The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1869-12-01

To the Editor of the Missouri Republican
In the Fall of 1866, l was ordere'
to pay off regiment of Eastern troops
stationed at a small town in Kentucky
The regiment had been two years il
the service, and was greatly reduced il
numbers. The commander had estab
lished his headquarters in the forme
residence of wealthy planter, who, a
the approach of the Northern army
escaped with his negroessto Texas. :
Welcome, as paymastcrs always wer
in the army, ! was at once invited t
take up my quarters in one of the par
lors on the lower floor of the Colonel
headquarters, and to my great satisfac
ton | found a tolerably well tunet
piano in the room adjoining. l sent
message to the Coloners wife--he
husband being absent on inspection
aud asked her permission to use tn
instrument during my soJonln at thu
Mace. 1t was granted with grea
pleasure, and in less than fifteen min
utes my room was filed with shoulder
straps of every grade, from the lieu
tenant colonel to the sergeants and or
derlies. Even some ladies came in
and among them woman OF really
surprising beauty. She was, rs l was
soon informed, the colonel's wife. She
had joined her husband about FIVE OF
six weeks before, and told me she new
er felt as happy as in the field, and that
she would willingly engage to follow
the regiment through the whole cam
paign, if camp and garrison life were
always so agreeable as she had found
it there. She addressed me few fiat
tering words about the manner in
which performed, and exacted a pro-
mise that after supper l would make
the company dance. l had to consent,
for, although dancing music was not
precisely the genre in which l could
show my little ability to advantage,
the whole crowd seemed so hungry for
what they called military hop, that
refusal would have been more than
cruel. Supper was barely ended when
the younger officers entreated me to
redeem my promise, and the ball at
once commenced. The piano was
moved into corner, so that | was
seated with my back toward the wall,
whereby was enabled to look over
the whole room, and also through an
open door which led to the hall. The
coloncPs wife being the prettiest of all
the women, and, in fact, the only in
teresting one among them, / kept my
eyes constantly on her; moved, be
sides, by certain presentmcnt that
her great passion for this kind of life
might, perhaps, originate in one of
those dangerous EasOns to which a
young and beautiful woman is exposed
among host of INSCRIPTIONS and I'M
married army officers. But to my as
tonislmcnt | could not discover the
least movement in the conntenancc of
NY fair hostess which could have be-
trayed such guilt She danced with
all WHO engaged her, and no one could
pride himself on the least mark of pre-
fermcnt. Aud yet could not get rid
wrong with this woman.
Was it certain melancholy caste
of countenancc, or only one of those
sudden revelations which sometimes
permit a degree of insight into the
character Of one fellow being? conld
mt tell; suffice it that distrusted her.
All at once | was struck as by light
ming. Outside in the hall | saw IL pair
of glittering eyes, which seemed to
follow Mrs. Y. through all her move
ments and to drink her beauty by their
penetrating looks. The man whose
eyes now began to observe with I'M
divided attention was neither an Off
Ger. nor a soldier, nor white man.
lie was mulatto, but uncommonly
fine looking. The transmitting quail
ties of his white father, according to
the Darwin theory, must have been of
such n prominent character that the
traits of his dark mother were nearly
oblterated in him. He only presented
the yellow skin, the curled hair, and
some of the less offensive traits of the
African type. At first my hostess had
probably not observed the man in the
hall. But | could clearly see that
when her eyes met his flaming looks it
seemed as if her whole frame trembled
under his influence. When the waltz
was at an end, she would dance no
more, and soon retired. .H.
1t was midnight when the dancers
permitted me to quit playing, and
soon all was silent in the house. The
colonel had not vet returned when
had prepared my night toilet. l walk
ed up and down in my room for about
twenty minutes, and was just lying
down, when 1 heard knock at the
entrance door of the hall. Instructive
" | opened my door aud saw the mu-
latto gliding down stairs with n candle
in his hand like ghost, but when he
had reached the last step he commenc-
ed to tramp on the floor with certain
vehemence, as if he intended to deceive
any listener as to whence lie came be-
fore lie reached the front part of the
hall.
The colonel had arrived. The mu-
iatto showed him to his room, and |,
after having formed q great many ro-
mantle combinations about what had |
observed that evening, slept the sleep |
of thoroughly tired man.
pass over some days of nv soiourn
in that place. After having performed
my official work | took leave of the
Colonel, who had treated me with the
utmost courtesy during my stay at his
headquarters. The night before leav-
Ing took supper with him. He was
very atfable and courteous towards
myself and his wife; and yet it seemed
as IT heavy cloud rested on his brow,
He forced himself-so at least it seem
Ell to me-to talk of literature, and
quite abruptly he expressed his doubts
whether there was anything like his
Iorical reality at the bottom of Shakes
peates Moore of Venice. His wife