The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1901-05-02
CHAPTER XII

When Virginia seeded and her
young men rushed to the front, among
the first to seek a commission was
Raymond Holbin. This was in the
days when most people believed that
the military feature of secession
would prove little more than a grand
spectacular demonstration Gradu-
ates of West Point were at once in
great demand, and backed by the
Brookin influence Holbin was ap-
pointed a captain of infantry among
the state troops, no search of his rec
ord being at the time possible; but
when the state transferred her troops
to the confederate government, and
Holbin sought colonelcy, advancing
in support of his application the fact
that he had been an officer in the reg
ular army, the matchless memory of
the southern president recalled his
history. Jefferson Davis had been sec
rotary of war at the time the Holbin
court-martial was held, and the rec
ord coming before him for review, he
had promptly approved the sentence
of the court. A long struggle to Sc
cure a modifcat ton of the sentence
had followed-and in this struggle
many politicians had been arrayed by
Holbin's mother, but in vain. The
sentence stood; and these people new
er forgot the issues involved; the
Holbins hated jefferson Davis. The
name ''Holbin' had chung to the mem
DRY Of the hero Of Buena Vista; he
declined to appoint Raymond Holbin
or to commission him in any way to
command honorable men. The deci-
sion was in harmony with his devo-
ton to his principles, a devotion that
was destined to make him in the end
the most unfortunate of American
statesmen.
This new public reflection upon Hol-
bin filled him with an ungovernable
rage. Had safe opportunity offered,
he would not have hesitated to send
bullet through the heart of the man
who was responsible for it. Indeed,
he armed himself, and for many
months was convinced that he might
at any moment be dedicated to the
discharge of a patriotic duty. The
president Of the confederacy walked
daily in the presence of death, for
fanaticism and desperate men sur
rounded him. His safety lay in the
fact that he walked in the sunlight,
where the results Of an attack prom
ised never less than life for life. And
Raymond Holbin was not the man
to barter his away; he bided his time.
\ far more dangerous enemy was his
mother, who numbered official ac-
quaintances in Washington by the
scores. and who knew when and
where to plant the deadliest blow.
This woman, secure in her social posi-
ton, displaying by her own efforts
and the efforts of her stepdaughter
in hospital work devotion to the
southern cause, was in secret fast bal
ancing accounts with Jefferson Davis.
Friends of Raymond Holbn, for he
still had few, with the aid of his
mother, secured him bomb-proof po-
sition with a rank of captain; and
there he stuck, with all the time for
plotting that might be demanded.
What seemed to Holbin an oppor-
tunlty 1or a sweeping revenge came
very unexpectedly. Up to then he had
been but an instrument in the hands
OF his mother and that large circle
OF invisibles known to him who
Slapped the strength of the confeder-
acy. Their many interests preceded
his. The opportunity came through
Louise. He did not dare to disregard
her card and responded instantly to
her implied command, armed with
his old secret and a virtuous indig-
nation. He had almost forgotten her.
A year before, when she had suffi-
GENTLY recovered from her illness to
permit it, he had sent her north, de-
ceived by ''sacred' pledges, to new
hiding-place. The immediate opening
of hostilities had seemed to fix the
separation. It had never occurred to
him that she would make an effort
to cross the lines.