Show th master of f chaos by irvng arvi ng bacheller 1932 by irvint bachellor Baclic Bach ller eIlor service CHAPTER IX continued 13 yes tes I 1 thought that I 1 would put your superstition to the test and see what came of it well I 1 hope it may convince you moon boon or late keep it and see what happens I 1 shall never cease to be grateful to it IL did it lead you to the one nan man lie he asked to the man I 1 love as I 1 can love no do other when I 1 think of him I 1 forget father find and mother and friend she looked down at her pretty toot foot and there was a note of sadness in her tone as she asked have you not seen pat no and I 1 fear that I 1 nay may never tee see her hei again too bad I 1 war Is cruel the chances now are all in favor of harr barry y gage lie he Is terribly good looking 1 I agree to that 1 I an am even more deeply in love efian you and I 1 am frightfully jealous she ehe said bald as she arose and surveyed herself in a mir mirrored rowed panel lightly touching her hair 1 I cannot believe that you yon are really in love she che turned upon him with a pretty indignation in her eyes saying Is it not love when I 1 am thinking of him and laying plans for his happiness day and night my husband can be a british peer if he will my aunt has promised her influence and the Is a friend of the king and you are an american America nl 1 he exclaimed that would not stop my thinking of his welfare this stupid war cannot last for ever I 1 hope that before you go tonight I 1 can introduce you to him Is he expected here yes tes andi want you to know him 1 I suppose that he will be like all other men he answered with a laugh no he be Is not like any other man ile he stands alone I 1 must win him or my life has failed no doubt he has taken you across the kissing bridge lie ile referred to a famous bridge that crossed a creek on the bowery much frequented by young people for in crossing it boys and girls had long had the habit of saluting each other no but he has smacked me more mor e than once said nancy with a smile she arose and brought a beautifully bound and illustrated volume of 0 boccaccio and opened it as she sat close beside him what a play girl you are be laughed there could be no picture like you do you prefer to look at me she asked her face lighted with joy 1 I do still its like looking at red wine and one may drink too freely with ones eyes the scene was interrupted by a rap at the door colin arose and opened it the butler stood before them saying A messenger Is in the hall sir to tee see colonel cabot ile fie says that his business Is urgent sir colln colin went out to the front door here he found colonel tilghman an aide of the commander in chief who said aid general washington wishes you to report immediately at his office the young man returned to nancy saying laying 1 I am summoned to headquarters please give my thanks and compliments to your charming aunt must you go at once it Is urgent oh that little old woman 1 the girl exclaimed as the she stamped her foot impatiently does she know that I 1 am here 1 I am sure that no one at general headquarters knows of your being here she followed him to the door saying dont tell them please let it be one of our secrets you will come back to me soon will you not they may send me away he be answered not wishing to commit himi himself self then I 1 shall try to find you again she offered her lips tie ile kissed hissed her and they parted red ked even the darkness Is red I 1 he be exclaimed in a whisper as he be walked eastward it reminded him of things he had bad heard in the gossip of the camp officers who had served in europe had said that the primal urge was always at its worst in wartime ue ile had heard samuel langdon tell of the spring tide of lawlessness es that swept through the spirit of a race at war and turned the dikes and barriers of restraint into melancholy wreckage the brooks the rivers and the seas no longer knew their places ile he congratulated himself on the timely interruption of the proceedings under the root roof of 0 the baroness the spell of nancys weaving had been broken ile he would keep away from tier her A mans purpose must not be like the dew and the morning cloud in his time it was thought that love and war gave one some excuse tor for a temperament like that of cats and dogs but this vulgar philosophy was not for him school church ond iid home had bad been fighting it yet tec the heart of youth could never be quite secure after all there thera was tome home truth in what amos had bad said of 0 the need of tear fear and trembling 1 the lady washington sat with her knitting in a corner of 0 the great hall in the company of two staff wives she was looking for the young man in whom she felt a deep motherly interest her shrewd intuitions had told her that something was amiss familiar with all the gossip of the ladles in cambridge she had learned that nancy was a niece of the baroness she went to the young man and led him aside dear boy I 1 I 1 was uneasy she said you tou know that we women have A nose for danger I 1 took it on myse myself if to send for you I 1 am t too oo 00 superstitious ious sly my dear second mother you are always right and I 1 thank you pardon me it if I 1 say no more it Is now half after ten go you directly to bed tomorrow will be a busy day As soon as colln colin had finished his breakfast in the morning billy came into the office and said that mrs bowlby had called to see him ue ile found her in a parlor they sat down together she and tier her husband had bad come with general schuyler by boat from albany she said to him the ride down gae me a chance to be with my husband cut but that Is not my only reason for coming I 1 have something to tell you well if you have something to tell me I 1 am sure that it will be worth hearing she told him of the letter signed nancy which came on the horse and of her reason for reading it she had a vivid memory of its contents and quoted it almost word for word 1 I saw or thought that I 1 could see the motive behind the letter and it worried me I 1 have been sorry that I 1 did not burn it she had seen the frown gathering on his brow and the changing color of his face so it went on he be whispered yes it went on the next nest day she may have read it by now could you get a letter into canada for me if necessary I 1 will take it myself when do you go north the ship sails tomorrow morning at seven good I 1 I 1 will give you the letter and some money tonight at eight in his letter he told the whole truth of his meeting with nancy of the dinner the wine and the diversions that followed them in the celebration at cambridge he spoke of nancys letter and of how his knowledge of its contents had come to him through sirs mrs bowl bowlby by 1 I am human he wrote and the girl Is a most bewitching creature I 1 cannot claim to be a saint I 1 am of the common clay and you roll will have to take me on that level if at all but I 1 am no comrade of anacreon always I 1 haie thought myself unworthy of you but I 1 swear that I 1 love you sly my soul and body are for no other in this world As to nancys motive we can only guess and your guess may be as wrong as mine even extreme provocation cannot make me forget the restraint with which a gentleman should speak of a lady let us credit her with intentions looking to your welfare it Is a world of change and perhaps your heart has changed if not wait for me and be sure that I 1 am waiting for you I 1 love you I 1 have made a sacred promise and I 1 will not lay my honor in the dust 11 general washington out of his own pocket had lately paid colon his salary three months overdue that night he put the letter in mrs Bowl bys hand with a ten pound note 1 I shall go with it myself said mrs bowlby 1 I want to see that girl I 1 may find her in montreal or quebec within a week on a may day the woman set out from her inn for the near lake with a pack on her amazonian shoulders A man barred her light canoe CHAPTER X the birth of a giant probably because of certain of the events above recorded young colonel cabot was immediately sent bent to philadelphia with messages to congress and a letter to mrs adams from mrs airs washington there he was the guest of mr and mrs john adams at a dinner in their house he be spoke with rare discretion knowledge and eloquence of the character of the commander in chief and the condition of the army it was his familiarity with the spirit of the men in line which convinced mr air adams that the young man could render a service in philadelphia delp hla this leader in the congress advised the chief by post of his purpose and detained the colonel colln colin wrote to the lady washington 1 I have sat fit at table with the jolly doctor franklin and drunk out of his famous rolling punch keg that rumbles around his board the keg Is like hla his jokes that have stimulating punch in them the admirable sir mr richard henry lee of virginia remarked that he was surprised to find such extravagance in the home of poor richard well it la is easier to recommend economy than it Is to practice lt it said the doctor moreover it Is not as important to me as it once was A time has come when we should all praise the virtue of generosity and practice the art of letting go often I 1 see ice men who ho are consider ably but always decently drunk at t these philadelphia dinner parties of 0 all the great men I 1 have met I 1 think that franklin Is the wisest I 1 would like to sit humbly at his feet for a year and listen I 1 get the feeling that he Is somehow connected with the great inexhaustible source of wisdom one evening I 1 sat alone with him on oil the porch while mrs lees guests were ere dancing looking up at the stars our talk had become serious I 1 asked him if he believed in angels why not lie he asked from an ele elephant pliant down to an oyster one sees a gradual diminution of 0 faculties and powers so small in each step as to be scarcely perceptible there Is no gap cap but the gradation Is complete in as lendins from a man to the infinite one there must be also a long grada tion of beings of whom we can have no comprehension late one afternoon mr air adams and I 1 went to call on an elderly prominent citizen we found him on his front porch with friends friend ue ile wore a white lined purple coat with wide I 1 1 an colln colin read the declaration of independence cuffs and gold buttons and cambric wrist ruffles there was a great sliver tankard on a table surrounded by glasses the dear old gentleman was much engaged with the pouring often he would say oh my friend what Is the top of the glass tor for the servants are mostly dutch re and africans dressed in homespun stuff when their terms expire the ladles have to do their own work until other servants can be en in many streets there are wells in every dooryard the best people ride lo in coaches with heraldic designs em blazoned on their sides in one of them I 1 was taken for a drive through the near country where there are many large and beautiful houses on well tilled farms we ve saw cliveden stenton belmont mansion duck buck hill As an american I 1 feel eel a certain pride in this handsome city of thirty thousand people it Is a big city yet every man seems to know every other man find and his dog its library its hospital its workhouse its fire house bouse and wagon tank and volunteer company are monuments to the wisdom and public spirit of doctor franklin and other good citizens christ church Is an imposing structure all the pious folk despise the southward South wark theater where we went to see a performance of romeo borneo and juliet by admirable local talent it gave me melancholy thoughts of my own romance slay may it have a better ending so thinking thio hing oi or pat and of you my dear lady who have a tender interest in our welfare and lastly of my beloved general I 1 sign this hurried letter with affection colln colin cabot in a day of the debate on the resolution for independence colin sat beside doctor franklin mr air patrick henry soon to go to virginia as its governor was present lie ile was dressed in a peachblossom peach blossom coat A black wig curled over his ears nis HIS aquiline nose supported a pair of spectacles he sat silent and demure his rat er square looking head slanted very gradually to quite a prominence in the rear will you kindly tell me what Is in his background colln colin said to franklin many kinds of failure the doctor answered an idler in his youth loved fishing and hunting better than study A bit wild worked in a country store married at eighteen failed twice in business tended bar for a while to earn a living took to the flute and violin A hopeless bankrupt he began to study law in practice at twenty four he found himself A master persuader lie ile can forge and fling aphorisms that are like thunderbolts the spirit of amer amar ice Is in him richard henry lee with his caesarian head perfectly molded features erect figure and courtly manners was the most attractive man in that large group who were helping to make a new nation ile he was a delight to eye and ear when he arose to speak mr thomas jefferson fastidious in his dress sat quietly reading a book while a prosy man from the far south was making an unnecessary display of his opinions jefferson was a tall bony man tie he had the face of a scholar and arms abnormally long with large wrists and hands he was wag then thirty three years old there was a little sparkle of white in the wavy red dish brown hair that crowned his head of john adams the doctor said always an honest man sometimes a great man but now dow and then his indignation dig nation mounts to madness what do you think of simeon botts colln colin naked asked his mind reminds me of a horses horse belly the lie good doctor answered often troubled with intellectual colle colic ue lie Is like the holes in that curious duel of yours loaded with black sand nothing to do here but wear out the seat of his trousers tie ile and others have been caught speculating on oil the necessities of the army the young man sat through much of 0 the noisy contention that followed the resolution of richard henry lee at last he saw the spirit of america defying the gallows and the firing squads and lifting its voice in a courageous declaration of human rights it was a quiet scene ending in a deep solemn silence yet collo colin knew that the right hand of god was shaking the world the colo colonies n I 1 C s b had it d broken their moorings A new nation was born A sense of the greatness of that moment spread through the hall then suddenly a mighty tumult of voices I 1 the bell in the tower was ringing other bells were shouting the news for more than a hundred years of peace and prayer and plenty the soul of a people had been meditating in vils tills deep had bad been the throbbing fetus of an aspiration these thoughts were in the mind of colin cabot as he witnessed the wild enthusiasm in the hall lie ile came out of the hall with mr adams who said to him now we are committed and the gates of hell cannot prevail against us immediately colln colin set out for new york fork to take the good news to the chief he rode as rapidly as his mare could carry him and was less than two days on the road I 1 general washington read the report from mr adams with deep interest solemnly but calmly he listened to colins account of the proceeding la in congress ile he said with a smile my boy this news Is welcome and I 1 am much pleased that mr and mrs adams have a good opinion of you we have now to resolve to conquer or die relying on the goodness of our cause and the supreme being at one time and another colln colin had observed a like note of faith in the talk and conduct of the general he was always at sermon and prayers and once in an anxious time at cambridge when colln colin went to find the commander in chief with an important dispatch he be discovered the |