lue room, is Mr. Lewis Rand, and I heard Mr. Fairfax Cary say that
Lewis Rand was the Devil,--but Jacqueline wouldn't have liked the Devil,
would she, Uncle Edward?"

"No, child, no, no!" exclaimed Uncle Edward, with violence. He rose so
suddenly from his chair, and he looked so grim and grey, that Deb was
almost frightened.

"Didn't you like the story, Uncle Edward? I did like it so much when
Jacqueline told it to me--only she would never tell it to me again."

"Yes, yes, I liked it, honey. Don't I like all your stories? But I don't
like Mr. Rand."

"Will he stay always upstairs in the blue room?"

"The Lord forbid!" cried Major Churchill.

The door opened wide, and Mr. Ned Hunter put in an important face. "Are
you there, Major? Here's the devil to pay. Rand's arm is broken and his
ankle wrenched and his head cut open! The doctor says he mustn't be
moved for at least a fortnight. I thought you'd like to know." He was
gone to spread the news.

Major Churchill stood still for a moment, then turned to the table,
placed with deliberation a marker between the leaves of Swift, took up
the volume, and restored it to its proper shelf.

"It is getting dark--I must go to bed," said Deb. "Uncle Edward, who
pays the devil?"

"His hosts, child," answered Uncle Edward, looking very grim and very
old.

CHAPTER VII

THE BLUE ROOM

The news of the accident to Lewis Rand spread far and wide. Both as a
lawyer and as Mr. Jefferson's adjutant he had become in two years' time
a marked man. Federalist and Republican were agreed that the recent
election was but a foot in the stirrup. Another two years might see
him--almost anywhere. He was likely to ride far and to ride fast. To the
Federalists his progress from the tobacco-fields to the Elysian Heights
of office was but another burning sign of the degeneracy of the times
and the tendencies of Jefferson. On the other hand, the Republicans
quoted the Rights of Man and the Declaration of Independence, and made
the name of Lewis Rand as symbolic as a liberty pole. He was _bon
enfant, bon Republicain_. Virginia, like Cornelia, numbered him among
her starry gems. He was of the Gracchi. He was almost anything Roman,
Revolutionary, and Patriotic that the mind of a perfervid poet could
conjure up and fix in a corner of the Argus or the Examiner. Every
newspaper in the state mentioned the accident, and in a letter from a
Gentleman of Virginia, an account of it was read by the s