“
attention, men!”
the company of volunteers for the discovery of the west fell into line in front of the stone fortress of old st. louis. a motley crew they looked in their half-savage garb. they were veterans, fit for any difficult undertaking in the wilderness. shoulder to shoulder they had labored in the great enterprise. now they were to disband.
their leaders had laid aside the costume of the frontier and assumed the uniforms of officers in the army of the united states. fresh from his barber and his tailor, captain lewis stood, tall, clean-limbed, immaculate, facing his men. his beard was gone, his face showed paler where it had been reaped. his hair, grown quite long, and done now in formal cue, hung low upon his shoulders. in every line a gentleman, an officer, and a thoroughbred, he no longer bore any trace of the wilderness. love, confidence, admiration—these things showed in the faces of his men as their eyes turned to him.
“men,” said he, “you are to be mustered out today. there will be given to each of you a certificate of service [pg 301]in this expedition. it will entitle you to three hundred and twenty acres of land, to be selected where you like west of the mississippi river. you will have double pay in gold as well; but it is not only in this way that we seek to show appreciation of your services.
“we have concluded a journey of considerable length and importance. between you and your officers there have been such relations as only could have made successful a service so extraordinary as ours has been. in our reports to our own superior officers we shall have no words save those of praise for any of you. our expedition has succeeded. to that success you have all contributed. your officers thank you.
“captain clark will give you your last command, men. as i say farewell to you, i trust i may not be taken to mean that i separate myself from you in my thoughts or memories. if i can ever be of service to any of you, you will call upon me freely.”
he turned and stepped aside. his place was taken by his associate, william clark, likewise a soldier, an officer, properly attired, and all the figure of a proper man. clark’s voice rang sharp and clear.
“attention! aim—fire! break ranks—march!”
the last volley of the gallant little company was fired. the last order had been given and received. with a sweep of his drawn sword, captain clark dismissed them. the expedition was done.
so now they went their way, most of them into oblivion, great though their services had been. for their officers much more remained to do.
[pg 302]
the progress to washington was a triumph. everywhere their admiring countrymen were excited over their marvelous journey. they were fêted and honored at every turn. the country was ringing with their praises from the mississippi to the atlantic as the news spread eastward just ahead of them.
when at last they finished their adieux to the kindly folk of st. louis, who scarce would let them go, they took boat across the river to the old kaskaskia trail, and crossed the illinois country by horse to the falls of the ohio, where the family of william clark awaited him. here was much holiday, be sure; but not even here did they pause long, for they must be on their way to meet their chief at washington.
their little cavalcade, growing larger now, passed on across kentucky, over the gap in the cumberlands, down into the country of the virginia gentry. here again they were fêted and dined and wined so long as they would tarry. it was specially difficult for them to leave colonel hancock, at fincastle. here they must pause and tell how they had named certain rivers in the west—the one for maria woods; another for judith hancock—the maria’s and judith rivers of our maps today.
here william clark delayed yet a time. he found in the charms of the fair judith herself somewhat to give him pause. soon he was to take her as his bride down the ohio to yonder town of st. louis, for whose fame he had done so much, and was to do so much more.
toward none of the fair maids who now flocked [pg 303]about them could meriwether lewis be more than smiling gallant, though rumors ran that either he or william clark might well-nigh take his pick. he was alike to all of them in his courtesy.
one thought of eager and unalloyed joy rested with him. he was soon to see his mother. in time he rode down from the hilltops of old albemarle to the point beyond the ivy depot where rose the gentle eminence of locust hill, the plantation of the lewis family.
always in the afternoon, in all weathers, his mother sat looking down the long lane to the gate, as if she expected that one day a certain figure would appear. sometimes, old as she was, she dozed and dreamed—just now she had done so. she awoke, and saw standing before her, as if pictured in her dream, the form of her son, in bodily presence, although at first she did not accept him as such.
“my son!” said she at length, half as much in terror as in joy. “merne!”
he stooped down and took her grayed head in his hands as she looked up at him. she recalled other times when he had come from the forest, from the wilderness, bearing trophies in his hands. he bore now trophies greater, perhaps, than any man of his age ever had brought home with him. what washington had defended was not so great as that which lewis won. it required them both to make an america for us haggling and unworthy followers.
“my son!” was all she could say. “they told me that you never would come back, that you were dead. [pg 304]i thought the wilderness had claimed you at last, merne!”
“i told you i should come back to you safe, mother. there was no danger at any time. from st. louis i have come as fast as any messenger could have come. next i must go to see mr. jefferson at washington—then, back home again to talk with you, for long, long hours.”
“and what have you found?”
“more than i can tell you in a year! we found the mysterious river, the columbia—found where it runs into the ocean, where it starts in the mountains. we found the head of the missouri—the ohio is but a creek beside it. we crossed plains and mountains more wonderful than any we have ever dreamed of. we saw the most wonderful land in all the world, mother—and we made it ours!”
“and you did that? merne, was that why the wilderness called to you? my boy has done all that? your country will reward you. i should not complain of all these years of absence. you are happy now, are you not?”
“i should be the happiest of men. i can take to mr. jefferson, our best friend, the proof that he was right in his plans. his great dream has come true, and i in some part helped to make it true. should i not now be happy?”
“you should be, merne, but are you?”
“i am well, and i find you still well and strong. my friend, will clark, has come back with me hearty as a boy. everything has been fortunate with us. [pg 305]look at me,” he demanded, turning and stretching out his mighty arms. “i am strong. my men all came through without loss or injury—the splendid fellows! it is wonderful that in risks such as ours we met with no ill fortune.”
“yes, but are you happy? turn your face to me.”
but he did not turn his face.
“i told my friend, william clark,” he said lightly, as he rose, “to join me here after an hour or so. i think i see his party coming now. york rides ahead, do you see? he is a free negro now—he will have stories enough to set all our blacks idle for a month. i must go down to meet will and our other guests.”
william clark, bubbling over with his own joy of life, set all the household in a whirl. there was nothing but cooking, festivity, dancing, hilarity, so long as he remained at locust hill.
but the mother of meriwether lewis looked with jealous eye on william clark. success, glory, honor, fame, reward—these now belonged to meriwether lewis, to them both, his mother knew. but why did not his laugh sound high like that of his friend? her eyes followed her son daily, hourly, until at last she surrendered him to his duty when he declared he could no longer delay his journey to washington.
spick and span, cap-a-pie, pictures of splendid young manhood, the two captains rode one afternoon up to the great gate before the mansion house of the nation. lewis looked about him at scenes once familiar; but in the three years and a half since he had seen it last the raw town had changed rapidly.
[pg 306]
workmen had done somewhat upon the capitol building yonder, certain improvements had been made about the executive mansion itself; but the old negro men at the gate and at the door of the house were just as he had left them. and when, running on ahead of his companion, he knocked at mr. jefferson’s office door—flinging it open, as he did so, with the freedom of his old habit—he looked in upon a familiar sight.
thomas jefferson was sitting bent over his desk, as usual littered with a thousand papers. the long frame of his multigraph copying-machine was at one side. folded documents lay before him, unfinished briefs upon the other side; a rack of goose quills and an open inkpot stood beyond. and on the top of the desk, spread out long and over all, lay a great map, whose identity these two young men easily could tell—the lewis and clark map sent back from the mandan country! thomas jefferson had kept it at his desk every day since it had come to him, more than two years before.
he turned now toward the door, casually, for he was used to the interruptions of his servants. what he saw brought him to his feet. he spread out his arms impulsively—he shook the hand of each in turn, drew them to him before he motioned them to seats. never had meriwether lewis seen such emotion displayed by his chief.
“i could hardly wait for you!” said mr. jefferson. he began to pace up and down. “i knew it, i knew it!” he exclaimed. “now they will call us constitutional, perhaps, since we have added a new world to [pg 307]our country! my son, that was our vision. you have proved it. you have been both dreamer and doer!”
he came up and placed a half playful hand on meriwether lewis’s shoulder.
“did i know men, then?” he demanded.
“and did i, mr. jefferson? captain clark——”
“you do not say the title correctly! it is not captain clark, it is not captain lewis, that stand before me now. you are to have sixteen hundred acres of land, each of you. you, my son, will be governor lewis of the new territory of louisiana; and your friend is not captain clark but general clark, agent of all the indian tribes of the west!”
in silence the hand of each of the young men went out to the president. then their own eyes met, and their hands. they were not to be separated after all—they were to work together yonder in st. louis!
“governor—general—i welcome you back! you will come back to your old rooms here in my family, merne, and we will find a place for your friend. what we have here is at the service of both of you. you are the guests of the nation!”
