Pryor

“ Pryor explained. "It is to be made on a new principle, and a rifleman on sentry-go can sleep there and get wind of the approach (p. 280) of a sergeant by the vibration of stripes rubbing against the walls of the trench."
"Every man in the battalion must not be in here," said the sergeant looking at the khaki crowd and the full glasses. "I can't allow it and the back room empty."
Pryor and I took the hint and went to the low roofed room in the rear, where we found two persons, a woman and a man. ”

“ I entered the dug-out. A little candle in a winding sheet flared dimly in a niche which I had cut in the wall a few days previous. Pryor was sitting on the floor, his hands clasped round his knees, and he was looking into infinite distances. Bill Teake was there, smoking a cigarette and humming his ragtime tune. Two other soldiers were there, lying on the floor and probably asleep. One was covered with a blanket, but his face was bare, a sallow face with a blue, pinched nose, a weak, hairy jaw, and an open mouth that gaped at the rafters. The other man lay at his feet, breathing heavily. ”

“ But after we had recovered, General Hartsuff came himself—and finally sent Captain Gregory, the commissary-general, to see me, and to reason seriously with me about the necessity of sending General Pryor away. He had never been pardoned. There were men in power who constantly hinted at punishment and retribution. General Pryor would die here. He should go to New York, go by sea, shake off the chills that shook him so relentlessly every third day, meet friends (many Southerners were in New York) , and something might result for his benefit. ”

“ Batters’ will, and one of the bonds into an envelope. Locked the enclosure to be given to Mary Blyth and the rest of the bonds in a drawer; and, with the envelope in my hand, went to call on Gregory Pryor.
Pryor is a barrister of some years’ standing; a “rising junior”; hard-working, hard-headed, a sound lawyer, and a man of the world. What is more, a friend of my father’s who has transferred his friendship to me. More than once when I have found myself in a professional quandary I have laid the matter before him; on each occasion he has given me just that help and advice I needed. ”

“ De kerridge sets mighty high. No'm, der ain't no danger, but I ain't trustin' dem cricks. I knows cricks! Dee kin swell deeself up as big's a river in no time!"
We had not gone far before we were overtaken by a mud-splashed horseman, who arrested our horses 135and spoke in a low tone to the driver. Presently he appeared at the carriage window. "This is Mrs. Pryor? You remember Mr. Carrington? I hope I see you well, Madam. I am on my way to vote for your husband—or rather, help elect him. We have a fine day; the polls need not be kept open to-morrow. ”

“ General Roger A. Pryor's address on Decoration Day, at Brooklyn, New York, is quite remarkable. It is very brilliant and very eloquent. There is logic, but it is 'logic on fire,' as Macaulay said of Lord Chatham. There is a magnificent sweep in the sentences, and high and patriotic thought throughout. ”

“ Pryor entered.
"Have you two effected your compromise yet?" he questioned dryly.
Leonie colored guiltily.
"We have, sir!" returned Lynde, with manly quiet and dignity. "Under the circumstances that exist, we wish the matter to remain our secret for the present, or rather that of the family. Perhaps we have been premature, but——"
"Nonsense. You would have been foolish not to have taken advantage of the opportunity that God made for you especially. I congratulate you both with all my heart. I have never had anything make me happier, and I am sure all the rest of the family will join me." ”

“ Pryor, with motherly kindness. "I think it would be much better for you to go up-stairs and take a much-needed rest, than allow yourself to be tormented by these careless young people."
"I had rather remain, if you will allow me," returned Leonie, meekly. "I don't think I could rest, and I should not like to be alone. This is ever so much better, where I can feel what kind friends and true the Lord has sent me in my loneliness."
"And Leonard Chandler!" cut in Mr. Pryor, unable to curb his curiosity. ”

“ He might have been called a fine-looking man, of the virile style of beauty, with his strong, regular features framed in blonde hair and beard, his aquiline nose, and a pair of blue eyes which in repose would charm with their honest and kindly gaze, but could shoot forth flashes of lightning when in excitement—the whole man the very picture of strength and courage. A hot wrangle occurred on the floor between him and Mr. Roger A. Pryor of Virginia, who had irritated him with some very provoking remarks, and a challenge to a duel followed behind the scenes. ”

“ I ejaculated.
"Oh!" said Pryor. "Seen some fighting?"
"Not much," said the man, "not too much." His eyes lit up as with fire and he sent a potato stripped clean of its jacket up to the roof but with such precision that it dropped down straight into the bucket. "First we went south and the Germans came across up north. 'Twas turn about and up like mad; perched on taxis, limbers, ambulance waggons, anything. ”

“ How soon Jerry guessed what it was that looked at him from under her long lashes, which was absent when she bestowed her fearless glances upon the other officers, is not made quite plain to his conscience yet. But he was promptly aware of Major Pryor’s determination to prevent him from keeping engagements which brought him into the society of Rosita. No position of authority lends itself so readily to petty tyranny as that of a post-commander, when the incumbent is thus disposed ”

“ But it was evident from the very first, though formal, sentence, that exploded from General Pryor's lips that he needed no outward occasion to minister excitement to his surcharged batteries of personal electricity. A dry legal question was provocation enough; what he would do under the heat of an impassioned issue is inconceivable, if the proportions of occasion and effect were preserved. His execution, to borrow a musician's term, is prodigious, considered merely as a tour de force. It is a volcanic torrent of speech. To say the enunciation is rapid, is nothing: it is lightning-like. ”

“ Evarts complimented General Pryor, not only upon the brilliant presentation of the law, but upon his extended acquaintance with the authorities. His speech won the point for Tilton. He is known to be an indefatigable student. Seven hours a day he studies law as though he needs it all on the morrow. No man in New York has a more brilliant future; and when it comes, no man will have so completely carved out his own way and made his own fortune. ”

“ He was told that he was nobody’s son; that foolish old Mrs. Shapleigh was right when she said he looked like Skelton’s father—like that odious picture in the hall. How he hated it, and how he would like to throw it in the fire! But though his spirits sank, his courage remained high. A fortune was a very fine thing, but there was such a thing as paying too dear for it. The determination not to give in—to make a fight for his own respectability—grew and strengthened hourly within him. He went and got his few books with the name “Thomas Pryor, M. A.,” written in them, and names and dates. ”

“ I congratulate you most warmly on the success of your movement in the relief of our Jacksonville citizens, for it is you alone who have been the moving and animating force of it all. It will be a pleasant thing for you to remember always, and for us, too, who have followed your lead, though so far behind. It will not be possible for me to take the place on the committee to which you appoint 438me. Do take it yourself, dear Mrs. Pryor! You ought to do so. ”

“ Fry visited the ship occasionally to see her intentions fully effected; and this attention to the unhappy objects of her solicitude was the more valuable, as her time was then of the most pressing importance to her 96own interest and feeling, some valued relatives of hers being dangerously ill. Her absence, when unavoidable, was unremittingly supplied to the convicts by the care and watchfulness of Mrs. Pryor, whom not the roughest weather or greatest personal inconvenience could deter from the work of humanity. ”

“ General Hartsuff, to whom I applied for a guard, said at once:—
"It is impossible for you to go to Cottage Farm; there are fifty or more negroes on the place. You cannot live there."
"I must! It is my only shelter."
"Well, then, I'll allow you a guard, and Mrs. Hartsuff had better take you out herself, that is, if you can condescend to accept as much."
I was not aware that Mrs. Hartsuff had entered and stood behind me. 267 "And I think, George," she said, "you ought to give Mrs. Pryor a horse and cart in place of her own that were stolen." ”

“ The other from General Johnson runs at length: "At the most critical juncture General Roger A. Pryor rendered me most valuable service, displaying great zeal, energy, and gallantry in reconnoitring the positions of the enemy, arranging my line of battle, and rendering successful the operations and movements of the conflict." At General Johnson's request my husband served with him during the midsummer. Such letters I have in lieu of medal or ribbon,—a part only of much of similar nature; but less was given to many a man who as fitly deserved recognition. ”

“ But I remembered my New York experience with the silver. So be it! I had borne rebuff more than once—I could bear it again.
I told Mr. Champney—for this was the name of the old gentleman—that I was the wife of General Pryor, that we had come North to live, that my husband's profession was not yielding enough for our support, nor had we any immediate ground upon which to build hope for better fortune; that I did hope, however, to pay for provisions for my family—sometime, not soon, but certainly if we lived; and that certainly, without food, we should not live! ”

“ Pryor evidently studied the highest standards in his reading, and his editorials were a revelation of strength and purity in classic English. It was impossible, however, for a man of his tastes and force not to drift into politics outside of the sanctum of his paper, and the public soon recognized him as one of the ablest and most eloquent speakers upon the hustings and in the bitter discussions that marked the proceedings of every gathering of the people in those years. ”

“ America probably had not his superior. Only twenty years at the time of his death, his powerful and mature intellect gave assurance of any position his ambition might covet. He was always first, and easily first, in any school, academy, or college that he entered. His powers were indeed marvellous. Proud of being a Virginian, his loss to the state, to the country indeed, is irreparable. In arms and in statesmanship Virginia has nothing to covet,—in letters a new field of glory awaits her. Pryor, foremost in that field, would have filled it with the lustre of his fame. ”

“ Never, never was girl as happy! The tree loaded with tiny baskets of bonbons, each enriched with an original rhyming jest or sentiment, was magnificent, the supper delicious, the speeches and poems from the two old judges (Tucker) were apt and witty. I went as a little girl—a close bud—but no "high-necked" gown ever prisoned a happier heart.
It seems to me, as I look back, that my University friends, Mr. Schéle de Vere, James Southall, William C. Rives, Jr., George Wythe Randolph, Roger Pryor, et al., felt all at once a very kind interest in my education. ”

“ One frosty morning I was writing letters,—to Agnes, to my mother, to my little girls in Charlotte, expressing the gratitude of my heart for the new blessings of the hour,—when General Wilcox entered, and took his accustomed stand before the fire.
"Madam," he commenced, "is the General at home?"
"No, General, he did not return last night."
"You are not uneasy?" 307
"Not a bit. He sometimes stops at Mrs. Friend's when he is belated. She's his cousin, you know."
"Of course!" laughed the General. "All the pretty women in Virginia are cousins to the Virginia officers. ”

“ With the coal as a pencil, the prisoners indulged in caricatures of the commandant. Every morning a fresh picture on the whitewashed wall met his eye: "Burk as a baby," "Burk in his first pants," "Burk in love," etc., etc. The reward was the commandant's face when he saw them.
After my husband's release, his place in the casemate was filled by a "stylish" young officer who refused, absolutely, to submit to the degradation of bringing up his quota of the coal.
"And so," said "old Burk," "you are too great a man, are you, to fetch your coal? I had General Pryor here. He brought up his coal! ”

“ If it wasn't for these things, and a few more, the trench wouldn't be such a bad locality."
He put a finger and a thumb into my cigarette case, drew out a fag, and lit it off the stump of his (p. 115) old one. He blew a puff of smoke into the air, stuck his thumbs behind his cartridge pouches, and fixed a look of pity on Pryor.
"What are the few more things that you did not mention, Bill?" I asked.
"Few! Blimey, I should say millions. ”

“ It reminds us in its glow and passion, in its rich and flowing rhetoric, and in its exquisite diction of Edmund Burke's tremendous speech on the 'Nabob of Arcot's Debts.' We do not think any man can accompany the orator, with his kindling, intense periods and sonorous, ornate style, with his lofty thought and impassioned eloquence, without a responsive thrill of emotion and a feeling of pride that this master of speech is a Southron."
—Wilmington (N. C.) Star.
"The address of General Roger A. Pryor delivered on Decoration Day at Brooklyn, N. Y., is a brilliant production. ”