The Guns of Bull Run

e. The school stood on the skirt of the town, and the forest came down to the edge of the playing field. The great tre

and both were large and powerful for their age. There was a strong family resemblance and yet a difference. Harry's face was the more sensitive and at times t

istmas and the holiday season so near at hand. It was a rich section of Kentucky, and they were the sons of prosperou

htened by the contrast. Harry's eyes turned reluctantly back to his Tacitus and the customs and manners of the ancient Germans. The curriculum of the Pendleton Academy was

, brought in the morning mail, a dozen letters and three or four

a low dais and he sat facing the pupils. He was a large man, with a ruddy face, and thick hair as white as the snow that was falling outside. He had been a teacher

ace as first in the class. The other boys also were absorbed in their books. It was seldom that all were studious at the s

the Doctor and he saw that the ruddy face had turned white. The old man was gazing intently at an open letter in his hand. Two or three others had fallen to the floor. He read the lett

They had never seen him look like that before. It was as if he had received some sudden and deadly stroke. Yet h

ir, and his pulse began to leap. The others felt it, too. There was a tense feeling in the

embling. He folded the paper presently, but still held it in his hand. As he looked up, he became conscious of the silence in the room, and of the concentrated gaze of fi

n the border states. A tall man, he held himself erect, despite his years, and the

must announce to you. As I tell it, I beg that you will restrain yourselves, and make little com

e strange and subtle influence had increased. The pulses in both temples were beating hard. H

and South, troubles that the best Americans, with our own great Henry Clay at the head, have striven to avert. You know of the electio

as stirred by deep emotion and it communicated itself to the boys. Harry was consc

on. He also sends me copies of two of the Charleston newspapers of the day following. In both of these papers all despatches from the other states are put under the head, 'Foreign News.' With the Abolitionists of

g all over. An excited murmur arose. The boys began to talk about the ne

hern states will do the same," said Harry to his cousin, "an

ond result will follow the

ween these two who were the sons of sisters and who had been close comrades all their lives. His heart swelled suddenly. As if by inspiration, h

secession of South Carolina. They had shared in the excitement of the previous year. A few had studied the

that he did not notice the fact. Outside, the clouds still gathered and the soft beat of the snow on the window panes never ceased. The hour of dismissal came at last

d, touched the white world with glowing bits of color. Harry looked at them with a sort of pity. The magnified emotions of youth had suddenly mad

rtant in its section as a market, and as a financial and political center. It had two banks as solid as stone, and it was the proud boast of its inhabitants that, excepting Louisville and Lexington,

speak until they came to the parting of their ways. Then Harry, the more emotional of the two, and

Let's pledge our word here and now that, being of the same bl

red in his eyes. He was, on the whole, more reserved than Harry, but he, t

hink alike, maybe, about the things that

t of the town, as he lived farther away on the other side. He soon had plenty of evidence that the news of South Carolina's secession had pre

rest railroad station, and the mail had come in at noon, bringing the first printed accounts of South Carolina's action. In this border state, which

?" said Harry to o

lence of South Carolina in action may start a flood. But Kentucky must keep out of it. I shall raise

e Pendleton News, the little weekly newspaper which dispensed the news, mostly personal, within a radius of fifty miles. He knew that the News

a youngish man, high-colored and with longish hair. He was absorbed so deeply in a copy of the Louisville Journal tha

quarreling there's bound to be a fight some time or other

ol. Are you telling, Mr. Gardner, wha

lert mind. "If it comes to a breach, I'm going with my people. It's hard to te

y I feel!" exclaime

itor s

try to pour oil upon the waters, although I won't be able to hide my South

y. "He will not

who struggled with them violently. One had wrenched from his hand a pistol still smoking at the muzzle. About twent

ild, and dressed roughly. His whole appearance indicated the primitive human being, and Harry knew imm

tural dead whiteness of his face was accentuated by his black mustache, which turned up at the ends like that of a duelist. He was dressed in black broadcloth, the long

l of bad whiskey as he is now, and the other, Arthur Travers, is no stranger to you. Skelly is for the abolition of slavery. All the mountaineers are. Maybe it's because they have no sla

ave-holders. Travers replied with a sneer, which the mountaineer could not understand, except that it hurt. Skelly snatched out his pistol and fired wildly. Travers drew his and would have fired, alt

lly that he was overpowered. Somehow, those two men facing each other se

e, and seemed to wish little. He had a wonderful reputation for dexterity with cards and the pistol. A native of Pendleton, he was t

on either side of him holding his arms. "I think the time has come t

to have the quiet deadliness of the cobra. There was something about him that repelled. The men released him. He s

y hostile, sobered him. Steve Allison, the town constable, appeared

with me,

ge Kendrick

he said. "Send him ba

d to kill a

. A great and troubled period has come into all our lives. Ma

eplied t

ion. If Skelly is punished, the mountaineers will say it

the principal show

was due to the strained conditions that have long prevailed among us, and was precipitat

d Allison, "but he goe

nd the coming dusk, carrying, despite his release, a bitter heart into the mounta

ther south had added to his property by good management. A strong supporter of slavery, actual contact with the institution on a large scale in the Gulf States had not pleased him, and he had sold his property there, reinvesting the money in his native

d he wondered how he would take the news from Charleston. All the associations of Colone

ely of red brick, stood on the crest of a gentle slope in two acres of ground. The clipped cones of pine trees adorned the slopes, and made

winter, and the flame from its windows made broad bands of red and gold across the snow. Harry went briskly up the walk and then stood for a few moments in the portico, shaking the snow off his

. A home-made carpet, thick, closely woven, and rich in colors covered the floor. Around the walls were cases containing books, mostly in rich bindings and nearly all English classics. American work was scarcely represe

the fire and his hands crossed behind him. His tanned face was slightly pale, and Harry s

t lean and muscular. He regarded his son atten

d not spoken a word. "I've heard of it, a

asked Colonel

avers. It came out of hot words over the news from Charleston. Nobody

nton's fac

ntrol their tongues. Do you be careful with yours. You're a youth in years, but you're a man in size, and you should b

plied Harry, with aff

r. It may be that I shall give you a t

nd he gave silent approval to the tall,

l talk with visitors. Some you know and some you don't.

ter than to ask questions. The colonel had ca

t a relative still," continued Colonel Kenton. "You

room to prepare. His heart began to throb with excitement. Now they were to have visitor

d merely struck fire to tinder prepared already, and, infused with the spirit of youth, he felt much excitement but no depression. Making a careful toilet he descended to the drawing room

Kenton. "He comes from Charleston and his name is Raymon

ame in, and was introduced formally to his Kentucky cousin. Harry would have taken him for a Frenchman, and he was, in very truth, largely of French blood. His black eyes and hair, his swarthy complexion, gleaming white teeth and

cause," he said, smiling at Harry with flashing black eyes. "You are a stal

xplanation. "He came directly from Charleston, leaving only thre

by horseback over the wild hills. Then it was a long ride through the snow to your hospitable home here, my good cousin, Colonel Ke

ot used in Kentucky. He ate plentifully, and, although his manners were delicate, Harry felt to an increasing degree his foreign aspect and

th Carolina when the state secede

men leap. Ah, sir, if you could only have been in Charleston in the course of recent months! If you could have heard the speakers! If you could have seen how the great and righteous Calhoun's influence lives after him! And then the writers! That able news

and his enthusiasm was communicated to the colonel, whose face

the cold North's blood flows in our veins and we pause to calculate and consider. We must hasten events. Now, Raymond, we will go

the blaze and each fell silent, engrossed in his thoughts. Harry felt a pleased excitement. Here was a great and mysterious affair, but he was going to have admitta

as received cordially. Colonel Ke

nger from

le years, bulky, smooth shaven, and oratorical. He was followed soon by Bracken, a tobacco farmer on a great scale, Judge Kendrick, Rei

I keep my son with us because, for reasons that I will expla

go at once to business. Mr. Bertrand, you will inform us what further steps are to be taken by South Carolina and her

up his olive face in a wonderful way. It

reatly those on the border, famous states like your Kentucky and Virginia. Do you not see how you are threatened? With the triumph of the rail-splitter, Lincoln, the seat of power is transferred to the North. It is not

he flesh. Harry, still standing by the window, felt the influence of the South Carolinian's w

rth. It would influence the outside world, and we would be in a far better position for war, if it should come. Governor Magoffin will h

s dark fa

o it!" he exclaimed. "And i

en at last by Colonel Kenton, who tu

Golden Circle," he said. "I hear that they a

t time a difference between himself and these men about him who were

to the south the way is open. There is our field. Spain grows weak and the great island of Cuba will fall from her grasp. Mexico is torn by one civil war afte

wned and the lawye

ch will eat its way even into South America. Slavery is not wholly popular here. Henry Clay long ago wished it to be abolished, and his is a mighty

, he showed disappointment, but, still s

the tone of one who conforms gracefully, "and I shall be careful w

in his eyes. This man would not relinquish his great southern dream

d Bertrand at length. "Will you tell her that Kentuc

senger. These are troubled times, gentlemen, and full of peril. We dare not trust to the mails, and a lad, carrying letters, would a

ourney, such an enterprise, made an instant appeal to his impulsive and daring spirit. But he did not speak, waiting upon

nator Culver, "and he is all that you say. There

he impetuous Bertrand. "How they

are all agreed that my son shall carry to South Carolina

hey said, a

d to go," said Harry, spe

before dawn, and that he go to Winton instead of the nearest station. We wish to avoid observ

sent to his bedroom. Everything would be made ready for him, and Colonel Kenton would call him at the

edge of the bed. Only when he was alone did he realize the tremendous change that had come in

es stood up, rows of white cones, silvered by the moonlight. Nothing moved out there. No sound came. He

lthough sleep was long in coming, it