Part 2 (2/2)
”And so you have joined the volunteers?”
”That's sartin. But why ain't you a-gwine to Mexico? That 'ere's a wonder to me, cap, why you ain't. Thur's a mighty grist o' venturin', I heern; beats Injun fightin' all holler, an' yur jest the beaver I'd 'spect to find in that 'ar dam. Why don't you go?”
”So I purposed long since, and wrote on to Was.h.i.+ngton for a commission; but the government seems to have forgotten me.”
”Dod rot the government! git a commission for yourself.”
”How?” I asked.
”Jine us, an' be illected--thet's how.”
This had crossed my mind before; but, believing myself a stranger among these volunteers, I had given up the idea. Once joined, he who failed in being elected an officer was fated to shoulder a firelock. It was neck or nothing then. Lincoln set things in a new light. They were strangers to each other, he affirmed, and my chances of being elected would therefore be as good as any man's.
”I'll tell yur what it is,” said he; ”yur kin turn with me ter the rendevooz, an' see for yurself; but if ye'll only jine, an' licker freely, I'll lay a pack o' beaver agin the skin of a mink that they'll illect ye captain of the company.”
”Even a lieutenancy,” I interposed.
”Ne'er a bit of it, cap. Go the big figger. 'Tain't more nor yur ent.i.tled to. I kin git yur a good heist among some hunters thet's thur; but thar's a buffalo drove o' them parleyvoos, an' a feller among 'em, one of these hyur creeholes, that's been a-showin' off and fencin' with a pair of skewers from mornin' till night. I'd be dog-gone glad to see the starch taken out o' that feller.”
I took my resolution. In half an hour after I was standing in a large hall or armoury. It was the rendezvous of the volunteers, nearly all of whom were present; and perhaps a more variegated a.s.semblage was never grouped together. Every nationality seemed to have its representative; and for variety of language the company might have rivalled the masons of Babel.
Near the head of the room was a table, upon which lay a large parchment, covered with signatures. I added mine to the list. In the act I had staked my liberty. It was an oath.
”These are my rivals--the candidates for office,” thought I, looking at a group who stood near the table. They were men of better appearance than the _hoi polloi_. Some of them already affected a half-undress uniform, and most wore forage-caps with glazed covers, and army b.u.t.tons over the ears.
”Ha! Clayley!” said I, recognising an old acquaintance. This was a young cotton-planter--a free, das.h.i.+ng spirit,--who had sacrificed a fortune at the shrines of Momus and Bacchus.
”Why, Haller, old fellow! glad to see you. How have you been? Think of going with us?”
”Yes, I have signed. Who is that man?”
”He's a Creole; his name is Dubrosc.”
It was a face purely Norman, and one that would halt the wandering eye in any collection. Of oval outline, framed by a profusion of black hair, wavy and perfumed. A round black eye, spanned by brows arching and glossy. Whiskers that belonged rather to the chin, leaving bare the jawbone, expressive of firmness and resolve. Firm thin lips, handsomely moustached; when parted, displaying teeth well set and of dazzling whiteness. A face that might be called beautiful; and yet its beauty was of that negative order which we admire in the serpent and the pard.
The smile was cynical; the eye cold, yet bright; but the brightness was altogether _animal_--more the light of instinct than intellect. A face that presented in its expression a strange admixture of the lovely and the hideous--physically fair, morally dark--beautiful, yet brutal!
From some undefinable cause, I at once conceived for this man a strange feeling of dislike. It was he of whom Lincoln had spoken, and who was likely to be my rival for the captaincy. Was it this that rendered him repulsive? No. There was a cause beyond. In him I recognised one of those abandoned natures who shrink from all honest labour, and live upon the sacrificial fondness of some weak being who has been enslaved by their personal attractions. There are many such. I have met them in the _jardins_ of Paris; in the _casinos_ of London; in the cafes of Havanna, and the ”quadroon” b.a.l.l.s of New Orleans--everywhere in the crowded haunts of the world. I have met them with an instinct of loathing--an instinct of antagonism.
”The fellow is likely to be our captain,” whispered Clayley, noticing that I observed the man with more than ordinary attention. ”By the way,” continued he, ”I don't half like it. I believe he's an infernal scoundrel.”
”Such are my impressions. But if that be his character, how can he be elected?”
”Oh! no one here knows another; and this fellow is a splendid swordsman, like all the Creoles, you know. He has used the trick to advantage, and has created an impression. By the by, now I recollect, you are no slouch at that yourself. What are you up for?”
”Captain,” I replied.
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