第 28 节
作者:上网找工作      更新:2024-04-14 09:14      字数:4533
  changed each week;          Maryland! With Northern Vandals thou wast meek;
  With   sympathizers   thou   wouldst   shriek;   I   know   theeO;   'twas   like   thy
  cheek! Maryland! my Maryland!〃
  After   committing   the   act   described   in   the   preceding   chapter;   which
  every English reader will pardon; I went up stairs; put on a clean pair of
  stockings; and; placing a rose in my lustrous black hair; proceeded at once
  to   the   camp   of   Generals   Price   and   Mosby   to   put   them   in   possession   of
  information which would lead to the destruction of a portion of the Federal
  Army。   During   a   great   part   of   my  flight   I   was   exposed   to   a   running   fire
  from the Federal pickets of such coarse expressions as; 〃Go it; Sally Reb;〃
  〃Dust it; my Confederate beauty;〃 but I succeeded in reaching the glorious
  Southern camp uninjured。
  In   a   week   afterwards   I   was   arrested;   by   a   lettre   de   cachet   of   Mr。
  Stanton; and placed in the Bastile。 British readers of my story will express
  surprise at these terms; but I assure them that not only these articles but
  tumbrils;    guillotines;    and   conciergeries    were    in  active   use  among     the
  Federals。 If substantiation be required; I refer to the Charleston Mercury;
  the only reliable organ; next to the New York Daily News; published in the
  country。 At the Bastile I made the acquaintance of the accomplished and
  elegant   author   of   Guy   Livingstone;*   to   whom   I   presented   a   curiously
  carved   thigh…bone   of   a    Union   officer;   and   from   whom   I   received     the
  following beautiful acknowledgment:
  〃Demoiselle:Should   I   ever   win   hame   to   my   ain   countrie;   I   make
  mine avow to enshrine in my reliquaire this elegant bijouterie and offering
  of La Belle   Rebelle。 Nay;   methinks this   fraction of   man's anatomy   were
  some compensation for the rib lost by the 'grand old gardener;' Adam。〃
  * The recent conduct of Mr。 Livingstone renders him unworthy of my
  notice。 His disgusting praise of Belle Boyd; and complete ignoring of my
  claims; show the artfulness of some females and puppyism of some men。
  M。 McG。
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  CONDENSED NOVELS
  CHAPTER VI。
  Released   at   last   from   durance   vile   and   placed   on   board   of   an   Erie
  canal…boat; on my way to Canada; I for a moment breathed the sweets of
  liberty。   Perhaps   the   interval   gave   me   opportunity   to   indulge   in   certain
  reveries which I had hitherto sternly dismissed。 Henry Breckinridge Folair;
  a   consistent    copperhead;      captain    of  the   canal…   boat;   again   and   again
  pressed that suit I had so often rejected。
  It was a lovely moonlight night。 We sat on the deck of the gliding craft。
  The moonbeam and the lash of the driver fell softly on the flanks of the off
  horse; and only the surging of the tow…rope broke the silence。 Folair's arm
  clasped my waist。 I suffered it to remain。 Placing in my lap a small but not
  ungrateful   roll   of   checkerberry   lozenges;   he   took   the   occasion   to   repeat
  softly   in   my   ear   the   words   of   a   motto   he   had   just   unwrappedwith   its
  graceful covering of the tissue paperfrom a sugar almond。 The heart of
  the wicked little rebel; Mary McGillup; was won!
  The story of Mary McGillup is done。 I might have added the journal of
  my   husband;   Henry   Breckinridge   Folair;   but   as   it   refers   chiefly   to   his
  freights; and a schedule of his passengers; I have been obliged; reluctantly;
  to suppress it。
  It is due to my friends to say that I have been requested not to write
  this    book。     Expressions       have     reached     my     ears;    the   reverse     of
  complimentary。 I have been told that its publication will probably insure
  my   banishment   for   life。   Be   it   so。   If   the   cause   for   which   I   labored   have
  been subserved; I am content。
  LONDON; May; 1865。
  End   of   The   Project   Gutenberg   Etext   of   Condensed   Novels;   by   Bret
  Harte
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