Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-03-17

pretenSionS than ltS humble neighborS.
1t was a great, square, stone building,
utterly without ornament, but roomy
and capacious, which never by any pos
sibility could have suggested home, but
which was large enough to promise
accommodation for host; and out of
its square, ugly gateway, a tall, spare,
middle-aged man was coming at a rapid
walk towards the advancing column.
"Howdy! Howdy!" cried one of the
cracker gentry, coolly offering a be-
grimed paw to Major Hopkins, a court
esy which that gentleman pretended not
to notice.
"Who is this person coming down the
hill?" the officer asked.
'Him's Squar' Dixon, him is. We
'uns dom take much stock in he-kyind
O. peart on his raisin', an thinks his
self better'n res o. u.s.
Squire Dixon. forthwith rose one
hundred per cent. in the Majors estima-
ton, good opinion, which was forti-
fed by his unaffected expression of
pleasure at the presence of Northern
troops, and his kindly offers of hospi-
tally.
81 am sorry lxyant house you all, :"
he said, heartily, but your officers will
find a welcome in my pore home, an
your men can take up their quarters in
the village church," proposition which
was gratefully accepted.
All went merry as q marriage-ben.
Considering the times, bountiful sup
per was done ample Justice to by the
grateful officers, who did not fail also
to appreciate box of excellent cigars
and an abundance of whisky, which,
though forced upon them with a gener-
GUS display of hospitality, they in
dulged in with moderation. The squire
proved himself an admiral BILE host, and
won golden opinions from his we'll
pleased guests. His was a peculiar
case, as he explained to them. Sent as
a boy to school in Massachusetts,, he
had acquired sentiments which were at
variance with the opinions of his neigh
bors, particularly as regards the ques-
ton of the abolition of slavery, of which
he approved and which, of course, had
made him a marked man in the COM
munity. When the war broke out,
though his sympathies had been entire
~ with the North, he had never dared
to declare them, though he was willing
now and at all times to sacrifice any
thing in reason to his conviction-any'
thing, in fact, short of beggaring his
family. Ills family? Oh, yes, he had
a wife and three daughters who were
now in Cincinnati, thank Heaven! be-
yond the reach of immediate danger
AS the Major said, when they reached
their chambers, Mr.. Dixon was alto
gcthcr a most interesting person.
Lieutenant Cuthbertson, of Charlie Full
tons company, was on guard duty: the
rest of the officers were assigned to a
suite of chambers side by side at the
back of the mansion overlooking a neg
lected garden. After a brief chat in
the Major RS room they retired to rest.
But Hopkins, though he had professed
fatigue, was not inclined to follow the
example of his subordinates: so instead
of throwing his weary limbs on the
tempting feather-bed he lit a cigar, put
out his lamp, and drew q chair up to
his chamber window. 1t was a brill
liant moonlight night, almost like day
in its semi-tropical clearness, and the
Major, who was a man of sentiment,
looked with unfeigned pleasure on the
pretty scene which met his gaze. In
front of him lay the garden and orchard,
and beyond, a rugged country road
winding up the side of a hill covered
with scrub, but whose top was crowned
with lofty forest trees, sharply defined
in the white moonlight
Could Frank Besant have followed
the current of the Majors wandering
thoughts, he would indeed have been
startled; for his meditations were on
the possibility of a man sincerely low
ing two women, with himself as an il
lustration of the problem, and one Of
the women, the true wife the sea had
robbed him of, the other-whom he
could only remember as a lovely school,
Cirl-the mother of his young friend
and subaltern. All, it was her face,
not his boys, that the lad had reminded
him of when he first noticed him on
board the ship going down to St. Louis.
pretty Mary Carter the Major
thought, 81 wonder what she is like now
wonder if she was happy with that fell
low Besant, who always seemed to me
a bit of a prig,-wondcr if"
But his dreams were cut short by his
noticing the figure of man creeping
stealthily across the orchard. He first
thought it was Charlie Fulton, but as
the fellow emerged from the shadows
into the moonlit road, he quickly saw
his mistake, and a moment after he
recognized the tall, spare figure of his
host. In an instant treachcry flashed
across his mind like an electric shock.
Surely Dixon had told him an hour ago
that he was so weary he could scarcely
keep his eyes open and would be in bed
in a few minutes: then what did this
midnight ramble mean? Snatching his
field-glass from it's case, he fixed his
eyes on an open bit of road he knew
the midnight prowler would shortly
reach.
Yes, there he was. A long, shrill
whistle like the call of a bird, and a
mounted man in Confederate uniform
rode up to him. They talked together
earnestly and negligently-negligently
because they thought themselves too
far away for observation, but they were
reckoning without the Majors power
full binoculars Then the trooper