sympathizers; but the whole bearing of that young man
was fiercely repellent of sympathy; he would have
none of it. “Hayne’s position,”
said Major Waldron, “is practically this:
he holds that no man who has borne himself as he has
during these five years—denied himself
everything that he might make up every cent that was
lost, though he was in no wise responsible for the
loss—could by any possibility have been
guilty of the charges on which he was tried. From
this he will not abate one jot or tittle; and he refuses
now to restore to his friendship the men who repudiated
him in his years of trouble, except on their profession
of faith in his entire innocence.” Now,
this was something the cavalry could not do without
some impeachment of the evidence which was heaped
up against the poor fellow at the time of the trial;
and it was something the infantry would not do, because
thereby they would virtually pronounce one at least
of their own officers to have repeatedly and persistently
given false testimony. In the case of Waldron
and the cavalry, however, it was possible for Hayne
to return their calls of courtesy, because they, having
never “sent him to Coventry,” received
him precisely as they would receive any other officer.
With the Riflers it was different: having once
“cut” him as though by unanimous accord,
and having taught the young officers joining year
after year to regard him as a criminal, they
could be restored to Mr. Hayne’s friendship,
as has been said before, only “on confession
of error.” Buxton and two or three of his
stamp called or left their cards on Mr. Hayne because
their colonel had so done; but precisely as the ceremony
was performed, just so was it returned. Buxton
was red with wrath over what he termed Hayne’s
conceited and supercilious manner when returning his
call: “I called upon him like a gentleman,
by thunder, just to let him understand I wanted to
help him out of the mire, and told him if there was
anything I could do for him that a gentleman could
do, not to hesitate about letting me know; and when
he came to my house to-day, damned if he didn’t
patronize me!—talked to me about
the Plevna siege, and wanted to discuss Gourko and
the Balkans or some other fool thing: what in
thunder have I to do with campaigns in Turkey?—and
I thought he meant those nigger soldiers the British
have in India,—Goorkhas, I know now,—and
I did tell him it was an awful blunder, that
only a Russian would make, to take those Sepoy fellows
and put ’em into a winter campaign. Of
course I hadn’t been booking up the subject,
and he had, and sprung it on me; and then, by gad,
as he was going, he said he had books and maps he
would lend me, and if there was anything he could
do for me that a gentleman could do, not to
hesitate about asking. Damn his impudence!”