86. CHAPTER LXXXVI.
SCENES AT THE CASTLE.
There was a succession of excitements in the Castle after
Wiry Willy had been sent to Washington. The agents of
Lord Slysir had found access to him with despatches from
his Government, transmitted by the Ocean Telegraph. These
seemed to confirm his Lordship in his policy, and now he
denounced Ruffleton openly.
General Toler, after sending off the negroes to their respective
masters, and seeing that the white followers of Fell,
consisting in great part of natives of the North who had
become citizens of the South, were hopelessly demoralized
and dispersed, encamped his army, now swollen to 70,000
men by desertions from the enemy, outside the Castle walls,
and in front of Maller, to whom he offered battle. Disappointed
in not being assailed in the position he had selected,
it was his purpose to become the assailant, when a messenger
arrived from President Randolph with orders to act
only on the defensive, and await events. But instead of a
hostile disposition being manifested by Maller, that General,
after the second day of the presence of General Toler,
fell back further down the valley, abandoning his sick and
wounded, amounting to several thousand men.
The Castle was illuminated very brilliantly, and there was
a festival in its capacious hall, in celebration of the prospect
of a speedy re-establishment of law and order throughout
the vast Confederacy. The aged Senator occupied one
end of the ample board, between the young ladies, while
the aged Dr. Love pronounced a benediction from the other.
Lord Slysir, with his captive companions, General Toler,
Colonel Bim, Major Fink, and other officers and gentlemen
were present. But in the midst of the repast the company
were startled by the shrill voice of one at once recognised
by Alice and Edith.
“Ha! ha! ha! Laugh! laugh! All ye sons and daughters
of America! The night is far spent, and the day is
dawning! I come, the herald of glad tidings! Who
shall stay me? Let me pass, I say!”
“Charlotte!” said Alice. “That is her voice! Let her
enter!”
“I knew it!” said the demented woman, rushing in with
the same helmet, cuirass, and spear, with which she had appeared
at the White House before its abandonment by the
President. “I knew the virgin of the starry brow would
have the door thrown open to Charlotte! Fair Maid of
the Morning, let me kiss the hem of your garment!”
“No, Charlotte!” said Alice, rising and kissing the pallid
cheek of the poor woman.
“And I, too,” said Edith, “claim the privilege of saluting
with a kiss the harbinger of glad tidings!”
“Glad tidings?” said Charlotte. “Yes! He comes!
The conquering hero comes! Hail to the chief who in triumph
advances! The Bridegroom approaches! The President
returns! I am the avant courier.”
“But sit down and eat and drink, Charlotte,” said Alice.
“You would not tarry and partake of the feast at Washington—do
not decline the invitation at the Castle.”
“No! brave and bonny lassie! I am hungry as a shark,
and thirsty too. Some wine! Never fear, but I will eat
and drink with you now! And I have earned my wages!”
And she did devour the viands with a voracity which attested
her need of refreshment.
“Now tell us where you have been, Charlotte,” said
Edith, when the poor creature had finished eating and
drinking.
“Where have I been? I have been to all the State Capitals
distributing the Proclamations, both the President's
and Ruffleton's.”
“And that was really good service!” said Senator Langdon.
“Was it not?” said she. “But before doing that I spent
a week in the camp of Ruffleton, reading the future to his
deluded followers. And now the future has dawned, and
my predictions have been verified!”
“But, Charlotte,” continued Edith, “did you not say the
President was coming hither?”
“I did! And I said the bridegroom was approaching.
Let your dear heart leap with joy, blushing daughter of the
North! And why are you so pale, thou heroine of destiny?”
said she, gazing at Alice.
“Am I pale, Charlotte? If so, it is with joy. Have
you not heard of joy having its victims as well as grief?
But I will restrain my heart from breaking with gladness.
I am glad—Heaven knows how truly glad I am to witness
the triumph of the Republic of Washington! But go on
with your narrative.”
“Two days ago I left the head-quarters of the President,
and, with Randolph's permission, plunged again into the
camp of the enemy. Ha! ha! ha! I will laugh! Did you
not hear my laughter at the door? Well, it is a farce.
There were the tents and the sick, but no army—”
“No army!” cried Colonel Bim.
“And who are you?” demanded Charlotte, gazing at the
gigantic form of the faithful officer. “Oh, I remember!
Alas for you! Your sword will be converted into a sickle!
No army—I say no army, but the army of the sick. All
who could run away had taken to their legs, and they
will be swarming here, ay, here, and everywhere, to-morrow—”
“Here?” asked General Toler.
“Yes, here, General—but not with arms in their hands.
Fugitives and mendicants, your foes will crave a little food
and water for charity! Nor was Ruffleton there—”
“Ruffleton not there?” demanded Alice.
“No—not there! Fled! no one knew whither. His
men, by hundreds of thousands, swarming like locusts, had
thrown away their arms and spread out in all directions in
quest of magistrates, before whom to swear allegiance to
the Federal Government, and to crave a little food for
charity!”
“This is most extraordinary intelligence!” said Langdon.
“You may rely on it implicitly!” said Edith.
“Charlotte never gives false information!” said Alice.
“How could she? Why should she?” she exclaimed.
“You have dungeons! If my news be not confirmed in an
hour, let me suffer—There! There! Hear you not the
rattle of hoofs? List to the bugle! Prepare all your
throats to shout for your country! God, and your native
land!”
These words had hardly been uttered before the huzzas
of a great multitude were heard in the distance; and soon
after the enthusiasm spread among the soldiers within the
Castle walls, and the sounds were echoed and re-echoed
in every direction.
“Huzza!” cried Colonel Bim, springing from his chair
and waving his hand over his head. “Excuse me, ladies
and gentlemen,” said he, a moment after, “but I never
could hear the hearty cheers of Young America without
flapping my wings and crowing!”
“For one,” said Senator Langdon, “I can pardon you
right heartily for that!”
“Colonel Bim!” said the Rev. Dr. Love, “there is not
only patriotism, but religion in huzzaing for the Union,
framed by Washington, under the auspices of God!”
“May God preserve it, then!” said General Toler; “but,
at the same time, may He preserve the honor and equality
of the South!”
“General!” said Alice, “believe He will preserve both.
My father is a native of the South. Confide in him.”
“I have drawn my sword at his bidding,” said the
General.
“And not only drawn it,” said Alice, “but flashed it
on the field of victory in behalf of the Great Republic!”
“The Great Republic!” said Lord Slysir, standing up;
“I propose the Great Republic of Washington!”
This sentiment was applauded heartily, but the clapping
of hands was interrupted by Charlotte, who rose hastily and
rushed out. A moment after, her shrill laughter rang
through the hall, and was succeeded by another deafening
burst of applause.
“The soldiers,” said General Toler, “have heard Charlotte's
news of the dispersion of Ruffleton's army.”
“General!” exclaimed Bim, springing to his feet again,
“that is Carleton's band! I know every bugle of the Blue
Caps! They are here! Behold the torches through the
loop-holes! The parade ground is filled with cavalry—
and here we are feasting and toasting—”
“The President!” exclaimed Alice. “Did you not hear
that! He comes! he comes! I heard his voice, Edith!
Let us haste to welcome those who thus announce themselves.
Let us bid our hearts be still—but give our arms
to the heroes.”
At that moment Randolph, Blount, and Crook appeared
at the entrance of the hall, having galloped up to the door
and dismounted before any one could announce their arrival.
We will not attempt to describe the scene that ensued.
The rapturous embrances—the joyful tears! But one incident
ought not, perhaps, to be omitted. General Crook,
dashing ahead of Blount, snatched up Edith in his arms,
and running away with her, was pursued with celerity by
his superior officer, to whom, at last, he was compelled to
resign the blushing maiden.
“That is my last act of nonsense,” said the humorous
General, with a sober countenance, as he rejoined the President,
and received Alice from her parent's arms.
“General!” said Alice, when the greetings were over,
“you have fought a good fight, but Edith has conquered!”
“How is that? I don't understand it!”
“Come!” said the President, “we have not leisure for
explanations. Let us dine.”
“Ay,” said Blount, “here's good cheer, and we have
keen appetites after a gallop of forty miles.”
“Fire away, then,” said Crook, suiting the action to the
word.
And during the repast, the President confirmed the news
brought by Charlotte. Ruffleton was a fugitive, and his
army had submitted to the Federal authority. More than
seven hundred thousand muskets and other small arms had
been given up or strewn along the roads. And while these
details were being narrated, General Toler was informed by
an officer that Maller had fled, and that his troops had
signed a submission in accordance with the President's Proclamation.
“Charlotte,” said the President, “has labored diligently
in distributing the Proclamations in the camps of the rebels.”
“And, father,” said Alice, “is not this the day named
in the Proclamation, beyond which no indulgence would be
extended?”
“It is, my daughter,” said the President, “or rather the
night—and,” he continued, looking up at the clock, “several
hours yet remain before the beginning of another day.
But the work of submission will be complete! The wires,
repaired by my friends, have brought me intelligence of the
public sentiment in the North and the West. Our troubles
are over. Gentlemen!” he continued, rising, “the rebellion
is at an end. Let us repair to the chapel. Come, Alice.
Take my arm, Langdon. Let us follow Dr. Love to the
holy altar, and give thanks to God!”
It was done. And God was present!
Long after the principal personages of this drama had
retired to their couches that night, the sounds of innocent
and patriotic revelry rang through the halls of the Castle,
and reverberated from the peaks of the mountains, where
bonfires had been lighted in celebration of the great
event. And thousands of stragglers from the deserted
camps of Ruffleton and Maller came in and partook of the
bountiful fare of the Federal quarters. Men, from different
sections, who had been recently armed for each other's destruction,
now embraced like brothers. The hungry were
fed, and the sick were ministered to.
