The Daughter of a Republican Part 8

After Judge Thorn had picked up and rearranged his papers he looked toward Jean, who had suddenly grown quiet. In her face he saw something that was new to him and that in some way sent a little jealous pang to his heart. Her face was a dream study. A soft, far-away expression rested over it, and her father knew that she was somewhere, away from her surroundings, but he did not interrupt her. Presently she spoke:

"I saw a man to-day."

"I supposed that you had seen several."

"Well, of course," the girl admitted, "but I rarely notice men, and that I remember this one so distinctly and think of him surprises me. He was tall and broad shouldered and dressed in a navy blue business suit, and I think probably he was the handsomest man I have ever seen, though I cannot tell why I think so. His hair and eyes were brown, his hair almost black, it was so dark, and a trifle curly. His eyes were clear and honest looking, with a touch of fun in them and something else that I have not been able to define, but that I liked. He wore a mustache, but it only partially concealed his mouth. I think perhaps it was his mouth that I liked best. It was a firm mouth, maybe a hard one, but I admire a firm man."

Judge Thorn laughed.

"You must have examined him pretty closely."

"No, father, I saw him at a glance some way. Perhaps he impressed me as he did because I was so disappointed in him. I saw him standing at a short distance from the animated crowd around the polls, looking on with an air of mingled amus.e.m.e.nt and disgust. I made up my mind that he was the very individual who would take one of my 'no-license' votes, so I asked him.

"He took off his hat and looked down at me, for he is tall, a look made of a little astonishment, a bit of fun and, I imagined, some pity, and said: 'I am really very sorry that I cannot do as you wish, but I cannot consistently vote against license, being myself engaged in the liquor business.'

"Of course I said no more, but I was never so surprised in my life, and to tell the truth, I was disappointed."

Judge Thorn looked relieved.

"I believe I know now why I remembered him so well," continued Jean. "He was the only liquor dealer among those I spoke to to-day, and ignorantly I accosted many, who refused my ticket in a gentlemanly manner. Yes, I have now seen a gentlemanly liquor dealer. I wonder if I will ever see him again. But see! Here are the horses, father. Come, let us go," she said, taking his arm.

"Poor father! I am sorry for you. It must be a trial to have so strange a child, but really I cannot help it, and I am sure you will forgive me when you remember that I am 'my father's boy.'"

CHAPTER VI.

THE NATION'S DEFENDERS.

It was one of those prophetic days of early spring when heaven and earth are filled with faint, far promises of the suns.h.i.+ne and verdure of the summer, and when an expectant hush fills all the air, save as now and then a breath of the awakening south wind stirs the faded memories of last autumn's glories where the dried leaves cl.u.s.ter among the thickets or in the fence corners.

The Thorn carriage occupied by Jean and the coachman, James, was rolling along a stretch of suburban road.

Jean had just left the home of the Crowleys', and sat in a reverie of sympathy and indignation. Personally she felt that she was absolutely safe from any harm from the traffic in misery and death; but this very fact made her more pitiful and more determined to use what influence and power she could command against it. The carriage slowed up a bit where the road divided.

"Which way, Miss Jean?"

"To the army post, James," and she continued her brown study, seeming to notice nothing of the landscape until they entered the ma.s.sive iron gates of the reservation.

Just inside the gates, on either side, heavy cannons were grouped in triangular fas.h.i.+on and surmounted with cones of cannon b.a.l.l.s. At regular intervals black sign-boards, bright with gilt lettering, gave notice that just so far and no farther, and just so fast and no faster, the public might travel in this well-arranged inst.i.tution of the government.

The drive around the inclosure was a long one, and when the Thorn carriage had reached the side farthest removed from the buildings, a sudden jar and crash startled Jean, and suddenly she found herself lying on the roadside.

Fortunately she was not hurt, and after she had brushed the dust from her eyes and pinned a rent in her skirt she found that only a slight break in the carriage had caused the accident. So after tying the horses to a hitching post at some distance, James pushed the carriage to one side, and with the broken part started to a blacksmith shop at no great distance outside the post, Jean agreeing to wait for him, unless he should be gone too long.

After James had disappeared behind the trees, Jean seated herself comfortably on a bench near by, and with her head resting against a majestic oak, gazed upward at the soft spring sky showing through the brown network of the branches. A bird a great way off circled against the floating clouds for a time and disappeared.

At one end of the inclosure the drill ground, checkered and bare, could be seen. Through the trees the red brick walls of the houses in the officers' quarters showed, while, looking in another direction, she could see a number of stone buildings with porches running their entire length, onto which opened many doors.

A little removed from all these was a common frame building, which, judging by the number of soldiers gathered around it, was the popular resort of the post. This was the canteen.

Jean's eyes fell with displeasure upon this. It seemed to her like a dark blot upon an otherwise fair picture; like a grave mistake in an otherwise well-ordered inst.i.tution.

A couple of peafowl trailed their plumage over the dry brown gra.s.s across the way from her, and in the slanting rays of the sun they looked like brilliant jewels against the rough and dingy background. But their harsh notes seemed at variance with their beauty, and this, too, made Jean think of the government--a government born more beautiful than any other, and reared in its infancy with the care of a child, yet presenting to the world, by its administration, which is a government's voice, an inconsistency appalling.

Far from broken axles and torn skirts Jean's thoughts traveled, until she was brought to a sense of her surroundings by footsteps, and looking up she saw that two soldiers had turned the curve that shut off the view of the main road and were coming toward her.

One was a thick-set man of about middle age. He had that untidy appearance that marks a slovenly person, and will appear even in a soldier in spite of all wise and well-directed efforts on the part of a government to keep him neat. His large, light gray, campaign hat was pulled down well over his eyes and a short cob pipe was clinched between his teeth.

The other man was younger and not as heavy. He wore a long coat, open from the neck down, and his cap, set on one side of his head, left his bleared and bloated face in full view.

As they came nearer the younger man staggered fearfully, and Jean knew that he was intoxicated. A feeling, half fear and half loathing, took possession of her as these two ill-visaged privates came nearer; but supposing they would pa.s.s, she kept her seat.

"Take-a-hic-your pipe-a-hic-out, in-a-hic-the presence of-a-hic-ladies,"

the man in the long cloak said.

The thick-set man took his pipe from his teeth and knocked the ashes out against the palm of his hand.

They were directly in front of Jean now.

The man in the long cloak made a tottering bow and addressed her.

"May a-hic we sit down?"

"Certainly," said Jean, the blood rus.h.i.+ng to her face at their boldness, and she hurriedly started to her feet.

"Keep-a-hic-your seat and-a-hic-don't get agitated; we're-a-hic-gentle-mench."

The thick-set man had already seated himself, and the other man followed his example, forcing Jean to a place by his side.

Judging the thick-set man to be the least intoxicated and more decent, she appealed to him for protection. The lower part only of his face was visible, but she saw that he laughed.

"He don't mean no harm. Keep still and he'll go on about his business,"

he a.s.sured her.

Jean's face blazed and her heart beat with the force of four.

The tall man emptied his mouth of tobacco juice and other fluids and substances, and the sickening mixture fell so close to Jean's foot that her boot was spattered. Then he wiped the dribbles on the back of his hand and turned to her.

He bent so close that his hot, foul breath struck her with staggering force and his bloated face almost touched her cheek.

"You're-a-hic-a little peach," he said, with a leer, "and-a-hic-I'm-a-hic-a going to k-k-kiss you."

It was then Jean screamed with all her might, and at the same moment a man sprang to her rescue from a light buggy that had rounded the bend of the drive un.o.bserved.

The thick-set man suddenly disappeared, but the other soldier, either too drunk for rapid movement or too muddled to understand the gravity of the situation, only rose to his feet and stood leering at Jean with disgusting admiration.