The Rose of Old St. Louis Read online

  THE ROSE OF OLD ST. LOUIS

  by

  MARY DILLON

  With Illustrations by Andre Castaigne and C. M. Relyea

  "'Very well, I shall expect to hear from you'"]

  New YorkGrosset & DunlapPublishers

  Copyright, 1904, byThe Century Co.Published July, 1904Reprinted July, 1904, August, 1904,September, 1904, October, 1904,December, 1904, January, 1906,February, 1907

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I I MAKE MY BOW IN CAHOKIA 3

  II I PROPOSE A TOAST 17

  III I MEET AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 31

  IV I MAKE AN ENGAGEMENT 44

  V I GO TO A PICNIC ON CHOUTEAU'S POND 55

  VI WHIPPOORWILLS 79

  VII I TWINE CHRISTMAS GREENS 92

  VIII I GO TO MIDNIGHT MASS 104

  IX MADAME CHOUTEAU'S BALL 119

  X LA GUIGNOLEE 135

  XI CHOISSEZ LE ROI 147

  XII A MIDNIGHT FRAY 157

  XIII "A PRETTY BOY!" 168

  XIV A CREOLE LOVE-SONG 181

  XV "AU REVOIR" 203

  XVI A VIRGINIA FARMER 212

  XVII A GREAT DEBATE 225

  XVIII A MAGIC COACH 245

  XIX CHECK TO THE ABBE! 266

  XX BONAPARTE GIVES ENGLAND A RIVAL 281

  XXI A TEMPEST IN A BATH-TUB 308

  XXII MR. MONROE ARRIVES! 328

  XXIII THE CONSUL'S SENTENCE 338

  XXIV A NEW CHEVALIER OF FRANCE 363

  XXV THE COMTESSE DE BALOIT SENDS FOR HER HUNTER 375

  XXVI THE CONSUL'S COMMISSION 386

  XXVII "GOOD-BY, SWEETHEART!" 397

  XXVIII EXIT LE CHEVALIER 414

  XXIX UNDER THE OLD FLAG 426

  XXX THE ROSE OF ST. LOUIS 448

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  PAGE

  "'Very well, I shall expect to hear from you'" Frontispiece

  "In solitary dignity stood Black Hawk" 152

  "He stopped and turned suddenly to the two ministers" 295

  The Signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by Marbois, Livingston, and Monroe 370

  FOREWORD

  My story does not claim to be history, but in every importanthistorical detail it is absolutely faithful to the records of thetimes as I have found them. Every word of the debate in Congress,every word of Marbois, Livingston, Decres, Napoleon, and his twobrothers on the subject of the Louisiana Cession is verbatim from themost authentic accounts. I am indebted for the historical part of mystory to Gayarre's "History of Louisiana," to Martin's "History ofLouisiana," to James K. Hosmer's "History of the Louisiana Purchase,"to Lucien Bonaparte's "Memoirs," to numerous lives of Napoleon,Jefferson, Talleyrand, and others, and particularly to Marboishimself, whose account of the negotiations on the subject of thecession is preserved in his own handwriting in the St. LouisMercantile Library.

  As to the local color of old St. Louis, both in its topographicalsetting and in its customs, I have also tried to be exact. And here Iam very largely indebted to that simple and charming old writer, H.M. Brackenridge, in his "Recollections of the West" and in his "Viewsof Louisiana"; and also to Timothy Flint in his "Recollections"; to J.Thomas Scharf's interesting "History of St. Louis," and especially toMr. Frederic L. Billon, St. Louis's historian _par eminence_. I makealso the same claim for exactness as to the local color of Washingtonat that early day; for which I have made so many gleanings in manyfields--a little here, a little there--that it seems hardly worthwhile to give special credit to each.

  In non-essential points I have occasionally taken the libertybelonging to a writer of fiction, having condensed into one severaldebates in Congress, as well as several interviews between Talleyrandand Livingston, and two interviews between Bonaparte and Marbois.

  Nor have I hesitated to use the names of the early St. Louis settlers,because they are names still well known and honored in the city whichthey helped to found. I have touched upon them but lightly, and havetried to make those touches true to the characters of those estimablegentlemen and gentlewomen of the old French regime.

  MARY DILLON.

  THE ROSE OFOLD ST. LOUIS

  THE ROSE OF OLD ST. LOUIS