The Earth Trembled

Edward Payson Roe

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• Publié par: octo
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 74
• Langue: English

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Trembled, by E.P. Roe
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Title: The Earth TrembledAuthor: E.P. Roe
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[Illustration: "Well Chile, Wot You Wants Ter Say?"]
The Works of E. P. Roe
VOLUME FIFTEEN
THE EARTH TREMBLED
ILLUSTRATEDCONTENTS
CHAPTER I MARY WALLINGFORD CHAPTER II
LOVE'S AGONY CHAPTER III UNCLE SHEBA'S
EXPERIENCE CHAPTER IV MARA CHAPTER V
PAST AND FUTURE CHAPTER VI "PAHNASHIP"
CHAPTER VII MARA'S PURPOSE CHAPTER VIII
NEVER FORGET; NEVER FORGIVE CHAPTER
IX A NEW SOLACE CHAPTER X MISS AINSLEY
CHAPTER XI TWO QUESTIONS CHAPTER XII A
"FABULATION" CHAPTER XIII CAPTAIN
BODINE CHAPTER XIV "ALL GIRLS
TOGETHER" CHAPTER XV TWO LITTLE
BAKERS CHAPTER XVI HONEST FOES
CHAPTER XVII FIRESIDE DRAMAS CHAPTER
XVIII A FAIR DUELLIST CHAPTER XIX A
CHIVALROUS SURPRISE CHAPTER XX THE
STRANGER EXPLAINS CHAPTER XXI UNCLE
SHEBA SAT UPON CHAPTER XXII YOUNG
HOUGHTON IS DISCUSSED CHAPTER XXIII THE
WARNING CHAPTER XXIV "THE IDEA!"
CHAPTER XXV FEMININE FRIENDS CHAPTER
XXVI ELLA'S CRUMB OF COMFORT CHAPTER
XXVII RECOGNIZED AS LOVER CHAPTER
XXVIII "HEAVEN SPEED YOU THEN" CHAPTER
XXIX CONSTERNATION CHAPTER XXX
TEMPESTS CHAPTER XXXI "I ABSOLVE YOU"
CHAPTER XXXII FALSE SELF-SACRIFICE
CHAPTER XXXIII A SURE TEST CHAPTER
XXXIV "BITTERNESS MUST BE CHERISHED"
CHAPTER XXXV NOBLE REVENGE CHAPTERXXXVI A FATHER'S FRENZY CHAPTER XXXVII
CLOUDS LIFTING CHAPTER XXXVIII "YES,
VILET" CHAPTER XXXIX THE EARTHQUAKE
CHAPTER XL "GOD" CHAPTER XLI SCENES
NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN CHAPTER XLII A
HOMELESS CITY CHAPTER XLIII "THE TERROR
BY NIGHT" CHAPTER XLIV HOPE TURNED
INTO DREAD CHAPTER XLV A CITY
ENCAMPING CHAPTER XLVI "ON JORDAN'S
BANKS WE STAN'" CHAPTER XLVII LIGHTS
AND SHADOWS OF A NIGHT CHAPTER XLVIII
GOOD BROUGHT OUT OF EVILTHE EARTH TREMBLEDTHE EARTH TREMBLED
CHAPTER I
MARY WALLINGFORD
At the beginning of the Civil War there was a fine
old residence on Meeting Street in Charleston,
South Carolina, inhabited by a family almost as old
as the State. Its inheritor and owner, Orville
Burgoyne, was a widower. He had been much
saddened in temperament since the death of the
wife, and had withdrawn as far as possible from
public affairs. His library and the past had secured
a stronger hold upon his interest and his thoughts
than anything in the present, with one exception,
his idolized and only child, Mary, named for her
deceased mother. Any book would be laid aside
when she entered; all gloom banished from his
eyes when she coaxed and caressed him.
She was in truth one to be loved because so
capable of love herself. She conquered and ruled
every one not through wilfulness or imperiousness,
but by a gentle charm, all her own, which disarmed
opposition.
At first Mr. Burgoyne had paid little heed to the
mutterings which preceded the Civil War, believing
them to be but Chinese thunder, produced byambitious politicians, North and South. He was
preoccupied by the study of an old system of
philosophy which he fancied possessed more truth
than many a more plausible and modern one.
Mary, with some fancy work in her hands, often
watched his deep abstraction in wondering awe,
and occasionally questioned him in regard to his
thoughts and studies; but as his explanations were
almost unintelligible, she settled down to the
complacent belief that her father was one of the
most learned men in the world.
At last swiftly culminating events aroused Mr.
Burgoyne from his abstraction and drove him from
his retirement. He accepted what he believed to be
duty in profound sorrow and regret. His own early
associations and those of his ancestors had been
with the old flag and its fortunes; his relations to
the political leaders of the South were too slight to
produce any share in the alienation and
misunderstandings which had been growing
between the two great sections of his country, and
he certainly had not the slightest sympathy with
those who had fomented the ill-will for personal
ends. Finally, however, he had found himself face
to face with the momentous certainty of a
separation of his State from the Union. For a time
he was bewildered and disturbed beyond measure;
for he was not a prompt man of affairs, living
keenly in the present, but one who had been
suddenly and rudely summoned from the academic
groves of the old philosophers to meet the burning
imperative questions of the day—questions put
with the passionate earnestness of a peopleexcited beyond measure.
It was this very element of popular feeling which
finally turned the scale in his decision. Apparently
the entire Southern people were unanimous in their
determination "to be free" and to separate
themselves from their old political relations. His
pastor with all other friends of his own rank
confirmed this impression, and, as it was known
that he wavered, the best and strongest men of his
acquaintance argued the question with him. His
daughter was early carried away by the
enthusiasm of her young companions,
nevertheless she watched the conflict in her
father's mind with the deepest interest. She often
saw him walk the floor with unwonted tears in his
eyes and almost agony on his brow; and when at
last, he decided in accordance with the prevailing
sentiment of his State, the Act of Secession and all
that it involved became sacred in her thoughts.
She trembled and shrank when the phase of
negotiation passed away, and war was seen to be
the one alternative to submission. She never
doubted or hesitated, however; neither did her
father after his mind was once made up. Every day
the torrent of bitter feeling deepened and
broadened between them and the North, of which,
practically, they knew very little. Even such
knowledge as they possessed had come through
distorted mediums, and now everything was
colored by the blackest prejudice. They were led to
believe and made to feel that not only their
possessions but their life and honor were at stake.