In the field, but he took pleasure in tricking the dignified

citizenry into embarrassing situations. He could no more resist

pricking the conceits, the hypocrisies and the flamboyant

patriotism of those about him than a small boy can resist putting

a pin into a balloon. He neatly deflated the pompous and exposed

the ignorant and the bigoted, and he did it in such subtle ways,

drawing his victims out by his seemingly courteous interest, that

they never were quite certain what had happened until they stood

exposed as windy, high flown and slightly ridiculous.

During the months when the town accepted him, Scarlett had been

under no illusions about him. She knew that his elaborate

gallantries and his florid speeches were all done with his tongue

In his cheek. She knew that he was acting the part of the dashing

and patriotic blockade runner simply because it amused him.

Sometimes he seemed to her like the County boys with whom she had

grown up, the wild Tarleton twins with their obsession for practical

jokes; the devil-inspired Fontaines, teasing, mischievous; the

Calverts who would sit up all night planning hoaxes. But there was

a difference, for beneath Rhett's seeming lightness there was

something malicious, almost sinister in its suave brutality.

Though she was thoroughly aware of his insincerity, she much

preferred him in the role of the romantic blockader. For one

thing, it made her own situation in associating with him so much

easier than it had been at first. So, she was intensely annoyed

when he dropped his masquerade and set out apparently upon a

deliberate campaign to alienate Atlanta's good will. It annoyed

her because it seemed foolish and also because some of the harsh

criticism directed at him fell on her.

It was at Mrs. Elsing's silver musicale for the benefit of the

convalescents that Rhett signed his final warrant of ostracism.

That afternoon the Elsing home was crowded with soldiers on leave

and men from the hospitals, members of the Home Guard and the

militia unit, and matrons, widows and young girls. Every chair in

the house was occupied, and even the long winding stair was packed

with guests. The large cut-glass bowl held at the door by the

Elsings' butler had been emptied twice of its burden of silver

coins. That in itself was enough to make the affair a success,

for now a dollar in silver was worth sixty dollars in Confederate

paper money.

Every girl with any pretense to accomplishments had sung or played

the piano, and the tableaux vivants had been greeted with

flattering applause. Scarlett was much pleased with herself, for

not only had she and Melanie rendered a touching duet, "When the

Dew Is on the Blossom," followed as an encore by the more

sprightly "Oh, Lawd, Ladies, Don't Mind Stephen!" but she had also

been chosen to represent the Spirit of the Confederacy in the last

tableau.

She had looked most fetching, wearing a modestly draped Greek robe

of white cheesecloth girdled with red and blue and holding the

Stars and Bars in one hand, while with the other she stretched out

to the kneeling Captain Carey Ashburn, of Alabama, the gold-hilted

saber which had belonged to Charles and his father.

When her tableau was over, she could not help seeking Rhett's eyes

to see if he had appreciated the pretty picture she made. With a

feeling of exasperation she saw that he was in an argument and

probably had not even noticed her. Scarlett could see by the

faces of the group surrounding him that they were infuriated by

what he was saying.

She made her way toward them and, in one of those odd silences

which sometimes fall on a gathering, she heard Willie Guinan, of

the militia outfit, say plainly: "Do I understand, sir, that you

mean the Cause for which our heroes have died is not sacred?"

"If you were run over by a railroad train your death wouldn't

sanctify the railroad company, would it?" asked Rhett and his