The Man in Gray

The Man in Gray

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Title: The Man in Gray
Author: Thomas Dixon
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[ILLUSTRATION: "YOU'D LIKE YOUR PAPA TO COME BACK
HOME FROM THE WAR?"]
THE MAN IN GRAY
A ROMANCE OF NORTH AND SOUTH
BY
THOMAS DIXON
AUTHOR OF "THE SOUTHERNER," "THE LEOPARD'S SPOTS,"
"THE BIRTH OF A NATION," "THE CLANSMAN," ETC.
DEDICATED TO MY FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE KAPPA
ALPHA FRATERNITY FOUNDED UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF
ROBERT E. LEE 1868

TO THE READER
Now that my story is done I see that it is the strangest fiction that I have
ever written.

Because it is true. It actually happened. Every character in it is historic.
I have not changed even a name. Every event took place. Therefore it is
incredible. Yet I have in my possession the proofs establishing each
character and each event as set forth. They are true beyond question.
THOMAS DIXON CURRITUCK LODGE Munden, Va.

LEADING CHARACTERS OF THE STORY
ROBERT E. LEE The Southern Commander.
MRS. LEE His Wife.
CUSTIS His older Son.
MARY His Daughter.
MRS. MARSHALL Lee's Sister.
UNCLE BEN The Butler.
SAM A Slave.
J.E.B. STUART "The Flower of Cavaliers."
FLORA COOKE His Sweetheart.
PHIL SHERIDAN His Schoolmate.
FRANCIS PRESTON BLAIR Lincoln's Messenger.
SENATOR ROBERT TOOMBS of Georgia.
JOHN BROWN of Osawatomie.
JOHN E. COOK His Spy.
VIRGINIA KENNEDY Cook's Victim.

GERRIT SMITH A Philanthropist.
GEORGE EVANS A Labor Leader.
F. B. SANBORN Brown's Organizer.
REV. THOMAS W. HIGGINSON A Revolutionist.
WM. C. RIVES Confederate Senator
GEN. E. P. ALEXANDER of Lee's Artillery.
JOHN DOYLE A Poor White.
MAHALA DOYLE His Wife.
EDMOND RUFFIN A Virginia Planter.

THE MAN IN GRAY
CHAPTER I
The fireflies on the Virginia hills were blinking in the dark places
beneath the trees and a katydid was singing in the rosebush beside the
portico at Arlington. The stars began to twinkle in the serene sky. The
lights of Washington flickered across the river. The Capitol building
gleamed, argus-eyed on the hill. Congress was in session, still
wrangling over the question of Slavery and its extension into the
territories of the West.
The laughter of youth and beauty sifted down from open windows.
Preparations were being hurried for the ball in honor of the departing
cadets--Custis Lee, his classmate, Jeb Stuart, and little Phil Sheridan of
Ohio whom they had invited in from Washington.
The fact that the whole family was going to West Point with the boys
and Colonel Robert E. Lee, the new Superintendent, made no

difference. One excuse for an old-fashioned dance in a Southern home
was as good as another. The main thing was to bring friends and
neighbors, sisters and cousins and aunts together for an evening of joy.
A whippo'will cried his weird call from a rendezvous in the shadows of
the lawn, as Sam entered the great hall and began to light the hundreds
of wax tapers in the chandeliers.
"Move dat furniture back now!" he cried to his assistants. "And mind
yo' p's and q's. Doan yer break nuttin."
His sable helpers quietly removed the slender mahogany and rosewood
pieces to the adjoining rooms. They laughed at Sam's new-found note
of dignity and authority.
He was acting butler to-night in Uncle Ben's place. No servant was
allowed to work when ill--no matter how light the tasks to which he
was assigned. Sam was but twenty years old and he had been given the
honor of superintending the arrangements for the dance. And, climax of
all, he had been made