Lincoln be President?" Sylvia asked a few mornings after
her father's announcement of his intention to return to Boston.
"He was inaugurated yesterday," replied her mother.
"Then can't Captain Carleton go north with us?" asked Sylvia, who had
convinced herself that when Mr. Lincoln was in charge of the Government
that all the troubles over Charleston's forts would end.
But Mrs. Fulton shook her head.
"Captain Carleton must stay and perhaps fight to defend the flag," she
replied. "I wish we could leave at once, but we must stay as long as we
can."
Sylvia listened soberly. She wondered what her mother would say if she
knew of her promise to Mrs. Carleton to take a message to Fort Sumter if
Mrs. Carleton should ask her to do so.
The warm days of early March made the southern city full of fragrance
and beauty. Many flowers were in bloom, the hedges were green, and the
air soft and warm. Sylvia and Grace often spoke of Flora, and wished
that they could again visit the plantation.
Philip had brought Sylvia a letter from Flora, thanking her for the
locket, and hoping that they would see each other again. Philip had not
come into the house. He seemed much older to Sylvia than he did on her
visit to the plantation in October. He said that Ralph was in the
Confederate army. "I'd be a soldier if I was only a little older," he
declared; and Sylvia did not even ask him about Dinkie, or the ponies.
She wished that she could tell him that very soon she was going to
Boston, but she knew that she must not; so she said good-bye, and Philip
walked down the path, and waved his cap to her as he reached the gate.
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