meriwether lewis, having put behind him one set of duties, now addressed himself to another, and did so with care and thoroughness. a few of his men, a part of his outfitting, he found already assembled at harper’s ferry, up the potomac. before sunset of the first day the little band knew they had a leader.
there was not a knife or a tomahawk of the entire equipment which he himself did not examine—not a rifle which he himself did not personally test. he went over the boxes and bales which had been gathered here, and saw to their arrangement in the transport-wagons. he did all this without bluster or officiousness, but with the quiet care and thoroughness of the natural leader of men.
in two days they were on their way across the alleghanies. a few days more of steady travel sufficed to bring them to pittsburgh, the head of navigation on the ohio river, and at that time the american capital in the upper valley of the west. at pittsburgh captain lewis was to build his boats, to complete the details of his equipment, to take on additional men for [pg 118]his party—now to be officially styled the volunteers for the discovery of the west. he lost no time in urging forward the necessary work.
the young adventurer found this inland town half maritime in its look. its shores were lined with commerce suited to a seaport. schooners of considerable tonnage lay at the wharfs, others were building in the busy shipyards. the destination of these craft obviously was down the mississippi, to the sea. here were vessels bound for the west indies, bound for philadelphia, for new york, for boston—carrying the products of this distant and little-known interior.
as he looked at this commerce of the great west, pondered its limitations, saw its trend with the down-slant of the perpetual roadway to the sea, there came to the young officer’s mind with greater force certain arguments that had been advanced to him.
he saw that here was the heart of america, realized how natural was the insistence of all these hardy western men upon the free use of the mississippi and its tributaries. he easily could agree with aaron burr that, had the fleet of napoleon ever sailed from haiti—had napoleon ever done otherwise than to cede louisiana to us—then these boats from the ohio and the mississippi would at this very moment, perhaps, be carrying armed men down to take new orleans, as so often they had threatened.
there came, however, to his mind not the slightest thought of alteration in his own plans. with him it was no question of what might have been, but of what actually was. the cession by napoleon had been [pg 119]made, and louisiana was ours. it was time to plot for expeditions, not down the great river, but across it, beyond it, into that great and unknown country that lay toward the farther sea.
the keen zest of this vast enterprise came to him as a stimulus—the feel of the new country was as the breath of his nostrils. his bosom swelled with joy as he looked out toward that west which had so long allured him—that west of which he was to be the discoverer. the carousing riffraff of the wharfs, the flotsam and jetsam of the river trade, were to him but passing phenomena. he shouldered his way among them indifferently. he walked with a larger vision before his eyes.
now, too, he had news—good news, fortunate news, joyous news—none less than the long-delayed answer of his friend, captain william clark, to his proposal that he should associate himself with the volunteers for the discovery of the west. misspelled, scrawled, done in the hieroglyphics which marked that remarkable gentleman, william clark’s letter carried joy to the heart of meriwether lewis. it cemented one of the most astonishing partnerships ever known among men, one of the most beautiful friendships of which history leaves note. let us give the strange epistle in clark’s own spelling:
dear merne:
yours to hand touching uppon the expedishon into the missourie country, & i send this by special bote up the river to mete you at pts’brgh, at the foarks. you convey a moast welcome and appreciated invitation to join you in an enterprise conjenial to my every thought and desire. it will in [pg 120]all likelyhood require at least a year to make the journey out and return, but although that means certain sacrifises of a personal sort, i hold such far less than the pleasure to enlist with you, wh. indeed i hold to be my duty allso.
i need not say how content i am to be associated with the man moast of all my acquaintance apt to achieve success in an undertaking of so difficult and perlous nature. as you know, it is in the wilderness men are moast sevearly tried, and there we know a man. i have seen you so tried, and i know what you are. i am proud that you apeare to hold me and my own qualities in like confident trust and belief, and i shall hope to merit no alteration in your judgment.
there is no other man i would go with on such an undertaking, nor consider it seriously, although the concern of my family largely has been with things military and adventurous, and we are not new to life among savidges. too well i know the dangers of bad leadership in such affairs, yes and my brother, the general, also, as the story of detroit and the upper ohio country could prove. all of that country should have been ours from the first, and only lack of courage lost it so long to us.
you are so kind as to offer me a place equal in command with you—i accept not because of the rank, which is no moving consideration, eather for you or for me—but because i see in the jenerosity of the man proposing such a division of his own honors, the best assurance of success.
you will find me at or near the falls of the ohio awaiting the arrival of your party, which i taik it will be in early august or the midel of that month.
pray convey to mr. jefferson my humble and obedient respects, and thanks for this honor wh. i shall endeavor to merit as best lies within my powers.
with all affec’n, i remain,
your friend,
wm. clark.
p. s.—god alone knows how mutch this all may mean to you and me, merne—will.
clark, then, was to meet him at the falls of the ohio, and he, too, counseled haste. lewis drove his [pg 121]drunken, lazy workmen in the shipyards as hard as he might, week after week, yet found six weeks elapsed before at last he was in any wise fitted to set forth. the delay fretted him, even though he received word from his chief bidding him not to grieve over the possible loss of a season in his start, but to do what he might and to possess his soul in patience and in confidence.
recruits of proper sort for his purposes did not grow on trees, he found, but he added a few men to his party now and then, picking them slowly, carefully. one morning, while engaged in his duties of supervising the work in progress at the shipyards, he had his attention attracted to a youth of some seventeen or eighteen years, who stood, cap in hand, at a little distance, apparently too timid to accost him.
“what is it, my son?” said he. “did you wish to see me?”
the boy advanced, smiling.
“you do not know me, sir. my name is shannon—george shannon. i used to know you when you were stationed here with the army. i was a boy then.”
“you are right—i remember you perfectly. so you are grown into a strapping young man, i see!”
the boy twirled his cap in his hands.
“i want to go along with you, captain,” said he shyly.
“what? you would go with me—do you know what is our journey?”
“no. i only hear that you are going up the missouri, beyond st. louis, into new country. they say [pg 122]there are buffalo there, and indians. ’tis too quiet here for me—i want to see the world with you.”
the young leader, after his fashion, stood silently regarding the other for a time. an instant served him.
“very well, george,” said he. “if your parents consent, you shall go with me. your pay will be such that you can save somewhat, and i trust you will use it to complete your schooling after your return. there will be adventure and a certain honor in our undertaking. if we come back successful, i am persuaded that our country will not forget us.”
and so that matter was completed. strangely enough, as the future proved, were the fortunes of these two to intermingle. from the first, shannon attached himself to his captain almost in the capacity of personal attendant.
at last the great bateau lay ready, launched from the docks and moored alongside the wharf. fifty feet long it was, with mast, tholes and walking-boards for the arduous upstream work. it had received a part of its cargo, and soon all was in readiness to start.
on the evening of that day lewis sat down to pen a last letter to his chief. he wrote in the little office-room of the inn where he was stopping, and for a time he did not note the presence of young shannon, who stood, as usual, silent until his leader might address him.
“what, is it, george?” he asked at length, looking up.
“someone waiting to see you, sir—they are in the parlor. they sent me——”
[pg 123]
“they? who are they?”
“i don’t know, sir. she asked me to come for you.”
“she. who is she?”
“i don’t know, sir. she spoke to her father. they are in the room just across the hall, sir.”
the face of meriwether lewis was pale when presently he opened the door leading to the apartment which had been indicated. he knew, or thought he knew, who this must be. but why—why?
the interior was dim. a single lamp of the inefficient sort then in use served only to lessen the gloom. presently, however, he saw awaiting him the figure he had anticipated. yes, it was she herself. almost his heart stood still.
theodosia alston arose from the spot where she sat in the deeper shadows, and came forward to him. he met her, his hands outstretched, his pulse leaping eagerly in spite of his reproofs. he dreaded, yet rejoiced.
“why are you here?” he asked at length.
“my father and i are on a journey down the river to visit mr. blennerhasset on his island. you know his castle there?”
“why is it that you always come to torment me the more? another day and i should have been gone!”
“torment you, sir?”
“you rebuke me properly. i presume i should have courage to meet you always—to speak with you—to look into your eyes—to take your hands in mine. but i find it hard, terribly hard! each time it is worse—because [pg 124]each time i must leave you. why did you not wait one day?”
she made no reply. he fought for his self-control.
“mr. jefferson, how is he?” he demanded at length. “you left him well?”
“unchangeable as flint. you said that only the order of your chief could change your plans. i sought to gain that order—i went myself to see mr. jefferson, that very day you started. he said that nothing could alter his faith in you, and that nothing could alter the plan you both had made. he would not call you back. he ordered me not to attempt to do so; but i have broken the president’s command. you find it hard! do you think this is not hard for me also?”
“these are strange words. what is your motive? what is it that you plan? why should you seek to stop me when i am trying to blot your face out of my mind? strange labor is that—to try to forget what i hold most dear!”
“you shall not leave my face behind you, captain lewis!” she said suddenly.
“what do you mean, theodosia? what is it?”
“you shall see me every night under the stars, meriwether lewis. i will not let you go. i will not relinquish you!”
he turned swiftly toward her, but paused as if caught back by some mighty hand.
“what is it?” he said once more, half in a whisper. “what do you mean? would you ruin me? would you see me go to ruin?”
“no! to the contrary, shall i allow you to hasten [pg 125]into the usual ruin of a man? if you go yonder, what will be the fate of meriwether lewis? you have spoken beautifully to me at times—you have awakened some feeling of what images a woman may make in a man’s heart. i have been no more to you than any woman is to any man—the image of a dream. but, that being so beautiful, ought i to allow you to turn it to ruin? shall i let you go down in savagery? ah, if i thought i were relinquishing you to that, this would be a heavy day for me!”
“can you fancy what all this means to me?” he broke out hoarsely.
“yes, i can fancy. and what for me? so much my feeling for you has been—oh, call it what you like—admiration, affection, maternal tenderness—i do not know what—but so much have i wished, so much have i planned for your future in return for what you have given me—ah, i do not dare tell you. i could not dare come here if i did not know that i was never to see or speak to you again. it tears my heart from my bosom that i must say these things to you. i have risked all my honor in your hands. is there no reward for that? is my recompense to be only your assertion that i torment you, that i torture you? what! is there no torture for me as well? the thought that i have done this covertly, secretly—what do you think that costs me?”
“your secret is absolutely safe with me, theodosia. no, it is not a secret! we have sworn that neither of us would lay a secret upon the other. i swear that to you once more.”
[pg 126]
“and yet you upbraid me when i say i cannot give you up to any fate but that of happiness and success—oh, not with me, for that is beyond us two—it is past forever. but happiness——”
“there are some words that burn deep,” he said slowly. “i know that i was not made for happiness.”
“does a woman’s wish mean nothing to you? have i no appeal for you?”
something like a sob was torn from his bosom.
“you can speak thus with me?” he said huskily. “if you cannot leave me happiness, can you not at least leave me partial peace of mind?”
she stood slightly swaying, silent.
“and you say you will not relinquish me, you will not let me go to that fate which surely is mine? you say you will not let me be savage? i say i am too nearly savage now. let me go—let me go yonder into the wilderness, where i may be a gentleman!”
he saw her movement as she turned, heard her sigh.
“sometimes,” she said, “i have thought it worth a woman’s life thrown away that a strong man may succeed. failure and sacrifice a woman may offer—not much more. but it is as my father told me!”
“he told you what?”
“that only chivalry would ever make you forget your duty—that you never could be approached through your weakness, but only through your strength, through your honor. i cannot approach you through your strength, and i would not approach you through your weakness, even if i could. no! wait. [pg 127]perhaps some day it will all be made clear for both of us, so that we may understand. yes, this is torture for us both!”
he heard the soft rustle of her gown, her light footfall as she passed; and once more he was alone.
