St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-08

field. IL have a message for Mr.. Davis
and wish to see him." was my instro
duction. "Sartainly, massa, sartainly
you can see Gle preseedunt," and with {
bow that would have done honor to old
Sir Roger, the coiored gentleman in
vited me to follow him to Mr.. Davis
working room. There was a light tai
of the
EBONY FINGERS
on the door. and, in tone as soft as i
was cordial, voice responded from the
inside: Come in" The waiter entered
the bearer of message, stood on the
outside. 'Invite him in, Miles. and
provide seat for the gentleman" was
what heard from the hallway, where ]
stood in the embarrassment and trepi
dation natural to youth at tht
thought of being ushered into the pres
ence of official dignity. But there was
something reassuring in the voice. sc
that was astonlshed at my own calm
ness and GOODNESS when l stood face to
face with the president of the Confed-
eracy and explained my mission. Mr..
Davis was seated at his desk, or wide
table, in what I suppose was the
library room of the house. I'm
mense files of papers and maps
were all around him, and it was
evident that he had been busy with
them. / saw before me a man of spare,
slender build, yet of good height
small boned and delicateiy constituted,
the features were regular and clear cut
but little inclined to sharpness. par
tlcularIy the nose and chin; the lips
were thin and compressed. showing de
termination, but it was those penetrat.
ing grey eyes shining out from under
heavy eyebrow surmounted by an III
tellectual forehead, which mirrored the
soul within the frail body. The only
beard that he wore at that time was a
little under-chin beard, such as Mr.
Lincoln used to wear, and which, like
the hair, had once been very dark, but
was now beginning to show the
SILVER THREADS.
The lines on the upturned face and
the pensive expression spoke plainly
enough of the care and the weighty re-
sponsibiIity which rested upon the
slender form of humanity before me.
l was quite young then, at the age most
susceptible to impressions, and the pic
ture photographed on MY mind at that
hour will never fade. l know very
well that the face | saw there, and see
now, will not be recognized as the face
of the dead man who lies in his coffin
to-day, deaf to the wailingS of
the multitudes who gather around
his bier. Time and misfortune
have wrought changes on those features
that | do not care to see. With the air
and method of business man, who is
accustomed to system in the execution
of details, Mr.. Davis received the pack
age from my hand and read it. while |
sat watching and studying the face that
/ wanted to store away in memory
vault. Two or three times he turned
back in his reading and reread pages
that he had gone over, as if to assure
himself of their contents and to more
fully comprehend their meaning. At
last the document was carefully refOlded
and replaced in the envelope and was
then tossed to one side. To this day
have not the remotest idea of the
CONTENTS OF THAT PACKAGE.
as no subsequent reference has ever
been made to it. When he had tossed
the paper aside Mr.. Davis turned
toward me and IN a kindly voice and
with an expression of good humor on
his face, asked me the number of my
regiment and to what brigade of cav
airy we were attached. L replied
promptly to his questions, but volun-
teered no information not asked for.
After looking at me for few moments
in quizzical sort of way. the keen
eve rapidly surveying me from top to
toe, he asked ''How old are you?' "Sev-
enteen last March," was my reply.
.'Well, well, our boys are all men," he
said, and then his face lightened with
glow of enthusiasm as he proceeded to
ring the praise of the soldiers of the
Confederacy. "No nation ever had
such an army as ours. Since the chiv-
airy of France gathered under the lead
ership of the peerless Bayard the world
has never witnessed such spectacle as
is to be seen right here in the guardian
forces who protect this city. The flow
err of the South under the leadership of
Lee! Let the world match it if it cam"
And it was in this strain he continued
to talk, and there is no telling how long
he would have kept it up, until con-
Guided that L
HAD TREsPAsSED
long enough on the affairs of state and
rose to depart. L had been a faithful
listener, nor had / forgotten the sub
stance Of all that was said. l imagined
that / detected look of disappointment
OIL his face when | offered an apology
for intruding so long upon his time and
proceeded TO bow myself out. Perhaps
/ had the swell-head after my contact
with dignity personifled and imagined