The Coward: A Novel of Society and the Field in 1863 Read online

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  THE COWARD.

  A Novel of Society and the Field in 1863.

  by

  HENRY MORFORD.

  Author of "Shoulder-Straps," "The Days of Shoddy," etc.

  Philadelphia:T. B. Peterson & Brothers,306 Chestnut Street.

  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, byT. B. Peterson & Brothers,In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the UnitedStates, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

  TO THE PATRIOT PRINTERS OF AMERICA-- THE MEN WHO HAVE FURNISHED MORE SOLDIERS THAN ANY OTHER CLASS IN COMPARISON WITH THE WHOLE NUMBER OF THEIR CRAFT, TO THE DEAD HEROES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION AND THE LIVING ARMIES THAT YET BULWARK ITS HOPE,-- THIS BLENDING OF THE FACTS AND FANCIES OF WAR-TIME, IS DEDICATED BY THEIR BROTHER-CRAFTSMAN,

  THE AUTHOR.

  _New York City, July, 1864._

  PREFACE.

  Some persons, taking up this work with expectations more or less elevated,may possibly lay it down with disappointment after perusal, because it doesnot discuss with sharp personalities, as the title may have led them tosuppose, the conduct of some of those well-known men connected with theUnion Army, who have disgracefully faltered on the field. But the truth isthat the Union Army has mustered very few cowards--so few, that adistinguished artist, not long ago called on to draw an ideal head of oneof that class, said: "Really it is so long since I have seen a coward, thatI scarcely know how to go about it!" The aim of the writer, eschewing allsuch tempting personalities, and quite as carefully avoiding all drydidactic discussion of the theme of courage and its opposite,--hasprincipally been to illustrate the tendency of many men to misunderstandtheir own characters in certain particulars, and the inevitable consequenceof their being misunderstood by the world, in one direction or the other.No apology is felt to be necessary for the length at which the scenery ofthe White Mountains, their actualities of interest and possibilities ofdanger, have been introduced into the narration; nor is it believed thatthe chain of connection with the great contest will be found the weakerbecause the glimpses given of it are somewhat more brief than in precedingpublications of the same series. In those portions the writer has againoccasion to acknowledge the assistance of the same capable hand whichsupplied much of the war data for both of his previous volumes.

  NEW YORK CITY, _July 1st, 1864._

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER I.

  A June Morning of Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-three--Glimpses of West Philadelphia--The Days before Gettysburgh--The Two on the Piazza--Margaret Hayley and Elsie Brand--An Embrace and a Difference--Foreshadowings of Carlton Brand, Brother and Lover 29

  CHAPTER II.

  The Coming of Carlton Brand--Almost a Paladin of Balaclava--Brother and Sister--A Spasm of Shame--The Confession--The Coward--How Margaret Hayley heard Many Words not intended for her--The Rupture and the Separation 45

  CHAPTER III.

  Kitty Hood and her School-house--Dick Compton going Soldiering--A Lover's Quarrel, a bit of Jealousy, and a Threat--How Dick Compton met his supposed Rival--An Encounter, Sudden Death, and Kitty Hood's terrible Discovery 61

  CHAPTER IV.

  The Residence of the Brands--Robert Brand and Dr. Pomeroy--Radical and Copperhead--A passage-at-arms that ended in a Quarrel--Elspeth Graeme the Housekeeper--The Shadow of Shame--Father and Daughter--The falling of a parent's Curse 81

  CHAPTER V.

  The Birth and Blood of the Brands--Pride that came down from the Crusades--Robert Brand as Soldier and Pension-Agent--How Elsie raved, and how the Father's Curse seemed to be answered--Dr. James Holton, and the loss of a Corpus Delicti 99

  CHAPTER VI.

  The Residence of Dr. Pomeroy--Nathan Bladesden and Eleanor Hill--A kneeling Woman and a rigid Quaker--The ruin that a Letter had wrought--A Parting that seemed eternal--Carlton Brand alive once more, and a Glance at the fatal Letter 120

  CHAPTER VII.

  A return to 1856--Nicholas Hill, Iron-merchant--His Death, his Daughter, and his Friend--How Dr. Pomeroy became a Guardian and how he Discharged that duty--A ruin and an awakening--The market value of Dunderhaven Stock in 1858 137

  CHAPTER VIII.

  What followed the revelation of Betrayal--A gleam of Hope for Eleanor Hill--A relative from California, a projected Voyage, and a Disappointment--One more Letter--The broken thread resumed--Carlton Brand's farewell, and an Elopement 164

  CHAPTER IX.

  Dr. Pomeroy's purposed Pursuit--A plain Quaker who used very plain Language--Almost a Fight--How Mrs. Burton Hayley consoled her Daughter, and how Margaret revealed the Past--A Compact--Dr. Pomeroy's Canine Adventure--Old Elspeth once more--A Search that found Nothing. 174

  CHAPTER X.

  Before and after Gettysburgh--The Apathy and Despair which preceded, and the Jubilation which followed--What Kitty Hood said after the Battle, and what Robert Brand--Brother and Sister--A guest at the Fifth Avenue Hotel--A fire-room Visit, an Interview, and a Departure for Europe 200

  CHAPTER XI.

  Anomalies of the War for the Union--The Watering-place rush of 1863--A White Mountain party disembarking at Littleton--Who filled the Concord coach--The Vanderlyns--Shoddy on its travels--Mr. Brooks Cunninghame and his Family--"H. T." and an Excitement 219

  CHAPTER XII.

  Landing at the Profile House--Halstead Rowan and Gymnastics--How that person saw Clara Vanderlyn and became a Rival of "H. T."--The Full Moon in the Notch--Trodden Toes, a Name, a Voice, and a Rencontre--Margaret Hayley and Capt. Hector Coles--The Old Man of the Mountain by Moonlight, and a Mystery 237

  CHAPTER XIII.

  Miss Clara Vanderlyn and her Pet Bears--A misadventure and a Friendly Hand in time--The question of Courage--Halstead Rowan and Mrs. Brooks Cunninghame on Geography--The Dead Washington, the Flume and the Pool--With the personal relations weaving at that juncture. 255

  CHAPTER XIV.

  A disaster to Master Brooks Brooks Cunninghame--Exit into the bottom of the Pool--Nobody that could swim, and Margaret Hayley in Excitement--"H. T." in his element, in two senses--Another Introduction and a new Hero--Scenes in the Profile parlor--Rowan and Clara Vanderlyn--The Insult 279

  CHAPTER XV.

  How Halstead Rowan arranged that expected Duel--Ten-pins versus bloodshed--Some anxiety about identity--The "H. T." initials, again--A farewell to the Brooks Cunninghames--An hour on Echo Lake, with a Rhapsody and a strangely-interested Listener 298

&nb
sp; CHAPTER XVI.

  Cloud and Storm at the Profile--Sights and Sensations of a rainy-day ride to the Crawford--Horace Townsend and Halstead Rowan once more together--Unexpected Arrivals--A cavalcade of Miserables--An ascent of Mount Washington, with Equestrianism and War-whoops extraordinary 323

  CHAPTER XVII.

  Horace Townsend with a Lady in charge--An adventure over the "Gulf of Mexico"--Clara Vanderlyn in deadly peril--A moment of horror--Halstead Rowan and a display of the Comanche riding--Townsend's eclipse--The return to the Crawford--Margaret Hayley again, and a Conversation overheard 348

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  Horace Townsend and Margaret Hayley--A strange Rencontre in the Parlor--Another Rencontre, equally strange but less pleasant--How Clara Vanderlyn faded away from the Mountains--And how the Comanche Rider "played baby" and disappeared 370

  CHAPTER XIX.

  A strange Character at breakfast--"The Rambler," and his Antecedents--What Horace Townsend heard about Fate--Going up to Pic-nic on Mount Willard--The Plateau, the Rope and the Swing--Spreading the Banquet--The dinner-call and a cry which answered it--A fearful situation. 392

  CHAPTER XX.

  Suspense in danger, in two Senses--Horace Townsend with a Swing-rope--An invitation to Captain Hector Coles--A fearful piece of Amateur Gymnastics--Going down into the Schute--Success or Failure?--The event, and Margaret Hayley's madness--Two unfortunate Declarations 410

  CHAPTER XXI.

  The bearer of a Disgraced Name in England--A strange Quest and a strange Unrest--Hurrying over to Ireland--Too late for the Packet--The little Despatch-steamer--Henry Fitzmaurice, the journalist--The peril of the Emerald, and the end of all Quests save one 432

  CHAPTER XXII.

  Pleasanton's advance on Culpeper--Crossing the Rappahannock--The fight and the calamity of Rawson's Cross-Roads--Taking of Culpeper--Pleasanton's Volunteer Aide--Townsend versus Coles--The meeting of Two who loved each other--And the Little Ride they took together 452

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  Once more at West Philadelphia--September and Change--Last glimpses of Kitty Hood and Dick Compton--Robert Brand and his invited Guest--The news of Death--Old Elspeth Graeme as a Seeress--The dispatch from Alexandria--The Quest of Brand and Margaret Hayley 478

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  In the Hospital at Alexandria--The wounded Man and his Nurse--Who was Horace Townsend?--A Mystery explained--How Eleanor Hill went back to Dr. Pomeroy's--One word more of the Comanche Rider--Conclusion 490

  THE COWARD.