Before the Dawn: A Story of the Fall of Richmond

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER XIII

  LUCIA'S FAREWELL

  Prescott has never forgotten that night, the long ride, the relief fromdanger, the silent woman by his side; and there was in all a keenenjoyment, of a kind deeper and more holy than he had ever known before.He had saved a woman, a woman whom he could admire, from a great danger;it was hers rather than his own that appealed to him, and he wasthankful. In her heart, too, was a devout gratitude and something more.

  The worthy Elias Gardner, slumbering so peacefully under his crates, wascompletely forgotten, and they two were alone with the universe. Theclouds by and by passed away and the heavens shone blue and cold; a goodmoon came out, and the white hills and forests, touched by it, flashednow and then with the gleam of silver. All the world was at peace; therewas no sign of war in the night nor in those snowy solitudes. Beforethem stretched the road, indicated by a long line of wheel tracks in thesnow, and behind them was nothing. Prescott, by and by, let the linesdrop on the edge of the wagon-bed, and the horses chose their own way,following with mere instinct the better path.

  He began now to see himself as he was, to understand the impulse thathad driven him on. Here by his side, her warm breath almost on his face,was the girl he had saved, but he took no advantage of time and place,infringing in no degree upon the respect due to every woman. He had comeeven this night believing her a spy, but now he held her as somethingholy.

  She spoke by and by of the gratitude she owed him, not in many words,but strong ones, showing how deeply she felt all she said, and he didnot seek to silence her, knowing the relief it would give her to speak.

  Presently she told him of herself. She came from that borderland betweenNorth and South which is of both though not wholly of either, but hersympathies from the first had turned to the North, not so much throughpersonal feeling, but because of a belief that it would be better forthe North to triumph. The armies had come, her uncle with whom she hadlived had fallen in battle, and their home was destroyed, by which armyshe did not know. Then she turned involuntarily to her nearest relative,Miss Grayson, in whose home she knew she would receive protection, andwho, she knew, too, would share her sympathies. So she had come toRichmond.

  She said nothing of the accusation, the affair of the papers, andPrescott longed to ask her again if she were guilty, and to hear her saythat she was not. He was not willing to believe her a spy, that shecould ever stoop to such an act; and here in the darkness with her byhis side, with only purity and truth in her eyes, he could not believeher one. But when she was away he knew that his doubts would return.Then he would ask himself if he had not been tricked and used by a womanas beautiful and clever as she was ruthless. Now he saw only her beautyand what seemed to him the truth of her eyes, and he swore againsilently and for the twentieth time that he would not leave her until hesaw her safe within the Northern lines. So little thought he then of hisown risks, and so willing a traitor was he, for a moment, and for thesake of one woman's eyes, to the cause that he served. But a traitoronly in seeming, and not in reality, he would have said of himself withtruth.

  "What do you intend to do now?" asked Prescott at last.

  "There is much in the trail of our army that I can do," she said. "Therewill be many wounded soon."

  "Yes, when the snow goes," said Prescott. "Doesn't it seem strange thatthe dead cold of winter alone should mean peace nowadays?"

  Both spoke solemnly. For the time the thought of war inspired Prescottwith the most poignant repulsion, since he was taking this girl to thearmy which he expected to fight.

  "There is one question which I should like to ask you," he said afterawhile.

  "What is it?"

  "Where were you hidden that day my friend Talbot searched for you and Ilooked on?"

  She glanced quickly up into his face, and her lips curved in theslightest smile. There was, too, a faint twinkle in her eye.

  "You have asked me for the second time the one question that I cannotanswer," she replied. "I am sorry to disappoint you, Captain Prescott,but ask me anything else and I think I can promise a reply. This one isa secret not mine to tell."

  Silence fell once more over them and the world about them. There was nonoise save the soft crush of the horses' feet in the snow and the crunchof the wagon wheels. The silvery glow of the moon still fell across thehills, and the trees stood motionless like white but kindly sentinels.

  Prescott by and by took his flask from his pocket.

  "Drink some of this," he said; "you must. The cold is insidious and youshould fend it off."

  So urged she drank a little, and then Prescott, stopping the horses,climbed back in the wagon-bed.

  "It would be strange," he said, "if our good farmer prepared for atwenty-mile drive without taking along something to eat."

  "And please see that he is comfortable," she said. "I know these are wartimes, but we are treating him hardly."

  Prescott laughed.

  "You shouldn't feel any remorse," he said. "Our worthy Elias was nevermore snug in his life. He's still sleeping as sweetly as a baby, and isas warm as a rabbit in its nest. Ah, here we are! Cold ham, light bread,and cold boiled eggs. I'll requisition them, but I'll pay him for them.It's a pity we can't feed the horses, too."

  He took a coin from his pocket and thrust it into that of the sleepingfarmer. Then he spread the food upon the seat of the wagon, and the twoate with hearty appetites due to the cold, their exertions and thefreedom from apprehension.

  Prescott had often eaten of more luxurious fare, but none that heenjoyed more than that frugal repast, in a lonely wagon on a cold anddark winter morning. Thrilled with a strange exhilaration, he jested andfound entertainment in everything, and the girl beside him began toshare his high spirits, though she said little, but laughed often at hisspeeches. Prescott never before had seen in her so much of femininegentleness, and it appealed to him, knowing how strong and masculine hercharacter could be at times. Now she left the initiative wholly to him,as if she had put herself in his hands and trusted him fully, obeyinghim, too, with a sweet humility that stirred the deeps of his nature.

  At last they finished the crumbs of the farmer's food and Prescottregretfully drove on.

  "The horses have had a good rest, too," he said, "and I've no doubt theyneeded it."

  The character of the night did not change, still the same splendid whitesilence, and just they two alone in the world.

  "We must be at least twenty miles from Richmond," said the girl.

  "I haven't measured the time," Prescott replied, "but it's an easyprogress. I am quite sure that if we keep on going long enough we'llarrive somewhere at last."

  "I think it likely," she said, smiling. "I wonder that we don't see anyhouses."

  "Virginia isn't the most densely peopled country in the world, and weare coming to a pretty sterile region that won't support much life inthe best of times."

  "Are we on doubtful ground?"

  "That or very near it."

  They passed at least one or two houses by the roadside, but they werelone and dark. No lean Virginia dogs howled at them and the solitaryand desolate character of the country did not abate.

  "Are you cold?" asked Prescott.

  "Not at all," she replied. "I have never in my life taken an easierjourney. It seems that fortune has been with us."

  "Fortune favours the good or ought to do so."

  "How long do you think it is until daylight?"

  "I don't know; an hour, I suppose; why bother about it?"

  Certainly Prescott was not troubling his head by trying to determine theexact distance to daylight, but he began to think for the first time ofhis journey's end. He must leave Miss Catherwood somewhere incomparative safety, and he must get back to Richmond, his absenceunnoted. These were problems which might well become vexing, and theexaltation of the moment could not prevent their recurrence. He stoppedthe wagon and took a look at the worthy Elias, who was slumbering aspeacefully as ever. "A sound conscience makes a sound sleeper," hequ
oted, and then he inspected the country.

  It was a little wilderness of hills and scrub forest, all lying underthe deep snow, and without sign of either human or animal life.

  "There is nothing to do but drive on," he said. "If I only dared to wakeour friend, the farmer, we might find out from him which way the nearestNorthern pickets lie."

  "You should let me go now, Captain Prescott, I beg you again."

  "Abandon you in this snowy waste! I claim to be an American gentleman,Miss Catherwood. But if we don't strike a promising lead soon I shallwaken our friend Elias, and he will have to point a way, whether he willor no."

  But that threat was saved as a last resort, and he drove quietly aroundthe curve of a hill. When they reached the other side, there was therapid crunch of hoofs in the snow, an abrupt command to halt, and theyfound themselves surrounded by a dozen troopers. Prescott recognized thefaded blue uniform and knew at once that he was in the midst of Yankeehorsemen. The girl beside him gave one start at the sudden apparitionand then became calm and impassive.

  "Who are you?" asked the leader of the horsemen, a lieutenant.

  "Elias Gardner of Wellsville," replied Prescott in a drawling, ruralvoice.

  "That tells nothing," said the Lieutenant.

  "It's my name, anyhow," replied Prescott coolly, "and if you don'tbelieve it, here's a pass they gave me when I went into Richmond with aload of produce."

  The Lieutenant read the paper by the moonlight and then handed it backto its temporary owner.

  "It's all right," he said; "but I want to know, Mr. Elias Gardner andMrs. Elias Gardner, what you mean by feeding the enemy."

  "I'd sell to you at the same price," replied Prescott.

  Some of the troopers were looking at the barrels and crates in thewagons to see if they were really empty, and Prescott was in dread lestthey come upon the sleeping farmer; but they desisted soon, satisfiedthat there was nothing left to eat.

  The Lieutenant cocked a shrewd eye on Prescott.

  "So you've been in Richmond, Mr. Farmer; how long were you there?" heasked.

  "Only a day."

  "Don't you think it funny, Mr. Farmer, that you should go so easily intoa town that armies of a hundred thousand men have been trying for morethan two years to enter and have failed?"

  "Maybe I showed better judgment," Prescott replied, unable to restrain agibe.

  The Lieutenant laughed.

  "Perhaps you are right," he said; "but we'll have Grant soon. Now, Mr.Gardner, you've been in Richmond, and I've no doubt you used your eyeswhile you were there, for you look to me like a keen, observant man. Isuspect that you could tell some interesting things about theirearthworks, forts and so forth."

  Prescott held up his hands in mock consternation.

  "I ain't no soldier," he replied in his drawling tone. "I wouldn't knowa fort if I saw one, and I never get near such things if I know it."

  "Then perhaps Mrs. Gardner took notice," continued the Lieutenant in awheedling tone. "Women are always observant."

  Miss Catherwood shook her head.

  "See here, you two," said the Lieutenant, "if you'll only tell me aboutthose fortifications I'll pay you more than you got for that load ofproduce."

  "We don't know anything," said Prescott; "ain't sure there are anyfortifications at all."

  "Confound it!" exclaimed the Lieutenant in a vexed tone, "a Northern mancan never get anything out of these Virginia farmers!"

  Prescott stared at him and grinned a little.

  "Go on!" said the Lieutenant, waving his hand in anger. "There's a campof ours a mile farther ahead. They'll stop you, and I only hope they'llget as much out of you as I have."

  Prescott gladly obeyed the command and the Northern horsemen gallopedoff, their hoof-beats making little noise in the snow. But as he droveon he turned his head slightly and watched them until they were out ofsight. When he was sure they were far away he stopped his own horses.

  "Will you wait here a moment in the wagon, Miss Catherwood, until I goto the top of the hill?" he asked.

  She nodded, and springing out, Prescott ran to the crest. There lookingover into the valley, he saw the camp of which the Lieutenant hadspoken, a cluster of tents and a ring of smoking fires with horsestethered beyond, the brief stopping place of perhaps five hundred men,as Prescott, with a practised eye, could quickly tell.

  He saw now the end of the difficulty, but he did not rejoice as he hadhoped.

  "Beyond this hill in the valley, and within plain view from the crest,is the camp of your friends, Miss Catherwood," he said. "Our journey isover. We need not take the wagon any farther, as it belongs to oursleeping friend, the farmer, but you can go on now to this Northerndetachment--a raiding party, I presume, but sure to treat you well. Ithank God that the time is not yet when a woman is not safe in the campof either North or South. Come!"

  She dismounted from the wagon and slowly they walked together to the topof the hill. Prescott pointed to the valley, where the fires glowedredly across the snow.

  "Here I leave you," he said.

  She looked up at him and the glow of the fires below was reflected inher eyes.

  "Shall we ever see each other again?" she asked.

  "That I cannot tell," he replied.

  She did not go on just yet, lingering there a little.

  "Captain Prescott," she asked, "why have you done so much for me?"

  "Upon my soul I do not know," he replied.

  She looked up in his face again, and he saw the red blood rising in hercheeks. Borne away by a mighty impulse, he bent over and kissed her, butshe, uttering a little cry, ran down the hill toward the Northern camp.

  He watched her until he saw her draw near the fires and men come forwardto meet her. Then he went back to the wagon and drove it into a sidepath among some trees, where he exchanged outer clothing again with thefarmer, awakening the amazed man directly afterward from his slumbers.Prescott offered no explanations, but soothed the honest man's naturalanger with a gold eagle, and, leaving him there, not three miles fromhis home, went back on foot.

  He slipped easily into Richmond the next night, and before morning wassleeping soundly in his own bed.