Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty

by John William De Forest

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  THE COLONEL CONTINUES TO BE LED INTO TEMPTATION.

  On the cars between New York and Washington Carter encountered theGovernor of Barataria. After the customary compliments had beenexchanged, after the Governor had acknowledged the services of thefamous Tenth, and the Colonel had eulogized the good old State, thelatter spoke of the vacant lieutenant-colonelcy in the regiment, andasked that it might be given to Colburne.

  "But I have promised that to Mr. Gazaway," said the Governor, lookingslightly troubled.

  "To Gazaway!" roared Carter in wrathful astonishment. "What! to the sameGazaway? Why--Governor--are you aware--are you perfectly aware why heleft the regiment?"

  The Governor's countenance became still more troubled, but did not loseits habitual expression of mild obstinacy.

  "I know--I know," he said softly. "It is a very miserable affair."

  "Miserable! It is to the last degree scandalous. I never heard ofanything so utterly contemptible as this fellow's behavior. Youcertainly cannot know---- If you did, you wouldn't think of letting thisinfernal poltroon back into the regiment. He ought to have beencourt-martialed. It is a cursed shame that he was not shot formisbehavior in presence of the enemy. Let me tell you his story."

  The Governor had an air which seemed to say that it would be of no useto tell him anything; but he folded his hands, bowed his head, crossedhis legs, put a pastille in his mouth, and meekly composed himself tolisten.

  "This Gazaway is the greatest coward that I ever saw," pursued theColonel. "I positively think he must be the greatest coward that everlived. At Georgia Landing he left his horse, and dodged, and ducked, andsquatted behind the line in such a contemptible way that I came nearrapping him over the head with the flat of my sabre. At Camp Beasland heshammed sick, and skulked about the hospitals, whimpering for medicine.I sent in charges against him then; but they got lost, I believe, on themarch; at any rate, they never turned up. At Port Hudson I released himfrom arrest, and ordered him into the fight, hoping he would get shot. Iprivately told the surgeon not to excuse him, and I told the blackguardhimself that he must face the music. But he ran away the moment thebrigade came under fire. He was picked up at the hospital by theprovost-guard, and sent to the regiment in its advanced position. Theofficers refused to obey his orders unless he proved his courage firstby taking a rifle and fighting in the trenches. They equipped him, buthe wouldn't fight. He trembled from head to foot, said he didn't knowhow to load his gun, said he was sick, cried. Then they kicked him outof camp--actually and literally booted him out--put the leather to him,sir. That is the last time that he was seen with the regiment. He wasnext picked up in the hospitals of New Orleans, and sent to the front byEmory, who would have shot him if he had known what he was. He was incommand of Fort Winthrop, and wanted to surrender at the first summons.Nothing but the high spirit of his officers, and the gallantry of thewhole garrison, saved the fort from its own commander. I tell you, sir,that he is a redemptionless sneak. He is a disgrace to the regiment, andto the State, and to the country. He is a disgrace to every man in bothservices--to every man who calls himself an American. And you proposeto restore him to the regiment!"

  The Governor sighed, and looked very sad, but at the same time as meeklydetermined as Moses.

  "My dear Colonel, I knew it all," he said. "But I think I am right. Ithink I am acting out our American principle--the greatest good of thegreatest number. I must beg your patient hearing and your secrecy. Inthe first place, Gazaway is not to keep the commission. It is merelygiven to whitewash him. He will accept it, and then resign it. That isall understood."

  "But what the ---- do you want to whitewash him for? He ought to begibbeted."

  "I know. Very true. But see here. We _must_ carry the elections. We_must_ have the government supported by the people. We _must_ give theadministration a clear majority in both houses of Congress. Otherwise,you see, Copperheadism and Secession, false peace and rebellion willtriumph."

  "But the way to carry the elections is to whip the rebels, my God!--tohave the best officers and the best army, and win all the victories, myGod!"

  The Governor smiled as if from habit, but pursued his own course ofreasoning resolutely, without noticing the new argument. His spunk wasrising a little, and he had no small amount of domination in him,notwithstanding his amiability.

  "Now Gazaway's Congressional district is a close one," he continued,"and we fear that his assistance is necessary to enable us to carry it.I grieve to think that it is so. It is not our fault. It is the fault ofthose men who will vote a disloyal ticket. Well, he demands that weshall whitewash him by giving him a step up from his old commission. Onthat condition he agrees to insure us the district. Then he is toresign."

  "My God! what a disgraceful muddle!" was Carter's indignant comment.

  The Governor looked almost provoked at seeing that the Colonel wouldnot appreciate his difficulties and necessities.

  "I sacrifice my own feelings in this matter," he insisted. "I assure youthat it is a most painful step for me to take."

  He forgot that he was also sacrificing the feelings of Captain Colburneand of other deserving officers in the gallant Tenth.

  "I wouldn't take the step," returned the Colonel. "I'd let the electiongo to hell before I'd take it. If that is the way elections are carried,let us have done with them, and pray for a despotism."

  After this speech there was a silence of some minutes. Each of these menwas a wonder to the other; each of them ought to have been a wonder tohimself. The Governor knew that Carter was a roue, a hard drinker,something of a Dugald Dalgetty; and he could not understand hisprofessional chivalry, his passion for the honor of the service, hisbitter hatred of cowards. The Colonel knew the Governor's upright moralcharacter as an individual, and was amazed that such a man couldcondescend to what he considered dirty trickery. In one respect, Carterhad the highest moral standpoints. He did wrong to please himself, butit was under the pressure of overwhelming impulse, and he paid for it infrank remorse. The other did wrong after calm deliberation, sadlyregretting the alleged necessity, but chloroforming his conscience withthe plea of that necessity. He was at bottom a well-intentioned andhonorable man, but blinded by long confinement in the dark labyrinths ofpolitical intrigue, as the fishes of the Mammoth Cave are eyelessthrough the lack of light. He would have shrunk with horror from Carterhad he known of that affair with Madame Larue. At the same time he couldcommission a known coward above the heads of heroes, to carry aCongressional district. And, in order that we may not be too hard uponhim, let us consider his difficulties; let us suppose that he hadelevated the Bayard and thrown the Bardolph overboard. In the firstplace all the wire-pullers of his following would have been down uponhim with arguments and appeals, begging him in the name of the party, ofthe country, of liberty, not to lose the election. His own candidate inthe doubtful district, an old and intimate friend, would have said, "Youhave ruined my chances." All the capitalists and manufacturers whodepended on this candidate to get this or that axe sharpened on theCongressional grindstone, would have added their outcries to thelamentation. Thinking of all this, and thinking too of the Copperheads,and what they would be sure to do if they triumphed, he felt that whathe had decided on was for the best, and that he must do it. Gazaway musthave the lieutenant-colonelcy until the spring election was over; andthen, and not before, he must make way for some honorable man and braveofficer.

  "But how can this fellow have such a political influence?" queried theColonel. "It ought to be easy enough to expose him in the newspapers,and smash him."

  "The two hundred men or so who vote as he says never read thenewspapers, and wouldn't believe the exposure."

  "There is the majority left," observed Carter, after another pause."Captain Colburne might have that--if he would take promotion underGazaway."

  "I have given that to my nephew, Captain Rathbun," said the Governor,blushing.

  He was not ashamed of his political log-rolling with a
vulgar coward,but he was a little discomposed at confessing his very pardonable andperhaps justifiable nepotism.

  "Captain Rathbun," he pursued hastily, "has been strongly recommended byall the superior officers of his corps. There is no chance of promotionin the cavalry, as our State has only furnished three companies. I havetherefore transferred him to the infantry, and I placed him in yourregiment because there were two vacancies."

  "Then my recommendation goes for nothing," said Carter, in gloomydiscontent.

  "Really, Colonel, I must have some authority in these matters. I amcalled commander-in-chief of the forces of the State. I am sorry if itannoys you. But there will be--I assure you there will soon be--avacancy for Captain Colburne."

  "But he will have to come in under your nephew, I suppose."

  "I suppose so. I don't see how it can be otherwise. But it will be nodisgrace to him, I assure you. He will find Major Rathbun an admirableofficer and a comrade perfectly to his taste. He graduated from theUniversity only a year after Captain Colburne."

  "Excuse me if I leave you for half an hour," observed Carter, withoutattempting to conceal his disgust. "I want to step into the smoking-carand take a segar."

  "Certainly," bowed the Governor, and resumed his newspaper. He was usedto such unpleasant interviews as this; and after drawing a tired sighover it, he was all tranquillity again. The Colonel was too profoundlyinfuriated to return to his companion during the rest of the journey,much as he wanted his influence to back up his own application forpromotion.

  "Horrible shame, by Jove!" he muttered, while chewing rather thansmoking his segar. "I wish the whole thing was in the hands of the WarDepartment. Damn the States and their rights! I wish, by (this and that)that we were centralized."

  Thus illogically ruminated the West Pointer; not seeing that the good isnot bad merely because it may be abused; not seeing that Centralism issure to be more corrupt than Federalism. The reader knows that suchcases as that of Gazaway were not common. They existed, but they wereexceptional; they were sporadic, and not symptomatic. In general themilitary nominations of the Governor did honor to his heart and hishead. It was Colburne's accidental misfortune that his State containedone or two doubtful districts, and that one of them was in the hands,or was supposed to be in the hands, of his contemptible superiorofficer. In almost any other Baratarian regiment the intelligent,educated, brave and honorable young captain would have been sure ofpromotion.

  Carter was troubled with a foreboding that his own claims would meetwith as little recognition as those of Colburne. He took plain whiskeysat nearly every stopping-place, and reached Washington more than halfdrunk, but still in low spirits. Sobered and rested by a night's sleep,he delivered his dispatches, was bowed out by General Halleck, and thensought out a resident Congressional friend, and held a frank colloquywith him concerning the attainment of the desired star.

  "You see, Colonel, that you are a marked man," said the M. C. "You havebeen known to say that the war will last five years."

  "Well, it will. It has lasted nearly three, and it will kick for twomore. I ought to be promoted, by (this and that) for my sagacity."

  "Just so," laughed the M. C. "But you won't be. The trouble is that yousay just what the Copperheads say; and you get credit for the samemotives. It is urged, moreover, that men like you discourage the nationand cheer the rebels."

  "By Jove! I'd like to see the rebel who would be cheered by the newsthat the war will last two years longer."

  The honorable member laughed again, in recognition of the hit, andproceeded:

  "Then there is that old filibustering affair. When you went into thatyou were not so good a prophet as you are now; and in fact it is a veryunfortunate affair at present; it stands in your way confoundedly. Infact, you are not a favorite with our left wing--our radicals. ThePresident is all right. The War Department is all right. They admit yourfaithfulness, ability and services. It is the Senate that knocks you. Iam afraid you will have to wait for something to turn up. In fact, Idon't see my way to a confirmation yet."

  Carter swore, groaned, and chewed his cigar to a pulp.

  "But don't be discouraged," pursued the M. C. "We have brought over twoor three of the radicals to your side. Three or four more will do thejob. Then we can get a nomination with assurance of a confirmation. Ipromise you it shall be attended to at the first chance. But you mustcome out strong against slavery. Abolition is your card. New convertsmust be zealous, you know."

  "By Jove, I _am_ strong. I didn't believe in arming the negro once; butI do now. It was a good movement. I'll take a black brigade."

  "Will you? Then you can have a white one, I guess. By the way, perhapsyou can do something for yourself. A good many of the Members are intown already. I'll take you around--show you to friends and enemies. Infact you can do something for yourself."

  Carter did something in the way of treating, giving game-suppers,flattering and talking anti-slavery, smiling outwardly the while, butwithin full of bitterness. It seemed to him a gross injustice that thedestiny of a man who had fought should be ruled by people who slept ingood beds every night and had never heard a bullet whistle. He thoughtthat he was demeaning himself by bowing down to members of Congress andState wire-pullers; but he was driven to it by his professional rage forpromotion, and still more urgently by the necessity of increasing hisincome. When he left Washington after the two weeks' stay which waspermitted to him, his nomination to a brigadiership was promised, and hehad strong hopes of obtaining the Senatorial confirmation. At New Yorkhe called on Mrs. Larue. He had not meant to do it when he quitted thevirtuous capital of the nation, but as he approached her he felt drawntowards her by something stronger than the engine. Moreover, he thoughtto himself that she might do something for his promotion if she couldbe induced to go to Washington and try the ponderosity of the UnitedStates Senate with that powerful social lever of hers, _la saintepassion_, etc.

  "Why didn't you tell me this before?" she exclaimed. "Why were you notfrank with me, _mon ami_? I would have gone. I would have worked day andnight for you. I would have had such fun! It would have been deliciousto humbug those abolitionist Senators. I would have been the ruin of Mr.Sumnaire and Mr. Weelsone. There would have been yet more booksdedicated to Sainte Marie Madeleine."

  She burst into a laugh at these jolly ideas, and waltzed about the roomwith a mimicry of love-making in her eyes and gestures.

  "But I can not go alone, you perceive; do you not?" she resumed, sittingdown by his side and laying one hand caressingly on his shoulder. "Ishould have no position alone, and there is not the time for me tocreate one. Moreover, I have paid for my passage to New Orleans in theMississippi."

  "Well, we shall be together," said Carter. "That is my boat. But what acursed fool I was in not taking you to Washington!"

  "Certainly you were, _mon ami_. It is most regrettable. It is_desesperant_."

  As far as these two were concerned, the voyage south was much like thelatter part of the voyage north, except that Carter suffered less fromself-reproach, and was generally in higher spirits. He had not moneyenough left to pay for his meals and wine, but he did not hesitate toborrow a hundred dollars from the widow, and she lent it with her usualamiability.

  "You shall have all I can spare," she said. "I only wish to live anddress _comme il faut_. You are always welcome to what remains."

  What could the unfortunate man do but be grateful? Mrs. Larue began togovern him with a mild and insinuating domination; and, strange to say,her empire was not altogether injurious. She corrected him of a numberof the bearish ways which he had insensibly acquired by life in thearmy, and which his wife had not dared to call his attention to,worshipping him too sincerely. She laughed him out of his swearing, andscolded him out of most of his drinking. She mended his stockings,trimmed the frayed ends of his necktie, saw to it that his clothes werebrushed; in short, she greatly improved his personal appearance, whichhad grown somewhat shabby under the influences of travelling andcarousing; for
the Colonel was one of those innumerable male creatureswho always go to seediness as soon as womankind ceases to care for them.With him she had no more need of coquetries and sentimental prattle; andshe treated him very much as a wife of five years' standing treats herhusband. She was amiable, pains-taking, petting, slightly exacting,slightly critical, moderately chatty, moderately loving. They led apeaceable, domestic sort of life, without much regard to secrecy,without much terror at the continual danger of discovery. They were oldsinners enough to feel and behave much like innocent people. Carter'sremorse, it must be observed, had arisen entirely from his affection forhis wife, and his shame at having proved unworthy of her affectionateconfidence, and not at all from any sense of doing an injury to Mrs.Larue, nor from a tenderness of conscience concerning the abstractquestion of right and wrong. Consequently, after the first humiliationof his fall was a little numbed by time, he could be quite comfortablein spirit.

  But his uneasiness awakened at the sight of Lillie, and the pressure ofher joyful embrace. The meeting, affectionate as it seemed on bothsides, gave him a very miserable kind of happiness. He did not turn hiseyes to Mrs. Larue, who stood by with a calm, pleased smile. He was ledaway in triumph; he was laid on the best sofa and worshipped; he was aking, and a god in the eyes of that pure wife; but he was a veryunhappy, and shamefaced deity.

  "Oh, what charming letters you wrote!" whispered Lillie. "How good youwere to write so often, and to write such sweet things! They were such acomfort to me!"

  Carter was a little consoled. He _had_ written often and affectionately;he had tried in that way to make amends for a concealed wrong; and hewas heartily glad to find that he had made her happy.

  "Oh, my dear child!" he said. "I am so delighted if I have given you anypleasure!"

  He spoke this with such a sigh, almost a groan, that she looked at himin wonder and anxiety.

  "What is the matter, my darling?" she asked. "What makes you sad? Haveyou failed in getting your promotion? Never mind. I will love you tomake up for it. I know, and you know, that you deserve it. We will bejust as happy."

  "Perhaps I have not altogether failed," he replied, glad to change thesubject. "I have some hopes yet of getting good news."

  "Oh, that will be so delightful! Won't it be nice to be prosperous aswell as happy! I shall be so overjoyed on your account! I shall be tooproud to live."

  In his lonely meditations Carter frequently tried himself at the bar ofhis strange conscience, and struggled hard to gain a verdict of notguilty. What could a fellow do, he asked, when a woman would persist inflinging herself at his head? He honestly thought that most men wouldhave done as he did; that no one but a religious fanatic could haveresisted so much temptation; and that such resistance would have beenaltogether ungentlemanly. To atone for his wrong he was most tender tohis wife; he followed her with attentions, and loaded her with presents.At the same time that he had a guilt upon his soul which might havekilled her had she discovered it, he would not stint her wardrobe, norforget to kiss her every time he went out, nor fail to bring herbouquets every evening. He has been known to leave his bed at midnightand walk the street for hours, driving away dogs whose howling preventedher from sleeping. Deeds like this were his penance, his expiation, hisconsolation.

  He was now on duty in the city. High Authority, determined to makeamends for the neglect with which this excellent officer was treated,offered him the best thing which it had now to give, thechief-quartermastership of the Department of the Gulf. His pay wouldthereby be largely increased in consequence of his legal commutationsfor rooms and fuel, besides which there was a chance of securing largeextra-official gleanings from such a broad field of labor andresponsibility. But Carter realized little out of his position. He couldkeep his accounts of Government property correctly; but except in hisknowledge of returns, and vouchers, and his clerk-like accuracy, he wasnot properly speaking a man of business; that is to say, he had nofaculty for making money. He was too professionally honorable to lendGovernment funds to speculators for the sake of a share of the profits.He would not descend to the well-known trickery of getting publicproperty condemned to auction, and then buying it in for a song to sellit at an advance. In the case of a single wagon he might do something ofthe sort in order to rectify his balances in the item of wagons; or hemight make a certificate of theft in a small affair of trousers orhavresacks which had been lost through negligence, or issued without areceipt. But to such straits officers were frequently driven by theresponsibility system; he sheltered himself under the plea of necessity;and did nothing worse. In fact, his position was a temptation withoutbeing a benefit.

  It was a serious temptation. A great deal of money passed through hishands. He paid out, and received on account of the Government, thousandsof dollars daily; and the mere handling of such considerable sums madehim feel as if he were a great capitalist. Money was an every day,vulgar commodity, and he spent it with profusion. Before he had been inhis place two months he was worm-eaten, leaky, sinking with debts. Noone hesitated to trust a man who had charge over such an aboundingsource of wealth as the chief-quartermastership of the Department of theGulf. He lived sumptuously, drank good wines, smoked the best cigars,and marketed for the Ravenel table in his own name, blaspheming theexpense whether of cost or credit. Remembering that his wife neededgentle exercise, and had a right to every comfort which he couldfurnish, he gave her a carriage, and pair of ponies, and of course setup a coachman.

  "Can you afford it, my dear?" asked Lillie, a little anxious, for shewas aware of his tendency to extravagance.

  "I can afford anything, my little one, rather than the loss of you,"replied the Colonel after a moment's hesitation.

  She wanted to believe that all was well, and therefore the task ofconvincing her was easy. Her trust was constant, and her adorationfervent; they were symptomatic of her physical condition; they were forthe present laws of her nature. It was more than usually painful to hernow to be separated long from her deity. When he went out it was, "Whereare you going? When will you come back?"--When he returned it was, "Howlong you have been gone! Oh, I though you would come an hour ago?" Itwas childish, but she did not perceive it, and if she had, she could nothave helped it. She clung to him, and longed after him because she must;there was a bond of unity between them which clasped her inmost life.

  Meanwhile how about Mrs. Larue? No one could have been more discreet,more corruptly sagacious, more sunnily amiable, than this singularwoman. She petted Lillie like a child, helped her in her abundant sewinglabors, brought her as many bouquets as the Colonel himself, scoldedher for imprudencies, forbade this dish and recommended that, laughed ather occasional despondencies, and cheered her as women know how to cheereach other. She seemed like the truest friend of the young woman whomshe would not have hesitated much to rob of her husband, provided shecould have wished to do it. This kindness was not hypocrisy, but simple,unforced good nature. It was natural, and therefore, agreeable to her tobe amiable; and as she always did what she liked to do, she was apattern of amiability. To have quarreled seriously with Lillie wouldhave been a downright annoyance to her, and consequently she avoidedevery chance of a disagreement, so far at least as was consistent withher private pleasures. She had not the slightest notion of eloping withthe Colonel; she did not take passions sufficiently _au grand serieux_for that; she would not have isolated herself from society for any man.

  Notwithstanding Mrs. Larue's sugar mask Lillie was at times disposed tofight her; not, however, in the slightest degree on account of herhusband; only on account of her father. The sly Creole, partly for herown amusement indeed, but chiefly to divert suspicion from herfamiliarity with Carter, commenced a coquettish attack upon the Doctor.Lillie was sometimes in a desperate fright lest she should entrap himinto a marriage. She thought that she understood Mrs. Larue perfectly,and she felt quite certain that she was by no means good enough for herfather. In her estimation there never was a man, unless it might be herhusband, who was so good, so noble, so charmi
ng as this parent of hers;and if she had been called on to select a wife for him, I doubt whetherany woman could have passed the examination to which she would havesubjected the candidates.

  "I perfectly spoil you, papa," she said, laughing. "I pet you and admireyou till I suppose I shall end by ruining you. If ever you go out intothe world alone, what will become of you? You will miss my caredreadfully. You mustn't leave me; it's for your own good--hear? Youmustn't trust yourself to anybody else--hear?"

  "I hear, my child," answers the Doctor. "What a charming little GoldCoast accent you have!"

  "Pshaw! It isn't negro at all. Everybody talks so. But I wonder if youare trying to change the subject."

  "Really I wasn't aware of a subject being presented for myconsideration."

  "Oh, you don't understand, or you won't understand. I do believe youhave a guilty conscience."

  "A guilty conscience about what, my child? Have the kindness to speakplainly. My mind is getting feeble."

  "Ain't you ashamed to ask me to speak plainly? I don't want to speakplainly. Do you actually want to have me?"

  "If it wouldn't overpower your reason, I should like it. It would besuch a convenience to me."

  "Well, I mean, papa," said Lillie, coloring at her audacity, "that Idon't like Mrs. Larue!"

  "Don't like Mrs. Larue! Why, she is as kind to you as she can possiblybe. I thought you were on the best of terms."

  "I mean that I don't like her well enough to call her Mamma."

  "Call her Mamma!" repeated the Doctor, staring over his spectacles inamazement. "You don't mean?--upon my honor, you are too nonsensical,Lillie."

  "Am I? Oh, I am so delighted!" exclaimed Lillie eagerly. "But I _was_ soafraid."

  "Do you think I am in my dotage?" inquired the Doctor, almost indignant.

  "No no, papa. Don't be vexed with me. I dare say it was very absurd inme. But I do think she is so artful and designing."

  "She is a curious woman, we know," observed Ravenel. "She certainly hassome--peculiarities."

  Lillie laughed outright, and said, "Oh yes," with a gay little air ofsatire.

  "But she is too young to think of me," pursued the Doctor. "She can't bemore than twenty-five."

  "Papa!!" protested Lillie. "She is thir--ty! Have you lost your memory?"

  "Thirty! Is it possible? Really, I am growing old. I am constantlyunderstating other people's ages. I have caught myself at it repeatedly.I don't know whether it is forgetfulness, or inability to realize theflight of time, or an instinctive effort to make myself out a modern byshowing that my intimates are youthful. But I am constantly doing it. Doyou recollect how I have laughed about Elderkin for this same trick? Heis always relating anecdotes of his youth in a way which would lead youto suppose that the events happened some fifteen or twenty years ago.And yet he is seventy. I mustn't laugh at Elderkin any more."

  "Nonsense!" said Lillie. "You are not a bit like him. He blacks his hairto correspond with his dates. He means to humbug people. And then youare not old."

  "But, to return to Mrs. Larue," observed the Doctor. "She has a clearhead; she is pretty sensible. She is not a woman to put herself in afalse or ridiculous position. I really have not observed anything ofwhat you hint."

  "Oh no. Of course not. Men never do; they are _so_ stupid! Of course youwouldn't observe anything until she went on her knees and made you aformal declaration. I was afraid you might say, 'Yes,' in yoursurprise."

  "My dear, don't talk in that way of a lady. You degrade your own sex bysuch jesting."

  However, the Doctor did in a quiet way put himself on his guard againstMrs. Larue; and Lillie, observing this, did also in a quiet way feelquite elated over the condition of things in the family. She was ashappy as she had ever been, or could desire to be. It was a shockingstate of deception; corruption lilied over with decorum and smilingamiability; whited sepulchres, apples of Sodom, blooming Upas. Cartersaw Mrs. Larue as often as he wanted, and even much oftener, in aprivate room, which even his wife did not know of, in rear of hisoffices. Closely veiled she slipped in by a back entrance, andreappeared at the end of ten minutes, or an hour, or perhaps two hours.It was after such interviews had taken place that his wife welcomed himwith those touching words. "Oh, where have you been? I thought you neverwould come."

  He would have been glad to break the evil charm, but he was too far goneto be capable of virtuous effort.