[Transcriber's Note: The spelling inconsistencies of the original havebeen retained in this etext.]
The Iron Game
A TALE OF THE WAR
BY
HENRY F. KEENAN
"Heavy and solemn the cloudy column Over the green fields marching came, Measureless spread like a table bread For the cold grim dice of the iron game."
1898
TO
BERNARD JOHN McGRANN
WHOSE LIFE AND CONDUCT EMBODY AND ILLUSTRATE
THE MANLINESS, MODESTY, AND WORTH
THAT FANCY DELIGHTS TO EMBALM IN FICTION
THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED
BY ONE AMONG THE MANY WITNESSES OF HIS NOBLE CAREER
HENRY F. KEENAN
NEW YORK, 25th March, 1891.
CONTENTS
BOOK I.
THE CARIBEES.
CHAPTER
I.—THE BOY IN BLUE II.—FLAG AND FAITH III.—MALBROOK S'EN VA-T-EN GUERRE IV.—GUELPH AND GHIBELLINE V.—A NAPOLEONIC EPIGRAM VI.—ON THE POTOMAC VII.—THE STEP THAT COSTS VIII.—AN ARMY WITH BANNERS IX.—"THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN LIKE THE WOLF ON THE FOLD" X.—BLOOD AND IRON XI.—THE LEGIONS OF VARUS
BOOK II.
THE HOSTAGES.
XII.—THE AFTERMATH XIII.—A COMEDY OF TERRORS XIV.—UNDER TWO FLAGS XV.—ROSEDALE XVI.—A MASQUE IN ARCADY XVII.—TREASON AND STRATAGEMS XVIII.—A CAMPAIGN OF PLOTS XIX.—"HE EITHER FEARS HIS FATE TOO MUCH" XX.—A CATASTROPHE XXI.—THE STORY OF THE NIGHT XXII.—A CARPET-KNIGHT XXIII.—ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
BOOK III.
THE DESERTERS.
XXIV.—BETWEEN THE LINES XXV.—PHANTASMAGORIA XXVI.—IN THE UNION LINES XXVII.—"THE ABSENT ARE ALWAYS IN THE WRONG"XXVIII.—THE WORLD WENT VERY ILL THEN XXIX.—A WOMAN'S REASON XXX.—A GAME OF CHANCE XXXI.—TWO BLADES OF THE SAME STEEL XXXII.—THE LOST CARIBEESXXXIII.—FATHER ABRAHAM'S JOKE
BOOK I.
THE CARIBEES.
CHAPTER I.
THE BOY IN BLUE.
When expulsion from college, in his junior years, was visited upon JackSprague, he straightway became the hero of Acredale. And, though thegrave faculty had felt constrained to vindicate college authority, itwas well known that they sympathized with the infraction of decorum thatobliged them to put this mark of disgrace upon one of the most promisingof their students.
All his young life Jack had dreamed of West Point and the years oftraining that were to fit him for the glories of war. He knew thebattles of the Revolution as other boys knew the child-lore of thenursery. He had the campaigns of Marlborough, the strategy of Turenne,the inspirations of the great Frederick, and the prodigies of Napoleon,as readily on the end of his tongue