"
Nevertheless he sat down and wrote a few lines to the division
commander, pointing out that he had already placed the owner's private
property under strict surveillance, that it was cared for and perfectly
preserved by the household servants, and that the pass was evidently
obtained as a subterfuge.
To this he received a formal reply, regretting that the authorities at
Washington still found it necessary to put this kind of risk and burden
on the army in the field, but that the order emanated from the highest
authority, and must be strictly obeyed. At the bottom of the page was a
characteristic line in pencil in the general's own hand--"Not the kind
that is dangerous."
A flush mounted Brant's cheeks, as if it contained not only a hidden,
but a personal significance. He had thought of his own wife!
Singularly enough, a day or two later, at dinner, the conversation
turned upon the intense sectional feeling of Southern women, probably
induced by their late experiences. Brant, at the head of the table, in
his habitual abstraction, was scarcely following the somewhat excited
diction of Colonel Strangeways, one of his staff.
"No, sir," reiterated that indignant warrior, "take my word for it! A
Southern woman isn't to be trusted on this point, whether as a sister,
sweetheart, or wife.
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