And so Ned Lawrence got back to Worth to find it far livelier than when
he left it. The stage with its joyous escort had come trundling in just
before tattoo, and first and foremost the returning wanderer was driven
to his own doorway and left for half an hour with Ada and Jimmy--the one
sobbing with joy, the other laughing with delight--on the father's
knees. Then Mrs. Blythe stole in to bid them to the waiting supper, and,
pending Lawrence's reappearance somewhere along the line, the officers
gathered in low-voiced groups discussing the startling event of the
evening. Bralligan, raging for the blood of the double-dashed,
triple-adjectived hound who had assaulted him, had been lugged home by
two or three of his kind, consoled by Captain Mullane with the assurance
that he'd see that the preacher gave him full satisfaction in the
morning, for, with native love of a ruction, Mullane stood ready to bear
the subaltern's challenge, even though his better nature told him the
ducking was richly deserved: with Irish honor in question, Mullane was
for fight. Frazier and Brooks, of course, said the seniors present,
must not be allowed official knowledge of what had taken place, though
in those benighted days of magnificent distances from the centre of
civilization and the exploring grounds of reporters of the press, many a
stirring row was settled without its ever being heard of beyond the
limits of the garrison in which it occurred. Captain Barclay, contenting
himself with the one blow, despite an unchristian impulse to follow it
up with a kick at the sprawling figure, had stood calmly by when
Bralligan's associates lifted him, half stunned, to his feet, then,
addressing himself to Mullane, with just the least tremor in his voice
and twitching to his muscles, remarked, "Of course you know what led to
this, sir. If your lieutenant desires to follow it up, you can find me
at my quarters." Then, looking very deliberately around upon the little
circle of flushed or pallid faces,--there were only five officers
present,--he slowly turned, walked away, and shut himself in his room.
A light was still burning there when Brayton tiptoed in at half-past
ten. He, with several other cavalrymen, had been sitting in the major's
parlor, listening to Lawrence's tale of His experiences in Washington.
Winn had rejoined the party late, and one glance at his face was enough
to tell Brayton that somewhere he had heard of the fracas at the
club-room. Brayton's boyish heart was bubbling over with pride and
delight in this new and unlooked-for side to his captain. Every day of
his service with that officer only served to strengthen the regard and
admiration Brayton felt for him. Barclay had made no pretence of being a
cavalryman on the strength of his assignment to that arm. He started
with the assertion that he had everything to learn, and then surprised
his subaltern by an extensive knowledge of what we then called "the
tactics." He was certainly not as much at home in saddle as on foot, and
did not pretend to be, but he was by no means a poor or ungraceful
rider. He had a light, gentle hand, at least,--a thing much harder for
most men to acquire than a good seat. He was very cool, just, and
level-headed with the members of the troop, not a few of whom thought to
"run it" on the "doughboy" captain; but all such projects had flattened
out within the fortnight after his coming. Barclay might not know
horses, but he did know men, and the first sergeant was the first to
find it out,--the new captain calmly and almost confidentially pointing
out to him, after ten days of apparently casual glancings over the
mess-room and kitchen, that the men were not getting their proper
allowance of coffee, and that the savings made on the rations did not
all go where they belonged.
"Boy an' man, sorr," began Sergeant Sullivan, oratorically and with fine
indignation, "I've sarved in the dragoons or cavalry the best fifteen
years of me life, and this is the furrst time me honor's been called
into account. I shall tindher me resignation at wanst."
"I have had its acceptance in contemplation for some days, sergeant,"
was the calm response. "But first we'll overhaul the accounts."
"Currnel Larns's, sorr, would niver have treated an ould soldier in this
way."
"That, I fear, is true," was the imperturbable response, "and as a
consequence the colonel appears to have been robbed right and
left,--your own name being brought into question. That will answer for
the present, sergeant."
And when the troop heard that Denny Sullivan had been "broke" and was to
be tried by court-martial for thieving, great was the comment excited,
and the men began to wonder what manner of doughboy was this, after all,
that had come to them,--the doughboy that ould Denny had so confidently
counted on running to suit himself. But this didn't begin to be all. A
very acute trailer was Galahad. Those were days in which only a
subaltern, and not always even a subaltern, was expected to appear at
morning stables; but the new captain liked to rise early, he said. He
was up with the sun or earlier, and hoof- or wheel-tracks about the
stables before the herd was led forth to water never escaped his
attention, yet apparently never excited remark. Within the third week,
however, another non-commissioned officer was suddenly nabbed, and so
was a wagon-load of forage, going off to a neighboring ranch at four
o'clock in the morning. Meantime the men noted that their coffee and
rations were better and more bountiful, and soldiers are quick to
receive impressions that come by way of the stomach. "The new captain is
knocking out the old abuses," said they, and it was wonderful how soon
the ex-doughboy made his way into their good graces. There had been some
disposition on the part of the wits in other companies to refer to
Barclay's men as "The Parson's Own" when it was announced that the
captain had attended the chaplain's evening service, but even that was
beginning to die out, when all of a sudden it was noised abroad this
evening that the redoubtable Bralligan had been felled by a single blow
of that Quaker fist.
Brayton was fairly quivering with excitement this night of nights, and
could not sleep. He longed to see his captain and hear his version of
the affair, but the door was tightly closed instead of being invitingly
open, and he dared not intrude. Not one word had been said about the
matter at the major's, but Brayton knew it would soon be known even to
the officer in command. So long, however, as it was not reported to him
officially, Frazier would probably let the affair take its course.
Bralligan deserved the knock-down, and doubtless would be glad enough to
let the matter end there. But, thought Brayton, if he should demand
satisfaction, and Barclay's religious or conscientious scruples were to
prevent his acceptance, "_then_ comes my chance," for the youngster
himself proposed to take it up. He had no scruples. He had been longing
for a chance to kick that cad Bralligan for over a year, and after all
it was Barclay that got it.
Eleven o'clock, and Barclay's light still burned. Eleven-thirty, and
still, reading or writing, the captain seemed occupied in the old poker
room, and the door remained closed. Once or twice Brayton heard him
moving about, and in his own excitement and interest the boy found it
impossible to think of anything else. Twelve o'clock came. He was
beginning to undress and prepare for bed, still uneasily watching the
light shining through the crack of the door, when his straining ears
caught the sound of a footfall underneath his window. It opened on the
yard, and the sill was only five feet or so above the ground. A hand was
uplifted without and tapped gently on the sash, and as Brayton drew
aside the curtain Harry Winn's face was revealed in the moonlight.
"Come to the porch in front," he muttered low. "I must speak with you."
Brayton was out on the dark piazza in half a minute. He found Winn
nervously pacing the boards.
"I told my wife I had to come out and think quietly awhile," he said, as
he extended a hand to his silent classmate. "She heard of this--this
damnable business almost as quick as it happened. That girl of ours
hears everything and tells anything. There's no doubt about it, I
suppose. You were there? You heard it at once, didn't you? What
does--_he_ say?" And Winn's nod indicated that he meant Barclay.
"Nothing," said Brayton, briefly. "I haven't seen him----"
"But he's up. The light's in his window. He's writing--or something.
Look here, Brayton, you know what's got to come of this. That damned
Irishman must challenge him, or be cut and kicked about by all his kind
in the cavalry. It isn't Barclay's fight; it's mine. The more I think of
it the more I know that, contemptible a blackguard as Bralligan is, he
is still an officer of the regiment. He has been knocked down, and has
the right to demand the only satisfaction there is for a blow. You know
it as well as I do. What I've got to do right here and now is to take
that fight off Barclay's hands, and you've got to help me."
"S'pose he don't want it taken off his hands," said Brayton, sturdily.
"He told him plain enough he was ready to meet any demand----"
Winn reddened even in the pallid moonlight. "I say no man in this
garrison fights on my wife's account except me--or with me. They're up
with Bralligan now, two or three of them, and I want you to go there
with me at once as my witness. I mean to cowhide him to-night. Then if
he wants a meeting in the morning, I'm his man." And as he spoke Winn
thrashed nervously at the railing with the stout whip he carried in his
hand.
"That won't fix it," answered Brayton, "and you ought to have sense
enough to know it. Barclay has the precedence. The Mick couldn't
challenge you until he'd fought him--or been refused a fight. You go to
bed, Winn," and Brayton spoke even lower. "Your wife must have heard you
just now, and first thing you know Barclay will hear you, and"--with
almost comical irrelevance--"you don't want to meet him this way, when
you haven't even called on him."
Winn reddened again. There was a tinge of bitterness in his tone as he
answered,--
"Don't trouble yourself about Mrs. Winn's hearing. She's placidly
asleep--long ago. As for my not calling, you know I've only been out of
my bed three days or so, and Captain Barclay must understand that a man
burdened as I have been is in no mood for social observances. This is
all begging the question. You're the only man I can ask to be my second.
Finish your dressing now and come."
"Winn, I won't do it," said Brayton, with flatfooted decision. "This is
my captain's affair, and, from what I've seen of him since he joined,
I'm bound to say what's his is mine. Besides, you've got no business
mixing up in the matter. You've got your wife to think of, and you've
got that commissary business to straighten out. Barclay and I have no
encumbrances of either kind." At the moment, I fear me, the young
gentleman could have added, "Thank God!" for, with all his appreciation
of the physical perfections of his classmate's wife, Mr. Brayton was
keenly aware of her many extravagances.
"Of course I've a wife," answered Winn, hotly. "It's because of her I
feel bound to take this up. As for that commissary money, every cent
will be here to square the shortage, whether I am or not. I'll tell you
what others---- No! I can't even tell you, Brayton. But an old friend of
my father's has offered his help. Now, once more, will you come or not?"
"No, Winn. You know well enough I'd see you through if---- Hush! There's
Mullane and some one else coming out of his quarters now."
"Then, by God! I'll go alone," exclaimed Winn, "and it's got to be done
before they get away." And he would have gone springing down the steps,
but Brayton seized and held him.
"For God's sake, Harry, be quiet to-night. Don't go near him. Quiet,
man! Can't you see? Those fellows are coming this way now!"
True enough, Mullane and his companion, who had issued from the fourth
set of quarters down to the left, turned northward the moment they
reached the walk, the moonlight gleaming on the buttons of their uniform
frock-coats, but the sight and faint sound of scuffling on Winn's porch
seemed to attract their attention. They stopped as though to
reconnoitre, and just then the front door of Brayton's hall opened wide,
and, with the broad light at his back, Captain Barclay stepped quietly
forth.
"Brayton," he said, "you left the door ajar, and it was impossible not
to hear the latter part of this conference.--Mr. Winn, I presume," he
continued, with calm, courteous bow, as the two young men, unclasping,
turned and faced him. "I infer that you purpose going to Mr. Bralligan's
quarters--now. Let me urge that you do nothing of the kind. Brayton is
right. I see that, late as it is, some of their party are moving this
way. Pray remember that as yet this is entirely my affair."
There was no time for other answer than a bow, a mumbled word or two, an
embarrassed acceptance of the hand extended by the captain. Just as he
said, Mullane and his friend were coming rapidly up the walk. They
passed the Winns' gate, entered that of Brayton, and then it appeared
that Mullane's friend was the ubiquitous Hodge, that Mullane was
manifestly in his glory, and that both were perceptibly in liquor.
"Gintlemen," said the doughty captain, halting at the foot of the steps
and raising his forage-cap with magnificent sweep, "gintlemen, I am the
beerer of a missige from me frind Mr. Bralligan. Have I the honor of
addhressin' Captain Barclay?" Fondly did Mullane imagine that he
impressed his hearers as did Sir Lucius O'Trigger; and much did he
remind one of them, at least, of Captain Costigan of blessed memory.
"This is Captain Barclay," that gentleman answered, in low tones, with
a smile of amusement at Mullane's grandiloquent prelude, yet stepping
quickly forward to meet the envoys. Winn could not but note that the
captain's movement accomplished at once two objects. It left him and
Brayton in the shade; it kept Mullane and Hodge in the moonlight and off
the steps. "Pardon my suggesting that a lady sleeps in the front room
aloft there, and that you speak low, so as not to disturb her. Where is
your message?"
This was trying. Mullane loved his chest tones as he did his whiskey.
His low voice was apt to be thick and husky and unimpressive, and
to-night he was over-weighted with the sense of the gravity and
importance of his mission, if with nothing else.
"Sorr," he said, with another flourish of the cap, "in accordince with
the practice of gintlemen in the old arrumy, I am the bearer of a
verrbal missige----"
The Quaker captain had already amazed the old dragoon sergeants by the
intricacy and extent of his knowledge of their manners and customs. Now
came a surprise for the officers.
"Pardon my interrupting," he said. "I do not assume to instruct in such
matters, but there is manifestly only one kind of message 'according to
the customs of the old army,'" and here he smiled quietly, "that should
come from Mr. Bralligan now, and it must come in writing. I decline to
recognize any other." Here Brayton nudged Winn approvingly, but the
subalterns maintained a decorous silence.
"I've niver hurr'd of a challenge being refused on that account," said
Mullane, majestically, "and if me wurreds are not sufficient, here's me
frind Mr. Hodge----"
"Your words are not brought into question, Captain Mullane, but the
manner of your message is. Let your friend put it in writing, and it
will be received. Good-night to you, sir."
And, to Mullane's utter amaze and confusion, quickly followed by an
explosion of wrath, Captain Barclay coolly turned and walked
within-doors.
"Hould on dthere!" cried Mullane, as he started to spring up the steps,
but Brayton stepped in front of him, and Hodge nervously grabbed his
arm. Neither knew much of the "code" of the old days, but each had
learned that Barclay rarely made a mistake. Winn, too, tall and strong,
stepped in front of the angry Irishman as he broke out into expletives.
"No more of that here, captain," he cried, forgetful of any
consideration of rank. "This noise will wake the post. Rest assured
your principal will get all the fight he wants;" and then, with growing
wrath, for Mullane was struggling to come to the steps, "so will you, by
God, if you advance another foot."
"Winn--Winn, for heaven's sake, I say!" cried Brayton, seizing the
uplifted arm. "Go home, Mullane. Damn it, you're in no shape to handle
such a matter to-night. Go home, or I swear I'll call the officer of the
day. He's coming now!" he exclaimed; and it was true, for the sound of
excited voices had reached the adjoining quarters, and out from the
doorway, sashed and belted, came the massive form of Captain Blythe, his
sabre clanking on the door-sill. Out, too, from Winn's hallway shot a
broad beam of light, and hastening along the porch came a tall, graceful
form in some clinging rose-tinted wrapper, all beribboned and fluffy and
feminine. The men fell away and Mullane drew back as Mrs. Winn scurried
to her husband's side and laid her white hand on his arm. Forth again on
the other side of Winn came Barclay, and his deep tones broke the sudden
silence.
"Captain Mullane, leave this spot instantly," he ordered, stern and low.
"I'll answer to you in the morning."
"Come out of this, Mullane," demanded Blythe, striding in at the gate.
"Delay one second, and I'll order you under arrest."
Up slowly went Mullane's cap with the same incomparable sweep. "In the
prisince of leedies," said he, "I'm disarrumed. Captain Barclay, I'll
see ye in the marrnin'."
But when the marrnin' came both Mullane and his principal, beside
bewildering headaches, had graver matters to deal with than even a very
pretty quarrel.