1. CHAPTER I.
Every reader of Belle Boyd's narrative will remember
an allusion to a “lovely, fragile looking
girl of nineteen,” who rivaled Belle Boyd in devotion
to the Southern cause, and who, like her, earned
the enviable distinction of being a “rebel spy.”
I am that “fragile” young creature. Although
on friendly terms with the late Miss Boyd, now Mrs.
Harding, candor compels me to state that nothing
but our common politics prevents me from exposing
the ungenerous spirit she has displayed in this allusion.
To be dismissed in a single paragraph after
years of—but I anticipate. To put up with this
feeble and forced acknowledgment of services rendered
would be a confession of a craven spirit, which,
thank God, though “fragile” and only “nineteen,” I
do not possess. I may not have the “blood of a Howard”
in my veins, as some people, whom I shall not
disgrace myself by naming, claim to have, but I
have yet to learn that the race of McGillup ever yet
brooked slight or insult. I shall not say that attention
in certain quarters seems to have turned some people's
heads; nor that it would have been more delicate if
certain folks had kept quiet on the subject of their
courtship, and the rejection of certain offers, when it
is known that their forward conduct was all that procured
them a husband! Thank Heaven, the South
has some daughters who are above such base considerations.
While nothing shall tempt me to reveal
the promises to share equally the fame of certain en
terprises, which were made by one who shall now be
nameless, I have deemed it only just to myself to
put my own adventures upon record. If they are
not equal to those of another individual, it is because
though “fragile,” my education has taught me to
have some consideration for the truth. I am done.
