Carleton and Sylvia laughed aloud.
"Tell her, Sylvia! And I want to hear how you delivered the letter,"
said Mrs. Carleton.
So Sylvia told the story of creeping out of the house at nearly
midnight, of the man who had declared her to be a runaway darky, of
Estralla following her, and of their return. "And the door was closed
and fastened, although I left it open," she concluded.
Mrs. Fulton recalled that one night they had been slightly disturbed by
some unusual noise and that Mr. Fulton had gone down-stairs and
discovered the front door open. "And we blamed Aunt Connie," she added.
"I did want to tell you, Mother," said Sylvia, "but it's even better to
have Mrs. Carleton tell you."
That evening the story was retold to Mr. Fulton, who listened with even
more surprise than Sylvia's mother had shown. He said that Estralla had
been as brave as Sylvia, and that he wished he could do an equal service
for the United States.
"This will be a fine story to tell Grandma Fulton," he whispered to
Sylvia, when he gave her his good-night kiss.
She awoke early, before Estralla appeared with the usual pitcher of hot
water and to light the fire in the grate, and in a moment was out of bed
and at her desk. She opened the envelope very carefully, expecting to
see the pictured face of her kind friend smiling at her, But there was
no picture. There were only two documents tied with red tape, and with
big red seals on them, and a number of printed and signed papers.
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