A Soldier of Virginia

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A Soldier of Virginia

The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Soldier of Virginia , by Burton Egbert Stevenson
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Title: A Soldier of Virginia
Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson
Release Date: November 16, 2003 [eBook #10094]
Language: English
Chatacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA ***
E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA
A TALE OF COLONEL WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT
BY BURTON EGBERT STEVENSON
1901

TO THE MEMORY OF THE GALLANT MEN WHO FELL WITH DUST OF FAILURE BITTER ON THEIR LIPS THAT OTHERS MIGHT BE TAUGHT THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS

CONTENTS
I. LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING
II. THE STORY OF FONTENOY
III. IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF
IV. THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON
V. THE SECRET OF A HEART
VI. I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE
VII. I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER
VIII. A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG
IX. MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE
X. THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST
XI. DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW
XII. DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE
XIII. LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL
XIV. I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY
XV. WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY
XVI. THE END IN SIGHT
XVII. THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS
XVIII. DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR
XIX. ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS
XX. BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE
XXI. VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME
XXII. A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW
XXIII. THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE
XXIV. A WARNING FROM THE FOREST
XXV. I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION
XXVI. A DESPERATE DEFENSE
XXVII. I COME INTO MY OWN
XXVIII. AND SO, GOOD-BY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"I DO NOT LOVE HIM, TOM"
"FOR SHAME, GENTLEMEN!"
"STEWART, LISTEN!"
THE SAVAGES POURED OVEB THE THRESHOLD

A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA
CHAPTER I
LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING
It was not until he sneered at me openly across the board that I felt my self-control slipping from me. "Lieutenant Allen seems to have a poor opinion of the Virginia troops," I said, as calmly as I could.
"Egad, you are right, Lieutenant Stewart," he retorted, his eyes full on mine. "These two weeks past have I been trying to beat some sense into the fools, and 'pon my word, 't is enough to drive a man crazy to see them."
He paused to gulp down a glass of wine, of which I thought he had already drunk too much.
"I saw them this forenoon," cried Preston, who was sitting at Allen's right, "and was like to die of laughing. Poor Allen, there, was doing his best to teach them the manual, and curse me if they didn't hold their guns as though they burnt their fingers. And when they were ordered to 'bout face, they looked like nothing so much as the crowd I saw six months since at Newmarket, trying to get their money on Jason."
The others around the table laughed in concert, and I could not but admit there was a grain of truth in the comparison.
"'Tis granted," I said, after a moment, "that we Virginians have not the training of you gentlemen of the line; but we can learn, and at least no one can doubt our courage."
"Think you so?" and Allen laughed an insulting laugh. "There was that little brush at Fort Necessity last year, from which they brought away nothing but their skins, and damned glad they were to do that."
"They brought away their arms," I cried hotly, "and would have brought away all their stores and munitions, had the French kept faith and held their Indians off. That, too, in face of an enemy three times their number. The Virginians have no cause to blush for their conduct at Fort Necessity. The Coldstreams could have done no better."
Allen laughed again. "Ah, pardon me, Stewart," he said contemptuously, "I forgot that you were present on that glorious day."
I felt my cheeks crimson, and I looked up and down the board, but saw only sneering faces. Yes, there was one, away down at the farther end, which did not sneer, but looked at me I thought pityingly, which was infinitely worse. And then, of course, there was Pennington, who sat next to me, and who looked immeasurably shamed at the turn the dispute had taken. He placed a restraining hand upon my sleeve, but I shook it off impatiently.
"Yes, I was present," I answered, my heart aflame within me, "and our provincial troops learned a lesson there which even the gentlemen of the Forty-Fourth may one day be glad to have us teach them."
"Teach us?" cried Allen. "Curse me, sir, but you grow insulting! As for your learning, permit me to doubt your ability to learn anything. I have been trying to teach you provincials the rudiments of drill for the past fortnight, without success. In faith, you seem to know less now than you did before