The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-05-24

Nv ship cleared for Llvcrpooi, ana
,r,S bourd for the Indies. In the cabin
had some dozen passengers, most OF whom
,rnra army officers who had been home OF
Lave of absence. Besides these | had .
xyiaow woman named LeCraud, and Aci
con whom she called Walter. Walter
Iorrand. was, according TO the register
fvr-and-twent years of age. lie was
very slight in his build, or, At least, ne
seemed - when compared with the Stou'
infantry officers who surrounded hlm ou'
tlera were no signs OF tccbleneSS about
rim He was OF medium height, and
smaller than the ordinary class OF men.
His hair was long and curly, and rs BLACK
os night. His eyes were large and full,
and burned like orbS OF hSht set IN JET
His countcnaucc was very pale, anu Tue
brow. which was much higher ana fuller
than i often seen, was strongly marked ny
the blue veins which stood boldly ont upon
i His features were cminently handsome
The nose prominent and straight, and the
Inns very thin aud colorleSS. Ills hands
were small and as delicate as babes. Ill,
whole appearance indicated the close, uu-
.yveryjuc student. and ! think he had the
leas, of the animal man in his phy>ioGnomy
NJ anv person whom ! have ever seen.
Mrs. Lcgraud must have been married very
Young. for she could not then he more thar
forty years OF age, and She was then a
beautiful As ever. \ more lovely woman
i seldom seen. Her hair was Of colder
hue, and her eyes seemed made Tor the
abode Of smiles and love, though ii wa,
NOW offener sad and d"wuca>t. Her hu>
-, Id, -
ont 10 settle his estate, she having an only
brother still there. Her husband Lad been
a colonel Of cavalry, and brave ana No.
nest man.
Mrs. Lcgrand had one female servant 10
accompany her, aud together they occu-
pied a small >tatc-room, which She had
fitted up, with my consent, a. her own eA-
pense.
We found Walter to he a very agreeable
companion. though be was reserved and
sedate. He could converse freely on sub
iects of general interest, and at times he
vas startlinglv eloquent. For one, | en-
loved his conversation very much, though
| sometimes noticed that some OF the mill
tary passengers were inclined 10 wear q
sheer upon their lips when he went deeply
into moral philosophy.
Matters passed on quite pleasantly for
several weeks. To uc sure IL times young
Legraud received treatment from one o.
two Of tue other passengers which J
thought meant insult, and which L should
have resented; bat he took no notice "i
it, aud So ] did not make myself uneasy
One man in particular seemed to dlSlih'
the youth. Il was an infantry captain
named Savage. He was protane, recN,
les, man, and he seemed TO hate Legr"uIg y
simply because ne was 50 unlike hlmSel'
Lrgrlud never laughed, or even shilleo' ~
any Of his prolane, vulgar Jokes, oH'' ~
the contrary. plainly showed by MS iooN>
that he did not like them. .,,,x,. ~
We had cleared the southern cap" "
Africa. and were standing up in'o tue ih'
d;., ocean One day at the dlnher-'"ol'
Can,ain Savage allowed hlmseli % oetolii'
- t,raf,n. than usual. Neither OF lll'
f.malas were present, and he launched on !,
= .''''~' -, of stories and IcstS Wulcl
wore ;p6acent in the extreme. Inc WIZ
W. ,',, 'nI freely, and his boon companions
Saar,ad 10 enjoy the sport hugely. SIEVE
~. - + ,eerand cast rcproFug glance
IA c ~. and the latter noticed 1t, but
a. S 1f becoming more decent, hc only
Ih s, ,he harder to diSpleaSc and ammo!
The ouict passenger.
'"J A length the infantry captain became
nntrageously protamc and vulgar thai
~ S,orand would stand il no longer, and
i-nicklv moving his chair back, he arost
I'm the table and moved towards tn
deck. c
"Come back here" shouted Savage.
M unT 1t.n Il
him.
"Come back, ] say
Legrand did not turn, but with stead
step he kept on, and went upon deck.
At length the officers finished their de
sert. and most Of them went on deck. IA
vare went up, and AS soon rs he saw lie
grand standing by the weather mizzen rig
ging he passed over.
"Mr. Legrand," he said, in highly
pompous tone, "why did you leave The
dinner-table "
"Simply because | wished to-" calml,
replied the young man.
"But why did you wish to leave -
"That is u question | choose not to an
swer."
"But choose that you shall"
'oN, j WOUlU dn>NNi d. w VIVA I'>@'''
if | thought il would benefit you any u
know; but ! fear You would not improve
upon il even were ! TO tell you"
"Allow me to be the judge. Tell me-
Since you are so urgent, will com
ply" returned Legrand, in tone per
fectly calm and pleasant. "The truth is
sir, your conduct aud speech were SO III
pleasant, that / suffered exceedingly, anC
80 chose to leave you with those were
better calculated to enjoy or put up viii
it."
"Ah," uttered the captain, while hi
cheek flushed and his lips trembled. &" AuC
may be SO bold as to inquire what par
Of my conduct you thought uubccoming .
gentleman %
"All Of il, sir"
DO you mean to say that | am not ,
gentleman %
have said no such thing; have sim
ply answered your own questions"
"But you have intimatcd that my con
duet was not gentlcmauly."
"Yos, sir; have plainly said so.''
"Ah now have it. | shall dcman,
satisfaction for that. You shall find, sir
that no one calls my character in questiQ
with impunity."
Then, my dear sir" said Legrand