The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-12-31

mourning to the victors. The killed
aud wounded were so few that the face
of sorrow scarcely showed itself amid
the general dare of glorification.
The de Sezannes's mansion was
thrown open late i'll January for a
grand reception to General Jackson
and his officers. All the world was
there, as the creoles expressed it, and,
next to the grim commander himself,
Fairfax, who was able to attend as the
only wounded soldier present, was the
hero of the occasion, especially in the
eyes of the ladies.
"Ah, if I could have been touched
with shot!" exclaimed Lieutenant
Ballanche, as he joined the group that
had gathered around the pale yet radi-
| antly happy young man. .
"But then we should not have had
the pleasure of being rescued by you, "
said Pauline.
"Oh, that was tame affair on my
part"
"Tame, indeedi" remarked Made
moiselle de Sezannes. "You do not
appreciate romance"
"But I do, mademoiselle; only the
romance did not make me q 'Inan OF
note. I nm horribly jealous Of Fair
fax"
"And here must sit, like a cat on
q rug, while you dance with all these
charming ones, said Fairfax. cit is
I who lose most if accounts are prop.
erly squared"
Mr.. Vernon was present, passing
among the thronging guests, his stal.
wart form and his massive head dis.
tiuguishing him az one cast in no COM
mon mold. He appeared to have
grown older, and the expression of his
face suggested some inward reserve OF
gloom, albeit he smiled and conversed
with much OF his accustomed stately
vivacity. To him General Jackson
showed more marked respect than to
any other person in the house.
"You will not think me neglectful
of your gallant husbands inestimable
services to me and the country, mad.
ame," said the general to Mrs. Liv.
ingston, "h I say frankly that I owe
more to Mr.. Vernon than to any man
in nay army"
"You may trust me not to mis-.
understand you, general" replied
that lady, with frank earnest
ness. "Mr. Vernon has al.
ways been q mau of remarkable
influence and executive power. My
husband has often relied upon him,
and never without avail, in matters
apparently beyond hope. But dc
you know" and she lowered her
voice, "that he is wholly mysterious?'
"Yes; I confess that he is the only
man that I ever met whose motives
and whose character I could not even
guess at"
cit is comforting to hear You say
so; it confirms me in my romance. "
She smiled reminiscently and then
added: II have always imagined that
some great secret was locked in his
breast"
cit is the secret Of greatness ham
pered by some controlling fate," said
Jackson, half in seriousness, perhaps,
but guided by his chivalrous impulse
to assist Mrs. Livingston in her ro-
mantle notion.
"Do you know that his word is law
with the forbans and outlaws?" she
suddenly inquired. my husband
says that he controls them perfectly"
General Jackson looked at her,
and then, without replying, masked
his face in an expression of impene-
trable reserve. He knew that Liv-
ingston himself had been accused Of
standing close in with the Ls6ttes
and other noted lsw-breakers, and
doubtless he feared that the wife of
his friend might 20 too far with her
disclosures. Long siterward, in his
old age, he remarked to friend in
Nashville that, at the time he was
commanding at New Orleans, society
there knew no line of division be-
tween gentlemen and robbers. "But,"
he added, "the gentlemen were gen.
tlemsn; the robbers, patriots; and
the women were charming; they were
angels, sir-angels!"
The people thronging the de Sc
| zannes mansion were, indeed, drawn
! together without regard for fitness as
We now view it, and little did certain
| of them dream that the great battle
| ever which they were rejoicing had
rung the note Of change and reform;
that the flash of those guns had
kindled the fire Of destruction under
the very foundations OF outlawry.
It is true that Mulrell organized
his band of robbers and thieves in
| Mississippi and held them together
for some years; but in New Orleans.
as if by q wave of a hand, when MIR.
| Vernon withdrew his influence, the
Chats -Huants disappeared, and the
power of the Lafttes was broken for
| ever.
The de Sezannes reception was the
last notable social event under the old
regime. After that, there followed
/ lol b