Part 7 (2/2)
These words served to recall to her instantly the fact that I was not of her own people; there appeared to come again into her manner that marked restraint which had almost totally disappeared during the last few minutes. Not that she failed in any kindness or consideration, but a growing reserve put check upon what was fast becoming the intimacy of friends.h.i.+p. Yet she performed her disagreeable task with all the tenderness of a sympathetic woman, and as she worked swiftly and deftly, made no attempt to conceal the tears clinging to her long lashes. Skilfully the deep, jagged gash was bathed out, and then as carefully bound up with the softest cloths she could find at hand. The relief was great, and I felt, as I moved the shoulder, that saving the soreness it would probably not greatly bother me.
”Now you must lie back and rest,” she said command-ingly, as I attempted to thank her. ”Here, put your head on this cloak. But first it will do you good to have more of the brandy, for you are as white as death.”
”Merely a slight faintness; and I will only consent to indulge provided you partake first, for I know you require the stimulant as much as I,”
I retorted doggedly, gazing up into her face with an admiration she could scarcely fail to perceive.
She lifted the flask to her lips and did not answer, but when she handed it back to me there was a new flush upon her cheeks.
”And now as your nurse I command absolute quiet,” striving to speak gaily. ”See, the daylight is already here, and I mean to discover if this lone cabin contains anything which human beings can eat; I confess that I am nearly famished.”
”A most excellent symptom, and I imagine your quest will not be wholly vain. To my eye that greatly resembles a slab of bacon hanging beside the chimney.”
”It indeed is,” she exclaimed, ”and I feel as a s.h.i.+pwrecked seaman must on first beholding land.”
However my naturally energetic spirit revolted at inactivity, for the time being my faintness precluded any thought of doing other than obeying her orders, and I lay there silent, propped up against the logs, my eager eyes following her rapid, graceful movements with a constantly increasing interest. As she worked, the reflection of the red flames became mingled with the gray dawn, until the bare and cheerless interior grew more and more visible. Her search was far from unsuccessful, while her resourcefulness astonished me, old campaigner as I was; for it was scarcely more than full daylight before she had me at the table, and I was doing full justice to such coa.r.s.e food as the larder furnished. A Confederate soldier in those days could not well afford to affect delicacy in matters of the cuisine, and indeed our long fast had left us both where any kind of food was most welcome.
The eating helped me greatly; but for some time so busy were we that neither of us spoke. On my own part I experienced a strange hesitancy in addressing her upon terms of equality. Ordinarily not easily embarra.s.sed in feminine society, I felt in this instance a definite barrier between us, which prevented my feeling at ease. Now and then as we sat opposite each other, eating amid a silence most unpleasant, I would catch her eyes glancing across at me, but they were lowered instantly whenever I ventured to meet them. Finally I broke the stillness with a commonplace remark:
”I presume your people will be greatly worried by this time over your mysterious disappearance.”
A flush swept her throat and cheeks, but she did not lift her eyes from the plate. ”Yes,” she answered slowly, ”Frank is doubtless searching for me long before this.”
”Frank?” I asked, feeling glad of this opportunity to learn more of her relations.h.i.+ps. ”You forget, possibly, that your friends are strange to me. You refer to the gentleman who expected to meet you on the road?”
”To Major Brennan, yes.”
There was nothing about the tone of her reply that invited me to press the inquiry further. One thing, however, was reasonably certain,--the man she called ”Frank” could not be her father. I longed to ask if he was a brother, but the restraint of her whole manner repelled the suggestion.
”Did I understand that you have nursed in the Federal hospitals at Baltimore?” I questioned, more to continue the conversation than from any deep interest.
”Merely as a volunteer, and when the regular nurses were especially busy. Major Brennan was stationed there for some time when I first visited him, and I felt it my duty as a loyal woman to aid the poor fellows.”
”It was surely far from being an agreeable task to one of your refinement.”
”Oh, it was not that that made it so hard,” and her eyes were upon me now unflinchingly. ”It was the constant sight of so much misery one was unable to relieve. Besides, that was nearly a year ago; I was very young, just from school, and every form of suffering was new and terrible to me.”
”I greatly wonder you were permitted to go there at all.”
”The Major did object. He insisted it was no fit place for me, and that I ran the risk of contracting disease. But I generally have my own way, even with him, and in this case I felt it a duty to my country, and that I was right in my decision.”
I remained silent, striving vainly to frame some innocent question which should solve for me the problem of who and what she was. Suddenly she spoke softly:
”Captain Wayne, I feel I owe you an apology for my unwarranted and unladylike conduct last night. I am very sure now that you are a gentleman, and will appreciate how bitterly I was tried, how deeply I have ever since regretted it.”
It hurt her pride to say even this much, as I could tell by her downcast eyes and heaving bosom, and I hastened to relieve her embarra.s.sment.
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