CONTENTSCHAPTER PAGE I. A Woman in Brown 3 II. A Man's Mother 16 III. The Mosaic Club 25 IV. The Secretary Moves 40 V. An Elusive Face 52 VI. The Pursuit of a Woman 71 VII. The Cottage in the Side Street 83 VIII. The Pall of Winter 97 IX. Robert and Lucia 117 X. Feeding the Hungry 131 XI. Mr. Sefton Makes a Confidence 137 XII. A Flight by Two 150 XIII. Lucia's Farewell 162 XIV. Prescott's Ordeal 170 XV. The Great Rivals 181 XVI. The Great Revival 193 XVII. The Wilderness 204 XVIII. Day in the Wilderness 206 XIX. Night in the Wilderness 223 XX. The Secretary Looks On 236 XXI. A Delicate Situation 248 XXII. The Lone Sentinel 264 XXIII. Out of the Forest 269 XXIV. The Despatch Bearer 280 XXV. The Mountain General 292 XXVI. Calypso 300 XXVII. The Secretary and the Lady 323XXVIII. The Way Out 334 XXIX. The Fall of Richmond 346 XXX. The Telegraph Station 360 XXXI. The Coin of Gold 370BEFORE THE DAWNCHAPTER IA WOMAN IN BROWNA tall, well-favoured youth, coming from the farther South, boarded thetrain for Richmond one raw, gusty morning. He carried his left armstiffly, his face was thin and brown, and his dingy uniform had holes init, some made by bullets; but his air and manner were happy, as if,escaped from danger and hardships, he rode on his way to pleasure andease.He sat for a time gazing out of the window at the gray, wintry landscapethat fled past, and then, having a youthful zest for new things, lookedat those who traveled with him in the car. The company seemed to him, onthe whole, to lack novelty and interest, being composed of farmers goingto the capital of the Confederacy to sell food; wounded soldiers likehimself, bound for the same place in search of cure; and one woman whosat in a corner alone, neither speaking nor spoken to, her whole aspectrepelling any rash advance.Prescott always had a keen eye for woman and beauty, and owing to hislong absence in armies, where both these desirable objects were scarce,his vision had become acute; but he judged that this lone type of hersex had no special charm. Tall she certainly was, and her figure mightbe good, but no one with a fair face and taste would dress as plainly asshe, nor wrap herself so completely in a long, brown cloak that he couldnot even tell the colour of her eyes. Beautiful women, as he knew them,always had a touch of coquetry, and never hid their charms wholly.Prescott's attention wandered again to the landscape rushing past, butfinding little of splendour or beauty, it came back, by and by, to thelone woman. He wondered why she was going to Richmond and what was hername. She, too, was now staring out of the window, and the long cloakhiding her seemed so shapeless that he concluded her figure must be bad.His interest declined at once, but rose again with her silence andevident desire to be left alone.As they were approaching Richmond a sudden jar of the train threw asmall package from her lap to the floor. Prescott sprang forward, pickedit up and handed it to her. She received it with a curt "Thanks," andthe noise of the train was so great that Prescott could tell nothingabout the quality of her voice. It might or might not be musical, but inany event she was not polite and showed no gratitude. If he had thoughtto use the incident as an opening for conversation, he dismissed theidea, as she turned her face back to the window at once and resumed herstudy of the gray fields."Probably old and plain," was Prescott's thought, and then he forgot herin the approach to Richmond, the town where much of his youth had beenspent. The absence of his mother from the capital was the only regret inthis happy homecoming, but he had received a letter from her assuringhim of her arrival in the city in a day or two.