There were perhaps a hundred men in the room, and he was passed about from group to group.  Many of them had known his father intimately.  It seemed almost uncanny to him to meet them in the body; to find them old and feeble, white-haired and wrinkled.  As they lived in the chambers of his memory, they were in their mighty youth-heroes, transfigured and radiant, not subject to the power of time.

Life on the big plantation had been a lonely one, especially for a Southern-born man who had fought in the Union army.  General Montague had been a person of quiet tastes, and his greatest pleasure had been to sit with his two boys on his knees and “fight his battles o’er again.”  He had collected all the literature of the corps which he had commanded—­a whole librarry of it, in which Allan had learned to find his way as soon as he could read.  He had literally been brought up on the war—­for hours he would lie buried in some big illustrated history, until people came and called him away.  He studied maps of campaigns and battle-fields, until they became alive with human passion and struggle; he knew the Army of the Potomac by brigade and division, with the names of commanders, and their faces, and their ways-until they lived and spoke, and the bare roll of their names had power to thrill him.—­And now here were the men themselves, and all these scenes and memories crowding upon him in tumultuous throngs.  No wonder that he was a little dazed, and could hardly find words to answer when he was spoken to.

But then came an incident which called him suddenly back to the world of the present.  “There is Judge Ellis,” said the General.

Judge Ellis!  The fame of his wit and eloquence had reached even far Mississippi—­was there any remotest corner of America where men had not heard of the silver tongue of Judge Ellis?  “Cultivate him!” Montague’s brother Oliver had laughed, when it was mentioned that the Judge would be present—­“Cultivate him—­he may be useful.”

It was not difficult to cultivate one who was as gracious as Judge Ellis.  He stood in the doorway, a smooth, perfectly groomed gentleman, conspicuous in the uniformed assembly by his evening dress.  The Judge was stout and jovial, and cultivated Dundreary whiskers and a beaming smile.  “General Montague’s son!” he exclaimed, as he pressed the young man’s hands.  “Why, why—­I’m surprised!  Why have we never seen you before?”

Montague explained that he had only been in New York about six hours.  “Oh, I see,” said the Judge.  “And shall you remain long?”

“I have come to stay,” was the reply.

“Well, well!” said the other, cordially.  “Then we may see more of you.  Are you going into business?”

“I am a lawyer,” said Montague.  “I expect to practise.”

The Judge’s quick glance had been taking the measure of the tall, handsome man before him, with his raven-black hair and grave features.  “You must give us a chance to try your mettle,” he said; and then, as others approached to meet him, and he was forced to pass on, he laid a caressing hand on Montague’s arm, whispering, with a sly smile, “I mean it.”