We reached Washington about six, A. M. No offices were open before nine.
I employed the interval, partly in breakfasting with what appetite I
might, partly in a visit to Percy Anderson, whose slumbers I was
compelled to break by the most disagreeable of all morning
apparitions--a friend in trouble. I could only just stay long enough to
receive condolences, and promises of all possible assistance--private or
diplomatic; then I betook myself to the Provost Marshal's office, which
I did not enter; thence to that of the Judge-Advocate-General.
I look back upon that interview with feelings of unmitigated
self-contempt, I confess to have been utterly deluded by that sleek
official's sham _bonhommie_; so that when he prayed me to be frank and
explicit--"Anything that you say, I shall receive with perfect
confidence," &c., &c.,--I did strive, to the best of my powers, to
forget no important incident or word relative to my conduct since I
landed in America; only making reservations where confession might
implicate others. An artless boy might easily have been gulled by the
portly presence, the unctuous voice, and eyes that twinkled merrily
through gold-rimmed glasses; but no man of mature age can remember such
a gross mistake without a hot flush of shame.
Pages:
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175