XXXV
THE "SISTERS OF KINCAID'S BATTERY"
A week or two ran by, and now again it was March. Never an earliertwelvemonth had the women of New Orleans--nor of any town or time--thegentlewomen--spent in more unselfish or arduous toil.
At any rate so were flutteringly construed the crisp declarations of ourpale friend of old, Doctor Sevier, as in Callender House he stood (withAnna seated half behind him as near as flounced crinoline would allow)beside a small table whose fragile beauty shared with hers theenthralled contemplation of every member of a numerous flock thatnevertheless hung upon the Doctor's words; such a knack have women ofgiving their undivided attention to several things at once. Flora wasgetting her share.
This, he said, was a women's--a gentlewomen's--war.
"Ah!" A stir of assent ran through all the gathering. The long married,the newly wed, the affianced, the suspected, the debutantes, thepost-marriageable, every one approved. Yes, a gentlewomen's war--for thesalvation of society!
Hardly had this utterance thrilled round, however, when the speaker fellinto an error which compelled Anna softly to interrupt, her amazed eyesand protesting smile causing a general hum of amusement and quickeningof fans. "No-o!" she whispered to him, "she was not chairman of theL.S.C.A., but only one small secretary of that vast body, and chairmanpro tem.--nothing more!--of this mere contingent of it, these 'Sistersof Kincaid's Battery.'"
Pro tem., nothing more! But that is how--silly little Victorine leadingthe hue and cry which suddenly overwhelmed all counter-suggestion as alevee crevasse sweeps away sand-bags--that is how the permanent andcombined chairmanship of Sisters and Bazaar came to be forcibly thrustupon Anna instead of Flora.
Experienced after Odd-Fellows' Hall and St. Louis Hotel, the ladies wereable to take up this affair as experts. Especially they had learned howto use men; to make them as handy as--"as hairpins," prompted Miranda,to whom Anna had whispered it; and of men they needed all they couldrally, to catch the first impact of the vast and chaotic miscellany ofthings which would be poured into their laps, so to speak, and upontheir heads: bronzes, cutlery, blankets, watches, thousands of brick(orders on the brick-yards for them, that is), engravings, pianos,paintings, books, cosmetics, marbles, building lots (their titles),laces, porcelain, glass, alabaster, bales of cotton, big bank checks,hair flowers, barouches, bonds, shawls, carvings, shell-work boxes,jewellery, silks, ancestral relics, curios from half round the world,wax fruits, tapestries, and loose sapphires, diamonds, rubies, andpearls. The Callenders and Valcours could see, in fancy, all the firstchaos of it and all the fair creation that was to arise from it.
What joy of planning! The grove should be ruddy with pine-knot flaresperched high, and be full of luminous tents stocked with stuffs for saleat the most patriotic prices by Zingaras, Fatimas, and Scheherazades.All the walks of the garden would be canopied with bunting and gemmedwith candles blinking like the fireflies round that bower of roses byBendermere's stream. The verandas would be enclosed in canvas and berich in wares, textiles, and works of art. Armed sentries from thatsplendid command, the Crescent Regiment, would be everywhere in thepaved and latticed basement (gorged with wealth), and throughout thefirst and second floors. The centrepiece in the arrangement of thedouble drawing-rooms would be a great field-piece, one of Hilary'scasting, on its carriage, bright as gold, and flanked with stacks ofmuskets. The leading item in the hall would be an allegoricalpainting--by a famous Creole artist of nearly sixty yearsearlier--Louisiana Refusing to Enter the Union. Glass cases borrowed ofmerchants, milliners and apothecaries would receive the carefullyclassified smaller gifts of rare value, and a committee of goldsmiths,art critics, and auctioneers, would set their prices. If one of thosetorrential hurricanes--however, there came none.
How much, now, could they hope to clear? Well, the women of Alabama, tobuild a gun-boat, had raised two hundred thousand dollars, and--
"They will 'ave to raise mo'," twittered Madame Valcour, "if New Orleansfall'."
"She will not fall," remarked Anna from the chair, and there was greatapplause, as great as lace mitts could make.
Speaking of that smaller stronghold, Flora had a capital suggestion:Let this enterprise be named "for the common defence." Then, in thebarely conceivable event of the city's fall, should the proceeds stillbe in women's hands--and it might be best to keep them so--let them goto the defence of Mobile!
Another idea--Miranda's and Victorine's--quite as gladly accepted, andthey two elected to carry it out--was, to compile, from everybody'sletters, a history of the battery, to be sold at the bazaar. The largeprice per copy which that work commanded was small compared with what itwould bring now.