CHAPTER XXX.
COLONEL CARTER COMMITS HIS FIRST UNGENTLEMANLY ACTION.
We come now to the times of the famous and unfortunate Red Riverexpedition. During the winter of 1863-4 New Orleans society, civil aswell as military, was wild with excitement over the great enterprisewhich was not only to crush the rebel power in the southwest, but toopen to commerce the immense stores of cotton belonging to the princelyplanters of the Red River bottoms. Cotton was gold, foreign exchange,individual wealth, national solvency. Thousands of men went half mad intheir desire for cotton. Cotton was a contagion, an influenza, adelirium.
In the height of this excitement a corpulent, baldish, smiling gentlemanof fifty was closeted, not for the first time, with the chiefquartermaster. His thick feet were planted wide apart, his chubby handsrested on his chubby knees, his broad base completely filled the largeoffice chair in which he sat, his paunchy torso and fat head leanedforward in an attitude of eagerness, and his twinkling grey eyes,encircled by yellowish folds, were fixed earnestly upon the face ofCarter.
"Colonel, you make a great mistake in letting this chance slip," hesaid, and then paused to wheeze.
The Colonel said nothing, smoked his twenty cent Havana slowly, andgazed thoughtfully at the toes of his twenty dollar boots. With hisaristocratic face, his lazy pride of expression, his bran-new citizen'ssuit, his boots and his Havana, he looked immensely rich and superblyindifferent to all pecuniary chances.
"You see, here is a sure thing," continued the oleaginous personage."Banks' column will be twenty thousand strong. Steele's will be tenthousand. There are thirty thousand, without counting Porter's fleet.The Confederates can't raise twenty thousand to cover the Red Rivercountry, if they go to hell. Besides, there is an understanding. Tit fortat, you know. Cotton for cash. You see I am as well posted on thematter as you are, Colonel."
Here he paused, wheezed, nodded, smiled and bored his corkscrew eyesinto Carter. The latter uttered not a word and gave no sign of eitheracquiescence or denial.
"You see the cotton is sure to come," continued the stout man,withdrawing his ocular corkscrew for a moment. "Now what I propose is,that you put in the capital, or the greater part of it, and that I dothe work and give you the lion's share of the profits. I can't furnishthe capital, and you can. You can't do the work, and I can. Or suppose Iguarantee you a certain sum on each bale, Colonel, for a hundredthousand dollars, I promise you a square profit of two hundredthousand."
"Mr. Walker, if it is sure to pay so well, why don't you go in alone?"asked Carter.
Mr. Walker pointed at his coarse grey trousers and then took hold of thefrayed edge of his coarse grey coat.
"See here, Colonel," said he. "The man who wears this cloth hasn't ahundred thousand dollars handy. When I knew you in old times I used togo in my broadcloth. I hope to do it again--not that I care for it.That's one reason I don't go in alone--a short bank balance. Another isthat I haven't the influence at headquarters that you have. I need yourname as well as your money to put the business through quick and sure.That's why I offer you four fifths of the profits. Colonel, it's acertain thing and a good thing. I am positively astonished at findingany hesitation in a man in your pecuniary condition."
"What do you know about my condition?" demanded Carter imperiously.
"Well, it's my interest to know," replied Walker, whose cunning fatsmile did not quail before the Colonel's leonine roar and toss of mane."I have bought up a lot of your debts and notes. I got them for anaverage of sixty, Colonel."
"You paid devilish dear, and made a bad investment," said Carter, "Iwouldn't have given thirty."
A bitter smile twisted his lips as he thought how poor he was, how badhis credit was, and how mean it was to be poor and discredited.
"Perhaps I have. I believe I have, unless you go into this cotton. Ibought them to induce you to go into it. I thought you would oblige aman who relieved you from forty or fifty duns. I took a four thousanddollar risk on you, Colonel."
Carter scowled and stopped smoking. He did not know what Walker could dowith him; he did not much believe that he legally could do anything; hiscreditors never had done more than dun him. But High Authority mightperhaps be led to do unpleasant things: for instance, in the way ofrelieving him from his position, if the fact should be forced upon itsnotice, that so responsible an officer as the chief quartermaster of theGulf Department was burdened by private indebtedness. At all events itwas unpleasant to have a grasping, intriguing, audacious fellow likeWalker for a creditor to so large an amount. It would be a fine thing toget out of debt once for all; to astonish his duns (impertinent fellows,some of them) by settling every solitary bill with interest; to be richonce for all, without danger of recurring poverty; to be rich enough toforce promotion. Other officials--quartermasters, paymasters, etc.--weregoing in for cotton on the strength of Government deposits. Theinfluenza had caught the Colonel; indeed it was enough to corrupt anyman's honesty to breathe the moral atmosphere of New Orleans at thattime; it could taint the honor derived from blue ancestral blood andWest Point professional pride.
Carter did not, however, give way to his oily Mephistopheles during thisinterview. Walker's victory was not so sudden as Mrs. Larue's; histemptation was not so well suited as hers to the character of thevictim; the love of lucre could not compare as a force with _le divinsens du genesiaque_. It was not until Walker had boldly threatened tobring his claims before the General Commanding, not until the army hadwell nigh reached the Red River, not until the chance of investment hadalmost passed, that the Colonel became a speculator. Once resolved, heacted with audacity, according to his temperament. But here,unfortunately for the curious reader, we enter upon cavernous darkness,where it is impossible to trace out a story except by hazardousinference, our only guides being common rumor, a fragment of a letter, aconversation half-overheard, and other circumstances of a likeunsatisfactory nature. Before giving my narrative publicity I feel boundto state that the entire series of alleged events may be a fiction ofthe excited popular imagination, founded on facts which might beexplained in accordance with an assumption of Carter's innocence, andofficial honor.
I am inclined to believe, or at least to admit, that he drew a large sum(not less than one hundred thousand dollars) of the Government money inhis charge, and placed it in the hands of his agent for the purchase ofcotton from the planters of the Red River. It is probable that Walkerexpected to complete the transaction within a month, and to place thecotton, or the proceeds of it, in the hands of his principal earlyenough to enable the latter to show a square balance on his officialreturn at the close of the current quarter. Such claims as might come induring this period could be put off by the plea of "no funds," or thesafer devices of, "disallowed,"--"papers returned for correction," etc.,etc. That the cotton could be sold at a monstrous profit wasunquestionable. At New Orleans there were greedy capitalists, who hadnot been lucky enough to get into the Ring, and so accompany theexpedition, who were anxious to pay cash down for the precious commodityimmediately on its arrival at the levee, or even before it quitted theRed River. No body entertained a doubt of the military and commercialsuccess of the great expedition, with its fleet, its veteran infantry,its abundant cavalry, all splendidly equipped, and its strategiccombination of concentric columns. Even rabid secessionists wereinfected by the mania, and sought to invest their gold in cotton. It isprobable that Carter's hopes at this time were far higher than hisfears, and that he pretty confidently expected to see himself a rich maninside of sixty days. I am telling my story, the reader perceives, onthe presumption that rumor has correctly stated these mysterious events.
If the materials for the tale were only attainable it would be adelightful thing to follow the corpulent Walker through the peacefuladvance and sanguinary retreat of the great expedition. It is certainthat from some quarter he obtained command of a vast capital, and that,in spite of his avoirdupois, he was alert and indefatigable in seekingopportunities for investment. Had Mars been half as adroit a
nd watchfulin his strategy as this fat old Mercury was in his speculations,Shreveport would have been taken, and Carter would have made a quarterof a million. But the God of Lucre had great reason to grumble at theGod of War. It was in vain that Mercury lost fifty pounds of flesh insleepless lookout for chances, in audacious rides to plantations hauntedby guerrillas, shot at from swamps, and thickets, half starved orliving on raw pork and hardtack, bargaining nearly all night afterriding all day, untiring as a savage, zealous as an abolitionist,sublime in his passion for gain. Mars incautiously stretched hissplendid army over thirty miles of road, and saw it beaten indetachments by a force one quarter smaller, and vastly inferior indiscipline and equipment. There was such a panic at Sabine Cross Roadsas had not been seen since Bull Run. Cavalry, artillery, and infantry,mingled together in hopeless confusion, rushed in wild flight across theopen fields, or forced their way down a narrow road encumbered withmiles of abandoned baggage wagons. Through this chaos of terror advancedthe saviours of the day, the heroic First Division of the NineteenthCorps, marching calmly by the flank, hooting and jeering the runaways,filing into line within grape range of the enemy, and opening awithering fire of musketry which checked until nightfall the victorious,elated, impetuous Rebel masses. Then came an extraordinary midnightretreat of twenty miles, and in the afternoon of the next day ahardly-won, unimproved victory. The First Division of the NineteenthCorps, and seven thousand men of the Sixteenth Corps, the one formingthe right and the other the left, resisted for hours the violent chargesof the rebels, and then advanced two miles, occupying the field ofbattle. The soldiers were victorious, but the General was beaten. A newretreat was ordered, and Mercury went totally to grief.
The obese Walker was last seen by loyal eyes on the night which followedthe barren triumph of Pleasant Hill. He had had his horse shot under himin the beginning of the fighting at Sabine Cross Roads, while in advanceof the column; had effected a masterly retreat, partly on foot andpartly on a Government mule which he took from a negro driver, who hadcut it loose from an entangled wagon; had fed himself abundantly fromthe havresacks of defunct rebels on the field of victory; and then hadheroically set to work to make the best of circumstances. Believingwith the confidence of his sanguine nature that the army would advancein the morning, he started on his mule, accompanied by two comrades ofthe Ring, for the house of a neighboring planter, to whom it is supposedthat he had advanced cash for cotton. No one knows to this day whatbecame of him, or of his funds, or investments, or fellow adventurers.All alike disappeared utterly and forever from the knowledge of theUnion army when the three rode into that night of blood and groansbeyond the flickering circle of light, thrown out by the camp fires.
The news of the calamity, we may suppose, nearly paralyzed Carter.Defalcation, trial by court-martial, disgraceful dismissal from theservice, hard labor at Tortugas, ball and chain, a beggared family, acrazed wife, must have made up a terrific spectre, advancing, close athand, unavoidable, pitiless. It would be a laborious task to analyze andfully conceive the feelings of such a man in such a position. Naturallyand with inexorable logic followed the second act of the moral tragedy.A deed which some men would call merely a blunder led straight toanother deed which all men would call a crime. He could not, as men havesometimes done, hope to annul his indebtedness by the simple commissionof murder. Irresistible necessity drove him (if our hypothetical tale iscorrect) into a species of wickedness which was probably more repugnantto his peculiarly educated conscience than the taking of human life.
Carter wanted, we will say, one hundred and ten thousand dollars to makehimself square with the United States and his private creditors. Lookingover the Government property for which he had receipted and wasresponsible, he found fifteen steamboats, formerly freight or passengerboats on the Mississippi and its branches, but now regular transports,part of them lying idly at the levee, the others engaged in carryingreinforcements to the army at Grande Ecore or in bringing back the sickand wounded. If ten of these boats were sold at an average of tenthousand dollars apiece and re-bought at an average of twenty-fivethousand dollars apiece, the transaction would furnish a profit of onehundred and fifty thousand dollars, which would settle all his debts,besides furnishing collusion-money. First, he wanted a nominalpurchaser, who had that sort of honor which is necessary among thieves,fortune enough to render the story of the purchase plausible, andcharacter enough to impose on the public. Carter went straight to a manof known fortune, born in New Orleans, high in social position, asecessionist who had taken the oath of allegiance. Mr. Hollister was asmall and thin gentleman, with sallow and hollow cheeks, black eyes,iron gray hair, mellow voice, composed and elegant manners. His air,notwithstanding his small size, was remarkably dignified, and hisexpression was so calm that it would have seemed benignant but for amost unhappy eye. It was startlingly black, with an agitated flicker init, like the flame of a candle blowing in the wind; it did not seem tobe pursuing any object without, but rather flying from some horriblethought within. What intrigue or crime or suffering it was the record ofit is not worth while to inquire. There had been many dark things doneor planned in Louisiana during the lifetime of Mr. Hollister. His agemust have been sixty-five, although the freshness of his brown morningsuit, the fineness and fit of his linen, the neat brush to his hair, theclean shave on his face, took ten years off his shoulders. As he dabbledin stocks and speculations, he had his office. He advanced to meet thechief quartermaster, shook hands with respectful cordiality, andconducted him to a chair with as much politeness as if he were a lady.
"You look pale, Colonel," he said. "Allow me to offer you a glass ofbrandy. Trying season, this last summer. There was a time when I neverthought of facing our climate all the year round."
Taking out of a cupboard one of the many bottles of choice old cognacwith which he had enriched his wine-cellar, before the million of formerdays had dwindled to the hundred thousand of to-day, he set it beside apitcher of ice-water and some glasses which stood on a table. TheColonel swallowed half a tumbler of pure brandy, and dashed some waterafter it. The broker mixed a weak sling, and sipped it to keep hisvisitor in countenance.
"Mr. Hollister," said Carter, "I hope I shall not offend you if I saythat I know you have suffered heavily by the war."
"I shall certainly not be offended. I am obliged to you for showing theslightest interest in my affairs."
"You have taken the oath of allegiance--haven't you?"
Mr. Hollister said "Yes," and bowed respectfully, as if saluting theUnited States Government.
"It is only fair that you should obtain remuneration for your losses."
The black eyes flashed a little under the iron-gray, bushy eyebrows, butthe sallow face showed no other sign of interest and none of impatience.
"I know of a transaction--an investment--" pursued Carter, "which willprobably enable you to pocket--to realize--perhaps twenty thousanddollars."
"I should be indebted to you for life. Whatever service I can render inreturn will be given with all my heart."
"It requires secrecy. May I ask you to pledge your word?"
"I pledge it, Colonel--my word of honor--as a Louisiana gentleman."
Carter drew a long breath, poured out another dose of brandy, partiallyraised it and then set it, down without drinking.
"There are ten river steamboats here," he went on--"ten transports whichare not wanted. I have received a message from headquarters to theeffect that we no longer need our present large force of transports. Thearmy will not retreat from Grande Ecore. It is sufficiently reinforcedto go to Shreveport. I am empowered to select eight of these transportsfor sale--you understand."
"Precisely," bowed Hollister. "If the army advances, of course it doesnot need transports."
As to the military information he neither believed nor disbelieved,knowing well that the Colonel would not honestly tell him anything ofconsequence on that score.
"Well, they will be sold," added Carter, after a pause, during which hevainly tried
to imagine some other method of covering his enormousdefalcation. "They will be sold at auction. They will probably bringnext to nothing. I propose that you be present to buy them."
The broker closed his eyes for a moment or two, and when he had openedthem he had made his calculations. He inferred that the United StatesGovernment was not to profit much by the transaction; that, in plainwords, it was to be cheated out of an amount of property more or lessconsiderable; and, being a Confederate at heart, he had no objection.
"Why not have a private sale?" he asked.
"It is contrary to the Regulations."
"Ah! Then it might be well not to have the auction made too public."
"I suppose so. Perhaps that can be arranged."
"I can arrange it, Colonel. If I may select the parties to be present,men of straw, you understand--the auction will wear a sufficient air ofpublicity, and will yet be substantially a private sale. All that iseasily enough managed, provided we first understand each otherthoroughly. Listen, if you please. The ten steamboats are worth, we willsay, an average of twenty-five thousand dollars, or two hundred andfifty thousand for the lot. If I buy them for an average of tenthousand, which is respectable----"
Here he looked gravely at Carter, and, seeing assent in his eyes,continued.
"If I buy them at an average of ten thousand, there will remain aprofit--in case of sale--of one hundred and fifty thousand. That is verywell--exceedingly well. Of course I should only demand a moderateproportion of so large a sum. But there are several other things to beconsidered. If I am to pay cash down, it will oblige me to borrowimmensely, and perhaps to realize at a loss by forcing sales of mystocks. In that case I should want--say a third--of the profit in orderto cover my risk and my losses, as well as my expenses in the way of--tobe plain--hush-money. If I can pay by giving my notes, and moreover canbe made sure of a purchaser before the notes mature, I can afford toundertake the job for one sixth of the profits, which I estimate to betwenty-five thousand dollars."
There was a flash of pleasure in Carter's eyes at discovering that thebroker was so moderate in his expectations. There was a similar glitterin the dark orbs of Hollister at seeing that the Colonel tacitlyaccepted his offer, from which he would have been willing to abate a fewthousands rather than lose the job.
"The boats will have to go before an Inspector before they can be sold,"said the Colonel, after a few moments of reverie, during which he drankoff his brandy.
"I hope he will be amenable to reason," said Hollister. "Perhaps he willneed a couple of thousands or so before he will be able to discover hisline of duty. It may answer if he is merely ignorant of steamboats."
"Of course he is. What can an army officer know about steam engines orhulls?"
"I will see that he is posted. I will see that he has entirelysatisfactory evidence concerning the worthless nature of the propertyfrom the captains, and engineers, and carpenters. That will require--saythree thousand--possibly twice that. I will advance the money for theseincidental expenses, and you will reimburse me one half when thetransaction is complete."
The Colonel looked up uneasily, and made no reply. He did not want tomake money out of the swindle: curiously enough he still had too muchconscience, too much honor, for that; but he must be sure of enough toclear off his defalcation.
"Well, we will see about that afterward," compromised Hollister. "I willpay these expenses and leave the question of reimbursement to you. Bythe way, what are the names of the boats? I know some of them."
"Queen of the South, Queen of the West, Pelican, Crescent City,Palmetto, Union, Father of Waters, Red River, Gulf State, andMassachusetts," repeated Carter, with a pause of recollection beforeeach title.
The broker laughed.
"I used to own three of them. I know them all, except the Massachusetts,which is a northern boat. All in running order?"
"Yes. Dirty, of course."
"Very well. Now permit me to make out a complete programme of thetransaction. The boats are recommended for the action of an Inspector. Isee to it that he receives sufficient evidence to prove theirunserviceable condition. It is ordered that they be sold at publicauction. I provide the persons who are to be present at the auction.These men--my agents--will purchase the boats at a net cost of onehundred thousand dollars, for which they will give my notes payable amonth from date. Within the month I am supposed to refit the boats andmake them serviceable, while the Government is certain to need them backagain. I then sell them to you--the purchasing agent of theGovernment--for a net sum of at least two hundred and fifty thousanddollars. I receive my notes back, and also a cash balance of one hundredand thirty thousand dollars, of which I only take thirty thousand,leaving the rest in your hands under a mutual pledge of confidence. Idesire to make one final suggestion, which I consider of greatimportance. It would be well if the boats, when re-bought, shouldaccidentally take fire and be destroyed, as it would prevent inspectionas to the amount which I might have expended in repairs. Colonel, isthat perfectly to your satisfaction?"
The unfortunate, unhappy, degraded officer and gentleman could onlyreply, "Yes."
Such is the supposed secret history of this scandalous stroke ofbusiness. It is only certain that the boats were inspected andcondemned; that at an auction, attended by a limited number ofrespectably dressed persons, they were sold for sums varying from sevento fifteen thousand dollars; that the amounts were all paid in the notesof L. M. Hollister, a well-known broker, and capitalist of supposedsecession proclivities; that within a month the transports wererepurchased by the Government at sums varying from fifteen to thirtythousand dollars; that thus a net profit of one hundred and fiftythousand dollars accrued to the said Hollister; and that three daysafter the sale the boats caught fire and burned to the water's edge. Ofcourse there was talk, perhaps unjustifiable; suspicions, which perhapshad no foundation in fact. But there was no investigation, possibly noserious cause for it, probably no chance for it.
Colonel Carter sent a square balance-sheet to the Quartermaster'sDepartment at Washington, and paid all his private debts in New Orleans.But he grew thin, looked anxious, or ostentatiously gay, and resumed tosome extent his habits of drinking. Once he terrified his wife byremaining out all night, explaining when he came home in the morningthat he had been up the river on pressing business. The truth is thatthe Colonel had got himself stone-blind drunk, and had slept himselfsober in a hotel.
Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty Page 33