THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED.
CAPTAIN SOMERS knew very little of what took place at the Hasbrouk
mansion within the next three weeks, being delirious during the greater
portion of this time. Major de Banyan conquered a peace with the family
within twenty-four hours, and obtained all that he required in the
service of the sick man without fighting for it. An old but skilful
physician was procured, who pronounced the disease a severe case of
typhoid fever, which presented many alarming symptoms.
The major was a tender and a skilful nurse; but he felt that another
presence than his own was necessary in the sick room. The sufferer
needed the soothing care of woman, and De Banyan sent a letter to
Pinchbrook, containing a full statement of the alarming condition of the
captain; and at the end of a week his mother came, attended by his
father.
The Hasbrouk family, though cold and unsympathizing towards their
unwelcome guests, afforded Mrs. Somers every convenience for the
discharge of her motherly duty. De Banyan, when compelled by the
expiration of his furlough to return to his regiment, distinctly
informed Maud and her father, if any disrespect was shown to Mrs. Somers
or her husband, or any hinderance thrown in their way, he would cause
them all to be turned out of the house, and do his best to have the
property immediately confiscated. The threat had the desired effect, and
though Mrs. Somers could not help feeling that she was an intruder on
the premises, her discomfort was not increased by any misconduct on the
part of the host or his family.
For days Somers’s life seemed to hang only by a thread. His devoted
mother trembled over him during the long and weary nights. She and her
husband, assisted by the faithful Alick, took the whole care of the
sufferer, rarely seeing any member of the family. A separate table was
set for them, and their presence was avoided as though they carried the
pestilence in their garments. They were the “mud-sills” of the North,
and there could be no communication between them.
At the end of three weeks, the danger had passed away, and the patient
began to improve. In a short time, under the skilful care of the old
doctor, he was able to go down stairs; and his father at once made
arrangements for removing him to his home in Pinchbrook, anxious to
escape as soon as possible from the cold hospitality of the Hasbrouks.
On the day before the intended departure, a servant announced that Major
Riggleston wished to see him, and would meet him in the parlor. Attended
by his mother, he went down stairs.
“I am glad to see you, Captain Somers, but sorry to find you so ill,”
said the major, when Mrs. Somers had been duly introduced.
“Thank you, major; I have had rather a rough time of it.”
“You were fortunate in having the attentions of your good mother.”
“I should have died without her,” added the captain, glancing
affectionately at his mother.
“Well, we don’t know about those things, Thomas,” said Mrs. Somers,
meekly.
“I learned that you were here three weeks ago, and I intended to call
upon you before this time,” continued the major. “You know there was a
little affair between us that needed clearing up.”
“It would done no good to come much afore now; the poor boy wan’t fit to
be seen. He’s had an awful hard time on’t, and nothing but almighty
Power has kept him from the grave,” interposed Mrs. Somers, wiping away
the tear that started in her eye when she thought of the days in which
her son was trembling between life and death. “If I can only once get
him home, he shan’t leave me again. He went off afore when he was no
more fit to go than a baby.”
“The captain is a very useful person in the army.”
“Well, I suppose he is; but there’s no sense nor reason in his going off
when he ain’t fit to go. We shall get away from here to-morrow.”
“My mother don’t like this place very well,” said Somers, with a smile.
“The people here are not remarkably fond of me.”
“Why not?”
“I forgot that you did not know anything about it. I will tell you now,
Major Riggleston, and I’m sure you will not blame me for the rude words
I spoke to you, when you understand the matter.”
“You did the fair thing when you discovered your mistake; but you spoke
to your general about the affair, and he does not regard me with favor.
I came over here partly for the purpose of affording you an opportunity
to clear me from the imputation that rests upon my honor. An explanation
from you will set the matter right.”
“I can’t explain it myself,” added Somers. “I only know that you are not
the man who entrapped me, and whom I shot in the head.”
Somers then related the history of the affair in the house where they
were then assembled, and that which occurred in the rebel lines. Major
Riggleston listened to the narrative with deep interest, as did Mrs.
Somers, whose husband had gone with Alick to examine the battle-field of
Antietam and South Mountain.
“Sakes alive! who ever heard of such things!” exclaimed Mrs. Somers,
when her son had finished his exciting story. “It’s a wonder that you
wan’t killed, Thomas.”
“I understand it all now, Captain Somers,” said the major, rather
disconcerted. “Though I am not at all to blame in the premises, the
affair more nearly concerns me than you may suppose.”
“I exonerate you entirely, Major Riggleston,” continued Somers.
“There, Thomas, you musn’t talk any more now,” interposed the matron.
“I won’t say anything more, but I must settle this affair, mother.”
At this moment the door opened, and Maud Hasbrouk was on the point of
entering; but when she saw that the parlor was already occupied, she
turned to retire.
“These people in here!” said she, contemptuously, but loud enough to be
heard by all in the room.
“No matter, Maud; go in if Ernest is there,” said another person, behind
her.
“He is there; he is a friend of Captain Somers,” sneered she, as she
walked into the apartment as though she had been a superior being.
“How is your health, Captain Somers?” asked the person who followed
Maud.
He was an officer, and his head was tied up with a bandage.
“Major Riggleston!” exclaimed Somers, starting from his chair.
“Goodness!” ejaculated Mrs. Somers, fearful that the excitement her son
exhibited would throw him into another fever. “What ails the boy?”
“You are certainly the person at whom I fired,” added Somers, as he
gazed at the form and features of the newcomer.
“No doubt of that, Captain Somers,” replied the major. “And a very nice
time I’ve had of it too.”
“I hope some one will serve you in the same way,” said Maud, spitefully.
“For massy sake!” exclaimed Mrs. Somers, fearful in the gathering events
that some one would serve her darling boy in the same way. “What has
Thomas done?”
“He is a—”
“Not another word, Maud,” said the wounded major, sternly. “He did his
duty, and I am not the one to blame him for it.”
“I hope you will do yours, major, if the circumstances ever place you in
the same situation.”
“I should; and Captain Somers would not blame me for it.”
“Certainly not,” replied Somers.
“He saved your life and mine, Maud; and we will not quarrel now.”
The proud beauty was silent and sullen, while Somers gazed in wonder
from one Major Riggleston to the other Major Riggleston.
“You understand it now, Captain Somers?” said the loyal major.
“I do; it is all very plain now. You must acknowledge that I made a very
natural mistake.”
“It is not the first time I have been taken for my brother. He is two
years older than I am; but we look very much alike.”
When they were together, several points of difference could be observed;
and the resemblance was not now so great as it had been before the
battle of Antietam, for the rebel major had grown thinner and paler
under the suffering induced by his wound. At the time Somers had met
them, the similarity in form and features, in voice and manner, was so
great, that a person of ordinary perception, meeting them at different
times, could not have told one from the other. The rebel major had
changed so much during his illness that the difference was now more
perceptible.
“It never occurred to me that you had seen my brother,” said Major Fred,
who was the loyal brother. “If it had, I should have understood the
whole matter.”
“I understood it perfectly,” added Major Ernest, who was the rebel
brother. “I confess, too, that I took advantage of the circumstance.”
“But where did you get my safe-conduct?” asked Fred.
“I picked it up the night we were at home,” replied Ernest, rather
sheepishly.
“That was hardly fair.”
“All fair in war, Fred.”
“Well, then, it is one of the disadvantages of having a brother on the
wrong side, Ernest.”
“That name, Ernest, reminds me that I heard it at your father’s house,
in Frederick,” added Somers.
“Captain Somers,” said the loyal major, very seriously, “you may think I
am not as patriotic as I ought to be. You know that my brother was at my
father’s house, and that I saw him there. You may think I ought to have
handed him over as a prisoner of war.”
“Thomas don’t think any such thing,” said Mrs. Somers.
“I have nothing to say about that; it is a family affair,” added Captain
Somers. “I need only say that I regard you, Major Fred Riggleston, as a
loyal man; and I shall write the general a letter containing a full
explanation of my blunder.”
“Thank you, captain,” replied Fred. “That will set me right.”
“By the way, Captain Somers,” said the rebel major, “there is a matter
between us also.”
“What I agreed in honor and confidence to do, I have done, and shall
continue to do,” replied Somers, alluding to the matter of the rebel
countersign, imparted to him by the wounded major.
“There, Thomas, you musn’t say another word,” interposed Mrs. Somers,
once more.
Maud left the room, disgusted with the proceedings, and dissatisfied
with the conduct of her lover, who persistently refused to revile the
Yankees present. When she had gone, Major Ernest walked up to Somers,
and in a low tone, remarked that he should never again serve in the
rebel army. The captain commended his resolution, and hoped he would be
able to do more and better than this, and be found in the ranks of his
country’s defenders in the hour of peril. He shook his head, and made no
reply.
Somers was conducted to his chamber by his mother, who insisted that he
should lie down; for she greatly feared the effects of the excitement to
which he had been subjected. Late in the evening, Captain Somers,
senior, returned from the battle-fields, and his wife regaled him for an
hour with the adventures of their son, concerning which, Captain Somers,
junior, had up to this day preserved a discreet silence.
On the following day, Somers, with his parents, started for home. The
feeble condition of the invalid compelled them to travel very slowly,
and remain two or three days at each of the principal cities through
which they passed on the journey. Consequently it was nearly a fortnight
before they reached Pinchbrook, where the hero was duly welcomed; and
where, in a few days after his arrival, he had the happiness to receive
a visit from Lilian Ashford.
She was as gentle and beautiful as ever, and smiled so sweetly upon him,
and pitied him so tenderly, that he almost found it in his heart to
rejoice at the suffering which had procured him such a blissful meeting.
Lilian told him how disappointed her grandmother was at not seeing him,
as he had promised, and that she still lived in the hope of meeting him.
Of course Somers proposed to keep the broken engagement as soon as he
was able to visit the city.
Lilian was accompanied by her father, who manifested a hearty interest
in the young aid-de-camp, and joined warmly with his daughter in the
invitation to visit his house. This was hopeful, and afforded Somers
many pleasant reflections, the nature of which we need hardly explain to
our cunning readers. The visitors departed, and the invalid’s suffering
body contained a hopeful spirit.
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