"What ye want me ter do?"
Ben led him to the portico and pointed down the white graveled way to Washington.
"Run doun de road ter de rise er dat hill an" stay dar. De minute yer see a hoss cross dat bridge--hit"s Ma.r.s.e Stuart. Yer fly back here an"
tell me--"
Sam nodded and disappeared. Ben hurried back into the hall, as Mary and her mother came down the stairs.
Mrs. Lee was struggling to control her fears.
"No sign of Lieutenant Stuart yet, Ben?"
"Nomum. I"se er watchin"."
"Look again and see if there"s any dust on that long stretch beyond the river--"
Ben shook his head.
"Ya.s.sam, I look."
He pa.s.sed out the front door still wagging his head in deep sympathy for the stricken mistress of the great house.
Mary slipped her arm around her mother, and used the pet name she spoke in moments of great joy and sorrow.
"Oh, Mim dear, you mustn"t worry so!"
Her mother"s lips trembled. She tried to be strong and failed. The tears came at last streaming down her cheeks.
"I can"t help it, darling. Life hangs on this message--our home--"
She paused and her eyes wandered about the familiar room and its furnishings.
"You know how I love this home. It"s woven into the very fiber of my heart. Our future--all that we have on earth--it"s more than I can bear--"
The daughter drew the dear face to her lips.
"But why try to take it all on our shoulders, dearest? We must leave Papa to fight this out alone. We can"t decide it for him."
The mother brushed her tears away and responded cheerfully.
"Yes, I know, dear. Your father didn"t leave his room all day yesterday.
He ate no dinner. No supper. All night the tramp of his feet overhead has only been broken when he fell on his knees to pray--"
Her voice wandered off as in a half dream. She paused, and then rushed on impetuously.
"Why, why can"t we hear from Richmond? The Convention should have voted before noon yesterday. And we"ve waited all night--"
"The authorities may be holding back the news."
"But why should they suppress _such_ news? The world must know."
She stopped suddenly--as if stunned by the thought that oppressed her.
She seized Mary"s hand, and asked tensely:
"What do you think, dear? Has Virginia left the Union?"
A quick answer was on the young lips. She had a very clear opinion. She had talked to Stuart. And his keen mind had seen the inevitable. She didn"t have the heart to tell her mother. She feigned a mind blank from weariness.
"I can"t think, honey. I"m too tired."
Ben came back shaking his gray head.
"Nomum. Dey ain"t no sign on de road yet."
The waiting wife and mother cried in an anguish she could not control.
"Why--why--why?"
Ben sought to distract her thoughts with the habit of house control. He spoke in his old voice of friendly scolding.
"Ain"t Ma.r.s.e Robert comin" doun to his coffee, M"am?"
"Not yet, Ben. I couldn"t persuade him." The mistress caught the effort of her faithful servant to help in his humble way and it touched her.
She was making a firm resolution to regain her self-control when a distant cry was heard from the roadway.
"Uncle Ben!"
"What"s dat?" the old man asked.
"He"s coming?" Mrs. Lee gasped.
"I dunno, M"am. I hears sumfin!"
Sam"s cry echoed near the house now in growing excitement.
"Uncle Ben--Uncle Ben!"
"See, Ben, see quick--" Mary cried.
"Ya.s.sam. He"s comin", sho. He"s seed him."
The mother"s face was uplifted in prayer.
"G.o.d"s will be done!"
The words came in a bare whisper. And then as if in answer to the cry of her heart she caught new hope and turned to her daughter.
"You know, dear, the first Convention voted against Secession!"