The Man in Gray.
by Thomas Dixon.
THE MAN IN GRAY
CHAPTER I
The fireflies on the Virginia hills were blinking in the dark places beneath the trees and a katydid was singing in the rosebush beside the portico at Arlington. The stars began to twinkle in the serene sky. The lights of Washington flickered across the river. The Capitol building gleamed, argus-eyed on the hill. Congress was in session, still wrangling over the question of Slavery and its extension into the territories of the West.
The laughter of youth and beauty sifted down from open windows.
Preparations were being hurried for the ball in honor of the departing cadets--Custis Lee, his cla.s.smate, Jeb Stuart, and little Phil Sheridan of Ohio whom they had invited in from Washington.
The fact that the whole family was going to West Point with the boys and Colonel Robert E. Lee, the new Superintendent, made no difference. One excuse for an old-fashioned dance in a Southern home was as good as another. The main thing was to bring friends and neighbors, sisters and cousins and aunts together for an evening of joy.
A whippo"will cried his weird call from a rendezvous in the shadows of the lawn, as Sam entered the great hall and began to light the hundreds of wax tapers in the chandeliers.
"Move dat furniture back now!" he cried to his a.s.sistants. "And mind yo"
p"s and q"s. Doan yer break nuttin."
His sable helpers quietly removed the slender mahogany and rosewood pieces to the adjoining rooms. They laughed at Sam"s new-found note of dignity and authority.
He was acting butler to-night in Uncle Ben"s place. No servant was allowed to work when ill--no matter how light the tasks to which he was a.s.signed. Sam was but twenty years old and he had been given the honor of superintending the arrangements for the dance. And, climax of all, he had been made leader of the music with the sole right to call the dances, although he played only the triangle in the orchestra. He was in high fettle.
When the first carriage entered the grounds his keen ear caught the crunch of wheels on the gravel. He hurried to call the mistress and young misses to their places at the door. He also summoned the boys from their rooms upstairs. He had seen the flash of spotless white in the carriage. It meant beauty calling to youth on the hill. Sam knew.
Phil came downstairs with Custis. The s.p.a.cious sweep of the hall, its waxed floor clear of furniture, with hundreds of blinking candles flashing on its polished surface, caught his imagination. It _was_ a fairy world--this generous Southern home. In spite of its wide s.p.a.ces, and its dignity, it was friendly. It caught his boy"s heart.
Mrs. Lee was just entering. Custis" eyes danced at the sight of his mother in full dress. He grasped Phil"s arm and whispered:
"Isn"t my mother the most beautiful woman you ever saw?"
He spoke the words half to himself. It was the instinctive worship of the true Southern boy, breathed in genuine reverence, with an awe that was the expression of a religion.
"I was just thinking the same thing, Custis," was the sober reply.
"I beg your pardon, Phil," he hastened to apologize. "I didn"t mean to brag about my mother to you. It just slipped out. I couldn"t help it. I was talking to myself."
"You needn"t apologize. I know how you feel. She"s already made me think I"m one of you--"
He paused and watched Mary Lee enter from the lawn leaning on Stuart"s arm. Stuart"s boyish banter was still ringing in her ears as she smiled at him indulgently. She hurried to her mother with an easy, graceful step and took her place beside her. She was fine, exquisite, bewitching.
She had never come out in Society. She had been born in it. She had her sweethearts before thirteen and not one had left a shadow on her quiet, beautiful face. She demanded, by her right of birth as a Southern girl, years of devotion. And the Southern boy of the old regime was willing to serve.
Phil stood with Stuart and watched Custis kiss a dozen pretty girls as they arrived and call each one cousin.
"Is it a joke?" he asked Stuart curiously.
"What?"
"This cousin business."
"Not much. You don"t think I"d let him be such a pig if I could help him, do you?"
"Are they all kin?"
"Yes--" Stuart laughed. "Some of it gets pretty thin in the second and third cousin lines. But it"s thick enough for him to get a kiss from every one--confound him!"
The hall was crowding rapidly. The rustle of silk, the flash of pearls and diamonds, the hum of soft drawling voices filled the perfumed air.
Phil"s eyes were dazzled with the bevies of the younger set, from sixteen to eighteen, dressed in soft tulle and organdy; slow of speech; their voices low, musical, delicious. He was introduced to so many his head began to swim. To save his soul he couldn"t pick out one more entrancing than another. The moment they spied his West Point uniform he was fair game. They made eyes at him. They languished and pretended to be smitten at first sight. Twice he caught himself about to believe one of them. They seemed so sincere, so dreadfully in earnest. And then he caught the faintest twinkle in the corner of a dark eye and blushed to think himself such a fool.
But the sensation of being lionized was delightful. He was in a whirl of foolish joy when he suddenly realized that Stuart had deserted him, slipped through the crowd and found his way to Mary Lee. He threw a quick glance at the pair and one of the four beauties hovering around him began to whisper:
"Jeb Stuart"s just crazy about Mary--"
"Did you ever see anything like it!"
"He couldn"t stop even to say how-d"y-do."
"And she"s utterly indifferent--"
Sam"s voice suddenly rang out with unusual unction and deliberation. He was imitating Uncle Ben"s most eloquent methods.
"Congress-man and Mrs. Rog-er A. Pry-or!"
Mrs. Lee hastened to greet the young editor who had taken high rank in Congress from the day of his entrance.
Mrs. Pryor was evidently as proud of her young Congressman as he was of her regal beauty.
Colonel Lee joined the group and led the lawmaker into the library for a chat on politics.
The first notes of a violin swept the crowd. The hum of conversation and the ripple of laughter softened into silence. The dusky orchestra is in place on the little platform. Sam, in all his glory, rises and faces the eager youth.
He was dressed in his young master"s last year"s suit, immaculate blue broadcloth and bra.s.s b.u.t.tons, ruffled shirt and black-braided watch guard hanging from his neck. His eyes sparkled with pride and his rich, sonorous voice rang over the crowd like the deep notes of a flute:
"Choose yo" pardners fur de fust cowtillun!"
Again the quick rustle of silk and tulle, the low hum of excited, young voices and the couples are in place.
A boy cries to the leader:
"We"re all ready, Sam."
The young caller of the set knew his business better. He lifted his hand in a gesture of reverence and silence, as he glanced toward the library door.
"Jes" a minute la-dees, an" gem-mens," he softly drawled. "Ma.r.s.e Robert E. Lee and Missis will lead dis set!"
The Colonel briskly entered from the library with his wife on his arm. A ripple of applause swept the room as they took their places with the gay youngsters.