54-40 or Fight Read online

  54-40 OR FIGHT

  by

  EMERSON HOUGH

  Author of _The Mississippi Bubble_, _The Way of the Man_, etc.

  With Four Illustrations by Arthur I. Keller

  A. L. Burt CompanyPublishers New York

  1909

  "Madam," said I, "let me, at least, alone." Page 49]

  TO Theodore Roosevelt

  PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND FIRM BELIEVER IN THE RULE OF THE PEOPLE

  THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE LOYALTY AND ADMIRATION OF THE AUTHOR

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I THE MAKERS OF MAPS II BY SPECIAL DESPATCH III IN ARGUMENT IV THE BARONESS HELENA V ONE OF THE WOMEN IN THE CASE VI THE BOUDOIR OF THE BARONESS VII REGARDING ELISABETH VIII MR. CALHOUN ACCEPTS IX A KETTLE OF FISH X MIXED DUTIES XI WHO GIVETH THIS WOMAN XII THE MARATHON XIII ON SECRET SERVICE XIV THE OTHER WOMAN XV WITH MADAM THE BARONESS XVI DEJEUNER A LA FOURCHETTE XVII A HUNTER OF BUTTERFLIES XVIII THE MISSING SLIPPER XIX THE GENTLEMAN FROM TENNESSEE XX THE LADY FROM MEXICO XXI POLITICS UNDER COVER XXII BUT YET A WOMAN XXIII SUCCESS IN SILK XXIV THE WHOA-HAW TRAIL XXV OREGON XXVI THE DEBATED COUNTRY XXVII IN THE CABIN OF MADAMXXVIII WHEN A WOMAN WOULD XXIX IN EXCHANGE XXX COUNTER CURRENTS XXXI THE PAYMENT XXXII PAKENHAM'S PRICEXXXIII THE STORY OF HELENA VON RITZ XXXIV THE VICTORY XXXV THE PROXY OF PAKENHAM XXXVI THE PALO ALTO BALL EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER I

  THE MAKERS OF MAPS

  There is scarcely a single cause in which a woman is not engaged in some way fomenting the suit.--_Juvenal_.

  "Then you offer me no hope, Doctor?" The gray mane of Doctor Samuel Wardwaved like a fighting crest as he made answer:

  "Not the sort of hope you ask." A moment later he added: "John, I amashamed of you."

  The cynical smile of the man I called my chief still remained upon hislips, the same drawn look of suffering still remained upon his gauntfeatures; but in his blue eye I saw a glint which proved that the answerof his old friend had struck out some unused spark of vitality from thedeep, cold flint of his heart.

  "I never knew you for a coward, Calhoun," went on Doctor Ward, "nor anyof your family I give you now the benefit of my personal acquaintancewith this generation of the Calhouns. I ask something more of you thanfaint-heartedness."

  The keen eyes turned upon him again with the old flame of flint which ageneration had known--a generation, for the most part, of enemies. On mychief's face I saw appear again the fighting flush, proof of hishard-fibered nature, ever ready to rejoin with challenge when challengecame.

  "Did not Saul fall upon his own sword?" asked John Calhoun. "Have notdevoted leaders from the start of the world till now sometimes rid thescene of the responsible figures in lost fights, the men on whom blamerested for failures?"

  "Cowards!" rejoined Doctor Ward. "Cowards, every one of them! Were therenot other swords upon which they might have fallen--those of theirenemies?"

  "It is not my own hand--my own sword, Sam," said Calhoun. "Not that. Youknow as well as I that I am already marked and doomed, even as I sit atmy table to-night. A walk of a wet night here in Washington--a turnalong the Heights out there when the winter wind is keen--yes, Sam, Isee my grave before me, close enough; but how can I rest easy in thatgrave? Man, we have not yet dreamed how great a country this may be. We_must_ have Texas. We _must_ have also Oregon. We must have--"

  "Free?" The old doctor shrugged his shoulders and smiled at the archpro-slavery exponent.

  "Then, since you mention it, yes!" retorted Calhoun fretfully. "But Ishall not go into the old argument of those who say that black is white,that South is North. It is only for my own race that I plan a widerAmerica. But then--" Calhoun raised a long, thin hand. "Why," he went onslowly, "I have just told you that I have failed. And yet you, my oldfriend, whom I ought to trust, condemn me to live on!"

  Doctor Samuel Ward took snuff again, but all the answer he made was towaggle his gray mane and stare hard at the face of the other.

  "Yes," said he, at length, "I condemn you to fight on, John;" and hesmiled grimly.

  "Why, look at you, man!" he broke out fiercely, after a moment. "Thetype and picture of combat! Good bone, fine bone and hard; a hard headand bony; little eye, set deep; strong, wiry muscles, not toobig--fighting muscles, not dough; clean limbs; strong fingers; goodarms, legs, neck; wide chest--"

  "Then you give me hope?" Calhoun flashed a smile at him.

  "No, sir! If you do your duty, there is no hope for you to live. If youdo not do your duty, there is no hope for you to die, John Calhoun, formore than two years to come--perhaps five years--six. Keep up thiswork--as you must, my friend--and you die as surely as though I shot youthrough as you sit there. Now, is this any comfort to you?"

  A gray pallor overspread my master's face. That truth is welcome to noman, morbid or sane, sound or ill; but brave men meet it as this onedid.

  "Time to do much!" he murmured to himself. "Time to mend many brokenvessels, in those two years. One more fight--yes, let us have it!"

  But Calhoun the man was lost once more in Calhoun the visionary, thefanatic statesman. He summed up, as though to himself, something of thesituation which then existed at Washington.

  "Yes, the coast is clearer, now that Webster is out of the cabinet, butMr. Upshur's death last month brings in new complications. Had heremained our secretary of state, much might have been done. It was onlylast October he proposed to Texas a treaty of annexation."

  "Yes, and found Texas none so eager," frowned Doctor Ward.

  "No; and why not? You and I know well enough. Sir Richard Pakenham, theEnglish plenipotentiary here, could tell if he liked. _England_ is busywith Texas. Texas owes large funds to _England. England_ wants Texas asa colony. There is fire under this smoky talk of Texas dividing into twogovernments, one, at least, under England's gentle and unselfish care!

  "And now, look you," Calhoun continued, rising, and pacing up and down,"look what is the evidence. Van Zandt, _charge d'affaires_ in Washingtonfor the Republic of Texas, wrote Secretary Upshur only a month beforeUpshur's death, and told him to go carefully or he would drive Mexico toresume the war, _and so cost Texas the friendship of England!_ ExcellentMr. Van Zandt! I at least know what the friendship of England means. So,he asks us if we will protect Texas with troops and ships in case she_does_ sign that agreement of annexation. Cunning Mr. Van Zandt! Heknows what that answer must be to-day, with England ready to fight usfor Texas and Oregon both, and we wholly unready for war. Cunning Mr.Van Zandt, covert friend of England! And lucky Mr. Upshur, who waskilled, and so never had to make that answer!"

  "But, John, another will have to make it, the one way or the other,"said his friend.

  "Yes!" The long hand smote on the table.

  "President Tyler has offered you Mr. Upshur's portfolio as secretary ofstate?"

  "Yes!" The long hand smote again.

  Doctor Ward made no comment beyond a long whistle, as he recrossed hislegs. His eyes were fixed on Calhoun's frowning face. "There will beevents!" said he at length, grinning.

  "I have not yet accepted," said Calhoun. "If I do, it will be to bringTexas and Oregon into this Union, one slave, the other free, but bothvast and of a mighty future for us. That done, I resign at once."

  "Will you accept?"

  Calhoun's answer was first to pick up a paper from his desk. "See, hereis the despatch Mr. Pakenham brought from Lord Aberdeen of the Britishministry to Mr. Upshur just two days before his death. Judge whetherAberdeen wants liberty--or territory! In effect he reasserts England'sright to interfere in our affairs. We fought one war to disprove that.England has said enough on this continent. And England has meddledenough."

&nbs
p; Calhoun and Ward looked at each other, sober in their realization of thegrave problems which then beset American statesmanship and Americanthought. The old doctor was first to break the silence. "Then do youaccept? Will you serve again, John?"

  "Listen to me. If I do accept, I shall take Mr. Upshur's and Mr.Nelson's place only on one condition--yes, if I do, here is what _I_shall say to England regarding Texas. I shall show her what a MonroeDoctrine is; shall show her that while Texas is small and weak, Texas_and_ this republic are not. This is what I have drafted as a possiblereply. I shall tell Mr. Pakenham that his chief's avowal of intentionshas made it our _imperious duty_, in self-defense, to hasten theannexation of Texas, cost what it may, mean what it may! John Calhoundoes not shilly-shally.

  "_That_ will be my answer," repeated my chief at last. Again they lookedgravely, each into the other's eye, each knowing what all this mightmean.

  "Yes, I shall have Texas, as I shall have Oregon, settled before I laydown my arms, Sam Ward. No, I am _not_ yet ready to die!" Calhoun's oldfire now flamed in all his mien.

  "The situation is extremely difficult," said his friend slowly. "It mustbe done; but how? We are as a nation not ready for war. You as astatesman are not adequate to the politics of all this. Where is yourpolitical party, John? You have none. You have outrun all parties. Itwill be your ruin, that you have been honest!"

  Calhoun turned on him swiftly. "You know as well as I that mere politicswill not serve. It will take some extraordinary measure--you knowmen--and, perhaps, _women_."

  "Yes," said Doctor Ward, "and a precious silly lot: they are; the tworunning after each other and forgetting each other; using and wastingeach other; ruining and despoiling each other, all the years, from Troyto Rome! But yes! For a man, set a woman for a trap. _Vice versa_, Isuppose?"

  Calhoun nodded, with a thin smile. "As it chances, I need a man. Ergo,and very plainly, I must use a woman!"

  They looked at each other for a moment. That Calhoun planned somedeep-laid stratagem was plain, but his speech for the time remainedenigmatic, even to his most intimate companion.

  "There are two women in our world to-day," said Calhoun. "As to Jackson,the old fool was a monogamist, and still is. Not so much so Jim Polk ofTennessee. Never does he appear in public with eyes other than for theDona Lucrezia of the Mexican legation! Now, one against theother--Mexico against Austria--"

  Doctor Ward raised his eyebrows in perplexity.

  "That is to say, England, and _not_ Austria," went on Calhoun coldly."The ambassadress of England to America was born in Budapest! So I say,Austria; or perhaps Hungary, or some other country, which raised thisstrange representative who has made some stir in Washington here theselast few weeks."

  "Ah, _you mean the baroness!_" exclaimed Doctor Ward. "Tut! Tut!"

  Calhoun nodded, with the same cold, thin smile. "Yes," he said, "I meanMr. Pakenham's reputed mistress, his assured secret agent and spy, thebeautiful Baroness von Ritz!"

  He mentioned a name then well known in diplomatic and social life, whenintrigue in Washington, if not open, was none too well hidden.

  "Gay Sir Richard!" he resumed. "You know, his ancestor was abrother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. He himself seems to haveabsorbed some of the great duke's fondness for the fair. Before he cameto us he was with England's legation in Mexico. 'Twas there he first metthe Dona Lucrezia. 'Tis said he would have remained in Mexico had it notbeen arranged that she and her husband, Senor Yturrio, should accompanyGeneral Almonte in the Mexican ministry here. On _these_ conditions, SirRichard agreed to accept promotion as minister plenipotentiary toWashington!"

  "That was nine years ago," commented Doctor Ward.

  "Yes; and it was only last fall that he was made envoy extraordinary. Heis at least an extraordinary envoy! Near fifty years of age, he seems toforget public decency; he forgets even the Dona Lucrezia, leaving her tothe admiration of Mr. Polk and Mr. Van Zandt, and follows off after thesprightly Baroness von Ritz. Meantime, Senor Yturrio _also_forgets the Dona Lucrezia, and proceeds _also_ to follow after thebaroness--although with less hope than Sir Richard, as they say! Atleast Pakenham has taste! The Baroness von Ritz has brains and beautyboth. It is _she_ who is England's real envoy. Now, I believe she knowsEngland's real intentions as to Texas."

  Doctor Ward screwed his lips for a long whistle, as he contemplated JohnCalhoun's thin, determined face.

  "I do not care at present to say more," went on my chief; "but do younot see, granted certain motives, Polk might come into power pledged tothe extension of our Southwest borders--"

  "Calhoun, are you mad?" cried his friend. "Would you plunge this countryinto war? Would you pit two peoples, like cocks on a floor? And wouldyou use women in our diplomacy?"

  Calhoun now was no longer the friend, the humanitarian. He was therelentless machine; the idea; the single purpose, which to the world atlarge he had been all his life in Congress, in cabinets, on this or theother side of the throne of American power. He spoke coldly as he wenton:

  "In these matters it is not a question of means, but of results. If warcomes, let it come; although I hope it will not come. As to the use ofwomen--tell me, _why not women?_ Why anything _else_ but women? It isonly playing life against life; one variant against another. That ispolitics, my friend. I _want_ Pakenham. So, I must learn what _Pakenham_wants! Does he want Texas for England, or the Baroness von Ritz _forhimself?_"

  Ward still sat and looked at him. "My God!" said he at last, softly; butCalhoun went on:

  "Why, who has made the maps of the world, and who has written pages inits history? Who makes and unmakes cities and empires and republicsto-day? _Woman_, and not man! Are you so ignorant--and you a physician,who know them both? Gad, man, you do not understand your own profession,and yet you seek to counsel me in mine!"

  "Strange words from you, John," commented his friend, shaking his head;"not seemly for a man who stands where you stand to-day."

  "Strange weapons--yes. If I could always use my old weapons of tongueand brain, I would not need these, perhaps. Now you tell me my time isshort. I must fight now to win. I have never fought to lose. I can notbe too nice in agents and instruments."

  The old doctor rose and took a turn up and down the little room, one ofCalhoun's modest menage at the nation's capital, which then was not thecity it is to-day. Calhoun followed him with even steps.

  "Changes of maps, my friend? Listen to me. The geography of America forthe next fifty years rests under a little roof over in M Streetto-night--a roof which Sir Richard secretly maintains. The map of theUnited States, I tell you, is covered with a down counterpane _a deux_,to-night. You ask me to go on with my fight. I answer, first I must findthe woman. Now, I say, I have found her, as you know. Also, I have toldyou _where_ I have found her. Under a counterpane! Texas, Oregon, theseUnited States under a counterpane!"

  Doctor Ward sighed, as he shook his head. "I don't pretend to know nowall you mean."

  Calhoun whirled on him fiercely, with a vigor which his wasted frame didnot indicate as possible.

  "Listen, then, and I will tell you what John Calhoun means--JohnCalhoun, who has loved his own state, who has hated those who hated him,who has never prayed for those who despitefully used him, who has foughtand will fight, since all insist on that. It is true Tyler has offeredme again to-day the portfolio of secretary of state. Shall I take it? IfI do, it means that I am employed by this administration to secure theadmission of Texas. Can you believe me when I tell you that my ambitionis for it all--_all_, every foot of new land, west to the Pacific, thatwe can get, slave _or_ free? Can you believe John Calhoun, pro-slaveryadvocate and orator all his life, when he says that he believes he is anhumble instrument destined, with God's aid, and through the use of suchinstruments as our human society affords, to build, _not_ a wider slavecountry, but a wider America?"

  "It would be worth the fight of a few years more, Calhoun," gravelyanswered his old friend. "I admit I had not dreamed this of you."

  "History wi
ll not write it of me, perhaps," went on my chief. "But youtell me to fight, and now I shall fight, and in my own way. I tell you,that answer shall go to Pakenham. And I tell you, Pakenham shall not_dare_ take offense at me. War with Mexico we possibly, indeedcertainly, shall have. War on the Northwest, too, we yet may haveunless--" He paused; and Doctor Ward prompted him some moments later, ashe still remained in thought.

  "Unless what, John? What do you mean--still hearing the rustle ofskirts?"

  "Yes!--unless the celebrated Baroness Helena von Ritz says otherwise!"replied he grimly.

  "How dignified a diplomacy have we here! You plan war between twoembassies on the distaff side!" smiled Doctor Ward.

  Calhoun continued his walk. "I do not say so," he made answer; "but, ifthere must be war, we may reflect that war is at its best when woman_is_ in the field!"