Every woman from every window of every house in sight of the train waved
a handkerchief. The flutter of those white flags never ceased.
The city of Richmond gave their distinguished visitor a noble reception.
He was quartered temporarily at the Spotswood Hotel, but the City
Council had purchased the handsomest mansion in town at a cost of
$40,000 and offered it to him as their token of admiration of his
genius.
Mr. Davis was deeply touched by this mark of esteem from Virginia, but
sternly refused the gift for himself. He accepted it for the Confederate
Government as the official residence of the President.
Socola found the city a mere comfortable village in comparison with New
York or Boston or Philadelphia, though five times the size of
Montgomery. He strolled through its streets alone, wondering in which
one of the big old-fashioned mansions lived the remarkable Southern
woman to whom his Government had referred him for orders. He must await
the arrival of the messenger who would deliver to him in person its
description. In the meantime with tireless eye he was studying the
physical formation of every street and alley. He must know it, every
crook and turn.
Until the advent of the troops Richmond had been one of the quietest of
all the smaller cities of America.
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