The Rose of Old St. Louis

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The Rose of Old St. Louis, by Mary Dillon,

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Title: The Rose of Old St. Louis
Author: Mary Dillon

Release Date: March 26, 2007 [eBook #20911]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE ROSE OF OLD ST. LOUIS
by
MARY DILLON
With Illustrations by André Castaigne and C. M. Relyea

[Illustration: "'Very well, I shall expect to hear from you'"]
[Illustration]
New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers
Copyright, 1904, by The Century Co. Published July, 1904 Reprinted July, 1904, August, 1904, September, 1904, October, 1904, December, 1904, January, 1906, February, 1907

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I I MAKE MY BOW IN CAHOKIA 3
II I PROPOSE A TOAST 17
III I MEET AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 31
IV I MAKE AN ENGAGEMENT 44
V I GO TO A PICNIC ON CHOUTEAU'S POND 55
VI WHIPPOORWILLS 79
VII I TWINE CHRISTMAS GREENS 92
VIII I GO TO MIDNIGHT MASS 104
IX MADAME CHOUTEAU'S BALL 119
X LA GUIGNOLéE 135
XI CHOISSEZ LE ROI 147
XII A MIDNIGHT FRAY 157
XIII "A PRETTY BOY!" 168
XIV A CREOLE LOVE-SONG 181
XV "AU REVOIR" 203
XVI A VIRGINIA FARMER 212
XVII A GREAT DEBATE 225
XVIII A MAGIC COACH 245
XIX CHECK TO THE ABBé! 266
XX BONAPARTE GIVES ENGLAND A RIVAL 281
XXI A TEMPEST IN A BATH-TUB 308
XXII MR. MONROE ARRIVES! 328
XXIII THE CONSUL'S SENTENCE 338
XXIV A NEW CHEVALIER OF FRANCE 363
XXV THE COMTESSE DE BALOIT SENDS FOR HER HUNTER 375
XXVI THE CONSUL'S COMMISSION 386
XXVII "GOOD-BY, SWEETHEART!" 397
XXVIII EXIT LE CHEVALIER 414
XXIX UNDER THE OLD FLAG 426
XXX THE ROSE OF ST. LOUIS 448

ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
"'Very well, I shall expect to hear from you'" Frontispiece
"In solitary dignity stood Black Hawk" 152
"He stopped and turned suddenly to the two ministers" 295
The Signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by Marbois, Livingston, and Monroe 370

FOREWORD
My story does not claim to be history, but in every important historical detail it is absolutely faithful to the records of the times as I have found them. Every word of the debate in Congress, every word of Marbois, Livingston, Decrés, Napoleon, and his two brothers on the subject of the Louisiana Cession is verbatim from the most authentic accounts. I am indebted for the historical part of my story to Gayarré's "History of Louisiana," to Martin's "History of Louisiana," to James K. Hosmer's "History of the Louisiana Purchase," to Lucien Bonaparte's "Memoirs," to numerous lives of Napoleon, Jefferson, Talleyrand, and others, and particularly to Marbois himself, whose account of the negotiations on the subject of the cession is preserved in his own handwriting in the St. Louis Mercantile Library.
As to the local color of old St. Louis, both in its topographical setting and in its customs, I have also tried to be exact. And here I am very largely indebted to that simple and charming old writer, H. M. Brackenridge, in his "Recollections of the West" and in his "Views of Louisiana"; and also to Timothy Flint in his "Recollections"; to J. Thomas Scharf's interesting "History of St. Louis," and especially to Mr. Frederic L. Billon, St. Louis's historian par eminence. I make also the same claim for exactness as to the local color of Washington at that early day; for which I have made so many gleanings in many fields--a little here, a little there--that it seems hardly worth while to give special credit to each.
In non-essential points I have occasionally taken the liberty belonging to a writer of fiction, having condensed into one several debates in Congress, as well as several interviews between Talleyrand and Livingston, and two interviews between Bonaparte and Marbois.
Nor have I hesitated to use the names of the early St. Louis settlers, because they are names still well known and honored in the city which they helped to found. I have touched upon them but lightly, and have tried to make those touches true to the characters of those estimable gentlemen and gentlewomen of the old French régime.
MARY DILLON.

THE ROSE OF OLD ST. LOUIS

THE ROSE OF OLD ST. LOUIS
CHAPTER I
I MAKE MY BOW IN CAHOKIA
"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley."
"And this is the village of St. Louis, sir?"
I bowed respectfully to my captain standing in the prow of the boat and looking across an expanse of swirling muddy water to the village on the bluffs beyond. I spoke more after the manner of making polite conversation than because