The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-29
SAVANNAH GROCERY CO., DISTRIBUTORS.

upon the servants like red barbarians,
struggling, wrestling, the pals spilled
out upon the floors. 1t was who
settled the disorder, and I claim credit
as for a stratagem which on other
fields might have saved a battle.
caused the drnkables to be quietly
withdrawn to the lawn, beyond the first
hill and far to the south. Then from
a corner of the East Room I an
nounced the fact with a loud voice.
1t was as though my words bore
charm; in a twinkling the White
House proper approached desertion.
Folk decent and civilized might again
move about, and quiet ones have peace.
The mob never came back, for / made
it my duty that no lack of punch
should occur on the lawn; there the
uproarious remained and drank. and
at last-those who could walk-they
I drifted away, each OBVIOUSLY to his
! habitat, and something akin to quiet
( settled again about the caves and raft
ers of the mansion.
The General put in most of the next
/ day on a lounge, in nurse to Augustus,
J recovering from the ordeal. 1t all but
swept his life away as in a freshet.
However, he pulled through; and when
/ in the evening l went to ask about
! his condition. l found him with that
! little miniature of his wife I've spoken
! Oh, ana HeE IyIHIlr WUGIGWllIl he
made his daily church and said his
( prayers. What a soul would have been
/ his for cross-handles and chain-mail!
/ what q knight so dauntlesS among
men, and withal so loyal with all his
/ love to the dear lady of his heart. She
might die to others, but she would
never die to him. His love would each
night search her out among the stars.
And now we settled down to our
strange life. But since I used the
word, let me tell you in how short
period the strange becomes the COM
mon; for l had not been a week in
the White House, and in and out of
/ its great rooms, when all was as IA
miliar and friendly to me as though
1 had passed my days from boyhood
within the four walls of it,
The Generals family, beyond him
self and me, was made up of his
/ nephew, Donaldson, the latters wife,
and the portrait-maker, Earl; not an
extensive circle, truly, and one to be
two, as you shall presently hear.
We were still in process of that mild
wrangle with our new abode which
must ever precede a last adjustment,
when, like a clap of thunder from
sky without a cloud, the Generals
niece-she who was our Lady of the
White House-came upon him. There
lowered something formidable and
gloomy in the mien of the young wom-
an as she entered the room, and be-
cause no towering force of character
had distinguished her heretofore, this
cloudy something was the more to be
observed. I should have said, too, the
social lines were already being set for
and against our pretty Peg, and this
visit of the Generals niece was some-
what in the nature of blow from the
| enemy's side.
What is it, my dear?" asked the
General, glancing up from his CONVEX
sation with me.
Uncle" she said, much in the man.
ner of a starting which whistles a
tune that has been taught it, Uncle,
] am here to tell you that I can not
call upon Mrs. Eaton. I will receive
/ her, since this is your house, and you
| it's master. But call on her in re-
| turn, can not"
"Hoity toity!" quoth the General
land now where did you learn these
! bad manners?"
1T is my duty to myself, Uncle;
there is not a lady in Washington, be-
ginning with Mrs. Calhoun and going
down to the least among us, who will
call on Mrs. Eaton; therefore, 1 can
not call on her"
Then you might better go back to
Tennessee, my dear" said the Gen
eral.
And the niece and her husband went.
The word calhoun" had not how
ever, escaped the General 1t was for
ever cropping UP in manner and form
most sinister, that word Calhoun; and
in the entire crusade of venom waged
upon our Peg, it seemed on the lips
/ of every one with whom the exigencies
of the hour threw us into speech, from
the immortal Pigeon breast to the Cen
erals very niece.
30, .,.Iw- 4
! General, when his young relative had
retired in wrath to pack her trunks,
would appear to be headquarters for
the foe
The General said foe" and meant it;
for he was one whose eyes were in
his heart and saw ever his enemy in
the enemy of his friend.
! 1t was then l took occasion to lay
out to the General in particular, not
alone the plan of Calhoun to seize
the presidency; not alone his
leadership in that war of poll
tics then mastering forces over null
lification and a states right to secede.
and which in the next Congress gave
birth to the debates between Webster
and Hayne, but / went a step beyond,
and exhibited the hidden enmity of
Calhoun which was leveled at himself,
and had hunted his destruction as far
away as the Seminole campaign, when
0dAHOull WIS III MOHTOeS CdDlnet as
Secretary of War.
at is true" 1 declared; "at that
time your only friend was Monroe.
Calhoun in the secret councils of the
cabinet was warm to break your
sword"
How do you know that?" demand
ed the General, his eye making for
heat.
81 read it in a letter from Gov For
sythe to Col. Hamilton. If that be not
enough, 1 heard it from ex-President
Monroe himself, when last evening he
was with us here to dinner. Moreover
I was made aware of il two years ago
on my trip to the Mississippi"
"And why did l not hear of it be-
fore?"
You have learned it in ample time
for every interest you carry, whether
of your own or Pegs"
That is true" said the General
that is quite true" Then he unused
with Bonded brow. At last he burst
forth: II begin to see into the Cal
houn thoughts. He knows nv rule
which we agreed on before we left
! Nashville, that no member of my cab
met shall succeed me. That leaves him
but two rivals, Clay and Adams. for
Crawford can never run again. He has
three adherents in my cabinet through
whose aid he hopes to feather the nest
of his ambitions with patronage. He
would destroy Eaton with the thought
| of gaining fourth. Meanwhile he
will preside over the Senate, and con-