The Lost Despatch Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  BANQUO'S GHOST

  Robert Goddard felt at peace with himself and the world as he strolleddown Pennsylvania Avenue on his way to the Capitol the next morning. Hehad spent most of the night explaining to Secretary Stanton the lay ofthe land in and about Winchester. Having been on many scouting partiesunder General Torbet, he was well acquainted with the ShenandoahValley, that "Garden of Virginia," as it was called.

  The Avenue was alive with people, and the army uniform predominated,although numerous congressmen hurried by, intent on dodging the mudholes which dotted the streets, so that they might reach the Capitolwith fairly clean boots and trousers.

  Goddard stopped before the Kirkwood House to watch with much amusementthe efforts of several negroes to drag a one-horse hack out of the mudinto which it had sunk up to its hubs. Suddenly the occupant of thecarriage opened the door and beckoned to him. Recognizing Mrs. Bennett,Goddard, with a rueful glance at his immaculate boots, flounderedthrough the mud to the side of the carriage.

  "Good morning, Major." Mrs. Bennett held forth a slender hand ingreeting. "This is a nice predicament; and I have an importantengagement at eleven o'clock."

  "It is too bad," sympathized Goddard. "Still, the condition of theAvenue is due to a patriotic cause; the passing back and forth of heavyartillery and cavalry all these years has made it like a ploughedfield."

  "Mud is not confined to this Avenue," sighed Mrs. Bennett. "Last Sundaymy carriage stuck in the middle of H Street right in front of St.John's Church, and my husband had to carry me to the sidewalk."

  "May I do the same now?" inquired Goddard quickly.

  Mrs. Bennett hesitated; Goddard's fine physique looked quite equal tothe strain of carrying her slight form, but she was not at all certainher husband would approve.

  "You are very kind, Major, but----" she began dubiously. "Oh, here isColonel Bennett." A tall soldierly man of middle age strode up to thecarriage. "My dear, you have arrived just in time to rescue poor me.Major Goddard, my husband. The major has just volunteered to carry methrough the mud, Charles."

  "Much obliged to you, sir," exclaimed Bennett heartily. "I was passing,and recognized my coachman, so concluded my wife was stuck again. Now,Cora, stand on the step, and I will carry you over to the hotel." Andin a few seconds, with Goddard's assistance, Mrs. Bennett was safelydeposited on the sidewalk.

  "It was a shame, Major, that you had to leave Mrs. Warren's so early inthe evening." Mrs. Bennett straightened her clothes as best she could,while she waited for her husband to return from giving directions tothe driver of the stalled carriage. "I hope it was no bad news thattook you away?"

  "Oh, no; Captain Lloyd came to tell me that I was wanted at thedepartment. I am afraid I must be running along, Mrs. Bennett. Will youexcuse me?"

  "Why, certainly, Major. Many thanks for offering to assist me. I hopeyou will come and see me before you leave."

  Thanking her for the invitation, Goddard bade Mrs. Bennett and herhusband a hasty good-bye, and resumed his interrupted stroll down theAvenue. At the corner of John Marshall Place, he saw two ladies waitingby the curb. As the younger turned toward him, he recognized Nancy, andsaw the inevitable Misery sitting close at her side. Quickening hissteps, he hastened across the street and joined her.

  "This is better luck than I hoped for," he said, his eyes lighteningwith pleasure. "I planned to call at your house on my return from theCapitol, but now...."

  "Aunt Metoaca," Nancy smiled demurely as she extricated her hand fromGoddard's eager clasp, "may I present Major Goddard? The major has mostkindly offered to escort me to Winchester, as I told you last night."

  Miss Metoaca Newton inspected Goddard keenly as she returned his lowbow. First impressions counted with her. Goddard was also taking stockof Miss Metoaca. He decided in his own mind he had never seen a moreangular frame, nor so large a nose as her physiognomy presented.

  "I hope you have given your consent to Miss Newton's trip?" he askedeagerly.

  "Yes and no." Miss Metoaca's voice surprised him by its thin treble.It did not seem possible that so little sound could come out of so biga cavity. "I don't hold with so much gadding about. 'Twasn't so when Iwas a girl, fifty-odd years ago. The way women run hither and yon afterTom, Dick, and Harry is surprising. I declare I am the only virgin inWashington these days." She stopped to search in her reticule for herhandkerchief. "So I have just decided, as long as Nancy has set herheart on it, to go with her to Winchester. Besides which, I am anxiousto see Lindsay Page."

  "That is splendid!" Goddard's face lighted with pleasure, then fell."How about your passes? Shall I ask Secretary Stanton for them?"

  "Young man, when I want a thing, I go to headquarters for it; so I amon my way to see President Lincoln now. I reckon he will give them tome. Many thanks, all the same," she wound up, conscious she had beenabrupt in her refusal.

  "May I walk up to the White House with you, then?"

  "I will be glad of your company, but Nancy is not going with me." Hereyes twinkled as she saw Goddard's disappointment. "Secondly, I am notwalking this morning. Nancy is just waiting to put me on that newYankee contraption, the horse car."

  "Here comes one now." Nancy pointed to that slow-moving vehicle as ittoiled leisurely up the avenue.

  "Of all the miserable inventions," groaned Miss Metoaca, glancing withindignation at the ankle-deep mud that lay between her and the cartrack. "Why don't they fix it so it can come over here and take in itspassengers? What does anyone want with a stationary track way offyonder? Nancy, keep that dratted dog from under my skirts,"indignantly, as her hoop tilted at a dangerous angle. "Don't you lethim follow me; I won't have mud splashed over my new dress." Nancyclutched Misery's collar obediently. "Well, here goes."

  Gathering her ample skirts about her, and with Goddard in closeattendance rendering what assistance he could, the spinster plungedthrough the mud until she reached the car step, by the side of whichhung two pictures of a woman, illustrating the proper and improper wayto get on and off a car. Miss Metoaca paused to take breath andreadjust her Fanchon bonnet. As she was about to enter the car, shenoticed a grinning black boy standing with one foot on the step.

  "Where's that nigger going?" she demanded of the conductor.

  "On top, ma'am," he answered respectfully.

  Her question was overheard by a man in clerical dress who sat next thedoor, and, as she took the seat opposite, he leaned across andaddressed her.

  "You evidently forget, madam," he said severely, "that the blacks arethe Lord's people as well as we, and are entitled to go where we go,being good and free Americans."

  "If the good Lord intended those worthless niggers to be my equals,He'd have bleached them out," retorted Miss Metoaca, the light ofcombat in her eyes. Goddard waited to hear no more, but bolted out ofthe door and across the Avenue to where Nancy stood waiting, and theywalked slowly in the direction of Capitol Hill.

  "I am a stranger within your gates," quoted Goddard softly. "Take pityon me, and tell me something about the people I met last night at Mrs.Warren's."

  "Let me see, whom did you meet? Oh, yes, Doctor John. He is the mostcantankerous and the dearest man I ever met. His patients positivelyworship him, and yet he has many enemies who would gladly see himhumiliated."

  "All strong characters are bound to make enemies, and I dare say DoctorBoyd has a caustic tongue," laughed Goddard, helping Nancy around anextra deep mud hole. "Is Captain Gurley's aunt good fun?"

  "Mrs. Arnold?" Nancy dimpled with a merry smile. "She is our 'Mrs.Malaprop.' Her husband secured a big contract to furnish clothing tothe government at the breaking out of the war. Now he is very wealthy.Mrs. Arnold does not approve of me."

  Goddard colored hotly as he recalled the conversation of the nightbefore. "Why not?" he demanded.

  "Because she does not like my friendship with her nephew. When theyfirst came to Washington, the Arnolds lived at the National Hotel, butlast year Mr. Arnold bought a vacant lot on our street, and h
as built alarge double house with a ballroom, if you please. I believe Mrs.Arnold is to give her house-warming some time soon. It was she who madethe original remark about having a 'spinal staircase in the back,' andDoctor Boyd told her it was quite the proper place for it."

  "Is Mrs. Bennett a friend of yours?"

  "Mrs. Bennett?" echoed Nancy. "She is Mrs. Arnold's shadow. AuntMetoaca sees more of her than I do. I somehow don't believe Mrs.Bennett cares for me. She is quite literary in her tastes, and I hearis writing a book about Washington. It ought to prove interestingreading," Nancy's dimples appeared again, "as she imagines every manshe meets is in love with her. Her husband, Colonel Bennett, isstationed in the quartermaster general's office, and is just as nice ashe can be, and perfectly wrapped up in his pretty wife. They weremarried about two years ago. Little is known here of Mrs. Bennett'santecedents."

  "Which way are you going, Miss Newton?" asked Goddard, as they crossedthe street and walked through the Capitol grounds. He looked withadmiration at the stately lines of the building which sheltered thelaw-makers, and bared his head to the Stars and Stripes floating lazilyto and fro from the flag poles on each wing of the Capitol. "I can'thelp it," with a quick, boyish laugh. "I have seen too many die indefense of the flag not to salute it on all occasions."

  Nancy nodded comprehendingly. "It is everything to have an ideal," shesaid softly. "I am going down A Street to see one of Doctor John'scharity patients."

  Absorbed in watching his companion, Goddard did not notice thedirection they were walking until Nancy called his attention to anunpretentious, rambling building standing on the corner of First and Astreets. "Old Capitol Prison," she said, in explanation. "In 1800 itwas a tavern; then after the burning of the Capitol by the British itwas used by both houses of Congress, hence the name, 'Old Capitol.'"

  Goddard stopped and inspected the building with interest. As his eyespassed along the rows on rows of barred windows, he was attracted bythe actions of one of the sentries. After watching him for a fewseconds, he turned to Nancy.

  "Something is wrong over there," he said briefly. "If you will waithere, I will go over and investigate." Without waiting for a reply, hecrossed the street and accosted the sentry. "What's the trouble here?"

  The sentry wheeled about and swung his bayonet to the charge; then,recognizing the uniform and shoulder straps, he lowered his Springfieldand saluted.

  "It's the prisoner there, Major," pointing to a woman who was leaningas far out of an open window on the ground floor as the bars wouldpermit. "I can't make her go back."

  "Call the corporal of the guard."

  "I have, Major; but the devil a bit of good that did me. She wouldn'tpay any more attention to his orders than to mine."

  "Well, then, why not stop shouting at the woman, and leave her alone?"

  "It's against orders for any prisoner, man or woman, to approach nearenough to touch the window sill or the bars. The corporal says I'm toshoot her unless she moves back, and the superintendent says the same.Damn it! Do they think I 'listed to shoot women?" He mopped his heatedface. "Last week they court-martialed a guard for not obeying orders;so I must do it." Then, in a loud, authoritative voice, he called, "Forthe last time, ma'am, get back from that window. I'll count three; thenI'll fire. One----" His rifle jumped to his shoulder, and he took aim.The woman stood as if carved from stone, gazing steadily at the sentry,down whose white face beads of perspiration were trickling. "Two----"

  "Wait," whispered Goddard, then shouted: "Look out, madam; there's amouse!"

  With a convulsive start, the woman sprang back from the window. Thesentry dropped the butt of his gun on the sidewalk, and turnedgratefully to Goddard.

  "Thanks, Major. If that prisoner shows her face again, I'll just startsome real mice through the window." And, saluting, he resumed his beat.

  Nancy did not wait, but joined Goddard before he could recross thestreet.

  "I go down this way," she said, and Goddard, suiting his step to hers,strolled with her along A Street. "What train do you propose taking toWinchester, Major?"

  "The nine o'clock, if that is convenient for you and your aunt."

  "Perfectly so." She stopped before an unpretentious house. "Shall wemeet at the depot to-morrow?"

  "If you will let me, I will call for you and your aunt."

  "We shall be delighted." The front door had been opened by a small boyin answer to Goddard's imperative knock. Nancy turned and held out herhand. "Until then--good-bye." And the door slammed shut.

  Turning on his heel, Goddard retraced his steps to the Capitol, butwhen he reached the building he concluded not to enter, so continued onhis way to his boarding house opposite the Ebbitt. On leaving theCapitol grounds, his progress was blocked by a regiment of raw recruitson its way to the front, which halted and "marked time." Their bandstruck up "Three Hundred Thousand More," and the soldiers instantlysang the stirring words:

  We are coming, Father Abra'am, three hundred thousand more, From Mississippi's winding stream and from New England's shore; We leave our ploughs and workshops, our wives and children dear, With hearts too full for utterance, with but a silent tear; We dare not look behind us, but steadfastly before: We are coming, Father Abra'am, three hundred thousand more.

  You have called us, and we're coming, by Richmond's bloody tide To lay us down, for Freedom's sake, our brothers' bones beside; Or from foul treason's savage grasp to wrench the murderous blade, And in the face of foreign foes its fragments to parade. Six hundred thousand loyal men and true have gone before; We are coming, Father Abra'am, three hundred thousand more.

  Goddard promptly joined in the singing with others in the crowd whichhad collected. Suddenly a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, and facingabout he found Lloyd standing behind him.

  "Come out of this crowd," said the latter, sternly. In silence the twomen walked up the Avenue to Third Street, and Lloyd led his companioninto that quieter thoroughfare. Looking to see that no one was nearenough to hear what he said, he turned savagely on Goddard.

  "I should arrest you at once."

  Goddard stared blankly at Lloyd, unable to believe his ears.

  "On what charge?" he demanded, hotly.

  "Aiding and abetting the enemy."

  Goddard's face cleared. "You are crazy," he remarked, tersely.

  "Am I? We shall see. I warned you Nancy Newton was a spy."

  Goddard's eyes snapped angrily, and his color rose.

  "Suppose we leave Miss Newton's name out of the discussion," he said,haughtily; then, in a more friendly tone: "Here I am, happy andcarefree, and you appear, like 'Banquo's ghost,' and shout your sillytheories, which you admit you can't prove, into my ears."

  "My theories do hold water," was the stern reply. "Better for you, youblockhead, if they didn't."

  Goddard's face went white. "By heavens! I allow no one to address me inthat way. If it wasn't for our long friendship...."; his clenched handsfinished the sentence.

  "It is owing to our old friendship that I haven't had you arrested,Bob," Lloyd spoke more quietly, realizing he had gone a step too far.

  "Then explain what your insinuations mean."

  "I will. Half an hour ago you were in front of Old CapitolPrison"--Goddard nodded assent--"helping the sentry make that womanbehave herself. Well, it was all a plant."

  "A plant?"

  "Yes. While you and the sentry were engaged with that woman, NancyNewton was signaling from an opposite doorway to another prisoner inthe same row."

  Goddard gazed incredulously at Lloyd. "How do you know?"

  "I was following you both down the street, and saw the whole affair. Iwas too far away to interfere, and by the time I had reached the prisonyou and your companion were a block away." Goddard stood biting hislip, so Lloyd, after waiting for a reply, continued: "The comedy waswell played. Your presence but added realism to it in case passers-bynoticed the scene. In some way, she and the woman arranged to engagethe sentry's attention whi
le she signaled to the other prisoner; andthere you are."

  "What are you going to do about it?" asked Goddard; then addedstubbornly: "Mind you, Lloyd, I am still convinced Miss Newton isinnocent of the grave charge you bring against her. Many Washingtonianshave been arrested for various offences and put in the Old Capitol;possibly one of them is a friend of Miss Newton's, and, seeing herstanding opposite the prison, seized the opportunity to wave to her."But Lloyd remained obstinately silent, and Goddard repeated his firstquestion, "What are you going to do about it?"

  "Arrest her as a suspect. No, on second thoughts, I will leave herfree, but watched. Take my word for it, Bob; if you give that clevergirl rope enough she will hang herself."