Читать книгу Who Would Have Thought It? - María Ruiz de Burton - Страница 19

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IN justice it must be said that Julius and Tony Cackle both thought of their generous friend Sprig, who had been so free with his money, and was now perhaps in want, languishing in captivity. They endeavored to interest their influential brothers, Mirabeau and Cicero, in his behalf. Those two noble legislators took the matter rather coldly at first; then they flatly told their brothers that as Dr. Norval was a "suspected sympathizer," the least they had to do with any of the Norval family the better it would be for all the Cackles, though they owed him money.

Julius then tried to propitiate the Hon. Le Grand Gunn, believing that, in consideration of Isaac's being now suffering for his country's cause, the patriotic M.C. would forgive the unfortunate encounter in Lucinda's presence.

But in thus judging the Hon. Gunn, General Cackle only displayed great ignorance of human nature, without serving his friend. No sooner had Julius said the first words in behalf of Isaac, than the Hon. Gunn became very red in the face, and replied,

"Look here, Cackle, I'll do anything for you in reason, for you did me a great service; but to expect that I'll do anything for that dandy, that cursed puppy, after the-the-that-he-that he gave me, is—is to expect too much of human nature! No, sir! he shall rot in prison as long as I can contrive to keep him there. He shall,—and serve him right. I have made up my mind on that point. He has got what he deserves. Lucinda's eyes will be red with crying; for she has a silly fancy for the infernal puppy; but I reckon she will be consoled when she finds that he ain't a-coming."

Julius was thus silenced; and in the evening, as the four distinguished brothers and their father were having a family talk by themselves, Beau—being the leading spirit of the Cackle family - said to the brothers who had been pleading in behalf of Isaac,

"Listen to me, Tony, and you too, Ciss. Do you want to succeed, or to spoil your good luck?"

"Of course we want to succeed," they replied.

"Well, then, leave Isaac to his fate. Never undertake to lift a fallen man; never associate your fortunes with an unlucky dog like Isaac, by trying to help him when luck is so set against him. Bad luck is contagious, I tell you. Don't you touch any one that has it,—any more than if he had the leprosy:

Room for the leper! room! — make way for the unlucky man!""

The brothers and the old man were so impressed with the wisdom and eloquence of Beau's injunctions, that they were afraid to mention their old comrade's name, and never again spoke of getting him out of prison.

"He will be exchanged, anyhow, when the time comes," Julius once ventured to say to his brother, Colonel Mark Antony Cackle.

"Of course he will; indeed, he might already be on his way up," said Tony; and with this consolatory remark they justified their ingratitude in their own minds, and were very glad to forget Isaac.

The philosophy of Beau was corroborated by daily increasing prosperity. No sooner was the unlucky Isaac dismissed from their thoughts, than fortune, which had certainly smiled on them, seemed to be in a constant broad grin with the Cackles.

The two members of Congress—Beau and Toolwere making money as fast as if by magic. Dr. Norval had put in the capital, and the brothers had got several Government contracts, in other persons' names, by which they made enormous profits. The Cackles would certainly be rich, and renowned, and influential, at the same time. Beau and Tool were foremost among the political leaders of the day; whilst Julius and Tony made themselves famous, and their names were in the newspapers all the time for deeds of daring surpassed by no one in modern or ancient warfare. If I were to recount in detail their wonderful achievements as minutely as an impartial press did at the time, I would fill these insignificant pages with them. But I am not so ambitious. I will only record briefly—though not chronologically, for the event happened at a later datehow Julius Cæsar Cackle, like the great Darius the First, ascended higher in the path of glory, and became greater, through the humble agency of a horse: the neighing of a horse.

It happened-I think, but a few months after the battle of Bull Run-that, at one of the greatest battles ever fought by men determined to destroy each other, General Julius Cackle commanded a division temporarily. On that memorable day the general was riding a horse which had been captured from the rebels. This horse happened to be the mate and companion of another horse which a rebel officer was riding on the same day right in front of General Cackle's division.

There was a lull in the firing of the wing where General Cackle's troops were fighting. Columns were changing position; and by a movement of the rebel troops, before General Cackle knew it he and his staff were in close proximity to the rebel line.

Suddenly the neighing of a horse was heard very distinctly. At the sound of that neigh, the ears of the general's horse became erect. The general spurred the charger toward his own division; but the horse turned suddenly around, and, taking the bit in his teeth, ran, as if frenzied, toward the point whence the neighing had come.

The gallant Cackle pulled the bridle with all his might, in vain. Then he shouted to the running horse to stop: also in vain, so far as the horse was concerned. But the staff, seeing their general charging the enemy so gallantly and heroically, thought that he, with his characteristic perspicacity, had discovered some splendid opportunity to make a brilliant charge, and was now shouting to them to come on. So they all shouted also, and charged after him. The two or three regiments which stood nearest followed the staff, and then the whole division followed the regiments, though they had received orders to make a different movement, and were now waiting the command to advance. The rebels were so surprised at this mad charge, that they broke ranks, and, becoming disorganized, fled to the centre of their line, leaving the heroic Cackle in possession of the artillery and munitions, and master of the field.

General Cackle was the hero of the day.

His gallant charge had turned the tide of victory in favor of the right cause.

The valiant general was thanked by the commander-in-chief on the battle-ground, -the newspapers said, and the President wrote him an autograph letter. His friends said that the general ought to receive the thanks of Congress, and that some poet ought to compose an ode on his exploit like Tennyson's "Charge of the Six Hundred."