it seems to me simply a question as to 
 which can hold out the longer. In moments of enthu- 
 siasm or resentment I am inclined to feel that we must 
 never give up, but my cooler judgment tells me, as it 
 always has, that we were not prepared to enter upon this 
 contest when we did and that sooner or later we shall be 
 compelled to submit to the inevitable. 
 
 But enough of this. It will not please Virginia but she 
 will allow her father to speak freely to his own, I am 
 sure. 
 
 The conflict is far from ended in east Tennessee and 
 there is dissension in our own ranks. As you know, 
 Longstreet was sent to Bragg's assistance. Since Chicka- 
 mauga they have had serious disagreements, at first with 
 reference to plans for the movements of the army, but 
 ending in personal ill-feeling which bodes no good for the 
 cause. President Davis has determined to make a trip 
 over to Chattanooga to try to effect a reconciliation or, 
 failing in that, to devise some plan of compromise. He 
 will start to-day and will be at Bragg's headquarters about 
 two days the first of next week. I write you of his coming 
 for this reason I left a package of papers at home that 
 I find I need very much. They are largely personal 
 documents, but two of them are state papers for which 
 I thought I should have no further use. They are of 
 
 157
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 great importance to me just now. They are in a large 
 yellow envelope marked 'Personal/ in the strong box 
 that we put in the great chest at the Lodge. I wish Vir- 
 ginia would go down and get them and see to it that they 
 are sent by a safe messenger to Mr. Davis's own hand if 
 possible, but, in any event, have them left with Bragg 
 to be given to Davis. This is most important. Do not 
 neglect it. 
 
 Only my high opinion of my wife and daughter makes 
 the thought of your present situation endurable, but of 
 this I am convinced, that the bearing of a well-bred lady 
 is a surer safeguard than locks and bolts would be to a 
 woman of coarser mould. 
 
 Affectionately, 
 
 'Thomas Lee." 
 
 For a time after the reading ceased Virginia con- 
 tinued to sit silent and thoughtful, her elbow resting on 
 the table, her head leaning upon her hand. 
 
 "Well ?" Mrs. Lee at length said questioningly. 
 
 "Well?" Virginia returned in the same tone, raising 
 her head and looking across the table at her mother. 
 
 "Is it a better letter than Hugh's ?" the latter asked. 
 
 "O, I had forgotten all about that," Virginia replied 
 indifferently. "Why, yes, it is a better letter than Hugh's. 
 It is not a frivolous letter, it is thoughtful and earnest." 
 
 "Thomas is much older than Hugh, remember," Mrs. 
 Lee suggested. 
 
 "Yes, I know I am inclined to be a little over-critical 
 with reference to Hugh," Virginia replied the least bit im- 
 patiently, "but Hugh will never write like father at any 
 age. It isn't his style. However, it doesn't matter. 
 Hugh has other good qualities. He has rather an amiable 
 disposition in a careless, easy way." 
 
 All the while Virginia spoke there was that far-away 
 
 158
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 look in her face that showed how little she really thought 
 of the words she was saying. 
 
 "Were you thnking of what your father said about 
 the war?" 
 
 "Yes," she answered sadly, adding quickly, "father is 
 a man of good judgment and this has been his real 
 opinion from the first. Possibly he is right but it will be 
 a bitter disappointment to me. I believed in the cause 
 of secession with all my heart and I reasoned that right 
 and justice were sure to prevail in the end." 
 
 "What shall we do about these papers?" asked Mrs. 
 Lee, always sufficiently executive not to allow the prac- 
 tical to be overshadowed by sentiment or theory. 
 
 "Yes, we must not forget about the papers. That is 
 the most important part of the letter. I will go down at 
 once and look after them." 
 
 "How shall we send them to the camp? Can Hudson 
 take them?" 
 
 "I suppose so," Virginia replied, her mind still occu- 
 pied with her own thoughts, and, rising from the table, 
 she went immediately to the Lodge. 
 
 Mrs. Lee went into the sitting room and picked up a 
 piece of embroidery she was copying from a pattern 
 made in her girlhood for that trousseau which was being 
 prepared when the reader was first introduced to her in 
 the Old Dominion. Her work carried her mind back to 
 the old happy days when she had made the original and 
 suggested a comparison of her own betrothal with Vir- 
 ginia's a theme which was often uppermost in her 
 thoughts. So absorbed did she become, that she scarcely 
 realized how the time passed until she heard the clock 
 in the hall strike three. For the first time during the 
 afternoon, she remembered Virginia's errand to the 
 Lodge and wondered what could be detaining her so long 
 away. She laid aside her embroidery and was in the 
 
 159
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 act of summoning a servant to go in quest of her 
 daughter when she became aware of an unusual com- 
 motion on the lawn, heard a loud knocking at the front 
 door, and saw Sallie go through the hall to answer. With 
 a premonition of something wrong, she paused on the 
 threshold of the sitting room where she could overhear 
 what was said between the visitor and the girl without 
 herself being seen. 
 
 "Is your master at home, girl?" was asked in a man's 
 voice. 
 
 "No, suh," Sallie replied. 
 
 "Where is he?" 
 
 "Ober in Richmond, suh." 
 
 "Is your mistress within?" 
 
 "Yes, suh." 
 
 "Tell her a visitor wishes to speak with her." 
 
 "Yes, suh," and Sallie turned slowly to execute the 
 command. Seeing her mistress at the sitting room door 
 she said: "A gemman wishes to speak to missus at de 
 funt do'." 
 
 Mrs. Lee recoiled a little as she came within sight 
 of a number of Union officers on horseback not twenty 
 yards from the veranda steps. 
 
 "Good afternoon, madam," the stranger said as she 
 came nearer the door. 
 
 "Good afternoon," Mrs. Lee responded with as little 
 hesitation as possible, although her pale face indicated the 
 tumult that was going on in her breast. In her hus- 
 band's absence she had been used to leaning upon Vir- 
 ginia whose stronger nature was better able than hers to 
 meet unpleasant situations. She had never even pic- 
 tured to herself the possibility of having to meet the 
 Federal soldiers all alone. 
 
 "Whose place is this?" the man asked in a brusque, 
 business-like way. 
 
 160
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Thomas Lee's." 
 
 "Rebel or Federal?" 
 
 "My husband is a member of the Confederate Govern- 
 ment at Richmond," Mrs. Lee replied with a suggestion of 
 defiance in her tone. 
 
 "A rebel of the worst type," the man replied. "I 
 wonder you are not afraid to admit it with such a band of 
 men as that at your door," nodding over his shoulder at 
 his companions. 
 
 "It could do no good to dissemble. You could hear 
 the same from anyone you might ask in the neighbor- 
 hood," Mrs. Lee replied with a well-bred dignity which 
 won upon the esteem of the visitor. 
 
 "And you are Mrs. Lee?" he asked, his tone modulat- 
 ing somewhat with the change of heart he was under- 
 going. He was finding the task before him not quite so 
 easy as he had anticipated. 
 
 "I am." 
 
 "Related to the rebel commander?" He paused an 
 instant before repeating the offensive word, but even the 
 new light in which he was beginning to see things did 
 not fully reconcile him to the use of a milder term. 
 
 "Distantly related to him, yes, sir." 
 
 "Well, Mrs. Lee, I am sorry to intrude, but you know 
 war is no respecter of persons. It lays its hand heavily 
 upon all who chance to come in its path. You have a 
 fine place here." 
 
 "It is a very pleasant home," Mrs. Lee said, seeing that 
 some response was expected. 
 
 "How many rooms have you ?" 
 
 "Sixteen." 
 
 "Ah!" he said, pausing as if to consider. "Sixteen 
 rooms and two persons in family, amply sufficient for the 
 accommodation of a dozen soldiers in addition to your- 
 selves." 
 
 161
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Mrs. Lee did not reply. She had no inclination to 
 smooth the way for the intruder. 
 
 "As I said before, I am sorry to seem disagreeable, 
 madam," he continued hesitatingly, "but we are com- 
 pelled to ask you to permit us to take possession of your 
 house for a time as quarters for this band of officers with 
 me. I hope you will be able to view the matter in its 
 .true light. I assure you the officers you see here are 
 gentlemen from whom you have nothing to fear. Allow 
 us to stay in the house and provide suitable food for us 
 and you shall be treated with the utmost courtesy, I give 
 you my word as a gentleman and an officer in the Union 
 army." 
 
 "I presume you expect to compensate me for such en- 
 tertainment?" Mrs. Lee asked. 
 
 "Why, no, I cannot say that we do, Mrs. Lee," the man 
 replied with a twinkle of pleasure in his eye. "We were 
 relying upon your far-famed hospitality for a welcome." 
 
 A look of pain passed over Mrs. Lee's countenance 
 
 "The hospitality of the South is no idle tale," she said 
 impressively. "Any one in east Tennessee will tell you 
 that had you appeared in any other garb the door of 
 Lee's Summit would stand wide open to you, be you 
 friend or stranger. Only the hand that seeks to crush 
 us fails to receive a friendly grasp." 
 
 "You make my duty a hard one, madam," the man re- 
 plied, "and I beg you to understand that in making this 
 demand we are but following the example of our armies 
 and even your own all over the land." 
 
 "Spare yourself the trouble of apologizing," said Mrs. 
 Lee, "we were warned long since that such a fate would 
 come to us." 
 
 "Will you dispose of us in the house or do you prefer 
 we should select quarters to suit ourselves," the man in- 
 quired, narrowing the discussion to the present situation. 
 
 162
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Mrs. Lee could restrain her agitation no longer and, 
 bursting into tears, she said, helplessly, "I shall go to my 
 room and you can take possesson in your own way." 
 
 "Can you make provision for furnishing us with food ?" 
 the officer asked with some deference. 
 
 "I will tell Dinah, the cook, to prepare your meals," 
 Mrs. Lee replied. 
 
 "Very well, you and your daughter will be absolutely 
 unmolested in your rooms," the man said, and then, turn- 
 ing to his companions, he gave them the signal to alight, 
 calling to Sam and other negroes standing by to care for 
 the horses. 
 
 Mrs. Lee went to the kitchen, where she found the ne- 
 groes in the highest excitement and indignation over the 
 tidings which Sallie had carried to them of the arrival of 
 the Yankees. Dinah's wrath was especially great, and she 
 received Mrs. Lee's instructions with the direst threats of 
 vengeance upon the digestions of the unsuspecting in- 
 vaders. 
 
 "Yes, she'd git 'em sumfin to eat!" she scornfully de- 
 clared, "sumfin good an' peppery 'at 'd make 'em see stars 
 all day. If that didn' settle 'em she'd season der soup wid 
 some o' dat croupy medicine what Missus lef down to her 
 cabin fo' Jake an' de chillun to take o' nights. She'd put 
 a spidah in der cups she'd " 
 
 But here, Sallie, whom Mrs. Lee had sent to the Lodge 
 to inquire about Virginia, returned, saying that Virginia 
 had gone with Hudson to arrange for the storing of the 
 crop from a certain field, and that Mrs. Hudson said they 
 would surely be back soon. 
 
 Mrs. Lee impressed it upon the negroes to do whatever 
 was demanded of them, reminding them that insolence or 
 opposition could avail nothing either for themselves or for 
 her, and then, bidding them spare her the humiliation of 
 again appearing below stairs, she wen f to her room. As 
 
 163
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 she passed through the halls, she saw the parlors and other 
 apartments being inspected by the soldiers. It was more 
 than woman nature could endure, and, falling into a fresh 
 fit of weeping, she hastened upstairs, locking her door be- 
 hind her. She determined to remain there until Vir- 
 ginia's arrival, when she would go to the Lodge or do 
 whatever her daughter might think best. 
 
 The disappearance of the mistress removed all restraint 
 and the men roamed at will over the house, taking an 
 inventory of its comforts and comparing the desirability 
 of the various sleeping rooms. The leader, who was ad- 
 dressed as Colonel Allerton by his companions, took, ex- 
 officio, the first choice, selecting, of course, the front guest 
 chamber overlooking the river view. Other officers 
 divided the remaining bedrooms among them, numerous 
 hot contentions arising as to which should have the right 
 of choice. The Colonel was frequently called on to settle 
 these disputes. At one time he observed a group of men 
 talking loudly and making themselves at home among the 
 toilet articles on the bureau of a daintily furnished room. 
 He stepped to the door to discover the cause of the dis- 
 turbance. 
 
 "By George! I guess it's about my time to choose," a 
 coarse man by the name of Captain Painter was saying, 
 "and I rather think I'll get about the best room of the lot. 
 There's everything here that heart could wish for," he 
 continued, perfuming himself from the contents of a cut- 
 glass bottle. "Patterson, will you go partners with me 
 here?" 
 
 "This is evidently the young lady's room and not at 
 our disposal, Captain," said Colonel Allerton in remon- 
 strance. 
 
 "The deuce it ain't," was the retort. "What do I care 
 for the young lady? I mean to establish myself right 
 here in the midst of all this finery." 
 
 164
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "You can't do it, Painter, T promised on my honor that 
 the apartments of the ladies should be reserved strictly 
 for their own use," the Colonel urged. 
 
 "The devil you did," Painter exclaimed angrily. "Peo- 
 ple who want their rights respected must not turn rebel," 
 and he threw himself recklessly into a frail settee which 
 creaked beneath his weight. 
 
 "Rebel or no rebel, not one article in this room shall 
 be molested," said Colonel Allerton, drawing a revolver 
 from his pocket with a menacing gesture. "Out of here, 
 the last one of you. There's plenty of room here without 
 intrusion upon the ladies." 
 
 Painter beat a hasty retreat but he bore with him a 
 grudge which promised many a petty annoyance for the 
 superior officer. 
 
 In the kitchen the Colonel so ingratiated himself with 
 the negroes by small tips and coaxing phrases that they 
 were measurably won from their preconceived prejudices. 
 Dinah's wrathful countenance gave place to her usual 
 benign expression and she strongly advised grave con- 
 sideration of their conduct, cautioning Sallie and Meg not 
 to be too hasty in their tempers and " 'lowing missus 
 probably knowed bettah than she did, aftah all, what wus 
 becomin' under such succumstances." A generous sup- 
 ply of good things for the table was thus easily insured. 
 
 In the meantime others of the party had explored the 
 cellar, demonstrating their satisfaction as they ascended 
 the steps by divers pantomime performances. 
 
 "Is it all right, Carson?" the Colonel asked with a 
 meaning smile. 
 
 "I should say!" Major Carson replied. "Enough to 
 outlast Bragg many a day." 
 
 "Good!" said the Colonel, the smile developing into a 
 broad grin while he rubbed his hands together as if in 
 
 165
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 self congratulation. "We've struck it rich here. It's the 
 best I've seen south of the Ohio River." 
 
 "And, by Jove ! but won't the boys from down the road 
 open their eyes when they come to spend an evening with 
 us in the great parlors there ! Campaigning on this scale 
 is not so bad after all." As he spoke, Carson walked 
 up to a closed door and tried the lock. 
 
 "Fast!" he exclaimed, surveying the door all over 
 critically. "What does it mean, do you suppose, Colonel ? 
 There must be something in here worth finding." 
 
 "Don't know, I'm sure. We'll ask the ladies to ex- 
 plain," the Colonel replied carelessly, adding as an after- 
 thought, "We're short a bedroom or two unless Mrs. Lee 
 and her daughter decide to withdraw from the house and 
 this may fit us out exactly." 
 
 "The ladies be d ," scoffed Painter who arrived 
 
 upon the scene just in time to get an inkling of the situa- 
 tion. "Break her open, Carson!" and with a bound he 
 threw himself against the door of the library where Vir- 
 ginia had collected their treasures for safe keeping. The 
 lock snapped, the door flew open, and only the long library 
 table against which Painter landed kept him from sprawl- 
 ing on the floor. Under cover of the hilarity that fol- 
 lowed, a number of men rushed into the room and 
 began overhauling books, pictures and bric-a-brac. It 
 was like the opening of a treasure house and the in- 
 truders gloated over the choice prizes they hoped to 
 confiscate. Colonel Allerton's revolver was again in 
 evidence. 
 
 "Not so, my men" he shouted above the din. "This rob- 
 bery and plundering is a species of vandalism that can- 
 not go on under my command. We are here to be lodged 
 and fed, not to devastate the premises and, Painter, I'll 
 report you for insubordination if I have many more of 
 your rows to settle to-day." Taking his station inside 
 
 166
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the door, the Colonel waited until the men had satisfied 
 their curiosity and sought new fields of amusement and 
 then, carefully shutting the door, he made it fast and 
 issued orders that it should not be opened again. He 
 had enough innate refinement to appreciate the home 
 into which he had come and he would not see it ruth- 
 lessly despoiled. 
 
 The soldiers had been in possession of the house for 
 more than an hour when Virginia returned and they were 
 taking their ease on the veranda or in the parlors, 
 smoking, talking, playing chess or cards. Recalling her 
 father's warning, she comprehended the situation at once 
 and, summoning all the dignity and fortitude she could 
 command, she walked bravely up the steps. 
 
 "What does this mean?" she demanded of the gentle- 
 men on the veranda who were busily engaged and had not 
 observed her coming. 
 
 "Ho! This must be the young lady!" Painter ex 
 claimed loudly enough to be distinctly heard, while 
 Colonel Allerton, rising, came toward Virginia with a 
 respectful bow. 
 
 "It means, Miss," he said, ignoring Painter, "that, 
 according to the usages of war, this house has been taken 
 as quarters for officers during the sojourn of the Federal 
 Army in this vicinity." 
 
 "Such usage is rather hard upon the citizens, sir," the 
 young lady replied coldly. 
 
 "Unfortunately that is true, Miss Lee, I suppose ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," Virginia said proudly. 
 
 "But we have for precedent the custom of the noblest 
 armies in history and for authority, the Federal govern- 
 ment at Washington," Colonel Allerton argued. 
 
 "And this is the treatment we receive from the gov- 
 ernment we are asked to respect and uphold!" she said 
 
 167
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in a bitter tone. The best of us are often unreasonable 
 under extreme provocation. 
 
 "This is the treatment that government permits its 
 defenders to mete out to those who take part in a rebel- 
 lion against its authority," the Colonel replied firmly, 
 although his tone and manner were kindly and deferen- 
 tial. 
 
 "Be darned if I'd parley with the spit-fire!" grumbled 
 Captain Painter, again in a tone sufficiently loud to be 
 heard by every one on the veranda. 
 
 "Hold your tongue, Painter, and don't open your 
 mouth again unless your opinion is asked," said Colonel 
 Allerton sternly. 
 
 Virginia cast a contemptuous glance at Painter and 
 then, turning to the superior officer, said anxiously, 
 "Where is my mother, sir?" 
 
 "She is in her room, Miss Lee. You will find a guard 
 before her door, as before your own, not for confinement, 
 but for protection." 
 
 "Pardon me, sir," she replied, "but we shall not remain 
 in our rooms or in the house. We shall go at once to the 
 Lodge at the foot of the hill and leave the entire house 
 at your disposal." 
 
 "As you like, Miss," the Colonel said. "I am sorry 
 to be the cause of excluding you from your home. It 
 was not our intention to do so, but if you prefer it, you 
 must use your own pleasure." 
 
 Virginia bowed coolly and entered the house without 
 further words, going directly to her mother's room. 
 After a short consultation, they hastily packed their 
 personal effects and sent them to the Lodge, whither they 
 themselves followed a few minutes later. 
 
 On the veranda Virginia, who realized that, however 
 indignant she might be, she could not better their con- 
 dition by exciting the animosity of the soldiers, paused 
 to say to Colonel Allerton, "You have, no doubt, shown 
 
 168
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 us all the consideration possible under the circumstances 
 and the day may come when I can appreciate it. Just 
 now, of course, the bitterness is too overwhelming to 
 admit a softer sentiment." 
 
 "I understand you perfectly, Miss Lee," answered 
 the Colonel with evident sympathy. "I have two 
 daughters of my own and I can easily imagine what their 
 state of mind would be under similar circumstances. 
 Will you permit someone to accompany you to your 
 destination ?" 
 
 "Thank you, no, sir, it is not necessary," she said, 
 and, taking her mother's arm, passed out from the house. 
 It was the end of the old life. All things from hence- 
 forth were new. 
 
 A young lieutenant, sitting a little apart from his 
 companions on the veranda, had risen carelessly when 
 Virginia entered the house and sauntered out upon the 
 lawn. Finding a comfortable seat in the shade of a 
 large tree, he established himself there in the hope of ob- 
 taining a word with her as she and her mother passed 
 him on their way to the Lodge. He felt intuitively that 
 assurance of "a friend at court" would be a source of 
 comfort to them. As they came down the drive, he left 
 his seat and advanced to meet them. Something familiar 
 in the tall form, broad shoulders, manly bearing, and es- 
 pecially in the grave grey eyes, smote strangely on Vir- 
 ginia's heart and a thrill of happiness that tingled to her 
 finger tips swept over her. The impulse was instantly 
 succeeded by a revulsion of feeling that was almost 
 overpowering as she noticed his Federal uniform and 
 realized its signification. 
 
 Mrs. Lee also recognized the officer and with an ex- 
 clamation of pleasure born of a sense of security lent 
 by the presence of an old friend, she left Virginia's side 
 and hurried forward to greet Philip Blair. 
 
 169
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Blair cordially returned the greeting, expressing the 
 deepest regret that he should see them in so unfortunate a 
 situation. He was turning to Virginia with eager ex- 
 pectancy when his ardor was so chilled by her freezing 
 manner that the very words he meant to utter died on his 
 lips. 
 
 "And are we to understand that you are of the num- 
 ber of these men who have turned us from our home, 
 Mr. Blair?" she asked scornfully. 
 
 "I count myself fortunate in being able to say that I 
 am, Miss Lee," Blair answered earnestly. "You cannot 
 possibly regret the existence of such circumstances more 
 keenly than I do, but since they do exist, I shall " 
 
 "Pray desist, Mr. Blair. Any explanation you can 
 make is decidedly superfluous," Virginia interrupted with 
 a movement plainly indicating that she considered the in- 
 terview at an end. 
 
 "Pardon me, Miss Lee," Philip returned before stand- 
 ing aside for her to pass, "but you do me an injustice 
 which only time and your own good judgment can set 
 right." 
 
 With this he raised his hat, stepped out of the path 
 and allowed the two ladies to proceed on their way. 
 
 "Virginia," Mrs. Lee remonstrated when they were out 
 of hearing, "I think you were wrong to treat Mr. Blair 
 so. He might have been of the greatest advantge to us 
 here." 
 
 But Virginia's overwrought nerves could stand no 
 more. Great tears gathered in her eyes and she dashed 
 them angrily away as she said, "I do not want him to 
 be of advantage to us. I hate a Yankee with all the 
 ardor of my soul and most of all, one who can come 
 like a robber into a house where he has once enjoyed the 
 kindest hospitality, bringing a dozen equally unprin- 
 cipled comrades with him. I have no doubt that he, 
 
 170
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 remembering the place, is responsible for their presence 
 here." 
 
 Philip Blair turned slowly away. He was in no mood 
 to return to the jokes and games and laughter on the 
 veranda. He sought a sheltered nook on the lawn and 
 spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to think out 
 the problem before him. Although he felt keenly the 
 injustice Virginia had done him, he was genuinely sorry 
 for her and he determined to bide his time until an 
 opportunity offered of proving his fidelity. It was in the 
 hope that he might shield Mrs. Lee and Virginia from 
 anxiety and indignity that he had come to Lee's Summit 
 with Colonel Allerton and his fellow officers. He knew 
 the day might come when they would need such protec- 
 tion and he now gave himself definitely to the resolve 
 that no pardonable display of indignation on Virginia's 
 part should turn him from his purpose. 
 
 171
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BLAIR watched in vain for an opportunity to speak 
 again with Virginia. He felt so strongly within him- 
 self his loyalty to the Lees and the sincerity of his 
 desire to aid them that even in the face of the rebuff 
 he had suffered he still believed he could win back their 
 friendship, could he but find some way to reach Vir- 
 ginia. A few times, indeed, he saw her in the vicinity 
 of the Lodge but always her errand called her in another 
 direction and not once did she look toward the house. 
 It was very evident she had, of herself, no intention of 
 relenting. On Sunday morning Blair noticed Sam wait- 
 ing with the carriage before the Lodge and a few minutes 
 later, Mrs. Lee and Virginia entered it and were driven 
 to the village church as he rightly supposed. He was at 
 dinner when they returned and for two or three days 
 thereafter he caught not a glimpse of either of the ladies. 
 Already he was beginning to base his planning upon the 
 supposition that they had abandoned the plantation. He 
 sat one morning on the balcony of a second-story window, 
 ostensibly reading a newspaper, in reality wandering from 
 discussions of war and politics and finance to the ques- 
 tion which, the more it baffled him, the more it stimulated 
 his desire to work it out successfully. 
 
 As he looked along the highway climbing the suc- 
 cession of hills for a long way in the distance, he could 
 almost imagine the hot summer sun beating down upon 
 himself and Tom as they traversed it for the first time 
 and came within, sight of this home. And then he re- 
 called his first appearance here, Kittie's unsuspecting 
 sally, and Virginia's momentary confusion. An observer 
 might have noticed on his face the same suggestion of a 
 
 172
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 smile which had interested Virginia that summer morn- 
 ing. Nor did the pleased and contented expression 
 leave his countenance as he reviewed the incidents of that 
 visit and the generous hospitality shown him here. It 
 was not hard, now, to put himself in Virginia's place 
 and see in just what light he stood before her. 
 
 While he thus mused, Webster left the house and 
 went down to the Lodge and, a little later, Sam brought 
 Beauty and another horse to the gate and waited with 
 them until Virginia and Webster came out, mounted and 
 rode away. At first the incident impressed Philip lightly 
 and he thought of the expedition as a mere pleasure ride, 
 but as he remembered how every highway was infested 
 by stragglers he was conscious of an annoying sense of 
 disapproval. He had reached this state when he heard 
 Painter's voice directly beneath him on the veranda. 
 
 "Some devil's errand, of course," Painter was saying 
 as if in reply to a remark which Philip had failed to 
 catch. "She's up to some rebel trick, I'll be bound, and 
 I've half a mind to follow her and put a spoke in her 
 wheel if I find I'm right. Allerton's a d d lot too soft 
 hearted and easy with 'em. Come on, Patterson, let's 
 go after her. A jant over these hills'll be good for our 
 digestion, eh?" 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, the two men left the 
 veranda, went to the stables and immediately set forth 
 on their trail. Philip waited until they disappeared over 
 the first hill and then, calling to Sam to saddle his horse, 
 he also prepared for a ride. 
 
 This impromptu procession continued on the way for 
 what seemed to Philip an unreasonable distance. Virginia 
 and Webster, intent upon their destination, scanned 
 anxiously the highways before them and upon either 
 hand, but, all unconscious of the espionage behind them, 
 did not look back or, doing so, took no note of the horse- 
 
 173
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 men in the distance. Painter and his companion kept a 
 close watch upon Virginia, purposely lagging far behind 
 that she might not be suspicious of their movements. 
 Philip often lost sight of Virginia but, confident the two 
 men were keeping her in view, he accommodated his 
 pace to theirs, sometimes even stopping for a while that 
 he might not approach near enough for them to recog- 
 nize him. The sun was fast rising toward the zenith 
 and he had, for half a mile or more, been unable to 
 see either Virginia or the two men when, emerging from a 
 strip of wood through which he had been passing, he 
 saw Painter halting far ahead of him and talking ex- 
 citedly to Patterson as they both looked along the nar- 
 row lane before them and then, with a field glass, 
 searched to right and left a road which crossed their 
 own at right angles. Philip drew his horse to a snail's 
 pace. The conference ended in Painter's galloping off 
 along the road to the left, followed closely by his com- 
 panion. For a time Philip was at a loss what course to 
 pursue but, reflecting that Painter, at the rate he was 
 going, would soon be out of sight, he also gave his horse 
 the rein and reached, in a short time, the cross-road 
 which had seemed to puzzle Painter. Here he was able 
 to conjecture the dilemma which had presented itself to 
 the two men. Far ahead in the lane which his own road 
 now entered, he recognized, or believed he recognized. 
 Virginia and Webster riding leisurely along, apparently 
 without thought of molestation. He saw, also, as he 
 looked about him, that they were approaching perilously 
 near the Confederate lines and felt sure that Painter, 
 knowing this and not daring to follow Virginia farther, 
 had for the present, given up the pursuit. He paused 
 a moment for reflection and then, confident that Vir- 
 ginia, as soon as she came into the vicinity of the Con- 
 federate army, was comparatively safe, he, too, faced 
 
 174
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 about and took the road to the right, in which direction 
 lay a Federal camp where some of his friends were 
 stationed. 
 
 In the meantime, what of Virginia? 
 
 Much to her mother's consternation, she had that 
 morning announced her purpose of going herself to the 
 camp with the papers for which her father had written, 
 alleging her reasons that she wished to consult Gen- 
 eral Bragg as to their present situation and that she, 
 with only Webster as an attendant, would attract less at- 
 tention than Hudson and be more apt to make the journey 
 without interference from the Federal soldiers. There 
 was great demur on the part of Mrs. Lee but Virginia, 
 as usual, was able to silence her objections. 
 
 The greater part of her. journey was accomplished 
 without encountering any one except a wayfarer now 
 and then, bent upon some peaceful errand. As she rode 
 through the wood of which we have already spoken, she 
 heard the strains of a martial band not far away and, 
 as she came toward the open, saw a small body of Federal 
 troops march along the cross-road before her and dis- 
 appear to the left along the road that Painter after- 
 ward took. The circumstance troubled her a little at 
 first, but as she saw the last of the soldiers still march- 
 ing away from her over the hills and lost the echo of the 
 music, her courage revived and she continued her way, 
 thankful for the sheltering wood which had hidden her 
 from the men in blue. After she entered the long lane 
 which, as she knew, led her into territory protected by 
 Confederate arms, she had no further anxiety. When 
 she reached the outskirts of the Confederate camp, she 
 was accosted by a sentinel in grey. 
 
 "Who goes there ?" he asked in the usual tone. 
 
 "A friend," was the brief reply. 
 
 "Who are you?" 
 
 175
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Virginia Lee and servant." 
 
 "What is your mission?" 
 
 "I come to General Bragg upon an important errand 
 from my father, Thomas Lee, an officer of the new gov- 
 ernment at Richmond." 
 
 "What credentials have you?" 
 
 Virginia produced her father's letter which, with for- 
 tunate forethought, she carried in her pocket. The sen- 
 tinel read the lines with reference to the papers to be de- 
 livered and handed it back. 
 
 "It is enough," he said. 
 
 "Will you direct me to the headquarters, please?" 
 Virginia asked courteously. 
 
 "Continue on this road until you have passed a large 
 camp. Inquire upon the further boundary of that and 
 they will show you where to find General Bragg this 
 mofning," was the reply. 
 
 With a brief "Thank you," Virginia and Webster 
 rode on. 
 
 They found their way according to the instructions 
 of the sentinel and shortly arrived at the place where 
 they were told the commander could be found. Two or 
 three soldiers were waiting without and, addressing one 
 of them, Virginia asked: 
 
 "Is President Davis here this morning?" 
 
 "It is not my business, Miss, to know whether President 
 Davis is here or not." The answer was curt, but polite 
 withal. 
 
 "Mr. Davis is here this morning. Tell him a lady 
 wishes to speak with him a moment," she replied in a 
 tone which commanded obedience. 
 
 The soldier smiled grimly, bowed stiffly and dis- 
 appeared. Within were President Davis, Generals Bragg 
 and Longstreet and a half dozen other officers, evidently 
 engaged in serious and not very agreeable discussion. 
 
 176
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 The guard approached General Bragg, gave the military 
 salute and stood like an automaton until Bragg, finishing 
 the sentence he was writing, looked up with a frown 
 and a gruff "Well ?" 
 
 "A lady without desires to speak a moment with His 
 Excellency," the automaton announced, almost without 
 moving a muscle. 
 
 "We've no time for women here. Go tell her as 
 much," was the surly response. 
 
 "But, sir 
 
 "Obey orders !" the General commanded. 
 
 The automaton saluted as before and, turning squarely, 
 stalked toward the door. 
 
 "Hold!" called Bragg as if reconsidering. "Will you 
 receive the lady, Mr. President?" 
 
 "As you please. We are very busy," Mr. Davis replied. 
 
 "Who is she and what is her errand?" the General 
 asked of the guard. 
 
 "She gave me neither name nor errand," was the reply. 
 
 "Go and ask," Bragg commanded and the guard 
 marched out. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen," Mr. Davis began as if taking up 
 the thread of a broken argument, "we must come to some 
 satisfactory conclusion about this matter." 
 
 General Bragg observed a somewhat sullen silence 
 while General Longstreet muttered in a half-audible tone, 
 
 " 'If to do were as easy as to say what were good to be 
 done, chapels had been churches and poor men's cot- 
 tages, princes' palaces.' " 
 
 "// must be done!" the President burst out angrily, 
 striking his fist forcibly on the table near him. "These 
 private injuries and personal insults must be ignored and 
 forgotten for the sake of the public weal," he added 
 in a more conciliatory tone. 
 
 "Past insults and injuries may be igrrred but it is 
 177
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 asking too much to place men where they will be con- 
 stantly subject to their renewal and expect this forgiv- 
 ing and forgetting process to continue indefinitely," 
 Longstreet said bitterly. 
 
 "Can we not make some other disposition of your 
 forces, Longstreet? What would you say to conducting 
 an expedition against Burnside at KnoKville?" As Mr. 
 Davis asked these questions he glanced furtively at Bragg 
 to see what effect his words had upon that General. 
 
 "It can't be done," the latter exclaimed excitedly. 
 "We cannot spare so large a force for a single week." 
 
 "Perhaps we can arrange to re-inforce you from 
 Johnston's army, Bragg," the President said. 
 
 "It is humiliating to be side-tracked, as it were, to open 
 a path to glory for an aggressor," Longstreet said dog- 
 gedly, "but it would be better than being forcibly sub- 
 jected to his tyranny, perhaps. It must be remembered, 
 however, that my forces are in no condition to begin 
 such a campaign. We must be furnished with supplies 
 of food and clothing before we can undertake it." 
 
 " 'If to do were as easy as to say what were good to be 
 done, etc.,' is an apt maxim in many instances, Long- 
 street," said Mr. Davis, smiling sarcastically. 
 
 In the meantime, the guard returned to the place where 
 Virginia who had dismounted, stood waiting. 
 
 "General Bragg asks for your name and your errand, 
 Miss," he said with a slight nod, intended as a bow. 
 
 "My name is Virginia Lee. It will not be necessary 
 to repeat my errand," Virginia replied. 
 
 "He said your name and errand," the guard insisted. 
 
 "Go tell him my name," she answered in a positive 
 tone. "General Bragg will receive me." 
 
 Returning to the commander with his rigid, silent mien, 
 the guard said in answer to the quiet "Well?" "The 
 lady's name is Virginia Lee, sir." 
 
 178
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Show her in ! Show her in ! A nice arrangement this, 
 keeping a lady like Virginia Lee waiting outside like a 
 beggar. Don't you know a lady of quality when you see 
 her?" General Bragg was a bit impulsive and hot 
 tempered at his best and the scenes of the morning had 
 not been calculated to soothe a ruffled spirit. 
 
 As the guard withdrew, Mr. Davis turned .to Long- 
 street, saying: "If that arrangement will satisfy you, 
 Longstreet, and make peace here, you shall have the sup- 
 plies of which you speak. I will provide them for you as 
 soon as possible after my return to Richmond." 
 
 Virginia, having given the horses in charge of a 
 soldier, had approached the door, so that she stood just 
 outside when the guard appeared and beckoned her to 
 follow him. While the President was speaking, she 
 entered, attended by the faithful black, still carrying the 
 innocent looking bundle. General Bragg rose imme- 
 diately and came from behind the desk at which he sat, 
 holding out his hand with a pleasant greeting. "Ah ! Vir- 
 ginia, this is the silver lining to the clouds of the morn- 
 ing," he said cheerily and, leading her to the President, 
 who stood to receive her, he added almost fondly: 
 
 "Your Excellency, this is our Miss Virginia Lee, the 
 daughter of your friend and co-worker, Thomas Lee." 
 
 It has been said that a bright eye and a rosy cheek are a 
 stronger attraction even for an intellectual man than the 
 most brilliant mental qualities a woman can display. If 
 this is true, it is not surprising that our heroine won a 
 ready recognition from the Chief Magistrate of the Con- 
 federacy. The long ride in the morning breeze, together 
 with the excitement of the hour, had enhanced the usual 
 brightness of her face, while the blood of "Light-horse 
 Harry" coursing through her veins gave her a dignity 
 and independence of bearing that could not fail to de- 
 mand attention. To be well born 's the best heritage 
 
 179
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in life, not so much for the sake of family pride and illus- 
 trious ancestry, as for those physical and mental qualities 
 which bear the unmistakable stamp of good blood and 
 good breeding. And so Virginia stood before these 
 heroes of her little hour, whom, for a time, she wor- 
 shipped from afar, in all the glory of a long line of noble 
 forefathers, modest but self-possessed, dignified but not 
 bold. 
 
 A look of pleasure and approval came over the Presi- 
 dent's face as he said kindly, "You are no stranger to 
 me, Miss Lee, though I see your face for the first time. 
 I have heard much from your father and from others 
 of your devotion to your home and to the Southern 
 cause." 
 
 "You are very kind, sir, to remember the mention of 
 my name. I will try to merit your good opinion," she 
 replied modestly, then, reaching her hand toward Web- 
 ster for the bundle and removing from it the yellow 
 envelope, she continued, "I came to you this morning 
 to deliver into your hand a package of important papers 
 which my father wishes you to bring to him when you 
 return to Richmond." 
 
 "With pleasure," he answered. "Your father spoke 
 to me of these papers but he did not expect you to bring 
 them here. Did you come alone?" 
 
 "No, I had the best of companions, our faithful Web- 
 ster," she said with a grateful glance at the good old slave 
 which he returned with a smile of pride and satisfaction. 
 
 "How far had you to come?" Mr. Davis asked with 
 some disapproval in his voice. 
 
 "Not very far, less than half a day's journey. We 
 can easily return before nightfall." 
 
 "Bragg, she must not return alone. See to it that 
 she has an escort," the President said in a tone of au- 
 thority. 
 
 180
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "If you please, sir, I prefer to return as I came. I 
 might have been accompanied by our overseer who is a 
 trustworthy man and an employee of my father's since 
 I was a child, but I thought it safer to come with Webster 
 alone." 
 
 "By what course of reasoning did you reach such a 
 conclusion, Miss Lee?" he asked, smiling. 
 
 "Because suspicion attaches to every man who goes 
 upon a journey now, while the coming and going of a 
 girl are not of sufficient importance to be noticed." 
 
 Mr. Davis's smile passed into a pleased chuckle and, 
 turning to his companions he said good-humoredly, "A 
 fine specimen of woman's wit, this, and a goodly morsel 
 of truth in it as well." 
 
 "For fine distinctions and good solid conclusions, Vir- 
 ginia is to be counted upon," said General Bragg gal- 
 lantly. 
 
 Virginia smiled her thanks for the compliment and 
 then addressing Mr. Davis said: "I will not detain you 
 longer, Mr. President, from your graver work. Pardon 
 the intrusion and, believe me, I am greatly obliged for 
 the kindness you have shown me." 
 
 "Not at all, I assure you. It gives me pleasure to 
 have met you and to bear to your father not only these 
 papers, but an account of this morning's visit. Farewell> 
 and may blessings well deserved attend you." He shook 
 hands very kindly with her and then she turned to Gen- 
 eral Bragg who said : "You know, Virginia, that I would 
 gladly furnish you an attendant on your homeward ride." 
 
 "Thank you, General, but I do not wish it," she re- 
 plied. "Are we safe in prolonging our stay at Lee's 
 Summit a while yet?" she said as the commander ac- 
 companied her to her horse. 
 
 "Perfectly so I think," was the confident reply. "It 
 
 181
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 will be next to impossible for any army to eject us from 
 the position we are about to take up." 
 
 'That assurance alone repays me for my trip to-day," 
 she replied : "I am singularly averse to going to Atlanta 
 unless we are compelled to do so." 
 
 The General urged her to remain at the camp until 
 after dinner but this she also declined, saying she had 
 carried with her a lunch which was amply sufficient 
 for herself and Webster until they could reach home. 
 After she was mounted, she thanked the General for the 
 favors he had shown them, bade him good-bye, and 
 then turned her face homeward, followed closely by her 
 attendant. 
 
 When General Bragg returned to the council-room, he 
 found his companions awaiting him in silence which was 
 not broken until he had resumed his seat, when Mr. Davis 
 said pointedly: 
 
 "If our men were as valiant, determined, and self- 
 sacrificing as our women, our existence as a nation would 
 not be trembling in the balance as it is to-day." 
 
 Again there was a moment's silence and then they 
 proceeded to consummate those plans which failed so dis- 
 astrously within the next few weeks. 
 
 182
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WHILE yet near enough to the Confederate camp to 
 feel themselves safe, Virginia and Webster stopped near a 
 small stream to eat their lunch and allow the horses to 
 rest and graze for half an hour or more and then, after 
 leading the horses to the stream to drink and helping 
 his mistress to mount, the slave stood a moment smooth- 
 ing Beauty's mane and patting her forehead. 
 
 "She's a fine hoss, Miss Ginnie," he said lovingly as 
 Beauty laid her head affectionately across his shoulder. 
 
 "Yes, she has served me many a good turn and none 
 better than to-day. And, Webster," Virginia said, lean- 
 ing forward and regarding the negro with a look of grati- 
 tude and genuine friendliness, "you have been a good 
 true friend to me all my life and I want you to know 
 that whatever the outcome of this war may be, you and 
 your companions who have stood with us in these dark 
 hours shall never have cause to regret your faithfulness." 
 
 "I's willin' to trus' to you an' Marse Lee to do what's 
 right, Miss Ginnie," the slave answered meekly. 
 
 "It shall be regarded as a sacred trust, Webster. If 
 the North wins, of course you are free, but there will be 
 many of your race who will suffer for the daily necessi- 
 ties of life." 
 
 "There's a heap of 'em a sufferin' now, Miss," he an- 
 swered. 
 
 "We shall always remember and care for you, 
 Webster." 
 
 "I ain't none skeered about dat, Miss." 
 
 "And if the South should win, my father will be the 
 same considerate master he has always been, and you 
 will never be in want of comfort and kindness in your 
 
 183
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 old age. 1 say this to you to-day because, in our unsettled 
 state, I may not have another opportunity to talk with 
 you like this." 
 
 "It's all right, Miss. I'll 'member what you say an' 
 do all I kin to keep de ole place an' de niggahs out'n 
 ha'm." Saying this, Webster climbed into his saddle 
 and they resumed their journey. 
 
 The way was so quiet that a feeling of loneliness came 
 over Virginia and an unaccountable dread possessed her 
 as they neared the cross-road where they had seen the 
 Union soldiers in the morning. She refrained from ex- 
 pressing her fears to Webster lest she should not only 
 excite his fears but increase her own anxiety, realizing 
 that in case of an unfriendly encounter, courage and self- 
 possession were half the battle. 
 
 "Hark, Webster !" she said at length, reining Beauty to 
 a short stop. "Did you hear anything? I thought I 
 caught the sound of music." 
 
 They listened a moment but all was silent about them 
 save the swish, swish of the September wind blowing 
 through the tall hemp which grew on either side of the 
 road and intercepted the view for a long distance and 
 beyond which, as Virginia remembered from the morn- 
 ing, lay the cross-road, the source of her present un- 
 easiness. 
 
 "No, Miss, I didn' heah nothin'," Webster replied. 
 "But dese ol' eahs ain' to be trusted no mo'. Dey don' 
 stan' by me like dey use t'." 
 
 "It was probably only imagination," the mistress said 
 as she loosened the rein and gave Beauty a hesitating 
 signal to go on. 
 
 She strove to forget her fears but in spite of her efforts 
 she found herself constantly straining both eyes and ears 
 for sight or sound that would indicate what lay before 
 them. She was annoyed that the hemp fields should 
 
 184
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 lie just in a position to hide that particular road, of all 
 she had to pass on her homeward ride. Finally she could 
 distinguish the end of the fields, the break in their own 
 road, and the narrow strip of wood that lay beyond. 
 
 "When we are past that," she thought, "I shall feel 
 safe." She looked carefully in every direction but no 
 sign of life appeared until they were within a short dis- 
 tance of the wood when she suddenly exclaimed: 
 
 "Look, Webster, I think I see smoke rising from among 
 the trees yonder ! Yes, it is, I am sure it is smoke ! What 
 does it mean, I wonder?" she said, checking her horse 
 and looking anxiously at Webster. 
 
 "I 'spect it means dere's been a camp in dem woods 
 or is one dere now," he answered. 
 
 "What shall we do ?" Virginia said, hesitating and look- 
 ing back over the road they had traveled as if meditating 
 retreat. "It would never do to go back," she said. "This 
 lane is two or three miles long and there is no other road 
 that will not lead us farther from home." 
 
 "I'd say to ride on, Miss. It's about all dere is to be 
 done," the negro replied. 
 
 "Well, let's be brisk then and pay as little attention 
 as possible if we see any one in the woods," she said, 
 urging Beauty into a gallop. 
 
 The column of smoke grew heavier and heavier and, 
 as they neared the corner they saw a goodly number of 
 soldiers running about in the woods, caring for horses or 
 preparing food, while others were seated here and there 
 on the grass eating and drinking. 
 
 "Keep close to me, Webster," Virginia said in a low 
 tone. 
 
 They were unobserved until they were quite opposite 
 the camp when the Captain sprang up, crying, "Halt!" 
 and a dozen voices joined in "Halt!" "Halt!" "Halt!" 
 
 185
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 But Virginia kept up her steady gallop without so much 
 as glancing back. 
 
 "After them ! After them and bring them back," cried 
 the Captain loudly. "We may get from them the very 
 information we're after." 
 
 Four of the soldiers vaulted into the saddles of horses 
 standing near and started in quick pursuit. Virginia 
 cast a hurried glance over her shoulder and crying "Ride, 
 Webster, ride!" she urged her horse forward. Faster 
 and faster they flew and, for a time, it seemed that the 
 small advantage gained in the beginning could not be 
 overcome. Seeing this, the pursuers whipped their horses 
 into a run which soon diminished the distance between 
 them. Looking back from time to time, the young girl 
 saw she must be overtaken. She dare not increase their 
 speed. What should she do! On, on, on they went, the 
 soldiers slowly but surely gaining upon them. The camp, 
 the hemp fields, the wood, disappeared. She could not 
 hold out a quarter of a mile farther. She took a sudden 
 resolve and, slacking her pace, called "Hold, Webster, we 
 can't keep this up longer." 
 
 "Dey'll kotch us sartin," the slave said, out of breath. 
 
 "Let them," she returned. "We have done nothing to 
 make us either ashamed or afraid." 
 
 "What'll you tell 'em, Miss?" he asked. 
 
 "Tell them the truth. It can do us no harm, nor any 
 one else." 
 
 By this time they had turned around to face their pur- 
 suers who rode quickly up to them. 
 
 "Why do you follow us thus?" Virginia demanded. 
 
 "We want to find out what you know," the leader re- 
 turned. 
 
 "I know- nothing that can be of advantage to you," was 
 the reply. 
 
 "That remains to be seen," the man answered briefly. 
 
 186
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Well, ask what you will," the girl said without 
 hesitating. 
 
 "We have nothing to ask. We came to take you back 
 to the Captain," said the leader, taking hold of Beauty's 
 rein and motioning one of his comrades to take similar 
 charge of Webster's horse. 
 
 "You do not mean that we must return to the camp?" 
 Virginia exclaimed in dismay. 
 
 "I certainly do mean just that," the man replied. 
 
 "Pray, pray allow me to answer your question here. 
 I am far from home and I cannot reach there before 
 nightfall if I must retrace this long distance," she said 
 beseechingly. 
 
 "I have nothing to do with that, Miss. I am sorry, 
 but my orders was to bring you back and we only waste 
 time to stand here and argue the matter," saying which, 
 he signed to the party to move forward. 
 
 "Then let loose of my rein. I want to return like 
 an honorable woman and not like a felon," Virginia said 
 haughtily. 
 
 The long journey was made in silence save for an oc- 
 casional, order from the leader or a joke passed between 
 the other soldiers. 
 
 When the camp was reached, the captives were led at 
 once to the commander who rather unceremoniously asked 
 them to alight. 
 
 "Please, sir, permit me to remain in my saddle," Vir- 
 ginia said earnestly. 
 
 "It wouldn't do. A great deal might be concealed be- 
 neath that saddle," was the curt reply. 
 
 "Indeed, indeed, sir, it is not true. I carry nothing 
 you may not see." 
 
 "Dismount, will you, and have done with this arguing. 
 A lot o' our chicken-hearted fellows are a gettin' you folks 
 so spoiled you expect to be treated with as much politeness 
 
 187
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 as if you wasn't in a rebellion against your country," the 
 man said, roughly. 
 
 Virginia sprang lightly from her saddle and stood hold- 
 ing her own rein and looking appealingly into the face of 
 her tormentor, who ordered Webster to follow her ex- 
 ample. Webster looked at his mistress for her approval. 
 "Get down, Webster," she said, briefly, and turned her 
 eyes once more upon the captain. It was Painter, but 
 Virginia, having only glanced at him on the veranda at 
 home, now failed to recognize him. 
 
 "What do you know?" he asked, harshly. 
 
 "Nothing."' 
 
 "Your face belies your words, young lady. You know 
 a great deal," he said, smiling tauntingly. 
 
 "I know nothing of any importance to you," she said. 
 
 "Why did you not stop when we called halt?" 
 
 "Because I was in a hurry to reach home and did not 
 wish to waste time." 
 
 "Another time you'll halt, won't you ?" 
 
 "Perhaps." 
 
 "What's your name ?" 
 
 "Virginia Lee." 
 
 "Lee? Related to the old General?" Painter asked, 
 with an evident desire to annoy his victim. 
 
 "Distantly." 
 
 "Rebel, I suppose?" 
 
 "Call me so if you like, there's no disgrace." 
 
 " Where've you been to-day ?" 
 
 Virginia hesitated a moment. "Come, out with it," he 
 insisted. 
 
 "I have been to the Confederate camp," she answered, 
 boldly. 
 
 "Why did you hesitate ?" 
 
 "To consider what harm such an answer could do." 
 
 "What did you go for?" 
 
 1 88
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I went to carry some papers to be sent by a messenger 
 to Richmond." 
 
 "Who is the messenger ?" 
 
 Once more she hesitated slightly and then said, firmly, 
 "President Davis." 
 
 "Boys, didn't I tell you we'd get at something here?" 
 Painter said, with a knowing wink at his men. Then, 
 turning to Virginia again, he asked, "Jeff Davis is at 
 Bragg's camp, then ?" 
 
 "President Davis was at the camp this morning, yes, 
 sir." 
 
 "Was?" Painter repeated, inquiringly. "Do you mean 
 to say he is not there now ?" 
 
 "I do not know whether he is there now or not," was 
 the reply. 
 
 "Didn't they tell you when he would leave ?" 
 
 "They did not." 
 
 "What was the papers you spoke about?" 
 
 "I do not know." 
 
 "The deuce you don't. A pretty story to expect me to 
 believe. Why did you take them and why do you not 
 know the contents ?" 
 
 "My father, who is in Richmond, asked for them. They 
 were in a sealed envelope and I took them as they were." 
 
 "And you do not know the contents ?" 
 
 "I do not know the contents." 
 
 "What do you know of the Rebels' plans ?" 
 
 "Nothing, sir." 
 
 "Did they tell you nothing." 
 
 "Nothing." 
 
 "What papers are you carrying away ?" 
 
 "I carry nothing away." 
 
 "And your servant?" 
 
 "Nothing but the small bundle you see." 
 
 "Suppose we look into that." 
 
 189
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "As you please," she answered. 
 
 Painter took the bundle from Webster's hand, saying, 
 "look here, old man, what are you doing, dancing attend- 
 ance upon a rebel mistress ?" 
 
 "I follows Miss Ginnie to my dyin' day, suh." 
 
 "Come, come! You'd better be followin' the cannon in 
 defense of your freedom." 
 
 "Please, sir," Virginia begged, "have done with us and 
 permit us to go on. We are a long way from home and 
 my mother will be growing very anxious." 
 
 "I must do my duty," the Captain answered, sneeringly. 
 "Jackson, unsaddle the horses, you and Evans, and search 
 for concealed papers. Baxter, look to the nigger." 
 
 As the soldiers began to execute the command, he 
 himself approached Virginia, meditating a like indignity 
 upon her. She drew back in alarm and threw her head 
 up haughtily. 
 
 "Do not come near me," she said in a commanding 
 tone. "I have not a thing about me that would give you 
 one jot of information." 
 
 "Of course you'd say that," Painter said, coming 
 nearer and reaching out his hand as if to carry out his 
 purpose. 
 
 Virginia sprang quickly aside to avoid his touch, her 
 face pale as death and bearing a look of terror, loathing 
 and scorn. 
 
 "How dare you!" she exclaimed. 
 
 "So ho! my beauty!" he sneered, "You're a trifle 
 skittish. Where are your pockets?" and making a quick 
 movement he caught her roughly by the arm. 
 
 "Hold !" cried a voice from the outskirts of the crowd. 
 "This has gone far enough!" 
 
 "Who are you that you should interfere with me?" 
 the Captain asked angrily, turning swiftly to face the 
 speaker. 
 
 190
 
 "I am the man to report you at headquarters if you 
 bully this lady any longer," was the indignant reply. 
 "You know what Colonel Allerton would say to such con- 
 duct." 
 
 Virginia shot a glance of gratitude at the man who 
 thus came to her defence. She had been too intent 
 upon her desperate situation to note his approach dur- 
 ing her encounter with Painter, nor did she observe his 
 agitation as that individual continued to press his ques- 
 tions. For some minutes he had walked up and down 
 within hearing of what was being said, clenching his 
 fists in anger and bestowing frowns and muttered threats 
 upon his superior in office. 
 
 "What have I done that it is not my duty to do, 
 sir?" the Captain asked. 
 
 "You are carrying your persecution of an innocent 
 woman to an infamous extent and it must stop," was the 
 reply. 
 
 Here the soldiers deputed to search the slave and the 
 horses, reported everything all right and the Captain, 
 turning to Virginia, said doggedly, "You are quite sure 
 you carry no concealed papers?" 
 
 "I give my word on my honor as a lady, sir, that I 
 have not a scrap of paper of any sort about me," she 
 answered at first, but hastened to add, "No, that isn't 
 quite true. I have here a part of a letter from my father 
 in which he directs the papers to be taken to the camp. I 
 carried it with me to insure my admission to General 
 Bragg's presence. You may read for yourself what he 
 says," and she indicated the lines referred to. 
 
 Painter looked at the letter for a moment. "I reckon 
 we'll have to let you go," he said sullenly. "But if any 
 harm comes of this they shall know at headquarters 
 
 191
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 where to lay the blame," he added, with an irate glance 
 at the man who had thwarted his purpose. 
 
 "All right, Captain, I'll shoulder the whole blame if 
 any harm comes of the affair," the man answered, 
 smiling good-humoredly. "But the young lady must 
 not go alone, now that you have delayed her so long. 
 It may be nightfall before she can reach home." 
 
 "We have other affairs to attend to than escorting 
 rebels over the country," Painter retorted. "She set 
 out alone with this old nigger; let her return as she 
 came." 
 
 "Indeed, sir," Virginia said with a grateful glance 
 at her defender whom she had already recognized as 
 Philip Blair, "I am not at all afraid and by riding 
 fast I can reach home before dark. You are most 
 kind but an escort is unnecessary." 
 
 "It is my good fortune, Miss Lee to be riding your 
 way," Blair said as he drew nearer her, "and if you 
 will allow me I shall esteem it a pleasure to attend you 
 and protect you, if necessary, from another annoyance 
 of this kind before you reach home." 
 
 "Thank you, Lieutenant Blair, you are kinder to me 
 than I deserve," Virginia said in an undertone as 
 Philip assisted her to her saddle. 
 
 "No, Miss Lee, I am only fortunate in having found 
 so early an opportunity of showing my good intentions," 
 Philip answered. 
 
 Virginia and Webster turned into the highway, riding 
 slowly to give Philip time to procure his horse from the 
 farther side of the camping ground and come up with 
 them. 
 
 "Pardon me, Miss Lee," he said as he joined her, 
 "but it is not wise for you to ride abroad alone now. 
 
 192
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 I fancy I arrived in the nick of time to save you from a 
 most annoying situation." 
 
 "It was necessary for me to make the journey," she 
 replied. "I am forced to the performance of many 
 duties now that I should not dream of undertaking at 
 another time." 
 
 "I know, I know," Philip answered quickly. "There 
 is not a form of hardship or suffering that war does not 
 bring with it. Have you been long alone as you are now, 
 you and your mother?" 
 
 "Since the war began. My father has been in Rich- 
 mond for more than two years." 
 
 "Two years!" Philip repeated. "And I do you know 
 what I've been doing these two years?" 
 
 "I'm afraid I could guess very accurately," Virginia 
 said, steadily returning Blair's earnest look. 
 
 "Do you remember I told you that last evening at 
 Lee's Summit that I should certainly return?" he asked, 
 determined to make the most of what seemed an oppor- 
 tune moment for recovering Virginia's lost esteem. 
 
 "Yes, I believe I do," she answered as if impelled 
 by some force other than her own will. 
 
 "Well, I've been fighting my way back these two 
 years," Philip said with one of those ingenuous smiles 
 which, from the first, had won Virginia's confidence. 
 "I've been literally fighting my way toward Chattanooga 
 because I knew I could serve my country here as well 
 as elsewhere and something told me I could be of use at 
 the same time to my friends at Lee's Summit." 
 
 At mention of Lee's Summit a look of scorn flashed 
 across Virginia's face and, turning quickly from Philip, 
 she gazed stolidly along the road before them, torn by 
 contending emotions of resentment and gratitude. 
 
 Philip saw the change but he continued earnestly, 
 193 *
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "You mistake me utterly, Miss Lee, if you suppose I 
 came into your home for the sake of the easy berth 
 I could find there during our weeks of waiting before 
 Chattanooga. I came because I found these men were 
 determined to take possession of the place and I hoped 
 to serve your interests there. Will you not believe me, 
 Miss Lee?" He asked the question in a tone so earnest 
 and so manly that Virginia could not but feel the mean- 
 ness of persisting in her unfriendly attitude. 
 
 "I do believe you, Lieutenant Blair, of course," she 
 answered sadly, "but oh! I am so disappointed and un- 
 happy and I feel that every thing I have held dear and 
 sacred is so surely slipping from me that sometimes the 
 bitterness supplants every other feeling in my heart." 
 
 "I know it, Miss Lee, I know it all," Blair replied 
 with the utmost sympathy in his voice, "and my sole 
 purpose in coming into your home was that I might have 
 some small part in relieving the bitterness that I know 
 must inevitably come to you. Not only that, Miss Lee, 
 but the day is coming when you may need a friend in 
 our ranks and I am hoping you will allow me to supply 
 that need." 
 
 Virginia's face had lost its scorn and she was 
 silently, sadly thoughtful for a time. She was trying to 
 adjust herself to the full meaning of Blair's words. 
 
 "There must be other battles here, of course," she 
 said at last, "but do you think they will come soon be- 
 fore winter?" 
 
 "Yes, I think so," the Lieutenant answered. "Things 
 seem to be shaping themselves to that end. After the 
 new general arrives affairs will not go on this way very 
 long." 
 
 "What general?" Virginia asked. 
 
 "General Grant." 
 
 194
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "He is coming then?" Virginia said anxiously. 
 
 "Yes, he is expected any time now." 
 
 Virginia's mind reverted to what had been said of 
 General Grant's coming when the Confederate officers 
 visited Lee's Summit. "General Bragg says that Gen- 
 eral Grant is the only man in the Union army that he 
 fears." The words sounded as plainly in her ears now 
 as when Mrs. Stewart uttered them and a shadow of 
 certain disaster passed over her spirit. 
 
 "Do you think, Lieutenant Blair, that the Union forces 
 will be able to drive General Bragg out of this part of 
 the state?" she asked with a sadness that touched Philip. 
 He looked at her hesitatingly for a moment. 
 
 "Tell me truly, please, what you think," she urged. 
 "You can trust me with your frank opinion. The matter 
 is of personal importance to us, you know." 
 
 "I think, Miss Lee, that sooner or later the Union 
 forces will drive General Bragg out of the state and from 
 the field altogether," he answered firmly but kindly. 
 
 Within the year, Virginia would have dismissed the 
 words and the speaker with scorn if not with derision, 
 but her father's warnings and her own judgment were 
 gradually working a wondrous change in her opinions. 
 
 "You think, then, there is no hope for the Confeder- 
 ate cause?" she asked. 
 
 "None, Miss Lee, none whatever," he replied too kindly 
 and dispassionately to arouse her animosity. "The re- 
 sources of the North are too vast. We can muster men 
 and means for months or years after the Confederacy 
 has been drained of both. It is not a question of honor 
 or bravery but of ability to hold out." 
 
 "The disparity between the North and the South is 
 not to be compared with that between England and the 
 
 195
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 colonies in the Revolution?" she argued, but evidently 
 without real faith in her own reasoning. 
 
 "Certainly not, but our highest interests and best ef- 
 forts are engaged now and will continue to be engaged, 
 whereas England was absorbed in European wars at 
 the time of the Revolution and the Colonies were a 
 secondary consideration altogether," Blair returned. 
 
 "But does God count for nothing in this struggle? 
 You cannot know, Lieutenant Blair, how I have prayed, 
 how we have all prayed, for the success of the southern 
 cause," she exclaimed fervently. 
 
 "Think you, Miss Lee, there have been no prayers 
 offered in the North ?" he asked. 
 
 "I have not thought much about the North." 
 
 "That's just the trouble. If we had each thought 
 more about the other this conflict might have been 
 avoided. 
 
 "Do you wonder, Lieutenant Blair, when you see the 
 condition our home is in that we are bitter in our feel- 
 ings toward the Federal government? And ours is but 
 a shadow of the calamity that has come upon most 
 southern homes." 
 
 Philip listened with evident interest and sympathy. 
 "Your argument begins at the wrong place, Miss Lee. 
 Your present circumstances are deplorable indeed and 
 no one regrets this more than I, who would gladly clear 
 your home for you if it were possible, but it cannot be. 
 It is a natural result, of this war that homes are broken 
 up and lives are wrecked and embittered and sacrificed. 
 The moral phase of the question must be referred to 
 the beginning of the conflict. Now that we are in, the 
 measures that will end it soonest are the best." 
 
 "Yes, I admit that we began it, but we must even 
 go back of that," Virginia replied. "You would not 
 
 196
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 expect us to submit to tyranny, being Englishmen as 
 well as yourselves?" 
 
 "And back of that, Miss Lee. It is not a question 
 of tyranny but a question concerning the foundation 
 principle of our government. But for the incidental 
 matter of slavery, this theory about the rights of states, 
 which is a menace to the very existence of the gov- 
 ernment, would probably have remained a widely diffused 
 political principle, to vex and disturb our peace and 
 safety continually. The institution of slavery naturally 
 gave impetus to the belief in secession in the South and 
 it simply remains for us to prove by the sword which 
 theory shall prevail. The settling of the dispute once 
 for all will be a great national blessing. Of course I 
 have a firm and abiding faith in the principles for which 
 we are fighting, yet I have no doubt many of us would 
 have believed as you do had our private interests been 
 at stake as yours were." 
 
 "Thank you," Virginia replied, "I am glad you are 
 generous enough to say so much for us. As for slavery, 
 while I have never been an advocate of it in the abstract, 
 yet I doubt whether negroes as a race will realize any 
 real benefit from their freedom for generations to come, 
 if they ever do. This war will set them at variance with 
 the whites of the South in a way they have never been 
 before. They will have to look to themselves for the 
 necessities of life and they are totally unfit for such 
 responsibility." 
 
 "The problem of what to do with the race will con- 
 front us when the war is over, Miss Lee. We are only 
 making a beginning of reform now." 
 
 "But I have not given up the struggle by any means, 
 Lieutenant Blair," Virginia said, smiling. "You will 
 find we are not exhausted for a long time yet." 
 
 197
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Pardon me, and believe me that I have too high a 
 regard for you to speak merely for the purpose of dis- 
 couraging you, but to protract this war is utterly use- 
 less and the day will come when you will see it as I do. 
 It is a waste of blood and gold. The result is as ap- 
 parent now as it will be a year from now or two years 
 or three or four, should it require that long to decide the 
 question," Philip said. 
 
 A genial discussion of one phase or another of the 
 great topic of the day occupied the entire homeward 
 journey. As Blair assisted Virginia to dismount, she 
 said with genuine sincerity: 
 
 "I am greatly obliged to you Lieutenant Blair, for 
 the kindness you have shown me. How did you happen 
 to be at the camp just in time to rescue me from the 
 persecutions of that man?" 
 
 "I didn't just happen to be there," he answered with 
 a smile. "I was there for the purpose of looking after 
 you." 
 
 "I don't understand you," she said curiously. "How 
 did you know I should be there?" 
 
 "I saw you ride away this morning and, fearing some 
 such experience as the one you had awaited you, I 
 followed to be at hand if you should need me." 
 
 "You cannot mean that you followed me all the way 
 to the Confederate camp?" 
 
 "No, I could not do that, but I followed you almost 
 to the Confederate lines and, knowing you were com- 
 paratively safe after you were within those, I took an- 
 other road to a Federal camp a few miles distant. It 
 was perhaps your 'good angel' that led me toward home 
 in time to help you out of trouble." 
 
 Thanking him once more, Virginia bade him good- 
 evening and entered the house. In spite of the scorn 
 
 198
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and resentment that her late experience had engendered 
 toward the Union soldiers, a grateful feeling crept into 
 her heart toward this man for his kindness. There is 
 no stronger or more lasting sentiment in a woman's soul 
 than that which draws her to a man who has protected 
 or defended her in an hour of need. 
 
 After this, the acquaintance between Philip Blair and 
 Virginia Lee developed rapidly. It was remarkable how 
 frequently he found occasion to lift his hat and exchange 
 a word of greeting with her or even to dismount as he 
 rode to or from the great house and, with his arm 
 through his bridle rein, walk by her side as long as 
 their path lay in the same direction, sometimes even 
 changing his own course that he might accommodate his 
 way to hers. 
 
 And Virginia ? She was fast learning to watch for his 
 coming with an interest she did not understand nor try 
 to analyze at first, often discerning his tall form among 
 the trees and shrubbery on the lawn when her mother 
 or the Hudsons would never have noticed him at all. 
 Such was the state of affairs when an event occurred 
 that was destined to draw them into even closer and more 
 frequent association than before. 
 
 199
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE warm October sun still fell aslant across the floor 
 of Mrs. Hudson's kitchen which Sallie, whom Mrs. Lee 
 had brought with her to the Lodge, had scoured in the 
 early morning, muttering many a complaint to herself 
 about "Mis' Hudson's clean ways." 
 
 "Be glad," she said, "when de Yankees gits done 
 sojerin' an' goes back norf whar dey b'longs an' Missus 
 an' Miss Ginnie takes me an' goes back to de great 
 house no sich goins on dar Dinah 'n Missus done got 
 no nasty foolishness 'bout dem. Dey scrubs de dirt off 
 de flo' ob co's, but dey leabs de boa'ds an' 'pears like Mis' 
 Hudson done want me to scratch off part de boa'ds 
 wid dis yere san'. Can say dese yere scooped out places 
 roun' de hya'th is cause de house is ol' if dey wants to, 
 but I say Mis' Hudson done scooped dem out wid san' 
 an' de scrub bresh." 
 
 But Sallie knew better than to slight her work, how- 
 ever obnoxious its performance might be to her feelings, 
 and every inch of the floor had been scoured and mopped 
 and polished until even Mrs. Hudson smiled approv- 
 ingly. 'Twas a maxim of hers to keep her kitchen floor 
 so clean that she'd "just as soon eat off it as off the 
 table." To this end, the kettle of boiling water was pre- 
 pared to wash up the floor as regularly as the morning 
 dishes were washed, and at least twice in the week the 
 scrubbing brush with sand or lye was in requisition to 
 guard against the grease spots that might appear if this 
 precaution were neglected. On this particular morning, 
 the water had dried off quickly and left the boards as 
 white as wood can be made and, as was said before, the 
 
 200
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 sun still came in aslant at the south door and windows, 
 although the row of pies on the pantry shelf was com- 
 plete, the White Mountain cake towered in snowy 
 splendor in the corner cupboard, a great roll of sweet 
 golden butter had just been brought in from the milk 
 house and a pair of fowls had been hung away to 
 "plump" for the Sunday dinner, while even the light 
 bread was ready to be taken from the oven; for Mrs. 
 Hudson was a New Englander by birth and, until the 
 year before her marriage, had lived in Vermont with an 
 aunt, one of the severest representatives of the "old 
 school," with whom it would have been insufferable 
 laziness to allow the washing, the sweeping or the baking 
 to encroach in the least on the dinner hour. It was Mrs. 
 Hudson's pride to have all trace of these "extras" out of 
 sight by ten o'clock and never, under the gravest inter- 
 ference, did she allow eleven to find her not ready to don 
 a fresh apron and enter upon the preparation of the noon 
 meal. To-day the last flaky loaf was taken from the 
 oven and wrapped in the clean white cloth with the 
 baking pan turned over it to steam and soften the crust 
 and the good housewife was untying the high-bibbed 
 cooking apron when Sam's woolly head popped in at the 
 kitchen door. 
 
 "Whew !" he sniffed as the appetizing odor of the new 
 bread and fresh pies floated to him from the pantry 
 door. "Bettah keep de do' shet when de Yanks goes by 
 ef y' wants dem good things fo' yo' sef, Miss Hudson." 
 
 "I s'pose if I can trust you I can trust the Yankees, 
 Sam?" Mrs. Hudson returned. 
 
 "Speakin' of Yankees, dere's one on 'em mos' dead 
 down heah in de road 'long o' ou' place," the negro said 
 carelessly. 
 
 201
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Where, Sam, what do you mean?" Mrs. Hudson asked 
 quickly. 
 
 "Down by de bottom fiel', Miss Hudson. 'Spect he's 
 done been stealin' ou' watah millions down dere and got 
 hissef int' trouble." 
 
 "What do you mean, that some of our folks have killed 
 the man?" Mrs. Hudson asked with some concern. 
 
 "Dunno's ou' folks done it. He's ben shot, do' an' 
 his hoss too. Dey's both a layin' down in de road. Me'n 
 Jeff wus a comin' 'long an' seen 'im but we didn' know 
 nothin' bettah'n t' leave 'im fo' 'is own folks t' see 
 aftah," Sam explained. 
 
 Mrs. Hudson's interest was aroused. She was 
 naturally a humane woman and here was a case that 
 appealed to her strongly. Her early married life had 
 been blessed with two children, a son and a daughter, 
 both older than Virginia. The little girl died when she 
 was but six years old, leaving, in the hearts of her 
 parents, an empty place for the little heiress of the es- 
 tate which had been their home ever since. For this rea- 
 son they had been especially fond of Virginia, loving and 
 petting and humoring her almost as much as her own 
 parents did. When the boy grew up, he was taken into 
 the business house of an uncle in the North and he there 
 learned to love the principles which prevailed among the 
 friends and relatives with whom he was associated. When 
 the war broke out, Will Hudson found himself in the 
 same strait that embarrassed Mr. Cunningham, conflicting 
 claims clamoring for his support upon either side. For 
 a long time he pondered the question, weighing the disap- 
 pointment and disapproval of his parents against his own 
 inclination and his sense of right. The impulse of youth- 
 ful spirits at length prevailed, and one day, in the early 
 part of '62, a letter came to the Lodge announcing to the 
 
 202
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 overseer and his wife that their only son had enlisted in 
 the service of the Federal government. There was a 
 stormy scene, the father mortified and indignant that his 
 own interests and influence should weigh so little with his 
 son, the mother sorrowfully trying to intercede in behalf 
 of that son. 
 
 "Well, William, it's no more than we might have ex- 
 pected, sendin' the boy off so young to live at the North," 
 she said, timidly. 
 
 "But has he no regard for us and for his early training? 
 Don't he care that he's helpin' to take the very bread out 
 of our mouths?" exclaimed the father, excitedly. 
 
 "Come, come, father, Willie was always a good boy 
 and he didn't look at it that way. No doubt when the war 
 is over he'll be helpin' us like a man if we are in need." 
 
 "I shan't want any o' his help, Pretty tale we've got 
 to tell Mr. Lee and Virginia." 
 
 "I'll tell 'em, William, and I've no notion at all they'll 
 be angry with us about it. 'Twant a fault of ours, I'm 
 sure." 
 
 "It's no fault of mine, at any rate. He didn't get his 
 northern whims and prejudices from me or my folks, 
 thank God !" complained Hudson, not wishing to cut his 
 wife, so much as to vent the spleen that rankled in his 
 bosom. 
 
 "Now, William, that was an unkind thrust and un- 
 worthy of you, but I won't resent what you say in the 
 heat of passion. When you've had time to think it over 
 you'll be ashamed of that speech." 
 
 Hudson, saying no more, put on his hat and went out 
 to his work, lest his indignation should betray him into 
 further offences of the same kind. After that, there was 
 very little discussion of the son's actions. His letters 
 came regularly, and Mrs. Hudson answered them with 
 
 203
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 kind, motherly missives, sending their love, but telling him 
 nothing of their chagrin over the step he had taken. It 
 was this personal experience that led her to be interested 
 in the Yankee soldier lying wounded almost at her very 
 door. 
 
 "It won't do to leave him there. He may die for want 
 of help. Come, Sam, we'll go down to the lot and speak 
 to Mr. Hudson about it," she said, in response to the ne- 
 gro's last remark. 
 
 "William, Sam says there is a wounded man in the road 
 down by the bottom field and he's 'most dead. What can 
 we do about it?" the good woman called, as she came 
 within speaking distance of her husband. 
 
 "Why, I don't know, Hannah. What kind of a man is 
 he, a soldier ?" Hudson asked, going on with his work. 
 
 "Yes, he's a Union soldier, I think, from what Sam 
 says," she replied, with some hesitation. 
 
 "Then we'll let the Union soldiers look after him," Hud- 
 son said, coolly. 
 
 "But, William, I saw a lot of them ride away in the 
 gray of the morning, and there is no sign of them about 
 the place. If they are all away he might not be found 
 before night, and that may be too late. His horse was 
 shot, too, and they are both layin' down there together," 
 she said, coaxingly. 
 
 "That explains the shootin' I heered in the night. I 
 s'pose he's been prowlin' and maybe robbin' the melon 
 patch and somebody's took him to task," said Hudson, 
 working away with as little concern as ever. 
 
 "But, William, it's inhuman to let him stay there and 
 die, to say nothin' of un-Christian. Won't you even go 
 down and look at him ?" she pleaded. 
 
 "What can I do? Do you s'pose I'll take a wounded 
 Yankee into my house? And there's Mrs. Lee and Vir- 
 
 204
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ginia, d'you s'pose they'd stay if I did after comin' there 
 to git red of 'em?" 
 
 Something of the same argument had occurred to Mrs. 
 Hudson, but sympathy for the helpless man was stronger 
 than argument. 
 
 "Please go and look at him, anyway, William," she 
 begged, hoping the sight of the sufferer might arouse her 
 husband's better nature. 
 
 "Well, Hannah, for your sake I'll go down and have 
 him taken to the great house. There the Yankees can 
 take care of him or let 'im die, just as they like," Hudson 
 said, a little sullenly, and, telling Sam and two or three 
 other negroes to follow, he turned his steps toward the 
 spot where it was said the wounded man lay. 
 
 When they were gone, Mrs. Hudson put on her bonnet 
 and ran up to the great house to see what preparation she 
 could make there for the soldier's comfort, imagining to 
 herself, by the way, what her feelings would be if Willie 
 were wounded or dying and no one willing to help him be- 
 cause his coat was blue. She found, as she had feared, 
 that the men had all left the house that morning and 
 would not return until after dark. 
 
 Mrs. Hudson prepared a bed in a remote part of the 
 house, where the wounded man would be least annoyed 
 by noise and confusion, and then went back to the Lodge 
 to get her "dinner started'" not wishing to aggravate her 
 husband's ruffled spirits by a late or unsavory meal. 
 With Sallie's help she soon had affairs in the kitchen 
 running smoothly, and found a minute's time to run into 
 the little sitting-room to tell Mrs. Lee what had occurred. 
 
 "We must go up to the house, Mrs. Hudson, and see 
 what can be done for the man. He may need the atten- 
 tion of a surgeon at once," said Mrs. Lee, rising and 
 folding up her work. 
 
 205
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 When Hudson and the negroes appeared at the gate 
 with their burden, Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Hudson joined 
 them, and in a short time the soldier was resting in a 
 comfortable bed. A negro was despatched to the village 
 for a surgeon, while Mrs. Lee, who, from long experi- 
 ence among the blacks had acquired some skill in minis- 
 tering to the sick, did all she could for the man's im- 
 mediate relief. Dinner was over at the Lodge before the 
 surgeon arrived, and Virginia and her mother were 
 watching together in the sick room where the soldier lay 
 still unconscious. The bullet was quickly and deftly re- 
 moved and the wound dressed. 
 
 "This was a close call," the doctor said, as he com- 
 pleted his work. "An inch higher and this bullet would 
 have finished the story of life for him." 
 
 Mrs. Lee remained at the house until the officers re- 
 turned in the evening, when she relinquished her charge 
 to them for the night. 
 
 "Virginia," she said, as she entered the room where 
 her daughter sat when she returned to the Lodge, "You 
 can't think how glad I am that we did not allow our 
 prejudices to keep us from doing a merciful act. This 
 wounded man is Tom Healy who came to Lee's Summit 
 that summer with Lieutenant Blair. Do you remember 
 him ?" 
 
 "Of course I remember him. We have almost been 
 entertaining an angel unawares, haven't we, mother?" 
 Virginia said, laughing. 
 
 "I fancy we have won Lieutenant Blair's friendship 
 forever. He expresses the greatest appreciation of our 
 kindness," said Mrs. Lee. 
 
 "I fancy Lieutenant Blair's friendship for us was al- 
 ready assured, mother. He doesn't impress me as a man 
 who would make a pretence of a sentiment he did not 
 
 206
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 really feel," Virginia replied, adding, "However, I am 
 glad for his sake as well as the man's own that we did 
 what was right." 
 
 After this there was constant coming and going be- 
 tween the Lodge and the house, Virginia herself often 
 visiting the patient with delicacies prepared in Mrs. 
 Hudson's kitchen. On such occasions, Philip Blair made 
 it convenient to be on the veranda or in the hall or even 
 by Tom's bedside for a bit of conversation with the hand- 
 some little rebel, as she was called by the soldiers who 
 made merry with the Lieutenant over his evident weak- 
 ness for her society. As the days passed and the ac- 
 quaintance ripened, he was emboldened to return with 
 her along the shady drive or loiter beneath the spreading 
 trees, now gorgeous in the varied hues of autumn. Grad- 
 ually, too, he began to "drop in as he was going past" on 
 one trivial errand or another until at last he made so 
 free as to join Virginia on the little porch at the Lodge 
 with no better excuse than because he was lonesome and 
 had nothing else to do. Such visits soon became so much 
 a matter of course that never a day went by that the 
 young Lieutenant did not find some opportunity to culti- 
 vate the friendship which was fast becoming dangerously 
 interesting to them both. Walking, riding, visiting, read- 
 ing, the days that had hitherto dragged wearily upon 
 Philip's hands sped all too swiftly until Tom had been 
 more than three weeks at Lee's Summit and the surgeon 
 pronounced him strong enough to be removed to the hos- 
 pital camp, whither Lieutenant Blair accompanied him. 
 
 "I'll be back in a day or two," Blair said to Virginia 
 when he left. "I must stay that long with Tom to see 
 that he is all right after the journey, but it will not be 
 necessary for me to remain longer, I think. Shall I be 
 welcome when I return?" 
 
 207
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "The children of the Old Dominion pride themselves on 
 their hospitality, Lieutenant Blair," she replied. 
 
 Philip regarded her so steadily and intently for a mo- 
 ment that her eyes fell before his gaze. "That is what 
 you told me once before, do you remember?" he said. 
 
 Virginia looked quickly and brightly up at him. "And 
 you were three years in taking advantage of the assur- 
 ance," she said laughingly. 
 
 "Let us hope I shall not be detained so long again," 
 Philip replied earnestly although he smiled as he added, 
 "your answer is a little indefinite but it is enough to 
 bring me." 
 
 It was during this absence that Virginia awoke to the 
 real nature of her interest in Philip Blair. She had felt 
 so sure of her undying allegiance to the southern cause 
 and of her inveterate hatred of Yankees and everything 
 pertaining to them that no thought of danger in her asso- 
 ciation with Blair had come to her. She was shocked 
 and alarmed by the loneliness that now oppressed her. 
 What could it mean? Certainly not that she, Virginia 
 Lee, was developing an attachment for a Yankee officer! 
 She could not, would not believe it! And when he re- 
 turned she meant to be too busy for a renewal of the 
 late intimacy. This determination lasted until the end of 
 the third day and then Virginia began to feel restless and 
 ill at ease and to wonder why Lieutenant Blair did not 
 return as he said he would, finding herself again and 
 again watching the highway for a rider who did not come. 
 Not a horseman appeared on the distant hills that was 
 not cited by her quick eye, but none materialized into 
 the form for which she looked. As one by one she 
 counted the days, four, five, six, and then a week, ten 
 days, two weeks, all the loneliness came back to her, her 
 good resolutions were forgotten and she began to long 
 
 208
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 for sight of the absent soldier or for some word to tell 
 her why he had not returned. 
 
 Once when she rode by the side of Colonel Allerton 
 for a little way, a question concerning the lieutenant rose 
 to her lips but she suppressed it with scorn lest she dis- 
 play an undue interest in a man who was almost an utter 
 stranger to her. Soon he became to her but one more 
 pleasant association dropped out of her life, a "ship 
 that had passed in the night" and had drifted on with the 
 things that "were," leaving her, as before, with a burden 
 of care and responsibility. Early in November a Con- 
 federate soldier came to the Lodge in disguise with a 
 message from General Bragg who sent them the most 
 hopeful assurances of relief from their unfortunate situ- 
 ation before many weeks should pass. He dare not at- 
 tempt to communicate anything definite to them, the 
 messenger said, but he urged them to feel no great un- 
 easiness and to bear their present annoyance and priva- 
 tion as patiently as possible. Thus encouraged, Virginia 
 renewed her efforts among the blacks and Hudson con- 
 tinued the labor in the fields, notwithstanding the appar- 
 ent uselessness of such a course. 
 
 Colonel Allerton had, from the first, shown a friendly 
 spirit toward the Lees and had proven himself a willing 
 and efficient protector of their interests. He, of course, 
 could not prevent the ravaging of their fields and store- 
 houses and probably had not the inclination to do so, re- 
 garding this, like the seizure of their home, as a rightful 
 and honorable necessity of war. But he persistently for- 
 bade all ruthless mutilation of the premises and sought 
 to restrain lawless and unjust infringement of the rights 
 of the owners. This course had gradually won Virginia's 
 admiration and respect in spite of her antipathy toward 
 him. One event, particularly, contributed to this result. 
 
 209
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 On a cool frosty evening, when a chilling wind, after 
 a bright sunny day, suddenly rushed down from the 
 north, Captain Painter and two or three kindred spirits 
 determined to make the house more cheerful and com- 
 fortable by building a fire in the great fireplace in the 
 parlor. They went in search of fuel and were helping 
 themselves at the wood pile that had been hauled in for 
 winter when Painter exclaimed maliciously: 
 
 "What an excellent back-log one of the fine old trees 
 on the lawn would make! Besides it would be a capital 
 way to tantalize my young lady, who assumes such high 
 and mighty airs!" and, seizing an axe, he called out, 
 "Come on, boys, we'll down one of them just for spite !" 
 
 His companions, who were ordinarily of less despicable 
 temperament than himself, had been taking an extra al- 
 lowance of "fire water" to counteract the frostiness in 
 the air and they were now in the mood for a bit of excite- 
 ment, so they fell in with the proposition readily enough 
 and followed their leader in high spirits. A crowd of 
 pickaninnies trotted at their heels while Sam, who had 
 been in the kitchen trying to inveigle Dinah out of a piece 
 of the mince pies she was baking and who chanced to 
 pass the wood-pile on his way to the barn just in time 
 to hear Painter's bravado remark, ran with all speed by 
 a roundabout path to the Lodge and gasped out breath- 
 lessly to Virginia who stood in the doorway: 
 
 "Dey's a cuttin' de big trees down on de lawn, Miss 
 Ginnie. Run quick! It's Painter an' he's a doin' it to 
 tease you, I heered 'im say it a minute ago!" 
 
 Like a flash Virginia darted away, not heeding, even 
 if she heard, her mother's insistent call, Sam following 
 close behind, eager to see the fun which he confidently 
 expected would ensue. 
 
 By the time Virginia reached the scene of action, 
 210
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 guided to the spot by the sound of voices, the men were 
 gathered about one of the finest trees on the lawn and 
 Painter, proposing to give -the first strokes, had already 
 raised his axe when the young girl shouted loudly : 
 
 "Captain Painter, don't touch that tree !" 
 
 "Why not?" he asked, laughing coarsely and again 
 raising the axe which he had involuntarily lowered at 
 the first sound of her voice. 
 
 "It is a sin to cut such a tree and you shall not do it!" 
 she answered and, springing forward, she threw her arms 
 lovingly about the tree which sheltered the little summer 
 house where she had spent so many happy hours. 
 
 "How dare you!" he exclaimed, restraining the stroke 
 he had meant to make in spite of her command. "Get 
 out or you'll be hurt. I mean to cut this tree." 
 
 "You will not cut this tree!" was the determined reply. 
 
 "Vixen!" he cried angrily. "Are you afraid of noth- 
 ing?" 
 
 "Not of you," Virginia replied boldly, "you wouldn't 
 dare to strike me with that axe." 
 
 "Take her away, men, peaceably if she will, by force 
 if necessary," Painter called to his companions. 
 
 Virginia turned toward the soldiers and, planting her 
 back firmly against the tree, said defiantly : 
 
 "I'll report the first man that touches me, to Colonel 
 Allerton. You know you would not dare to do this in 
 his presence!" 
 
 "Take her away, I say! Are you all dastardly cow- 
 ards ?" Painter yelled in a rage. 
 
 The tempestuous scene had thrown such a damper over 
 the spirits of the men that Painter's influence was lost. 
 They stood aloof from the trte while one of them said 
 doggedly : 
 
 "Take her away yourself, if you want it done." 
 211
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Virginia braced herself and, tossing her head, looked 
 triumphantly at Painter who, trembling with passion, 
 shouted, "I'll have a back log from this lawn for our 
 fire !" And with two or three bounds he reached another 
 tree and buried his axe in its trunk before opposition from 
 anyone was possible. The young protector, divining his 
 purpose, was not far behind and before he could extricate 
 his axe and prepare for another stroke, she again inter- 
 posed her own body between the tree and its despoiler. 
 Flinging the axe away, Painter seized the girl rudely by 
 the arm. 
 
 "I don't mean to hurt you if I can help it, young 
 woman," he said sullenly, "but I will cut this tree." 
 
 "O, no you won't," Virginia retorted tantalizingly as 
 she tightened her hold about the tree. 
 
 The bark tore her tender hands as Painter gave her 
 body a vigorous wrench and she feared she must give up 
 if this struggle continued long. She felt her hands slip- 
 ping in spite of all she could do, when suddenly, without 
 an instant's warning, there was a loud thug, Painter was 
 sprawled headlong on the ground, six feet from where 
 they stood and Colonel Allerton's voice cried out: 
 
 "Take what you deserve, Painter! Look after him, 
 men. He's a villainous coward and you can tell him I 
 said so when he comes to his senses." 
 
 Turning to Virginia, he said, "I am sorry, Miss Lee, 
 that you must be repeatedly subjected to this man's in- 
 sults. He is a good fighter and, as such, he holds his 
 rank and position. Personally, he is not fit to associate 
 with gentlemen and ladies." 
 
 "Thank you, Colonel Allerton. I cannot tell you how 
 I thank you for your goodness. I should not have come 
 here, I suppose, but I couldn't bear the thought of having 
 
 212
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 these trees cut down. They have been like human com- 
 panions to me all my life." 
 
 "They shall not be cut down, either. Even Painter 
 will not venture to disobey my express orders," Colonel 
 Allerton replied. 
 
 Virginia was trembling all over from the nervous strain 
 and the excitement, while her hands were bleeding from 
 the wounds the bark had inflicted. 
 
 "Come, Miss Lee, take my arm and permit me to see 
 you to the Lodge in safety. You have shown yourself 
 a brave young woman and I promise to see that your 
 efforts are not in vain. The* trees shall be safe from this 
 day on." 
 
 Virginia submitted as she would not have done a month 
 before and walked meekly by the Colonel's side. Again 
 the impulse came to ask for tidings of Lieutenant Blair, 
 but she dismissed it as before. At the door of the Lodge 
 she thanked Colonel Allerton for this as well as for other 
 favors he had shown her. 
 
 "I am glad to make some compensation to you for de- 
 priving you of the comforts of your home for so long, 
 Miss Lee, and I want to tell you that in the event of 
 our success here you shall have the benefit of my pro- 
 tection so far as it is of any use to you," he replied 
 earnestly. 
 
 "You are very kind, Colonel Allerton. The time was 
 when I should have spurned such an offer from a Federal 
 soldier, but I have learned many lessons in the last few 
 weeks. If we need your protection we shall certainly 
 take advantage of it and be grateful to you for it." 
 
 The month had advanced past the middle when, one 
 cloudy, gloomy evening, Virginia stood at the window 
 looking out into the gathering darkness. A number of 
 soldiers presently came riding out of the gate and took 
 
 213
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the road toward the village. She recognized some of 
 them as belonging to the party at the house, among them 
 Colonel Allerton. 
 
 "An evening like this always gives me a desolate feel- 
 ing," she said plaintively to her mother. "I should be 
 willing to-night to see this war ended on almost any con- 
 ditions. Life is too short to be wasted so and we can 
 never be repaid for what it is costing us. We are all 
 growing old before our time." 
 
 "It is the cloudy evening, Virginia, that makes you feel 
 so. Come out into the kitchen and see the roaring fire 
 Hudson has made in the fireplace and you'll feel bet- 
 ter," Mrs. Lee answered cheerily. 
 
 "Yes, it is the weather, I suppose," Virginia answered 
 with a little sigh. "Then, too, I am always uneasy when 
 Colonel Allerton is away. I feel, so long as he is at the 
 house, that we have one friend who will look after our 
 interests there. He is a fine man, mother, and I am 
 thankful he happened to be in command of the men in 
 our home. They say there are no circumstances so bad 
 but they might be worse and I suppose Colonel Allerton 
 was sent as the redeeming feature of our present situ- 
 ation." 
 
 Virginia's tone brightened as she followed her mother 
 into the kitchen during this speech and came within the 
 glow of the cheerful open fire. Lanier is reported as 
 saying that two things indispensable to a real home are 
 music and an open fire, while someone else complains that 
 "our ancestors were accustomed to gather around the 
 blazing hearthstone for their holiday festivities, but we, 
 in these latter days, sit around a hole in the floor." That 
 the world at large does not appreciate the kindly influence 
 of the fire-light is attested by the fact that so many of 
 our modern houses are built without grate or fireplace 
 
 214
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 and so many women are willing to shut up those creators 
 of cheer and comfort and drape the mantels with scarfs 
 and throws to avoid the dust and dirt of the open fire. 
 The dancing lights and shadows, the humming of the 
 tea-kettle, and the busy preparation for supper, speedily 
 restored Virginia's cheerfulness and it was a pleasant, 
 light-hearted company that sat at Mrs. Hudson's table 
 that evening. Three hours later the house was dark and 
 still and the inmates were sleeping soundly when there 
 came a loud rapping at the door and an excited voice 
 called from without : 
 
 "Get up and come quick, the house is all on fire." 
 Shouts of "Fire!" Fire!" Fire!" followed in rapid 
 succession. Hudson and his wife sprang out of bed and 
 shouted to Mrs. Lee and Virginia and, hastily wrapping 
 themselves in the bedclothes, they all prepared to rush 
 out of the house, supposing it to be the Lodge that was 
 on fire. As they came into the kitchen, they saw, through 
 the window, the red reflection in the sky and the tall col- 
 umn of lurid smoke rising above the trees at the top of 
 the hill. 
 
 It was a trying scene that followed. Mrs. Hudson was 
 shouting to the messenger outside to know what part of 
 the house the fire was in and where it started, Mrs. Lee 
 threw herself in a paroxysm of weeping upon a settee 
 in the chimney corner, while Virginia, controlling her 
 own emotion, told Hudson to run to the burning house 
 and see if anything could be done to save it and then 
 turned to quiet and console her mother. 
 
 As soon as she could bring her companions to a realiza- 
 tion of what they were doing, they all dressed themselves 
 and hurried to the brow of the hill where they could 
 watch the havoc the fire was making. The interior of 
 the house was already largely consumed. Here was a 
 
 215
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 room not yet attacked by the flames, with its furnishings 
 plainly visible through the open windows by the light 
 from the adjacent apartments, and Virginia easily recog- 
 nized her own little bureau and bedstead and writing 
 table, beyond all hope of rescue, standing ready to feed 
 the greedy element in a few minutes more. In other places 
 the furniture and the partition walls were burning rapidly 
 or had fallen already into the fiery abyss below, while 
 clouds of glowing smoke rolled up against the windows 
 as if seeking an escape. In a little while the flames, too, 
 came lapping at the window frames and, bursting through, 
 flung their long arms around the outer walls, crept along 
 the eaves and up the shingled roof until they enveloped 
 the entire structure from foundation to summit and then, 
 leaping higher and higher, seemed gleefully proclaiming 
 their triumph to the world. Mrs. Lee and Virginia stood 
 clinging to each other, overcome by grief and a sense of 
 their powerlessness. Captain Painter hurried to them 
 as soon as he knew of their presence and disclaimed all 
 knowledge of the fire. Realizing the disrepute in which 
 he was held by Colonel Allerton and the ladies of Lee's 
 Summit, he was trembling visibly from nervous agitation 
 as he stammered helplessly: 
 
 "I hope you don't think I had anything to do with this, 
 Miss Lee. I swear I knowed nothing of it 'til I heard the 
 alarm. Is there anything I can do ?" 
 
 "No, thank you," Virginia replied coldly. "There is 
 nothing anyone can do, and it doesn't matter much as to 
 the cause. In a few minutes more we shall be homeless 
 and that is the important thing." 
 
 As Painter turned away, Colonel Allerton, who had 
 seen the fire from a distance, came tearing along the 
 highway and up the drive, shouting angrily as he came 
 within hearing: 
 
 216
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "What has happened? Who has done this? Whose 
 fault was it ? Painter, it was you, you d rascal." 
 
 Painter vehemently swore his innocence and the Col- 
 onel, catching sight of Mrs. Lee and Virginia, hastened 
 to their side, exclaiming: 
 
 "This is a cruel thing, Mrs. Lee, and I swear to you 
 that if it has happened through any fault or carelessness 
 of our men it shall be made right to you if I have to do 
 it out of my own pocket." 
 
 "You are very kind to speak so, Colonel Allerton, but 
 it can never be made right, it is too late." 
 
 "Painter denies all knowledge of it and I hope and be- 
 lieve he is telling the truth for once. He'd be a fool to 
 rob himself of such quarters as we had here to gratify 
 a petty feeling of resentment," Colonel Allerton said and, 
 seeing Webster, he called out, "Webster, can you tell us 
 anything about how the fire started?" 
 
 The negro hesitated a moment but finally, addressing 
 his mistress, said tremblingly, "I's mortal shame to tell 
 you, Missus, but it ketched in de kitchen. De boys wus 
 out possum huntin' las night an' dis ev'nin' Dinah wus 
 a cookin' de suppah fo' 'em when one de boys knocked 
 de kerosene lamp off'n de shelf an' de flames kotch de 
 ile an' de cu'tins an de niggahs los' dere heads an' rush 
 out o' do's an' lef it an' fo' I could git 'em back wid 
 watah de flames wus all ovah de house an' we couldn't do 
 nothin' to stop 'em. It wusn' de sojers' fault, Miss Gin- 
 nie, I's pow'ful sorry to say it, but we has t' 'dmit dat," 
 he added meekly. 
 
 Mrs. Lee was weeping quietly as she listened to this 
 recital and watched the roof and side walls of her home 
 falling piece by piece into the burning ruins. Virginia 
 turned to Colonel Allerton and said, "This exonerates 
 your men, Colonel Allerton, but they will have to seek 
 
 217
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 new quarters now. You will not take the Lodge from 
 us, will you?" 
 
 "No, by heaven, we won't!" the Colonel vowed, "and 
 if it were to do again I'd never require Lee's Summit 
 of you. Our men didn't set it afire, but it would not 
 have happened if we had never come here." 
 
 When the flames died out, the commander stationed 
 men to watch the dying embers through the night and 
 Mrs. Lee and Virginia went back with the Hudsons to 
 the Lodge. 
 
 218
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 VIRGINIA went to bed but not to sleep. Her heart was 
 too full of grief and bitterness for that, and the fiery 
 vision was so ineffaceably stamped upon her memory 
 that she could not put it from her. All night long she 
 lay wide awake, going over the events of the disastrous 
 hour and trying to realize what had happened. She was 
 glad when day at last began to break and she heard Hud- 
 son and his wife in the kitchen. As soon as she ate her 
 breakfast, she hurried up to the smoking ruins, viewing 
 them all over, looking after the out-houses and fences 
 in the rear and examining the trees nearest the house, 
 some of which had been totally destroyd while others 
 were charred and dried on the side next to the fire. She 
 smiled bitterly as she passed one she had so lately pro- 
 tected from Painter's axe. 
 
 "This is about the way all our efforts have ended of 
 late," she muttered to herself and, stepping into the sum- 
 mer house, she sat down to think. The wind sighed in 
 the branches above her, the autumn leaves, yellow and 
 red and brown, fell all about her on the grass, and the 
 bright sun, breaking through the clouds of the night 
 and the early morning, flooded the place with golden 
 glory. She almost wondered how it could shine so 
 brightly and look upon such a scene as this. Then she 
 fell into a long meditation upon her past life in the dear 
 home now gone forever, dwelling upon many incidents 
 of her childhood and early womanhood when none but 
 joyous experiences had yet come to her. She recalled the 
 ambitious hopes with which the South had entered upon 
 this contest, her own as bright as any in the land, and 
 
 219
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 then she thought of the months and years of hardship 
 and self-sacrifice that had been rewarded only by a long 
 line of discouragements and disappointments. 
 
 "And this is my reward! This is the end of it all!" 
 she exclaimed in a bitter tone as she threw her arms 
 across a little table and dropped her head dejectedly 
 upon them. 
 
 Her attitude of utter helplessness and hopelessness ap- 
 pealed strongly to the sympathetic nature of Philip Blair 
 who, a moment after, stepped up to the door, guided 
 thither by the sound of her voice. 
 
 "Virginia Miss Lee," he 'said, holding out his hands 
 to her as he would toward a little child. 
 
 The young girl bounded up with a glad cry and, putting 
 both her hands in his, said impulsively: 
 
 "O, Lieutenant Blair, I thought you were never com- 
 ing." 
 
 A vivid blush spread over her face as she realized what 
 she had said and done and, quickly withdrawing her 
 hands, she hid her face in them and burst into tears. 
 They were the first she had shed and, for a time she made 
 no attempt to restrain them but, recovering herself ere 
 long, she said as if in apology: 
 
 "Pardon my weakness, please. This has been such 
 a shock to me and I have endured such a nervous strain 
 that I am not myself this morning. I hope you will not 
 see me like this again." 
 
 "Do not say so, dear Miss Lee," Philip answered 
 earnestly. "I am only too thankful to be here at this 
 time when, if ever, you need my sincerest sympathy. 
 How did it all happen, my little friend you said I might 
 call you so, you remember?" 
 
 "It is a long time since," Virginia replied. 
 
 "Yes, a long time since," he repeated, "but I hope 
 220
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 I have not forfeited my right. It was through no fault 
 of my own that I did not come sooner. But how did 
 this happen, anyway? Was the house set on fire by the 
 soldiers quartered there?" he asked anxiously. 
 
 Virginia gave the account of the accident as she had 
 heard it from Webster. 
 
 "I am glad to know our men were not even the acci- 
 dental cause of the disaster," Philip said, smiling at her 
 across the little table. "I feared it would only strengthen 
 your animosity toward Federal soldiers." 
 
 "On the contrary, I think I am measurably softened 
 toward them," was the reply. "Colonel Allerton has 
 shown himself such a just man that I have recently ex- 
 tended the bounds of my toleration." 
 
 "Has he treated you kindly ?" Philip asked eagerly. "I 
 am grateful to him if he has shown you courtesy and re- 
 spect." 
 
 Virginia then related many incidents that had occurred 
 during Philip's absence, and, among them, she told of 
 Painter's attempt to cut down the trees. She was laugh- 
 ing heartily before she finished the tale at the recollection 
 of her own triumph and of Painter's chagrin and ignomin- 
 ious downfall, and her companion was laughing with 
 her, more from pleasure at her improved spirits than 
 from merriment over the scene described, which he 
 thought rather painful than otherwise. Holding out her 
 hands, Virginia showed him the scars where the bark 
 had torn them and, covering them with his own great 
 strong palm, he said kindly : 
 
 "Poor little hands! They were never intended for 
 such hardships. How I wish I could bear part of the 
 burden for you. My shoulders are broad enough you 
 see," he added as he drew himself up to his full height, 
 which was rather in excess of the ideal of manly bauty. 
 
 221
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 There was a seriousness to their conversation that 
 frightened Virginia and she answered jestingly. "That 
 all sounds well, Lieutenant Blair, and yet you are ready 
 to fight against my side any day." 
 
 "Of course," he replied in a responsive tone. "You 
 see, I want to keep under the same flag with you." 
 
 "O, that puts your conduct in a new light and I suppose 
 I must forgive you," she said, laughing. 
 
 "Besides, you would not have me to desert a cause I 
 believe to be right even for your sake, would you?" he 
 asked more seriously. 
 
 "By no means," was the quick response. "I want no 
 man to modify his principles for my sake." The question 
 had touched a sensitive point and Virginia's heart gave 
 ready answer. 
 
 "That's a brave and noble little woman," Blair said 
 approvingly, "and just the sort to make a good patriot 
 when once you get on the right side." 
 
 "You at least punctuate 'right side' with a question 
 mark, I hope," Virginia said interrogatively. 
 
 "As you please about that," he assented. "I am not 
 here to-day to argue with you but to sympathize. And 
 now I want to tell you why I have not been here before. 
 Did you expect me ? Were you disappointed ?" he asked. 
 
 "Why, yes, I expected you at first," she answered hesi- 
 tatingly, ignoring the last question. "You know you said 
 you would come." 
 
 "Were you disappointed?" he repeated. 
 
 After a moment's pause Virginia answered frankly, 
 "Yes, a little. Habit is a strong factor in all our ac- 
 tions, you know, Lieutenant Blair, and I have developed 
 such a habit of arguing with you a part of each day that 
 the change annoyed me a little." 
 
 Blair smiled with gratification as he answered, "If I 
 222
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 had supposed you would give me a second thought I 
 might but no, I could not have come sooner even if I 
 had received stronger encouragement than the offer of 
 'Old Dominion hospitality'." 
 
 Virginia smiled, too, as she saw that he remembered 
 her words at parting, while he continued his explanation. 
 
 "The truth is, everything has been on the move since 
 the arrival of the new general. He's a power, Miss Lee, 
 and we shall soon see an end of this waiting." 
 
 "You mean General Grant, of course? Do you think 
 he will win ?" Virginia asked. 
 
 "Yes, I mean General Grant, and I think he will win," 
 Blair answered with a good-natured smile, "but we can 
 talk of that also at another time. I was sent immediately 
 after I left here on an expedition into northern Georgia, 
 from which we returned only yesterday. Even now we 
 are stationed ten miles from here and this morning, my 
 very first opportunity to spend a part of a day at my own 
 pleasure, I have come that distance to enjoy 'Old Domin- 
 ion hospitality'." 
 
 At this juncture Jake's shining black face peered in 
 at the door and Jake's saucy voice called out, "La, sakes ! 
 Miss Ginnie, I's done looked de whole place ober fo' you. 
 Missus done got oneasy an' thought somethin' had hap- 
 pened." 
 
 "Didn't she know Lieutenant Blair was here?" Virginia 
 asked in surprise. 
 
 "Dunno, Miss. All I know is she sent me t' hunt 
 you," the darky replied while Philip hastened to say: 
 
 "No, Miss Lee, I didn't stop at the Lodge. I saw Sam 
 at the gate and he told me you had gone up to the fire 
 and I came directly here." 
 
 "Tell mother where I am, Jake, and that I will be 
 223
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 down presently, and you might tell Mrs. Hudson, too, 
 that Lieutenant Blair will be with us for dinner." 
 
 "For dinner!" Lieutenant Blair exclaimed in dismay, 
 looking hastily at his watch. "After eleven o'clock! I 
 had not thought of its being so late. Would you have 
 believed that we have been sitting here for almost two 
 hours? I must be gone at once." 
 
 "Surely you will not start before dinner on a long ride 
 like that," Virginia remonstrated. 
 
 "Yes, I must do it," was the reply. "I have duties 
 at the camp this afternoon and I must not neglect them." 
 
 "But where will you get your dinner?" 
 
 "O, somewhere on the way, wherever I happen to be 
 at dinner time. You know we do not ride far now with- 
 out coming upon a Federal camp, Miss Lee." 
 
 In passing, Philip looked in at the Lodge for a word 
 with Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Hudson, too, came in to gret 
 him and to invite him to remain for dinner, -"hich he 
 again declined to do. 
 
 "An' how is Tom Healy ? Did he get well ?" she asked. 
 
 "He is almost well now, Mrs. Hudson," Blair replied, 
 "but his improvement was much less rapid after he went 
 to the camp. They try to take good care of the sick and 
 wounded there but it is far from such attention as Tom 
 received here. He joined his old company only yesterday 
 after our return from Georgia. Turning to Virginia, he 
 said, "Please tell them after I am gone, Miss Lee, why I 
 have not been here before. I fear you must all have 
 thought me negligent and ungrateful to stay away so long, 
 after your kindness to me." 
 
 "I wondered a little that we heard nothing from you 
 but Mrs. Hudson insisted that you had been unavoidably 
 delayed," Mrs. Lee replied. 
 
 "Thank you, Mrs. Hudson, for defending me in my 
 
 224
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 absence," said Philip. "I should certainly have returned 
 sooner had it been possible for me to do so." With this 
 he said good-bye and left the house. Virginia accom- 
 panied him to the gate where Sam had tied his horse 
 after feeding and watering it. 
 
 "I shall not be away so long this time," he called back 
 as he rode away, and Virginia marveled at the lightness 
 of her heart as she walked toward the Lodge. She 
 looked forward almost with pleasure to tasks which, in 
 the morning, seemed impossible. Sitting in the summer 
 house all alone, she had seriously contemplated disband- 
 ing the negroes and going at once to Atlanta. The strug- 
 gle to keep the plantation running seemed too great to 
 be kept up longer. Now, however, the whole face of 
 things was changed. An hour or two in the genial in- 
 fluence of Philip's presence had given her encouragement 
 and inspiration to "do with her might what her hand 
 found to do," and in the afternoon she and Hudson set 
 the negroes to work, some, as usual, in the fields, others, 
 restoring order, as far as might be, in the vicinity of the 
 great house. 
 
 For a time Virginia was too busy to think much about 
 her present state of mind but gradually as she had leisure 
 for reflection she again began to question whether, after 
 all, her relations with Lieutenant Blair were perfectly 
 consistent with the promise she had made to Hugh in 
 all sincerity and meant to keep. Was she not allowing 
 herself, she asked, to develop a stronger interest in this 
 new friend than an engaged woman should feel for any 
 man other than her lover? Her lover! Yes, that was 
 Hugh's relation to her and she must keep that fact steadily 
 in mind. Yet how absurd, she argued again, that she 
 should raise such a question even in her own mind re- 
 garding a man of whom she knew so little. Hugh, who 
 
 225
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 was certainly the person to be considered first, would 
 laugh at such folly. No woman should be deprived of 
 association with young men simply because she was en- 
 gaged to be married. Hugh himself would say as much. 
 At Richmond, was he not constantly thrown with the most 
 beautiful and accomplished women in the Confederacy, 
 and she had never even thought of questioning his right 
 to the privilege. She had settled the matter in Philip's 
 favor when she found herself recalling the incidents of 
 the visit in the summer house that morning and the 
 genuine happiness she had felt in his presence. No, it 
 would not do. "General association" with the opposite 
 sex was all right but an individual interest such as this 
 was becoming, was certainly dangerous. She would not 
 forbid Lieutenant Blair's visits but henceforth she would 
 receive him at the Lodge in her mother's presence. 
 
 She adhered to this determination and twice when 
 Philip came she entertained him in the sitting-room or on 
 the porch of the cottage, her mother usually sitting near 
 with sewing or embroidery to occupy the time. Philip 
 was too genial and well-bred to display annoyance at this 
 circumstance, if, indeed, he felt any, and the hours were 
 spent in the most pleasant and enjoyable conversation. 
 Mrs. Lee told them many things concerning her early life 
 in Virginia, her marriage and her introduction to Ten- 
 nessee life in this same cottage which had become her 
 home once more. They wandered then to the new house 
 on the hill and to Virginia's childhood and, finally, Philip 
 was induced to talk of himself and his own home in the 
 North, of his mother and sister who, he said, would be 
 glad to know he had found such friends as themselves 
 in the South. Virginia was thoroughly democratic in 
 political principle but she was also thoroughly thankful 
 that she was descended from the very best blood in the 
 
 226
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 country and it pleased her to draw from Philip's account 
 of his home life the conclusion that he, also, was an aris- 
 tocrat by birth. 
 
 One morning a week or more after his return, he came 
 to the Lodge rather earlier than usual and asked Vir- 
 ginia to go with him to the summer house for a farewell 
 visit, saying it might be a long while before he would 
 see it again. 
 
 "Why?" she asked anxiously. "You are not going 
 away, are you ?" 
 
 "Yes, I am going away for the present," he replied, 
 watching her face closely as he spoke. "We have been 
 ordered to a position south of Lookout Mountain and 
 we shall be moving early to-morrow morning. I'll be 
 too far away and too busy to come for a while and there 
 will be serious work on hand during that while." 
 
 "You mean there will be a battle?" she asked, her 
 horror apparent in her eyes. 
 
 "Yes, I think there will," he replied gravely. She 
 walked quietly by his side for a little way before she said 
 sadly, "Once I thought I had the spirit of a good sol- 
 dier but since the days of Chickamauga I have wished that 
 no friend of mine or anyone else, as to that ever had 
 to go into battle again." 
 
 "Yes, it is a serious thing, this war of ours," Philip 
 said, "but it is the price of a nation that is well worth 
 the sacrifice. We cannot all see it now but we will see 
 it some day." 
 
 The tone was so kindly that Virginia, knowing how 
 sincerely the words came from Philip's heart, did not re- 
 sent them while he, bending his head to look into her 
 face, which was turned away from him, and seeing its 
 sorrowful expression, added cheerfully, "Here, here, little 
 
 227
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 woman, I didn't tell you this to frighten you and you 
 must forget it and be gay again." 
 
 Mrs. Lee followed the two to the door and stood look- 
 ing after them for a moment. An unwonted look came 
 over her face, half pleasure, half uneasiness, and fond 
 recollections of her own early life crept into her heart. 
 "That's more like the real thing," she said to herself, "but 
 it would never do. Virginia would not break her promise 
 and, if she did, she would not consider a Yankee for a 
 moment." 
 
 As for Virginia, she had abandoned all restraint. The 
 good resolution of a few days before recurred to her 
 mind but she dismissed it and determined to indulge her 
 inclination for this one afternoon she owed it to Lieu- 
 tenant Blair in return for his kindness to her, she rea- 
 soned. So easy it is to persuade ourselves that the course 
 we prefer is the right one. 
 
 When Philip and Virginia came down to the Lodge that 
 November day, life held a new charm for each of them. 
 A magical hand had been weaving about them those toils 
 which tear and rend the heart in the breaking, though no 
 word of love had been spoken, nothing had passed be- 
 tween them that the world might not have known. Vir- 
 ginia yielded herself to the sweet influence of the hour, 
 thinking in her heart that perhaps she might have loved 
 like other girls, had the opportunity come earlier in life 
 and in a different guise now it was too late. She would 
 enjoy the pretty dream for this one day because it was 
 Philip's last and to-morrow But she would leave to- 
 morrow to take care of itself. It would be easier to con- 
 sider the other side of the question when Lieutenant Blair 
 was far away. Something like this frequently formed an 
 undercurrent to her thoughts but she cast it aside and 
 devoted herself to her guest, even going with him to the 
 
 228
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 gate when he left and permitting her hand to rest in his 
 much longer than was necessary at parting, while he as- 
 sured her of his power and his willingness to be of ser- 
 vice to them after the battle, which he confidently ex- 
 pected soon. 
 
 During the remainder of the day Virginia allowed her- 
 self to dream of this new and peculiar happiness. To- 
 morrow she would regulate her conduct on principle once 
 more. 
 
 229
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BUT what matters the love or hatred of an individual 
 at a time like that of which we write? As compared 
 with a nation's success or failure, a nation's triumph or 
 humiliation, what is the joy or sorrow of a single heart? 
 Nearly two thousand hearts lay pulseless on the slopes 
 of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge when the 
 battles were ended, yet who stopped to think that each 
 had known its own happiness, its own bitterness, that 
 here had been enacted almost two thousand times that 
 last awful tragedy which the bravest of us await with 
 shrinking spirit? It was the last of those three great 
 Union victories which set the joy bells ringing in the 
 North, and the death-knell clanging all over the Confed- 
 eracy and it was accomplished with the marvellous ex- 
 pedition that characterized the movements of the greatest 
 of the Federal generals. From the very day of his 
 coming it had been evident that a new hand was directing 
 the campaign and a does study of the plans shows them 
 to be so brilliant, yet so simple and perfect, that we are 
 won to admiration of the man who could conceive them. 
 "The initial attack, made by General Hooker with his 
 conglomerate forces drawn from the four quarters of the 
 loyal states, was splendid. Scaling heights apparently 
 inaccessible, carrying fortifications apparently impregna- 
 ble, the attacking lines advanced under cover of the 
 clouds which, throughout the morning, hung about the 
 summit of the mountain, hiding their movements from 
 the enemy above. A few hours of desperate fighting 
 found the Federal forces far up the sides of the moun- 
 tain almost completely surrounding it and shutting off 
 
 230
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 communication between the garrison at the top and the 
 Confederate troops in the valley east of Lookout Moun- 
 tain. During the struggle of the afternoon, the clouds 
 descended into the valley, giving to that part of the ac- 
 tion the name of the "Battle above the clouds," by which 
 it is known in history. The conflict continued far into 
 the night and the soldier fighting upon the slopes of the 
 mountain first became aware of the successful issue of 
 the charge when, by the rays of the rising sun, the stars 
 and stripes were seen floating from the summit. The 
 capture of Missionary Ridge by Sherman and his forces 
 on the second day completed the stupendous undertaking 
 and Bragg was compelled to withdraw his shattered army 
 into northern Georgia in full retreat toward Atlanta. The 
 Confederate commander had made the same mistake 
 which Montcalm made at Quebec and many other less 
 illustrious generals made before him, of relying too much 
 on the strength of his position and weakening his lines 
 of defence accordingly. 
 
 Reference is here made to this battle or series of battles, 
 not so much as a contribution to the general result of 
 the Civil War as for the sake of the part taken by some 
 of the leading personages of this narrative. General 
 Bragg's demeanor is too well known to need more than 
 a passing comment. Surprise, consternation, despair, suc- 
 ceeded each other in his mind as he beheld the disastrous 
 rout of his veterans and it was with bitter disappointment 
 and humiliation that he relinquished his position and be- 
 gan his retreat southward. 
 
 Lieutenant Blair and Tom Healy were with the eastern 
 forces that took the lead in the assault on Lookout Moun- 
 tain. These forces had been for several days reconnoit- 
 ering and skirmishing in the vicinity before the prepara- 
 tions for the final demonstration were complete and yet 
 
 231
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Philip had found neither time to visit Lee's Summit nor 
 opportunity to communicate with Virginia in any way. 
 The frequency with which his mind reverted to her and 
 the intensity of the interest with which she inspired 
 him were a surprise even to himself, accustomed as he 
 was to an attitude of indifference toward womankind. 
 But he did not stop to inquire into the nature of his re- 
 gard for her or to speculate on the incongruous position 
 in which he found himself. She had charmed him from 
 his earliest association with her and he was free to yield 
 himself to the influence of that charm. 'Beyond this, he 
 gave the matter no consideration. 
 
 On the afternoon before the battle, he found a lad at 
 a farm house who knew the locality of Lee's Summit 
 and was willing, out of consideration for a goodly-sized 
 coin which Philip showed him, to undertake the delivery 
 of a note to the young lady there. Philip wrote a hur- 
 ried missive and despatched it with the most urgent in- 
 junctions of haste. 
 
 Blair and Healy were in the front ranks of the impetu- 
 ous charge that carried the fortifications along the crest 
 of Point Lookout and Blair was one of the leaders in 
 the bold dash, made contrary to orders, down the eastern 
 slope of the ridge, a movement which nothing short of 
 success could have excused. Even Healy's daring spirit 
 was daunted by the rashness and abandon with which 
 Philip threw himself into the thickest of the fight, ex- 
 posing his broad shoulders to the bullets of the enemy, 
 who quickly singled him out as an easy mark. The 
 Irishman lost interest in the capture of the enemy's works 
 and gave his attention to Philip, determined to shield him 
 as long as possible and, failing in that, to rescue him when 
 wounded. Ere long, as was inevitable, a ball went crash- 
 ing through Philip's right arm, tearing it cruelly and bury- 
 
 232
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing itself in his chest. But Tom was at hand and with 
 the aid of two of his comrades, he carried the wounded 
 man from the field amidst shouts and cheers of victory 
 that were echoed from the mountain heights on every 
 hand. 
 
 Philip was taken as quickly as possible to a tent and a 
 surgeon summoned immediately, so much for the ad- 
 vantage of a faithful friend in a soldier's hour of need. 
 The ball was extracted, the wounds dressed, and Philip, 
 still unconscious, was sleeping quietly, while yet other vic- 
 tims of the day's horrors lay in helplessness and agony 
 where they fell. Tom at once contrived a comfortable 
 means of transportation and took his charge to a farm 
 house where he could have the benefit of those attentions 
 and restoratives which money can always procure. 
 
 Several days elapsed before Philip sufficiently recov- 
 eVed to heed the watchers at his bedside but at last, 
 awaking one morning after a night of quiet, refreshing 
 slumber, he gazed about him with new appreciation of 
 life and its possibilities. 
 
 "I have been sick a long time, haven't I, Tom?" he 
 said to Healy, who stood at a small table across the room 
 stirring some medicine he was preparing in a glass for 
 the patient. 
 
 Tom gave a start of surprise as he heard the familiar 
 sound of Philip's natural tones. Hastening to the bed- 
 side, he scrutinized the sick man closely to assure himself 
 that he had heard aright. "Ever since the day of the 
 battle, Mr. Philip," he answered. 
 
 "O, yes, the battle. I remember that. What hap- 
 pened ? Was I hurt ? And how long ago was it ?" Philip 
 asked eagerly. 
 
 "Yes, a bit of a scratch you got, sir, but the doctor 
 
 233
 
 says we'll be havin' you all right soon," Tom responded 
 hopefully. 
 
 "How long has it been?" Philip insisted. 
 
 "A twelvemonth, I should say, judgin' by my feelin's, 
 sir," was the evasive reply. 
 
 "See here, Tom, I'm not in a mood to be trifled with. 
 How long have I lain here like this ?" 
 
 "A week the day after to-morrow, an' ye will know," 
 Tom blurted out. 
 
 "A week!" Philip exclaimed, attempting to rise but 
 falling back on his pillow with a groan of pain. "Am 
 I so badly hurt, Tom?" he asked helplessly. 
 
 "Yes, you are badly hurt an' a wonder it is you're 
 here at all instead o' layin' in one o' them long trenches 
 up on Lookout Mountain, the way you lost your head 
 an' rushed in the very face of death that day," Tom 
 growled. 
 
 "Did we win, Tom? I someway can't remember any- 
 thing but the din and confusion," Philip said anxiously. 
 
 "Well, didn't we win!" Tom said exultantly. "The 
 mountains round here are all bonny with stars and stripes 
 and Federal soldiers are a swarmin' all over 'em. The 
 rebs have all scudded away to dens and holes somewhere 
 in Georgia." 
 
 "What a blessing if this would end it, Tom," Philip 
 said earnestly, "but it won't, there's work ahead for us 
 yet. How long do you expect to keep me here, Tom?" 
 
 "Long enough, I can promise you, if you don't stop 
 askin' questions an' keep still. The doctor says if you're 
 not kep' still you'll lose that arm yet," was the consoling 
 reply. Healy knew Blair of old and was aware that in 
 a matter of this kind he was not to be controlled by mild 
 phrases. 
 
 "Which arm?" Blair asked, at the same time raising 
 
 234
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 his left arm and endeavoring to do the same with the 
 right one but desisting with another groan of pain. 
 
 "Why, have I been shot all to pieces, Tom?" he asked 
 in a tone which appealed strongly to Healy's loyal heart. 
 
 "Yes, you have been almost done up, Mr. Philip, but 
 the doctor says good nursin' an' perfect quiet is all you 
 need now to pull you through. Speakin' o' that reminds 
 me of a feller I knowed back in N'York state who went 
 for the doctor when his wife's mother was sick an', not 
 findin' 'im at his office, the man writes on the slate, 'Doc- 
 tor Simons My mother-in-law is a layin' at death's door. 
 Can't you come down an' help pull her through ?' " 
 
 Lieutenant Blair had recovered from the twinge of pain 
 that the effort to move had given him and he smiled in- 
 dulgently, as he always did at Tom's nonsense. The di- 
 version was only momentary, for immediately he asked 
 in rather a despondent tone: 
 
 "Did you say there is danger of losing my arm, Tom? 
 I must not lose my arm." 
 
 "No, no, sir," Healy replied quickly. "I said the sur- 
 geon says if you will be quiet he thinks he can even save 
 your arm. But if we go on like this he won't promise us 
 nothin'. Here you've been a talkin' like mad for half 
 an hour an' me not a shuttin' you off but helpin' the talk 
 along. Here, take this dose an' then I'm goin' out an' 
 leave you alone for a while till the spell's broke. If you 
 want me you can ring the bell." 
 
 Tom administered the medicine and stalked out of the 
 room, taking care, however, not to go far from the door 
 lest he should fail to hear a summons from the patient. 
 
 Three or four days later, Philip lay one afternoon, 
 quietly watching Tom as he moved about the room. 
 "Tom," he at length said hesitatingly, "there is one thing 
 
 235
 
 I have been wanting to say to you ever since I have been 
 able to talk." 
 
 "Faith, sir, I should say there had been several things 
 you've wanted to say, the to do I've had to keep you from 
 talkin'," Healy replied. 
 
 "I mean one subject that I hesitated to speak about be- 
 cause well, to tell the truth, I scarcely know why my- 
 self." 
 
 "Out with it, sir. No need to be mealy-mouthed with 
 old Tom," the Irishman insisted. 
 
 "It's about Miss Lee," Philip said. 
 
 "To be sure," Healy responded quickly. "You're pret- 
 ty hard hit in that quarter, eh, Mister Philip?" 
 
 "What makes you think so, Tom ?" Philip asked. 
 
 "I tell by the symptoms, sir, the symptoms," Tom an- 
 swered. "I've had 'em an' it's meself that knows 'em 
 like a book." 
 
 "You, Tom, you in love?" Philip exclaimed. 
 
 "Ay," Healy replied. "I've been that embroiled with 
 a girl, as I once heard a fellow back in N'York state 
 say, I could neither sit, stand nor walk, neither lie, tell 
 the truth nor keep still." 
 
 "And are these the symptoms you claim to have no- 
 ticed in me, Tom?" Philip asked in pretended dismay. 
 
 "No, they're the symptoms of an advanced case, Mister 
 Philip. You are still in the early stages, I should judge." 
 
 "But when did you have such an experience, Tom? I 
 could not believe it upon any evidence but your own." 
 
 "Many's the time, many's the time," Tom said with a 
 grimace. 
 
 "Why, old fellow, it's been my understanding that true 
 love is a thing of a lifetime," Philip argued jokingly. 
 
 "It's all a mistake, sir, all a mistake," Tom replied, 
 rubbing his hands and shaking his head in mock solemnity. 
 
 236
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I know there's them that says it's like measles or whoop- 
 in' cough an' comes but once in a lifetime but I find it 
 more like a bad cold that settles right down on a feller 
 whenever the conditions is right." 
 
 "And what are the conditions, Tom?" Philip asked, 
 although the far away look in his eyes showed his 
 thoughts to be outside the narrow confines of his room. 
 
 "A soft heart an' a han'some girl willin' to be courted/' 
 Tom said, hastening to add before Philip had time to re- 
 ply, "but to return to the original topic, sir, what is it 
 about Miss Lee ? She's a stunner, she is, an' I don't won- 
 der you stopped to give her a second glance." 
 
 "I want to send a message to her and I don't just 
 know how to do it," Blair explained. "I can't write with 
 my arm in this fix and I don't know where a carrier is 
 to be found if I could." 
 
 "No, you can't write now that's plain enough," Tom 
 answered slowly, setting his wits to work. 
 
 "Do you think you could find your way back to Lee's 
 Summit, old boy?" the Lieutenant asked with some hesi- 
 tation. 
 
 "Sure I could," Healy declared, brightening at the sug- 
 gestion. 
 
 "And would you be willing to go to Miss Lee and tell 
 her of my condition and that I will see her within a 
 fortnight ?" 
 
 "Not so fast, Mister Philip, not so fast. You can't 
 leave this place in a fortnight," Tom answered. "Don't 
 suppose I pulled you out o' that mess on Lookout Moun- 
 tain only to let you kill yourself in the end by hurryin' 
 out before you're ready." 
 
 "Well, as soon as I am able to get there, then, you may 
 tell her. Can you do it, Tom, and will you ?" Philip asked 
 eagerly. 
 
 237
 
 "If you think you can get along without me for so long, 
 sir, 'twill be a matter o' two days, at least, sir," was the 
 reply. 
 
 "Yes, yes, I'll be all right. I'm almost well and these 
 people are attentive and kind. Be sure you tell her that 
 I am gaining rapidly, Tom. Will you go at once?" 
 Philip hurried through his sentences as if anxious, now 
 the thing was settled, to see Tom on his way. 
 
 "Indeed I will not," Tom answered decidedly. "The 
 afternoon is half gone now. I'll stay with you to-night 
 and to-morrow morning, if you are no worse, I'll take an 
 early start an' by doin' so I can get back the second day, 
 mebby, an' only be away from you for one night. The 
 message won't spoil an' neither will the girl in so short 
 a time." 
 
 "It seems to me you are getting a trifle high-handed, 
 Healy," Blair remonstrated. "I never knew you to be 
 so before." 
 
 "Ah ! but the tables is turned, sir. I am the master an' 
 you the man for the present." Then taking Philip's left 
 hand, he rubbed it between his own as he continued, 
 "You must take good care o' yourself an' get out of this 
 before long an' you'll see old Tom fallin' back into his 
 rightful place easy enough. 
 
 "I was but jesting, Tom," Philip said, seeing that Tom 
 had fallen into a serious mood. "Hereafter you can have 
 but one place with reference to me and that is among my 
 most valued friends." 
 
 Tom gave Philip's hand a warm pressure as he laid it 
 down very gently. "I'll be off before you are awake in 
 the mornin' an' I'll do my best for you with the han'some 
 little rebel." - 
 
 238
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 DURING the first days of Philip's absence, Virginia 
 succeeded in rising to a high plane of principle and honor. 
 Making no attempt to hide from herself the sentiment 
 growing in her heart, she resolutely determined to crush 
 it before it was too late. 
 
 On the very first morning she wrote to Hugh whom she 
 had been sadly neglecting. The letter was longer than 
 usual and more effusive and demonstrative, exemplifiying 
 Bacon's declaration that "love, when it sickeneth, useth 
 an enforced ceremony," going beyond the genuine prompt- 
 ings of the heart in those courtesies and attentions born of 
 real affection. 
 
 She gave herself no time for the softer musings by 
 which the feminine disposition is inclined to foster the 
 tender passion, but plunged into work with a zeal akin 
 to desperation, hoping to weary both mind and body and 
 thus preclude the possibility of those day-dreams and 
 night meditations that so often prove themselves the 
 undoing of our good resolutions. 
 
 The work of removing the debris of the fire was in 
 progress and Virginia took Sam and Sallie and two or 
 three of the smaller negroes and began the fall renova- 
 tion of the lawn. This meant trimming the vines, prun- 
 ing the shrubbery, and raking up the dead leaves which 
 formed a dense bed from the top of the hill to the stone 
 wall at the base. It was a yearly custom but one in which 
 Virginia had never before taken an active part. She 
 answered her mother's remonstrances by saying she 
 needed the exercise in the open air and wished to have the 
 lawn in good shape should they find it possible to rebuild 
 
 239
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in the spring. Mrs. Lee, silenced but not convinced, re- 
 plied : 
 
 "O, do it if you wish, it can do no harm if you are care- 
 ful not to take cold, but from the present indications I 
 should say that nothing is more unlikely than that we can 
 rebuild in the spring. 
 
 The "indications" referred to were the marching and 
 remarching of the Union forces in all directions which 
 had for days been agitating the minds of Confederate 
 sympathizers in the vicinity. Small bands, companies, 
 whole armies of blue-clad soldiers were to be seen every 
 day. It was evident that an important event was near at 
 hand, and to the mind of the ordinary citizen, unaccus- 
 tomed to military movements, there seemed an innumer- 
 able throng of the dreaded Yankees. It was difficult to be- 
 lieve that General Bragg, who was miles away from them 
 and who had never made a demonstration in full force in 
 the immediate neighborhood of Lee's Summit, could have 
 an army in any way commensurate with these swarms of 
 men to oppose to their assaults on his mountain strong- 
 holds, which was generally understood to be the next 
 movement to expect. 
 
 But Virginia was not to be deterred from her purpose 
 of working incessantly as a safeguard against the tempta- 
 tion that threatened her. In order to obtain the best re- 
 sults from the negroes as well as to trick herself into the 
 belief that she was really enjoying the work, she made 
 such a play and frolic of it that Jake declared, " 'twas as 
 good as a picnic, he spected," asking Sallie on the side if 
 she had ever been to a "sho 'nuf picnic." 
 
 "Go's I has," returned Sallie, scornfully. "Me an' Jer- 
 ry's done went with Miss Ginnie an' Cap'n Cunnam many 
 a time. Go's I's ben to picnics, chile." 
 
 "Bettah make de mos' of it, Sallie," Jake replied, in a 
 
 240
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 tantalizing tone. "Jerry'll fergit all 'bout you 'fo' he gits 
 back t' Ten'see agin." 
 
 "Don' you b'lieve dat, niggah. Jerry no mo' fergit me 
 'n Cap'n Cunnam '11 fergit Miss Ginnie, which ain' no 
 ways likely, I should say," Sallie said, laughing immod- 
 erately at what she considered a great joke. 
 
 Indeed, next to Jerry, "Cap'n Cunnam" was Sallie's 
 ideal, and she had looked askance whenever she saw her 
 young mistress walking under the trees or sitting talking 
 with the Yankee officer. Lieutenant Blair might be well 
 enough in his way, but he was not to be spoken of in the 
 same day with Marse Hugh with his "han'some clo's an' 
 fine mannahs," she declared in secret to Sam, quoting, of 
 course, in great part, phrases she had learned from Jerry. 
 
 The labors on the lawn were rudely arrested late one 
 afternoon by the advent of several hundred Union sol- 
 diers, whose commander, attracted by the same natural 
 advantages that had appealed to General Bragg, selected 
 the fields and pastures of Lee's Summit as a desirable 
 resting place for the night. This time, however, the 
 owners were not consulted as on the former occasion, 
 but, wilfully throwing open the fences, the officers took 
 possession without even a show of deference to any- 
 one. Virginia was highly incensed by this procedure, 
 comparing it most unfavorably with General Bragg's 
 gentlemanly conduct. Nor was her ire in any way miti- 
 gated when she saw their granaries emptied, their horses 
 appropriated, and their cattle driven away, leaving the 
 plantation a broad expanse of desolation save for the 
 faithful slaves and the little family at the Lodge, for 
 whom there was nothing left of the ample stores that 
 had been provided for the approaching winter. Vir- 
 ginia recalled Hugh's exaggerated ideas about the rights 
 of armies, and even her father's conservative words of 
 
 241
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 warning as to what she might expect; but they did not 
 cover such wholesale plundering as had fallen to the lot of 
 Lee's Summit, and she found it impossible to stretch her 
 ideas of justice and honor to compass an experience like 
 this. When at last a certain Captain was discovered in 
 the act of trying to entice good old Webster from fealty 
 to his master, and to induce him to go as body-servant 
 to himself and some of the higher officers, she relin- 
 quished all control of her temper and declared the Yan- 
 kees, one and all, to be a set of selfish, unprincipled ty- 
 rants. 
 
 "You will except Colonel Allerton and Lieutenant 
 Blair, I presume?" remarked her mother, whom nothing 
 short of personal danger could ruffle. "I will except no 
 one," she retorted, emphatically, and for a moment she 
 deceived even herself so far as to believe she spoke the 
 truth. "These men care no more for Webster and his 
 freedom than for the horses they ride, and when once his 
 usefulness to them was at an end, what difference would 
 it make to them if he starved or froze to death ?" 
 
 "None, perhaps," Mrs. Lee returned, indifferently, "but 
 they didn't get Webster, Virginia, and there's no use to 
 vex yourself unnecessarily, it seems to me. We'd better 
 set ourselves to thinking what we are to do. I'm sure, for 
 my part, I think the time has arrived when we can stay 
 here no longer. Do you suppose we could get to Atlanta 
 now?" 
 
 "Not yet, mother, not yet," Virginia answered, quickly. 
 "Now that we have endured this so long, let us hold on to 
 the end, which seems just at hand. It wouldn't do to 
 desert the blacks now when everything on the place has 
 been stolen. We must stay here and look after them for 
 the sake of their loyalty to us." 
 
 "We could make a provision for their support during 
 242
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the winter, as your father spoke of doing," Mrs. Lee 
 argued. 
 
 "Yes, we could" Virginia amitted, reluctantly, "but let 
 us wait a little longer, mother." The young girl was sin- 
 cere in her anxiety for the slaves, but, deep in her heart, 
 there was another "not yet, not yet," that was a still 
 stronger admonition than this. 
 
 She returned to her work on the lawn as soon as the 
 soldiers were gone, and was still thus engaged when the 
 farmer lad arrived with Philip's note. The messenger, 
 who inquired for the young lady at the Lodge, was sent 
 in search of her with Jake as guide. He handed her the 
 missive without a word of explanation and stood at a 
 respectful distance while she read. 
 "My dear friend: 
 
 The action of which I told you is at hand. I want you 
 to know it, and yet I scarcely see why, when I dare not 
 even ask you to pray for our success. I have confidence 
 enough in your generosity, however, to believe you will at 
 least wish for my personal safety. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 Blair." 
 
 The paper trembled in Virginia's hand as she read. A 
 sudden revulsion of feeling swept over her, and, for a 
 time, fond recollections of the writer and anxious fears 
 for his safety almost overwhelmed her. Controlling her 
 agitation, she turned to the boy who seemed to expect her 
 to say something. "Were you to take back a reply?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "No, Miss," was the answer, "he said he would be gone 
 when I got back." 
 
 "Will you stay here and eat your dinner?" Virginia 
 asked mechanically. In those days the veriest stranger 
 
 243
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 did not leave a southern home without an invitation to re- 
 main for at least one meal. 
 
 "No, Miss," the boy again said, evidently having only 
 waited for his dismissal. "I must be going back at once. 
 Good-morning to you." 
 
 Virginia wished the boy good morning and stood look- 
 ing after him absently, as he walked away. Then, turn- 
 ing to the negroes, she assigned them some trivial duties 
 and left them at their work while she started up the hill 
 with the intention of going to the summer-house where 
 she could be alone. Pausing about halfway there, she 
 hesitated a few moments, and then, thrusting the paper 
 into her bosom, returned to her work and began where she 
 had left off when the lad came. The very fact of her 
 present emotion was an additional evidence to her that 
 she had a hard lesson to learn and could not afford to 
 neglect it for an hour. 
 
 The spell, however, was broken, and she worked with a 
 listlessness and indifference she could not overcome. This 
 speedily communicated itself to the negroes, who, losing 
 interest, became slovenly and negligent, while Virginia 
 found herself growing vexed and impatient. The first in 
 whom a change was apparent was Jake, who, as soon as 
 the employment lost its picnicking character, began to 
 handle the rake in a "don't care" sort of way and to watch 
 out of the corner of his eye for an opportunity to dodge 
 his mistress and organize a game among the woolly- 
 headed urchins who always waited for his leadership. 
 The unusual booming of cannon away to the southward 
 in no way tended to relieve the gloom, and Sam and Sal- 
 lie stared in wide-eyed wonder at Virginia's white, stern 
 face. There was genuine and general rejoicing when the 
 noon hour came and they went in to dinner. How the 
 weary girl wished she could send the servants away and 
 
 244
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 take a half -holiday for herself and them ; but she dare not 
 do it. An afternoon of thinking would be fatal. Her 
 only safety lay in ignoring the existence of Philip Blair, 
 and this strange, persistent fondness she had "conceived 
 for him. The hours wore slowly and painfully away, the 
 noise of battle falling dolefully on the ear. At four 
 o'clock, Virginia could endure the strain no longer, and, 
 hastily dismissing Sam and Sallie she had banished Jake 
 and his following early in the afternoon as a nuisance and 
 a menace to her peace of mind she loosened the reins 
 she had held with desperation since the early morning, 
 and, hurrying to the summer-house, threw herself in utter 
 abandonment upon the rustic seat and burst into a flood 
 of tears. The relaxation was like balm to her tired spirit, 
 and she continued to weep until nature had avenged the 
 restraint it had suffered. Then, wiping her eyes to re- 
 move the traces of her emotion, she straightened herself 
 up and set about looking the whole matter squarely in the 
 face. Heretofore she had done this successfully, why 
 not now ? 
 
 First, last, always, there was the incontrovertible fact 
 that she was engaged to Hugh. That, she must never 
 forget or disregard for a moment. And -were it not for 
 this, she could not and would not love a Yankee. What 
 would her father say? He had always had such confi- 
 dence in her superior judgment and her steadfastness of 
 purpose, what would he think of a caprice like this? 
 What would Hugh say? And he had a right to say a 
 great deal Hugh, whom she had forced into the war by 
 her extreme partisanship and enthusiasm. What would 
 General Bragg say? What would all her friends say, 
 knowing her as they did? The absurdity of her position 
 was almost grotesque. But to oppose to it all was Philip's 
 great manly self, and she recalled him as he stood looking 
 
 245
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 down at her with his grave grey eyes on the morning 
 after her home was burned, his freshly-shaven face with 
 its strong, clear-cut features, lighting up with kindly sym- 
 pathy and regard. She could see him yet, she could still 
 feel the touch of his hand and hear his voice as he said, 
 "Poor little hands. They were not made for such hard- 
 ships." And to-day he was a conspicuous mark for the 
 Confederate guns on yonder mountains! The thought 
 was maddening, and, springing up, she ran down the hill 
 almost as if fleeing from bodily torture and called to Sam 
 to bring Beauty to her at once, forgetting, in her excite- 
 ment, that there was no Beauty in the stables now. She, 
 too, had been stolen by the Yankees. And Philip Blair 
 was a Yankee \ Like a dart, the offensive truth came to 
 her again. Hurrying into the house, she sat down on a low 
 stool and laid her aching head in her mother's lap as she 
 used to do long ago. 
 
 "What is it, dear ?" Mrs. Lee asked, gently. "Are you 
 so nervous over the battle ?" 
 
 "Oh! mother, I don't know what it is," she cried, de- 
 spairingly. "All life seems such a hopeless muddle. 
 There is no right and no wrong any more no plan and 
 no purpose. I don't know what to think or say or do." 
 
 Mrs. Lee stroked the girl's hair tenderly for some time 
 before replying, feeling in her heart that she knew, at 
 least in part, the cause of her unhappiness. At length 
 she said, without apparently connecting her question with 
 Virginia's mood : 
 
 "Who was the messenger lad that came to you this 
 morning and what did he want?" 
 
 "He was a stranger to me, mother, and he brought me 
 a note from Lieutenant Blair to tell me he was ready to 
 go into this battle," Virginia forced herself to reply. 
 
 Mrs. Lee made no comment, but continued to stroke 
 246
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the waves of dark hair, leading her daughter to talk of 
 indifferent topics until she was quieted and soothed and 
 comforted. The storm had spent its fury, and no traces 
 of it remained by the time supper was called. Early in the 
 evening Virginia went to bed and fell quickly into a 
 sound, sweet sleep. 
 
 She was in the same passive state of mind the next 
 day, when the arrival of a letter from her father changed 
 her in an extraordinary manner and stimulated her natu- 
 ral firmness and decision of character. The letter was to 
 Mrs. Lee, and after the usual comments on the war and 
 an allusion to the precarious condition of Bragg and his 
 army, he said, incidentally, "How is it I hear so much of 
 this Yankee Lieutenant Blair ? It must be some strong 
 attraction that brings him so often to the Lodge. I fear it 
 betokens no good for Virginia's promise to Hugh. Tell 
 her, Margaret, to remember the advice of Laertes to 
 Ophelia and 'keep in the rear of her affections.' This is 
 probably altogether unnecessary, but it would be a matter 
 of mortification to us all herself included for our Vir- 
 ginia to become involved in an affair of the heart with a 
 Yankee officer. A hint to the wise is sufficient." 
 
 As Mrs. Lee finished reading this part of the letter, she 
 glanced up at her daughter, who sat with her head bent 
 over her embroidery and gave, no sign of the thoughts 
 that were passing in her mind. On the spur of the mo- 
 ment she had reached a fixed determination, she would go 
 to Atlanta immediately and see Lieutenant Blair no more. 
 
 A few suggestions about the affairs of the plantation 
 and a message to one or another of the leading slaves 
 completed the letter, and at its conclusion Virginia arose 
 quietly, and, laying aside her work, said, in a matter of 
 fact way : 
 
 247
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I'll go over to the quarters now and deliver the mes- 
 sages." 
 
 "There's no hurry," Mrs. Lee objected, "Hudson can 
 do it." 
 
 "Hudson will not be at home before night," the 
 daughter answered. "He said he meant to know the re- 
 sult of these battles if it took all day, and it is very evi- 
 dent, from the sounds we hear, that the fighting is still 
 in progress. 
 
 Mrs. Lee had learned lately that it was useless to op- 
 pose Virginia when she took her present tone and manner 
 with reference to some trivial action of her own, and, 
 paying no further heed to the proposed errand, she said : 
 
 "How soon things become an old story to us. When we 
 first began to hear these sounds of battle we could think 
 of nothing else. Do you remember the day of Chickamau- 
 ga, Virginia, how horrified we were? The roar of the 
 cannon has become so familiar that we have barely 
 noticed it to-day, so to speak, and yet the fighting must be 
 nearer us and harder, if possible, than ever before." 
 
 Virginia looked curiously at her mother, wondering in 
 her heart if she had really concealed her true state of 
 mind as successfully as this speech would lead one to sup- 
 pose ; but she only answered carelessly, "War is like vice, 
 I presume, mother the more we see of it the less hideous 
 it becomes to us. I hope Hudson will be able to tell us the 
 result of all this when he returns, though, candidly, there 
 is not much need. In my secret heart there has been a 
 conviction of what the result would be for a long time." 
 
 Mrs. Lee asked no questions. She knew too well what 
 that sorry tone betokened. As she sat at the window, she 
 looked thoughtfully after Virginia's lithe young figure 
 hurrying away toward the negro quarters, imagining 
 there was less of spring and buoyancy in the step than 
 
 248
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 there had formerly been. "She's a strange girl," she 
 murmured to herself, "a strange girl, and yet I believe 
 I know the secret of her greatest grief. How I wish I 
 could help her." 
 
 But there was no way to help her. Perhaps the great- 
 est kindness anyone could do her was to let her alone 
 until time, the all-powerful healer of so many wounds, 
 the great adjuster of so many difficulties, could wean her 
 mind from the glimpse she had had of real affection and 
 reconcile her to her lot. Hers was too proud a nature 
 to be reached by sympathy or advice on a subject of so 
 private nature, especially in its present aspect. Even to 
 her mother she could not speak of an infatuation that was 
 unreasonable and absurd, to say nothing of the fact that 
 she had allowed it to grow upon her unsought and, possi- 
 bly, unappreciated by its object. What reason had Philip 
 Blair ever given her to believe that he thought of her save 
 as a passing fancy and as -a bit of entertainment for the 
 present ? At this point in her argument there was always 
 a sudden uprising in her heart before which she withdrew 
 a little from the ground she had gained by her reasoning 
 and settled back to the only safe refuge a sudden re- 
 treat from danger. 
 
 When Hudson returned in the evening he brought 
 tidings of great victory for the Union army, the capture 
 of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and Bragg's 
 retreat into Georgia. 
 
 "Then, mother, it is time for us to retreat, too," Vir- 
 ginia said eagerly, like one who seeks an opportunity to 
 carry out a much-desired purpose. 
 
 "How can we go now ? We have waited too long, we 
 can't pass the Union lines without help and there is no 
 one to help us," Mrs. Lee answered. 
 
 249
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Colonel Allerton would help us if we could see him, 
 he promised it weeks ago," Virginia said. 
 
 "We may never see Colonel Allerton again," her 
 mother complained. 
 
 "Yes, I saw him in the village late this afternoon," 
 Hudson interrupted. 
 
 "Did you, and could you find him to-morrow?" Vir- 
 ginia asked. 
 
 "Yes," Hudson replied, "he sent his compliments to 
 the ladies an' said tell you he'd be in the town most of 
 the time for a while an' he hadn't forgotten his promise." 
 
 "Oh! Joy!" Virginia cried, her face lighting up with 
 such satisfaction as it had not shown for days, "through 
 him we can get passes and possibly we can go soon. I 
 wish we were ready to-night." 
 
 Mrs. Lee looked curiously at her daughter, convinced 
 she had read the girl's heart aright and willing to do any- 
 thing to make her path easier just now. They spent the 
 evening arranging with the overseer for the support of 
 the negroes during the winter and devising occupation for 
 them in the absence of the family. The next day Hudson 
 rode into town with a note from Virginia to be given to 
 Colonel Allerton or left for him if he were not there. 
 Finding the Colonel away, Hudson left the note and has- 
 tened back to the Lodge with the information that Bragg 
 was not only retreating but that the Yankees were in 
 pursuit and threatened the destruction of his forces before 
 he could join Johnston. 
 
 Colonel Allerton came to the Lodge early the next 
 morning. Entering the house with a jovial, good-natured 
 greeting, he made no reference to the Confederate defeat 
 which he naturally supposed would be a subject of humili- 
 ation to the family. "What is it I can do for you, Miss 
 Lee?" he asked as soon as the first courtesies had been 
 
 250
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 exchanged, "I am sorry not to have been in the village 
 yesterday but I hope the delay has caused you no incon- 
 venience." 
 
 "O, no, not at all," Virginia answered, "but we are 
 ready to go to Atlanta now if we can get there. Do you 
 think an arrangement can be made for us? You see we 
 do not hesitate to avail ourselves of your proffered assist- 
 ance." 
 
 "And right glad I am to see it," was the cordial reply. 
 "I'm sure I can manage the passes for you. I'll see to 
 it at once. It may require a day or two, of course you 
 understand there is a good deal of red tape connected 
 with these things." 
 
 "We will be only too grateful for your assistance, Col- 
 onel Allerton, without dictating as to the time," Virginia 
 replied. 
 
 "And what of the young Lieutenant? What will he 
 say when he gets well and finds you gone if he ever 
 does get well?" the Colonel asked in a half-serious, half- 
 jesting tone. 
 
 "Gets well ! Has he been sick ? Is he wounded ?" Vir- 
 ginia exclaimed, startled out of her composure and re- 
 serve, her face turning pale with alarm rather than flush- 
 ing from embarrassment. 
 
 "Hadn't you heard?" Colonel Allerton asked in sur- 
 prise. "He was carried from the field half dead, it was 
 thought, during the battle on Mount Lookout and even 
 yet his recovery is doubtful at least, so I have been told 
 by men who were in the fight with him." 
 
 "Where is he now?" asked Mrs. Lee, for which Vir- 
 ginia was very thankful, longing to know, yet not daring 
 to ask lest someone should discover her agitation. 
 
 "He's at a house down there somewhere and the sur- 
 geons have done all they can to fix him up. They say 
 
 251
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 there is danger of his losing an arm but that he will 
 probably live unless some unforeseen complications should 
 appear," the Colonel explained calmly, while Virginia 
 forced herself to listen with masked face that told no 
 tale of the raging tumult in her heart. In return, she ex- 
 pressed some mechanical words of regret or sympathy 
 which almost deceived even Mrs. Lee, who relieved the 
 situation by sending Lieutenant Blair a kindly message 
 with the wish that it were possible for her to be near 
 him and help him. 
 
 With a few more words about the business on which 
 he came, the Colonel took his leave, assuring them that 
 he would return in a day or two. 
 
 When he was gone, Virginia sought the summer house, 
 the only place where she could escape observation and 
 the scene of so many hours of bitterness and indecision. 
 The utmost limit of her temptation and weakness had 
 been reached and, in her extremity, she crouched upon 
 her knees beside the little settee and, burying her face 
 in her hands, wept violently. She tried to pray, but the 
 effort ended in the weak and helpless cry, "God pity me 
 and help me." In time past this rock had been her 
 refuge, but for weeks, now, she had been unable to frame 
 the words of a prayer. She could not pray for the Con- 
 federacy, for inch by inch she had yielded to the con- 
 viction that it was doomed, she could not pray for Hugh, 
 she could not pray for Philip; she could only fall upon 
 her knees, more in helplessness than in prayerfulness, and 
 cry out for strength to do right. And who shall say that 
 the pitying ear of High Heaven did not hear and heed 
 her cry? Gradually she was enabled to withdraw her 
 mind from visions of Philip wounded and suffering, per- 
 haps mutilated and possibly dying, and to fix it upon the 
 duties that were at hand; to possess her spirit of the 
 
 252
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "peace that floweth like a river," and that often comes 
 to us as the answer to sincere prayer. 
 
 When she returned to the Lodge her mother met her 
 at the door with an open letter in her hand. 
 
 "There is a letter from your father," Mrs. Lee said, 
 "and he sends us bad news from Hugh." 
 
 "What, is Hugh wounded too?" Virginia asked 
 anxiously. "I feared it from not having heard from him 
 for so long." 
 
 "No, not wounded," Mrs. Lee replied, "but he has been 
 sick, has had malaria for several weeks, and two or three 
 days ago he was well enough to go out with a reconnoiter- 
 ing party for the first time. They were all captured, 
 Hugh with the rest, and they are now in the Federal 
 prison at " 
 
 "Poor Hugh!" Virginia said gently, "and it is all my 
 fault, too." 
 
 "Why is it your fault?" Mrs. Lee asked in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "Because I forced him to go. Hugh would never have 
 been in the war but for my influence. Poor fellow !" and 
 in her heart she made a stronger resolution than ever to 
 go to Atlanta at once and to be true to Hugh at whatever 
 cost. She had wronged him enough already. 
 
 A very few days sufficed for their preparations for de- 
 parture. By the time Colonel Allerton returned with the 
 necessary papers, everything was in readiness for the 
 journey and on the very day that Philip was urging Tom 
 Healy's visit to Lee's Summit, Mrs. Lee and Virginia 
 turned their backs upon it, seeking, with heavy hearts, 
 a more safe and quiet abiding place. 
 
 253
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE possibility of finding Lee's Summit deserted had 
 not entered Tom Healy's thoughts. To make his way 
 there, to deliver his message and procure a reply, and to 
 return these, in his mind, were the successive steps of 
 the mission before him. Hence, it was with a feeling 
 akin to consternation that he found the Lodge closed and 
 not a living creature in sight. Even in the direction of 
 the negro quarters, desolation reigned, for, in Hudson's 
 absence, nearly all the slaves, on one pretext or another, 
 were away from the cabins. A silence that could be felt 
 penetrated everything about him. There was no din of 
 battle, no passing of soldiers, not even the rustle of a 
 falling leaf or the twitter of a belated bird. Like the 
 hush that succeeds the raging tempest was the calm that 
 had followed in the wake of those terrible, tumultuous 
 days. 
 
 Tom's quick eye for neatness and order readily took 
 notice of the promptness with which the place had been 
 cleared and set right after the fire and with genuine Yan- 
 kee love of thrift he said, as he whittled a stick he had 
 picked up at Hudson's wood-pile and glanced about from 
 a high point of observation back of the ruins: 
 
 "They deserved better than this. It is a pity, an' 
 
 there's lots of 'em down in these parts in the same fix 
 
 But then," he added a moment later, "it'll teach them an' 
 the rest of the world, too, that they can't bulldoze Uncle 
 Sam," and Tom gave a low, joyful whistle as he thought 
 of the sweeping victory Uncle Sam had won out on those 
 distant mountains. He was too thoroughly In sympathy 
 
 254
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 with the Union to dwell long upon the calamities of its 
 enemies. 
 
 As he stood musing over the great change that had been 
 made since he left Lee's Summit and wondering mechani- 
 cally what he could do next, he became suddenly aware 
 of the approach of a young negro from the direction of 
 the barns. He could almost believe the newcomer had 
 sprung from the ground, so certain he had felt that there 
 was no sign of habitation anywhere. But, being singu- 
 larly free from superstition, he accosted the darky in his 
 characteristic manner. 
 
 "Sambo," he said all coons looked alike to Tom and 
 he always addressed them by the same name "where've 
 the folks gone?" 
 
 "Missus an' Miss Ginnie's done gone to Atlanty," Sam 
 answered bluntly. 
 
 "To Atlanty !" Tom exclaimed. "Are you sure ?" 
 
 "Go's Fs sho. Didn' I take 'em to de village myself 
 to kotch de train?" Sam returned, ready to argue the 
 question if necessary. 
 
 "Have they gone to stay?" Tom asked. 
 
 "Dunno nothin' 'bout dat, Mas'r," was the reply. "All 
 I knows fo' sartin is deys gone t' Atlanty, an' dat I's 
 sho of." 
 
 "Did the Hudsons go too?" Tom persisted. 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Where are they?" 
 
 "Gone to de village." 
 
 "To stay?" 
 
 "No, dey'll be back 'bout da'k, Marse Hudson say." 
 
 "I can't wait. I'll have to ride on to the village myself. 
 Here, you, can't you feed and water my horse?" Tom 
 called after Sam, who had turned to go back to the barn, 
 at the same time tossing him a piece of silver that fell 
 
 255
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 into the grass at his feet. Sam's face beamed with a 
 pleased grin as he went down on his knees in search of 
 the coin. When he had found it, he answered with all 
 the respect that a gift of money inspires in his race: 
 
 "I kin watah 'im suh, an' I kin let 'im eat grass on de 
 lawn or in de pastah, but dere's not an eah ob co'n on de 
 place to give 'im. De Yanks done come two weeks ago 
 an' hauled off all dey could lay hans on." 
 
 "Now, look here, Sambo, if your soul's not blacker 
 than your skin, you won't tell me such a monstrous one 
 as that," Tom replied. "You know that somewhere on 
 this place you've corn enough to feed my horse." 
 
 /Deed, Mas'r, I's tellin' de truf. Hope t'die dis minit 
 ef it ain't jes 's I say. Ye can go to de ba'n an' co'n 
 cribs an' see fo' yo'sef." 
 
 "Well, give the horse water and grass, then, it will do 
 until I get to the village," Tom directed and Sam hurried 
 away to execute the command. 
 
 Tom was puzzled. He felt intuitively that the situa- 
 tion looked discouraging for the Lieutenant's prospects 
 with Virginia. The report, he knew, would be hard upon 
 Philip. He must find the Hudsons and ascertain whether 
 or not she had left a message. 
 
 " Twould be too bad," he argued, "for Mister Philip 
 to leave so many nice girls a sighin' after him back in 
 N'York state an' then come down here to be jilted by a 
 rebel, though she is a han'some one." 
 
 After eating his dinner in Chattanooga, Tom set out 
 in search of the Hudsons, following the directions Sam 
 had given him, but, having found them, he gained no in- 
 formation from them except that the Lees would remain 
 away indefinitely and that they had obtained their passes 
 through Colonel Allerton. It was evident there had been 
 no message left for Philip, although the news of his 
 
 256
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 misfortune had been carried to the Lodge before Mrs. 
 Lee and Virginia left there. Healy would have consid- 
 ered his trip worse than a failure, had he not fallen in 
 with a party of Union soldiers from whom he heard 
 many bits of gossip concerning the battles and acquaint- 
 ances of his who had been engaged in them. 
 
 Tom had ample time for reflection during the home- 
 ward journey. "It's goin' to strike 'im all of a heap for 
 a while," he said aloud. "It's plain to be seen he's a 
 dotin' on her all the time an' this'll sort o' break into 'is 
 calc'lations some, I reckon. Blast my buttons, if I know 
 what I'm goin' t' tell 'im." 
 
 Philip was worse when Tom reached him "had 
 worked hisself into a ragin' fever," the Irishman said, 
 "a worryin' over nothin'." 
 
 "Is it nothing that you have been gone almost twice as 
 long as we expected?" Blair asked petulantly. "How 
 was I to know you had not been captured or wounded, 
 as you were once before?" 
 
 "Never you fear, Mister Philip. They got me once 
 but they won't do it again. I cut my eye teeth over at 
 Lee's Summit an' I'm too swift for 'em any more," Tom 
 said boastingly, in reality glad of some reason to prolong 
 the conversation and put off the dreaded explanation for 
 which he had been able to devise no satisfactory form. 
 
 Blair had, indeed, fretted and fumed unnecessarily over 
 Healy's prolonged stay, as strong men are inclined to do 
 over even trivial annoyances when deprived of their usual 
 powers of activity. Now, he saw in the delay evidence 
 of Tom's own misfortune and again he connected it with 
 Virginia in some unaccountable way, contriving in his 
 imagination a score of evils that might have befallen her 
 yet signally failing to think of the right cause. That she 
 might have left Tennessee, and left it, too, without a 
 
 257
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 word to himself either of sympathy or of warning, was 
 too unexpected even to be thought of. 
 
 He lay with an air of impatient expectancy while Tom 
 removed his hat and coat, brushed the dust of travel from 
 his clothing, and carefully rearranged part of the furni- 
 ture in the room, complaining the while because women 
 folks are not content to leave things where they find them. 
 Philip's scanty stock of patience was at length exhausted 
 and he blurted out indignantly: 
 
 "What do you suppose I sent you to Lee's Summit for, 
 Tom, if not to hear some tidings from the people there ?" 
 
 "To be sure!" Tom returned as if suddenly recalling 
 himself to a forgotten subject. "I was so upset with 
 findin' you like this, I was about to forget what I went 
 for. The truth is, Mister Philip ," he began. 
 
 "Well?" Philip questioned. 
 
 "The Lees wasn't at home," Tom said helplessly. 
 
 "Where were they?" 
 . "Gone t'Atlanty, sir," Tom answered. 
 
 "Gone to Atlanta," Philip repeated, trying to realize 
 what the words meant. "Surely there is some message 
 for me. Did you bring me a note from the young lady? 
 Speak out, why can't you, and tell me whatever you have 
 to tell?" Blair said impatiently. 
 
 "There's nothing to tell, Mister Philip," Tom admitted 
 reluctantly. "Three or four days ago Mrs. Lee and the 
 little rebel went to Atlanty to stay 'til it is safe or of any 
 use to come back. I saw the Hudsons in Chattanoogy 
 and they told me this and there was no word left for 
 anyone." 
 
 "Had they heard of my condition, do you know, Tom? 
 The Lees, I mean?" 
 
 It was the question Tom dreaded most of all to hear. 
 
 "Yes, sir, I think they had," he was forced to admit. 
 258
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Think! Don't you know whether they had or not? 
 Did you say nothing to the Hudsons about me ? It seems 
 to me I am having a hard time to get at the truth." 
 
 "Yes," Tom began, bracing himself for a clean breast 
 of the affair at once, "I talked to the Hudsons about you 
 and they had heard of your gettin' shot at Lookout. I 
 don't certainly know that the Lees heard of it too, but I 
 should say they did, as the news got to the Lodge before 
 they left." 
 
 "Who told them of it ?" Blair asked. 
 
 "Colonel Allerton, sir," Tom replied, "and it seems 
 'twas him that got 'em the passes so they could go away." 
 
 "Thank you, Tom, that's all just now. You did all 
 you could, I have no doubt." Philip turned wearily on 
 his pillow and lay quiet a long while, going over in his 
 mind the circumstances of his association with Virginia, 
 trying to settle the nature of his relationship to her and 
 wondering why she had treated him so. Since the day 
 he had rescued her from Painter's persecution on her 
 way home from the Confederate camp, she had shown 
 no animosity toward him as a Federal soldier and some- 
 times he had felt almost certain she reciprocated, in a 
 measure, the interest he felt in her. What freak had im- 
 pelled her to ignore him now when he had a right tc 
 expect at least a demonstration of friendly sympathy? 
 Was she so absurdly prejudiced? Was she simply a 
 heartless coquette? He could not believe it, she was too 
 honest and sincere in all her words and actions for that. 
 He would not entertain an evil thought concerning her 
 without actual proof of its justice. 
 
 He did not speak her name again and, as days and 
 weeks went by, Tom began to think the episode with the 
 heiress of Lee's Summit was of no consequence after 
 all. At times he was on the point of congratulating 
 
 259
 
 Philip upon the ease with which he had dismissed an un- 
 pleasant entanglement, but Philip was too reserved and 
 taciturn about everything connected with Miss Lee for 
 even Healy to venture upon such a familiarity. 
 
 It was midwinter before Blair was able to leave the 
 house and, as soon as he was strong enough to ride, he 
 made his way by easy stages to Chattanooga and thence 
 to Lee's Summit, where he was kindly received by the 
 Hudsons and where he spent half a day wandering about 
 and dwelling upon fond recollections of his former visits 
 there. He obtained Virginia's address and wrote to her, 
 bidding her direct her reply to Rochester, New York, 
 where he expected to go in a few days to spend the re- 
 mainder of the winter. No answer- ever came to the 
 letter and he was left to put whatever construction he 
 chose upon her silence. Two or three weeks prior to 
 this time, the part of the army to which he belonged was 
 returned to the east and Tom Healy went with them 
 leaving Philip to regain his strength, enjoy his vacation 
 at home and join him in Virginia when he was ready to 
 return to the service. Thoroughly deceived by the calm- 
 ness with which Philip endured his illness and the eager- 
 ness with which he talked of his trip northward, Tom did 
 not dream that the passing days did but increase his in- 
 terest in Virginia and stimulate his desire to see her again 
 and renew the acquaintance so rudely arrested. Many a 
 day when he was supposed to be asleep, he had lain with 
 his face to the wall, thinking of her and trying to devise 
 some plan for seeing her once more. The removal of 
 his regiment in the opposite direction from Atlanta 
 seemed to blast his last prospect of such a meeting and 
 he took his journey homeward in a state of hopeless un- 
 certainty. 
 
 260
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ATLANTA was like a new world to Virginia, coming, 
 as she did, from the very midst of the horrors of war, 
 from three years experience of hardship, responsibility 
 and anxiety, from a ruined home and a devastated coun- 
 try. There had never been a gayer season in the gay 
 little city than the one just beginning when she and her 
 mother came to it seeking refuge and rest. From the day 
 of her arrival at the home of the Chesters, she entered 
 upon such a succession of pleasures as she had never 
 known before. Life at Lee's Summit, in the very heyday 
 of its prosperity, seemed tame in comparison with the 
 bedizzening merry-go-round of calls and visits and parties 
 and balls. 
 
 Standing in the heart of the Confederacy, shielded from 
 the approach of the enemy by two lines of armies under 
 popular and trusted generals, teeming with foundries, 
 factories, mills and warehouses, the granary of the south- 
 ern states, the chief depot of supplies for the southern 
 armies, Atlanta had steadily advanced in prosperity in- 
 stead of losing ground, as many of her sister cities had 
 done. Luxurious and elegant homes, thrown open in 
 true southern hospitality, were the centers of attraction 
 for the pleasure-loving throng, of whom Kittie Chester, 
 in the bloom of youth and beauty, was a distinguished 
 leader. They had known nothing here of the real hard- 
 ships of war, and such was their belief in the security of 
 their position and the final triumph of the cause of seces- 
 sion that almost without interruption they continued their 
 pursuit of wealth or ease or pleasure. No one paused to 
 think of danger or, if the thought were forced upon them 
 
 261
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 by some glaring defeat, as when Bragg was driven out of 
 Tennessee, they gave the disaster a moment's considera- 
 tion and then returned to "their mirth or their employ- 
 ment," in the spirit, if not in the language, of the kings 
 and lords of other days "after us the deluge." 
 
 Virginia Lee was secretly gratified by the unexpected 
 conditions that surrounded her. She was naturally fond 
 of society and she had looked forward with dread to the 
 life of inactivity she expected to live in her uncle's house. 
 Hence, easily laying aside her former prejudice against 
 social enjoyment, which had weakened with the decline 
 of her enthusiasm and hopefulness concerning the issue 
 of the rebellion, she entered heartily into Kittie's plans 
 for her entertainment. She even permitted herself the 
 extravagance of replenishing her wardrobe to suit the 
 necessities of the season, for the practice of those sacri- 
 fices and self-denials which Hugh was disposed to term 
 "small economies" had not penetrated as far as Atlanta, 
 and she found a renewed pleasure in the indulgence of 
 her old-time taste in the matter of gowns and bonnets. 
 The spirit of defiance and abandonment was in the air 
 and, like the friends with whom she associated, she soon 
 learned to shut her eyes to the evil which, wound about 
 them like a fatal coil, was slowly but surely contracting 
 its boundaries and threatening them with destruction. 
 Occasionally a vivid recollection of the loss of Chatta- 
 nooga aroused her to a realizing sense of their position 
 and she warned Kittie and Mrs. Chester of the fate await- 
 ing them, but Mrs. Chester, with whom the possession of 
 "nerves" had become an incurable disease, begged Vir- 
 ginia not to force these harassing fears upon her in her 
 frail condition, while Kittie only tossed her head good- 
 humoredly, saying: 
 
 "Well, cousin, there'll be time enough to think of disas- 
 262
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ter when it comes. It could do no good to be sighing 
 over it beforehand. We may as well enjoy life while we 
 can." 
 
 " 'Let us eat, drink and be merry for to-morrow we 
 die'," Virginia quoted ironically. 
 
 "But papa doesn't seem inclined to look at things so 
 very seriously," Kittie argued conclusively. 
 
 "Because, up to the present time, your father's interests 
 have been advanced by the war. His business has been 
 more prosperous than ever and he himself has been fortu- 
 nate enough to win more or less renown in the army with- 
 out any grave amount of danger. Let the Union forces 
 make their way to Atlanta and reverse all this and your 
 views and your father's will be different." 
 
 "To be sure," Kittie replied, adding playfully, "but 
 until 'all this' is reversed, my present state of mind is 
 more comfortable and it is vastly more to my taste to be 
 planning our dresses for the Dupont ball. Please, Vir- 
 ginia, let's drop the war subject and turn our attention 
 to the more immediate, if not the more important, one. 
 We must place our orders with Madame Verne by to- 
 morrow or she will not be able to fill them." 
 
 And thus the wilful little lady dismissed all serious 
 contemplation of future evil and, gradually, her graver 
 cousin fell in with her care-free ways. 
 
 On the evening of the Dupont ball, supposed to be the 
 chief event of the holidays, Kittie suddenly appeared in 
 Virginia's room arrayed in the cloud of ruffles and puffs 
 and laces which was the result of her "planning" with 
 Madame Verne. 
 
 "How beautiful!" Virginia exclaimed as she looked at 
 her cousin. 
 
 "Do you like it?" Kittie asked eagerly. "I am so 
 263
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 glad. Do you know, my dear, there is nobody's approval 
 quite so agreeable to me as yours?" 
 
 "Like it! It is lovely!" Virginia returned. "You are 
 even more beautiful, Kittie, than you gave promise of 
 being when you were younger, and I always thought you 
 pretty. And you have just the kind of beauty to suit 
 your name, with your soft voice and gentle manners." 
 
 "Don't say that!" Kittie said, laughing and laying her 
 hand over Virginia's mouth. "That's just what I don't 
 want to be. I'd rather be tall and grand like you are. 
 You've been my ideal since we were little girls and yet 
 I can't grow one bit like you." 
 
 "Tut! tut! child. Look into the glass and see what 
 nonsense you are talking." 
 
 Kittie raised her eyes and looked first at the reflection 
 of Virginia's face and then at her own with its large 
 brown eyes, round, rosy sheeks and long, soft curls. 
 
 "Yes," she said after a moment's pause, "it is what 
 might be called a prettier face than yours but I'd give 
 all the world to look like you and be like you." 
 
 "Fie! little one. Why, all the beaux in Atlanta are 
 dancing attendance upon you, what more could you 
 ask?" 
 
 "But it makes so much ado about nothing, Virginia. 
 It would be so much nicer to have one's affairs all ar- 
 ranged beforehand as yours were and save all the trouble 
 and worry. I suppose Hugh Cunningham is as fond of 
 you as ever?" 
 
 It was the first time her personal relations with Hugh 
 had been spoken of since her coming and it aroused a 
 strange sensation in Virginia's heart. Remembering Kit- 
 tie's former fondness for Hugh, she glanced at her 
 quickly, as the question was asked, but experience had 
 taught the little puss many a lesson in self-control and 
 
 264
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 her face gave no sign of emotion as she carefully ar- 
 ranged a stray curl and gave a finishing touch to the bow 
 of ribbon on her shoulder. 
 
 "I suppose so," Virginia answered with a shade of sad- 
 ness in her tone. "At least his letters sound just as they 
 always did and he professed to feel the same as ever 
 toward me when he was at home in August." 
 
 "Are you engaged to him, dear?" Kittie asked care- 
 lessly. 
 
 "Yes, I have promised to marry him when the war is 
 over." The answer was pronounced the least bit firmly 
 as if intended as much for her own reassurance as for 
 Kittie's information. 
 
 "How queer it must seem to be really engaged!" Kittie 
 said, looking meditatively at her cousin who replied in a 
 rather expressionless way, "How queer!" 
 
 And then the carriage was announced and they went 
 away to a brilliant scene of festivity and mirth that gave 
 no time to think of raging conflict or wearisome tie or 
 unrequited love. 
 
 What of Philip Blair all this time? Had Virginia for- 
 gotten him? With all the might of her strong character 
 she strove to dismiss him from her thoughts as completely 
 as he had disappeared from her sight. For this purpose 
 she welcomed the gay life into which she entered and for 
 this she threw herself heart and soul into whatever en- 
 joyment presented itself. If at times her mind persist- 
 ently reverted to the forbidden theme she sought some 
 fresh diversion and pursued it zealously until her will- 
 power had conquered. An uninterrupted course of such 
 discipline might, eventually, have accomplished the de- 
 sired end, but fate and Philip's own inclination decreed 
 it otherwise. Virginia had scarcely settled in her own 
 heart satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily that this epi- 
 
 265
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 sode in her life was irrevocably past, when the coming 
 of Lieutenant Blair's letter re-awakened the sleeping pas- 
 sion and renewed the old struggle that had cost her so 
 much bitterness at Lee's Summit. 
 
 It was a charming letter, cordial, earnest, filled with 
 the things she wished to know. It told of the writer's 
 long illness and convalescence, of Healy's trip to her 
 home and of his own keen disappointment when he 
 learned that she had left Tennessee without even a mes- 
 sage for him; it told of his visit to Lee's Summit, de- 
 scribing various changes he had noticed, relating inci- 
 dents connected with the Hudsons or the negroes, and re- 
 vealing his inmost thoughts and feelings as he wandered 
 among haunts which he associated with happy recollec- 
 tions of her; it told of Colonel Allerton's sickness and 
 death in late December, of Healy's removal to the east 
 and of his own projected visit in the North, ending with 
 the regret that the trip which would otherwise be so great 
 a pleasure must be marred by the thought that it but in- 
 creased the distance between himself and her and deferred 
 the day when he should meet her again. "And we shall 
 meet again," he said in conclusion. "It is simply un- 
 thinkable to me that you should have come to me for a 
 brief time to arouse in my heart an interest such as I 
 have never felt in anyone before and then as suddenly 
 drop out of my life never to return. It shall not be. 
 Answer me at Rochester, New York. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 PHILIP BLAIR. 
 
 After this Virginia spent a night of passionate grief 
 and bitter rebellion, alternating with periods of calm 
 judgment and earnest prayer. By morning she had taken 
 her resolve and, having completed her toilet, she stood 
 with the precious letter in her hand ready to drop it on 
 
 266
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the blazing fire in her grate. But here her woman's na- 
 ture rebelled utterly and as a compromise with her reason 
 she buried the missive in the bottom of a large trunk 
 where she would never have occasion to see it again un- 
 less she voluntarily chose to do so. It is said that "he 
 who ruleth his own spirit is greater than he who taketh 
 a city." Virginia had ruled her own spirit and she de- 
 scended to the breakfast room with the heroic air of a 
 conqueror. 
 
 A few days later she was further strengthened in her 
 purpose of treading the thorny path of duty by a letter 
 from Hugh which, unintentionally upon his part, was 
 most suggestive of her obligation to him without tending 
 to remove the thorns from the way she trod. In it, he 
 said with reference to his prison life, "I thought I had 
 considered all the possible calamities of a soldier's life 
 before I enlisted, but I did not reckon upon this. I had 
 reconciled myself to privation, sickness, danger, and even 
 death if it should come to me, but the idea of being cap- 
 tured, strangely enough, did not occur to me; and if it 
 had, I could have had no conception of its real meaning, 
 nor can anyone else imagine, without experience, the 
 dreadful condition of a prisoner of war. Yet they say 
 we are far better off than the Union soldiers in our own 
 prisons at Richmond and Andersonville 
 
 "Thank you, dear Virginia, for the good letters I have 
 received from you since I came here. They alone have 
 made existence endurable and I live day by day upon the 
 hope that if I survive this experience I shall be rewarded 
 by the fulfillment of your promise. I say if I survive 
 this, because I have never recovered from the illness from 
 which I suffered before coming here and I see no prospect 
 of recovering from anything unless chance should bring 
 
 267
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 me release from my present state. Write me as often as 
 you can and believe me as ever, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 HUGH." 
 
 Virginia was sitting with her mother and Mrs. Chester 
 and Kittie in the drawing-room when Hugh's letter was 
 handed to her. She read it through carefully and then, 
 returning it to the envelope, laid it down on the table be- 
 side her and resumed her embroidery. 
 
 "Is your letter from Hugh?" her mother asked. 
 
 "Yes, it's from Hugh," was the reply. 
 
 "Is he still in prison?" "Is he well?" asked Mrs. Lee 
 and Mrs. Chester in the same breath. 
 
 "Yes, he is still in prison and no, he is not well. He 
 says he has never recovered from the fever that troubled 
 him before he was captured." 
 
 "I wonder what that fellow who said 'the times are 
 out of joint' would think if he had been permitted to 
 see this day when the low-born Yankee can thus hold 
 in durance vile the very elect of southern gentlemen," 
 complained Mrs. Chester who, in these latter times stood 
 so in awe of her daughter that she seldom ventured an 
 authority for her frequent quotations. 
 
 "Poor Hugh!" said Mrs. Lee, "it is too bad for one 
 so young to have to endure such a trial." 
 
 "Yes, it's too bad," Virginia replied. "Sometimes I 
 am sorry Hugh ever enlisted for his heart has never been 
 in the struggle and I am sure that I am largely to blame 
 for his present suffering." 
 
 "I think you reproach yourself unnecessarily about 
 that, Virginia," Mrs. Lee said kindly. "You never urged 
 Hugh to enlist, you know." 
 
 "No, I didn't urge him to do so," Virginia assented, 
 "but the influence of my stronger will was just as effec- 
 
 268
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 tive as direct persuasion could have been. I should have 
 known better than to allow him to do it. I hate being 
 responsible for other people's actions. Hugh always did 
 what he thought I wanted him to do, even when we were 
 children." 
 
 "What else should he do?" asked Mrs. Chester with un- 
 usual spirit. "I'm sure I don't know what would have 
 become of me, frail as I have always been, if Marion had 
 not consulted my wishes always. You may find that 
 trait in Hugh's character very convenient later on, Vir- 
 ginia." 
 
 "Possibly," Virginia admitted indifferently, and again 
 she glanced at Kittie to see what effect the conversation 
 had upon her, but Kittie was silent and impenetrable. 
 
 That night as Virginia sat brushing her own hair after 
 her return from a social function at an earlier hour than 
 usual, the door opened softly and Kittie entered in a 
 trailing pink robe which set off her beauty more than the 
 richest gown could have done. With a contented air, 
 she seated herself on a low stool at her cousin's feet, 
 saying coaxingly : 
 
 "I was not sleepy, Virginia, so I thought I would come 
 in with you a little while. I do so love to visit in the 
 glow of the firelight." 
 
 "That's right, dear. You may come to visit with me 
 whenever it pleases you. I am always glad to see you, 
 for I, too, like to visit in the firelight and I am not sleepy, 
 myself, to-night." 
 
 "What were you thinking of when I came in, Virginia ? 
 It seems to me you are always thinking but then I pre- 
 sume an engaged girl has a great deal to think about." 
 
 "Do I seem to be always thinking, dear?" Virginia 
 asked. "I have no intention of doing so. It is a luxury 
 in which I do not wish to indulge." 
 
 269
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Do you mind telling me what you were thinking of 
 to-night?" Kittie persisted. 
 
 "Not at all, I was thinking of Hugh," was the frank 
 reply. 
 
 "Tell me something of Hugh, Virginia, something he 
 said in that long letter. You were so indefinite and un- 
 satisfactory downstairs this morning," Kittie said com- 
 plainingly. 
 
 "The letter is here, you may read it for yourself, little 
 one," Virginia said tenderly. "There is nothing in it 
 that Hugh could object to your seeing," and, going to a 
 little desk, she took the letter from a drawer and handed 
 it to her cousin, at the same time drawing up a stand with 
 a softly shaded lamp on it. 
 
 Kittie read the letter and then looking up at her cousin's 
 face said impulsively, "Poor Hugh ! I wonder, Virginia, 
 that you can stay away from him when he is in such 
 trouble, and sick, too." 
 
 Virginia regarded her companion thoughtfully for a 
 moment and, patting her soft cheek, said gently, "What 
 a pity Hugh did not love you instead of me, Kittie. You 
 are much better suited to his taste than I am. I have 
 often wished it had happened so." 
 
 "Why, Virginia? Don't you love Hugh yourself?" 
 Kittie exclaimed. 
 
 "O, yes, I am greatly attached to Hugh," was the 
 quick rejoinder. "I am used to him, you know." 
 
 "No, no, I don't mean that, I mean do you really love 
 him?" Kittie demanded with wilful persistency. 
 
 "Yes, I think I do, in a way," was the evasive reply. 
 "You know people's ways of doing things differ greatly." 
 
 "No, I see you do not love him as you should, and he 
 deserves a better fate than to be married to an unloving 
 wife. You should never have promised to marry him, 
 
 270
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 feeling as you do," and the little sage shook her bright 
 curls disapprovingly. 
 
 "Ah ! but you do not understand, Kittie. It was when 
 he was going back to the war for my sake and I could 
 not deny him a promise that made him go away happy," 
 Virginia replied. 
 
 "He might have been happier at the time but that will 
 not compensate for a lifelong misery," Kitty argued. 
 
 "Never you fear for that, my dear. When once I am 
 married to Hugh I'll be as faithful and kind as any wife 
 could be. It will be a part of my religion," said Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Kittie was silenced but not convinced and, for a time, 
 the two sat gazing thoughtfully into the glowing depths 
 of the fire, each one painting a picture in somber hues 
 peculiarly at variance with the brightness of their sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 "Virginia, what is Philip Blair like now? Is he as 
 splendid as he was three years and a half ago?" 
 
 The question was so sudden and, presumably, so for- 
 eign to their conversation that it took Virginia unawares. 
 The mention of Philip's name sent a shock all through 
 her being and, like a flash, the emotion showed itself in 
 her face. Kittie caught the look and waited with bated 
 breath for Virginia's answer. 
 
 "Yes, Kittie," Virginia at length said slowly, "there's 
 no denying that Philip Blair is an admirable man." 
 
 Kittie had seen into the depths of her cousin's heart. 
 Virginia knew and made no attempt to deny. "I am 
 sorry for you, Virginia," Kittie said, oh ! so earnestly and 
 tenderly, "I know what it is to hunger for something I 
 can never have." 
 
 A few minutes longer they sat together in silence and 
 then Kittie said good-night and went away to her room. 
 
 271
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 All this was but an accompaniment in a minor key 
 to the gayer harmony of their everyday life. The win- 
 ter with its round of pleasures hurried quickly by and 
 with the early spring Colonel Chester came home for a 
 visit of, two weeks with his family before the opening of 
 the campaign in defence of Atlanta. His tone had lost 
 something of its bravado nature and his face grew serious 
 as he spoke of the approach of Sherman and his northern 
 legions. 
 
 "Then, papa, do you think we shall be defeated?" Kit- 
 tie asked in alarm. 
 
 "No, I can't say I do, but it will be a very close and 
 bitter contest, I realize that," he replied. 
 
 "Do you think you have a better army here than we 
 had at Chattanooga?" asked Mrs. Lee. 
 
 "We have a different general," Colonel Chester an- 
 swered. 
 
 "Do you regard Johnston as greatly superior tc 
 Bragg?" Virginia asked incredulously. 
 
 "Well, he at least has Bragg's mistakes to profit by and 
 I believe him capable of doing so," Colonel Chester said 
 without committing himself to a definite opinion. 
 
 After this the family were in a constant state of ex- 
 pectancy, watching eagerly for the reports of Sherman's 
 movements as they came to them either through the pa- 
 pers or in Colonel Chester's letters. Mrs. Lee and Vir- 
 ginia, realizing from sad experience, the trials before 
 them, began once more the tiresome process of watching 
 and waiting. 
 
 272
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ON a raw stormy night in January, when wind and 
 rain and sleet and snow seemed to have leagued them- 
 selves in bitter hostility to the unfortunate wayfarer, a 
 closed carriage drew up in front of a handsome residence 
 on a fashionable street of Rochester, New York. The 
 driver looked in at the open parlor windows and shrugged 
 his shoulders discontentedly as he contrasted the warmth 
 and brightness and comfort there with tile cold and dark- 
 ness about him, muttering an impatient invective against 
 bad luck and povetty as he descended from the box ; but 
 he opened the carriage with all the deference due a man 
 who knocks at the door of such a house, whether in the 
 capacity of owner or of visitor. 
 
 A moment later, Philip Blair sprang out upon the pave- 
 ment, paid his fare, and, hurrying up the steps, gave an 
 energetic pull at the bell. He had barely time to unbut- 
 ton his great coat, turn back the collar and shake off the 
 rain drops before the hall door was opened and a flood 
 of light enveloped him. Brushing past the servant who 
 admitted him, he stepped quickly across the broad hall 
 and entered the parlor where two ladies sat talking to- 
 gether before an open fire. His footsteps were so muffled 
 by the soft carpets that they were unaware of his pres- 
 ence until he was quite inside the room. 
 
 "Mother! Alice!" he said joyfully, reaching out his 
 arms toward them. 
 
 "Philip!" "Philip!" they cried in answer to the familiar 
 tones and, springing up, the mother and sister over- 
 whelmed him with such a welcome as only the returning 
 soldier receives. 
 
 273
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Doubtless there are mothers and sisters the world over 
 who know how the next few hours were spent in that 
 Rochester home. Mrs. Blair had been a widow since 
 Philip was a mere lad and her life was devoted to the 
 interests of these two, her only children. The very year 
 the war began, the daughter had married Bradley More- 
 ton and gone to live in a distant part of the city. When 
 Philip enlisted, both he and Mrs. Moreton urged their 
 mother to dispose of her residence and go to live with 
 the latter, but Mrs. Blair, like all women who have once 
 known the happiness of their own home, preferred to 
 remain where she was, insisting that so long as her son 
 was unmarried she would keep this home for him, that 
 when he was settled she might consider the advisability 
 of such a change as the one proposed. 
 
 "How is it that you are here at this time of m>ht, Alice ? 
 Where's Bradley ?" Philip asked as he made himself com- 
 fortable before the fire. 
 
 "He has gone west on a business trip and I have been 
 visiting mother since he left, almost a week ago," was 
 the reply. 
 
 "Well, of course I'm sorry not to see Bradley," Philip 
 said, "but after all it seems very like old times to be here, 
 just you and mother and I, doesn't it?" 
 
 "Don't you see how much better it is that I didn't 
 leave our home as you wished me to do?" said Mrs. 
 Blair. 
 
 "Yes, I was thinking on my way north that it was very 
 agreeable to be coming back to the old place. It wouldn't 
 be quite the same to go to another house, even though it 
 were Alice's," Philip replied, adding immediately, "By 
 the way, mother, I hope you have something good for 
 dinner. I am ravenously hungry. You know I have not 
 had a genuine home dinner for a long time." 
 
 274
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "No," his mother said sympathizingly, "I presume there 
 are no homes where you have been that you would care 
 to visit." 
 
 "Not so much that, mother," he answered, smiling, "as 
 that there were no homes where they cared to have me 
 visit. You know the southern people are not keeping 
 open house for the reception of Union soldiers; indeed, 
 they are in no condition just now to receive anyone." 
 
 "Are they so poor down there?" Mrs. Moreton asked. 
 
 "You have no conception, Alice, of the condition the 
 people are in where I have been. Elegant homes are 
 dilapidated or destroyed and fine plantations are a wilder- 
 ness of weeds," Philip said, proceeding to -illustrate by 
 an account of the despoiling of Lee's Summit. 
 
 "Is that honorable warfare, Philip?" Mrs. Moreton 
 asked doubtfully. "It seems to me our armies have no 
 right to bring such calamities upon private citizens." 
 
 "It does seem so at first thought, Alice," Philip replied 
 gravely, "especially when such deprivations come upon 
 people with whom we have a personal reason for sympa- 
 thizing, but it is the quickest way to end this cruel and 
 expensive war. You know there are bodily ailments that 
 require heroic treatment. Secession is a canker on the 
 body politic which only the deepest probing can eradi- 
 cate." 
 
 "I suppose you are right," Mrs. Moreton assented, "but 
 it will be a blessing when all this is ended." 
 
 "I am glad you are not going back to Tennessee, son," 
 said Mrs. Blair, whose mind was greatly more concerned 
 about Philip than about the war or the privations of the 
 southern people, "I have always felt more anxiety about 
 you since you left the east because you are so much 
 farther from home." 
 
 275
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I am not sure that I shall not return to Tennessee yet, 
 mother," Philip replied. 
 
 "Why, you wrote that your regiment was already gone, 
 and Healy with them," his mother said in surprise. 
 
 "So they have," was the answer, "but I am thinking 
 seriously of obtaining a transfer to Sherman's army. Ac- 
 cidentally, I grew into friendly relations with General 
 Sherman before I left Chattanooga and I think, through 
 his influence, I can get permission to join his command if 
 I choose to do so." 
 
 "But why should you wish to go there again, brother? 
 It must be a much harder field than Virginia," Mrs. More- 
 ton urged. 
 
 "Because there is just the kind of work that I like, to 
 be done in the south, while I see nothing whatever of in- 
 terest in Virginia," was the reply. 
 
 "If you mean there will be more fighting in the south, 
 I cannot understand why you prefer to return there. Be- 
 sides, Philip, it will greatly increase my anxiety to have 
 you separated from Tom. There is a comfort to me in 
 the thought that he is with you to look after you a little," 
 Mrs. Blair said pleadingly. 
 
 "I mean to take Tom back with me, if possible," Philip 
 answered. 
 
 "What do you think will be done in the south, brother ?" 
 Mrs. Moreton asked. 
 
 "I think General Sherman will carry the war into the 
 heart of the Confederate states, leaving desolation in his 
 path," was the grave reply. 
 
 "O, it is pitiful," the sister said. "General Sherman 
 must be a very severe man." 
 
 "It is pitiful, but it is necessary to save the Union and 
 establish its authority beyond dispute, and that is the 
 
 276
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 task before us. General Sherman is not severe but wise 
 and far-seeing," Philip said, earnestly. 
 
 After this the conversation was of home affairs and 
 interests, and continued through the dinner hour and the 
 long evening that followed, until Mrs. Blair, with a 
 mother's consideration, sent Philip away to bed for the 
 rest he needed after his long journey. 
 
 During the month that followed, the war-worn soldier 
 thoroughly enjoyed his respite from the duties of mili- 
 tary life, and the association with his mother and sister, 
 and with Bradley Moreton after his return ; but he often 
 found his mind wandering far away in the southland, 
 trying to frame some excuse for Virginia Lee's conduct 
 toward him since he last saw her. Why had she left 
 Tennessee without a word to him ? Lying in his sick room 
 near Lookout Mountain, he had been able to explain her 
 action, attributing it to the fact of his never having given 
 her a definite understanding of his real attitude toward 
 her. Now, however, he had not even this flimsy argu- 
 ment to bolster up his wavering hope. Why had she not 
 answered the long letter he had written her from Chat- 
 tanooga? Surely it had been explicit enough in its dec- 
 larations. These were the questions that occupied his 
 mind oftenest and that he was never able to answer with 
 any degree of satisfaction to himself. He was not shaken, 
 however, in his determination to return to the army now 
 in Georgia, and before the month closed he had com- 
 pleted the arrangements for the transfer of himself and 
 Healy to Sherman's army. 
 
 One day, at his sister's home, he sat for a long while 
 looking out of the window in a brown study. 
 
 "What are you thinking about, Philip," Mrs. Moreton 
 asked. 
 
 "I was thinking of the Lees," was the reply. "I wish 
 277
 
 you could know them, Alice. I'm sure you would like 
 them." 
 
 "What were they like, brother? I remember hearing 
 you speak of them before," the sister said, interested, as 
 usual, in anything concerning Philip's experience during 
 his absence. 
 
 "They are ladies, Alice, in every respect," he an- 
 swered. "You, with your northern prejudices, would be 
 surprised to find such ladies south of the Mason and Dix- 
 on line. I tell you, they would be congenial associates for 
 you and mother, and I, at least, have no higher compliment 
 to pay a lady." 
 
 "Thank you, Philip, you were always a doting son and 
 brother," Mrs. Moreton said, laughing, not yet observing 
 how much more seriously her brother was taking the con- 
 versation than she herself was. "I should like to see your 
 southern ladies if their name is Lee, but I presume I 
 nver shall." 
 
 "Maybe not." Philip answered in a disconsolate tone 
 that attracted his sister's attention, and she looked up at 
 him quickly, wondering what it meant. Philip returned 
 her glance with a peculiar expression she did not under- 
 stand. "What would you say, Alice, to a Tennessee rebel 
 for a sister one of these days ?" he asked, curiously. 
 
 "I should say it would be a most extraordinary and un- 
 expected thing. You cannot mean it seriously, Philip?" 
 she replied. 
 
 "Yes, I do," Philip said, earnestly. "Would you 
 object?" 
 
 "I scarcely know how to answer, Philip. It is hard to 
 overcome a lifelong prejudice, you know, and yet I can- 
 not think you would marry a woman that I should hesitate 
 to receive as a sister. Do you mean Virginia Lee? Tell 
 me more of her, is she handsome?" 
 
 278
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Yes, I mean Virginia Lee," Philip answered, "and, 
 yes, I call her handsome. She may not have what some 
 people would call a beautiful face, I suppose, but it is 
 attractive in every detail, and she is refined and intelli- 
 gent. However, it seems presumptuous to be discussing 
 the matter so coolly when I have no reason to suppose 
 she would consider the question of marrying me." 
 
 "Why not?" asked Mrs. Moreton. "Any girl might 
 consider herself fortunate to marry you, Philip." 
 
 "There's no family egotism apparent in our conversa- 
 tion, Alice," Philip answered, smiling at his sister's en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 "It isn't egotism, it's the truth, and I'll trust it to the 
 judgment of anybody that knows you." 
 
 "Well, Alice, time will tell whether Virginia Lee looks 
 at me through the same rosy spectacles, for I have fully 
 determined to go back to the south. She is in Atlanta 
 now, and Sherman's army is going there in the spring. 
 
 "That explains your anxiety to return to Tennessee, 
 brother. It's rather a new thing for Philip Blair to be 
 regulating his conduct by the caprices of a woman, is it 
 not?" 
 
 At this juncture Mrs. Blair entered the room. "What 
 are you talking about?" she asked. "I always know I am 
 missing something interesting when I am called away for 
 an hour." 
 
 Mrs. Moreton looked quickly at her brother, who re- 
 plied, "Of the people who lived on the plantation where 
 I was last fall and who took care of Tom Healy when he 
 was wounded." Someway, it was not so easy to talk to 
 his mother as to his sister. 
 
 "Why have you never told us more about your own 
 sickness and the people who cared for you?" his mother 
 asked. "I am sure I should like to know them and tell 
 
 279
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 them how grateful I am to them for their kindness to 
 you." 
 
 "I have told you about all there is to tell," he replied. 
 "While they were good people and I esteem them highly, 
 yet what they did for me they did for money and they re- 
 ceived it. As for my wounds, the ball cut through my 
 arm here, as I told you the night I came, making a pain- 
 ful flesh wound, but it soon healed. It was of no conse- 
 quence." 
 
 "It is of consequence to me," said Mrs. Blair. "It ter- 
 rifies me every time I think of the narrow escape you had 
 and it is like taking my life to see you start back." 
 
 With all her devotion to her children, Mrs. Blair had 
 always been so much of a "return-with-your-shield-or- 
 on-it" woman that she seldom expressed her fears so 
 strongly. Yet Philip had divined her feelings with refer- 
 ence to his wounds, and for that reason he had concealed 
 their real nature and had spoken as lightly of them as he 
 could, that she might not be unnecessarily distressed when 
 the time came for his return. 
 
 "Don't let yourself think of it in that way, mother. 
 It may be I shall never be engaged in another real battle. 
 I am convinced the worst of the war is ovr.' 
 
 "I pray God it may be so," Mrs. Blair said, fervently. 
 
 A week later Philip bade his loved ones good-bye and 
 started on the return trip, going by way of Washington, 
 where he was joined by Tom Healy who entered numer- 
 ous complaints at the change. 
 
 "Perfect fool's errand," he growled, "galavantin' round 
 over the country huntin' a chance to get shot." 
 
 "You needn't go, Tom, if you don't want to. Stay 
 where you are by all means. I only thought you might 
 prefer to go with me, and you consented to the change of 
 your own accord," Blair insisted, good-naturedly. 
 
 280
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "No, I'll be goin' wherever you do," Tom answered. 
 "A pretty fix you'd be in now if I hadn't been there to pull 
 you out o' the pile o' dead an' wounded on Lookout 
 Mountain." 
 
 "Don't go just on my account," Philip insisted. "I can 
 look after myself, I assure you." 
 
 "There's no use arguin' the question, Mister Philip. 
 I've promised your mother to stan' by you through this 
 thing and I'll keep my word. Besides," he added, with a 
 knowing wink, "who knows but I may get a chance to 
 clap my eye on the 'ansome little rebel again one o' these 
 days." 
 
 "Who knows," Philip answered, addressing himself 
 with much interest to the paper he was reading. 
 
 A few days more found these strange companions 
 among the familiar scenes about Chattanooga, and the 
 months of March and April were spent in preparations 
 and expeditions preliminary to the invasion of the cotton 
 growing states, which, in unison with General Grant's 
 campaign in Virginia, completed the prostration of the 
 southern cause and compelled the relinqulshment of the 
 unfortunate pseudo-nationality known as the Confederate 
 States of America. 
 
 Tom Healy seized upon the first days of leisure to 
 make a hurried trip to Lee's Summit to pay his respects to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hudson and make inquiries concerning Mrs. 
 Lee and Virginia, duly reporting such information as he 
 received to Mister Philip, watching the Lieutenant closely 
 during the recital to see what effect his words produced. 
 But Philip was not to be entrapped so easily into reveal- 
 ing his private hopes and expectations with reference to 
 Virginia Lee. He carefully kept his own counsel, givingonly 
 such heed to Tom's account as he might have given to tid- 
 ings concerning any other acquaintance. Two points, 
 
 281
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 especially, he made a mental note of the Lees were still 
 in Atlanta and they were at the home of the Chesters 
 and in the privacy of his own quarters he referred to his 
 notebook to assure himself he had not lost the address 
 given him by Mrs. Hudson, thinking of a possible occasion 
 when he might need it. 
 
 As the first of May approached, General Sherman re- 
 called his scattered forces and reconstructed his army for 
 that descent upon Georgia which trampled into the earth 
 the homes and fortunes of thousands and thousands of 
 people. The march through Georgia! It can only be 
 likened to the reputed effect (fabled or real, I cannot 
 say) of the dreaded centipede, which, poisoning as it 
 crawls, leaves a track of putrid flesh behind, or to the de- 
 moniac fury of the cyclone cloud which drags its horrid 
 length along the earth, dealing death and destruction to 
 everything in its path. Such a campaign can be justified 
 only on the principle that the end justifies the means. It 
 is probable that this wholesale obliteration of material 
 interests did more toward settling the terrible conflict 
 than any other course could have done, and it is possible 
 for us all at this late day to see what General Sherman 
 saw more than forty years ago, that the quickest way, 
 though painful, was the best and most merciful. 
 
 Philip Blair had grown in favor with his commander 
 as their acquaintance developed, and when, in obedience 
 to a telegram from General Grant, Sherman's army set 
 forth on its journey southward, Lieutenant Blair had 
 been promoted to the rank of Captain in the General's 
 favorite regiment. 
 
 Philip was conscious of unusual elation, and he con- 
 gratulated himself on the promised success of his plans, 
 when, amid flash of arms and blare of trumpet, his face 
 was fairly turned toward Atlanta and the realization of 
 the dream that had haunted his mind for months. 
 
 282
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 The brief breathing spell that succeeded the operations 
 about Chattanooga was but a temporary lull in the con- 
 flict, and each side, in its own way, occupied the interval 
 in making ready for the extensive campaigns planned 
 for the ensuing spring and summer. There was great 
 glee in Atlanta when it was known that the manceuvers 
 for the defence of the city had been given to the exclusive 
 charge of General Joseph E. Johnston, who was held in 
 high esteem by the people there and whose family was 
 at the time in their midst ; but when dark war clouds bore 
 down upon them from the north and portentous mutter- 
 ings were heard on every hand, "a change came over the 
 spirit of their dreams," and day by day the gloom deep- 
 ened and hung like a pall above them. Every heart 
 paused with dark forebodings, "a solemn stillness filled 
 the air" as the inhabitants went forth with blanched, ex- 
 pectant faces to talk in hushed tones of the approaching 
 danger. Even in the dead of night the slumberer started 
 from her dreams with the dread conviction that the foe 
 had come; it was as if the town-crier went through the 
 streets crying, "Woe! Woe! Woe 1 . Prepare for the 
 impending doom !" 
 
 There came an occasional day when an exaggerated re- 
 port of some inconsiderable success on the part of John- 
 ston's forces cast a momentary brightness over the city, 
 and it was enlivened by feeble huzzas and spiritless dem- 
 onstrations of joy ; but such respites were of short dura- 
 tion, and only served, like the lightning's flash, to inten- 
 sify the succeeding darkness. 
 
 Early in June the thoughts and sympathies of .the 
 283
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Chester home were violently turned from contemplation 
 of public danger by the arrival of a special messenger 
 with the intelligence that Colonel Chester had the day be- 
 fore been severely wounded, and that he was asking con- 
 stantly for some one to bring his wife and daughter to 
 him. Though almost overwhelmed with distress and 
 alarm, Mrs. Chester and Kittie lost no time in complying 
 with the request, and Mrs. Lee and Virginia were left in 
 charge of affairs at home. 
 
 For several days the surgeons were hopeful that the 
 Colonel's strong constitution would enable him to throw 
 off the evil results attendant upon his injuries, and at the 
 end of a week Kittie returned to Atlanta leaving Mrs. 
 Chester, who, in this time of trial, showed a reserve force 
 which her sheltered, pampered life had never called forth, 
 to minister to the comfort and welfare of the pat'.ent. 
 Then followed week after week of anxious waiting long 
 drawn out. Colonel Chester did not recover from his 
 wounds, but nature with marvellous persistency main- 
 tained the desperate struggle for existence. At length in 
 utter hopelessness he begged to be taken to Atlanta that 
 he might die amid the familiar scenes of home. With the 
 assistance of friends Mrs. Chester was able to carry out 
 this wish, but it was a melancholy home-coming. No 
 bright flags floated from the porches, no garlands or 
 gay festoons of flowers were twined for the returning 
 soldier ; with soft tread and with hushed voices the mem- 
 bers of the household sorrowfully awaited the coming of 
 the stricken master. 
 
 At first the change seemed beneficial, and delusive 
 hope whispered encouragement to the eager watchers ; but 
 it was in vain. A short time brought about the inevitable 
 reaction, and day by day life could be seen slowly but 
 surely ebbing away. 
 
 284
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Meanwhile, that other conflict, too, went on. General 
 Johnston, upbraided and neglected by the government he 
 served, stubbornly resisted the progress of the Union 
 army. Inch by inch he yielded his ground, now falling 
 behind this mountain or crossing that stream, and again 
 abandoning one line of fortifications only to intrench him- 
 self in others giving promise of greater security; con- 
 tinually hoping against hope that reinforcements might 
 yet be furnished him in time to save the city and, with it, 
 the tottering cause. This struggle, too, was vain. Nearer 
 and nearer came the conquering legions. Even the un- 
 timely and unjust change of Confederate commanders 
 could not arrest their approach, and, at last, warned by 
 heavy explosions of ammunition that Atlanta had been 
 evacuated, the Union army entered it in triumph during 
 the first days of September. 
 
 And here we pause to take off our shoes and advance 
 with cautious step, for the ground whereon we tread is 
 dangerous ground. Just how far we may lawfully sym- 
 pathize with the advocates of a mistaken and unfortunate 
 cause, how far we may censure or praise the judicious 
 severity of a military dictator in the service of a righteous 
 and victorious principle, it is difficult to determine. 
 
 In the very nature of things, the rules which regulate 
 the rights and conduct of individuals or communities must 
 necessarily infringe upon the interests of some. Hence, 
 the decrees of a ruler of men in any capacity whatsoever, 
 should be based upon that principle which is the founda- 
 tion of all just and equitable laws that that is best which 
 works the greatest good to the greatest number. 
 
 Even were it not presumptuous to do so, we have 
 neither time nor inclination to relate the details or to dis- 
 cuss the fairness of General Sherman's conduct in Atlan- 
 ta. Like the surgeon who amputates the limb rather than 
 
 285
 
 prolong the agony or imperil the life of the sufferer, he 
 dealt with the situation according to his conception of 
 duty, and we should grant him the same consideration 
 claimed by his enemies for themselves the mantle of 
 charity for the man who does what he believes to be right. 
 
 The family of Colonel Chester were so absorbed in 
 their own sorrow that they had little interest in the mo- 
 mentous events occurring outside their own walls and 
 received little information concerning them. They heard 
 the explosions in the night and learned of the withdrawal 
 of their own army and the entrance of the besiegers, but 
 beyond this they knew nothing. Their first intimation of 
 the Union general's intention of burning the city was the 
 discovery of fires now lighting up the horizon in various 
 quarters, and, later on, bursting into towering flames, 
 turning the darkness of night into the glare of the noon- 
 day sun. The inmates of the house rushed together with 
 fear and dread depicted on every countenance, inquiring 
 the meaning of the direful sight. 
 
 "It is evident," Virginia said, "that the Yankees are 
 setting fire to the city everywhere." 
 
 "You can't mean it, Virginia," Kittie exclaimed, in- 
 dignantly. "Do you believe they would do such a thing?" 
 
 "Some one is doing it," was the reply, "and our own 
 men are gone, you know. What else could all this mean ?" 
 
 "And will they come here, do you think, to set this 
 house on fire?" asked Mrs. Lee in wild excitement, vis- 
 ions of her own experience passing through her mind. 
 
 The mere suggestion threw Mrs. Chester into a flood 
 of passionate weeping, and, wringing her hands helplessly, 
 she cried aloud : 
 
 "Oh ! what shall we do ! What shall we do ! And poor 
 Marion dying upstairs ! It is cruel." And, rushing to his 
 room, she threw herself upon her knees beside her un- 
 
 286
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 conscious husband who, for several days, had seldom 
 aroused from the lethargic sleep which seemed to benumb 
 the last feeble powers of mind and body. 
 
 Virginia sent Mrs. Lee to the sick room to comfort Mrs. 
 Chester while she and Kittie began hasty preparations for 
 sudden flight, should it become necessary. 
 
 "Oh ! how can we leave this house ! I never heard of 
 anything so cruel. Look at my poor husband!" Mrs. 
 Chester moaned, in an undertone, burying her face in an 
 agony of grief. 
 
 Words seemed so inadequate that Mrs. Lee could only 
 sit down beside her sister-in-law and take her hand in 
 silent sympathy. And so they two waited there, alone 
 with their sorrow, alone with their agonizing fear. 
 
 The young girls hurried to their rooms to collect the 
 few articles they could carry from the house. Kittie, 
 remembering certain treasures in the rooms below, started 
 to secure them. At the moment there was a loud knock- 
 ing at the door. Believing their time had come, she would 
 have fled, but the thought of her father restrained her 
 and gave her courage. Flying down the steps, she threw 
 the door wide open to face a small party of soldiers whose 
 leader rudely pushed his way across the threshold. 
 Kittie threw herself on her knees at his feet, crying: 
 
 "Pray, pray, spare this house. My father is dying. 
 Spare us until he is gone and then burn the house when 
 you will." 
 
 "Damn the house!" was the brutal reply. "I am here 
 for what there is in it. Come on boys," and, forcing his 
 way past her, followed by three other men, the leader 
 began his search for gain. 
 
 With the blood freezing in her veins from fear, Kittie 
 arose to her feet and grimly watched the progress of the 
 intruders. One firm resolve she had made in her heart 
 
 287
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 they should never go up those stairs while she had 
 strength to resist them, and, planting herself firmly on 
 the steps, she awaited their return. Nor had she long to 
 wait. Rich as were the furnishings of the living rooms, 
 they were not what the ruffians sought. They were too 
 cumbersome to be of value to the purloiner, and, hurry- 
 ing with noisy tread through the long hall, the leader 
 called, surlily: 
 
 "The things we are after are in the upper rooms. I've 
 been in these fine houses before, and the richest layouts 
 of all are in the ladies' chambers." 
 
 The critical moment for Kittie had come, and, bracing 
 herself for a struggle, she said, with determination: 
 
 "You shall never ascend these stairs to disturb the 
 dying slumber of my father unless you kill me first." 
 
 "I don't want to kill you, young woman, but I come 
 here to git jewels and I mean to have 'em. They are all 
 there is of real worth in houses like this. Stand out of 
 the way, will you ?" 
 
 "If I give you my jewels will you leave the house?" 
 Kittie asked, eagerly. 
 
 "Perhaps we might if you give us enough of 'em," was 
 the reply. 
 
 "Sallie," Kittie called to Mrs. Lee's servant who stood 
 trembling in the dining-room door, "come here to me. 
 You go up to my room," she continued, as the black girl 
 approached, "and bring my jewel case out of the little 
 desk where I always keep it." 
 
 A few minutes sufficed for Sallie to discharge the 
 errand, and, returning quickly, she placed the treasure in 
 Kittie's hand. The young girl opened the lid, and, glanc- 
 ing at the sparkling gems, laid them lovingly against her 
 cheek and then handed them to the man who gloated over 
 them with a tantalizing air. 
 
 288
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "This is the real stuff, boys," he said, with a contempt- 
 ible leer, "but it's not enough. It's been my experience 
 that the old ones in these parts often has more of this sort 
 of thing than the young ones. I guess, after all, we'd 
 better go up and look around for ourselves." 
 
 "But you promised not to, Colonel," one of his com- 
 panions objected. 
 
 "Don't dictate to me, damn you!" the leader snarled. 
 "Besides I didn't promise, I only said if 'twas enough, an' 
 it ain't. It ain't half enough." 
 
 Kittie renewed her importunities with all the earnest- 
 ness at her command. 
 
 "Please, please, sir, if you have any mercy or any honor, 
 do not force your way up these steps. Believe me, my 
 father is in a dying condition and the noise of such an 
 intrusion will cruelly disturb him and will drive my 
 mother to insanity." 
 
 "Have done with all this," the man cried, impatiently, 
 and, seizing Kittie's arm, he pulled her by force from the 
 stairs and she fell fainting at his feet. 
 
 At the same instant there was a steady tread of march- 
 ing soldiers along the street outside, and before the men 
 could collect themselves for concerted action, a tall form 
 appeared at the outer door and a firm voice said, sternly 
 
 "Painter, come out of there and all of your dastardly 
 followers with you." 
 
 "I'll do no such a damned thing," Painter exclaimed, 
 resentfully. "What right have you to command me to do 
 anything. You forget your rank, sir, and mine," he con- 
 tinued, pompously. 
 
 "I have the oldest right ever exercised by man, the right 
 of might," the newcomer said, angrily, and he seized 
 Painter by the collar and flung him out of the door with 
 scorn and contempt, saying, as he did so, "Now stand 
 
 289
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 there like a man while I read you my commission from 
 our commander," and the speaker, taking a paper from 
 his pocket, read as follows : 
 
 "I hereby commission the bearer of this paper to seize 
 and send under guard to my presence every officer of 
 whatever rank, and every private soldier, found in the 
 act of entering or purloining the private homes of this 
 city. 
 
 (Signed) WILLIAM T. SHERMAN." 
 
 "Guards, do your duty!" and Colonel Painter and his 
 allies were soon marching toward headquarters, attended 
 by an escort of a dozen soldiers. 
 
 Virginia was conscious of an unusual commotion in 
 the house for several minutes before she was aroused to 
 the fact that strange and angry voices were talking in the 
 hall below. Then, hastening to the stairway, she reached 
 the landing just in time to hear Painter's last words and 
 see Kittie fall. Her heart stood still as she caught the 
 hatefully familiar tones and realized the meaning of the 
 presence of such a man in the house. While she paused 
 a brief second wondering what to do next, the new actor 
 appeared on the scene, and just in proportion as she had 
 shrunk in dismay be fore, her heart now gave a great bound 
 of joy as she listened to the altercation between the two 
 men. 
 
 As the squad of soldiers left the house with their 
 charge, Virginia ran down the stairs to her cousin's 
 assistance while the tall officer, seeing a woman lying on 
 the floor, turned to help her. There was a momentary 
 glance of recognition and then, laying her hand impulsively 
 on the soldier's arm, Virginia exclaimed: 
 
 "Thank God ! you have come." 
 
 "Thank God ! I have found you," he echoed fervently, 
 tenderly clasping the hand in his own. 
 
 290
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 There was no time for further greeting, and Philip 
 Blair stooped to raise the unconscious girl from the floor. 
 
 "I must carry her into the open air," he said. "I fear 
 she has had a great fright. Bring me some water for her, 
 will you?" 
 
 Virginia hurried to the dining-room where a tankard of 
 water always stood on the sideboard. When she returned, 
 Philip had laid Kittie on a settee and was fanning her vig- 
 orously. The fresh air and cool water speedily restored 
 her to consciousness, and in a short time the three were 
 again living over the exciting scene. 
 
 Philip assured them that there was no danger of being 
 turned from their home that night, that only the business 
 centers and the public buildings would be burned, not the 
 private residences. 
 
 "O, joy!" exclaimed Kittie. "I must run and tell 
 mamma that at once. It will be joyful news to her." 
 
 When Philip and Virginia were left alone the latter 
 turned toward the long line of burning buildings. "Do 
 you think that is right ?" she asked, abruptly. 
 
 He hesitated a moment and then answered, firmly, 
 "Yes, I think it is right because it is necessary." 
 
 "How strangely ideas of right can differ." she an- 
 swered. 
 
 "We look at things from different points of view," he 
 replied. 
 
 "How did you happen to be here to-night?" she asked. 
 
 "I didn't 'happen' to be here. I never just 'happen' to 
 be where you are," he replied, regarding her with a look 
 that sent a thrill of happiness all through her being. "My 
 presence here was designed months ago. I knew you 
 would need me." 
 
 As he ceased speaking the tramp of soldiers was again 
 291
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 heard approaching. Taking Virginia's hand in his, he said, 
 earnestly : 
 
 "There, my men are returning and I must be off. 
 Others may need the same service I have done you." 
 
 "Must you go so soon?" she asked, regretfully. "Will 
 you come again?" 
 
 "That depends entirely upon yourself. Do you wish me 
 to come again?" 
 
 Virginia stood for a moment with downcast eyes, debat- 
 ing with herself whether or not she should flee from 
 temptation and hide herself in the farthest corner of the 
 house, then resolutely raising her eyes she looked straight 
 into his and answered : 
 
 "Yes, I wish you to come again." 
 
 "As soon as my duties will permit," he said. The sol- 
 dier head bowed low over the hand he still held in his own. 
 So low, indeed but no! such a thing was not to be 
 thought of. He sprang down from the piazza and took 
 his place at the head of his men. 
 
 292
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 "A gemman to see Miss Lee," the black girl announced 
 as she peeped in at the door which stood ajar, and then, 
 catching a glimpse of Virginia, she stepped into the room 
 saying, impulsively: 
 
 "Don' young Miss look boo'ful in dat ar dress. Fine 
 fethahs make fine bu'ds, I tells ye." 
 
 "Of course you don't mean to say that I am not a fine 
 bird, Martha, but who is the gentleman ? Did he give his 
 name?" Virginia asked, hastily putting in an additional 
 pin here and there and looping back her locks in a more 
 becoming fashion. 
 
 "No, Miss. He jes axes me wus Miss Lee heah an' I 
 says 'ole missus or Miss Ginnie,' and he says, 'Miss Gin- 
 nie, of co's'." 
 
 "Very well, say to the gentleman that I will be down in 
 a minute," Virginia replied, wishing to gain time to still 
 the beating of her heart and regain her usual composure. 
 
 Notwithstanding her experience in watching for Philip 
 Blair at Lee's Summit, she had felt an absolute certainty 
 that he would come on this first evening, and as soon as 
 dinner was over she went to her room to make a toilet in 
 which she hesitated to appear before Mrs. Chester and 
 Kittie under the shadow of the great sorrow resting upon 
 them. 
 
 She had attired herself in an elegant gown such as 
 Philip had never seen her wear, and now, as she looked 
 with satisfaction upon the image reflected from her mir- 
 ror, she wondered if, after all, he would be pleased with 
 her appearance or disgusted with her vanity in thus array- 
 ing herself at a time like this. 
 
 293
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Philip heard the soft rustle of her dress on the stairs, 
 and when she appeared at the door he arose and, throwing 
 back his fine head, advanced to the middle of the room to 
 meet her, looking taller and mor commanding than ever in 
 his Captain's uniform. 
 
 He looked at Virginia in pleased surprise and, holding 
 out his hands, said, earnestly, "Is it possible this is the 
 same Virginia Lee I knew in Tennessee less than a year 
 ago?" 
 
 "The very same," she answered, smiling back at him 
 and blushing as she suffered him to clasp her hands. 
 
 "Fate is really better to us sometimes than we expect," 
 he said. "If a fortune teller had said last spring that I 
 should realize my dreams like this, I should have laughed 
 in derision." 
 
 "Did you dream you saw me like this ?" Virginia asked, 
 innocently. 
 
 "Not like this" he replied. "It was good enough to 
 dream of you at all. But to see you looking thus, and 
 with my natural eyes ! 'Tis almost too good to be true. I 
 am half afraid to move lest I should waken in my soldier's 
 bed and find you but a lovely vision." 
 
 Blair stepped back a little way and stood looking at 
 her with honest admiration in his eyes "It was for this," 
 he said, "that I made the long journey from Rochester to 
 Atlanta. To-night I have my reward for every hardship 
 I have endured." As he spoke, he led her to a sofa and 
 seated himself beside her. 
 
 "I thought you came to serve your country," Virginia 
 said a little sarcastically. It was a last despairing effort 
 to rescue herself from the rushing current that she knew 
 was bearing her on toward danger. 
 
 "I have not neglected the service of my country," 
 Philip returned with a tinge of resentment in his manner. 
 
 294
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I could not have served it more faithfully had you not 
 been in existence than I have done in the last six months, 
 and, happy as I am to be here to-night, I should not have 
 come were it not consistent with my duty as a soldier." 
 
 "Forgive me, Captain Blair for I see you, too, have 
 changed somewhat since I saw you in Tennessee. My 
 remark was unjust and I did not mean it. I know you 
 are a good soldier. But seriously, will you not tell me 
 how it is that you are here ? I supposed you were in Vir- 
 ginia or Maryland. Did you not write that your regi- 
 ment had been recalled to the east?" 
 
 Philip glanced at her quickly as she said this and a flush 
 of embarrassment spread over her face as she realized 
 that she had herself opened a subject she had hoped to 
 avoid. 
 
 "You did receive my letter then?" he said, and Vir- 
 ginia, returning his piercing gaze, answered frankly: 
 "Yes, I received your letter." 
 
 He continued to look at her steadily for a moment 
 before he said, "May I ask why you did not answer it?" 
 
 "I did not think it best," she replied simply and can- 
 didly. 
 
 "Was there anything in it to offend you? I did not 
 intend there should be." 
 
 "No, O, no," she answered. "It was the best letter I 
 ever received." 
 
 "It was a great disappointment to me your not an- 
 swering. I looked for an answer for a long time." 
 
 "I feared you would." 
 
 Philip still watched her closely with an air of un- 
 certainty. At length he said with some hesitation, "There 
 is one thing more I should like to ask." 
 
 "What is it ?" Virginia said a little faintly. 
 295
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Why did you leave Tennessee without sending me a 
 message ?" 
 
 "I thought it right to do so," was the reply. 
 
 "Did you know that I had been severely wounded ?" he 
 asked with some concern. 
 
 Virginia waited a moment to be sure of her self-con- 
 trol. She was toying with a long silk tassel in her lap 
 and, without looking up, she answered, "Yes, I heard 
 of it." 
 
 "Did you not think it right to express sympathy for 
 me at such a time?" 
 
 "No, I didn't think it right at the time." 
 
 "I did not think you were so prejudiced as that," Philip 
 said in a disappointed tone. 
 
 "O, believe me, Captain Blair, it was not on account 
 of our different views concerning the war. Don't think 
 me capable of that." 
 
 "Then did you really care about my misfortune?" 
 Philip insisted. 
 
 "Care!" she exclaimed, glancing up at him quickly 
 with a look of pain in her eyes as the recollection of her 
 suffering at Lee's Summit swept over her. "Pray, Cap- 
 tain Blair, do not catechise me further. Be content when 
 I tell you that I have tried as hard to do right as you 
 have tried to do your duty as a soldier." 
 
 Philip looked at her curiously for a moment and then 
 answered, "Of course I do not understand you but I'll 
 take you on faith as I do the Bible. Tell me one thing 
 more, though. It concerns me more deeply just now 
 than these things that happened months ago. Do you 
 think it is not right that I should be here to-night ?" 
 
 "I have not considered that phase of the question," she 
 said evasively. 
 
 "Would you rather I'd go away? Nothing is farther 
 296
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 from my desire than to distress or inconvenience you in 
 the slightest degree," he said gently. 
 
 "No, no," she returned. "You know that I said I 
 wished you to come." 
 
 "Very well, then," he said, "we'll drop this unsatis- 
 factory topic and you must tell me all about what you 
 have been doing since I saw you last." 
 
 The remainder of the evening was spent in an inter- 
 change of their thoughts and experiences during the 
 months of separation. In bidding her good-bye, Philip 
 held her away from him as he had done earlier in the 
 evening. 
 
 "I like to see you dressed like this," he said. "It is a 
 pleasing picture I shall carry in my mind until I come 
 again or am I to come again? Do you wish me to do 
 so ? You see, I do not ask if you think it will be right." 
 
 "You know that I wish you to come again," Virginia 
 answered, and Philip left her, thinking with a smile of 
 satisfaction of a possible day when he might introduce 
 this matchless woman to the loved ones in his northern 
 home. 
 
 Virginia went to her room with a feeling of unwonted 
 happiness in her heart and fell asleep with sweet visions 
 of Philip Blair floating through her mind, not even 
 stopping to consider where all this was leading her. 
 
 Within a week Philip had so ingratiated himself with 
 the family that he came and went with the freedom of 
 an old friend, even visiting the sick room and performing 
 acts of kindness for Colonel Chester, discharging import- 
 ant errands, and in many other ways standing between 
 these unprotected women and the outside world. He 
 completely won Kittie's favor by obtaining and returning 
 to her the jewels that had been taken by Colonel Painter, 
 
 297
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 explaining that Painter was not really a thief, nor were 
 his followers. 
 
 "You know," he said, "it is an old-time maxim that to 
 the victor belongs the spoils, and it gives a wide margin 
 for plundering, as many people's ideas are very crude as 
 to what are rightful spoils." 
 
 "Thank you, oh! thank you, Captain Blair," Kittie 
 cried with shining eyes. "I cannot tell you how delighted 
 I am. I never expected to see these things again," and 
 she ran away to her room with the precious casket, caring 
 very little for Painter's moral calibre now that her 
 treasures were safe. 
 
 The same evening she said to her cousin when they 
 were alone, "Isn't Captain Blair splendid?" 
 
 "Yes, he does very well for a Yankee," Virginia re- 
 plied carelessly. 
 
 "For a Yankee!" Kittie exclaimed. "You know, Vir- 
 ginia, he is one of the finest men you ever saw, now 
 isn't he?" 
 
 "Yes, I don't know but he is," was the response. 
 
 "And do you know, I think he perfectly adores you." 
 
 "O, no, you must be mistaken, my dear," Virginia an- 
 swered in the same uninterested way. 
 
 "No, I am not mistaken. I know by the way he acts, 
 and then I heard him say he game here by his own choice 
 rather than return to the east where he belonged, and 
 what did he do that for if not to find you ?" 
 
 "Since when did my little cousin turn wiseacre, pray 
 tell?" Virginia asked playfully, trying to avoid a more 
 serious turn to the conversation. "He came to be under 
 the command of General Sherman, whom he admires of 
 all men." 
 
 "I haven't been in this world nineteen years for noth- 
 
 298
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing, Miss Lee," Kittie returned. "I know a few things 
 of this sort, if nothing more." 
 
 "And say, Virginia," she rattled on, "it's a pity you 
 could not have met him sooner for he would suit you to 
 a dot." 
 
 "Why don't you capture him yourself if you think he 
 is so splendid?" 
 
 "O, he wouldn't do for a silly little thing like me. It 
 would perfectly scare me to think of such a thing. No, 
 no, dear, he is for a grand woman like you. Last night 
 when you stood together under the chandelier looking 
 over those pictures I thought I never saw so handsome a 
 couple in my life," Kittie said enthusiastically. 
 
 "Hush, littie one ! You must not run on so. Remem- 
 ber I have promised to marry an officer in the Rebel 
 army." 
 
 "Yes, I know," was the ready response, "and it is un- 
 just to poor Hugh even to speak of such a thing. Of 
 course, though, there is no danger of your not keeping a 
 promise, Virginia." 
 
 "None in the least," Virginia answered proudly. 
 
 "After all, dear, you have never loved Hugh in the 
 right way, and, really, while I am very fond of Hugh, 
 yet Captain Blair does seem more like the kind of man 
 you should marry." 
 
 "You're talking perfect nonsense, Kittie. Do you sup- 
 pose that I could marry a Yankee, even were there no 
 Hugh to be considered. What would my family say, and 
 all my friends, to such an alliance as that?" 
 
 "Pshaw!" Kittie ejaculated contemptuously. "A girl 
 could never regulate her affairs according to the whims of 
 her family and her friends. So far as that argument is 
 concerned, I shouldn't consider that. I mean to marry the 
 man I love, if I can get him, regardless of politics or re- 
 
 299
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ligion." The little lady gave a scornful toss to her head 
 as she left the room to attend to the domestic duties of 
 which she had taken sole charge since her mother's time 
 was so completely occupied in the sick room. 
 
 This and similar conversations brought many a pang 
 of self-reproach to Virginia but she dismissed the senti- 
 ment, tired of fighting battles continually over the same 
 question She had done all she could to avoid tempta- 
 tion, she said within herself, and now that it was thrust 
 upon her in spite of all her efforts, she would simply let 
 matters take their course. This association with Philip 
 Blair was very pleasant and she would enjoy it while it 
 lasted. If it only prepared the way for future unhappi- 
 ness, she would endure it when it came "sufficient unto 
 the day was the evil thereof." 
 
 She had scarcely settled to this conclusion when an 
 incident, trivial in itself, occurred, which proved an addi- 
 tional prick to her sensitive conscience. Philip had been 
 dining with the family and was afterward sitting with 
 Virgnia and Kittie looking over some old files of news- 
 papers containing accounts and illustrations of important 
 battles of the war. Philip was pointing out certain parts 
 of the Gettysburg field where he had, himself, taken an 
 active part in the fight when he suddenly recalled Hugh 
 Cunningham and his brave conduct near Little Round 
 Top. 
 
 "By the way, Kittie," he said, turning to Kittie with a 
 smile, "I have been wishing all along to do something to 
 win your favor. It's strange I should have forgotten 
 the very thing that could fix my standing with you for- 
 ever. That young Cunningham up in Tennessee, was 
 wounded right in here," indicating the spot on the map. 
 "I saw him fall after making one of the bravest stands of 
 the whole engagement. Someway a pair of brown eyes 
 
 300
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 just like yours kept haunting me all afternoon until, late 
 in the evening, I went all over that part of the field 
 searching for him. He was not there but the next day 
 Tom and I came upon him in the woods a mile or more 
 away. He was alone with his black man and was 
 wounded and unconscious. We took him to a farm house 
 where they promised to keep him until he was able to 
 travel." 
 
 Kittie looked hesitatingly at Virginia in a way that puz- 
 zled Philip and gave him the impression that he had 
 stumbled upon the wrong theme. 
 
 "Yes," she answered with evident embarrassment, 
 "Hugh told Aunt Margaret about it when he was at 
 home." 
 
 Virginia said nothing because she could think of noth- 
 ing to say and Philip dismissed the subject from his 
 mind with the reflection that in three years time a rupture 
 had probably occurred between Hugh and Kittie. 
 
 All this time Colonel Chester lay in a death-like stupor, 
 only now and then arousing to a sense of his surround- 
 ings and sinking again into sleep. It took many weeks 
 for a sound heart and a sturdy pair of lungs to be worn 
 out by diseased and impoverished blood. 
 
 301
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 "No, Blair, I can't do it. I'm sorry to refuse you a 
 request that seems reasonable and humane, but this order 
 must be enforced to the letter." 
 
 "Understand, I have no objection to make to the order, 
 General. The situation is peculiar and I have approved 
 the measure from the first as necessary, under the cir- 
 cumstances. I only hoped to gain a respite in time for 
 these people. I thought you might be induced to 'put 
 yourself in the other fellow's place,' and consider your 
 feelings were your own wife and daughter in the same 
 position." 
 
 "Whenever I take up arms against my country, I shall 
 ask no quarter for my wife and daughter at the hands 
 of its defenders," was the reponse. "This war must be 
 stopped and the only way to do it is to smash things 
 wherever the army goes until the people are ready to cry 
 to their leaders for peace even at the cost of submis- 
 sion." 
 
 "I realize all that, sir, and I am ready to stand by you 
 in the course you have laid out, for I have seen nothing 
 in your dealings with the enemy that is not honorable 
 and wise ; but you know it is natural for a man to make 
 some effort to mitigate the severity of a measure when it 
 seems to bear too heavily upon his friends," Blair re- 
 turned. 
 
 "My friends are the friends of the Republic," General 
 Sherman answered sternly, in a tone that savored slightly 
 of reproof. 
 
 Philip's face flushed with resentment and a hasty retort 
 sprang to his lips. "My allegiance as a citizen and a 
 
 302
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 soldier is to the Republic and I defy any man to point to 
 a single instance when I have disregarded it in either 
 capacity, but my friends are my own as much as the 
 coat I wear and I choose them to suit myself." 
 
 "Don't forget yourself, Captain Blair," the General 
 said, with a smile of grim mischief lurking almost imper- 
 ceptibly about the corners of his mouth. This same 
 spirit of Philip's which might have been resented by a 
 commander of less true greatness of soul, was the quality 
 that most commended him to the favor of his illustrious 
 chief. 
 
 "Pardon me, General," Blair replied with a deferential 
 bow. "I have no wish to appear disrespectful to the 
 man I honor most on earth, but there are private interests 
 with which each man must deal for himself." 
 
 "You're right, Blair, you're right. My remark about 
 my friends was thoughtless and, though true, is but an 
 evidence of my characteristic bull-headedness, I admit. 
 Who are these people, do you say?" 
 
 "They are people who were friends of mine in Tennes- 
 see before the war," Philip replied, not feeling it necessary 
 to explain fully the relation between himself and the 
 Lees and Chesters. 
 
 "How is it they are here now ?" the General asked. 
 
 "After the fall of Chattanooga, two of the ladies, whose 
 home was burned, found refuge with their relatives here 
 in Atlanta," Blair explained. 
 
 "And you say the only man in the family is dying of 
 wounds received while serving in Johnston's army?" 
 General Sherman inquired. 
 
 "That is what I said, sir," was the reply. 
 
 "It is in truth a pitiful case, Blair, but there are scores 
 of pitiful appeals brought to my notice daily and I must 
 steel myself against them all- I have a higher duty than 
 
 303
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 commiseration for the unfortunate. The interests of mil- 
 lions of good and loyal people are at stake as against these 
 individual cases that I am asked to consider. There are 
 yet ten days allowed for the execution of this order. You 
 say this man is past all hope of recovery. It may be the 
 time will be ample for their removal after his demise." 
 
 "Possibly so," Blair replied, "but it is sad to realize 
 that the death of a husband and father is the greatest 
 blessing to be craved. However, I shall not urge the 
 claims of this family further. I have no desire to in- 
 fluence you to a step that is contrary to your judgment 
 as the head of this army, even did I not know the use- 
 lessness of such an attempt." 
 
 "That's good, Blair. I like to hear you talk like that. 
 You see, this city must be made a pure Gibraltar from 
 which our future military operations in these states can 
 be directed and I cannot have them either encumbered 
 or endangered by the presence of the families of our ene- 
 mies. I hope when next you ask a favor of me it will 
 be of such a nature that I can grant it." 
 
 "I am confident you would grant it if it seemed right 
 for you to do so, sir," and, with a parting salute, Philip 
 took his leave and hastened immediately to the home of 
 his friends. 
 
 For several days he had known of the requisition that 
 the citizens should abandon their homes and withdraw 
 from the city, but as no definite time had been fixed and 
 no active measures had been taken for carrying out the 
 decree, he had deferred speaking of it to Virginia or the 
 Chesters, hesitating to add this burden to the sorrow al- 
 ready weighing upon them. Calling at the house on some 
 trivial mission on the morning of which we write, he 
 found Kittle and Virginia in great trouble and excitement 
 
 304
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 over the tidings that had been brought to their ears that 
 they must move at once. 
 
 "Why have you not told us of this?" Kittie asked re- 
 proachfully. "They say it has been known in the city 
 for almost a week." 
 
 "Because I hoped to arrange with General Sherman 
 to relieve you of this necessity for a time. I will go to 
 him at once and see what can be done." 
 
 Upon this he left them to seek the interview already 
 recorded, the result of which the reader already knows. 
 
 "You have not succeeded," Virginia said as she looked 
 into his face when he returned. 
 
 "No, I have not succeeded," he answered. "General 
 Sherman insists upon universal compliance with the de- 
 cree." 
 
 "Do you think this is right ?" Virginia asked in the tone 
 she always assumed when appealing to him for an opinion 
 on such a subject. 
 
 "Yes, from General Sherman's standpoint, I think it 
 is right. From our point of view it is very sad," he an- 
 swered, and Virginia's heart warmed toward him with 
 gratitude as he thus allied himself with them in their 
 sorrow. 
 
 "What can we do?" Kittie asked helplessly, her great 
 brown eyes filled with tears. 
 
 "Do nothing for a while," Philip answered reassuringly. 
 "There are yet ten days before the expiration of the al- 
 lotted time." 
 
 "Uncle Marion will not be living ten days from now," 
 Virginia said, putting her arm lovingly around her cousiin 
 as if to shield her from the cruel remark. 
 
 "No, I think myself he will be gone sooner than that," 
 Blair replied, "and if he is not, we must then decide where 
 
 305
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 it will be best for you to go and I will help you to make 
 the change with as little disaster as possible." 
 
 "Thank you, Captain Blair, you are very kind and I 
 am sure we are all most grateful to you," Kittie said 
 sadly. 
 
 Bidding them keep a stout heart and rely on him to 
 assist them, Philip left them while he went on to daily 
 duties which he never neglected. 
 
 Colonel Chester was even nearer the end of his mortal 
 journey than they supposed. On the evening of the 
 same day he suddenly aroused to consciousness, talked 
 rationally with his friends for a few moments, and then 
 sank into a deep, peaceful sleep from which he never 
 awoke, as the dying candle flares sometimes into a flame 
 of unwonted brilliancy before it finally goes out. In 
 the small hours of the night the members of the house- 
 hold were called to watch with him a little while until 
 the change should come. There was no struggle, no 
 sudden cry of pain. Little by little the breath grew 
 shorter, the pulse grew fainter. At last there was a 
 long, long sigh and Colonel Chester was no more upon 
 this earth. "It was the old, old fashion. The fashion 
 that came in with our first garments and will last un- 
 changed until our race has run its course and the wide 
 firmament is rolled up like a scroll. The old, old fashion 
 Death." The watchers about the bed mourned silently. 
 Mrs. Chester sobbed softly to herself in an easy chair, 
 while Kittie, falling upon her knees, poured out the 
 agony of her first real sorrow. It was the beginning 
 of those lessons in life's great school which would, in time, 
 develop in her the grandeur of character she so longed 
 to possess. 
 
 When morning came, Virginia sent a servant to Cap- 
 tain Blair to apprise him of her uncle's death. He came 
 
 306
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 to them at once, accompanied by Tom Healy, and to- 
 gether the two men made preparation for the last sad 
 rites which would consign the emaciated body to the 
 tomb. 
 
 The shadows of twilight were gathering in the room 
 before the work was fully done and Colonel Chester 
 rested calmly in the open casket. Virginia, with loving 
 forethought, was quietly arranging such flowers as she 
 had been able to obtain, that the strange and unhappy 
 surroundings might not impress themselves too glaringly 
 upon the minds of the bereaved wife and daughter. 
 Philip lingered near her, unwilling to leave until other 
 friends should come to watch beside the bier during the 
 long hours of night. 
 
 "Poor uncle Marion !" Virginia said sorrowfully. "So 
 full of life and vigor in the spring time, he little thought 
 of the condition to which these few months would bring 
 him." 
 
 "Life is most uncertain at best," Philip replied, "and 
 there is not much to hope for when a man embarks on 
 the career of a soldier." 
 
 "And death seems such a terrible thing to me. I some- 
 times wonder if it were not better never to have been 
 born when I consider the inevitable end to which we must 
 all come." 
 
 "I like rather to thing of death as Shelley thought of 
 it do you remember?" Philip said gently. 
 
 "No, I have never read Shelley. Tell me what he 
 says." 
 
 "Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep. 
 He hath awakened from the dream of life. 
 'Tis we who, lost in stormy visions, keep 
 With phantoms an unprofitable strife. 
 307
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 He hath outsoared the shadows of our night. 
 
 Envy and calumny and hate and pain 
 
 And that unrest which men miscall delight, 
 
 Can touch him not and torture not again. 
 
 From the contagion of the world's slow stain 
 
 He is secure, and now can never mourn 
 
 A heart grown cold, a head grown grey" 
 
 "Yes, the sentiment is beautiful," Virginia said as 
 her companion finished the quotation, "but it is hard to 
 bring our hearts into accord with it when death has taken 
 one of our own away." 
 
 "It was not so for me," Philip said earnestly. "My 
 own father died when I was a mere boy younger than 
 Kittie is now and for a time it seemed to me that life 
 would never be the same to me again. One day in my 
 reading I found these lines and they have always relieved 
 the sting of that early grief just a little." 
 
 "Such a view robs death of much of its horror and I 
 would gladly think of it so," Virginia said. "When I 
 see the peaceful look on Uncle's Marion's face and re- 
 member how long it had been drawn and distorted with 
 pain, I cannot but feel that he has indeed found peace and 
 rest where he has gone." 
 
 "Do you know, Virginia, I have thought so many times 
 to-day how glad and thankful I am that I came to At- 
 lanta instead of returning to the Army of the Potomac." 
 
 It was only lately that Philip had taken to calling her 
 by her first name now and then and it always brought 
 a ripple of delight into her heart. For a moment she 
 could not trust herself to reply and then, looking up at 
 him with all the candor of her soul in her eyes, she an- 
 swered gratefully, "We could never have gone through 
 all this without you, Captain Blair." 
 
 308
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I realize what a burden it would have been for you, 
 for much of it you must have borne quite alone. The 
 idea of coming here was purely a selfish one on my part. 
 When I awoke to consciousness in Tennessee and learned 
 that you had gone, an unconquerable longing to see you 
 again filled my heart, and for that purpose I determined 
 to come here with General Sherman's army. N.ow, I feel 
 almost as if an unseen fate had led me here to help 
 you." 
 
 Virginia was working nervously with a bunch of re- 
 fractory blossoms. A wild desire possessed her to throw 
 discretion to the winds and yield her heart to the sweet 
 influence of her affection for this man who had grown 
 to be so large a part of her very existence, but it could 
 not, must not be. 
 
 "Will you not look up at me, Virginia, and say some- 
 thing to me that will show me you care for what I say ?" 
 he pleaded earnestly. 
 
 Great tears that could not be restrained dropped upon 
 the flowers in her hand, but she dashed them away and, 
 raising her eyes to his face, said tremblingly: 
 
 "I am sorry, Captain Blair, that it must always be you 
 to whom I show the weakest side of my character. Par- 
 don this display. You have been very, very kind to us 
 and we shall never forget it." 
 
 "Do not apologize, little woman. You are always right 
 and admirable to me, no matter what you do. And be- 
 sides, there is not one woman in a thousand that could 
 go through what you have in the last few weeks as bravely 
 as you have done it." 
 
 These words of sympathy wrought upon Virginia as 
 a world of care and sorrow could not have done and, 
 dropping upon a sofa, she laid her head on the arm and 
 sobbed like a heart-broken child, while Philip sat near her 
 with a look of helpless distress in his face. At length, 
 
 309
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 reaching out his great, strong hand, he tenderly stroked 
 the waves of dark hair, saying: 
 
 "Poor little woman ! You're tired and worn from the 
 long strain of sorrow and responsibility. God knows 
 how gladly I would take the burden all upon myself if 
 I could. I have many things to say to you sometime but 
 not just now. A happier day will dawn for us all ere 
 long and then we shall see what the future holds for us." 
 
 Even in the midst of her weeping the young girl's heart 
 beat high with happiness as she listened to the note of 
 tenderness in Philip's voice and realized the meaning of 
 his words; not even the recollection of her promise to 
 Hugh could wholly mar the sweetness of the thought 
 that Philip loved her. 
 
 Raising her head at last, she smiled through her tears 
 and said, "It's over now. You must not pity me any 
 more. It makes me cry quicker than scolding would, a 
 great deal." 
 
 "As if anyone would dare to scold you, Virginia," 
 Philip said, smiling back at her with pure pleasure at 
 the relief the tears had brought her. 
 
 A moment later the watchers came and took their sta- 
 tions for the night and Philip returned to quarters for 
 the rest which he sadly needed after a day of constant 
 labor and anxiety. 
 
 But what may a soldier expect of rest or ease or com- 
 fort? A messenger awaited Captain Blair with an order 
 that he should report to General Sherman as soon as he 
 returned. Without stopping a moment, Philip hurried to 
 headquarters and presented himself before his com- 
 mander. 
 
 The general glanced up from his writing as Blair en- 
 tered the apartment and, laying aside his pen, he eyed 
 the young man narrowly before he said, "Blair, I want 
 a man to go to Washington for me on a private errand." 
 
 310
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Philip waited an instant for General Sherman to con- 
 tinue, but, seeing he had no intention of doing so, he 
 asked, "Do you mean you wish me to be that man?" 
 
 "Of course that's what I mean. Why else do you sup- 
 pose I sent for you? Will you go?" 
 
 "My first duty is to my commander, sir. You do me 
 much honor in reposing so much confidence in me." 
 
 "Are you willing to go?" General Sherman demanded. 
 
 "Yes, sir, I am always willing to obey your orders." 
 
 "After all the trouble of obtaining permission to come 
 with us you are willing to turn back and leave the jour- 
 ney scarcely begun?" the General said. 
 
 "If you require it of me, yes, sir." 
 
 "That's the spirit of a good soldier, Blair. Prepare to 
 go at once." 
 
 "How soon must I leave, sir?" 
 
 "As soon as possible within the next three days at 
 the latest. There are prisoners to be sent north and they 
 may as well go at the same time. You can have charge 
 of them to Indianapolis." 
 
 "Set your own time, sir," Philip answered. 
 
 "Say, Thursday morning, then?" General Sherman said 
 with a rising inflection. 
 
 "Very well, Thursday morning," Philip replied. 
 
 "Come to me to-morrow evening for your instructions." 
 As Sherman said this he signified Blair's dismissal by 
 taking up his pen to resume the letter he was writing. 
 
 Before Philip could quit his presence, however, he 
 paused to ask in an absent-minded way, "Has anything 
 been done about the case you referred to me yesterday?" 
 
 "The Colonel is dead, sir," Philip said simply. 
 
 "Ah! the Colonel is dead. Well, inasmuch as it had 
 to be, 'tis better so. It modifies the situation. The la- 
 dies can now be removed within the ten days," and again 
 he returned to his writing.
 
 r 
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Philip hesitated. A new idea had come to him. "If 
 you please, General, may I speak with you a moment 
 longer?" he asked. 
 
 Sherman finished his sentence. "Well, what is it?" 
 he said. 
 
 "Could you allow me to take the ladies under my pro- 
 tection when I go north?" Blair asked hesitatingly. 
 
 "Why, I don't know," General Sherman said as if con- 
 sidering the question. "Perhaps you might. I have 
 granted similar privileges to others, I see no reason why 
 I may not do as much for you. Where will they go?" 
 
 "To Richmond, sir, and I could accompany them a 
 part of the way." 
 
 "Well, well, arrange it if you can," the General re- 
 plied, turning again to his desk. 
 
 Philip quietly withdrew and, when he reached his room, 
 sat down to think upon the change that must be made in 
 all his plans. It never for a moment occurred to him 
 to question his duty. Three years of voluntary, faithful 
 service in the Union army had taught him implicit obedi- 
 ence to the command of his superior. His only thought 
 was for Virginia and her friends and he must try to ad- 
 just their course to meet this new demand upon his time. 
 
 He would persuade them, if possible, to go with him on 
 Thursday to Chattanooga, where they could tarry long 
 enough for him to make the trip to Indianapolis and re- 
 turn, after which he would accompany them as near to 
 Richmond as he could go in safety. 
 
 The next day, as soon as Colonel Chester had been 
 laid to rest and the family had returned to the desolate 
 house, Philip laid before them the particulars of his plan 
 for their removal. Mrs. Chester wept violently and de- 
 clared she could not be induced to leave the house so 
 soon, but a little reasoning on Virginia's part and coax- 
 
 312
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing on Kittie's overcame her objections and the journey 
 was decided upon. On the day appointed, they bade 
 farewell to the scene of so much sorrow and took their 
 way northward. 
 
 The evening before, Philip had visited General Sher- 
 man and received his instructions as to the business to 
 be discharged. Before leaving his commander's pres- 
 ence, the young man said, "Am I expected to return here 
 when I have accomplished this mission ?" 
 
 "As you please about that, Blair," Sherman replied. 
 "We shall probably leave the city before you can get 
 back and if you find it necessary you can report for duty 
 at your old post, although I regret to lose you. How- 
 ever, that can be arranged later on when we see how you 
 get on with your commission." 
 
 "Very well, sir," Philip answered, "and before I leave 
 you I wish to express my appreciation of the kindness you 
 have shown me and of the honor I esteem it that you se- 
 lected me to send upon this mission. Believe me, Gen- 
 eral Sherman, I shall answer with my life for its faithful 
 accomplishment." 
 
 "Had I not full confidence in your ability and your 
 faithfulness, be sure I should not have chosen you for an 
 errand like this. I hope you will despatch the business 
 quickly and return to us if possible," the General said as 
 he gave Philip a warm hand grasp at parting. 
 
 313
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 IF Philip Blair deplored the horrors of the civil strife 
 as seen in the camp, along the march or on the field of 
 battle, how much more was he shocked, when he entered 
 the prison grounds, by the scenes he witnessed there. 
 The place was barren, cheerless, desolate, the men half 
 clothed, half fed, and many of them wasted by disease 
 brought on by exposure to the rigors of a northern climate 
 such as they had never known before. 
 
 "This is awful!" Blair said to his companion, "and yet 
 they say it is infinitely better than our men are enduring 
 in the prisons of the south." 
 
 "Yes, I have talked with men from the pen at Ander- 
 sonville and if their descriptions are not exaggerated be- 
 yond all reason, this is paradise beside it." 
 
 "In the name of God, how long must it last?" Philip 
 ejaculated with a shudder. "I am more and more con- 
 vinced each day that Sherman is right in his determina- 
 tion to crush this thing and end it at whatever cost." 
 
 It was a warm, bright day, and many of the sick had 
 dragged themselves out from their hard beds to lie along 
 the banks of the rivulet which flowed through the prison 
 yard and which, from the promptings of their homesick 
 hearts, the inmates had christened the "Potomac." Be- 
 side this stream and following its course were the bar- 
 racks, while a strip of ground on either side of it served 
 as a sort of main street along which, in the early days, the 
 venders came to cry their stock in trade and to distribute 
 supplies of food at exorbitant prices to such of the pris- 
 oners as were fortunate enough or cunning enough to 
 have a coin, a bit of jewelry or other valuable possession
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 secreted from the vigilant eyes of the prison employees. 
 Here, too, the captives passed back and forth from one 
 rude shelter to another, crossing to their friends "on the 
 other side" by means of an unstable bridge of planks laid 
 carelessly across the stream. 
 
 As Philip walked slowly along this thoroughfare, his 
 sympathy was especially aroused by a man whose appar- 
 ent misery rendered him more pitiable, if possible, than 
 any of his fellow sufferers. Turning to glance at the 
 prisoner a second time, to see if haply he might speak a 
 word of comfort or offer some deed of kindness, he fan- 
 cied he caught a gleam of recognition in the pallid face. 
 
 "Yes, I'm the man," the prisoner said with a ghastly 
 smile as Philip came a step nearer. 
 
 "You are what man?" Blair asked in surprise. 
 
 "Hugh Cunningham the man you saved from death 
 after Gettysburg," was the reply, spoken a trifle bit- 
 terly. 
 
 "Is it possible! And yet I can see the resemblance, 
 now that you have told me who you are." 
 
 "I was grateful to you then," Cunningham said feebly, 
 "but now it is scarcely a question whether a few hours 
 of suffering and a peaceful end then would not have been 
 better than this slow dying by degrees which I have en- 
 dured for ten long months." 
 
 "Has the life here done all this for you?" Philip said 
 kindly. 
 
 "Not quite all," Hugh replied. "I had been sick be~ 
 fore I came here, but the exposure of last winter fastened 
 the disease on me and I cannot throw it off. I suppose 
 another winter here will do the work for me." 
 
 "Poor fellow !" Philip said pityingly, "I am sorry for 
 you and I will see what can be done for you. I hear 
 talk of an exchange of prisoners soon." 
 
 315
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "O, sir, do you mean you will try to get me out of 
 here ?" Hugh exclaimed, his voice trembling and his eyes 
 filling with tears. 
 
 "Yes, I'll try," Philip answered, "but do not expect too 
 much. You know the result of such an effort is very un- 
 certain." 
 
 "I know, I know," Hugh answered joyfully, "but I can 
 bear it better here, knowing that someone on the outside 
 of this infernal place is trying to help me." 
 
 "Where is the negro who was with you at Gettys- 
 burg?" 
 
 "He is living in Indianapolis on an allowance made 
 him from my own income, of which I cannot use a dol- 
 lar." 
 
 "Why does he not help you ?" 
 
 "He is not allowed to do so. Jerry is as fathful as ever 
 and, for a time, came to my relief every day, but since 
 the prison authorities deprived us of the privilege of buy- 
 ing extra supplies, either in food or other comforts, he 
 can do nothing for me but wait until I die or someone 
 rescues me from this." 
 
 "To what army do you belong ?" 
 
 "The Army of Virginia." 
 
 "Very well," said Philip, making a brief entry in a 
 note book, "I will not forget you." 
 
 The impulse came to him to say something of the Lees 
 and Chesters, but, being pressed for time, he failed to 
 do so. Indeed, amid the sad scenes of their recent asso- 
 ciation, Hugh's name had not been mentioned by any 
 member of either family and Philip had almost ceased to 
 connect him even with Kittie. Philip, without further 
 comment, passed on to his inspection of the prison sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 In the afternoon, his work at Camp Morton done, he 
 316
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 took his way back to Chattanooga where Virginia Lee 
 awaited him with mingled feelings of happiness, self- 
 reproach and dread; of happiness, that she should see 
 him once more, feel the touch of his hand and know the 
 joy of his protecting care ; of self-reproach, that she had 
 permitted herself to deal unjustly with Hugh poor Hugh, 
 from whom she had not heard for so long poor Hugh, 
 whom she had never even mentioned to Philip Blair; 
 sometimes she had tried to do so in a trivial, incidental 
 way, but the words seemed to stick in her throat and she 
 gave up the attempt, soothing her conscience by wonder- 
 ing why, after all, she should feel it necessary to speak of 
 him there was surely no occasion for her to go about 
 talking to her acquaintances about her lover in the war, 
 whom she had promised to marry; but especially at this 
 time did she chide herself because she had permitted 
 Philip to go directly from her presence to the place where 
 Hugh was paying a dreadful penalty for carrying out her 
 wishes, without one word of message or inquiry she 
 had even avoided speaking of Philip's destination to Mrs. 
 Lee or Mrs. Chester or Kittie lest they might inadver- 
 tently refer to Hugh's presence there they knew that 
 Philip was going to the North with prisoners, and, further 
 than this, they had been too much absorbed in their own 
 affairs to ask ; but most poignant of all emotions in Vir- 
 ginia's heart just now was dread of the inevitable day 
 which must speedily come when Philip would not be com- 
 ing back, when his good-bye would be final and she must 
 face a life in which he would have no part. 
 
 Philip Blair, on the contrary, was troubled with no 
 thought, as he sped along toward Chattanooga, save fond 
 anticipation of the meeting with the woman he had learned 
 to love with all the fervor of his warm heart. For him 
 there was no bitterness of self-condemnation, no dread 
 
 317
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 of last farewells. Already hope was daily speaking to 
 him of better things a little farther on. 
 
 "The darkest hour, as the proverb goes, 
 Is the hour before the dawning." 
 
 Philip confidently believed this darkest hour was past, 
 and, through the gloom and mists about him, he was be- 
 ginning to discern the harbinger of day the day of peace. 
 He was content to wait now, for he wished no sense of 
 gratitude or obligation to enter into the acceptance or 
 rejection of his suit for Virginia's hand, nor did he feel 
 it just to ask her to bind her young life to the uncertain 
 fate of a soldier. But when peace came he would re- 
 turn to her and all would yet be well. With these 
 thoughts in his heart, the train was all too slow that bore 
 him onward toward the south. When he arrived in 
 Chattanooga, he found his friends all ready to depart. 
 They had spent the days of his absence in the village, 
 although Mrs. Lee and Virginia had visited the planta- 
 tion and had seen the Hudsons and the negroes who were 
 yet there. 
 
 "Has anything been done there this year ?" Philip asked 
 as Virginia was talking of their visit at Lee's Summit. 
 
 "O, yes," she answered, "Hudson has done all that 
 could be done considering the disadvantages with which 
 he has had to contend. We cannot hope to see much ac- 
 complished there until father can come home to manage 
 affairs himself, and even then the progress will be slow, 
 for a plantation cannot be run without money and by the 
 time the war is ended that commodity will be at a low 
 ebb with us." 
 
 "Don't despair, Virginia," Mrs. Lee returned. " 'The 
 Lord tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,' you know, and 
 we can surely claim to be of the class referred to." 
 
 318
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "I am not despondent," was the reply. "We shall at 
 least have our land and father and a few faithful negroes 
 and we can begin all over again with far better prospect 
 of success than thousands of others." 
 
 "I should like to see the place again myself," Philip 
 said. "There is time for us to drive out there and re- 
 turn before our train is due. Would you go with me, 
 Virginia ? The day is very fine." 
 
 The proposition was a surprise to Virginia and aroused 
 contending impulses in her breast. She feared, yet 
 longed, to go. The hours she would spend alone with 
 Philip grew more precious to her as she saw the end of 
 their association drawing near. A visit among the scenes 
 where they had first known each other was an inviting 
 prospect, but she feared the consequences of a few hours 
 thus spent. She realized that each fond recollection 
 would be an additional tie to bind her heart to Philip 
 Blair. 
 
 "Why, I don't know, there is yet some packing to be 
 done," she said in a feeble attempt to excuse herself. 
 
 "It doesn't amount to anything, daughter," her mother 
 replied. "I can easily do it without you. Go, the sun- 
 light and fresh air will do you good." 
 
 No great amount of urging was required for Virginia 
 was eager to go and, had she not been so, it would have 
 seemed most ungracious to deny Philip so simple a re- 
 quest. 
 
 Half an hour later Virginia, seated by Philip's side, was 
 riding along a pleasant country road and in both their 
 hearts there was that joy unspeakable which none but 
 loving hearts can know. Everything about them was in- 
 teresting and beautiful, the sky, the clouds, the sunlight, 
 the fields, the hills, the mountains in the distance, and 
 Philip was never so thoroughly admirable as he was to- 
 
 319
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 day, Virginia thought. Perhaps it was because she had 
 never seen him so thoroughly happy before, for there 
 is nothing like true, pure happiness to bring out the very 
 best and highest qualities of the human soul. 
 
 They ate their dinner at the Lodge. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hudson were delighted to receive them and to offer them 
 the best entertainment their home afforded. 
 
 In the afternoon they wandered about the place for an 
 hour or two, lingering longest in the summer-house where 
 Virginia had always loved to go. 
 
 "I like to come here best of all," Philip said, seating 
 himself beside the little table which still stood in its old 
 place, "because it was here I found you when I came 
 back that morning after the house was burned. I was 
 very, very sorry for you that day, little woman." 
 
 "I was very, very wretched," Virginia replied. 
 
 "I hope you may never be quite so unhappy again." 
 
 "I scarcely dare to hope such a thing. Sometimes the 
 outlook seems very dark." 
 
 "Don't feel so, Virginia. I believe the war will be 
 over soon." 
 
 "I fear there is not much in store for us when the 
 war is over," Virginia replied, looking out upon the spot 
 where her home had stood. "I feel sometimes as if 
 mother and I should stay right here and attend to the 
 place as we did before. If the house were here, I should 
 not hesitate to do it." 
 
 "No, no," Philip answered quickly. "You have had 
 care enough here, you must go on to Richmond as we 
 have planned." 
 
 Virginia looked at her companion with a smile of 
 pleasure, surprised, yet gratified, by his assumption of 
 authority. 
 
 "You need your father's protection now," he said, lay- 
 
 320
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ing his hand over hers as it rested on the table between 
 them, " and when the war is over I'll come back to Rich- 
 mond or Atlanta or Chattanooga or the other end of the 
 world, if you should chance to be there, and then we'll 
 settle the question, you and I, as to who shall be your pro- 
 tector during the remainder of your life." 
 
 Virginia tried to frame a suitable reply but no words 
 would come to her. She sat like one dumb, staring at 
 Philip with white, set face. 
 
 "Speak to me, Virginia," Philip pleaded. "Tell me, 
 may I come back to you when the war is done? It is not 
 asking much." 
 
 "Don't, Philip, don't. I cannot bear it!" Virginia ex- 
 claimed, bursting into tears. 
 
 "Say it again, little woman, say it again," Philip said, 
 coming around to the side of the table where she sat. 
 "You cannot know how I have wished to hear you call 
 me 'Philip' instead of the everlasting 'Captain Blair' which 
 grows so monotonous. Call me that again, darling, and 
 tell me that when the war is over you want me to come 
 back to you." Placing his hand under her chin, he turned 
 the tear-stained face to his own. 
 
 "O, Philip," she said in agony, "you must know that I 
 want you to come back to me, but it will only be for 
 misery to us both." 
 
 "What do you mean? I do not understand you," he 
 answered sternly. 
 
 "I mean there is a reason why we can never be more 
 to each other than we are to-day never so much again," 
 she replied as if the words were torn from her. 
 
 "Tell me the reason, Virginia. Is it because I hap- 
 pened to be born in one state and you in another because 
 our opinions are different about a political question ? You 
 
 321
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 cannot mean to sacrifice your happiness and mine for a 
 thing like that ?" he exclaimed. 
 
 "No, no, no, it is not that," she moaned. 
 
 "Virginia, I have sometimes fancied that you returned 
 my love, which I do not hesitate to declare to you, what- 
 ever the result may be. If you do, there is no power 
 under heaven that shall separate us. Tell me truly, 
 darling, am I right? Do you love me?" he pleaded. 
 
 Virginia sprang to her feet and stood before him with 
 an air of sudden resolve. 
 
 "Philip," she said kindly, "I have no right to tell you 
 that no right to listen to what you are saying. I have 
 promised to marry another man." 
 
 Philip staggered like a man who has been struck a 
 heavy blow and, sinking into a chair, buried his face in 
 his hands. He sat thus for a long time until Virginia ap- 
 proached him timidly and, laying her hand gently on his 
 shoulder, said : 
 
 "Look up at me, Philip, and say you do not despise me. 
 You can never know how earnestly I have tried to do 
 right." 
 
 "Yes, I do know, little woman," Philip said, raising his 
 head and taking the trembling hand in both his own. "I 
 see it all now, why you have seemed to avoid me at times, 
 why you sent me no message when I was wounded, and 
 why you did not answer my letter last winter. It is I 
 who have been to blame and I am only trying to think 
 it all out and see if there is any way to remedy the mis- 
 chief that has been done. Who is the man, Virginia?" 
 
 Even now Virginia could not quite bring herself to 
 speak Hugh Cunningham's name. "He is an officer in 
 the Confederate army and he has been my playmate from 
 childhood. He is now in a Federal prison and he writes 
 me that it is only the thought of me and my promise 
 
 322
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 that enables him to endure his fate. And more than all 
 else to me, is the fact that he went to the war in the first 
 place to please me." 
 
 Virginia hoped Philip would guess the whole truth, but, 
 so confident had he been of the attachment between Hugh 
 and Kittie when he first met them at Lee's Summit, so 
 boyish and heedless of the realities of life did Hugh seem 
 as compared with Virginia who had always been womanly 
 and mature beyond her years, that the idea of Hugh in 
 the light of Virginia's lover had never entered his mind 
 and did not now. Virginia's words recalled most vividly 
 his recent visit in the prison, but it was only as an inci- 
 dent attesting the suffering of any prisoner of war, not 
 as a crucial experience in his own life. He knew better, 
 he thought, than Virginia did, what the absent soldier 
 was enduring for her sake. 
 
 "I understand," he answered. "I Have unwittingly 
 helped to force this situation upon you and, God helping 
 me, I will not add to the burden you must carry. When 
 we part at Richmond, I will go away and leave you to 
 forget this episode in your life as quickly as possible." 
 
 Virginia hid her face and sobbed helplessly for a mo- 
 ment, then, stretching out her hands, cried in utter 
 despair : 
 
 "O, Philip, Philip, it breaks my heart to let you go, 
 and yet I know I must." 
 
 Tenderly he drew her to his side and folded her in a 
 close embrace, kissing her fondly again and again. 
 
 "Just this one time, darling, for the sake of what might 
 have been, and then we'll bury this much of our lives 
 here in the little summer-house with my dead hope. If 
 the day should ever come when you are free, remember 
 that away in the north Philip waits for you with faith- 
 ful heart." 
 
 333
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 And Virginia suffered his caresses with never a thought 
 of those compunctions which had so beset her at the idea 
 of allowing such privileges to Hugh. For a little while 
 she wept silently on Philip's broad shoulder and then, 
 withdrawing herself from his arms, she removed the 
 traces of her grief as far as possible, glad to know that 
 the ruined condition of her home would serve as sufficient 
 excuse to the Hudsons for her tears. 
 
 "We must go now," she said sadly. "We have been 
 here a long time and mother will be growing anxious." 
 
 The good-byes at the Lodge were soon spoken and they 
 took their way back to the village in silence as mourners 
 return from the sepulcher of their dead. 
 
 When he assisted her to alight, Philip held her hand for 
 a moment while he said, "This is harder, almost, than to 
 say good-bye and part forever, but we have both been 
 learning to fight great battles successfully. Let us make 
 this no exception." 
 
 Virginia looked into his face with a smile that was 
 sadder than tears and, turning quickly, hastened into the 
 house. She would begin again the old busy life that left 
 no time for dreaming or repining. 
 
 The first part of the journey to Richmond was un- 
 eventful, but before they reached the station just out- 
 side the Confederate lines, where Philip had expected to 
 leave them and take another train for Washington, they 
 found the road to Richmond destroyed for many miles, 
 by a recent raid. This necessitated a circuitous ride over- 
 land and, although it would take him far into the territory 
 covered by the enemy, Philip determined to accompany 
 them. To this the ladies all demurred, earnestly begging 
 him not to incur such a risk for them. 
 
 "There will be no great risk and I shall feel much bet- 
 ter satisfied to know you are safe on the last stage of 
 
 324
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 your journey before I leave you," he insisted. "I will go 
 in citizen's dress and shall probably never be molested." 
 
 Late in the evening he saw them aboard a train which 
 would carry them directly to Richmond where Mr. Lee 
 awaited them. 
 
 325
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE apartments in which the Lees and Chesters estab- 
 lished themselves, though comfortable, were plain and 
 unpretentious, for the time had come when they must 
 count the cost, not for the sake of a surplus for the re- 
 lief of the soldiers, but lest their stock of funds should 
 be exhausted before opportunity was given to replenish 
 it. There was a strange commingling of sentiment in 
 the hearts of the little circle. Mr. Lee was rejoiced to 
 have his family with .him and found in his association 
 with them a recompense for the anxiety and toil which 
 had made up the routine of his daily life since he first 
 came to the capital. To Mrs. Lee and Virginia, the sense 
 of security was like a haven of rest to the mariner after 
 a voyage upon a stormy sea. Even the precarious condi- 
 tion of the cause they had supported could not wholly 
 overshadow the pleasure of their present freedom from 
 responsibility. 
 
 Only the "skeleton" in Virginia's closet really disturbed 
 her peace of mind. The destruction of her home, the 
 loss of their fortune, the failure of the rebellion, could not 
 grieve her longer. She had suffered too*much to care for 
 these things now, but when she thought of Philip and of 
 Hugh and of the life the future had in store, her heart 
 ofttimes misgave her and she shrank from the prospect 
 before her. 
 
 Then, too, there were the mourning weeds of Mrs. 
 Chester and Kittie always in evidence, like Banquo's 
 ghost, to cast a shade of sadness upon them all. It is a 
 gruesome custom, this, of draping ourselves in black to 
 commemorate our dead, as if the world were not already 
 
 326
 
 THE HONOR OF A- LEE 
 
 full enough of sorrow, but we must daily lacerate our 
 wounds afresh and call upon our friends to look and sym- 
 pathize. A little more "remembering" and a little less 
 "show of remembering" would make the world a truer, 
 better world. 
 
 Two or three mornings after the arrival of the ladies 
 from the south, the family were gathered in the little 
 sitting-room for a quiet "after breakfast chat." Mr. Lee 
 sat carelessly looking over the morning paper, in reality 
 following chiefly the thread of the conversation going on. 
 
 "Umph!" he suddenly ejaculated as a startling head- 
 line caught his eye. "A spy to be executed at sunrise 
 to-morrow morning," he read, adding by way of com- 
 ment, "I had hoped and supposed we were through with 
 all that." 
 
 Virginia's attention was arrested in the middle of a sen- 
 tence she was addressing to her mother, a vague, inex- 
 plicable fear possessing her. She had not seen as much 
 of this kind of thing as her father had and the sacrifice 
 of a human life meant a great deal to her. It surprised 
 her to see Mr. Lee turn heedlessly to another page of the 
 paper without apparent interest in the unfortunate man. 
 
 "Read what it says about the spy, father," she said a 
 trifle indignantly. "I wish they would not hang any more 
 people." 
 
 Mr. Lee turned back to the article and read aloud : 
 . . "A Spy to be Executed at Sunrise To-morrow Morn- 
 ing. 
 
 "A suspicious-looking character was captured by a 
 band of soldiers Monday night. He was attired in citi- 
 zen's dress and called himself Blair. He was carefully 
 searched and papers concelaed about his person prove 
 him to be an officer in the Federal . army. There was 
 strong circumstantial evidence of his guilt and he was 
 
 327
 
 '*HE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 brought immediately to this city where he was duly tried 
 on the above charge. Being found guilty, the death sen- 
 tence was pronounced. He is now confined in Libby 
 prison where he will remain until to-morrow morning at 
 sunrise when he will pay the death penalty." 
 
 When Mr. Lee pronounced the name "Blair," Kittie 
 sprang up in alarm and, running to his side, hung over 
 him and followed the lines as he read, finally bursting into 
 indignant tears. As the article was finished, she stamped 
 her foot angrily, crying out : 
 
 "It's a burning shame ! Captain Blair is no more a spy 
 than you are, Uncle Thomas. Why don't you say some- 
 thing, Virginia?" turning resentfully upon her cousin 
 who, pale as death, sat perfectly still, gazing vacantly at 
 her father's face. 
 
 "What can we do, father?" Virginia asked mechanically 
 when thus appealed to. 
 
 "I don't know, daughter. It may be this is not Philip 
 Blair at all, you know. There are many Blairs," Mr. 
 Lee answered thoughtfully. 
 
 "Yes, it is Philip Blair," Virginia replied. "I knew it 
 when you read the headline and I almost believe I have 
 known it since we left him Monday evening. I had a 
 feeling that something was wrong." 
 
 "Don't talk so, Virginia," Mrs. Lee interrupted. "You 
 were never superstitious. Even if this should be our 
 Captain Blair I suppose it will only be necessary for your 
 father to tell the authorities of their mistake." 
 
 "You little know the authorities and their unchangeable 
 decrees, Margaret," Mr. Lee said with a kind glance at 
 his wife, "but I will see what can be done," he added, 
 rising and making preparations to leave the house. 
 
 "See what can be done!" Virginia exclaimed, jumping 
 up as if suddenly recovering her powers of mind and 
 
 328
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 body. "Why, father, Philip Blair's life must be saved if 
 it takes a panic in the city of Richmond to do it." 
 
 "You'd scarcely be able to stir up a mob in the city of 
 Richmond to interfere in a case like this, Virginia. I will 
 go at once to the President. I believe I can accomplish 
 more through him than any other way." 
 
 "Please be as quick about it as possible, father. If 
 this does not succeed, we must try some other plan. The 
 time is very short between now and to-morrow morning. 
 You will report the result of your effort at once, of 
 course ?" 
 
 "Yes, I'll be back directly," Mr. Lee replied as he hur- 
 ried away. 
 
 As soon as her father was gone, Virginia went to her 
 room, returning in a little while dressed for walking. 
 
 "Where are you going, Virginia?" Mrs. Lee asked in 
 surprise. 
 
 "When father comes I am going to the prison to see 
 Philip Blair," was the reply. 
 
 "O, no, Virginia, it will never do," Mrs. Lee remon- 
 strated with a shudder. "Your father will never permit 
 it. It is no place for a woman." 
 
 "Nor for a man like Philip Blair," Virginia answered 
 quickly. "I am going there to let him see that he is not 
 forsaken in his misery. It is as little as I can do after 
 all he has done for us." 
 
 "You're right, Virginia," Kittie exclaimed in a tone of 
 admiration, "and I'd gladly go with you if it would add 
 to his pleasure the least bit, but it wouldn't. There is 
 nothing on earth that would comfort him now like the 
 sight of you and uncle in his cell." 
 
 Virginia glanced for a moment at her mother's face, 
 but Mrs. Lee was too intent upon her own view of the 
 case to notice Kittie's prattle. 
 
 329
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "It is all right for your father, dear, and of course he 
 will go, but Captain Blair would not expect you there or 
 wish you to come," she urged. 
 
 "It's useless, mother, to contend with me about it. I'm 
 sorry to disregard your wishes, but I should never have 
 any peace of mind again if I shirked such a duty as this," 
 Virginia answered. 
 
 Mr. Lee did not return at once. Two hours elapsed 
 before he appeared and Virginia was fast losing hope of 
 his success. When he reached the house his face wore 
 an anxious, troubled look. 
 
 "I have not accomplished anything," he said. "Presi- 
 dent Davis does not wish to interfere. He says the men 
 who know the circumstances are better able to judge as 
 to the facts of a case like this than he is, and he hesitates 
 to take it into his own hands. He thinks very likely the 
 man in the prison is not our Captain Blair at all." 
 
 "The man in the prison is our Captain Blair," Virginia 
 answered, putting on her hat, "but we will not stop to 
 speculate about that question when we can satisfy our- 
 selves in a short time by going to the prison to see who 
 he is." 
 
 "You are not going there," Mr. Lee said sternly. 
 
 "Yes, / am going there," Virginia replied very em- 
 phatically. 
 
 "Why, daughter, it is preposterous. I myself will go 
 at once and I can ascertain as well as you can who the 
 man is." 
 
 "Father, shall we waste time quibbling over nothing 
 when a man's life is at stake?" and opening the door, 
 Virginia stepped resolutely out upon the porch. Mr. Lee 
 followed her reluctantly, saying kindly : 
 
 "Of course, if you will go, I must accompany you, but 
 I do not approve of it at all." 
 
 330
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 As they entered the prison door both father and daugh- 
 ter were amazed by the sight which met their view. 
 Wretched, miserable, despairing, in want of everything 
 that renders human life preferable to that of the vagrant 
 dog, gaunt faces told their own tale of hunger, exposure, 
 homesickness and disease. 
 
 "My God!" Mr. Lee said solemnly. "And we wonder 
 why our cause has failed. If there is a God in heaven 
 he will avenge a national crime like this." 
 
 It was the first time he had ever been inside the walls ; 
 he had heard rumors of the privation, neglect and cruelty 
 suffered by the captives but he had not imagined such a 
 state as he now beheld. 
 
 Virginia was well-nigh stifled by the foul air and vile 
 mixture of offensive odors that met her. She clung 
 tremblingly to her father's arm, looking with timid awe 
 upon the uncanny creatures about her. With long 
 beards and matted, unshorn hair, their lean, lank bodies 
 but partially concealed by filthy rags, these effigies of men 
 turned in simple wonder from their idleness to gaze upon 
 a manly man and a beautiful woman from the outside 
 world which had become to them only a vacant dream of 
 the past. 
 
 "This way," the guide said, motioning Mr. Lee to fol- 
 low him, and Virginia saw with shrinking fear that they 
 must traverse at least a portion of the loathsome den to 
 reach the object of their search. 
 
 "We always keep this kind in a remote and well-guard- 
 ed part of the building," said the fellow, who was gar- 
 rulous and coarse beyond description. "He's most too 
 grand and lordly with his high head and fine airs. He 
 needs to be spirit broke like these fellows you see here. 
 But he'll get it broke to-morrow !" and he chuckled to 
 himself as if gloating over the prospect of a rare treat. 
 
 331
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Virginia felt as if her blood were being congealed with 
 horror as she listened to this villain and picked her way 
 through the filth and garbage with which the floors were 
 strewn, thinking constantly of what a man like Philip 
 Blair must suffer to be incarcerated in such a pl.'ice. 
 
 At length when they had reached the darkest and dir- 
 tiest portion of the house, the guide unlocked a door and 
 threw it open, standing back with a revolver in his hand, 
 more for the intimidation of the inmates of the cell 
 than to guard against any real danger of an attempt to 
 escape upon their part. 
 
 As the door opened, there was a cessation of the oaths 
 and hilarity which were being freely indulged in by a 
 crowd of hungry looking men gathered about a small 
 table where four of their number were engaged in a game 
 of cards. 
 
 Virginia paused a moment, thinking some mistake had 
 been made. 
 
 "Go on," the guide said, "he's in there but he's too 
 proud to mix even with his own comrades." 
 
 The young girl crossed the threshold hesitatingly and 
 the rays of light from the one dingy window falling upon 
 her face so blinded her for a moment that she did not 
 discern the tall form of her lover in the shadows of a 
 remote corner. Philip Blair stood with head erect and 
 arms folded, his soul filled with loathing and contempt by 
 his surroundings. As his eye fell upon the apparition at 
 the door he seemed transfixed with horror. 
 
 "Why are you here, Virginia Lee ?" he said sternly. 
 
 "I came to help and rescue you, Captain Blair," she 
 said, advancing toward him with her hand oustretched in 
 greeting. 
 
 Blair receded as the girl approached, saying in a tone 
 332
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 of entreaty, "Do not come near me, Miss Lee. The touch 
 of him who enters here is pollution to a hand like yours." 
 
 Virginia hastened to his side and laid her hand gently 
 upon his arm which he still held resolutely folded, while 
 his face did not for a moment relax its rigid expression 
 of disapproval. 
 
 "You are the same Philip to me you were in the little 
 summer-house at home," the sweet voice said in a tone 
 too low for any ear but his. 
 
 A look of adoration crept into Philip's face. Unclasp- 
 ing his arms, he took the hand in his and, bending his 
 proud head, said fondly, "Don't tempt me, little woman, 
 above what I am able to bear." 
 
 Virginia answered with a loving smile and a warm pres- 
 sure of the hand, then, leading him toward her father 
 who had paused a iew feet from them, she said : 
 
 "Father, you have not forgotten our friend, Captain 
 Blair ?" 
 
 "I am very glad to meet you, Captain Blair. I am 
 under great obligation to you for your kindness to my 
 family and I am most sorry to see you in a situation like 
 this." 
 
 "Thank you, sir. It is something to know I have the 
 sympathy of honorable people. As to the obligation, it 
 rests upon me for the privilege I have had of being of 
 service to your wife and daughter," Blair answered courte- 
 ously. 
 
 "We have not time to inquire now how all this came 
 about. You may be sure we shall do all in our power 
 to avert the fate that threatens you," Mr. Lee said. 
 
 "We will save you, Captain Blair, though the heavens 
 fall !" Virginia exclaimed earnestly. "We came here that 
 we might be able to assure others that we are not mistaken 
 
 333
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in the man. When we come back to you it will be 
 to release you from this place." 
 
 "The knowledge of your effort will at least be a con- 
 solation to me in the hour of my supreme trial," the 
 young man answered, looking steadily at Virginia as he 
 spoke. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she dashed them 
 away and turned to leave the room. Before she reached 
 the door, one of the men arose from the card table and 
 stood before her. 
 
 "Why should there be so much ado about the fate of 
 this man?" he said. "It is infinitely better than to en- 
 dure what we have suffered here for months and some of 
 us for years." 
 
 "Amen," Philip said fervently. 
 
 "We were as manly and proud as he when we were 
 brought to this infernal place and it would be better to 
 die thus than live to degenerate into beasts." 
 
 "Stand aside!" the guide interposed, leveling his re- 
 volver at the wretch. The way was cleared and Virginia 
 and Mr. Lee, with saddened hearts, passed out of the 
 cell, retraced their steps through the building and emerged 
 once more into the world of sunlight. 
 
 "Now, father, take me to President Davis and we'll 
 see what I can do, now that I can assure him of Captain 
 Blair's identity and his innocence," Virginia directed 
 calmly. 
 
 "You must not walk, Virginia. You will be worn out. 
 Come over to this shady nook across the way and sit 
 there until I can procure a conveyance." 
 
 A cab was speedily obtained and Mr. Lee and his 
 daughter were driven rapidly to the capitol. When they 
 arrived there they were informed that a message came 
 for the President immediately after Mr. Lee parted from 
 him in the morning, whereupon he had left the building, 
 
 334
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 saying he was going home. Following Mr. Davis to his 
 residence, they found that he had gone out of the city 
 more than an hour before and would not return until late 
 the next day. Mr. Lee stood holding the door of the car- 
 riage for several minutes, uncertain as to what course they 
 should pursue. 
 
 "I believe, daughter, I'll take you home now and we 
 can get something to eat. Then, while you rest, I'll go 
 to the prison and get the names of the officers who tried 
 and sentenced Captain Blair and see if I can move them 
 to retract," Mr. Lee said this as he looked at his watch 
 and found it already after noon. 
 
 "I am not hungry and I cannot bear to rest, but I know 
 of nothing better to suggest at least not until I have 
 thought about it a little." 
 
 Mr. Lee again seated himself in the cab, directing the 
 driver to take them to their own number. As soon as 
 he had eaten his lunch, he returned to the prison, but 
 there was no satisfaction to be obtained there. The 
 prisoner had been fairly tried by responsible, honorable 
 men, he was informed, he had been found guilty and con- 
 demned to die. The men had then gone on to other du- 
 ties and left the hang-man and the prison guards to exe- 
 cute the penalty upon the prisoner. It only remained for 
 them to do their duty. 
 
 In the meantime, a bold scheme had been forming itself 
 in Virginia's mind, to be carried out if her father's pres- 
 ent expedition failed, as she somehow felt it would. As 
 soon as he returned and reported the result of his effort, 
 without waiting to hear the particulars, she asked abrupt- 
 ly: 
 
 "When does the next train leave for Petersburg?" 
 
 Mr. Lee consulted his watch. "In half an hour," he 
 answered. 
 
 335
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Call a cab, father, and let us go over there to General 
 Lee. I have great faith in him, I do not believe he would 
 be a party to a crime. We can return by the late train 
 to-night," Virginia said in great excitement. 
 
 "But, daughter, what " 
 
 "Don't stop to ask me now, father, or we shall miss 
 that train. Trust me when I tell you I have thought of 
 another plan to try and I can tell you about it on the 
 journey over." 
 
 Mr. Lee followed the instructions with many misgiv- 
 ings, but the case was such a desperate one he hesitated 
 to question any proposition that might be made. On the 
 way to Petersburg, where General Lee was known to be 
 in camp, Virginia explained the details of her plan. 
 
 336
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 "THE General is not here to-day, sir," a soldier said in 
 reply to Mr. Lee's inquiry at the Petersburg camp. 
 
 "Where is he?" asked Virginia, grown restive under 
 the deliberation with which her father was inclined to 
 prosecute their mission. 
 
 "He went to a camp six miles from here with the Presi- 
 dent who came from the city this morning," was the 
 reply. 
 
 "Can you direct us how to find him?" the young lady 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes, I can direct you but the way is a rough one." 
 
 "It doesn't matter. We must reach him," Virginia an- 
 swered. 
 
 Mr. Lee looked at his watch and hesitated. "It will be 
 a close race, daughter, to go there, interview the General 
 and return in time for the last train in to-night," Mr. 
 Lee said. 
 
 "Then there is all the more reason for losing no time," 
 she replied. 
 
 The soldier began hurriedly giving directions as to the 
 road. 
 
 "I know," the driver interrupted. "I know whar de 
 camp is an' de way to git dar." 
 
 "Then take us there as fast as possible," Mr. Lee direct- 
 ed, resuming his seat beside his daughter. 
 
 When they reached their destination they were in- 
 formed that the General was engaged and was receiving 
 no one. 
 
 "But we must be rceived." Virginia exclaimd in dis- 
 may. 
 
 337
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Go to him and tell him we have come all the way from 
 Richmond on a matter of great importance and we will 
 detain him but a short time," Mr. Lee said earnestly. 
 
 "I hesitate to do so, sir, for I am confident you will not 
 be admitted, but I'll try," the soldier answered as he de- 
 parted with the message. Returning in a few minutes, 
 he said, 
 
 "General Lee is in consultation with the President and 
 they refuse to see anyone now. A few hours hence he 
 will receive you." 
 
 "A few hours hence will be too late. Father have you 
 a pencil and some paper?" Virginia said. 
 
 Mr. Lee produced a pencil from his pocket and tore 
 a leaf from a memorandum book. Virginia took them 
 and wrote hurriedly, 
 
 "A woman waits to see you on a matter of life and 
 death. As you honor womanhood, as you regard human- 
 ity, as you fear God, I ask you to receive me. A delay 
 of a few hours will be fatal. 
 
 VIRGINIA LEE." 
 
 The General read the note aloud when it was handed 
 to him. 
 
 "Virginia Lee," he repeated. "I never heard of her be- 
 fore." 
 
 "It is the business of the spy again, I suppose," the 
 President said, a trifle impatiently. 
 
 "It is a strong appeal," General Lee said, thoughtfully. 
 "I believe I should receive her. Tell her to come in," 
 he added, turning to the messenger who awaited his order. 
 
 When the visitors entered the room they walked 
 directly to the two men. "President Davis, permit me to 
 introduce my daughter," Mr. Lee said, proudly. 
 
 "I have had the pleasure of meeting Miss Lee before," 
 
 338
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the President replied, his face losing something of its 
 sternness as he arose to receive her. 
 
 "General Lee, my daughter," the father said, turning 
 to the commander-in-chief. 
 
 "What is it so urgent that the daughter of my kinsman 
 has to say to me?" the General asked, as he took Vir- 
 ginia's hand in acknowledgment of the introduction. 
 
 The young girl's heart was reassured by the kind voice 
 and beneficent countenance of the southern hero. Her 
 mind flew back to those early days of the war when her 
 whole soul was filled with admiration for the men who 
 stood at the head of the Confederacy and its armies 
 Davis, Lee, Jackson, Bragg, and a long list of others. 
 Here at last, almost in the end of the struggle, when her 
 calmer judgment had been won from the old fanatical 
 devotion to the cause, she had found the ideal hero of 
 her dreams. Regaining her self-possession, she felt that 
 to this nobleman she could pour out the real thoughts 
 and feelings of her heart, and he would listen with justice 
 and mercy to her appeal. 
 
 In answer to the General's salutation, Virginia handed 
 him a paper. "Read that," she said, indicating the article 
 referring to the spy. The commander glanced at the 
 headline, and, dropping the paper to his side, looked 
 steadily at her as he said : 
 
 "I read it in my morning paper." 
 
 Without shrinking from his gaze, Virginia returned it 
 with a look of honesty and candor that no one could 
 doubt. "I came here to tell you that the man condemned to 
 die is not a spy but came within our lines as the escort 
 and protector of four Confederate women, of whom I 
 myself was one." 
 
 "Who were the other three ?" 
 
 "My mother, my aunt, and her daughter." 
 339
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Tell me the circumstances." 
 
 Briefly Virginia related their recent connection with 
 Philip Blair from her uncle's illness and death to the drive 
 overland to reach Richmond. "Captain Blair had no in- 
 tention of coming into our territory," she explained, "but 
 when we found the railroad had been destroyed he re- 
 fused to leave us to make such a trip alone. He wore citi- 
 zen's clothing instead of the Federal uniform that he 
 might attract as little attention as possible. On his return 
 trip he was captured by our men with the result you see 
 here." 
 
 General Lee regarded the speaker kindly for a moment, 
 then raising the paper which he still held at his side, 
 he glanced hurriedly at the article once more. "It is a 
 most unfortunate affair," he said, resuming his study of 
 Virginia's face. "What is it you wish me to do to par- 
 don him?" 
 
 "No, sir," she answered, a little haughtily. "I wish you 
 to forbid his execution and demand his release." 
 
 A momentary flash of pleasure passed over the com- 
 mander's countenance as he observed the readiness with 
 which the girl made the happy turn upon his form of 
 language. 
 
 "Have it that way if you prefer it so," he answered, 
 kindly. "It amounts to the same thing." As he spoke, 
 the care-worn, absent look came back into his face, and, 
 turning from his auditors, he walked briskly back and 
 forth several times, his hands, in which he still held the 
 paper, clasped behind him and his head bent down as if 
 engaged in intent thought. 
 
 "You place me in a trying position, young lady," 
 he said, suddenly, pausing before Virginia. "I have no 
 doubt you have full confidence in what you say and it 
 may be the whole truth. In that case, it would be 
 
 340
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 deplorable to let the man die. On the other hand, you 
 might so easily "have been deceived; the man might have 
 done all you say and still have had ulterior plans and 
 motives of which you knew nothing, and, that being 
 true, as the guardian of our people's safety, I could not 
 set him free." 
 
 Virginia's face grew deathly pale as he proceeded, and, 
 for a moment, she could think of no words for reply. 
 The fear that he might, after all, deny her request 
 seemed to paralyze her senses. Before she had recovered 
 her self-possession, General Lee turned to Mr. Davis, 
 saying : 
 
 "Do you know anything of the facts in this matter, 
 Mr. President?" 
 
 "Nothing whatever," was the terse response. 
 "What is your opinion ?" the General persisted. 
 "I have no opinion. I have heretofore refrained from 
 interfering with affairs of this sort. It is reasonable 
 to suppose the men who have these things in hand know 
 more about them than we who have so little connection 
 with them. In the present crisis we cannot afford to take 
 any risks." 
 
 "In the present crisis, Mr. President, we cannot afford 
 to withhold justice and mercy from our fellowmen." 
 
 A sudden, almost imperceptible flush passed over the 
 President's face as Virginia spoke these words, but other- 
 wise he gave them no apparent heed, and turned to the 
 perusal of his papers as if dismissing the subject from 
 his mind. 
 
 "I began my part in this conflict with a clear conscience 
 before God, Virginia Lee," the General said, in reply. 
 "I have maintained it in the same spirit and I shall con- 
 tinue to do so while there is a vestige of hope of our 
 success. As God hears me, if I know my own heart I 
 
 34i
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 have no other wish than to do right in .this as in every 
 act of my life, regardless of what the result may be a 
 few months hence." General Lee spoke with a kindly 
 fervor that could not but win the respect and love of 
 those who heard him. 
 
 "I believe it, sir, and for this reason I dare implore 
 you to perform this righteous act," Virginia exclaimed, 
 falling upon her knees and holding out her hands in sup- 
 plication to the commander-in-chief. "The man for 
 whom I plead is no spy. He is not only an honorable 
 gentleman but a follower of Him who said, 'Inasmuch 
 as ye did it unto one of the least of these ye did it unto 
 me.' In these words He is on trial before you to-day. 
 You cannot wash your hands of His blood as did Pilate 
 of old. The life of Philip Blair hangs in the balance. If 
 you let him die his blood will be upon you and upon your 
 children. It is not an honorable execution that is de- 
 signed, but murder, foul, premeditated murder." 
 
 The face of General Lee was a study as he listened 
 to this despairing cry, and when it ceased he walked back 
 and forth as before, this time with measured tread and 
 anxious, clouded brow. 
 
 "What is this man to you that you should plead for 
 him like this?" he suddenly demanded, stopping before 
 the kneeling girl. 
 
 For an instant Virginia bowed her head, then, quickly 
 raising it again, darted a swift glance at her father's 
 face, turned full upon her inquisitor, and, undaunted 
 by his piercing gaze, replied : 
 
 "He is the man I love" 
 
 A change came over the commander's face, and 
 Thomas Lee, shocked and alarmed by the daring words, 
 was not able to fathom its portent. He scarcely knew 
 which to fear most, the scorn and contempt of his chief, 
 
 342
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 which would fall unsparingly upon himself and Virginia, 
 or the resentment which would defeat the very purpose 
 of their visit here. It was a mistaken fear. "All the 
 world loves a lover," and the heart of the most illustrious 
 southerner since the days when the Old Dominion was 
 called the "Mother of Presidents" was no exception. He 
 looked thoughtfully into Virginia's face for a moment 
 while he weighed the generous impulse her words 
 aroused. President Davis, who, for some time, had heard 
 the conversation in silence, said, with a tinge of sarcasm 
 in his voice : 
 
 "You ask us, then, to pardon a Federal officer who has 
 helped to ruin our land, that he may be spared to rob 
 us, later on, of one of our brightest jewels in the per- 
 son of Miss Virginia Lee?" 
 
 "Ah! no. Would to God it might be so." Virginia 
 answered, reverently. "So far is such an expectation 
 removed from me, that when we parted, less than a 
 week ago, I never hoped to see his face again. I have 
 promised to marry an officer in our own army, and the 
 daughter of a Lee can never break her promise." 
 
 "Nor can a Lee refuse to perform a just and merciful 
 deed. Arise, Virginia Lee," the General said, approach- 
 ing her and extending his hand. "You have won a hard- 
 fought battle, and Captain Blair shall go free." 
 
 Virginia could restrain her pent-up feelings no longer, 
 and a flood of tears coursed down her cheeks as she lifted 
 the hand caressingly to her lips. 
 
 "Some time I'll try to thank you. I cannot do it now," 
 she said, in a joyous, faltering tone. 
 
 "There is no need, a good deed brings its own reward," 
 the General replied. 
 
 Hurriedly he wrote upon a sheet of paper : 
 
 "The undersigned herewith forbid the execution of 
 343
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Philip Blair, the so-called spy, and command his immedi- 
 ate release from the prison at Richmond, Va. Under 
 this, he must also have safe passage through the territory 
 commanded by the Army of Virginia. 
 
 (Signed) ROBERT E. LEE." 
 
 "Mr. President, will you sign this order with me?" 
 General Lee asked, laying the paper before Mr. Davis 
 and pointing to the line immediately above his own name, 
 which he had purposely left blank. 
 
 "I suppose I may as well," was the rather ungracious 
 reply, and the name of the chief magistrate was duly 
 affixed to the precious paper. 
 
 344
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 FOR hours after the visit of Virginia and her father 
 in the prison cell, Philip Blair was like a different man. 
 Cheered by the sight of the beloved face and softened 
 by the evidence of an affection strong enough to follow 
 him even into this fathomless abyss of misery and deg- 
 radation, his manner lost much of its haughtiness to- 
 ward his fellow prisoners ; scorn and contempt gave place 
 to his natural inclination to pity and sympathy, and, 
 ere long, he found himself speaking a friendly word 
 to one or another of the men, or even engaging now 
 and then in a brief conversation with Lieutenant Sims, 
 the man who had spoken to Virginia at the door and 
 who seemed to have retained more of his original manli- 
 ness and respectability than any of his companions. 
 
 Hope was burning brightly in Philip's soul in spite 
 of his continued effort to keep in mind his perilous 
 situation. Sims saw this unnatural elation and pitied 
 the condemned man with all the feeble power remaining 
 after the blighting and benumbing influence of two years 
 of utter wretchedness. 
 
 "Don't work yourself up too much over the hope of 
 gettin' out of the clutches of these fiends, Captain Blair," 
 Sims said, in the course of the afternoon. "If the men 
 who brought you here was willin' to listen to justice 
 and mercy, there might be some chance for you, but 
 they're not. They're lookin' for Union men to work 
 their vengeance on and they are not carin' much for the 
 right or wrong of what they do." 
 
 "I realize the truth of what you say, Sims, and if my 
 only chance lay with the men that captured me and the 
 
 345
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 men I see about this den, I should have no hope; but 
 Mr. Lee is a man of high standing here, and if I am 
 rescued at all it must be through his influence with the 
 better class of Confederate officers," Blair replied. 
 
 "There's a bare possibility that he might do it. I 
 don't want to discourage you. If your friends succeed, 
 you're a lot more fortunate than us poor devils that 
 seem to have no friends either in the North or in the 
 South," was the dejected response. 
 
 "Keep up as good courage as you can, Sims," Philip 
 said, "I believe the end is drawing near. This struggle 
 cannot be maintained in the South much longer." 
 
 "What do you mean by 'drawing near' a month off 
 or a year or what ?" asked Sims. 
 
 "Well, say six months. It will take that long, perhaps, 
 for our generals to accomplish what they have planned 
 to do," Blair answered. 
 
 "Six months!" Sims repeated, looking about him in 
 despair. "How would you like the prospect of six 
 months in this place, Blair?" 
 
 "It's bad enough," Blair said, "but having endured it 
 two years you must not give up now with freedom just 
 in sight." 
 
 After this Sims fell into a fit of musing, and Philip 
 walked over to the dingy little window, as he had done 
 many times during the afternoon, and stood watching 
 the shadows as they slowly climbed the buildings across 
 the way, wondering what fate would befall him before 
 the morrow's sun was sinking in the west. The time 
 came at length when the last rays of sunlight were gone, 
 and still no tidings came from Virginia, and a vague 
 unrest crept into Philip's manner. For a long while he 
 would not allow himself to question the hope by which 
 'he had been sustained throughout the day; but as the 
 
 346
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 shadows gathered 'in the corners of the buildings and 
 darkness settled even upon the narrow street, his courage 
 failed him. Virginia had not succeeded, he said to him- 
 self, she had promised more than she was able to carry 
 out she had not known before the heartlessness and 
 injustice in the world she had judged others according 
 to her own sense of honor, a lamentable mistake. 
 
 But why had she not returned? With the question, 
 his sinking hope revived. When thoroughly convinced 
 there was no possible hope for him, she would come back 
 to him. Of this he had no doubt. She was too good and 
 true to forsake him utterly in the hour of his greatest 
 need. All through the night he was buoyed up by this 
 hope. There was no sleep nor rest for him in this 
 horrible uncertainty and dread. 
 
 He watched the rising of the moon and saw it glide 
 slowly through the heavens, having only its progress to 
 mark the passing hours of night. The same moon 
 looked down upon the stately home in Rochester where 
 slept his lady mother, peacefully unconscious of the tragic 
 fate awaiting her only son and he marvelled that in an 
 hour of such agony there is not some unseen power of 
 communion between hearts united by a love like theirs. 
 He thought of his sister and the sorrow she would feel 
 at his unhappy and untimely death; he thought of Gen- 
 eral Sherman, and a pang of keenest mortification and 
 regret shot through his heart as he remembered that 
 he must lose, in part, the confidence and esteem of his 
 revered chief, for he would be censured, he knew, and 
 with just cause, from the General's point of view, for 
 having gone within the enemy's lines. But what would 
 be to him the praise or censure of mortal man two hours 
 hence, he thought, as he observed the first faint glim' 
 mering of dawn in the eastern sky. Involuntarily there 
 
 347
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 came into his mind lines he had so often repeated in 
 happier days 
 
 "Envy and calumny and hate and pain, 
 And that unrest which men miscall delight, 
 Can touch him not and torture not again." 
 
 The words brought vividly to his memory the last 
 time he had spoken them to Virginia, by the side of 
 Colonel Chester's coffin. 
 
 "Oh! if Virginia would only come," he thought, 
 were it but to let him see her face once more and bid 
 her a last good-bye, and leave with her those messages he 
 must entrust to someone. And then he looked at Lieu- 
 tenant Sims, dimly visible on his narrow, comfortless 
 couch in the corner of the room Sims, who had watched 
 with him until sleep overcame the last sluggish powers 
 of mind and body and had then retired, insisting that 
 'twas but for a little while and he would arouse and keep 
 with Philip the lonely vigil through the night. Yes, he 
 could leave his messages with Sims if no one else came 
 to whom he could confide them to his mother, his sister, 
 and to General Sherman and Virginia, too, to tell her 
 that he had not doubted her but had believed unto the 
 end that some unavoidable delay had kept her from his 
 side. And now the brightness of early morning shone 
 upon the earth, he began to hear the noise of hurrying 
 steps and the rattling carts in the streets below and even 
 the echo of voices within the prison walls. 
 
 O, God! must he, after all, suffer the ignominy and 
 shame pronounced upon him! He had not known until 
 now how much he had builded upon the hope of being 
 rescued. One moment he gave himself to earnest prayer 
 for strength and manly courage, and then, turning, woke 
 
 348
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 the sleeping Sims to charge him with his last farewell 
 to friends and loved ones. Philip drew himself up to 
 his full height and threw his head back proudly as of 
 old, but there was a quaver in his voice as he pronounced 
 the solemn words; then, bidding Sims good-bye, he 
 turned to face the jailers as they threw open the door 
 of the cell. Slowly and in silence he walked between his 
 guards until he stepped outside the door of the prison, 
 then, drawing a deep, full breath, he ejaculated fervently: 
 
 "Thank God ! for a breath of pure air once more." 
 
 "Your God seems to have gone a-visiting to-day," one 
 of the men said with a harsh, disgusting laugh. 
 
 Philip ignored the sacrilege and waited with scornful 
 pride for the signal to move on. 
 
 In the meantime, what had become of the Lees and the 
 hard-earned document that could save Captain Blair 
 from an ignominious death? 
 
 They had been so long detained in the interview with 
 General Lee that less than half the time remained for 
 the journey back to Petersburg it had taken to come out. 
 
 "I don' know, suh, I'll try," the driver said when 
 asked if he could make the trip in time for the last 
 train into the city. 
 
 And he did try, urging his horses on as fast as possible 
 over the miserable roads they had to travel. It could 
 not be done. The train had been gone more than half 
 an hour when the carriage entered the town. 
 
 "I's sorry, Miss, but I don' de bes' I could," the 
 darky said. 
 
 "I think you did, and we have no complaint to make 
 of you," Mr. Lee answered for Virginia, who sat like 
 one dazed, looking helplessly at her father's face by the 
 light of the full moon which had just risen above the 
 tree-tops. 
 
 349
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "We cannot let Captain Blair die with a paper in our 
 possession that will set him free," she said at last. Then 
 turning to the negro, she asked, "Could you drive us to 
 Richmond before sunrise to-morrow morning?" 
 
 "I dunno, Miss, I kin try, but I'll haf t' git an'oer 
 team. Dis heah is no ways fit fo' de likes o' dat an' 
 dey's done 'bout all dey kin a'ready." 
 
 "Virginia, do you think you can endure such a drive 
 as that after all you have gone through to-day? Stay 
 here to-night and let me go on to Richmond with the 
 reprieve," Mr. Lee insisted. 
 
 "No, no," was the hasty reply. "I could not trust 
 that paper to anyone's care but my own. Besides, I 
 could not rest if I stayed here. Go change your horses 
 and get us more wraps and lose as little time as possible," 
 she said to the driver. 
 
 "If money is the consideration, you shall have whatever 
 price you ask," Mr. Lee added as an incentive to the 
 negro to do his best. 
 
 It was near midnight before they were started on their 
 long journey, much of which must be made over roads 
 which Were, as the driver told them, "mazin' bad." The 
 motion of the carriage as it sped swiftly along over the 
 first few miles where the roads were good, had a sooth- 
 ing effect on Virginia and gradually her head drooped 
 until it rested on her father's shoulder and she slept. Mr. 
 Lee was so pleased to see her take the needed rest that 
 he scarcely moved lest he should disturb her. After a 
 while the pace was slackened and the change of motion 
 woke the sleeping girl. She looked about her vacantly 
 for a moment and then called sharply to the negro: 
 
 "Drive faster, can't you, we'll never get there at this 
 rate." 
 
 "Yes, Miss, I thinks we gits dar 'nless we has a acci- 
 
 350
 
 dent. Fs only givin' 'em a breathin' spell over dis rough 
 place. We'll be goin' fas' agin bymeby." 
 
 True to his promise, a few minutes later he whistled 
 his horses into a trot which they kept up for several 
 miles. 
 
 Virginia did not sleep again but sat through the long 
 hours gazing out upon the scenes they passed. She 
 watched the moon, as Philip did, rise slowly to the zenith 
 and as slowly descend through the western sky. She 
 noticed the fields and the dark, dense woods that some- 
 times bordered the road along which they traveled, but 
 she was interested most of all in the houses sleeping in 
 the moonlight, wondering as one by one the carriage rolled 
 on and left them in the distance, what manner of people 
 were within and whether they had ever felt the bitterness 
 of a dumb, aching fear lest a dire calamity befall some- 
 one they loved. 
 
 As the night wore on and she realized they were fast 
 traversing the latter half of their journey, she ceased to 
 fret anxiously over their rate of speed and gave herself 
 up to these half -sleeping meditations. She was violently 
 awakened from such a reverie as the carriage lunged sud- 
 denly into a deep ditch which ran across the road, and 
 rolled over on the side. The three occupants were 
 thrown out upon the ground while the horses, frightened 
 by the unwonted commotion, reared and plunged, attempt- 
 ing to run, dragging the overturned vehicle behind them. 
 In an instant the negro, who was not hurt, was on his 
 feet and, springing to the horses' heads, was talking to 
 them in a reassuring voice that quickly quieted them. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Lee recovered himself, he hurried to 
 Virginia, but she had already risen and said in answer to 
 his anxious inquiries, "No, I am all right. See to the 
 carriage. Shall we be able to go on?" 
 
 351
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Is you hu't, Marse Lee?" the darky asked :n a fright- 
 ened voice. 
 
 "No, we are not hurt but we have had a dreadful 
 shaking up. How did this happen?" 
 
 "Dunno, Marse Lee. I nevah run into a ditch like 
 dat befo'. 'Spose 'twas kase Fs gwine so fas'," the driver 
 explained. 
 
 Together Mr. Lee and the negro unhitched the team 
 and turned the carriage upright once more. 
 
 "What has happened?" Virginia asked in great alarm. 
 "Is the carriage broken?" 
 
 "We cannot tell yet," her father replied. "Bill, do. 
 you find anything wrong?" he inquired of the negro who 
 was hastily examining the vehicle. 
 
 "Yes, suh, de tongue is broke but mebby we kin fix 
 it wid dis yere strop." 
 
 Mr. Lee went to investigate and for a time believed 
 they would be able to repair the accident, but, finding it 
 impossible, he said, "It will not do, Bill, to try to go on 
 with a death-trap like this." 
 
 "No, suh, it won't do," Bill answered in a disappointed 
 tone. 
 
 "O, what can we do now ? We must get to Richmond," 
 Virginia said excitedly. 
 
 "How far are we from the city, Bill?" Mr. Lee in- 
 quired. 
 
 "Bettah'n fo' mile, suh." 
 
 "Do you know of any place near that we can obtain a 
 vehicle in which we three can ride ?" 
 
 "Well, dar's a fa'm house not quite a mile ahead 
 'deed, they calls it jes' fo' mile from dat house to Rich- 
 mon'." 
 
 "Go up there. Bill, and get a conveyance and tell them 
 
 352
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 we will pay them whatever price they ask," Virginia di- 
 rected. 
 
 "Dunno, Miss, as dey'll want to git up in de middle de 
 night to turn a kerrige ovah to a niggah like me," the 
 driver replied. 
 
 "Well, let us walk as far as the house, then, father. 
 Bill can lead the horses. You, yourself, can get a car- 
 riage or wagon there, I'm sure, when you tell the people 
 who you are," Virginia urged. 
 
 Mr. Lee remonstrated but as there seemed no other 
 way, the trio started forward. They had been so long 
 delayed that the inmates of the farm house were already 
 astir when they arrived. A few minutes sufficed to hitch 
 the horses to an open wagon and the travellers were soon 
 again on their way. 
 
 Already the day was dawning in the east and Virginia's 
 heart sank as she remembered what the brightness her- 
 alded. "Can we reach Richmond before sunrise?" she 
 asked the negro as he took his seat in front. 
 
 "I don' see how we kin, Miss. 'Twill kill de hosses 
 sho." 
 
 "Never mind the horses," she replied impatiently. "I 
 have jewels worth many times the value of this team and 
 I will gladly give them all to you if you take us to Libby 
 Prison before the rising of yonder sun." 
 
 Before she finished speaking they were off at a break- 
 neck speed and still Bill did not spare the whip. On, on 
 they flew, up hill and down hill, over good roads and bad. 
 
 "Faster, faster!" Virginia cried and, rising to his 
 feet, Bill whipped the steeds into a mad gallop. Long 
 streaks of light flashed up across the eastern sky, one by 
 one the stars disappeared and the moon grew pale. 
 
 "Faster, faster !" Virginia again exclaimed, and now 
 she was leaning forward with terror and despair in every 
 
 353
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 lineament of her countenance. The horses, catching the 
 spirit of their driver, had settled into a determined run 
 as if they realized they had never raced before with steeds 
 of equal swiftness. 
 
 "Go on, go on, we'll get there in time yet," Virginia 
 cried in ecstasy as she saw the towers of Richmond 
 gleaming in the distance, and the people stopped their 
 morning work along the way to stare in astonishment, and 
 wonder if master, mistress, man and horses had all gone 
 mad. 
 
 Just before the first rays of the sun shot over the 
 horizon, the horses turned into the prison street. Away 
 in the distance, Virginia could discern a wagon with a 
 crowd of men about it. 
 
 "Quick, quick, quick!" she shouted, "or we are too 
 late." 
 
 Two minutes more of agonizing suspense and Bill was 
 reining his horses, panting and covered with foam, in 
 front of the prison. As he did so, the door opened slowly 
 and Philip Blair stepped out, guarded on either side by 
 coarse and brutal looking men. 
 
 "Thank God!" Virginia said, sinking back into her 
 seat from sheer exhaustion when she saw that Philip 
 was still alive. 
 
 Mr. Lee stepped quickly from the wagon, taking a 
 strip of folded paper from his pocket. But Virginia 
 was before him. Springing to the ground, she rushed 
 past her father, past the astonished jailers who fell away 
 before the very impetuosity of the charge, straight to 
 the spot where Philip stood. 
 
 "You are safe, you are safe!" she cried, throwing her 
 arms about him. "I have come back, as I told you I 
 would, to save you from a horrible fate." 
 
 Then, turning, she held out her hand for the paper 
 354
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 her father still held. With one arm resting across 
 Philip's shoulder as if fearful she might yet be robbed 
 of her victory, she read the order, triumphantly, defiantly, 
 to the men. 
 
 A sullen silence prevailed among the guards who felt 
 they had been cheated of a coveted treat. They were 
 the rabble and vermin of the Confederacy and, like the 
 execution fiends of Revolutionary France, they were 
 drunk with sight of human blood and human misery and 
 were incapable of delight save in the indulgence of their 
 unnatural appetite. 
 
 "I don't believe it's genuine." the leader snarled. 
 
 "Look at it for yourself," Mr. Lee replied, taking the 
 order and turning it toward the man for his perusal, 
 though still retaining it in his own grasp. 
 
 "There's been foul play somewhere," the man com- 
 plained. 
 
 "To be sure there has," Virginia interposed, "and it's 
 been the cause of all this trouble. Now slink away to 
 your lairs, you bloodthirsty curs. You are a shame and 
 a disgrace to the fair name of the Confederacy. It is 
 men such as you that have robbed her of her right to 
 exist. Heaven spurns a nation that can cherish such 
 fiends in its bosom. But for men like General Lee, we 
 should deserve no better fate than to be wiped bodily 
 from the earth to give place to a worthier people. But 
 for General Lee, you would this day have committed mur- 
 der, vile, base, malicious murder. But you have been 
 cheated of your prey, for he is mine, all mine. I have 
 rescued him from your infamous clutches." 
 
 Again she turned to Philip, who, regardless of her 
 father, regardless of the gaping jailers, regardless even of 
 that Confederate officer who stood like a phantom be- 
 tween them, clasped her in his arms and strained her 
 
 355
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 joyfully, tenderly, gratefully to his heart. She had meant 
 love, happiness, sweet sorrow to him before. She now 
 meant life, liberty, honor, as well. And Virginia, who, 
 through the long hours of anguish had shed no tear, 
 showed the real womanliness of her nature by bursting 
 into a flood of passionate weeping. Philip soothed and 
 comforted her until she was calm, then led her past the 
 stupefied captors to the wagon where Mr. Lee awaited 
 them. 
 
 Philip looked about him as the wheels rattled over the 
 rough stones, marvelling that it could be the same street 
 into which he had looked from his prison window with 
 such shrinking dread an hour before. He was turning 
 to Virginia with these words on his lips when he noticed 
 the pallor of the tired, worn face as he had not done 
 before. 
 
 "You are ill, you look like death," he said, clasping 
 her hand in alarm. 
 
 "I should have died, I verily believe, if we had been 
 too late." 
 
 "Too late?" he said inquiringly. 
 
 "We have come from Petersburg and six miles be- 
 yond since dark last night," she replied. 
 
 "And all for me!" 
 
 "And all for you," she repeated. "But I should have 
 counted the whole universe as nothing against you last 
 night. Did you think we would not come?" 
 
 "I did at last," he answered sadly, oppressed even now 
 by the recollection of those last hours in the prison cell. 
 
 "Did you doubt me, Philip?" 
 
 "Not for a moment. I knew you would come if it 
 were in human power to do so." 
 
 Not until years after did he tell her of the weary 
 watching through the long night, his spirit vacillating 
 
 356
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 between hope and fear and, finally, as day began to dawn, 
 yielding to the agonizing conviction that his doom was 
 sealed. Within a few hours he must be on his way to 
 Washington and the time was too short and too precious 
 to be spent in gloomy reminiscences. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lee urged him to remain with them 
 until he had recovered from the effects of fasting and 
 imprisonment, but he could not be persuaded. He had 
 lost, already, many days of valuable time, he said, and 
 he must be off at the earliest opportunity. 
 
 Virginia's heart had never ached before as it ached 
 when Philip Blair was gone. This day and night of 
 frantic agony had left its impress on her soul and had so 
 incalculably strengthened her great affection for him that 
 life without him stretched before her like a barren, dreary 
 waste. 
 
 Hastily discharging his mission in the capital, Philip 
 returned to General Sherman, who was still in Atlanta, 
 and, having been promoted to the rank of Colonel, took 
 his place at the head of his regiment for the long and 
 eventful march to the sea and back again to Washington, 
 glad of any work or hardship that occupied his mind and 
 gave some aim and object to his present life. 
 
 357
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WITH what gratitude and satisfaction the lover of the 
 national flag and the national honor finds himself, after 
 years of wandering over southern battlefields, among the 
 beloved scenes of the nation's capital. We may condole 
 with the children of Dixie in their sorrows and their mis- 
 fortunes, we may open our hearts to the genial influence 
 of charity, but after all, there is in every loyal heart a 
 sense of personal interest and personal ownership among 
 the domes and spires of the time-honored city which no 
 mere assemblage of buildings can inspire. What pa- 
 triotic reflections, what historic memories, what thrilling 
 aspirations. Fit monument, this, to commemorate the 
 achievements of our first national hero fitter than statue 
 of bronze or marble obelisk or architectural pile of gran- 
 ite. A monumental city of beauty world-renowed. Not 
 a mere material thing, but possessed of a soul that thinks, 
 enjoys and suffers, made up of the teeming thousands of 
 human intellects that yearly gather there from the four 
 quarters of the globe, a vast intelligent entity. 
 
 Perish the thought that we should ever, for sordid 
 considerations of convenience, remove the seat of govern- 
 ment from this hallowed spot, lest such rending of the 
 national heart-strings should prove but the "beginning of 
 the end" of our national greatness ; but rather, so long as 
 the stars and stripes continue to wave "o'er the land of 
 the free and the home of the brave," let us turn our 
 eyes in patriotic devotion to this Mecca of our father- 
 land. 
 
 It is purely accidental that this tale, originally designed 
 as a portrayal of the woes and trials of a southern girl 
 
 358
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 in the days of the Rebellion, should lead us, even before 
 the end of the strife, to the very fountain head of Fed- 
 eral principle and Federal power, but life is full of acci- 
 dents, notwithstanding the oft-repeated maxim that "life 
 is what we make it." 
 
 Through the persistent and energetic influence of Philip 
 Blair, Hugh Cunningham was duly released from his 
 confinement at Camp Morton. Under the care of faith- 
 ful Jerry, who joined him in Indianapolis, he set out for 
 Richmond. Before he had completed half the journey 
 he was in a raging fever, brought on by excitement and 
 fatigue. When he reached Washington, he was com- 
 pelled to yield to Jerry's entreaties and tarry in that city 
 a few days, as he expressed it, until he should recover 
 from the fever and gain sufficient strength to continue 
 southward. 
 
 The "few days" grew into weeks and even into months 
 and still Hugh lay in hopeless pain and weariness upon 
 his bed, now better for a day or two, now suffering from 
 chills and parched with fever. During all this time he 
 was completely lost from his friends and they from him. 
 He had heard nothing from Virginia since Colonel Ches- 
 ter's death, although he had repeatedly written to her, 
 addressing his letters to Atlanta. They, like the brief 
 messages and notes of inquiry Virginia had sent to Camp 
 Morton, were lost in the all-engulfing upheaval of the 
 times. 
 
 At last, in mid-winter, Hugh, giving up all hope of 
 reaching Richmond before spring, wrote to Mr. Lee, 
 apprising him of his presence in Washington and the un- 
 certain condition of his health. 
 
 "Poor Hugh!" Kittie cried when the letter was read 
 in the little sitting-room at Richmond, "it is pitiful for 
 him to be there all alone. Someone should go to him 
 
 359
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 at once," and as she spoke she glanced hesitatingly at her 
 cousin. 
 
 Mrs. Lee, too, looked with a half -questioning, half- 
 pitying air at Virginia, over whose countenance there 
 passed a perceptible shadow as she continued for a mo- 
 ment to work at her embroidery; otherwise she gave no 
 sign of the fierce contest going on in her bosom. She 
 had believed she was decided, if not resigned, as to her 
 future course, but now the crucial test had come, the 
 flesh was very weak; she found herself quite unprepared 
 for so great a sacrifice. She was conscious of the in- 
 quiring glances and painfully aware of the awkward 
 pause which followed Kittie's remark. She knew they 
 were simply waiting to hear what she had to say. Drop- 
 ping her hands into her lap, she looked at her mother help- 
 lessly and said : 
 
 "Mother, I suppose you and I should go to Hugh and 
 take care of him until he is well enough to bring him 
 home with us, don't you?" Her lips quivered but she 
 set her teeth firmly together to keep back the tears and 
 crush the lump that wauld rise in her throat. As to the 
 ache in her heart, that didn't matter, she had grown used 
 to that and it, at least, could not be seen by others. 
 
 "Can you do it?" her mother asked kindly. 
 
 "Yes, I can do it," she replied. "He has no one else, 
 you know." 
 
 "Do you think we can get to Washington now, 
 Thomas?" Mrs. Lee asked her husband. 
 
 "Yes, it can be managed if you think it advisable," Mr. 
 Lee said with an air of uncertainty. "Do you realize, 
 daughter, what you are doing? Such a course will com- 
 mit you irrevocably to the present arrangement between 
 you and Hugh." None knew what Virginia suffered as 
 her father knew, for he alone had been with her through 
 
 360
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 all the circumstances attending the imprisonment and 
 release of Philip Blair. While he deplored her infatua- 
 tion for the Federal captain, yet he now saw her entangle- 
 ment with Hugh in a different light from that in which 
 he viewed it on that August morning when he had pas- 
 sively allowed her to become engaged to Hugh, and it 
 pained him to see her voluntarily sacrificing the hap- 
 piness of her life. 
 
 "I am irrevocably committed already to the present ar- 
 rangement," she replied. "It is right for us to go to 
 
 Hugh and we must do it." 
 
 ******* 
 
 Virginia expected to find Hugh changed but she was 
 wholly unprepared for what she saw when she reached 
 his side. 
 
 "Poor Hugh !" she said with ineffable sympathy in her 
 voice as she took his wasted hand in hers. Was it pos- 
 sible, she thought, this total wreck could be the elegant 
 Captain Cunningham, her playmate in childhood, her 
 lifelong friend, her lover " 
 
 Ah ! her heart misgave her there and, dropping the 
 hand she held, she buried her face in her own and wept 
 bitterly. How gladly she could stand by Hugh and 
 minister to his comfort and happiness in the capacity of 
 a friend, but as a lover! Her soul revolted at the 
 thought. The very frailty and weakness that would 
 have won an infinite tenderness from a heart that really 
 loved Hugh, only served to embitter the tie already so 
 galling to Virginia's spirit. She tried to force herself to 
 bestow some semblance of a caress upon him but she 
 could not. All day as she moved noiselessly about the 
 room, performing little acts of kindness for the sufferer, 
 the image of Philip Blair walked by her side, robust, 
 strong and admirable, in shocking contrast with the ema- 
 
 361
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 elation and helplessness before her. Her face grew pale 
 and haggard under the long strain of suppressed emotion 
 and when, at night, she was alone in her chamber, she 
 fell upon her knees beside the bed and gave way to the 
 storm of passionate weeping that had been brewing all 
 day. 
 
 "I cannot do it! I cannot do it!" she cried piteously. 
 "It is too hard and it is cruel to ask it of me." 
 
 Recalled to calmer judgment by the unreasonable- 
 ness of the cry, she reflected that her constancy to her 
 promise was purely a determination of her own; no one 
 was urging her to such a course; yet chains and fetters 
 could not have bound her more hopelessly than did this 
 tie of honor. Her mind went back to the days before 
 the war when Hugh was full of life and vigor, and even 
 to the summer after Gettysburg when he had come to 
 Lee's Summit, the gentleman and soldier par excellence 
 in the eyes of the world ; and then she thought of the piti- 
 able object in the room below and told herself that she 
 had been responsible for the change. It were a shame 
 and a dishonor to desert him now, she reasoned, and she 
 could never do it, though her heart should break in being 
 faithful. 
 
 "O, God, strengthen me to bear this trial and help me 
 to do right!" she prayed again and again in agony, and 
 the balm which heaven has for those who weep was 
 poured upon her suffering spirit. 
 
 In the morning she returned to her station beside the 
 invalid's bedside with a resignation surprising to herself. 
 With a deft hand she straightened the covers on his bed, 
 patted the pillows to make them more comfortable, and, 
 stooping down, lightly imprinted a kiss on the pale, wan 
 forehead. Hugh looked up at her in glad surprise and, 
 without a word of comment, clasped the hand that lay 
 
 362
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 upon the pillow and pressed it to his lips. It was Vir- 
 ginia's sin offering for the wrong she had done Hugh 
 and it calmed her spirit and strengthened her for the en- 
 durance of her secret burden. 
 
 Day after day as winter passed and spring advanced, 
 she took up the weary weight of care, sitting by Hugh, 
 waiting on him, reading to him, talking with him, doing 
 anything that seemed to suit his mood or served to while 
 away the tedious hours. Somewhere in the house an 
 old guitar was unearthed and at times she sang to him 
 the old, sweet soags of home ; but this she did only upon 
 rare occasions and at Hugh's request, for the sound of 
 the guitar and the words and melody of the songs awoke 
 such memories of the olden days when she was free 
 that an evening thus spent was always followed by days 
 and nights of restless, chafing discontent. 
 
 Mrs. Lee was vaguely conscious of her daughter's 
 struggle and she strove to help her by relieving her as 
 often as possible of her duties in the sick room. 
 
 The arrival of the Chesters in March was a pleasant 
 diversion for which Virginia was most grateful. When 
 the capture of Richmond and the fall of the Confederacy 
 became imminent, Mr. Lee thought it advisable for his 
 own family to remain in Washington and for his sister- 
 in-law and her daughter to join them there, that they 
 might avoid the annoyance and danger attendant upon 
 the closing scenes of the war. 
 
 A house was taken in a quiet street and the four ladies 
 with Hugh and Jerry and a maid were soon established 
 in it. Their only source of anxiety now was for the 
 safety of Mr. Lee. He had stood high as a supporter of 
 the Confederate government and there was much uncer- 
 tainty as to what the fate of such men would be when 
 the end came. 
 
 363
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Kittie, with her bright face and cheery manner, was 
 the life of the household and soon won laurels by the apt- 
 ness with which she learned to wait upon Hugh, who was 
 beginning to sit propped up with pillows in an easy chair 
 a part of every day. 
 
 "Why is it, Kittie," he said to her one morning, "that 
 you can smooth a pillow or adjust a footstool so much 
 more comfortably than any of the others?" 
 
 Kittie blushed and shook her pretty curls with a smile 
 of real happiness as she said, "You are a designing flat- 
 terer, sir, and hope to inveigle me by your Wiles into 
 keeping this thing up after you are well enough to wait 
 on yourself!" and forthwith she proceeded to lower an 
 open window and tuck the wraps more closely about the 
 invalid's neck lest the cool draft might undo the good 
 accomplished by weeks of constant care. 
 
 As she bent over him, Hugh put out his hand and 
 lifted a long soft curl that fell upon his shoulder, looking 
 into the brown eyes with a smile as the tress of hair clung 
 lovingly about his finger. It was a familiarity he could 
 not have thought of venturing upon with Virginia, but 
 this was only Kittie little Kittie, with whom, as a col- 
 legiate, he had frolicked while yet she was "in short 
 skirts and pinafores." 
 
 But why had Kittie this sleight of hand which her 
 elders could not imitate? Why, indeed! It is one of 
 those occult mysteries that we shall never fathom until, 
 in the unseen world, a higher order of intelligence shall 
 teach us what is life and what is love. 
 
 This peaceful home life was in marked contrast with 
 the important events occurring in the outside world. 
 Sherman was completing that famous march which, for 
 brilliancy, audacity and success as a military achievement, 
 cannot be paralleled in history; the Confederate govern- 
 
 364
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ment had taken its flight to the south, Lee had sur- 
 rendered the Army of Virginia to the commander-in- 
 chief of the Union army, Richmond had been burned, 
 and the national President had been murdered. 1 The 
 magnificent tragedy of four long years had reached a 
 sudden and unexpected climax. The prince of dramatists 
 could not design a culmination more startling and sub- 
 lime. 
 
 With the assassination of President Lincoln, the cur- 
 tain fell on what seemed to be the closing scene of the 
 Civil War, but it rises yet once more for the grande finale 
 of the play that marvellous review of troops in the 
 Capital city, witnessed by the President and his cabinet, 
 by Congress and the people, and by the ambassadors and 
 representatives of every court in Europe and every civ- 
 ilized nation of the Orient. The spectators gazed with 
 amazement and admiration at the veteran warriors who 
 passed before them by thousands and by tens of thousands 
 in martial dignity and splendor. "Why did we not know 
 of this before?" a prominent southern woman exclaimed 
 aloud as she stood spellbound by the magnificent display, 
 while foreign dignitaries carried back to their own lands 
 a new impression of the importance and power of the 
 Great Republic. 
 
 Among all the throng that crowded every foot of 
 standing room along the avenues appointed for this last 
 parade, no one was more important than our old friend 
 Jerry in Jerry's estimation. His long residence in In- 
 dianapolis and Washington had greatly enhanced his 
 ideas of the rights and privileges of a "cullahed gentle- 
 man" and, save for his devotion to his "Marse Hugh," 
 his sympathy and allegiance were being rapidly trans- 
 ferred to the principles and institutions of the North. 
 The pomp and grandeur of the present occasion did much 
 
 365
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 to confirm him in this tendency, for Jerry was one of 
 that very large class of people who always cast their lot 
 with the winning side. 
 
 In his enthusiasm he had tarried rather longer upon 
 the streets than he intended and he was making his way 
 through the crowd with much haste when he was accosted 
 by a voice that sounded strangely familiar : 
 
 "Hello, there, Sambo! Where'd you turn up from? I 
 s'pose you come to your senses an' cut the 'quaintance of 
 that dear 'Marse Hugh' o' yours, did you ?" 
 
 Jerry looked at the speaker for a moment trying to 
 recall where he had seen him before and then exclaimed : 
 
 "Now I has ye! You one de men dat hepped me 
 fetch Marse Hugh round aftah Gettysbu'g. Hope t' 
 die if evah I fo'git a fren like dat. But my name's not 
 Sambo, I tol' you dat in Pennsylvany. It's Jerry Cun- 
 nam, please, suh," the negro answered with a great show 
 of dignity. 
 
 "O, yes, I believe you did make some such correction 
 as that at Gettysburg. Well, then, Jerry, tell me, have you 
 asserted your right as a free man an' left your master to 
 black his own boots and curry his own horse?" 
 
 "Well, I's thankful to say I's a free man, suh," Jerry 
 replied pompously, "but I's a workin' fo' Marse Hugh 
 same's evah an' he's a payin' me my wages." 
 
 "He is, eh? Where' ve you been all this time?" 
 
 "Mos' de time I's made my home in Injunaplis, suh, 
 whar I had full cha'ge o' my Marse Hugh's income while 
 he was in de prison, an' I managed it so well dat he come 
 out mos' as rich as ol' Marse Cunnam hisself, I guess." 
 
 "Why are you here now?" 
 
 "We's a waitin' on Marse Hugh. He's sick an' we 
 can't leave heah till he gits well 'nuf to be moved." 
 
 "Sick, is he? Where's he stayin'? I may want to 
 366
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 come 'round an' see 'im if I stay here long, for old ac- 
 quaintance sake and to see how his pulse beats over the 
 result of the war. Great display we've had here to-day." 
 
 "You right dar, suh," Jerry answered, "an' Marse 
 Hugh be glad t' see you, I kin promise. 'Bout dat wah 
 business, he's been sick too long to be vexin' hisself 
 much 'bout dat one way or 'nother." 
 
 Upon this Jerry hurried on toward home and Tom 
 Healy dropped into a restaurant near by where he had 
 an appointment with two or three boon companions. 
 They ate their supper together and discussed, meanwhile, 
 the question of going south to invest their small stock of 
 surplus capital in cheap lands. The scheme had been in 
 Tom's mind for a long while and each time he talked 
 the matter over with his friends it grew in favor with 
 him. On this particular evening he was aroused to an 
 unusual interest and at an early hour he set out to find 
 "Mister Philip" and consult him, which he had already 
 doite, how many times he was ashamed to say. 
 
 "Hello, Tom," Philip said as Tom entered the room. 
 
 "Hello, Mister Philip. I've come to trouble you again 
 about that same old question of goin' south," Tom said. 
 
 "All right, old boy. What have you to say this time?" 
 Blair asked. 
 
 "Well, I've a mind to do it, sir. I believe it's the only 
 thing for a fellow like me with plenty o' health an' 
 strength an' only a little money." 
 
 "Remember, Tom, you know nothing about the south 
 and the kind of work to be done there." 
 
 "But I hope I'm not too old a dog to learn new tricks 
 yet, Mister Philip." 
 
 "No, no, Tom, you're not too old to learn but there'll 
 be many disadvantages. You'll be a sort of stray a 
 
 367
 
 THE HONOR OP A LEE 
 
 Union soldier in the south will be like a sheep among 
 wolves, so to speak, for a few years, I'm afraid." 
 
 "I know, but I have yet to find the people I can't live 
 among, an' some o' the other boys talks o' goin' too- You 
 see, it's this way, Mister Philip, we can get a good-sized 
 farm down there for the money we've got an' it wouldn't 
 buy enough ground to make a pocket han'kerchief back 
 in N'York state." 
 
 "O, of course your plan has its advantages and maybe 
 your idea is the best, after all. We'll miss you in Roch- 
 ester, though, Tom." 
 
 "Now, Mister Philip, you're talkin'. It's the tearin' 
 myself away from there that hurts an' it's my reason 
 for goin' direct to the south from here. I've been, in a 
 manner, weaned, in the four years I've been away, an' 
 'twill be easier to go back from here than it would from 
 Rochester." 
 
 "The South is large, Tom, and means a great deal. 
 Have you decided upon a location?" 
 
 "Not for certain," Tom replied. "I've thought some of 
 Alabamy or Georgy an' then agin of Virginny. That 
 wouldn't be so far away, you know." 
 
 "Virginia is a fine old state, Tom none finer if it 
 hadn't seceded." 
 
 "An' I know the very man to talk to about it,"Tom 
 exclaimed as if suddenly impressed with a new idea. 
 "You remember the rebel captain we helped take care of 
 after the battle of Gettysburg, don't you ?" 
 
 "Yes," Philip replied with fresh interest. "What of 
 him?" 
 
 "Wasn't he a Virginian?" , 
 
 "No, Tom. He's the man we saw at Lee's Summit when 
 we were down there the year before the war, don't you 
 
 368
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 remember? The one the little brown-eyed girl, Kittie 
 Chester, was so fond of?" Blair replied. 
 
 "Well, anyway, he's here in Washington, at Num- 
 ber on street," Tom said, consulting his mem- 
 orandum of the address, "and I'll see him and find out 
 all I can about Virginny. He can tell me more than any 
 northern man, I suppose." 
 
 "I wonder how it happens he is here," Blair said 
 musingly. "He was in a sad state when I saw him last. 
 I didn't tell you about finding him in the prison in In- 
 diana, did I?" 
 
 "No, sir, I never heard of him again after we left him 
 in Pennsylvany," Healy replied. 
 
 Philip told Tom briefly of his meeting with Cunning- 
 ham at Camp Morton and of his own successful effort to 
 procure Hugh's release at the next exchange of prisoners, 
 adding as he finished, "It would be a very good thing to 
 talk with him about your plan, Tom. He may give you 
 some useful information. I remember he was four years 
 at William and Mary. I wonder if he ever got well." 
 
 "No, he's sick now," Tom replied. "I saw his black 
 man, Jerry, to-day an' he said he was waitin' here for 
 his Marse Hugh to get well enough to be moved south." 
 
 "From the way he looked when I saw him, I'm afraid 
 he hasn't a very bright prospect. I'll go to see him myself 
 if I have time." 
 
 "I'll be goin' now, I guess, but I'll be seein' you about 
 this again soon if I ain't botherin' you too much," Tom 
 said, rising to take his leave." 
 
 "Not at all, Tom, not at all," Philip said cordially. "I 
 am as anxious as you are that you should do the right 
 thing and get yourself satisfactorily located." 
 
 "Thank you, Mister Philip, you are very kind to say 
 so," Tom said, wishing Blair good-night. 
 
 369
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 HUGH'S health improved rapidly with the advent of 
 the warm spring days and plans began to be laid for 
 going home. 
 
 Mr. Lee went direct to Tennessee from Richmond and 
 with characteristic energy and expedition pushed the 
 preparations for the reception of his family. A neat 
 and comfortable little dwelling was erected for the Hud- 
 sons who were to remain on the place, and the Lodge was 
 repaired and enlarged for the use of the Lees them- 
 selves until such time as they could afford to rebuild the 
 "great house." 
 
 In the meantime, the former slaves who were on the 
 place or were scattered about in the immediate vicinity, 
 were collected and set to work in the fields and in a few 
 weeks evidences of thrift and prosperity were apparent 
 on every hand. 
 
 Much eagerness was felt by the little band of exiles in 
 Washington to be among the scenes of home once more, 
 but they tried to make themselves contented until word 
 should come from Mr. Lee that he was ready to receive 
 them. 
 
 One morning while they were thus waiting, Virginia 
 sat alone with Hugh, reading sketches here and there 
 from an old volume of Shelley she had picked up. Turn- 
 ing a page listlessly as Hugh finished a comment on some 
 striking sentiment, she began 
 
 "Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep, 
 He hath awakened from the dream of life" 
 
 * 370
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 A flood of memories swept over her, she heard again 
 the gentle tones of Philip's voice and saw the tender sym- 
 pathy in his grave and manly face. And he was gone 
 out of her life forever ! 
 
 Tears filled her eyes, a sob rose in her throat and 
 choked her utterance. Dropping the book, she covered 
 her face with her hands lest Hugh should see and un- 
 derstand the bitterness in her heart. 
 
 "You are a strange girl, Virginia," Hugh said help- 
 lessly. "At home I used to think I understood you per- 
 fectly but here in Washington you are an enigma to me 
 nearly all the time." 
 
 Virginia dried her eyes as quickly as she could and 
 opened her lips to reply just as Jerry appeared at the 
 door and announced with a sweeping bow : 
 
 "A gemman to see Marse Hugh." 
 
 A moment more and Philip Blair had stepped across 
 the threshold. 
 
 "Virginia!" he exclaimed in accents that could not be 
 mistaken. 
 
 Paler and colder than marble, the young girl sat star- 
 ing at the visitor, powerless to speak or move. Then 
 suddenly recalling herself, she arose in painful embarrass- 
 ment, a vivid blush succeeding her pallor, and advanced to 
 take the proffered hand. 
 
 "Why have you come here?" were the only words she 
 could formulate. 
 
 Philip saw and partially understood her distress and 
 sought to alleviate it by an assumed indifference. 
 
 "I came to visit Captain Cunningham," he replied, 
 turning to Hugh, "and right glad I am to find him in 
 happier surroundings than when I saw him last." 
 
 "Where have you seen him ?" Virginia gasped in aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 371
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Colonel Blair has twice preserved my life, Virginia," 
 Hugh answered as he grasped Blair's hand, "once in 
 rescuing me after Gettysburg and again in procuring my 
 release from prison." 
 
 Hugh looked searchingly at Virginia's face. Could it 
 be that here was a revelation? He had heard briefly and 
 incidentally of Philip Blair's connection with the Lees 
 and Chesters, but as it was a subject of which Virginia 
 never spoke and which the other members of the family 
 instinctively avoided in his presence or hers, he knew 
 very little of the real nature of this association. He had 
 been at a loss to understand her emotion and embarrass- 
 ment at the appearance of the visitor but had hastily at- 
 tributed it to her annoyance at being found in tears. Was 
 it possible there was a graver explanation for the fitful- 
 ness and discontent she had displayed since coming to 
 him in Washington? All this went through his mind 
 upon the instant, while Virginia, unable to regain her 
 self-possession, hurried from the room, leaving the two 
 men alone together. 
 
 Hugh looked questioningly at Philip as the door closed 
 after his fiancee. 
 
 "What is Virginia Lee to you ?" he asked. 
 
 "She is the noblest woman I ever met and my best 
 friend," Philip answered gravely and frankly. "What is 
 she to you ?" 
 
 "She is my promised wife." 
 
 The words pierced Philip like a knife and he gave a 
 start of painful surprise, but he checked the expression 
 of astonishment that rose to his lips lest he might wound 
 Hugh, and said with fervor : 
 
 "You're a fortunate man, Cunningham. Such a bless- 
 ing is compensation for worse ills than even you have 
 suffered." 
 
 37*
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Hugh watched the speaker narrowly and many things 
 passed through his mind, but he must have time to think 
 before he spoke, so, making no direct reply to Philip's 
 words, he turned the conversation to another channel 
 and an hour or more passed very pleasantly. 
 
 Philip longed to see Virginia's face again but as the 
 morning wore away and she did not return, he was too 
 well bred to protract his stay immoderately, even in the 
 hope of gratifying such a desire. 
 
 "I am tarrying much too long," he said at length, rising 
 to take his leave. 
 
 "You will come again?" Hugh asked with much in- 
 terest. 
 
 "Perhaps not," was the reply. "I hope to go home 
 within a few days and I have many things to do before 
 I leave." 
 
 "Where are you staying?" Hugh inquired. "We'd all 
 be glad to have a more substantial visit from you." 
 
 "You are very kind," Philip answered, mentioning his 
 address, half hoping he might be asked to come again. 
 
 When his guest was gone, Hugh stretched himself on 
 a couch and lay for a long time with his hands clasped 
 behind his head, gazing intently at the ceiling and think- 
 ing, thinking, thinking. 
 
 He believed he had found a clew to Virginia's strange 
 demeanor. She had never really loved him, that he had 
 always known, and since she came to Washington he 
 had sometimes been convinced she never would love him 
 as he wished her to. She had been attentive and kind, 
 considering his comfort and welfare before her own al- 
 ways, and he had appreciated the self-denial she had 
 shown, but there was something lacking in her manner 
 toward him that hurt him cruelly ; it was. as if a great 
 barrier had risen between them that neither of them could 
 
 373
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 ever pass. Sometimes he had, himself, almost grown 
 tired of the restraint and had turned with a feeling of 
 relief to the cheery air of freedom which Kittie always 
 brought to his bedside. And this was why she was rest- 
 less and absent-minded, this was the secret of her pale, 
 worn face. 
 
 "That's it," he said softly to himself. "I have found 
 her out. She has had a weary burden all these months." 
 
 He knew now why she had seemed to avoid his touch 
 and to shrink from his caresses ; it was not mere maidenly 
 reserve but an uncontrollable aversion to his demonstra- 
 tions of affection. She had tried to remain faithful tc 
 her promise, tried to do her duty, while all the time her 
 heart was breaking. He thought of her, too, as a little 
 girl, and as he had loved her in her early womanhood, 
 and groaned aloud at the thought of giving her up for- 
 ever. 
 
 "But better that than yoked for a lifetime to an un- 
 loving wife!" he muttered. 
 
 Virginia had purposely remained away as long as she 
 could find excuse, hoping Hugh would forget her agita- 
 tion at Philip Blair's appearance. 
 
 "Come here, Virginia, and sit by me, I have something 
 to say to you," Hugh said, drawing a chair to his side 
 when she entered the room. Virginia took the chair in- 
 dicated, almost hearing her own heart beat as a premoni- 
 tion of what he had to say forced itself upon her. She 
 ventured no reply but patiently waited for him to pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 "Tell me all about your association with Philip Blair," 
 he said in a tone of command he had never used toward 
 her before. 
 
 "There is not much to tell," she answered. "He was 
 with us at Chattanooga, he was kind to us during our mis- 
 
 374
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 fortunes in Atlanta, and he came with us almost to Rich- 
 mond. There he was arrested and condemned as a spy 
 and would have been hanged if father and I had not ob- 
 tained his release from General Lee." 
 
 "That sounds simple enough," Hugh said musingly. 
 "What was your association with him in Chattanooga?" 
 
 Virginia briefly recounted her meeting with Philip on 
 the day the Federal soldiers took possession of their 
 home. 
 
 "When did you meet him again?" 
 
 Virginia related her experience at the Federal camp 
 and Philip's part in the encounter. 
 
 "Where did you next see him?" Hugh asked. 
 
 "Well, after Tom Healy, as you know, was wounded 
 and brought to Lee's Summit, I saw him often, of 
 course." 
 
 "How often? Every day?" 
 
 "Almost every day, I think." 
 
 "For how long?" 
 
 "Three weeks or more." 
 
 "How long was it from the time you went to Atlanta 
 until he reached there?" 
 
 "O, a long time, nine or ten months or more, I think," 
 said Virginia. 
 
 "Did he write to you?" 
 
 "Once." 
 
 "Did you reply?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because I had promised to marry you." 
 
 "Yes," said Hugh, "that's what I thought. You are 
 an honorable girl, Virginia." 
 
 "I don't just know, Hugh, whether you are earnest 
 375
 
 or ironical, but I have tried to be honorable," Virginia 
 replied. 
 
 "I was never more in earnest in my life," Hugh said, 
 watching Virginia narrowly. "Tell me about the first 
 time you saw Blair in Atlanta." 
 
 Virginia told of the invasion of the Chester home by 
 Painter and his gang and Blair's interference. In her 
 enthusiasm she forgot the restraint she had before placed 
 upon her manner; her face glowed with animation as 
 she recalled the details of the exciting scene. 
 
 "Virginia, does Philip Blair love you?" Hugh inter- 
 rupted suddenly, not for a moment allowing his eyes to 
 wander from her face, from which the blood receded and 
 she grew ashy pale. 
 
 "How should I know that?" she answered helplessly. 
 
 "Come, now, Virginia, we've groped about in the dark 
 long enough. Let's come to a definite understanding. Do 
 you think Blair loves you?" 
 
 "I have no right to judge what he thinks of me." 
 
 "Did he ever tell you he loved you ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "That's right," Hugh replied. "When you answer 
 like that I know what I'm doing. But I have a harder 
 question yet, Virginia. Do you love Blair?" 
 
 "You have no right to catechise me so, and I shall not 
 submit to it any longer," she exclaimed, springing up to 
 leave him, but he caught her hand and held it firmly 
 while he said: 
 
 "Who has a better right, Virginia ? Does it not involve 
 the happiness of my own life as well as yours?" 
 
 "But I thought I could forget him in time, Hugh, and 
 I never meant that you should know. Oh! why did 
 Philip Blair come here to-day?" 
 
 "It is the Hand Divine, Virginia, I verily believe, which 
 
 376
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 interferes to stop us when we meditate an infringement 
 too great upon nature and nature's laws. Did you dream, 
 dear girl, that I could wish you to make a sacrifice like 
 that?" 
 
 "I scarcely gave myself a chance to think about it, 
 Hugh. I only thought of you as you were before the 
 war, in all the vigor of manhood, and looked at you as 
 you lay here helpless and frail and sick, and nothing on 
 earth could have induced me to tell you that I had been 
 false to you in addition to all your other woes." 
 
 "You have not been false, Virginia. You've been the 
 truest of the true, for you have tried to keep your prom- 
 ise when it was taking your very life to do it. It was 
 I who was wrong to ask you to make that promise. I 
 knew it at the time, but I had always loved you so, and 
 I thought in time you would learn to love me in return." 
 
 "And I should have done so, Hugh, I honestly be- 
 lieve, if Philip hadn't come. Why, why did I ever do it 
 when all the time he was fighting against the cause I 
 loved so much." 
 
 "There, there, Virginia, no more of that. The war 
 is done, let us not be fighting its battles over again. It 
 is not surprising to me that you should love Philip Blair, 
 he is a splendid type of manhood and a much better 
 match for you than I could ever have been. You'll 
 marry him, of course, and add your mite to help heal the 
 breach between the North and the South." 
 
 "Why, Hugh, I shall probably never see him again, he 
 knows I am to marry an officer in the Confederate army." 
 
 "Yes, you will see him again and you are not going to 
 marry a Confederate officer. He is coming here at eight 
 o'clock to-night and you must be looking your handsomest 
 to receive him. Put on the pretty pink dress that I like 
 so much Philip will like it too." 
 
 377
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 "Hugh, you are the very best fellow on earth," Vir- 
 ginia said, patting his hand impulsively, "and I love you 
 just as I did long ago when we were children. Maybe 
 after all we are making a mistake." 
 
 "No, no, Virginia, don't deceive yourself. It is be- 
 cause you are free from me that you imagine you love 
 me just a little. Go now, and do what you please, and 
 don't be grieving over me. I feel happier than I have for 
 a long time, looking at your sorry face and wondering as 
 to the cause." 
 
 When she was gone, he called Jerry and sent a note 
 to Philip requesting him to call at eight o'clock on very 
 important business. In a short time the negro returned 
 with the message that Colonel Blair would be pleased to 
 come at the appointed time. 
 
 Hugh was waiting in the little front parlor with Vir- 
 ginia when Philip arrived. 
 
 "Colonel Blair," Hugh said as he took the visitor's 
 hand in greeting, "I am opposed to resting under obliga- 
 tion to anyone. I owe you a debt of gratitude such as 
 one man seldom owes another. In giving you Virginia 
 Lee to-night, I feel that I have discharged my obligation 
 in full." 
 
 The words fell like a thunderbolt upon both hearers. 
 Virginia had not dreamed of Hugh's intention and her 
 face flushed crimson with the thought that Philip might, 
 after all, have changed his mind. 
 
 "Are you in earnest, Cunningham, or what can you 
 mean?" Philip asked incredulously. 
 
 "I mean what I say," Hugh answered. "No man has 
 a right to stand between two hearts that truly love each 
 other. Take her, Blair, she is yours. May God deal with 
 you as you deal with our Virginia Lee. 
 
 378
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 In a moment more he was gone. Philip turned to Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 "Is it true, little woman, and will you come to me?" he 
 said, holding out his arms to her. 
 
 "Do you want me, Philip ?" she asked eagerly. 
 
 "Want you !" he exclaimed. "Would life be worth the 
 living without you, having known you? Now, will you 
 come ?" 
 
 Virginia glided into the outstreched arms and Philip, 
 clasping her closely to his heart, said fondly, "Now, little 
 woman, you are mine all mine." 
 
 379
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 IT seems disgustingly of the earth earthy that Hugh 
 Cunningham should go on growing stronger day by day 
 and eating ravenously of the tempting dishes Mrs. Lee 
 provided for him. Following the precedent of disap- 
 pointed lovers of olden days, he should at least have lost 
 interest in the ordinary affairs of life and entered a 
 monastery or gone in search of the Holy Grail. 
 
 In marked contrast with such a course, he was in a 
 measure beguiled from his despondency while yet the 
 lovers were enjoying the first hours of their unexpected 
 happiness. It had really cost him a greater pang than he 
 himself anticipated when the moment came to relinquish 
 Virginia to his rival and for a long while he sat musing 
 dejectedly, alone in the gathering darkness. At last he 
 was aroused by a cheery voice asking, "May I come in?" 
 as Kittie's rosy face peeped at him from the hall. 
 
 "Surely you may, Kittie. I'm needing consolation 
 sadly now." 
 
 Kittie smiled but made no comment and, drawing up 
 a little stool, seated herself by his side and began a spir- 
 ited recital of an experience she had had in the city that 
 afternoon. Hugh was so charmed by the bright face and 
 merry voice and manner that he almost forgot, for the 
 time, the sacrifice he had so recently made. 
 
 At Lee's Summit, too, Virginia was busy through the 
 long summer days with work that had no interest for 
 Hugh, and it was Kittie who drove the little phaeton when 
 he went for an airing on the country roads and Kittie 
 who accommodated her bounding step to his slower gait 
 when he walked upon the hillside. She had so entwined 
 
 380
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 herself into his heart that he had no feeling of regret or 
 bitterness when October came and, with it, the northern 
 soldier to claim his southern bride. 
 
 In the little summer house Philip and Virginia re- 
 newed in happier strain the vows of love and faithfulness 
 that had once been here renounced in anguish and de- 
 spair. In the sitting-room of the Lodge, with only the 
 Hudsons, the Chesters, Hugh, and Virginia's parents as 
 witnesses, their troth was solemnly and fervently plighted. 
 
 "Aren't they splendid?" Kittie exclaimed aloud as the 
 last words were pronounced, and she did but echo the 
 thought of every one who looked into the happy faces of 
 Philip and Virginia Blair. 
 
 One sacred memento Virginia took with her from the 
 sunny south to her northern home in Rochester faithful 
 Webster, who took great pride in himself as the repre- 
 sentative of the dignity and decorum of the southern but- 
 ler and who, years after, told marvellous tales of the 
 greatness of the south "befo' de wa' " to Philip and Vir- 
 ginia's children, never quite satisfying the little tyrants 
 unless he finished with the story about "papa and mamma 
 at the Union camp," which, by the way, as the years 
 went by, received many embellishments from the vivid 
 imagination of the negro's brain. 
 
 Mrs. Chester and Kittie had made all their arrange- 
 ments to return to Atlanta soon after Virginia's marriage 
 and Hugh, who began with the cool days of autumn to 
 be bothered by the old annoying cough, had been per- 
 suaded to remain at Lee's Summit during the winter 
 months, that, under Mrs. Lee's care, he might escape a 
 renewal of the old malady. But Hugh could not let Kit- 
 tie go. The days would be too long and dreary without 
 her sunny presence in the house. He had meant to wait 
 until spring to tell her of his love, lest he should seem
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 fickle and shallow after his lifelong attachment to her 
 cousin, but the prospect of a long and lonely winter was 
 too desolate to be contemplated. 
 
 "Kittie," he said to her a day or two before she was to 
 leave, "would you rather go with your mother to Atlanta 
 or go with a poor sick fellow like I am to Europe for the 
 winter ?" 
 
 "Why, Hugh, I don't know what you mean!" she an- 
 swered, a blush spreading quickly over her face. 
 
 "I mean, Kittie, that I cannot do without you, and I've 
 been thinking for several days that if I could persuade 
 you, we'd go this winter and stay with father in the south 
 of Europe somewhere until I am strong again and then 
 return to do whatever may seem best. Will you do it, 
 Kittie? I love you fondly, little one, no matter how un- 
 reasonable it may seem, and I want you with me. Will 
 you go?" he asked, turning the sweet face to his that 
 he might read the thoughts written there. 
 
 She raised her brown eyes full of the tenderness that 
 Kittie could never hide. "Do you think you really love 
 me, Hugh?" she asked in a childish tone. 
 
 "I really love you, Kittie, and I am happier by far with 
 you than I ever was with Virginia since we were little 
 children. And you, Kittie, do you think you could love 
 a miserable invalid like I am?" 
 
 "I have loved you all my life, Hugh!" she answered, 
 tenderly. 
 
 And so the plans were changed. Within another month 
 Hugh and Kittie were married and gone away, and Mrs. 
 Chester, instead of Hugh, remained at the Lodge with 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lee. 
 
 In the spring the wanderers returned. A week they 
 spent with Philip and Virginia in New York, then stopped 
 at Lee's Summit for a few days after which, with Mrs. 
 
 382
 
 THE HONOR OF A LEE 
 
 Chester, they went to Atlanta, where Hugh, now grown 
 strong and well, took up Mr. Chester's business, proving 
 himself an efficient factor in the regeneration of the 
 South. Mr. Cunningham remained in the North where 
 his real sympathies had always been, while Jerry took 
 Sallie from Tennessee and went to live with Hugh and 
 Kittie in their Georgia home. 
 
 END 
 
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 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBRARY FACILITY 
 
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