HALF MARRIED 
 
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 ANNIE-BLISS-M C CONNELL
 
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 T*
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 AGAME GAME. 
 
 BY 
 
 ANNIE BLISS McCONNELL. 
 
 Pet. Unde nobis, Gabriel, tarn tetrica fronte? 
 Gab. Imo a nuptiis 1 
 
 ERASMUS, Col. 
 
 "Always there is a black spot in our sunshine; it is even the shadow of 
 ourselves . ' ' CARLVLE. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 1887.
 
 Copyright, 1886, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 AGAME GAME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAL LANSING was a " West Pointer" of the 
 old school. Tall, straight, rigidly genial, he 
 never omitted a military duty, never shirked a 
 social obligation, and never, where health and 
 civilization permitted, failed to attend service 
 once on Sunday. 
 
 Having been born and bred among soldiers, his 
 whole life was made up of what he considered 
 duties; and from the time he was a cadet he would 
 as soon have slept on watch as have left unreturned 
 a " first call" longer than the conventional three 
 days. 
 
 He was as careful about small duties as great 
 ones, and, of course, this trait in his character 
 made him a strict disciplinarian. But being as 
 
 3
 
 4 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 severe with himself as with those under him, and 
 having too much soldierly self-control to ever lose 
 command of himself, he was in no sense of the 
 word a martinet. Still, he certainly was not only a 
 terror to evil-doers, but to those who did what they 
 ought to do in a careless or inefficient manner. 
 His wife, whom he loved with little demonstration 
 but very dearly, was from a border State. She 
 died from care and anxiety, caused by the unhappy 
 political divisions in her own family, during the 
 first year of the late war, leaving one daughter, 
 Bessie, eleven years old. 
 
 The general not a general then submitted 
 calmly to the cruel blow as coming from the 
 " Great Headquarters," and bowed his head quietly 
 and resignedly to the inevitable orders of Prov- 
 idence. 
 
 * 
 
 After this his one great hope in life was, after 
 the war, to get back to his little daughter. All 
 his thoughts, his very existence was now centred 
 in her ; his one dream was her companionship and 
 her improvement. 
 
 After her mother's death Bessie was sent off 
 hurriedly to boarding-school, and was desolate 
 enough, poor child. For three years she never
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 5 
 
 saw her father, but with aching heart and burning 
 brain she followed the movements of the army. 
 
 Thus made old for her years, she was at fourteen 
 a woman grown. Taller than the companions of 
 her own age, ahead of them in their classes, and 
 inheriting to some extent the self-control of two 
 generations of soldiers, she found herself in some 
 ways different from her classmates and rather 
 alone. The scholars looked up to her with that 
 mysterious awe with which young girls, even 
 very little girls, regard the " motherless ones," as 
 something unnatural, something to be respect- 
 fully regarded and respectfully pitied. Yes, they 
 pitied her, though she stood high in her classes, 
 had a general for a papa, and had more spending 
 money than even the " older girls." 
 
 The infrequency of her letters struck them as 
 a great misfortune. They would read in groups 
 their delicately-written and frequent missives from 
 " mamma" or sister", while Bessie would receive, as 
 it seemed to them, only occasionally a large 
 military-looking envelope, with " Headquarters So 
 and So" printed on the left corner. It looked 
 very imposing to those young girls, but also very 
 
 sad. 
 
 i*
 
 6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 At the end of the war General Lansing went 
 North to fetch his daughter, and was astonished 
 and almost frightened to find instead of the little 
 child of his dreams a young girl, almost a young 
 lady. 
 
 Very soon he was ordered to the frontier. He 
 gave Bessie a truthful picture of the inconven- 
 iences and trials she undoubtedly would en- 
 counter if she came with him, and told her that 
 she could come or remain at school, just as 
 she preferred. She unhesitatingly told him she 
 would never, never let him go without her, and 
 she- believed she would go with him even if he 
 said she shouldn't. 
 
 The general, poor lonely man, was happier over 
 this little bit of insubordination than he had been 
 over anything for many years. 
 
 The idea had for some tim.e haunted him that, 
 perhaps, during the years of separation his little 
 girl had almost forgotten, or at least ceased to 
 love him ; from this time he lovingly recognized 
 her as her mother's own daughter. 
 
 Thus her decision was made, and she spent five 
 years as her father's constant companion, except 
 upon the few occasions when his duty was too
 
 HALF MARRIED. j 
 
 arduous and exposing, at which time she had 
 some experience of life in cities. 
 
 In many ways he brought her up more like a 
 son than a daughter. Not wishing her education 
 to suffer from his selfishness in having her with 
 him, in spite of many wanderings and circum- 
 stances most unfavorable to the acquisition of 
 " book-learning," he kept her at mathematics, 
 which she despised, French and German, which 
 she liked, history and literature, which she adored. 
 
 He himself taught her to ride, to swim, and to 
 shoot at a mark, but most carefully suppressed 
 any tendency to rowdyism that this regime might 
 induce. 
 
 At nineteen she could ride as long and come 
 out as fresh as any officer in the service. She 
 had camped out many times with her father. 
 Once she had spent six months in the Sierra 
 Nevadas, the only woman in a party of forty 
 officers and civil engineers. 
 
 She boasted that her health was so perfect 
 that she had never on that or any account 
 caused a moment's delay in any expedition, that 
 she could cook a good dinner over a camp-fire, 
 if necessary saddle her own horse, and could
 
 g (^/ HALF MARRIED. 
 
 start for any place with her father at five minutes' 
 notice. 
 
 Her wandering life had given her little oppor- 
 tunity to make girl friends. One indeed she had, 
 one of the " old girls" in school. 
 
 This sage was six years the senior of our 
 heroine. Seventeen viewed from the stand-point 
 of eleven looks Egyptian in its antiquity. Though 
 their correspondence was regular, the girls had 
 not met since Mamie left the " Institute" with her 
 blue-ribboned diploma. At twenty she had mar- 
 ried a young clergyman, and was living in Car- 
 rington, Connecticut. Thus it seemed improbable 
 that the school-mates would ever meet again, and 
 Bessie's experience of women as intimates was 
 necessarily a limited one. 
 
 It certainly was not to her credit, but in 
 women she did not find much that was amus- 
 ing. They had headaches and other aches, and 
 could not ride ten miles without giving out. 
 She had never forgiven a little goose of a woman 
 who had caused an entire riding-party to turn 
 back and lose their whole day's pleasure. Bessie 
 said she ought to have gone on " if it killed 
 her." Indeed, that phrase " to go on if it killed"
 
 HALF MARRIED. g 
 
 was consistently lived up to by both father and 
 daughter. 
 
 She really believed in her heart of hearts 
 that she would rather " fight Indians" than sit 
 all day over a long needle and say " one, 
 two, three, four" at it. One day of such work 
 would surely drive her mad. Yet she sometimes 
 felt in an indefinite way that she was inferior to 
 those beings, tame and uninteresting as they were 
 to her. 
 
 Men she simply looked upon as companions ; 
 their devotion and admiration were lost on her, 
 and love-making she deliberately laughed at. 
 When a girl deliberately laughs at being made 
 love to, there is something radically wrong in her 
 make-up. Did not the great race of antiquity say 
 that the rational soul entered the male body at the 
 age of twelve ? And did not the soul of Mahomet 
 wait, confined in an ugly earthen pot shaped like 
 a rimless old-fashioned beaver hat, from the crea- 
 tion until the fifth century for a body fit to receive 
 it? So I fear our heroine's soul was " unaccount- 
 ably delayed," or perhaps only needed a touch of 
 a spark divine to summon it into its proper habi- 
 tation. Be that as it may, she certainly found it
 
 IO HALF MARRIED. 
 
 more agreeable to have pistol practice with the 
 handsome new major than to sit and " work" with 
 the captain's pretty little wife. But it was the 
 shooting that was the attraction, and had the 
 major taken to the " distaff" and the little lady to 
 fire-arms, Bessie would still have followed the 
 fire-arms. 
 
 That she was considered somewhat cold and 
 indifferent she knew, and spending much of her 
 time alone, she had plenty of leisure to wonder 
 vaguely what the trouble could be. She knew 
 surely that she was not indifferent to her father, 
 and that they had full confidence and trust in each 
 other, yet she knew as well that she would no more 
 have confided her thoughts and feelings to him 
 than to the Articles of War on the library shelf. 
 
 When these feveries became too depressing she 
 had her horse brought round, took a gallop, 
 thought if her mother were with her she and 
 things generally would be much better and more 
 understandable. 
 
 In boyhood and girlhood, when the affections 
 have not their ordinary and natural outlet the 
 effect on the disposition and countenance in a 
 short time is very marked. Instinctively children
 
 HALF MARRIED. r \ 
 
 are afraid of being misunderstood and laughed at; 
 and when this fear preponderates over their in- 
 born cravings for attention and confidence, their 
 impulses and quick emotions are either rendered 
 sluggish or destroyed entirely. In regarding the 
 faces of the children in an " institution," no matter 
 how kindly they are cared for, the suppressed 
 expression of both large and small touches the 
 heart quicker than the cold hands and ragged 
 clothing of the street gamin. Bessie's peculiar 
 life had developed that pre-eminently American 
 trait, adaptability, in a high degree. She solemnly 
 averred that her home was where her father and 
 her tooth-brush happened to be. Her great 
 characteristic was love of the truth, and with the 
 uncompromising cruelty of youth, anything ap- 
 proaching deception found from hfir no quarter. 
 In her make-up of vigorous and decided convic- 
 tions there was no city of refuge for such offenders. 
 Upon one occasion, after commenting upon one 
 of those little unpleasantnesses that occur even in 
 the best regulated garrisons, the fort chaplain 
 gently remonstrated with her : " Miss Bessie, you 
 are too severe ; it is sometimes hard for even the 
 best and strongest of us to be perfectly, nobly
 
 12 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 honest. You are always courteous, cannot you 
 be also pitiful ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir; I'll try." And she walked off, won- 
 dering if she could ever forgive a lie, or in any 
 circumstances be guilty of one herself. 
 
 After this short sketch of father and daughter, 
 we will let Bessie herself describe some of her 
 adventures and surroundings. 
 
 " FORT DERBY, Nov. 20, 187-. 
 
 " DEAR MAMIE, 
 
 " We have only been back to what we consider 
 civilization a couple of weeks. We were in camp 
 in the Rockies, you know, and strange adventures 
 have we had. One day Lieutenant Arthur, a 
 young friend of ours, brought me in a wild-cat a 
 kitten, rather that he shot three miles from camp. 
 
 " For three mortal hours did he, Brown (one of 
 the soldiers), and I toil over that kitten. Finally, 
 behold him ! skinned, stuffed, and lying down to 
 sleep so naturally on a board with hair-pins to 
 hold his legs in place. We put him outside of 
 papa's tent to dry, and as it was near night, 
 calmly, nay, even triumphantly, went to our re- 
 pose, conscious of a good deed done.
 
 HALF MARRIED. j^ 
 
 " In the morning I looked, rubbed my eyes, 
 and looked again. Where was that kitten? had 
 he deliberately walked off, feeling as he looked, 
 as good as new ? No, it could not be. As soon 
 as Mr. Arthur made his appearance we examined 
 the ground, and here and there in the snow saw 
 soft tracks : his mother had scented him from afar 
 and came and got him. 
 
 " It would have repaid me somewhat for losing 
 the work of art if I could have seen that cat 
 when she found her kitten was a snare and a 
 delusion, a specious kitten of skin, cotton, salt, and 
 borax. Wonder if she tore all her other kittens 
 to pieces to see whether they were sinful frauds 
 or not? However, if we lost the wild-cat, we 
 found another cat ; he was a most engaging little 
 creature, would walk up softly and poke his nose 
 in the tent door. We allowed him liberties of 
 this kind rather than provoke him to wrath and 
 retaliation. After duly inspecting us he took his 
 final departure, much to our relief, as you may 
 imagine. 
 
 "While we were living in tents the mercury 
 was twenty below zero. Doesn't that beat Con- 
 necticut ' all hollow' ? 
 
 2
 
 !4 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " I love to write slang. Papa won't allow it at 
 all ; he says if the ' occasion demands it' I may say 
 d n, as if I ever would, but slang he will not 
 have. Don't you wonder that I was not an icicle ? 
 The water in the tents froze, the medicines and 
 kerosene likewise froze, and the guns were cov- 
 ered with frost. My bed in the corner was a 
 parti-colored mass of blankets, quilts, etc., and I 
 always slept with a bright red ' tam-o-shanter' 
 hauled over my ears. I learned from a scout 
 how to tan a deer-skin ; in fact, I would make a 
 good Indian, don't you think so ? 
 
 " By the way, did you know that horses wore 
 snow-shoes? They do; the 'shoes' are boards 
 about an inch and a half thick and ten or twelve 
 inches square, a clamp fits over the hoof and 
 keeps them in place. I never saw them before 
 this last expedition. At first the poor beast ap- 
 pears about as comfortable as a pussy cat with 
 newspaper stockings, but in an hour or two he 
 becomes used to them, and gets along nicely ; in 
 fact, without them he would not get along at all. 
 Think of it ! I have had a pair of regular cavalry 
 boots made; as they accommodate my feet and two 
 pairs of heavy woollen stockings besides, you
 
 HALF MARRIED. !$ 
 
 may have some idea of their dimensions. Little 
 Tom Campbell, aged ten, whom I taught to swim, 
 sent me the cutest pair of spurs you ever saw ; 
 you see my roughest riding is done a la Mexi- 
 cainc. 
 
 " My few trophies of this and other expeditions 
 ornament my large but rather bare room, it is 
 over our parlor. We are fortunate in having a 
 mansard-roof, so we get in that way an extra 
 story. 
 
 " Please send me a dozen pairs of gloves when 
 you ship our freight box, you know the shades 
 and styles, am sure I do not, also a pair of two- 
 buttoned eight and a quarter for a gentleman (I 
 lost a bet), and a book with tales of blood and salt 
 water for my youthful and only love, Tom. 
 
 " Write to me soon. Ever so much love from 
 " Your friend, 
 
 " BESSIE LANSING. 
 
 " P.S. Most forgot to tell you that we are ex- 
 pecting a new officer, Charlie Waring. He grad- 
 uated in June, and not very high either; his father 
 was an officer too, and died in the war. 'They 
 say' he is wild as a hawk, though not a bad
 
 !6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 fellow, and has mysteriously gotten through with 
 quite a sum of money, gambling no doubt. 
 
 " I imagine he is sent here for my father to dis- 
 cipline and look after. Do you know anything 
 about him ? Think I'll undertake some of the 
 discipline and looking after myself; wouldn't it 
 be fun? B."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A FEW days after Bessie's letter was written 
 the "youngster," Charles Waring, duly reported at 
 headquarters; and that evening, arrayed in his 
 uniform, which was still a novelty, he intended 
 making his " social" call on the general. 
 
 He was twenty-three years old, and looked 
 even younger. His eyes were perfectly blue, 
 that color which the learned in such matters say 
 is gradually becoming extinct. His thick eye- 
 lashes curled upwards, and with his rather too 
 heavy eyebrows, turning up curiously at the 
 corners, gave him an expression of singular alert- 
 ness. His mouth was rather large, with the lips 
 sufficiently firm to counterbalance to some extent 
 the rather infantile expression of the blue eyes 
 and straight nose. 
 
 He had a trick rare among young people, of 
 laughing with his mouth closed, and rarely showed 
 a set of fine but not beautiful teeth. Gentlemen 
 
 at that time had not adopted the prize-ring style 
 b 2* 17
 
 1 8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 of wearing their hair, and his since he left the 
 Academy was allowed to curl in rather crispy 
 light rings. 
 
 When he suddenly lifted his cap, the natural 
 color of his forehead was so much whiter than 
 his face it almost surprised one into a laugh. 
 Though shorter than the average, he was perfectly 
 built, giving one that idea of activity and grace 
 more usual in the sailor than in the soldier. His 
 hands were unusually small, his feet phenomenally 
 so, and, encased in the finest and most stylish of 
 shoes, were his one vanity. A New York belle 
 said, " Scrapes was suggested by every expression 
 of his countenance and turn of his body as com- 
 pletely as if Charles Lever had manufactured him 
 for a particular occasion." 
 
 Before starting on this formidable visit he 
 wanted what he called " points," so he wouldn't 
 put his foot in it. He had heard of Miss Lan- 
 sing, and had come to the conclusion that he 
 would try his hand or rather his eyes and feet 
 at a flirtation. In fact, he had attended so assid- 
 uously to that branch of his education that he 
 narrowly escaped being " found" 'in other more 
 important directions.
 
 HALF MARRIED. jg 
 
 He walked over to Lieutenant Arthur's quarters 
 who was two classes ahead of him for the 
 desired information. 
 
 "Arthur, I'm going to make my call on the 
 general." 
 
 Arthur knew what he wanted, but answered 
 with malicious gravity, 
 
 " You will find him a delightful gentleman." 
 
 " Arthur, is Miss Lansing pretty ?" 
 
 " Very." 
 
 "Stylish?" 
 
 " Depends whether she has on her cavalry boots 
 and Major White's old forage-cap, or is gotten up 
 like a civilized being." 
 
 " Bright ?" 
 
 " Indeed she is, rather alarmingly so at times ; 
 a man that does not ' read' is an abomination in 
 her eyes, and she never is at a loss for a reply." 
 
 Arthur saw he must proceed or be catechised, 
 so he went on, 
 
 " The old general gave a dinner-party last spring. 
 The Bishop of Walla-Ha came here on a visita- 
 tion. At the same time an old admiral drifted 
 along from no one knows where ; that's where they 
 generally come from, I believe. At the dinner, as
 
 2Q HALF MARRIED. 
 
 is often the case, Miss Bessie was the only lady 
 present ; she often sits through the cigars and all, 
 still as a mouse and taking in everything with the 
 smoke. 
 
 " Finally, after some of the regulation toasts 
 were drunk, Carsten here, you remember him 
 at the Point ? conceited jackanapes, for some re- 
 markable reason only known to himself, perhaps 
 he was a little muddled, proposed that Miss Lan- 
 sing should give the next toast. Before the 
 general or any of us had recovered from our 
 surprise she rose from her chair, and, bowing first 
 to the bishop and then to the admiral, said, ' Gen- 
 tlemen, here is to the Army' a pause ' of the 
 Lord and the Navy of Uncle Sam !' She retired 
 immediately, having made the hit of the evening, 
 and completely captivated the two honored guests. 
 A professional diner-out couldn't have done it 
 more neatly. She is horribly severe, too, when 
 occasion requires, and sometimes when it does not. 
 Like her father, she is a stanch Episcopalian, and 
 is quite capable of holding her own in an argu- 
 ment, though she never 'talks religion.' We had 
 a call from a revivalist, and from some cause or 
 other she went to hear him. Unfortunately for
 
 HALF MARRIED. 21 
 
 him, he pitched into Churchmen right and left, 
 and more than intimated that the amount of caloric 
 laid up for us would cause the Yuma man to bring 
 his fan and umbrella. 
 
 "A few days after, when a number of us were 
 grouped together waiting for our horses, the poor 
 man slid up to us. He went up to Miss Bessie, 
 ' was glad to have seen her at the meeting,' etc. 
 I knew sooner or later he would be used up, 
 horse, foot, and dragoons, and stood by to see 
 the fun. 
 
 " After some discussion, during which she kept 
 her temper most beautifully, he asked her ' what, 
 in her opinion, was the greatest argument for the 
 truth of Christianity ?' She drew herself up till 
 she looked as tall as a drum-major, and said, 
 4 Sir, the greatest argument of the truth of Chris- 
 tianity that I know of is that it has weathered 
 eighteen centuries of preaching !' I felt sorry for 
 the man. I'm inclined to think he will leave us 
 henceforth to the more tender mercies of his 
 Lordship of Walla-Ha." 
 
 " Arthur, haven't you a particular fancy in that 
 direction, now really ?" 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! I am fond of her; but besides
 
 22 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 her cold streaks, she breaks out occasionally into 
 most unexpectedly careless freaks that would drive 
 me clear frantic. One day she received me with 
 the skirt of her dress wrong side out, and didn't 
 even know it till I told her; and though she looks 
 so trim, I know sometimes she pins the buttons 
 on her jacket instead of sewing them. I would 
 do anything for that girl but fall in love with her." 
 
 " You would be afraid of pins and the cold 
 shoulder, eh ?" 
 
 After this rather alarming conversation, Waring 
 threw away his cigar, and in some trepidation soon 
 found himself standing in the storm-house at the 
 general's door. Through the storm-house window 
 he could see the fair occupant of the room and 
 her surroundings, and in spite of the cold made a 
 reconnoitre before entering the enemy's camp. 
 
 The parlor was a square room, made comfortable 
 with the inexpensive articles at hand. The three 
 windows were deep-silled. Two had all the cracks 
 tightly stuffed with cotton, and an army blanket 
 was folded on each sill to keep out the draught 
 and also make a seat. A lounge or sofa was 
 drawn up near the fire, it was covered with 
 bear-skins and a red blanket, and upon being in-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 23 
 
 spected would have been found to open like a box 
 and contain a remarkable assortment of heavy 
 wraps and furs. Four or five camp bookcases 
 were set against the wall; three student's-lamps 
 gave their soft and reliable light to the apartment ; 
 the rather ancient carpet was quite covered with 
 various fur rugs and mats. An ugly stove at one 
 side sent its pipe through the partition-wall, so 
 that the chimney-place was left clear for the wood- 
 fire. This was the pride of the general's heart, 
 and was kindled regularly at four o'clock. 
 
 The fire formed the central object of the room. 
 Though at present only a mass of glowing embers, 
 it threw out a red light that made the streak of 
 moonlight pouring in through the window look 
 cold and uncomfortable. On a deer-skin in front 
 of the fire three kittens were warmly curled up, 
 adding greatly to the general air of comfort, and 
 there was the young lady herself. She was seated 
 in a large rocking-chair reading a book and toast- 
 ing one slippered foot at the fire. Her profile, 
 which was fine, was turned towards Waring; and 
 though the style of hair-dressing at that time was 
 abominable in its clumsiness, he saw that her head 
 was well shaped and well set on her shoulders. Her
 
 24 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 hair was quite dark and not as curly as his, her 
 eyes were gray, her hands were rather large, slender, 
 and remarkably white, but he thought the wrists 
 too heavy for feminine beauty. Her foot amused 
 him : it was slightly elevated on a block that had 
 evidently been taken from the turkey-red covered 
 wood-box and improvised into a footstool. It was 
 a good-shaped foot, but large, and what astonished 
 him exceedingly, it was encased in a bright blue 
 woollen stocking. At that time it had not entered 
 into the feminine mind to array her lower extrem- 
 ities in the guise of barber-poles, checker-boards, 
 or flower-gardens, so the blue stockings quite 
 upset our young friend's ideas of the fitness of 
 things. 
 
 After this critical inspection he made his en- 
 trance, and in a moment found himself in Miss 
 Lansing's presence. 
 
 As she turned her full face he saw it was not 
 as perfect as the profile, and she was a little too 
 pale; but a set of perfect teeth, a fairly jolly smile, 
 contrasting with the soft gray eyes, made up an 
 unusual and captivating combination. 
 
 " Miss Lansing !" 
 
 " Mr. Waring ! I am sorry papa is not at home."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 $ 
 
 He looked at the teeth and dimples and con- 
 cluded that he could stand it. 
 
 " Sit here by the fire ; you must take off your 
 cloak and gloves. We would all die of pneumonia 
 in two weeks if we kept our wraps on inside and 
 then went out into the cold ; here we consider our 
 health first and manners next." 
 
 After some chit-chat she suddenly said, 
 " Excuse me, poor kitty is crying to get in." 
 There was an enormous Maltese cat on her hind 
 legs apparently endeavoring to raise the window 
 with her fore paws. Puss was brought in, and 
 Bessie started to poke up the fire for her benefit. 
 Waring rose to assist her. 
 
 " Oh, no ; I'm stoker-in-chief; no one else dares 
 touch this fire. In fact, last year we were 
 snowed up for two weeks it was awfully dull, 
 the young doctor who had just arrived poked up 
 this fire one evening. After dinner we had him 
 court-martialed : he had scared the cat and burned 
 a hole in the carpet. He was sentenced to mend 
 the carpet and make an apologetic speech of five 
 minutes' length to puss ; it began, ' Oh, Felis 
 felix/ and was a very bright oration. You see 
 
 what might have been your fate." 
 B 3
 
 2 6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 After half an hour, during a short pause in the 
 conversation Bessie coolly took out her watch 
 and looked at it. Waring flushed with indignation 
 to the roots of his curly hair, gathered up his 
 cloak and said " Good-evening." Bessie saw in a 
 second what was passing in his mind. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Waring, I beg your pardon, I did not 
 mean that : I only wanted to see how long before 
 papa would be home. We are all so intimate here 
 I quite forgot you were a stranger; he will be 
 here in twenty minutes, and I am going to make 
 his punch, and with the last two lemons in the 
 garrison. I never ask gentlemen to take punch ; 
 he will ask you of course. Now sit still, and I'll 
 consider myself forgiven. No, you can come 
 with me and help." 
 
 They walked into the dining-room, procured the 
 decanters, glasses, etc., and from a small closet 
 Bessie brought out a little copper kettle. It was 
 battered and bruised, having gone through many 
 campaigns and adventures. Her mother had 
 bought it for the general many years before, and 
 though it had outlasted its good looks, it was still 
 an invaluable addition to the menage. 
 
 The kettle filled with warm water was hung by
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 / 
 
 a chain to a hook in the chimney, and before the 
 general arrived the kettle was singing, the cats 
 were purring, the glasses were hot, Waring was 
 intensely comfortable, and almost resigned to the 
 blue stockings. 
 
 After her father's arrival Bessie dropped the 
 character of hostess, and turned Waring over to 
 his care until his departure. Thus instead of 
 making a formal call he had spent the evening. 
 
 As he walked by Arthur's room, where a lot of 
 the fellows were smoking, that officer called out, 
 
 " Waring, won't you come in ?" 
 
 " No, thank you, not to-night." 
 
 " Did you meet the enemy ?" 
 
 " Yes ; I met the enemy, and we are theirs." 
 
 " Just what I expected," grunted Arthur ; " al- 
 ways in some scrape." ' 
 
 Waring was greatly impressed with his first day 
 of frontier life, and soon went to a happy dream- 
 land, peopled with pretty girls and Maltese cats 
 all in their blue stockings. 
 
 Bessie was quite captivated with this handsome 
 boy, as she thought him. She wondered if it 
 could be true that he was so wild? if he was bad? 
 No, she could not believe that ; but why couldn't
 
 2 8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 men behave themselves anyhow, particularly when 
 they were " nice" ? After these philosophizings 
 she read the evening service out of a small Prayer 
 Book that looked as if it had endured as many 
 campaigns as the copper kettle, thought of this 
 " wild" young man in her prayers, and slept as 
 only those with clear consciences and good diges- 
 tion can sleep.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN a few weeks Waring had managed in some 
 way to be thoroughly at home in the general's 
 household. It was more by that happy faculty 
 which only the best-bred men, and but few of 
 them, possess of " never being in the way" than by 
 any pushing on his part or exertion on Bessie's. 
 
 If she was to write a letter, figure up the ac- 
 counts, or even go in another part of the house, 
 Waring was given a book, told to be bon enfant, 
 and left to his own devices. He was not to dis- 
 turb the general or torment the cat ; with these 
 two restrictions the house was at his disposal. 
 
 Bessie took much pleasure in this young fellow's 
 companionship. It was a new and delightful sen- 
 sation to have some one to talk to at any time, 
 particularly when the some one was handsome 
 and interesting. That he fancied her and was 
 content in her presence she could not fail to dis- 
 cover, but that this " mere boy" was sincerely in 
 
 love with her she never imagined any more than 
 
 3* 29
 
 j HALF MARRIED. 
 
 she expected a formal proposal from her infantile 
 admirer, Tom Campbell. 
 
 In spite of her enjoyment in the course affairs 
 had taken, she felt a vague uneasiness. 
 
 Though Waring had given no indication of 
 that wildness with which he was credited at the 
 Academy, she could see that he was not quite liked 
 by the younger men and not entirely approved by 
 the older ones. 
 
 Upon one occasion he had kept a riding-party 
 waiting five minutes. The general, being the soul 
 of punctuality, looked with positive anger on this 
 careless offender ; but as it was a pleasure excur- 
 sion, not in the line of duty at all, nothing was 
 said. 
 
 Once he had lost his temper and sworn at his 
 men. She knew if that happened again there 
 would be a reprimand. Many of the general's 
 soldiers had braved war, starvation, and cold with 
 him ; and though he was a strict disciplinarian, he 
 was interested in them personally, looked out for 
 their welfare, and would have them treated as men. 
 Then he did not go to church, which both offici- 
 ally and personally hurt the chaplain and annoyed 
 the general. In fact, his disagreeableness to his
 
 HALF MARRIED, ^l 
 
 superiors was not from any overt act of insubordi- 
 nation, which would have been speedily suppressed, 
 but from an entire though good-natured disregard 
 of their advice and suggestions. 
 
 The doctor, old enough to be his father, gently 
 hinted that he was not sufficiently clad, and rec- 
 ommended heavier boots ; he paid no more atten- 
 tion to that than he did to the chaplain's quietly- 
 expressed hope " that we will see you at service 
 next Sunday." Having expressed atheistical 
 views, more in a fashionable than a profound way, 
 the little community also had that against him. 
 On the other hand, no one could question his 
 honesty and generosity of character, or his earn- 
 estness and dash in any unusual or arduous duty. 
 
 Bessie, after considering the matter at some 
 length, concluded that 'as the young lieutenant 
 had constituted himself to some extent a member 
 of the family she was at liberty to speak plainly to 
 him of these his misdoings, and if he came that 
 evening while her father was at the Weekly 
 Whist Club at the major's, she would give him a 
 " good talking to." 
 
 She was a little nervous in looking forward 
 to this interview, however, for she had never
 
 32 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 interfered in any military matters. To be a Mrs. 
 Major O'Dowd, straightening out, or rather tan- 
 gling up the affairs of the post, was to her mind 
 the last stage of infamy. Wishing to appear as 
 little formidable as possible, she put on her long 
 black silk dress, turned it in at the neck, put some 
 illusion around the throat, pinned it with a gold 
 pin, a little bayonet with a ruby heart on its 
 point, that she called " love and war," donned 
 red stockings this time, and seated herself by the 
 fire to gather her forces for the onslaught. 
 
 In a short time she heard Waring whistling, 
 softly, " luce di guest' anima," and the cold snow 
 creaking under his footsteps. Soon he was seated 
 in the warm, cosey room, but seemed unable to 
 " thaw out," as he expressed it. Bessie saw that 
 he was almost in a chill, and that his boots were 
 soaking wet. 
 
 " How in the name of common sense did you 
 get your feet wet in this weather ? I never saw 
 a man so bent on his own destruction." 
 
 " Why, I " 
 
 But his teeth chattered, and the mystery was 
 never explained. 
 
 " Now, I'll bring you some dry shoes, and then
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 33 
 
 I will hang up the kettle and give you some hot 
 whiskey." 
 
 She ran up-stairs, brought down a pair of the 
 obnoxious blue stockings and a pair of her own 
 slippers, and while Waring made his toilet in the 
 dining-room she arranged the kettle in the fire- 
 place. 
 
 The stockings and slippers, though a tight fit, 
 were put on, the small boots and socks laid before 
 the fire to dry, the hot dose duly administered, 
 and the two young people settled themselves 
 down to a sociable evening. 
 
 Waring was apparently lost in admiring con- 
 templation of one of his small feet, Bessie had 
 just interrupted his meditations by suavely ex- 
 claiming, " It is pretty, isn't it ?" when they heard 
 the hall door open. She .put the glasses quickly 
 out of sight, gave the boots and socks a most 
 unladylike little kick that sent them behind the 
 big red box, her dress rustled, the cat was startled 
 and jumped, and when Carsten who was the 
 caller entered the room he plainly saw that his 
 presence had caused a slight commotion, and that 
 something had been doing or saying that was not 
 for him to know.
 
 34 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Carsten was a fine-looking though not a pleas- 
 ant-faced man, and his powerful physique gave one 
 more the idea of brute force than manly strength. 
 He seated himself comfortably : evidently he did 
 not intend to leave for some time. Bessie was on 
 pins and needles : she wanted to give Waring his 
 boots then and there and send him home. Carsten, 
 who always had a discontented expression, now 
 looked black as a thunder-cloud, Waring relapsed 
 into the sulks, and she heartily wished them both 
 in their own quarters. After an hour of this 
 misery Carsten left. She rather snappishly handed 
 Waring his boots, told him to roll his socks up in 
 his pocket, and for mercy sake to go. She knew 
 that Carsten had his suspicions, and did not wish 
 to further them by having Waring remain longer. 
 
 She saw him depart with relief, and wished 
 devoutly she had left boots, bottle, and all in plain 
 sight. " Certainly Mr. Carsten would not imagine 
 that I had allowed Charlie Waring to make a 
 dressing-room of the parlor, and with me in it." 
 
 After arranging the room for her father's return 
 she went up-stairs, and passed a restless night, 
 being possessed with an unpleasant presentiment 
 that trouble was ahead.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE next morning at the mess-table, when 
 there was a pause in the conversation, Carsten 
 said, quite conspicuously, 
 
 " Oh, Waring, I was very sorry to interrupt the 
 little tete-a-tete last night." 
 
 " Ah," returned Waring, " if your contrition was 
 as deep as your call was lengthy, your sorrow was 
 deep indeed." 
 
 Carsten turned toward him as if he would strike 
 him, but suddenly checking himself, said, with an 
 exasperating sneer, 
 
 " And, Waring, where did you get your pretty 
 new socks and ties from ?" 
 
 Arthur, who was seated by Waring, was alarmed 
 at the unpleasant turn affairs had taken, and broke 
 in with, 
 
 " Do stop your chaffing, Carsten ; do let us 
 have our meals in peace anyway." And with a 
 "for all our sakes keep your temper" under his 
 
 35
 
 36 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 breath to Waring, he succeeded in gaining a truce, 
 although he knew that war was declared. 
 
 He resolved at his very earliest chance to see 
 Bessie and tell her candidly what mischief was 
 brewing, and find out the ground of Carsten's 
 insinuations. Some he thought there must be, as 
 he would otherwise hardly have dared to speak 
 as he did. As he was going off for several days 
 with the general, he wrote to Bessie that morn- 
 ing, 
 
 " DEAR Miss BESSIE, 
 
 " I am very anxious to have a long talk with 
 you before I leave to-morrow. It is a beautiful 
 day, won't you take a walk with me soon after 
 guard-mount ? 
 
 " M. A." 
 
 Bessie replied, " Yes, with pleasure ;" and at the 
 appointed time, arrayed in blanket-coat, fur cap, 
 and gloves, she started off with her friend, know- 
 ing that Waring was going to be the subject of 
 discussion. She had begun to realize that the 
 adopting and disciplining of headstrong young 
 men was not altogether as funny as she had 
 imagined.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 37 
 
 Neither spoke for some time, and Arthur saw 
 that it was left for him to open fire. 
 
 " Miss Bessie, it has always struck me that the 
 man who had not the courage to give a friend a 
 timely word of counsel or warning, even at the 
 risk of being considered an intermeddler, was very 
 much like the Frenchman who would not rescue 
 the drowning man because they had never been 
 introduced. I think you can have no doubt of 
 the sincerity of my friendship for you and General 
 Lansing, or of my appreciation of your hospitality 
 and kindness. Therefore you can imagine that 
 action of mine that endangers this friendship is 
 only undertaken from the purest of motives. In 
 plain English, I am going to ask you if you either 
 know or care what you are doing with Waring ? 
 As the chaplain says, ' to make it clear,' I will put 
 it under three heads. In the first place, you must 
 let the rest of us know our ground. Any time, 
 morning, noon, or night, that we go to your house 
 there is Waring before us." 
 
 " Well, even if he is, half the time I am reading 
 or writing, not even speaking to him or thinking 
 about him." 
 
 " That may be, but we other fellows do not
 
 38 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 know that, and, in spite of your manner being 
 unchanged, we feel decidedly de trop. If Waring 
 did not put on an injured air and relapse into his 
 infantile sulks it would not be so bad, but he 
 shows his disgust at our entrance so plainly we 
 cannot help supposing him the one favored above 
 all others. 
 
 " In the second place, if you are engaged to him 
 say so." 
 
 " As he has never asked me, the probabilities 
 are that I am not." 
 
 " Never asked you ! You know, Bessie Lansing, 
 that every tone of his voice and glance of his eye 
 shows his love for you, if he hasn't said it in so 
 many words. The other evening when he got 
 the captain's spur out of your dress, his manner 
 was so full of devotion we fellows confidently ex- 
 pected to see him kiss the hem of your garment." 
 
 " It hasn't a hem." 
 
 " Well, the bias gimp, or whatever you call it. 
 And then forgive me but as you are not ready 
 to acknowledge him openly as your lover, do not 
 allow him any privileges above the rest of us." 
 
 Bessie turned to him with heightened color and 
 flashing eyes,
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 39 
 
 " Lieutenant Arthur, that at least you have 
 neither right nor excuse to say to me. Do you 
 think that after living all these years with men as 
 my constant and often sole companions I am 
 foolish enough to put myself deliberately at the 
 mercy of any one of you ?" 
 
 " Miss Bessie, before you go off in a temper 
 please listen to me." And he recounted the scene 
 at the mess-table. " You see it is not enough for 
 you or any other girl to be convinced of your 
 own dignity, you must have all the world con- 
 vinced also, particularly the masculine part of it." 
 
 Then Bessie gave him the history of the affair, 
 and Arthur promised that in a quiet way he would 
 explain matters and make it all right 
 
 " The third thing is the hardest of all, for to 
 speak ill of a brother-officer, and a superior in 
 rank, behind his back savors of cowardice, but do 
 be careful of offending Carsten. For some reason 
 he has a grudge against you or the general, and 
 if he can hurt you through Waring, and with 
 safety to himself, he will do it. Thrown together 
 as we are and depending almost entirely upon 
 ourselves for society and amusement, any break 
 or quarrel would be a general calamity."
 
 40 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " I hate Mr. Carsten, too, and will tell you why. 
 A few days before he left the East he was at a 
 dinner-party in New York ; at the same party was 
 a young married lady, a friend of mine. Some 
 remarks were made about the loneliness of frontier 
 life, how he would pass the time, etc. He then 
 and there avowed his intention of having a flirta- 
 tion with old Lansing's daughter. Then, too, he 
 said my mother was a ' rebel' ! I heard of his 
 impudent speeches before I saw him, and was on 
 my guard. I had not the slightest idea of playing 
 coon to his Captain Scott. Still, I acted as if I 
 had heard none of his ungentlemanly remarks, 
 and was always polite to him. One evening he 
 was at the house and asked me if I would walk 
 over with him and call on the doctor's wife. I 
 said ' certainly,' opened the lounge-box, got out 
 my wraps, handed him my coat to hold, and put 
 both arms in the sleeves. While he had me thus 
 'in chancery' he deliberately leaned over and 
 attempted to kiss me on the cheek. Nothing ever 
 made me so mad in all my life, everything in the 
 room seemed to whirl and dance, and in half a 
 second I thought of telling my father, of striking 
 him across the face with my riding-whip, which
 
 HALF MARRIED. 4I 
 
 was lying on the table, and of various other ridic- 
 ulous things. 
 
 " Fortunately, I collected my wits sufficiently to 
 say, ' Mr. Carsten, you are not a gentleman, and 
 you are a coward !' I was so furious I expect I 
 looked funny. I walked out of the room and 
 up-stairs. After a few moments of waiting I 
 heard him leave. I'll do him the justice to say 
 that the next day he did apologize in away, ' He 
 had kissed girls before and they had never gone 
 into a tantrum, etc., etc.' 
 
 " I said we would let it all go and talk no more 
 about it, but as you may imagine we have not 
 loved each other since. I suppose either one of 
 the offences I could have forgiven, but after his 
 speaking as he did of my father and mother and 
 daring to touch me, the ugly brute " 
 
 " Why, Miss Bessie, don't be so vindictive. We 
 will return to our interesting young mouton, who 
 being neither ugly nor a brute, you may become 
 more reasonable and amiable. Waring is a nice 
 fellow and I like him, but I would not like to have 
 you marry him. A woman of your nature would 
 never be happy with a man whom she knew to 
 be her intellectual or moral inferior. I do not
 
 42 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 know just how to express it, but you will marry 
 some one you are just a little afraid of." 
 
 " Rest assured, I will never marry Charlie 
 Waring." 
 
 " You do not know ; he seems to be eminently 
 lovable, one of the ' with all his faults I love him 
 still' sort. Since he was fourteen he has been the 
 privileged pet of some woman or other. Don't 
 be too sure, you may love him, too." 
 
 Bessie replied, half laughing, 
 
 " I did not say I would not love him, I said I 
 would never marry him." 
 
 At the end of these mutual confidences they 
 were almost home, and before they reached the 
 door Arthur said, 
 
 " Now you have forgiven my lecture, I hope ?" 
 
 " Indeed, I am much obliged, and will try to 
 heed your sage advice. Come in to supper to- 
 night at six. Papa will want to see you about 
 the final arrangements. By the way, why are you 
 all going to Fort Granger?" 
 
 "Your father is to see the department com- 
 mander, and they are to arrange about some ex- 
 peditions as early as possible next spring." 
 
 " Well, at six, then."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE supper passed off pleasantly, guests and 
 callers going early, leaving the general and his 
 daughter to complete his preparations for de- 
 parture. 
 
 The next morning they breakfasted by lamp- 
 light, and by the time the sun was surely up the 
 whole party were in the saddle and away. If the 
 weather remained pleasant they would make the 
 fort that evening; if not, the early start would 
 enable them to reach a small settlement, more 
 than half-way, where they could find some sort 
 of shelter for the night. 
 
 Half to Bessie's relief and half to her regret, 
 Waring had not put in an appearance the day 
 before. 
 
 Her conversation with Arthur had left her more 
 nervous and worried than she cared to confess. 
 
 By noon the thermometer had fallen, the wind 
 had risen, and the whole world seemed a mass of 
 
 whirling, cutting, stinging, blinding snow. To 
 
 43
 
 44 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 keep warm any place was an impossibility. As 
 the night came on the fury of the storm increased. 
 
 Though Bessie had every reason to suppose 
 as was really the case that her father's party 
 were in safe quarters hours before, she could not 
 overcome a feeling of nervous terror and a most 
 unusual sense of loneliness, which for some un- 
 accountable reason, physical or mental, at times 
 takes possession of even the strongest and most 
 practical of men and women. 
 
 The stove was doing its utmost, additional wood 
 was heaped on the hearth, extra blankets were 
 hung at the windows and door, yet every blast of 
 wind sent a shiver through the girl's frame, and 
 every sound made her start. 
 
 It was only seven o'clock in the evening, but it 
 seemed hours since the early breakfast. 
 
 Knowing she could neither read nor sleep, 
 and that no one would be out such a night who 
 could possibly avoid it, she concluded to make 
 herself a cup of coffee, pull up her rather 
 masculine-looking writing-table to tha- fire and 
 arrange its contents. Letters, papers, and ac- 
 counts were " in such a state" that this occupation 
 would consume considerable time, and if the wind
 
 HALF MARRIED. 4$ 
 
 went down she would know it and could sleep in 
 peace. 
 
 The old campaigner was hung on its hook, 
 the table drawn near the ugly though much-ap- 
 preciated stove, and Bessie, after the manner of 
 young women who set about desperate and solitary 
 undertakings, divested her head of " rats" and 
 hair-pins, twisted up her long hair in a knot, 
 fastened it with a comb, and started in this deter- 
 mined manner to make a night of it. 
 
 She was just seating herself when she thought 
 she heard some one at the door. Thinking noth- 
 ing short of calamity or accident had called any 
 one out that awful night, she hastily flung a fur 
 rug round her shoulders and opened the outside 
 door herself. 
 
 Waring for it was he seemed fairly whizzed 
 into the hall along with the snow and wind. She 
 saw immediately by his face that nothing unusual 
 had occurred, and then, woman-like, thought, 
 " What a fright I must be with my hair in this 
 fashion and a bear-skin on my back !" 
 
 " Ugh !" gasped Waring, as he recovered his 
 breath, "I never saw such a night; I'm frozen stiff." 
 
 " No wonder ; nothing short of battle, murder,
 
 46 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 and sudden death would bring a sane man out in 
 such a blizzard. My heart jumped into my mouth 
 with fright when I heard you. Come into the 
 parlor and get warm." 
 
 " May I sit on the deer-skin in front of the 
 fire ?" 
 
 " Anywhere ; but don't disturb my cats : they 
 are my only foul-weather friends." 
 
 " Except me." 
 
 " Yes, excuse me, birds of a feather, go and 
 sit with the cats. My walking up and down won't 
 give you the fidgets, will it ? I am too nervous to 
 keep still." 
 
 Waring watched her anxiously as she paced 
 back and forth. 
 
 " Mr. Waring, you need not look so frightened, 
 I never faint or have hysterics ; but sometimes 
 when I am here all alone, and the wind howls so 
 dismally, I do get the horrors. One night long 
 ago, in New Mexico, I saw a party of men come 
 into the fort. They had crossed the mountains 
 from the north, had been lost in the snow ; they 
 had lived five days on mule-meat, think of it ! 
 Their clothes hung in shreds ; some of their com- 
 rades had died. A night like this brings it all
 
 HALF MARRIED. 47 
 
 back, and when my father is away it haunts me." 
 With a shudder she stood still in her walk. 
 
 " I had an idea you would be awfully lone- 
 some; you know you haven't any mother or 
 sisters; I suppose that's one thing makes you 
 different from other girls ; so I came over to stay 
 with you awhile, if you want me, I mean if you 
 will let me." 
 
 " Mr. Waring, I believe you are the first person 
 that ever was sorry for me, or imagined oh, I 
 am so desolate sometimes !" And this young 
 Amazon threw herself down on a chair, with her 
 head and arms on the table, and began to sob in 
 a most undignified manner. 
 
 Our young hero was overcome with consterna- 
 tion at the result of his innocent remark. For a 
 few moments he sat perfectly still, listening to 
 the shrieking of the wind, the roaring of the fire, 
 and the girl's sobs, almost ready to weep too. 
 Then he rose and quietly seated himself by her, 
 began smoothing the rather disordered hair in 
 a gentle childish way, and, with tears in his eyes, 
 said, 
 
 " Oh, Bessie darling, what, what did I say ? I 
 did not mean to make you cry ; won't you speak
 
 4 8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 to me? I did not mean to tell you for a long 
 time, but you must know that I love you. Of 
 course, you cannot love me so soon, but by and 
 by you will. Won't you try ? You know how 
 sorry I must be." " Puff," he blew out the lamp. 
 
 With his instinctive understanding of the whims 
 and vanities of women, he knew that she would 
 never raise her head with that bright light in her 
 eyes. Every girl poetry to the contrary notwith- 
 standing knows that when she is in tears she is 
 simply a fright. 
 
 How often it is that these careless but sympa- 
 thetic young dare-devils carry away the favors 
 from their comrades, men frequently handsomer, 
 more brilliant, and occasionally more upright than 
 they. 
 
 There are two things that a thoroughly refined 
 and educated woman involuntarily shrinks from, 
 that plantigrade style of flattery from the " hand- 
 some man," who is generally not as irresistible 
 as he imagines himself to be, and that uncon- 
 scious hardness with which the brilliant or suc- 
 cessful man of the world walks roughshod over 
 her foibles or innocent weaknesses. 
 
 Does not this in a measure answer the question
 
 HALF MARRIED. 49 
 
 so often asked by men, " What can a woman of 
 her stamp see to admire in a fellow like that ?" 
 
 The handsome man would have told her that 
 in tears she was beautiful, and she never would 
 have believed him again. The brilliant man 
 would have sneered at such nonsense, inwardly 
 of course ; but she would have known it all the 
 same, and shrunk from him. Waring blew out 
 the light, and she was afraid she would love him. 
 
 In a few moments she had composed herself. 
 
 " Please forgive me for making such a goose of 
 myself; no one has seen me cry since I was eleven 
 years old." 
 
 " We will come over by the fire and think up a 
 cheerful subject ; you sit in the arm-chair, and I'll 
 share the deer-skin along with my humble com- 
 panions." He arranged himself comfortably, lean- 
 ing against Bessie's chair for a back. 
 
 For a few moments they were both quiet, lis- 
 tening to the driving storm. Bessie thought now 
 was the time for the hard duty she had in store, 
 for Waring's declaration coming right after her 
 talk with Arthur left her no conscientious means 
 of escape. She summoned all her courage, and 
 
 in a half-joking way began, 
 c d 5
 
 i|O HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " Monsieur le Lieutenant, I have had a rod in 
 pickle for you for several days, and you must 
 listen to me with respectful attention." 
 
 She began with his professional peccadilloes, 
 and he quite good-naturedly promised to amend. 
 
 " Then you must go to service on Sunday." 
 
 "I think going to church is a piece of nonsense, 
 anyhow." 
 
 In Bessie's earnest nature a thing was right or 
 wrong, and Waring's boyish nonsense, to her 
 mind, was a deliberate crime. It was a subject 
 she could not talk to him about either, so she 
 said, very gently, 
 
 " But my father and most of your superior 
 officers (you are the infant of the regiment, you 
 know), happily, think differently ; therefore it 
 would be much pleasanter for us all if you will 
 
 go." 
 
 " I will, if I can go with you." 
 
 " Certainly you cannot go with me. Every 
 man and woman in the chapel would suppose that 
 I had bribed you." 
 
 " I don't care ; I'm not ashamed to have every- 
 body know that I would do anything you asked 
 me to."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 5 l 
 
 " You do not understand ; it must not appear 
 that I have given you any hints. I have never 
 before interfered with any garrison matters. This 
 is more than I have done for any living man. It 
 rests with you whether I shall bitterly regret it or 
 not." 
 
 "All right; I will go to church." 
 
 " Another thing that I must insist upon : that 
 you do not come here so often." 
 
 "You are just like all the rest of women: now 
 that you know I love you, you don't care for me, 
 and want to turn me adrift." 
 
 Poor Bessie was becoming hopeless over this 
 unreasonable youth. 
 
 " Do listen and keep your temper long enough 
 to hear me through. I do not wish to turn you 
 adrift. You know we have other friends who are 
 entitled to consideration. You must not act as if 
 every guest of ours was a trespasser on your 
 premises. It is hard and painful for me to speak 
 so to you, and it is only to avoid serious trouble 
 hereafter that I can bring myself to do it. I 
 hope you understand me and are not angry." 
 
 " Am I to be put on an allowance of visits, a 
 sort of half rations arrangement? Shall I flee
 
 52 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 before the sedate Arthur and that d d Carsten ? 
 Oh, I didn't mean to say that. Please lay out the 
 campaign more clearly." 
 
 " You are only to act like a sensible gentleman 
 instead of a spoiled child ; in some ways you are 
 more of a baby than Tom." 
 
 His good nature returned at this sally. 
 
 " Now let me go over my lesson. I am, to be- 
 gin with, a cat, and then a baby. I'm not to 
 swear, not to bully my men, to be always on time, 
 to go to church, to order myself lowly and rev- 
 erently to all my betters, Arthur, Carsten, Major 
 Doty, & Co., to bear no mal " 
 
 " Do not be ridiculous, for the hardest thing 
 for me to say is yet to come." 
 
 Bessie looked so grave that he quieted down 
 immediately. 
 
 " You have told me you love me ; I am sorry 
 you have, for it cannot help changing our very 
 pleasant relations. I can never feel towards you 
 as you wish, but you must know I am really fond 
 of you; if I. were not, the whole matter would be 
 comparatively easy for us both. If you think 
 best, get exchanged, leave us." 
 
 " Would you send me away forever, Bessie ?"
 
 HALF MARRIED. 53 
 
 And he put his hand over hers as it rested on the 
 arm of the chair. 
 
 " No, I will not send you," and she gently drew 
 away her hand, "but if, after thinking it over, 
 you consider it best to go, I shall think so too. 
 Being as fond of you as I am, I am afraid you 
 will constantly attribute other motives to my ac- 
 tions than I intend. I have never willingly de- 
 ceived any one in my whole life, and if you con- 
 tinue on this intimate footing, I do not want to be 
 reproached in months, no, nor in years to come, 
 with having held out false hopes. Now you can 
 think this all over. I cannot fly from the danger; 
 you can ; it is all in your hands." 
 
 " There is no need to think it over ; you do not 
 know what you have already done for me. I'm 
 bad enough, no doubt, but a saint to what I was. 
 Somehow from the first moment I saw you here 
 through the window I have been different. I 
 have not played for a cent, and have not taken a 
 drop too much. I will go to the devil if you 
 throw me over." 
 
 "Hush! We will make some coffee, and after 
 that you will go not to the devil to your quar- 
 ters." 
 
 5*
 
 54 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 After the coffee Waring rose to leave. 
 
 " Now, Bessie, won't you leave off that ' Mr.' 
 and call me Charlie ? You need not think that I 
 will forget that you have said you will never love 
 me;" that was not exactly what she had said. 
 " And now I want you to give me something, it 
 is a very small thing, will you ?" 
 
 She naturally imagined it was a kiss, but said, 
 quite innocently, 
 
 " Why, what is it ?" 
 
 " Just one little bit of a curl." 
 
 She felt ashamed of her first suspicion, and 
 hesitated a moment. She was not in the habit 
 of indulging in these sentimental pastimes, and 
 had heard more than one man laugh over his col- 
 lection of " reliques." 
 
 " What will you do with it ? Hang it on your 
 belt as the last of many scalps, and exhibit it 
 like the other braves in your wigwam ?" 
 
 " How can you talk so when you know I love 
 you !" 
 
 "Very well; if you will not get tragic or cross 
 you can have it. Here are the scissors. No, let me; 
 you would take it just where it would show the 
 most. Your own curls are much prettier. Before
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 55 
 
 you take it you must promise me one thing, that 
 you will be my true friend." 
 
 It was the only way to bind him to anything 
 like discretion. She had all confidence in his 
 honest intentions, but was afraid of the conse- 
 quences of his childish tempers and outbreaks 
 of jealousy. 
 
 " Now, Bessie, I promise solemnly to be a true 
 friend. Won't you seal the contract ?" 
 
 Arthur's warning was just in time. With a 
 mischievous glance she said, 
 
 " No, thank you ; your word is as good as your 
 bond. If papa were here we would not let you 
 go home such a night as this, but I must turn 
 you out. Good-night, man enfant." 
 
 And Waring was ushered into outer darkness 
 with the brown curl warming his very heart. 
 
 Bessie resumed her pacing back and forth, ask- 
 ing herself over and over again for hours what 
 she ought to do in this affair, and how far she 
 was responsible for Waring's welfare, both now 
 and in the future. Awakening suddenly from 
 her revery, and finding the storm much less vio- 
 lent, she decided to try to rest during the few 
 remaining hours of the night.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE general with his party returned safely in 
 the course of a few days, and matters went on in 
 their usual way for some months. All Bessie 
 felt capable of doing was to guide affairs into 
 quiet and peaceful channels. 
 
 Marry Waring she could not ; yet he kept her 
 in a continual state of anxiety. To have for a 
 husband a boy who had to be coaxed and threat- 
 ened into the proprieties was too much of an un- 
 dertaking. Then there was that mysterious wild 
 scrape, whatever it might be, of which she had 
 vaguely heard. His correct deportment since his 
 arrival at Fort Derby had been first the joke, then 
 the surprise of his associates, and in fact they all, 
 even Bessie, expected a relapse sooner or later 
 into his old ways. Living so much in small 
 communities where the domestic relations are not 
 hidden from one's neighbors by the multifarious 
 conventionalities of fashionable life, Bessie had 
 
 had some sad opportunities of seeing the misery 
 56
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 57 
 
 brought on families by these nice fellows who 
 had reformed just long enough to draw a girl 
 into a wretched marriage, from which she was too 
 conscientious or too proud to free herself. There 
 was a woman she knew, trying to bring up her 
 sons as Christian men, with a father dissolute, ir- 
 religious, selfish, and extravagant. Then again 
 there was that " little idiot," Lieutenant Jones. 
 Twice she had encountered him just in time to 
 save him from encountering her father, and for 
 the sake of his poor little wife had guided his 
 uncertain footsteps home, after which deed of 
 mercy she told the chaplain that all the way she 
 wanted " to kill the little beast." 
 
 Then, the pay. No woman, to her mind, who 
 had a particle of self-respect would marry for 
 money. That was simply infamous. But to 
 marry on nothing, that was not to be thought of 
 either. After these self-directed arguments her 
 forcible and logical conclusion always was, " I 
 don't want to marry any one, and I won't. So /" 
 
 But what was she to do ? For she found that 
 Waring's entire devotion was becoming a neces- 
 sity to her. She could not send him away, for he 
 ungenerously held over her head his threat of
 
 58 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " going to the devil." Apparently her only hope 
 was to lead him up to a reasonable point, where 
 she might definitely and without danger break 
 with him. One thing only was certain, she must 
 at any cost guard against letting him know to 
 what extent her interest had centred in him. 
 
 " That would only make it harder. I cannot 
 marry him. In a week he would choke me in a 
 fit of jealousy ; and if he got drunk, horrors ! I 
 believe I could murder some men." 
 
 Things went on their course, and spring came. 
 Bessie allowed as little love-making as possible, 
 lectured Waring upon wasting his time, set him 
 reading and even studying, and looked forward 
 with both joy and sorrow to the time of his 
 needing her no longer, and going away strong 
 and brave and alone. 
 
 In spite of her worry and perplexity, she found 
 a charming side to this present existence. Beside 
 the mere pleasure of being loved, a new and 
 delightful influence had come over her. 
 
 Her life had hitherto been from circumstances 
 an unusually selfish though not an ungenerous 
 one. After her father's few wishes had been con- 
 sulted, she had only herself to consider. The
 
 HALF MARRIED. $g 
 
 general was not the man to expect any but the 
 most usual manifestations of feminine care, and 
 anything like gush would have simply appalled 
 him. Bessie felt that in some mysterious way 
 the world had grown larger, kinder, and more 
 understandable since that stormy night when 
 Waring had so gently said he loved her, and 
 that maternal instinct which love always awakens 
 in a woman's breast made her take an almost 
 fierce pleasure in training this youth in the way 
 he should go. Sometimes the temptation to tell 
 him what a blessing he was to her cold and narrow 
 life almost overcame her ; but her natural caution 
 prevailed, and she would only say to herself, " Oh, 
 Charlie, if you only knew, how surprised you 
 would be ; but you never, never will." 
 
 During one of these meditations Tom arrived 
 to know if Miss Bessie would go riding with him. 
 
 ." Yes, my boy, in half an hour. I see it clearly. 
 My mission in life is to educate the rising genera- 
 tion. But first bring a rod, not for your back, 
 my son, and, according to my rash vow, I will 
 teach you to throw a fly ; for you know some of 
 these days we are going on a trouting expedition." 
 
 The general's quarters" had a wide though not
 
 60 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 highly-finished porch on three sides, thus they 
 were sheltered from some of the cold of winter 
 and from a great deal of the heat of summer. 
 
 On one of the three sides there was always 
 some breeze to be found, so here was a sort of 
 social rallying-point that during pleasant weather 
 was more used than the inside of the house. 
 Enough vines climbed over the various posts and 
 trellises to make a pleasant shade and afford a 
 slight screen. 
 
 Our little community gave themselves up to 
 enjoying summer, as only we who have a nine 
 months' winter can do. We North Americans 
 read, write, and think of the inhabitants of those 
 favored spots where they have a climate instead 
 of weather as constantly enjoying their privileges. 
 But does the swarthy Italian enjoy his noonday 
 nap, under the ivy-clad wall of course, as much 
 as our American pater familias does his after- 
 dinner cigar on his own pretty porch on a moon- 
 light summer evening ? The Italian is more 
 picturesque, but not as comfortable or appre- 
 ciative. 
 
 The Sandwich Island belle on her surf-board 
 never having felt the mercury " twenty below,"
 
 HALF MARRIED. 6 X 
 
 cannot have the same realizing sense of her 
 enjoyment as the dashing New Yorker who dons 
 her natty bathing-suit at Newport, knowing that 
 in three short months she will be comfortable in 
 a seal-skin coat. We know there is not a moment 
 of this blessed season to be lost, and so proceed 
 to make a business of enjoyment. To be sure, it 
 is often in a way that strikes awe to the foreigner's 
 soul and dyspepsia into his stomach; he, poor 
 man, having hitherto imagined that even the dogs 
 slept between eleven and three, and that only lions 
 and tigers ate meat with the thermometer regis- 
 tering ninety in the shade. 
 
 This almost living out of doors made Waring's 
 coming and going an easy matter, but his being 
 alone with Bessie quite difficult. Everybody 
 wandered about to see everybody else. Bessie 
 had noticed for several days that he had some- 
 thing on his mind, and wondered if at last he 
 had got himself into trouble. Arthur assured 
 her that he had not to his knowledge, but she 
 decided to find out for herself at the first oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 Late one afternoon, when the usual group was 
 on the porch, the irrepressible Tom came along
 
 62 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 with his bow and arrows. He shot an arrow that 
 fell on top of the veranda, and insisted upon 
 climbing up after it. Waring told him he would 
 break his small neck, and that, if Miss Bessie 
 would let him take off his coat, he would get it. 
 
 He threw down his coat, and, with the help of 
 the trellis and vines, soon gained the roof. He 
 had quite a hunt for the arrow, and, after he had 
 thrown it down, remained some little time in his 
 elevated position, saying it was cooler up there. 
 In fact, he was quietly taking a view of Bessie's 
 room. 
 
 It was very different from what he expected a 
 girl's room to be like. The furniture he hardly 
 noticed. The walls showed a collection of riding- 
 whips, a pair of snow-shoes, two trout-rods, 
 several old hats, two handsome engravings, and 
 her mother's portrait. Numerous photographs of 
 her friends were put here and there, and, horror 
 of horror, there hung over the mantel a little rifle 
 and a small " Smith & Wesson." Her boots 
 stood in a corner, and her slippers by them looked 
 small in comparison. As his eye wandered about 
 the premises, he noticed tied to the frame of the 
 looking-glass a broken spur, which he recognized
 
 HALF MARRIED. 63 
 
 as one he had asked her "to keep a moment" 
 once when they were out riding, and on the 
 bureau there was his photograph balancing the 
 general's dignified face. A light blue tie was 
 lying carelessly on the pin-cushion ; he walked 
 round to the front window, all the time chatting 
 to those below to allay suspicion, reached in and 
 captured it, and then lightly swung himself down 
 to the ground. No explorer had ever met with 
 more gratifying or more unexpected success. He 
 exhibited the trophy so Bessie alone could see it. 
 Alas ! she knew he had seen both picture and 
 spur, and wished Tom and his weapons at a re- 
 spectful distance. 
 
 Oh, Master Tom, that such an enfant terrible as 
 you should pose as Cupid ! A Cupid with knick- 
 erbockers and freckles ! 
 
 The conversation turned upon a fishing excur- 
 sion that had been for some time contemplated, 
 when Waring asked some questions exposing his 
 ignorance upon such matters. Bessie saw her 
 opportunity, told him "to come to-morrow and 
 be posted up." 
 
 The next day he appeared at the appointed 
 time, and she started to give him his lesson,
 
 64 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 hoping that afterwards of his own accord he 
 would tell her his tribulations, if he really had 
 any. 
 
 She was one of those people who inspire the 
 confidence of others, and become very encyclo- 
 paedias of their friends' disastrous love-affairs and 
 melancholy experiences without themselves ever 
 having confided a single disappointment to their 
 nearest and dearest. Probably it is this close- 
 mouthedness regarding their own matters that 
 induces the rest of the world to trust if not 
 always to love them. 
 
 " Now, mon enfant, have you a trout-rod ?" 
 
 " Bessie, I would not know a trout-rod from 
 the one that spares the child, or does something 
 like that." 
 
 " I will lend you one, but I will have to show 
 you how to mend it. My split bamboo that 
 Major White left me I would not lend you for 
 for any consideration. Of course, you haven't a 
 fly-book ?" 
 
 " I confess with humility that I never saw one. 
 There was not one volume in the West Point 
 library." 
 
 " Your ignorance is vast enough, don't exag-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 65 
 
 gerate it. Here is mine ; and you must learn the 
 difference between a Mole-chunk-a-muck and a 
 ' Silver Doctor,' for instance." 
 
 " A what !" 
 
 " Now, some of these flies are copied from 
 nature and some evolved from the inner con- 
 sciousness of the tackle-maker. Now, this is a 
 leader, and is made of " 
 
 " Catgut." 
 
 " No, it isn't ; it is unwound right out of the 
 silk-worm ; he is pinned down fast and this is 
 pulled off his reel." 
 
 " I see ; evolved from his inner consciousness, 
 as it were." 
 
 "They come from Spain. You see they are 
 not two feet long. I'll show you how to make 
 the knots. If you know how to use a long whip 
 in driving you can easily learn to cast. Now 
 that I have enlightened you, it is the turn of the 
 next youngest." 
 
 " Bessie, why do you always talk to me as if I 
 were a child ?" 
 
 " Never having pondered the question, I am 
 not prepared to answer. Why do you go about 
 
 looking like the ' melancholy Jaques' ? Hold 
 e 6*
 
 66 . HALF MARRIED. 
 
 that tip steady. I can't wind and wax the silk 
 when you jerk like that." 
 
 "Some time, Bessie, when I have a chance I 
 will tell you why I am troubled and sad." 
 
 " Well, tell me now." 
 
 " No ; it would take too long, and I must be 
 sure of having you all to myself for some time, 
 perhaps when we are off on this excursion." 
 
 " There, now, is quite a respectable rod ; see 
 that you do your teacher credit. You must go 
 now, I have something to do." 
 
 " Will you wear some violets this evening if I 
 send them to you ?" 
 
 " I will if the stems are long. My beloved Tom 
 brings me numbers, but in a state of hopeless 
 decapitation. Why does mankind insist upon 
 taking the heads off things generally, flowers and 
 women in particular?" 
 
 " You seem very fond of violets. I think they 
 are expressionless little things." 
 
 " No doubt that is the reason they always make 
 me think of a certain pair of blue eyes. My dear 
 boy, don't kiss my hand. It is very big, and you 
 are very foolish."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A COUPLE of mornings after this the sportsmen 
 assembled at the general's for their early start 
 They formed a picturesque group in their dark 
 suits, bright handkerchiefs, and slouch hats. Bes- 
 sie also wore a dark blue flannel shirt, a very 
 short riding-skirt, and a soft blue felt hat. A 
 bright scarlet handkerchief was tied around her 
 neck, and through her hat-band, in true fisherman 
 fashion, she had twisted a couple of leaders. In 
 her leather belt she had a large bunch of violets, 
 evidently doomed to an early death. 
 
 The second morning after their start they 
 reached a certain mountain stream where they 
 were to pitch their tents. They were to remain 
 a week, and every day one or two stayed in to 
 watch the camp. The second day Bessie and 
 Mrs. Worthington declared their intention of 
 staying " home" for a rest. Arthur and Waring 
 volunteered to remain with them. Arthur had 
 
 offered as soon as he saw that Waring intended 
 
 67
 
 68 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 doing so, simply for the purpose of keeping Car- 
 sten away, who was also of the party. 
 
 The truce between these two was always on the 
 point of being broken. Waring could not keep 
 his temper, and Carsten, though constantly irri- 
 tating him, was too shrewd to give sufficient 
 cause for a quarrel. Arthur seeing that he would 
 soon make Carsten quarrel and have the business 
 settled, still wanted to postpone the unpleasant 
 denouement as long as possible. Only the four 
 were left in camp. While Arthur was devoting 
 himself to the doctor's wife Waring walked up to 
 Bessie. 
 
 " Miss Bessie, will you come with me for just 
 a short stroll ?" 
 
 She was frightened at his serious manner, but 
 knew that it was too late to retreat from her 
 position as friend and adviser. A few steps 
 brought them into the real forest, where the 
 fallen logs and trees were covered with soft green 
 moss. All things old, rough, or ugly were con- 
 cealed. It was one of those beautiful spots only 
 found near "trails" in the real wilderness, never 
 by a countiy path, no matter how quiet and se- 
 cluded.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 69 
 
 Waring seated her on a mound of moss with a 
 fallen tree for a support, and, throwing himself 
 down by her side, began his confession. 
 
 " Bessie, I have something to tell you, what it 
 costs me you can never know. I have told you 
 over and over again how much I love you. I 
 love you better than all the world, but no good 
 girl will ever marry me. If you ever had thought 
 of it you never will again, never, never. Still, I 
 would rather not have you at all than not have 
 you fair and square. I know that I am sign- 
 ing my own death-warrant, please turn your head 
 away while I am doing it. 
 
 "Soon after leaving the Academy I was with 
 some friends in the country. We were at a little 
 boarding-house, kept by an old skinflint, a 
 woman who had a pretty daughter. I was sorry 
 for the girl; her old mother was snarling and 
 scolding at her all day long, and I found after- 
 wards that the few thousand dollars that I was 
 then fortunate enough to possess had been magni- 
 fied in her eyes into a fortune. She was willing to 
 let me have her daughter on any terms. I truly 
 only intended to be kind to the poor child ; I sup- 
 pose that it is foolish to pose as the victim of a
 
 70 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 plot, but the more I think of it the more aston- 
 ished I am at my own blind foolishness. 
 
 " The old widow, it was rumored, had by her 
 tongue driven her husband into the army, where 
 he was killed in the war. With the same weapon 
 and her love of money she succeeded in driving 
 her daughter to her own and my destruction. 
 The bully of a brother, who was a brute to his 
 sister always, met me one day, fortunately in a 
 quiet roadway, and informed me that he was going 
 to shoot me. I think now he had not the slightest 
 intention of doing so until I said, ' You are wel- 
 come; fire.' I stood perfectly still, thinking that 
 perhaps I deserved to be shot. He hurt me very 
 slightly on the shoulder ; a mark something like 
 Cain's, I suppose : it's always a reminder. I was 
 ordered out here, leaving the affair in the hands 
 of the only friend who knew of it. Do you 
 wonder that I have been irritable, moody, and 
 desperate during these months of waiting ? I have 
 only just heard from him. The girl, probably 
 without her mother's knowledge, sent me word 
 that she had forgiven me. My few thousand 
 dollars are gone to them. I am poorer than a 
 beggar. I cannot tell my mother where the
 
 HALF MARRIED. >j l 
 
 money is gone, it would kill her. All the 
 fellows know it's gone somewhere. Here I am 
 with nothing but my pay, in love with a beautiful 
 girl, and no hope. Oh, Bessie, every time I look 
 at you the whole dreadful thing comes over me 
 anew. I am not complaining. The hardest 
 thing I have to bear is the knowledge that I 
 deserve it all, and more." 
 
 He threw his arm across her lap and, with his 
 head on it, burst into tears. Poor Bessie did not 
 know whether to run from him or to. put her 
 arms around him. How often in future years, 
 when her own little ones were weeping out their 
 childish griefs at her knee, did she remember this 
 her first task of consolation, when the youthful 
 transgressor found the way so hard ! 
 
 Oh, how that girl must have loved him to 
 forgive him ! She imagined she would have 
 murdered him ! " To forgive," " to forgive," the 
 words seemed to ring in her ears and beat in her 
 heart. Such love she had read of, but never 
 believed in. And then, too, for him to love her 
 enough to lose rather than deceive her. Leaning 
 over him, with her hands on his curls, she said, 
 
 " Charlie dear, it is angelic in her to forgive
 
 72 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 you. It is very brave in you to tell me. I do 
 not think I can quite understand either of you. 
 It's too high a flight for my colder fancy to reach. 
 In her place I could no more forgive you than 
 in yours I could stand up and be shot at. Oh, 
 Charlie ! Don't, don't, it breaks my heart to have 
 you wicked or unhappy !" 
 
 After a few moments he said, 
 
 " The thing is over at last, and we must walk 
 back. Bessie, you have been very merciful," and 
 for the first time he kissed her cheek. " They 
 say you read the whole service every night, won't 
 you say one prayer for me sometimes? unless 
 you think I'm past it." 
 
 " I think I have ever since the first night I saw 
 you. I knew all the time that you were looking 
 through the window at me, and it was very hard 
 to keep a straight face and receive you with 
 becoming dignity." 
 
 The fishermen all came in for an early supper, 
 and for two or three hours afterwards all lounged 
 or smoked around the camp-fire. Bessie heard 
 none of the jokes or stories as she gazed at the 
 glowing flame of the fire and the bright stars in 
 the heavens.
 
 HALF MARRIED, 73 
 
 111 a few months what a difficult and compli- 
 cated place hers had become! It is easy to do 
 right when one knows clearly what is right. But 
 if you were very fond of a handsome young 
 soldier, and knew you would both be wretched 
 if you married him, and if you told him so, and 
 he then said he would follow his inclinations and 
 go to the devil, and you had every reason to 
 believe that he would, what ought you to do? 
 "Oh! if we could always stay this way," she 
 thought, " living in camps, on horseback, and in 
 beautiful woods, and be always young, that would 
 indeed be happiness." But the man she would 
 marry must be more like her father, upright, 
 strong, "a very help in time of need," not an 
 anxiety, a care, not even a loving care. 
 
 " FORT DERBY, , 187 . 
 
 "DEAR MAMIE, 
 
 " As I wrote up all our little items of news in 
 my last, there is nothing particular to say to you. 
 ' The fate' you prophesy for me is simply impos- 
 sible, for Charlie Waring is to leave here before 
 many months at farthest, and in all probability we 
 
 will never see each other again. 
 D 7
 
 74 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " We have just returned from trouting. You 
 know papa is a great sportsman. You should 
 have seen my costume. It is all right here, but 
 I often laugh to myself as I picture the sensation 
 it would create on Broadway or the conster- 
 nation on Chestnut Street. I must tell you one 
 thing that happened. 
 
 " Beside the saddle-horses we had a small 
 ambulance. The seats are sideways and facing 
 each other. We were to take turns, four in the 
 vehicle and four on horseback ; as the weather 
 had become very warm and the moon rose early 
 in the evening, we were to rest during the after- 
 noon and ride most of the night. The second 
 evening out we were called about eleven o'clock 
 to resume our journey, I can sleep with a 
 blanket for a bed very comfortably. It was now 
 time for the doctor and Mrs. Worthington, Charlie 
 and me, to take our turn in the ambulance ; papa, 
 Arthur, Carsten, and Ursus Major, as I call him, 
 taking the horses. 
 
 " I sat on the side with Mrs. Worthington, put 
 my head in her lap, and was soon comfortably 
 asleep. I woke up once. I indistinctly remem- 
 ber that the doctor was snoring in the corner
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 75 
 
 and that Charlie looked so uncomfortable. He 
 seemed to be in such a strange, bent-over position. 
 
 " About sunrise we reached our destination. 
 After breakfast I saw Mrs. Worthington say 
 something to Charlie. She is over forty, but still 
 pretty, so attractive and gay, without trying to 
 appear young or captivating, and has small, lovely 
 hands. He flushed up to the roots of his hair, 
 and then they both laughed so hard I thought 
 they would strangle. The more I asked the 
 cause of their amusement the more they laughed. 
 I thought they were laughing at me, and was 
 really annoyed. 
 
 " What do you think was the joke ? Lieuten- 
 ant Waring had kept wide awake and in an un- 
 comfortable position for hours holding Mrs. 
 Worthington's hand, under the impression that it 
 was mine. I laughed until I cried, and the rest 
 evidently thought we three had gone mad. 
 
 " I told Charlie that it served him right for not 
 knowing my number six and a quarter from Mrs. 
 Worthington's number five. Mrs. Worthington 
 said that she would press his hand very gently, 
 and, though she is a great sleepy-head, would 
 not have missed the fun for any amount of rest,
 
 7 6 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 and that if he is not her obedient slave henceforth 
 she will publish his discomfiture far and wide. 
 I shall tease him awfully about it when he gets 
 into a sentimental vein. This is enough nonsense 
 for one letter. We are going off for a little visit 
 to Fort Granger. You know there is quite a 
 town there, and we are actually going to have a 
 german. The march (or dance) of civilization 
 and progress is truly wonderful, is it not ? 
 
 " Affectionately, 
 
 " BESSIE." 
 
 In a fortnight the same party set off for Fort 
 Granger. The general had to go, and during the 
 summer he always found plenty of volunteers to 
 accompany him. They were to stay a few days, 
 have a " good time," and, if possible, induce some 
 of their neighbors to return with them, so that the 
 aforesaid good time might be prolonged. 
 
 Arthur was not to go, so Bessie found her 
 position between her two quarrelsome admirers 
 particularly difficult. She knew that Carsten's 
 attention was more for the purpose of enraging 
 Waring than of pleasing her, and his amiable ef- 
 forts were crowned with success. Bessie begged
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 77 
 
 Waring for just this once to keep himself in 
 the background. He did so, but with a conspicu- 
 ously bad grace. 
 
 The grand affair was to be on the second 
 evening after their arrival, and she had promised 
 to dance the german with Waring. The favors 
 were quite unique, among them^a number of little 
 snow-shoes, canoes, paddles, etc., made by an old 
 Indian. The large barracks were cleared and 
 decorated; flags, bayonets, and sabres making a 
 gay and military appearance. The entire com- 
 munity was excited over this social event, and the 
 Eastern belles were quite carried away with its 
 novelty. Bessie's experience we will give in her 
 own words in a hurried letter to Arthur : 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " I am truly in an awful scrape, and you are 
 the only one I can think of to help me out. I 
 shall have to go way back to make you under- 
 stand it. 
 
 " I told Mr. Waring if he would not devote 
 himself to me beforehand I would dance the ger- 
 man with him. He did as I requested, but in a 
 
 way that plainly showed he was ill-natured over 
 
 7*
 
 ^8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 it. Several times it unfortunately happened that 
 I had to choose between him and Mr. Carsten. I 
 was as impartial as I knew how to be, but every 
 time that I chose Mr. Carsten, Mr. Waring plainly 
 showed his rage, and I knew that mischief would 
 come out of it. After the dreadful thing was 
 over, I was walking with Mr. Waring, who was 
 jealous as a Turk and cross as a grizzly, when 
 Mr. Carsten came up to us, and in an impudent 
 way that he never would have dared had I been 
 with you or my father asked me to walk into the 
 supper-room and have some iced punch. I was 
 going to decline politely, but Mr. Waring broke 
 in with, he was past the red heat : he was white 
 and cool, ' Mr. Carsten, you have evidently been 
 appreciating the punch; Miss Lansing will stay 
 where she is.' 
 
 " There was something said about being ' found 
 in the mess-room.' I was frightened to death, 
 and don't know just what they did say. Mr. 
 Waring left me with Mrs. Worthington. He did 
 not say a word, and I have not seen him since. 
 I don't know anything about such dreadful things ; 
 I only know that if they are foolish enough to 
 fight, I am ruined in the sight of all my friends.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 79 
 
 I do not think the trouble was noticed. We hap- 
 pened to be a little apart from the rest of the 
 promenaders, and the band was still playing. 
 
 " As some of the ' Grangers' are going home 
 with us, and papa will have company for them, I 
 will have no opportunity of .seeing you, so I have 
 written this, and if I have a chance will send it on 
 ahead. You see it is a serious matter to be my 
 friend. I dare not speak to my father about it. 
 He would never, never forgive me for being in 
 any way connected with a thing so disgraceful. 
 I am very unhappy, what can I do? 
 
 " Yours in perplexity, 
 
 " B. L." 
 
 At the same time she sent a short note to 
 Waring : 
 
 "DEAR CHARLIE," she thought that "dear" 
 might have some effect, " I beg you will do 
 nothing about that affair with Mr. C. until we 
 return to Fort Derby. 
 
 " B." 
 
 Waring wrote to Arthur, who received his and
 
 80 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Bessie's letters a few hours before the arrival of 
 the parties concerned : 
 
 DEAR ARTHUR, 
 
 "At last I have got the chance that I have 
 been waiting for for months, namely, to blow 
 Carsten's few brains out ; will you be a good 
 fellow and stand by me ? 
 
 " C. W." 
 
 The party with their guests reached Fort 
 Derby at the time expected. Arthur was bent on 
 having the meeting prevented, but knowing the 
 temper of the two men concerned, he knew that 
 Bessie's intervention alone could stop it. Never- 
 theless he saw Waring ; he argued, he threatened, 
 he pled and reasoned with him, but nothing 
 would induce him to change his purpose. He 
 replied to Arthur's crowning objection, that Bes- 
 sie's name would be made disagreeably if not 
 scandalously conspicuous, that " that idea was all 
 nonsense, as the quarrel would be put on other 
 grounds." 
 
 Arthur, out of patience and at his wits' end, and 
 knowing the general's house to be too full of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 8 1 
 
 company for any chance of getting a word with 
 Bessie, wrote to her : 
 
 "DEAR Miss BESSIE, 
 
 "That young beggar won't listen to reason. 
 You are the only one who can do anything. If 
 necessary be engaged to him, and when this mat- 
 ter cools down break it off. Do anything to 
 ward this off for the present. C.'s friend is ready 
 to compromise, but the ill feeling dates so far 
 back neither principal will hear of an arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 " I will do my endeavor, and let you know if 
 things take a more favorable turn. 
 
 " Sincerely, 
 
 " M. A." 
 
 Though Bessie was distressed and alarmed, she 
 could not help seeing the ridiculous side of af- 
 fairs, and when the pretty Eastern damsel, who 
 rather prided herself upon being a desperate flirt, 
 openly declared to Bessie that she was going to 
 lay siege to Waring, and further remarked that 
 she was " ready to fall down and adore his pretty
 
 82 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 little feet," Bessie with difficulty kept from smil- 
 ing, and could hardly refrain from running over 
 to Mrs. Worthington's, telling of the impending 
 social explosion, and having one more laugh 
 before the final tragedy. 
 
 The evening after their arrival at home the 
 general's little entertainment was to come off. 
 Bessie grew almost desperate as the time passed 
 without her having a chance to speak to Waring. 
 He knew well enough when it was to his advan- 
 tage to keep away. She sent word to Arthur 
 that he must arrange to have both Waring and 
 Carsten at her father's that night, then at all 
 hazards she would arrange the rest. 
 
 They both came. " Yes," said Bessie to herself, 
 "two skeletons at the feast is more than my 
 share." Both " skeletons" avoided her. 
 
 It was late, and she had not yet had a word 
 with Waring. At last she managed to signal to 
 him across the room. He came to her immedi- 
 ately. She said, in an undertone, 
 
 " I must see you alone to-night at any cost. If 
 there is no other way, when the lights are out 
 swing yourself up on the veranda roof and wait 
 outside my front window. For mercy sake be
 
 HALF MARRIED. 83 
 
 quiet and don't let the sentry see you. Go back 
 now." 
 
 The guests departed, her father went up-stairs, 
 and, after arranging her household matters so they 
 would not look utterly hopeless in the near morn- 
 ing, with icy hands and trembling limbs she went 
 to her own room. She did not dare light her 
 lamp, thinking Waring might be already at his 
 post ; but the moon shone brightly, and through 
 the open window she saw that she was alone. 
 
 She sat there waiting, knowing perfectly well 
 what an awful risk she was taking. If the duel 
 came off she felt she would be hopelessly com- 
 promised. Her father never would forgive her; 
 and if either were shot but that she could not 
 think of. If any one saw Waring coming to her 
 window that night well, she would have to marry 
 him, live in poverty, and perhaps, worse than all, 
 grow to hate him. 
 
 It is not, as generally supposed, the sudden 
 knowledge or discovery of sin that makes the 
 young older or more worldly wise. That knowl- 
 edge, like all other, comes by degrees. But it is 
 when they first awaken to the fact that they them- 
 selves are liable to be judged by that false standard
 
 84 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 of the world, " appearances," they start back hor- 
 rified before their possible censors. 
 
 Bessie was overcome with horror at her own 
 deception, but she was playing for a couple of 
 lives, and perhaps a soul, too. If the stake is 
 high, so must the risk be great. She heard the 
 sentry walk down the path. The moon kindly 
 hid her light under a cloud, Waring swung him- 
 self on the roof, and was in a moment seated 
 outside of the window as arranged. 
 
 " Bessie dear, here I am." 
 
 " Yes, and you must promise me that this you 
 know what I mean shall go no further. If it 
 would be of any use, I would say let it stop for 
 your own sake, but I shall have to be selfish and 
 ask you to do so for mine. See what a risk I 
 have taken. But in truth, I would rather have 
 you seen leaving me here at this hour than have 
 you raise your hand in such a foolish and useless 
 quarrel. I assure you that if you are seen to- 
 night, it will be no worse for me than it will be 
 if this miserable thing takes place. As I cannot 
 accept your love, I cannot appeal to it. I can 
 only beg you to be generous to me and apologize 
 to Mr. Carsten for your rude speech to him."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 85 
 
 " Never, never! And he would not accept it: he 
 would call me a coward. I would be a marked 
 man before the whole army." 
 
 " Very well. It is better, then, that I should be 
 a marked woman before the whole world. I hear 
 that it is to be at noon to-morrow ? Just call the 
 sentry to help you down, man enfant ! That will 
 make the whole thing consistent. And to-morrow, 
 when you are dead, wounded, or, worse yet, miss- 
 ing, my position will be assured if not enviable." 
 
 Waring put his hand over his face, and, after a 
 few moments' pause, said, 
 
 " Bessie, this is the hardest cut yet. I will 
 apologize, but only for your sake, and he will not 
 accept it." 
 
 " Lieutenant Carsten will listen to you, that I 
 am sure of. Now you must go. You are a dear 
 boy after all." 
 
 He detached a little pin from the lace around 
 her throat, the little bayonet with the ruby heart 
 on its point, and leaned over to kiss "his dear 
 sweetheart." 
 
 " Oh, no, no, Charlie ; not here, not here." 
 
 " To-morrow, darling ?" 
 
 " You have been very good ; yes, to-morrow."
 
 86 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 "To-morrow, Bessie, and to-morrow." 
 As the sentry paced his beat and chaste Luna 
 hid her shining head from these improper pro- 
 ceedings, which we fear the less chaste sentry 
 would not have done had he " suspicioned" them, 
 Waring dropped lightly and safely to the ground. 
 Bessie gave a sigh of relief. " Now for Mr. 
 . Carsten. He little knows the surprise I have laid 
 up to keep him in order." 
 
 She wrote a note to Arthur, which she would 
 send as early as possible, telling of her success 
 with Waring, and enclosing one in it for Carsten, 
 which ran thus : 
 
 " LIEUTENANT CARSTEN, 
 
 "Will you be kind enough to call on me to- 
 day as early as possible, certainly before noon? 
 It will oblige me very much. 
 
 " I am, very truly, 
 
 "BESSIE LANSING." 
 
 Bessie rose bright and early after her brief and 
 uneasy slumbers, and the notes were despatched. 
 Like all very young people passing through the 
 first great crisis of their lives, she was almost sur-
 
 HALF MARRIED. g/ 
 
 prised to awake and find all things as they were 
 the night before. If her intercession and schemes 
 had failed, how different the world would have 
 appeared ! at least to her on that beautiful summer 
 morning. 
 
 How little we know of the slumbering vol- 
 canoes under our friends' feet, and what a sur- 
 prisingly slight acquaintance they have with the 
 " skeleton in our closet," though he is grinning at 
 us through the door ajar, and deafening us with 
 a devil's tattoo, played no doubt with his shin- 
 bones ! Our friends, thank heaven, neither see 
 nor hear him, and we gladly persuade ourselves 
 that these disagreeable manifestations are only 
 apparent to our over-sensitive perceptions, and 
 that he is not such a bad skeleton after all. 
 
 A Connecticut lawyer remarked to his wife, 
 who, after commenting on the unfortunate pub- 
 licity given to a certain family's private affairs, 
 ended her little speech by saying, " Yes, but nearly 
 every one has a skeleton in his closet," " My 
 dear, I know that, but these people trot theirs out 
 on the front steps." 
 
 Happy the man who keeps his under lock 
 and key.
 
 88 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 As in duty bound, Carsten obeyed Bessie's sum- 
 mons. Undaunted, Bessie stood in the parlor 
 before him. 
 
 " Mr. Carsten, I am sorry to trouble you ; I am 
 going to ask you to do me a great favor. Will 
 you accept Lieutenant Waring's apology which 
 he will make to you to-day ?" 
 
 " Ah, is that the way the land lies ? What is 
 the price you offer for his pretty head delivered 
 safe and sound ?" 
 
 Only the knowledge that she had the game in 
 her own hands enabled her to control her rage at 
 this man's vindictiveness. 
 
 " I will be ever grateful to you, that is all." 
 
 " As you have no other price to pay for your 
 lover " 
 
 " What did you say, sir ?" 
 
 " For Lieutenant Waring. I tell you plainly that 
 I will not accept his apology made through your 
 influence to save his skin. I will publish him as 
 a coward, and that will ruin him." 
 
 " Then I am to understand that you positively 
 refuse to do as I ask ?" 
 
 " Yes, most distinctly and decidedly I do." 
 
 " Mr. Carsten, it is my turn now. Please listen
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 8 9 
 
 to me. Some years ago, during one of my vaca- 
 tions, I was staying with a lady who was the 
 daughter of an army officer. One day she 
 brought down from the garret an old newspaper, 
 and for curiosity we all looked over it. It was an 
 old Newburyport Gazette. Among other notices 
 was one that read something like this : 
 
 ' BEWARE. 
 
 " 'All persons beware of harboring Lucretia Holmes, a bound 
 girl, who has run away from Dr. Thomas Currie, U.S.A.' 
 
 Then my friends told me how this girl was strongly 
 suspected of burning down her father's house and 
 causing the death of a child, whose death was 
 sudden and mysterious. The paper they gave to 
 me. I still have it, as it contains the death notice 
 of a great-aunt of mine." 
 
 " Well, Miss Lansing, I do not see how I am 
 affected by this very interesting recital." 
 
 " Wait a moment. Two days after this a gentle- 
 man's card was sent in to my friend. ' William S. 
 Carsten' was the name. As my hostess entered 
 the room he said, ' I beg your pardon, madam ; 
 I have come to make inquiries after Lucretia 
 
 Holmes, an adopted daughter of your father, 
 
 8*
 
 CjQ HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Dr. Currie, of the army.' My friend, too hasty 
 to ask questions, and too amazed to even think, 
 caught up the paper that had been laid for safety 
 in a table-drawer and read the notice. 
 
 " The man, she told us, seemed perfectly dazed 
 and withdrew without a word. Soon after we saw 
 among the list of graduates at West Point the 
 name of William S. Carsten, Jr. You have called 
 my mother a ' rebel.' I can call yours or your 
 grandmother a bound girl and a criminal, and I 
 have had occasion to call you a coward to your 
 face. It is my turn now to threaten. If you 
 dare touch Lieutenant Waring, if you dare call 
 him my lover until I authorize you to do so, I 
 will publish to the world this little bit of your 
 family history." 
 
 Bessie fairly glared at her adversary as she 
 stood directly in front of him delivering this 
 lecture. 
 
 Nothing is more astonishing to a gentleman, or 
 a man who has lived among gentlemen, than the 
 honest anger and indignation of a woman. Car- 
 sten was frightened at Bessie's vehemence, and 
 being a slow thinker, her quick sharp recital left 
 him in a dazed state, and for a moment without a
 
 HALF MARRIED. ^ 
 
 word to say. Two thoughts only came to his 
 mind. The first was, " She looks as if she would 
 murder me if she dared." He turned white as he 
 put the other in words and hardly breathed as he 
 said, 
 
 " Miss Lansing, Waring knows all of this, of 
 course ?" 
 
 "Certainly not. No one, not even my father; 
 and no one ever shall from me if you accept 
 Lieutenant Waring's apology and stop irritating 
 him. You care nothing for me. You are atten- 
 tive to me only to annoy him." 
 
 During the pause which followed, Carsten 
 thought henceforth he would as soon take liber- 
 ties with a Gatling-gun as attempt a flirtation with 
 this terrible young lady. With an expression of 
 relief he said, 
 
 " Miss Lansing, you have let me off very easy. 
 I did not suppose that any one was so generous." 
 
 " The world generally pays us off in our own 
 coin. I never would have used this knowledge 
 for my own benefit, never never." 
 
 " Well, I shall try to profit by a noble example. 
 I shall never annoy you again; will you shake 
 hands with me before I bid farewell to you ?"
 
 92 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " There is no reason why you should say fare- 
 well. You will do me a favor and I will keep 
 your secret always. We may be better friends 
 than we were before. Good-morning." 
 
 As she watched Carsten's retreating figure she 
 saw Arthur approaching. He sat down on the 
 shady porch, and Bessie told him that the whole 
 matter was satisfactorily arranged, and that she 
 had been so worried she was " most dead." The 
 apology was duly given, and received cordially, 
 and in the course of a few days the whole com- 
 munity was astonished at the politeness and good 
 nature that had seized Carsten. Like many men 
 born " under a cloud," he felt that for no fault of 
 his the world was against him, and was always 
 ready to feel slights and smarts where none were 
 intended. That monster of wickedness, the 
 "world," had for once treated him even better 
 than he deserved, and he now had some hopes 
 for it as well as for himself. 
 
 During the remainder of the summer every- 
 thing went on without jarring. Arthur told Bes- 
 sie " all the fellows thought Carsten was going to 
 die or had come into a fortune, he was so devilish 
 good-natured."
 
 HALF MARRIED, 
 
 Waring was quite subdued; as Bessie had al- 
 ways the same answer he began to fear that his 
 case was hopeless, but he would persevere to the 
 sweet or bitter end as the case might be.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE autumn passed gayly with its walks, rides, 
 and excursions, and only too soon winter came. 
 Bessie was trying to make up her mind to tell 
 Waring that he must arrange to be ordered off 
 or exchanged into another regiment. It was not 
 fair to let him stay on this way, wasting his time. 
 It was not manly in him. If he had not suffi- 
 cient strength of character to go well, she had 
 enough to make him, that was all. As he had 
 been most exemplary in every way for a year, 
 surely he could be trusted alone now. It was 
 very pleasant to have him, very, very, but it must 
 end, and now the sooner the better. How often 
 when we are planning our little campaigns does 
 the Great Commander of all forces send us to 
 the right about and take the directing of matters 
 into His own hands ! 
 
 While Bessie was getting up her courage for 
 
 her hard duty, the general caught a severe cold. 
 94
 
 HALF MARRIED. 95 
 
 A bullet in his shoulder his " souvenir" he 
 called it aggravated his malady. He was des- 
 perately ill a few weeks, died, and was buried. 
 Not in the city of his fathers, but, like many 
 soldiers, far away from birthplace, early friends, 
 and family. One bitter day, in wind and storm, 
 with the honors of war, he was laid to rest. A 
 just man, who had never knowingly turned his 
 back on a foe, a friend, or a duty. 
 
 Now the general's wisdom in bringing up his 
 daughter as he had showed itself. All her girl- 
 hood he had looked to just this possibility. He 
 had tacitly given her to understand that she was 
 at liberty to do within reason, of course just 
 what she chose, provided she was ready to suf- 
 fer the consequences without murmuring. In a 
 measure he made her regard life from a man's 
 stand-point, and as he tried to impress upon her 
 life's possibilities, he endeavored to fit her to meet 
 them. He frequently said, " What a detestable 
 set are these helpless people ! They have to be 
 dragged and carried through life, and when one is 
 dragging them with might and main, they put on 
 the air of sainted martyrs, instead of looking like 
 the confounded nuisances they are."
 
 9 6 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 "Bessie, I would rather you were a a a 
 circus-rider than " 
 
 " Yes, papa, with spangles and a paper hoop." 
 
 After the funeral Dr. Worthington and a couple 
 of the other officers came to the general's library. 
 Bessie gave them his keys and requested that 
 they would examine his papers, and after all the 
 business and military communications were placed 
 in the proper hands she would give her attention 
 to the private matters. 
 
 This terrible visitation had been so unlocked 
 for, she was dull and stupefied. She was quiet, 
 could talk calmly with her advisers, but when the 
 outward stimulus was removed, felt overwhelmed 
 with the isolation and loneliness of her position. 
 
 In a few days old Lucy came to her room to 
 say that the doctor wanted to see her. He had 
 come to say that the general's life insurance was 
 so and so. There was a small amount in this 
 and that investment. She was just twenty, and 
 he could arrange so that she would "get on" 
 until her majority. He then told her as delicately 
 as he could that she must soon make some 
 definite arrangements. His wife would be happy 
 to have her with them, etc., etc.
 
 HALF MARRIED. yj 
 
 How she dreaded the breaking up! She had 
 absolutely no claim upon any one. Of her 
 mother's friends she knew but the name. Her 
 father was an only child and had left his home 
 when a boy ; his parents had died years before. 
 
 Bessie was twenty years old, with money 
 enough to be comfortable, and was alarmingly 
 free and untrammelled. 
 
 She thanked the doctor for his kind offers, but 
 told him that as no one would be sent to fill her 
 father's place immediately, she would remain in 
 her own house and "take a week or two to 
 think." 
 
 She had written immediately to her friend 
 Mamie of her 'father's death, and now hoped fer- 
 vently that she would write for her to come to 
 her. 
 
 In as short a time as the letter could be sent 
 and answered, Bessie received the longed-for in- 
 vitation. Mamie and Mamie's husband insisted 
 that she should " come East," stay with them, and 
 then at their leisure her future plans could be 
 arranged. She wrote that she was only too grati- 
 fied for their goodness, and that in the course 
 of six weeks they would see her and Lucy, for 
 = 9 9
 
 9 8 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 whom she hoped they would find a comfortable 
 lodgment. 
 
 All this time Waring was constantly with Bes- 
 sie. He expected his orders any moment, but 
 he had made her promise that she would not 
 leave until after he had. 
 
 All the joy of her life was departing. While 
 the last glimmer of light remained she deter- 
 mined, almost savagely, to enjoy it. Wasn't the 
 future dark and lonesome enough ? 
 
 Mrs. Worthington gently suggested that she 
 and black Lucy should stay with her. Bessie 
 knew that it was on Waring's account. She said 
 quietly, but decidedly, to Mrs. Worthington, 
 " No, thank you ; I shall not leave the old house 
 till I leave it forever;" but said fiercely to herself, 
 " No one on earth shall cheat me out of the few 
 weeks of happiness left to me ; I'll be wretched 
 enough to make up." 
 
 Though Waring had repeatedly been com- 
 manded to " have no hope," he almost thought at 
 times that he was gaining ground. Bessie no 
 longer concealed her pleasure at his coming, no 
 longer read or wrote during his constant visits. 
 
 He sat in his favorite place on the deer-skin in
 
 HALF MARRIED. 99 
 
 front of the wood fire leaning against her chair, 
 sometimes with his curly head in her lap. She 
 was too tired out to resist his entreaties any 
 longer. She was responsible to no one for 
 broken conventionalities. She had honestly 
 warned him of his danger, and now, che sara 
 sara. The world looked dark, and for the first 
 time in her life she felt rebellious. 
 
 Time went swiftly by, and it came Waring's last 
 day at the post. He had declined all offers of 
 " send-offs," suppers, etc. Every one knew why, 
 that his last evening might be spent with "his 
 sweetheart." He entered the general's quarters 
 for the last time. He and Bessie sat silently 
 in the old place, both thinking of the first time 
 they had met there and knowing this was the last. 
 Quite suddenly he looked up at her and said, 
 
 " Bessie, now that I'm going away, won't you 
 give me a send-off? Read the Evening Service 
 to me I'll be very still, and you don't know but 
 what it may do me some good out of your old 
 Prayer Book, the one that you take everywhere 
 with you. We will come over here to the 
 lounge." 
 
 Bessie said, " Why, yes," and managed to keep
 
 100 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 back the tears, as with forced composure she read 
 as he had asked. The Psalter ended, " Oh tarry 
 thou the Lord's leisure, be strong and He shall 
 comfort thine heart." Bessie felt a hopeless fore- 
 boding that it would be a long time before their 
 hearts would be comforted. 
 
 " Bessie, I believe parsons give the book they 
 marry people out of to the bride ; won't you give 
 me the one I have been buried out of?" 
 
 " Charlie, you must not talk so." 
 
 " Will you give it to me ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Before I go make me one promise." 
 
 " Oh, Charlie, please don't." 
 
 " It will not hurt you ; it is this. That you will 
 not marry any one within two years ; that you 
 will wait that long for me." 
 
 After a moment's pause, she said, 
 
 " I would rather not, but will on these condi- 
 tions, but you know it will do no good, 
 you are not to write to me or expect me to write 
 to you, and that if you are fortunate enough" 
 (here her voice almost broke) " to find any one 
 who can take my place in your heart, you will do 
 so, only let me know."
 
 HALF MARRIED. IO I 
 
 "You are always very generous, but in this 
 case your generosity is unnecessary. Oh, Bessie, 
 why can't you love me ?" 
 
 He took her right hand, put her arm round his 
 neck, laid his head on her shoulder, and told her 
 again and again that he loved her more than all 
 the world, and that some time she would under- 
 stand what love meant and at least remember 
 him. 
 
 They sat there silently for a long time : the fire 
 burned low and threw its faint red light over the 
 familiar room, and the old clock ticked off the 
 few remaining moments that they had left to be 
 together. As the usual hour came for leaving, 
 Waring vowed that he would not go ; if she had 
 spoken truth, it was his last hour of happiness on 
 earth. She finally had to plead, coax, and insist 
 upon his leaving, yes, she would kiss him good- 
 by, but he must go. 
 
 As he rose to take his departure, she said, 
 impulsively, 
 
 " Charlie, it is selfish and wrong, but I arn 
 going off all alone, and tell me only once again 
 that you love me ; I may never hear it from any 
 one again. I must never again from you."
 
 1 O2 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 He said, " Bessie, I love you, and it is forever.' 
 He caught her in his arms, held her for a few 
 moments as if he would never release her, kissed 
 her, and as his voice broke into a sob, abruptly 
 let her go and went out of the house for the last 
 time. Bessie then threw herself on her knees by 
 the old lounge, her face buried in the pillow so 
 often pressed by the head of her handsome young 
 lover, and gave herself up to an agony of tears 
 and misery. 
 
 The next morning she and some others were 
 up before the sun to see the detachment off. 
 Waring rode up to the porch, the old rendezvous 
 of happier days, where his friends were walking 
 briskly up and down to keep warm. He looked 
 very pale and very determined ; his whole expres- 
 sion had changed since the night before. 
 
 He shook hands with them all, leaving Bessie 
 till the last. He said very softly to her, " Thou 
 art life and light to me, adios /" When he added 
 the formal good-by, she said, " God bless you ! 
 farewell." Then swinging himself lightly into 
 the saddle, he rode away without looking back. 
 The sun broke suddenly through the gray morn- 
 ing clouds, making the snowy plain a field of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 103 
 
 glory, and in a flood of golden light our young 
 soldier galloped away to other scenes and other 
 duties. 
 
 Bessie insisted that her friends should come in 
 to breakfast. There were Mrs. Worthington, the 
 doctor, Arthur, and the major. It was the last 
 time she could entertain them, as that day she 
 began packing up. 
 
 The breakfast was despatched with cheerfulness, 
 if not with the old jollity. Bessie wanted her 
 friends to remember the house as it used to be, and 
 so kept her spirits up. After breakfast, it being 
 very early, the gentlemen took their cigars in 
 the parlor while Bessie and Mrs. Worthington at- 
 tended to the hanging of the old kettle. They 
 drank to Waring's good fortune, and then, at 
 Bessie's request, to her father's memory. After 
 having made Bessie many offers of assistance, 
 they dispersed to their various duties. Before the 
 packing was begun Bessie sent for her horse, to 
 have a ride in the cold, keen air. She needed some- 
 thing to compose her before her labors began. 
 
 She carried with her a peculiar and awkward- 
 looking bundle. After a ride of a few miles up 
 the mountain she dismounted. Tying her horse
 
 IO4 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 to an evergreen tree, she cautiously walked to the 
 bank of a high precipice and threw the poor 
 faithful kettle down. Down, down, hundreds of 
 feet, it slid and bumped, finding a resting-place at 
 last. May we all rest as well at the end of our 
 slips and hard knocks ! 
 
 Oh, Bessie, foolish woman, you are actually 
 crying over a copper kettle ! But it was the one 
 article in her possession that called to mind 
 exclusively domestic and affectionate memories. 
 Her father's swords and personal belongings she 
 could see and handle without any particular emo- 
 tion, they were part of the world and its ways, 
 but the "campaigner" she could not look at 
 without tears, and as for giving it away, never 
 should it be touched by human hands after that 
 breakfast-party. 
 
 Bessie arranged in boxes and trunks the various 
 possessions that were to be packed away ; some 
 were to be left at the fort until she knew what 
 and where her life was to be. Being by nature 
 and education self-reliant, and always having lived 
 in that uncertain state, "subject to orders," the 
 vagueness of her future gave her no uneasiness. 
 She was very, very sad, but had no more anxiety
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 105 
 
 about herself than an officer who is ordered from 
 one station to another. In one of her two trunks 
 that were to go East she threw one or two whips, 
 one of the general's swords that had " seen ser- 
 vice," the deer-skin rug, a certain broken spur, 
 her photographs, sundry boots and hats, and her 
 own spurs. " They will be a comfort to me if 
 they are of no use. I would never dare to let 
 any one see into that trunk, they would think me 
 uncivilized." 
 
 Bessie left her own room till the last. Tom 
 had fallen heir to the cats, and enough tackle and 
 knives to make him rich for a year. The only 
 breakable articles of value that she possessed 
 were a pair of Chinese vases that were very old, 
 and by a miracle of good fortune had survived 
 entire through an adventurous and changing life. 
 She shook out of one of them the usual accumu- 
 lation of buttons, nails, screws, and matches that 
 seem to have a natural affinity for deep mantel 
 ornaments, as no one ever places them there or is 
 able to account for their presence. 
 
 Out of the other fell a little box with the name 
 of a well-known San Francisco jeweller on it. 
 She quickly opened it, and found a beautiful little
 
 106 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 gold cross with a star cut in the centre, in which 
 was set a small but very bright diamond, and also 
 a note from Waring : 
 
 " BESSIE DEAR, Fearing some conventional idea 
 would not allow you to take a gift from me, I re- 
 solved to steal a march on you. As I have no 
 debts you need not think me extravagant, and do 
 not imagine me starving in consequence of this 
 moderate indulgence. It is the only thing I have 
 ever given you, and you will not be cruel enough 
 to refuse it when you know I may never see you 
 again. Bessie, my heart is breaking for you, my 
 darling. C. W." 
 
 Bessie kissed the cross and hung it round her 
 neck. She brushed away a few tears that would 
 come, and bravely proceeded with her arrange- 
 ments. In a week she was ready and off! She 
 told good -by to her friends with a brave face as 
 she and old Lucy set out towards New England. 
 
 How many modern Pilgrims have found a 
 grateful rest in that land of family homesteads, 
 old traditions, true and kindly hearts!
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AFTER her long journey Bessie found a cordial 
 welcome from her friends. 
 
 Mamie had married at twenty, and now at 
 twenty-five was the mother of a son and daughter, 
 and mistress of a pretty rectory in a lovely New 
 England town. 
 
 Being thrown in a circle of Mrs. Talcott's inti- 
 mate friends, Bessie had to shake off her sadness 
 by day, for the sake of her host and hostess ; but, 
 oh, the weariness of the nights ! How continu- 
 ally she thought of her father, of her past 
 " happy-go-lucky" life, of her graceful young 
 lover, and her other army friends that could never 
 in the nature of things all meet together again, 
 never, never! 
 
 After a few weeks Bessie broached the some- 
 what delicate subject of finding a permanent 
 home in Carrington, where she could still con- 
 sider herself under the protection of these friends 
 
 in need. After some pleading on Mrs. Talcott's 
 
 107
 
 I0 8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 part and some remonstrances on Bessie's, it was 
 decided that Bessie should remain six months 
 with them, " paying her own mess bill," and after 
 that time a permanent plan would be considered. 
 
 The business being thus arranged, Bessie be- 
 came almost cheerfully occupied in arranging her 
 new quarters. Her first improvement was having 
 the chimney-place arranged for a wood-fire, and 
 investing in such an enormous load of wood that 
 one of the neighbors " wondered if the parson 
 was going into the lumber business," and all the 
 mammas wondered that their small sons returned 
 home with legs entire, as the wood-pile proved 
 such a fascinating object. 
 
 An obliging dry-goods clerk picked out a large 
 box with a whole cover for our young lady, and 
 very soon it was covered with bright cretonne, and 
 kept well filled at the right of the hearth, a la 
 Fort Derby. The trophies had all been hid, but 
 now appeared in full force. The general's sword, 
 the deer-skin, the Chinese vases, the broken spur, 
 and all. The photographs, all but one, came from 
 their seclusion, and a pot of violets, from the only 
 florist that the town could boast, gave the room 
 that inhabited and used look it had lacked before,
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 IO9 
 
 in spite of its pretty furniture and pleasant out- 
 look. 
 
 Waring's picture never showed its handsome 
 face to this gentle household. After the family 
 separated for the night and Bessie had softly 
 locked the door on friend and foe, the young 
 lieutenant was put on the mantel-piece, the wood 
 was put on the fire, a crisp light curl and a gold 
 cross were too often taken to the fire-light, and 
 Bessie lived over and over again the past year of 
 her life. Waring thus became the centre of these 
 reminiscences, he was all that was left un- 
 changed. She often truly wished that for his 
 own sake he would change towards her, yet she 
 thought he never would, and in these many quiet, 
 lonely moments she almost heard him speak or 
 felt his gentle touch. 
 
 Like many New England towns, Carrington 
 was, in a small way, quite a literary centre. 
 There were besides its regular well-read inhabi- 
 tants always a number of law and medical stu- 
 dents, perhaps one or two rusticated collegiates, 
 or others making up " conditions," so with these 
 different sorts of people brushing against each 
 other it was not at all a place to rust in.
 
 I IO HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Mr. Talcott's rectory held about the same posi- 
 tion in Carrington, as a rallying-point, that the 
 general's quarters had at Fort Derby. While 
 matters of church and state were solemnly ar- 
 ranged in that sacred precinct, the study, rowing- 
 parties, rides, and picnics were planned in parlor 
 and garden, and carried out with great success. 
 
 Before the summer had really set in, Bessie 
 found herself interested and at home in her new 
 surroundings. Her rebelliousness against fate 
 had at least slumbered, and she was beginning to 
 find new friends and new enjoyment. 
 
 Mr. Talcott had talked a great deal to Bessie 
 about a classmate of his, "a lawyer, quite one 
 of the rising men of New York; would some 
 day make his mark ; Bessie would enjoy him ; 
 Bessie must cultivate him, he was so clever, etc., 
 etc. He had been abroad two years, the last he 
 had spent studying at Heidelberg, and was now 
 expected home almost any day." 
 
 Poor Bessie's interests were so in another direc- 
 tion that she took not the least interest in this 
 brilliant youth, and could hardly listen to the 
 recital of his virtues and accomplishments with 
 becoming politeness. She inwardly resolved that
 
 HALF MARRIED. m 
 
 she had had all the trouble with men that she 
 wanted, or was going to have, and hardened her 
 heart against this friend of her friend. 
 
 One day Mr. Talcott came into his wife's room, 
 where she and Bessie were sitting, to tell her that 
 he had just had a telegram from this friend, Fred 
 Lennox, and that he would be with them for 
 dinner at six o'clock. 
 
 Bessie was so comfortable in this her first ex- 
 perience of settled family life that she rather re- 
 sented the idea of an " interloper," and wished that 
 this " chip from a German workshop" would con- 
 tinue to pursue elsewhere those mysterious pas- 
 times known collectively as "studies abroad." She 
 did not trouble herself to think of him, but her 
 mind had independently conjured up a picture. A 
 short, stout, awkward man, his father had been a 
 farmer, and though she did not expect to see 
 him in overalls and a wide-brimmed hat, she 
 rather looked forward to meeting a slightly re- 
 fined edition of the horny-handed sons of toil, 
 a wise, heavy man, heavy artillery. No matter 
 who or what he was, he was entitled to see his 
 friends, after this long absence, unembarrassed by 
 the presence of a stranger. So after lunch Bessie
 
 H2 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 * 
 
 told Mrs. Talcott that she would take small Jack 
 and Miss Howard (a pretty little blonde who lived 
 just across the way) and go on the river. Mrs. 
 Talcott expressed her agreement, told Bessie to 
 tie Jack in with a rope so he would not crawl 
 overboard, and admonished her to be home in 
 plenty of time to dress for dinner. " You know 
 Fred will be here, and we want you to make an 
 impression." 
 
 That was just what Bessie had resolved not to 
 do, so she carefully timed her excursion in order 
 to reach home exactly five minutes before dinner. 
 
 She was in a black dress, white flannel boating- 
 shirt, and black slouch hat. She had calmly 
 donned that costume and walked down to the 
 river as unconcernedly as she wore a forage-cap 
 and a pair of spurs in the garrison days. The 
 inhabitants of this quiet town were at first rather 
 startled upon these occasions at the appearance 
 of " that general's daughter from away out West," 
 and had a misgiving that she might be " fast," a 
 sort of unknown quantity only less interesting 
 than a ghost. 
 
 After meeting her these misgivings disappeared, 
 and then " the parson" in a New England town
 
 HALF MARRIED. ! 1 3 
 
 would no more be accused, for long, of harboring 
 any fast person, unless some unfortunate " Rustic", 
 brought to him for godly admonition, than he 
 would be thought capable of preaching against 
 Apostolic Succession or the accepted liturgy. 
 
 At five minutes of six the trio appeared, and 
 had evidently been laurel-hunting. Miss Howard 
 said good-by on her side of the street, and Bessie 
 and Jack, loaded down with laurel blossoms and 
 ferns, walked slowly up the garden-walk. 
 
 Bessie's hair was in a most becoming frizz, her 
 eyes sparkling and her cheeks glowing from her 
 exercise. She was so much happier since she 
 could live more in the open air. She looked 
 fairly radiant as she marched along with her 
 young cavalier, and all the time she was con- 
 gratulating herself that she was looking like a 
 fright. 
 
 She reached the porch where Mamie was 
 seated arrayed in a spotless white dress and 
 blue ribbons. She looked reproachfully at the 
 " mussed up" beauty, but before she could speak 
 the two gentlemen stepped out of the door. 
 Before the introduction was over these two young 
 
 people had been mutually surprised. From Mr. 
 h 10*
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Talcott's well-known mania for picking up " for- 
 lornities," Lennox, without even listening to the 
 name, had expected to meet a deserted damsel of 
 mature years, and Bessie was taken quite aback 
 as she saw the real Fred Lennox and not her 
 ideal. 
 
 A tall, slender, handsome man stood before her. 
 His eyes and wavy hair were dark, his complex- 
 ion pale enough to give what is generally called 
 an " interesting" expression to his face. Though 
 young, he was entirely past the boyish stage ; his 
 features lighted up with the brightest of smiles, 
 while in repose his face gave one the idea of 
 studiousness or thoughtfulness. There was no 
 implication of carelessness in his bearing, speech, 
 or dress. In five minutes one would recognize in 
 him a man with an aim, who, while marching to 
 that aim, would leave untried no honest way to 
 get there, and who would keep himself well in 
 hand during all his progress. He was " raised," 
 as the saying is, on a New England farm, and 
 cordially hated his surroundings. His parents, 
 narrowly intelligent people, were sufficiently well 
 off in this world's goods, and held on, with the 
 desperation of a forlorn hope, to those remnants
 
 HALF MARRIED. 1 1 5 
 
 of Puritanism which have happily become almost 
 things of the past. 
 
 Master Fred, the youngest of six, was in one 
 sense the black sheep of the family. The Puritan 
 strain having been nearly exhausted in the other 
 five, its only trace in him was a quiet, persistent, 
 dogged purpose, but so very quiet and self-con- 
 tained that its power was almost unsuspected. 
 
 As a child he read with avidity the scant and dry 
 collection of household books. One day he came 
 across an old volume of Patrick Henry's speeches, 
 and he resolved that he " would be a lawyer 
 and make speeches too." Though this idea was 
 often covered over or put aside for a long time, 
 it always served for the foundation of his air 
 castles. 
 
 At nineteen or twenty, he was in college when 
 the war broke out. His father, Mr. Abram Len- 
 nox, was a violent abolitionist. Being too old to 
 go to war himself, he was loud and vehement in 
 pointing out to others the road to glory. To his 
 utter amazement, his son, whom he still consid- 
 ered a boy, took him at his word and joined the 
 th Connecticut. He remained in the army, 
 with various adventures, for three years; then
 
 Il6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 studied law, and soon after his being admitted to 
 the bar old Abram died. 
 
 For forty years this old man had been a great 
 anti-slavery agitator. When slavery was done 
 away with, either not finding a more sinful com- 
 munity or a more congenial topic, he directed his 
 moral thunders to the Episcopal Church, and died 
 just soon enough not to know that Fred had 
 joined that " inlet to Popery." The current idea 
 was that had the bishop's visitation occurred a 
 few weeks sooner than it did, in all probability 
 Mr. Fred Lennox would not have been enjoying 
 his very comfortable inheritance. After a few 
 years of wonderfully successful practice for such 
 a young man, he went abroad to do some par- 
 ticular studying and become familiar with the 
 German language. We have now given a very 
 rapid sketch of his life up to the time we find 
 him confronting Bessie this soft summer even- 
 ing. 
 
 After the introduction, he gave Bessie one look 
 of surprised admiration as he said, "Miss Lansing, 
 I am happy to meet you." The words were 
 quickly spoken but with perfect distinctness. 
 Bessie was struck with his height and almost
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 117 
 
 soldierly bearing. She and Jack were only able 
 to give slight attention to their toilets when din- 
 ner was announced. Mr. Lennox was most agree- 
 able. Bessie wished that she had " dressed her- 
 self." After an hour on the porch the rain began 
 gently falling, and the quartette were driven in- 
 doors. Bessie, wishing to leave the friends to- 
 gether, rose from her chair ostensibly to arrange 
 an obstinate fern and piece of laurel, but in reality 
 to beat a graceful and undetected retreat. As she 
 stood by the low mantel Lennox turned abruptly 
 towards her. 
 
 " Is it possible that you are a daughter of 
 General Beekman Lansing?" 
 
 " I am his only child." 
 
 " Where is the general ?" 
 
 " My father is dead, sir." 
 
 Lennox had "put his foot in it" as no thor- 
 oughly society man would have done, but got out 
 of his difficulty as only an inborn gentleman could. 
 He was on his feet in a second. 
 
 " Forgive me, Miss Lansing, but I can say to 
 you now what I could not if your father was 
 living, he has always been my ideal of what a 
 man and a soldier should be."
 
 I x g HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Bessie took an involuntary step towards him 
 as she said, 
 
 " Did you know my father?" 
 
 He answered, pleasantly, 
 
 " Miss Lansing, you know that young second 
 lieutenants are not as a rule particularly intimate 
 with their generals. I never spoke to your father; 
 but we youngsters signalled him out for our par- 
 ticular admiration. I can see him now at the 
 head of his troops." 
 
 After a short pause Bessie made her exercise 
 an excuse for going to her room. Mr. Talcott 
 made some remark about her not appreciating 
 entertaining society, and she gave him a saucy 
 good-night. As she turned to say a conventional 
 good-evening to Lennox, he stood up quickly and 
 gave her a regular military salute. Without stop- 
 ping to think she returned it, and, blushing at her 
 own nonsense, ran up-stairs. 
 
 That familiar salute, more even than the kind 
 words about her father, was pleasant to her; it 
 was as if a little of the old times had come to her 
 again. As she was falling asleep after the pleas- 
 ant excitement of the day, she could almost hear 
 sentry No. I call out, "Ten o'clock and all is
 
 HALF MARRIED. n^ 
 
 well," and sentry No. 2 reply. As she descended 
 to breakfast the next morning she said to herself 
 that she and Mr. Lennox would be real good 
 friends, but, where was he ? Gone on an early 
 train to the farm to say " How d'ye do" for a day 
 or so before coming back to town and work. 
 Bessie unhesitatingly told her friends that she 
 liked Mr. Lennox very much. Mr. Talcott 
 looked delighted, but Mamie knew she was not 
 one to be so easily captivated. In fact, that mili- 
 tary salute had recalled very much, and Bessie felt 
 a reaction from her liveliness of the night before.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LENNOX soon returned, and made it his habit, 
 after the day's work was done, to spend the even- 
 ing at Mrs. Talcott's. He and Bessie had become 
 the best of friends. He had a certain faculty of 
 leading that almost fascinated her. Everybody 
 deferred to him, and though he never raised his 
 voice, he was always obeyed, and still more re- 
 markable, his advice was usually taken. Without 
 being vain or conceited, he had entire confidence 
 in himself. As yet he had achieved nothing in 
 particular, but still was considered successful. 
 Kind-hearted and generous, he yet lacked that 
 delicate sympathy, better described as lovable- 
 ness, that men who have lived much alone so 
 often lack. No one could help admiring or trust- 
 ing him, and though women always fancied him, 
 they were generally too much afraid of him to 
 make more than the faintest attempts to attract 
 his notice. 
 
 One September morning a messenger arrived to
 
 HALF MARRIED. I2 l 
 
 inform Mrs. Talcott's cook that her mother had 
 inadvertently fallen down the cellar stairs back- 
 wards (she was an Irishwoman), and Bridget left 
 forthwith. Mrs. Talcott had had a few days' ill- 
 ness and was not yet down-stairs; thus Bessie 
 found herself with the family on her hands. She 
 and the little maid managed with the children and 
 the lunch successfully, but when dinner-time came 
 Bessie's heart sank within her. The range was 
 an unknown complication. " A first-class en- 
 gineer couldn't arrange those drafts." She would 
 not disturb Mr. Talcott, who would not know 
 anything about it in all probability, and did not 
 dare bring Mamie down. In her despair a lucky 
 thought seized her. She wrote a note to Lennox 
 and sent it by the little maid : 
 
 " MR. LENNOX, Do you remember enough of 
 your army life to make a ' camp fire' ? The 
 cook did go; the range won't go. It is most 
 time for dinner, and, alas, I have to cook it. 
 
 "B. L." 
 
 Lennox soon vaulted over the side gate, and 
 said he would make the fire while Bessie arranged
 
 122 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the rations. Soon he had a good camp fire, and 
 in due time a very comfortable dinner was cooked. 
 
 The two children were seated on the ground, 
 and by means of dire threats kept at a respectful 
 distance while the maid set the table. 
 
 During the preparation of the meal numerous 
 juvenile neighbors ornamented the adjoining 
 fences, and spread the news that " the young lady 
 at the minister's was cooking coffee and frying 
 something over a bonfire." When Mrs. and Mr. 
 Talcott were shown the stove, they were as much 
 amused as the small boys. The dinner was 
 highly appreciated, and immediately after it was 
 finished Mrs. Talcott was sent up-stairs, while 
 Bessie and Lennox attended to the " camp uten- 
 sils." After these unusual exertions they seated 
 themselves on the veranda to cool off. Bessie was 
 tired after her exertions as "company cook," and 
 as Lennox was too much enfamille to need enter- 
 taining, she sat perfectly still watching a cloud 
 flying over the face of the moon. Lennox most 
 unexpectedly arose, and, leaning over the back of 
 her chair, without a moment's warning, said, 
 
 " Miss Bessie, I want you to marry me. I love 
 you !"
 
 HALF MARRIED. i 2 $ 
 
 She was too utterly astonished to speak. 
 
 He had never even paid her a compliment 
 before. Such a matter-of-fact, concise proposal 
 took her breath away. He had not given her a 
 loop-hole of retreat. Like everything he did, it 
 was accomplished in the most direct and unmis- 
 takable manner. ' She stammered rather than 
 spoke, 
 
 " Oh, but I have not known you long enough ; 
 of course I do not love you." 
 
 She did not say that to Waring when he 
 smoothed her hair and dried her tears on that 
 stormy night long ago. 
 
 " But, Miss Bessie, will you answer me one 
 question ? Are you engaged already ?" 
 
 He was perfectly self-possessed, but his lips 
 were tight shut and his hands clasped over the 
 back of the chair. 
 
 She was not engaged to Waring ; she had only 
 promised to wait, and had told him it would be 
 useless ; but for the first time in her life she was 
 tempted to deceive. If she said yes, it would be 
 only half a lie, and would perhaps save them 
 some misery. Instinctively she felt that she was 
 not strong enough to resist this man as she had
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the other, but she could not do violence to her 
 honest nature, and, after a little hesitation, said, 
 
 " No, Mr. Lennox, I am not engaged ;" and 
 added rather vaguely, " but it will make no differ- 
 ence." 
 
 " We will see ; I shall persist." 
 
 Of course he would ; he had persisted since he 
 was six months old. 
 
 " I shall tell Talcott, of course," he continued. 
 " Good-night." 
 
 He kissed her hand in the somewhat delicate 
 foreign fashion, and walked down the elm-shaded 
 street to his bachelor quarters. They looked 
 particularly grim and bachelor-like to him that 
 evening. 
 
 After his departure Bessie slipped quietly into 
 her own room, and as she looked out over the 
 broad river with the different boat-lights flitting to 
 and fro, she felt herself a sort of traitor without 
 knowing exactly why. With the cross in her 
 hand she communed with herself, 
 
 " Oh, Charlie darling, why can't I love you a 
 little more or a great deal less ? Why are you 
 always , in my thoughts ? When it is so hard to 
 have you from me, why can't I bring myself to
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 125 
 
 going to you ? Will you come back in two years, 
 or will you forget forget?" 
 
 The following evening she received a note from 
 Lennox. He was going away for a few weekSj 
 and before leaving wished to impress upon her 
 that his proposal was no sudden thing, but the 
 deliberate result of his admiration of her beauty 
 and character. With him it was she or none, and 
 he begged her to remember this when he sum- 
 moned up courage to ask her again, as he cer- 
 tainly would do. 
 
 Evidently Mr. Talcott was not to be informed 
 of the state of affairs until the lawyer's return. 
 The note rather piqued Bessie, there was such a 
 tone of confident success about it. 
 
 " So he is going to ask me again ! I'll not 
 listen, that's all." But she did, and this is how it 
 came about. A few days after Lennox had gone 
 the two ladies and the children were sitting on 
 the veranda, enjoying the last precious moments 
 of Indian summer. It was a hazy, dreamy Octo- 
 ber day, when the hills were all red and gold, the 
 sky and water the purest of blues, and the sumac 
 and golden-rod " made the place of His feet 
 
 glorious." 
 
 u*
 
 I2 6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Their summer dreamings were interrupted by 
 Mr. Talcott, who walked up to the ladies with the 
 family mail in his hands. He teased Bessie about 
 her missives, giving her two. She saw by the 
 address that one was from small Tom, the other 
 from Mrs. Worthington. The third he kept a few 
 moments before giving it to her. She almost 
 gasped as she recognized Waring's writing. 
 While the others were reading their letters Bessie 
 took hers to her own room, and with surprise and 
 fear she opened it. It was so very unexpected, 
 and coming so soon after Lennox's declaration, 
 she was quite unnerved for a few moments and 
 could not collect herself sufficiently to read it. 
 The words danced and blurred before her eyes. 
 It ran thus : 
 
 "Mv DEAREST BESSIE, 
 
 "You will no doubt be surprised at hearing 
 from me, and more so when you read what I have 
 to say," Bessie trembled and grew cold ; had he 
 then forgotten, and so soon ? " but I know that it 
 should have been said long ago. In these few 
 long months I have changed very much. As I 
 rode away from you on that saddest morning of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 127 
 
 my life, I was no longer a boy, but a man. Since 
 then we have had two or three pretty close shaves 
 from Indians and blizzards, and even when I 
 thought it was all up with us, I remembered that 
 I had not written to release you from your 
 promise. It was very selfish in me to ask you to 
 wait for such a good-for-nothing fellow as I am, 
 and, besides, I cannot bear the suspense, so now I 
 release you from all promises and ask you once 
 more to be my wife, and I will never ask you 
 again. If your answer is favorable but I will 
 spare you the oft-repeated tale, God only knows 
 what it will be to me. If it is not favorable, you 
 need not fear my boyish and foolish threat of 
 going to the devil. I shall try to consider it a 
 just punishment and fight it out to the bitter end. 
 Believe me, for your sake, if for no other reason, 
 I will always try to do my very best, so perhaps 
 some day you may be a little proud of me, even 
 if you cannot love me. Oh, Bessie ! what it is for 
 me to write so coolly and quietly to you when my 
 heart is breaking you will never know. Remem- 
 ber, whatever your answer is, I am yours only and 
 always. Good-by, my darling ! my darling ! 
 
 " C. W."
 
 I2 8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 That night Bessie sat by her open window a 
 long time after the lights were out in the quiet 
 street. The hunter's moon rose full and beautiful 
 over a bend in the river, turning it into a silver 
 lake; the elm-trees hardly moved their graceful, 
 sweeping branches in the gentle breeze as she sat 
 there thinking, thinking. Perhaps her young sol- 
 dier at his camp fire was thinking of her, too, 
 at that moment. 
 
 Early the next morning she awoke from her 
 uneasy slumbers and sent her last message to 
 Waring for many years : 
 
 "DEAR CHARLIE, 
 
 " Your letter reached me yesterday. It did 
 surprise me. I cannot marry you. It is very 
 noble in you to release me, and it is best, but I 
 would have kept my promise if you had not 
 written. 
 
 "You must not call yourself a good-for-nothing 
 fellow. I have always found you honorable and 
 true. In all the experiences that may be before 
 me, I know I shall look back to the year you were 
 at Fort Derby as the happiest of my life, and 
 come what may I shall never forget you. I will
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 think of you always, and will know your where- 
 abouts and will keep posted concerning you. 
 
 " I shall always be ready to help you in any 
 way I can, and perhaps some day when we are 
 older and have forgotten a little we will meet 
 again happily. 
 
 " I know the weight of this falls upon you, but 
 do not think it easy for me to give up ' my dear 
 boy' forever. May God bless and keep you ! 
 " Always your friend, 
 
 " BESSIE." 
 
 Bessie posted her letter and solaced herself with 
 a long horseback-ride. She had written her an- 
 swer with apparent coolness, but all the time the 
 tears were falling from her eyes, and it took one 
 hand to keep them from dropping on the paper. 
 Some were for herself but most for Waring. 
 Though she had been looking forward to this as 
 inevitable for a long time, it appeared cruel to dis- 
 miss him so quietly, now that the time had come, 
 and the unexpected manliness of his final demand 
 almost shook her purpose. 
 
 Though distressed beyond measure at the part- 
 ing, at the same time she felt a sense of relief, as
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 if a dreaded responsibility had been lifted from 
 her life. She had done all through what she con- 
 scientiously considered her duty, and that was her 
 only consolation in this present time of trouble. 
 
 When Bessie returned from her long ride she 
 took the cross from her neck, laid it in the little 
 box it came in, alongside the bright little curl, and 
 with that spirit of fun that lingers with some few 
 happy natures through all life's trials and afflic- 
 tions, she labelled that last letter of his " Declara- 
 tion of Independence," and smiled through her 
 tears as she put it in a certain corner with her 
 other notes. She still had every scrap he had 
 written her. Now that it was all over, she set 
 herself resolutely to looking for her happiness in 
 her present surroundings, and bravely pushed 
 aside the longings for the old life. They were 
 not overcome, but they were not encouraged. 
 
 Lennox returned in three weeks, and with his 
 quick penetration saw that, in some way, things 
 had turned to his own advantage. In fact, Bessie 
 was now free, and anything she chose to do had 
 no suggestion of double-dealing to her strict self- 
 scrutiny. 
 
 Lennox made the best use of his time, not in
 
 HALF MARRIED. i^\ 
 
 the teasing, distracting style of Waring, but by 
 gradually making himself necessary to his lady- 
 love. He posted her in regard to the business 
 matters pertaining to her coming of age, was al- 
 ways ready to serve and entertain her, yet quietly 
 made way for the younger men who frequented 
 this pleasant home. The idea of being jealous of 
 them never entered his mind. In fact, he found 
 watching their mild efforts to captivate this young 
 lady quite an entertaining and amusing example 
 of the fatuity of youth, and wondered if in years 
 past he ever had been so asinine. As he recalled 
 his three years in the army, before he was the age 
 of these much-despised youths, he briefly con- 
 cluded that he was not, or the Lord would surely 
 have left his bones to ornament the field of Get- 
 tysburg or Antietam. 
 
 The Indian summer, the stormy winter, and 
 spring passed, and when summer came, without 
 knowing just how it came about, Bessie found 
 herself engaged to be married to Lennox. She 
 was a little frightened at what she had done. 
 Her life was so entirely in her own hands, so 
 entirely uninfluenced by any one's authority. It 
 was quite alarming to take this step all alone.
 
 1 T >2 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 After she had once pledged herself, she questioned 
 herself over and over again whether she were 
 capable of making this man's life and home happy. 
 She did not consider herself sufficiently domestic, 
 but as she looked over her acquaintances, she felt 
 honestly that she was not inferior to many women 
 who were good and useful wives and mothers. 
 And why could she not succeed as they had ? 
 Yet she had some misgivings. She was always a 
 little more reserved and subdued than ordinary in 
 Lennox's society. She admired him immensely, 
 and so loyally regarded him as the ruling power 
 that she lost some of her individuality in his 
 masterful presence. 
 
 The wedding preparations progressed quietly. 
 Bessie was overawed. It was a little dreadful, 
 after all, to give up one's freedom, that " personal 
 liberty" that poets had sung and nations fought 
 for, and be under the control of another. Though 
 she really loved Lennox, there was that solemnity 
 about taking an irrevocable step which always 
 affects one who is not entirely shallow and frivo- 
 lous. 
 
 But what really overshadowed her future was 
 the thought of Waring's loneliness. If he were
 
 HALF MARRIED. ^3 
 
 consoled, how happy she would be. Like Fe- 
 dalma, " she would not take a heaven haunted by 
 shrieks of far-off misery" if it were offered to her, 
 and it seemed almost as cruel to take a fair share 
 of this world's happiness when others had little 
 or none. 
 
 A short time before her wedding she wrote to 
 tell her old friends of her prospects. Not one of 
 them would be with her, and she realized anew 
 how conspicuously alone she was in the world, 
 and how restful was the strength of this man she 
 loved. 
 
 She was puzzled about Waring, it would be 
 decidedly stretching a point to write and tell him 
 of her engagement. There might be another in 
 the case, yet she could not leave his finding it out 
 to chance, so she wrote a long letter to Arthur, 
 who was with Waring again, inquiring kindly 
 after the old set and asking him to tell Charlie 
 and her other friends. 
 
 Arthur kept the news to himself all day, not 
 knowing what the effect would be on his friend. 
 At night, as Waring was leaving his quarters, he 
 handed him the letter. He read it where he 
 stood, and with a half smile said, " So soon ?"
 
 'HALF MARRIED. 
 
 He lighted a cigar, and after a short walk en- 
 tered his room. He gathered together the few 
 little notes and keepsakes, even the lock of hair, 
 and heroically burnt them all. The little bayo- 
 net, which was always pinned somewhere in his 
 clothing, and the Prayer Book, were all he kept. 
 There were no boyish tears, no reproaches against 
 fate or fortune. As he saw the few visible signs 
 of his grande passion disappear in smoke, he 
 said only three words. He thought of Bessie, 
 and said " So soon !" of himself, and he said 
 "Forever!"
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BESSIE and Lennox were quietly married, much 
 to the disappointment of the community, who had 
 conjured up enticing visions of groomsmen and 
 ushers in glittering uniforms, and started for their 
 wedding journey. Bessie once more found her- 
 self launched into new relations of life. Lennox 
 had told her that it would be necessary for her 
 to visit his home for a few days at least. She was 
 more than willing to do so. He gave her a most 
 alarming picture of the monotony of country life, 
 of the awful things they would have to eat, and 
 capped the recital by informing her that his re- 
 lations thought Episcopalians had horns and tails. 
 She should not stay over a "Sabbath," as that 
 would kill her outright, no hot roast beef for 
 dinner, no salad and beer at night, no loafing 
 with cigars and pretty girls after the duties of 
 the day were done, no frivolous talking of rides 
 and boats for Monday morning. 
 
 In spite of his joking, he really feared his 
 
 '35
 
 r .j6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 young wife would find the first days of her mar- 
 ried life most trying. He laughingly promised to 
 reward her for conceding so sweetly to his wishes 
 by taking her to New York and going to the 
 theatre every night for two weeks if she wanted 
 to, and hinted at unlimited supplies of ice cream, 
 the offering with which he and Talcott usually 
 placated their respective goddesses. 
 
 After a short railroad journey and a beautiful 
 ride of a few miles over the finest of roads, the 
 young people found themselves at the Lennox 
 homestead. It was a large, white frame house, 
 with the conventional green blinds. A beautiful 
 elm stood at each side of the gateway, the far- 
 spreading branches almost sweeping the ground 
 with their waving tips. The path to the front 
 door was in perfect order and quite unused, the 
 one to the side door evidently being the ordinary 
 thoroughfare. The front door was made in two 
 cross-sections, probably a remnant of colonial times, 
 when it was necessary to "view the landscape 
 o'er" for Indians before venturing forth. The 
 lawn-mower had been lately called into requi- 
 sition, and, although the house and grounds had 
 an appearance of comfort and hospitality, the pre-
 
 HALF MARRIED. l ^ 
 
 dominating feature was that one of " orderliness 
 or death" so eminently characteristic of New Eng- 
 land homes. 
 
 Bessie was kindly received by her stern mother- 
 in-law, but as she found herself in the parlor, 
 amid the haircloth furniture, ancient mahogany 
 table placed as exactly in the centre of the room 
 as if located by an engineer, worked tidies and 
 spotless Nottingham curtains, she felt like the 
 chief of sinners. For years Lennox never tired 
 of telling her that she was so frightened that when 
 she took off her jacket she actually folded it care- 
 fully and laid it on a chair, a thing she had never 
 done before or since. 
 
 The manners of the household had somewhat 
 softened since its head had departed from this land 
 of sorrows, and Bessie found it, on the whole, 
 quite comfortable. Only two sisters were at 
 home, the others settled in the neighborhood. 
 Bessie wondered if they would all call upon her. 
 
 At an unusually early hour Lennox intimated 
 that she must be very tired, and she should say 
 good-night. Bessie wonderingly ascended to the 
 " east room." Lennox followed, telling her she 
 had outdone herself in amiability, and that she 
 
 12*
 
 I3 g HALF MARRIED, 
 
 was to read the rest of the evening, leaving the 
 family to imagine her in a state of exhaustion. 
 
 The furniture was a source of unending delight. 
 The chest of drawers almost touched the low 
 ceiling, and contained enough mahogany to finish 
 off a fashionable dining-room. Some of the 
 drawers were left empty for Bessie's accommoda- 
 tion, while the others were full of any extra linen 
 or bedclothing that she might need. The quilts, 
 towels, and all lay there folded as if they had just 
 come out of the dry-goods store, yet they had 
 been in that house for years and years. The bed 
 was an old four-poster. Bessie had read of them, 
 but had never seen one before. It was hung 
 around with a remarkable valance, representing, 
 in red and white calico, a scene on the Thames 
 near London. The bed-curtains corresponded, 
 and she learned afterwards that the making of this 
 and two similar sets, many years ago, was con- 
 sidered an era in the manufacture of prints. The 
 bed was so high it suggested a large snow-drift. 
 Her pretty eyes were reflected back to her from 
 a long, narrow glass hanging against the wall. A 
 small square was barred off at the top and orna- 
 mented with one of those remarkable pictures of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 a weeping-willow of which our ancestors were so 
 fond, some very blue water, an impossible boat, 
 and several figures very badly out of drawing. 
 Some old engravings hung perfectly " true" on 
 the walls. The room had an air of preternatural 
 cleanliness. 
 
 There was one modern article in the room, a 
 beautiful white fur mat. Bessie would not have 
 put her foot on it for worlds, and carefully stepped 
 over it when it lay in her course. Her presence 
 in this sanctuary seemed a profanation, and she 
 imagined the consternation three or four pairs of 
 muddy cavalry boots would create in such a 
 household. She did not know that Abraham 
 Lennox used always to take his muddy boots off 
 before he entered the outside door that led into 
 the sitting-room. 
 
 At an unconscionably early hour Bessie heard 
 the family stirring. She woke Lennox, imagining 
 some one was ill or dying. He informed her it 
 was " confounded nonsense," and deigned no fur- 
 ther explanation. He afterwards told her that it 
 was the hour his father had always insisted on 
 calling them, and they still kept up the habit. 
 Bessie often wondered what they could find to do
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 that made them think it necessary to rise with the 
 sun. 
 
 The whole connection called on the " new 
 couple." Do you know, dear reader, what a call 
 in the country means ? It is not a five minutes' 
 chat about the weather or the latest novel. It is a 
 solemn and lengthy ceremony. If you are the 
 caller, and a lady, you must dispense with hat and 
 coat, be the hat ever so much pinned on and the 
 coat ever so tight a fit. If you are a man, your 
 cane and hat are at once whisked out of your 
 keeping, and in that way anything like retreat is 
 cut off. Your bridges are burned behind you, and 
 all you can do is to make yourself as agreeable as 
 possible under adverse circumstances. If you are 
 a lady and called upon, get out your fancy work 
 and your patience. If you are a man, think of it 
 as a punishment for your misdeeds, and suffer 
 calmly. 
 
 As Fred Lennox was looked upon as quite a 
 hero and fashionable man in this austere com- 
 munity, and withal something of a backslider 
 from the faith and manners of his ancestors, his 
 wife was much speculated upon, and many were 
 the visits of curiosity as well as of friendship.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 141 
 
 Lennox, though fearing his wife would be awfully 
 tired, could not help enjoying her perplexities. 
 
 An old gentleman asked her if she " favored 
 her father or her mother." She turned to Len- 
 nox for an explanation of this, to her, incompre- 
 hensible question. She then gently, without a 
 smile, said she was considered like her father; her 
 mother was fair and small, and had been dead 
 many years; she being always with her father, 
 had probably grown like him. 
 
 " Was you with him much ?" 
 
 "Ah, yes indeed! Would you be astonished 
 to know that I have sometimes slept all night on 
 the- ground rolled up in a blanket, and often lived 
 weeks in a tent? And you must not tell any one 
 till I am gone, for every one would think Mr. 
 Lennox had brought a heathen among you. I 
 am quite a good shot with a rifle for a girl, you 
 know." 
 
 Bessie was happy, and though a little quieter in 
 manner than of old, her old playfulness had re- 
 turned. The old gentleman was quite captivated 
 with the relation of a few little adventures, and as 
 he rose to depart, told her, admiringly, " I never 
 saw any one so entertaining as you be."
 
 142 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 These people, particularly the women, were a 
 study to Bessie. Many of them so worn and old 
 at an age when the army women, in spite of their 
 anxious lives, were still considered desirable part- 
 ners for the rare dances and frequent rides. 
 
 She had a tender feeling towards these people, 
 who were weighed down with the monotony of 
 their lives. Her wish to please was so entirely 
 on their account that she soon won their hearts. 
 She could not get over her astonishment " that 
 people, whose clothes looked as if they had come 
 out of the ark, had read everything." 
 
 The calls had been made, some few returned, 
 and the last day of their stay was to be the 
 "Fielding gathering." A "gathering" being a 
 New England institution, Bessie had to ask for an 
 explanation. She found that it was to be a re- 
 union of all the branches of the Fielding family 
 in the United States at the old Fielding farm. 
 The present John was the sixth generation who 
 had lived on the same land. The present Queen 
 Anne country-house had been gradually evolved 
 from the log cabin of the emigrant ancestor. 
 This family had been in bad odor for two or three 
 generations, as one Fielding, a Church of England
 
 HALF MARRIED. l ^ 
 
 man, had espoused the Tory cause in Revolution- 
 ary times, and his sufferings for King George are 
 no doubt duly recorded in " Sabine." In the old 
 graveyard the pilgrim ancestor reposes, with this 
 inscription on his flat tombstone : 
 
 " Here's a cedar tall, gently wafted o'er 
 
 From Great Britain's Isle to this 
 Western shore. 
 
 Near fifty years crossing the ocean wide, 
 Yet anchored in the grave 
 
 From storm or tide. 
 Yet remember the body is only here, 
 
 His blessed soule fixed in a 
 Higher sphere. 
 
 Here lies the body of Giles Fielding 
 Esquire, aged 
 
 67 years, who departed this life the first day of 
 September, Anno Domino, 1689." 
 
 The descendants, as many as could, of this 
 man, were to meet together with their neighbors 
 and friends, the Lennox family among the rest. 
 
 In one corner of the farm a grove of maples 
 remained, and the ground under them was cleared 
 until it was clean enough for a floor. Long 
 boards laid on " horses" were covered with sheets
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 to make the table and loaded down with refresh- 
 ments. The scene was a characteristic and very 
 pleasant one. 
 
 For several hours the different vehicles came 
 winding over the hills from all directions and in 
 all varieties. There were all sorts and conditions 
 of conveyances, from the spanking team of some 
 fashionable New Yorker, who made it a duty to 
 spend two months of the year with his family in 
 the old homestead, to the ancient buggy whose 
 bulged wheels and tattered top suggested im- 
 mediate dissolution. The large parlor was used 
 on this occasion. Owing to the traditions of the 
 elders, it ordinarily remained hermetically sealed, 
 being only opened for funerals and weddings. In 
 it were representatives of four generations to re- 
 ceive the guests, the oldest, a lady of ninety-two, 
 still in possession of her faculties, and the young- 
 est, a tow-headed child of three, who was arrayed 
 in pantaloons for the first time, and whom Len- 
 nox declared looked as graceful as a young cab- 
 bage. 
 
 By noon the company had all assembled, and 
 Bessie, getting a little apart, was really entertained 
 with the spectacle. She never in her life had
 
 HALF MARRIED. ^5 
 
 seen so many people together who knew each 
 other, such different-looking people too, and 
 nearly all related. A fashionably-dressed city 
 miss would enthusiastically embrace a sedate 
 elderly dame in a gown cut in a style years 
 passed. A few city beaux made themselves most 
 agreeable to their pretty country cousins. Bessie 
 became quite absorbed in watching the numerous 
 by-plays. One of these young gentlemen saun- 
 tered up to her and said, 
 
 " I beg your pardon, but, as we are all relations, 
 I suppose I may speak to you without an intro- 
 duction ?" 
 
 " Certainly you may speak to me, but I'm no- 
 body's relation. I'm" (she was going to say Miss 
 Lansing) " Mrs. Lennox, only here on sufferance ; 
 that is, on an outsider's invitation. I suppose you 
 are a Fielding ?" 
 
 " Yes ; a New York branch of the family. The 
 rest are abroad, and I was delegated to represent 
 them. I have a year yet in college, and am doing 
 up a little summer studying." 
 
 At this moment Bessie caught sight of a woman 
 in the biggest crinoline she had ever seen. She 
 
 was ready to laugh at her, but this solemn and 
 G k 13
 
 I4 6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 gentlemanly youth evidently had no fun in his 
 composition, and looked mildly shocked at Bessie's 
 frivolous comments. Presently an enormous bell 
 sounded from the grove, and the whole rank and 
 file of the Fielding army, headed by the great- 
 grandmother, walked to the grove, where the feast 
 had been carefully and elaborately prepared. 
 Young Fielding escorted Bessie; her husband, 
 bent on making himself agreeable, was at that 
 moment inviting three or four pretty girls to go 
 with him to the "spread." Seeing that Bessie 
 was provided for, he devoted himself to his admir- 
 ing trio. 
 
 Fielding attended minutely to Bessie's wants, 
 and seemed wrapt in a sort of respectful admira- 
 tion for her. Though he was city bred and city 
 educated, he had an air of ingenuousness about 
 him that at first one did not know whether to at- 
 tribute to real innocence of the world and its 
 ways, or to consider it as assumed for particular 
 occasions. 
 
 Besides the many people " like everybody else" 
 near the table, they were joined by two or three 
 rather peculiar-looking women, one of whom 
 made some remark about " garden sass." This
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 147 
 
 upset Bessie's long-suffering risibilities, and she 
 abruptly left the group to smother a laugh. 
 
 Now, one does not like to have his family 
 laughed at. Fielding would not have shed a tear 
 if half the " gathering" had then and there been 
 gathered to their " Pilgrim ancestor," the hero of 
 the endless speeches of the day, but he did not 
 relish Bessie's amusement, and told her so with 
 that cool effrontery that only belongs to those 
 plain-spoken individuals who are utterly devoid 
 of the sense of humor, poor things, and can never 
 be counterfeited by the simply impudent. 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, because you are beautiful and 
 well educated is no reason why you should laugh 
 at those less fortunate and hurt their feelings." 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, I never intentionally hurt any 
 one's feelings in my life. I have seen so many 
 funny things to-day, you do not know how hard 
 it has been for me to keep up a dignified silence. 
 Then as I am here on exhibition my wedding 
 tour, you know and subject to criticism, I think 
 I have a right to retaliate to a slight extent. I am 
 truly sorry if I have offended you." 
 
 Bessie, fearing to become unpleasantly conspic- 
 uous by Fielding's prolonged attentions and to be
 
 148 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 accused by her proper relations of a flirtation with 
 Fielding (she might as well have tried to flirt with 
 the old well-sweep on his ancestral farm), shot a 
 helpless look at Lennox, and with that deceitful- 
 ness born of good society they managed to slip 
 away unmissed from the company, but not before 
 a damsel, whom Lennox had captivated, bestowed 
 upon him a bowl of honey and a much-iced cake. 
 Fielding had also seen the preparations for depart- 
 ure, and as Bessie was arranging her skirts in the 
 phaeton, solemnly handed her a bunch of golden- 
 rod that fairly glistened in the sunshine, and called 
 forth a delighted exclamation of " How beautiful ! 
 how good of you !" 
 
 On the road home Bessie thought how hand- 
 some Lennox was and how everybody seemed to 
 admire him. She was very proud of him, but did 
 not dare to tell him so. She held him a little in 
 awe, as she had done her father when he had his 
 dress uniform on. They fell to discussing the 
 day's doings. Bessie thought " it must be lovely 
 to be one of a large family, have an old home- 
 stead and old furniture." Lennox was not so sen- 
 timental, and said he didn't want any more rela- 
 tions than he had. The last one adopted satisfied
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 149 
 
 him completely. He did not want to claim kin 
 with any middle-aged ladies in shiny black silks 
 and cameo jewelry that talked of " garden sass" 
 and " meetin' seed." 
 
 Bessie shyly intimated that the three damsels he 
 escorted to lunch did not seem to be conversing 
 on those interesting topics. 
 
 " Yes, miss, and what were you doing with that 
 stylish youth with the sun umbrella and kid 
 gloves ?" 
 
 " Doing? I was receiving lectures on my frivo- 
 lous doings and sayings. I shall always think of 
 that young gentleman as the last of the Puritans. 
 He is a real city man, and yet is as ready to be 
 shocked as if just let out of a convent." 
 
 " Do young men of the monastic persuasion 
 generally present other men's wives with bou- 
 quets ?" 
 
 " Fred, if you don't keep still I'll tell sister Jane 
 how outrageously you flirted with that pretty girl 
 that gave you the honey." 
 
 " Emblem of consistency and sweetness," added 
 Lennox. 
 
 The next morning they made their adieux and 
 left early for the six-mile drive. At the station 
 13*
 
 150 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 they saw the mild-faced "last of the Puritans." 
 Lennox sedately walked into the smoking-car. 
 Fielding did not smoke, so Bessie had to plead 
 early rising as an excuse for weariness, and shut 
 her eyes till Fielding had become drowsy, and 
 she could enjoy unmolested the lovely scenery 
 that they were flying through. Without accident 
 the three arrived in New York " exactly on time," 
 as Fielding thought worth while to inform Bessie.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DURING their engagement Lennox had had his 
 eyes open in regard to a house, and soon after the 
 return home from the wedding journey one had 
 been decided upon. The inhabitants of Carring- 
 ton called it an old barracks, but Bessie developed 
 quite a romantic attachment to it. It was sub- 
 stantially built of stone, and in New England, 
 where wood is almost universally employed for 
 dwellings, this was in itself remarkable, and par- 
 ticularly so as the house had been built sixty 
 years before. The rooms were large and, like the 
 main building, square. A wing only one story 
 high spread from each side of the house ; the 
 roofs of the wings connecting with the back 
 veranda made a piazza one hundred feet long 
 and fifteen wide. 
 
 The house had a cellar and sub-cellar. In the 
 latter an alarmingly unexpected well was discov- 
 ered. A winding staircase, steep and strong as 
 that of a light-house , twisted itself through four
 
 '52 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 stories to the cupola. A door on each landing 
 was the only way of communicating with that 
 floor, and when this was locked the " flats" were 
 as separate as in any new apartment-house. The 
 rooms were square until reaching the third story, 
 then they were divided up into small rooms, 
 closets, and " lockups." One mysterious place 
 filled Bessie's romantic soul with awe. Up in the 
 garret was a large dark closet lined with boiler- 
 iron, and the door was iron, with heavy bolt and 
 padlock. She made this melancholy discovery 
 herself, and almost wept as she imagined it the 
 cruel abode of some afflicted one " with mind dis- 
 eased." After Lennox heard the sad tale he in- 
 formed her it was a smoke-house, and to substan- 
 tiate his statement showed her its position by the 
 chimney, and the various hooks provided for the 
 accommodation of beef and bacon. 
 
 There were two large parlors, the wall-paper of 
 which was quite remarkable. In the front room 
 were representations in gray and black of " Lalla 
 Rookh." One palm-tree was the whole height of 
 the wall, and quite dwarfed the camels, pagodas, 
 kiosks, and elephants, which, being drawn without 
 the slightest regard to perspective, clung to the
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 153 
 
 wall like flies. In the back parlor, in the same 
 style, was pictured " The Lady of the Lake." It 
 became a source of great amusement to ask peo- 
 ple, unfamiliar with the poem, to distinguish be- 
 tween dogs and goats, fire and clouds, etc. It 
 was decided that these peculiar decorations should 
 remain untouched. Though certainly sombre in 
 color, they were interesting and peculiar in effect. 
 The fireplaces were large and open, and the man- 
 tels very high. 
 
 When young Jack Talcott made his visits Len- 
 nox would set him on the mantel-piece for an 
 ornament, and the child found himself so high in 
 the air he dared not move for fear of falling into 
 the fire. 
 
 The garden was a tangle of weeds mingled with 
 rare trees and shrubs that had survived years of 
 carelessness and neglect. Under the frame of 
 the hot-house great black Hamburg vines, with 
 stems as thick as a man's wrist, lay frozen to 
 death winters ago. Wall peaches there were that 
 had shared the same fate. 
 
 Above the first piazza was another large porch, 
 only fifty feet long, that through the trees gave a 
 beautiful view of the river.
 
 154 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Thus the back of the house was pleasanter than 
 the front, though that looked upon a street lined 
 with double rows of trees which met overhead, 
 forming a cool, green arcade in the warmest of 
 August weather. 
 
 The house had been deserted so long that the 
 squirrels lived under the veranda roof, the bees 
 made honey under the eaves, and the untrimmed 
 trees were full of birds, the little English " ruffian 
 in feathers" not then having monopolized the ver- 
 dant creation. 
 
 Two modern improvements Lennox insisted 
 upon, a furnace and a modern staircase. " Any 
 man might break his leg on that winding stair- 
 case, and so lose his reputation for sobriety and 
 temperance, and his clients at the same time and 
 forever." 
 
 The grounds, several acres in extent, were put 
 in reasonable order, the sad vestiges of grapery 
 and hot-house were sodded over, and the melan- 
 choly air of the establishment was quite done 
 away with. 
 
 Lennox bought the house for a surprisingly 
 small sum, and Bessie felt a new experience of 
 pleasure. For the first time she lived in a house
 
 HALF MARRIED. jcjij 
 
 that was really " ours," and where she expected to 
 remain. It was big and substantial, not at all like 
 the small sunny house considered suitable for 
 bride and groom ; but as Bessie viewed her half- 
 wild garden, the river, and hills from her upper 
 gallery, she had a sense of freedom, of the " grand 
 air" that she would not have had in more con- 
 tracted and dainty surroundings. She was con- 
 genially situated, but but well, she would have 
 liked to have seen guard-mount once more. 
 
 Residing in the same town where she had lived 
 before marriage, Bessie's slight change of location 
 made no change in her friends. All were on the 
 same footing. Before she had been married many 
 months she was astonished to find how little she 
 had of Lennox's society, not nearly so much as 
 during her engagement. 
 
 One wing of the house had been converted into 
 a law-office, and though he was always near at 
 hand, she seldom saw him except at table. Even 
 in the evenings he was often much occupied. Not 
 having a tinge of jealousy, he was constantly ask- 
 ing this and that friend to look after Mrs. Lennox 
 at such and such an entertainment. He would 
 " look in later." It was often just a " look in," and
 
 I 5 6 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Bessie came and went in a more independent man- 
 ner than she ever had when a girl. Lennox never 
 having been much of a society man, his friends 
 made no comments. 
 
 Bessie slowly, sadly, but decidedly came to the 
 conclusion that she was not at all necessary to her 
 husband's happiness. That he had unbounded 
 confidence in her she was sure. That he admired 
 her was beyond question. That he loved her, in 
 a way, she also knew, but it was not with the im- 
 petuosity she connected with the idea of love. 
 He loved her as he loved all that was true, pure, 
 and correct, not even as enthusiastically as he 
 loved his profession. By degrees this idea became 
 familiar to her. 
 
 They had been living some months in their 
 house before the final finishing touches were put 
 on paint-work and walls, and at last Bessie was 
 able to arrange her room in the old way. 
 
 One morning, while dressing, Lennox made 
 some quiet remark about her father's sword not 
 looking very appropriate hanging in a lady's bed- 
 room. Right or wrong, Bessie was furious; she 
 turned on him indignantly, her voice trembling as 
 she said,
 
 HALF MARRIED. l ^ 
 
 " Where do you suppose I'll put it ? Yours I 
 saw at your mother's among some old lumber in 
 a loft. If I had a son who had ever carried a 
 sword in an honorable cause, I would as soon 
 think of making a drinking-cup of his skull as of 
 throwing aside his sword. One would be as easy 
 for me to do as the other." 
 
 Her eyes flashed a look of hatred at her hus- 
 band as she walked deliberately out of the room. 
 Lennox sank into a chair overwhelmed with sur- 
 prise at the effect of his words. Bessie, meantime, 
 was walking up and down on the other side of the 
 house endeavoring to regain her composure. She 
 was determined Lennox should see no trace of 
 grief or tears if he came to her. 
 
 She would have taken down the sword if he 
 had asked her to and given a reason ; but to walk 
 roughshod over her tenderest sentiments and not 
 be aware of it was what distressed her. If he had 
 spoken in a moment of irritation, or if the injury 
 to her feelings had been intentional, she could 
 have forgiven him, but for him not to understand 
 what he had done was too much. She regretted 
 her show of uncontrolled temper, but made up 
 her mind she would never look to him for sym-
 
 j^S HALF MARRIED. 
 
 pathy or help, come what would. If he could 
 walk alone, she could also. 
 
 After some little time spent in a vain endeavor 
 to understand matters, Lennox walked over to 
 the room in which his wife was standing, and 
 said, 
 
 " You must know that I did not mean to dis- 
 tress you, Bessie. I am very sorry." 
 
 Bessie was so genuinely disappointed and un- 
 happy that without an effort she answered, very 
 gently, 
 
 " Yes, I should have known it. Please for- 
 give my bad temper. I know I am very foolish 
 about about the few reminders I have of a happy 
 past." 
 
 She said " happy past" as if she expected hap- 
 piness in this world no more forever. Lennox 
 waited a few moments. She said nothing more, 
 and he left her. Those words " happy past" 
 burned into his very soul. Though he did not 
 understand her indignation, he had gone to her 
 in all sincerity, reproaching himself for he knew 
 not what. As he left her he felt himself, for the 
 first time in his life, helpless before an impending 
 calamity. Hitherto he had always been sue-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 cessful. Men and circumstances had bent to his 
 purpose. The spirit of this strong, self-contained 
 man had but this once asked for bread. It was 
 crushed and beaten down when it received a 
 stone. 
 
 He went to his office and sat with his head in 
 his hands for the bitterest hour of his life. As 
 the last golden rays of the evening sun poured 
 through his window he rose, and, turning his face 
 to the west, said aloud, as if concluding a long 
 train of thought, " Well, then, a stone let it be." 
 
 Strange as it was, even after this there was no 
 break between these two. Bessie was guarded 
 against herself and never surprised into unbe- 
 coming conduct again. She lived to herself, and 
 for her that was comparatively easy to do, not 
 the heart-breaking thing it would have been to 
 some women, to her own mother, for instance. 
 
 Thus time went on. In four years she had her 
 two children, who occupied her time and heart so 
 much that the longings and disappointments 
 would be stilled for a time. Lennox, who was a 
 most exemplary head of the house, felt that he 
 too was walking alone in a shadow cast from he 
 knew not where. He was steadily coming to the
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 front in his profession. Bessie, by her pleasant 
 manner and the adaptability coming from her 
 peculiar education, helped him vastly in a social 
 way. That he realized; but a strange feeling of 
 jealousy came over him, jealousy in a wide sense, 
 a jealousy of his own children, of the world in 
 general. All found his wife so gracious, so lov- 
 able. She was so much to every one else, but 
 allowed herself to be so little to him. He could 
 not say where the matter was. She never neg- 
 lected a wish of his. She never annoyed him 
 with repeating a household contretemps. He was 
 the most domestically unharassed of men, and 
 he thought himself the most miserable. Though 
 truly captivated with Bessie's independence and 
 beauty, he had rather expected a partner more 
 confiding, more commonplace, more like the 
 women he knew in his childhood perhaps; and 
 she, alas ! a husband more after the lover order. 
 She managed the house and business, and Len- 
 nox always approved of her stewardship ; but she 
 would have given " worlds" (the only comparison 
 women have when love is the thing compared) to 
 have had him tell her that a dress was becoming, 
 or even that it was not. His want of sentiment
 
 HALF MARRIED. ^1 
 
 was becoming more than hard to bear : it was 
 becoming dangerous. 
 
 There was to be a party at Miss Howard's, wind- 
 ing up with a german, quite an event in this small 
 city. Bessie had been engaged for the german 
 for some days, but hoped to go to the company 
 with Lennox. A couple of days before the event 
 she put aside her pride enough to say, " Fred, you 
 will surely go to Miss Howard's with me, won't 
 you ? We have not gone out together and come 
 back together from one entertainment this winter." 
 He said certainly he would, but at noon told her 
 that an old lady had asked him to look after her 
 and her two young nieces. There was no one 
 else to take them. She was an old friend and a 
 client. 
 
 " I told her you always had more admirers than 
 you knew what to do with, so I will take them. 
 Besides, I knew you could not stand going out 
 with three other women." 
 
 Bessie said, " Eh bien ; but do not expect me 
 home till the german is over." 
 
 She made Lennox write to her partner to call 
 for her. She had become too much a woman of 
 
 the world to get in any uncomfortable entangle- 
 l 14*
 
 ifa HALF MARRIED. 
 
 ment, particularly when entirely indifferent to the 
 entangler. 
 
 That evening as Lennox left her to escort " the 
 old woman," handsome, well dressed, and vigo- 
 rous, as the door closed on him she said to her- 
 self, " You fool, do you not know many women 
 are driven to the bad by less than this ? Thank 
 heaven I have two children, and this." And for 
 the first time since her engagement she tied War- 
 ing's cross around her neck, and in a few moments 
 started out with her escort, the best dancer in the 
 town. While seated during the german, one of 
 the ladies, not believing in monopolies, turned to 
 Bessie and said, 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, how devoted Mr. Huntington is 
 to you, and yet no one says you are a flirt. They 
 do say you are so heartless that you are in no 
 danger." 
 
 Bessie controlled herself admirably. " How 
 kind of them !" was her only reply as she whirled 
 off again. It was a home-thrust, this unkind re- 
 mark, and cut deep. She could not forgive Len- 
 nox for helping expose her to this unjust criticism. 
 
 Huntington escorted her to her house, and for 
 a long time she sat in her room in full dress. Len-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 163 
 
 nox had retired much earlier, and to the other 
 side of the house, so as not to be disturbed by the 
 late arrivals. 
 
 That last german at Fort Granger came up be- 
 fore her. It seemed so many years ago it was 
 six that the tragic side had almost faded from 
 her mind, and she thought of it in a measure as a 
 childish recollection. But as she took off the 
 cross the tears came to her eyes, and she tied it 
 again around her neck. All his keepsakes she 
 had hitherto kept conscientiously out of her sight. 
 She had never heard a word direct from Waring 
 since the " declaration of independence." Now 
 she was impelled by her unhappiness to write to 
 him, to find him, to know if he still thought of 
 her. While sitting there in purposeless thought, 
 she was startled by seeing the morning peeping 
 through the clouds, and, partially undressing, flung 
 herself down for a little rest. 
 
 At breakfast she tried, as she had often done 
 before, to talk to her husband about the evening 
 before. He had little to say about social affairs, 
 and Bessie -became hopeless about entertaining 
 him. 
 
 Soon after this, one evening, she spoke to him
 
 164 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 about some book. Having had a tiresome and 
 aggravating day, he answered, impatiently, " I am 
 tired of the sight and name of books." 
 
 Bessie relapsed into silence, and wondered if he 
 would like to listen all day to the cries and ques- 
 tions of small children and the twaddle of a few 
 callers, and not want a change too. 
 
 She had brooded over her troubles until she 
 had become hypersensitive, and then, woman- 
 like, concluded that she would never mention the 
 subject again. 
 
 Soon two or three of the habitues came in. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lennox seldom spent an evening 
 alone. As Lennox did not retire to the office 
 this evening, the conversation turned upon a new 
 publication. In the midst of the discussion Bessie 
 had it on her tongue's end to cut Lennox by say- 
 ing that he did not like literary discussions after 
 six o'clock in the evening, and so to change the 
 subject, but her nobler impulses prevailed and she 
 said nothing, yet Lennox divined what was passing 
 in her mind. 
 
 Bessie was more than ever bright and witty that 
 evening. The visitors left in high spirits. Lennox 
 retired to his office. Life looked lonesome and
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 I6 5 
 
 hopeless to him. His wife was charming to all 
 but him. He did not realize that he did not ever 
 let her try, and Bessie looked upon him as non- 
 understandable. Being so strong in mind and 
 body it was possible that he wished for no com- 
 panionship, and she ceased to try to be more to 
 him than a good housekeeper and pleasant hostess. 
 Yet she was proud of him and admired him at a 
 distance. Sadly she saw her life was a failure. 
 The knowledge that it was a fatality, not the result 
 of any intentional sin of omission or commission 
 on her part, alone gave her courage to bear up 
 under her burden.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 YOUNG Fielding, Lennox's city relative, after a 
 couple of years at the law, for which he was not 
 fitted, had decided to study for the ministry. 
 Fearing the distractions of the city, to which he 
 was really not in the least addicted, he settled 
 himself to study with Mr. Talcott in Carrington, 
 and became one of the intimates of the big stone 
 house. Bessie liked him, yet he gave her an un- 
 comfortable sensation. He watched every ex- 
 pression and action of those about him, and, 
 without being at all prying, had a most Jesuitical 
 gift of reading people. Neither brilliant nor pro- 
 found, he had the talent of closest attention, and, 
 while remaining utterly oblivious to the great 
 battles of life and society, he could describe the 
 manoeuvres of some few skirmishers with the 
 minuteness of a detective. In spite of Bessie's 
 being handsome and brilliant as ever, he noticed 
 an indefinable change. Though her mouth still 
 
 laughed and showed the glistening teeth, the gray 
 1 66
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 I6 7 
 
 eyes were wider open and often sad, and she 
 showed an almost fierce affection for her chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Fielding realized that he had before him that 
 most interesting and dangerous of studies, a 
 beautiful woman with a secret. Without the 
 slightest wish to force his way into this skeleton 
 closet, he wished very much that the key was 
 turned. His curiosity was by no means a selfish 
 one. From a combination of peculiar circum- 
 stances his mother's being an invalid for years 
 was one of them he had passed a most un- 
 happy childhood. Thus he was instinctively 
 drawn towards those who suffered. He saw very 
 shortly that his friend was unhappy. To do him 
 justice, he would have discovered it had she been 
 neither young nor lovely. Bessie knew by the 
 way he looked at her that he was divining her 
 secret, and, more for Lennox's sake than her own, 
 appeared particularly lively and gay when the 
 " last of the Puritans" formed one of the cosey 
 group, and hoped that she would never be sur- 
 prised into betraying herself. 
 
 The spring came, and with it a change of pros- 
 pects for Lennox. He had a first-rate oppor-
 
 !68 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 tunity to go to New York, and was ready to take 
 it if Bessie would agree and could contentedly 
 live within four contracted brick walls. He al- 
 ways consulted her in regard to his affairs. She 
 said that what was best for him professionally was 
 of course her pleasure, and though she looked 
 with dread on the restraints of city life, showed no 
 sign of faltering. After all, it did not make much 
 difference where she was. It mattered to no one 
 but the children. Waring must long ago have 
 ceased to care. If the man to whom she had 
 given all she could give found in her only an 
 ordinarily good housekeeper and mother for his 
 children, of course she was nothing to this boy 
 after all these years. But, then, had he not said 
 " forever" ? 
 
 As the flitting was to be in the fall, all summer 
 the piazzas, by night and day, were lively with the 
 many friends desiring to have as much of Bessie's 
 society as possible before her departure. 
 
 One evening as the Talcotts, Miss Howard, 
 Huntington, Mr. and Mrs. Lennox were watching 
 the darkening shadows on hills and river, and 
 Bessie's thoughts were far away, Fielding ap- 
 peared suddenly with a large bunch of violets.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 169 
 
 With his usual directness of action he presented 
 them all to Bessie, entirely ignoring the other 
 ladies. They and the gentlemen exchanged 
 amused glances. Bessie was brought back sud- 
 denly from her dreamings, and colored a little as 
 Fielding handed her the flowers, for they fitted 
 in so aptly with the subject of her reveries. She 
 found a vase to receive them, and placed them on 
 a little stand, part of the piazza furniture. Field- 
 ing had his back to the table, and as Huntington 
 walked back and forth he would pose in apparent 
 ecstasy before the flowers, casting ludicrously 
 hopeless glances at Bessie. Lennox and all the 
 rest saw the performance. Fielding was the only 
 one who could not see the fun. Bessie was afraid 
 he might see, and, having no sense of humor, 
 would be mortally offended ; so she managed, by 
 rising and calling Huntington's attention to a par- 
 ticular sunset effect, to rearrange the group and 
 cause her friends to settle down to good behavior. 
 Lennox and Huntington retired for some busi- 
 ness talk, and at length all had gone but Fielding. 
 Bessie thanked him again for the bouquet. He 
 asked her why she did not put them in her belt as 
 she did other flowers. The question was unex- 
 H 15
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 pected. She could not tell him " because years 
 ago some one used to give me violets," so she 
 answered, " I am very fond of them, but I would 
 dislike to wear them, I never do." 
 
 Fielding thought, " Here is a clue to the discon- 
 tent or whatever it may be." 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, isn't this beautiful ? How 
 dreadful to leave this lovely view and picturesque 
 old home for a house, a mere slice in the wall 
 like everybody else's slice, to hear your next 
 neighbor take off his boots every night for years 
 and not even know his name ! You do not know 
 what a trial it is to me." 
 
 " Why don't you tell Mr. Lennox ? Perhaps he 
 would not go if he knew how you felt about it." 
 
 " Oh, he asked me if I was willing to go. Of 
 course I would not let him think for a moment 
 that I was not. The life will not be a very con- 
 genial one to me. You know I am half a savage. 
 A man's object in life is his profession, and I 
 would never stand in the way of that." 
 
 After a pause, she added, 
 
 "Women have ambition and love success too. 
 I am quite equal to giving up my home, this 
 lovely view, perhaps even my friends, without a
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 171 
 
 murmur for my husband's success; but for failure, 
 ugh, how it would gall me !" And she stirred un- 
 easily in her chair. 
 
 Fielding wrongly surmised that Bessie had 
 married Lennox for his brilliant reputation, and 
 was perhaps only receiving her deserts. 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, it distresses me to hear you 
 speak in this worldly way ; you did not talk so 
 years ago when I first met you, a stranger would 
 think you had no heart." 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, I am much older than I was 
 then and know more. A heart is a great incum- 
 brance, and the sooner it is disposed of the better. 
 There come the other gentlemen, so I will not 
 have an opportunity to horrify you again this 
 evening." 
 
 These four night-hawks remained yet some 
 hours out of doors. When the two married 
 people were left together they discussed the New 
 York plan in a matter-of-fact way. To have 
 heard them one would have imagined them sim- 
 ply good friends talking over their business mat- 
 ters. Lennox said his office there would be out 
 of the house, perhaps miles away, would she not 
 be lonesome ?
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 The words were on her lips, " When have I not 
 been lonesome ?" but she checked them : " Oh, no, 
 with the children, housekeeping, and books" (and 
 added, mentally, memories), " I will be quite con- 
 tented." 
 
 Lennox had hoped that at least she would say 
 she would miss having him near her. He could 
 not gain an inch in her affections, yet he could 
 complain of nothing. All the household affairs 
 were conspicuously arranged for his convenience. 
 The attentions she received from other gentlemen 
 he more than approved of; in fact, they saved 
 him time and trouble. Without a show of weari- 
 ness she called on and entertained any of the 
 "heavy artillery" there was reason or policy in 
 propitiating. More than once he said that one- 
 third of his success was due to the strength of 
 his own right arm, the other two-thirds due to his 
 wife. He loved her, but she disappointed him. 
 Once long ago he had a dim ideal of what his 
 wife should be. Now it rose distinctly before 
 him. She should be loving, pliant, above all 
 absorbed in him personally, his own to be loved, 
 not the world's to be admired. 
 
 Bessie felt his disappointment long before he
 
 HALF MARRIED. l ^ 
 
 did, and after conscientiously trying to find the 
 cause and failing, gave it up as hopeless. And as 
 even the love of children cannot fill even a good 
 woman's heart, she allowed her remembrance of 
 the young lieutenant to become to her a romance, 
 a leading idea. Once she longed for and re- 
 gretted him, as she had done her father and the 
 incidents of her past life. Now, she regarded 
 him as the one alone in all the world who cared 
 for her welfare or happiness. She found her ac- 
 tions more guided by " what would Charlie say or 
 think" than by any motive less remote. True to 
 her promise, she had kept, as well as she could, 
 the run of him, and had never yet heard of any- 
 thing to his discredit. From Mr. Arthur she 
 heard at rather long intervals. In fact, he had 
 lately written that Waring was sobriety itself; he 
 had turned scientist to some extent, and had re- 
 ceived an honorary membership to a noted Eng- 
 lish geological society in consequence of some 
 learned article he had written on the lava-beds of 
 Idaho. He had also gained the reputation of 
 being the greatest flirt, or more strictly speaking, 
 the most graceful and successful defender of his 
 
 bachelor freedom, in that branch of the service ; 
 
 15*
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the vain efforts of various young ladies to secure 
 " a button's worth" of attention being quite a di- 
 version to his brother officers. 
 
 " There is still," Arthur wrote, " after all these 
 years, a mysterious story of a disappointment, and 
 these fair charmers consider this report as a chal- 
 lenge, and have tried to bring him up to time on 
 several occasions. One very warm day, at a pic- 
 nic, he threw back his coat for a little air. The 
 little bayonet that he always wears pinned under 
 his coat was exposed to view. One of these girls, 
 very lacking in tact (fortunately, such are few and 
 far between), called out so as to attract the atten- 
 tion of the whole party, ' Oh, Mr. Waring, is that 
 the charm that has made you invulnerable all these 
 years, or are you the victim of some gay deceiver ?' 
 Most of us held our breath. Knowing Waring's 
 temper we feared his answer, but he has learned 
 self-control. He replied quite carelessly, ' Don't 
 imagine me the hero of a romance. I have never 
 been deceived, that's the correct term, is it not ? 
 I cannot claim sympathy on that score. Once when 
 I was very little I cried and kicked so hard for the 
 moon that my gentle mamma made me one of 
 yellow flannel, and it had to answer the purpose.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 175 
 
 When I was older I once again cried for the moon. 
 I got this to keep me quiet, and it has effectually. 
 Some day when I resign on my laurels and a rich 
 wife's money, I am going to have a coat of arms, 
 moon d'argent, heart rampant.' Waring, with his 
 forage-cap on the back of his curly head, his small 
 feet (he is as vain of them as ever) in a conspicu- 
 ous position, his blond moustache and dark eye- 
 brows both turning up at the corners, looked the 
 very personification of mischief. I know that girl 
 was mystified entirely. She does not know, nor 
 we either, whether he cherishes the memory of a 
 certain young lady, whom we all loved more or 
 less, or whether he is quite indifferent and has 
 chosen science for his only mistress. This par- 
 ticular young lady was very rich, and we imagined 
 when she left the fort she went away very sorrow- 
 ful." 
 
 Arthur would have been horrified had he known 
 he was helping rekindle an old flame. His letter 
 fitted in only too well with Bessie's frequent rev- 
 eries on the broad gallery in the moonlight. 
 
 Before leaving their house Lennox said they 
 must give a party. It was to be a large affair, and 
 all mere social obligations would be paid off, so
 
 176 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 that he would leave town with a clear social con- 
 science, the only variety of conscience, he re- 
 marked, which lawyers were supposed to have. 
 
 Fielding looked aghast at this piece of impiety 
 coming from a Christian and a vestryman. He 
 could not understand these people. That they 
 were doing good in their day and generation, and 
 never turned their handsome faces from any poor 
 man, was certain, but their remarks, taken by him 
 literally, were sources of dismay and subjects of 
 prayer. 
 
 About this time he undertook to break Fred 
 Jr. of calling his mother " Bessie" (a disrespectful 
 habit), and gave the mamma a solemn " talking to" 
 about taking the child to church. 
 
 Bessie said he was too young to behave him- 
 self, but Fielding seemed so truly distressed about 
 the matter that she consented to take the boy, if 
 he would sit with her and see the result of the 
 experiment. Lennox was to be in New York the 
 next Sunday and would not be annoyed at any 
 denouement, so if it was pleasant the boy should 
 go. Sunday came, and Master Fred was arrayed 
 in spotless white. He had on as few clothes as 
 possible, the day being warm. The child, with
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 his dark eyes and fair hair, looked a perfect cherub. 
 He sat perfectly still for some time. Fielding was 
 pluming himself upon his success in " bringing up 
 a child in the way it should go," and Bessie was 
 alarmed at the unnatural quiet of " No. I," that 
 calm stage being usually the precursor of trouble. 
 
 Some time before Master Fred had conceived 
 an admiration for the handsome contralto in Mr. 
 Talcott's choir, so, after his quiet spell, he pro- 
 posed visiting her then and there. He was given 
 firmly to understand that that was not to be 
 thought of, and he quieted down again, but in a 
 few moments the congregation were startled by a 
 crack like the report of a pistol, and people in the 
 immediate vicinity of the Lennox pew put their 
 handkerchiefs to their faces as if suddenly seized 
 with a severe toothache. 
 
 Fred, in his desire to be big, and see his " lady 
 luf," had, while Fielding was deep in his devotions, 
 placed that gentleman's new silk hat on the seat, 
 and seated himself on the upturned crown. The 
 fabric gave way with a report that startled the 
 child and amused the assembly. 
 
 The boy was then given a purse, and amused 
 himself so quietly that he was again forgotten.
 
 178 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 But after a short time Fielding, looking down in 
 the bottom of the pew, saw a sight that caused 
 his proper heart to cease to beat. This small 
 cherub had begun to undress himself! The little 
 socks and slippers were carefully placed on a 
 kneeling-cushion, and the little blouse shirt, open- 
 ing in front, was unbuttoned, and that with the 
 attached kilt being dropped off, would leave little 
 to be dispensed with. Poor Fielding clutched 
 at Bessie's sleeve and, with speechless horror, 
 pointed to the small sinner. Between amusement 
 and annoyance the mamma was almost hysterical. 
 She managed to redress the culprit, and at a con- 
 venient place in the service escorted him home. 
 
 Fielding's efforts at introducing reforms into 
 the Lennox family were the source of much fun, 
 and Lennox had a great deal to say about " bach- 
 elors' children." 
 
 Bessie gave her party, and it was a great suc- 
 cess. To her delight some of her old friends 
 were in New York and came down to it, among 
 them Arthur, and he was to spend ten days of 
 his precious leave with them. 
 
 The evening of the -entertainment the grounds 
 were hung with lanterns, the piazzas arranged
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 with drapery, tables, chairs, and rugs, the supper 
 managed by a caterer, and Bessie found all 
 things arranged with less trouble than she ex- 
 perienced at the fort in entertaining a dozen 
 intimate friends. Lennox looked very handsome 
 and dignified as he stood with Bessie to receive 
 his guests. No one would have suspected him 
 of the convulsing remarks he was making in his 
 wife's ear. Her charming smile was oftcner the 
 result of his witty sallies than from the pleasure 
 derived from meeting her acquaintances. He 
 could always command her admiration if nothing 
 more. 
 
 After the guests had gone, the host and hostess 
 and Lennox's more intimate gentlemen friends 
 (who had returned after going . home with the 
 young ladies) seated themselves to have their 
 supper without interruption and finish up the rest 
 of the night, or morning. Lennox, not wishing 
 to go against public sentiment, had no wine at his 
 reception, but now cigars and champagne were 
 brought forth. 
 
 When Arthur and Bessie would begin their 
 reminiscences, Lennox would put on a pathetic 
 expression and ask how far they had gotten
 
 l8o HALF MARRIED. 
 
 through the history, personal and family, of every 
 man in the service, and that he would be driven 
 to desperation, or Canada, if they continued. 
 
 Arthur had arrived only a day or two before, 
 so, though Bessie had asked him a multitude of 
 random questions, she had got no detailed ac- 
 count of anybody. 
 
 After their supper was finished she said, 
 " Mr. Arthur, our brilliant conversation is lost 
 on these civilians, who pride themselves on their 
 'souls above buttons.' I suggest that we retire 
 to the other end of this piazza." 
 
 " Cavalry to the front," interrupted Lennox. 
 "When I have exhausted you with questions 
 cry quarter, and I'll release you." 
 
 They seated themselves comfortably, and, after 
 a little teasing from the group at the other end 
 of the gallery, nearly a hundred feet off, were 
 allowed to talk over old times without interrup- 
 tion. 
 
 After some conversation, Arthur said, 
 
 " Miss Bessie, you have changed considerably." 
 
 As she leaned her head on her hand, her elbow 
 
 supported by the railing, she was, in the pale 
 
 starlight, ethereally beautiful. Her dress was
 
 HALF MARRIED. 181 
 
 light blue silk and white lace, that seemed to 
 blend with the starlight and shadows of the 
 night. Her hair now was in a low, loose coil, 
 so much more becoming than the disfiguring 
 chignon of her girlhood. It was the reign of 
 " tie-backs," and her dress seemed fitted from 
 shoulder to train. Arthur thought he had never 
 seen a more beautiful woman, and his heart ached 
 for his messmate. He felt a pride in her, too, as 
 one of " ours." What city could turn out a piece 
 of physical perfection like hers, and where could 
 be found a soul more noble and good? 
 
 " Yes, unfortunately, one cannot be twenty- 
 seven years old and the mother of two children 
 and look the same as at nineteen. You aggra- 
 vating men improve as you grow older. We poor 
 women are doomed so early to become old and 
 uninteresting." 
 
 " I did not mean that you had fallen off in your 
 looks. You have not. (Do not get one of your old 
 attacks of dignity, for I mean to continue.) You 
 seem more human than you used to. You do not 
 look languid or worn, but now I can imagine you 
 really tired and willing, under some circumstances, 
 
 to be helped a little. At times your untiring energy 
 16
 
 lS2 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 used to be a little overwhelming. You seemed to 
 drive all before you instead of inspiring all to fol- 
 low. When the chaplain came to Fort Derby, he 
 casually remarked that he would ' rather be Miss 
 Lansing's Prayer Book than her shoes,' but when 
 he saw the much-worn condition of that ancient 
 relic which you used to affect, he concluded you 
 must have had personal encounters with his sable 
 majesty, a la St. Dunstan, and used the book in 
 lieu of pincers. Indeed, you strike me as being 
 more lovely, if I may use a much-abused adjective, 
 than of yore, and Mr. Lennox must be a happy 
 man." 
 
 Arthur had never been a flatterer, and, in fact, 
 by his just and open criticisms, had done much 
 in old days to " keep her head level," as he ex- 
 pressed it. 
 
 Bessie had not heard a word of honest praise 
 for so long that at this her eyes filled with tears. 
 Apparently her husband considered her either 
 above or beneath comment, and Fielding lectured 
 her as one of the spiritually unwashed. 
 
 " Mr. Arthur, it is very kind of you to praise 
 me. I hope I may always deserve it." 
 
 He detected a peculiar emphasis on the always.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 At this juncture Fielding appeared, and Arthur 
 gave place to him. Fielding, with his microscopic 
 vision, saw the tears in Bessie's eyes. Not want- 
 ing to say anything personal, he rather mechanic- 
 ally remarked, 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, I have written my first sermon." 
 
 " Yes ; and what is the text ? I mean subject ; 
 I hate texts." 
 
 "Well, it's about answering prayer." 
 
 " Nonsense!" she said, fiercely and unexpectedly. 
 " Whose prayers are answered, and what do you 
 know about prayers ?" 
 
 One foot beat the floor impatiently. 
 
 Fielding saw that he had raised a spirit not 
 easily laid, and answered, timidly, 
 
 " Why, Mrs. Lennox, do you think I have never 
 prayed ?" 
 
 " I don't know ; but I do know that for six or 
 seven years / have prayed for" she did not know 
 what to say, happiness ? love ? Charlie War- 
 ing? none of the multitude of words that flew 
 through her mind expressed the idea, so she said, 
 in desperation, " a man's soul," and burst into 
 tears. 
 
 Fielding's kind face paled before this, to him,
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 terrible revelation. He was astonished that she 
 would acknowledge to him, to any one, that she 
 needed help from even a source divine. The fact 
 that she had prayed so long for anything or any 
 one showed a sincerity of devotion he had never 
 imagined possible in a woman who wore clinging 
 dresses and drank champagne. Still, there was 
 something shocking to him in the idea of a wife's 
 praying so long and so earnestly for a man not 
 her husband. 
 
 To pray for the unregenerate and heathen in 
 the aggregate was a laudable occupation to be en- 
 couraged, but to pray for one especial heathen, par- 
 ticularly if he wore a United States uniform, as 
 Fielding suspected to be the case, was an entirely 
 different affair. 
 
 Good reader, you will find proprieties and relig- 
 ion often conflicting. By what moral theodolite 
 will you determine the boundary-line where pray- 
 ers for lovers should cease and those for husbands 
 begin ? 
 
 Fielding pictured to himself a hardened sinner, 
 even a criminal, as the object of these interces- 
 sions. Arthur at once came to his mind as in 
 some way connected with Bessie's tearful eyes.
 
 HALF MARRIED. ^ 
 
 But, no. He had been to a week-day service, and 
 had not the air generally of one of the hopelessly 
 lost. 
 
 Bessie quickly regained her composure, and, 
 saying that she was desperately tired and must 
 have some rest, walked with Fielding over to the 
 others. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, you are welcome to spend 
 the morning on this veranda, but I am going 
 inside. We are to have a shad-bake to-morrow. 
 Mr. Arthur is to be initiated into a real New Eng- 
 land pleasure." 
 
 A volley of questions were hurled after her re- 
 garding the time and place. She refused to notice 
 them as she entered the door-way. The gentle- 
 men, fearing the expedition would be at an early 
 hour, hastily shoved back their chairs, threw away 
 their cigars, and disappeared into their various 
 rooms. 
 
 1 6*
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THEY were not up with the sun the following 
 morning, and by the time they appeared for a 
 very late breakfast the house had quite regained 
 its every-day appearance. 
 
 Mr. Arthur was quite anxious to know what a 
 "shad-bake" was. The only satisfaction he got 
 was that one who had not been to a shad-bake 
 had lived in vain. 
 
 The party assembled in the Lennox parlors. 
 There were the Talcotts, Huntington, Arthur, 
 and two or three young ladies. Fielding and 
 Miss Howard were in her phaeton and loaded 
 down with numerous wraps, baskets, buckets, and 
 the usual paraphernalia of picnickers. Arthur de- 
 clared he could carry on a summer's campaign 
 against the Apaches with half the baggage. 
 The party wended their way towards the river, 
 a jolly, picturesque group. The gentlemen were 
 comfortable in dark blue suits, and the ladies in 
 
 blue boating-dresses and sun-hats, all but Bessie. 
 186
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 She had put on an old forage-cap to torment Mr. 
 Arthur, who had grown more of an old bachelor 
 than ever. 
 
 They soon reached the wharf and were waiting 
 for Fielding. He and Miss Howard had been 
 sent after the ice, and evidently the iceman had 
 proved obdurate or hard to find. At last they 
 appeared coming down-hill at an undignified pace. 
 During this detention Arthur had had time to 
 look around upon his surroundings. 
 
 At the foot of the wharf he saw a natty little 
 steam-launch hardly large enough to be called a 
 yacht, but large enough to be able to accommo- 
 date the entire party for an afternoon, or make 
 a comfortable lodging- or sleeping-place for two 
 or three gentlemen during a fishing excursion. 
 Her name, " The Arrow," in red letters, floated 
 from a pennant at the stern, and she was quite 
 bedizened with small flags flying from the stan- 
 chions that separated the windows and supported 
 the light deck, that served only for a shield against 
 the sun and rain. Altogether she made a pretty 
 picture. 
 
 Arthur recognized the gentleman who was 
 called alternately "the skipper," "the commodore,"
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 and Mr. Elton, as a gentleman he had met the 
 night before. 
 
 As he heard the little engine puff and grumble 
 as if impatient at the delay, he noticed with sat- 
 isfaction the grave and dignified face of " the 
 skipper," and thanked his stars that there was one 
 person in the party who knew what he was about. 
 All the others only seemed bent on enjoying 
 themselves. Even Lennox was thoroughly in the 
 spirit of the occasion. When the phaeton had 
 been unloaded, two or three pine planks, about 
 three feet by one, came to light, and there were 
 anxious inquiries for hammer and nails. 
 
 Truly, a picnic where the excitement centred 
 on a couple of small planks, a hammer, and nails 
 was a novel experience to our military friend. 
 
 They all got aboard, and Arthur watched the 
 engine and company with interest. 
 
 The steering-gear had by an ingenious contri- 
 vance been brought aft, so that one man could 
 steer, attend to the engine, and, if necessary, be 
 fireman too. The " skipper" never lost sight of 
 current, tide, or weather, and at the same time 
 heard and enjoyed all the nonsensical conversa- 
 tion of his guests. They said he could see out of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the back of his head if his eyes were profession- 
 ally occupied forward. Arthur's attention was 
 not long riveted on the machinery. They were 
 steaming down one of the loveliest parts of the 
 Connecticut, where the banks were high and the 
 stream narrowed. Some distance above they had 
 left the long, high bridge having the longest draw 
 of any in the world, a piece of work that caused 
 Arthur to exclaim in admiration. After his eu- 
 logy on the structure he was quite astonished to 
 hear Bessie say, " Yes, and the engineer who was 
 the architect is a particular friend of mine." 
 
 " Well," said Arthur, " I would like to take off 
 my hat to him." 
 
 " Lieutenant Arthur, behold your opportunity. 
 Commodore, allow yourself to be saluted." 
 
 The " skipper" burst out laughing at the 
 officer's surprise and confusion. 
 
 " Now, you did not imagine that I had sense 
 enough to build a bridge, did you ?" 
 
 " If I had thought at all, I should have im- 
 agined a man capable of that kind of engineering^ 
 would not be bothered entertaining a lot of idle, 
 noisy people like us. You must be good-natured 
 as well as a good engineer."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 At this juncture a large steamer was sighted 
 coming round a bend, and the big and little boats 
 exchanged the regulation signals. 
 
 Soon the Haunted House was pointed out. 
 This was the sad ruin of a lovely villa built many 
 years before. It had been sold for debt, and was 
 now in the hands of a New York banking com- 
 pany. The miles of road and paths were over- 
 grown. The house had been literally pulled to 
 pieces for the leaden pipes and for firewood for 
 tramps. 
 
 Just beyond was the site of some silver and 
 mica mines. Fielding began a pathetic story 
 about the man who invested in these mines and 
 " lost his all." Lennox, who had been feeding 
 Miss Howard with olives and hard-tack, and in- 
 sisting upon her using some cotton waste for a 
 napkin, casually remarked, " His micah was not 
 among the prophets." 
 
 Fielding looked mildly shocked, and Lennox 
 tossed him an olive as a "peace-offering," regret- 
 ting that it was " not attached to a branch." 
 
 After six or eight miles of steaming they 
 reached an island where the fishermen were pre- 
 paring to haul the seine. The operation, though
 
 HALF MARRIED. I g I 
 
 familiar to most of them, was watched with in- 
 terest. 
 
 The bobs of wood that floated the net, marked 
 a dotted semicircular line of about two hundred 
 yards, one end on the mainland, the other on the 
 island. Some of the fishermen rowed to the shore, 
 and two taking hold of the end of the seine, the 
 others rowed the heavy boat back to the island, 
 when their companions began hauling their end. 
 
 Soon the net was lying in two great piles on 
 the beach, the bag in the centre full of flounder- 
 ing fish. As the sun shone on this glittering 
 mass, they looked more like fish of gold and silver 
 than of flesh and bones. 
 
 After considerable hard work, the men stand- 
 ing up to their waists in the water, the shad were 
 brought to the land. AH were interested in this 
 good catch, as their dinner literally depended 
 upon it. Huntington was despatched from the 
 yacht in a small boat for the fishes, and was to 
 bring them back ready for cooking. Miss How- 
 ard went with him to do the work while he did 
 the talking. She took the oars while he turned 
 up the cuffs of his blue shirt before venturing to 
 do his marketing.
 
 192 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 The shad being procured and the small boat 
 made fast, the yacht steamed up the current a 
 short distance and anchored off a pleasant spot 
 with a good landing-place. High up the bank 
 " Split Rock," a perpendicular rift so far up that it 
 looked but a foot wide, seemed as clearly cut as 
 if done by a man's hand, while in reality wide 
 enough to let pass a wagon loaded with hay. 
 
 The rocks gradually lost themselves downward 
 in a wooded bank, which finally terminated in a 
 grassy slope near the river. A small stream, cold 
 and clear, flowed down from the height over 
 stones and fallen trees, sometimes fairly hid by 
 the beautiful ferns and maiden-hair that grow so 
 luxuriantly in New England, and again bursting 
 out over the vexing rocks and boulders into a 
 noisy, coquettish cascade. It was an ideal spot 
 for these pleasure-seekers to pitch their camp, and 
 from the gayety and laughter no one would have 
 imagined care among the whole party. Perhaps 
 if we lived in the pure air more we would take 
 our cares more lightly. 
 
 Bessie, being unusually susceptible to out-door 
 influences, forgot that she was unhappy. Such 
 spots as this always suggested that most beautiful
 
 HALF MARRIED. ! 93 
 
 of summers long ago. It was like awakening a 
 gentle spirit of the past. The feeling of disap- 
 pointment and rebellion that at times threatened 
 to overwhelm her when between four walls 
 touched her not in the free air. 
 
 The passengers were safely landed, then the 
 baggage, and finally the "commodore;" the 
 little " Arrow" being left all alone jauntily riding 
 at anchor. 
 
 A spot to leeward of a great boulder was 
 selected for building the camp-fire, and even the 
 ladies helped to collect fuel. 
 
 While Lennox, bringing his army training into 
 use, superintended the fire, Mr. Elton arranged 
 the cuisine. Arthur did not dare ask any ques- 
 tions of this rollicking party, knowing his answer 
 would be far from satisfactory. Still, he looked 
 with interest for the part hammer and nails were 
 to play. 
 
 The " skipper" proceeded, with Fielding's help, 
 to cut up some salt pork in thin slices, each about 
 two inches long and one wide, and as exactly 
 done as if every inch had been measured. Then 
 a shad was taken and split along the belly, and 
 
 the backbone having been removed, it was care- 
 i n 17
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 fully nailed on one of the pine boards, back against 
 the plank. The flesh was then slashed with a 
 sharp knife, and at regular intervals the small 
 slices of pork were laid on, each securely fastened 
 with a nail. By the time the necessary number 
 of shad were prepared the fire was in good con- 
 dition, and with a stick at the back of each board 
 they were placed easel fashion with the fish to- 
 wards the fire. 
 
 In the mean time Huntington had utilized the 
 ice and lemons, and the ladies had spread the 
 table-cloth, and all were anxiously waiting for 
 dinner. 
 
 The shad puffed up with the heat to three times 
 their natural thickness. The pork spluttered and 
 crisped. These appetizing odors mingled with the 
 aroma of coffee and lemons, and soon the experts 
 pronounced the cooking an accomplished fact. 
 The boards were carried bodily to the table and 
 the fish served in alarmingly generous slices. 
 
 Each guest was allowed one thin wooden plate. 
 Arthur had never seen these picnic dishes before, 
 and was so pleased with them that Lennox sug- 
 gested that Bessie and Miss Howard should paint 
 him a fish set for his camp-chest.
 
 HALF MARRIED. j^ 
 
 Arthur declared, as his friends had at previous 
 times, " that no one knew what a fish was till he 
 had eaten a Connecticut River planked shad ; that 
 the first taste was a sensation to be remembered." 
 Lennox gravely told him that the inhabitants of 
 the river-shore were such ichthyophagists that 
 they were obliged to undress downwards on ac- 
 count of the shad-bones protruding from their 
 backs. 
 
 After the delightful meal was despatched, the 
 baggage, which had materially diminished, was 
 packed, and the group divided into couples and 
 quartettes to lounge, smoke, or gather ferns and 
 wild-flowers. Bessie had done the agreeable as 
 the matron of the party, so with a clear con- 
 science she started off with Arthur. They fol- 
 lowed a path up the bank a short distance, and, 
 reaching a shady spot near a subdued portion of 
 the energetic little stream, they settled themselves 
 to have a good " army talk." Bessie was all 
 anxiety to hear of Waring, but Arthur had not 
 as yet mentioned his name, so she gradually led 
 up to it. 
 
 " Where is my dear little Tom ? I cannot 
 realize that he is almost a young gentleman."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 11 He is at the Polytechnic at Troy, and is doing 
 nicely." 
 
 "And Mr. Waring, where is he?" She knew 
 where he was. This was to introduce the subject. 
 
 " Oh, he can answer for himself." And taking 
 out a flat pocket-book, of which the contents 
 were most precisely arranged, he drew out a 
 letter. 
 
 Bessie almost felt faint upon seeing the writing. 
 The hand was more firm, more manly, than when 
 she last saw it, but yet the same. The dreamy 
 October day upon which she had her last word 
 from him rose pictured before her as Arthur 
 handed her the letter to read : 
 
 " MY DEAR ARTHUR, 
 
 "You can't imagine the pleasure your letter 
 gave me. It was a treat, old boy, though, I 
 must confess, a small one, about two fingers. To 
 hear of so many of the fellows did me good. It's 
 encouraging to know they have not entirely for- 
 gotten us. ... If you should meet my old friend, 
 Miss Bessie, in your wanderings, give her my 
 love. I suppose that is no impropriety after all 
 these years. Tell her that, owing to her early
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 and late instructions, I have developed into quite 
 a respectable Episcopalian, and a lover of Thack- 
 eray, and that the way Ethel devilled Lord Kew 
 at Baden calls forth my highest admiration. I 
 am hoping next summer to have a leave and 
 become, for a short time at least, semi-civilized. 
 Our usual shop chit-chat I'll retail when there is 
 more time, as the sergeant is waiting for me to 
 finish. I inquired about that fellow that wants to 
 
 be appointed agent at M . ' He isn't worth 
 
 the powder to blow him to the devil,' was Gen- 
 eral S.'s exclamation, so don't do anything for 
 him. 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " WARING." 
 
 Bessie read the letter, and though it was not a 
 remarkable letter or very interesting, she failed to 
 hand it back. 
 
 " Mr. Arthur, when you write to Charlie give 
 him my love and tell him when he comes East we 
 hope to see him. Now tell me all aboqt every- 
 body. This is the first quiet chance I have had. 
 You don't know what a delight it is to see an old 
 
 friend again ! It seems centuries since I saw you 
 
 17*
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 all. As I look in the glass, I wonder why I'm 
 not wrinkled and gray, it seems so long ago. 
 Then again, it is so vivid, it seems but yesterday. 
 I feel sometimes as if I were two different persons 
 all at once." 
 
 After a lengthy talk the two old friends saun- 
 tered down the sloping path and met the others. 
 The full moon rose so early that they were to 
 wind up the day with a moonlight sail and yet be 
 home in time to have a good night's rest, to re- 
 cover from the fatigues of the former evening. 
 Bessie and Arthur managed to seat themselves at 
 the stern outside of the yacht's cabin. It re- 
 quired some care to keep clear of the steering- 
 gear. 
 
 They slowly steamed up the current as the 
 moon shone down with the clear silver brilliancy 
 of northern skies. Nowhere in the North do we 
 get those golden caressing beams of the southern 
 moon. To one who has known fair Luna in the 
 South her northern rays are, as the great French- 
 man says of " la vie de la vielle fille, tres belle, mais 
 tresfroide /" 
 
 The river was turned to a stream of silver, and 
 the dark forest-clad banks were reflected with
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 199 
 
 weird distinctness in seemingly fathomless depths. 
 Every leaf, every twig, as well as boulder and 
 height, looked down upon its twin brother. At a 
 turn in the river a picnic-party came in view, 
 gathered round their fire. The curling flames 
 shot directly upwards in the still night, illuminat- 
 ing the background of high, rough rocks, and 
 throwing into bold relief the bright dresses and 
 pretty faces of three young girls, who were evi- 
 dently engaged in making coffee. One matron 
 and three picturesque young gentlemen reclined 
 on the grass, just above the bit of sandy beach 
 where two light row-boats were hauled up. 
 
 The beautiful night and the natural reaction 
 from high spirits subdued the voyagers. Even 
 the little engine seemed to catch the spirit of the 
 scene and worked away under its breath. After a 
 long pause, Bessie said, 
 
 " This is like the nights we had in the moun- 
 tains on our trouting expedition. Do you re- 
 member?" 
 
 " Certainly I do ; and a glorious time we had." 
 
 Both sank into a deep revery. The silence was 
 interrupted by a sharp report, probably a pistol 
 fired on the shore. Bessie was so lost in thought
 
 200 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 that it startled her, and involuntarily she ex- 
 claimed " Oh, Charlie !" and laid her hand on 
 Arthur's arm. Immediately she saw her fanx- 
 pas, and knowing she could offer no extenuating 
 explanation, attempted none. She had been un- 
 easy for some time lest her unhappy domestic re- 
 lations should be known to the world, and felt that 
 the mortification would be too horrible to endure. 
 She could easily keep her own counsel, but was 
 afraid of being taken off her guard. She knew 
 Arthur was safe, but she was more than ever 
 afraid of herself. 
 
 The "Arrow" came up alongside the dock, and 
 the party, after many good-nights and reiterated 
 thanks to the "commodore," took their ways 
 homeward. Arriving at home, Bessie immedi- 
 ately excused herself. Lennox and Fielding re- 
 tired to the office, and Arthur, lighting a cigar, 
 seated himself alone on the upper gallery to 
 meditate on the affairs of his hostess. She could 
 see him through the slats of her blinds, as, tilting 
 his chair back against the rail, he seemed lost in 
 thought. She had a wild impulse to call him to 
 the window and tell him the whole story ; but no, 
 she must fight the fight alone, come what might.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 OI 
 
 She never would be conquered by fate. She read 
 Waring's letter again by the moonlight, and sadly 
 retired to her rest, saying to herself more than 
 once, " No, he has not forgotten. Oh, Charlie, 
 my darling, will I ever see you again ?" 
 
 As for Arthur, he had come across the greatest 
 puzzle ever under his observation. His great 
 theory of existence and explanation of the inex- 
 plicable hinged on the idea that every one knew 
 his or her own business best. In this particular 
 instance his theory did not appear to be true. 
 Lennox and his wife being of such high character, 
 he concluded they were working conscientiously 
 but at cross-purposes. Hitherto his ideas of do- 
 mestic infelicity were where the wife irritated or 
 the husband bullied. There was nothing unre- 
 fined or brutal here, but, nevertheless, a darkness 
 that could be felt. She certainly could not have 
 loved Waring. He knew he had been at her dis- 
 posal at any time up to her marriage. Yet she 
 had kept that letter. He knew it was not acci- 
 dentally done, and she had involuntarily spoken 
 his name. He determined to look about him 
 for a clue to this mystery. As he rose to enter 
 the house he glanced over the beautiful view, and,
 
 202 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 as he tossed away his cigar, murmured, with a 
 sigh, "Alas! and who of us is happy?" 
 
 During his stay of ten days he came to the 
 conclusion that things in the Lennox family were 
 in a very bad way. Lennox seemed exasper- 
 atingly oblivious to the best points in his wife's 
 character, and she too foolishly proud to demand 
 her just dues. After the devotion and attention 
 which she had received from young and old men 
 in those regions where young girls were rarities, 
 his obtuseness appeared to Arthur most cruel. 
 "Bessie evidently has the old general's grit, and 
 will hold out as long as she does hold out 
 without a show of wavering ; but when she does 
 give up, what then ?" 
 
 Arthur did not like to think. He half wished 
 he had not given her VVaring's letter to read. He 
 wished twenty different and opposite things. Be- 
 fore departing he intended to give Lennox one 
 shot about the treatment of women. He admired 
 the man and found him a generous and agree- 
 able host, but he had a grudge against him. 
 
 At his last dinner during his visit he drew the 
 conversation to the great regard the frontiersmen 
 have for the few ladies it is their privilege to meet,
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 203 
 
 calling on Bessie now and then to corroborate his 
 statements. 
 
 " Miss Howard, you may not believe it, but 
 once I was out with my company to act as escort 
 to a party of civil engineers who wanted to run a 
 railroad over and through some impossible places. 
 One day one of the fellows picked up an old sun- 
 bonnet, probably pitched out of some emigrant 
 wagon. It had been pink once in the dim past. 
 None of us had seen a squaw, much less a white 
 woman, for six months. Some man elevated this 
 trophy on a pole, and we all joined hands and 
 danced around it. Now, Miss Howard, if we 
 forgot our dignity to such an extent over an 
 empty sun-bonnet, what do you suppose we would 
 have done if a pretty head had been in it ?" 
 
 " Do you mean to say, oh, cruel barbarians, that 
 you elevate girls' heads on poles as they did the 
 traitors in Peter Parley ? Be more explicit. When 
 I was quite a child I was taken to see ' Macbeth,' 
 and made to read the play before going. All 
 through the evening I was looking forward to 
 seeing Macbeth's head presented at the last on 
 the end of a stick, and was quite disappointed 
 when he died gracefully in plain view with Mac-
 
 204 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 duff's ugly foot on his beautiful body. I may be 
 gratified yet in my thirst for horrors." 
 
 " Miss Howard, I assure you, with us the pic- 
 ture is reversed. The ladies have their beautiful 
 feet on our ugly bodies, and we rejoice to be 
 tyrannized over." 
 
 Soon after dinner Arthur made his final adieux. 
 Hours after the household was still, Bessie sat by 
 her window. Tears would have been a luxury, 
 but she rarely indulged in them. What would 
 she say to Lennox if he found her weeping? To 
 own to him that she wept on account of his polite 
 neglect? never! And in fact, he, poor man, 
 would not have expected a tear from her on his 
 account had he been dead and buried in that neat 
 little graveyard by the side of his grim old father. 
 With honest pity for her, he had long since come 
 to the conclusion that he never had and never 
 could win her love, and had adjusted his life to 
 this conviction. Why she had ever married him 
 he could not quite make out. Sometimes he sus- 
 pected that her heart was out of her own keeping. 
 But the difficulty was to reconcile this theory with 
 the transparent truthfulness and honesty of her 
 nature. For the most part he refused to think
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 2O5 
 
 about it. He bore himself toward her courteously, 
 saw her fitful attempts to love him, and was secretly 
 enraged that it should require an effort for her to 
 do what he thought should be a natural and spon- 
 taneous delight.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 EARLY in the fall, before those fortunate ones 
 known as " anybody" were in town, the Lennox 
 family were comfortably domiciled in their house 
 in New York, not too far up-town. Bessie was 
 so occupied with her arrangements that she had 
 not time to miss her Carrington home very 
 sorely. 
 
 Lennox had many friends in New York, and in- 
 timated to his wife that she was to remain, as she 
 had ever been, the social head of the house, and 
 cautioned her to keep strict account of all social 
 indebtedness. By Christmas-time Bessie was 
 launched into society, and before Lent came 
 found it, in a measure, tiresome. The teas, din- 
 ners, and receptions were tamely alike. If they 
 had each been sprung on her suddenly she would 
 have enjoyed them, but to take her pleasure as it 
 was laid out for her, day by day, gave it too much 
 the air of business, and her unconventional spirit 
 
 rose in opposition. 
 206
 
 HALF MARRIED. 207 
 
 When the appearance of either her or her hus- 
 band would fill the social bill only one would 
 accept, Lennox saying there was no use of two 
 of a family being martyred on the same gridiron, 
 or, added Bessie, " steamed over the same tea- 
 kettle." 
 
 Huntington came into the office with Lennox, 
 and Fielding followed in a few months to take 
 charge of a neighboring mission chapel. Lennox, 
 of course, took a pew in a fashionable church 
 where he could be preached to by a man of 
 brains, worthy of his considerate attention. Bessie 
 did what church work she could for Fielding's 
 struggling little parish. 
 
 Lennox declared that the awe in which the 
 young parson held Bessie was all that prevented 
 him from showing out in his true colors as an 
 advanced ritualist, and hinted at candles, colored 
 stoles, and other paraphernalia that he was no 
 doubt ready to introduce at the first opportunity. 
 He suggested that he and Huntington should vol- 
 unteer for acolytes, bothered the poor young priest 
 about his cathedral, and addressed him as Father 
 Fielding, until he would have considered Lennox 
 as his sworn enemy if it had not been for the sub-
 
 2o8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 stantial aid given his work by that gentleman 
 through his wife. 
 
 The Lenten season set in, and our four friends 
 found it a decided relief from the never-ending 
 engagements of the winter. By this time the 
 arranging of work and performing of social duties, 
 incumbent upon one's coming into a new city and 
 expecting to keep well in the van of all things, 
 had told severely on Lennox's constitution. A 
 matter of business arising that made it advisable 
 to go to England for a few weeks, decided him to 
 take a two or three months' vacation, so that he 
 could take a short run on the continent and see 
 again some of his old university acquaintances. 
 
 The doctor had seen Bessie and told her it was 
 quite necessary for Lennox to have this vacation, 
 soon it might be too late ; so when Lennox con- 
 sulted her she did all in her power to start him 
 off on his voyage, without allowing him to sup- 
 pose that either she or the physician considered 
 it a matter of such vital importance. 
 
 He insisted that even the advisability in a 
 business way made him feel selfish about leaving 
 his wife at home, and insisted that upon his 
 return she should go away somewhere without
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 OC) 
 
 the children and take a rest herself. This she 
 promised to do. Lennox steamed off for Eng- 
 land, and Bessie found herself again entirely free, 
 for the time being, to follow her own inclinations. 
 In truth, she did not know whether she preferred 
 her lord and master away from or near her. 
 That she missed a moral and intellectual stimulus 
 she knew, but she felt the relief that one experi- 
 ences when an accusation is withdrawn. His 
 presence was a continual reproach to her. She 
 felt that in some inexplicable way she was blam- 
 able. 
 
 When Lennox left he put all his private affairs 
 in her hands, and told her to arrange her plans 
 for the ensuing months without any regard to his. 
 She was more hurt at the evident implication that 
 she wished to leave him out of her life entirely 
 than flattered at the unusual confidence placed in 
 her woman's judgment. Some days after his 
 departure she was sitting alone and thinking 
 (women really do think at times), " How can he 
 expect me to be everything to him, as he does, 
 and yet leave me only the odd moments of his 
 time and attention ? Yes, he should have a wife 
 
 without an idea of her own, looking to him for 
 o 18*
 
 2io HALF MARRIED. 
 
 her very right to breathe, and with no power or 
 desire to think for herself. How can he expect a 
 wife who manages alone his children, his society, 
 his income, to be a blind fool content with food 
 and clothing?" She gave a costly silk train a 
 contemptuous little kick, while she rose and began 
 walking up and down her handsome parlor, as 
 was her habit in the old garrison days when the 
 world went contrary to her wishes. 
 
 Since Arthur's visit the summer previous, she 
 was possessed with the idea that she must and 
 would see Waring before many months. She 
 thought if she could see him once more and hear 
 him say " I love you" it would enable her to re- 
 sume uncomplainingly a burden that, to her young 
 shoulders, seemed greater than she could bear. 
 She was treading on dangerous ground and 
 knew it, but the knowledge only made her more 
 reckless. Her tramp, tramp was interrupted by 
 the entrance of a gentleman. He had been 
 ushered into the parlor, and Bessie had not heard 
 his footsteps on the heavy carpets. She turned 
 suddenly and confronted a gentleman of her 
 and Lennox's acquaintance. He made himself 
 agreeable with chitchat as only men long accus-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 1 1 
 
 tomed to society can do. The conversation 
 turned upon the park and driving, and he asked 
 Bessie to go with him to try his new span. The 
 old groom would go as tiger, and all would be 
 conventionally proper. Bessie's first thought was, 
 here is a chance to have a taste of devotion once 
 more, to be admired and considered; but she re- 
 membered that Lennox had never been anything 
 but honorable and courteous to her, and that once 
 she had heard Waring say " that for a married 
 woman to flirt was low." So, on second thought, 
 she told her gay friend that if Mr. Lennox were 
 home she had no doubt but that he would ap- 
 prove of her going, but as he was not, and she so 
 much of a stranger in New York, she must de- 
 cline. 
 
 He disguised his disappointment as well as he 
 could, and proceeded to make himself felt in a 
 different way. 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, don't you feel the responsibility 
 of being left in this way, for so long, without any 
 father or brother to depend on ?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; I am quite used to being both the 
 father and mother of the family. Mr. Lennox 
 always reads family prayers and orders the coal,
 
 212 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 thus insuring a pleasant temperature in two 
 worlds. This done, his household duties cease. 
 I know of a youth, not overburdened with brains 
 as you may imagine, who always spoke of his 
 fiancee as his financier. Being the financier, I do 
 not feel any added responsibilities. Really, I have 
 quite a head for business. The Stock Exchange 
 no doubt lost a brilliant star when I was made my 
 father's daughter instead of his son." 
 
 " But you feel lonesome ?" 
 
 "Very, at times." 
 
 A slight pause and Bessie reached for a port- 
 folio of the " Dresden Gallery," as she detested 
 this personal conversation. She held the book, 
 handing out the separate pictures for the gentle- 
 man's inspection. Finally they were finished, and 
 Bessie's very white and refined-looking hand was 
 resting on the crimson cover of the portfolio. 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, you have the most beautiful 
 hand I ever saw, and," giving her a languishing 
 glance that had melted many a heart of stone, " if 
 I should lean over and kiss it would you forgive 
 me?" 
 
 As he leaned over to carry out his amiable in- 
 tention all temptation at flirtation, as a means of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 213 
 
 revenge or excitement, vanished from Bessie's 
 mind forever. She almost said " You idiot," but 
 instead, raised her well-defined eyebrows and 
 giving her well-set shoulders a little shrug, re- 
 plied, "As you will do nothing so disagreeable, 
 there is no use of our discussing the subject." 
 
 After this set back, our gentleman found it late 
 and took his departure. Thus ended Bessie's first 
 and last temptation to take up the role of flirt. 
 For years Lennox and Fielding wondered at the 
 intense dislike she had taken to one of the 
 greatest ladies' men in New York. It was a long 
 time before she enlightened them. 
 
 The spring soon passed, and the time was near- 
 ing for Lennox's return. His letters were frequent 
 and interesting. His wife hardly knew whether 
 she most wished for or dreaded his return, so she 
 remained in her now usual state of laisser aller. 
 
 It was also coming time to make arrangements 
 for that vacation for herself that she knew Lennox 
 would insist upon her taking. Indeed, it was the 
 condition of his going. Before she had thought 
 of any plans one of Mrs. Worthington's epistles 
 reached her, and she found her holiday all ar- 
 ranged. Some years before a wealthy gentleman
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 of Detroit had been in the West, and army officers 
 in general and Dr. Worthington in particular had 
 been able to do him some little favors. He had 
 magnified these mole-hills of courtesy into moun- 
 tains of kindness, and in return had put his steam- 
 yacht, the " Mist," at Dr. Worthington's disposal 
 for the summer. The men would have to be paid 
 anyway, he said. He and his wife were to spend 
 the summer in Europe, and he insisted upon fur- 
 nishing the coal, his business being in coal and 
 iron, so they would only have the mess-bill and 
 incidentals to pay for. The yacht would sail 
 from Detroit about July first for that indefinite 
 cruise known popularly as " up the lakes." They 
 would be gone about three or four weeks, and Dr. 
 Worthington begged that Bessie and Mr. Lennox 
 would join them. Her refusal would be a damper 
 upon the whole affair. Mrs. Worthington drew a 
 picture of the long talks of old times they would 
 have together, and the doctor added a postscript 
 advising Bessie to bring a trout-rod, if civiliza- 
 tion had not spoiled her, and finished up with a 
 sketch of the whole party on their knees in sailor 
 clothes begging her to come. 
 
 Mrs. Worthington had enclosed a letter from
 
 HALF MARRIED, 2 I5 
 
 Tom. That youth was to be of the party, was 
 rehearsing for " Pinafore," and evidently he had 
 not proved faithful to " Miss Bessie." 
 
 " My singing in rehearsal No. I did not amount 
 to much though," he wrote, "for the right girl 
 was not on hand, and I could only sing with any 
 real spirit, ' Damn me, it's too bad.' I was com- 
 plimented by II Signer for singing it the way it 
 should be sung. How very awe-inspiring it is 
 when one considers how little incidents in every- 
 day life will help crown our efforts with success ! 
 In the present case, however, I would have 
 swapped the crown for the girl any day." 
 
 The Pinafore girl was to be with them under 
 her cousin, Mrs. Henderson's, chaperonage. 
 
 Bessie was delighted at the prospect of such a 
 congenial style of summering. She wrote to her 
 friends that as the steamer which was to bring 
 Mr. Lennox home would not be due for three 
 days she could not answer for him, but feared he 
 would not be able to go. As he had made her 
 promise to take a rest, she supposed there would 
 be no doubt about her being able to join them. 
 
 Lennox arrived on time. Everything he did 
 (except his marriage) seemed to turn out exactly
 
 2 i6 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 as expected. He looked rested and well, and was 
 glad to be home once more. Bessie was glad to 
 have him back, but all her thoughts centred in 
 the coming yachting trip. To live in the free air 
 again, to be untrammelled with no cares or duties 
 for three or four long weeks ! She could hardly 
 keep from jumping or shouting at the thought of 
 this respite. The children were to be sent to the 
 house in Carrington. Lennox was to spend his 
 time, as he could not possibly go on the lake 
 journey with Bessie, between there and New 
 York, and during his absence from Carrington 
 Miss Howard and Mrs. Talcott were going to 
 oversee the family affairs. Lennox was honestly 
 pleased that Bessie had this opportunity. He 
 told her to write to Mrs. Worthington that she 
 could go on the one condition of paying her own 
 mess-bill and share of the expenses. 
 
 By the time she had received the final note rel- 
 ative to route and baggage she had thought so 
 much of her trip that she was nervous and almost 
 ill, and her husband was quite frightened at her 
 tired face and languid manners. 
 
 Five weeks had intervened between her hus- 
 band's arrival and her start. She had tried to
 
 HALF MARRIED, 2 I7 
 
 keep up the enthusiasm of the first week of his 
 return, but he had " loads of work to make up," 
 and she plenty of occupation with her own and 
 her children's affairs, and things drifted back into 
 the old ways. 
 
 Fielding came to see her the evening before she 
 left. He asked all about the journey, and then 
 pointedly asked who the party were to be. She 
 went over the list of names, but among them he 
 could not divine which was the key to the skele- 
 ton closet he had been looking for for so long. 
 
 Lennox and Fielding saw her safely off from 
 Forty-second Street. It was the first time she 
 had ever left both husband and children, and in 
 spite of the anticipations of the trip, when the 
 leave-taking came she was almost ready to turn 
 back. After the train had been going some little 
 time, a very kind-looking woman leaned over the 
 back of her seat and, calling her " Miss," asked if 
 any one was ill that she was going to see, she 
 looked so " sad-like." 
 
 Bessie had to brighten up and confess that she 
 
 was going on a pleasant journey with old friends, 
 
 but never having left her children before for 
 
 longer than a day or two, she did not as yet feel 
 
 19
 
 2i8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 quite comfortable. The kind soul assured her it 
 would do the " childer" no harm and her lots of 
 good. " You do look pale, and I guess the city 
 don't suit your health." 
 
 The words even from such a source were a 
 comfort. If this plain, sensible-looking personage 
 had reproached her with carelessness, or detailed 
 descriptions of ailing children whose mammas 
 were away enjoying themselves, poor Bessie 
 would have felt herself a culprit indeed. In some 
 moods how far a few words go towards lightening 
 or increasing our burdens ! Bessie was so grati- 
 fied for this encouragement that she listened with 
 polite attention to the dame's history of her linen 
 duster, how many journeys she had made in it, 
 how carefully and repeatedly she had sponged it, 
 how in consequence she had never washed it, and 
 so never taken the shine off it, etc., etc.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BESSIE arrived at Detroit really more rested 
 than when she left home. Before entering the 
 station she threw off her duster, arranged her 
 dress a little, and found herself fairly trembling 
 with pleasure as the train slowed down to enter 
 the depot. 
 
 While the cars were still moving, she went to 
 the platform and caught sight of her friends be- 
 fore they did of her. Being too anxious to attract 
 their attention to think of the proprieties, as soon 
 as the roar of the train ceased she whistled out a 
 bugle-call which had the desired effect, besides 
 astonishing a very prim-looking gentleman who 
 was standing near her. In a moment her friends 
 rushed towards her, and she was hugged and 
 shaken quite breathless. The tall, broad-shoul- 
 dered youth, who embraced her with the vigor 
 of a young bear, was still the Tom of old. The 
 
 doctor and his wife forgot to introduce her to 
 
 219
 
 220 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the other members of the group, and she was 
 hurriedly shown to a carriage before the mild 
 excitement had cooled down. The doctor took 
 her check. She had followed his injunctions and 
 brought only her husband's steamer trunk, as 
 baggage was to be light and costumes simple. 
 Soon they were at the doctor's house, and after a 
 fifteen minutes' rest dinner was announced. Bes- 
 sie was too excited for retiring early, so the plans 
 and compagnons de voyage were discussed quite 
 late into the night. 
 
 One piece of news pleased, but also startled our 
 heroine. At dinner the doctor had said, " Bessie, 
 we are going to have your friend Waring for a 
 couple of weeks. We will have a regular reunion, 
 a sort of G. A. R. celebration. We will open our 
 first bottle of champagne in his honor. We are 
 to pick him up at the Sault, and if his leave is not 
 extended we will have to hand him over to some 
 passenger steamer to be returned to his owners. 
 Carsten, by the way, is here at Detroit. He has a 
 good wife and has developed into a nice fellow. 
 Some miracle, evidently, was worked in his behalf. 
 His surly devil seems to have left him entirely ; 
 his wife's good influence no doubt. Now, if Mrs.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 2I 
 
 Worthington took better care of me, no one 
 knows to what heights " 
 
 " Doctor," interrupted that lady, " will you talk 
 less and give Bessie some more dinner?" 
 
 July second, at nine o'clock, the party all met 
 at the dock where the " Mist" lay ready to receive 
 her passengers, the crew and stores being already 
 aboard. There were, besides our four old ac- 
 quaintances, the young lady after Tom's own 
 heart, two young civilians, two young ladies, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Henderson, of Troy (friends of Tom), 
 and their two small children. Waring would 
 make the party up to the even fourteen. 
 
 Little Miss Henderson was but eight years old, 
 but a veritable enfant terrible. Tom said she saw 
 more than a telescope and heard more than a 
 telephone. The boy was younger, and harmless 
 unless the small sister got possession of him. 
 Then there were two of a kind. 
 
 Perhaps Mr. Tom's conscience was not always 
 clear, but be that as it may, he held the cousin of 
 his young lady in great awe, and from the frequent 
 taxes she made on his pocket and patience, it was 
 soon surmised, among this floating population, 
 
 that she held a dire threat over this youth's head, 
 19*
 
 222 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 and thus levied black-mail as the price of se- 
 crecy. 
 
 The day was oppressively hot, but soon the 
 breeze on the water was felt as the " Mist," with 
 flags flying, steamed up the St. Clair flats. At 
 this place, of course, the gentlemen aboard roundly 
 abused the knowing ducks, who so rapidly learn 
 the difference between a steamer and a shot-gun, 
 who demurely paddle away from one and scare at 
 the other, even if hid in the bottom of a small 
 boat. 
 
 At sunset they were in Lake Huron, and at a 
 remarkably early hour all went below to try their 
 first night's rest on the water. The state-rooms 
 were arranged on each side of the little cabin, 
 which served also as dining-room, and at the end 
 of the cabin on the port side was the pantry. The 
 rooms were very small, but all declared them 
 large enough for comfort. Some contained one 
 bunk, some two, some were longer than others, so 
 the final arrangement to suit tastes and sizes was 
 quite a piece of work. Shawls were stretched 
 across the door-ways, thus enabling them to leave 
 the doors open and get more air. At first the 
 gentlemen were given one side, the ladies the
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 223 
 
 other. This, however, did not suit all hands or 
 feet. The next morning Tom declared that when 
 he woke at dawn he was scared at seeing some- 
 thing way up the bulkhead. Looking again he 
 recognized his own feet, that had gradually climbed 
 up in his efforts to stretch himself. He then tried 
 taking the pitcher out of the washstand, which was 
 at one side of the foot of the bed, and curling his 
 feet over that. After upsetting the contents of the 
 pitcher into his shoes, he concluded nothing was 
 left him to do but to go on deck and look at the 
 scenery. 
 
 Mrs. Henderson being very tall had arisen 
 while it was yet night, and after alarming her/r#- 
 tegee, the Pinafore girl, who, upon seeing her candle 
 flare up, imagined the ship to be on fire, succeeded 
 in faking from her trunk a backgammon-board, 
 with which she pieced out her couch by connect- 
 ing it with her washstand. 
 
 The shifting of the long and the short of the 
 party began the merriment, which kept up without 
 much interruption until Saginaw Bay put an end, 
 for the time being, to the fun of the majority of 
 the party, Bessie and Mrs. Worthington being the 
 only ladies entirely indifferent to " the motion."
 
 224 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 After several stops at places of more or less in- 
 terest along the west shore of Huron, the " Mist" 
 reached Mackinaw, and gave an ear-piercing 
 whistle as she made the dock. 
 
 The lazy life of the past few days made the 
 young people very anxious for some exercise, and 
 as it was yet daylight, two of the gentlemen were 
 despatched to the hotel to find out what were the 
 prospects for a hop, and, if extreme measures be- 
 came necessary, to suggest one. Soon many of 
 the hotel people strolled down to see the new- 
 comer. The doctor asked them aboard. General 
 R from the fort made his dignified appear- 
 ance, and the deck was quite full of visitors, the 
 ladies in the mean time having possession of the 
 cabin, where they were changing their blue flan- 
 nels for garments more appropriate for the antici- 
 pated hop. 
 
 They had their dance and enjoyed some of its 
 novel features. At that time the upper lakes had 
 not become as fashionable as at present, and in 
 cases of emergency primitive customs were re- 
 verted to. 
 
 The band consisted of several negroes with their 
 fiddles, who kept excellent time and tune. At in-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 225 
 
 tervals they sang out in verse the figures for the 
 square dances, for instance, in " gentlemen to the 
 
 right," 
 
 
 
 " Farewell, my own Mary Ann, 
 Farewell, gents, for a while, 
 I'll come again, I'll come again, 
 
 X 
 
 And greet you with a smile." 
 
 The different social ranks represented in that 
 boat ball-room were fearful to witness. It was a 
 fact that in the same quadrille were a correct gen- 
 tleman from Boston and the steward of a passenger 
 steamer. The gentleman from Boston was spared 
 the shock of knowing the occupation of his vis-a- 
 vis. 
 
 In one set was a fierce Hibernian, whose rest- 
 less blue eyes and blue-black hair gave him a wild 
 
 expression. General R pointed him out as a 
 
 Fenian Head Centre, and years afterwards the 
 unfortunate, half-crazy fellow was hung in Eng- 
 land. The next day at dinner he was heard in- 
 quiring, in a deep mysterious basso, for a " troifle 
 of poi." 
 
 The walk back to the yacht after the dancing 
 was a pleasant one. Bessie, being the odd lady, 
 P
 
 226 'HALF MARRIED. 
 
 fell to the care of General R , an old friend of 
 
 her father. As she stepped on board, she felt so 
 light-hearted she hardly knew herself. Even her 
 longing to see Waring had assumed a different 
 aspect. It was as if the pure air and clear waters 
 had washed out the bitterness of life. 
 
 The ladies generally went below first to make 
 their preparation for the night. Sometimes the 
 doctor and Mrs. Henderson left the deck quite 
 early, the two older ladies following, leaving 
 Bessie to do the matronizing for the remainder of 
 the lot. After the first two days out the hour of 
 retiring had become exceedingly late ; there was 
 plenty of time to sleep during the day, so these 
 gay people quite turned into a club of owls and 
 bats. The ladies were ready this night to go below 
 earlier than usual ; sitting on deck with the vessel 
 tied to a ring on the wharf not being particularly 
 conducive to romance. After they disappeared, 
 the gentlemen arranged for visiting the Natural 
 Bridge and Sugar Loaf Mountain the following 
 day. As there was so much ahead to be done, 
 they could not spend much time at this sacred 
 isle. 
 
 By six the following evening they had quite done
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the island, and, having had noon dinner at the hotel, 
 were comfortably seated at tea at the cabin table. 
 
 General R and several other gentlemen, whose 
 
 acquaintance they had made in the free-and-easy 
 way so natural to the much-travelled, had come 
 aboard with them. 
 
 There were a number of jokes given and taken 
 with that wonderfully good-humored familiarity 
 that comes so quickly in a small community of 
 tourists. In an unlucky moment Tom, lulled into 
 a false security, attempted to " run" his small friend 
 about a small youth in a sailor suit, with whom 
 she danced the previous evening before being sent 
 home at nine o'clock with the steward. There 
 was an ominous pause. As they all knew of the 
 maiden's sharp little tongue, they expected some- 
 thing worth listening to. 
 
 With her tawny hair waving, her brown eyes 
 flashing, she said so all could hear, 
 
 " Oh, Torn Campbell, guess you needn't talk. 
 Didn't I see you kiss Alice Huston in the pantry ? 
 You were both stealing olives, and hard-tack too. 
 I saw you through the crack of the door." 
 
 One shout went up from friends and guests alike. 
 Miss Huston laughed as hard as any one, but poor
 
 22 8 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Tom was horrified, and blushed right through a 
 generous coat of sunburn. 
 
 He confided to Bessie afterwards that he wouldn't 
 have cared so much if it had been any place but 
 the pantry. " That did sound so silly." But it 
 was all true, alas, even to the olives and hard-tack. 
 
 During the remainder of the cruise, when there 
 was any doubt about the locality where an event 
 had transpired, or the whereabouts of a member 
 of the party, some one was always wicked enough 
 to suggest the pantry. Tom said, in spite of his 
 good appetite, he wished there was no such place. 
 
 The next evening early they were to reach 
 Sault Ste. Marie, if they got through the canal 
 without hindrance. Bessie could hardly bring 
 herself to believe that she would see Waring 
 again. The plan was to go right through, only 
 stopping long enough to shake hands with the 
 officers from Fort Brady, leaving the shooting of 
 the rapids until the return trip. The " Mist" 
 passed through the canal and very slowly steamed 
 up alongside the wharf. 
 
 The ladies had dressed up for tea, as this was to 
 be the last stop at civilization for some time, now 
 that they would leave the beaten track.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Bessie carefully arrayed herself in the light blue 
 that Waring loved of old, and brought out a 
 
 bouquet of wild roses that General R had 
 
 presented to her, and that she had kept fresh in a 
 vase improvised from a decapitated Catawba bottle 
 which Tom insisted that the Fenian had sent them. 
 
 Just before the hawser had been thrown ashore, 
 and as the voyagers were rising from the table, 
 they were startled by the tramping of feet over- 
 head, and excited shouts from men on the yacht 
 and shore. Bessie completely forgot her own 
 hopes and fears when she discovered the cause of 
 the excitement. 
 
 The colored steward, Henry, being pleased at the 
 prospect of a gossip on dry land before his duties 
 called him to his dishes, had concluded to take 
 time by the forelock and jump ashore before the 
 " Mist" was made fast or the gang-plank run out. 
 He jumped, fell short, and down he went between 
 the vessel and canal wall. The dock was steep 
 and high, and not a rope or ladder hung from the 
 yacht. He was in a most uncomfortable predica- 
 ment. If the yacht swung nearer the landing he 
 would be crushed, and if she did not swing away 
 a little he would drown, as he had no room to 
 
 20
 
 230 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 strike out. Judging by his extraordinary contor- 
 tions, plainly visible below the surface of the 
 canal, treading water was not one of his accom- 
 plishments. The captain of the yacht had ap- 
 peared on deck at the first shout, and quickly 
 took a heavy hawser that was all ready to be 
 thrown ovep a pile and carefully lowered it, if 
 flung, the danger of dashing out the poor stew- 
 ard's brains would have added to his misfortune. 
 
 After one or two frantic and useless clutches 
 Henry caught it, and, putting head and arms 
 through the bight, was hauled on board. The poor 
 fellow was really a dark mulatto, but had been 
 frightened into a subdued pongee color. He in- 
 sisted, in spite of his haggard appearance, that he 
 was " not a bit scared," and, after changing his 
 garments and hanging his wet suit in the engine- 
 room to dry, went about his usual avocations. 
 Henceforth all were careful to wait for the gang- 
 plank. 
 
 In the midst of this episode the gentlemen from 
 the town arrived. All interest was so concen- 
 trated in poor Henry's impending fate that their 
 advent was unobserved by the ladies. As Bessie 
 raised her eyes there they were on deck, Waring
 
 HALF MARRIED. 231 
 
 in front of them. Everything in the universe 
 seemed to swing and shiver. The accident had 
 startled her, and now the yacht seemed pitch- 
 ing under her feet, while sky and earth com- 
 menced flying round and round. Still she ap- 
 peared perfectly composed, as she stepped forward 
 and cordially shook hands with her old lover, 
 saying, " I am so glad to see you." She did not 
 dare to raise her eyes to his, and after his saluta- 
 tion to her he turned immediately to the Worth- 
 ingtons and was introduced to others of the party. 
 Only while he was talking to the others did Bessie 
 dare look at him. 
 
 -Considering the years that had passed, he was 
 remarkably unchanged. Some few men keep 
 their boyishness of face and manner after the 
 character and disposition have toned down to 
 maturity, and Waring was one of these. 
 
 In spite of remonstrances from the visitors, soon 
 after the new passenger and his baggage were 
 aboard the yacht steamed onward, and soon found 
 herself floating on those clearest of waters, Lake 
 Superior. It had taken the voyagers about this 
 long to find how to make themselves comfortable. 
 Some spare mattresses, and indeed, occasionally,
 
 232 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 those in use below, were brought on deck and 
 improvised into divans. Shawls and wraps were 
 spread out, and though the party naturally paired 
 off, there was a tacit understanding that the 
 groups were to keep to a reasonable extent to- 
 gether, Tom and Alice Huston being allowed a 
 little license in this particular. 
 
 This evening the divans were arranged as usual, 
 and, after walking up and down the deck for a 
 little exercise, and hearing the doctor say that the 
 moon would rise in fifteen minutes (the doctor had 
 been deputed "to keep run of the moon"), the 
 party arranged themselves comfortably to make a 
 night of it in a mild way. 
 
 Suddenly the doctor remembered the cham- 
 pagne he had promised to punish upon his young 
 friend's arrival, and went below to find it. Waring 
 went down after him to get his heavy cape. 
 
 Soon the doctor called Bessie to come and help 
 him, as Henry, after his ducking, had been sent 
 early to bed. She went below as he came up with 
 the bottles. Waring was still in the cabin and 
 followed her to the fatal pantry, where she was 
 collecting the glasses and searching for the 
 cracker-tin. He stood in the door-way looking at
 
 HALF MARRIED. 233 
 
 her, his cap in his hand. A little of the saucy, 
 boyish look had departed, owing to the now 
 heavy blond moustache that turned upwards to 
 match his eyebrows. He was dressed in neglige 
 fashion, but with extreme neatness. The heat of 
 the day having been great, his blue sacque coat 
 was worn over a white shirt, the vest dispensed 
 with; in fact, his comrades said " Waring wouldn't 
 mind fighting Indians or starving on mule meat 
 if he could only keep his hands clean and wear 
 white shirts." 
 
 As he stood there silent, Bessie grew nervous 
 and wished he would say something or go away. 
 She knew she ought to speak, but was bereft of 
 speech, and began to fear of sight, as the cracker- 
 tin could not be found. 
 
 In reaching nervously for one shelf higher, the 
 bunch of roses fell from her belt. The lieutenant 
 picked them up and gallantly handed them to her. 
 She examined the tin to see that she at last had 
 the right one, and after thanking Waring for res-, 
 cuing her flowers, proceeded to rearrange them. 
 The fine thread, the only string procurable, had 
 broken in their fall. 
 
 She would have offered one of them to any
 
 234 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 other man in the world, but was a little afraid of 
 how her old friend would take it, so she coolly 
 and rather awkwardly bundled them together, and 
 was just tucking them in her belt when Waring, 
 looking her straight in the eyes, said, " Bessie, 
 haven't you one for me ?" 
 
 She lowered her eyes, but in that moment she 
 knew it was still " forever," and she stammered, 
 
 " Oh, yes ; here is a beauty, the very pret- 
 tiest." 
 
 " Well, pin it on, then." 
 
 She held the flower in her teeth while she ar- 
 ranged her own bouquet, and then, almost faint 
 from the sense of the mingled happiness and dan- 
 ger of her position, proceeded to push the rose- 
 stem through the buttonhole of her old lover's 
 coat and make it secure. Her cheek was on a 
 level with the blond moustache, her left hand 
 could feel his beating heart, " the only heart on 
 earth," she thought, " that beats for me." 
 
 The rosebud was fastened quickly. Waring 
 put his right arm round her and leaned his head 
 still nearer. 
 
 Women fortunately act from impulse, and gen- 
 erally from good impulse. If "the man who
 
 HALF MARRIED. 335 
 
 hesitates is lost," what would be the fate of the 
 woman ? 
 
 Bessie put her hand over his mouth and the 
 soft moustache, and gasped under her breath, 
 
 " Oh, Charlie, my darling, have mercy !" 
 
 They then gathered up the glasses and cracker- 
 box and proceeded on deck. 
 
 As they appeared, a volley of questions was 
 fired, at them, 
 
 " Where have you been all this time ?" " The 
 doctor has been here ever so long," etc., etc. 
 
 Bessie explained that they had been in the 
 pantry looking for the cracker-tin, and besides, the 
 lid stuck and would not come off". At that there 
 was a shout that really frightened our soldier, not 
 understanding the witticism, and his face reddened 
 in the moonlight. Numerous questions were 
 asked him by the older gentleman, if crackers 
 were the only refreshments he indulged in, if they 
 were preferable to olives ? to ask Tom, etc. Bes- 
 sie, fearing a somewhat guilty conscience might 
 in some way make him commit himself, as he 
 already looked quite confused, said, quietly, " Mr. 
 Waring, it's one of our jokes on Tom, some time 
 I'll tell you."
 
 236 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 The champagne was now ready, and as the 
 moon rose glorious from out the still waters, and 
 the doctor proposed Waring's health, with the 
 first glass came back many visions to this quar- 
 tette of happy days long past. The short revery 
 they fell into was broken by one of the young 
 gentlemen proposing a toast, "The pantry, the 
 friend of the young." 
 
 Bessie chimed in, " The comfort of the aged." 
 This ended the badinage, and soon all were 
 hushed by the beautiful scene. Only the very 
 shallow can chatter on a beautiful night on the 
 water, or go into noisy ecstasies over a glorious 
 sunset. 
 
 The lake from its vastness might have been the 
 ocean. The water was perfectly still. The many 
 becalmed schooners, with their sails silvered by 
 the moon, drifting noiselessly on the waters, were 
 idealized and beautiful. They suggested the idea 
 of very good schooners who, after battling with 
 the slings and arrows of an outrageous climate, if 
 not of an outrageous fortune, and having carried 
 with steadfastness and patience their disagreeable 
 burdens of ore and coal, were now enjoying per- 
 petual rest on the bosom of a calm sea, a sea of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 337 
 
 that same white metal with which they had so 
 often soiled their decks in its and their own un- 
 purified condition. 
 
 It was a morning hour when the ladies retired 
 to the cabin, even then declaring it was a sin to 
 lose a moment of such a night. The doctor and 
 Mr. Henderson had gone below some time before, 
 and though Tom would not have owned it, he had 
 nodded two or three times in spite of Miss Hus- 
 ton's fascinations. 
 
 The ladies were given about fifteen minutes' start 
 for the turning in. After Waring came down and 
 was arranging his small amount of baggage, Bessie 
 heard him gently whistling "0 luce di quest, anima" 
 She had a moment's temptation to answer it, but 
 checking such a foolish idea, she soon fell asleep 
 with the air still following through her slumbers.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AFTER Waring's unpacking had been accom- 
 plished and the rest had become still, he carefully 
 left his state-room and quietly went on deck. 
 Throwing himself on the deserted cushions with 
 his head on his folded arms, he tried to look 
 calmly at the situation. He had dreaded meeting 
 Bessie, and had almost declined the invitation on 
 that account. It had taken him some years to 
 resign himself to affairs as they were. Put him- 
 self again in danger and have the struggle over 
 again he could not, but seeing her again in such a 
 different position might it not be an effectual cure ? 
 So, after some conscientious hesitation, he had 
 consented to come, and found himself in the 
 hardest position of his life. 
 
 If Bessie had appeared happy and indifferent 
 he would have been involuntarily repulsed, as he 
 had expected to be. But when did an affaire de 
 cceur turn out as expected ? From the first when 
 she would not look into his eyes, and from that 
 238
 
 HALF MARRIED. 339 
 
 appeal to his protection, he knew that he had a 
 place in her heart that he never before had sus- 
 pected. The discovery at first almost stunned 
 him, and then came over his soul a flood of bitter- 
 ness. Some boyish stupidity must have stood in 
 his way and taken the light out of his life. Why 
 had he not seen years ago that there was some 
 hope ? She cared a little then. Oh, if he had had 
 patience ! What would a few months of waiting 
 have been to the weariness of these many years 
 and the agony of the present hour ? 
 
 Then he wondered would it have ever been at 
 all. In a chaos of troubled imaginings and un- 
 settled convictions, he saw clearly but one thing. 
 Come what would, her trust in him would never 
 be disappointed. He would find an opportunity 
 to have one talk with her. He would tell her his 
 love was even stronger than before, because it was 
 less selfish, and then leave the subject alone for- 
 ever. He would never lower himself or her by 
 making love to her. Still, an almost desperate 
 temptation seized him to do so, for he felt she 
 could not have strength to repulse him long. 
 
 It was as if they had changed places. As she 
 used to curb and quiet his restless spirit, now his
 
 240 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 duty was to watch over himself and her too. The 
 duty appeared harder than he could accomplish, 
 the trial more than he could endure. 
 
 While Bessie was slumbering in peace, her 
 " dear boy," her " cher enfant" of old, was arming 
 himself for the coming battle with fate, and only 
 dared hope for victory. 
 
 The sun rose gold and red from a bank of gray 
 cloud, bringing back faith and hope, as it always 
 should, for is it not the emblem of Him who 
 commandeth the light to shine out of dark- 
 ness? 
 
 Waring, being physically and mentally worn 
 out, slept so soundly that even the arrangements 
 for breakfast failed to disturb him, and he did not 
 make his appearance until the meal was half 
 through. His chair was placed by Bessie, and she 
 noticed the little rose was still in his buttonhole. 
 She, being entirely ignorant of his struggle of the 
 past night, joined with the others in twitting him 
 upon his lazy habits. 
 
 As the sleepers appeared in the cabin, each one 
 in turn had read a placard over the pantry door. 
 No one ever owned to placing it there. Waring 
 being the last from his room, the laugh was de-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 241 
 
 cidedly on him, as all were by to watch his dis- 
 comfiture. 
 
 " DANGEROUS ! BEWARE ! 
 " Oh youth beguiled of maiden fair, 
 With dark blue eyes and golden hair, 
 When in love's paths you gently hie, 
 Don't pass the sheltering pantry by. 
 
 " Oh soldier from the field of Mars, 
 You may receive here other scars : 
 Find dangers in a tin box lid, 
 And bombs in gentle crackers hid." 
 
 Though he knew the others considered it a 
 matter made of whole cloth, his knowledge of the 
 peculiar state of affairs made him appear awkward 
 under these various soft impeachments. Bessie 
 whispered, " Do be careful ; don't look so enraged," 
 and he put on an expression more suited to the 
 occasion. 
 
 The cruise proceeded without any remarkable 
 incidents. One day the small cousin succeeded 
 in pitching down a hatchway during the operation 
 of coaling. She was picked up unhurt, and Tom 
 thought " only her ugliness prevented her death." 
 
 They visited the fishery at White Fish Point, 
 where everything tastes and smells of fish, either
 
 242 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 fresh, salt, or stale. Even the cows, like those J. 
 Ross Browne encountered in Iceland, eat salt fish, 
 and their milk tastes of it. 
 
 Then came the Pictured Rocks, which they were 
 called up to admire at five o'clock, while they 
 shivered in a cold mist. Even the sea-gulls were 
 chilly, and circled around the smoke-stack to get 
 some warmth. 
 
 Passing the bold scenery of Grand Island and 
 rounding Kewenaw Point, they came to a town 
 that, out of regard to its amiable inhabitants, shall 
 be nameless. Upon reaching this point it was de- 
 cided necessary to stop and do some marketing. 
 The last fresh meat was of such a peculiar descrip- 
 tion that no one could give a positive opinion as 
 to what quadruped it came from. 
 
 The yacht's market-boat alone was to be sent 
 ashore, as there was nothing of interest to be seen. 
 Tom and Waring were going with the steward, 
 Gail Borden "having become monotonous," as 
 Tom expressed it. Each gentleman was armed 
 with a milk-can, and Henry with discretionary 
 orders and a large basket. 
 
 The town had a most desolate appearance from 
 the dock. Not a human being could be seen, and
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 243 
 
 numerous were the queries over this strange state 
 of affairs. After a couple of hours' absence the 
 boat was rowed back to the yacht, its crew being in 
 a state of mirth. The condition of the town was 
 this. On the Fourth of July a Grand Steamboat 
 Excursion had been arranged, but it rained, and 
 was, therefore, postponed. Not discouraged, these 
 enterprising Northerners had decided on another 
 trial, and, as the skies were fair and seas were 
 blue, the whole town had "arisen as one man" 
 at 5 A.M., chartered the " Columbus," and gone 
 off on this belated excursion. Only two live 
 creatures had been left in the place. One, an old 
 woman, who had been left in charge of the light- 
 house, and who recounted this tale of the deserted 
 village ; the other, an old cow, with whom Tom 
 was justly indignant because she was dry. The 
 old dame tried to console him for the cow's defi- 
 ciencies by liberal libations of raspberry vinegar, 
 the wine of that country, and large slices of rasp- 
 berry-pie ; but this unamiable six-footer mourned 
 over the empty cans and refused to be comforted. 
 There was nothing to do but to anchor, and in the 
 morning to go on another foraging expedition. 
 The doctor suggested that with their one little
 
 244 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 howitzer they would take possession of the town 
 and astonish the natives on their return. At sun- 
 down the " Columbus" steamed slowly into the 
 harbor, flags flying and the brass band pounding 
 out of time. The excursionists all crowded to the 
 side to get a view of the " strange sail," so rare in 
 these unvisited waters. The light-keeper trembled 
 when he first caught sight of her, thinking her 
 " the supply," and wondering what the inspector 
 said and did when he found " grandma" in charge. 
 One evening, just at sunset, they sailed through 
 the Apostle Islands, that beautiful group unrivalled 
 by even the isles of Greece. The air being so 
 pure, the red clouds gave one the idea of a great 
 conflagration. The heavens to the zenith were 
 glowing like masses of flame. The high wooded 
 islands with their steep rocky sides, and boulders 
 at their feet, together with the flaming sky, were re- 
 flected in the lake, so that the vivid coloring spread 
 over more than half the visible universe. As the 
 spectators beheld that wondrous scene they held 
 their breath awe-struck. If the world had begun 
 then and there to melt with fervent heat, it would 
 hardly have astonished them. The display was so 
 magnificent ! It was a relief to have the colors
 
 HALF MARRIED. 345 
 
 fade and the scene tone down to less gorgeous and 
 more earthly tints. 
 
 After sunset the different couples promenaded 
 their narrow confines for their usual exercise before 
 settling themselves for the evening lounge. 
 
 Waring and Bessie had without any consulta- 
 tion arrived at the same conclusion, namely, that 
 as fate had thrown in their way a respite from 
 cares and regrets, they would enjoy but not abuse 
 the situation. 
 
 Waring was walking with Bessie, and said, " I 
 must manage to have one talk with you alone. 
 Will you let me?" 
 
 He felt her hand tremble on his arm as she said, 
 " Yes, Charlie." As they leaned over the slight 
 rail, a little breeze blew back his coat, and she saw 
 once more the little bayonet and the impaled 
 heart She started as she saw it. Neither spoke, 
 and he led her back to where the grouping for the 
 night-watches was going on. Bessie saw the " odd 
 lady" had naturally fallen to Waring's care. He 
 was so careful in his conduct, so different from his 
 old impetuous and selfish manner, that no one had 
 had any cause to comment on his actions. 
 
 In a short time Dr. Worthington came aft from 
 
 21*
 
 246 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 a talk with the captain. He informed them that 
 the captain proposed anchoring off the mainland 
 next morning, where he knew of a stream where 
 trout could be caught. Those who had not rods 
 and flies would find grasshoppers good bait, and 
 poles could, no doubt, be procured from some In- 
 dians who had a small settlement near the mouth 
 of Raspberry River, as this creek was called. 
 Waring and the Worthingtons looked at Bessie 
 when trout were mentioned, as the recollection of 
 the ambulance adventure in the Rockies came 
 over them simultaneously. All laughed together, 
 much to the mystification of the rest. 
 
 The doctor said, " Oh for the squeeze of a van- 
 ished hand !" and his wife, after glancing compla- 
 cently at her own pretty hand and looking dag- 
 gers at him, said something about " a voice that 
 never was still." Waring's moustache almost 
 touched Bessie's cheek as he whispered, 
 
 " You must go with me ; you will see how I 
 have improved in fishing since you gave me my 
 first lesson in that art. Do you remember our 
 trouting long ago ?" 
 
 As she drew away her head she raised her eyes 
 to his and said, sadly,
 
 HALF MARRIED. 247 
 
 " I remember everything, unfortunately for us 
 both." 
 
 At quite an early hour the next morning the 
 party were awakened by the stopping of the en- 
 gine and rumble of the chain, as the craft came to 
 anchor. As they appeared on deck, they saw the 
 Indian camp or settlement right on the lake-shore. 
 The woods, though a second or third growth, were 
 quite dense behind the small clearing, and almost 
 hidden by the overhanging trees was the mouth 
 of the little creek. 
 
 The Indians came out in their canoes, some 
 having a few fish to sell, but most of them for 
 begging or mere curiosity. One old man came 
 out in a brand-new birch-bark canoe that he was 
 anxious to sell. 
 
 Waring asked Bessie if she could still use a 
 paddle? She saucily and confidentially referred 
 him to the Connecticut River, so Waring hailed 
 the old man, telling him to bring over the craft 
 and get five dollars for it. 
 
 The old fellow grunted out that was not enough. 
 The entire party were assembled to watch the bar- 
 gaining. Bessie said, " Wait a minute," and soon 
 appeared with the remnants of a dress skirt con-
 
 248 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 siderably trimmed with sparkling jet beads, which 
 she offered to add to the price. The old chief 
 softened considerably, and, with a small amount 
 of hard-tack and bacon " thrown in," the bargain 
 was concluded. 
 
 Waring congratulated himself upon the small 
 size of his possession, just room enough for the 
 rods, gun, lunch-basket, and two people. He 
 thought with satisfaction, " Bessie is the only lady 
 here who would dare venture in it, and who 
 wouldn't tip it over or put her foot through it if 
 she did." 
 
 They were all to go ashore immediately after 
 breakfast, and after visiting the Indian camp start 
 up the stream. The yacht's boats and a couple 
 of canoes hired from the Indians were enough to 
 carry all the party. 
 
 The stout captain had gallantly volunteered to 
 catch grasshoppers for the young ladies, and a 
 short distance off, on a small clearing, he could be 
 seen wildly plunging about after an invisible prey. 
 Once he turned a complete somersault, much to 
 the amusement of these cruel-hearted girls, who 
 watched his undignified antics in their behalf with 
 tears of laughter streaming from their eyes. Miss
 
 HALF MARRIED. 249 
 
 Huston almost became hysterical in her efforts to 
 subside as he approached them. 
 
 He returned hot, red, dishevelled, but trium- 
 phant. He had torn the leg of his trousers and 
 burst the buttonhole in his shirt-band, but he had 
 captured a goodly amount of bait. The doctor 
 declared that the girls should mend his clothes, 
 but Mrs. Worthington took that task upon her- 
 self. 
 
 The captain said that these Indians, some of 
 them half-breeds, had not a very good reputation. 
 There was a settlement of Moravians some miles 
 inland, and when these Indians felt " particularly 
 frisky or got particularly drunk, they went up and 
 killed a Moravian or two." Though there was 
 little to fear from them, the gentlemen took their 
 pistols along, thus being prepared should they be 
 inadvertently taken for Moravians. 
 
 The provision for the day was stored in the dif- 
 ferent boats and their loads told off, and soon the 
 little fleet started. They tried at first to arrange 
 to meet at lunch, but owing to the different 
 draughts of the boats this was given up, and it 
 was decided that every boat should be a law unto 
 itself.
 
 250 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 The captain, who knew the region well, cau- 
 tioned them to return before sundown, as other- 
 wise the mosquitoes would literally pick their 
 bones. They were to time themselves up-stream, 
 get an idea of the strength of the current, and all 
 endeavor to reach the yacht at the same hour, 
 well before sunset. 
 
 Waring and Bessie seated themselves in the 
 canoe, flat on the bottom. The frail thing never 
 could have borne their weight on thwarts. Bessie 
 took the bow paddle, Waring the stern, where he 
 would steer and so do the hardest part of the 
 work. They shoved off, but in a few strokes had 
 to ignominiously return. 
 
 Waring had either failed in steering or had not 
 seen a small sand-bar, and owing to the distribu- 
 tion of the load the canoe was a little down by the 
 head. So, as she started, the pitch had been 
 scraped off one of her seams by the sand and she 
 was leaking badly. They turned to the shore, 
 but the Indians had seen the trouble before they 
 had. Some fearful-looking old hags had already 
 put a pot of pitch over the smouldering fire that 
 had been suddenly poked into activity. The canoe 
 was quickly unloaded, turned bottom upward, and
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 $l 
 
 the leak searched for in true Indian fashion. Small 
 papooses and all kneeled over the light craft, and 
 running their lips over the seams, at the same time 
 drawing in their breath, the defective spot was 
 soon found. By this time the pitch was boiling 
 and quickly applied to the leak, so in a few mo- 
 ments the canoe was again in good shape. The 
 cargo was more carefully distributed, the bars 
 more carefully looked for, and the voyage re- 
 sumed. 
 
 Waring still clung to his white shirt in spite of 
 the ridicule of his companions. He had at pres- 
 ent dispensed with cuffs, collar, and coat, which 
 latter garment was rolled up in the bottom of the 
 canoe. As they entered the shaded stream, his 
 cap was thrown off, a blue silk handkerchief was 
 loosely knotted around his throat, and a buckskin 
 belt, of very beautiful workmanship, which held a 
 very small pistol and very big knife, was buckled 
 around his waist, and formed a remarkable con- 
 trast to the very civilized and carefully laundried 
 " bosom-shirt." 
 
 Bessie had also laid aside her hat, ornamented 
 as in days of yore with leaders and flies. A loose 
 blouse-shirt gave play to her arms, and the broad
 
 252 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 collar being open at the throat, her handsome fig- 
 ure had perfect freedom. Her black skirt was 
 carefully tucked about her as she sat, Indian fash- 
 ion, handling her paddle. The only relief to her 
 sombre dress was a scarlet handkerchief tied 
 around her neck. After a few attempts they got 
 in stroke, and in spite of their delay soon caught 
 up with and then passed the heavier boats. The 
 others admired the two handsome young faces and 
 trim figures swinging so gracefully in perfect time. 
 As the little craft floated so quickly and noise- 
 lessly by, leaving the others far behind, for the 
 first time an uneasy expression passed over Mrs. 
 Worthington's face. 
 
 After paddling some distance up-stream, Waring 
 proposed to begin fishing. He said it was not 
 very sociable only having Bessie's back to look 
 at. They moved very carefully, not wishing to 
 fulfil their friends' prophecy of tipping over, or 
 putting a foot through their " egg-shell." 
 
 The rods were jointed and the sport began. As 
 the stream had become quite narrow, with numer- 
 ous rocks and boulders, and the trees met over- 
 head, a clear cast was impossible, so our fishers 
 had to be satisfied with trailing the flies lightly
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 over the water. Waring had the first " rise," but 
 Bessie caught the first trout. She insisted upon 
 attending to her own line, so at the end they could 
 tell honestly who had got the most fish. 
 
 After the usual experimenting with various flies 
 they decided upon a certain variety, and as after 
 some good luck the rises became scarcer, they 
 continued up-stream, finding some auspicious look- 
 ing " holes" that would have been passed over by 
 less experienced sportsmen. They succeeded while 
 it was yet early in the day in procuring a fine 
 string. Waring was convinced they had enough 
 to prevent his " being given away," as Tom would 
 have remarked in his favorite vernacular, and as 
 the small boat had become rather cramping, he 
 suggested that they should go ashore, have lunch, 
 and " loaf the rest of the day." Bessie proposed 
 landing where they were, but Waring objected, 
 without giving any reason. He said they must 
 go up the stream some distance farther; so up they 
 went another half-mile where it was very shallow, 
 and made their landing. As Bessie stepped from 
 the canoe she said, 
 
 " Charlie, why did you insist upon coming all 
 the way up here, if you were cramped before ?" 
 
 22
 
 254 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 He held her hand as he helped her out. 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you. The heavy boats can't 
 follow us up here, and I am going to have you all 
 for myself once, and for the last time. I feel it is 
 for the last time, forever, Bessie, forever forever. 
 You need not look so frightened. I am not going 
 to murder you or even tease you ; I have some- 
 thing to say to you, but that will not bother you 
 long. I am going to have you to look at and 
 think about, that is all, to be free, to be off my 
 guard, to imagine we are alone in the universe for 
 a few short hours, then to begin over again my 
 lonely life." 
 
 The canoe was again unpacked and carefully 
 lifted up on the little beach. After putting the 
 trout in the shade covered with wet leaves, and a 
 primitive washing of hands in the small creek, 
 they seated themselves in true picnic fashion to a 
 generous luncheon prepared by the amiable Henry. 
 Bessie was half sorry, and felt a little guilty, that 
 she had placed herself in a position from which 
 there was no retreat, but it was the last time, for- 
 ever, and if the penalty might have been death 
 instead of only an impropriety, she would have 
 risked it.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 255 
 
 She kept up a running fire of conversation, 
 vainly hoping to divert Waring's attention from 
 anything serious that he might have to say. 
 
 After their repast he seated her in the shade 
 among moss and ferns, and laughingly asked 
 if she was comfortable, because he was going to 
 keep her there a long time. 
 
 As she said, " Yes, quite comfortable," he threw 
 himself down by her side. The first time he had 
 talked to her in the woods came back to them 
 both. Bessie was trembling from head to foot, 
 and was almost unable to keep up a show of the 
 composure she was so far from feeling. She first 
 wished that he would not speak, and then that he 
 would " say his say" at once, and have it over 
 before she betrayed her nervousness. Their re- 
 spective attitudes were reversed. Of old she had 
 been self-contained and decided, he agitated and 
 impulsive. Without noticing her agitation, which 
 amounted to distress, he calmly lighted his cigar, 
 and commenced asking her ordinary questions 
 about herself, her life in New York, and so on. 
 Then he began, abruptly, 
 
 " Bessie, it seems strange for us to be off again 
 in the wilderness together. One would not think
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 so many years had gone by. This looks like the 
 same spot, doesn't it ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 " Do you remember the day I left Fort Derby ?" 
 
 She kept her eyes turned away and her face 
 calm as she endured her torture. 
 
 " Yes, I remember." 
 
 " Do you remember one day when I had come 
 in from a hard ride with an important letter from 
 
 General R to your father, and fell asleep on 
 
 the lounge in the general's office while wait- 
 ing to deliver it to him, at least you thought 
 I was asleep, for you came in very softly and 
 kissed me on the forehead ? Do you not remem- 
 ber?" 
 
 " No, I do not." 
 
 " Well, I do. I lived on that one kiss, I cannot 
 tell you how long. You never kissed me again 
 till just before I left you on that winter morning, 
 I can see that same sunrise now. You thought 
 I was asleep and would not know. I think if I 
 had been dead I should have felt it. Bessie, 
 please look at me. You need not turn your face 
 away this time. This is what I have to say to 
 you. From the moment I left you on that morn-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 257 
 
 ing a change came over me. As you could not or 
 would not love me, I determined that you should 
 at least respect me, and perhaps some day be a 
 little proud of me. I actually studied, and re- 
 frained from doing anything that I thought you 
 would disapprove of. In fact, I made you a sort of 
 conscience and tried to take my trial as a salutary 
 discipline. Sometimes I am almost ready to say 
 all was for the best. I can now see that perhaps 
 there were reasons why we should have been un- 
 happy together. That would have killed me. 
 Now I have, at least, a romance, a happiness to 
 look back upon that cannot be taken away from 
 me. Come what may that much is mine forever, 
 for eternity. I have only this to add, I feel to- 
 wards you now as I have for years, as I have 
 from the first moment I saw you. If I do not see 
 you again for years to come, if never again, you 
 are to think of me as always the same." 
 
 As if fearing to lose his self-control he sud- 
 denly broke off. After a little he began, 
 
 " What did you do for the first months East ? 
 Your going away was so horridly lonesome and 
 desolate, my heart ached for you." 
 
 " Oh, I cried my foolish self to sleep for three
 
 2 5 8 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 months every night after you left me, and wanted 
 to cry all day too." 
 
 " Then, Bessie, you must have loved me a 
 little?" 
 
 She was astonished that she could say calmly, 
 
 " Yes, a little, and I wondered you never knew. 
 I could not tell you. It would have made it 
 harder for us both." 
 
 " Bessie, it is only lately that I have suspected 
 that once you must have cared a little for me. I 
 was too tyrannical, too childish, too exacting. If 
 I had been better and had had patience it might 
 have come out all right. Bessie, it is a terrible 
 thing for a man to feel that he himself has thrown 
 away his own life ! Did you find the little cross 
 I left for you ? I slipped up to your room like a 
 thief in the night, and was almost frightened to 
 death at old Lucy's footsteps in the next room." 
 
 She made no answer, but loosened the scarlet 
 handkerchief, and there hung the cross on her 
 neck. 
 
 He threw one arm over her lap, and looked in 
 her face. 
 
 " Bessie, my sweetheart, will you give me one 
 kiss to live on for years, forever, darling ?"
 
 HALF MARRIED. 259 
 
 The temptation to tell him of her lonesome, 
 disappointed life almost overcame her. She 
 seemed to be standing outside of herself, and re- 
 viewing her own actions and struggles passion- 
 lessly, as if they were being performed by another. 
 She saw love and sympathy, her happiest recol- 
 lections, and her one romance there at her feet, 
 within too easy reach. She could almost hear 
 Waring's heart beat as he held her hand and 
 looked for her answer. On the other side she 
 saw the cold, hard, unattractive path of duty and 
 honor. Honor ! so cold and colorless when love 
 and inclination are set over against it! But, with 
 that clearness of vision only vouchsafed to the 
 pure in heart, she saw the situation in all its fear- 
 fulness, and with a mental prayer for herself, for 
 him, and for Lennox, who unwittingly had left 
 her for years to these temptations, she looked 
 Waring courageously in the face and said, 
 
 " Charlie, you know I cannot." 
 
 He hesitated a moment, drew himself away from 
 her, and said, very gently, 
 
 " I beg your pardon, I shouldn't have asked you. 
 I'll never annoy you again, never, but you must 
 not forget me."
 
 2 6o HALF MARRIED. 
 
 He rose from the ground, told Bessie to stay- 
 there till he returned, and, walking down the 
 margin of the river, cut a stick from a tree, sharp- 
 ened the end, and picking up a good-sized stone, 
 he came back to her. He had assumed his old 
 jaunty air and had bade adieu to the tragics. Bes- 
 sie felt relieved, and .asked what he was going, to 
 do. 
 
 " You shall soon see. Are you seated comfort- 
 ably ?" 
 
 " Yes, I am." 
 
 "Last night I could -not rest, thinking of this 
 interview. I am going to take a nap, and I am 
 afraid you will run away from me so." And he 
 coolly ran his picket through Bessie's dress and 
 hammered it down with the stone. After arrang- 
 ing his coat for a pillow, and intimating that there 
 were " some girls who never would help a man to 
 be comfortable," he put his curly head on his arm 
 and settled himself for a nap, or at least a pre- 
 tended one. 
 
 The light breeze stirred the trees just enough 
 to vary the flickering lights and shadows thrown 
 on the rocks in the stream. The water flowed 
 gently by with hardly a murmur, and the quiet
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 6l 
 
 surface was only occasionally troubled by the 
 touch of the golden wing of the dragon-fly, the 
 splash of the ubiquitous kingfisher, or the rise 
 of a small trout, his glistening body thrown full 
 length above the water in his endeavor to reach 
 some adventurous bright-winged inhabitant of the 
 summer air. The crickets, the bees, and their 
 many neighbors made the air sleepy with their 
 buzzing and chirruping. The whole scene was 
 soothing and restful. Soon Waring was really 
 asleep, with his lady-love most unromantically 
 but safely picketed by his side. 
 
 As she sat there by him she thought how much 
 of the boy still remained, how his mother must 
 love him, how she might if she dared. His curls 
 were bright as ever, and the graceful form was 
 perfect, but the forehead was not as smooth as 
 when he first poured out his griefs to her in that 
 other wilderness. The long eyelashes gave a 
 pathetic shade to his face, and there was the inde- 
 scribable and indefinable trace of struggles and 
 years not perceptible, in the still boyish face, when 
 animated. 
 
 He sighed once in his childlike slumbers, and 
 Bessie spoke half aloud,
 
 262 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " Must we all suffer, even in our sleep ?" 
 She could watch over him for a short time be- 
 fore taking up her every-day life. No one was 
 near to criticise or comment upon her behavior. 
 He himself could not know the delight it was to 
 her just to sit there near him and have him once 
 more all to herself. As she sat there sentinel over 
 his slumbers, in spite of her sad thoughts she was 
 amused at the many denizens of moss and fern, 
 of earth and air, that flew and crawled about him, 
 and warded off these many-winged and multiple- 
 legged visitors. Once a yellow butterfly fluttered 
 over his head, evidently with the intention of light- 
 ing on his hair, but after poising over him flew 
 away. Bessie looked after it with a sort of super- 
 stition, wondering vaguely, Is it in a form like this 
 that our thoughts leave us and wander about when 
 we sleep ? Would he really know if he were dead 
 and I kissed him ? Suppose he were dead, or 
 dead to me. And her thoughts wandered off into 
 those fantastic regions where the real and the un- 
 real are so curiously mingled. 
 
 When she aroused from her revery Waring was 
 awake and looking at her. He said nothing about 
 their late conversation, and after lazily gazing about
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 him, proposed a little walk along the rather rough 
 margin of the stream. 
 
 As they went along he picked a bunch of deli- 
 cate little blue-bells and handed them to her. 
 
 " Here are some blue-bells for your belt, in 
 place of the violets we used to have. Do you 
 ever wear violets now ? I often think of you at 
 your operas and balls with violets in your dress, 
 and wonder if they look as pretty as when tucked 
 in the old blue riding-skirt, or on the pretty white 
 dresses at our garrison parties." 
 
 " You need never think of them again in that 
 connection. I have never worn violets since the 
 last you gave me ;" and, lowering her voice, " I 
 have them yet, poor little withered, faded things. 
 Now, Charlie, the shadows are getting deeper, and 
 you know the fate prophesied to the belated trav- 
 eller, so we must pack up and away." 
 
 The canoe was carried to the water, packed, 
 and was soon gliding down-stream. After a time 
 the other canoes were sighted, and the day for 
 Waring was ended. By the time the larger boats 
 came to view he had quite resumed his devil- 
 may-care manner. The young ladies in their dif- 
 ferent boats each held up for inspection two mi-
 
 264 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 nute trout. Soon the little fleet collected and all 
 arrived together at the yacht, where the numerous 
 adventures of the day were, at least in part, re- 
 lated. Miss Huston had tired of grasshoppers 
 for bait, and had actually caught a trout with a 
 huckleberry, " a bete noire'" Tom called it. 
 
 Mrs. Henderson had lifted a victim into the 
 boat, and it had wriggled off the hook into the 
 drapery of her overdress. It continued to wriggle 
 and she continued to jump until the whole boat- 
 load were in imminent danger of capsizing. 
 
 Waring and Mrs. Lennox had as many fish as 
 all the rest of the party combined. Tom asked 
 how on earth, or on water, they got so many. 
 Our deceitful lieutenant told him with a reproving 
 air that was almost too much for Bessie's gravity, 
 that the reason he caught so few was because he 
 spent too much time and thought over his young 
 lady, and not enough on the fish. Tom at this 
 could not resist giving him a knowing look, as 
 much as to say that the expedition had been suc- 
 cessful even if the fish were still in the clear 
 waters of the " Raspberry." 
 
 The trout were sent to the galley, the company 
 arranged their toilets, and were soon assembled
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 6$ 
 
 around the cabin table. When they returned 
 from their different expeditions the little dining- 
 room was now quite like home, and all were a 
 little sad to think that on the morrow they were 
 to turn their faces eastward. 
 
 The next morning they left the beautiful islands, 
 and that evening, as they were grouped on deck, 
 they were treated to a grand display of the aurora. 
 The first quivering dart of light was seen simul- 
 taneously by half the party. This one ray alone 
 darted up to the zenith, but in a few seconds half 
 the heavens were glowing with shifting, quivering 
 spears of light. They turned from white to blue, 
 from green to red, and almost covered the sky 
 with their ever-changing colors. They were so 
 beautiful, so majestic, here far from the habitations 
 of men, where the silence was only broken by the 
 measured pulse of the little engine, that Bessie 
 almost expected to hear the music of the spheres 
 break forth from these pinnacles of light, that rose 
 in the air like the pipes of a great celestial organ, 
 where the harmonies of heaven might be for once 
 attuned to mortal ears. It seemed a sort of vision 
 glorious vouchsafed to her to make her yoke 
 more easy and her burden more light. 
 
 M 23
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE cruise homeward proceeded with as much 
 gayety as the outward voyage. Some joke had 
 been perpetrated upon all but Mrs. Worthington. 
 There was some allusion that would quiet the chaff 
 of every other person, but so far she had proved 
 invulnerable. Finally her turn came. __ One night 
 she retired to the cabin leaving the others on deck. 
 She was to call them in a few moments, as they 
 were to be wakened at five the next morning to go 
 ashore. Not hearing the promised voice of ad- 
 monition and warning, they forgot all about it. 
 Suddenly it came over them that it was hours 
 since Mrs. Worthington had gone below. The 
 ladies rapidly and quietly gathered together their 
 wraps, and descended the narrow companion-way. 
 It was evident that Mrs. Worthington had forgot- 
 ten them, but why ? The mystery was explained 
 as soon as they reached the cabin. Her state- 
 room door was open and curtains undrawn. She 
 had fallen asleep saying her prayers ! She was 
 
 kneeling on the floor, her arms on her bunk, her 
 266
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 67 
 
 head on her hands, fast asleep. Her beautiful iron- 
 gray hair was done in a loose knot on the top of 
 her head, and her dark crimson wrapper enveloped 
 her in its soft folds. The dim light of a ship's 
 lantern shone directly over her head, and alto- 
 gether she made a graceful picture. 
 
 The gentlemen, hearing sounds of suppressed 
 mirth from below, with a curiosity ill becoming 
 the sterner sex, could not resist investigating mat- 
 ters, and soon they too were regarding the sleeping 
 matron with mingled admiration and amusement. 
 Waring said he would awake her. He wanted 
 revenge for his broken rest in that ambulance 
 years ago. He laid his hand on her shoulder and 
 gently roused her, telling her as it was two o'clock 
 in the morning, they had called merely to suggest 
 that it was bedtime. 
 
 The doctor had had his misadventure at Copper 
 Harbor. They left that place one evening after 
 dark. The night was unusually black. As they 
 were waiting for the boat a man, evidently a miner, 
 walked up to him and, holding a piece of some- 
 thing in his hand, requested the doctor to buy a 
 specimen of copper, a remarkably fine and pure 
 one. The doctor demurred on account of the
 
 2 68 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 darkness, but, upon repeated assurances that it was 
 pure copper, finally yielded, and purchased the 
 specimen. When they reached the yacht and 
 compared notes and purchases, the doctor's was 
 found to be copper sure enough, he had paid a 
 good price for a piece of an ancient copper kettle ! 
 
 At the Sault, Waring left them, not waiting to 
 see the " Mist" pass through the canal. He had 
 told Bessie good-by the night before as they 
 promenaded the deck for the last time. Now he 
 only shook hands with her as he did with the rest. 
 
 Once more their lives diverged. He went off 
 to his duties, leaving her much as he did that other 
 time, but somehow much of the rebelliousness and 
 bitterness were gone. 
 
 He had learned far better than she, and was so 
 far her superior, that awful lesson of life that in 
 some way or other here below we must suffer, and 
 happy is the man or woman who suffers for the 
 right and true, yes, even for the inevitable, instead 
 of the consequences of his own folly or wicked- 
 ness. 
 
 They were soon to arrive at Detroit, and the 
 ladies were busy packing and arranging what the 
 gentlemen termed " the general plunder," collected
 
 HALF MARRIED. 269 
 
 during the past week. Miss Huston found that a 
 " mocock" of fine maple-sugar had burst open and 
 sifted through her other possessions. Tom said, 
 " Tis sweet to be remembered." 
 
 Bessie was to leave on the night train. After 
 Waring left she realized how strong the desire was 
 to get back to her children and to Lennox. Yes, 
 she really would be glad to see him again, though 
 she expected the same tiresome life. But she did 
 want to see her home. She found a couple of 
 letters from Lennox about every-day matters. 
 They were written on business paper, evidently at 
 his business desk. " Business" always ! She 
 wondered if he had taken time from his business 
 to read the long enthusiastic letters she had writ- 
 ten. She feared he had not. Her little boy's 
 letter gave her unalloyed pleasure. There was no 
 sense of duty about that as he announced an 
 epoch in his existence and "showed off" his 
 newly acquired lore : 
 
 " Mama 
 
 i HAVE PANTS ON 
 FOX CAT COW 
 
 RAT OX 
 
 FRED." 
 23*
 
 2/0 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Lennox had missed his wife during her absence, 
 but realized sadly, not at all triumphantly, that he 
 could exist very comfortably without her. His 
 children were more his own than they had ever 
 been, and the household, being for some years 
 well managed, continued on to his satisfaction. 
 His wife having failed him in so much, he had 
 ceased to regard her as the source of even his 
 most trivial and ordinary comforts. 
 
 Bessie arrived at their temporary home, and 
 Lennox was really glad to see her, and the chil- 
 dren were overjoyed, particularly when the various 
 little presents were brought to view. Bessie was 
 happier than she had been for a long time. She 
 had seen Waring and had had a taste of the old 
 life, but she could speak his name without a 
 blush, and look the world still in the face, even 
 if rebelliously and defiantly. 
 
 In the early autumn they found themselves 
 again in town, and going through the old rounds. 
 The impulse given Bessie's mental and physical 
 energies by her taste of out-door life carried her 
 on hopefully for some months, but before spring 
 the old depression had come over her, and she 
 realized that she was not so young as she once
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 J I 
 
 was. There was no breaking up, she was far too 
 young for that, but it was getting harder to fight, 
 harder to seem what she was not. Sometimes 
 she would think of telling Lennox the state of 
 affairs, from her stand-point, and risk everything, 
 rather than lead a life that she despised for its 
 deception. It was true that Lennox had been 
 undemonstrative to coldness, but that she saw 
 was his natural disposition. She had at first as- 
 sumed an indifference that was not natural to her, 
 and now she and her husband were both suffering 
 in consequence. Then good resolutions were 
 stilled by the idea that she would never be for- 
 given. And, besides that, if she could be con- 
 tent with a home, clothes, and servants, why 
 should she risk losing these by enlightening him 
 upon his own and her shortcomings ? 
 
 So, with that mania for martyrdom, real or im- 
 agined, that seems occasionally to possess women 
 who are spared all real afflictions, and are other- 
 wise strong in character and clear in mind, she 
 chose to attribute her unhappiness to the hardness 
 of fate rather than to her own perverted ideas of 
 what her husband and the general fitness of things 
 should be.
 
 272 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Upon these occasions she would begin her 
 tramping up and down, what Waring used to call 
 " her caged tiger exercise," and gather together a 
 cheerful and proper countenance before the arrival 
 of her husband at dinner-time. 
 
 Her expression had changed a great deal during 
 the past two years. In conversation her face was 
 bright and animated as that of a girl of sixteen, but 
 in repose there were sad, but at the same time 
 rather hard lines about her mouth, and the large 
 gray eyes were undeniably pathetic. The impres- 
 sion given was of slight weariness. One youthful 
 and unknown admirer had written to her as 
 " sweet one with the saddened eyes." She, prop- 
 erly but cruelly, handed the effusion over to Len- 
 nox and Huntington for their inspection. The 
 verses were really very pretty, but met with scath- 
 ing criticism from these two superior beings. In 
 fact, men were always interested in Mrs. Lennox, 
 and some said " her gentle, tired expression was 
 so beautiful it suggested some hidden sorrow," etc. 
 
 Women said, "What stuff and nonsense! it's 
 being up all night and on the go all day. They 
 say she never had an ache or pain in her life, and 
 that she does more in a day than most of us do in
 
 HALF MARRIED. 273 
 
 three. She is with her children a great deal, en- 
 tertains a great deal, goes to church a great deal, 
 does a great deal of everything, in fact lives an 
 awfully fast life ; that is, her pace is too fast, not 
 wild. Some day she will go to pieces suddenly, 
 she won't keep it up forever, and then you 
 men won't think so much of her sentimental 
 eyes." 
 
 About a year from this time the daily papers 
 contained an item one day scarce glanced at by 
 the large majority of readers. It said that the 
 Indians were once more rising on the frontier. It 
 was the old story of lying whites and blood- 
 thirsty savages. 
 
 Waring, Arthur, and Carsten were once more 
 together in the West. 
 
 Bessie read every word about these troubles 
 that to her were so horribly real, but never spoke 
 of them. 
 
 One morning at breakfast, as Lennox glanced 
 over his paper, he said, 
 
 "Why, Bessie, our old friend, Mr. Arthur, is on 
 frontier duty again, I see." 
 
 " Yes, poor fellow," was her only comment, and 
 she almost choked as she said that much.
 
 274 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 There was nothing satisfactory to be gained by 
 the papers. She read them morning and evening. 
 She bought extras, and was distracted with fear 
 for Arthur and her old friends as well as for War- 
 ing. The days dragged on as she read these un- 
 satisfactory accounts, while she went about as 
 usual with the regular routine of life. She had 
 become so nervous that the least sound made her 
 start, and so preoccupied that she answered ques- 
 tions at random. 
 
 An opera-party had been arranged for the fol- 
 lowing evening. Bessie had accepted days before, 
 and now had no excuse to offer. One thing com- 
 forted her, she would not be expected to talk or 
 entertain any one. Her hostess on this occasion 
 was a lady of fashion, whose whole existence was 
 arranged as much as possible for " effect." She 
 came over in the morning to see Mrs. Lennox in 
 regard to her costume. She was to do her the 
 favor' not to wear pale blue, that was to be the 
 privilege of her sister, a debutante. 
 
 These trifles acted on Bessie's troubled mind as 
 the hair-cloth girdles of old did on the bodies of 
 the saints. 
 
 " How," she thought, " can people be so earnest
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 over such small matters when women are being 
 murdered and men shot in their own country?" 
 
 After the details of the toilette were arranged 
 the votary of effectiveness rose to depart. Then 
 it fortunately came over Bessie that she had not 
 heard a word of the numerous directions. 
 
 " Oh, forgive me, my head aches a little ; what 
 did you say for me to wear?" 
 
 " I said your ivory satin with the Spanish lace. 
 It is Rose's coming out. I want it to be the hand- 
 somest opera-party this season. I'll send your 
 bouquet, pink roses. We will meet in the lobby. 
 We'll go to the Brunswick afterwards for supper. 
 Wear your dark blue velvet cloak with the er- 
 mine lining. It will be so effective thrown over 
 the back of your chair. It will set off your 
 white dress I shall not say anything about 
 yourself to such advantage. I hope you have 
 heard me this time; do not disappoint me on any 
 account." 
 
 As the voluble visitor withdrew Bessie smiled 
 as she thought, " Yes, that woman invited Fred 
 and me to her opera-party just as she fills her 
 house with rugs and bric-a-brac ! There is a par- 
 ticular nook in which we are ' effective.' Now for
 
 276 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 the papers. ' By telegraph. A special to the New 
 York Herald, dated yesterday, says that a detach- 
 ment of the th, under Captain Carsten, is scour- 
 ing the San Filippo Mountains in hot pursuit of 
 the Indians, and not more than eight or ten hours 
 behind. A fight is expected to-morrow.' " 
 
 With this news in her mind she went, with a 
 heavy heart, into her own apartment to arrange to 
 her friend's satisfaction that toilette of satin and 
 lace. She had not been long at this occupation 
 when her maid arrived with a message. 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, ma'am, wants to see you very 
 particularly, and begs pardon for coming so early." 
 
 " Yes, Elsie, I will go right down. Get every- 
 thing ready for me to-night, I'm not well." 
 
 Bessie found Fielding with such a glorified ex- 
 pression of countenance she perceived that some- 
 thing unusual had occurred. He had come to 
 announce his engagement to Miss Howard, that 
 same Miss Howard who had more than once 
 laughed at him for his admiration for Mrs. Len- 
 nox, and, to celebrate this event, he was going to 
 break over his strict rules and go to the opera 
 that evening with the party. 
 
 " You know a man must do something out of
 
 HALF MARRIED. 277 
 
 the ordinary when he is engaged, particularly after 
 trying so long." 
 
 His happiness had made him daring. Bessie 
 endeavored to express herself in proper terms, 
 but Fielding saw that she was preoccupied and 
 nervous. At that moment a newsboy's screech 
 was heard, and she rose suddenly to her feet, flew 
 to the front door, and called after the boy. Field- 
 ing stood astonished between the windows, and 
 was still gazing blankly at the wavy portiere when 
 Bessie returned with her " extra." 
 
 She would have procured it in the face of a 
 whole general convention as soon as in the pres- 
 ence of this one quiet young priest. 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, do you remember Mr. Arthur ? 
 He and some of our friends are fighting the In- 
 dians, and I want all, all the news I can get. Here 
 it is : ' The fight between our forces and the In- 
 dians took place in the San Filippo Canon as 
 expected. Two officers and ten men are reported 
 killed. Troops and scouts are following the In- 
 dians.' 
 
 " Think of it, Mr. Fielding ! Isn't it horrible ? 
 My friends may be dead, and to-night I am going 
 to the opera! Isn't it dreadful to be a woman ? 
 24
 
 2/8 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Now go away, leave me ; to-night we will know 
 the worst." 
 
 He hesitated a moment and left her. She 
 seated herself on the sofa with her hands over her 
 eyes and thought, " No, not the worst ; I cannot 
 bear that !" 
 
 She felt it necessary to keep up till the evening 
 paper arrived, otherwise she would have confessed 
 herself ill, as she really was. If she should have 
 no further news she would ask Lennox to go 
 himself to headquarters and find out what he 
 could for her. 
 
 In the afternoon there were no extras. In the 
 evening paper there was no news, but quite late a 
 note arrived from Lennox. He would not be 
 home for dinner, as an important business en- 
 gagement had been made for him. His dress 
 suit was to be sent to his office, and he would, 
 in all probability, meet the opera-party at the 
 time appointed. 
 
 After the long day evening came, and there was 
 nothing new. It flashed through Bessie's mind 
 that there was one more chance. As her husband 
 would not be there to go to the telegraph-office, 
 she would go herself. As she hastily began dress-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 ing she told Elsie to " send word to Joseph that I 
 want the coupe in half an hour." The maid 
 looked astonished and descended with the order. 
 She returned and assisted her mistress with the 
 beautiful creamy toilette. She selected a hand- 
 some pendant, always worn with the costume, but 
 Bessie pushed it aside for the little cross that she 
 never allowed any one to touch. Elsie had never 
 seen her mistress "that obstinate," and wondered 
 at her appearing with such an insignificant orna- 
 ment and in such a bad humor. 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, you are that sick you are trem- 
 bling all over." 
 
 " Elsie, if you don't hush you will drive me 
 mad. Keep quiet, get my blue wrap, and see if 
 the coupe has come." 
 
 The coupe had come, and Elsie, putting on a 
 bravery she did not feel, walked into her mistress's 
 room with a glass of sherry. 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, if you don't drink this glass of 
 wine I'll be that nervous about you I'll not sleep 
 a wink." 
 
 Bessie thanked her and drank the wine, and the 
 maid brought out overshoes and wraps. Bessie 
 looked at her watch. The time was passing.
 
 280 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 "No, Elsie, I haven't time; just give me some- 
 thing to put over my head." 
 
 A piece of lace like the dress trimming was the 
 first thing convenient, and Bessie flung it over her 
 head. 
 
 " Now, Elsie, take my fan, and I will follow you 
 in a moment." 
 
 The children, who generally watched the robing 
 of " my pretty mamma," had been banished this 
 evening. Bessie kissed them good-night, and, 
 gathering up her flowing skirts, descended the 
 stairs. 
 
 " Give me my gloves and fan, Elsie. Don't 
 come out with me, it's too cold." 
 
 The cold was indeed intense. The ground was 
 hardly covered with snow, but what there was 
 crunched under foot with that cruel gritting sound 
 that announces the mercury at the zero point. 
 
 Bessie had never before given an order to a ser- 
 vant that implied an understanding between them 
 and her. To-night she felt humiliated, as she said, 
 as coolly as she could, 
 
 " Joseph, drive me directly to the th Street 
 Herald office. I will stop there a moment, and 
 then to the Academy. Get me there before eight
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 8l 
 
 o'clock, and, Joseph, keep quiet about it. Do you 
 understand ?" 
 
 Joseph almost dropped the reins in his astonish- 
 ment at the turn of affairs, as he answered, " Yes, 
 madam, I do." And as fast as was safe to escape 
 police regulations and collisions the little coupe 
 dashed down-town, and stopped in front of the 
 bulletin-board of a " branch office." 
 
 The gas shone directly on the blackboard, and, 
 in spite of the severe cold, more than the usual 
 number of men were collected about it. 
 
 Only desperation can make a refined woman do 
 anything vulgarly conspicuous. She sat there in 
 her coupe irresolute. Through the perfect plate 
 glass the employes on the first floor were plainly 
 visible. Now that she was there she had no idea 
 where to go or whom to ask for information, but 
 something she must do. She flung her train over 
 her arm, the lace had fallen from her head, and 
 
 
 
 with slippered feet she stepped to the pavement. A 
 few hard white snowflakes were in her hair. Her 
 face was white even to her lips, while a red spot 
 glowed on each cheek. As she stood on the pave- 
 ment, confused by the peculiarity of her situation 
 
 and the brilliancy of the gaslight, a telegraph clerk 
 24*
 
 2 82 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 came from the office. He held his overcoat to- 
 gether at the collar with his left hand as with the 
 chalk in his right he wrote the latest news. After 
 one or two lines, he wrote down, 
 
 " The names of the two officers killed in the 
 San Filippo Canon were Captain William Carsten 
 and Lieutenant Charles Waring !" 
 
 Bessie stood perfectly still. Her hands had 
 dropped to her sides. The velvet cloak had slipped 
 from her shoulders, and fur, lace, and velvet lay 
 in a mass on the ground. She mechanically en- 
 tered her carriage, and was rapidly driven off 
 before the bystanders had recovered from their 
 amazement. 
 
 As she stepped from her carriage at the opera- 
 house she was not so absorbed in herself but that 
 she saw the forlorn old man who held open the 
 carriage-door for her, the poor little newsboy, 
 blowing his fingers and shivering under his scant 
 garments, and the little Italian, almost a baby, cry- 
 ing out the librettos, and suddenly she felt over- 
 whelmed with the sorrow of the whole world. 
 Her past selfish indifference to all troubles but her 
 own made her ashamed. She did another unheard- 
 of thing: she asked her coachman to lend her
 
 HALF MARRIED. 283 
 
 some change. She gave some to each of the sup- 
 pliants, from an old hag she bought a bunch of 
 half-frozen roses, which she gave to the baby with 
 the librettos, and then entered the brilliantly- 
 lighted house. 
 
 If the rich often forget and are cruelly indiffer- 
 ent to the physical woes of the poor, the poor 
 often forget that velvet and lace and a smiling 
 face cover many a breaking heart. When the rich 
 learn to understand the outward and visible suffer- 
 ing of the poor, and the poor learn the fact that 
 all, even the rich, have their own particular burden 
 to bear, the great reconciliation of the conflicting 
 classes will be accomplished, and until each side 
 is thus enlightened it will not be. 
 
 She joined the party just in time to prevent her 
 hostess from getting into a state of excitement. 
 She had recovered from the first shock of the 
 news, and was in that stunned condition of being 
 when one is only conscious of a dull, all-pervading 
 ache of soul and body. 
 
 Lennox was only a moment behind her, and 
 after asking her about the children he dropped 
 back to the lady that had been assigned to his 
 care for the evening.
 
 284 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Upon entering the box Bessie raised her eye- 
 brows at Fielding, and he, taking the hint, came 
 to her. 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, as you are engaged, all women 
 are alike to you save one. Now if you stay 
 with me this evening I will be grateful to you 
 always. I am too much distressed to talk to a 
 stranger." 
 
 " I will be most happy to do anything I can for 
 you. Have you seen the names in the news- 
 paper ?" 
 
 There was no way of avoiding the question if 
 she had wished to. 
 
 "Yes; they are Captain Carsten and Lieutenant 
 Waring, two of my father's officers, one of them 
 an old and dear friend." 
 
 Fielding, seeing her agitation was very great, 
 dropped the dangerous subject. 
 
 They began to arrange themselves for the enter- 
 tainment. Fielding placed himself nearest the 
 stage, and with gentle consideration seated Bessie 
 next, so that either looking at the opera or talking 
 to him her back would be partially turned to the 
 box-party. It was to be a great musical event. 
 The large building was a beautiful sight, filled with
 
 HALF MARRIED. 285 
 
 handsomely-dressed women, lights, and flowers. 
 A sweet German prima donna and a rare Italian 
 tenor were to take the leading parts. 
 
 Bessie heard the singing as if in a dream. She 
 was nervously handling the beautiful pink roses 
 that were a part of the effective management of 
 the party-giver, lost in thought and yet trying to 
 keep from thinking. When Linda entered with 
 the flowers that Carlo had left her, Bessie leaned 
 over to at least appear interested. Whether she 
 had forgotten or had never known the opera, when 
 the sweet Linda stepped to the front of the stage 
 and began with her clear, tender tones, 
 
 " Oh, star that guidest my fervent love, thou art life and light to 
 me," 
 
 she was almost petrified. It was like a voice 
 coming to her from the dead. The familiar air in 
 that crowded, gay assembly where all were sup- 
 posed to be happy and amused came like a mes- 
 sage from another world. After the first shock it 
 quieted and calmed her. At the end she carelessly 
 tossed the roses to the diva, who received them 
 gracefully. 
 
 Mrs. Lennox's impulsive acknowledgment of her
 
 2 86 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 powers started quite a furore, and to Bessie's un- 
 utterable happiness she responded to the bravas, 
 and sung again, " Oh luce de quest' anima" 
 
 Before the end of the opera a telegram was 
 brought to Lennox. He was called to Boston as 
 soon as possible on important business. He had 
 a little conversation with his wife, left her some 
 directions, and put her in Fielding's care. He 
 would leave before the supper. She begged to 
 leave with him ; pleaded " feeling badly." She 
 was ready to tell him much, perhaps all. With 
 none of that instinctive appreciation so natural to 
 men of more genial mould, he saw nothing un- 
 usual in his wife's manner or appearance, and said 
 it would never do for them both to leave. 
 
 Bessie went with the rest to the supper. She 
 got home in the wee small hours. The agony of 
 that entertainment she never forgot, and from that 
 time forward excused herself from late suppers. 
 Her children were sleeping quietly, and she looked 
 at her little daughter and wished her dead rather 
 than fated to live a life like her own. Elsie was 
 awakened and sent to her own room. Then Bessie 
 stirred up her fire, locked herself in her room, and 
 gave way to her grief. She was far past the
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 8/ 
 
 weeping stage. She remained unconsciously in 
 full dress, only taking off her gloves. 
 
 All Waring's little notes she read and re-read. 
 Then all the keepsakes that were perishable she 
 threw into the flames. Nothing was left of him 
 in this world but memories. 
 
 She sat rigid the night through, staring into the 
 dying fire. The handsome cloak lay in a heap on 
 the floor, and a lace flounce hung from her rum- 
 pled train. What did she see in that smouldering 
 fire ? The real picture, a haggard, middle-aged 
 man, soiled, unshaven, and begrimed, with an 
 unsightly wound in his left side ? No woman is 
 fair-minded enough to see so clearly. She saw 
 her old boy lover, still young, still beautiful, asleep 
 on the grass in the woods, with the words " I 
 love you" on his lips, and with that beautiful but- 
 terfly, for so many generations of men the emblem 
 of the soul, hovering over him to receive his de- 
 parting spirit. 
 
 How she wished that Lennox had brought her 
 back, as she had asked him to ! It was all over 
 now, perhaps she could have told him. He 
 would have understood and let her begin life 
 anew.
 
 2 88 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 When the city began to wake to life, Bessie, 
 worn out, took a short rest. Elsie said, as her 
 mistress appeared below, 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, you look as if you were going 
 to die." 
 
 " Well, Elsie, I am not going to die ; I'll prob- 
 ably live to be a hundred. Are there any let- 
 ters ?" 
 
 " Yes, there's one." 
 
 It was from Bessie's old friend, the Bishop of 
 Walla Ha. He was building a little church at a 
 military fort, would she help him ? Yes, of course 
 she would, but put the matter aside for a time. 
 
 The paper gave no news further than she had 
 learned the night before. But she saw that 
 " Linda" was to be performed again that evening, 
 and dressing herself very plainly, she started to 
 the opera alone. She was half frightened at this 
 piece of daring. She got her ticket to the family 
 circle, and went up, up, up into the amphitheatre. 
 It was a strange sensation to look down from that 
 height on the boxes and circles, where she could 
 recognize many acquaintances. It was like look- 
 ing down on one's own old world from another 
 sphere. The people up here were so different
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 8o 
 
 from those below. They were many of them 
 more than respectably dressed, while some were 
 shabby. Some were professionals, men and 
 women, with the score before them. Some had 
 evidently pinched and saved their pennies to in- 
 dulge in this, to them, greatest of all pleasure. 
 All about there was an air of intense and earnest 
 enjoyment, never shown, probably never felt, by 
 those who go to entertainments to be seen as much 
 as to see and enjoy. A middle-aged man gave 
 up his seat the entire evening to a lame old gen- 
 tleman with a cane, and Bessie realized, what all 
 of us do not, that the amenities of life extend up- 
 ward, or perhaps downward, and even reach past 
 the family circle to the amphitheatre; that the 
 boxes do not monopolize the courtesies and kind 
 feelings of life. 
 
 As she looked round the vast assembly from this 
 position, a sight so new to her, she wondered if 
 any one ever went to an opera before to hear a re- 
 quiem sung in the notes of a love-song. Between 
 the acts she heard two young girls comparing the 
 present box-party with the corresponding one of 
 the night previous, and telling of a beautiful young 
 lady who started the applause by tossing down a 
 K t 25
 
 290 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 beautiful bouquet. Before the close, Bessie fear- 
 ing recognition, started home. On the way she 
 met Fielding. He was coming home late from 
 some errand of mercy, and met her directly under 
 a gaslight. She was hardly sorry to find him, but 
 he said, reprovingly, 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, don't you know it is dangerous 
 and indecent for you to be out at such an hour, 
 and alone ?" 
 
 " Mr. Fielding, two of my old friends are killed. 
 I am greatly distressed. I could not stay quietly 
 at home. It is terrible to do nothing when one is 
 
 
 
 miserable ; one can stand the day, but the night, 
 and to be all alone ! One of them " 
 
 " Used to sing ' Oh luce di guest' anima,' and 
 gave you violets, and you loved him ?" 
 
 " Mr. Fielding," and she looked at him un- 
 flinchingly under the vestibule light of her own 
 door-way, "yes, I loved him; Charles Waring, 
 United States Army ! I found out when it was 
 too late that I loved him. He is dead now, and I 
 dare not even mourn for him. Do you under- 
 stand ? dead ? to-night ? One night I have worn 
 black, to-morrow the gay clothes and the gay life 
 again. Oh ! I despise it all."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 g l 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Lennox, and your husband, do you 
 not love him ?" 
 
 " I did once, very truly, but he don't care for 
 my love, or any one's. I do yet a little, but I 
 think it will not be for long. He would not take 
 me home last night when I begged him to. He 
 never feels. He only sees and reasons." 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, this to me is most horrible." 
 
 " It should not be. You know that ' most of us 
 who have reached thirty have our Pompeii' ; I have 
 not reached thirty. Perhaps my ashes are no 
 blacker or deeper than yours will be." 
 
 " Mrs. Lennox, may I meet your quotation with 
 a better one ? ' Always there is a black spot in 
 our sunshine ; it is even the shadow of ourselves.' 
 I beg as a friend, as a priest of God, that you will 
 not obstinately overshadow your own life. Good- 
 night, good-night !" 
 
 As he turned to make his adieux he noticed, 
 for the first time, a few white threads in Bessie's 
 brown locks. The sorrow of the past few days 
 showed in her white face, and the thought sad- 
 dened him, as it flashed, for the first time, into his 
 mind that this beautiful woman was becoming old, 
 hard, and disappointed.
 
 292 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 About a month after this Bessie saw by the 
 paper that " First Lieutenant Arthur, First Cav- 
 alry, had been ordered to report in person to the 
 superintendent of the United States Military 
 Academy, West Point, New York, for duty as 
 adjutant of the Academy, fie? First Lieutenant M. 
 D. Brown, Artillery, to be relieved." 
 
 About the time he reported, , she received a 
 small express package directed in his well-known 
 hand. With trembling fingers she cut the string, 
 and there, without comment or word, lay her 
 mother's old Prayer Book and her little pin. Ar- 
 thur had not dared write about the brave death of 
 his old comrade, that was public property. His 
 few effects were gathered together to send to his 
 childless mother in the East. These two he sent 
 where he thought they belonged. 
 
 Bessie had grown more gentle and patient. 
 Perhaps her trouble was beginning to soften her. 
 Perhaps, as she grew older, she longed still more 
 for the companionship that always seemed within 
 reach and yet impossible to have. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the last mementos of 
 her lover, she thought with compunction how 
 long the good bishop's letter had remained unan-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 Q\ 
 
 swered. After dinner one night she said to her 
 husband, 
 
 " Fred, here is a letter from the bishop of Walla 
 Ha. I would like to send him something for his 
 little church." 
 
 "Well, what shall it be?" 
 
 " I would like a chalice and paten, if it is not 
 too much." 
 
 " Certainly not. You had better get it imme- 
 diately. I see the letter is over a month old ; you 
 have been rather careless about it." 
 " Will you come with me to get it ?" 
 " No, that's rather out of my line. You get it 
 at Tiffany's; I'll pay the bill, that will be my share." 
 A few days after, the cup and paten were or- 
 dered. Under a little gold crown in the chalice, 
 sunk into the silver, was the little gold cross and 
 diamond star, and underneath the paten, out of 
 sight, was the bayonet and little heart. " In 
 memoriam C. W." was all the inscription. 
 
 The gift was sent off with its accompanying 
 check, and her dear old friend wrote his thanks 
 and his blessing to " his daughter." " The gift was 
 like her own self, good, substantial, sweet, and al- 
 together charming." 
 
 25*
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 As that little communion set, at St. Paul's in 
 the mountains, was shown to tourists in a far-away 
 corner of our country, many were the various 
 surmises and romances imagined by those who 
 beheld the little chalice. The cross was easily 
 accounted for, but the pin ? Well, it was gener- 
 ally concluded that " C. W." was a soldier who 
 carried a musket with a bayonet on it. 
 
 In the fall Bessie had a note from an acquaint- 
 ance. An aunt of hers was to spend the winter 
 with her. She knew of Mrs. Lennox and General 
 Lansing very well. In fact, her son, Lieutenant 
 Waring, had been in the general's company. 
 Would Mrs. Lennox please come and see her? 
 It would be a great favor, etc. " Mrs. Waring 
 being in deep mourning is always at home in the 
 evening." 
 
 Bessie wondered if her self-possession was al- 
 ways to be thus tried. There was nothing to do 
 but consent, so one evening when she and Lennox 
 were going out together she told him she must 
 make a call, and would send the coupe back for 
 him ; that half an hour was all the time she wanted. 
 She did not quite like the idea of calling in dinner 
 dress, but she was requested to come in the even-
 
 HALF MARRIED. 2 Q$ 
 
 ing, and as evenings were few and short, and en- 
 gagements many and long, she started to do her 
 duty. She found her friend and Mrs. Waring at 
 home. The latter was a slight, delicate woman, 
 who, though not old, had very white hair. Her 
 features were regular and had that unmistakable 
 look of sorrow, that gentle, " made perfect through 
 suffering" expression, so different from the ago- 
 nized faces of the women who have been made 
 old and wrinkled through disgrace and shame, 
 heaped upon them by the men and women who 
 should have been their protectors and comforters. 
 As she rose to welcome the younger woman and 
 smiled pleasantly, the resemblance to her son was 
 striking. The son being so much the image of 
 the mother almost always implies either that the 
 woman's face is too masculine for womanly beauty, 
 or that the son seems effeminate. Waring's thin 
 and generally closed lips alone had saved him 
 from this imputation. 
 
 As Lennox called for Bessie after her formal 
 call, and she rose to adjust her wrap, Mrs. Waring 
 kindly urged her to come again. She " had many 
 old friends that Mrs. Lennox could tell her about. 
 It would be quite a treat," etc.
 
 296 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Bessie's visits became frequent. She enjoyed 
 this lady's companionship. Of intimate friends 
 she had almost none. To her the great, impor- 
 tant organization of the country was the United 
 States Army. The women she met in every-day 
 life had not the slightest interest in military affairs, 
 and among them she felt herself an outsider, and 
 had a silent though unspoken contempt for a 
 " woman who didn't know an ambulance from an 
 artillery-wagon." 
 
 Mrs. Waring had consented to lunch with Bes- 
 sie on several occasions when they were alone, and 
 the friendship progressed finely. They talked over 
 old friends, and Bessie told her much of her son 
 and their life at Fort Derby. One day after Bes- 
 sie had been telling her some story, in which 
 Arthur and Waring figured conspicuously, she 
 said, 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Waring, you must get awfully tired 
 of hearing me chatter, but you know it is only 
 once in years that I have a chance to talk to any 
 one that will listen to me. You know I haven't 
 I was going to say ever had any mother ; from 
 almost the first that I can remember she was so 
 anxious about father that I never dared say army
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 to her for fear she would cry, so I hope you will 
 
 forgive me." 
 
 Mrs. Waring affectionately replied, " My child, 
 
 I can never tire hearing one talk who has loved 
 
 my son." 
 She did not mean anything more than "my 
 
 son's friend," but Bessie started, and, looking at 
 her, burst into tears. 
 
 " Yes, and you too, then, have discovered that 
 I loved your son ? Why is it that my one crime 
 must be always brought before me ? Perhaps you 
 wonder why I didn't marry him? Forgive me 
 when I tell you I had some nonsensical idea that 
 because he did not reach to my father's high 
 standard in matters of religion and duty, that he 
 was only a boy, and little better than a heathen, 
 that in consequence of this I would not be happy 
 with him. So I thought I had forgotten him. 
 Then when it was too late I found he was not for- 
 gotten. Then there was no consolation to be 
 found in religion, or duty, or common sense, or 
 anything I had sacrificed him to. I tell you," 
 and she rose vehemently to her feet, "I have 
 nothing left, nothing !" 
 
 The elderly lady tried to calm her, softly saying,
 
 298 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 " My child, do you think you are the only one 
 who suffers ? My husband, my daughter, my 
 son, are taken from me. Is that nothing ?" 
 
 Bessie confronted her with some of the savage- 
 ness of her girlhood days. 
 
 " Suffering ? You don't know what it is ! I 
 suppose when you received that horrible telegram 
 that you spent the night on your knees in tears 
 and in prayer. Do you think I ever have a 
 chance for tears ? When you were on your knees 
 I was at the opera and at a grand supper after- 
 wards. I could not even confess to my small 
 world that a friend was gone. I am so unfortu- 
 nately strong that I have to march right along. 
 No one thinks of helping me no matter how much 
 I need it. Then, is it nothing to live a lie ? If I 
 dared, I would tell my husband that as he cares 
 so little for me I have ceased to care for him. I 
 do not think he would refuse me shelter and 
 clothes. It's all I have now. No doubt it is more 
 than I deserve. It was not so at the beginning. 
 I loved him as long as he would let me. Then I 
 looked backward. I do not hope ever to look 
 forward again." 
 
 What mother could fail to shudder at sight of
 
 HALF MARRIED, 2 QQ 
 
 this devastation wrought, however innocently, by 
 her own son ? 
 
 She seated herself by this woman to whom, 
 from the first, she had felt drawn. 
 
 " You say you have nothing to look forward to ; 
 you have much. You say your suffering has done 
 nothing for you ? Much of it, I am afraid, has been 
 through your own fault or foolish imaginings, so 
 perhaps it has not. You know as we grow older, 
 we elderly people, we grow physically far-sighted. 
 I think we grow mentally and perhaps spiritually 
 far-sighted also. We forget to notice the triviali- 
 ties of life, and are only conscious of the grand 
 ensemble. I cannot describe one of your toilettes, 
 but I know you, your thoughts. Is it nothing 
 that you have been an inspiration to my poor boy 
 to live purely and die bravely ? Have you not a 
 son ? Can you imagine a woman's life a failure 
 who had accomplished that much for him ? There 
 are so few of us who accomplish anything, even 
 the every-day duties lying at hand, that you 
 should be thankful for having one piece of finished 
 work to look back upon, and look forward with 
 hope to accomplishing more. If your husband 
 does not care for you, is it all his fault ? Do you
 
 300 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 ever try to make him ? Does your pride never 
 stand in the way? Some day tell him the truth. 
 If he has neglected you, tell him so, quietly as a 
 wife should, not like an avenging spirit. Have 
 you not learned that men cannot be ordered to 
 love their wives at the point of the bayonet? 
 Before I leave you, will you promise me that you 
 will begin immediately to try to live differently, 
 and when a convenient time presents itself to tell 
 your husband the truth ? I know you both well 
 enough to know that you will be much happier." 
 
 " I certainly can be no more miserable." 
 
 " Then you will promise me ?" 
 
 After some hesitation she said, slowly, 
 
 " Yes, I promise you." 
 
 It is wonderfully encouraging when one really 
 makes up his or her mind to do the " square 
 thing" that the way often opens, quite unexpect- 
 edly, to its accomplishment. 
 
 From the time of the above conversation Bessie 
 had tried to be more gentle, and demand a little 
 more of her husband's time and attention, and 
 indeed was succeeding in her honest endeavor 
 towards keeping her promise. To be even gently 
 blamed by the mother of the man she had loved
 
 HALF MARRIED. j OI 
 
 so much, so long, had thrown a new and a not 
 altogether pleasant light on the whole affair. 
 
 One Sunday afternoon as she returned alone 
 from Fielding's little chapel she heard voices in 
 their parlor ; some one was talking with Lennox. 
 It was not unprecedented for him to be chased 
 and captured in his own house out of business 
 hours by anxious clients, so Bessie, not recog- 
 nizing the voices, passed the door without enter- 
 ing. Lennox called her to come in, and as she 
 entered, found a lady and gentleman, the lady 
 conversing volubly with her husband. 
 
 She was some years older than Bessie, fair, and 
 had those irregular features and high cheek-bones 
 so distressing when seen in blond women, where 
 we want all lines to accord with the fair com- 
 plexion. 
 
 She was expensively dressed in one of those 
 execrable costumes where the costliness of the 
 material is only less conspicuous than the illness 
 of the fit. The husband sat a little outside the 
 group, with that manner distressing and usual in 
 men whose wives are trying to push them up- 
 wards into a social sphere unsuited to their tastes 
 
 and aspirations. 
 
 26
 
 202 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Bessie naturally turned to the distressed, and 
 soon put him at his ease with her pleasant man- 
 ner and easy chat. Lennox had noticed the con- 
 trast between these two women. One was so 
 much dressed, so embarrassingly effusive in man- 
 ner, and the other so gracious, so pleasant, and 
 dressed so he did not know how to express it, 
 but he could think it so neat, so trim, so graceful, 
 yet almost military in its severity. He was struck 
 with the absence of what he called " tag ends." 
 
 The couple soon left, and Bessie never thought 
 of them again. They were old acquaintances of 
 Lennox ; she was polite, there was the end. After 
 they left Lennox said, 
 
 " Bessie, that is such a pretty dress, I do like it 
 so much." 
 
 " Well," she laughed, " I am glad of it ; but 
 your compliments are rather late, this is the 
 second season." 
 
 " It's strange I never noticed it before ; the 
 jacket, or coat, or whatever you women call it, 
 fits you beautifully." 
 
 " Yes, thanks to your tailor ! You don't know 
 the blandishments I had to use on that hard- 
 hearted man. I implored his up-town cutter and
 
 HALF MARRIED. 303 
 
 his down-town foreman. I think only the fear of 
 your displeasure, if he refused, induced him to 
 honor me with a place among his customers, or 
 his patients, but I succeeded in my vain en- 
 deavor." 
 
 At lunch and through dinner Lennox had an 
 unusually preoccupied manner, and looked fairly 
 ill. Bessie questioned him, but with no satisfac- 
 tory result. After dinner, when they were quite 
 alone, she turned in her usual walk and, seeing his 
 pale face, said, 
 
 " Fred, for Heaven's sake what is the matter ? 
 You look as if you had seen a ghost." 
 
 " Come here, Bessie." 
 
 And, to her utter astonishment, he drew her to 
 his knee. 
 
 " I have seen a ghost to-day." 
 
 Bessie was alarmed to hear this matter-of-fact 
 man talk about ghosts. It suggested visions of 
 an overwrought brain. 
 
 " I want to tell you about it. A great many 
 years ago, I was going to say before you were 
 born, from the time I was a child I was in love, 
 as children are, with a little light-haired girl. It 
 went on till we were quite grown. I went to the
 
 2Q4 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 army, and she left Connecticut with her family. 
 The whole thing died a natural death. Well, I 
 am going to tell you the whole truth, after our 
 marriage, when I found you were unhappy and I 
 disappointed, I once more thought of this girl. I 
 do not mean I loved her, but way down in my 
 heart I had a sort of fair-haired Idol. Have you 
 ever noticed how a flash of lightning, on a dark 
 night, will illuminate all things, small and great, 
 how for the moment all the world stands still? 
 How the railroad train ceases to move, the spokes 
 of wheels are stationary, the branches of the trees 
 are motionless ? I feel as if a flash of lightning 
 had illuminated my past life, and the vision has 
 overwhelmed me. That homely, unrefined, raw- 
 boned woman" (Bessie did not like to hear any 
 woman, even a rival, " called names") " we saw 
 to-day was that girl. I cannot understand my 
 boyish infatuation. I want to beg your pardon. 
 I want you to let me try once more to begin 
 again. I am mortified at the dulness of my per- 
 ceptions. Because you were not educated in the 
 same way, and in the same surroundings as the 
 women who were my companions in my youth, I 
 have thought you cold and heartless, and caring
 
 HALF MARRIED. , o - 
 
 only for what I gave you, and not for me. I am 
 afraid that when I married a princess to help rule 
 my little kingdom I was base enough to regret 
 that I had not married a slave, or a child, to be 
 ruled. Can you forgive me ?" 
 
 Bessie had arisen from his knee and stood 
 before her husband, her hands nervously clutch- 
 ing and twisting her handkerchief. 
 
 " I can forgive you easily, easily. All that is 
 nothing. I have a confession to make that no 
 man can forgive. You will, perhaps, never speak 
 to me or let me touch the children when you hear 
 it. Long, long ago in my father's regiment there 
 was a young officer." She spoke distinctly, but 
 breathed hard and quickly. " He loved me. I 
 refused him. He loved me always. I met him 
 but once since I was married. It was accidental. 
 I was very unhappy, but but I did not allow 
 him to make love to me. He was very honorable, 
 he would not have done so anyway. As you 
 became more and more indifferent I thought more 
 of him. I endured it until two people discovered 
 my secret." 
 
 " Two people, Bessie !" he said, astonished. 
 
 " Fred, don't be angry at him, for he is dead, 
 M 26*
 
 306 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 Fred, dead, in the San Filippo Canon fight a year 
 ago, dead, with an arrow in his heart. The news 
 came the night of that great opera party, when 
 you were called off to Boston ; don't you remem- 
 ber? I begged you to take me home with you 
 before the supper. I would have told you every- 
 thing that night if you had taken me home, but 
 you would not. I read the news, on the bulletin- 
 board at the Herald office, that night myself, and 
 at the opera Mr. Fielding saw me trying to keep 
 back the tears, and, connecting one thing with an- 
 other, he knew all." 
 
 " How could Fielding see and know what I 
 could not?" 
 
 " Because he was with me more, and cared if I 
 felt distressed." 
 
 " Bessie, that is a hard speech." 
 
 She continued more quietly, 
 
 " I do not want to be hard on any one but my- 
 self. I could endure my secret alone, but to think 
 that he or any one should share it with me from 
 you was too mortifying. That thought has driven 
 me almost to desperation. I wanted to tell you 
 and be honest, even if you despised me. Then 
 another found it out."
 
 HALF MARRIED. ~ o ~ 
 
 " Another?" 
 
 " Yes, the boy's mother, Mrs. Waring. In an 
 unguarded moment I told her that I had loved 
 her son, that I had loved you, and would have 
 continued to love you if you had not so clearly 
 shown me your disappointment, and that now I 
 had nothing to live for, that you were too honor- 
 able and strict ever to forgive me." 
 
 " What did she say at that ?" 
 
 " She said I was to tell you everything, that it 
 would be better, even if things were not made up 
 in a minute, to have an understanding and begin 
 life all over again, and honestly, but I was 
 afraid." And she threw herself on the floor with 
 her head in the chair. 
 
 Lennox walked up to her in his quiet, self-con- 
 tained manner, and, putting his hand on her shoul- 
 der, said, 
 
 " Bessie, poor child, will you do something for 
 me to-morrow ?" 
 
 " Yes, Fred, anything." 
 
 "Well, it is a simple thing, a little thing: will 
 you drive over to Mrs. Waring's and tell her" 
 as she waited for the ending of the sentence 
 Bessie's heart stood still" that you are going to
 
 308 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 be the very best wife in the world, and that I am 
 resigned to the princess. You, Bessie, cannot ex- 
 pect me to forget the bitterness of years in a 
 moment It is hard for a man to be nothing, or 
 even second, where he has the right to be first and 
 all." 
 
 " Fred dear, you are very generous, but as you 
 have the right on your side you can afford to be. 
 I have not wished or intended to do wrong. I 
 can only confess to being disappointed and un- 
 reasonable and being thrown back on myself. I 
 did not expect or wish to find you a man whom I 
 could make my obedient slave, neither did I 
 expect you to rule me." 
 
 She hesitated for words and self-control. 
 
 " I had only hoped to be very necessary to you, 
 as I had been to but two people in the world. 
 You would not let me, and I was too proud and 
 obstinate to try very long. As I grew older I 
 wanted some one, strong and good, to lean upon, 
 and yet " 
 
 "And yet?" 
 
 " Well, when I found an oak I think that I was 
 angry because the bark was a little rough, and it 
 bore acorns instead of violets."
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 After this she broke down again, and it was 
 some moments before she could control her agita- 
 tion. 
 
 As Lennox looked at her he thought he loved 
 her more than he ever had, more than he had 
 when he was so quickly and lightly captivated 
 under the old elms at Carrington. He put his 
 arm around her and said, gently, 
 
 " I am satisfied that it will all come out right, but 
 we must have a little patience. We are through 
 with ghosts and explanations forever. Now go 
 up-stairs and rest. To-morrow the world will 
 look brighter, brighter perhaps to us both, than it 
 has for a long time." 
 
 While Bessie rested with mind and conscience 
 relieved, Lennox pondered long and deeply, how 
 it was possible for two intelligent beings to work 
 so long and so persistently at cross-purposes 
 when a few words would have made all things 
 clear. 
 
 Not long after this reconciliation Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lennox were bidden to Tom Campbell's wedding. 
 He and Miss Huston were to be married in Troy. 
 Mr. Arthur, the Worthingtons, his own parents, 
 and many old friends were to be there to give him
 
 3io 
 
 HALF MARRIED. 
 
 a good " send-off," and of course " Miss Bessie" 
 must come. 
 
 Bessie was learning her lesson, and insisted that 
 her husband should go with her. He, when he 
 found it really was her pleasure, consented at once. 
 After much puzzling she decided upon a wedding- 
 gift. A very pretty model in silver of a birch- 
 bark canoe. It held a little silver paddle, the 
 handle of which terminated in a sharp point. On 
 the bow of this little craft was a plain space left 
 for the initials of the bride, but instead was en- 
 graved "The Mist," and when the gift was re- 
 ceived by the pretty young bride it held a fine 
 cargo of Spanish olives. 
 
 The reunion at the wedding was a pleasant one, 
 though all had in mind that one who was missing to 
 complete the old party, and at the breakfast when 
 " absent friends" were toasted (and how young we 
 have all begun to drink to that sad toast !), Mrs. 
 Worthington and Bessie looked persistently in 
 their plates till they had a chance, unobserved, to 
 wipe their eyes. 
 
 Arthur was happy at the very evident improve- 
 ment in his friend's life, and Tom was radiant over 
 his own prosperity.
 
 HALF MARRIED. 3 1 1 
 
 After it was all over Lennox said to Bessie, 
 meditatingly, 
 
 " How happy young Campbell seems to be !" 
 
 "Yes," answered Bessie, "he should be. His 
 wife has no arriere pensee. It is a matter of first 
 love on both sides." 
 
 " I do not see that an arriere pensee is so very 
 bad in a woman after all." 
 
 " Do you really mean that, Fred ?" 
 
 " I really do." 
 
 " I am very happy then, and I think I could 
 forgive a man his first love, even if she were 
 young and beautiful, if " 
 
 " If what ?" 
 
 " If he made up by being very devoted to me 
 forever afterwards, and allowing me to be very 
 devoted to him." 
 
 " Bessie, this being in love is very mysterious. 
 No one knows where or what it will lead to." 
 
 " Yes. ' Ce que F amour commence, ne pent etre 
 achev'e que par Dieu /' " 
 
 THE END.
 
 
 
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 A 000092135 
 
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