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SYNOPSI8.
, Benator John Calhoun Is invited to be-
•ome secretary of state in Tyler’s cab¬
inet. Ho declares that if he accepts Texas
and He Oregon must be added to the Trtst, Union.
sends his sscretary, Nicholas to
susk ths Baroness ven Hits, spy of ths
British ambassador, Pakenham, to call at
bis apartments. While searching for the
baroness’ home, a carriage drives up and
Nicholas the baroness, Is invited to enter. The Nicholas occupant
Is and she asks to
assist In evading pursuers. Nicholas notes
that the baroness has lost a slipper. She
gives him the remaining slipper as a
pledge wants that know she will regarding tell Calhoun England's what in¬ he
to
tentions toward Mexico. As security
Nloholas gives hsr a trinket he Intended
for his sweetheart, Ellxabeth Churchill.
tion Tyler tells Oregon Pakenham with England, that Joint occupa¬
of must cease,
that the west has rained the cry of “Fif¬
ty-four Forty, or of Fight." Calhoun He orders be¬
comes Nicholas secretary stats.
to Montreal on state business,
and ths latter plans to bo married that
night. The baroness says she will try to
prevent the marriage. A drunken con¬
gressman whom Nicholas asks to assist
In the wedding arrangements, sends the
baroness’ take. slipper to Elizabeth, by mis¬
and the wedding is declared off.
Nicholas finds the baroness In Montreal,
she having succeeded, where he failed, In
ing discovering Oregon. England’s She tells Intentions regard¬ slip¬
him that the
per ho had in his possession contained a
note from the attache of Texas to the
British ambassador, saying that If the
United States did not annex Texas with¬
in 30 days, she would lose both Texas and
Oregon. Nicholas meets a naturalist, Von
Rlttenhofen, who gives him Information
about Oregon. Tiie baroness and a British
warship disappear from Montreal simul¬
taneously. Calhoun i^igagea Von Rltten¬
hofen to make maps of the western coun¬
try. Calhoun orders Nicholas to head a
party of settlers bound for Oregon.
CHAPTER XXI.—Continued.
/ Her face was half hidden by her
hm, and her eyea, covered by their
daap lids, cave no sign of her
thoughts. The same cold voice went
on:
"You might, for Instance, tell Mr.
folk, wfilch Is to say Mr. Van Zandt,
that If hla name goes on this little
treaty for Texas, nothing will be said
to Texas regarding his proposal to
give Texas over to England. It might
not be safe for that little fact gen¬
erally to be known in Texas as It Is
known to me. We will keep it secret.
<You might ask Mr. Van Zandt if he
would value a seat In the senate of
these United States, rather than a
lynching rope! ' So much do I value
your honorable acquaintance with Mr.
Polk and Mr. Van Zandt, my dear
lady, that I do not. go to the latter and
demand his Signature in the name of
his republic—no, I merely suggest to
you that did you take this little treaty
for a day, and presently return It to
me with his signature attached, I
should feel so deeply gratified that I
should not ask you by what means
you had attained this most desirable
result! And I should hope that If you
could not win back the affections of a
certain gentleman, at least you might
■wlto your own evening of the scales
with him.”
Her face colored darkly. In a flash
•he saw the covert allusion to the
faithless Pakenham. Here was the
chance to cut him to the soul. 8he
could cost England Texas! Revenge
made its swift appeal to her savage
heart. Revenge and Jealousy, han¬
dled coolly, mercilessly as weapons—
those cost England Texas!
* She sat, her fan tight at her white
teeth. "It would be death to me If It
•were known,” she said. But still she
pondered, her eye alight with somber
fire, her dark cheek red In a woman’s
•nger.
“But It never will be known, my
dear lady. These things, however,
must be concluded swiftly. We have
not time to wait. Let us not argue
over the unhappy business. Let me
think of Mexico as our sister republic
•nd our friend!”
“And suppose I shall not do this
that you ask, senor?"
“That, my dear lady, I do not sup¬
pose ! ”
, “You threaten, Senor Secretary?”
“On the contrary, I Implore! Dear
Jady, may we not conspire together—
f»r the ultimate good of three repub¬
lics, making of them two noble ones,
later to dwell In amity? Shall we not
hope to see all this continent swept
free of monarchy, held free, for the
peoples of the world?"
For an Instant, no more, she sat and
pondered. Suddenly she bestowed
upon him a smile whose brilliance
might have turned the head of an¬
other man. Rletng, she swept hla a
eurtsey whose grace I have not seen
surpassed.
In return, Mr. Calhoun bowed to her
with dignity and eaae, and, lifting her
hand, pressed It to his lips. Then, of¬
fering her an arm, ha led her to hia
carriage. I could scaroe believe my
•yes and ears that ao much, and of so
much Importance, had thus ao easily
beer accomplished, where all had
seemed to near to the Impossible.
CHAPTER XXII.
But Yet a Woman.
fFoman turas every man the wrong side
out.
And never fives to truth and virtue that
Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.
—Shakespeare.
On tba day following my last Inter¬
view with Mr. Calhoun, 1 had agreed
to tate my otd friend Dr. von Ritten-
hofe« upon a short Journey among
the tioux’a ai Interest of our city, in
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“But May 1 Not See Your Father and Have My Chance Again7”
order to acquaint him somewhat with
our governmental machinery and to
put him in touch with some of the
sources of information to which he
would need to refer in the work upon
which he was now engaged. We had
spent a couple of hours together, and
were passing across the capitol, with
the intent of looking in upon the’ de¬
liberations of the houses of congress,
when all at once, as we crossed the
corridor, I felt him touch my arm.
“Did you see that young lady?” he
asked me. “She looked at you, yeas?”
I was In the act of turning, even as
he spoke. Certainly had I been alone
I would have seen Elizabeth, would
have known that she was there.
It was Elizabeth, alone, and hurry¬
ing away! Already she was approach¬
ing the first stair. In a moment she
would be gone. 1 sprang after her by In¬
stinct, without plan, clear In my mind
only that she was going, and with her
all the light of the world; that she
was going, and that she was beautiful,
adorable; that she was going, and that
she was Elizabeth!
As I took a few rapid steps toward
her, I had full opportunity to see that
no grief had preyed upon her comeli¬
ness, nor had concealment fed upon
her damask cheek. Almost with some
resentment I saw that she had never
seemed more beautiful than on this
morning. The costume of those days
was trying to any but a beautiful
woman; yet Elizabeth had a way of
avoiding extremes which did not ap¬
peal to her Individual taste. Her frock
now was all In pink, as became the
gentle spring, and the bunch of sil¬
very ribbons which fluttered at her
belt had quite the agreeing shade to
finish in perfection the cool, sweet pic¬
ture that she made
"Elizabeth!”
Seeing that there was no escape.
she paused now and turned toward
me. I have never seen a glance like
hers.
“How do you do?" she remarked.
Her voice was all cool white enamel.
She was there somewhere, but I
could not see her clearly now. It
was not her voice. I took her hand,
yes; but it bad now none of answer¬
ing clasp.
"Elizabeth,” I began; "I am Just
back. I have not had time—I have
had no leave from you to come to see
you—to ask you—to explain—”
'Explain?” she said eTenly.
“But surely you cannot believe that
I—”
“I only believe what seems credible,
Mr. Trist.”
I pulled from my pocket the little
ring which I had had with me that
night when I drove out to Elumhurat
In my carriage, the one with the sin¬
gle gem which I had obtained hurried¬
ly that afternoon, having never before
that day had the right to do so. In
another pocket I found the plain gold
ecu which should have gone with the
ring ibat same evening. My hand
t retailed “I as I held these out to her.
prove to you what I mean. Hero!
I had no time! Why, Elisabeth. I was
hurrying—t was mad!—I had a
to offer you these things. I have still
the right to ask you why you did
not take them? Will you not tithe
them now?”
Fhe *ut jny hand away from
gently. “Keep them,” she said, "for
the owner of that other wedding gift
—the one which I received.”
Now I broke out. “Good God! How
can I be held to blame for the act of
a drunken friend? You know Jack
Dandridge as well as I do myself. I
cautioned him—I was not responsible
for his condition.”
"It was not that decided me.”
"You could not believe It was I who
sent you that accursed shoe which be¬
longed to another woman.”
“He said It came from you. Where
did you get it, then?”
Now, as readily may be seen, I was
obliged again to hesitate. There were
good reasons to keep my lips sealed.
I flushed. The red of confusion which
came to my cheek was matched by
that of indignation in her own. I
could not tell her, and she could not
understand, that my work for Mr. Cal¬
houn with that other woman was
work for America, and so as sacred
and as secret as my own love for
her. Innocent, I still seemed guilty.
“So, then, you do not say? I do not
ask you.”
"I do not deny It.”
"You do not care to tell me where
you got it.”
“No,” said I; “I will not tell you
where I got It.”
“Why?”
"Because that would involve another
woman.”
"Involve another woman? Do you
think, then, that on this one day of
her life, a girl likes to think of her—
her lover—as involved with any other
woman? Ah, you made me begin to
think. I could not help the chill that
came on my heart. Marry you?—I
could not! I never could, now.”
“But you loved me once,” I said
banally.
“I do not consider it fair to mention
that now.”
"I never loved that other woman. I
had never seen her more than once.
You do not know her."
"Ah, is that it? Perhaps I could tell
you something of one Helena von
Ritz. Is It not so?”
"Yes, that was the property of
Helena voa Ritz,” I told her, looking
her fairly in the eye.
"Kind of you, indeed, to involve me.
as you say, with a lady of her prece¬
dents!"
“I hardly think any one is quite Just
to that lady," said I slowly.
"Except Mr. Nicholas Trist! A beau¬
tiful and accomplished lady, I doubt
not, in his mind.”
Still I went on atubbornly: “But
may I not see your father and have
my chance again? I cannot let It go
this way. It is the ruin of my life.”
But now she was advancing, drop¬
ping down a step at a time, and hsr
face was turned straight ahead. The
pink of her gown was matched by the
pink of her cheeks. I saw the IRtl*
working of the white throat wherein
some sebs seemed stifling. And So
she went away and left me.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Suceaaa In Silk.
As thlnss aft. I think women axe gen¬
erally Better creatures than men.—3 T
Courtage.
* 1VEa a pa f t , of , duties, when Ba
W hscington, , . to assist my chief in hid
r r
I#
personal and official correspondence,
which necessarily was very heavy.
This work we customarily began about
nine of the morning. On the following
day I was on hand earlier than usual.
I was done with Washington now,
done with everything, eager only to
be off on the far trails once more.
But I almost forgot my own griefs
when I saw my chief. Over him hung
an air of utter weariness; yet, shame
to my own despair, energy showed in
ail his actions. He greeted me with a
smile which strangely lighted his grim
face.
"We have good news of some kind
this morning, sir?” I inquired.
In answer, he motioned me to a
document which lay open upon his
table. It was familiar enough to me.
I glanced at the bottom. There were
two signatures!
“Texas agrees!” I exclaimed. "The
E ja Luerezia has won Van Zandt's
signature!”
I looked at him. His own eyes were
swimming wet! This, then, was that
mas of whom It la only remembered
that he was a pro-slavery champion.
"We are certain to encounter oppo¬
sition, The senate may not ratify,”
said he. ”1 am perfectly well ad-
vised of how the vote will be when
this treaty comes before It for rati¬
fication. We will be beaten, two to
one!”
“Then, does that not end it?”
“End it? No! There are alwaya
other ways. If the people of this coun¬
try wish Texas to belong to our flag,
she will so belong. It is good as done
to-day. Never look at the obstacles;
look at the goal! It was this Intrigue
of Van Zandt's which stood In our
way. By playing one intrigue against
another, we have won thus far. We
must go on winning!”
He paced up and down the room,
one hand smiting the other. “Let Eng¬
land whistle now!” he exclaimed ex¬
ultantly. “We shall annex Terns, in
full view, indeed, of all possible con¬
sequences. There can be no conse¬
quences. for England has no excuse
left for war over Texas. I only wish
the situation were as clear for Ore¬
gon. And now comes on that next
nominating convention, at Baltimore.”
“What will it do?” I hesitated.
“God knows. For me, I have d»
party. I am alone! I have but few
friends in all the world”—he t lied
now—“you. my boy, as I said, and Dr.
Ward and a few women, all of whom
hate each other.”
I remained silent at this shot,
which came home to me; but h«
smiled, still grimly, shaking his head.
"Rustle of silk, my boy, rustle of silk
—it is over all our maps. But we
shall make these maps! Time shall
bear me witness.”
“Then I may start soon for Ore¬
gon?" I demanded.
“You shall start to-morrow," he an¬
swered.
CHAPTER XXIV,
The Whoahaw Trail.
There are no pleasures where women
are not.—Marie de Romba.
In our own caravan, now pressing
on for the general movement west of
the Missouri, there was material for
hundred canvases. The world of our
great western country was then still
before us. A st i n and warlike people
was resolved to hold it and increase
it. Of these west-Dound I now was
one. I felt the Joy of that thought I
was going west.
The old trail to Oregon was laid
out by no government, arranged by no
engineer, planned by no surveyor, sup¬
ported by no appropriation. It sprang,
a road already created, from the earth
Itself, covering 2.000 miles of our
country. Why? Because there was
need for that country to be covered
by such a trail at such a time, Be-
cause we needed Oregon.
We carried with us all the elements
of society, as has the Anglo-Saxon
ever. Did any man offend against the
unwritten creed of fair play, did he
shirk duty when that meant danger
to the common good, then he was
brought before a council of our lead¬
ers. men of wisdom and fairness,
chosen by the vote of all; and so he
was Judged and he was punished. At
that time there was not west of the
Missouri river any one who could ad¬
minister an oath, who could execute
a legal document, or perpetuate any
legal testimony; yet with us the law
marched pari passu across the land.
We had leaders choeen because they
were fit to lead, and leaders who felt
full s^nse of Responsibility to those
who chose them.
At the head of our column, we bore
the flag of eur republic. Ob our Sank*
were skirmishers, like those guarding
the flanks of an army. It was an
army—an army of our people. With
us marched women. With us marched
home. That was the difference be¬
tween our cavalcade and that slower
and more selfish one, made up of men
alone, which that same year wag
faring westward along the upper
reaches of the Canadian plains. That
was why we won. It was Becaui*
women and plows were with us.
*to bk continued.)
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