The Bondwoman Part 48

She a.s.sumed a droll air of serious contemplation for an instant, and then replied, in one word:

"Propose."

"I'll do it," he decided; "ah, you are a jewel of a woman to give a man courage! I'll lay siege to her before I'm an hour older. Judge, isn't it you would lend a boy a hand in a love affair? I'm bewitched by one of the fair daughters of the South you are so proud of; I find I am madly jealous of every other lad who leads her onto the dancing floor this night, but every one of them has dollars where I have dimes," and he sighed like a furnace and glanced from one to the other with a comical look of distress; "so is it any wonder I need all the bracing up my friends can give me?"

"My dear sir," said the Judge, genially, "our girls are not mercenary.

You are a gentleman, so need fear comparison with none! You have an active brain, a high degree of intelligence, a profession through which you may win both wealth and honors for the lady in question--so why procrastinate?"

"Judge, you are a trump! With you to back me up with that list of advantages, I'll dare the fates."

"I am your obedient servant, sir. I like your enthusiasm--your determination to put the question to the test. I approve of early marriages, myself; procrastination and long engagements are a mistake, sir--a mistake!"

"They are," agreed Delaven, with a decision suggestive of long experience in such matters. "Faith, you two are life preservers to me.

I feel light as a cork with one of you on each side--though it was doleful enough I was ten minutes ago! You see, Judge, the lady who is to decide my fate has valued your friendship and advice so long that I count on you--I really do, now, and if you'd just say a good word to her--"

"A word! My dear sir, my entire vocabulary is at your service in an affair of the heart." The Judge beamed on Delaven and bowed to Madame Caron as though including her in the circle where Love's sceptre is ever potent.

"Faith, when America becomes a monarchy, I'll vote for you to be king," and Delaven grasped the hand of the Judge and shook it heartily; "and if you can only convince Mrs. McVeigh that I am all your fancy has pictured me, I'll be the happiest man in Carolina tonight."

"What!" Judge Clarkson dropped his hand as though it had burned him, and fairly glared at the self-confessed lover.

"I would that!--the happiest man in Carolina, barring none," said the reckless Irishman, so alive with his own hopes that he failed to perceive the consternation in the face of the Judge; but Judithe saw it, and, divining the cause, laughed softly, while Delaven continued: "You see, Judge, Mrs. McVeigh will listen to you and--"

"Young man!" began Clarkson, austerely, but at that moment the lady in question appeared on the veranda and waved her fan to Delaven.

"Doctor, as a dancing man your presence in the house would be most welcome," she said, coming slowly down the steps towards them.

"Madame, both my feet and my heart are at your disposal," he said, hastening to meet her, and pa.s.sing on to find some unpartnered damsels she suggested.

"What a charming young man he is," remarked their hostess, "and exceedingly skillful in his profession for so young a physician. Don't you consider him very bright, Judge?"

"I, Madame--I?" and Judithe retired, convulsed at the situation; "on my word, I wouldn't trust him to doctor a sick cat!" Mrs. McVeigh looked astonished at the intensity of his words and was fairly puzzled to see Judithe laughing on the seat under the tree.

"Why, Judge! I'm actually surprised! He is most highly esteemed professionally, and in Paris--"

"Pardon me, but I presume his hair was the same color in Paris that it is here," said the Judge, coldly, "and I have never in my life known a red-headed man who had any sense, or--"

"Oh!" Mrs. McVeigh glanced slowly from the Judge to Judithe and then smiled; "I remember one exception, Judge, for before your hair became white it was--well, auburn, at least."

The Judge ran his fingers through the bushy curls referred to. The man usually so eloquent and ready of speech, was checkmated. He could only stammer something about exceptions to rules, and finally said:

"You will probably remember, however, that my hair was very dark--a dark red, in fact, a--a--brown red."

Judithe, to hide her amus.e.m.e.nt, had moved around to the other side of the tree circled by the rustic seat. Her hostess turned one appealing glance towards her, unseen by the Judge, who had forgotten all but the one woman before him.

"No matter if he had hair all colors of the rainbow he is not worthy of you, Madame," he blurted out, and Mrs. McVeigh took a step away from him in dismay; in all her knowledge of Judge Clarkson, she had never seen him show quite so intense a dislike for any one.

"Why, Judge! What is the matter tonight?" she asked, in despair. "You mean Dr. Delaven; not worthy of me?"

"He aspires to your hand," blurted out the Judge, angrily. "Such an ambition is a worthy one; it is one I myself have cherished for years, but you must confess I had the courage to ask your hand in person."

"Yes, Judge; but--"

"This fellow, on the contrary, has had the affrontery to come to me--to me! with the request that I use my influence in negotiating a matrimonial alliance with you!"

Mrs. McVeigh stared at him a moment, and then frankly laughed; she suspected it was some joke planned by Evilena. But the indignation of the Judge was no joke.

"Well, Judge, when I contemplate a matrimonial alliance, I can a.s.sure you that no one's influence would have quite so much weight as your own;" she had ascended the steps and was laughing; at the top she leaned over and added, "no matter who you employ your eloquence for, Judge;" and with that parting shot she disappeared into the hall, leaving him in puzzled doubt as to her meaning. But the question did not require much consideration. The remembrance of the smile helped clear it up wonderfully. He clasped his hands under his coat tails, threw back his shoulders, walked the length of the veranda and back with head very erect. He was a very fine figure of a man.

"The Irishman's case is quashed," he said, nodding emphatically and confidentially to the oleander bush; "the fact that a woman, and that woman a widow, remembers the color of the plaintiff's hair for twenty years, should convince the said plaintiff if he is a man possessed of a legal mind, that his case is still on the calendar. I'll go and ask for the next dance."

He had scarcely reached the steps when Judithe saw a flutter of white where the shadows were heaviest under the dense green shrubbery.

She glanced about her; no one was in hearing. The veranda, for the instant, was deserted, and past the windows the dancers were moving. The music of stringed instruments and of laughter floated out to her. She saw Masterson in the hallway; he was watching Monroe. She saw Kenneth McVeigh speaking to his mother and glancing around inquiringly; was he looking for her? She realized that her moments alone now would be brief, and she moved swiftly under the trees to where the signal had been made. A man had been lying there flat to the ground. He arose as she approached, and she saw he was dressed in Confederate uniform, and that he wore no beard--it was Pierson.

"Why did you leave the place without seeing me again?" she demanded.

"This suspense seems to me entirely unnecessary."

"It was the best I could do, Madame," he answered, hurriedly.

"Masterson, unknown to the McVeighs, had spies within hearing of every word between us, and to write was too great a risk. His man followed me beyond the second fortification."

"And you eluded him?"

"No; I left him," answered Pierson, grimly. "I wore his uniform back--he did not need it."

Judithe drew a deep, shuddering breath, but made no comment. "Give me the contents of the destroyed despatch," was all she said.

"McVeigh received official notification of promotion today. Important instructions were included as to the movements of his brigade. These instructions must be received by us tonight in order to learn their plans for this wing of the army."

"And you depend on me?"

"No other way to secure them quickly, but some of our men have been landed north of Beaufort. They are under cover in the swamp and cane brakes awaiting your commands--so if it can't be done quietly there is another way--a raid for any purpose you may suggest, and incidentally these instructions would be among the souvenirs from this especial plantation."

"Colonel McVeigh only remains over tomorrow night. Suppose I succeed, how shall I communicate with you or with the detachment of Federals?"

"I will return tonight after the house is quiet. I shall be in sight of the balcony. You could drop them from there; or, if you have any better plan of your own I will act on it."

She could see Kenneth on the veranda, and knew he was looking for her.

The moments were precious now; she had to think quick.

"It may not be possible to secure them tonight; the time is so short; and if not I can only suggest that the commander of the landed troops send a detachment tomorrow, capture Colonel McVeigh and Captain Masterson, and get the papers at the same time. There are also official doc.u.ments in McVeigh's possession relating to the English commissions for additions to the Confederate Navy. I must go; they are looking for me. You can trust a black man here called Pluto--but do not forget that a detachment of Confederates came today to the fortifications below here, don't let our men clash with them; good bye; make no mistake."

She moved away as she spoke, and the man dropped back unseen into the shadows as she went smilingly forward to meet the lover, whose downfall she was debating with such cool judgment.

And the lover came to meet her with ardent blue eyes aglow.

"Have you fled to the shadows to avoid us all?" he demanded, and then as he slipped her hand through his arm and looked down in her face, he asked, more tenderly, "or may I think you only left the crowd to think over my audacity."

She gave him one fleeting, upward glance, half inviting, half reproving--it would help concentrate his attention until the man in the shadows was beyond all danger of discovery.