The Irish standard., 1901-10-12
CHAPTER XII.

When Virginia seeded and her
young men rushed to the front, among
the first to seek 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 a 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
retary 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 modification 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. Tho
name "Holbin" had clung to the mem
ory 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-
tion to his principles, q 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 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
A far more dangerous enemy was hi,
mother, who numbered official ae
quaintances in Washington by the
scores, and who knew when anc
where to plant the deadliest blow
This woman, secure In her social posi-
tion, displaying by her own effort,
and the efforts of her stepdaughtel
in hospital work devotion to tn,
southern cause, was in secret fast bal
ancing accounts with Jefferson Davis
Friends of Raymond Holbin, for h,
still had q few, with the aid of hi
mother, secured him . bomb-proof po
sition with rank of captain; an.
there he stuck, with AL the time TO
plotting that might be demanded.
What seemed to Holbin an oppor
tunitg for sweeping revenge cam
very unexpectedly. Up to then he ha,
bssn but an instrument in the hand
Of his mother and that large circl
Of invisibles known to him VIII
sapped the strength of the oonfeder
acy. Their many interests precede
his. The opportunity came througl
Louise. He did not dare to disregsr
her card and responded instantly t
her implied command, armed wit,
his old secret and . virtuous indie
nation. He had almost forgotten he,
sl a. year before. when she had EufE
q .0iantly recovered from her illness t
psrmit Il, hs had sent her north. d.