Octagon

“ The concert came off, and Octavia carried off the laurels of the evening. She might not have done so, however, if she had been told that two men, perfect strangers to her had fought a duel about her, one getting killed, and the other wounded. "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." After the conclusion of the concert, all this was told her, when she immediately went to her room, and was weeping, when the President of the seminary knocked, and was admitted. He inquired the cause of her grief when she said that again she was the innocent cause of another tragedy ”

“ Colonel R. immediately hired every wagon and team, hauled the cotton to the river, shipped it to New Orleans by the first boat, and realized fifty cents per pound in gold for it, and as there were about one thousand bales, the reader can calculate, at five hundred pounds per bale, what a nice fortune the Colonel had, all of which had much to do with Octavia's future career.
While to all appearances Octavia was as white as the whitest, she had African blood coursing through her veins, which would debar her from Southern society. ”

“ I am minded to try my sword on this black barrier and find out if it be impassable."
Before he could reply—the black barrier was not! Only, two eyes that were crimson fires of hellishness were staring into mine from a distance of mere inches. . . no face, no form. . . just vacant air—and two eyes. With a snort of disgust, I turned my back to the phenomenon.
"Koto," I said severely, "I am Karan, rightful King of Octolan. I am not interested in child's play, nor am I to be frightened by any Elemental, devil, goblin, or fiend in all my realm. I am their King as well as yours! ”

“ Miss Mildred accompanied Octavia to the train and both were entwined in each other's arms, kissing and caressing, and would separate, and Octavia start for the train, when she would return, and the same performance be repeated, and repeated again, until the conductor shouted "All aboard," and the train moved off, bearing a desolate heart, and leaving one equally so at the station.
Octavia was going to a large city, an entire stranger. How desolate one feels in a large city, with acres of humanity around you and not acquainted with a single person! ”

“ Scarcely had Octavia resumed her rank, when Nero, under colour of a false and infamous charge, again banished her. Never exile filled the hearts of the beholders with more affecting compassion. The first day of Octavia’s nuptials was the commencement of her funeral. She was brought under a sad and dismal roof, from whence her father and brother had been carried off by poison. Though a wife, she was treated as a slave, and now she suffered the imputation of a crime more piercing than death itself. ”

“ Then, again, an artillery force was somehow out of joint with our notion of what Octavius should do to help suppress the Rebellion. Infantrymen with muskets we could all understand—could all be, if necessary. Many of the farmer boys round about, too, made good cavalrymen, because they knew both how to ride and how to groom a horse. But in the name of all that was mysterious, why artillerymen? There had never been a cannon within fifty miles of Octavius; that is, since the Revolution. Certainly none of our citizens had the least idea how to fire one off. ”

“ Octavius is going to believe so too. You see a chap like Octavius doesn’t care a bit about the brass. It is the principle he cares about; and he is such a fanatic in some things, if he found you out there is no saying to what lengths he might go.”
The frail barque, chartless, aimless in mid ocean, was obedient to the will of the wind. ”

“ There was a fierce legal battle, but the will as a whole was sustained, and Octavia was left independent.
Octavia now departed on her mission of mercy, Simon and Elsie believing that they would never see her again. She was bidding farewell to home, kindred,—to all that she held most dear. "Yes, my native land, I leave thee, far in foreign lands to dwell." After arriving in New York, she soon obtained passports for St. Petersburg, Russia, taking the first steamer, and ere long, would be
"Out on the ocean, all boundless we ride." ”

“ Colonel R. languished in a Northern prison on Johnson's Island, while Simon did the same thing in a county prison in Alabama.
The Confederate States were strongly blockaded, so much so that there could be no egress nor ingress except by blockade runners, which was a dangerous piece of business. Consequently very few of the delicacies of life could be had in the Southern States. This blockade also kept out quinine, which is so necessary in the South. For the want of this Octavia came near dying from an attack of malarial fever. ”

“ LOR. Nay, I will not unfold the chart. BEA. But you remember well enough without; Promise me not to think of it. LOR. I' faith, You are a desperate woman. Ay, I promise. [Exeunt Bianca and Beatrice. Octavia seats herself. Pause.] OCT. I tell you, as I've told you often before, Lorenzo, 'tis not good for two young girls To be so much together! LOR. As you say, Octavia. For myself, I must confess It seems a natural thing, enough, that youth Should seek out youth. And if they are better pleased Talking together than listening to us, I find it not unnatural. ”

“ The moment that the banquet ended, Octavia, still in her splendid apparel, hurried wildly to the chamber. It was a chamber of death. Already the incense was burning, already the cypress had been placed before the Propylæa of the Palatine. The boy lay there, silent, noble, beautiful, pale as a statue carved in alabaster; and Octavia disburdened the long-pent agony of repression in such a storm of weeping that her attendants tried to lead her away. But she tore off her jewels, and flung her arms round the corpse of her brother, and laid her head upon his breast, and sobbed aloud. ”

“ Octavia rejoiced that the instinct which had prompted her to make this appeal had not misled her, but assured her that behind the veil of coldness, pride, and levity which this woman wore there was a heart aching for sympathy and help and love. Mrs. Snowdon felt her worser self slip from her, leaving all that was true and noble to make her worthy of the test applied. Art she could meet with equal art, but nature conquered her. ”

“ With the girlish abandon of her impulsive nature Octavia knelt down before the woman who was plotting to destroy her happiness, laid the roses like a little peace offering on her lap, and with eloquently pleading eyes waited for pardon. For a moment Mrs. Snowdon watched her, fancying it a well-acted ruse to disarm a dangerous rival; but in that sweet face there was no art; one glance showed her that. The words smote her to the heart and won her in spite of pride or passion, as she suddenly took the girl into her arms, weeping repentant tears. ”

“ Octavius nodded. He got into the surrey; the hands that took the reins shook visibly. He drove on in silence for a few minutes. He was struggling for control of his emotion; for the truth is Octavius wanted to cry; and when a man wants to cry and must not, the result is inarticulateness and a painful contortion of every feature. Father Honoré, recognizing this fact, waited. Octavius swallowed hard and many times before he could speak; even then his speech was broken:
"She's in there—all right—but Champney Googe is with her—"
"Thank God!" ”

“ Simon thought best to keep all this from Octavia, to whom we will now return. There were two lawyers in the city where Octavia was attending school, who had been struck, the previous session, with Octavia's beauty and accomplishments, but had kept it to themselves. During this session, they attended every recital at the seminary, and the church that Octavia attended. They could, at least, admire at a distance. There were stringent rules, in the seminary, forbidding the girls from having gentlemen visitors. To this, Octavia made no objection, as was done by many other students. ”

“ She will return to her; people."
"Oh, no!" Octrogona answered quickly. "I love her youth, beauty; but passion does not control me; I delight in anticipation. The girl is mine, and she will never return to her people."
"This savage delights in anticipation," murmured Sheldon, "and those on our side delight in precipitation. Wow!"
"Have you ever met Potolili?" Saxe. asked.
"No!" cried Octrogona, aghast. "Meet Potolili! Oh, no!"
"You should," Saxe. urged, undaunted. "You love the daughter, you will be charmed with the father. Just give the word, he will meet you more than half." ”

“ He was simply fulfilling his purpose to give her a finished education, and no girl was considered "finished" who was not well grounded in music and art. Octavia thought her uncle was giving her all these musical instruments and art material. She never knew until in after years who was the real donor. Simon was indeed a faithful agent and trustee.
Miss Mildred had been Octavia's governess for seven or eight years, when one bright morning, just before her and Octavia's annual vacation, she was dumfounded to receive a proposal of marriage from Simon. ”

“ Octrogona paused, his glance shifted, "she is still here." Then realizing the comical side of the situation, he burst out laughing.
"She and her father are schemers, and have no equal for craftiness," he continued. "Her mission is to influence all in favor of her people, to arouse so-called brotherly love, and effect the unification of tribes, with—er—Potolili as supreme chief. Until her mission is accomplished she will not permit me to possess her, yet swears to her love for me. ”

“ Then answered the king with quick voice: "Blessed be thou, Aldolf, noblest of all earls! Thou art to me dear as my life, thou shalt be chief of people!" There men took Hengest, and there men bound Hengest; there was then Hengest of all knights most wretched! This fight was overcome, and the heathens fled. Then saw Octa, that his father was full woe; and with Ebissa, his wed brother, joined them together, and fled into York, with harm enow, and made ready the walls, and pulled down the halls. Some of the heathens went to the wood, where the folk on foot laid them to ground. ”

“ Another octopus attack on the little fort had met with a bloody repulse, and a score of the great bodies lay at the edge of the jungle in varying stages of decomposition, where they had been blown to extinction by the swift shells of the seventy-fives. A conference was in progress on Major Larivet's verandah; a conference of beaten men.
"As a last resort," Duperret was saying, "there is the open sea and Mulgrave's yacht."
"Why, as for that," Weyl answered, "it wouldn't hold a tenth of us, even crowded to the rails. Besides, leave those natives behind? Damn it, they trust us." ”

“ You do not know what assassins she may have in her pay. All that the spirit of insurrection needs is a leader, and, while Octavia lives, conspirators have only to provide her with a husband, and she will bring him the Empire as her dower, as she did to you. The tomb is the only safe prison. The dead excite no tumult and tell no tales.’
So the messenger was sent back without an answer, and Octavia knew that she had only to prepare for her fate. ”

“ We went to the ball in omnibuses and broughams, the usual thing; but Octavia took care that I sat between her and Lady Cecilia. Mrs. Murray-Hartley was so beautifully dressed, and her jewels were superb, and everything in very good taste. She is really a very agreeable woman to talk to, Mamma, and one can't blame her for wanting to be in Society. It must be so much nicer than Bayswater, where they came from, and Octavia says it proves her intelligence; it is easier to rise from the gutter than from the suburbs. ”

“ In the mean time the guard of honour and the officers took their places at the head of the bunder. Now a signal is run up to the mast-head of the Octavia, and, as if by magic, a crowd of white figures leap up the shrouds of the men-of-war, and run out [pg 131] upon the yards. Another minute of silence, and then a boat with an awning pulls out from the after-side of the Octavia, and a few seconds afterwards the thunder of her guns tells us that the Chief of the invading army has left the ship. Three minutes later the little guns of the mountain train proclaim that he has landed ”

“ She soon fascinated the most powerful man in the empire, who, forgetting his ambition, resigned himself to love. Octavius, master of himself, and of Italy, confiscated lands for the benefit of the soldiership prepared for future contingencies. Though Antonius married Octavia, the sister of Octavius, he was full of intrigues against him and Octavius, on his part, proved more than a match in duplicity and concealed hostilities. ”

“ The more Octavie displayed her wit, the cooler grew the royal lover. At last Octavie discovered the cause of her decline; her power was threatened by the novelty and piquancy of a correspondence between the august scribe and the wife of his Keeper of the Seals. That excellent woman was believed to be incapable of writing a note; she was simply and solely godmother to the efforts of audacious ambition. ”

“ Octavia found time to correspond with her uncle, and her attorney lover, telling each how she had become fond of her work, and that it was not as objectionable as one would think.
The war finally closed, and Octavia determined to return to America, and render comfort to the soldiers who were then fighting the Indians on the plains. She had caught a severe cold, while discharging her duties at the front, which resulted in pneumonia, and for days her physician despaired of her life. ”