The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-03-15

caught their first glimpse of them as they
went upon the stand. Gabriel was the
first to make his appearance, but he was
closely followed by the rest A tremen-
dous shout went up from the immense au-
dience, which was assembled in front of
the stand, and this was what the major
had arranged for. The shouts and cheers
of great assemblage were as music In
his ears. He comported himself with as
much pride as If all the applause were a
tribute to him.
When the applause had subsidized the
major made quite little speech, in which
he referred to the spirit of martyrdom
betrayed by the young patriots. who had
been seized and carried into captivity by
the strong hand of tyrannical govern
ment, and he managed to stir the crowd
to a great pitch of excitement He
brought his remarks to a close by intro
ducing his young friend, Gabriel Tolliver.
There was tremendous cheering at this,
and all of a sudden Gabriel woke up to
the fact that his name had been called,
and he looked around with a dazed ex-
preston on his face. He had been trying
to see If he could find the face of Nan
Darlington in the crowd, but so far he
had failed, and he woke out of dream
to hear a muIlitude of voices shouting his
name. why, what do they mean?" he
asked.
Get up there and face EN-" said Ma
ior Perdue.
Now. Nan was not so very far from
the stand, so close, indeed that she had
not been in Gabriers field of vision while
he was sitting down. but when he rose
to his feet she was the first person he
saw, and he observed that she was very
pale. In fact Nan had shrunk back when
the major announced that Gabriel would
speak for his fellow martyrs, and for q
moment or two she fairly hated the man.
She might not be very fond of Gabriel,
but she didn't want to see him made a
fool of before so many people.
Somehow or other, the young fellow
OWNED her thought, and he smiled in
| spite of himself He had no notion what
to say, but he had the gift of saving
something, very strongly developed In
him; and he knew the moment he saw
Mans scared face that he must acqut
himself with credit. So he looked at her
and smiled, and she tried to smile In re-
| turn. but 1t was a very pitiful little
smile. Gabriel walked to the small ta-
| BILE and leaned one hand on it. and his
composure was so reassuring to every
| body but Nan, that the cheering was re-
newed and kept up while the youngster
was trying to put his poor thoughts to-
| gether.
He began by thanking Major Perdue
| for his sympathetic remarks, and then
| proceeded to take sharp issue with the
whole spirit of the majors speech. using
| as the basis of his address an idea that
| had been put into his head by Judge Var
deman. The day before he left Malvern,
the judge had asked him this question:
why should a parcel of politicians turn
us against a government under which
we are compelled to live?'
This was the basis of Gabrieps re-.
marks. He elaborated it, and was per-
| haps the first person In the country to
ask If there was any confederate soldier
who had feelings of hatred against the
| soldiers of the union. He had not gone
| far before he had the audience com
pletely under his control. Almost every
statement he made was received with
| shouts of approval, and In some instances
the applause was such that he had time
to stand and gaze at Nan, whose color
| had returned, and who occasionally
| waved a little patch of lace bordered
muslin that she called a handkerchief.
She was almost frightened at Gabriels
composure. The last time she had seen
him. he was an awkward young man,
whose hands and feet were always in his
way. She felt that she was his superior
then; but how would she feel in the
presence of this grave, composed young
| man, who was dealing out advice to his
seniors right and left? She allowed her
thoughts to wander to such an extent
that she forgot the speech, and had her
mind recalled to 1t only when the frantic
screams of the audience split her ears,
and she saw Gabriel, flushed and tri-
umphant, returning to his seat Then the
real nature of his triumph dawned on
her, as she saw Meriweather Clopton
and all the others on the stand crowding
around Gabriel and shaking his hand.
She sat very quiet and subdued until she
felt someone touch her shoulder 1t was
Cephas, and he wanted to know what she
thought of it all. Wasn't it splendifer-
Gus?
Nan made no reply, but gave the little
lad a message for Gabriel. He edged
his way through the crowd. crawled upon
the stand, and pulled at Gabriers coat
tails. The great orator-that's what Ce-
phas thought he was-seized the little fell
low and Rugged him before all the crowd;
and Cephas has never had triumph OF
any kind that was quite equal to the
pride he felt while Gabriel held him In
his arms. The little fellow took this &C.
casion to deliver his message, which was
to the effect that Gabriel was to ride
home In the Darlington carriage with
Nan.