The Power and the Glory Read Online Free PDF Page A

surrender, Lincoln was Hingham’s most distinguished war hero.
    When the men reached the crest of the hill, Katherine stepped close to her husband. “How is Caleb?” she asked anxiously. “And the rest of the crew?”
    â€œBetter than we expected,” Richard assured her. “You’ll be amazed at how well Caleb looks.”
    Diana tugged on her mother’s sleeve. “Can we go down to the docks, Mommy? Can we, please?” She looked beseechingly up at her father, her white cotton dress billowing in the soft autumn breeze. “Oh please can we?”
    Richard smiled at his wife. Diana Cutler was clearly Katherine’s daughter, and not just in physical appearance. Like her mother—like most attractive females of his acquaintance—Diana had seemed to grasp from an early age just how beguiling and irresistible the feminine mystique can be. He stooped down and placed his right hand on the side of her face, pushing back the silky chestnut curls tumbling down across her shoulders.
    â€œSo you’re anxious to meet your Uncle Caleb, are you, Poppet?”
    She nodded.

    â€œWell, I have it on good authority that he’s just as anxious to meet you.” He stood up. “Your mother will take you to the docks. I’ll be along after a word with the general.” He brushed his lips against Katherine’s cheek in a token show of affection, their custom when in public or in the company of their children.
    â€œCome, Diana,” Katherine said, taking her daughter’s hand. With a farewell wave to Lizzy and Agreen they set off down Broad Cove Lane. Richard turned in the opposite direction, walking toward the older man who was striking flint on steel to relight his pipe.
    â€œYou’re right,” Agreen exulted as Richard passed by. He had his hand on Lizzy’s stomach. “It is kickin’ up a fuss.”
    â€œTakes after its father,” Richard replied with a grin. “You’re in for it now, Liz. I tried to warn you. But you wouldn’t listen. Now you’re going to have two fusspots living with you.”
    Lizzy returned his smile, the glow of pending motherhood lighting her gentle features, but said only, “We’ll see you at your father’s.”
    A few yards farther on, before the porch of the two-story house with a white widow’s walk on the tiled roof, stood a man dressed as casually as Richard in homespun white trousers and a loose-fitting blue cotton shirt tied with strings at the chest and neck. Except that the general’s ensemble required a good deal more fabric in the fitting, the inevitable consequence of advancing age and a wife with a deserved reputation for lavish entertainment.
    â€œA glorious day, eh, Richard?” he beamed. He pointed his pipe toward the bay and the flotilla of small craft tacking this way and that. Beyond, in the far distance, they could discern the beacon pole perched atop Boston’s highest hill. “Now there’s a sight to warm the heart of an old soldier.”
    â€œI suspect it is, General,” Richard said. “When I told Caleb what you have in store for him and his shipmates, he was deeply moved. I want you to know that. All of Hingham is indebted to you.”
    Lincoln waved that away. “Nonsense, my boy. I am honored to do what I can and happy to offer my farm for the occasion.” He sucked in a mouthful of smoke and blew it out contemplatively. “It’s going to be quite the event. Most of Hingham will be there,” he said, adding, with a flash of mischief, “and perhaps others from farther away. Perhaps even as far away as Belknap Street in Boston.” He paused, waiting for Richard to rise to the bait. When he didn’t, Lincoln looked up at the sky, the farmer in him weighing the odds of continuing fair weather during the fickle early weeks of autumn. “Let’s hope this weather holds
and we’re able to stockpile