TWO STORMS
Miss Lou sank wearily on the doorstep of Aun' Jinkey's cabin where the
reader first made her acquaintance. She drew a long sigh. "Oh, I must
rest and get my breath. So much is happening!"
"You po' chile!" was the sympathetic response. "Ah well, honey, de good
Lawd watchin' ober you. I year how dat ole snake in-de-grass Perkins
git out Miss Whately's keridge en tink he gwine ter tote you off nobody
know whar. You passin' troo de Red Sea long o' us, honey. I yeared how
you say you doan wanter lebe yo' ole mammy. I ain' cried so sence I wus
a baby w'en I yeared dat. Doan you reckermember, honey? You sot right
dar en wish sump'n ter hap'n. I 'spects we bettah be keerful how we
wishes fer tings. Doan you min' de time Uncle Lusthah pray fer rain en
we wus all nigh drownded?"
"I'm not sorry, mammy, things happened, for my heart's been warmed,
WARMED as never before. Oh, it's so sweet to know that one is cared
for; it is so sweet to have somebody look you in the eyes and say, 'I
want you to be happy in your own way.'"
"Did Marse Scoville say dat?"
The girl nodded.
"I'se hab ter smoke on dat ar lil whiles."
Both were lost in thought for a time, Miss Lou's eyes looking dreamily
out through the pines and oaks as they had before when vaguely longing
that the stagnation of her life might cease. All had become strangely
still; not a soldier was in sight; even the birds were quiet in the
sultriness of the early afternoon. "Isn't it all a dream?" the girl
asked suddenly.
"Kin' ob wish we could wake up den, if it is. See yere, Miss Lou, you
on'y a lil chile arter all. Doan you see Marse Scoville des tekin' a
longer way roun' de bush? Wen he tell you he want you ter be happy he
mean he want you hissef!"
"Oh, yes, Aun' Jinkey, that was plain enough; but do you know how he
would take me and when?"
"Dat's des w'at I lak ter know, fer I tells you, chile, dis mar'in'
business orful serus."
"He would take me only when I went to him of my own free will and not
before. I feel just as safe with him as with you. I believe he would do
what I asked just as he minds that general of his. That's the wonderful
part of it, which almost takes away my breath. Why, only the other day
uncle and aunt were ordering me about as they always have, and now
here's a brave, educated man ready to do my bidding. What a goose
Cousin Mad was! If he had acted that way I shouldn't have known any
better I fear than to marry him. I was so starved for a little
consideration and kindness, that if he'd been generous and made me feel
that he cared for ME and not for himself all the time, I fear I'd have
just married him out of gratitude. I would have acted like an
impulsive, ignorant child, blind to everything except that some one
cared for me. But that's all past now. My eyes have been opened and
I've been compelled to think and foresee the future. Dreary enough it
would have been with him."
"What you gwine ter do, honey?"
"Stand on my rights. See how much I've learned in a few short days,
yes, even hours. I've learned above all things that my life's my own.
There were my relatives, who would reach out and take it, just as they
would a ripe fig from a tree, with just about as much consideration for
me as for the fig. Thank God! I have been shown clearly my right to my
own life. Since I have learned so much in a few days, I shall keep my
freedom and choose that which is best for me as well as best for
others."
"Now, honey, you on de right track, sho! Des you wait en lis'n. Mo'
folks dan Marse Scoville wanter talk wid you on dis mar'age question.
You on'y lil chile yit. Des you keep yosef deserved-like en say yo'
mouf ain' waterin' few enybody. Marse Scoville berry nice gem'lin, but
he yere to-day en like anuff a orful way yander termorrer--"
"No matter where he is, Aun' Jinkey, he will carry the love I could
give to a kind brother if I had one. He knows I can do no more and he
does not ask more."
"Yes, he does, honey; he ax hit in de bes way ter git hit fum you. He
ain' de fool ter grab at hit, but he tek hit all de same."
"Well," she answered judicially, "I don't see how a girl can help it if
a man thinks more of her than she of him, but it does make all the
difference in the world whether a man tries to grab, as you say, or
waits respectfully for what should be a free gift, to be worth
anything. How strange it seems to be talking quietly of such things!
Think of what has happened, what might have happened, and what may take
place before night!"
"Well, honey, hit's a good ting ter stop tinkin' or ter tink slow
sometimes. We couldn't keep a gwine as we wus. Our haids ud whirl right
off our shol'ers. Hit's all so peaceful now, why doan you go ter yo'
room en tek a nap. Mebbe you git berry lil sleep ter-night."
"I reckon your advice is good, mammy. If you have trouble, come to me."
As she walked through the garden and shrubbery to the mansion she felt
that she was reacting from the strong excitements of the morning into
languor and excessive weariness. The idle negroes had partially
succumbed to the heat and quiet, and were generally dozing in the sun,
even on this eventful day. Perkins, the exacting overseer, had
disappeared on the first alarm of Scoville's charge and had not been
seen since. When entering the house Zany, who always seemed on the qui
vive, told her that her aunts were in their rooms and that Mr. Baron
was in his office. Going out on the veranda, the girl saw two or three
vigilant Union videttes under a tree. It was evident that they had
chosen a point which commanded a good view of the house, outbuildings
and quarters. The ridge was still lined with troops, but they appeared
to be scattered about at their ease on the ground. The girl's eyes
drooped; she wearily climbed to her room and was soon asleep.
Many others slept also who would sleep again that night in the
stillness of death; others who would groan through coming days and
nights in anguished wakefulness. The temporary quiet did not deceive
the resting soldiers on either side. They well knew that the active
brains of their superiors were at work. Scoville found unexpected duty.
He was given a score of men, with orders to scour the roads to the
eastward, so that, if best, his general could retire rapidly and in
assured safety toward the objective point where he was to unite with a
larger force. Instead of resting, the young man was studying topography
and enjoying the chicken which had at last caught up with him. He knew
the importance of his work and did it thoroughly. Having chosen the
road which promised best, he marked it on a map, expecting soon to go
over it again as guide. He sighed deeply as he thought that it would
lead away from the girl to whom he had devoted his life, yet not
because he owed it to her. "If we could only remain together," he
thought, "she would learn to give all that I give. The dear little girl
is just learning that she is a woman, and is bewildered."
Major Jones, who had been skirmishing to delay the Confederate advance,
allowed his men and horses to rest when the enemy paused for their
mid-day bivouac, and so had come about a cessation of hostilities
during which both parties took breath for the coming struggle.
Miss Lou was suddenly awakened by a jar which shook the house, followed
by a strange, unearthly sound. For an instant she was confused,
thinking night had come, so dark was her room. Springing to her window
she threw open the blinds. A black, threatening sky met her gaze, the
sunlight hidden by a dense bank of clouds, above which towered
golden-tipped thunder-heads. The appearance of the ridge puzzled her.
The cannon were there, a puff of smoke rolled heavily from one of them;
but excepting a few gunners just about the pieces, the long line of men
and horses had largely disappeared. Down the lawn from a point not far
from the house to the main street and beyond was a line of horsemen,
keeping abreast and equidistant from each other. What did it all mean?
Facing the ridge on the left of the lawn was an extensive grove,
through which the avenue wound in and out, and the line of horsemen was
approaching this. Suddenly the very earth trembled and she saw smoke
pouring upward among the trees from a rise of ground within the grove.
All now became clear to her. While she had slept, the Confederates had
come up, taken their position and the battle was beginning. In strong
excitement she rushed down to the hall below, where she found her aunts
with pallid, frightened faces. On the veranda was Mr. Baron, looking
white indeed, but with firm, compressed lips and fiery eyes, watching
the opening conflict.
"Go in," he said sternly, "this is no place for you."
In her intense absorption she did not even hear him. From the edge of
the grove and along the avenue were now seen little puffs of smoke,
followed by the sharp crack of carbines. The long line of Union
skirmishers began to reply in like manner, but it was evident that they
found themselves too obvious marks in the open. Here and there men fell
from their saddles, and the riderless horses galloped away. The notes
of a bugle were heard above the din, and the Union skirmish line
retired rapidly to the foot of the ridge.
Miss Lou saw all this only as the eyes catch, half-involuntarily, what
is passing before them. With an awe almost overwhelming, her attention
was absorbed by a phase of war utterly unknown to her--an artillery
duel. Two Confederate batteries in the grove had opened and defined
their positions. The Union guns replied, shot for shot, in loud
explosions, with answering, deep-toned roar. Above the detonations were
heard the piercing screams of the shells as they flew back and forth.
On the ridge they burst with a sharp crack and puff of vapor, with what
effect could only be guessed; but the missiles which shrieked into the
grove gave the impression of resistless, demoniacal power. Great limbs
and even tops of trees fell crashing after them. Blending faintly with
the rending sound which followed were screams and yells.
"Well," exclaimed the girl, "if Cousin Mad is there he at least is
brave. It seems as if my knees would give way under me."
Even as she spoke, a forked line of light burned downward athwart the
heavy rising clouds. The smoke of the battle was lurid an instant; then
came a peal which dwarfed the thunder of earthly artillery. Strange to
say, the sound was reassuring to the girl; it was familiar. "Ah!" she
cried, "the voice of heaven is louder than this din, and heaven after
all is supreme. This fiery battle will soon be quenched and hot blood
cooled."
The voice in the sky was unheeded, for entering the lawn from the road,
distant from the mansion about an eighth of a mile, was seen a solid
gray column. On it went toward the ridge at a sharp trot. "Ah!" groaned
Mr. Baron, "now comes the tug of war."
The girl screamed and moaned as she saw shells tearing their way
through this column, horses and men rolling over on the ground, puffs
of smoke which rose revealing frightful gaps; but on flowed the dark
gray torrent as if propelled by an invisible, resistless force.
Vacancies made by wounds and death were closed almost instantly. In the
strange, luminous twilight made by the approaching storm, the impetuous
advance was wonderfully distinct in the distance, like a vivid
silhouette.
As the head of the column drew near the gentle acclivity, it fairly
seemed to crumble. Grape shot was now making havoc; but for every man
and horse that fell, two apparently came on as from an exhaustless
reservoir. High above all sounds now came a yell which, once heard, can
never be forgotten, and the Confederate column deployed at a gallop,
charging the ridge. The Union skirmish line had already retired to the
right, while pouring over the ridge by which they had been hitherto
concealed, came rank after rank of men in blue, their deeper chest
shouts blending with the shriller cries of their enemies. Charge was
being met with counter charge. Cannon were silent, for now friends and
foes were too near together. Even the clouds loomed silently, as if in
suspense, over the terrific shock of the two lines of approaching
cavalry.
"Awful! awful!" moaned the girl.
"Oh! if Madison is meeting that onset!" shrieked Mrs. Whately, beside
herself with horror, yet compelled to look by a terrible fascination.
Just as the two opposing forces dashed together a bolt of lightning
gleamed over them, turning the upraised sabres for an instant into
swords of fire. The crash of thunder followed so swiftly that it
appeared to result from the impact of the two charging lines. An
impression of annihilation was given, but so far was it from being
realized, that the slope was seen to be alive with a struggling,
seething mass, waving back and forth, at first downward, then
stationary, then gradually upward, upward, until Mr. Baron shouted,
"Hurrah! our men are carrying the ridge!"
The cry was scarcely uttered before another dark line of horsemen on
the far right was seen galloping forward toward the Confederate flank.
Again there was another vivid flash, lighting up the scene with a
lurid, momentary glare. The peal which followed created the illusion of
sounding this new charge or else to be the thunder of the onset. It
turned the fortune of the battle on the right, for the Confederates
were seen to pause, and finally to give back slowly and stubbornly.
Then the advancing rainfall began to blot the combatants from view.
Suddenly the Union artillery opened. It seemed to the terrified
spectators on the veranda as if the shells were shrieking directly
toward them, but the iron bolts tore their way through the grove,
although much nearer the house than before. The reason soon became
apparent. On that ridge, and within the gloomy shadows of the trees,
were officers as coolly observant as if playing a game of chess. They
gave no more heed to the terrific peals of thunder than they would have
done to so many Chinese gongs. While watching the attack upon his
centre and providing against it, General Marston was also seeking to
penetrate, by means of a powerful glass, the mask of the grove, and so
detected a concentration on his left. Instantly his guns began to shell
the grove near the house, where the assaulting force was massing. His
reserves were ordered forward, and instructions rapidly given to the
colonel who was to repel the attack; meanwhile his field-glass was
glued to his eyes.
Soon he cried, "It will be their supreme effort. We must strike a
stunning blow in order to get away in safety," and he sprang on his
horse and started the charge himself.
The men, adoring their leader, followed with stern resolve and high
enthusiasm. Scoville, who had returned, reported and rested somewhat,
knew how critical was the moment. He rode close to the general, but did
not fall out when the wary commanding officer permitted the human bolt
he had launched to pass beyond him. He was responsible for the entire
force, and must do just enough and no more. He must still keep his eyes
on all parts of the field and his brain ready to direct when the result
of the charge was known. More than the military necessity of repelling
the Confederate charge bursting from the grove occupied the mind of
Scoville. It looked to him as if the fight would take place about the
very home of the girl to whom his heart was so tender, and his impulse
was to be near, to protect and defend.
The light was fading fast; the fury of the storm, whose preliminary
blasts were shaking the dwelling, was coming as if an ally with the
galloping Union ranks and threatening the equally impetuous onset of
the Confederates. In the very van of the Southern force a vivid flash
of lightning revealed Mad Whately, with a sabre of flame. For once he
made a heroic figure. His mother saw him and shrieked despairingly, but
her voice was lost in the wild uproar of thunder, yells and shouts of
the combatants, the shock of steel and crash of firearms. Then torrents
of rain, which had approached like a black curtain extending from
heaven to earth, hid the awful scene of conflict. It vanished like a
dream, and would have seemed but a nightmare had not the ominous sounds
continued.
Mr. Baron broke the spell which had fallen upon him, dragged his sister
and niece within the door, and bolted it with difficulty against the
spray-laden gusts.