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ELSIE AT VIAMEDE

       *       *       *       *       *

A LIST OF THE ELSIE BOOKS AND OTHER POPULAR BOOKS

BY MARTHA FINLEY

      _ELSIE DINSMORE._
        _ELSIE'S HOLIDAYS AT ROSELANDS._
          _ELSIE'S GIRLHOOD._
            _ELSIE'S WOMANHOOD._
              _ELSIE'S MOTHERHOOD._
                _ELSIE'S CHILDREN._
      _ELSIE'S WIDOWHOOD._
        _GRANDMOTHER ELSIE._
          _ELSIE'S NEW RELATIONS._
            _ELSIE AT NANTUCKET._
              _THE TWO ELSIES._
                _ELSIE'S KITH AND KIN._
      _ELSIE'S FRIENDS AT WOODBURN._
        _CHRISTMAS WITH GRANDMA ELSIE._
          _ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS._
            _ELSIE YACHTING WITH THE RAYMONDS._
              _ELSIE'S VACATION._
                _ELSIE AT VIAMEDE._
      _ELSIE AT ION._
        _ELSIE AT THE WORLD'S FAIR._
          _ELSIE'S JOURNEY ON INLAND WATERS._
            _ELSIE AT HOME._
              _ELSIE ON THE HUDSON._
                _ELSIE IN THE SOUTH._
                  _ELSIE'S YOUNG FOLKS._
                    _ELSIE'S WINTER TRIP._
                      _ELSIE AND HER LOVED ONES._

       *       *       *       *       *

      _MILDRED KEITH._
        _MILDRED AT ROSELANDS._
          _MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE._
            _MILDRED AND ELSIE._
              _MILDRED AT HOME._
                _MILDRED'S BOYS AND GIRLS._
                  _MILDRED'S NEW DAUGHTER._

       *       *       *       *       *

      _CASELLA._
        _SIGNING THE CONTRACT AND WHAT IT COST._
          _THE TRAGEDY OF WILD RIVER VALLEY._
            _OUR FRED._
              _AN OLD-FASHIONED BOY._
                _WANTED, A PEDIGREE._
                  _THE THORN IN THE NEST._

       *       *       *       *       *


ELSIE AT VIAMEDE

by

MARTHA FINLEY

Author of "Elsie Dinsmore," "The Mildred Books,"
"Thorn in the Nest," Etc., Etc., Etc.







New York
Dodd, Mead & Company
Publishers

Copyright, 1892
by Dodd, Mead & Company.
All rights reserved.




ELSIE AT VIAMEDE.




CHAPTER I.


IT was a beautiful evening at Viamede: the sun nearing its setting,
shadows sleeping here and there upon the velvety flower-bespangled lawn,
and filling the air with their delicious perfume, the waters of the
bayou beyond reflecting the roseate hues of the sunset clouds, and the
song of some <DW64> oarsmen, in a passing boat, coming to the ear in
pleasantly mellowed tones. Tea was over, and the family had all gathered
upon the veranda overlooking the bayou. A momentary silence was broken
by Rosie's pleasant voice:

"Mamma, I wish you or grandpa, or the captain, would tell the story of
Jackson's defence of New Orleans. Now while we are in the neighborhood
we would all, I feel sure, find it very interesting. I think you have
been going over Lossing's account of it, mamma," she added laughingly,
"for I found his 'Pictorial History of the War of 1812' lying on the
table in your room, with a mark in at that part."

"Yes, I had been refreshing my memory in that way," returned her mother,
smiling pleasantly into the dark eyes gazing so fondly and entreatingly
into hers. "And," she added, "I have no objection to granting your
request, except that I do not doubt that either your grandfather or the
captain could do greater justice to the subject than I," glancing
inquiringly from one to the other.

"Captain, I move that you undertake the task," said Mr. Dinsmore. "You
are, no doubt, better prepared to do it justice than I, and I would not
have my daughter fatigued with the telling of so long a story."

"Always so kindly careful of me, my dear father," remarked Mrs. Travilla
in a softly spoken aside.

"I am doubtful of my better preparation for the telling of the story,
sir," returned the captain in his pleasant tones, "but if both you and
mother are disinclined for the exertion I am willing to undertake the
task."

"Yes, do, captain; do, papa," came in eager tones from several young
voices, and lifting baby Ned to one knee, Elsie to the other, while the
rest of the young members of the household grouped themselves about him,
he began his story after a slight pause to collect his thoughts.

"You all, I think, have more or less knowledge of the War of 1812-14,
which finished the work of separation from the mother country so nearly
accomplished by the War of the Revolution. Upon the close of that
earlier contest, England, it is true, acknowledged our independence, but
evidently retained a hope of finally recovering her control here.

"All through the intervening years, our sailors on our merchant vessels,
and even, in some instances, those belonging to our navy, were subjected
to insults and oppression when met on the high seas by the more powerful
ones of the English. The conduct of British officers--claiming the right
to search our vessels for deserters from theirs, and often seizing
American born men as such--was most gallingly insulting; the wrongs thus
inflicted upon our poor seamen were enough to rouse the anger and
indignation of the meekest of men. The clearest proofs of citizenship
availed nothing; they were seized, carried forcibly aboard the British
ships, and, if they refused to serve their captors, were brutally
flogged again and again.

"But I will not go into details with which you are all more or less
acquainted. We did not lack abundant cause for exasperation, and at
length, though ill prepared for the struggle, our government declared
war against Great Britain.

"That war had lasted two years; both parties were weary of the struggle,
and negotiations for peace were being carried on in Europe. In fact the
treaty had been signed, December 24, in the city of Ghent, Belgium, but
news did not travel in those days nearly so fast as it does now, and so
it happened that the battle of New Orleans was fought two weeks
afterward, January 8, 1815, both armies being still in ignorance of the
conclusion of peace."

"What a pity!" exclaimed Grace.

"And Andrew Jackson was the commanding general?" remarked Walter in a
tone between inquiry and assertion. "Was he an American by birth,
Brother Levis?"

"Yes; his parents were from Ireland, but he was born on the border
between North and South Carolina, in 1767; so that he was old enough to
remember some of the occurrences of the Revolutionary War; one of them
being himself carried to Camden, South Carolina, as a prisoner, and
there nearly starved to death and brutally treated by a British officer;
cut with a sword because he refused to black his boots for him."

"Was that so, sir?" queried Walter. "Well, I shouldn't wonder if the
recollection of all that made him more ready to fight them in the next
war, particularly at New Orleans, than he would have been otherwise."

"No doubt," returned the captain. "Jackson was a man of great energy,
determination, and persistence. It is said his maxim was, 'till all is
done nothing is done.' In May of 1814 he was made a major-general in the
regular army and appointed to the command of the Department of the
South, the Seventh Military District, with his headquarters at Mobile,
of which the Americans had taken possession as early as April, 1812.

"Jackson's vigilance was sleepless. The Spanish had possession of
Pensacola, and, though professing neutrality, were secretly favoring the
British. Of this Jackson promptly informed our government, but at that
time our War Department was strangely apathetic, and his communication
was not responded to in any way.

"But he had trusty spies, both white and dark-skinned, everywhere, who
kept him informed of all that was taking place in the whole region
around. He knew that British marines were allowed to land and encamp on
shore; that Edward Nichols, their commander, was a guest of the Spanish
governor, and the British flag was unfurled over one of the forts. Also,
that Indians were invited to enroll themselves in the service of the
British crown, and that Nichols had sent out a general order to his
soldiers, and a proclamation to the people of Kentucky and Louisiana,
announcing that the land and naval forces at Pensacola were only the van
of a far larger number of vessels and troops which were intended for
the subjugation of Louisiana and especially the city of New Orleans.

"Jackson arrived in that city on the 2d of December, and prepared to
defend it from the British, whom he had driven out of Florida. They had
planned to take the lower Mississippi Valley, intending to keep
possession of the western bank of the river. They had among them some of
the finest of Wellington's troops, who, but a short time before, had
been engaged in driving Napoleon out of Europe.

"In December, 12,000 men under the command of Sir Edward Packenham,
brother-in-law of Wellington, were landed below New Orleans. They had
come from Jamaica across the Gulf of Mexico. Their expedition was a
secret one, and they approached New Orleans midway between Mobile Bay
and the Mississippi River, entering Lake Borgne and anchoring there.

"A small American navy, composed of five gunboats, opposed their
progress, but was soon dispersed by their superior force of fifty
vessels, large and small. Then the British took full possession of the
lake, and landed troops upon a lonely island called the Isle des Pois
(or Pea Island).

"Some Spaniards, who had formerly lived in New Orleans, told Cochrane of
Bayou Bienvenu, at the northwestern extremity of Lake Borgne, by which
he could nearly reach the city, the bayou being navigable for large
barges to within a few miles of the Mississippi River.

"A party was sent to explore it, and found that by following it and a
canal they would reach a spot but half a mile from the river and nine
miles below the city.

"They hurried back to Cochrane with a report to that effect, and by the
23d of December half of the army had reached the spot.

"A few months before--September 1st--the British sloop of war _Sophia_,
commanded by Captain Lockyer, had sailed from Pensacola with despatches
for Jean Lafitte, inviting him and his band to enter the British
service."

"Lafitte! Who was he, Brother Levis?" queried Walter.

"A Frenchman," replied the captain, "who, with his elder brother,
Pierre, had come to New Orleans some six years before. They were
blacksmiths, and for a time worked at their trade; but afterward they
engaged in smuggling, and were