CHAPTER V
THE NEW PRESIDENT
Their great day came. Clear sunlight shone over the town, the hills andthe brown waters of the Alabama. It was a peculiarly Southern country,different, Harry thought, from his own Kentucky, more enthusiastic,perhaps, and less prone to count the cost. The people had come not onlyon the railroad, but they were arriving now from far places in wagonsand on horseback. Men of distinction, almost universally, wore blackclothes, the coats very long, black slouch hats, wide of brim, and whiteshirts with glistening or heavily ruffled fronts. There were also manyblack people in a state of pleasurable excitement, although the war--ifone should come--would be over them.
Harry and his two young friends were anxious to visit Montgomery andtake a good look at the town, but they did not ask for leave, as ColonelTalbot had already sternly refused all such applications. The militarylaw continued to lie heavily upon them, and, soon after they finisheda solid breakfast with appetites sharpened by the open air, they wereordered to fall into line. Arrayed in their fine new uniforms, to whichthe last touch of neatness had been added, they marched away to thetown. They might see it as a company, but not as individuals.
They walked with even step along the grassy slopes, their fineappearance drawing attention and shouts of approval from the densemasses of people of all ages and all conditions of life who weregathering. Harry, a cadet with a small sword by his side, felt hisheart swell as he trod the young turf, and heard the shouting andapplause. The South Carolinians were the finest body of men present,and they were conscious of it. Eyes always to the front, they marchedstraight on, apparently hearing nothing, but really hearing everything.
They reached the houses presently and Harry saw the dome of the capitolon its high hill rising before them, but a moment or two later theGuards, with the Palmetto flag waving proudly in front, wheeled andmarched toward the railroad station. There they halted in close ranksand stood at attention. Although the young soldiers remained immovable,there was not a heart in the company that did not throb with excitement.Colonel Talbot and Major St. Hilaire were a little in advance, erect andcommanding figures.
Other troops, volunteer companies, were present and they spread to rightand left of the South Carolinians. Behind and everywhere except in thecleared space before them gathered the people, a vast mass through whichran the hum and murmur of expectancy. Overhead, the sun leaped out andshone for a while with great brilliancy. "A good omen," many said.And to Harry it all seemed good, too. The excitement, the enthusiasmwere contagious. If any prophet of evil was present he had nothing tosay.
A jet of smoke standing black against the golden air appeared above ahill, and then came the rumble of a train. It was that which bore thePresident elect, coming fast, and a sudden great shout went up from themultitude, followed by silence, broken only by the heavy breathing of somany. Harry's heart leaped again, but his will kept his body immovable.
The rumble became a roar, and the jet of smoke turned to a cloud.Then the train drew into the station and stopped. The people began acontinuous shout, bands played fiercely, and a tall, thin man of middleyears, dressed in black broadcloth, descended from a coach. All thesoldiers saluted, the bands played more fiercely than ever, and theshouting of the crowd swelled in volume.
It was the first time that Harry had ever seen Jefferson Davis, and theface, so unlike that which he expected, impressed him. He saw a cold,gray, silent man with lips pressed tightly together. He did not beholdhere the Southern fire and passion of which he was hearing so much talk,but rather the reserve and icy resolve of the far North. Harry at firstfelt a slight chill, but it soon passed. It was better at such a timeto have a leader of restraint and dignity than the homely joker, Lincoln,of whom such strange tales came.
Mr. Davis lifted his black hat to the shouting crowd, and bowed againand again. But he did not smile. His face remained throughout set inthe same stern mold. As the troops closed up, he entered the carriagewaiting for him, and drove slowly toward the heart of the city, themultitude following and breaking at intervals into shouts and cheers.
The Palmetto Guards marched on the right of the carriage, and Harrywas able to watch the President-elect all the time. The face held hisattention. Its sternness did not relax. It was the face of a man whohad seen the world, and who believed in the rule of strength.
The procession led on to a hotel, a large building with a great porticoin front. Here it stopped, the bands ceased to play, Mr. Davisdescended from the carriage and entered the portico, where a group ofmen famous in the South stood, ready to welcome him. The troops drew upclose to the portico, and back of them, every open space was black withpeople.
Harry, in the very front rank, saw and heard it all. Mr. Davis stoppedas soon as he reached the portico, and Yancey, the famous orator ofAlabama, to whom Harry had delivered his letters in Charleston, steppedforward, and, in behalf of the people of the South, made a speech ofwelcome in a clear, resonant, and emphatic tone. The applause compelledhim to stop at times, but throughout, Mr. Davis stood rigid andunsmiling. His countenance expressed none of his thoughts, whateverthey may have been. Harry's eyes never wandered from his face, exceptto glance now and then at the weazened, shrunken, little man who stoodnear him, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, who would take the oath ofoffice as Vice-President of the new Confederacy. He had been presentthroughout the convention as a delegate from Georgia, and men talked ofthe mighty mind imprisoned in the weak and dwarfed body.
Harry thrilled more than once as the new President spoke on in calm,measured tones. He was glad to be present at the occurrence of greatevents, and he was glad to witness this gathering of the mighty.The tide of youth flowed high in him, and he believed himself fortunateto have been at Charleston when the cannon met the Star of the West,and yet more fortunate to be now at Montgomery, when the head of thenew nation was taking up his duties.
His gaze wandered for the first time from the men in the portico to thecrowd without that rimmed them around. His eyes, without any particularpurpose, passed from face to face in the front ranks, and then stopped,arrested by a countenance that he had little expected to see. It wasthe shadow, Shepard, standing there, and listening, and looking asintently as Harry himself. It was not an evil face, cut clearly andeager, but Harry was sorry that he had come. If Colonel Talbot'sbeliefs about him were true, this was a bad place for Shepard.
But his eyes went back to the new President and the men on the porticobefore him. The first scene in the first act of a great drama, a mightytragedy, had begun, and every detail was of absorbing interest to him.Shepard was forgotten in an instant.
Harry noticed that Mr. Davis never mentioned slavery, a subject whichwas uppermost in the minds of all, North and South, but he alluded tothe possibility of war, and thought the new republic ought to have anarmy and navy. The concluding paragraph of his speech, delivered inmeasured but feeling tones, seemed very solemn and serious to Harry.
"It is joyous in the midst of perilous times," he said, "to look aroundupon a people united in heart, where one purpose of high resolveanimates and actuates the whole; where the sacrifices to be made are notweighed in the balance against honor and right and liberty and equality.Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of amovement sanctified in justice and sustained by a virtuous people.Reverently let us invoke the God of our fathers to guide and protect usin our efforts to perpetuate the principles which by his blessing theywere able to vindicate, establish, and transmit to their posterity.With the continuance of his favor ever gratefully acknowledged we maylook hopefully forward to success, to peace and to prosperity."
The final words were received with a mighty cheer which rose and swelledthrice, and again. Jefferson Davis stood calmly through it all, hisface expressing no emotion. The thin lips were pressed togethertightly. The points of his high collar touched his thick, close beard.He wore a heavy black bow tie and his coat had broad braided lapels.His hair was thick and
slightly long, and his face, though thin, wasfull of vitality. It seemed to Harry that the grave, slightly narrowedeyes emitted at this moment a single flash of triumph or at least offervor.
Mr. Davis was sworn in and Mr. Stephens after him, and when the shoutingand applause sank for the last time, the great men withdrew into thehotel, and the troops marched away. The head of the new republic hadbeen duly installed, and the separation from the old Union was complete.The enthusiasm was tremendous, but Harry, like many others, had anunderlying and faint but persistent feeling of sadness that came fromthe breaking of old ties. Nor had any news come telling that Kentuckywas about to join her sister states of the South.
The Palmetto Guards marched back to their old camp, and Harry, Langdon,and St. Clair obtained leave of absence to visit the town. Youth hadreasserted itself and Harry was again all excitement and elation.It seemed to him at the moment that he was a boy no longer. The Tacituslying peacefully in his desk was forgotten. He was a man in a man'sgreat world, doing a man's great work.
But both he and his comrades had all the curiosity and zest of boys asthey walked about the little city in the twilight, looking at everythingof interest, visiting the Capitol, and then coming back to the ExchangeHotel, which sheltered for a night so many of their great men.
They stayed a while in the lobby of the hotel, which was packed sodensely that Harry could scarcely breathe. Most of the men were of thetall, thin but extremely muscular type, either clean shaven or withshort beards trimmed closely, and no mustaches. Black was thepredominant color in clothing, and they talked with soft, drawlingvoices. But their talk was sanguine. Most of them asked what the Northwould do, but they believed that whatever she did do the South would goon her way. The smoke from the pipes and cigars grew thicker, and Harry,leaving his comrades in the crowd, walked out upon the portico.
The crisp, fresh air of the February night came like a heavenly tonic.He remained there a little while, breathing it in, expanding his lungs,and rejoicing. Then he walked over to the exact spot upon whichJefferson Davis had stood, when he delivered his speech of acceptance.He was so full of the scene that he shut his eyes and beheld it again.He tried to imagine the feelings of a man at such a moment, knowinghimself the chosen of millions, and feeling that all eyes were upon him.Truly it would be enough to make the dullest heart leap.
He opened his eyes, and although he stood in darkness on the portico,he saw a dusky figure at the far edge of it, standing between twopillars, and looking in at one of the windows. The man, whoever he was,seemed to be intently watching those inside, and Harry saw at once thatit was not a look of mere curiosity. It was the gaze of one who wishedto understand as well as to know. He moved a little nearer. The figuredropped lightly to the ground and moved swiftly away. Then he saw thatit was Shepard.
The boy's feelings toward Shepard had been friendly, but now he felt asudden rush of hostility. All that Colonel Talbot had hinted about himwas true. He was there, spying upon the Confederacy, seeking its inmostsecrets, in order that he might report them to its enemies. Harry wasarmed. He and all his comrades carried new pistols at their belts,and driven by impulse he, too, dropped from the portico and followedShepard.
He saw the dusky figure ahead of him still going swiftly, but with hishand on the pistol he followed at greater speed. A minute later Shepardturned into a small side street, and Harry followed him there. It wasnot much more than an alley, dark, silent, and deserted. Montgomerywas a small town, in which people retired early after the custom of thetimes, and tonight, the collapse after so much excitement seemed to havesent them sooner than usual into their homes. It was evident that thematter would lie without interference between Shepard and himself.
Shepard went swiftly on and came soon to the outskirts of the town.He did not look back and Harry wondered whether he knew that he waspursued. The boy thought once or twice of using his pistol, but couldnot bring himself to do it. There was really no war, merely a bristlingof hostile forces, and he could not fire upon anybody, especially uponone who had done him no harm.
Shepard led on, passed through a group of negro cabins, crossed an oldcotton field, and entered a grove, with his pursuer not fifty yardsbehind. The grove was lighted well by the moon, and Harry dashedforward, pistol in hand, resolved at last to call a halt upon thefugitive. A laugh and the blue barrel of a levelled pistol met him.Shepard was sitting upon a fallen log facing him. The moon poured amass of molten silver directly upon him, showing a face of unusualstrength and power, set now with stern resolution. Harry's hand wasupon the butt of his own pistol, but he knew that it was useless toraise it. Shepard held him at his mercy.
"Sit down, Mr. Kenton," said Shepard. "Here's another log, where youcan face me. You feel chagrin, but you need not. I knew that youwere following me, and hence I was able to take you by surprise. Now,tell me, what do you want?"
Harry took the offered log. He was naturally a lad of great courage andresolution, and now his presence of mind returned. He looked calmly atShepard, who lowered his own pistol.
"I'm not exactly sure what I want," he replied with a little laugh,"but whatever it is, I know now that I'm not going to get it. I'vewalked into a trap. I believed that you were a spy, and it seemed tome that I ought to seize you. Am I right?"
Shepard laughed also.
"That's a frank question and you shall have a frank reply," he said."The suspicions of your friend, Colonel Talbot, were correct. Yes,I am a spy, if one can be a spy when there is no war. I am willing totell you, however, that Shepard is my right name, and I am willing totell you also, that you and your Charleston friends little foresee themagnitude of the business upon which you have started. I don't believethere is any enmity between you and me and I can tell the thoughts thatI have."
"Since you offered me no harm when you had the chance," said Harry,"I give my word that I will seek to offer none myself. Go ahead,I think you have more to say and I want to listen."
Shepard thrust his pistol in his belt and his face relaxed somewhat.As they faced each other on the logs they were not more than ten feetpart and the moon poured a shower of silver rays upon both. AlthoughShepard was a few years the older, the faces showed a likeness,the same clearness of vision and strength of chin.
"I liked you, Harry Kenton, the first time I met you," said Shepard,"and I like you yet. When I saw that you were following me, I led youhere in order to say some things to you. You are seeing me now probablyfor the last time. My spying is over for a long while, at least.A mile further on, a horse, saddled and bridled, is waiting for me.I shall ride all the remainder of the night, board a train in themorning, and, passing through Memphis and Louisville, I shall be in theNorth in forty-eight hours."
"And what then?"
"I shall tell to those who ought to know what I have seen in Charlestonand Montgomery. I have seen the gathering of forces in the South,and I know the spirit that animates your people, but listen to me,Harry Kenton, do you think that a Union such as ours, formed as ours was,can be broken up in a moment, as you would smash a china plate? Theforces on the other side are sluggish, but they are mighty. I foreseewar, terrible war, crowded with mighty battles. Now, I'm going to offeryou my hand and you are going to take it. Don't think any the less ofme because I've been playing the spy. You may be one yourself beforethe year is out."
His manner was winning, and Harry took the offered hand. What righthad he to judge? Each to his own opinion. Despite himself, he likedShepard again.
"I'm glad I've known you, but at the same time I'm glad you're leaving,"he said.
Shepard gave the boy's hand a hearty grasp, which was returned in kind.Then he turned and disappeared in the forest. Harry walked slowlyback to Montgomery. Shepard had given him deep cause for thought. Heapproached the Exchange Hotel, thinking that he would find his friendsthere and return with them to the camp. But it was later than he hadsupposed. As he drew near he saw that nearly all the lights were outin the hot
el, and the building was silent.
He was sure that St. Clair and Langdon had already gone to the camp,and he was about to turn away when he saw a window in the hotel thrownup and a man appear standing full length in the opening.
It was Jefferson Davis. The same flood of moonlight that had pouredupon Shepard illuminated his face also. But it was not the face of atriumphant man. It was stern, sad, even gloomy. The thin lips werepressed together more tightly than ever, and the somber eyes lookedout over the city, but evidently saw nothing there. Harry feltinstinctively that his thoughts were like those of Shepard. He, too,foresaw a great and terrible war, and, so foreseeing, knew that thiswas no time to rejoice and glorify.
Harry, held by the strong spell of time and place, watched him a fullhalf hour. It was certain now that Jefferson Davis was thinking,not looking at anything, because his head never moved, and his eyes werealways turned in the same direction--Harry noticed at last that thedirection was the North.
The new President stepped back, closed the window and no light came fromhis room. Harry hurried to the camp, where, as he had surmised, hefound St. Clair and Langdon. He gave some excuse for his delay, andtelling nothing of Shepard, wrapped himself in his blankets. Exhaustedby the stirring events of the day and night he fell asleep at once.
Three days later they were on their way back to Charleston. They heardthat the inauguration of the new President had not been well received bythe doubtful states. Even the border slave states were afraid the lowerSouth had been a little too hasty. But among the youths of the PalmettoGuards there was neither apprehension nor depression. They had beenpresent at the christening of the new nation, and now they were goingback to their own Charleston.
"Everything is for the best," said young Langdon, whose unfailingspirits bubbled to the brim, "we'll have down here the tightest andfinest republic the world ever heard of. New Orleans will be thebiggest city, but our own Charleston will always be the leader, itscenter of thought."
"What you need, Tom," said Harry, "is a center of thought yourself.Don't be so terribly sanguine and you may save yourself some smashes."
"I wouldn't gain anything even then," replied Langdon joyously. "I'llhave such a happy time before the smash comes that I can afford to payfor it. I'm the kind that enjoys life. It's a pleasure to me just tobreathe."
"I believe it is," said Harry, looking at him with admiration. "I thinkI'll call you Happy Tom."
"I take the name with pleasure," said Langdon. "It's a compliment to becalled Happy Tom. Happy I was born and happy I am. I'm so happy I mustsing:
"Ol Dan Tucker was a mighty fine man, He washed his face in the frying pan, He combed his hair with a wagon wheel And died with a toothache in his heel."
"That's a great poem," said a long North Carolina youth named Ransome,"but I've got something that beats it all holler. 'Ole Dan Tucker' isnothing to 'Aunt Dinah's Tribberlations.'"
"How does it go?" asked St. Clair.
"It's powerful pathetic, telling a tale of disaster and pain. The firstverse will do, and here it is:
"Ole Aunt Dinah, she got drunk, Felled in a fire and kicked up a chunk, Red-hot coal popped in her shoe, Lord a-mighty! how de water flew!"
"We've had French and Italian opera in Charleston," said St. Clair,"and I've heard both in New Orleans, too, but nothing quite so movingas the troubles of Ole Dan Tucker and Ole Aunt Dinah."
They sang other songs and the Guards, who filled two coaches of a train,joined in a great swinging chorus which thundered above the rattle ofthe engine and the cars, so noisy in those days. Often they sang negromelodies with a plaintive lilt. The slave had given his music to hismaster. Harry joined with all the zest of an enthusiastic nature.The effect of Shepard's words and of the still, solemn face ofJefferson Davis, framed in the open window, was wholly gone.
Spring was now advancing. All the land was green. The trees were infresh leaf, and when they stopped at the little stations in the woods,they could hear the birds singing in the deep forest. And as they spedacross the open they heard the negroes singing, too, in their deepmellow voices in the fields. Then came the delicate flavor of flowersand Harry knew that they were approaching Charleston. In another hourthey were in the city which was, as yet, the heart and soul of theConfederacy.
Charleston, with its steepled churches, its quaint houses, and itsmasses of foliage, much of it in full flower, seemed more attractivethan ever to Harry. The city preserved its gay and light tone. It wascrowded with people. All the rich planters were there. Society hadnever been more brilliant than during those tense weeks on the eveof men knew not what. But the Charlestonians were sure of one fact,the most important of all, that everything was going well. Texas hadjoined the great group of the South, and while the border states stillhung back, they would surely join.
Harry found that the batteries and earthworks had increased in size andnumber, forming a formidable circle about the black mass of Sumter,above which the defiant flag still swung in the wind. The guards weredistributed among the batteries, but St. Clair, Langdon, and Harryremained together. Toutant Beauregard, after having resigned thecommand at West Point, as the Southern leaders had expected, cameto Charleston and took supreme command there. Harry saw him as heinspected the batteries, a small, dark man, French in look, as he wasFrench in descent, full of nervous energy and vitality. He spokeapproving words of all that had been done, and Harry, St. Clair and Tom,glowed with enthusiasm.
"Didn't I tell you that everything would come just right!" exclaimedHappy Tom. "We're the boys to do things. I heard today that they werepreparing a big fleet in the North to relieve Sumter, but no matter howbig it is, it won't be able to get into Charleston harbor. Will it,old fellow?"
He addressed his remarks to one of the great guns, and he patted thelong, polished barrel. Harry agreed with him that Charleston harborcould be held inviolate. He did not believe that ships would have muchchance against heavy cannon in earthworks.
He was back in Charleston several days before he had a chance to go toMadame Delaunay's. She was unfeignedly glad to see him, but Harry sawthat she had lost some of her bright spirits.
"Colonel Talbot tells me," she said, "that mighty forces are gathering,and I am afraid, I am afraid for all the thousands of gallant boys likeyou, Harry."
But Harry had little fear for himself. Why should he, when the Southerncause was moving forward so smoothly? They heard a day or two laterthat the rail-splitter, Lincoln, had been duly inaugurated President ofwhat remained of the old Union, although he had gone to Washington atan unexpected hour, and partly in disguise. On the same day theConfederacy adopted the famous flag of the Stars and Bars, and Harry andhis friends were soon singing in unison and with fiery enthusiasm:
"Hurrah! Hurrah! for Southern rights, hurrah! Hurrah for the bonnie blue flag that bears a single star!"
The spring deepened and with it the tension and excitement. The warmwinds from the South blew over Charleston, eternally keen with the odorof rose and orange blossom. The bay moved gently, a molten mass nowblue, now green. The blue figures could be seen now and then on theblack walls of Sumter, but the fortress was silent, although the muzzlesof its guns always threatened.
Harry received several letters from his father. The latest stated thathe might want him to return, but he was not needed yet. The state hadproved more stubborn than he and his friends had expected. A powerfulUnion element had been disclosed, and there would be an obstinate fightat Frankfort over the question of going out. He would let him know whento come.
Harry was perhaps less surprised than his father over the conflict ofopinion in Kentucky, but his thoughts soon slipped from it, returning tohis absorption in the great and thrilling drama in Charleston, which waspassing before his eyes, and of which he was a part.
April came, and the glory of the spring deepened. The winds blowingfrom the soft shores of the Gulf grew heavier with the odors of blo
ssomand flower. But Charleston thrilled continually with excitement.Fort after fort was seized by the Southerners, almost without oppositionand wholly without the shedding of blood. It seemed that the stars intheir courses fought for the South, or at least it seemed so to theyouthful Harry and his comrades.
"Didn't I tell you everything would come as we wished it?" said thesanguine Langdon. "Abe Lincoln may be the best rail-splitter that everwas, but I fancy he isn't such a terrible fighter."
"Let's wait and see," said Harry, with the impression of Shepard'swarning words still strong upon him.
His caution was not in vain. That day the rulers of Charleston receiveda message from Abraham Lincoln that Sumter would be revictualled,whether Charleston consented or not. The news was spread instantlythrough the city and fire sprang up in the South Carolina heart.The population, increased far beyond its normal numbers by the influxfrom the country, talked of nothing else. Beauregard was everywheregiving quick, nervous orders, and always strengthening the alreadypowerful batteries that threatened Sumter.