The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-02-21

mighty arm, and now she looked up at him
| IN the bright moonlight with what seemed
to Bolton an expression of secret intelligence.
Camlion bent toward her and said something,
but in so low tone that Bolton did not
catch it. Miss Capel then turned to the
latter and demanded to know where her
brother was.
II came to escort you to him." was Bel
toms reply.
She allowed her hands lingeringly to leave
CamliOn's arm; they confronted each other
for moment, their eyes meeting.
Don't forget" she said to him at length,
almost in a whisper.
Il shall be there" he answered, lifting
his hat as he spoke.
After another pause she turned away from
him slowly and began to move toward the
college, quite ignoring Bolton, who never
theless walked beside her. He addrt ssed
several remarks to her, to which she vouch-
safed no answer whatever. At last, being
piqued, he said:
well, Miss Capel, hope you've enjoyed
your visit to Harvard, and the men you've
met here.'
81 have met only one man here" she re-
piled, facing him imperiously. And this
was all he got from her that evening.
Next morning Camlion was not at break
fas. but some hints of his adventure of the
previous evening had leaked out, and Bel
ton had to sustain good deal of chaff about
the manner in which he had been "cut
out" AS for Miss Capel, it was known
that she was staying with her brother and
father at the fremont house, in Boston. At
ter breakfast, curl )sity or idleness carried
me round to Camlion's rooms. I was sur
prised to find him hurriedly packing his
trunk, his usually healthy-looking counte-
| nance very pale and drawn. asked him
what was the matter.
"Pm going home," he said. 81 got tel
egram this Notwithstanding very bad
has happened to my father" muttered
my sympathy. Presently he resumed:
You were introduced toto Miss Capel,
| think? Will you see her before she goes,
and tell her-say | would have come if it
had been possible; and-I hope may see
| her again some day?"
| promised, wondering that l would do
| what he asked, and soon after babe him
! good-by. We did not meet again for some
| years. When l called on the Capels to de-
| liver his message, they were not in, and
did not have another opportunity of dis
| charging my commission. In the course of
few days the newspapers contained the
Information that, something having gone
wrong in the banking house of which Cam
| lions father was manager, the latter had
committed suicide.
by Jove," exclaimed Fred Bolton, when
ne neard Inc report, II almost wish 1t had
| been me! Dear old Camion!
| When Camlion and found ourselves to-
| gether again at the outbreak of the war, he
was much matured in appearance, though
his boyish gentleness and simplicity were
unchanged. l had heard, in vague way,
that he had devoted himself, not without
success, to paying off the liabilities which
his unhappy father had incurred But con-
tact with men and the world. and the hearty
preoccupation of his struggle to atone for
the sins of the dead, instead of embittering
him, had brought his strong nature into a
more cheerful frame, and his quiet geniality
made his companionship more than ever de-
lightful to me. But once, when / asked him,
half jocularly, whether he had no thou hts
of getting married, he looked at me very
gravely and answered, in his deep, straight
forward voice:
81 never met but one woman whom 1
could have married, and gave her up long
ago. Do you remember Miss Capel?''
This led to my telling how his message
had failed to reach her; and the intelligence
seemed to produce great effect upon him.
He murmured to himself several times
THAT may have been the reason,' and
thereafter became totally uncommuncative
on the subject. I do not know whether
Fred Bolton ever heard of this conversation;
but for my own part the stirring events that
were daily happening around us put it out
of my head.
As began by saying we were encamped
on the Rapidan river, just before that terri
BILE series of battles in the wilder ess which
ushered in the close of the rebellion. Mean-
while, there was an ominous quiet in our
neighborhood; the only exception being
rather annoying one in the shape of sharp
shooter on the confederate side of the river
(which was about three hundred yards
wide, who unerringly picked off anyone of
our men who ventured to show so much as
his elbow on the federal bank As he had
established himself opposite the only spot in
a couple of miles where it was practicable to
water our cattle. his presence was particu-
larry announcement; and we expended an ap-
parently disproportionate deal of trouble in
our efforts to dislodge him, but nothing had
any effect. AS i'll luck would have it, there
were no guns available at this point; and it
was in vain that we peppered the place
whence the deadly shots proceeded with our
rifles. Every day several valuable men we're
lost, until at last the question, what was to
be done, became serious and pressing one.
The unknown marksman was never known
to miss; and all that any of us ever saw of
him was the puff of smoke from the muzzle
of his weapon.
tent Il was surgeon to our company in a
state of such manifest discomposure that at
first thought either the colo ell had been
killed or the mysterious sharpshooter cap
tured. 1t turned out to be quite another
matter, however.
''What do you think?" he began in an ex-
cited undertone. "Whose house do YOU
suppose is mile off there on our left?' |
And without giving me time to hazard a
guess he went on: "The Capels' as sure as |
vu sit there. And whom do you suppose | |
saw? Miss Rosalind herself, as I'm living
sinner. She rode up on horseback Just as / |
was palavering at the front door for proven
der. BY Jove, she's more divinely hand
some than ever A I'D, oh my wig, didn't |
she give me rating, though! Wheww
"What did she scold you about?" demand |
ed /, amused,
''For being Virginian, and fighting on
the northern side. 1 tell you, she made me |
feel like born sneak and blackguard. A |
little more, and l believe I should have |
rated again, and joined the Johnny Rebs. |
If | were man. she said, I would make it |
my business to catch such creatures as you,
and hang your It's my opinion that if
few hundred women like her were to enlist |
on the rebs side we should be thrashed out |
of our boots in month. But luckily there's |
not another woman like her on the planet"
You'd better look out or she'll make a
conquest of you in more ways than one,n
said laughing. "Bv the way, this news
would interest Camlion. Does he know?''
mo; and don't mean to tell him. re-
turned Bolton, rather sharply; and after sit
ting few minutes longer he got up and left |
me in, apparently, no very good humor.
That same evening, however, he appeared |
again, this time in preoccupied mood, and |
with his pipe in his mouth. The converse |
ton presently turned upon the ever-active
sharp-shooter, and after few remarks had |
passed Bolton suddenly exclaimed:
I've made up my mind to kill that fell |
low, and I've thought of way how it may |
be done. guess I'm as good a shot as he |
is, and if can get sight of so much as |
square inch of him, he's settledp He then |
went on to unfold to me his scheme. which |
appeared feasible, though there were GER
tain obstacles in the way. After we had
discussed it for while, he said: do YOU
know why want to shoot him?'
From patriotic motives, trust" was nv |
reply.
THAT'S very well, so far as it goes; but
there's something else. I believe l know
who he is-or what he is, at all events. l |
believe he's the man whom Rosalind Capel |
means to marry. From something she said |
to-day I'm certain she knows him, and that |
there's something more than ordinary be-
tween them. And l don't intend that she |
shall marry him if can helm IT'D