GREEN 
 
 AMELIAEBARE
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 " THEY RESTED ON THE BENCHES, AND MADE LITTLE CONFIDENCES, 
 AND WERE VERY HAPPY."
 
 The Belle of 
 Bowling Green 
 
 By AMELIA E. BARR 
 
 Author of " The Bow of Orange Ribbon ; " "The 
 Maid of Maiden Lane," Etc. 
 
 With Illustrations 
 By WALTER H. EVERETT 
 
 A. L. BURT COMPANY, ^ * * 
 & * PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
 
 Copyright, 1904, 
 
 BY 
 
 DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 
 
 Published, Octobet 
 
 PRINTED IN NEW YORK, U. S A
 
 To My Friend 
 
 WARREN SNYDER 
 
 A Bookman and a Lo<uer of Books 
 
 This Novel is Dedicated 
 
 -4 Ctf^^C^if^f^ 
 
 1U57U6O
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER FAGS 
 
 I MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS ... 3 
 
 II THE SPRING OF LIFE 30 
 
 III A SWEETNESS MORE DESIRED THAN SPRING ... 61 
 
 IV INTRODUCES MB. ST. ANGE 81 
 
 V A CHAIN OF CAUSES 115 
 
 VI THE MIRACLE OF LOVE , 149 
 
 VII THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE .,. ... ... 194 
 
 VIII THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 226 
 
 IX THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 252 
 
 X THE STAR OF PEACE 296 
 
 XI AFTERWARD ,.. 321
 
 Prologue 
 
 O shades of respectable Vans! 
 
 O Livingstons, Kennedys, Jays! 
 Lend me your names to conjure with, 
 And bring back the fine old days 
 When the trade and wealth of the city 
 
 Lay snugly the rivers between, 
 And the homes of its merchant princes, 
 Were built round the Bowling Green. 
 
 Here's to the homes that are past! 
 Here's to the men that have been ! 
 Here's to the heart of New York, 
 That beats on the Bowling Green ! 
 
 Here's to the men who could meet 
 
 Mockers and doubters, with smiles; 
 And planning for centuries hence, 
 
 Lay out their city by miles. 
 It has spread far out to the North, 
 
 It has spread to the East and the West, 
 Though the men who saw it in dreams, 
 Now sleep ia old Trinity's breast. 
 
 Here's to the homes that are past! 
 Here's to the men that have been ! 
 Here's to the heart of New York, 
 That beats on the Bowling Green !
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 And here's to the maids of the past! 
 
 (They were beautiful maids we know,) 
 That strolled in the Battery Park, 
 In the years of the Long Ago. 
 And though maids of to-day are fair, 
 
 (No lovelier ever have been) 
 They are proud to be called by the names 
 Of the Belles of the Bowling Green. 
 Here's to the men of the past! 
 
 Here's to the maids that have been ! 
 Here's to the heart of New York, 
 That beats on the Bowling Green !
 
 The Belle of Bowling Green
 
 r ?!** I'Pf" """'' ~- ' lpri 
 
 CHAPTER 
 ONE 
 
 Monday's Daughters 
 
 E 
 
 city has some locality to which its 
 heroic and civic memories especially clingj^ ' 
 and this locality in the city of New York is 
 the historic acre of the Bowling Green. 
 With that spot it has been throughout its 
 existence, in some way or other, unfailingly linked; and its 
 mingled story of camp and court and domestic life ought to 
 make the Bowling Green to the citizens of New York all 
 that the Palladium was to the citizens of ancient Troy. For 
 as the Palladium held in one hand a pike, and in the other 
 hand a distaff and spindle, so also, the story of the Bowling 
 Green is one of the pike and the distaff. It has felt the 
 tread of fighting men, and the light feet of happy maidens; 
 and though showing a front of cannon, has lain for nearly 
 three centuries at the open seaward door of the city, like a 
 green hearthstone of welcome. 
 
 In the closing years of the eighteenth, and the early years 
 of the nineteenth century, the Bowling Green was in a large 
 measure surrounded by the stately homes of the most honour 
 able and wealthy citizens; and though this class, before the 
 war of 1812, had began to move slowly northward, it was
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 CO<S^^*SS<^==>000<S^3>OMI<^IS>6CO<5S5>OCOS23>CO-^S='tCO<:^s>eMI<^I=!<^S5<-=;:rs'<K10 
 
 some years later a very aristocratic quarter, especially fa 
 voured by the rich families of Dutch extraction, who, having 
 dwelt for many generations somewhere around the Fort and 
 the Bowling Green, were not easily induced to relinquish 
 their homes in a locality so familiar and so dear to them. 
 
 Thus for nearly one hundred and forty years there had 
 been Bloommaerts living in the old Beaver Path, and in 
 Bloommaert's Valley, or Broad Street, and when Judge Ge- 
 rardus Bloommaert, in 1790, built himself a handsome dwell 
 ing, he desired no finer site for it than the Bowling Green. 
 It was a lofty, roomy house of red brick, without extraneous 
 ornament, but realising in its interior arrangements and fur 
 nishings the highest ideals of household comfort and elegance. 
 
 Sapphira, his only daughter, a girl of eighteen years old, 
 was, however, its chief charm and attraction. No painting 
 on all its walls could rival her living beauty; and many a 
 young citizen found the road to the Custom House the road 
 of his desire. For was there not always the hope that he 
 might catch a glimpse of the lovely Sapphira at the window 
 of her home? Or meet her walking on the Mall, or the 
 Battery, and perhaps, if very fortunate, get a smile or a word 
 from her in passing. 
 
 All knew that they could give themselves good reasons for 
 their devotions; they did not bow to an unworthy idol. 
 Sapphira Bloommaert had to perfection every mystery and 
 beauty of the flesh dark, lambent eyes, hardly more lambent 
 than the luminous face lighted up by the spirit behind it; 
 
 4
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 nut-brown hair, with brows and long eyelashes of a still 
 darker shade; a vivid complexion; an exquisite mouth; a 
 tall, erect, slender form with a rather proud carriage, and 
 movements that were naturally of superb dignity: " the airs 
 of a queen," as her cousin Annette said. But Sapphira had 
 no consciousness in this attitude ; it was as natural as breath 
 ing to her ; and was the result of a perfectly harmonious phys 
 ical and moral beauty, developed under circumstances of 
 love and happiness. All her life days had been full of con 
 tent ; she looked as if she had been born smiling. 
 
 This was exactly what her grandmother Bloommaert 
 said to her one morning, and that with some irritation; for 
 the elder woman was anxious about many people and many 
 things, and Sapphira's expression of pleasant contentment 
 was not the kind of sympathy that worry finds soothing. 
 
 " In trouble is the city, Sapphira, and over that bit of hair- 
 work you sit smiling, as if in Paradise we were. I think, 
 indeed, you were born smiling." 
 
 "The time of tears is not yet, grandmother; when it 
 comes, I shall weep like other women." 
 
 " Weep ! Yes, yes ; but one thing remember deliver 
 ance comes never through tears. Look at Cornelia Des- 
 brosses ; dying she is, with her own tears poisoned." 
 
 " I am sorry for Cornelia ; I wish that she had no cause 
 to weep," and with these words she did not smile. It had 
 suddenly struck her that perhaps it was not right or kind to 
 be happy when there was so much fear and anxiety in her na- 
 
 5
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 tive city. The idea was new and painful ; she rose and went 
 with it to the solitude of her own room; and her mother 
 after silently watching her exit, said : 
 
 " She is so gentle, so easily moved was it worth 
 while?" 
 
 "You think so? Give Sapphira a motive strong enough, 
 and so firm she will be so impossible to move. Oh, yes, 
 Carlita, I know ! " 
 
 " Indeed, mother, she obeys as readily as a little child. 
 Our will is her will. She bends to it just like the leaves of 
 that tree to the wind." 
 
 " Very good ! but there may come a day when to your will 
 she will not bend; when a rod of finely tempered steel will 
 be more pliant in your hand than her wish or will. We shall 
 see. She is a very child yet, but times are coming are 
 come that will turn children quickly into men and women. 
 Our Gerardus, where is he? " 
 
 " He left home rather earlier than usual. He was sure 
 there was important news." Mrs. Bloommaert spoke coldly. 
 Her mother-in-law always set her temper on edge with the 
 claim vibrating through the two words " our Gerardus." 
 " There is so much talk and nothing comes of it but annoy 
 ance to ourselves," she continued, " the cry has been war for 
 five years. It comes not." 
 
 " It is here. At the street corners I saw the bill-man past 
 ing up news of it. In every one's mouth I heard it. Alive 
 was the air with the word war; and standing in groups, men 
 
 6
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 were talking together in that passion of anger that means 
 war, war, and nothing but war." 
 
 " The blood of New York is always boiling, mother. 
 When Gerardus comes he will tell us if it be war. I shall 
 not be sorry if it is. When one has been waiting for a blow 
 five long years, it is a relief to have it fall. Who is to 
 blame? The administration, or the people? " 
 
 "As well may you ask whether it is the riddle, or the 
 fiddlestick, that makes the tune." 
 
 "At any rate we shall give England a good fight. Our 
 men are not cowards." 
 
 " Carlita, all men would be cowards if they durst." 
 
 "Mother!" 
 
 " If they durst disobey the nobler instincts which make 
 the lower ones face their duty." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 " Carlita, you have no ideas about humanity." 
 
 " I think mother I, at least, understand my husband and 
 sons as for Sapphira - " 
 
 " More difficult she will be and more interesting. Peter 
 and Christopher are all Dutch ; they that run may read them, 
 but in Sapphira the Dutch and French are discreetly mingled. 
 She has tithed your French ancestors, Carlita take good 
 heed of her." 
 
 " They were of noble strain." 
 
 " Surely, that is well known. Now I must go home, for I 
 know that Annette is already afraid, and there is the dinner 
 
 7
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 to order. Pigeons do not fly into the mouth ready roasted, 
 and Commenia is getting old. She is lazy, too; but so! 
 The year goes round and somehow we do not find it all 
 bad." 
 
 As she finished speaking, Sapphira came hastily into the 
 room. Her face was flushed, her eyes flashing, and she cried 
 out with unrestrained emotion: "Mother! Mother! We 
 must put out our flags! All the houses on the Green are 
 flagged! Kouba has them ready. He will help me. And 
 you too, mother ? Certainly you will help ? Kouba says we 
 are going to fight England again ! I am so proud ! I am so 
 happy ! Come, come, mother ! " 
 
 " My dear one, wait a little. Your father will be here 
 soon, and " 
 
 "Oh, no, no! Father may be in court. He is likely with 
 the mayor. Perhaps he is talking to the people. We can 
 not wait. We must put out the flags the old one that has 
 seen battle, and the new one that is to see it." 
 
 " But Sapphira " 
 
 " I have the flags ready, mother. Come quickly," and 
 without further parley she ran with fleet, headlong steps to 
 the upper rooms of the house. Madame, her grandmother, 
 smiled knowingly at her daughter-in-law. 
 
 " The will that is your will? " she asked; " where is it? 
 You can see for yourself, Carlita." 
 
 " The news seems to be true at last. You had better wait 
 for Gerardus, mother. He will tell us all about it."
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 " The news will find me out in Nassau Street." 
 " Commenia can manage without you for one day." 
 " There are strawberries to preserve. I like to manage my 
 affairs myself. I have my own way, and some other way 
 does not please me." 
 
 " Well, then, I shall go to Sapphira. My hands are itch 
 ing for the flags. I am sure you understand, mother." 
 
 " Understand ! If it comes to that, I made up my mind 
 many years ago about those English tyrants and I have not 
 to make it over. I think about them and their ways exactly 
 as I did when I sent my dear Peter with Joris Van Heem- 
 skirk's troops to fight them. Gerardus was but a boy then 
 ten years old only but he cried to go with his father. God 
 be with us! Wives and mothers don't forget, O wee! 
 O wee! " 
 
 Her voice softened, she looked wistfully backward and, 
 with outstretched hand, waved her daughter-in-law upstairs. 
 Then she opened for herself the wide, front entrance. The 
 door was heavy, but it swung easily to her firm grip. 
 And yet she was in the seventy-fourth year of her life 
 days. 
 
 With a slow but imperious step she took the road to her 
 own home. She was not afraid of the crowd, nor of the en 
 thusiasm that moved it. At every turn she was recognised 
 and saluted, for Madame Bloommaert was part and parcel 
 of the honour of the city, and her bright, handsome face with 
 its coal-black eyes and eyebrows, and snow-white hair lying 
 
 9
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 like mist upon its brown temples, was a familiar sight to old 
 and young. She was rather small of stature, but so disdain 
 fully erect that she gave the impression of being a tall 
 woman an illusion aided by the buoyancy of her temper and 
 the definite character of her movements. 
 
 Her home was on lower Nassau Street between Beaver 
 and Marketfield. It had been her residence for fifty years, 
 and was as perfectly Dutch as herself in its character. 
 Nothing in the street, however, was more interesting than 
 this human habitation. It appeared to have created for 
 itself a sort of soul, so instinct with personality was it. A 
 large garden surrounded it, though its space had been slowly 
 curtailed as land in the vicinity became valuable; yet there 
 was still room enough for some fine shrubbery, a little grass 
 plot, beds of flowers, strawberry and other vines, and the 
 deep, cool well, with its antique shed full of bright pewter 
 dishes. 
 
 The house itself was of red brick, mellow and warm, and 
 soft to the eyes with the rains and sunshine of half a century ; 
 and nothing could be finer than its front, sending up sharp 
 points to the sky, with a little boat weathercock on the tallest 
 point boxing about in the wind. Over the wide casements a 
 sweetbrier climbed, and nodded its tiny flower ; and the ver 
 anda, cunningly carved along the bottom railing in an open 
 leaf pattern, was a perfect bower of Virginia creeper. 
 
 She opened the garden gate, and its mingled perfumes made 
 her sigh with pleasure. Such boxwood borders, such gay, 
 
 10
 
 sweet flowers, such brick walks laid in zig-zag pattern, and 
 shaded by elm and maple trees are not to be found in New 
 York city now, but to madame they were only the beautiful 
 frame of her daily life. She cast her eyes down to see if 
 the walk had been swept, and then looked up at the house 
 as if it were a friend. The flag she loved, the flag under 
 which her young husband had died fighting for liberty, was 
 floating from her window. She stood still and gazed at it. 
 Without words it spoke to her, and without words she an 
 swered its claim. In a moment she had accepted whatever of 
 trial or triumph it might bring her. 
 
 She went forward more hastily, but, ere she reached the 
 entrance, a very pretty girl came running to meet her. 
 "Have you heard the news, grandmother?" she cried. 
 "Are you not very happy? What did Sapphira say? And 
 Aunt Carlita? and uncle? and all of them? " 
 
 Madame was unable to answer her questions. She clasped 
 her hand firmly, and went with her into the house. Straight 
 to the main living room she went, an apartment in which the 
 dearest portion of her household gods were enshrined : mas 
 sive silver services on a richly carved sideboard ; semi-lucent 
 china in the corner cupboard ; three pictures of Teniers that 
 one of her husband's ancestors had bought from the hands of 
 the great painter himself; and chairs of antique workman 
 ship that had crossed the ocean with Samuel Bloommaert in 
 1629 when he bought Zwanendael, the Valley of the Swans. 
 The wide, open fireplace of this room was in itself a picture. 
 
 II
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 The deep cavity at the back and the abutting jambs were 
 coloured a vivid scarlet, with a wash made from iron dust; 
 the hearthstone was white as snow with pipeclay, and in front 
 of the heavy brass irons was a tall blue and white jar with 
 dragons for handles, holding a bunch of red roses, mingled 
 with green asparagus branches. The broad chimney piece 
 above this home picture had also its distinctive charm. It 
 shone with silver candlesticks, their snuffers, and little trays. 
 It kept the silver posset pan that had made the baby's food 
 half a century ago ; the christening cups of her son Gerardus 
 and her daughter Elsie; and two beautiful lacquered tea- 
 caddies from India and China. 
 
 Opposite the fireplace, at the end of the room, there was a 
 long table black with age and heavy with Nuremburg carv 
 ing ; but it was on a small round one which stood by an open 
 window that a dinner service for two persons was very 
 prettily laid. Madame sat down in a chair near it, anc 
 Annette took off her scarf and bonnet and long gloves, and 
 chattered volubly as she did so : 
 
 " I know you would like our flag to be out as soon as the 
 rest, grandmother, and the Yates' flag was flying, and the 
 Vanderlyns'.and I had hard work to get ours flying before the 
 Moores' and the Rivingtons'. I thought the whole city had 
 gone mad, and I sent Mink and Bass to find the reason out. 
 They stopped so long ! and when they came br.ck, they said it 
 was because we are going to fight England again. How men 
 do love to fight, grandmother ! " 
 
 12
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 " When for their liberty and their homes men fight they 
 do well, do they not? " 
 
 " If you had heard Peter Smith talking to a little crowd 
 at our very gate, you would think men found the reason for 
 their existence in a gun or a sword. He said we should whip 
 England in about six weeks, and - " 
 
 " Thr.t is enough, Annette. The sort of rubbish that 
 Peter talks and simpletons believe I know. We shall win our 
 fight, no doubt of that; but in six weeks! No, it may as 
 likely t.t six years." 
 
 " Grandmother ! Six years ! And will there be no balls, 
 and suppers, and no lovers for six years ? Of course, all the 
 young men who are to be noticed will prefer fighting to any 
 thing else; and what shall I do for a lover, grandmother? " 
 
 " There is always Jose Westervelt." 
 
 " He will not do at all. He is too troublesome. He 
 thinks I ought not to dance with any one but him; actually 
 he objects to my speaking to some people, or even looking at 
 them. It is too uncomfortable. I do not like tyranny no 
 American girl does." 
 
 " So you rebelled. But then, do you expect to catch fish 
 without wetting yourself? " 
 
 " It has been done." She was putting on her grand 
 mother's feet the cloth slippers she usually wore in the house, 
 and as she rose she perceived with a smile the delicious odour 
 of the roasted pigeons which a negro slave was just bringing 
 to the table. 
 
 13
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " I told Commenia to roast them, grandmother. I knew 
 you would want something nice when you got back." 
 
 " Before the fire did she roast them? " 
 
 " Yes on skewers, and basted them with fresh butter. 
 I found enough peas on the vines, and I pulled and shelled 
 them myself, for it was next to impossible to keep the blacks 
 off the streets." 
 
 '' Thank you, dear one." 
 
 " I liave had such a happy year, grandmother, and now, I 
 suppose, all our gaieties will be ended." 
 
 "Come, come, there will be more gaieties than ever. I am 
 sure that the Battery will be put in fighting trim; then the 
 Bowling Green, with soldiers, will be alive. What will fol 
 low? Drills and parades, and what not; and in all the 
 houses round about the Green the women will make idols 
 of the men in uniform. And to be sure they will show their 
 adoration by meat offerings and drink offerings ; ceremonies, 
 Annette, which generally end in dancing and love-making." 
 
 " You notice everything, grandmother." 
 
 " I have been young and now I am old ; but love never 
 gets a day older. What love was in the beginning, he is now, 
 and ever shall be. These pigeons are very good. You said 
 you had some at the Radcliffes' yesterday what kind of a 
 dinner did they give? " 
 
 " It was a good dinner, but not a dinner to be asked out to ; 
 you and I often have a better one and there was no dancing, 
 only cards and games and Jose Westervelt." 
 
 14
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 " Poor Jose! " 
 
 " Grandmother, he is so magisterial. He sets up his 
 opinions as if they were a golden image; and I am not the 
 girl to fall down before them." 
 
 " He is a distinguished mathematician already." 
 
 "And looks it : besides he knows no more of dancing than 
 a Hindoo knows of skating. Also, since he came back from 
 England, he is so cold and positive in his views, and so stiff 
 and rigid in his London-made clothes, that I cannot endure 
 him. Did you see Sapphira, grandmother? " 
 
 " Yes. With some hair work she was busy a finger ring, 
 or brooch or some such trifle. There will be other work soon, 
 I think. In the last war we had to make all our own cloth 
 ing and most of our household necessities. The last war! 
 Oh, Annette, dear one, I lost everything in the last war ! " 
 
 " But you are now a rich woman, grandmother." 
 
 " I mean not that. I lost your grandfather; he was every 
 thing to me. There was money, yes; and there was prop 
 erty; but all in a bad way then. Now; well, it is a little 
 different." 
 
 " However did you manage? " 
 
 " I worked and hoped and helped myself and others, and 
 left the rest to God. While I slept He made things to grow 
 and prosper. And when this war is over we shall have 
 settled our standing among the nations beyond all dispute, 
 and New York will stride forward as if she wore the seven- 
 leagued boots." 
 
 15
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Then, grandmother, you will build a fine house past 
 Trinity Church a good deal past it perhaps half a mile, 
 or even a mile, and we shall have a carriage of our own and 
 be among the quality." 
 
 " I shall never leave this house, Annette. But I tell you, 
 my dear one you shall go to Washington every season. If 
 your uncle and aunt Bloommaert go there, that will be suffi 
 cient; if not, I have friends who will see to it. Sapphira 
 grows wonderfully handsome." 
 
 "And I, grandmother? " 
 
 " You have your own beauty. You need not to envy any 
 one. Now I am tired and I will go to my room. I want to 
 take some better counsel than my own." 
 
 " May I not go to see Sapphira, grandmother? I want 
 to see her very much." 
 
 " You may not go to-day. Listen ; the constant tramp of 
 feet and the noise of men shouting and gathering grows 
 louder. Stay in your home." 
 
 " It is very tiresome ! Men are always quarrelling about 
 something. What is the use of governments if they can't 
 prevent war? Any one can settle a quarrel by fighting over 
 it. I do not see what good fighting does. The drums 
 parading round will give us headaches, and the men will go 
 swaggering from one day to another after them. I am in a 
 passion at President Madison just too when summer is here, 
 and we were going to the Springs, and I was sure to have had 
 an enchanting time." 
 
 16
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 " Thou little good-for-nothing! Hold thy foolish tongue! 
 If our men are going to fight it is for thy liberty and thy 
 honour and thy happiness. Sit still an hour and think of 
 that." 
 
 She shut the door when she had spoken these words, and 
 then went, a little wearily, upstairs ; but it any one had seen 
 her half an hour afterwards sitting with closed eyes and 
 clasped hands asleep in the large chair that stood by her bed 
 side, they would have said, " She has been satisfied." For 
 though she looked much older when asleep, her face then 
 showed nothing but that sacred peace and refinement which 
 comes only through a constant idea of God's care and 
 presence. 
 
 Annette stood still until she heard her grandmother's door 
 close; then, after a moment or two of indecision, she took 
 from under the sofa-cushion a book, and stood it up before 
 her with a comical air of judgment. 
 
 " It is all your fault, you unlucky ' Children of The Ab 
 bey,' " she said sternly. " If I had been able to get rid of 
 you, I should have gone with grandmother to Uncle Gerard's 
 house this morning; and, considering the news, we should 
 certainly have remained there all day. And as grandmother 
 says, ' if the pot boils, it always boils over on the Bowling 
 Green.' I ought to have been where I could see and hear all 
 that was going on. I think Sapphira might have sent for 
 me! People are so selfish, and affairs always work so con 
 trary. If I try to be unselfish nothing good comes of it to 
 
 17
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 me; and if I am reasonably selfish then I am sure to suffer 
 for it. Grandfather de Vries is right ; whenever I go to see 
 him, he always mumbles to me: 'see now, love others well, but 
 thyself most of all.' Grandfather de Vries is a wise man 
 every one says so and he tells me to love myself best of all. 
 Well, I shall have no company this afternoon but these silly 
 ' Children of The Abbey.' They are as distractingly absurd 
 as they can be, but I want to know whether they get married 
 or not." 
 
 She sought this information with great apparent interest, 
 yet ever as she turned the fascinating leaves, she let the book 
 drop down a minute while she wondered " what was going 
 on on the Bowling Green." For she had that keen impres 
 sion of " something missed " which frequently and mockingly 
 informs a person in whom selfishness is ingrained, uncon 
 scious, hereditary. 
 
 And her premonition was more than true. Her uncle at 
 that very hour was standing on the topmost step of the flight 
 leading to his house door, and there was a crowd of young 
 men before him a crowd drunk with its own passionate en 
 thusiasm who would not be satisfied until he had spoken. 
 His wife and his daughter stood at his right hand, and at his 
 left his son Christopher held aloft the torn and stained colours 
 that had floated above " Bloommaert's Men " through the 
 heroic days of the War for Independence. Shout after shout 
 greeted his appearance, and when there was a moment's 
 pause, a beautiful youth stepped forward and called out: 
 
 18
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 " Speak to us, judge. It is your words we are waiting 
 for." His hat was in his hand, and his bare head, crowned 
 with close, clustering curls, was lifted to the judge. For 
 one moment his eyes sought out Sapphira, and she caught the 
 glance, and it went to her heart like a ray of sunshine. Yet 
 it was into her father's face she smiled as she gently touched 
 his arm. Then he spoke as if a burning coal had been laid 
 on his lips, and the very air felt as if set on fire by his words : 
 
 " My neighbours, and my fellow citizens ! " he cried, " I 
 have hitherto been bitterly against this war with England; 
 but now, I am for it. With all my heart and soul, with all 
 my body, with every shilling of my estate I am for it. I 
 have always been a true and consistent Federalist. But now, 
 there are no Federalists! there are no Republicans! We 
 are all Americans! Dutch and English and French and 
 Scotch, all are to-day Americans ! America is the mother of 
 us all. She has nursed us at her breast. She has made us 
 free from all ancient tyrannies. She has given us homes 
 and wives and children, filled our granaries with the finest of 
 the wheat, and set before us the commerce of the whole earth. 
 Shall we not love her? Shall we not defend her when she is 
 insulted and wronged and threatened ? " 
 
 A roar of enthusiastic assent answered these questions. 
 
 "If we must fight we will strike no soft blows in battle. 
 We will give our enemy and the whole world this lesson 
 that no foreign warships can safely come blustering and pil 
 laging our coasts. New York is to be defended, and New 
 
 19
 
 Yorkers are the men to defend their native city. Will you 
 doit?" 
 
 He was answered by a shout of affirmation. 
 
 "To the last gun?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "To the last man?" 
 
 "Yes! Yes! You will stand with us, Bloommaert ? " 
 
 " Living or dead I will stand with you." Then he took 
 reverently in his hands the faded glorious rag that Christo 
 pher Bloommaert held. 
 
 " Look," he said, in a voice as tender as a woman's 
 " look at the flag that never waved over a coward, the flag 
 to which we lifted our eyes when all was dark, and saw vic 
 tory in its stars. It is a flag made for free men ; will you ever 
 let England ever let any enemy take it from you ? " 
 
 "We will die for it!" 
 
 " No, you will live for it ! You will carry it from vic 
 tory to victory and fly it in the face of all the world the flag 
 of a free country the flag of men that will have nothing 
 else, and nothing less than absolute liberty and absolute 
 independence." As he spoke these words he lifted the old 
 banner to his lips, and then held it out to the people. 
 
 It was an act of allegiance that embraced every soul pres 
 ent, and was followed by a moment of silence that throbbed 
 with emotion; then the young man who had spoken for the 
 company looked expressively at his comrades, and they turned 
 northward to the city, their hearts burning with a steady 
 
 20
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 fervour of loyalty, and their faces full of that dauntless hope 
 which of its own energy fulfils itself. Quiet they could not 
 long be, and when they reached the upper end of the Bowling 
 Green, they began to sing; softly at first, but gradually 
 gathering into a rattling vocal melody, the fiery passion of 
 loyalty that filled their hearts: 
 
 " Here's to the Squire who goes to parade ! 
 
 Here's to the citizen soldier! 
 Here's to the merchant who fights for his trade 
 
 Whom danger increasing makes bolder. 
 Here's to the lawyer, who leaving his bar 
 
 Hastens where honour doth lead, Sir, 
 Changing his gown for the ensigns of war, 
 The cause of his country to plead, Sir! 
 Freedom appears, 
 Every heart cheers, 
 And calls for the help of the brave Volunteers." 
 
 They sang the verse to the gay inspiring music of its old 
 English song, and then gave lustily the cheers it called for. 
 Their echo floated into the Bloommaert house, where the 
 family were sitting down to their belated dinner; for this 
 commonplace event was eagerly accepted as a relief. To eat 
 and to drink, that would mean help and remission, and they 
 had felt until feeling had become prostrating and oppressive. 
 
 Christopher made the first remark, and this was to quote 
 the last line of the song, " Calls for the help of the brave 
 Volunteers," asking after a short pause, " Is it not so, 
 father?" 
 
 21
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 DOO4^^39<=SS0==2CCfl<SS>()00<^3(ia^3>CO<^=>00<:^s>COO-i=s=>OCO<S!=s>C!5K-'_->:;^-.i;- CO 
 
 " Yes, Christopher. I suppose you will sail soon? " 
 
 "As soon as my new ship is ready. Peter is hurrying it 
 forward. I am impatient to be off." 
 
 " Have you seen Peter to-day? " asked his mother. 
 
 " I saw him, but he was far too busy to talk. The ham 
 mers ring in his ship-yard from the first streak of dawn to the 
 last glint of daylight. And now the demand for ships will 
 be doubled." 
 
 " We shall want soldiers as well as sailors, Christopher," 
 said the judge. 
 
 " That is true, father, and they will not be to beg nor to 
 seek. This is a cause that knocks at every man's door. 
 Leonard Murray is only one of many rich young men who are 
 raising companies at their own expense." 
 
 " Then it was Leonard Murray with those men who were 
 here an hour ago," said Mrs. Bloommaert. " I felt sure of 
 it ; but how much he has changed." 
 
 " In some ways, yes; in general he is just the same good 
 fellow he has ever been. I had a few words with him early 
 this morning, and he asked me to give his respectful remem 
 brance to you and to Sapphira." 
 
 " It is four or five years since I saw him ; where has he 
 been?" 
 
 " He was at Yale nearly two years; then he went with a 
 party as far west as the Mississippi, and down the river to 
 New Orleans. He was staying with the Edward Liv 
 ingstons until the rumours of war became so positive that he 
 
 22
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 could not doubt their truth. Then he sailed from New 
 Orleans to Norfolk, and so on to Washington. He reached 
 Washington the very day of the proclamation of war and 
 came so rapidly with the news that Mayor Clinton received 
 it some hours before the official notice." 
 
 "And every hour is of the greatest importance now," said 
 the judge. " Indeed, I have hardly time for my afternoon 
 pipe, for I promised Mr. Clinton to meet him at four 
 o'clock." 
 
 This information hurried the dinner a little, and Judge 
 Bloommaert took his smoke very restlessly. After he had 
 left the house, Christopher did not remain long. His ship's 
 progress absorbed his thoughts, and he was not a talkative 
 man. His ardour, his national pride, and his hatred of op 
 pression were quite as potent factors with Christopher Bloom 
 maert as with any patriot in New York, but the force they in 
 duced was a silent and concentrated one. On land he seemed 
 to be rather a heavy man, slow in his movements and short in 
 his speech; but the passion of his nature was only biding its 
 opportunity, and those who had ever seen Christopher 
 Bloommaert in action on his own deck knew for all time 
 afterwards what miracles physical courage set on fire by patri 
 otism and by personal interest combined might accomplish. 
 
 As he was leaving the room he held the open door in his 
 hand a minute, and said : " Mother, do you know that 
 Aaron Burr is back? He put up his sign in Nassau Street 
 yesterday ; I saw it this morning."
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Dear me, Chris ! I hope he has come to help his country 
 in her trouble that would be only right." 
 
 " Help his country ! Aaron Burr help ! The man is 
 dead." 
 
 " What do you mean, Chris? You said he was back, now 
 you say he is dead." 
 
 " His honour is slain, and all men have lost faith in him. 
 The man is dead." 
 
 He went away with these words, and Sapphira and her 
 mother watched him out of sight. For some minutes they 
 did not speak ; then Mrs. Bloommaert asked : " Did you 
 know Leonard Murray this morning, Sapphira?" 
 
 " Yes, mother. I knew him at once. I think that he 
 passed the house twice yesterday. I was not quite sure then, 
 but this morning I had not a moment's doubt. I wish An 
 nette had been here. She will be very much disappointed." 
 
 "Annette would have spoiled everything. I am glad she 
 was not here." 
 
 "Oh, mother!" 
 
 "Yes, she would. I will tell you how. When your 
 father was called out, and took his stand on the topmost step, 
 with Christopher and the flag on one side of him and you and 
 I on the other side, do you think Annette would have been 
 satisfied to stand with us? To be only one of a group? 
 That is not Annette's idea of what is due to Annette." 
 
 " But what could she have done to alter it? " 
 
 " She would have said in her pretty, apologetic way that it 
 24
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 was ' too bad to crowd us, and that any place was right for 
 her,' and, before an answer was possible, she would have 
 slipped past Christopher and seated herself on the second step 
 at his feet. With her long curls and her white frock, and 
 the blue snood in her hair, and the flag above her, she would 
 have made a picture sufficiently lovely to have attracted and 
 distracted every man present. There would have been but 
 a poor, divided enthusiasm; and yet, Annette would have 
 been so naturally and so innocently conspicuous that both 
 your father and Christopher would have been unconscious of 
 her small, selfish diplomacy." 
 
 "Annette is so pretty." 
 
 "And so vain of her beauty." 
 
 " That is true, but I fancy, mother, even the flowers are 
 vain of their beauty. I have noticed often how the roses 
 when in full bloom, sway and bend and put on languishing 
 airs as if they knew they were sweet and lovely. And, to be 
 sure, I have frequently when I have looked in a mirror been 
 very glad I had a fair face and a good form." 
 
 " It was a very indiscreet, I may say a very wrong thing 
 to do." 
 
 There was a short, penitential silence, and then Sapphira 
 said: 
 
 " Though to-morrow is Sunday, may I go and see Annette 
 early in the morning? I am sure both grandmother and 
 Annette will like to know about father's speech." 
 
 " I can assure you that they know all about it already. 
 
 25
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 o<a=o^sM^3'CCfl^scce<s5=>(io^3>ocos3>ca<=>eto^s>e(jo<2^>i)9<s;=>o9s='(i 
 
 Kouba was not here to wait on your father when he leit the 
 house why? Because he had gone as fast as possible to his 
 old mistress with the news. Your grandmother gave him to 
 your father when we were married, but it is only with his left 
 hand that Kouba has served us. Your grandmother is still 
 first ; he goes to her with all the news of our house ; he always 
 has done so, he always will do so. Nassau Street already 
 knows all and more that happened on the Bowling Green 
 to-day." 
 
 Mrs. Bloommaert was quite correct In her opinion. Kouba 
 had not even waited to eat his dinner, but had gone at once 
 to " old mistress " with his own account of the event. And 
 as madame was in her room asleep, Annette had been made 
 the recipient of his views. She listened and she understood, 
 without inquiry or dissent, where the information was truth 
 ful and where Kouba was embroidering the occurrence with 
 his personal opinions. She accepted all apparently with 
 equal faith, and then told the old man to " go to the kitchen 
 and get his dinner and a bottle of 'Sopus beer." 
 
 " What an exciting event ! " she exclaimed, " and Kouba 
 is sure that Leonard Murray was the leader of the crowd. I 
 believe it. It was Leonard I saw with the Clark boys half 
 an hour ago. I dare say he is staying with them. I must go 
 and tell grandmother." 
 
 She found madame awake, and quickly gave her Kouba's 
 news. And it was really a little comfort to Annette to see 
 her grandmother's disappointment. " So sorry am I that I 
 
 26
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 |Bi^^MaMfc<M<^*G^ttMS94MCMI)tB>>flMaMIM0HMBMMa^PB 
 
 came away," she said, " for a great deal I would not have 
 missed that scene, Annette." 
 
 " No, indeed, grandmother! I think it will be very hard 
 to sit here all evening and not know what is going on ; shall 
 we walk over to uncle's now ? " 
 
 " Three hours after luck? No! " 
 
 " Kouba said the Clark boys were in the crowd ; suppose 
 I write and ask Mrs. Clark and Elsie and Sally to take tea 
 with us. Then the men will come later, and we shall hear 
 whatever there is to hear." 
 
 " The Clarks may not care to come." 
 
 "Yes they will. Let me write and ask them. We do 
 want some one to talk to, grandmother." 
 
 Permission being at last obtained, Annette wrote one of her 
 nicest notes and they sent it with a slave woman across the 
 street to the Clarks' house. Mrs. Clark read it, laughed, and 
 then called her daughter Sally. 
 
 " Sally," she said, " that little minx over the way has found 
 out that Leonard Murray is here. Answer this invitation as 
 pleasantly as possible, but tell her we cannot leave our own 
 home to-night, as we have company." 
 
 " We might ask Annette here, mother." 
 
 " That is what she expects us to do." 
 
 " She is so pretty and cheerful." 
 
 " We will do without her beauty and her cheerfulness to 
 night," 
 
 " Joe is very fond of her." 
 
 27
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 OCO<S=>IM<^3>a<^S>00<S3><l(KISS(H10<Z5OCO<SS=><)(IO<^S>00<S25CO^SS>l)<^=0<SSMO 
 
 " That is not the question ; answer as I have told 
 you." 
 
 But though Sally made the answer as kind as her own 
 kind heart, nothing atoned to Annette for the fact that her 
 little scheme though one with a double aspect had failed 
 in both directions. 
 
 " They cannot come, grandmother, and they do not even 
 ask us over there they have company. I know who it is, 
 for I am sure I saw Leonard Murray with the Clark boys an 
 hour ago. But then " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Sally is really ugly, and though Elsie has a pretty face, 
 she is as dowdy as can be." 
 
 "And so much prettier is Annette de Vries is that what 
 you mean ? " 
 
 " Yes, that is ' the because ' of the slight." 
 
 " Of such a thing I would not think. ' The because ' has 
 nothing to do with us. And a very sweet girl is Sally Clark. 
 Every one loves her." 
 
 " Don't scold me, grandmother. I have had already three 
 disappointments. To-day is very unlucky." 
 
 " Then sit still and let it go by. Take the days as they 
 come to you, child." 
 
 Annette did not immediately answer. She had gone to the 
 window and was looking eagerly out. There was a sound 
 of footsteps and of voices in spirited conversation. Listening 
 and looking, she waited until voices and footsteps became 
 
 28
 
 MONDAY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 faint in the distance. Then she turned to her grandmother 
 with a shrug of satisfaction : 
 
 " I was right, as I generally am," she said. " The Clark 
 boys, with Leonard Murray, have just gone by. Leonard is 
 their company. What is he there for? He never used to 
 care for those girls. Before he went to college ' from Sap- 
 phira to Sapphira was the limit of his way.' " 
 
 " Thou foolish one! He is none of thy affair." 
 
 " I do not care a button for Leonard Murray, but I think 
 my cousin Sapphira does, and and - " 
 
 What other reasons she had were not revealed. She stood 
 at the window with an air of mortification, which, however, 
 soon turned to one of pride and triumph; and then she 
 tapped the glass merrily to her thoughts. 
 
 What was the girl dreaming of? Beauty's conquests? 
 Social power? Love after her own heart? A marriage 
 which would hand in her millennium? Alas, for the dreams 
 of youth! Madame watched her in pitying silence she 
 knew how they would end.
 
 prll ?ft HIT *<" - "' 
 
 CHAPTER 
 TWO 
 
 The Spring of Life 
 
 the roll of the drum and the shrill call 
 of the fife, the days went in a manner that 
 1 was far from being disagreeable to the youth 
 ful population of New York. They enjoyed 
 HJUuthe thrill of a fear that was mingled with 
 
 much excitement; and for a short period almost a license 
 of political and patriotic temper prevailed. But to the 
 more responsible citizens the news of war was far from 
 welcome; so unwelcome, indeed, that only a few days 
 before its proclamation, two petitions had been presented 
 to the Senate signed by three hundred and ten citizens 
 of New York, and by nearly all of the largest mercantile 
 houses, praying that the embargo might be continued, " be 
 cause they believed it would produce all the benefits of war 
 without its calamities." Mr. Justice Bloommaert had been 
 one of the signers of this petition, and when he recovered the 
 equipoise of his usually calm nature, he was astonished and 
 a little annoyed at the precipitancy with which he had publicly 
 changed his opinions. It was in a measure unaccountable, 
 and he searched all the outlying posts of his inmost soul to 
 
 30
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 see where the weak point had been. It was not his wife's 
 sarcasms or his daughter's more pronounced sympathy he 
 was used to their wordy warfare, and he was sure that no per 
 suasive force in their armoury would have driven him to the 
 ill-advised hastiness of his unpremeditated speech on the 
 Bowling Green. 
 
 No, it was " the doing of that young fool, Leonard Mur 
 ray." The judge had returned to his home that momentous 
 Saturday in a passionate temper of hatred to England and 
 her old tyrannies. He had been irritated by the lukewarm- 
 ness and doleful prophecies of the majority of his friends and 
 associates, and by the fact that every newspaper in the city 
 was opposed to the war. And then, while his wife and 
 daughter were stimulating his feverish mood of disapproval, 
 he had suddenly been called to the front to stand by the 
 opinions of others and to declare his own. He felt that 
 somehow he had been tricked by circumstances, and his 
 hand forced ; and that young Leonard Murray was to blame 
 for the whole affair. He had never liked the lad's father, 
 and having been twice obliged to decide important cases 
 against him, the elder Murray had shown his resentment in 
 ways that had been both irritating and injurious. They had 
 also been distinctly opposed in politics, and, moreover, in their 
 youth had been rivals for the love of the pretty Carlita 
 Duprey. Now, the son of this disagreeable man had ap 
 parently taken up his father's power to be at least unfavour 
 able to him. He worked himself into a still, hot passion 
 
 31
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 against the youth, and determined then and there to have 
 nothing more to do with him. 
 
 Not that he intended to recede from any word he had ut 
 tered. He told himself instantly that he had only declared 
 the truth, and that he would stand for, and by, every letter of 
 his speech. But he wished that he had made that speech 
 voluntarily, in some regularly called meeting, and not in 
 response to a request voiced by young Leonard Murray. 
 That was the sore point of the hurt, so that he hardly touched 
 it, even in thought, but reverted at once to his speech, which 
 struck him now as grandiloquent, turgid, and bombastic 
 not the kind of speech he would have made in the City Hall 
 or at the Common Council by any means, and a tingling sense 
 of chagrin answered this conviction. It was thoughts similar 
 to these which surged with passionate strength through his 
 mind as he stood on the following Wednesday afternoon on 
 the steps of the City Hall. There had just been a public 
 meeting in the park, called to approve the war measure, but 
 it had been very scantily attended; and as the noisy crowd 
 scattered, mainly up and down Broadway, he hardly knew 
 whether he was glad or sorry for the failure. The uproari 
 ous conduct of the youth of the city offended him, and as a 
 general thing the men of experience, of solid wealth and politi 
 cal power, had not answered the call for this meeting. For 
 it was a Democratic call, and New York at that day was the 
 very stronghold of the Federalists. 
 
 He stood a few minutes considering which streets would 
 
 3 2
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 likely be the quietest road to his home, and seeing Broadway 
 full of marching companies, all more or less musical and vocif 
 erous, he turned into Nassau Street, hoping to escape the 
 cheers and attentions which his outspoken sympathy had 
 brought him. For some distance it was comparatively quiet, 
 but between Garden and Beaver streets he saw approaching 
 what appeared to be a full company. They were stepping 
 proudly to the music of " The President's March," and the 
 narrow street appeared to Bloommaert's eyes to be full of 
 their waving flags. 
 
 There was no outlet for his escape, and he assumed a dig 
 nity of bearing and a self-centred air that was usually both 
 arms and armour to him. He hoped to pass unnoticed, but 
 as the company approached it halted at command. His 
 name was spoken. He lifted his eyes perforce and up flew 
 every hat in respectful recognition. What could he do? 
 Some of them were the very men he had addressed and 
 aroused to enthusiasm on the previous Saturday. His noblest 
 nature came to the front. He saluted them in return, wished 
 them " God speed," and so passed on, but not before he had 
 noticed the happy, triumphant face of their captain, Leonard 
 Murray. 
 
 " That man again ! " he muttered, and he could not dis 
 miss " that man " from his memory during the rest of the 
 walk. He passed his mother's house but did not enter it, for 
 it was nearing his dinner hour, and he hoped in the society of 
 his wife and daughter to find the restful equipoise he had lost 
 
 33
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 during the morning's events. As he mounted the steps Sap- 
 phira threw open the door. Her face was radiant. She was 
 the incarnation of pleasure. 
 
 " Father," she cried, " I am so glad that you have come 
 home early. I have such good news. Mother and I have 
 had such a great honour; you can't tell how happy we both 
 feel." 
 
 Her visible joy was infectious, and Bloommaert flung his 
 annoyance out of memory. " Come, now," he said cheer 
 fully, " let us hear the good news. Who brought it to 
 you?" 
 
 " Well, you would never guess, dear father, and I am 
 going to let mother tell you." 
 
 They entered the dining room as she spoke, and its cool 
 sweetness was like a breath of heaven. Mrs. Bloommaert 
 rose with a smile. 
 
 " Gerardus, my dear!" she exclaimed, "you are earlier 
 than I hoped. That is good. Now we shall have dinner." 
 
 " But Carlita, first the good news that Sapphira can hardly 
 keep from me." 
 
 " Has she not told you? " 
 
 " No. She says you are to tell me." 
 
 " Well, then, it is very pleasant to her, and to me. Leon 
 ard Murray came here this morning just after you left. He 
 had hoped to find you still at home and he wanted us to 
 select the uniform for his company. They are to fight under 
 our colours, you see! He had many patterns of cloth with 
 
 34
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 him, and we chose dark blue for the coats, and orange for the 
 vest, and the head dress is to be dark blue cap with a rosette 
 and streamers of red, white, and blue! The tricolour, my 
 dear one that was for my nation, and the blue and orange, 
 that was for yours. Leonard was delighted. He is going to 
 pay for the uniforms and support the company until the city 
 puts it in active service. Then it will fight under our 
 colours. Was it not kind and respectful of Leonard? " 
 
 "It was a piece of damned impertinence. I never heard 
 of such impudence ! " 
 
 "Father!" 
 
 " Gerardus, I am astonished at you! " 
 
 "The insolent puppy! What right had he? How dare 
 he?" 
 
 " Mr. Justice, he only did what every young man of stand 
 ing has done: the Clarksons, the Fairlies, the Westervelts, 
 the Moores every family of consideration has given its 
 colours to some company or other. It is an honour, Mr. 
 Justice, a great honour, and we are very proud of it. I told 
 Leonard so." 
 
 " Leonard, indeed ! It seems that you are already very 
 familiar." 
 
 "Already! It is a long already. I have known the boy 
 from the hour of his birth. His mother was my friend when 
 we were both little girls. I was with his mother when she 
 died. I promised her to be kind to Leonard whenever I had 
 opportunity the opportunity came this morning I thought 
 
 35
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 you would be pleased and proud but then, one never 
 knows a man's real feelings never! After last Saturday, 
 too it is inconceivable." Mrs. Eloommaert rose, and as 
 her daughter followed her the judge was left alone with 
 whatever answer he intended to make. 
 
 Generally, when an antagonist withdraws, the party left in 
 possession of the ground feels a sense of victory. He tosses 
 his head a little and triumphs in the fashion that best suits 
 him. But Judge Bloomaert, standing with his doubled-up 
 hand on his dining table, had a sinking sense of defeat. His 
 large, dignified personality succumbed as the two slender slips 
 of womanhood passed him Carlita's haughty little head ex 
 pressing a disdainful disapproval, and Sapphira giving him a 
 look from eyes full of reproachful astonishment. 
 
 A natural instinct led him to sit down in order to con 
 sider his ways. " What the deuce! " he exclaimed. " Con 
 found the fellow! What does it all mean ?" Then his logi 
 cal mind began to reflect, to deliberate, to weigh his own 
 case as relentlessly as if it was the case of a stranger. The 
 result was a decision in favour of his wife's and his daughter's 
 position. From their standpoint he had been unreasonable 
 and inconsistent. And he could put in no demurrer; for 
 the only objection he was able to make lay in that covert dis 
 like to the young man for which he was unable to give any 
 reason that would not be more humiliating than simple sub 
 mission. 
 
 He had reached this point when a negro slave, dressed from 
 
 36
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 000<=:^^>'00=^^>00<S^^-0()0<^^000<^^>C(>0<=^>00(><^^^>000<^^^OI)O^^S>OOOc^^>eO^^^>Oc^>099 
 
 head to foot in spotless white linen, entered the room. He 
 was carrying a platter containing a sirloin of roast beef, and 
 the appetising odour, blended with the fragrance of the fresh 
 peas, boiled with the sprig of mint they call for, stimu 
 lated the judge to the necessary action. He rose promptly and 
 went to the sitting room in the rear. At the door he heard 
 Sapphira and her mother talking, but they were instantly 
 silent as he entered. That was a symptom he did not regard. 
 He knew the tactics that were always successful, and with a 
 smile and a courtly bow he offered his arm to Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert. The courtesy was made invincible by the glance that 
 accompanied it a glance that was explanation, apology, and 
 admiration sent swiftly and indisputably to her heart. 
 Words would have been halting and impotent in comparison, 
 and they were ignored. The only ones spoken referred to the 
 waiting meal. " Dinner is served, Carlita," and Carlita, with 
 an answering glance of pardon and affection, proudly took 
 the arm offered her. Ere they reached the door Sapphira 
 was remembered, and her father stretched backward his hand 
 for her clasp. Thus they entered the dining room together, 
 and almost at the same moment they were joined by Chris 
 topher. 
 
 He was hot and sunburned but full of quiet satisfaction. 
 He laid his arm across his mother's neck as he passed her, and 
 taking a seat next to his sister clasped her little hand lov 
 ingly under the table. 
 
 With beaming eyes she acknowledged this token of his 
 
 37
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 affection, and then touching a piece of pale blue ribbon tied 
 through a buttonhole of his jacket, she asked: 
 
 " Pray, Chris, who is now your patron saint? Last year 
 it was good St. Nicholas, and orange was all your cry. Why 
 have you forsaken your old patron and changed your col 
 ours?" 
 
 Chris laughed a little. " I was caught unaware, Sap- 
 phira," he answered. "As I came up Cedar Street I saw 
 Mary Selwyn cutting roses in Mr. Webster's garden. She 
 had a rose at her throat, and a rose in her hair, and a basket 
 of roses in her hand, and she was as sweet and as pretty as 
 any rose that ever bloomed in all New York. And she said 
 ' Good-morning, Captain Bloommaert ; I hear you are soon 
 for the ocean, and the enemy, and God be with you ! ' And I 
 said, ' So soon now, Miss Selwyn, that this must be our good 
 bye, I think.' Then she lifted her scissors and cut from the 
 ribbon round her neck the piece I am wearing. ' It is the 
 full half,' she said, ' and I will keep the other half till you 
 come home again happy and glorious.' " 
 
 " Well, then, it is your luck ribbon, Chris, and you must 
 not change it," said Sapphira. 
 
 " In a very few minutes I was under great temptation to 
 do so, Sapphira. I thought I would call on grandmother, 
 but as I got near to her house I saw Walter Havens just 
 leaving the gate. He was walking very proudly, and a 
 flutter of red ribbon was on his head, and the next step 
 showed me a flutter of white skirts behind the vines on the 
 
 38
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 veranda. So I knew cousin Annette had been setting him 
 up till he felt as if he had twenty hearts instead of only 
 one." 
 
 " Did you speak to Annette after that observation ? " asked 
 his father. 
 
 " Why yes, sir. She saw me at once, and came running 
 to open the gate. She had all her airs and graces about her 
 and looked as radiant as the red ribbons she wore. She saw 
 my blue ribbon immediately, and said scornfully, ' Pray now, 
 whose favour is that affair tied in your buttonhole? It is a 
 poor thing, Chris! Shall I not give you an inch or two of 
 my solitaire? ' and she lifted the housewife at her belt, and 
 would have taken out her scissors. But I said, ' No, no, 
 Miss de Vries, I'm not taking shares with Walter Havens. 
 I'll just hold on to my ' poor thing.' I wonder how many 
 rose ribbons you have given away this morning ? ' ' 
 
 " Did she tell you how many, Chris? " asked Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert. 
 
 " She looked as if she might have given a hundred, but she 
 kept her secret you may trust Annette to keep anything that 
 belongs to her even her secrets ; and most women give them 
 away. Annette de Vries knows better." 
 
 "What did grandmother say?" asked Sapphira. 
 
 " I did not see her. She was in her room, asleep, Annette 
 said. They are coming here this evening with the Clarks, 
 and perhaps others. You won't mind, mother, will you?" 
 
 " Indeed I shall be glad, if you wish it, Chris." For her 
 
 39
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 heart had comprehended that his " good-bye " to Miss Selwyn 
 meant that he was ready for sea. And it was Christopher's 
 habit to slip away on some night, or early morning tide, when 
 there was no one around to embarrass his orders. For he 
 was not a man that either liked or needed the approbation 
 and sympathies of others; as a rule, Christopher Bioom- 
 maert's approval was sufficient for him. 
 
 He was evidently full of business, and went away as soon 
 as he had finished his dinner. The judge went with him, and 
 Mrs. Bloomaert and her daughter, left alone, began instantly 
 to discuss the subject of Christopher's departure. 
 
 " It is his way," said Mrs. Bloommaert. " The little 
 party this evening is his farewell. We must make it as pleas 
 ant as possible. Your grandmother and Annette will be 
 here, I suppose ? " 
 
 "And the Clarks Elsie and Sally, and Joe and Jack 
 and I suppose Leonard Murray will come with them," an 
 swered Sapphira. 
 
 " I should not wonder if Chris asked Miss Selwyn also." 
 
 " Very likely. She is a nice girl. I hope Chris did ask 
 her. No one can help loving Mary Selwyn." 
 
 "What shall we do? What would Chris like best? You 
 know, Sapphira, if any one knows." 
 
 " Let us have tea at six o'clock, then we can all go to the 
 Battery to hear the music. There is a young moon, and it is 
 warm enough to make the sea breezes welcome. Moffat's 
 Military Band is to play from the portico of the flagstaff to- 
 
 40
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 night, and we can have ices and cakes and wine served to us 
 in the enclosure if we want them." 
 
 " You had better return home about nine o'clock, and I 
 will have refreshments here ready for you. The large parlour 
 can be somewhat cleared, Bose will bring his violin, and you 
 might have a little dance. I don't believe father will mind. 
 He knows Chris is ready to sail. I could see that." 
 
 " Oh, mother! Oh, dear mother, how good you are! " 
 
 The perparations for this rather impromptu gathering gave 
 Mrs. Bloommaert very little trouble. Her servants were 
 slaves, born in her own household, and whose share in all the 
 family joy was certain and admitted. They entered heartily 
 into the necessary arrangements, and in a short time the house 
 had put on that air of festal confusion which the prospect of 
 feasting and dancing entails. 
 
 Before six the guests began to arrive, and the eight or ten 
 which Christopher's speech had suggested speedily became 
 twenty. It appeared as if the young man had casually in 
 vited all of his acquaintances. But Mrs. Bloommaert made 
 every one welcome, and the slight difficulty in seating them 
 the little crush and crowding really induced a very spon 
 taneous and unconstrained happiness. Then there was trou 
 ble in serving all rapidly enough, so Christopher, and Joe 
 Westervelt and Willis Clark volunteered their services, and 
 to these three Mrs. Bloommaert herself added Leonard Mur 
 ray, whom she appointed her special aid; and thus the tea 
 became a kind of parlour picnic. The windows were all 
 
 41
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 open, the white curtains swaying gently in the breeze, and the 
 scent of roses everywhere mingled with the delightful aromas 
 of fine tea, and spiced bread, and fresh, ripe strawberries. 
 Merry talk and happy laughter thrilled the warm air, and it 
 was a joy in itself to watch so many bright, young faces, all 
 keenly responsive to the pleasure of each other's presence. 
 
 Before seven o'clock they were ready for their walk on the 
 Battery, and came trooping down the wide stairway, a bril 
 liant company of lovely girls in their spencers of various 
 coloured silks, and their pink or white frocks, their gipsy 
 straw bonnets, and their low walking shoes fastened with 
 silver or paste latchets. In twos and threes they sauntered 
 along the lovely walk, and as the young moon rose, the band 
 played sweetly from a boat on the water, and the waves broke 
 gently against the wall of the embankment, their laughter and 
 merry talk became lower and quieter. They rested on the 
 benches, and made little confidences, and were very happy, 
 though their joy was lulled and hushed, as if for this rare 
 hour some friendly spirit had pressed gently down the soft 
 pedal on life, and thus made its felicity more enchanting and 
 more personal. 
 
 But if they forget the dance, their little feet had memories ; 
 they began to twitch and slip in and out, and grow restless ; 
 and Sapphira remembered the hour, though Leonard was 
 charming, and the tale he was telling her, wonderful. " But 
 then," she said, " mother is expecting us, and those at home 
 must not be disappointed; for if there is anything grand- 
 
 42
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 mother likes, it is to watch the dance." So they went back 
 to the Bloommaert house and found all ready and waiting 
 for the cotillion. Upstairs with fleetest steps went the merry 
 maidens, returning in less than ten minutes without their 
 spencers, and with feet shod in satin sandals. The fiddles 
 were twanging, and the prompter already advising gentlemen 
 to choose their partners. Then the room became a living 
 joy. The hearts of all beat with the twinkling steps of the 
 dancers, and every one seized a measure of fleeting bliss, and 
 for a breathing space in life forgot that they would ever grow 
 weary or ever have to part. 
 
 Madame sat in her son's chair, flushed and smiling, her 
 eyes wandering between her granddaughters. They were cer 
 tainly the most beautiful women in the room, and when the 
 judge came quietly to her side about ten o'clock she said to 
 him: " Look once at Annette; at her feet are half the men; 
 and as for Sapphira, I know not what to make of her all of 
 the men are her lovers, but some one was telling me it is 
 Leonard Murray only that pleases her. I take leave to say 
 they are a handsome couple, Gerardus." 
 
 Involuntarily he followed his mother's direction, and was 
 forced to admit the truth of her remark. But it gave him an 
 angry pain to do so, while the young man's expression of 
 rapturous satisfaction provoked him beyond words. He had 
 Sapphira's hand, they were treading a measure not so much 
 to the music of the violins as to the music in their own hearts. 
 They had forgotten the limitations of life, they were in some 
 
 43
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 rarer and diviner atmosphere. Step to step, with clasped 
 hands, and eyes beaming into each other's face, they glided 
 past him as if they were immortals moving ti spheral music. 
 But beautiful as this vision of primal joy was, it roused no 
 response in Judge Bloommaert's heart, and after a few words 
 with madame he slipped away to the quiet of his room. He 
 was wakeful and restless, and he lifted the papers in a case 
 which had some personal interest for him, and soon became 
 absorbed in their details. Yet he was aware of that inevit 
 able decrease of mirth which follows its climax, and not ill- 
 pleased to hear the breaking up of the gathering. The chat 
 tering of the girls resuming their spencers and walking shoes 
 made him lay down his papers and go to the open window, and 
 so he watched the dissolution of happiness ; for the company 
 parted, even at his own door, into small groups, some merely 
 crossing to the other side of the Green, others going to Wall, 
 State, Cedar, and Nassau streets. The later party seemed 
 the larger contingent, and he heard the men of it, as they 
 passed northward, begin to sing, " We be Three Poor Mar 
 iners." Christopher's voice rang out musically cheerful, 
 and the father's heart swelled with love and pride, as he said 
 tenderly, " God bless the boy." The prayer was an exorcism ; 
 anger and all evil fled at the words of blessing, so that when 
 Mrs. Bloommaert, flushed and weary, came to him he was 
 able to meet her with the sympathy she needed. 
 
 * 
 
 " Gerardus, my dear one," she said, " Chris bade me good 
 bye; I am sure of it. He laid his cheek against mine and 
 
 44
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 whispered, 'A short farewell, mother!' and all I could say 
 was ' God bless you, Chris !' " 
 
 " It was enough." 
 
 "When does he sail?" 
 
 " About four o'clock in the morning. He will go out on 
 the tide-top, then." 
 
 " Where is he going ? " 
 
 " To the Connecticut coast first, for supplies ; easier got 
 there than here; afterwards he goes nobody knows where, 
 but as the Domine said last Sunday, he can't go where God is 
 not." 
 
 " In that I trust. Did you notice the blue ribbon in his 
 jacket ? " 
 
 " Yes, I noticed." 
 
 " He seemed very fond of Mary to-night. I could not 
 help seeing his devotion. Mother noticed it, also." 
 
 " What did mother say? " 
 
 " She said Mary was a good girl, of good stock, but she had 
 not a dollar. I said, ' love was everything in marriage, and 
 that money did not much. matter.' " 
 
 " Hum m ! It does no harm." 
 
 Then there was a short silence; madame was removing 
 her lacecap and collar, and the judge putting away his papers. 
 Both were thinking of the same thing, and neither of them 
 cared to introduce the subject. But the judge's patience was 
 the better trained, and he calmly waited for the question he 
 was sure would not be long delayed. 
 
 45
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 t$0*^^Q3<^g>3a^ g -^Mfl?? g ^><io<)<g^^QOO^^'^fiCO<^^ 
 
 She rose as she asked it, went to her dressing table, and 
 began to open her jewel box. " Did you notice Sapphira and 
 Leonard Murray dancing? I thought I saw you watching 
 them." 
 
 "Yes, I saw them, and to tell you just what I thought of 
 the exhibition would only pain you, Carlita. Don't ask me." 
 
 " I am sure I don't know why I am not to ask you ; every 
 one was charmed with their grace. Even the elegant Mr. 
 Washington Irving said their movements were ' the poetry 
 of motion.' I thought it a very fine remark." 
 
 " Well, I suppose Mr. Washington Irving knows all about 
 the poetry of motion. But if you will believe me, Carlita, 
 there are some Dutchman in New York who do not worship 
 Mr. Washington Irving." 
 
 Then there was another silence, and this time the judge 
 broke it. " Carlita," he said, " what are you going all 
 around the square to ask me? Speak out, wife." 
 
 " Well, Gerardus, any one can see that Leonard Murray is 
 in love with Sapphira, and that Sapphira is not indifferent to 
 him. I want to ask you if this marriage would be suitable, 
 because if you are against it, their intimacy ought to be 
 checked at once." 
 
 " How are you going to check it? Tell me that. We 
 cannot shut her up in her room and set a watch over her, nor 
 can we pack her off to Hong Kong or Timbuctoo out of 
 his way." 
 
 " Then you are against it ? " 
 
 46
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 M =0-=>M<^=!>CO'5H5!=50<=5>0=t s=s> !><=> MO 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "But what for?" 
 
 " I am not ready to give you my reasons." 
 
 " I cannot imagine what they may be. Leonard is 
 rich." 
 
 " Very. Colonel Rutgers told me his estate in land and 
 houses and ready cash might be worth seven hundred thou 
 sand dollars. But, as you reminded me in regard to Mary 
 Selwyn, money in matrimony does not much matter." 
 
 " I don't think it is as important as love ; though, as you 
 said, money does no harm to matrimony. But it is not only 
 money, with Leonard. He is of good family." 
 
 " His great-grandfather was a Highland Scot, and James 
 Murray, his father, cared for nothing but money. It was a 
 bit of land here, and a dollar or two there a hard man, 
 both to friend and foe. I never liked him. We came 
 to words often, and to blows once that was about you, 
 Carlita." 
 
 " You had no need to quarrel about me. From the first to 
 last it has been you, Gerardus ; you, and only you." 
 
 " Yet after we were engaged, James Murray asked you to 
 marry him. No honourable man would have done such a 
 thing." 
 
 " Have you not forgotten ? The man is dead. Let his 
 faults be left in silence." 
 
 " I do not like to see you so partial to his son." 
 
 " The son is his mother's son. He has qualities the very 
 
 47
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 opposite of his father's. James Murray was a bigot and a 
 miser. Leonard has the broadest and most tolerant views." 
 
 " There, you have said plenty. If there is any man not 
 to be trusted, it is this broad, tolerant fellow. You remem 
 ber Herman Strauss? He is that kind of character, brought 
 up in the Middle Dutch Church, he married an Episcopalian, 
 and without difficulty being so broad he went with her to 
 Trinity. He praised the Democrats Clintonian and Madi- 
 sonian both and yet he called himself a Federalist thought 
 that both were right in some ways. But like all men of this 
 uncertain calibre, he had one or two trifling opinions, of no 
 consequence whatever, either to himself or others, for whose 
 sake he would lose money and friends, and even risk his life. 
 It was only a question as to the brand of wine Mr. Jefferson 
 drank, that made him insult Colonel Wilde, and in conse 
 quence fight a duel which has left him a cripple for life. So 
 much for your man of wide sympathies and broad views! I 
 like a man who has positive opinions and sticks to them. Yes, 
 sticks to them, right or wrong! A man who sticks to his 
 opinions will stick to his friends and his family. Good in 
 everything! Good in every one! Nonsense! Such ideas 
 lead to nowhere, and to nothing. The man that holds them 
 I do not want to marry my daughter." 
 
 " Mrs. Clark says Leonard's moral character is beau 
 tiful." 
 
 " Mrs. Clark has known him about four days. And pray, 
 what does Mrs. Clark, or you, or any other woman know 
 
 48
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 about a man's moral character? Leonard Murray's ances 
 tors have been for centuries restless, quarrelsome, fighting 
 Highlandmen. He is not twenty-two yet, and he has been 
 as far west and south as he could get, and only came home 
 because there was likely to be some fighting on hand." 
 
 " But then, Gerardus what have you behind you? " 
 
 " Centuries full of God-fearing Dutchmen honest traders 
 and peaceable burghers and scholarly domines." 
 
 " Oh, yes, and Beggars of the Sea, and men who fought 
 with De Ruyter and Tromp, and wandered to the ends of the 
 earth with Van Heemskirk for adventures, and came with 
 the Englishman, Henry Hudson, here itself, and did a little 
 good business with the poor Indians. And Gerardus, look at 
 your own sons Christopher is never at home but when he 
 is at sea. He is happier in a ship than a house, and also he 
 likes the ship to carry cutlasses and cannon. As for Peter, 
 you know as well as I do that if he were not building ships he 
 would be sailing them. He loves a ship better than a wife. 
 He knows all about every ship he ever built her length and 
 breadth and speed, how much sail she can carry, how many 
 men she requires to manage her, and he calls them by their 
 names as if they were flesh and blood. Does Peter ever go to 
 see a woman ? No ; he goes to see some ship or other. Now 
 then, what influence have your honest traders and peaceable 
 burghers had on your sons? " 
 
 " My dear Carlita, don't you see you are running away 
 with yourself? You are preaching for my side, instead of 
 
 49
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 your own. Chris and Peter are results, so is Leonard Mur 
 ray. You can't put nature to the door, Carlita. Nature is 
 more than nurture; all that our home and education and 
 trading surroundings could do for boys, was done for Peter 
 and Chris; but nature was ahead of us she had put into 
 tKem the wandering salt drops of adventure that stirred ' The 
 Beggars,' and Tromp, and Van Heemskirk. I tell you truly, 
 Carlita, that the breed is more than the pasture. As you 
 know, the cuckoo lays her eggs in any bird's nest; it may be 
 hatched among blackbirds or robins or thrushes, but it is 
 always a cuckoo. And so we came back to my first position, 
 that a man cannot deliver himself from his ancestors." 
 
 " I do not care, Gerardus, about ancestors ; I look at Leon 
 ard just as he is to-day. And I wish you would tell me 
 plainly what to do. Or will you, yourself, let Leonard know 
 your mind on this subject? Perhaps that would be best." 
 
 " How can I speak to him? Can I refuse Sapphira until 
 he asks for her ? Can I go to him and say, ' Sir, I see that you 
 admire my daughter, and I do not intend to let you marry 
 her.' That would be offering Sapphira and myself for insult, 
 and I could not complain if I got what I asked for." 
 
 " Is there anything I can do, seeing that you object so 
 strongly to Leonard ? " 
 
 " Yes, you can tell Sapphira how much I feel about such an 
 alliance; you can show her the path of obedience and duty; 
 and I expect you to do this much. I did not like mother's 
 attitude about him at all, and I shall speak to her myself. 
 
 50
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 Sapphira must be made to feel that Leonard Murray is im 
 possible." 
 
 " Well, Gerardus, I will speak to the poor little one. Oh, 
 I am so sorry for her she will feel it every way so much; 
 but some fathers don't care, even if they turn a wedding into 
 a funeral." 
 
 " Such words are not right, nor even true. I care for 
 Sapphira's welfare above everything." 
 
 " Speak to mother ; I wish you would. She will not refuse 
 Leonard if he asks her for Annette. And Annette is already 
 in love with him, I am not deceived in that. She was white 
 with envy and jealously to-night." 
 
 " Is Annette in it?" 
 
 " Yes, and very much so, I think." 
 
 " Then I give up the case. No man can rule right against 
 three or four women. I am going to sleep now, and I hope 
 it may be a long time before I hear Leonard Murray's name 
 again." 
 
 His hope had but a short existence. When he entered the 
 breakfast room the following morning, the first thing he saw 
 was Sapphira bending over a basket of green rushes, running 
 over with white rosebuds. She turned to him a face full of 
 delight. 
 
 " See, father," she cried. "Are they not lovely? Are 
 they not sweet ? If you kiss me, you will get their dew upon 
 my lips." 
 
 He bent his head down to the fragrant flowers, and 
 
 51
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 then asked : " Where did you get them so early in the 
 morning? " 
 
 " Leonard Murray sent them. Let me pin this bud on 
 the lapel of your coat." 
 
 " No," he said bitterly, pushing the white hand and the 
 white flower away. " Go to your room, and take the flowers 
 with you. I will not have them in any place where I can see 
 them." Then a negro boy entering, he turned to him, and 
 ordered his breakfast in a tone and manner that admitted of 
 no delay nor dispute. 
 
 Sapphira had lifted her basket, but as soon as they were 
 alone she asked : " Did you mean those unkind words, 
 father?" 
 
 " Every one of them." He shuffled his coffee cup, let the 
 sugar tongs fall, and then rang the bell in a passion. Yet he 
 did not escape the pathetic look of astonished and wounded 
 love in Sapphira's eyes as she left the room, with the basket of 
 rosebuds clasped to her breast. 
 
 All day this vision haunted him. He wished to go home 
 long before the usual hour, but that would have been a kind 
 of submission. He said he had a headache, but it was really 
 a heartache that distressed him, and during a large part of the 
 day he was debating within himself how such an unhappy 
 position had managed to subjugate him in so short a period 
 of time. For, if any one a week previously had told him he 
 could be controlled in all his tenderest feelings by a dislike 
 apparently so unreasonable, he would have scoffed the idea 
 
 52
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 away. He said frequently to himself the word " unreason 
 able," for that was the troublesome, exasperating sting of the 
 temptation. The young man himself had done nothing that 
 any fair or rational person would consider offensive quite 
 the contrary; and yet he was conscious of an antagonism 
 that was something more than mere dislike something, in 
 deed, that might easily become hatred. 
 
 He had just admitted the word " hatred " to his conscious 
 ness as he reached the entrance of the Government House. 
 The day had at last worn itself away, wearily enough, to the 
 dinner hour. He might now go home and face whatever 
 trouble he had evoked. 
 
 " Good-afternoon, Mr. Justice." 
 
 He turned, and the light of a sudden idea flashed into his 
 face, when he saw the man who had accosted him. 
 
 " Good-afternoon to you, Mr. Attorney Willis. I am 
 just thinking about that case you defended a few days 
 ago the case of the man Gavazzio. A strange one, 
 rather." 
 
 "A very strange case. He stabbed a man for no reason 
 whatever; simply said he hated him, and seemed to think 
 that feeling justification enough." 
 
 " See the Italian consul about him. I do not think he had 
 broken any Italian law that is, there are unwritten laws 
 among these people, of a force quite as strong as the written 
 code. We must take that fact into consideration with the 
 sentence. The stabbed man is recovering, I hear ? " 
 
 53
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Oh, yes; I will see the consul, as you desire it. Gavaz- 
 zio most certainly thought we were interfering in his private 
 affairs by arresting him." 
 
 " I have no doubt of it. Well, Mr. Attorney, the law is 
 supreme, but we must not forget that the essence of the law 
 is justice. Good-day, sir." 
 
 This incident, so spontaneous and so unconsidered, gave 
 him a sense of satisfaction; he felt better for it, though he did 
 not ask himself why, nor wherefore, in the matter. As he 
 approached his home he saw Sapphira sitting at the window, 
 her head bent over the work she was doing. She heard her 
 father's step, she knew he was watching her, but she did not 
 life her eyes, or give him the smile he expected. And when 
 he entered the room she preserved the same attitude. He lifted 
 a newspaper and began to read it ; the servants brought in the 
 dinner, and Mrs. Bloommaert also came and took her place at 
 the table. She was not the usual Carlita at all, and the 
 judge had a very depressing meal. As for Sapphira, she did 
 not speak, unless in answer to some direct question regarding 
 her food. She was pale and wretched-looking, and her eyes 
 were red with weeping. 
 
 The judge ate his roast duck, and glanced at the two 
 patient, silent, provoking women. They were making him 
 miserable, and spoiling his food, and he liked roast duck, 
 yet he did not know how to accuse them. Apparently they 
 were perfectly innocent women, but unseen by mortal eyes 
 they had the husband and father's heart in their little white 
 
 54
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 hands, and were cruelly wounding it. When dinner was over 
 Sapphira lifted her work and went to her room, and Mrs. 
 Bloommaert, instead of sitting down for her usual chat with 
 her husband while he smoked his pipe, walked restlessly 
 about, putting silver and crystal away, and making a great 
 pretence of being exceedingly interested in her investigations. 
 He watched her silently until she was about to leave the 
 room, then he said a little peremptorily, " Carlita, where are 
 you going? What, by heaven and earth, is the matter with 
 you!" 
 
 " You know what is the matter, Gerardus." 
 
 " I suppose the trouble is Leonard Murray again. Con 
 found the man ! " 
 
 " Mr. Justice, you will please remember I am present. I 
 think you behaved very unkindly to Sapphira this morning 
 and the poor little one has had such an unhappy day! my 
 heart bleeds for her." 
 
 " Well, Carlita, I was too harsh, I will admit that ; but I 
 cannot tell Sapphira that I was wrong. It was all said and 
 done in a moment the sight of the flowers, and her joy in 
 them - " 
 
 " I know, Gerardus. I must confess to the same temper. 
 When I came downstairs, and found you had gone without 
 your proper breakfast, and that you had neither come upstairs 
 to bid me good-bye, nor yet left any message for me, I was 
 troubled. And I had a headache, and had to go to Sapphira's 
 room to get her to come to the table, and the sight of her 
 
 55
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 crying over those tiresome rosebuds made me angry; and I 
 said more and worse than you did. I told her she ought to be 
 ashamed to put her father out for any strange man ; and that 
 the fuss she was making over Leonard Murray was un- 
 maidenly; and that the young man himself was far too free 
 and demonstrative oh, you know, Gerardus, what disagree 
 able things a fretful mother has the liberty to say to her 
 child ! And then, as if all this was not enough, Annette came 
 in about eleven o'clock, and I told her Sapphira was not well, 
 but she would go to her. And, of course, the first things she 
 noticed were the white roses and Sapphira's trouble, and the 
 little minx put two and two together in a moment. What 
 do you think she said, Gerardus? " 
 
 " Pitied Sapphira, I suppose." 
 
 " She clapped her hands and cried out, ' Oh, you also got 
 roses! White ones! Mine were pink such lovely pink 
 rosebuds! My colour is pink, you know.' And Sapphira 
 answered, ' I thought it was blue,' but Annette dropped the 
 subject at once and began to rave about Sapphira's swollen 
 face and red eyes, and offered her a score of remedies and so 
 on. Sapphira could only suffer. You know she would have 
 died rather than express either curiosity or annoyance. So, 
 then, having given Sapphira the third and crudest blow, she 
 went tripping away, telling her ' to sleep, and not to dream 
 of the handsome Leonard.' I generally go to Sapphira after 
 a visit from Annette, and when I went to the poor child's 
 room she was sobbing as if her heart would break. She told 
 
 56
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 me. what Annette said, and cried the more, because she had 
 been scolded both by you and me, and all for nothing." 
 
 "Poor little one!" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, Gerardus. These young hearts suffer. We 
 have forgotten how little things seemed so great and so hard 
 in our teens ; but every heart is a fresh heart, and made that 
 it may suffer, I think." 
 
 " I do not believe Annette got a basket of pink roses. I do 
 not like Murray, but I think there are things he would not 
 do. I saw a letter too at the bottom of the basket. Oh, I 
 do not believe Annette! " 
 
 " That is so. I told Sapphira it was a lie oh, yes, I will 
 say the word straight out, for I do think it was a lie. But 
 she is a clever girl. She took in all sides of the question as 
 quick as lightning. She knew they were from Leonard, and 
 that there had been trouble, and she knew Sappha would 
 never name pink roses to Leonard. She was safe enough in 
 Sappha's pride, for, though she gave a positive impression 
 that Leonard had sent her a basket of pink roses, she never 
 said it was Leonard. If brought to examination, she would 
 have pretended astonishment at Sapphira's inference, modestly 
 refused the donor's name, and very likely added ' indeed, it 
 was only a little jealousy, dearest Sapphira, that caused you 
 to misunderstand me.' You see, I have known Annette all 
 her life. She always manages to put Sapphira in the wrong ; 
 and at the same time look so sweetly innocent herself." 
 
 " What is to be done in this unhappy affair, Carlita? Sit 
 
 57
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 here beside me, wife, and tell me. For you are a wise, kind 
 woman, and you love us all." 
 
 " God knows, Gerardus ! I have been thinking, thinking, 
 thinking, through the livelong day, and what I say^ is this 
 let those things alone that you cannot manage. Because you 
 cannot manage them, they make you angry; and you lose 
 your self-respect, and then you lose your temper, and then, 
 there is, God knows, what other loss of love and life and 
 happiness. My father used to say and my father was a 
 good man, Gerardus." 
 
 " No better man ever lived than father Duprey." 
 " Well, then, he always said that birth, marriage, and 
 death were God's part ; and that marriage was the most so of 
 all these three great events. For birth only gives the soul into 
 the parent's charge for perhaps twenty years; and then all 
 the rest of life is in the charge of the husband. As for death, 
 then, it is God Himself that takes the charge. Let the young 
 ones come and go ; they may be fulfilling His will and way 
 if we enquire after His will and way." 
 
 " But if Murray speaks to me for Sapphira, what then ? " 
 
 " There is the war. Tell him marriage is impossible until 
 
 peace comes. War time is beset with the unexpected. In 
 
 love affairs, time is everything. Speak fairly and kindly, and 
 
 put off." 
 
 " Very good, Carlita. But if I should discover any reason 
 why the marriage should not be, this time plan is not the 
 thing. If a love affair ought to be broken off, it ought to be 
 
 58
 
 THE SPRING OF LIFE 
 
 done at once and if there should be any truth in those pink 
 roses!" 
 
 " Well, Gerardus, if you are expecting trouble, you may 
 leave Annette to make it. But my opinion is that Sapphira 
 ought to be trusted. If you believe that God gave her into 
 our charge for her sweet childhood and girlhood, can you not 
 trust Him to order her wifehood and motherhood ; and even 
 in old age, to carry her and direct her way? If He foresaw 
 her parents, also, He foresaw her husband. Are you not 
 interfering too soon, and too much? After all, what can we 
 do against destiny ? " 
 
 " You are right, Carlita. Go now and comfort the poor 
 child a little. You know what to say both for yourself and 
 for me." 
 
 Then Mrs. Bloommaert rose, smiling trustfully and 
 happily, but at the door she turned. Her husband went to 
 ward her, and she toward him, and when they met, she kissed 
 him with untranslatable affection. Again she was at the 
 door, and the judge stood in the middle of the room watch 
 ing her. As she slowly opened it, he made up his mind about 
 something he had been pondering for a couple of weeks. 
 
 " Carlita," he said, " you may tell Sapphira that to-mor 
 row I will buy her that grand pianoforte at Bailey & 
 Stevens', that she was so delighted with." 
 
 "Oh, my dear Gerardus!" 
 
 " It is not white rosebuds, but yet she may like it." He 
 could not help this little fling. 
 
 59
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " There is nothing in all the world she wanted so much, 
 though she never dreamed of possessing it." 
 
 " We shall see, dear ! We shall see ! " 
 
 In about half an hour the door opened gently, and there 
 was a swift, light movement. Then Sappha was at his knees, 
 and her face was against his breast, and he bent his head, and 
 she threw her white arms around his neck and kissed him. 
 There was no word spoken ; and there was none needed the 
 kiss the kneeling figure the clasping arms, were the clear 
 est of explanations, the surest of all promises. Verily " he 
 that ruleth his spirit is stronger than he who taketh a city." 
 
 00
 
 CHAPTER 
 THREE 
 
 A Sweetness More Desired 
 than Spring 
 
 OS. 
 
 
 this sort of veiled truce the new days 
 came, but the inheritance of those other few 
 days, following the declaration of war, was 
 not disposed of. On the contrary, its in 
 fluence continually increased; though Leon 
 ard received from Mrs. Bloommaert neither special favour 
 nor special disregard. As for the judge, he preserved a grave 
 courtesy, which the young man found it almost impossible 
 either to warm, or to move; and it soon became obvious to 
 Mrs. Bloommaert that her husband's frequent visits to his 
 friend, General Bloomfield, were made in order to prevent all 
 temjgtations to alter the polite reserve of his assumed manner. 
 But the lover's power is the poet's power. He can make 
 love from all the common strings with which this world is 
 strung, j And this time was far from being common ; it was 
 thrilled through and through by rumours of war, of defeat 
 and of victory, so that the sound of trumpets, and the march 
 of fighting men were a constant obligate to the most trivial 
 affairs. No one knew what great news any hour might 
 
 61
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 bring. Expectation stood on tiptoe waiting for the incredi 
 ble. This was not only the case in America. All over 
 Christendom the war flags were flying, and the nations humb 
 ling themeselves before the great Napoleon. With an army 
 of more than half a million men he was then on his way to in 
 vade the dominions of the Emperor of Russia, and at the same 
 time he was waging war with England and Spain, in the 
 Spanish peninsula. The greater part of the rest of Europe 
 was subject to his control; and England was necessarily at 
 war, not only with Napoleon, but with all the other powers 
 of Europe, who were either allies or dependents of Napoleon. 
 Under such circumstances it was hardly likely that she 
 would send any greater force from her continental wars than 
 she thought necessary to maintain her possessions in America. 
 Thus, as yet, there was all the stir and enthusiasm of war, 
 without any great fear of immediate danger. 
 
 Leonard came and went, as many other young men did, 
 to the house of Bloommaert; and their talk was all of fight 
 ing. But the eyes have a language of their own; the hands 
 speak, flowers and books and music, all were messengers of 
 love, and did his high behests. Moreover, New York was 
 even abnormally gay. She gave vent to her emotions in 
 social delights and unlimited hospitality. Tea- and card- 
 parties, assemblies or subscription balls, excursions up the 
 river, visits to Ballston mineral springs, riding and driving, 
 and the evening saunter on the Battery when the moon 
 shone, and the band played, and embryo heroes brought ices 
 
 62
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 t^)0igi c ^^ijtt.''^-^[>B-3^^ooo<g^^fl<Ki<g^ 
 
 and made honest love all these things were part and parcel 
 of these early days of war, in eighteen hundred and twelve; 
 and Leonard Murray and Sapphira Bloommaert met under 
 such happy circumstances continually. 
 
 The Bowling Green was the heart of this festivity, for it 
 was the headquarters of the military commanders ; and all the 
 colour and pomp of war centred there. Every morning 
 Sappha awoke to the sound of martial music; and every hour 
 of daylight the sidewalks were gay with the uniforms of the 
 army and the militia. It was Annette's misfortune to live in 
 Nassau Street; but then, as she said, " a great many officers 
 found Nassau Street a convenient way to the Battery." 
 Doubtless they did so, for her pretty face among the flowers 
 and tantalising shrubbery of the house was an attraction 
 worth going a little out of the way for. However, both An 
 nette and Madame Bloommaert spent much time at the house 
 on the Bowling Green; and no one was more interested in 
 public affairs than the judge's mother. Her daughter-in-law 
 had many other cares and duties; but the war to Madame 
 Jonaca Bloommaert was the pivot on which all her interests 
 hung. 
 
 She was sitting, one morning towards the end of July, eat 
 ing breakfast with her granddaughter. There was a little 
 breeze wandering about the old place, and madame wore 
 her white Canton crape shawl, a sure sign that she intended 
 to go to the Bowling Green. Well Annette had prepared 
 herself for such a likely visit, and she looked with complacent 
 
 63
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 satisfaction at her figured chintz frock, and her snow-white 
 pelerine of the sheerest muslin. 
 
 " About that affair at St. Paul's Episcopal Church last 
 Sunday, I want to ask your uncle Gerardus," said madame. 
 " I take leave to say it was not respectable. I can hardly 
 credit the tale eh; what do you think? " 
 
 " It must be true, grandmother ; I was at the dinner table 
 yesterday when cousin Peter came in and told us." 
 M "Told you? What then?" 
 
 " He said that after leaving church on Sunday morning, 
 and seeing us safely to our gate, he went up Nassau Street 
 and crossed the City Hall Park, intending to call on John 
 Van Ambridge. Not finding him at home, he took the 
 Broadway to the Bowling Green, and as he was passing 
 St. Paul's Episcopal Church an artillery regiment marched 
 out of the church, playing Yankee Doodle; and so up Broad 
 way, to both the outspoken anger and outspoken pleasure of 
 the crowd. Many men called on them to cease; others bid 
 them go on, and there was a commotion that would likely 
 have been much greater, if it had not been Sunday." 
 
 "What said Peter?" 
 
 " He did not like it ; he said it never could have hap 
 pened at the Middle Dutch Church, and so he laid all the 
 blame on Episcopacy." 
 
 " And what said your uncle? " 
 
 " He did not like it either. He thought the officers should 
 be reprimanded. What do you say, grandmother? " 
 
 64
 
 " I like it." 
 
 Annette smiled with a pleasant anticipation. She rather 
 enjoyed a difference of opinion between the household powers. 
 There was generally some small advantage in one way or 
 another as a result. Reconciliations were sure to follow, and 
 reconciliations brought laxities and favours not infrequently 
 gifts. She did not forget Sappha's new piano the white 
 roses and the tear-stained face, and as a natural sequence 
 the piano. 
 
 As they took their way to the Bowling Green madame 
 noticed an unusual quiet in the streets, but Annette, to whom 
 the Bowling Green represented New York, thought every 
 thing very lively. The musical exit from St. John's supplied 
 the conversation, or at least seasoned it with a just interesting 
 acrimony, till the dinner hour arrived. The judge was al 
 ways pleased to see his mother, and always placed her in his 
 own seat at the table when she eat with them, and this loyal 
 respect and kindness, though so often repeated, never failed 
 to touch madame as if it was a new thing that very hour. So 
 she spoke far more tolerantly than she intended, about the 
 scene at St. John's, and expended her little store of wrath 
 upon an ordinance which the Common Council had just 
 passed, making it unlawful for any one but those in actual 
 service to beat drums or play fifes on the streets, except 
 under great restrictions as to time. Madame indignantly 
 declared such a law to be " a restriction on the liberty of the 
 individual ; " and she reminded her son how much of a sin- 
 
 65
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ner he himself had been, when the Revolutionary War was 
 beginning. 
 
 " You were then a lad of only ten years old, Gerardus, yet 
 the drum was never out of your hands, unless you were play 
 ing the fife," she said. 
 
 " I am sorry to hear this, mother," he answered. " The 
 suffering that has been caused by such exhibitions of boyish 
 patriotism is beyond our counting. The healthy have been 
 made sick, the sick have been made worse, and in many cases, 
 undoubtedly, they have died in consequence of the perpetual 
 noise. Latterly these bands have taken to beating drums 
 incessantly before the house of any one thought to be opposed 
 to the war, and the general distress has compelled house 
 holders to beseech the Town Council for its interference." 
 
 "An old woman am I," said madame, " but the noise 
 never annoyed me." 
 
 " Mother, you are not an old woman, and you will never 
 be old. If you see one hundred years, you will die young." 
 
 She put out her thin, brown hand towards her son at this 
 compliment, and he laid his own all over it. Then she 
 added a little defiantly: " More noise than ever we shall 
 have in a day or two. Just nobody, is the Common Council. 
 The new disease is noise, and the boys all have it." 
 
 " Well, then, mother, the law will make short work of it 
 there is a heavy fine and the watch-house for those who do 
 not mind the law." 
 
 "Poor boys!" 
 
 66
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 " I think we have had enough of that subject," said Mrs. 
 Bloommaert; " is there no other news, Gerardus? " 
 
 " Well, my friend General Bloomfield is to be relieved of 
 his command here; so my pleasant evening smoke and chat 
 with him will soon come to an end. I heard, also, that the 
 company raised by Leonard Murray had joined Colonel Har- 
 sen's artillery regiment, and offered their services as a body 
 to the governor, and that it has been accepted. Some parts 
 of it will go to Staten Island, others to Bedloe's Island and 
 the Narrows." 
 
 He did not raise his eyes as he made this statement, or he 
 must have seen the face of his daughter flush and pale at his 
 words. She understood from them that Leonard would 
 leave New York, and she could not imagine how long his 
 absence might be. Mrs. Bloommaert did not speak; but she 
 looked curiously at the dropped countenance of her husband. 
 In some dim, undefined way, she came in a moment to the 
 conclusion that this bit of military movement had been 
 effected by General Bloomfield, in order to please his friend. 
 Annette shrugged her shoulders and said some one, or some 
 thing, always carried off her friends. She wondered what 
 she should do without Leonard he was so obliging, so merry, 
 eo always on hand when she wanted him, and so discreetly 
 absent when she would have felt him a nuisance. She went 
 on in a pretty, complaining way, as if Leonard was her 
 special friend, or even lover, and though all present looked at 
 her with a mild astonishment, no one cared to contradict the 
 
 67
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 position she had taken. Madame even endorsed it by her 
 unconscious affectation of sympathy. " You have a trifle of 
 eight or ten other admirers, child," she said ; " and Leonard 
 Murray is by no means unparagoned. A token give to him, 
 and let him go; a little discipline, that will be good for him." 
 
 This discussion had given Sappha time for self-control, and 
 Mrs. Bloommaert looked with admiration at her daughter. 
 She had feared some scornful or passionate word, but the 
 lace of Sappha was as calm as that of a sleeping child. She 
 had taken possession of herself completely ; and she asked her 
 mother for some delicacy she wanted, with an air of one only 
 concerned about her dinner. For by a strong mental effort 
 she had closed the door on Leonard for the time being: she 
 loved him too well, and too nobly, to babble about her re 
 lations with him especially with her cousin Annette. 
 
 She asked her father for no further information, and he 
 was pleased at her reticence; so much so that he gently 
 stroked her hair as he passed her seat in going out; and the 
 smile she gave him in return made him thoroughly respect 
 her. It was a time when it was considered a mark of re 
 finement in a woman to weep readily ; and if under the stress 
 of any unusual joy or grief or disappointment she fainted 
 away, she was thought to have done the right thing to prove 
 her exquisite sensibility. But if Sapphira had fainted on 
 hearing of her lover's departure, the judge would never have 
 stroked her hair, and she would also 'have missed that com 
 prehensive, kindling glance from her mother, which at once 
 
 68
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 bid her be brave for the occasion, and assured her of sym 
 pathy. 
 
 But the weariest river finds the sea somewhere, and the 
 time and the hour run through the longest day. There were 
 visitors after dinner, and then tea-time came and went; and 
 the judge prepared himself to see his mother and niece safely 
 to their home. 
 
 "And, Carlita, my dear," he said, " I may not be home un 
 til late. There is to be a meeting at Tammany Hall to ap 
 prove the war, and considering our conversation to-day at 
 dinner, one thing about the call is worth telling you it is 
 ' recommended to citizens of forty-five years of age and up 
 ward.' " 
 
 Madame laughed and gave her long mitts an impatient 
 jerk " these greybeards of ' forty-five and upward ' are go 
 ing to talk very wisely, no doubt," she said ; " but the young 
 men it is, who will man the ships and the batteries, and the 
 real fighting do." 
 
 " The old men will lead them, mother." 
 
 " Sixteen were you when you went to the front in the last 
 war, Gerardus; and Aaron Burr, who was no older, if as 
 old, carried messages between Arnold and Montgomery 
 through the thick of the fight at Quebec; and when Mont 
 gomery fell, little Burr it was who caught his body and 
 carried it out of the line of fire through a very rain of bul 
 lets a boy, mind you ! " 
 
 " Mother, I have divested myself of all community of feel- 
 
 69
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ing with the man called Aaron Burr, and of all interest what 
 ever in his sayings and doings." 
 
 " There it is ! However, the sayings and doings will talk 
 for themselves some day. Come, let us be going. Carlita 
 looks worn out with our chatter." 
 
 Carlita did not deny the imputation, and as soon as the 
 echo of their footsteps had died away in the distance, she 
 said, " Sappha, carry the candles into the other parlour. I 
 want to lie down on the sofa. I want to be quiet and dark, 
 and find out where I am, and what I am. The strain has 
 been very hard. Nassau Street always leaves me feeling fit 
 for nothing but sleep." 
 
 " And then to end it, that weary Aaron Burr contro 
 versy. Can't people let him alone ? " 
 
 " No ! When he did well, he heard it never ; now they 
 say he has done ill, he hears of it day in and day out." 
 
 So Sappha went to the best parlour, where the piano still 
 stood open, with the new music scattered over it. She put 
 it in order, and the very act brought her a restful, thought 
 ful mood. Then she closed the instrument, and drawing a 
 comfortable chair before the window she sat down to com 
 mune with her own heart. If what her father had said 
 concerning Leonard's company was correct and she had no 
 doubt of it then it was almost certain Leonard would him 
 self call and tell her. He might call that very night; she 
 was finally sure he would call, and her ears took intent note 
 of every sound, and of every coming footstep. 
 
 70
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 Very rarely are our hopes and wishes accomplished! But 
 this hour was favourable to Sappha's love. In a very short 
 time she heard the strong, quick steps she was waiting to 
 hear; and her face grew luminous with pleasure, and a 
 sweet smile made her little red mouth enchanting. She did 
 not go to meet him the front door stood wide open these 
 summer evenings, and there was a distinct luxury in sitting 
 still and waiting for the approach of happiness. It was ap 
 proaching so surely, so swiftly, and as the steps came near, 
 and more near, she heard in that scarcely broken silence the 
 oracle of her heart. 
 
 He entered softly, with a grace half-mystical and half- 
 sensuous; and without a word stood over her. Then she 
 lifted her eyes, and he saw their bright light turn tender, and 
 he stooped and laid his cheek against hers, and whispered: 
 " Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me, 
 Sappha? Speak, dearest! Speak quickly! Oh, speak 
 kindly!" 
 
 And her soul flew to her lips, and there was no need of 
 words. Love found a sweeter interpretation. 
 
 " Thy little white hand, give it to me." 
 
 She had no will to refuse it, almost of its own will it 
 slipped between the two strong hands that held it fast. Then 
 he found out those happy love words that are so glad that 
 they dance as they burn; those words at once so simple and 
 so wise, so gentle and so strong. 
 
 And the great marvel of love is ever this the slenderness 
 
 71
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 of the knowledge and experience which compels one human 
 being to say to another, " I love ^ou ! " which compels souls 
 to rush together, as if they were drawn by some such irresist 
 ible attraction as compels planets to follow their orbits. 
 Both were so young and so happy that they made each other 
 seem lovelier as they sat with clasped hands, speaking of 
 Leonard's company and its destination. 
 
 " How shall I endure your absence, Leonard? I know 
 not. You are my life, now, dear one," said Sappha. 
 
 " But, Sappha, my sweet, I shall be in your thoughts, as 
 you in mine; and we shall not know that we are apart. 
 Besides, it will be only for ninety days." 
 
 " Ah, but, Leonard, love reckons days for years, and every 
 little absence is an age! The tedious hours will move 
 heavily away, and every minute seem a lazy day." 
 
 " Where have you learned all this? " 
 
 " You taught me." 
 
 " Oh, love ! love ! love ! How sweet you are ! When I 
 return, then you will be my wife. Let me speak to your 
 father and mother to-night. Why should we wait ? " 
 
 " Leonard, I have promised my father and mother that I 
 will not engage myself to any one, until the war is over." 
 
 " But that was before this happy hour. Such a promise 
 cannot now stand, darling." 
 
 " It cannot be broken. How could you ever trust me if 
 I was false to the dear father and mother who love me so 
 much?" 
 
 72
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 " But we are engaged, Sappha. No mere ceremony of 
 asking consent can ever make us more truly one." 
 
 " Then, my love, be content with that knowledge."' 
 
 " The war may last a lifetime." 
 
 " It may be over in a year or less." 
 
 The love-light in her eyes, her tremulous smiles, her 
 penetrative loveliness, her confident heart's still fervour, filled 
 him with an inward gladness that was unspeakable. His 
 eyes dilated with rapture; he felt as if he was walking on 
 air, and breathing some diviner atmosphere. The joy of 
 love had gone to his head like wine. 
 
 In a little while Mrs. Bloommaert came into the room, 
 and though she was sleepy and distrait, she could not but 
 notice the couple who stood up hand-in-hand to meet her. 
 Sappha was eighteen years old, but her radiant face looked 
 almost childlike in its innocent joyousness; and Leonard at 
 her side was the incarnation of young manhood; endowed 
 with strength and grace and beauty, and crowned with the 
 glory of fortunate love. 
 
 Leonard wished her to understand, but she smiled away 
 all explanations, and pretended a little worry over her long 
 sleep, and the late hour; and there was nothing left for 
 Leonard but to say " Good-night." They both went to 
 the door with him, and when he was out of sight, the door 
 was shut and the mother said, " I must have been asleep ! 
 Your father will be here soon, Sappha. You had better go 
 to bed. I suppose Leonard is going with the men he raised."
 
 'HE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Yes, he is going." 
 
 " He ought to be glad to go. It is good for a young man 
 to have some experiences. Well, dear one, the day is over; 
 and you must be tired." 
 
 Then Sappha perceived that her mother did not wish to 
 know authentically, what she understood clearly enough ; 
 and a little saddened by this want of sympathy, she went 
 quietly into solitude with her joy. 
 
 The three months that followed this interview were filled 
 with incident. New Yorkers needed no theatre; the war 
 supplied every emotion of dismay and triumph of which the 
 human heart is capable. "On to Canada! " had been the 
 slogan at its commencement; and General Hull with over 
 two thousand fine troops quickly took peaceable possession of 
 the little village of Sandwich, on the Canadian shore. His 
 first dispatches threw New York into a tumult of excitement 
 and delight. The American flag was flying on both sides of 
 the Niagara River, and from the grandiloquent proclama 
 tion Hull had made the Canadians, and his first dispatches, 
 it really appeared as if Canada had fallen. But even while 
 bells were ringing and cannons firing jubilates for this news, 
 Hull himself had thrown out the white flag from his fort at 
 Detroit, and surrendered the stronghold and all his forces 
 without firing a gun. The anger and mortification of the 
 people were in due season, however, turned into triumph; 
 for if General Hull surrendered on the nineteenth of 
 August, Captain Hull of the frigate Constitution on the 
 
 74
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 tenth of August took the British man-of-war Guerriere on 
 the coast of Newfoundland; and the news of this victory, 
 which arrived in New York about the first of September, 
 roused the wildest enthusiasm. 
 
 This circumstance indicates very well the progress of the 
 war. The army operations on the Canadian frontier were 
 everywhere disastrous to America; on the ocean her ships 
 vindicated by constant brilliant victories the descent of her 
 sailors from that great maritime power whose flag had 
 braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze. There 
 is not in all history a more splendid naval record than the 
 United States made during these ninety days of alternate 
 dismay and triumph. And no city felt these wonderful sea 
 victories quite as New York did. Her great ship-yards on 
 the East River had sent out the armed frigates and brigs, 
 that were covering the nation, even in the eyes of her enemy, 
 with a great and unexpected glory. The Constitution! the 
 President! the Essex! the United States! these gallant 
 ships had a kind of personality to New Yorkers. They had 
 seen them grow to perfection in Christian Bergh's and Adam 
 Brown's yards. They had stood godfathers at their christ 
 ening, and they watched their valiant careers almost as a 
 father watches his son's course to a glorious success. 
 
 On the fourth of September Sappha and Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert were in Greenwich Street shopping, when they sud 
 denly heard a wild shout of joy. " The Constitution! the 
 Constitution!" From mouth to mouth the two words flew 
 
 75
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 like wild-fire. The whole city was roaring them. The bells 
 clappe'd them out. The cannon sent them thundering over 
 land and sea. Men meeting, though strangers, clasped hands ; 
 and women threw themselves into each other's arms, weep 
 ing. Was there feeling enough left for a maid to be love 
 lorn or melancholy? Not in Sappha's case. She gave her 
 whole heart to rejoice with her country first, and then 
 proudly remembered the dear youth who must at that 
 moment be rejoicing with her. 
 
 Letters from him came more frequently than she had dared 
 to hope. Some one available as a messenger was frequently 
 at the Narrows fort, and Leonard never missed an oppor 
 tunity. There was no restriction on this correspondence by 
 her father and mother, though at the beginning of it the 
 judge strongly advised restriction. 
 
 " Written words cannot be denied or rubbed out, Carlita," 
 he said. " I know what young men are. Suppose Leonard 
 should show Sappha's letters to some companion." 
 
 " Suppose an impossibility, Gerardus." 
 
 " Not so. A man in love is always a vain man, if his love 
 is returned. He has conquered, and he puts on all the airs 
 of a victor. He usually wants some one to admire and envy 
 him, and a love letter is a visible proof of his prowess among 
 women. I would not allow Sappha to write." 
 
 " Then you are in the wrong, my dear one. Nothing is 
 better for a lover than a course of love letters. It is the 
 finest education for marriage." 
 
 76
 
 SWEETNESS MORE THAN SPRING 
 
 " They say so many extravagant things." 
 
 " Very well. That is good. They get used to saying fine 
 things, then they feel them, and 'tis no harm at all for a 
 lover to write down his mistress ' an angel.' He may treat 
 her the better for it, all their lives together." 
 
 " So ! so ! Take thy own foolish way, wife. I do not 
 forget thy dear little love notes and ever the few leaves of 
 sweet brier in them. I can smell it yet." 
 
 So Sappha had her love letters, and she also wrote them. 
 Leonard's were like himself, frankly outspoken, full of ex 
 travagancy, both in love and war. " He loved her as 
 never man loved before ; " and she saw the words shine on 
 the paper, and believed in them with all her soul. " He 
 longed for those unspeakable English tyrants to come within 
 reach of their guns, they would be sunk twenty fathoms deep 
 in no time then, then, then, oh, then he would fly to her, 
 as a bird to its nest!" Love and glory mingled thus, until 
 love took entire possession; then the conclusion was a 
 passionate exploiting of that yearning word " why? " "Why 
 could they not be married when he returned? Why should 
 they wait? Why did she not think as he did? Why con 
 sider the war at all? Why let that old tyrant of a mother 
 land called England interfere in their happiness? Why 
 let anything? Or anybody?" There had been little 
 parties of visitors at the Narrows, " Why had she not per 
 suaded her father and mother to sail so far with her? Why, 
 in short, did she not understand that life was dreadfully dull 
 
 77
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 in the fort, and that a sight of her would be heaven to him ? 
 Why? Why? Why did she not love him as wildly and 
 fondly and eternally as he loved her?" 
 
 All this exaggeration was the most beautiful truth to 
 Sapphira. She adored her lover for the very prodigality of 
 his pleas and protestations. It was right and proper that 
 lovers should suffer all the pangs of separation; she was 
 rather proud of Leonard's wailing and complaining; and 
 careful not to comfort it too much, by comparing it with her 
 own. Indeed she rather affected the style of a sweet little 
 mentor, bound to remind him that he must love honour, 
 even before herself. And she so blended their own hopes 
 and happiness with domestic and public affairs as to make 
 her letters all that a daily paper might be to a man shut up 
 in prison, or in a fort in a wilderness. Leonard saw 
 through them, the New York he loved, the busy, hopeful 
 people, talking, trading, singing, smoking, loving, living 
 through every sense they had; and he felt with the keenest 
 delight all Sappha's sweet self-disparagements and com 
 punctions for her own happiness and good fortune in being 
 beloved by him. 
 
 " I cannot tell you, my own dear friend," she wrote on 
 the sixth of November, " how happy your assurances of 
 affection make me. People who are very, very happy do not 
 know how to write down their joy. I have no words but 
 the old, old ones I do so love you! If I but think of your 
 name, I bless it forever. When your letters come, I kiss the 
 
 78
 
 seal before I open them; when I write you a letter I look 
 love into every word I write. My father does not speak of 
 you oh, there is so much else for him to talk of ! My mother 
 looks only the sweet sympathy she will not utter, until my 
 father wills it and in that she is right, I think. Annette 
 may suspect, but she knows nothing certainly; our secret is 
 very much our own yet, and the dearer for it. You would 
 say so also, if you could see and hear New York at the pres 
 ent time. In spite of our small deprivations, we are all very 
 happy. The militia stationed here are having a most sociable 
 time, and there are parades and reviews constantly in prog 
 ress. The theatre is now filled every night it is open, and if 
 only some gallant privateer, or some sailor from the ships 
 comes in, the performance has to stop until he has been 
 cheered to the skies. I am sorry, my dearest friend, that you 
 did not join the navy; for just now sailors are the idols of our 
 city I do not mean that oh, no ! I could not bear to think 
 of you at sea. I am counting the days and the hours now. 
 I heard mother tell Annette that the men at the Nar 
 rows would be home for the great parade on Evacuation 
 Day, Annette clapped her hands and said ' then Leonard 
 Murray will return to us; and I shall ask grandmother to 
 give him a dinner. He will be so glad to see me,' she added, 
 ' and I shall be so glad to see him.' She put me out of cal 
 culation, and I did not mind; for if you remember, what 
 care I if all the world forgets me ? It is too bad the English 
 ships will not give you a chance of glory, we have almost
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 forgot how to fear them. Every one is in high spirits; we 
 have no doubt of God, nor our country, nor of our brave 
 sailors and soldiers. And, oh, Leonard! dear, dear Leon 
 ard, I have not one doubt of you. So then I send you my 
 heart; for I do trust you, Leonard, for all the joy that life 
 shall bring me. Yes I do! I do! Sappha." 
 
 Such foolish words! Ah, no! Such words of delightful 
 wisdom! And happy indeed is the woman who in her 
 youth hides such letters away in her Book of Life. They 
 will sweeten every page of it even to the very end.
 
 CHAPTER 
 FOUR 
 
 Introduces 
 Mr. Achille St. Ange 
 
 { J 
 
 N the afternoon of November the twenty- 
 fifth Annette was sitting with her grand 
 mother in the comfortable, large living room 
 which the elder woman loved. Outside the 
 Of -^?r-- jzjtipday was extraordinarily beautiful for the 
 season. The sky was nearly-cloudless, the balmy air had just 
 that snap of early frost which made it exhilarating, and there 
 was not a breath of wind. The tall, straight Michaelmas 
 daisies stood radiantly still in their late purple glory; the 
 golden marigolds glowed at their feet; every twig, and every 
 blade of grass might have been cut out of stone. It was a 
 speechless, motionless, spell-bound garden, lit up with a flood 
 of winter sunshine. 
 
 Madame had her knitting in her hand, but she was not 
 
 busy with it; her gaze was fixed upon Annette, who was 
 
 fastening more carefully the silver spangles on a gown of 
 
 blue gauze. " Madame Duval barely catches them," she said 
 
 plaintively, " and I suppose there will be dancing to-night." 
 
 " I do not think there will be anything of the kind, An- 
 
 8r
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 nette. Your aunt will have to use the largest room for 
 dinner, and dinner dishes are not moved by magic. Also, I 
 do not intend to remain there all night; so fine is the 
 weather we can easily return home. It has been such a 
 tumultuous day that I shall need sleep, and out of my own 
 bed I never get it." 
 
 "But the parade was splendid, grandmother; and I am 
 sure you are glad you saw it." 
 
 " Oh, my child, my years it made me count. So well I 
 remember the first Evacuation Day parade. General Wash 
 ington and the victorious army led it. Then I wept because 
 your grandfather was not among living heroes to-day I did 
 not weep so soon we shall meet again." A sound of dis 
 tant music arrested speech, and they listened in silence till it 
 died away. Then Annette said : " There are to be so many 
 public dinners, and the theatre is to be brilliantly illuminated. 
 Oh, grandmother, I wish you would let me go with the 
 Westervelt party to the theatre. What excitement there 
 will be there! What cheering and singing and fine acting! 
 and at uncle's! well, you know what uncle's Evacuation 
 dinners are ten or twelve old men who were in his com 
 pany will be there; and they will tell the same stories, and 
 sing the same songs, and pay the ladies the same compli 
 ments. I would like to go to the theatre." 
 
 " To your uncle's dinner party you will go to-night ; and 
 I think the dress you are spangling is too light. You had 
 better wear something warmer." 
 
 82
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 " Grandmother, I saw Sappha's dress yesterday it is a 
 white gauze with brilliant crimson roses scattered over it; 
 and it is to be worn over a rich, white satin slip. Do you 
 want me to look a dowdy beside her? " 
 
 " Like a dowdy you could not look, not if you tried to, 
 Annette. Of your health I want you to take good care. 
 Your mother had very weak lungs." 
 
 " My lungs are strong enough, grandmother, it is my 
 heart that is so dangerously weak. It is always giving me 
 sensations. Leonard Murray has come back so handsome, 
 I felt my heart as soon as I saw him." 
 
 " Annette, in such a way as that a good girl should not 
 talk, even to her grandmother. I do not think it is re 
 spectable. I am too lenient with you, and you are too free 
 with me." 
 
 " Grandmother, who is that ? He is coming in here. I 
 never saw the man before. How handsome! how genteel! 
 how simply noble he looks! I must send Lucas to open the 
 door." 
 
 In a minute or two the stranger let the knocker fall lightly 
 in a rat-tat-tat, and the little negro boy who answered his 
 summons put him into the chill best parlour, and brought his 
 card to madame. She read the name on it with difficulty, 
 and passing the card to Annette, drew her brows together in 
 an effort of remembrance. 
 
 " Mr. Achille St. Ange." 
 
 "St. Ange! St. Ange! Ah, yes, I now recollect. Ger- 
 
 83
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Mt<^^^W*^^>W<^^^QW<ZZ^QW<ZZ&Qb9<Z^^QbQ<^^&QWiSZ^QW<^^QW*^5>Wcz^>WfZZ?*QQ<) 
 
 trude Bergen married a French gentleman called St. Ange. 
 Gertrude and I were schoolgirls together. I was one of her 
 bridesmaids. This young man must be her grandson. It 
 seems incredible impossible " 
 
 " But in the meantime, grandmother, this young man is 
 waiting in the cold parlour." 
 
 " I had forgotten. Let Lucas bring him here. Do y 
 hear, Lucas ? " 
 
 " Yes, madame." 
 
 In a few moments Mr. St. Ange entered, with the air and 
 manner of a prince; bowing first to madame, and then, with 
 a shade less deference, to Annette. His slight, agile figure 
 had the erect carriage of one born to command; and his 
 general appearance and aspect was suggestively haughty, and 
 yet when people became familiar with him, they saw only a 
 careless tolerance of all opinions, and a certain compatibility 
 of temper, which easily passed for good nature. His hair was 
 intensely black and soft, and lay in straight locks on his white 
 brow; his eyes, equally dark, were full of a sombre fire; his 
 skin had the pallor of the hot land from which he came. 
 
 Madame rose to welcome him and remained standing 
 until he was seated, then she smilingly resumed her chair, 
 and said : 
 
 " Indeed, Mr. St. Agne, for a moment I had forgotten. 
 Backward for more than half a century I had to think then 
 I remembered your grandmother Gertrude Bergen. Am I 
 right?" 
 
 84
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 "Madame is correct," he answered; "my grandmother 
 died ten years ago. My mother is also no longer with the son, 
 who needs her so much. I have come to New York, and I 
 have ventured to present a claim on your kindness three gen 
 erations old." 
 
 His handsome face, his direct manner, the utter absence of 
 anything subtle in his air or appearance, perhaps even the 
 grave richness of his perfectly suitable attire prepossessed both 
 women instantly in his favour. Madame took out wine and 
 cake with her own hands; Annette was the cup-bearer, and 
 he accepted the service with a grace far more flattering than 
 any challenge or deprecation of it could have been. And 
 as Annette handed him the glass, he incidentally quite in 
 cidentally, indeed lifted his eyes to hers, and the glance 
 seemed to rivet her to the spot, to include not only her vision, 
 but her very soul. 
 
 Mr. Achille St. Ange wanted a friend, that was all; and 
 madame promised to do her best to advise him in the new life 
 upon which he was entering. They talked a little of his 
 Louisiana home, and of his future intentions, but the visit 
 was not prolonged at this time. " He had made his 
 introduction," he said, " the future he hoped to jus 
 tify it." 
 
 The advent of this rekindled friendship was quite an event 
 to madame. She could do nothing but talk of it; she kept 
 recalling her life with Gertrude Bergen, and she wondered a 
 little over her grandson's appearance. " But, then," she 
 
 85
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 53^S>CCS>M=C:300(>-e^>000>==OW<=^=>OOI)<C^aa!;0^^^Oa=^^*ODO<=S^C=^S>C<!=^E-(,0() 
 
 continued, " Gertrude was from Belgium, and swarthy, 
 though fine-looking. Much darker is her grandson, more 
 intense, more buoyant well, that, too, is natural ; it is the 
 French esprit upon the Dutch respectability. His grand 
 father I remember now the most careless of mortals, full of 
 fire and fight, and yet amiable most amiable. We all en 
 vied Gertrude a little. He took her to France to some lit 
 tle town near Paris. How did they get to Louisiana, I 
 wonder? " 
 
 Annette was the silent one in this event. She let her 
 grandmother talk. She wanted to hear all about Achille. 
 The man had made a singular impression on her. Many 
 lovers had been at her feet, but she had really loved none of 
 them. Was this strange emotion more akin to tears than 
 laughter really love? She told herself that the man was 
 captivating, and that she must be " on guard " whenever he 
 was present. And withal she kept wondering " what he 
 thought of her," and worrying because she was not dressed 
 to the best advantage. 
 
 Perhaps she would not have been quite pleased if she had 
 been truthfully told Mr. St. Ange's feeling concerning her, 
 for it was one of a perverse admiration, oddly mingled of 
 repulsion and fascination. He had never before seen a 
 woman so startlingly fair, so white so white and pink 
 eyes so blue, hair so palely yellow ; her beauty struck him as 
 great, but almost uncanny he wondered if so white a 
 woman was not equally cold. Would she ever warm to 
 
 86
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 love? And then he answered his reflections with a soft ut 
 terance: " We shall see! We shall see! " 
 
 The dinner party at the judge's was to be at four o'clock, 
 and the rest of the afternoon was fully occupied in preparing 
 for it. And in this preparation, if Annette had been keeping 
 " guard " over herself, she would have noticed that even 
 already the stranger influenced her. She laid aside the 
 spangled robe and put on a gown of purple cloth trimmed 
 with minever. And she thought, and said, that this change 
 was in deference to her grandmother's desires ; but in reality 
 it came from the feeling that Mr. St. Ange would not be at 
 her uncle's, and that no one else much mattered. Even if 
 Leonard was present, she felt now that Leonard was a past 
 interest ; St. Ange was new and different, and his favour full 
 of all kinds of possibilities. 
 
 On arriving at the house on the Bowling Green they 
 found it in a festal state of confusion. The largest parlour 
 had been stripped of all its movable furniture, and the space 
 devoted to a long table, and to chairs for the twenty or more 
 people that were to be seated. It already shone with massive 
 silver and beautiful crystal; while the odours of delicious 
 meats and confections inspired a sense of warmth and com 
 fort, and of good things to come. Blazing fires were in every 
 grate; the numerous silter sconces on the walls, and the 
 scintillating crystal chandelier above the table were all filled 
 with wax candles, which would be lit as soon as the daylight 
 waned a little farther. The judge was in full evening dress, 
 
 8?
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and madame in brocaded ruby velvet, with a string of pearls 
 round her yet beautiful throat. And when Sapphira came 
 into the room Annette was deeply mortified at her own fool 
 ishness in dressing so plainly. She felt that she had wdunded 
 and humiliated herself for a probability. In a moment of 
 new hope she had let slip the certainties Sappha had em 
 braced. For Sappha, in her rose-sprinkled gown, looked as 
 if she stepped out of the heart of a rose. Her brilliant 
 colour, the sunlike radiancy of her eyes, her glowing gown, 
 made her, indeed, a beauteous apparition, wonderfully sweet 
 and noble. Annette looked at her with an envious surprise. 
 Something had happened to her cousin Sappha; what it was 
 she did not understand, but Sappha had an air of mystery 
 and mastery, unperceived by herself, but rousing in all who 
 knew the girl intimately a questioning wonder. It came 
 from an interior sense of settlement and completeness ; Sappha 
 had found him whom her soul loved, and the restlessness, the 
 unconscious seeking and craving of girlhood, was over. 
 
 In her desire to somewhat equalise things, Annette gave 
 her cousin a very flowery description of her grandmother's 
 strange visitor. She described him as the most beautiful, 
 elegant, and graceful of human creatures ; and she emphasised 
 very strongly her grandmother's strong claim upon his affec 
 tion and attention " ' a friendship in its third generation,' 
 he called it, Sappha, and I suppose we shall see a great deal 
 of him. He is to call to-morrow to consult grandmother 
 about his money and his business." 
 
 88
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 " Where does he come from? " Sappha asked, but in such 
 a listless way that Annette responded angrily, " It is easy to 
 see you do not care where he comes from. I thought you 
 would feel some interest in such a romantic affair. What 
 are the old men and women who will be here to-night in 
 comparison with such an adorable young man? And how 
 you have dressed yourself for them! Do you imagine they 
 will appreciate, or, perhaps, even notice it ? " 
 
 " I dressed myself in honour of the day, and for my father 
 and mother's oldest friends. Here are some of them coming. 
 I must help mother to receive them." 
 
 " I am afraid it is going to be an unlucky and disagreeable 
 night," sighed Annette to herself, as she stood by the fire 
 watching the rapid arrival of cloaked and hooded guests. As 
 she mused amid the happy sounds of welcome, she noticed a 
 sudden shutting and opening of Sappha's bright eyes, and an 
 expression of more eager delight on her face. A quick pre 
 sentiment flashed through Annette's mind, and she followed 
 her cousin's glance to the little group advancing. Yes, it 
 was as she expected! Leonard Murray's fair head towered 
 in youthful beauty and animation above all the white-haired 
 men and women entering the room with him. Then Annette 
 slipped sweetly past all obstructions, and with a smile said 
 softly to Sappha: ' I dressed myself in honour of the day, 
 and for my father and mother's oldest friends ! ' Oh, Sappha ! 
 Sappha! Is Mr. Murray among their oldest friends? " 
 
 Sappha's face burned, but fortunately there was no time for 
 
 89
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 *W<=-^W>S.^>W<^>090:^S>{WO<S^^O&0*^>CQO*s^^OOO<=^3030^ 
 
 words. The judge and Peter were seating their guests, and 
 every one was for the moment silent and attentive. Madame, 
 his mother, had the head of the table, and every guest saluted 
 her as they passed to their own seats. And what a goodly 
 company it was! Such sturdy, stalwart men; such rosy- 
 faced, comfortable-looking, handsome women! such good 
 will and fellow-feeling! such amiable admiration of each 
 other's dress and appearance! And when the slaves brought 
 in, at shoulder height, the hot savoury dishes, such simultane 
 ous delight to find them the Hollandish delicacies, which now 
 remain to us only in printed descriptions; yes, even to the 
 little saucers of that dear condiment made of pickled and 
 spiced red cabbage, once so welcome jnd necessary to the 
 Dutch palate. And pray, what mouth once familiar with its 
 savour and flavour and relish could resist the delicately 
 thin, purple strips? Olives were already taking its place at 
 the tables of the high-bred citizens, who loved French fash 
 ions and French cooking; but among these old-fashioned, 
 picturesque figures, its antique, homely taste and aspect was 
 surely beautiful and fitting. At any rate, there was no one at 
 Judge Bloommaert's dinner table who would not have 
 passed by caviare or olives or any other condiment in its 
 favour. 
 
 Who has ever written down happiness? and what super 
 fluity of words would describe the good fellowship of the next 
 hour? There was no "hush" on any source of innocent 
 pleasure. With the good food went good wine and good 
 
 90
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 company, and above all, and through all, a good fellowship 
 bounded by the strongest of public and private ties. 
 
 And as the more substantial dishes gave place to fruits and 
 confections, the nobler part of the feast took its precedency. 
 The wine was consecrated to patriotism and friendship, in 
 heartfelt toasts; and one of the earliest, and the most en 
 thusiastic, was given to Madame Jonaca Bloommaert. It 
 was a spontaneous innovation, roused by her beautiful old 
 age, and her young enthusiasm, and she was for a moment 
 embarrassed by the unexpected. Only for a moment; then 
 she rose erect as a girl, her face kindling to her emotions, and 
 in a clear voice answered the united salutation : 
 
 " My friends, I thank you all. There has been much talk 
 of the Dutch and of the Americans. Well, then, I am a 
 Dutchwoman, and I am an American. Both names are graven 
 on my soul. America is my home, America is my native land, 
 and I would give my own life for her prosperity. But also, 
 Holland is my Vaderland! and my Moederland! I have 
 never seen it, I never shall see it, but what then ? When our 
 Vaderland and Moederland is lost to sight, good Dutchmen, 
 and good Dutchwomen, find it in their hearts! " Her thin 
 hands were clasped over her breast, her eyes full of a solemn 
 ecstacy ; for that moment she put off the vesture of her years, 
 and stood there, shining in the eternal youth of the soul. 
 
 In the midst of feelings not translatable she sat down, and 
 as the little tumult subsided Peter Bloommaert rose, and said : 
 
 " My dear grandmother has opened our hearts for the song 
 
 91
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 my brother Chris wrote, the night before he went away. I 
 promised to sing it for him this night, and my friend, Leonard 
 Murray who has it set to some good music will help me. 
 It is my business to build, it is my brother Christopher's busi 
 ness to sail, and to fight, but I say this and it is the truth 
 if America, my native land, needs my hands for fighting, the 
 love I bear for my Vaderland will only make me fight the 
 better for my native land." Then he looked at Leonard, 
 and the two young, vibrant voices, blended Christopher's 
 " Flag Song " with a stirring strain of catching melody: 
 
 O Flag of the Netherlands, are not our hearts 
 
 All flagbearers sacred to thee? 
 To our song, and our shout, O banner fly out \ 
 
 Fly out o'er the land and the sea \ 
 Unfold thee, unfold thee, invincible flag, 
 
 Remember thy brave, younger years, 
 When men crying ' Freedom \ ' died underneath thee, 
 'Mid storming and clashing of spears. 
 Flag of Fidelity! 
 Piety, Courage ! 
 Thy Blue, White, and Red 
 We salute ! 
 
 Thou art blue as the skies, and red as the dawn, 
 
 Thou art white as the noonday light; 
 Fidelity gave thee her beautiful blue, 
 
 And Piety bound thee in white. 
 Then Faith and Fidelity went to the field 
 
 Where the blood of thy heroes was shed ; 
 And there, where the sword was the breath of the Lord, 
 They gave thee thy ribbon of red. 
 Flag of Fidelity! 
 Piety! Courage! 
 Thy Blue, White, and Red 
 We salute! 
 
 92
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 The enthusiasm evoked by this Vlaggelied was kept up in 
 toast and story and song until the big clock in the hall 
 struck seven. Then the judge and Colonel Rutgers rose; 
 they were going to speak at a dinner given by the officers of 
 the Third New York State Artillery, and others were going 
 either to the theatre or to Scudder's Museum, both of which 
 buildings were to be brilliantly illuminated. But a few of 
 the guests would willingly have prolonged the present plea 
 sure, and old Samuel Van Slyck said: 
 
 " Well, then, judge, too fast is your clock. There is yet 
 one good half-hour before seven." 
 
 " No, no, Van Slyck," answered the judge, " a Dutch 
 clock goes always just so ; you cannot make it too fast." And 
 to this national joke the party rose; they rose with a smile 
 that ended in an involuntary sigh and the little laughing stir 
 with which human beings try to hide the breaking up of a 
 happiness. 
 
 Cloaked and hooded, the majority went northward up 
 Broadway; but quite a number went eastward to Nassau, 
 Wall, and State streets. In this party were Madame 
 Bloommaert and Annette, their escorts being Peter, and 
 Leonard Murray. They were the last to leave, for they 
 were in no great hurry ; so they took leisurely farewells, and 
 some of the women drank a cup of tea standing cloaked in the 
 parlour. In this short postponement Leonard found the 
 moments he had been longing for. Never had Sappha been 
 so entrancing in his eyes, and the radiancy of her beauty had 
 
 93
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 not charmed him more than the graceful generosity with 
 which she had suffered herself to be eclipsed for the honour 
 and pleasures of others. And, oh, how sweet he made the 
 cup of tea he brought her, with such honeyed words of 
 praise! And how proud and happy he was made by her 
 answer. 
 
 " If I was fair to you, dear Leonard, I have my perfect 
 wish; for when you are not here, then all the world is 
 nothing." 
 
 They were both happy and excited, and it is little wonder 
 if they betrayed to Annette's sharp eyes more than they in 
 tended. She was spending all her fascinations on her cousin 
 Peter, but while making eyes at cousin Peter was not 
 oblivious of her cousin Sappha. And when the festal 
 hours were quite over and she was alone with her grand 
 mother, she could not avoid giving utterance to her sus 
 picions : 
 
 " Grandmother," she said, putting the tips of her ringers 
 together and resting her chin upon them, " I have an 
 idea." 
 
 "Well, then, what is it?" 
 
 " I think Sappha and Leonard Murray are not only in 
 love with each other I think, also, they are engaged." 
 
 " You talk more nonsense than usual. No one has said a 
 word of that kind to me. Of this family, I am the head, 
 there could be no engagement without my approval. Your 
 uncle and aunt would have told me at once Sappha also. 
 About engagements, what do you know? Lovers you have. 
 
 94
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 but making love and making a life-long engagement are dif 
 ferent things. Sappha is not engaged." 
 
 " Then 'tis a thousand pities, for I am sure she is mortally 
 in love with Leonard." 
 
 "And if he was mortally in love with Sappha, what won 
 der? More beautiful every day. grows Sapphira Bloom- 
 maert." 
 
 " That is because she is in love. ' Love makes the lover 
 fair,' " and she began to hum the song. 
 
 " I have never seen love any change make in you. A new 
 dress might, but - " 
 
 " I have never been in love. A new dress is the height of 
 my affection. However, I go back to what I said I am 
 sure Sappha and Leonard are engaged." 
 
 " Was some one telling you this story? " 
 
 " No. I told the story to myself." 
 
 " How did you make it up? " 
 
 " I kept my eyes open." 
 
 "Well, what then?" 
 
 " I saw that they had that ' air ' about their slightest inter 
 course that mere experimental lovers never dare. I mean 
 that sure look that married people have. Watch them and 
 you will see it." 
 
 " Watch, I shall not. See, I shall not. As soon as there 
 is any purpose of marriage for Sapphira Bloommaert, I shall 
 be told of it told immediately. If I was not, I should 
 never forgive the slight, never! And your uncle and aunt 
 
 95
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 know it. Can you find nothing pleasanter about the dinner 
 to talk of? It was a dinner to gladden Dutch hearts. I 
 helped your aunt arrange the courses, and I gave her many of 
 my choice receipts for the dishes. No one in New York has 
 such fine Hollandish receipts as I have, except, perhaps, old 
 Peter Bogart, the biscuit maker." 
 
 " I know, grandmother, I never pass his shop at Broadway 
 and Cortlandt Street without going in for some doughnuts. 
 No one can make such good- ones; and how far back he looks 
 in his smallclothes and long stockings, his big hat, and knee 
 buckles, and shoe buckles, and sleeve buckles, his powdered 
 hair and his long cue." 
 
 " Yes, Peter Bogart and Mr. and Mrs. Skaats are among 
 the few Dutch who have never changed with changing cus 
 toms. While moving with the city and the times they have 
 retained their picturesque dress and household life. And in 
 all New York no one is more respected ; no one more inter 
 esting and lovable than Mr. and Mrs. Skaats." 
 
 " I never saw them ! " 
 
 " I am sure you have not." 
 
 "Well, then, who are they?" 
 
 " Mr. Skaats is custodian of the City Hall, and this delight 
 ful old couple often entertain the judges, lawyers, and the 
 councilmen at their dinner table; on which is always found 
 the Hollandish dishes we are so rapidly forgetting. Your 
 uncle occasionally dines with them, and would do so more 
 frequently if his own home was not so convenient. You 
 
 96
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 must ask him to take you to see these dear old Dutch people ; 
 or I dare say Sappha knows them. Soon they will only be 
 a pleasant memory." 
 
 " I do not need to go and see the Skaats for a pleasant 
 Dutch memory. There is no finer Dutchwoman in the 
 world than my grandmother, Madame Jonaca Bloommaert." 
 
 Madame was gratified at this compliment, and, perhaps, 
 in order to return the pleasure, or else for the sake of chang 
 ing the subject, she said: " Mr. St. Ange will be here in 
 the morning but I do not think it is necessary to warm the 
 best parlour." 
 
 " No, no, grandmother. Our sitting-room is far more dis 
 tinguished. The best parlour is like a great many parlours ; 
 our sitting-room has a character a most respectable one. I 
 could see that he was impressed by it. I dare say he will 
 soon know Sappha, and of course he will fall in love with 
 her, and then there will be some interest in watching how 
 Leonard Murray will like that." 
 
 "Well, then, keep yourself clear; see, and hear, and say 
 nothing; that is wise." 
 
 " But I like to meddle a little bit. I wonder if Leonard 
 and Sappha are really engaged! Leonard might have come 
 in and sat an hour with us; I expected so much courtesy 
 from him. But no! though I told him we were so lonely 
 in the evenings, he never offered to spend a little time with 
 us. I dare say he returned at once to the Bowling Green. I 
 saw him say a word or two to Sappha as he left, and she 
 
 97
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 smiled and nodded, and I am very sure he was asking her 
 permission to return." 
 
 " Such nonsense ! He would have asked your aunt that 
 question." 
 
 " Oh, the question is nothing! any question meant the same 
 thing. I have no doubt at all, Leonard is at this moment 
 with Sappha. They will be pretending to help aunt Carlita, 
 but then helping her will mean pleasing themselves." 
 
 But for once Annette's sensibility, though so selfishly 
 acute, was not correct. Leonard did not return to the 
 Bowling Green, and Sappha was disappointed and hurt by 
 his failure to do so. For an hour she sat with her mother 
 before the fire, expecting every moment to hear his footsteps. 
 And this expectation was so intense that she was frequently 
 certain of their approach his light rapid tread, his way of 
 mounting the steps two at a time both these sounds were 
 repeated again and again upon her sensitive ear drum, and 
 yet Leonard came not. Alas, what heart-watcher has not 
 been tormented by these spectral promises ? for the ears have 
 their phantoms as well as the eyes. At last she reluctantly 
 gave up hope, and as she lit her night candle she said in a 
 tone of affected cheerfulness: 
 
 " I suppose Leonard would stay an hour or two with 
 grandmother and Annette." 
 
 " Why should you suppose such a thing ? I am sure he 
 never thought of doing so. I dare say he went with Peter 
 to the theatre." 
 
 98
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 " Grandmother had a visitor to-day a grandson of Mrs. 
 Gaint-Ange." 
 
 " She told me so." 
 
 " He is very handsome, Annette says." 
 
 " Well, then, he will, perhaps, find work for idle hearts 
 to do. Your grandmother declares Annette shall marry a 
 Dutchman. But when I was a girl French nobles fleeing 
 from Robespierre elbowed one another on Broadway, and 
 they carried off most of the rich and pretty Dutch maidens. 
 A Frenchman is a great temptation ; your grandmother will 
 have to guard her determination, or she may be disappointed." 
 
 " Good-night, dear mother. I will help you in the morn 
 ing to put everything straight." 
 
 " Good-night, and good angels give you good dreams, dear 
 one." 
 
 And as Sappha put down her candle in the dim, lonely 
 room, and hastened her disrobing because of the cold, she 
 could not help wondering where all the enthusiasms of the 
 early evening were gone to the light, the warmth, the good 
 cheer, the good fellowship, the joy of song, the thrill of love. 
 They had been so vividly present two hours ago, and now 
 they were so vividly absent that the tears came unbidden to 
 her eyes, and she had an overpowering sense of discourage 
 ment and defeat. And the sting of this inward depression 
 was Leonard Murray. " He might have come back for an 
 hour! He might have com^! and he did not." Murmur 
 ing this sorrowful complaint she went into the land of sleep. 
 
 99
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 And in that world of the soul she met her angel, and was 
 so counselled and strengthened that she awoke with a light 
 heart and with song upon her lips all her fret and lurking 
 jealousy turned into a frank confidence; all her doubts 
 changed into the happiest hopes. And as every one has, 
 more or less, frequently experienced this marvellous com 
 munion, this falling on sleep angry, disappointed, dismayed, 
 and awakening soothed, satisfied, encouraged, there is no 
 need to speculate concerning such a spiritual transformation. 
 Those who have the key to it require no tutor; those who 
 have not the key could not be made to understand. 
 
 Sappha simply and cheerfully accepted the change; she 
 was even able to see where she had been unreasonable in her 
 expectations ; her whole mood was softened and more gener 
 ous. She dressed herself and went down, rosy with the cold, 
 and her father found her standing before the blazing fire 
 warming her feet and hands. The windows were white with 
 frost, and a bugle sounded piercingly sweet in the cold, clear 
 air ; but the big room was full of comfort and of the promise 
 of a good plentiful meal. 
 
 They began to talk at once about the dinner party of the 
 previous evening, and Sappha said : " The best part of the 
 whole affair was grandmother. I think, father, that she 
 looked about twenty years old, when she was speaking. How 
 radiant was her face! How sweet her voice! How proud 
 I am to be her granddaughter! " 
 
 And this acknowledgment so pleased the judge that he 
 100
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 answered : " I shall never forget her countenance as she 
 lifted her eyes to the flags above the mantlepiece ; her glance 
 took in both, with equal affection ; the red, white, and blue of 
 the Netherlands, and the Star Spangled Banner which hung 
 by its side. And let me tell you, Sappha, I liked our Chris 
 topher's song, and also I liked the music Mr. Murray wrote 
 for it. One was as good as the other. Here comes mother, 
 and the coffee, and how delicious the meat and bread smell! 
 Mother is always the bringer of good things. Sit here, Sap 
 pha, it is warmer than your own place." 
 
 During breakfast the gathering of the previous evening 
 was more fully discussed ; and in speaking of madame and 
 Annette Sapphira made mention of Mr. St. Ange, who had 
 visited them. Somewhat to their astonishment the judge 
 said he had heard of the young man through the Livingstons, 
 with whom he had had some business transactions. Mr. 
 Edward Livingston, of New Orleans, had supplied him with 
 introductions to some of the best New York families, and he 
 thought it likely, from what he had been told, that Annette's 
 description of his beauty and excessive gentility was not more 
 of an exaggeration than Annette's usual statements. 
 
 " You have been told things about him, father. Then he 
 has been in New York more than two days? " 
 
 " He has been here about two weeks." 
 
 " Oh ! I understood from Annette that he had flown to 
 grandmother's friendship at once. She spoke as if they were 
 to have the introducing of him to society in New York." 
 
 101
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 "Well, then, they can do a great deal for Mr. St. Ange in 
 that way. I fancy he is rather popular already among the 
 Livingston and Clinton set. My mother can give him 
 equally fine introductions among the Dutch aristocracy. I 
 believe him to be a gentleman, and I should think it quite 
 prudent to offer him any courtesy that comes in your 
 way. " 
 
 After the judge had left home the two women continued 
 the conversation. Mrs. Bloommaert was certain St. Ange 
 was at least of French parentage. " His name is one of the 
 best names among the nobility of France," she said. "And 
 if he is truly a French gentleman, you will see of what ex 
 pression that word ' gentleman ' is capable. But I wish not 
 that you should meet him through Annette her airs will be 
 insufferable. I think it possible he may be at the Girauds' 
 ball to-morrow night. There you would meet him quite 
 naturally. It is strange Josette Giraud did not name him to 
 you when she called last Monday." 
 
 " Josette loves my brother Peter. Peter has her whole 
 heart. There would not be room for the finest French 
 gentleman in the world in it." 
 
 " Josette is a good girl. I wish much that Peter would 
 marry her. But no, Peter thinks only of ships." 
 
 " Oh, you don't know, mother ! Peter talks about ships, 
 but not about girls. All the same he thinks a deal about 
 Josette Giraud." 
 
 " Sometimes I fear Annette. I have seen her! She makes 
 1 02
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 eyes at Peter, she admires him, and lets him see it and men 
 are so easily captured." 
 
 " But then, Annette does not want to capture Peter. She 
 is only amusing herself. She makes eyes at all good-looking 
 young men. She cannot help it." 
 
 " Your grandmother ought not to allow her to do so." 
 
 " Poor grandmother I She does not know it, or see it. Sf 
 she did, she could as easily prevent a bird from singing as 
 keep Annette from looking lovely things out of her beautiful 
 eyes. And really, mother, she intends no wrong. How can 
 she help being so pretty and so clever? " 
 
 " Peter could have taken them home last night without 
 the assistance of Leonard Murray and Leonard wanted to 
 stay a while here, but Annette asked him with one of those 
 ' lovely looks ' to walk with them, and Leonard never once 
 objected." 
 
 "How could he?" 
 
 "And this morning she will have no recollection of either 
 Peter or Leonard. She will be busy with the conquest of this 
 Mr. St. Ange." 
 
 " If so, Mr. St. Ange will soon be her captive. I shall 
 think no worse of him for a ready submission. ' Honour to 
 the vanquished \ ' was a favourite device of the knights of the 
 olden times." 
 
 Mrs. Bloommaert was, however, a little out of her calcula 
 tion. So was Annette. Both had been sure St. Ange would 
 avail himself of the earliest possible hour in which a call 
 
 103
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 could be politely possible; and Annette, somewhat to her 
 grandmother's amusement, had dressed herself in the fas 
 cinating little Dutch costume she had worn at a St. Nicholas 
 festival. She said she had done so because it was so warm 
 and comfortable for a cold morning; and she smoothed the 
 quilted silk petticoat and the cloth jacket down, and made 
 little explanations about them and the vest of white em 
 broidery, which neither deceived madame nor herself. Her 
 fair hair was in two long braids, tied with blue ribbons ; her 
 short petticoat revealed her small feet dressed in grey stock 
 ings clocked with orange; and high-heeled shoes fastened 
 with silver latchets. She was picturesque and very pretty, 
 and armed from head to feet for conquest. But, alas! St. 
 Ange came not. In fact he was comfortably sleeping while 
 she was watching; and it was not until the middle of the 
 afternoon he made the promised visit. He had beep dining 
 at Mr. Grinnel's the previous evening, and had afterwards 
 gone to the theatre with a large party. And he lamented 
 with an almost womanly plaintiveness the bitter cold, that, 
 for him, spoiled every entertainment. The theatre, he said, 
 was at freezing point; and how the ladies endured the tem 
 perature in their evening gowns was to him a marvel. Then 
 he looked round madame's fine old room with its solid oak, 
 and massive silver, its curtained windows, thick carpet, 
 plentiful bearskin rugs, and huge blazing fire, and said with a 
 happy sigh: " It was the only room fit to live in that he 
 had seen in New York. Handsome rooms! oh, yes, 
 
 104
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 very handsome rooms he had seen, but all cold, killing 
 cold!" 
 
 Madame reminded him that New York and Lousiania 
 were in different latitudes ; and Annette found him the most 
 cosey chair in the warmest corner, and the general warmth 
 and sympathy was soon effectual. Complaint was changed 
 for admiration, and as the day waned, and the firelight made 
 itself more and more impressive, his conversation lost its 
 business and social character, and became personal and rem 
 iniscent. 
 
 Madame asked him if he was born in New Orleans, and 
 at the question his eyes flashed like living furnaces filled with 
 flame. 
 
 " But no," he answered. " No, no ! I was born in that 
 island that God made like Paradise, and negroes have made 
 like hell. Near the town of Cayes I was born, in a vast stone 
 mansion standing on a terrace and shaded by stately palms. 
 Six terraces led from it to the ocean, and marble steps led 
 from one terrace to another. My father had left France 
 very early in the reign of Louis the Sixteenth, and I have 
 heard that even at that time he had a positive prescience of 
 the horrors of the coming revolution. However, without 
 this incentive he would have made the emigration; for he 
 had fallen heir to immense hereditary estates in Hayti, which 
 had been in the possession of our family from the time of 
 Columbus. Here he cultivated the cane, introducing it him 
 self from the West Indies ; and he also exported great quanti- 
 
 105
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ties of mahogany, and of that beautiful wood which is frag 
 rant in its native forests as the sweetest of roses. There 
 were many slaves on the estate, who lived in a little village of 
 their own, about a mile away from the house. During the 
 awful insurrection of 1791 my father defended his mansion, 
 and as he had great influence with the blacks he was not 
 seriously interfered with; but he was never afterwards 
 happy. He foresaw that the continual fighting between the 
 blacks and the mulattoes must finally drive all white people 
 from the island, and he prepared for this emergency by send 
 ing to New Orleans at every opportunity all the money he 
 could spare. In 1803 the long years of continual horrors 
 culminated, and the United States having bought Louisiania, 
 my father resolved to remove there at once. A British frig 
 ate was in the harbour of Cayes at the time, and arrange 
 ments were made with the captain for our immediate removal. 
 I was then of fourteen years, and I knew only too well the 
 demoniac character of these insurrections. This one also 
 was likely to be especially cruel, owing to the presence of 
 French troops sent by Napoleon to subjugate the blacks. 
 Secretly I assisted my father to carry to the ship the money, 
 jewels, and papers we intended to take with us, but ere this 
 duty was quite accomplished we saw that there was no time 
 to lose. With anxious hearts we watched the ship sail north 
 ward, but this movement was only a feint. We knew 
 that about midnight she would return to the appointed place 
 for us. 
 
 106
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 " Sick with many fears we watched for the setting of the 
 sun. It had been a hot, suffocating day, and every hour of it 
 had indicated a fierce, and still more fierce, gathering of the 
 combatants. Hellish cries, and shouts to the beating of 
 drums, and the wild chanting of the Obeah priests had filled 
 the daylight with unspeakable terrors. But when the sun 
 sank, suddenly a preternatural calm followed. Mysterious 
 lights were seen in the thick woods, howlings and cries, hor 
 rible and inhuman, came out of its dense darkness. Abomin 
 able sacrifices were being offered to the demon they wor 
 shipped, and we knew that as soon as these rites were over 
 indiscriminate slaughter and devilish cruelties would begin. 
 My mother had my little sister in her arms, and I went with 
 her through the forest to the seaside. She reached our meet 
 ing place by one exit, I by another ; for we were suspiciously 
 watched, and durst not leave the house in a body. My father 
 and my two eldest brothers were to join us by different 
 routes. 
 
 " That awful walk ! That enchanted walk through the 
 hot, thick forest! I shall never forget it in this life or 
 the next I shall never forget it! Even the insects were 
 voiceless, and the huge serpents lay prone in spellbound still 
 ness. We had not reached the sea before a terrific thunder 
 storm broke over us. Then the glare and gloom made each 
 other more awful ; the black sky was torn by such lightning 
 as you have no conception of; and in the midst of natural 
 terrors no one can describe the blacks held a carnival of out- 
 
 JO7
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 rage and death in every conceivable form of hellish cruelty 
 that Obeah could devise. 
 
 " Nearly dead with fatigue and fright my mother reached 
 the little cove where the ship was to meet us, and there we 
 waited in an agony of terror for the arrival of my father and 
 brothers. They came not. And if the ship was noticed 
 lying near we should be discovered. I walked back as far 
 as I durst, looking for any trace of them. My mother lay 
 upon the sand praying. My little sister slept at her side. In 
 that hour childhood left me forever. In that hour I learned 
 how much one may suffer, and yet not die. Daylight began 
 to appear, and the ship was about half a mile from the land. 
 Then I called, not with the voice I am now using, but 
 with some far mightier force, 'Father! Father!' And at 
 that moment he appeared, pushing his way through the green 
 tangle. And his face was whiter than death, because it was 
 full of horror and agony, which the face of death very 
 rarely is. 
 
 " He could not speak. He made motions to me to signal 
 the ship, which I instantly did. It was not many minutes till 
 we saw our signal answered and a little boat coming quickly 
 toward us. But my father quivered with anxiety, and he said, 
 afterwards, they were the most awful moments of his exist 
 ence. For he knew there was a party of negroes in pursuit, 
 and, indeed, we were just getting into the boat when we 
 heard them crashing through the underwood. My mother 
 had said only two words, ' August ! Victor ! ' and my 
 
 108
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 father had answered only, ' Dead.' Then the sailors pulled 
 with all their strength to escape the bullets that followed us; 
 but one struck and killed the babe in my mother's arms, and 
 another fatally wounded a man at one of the oars. He fell, 
 and my father took his place." 
 
 Annette was watching St. Ange like one fascinated; her 
 blue eyes were wide open, her face terror-stricken, her little 
 form all a-tremble. Madame had covered her face, but 
 when Achille ceased speaking she stretched out her hand to 
 him, and for a few moments there was an intense passionful 
 silence. Madame broke it. 
 
 " You reached New Orleans safely? " 
 
 " It was a hard journey. The captain had taken on a 
 great number of the fugitives, and he waited around the 
 island for two days, rescuing many more who had trusted to.. 
 the mercy of the sea rather than dare the bloody riot on land ; 
 so that we were much overcrowded and soon suffering for 
 food and water. Fever followed, and when we reached 
 New Orleans we were in a pitiable plight. My mother did 
 not recover from this experience. She never asked further 
 about my brothers, and my father would not have told her 
 the truth, if she had asked. ' They are dead ! They died 
 like heroes ! ' That was all my father ever told me. It was 
 all that I wished to know. 
 
 " On Bayou Teche we bought a plantation, and began 
 again the cultivation of the cane, but mother died visibly, day 
 by day, and within six weeks we buried her under the waving 
 
 109
 
 banners of the grey moss that hung so mournfully from the 
 live oaks, that January morning. As to my father, he was 
 never again the same. He had been a very joyous man, but 
 he smiled no more, and he fretted continually over the loss of 
 his family and his beautiful home in Hayti. For some years 
 we were all in all to each other, and he laboured hard to 
 bring our new plantation into a fine condition. Then he, 
 too, left me, and the place was hateful in my sight. I wished 
 to escape forever from the sight of negroes. I feared them, 
 even in my sleep. Had not those who had shared our food, 
 and games, and constant society slain with fiendish delight 
 my poor brothers and my only sister? I was acquainted with 
 Mr. Edward Livingston, a lawyer in New Orleans, and who 
 himself had married a beautiful refugee from the great 
 Haitian insurrection, and he advised me not to sell my planta 
 tion, as in view of the war I could not get its value. I would 
 not listen to him a simpler life with the black cloud re 
 moved seemed to me the only thing I desired. But no, I 
 have not here escaped it. What shall I do ? " 
 
 " The blacks in New York are mostly free, and they are 
 comparatively few in number," said madame. 
 
 " Few in number that is some security. But now, I must 
 tell you, that this summer, on the very night that there was a 
 great volcanic eruption from the burning heart of St. Vincent, 
 there was another massacre. Amid the roaring darkness, 
 the intolerable heat, the rain of ashes, the stench of sulphur, 
 and the stygian horror of the heavens and the earth, the blacks, 
 
 no
 
 
 ' THE CAPTAIN . . . WAITED AROUND THE ISLAND FOR TWO 
 
 DAYS, RESCUING MANY MORE WHO HAD TRUSTED 
 
 TO THE MERCY OF THE SEA."
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 made frantic by their terror, and led by the priests of Obeah, 
 fell upon the whites indiscriminately. They fled to the ships 
 in the harbour to the sea anywhere, anywhere, from those 
 huge animal natures whose eyes were flaming with rage, and 
 whose souls were without pity. Nearly one hundred of 
 these fugitives finally reached Norfolk and Virginia. Some 
 had been warned either by their own souls, or by friends, and 
 had money and jewels with them; others were quite desti 
 tute; many were sick, and their condition w r as pitiable. , All 
 desired to reach the French settlements in Louisiana, but 
 transit by water was most uncertain, nearly all the usual 
 shipping being employed in the more congenial business of 
 privateering. Then, in the midst of their distress, comes 
 into port one day Captain Christopher Bloommaert. He 
 had with him a fine English frigate, the prize of his skill 
 and valour. And when he understood the case of these poor 
 souls, he called his men together and proposed to them the 
 God-like voyage of carrying the miserables to New Orleans. 
 ' 'Tis but a little way out of our purposed course,' he said, 
 ' and who knows on what tack good fortune may meet us? ' 
 And the men answered with a shout of ready assent, and so 
 they finally reached New Orleans. I saw them land. Many 
 of them were old friends of my family, and I heard such 
 stories from their lips as make men mad. One old planter, 
 who had money with him, bought my estate, and took those 
 with him to its shelter who had neither money nor friends. 
 Their kindness to each other was wonderful. As for me, I 
 
 in
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 hastened away from scenes that had cast a pall over all my 
 life. Yet I forget not; to forget would be an impossible 
 mercy." 
 
 Then madame talked comfortably to the young man, and 
 after a while tea was brought in, and Annette, grave and 
 silent for once, made it; and quietly watched, and listened, 
 and served. St. Ange liked her better in this mood. The 
 other Annette, with her little coquetries, had not pleased him 
 half so well. When he left she understood that she had 
 gained favour in his eyes; he kissed her hand with an en 
 thralling grace and respect or, at least, Annette found it 
 so. And that night, though she felt certain Leonard Mur 
 ray was singing the new songs with Sappha, she told herself 
 that she " did not care if he was. Achille was twice as in 
 teresting; he was, indeed, a romantic, a tragic hero and 
 very nearly a lover. And he was so captivating, so unusually 
 handsome ! " She went over the rather long list of young 
 men with whom she was friendly, and positively assured her 
 self that all were commonplace compared with this wonder 
 ful Achille. And, to be sure, his small but elegant figure, 
 his pale passionate face, set in those straight black locks, his 
 caressing voice, his subtle smile, his gentle pressure of the 
 hand all these charms were not the prominent ones of the 
 practical, business-like young men with whom she was most 
 familiar. 
 
 After St. Ange's departure madame sat silent for some 
 time, and Annette watched her with a strange speculation in 
 
 112
 
 INTRODUCES MR. ST. ANGE 
 
 her mind did people really keep their emotions fresh when 
 they were three-score and ten years old? Her grandmother 
 had seemed to feel all that she had felt. Her hands, her feet, 
 her whole figure had revealed strong sensation, her eyes been 
 tender with sympathy and keen with anger ; her interest had 
 never flagged. In passionate sensibility had twenty years 
 no superiority over seventy years? Patience, Annette! 
 Time will tell you the secret. Oh, the soul keeps its youth ! 
 
 She considered this question, however, until it wearied 
 her, and then she asked abruptly: " Grandmother, of what 
 are you dreaming? " 
 
 " Mr. St. Ange. I was recalling the day on which his 
 grandfather carried off to France pretty Gertrude Bergen. 
 She went to France and died in Haiti, and now her grand 
 son is driven back by events he cannot control to New York." 
 
 " Where he will probably marry some other pretty Dutch 
 maiden." 
 
 " And small heed we take of such things ; we even count 
 them of chance; yet, how often that which flowers to-day 
 grows from very old roots." 
 
 " Grandmother, I want two new dresses. Can I have 
 them?" 
 
 " Stuffs of every kind are very dear, Annette." 
 
 " Only two, grandmother." 
 
 " And Madame Lafarge's charges for making dresses are 
 extravagant the making is the worst." 
 
 " It has to be done, grandmother."
 
 " Yes but if you will turn to your Bible, Annette, you 
 will find that the woman whose 'price was above rubies ' 
 made her own dresses."* 
 
 " Indeed, grandmother, you need only glance at any pic 
 ture of a Bible woman to see that. Dresses without shape, 
 without style and as for the fit! " And Annette could 
 only explain the enormity of the fit by throwing up her 
 hands in expressive silence. 
 
 " If you get the dresses, then a new bonnet will be 
 wanted." 
 
 "Yes, a bonnet would be a necessity; also some of those 
 sweet furs that come from South America so soft and 
 grey are they. Oh, the ugliest woman looks pretty in them ! " 
 
 " You are extortionate, Annette." 
 
 " Grandmother, I have not yet asked for a grand piano." 
 
 Then madame laughed. And Annette laid her soft 
 cheek against madame and kissed her good-night. But 
 though she walked delicately and almost on tip-toes to her 
 own room, there was an air of triumph in the poise of her 
 pretty head. She set the candle down by the mirror and 
 looked complaisantly at herself. 
 
 " I shall get what I want," she said softly. " I always do." 
 * Proverbs xxxi. 22. 
 
 114
 
 CHAPTER 
 FIVE 
 
 A Chain of Causes 
 
 TJr- : 
 
 I 
 
 =aic=c 
 
 - s 
 
 ion 
 
 T had been a stirring summer in New York, 
 and the year was now closing with a re 
 markable month. For October had been 
 signalised by two naval victories, the British 
 j&Bwar frigate Frolic having been captured by 
 Captain Jones, and the Macedonian by Commodore Decatur, 
 and as the successful commanders were expected in New 
 York during December, great preparations were being made 
 for their entertainment, the more so, as Captain Hull, the 
 hero of the Constitution, would also be present. 
 
 Considering these things, Annette's request for two new 
 gowns was a modest one ; yet so many women were just then 
 acquiring new gowns that it was with difficulty she suc 
 ceeded in getting hers ready for Christmas Day. Achille 
 had helped her to select her ball dress, and it was so lovely 
 that she felt no fear of being on this occasion eclipsed by 
 Sappha's gayer garments. That Achille had been consulted 
 in its selection need not imply more than a rather intimate 
 friendship; for the young man had become a familiar friend 
 of a great many families. His sad history, his unusual
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 OM=30S^OCs=S>MO=SE>!)00=^s>l<=:^3Oa9==>Oai)=::S^OO>S=>OD3<^^3><iC-=SZ^C'r^:s-M) 
 
 beauty and grace, his many social accomplishments, and his 
 faultless manners and dress, had given him almost by ac 
 clamation a very prominent position in the fashionable cir 
 cles of New York. The Dutch claimed him on his mother's 
 side, the French on his father's, and New Yorkers on the 
 ground that he had of choice elected to become a citizen of 
 New York. No gathering was considered complete without 
 his presence ; the most select clubs sought his association ; and 
 among those men who loved fine horses and skilful fencing, 
 he was acknowledged an incomparable judge and master. 
 
 But though he accepted this homage, he did not seek it; 
 nor did it seem to afford him much pleasure. Those most 
 familiar with his habits knew that he very much preferred 
 the society of the Friendly Club, which met in the parlour of 
 Dr. Smith's house in Pine Street. Here, with young Wash 
 ington Irving, Charles Brockden Brown, and other literary 
 and learned men, he passed the hours that pleased him most. 
 Nor was this his only social peculiarity. He formed a close 
 friendship with the exile Aguste Louis de Singeron, the most 
 famous pastry cook and confectioner in New York; also an 
 ex-courtier and ex-warrior of Louis the Sixteenth: a little 
 man of the most undaunted spirit, chivalrous and courteous, 
 at once the most polite and the most passionate of men. 
 Every day St. Ange might be found sitting in De Singeron's 
 neat little shop on William Street. Sometimes their conver 
 sation seemed to be sufficient for their entertainment; some 
 times a chess board lay on the narrow counter between them. 
 
 116
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 Fine ladies passed in and out, but St. Ange was never dis 
 turbed by their advent; and if a game was in progress no 
 smiling invitation allured him to leave it unfinished. It will 
 be seen then, that in spite of his gentle air and suave manners, 
 he had a will sufficiently strong to insure him his own way. 
 
 His intercourse with the two Bloommaert families was, 
 however, the most important of all his life's engagements. 
 With other families he had frequent, but casual and inter 
 mittent, meetings ; he was at the close of this year in one or 
 other of the Bloommaert households every day. With 
 Madame Jonaca he had formed a most affectionate alliance; 
 he asked her counsel, and followed it; he told her all the 
 pleasant news of that society which she still loved; he took 
 her frequently out in his sleigh that she might see any unusual 
 parade of the troops or militia; he brought her all the news 
 papers, and delighted himself and madame as well as 
 Annette by reading aloud the numerous passages he had 
 marked in them, as likely to interest both women. He came 
 in when he was cold, to be warmed in Madame's cosey par 
 lour ; when he was lonely he went there for company ; when 
 he was sad for comfort. 
 
 In the Bowling Green home he had a footing quite as 
 sure, though on a different foundation. In this family it 
 was the judge who favoured him above all others. If St. 
 Ange came into the room his face brightened, he put aside 
 the paper or pamphlet he was reading, and turned to the 
 young man for conversation. He went with him to Dr. 
 
 117
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Smith's Club, and said it was the only sensible club he had 
 ever visited. If the day was mild the two men took a brisk 
 walk together on the Battery, and talked politics or science, 
 and sometimes law, if the judge was engaged with any very 
 interesting case; and if all these sources of intercourse were 
 too few, out came the chess board, and in silent moves and 
 monosyllabled conversation the evening passed away. 
 
 His relations with Mrs. Bloommaert and Sappha were 
 equally friendly and familiar. Very early in his visits to 
 the Bowling Green house he had assured himself that the 
 lovely Sappha had no heart to give that she was entirely 
 devoted to his friend Leonard Murray. This conviction 
 had at first given him a pang, for not only Sappha's beauty, 
 but her beautiful disposition, had moved him to an admira 
 tion he had never before felt ; and he had told himself that 
 to win such an angel for his wife, with the entry into such a 
 perfect home, and the alliance of characters so lovable as 
 Judge Bloommaert and Sappha's mother, would be as much 
 of heaven on earth as any man could hope to receive. 
 
 For a week he had nursed this charming illusion, then 
 something happened a look, a movement, a passing touch 
 or whisper one, or all of these things opened his eyes; he 
 felt convinced that Leonard had some certain right that he 
 could not honourably infringe upon and honour was the 
 first, the dominating, sentiment that moved Achille's thoughts 
 and words and deeds. All was not fair in love to Achille 
 St. Ange; so he deliberately put down his love for Sappha; 
 
 118
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 denied it perpetually to his craving heart; and taught him 
 self to look upon her as his friend's beloved and his own 
 friend and sister. 
 
 As a general thing Leonard understood this, though there 
 had never been a word uttered between them regarding 
 Sappha. Leonard was immersed in business of various 
 kinds, but he quickly satisfied himself that he had nothing to 
 fear from St. Ange's admiration of Sappha. The three 
 were often together in the evenings, and nearly as often 
 Annette made the fourth. Music, conversation, occasionally 
 an informal cotillion, reading aloud, or recitations passed the 
 happy hours, while the judge listened, watched, corrected, or 
 advised, and Mrs. Bloommaert moved through all their en 
 tertainments, smiling the blessing of innocent happiness upon 
 them. 
 
 The first shadow on this charming companionship fell 
 about Christmas. It came in the form of a suspicion, not of 
 Sappha's love, but of the judge's simple good-will. He had 
 never pretended any friendship for Leonard, but during the 
 past month he had treated him with a civility that left no 
 cause for offence. Suddenly one evening Leonard became 
 possessed with the idea that the judge's demonstrative liking 
 for St. Ange was not as real as it appeared; that, in fact, it 
 was a liking affected in a great measure for the purpose of 
 making him feel the real indifference of his own treatment. 
 He could hardly tell what circumstance had evoked this 
 suspicion, but when he began to ponder the idea it grew to 
 
 119
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 undreamed of proportions. He sat up nearly all night, busy 
 with this profitless and miserable consideration, and memory 
 brought him one proof after another to pillar his suspicion. 
 And the conclusion of the matter was that Sappha's father 
 wished her to marry St. Ange, and that in such case, even if 
 the war was over before three years had passed, it would be 
 in the power of the judge to forbid their marriage, as 
 Sappha would not be of age for nearly three years. Then, 
 when Sappha was of age, would she marry him without her 
 father's consent? It was doubtful. Then again, might not 
 three years more of antagonism, showing itself in every little 
 daily household event or pleasure, wear out the tenderest, 
 truest love? In this restless, suspicious temper he told him 
 self that it was almost certain to do so. \ The fate of love is, 
 that it always sees too little or too much. \ All true lovers 
 have this madness, this enchantment, where the reason seems 
 bound. For in love there is no prudence that can help a 
 man, no reason that can assist him, and none that he would 
 have. He prefers the madness which convinces him his love 
 is more than common love. Let vulgar love know modera 
 tion, he loves out of all reason, and finds his wretchedness 
 pleasing. 
 
 Now jealousy is only good when she torments herself, 
 and Leonard, sitting up and losing sleep to indulge her, de 
 served the restless pain which he evoked. It troubled him so 
 effectually the following day that he found it difficult to 
 perform the work he had so enthusiastically undertaken 
 
 1 2O
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 that of assisting in the decorations at the City Hall for the 
 great naval ball to be given to the officers of the war frigates 
 in New York on New Year's Eve. He was impatient for 
 night to come; then he would go to Judge Bloommaert's 
 again and take good heed of every look and word, and so 
 resolve the question that so much troubled him. 
 
 Well, we generally get the evil we expect, and so Leonard 
 was not disappointed. There had been, as it happened, a 
 slightly ruffled conversation during the evening meal, about 
 an invitation just received from St. Ange. He had taken a 
 box at the Park Theatre, and Madame Bloommaert had 
 promised to go under his escort to see the final representa 
 tion of the capture of the Macedonian by the United States. 
 There was to be also a patriotic sketch and a farce called 
 " Right and Wrong." The polite little note added that 
 there was plenty of room in the box for the judge and for 
 Mrs. and Miss Bloommaert, and begged them to accept its 
 convenience. 
 
 The judge said " he would not go." He furthermore 
 said, " he did not like his mother being seen so much with 
 that young Frenchman; people would make remarks about 
 it." 
 
 "Gerardus!" 
 
 " Just as if she had no son, or grandson, to take her to 
 see things," 
 
 " You never do take her anywhere but to church, Ger 
 ardus ; and as for Peter, I do not suppose he ever remembers 
 
 121
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ooO"^^M'<==>o^:=>oco<=s>(io<^sco<as=otiO'3^=>oo<^^3CCO2s='co<^s-i><)<s^=>i)9<5^c(i 
 
 her; he trusts to you and you to him. I am sure St. Ange 
 has given her a great deal of pleasure that she would not 
 have had from you or Peter." 
 
 " I do not approve of Christmas kept in theatres and such 
 places. What would your father say, Carlita, about going to 
 the theatre on Christmas night? We have always kept 
 Christmas at church, and as a religious festival." 
 
 " This is a different Christmas. It is a patriotic festival, 
 as well as a religious one, this year. Mother naturally 
 wants to see the sailors and the battle transparency, and hear 
 the songs and feel the throbbing of the great heart of the 
 city. You ought to go with her." 
 
 " Who taught you to say ' ought ' to me, Carlita? " 
 
 " My heart and my conscience." 
 
 " Well, if you get behind your conscience, I am dumb. 
 Go with mother if you wish." 
 
 " No. Mr. St. Ange goes with her. You must go with 
 Sappha and I, or " 
 
 " I am busy. I cannot go." 
 
 " I am sorry. I must ask Leonard Murray then." 
 
 " Oh, what diplomats women are! I suppose I must go, 
 but I do wish Mr. St. Ange would be less attentive to my 
 family." 
 
 " He may yet be more so. Annette considers herself 
 as " 
 
 " There, there, wife ! Don't say it, and then you will 
 not have to unsay it." 
 
 122
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 This refusal to listen to Annette's considerations put a 
 stop to the discussion. The judge took a book of travels and 
 affected to be lost in its matter and marvels, and Mrs. 
 Bloommaert found it impossible to get him to resume the 
 conversation and finish it with more satisfactory decision. 
 Finally she said : " I do wish, Gerardus, you would talk to 
 us a little. There are many things I want to ask you about." 
 
 " Not to-night, Carlita." 
 
 " Of course we are going to the naval ball, and prepara 
 tions specially for it must be made. Why do you not 
 answer me, Gerardus? " 
 
 " My dear Carlita, no husband ever repented of having 
 held his tongue. I am in no mood to talk to-night." 
 
 " You promised Sappha that pearl necklace." 
 
 "Hum-m-m!" 
 
 " And I cannot lend her mine, as I shall want to wear 
 it." 
 
 There was no answer, but then silence answers much ; and 
 Mrs. Bloommaert, considering her husband's face, felt that 
 she had begun to win. He was evidently pondering the posi 
 tion, for he was not reading. During this critical pause 
 Leonard Murray entered. He was aware at once of the 
 constrained atmosphere, and with the egotism of jealousy 
 he attributed it to his sudden appearance. For once he was 
 really de trop. He interrupted an important decision, and 
 Mrs. Bloommaert was annoyed. Under cover of his entry, 
 and the slight commotion it caused, the judge resumed his 
 
 123
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 reading. " I must ask your indulgence, Mr. Murray," he 
 said politely, " but I am just now accompanying Mr. James 
 Bruce in search of the sources of the Nile ; and it is not easy 
 to live between Egypt and the Bowling Green." 
 
 Leonard said he understood, and would be sorry to inter 
 rupt a mental trip so much to Judge Bloommaert's taste. 
 But he did not understand not at all. He was mortified 
 at his reception, and he had not that domestic instinct which 
 would have taught him that the constraint he felt was of a 
 family nature and did not include him. In his present 
 sensitive, jealous mood he believed the judge was reading 
 because he preferred reading to his society that Mrs. 
 Bloommaert was silent and restless because, in some way, he 
 had interfered; and that Sappha's shy, abortive efforts to 
 restore a cheerful, confidential feeling were colder and more 
 perfunctory than he had ever before seen them. 
 
 In this latter estimate he was partly correct. Sappha 
 was as eager and anxious about the visit to the theatre and 
 the naval ball as it was natural a girl of eighteen years old 
 should be, and Leonard had interrupted discussion at a 
 critical point; had put off settlements about dresses and va 
 rious other important items and besides this fault had 
 brought into the room with him an atmosphere very differ 
 ent from his usual light-hearted mood, explaining itself by 
 interesting political or social news. For once he was quite 
 absorbed in Leonard Murray, and then nobody seemed to 
 care about Leonard Murray. Mrs. Bloommaert asked him 
 
 124
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 questions about the decorations, and Sappha about the people 
 who were assisting with them, and he simply answered, with 
 out adding any of his usual amusing commentaries. 
 
 In a short time Mrs. Bloommaert left the room, and as 
 the judge appeared to be lost in the sources of the Nile 
 Leonard was practically alone with Sappha. He first asked 
 her to practise some songs with him, but she answered, " The 
 parlour is un warmed and unlighted, Leonard, and I do not 
 want to take cold, just when the holidays are here." 
 
 " Certainly not," he said, but the refusal was a fresh 
 offence. Why had Sappha not ordered fire and light to be 
 put in the parlour? She usually did. Something was interest 
 ing her more than his probable visit what could it be ? Not 
 the theatre not the naval ball. Sappha was used to such 
 affairs ; he had never known them put the whole house out of 
 temper before. For by this time he had decided the atmos 
 phere was one of bad temper, without considering for a 
 moment that it was possibly his own bad temper. 
 
 Suddenly he rose and said he must go; and no one asked 
 him to remain longer. Sappha felt the constraint of her 
 father's presence, and did not accompany him to the hall. 
 Mrs. Bloommaert was opening and shutting drawers and 
 doors upstairs, and the judge only gave to his " Good-night, 
 judge," a civil equivalent in " Good-night, Mr. Murray." 
 As he was leaving the house he saw Mr. St. Ange approach 
 ing it, and instead of advancing to meet him he turned 
 southward towards Stone Street. Of this cowardly step he 
 
 125
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 was soon ashamed, and he went back and forced himself to 
 pass the Bloommaert house. It had a more happy aspect. 
 Some one had stirred the logs, and the dancing flames showed 
 through the dropped white shades. There was a movement 
 also in the room ; the sound of voices, and once he could have 
 sworn he heard Sappha laugh. Did he not know her laugh 
 among a thousand? It was like the tinkle of a little bell. 
 
 For at least a quarter of an hour he tormented himself 
 with the pictures his imagination drew of what was passing 
 behind that illuminated screen. Then he went gloomily to 
 his room and sat down with jealousy, and began to count up 
 his suspicions. A miserable companion is jealousy! And a 
 miserable tale of wrongs she gave him to reckon up. But at 
 least he reached one truth in that unhappy occupation it 
 was, that the engagement between Sappha and himself ought 
 to be immediately made public. All their little misunder 
 standings, all his humiliations, had come through their re 
 lationship being kept secret. He felt that he was missing 
 much of the pleasure of his wooing; certainly he was de 
 prived of the eclat that it ought to have brought him. It was 
 all wrong! All wrong! And it must be put right at once. 
 He promised himself he would see to that necessity the first 
 thing he did in the morning. 
 
 With this promise his insurgent heart suffered him to sleep 
 a little, yet sleep did him no good. He awoke with the same 
 consuming fever of resentment. He could not eat, nor yet 
 drink; he had no use for anything but thought: jealous 
 
 126
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 thought, with that eternal hurry of the soul that will not 
 suffer rest thoughts of love and sorrow, starting in every 
 direction from his unhappy heart, to find out some hope, and 
 meeting only suspicion, anger, and despair. It was his first 
 experience of that egotistical malady, 
 
 " whose torment, no men sure 
 But lovers and the damned endure." 
 
 And he was astonished and dismayed at his suffering. 
 
 But few men suffer patiently; they are usually quick for 
 their own relief, and accordingly very early the following 
 morning Leonard made an excuse for calling on Sappha. 
 Mrs. Bloommaert had gone, however, to Nassau Street, and 
 he did not need to urge the excuse prepared. He launched 
 at once into his wrongs and his sufferings; and indeed the 
 latter had left some intelligible traces. Sappha was moved 
 by his pale face and troubled eyes to unusual sympathy; but 
 this did not suffice. He felt that the only way to prevent a 
 recurrence of the night's suffering was to insist upon a public 
 acknowledgment of his rights as her accepted lover, and he 
 told Sappha this in no equivocal words. 
 
 She was distressed by his passion and evident distraction, 
 but she would not listen for a moment to his proposal to 
 explain their position to her father that night. And his 
 eager entreaties finally roused in her something like anger. 
 " You are too selfish, Leonard," she said, " and please do not 
 make your love for me the excuse for your selfishness. You 
 must be happy, no matter who is unhappy. Could you have 
 
 127
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 picked out in the whole year a time more unpropitious, more 
 inopportune, than this very week? Every person who has 
 any patriotic feeling gives up all their interest to our country 
 for the next few days. Christmas and New Year's holidays 
 have claims we cannot forget. It is my father's holiday, his 
 great holiday, when he throws all business cares from his 
 mind. My mother has all manner of little domesticities and 
 household hopes and fears and duties to attend to. Have 
 at least a little patience! Wait until the New Year's feast 
 is over." 
 
 " And give St. Ange another ten days full of delightful 
 opportunities." 
 
 " St. Ange ! What do you mean, Leonard ? Surely you 
 are not jealous of St. Ange. He has given you no cause 
 whatever." 
 
 " At first he behaved with all the honour imaginable ; but 
 lately I have seen a change. He is no longer influenced by a 
 belief in our engagement. Naturally he thinks, if it had 
 existed, you or I would have shown some signs of so close 
 a relationship. I have been held back on every hand, and you 
 have not been as seclusive and exclusive as you might have 
 been." 
 
 " Oh, Leonard ! How can you ? " 
 
 " You have been very kind and familiar with St. Ange. 
 He comes here quite as much as I do. He goes out with your 
 grandmother and mother, and often your father is seen walk 
 ing on the Battery with him. He never walks with me. I 
 
 128
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 6ii ii ~ i ii " ~ < ii" DM" i nun i am < i nm i i narm nnnn nnni < ifli nun nt 
 
 do not like it. It is too much suffering! I cannot endure 
 it." 
 
 " I heard mother come in. I will go and speak to her, 
 Leonard." 
 
 " Do. She must see how reasonable I am." 
 
 But the moment Sappha entered her mother's room she 
 was met by a rebuff. Mrs. Bloommaert just looked in her 
 face, and understood; and before she had spoken half a 
 dozen words she said with an air of resolve and annoyance. 
 " Now, Sappha, I will hear nothing about Leonard. He has 
 been quite unreasonable lately, and he was in a bad temper 
 last night. Oh, yes, he was! I know bad temper when I 
 see it." 
 
 " But, mother, this is important. He is really deter 
 mined." 
 
 " Do not tell me what he is determined on, for I shall 
 certainly repeat all you say to your father." 
 
 " He wants, dear mother, he wants " 
 
 " Just what he cannot have; what he has no right to have 
 yet. He promised you to wait. I know he did. Do not 
 tell me anything, Sappha, because I shall feel it my duty to 
 tell your father all you say just at this time too! It is too 
 bad! It is exceedingly selfish and inconsiderate; and I am 
 astonished at Leonard Murray." 
 
 " I do not think you ought to call Leonard * selfish and in 
 considerate.' He is very unhappy." 
 
 " When all the city is happy and rejoicing! Can be not 
 129
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 put aside his own happiness for a while and rejoice with 
 every one else? We are going to keep Christmas for the 
 Christ's sake ; we are going to honour the brave men who have 
 done our country such honour; we are going, all of us, to 
 think of our country and forget ourselves ; and Leonard must 
 take this very time to urge some bit of pleasure that will be 
 his, and his only, that no one else must share - " 
 
 " You forget me, mother." 
 
 " No. I am sure you are no party to anything that is so 
 selfishly personal. I think you would put the general good, 
 
 and the general happiness, before your own satisfac 
 tion." 
 
 Then Sappha answered, " I hope you judge me rightly, 
 mother; and I will be very firm with Leonard. Yet he 
 seems so miserable." 
 
 " He is nursing some silly idea that in some way or other 
 he is being wronged. This notion blots all other ideas out 
 of recognition ; he is, as I said before, suffering from selfish 
 ness ; and selfishness is the worst-tempered of all vices. " 
 
 "At any rate, he is wretched. Come and speak to him, 
 mother." 
 
 " No, I will not. I have other things to do. Of course he 
 is wretched ! he ought to be, for bad temper, fortunately, bites 
 at both ends. My advice to you is, be a little cross yourself. 
 Dear me! How tiresome men in love are! " 
 
 To this last exclamation Sappha closed the door. She 
 walked slowly downstairs, she lingered, she seemed unable 
 
 130
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 to come to any decision. But in the midst of her uncertainty 
 she listened to her heart, and what her heart said to her was 
 this: " It can never be wrong to be kind." So strengthened, 
 and even counselled, by this suggestion, she went back to her 
 lover. He was walking about the room in a fever of self- 
 torment, and as the door opened he turned inquiringly. And 
 it was the loveliest of Sapphas he saw. She met him in all her 
 charms; her eyes had a sunny radiance, her mouth was all 
 smiles, she looked as if there was not a care in the wide 
 world a healing, lovesome woman, wonderfully sweet and 
 comforting. 
 
 " Dearest one," she said softly, " sit here beside me. Let 
 me hare your hand, Leonard, and listen to me. My mother 
 says this is the very worst time in all the year to speak to my 
 father. He is so full of public affairs, and you know, just 
 now, they ought to come before any private ones. Ought 
 they not, dear? " 
 
 " Yes, of course, but - " 
 
 " Well, there can be no 'but ' for a few days. Christmas 
 is Christ's feast we cannot presume to put ourselves before 
 Christmas; and then come all the honours, and feasts, and 
 public rejoicings for our dear country. You would not put 
 yourself, nor even Sappha, before America, her honour and 
 freedom? And so I think, with mother, we must wait until 
 after the New Year before we say a word about ourselves. 
 Dear, a few months, a few weeks ago, you were so happy 
 with my assurance only. Is it less sweet now than then? "
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 And as she spoke more and more tenderly, aiding her 
 words with loving glances and the light pressure of her little 
 hand, softer thoughts flowed in, and the enchanter, love, 
 usurped the place of every evil passion. Leonard finally prom 
 ised to be happy, and to let others be happy; and he kissed 
 this agreement on her lips. Alas! 
 
 " Man, only, clogs with care his happiness, 
 And while he should enjoy his part of bliss, 
 With thoughts of what might be, destroys what is." 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 
 And when Sappha had watched and smiled him out of 
 sight she turned in with a sigh and a sudden depression of 
 spirit. She had won Leonard to her wish and way, but anger 
 is always self-immolation, and for a time at least Leonard 
 had fallen in her esteem, for she was compelled to disapprove 
 of much that he had said; and the more we judge, the less 
 we love. 
 
 The whole affair seemed trifling to Mrs. Bloommaert; it 
 was an annoyance in the midst of events of far more im 
 portance, and had to be got out of the way that was all. 
 But to Sappha it was different. She had forgiven Leonard, 
 but unhappy is the lover whom a woman forgives; and 
 Sappha was herself quite conscious that some virtue had 
 gone out of her life. It was not a little event to Sappha, for 
 there are no little events with the heart. 
 
 Fortunately Annette and St. Ange came in, and Sappha 
 was compelled to meet them on the level of their joyous 
 
 132
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 temper. They had finished decorating madame's house, and 
 their arms were full of box and feathery hemlock and the 
 blooms of many-coloured everlasting flowers and great 
 bunches of the vermilion berries of the darling pyracantha 
 shrub. They were tingling with the Christmas joy, and their 
 ringing laughter, their jokes and snatches of song, their quips 
 and mock reproofs of their own mirth, filled the house with 
 the electric atmosphere of Merry Christmas. Negroes were 
 chattering among them, raising ladders, and running mess 
 ages, and the tapping of the little hammers, and the cries of 
 admiration as the room grew to a fairy bower, was far better 
 than the music of many instruments it was the music of the 
 heart. 
 
 " We ought to have had holly," said St. Ange. " There 
 is always holly in Christmas decorations." 
 
 " The pyracantha berries are just as pretty," answered 
 Mrs. Bloommaert, " and the pyracantha is a rapid grower, 
 and can be cut with impunity even with profit to the bush ; 
 but to cut holly ! that is rather a cruel business. It is almost 
 as bad as flinging the Christmas tree into the streets when it 
 has done its whole duty." 
 
 " But, aunt Carlita, what else can be done? It is too big to 
 keep, and " 
 
 " I will tell you. In Germany, the home of the Christmas 
 tree, they give it house room until Shrove Tuesday, then it 
 is formally burned." 
 
 " Well," said Sapphira, " we are not going to have a 
 
 133
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 O^Q^^^>-^^^^>^^:^^QW<^^^OQ^<s^s9QQ<S^>0(tQ<s^s0^^<^^*O^^^^^^Od9'SS^^^<^^ > ^*^^ > OW 
 
 Christmas tree this year; my father likes far better the 
 Yule Klap." 
 
 " What an outlandish name ! " exclaimed St. Ange. 
 
 "Truly so, but then, such a delightful custom! " replied 
 Annette. " To-morrow night you will have to do your part 
 in the Yule Klap ; I hope you are prepared." 
 
 " But then, I know not." 
 
 " My aunt will tell you all about it." And Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert said : " Come now, it is easy enough. The judge will 
 open the Christmas room, and then every one will throw their 
 gifts into the room, crying ' Yule Klap ' in a disguised voice. 
 The gifts may be rich or poor, but they must be wrapped in a 
 great number of coverings, and each cover be addressed to a 
 different person, but the person whose name is on the last 
 cover gets the gift. The gifts are to be strictly anonymous. 
 So then no thanks are to be given, and there can be no envious 
 feelings awakened." 
 
 " That is charming," cried St. Ange. Then he was in a 
 hurry to leave, but Mrs. Bloommaert insisted that he should 
 stay and drink a glass of hot negus ere he went into the cold 
 air. While the negro boy was bringing in a tray full of 
 Christmas dainties, and Sappha spicing the Portugal wine, 
 they finished the dressing of the room; and then sat down 
 round the fire to refresh themselves. 
 
 And very soon St. Ange began to talk of certain Christmas 
 feasts he had spent in Europe in Madrid, at the Christmas 
 turkey fair, amid glorious sunshine, the flower girls selling 
 
 134
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 Camillas and voilets; everywhere colour, beauty, music, bar 
 barism, and dirt. At Rome in the antique fish market, al 
 ways brilliantly lighted with large torches on Christmas Eve. 
 " For I assure you," he said, " the sumptuous fish supper of 
 that night is beyond anything that can be conceived of here." 
 at Naples, where Christmas is kept with confectionery, and 
 the Toledo is a feast of sugar and sweets. 
 
 "Are then the Neapolitans so fond of confectionery?" 
 asked Annette. " They must be very children," she added. 
 
 " They are children among sweets," he answered. "A 
 Neapolitan noble told me that the king was ever fearing 
 revolution; 'but,' he added, 'if he will only present every Nea 
 politan with a box of sweets a revolution will be impossible.' " 
 
 " I do not think a box of sweets to every American would 
 have prevented our Revolution," said Sappha. 
 
 Every one laughed heartily at the idea, and then she pic 
 tured Washington and Putnam, and her grandfather Bloom- 
 maert's reception of these peace offerings. And the scene 
 was so funnily enacted that no one could help laughing 
 heartily at it. Yet in the very climax of the hilarious chorus 
 Sappha had a heavy heart ; her mirth was only from the lips 
 outward. However, it seemed only too real to Leonard, 
 who entered suddenly while the peal of laughter was at its 
 height. And he was so totally unexpected that the moment's 
 sudden silence which followed was the most natural con 
 sequence; especially as it ended in a rush of inquiries and 
 exclamations.
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " So glad to see you! " 
 
 " Come and sit down, and have a glass of hot negus." 
 
 " What good fortune sent you? " 
 
 "Is there any strange news?" And then Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert's rather stiff question : " Is anything wrong, 
 Leonard?" 
 
 Leonard turned to her at once. " No, indeed," he an 
 swered. " I met the judge at the City Hall and he asked me 
 to bring you this letter. I think he expects to be detained. 
 He was just going on to an important committee. If there 
 is any answer, I will carry it, if you wish me to do so." 
 
 And as Mrs. Bloommaert read the letter Sappha brought 
 him some spiced wine, but he would not take it. He said 
 " he was going back to complete some decorations, whose 
 position required a very clear head and steady foot." But 
 he knew in his heart that it was no fear of danger made him 
 refuse the proffered cup of good-will. It was jealousy that 
 whispered to him: "The cup was not mingled for you. 
 There was no thought of you in it. Others were expected 
 and prepared for, and you were not even told." Under the 
 influence of such thoughts he was constrained and quite un-* 
 like himself, and an effectual destroyer of happiness. An un 
 comfortable silence, broken by bungling attempts to restore 
 the natural mirth he had disturbed, were not happy efforts. 
 He made himself an intruder, and then blamed every one 
 else for the position he had taken voluntarily, through his 
 own misconception. Sappha was painfully aware of the 
 
 136
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 constraint, and she wished for once that Annette would open 
 her generally ready stream of badinage. But Annette was 
 busy advising, in a somewhat private detail, St. Ange con 
 cerning his part of the game of Yule Klap; and St. Ange, 
 having received her instructions while Leonard was waiting, 
 rose when Leonard did, and proposed to walk part of the way 
 with him. 
 
 " You will call this evening, will you not? " asked Sappha 
 timidly, as they stood by a little table full of mysterious 
 packages. 
 
 " It will be impossible," he answered. " Every part of 
 the decorations are in my charge, and I have a great deal to 
 attend to." 
 
 " To-morrow is Christmas Eve. You will be here for the 
 Yule Klap?" 
 
 "If I am wanted!" 
 
 " Oh, Leonard ! If you are wanted ! If you are not 
 present I shall not care for anything, or any one else." 
 
 " Then I will come, dearest." This conversation had 
 been held, almost in whispers, as Sappha was supposed to be 
 showing Leonard some of the Yule Klap offerings she was 
 preparing. Then the young men went away together, but 
 the ocean between them could not really have set them more 
 apart. St. Ange made several attempts to open a conversation 
 on Yule Klap. He wanted Leonard's advice about the gifts 
 most suitable ; but Leonard professed both ignorance and in 
 difference concerning a game so childish; and at Vaarict 
 
 137
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Street St. Ange, having failed completely to evoke anything 
 like friendly intercourse, bid him good-morning. He was 
 worried over his friend's evident displeasure; and over his 
 own failure to either account for or dispel it. He went west 
 ward to Greenwich Street, and having made many purchases 
 in the most fashionable stores, rather wearily returned to his 
 rooms at the City Hotel. He was depressed and had a pre 
 monition of trouble. 
 
 After this little cloud the Christmas festivities went on 
 with unalloyed pleasure. Madame and Annette \vere to stay 
 at the Bowling Green house until Saturday, and when the 
 judge saw his mother's delight in her anticipated visit to the 
 theatre on Christmas night he had no heart to say one op 
 posing word. But Sappha was not now so eager. She felt 
 sure that in Leonard's present temper he would not like her 
 to be the guest of St. Ange, and she resolved to forego the 
 pleasure. " I shall have a little headache in the morning, 
 and it will grow worse towards night, and I shall beg to be 
 left at home that I may sleep it away. I do not think it will 
 be wrong," she mused. " There is not room in the box St. 
 Ange has taken but for six ; and if there was room, I am sure 
 Leonard would not accept the invitation to join us. Well, 
 then, it is better to make an excuse than to make trouble. 
 Why did not Leonard rent a box? He might have thought 
 of it just as well as St. Ange. I wish I knew what it is 
 best, what it is right, to do." 
 
 To such troubled thoughts she fell asleep, and when she 
 
 138
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 Ot9<CS> CO cCS>0<=S>DOOC=> 90* <=3> 900 S^>00S^>OMS=X0=^3>930S^ <=S><=^>00 
 
 awoke in the morning the weather had settled the matter for 
 her. It was bitterly cold, and a furious snowstorm was 
 blocking up the pathways and making a visit to the theatre 
 beyond a safe or pleasant probability. Madame sadly ad 
 mitted the condition, but the day went happily forward ; 
 and about two o'clock Leonard and St. Ange and Peter 
 arrived, and the judge opened the Christmas room, and then 
 there was two hours of pure mirth of surprise without end ; 
 of beautiful gifts whose donors were to speculate about ; 
 half-guesses sent into conscious faces; questions asked with 
 beaming eyes; all the delightful uncertainties which love 
 could make, and love alone unravel. The Christmas dinner 
 followed, and after it a dance, which madame, with Peter 
 for her partner, opened. Every one joined in it, and the mer 
 riest of evenings was thus inaugurated. So nobody regrettec" 
 the theatre, not even madame, for she had been privately in 
 formed by St. Ange that the box was reserved for the great 
 naval performance on the seventh of January; and that it 
 would be one far more worth seeing, one never to be for 
 gotten. And madame kept this bit of anticipatory pleasure 
 as a little secret, and was as gay as a child over it. 
 
 Leonard also was in his most charming mood, and Sappha 
 was divinely happy; her beauty was enchanting, and her 
 manner so mild and sweet that she diffused on all hands a 
 sense of exquisite peace and felicity. For Leonard had 
 whispered to her such words of contrition and devotion as 
 erased totally and forever the memory of his unworthy tem- 
 
 139
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 
 per and suspicions. And after that confession there could 
 be only sorrow for his fault, and delight in pardoning and 
 forgetting it. 
 
 All throughout the following week he preserved this sunny 
 mood. He was undoubtedly very busy, for the naval dinner 
 was to be given on the twenty-ninth of December, and he 
 was the director of the committee of young men who were 
 turning the great dining room of the City Hotel into a 
 marine palace. It was his taste which colonnaded it with the 
 masts of ships wreathed with laurel and all the national 
 flags of the world except that of Great Britain. It was 
 Leonard who devised the greensward, in the midst of which 
 was a real lake, and floating on it a miniature United States 
 war frigate. 
 
 It was Leonard, also, who hung behind the dais on 
 which Mayor Clinton, Decatur, Hall, and the officers 
 of the navy were to sit, the mainsail of a ship thirty-three 
 feet by sixteen, on which the American eagle was painted, 
 holding in his beak a scroll bearing these significant words: 
 " Our children are the property of our country." There 
 were many other transparencies to attend to ; besides which, 
 every table was to bear a miniature warship with American 
 colours displayed. And to the five hundred gentlemen of 
 New York, who sat down to the dinner served in that room, 
 these were no childish symbols. They were the palpable, 
 visible signs of a patriotism that meant freedom or death, and 
 nothing less. 
 
 140
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 In the midst of all the business connected with such prep 
 arations, in a time when the things wanted were not always 
 procurable, and had to be supplied by the things that could 
 be obtained, Leonard whose heart was hot in his work of 
 patriotism was naturally very busy and very much occupied 
 with the work on hand. Yet he found time sufficient to see 
 Sappha often enough to convince her he had not fallen away 
 from the promise he had made her " to harbour no un 
 worthy suspicions of any one who loved him." 
 
 At length New Year's Eve arrived. More than three 
 hundred of New York's loveliest women had been for weeks 
 preparing for it, and all were eager for the pleasure it prom 
 ised them. 
 
 The Bloommaert party, consisting of the judge, Mrs. 
 Bloommaert, Sappha, and Annette, were early arrivals; 
 and Leonard, who was one of the directors, met them at the 
 door. And he looked so noble, and so handsome, and his 
 manner was so fine and gracious, that even Judge Bloom 
 maert was impressed by his personality, and returned his 
 greeting with unusual warmth. But then, as Leonard re 
 flected, any man who failed in politeness, or even in cordiality, 
 in the presence of three such lovely women as Sappha, An 
 nette, and Mrs. Bloommaert, would surely be something less 
 than human. 
 
 Mrs. Bloommaert's beauty was yet in its ripe perfection. 
 She was as the full blown rose that has not yet dropped a 
 single leaf. She wore a gown of white satin covered with a 
 
 141
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 netting of gold thread; and there was a string of pearls 
 round her throat, and a large comb in form the braids and 
 bows of her glossy black hair. She carried in her hand a 
 little fan of exquisite workmanship, and used it with a 
 grace that no woman in the room, old or young, could 
 imitate. 
 
 Sappha's gown was of white satin of so rich a quality that 
 any trimming on it would have been vulgar and superfluous. 
 Her sandals also were of white satin ; and in her beautiful, 
 brown hair there was one white rose ; and round her slender 
 throat the necklace of pearls which had come to her among 
 the gifts of the Yule Klap. Annette was dressed in a slip of 
 pale blue satin, covered with white gauze of the most trans 
 parent quality; a very mist of white over a little cloud of 
 pale blue. Her sandals were blue, and she wore a necklace 
 of turquoise stones cut in the shape of stars and united by a 
 tiny ornament of frosted silver. Her hair hung free, and 
 was loosely curled and confined by a simple band of blue 
 ribbon. 
 
 And if Sappha, with her " eyes grey-lit in shadowing 
 hair above," seemed to wear Love's very vesture with just 
 that touch of pride that made men wonder and revere, An 
 nette was like a Love from Greuze's dainty brush a laugh 
 ing, dancing, teasing, mocking fairy. Achille was constantly 
 hovering around her, and this evident admiration and atten 
 tion Sappha was careful to point out to Leonard. 
 
 The dance begun at nine o'clock, and at eleven supper was 
 142
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 CtO Si^3<5S3=09'^S^COO-aI^CO-<^S>COO<:SS>00<sS^=COO<c:3>00-c^i=>0(!0efS>l)<2==>0<Z3>CO 
 
 served in a. room fitted up like the great cabin of a ship of the 
 line ; but aher supper dancing was resumed, and continued 
 until nearly two o'clock in the morning. Then reluctantly 
 the happy crowd went to their homes to rest, for it was 
 then New Year's Day, always a busy, fatiguing anniversary 
 a day which every one felt it a duty to consecrate to friend 
 ship and hospitality. 
 
 Indeed, in Judge Bloommaert's household there was barely 
 time for a little sleep before the parlours were crowded with 
 callers ; and all of them brought but one topic of conversa 
 tion the arrival of the captive British war vessel, the 
 Macedonian. For her conqueror had brought her as far 
 as Hell Gate the day previous, in order that she might arrive 
 on the first of January, and be presented to New York as 
 a " New Year's Gift." And, as if good fortune was pleased 
 with this honour to her favourite city, the very breeze that 
 was needed sprang up, and at the very moment it was needed ; 
 and amid the shouting crowds that lined the banks of the 
 East River, the captive vessel was taken to the Brooklyn 
 Navy Yard. 
 
 " I had the heart-ache for her," said Leonard. " She 
 carried herself so proudly. I bethought me of how she had 
 borne the living fury of the elements, and the living fury of 
 fiery battle, and I lifted my hat a moment to the wounded 
 ship in her humiliation, just as I would have done to any 
 great soldier or sailor, if I saw them marched between shout 
 ing enemies, manacled and helpless." And at these words 
 
 143
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 the judge regarded him silently; and there was a quivering 
 fire in Sappha's eyes as she said softly : " You felt as the 
 brave always feel in the presence of a fallen enemy. You re 
 member the motto of the old Plantagenet knights ' Honour 
 to the vanquished ! ' ' 
 
 " I remember. You told me that once before. Do you 
 know your brother Peter would not look at her? " 
 
 " That was strange," said Mrs. Bloommaert. " What 
 was the matter with Peter? " 
 
 " Peter always looks on a ship as a woman, and he cannot 
 bear to see her in distress." 
 
 " It is a strange feeling, that, between ships and ship men," 
 said Dr. Smith. " Sailors all give them consciousness and 
 sympathy, and it is a common thing to hear them say of any 
 craft, ' she behaves well.' Captain Tim Barnard of the pri 
 vateer General Armstrong, when chasing an enemy, talks to 
 his ship, as an Arabian to his horse; urges her, entreats her 
 to put forth all her speed, makes her promises of additional 
 guns, or a new flag, and, what is more, he firmly believes 
 she understands and obeys him." 
 
 " Well," answered the judge, " every one I know con 
 nected with shipping speaks as commonly and as naturally of 
 the average life of a ship as they do of the average life of a 
 sailor." 
 
 " Once," said Achille, " when I was in England I watched 
 from the cliff a ship in danger. She flashed out signals of 
 distress, and her minute guns sounded like the cries of some 
 
 144
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 living creature, and as I looked and listened I saw men run 
 ning to some boats that were lying half-alive on their stocks, 
 and in a moment they were in the raving, raging sea. Boats 
 and men seemed alike eager and pitiful. And the gallant 
 ship! She was like a mother in extremity if she must go, 
 she entreated that her sons might be saved." 
 
 "Were they?" 
 
 " Yes, all of them; but the next morning her figure-head, 
 looking seaward wistfully, was lying on the beach; and her 
 broken rudder beside it. They were sadder than spoken 
 words. No one saw the ship die. She went down to her 
 grave alone but I think she was glad of that." 
 
 " Come, come then," said Peter, who had entered during 
 this conversation, " we need not go so far afield for splendid 
 facts. Let us remember the nineteenth of last August, when 
 Captain Isaac Hull wounded to death the fine British 
 man-of-war Guerriere. It was seen at once that her case 
 was hopeless, and the Constitution watched by her all night, 
 and removed not only all her men, but also all their private 
 possessions. On the morning of the twentieth she was ready 
 for her grave. A slow match was applied to her magazine, 
 and the Constitution bore away. At a safe distance she hove 
 to, and the officers and men of both ships stood watching. 
 The guns which had been left shotted .soon began to go off. 
 They were the death knells of the dying man-of-war. Pre 
 sently the flames reached the magazine, a mass of wreckage 
 flew skyward. The Guerriere was no more. But William 
 
 145
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Storey, who was present, told me every man stood bare 
 headed as she sank, and that her officers wept, while some of 
 her men blubbered like children." 
 
 " Thank you, Peter," said the judge. " It is a good thing 
 to hear that Hull was so noble to his prisoners." 
 
 "As for that," continued Peter, " there wasn't a touch of 
 ill-will on either side, after the fight was over. Storey said 
 the prisoners and captors sat around the fok'sle together, tell 
 ing yarns, exchanging tobacco and many little courtesies. 
 Hull is too brave a man to fear brave men. Some captains 
 might have handcuffed the crew, not so Hull ; and, indeed, 
 every American sailor on the Constitution felt a manly 
 unwillingness to handcuff enemies who had fought so 
 bravely. " 
 
 " Sappha," said the judge, " I have heard Mr. Murray 
 singing with you at intervals this afternoon and evening a 
 verse or two that you were setting to a wonderful bit of 
 music. Try it again, my dear." 
 
 " It is The March of the Men of Moray, father. Mr. 
 Murray wrote two or three verses to it about the Macedonia. 
 Come, Leonard," and she struck a few ringing chords and 
 looked inspiration into his bending face. Then out rang the 
 little ballad to the marching music of his clan : 
 
 What will they say in England, 
 
 When the story there is told, 
 Of Commodore Decatur, 
 
 And his sailor men so bold ? 
 
 146
 
 A CHAIN OF CAUSES 
 
 They'll say it was a gallant fight, 
 
 And fairly lost and won ; 
 So honour to the sailor men, 
 
 By whom the deed was done ! 
 
 What will they say in England? 
 
 They'll say with grateful lip, 
 Now glory to Almighty God, 
 
 No Frenchman took the ship ! 
 
 No Frenchman shot her colours down! 
 
 The doomed ship had this grace 
 To take her death blow from the hands 
 
 Of men of the English race ! 
 
 And all good honest men and true 
 
 Will pray for war to cease ; 
 And merchant ships go to-and-fro 
 
 On messages of peace. 
 
 And men-of-war sail on the land, 
 And soldiers plough the sea, 
 Ere brothers fight, who ought to dwell 
 In love and unity. 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Murray," said the judge. " 'Tis a 
 stirring melody! " 
 
 ' 'Tis the march of my forefather's clan, sir." 
 
 "And you have said for America, and for England, what 
 they deserve. We both love fair play; and I am sure both 
 nations know how to take, either a victory or a defeat, like 
 men, and gentlemen. God make honourable peace between 
 us, and that right early! " 
 
 To this pious wish the company remaining, departed ; but 
 
 '47
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 tM^gSf^O'^^^oc^^^liOO*^^^^^*^^^!?^*^^^ 
 
 after Leonard had made his long, sweet adieu, Sappha heard 
 her father gently tapping on the table the time of " The 
 March of the Men of Moray" as in pleasant thoughtfulness 
 he hummed to its music, 
 
 " They'll say it was a gallant fight, 
 
 And fairly lost and won, 
 So honour to the sailor men, 
 By whom the deed was done!
 
 CHAPTER 
 SIX 
 
 The Miracle of Love 
 
 ^Jfc^^-^Q HERE had been something more than 
 
 . courtesy in Judge Bloommaert's attitude to 
 
 Leonard that New Year's night, and Sappha 
 
 was exceedingly happy to notice it. If 
 
 r=fle==n3oLeonard would only be careful and con 
 
 ciliating, such favour might be won as would make an 
 acknowledgment of their engagement pleasantly possible. 
 As it was, Sappha was light-hearted and hopeful, for surely 
 now Leonard would wait the natural development of 
 events. 
 
 And for a few days the subject was not named ; Sappha 
 was busy helping her mother to put in order the numerous 
 household goods and affairs that had been disarranged by the 
 licence of the holidays, and Leonard also had some unusual 
 business, the nature of which he promised to reveal before the 
 week was over. New Year's Day fell that year on a Friday, 
 and on the Tuesday following it Sappha went to visit her 
 grandmother and cousin. It was a sunshiny, winter day, and 
 the old house on Nassau Street had such an antique, hand 
 some homelikeness, as made far finer dwellings look common 
 
 149
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and vulgar in comparison with it. Madame sat by the blaz 
 ing fire writing letters; Annette was marking new towels 
 with the Blooommaert initials ; but when she saw Sappha at 
 the gate she put away her work and ran to meet her. 
 
 Then there was no more writing, and no more sampler 
 letters; the three women sat down to "talk things over." 
 And when the Yule Klap presents and the New Year's 
 feasts had been discussed, they drifted very naturally to the 
 guests and to their dressing and conversation. Madame 
 enjoyed it all, and the morning passed quickly and pleas 
 antly away. 
 
 " Grandmother has a secret, Sappha, and I cannot coax it 
 from her," said Annette. Then she laid her hand upon 
 madame's, and added : " Now that Sappha is here, do tell 
 us both, grandmother." 
 
 " Until Thursday morning I will not tell you," she an 
 swered. " Do you wish me to break my promise? That is 
 not my way." 
 
 " You promised Achille, eh, grandmother ? Oh, I see that 
 I have guessed correctly you are smiling, grandmother, and 
 you cannot help it so then, it is something Achille is going 
 to do! Very well, Achille shall tell me. I shall insist 
 upon it." 
 
 They joked, and wondered about " grandmother's secret," 
 and ineffectually begged to share it, until dinner was over; 
 then madame went to her room, and the girls dropped the 
 subject at once they had more interesting matter to discuss. 
 
 150
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 " Have you seen Leonard since the New Year?" asked 
 Annette. " How delightfully he conducted himself ! How 
 charmingly he sang and talked! I do believe that uncle 
 Gerardus was quite impressed by his intelligence. He is 
 very handsome also does he still make love to you, 
 Sappha?" 
 
 " He would not be in the fashion if he omitted the fine 
 words all the young men say nowadays. I might as well 
 ask you if Achille flatters the fair Annette in the same silly 
 way ? " 
 
 " Do you think it silly? I think it is heavenly sweet, and 
 quite proper. Yes, the dear Achille continually invents new 
 names for me. The ' fair Annette ' is out of date. I am 
 now his ' Heart's Desire ! ' I am afraid he is distractingly 
 in love with me." 
 
 "But why do you fear it? Are you not in love with the 
 dear Achille?" 
 
 " I fear it, because I am sure that I am life or death to him ; 
 and I am not quite sure that I am in love with any one it is 
 such a responsibility. Are you in love with Leonard ? " 
 
 " What is the use of being in love, when you cannot marry 
 for nearly three years. I have promised father and mother 
 not to engage myself to any one until after the war." 
 
 " How foolish ! Such silly promises ought to be broken 
 are made to be broken. Does Leonard want to marry you ? " 
 
 " I wish you would ask him. In so many ways Leonard 
 is inscrutable. He has some business on hand now that he is
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 keeping a secret. I think secrets are in the air. Pray, when 
 will you marry Achille ? Or has he not asked you yet ? " 
 
 " My dear Sappha, he is the most sensitive of mortals. He 
 says love should not be talked about it makes it common; 
 takes off all the bloom and glory from Cupid's wings; just 
 as handling the butterfly makes it crushed and shabby. I 
 think he is right. Achille does not need to talk, he says such 
 things with his soft black eyes that perhaps he had better not 
 say with his beautiful red lips. However, his lips are not as 
 prudent as they might be." 
 
 " Oh, Annette ! Do you really mean that he has kissed 
 you? and yet you are not engaged." 
 
 " Suppose it is so! I do not feel a whit the worse for it. 
 I am going to be Mrs. St. Ange. I have made up my mind 
 on that subject." 
 
 " But Achille? " 
 
 " That is settled. I intend to marry him. Some people 
 will say I am making a poor match because, you know, I 
 shall have a great deal of property and money ; but I do not 
 intend to listen to any one's opinion." 
 
 " But Achille has not really asked you to be his wife? " 
 
 " That is nothing. He will do so the very hour I am ready 
 to accept him. I put the question off until after the holi 
 days, because one can never tell what might happen at New 
 Year's." 
 
 " Were you expecting anything to happen ? anything un 
 foreseen, Annette ? " 
 
 152
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 " Well, I thought young Washington Irving might come 
 home at Christmas, and I wanted to see him again. I felt 
 sure you knew that I have been considering him." 
 
 " He loved Matilda Hoffman." 
 
 " I know that, of course. But after she withdrew, I felt 
 that it might be my office to comfort him. He looked so 
 charming, and so sorrowful." 
 
 " I have not seen him lately," said Sappha. 
 
 " He went to Philadelphia about some magazine he is 
 editing; but I heard that he is coming back to board with 
 Mrs. Ryckman. His great friend, Harry Brevoort, told 
 Achille so. However, I have given Mr. Irving quite up. I 
 don't think I could take any interst in the Analectic Maga 
 zine ; though I am sure I cannot imagine what an Analectic 
 Magazine is like. But then, as Achille says, I have no 
 occasion to know such things. I rather think it is something 
 dreadful it might be a doctor's magazine. I believe Mr. 
 Irving thought of being a doctor." 
 
 " I certainly believe you would find Achille more agreeable 
 to you than Mr. Irving." 
 
 "Achille is so wonderfully polite. You cannot make him 
 forget his fine manners and grandmother is very fond of 
 him. She does not like Mr. Irving. She thinks his ' His 
 tory of New York,' a piece of great impertinence and I wish 
 to please grandmother, for several reasons." 
 
 In such conversation they passed the afternoon, until 
 madame came back to them, Sappha always skilfully parry- 
 
 153
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ing Annette's point blank questions, by others just as direct; 
 and in this way easily leading her cousin to personal subjects 
 of far superior interest to her that is, her own lovers and 
 love affairs. Just before madame's tea hour Leonard came. 
 He was in the highest possible spirits, and carried himself as 
 if something very important had happened to him ; as, indeed, 
 it had. 
 
 He said he had been at the Bowling Green, and found no 
 one at home. Mrs. Bloommaert had gone to drink a cup of 
 tea with Mrs. Jane Renwick, and hear her talk of " poor 
 Robert Burns," who had sung of her as The Blue-Eyed 
 Lassie. 
 
 " Well, then, now we shall find out if Mr. Washington 
 Irving is in New York, or is likely to be here; for he cer 
 tainly could not be in the city a day without going to see 
 Jane Renwick," said Annette. 
 
 " What does Sapphira Bloommaert or Annette de Vries 
 want with Mr. Washington Irving?" asked madame. 
 " Has he not turned the respectable Dutch of New York into 
 ridicule made people to laugh at their homely ways. Such 
 laughter is not good for them, nor yet for us." 
 
 " We were just wondering about him, grandmother you 
 know he is a possibility now." 
 
 "Annette De Vries! " 
 
 " For American girls, I mean. I was telling Sappha that 
 little Mary Sanford is quite willing to comfort the widowed 
 lover." 
 
 154
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 " Such silly chatter is this! Leonard, have you news more 
 sensible?" 
 
 " I think I have, madame. In the first place, there is to 
 be such a play at the Park Theatre on Thursday night as 
 never has been seen, nor is ever likely to be seen again. I 
 went to the Bowling Green to ask Mrs. Bloommaert and 
 Sappha to come to my box, and now I come here to tell you. 
 There is room there also for you madame, and for Annette. 
 I hope you will do me the great honour to accept my invita 
 tion ; " and he rose and bowed to madame first, and then with 
 a charming exaggeration to Sappha and Annette. 
 
 Madame put off answering for herself and Annette, but 
 Sappha accepted the invitation with delight; and in the 
 conversation incident to this proposal, and the asides spring 
 ing readily from it, the daylight faded and the good supper 
 was brought in and thoroughly enjoyed. Then the table was 
 cleared, and the hearth swept, and the candles placed on the 
 high chimney piece, where their light did not weary madame's 
 eyes; and the little company drew their chairs within the 
 comfort line of the blazing fire. 
 
 Annette was a little quieter than seemed natural, but then 
 Achille had not called. The day was slipping away without 
 his customary devotion, and Sappha was present to notice this 
 remissness ; it was, therefore, very annoying, for Annette felt 
 its contradiction after her little fanfaronade about her power 
 over the impassioned, sensitive Achille St. Ange. 
 
 Suddenly Leonard seemed to take a resolve, or else the 
 
 155
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 news he had to tell urged him beyond restraint. He looked 
 at Sappha with a demanding interest, and then said: 
 " Madame, I remember that you once asserted all young men 
 ought to have either a business or a profession, if only to keep 
 them out of mischief. I have this day concluded to begin the 
 study of the law. I hope I may thus be kept out of mischief." 
 
 " Come, now, you have done a wise thing, Leonard ; I am 
 glad of what you say." 
 
 " I feel quite satisfied, madame, that I have done right 
 done what my dear father would approve, if he were alive to 
 direct me. And yet, at last, I acted without taking much 
 thought or advice on the subject." 
 
 " That also may be a wise thing, Leonard. Young men 
 sometimes take more thought than is good for purpose they 
 think and think till they cannot act." 
 
 "As I say, the resolve came suddenly. I had a large bill 
 to pay two days ago for business connected with my real 
 estate; and as I looked at it I thought, Why not do this 
 business myself? Half an hour afterwards Mr. King said 
 this same thing to me ; and I went home and considered the 
 subject. Then I called on several good business men and 
 asked them who was the best real estate lawyer in the city." 
 
 " Real estate! " cried madame, " then you are not going to 
 study criminal law? " 
 
 " No, no I I want to know all about the laws regulating 
 the buying and selling of property, leasing, mortgaging, rent 
 ing, and so on what tenants ought to do, and what land- 
 
 156
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 lords ought to do don't you see, madame?" He said 
 " madame," but he looked at Sappha, who was watching him 
 with an expression more speculative than approving. 
 
 " Yes," answered madame, " I see. And your idea is a 
 very prudent one. Listen, if a good teacher on this subject 
 you want, go and article yourself to Seth Vanderlyn. What 
 he does not know about real estate is not worth knowing." 
 
 " Oh, I have done better than Seth Vanderlyn ! I am 
 going to read with Aaron Burr ! What do you think of that ? 
 The most learned, the most delightful, the most eminent of 
 all living lawyers. I am really so excited at my good for 
 tune I know not what to say. Mr. King and Mr. Read and 
 several other men of affairs and experience told me I had 
 selected a lawyer who had no compeer in land and property 
 business. In such respect they all said I had done well, and 
 for other matters, I was the best judge. I suppose they re 
 ferred to Mr. Burr's duelling episode." 
 
 Sappha's face expressed only dismay and distress. She 
 had neither a word nor a smile for Leonard's great news. 
 He turned to Annette. She was lost in the contemplation 
 of her feet which were small and beautifully shod, and she 
 silently turned them in and out, as if their perfect fit was the 
 present question of importance. Madame's brows were 
 drawn together, and there was a look of uncertainty oh her 
 face. In a moment of time Leonard saw all these different 
 signs of disapproval and dislike. His face flushed with anger, 
 and he continued in a tone of offence: 
 
 157
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GPvEEN 
 
 " I thought you would all rejoice with me. I thought you 
 would at least commend the step I had taken I - " 
 
 " It is no good step for you," answered madame in a voice 
 of regret. " If with bad men you go you are counted one 
 with them ; if with doomed men you go, you catch misfortune 
 from them." 
 
 " I do not understand what you mean, madame." 
 
 " Leonard," interrupted Sappha, " you have not asked 
 my father's opinion? If you had, you would never have 
 taken this foolish step." 
 
 " Foolish step ? " Why, Sappha, every one to whom I have 
 named my purpose thinks me fortunate. And if you only 
 knew Mr. Burr you would confess it an enormous privilege 
 to be under his advice and tuition. He is the most fascinat 
 ing of men." 
 
 " Fascinating ! Yes, that is right," said madame. " His 
 charm I know well. But listen to me, Leonard Murray, 
 this is a fascination to be thrown off it is no good for you. 
 All of your friends, do you wish to lose? " 
 
 " Yes, if they are so foolish as to leave me because, wanting 
 instruction, I have chosen the best of masters." 
 
 " Well, then, say also, the most unpopular man in New 
 York." 
 
 " Indeed, madame, you are mistaken," answered Leonard 
 warmly. " I do not know a more popular man than Mr. 
 Burr in New York to-day. No lawyer has a larger practice, 
 and during the few hours I passed in his office the last two 
 
 158
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 days I srw there the most honourable and influential of our 
 citizens. Every one treated him with respect, and it is a 
 fact that the first day his return to New York was known 
 five hundred gentlemen called on him before he slept that 
 night. It is also a fact that within twelve days after he 
 nailed up his sign in Nassau Street he received two thousand 
 dollars in cash fees. His business is now large and lucrative, 
 and no one but those stupid Tory Federalists are against 
 him." 
 
 " My father is a stupid Tory Federalist, Leonard," said 
 Sappha coldly. 
 
 "Oh, how unfortunate I am! I do nothing but make 
 mistakes to-night. Poor Mr. Burr! A majority of our 
 great men have fought duels; is Mr. Burr to be the scape 
 goat of all American duellists ? De Witt Clinton, though his 
 enemy, admits that no man ever received provocation so 
 frequent, so irritating, so injurious, and so untruthful, as 
 Burr received from Alexander Hamilton. My dear friends, 
 I assure you that Burr has more defenders than his victim." 
 
 " Very likely," replied Sappha with a remarkable show of 
 temper, " a great many people prefer a living dog to a dead 
 lion." 
 
 " I thought I was sure of your sympathy, Sappha," 
 answered Leonard, and as he uttered these words Annette 
 rose up hastily, clapped her hands together, and said: 
 " Thank goodness, I hear Achille St. Ange's footsteps! Now 
 we shall have some sensible conversation." She ran to the 
 
 159
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 door and set it wide open, and Achille saw the comforting 
 firelight, and the beautiful girl standing in its glow, waiting 
 to welcome him. It gave him a sense of content, almost of 
 home and love. He came in holding her hand ; his black fur 
 cloak throwing into remarkable significance the pallor of his 
 haughty, handsome face, lighted by eyes of intense blackness 
 and brilliancy. 
 
 Leonard was not pleased at what he considered the in 
 trusion, but Achille's fine manners and the easy tone of his 
 conversation were really a welcome relief to the uncom 
 fortable strain introduced by the Burr topic. Achille was 
 cheery and agreeable, and had plenty of those little critical 
 things to say of acquaintances every one likes to hear criti 
 cal, but not unkindly so. This night, also, he was even un 
 usually handsome, and his sumptuous dress only in the 
 diapason of the general air of luxury which was the distin 
 guishing quality of his life. 
 
 To the gay persiflage of his conversation madame paid 
 little attention. She was lost in thoughtful reminiscence, 
 and when she re-entered the society of those around her 
 she returned to the conversation which the entrance of 
 Achille had interrupted. 
 
 " I have been taking thought, Leonard," she said, " and 
 I wonder me at you! Of good days are you tired? If so, 
 then join yourself to Aaron Burr. I am not pleased that 
 you should do this, but so, nothing will help, I fear at least 
 no ordinary advice." 
 
 160
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 " Is not that a hard thing to say, madame? " 
 
 " Very well, but it is the truth. So then, to make short 
 work of it, no ordinary advice will I give you; but an ex 
 traordinary reason, that may perhaps turn your mind another 
 way. I know not there are none so blind as those who will 
 not see." 
 
 " First, madame, permit me to ask Mr. St. Ange, in your 
 presence, if he thinks I require either ordinary or extraordi 
 nary arguments against the course I have marked out for 
 myself." 
 
 Madame moved her head in assent, and then Leonard, in 
 a few sentences, told Achille of his proposed study with Mr. 
 Burr, and asked him frankly " if he considered Mr. Burr's 
 duelling experience inimical to business relations with him ? " 
 
 And Achille answered promptly: "If Mr. Burr had not 
 fought Mr. Hamilton I should consider your engagement 
 with him disastrous, both to your social and business reputa 
 tion. Mr. Hamilton had slandered Mr. Burr in public and 
 in private, and even while Mr. Burr supposed him to be his 
 friend he had disseminated the unguarded sallies of his host 
 while a guest at his dinner table. As I understand the sub 
 ject, Mr. Burr had no alternative between two inexorable 
 facts to fight, which might mean physical death; not to 
 fight, which would certainly mean social and political death. 
 Mr. Burr had, I think, a too great patience. I would have 
 appealed to the sword to stop the tongue long before Mr. 
 Burr did." 
 
 161
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Leonard was delighted and grateful, and said so, and 
 Achille added : " We must remember that Cheetham, who 
 edited Hamilton's newspaper, asked the public through that 
 organ : ' Is the Vice-President sunk so low as to submit to be 
 insulted by General Hamilton ? ' It seems to me then that 
 Cheetham really sent the challenge to Mr. Burr, and that 
 the Vice-President had no honourable alternative. He had 
 to fight or be eternally branded a poltroon, a dastardly 
 coward ! " And he uttered these shameful words with such 
 passionate scorn that they seemed to disturb the air like wild 
 fire. 
 
 " About duelling there may be two opinions," said 
 Madame, " but when treason is the question, w r hat then? " 
 
 " But that question was settled by Mr. Burr's trial, 
 madame," answered Leonard. " The law and the testi 
 mony, the judge, and the jury decided that Mr. Burr was not 
 guilty of treason. Should we go behind that settlement?" 
 
 " The people have gone behind it, and will do so." 
 
 " I doubt that as a final result," said Leonard. " Many 
 are of Mr. Vanderlyn's opinion, that the natural boundaries 
 of the United States are the Atlantic and Pacific, and that 
 all foreign authority must be got rid of within that territory. 
 If Aaron Burr did not succeed, he thought others would." 
 
 " But Aaron Burr would have set up a monarchy for him 
 self." 
 
 " That is not conceivable, madame. I said so to Mr. 
 Vanderlyn, and he laughed at the idea. He said, ' Burr had 
 
 162
 
 remarkable military genius, and that his object was to atone 
 for his political failure by some great military feat, but 
 whatever the feat he contemplated, it would have been in the 
 end for his country.' Vanderlyn put aside all evidence to 
 the contrary, because given by men who had been at first con 
 federate with Burr, and then betrayed him. What reliance 
 could be placed on anything such men said ? I believe," said 
 Leonard, with confident fervour, " that Mr. Burr will out 
 live the memory of his faults and attain yet the success his 
 great abilities deserve." 
 
 " He will not! " said madame. " The hatred of the liv 
 ing a man may fight, and hope to conquer, but the vengeance 
 of the dead, who then can escape that? Sooner or later it 
 drives ' the one followed ' to destroy himself. This trouble 
 began twelve years gone by. Hamilton and Burr called it to 
 themselves, that night they tricked justice, slandered the in 
 nocent, and let the guilty go free. Snuff the candles, Achille, 
 the room is full of shadows; more light give us, and I will 
 tell you when, and how, the doom of both men was called to 
 them." 
 
 There was a few minutes' delay, during which the silence 
 was unbroken, and then madame continued: 
 
 " It was in the year of God eighteen hundred, in the 
 month of March, and we had come near to the spring. Mr. 
 Hamilton was then of all the lawyers in New York the 
 most famous, and it was one of the sights of the city to see 
 him going to court with his papers and books. In that month 
 
 163
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 came the trial of Levi Weekes for the murder of the beauti 
 ful Gulielma Sands, and Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Burr were 
 united in the defence of Weekes. Very well indeed I knew 
 Elma Sands, for she lived with her uncle and aunt Ring, 
 who were tenants of mine for many years. At the time of 
 her murder they lived in Greenwich Street, near Franklin ; 
 and Weekes boarded with them. He was a brother of Ezra 
 Weekes, who kept the famous City Hotel, and with his 
 brother he could have boarded. But not so, with the Rings 
 he stayed, because of Elma, and every one said they were 
 promised to each other, and when the spring came were to 
 be married. Well, then, this dreadful thing happened Elma 
 Sands went out with Levi Weekes one Sunday in December, 
 1799, and never again was she seen by any one. Distracted 
 were her uncle and aunt, and everywhere, far and near, Elma 
 was sought. It was no good. What I could do, I did, for 
 I had watched the orphan girl grow from her childhood to 
 her womanhood, and so sorry also was I for the uncle and 
 aunt, who slept not, nor yet rested, and whose terrible sus 
 pense was ended in five weeks, by the finding of Elma's body 
 in a well eighty feet deep. Then the city went wild about 
 her murder ; for the appearance of the body left no room for 
 doubt as to what poor Elma's fate had been ; and every one 
 felt quite sure that Levi Weekes was the criminal." Here 
 madame paused and appeared to be much affected, and 
 Achille, without a word, pushed a glass of water closer to her, 
 and having drank of it, she continued: 
 
 164
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 " It was Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Burr that defended the 
 prisoner; the prosecutor was Cadwallader D. Golden, and 
 Chief Justice Lansing was the judge. On both sides there 
 were great lawyers, and the trial was long and wearisome; 
 but never were Elias Ring and his wife absent from it, no, 
 not for one hour. So the end came at last. It was a stormy 
 night in April that it came, and very late, and the court room 
 was but dimly lighted, for some of the candles had burned 
 themselves away, and had not been renewed, and the people 
 had been listening to Hamilton's speech, and thinking of 
 nothing else. A great speech it was ; my son Judge Bloom- 
 maert told me it was wonderful ; and though every one was 
 worn out, none left the building. 
 
 " Then Aaron Burr arose. Some facts he set forth in such 
 a way as to throw all suspicion on the chief witness against 
 Weekes ; and while people were amazed at the charge, and no 
 time had been given to examine it, or deny it, he lifted two 
 candles from the table and flashed them in the face of the 
 man he had accused ; and as he did this thing he cried out in 
 a voice like doom: 'Gentlemen, behold the murderer!' 
 Shocked and terrified was the man, and like a foolish one he 
 rushed from the room; and this cry of Aaron Burr's the 
 weary, excited jury took for the truth, and so then, Lev! 
 Weekes was declared ' not guilty.' Stupefied were all pres 
 ent, and before they could recover themselves from their 
 astonishment Catherine Ring stood up. She was a Quaker 
 ess and to speak in public accustomed, and so, lifting her face 
 
 165
 
 1 
 
 HE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and hands to heaven she refused the verdict; and gave the 
 case ' to the justice of God and the vengeance of the Dead! ' 
 
 " I say plainly, every one was thrilled with awe and ter 
 ror. Her voice was low and even, but straight to every heart 
 it went; and those furthest away heard it clear and fateful 
 as those close at her side. Mr. Hamilton began to put up 
 his papers, but she stepped close to his side and said : ' Alex 
 ander Hamilton, if there be justice in heaven, heaven will 
 see that thee dies a bloody death; and thy helper shall help 
 thee to it ! ' At these words Burr rose, and looked at her 
 with a smile, and she continued, ' Take thy time, Aaron Burr- 
 Thee need not hurry; thee will long for death, long before 
 death will have thee. Nay, but thee shall be a dead man 
 long before thee can hide thyself in the grave. And all that 
 we have suffered in that long month of not knowing, thee 
 shall suffer many times over. Dost thee think God had no 
 witness in this room? Go thy way, Alexander Hamilton! 
 Go thy way, Aaron Burr! There is one that follows after! ' 
 She turned then to Judge Lansing, but he had left the bench. 
 Then she touched her husband's arm, and said : ' Come, Ellas, 
 the unrighteous judge cannot escape the righteous one. 
 Some day he will go out, and be heard of no more forever.'* 
 
 " And here is the wonderful thing all the time she was 
 dooming these three great men not one soul moved or 
 spoke. The entire audience sat or stood silent and motion 
 less; and when out of the court-room they went, it was as if 
 they were leaving a church. And Elias and Catherine Ring 
 
 * In November, 1 829, twenty-five years later, Judge Lansing left 
 his hotel in New York to take steamboat for Albany, and was never 
 seen or heard of afterward.
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 C0<2S^W<S2>M<S=000^5>OCO<^3>OCO<:^s>00<^3>CO<^z>C<)0<^3>Ofl<^5i><S39<SS> 
 
 passed through them, and though they had the pity and re 
 spect of all there, no one spoke to them, and no one stayed 
 them. For every word of doom Catherine Ring had uttered 
 had been heard; and her inspired face spoke to the crowd; 
 Elias walking at her side praying aloud as he walked. 
 
 " My son Gerardus was present during the entire trial ; 
 he heard all, he saw all, and he told me the story I have just 
 told you. And what I say is the truth Hamilton's earthly 
 doom has been fulfilled; Burr is yet learning the unpitying 
 vengence of the dead. That insane idea of conquest, who 
 drove him to it? Who, at the critical hour, turned his con 
 federates against him? Who sent him to wander in Europe 
 a degraded, desperate man? What a cup of shame and pov 
 erty he drank there, I and a few others know. Then, 
 when reckless with his misfortune, back he comes to New 
 York, and for a short time he is lifted up by the many old 
 acquaintances who remember his abilities and his sufferings. 
 But only to be cast down is he lifted up. In less than one 
 month he hears of the death of his grandson, a beautiful, in 
 telligent boy of twelve years old, on whom all his future 
 hopes were built. A terrible blow it was, but only the be 
 ginning of sorrow. Six months afterwards his idolised 
 daughter left Charleston for New York. She was heart 
 broken by the loss of her son, and was coming to her father 
 to be comforted. She sailed on the thirtieth of December, 
 1811, A. D., and ought to have been in New York about the 
 fifth of January. She did not come. She never came. She 
 
 167
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 was never heard of again. It was then Catherine Ring's 
 promised retribution overtook him. Who can tell what 
 agonies of suspense he endured? There was daily hope, 
 and there was daily despair! Such nights of grief! Such 
 days of watching! His worst unfriends pitied him. To 
 have heard of the unhappy woman would have pleased every 
 one; but no, no, never a word came. When some weeks 
 were gone over, there was a report that the ship in which she 
 sailed had been taken by pirates, and all on board murdered 
 except Mr. Burr's daughter. She, it was said, had been 
 put on shore a captive. The miserable man ! He would 
 not, he could not, bear this idea. He said to me one morn 
 ing, as I talked with him at the garden gate, ' Theodosia is 
 dead ! If she were not all the prisons in the world could not 
 keep her from me ! ' Well, then, all of you must remember 
 the loss of Theodosia Burr Alston ? " 
 
 " I was in New Orleans at the time," said Leonard. " I 
 heard nothing there, or if so, have forgotten." 
 
 " I also was in New Orleans," said Achille. " I do not 
 remember no, not at all." 
 
 " I do remember," said Sappha. " Mother was very sorry 
 for Mr. Burr. We often spoke of him." 
 
 " You never told me about it, grandmother," added 
 Annette. " Why did you not ?" 
 
 " Good reasons had I. So much was there to say that 
 could not be talked about. A great many people had yet in 
 mind Catherine Ring's words, and so Aaron Burr's long 
 
 168
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 watch for the child that never came was quietly and piti 
 fully passed over. Yes, people remember; and if they do not 
 remember they feel they feel, they know, not what. I have 
 watched. One by one, I have seen those that welcomed 
 Aaron Burr home drop away from him. This day a man 
 stops and greets him, to-morrow he passes him by. The un 
 lucky, they only stick to him; because for a familiar they 
 know him. Aaron Burr is a doomed man haunted by the 
 wraiths of those he has wronged a doomed man, and noth 
 ing that he does shall ever prosper." 
 
 She ceased speaking with these words, and after some 
 desultory conversation on the subject, Sappha said, " she must 
 go home." Then Annette went upstairs with her, and 
 Achille made an effort to continue the subject; but neither 
 madame nor yet Leonard were disposed for discussion ; and 
 when Sappha returned to the parlour, cloaked and wrapped 
 in furs, Leonard hastily assumed his street costume and went 
 out with her. Then the conversation, the warmth, and the 
 drowsy light, added to the unusual feeling which the Ring 
 tragedy had evoked, produced an effect upon madame she did 
 not anticipate she gradually lost consciousness, and finally 
 fell asleep. For a while Achille and Annette spoke in 
 whispers, and Annette tried all her powers to win from her 
 companion the secret madame made so much of. He dallied 
 with it, but kept it inviolate; and she dropped her pretty 
 head with a sense of defeat that the circumstance hardly 
 seemed to warrant. Quiet and speechless she sat, and Achille 
 
 169
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 held her hand and watched the shadow of disappointment 
 obliterate the dimples and smiles, not always as becoming in 
 his eyes as her graver deportment. The glow of the fire 
 light, the stillness thrilled through and through with that 
 old tragedy of love, the look of defeat in Annette's pretty 
 face, and her whole attitude of submission to it, pleased the 
 young man. He thought her more womanly and exquisite 
 than ever before; and he kissed the hand he held, and said in 
 the softest, sweetest voice: " I cannot tell you madame's 
 secret, but I will tell you one of my own Annette, beautiful 
 Annette, I love you." 
 
 And Annette behaved with the most amazing propriety. 
 He felt the little hand he held tremble to his words, and he 
 saw on her face the transfiguration of love, though she did 
 not lift it, or answer him in any other way. But this coy 
 reticence was exactly the conduct Achille approved ; and in 
 that dim room, where only sleep kept vigil, Achille asked 
 Annette to be his wife, and Annette answered him as he 
 desired. 
 
 " I shall speak to madame in the morning," he said ; "to 
 night it will be too much." 
 
 " It is too much even for me," answered Annette ; " I 
 never dreamed of being so happy." 
 
 " Nor I," answered the fortunate lover. He then sur 
 rendered himself to her charm. He forgot how often he had 
 privately declared he would never do so ; forgot how often 
 he had told himself that Annette de Vries was a beauty with 
 
 170
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 a heart like a little glacier. As for Annette, she was satisfied. 
 In the first days of her acquaintance with Achille St. Ange 
 she had resolved to be his wife; and her resolve was now 
 in process of accomplishment. And after all, it had not 
 been a difficult end to attain ; a little love, a little listening, 
 a little patience, a little persistence, and the man was won. 
 It was only another case of proving the folly of any resist 
 ance to invincible woman. For has not all experience proved 
 that if a woman seriously determines to marry a certain 
 man she is about as sure to accomplish her end as if, wishing 
 to reach Washington, she entered a train bound for that city? 
 
 During this scene between Annette and Achille Sappha 
 and Leonard Murray were walking in the clear, frosty 
 starlight. They were lovers, but their conversation was 
 too anxious to be loverlike. Sappha was entreating Leonard 
 to cancel his engagement with Mr. Burr. She was sure 
 if he did not her father would permit no engagement with 
 his daughter. " You will have to choose," she said, " between 
 Mr. Burr and myself. You cannot take both into your life, 
 Leonard; I am sure it is impossible." She did not name 
 the Ring tragedy. She was far less impressed by it than 
 Leonard had been. It was her father's opposition she feared. 
 
 Not so Leonard. He had inherited from his Scotch an 
 cestors a vivid vein of supernatural tendency. His own 
 clan had numerous traditions of posthumous revenge, so 
 vindictive that Leonard's first unconscious commentary on 
 madame's narrative was the whispered exclamation only 
 
 171
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 heard by Achilla " The vengeance of the dead is terrible ! " 
 But if there was this latent fear in his heart, mingled with 
 the personal one that association might include him in that 
 vengeance, the feeling was strongly combated by another 
 inherited tendency, so vital as to be almost beyond reasoning 
 with the sentiment of loyalty to a person or a cause to 
 which he had once given his allegiance. It had been a kind 
 of insanity in his clan, for they had always gathered to 
 the last man in the cause of their exiled kings, though they 
 knew right well that to stand by the Stuarts was to stand 
 by misfortune and death. 
 
 So, tossed between these two horns of a dilemma, Leonard 
 could not make Sappha the unconditional promise she asked. 
 He had given to Aaron Burr a fealty founded on an intense 
 admiration for his great abilities and his great wrongs. The 
 physical charm of the man had also fascinated Leonard, as 
 it fascinated almost every one who came fairly under its 
 influence; and thus, though warned by one ancestral strain 
 to retire from some malignity he could not control, he was 
 urged forward by another sentiment which put his word, 
 his honour, his friendship, and his loyalty before all other 
 considerations. 
 
 These underlying motives of action were but partially 
 understood by Leonard, and were not comprehended in any 
 measure by Sappha. But at eighteen years of age we do not 
 need to know, in order to feel ; we can feel without knowl 
 edge ; and Sappha was certain that the association of her lover 
 
 172
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 with a man so unfortunate as Mr. Burr would include both 
 of them in its inimical proneness to calamity. 
 
 The mingling of these elements in Leonard's nature must 
 be recognised before we can understand how a lover, ear 
 nest and devoted, could hesitate about casting adrift a 
 friendship so recent when it threatened a tie still fonder and 
 more personal. But the most invulnerable sentiments a 
 man has to conquer are those he brings with him from pre 
 vious incarnations. Prejudices and opinions planted in his 
 mind during last year, or the present year, will have a 
 demonstrative vitality; but there is a stubborn quality about 
 those we bring with us that is only gained by passing through 
 the grave and tasting of immortality. If Sappha's and Leon 
 ard's love for each other was not of the past, then it was 
 hardly one year old ; yet she was demanding for it a sacrifice 
 of feelings incorporate in Leonard's nature from unknown 
 centuries. 
 
 They walked together talking only of Mr. Burr for 
 more than an hour ; then Sappha said " she was cold and 
 must go into the house." She was not so much cold as 
 weary. We are always weary when we do not understand, 
 and Sappha could not understand why Mr. Burr should 
 interfere in her affairs. At the door Leonard spoke to her 
 about the theatre on Friday night, and she promised to give 
 her father and mother his invitation. " It is too late to 
 detain you longer, my beloved," he said; "but I will call 
 early in the morning for the answer. I hope they will 
 
 173
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 accept my offer. It will make me very proud and 
 happy." 
 
 Sappha was sure that her mother would do so. " My 
 father is always uncertain," she said, " but I think he will 
 go if I ask him." 
 
 In the morning, however, there was no question of nam 
 ing the subject. The judge had come home late the previous 
 night, and even then was suffering all the premonitory 
 symptoms of an attack of gout. Sappha was accustomed 
 to these evil periods, and quite aware that all Leonard's 
 plans were useless. For no one but Mrs. Bloommaert and 
 the two negro men who nursed the judge were likely to see 
 him; or, if they were wise, to want to see him; and Sappha 
 was compelled to add disappointment to the already restless 
 dissatisfaction which had somehow invaded the love which 
 Leonard really bore her. 
 
 The morning interview was, moreover, very hurried. 
 Leonard was going to court to hear Mr. Burr argue a cer 
 tain case, and though he did not tell Sappha this, she felt 
 that Mr. Burr was the cause of her lover's unusual haste. 
 Before he knew this objectionable person he had never 
 worried about time; now he was constantly consulting his 
 watch. She felt as if their love had been mingled with some 
 element that robbed it of its immortal beauty and bound 
 it to the slavery of hours and minutes; nay, she could not 
 have defined her sense of loss, even thus far, accurately ; she 
 was only wistfully conscious of a change that was not a gain. 
 
 174
 
 Leonard came early in the morning, and was bitterly 
 disappointed to find that his little plan was absolutely 
 abortive. The judge was suffering much, and the sub 
 ject had not even been named to him. Mrs. Bloommaert, 
 indeed, rather fretfully interrupted Sappha in the midst of 
 her delivery of Leonard's invitation. "The theatre!" she 
 ejaculated. " If you were in your father's room for ten 
 minutes you would not have the courage to name the place. 
 I am sorry, of course, but theatre-going is out of the ques 
 tion. Leonard does seem so unfortunate ! " 
 
 " Do not be unjust, mother; don't you think it is father 
 that is unfortunate? And then his misfortune makes you 
 suffer, and I also; for I did want to go to the theatre on 
 Friday night so much. I suppose Annette will be disap 
 pointed also, for of course she cannot go with Achille 
 alone. They were, no doubt, calculating on your presence." 
 
 " It cannot be helped, Sappha. Your father must not be 
 left; my place is with him. I suppose Mrs. Clark will be 
 going. Leonard and you can join her party." 
 
 But when this proposition was made to Leonard he re 
 fused it without reservation. He was certain that the Clark 
 party was already complete, and he showed a touch of stub 
 bornness in temper that pained and astonished Sappha. If 
 he could not have his pleasure exactly as he wished it, there 
 was no longer any pleasure in it; and he said with an air 
 of intense chagrin: 
 
 " I shall be the only young man of my circle who will not 
 
 175
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 be there with the girl he loves and the family into which 
 he hopes to be admitted. I feel it very much." And with 
 these words he went away. 
 
 All morning Sappha sat in a kind of listless grief. She 
 was in a mesh of circumstances against whose evil influence 
 she was powerless. Nothing could avail. The morning was 
 damp and cold and full of melancholy, the house strangely 
 still; she could not sew, she could not read, she could only 
 suffer. And at eighteen years of age suffering is so acute, it 
 seems to youth's dreams of happiness such a wrong ; and the 
 reasonable indifference of age has, to its impatience, the 
 very spirit of cruelty. 
 
 About noon Mrs. Bloommaert came into the room. She 
 had a letter in her hand, and there was a singular ex 
 pression of discomposure both on her countenance and in the 
 fretful way in which she held the missive in her outstretched 
 hand. 
 
 " Sappha," she said, " here comes news indeed ! Your 
 grandmother kas written to tell us that last night Achille 
 St. Ange asked Annette to marry him. And of course An 
 nette accepted the offer," commented Annette's aunt. 
 " Your grandmother seems delighted with the match." 
 
 " They will suit each other very well, mother. I am sure 
 they will be happy. I must go and congratulate Annette." 
 
 " Not to-day. They both went, early this morning, 
 with the news, to grandfather De Vries, and of course that 
 is a day's visit." 
 
 176
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 " As he is the guardian of her estate, Annette would have 
 to ask him for money; for she will now want a great deal 
 of it. I am glad she is going to marry Achille ; she has loved 
 him ever since they met." 
 
 " Annette loves Annette first and best of all. But she 
 has plenty of sense, and she knows that a girl of twenty-one 
 has no chances to throw away." 
 
 " Annette looks about seventeen, mother, and she has more 
 lovers than I ever had." 
 
 " That is because you allowed every one to see your pref 
 erence for Leonard Murray. Besides, what you say is not 
 so. In spite of your partiality, no girl in New York has 
 more admirers than Sapphira Bloommaert." 
 
 " I prefer Leonard to all I ever had, or might have had." 
 
 " Yes. I know. Very foolish, too ! Your father does 
 not like him; he will never give a willing consent to your 
 marriage with him and girls ought to marry before they 
 are Annette's age. In fact, I have thought her a little old- 
 maidish for a year past." 
 
 "Oh, mother! Now you are joking - " 
 
 " Too affected too full of pouts, and shrugs and pirou 
 ettes; things very pretty when a girl is fifteen or sixteen, 
 but quite old-maidish airs at twenty-one." 
 
 " Mother, Annette never looked more than seventeen, and 
 she is not quite twenty-one." 
 
 " I think she looks every day of her age. She is more 
 than two years older than you; and two years, when a girl 
 
 177
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 OCC<^r^W<^^OQ<C^^OCO<^>COQ<^^COO^?^ftOO<^g*^^ 
 
 is in her teens, is a great deal. Well, well, I thought you 
 would have been married first." 
 
 " If father and you were willing, I could be married at 
 once. Leonard would be glad ; but " 
 
 " Oh, yes! we all know how soon ' but ' comes; but, you 
 want your own way ; but, father wants his way ; but " 
 
 " Mother wants her way also." 
 
 " No, no ! Mother is willing for any way that works for 
 others' happiness and Leonard is well enough, only things 
 seem always to go contrary for him and you." 
 
 " Dear mother, somebody once said the course of true 
 love never did run smooth. Leonard loves me truly for 
 myself only. He is rich, and I am not rich. He could 
 marry any girl he desires in New York, but he loves me. 
 Is not that worth counting in his favour? " 
 
 " I never said different, Sappha." 
 
 " Annette is very rich ; Leonard could have married An 
 nette." 
 
 " I have no doubt of it. I should not wonder if Mr. St. 
 Ange knows the exact amount of her fortune. Frenchmen 
 are not indifferent to a fortune in their brides. I know that. 
 It is a national custom to consider it. St. Ange will have 
 a difficult interview with old De Vries! I would like very 
 much to be present. De Vries will fight every dollar di 
 verted from Annette's control. Oh, yes ! he will fight them, 
 cent by cent." 
 
 " Mother, dear, I do not think Achille has given An- 
 I 7 8
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 03ft^^^tOS^^'W^^^000^^>030* = ^=^009^^^000^^>03()3:s>Oi0<C^>000^S^>00^^^>W^S>08& 
 
 nette's money a moment's consideration. I do believe he 
 loves her sincerely. He did not wish to love her. He 
 fought the feeling for a long time ; both Annette and I knew 
 it, and Annette has often laughed at the way he held out. 
 But she always said, when we spoke of the subject, ' He is 
 not invincible, some day he will surrender.' I want to tell 
 her how glad I am." 
 
 " You cannot do so to-day. It is evident they intended 
 a long visit, for your grandmother says in a postscript, ' Tell 
 Sappha to come very early in the morning. I want particu 
 larly to see her.' " 
 
 Here the conversation was interrupted by a violent ring 
 ing of the judge's bedroom bell; and the echo of a demand 
 ing voice whose tenor could not be mistaken. Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert threw her mother-in-law's letter toward Sappha, and 
 answered the summons at once; and Sappha lifted the letter 
 and carefully re-read it. 
 
 MY DEAR GERARDUS AND CARLITA: 
 
 I have to announce to you the engagement of Annette to my 
 friend Achille St. Ange. I am pleased with Annette's choice, and 
 her marriage will probably take place on her next birthday, the 
 seventh day of June, on which day, as you know, she comes of age. 
 I wish no objections to be made. Annette has pleased herself, and 
 done well to herself, and what more can be expected? 
 Your affectionate mother, 
 
 JONACA BLOOMMAERT. 
 
 P. S. Tell Sappha I wish to see her very early in the morning. 
 I have a pleasant piece of news for her. 
 
 All through that dreary day this letter lay in Sappha's 
 179
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 work-basket. It seemed almost to have life, and to talk 
 to her; and when her mother came to drink a cup of tea, 
 she was glad to give her back the intimate, insinuating bit 
 of script. Mrs. Bloommaert held it a moment, and then 
 locked it in the judge's desk. " I don't want to see it again," 
 she said, " but if I burn it, your father will be sure to con 
 sider it important enough to keep. Can you imagine what 
 news your grandmother has to tell you ? " 
 
 " No. There was considerable jesting about a secret 
 yesterday, but it did not strike me as important. It most 
 likely relates in some way to Annette's marriage." 
 
 " That is hardly possible ; Annette did not say a word of 
 her engagement to you yesterday ? " 
 
 " Oh, but grandmother would not permit her to speak un 
 til she herself had announced it. Grandmother is particular 
 about such things. Still, I do not think they were engaged 
 when I left there last night. Achille did not look, or act, 
 like an engaged man; and Annette would have told the 
 secret in twenty ways without uttering a word. I should 
 certainly have seen it. No; the offer was made after I left. 
 Achille was in a very sensitive mood. However, Annette 
 will tell me everything to-morrow." 
 
 In the morning she obeyed her grandmother's request, and 
 went to Nassau Street very early. She told herself as she 
 walked rapidly through the frosty air that there would likely 
 be some little change in Annette. " There always is," she 
 mused ; " as soon as a girl is engaged something takes pl&<= 
 
 180
 
 I wonder what it is." The first symptom of this change 
 met Sappha at once. Annette did not run to meet her as 
 usual, and though quite as demonstrative, there was a little 
 air of superiority, of settlement, of some subtile accession, 
 that was indefinable, and yet both positive and practical. 
 She was dressed with great care, and in high spirits; and ma- 
 dame shared obviously in all her anticipations. 
 
 Sappha was indeed astonished at her grandmother's ap 
 pearance and excited mood. Annette answered Sappha's 
 congratulations with a kiss and a smile only; but madame 
 expressed her pleasure frankly. She was already planning 
 Annette's wedding and Annette's home. Suddenly she recol 
 lected herself, and said, " Well, then, have you remembered 
 the secret I promised to tell you this morning, Sappha? " 
 " Is not Annette's good fortune the secret, grandmother? " 
 " No. Listen to me. I am going to the theatre to-night ! 
 You do not believe me? I assure you it is true. And you, 
 and Annette, and Achille go with me. Achille has been mak 
 ing all preparations for my comfort; and I am sure to have 
 a very happy evening. But it would not be happy, unless 
 you and Annette shared it. Now you must return home, and 
 send here the dress you are going to wear; and then you 
 will spend the day with me. It is to be my gala day. I 
 shall wear my velvet gown, and I am as happy as a little 
 girl. A great evening it will be, and I intend to share all 
 its gladness, and all its enthusiasms. And as Annette has 
 been so kind and clever as to add her happiness to mine, it 
 
 181
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 is a spring-tide of good luck. I consider myself a very for 
 tunate woman." 
 
 " Dear grandmother, my father is suffering very much. 
 Will it be kind and right for me to be at the theatre while 
 he is in such distress ? " 
 
 " Your father will drink Portugal wine, and then of 
 course he suffers, and makes your mother and every one 
 else miserable. He has the gout; well, you know what 
 that means. I am sorry that he drinks wine, when he ought 
 to drink water; but what he invites he must entertain. I 
 am sorry also, that your mother cannot go with us; she 
 has not drunk Portugal wine, and yet she has the deprivation. 
 Yes, for your mother I am sorry. But as for stopping from 
 the theatre to think about ore-arranged suffering, I shall 
 not do it and there is no obligation on you to deprive your 
 self of this night's pleasure. If I can go with a good con 
 science, you may safely go with me." 
 
 She had talked herself into a tone of self-defence, and 
 Sappha perceived that it would be unwise to say more. Also, 
 she was very eager for the promised entertainment, and won 
 derfully delighted at the idea of her grandmother's pleasant 
 vagary. 
 
 "Why, grandmother!" she answered, "it will be part 
 of the performance to see Madame Jonaca Bloommaert 
 present. You will make quite a sensation, and when I am 
 an old woman I shall talk about the night I went with 
 grandmother to the Park Theatre." 
 
 182
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 Then she drew the lovely girl to her side and kissed her, 
 and after a little discussion about the dress to be worn, 
 urged her to go home and procure it. Also, she sent by 
 Sappha certain messages to her son Gerardus, which Mrs. 
 Bloommaert, upon consideration, positively refused to de 
 liver. 
 
 " Your father is paying dearly for drinking a glass or two 
 of wine," she answered, " and it is none of God's way to 
 worry, as well as punish. And I will not tell him over again 
 what he has been told so often; there is nothing so aggra 
 vating. What are you going to wear? " 
 
 " Mother dear, ought I to go ? There is father and 
 there is Leonard " 
 
 " I forgot ! Leonard called here, while you were 
 away." 
 
 " Oh, dear! What did you say to him, mother?" 
 
 " I could not see him. I was just giving your father his 
 breakfast. He slept late this morning, and " 
 
 " Then what message did you send ? " 
 
 " I sent him word you were out, and told him it was im 
 possible to accept his kind offer. Of course I made the 
 refusal in as agreeable words as possible." 
 
 " Did you tell him I had gone to Nassau Street ? " 
 
 " I forget I suppose I did. It was Kouba who opened the 
 door. Kouba would be sure to tell him." 
 
 Then Sappha went to her room, packed the clothing she 
 desired, and sent it to Nassau Street by Kouba. On being 
 
 183
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 questioned, he could not remember whether he had told Mr. 
 Murray to go to Nassau Street or not thought maybe 
 he had. " Master Murray mighty dissatisfied like," he 
 added, and then he looked curiously in Sappha's face. 
 
 " You are to take this parcel to Nassau Street, Kouba ; 
 and when you come back here you will find a letter for 
 Mr. Murray on the piano; you will then go and find Mr. 
 Murray, and give him the letter." 
 
 The writing of this letter was a difficult task to Sappha. 
 She felt the cruelty of Leonard's position very much his 
 offer to her family had been early and most generous; yet 
 it was impossible for her father and mother to accept it, and 
 equally impossible for her to accept it alone. The disap 
 pointment to his own plans Leonard would doubtless take 
 as cheerfully as possible ; but what would he say to her going 
 with Achille? For he might not see Madame Bloommaert's 
 claim on her granddaughter in the light of an affectionate 
 command and compliance; and then he would be jealous 
 again and then and then? Sappha felt bewildered, until 
 she recollected Annette's engagement. That circumstance 
 would certainly define Achille's position and prevent any ill- 
 will. "And I told him in my letter about it, so then it is 
 all right." Thus she reasoned herself into a satisfied mood; 
 and when she returned to her grandmother's and cousin's 
 company she could not help catching the joyous expectancy 
 of the situation. 
 
 And very soon Achille came in, and it was prettily amus- 
 
 184
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 ing to watch the behaviour of the newly betrothed. It 
 seemed as if they now found all the world a delightful mys 
 tery, a secret between themselves only. Such reliance, such 
 hope, such expectation, had suddenly sprung up between 
 them that there was a constant necessity for little con 
 fidences and unshared understandings. However, nothing 
 could be more beautiful than the manner in which Achille 
 treated madame. He consulted her about all the evening's 
 arrangements, and gave her an affection and respect, which 
 she returned with that charming kindness that is the innocent 
 coquetry of old age. 
 
 It was finally agreed that Achille should come for them 
 soon after five o'clock. The usual hour for opening the 
 theatre was six, but Achille said the crowd on the streets was 
 already very embarrassing and difficult to manage. 
 
 All afternoon there was a growing sense of something un 
 usual and paramountly exciting that undistinguishable 
 murmur born of human struggle and exulting gladness. 
 The three women dressed to it, and were all ready for their 
 refreshing cup of tea at half-past four o'clock. Both girls 
 had tacitly agreed that madame was to be the heroine of the 
 occasion. Both assisted in her toilet, and escorted her down 
 stairs like maids of honour. And certainly it would have 
 been hard to find a woman of more distinguished appear 
 ance. Her gown of black velvet, though not in the mode, 
 was in her mode, and suited her to perfection. White satin 
 and fine lace made the stomacher, and her white hair was
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 shaded by lace and by a little velvet hood turned back with 
 white satin. Her face had a pretty pink flush, and she was 
 very quiet during the last half hour of waiting. 
 
 " There were no theatres when I was a girl," she said 
 softly. " Would you believe, my dears, that I have never 
 been in a theatre, never seen a play? I wonder me, what 
 your grandfather Bloommaert would say ? " 
 
 " He would be glad to have you go, of course," answered 
 Sappha. " Why, grandmother, you ought to go to-night. 
 It is not the play you are going to see, it is something 
 grander." 
 
 She smiled, and Annette said, " I hear a carriage coming. 
 Grandmother, how do I look? " 
 
 " You are both pretty enough. It is a great satisfaction to 
 see you dressed alike." 
 
 Then Achille entered, and hurried them a little. He 
 said the immense crowd would render their progress very 
 slow; but no one cared much for the delay. The crowd 
 was orderly and full of enthusiasm. Scudder's Museum, all 
 public places, and private houses were brilliantly illumi 
 nated; there was a sound of music everywhere, and the 
 crowd itself continually burst into irrepressible patriotic 
 song. 
 
 It was nearly six when they succeeded in reaching the 
 theatre, and madame's heart thrilled very much as a child's 
 would have done when she entered what seemed to her a 
 fairy palace. For the whole front of the theatre was a bril- 
 
 186
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 liant transparency representing the engagement of the 
 frigates United States and Macedonian. The Star Spangled 
 Banner met their eyes on all sides, and to its inspiring music 
 they entered the box Achille had provided. Most of the 
 boxes were already filled to their utmost capacity; and in the 
 gallery there was not space enough left for the foot of a 
 little child. But the pit was empty, and to it every eye was 
 turned. Almost immediately the tumultuously joyful cheer 
 ing outside announced some important arrival. The or 
 chestra struck up, with amazing dash and spirit, Yankee 
 Doodle, and three hearty cheers answered the music as 
 four hundred sailors from the war frigates entered. The 
 crowd inside rose to greet them; cheer followed cheer, until 
 women and men both sobbed with emotion. Then the gun 
 ner with his speaking trumpet took his stand in the centre 
 of the pit, in order to command silence if necessary, and 
 the boatswain with his silver call stood next him, to second 
 his commands. And four hundred sailors in their blue 
 jackets, scarlet vests, and glazed hats, all alive with patri 
 otism and excited with victory, made a remarkable audience. 
 They had just come from a dinner given them by the city 
 at the City Hotel, and were exceedingly jovial, and perhaps 
 the big gunner and the boatswain standing up in their midst 
 were not amiss as guides and masters of ceremonies, for 
 when Decatur shortly afterwards entered the box provided 
 for him they rose at the sight of their commodore as one 
 man, and gave twelve such cheers as only four hundred 
 
 187
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 proud and happy sailors could give ; every man standing on 
 tiptoe and flourishing his glazed hat in that saucy, dauntless 
 way that is peculiar to sailors. And whoever heard those 
 repeated huzzas, with the silver whistle of the boatswain 
 shrilling through them, heard music of humanity that they 
 never in life forgot. Madame wept silently and uncon 
 sciously, Sappha sat with gleaming eyes still and white with 
 emotion, Annette clapped her hands and leaned on Achille 
 for support. The very atmosphere of the house was tremu 
 lous and electric, and men and women said and did things 
 of which they were quite unconscious. And wild as the 
 excitement was, it continued during the whole performance; 
 the play, the scenes, the transparencies and dances being 
 chosen and arranged for the purpose of calling out the naval 
 spirit of the audience and of doing homage to the American 
 sailor, who was deservedly at that hour the hope of the 
 country and the idol of the people. 
 
 When the wonderful evening was over the sailors left 
 the theatre in perfect order, and preceded by their own band 
 of music marched to their landing at New Slip; and while 
 this exit was transpiring, so many people visited Madame 
 Bloommaert that she may be said to have held a ten minutes' 
 royal reception in her box. And though the beautiful old 
 woman with her beaming face and rich dark drapery was 
 in herself a picture worth looking at, her charm was greatly 
 increased by the lovely girls who stood on either side of her 
 both of them dressed alike in pale blue camblet gowns and 
 
 188
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 spencers of the then rare chinchilla fur, so soft, so delicately 
 grey, so inconstestably becoming. 
 
 " I have had four hours of perfect happiness," said ma- 
 dame, as she lay at last among her pillows, with her hands 
 clasped upon her breast, " of perfect happiness ! Think of 
 that, children! Four hours of perfect happiness! " 
 
 Annette said eagerly, " I too, grandmother, I too have 
 been perfectly happy." But Sappha did not speak, she bent 
 her head and kissed madame, and fussed a little about her 
 night posset, and her pillows, and the rush light, and so 
 managed to evade any notice of a silence which might have 
 been construed adversely. For indeed Sappha had not been 
 perfectly happy. She had rejoiced with those that rejoiced, 
 but in her heart there was a sense of failure. Leonard had 
 not sought her out, and she had been unable to gain any 
 recognition from him. For a short time he was in the 
 Clarks' box, and she watched for some sign that he was 
 aware of her presence; but the sign did not come, and long 
 before the entertainment was over he had disappeared. 
 
 " He is jealous again," she thought with a sigh. And 
 really it appeared as if, in this crisis, he had some cause for 
 offence. His offer to accompany Sappha and her family 
 had been refused, and Sappha was with Achille. He had 
 not even been asked to join Achille's party, and as for the 
 judge's gout every one knew he was subject to the com 
 plaint. He thought Mrs. Bloommaert might have left him 
 for three or four hours; he told himself that she would have 
 
 189
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 done so if Sappha had asked her with sufficient persuasion. 
 It angered him to see the girl he loved and whose troth he 
 held, in the company of Achille St. Ange. For he was not yet 
 aware of Achille's engagement to Annette, the letter which 
 Sappha sent by Kouba not having reached him. For Kouba 
 had thought far more of enjoying the excitement of the 
 streets than of finding Mr. Murray, and the only effort he 
 made in that direction was to finally leave the letter at the 
 City Hotel, where he was told Mr. Murray was dining. 
 
 So this tremulous fear of having wounded her lover was 
 dropped into Sappha's cup of pleasure, and clouded and 
 dimmed its perfection. Its very uncertainty was fretsome; 
 there was nothing tangible to put aside; it affected her as 
 a drop of ink infects a glass of pure water it cannot be 
 definitely pointed out, but it has spoiled the water. The only 
 certain feeling was a regret, which lay like a slant shadow 
 over her heart and life. She was glad when the morning 
 came. She wished to go home, and be alone a little. An 
 nette's selfish joy, though effusively good-tempered, was not 
 pleasant, and it struck Sappha in that hour that there are 
 times when good breeding is better than good temper. 
 
 On arriving at the Bowling Green she interviewed Kouba 
 at once. But Kouba had his tale ready. He assured Sappha 
 that he had found Mr. Murray eating his dinner at the 
 City Hotel, and that a white man had promised to send 
 the letter right away to him, " And I saw him do it," he 
 added, with a reckless disregard for facts. If this was the 
 
 190
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 case, then Leonard knew of the engagement between Annette 
 and Achille, and she could not imagine why her lover had 
 so obviously ignored her. 
 
 But for a time it was necessary to put this question out 
 of her mind. She had to describe the previous evening's pro 
 ceedings to her father and mother, and then it was dinner 
 time and Leonard had not come. She was utterly miser 
 able, and under the plea of a headache went to her room. It 
 was impossible for her to talk any longer of those things 
 that did not concern her. She wanted to think of her 
 lover, and if possible discover what course was the best to 
 take. 
 
 "Oh, if father had not been ill just at this time!" she 
 sighed, " we might have been all so happy together last night! 
 Why did father's attack come on the very day both mother 
 and I wanted him to be well ? Oh, how unfortunate ! " 
 And Sappha's lament was quite true the unfortunate thing 
 usually happens at the unfortunate time, for a malign fate 
 never does things by half. So the girl wept, and told herself 
 that she was sorry she had gone to the theatre at all, and 
 that whenever she tried to be kind to others and to forget 
 herself she was always sorry. She declared Leonard had 
 a right to be offended. He had been badly treated, and his 
 desire to have their engagement made public was a wise 
 and honourable one for both of them. Perhaps her argu 
 ments were all wrong, but then the human relations are built 
 on feeling, not on reason or knowledge. And feeling is not 
 
 191
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 an exact science ; like all spiritual qualities, it has the vague 
 ness of greatness about it. 
 
 However, youth is happy in this respect it can weep. Sor 
 row finds an outlet by the eyes; when we grow older it 
 sinks inward and drowns the heart. So Sappha wept her 
 grief away, and was sitting in a kind of dismal, hopeless 
 stillness when Leonard came. 
 
 I They met and embraced speechlessly, and it was evident 
 that Leonard also had been suffering. But in little con 
 fidences and mutual explanations all suspicions and fears 
 passed away, and their love was nourished and cherished 
 by the tears with which they watered it. And in this inter 
 view they came to the conclusion that their engagement must 
 be publicly ratified, and Leonard promised to see Judge 
 Bloommaert as soon as the latter was able to discuss the 
 subject. 
 
 "And you will not vex my father about Mr. Burr? 
 Dear Leonard, you will not put Mr. Burr before me? " 
 
 " I will put no one on earth before you, my darling \ No 
 one!" 
 
 " Remember, Leonard, that you have had nothing but 
 worries since you visited the man. But wherever or when 
 ever you meet Aaron Burr, I would count it an unlucky 
 day." 
 
 And the questionable words sunk deeper into Leonard's 
 consciousness than far more reasonable arguments would 
 have done. He answered them with kisses only, but as he 
 
 192
 
 THE MIRACLE OF LOVE 
 
 walked up the Bowling Green he said at intervals, as if 
 answering his thoughts: " Perhaps maybe who can tell? 
 She is best of all, God forever bless her! " 
 
 As for Sappha, she went swiftly upstairs to her room. 
 Her heart was as light as it had been heavy. She sat down, 
 she arose, she rubbed her palms with pleasure, she sighed, 
 she smiled, and her eyes were full of love's own light as 
 she whispered softly, " Leonard ! Leonard ! Leonard ! Oh, 
 my dear one! " 
 
 Thus does grief favour all who bear the gift of tears. 
 
 193
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 SEVEN 
 
 The Incident of Marriage 
 
 T 
 
 g HE interview so important to Leonard's 
 love affairs, and so eagerly desired by him, 
 did not come as he had planned it should 
 come. He had intended to speak to the 
 judge when Mrs. Bloommaert was present 
 
 and Sappha not far away, for he counted very largely on 
 their personal influence for a favourable answer to his re 
 quest. But one morning as he was passing the house the 
 judge, who was sitting by the window, saw him; and by a 
 friendly, familiar gesture, invited him to an interview. 
 
 " You see, Mr. Murray," he said cheerfully, " I have 
 fallen behind in all city news. Sit an hour and tell me what 
 is going on." And he held the young man's hand and 
 looked with pleasure into his frank, handsome countenance. 
 " Well, judge, De Witt Clinton is sure to be re-elected 
 mayor." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; the majority of the council are Federalists." 
 " I think the war party are equally in his favour." 
 " No doubt, he has been a good mayor. Any war news? " 
 " There is a report that the Constitution captured the 
 British war frigate Java about last Christmas Day. I be- 
 
 IQ4
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 lieve the report, for it came by the privateer Tartar, Captain 
 King." 
 
 " I wish we could have any such news from the Niagara 
 frontier. Nothing but disaster comes that way. The gov 
 ernment has requested my son Peter to go there and assist 
 Brown with the building of the lake fleet. I wonder if it 
 will accomplish anything." 
 
 " All it is intended to accomplish, judge. We must give 
 the men up there time and opportunity. Before summer is 
 over we shall hear from them." 
 
 They then began a conversation upon the defences of New 
 York, and Leonard described the work going forward on 
 Hendrick's reef, and at Navesink. " There are more than 
 eight hundred Jersey Blues on the heights," he said, " and 
 the telegraph on the Highlands is ready to work. General 
 Izard is an active and zealous officer." 
 
 Having exhausted this subject, the judge suddenly became 
 personal, and with an abruptness that startled Leonard, 
 asked : 
 
 " How are you spending these fine winter days, Mr. Mur 
 ray? Tell me, if my question is not an intrusive one." 
 
 " Indeed, sir, I consider it a great honour. And advice 
 from you, at this time, would be of more service than you 
 can imagine." 
 
 " If you will take it ; but most people ask advice only 
 that it may confirm them in the thing they have already re 
 solved to do." 
 
 195
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " I will ask your advice, sir. It cannot but be better than 
 my own opinion." Then Leonard explained his intention 
 with regard to the study of the law regulating real estate, 
 and Judge Bloommaert listened with attention and evident 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " It will be a good thing for you to do, Mr. Murray," 
 he answered, when Leonard ceased speaking. " You ought 
 not to be idle, even if you can afford it; and this study will 
 not only employ your time, it will eventually save you much 
 money. Go and see Mr. Vanderlyn. Perhaps he may let 
 you read with him. No one knows more about real estate." 
 
 " I have been told, sir, that Mr. Burr is the greatest 
 authority on that subject." 
 
 " Mr. Burr is out of consideration." 
 
 " I confess, sir, that I have already considered him." 
 
 " Have you spoken to him ? " 
 
 " Not definitely." 
 
 " Mr. Murray, if you sit in Mr. Burr's office, you will 
 soon share his opinions. And in such case, I should be com 
 pelled to forbid you the society of myself and family. You 
 cannot touch pitch and not be defiled." 
 
 He spoke with rising anger, and Leonard answered as 
 softly as possible: 
 
 " Judge, I ask your advice in this matter. I have al 
 ready told you I would take it. Can we not talk of Mr. 
 Burr as reasonably as of the war and our defences? I 
 am open to conviction, and free to confess that I do not 
 
 196
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 see what Mr. Burr has done to merit the ostracism he is 
 receiving from certain parties. I suppose it is one of the 
 accidents of his fate, a paradox and life is full of para 
 doxes." 
 
 " Mr. Burr's ostracism is no accident, it is his own act. 
 The man has committed a crime, and the interpretation 
 thereof is written on everything he does." 
 
 "You mean his duel with Mr. Hamilton? Sir, if Mr. 
 Hamilton had killed Mr. Burr, would the Federalists have 
 considered it a crime ? " 
 
 " Mr. Hamilton's case is out of our jurisdiction. It is 
 gone to a higher court." 
 
 " Is not that special pleading, judge?" 
 
 " It will do for the case." 
 
 " Hamilton had publicly called Burr unprincipled, dan 
 gerous, despicable, an American Cataline oh, many other 
 derogatory epithets! Would not Mr. Burr have been gen 
 erally held as despicable if he had not defended his good 
 name? " 
 
 "By killing his defamer?" 
 
 " Well, sir, how else could he have done it? " 
 
 " In politics men call each other all sorts of ill names. 
 They even invent new ones for their opponent. And though 
 in Paradise the lion will lie down with the lamb, in Para 
 dise they will not have to submit their rival political views 
 to general elections. Say that Mr. Hamilton was vituper 
 ative it was a war of words. Mr. Burr Had a tongue and a 
 
 197
 
 THE -BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 pen, as well as Mr. Hamilton. If Mr. Hamilton had in 
 sulted Mr. Burr's wife, or run off with his daughter, there 
 might have been some excuse for a bloody settlement, but 
 words, words, words, the tongue or the pen would have 
 answered them." 
 
 " Then, judge, you do not approve of the duel? " 
 
 " I do not. But I think that Mr. Burr's fatal mistake 
 will eventually put duelling as much out as witchcraft. We 
 shall probably also have strong repressive laws against it." 
 
 " Yet as long as public opinion respects duelling, no re 
 pressive law will be as strong as public opinion. We are as 
 moral and intelligent now as any people can be, yet the duel 
 is not obsolete, nor has Mr. Burr's ostracism been a 
 deterrent." 
 
 " I know that. Last year two men quarrelled about an 
 umbrella in the hall of Scudder's Museum, and the next day 
 one of them shot the other dead. Nine out of ten people 
 called the dead man a fool for his pains. Mr. Murray, the 
 duel has become perilously close to the ridiculous. Men 
 may talk about blowing out brains for an angry word, but 
 the majority quietly laugh at the absurdity. Such conduct 
 is totally unworthy of American common sense. For no 
 man of intelligence would fight a duel if he remembered 
 that he would render himself liable to form the text for an 
 article in The Morning Chronicle. To be treated either 
 with its satire or its morality would be equally depressing 
 it would make him intensely ridiculous in any case. But 
 
 198
 
 we shall never give up duelling on moral and intelligent 
 grounds." 
 
 " Then on what other grounds? " 
 
 " The class duellists come from are the brainless class; and 
 if the custom was strictly confined by this class to their fel 
 lows, it would be one of the most innocent of their amuse 
 ments. We must make duelling ridiculous, for when mock 
 ery and satire are constant about any subject, you may know 
 that thing is dead, and its shell only remains." 
 
 " But, judge, if a man's honour is assailed " 
 
 " If we were all Hotspurs, Mr. Murray, and ready to 
 plunge into the deep and pluck honour by the locks, we 
 might count on sympathy ; but when the majority think with 
 Falstaff, that ' honour is a mere scutcheon ' we get a chill, 
 until we remember the divine law. For after all, sir, the 
 Decalogue remains as a finality. Look up the sixth clause 
 of that code." 
 
 " There is nothing to add to it, sir." 
 
 " Not on moral and intellectual grounds. Socially, you 
 may remember the homely proverb which advises ' Go with 
 good men, and you will be counted one of them.' Go with 
 Mr. Burr, and you will be counted with him; held at the 
 same price nay, you will be only one of Mr. Burr's satel 
 lites. If you want really to study law " 
 
 " No, sir. I give up the idea. I have said sufficient to Mr. 
 Burr to wound him if I go elsewhere. And just because he 
 is down at present, I will not give him a coward's kick." 
 
 199
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " There is no occasion to do so. It is not a chargeable 
 thing to salute civilly. But Mr. Burr's affairs are none of 
 your profit, therefore why make them your peril ? " 
 
 " I thank you for your good advice, judge." 
 
 " Then take it." 
 
 " I will, sir." 
 
 " Now having interfered with your intention, I am bound 
 to offer you something in its place. It is this: I can get 
 you active employment with Gouverneur Morris, Simeon 
 De Witt, and John Rutherford, who are busy yet in per 
 fecting their plans for the streets of the future New York. 
 I should not wonder if they map out the whole island. In 
 fact, they have already provided space for a greater popula- 
 lation than is collected on any spot this side of China. I can 
 not say I like their mathematical arrangement ; they are mak 
 ing a city idealised after Euclid straight, stiff, wearisome, 
 without character or expression." 
 
 " But it will be a most convenient arrangement. I would 
 carry the plan out, even north of Harlem Flat." 
 " There will be no houses there for centuries to come." 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir, before this century goes out." 
 
 The judge smiled. He liked the young man's enthusiasm, 
 and he answered : " So be it. You shall help to survey the 
 ground. I will speak to De Witt to-morrow." 
 
 At this point of the discussion there was a knock at the 
 front door, followed by a little stir of entrance, and the 
 sound of speech and light laughter. Both men were sud- 
 
 200
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 oco<^=>a=>ass<K!fl^^')-cs5>oco<^:s>ooS3>eco<srsoco<^s>ocfl<s=><s=>i)o<:^i>oco 
 
 denly all ear. There was no more conversation, and after 
 a few moments of silent expectation Mrs. Bloommaert 
 and Sappha entered the room together. They were in 
 happy mood, and Sappha was so lovely with the bloom of 
 the frosty air on her smiling face that Leonard forgot 
 everything and every one but her, and before either were 
 aware he had taken her hands and kissed her. 
 
 The next moment they both realised their position, and 
 Leonard, still holding Sappha's hand, led her to the aston 
 ished father. " Sir," he said, " we have loved each other 
 since we were children. Will you now sanction our love, 
 and permit our betrothal ? " 
 
 The judge looked helplessly at his wife. She was watch 
 ing the young couple with smiles on her face, and evident 
 sympathy in her heart for their cause. If he wished to be 
 adverse and disagreeable, he foresaw he would have no help 
 from Mrs. Bloommaert. Yet to give up in a moment all 
 the wavering feelings of dislike he had entertained for 
 Leonard, and all his own settled purpose of no recognised 
 engagement for his daughter until peace was accomplished, 
 was a hard struggle. Perhaps it was well He had to decide 
 in a moment. At that precise hour he was in a mood of lik 
 ing Leonard, and he had no time to reason himself into 
 another mood. Slowly, and with a little asperity, he an 
 swered : 
 
 " Mr. Murray, it seems to me you have not waited either 
 for my sanction or my permission." 
 
 201
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Ah, sh, consider the temptation." 
 
 Involuntarily he looked into the face of " the tempta 
 tion." With clear, shining eyes she held his eyes a moment, 
 and then her voice uttered the undeniable entreaty: " I love 
 Leonard so dearly, father. And he loves me." 
 
 "I see! I see!" 
 
 " We only wish to please you, father ; that is best of all." 
 
 " Indeed, sir, that is best of all ! " said Leonard eagerly. 
 
 " Well, well ! In this country the majority rules. What 
 can a man do if there are three against him, especially when 
 one of the three is his wife?" and he shook his head, and 
 looked somewhat reproachfully at his wife. 
 
 Then Sappha slipped her arms around his neck, and laid 
 her cheek a jain: : his, and he embraced his daughter and 
 stretched out his hand to Leonard. 
 
 Thus Fortune often brings in the boats we do not steer, 
 and by what we call a happy accident guides our dearest and 
 most difficult hopes to a sudden fruition. It is then a good 
 thing to leave the door wide open for our unknown angels. 
 They often accomplish for us what we hardly dare to 
 attempt. 
 
 After this settlement Sappha and Leonard felt that they 
 might revel in the joy of life and take their pleasure where- 
 ever they found it. And they found it both in public and 
 private affairs. Annette's marriage was to take place in 
 June, and there were preparations without end going on for 
 that event. Her grandfather De Vries had given her, as 
 
 2O2
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 a wedding gift, the Semple place, a beautiful old home set in 
 a fine garden which had once sloped down to the river bank. 
 
 "It is not exactly what I should have chosen," said the 
 bride-elect ; " but it is valuable property, and grandfather 
 would not have given it to me if I had not promised to live 
 there." 
 
 " It is no hardship to live in the Semple house," said 
 Sappha. " The rooms are so large, the woodwork so richly 
 carved, and the garden is the sweetest, shadiest place in New 
 York, I think." 
 
 " Grandmother is going to furnish it, and she lets me 
 choose exactly what I want. I declare, dear Achille and I 
 have no time for love-making, we are so worried about chairs 
 and tables and wedding garments." 
 
 " I never should have thought Achille would worry about 
 anything. He is always so deliberate, and so calm." 
 
 " Oh, but a man in love is a different creature, and I can 
 tell you that Achille is distractingly in love. I am not 
 quite ignorant about the queer ways of men in a fever of 
 infatuation. Why, he scarcely ever goes to see the pastry 
 cook now." 
 
 " Oh, but De Singeron was a gallant officer of King Louis! 
 He is in exile and misfortune, that is all. The pastry busi 
 ness is but an emergency and he manages it splendidly - " 
 
 " Certainly. I have always liked his good things. And 
 he is going to make us the most wonderful wedding cake. 
 However, when Achille and I are married Achille will have 
 
 203
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 MO<s^JO<^s>QO<^5OOQ<^:^^cqO<g^^QPO<^^OOQ<^^<)CO*^ *S^OCO 
 
 to give up many things, and Monsieur Auguste Louis de 
 Singeron will be one of them. At present I have too many 
 things to worry about to interfere." 
 
 " You have nearly half a year in which to do your worry 
 ing. Why not take things more easily ? " 
 
 " Oh, the fun is in the fuss ! Did you hear that General 
 Moreau is going back to Europe to join the allies? The 
 emperor of Russia has sent for him, and now he will have 
 the chance to pay Napoleon back for his nine years' exile. 
 But I shall never pass 119 Pearl Street without a sigh. No 
 one ever gave such princely entertainments as the Moreaus. 
 The general is to have a great appointment, but what he 
 likes best is the chance of righting the world's big tyrant. 
 Achille is going to see him embark and many others. But 
 this is not my affair. There is my wedding gown, for 
 instance." 
 
 " Have you decided on it? " 
 
 " It must be white everything about me must be white. 
 Achille says so. I think grandmother will send to Boston 
 for the silk or satin; there is none here of a quality fit for 
 the most important gown a woman can ever wear. You 
 would think it was grandmother's wedding, she is so inter 
 ested in every little thing about it." 
 
 Indeed, Annette did not much overstate madame's interest 
 in her granddaughter's marriage preparations. She lifted 
 the additional work, and even the additional expense, with a 
 light-hearted alacrity that was wonderful. And in many 
 
 204
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 ways her cheerfulness brought her a rich and ready reward. 
 She had been almost a recluse for some years, she was now 
 seen constantly on the streets and in the stores, and not 
 infrequently in this way she became a delighted spectator of 
 public parades and military drills and movements. Achille 
 usually accompanied her, and his respectful attentions were 
 a source of wonder and speculation to those who forgot to 
 consider that Frenchmen are specially trained to give honour, 
 and even reverence, to old age. So it was not remarkable 
 that madame put on a kind of second youth; how could she 
 be in constant, affectionate accord with four loving young 
 hearts and not do so? 
 
 For the next half-year, then, Annette was the centre of 
 interest in her own little world. The judge and Mrs. 
 Bloommaert, Sappha, and Leonard gladly entered into the 
 spirit of this generous service for, and sympathy with, the 
 exultant little bride. And at this period of her life, even 
 her foibles and selfishness were pleasantly excused. It was 
 her last draught of the careless joy of girlhood; no one 
 wished to spill, or spoil, one drop of it. 
 
 Leonard and Sappha were much of their time at the 
 Bloommaert House in Nassau Street; although Leonard, in 
 the City Commissioner's office, was making some pretence 
 of mapping out streets and lots of ground in the wilderness 
 round Harlem Flat. But this business hardly interfered 
 with his attentions to Sappha and Annette; nor yet with the 
 military spirit which took him very regularly to the 
 
 205
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 guard-room of some of the volunteer companies. He was 
 also a recognised dependence when the city wished to enter 
 tain some hero whom it delighted to honour; for then both 
 his purse and his natural genius for method and arrange 
 ment made him an invaluable surety for success. 
 
 During this half-year there were not many warlike events 
 to influence New York, and her citizens had become quite 
 used to the guns at the different forts signalling " the British 
 fleet off Sandy Hook." Many false alarms also contributed 
 to this sense of security. They were well aware, too, that 
 the already numerous forts were being steadily increased and 
 strengthened, and in April the Battery parade was fortified. 
 This park was then a strip of greensward about three hun 
 dred feet wide, between State Street and the water's edge. 
 It had no sea wall, only a low wooden fence on the edge of a 
 bluff two or three feet high; then loose sand and pebbles to 
 the water's edge. There was a dock at the foot of White 
 hall Street, and at Marketfield Street the water came nearly 
 to the middle of the block between Washington and Green 
 wich streets. About the centre of the southeastern part of 
 this park there was a public garden and a charming little 
 hall, where coffee, cakes, ice cream, and other delicacies were 
 served; and on summer evenings some of the military bands 
 made excellent music there for the visitors. 
 
 Of course, the erection of a breastwork around this water 
 line of the park was an interesting event to all the dwellers 
 on the Bowling Green, and Sappha and Leonard, during the 
 
 206
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 )i)7rtr^r^6fj<i^-i^tc<s>^i>oi)fl< J ^^0!)ac5^i^Qnfl<^^ 
 
 lovely days of April and May, took their walks about the 
 Battery fortifications, and thus thrilled their love through 
 and through with the passion of patriotism and the glow and 
 excitement of its warlike preparations. 
 
 It was while these Battery defences were being constructed 
 that the city gave one of its usual great entertainments to 
 Captain Lawrence, who in the Hornet had captured the 
 British brig-of-war Peacock. Two circumstances made this 
 dinner one that brought the war very close to the people of 
 New York the first was the fact that Lawrence was a 
 citizen of New York; the second was the marching of the 
 one hundred and six survivors of the sunk ship Peacock 
 through all the principal streets of the city to their prison in 
 Fort Gansevoort, thus affording the populace a very visible 
 proof of victory. It was, however, noticeable that few of 
 American parentage offered any insult to the depressed-look 
 ing sailors, while many men of the first consideration raised 
 their hats as the unhappy line passed. Leonard and Achille 
 were among this number. " Honour to the vanquished ! " 
 said Achille with emotion; and Leonard, remembering who 
 had taught them that sentiment, repeated it. And this 
 courtesy was the more emphatic, because at that very time 
 a large number of British war vessels had entered the 
 Chesapeake and Delaware bays. 
 
 But did war ever stop marriage? On the contrary, it 
 seems to give a strange vitality and hurry to love-making; 
 and in the midst of all its alarms Annette's wedding prepara- 
 
 207
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 tions went blithely on to their determined crisis. On the 
 seventh of June Annette, being of age, became mistress of 
 her estate, and on the seventeenth of the same month she 
 married Achille St. Ange. 
 
 It was an exquisite summer day, and the old house in 
 Nassau Street had never looked more picturesquely home 
 like. Every rose tree was in gloom, and doors and windows 
 were all open to admit the scented air. For the company 
 far exceeded the capacity of the parlours ; it filled the hall, the 
 stairway, and the piazzas, and even in the garden happy 
 young people were wandering among the syringa bushes and 
 the red and white roses. And presently there was a little 
 wistful, eager stir, and Annette, followed by her grand 
 mother and Sappha, came softly down the stairway. Then 
 the girls sitting there rose and stood on each side of the 
 descent, and Achille hastened to meet the snow-white figure, 
 and ere she touched the floor took her hands in his own. 
 And never had Annette looked so fair and so lovely; from 
 the rose in her hair to the satin sandals on her feet she was 
 in lustrous white. The faint colour of her cheeks, the deeper 
 red of her mouth, and the heavenly blue of her eyes were 
 but the tender tints that gave life to the bright, slow-mov 
 ing, bride-like beauty. 
 
 Many a time Annette had consciously assumed a pensive, 
 thoughtful expression, for Achille admired her most in such 
 moods; but there was no necessity for the pretence this day. 
 Those who had any penetrative observation might see beyond 
 
 2C&
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 the light of her sweet smiles and glances the shadowed eyes 
 that both remember and foresee. She was not a girl at all 
 inclined to reflection, but feeling and intuition go where 
 reason cannot enter, and Annette felt that this very day was 
 the meridian day of her life. Having gained this, the height 
 of her hope and desire, she wondered even against her will 
 " if she must henceforward tread the downward slope 
 until the evening shades of life found her? " Was this day 
 to give a future to her past and change girlhood's simple 
 hopes into the richer joys of wifehood ? Or would this new 
 self that had just taken possession of her bring kisses wet 
 with tears, waste remembrance of vanished hours, and for 
 lorn sighs for the days eventual? Not these words, but the 
 sentiment of them, insinuated itself into the bride's conscious 
 ness. It was uncalled, and unwelcome; and Annette, frown 
 ing at the intrusion, dismissed it. She had always found 
 " change " meant something better, and that there was ever 
 a living joy, ready to take the place of a dead one, even as 
 
 " The last cowslip in the fields \ve see 
 On the same day with the first corn poppy." 
 
 Fortunately, after any great domestic vicissitude, there is 
 generally a suspension of everything unusual. The family 
 in which it has occurred refuse to be drawn into further 
 changes. They instinctively feel that marriage, as well as 
 death, makes life barren, and they say in many different ways, 
 " It is enough. Leave things as they are ; at least, for a little 
 while." 
 
 209
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 This was certainly the feeling in the Bloommaert family, 
 and it was made more sensible by the unsatisfactory condi 
 tion of the country. The campaign on the northern frontier 
 had been, all the year, one military disaster, and the presi 
 dent designated the ninth of September as " a day of humilia 
 tion, fasting, and prayer, and for an invocation for divine 
 help." On the eighth of September the British men-of-war 
 captured thirty coasters within twelve miles of New York 
 city, and the citizens who knelt in the pews of Trinity the 
 next day not only felt the need of divine help, but were also 
 wonderfully strengthened and comforted by the appropriate 
 selection designated in the Prayer Book for the ninth day of 
 the month. These were so remarkably suitable and encour 
 aging that several of the newspapers called attention to the 
 circumstance. 
 
 The very day after this public entreaty for help Com 
 modore Perry in his flagship Lawrence won his victory on 
 Lake Erie, and on the twenty-second of the month the news 
 reached New York City, and turned fear and sadness into 
 hope and triumph. General Harrison's victory over Tecum- 
 seh followed, and these two successes had a special claim on 
 the thankfulness of New York City and State ; for " they 
 gave security and repose to two hundred thousand families, 
 who a week before then, could not fall asleep any night, with 
 the certainty of escaping fire or the tomahawk until morning." 
 
 Never since the white man first trod Manhattan Island 
 had food and clothing been so difficult to obtain ; and yet the 
 
 2IO
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 great mass of the people of New York City did not seem to 
 be at all anxious about national affairs. They had become 
 accustomed to the war, and domestic life went very well then, 
 to its triumphs and excitements of many kinds. For, if the 
 prices of all the necessities and conveniences of life were 
 high, there were plenty of treasury notes to pay for them; 
 and very frequently valuable cargoes were brought, or sent, 
 into port as prizes of some of the American privateers that 
 were then swarming on the ocean. 
 
 Harrison's victory and the approach of winter gave New 
 York a feeling of present security, and the city was unusually 
 gay. General Moreau's princely entertainments were hardly 
 missed, for the St. Anges' dinners and balls were even more 
 frequent, and more splendid; and Annette presided over 
 these functions with a marvellous grace and tact. She 
 seemed, at this time, to have realised her utmost ambition, 
 and to be happy and satisfied in the actuality. Even the 
 judge was more hospitable than he had ever before been; 
 and madame was in a perpetual flutter between the dinners 
 of her son Gerardus and the dances of her granddaughter, 
 Annette. 
 
 So to the thrill of warlike drums and trumpets and the 
 witching music of the dance fiddle Sappha's wooing went 
 happily forward. There was constant movement between 
 the Bowling Green, Nassau Street, and the Semple house; 
 and it was just as well Leonard had not opened any law book, 
 for in these days all his reading and research was in the light 
 
 211
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and love of Sappha's eyes. Certainly in the City Commis 
 sioner's office his work was trifling and inconstant, for the 
 greater part of his time was spent in the civil services neces 
 sary for the comfort of the many militia companies then in 
 the city. In this respect he held a kind of non-official over 
 sight; for he was always ready to personally supply, at once, 
 comforts which otherwise would have been delayed. Con 
 sequently he was welcome in every guard-room, and no 
 young man in New York was more popular or more 
 respected. 
 
 Judge Bloommaert was well aware of this fact, and yet 
 there were times when the old dislike would assert itself; 
 and, strange as it may seem, this feeling was usually caused 
 by Leonard's overflowing vitality, his almost boisterous good 
 humour, and his confident conversation. 
 
 " The fellow never knows when he has ceased to be inter 
 esting," he said one night fretfully, " and you and Sappha 
 hang upon his words as if they were very wisdom. I am 
 astonished at you, Carlita." 
 
 " And I at you, Gerardus. Why cannot you two talk an 
 hour together without getting on each others' prejudices? " 
 
 " Leonard is always so cock-sure he is right." 
 
 " Convice him he is wrong." 
 
 " You cannot handle his arguments any more than you 
 can handle soap bubbles; both are so empty." 
 
 " I think he is very interesting. He knows all that is 
 going on, and he tells us all he knows." 
 
 212,
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 " To be sure! He is a walking newspaper, and the lead 
 ing article is always Leonard Murray. Whatever does 
 Sapphira Bloommaert see in him? I am sure, also, that he 
 keeps up his acquaintance with Mr. Burr. Yet he knows 
 my opinion about that man." 
 
 " Well, you see, Gerardus, though you may interfere 
 somewhat in Leonard Murray's love affairs, you cannot 
 dictate to him concerning his friends. Suppose he should 
 tell you that he did not approve of your friendship with Mr. 
 Morris?" 
 
 " The impertinence is not supposable, Carlita. What 
 are you thinking of? Such remarks are enough to make any 
 man lose his temper." 
 
 " Very likely, but if you lose your present temper, Ger 
 ardus, do not look for it; it is not worth finding. Do you 
 really wish to separate Sappha and Leonard, after all that has 
 been said and granted ? " 
 
 " I do not say that. Cannot a man grumble a little to 
 his wife? And must she take every fretful word at its full 
 value? People complain of bonds they would never break. 
 As the Dutch proverb has it, ' The tooth often bites the 
 tongue, but yet they keep together.' " 
 
 " Dear husband, all will come right in the long run. 
 Leonard is in a very hard position. He desires to please so 
 much that he exceeds, and so offends. He loves Sappha with 
 all his heart; that should excuse many faults." 
 
 " I do not see it in that way. It is not a favour to love 
 213
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Sapphira, nor yet a hard thing to do. What are you talking 
 about?" 
 
 " I am saying that we both need sleep. We are tired out 
 now. In the morning things will look so different." 
 
 Such little frets, however, hardly ruffled the full stream 
 of the life of that day. There were plenty of real worries 
 for those who wished to complain ; and for those inclined to 
 take the fervour and faith, the courage and self-denial of the 
 time, there were plenty of occasions for happiness and hope. 
 And so the winter grew to spring, and the spring waxed to 
 summer, and June brought roses and the most astonishing 
 news. 
 
 It came to the Bloommaert's one morning as they were sit 
 ting at the breakfast table. The meal was over, but they 
 lingered together discussing a dinner party which Annette 
 was to give that day, and their order of going to it. It was 
 a special dinner, to which only relatives of the family were 
 invited, and was given in honour of Annette's little daughter, 
 then six weeks old. Madame was present, and took an eager 
 interest in the affair, for the child had been called by her 
 name; and she had with her the deed of a house in Cedar 
 Street, which she was going to put into the little Jonaca's 
 hand. 
 
 Leonard had promised to call for Sappha at twrlve o'clock, 
 but the judge was advising them to go early, when the par 
 lour door was thrown open with some impetuosity, and 
 Leonard stood looking at the group with a face full of con- 
 
 214
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 flicting emotions. In a. moment every one had divined that 
 he had important news, and the judge rose to his feet and 
 asked impatiently: 
 
 "What is it, Leonard?" 
 
 " Two hundred thousand French troops are prisoners of 
 war. Paris is in possession of the allies. Napoleon has been 
 exiled. The Bourbons are again on the throne of France." 
 
 " My God! Is all this true, Leonard? " 
 
 " There is not a doubt of it." 
 
 " Then I must go and see Gouverneur Morris at once. 
 Tell Annette I will be on time for dinner." And he hurried 
 away with these words, and left Leonard to discuss the news 
 and the dinner with the three excited women. 
 
 There was now no unnecessary delay, for the streets were 
 already in a state of commotion, the news having spread like 
 wildfire. Nor could they escape the influence of the fervid 
 atmosphere through which they passed ; the glowing sunshine 
 was not more ardent than the passionate rejoicing and the 
 passionate hatred that challenged each other at every step 
 of their progress. Even the shadowy stillness of the Semple 
 gardens and the large, cool rooms of the house were full of 
 the same restless antagonising spirit. Annette's cousins, the 
 Verplancks and the Van Burens, and her aunt, Joanna de 
 Vries, speedily followed them, but it was only the women of 
 the families that entered the house ; the men hastened back to 
 Broadway and the Battery to hear and to discuss the news. 
 And it was hard for Annette to keep a smiling face over her 
 
 215
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 angry heart. Who were the Bourbons that they should 
 interfere with her affairs? Indeed, she complained to her 
 grandmother bitterly of Achille's strange conduct. He had 
 left her in the midst of their breakfast, left her as soon as he 
 heard the news, without one thought as to the family duties 
 devolving on him that day. And madame had not been too 
 sympathetic. " You have been crying, Annette," she said. 
 " I am afraid you have a discontented temper. For the 
 dinner, your husband will return." 
 
 " I know not, grandmother. When that pastry cook 
 flung open our parlour door and cried out 'Achille! Achille! 
 Napoleon is in exile! The Bourbons are on the throne of 
 France again/' Achille flung himself into the man's arms, and 
 they kissed each other. Grandmother, they kissed each other, 
 and then went off together as if they were out of their 
 senses." 
 
 " But to you also, Achille spoke ? Of the dinner he spoke ; 
 I know it. " 
 
 " He said he would return in time for dinner; but he will 
 forget he was beside himself - " 
 
 " Come, come, let not Joanna de Vries see that you are 
 vexed at any thing. Too much she will have to say. Here 
 comes Madame Rutgers! Shall we go to them? " 
 
 Then Annette went to welcome her guests, and, with 
 longer or shorter delays, the company gathered. Every one 
 had something strange to add to the general excitement, but 
 it was only the women that chattered and quarrelled until near 
 
 216
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 two o'clock. Then the judge and Leonard came in together, 
 and were soon followed by the young Verplanks, Commis 
 sioner Van Buren and his two sons, and Cornelius Bogart, 
 Annette's favourite cousin. 
 
 But Achille at two o'clock had not arrived, and the din 
 ner was ready, and the company waiting the men very im 
 patiently, for at " high 'Change " they had taken their usual 
 nooning of a piece of raw salt codfish and a glass of punch, 
 and they knew that the ordinary at the Tontine Coffee 
 House, in Wall Street, would have at three o'clock a dinner 
 very much more to their mind, considering the news of the 
 day and the disturbance and the agitation it had caused. 
 Annette, under these conditions, had nothing to offer as 
 attractive. The women, fair and otherwise, were the women 
 of their own family connections ; and relations must be taken 
 as found ; there is no choice, as in friends. Which of us has 
 not relations that would never be on our list of friends ? 
 
 So there was an uncomfortable hour of waiting, and as 
 Achille came not Madame Bloommaert proposed to serve 
 dinner without his presence. " For one laggard," she said, 
 " to keep twenty-eight people waiting is not right, Annette. 
 At once, now, the dinner ought to be served." 
 
 Annette agreed to this, but it was hard for her to smile, 
 and to keep back tears. However, just as Judge Bloom 
 maert was going to take Achille's place the laggard entered. 
 And he was in such a radiant mood that he passed over as 
 insignificant his delay. " He was a little late he had for- 
 
 217
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 gotten but then it was remarkable that he should have 
 remembered at all. Such news! Such glorious news? Oh, 
 it had been a wonderful morning ! " 
 
 In further conversation he said his friend Monsieur de 
 Singeron had presented his business to a poor French family. 
 " He is going home! He is beside himself with joy!" he 
 continued. " He will be restored to his rank, and to his 
 command in the royal guards! Ah! it is enough to have 
 lived to see this day. It atones, it atones for all ! " And 
 Achille, who could neither eat nor drink, sat smiling at every 
 one. He was sure all reasonable people must feel as he did. 
 
 " I suppose," said Judge Bloommaert, " most of the French 
 exiles will return, as soon as they can, to their native 
 country." 
 
 " They will make no delays," answered Achille. " It 
 was a good sight to watch them on the ship and the river 
 bank. They were unhappy, uncertain, until they saw with 
 their own eyes the frigate that had brought the glad news. 
 and her captain understood. He permitted the crowd to 
 tread her deck. He flew over them the lilies of France. 
 He spoke to them in their own tongue. Ah, my friends, 
 you will sympathise with these sad exiles ; you will not won 
 der that they knelt down and wept tears of joy! " 
 
 Indeed, Achille was so transported with his own sym 
 pathies that he failed to perceive the atmosphere of dissent 
 among his guests. True, the judge's fellow feeling was evi 
 dent, also that of the Verplanks, but the De Vries family 
 
 2I&
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 and the Van Burens were in hot opposition to anything, or 
 any one, whom the Federalists favoured. So the element of 
 the room was not conducive to domestic rejoicing; and the 
 dinner was virtually a failure. The men of the party were 
 all anxious to return to their clubs or gathering-places; and 
 the women, left to themselves, soon exhausted their admira 
 tion for the little Jonaca, and remembered their own homes 
 and household affairs. And as the day waned, the thick 
 trees surrounding the Semple house filled the rooms with 
 shadows, and Annette a little dismayed by Achille's con 
 duct could not lift her flagging spirits to the proper pitch of 
 hospitality. Then Joanna de Vries opened the way for an early 
 retreat. She spoke of the restless streets, and of her father's 
 great age and loneliness, and immediately every one recol 
 lected duties equally as important. And as madame intended 
 to remain with Annette, Mrs. Bloommaert and Sappha also 
 took their departure. 
 
 It was a beautiful summer evening, and the streets, 
 though neither crowded nor boisterous, were full of life. 
 The happy French residents had illuminated their houses, 
 and through their open windows came joyful sounds of 
 rejoicing and song. Federalist orators were addressing small 
 gatherings of people at the street corners, and Democratic 
 orators contradicting all they said at the next block. Ap 
 plause, laughter, derision, enthusiasm of one kind or another 
 thrilled the warm air, and the joy and pang of life assailed 
 the heart or imagination at every step. 
 
 219
 
 On the Bowling Green there was a very respectable 
 audience listening to Gouverneur Morris, who was speaking 
 in such passionate accord with Achille's sentiments that it 
 was astonishing not to find Achille at his right hand. 
 
 " Mr. Morris is the most eloquent speaker of the age," 
 said Leonard ; " let us listen a few minutes to his words." 
 And as they did so, they heard the embryo utterance of that 
 remarkable " Bourbon speech " which he made a few days 
 afterwards in Dr. Romeyn's church in Cedar Street: 
 
 " The Bourbons are restored. Rejoice, France, Spain, 
 Portugal, Europe, rejoice! Nations of Europe, ye are 
 brethren once more! The family of nations is complete. 
 Embrace, rejoice! And thou, too, my much wronged coun 
 try! my dear, abused, self-murdered country! bleeding as 
 thou art, rejoice! The Bourbons are restored. The long 
 agony is over. The Bourbons are restored ! " 
 
 " Let us go home, Leonard," said Mrs. Bloommaert. " I 
 never heard so much praise of the Bourbons before. My 
 father did not approve of them. If Napoleon is done with, 
 why did not the French people insist on a republic? They 
 had Lafayette and others." 
 
 Leonard answered only, " Yes." He did not wish to open 
 the subject of the helplessness of France, nor point out how 
 absurdly irrational it would be for the allied kings of 
 Europe to found a republic in their midst. He felt weary 
 of the subject, and the sense of the evening's failure affected 
 him. It had been a disappointing day, what was the good 
 
 220
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 of prolonging it? Sappha and Leonard might have fallen 
 into the mistake of doing so, but Mrs. Bloommaert knew 
 better. At the doorstep she positively dismissed Leonard, 
 who could not quite hide the fact that he was willing to obey 
 her. But Sappha, who had hoped to charm away this feel 
 ing of tediousness and lassitude when they were alone, was 
 vexed at losing her opportunity. 
 
 " It was not kind of you, mother, to send Leonard off as 
 soon as we had done with him. He was weary, too," she 
 said. 
 
 "Weary! I should think he was," answered Mrs. 
 Bloommaert ; " he must be worn out with women to-day. 
 Such a crowd of us as Annette got together." 
 
 " The women were not more disagreeable than the men, 
 mother," said Sappha. " And I believe Leonard has gone 
 straight to the militia guard-rooms there are nothing but 
 men there, and so he can rest." 
 
 " I hope he has not gone to any guard-room. Every one 
 will be quarrelling with his neighbour to-night." 
 
 Leonard had, indeed, gone to the guard-room of the Jersey 
 Blues, but his visit was decidedly against his inclination. He 
 was as weary as Mrs. Bloommaert had supposed him to be 
 weary of the Bourbons, and of the passionate fratching about 
 them; weary of men, and of women also; weary of com 
 panionship of all kinds; weary of noise and strain of the 
 restless city; weary of life itself. Vital and large as his 
 nervous force was, it had become exhausted; feeling had 
 
 221
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 wasted it, and disappointment been equally depleting. He 
 resolved when he turned from the Bloomnaaert house to go 
 direct to his rooms in the City Hotel and seek in solitude 
 and sleep a renewal of strength and hope. On the steps of 
 the hotel an old acquaintance accosted him, and Leonard 
 rather reluctantly asked " if he had come to see him? " 
 
 " Yes," answered the man. " I am in trouble, Mr. Mur 
 ray, and I could think of no one but you to give me some 
 advice. It is about Miss Martin. You remember pretty 
 Sarah Martin? We were engaged, and she has broken the 
 engagement. I am very unhappy. I do not know what to 
 do. I think you can tell me." 
 
 " I am going to my rooms now. Come upstairs with me, 
 McKenzie." 
 
 " I cannot. I must be back at the guard-room in half an 
 hour. Will you not go with me? We can talk there well 
 enough." 
 
 Then Leonard went with McKenzie, and after the little 
 formalities with the men present in the guard-room were 
 over, Leonard and McKenzie took chairs to an open window 
 and began their consultation. And very soon Leonard threw 
 off his lassitude and became heartily interested in his friend's 
 trouble. Suddenly a voice, blatant and dictatorial, fell upon 
 his consciousness. It was the voice of a man who had been 
 a member of the company raised by Leonard, and who dur 
 ing the whole term of its service was a source of annoyance 
 and disputing a man of low birth and of a mean, envious 
 
 222
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 nature, who had neither a good education nor good breed 
 ing, and, indeed, who affected to despise both. Leonard's 
 youth, beauty, fine culture, and fine manners, added to his 
 great wealth and popularity, roused at once Horace Gilson's 
 envy; and envy in the close companionship of a military fort 
 quickly grew to an almost uncontrollable hatred. And in 
 Gilson's nature hatred had its proper soil; he was insensible 
 to the nobler qualities of humanity, and persuaded himself 
 and other of his kind that Leonard's gracious forbearance 
 was not the fine courtesy of an officer to hfs subordinate, but 
 the fear of a timid and effeminate spirit. Indeed, Leonard's 
 three months' service had been made an hourly trial by the 
 hardly concealed mockery and contempt of Horace Gilson. 
 Of all men in the wide world he was the very last Leonard 
 wished to see. He moved his chair a little nearer to Mc- 
 Kenzie, and by so doing faced the open window only. Mc- 
 Kenzie continued talking, unmindful of Gilson's entrance, 
 but Leonard heard above all he said the sneering taunt and 
 scoffing laugh of the man he despised and disliked. Every 
 one and everything appeared to provoke his disdain, and it 
 was not long before he turned his attention to the two men 
 sitting apart at the window. 
 
 " Secrets ! Secrets ! " he cried with effusive familiarity. 
 " We will have no secrets in a guard-room. Out with the 
 ladies' names if you are not ashamed of them." 
 
 Leonard looked indifferently out of the window; it was 
 McKenzie's affair, not his. And McKenzie, laying his hand 
 
 223
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 upon his pistol in an almost mechanical way, merely glanced 
 at the bully and said : " You had better mind your own 
 business, sir." 
 
 " I am not speaking to you, McKenzie," Gilson answered. 
 " I am addressing Captain Murray, the great New York 
 Adonis and lady killer! Come, captain, your latest 
 victories ? " 
 
 " Mr. Gilson," answered Leonard, " my friend and I are 
 discussing private concerns. When we desire your company, 
 we will let you know. In the meantime, we wish to be 
 alone." 
 
 " Now, captain, no more airs from you. You have left 
 the militia, you know three months used up your patriot 
 ism," answered Gilson scornfully. 
 
 McKenzie rose in a passion. " Damn your impertinence, 
 Gilson! I'll give you a - " 
 
 " Be quiet, Mac," interrupted Leonard. " The fool is 
 drunk you can't even horsewhip a drunken man." Then 
 he took McKenzie firmly by the arm and both rose to leave 
 the room. 
 
 " Drunk, eh?" cried Gilson in a rage. " Drunk! It is 
 well for you both to get out of my way, for I'll pay you all 
 I owe you yet, Murray you, and your damned dollars! 
 Go and see if you can buy a little common dog-courage with 
 them." 
 
 " Let me knock the ranting bully down, Murray." 
 
 " He is not worth it." 
 
 224
 
 THE INCIDENT OF MARRIAGE 
 
 By this time the men present were on their feet, some 
 urging Murray to leave the room, some trying to talk reason 
 into Gilson, who became more and more defiant as the 
 objects of his abuse passed out of the hearing of it. 
 
 It was a wretched ending to a disagreeable day, and 
 Leonard sat half through the midsummer night fretting and 
 fuming over the incident. He was not a quarrelsome man, 
 and a quarrel with Horace Gilson was an affair too low and 
 despicable to contemplate. Why had McKenzie come to 
 him with his trouble? He felt the injustice of the visit. If 
 he had been a few minutes later he would have missed the 
 man and the annoyance that had grown out of his sympathy 
 with him. He looked wistfully out of the window towards 
 the Bioommaert house, and remembered Sappha, but 
 speedily exiled her from his thoughts, because he could not 
 keep the scene at the guard-room out of them ; and it seemed 
 a sacrilege to have both in his consciousness at the same time. 
 
 However, after an irritating vigil of some hours he fell 
 asleep with sheer weariness, and when he awakened near 
 noon on the following day Nature had accomplished her 
 renovating work. The Unseen Powers had cradled his soul 
 into peace, cleared away the rack and wreckage of an unfor 
 tunate day, and filled his exhausted spirit with the miraculous 
 strength of Faith and Hope. 
 
 225
 
 CHAPTER 
 EIGHT 
 
 The Rose of Renunciation 
 
 /\ 
 
 S Leonard dressed himself he recollected 
 the guard-room quarrel and smiled. It 
 seemed really so ridiculous and ineffectual; 
 yet he resolved to avoid Gilson as much as 
 possible. " The man was drunk," he 
 thought, " but sober or drunk, he has an envious nature, and 
 a tongue ready for ill words. Perhaps he may seek me out 
 and continue his offensive behavior. What then?" He 
 pondered this likelihood a few moments, and then asked him 
 self cheerfully : 
 
 " Why should I worry about the probability of such a 
 thing? As if it mattered." But it is hard to tell what 
 matters, though safe enough to say that in conduct it is best 
 not to make trifles of trifles. For there is an amazing vital 
 ity in some trifles, and we know not which may abort 
 ively pass and which may become of momentous impor 
 tance. 
 
 Yet, for two days Leonard hardly thought of Gilson and 
 his drunken abuse; or if it entered his mind it was only as 
 an annoying and commonplace event that he was in no way 
 responsible for. He had not one fear that it could pos- 
 
 226
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 sibly have any serious effect upon his life. And as it hap 
 pened the two days following Annette's dinner party 
 were exceedingly happy ones to Sappha and Leonard. One 
 of them was spent with Madame Bloommaert in Nassau 
 Street, and another with Annette at the Semple house. 
 Then came Saturday, and Leonard went early in the after 
 noon to the Bowling Green. It was a very warm day, the 
 parlour windows in Judge Bloommaert's house were open, 
 and Sappha was sitting in the sunshine happily indolent. 
 She smiled a thousand welcomes as he entered, but did not 
 move, for her lap was full of knotted embroidery silks, and 
 Leonard seated himself at her side, and together they began 
 to slowly unravel and sort the tangled skeins. So happy, 
 so merry, were they ! their hands touching, their heads touch 
 ing, light laughter and loving whispers feeding their hearts 
 with a full content. 
 
 When the judge came home Sappha and Leonard rose 
 gaily to meet him, but they were both chilled by his manner, 
 which was constrained and unfriendly. A sense of some 
 thing unpleasant swept out of cognisance the innocent mirth 
 that had pervaded the room; and in a moment its mental 
 atmosphere was changed. It was embarrassing, because 
 Leonard did not like to presume there was an offence it 
 might be only a passing mood, and the mood might be caused 
 by something or by some person outside of their interfer 
 ence. So the suddenly checked lovers sat silent, or only 
 made whispered remarks about the condition of the silks. 
 
 227
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 One of these remarks attracted the judge's attention, and 
 he turned to the apparently busy young man and said: 
 " Sappha has given you a pretty tangle to straighten out 
 Leonard." He spoke Leonard's name with a hesitation that 
 was almost like a withdrawal of the position that had been 
 given him, and Leonard felt the reluctance keenly, yet he 
 answered with much cheerfulness. 
 
 " Patience will win her way, sir she does in every tangle. 
 One by one the knots are being untied." 
 
 " You might cut them," said the judge. 
 
 " That would be wasteful and foolish, sir. No one would 
 be the gainer, and no one would be satisfied. I will unravel 
 them with Sappha's help." 
 
 " Well, Leonard," this time the name was spoken a little 
 more pleasantly " well, Leonard, I can tell you there is 
 an ugly tangle up the street for you either to cut, or to un 
 ravel. And I must say, I am astonished, not to say dis 
 pleased, at your neglecting it for three days." 
 
 " A tangle up the street, sir, a tangle I have neg 
 lected!" 
 
 " You certainly have not forgotten your quarrel with 
 Horace Gilson ? " 
 
 " Oh, I had no quarrel with the fellow ! How could I ? 
 He was drunk." 
 
 " Not too drunk to tell you that you had only three 
 months' worth of patriotism; not too drunk to bid you buy 
 a little dog-courage with your dirty dollars. Sir, you ought 
 
 228
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 o<s=>oo^=>(w<s=>coo<=>oeo-2=>ooo<^=eoo<^3>cco<^=='flCfl'C=s>floo^=>o<s=>o<^=>oo 
 
 to have stopped such remarks as quickly as they were made 
 yes, sir, they ought to have been stopped peremptorily, 
 whether they were drunk or sober remarks." 
 
 " But, judge, you cannot talk to a drunken man you 
 cannot reason with a drunken man " 
 
 " Well, then, you can knock him down. That is an 
 argument even a drunken man will understand." 
 
 " Father! " cried Sappha with indignation, as she stood 
 with flashing eyes before him. " Father, to knock a drunken 
 man down would be as bad as to knock an insane man down. 
 In both cases it would be brutal." 
 
 " When men make themselves into brutes it is just to 
 treat them like brutes." \ 
 
 " I never heard such nonsense! such cruel nonsense! I 
 think Leonard did quite right to ignore the fellow." 
 
 " You have no business, miss, to think anything about 
 such subjects. Go to your mother." 
 
 " Mother went to Nassau Street long ago." 
 
 " I want her. Tell her to come home immediately. And 
 I do not want you. It is necessary for me to speak to Leon 
 ard alone." 
 
 " Very well. I shall go for mother." But ere she left 
 the room she took Leonard's hands in hers and kissed him. 
 There was a whispered word also, which the judge did not 
 hear, but the girl's act of sympathy was irritating enough. 
 He drew his lips wide and tight, and as soon as Sappha closed 
 the door he said : 
 
 229
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Now, sir, what are you going to do ? Gilson has been 
 vapouring from Dan to Beersheba about your cowardice, 
 and your want of patriotism; and Mr. Ogden told me that 
 when he instanced your frequent generous loans to the city 
 Gilson laughed and said you had made forty per cent, on 
 them. ' You and your father,' he added, ' were both canny 
 Scots, and knew cleverly how to rub one dollar into two.' " 
 
 " Judge, my father " 
 
 " Wait a little. Why have you not been in any of your 
 usual resorts since Wednesday night? It does not look 
 right the rascal has had a clear field for all the scurrilous 
 lies he chose to tell." 
 
 " Sir, if I had known that the man was lying soberly 
 about me, I would surely have given him openly the name he 
 merits. But I did not dream that he would dare to say out 
 of liquor what he said in liquor; for he is a quaking coward, 
 and as fearful as a whipped child. Others are behind him in 
 this bluster. Alas, my money has never brought me any 
 thing but envy and ill-will no matter how heartily I give 
 it ! What would you advise me to do, sir ? " 
 
 " Make the man hold his tongue." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 The judge was silent a moment, then with a touch of 
 scorn he answered : " There is the law. Sue him for 
 slander. He is said to be worth twenty thousand dollars. 
 Lay your damages at twenty thousand. Your friend, Mr. 
 Burr, will defend your case very feelingly, no doubt." 
 
 230
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 And with some anger Leonard answered : " That course 
 is out of the question, sir." 
 
 " Well, then, write a letter to the newspapers." 
 
 " I do not propose to lend the fellow's words so much 
 importance." 
 
 " Then give him his lies back generally, and particularly 
 give him them back on the street, and in the guard-room, 
 or wherever you meet him and make a point of meeting 
 him, here, there, and everywhere." 
 
 " That is what I propose to do. Then, sir, egged on by 
 those whose cue he is now following, he will probably chal 
 lenge me. Shall I accept his challenge?" 
 
 " I am not your conscience keeper, Leonard." 
 
 " Put the question then, as a matter of social expedi 
 ency." 
 
 " If the social verdict is what you want, ask Achilla St. 
 Ange. He is a good authority." 
 
 " Once more, sir. If I lift this foolish business to the 
 moral plane, what do you say ? " 
 
 " Zounds ! Leonard, I have told you already that morally 
 judging this question I hold the Decalogue as a finality! " 
 And with these words the judge rose to his feet. It was evi 
 dent he had no more to say on the subject, and Leonard bid 
 him " good-afternoon " and left the house. There had been 
 throughout the interview a want of sympathy in the judge's 
 manner that insinuated suspicion, or at least uncertainty, and 
 Leonard was pained and offended by it. Judge Bloommaert 
 
 231
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 had known him intimately, yet he had permitted the evil 
 tongue of a stranger to influence his own experience. Angry 
 tears rose unconsciously to his eyes, and he asked himself 
 what did it profit a man to be truthful and generous, if any 
 dastardly liar could smear and cancel the noblest record? 
 He walked up the Bowling Green with a burning heart, but 
 Sappha had whispered her promise to be near the statue ; and 
 he soon saw the flutter of her white gown as she came to 
 meet him. They entered the enclosure and sat down on a 
 bench facing that heroic representation of Washington, 
 which, made of wood, shaped and coloured to imitate the 
 rosiest glow of life, was the best artistic effort New York 
 was capable of one hundred years ago.* But even if Sappha 
 and Leonard had been conscious of its artistic defects, they 
 cared little for them at that hour. Their own affairs were 
 too urgent, too perilously near to trouble again. And 
 
 * This marvellous production remained on the Bowling Green 
 until 1843, when the city's art critics had advanced so far as to 
 allege the brilliant statue was not a work of art; and in deference 
 to their opinion it was sold to a collector of antiquities, who kept 
 it forty years. Then he died, and it was sold at auction for $30x3. 
 It is now in a cigar store on One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, 
 where it fills the position usually given to the wooden Indian. These 
 facts are noticed in the hope that the millionaire patriots congre 
 gating round the Bowling Green may find it in their hearts not 
 only to release the historic statue from its degrading position, but 
 also to place upon the empty pedestal a statue of Washington 
 worthy of the situation and of the great city it appeals to. 
 
 232
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 though Sappha was full of sympathy and quite determined 
 to uphold Leonard in all he had done and was going to do, 
 yet she at once gave vent to her womanish fears in the essen 
 tially provoking query : " Oh, Leonard, why did you not 
 show yourself in the city the last three days? You might 
 have known people would say you were afraid of that dread 
 ful man." 
 
 " Dear Sappha! " he answered, " will you, too, oblige me 
 to explain that my absence from my usual haunts the last 
 three days was quite accidental; you wanted me to go to 
 Nassau Street with you Thursday, and your grandmother 
 kept us all day. You wanted me to go to the Semple house 
 with you Friday, and Annette and Achille kept us all day. 
 This morning my lawyer brought to the hotel a number of 
 papers and accounts, and it was noon before we had reviewed 
 them. Then we had a meal together, and afterwards I 
 came to you. How could I imagine Gilson's unmerited 
 abuse of me? And it seems I had no friend or acquaintance 
 willing to take the trouble to tell me how the man was slan 
 dering me behind my back everything, and every one, was 
 against me." 
 
 " Father told you as soon as he heard the scandal." 
 " Yes, but not very kindly. There was a taste of doubt 
 in all he said. And he would give me no positive straight 
 forward advice. I feel completely at sea as regards his 
 wishes. I am going this evening to talk the matter over with 
 Achille."
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Oh, no! Oh, no! Achilla will urge you to fight the 
 low creature. I cannot bear that, Leonard." 
 
 " There is not the least danger. Gilson would be a child 
 in my hands." 
 
 " You never know. Accidents happen you must be out 
 of practice, and then, it cannot be right. I don't believe 
 you are afraid I am sure you are not but I do not want 
 you to fight. I am afraid I am a mortal coward about 
 you. You must not accept a challenge, if he sends one. I 
 shall die of fear. I shall, indeed." 
 
 " If it should become necessary to fight, I am any man's 
 equal. My sword and my hands are trained to perfection. 
 Even Achille admits my superiority. I, personally, should 
 not be in the least danger. In fact, I am both with sword 
 and pistol so much more expert than Gilson that it would 
 be almost cowardice, as well as cruelty, to meet him in a 
 duel. There could be no justice in such a trial of right or 
 wrong but how few people can know this? Or knowing 
 it, feel that it might bind me as an honourable man to refuse 
 the duel." 
 
 " I pray you, Leonard, take my advice, and do not go to 
 Achille. It would be ' fight, of course you must fight,' with 
 Achille. He would hear of nothing else. And for my sake, 
 Leonard, you must not fight. In the long run, father would 
 be angry if you did, and perhaps make it an excuse for separ 
 ating us. Leonard; promise me on your honour not to 
 fight. If you come to me with bloody hands I will not take 
 
 234
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 them. And if you let out life with either sword or pistol 
 your hand will be forevermore bloody. No water will 
 cleanse it, no good woman will touch it, no saint in heaven 
 clasp it better cut it off, and cast it from you, than stain 
 it for all eternity." She was quivering with feeling, her 
 eyes were full of tears, and her voice had those tones of tender 
 authority which subjugate as well as persuade. 
 
 " My dear darling little preacher," Leonard answered, 
 " I promise you these hands shall never do anything to make 
 them unworthy to clasp yours." And he took her hand, 
 pressed it firmly between his own, and kissed his promise 
 upon it. Then she rose smiling; they walked together to 
 madame's house, and at the gate they parted. 
 
 But though somewhat comforted, Leonard did not feel as 
 if the way before him had been either cleared or lightened ; 
 in fact, his promise to Sappha had in some measure closed 
 the only apparent exit out of the dilemma. At the moment 
 of promising he had been carried away by his love, and had 
 not thought of contingencies; but as soon as he was alone 
 " the tangle " became more and more of a tangle ; and unfor 
 tunately it was Saturday evening; the streets were quiet, 
 business nearly over for the week, men generally either at 
 home with their families, or enjoying in their company the 
 sail up the river or the concert on the Battery. 
 
 Not knowing what to do, or where to go, he did nothing, 
 and went nowhere but to his rooms in the City Hotel. He 
 was determined to make no false step. Hurry in this matter 
 
 235
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 might have calamitous consequences. Out of just such 
 false, wicked words lifelong tragedies had often come. 
 And there was Sappha he must consider Sappha before 
 himself. 
 
 The next day being Sabbath, he went to the Garden Street 
 Church in the morning and to Trinity Church in the after 
 noon. In both houses he met acquaintances, whose recogni 
 tion of him appeared to be cooler and more constrained than 
 usual. But then he knew that he was suspicious, and the 
 change was probably only an imaginary one. When he left 
 Trinity he walked northward to the Semple house, and on 
 the way met at least two painful incidents, which were not 
 imagination: When opposite the City Hall Park he saw 
 Doctor Stevens and his wife approaching him, and as soon as 
 they perceived Leonard they crossed Broadway and entered 
 the park. And as this movement took them off the direct 
 way to their home Leonard was justified in believing they 
 had made it to avoid a meeting with him. The circumstance 
 pained and angered him. He turned quickly into Cham 
 bers Street, and saw Mr. Leonard Fisher coming towards 
 him. Now, Mr. Fisher was one of the officers of the Wash 
 ington Benevolent Society, of which society Leonard had 
 been the most active member. On business of relief and 
 charity he had come constantly in contact with Mr. Fisher, 
 and always in a temper of friendly courtesy. He expected 
 nothing but a kindly greeting from him, but when he was 
 half a block distant Mr. Fisher crossed the street, and as 
 
 236
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 Leonard passed he kept his eyes stubbornly set on some 
 object in front of him. 
 
 Burning with a sense of wrong and injustice, Leonard 
 hastened forward and threw himself upon Achille's friend 
 ship. Here he was not disappointed. Achille entered into 
 his feelings and espoused his cause with complete understand 
 ing and ardent sympathy. He acknowledged Francis de 
 Mille had said something of the slander to him on the 
 previous day, but that he had laughed away the words as 
 utterly preposterous, and De Mille had let the subject drop. 
 " But," he added, " it can be dropped no longer. Judge 
 Bloommaert is right. The rascal has had a clear field too 
 long now, he must be made to acknowledge his lies, as lies ; 
 and then hold his tongue about your affairs forever." 
 
 " What is to be done, Achille ? " 
 
 " There is but one way for a man of honour. You must 
 challenge him immediately." 
 
 " I suppose so but Sappha is distressed at the idea. I 
 fear I shall lose her if I do. And the judge is against the 
 practice." 
 
 " Those questions come afterwards. Women know not 
 their own minds. If you fail to punish this ill-tongued fel 
 low, Sappha, in her heart, will despise you and the judge 
 also. Take my word for that so will all honourable men. 
 You remember that affair in New Orleans? Duplicate 
 it." 
 
 This last remark seemed to give a sudden light and hope 
 
 237
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 to Leonard. He smiled and said cheerfully: " That would 
 be sufficient; thank you, Achille. Now then, where am I 
 most likely to meet Gilson? Do you know his haunts or 
 the places he most frequents ? " 
 
 "We can easily find them out. Our host of the City 
 Hotel will doubtless be able to give us information. Look 
 here, Leonard, I have the plan ! " and he took paper and 
 pencil from his pocket, and the two bent over it in consulta 
 tion for about half an hour. Then Annette joined them, 
 and they went to the dinner table, and afterwards Achille 
 told Annette the dilemma into which Leonard had fallen. 
 He said nothing of a duel, however; neither did Annette, a 
 circumstance which would have convinced any woman that 
 she anticipated that result, and was carefully pondering it. 
 That Leonard stayed with them all night, and that Achille 
 went out with* him early in the morning, was to her sub 
 stantial confirmation of her suspicions. 
 
 Privately, she was very angry. Why should her husband 
 relate himself and his spotless honour with a man whose 
 character had been so shamefully defamed? It was in 
 Annette's eyes a piece of Quixotic imprudence. She thought 
 Achille ought to have remembered that he had a wife and 
 daughter, and that, at least, her approval should have been 
 asked. She said to herself that it was not unlikely there 
 was some truth in all Mr. Gilson had asserted. Men so 
 available as Leonard Murray were likely to be womanish; 
 and he was always dangling after Sappha Bloommaert. Gil- 
 
 238
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 son had been talking for three days. It was strange, indeed, 
 that Leonard had not stopped such imputations at once. " I 
 don't believe he was ignorant of them," she said, and in her 
 passion she uttered the words aloud: " He knew all about 
 Gilson's abuse, but he thought the man would grow weary, 
 or go away, or that Achille or some of his friends, would lift 
 the quarrel for him. And when none of these conveniences 
 have come, then he has sought out my husband. Oh, yes! 
 he knew Achille was always ready for a fight it is a shame ! 
 I am not going to permit it; Leonard Murray must conduct 
 his own quarrels." 
 
 -To such thoughts she nursed her surmised wrongs all 
 day; and as Achille did not return home until very late she 
 had become hysterical under the pressure of their certainty. 
 Nor did her husband's evasive carelessness allay her anxiety; 
 she was not consoled by his smiles, nor by the light kiss with 
 which he advised her " to sleep and forget her imaginary 
 fears." This course was not possible to Annette; she lay 
 awake considering and planning until the dawn. Then, 
 when she ought to have been on the alert, she fell into the 
 dead sleep of utter mental and physical weariness. 
 
 In this interval Achille arose, dressed with some care, and 
 calling Annette's maid, left with her his " remembrances for 
 madame, and the assurance that he would be home for 
 dinner." Annette did not believe the message. She asked 
 for the hour, and decided there was yet a possibility of find 
 ing her uncle Bloommaert at his home. While she hastily 
 
 239
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 dressed, her carriage was prepared, and she reached the 
 Bowling Green house just as the judge was descending the 
 steps. She arrested him midway. " Uncle," she sobbed, 
 " I am in trouble about Achille. I want you to help 
 me." 
 
 " What is the matter with Achille? Have you been scold 
 ing? Has he run away from you? " 
 
 " I cannot bear jokes this morning, uncle. I think Achille 
 has gone to fight a duel." 
 
 " Nonsense!" 
 
 " Yes, I am sure he is going to fight that low creature, 
 Horace Gilson. You know " 
 
 " Twofold nonsense. He has nothing to do with the 
 man. That is Leonard Murray's business." 
 
 " But Leonard came to Achille on Sunday night. He 
 was full of shame and anger about every one passing him 
 without recognition; and I am sure he must have deserved 
 the slight, or Doctor and Mrs. Stevens and Mr. Fisher 
 would not have done so on a Sunday, just coming out of 
 church, too, when people ought to feel friendly." 
 
 " Come, come, Annette, this is all foolishness, and I am in 
 no mood for it this morning. If Leonard has been insulted, 
 he knows how to right himself and that, without Achille's 
 help. Gilson is a low, scurrilous creature, and I hope Leon 
 ard will give him a lesson." 
 
 " Uncle! Uncle! You must not go away without help 
 ing me." 
 
 240
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 " Good gracious, Annette ! What am I to do ? What can 
 I do? If Achille wishes to stand by Leonard in this matter, 
 nothing I can say will prevent it. And, by George, I do 
 not intend to say anything! As for Achille fighting Gilson, 
 that is absurd. Leonard Murray is no special favourite of 
 mine, but I am sure he is a young man who can do his own 
 fighting, and who will let no one else do it for him. Leonard 
 will fight Gilson, if fighting is necessary." 
 
 " But, uncle, you ought not to put me off in this way. I 
 shall go to grandmother and tell her." 
 
 " Well, Annette, that is a dreadful threat but you will 
 find your grandmother no more sympathetic, in this case, 
 than I am." 
 
 "So! Perhaps, however, you will attend to what aunt 
 Carlita says. Come into the house and let us ask her." 
 
 " I will not waste any more time, Annette ; nor will I 
 sanction you annoying your aunt this morning. She has had 
 one of her worst headaches all night long, and has just fallen 
 on sleep. Do not attempt to awaken her. And you must 
 say nothing unpleasant to Sappha. She is worried already, 
 and she has been up with her mother all night. Do have 
 self-control enough to keep your ridiculous fears to yourself 
 or if you cannot, then go to your grandmother, or bet 
 ter still, go home. Home is the proper place for foolish 
 women, full of their own fears and fancies." 
 
 With these words he went down the steps, and Annette 
 watched him angrily. For a moment or two she considered 
 
 241
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 his advice to " go to her grandmother " ; then suddenly, with 
 a passionate motion of her head, she lifted the knocker and 
 let it fall several times will unmistakable decision. 
 
 Sappha, who was busy in the back parlour, ran hastily 
 into the hall, and when she saw Annette advanced to meet 
 her with a lifted finger and a "hush!" upon her lips. 
 " Mother has had such a bad night," she said softly, " and 
 now she is sleeping. Come in here, Annette, as quietly as 
 possible. What is the matter? I hope Jonaca is well. Why, 
 Annette, you are crying \ " 
 
 " Yes, and it is you who ought to be crying \ Yet you 
 appear perfectly unconcerned." 
 
 "But why ought I to be crying? You know mother has 
 had these headaches all her life. This attack is no worse 
 than usual." 
 
 "Mother! Mother/ I am not thinking of your mother! 
 I am thinking of Leonard Murray." 
 
 " Is anything wrong with Leonard ? " 
 
 " I do not know what you call wrong. The whole city 
 considers him shamefully wrong! No one will speak to him! 
 He is disgraced beyond everything! I am ashamed, I am 
 burning with anger, to think that he might have been through 
 you connected with my family I mean the De Vries family. 
 And I am distracted about Achille. He came to Achille on 
 Sunday night - " 
 
 "Who came to Achille?" 
 
 " Leonard Murray, of course. And he almost cried about 
 242
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 the way people had insulted him coming out of church, too, 
 And, I suppose, indeed, I am sure, that Achille promised to 
 help him, and stand by him, and fight that man Gilson for 
 him - " 
 
 " Stop, Annette ! You are not speaking the truth now. 
 You are, at least, under a false impression. If Gilson is to 
 be fought, Leonard will fight him. Make no mistake about 
 that. Leonard is no coward; and a man need not be fool 
 hardy to prove himself brave only cowards are afraid 
 to be called cowards. My father has said that very 
 often." 
 
 "And pray what comes of such ideas? When a man is 
 insulted they lead to nothing. I have just been talking to 
 my uncle Gerardus, and he thinks precisely as I do. To let 
 a man go up and down calling you a thief and a coward, and 
 say nothing, and do nothing, is neither moral nor respectable. 
 That is Leonard Murray's position. And I think it a 
 shame that I have to be kept on the rack for two days about 
 your lover. I never troubled you about Achille; and I am 
 not well, and when I am sick then dear little Jonaca is sick 
 and I have had to get up this morning hours before the 
 proper time and leave my house, and my child about your 
 lover, just because he cannot manage his own troubles; 
 troubles, also, that he has made for himself." 
 
 " You do not know what you are saying, Annette. Your 
 temper carries you beyond truth. Leonard did not make this 
 trouble - " 
 
 243
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Oh, yes, he did. His pride and self-conceit are intoler 
 able. His patronage of people is offensive. And Achille 
 and I have often noticed how purse-proud he was - " 
 
 " It is a shame to say such things, Annette. You know 
 they are slander wicked slander! No man was ever less 
 concerned about his wealth, in fact, he - " 
 
 " Oh, we can let that subject drop we all know how he 
 spreads abroad his money. I am speaking now of his coward 
 ice. Every one is speaking of it; rich and poor alike. He 
 is a byword on the Exchange. He will never have another 
 invitation to any respectable house. Even I must shut my 
 doors against him and, to be sure, no nice girl will ever be 
 seen with him again." 
 
 " All that you are saying is cruelly false, Annette ; you are 
 trying to pain and terrify me - " 
 
 " What good would that do me? I am only telling you 
 what you ought to know." 
 
 " But why? Why are you telling me? " 
 
 " Because I am angry at you. Why did you advise Leon 
 ard to come to Achille for help ? " 
 
 "I did not advise him to come to Achille. How could 
 Achille help Leonard ? The idea ! " 
 
 " I say plainly that Achille is now seeking that man Gil- 
 son, and if he meets him before Leonard does which he is 
 sure to do he will challenge him at once." 
 
 " How ridiculous ! Achille has no quarrel with Gilson. 
 Why should he challenge him ? " 
 
 244
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 " Because of the things he has charged Leonard with. 
 And Achille's honour is so sensitive, and he is so passionate, 
 the dispute will end in Achille making it his own quarrel. 
 Then he will fight Gilson, before Leonard even succeeds in 
 tieeting him." 
 
 " I hope he will ! " said Sappha with affected satisfaction. 
 
 " You wicked girl ! To say such a thing to a wife and a 
 **iother ! Oh, now, I think you are none too good for Leon- 
 Ard Murray! By all means marry him only for decency's 
 sake take yourselves out of New York! There are places 
 where wealth will cloak cowardice. England, for instance ! " 
 
 " All these stories you tell about Leonard are downright 
 lies. Yes, I shall marry him, and we shall stay here in 
 New York. Do you understand? And if you were not 
 insane with temper I would promise myself never to speak 
 to you again, Annette St. Ange. Cowardice, indeed! You, 
 yourself, are at this moment suffering from cowardice. Your 
 fear of Achille being hurt has made you suspicious, unjust, 
 slanderous. And Leonard and I must endure your shame 
 ful words a woman has no redress. I am going to leave 
 you. You have willingly wounded and insulted me with 
 out any reason at all. I hope you will be sorry for it - " 
 
 " I am sorry, Sappha. Do not go away. I am sorry for 
 you that is the reason of my temper; and it is Leonard, not 
 you, I am angry at." 
 
 " We will not name Leonard. If he is all you say, he is 
 not fit for you to talk about." 
 
 245
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 "No, indeed!" 
 
 " I think you had better go home, Annette. You are 
 making yourself, and me, also, ill ; for nothing." 
 
 " For nothing ! That is all the thanks I receive for get 
 ting up so early and coming to warn and advise you." 
 
 " I wish you had not come." 
 
 " I shall go now and tell grandmother. She will perhaps 
 be able to make you see things properly. I hope you will 
 not make yourself sick about Leonard " 
 
 " It is not my way." 
 
 " If a girl's lover turns out badly, she ought not to cry 
 about him it is neither moral nor respectable. I say this, 
 Sappha, politely and kindly." 
 
 " Thank you, politely and kindly, Annette." 
 
 " I hope Leonard may come out of this affair better than 
 we think." 
 
 " Thank you. I hope Achille may come out of this affair 
 better than we think." 
 
 The clash of the front door emphasised this provoking bit 
 of courtesy, and Sappha flew like a bird to her room, that 
 she might conceal the tumult of outraged feelings warring 
 within her. And then as soon as she was alone all her anger 
 fled from Annette to Leonard. She accused him with bitter 
 unreason; for at this hour she was insensible to everything 
 but the painfully humiliating results of what she still men 
 tally called " his quarrel " with Horace Gilson. And, oh, 
 how Annette had hurt her! For Annette had not yet learned 
 
 246
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 how to endure; and they who can bear nothing are them 
 selves unbearable. 
 
 For two hours she gave full sway to her insurgent feel 
 ings; but at the last every mental struggle ended in her 
 blaming Leonard. Leonard, for her sake, ought to have 
 avoided such a degrading quarrel Leonard ought to have 
 faced it the first thing the following morning, instead of that 
 he had trifled away the whole day in Nassau Street, and the 
 next day at Annette's, and now Annette felt that she had 
 the right to call his courtesy cowardice. 
 
 " Well, then, it looks like cowardice ! " she sobbed passion 
 ately, " and then Saturday he told me some story about his 
 lawyer detaining him never once did he name Gilson to 
 me. It looks like - Oh, wee! oh, wee! my heart will break 
 with the shame of it! Every one will pity me. Even if 
 some make excuses for Leonard, I shall know it is only pity 
 for me only pity ! I cannot bear it ! I cannot think of it ! 
 Father and mother must take me away no, no, I must face 
 the shame, smile at it, what they call ' live it down.' Oh, 
 what shall I say ? What shall I do ? And mother is too ill 
 to trouble. And to father I cannot complain of Leonard. 
 Oh, Leonard ! Leonard ! Leonard ! " 
 
 And it was while tossed from wave to wave on this flood 
 tide of anger and sorrow that she was told Leonard was wait 
 ing to see her. She rose up hastily. Had she taken a few 
 moments to calm herself everything might have been differ 
 ent. But even her opening > . :he doors between herself and 
 
 247
 
 her lover betrayed the whirl and tumult of the feelings that 
 distracted her. Nor was this mental storm soothed by 
 Leonard's presence. He came eagerly forward to meet her; 
 a pleasant smile on his face and a white rose in his hand. 
 She took the flower from him, and threw it down upon the 
 table; and he regarded her with amazement. Her face, 
 her attitude, the passion of her movements, arrested the words 
 he was eager to utter; and in that fateful pause Sappha's 
 unguarded, unconsidered accusations feM like the voice of 
 doom upon his senses. 
 
 " You are a byword among men ! No nice girl will be 
 seen with you! You will never again be asked to any 
 respectable house! Annette says so! She will be even com 
 pelled to shut her door against you ! " 
 
 " Sappha, Sappha! Do you know what you are saying? " 
 
 " Only too well I know it. Annette has just been here. 
 She has told me all. You left her to tell me. Why did you 
 not come yourself? Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, all these 
 days I have been in suspense and misery." 
 
 " Listen to me, Sappha, I " 
 
 " It is too late now. Annette has told me. I have heard 
 it all my heart is broken I shall die of shame. Every 
 one will pity me. I cannot, I cannot bear it " 
 
 " Stop one moment, Sappha. Do you believe Annette ? 
 Do you think she will be forced to shut her door against 
 me?" 
 
 " She says so."
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 " Then Judge Bloommaert may have the same obligation 
 and you also. If you can believe this, you can believe 
 anything that is said against me, your promised husband. 
 It is I who am heartbroken. It is I who must feel shame. 
 It is I who must go all my life in the fiery shadow of wrong 
 and injustice. Sappha, you have known me as no other per 
 son has known me, in my inmost soul, and yet you can 
 believe I deserve such treatment ? " 
 
 " How can I tell? If you had done anything to right 
 yourself - " 
 
 " Oh, that is not the question. You should have trusted 
 me through everything, and in spite of every one. You have 
 failed me just when I needed most your love and confidence. 
 If Annette tells you I ought to be shut out of your heart 
 and house, you will believe her! What is your love worth? 
 It is only a summer day's idyll. The first chill wind of dis 
 approval kills it. I will go before I am shut out. In future 
 days it may be easier for you to remember that I closed the 
 door on my own happiness. Oh, Sappha, Sappha! lighter 
 than vapour is your love and I had built my life upon it ! " 
 
 His face expressed more indignation than distress. He 
 lifted the rose she had flung down and looked at it with 
 a moment's pity ; then he pushed it toward her. 
 
 " It is my last offering," he said. " Take it. And as it 
 fades, forget me. I shall never give you shame or trouble 
 again." 
 
 Then anger took entire possession of Sappha; and anger 
 249
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 9ftO<a^S>ftO<S^S>60<I^>OQO^-J=J>-pftQ<r^S>OQQ<^I^0[>0<S J -S^ 
 
 does everything wrong. She lifted the rose and cried out 
 amid her passionate weeping: 
 
 " I will not wait for it to fade. No, I will forget you 
 now! now! now!" and as she uttered the words she ruth 
 lessly tore off the white petals, scattered them on the floor 
 at his feet and was gone. 
 
 Her tears, her shivering words, the utter passion of misery 
 and tenderness that made the action almost like the slaying 
 of a living creature, so stupefied and fascinated Leonard 
 that for a moment he could neither move nor speak. When 
 he recovered himself he ran to the foot of the stairs and 
 called her. "Sappha! Sappha!" he cried. " Sappha, come 
 back to me, I have something to tell you." But she was 
 gone. A slight flutter of her white gown as she turned 
 the last angle was all he saw; and if she heard his appeal 
 she did not answer it. 
 
 For a few minutes he waited, but the laughter of the 
 negroes in the kitchen, coming faintly through the baize- 
 lined doors, was the only sound he heard. Then he returned 
 to the parlour and carefully gathered, one by one, the torn 
 leaves. The last note Sappha had sent him was in his 
 pocket book. He placed them between the sheets and, shut 
 ting them in the book, put it in his breast. 
 
 What was he so still for? What had he done? What 
 had come to him? Blast, or blight, or fire, or fever? He 
 picked up the torn rose leaves as if they were bits of his heart, 
 and the door clashed behind him and seemed to shake the 
 
 250
 
 THE ROSE OF RENUNCIATION 
 
 very foundations of his life. He knew that he was walking, 
 but his heart hung heavy at his feet. All he loved was be 
 hind him he was drifting, drifting into a darkness where 
 love and joy would never again find him. Oh, it is. only 
 
 " the Lord above, 
 
 He only knows the strength of Love; 
 He only knows, and He only can, 
 The root of Love that is in a man."
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 NINE 
 
 Tlie Reproof of the Sword 
 
 EONARD'S suffering was very great, but 
 Sappha's was still greater. Wounded love, 
 injustice, and disappointment can inflict 
 mental distress that has no parallel in 
 physical pain, but with Sappha's misery was 
 mingled the intolerable drop of remorse for her hasty passion. 
 Now that all was over, now that Leonard had gone away 
 forever, there came to her the clearest conviction that she had 
 done him a great wrong. She remembered that she had not 
 even given him an opportunity to explain circumstances she 
 had met him with passionate reproaches and flung his love 
 gift, torn and mutilated, at his feet. After that shameful, 
 piteous rejection what could Leonard do but go away? It 
 was an act for which there could be no apology and no for 
 giveness. She cried out with the anguish this cruel, hopeless 
 reflection caused her; and had Leonard been really present 
 she would have fallen at his feet in an agony of love and 
 repentance. 
 
 Prone upon her bed she lay, torturing herself by a thou 
 sand self-reproaches, and by a perpetual memory of that last 
 
 252
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 look of pained amazement with which her lover had re 
 garded her. She could not put it from her, it seemed to 
 have exorcised every other memory of his face. With heart 
 broken sobs she sent after him one cry, " Forgive me! Oh, 
 Leonard, forgive me!" But the void between them swal 
 lowed it up in silence. There was nothing to be done. The 
 long, long days and years before her held only frustrate long 
 ings and despair. This reflection came to her as a finality, 
 and she ceased weeping and protesting and lay dumb and 
 passive like a child smitten by a power it can neither ap 
 pease nor comprehend. 
 
 Her mother found her in this mood, and when Sappha 
 said, " I cannot come to dinner to-day, I am in trouble. 
 Annette told me things about Leonard, and I have sent him 
 away forever ! " the mother understood and was full of 
 pity. 
 
 " Do not try to come down, dear," she answered. " As 
 soon as your father goes out, I will return to you." 
 
 "Are you better, mother? Are you able to attend to 
 father?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, I am well again. Ah, me, there is always sor 
 row at somebody's heart ! " 
 
 " It is my own fault, mother. Leonard is not to blame. 
 I will tell you after a little while." 
 
 Then Mrs. Bloommaert went with a heavy heart to serve 
 the dinner; for whether heads are aching or hearts break 
 ing dinner is a fact that cannot be excused. She was full 
 
 253
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 of anxious thought as she went about the table, placing 
 sauces, condiments, and wines, and arranging the small de 
 tails which always pleased her husband. He had been de 
 pressed and angry concerning Leonard Murray's conduct 
 for some days, and she wondered how the news of Sappha's 
 dismissal of the young man would affect him. 
 
 Contrary to all expectation he entered the house in high 
 spirits. He was delighted to find his wife better, and able 
 to give him her company and sympathy; and as soon as they 
 were alone he began to talk to her about Leonard in a 
 manner full of pride and satisfaction. Nor was he much 
 dashed by the information that there had been a quarrel be 
 tween the lovers, and a final separation. 
 
 " Final separation ! " he repeated, with an incredulous 
 1-iugh. " Nonsense. That is a regular climax to a love 
 fever. They will be more devoted than ever in a week's 
 time. Tell her what I have just told you, and they will be 
 friends in half an hour." 
 
 " I fear not. Leonard has shown wonderful patience so 
 far, but my father used to say ' beware the anger of a pa 
 tient man ' ; for when once his patience has given way, 
 liis anger is not to be pacified." 
 
 "All foolishness, Carlita. Go and tell Sappha every 
 thing. I promised to meet St. Ange about three o'clock; 
 you see I have not any time to spare now." 
 
 " I do not know what Annette said to Sappha something 
 ill-natured, no doubt; but I wonder St. Ange did not give 
 
 254
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 her strict orders to keep her tongue quiet about this busi 
 ness." 
 
 " You wonder St. Ange did not give Annette ' strict or 
 ders.' Well, Carlita, I wonder at your simplicity. Who 
 can order a bad-tempered woman's tongue? Tell Sappha 
 I have gone with St. Ange to see Leonard. Doubtless I 
 shall bring him home with me." 
 
 He went out with this pleasant anticipation, and Mrs. 
 Bloommaert arranged a little dinner for her daughter, and 
 sent it upstairs to her. " You must eat, Sappha," she said, 
 " you can't live on your tears. And I have good news for 
 you very good news. See now, how nice this roast chicken 
 looks, and the beans, and the strawberry tart; and I made 
 the tea myself ; yes, dear, you must have a cup of tea, and you 
 must first tell me all that Annette, the cruel ill-natured 
 woman, said to you." 
 
 This confidence helped Sappha wonderfully. She could 
 rightly enough blame Annette, and there was relief in shift 
 ing so much of the reproach from herself. And Mrs. Bloom 
 maert felt no scruple in throwing the whole weight of the 
 unfortunate affair on Annette. " It would never have hap 
 pened, never! " she said, " if Annette had been minding her 
 house and her baby instead of following Achille round; 
 and then because she could not find him she must come 
 and vent her home-made wretchedness on you. I wish I 
 had heard her! She called Leonard a coward, did she?" 
 
 " She said every respectable person thought him one, 
 
 255
 
 iTHE BELLE OF BOWLING GREENi 
 
 and she repeated many things about him getting enormous 
 interest from the city oh, mother, I cannot go over it 
 again." 
 
 " There is no need to do so. Leonard Murray has turned 
 all such ideas topsy-turvy. Now I am going to tell you all 
 about it, and you will see how well he has managed this 
 miserable business. On Sunday he went to see Achille, and 
 Achille told him he could forbear no longer, and though 
 Leonard thought it was a kind of cowardice to fight a man 
 so inferior in skill both with sword and pistol to himself, 
 Achille convinced him there was no other way to prevent 
 Gilson lying. So early on Monday morning Achille called 
 upon Gilson. He first presented to him a paper acknowl 
 edging all his accusations against Leonard to be false and 
 malicious, requiring him to sign it. But Gilson fell into a 
 great passion, and said he would fight St. Ange for daring 
 to offer him such an insult ; and Achille answered, ' it 
 would give him a supreme pleasure to allow him an oppor 
 tunity as soon as his friend, Mr. Murray, had received satis 
 faction.' Then he gave him Leonard's challenge. The fel 
 low threw it carelessly down on the table, and said ' he was 
 going to Boston on important affairs, but when he returned 
 he would make immediate arrangements to meet Mr. Mur 
 ray and teach him to mind his own business.' ' On the 
 contrary,' said Achille, ' you will meet Mr. Murray before 
 you go to Boston. You will meet him to-morrow morning 
 at half-past seven o'clock in Hahn's wood, Hoboken. You 
 
 256
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 know the place. Or if there is any other place you prefer, 
 I am here to make arrangements.' Gilson said, ' one 
 place was as good as another.' Then they agreed that the 
 weapons should be rapiers, and Gilson laughed scornfully, 
 and ' hoped the clearing at Hahn's wood was not too large, 
 for he intended close quarters. Murray,' he said, ' could 
 not have half an acre to skip about in.' To which fresh 
 insult Achille answered that if Mr. Gilson wished close 
 quarters he felt sure Mr. Murray would be delighted to 
 fight on a billiard table." 
 
 " I like Achille, mother, yes I do ! " 
 
 " Achille is a good friend in need. He made all other 
 arrangements for the duel, and Gilson promised that he and 
 his friend Myron Hays would be on the ground at half-past 
 seven the following morning. He used a deal of very bad 
 language in making these arrangements. Your father said we 
 could imagine it as bad as we chose, and that then it would 
 come far short of the reality." 
 
 " So there was a duel this morning ! Oh, mother, if I 
 had only known! " 
 
 " Do not hurry me, Sappha. I want to tell you all just 
 
 
 as it happened. Leonard did not trust Gilson's promise, 
 
 nor did Achille. They determined to watch him; and they 
 found out two things: first, that he intended leaving New 
 York for Boston soon after seven; second, that he had or 
 dered breakfast for himself and Myron Hays fifteen min 
 utes before seven at the City Hotel." 
 
 257
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " But, mother, Gilson must have known that Leonard 
 stayed at the City Hotel ? " 
 
 " Of course he knew ; but he felt sure Leonard would be 
 crossing the river at that time. Then he would have taken 
 his breakfast, sending the while repeated inquiries as to 
 whether any one had seen Leonard or St. Ange, and affect 
 ing great indignation at their non-appearance. Finally some 
 insolent message of future defiance and punishment would 
 have been left with the proprietor for Leonard. Oh, can you 
 not see through the foolish, cowardly plan? " 
 
 " It was a contemptible scheme, and full of weak points, 
 mother," answered Sappha. 
 
 " It would have answered well enough ; it would, at 
 least, have thrown doubt and contempt on both men. Fortu 
 nately Leonard and St. Ange followed Gilson so closely that 
 they were at his side ere he had finished giving the order for 
 serving his coffee. 'At present,' said St. Ange very politely, 
 ' there is not time for coffee. We will cross the river at once, 
 sir,' and Gilson answered, ' I am going to Boston on most 
 important business. Mr. Murray must have got my letter ex 
 plaining.' Then Leonard said, ' You never wrote me any let 
 ter, sir. And you are not going to Boston, you are going to 
 Hoboken, and that at once.' Gilson still insisted that he 
 would fight Leonard when he came back from Boston, and 
 St. Ange told him he could have that satisfaction if he wished 
 it; but first of all, he must fulfil his present engagement. 
 ' All is ready for it, he continued ; ' a boat waits for you and 
 
 258
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 Mr. Hays at the foot of the garden, and another boat for 
 Mr. Murray and myself will keep yours in sight.' Then 
 the man looked at his second, and Mr. Hays said it was 
 proper to go at once, and he was thus morally, or unmorally, 
 forced into compliance. At the last moment Gilson ' sup 
 posed arms and a doctor had been remembered,' and St. 
 Ange told him those duties had been delegated to him and 
 properly attended to. ' The doctor,' he said, ' was in their 
 boat, and the swords also,' the latter having been approved 
 by Mr. Hays on the previous day, at which time it was 
 also agreed that Gilson should have his choice of the 
 two weapons. St. Ange told your father there had been 
 several irregularities, but that all had been arranged with 
 perfect fairness by himself and Mr. Hays." 
 
 At this juncture Sappha lost all control of her emotions 
 and began to weep and lament; and her mother rather 
 sharply continued : " Tears are not needed at all, Sappha. 
 Leonard was perfectly calm. Of his own safety he had not 
 a fear. He and St. Ange kept Gilson's boat in sight until 
 they landed ; then the ground was marked off, and the men 
 threw away their coats and vests and received their swords 
 from the seconds. I cannot tell you just what happened, 
 but your father could make it plain enough I dare say. 
 To me it was only thrust and parry, touch and go, for a 
 few minutes, then Leonard made a feint at Gilson's breast, 
 but by a movement instantaneous as a thought nailed his 
 right foot to the ground with his rapier. The man shrieked, 
 
 259
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and would have seized Leonard's sword, but that action 
 was instantly prevented by the seconds. The affair was 
 over. Gilson was at Leonard's mercy, and when he with 
 drew his sword St. Ange said, ' Doctor, the case is now 
 yours. And then turning to Gilson he continued, ' Mr. Gil- 
 son, if you cannot control your tongue in the future, we will 
 do this as often as you like.' ' 
 
 " I hope the man will not die, mother! " 
 
 "Oh, no! Leonard intended only to punish him. 
 He will have a few weeks' severe pain, and may have to 
 use a crutch for a longer time perhaps he may not 
 dance any more; but he only received what he richly de 
 served." 
 
 " But I do not see, mother, how this duel will put Leon 
 ard right in people's estimation." 
 
 " Oh, my dear, St. Ange took good care to secure wit 
 nesses to Gilson's cowardly attempt to get away; and the 
 men who rowed the two boats were there, to report for the 
 newspapers. They heard much conversation I have not re 
 peated. Your father also thinks Myron Hays, though he 
 would not say much, was deceived and very indignant. 
 You may be sure that St. Ange and Leonard arranged for 
 a full vindication. Now, Sappha, wash your face and dress 
 yourself prettily. Father said he would bring Leonard back 
 to tea with him." 
 
 " Leonard will not come with father. He will never 
 come again, I know ! I know ! " 
 
 260
 
 HE AND ST. ANGE KEPT GILSON's BOAT IN SIGHT 
 UNTIL THEY LANDED."
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 " If he does not, his behaviour will be cruel and dishon 
 ourable. Why did he not tell you about the duel ! " 
 
 " He could not I did not give him a moment's oppor 
 tunity. It was my fault all my fault. I was so angry at 
 what Annette told me that I met him in a passion, and be 
 fore he had time to tell me why he had stayed away and 
 what had occurred I shocked him with Annette's false 
 charges, one upon the other, without any pause, until I 
 told him that Annette was going to shut her door against 
 him. Then he asked me if we also intended to shut our 
 door against him, and mother, I have no excuse there is no 
 excuse for me, none ! I ought to suffer. Oh, how miserable 
 I am ! And, mother, mother, I have made my own misery." 
 
 " You go too far, Sappha. You make too much of a 
 few words. All lovers have quarrels, and in my opinion 
 Leonard cannot come back too soon." 
 
 " He will not come. He was too quiet. He said too 
 little. He will never come back. Always, we have slighted 
 him a little." 
 
 " He has been very well received do not make excuses 
 for him on that ground. I wish Annette would keep her 
 tongue out of our affairs. She is nothing but a mischief 
 maker." 
 
 " I know, but Annette could not have harmed me if I 
 had been true to Leonard. To be ready to doubt him, only 
 on Annette's word, was a shameful wrong, and I deserve 
 to be forsaken and forgotten." 
 
 261
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " It is Leonard's fault more than yours. He ought to 
 have stopped that man's tongue at once. Any woman would 
 have become suspicious and irritable. It was a shame for 
 Leonard to put your love for him to such a trial. He will 
 see that as soon as he gets over the little slight. Now dress 
 yourself, dear, and come downstairs. What is the use of 
 nursing sorrow in a darkened room? Sunshine makes grief 
 more bearable. I do believe that Leonard will return with 
 your father." 
 
 " I will come down but Leonard will not return with 
 father." 
 
 " You are very provoking, Sapphira. And I can tell you 
 one thing, they that are determined to be miserable will 
 always find the wherewithal for misery. Try and hope for 
 the best," and she kissed her and added, " Put on a fresh 
 white frock, you look best in white." 
 
 So Sappha did as she was counselled, but her bravery did 
 not help her to bear her sorrow a sorrow made worse by 
 its uncertainty in all respects. If Leonard had only granted 
 her a little time, if he had been patient enough to tell her 
 of the morning's events, if he had not given that rose of 
 renunciation! Yes, that act of his was the real provocative 
 of her desertion. He had told her to forget him. What 
 could he expect but a prompt acceptance of his request? 
 It would have been impossible at that stage to have hesi 
 tated. He had broken their betrothal, not her; how then 
 could she hope he would make any effort to renew it? 
 
 262
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 She did not hope for it, though she obeyed her mother's 
 desire, and with an aching heart dressed herself in white and 
 went downstairs. About five o'clock she heard her father's 
 steps, and he was not alone. But the double footsteps did 
 not give her a moment's hope. She knew they were not 
 Leonard's, and in a few moments she saw that St. Ange 
 was her father's companion. They were talking in tones 
 of earnest gratification, and as soon as the ordinary greet 
 ings were over resumed their conversation. 
 
 The subject was, of course, the duel and the sympathetic 
 response it had evoked in Leonard's favour. Gilson's effort 
 to escape to Boston, his bullying language when detected, 
 the decided white feather he had shown on the field, his 
 cowardice under pain since he had received his punishment, 
 were now the topics of public conversation ; and the men who 
 had been foremost in doubting Leonard Murray were now 
 the warmest in his praise. All these things St. Ange de 
 scribed in his usual sparkling detail, and the judge, Mrs. 
 Bloommaert, and Sappha listened to him with the keenest 
 interest. 
 
 Suddenly Judge Bloommaert said : " I never heard be 
 fore of a man disabling his antagonist just in that way. I 
 wonder how Leonard learned the stroke." 
 
 " One of Robespierre's emigrants taught it to Leonard. 
 He was a noble of the highest lineage, but when driven to 
 America he embraced the simple life of the wilderness with 
 inconceivable ardour. Leonard met him in the exploring 
 
 263
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 party which he accompanied to the Mississippi, and together 
 they went down the river to New Orleans. Their tedious 
 voyage was relieved with sword play, and under this French 
 noble's tuition Leonard became an incomparable fencer. 
 With this same stroke he disarmed Senor Zavala in New 
 Orleans." 
 
 " Ah ! Then Murray has fought before ? " 
 
 " Yes. The duel between Senor Zavala and Mr. Murray 
 is well remembered in New Orleans." 
 
 " Suppose, then, you tell us about it," said Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert. 
 
 " I was not acquainted with Leonard at the time, but Mr. 
 Livingston told me of the circumstance. The Americans 
 in New Orleans are proud of it." 
 
 " Why have you never named it before, then ? " asked the 
 judge. 
 
 " Leonard desired me not to speak of it because he said 
 there was a feeling against the duel in New York, and that 
 you, judge, whose good opinion he specially desired, were 
 opposed to the custom. I think, indeed, that Leonard's re 
 luctance to notice Gilson's slanders arose from a fear of 
 offending you." 
 
 " Well, St. Ange, as a general thing I do not approve 
 of the duel; but there are exceptions to every rule, and the 
 exceptions must be condoned. They need not, however, be 
 repeated." 
 
 " We are more anxious to hear about Leonard's New 
 264
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 Orleans affair than to discuss the right or wrong of duel 
 ling," said Mrs. Bloommaert. And St. Ange smilingly 
 continued : 
 
 " The occasion for it lay backward some years, even to 
 that twentieth of December, A. D., 1801, when the tri- 
 coloured flag of the French republic was displayed at sunrise 
 in New Orleans for the last time. For at noon that day 
 Governor Claiborne and General Wilkinson, at the head 
 of the American forces, entered New Orleans, and the 
 French Commissioner Laussant gave up the keys of the 
 City Hall to them. Amid tears and profound silence the 
 French flag was hauled down, and the Stars and Stripes took 
 its place. 
 
 There were about one hundred and fifty Americans in 
 the city at that time, and they stood together on the 
 corner of the Place d'Arms and cheered it. But no one else 
 showed any approval. The French and Spanish inhabitants 
 could not reconcile themselves to the change; prejudices 
 amounting to superstition made them for a long time at 
 tribute everything unpleasant to the American occupation. 
 This bias was carried so far that when, on one occasion, a 
 public ball was interrupted by an earthquake the anger of 
 an old Creole gentleman was roused, and he said passion^ 
 ately, ' It was not in the Spanish or the French times that 
 the amusements of the ladies were interfered with.' 
 
 " However, as soon as the cession was complete, northern 
 immigration poured into New Orleans, and when the present 
 
 265
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 war was proclaimed there was no lack of enthusiasm for 
 its prosecution. Still some of the old antagonism remained, 
 and one morning as Leonard was in the Place d'Arms he 
 saw some members of a volunteer regiment deploy there. 
 A boyish American carried the flag in front of them, and 
 Senor Zavala as he passed made a very offensive and con 
 temptuous remark. Leonard stepped out and asked if he 
 intended that remark for the American flag. Zavala an 
 swered, ' It is most welcome to it, Senor.' Leonard chal 
 lenged him there and then, As Zavala was something of a 
 bravo, he looked amused, and, when he saw that Leonard 
 was in earnest, annoyed. For he did not like to fight such a 
 youth; he had the same scruple that influenced Leonard in 
 fighting Gilson; he considered himself so superior in skill 
 to his challenger that an acceptance was very like cruelty, 
 if not also cowardice. 
 
 " But Leonard would not retreat, and Zavala declined 
 to make any apology, and the duel took place. A great in 
 terest was evinced in this affair, though duels were common 
 enough on every subject, and Leonard had especially the 
 watchful sympathy of every American in the city. They 
 were resolved that at least he should have fair play, and that 
 if he had been wounded there were plenty of men ready to 
 take up his quarrel with Zavala. To the amazement of 
 every one Zavala was disarmed in less than five minutes, 
 and in precisely the same manner as Gilson. But his behav 
 iour was very different. He made no outcry, he knew the 
 
 266
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 code too well to touch his antagonist's sword, and it was 
 with a polite smile he handed his rapier to Leonard and 
 said, ' Senor, my sword is yours. I make my apology to 
 you and to your flag.' " 
 
 " I have nothing to say against that duel," said the judge, 
 and Mrs. Bloommaert's face was radiant with sympathy 
 and approval. Sappha's eyes, heavy with unshed tears, were 
 dropped, and she could not speak. Had she tried her very 
 words would have wept. 
 
 " Leonard behaved splendidly," continued St. Ange. 
 " With his weapon he withdrew all ill feeling, and during 
 Zavala's convalescence he passed some time with him every 
 day, and supplied him with attentions and luxuries Zavala's 
 own means could not have procured. The conclusion of this 
 story I heard yesterday. Zavala is now enrolled for the de 
 fence of the very flag he insulted. Mr. Livingston had the 
 news in a letter, and he recalled the duel to my memory in 
 order to emphasise the result. 
 
 " It is rather remarkable," said the judge. " I never heard 
 of this affair before." 
 
 " Well, no ! " answered Achille. " It was only known 
 by the Livingstons, myself, and Leonard; and none of us 
 thought it well to talk about it here. New York is not New 
 Orleans, where the duel is concerned. To have fought a few 
 successful duels in New Orleans is a social distinction; in 
 New York the result socially is doubtful. You have only to 
 look at Mr. Burr - " 
 
 267
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " There is a heavier charge against Mr. Burr than the 
 duel his country - " 
 
 " Pardon me, judge, his country's laws have declared him 
 innocent; can we go behind judge, jury, and the written 
 law?" 
 
 At this question Mrs. Bloommaert rose from the table, 
 and Sappha quietly left the room, and did not return to it. 
 Every word uttered by Achille had intensified her grief 
 and made more bitter her repentance. Never before had 
 she understood her lover or rightly valued his affection. 
 Alas, alas, that sorrow should be the clearest of all revela 
 tions! Love too often bandages the eyes of the soul, but 
 sorrow rends away all obstructions to vision. At that hour 
 Sappha saw Leonard as she had never before seen him his 
 unselfishness, his modesty, his patience, the truth and tender 
 ness of his affection, his beauty and graciousness, the living 
 joy that his companionship had been to her. Oh, there was 
 no end to such recollections! and her soul ached in all its 
 sertses, for by her own act she had cast ashes on every one 
 of the sweet memories between them. 
 
 It was, however, well for her that she could not indulge 
 too much this rapturous pain of memory, for it unfitted her 
 for the world she had to live in ; a world empty to her, but 
 thrilling to the highest passions all around her. For none 
 could be indifferent to the fact that peace in Europe meant 
 a far more active war against America. Hitherto, Eng 
 land's hands had been tied by her conflict with Napoleon 
 
 268
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 and all the nations allied with him; now she was at liberty 
 to turn her armaments against America. Yet, though the 
 people of New York were alive to their danger, and not 
 careless in preparing to meet it, they had never been so re 
 markable for their entertainments and pleasure taking. All 
 the newspapers commented on the fact, pointing out the num 
 ber of places of amusement open every night, and the con 
 stant steamboat excursions every day. 
 
 From all these sources of pleasure Sapphira Bloommaert 
 disappeared. It was said she was in ill health, but as every 
 one knew of her engagement to Leonard Murray her seclu 
 sion was generally attributed to his absence. For Sappha's 
 premonition had been correct; Leonard did not return to 
 her. She watched despairingly xor several days, and then 
 heard that he had left the city. It was the judge's painful 
 duty to give this information to his child, and though he 
 named the circumstance, as it were, casually, he saw and 
 felt the suffering his words caused. Sappha did not speak, 
 but Mrs. Bloommaert said w r ith an angry amazement: 
 
 " Gone! Where, then, has he gone to, Gerardus? " 
 
 " I know not. No one knows, unless it be lawyer Gra- 
 hame, or Achille. Grahame will never say a word, nor 
 Achille, until he gets warrant for it." 
 
 " But there must be some opinion," continued Mrs. 
 Bloommaert. " Men cannot disappear without leaving at 
 least an opinion." 
 
 "Well then, there are several opinions. Some think he 
 269
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 has gone to the Niagara frontier, others to Washington, and 
 not a few are sure he is on his way to New Orleans. I my 
 self think New Orleans very likely; he has interests and 
 friends there." 
 
 And Sappha listened and ate her bread to this sorrowful 
 news. Only her colourless face revealed her suffering at 
 that moment ; but it showed itself in various ways after this 
 certainty had been accepted. One of the most pronounced 
 forms it took was a feeling of intense dislike and anger 
 towards Annette. She would not go to Annette's house, 
 nor would she see her if she called at the Bowling Green 
 house. Her reasons were sufficient to herself, and Mrs. 
 Bloommaert thought her daughter justified in her conduct. 
 Not yet could she ask Sappha to forgive; not while her eyes 
 held that look of pain and despair, and her whole manner 
 that of one standing smitten and dismayed before a barrier 
 she could not cross. 
 
 As a matter of course, the unhappy Sappha passed her days 
 " going quietly," almost hopelessly, for there was in her 
 grief that element of tragic fatality, that sense of Fate shap 
 ing life by the most trivial things, that renders men and 
 women despairing. Never before had she given sway to a 
 temper so unreasonable, so impetuous, so passionately hasty. 
 And surely not without the co-operation of the stars had 
 Annette called just at that early hour in the morning 
 Annette, jealous, miserable, ill-tempered, envious, full of 
 suspicions, and delighting in making misery for others as 
 
 270
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 MQ<IZg^Q9<^^Q3<^ ! '!JflOQ*;^^00Q<E^ p ^(lQQ<^*q^flQ(l<gg~^afl$0^ 
 
 well as herself. Then, unfortunately, Mrs. Bloommaert was 
 ill ; and Annette, unrestrained by her presence, while Sappha's 
 sympathies had been called on all night long and her tem 
 per unconsciously frayed and irritated by her inability to 
 prevent her mother's suffering. Oh, every trivial thing had 
 been against her, even to the small event of her going to 
 the back parlour after breakfast! For had she remained, as 
 was her usual custom, in front of the house, she would have 
 seen Annette's interview with her father, and been prepared 
 for whatever she might say. 
 
 All these considerations gave a sort of fatality to her quar 
 rel with Leonard, but they did not induce any kinder feel 
 ing towards Annette. She regarded her, if not as the author, 
 at least as the tool and messenger, of evil; and Annette was 
 quickly made to feel her position. Of course she was an 
 gered by it. And Annette was easily made angry at this 
 time, for Achille had never been so provoking and unman 
 ageable. In spite of her complaints, he had lately spent 
 all his days with De Singeron, who was now on the point 
 of sailing for France; and the episode of Leonard's duel 
 had been specially aggravating, because she had not been 
 taken into confidence concerning it. And with that singu 
 lar obtuseness common to selfish people, she considered Mrs. 
 Bloommaert's coolness and Sappha's constant refusals to 
 see her as a quite uncalled-for show of offence. She told her 
 self she had only repeated what every one was saying, and 
 that if Sappha had any sense of what was proper and re- 
 
 271
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 spectable she would have been grateful for her candour. 
 " People are always asking to be told the truth," she com 
 plained, " and then when you put yourself out of the way 
 to tell it, they are sure to be angry at you." 
 
 When three weeks had passed in this uncomfortable man 
 ner, Annette began seriously to miss her accustomed sources 
 of that familiar friendship which admits of confidence and 
 some showing of individuality. She awoke one morning 
 with a sense of isolation and of not being properly loved 
 and cared for ; that was too intolerable to be endured longer, 
 and taking little Jonaca with her as a kind of peacemaker, 
 she called on her aunt and Sappha. As the carriage drew up 
 at the Bloommaert house she saw Sappha rise, and when she 
 entered the parlour only Mrs. Bloommaert was present. 
 
 " Good-morning, aunt Carlita ! I have brought Jonaca 
 to see you." 
 
 Mrs. Bloommaert kissed the babe, and said she " looked 
 well," and then resumed her sewing. 
 
 " Where is Sappha, aunt ? " 
 
 " She is in her room. She is not well, and I cannot dis 
 turb her." 
 
 " Oh, indeed, aunt, I saw her as I passed the window. 
 She need not run away from me." 
 
 " Has Sappha run away from you? Why has she done 
 that?" 
 
 " I suppose because I told her some things about Leonard 
 Murray. It was right for her to know them ; but I have no 
 
 2.72.
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 doubt, now that Leonard has run away, she blames me for 
 all his faults." 
 
 " Leonard has not run away, and it is very wrong and 
 very spiteful in you to make such remarks." 
 
 " Nobody knows where he is, and he has left New York. 
 What do you call that, aunt? " 
 
 " I call it minding his own affairs, and as for saying no 
 one knows where he is, that is a lie. Because he did not tell 
 Annette St. Ange where he was going, is that proof that he 
 has told no one? Indeed, Annette, if you can believe it, 
 there are a few people of consequence in New York beside 
 yourself and Mr. St. Ange." 
 
 " Well, then, you need not be angry, aunt. And it is not 
 kind nor yet religious to call what I say * a lie.' No one 
 ever used such a word to me before." 
 
 " You forget. Often I have heard your grandmother say 
 the same thing." 
 
 " She was more polite than to say ' a lie ' ; she might 
 doubt what I told her, though always afterwards she found 
 out I was right." 
 
 " Indeed, Annette, you must excuse me from discussing 
 your perfections this morning. I am busy. Sappha is sick." 
 
 " I am going upstairs to see her, aunt." 
 
 " You are not, Annette. You have hurt her sufficiently. 
 I will not allow you to go and tell her that Leonard has 
 ' run away,' for instance. And I dare say you have plenty 
 of such sharp speeches ready." 
 
 273
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " I have not I have only " 
 
 " If they are not ready, 'tis no matter. They spring up to 
 your thoughts. I ask you to excuse me this morning, for I 
 have many things to attend to." 
 
 " Very well. You have hardly noticed little Jonaca, and 
 you have really told me to go away. I think you have behaved 
 in a very rude and unkind manner. You can say to Sappha 
 I am sorry for her. If she will remember I told her often 
 that Leonard Murray was not at all sincere. I don't think 
 he ever loved Sappha well enough to wish to marry her." 
 
 " Good-morning, Annette ! " And with these words An 
 nette found herself alone. She immediately drove to her 
 grandmother's. She felt sure of appreciation there. And 
 madame was delighted to see her and the child. She took 
 the little one in her arms and held it to her breast with a 
 soft cradling motion that soon put it to sleep, and then she 
 laid it tenderly down among the pillows on the sofa. 
 
 " So sweet, so pretty is she ! " sighed madame. " I wonder 
 if it is possible that I was ever like to her! " 
 
 " Once I too was so sweet! so pretty! so loved and happy! 
 but now now " 
 
 " Well then, now, you are also sweet and pretty and 
 loved and happy." 
 
 " Oh, no, I am not, grandmother. Every one is cross 
 with me, every one seems to hate me except you." 
 
 " Hush! hush! What you are saying is not true. It is 
 unlucky to put into words such thoughts." 
 
 274
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 " I have just been at aunt Carlita's, and she hardly no 
 ticed Jonaca, and told me she was busy, and I must excuse 
 her." 
 
 " Where was Sappha? " 
 
 " Aunt says she is sick. She would not let me see her." 
 
 " Well, then, Sappha looks ill I have noticed it." 
 
 " She is fretting about Leonard. You know he was really 
 made to fight that duel. I think Achille made him fight it, 
 and now he has run away from New York. I suppose he 
 did not like to meet his acquaintances." 
 
 At this point Annette suddenly stopped speaking, being 
 admonished thereto by her grandmother's rising anger. The 
 old lady was regarding her with an expression Annette sel 
 dom saw on her face, but which was one she did not care 
 to neglect. 
 
 " Have you said all the wickedness in your heart, An 
 nette?" she asked sternly. "You know that false, false, 
 false! are all your words. The truth I had from Achille 
 the whole truth and Leonard has not run away; why then 
 should he run away? Your uncle Gerardus tells me that 
 very wisely and very honourably he behaved. Also, I heard 
 from him about the affair in New Orleans. That, then, 
 was a duel to be proud of." 
 
 " In New Orleans? What affair in New Orleans, grand 
 mother? I never heard of that." 
 
 " Achille can tell you. Ask him." 
 
 " He has not told me, and he knows. You see then, 
 
 275
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 how much he trusts me, grandmother. I will not ask him. 
 You tell me, grandmother." 
 
 " No, I will not tell you what he has kept from you. 
 Good reasons he may have, of which I know nothing." 
 
 <( 5o/ I begin to find out things! Very good! I shall 
 make Achille tell me." 
 
 " Can you make Achille speak if he wishes not to speak ? 
 Try it once, and you will be sorry. Annette, Annette, I 
 fear me for your future, if so unreasonable you are! " 
 
 " Unreasonable ! Grandmother ! I assure you I have 
 many good reasons for all I do. Very unhappy I have been 
 lately! Oh, I wish you would pity me a little! " 
 
 " Surely Annette St. Ange needs not pity. Come, now, 
 tell me all your troubles, very small are they, and in tell 
 ing they will go away. Achille loves you is kind to you; 
 Jonaca is well, you are well what then is the matter ? " 
 
 " If Achille loves me, he loves far better that pastry cook." 
 
 " There it is ' that pastry cook.' You have no good right 
 to use those words, and well you know it. The pastry cook 
 De Singeron is now Count de Singeron, and goes home to 
 take again his place in a court regiment. But so! even if 
 he were yet a pastry cook, he is the friend of Achille; he is 
 loved by Achille; by you also he ought to be loved for 
 Achille's sake." 
 
 " You always take Achille's part." 
 
 " When Achille is right and you are wrong." 
 
 " Thank goodness, I have done with the Count de Singe- 
 
 276
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 ron! He left New York yesterday, and Achille sat up all 
 night and cried about it." 
 
 " Have you quarrelled you and Achille? " 
 
 " No one can quarrel with Achille. If I get angry he 
 says only, ' Madame is not well,' or ' Madame needs a little 
 rest,' and then bows and leaves me perhaps he kisses my 
 hand, and then I feel as if I should like to - Oh, grand 
 mother, it is terrible! If he would only get angry! " 
 
 " My dear one, you know not the anger of such men as 
 Achille. That would be terrible indeed! I warn you of it. 
 To rude words or cross words he will never condescend; 
 but but the thing he will do, if you love him, your heart it 
 will break!" 
 
 " He does not talk to me as he should. Here is this New 
 Orleans affair! I am not told of it, and Leonard's duel 
 with Mr. Gilson I knew nothing of till it was over and 
 so it was really Achille who is to blame for the trouble with 
 Sappha." 
 
 "Oh! Oh! The trouble with Sappha! What did you 
 do to Sappha, Annette ? " 
 
 " Nothing much it is not worth telling you, grand 
 mother." 
 
 " The judge of that I will be myself." 
 
 " I do not wish to tell you, grandmother. It is nothing." 
 
 "Very good! I will ask Sappha. The truth she will 
 tell me, I know." 
 
 " I do not like that Sappha should complain of me to you, 
 
 277
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 grandmother. I will tell you myself. It was the dreadful 
 morning of the duel. When I awoke I found Achille had 
 gone, and I was afraid he would be hurt, and very angry 
 indeed that he should mix himself up in Leonard Murray's 
 disgraceful quarrel. I thought I ought to have been con 
 sidered. Just think, grandmother, how disagreeable it was 
 likely to be for me every one of the De Vries coming to 
 talk it over, and all the Cruger women, and Fanny Cur- 
 tenius, and the Sebrings, Fishers, Ogdens, and all the rest 
 of them. I felt as if I could not bear the shame, and then 
 never to have been consulted about such an affair! It was 
 too bad." 
 
 " That was to spare you anxiety. Achille was thought 
 ful for you." 
 
 " No, he was thoughtful for himself. He knew I should 
 not permit him to have anything to do in such a quarrel, and 
 he really ran away from me." 
 
 " I advise you, say nothing like that to Achille." 
 " Well, then, I was angry, very angry, and I thought I 
 would get uncle Gerardus to interfere or you, grand 
 mother. And uncle was unkind, and told me to go home 
 and not to disturb aunt Carlita, who had, of course, one 
 of her bad headaches." 
 
 " Annette ! You should not say such a thing." 
 " Well, it is the truth. Aunt has a headache whenever it 
 is inconvenient for her to have one ; and uncle said Sappha 
 had been up all night with her, and I was ordered not to 
 
 278
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 worry Sappha or say anything unpleasant to her. I felt then 
 very, very angry, and I went into the house and when I saw 
 Sappha with her white face and injured manner I could 
 not be quiet. I told her all that I had been told about 
 Leonard, and she was what I call insolent to me, and she 
 will not speak to me now; she goes away if I call there, 
 and aunt Carlita is almost as rude. This morning she 
 hardly noticed poor little innocent Jonaca, and she asked me 
 to excuse her. Sappha went to her room as soon as she saw 
 me coming." 
 
 " Now, then, Annette, a family quarrel I will not have. 
 In my family we have all had to bear and forbear, and you 
 must make up friends with Sappha. What, in short, did you 
 say that so offended your cousin? Tell me the worst." 
 
 " Well, to be sure, I said people called Leonard a cow 
 ard and usurer, and that no respectable person would speak 
 to him, and no good girl could be seen with him, and that 
 I, like the others, would have to shut my door against him." 
 
 " Thou cruel one ! Tell me no more and all these things 
 thou knew to be lies." 
 
 " How could I know ? Achille told me nothing." 
 
 "Who did tell thee?" 
 
 " Alida de Vries, and Fanny Curtenius, and Emma 
 Ogden, and many others." 
 
 " And Leonard himself ate with thee on the Sunday 
 previous to the duel, and what he told Achille thou heard. 
 If it seemed true and good to Achille, could thou not also 
 
 279
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 have believed? I am ashamed of thee! Thou hast not one 
 decent excuse. All thou said to Sappha, thou said, knowing 
 in thy cruel heart it was lies." 
 
 " Grandmother, it is too bad to put all the blame on me. 
 And I will not now be scolded as if I was a child." 
 
 " Then why did thou come here, deceitful one ? Did 
 thou think I would bless thee for thy shameless cruelty ? Go 
 to thy own home, then." 
 
 " Dear grandmother you will make me ill. I cannot 
 bear you to be angry." 
 
 " Well, then, go tell thy cousin thou art sorry." 
 
 " Yes, I will, if I can see her. I will do it for your sake, 
 grandmother. I will do anything, if you will forgive me. 
 I was so miserable that morning if you would tell Sappha 
 I am sorry, then perhaps she will listen to me." 
 
 " I will see to that. I want not to have the whole city 
 talking of the quarrel in the Bloommaert family. Our 
 troubles are our own, and our own are our quarrels. To 
 morrow I will talk to Sappha; and the next day thou must 
 make all right that is wrong. See thou do it." 
 
 With this understanding Annette went home, and on 
 the day appointed she visited Sappha. In the interval 
 madame had also visited Sappha, and with the help of her 
 son and daughter-in-law arranged a kind of truce between 
 Annette and the cousin she had injured so seriously. But 
 now, if never before, all three learned the strength of that 
 unbendable will which madame had pointed out as existing 
 
 280
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 ICO <3>0 <^= M <^^M<^=CO<2==>OOfl<S3OCO<SS>(K>^3OCO^s>OCO<^=0S2=>()<^=>CO 
 
 in Sappha's nature, when as yet no one had ever seen any 
 evidence of it. Sappha agreed, for the sake of preventing 
 gossip about the Bloommaerts, to speak politely to Annette 
 whenever they met; and also not pointedly to avoid their 
 meeting by disappearing whenever Annette appeared. Be 
 yond this concession she would not move ; and when madame 
 proposed a family dinner at Annette's house, Sappha said 
 with a positiveness even her father respected: 
 
 " I will not enter Annette's house." 
 
 " That is a word that cannot stand, Sappha," answered 
 madame, with an almost equal positiveness. 
 
 " It will stand, grandmother," Sappha replied, " until I 
 enter it with Leonard Murray. Annette threatened to shut 
 her door against Leonard. In so doing, she shut it against 
 me. If Leonard should ever return, if he should ever for 
 give me he may then forgive the woman who has caused 
 us both so much suffering. If these unlikely things happen, 
 we may go together to Annette's. I will never go without 
 him. Never! " And there was such calm invincible deter 
 mination in every word she uttered that even madame felt it 
 useless to try either reasoning or authority. Indeed, Sappha 
 won in this plain statement of her position the perfect sym 
 pathy of her father, and he said : 
 
 " I think Sappha is quite right. The stand she has taken 
 is unassailable. We must make the best of what she con 
 cedes. If Sappha still regards Leonard as her future hus 
 band, she can do no less." 
 
 281
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " But, my son 
 
 " Yes, my mother, I know what you would say, but in this 
 case my daughter is right. I shall stand by my daughter." 
 
 Then Sappha went to her father, and he put his arm 
 around her and kissed her, and told her, " he was sure 
 she would do the very best she could, and so he trusted 
 her." 
 
 In accordance, therefore, with the promise made, and the 
 obligation implied by her father's confidence, Sappha re 
 mained in the parlour when Annette called the next day. 
 She came in her most expansive and effusive mood; kissed 
 her aunt, and then in a kind of mock contrition asked Sappha 
 if she might be permitted to kiss her also ? 
 
 " I do not deserve a kiss, Sappha, I know I do not; but 
 I am a little sinner to every one, and there is nothing I can 
 do but say ' Annette is sorry.' And really I am sorry. If 
 there is anything I can do, to undo my foolishness - " 
 
 " There is nothing, Annette." 
 
 " It is too bad. I never dreamed of Leonard taking 
 offence at you; every one was saying unkind things, and I 
 thought you ought to know. I was really very miserable 
 that morning. I hardly knew what I was saying. But 
 the idea of Leonard going away from all his friends and 
 you! that never occurred to me." 
 
 " We will not speak of Mr. Murray. There are other 
 things to talk of.'* 
 
 " Indeed yes. Have you heard that Mary Sebring is 
 282
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 going to Washington? Many people say, because Captain 
 Ellis is there." 
 
 " How is Jonaca? Why did you not bring her? " 
 " I left her with grandmother. She is well enough." 
 This strained social intercourse was soon invaded by news 
 of menacing national importance. The British fleet was 
 being constantly increased, the blockade very strictly en 
 forced, and the real conflict felt to be near at hand. The 
 entire populace was now divided into two great parties; one 
 was for war, the other for peace ; and the fear of disunion of 
 the States hung heavy over all. 
 
 On the Fourth of July the President had made a call for 
 93,500 militia; and before the middle of the month alarm 
 for the safety of New York was so great that the men ex 
 empt from military duty formed themselves into companies 
 to aid in its defence. On the third of August Mayor Clin 
 ton, in an address to the people, said : 
 
 " This city is in danger ! We are threatened with in 
 vasion. It is the duty of all good citizens to prepare for the 
 crisis. Let there be but one voice among us. Let every 
 arm be raised to defend our country; our country demands 
 our aid. She expects that every free man will be found at 
 his post in the hour of danger, and that every free citizen of 
 New York will do his duty." 
 
 This appeal was answered with a prompt and stirring 
 enthusiasm. Volunteer associations pressed forward with 
 out regard to party or situation in life. The ground of 
 
 283
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 self-defence was a common ground, and rich and poor worked 
 together on the same works, intermingling their labours with 
 patriotic emulation. The Bowling Green and Brooklyn 
 Heights were like military camps; indeed, the whole city 
 was one great company enrolled to save New York, or perish 
 with it. On the twenty-sixth day of August the Evening 
 Post announced the taking of Washington and the flight of 
 the President, and the wildest excitement prevailed; and on 
 the following morning, the press unanimously called: 
 
 TO ARMS! CITIZENS, TO ARMS! 
 
 YOUR CAPITAL IS TAKEN ! PREPARE TO DEFEND OUR CITY TO THE 
 
 LAST EXTREMITY! THIS is NO TIME TO TALK! WE MUST 
 
 ACT AND ACT WITH VIGOUR, OR WE ARE LOST! 
 
 In the meantime the government had revised its instruc 
 tions to the envoys for peace. The rights stipulated for in 
 1813 and 1814 they were told to abandon; and "if necessary 
 waive every point for which the war was commenced." 
 Nothing could more urgently describe the urgent necessity 
 of the country, which, indeed, was financially and commer 
 cially on the brink of ruin. Her harbours were blockaded ; 
 communications coastwise between all ports cut off; ships 
 rotting in every creek and cove where they could find secur 
 ity, and the immense annual products of the country mould 
 ering in warehouses. The sources of profitable labour were 
 dried up, and the currency considered as irredeemable paper. 
 Nor were these things the worst features of the situation. A 
 still more dangerous symptom of the national emergency 
 
 284
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 was the hostility of certain portions of the Union. Seces 
 sion in some States was a proposition not unlikely to become 
 a fact; while the credit of the government was exhausted, 
 and the war apparently as far from a close as ever it had been. 
 
 The winter also was very severe, the Hudson frozen 
 across to Jersey City, and the Sound frozen across from the 
 mainland to Sands Point. There was much poverty and 
 suffering, and a great gloom and depression owing to the 
 apparent failure of the Peace Commissioners at Ghent to 
 effect any reasonable agreement. Yet among the military 
 social entertainments were frequent, and the people prom 
 inent in New York social life still kept up the pretence of 
 fashion, and gave dinners, balls, and theatre parties, which 
 had a kind of half-hearted semblance of gaiety. 
 
 Sapphira Bloommaert availed herself of the reasonable 
 excuse which public calamity gave her to retire from every 
 thing society called " pleasure " ; therefore her absence from 
 Annette's entertainments escaped the unpleasant notice it 
 would otherwise have received. Annette was able to parry 
 all inquiries on two grounds; first, on Sappha's national 
 sympathy; or, if this reason was incredulously received, 
 mysteriously to associate Mr. Murray's name with that of 
 his country. " Sappha was so sensitive ; her country was 
 in distress, and then also, her lover was in danger. Yes, 
 Mr. Murray had joined General Jackson at New Orleans, 
 and every one knew what a reckless soldier General Jack 
 son was. Of course Sappha was not in a dancing mood. 
 
 285
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 (;^<s:r^tCcSS>CO'=^>OOI>^S>09SS^CS95S^009s^3>00<^^OOOeS^>()05^C=:>tCC=2>tOcCr^3';!> 
 
 She could understand. For if Mr. St. Ange was with 
 General Jackson, she would be incapable of seeing any one, 
 even her dearest friends." 
 
 People thought with her, or not with her, Annette cared 
 little. They had been given reasons for Sappha's absence from 
 social affairs, and they could not, to her face, go beyond 
 them. But Achille was not to be so easily put off. He him 
 self had taken to the judge the information that Leonard 
 was with General Jacksn; and after this honourable cer 
 tainty of her lover's position he saw no reason for Sappha's 
 seclusion. 
 
 " Why does Sappha decline all our invitations, Annette? " 
 he asked one night, after a rather disappointing dance. 
 " We do miss her so much." 
 
 " I endure her absence very comfortably," replied An 
 nette. " Sappha has been ill-natured with me ever since 
 
 Oh, for a long time. How do you like Miss Bogardus? " 
 
 " Very well, she accommodates herself perfectly ; but why 
 is Sappha at disagreement with you? It is a pity. Our par 
 ties do not succeed without her. She is so lovely, so en 
 chanting in her grace and kindness." 
 
 " Well, then, you may accustom yourself to do without 
 her beauty, and enchantments, and grace, and kindness. She 
 will never enter this house again! There now! I know it! 
 and I am not broken-hearted, Achille." 
 
 " Madame is what she calls joking? " 
 
 Achille asked this question in a cold, even voice, but if 
 2S6
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 P30^^QP*^^^ 00 :g= E>O aft<=: ^ >MO * s ^ >oa Q <:S ^ >oa ^ 
 
 Annette had been a wise woman she would have regarded 
 the look in his eyes and the stern set of his lips as ominous 
 and implacable. On the contrary, she defied them, being 
 roused to that attitude by a number of little annoyances, 
 of which this inquiry concerning Sappha was the culmina 
 tion. She flung down the bracelet she had been unclasping 
 in a temper, and answered : 
 
 " One does not joke about Sapphira Bloommaert. No, 
 indeed! A girl that cannot understand a little mistake - 
 a mere slip of the tongue." 
 
 " You astonish me, Annette," answered Achille. " I 
 have always considered your cousin as most amiable most 
 easy to persuade. What slip, what mistake, did you make? " 
 
 " I do not care to talk about Sappha any longer. I am 
 weary." 
 
 " Then madame must sleep and rest. I can myself ask 
 Sappha; perhaps I may rectify the little mistake the 
 slip 
 
 " Oh, Achille, do let the subject drop ! " 
 
 " It interests, it excites me. There is a wrong ; that is 
 unfortunate. I may put it right. When did the little mis 
 take occur ? " 
 
 Then Annette perceived that she must tell the story her 
 self or have the whole subject reopened. The latter course, 
 with her uncle, aunt, and grandmother all opposed to her, 
 was not to be endured. She was undressing her hair, and 
 she turned round and faced Achille with its pale beauty 
 
 287
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 streaming over her shoulders and emphasising the living 
 whiteness of her face and throat; and Achille experienced 
 again that singular sense of repulsion and fascination she had 
 first inspired in his heart ; for she looked more like some angry 
 elfin creature than a mere mortal woman. 
 
 " Achille," she said, " it will give me pleasure to tell 
 you how I offended my cousin, who is lovely, so enchant 
 ing in her grace and kindness. You remember the morning 
 that you had to attend to Leonard Murray's duel? Very 
 well, you went away without considering me. I was forced 
 to get up, order the carriage, and ride as fast as possible to 
 see my uncle." 
 
 "What for? What reason? None whatever." 
 
 " I wanted uncle Gerardus to find you to stop you - " 
 
 " You followed me you sent your uncle to follow me. 
 I surely do not understand ! " 
 
 " Uncle would have nothing to do with the affair, and 
 he treated me rudely." 
 
 '^Rudely? I must see about that." 
 
 " Good gracious, Achille ! I mean unkindly. He would 
 not interfere, and he told me not to trouble Sappha and I 
 was afraid for you." 
 
 " Mon Dieu, Annette ! Afraid for me ! " 
 
 " And the very sight of Sappha was more than I could 
 bear. All this trouble for me because of her cowardly 
 lover, and so I told her what every one was calling Leonard. 
 You know very well what that was. And she got angry, and 
 
 288
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 that made me say a thing I was sorry for afterwards; and 
 I told her that I was sorry, and she made believe to forgive 
 me, but Sappha does not forgive right; and not even grand 
 mother or uncle Gerardus can make her." 
 
 " What thing was it you said ? " 
 
 " I said every respectable person would shut their doors 
 against Leonard Murray, and that I supposed I should have 
 to shut my doors ; and so now she will not come here. She 
 says she never will come, unless Leonard comes with her." 
 
 " Madame reminds me. This truly is madame's house, 
 and madame has the right to shut her doors against any one 
 she wishes to affront. I must protect my friend, I must ask 
 him to a house whose doors stand open for him. To-morrow 
 I shall conclude the purchase of the Mowatt place, and we 
 shall remove to it. I know not what day Mr. Murray may 
 return, and the possibility of his being turned away from 
 madame's house fills me with anxiety." 
 
 " Oh, Achille I Achille I We cannot leave this house. 
 Grandfather de Vries only gave it to me on condition we 
 lived in it. We shall lose the place, and it is valuable prop 
 erty. Oh, Achille!" 
 
 " Madame must understand that I would rather lose the 
 property than lose my friend." 
 
 From this position Achille would not retire, and An 
 nette's friends would not interfere. Madame said " she 
 had no control over Annette's finances, and that it was 
 De Vries' way to keep a string tied to every dollar not 
 
 289
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ft(>fre^^^OPS'!^^^^rs>o;>0<^^^Pt)Q^^S^Q()ft<-S>Qftflg^ Of <SXZ5>OC^CC2>335 
 
 entirely under his own hand. And when Annette grew 
 sentimental over the place, as " one of her wedding gifts " 
 and " her bride home," madame said : 
 
 " Full of memories it was, before you were born, Annette, 
 and they are not all pleasant ones. At the cost of your purse, 
 your tongue has talked ; I hope, then, you will remember 
 the lesson you pay dearly for." Mrs. Bloommaert thought 
 the Mowatt house would be healthier for Jonaca. It was 
 high and sunny, and she advised her niece to accept it cheer 
 fully on that ground. But the judge administered the most 
 consoling opinion, for he laughed at Annette's fears and 
 said, " Batavius de Vries was non compos mentis and in 
 capable of making any change in his will that would stand." 
 This assurance set Annette firmly on her feet. She accepted 
 the inevitable as if it was precisely the thing she had been 
 longing for. And though Achille was astonished at her 
 charming complaisance and co-operation, he admired her 
 tact, and rewarded it by adorning and furnishing her rooms 
 in the delicate blues she affected. 
 
 The news of this change of residence caused far less sur 
 prise and talk than Annette had anticipated. No one seemed 
 to consider it of much importance, and the reasons and ex 
 cuses for her removal which Annette had prepared were 
 hardly called for. Indeed, most people had interests of their 
 own to employ all their speculation, for the winter was the 
 most hopeless one New York had suffered since the com 
 mencement of the war. Many, like Sapphira Bloommaert, 
 
 290
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 refused all invitations to parties of pleasure; some on patri 
 otic grounds, many more because the financial pressure of 
 the times forbade extravagance of every kind. And as if 
 to sanction and strengthen this retirement, the President 
 urged the keeping of the twelfth day of January, 1815, as 
 a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayers for peace. The 
 bitter cold, the deep snows, the scarcity of all necessaries 
 of life, the silence and suspense enforced by the winter, 
 affected the most careless; and there was an oppressive feel 
 ing and a longing for peace that could not be thrown ofx. 
 
 The reviving stir under this national nightmare did not 
 occur until the evening of February the eleventh. Sappha 
 was reading to her father the travels of Mungo Park, and 
 they were much interested in them. Even Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert had let her work fall to her lap, and was listening 
 with moist eyes to Park's despair in the desert and his res 
 toration to hope and life by the sight of a little wild flower 
 in the desolate place. Suddenly a chorus of exulting shouts 
 filled the Bowling Green. The judge leaped to his feet. 
 
 " // is peace!" he cried. "Open the windows! Let us 
 hear ! Let us see ! " And at that moment every window on 
 the Bowling Green was thrown open. Men were pouring 
 from the houses into the street, as a deep harmonius anthem 
 came rolling down Broadway, into the Bowling Green, an 
 anthem of one glad note " Peace! Peace! Peace! " 
 
 Regardless of all warnings and entreaties, the judge went 
 out. "The news will keep me warm," he said; and as he 
 
 291
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 hastily buttoned up his long coat he looked twenty years 
 younger. " You need not be anxious about father to-night," 
 said Sappha to her mother. " He will take no harm, and, 
 oh, how I wish I could go with him! " 
 
 By this time every house in the neighbourhood was illumi 
 nated and open; the women in them calling and waving to 
 each other. The forts were bellowing the news up and 
 down the river; and for four hours thousands of men and 
 women were constantly passing through the Bowling Green 
 carrying torches and crying with jubilant voices the same 
 glad word, " Peace! Peace! Peace! " And above all this 
 joyful hubbub the bells of Trinity rang clear and strong, 
 echoing between earth and heaven the same exulting song. 
 
 Not until after midnight did the judge return home. He 
 had been a sick man for a week. He was then quite well, 
 full of hope, almost drunk with enthusiasm. Hot coffee was 
 waiting for him, but he called for meat, and insisted on 
 having it. " The doctor has nothing to do with my case 
 to-night," he said. " I know what I want, Carlita. I am 
 hungry. I have spent ten years of life the past four hours. 
 Glad of it well spent are they! Give me meat and bread. 
 Oh, then, I will take coffee, but it ought to be wine the 
 best wine in the world is not enough." 
 
 He was throwing off his coat as he spoke, and he then 
 went to the roaring fire and spread out his wet feet to its 
 warmth. His wife looked with terror at their condition. 
 
 " I did not know they were wet, Carlita," he said. " I 
 292
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 never thought of my feet. Kouba, take off my shoes and 
 stockings and get dry ones. My feet were too happy to 
 be sick; they never gave me one twinge! Why, Carlita, I 
 have walked miles to-night, and I am not tired." 
 
 " And you are so hoarse that you can scarcely whisper, 
 Gerard us." 
 
 " Am I ? Then I must have been shouting with the rest. 
 I did not know it. Never mind, the news is worth the 
 shout. Now my feet are dry and warm, give me my 
 coffee, and something to eat; and I will talk to you if I 
 can." 
 
 " Did you see anything of Peter? " 
 
 " I met him. He had been to mother's, and he was 
 coming for me." 
 
 " How did Peter hear so quickly? " 
 
 " He was sitting in the office of The Gazette m Hanover 
 Square. Peter goes there often in the evenings. It is a 
 great place of resort for the men of that quarter; but being 
 Saturday night no one was there but Mr. Lang and Alder 
 man Cebra; and they were just going to shut up the office 
 when a pilot rushed in. He stood for a moment breathless 
 and speechless, and while they wondered he gasped out, 
 'Peace! the boat is here with the treaty! 1 In a minute, 
 Peter says, every one rushed into the Square shouting 
 Peace! and every window was thrown up, and every one 
 in the surrounding houses was on the street. And im 
 mediately the cry was heard from all quarters of the city. 
 
 293
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 The news spread like wildfire. No one could say how it 
 happened, but in less than one hour every waking soul in 
 New York knew it. Houses were all illuminated, and I 
 wonder if there was any one left in them, for the streets 
 were crowded with men and women both; and none thought 
 of the cold, and no one knew that it was snowing." 
 
 " And now you can hardly speak, Gerardus." 
 
 " I have been shouting, though I did not know that I 
 opened my lips. Such a song of gladness I shall never hear 
 again, Carlita, in this world. I am glad I lost my voice 
 in it." 
 
 " Well and good ; but what did the Democrats say ? 
 Did they -- " 
 
 " We were all Democrats, and we were all Federalists 
 to-night. Men that have not spoken to each other for four 
 years shook hands to-night. Strangers were friends to-night. 
 There were no rich and no poor to-night. We were all citi 
 zens of New York to-night. We were all brothers. Carlita, 
 Sappha, I would not have missed to-night for anything in 
 the world." 
 
 " I am afraid you will have to suffer for it, Gerardus." 
 
 " I do not believe it. I never felt better in all my life. 
 Why, here comes Mr. Goodrich! " And with these words a 
 bright, exulting gentleman walked into the room. 
 
 " Your door stood open, judge," he said, " and I did not 
 know you were able to be out, so I thought I would call and 
 rejoice a while with you." 
 
 294
 
 THE REPROOF OF THE SWORD 
 
 " I have been on the street for four hours, Mr. Good 
 rich ; four of the happiest hours of my life. You know about 
 that?" 
 
 "Thank God, I do! I went last night to Miss Bel 
 linger's concert and ball at the City Hotel. She was sing 
 ing The Death of Lawrence when I heard a strange mur 
 mur, and then a wild shout on the street. The next mo 
 ment the door of the concert hall was thrown open and a 
 man, breathless with excitement, rushed in crying 'Peace! 
 Peace! An English sloop-of-war is here with the treaty.' 
 The music instantly ceased, and the hall was empty in a 
 few minutes. No one thought of the song, no one remem 
 bered the ball. We all, men and women, rushed into the 
 street. Broadway was a living tide of happy, shouting hu 
 man beings. Many were bare-headed, and did not know it. 
 No one cared for the cold. They were white with snow, 
 and quite indifferent to the fact." 
 
 " I saw them! I was among them! I must have been 
 shouting too, but I was not aware of it at the time. Have 
 you heard from any one what terms we have got? Will 
 you believe that I have not thought of ' terms ' until this 
 moment? " 
 
 " Nor have I, judge. I have heard no one ask about the 
 terms. No one cares about terms just yet. We have peace! 
 That is enough! " 
 
 295
 
 QrtC 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 TEN 
 
 The Star of Peace 
 
 Q 
 
 T 
 
 HE one idea of New York, now that peace 
 was assured, was renovation and recon 
 struction. Every one was busy. The war 
 was a dead issue, commerce was a living 
 one. The passion for trading and building 
 
 took the place of the military passion, and the happy sounds 
 of labour and traffic superseded those of the cannon and the 
 drum. 
 
 The preservation of the city had been for four years the 
 dominant care of its inhabitants; now that it was safe they 
 turned with a vehement spirit of industry to building up 
 trade and commerce in every direction. It was under these 
 auspices a joyful city. There was less dancing and dining, 
 but there was a growing prosperity and content, for all had 
 some business or handicraft to pursue, and all were full of 
 hope and energy. 
 
 And the spirit of reconstruction was as potent in women 
 as in men, though their arena for its exercise was more re 
 stricted. Mrs. Bloommaert began at once to talk of new 
 carpets and curtains, and of a complete refurnishing of the 
 principal rooms of the house. And as the spring came on 
 every dwelling on the Bowling Green caught this fever of 
 
 296
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 improvement; and first one and then another displayed to 
 passers-by their fresh paint and their new lace draperies. 
 It was a sign of some consequence, for it typified the strength 
 of that hope and energy which embraced domestic comforts 
 and elegancies as part and parcel of their civic prosperity. 
 
 In all the changes made in the Bloommaert house Sappha 
 felt, or at least affected to feel, a sufficient interest. She 
 could not shadow her mother's busy pleasure by any eviii-.nt 
 want of sympathy, yet it was sometimes difficult to forget 
 sufficiently her offended lover. Her soul that strange, 
 fluttering mystery had lost its life's dominant, the other 
 soul to which it had learned to refer every thought and 
 desire ; and there was now silence or discord where once there 
 had been sweetest melody. Her suffering, however, was no 
 longer a storm, it was rather a still, hopeless rain, an un- 
 impassioned grief that seldom found the natural outlet of 
 tears. But these constant fires of repression and self-immo 
 lation were sacramental as well as sacrificial. They were 
 strong with absolution also; and thus made calm and sure 
 by much sorrow and by one love, she gradually came out 
 of trouble with a spirit tempered as by fire; having lost 
 nothing in the furnace but the dross of her nobler qualities. 
 
 She rarely heard of Leonard. She knew that he was in 
 New Orleans, and attached to the staff of General Jack 
 son; and so, in the final struggle, doing his duty to his 
 country. But she never forgot the fact that he ought to 
 have been in his native city. " It is my fault, all my fault. 
 
 297
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 No wonder Leonard cannot forgive me," she said when 
 Mrs. Bloommaert blamed his absence during the darkest 
 days New York had known. 
 
 The news of the victory at New Orleans followed closely 
 on the news of peace. It was brought to the Bloommaert 
 household by Achille, who received it with a letter from Mr. 
 Edward Livingston. " Our friend Leonard Murray was 
 wounded in the right arm," he added ; " rather a bad sword 
 cut, but he is with the Livingstons, and has every possible 
 care and attention." 
 
 Annette came in later, and, unaware of her husband's 
 visit, made a great deal more of Leonard's wound than 
 Achille had done. She " hoped it would not be necessary to 
 resort to amputation a right arm was so convenient, not 
 to say necessary. And he got it just for interfering," she 
 continued. " An English officer had struck down a man 
 carrying the flag, and Leonard caught the flag as it was 
 falling, and then of course the Englishman fell upon Leon 
 ard. Leonard always was so interfering I mean so ready 
 to do every one's duty for them. You see it was not his place 
 to take care of the flag; so he got hurt taking care of it. 
 Grandfather de Vries always told me never to volunteer, 
 and never to interfere. If a person does his own work and 
 duty in this world, it is all that can be expected of him. 
 Poor Leonard ! " 
 
 "Oh!" said Sappha, " I think you may keep your pity, 
 Annette, for these poor creatures who never volunteer and 
 
 298
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 never interfere. Suppose every one had followed your grand 
 father's advice, where would America be now? " 
 
 " I do not know. It is not my place to look after 
 America," answered Annette. 
 
 " I will tell you then it would be under the feet of Eng 
 land." 
 
 " Grandfather de Vries often says there were very good 
 times when the English were here - " 
 
 " Come, come, Annette," interrupted Mrs. Bloommaert, 
 " you are only talking nonsense. When do you move into 
 your new house ? " 
 
 " Next month. Achille is delightfully considerate. All 
 my rooms are furnished in blue, because he thinks blue sc 
 becoming to me; and he takes my advice entirely about the 
 rest. We shall have the most elegant dwelling in the city; 
 and I am glad this dreadful war is over. Now I can get the 
 carpets I desire." 
 
 " Did Mrs. Livingston say anything about the condition 
 of New Orleans? " asked Mrs. Bloommaert. 
 
 " I did not read her letter. Achille desired me to do so, 
 but I have honour. I would not read Mrs. Livingston's 
 letter. I do not see why she should write to my husband. 
 I do not write to Mr. Livingston." 
 
 " She is an old friend of Achille's. Mr. Livingston is 
 much too busy to write letters. Perhaps she thought Leon 
 ard Murray had friends in New York who would be glad 
 to hear that he was well cared for." 
 
 299
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Do you believe that Leonard Murray yet remembers 
 us? I do not. We were all so kind to the young man, and 
 Achille stood by him when no one else would. Oh, you need 
 not leave the room, Sappha! I was just going to praise 
 Leonard a little." 
 
 But Sappha did leave the room, and Mrs. Bloommaert 
 said with some temper: 
 
 " You have done mischief enough, Annette ; why can you 
 not let Leonard alone ? You are too unkind to Sappha." 
 
 " Oh, then, aunt, I think it is Sappha who is truly cruel 
 to me. Because she will not come to our house, I shall have 
 to remove to that ugly Mowatt place. I hate it. All the 
 pretty furniture in the world will not make it endurable; 
 and if Sappha will not visit us there, I know not what 
 Achille will say or do. To be driven from house to house for 
 Sappha's temper is not a pleasant or a reasonable thing." 
 
 " Before Sappha's temper, there was your own temper, 
 Annette; and I am sure you need not expect Sappha to 
 visit you in your new home unless you also expect Leonard." 
 
 " I suppose I shall have to write to Leonard, and tell him 
 the trouble I am in. I think he would come back and get 
 Sappha to forgive me properly, if I ask him. He was always 
 very fond of me." 
 
 " If you write to Leonard Murray one word about Sap- 
 phira Bloommaert I will never speak to you again, An 
 nette. You may depend upon that! How can you be so 
 malicious? " 
 
 300
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 " Malicious ! You will misunderstand me, aunt Carlita. 
 I thought perhaps if I wrote and told Leonard how angry 
 Sappha was, and how Achille had nearly quarrelled with me 
 about Sappha, he might come back to New York. And I 
 am sure any one can see that Sappha is breaking her heart 
 about his desertion of her." 
 
 " Sappha is doing nothing of the kind. Sappha is per 
 fectly happy." 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad to hear it ! Sappha is perfectly happy ! 
 Why did she go away? I really meant nothing unkind. 
 If she had only remained, I was going to tell her about 
 Aglae Davezac, Mrs. Livingston's lovely sister. I dare say 
 she consoles Leonard very well. She is not handsome, but 
 she has a beautiful figure, and is very witty." 
 
 " Annette, if you will believe me, we are neither of us 
 interested in either Mrs. Livingston or her lovely sister. 
 There are things nearer home. When did you call on your 
 grandmother? She was complaining of your neglect lately." 
 
 " I am just going to see her." 
 
 " I hope you will tell her exactly what you have said 
 here." 
 
 " No, we shall talk about Jonaca and the new house. 
 Good-morning, aunt! " 
 
 Annette's visits had fallen into this kind of veiled unfriend 
 liness. She would have ceased coming to the Bowling Green 
 at all if Achille's pointed inquiries had not forced her into 
 a semblance of civility, for she blamed Sappha, not only for 
 
 301
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 her removal to the Mowatt house, but also for many a pas 
 sage of words between Achilla and herself that were less 
 agreeable than they ought to have been, or would have 
 been if Sappha had not formed the subject of discussion. 
 And from Annette's point of view, perhaps there was cause 
 for some irritation. For a few hasty words which Sappha 
 refused to ignore, there had been many hasty ones between 
 herself and Achille; and, moreover, she did not feel the 
 Mowatt house any equivalent for the roomy, aristocratic 
 dwelling she had been compelled to abandon. Every annoy 
 ance that came up regarding this removal she blamed Sappha 
 for; and though she affected to be pleased with the change, 
 it had not only been a bitter mortification to her, but also 
 brought other unpleasant consequences in its train. For it 
 had been just the very kind of thing necessary to rouse 
 Achille to a sense of small household tyranny that he had 
 tolerated because he preferred toleration to assertion. But 
 having once affirmed and exerted his right he had not again 
 relinquished the authority of master. 
 
 " I submitted too easily," said Annette, when discussing 
 the subject with her grandmother; "and now Achille just 
 says ' madame will do this,' or ' madame will go there,' 
 or ' madame will say so-and-so,' and I seem to have no power 
 to say madame will not. Oh, grandmother, just for a few 
 words! It is too much punishment! I was so happy, and 
 now I am not happy at all. I sometimes wish that I could 
 die." 
 
 302
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 )3<=3eOS350=X3>0aO<=>099=^000-==S00S=2>ODO=^>00=^000=^3>0<=SM=CS>0 
 
 " Annette, my dear one, thou must not make more of 
 trouble than there is. Often I have told thee not to com 
 plain; after complaint there is no oblivion. If Achille can 
 be polite, cannot thou be silent? With silence, one may 
 plague the devil ; but as for spoken words, no sponge wipes 
 them out." 
 
 Thus and so events were progressing, as the spring of 
 1815 waxed to June and roses again. There was at this 
 time some probability that the judge might be requested to 
 go to England as legal adviser to agents sent by the govern 
 ment to arrange some question of boundary not very clearly 
 stated; and if so, he proposed to take his wife and daughter 
 with him. 
 
 Sappha heard of this arrangement with dismay, and it 
 was hard for her to enter into her mother's little flurry of 
 anticipation. She did not wish to leave New York at all, 
 for she felt certain that Leonard would return as soon as he 
 was able, if only to look after his large interests in property 
 and real estate. For in the short time intervening between 
 the advent of peace and the advent of summer the whole 
 aspect of New York had been changed. Stores and ware 
 houses long closed were open, houses of all kinds had found 
 ready tenants, the streets were crowded with vehicles, the 
 shipyards literally alive, and vessels coming and going con 
 stantly from and to every quarter of the globe. There was 
 not a branch of industry nor a corner of the city where New 
 York's citizens were not proving their liberal views, their 
 
 303
 
 broad intelligence, and their energetic activity. How could 
 Leonard Murray stay away from his own city when it was 
 offering him such advantages for new investments and such 
 excellent opportunities for those he already possessed? 
 
 She did not include herself among the reasons for his 
 return. She had no hope that she could influence it in any 
 way. If Leonard had not quite forgotten her, he had at 
 least resolved not to renew their acquaintance in any de 
 gree. If this were not the case, he would have written to 
 her, sent her some message, some token, if it were only a 
 flower. And at this point she always felt anew the pang of 
 despair; for Leonard would never give her another flower. 
 She had no reason to expect it, she did not deserve it. Here 
 reflection stopped. It could go no further, the memory of 
 that scattered rose was a barrier that no love could put 
 aside or win over. 
 
 She made one effort to remain at home; she went to her 
 grandmother and entreated that she would interfere for her. 
 " If you desired me to stay with you, dear grandmother," 
 she said, " my father would permit it ; I am sure he would." 
 
 " So then, dear one, I must not ask hirm Thy mother, 
 what of her? Very much disappointed she would be. To 
 see the wonderful sights of London alone, what pleasure 
 would she find in that? And the shopping, and the visiting 
 without thee, would not be the same. Oh, no, it is in thy 
 delight the good mother will find delight; and in the ad 
 miration thou wilt receive will be her honour. Very much 
 
 304
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 alone she will be without thee, for, as to thy father, the 
 affairs of his commission will occupy him. Shall I tell thee 
 thy duty? It is to put away all regret from thy thoughts; 
 to give thyself to the honour and pleasure of thy good 
 parents; to add thy smiles, thy hopes, thy glad young spirits 
 to theirs. This is a great honour for thy father, a great 
 pleasure for thy mother, and if Sapphira Bloommaert I 
 know, I think she will no^t make it less. No, she will smile, 
 and then ten times greater it will be." 
 
 And at these words Sappha smiled, and promised to go 
 willingly and do all she could to increase the joy of those 
 with her. 
 
 " And that will not only be right, but wise," answered 
 the old lady ; " for in the way of duty it is that we meet 
 blessing and happiness." 
 
 From this interview Sappha went home determined to 
 lift cheerfully the burden in her way; and lo! it became 
 lighter than a grasshopper. She found that as soon as she 
 put herself out of consideration she caught the spirit of the 
 change; she became interested in all the details of their 
 journey, and finally almost enthusiastic. Then her father's 
 pride and happy anticipations were hers, as were also her 
 mother's manifold little plans for her own desires and her 
 promises for the desires of others. They lingered over their 
 meals, and they sat hours later at night, talking about 
 the places they were to visit, the people they were to see, and 
 the beautiful things they were to purchase. They had long 
 
 305
 
 lists of china, and silk, and lace, to which they were con 
 stantly adding; for all their relatives and friends and ac 
 quaintances had commissions for them to fill. 
 
 In these busy, happy days Sappha won back all the glad- 
 someness she had lost. She put Leonard, with a loving 
 thought, into the background of her hopes. She gave her 
 self without one grudging thought to the joy set before her. 
 And with this happy spirit came back the radiancy of her 
 beauty; her step regained its elasticity, her cheeks their bril 
 liant colour, her eyes their tender glow, her smiles their love- 
 making persuasion. And every one but madame said it was 
 because she was going to Europe and expected to be pre 
 sented at Court. Even the judge smiled a little sarcastic 
 ally, and said to himself, " Leonard Murray has been for 
 gotten." Mrs. Bloommaert did not err quite so far; but 
 realising the charm of all the new expectations before her, 
 she gave them the credit of changing Sappha's dejection 
 to cheerfulness. It was only madame who knew the secret 
 of the happy transition; she understood how the noblest 
 feelings had crushed down the selfish ones and restored the 
 almost despairing girl, by showing her life with a larger 
 horizon than her own personality. 
 
 So affairs went on in the Bowling Green house until only 
 ten days remained for the last preparations. And these days 
 were expected to be full of visits and farewell hospitalities; 
 for a voyage to Europe was at that time an undertaking 
 surrounded by uncertainty, and even danger, and people went 
 
 306
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 OW-=SS>tCe^S>CCC^^000<=^=03l)^:^OJ(>'=^^003=^^^0;0>=^=030'=^?033<2^S>eC<r^^>CC== =-033 
 
 to the Bloommaerts to bid them good-bye, and then as 
 they spoke of the subject shook doubtful heads and won 
 dered it they would ever see them again. 
 
 One day about a week before they were to leave Sappha 
 put on her hat to go to Nassau Street. There had been many 
 callers, and she was excited and a little weary, but Mrs. 
 Bloommaert was still more so; and Sappha entreated her 
 to try and sleep until she returned. Having darkened the 
 room she went away, a little depressed by the shutting out 
 of the sunlight, the uncovered stairway, and general air of 
 the dismantled home. But she was so beautiful that any 
 one might have wondered what mystic elements had been 
 combined to produce that air of pleased serenity and thought 
 ful happiness, which gave to her youth and loveliness a 
 charm that mere form and colour could not impart. She 
 was thinking of Leonard. As she went slowly from step 
 to step, she was thinking of Leonard. That day Mrs. 
 Livingston had called, and she had talked enthusiastically 
 about him, of his bravery in action, and his cheerfulness when 
 suffering; and, moreover, of his return to New York. " His 
 wound had been worse than at first appeared likely," she 
 said, " but her sister-in-law believed he would be able 
 to leave New Orleans before the yellow fever season. A 
 thing very desirable," she added, " for there are fears of a 
 severe epidemic this year." 
 
 " But Mr. Murray will come north before the danger? " 
 asked Mrs. Bloommaert. 
 
 307
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " I am sure he will; next month early, I should say." 
 
 Sappha was thinking of this promise, and telling herself 
 that she would persuade her grandmother to see Leonard 
 and say for her all she would say, if present. She had su 
 preme confidence in her love and wisdom, and believed 
 that if ever Leonard could be reconciled, it might well be 
 by Madame Bloommaert's representations. She did not 
 trust Annette, but her grandmother could not fail! and it 
 was the light of these words " could not fail! " that gave 
 such singular radiance and serenity to her face and manner. 
 
 She looked into the parlour to see if her father had re 
 turned home, and then opened the front door. As she did 
 so an eager, tender voice said " Sappha! Sappha! " and at the 
 same moment she cried out, " Leonard! Leonard! " The 
 four words blended as one voice; and as they did so their 
 hands clasped, their lips met, and the two that had been so 
 miserably two, were now one again. 
 
 They went into the parlour and sat down, hardly able to 
 speak toe happy to speak too sure of each other to want 
 explanations, even to bear them, throwing the wretched 
 episode of the quarrel behind them, caring only for a future 
 in which they might never more miss each other for a 
 moment. Pale with suffering and confinement, Leonard 
 had just that air of pathos which takes a woman's heart 
 by storm; and Sappha felt that she had never until that 
 moment known how dear he was to her. 
 
 Mentally she asked herself what was now to be done- 
 308
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 She felt that the journey to England had become an impos 
 sible thing. She could not leave Leonard. She could not 
 even speak of the coming separation. For a little while she 
 wished the felicity of their reunion to be shadeless, cloudless, 
 saddened by no yesterday, fearing no to-morrow. Just one 
 hour of such love could sweeten life, why invade it with any 
 careful thought? 
 
 All too soon the careful thought came. Leonard had heard 
 of the intended voyage, and it had filled him with such 
 anxiety that against all advices and persuasions he had 
 hastened his return to New York. He was resolved that 
 Sappha should remain with him, or else that he should go 
 with Sappha. In either case, immediate marriage was advis 
 able, and Sappha had now no desire to oppose his wishes. 
 
 " We can be married to-morrow, the next day, the day 
 we leave. What is to prevent it ? " he asked. She laid her 
 hand in his for answer, and at that moment the judge en 
 tered. And as Judge Bloommaert was a man who never 
 required two lessons on any subject, he met Leonard with 
 great kindness and sympathy; and when the subject of an 
 immediate marriage was named made no objections to 
 its consideration " as soon as Mrs. Bloommaert was 
 present." 
 
 Then Sappha went swiftly to her mother. She knelt 
 down by the bedside and laid her head on her mother's 
 breast. "Father is home," she whispered, "and Leonard! 
 Oh, mother, mother! Leonard has come back to me! and 
 
 309
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 CCO<^^0=0<=OCO<:=sCCOa='000'C=s > C(IOZi>005^S'CCO<a=s>0(}0<S=>l>;^!>l)<>=^i:(!08 
 
 he wants to go with us to England and he wants to be 
 married before we go. Mother, dear, sweet mother! you 
 will agree with Leonard? Yes, you will! Yes, you will 
 for my sake, mother." 
 
 "Are you dreaming, Sappha? How can Leonard be 
 here? Mrs. Livingston said a few hours ago that he was 
 in New Orleans." 
 
 " But he left New Orleans the same day that her letter 
 left. He could not stay in New Orleans when he heard 
 we were going to England. He has travelled night and day, 
 and he is still pale with suffering. You will be sorry only to 
 see how pale he is. We cannot be parted again; he says it 
 will kill him and father says we may be married if you 
 are willing. You are willing, mother? Yes, I know you 
 are. Say yes, dear mother, say yes, for Sappha's sake." 
 
 " I will dress and see Leonard as soon as possible, Sappha. 
 And if your father is willing for you to marry at once, of 
 course I shall agree with him. But have you considered? 
 We sail in six days. You have no wedding dress. The 
 house is all topsy-turvy. Not a room we can set a table 
 in carpets up, curtains down, glass and silver all packed 
 away." 
 
 " Mother, none of these things are at all necessary. It is 
 Leonard, and not carpets and glass and silver ; and " 
 
 "Yes, yes! I know! But you must have a decent gown; 
 a new gown, an old one is unlucky." 
 
 " Well, then, it can be made in two or three days we 
 310
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 have six days, you know. Come and see Leonard. I am 
 sure you will see how sensible he is." 
 
 Mrs. Bloommaert smiled, rose quickly and began to dress. 
 " Go now and look after tea. Make things as nice as you can. 
 I will be downstairs in half an hour." 
 
 " And then you will stand by Leonard ? " 
 
 " He has not stood very well by you the last year." 
 
 " Please do not name that do not think of it. I have 
 always told you it was my fault." 
 
 " It tosses all my plans upside down, Sappha. I expected 
 to have you with me in all my pleasures. I shall have to 
 wander about London alone, and I shall have no lovely 
 daughter to introduce. Oh, 'tis a great disappointment to 
 me!" 
 
 " We shall be together, mother. It will be all the same, 
 and you will have Leonard also." 
 
 " My dear, Leonard will want you all the time. I know. 
 He will grudge for any one to breathe the air of the same 
 room with you but if you are happy, father and I must be 
 content without you." 
 
 " It will not be like that, mother. You will see." 
 
 " Yes, fathers and mothers all see. Suppose now you go 
 and tell the women in the kitchen to get us something to 
 eat. We shall all be more amiable if we have the teacups 
 before us." 
 
 The discussion, however, was amiable enough. Judge 
 Bloommaert had not watched his daughter for a year with-
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 out coming to a very clear diagnosis of the conditions that 
 alone would give her happiness; and he had plenty of that 
 wisdom which knows the art of turning the inevitable into 
 the thing most desirable. The hour had come. Sappha had 
 waited with a beautiful patience for it; he was resolved to 
 give her its joy, fully and freely, and without any hold 
 back. 
 
 " Carlita," he said, as soon as mutual greetings were 
 over, " Carlita, Leonard wishes to marry Sappha at once, 
 and go with us to England. I think it is a good plan. What 
 say you ? " 
 
 " I think with you always, Gerardus." 
 
 " Such hurry will only admit of a very simple wedding 
 ceremony, but Leonard says that is what Sappha and he 
 prefer ; and as it is their marriage, they have a right of choice. 
 Eh, Leonard?" 
 
 " As you say, sir. Mr. and Mrs. Livingston will repre 
 sent my friends, and if Sappha's nearest relatives are wit 
 nesses the company will be of the proper size. Why should 
 we ask half of New York to gaze at the most sacred and 
 private of all domestic events? " 
 
 " Well, then, we will let it be so. Can you arrange 
 for such a wedding, Carlita say on the morning of the day 
 we leave? " 
 
 " I can do my best, Gerardus." 
 
 " The packet sails at two o'clock in the afternoon. I 
 suppose the marriage could take place at twelve." 
 
 312
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 " Better say at ten o'clock, Gerardus. We shall need 
 time to change our dresses and pack up the last things." 
 
 " True. Then, Leonard, we will say ten o'clock next 
 Wednesday. Is that right ?" 
 
 " If Sappha and Mrs. Bloommaert say so. I suppose it 
 cannot be Saturday or Monday? " 
 
 " Impossible," answered Mrs. Bloommaert. " There is 
 a wedding dress to make." 
 
 " Sappha has plenty of pretty dresses." 
 
 " She has not, however, a wedding dress. She cannot be 
 married without one." 
 
 " Then perhaps it ought to be bought to-night. There is 
 plenty of time yet." 
 
 " In the morning will do." 
 
 " If it should not be ready - " 
 
 " I will attend to that," said Mrs. Bloommaert, and her 
 manner was not only confident, but final on the subject. 
 
 " I must go out for an hour after tea, but when I return 
 we can talk over a few business points," said the judge to 
 Leonard; and the young man was so elated and happy he 
 only smiled ; he could say neither yes nor no ; everything 
 had slipped from his consciousness but the joy of being near 
 Sappha, of seeing her face, of hearing her speak, and feeling 
 the clasp of her hand within his own. 
 
 Then when the judge had gone Mrs. Bloommaert said to 
 Sappha: "I have a letter to write to your grandmother; 
 a very important letter, and I shall have to pick my thoughts,
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and choose my words, and that is a thing I cannot do if you 
 and Leonard are whispering behind me. Go into the other 
 parlour, and make your little arrangements there." 
 
 Very willingly they obeyed, and the sight of the piano 
 was enough to raise the spirit of melody in Leonard's heart. 
 " Let us sing one song together, dearest," he said, and Sappha 
 found the key of the locked instrument, while Leonard 
 searched among the piled music sheets for some song fit for 
 the happy hour. 
 
 " Love's Maytime," he cried. " That sounds well." And 
 he stooped and kissed her as she seated herself. Their heads 
 bent toward each other, they were radiant with the most 
 transporting love and their hearts ravished with the bliss 
 of their reunion. 
 
 " Sing, my love, and sadden me into deeper joy," whis 
 pered Leonard; and soft and low to the simple melody 
 Sappha sang: 
 
 "We two will see the springtime still 
 
 In days with autumn rife; 
 When wintry winds blow bleak and chill 
 And we near the bourne of life. 
 
 "For love is ever young and kind, 
 
 And love will with us stay 
 Till we in Life's December find 
 A path of endless May." 
 
 Louis Ledoux. 
 
 Leonard caught the melody quickly, and Mrs. Bloom- 
 maert stopped her writing to listen. " Their voices are like
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 one," she thought. " They are happy, they may be more 
 so, but ' a path of endless May ' is asking a great deal ; 
 and yet, as we grow old and unbeautiful, the thought of end 
 less life, and endless youth, and endless love, and endless 
 May helps to make grey hair and failing strength bearable. 
 What was it I heard Rose singing last night? Something 
 of the same kind some Methodist hymn about endless 
 spring : 
 
 "There everlasting spring abides 
 And never fading flowers." 
 
 " Yes, everlasting spring would bring endless May, but 
 I wish they would not now sing about it, the music inter 
 feres, I cannot write my letter, and if madame is not im 
 mediately informed of the marriage she will be offended." 
 Yet she did not silence the music. She understood that for 
 the lovers the world was just then revolving in Paradise, 
 and that music is the language of Paradise. So she erased, 
 and wrote over, and finally finished with an apology for 
 all her mistakes. 
 
 Very soon the judge returned, and when he had lit his 
 pipe he called Leonard to join him; and they sat down 
 together and talked of their intended voyage. " It is a 
 purely business visit to England as far as I am concerned," 
 said the judge, " but we intend to be seen and to see ; for 
 there are many Americans in London at present, and with 
 some of them I am familiar. May I ask, Leonard, what is 
 
 315
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 0<s^^o<:sr>orsooo<sr!3oo<2=='oo<i=oco<a^>occ<3r=>oco<^3>oo-=ir=3>-iiii>oj<=^s>cco 
 
 taking you across the Atlantic at this time? Is Sappha en 
 tirely accountable? " 
 
 " Not quite, sir," Leonard answered. " Sooner or later 
 this year I must have gone to Scotland to fulfil my 
 father's last charge to me." No one questioned this remark, 
 and Leonard continued : " After the defeat at Sheriffmuir 
 my great-grandfather found himself on the brink of ruin. 
 His clan had virtually perished, and he had given his last 
 sovereign to The Cause. Emigration was all that remained 
 and he was the more eager for this outlet when he learned 
 that his name was on the list of the proscribed chiefs, and his 
 life in danger. He went to the Earl of Moray, who had 
 not been ' out,' and sold his estate to him on these con 
 ditions: To the third generation it was to be redeem 
 able; but if not then ransomed it might be sold, though 
 only to a purchaser bearing the name of Murray. My 
 father hoped to be the saviour of the place, but he died be 
 fore the investments made for this purpose had grown to 
 sufficient increase. On his deathbed he solemnly left this 
 duty to my management; and I vowed to him to fulfil 
 every obligation to the last tittle. I now find myself able 
 to honour my pledge, and I am going to Scotland to 
 do it." 
 
 " That is right," said the judge. " Where is this estate? " 
 
 " In the Highlands of Scotland, north of Inverness. It is 
 
 a romantic country, and I expect great pleasure from the 
 
 journey; especially as I hope now that Sappha may go with 
 
 316
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 with me ; but we can decide that question when we are closer 
 to it." 
 
 "Certainly. You intend then to buy back the estate? 
 Will that be of any advantage to you? " 
 
 " Not financially just yet. But I have great faith 'in 
 the future of land." 
 
 " What will you do with it? Rent it? " 
 
 " No. The few Murrays yet remaining there would re 
 sent a stranger over them. I shall leave the oldest of the 
 clan guardian of the place. The land will not run away. 
 The house is built of immense blocks of granite, and may 
 stand a thousand years. In time I shall find a profitable use 
 for both house and land one can always trust land." 
 
 This subject naturally brought to discussion a home in 
 New York, and the judge said, " As the Government House 
 is on the point of being pulled down, I shall buy a lot on 
 the south of the Bowling Green and build a handsome 
 dwelling on it for Sapphira. Like you, Leonard, I have 
 faith in land. When this part of the city ceases to be soci 
 ally desirable it will become commercially valuable; and 
 commerce pays good rentage." 
 
 It was near midnight when all subjects growing out of 
 this sudden change of intentions had been discussed ; and the 
 days that followed were days of hurry and happiness. But 
 every one entered so heartily into the joyful girl's marriage 
 that nothing was belated or neglected, and on the evening 
 before the desired day there was time for all to sit down 
 
 317
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 and arrange the final ceremonies. It was then that Leonard 
 put into Sappha's hand, as he bid her good-night, the beaute 
 ous gift which is yet worn by her great-granddaughter. 
 With a kiss and a blessing he put it into her hand, and she 
 took it into the lighted parlour to examine. It was addressed 
 only 
 
 " To Sapphira, Sapphires" 
 
 and when the cover of the box was removed she discovered 
 a necklace of those exquisite Asteria sapphires which have 
 in the centre of their heavenly blue opalescence a star of six 
 rays. The judge had already seen them. He said Leonard 
 had bought them from a Creole jeweller in New Orleans, 
 and that they had once belonged to a beautiful princess of 
 Ceylon. 
 
 But whatever their history, never had they clasped the 
 throat of a lovelier woman than Sapphira Bloommaert on 
 the day of her wedding. The little company invited were 
 gathered in the ordinary sitting-room of her father's house, 
 but the June sunshine flooded gloriously the homelike place; 
 and Annette, who had been freely forgiven, had made it a 
 bower of white roses. On the hearthstone stood the domine, 
 and the bride's mother and grandmother were on either side 
 of him. Mr. and Mrs. Livingston, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, 
 Annette and Achille, Peter and his betrothed, Josette Ge- 
 naud, were the witnesses. 
 
 It was on her father's arm the lovely Sapphira entered. 
 Every one instinctively felt her approach ; conversation ceased, 
 
 318
 
 THE STAR OF PEACE 
 
 laughter was hushed, all were at pleased attention when 
 they heard the light footsteps and the gentle rustling of the 
 silk wedding gown. A kind of radiance came in with her; 
 came from her tall bright beauty, from the glow in her eyes, 
 from her fresh, sweet face, from the warm lights about her 
 shining hair, and the scintillating glory of the gems around 
 her white neck. In her hand she held a perfect white rose, 
 and either of design or by some fortunate accident she 
 stood exactly on the spot where she had parted from Leon 
 ard with the rejected, scattered rose between them. But 
 true love knows not rejection; from the ends of the earth it 
 returns to its own; it cannot retain a memory of offence 
 for ever and ever; it not only gives, but forgives. 
 
 Three hours after the ceremony the Bloommaert house 
 hold were on their way to England, and Peter had charge of 
 the house on the Bowling Green. " We shall be back in 
 the fall of the year," the judge said to his son, " for I have 
 much to attend to in New York this coming winter." 
 
 The judge kept his promise, but Leonard and Sappha did 
 not return with him. Sappha had accompanied her hus 
 band to Scotland, and after his mission to the Highlands 
 had been accomplished they lingered a while in Edinburgh. 
 Here they met an old acquaintance who was going to Hol 
 land and Belgium, and they went with him to these coun 
 tries. Then, the wander-fever being still upon Leonard, 
 they travelled southward to France and Italy, returning 
 
 3-9
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 to England by the usual tourist route through Switzerland. 
 And, as at that day the facilities for travel were small, and its 
 difficulties and hindrances for travel many and perplexing, 
 it was more than a year before they again reached London, 
 and turned their faces westward and homeward. 
 
 Homeward! The word tasted sweet in Sappha's mouth. 
 She said it over and over, and the first sight of the open arms 
 of the low-lying American shore brought happy tears to her 
 eyes. The Bowling Green at last! After so many strange 
 lands, after so many wonderful days in the old, old world, 
 here was the fresh young world, with all its splendid hopes 
 again ! The flag they loved, the homes they knew, the people 
 who belonged to them these things were best of all ; dearest 
 of all were the contentful sum of all their future hopes and 
 desires. The great cities, the fairest spots in Europe, were 
 now only as picture books and memories; but Home, Sweet 
 Home was on Bowling Green. 
 
 320
 
 CHAPTER 
 ELEVEN 
 
 Afterward 
 
 i 
 
 lt= - -*9F any of my readers believe marriage to be 
 the completion and consummation of individ- 
 ual life, they will be willing to consider the 
 story of Sapphira finished when she mar- 
 Leonard Murray. But if they rather 
 
 
 believe it to be the open portal to a grander and wider 
 life, they will find the few following pages a sufficient index 
 to a future which they can unfold and amplify from their own 
 knowledge and experience. So that I need only say that 
 when Sapphira Murray entered the beautiful home which her 
 father built for her on the south side of the Bowling Green 
 she could have had no dream of its future destiny. She dwelt 
 there in sweet contentment for many years, and died in its 
 lofty front chamber just before the war of 1860. Leonard 
 Murray did not long survive his beloved wife. He wan 
 dered disconsolately around the Green, or strolled slowly in 
 the Battery Park for a few months, and was then laid beside 
 her in that aristocratic little graveyard on Second Street, 
 which, though surrounded by the tumult of the city, keeps to 
 this day its flowery seclusion. 
 
 With the removal of these well-known figures the Bowl- 
 321
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 ing Green suffered a distinct social loss; and when Stephen 
 Whitney, who was a near neighbour of the Murrays, died 
 in 1 86 1, the prestige of its wealth departed, for Mr. Whit 
 ney was the richest man in New York, with the exception 
 of some members of the Astor family. From that date the 
 Bowling Green began to assume a business character, and 
 the homes of the Bloommaerts and Murrays no longer 
 sheltered their descendants. Lawrence Bloommaert, the 
 son of Captain Christopher Bloommaert, remained a while 
 in the house of his grandfather, Judge Gerardus Bloom 
 maert, but his family were all girls, and they married and 
 scattered through the Madison Square district, and even 
 still further north. Leonard and Sapphira's three sons had 
 fine homes in the Murray Hill locality, and their only 
 daughter Sapphira, who had married the eldest son of Peter 
 Bloommaert, was in 189 living in a spacious mansion on 
 the Riverside Drive. She was born in 1827, and therefore 
 at the period of these reminiscences nearing seventy years of 
 age. But she still kept the dew of her youth, and her chil 
 dren and children's children filled her splendid home with 
 the living splendour of youth and beauty and affection. 
 
 She was sitting alone one night in the fall of 189 . She 
 looked a little weary, her figure drooped slightly, her hands 
 lay as motionless as if they were asleep ; but there was a flush 
 of excitement on her cheeks, and her eyes were full of dreams. 
 She was seeing with them, but seeing nothing within their 
 physical horizon. They had backward vision at this hour, 
 
 322
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 und she smiled faintly at the scenes they flashed before her 
 memory. 
 
 In a short time the door was nosielessly opened, and a 
 much younger woman entered. She came toward the elder 
 one with a slow, easy grace, and taking her passive hands 
 between her own said : " Mother, you have wearied your 
 self. I fear you have been foolish to-day." 
 
 " No, no, Carlita," was the quick response. " I have had 
 a happy day. I am glad I took my desire. I did not expect 
 you. It is a Faust night; why are you not at the opera? " 
 
 " The opera will not miss me. Gerard has gone with the 
 little Van Sant girl; and of course Agatha Van Sant will be 
 present. I do not suppose the conductor would lift his baton 
 until he saw Mrs. Agatha Van Sant enter her box; then, he 
 would nod his satisfaction, and say with a lordly air, 'Let 
 the opera commence.' I shall see enough of opera this win 
 ter; and I want so much to hear about your expedition. 
 What time did you start? " 
 
 "About eleven o'clock. Gerard wanted to go with me, 
 but 1 wished to be alone. There was really no danger. 
 Dalby knows the city, and the horses obey his word or touch. 
 I went to my old home. I was in every room of it." 
 
 " It must be much changed." 
 
 " In accidentals, yes, very much changed ; but the large 
 sunny rooms and the grand seaward outlook are the same. 
 I went first to the nursery on the top story, and, Carlita, I 
 could replace every chair and table. I could see James and
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 Leonard and Auguste busy with their books and playthings; 
 and there was one back window that had a little embrasure, 
 which was very dear and familiar to me. In that nook I 
 read ' Robinson Crusoe,' and the ' Exiles of Siberia,' and best 
 of all, ' The Arabian Nights.' I sat down there and tried 
 to recall the long, long, happy days in which it was my 
 favourite retreat. I stood and looked downward over the 
 balustrade, and fancied I saw again my beautiful mother, 
 clothed in white and sparkling with gems, going out with 
 father to some dinner or ball ; and I remembered how I used 
 to thus watch for her coming, and call her; and how she 
 would stand still and lift her face full of love and smiles 
 to bid me a ' good-night.' Once at a little ceremony of this 
 kind I dropped her a white rose, and she put it in her bosom, 
 and my father laughed and called me ' darling ' and I went 
 to bed that night more happy than I can tell you. I stayed 
 some time in the nursery, and longer in my mother's room. 
 It had only sweet memories, for I never went into it with 
 out meeting a smile, no, not even on that last day of her 
 beautiful life, when she called us all to her side for the long 
 farewell. She died, as I have often told you, singing. She 
 had sung, more or less, all her life long; and she went away 
 faintly and sweetly singing, 
 
 " ' Hark, they whisper, angels say, 
 Sister spirit, come away ; ' 
 
 and after a pause, still more softly 
 
 "'Tell me, my soul, can this be death?' 
 3 2 4
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 See, Carlita, I brought some sprays from the honeysuckle she 
 planted on the seaward porch. Though November, it is in 
 bloom. My father put flowers from this same vine in her 
 hands after she was dead. It was a lovely, happy memory, 
 Carlita. In a little sitting-room I found a window pane on 
 which Annette St. Ange and my mother had written their 
 names, enclosing them in a very perfect circle, and I brought 
 the glass away with me. I could not bear to think that 
 some stranger, in the destruction of the room, might perhaps 
 tread the names beneath his feet." 
 
 " Grandmother must have loved Mrs. St. Ange? " 
 
 " They were close friends, especially after the disappear 
 ance of Mr. St. Agne." 
 
 " Mother, what was the meaning of that disappearance 
 death?" 
 
 " People generally spoke of it as death ; but my father and 
 mother knew better; and when Annette had passed beyond 
 mortal care and suffering something occurred I think the 
 marriage of her granddaughter in Paris that led my mother 
 to tell me the truth. To-day, Carlita, I saw Annette St. 
 Ange again, though not as I recollected her in life." 
 
 <! What do you mean, mother? " 
 
 " I saw her picture ; the one taken soon after her marriage, 
 and in her marriage garments I was at the Loan Ex 
 hibition." 
 
 "Oh, mother, why did you not wait for me to go with 
 
 you? 
 
 325
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Well, my dear, the bit of glass in my hand made me 
 remember the exhibit; and as I had heard Gerard say the 
 Van Sants were going to send some portraits, I suddenly 
 resolved to visit the rooms and see if Annette St. Ange's 
 was among them. And there I saw it very conspicuously 
 placed also; a wonderfully lovely presentment of a lovely 
 girl." 
 
 " But was it like her?" 
 
 " It was not like the Mrs. St. Ange I remember. The 
 portrait represented a fairylike beauty, dainty, exquisite, 
 with the bluest eyes and the palest golden hair imaginable; 
 an air of indefinable coquetry and grace; and a slight, girl 
 ish figure clothed in white from head to feet. But the Mrs. 
 St. Ange that used to visit my mother was very different. 
 She was always in black, her eyes were not pretty or expres 
 sive, her hair had lost all its glow, and her slight figure be 
 came round and heavy. She was also sad-looking. I do not 
 recollect her smiling. She seemed full of care. Still there 
 were points of resemblance, when you looked for them; and 
 you may be sure the bright, lovely girl did not become the 
 sad, hard-looking woman without many and long-continued 
 trials." 
 
 " She ought not to have married a foreigner. They do 
 not understand American women ; and then one or the other 
 goes to the wall." 
 
 " In the St. Ange case, it was Annette. Her husband 
 was soft as velvet and hard as iron. In some way she lost 
 
 326
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 her grip of the situation, and when men go one step beyond 
 their right they go too far. He never said an impolite word 
 to her; also, he ceased saying a loving word. She became 
 afraid of him, nervous, diffident, and suspicious. He had 
 only to remark in the blandest way that she was losing her 
 fine manners, and she lost them. In his presence she did 
 herself no justice. He looked critically at her, slightly 
 shrugged his shoulders, and she was as awkward as he con 
 sidered her. In five years no one would have known the 
 once sarcastic, clever, authoritative Annette de Vries. She 
 had subsided. She was forgotten ; and she hardly knew how 
 to frame a complaint of the way in which this condition had 
 been brought about. 
 
 " Fortunately, she found some comfort in her house and 
 her children, but Mr. St. Ange took no apparent interest in 
 either. It was a lonely pleasure. He was disappointed be 
 cause the three girls were not three boys. He spent very 
 little time in his home, preferring one or other of the clubs 
 of which he was a member." 
 
 " I think he was simply a brute." 
 
 " Not quite that he did not intend to be brutal. He had 
 taken a distaste to Annette. My mother told me that in 
 the days of their first acquaintance he had periods of this 
 distaste; a kind of repulsion which was overcome by the fas 
 cination of her great physical beauty. But the physical 
 beauty faded, lost its charm, and you can see, Carlita, what 
 would then happen. But he was never rude or actively 
 
 327
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 unkind; and in public he treated her with marked atten 
 tion and respect. If Annette had complained, no one would 
 have believed her; even her grandmother was sure in her 
 heart that Annette had managed badly a very good man." 
 
 " Poor Annette, I am sorry for her." 
 
 " My mother was sorry for her. She understood. My 
 mother, in matters of the heart, had a sort of clairvoyant 
 perception; and she never would listen to any one who 
 blamed Annette. This kind of life between Mr. St. Ange 
 and his wife went on for nearly ten years ; and then one day 
 he reached home in a strangely excited condition. He said 
 he had received a request, that was in reality a command, 
 to return to France and look after the affairs of his family. 
 He was going at once. He expected to be away at least a 
 year. Annette made no objection, nor did she ask any 
 questions about the business. She was quite aware that all 
 inquiries would be answered only as it suited her husband's 
 views. However, before he went he made over to her in 
 the most absolute way every dollar he possessed, both in 
 property and money. He said the ocean voyage was a life 
 risk ; that he had always been unfortunate at sea, and that he 
 -wished his wife to have no difficulty, in case of his death, in 
 realising his fortune. He himself took nothing away but 
 some changes of clothing. ' If he lived to reach Paris he 
 would have no difficulty concerning money,' he said, ' and if 
 not the thing he had done was well done and only an act 
 of justice.' And every one thought his conduct beautifully 
 
 328
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 thoughtful and unselfish. He went away on a night tide, 
 when no one was aware of his intention, and again people 
 said, ' How considerate! ' and Annette affected to agree with 
 them." 
 
 " Well, at least, she was clever. I should have done the 
 same, mother. Did she really grieve at his departure? " 
 
 " No. She turned all her attention to her money affairs. 
 One of her great troubles had been Achille's refusal to inter 
 fere in the management of her fortune; or even to permit 
 her to make any change in its disposition, however profitable 
 such change would be. ' Your most sensible grandfather 
 De Vries invested your money, and neither you nor I can 
 improve upon his financial foresight,' was the usual answer. 
 But times had changed, and Annette knew well that her in 
 vestments needed change of the most radical kind. She 
 made them without a day's delay. She called to her assist 
 ance the son of the man who had been her grandfather's 
 lawyer, and with his advice speedily nearly doubled her in 
 come. All that Achille had left her was closely secured in 
 real estate, and she found in this business such pleasant sat 
 isfaction, that she regained much of her beauty and old-time 
 spirit." 
 
 " She had thrown off the incubus, mother." 
 
 " Yes, and regained her self-appreciation. Her lawyer 
 praised her financial insight, her friends praised her appear 
 ance, she took the reins of household management again, 
 and held them with such strict method and discipline that 
 
 329
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 her servants, from being the most idle and insolent in the 
 city, became the most respectful and obedient." 
 
 " Did she ever talk of her husband ? " 
 
 " She never spoke of him until the year which Mr. St. 
 Ange had named as the period of his absence was more than 
 over. No word of any kind had come to her, and she said 
 to my father, that she expected none. Achille had told her 
 he would be too busy to write letters, and that she must 
 accept ' no news ' to be ' good news.' But he had given her 
 the address in Paris where she might write to him, if there 
 occurred anything worth writing about. My father advised 
 her to write and inquire as to the health and welfare of Mr. 
 St. Ange, and the date of his probable return. Annette did 
 so, and after the lapse of four months received a short note 
 from the lawyer she had addressed, saying: 'The ship in 
 which Monsieur St. Ange sailed from New York was lost 
 in the Bay of Biscay, and all on board perished. It is pos 
 sible, but not likely, that Monsieur St. Ange was picked up 
 by some vessel, whose course would take her round the 
 Cape to India or China, and thus prevent all intelligence 
 reaching us for a year or two. Madame is advised to con 
 sider this probability, but not to place much hope upon it.' " 
 
 Carlita laughed scornfully, and her mother continued: 
 " Annette took the information with a blank calmness ; no 
 one could tell what her feelings were. She continued her 
 busy life for three more years, and then one day a fashionable 
 gentleman, called Van Tienhoven, visited her. In the most 
 
 330
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 guarded and respectful manner he told her that he had just 
 returned from France; that while there he had, through the 
 influence of powerful friends, visited the Court of Versailles 
 several times, and that on two occasions he had seen there, in 
 close attendance upon the King, Mr. St. Ange, or, he added, 
 if not Mr. St. Ange, the most perfect duplicate of that 
 gentleman that can be imagined. Annette preserved her 
 composure until his confidence was closed, then gave it an 
 unqualified denial. She told Van Tienhoven that St. Ange's 
 lawyer had assured her of the death of her husband; and 
 begged him not to give publicity to the suspicion that he still 
 lived. She showed him how painful it must be to her, how 
 unfortunate for her daughters, and she emphatically declared 
 her own belief in Mr. St. Ange's death. He gave her his 
 word of honour to observe strict silence on the subject; and 
 the Van Tienhovens are all gentlemen. I have no doubt 
 the promise of secrecy was kept. 
 
 " But Annette became restless and unhappy, and both her 
 grandmother and my father advised her to go to Paris. 
 She went, taking with her Jonaca, the eldest of her daughters, 
 who had always been the favourite of St. Ange. In less 
 than four months she was in New York again. She came 
 back without Jonaca, and dressed in the most pronounced 
 widow's costume. She said unequivocally that her hus 
 band was dead, and that she had left Jonaca at a fine Paris 
 ian school ; her father's friends having strongly urged her to 
 do so, promising to care well for the girl. No one had any 
 
 331
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 right to doubt Annette's statement, but mother told me 
 that from the first there was a doubt. It was undefined and 
 unspoken, but it permeated society; and Annette soon felt it. 
 One day after some particularly disagreeable incident, she 
 came to my mother and told her what had occurred ; and 
 mother said, ' Dear, what does it matter? You know that 
 Achille is dead, do you not? ' And she answered in a sullen, 
 angry way, ' Sapphira, he is as dead to me as if he lay at the 
 bottom of the Bay of Biscay. There is no truer widow in 
 all America than Annette St. Ange. And then she pulled 
 the widow's veil from her bonnet, and the widow's cap from 
 her head, and flung them with passionate scorn far from her. 
 What confidence followed this act mother never fully told 
 me; but I gathered from what she said that she had been 
 compelled to give up Jonaca, who had been placed in a con 
 vent for proper education, and that the interview with her 
 husband had been extremely painful. But he kissed her 
 hand at the close of the negotiations, and he sent servants in 
 magnificent livery to attend to her luggage and passports 
 and all the other formalities of travel; and they waited on 
 her as if she was a princess, until they saw her safely on board 
 the American-bound vessel. 
 
 " Gradually I learned more of this domestic tragedy. 
 Judge Bloommaert told my father and mother that Annette 
 was in receipt of a large income from France. Later, I 
 heard that the notes authenticating this income were signed 
 by the Due de Massareene. A few years later Jonaca St. 
 
 332
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 Ange was introduced to French society of the highest rank, 
 and in about half a year we heard of her marriage to the 
 Marquis de Lauvine. Annette was proud of the alliance, 
 and announced it in all the New York newspapers." 
 
 " Now, mother, I begin to see how it is all the Van Sants 
 go to Paris ' for their luck,' as they say." 
 
 " You see only in part. Annette never spoke plainly to 
 any one, unless it was to my mother and her lawyer. Her 
 second daughter, Clara, went to Paris in her fifteenth year, 
 remained in the convent two years, and was then introduced 
 to society by her sister, the Marquise de Lauvine. But Clara 
 refused all French alliances; she had a child love for George 
 Van Sant, and she came home and married him. The young 
 est daughter, Annette, also went to Paris, and returned home 
 to marry Fayette Varian. Their children have all friends 
 in Paris, and some Americans wonder at the way they suc 
 ceed socially. To me it is no wonder. The de Massareenes 
 and De Lauvines are sensible of their right, and rather proud 
 of their rich American kindred." 
 
 " I understand now, mother, why the Van Sants and 
 Varians still crown Annette St. Ange as the most remarkable 
 of women." 
 
 " She was a remarkable woman. My- father did not 
 hesitate to say to my mother and self, that she had done 
 wisely in accepting money in place of a very doubtful recog 
 nition. You see the marriage laws were uncertain to her, 
 and she knew well if her husband was a Roman Catholic 
 
 333
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 that circumstance alone might invalidate her own mar 
 riage." 
 
 " But was he a Roman Catholic? " 
 
 " Yes. Always had been, I suspect." 
 
 " Then I think he was very dishonourable, and - " 
 
 " We will not discuss that question. It involves too many 
 of our own kindred. Madame Jonaca, her grandmother, her 
 uncle, Judge Bloommaert, and her Grandfather de Vries 
 ought perhaps not to have taken the young man's ' conform 
 ity ' for reality. That is past. The atonement made was 
 very real and lasting. Immediately on her return from 
 Paris Annette bought a beautiful home, she had the finest 
 horses and carriages in New York, and she brought from far 
 and near the very best teachers for her daughters. But in 
 spite of this apparent extravagance she kept a strict account 
 of every expense, and made every dollar earn its fullest per 
 centage. Besides which, she speculated wisely, and was for 
 tunate in every money transaction she touched. The Van 
 Sants owe to her prudence all the luxury they enjoy to-day. 
 They do well to praise her. I was thinking of her bride 
 picture, and of the sad, sombrely clothed woman I remem 
 bered, when you came into the room. And I had just come 
 to the conclusion that her husband's withdrawal was a for 
 tunate thing for Annette and her daughters." 
 
 " She gave up all for her children. She was a good 
 woman." 
 
 " I do not believe she would have given up the crossing 
 
 334
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 of a ' t ' if it had not been for her children. She had spirit 
 enough to have fought every court in France, when she 
 was from under her husband's influence, but motherhood 
 was Annette's passion, and if the Van Sants and Varians 
 knew Annette St. Ange's true story they would give hearty 
 thanks and praise to the self-effacing woman who chose 
 for them wealth and honour in America rather than a for 
 eign nobility, with perhaps the bar sinister across it." 
 
 " I am going to take a good look at Annette St. Ange's 
 picture to-morrow, mother. I have been rather worried 
 lately at our Gerard's attentions to Clara Van Sant, but if 
 she has any share in her grandmother's reticent, self-respect 
 ing, prudent, far-seeing nature, Gerard has my blessing. He 
 can marry Clara to-morrow. What have you done with 
 that square of glass, mother? " 
 
 " It is in my desk." 
 
 " I would have it fitted into one of the windows in your 
 private sitting-room." 
 
 " Thank you for the suggestion, Carlita." 
 
 " I cannot help wondering at fate, or whatever you call 
 the power that orders our lives. Here were two women 
 brought up in the same kind of loving, orderly homes, and 
 surrounded by just the same influences, and the marriage 
 of one is a living tragedy, and the marriage of the other 
 is a song of love. How did the difference come to 
 pass ? " 
 
 " There were personal reasons in both cases to account 
 
 335
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 for the difference if there was all the dissimilarity you 
 suppose." 
 
 "Was there not?" 
 
 " No ; my mother's song of love had discords, and often 
 fell into the minor key. No one can tell in what particular 
 way a man will try the heart of the woman that loves him. 
 My dear father had some failings that might have made sor 
 row enough, but mother knew how to accept the discipline; 
 and in some cases we are reaping the benefit this day, both 
 of my father's foibles and my mother's wise acceptance of 
 them." 
 
 " I have always believed Grandfather Murray to have 
 been a nearly faultless man." 
 
 " Under some circumstances his failings would have been 
 virtues ; but when a man marries he assumes duties which are 
 paramount, and which demand a sacrifice of things in them 
 selves innocent and even commendable. He had a love for 
 travel, adventure, and even fighting, that at times became a 
 hunger that must be satisfied; and these periods were often 
 of, long duration, and caused my mother infinite alarm and 
 anxiety. I will only give you two instances, and these two, 
 because they are prominent factors in our present life." 
 
 " One of them is, of course, Castle Murray in Scot 
 land?" 
 
 " Yes. You know the story of its loss and redemption. 
 But that was but the beginning. The old place seemed to 
 draw father like a magnet, and he doubtless spent a great 
 
 336
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 deal of money on its improvement; for he built additional 
 rooms and inaugurated industries which I believe are still 
 in progress." 
 
 " He was making the land valuable, mother. Was not 
 that wise ? " 
 
 " It did not look like wisdom to my anxious mother, and 
 when my eldest brother James died it looked still less pru 
 dent. But my brother Alexander was then ' Murray of 
 Castle Murray,' and he was as fanatic as his father and elder 
 brother had been. His son David was equally proud of the 
 old grey walls, and you know how Gerard plumes himself 
 on being heir to the place." 
 
 " Yes, I know ; but, mother, the Scotch place is now a very 
 distinctive and valuable property. You are as proud as any 
 of us, when the newspapers announce ' Mr. Gerard Murray 
 and a party of friends en route to Castle Murray, his ances 
 tral home in the Scotch Highlands, for the shooting season.' 
 And the years Gerard does not himself go there he rents the 
 place for an almost incredible sum to some rich American or 
 Englishman. I am sure we should miss the money, as well 
 as the distinction, Murray Castle brings us if it was no longer 
 ours. For my part, I think my Grandfather Murray did a 
 very wise thing in buying back and renovating the old home. 
 I do believe it will prove one of his best speculations." 
 
 " I do not doubt your faith, Carlita ; and you must remem 
 ber, I am now giving you instances of good results from 
 your grandfather's wandering fever. For you know wherever 
 
 337
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 he went the lust for land went with him. He had also the 
 strangest instinct concerning its value. In some occult way 
 he divined the fortune of land, just as some fishermen point 
 out to the fleet of boats exactly where the school of herring 
 swim, though no ripple on the water and no shimmer of the 
 fish show to the ordinary eye or, as I myself have seen, a 
 man step out from his comrades and say ' You may dig 
 here, there is water beneath our feet.' In some such way, 
 your grandfather could pick out the corners of certain streets, 
 and even plots and parcels of unplanted lands, as future 
 desirable locations." 
 
 " I do wish, mother, such an instinct was hereditary, and 
 that it had come my road." 
 
 " It was a special gift, and perhaps was allied to the 
 second-sight that was not uncommon among his people. I 
 was going to tell you that about 1850 he went to New 
 Orleans. He had property there, and always kept it, my 
 mother thought, because it gave him a plausible excuse for a 
 journey when he could find no other. Well, on this jour 
 ney he met, in New Orleans, General Sam Houston. The 
 two men loved each other on sight, and your grandfather 
 went back with him to Texas. He was infatuated with the 
 country. He wrote mother the most extravagant love let 
 ters, all inspired by the skies, and the prairies, the wonderful 
 sunshine, the intoxicating atmosphere, and the seas of flowers 
 nodding, even at his bridle reins. And my dear mother 
 affected an equal enthusiasm; she told him to enjoy the trip 
 
 338
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 >cco-.s=>flo<==>ca<s=s>wie<=c 
 
 in all its fulness not to hurry home. She assured him all 
 was well and that she was able to manage affairs a little 
 longer without him." 
 
 " I suppose she knew that he would stay until the fever of 
 wandering had exhausted itself?" 
 
 " Perhaps she did; but even if so, her sympathy made him 
 more happy. He remained in Texas nearly a year, and, of 
 course, bought land there. Some of this land has been very 
 advantageously turned into cash; but there was one tract he 
 would never part with. To be sure, no one seemed to want 
 it; and I have heard Texans who came to our house where 
 they were always welcome ask him what motive he had in 
 buying land so valueless. He always laughed a little, and 
 said, ' It was a fancy of his.' Then they would laugh, 
 and tell him that ' he was rich enough to buy a fancy.' All 
 the same, it was easy to see they thought either that my 
 father had been cheated or else that he was a mighty poor 
 judge of land and localities. But nothing altered his opin 
 ion of the Texas property, and he took a promise both from 
 my brothers and myself that we would not sell it for fifty 
 years. Well, Carlita, you know how it turned out? " 
 
 " Mother ! You mean the oil lands ? Good gracious ! 
 How could grandfather know? There was no oil found 
 below ground in his day how could he know ? " 
 
 " So you see, though mother had these periods of loneli 
 ness and trial, we are reaping their harvest; and I am sure 
 she is glad of it." 
 
 339
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Grandfather was a strange ' mixture of the elements ' ; so 
 shrewd and worldly-wise, and yet so romantic." 
 
 " You may add sentiment to the romance. When he first 
 entered Castle Murray he saw it exactly as it had been left. 
 No one had touched anything. The old chief's chair, as he 
 pushed it from the table when he had eaten his last meal in 
 the home he was leaving, remained just at the angle taken ; a 
 half-bottle of usquebaugh and an unbroken glass stood on 
 the bare oak table. The dust of generations lay an inch 
 thick, and on the hearthstone were a few remnants of half- 
 burnt wood. These remnants your grandfather carefully 
 gathered, and when the first fire in the Bowling Green house 
 was lit they kindled it. But no one who ever saw Leonard 
 Murray buying or selling land would have dreamed that he 
 had room in his heart for a bit of sentiment like that." 
 
 " I have heard him called a shrewd, hard man." 
 
 " I know. Listen again. You have complained of the 
 superabundance of white roses at our old country home up 
 the river? " 
 
 " Well, mother, they are absurdly out of proportion. They 
 cover walls and fences and over-run the garden, and ought 
 to give place, in part, to other flowers." 
 
 " Not while I live. My mother and father carefully 
 reared the first growth from the seeds of one white rose, 
 which in some way was vitally connected with their love. 
 There was a quarrel, and my mother rejected the rose; and 
 father kept it, and then after they were married they planted 
 
 340
 
 AFTERWARD 
 
 the seed, and watched and nourished it, until it became a 
 tree bearing white roses. From slips of that tree the garden 
 has been garlanded with roses. I do not wish it changed, 
 until you have put the last earthly rose in my cold hands." 
 
 " Dear mother! Dear mother! " 
 
 They talked over these incidents until Gerard returned; 
 and then as they took some slight refreshment together fell 
 into speculations concerning the past and present Bowling 
 Green. Gerard was sympathetic with its past, but enthu 
 siastic as to its future. And when Mrs. Bloommaert spoke 
 feelingly of the dignified men who in early days had been 
 the familiar figures on its pleasant sidewalks, Gerard 
 answered : 
 
 " Dear auntie, these dignified old merchants in breeches 
 and beavers and fine lawn ruffles have most worthy suc 
 cessors in the clean-shaved men of to-day, sensibly clothed 
 from their soft hats to their comfortably low-cut shoes. 
 Would it not be delightful to show some of these old, dig 
 nified merchants over the new Bowling Green? Take them 
 through Nassau Street and way up Broadway? I think 
 they would need all the training they have been having since 
 they died to bear it." 
 
 " You ought not to speak so lightly of the future life, 
 Gerard." 
 
 " Auntie, your pardon ! But do you think that only the 
 incarnated improve ? May not the de-incarnated be progress 
 ing also ? " 
 
 341
 
 THE BELLE OF BOWLING GREEN 
 
 " Of that condition I have no knowledge ; but we all 
 know that the first builders of New York had the hard part. 
 They laid the foundation of all that has been done." 
 
 " All right, aunt ; but the men of to-day have built well 
 and loftily on their foundation. If they could see the 
 Bowling Green to-day, and the magnificent commercial city 
 of which it is the centre if they could see the elevated roads, 
 the motor cars, the railways, telegraphs, and ocean cable 
 service and all the rest of our business facilities, I am sure 
 they would have no words for their astonishment and 
 delight." 
 
 " Well, children, I have lived a long time to-day. I be 
 long to the past. I am tired. Good-night, Gerard." 
 
 " Good-night, aunt. Dream of the past, but be sure that 
 however enterprising, energetic, patriotic, and far-seeing those 
 old-time New Yorkers were, there is just as much enterprise 
 and energy, just as much patriotism and prudence, with the 
 New Yorkers of to-day, for 
 
 " The bold brave heart of New York 
 Still beats on the Bowling Green ! " 
 
 THE END 
 
 342
 
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