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+Project Gutenberg's Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter, by Alice Turner Curtis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter
+
+Author: Alice Turner Curtis
+
+Posting Date: June 4, 2012 [EBook #5696]
+Release Date: May, 2004
+First Posted: August 9, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YANKEE GIRL AT FORT SUMTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Koven, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A YANKEE GIRL
+
+AT
+
+FORT SUMTER
+
+
+BY
+
+ALICE TURNER CURTIS
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+The Little Maid's Historical Series, etc.
+
+
+Illustrated by ISABEL W. CALEY
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+
+1920
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Sylvia Fulton, a little Boston girl, was staying with her father and
+mother in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina, just before
+the opening of the Civil War. She had become deeply attached to her new
+friends, and their chivalrous kindness toward the little northern girl,
+as well as Sylvia's perilous adventure in Charleston Harbor, and the
+amusing efforts of the faithful negro girl to become like her young
+mistress, all tend to make this story one that every little girl will
+enjoy reading, and from which she will learn of far-off days and of the
+high ideals of southern honor and northern courage.
+
+
+I.     SYLVIA
+
+II.    A NEW FRIEND
+
+III.   SYLVIA IN TROUBLE
+
+IV.    AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
+
+V.     ESTRALLA AND ELINOR
+
+VI.    SYLVIA AT THE PLANTATION
+
+VII.   SYLVIA SEES A GHOST
+
+VIII.  A TWILIGHT TEA-PARTY
+
+IX.    TROUBLESOME WORDS
+
+X.     THE PALMETTO FLAG
+
+XI.    SYLVIA CARRIES A MESSAGE
+
+XII.   ESTRALLA HELPS
+
+XIII.  A HAPPY AFTERNOON
+
+XIV.   MR. ROBERT WAITE
+
+XV.    "WHERE IS SYLVIA?"
+
+XVI.   IN DANGER
+
+XVII.  A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
+
+XVIII. GREAT NEWS
+
+XIX.   SYLVIA MAKES A PROMISE
+
+XX.    "TWO LITTLE DARKY GIRLS"
+
+XXI.   FORT SUMTER IS FIRED UPON
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SYLVIA
+
+
+"Your name is in a song, isn't it?" said Grace Waite, as she and her
+new playmate, Sylvia Fulton, walked down the pleasant street on their
+way to school.
+
+"Is it? Can you sing the song?" questioned Sylvia eagerly, her blue
+eyes shining at what promised to be such a delightful discovery.
+
+Grace nodded smilingly. She was a year older than Sylvia, nearly eleven
+years old, and felt that it was quite proper that she should be able to
+explain to Sylvia more about her name than Sylvia knew herself.
+
+"It is something about 'spelling,'" she explained, and then sang, very
+softly:
+
+   "'Then to Sylvia let us sing,
+       That Sylvia is spelling.
+     She excels each mortal thing,
+       Upon the dull earth dwelling.'
+
+"I suppose it means she was the best speller," Grace said soberly.
+
+"I think it is a lovely song," said Sylvia. "I'll tell my mother about
+it. I am so glad you told me, Grace."
+
+Sylvia Fulton was ten years old, and had lived in Charleston, South
+Carolina, for the past year. Before that the Fultons had lived in
+Boston. Grace Waite lived in the house next to the one which Mr. Fulton
+had hired in the beautiful southern city, and the two little girls had
+become fast friends. They both attended Miss Patten's school. Usually
+Grace's black mammy, Esther, escorted them to and from Miss Patten's,
+but on this morning in early October they were allowed to go by
+themselves.
+
+As they walked along they could look out across the blue harbor, and
+see sailing vessels and rowboats coming and going. In the distance were
+the three forts whose historic names were known to every child in
+Charleston. Grace never failed to point them out to the little northern
+girl, and to repeat their names:
+
+"Castle Pinckney," she would say, pointing to the one nearest the city,
+and then to the long dark forts at the mouth of the harbor, "Fort
+Sumter, and Fort Moultrie."
+
+"Don't stop to tell me the names of those old forts this morning," said
+Sylvia. "I know just as much about them now as you do. We shall be late
+if we don't hurry."
+
+Miss Patten's house stood in a big garden which ran nearly to the
+water's edge. The schoolroom opened on each side to broad piazzas, and
+there was always the pleasant fragrance of flowers in the big airy
+room. Sylvia was sure that no one could be more beautiful than Miss
+Patten. "She looks just like one of the ladies in your 'Godey's
+Magazine,'" she had told her mother, on returning home from her first
+day at school.
+
+And with her pretty soft black curls, her rosy cheeks and pleasant
+voice, no one could imagine a more desirable teacher than Miss Rosalie
+Pattten. There were just twelve little girls in her school. There were
+never ten, or fourteen. Miss Patten would never engage to take more
+than twelve pupils; and the twelve always came. Mrs. Waite, Grace's
+mother, had told Mrs. Fulton that Sylvia was very fortunate to attend
+the school.
+
+School had opened the previous week, and Sylvia had begun to feel quite
+at home with her new schoolmates. The winter before, Mrs. Fulton had
+taught her little daughter at home; so this was her first term at Miss
+Patten's.
+
+Miss Patten always stood near the schoolroom door until all her pupils
+had arrived. As each girl entered the room she made a curtsey to the
+pretty teacher, and then said "good-morning" to the pupils who had
+already arrived, and took her seat. When the clock struck nine Miss
+Rosalie would take her place behind the desk on the platform at the
+further end of the room, and say a little prayer. Then the pupils were
+ready for their lessons.
+
+"Isn't Miss Rosalie lovely," Sylvia whispered as she and Grace moved to
+their seats, "and doesn't she wear pretty clothes?"
+
+Grace nodded. She had been to Miss Rosalie's school for three years,
+and she wondered a little at Sylvia's admiration for their teacher,
+although she too thought Miss Patten looked exactly like a fashion
+plate.
+
+Grace was eager to get to her desk. From where she sat she could see
+the grim lines of the distant forts; and this morning they had a new
+value and interest for her; for at breakfast she had heard her father
+say that, although the forts were occupied by the soldiers of the
+United States Government, it was only justice that South Carolina
+should control them, and if the State seceded from the Union Charleston
+must take possession of the forts. With the consent of the United
+States Government if possible, but, if this was refused, by force.
+
+Grace had been thinking about this all the morning, wondering if
+Charleston men would really send off the soldiers in the forts. She had
+not spoken of this to Sylvia as they came along the street facing the
+harbor, and now as she looked at the distant forts on guard at the
+entrance of the harbor, she resolved to ask Miss Rosalie why the United
+States should interfere with the "Sovereign State of South Carolina,"
+which her father had said would defend its rights. "Question time" was
+just before the morning session ended. Then each pupil could ask a
+question. But as a rule only one or two of the girls had any inquiry to
+make. To-day, however, there were several who had questions to ask and
+Grace waited with what patience she could until it was her turn. When
+Miss Rosalie smiled at her and called her name, Grace rose and said:
+
+"Please, Miss Rosalie, if Charleston owns the forts, could anyone take
+them away?"
+
+The teacher's dark eyes seemed to grow larger and brighter, and she
+straightened her slender shoulders as if preparing to defend the rights
+of her State.
+
+"My dear girl, who would question the right of South Carolina to
+control all forts on her territory? We all realize that this is a time
+of uncertainty for our beloved State; we may be treated with harshness,
+with injustice, but every loyal Carolinian will protect his State."
+
+The little girls looked at each other with startled eyes. What was Miss
+Rosalie talking about, they wondered, and what did Grace Waite mean
+about anybody "taking" Fort Sumter or Fort Moultrie? Of course nobody
+could do such a thing.
+
+School was dismissed with less ceremony than usual that morning, and
+the little girls started off in groups, talking and questioning each
+other about what Miss Rosalie had said.
+
+Two or three ran after Grace and Sylvia to ask Grace what she meant by
+her question.
+
+"Of course we know that northern people want to take our slaves away
+from us," declared Elinor Mayhew, the oldest girl in school, whose dark
+eyes and curling hair were greatly admired by auburn-haired, blue-eyed
+Sylvia, "but of course they can't do that. But how could they take our
+forts?"
+
+"I don't know," responded Grace. "That's why I asked Miss Rosalie. I
+guess I'll have to ask my father."
+
+"We'll all ask our fathers," said Elinor, "and to-morrow we will tell
+each other what they say. I don't suppose YOUR father would care if the
+forts were taken," and she turned suddenly toward Sylvia. "I suppose
+all the Yankees would like to tell us what we ought to do."
+
+Sylvia looked at her in surprise. The tall girl had never taken any
+notice of the little Boston girl before, and Sylvia could not
+understand why Elinor should look at her so scornfully or speak so
+unkindly. The other girls had stopped talking, and now looked at Sylvia
+as if wondering what she would say.
+
+"I don't know what you mean," she answered bravely, "but I know one
+thing: my father would want what was right."
+
+"That's real Yankee talk," said Elinor. "They say slavery isn't right."
+
+There was a little murmur of laughter among the other girls. For in
+1860 the people of South Carolina believed they were quite right in
+buying negroes for slaves, and in selling them when they desired; so
+these little girls, some of whom already "owned" a colored girl who
+waited upon them, had no idea but what slavery was a right and natural
+condition, and were amused at Elinor's words.
+
+"Why do you want to be so hateful, Elinor?" demanded Grace, before
+Sylvia could reply. "Sylvia has not said or done anything to make you
+talk to her this way," and Grace linked her arm in Sylvia's, and stood
+facing the other girls.
+
+"Well, Grace Waite, you can associate with Yankees if you wish to. But
+my mother says that Miss Patten ought not to have Sylvia Fulton in her
+school. Come on, girls; Grace Waite can do as she pleases," and Elinor,
+followed by two or three of the older girls, went scornfully down the
+street.
+
+"Sylvia! Wait!" and a little girl about Sylvia's age came running down
+the path. It was Flora Hayes; and, next to Grace Waite, Sylvia liked
+her the best of any of her new companions.
+
+"Don't mind what Elinor Mayhew says. She's always horrid when she dares
+to be," said Flora.
+
+Flora's father was a wealthy cotton planter, and their Charleston home
+was in one of the historic mansions of that city. Beside that there was
+the big old house on the Ashley River ten miles from the city, where
+the family stayed a part of the time.
+
+Flora's eyes were as blue as Sylvia's, and her hair was very much the
+same color. She was always smiling and friendly, and was better liked
+than Elinor Mayhew, who, as Flora said, was always ready to tease the
+younger girls.
+
+"I don't know what she meant," said Sylvia as, with Grace on one side
+and Flora on the other, they started toward home.
+
+"She is just hateful," declared Grace. "I wish I had not asked Miss
+Rosalie about the forts. But I did want to know. It would be dreadful
+not to see them where they have always been."
+
+"Oh, Grace! You didn't think they were going to move the forts to
+Washington, did you?" laughed Flora. "I know better than that. Taking
+the forts means that the Government of the United States would own them
+instead of South Carolina."
+
+Grace laughed good-naturedly. She was always as ready to laugh at her
+own mistakes as at those of others; and in the year that Sylvia had
+known her she had never seen Grace vexed or angry.
+
+Both Grace and Flora advised Sylvia not to tell her mother of Elinor's
+unkindness, or of her taunting words. But it was rather difficult for
+Sylvia to keep a secret from her mother.
+
+"You see, it will make your mother sorry, and she will fret about it,"
+Flora had said; and at this Sylvia had decided that no matter what
+happened at school she would not tell her mother about it. She almost
+dreaded seeing Elinor again, and wondered why Elinor's mother had not
+wanted Miss Patten to take her as a pupil.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were surprised when at supper time Sylvia demanded
+to know what a "Yankee" was. She thought her mother looked a little
+troubled. But her father smiled. "Yankee is what Britishers call all
+Americans," he answered.
+
+"Then Elinor Mayhew is just as much a Yankee as I am," thought Sylvia,
+and she smiled so radiantly at the thought that Mrs. Fulton was
+reassured, and did not question her.
+
+The next day was Saturday, and Mr. Fulton had planned to take his wife
+and Sylvia to Fort Moultrie. The military band of the fort played every
+afternoon, and the parapet of the fort was a daily promenade for many
+Charleston people. During the summer workmen had been making necessary
+repairs on the fortifications; but visitors were always welcomed by the
+officers in charge, one of whom, Captain Carleton, was a college friend
+of Sylvia's father.
+
+Sylvia could row a small boat very well, and her father had purchased a
+pretty sailboat which he was teaching her to steer. She often went with
+her father on trips about the harbor, and the little girl always
+thought that these excursions were the most delightful of pleasures.
+
+There was a favorable breeze this Saturday afternoon, and the little
+boat, with its shining white paint and snowy sail, skimmed swiftly
+across the harbor. Sylvia watched the little waves which seemed to
+dance forward to meet them, looked at the many boats and vessels, and
+quite forgot Elinor Mayhew's unkindness. Her mother and father were
+talking of the black servants, whom they had hired with the house of
+Mr. Robert Waite, Grace's uncle. Sylvia heard them speak of Aunt
+Connie, the good-natured black cook, who lived in a cabin behind the
+Fultons' kitchen.
+
+"Aunt Connie wants to bring her little girl to live with her. Their
+master is willing, if we have no objections," Sylvia heard her mother
+say.
+
+"Oh, let the child come," Mr. Fulton responded; "how old is she?"
+
+"Just Sylvia's age. Her name is Estralla," replied Mrs. Fulton.
+
+"You'll have a little darky for a playmate, Sylvia. How will you like
+that?" her father asked. But before Sylvia could answer, the boat swung
+alongside the landing-place at the fort and she saw her father's
+friend, Captain Carleton, waiting to welcome them.
+
+The band was playing, and a few people were on the parapet.
+
+"Not many visitors to-day," said the Captain, as they all walked on
+together. "I am afraid the Charleston people resent the fact that the
+United States is protecting its property."
+
+As they walked along the Captain pointed to the sand which the wind had
+blown into heaps about the sea-front of the old fort. "A child of ten
+could easily come into the fort over those sand-banks," he said.
+
+"Whose fort is this?" asked Sylvia, so earnestly that both the Captain
+and her father smiled.
+
+"It belongs to the United States, of which South Carolina is one,"
+replied the Captain.
+
+Sylvia gave a little sigh of satisfaction. Even Elinor Mayhew could not
+find any fault with that, she thought, and she was eager to get home
+and tell Grace what the Captain had said.
+
+On the way back Sylvia asked her mother if she knew that there was a
+song with her name in it.
+
+"Why, of course, dear child. You were named for that very Sylvia,"
+replied her mother.
+
+"'Then to Sylvia let us sing,
+    That Sylvia is excelling;
+  She excels each mortal thing
+    Upon the dull earth dwelling;
+  To her let us garlands bring'"--
+
+sang Mrs. Fulton; "and you can thank your father for choosing your
+name," she added gaily.
+
+"Oh! But Grace said it was about spelling," explained Sylvia; "but I
+like your way best," she added quickly.
+
+There were a good many pleasant things for Sylvia to think of that
+night. Not every girl could be named out of a song, she reflected. Then
+there was the little colored girl Estralla, who was to arrive the next
+day, and besides these interesting facts, she had discovered who really
+owned the forts, and could tell her schoolmates on Monday. All these
+pleasant happenings made Sylvia forgetful of Elinor Mayhew's
+unkindness. Before bedtime she had learned the words of the song from
+which she was named. She knew Grace would think that "excelling" was
+much better than "spelling."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A NEW FRIEND
+
+
+The next morning Sylvia was awakened by a tapping on her chamber door.
+Usually Jennie, the colored girl who helped Aunt Connie in the work of
+the house, would come into the room before Sylvia was awake with a big
+pitcher of hot water, and Sylvia would open her eyes to see Jennie
+unfastening the shutters and spreading out the fresh clothes. So this
+morning she wondered what the tapping meant, and called out: "Come in."
+
+The door opened very slowly and a little negro girl, with a round
+woolly head and big startled eyes, stood peering in. She was
+barefooted, and wore a straight garment of faded blue cotton.
+
+For a moment the two children stared at each other. Then Sylvia
+remembered that Aunt Connie's little girl was coming to live with her
+mother.
+
+"Are you Estralla?" she asked eagerly, sitting up in bed.
+
+"Yas, Missy," replied the little darky, lifting the big pitcher of
+water and bringing it into the room, where she stood holding it as if
+not knowing what to do next.
+
+"Set the pitcher down," said Sylvia.
+
+"Yas, Missy," said Estralla, her big eyes fixed on the little white
+girl in the pretty bed who was smiling at her in so friendly a fashion.
+She took a step or two forward, her eyes still fixed on Sylvia, and not
+noticing the little footstool directly in front of her, over which she
+stumbled with a loud crash, breaking the pitcher and sending the hot
+water over her bare feet.
+
+"Oh, Mammy! Mammy! Mammy!" she screamed, lying face downward on the
+floor with the overturned footstool and broken pitcher, while the
+steaming water soaked through the cotton dress.
+
+In a moment Sylvia was out of bed.
+
+"Get up, Estralla," she commanded, "and stop screaming."
+
+The little darky's wails ceased, and she looked up at the slender white
+figure standing in front of her.
+
+"I kyan't git up; I'se all scalded and cut," she sobbed, "an' if I does
+get up I'se gwine to get whipped for breaking the pitcher," and at the
+thought of new trouble in store for her, she began to scream again.
+
+"Get up this minute," said Sylvia. "I don't believe the water was hot
+enough to scald you; it never is really hot. Here, help me sop it up,"
+and grabbing her bath towel Sylvia began to mop up the little stream of
+water which was trickling across the floor.
+
+Estralla managed to get to her feet. She was still holding fast to the
+handle of the broken pitcher. The front of her cotton dress was soaked,
+but she was not hurt.
+
+"I'll get whipped, yas'm, I will, fer breaking the pitcher."
+
+"You won't!" declared Sylvia, half angrily. "It's my mother's pitcher,
+and I'll tell her you didn't mean to break it. Now you go and put on
+another dress, and tell Jennie to come up here and wipe up this floor."
+
+"I ain't got no other dress; an' if I goes an' tells I'll get whipped,"
+persisted the child.
+
+Sylvia began to wonder what she could do. She thought Estralla was
+stupid and clumsy to fall down and break the pitcher, and now she
+thought her silly to be so frightened.
+
+"I tells you, Missy, I su'ly will be whipped," she repeated so
+earnestly that Sylvia began to believe it. "An' when my mammy sees my
+dress all wet--" and Estralla began to sob, but so quietly that Sylvia
+realized the little darky was really frightened and unhappy.
+
+"Don't cry, Estralla," she said more gently, patting her on the
+shoulder. "I'll tell you what to do. You are just about my size, and
+I'll give you one of my dresses. It's pink, and it's faded a little,
+but it's pretty. And you take this towel and wipe up the floor as well
+as you can. Then you slip off your dress and put on mine." While Sylvia
+talked Estralla stopped crying and began to look a little more cheerful.
+
+Sylvia ran to the closet and was back in a moment with a pink checked
+gingham. It had a number of tiny ruffles on the skirt, and a little
+frill of lace around the neck.
+
+"Landy! You don't mean I kin KEEP that, Missy?" exclaimed Estralla, her
+face radiant at the very thought.
+
+"Yes, quick. Somebody may come. Slip off your dress."
+
+In a moment the old blue frock lay in a little heap on the floor, and
+Sylvia had slipped the pink dress over Estralla's head, and was
+fastening it. The little darky chuckled and laughed now as if she had
+not a trouble in the world.
+
+"Listen, Estralla! Here, pick up every bit of the pitcher and put the
+pieces on the chair. Nobody shall know that you broke it. And now you
+take this wet towel and your dress and spread them somewhere outdoors
+to dry. You can tell your mammy I gave you the dress. Now, run quick.
+My mother may come."
+
+Estralla stood quite still looking at Sylvia. She had stopped laughing.
+
+"Will you' mammy scold you 'bout dat pitcher?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know. Anyway, nobody shall know that you broke it. You won't
+be whipped. Run along," urged Sylvia.
+
+But Estralla did not move. "I don't keer if I is whipped," she
+announced. "I guess, mebbe, my mammy won't whip hard."
+
+"Sylvia, Sylvia," sounded her mother's voice, and both the little girls
+looked at each other with startled eyes.
+
+"Run," said Sylvia, giving Estralla a little push. "Run out on the
+balcony." Estralla did not question the command, and in a moment,
+carrying dress and towel, she had vanished through the open window.
+
+"Why, child! What has happened?" exclaimed Mrs. Fulton, coming into the
+room and looking at the overturned footstool, the pieces of the broken
+pitcher, and at Sylvia standing in the middle of the floor with an
+anxious, half-frightened expression.
+
+"Don't look so frightened, dear child. A broken pitcher isn't worth
+it," said Mrs. Fulton smilingly. "It's only hot water, and won't hurt
+anything. Only Father is waiting for breakfast, so use cold water this
+morning. Here is your blue muslin--I'll tie your sash when you come
+down," and giving Sylvia a kiss her mother hurried away.
+
+"My landy!" whispered Estralla, peering in from the balcony window.
+"Your mammy's a angel. An' so is you, Missy. I was gwine tell her the
+trufe if she'd scolded, I su'ly was. Landy! I'd a sight ruther be
+whipped than have you scolded, Missy."
+
+Sylvia looked at her in astonishment. Estralla, with round serious
+eyes, stood gazing at her as if she was ready to do anything that
+Sylvia could possibly ask.
+
+"Run. It's all right," said Sylvia with a little smile, and Estralla,
+with a backward look over her shoulder, went slowly out of the room.
+
+"I'm gwine to recollect this jes' as long as I live," Estralla
+whispered as she made her way back to the kitchen. "Nobuddy ever cared
+if I was whipped before, or if I wasn't whipped. An' I'll do somethin'
+fer Missy sometime, I will. An' she give me dis fine dress too." She
+bent over and smoothed out one of the little ruffles, and chuckled
+happily.
+
+Her mammy was busy preparing breakfast when Estralla slid quietly into
+the kitchen. When she did look around and saw the child wearing the
+pink dress she nearly dropped the dish of hot bacon which Jennie was
+waiting to take to the dining-room.
+
+"Wha' on earth did you get you' pink dress? Did Missy give it to you?
+Well, you step out to the cabin and take it off. This minute! Put you'
+blue frock right on. Like as not her mammy won't let you keep it," and
+Aunt Connie hurried Jennie off to the dining-room with the breakfast
+tray.
+
+Estralla did not know what to do. Her blue dress was hung over a
+syringa bush behind the cabin. And at the dreadful thought that Mrs.
+Fulton might take away the pink dress she began to cry.
+
+"Missy Sylvia said 'twas faded. She said to put it on," whimpered
+Estralla.
+
+Aunt Connie began to be more hopeful. If the dress was faded--and she
+turned and looked at it more closely.
+
+"Well, honey, 'tis faded. An' I guess Missy Sylvia's mammy won' take it
+back. An' it's the Sabbath day, so you jes' wear it," she said, patting
+the little woolly head. "Mammy's glad to have you dressed up; but you
+be mighty keerful."
+
+"Yas, Mammy. I jes' love Missy Sylvia," replied the little girl, now
+all smiles, and forgetting how nearly she had come to serious trouble.
+
+Nothing more was said to Sylvia about the broken pitcher; but when
+Jennie put the room in order, and brought down the broken pieces, Aunt
+Connie exclaimed: "Good massy! It's a good thing my Estralla didn't do
+that! I'd 'a' cuffed her well, I su'ly would."
+
+Sylvia did not think to tell her mother about the gift of the pink
+dress to Estralla. She did not feel quite happy that she had not
+explained the broken pitcher to her mother; but she had promised
+Estralla that she would not tell, and Sylvia knew that a promise was a
+very serious thing, something not to be easily forgotten.
+
+She did not see Estralla again that day, and Jennie brought the hot
+water as usual the next morning.
+
+Grace and Mammy Esther called for Sylvia on Monday morning, and Sylvia
+at once told her friend that she had been named from the song. This
+seemed very wonderful to Grace, and she listened to Sylvia's
+explanation of "excelling" instead of "spelling," and said she didn't
+think it was of any consequence.
+
+But when Sylvia told her what Captain Carleton had said about the
+forts, Grace shook her head and looked very serious.
+
+"Don't tell Elinor Mayhew, Sylvia. Because really South Carolina does
+own the forts. My father said so. He said that South Carolina was a
+Sovereign State," she concluded.
+
+"What's that? What's a 'sovereign'?" questioned Sylvia.
+
+Grace shook her head. It had sounded like a very fine thing when her
+father had spoken it, so she had repeated it with great pride.
+
+"We can ask Miss Rosalie," she suggested.
+
+Mammy Esther left the girls at the gate of Miss Patten's garden. As
+they went up the path Flora Hayes came to meet them.
+
+"I was waiting for you," she said. "I want to ask you both to come out
+to our plantation next Saturday and spend Sunday. My mother is going to
+write and ask your mothers if they will give me the pleasure of your
+company."
+
+"I am sure I can come," declared Grace, "and I think it's lovely of you
+to ask me."
+
+"You'll come, won't you, Sylvia?" said Flora, putting her arm over the
+little girl's shoulders as they went up the steps.
+
+"Yes, indeed; thank you very much for asking me," replied Sylvia. She
+had visited the Hayes plantation early in the summer, and thought it a
+more wonderful place even than the big mansion on Tradd Street where
+the Hayes family lived in the winter months. Mr. Hayes owned hundreds
+of negroes, and raised a great quantity of cotton. The house at the
+plantation was large, with many balconies, and cool, pleasant rooms.
+Flora had a pair of white ponies, and there were pigeons, and a number
+of dogs. Sylvia was sure that it would be a beautiful visit, especially
+as Grace would be there.
+
+As she went smilingly toward her seat in the schoolroom she passed
+Elinor Mayhew, who was already seated.
+
+"Yankee!" whispered Elinor sharply, looking at her with scornful eyes.
+
+But Sylvia, remembering that her father had said that all Americans
+were Yankees, nodded to the older girl and responded: "Yankee
+your-self!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SYLVIA IN TROUBLE
+
+
+The Hayes plantation was about ten miles distant from Charleston, on
+the opposite side of the Ashley River. Flora told Sylvia and Grace that
+the Hayes coachman would drive them out, and that they would start
+early on Saturday morning. Sylvia, remembering her former visit, knew
+well how delightful the drive would be, and thinking of the pleasure in
+store quite forgot to be troubled by Elinor Mayhew's hostility.
+
+At recess the girls usually walked about in the garden, or tossed a
+ball back and forth. Miss Rosalie would sit on the broad piazza
+overlooking the garden, her fingers busy with some piece of delicate
+embroidery.
+
+To-day, as they filed out and down the steps, Elinor whispered to
+several of her companions. And suddenly Sylvia realized that she was
+standing alone. Grace Waite had lingered to speak to Miss Rosalie;
+Flora had been excused just before recess, as her black mammy had
+arrived with a note from Mrs. Hayes. The other girls were gathered in a
+little group about Elinor, who was evidently telling them something of
+great interest. Sylvia walked slowly along toward a little summer-house
+where Miss Patten sometimes had little tea-parties. She hoped Grace
+would not stay long with Miss Patten. The other girls were between
+Sylvia and the arbor, and none of them moved to let her pass; nor did
+any of them speak to her, as she paused with a word of greeting.
+
+"Now, girls," she heard Elinor say; and the others, half under their
+breath, but only too distinctly for Sylvia, called out: "Yankee,
+Yankee!" Then like a flock of bright-colored birds they ran swiftly
+into the summer-house.
+
+For a moment Sylvia stood quite still. She realized that Elinor meant
+to be hateful; but she remembered that her father had said that all
+Americans were called "Yankees," and she was not a coward. She went
+straight on to the arbor. Elinor Mayhew stood on the steps.
+
+"You are just as much a Yankee as I am. And you ought to be proud of
+it," declared Sylvia, facing the older girl.
+
+"Hear that, girls!" called Elinor to the group about her. There was a
+little angry murmur from the others.
+
+"Don't you dare say that again, Miss Boston," called May Bailey, who
+stood next to Elinor.
+
+Sylvia was now thoroughly angry. She knew of no reason why these girls
+should treat her in so unkind a fashion. She felt very desolate and
+unhappy, but she faced them bravely.
+
+"Yankees! Yankees! It's what all Americans are," she declared defiantly.
+
+In an instant the little girls were all about her. Elinor Mayhew was
+holding her hands, and the others were pushing her along the path to
+the shore. The thick growing shrubs hid them from the house. Sylvia did
+not cry out or speak. She was not at all afraid, nor did she resist.
+
+"We ought to make her take it back," said May Bailey, as Elinor
+stopped, and they all stood in a close group about Sylvia.
+
+"Of course she's got to take it back, and apologize on her knees,"
+declared Elinor. "She might as well learn that South Carolinians will
+not be insulted," and Elinor lifted her head proudly.
+
+"I won't take it back!" retorted Sylvia, "and you are the ones who will
+have to apologize. Yes, every one of you, before I will ever speak to
+you again."
+
+"Hear that, girls! Wouldn't it be dreadful if she never spoke to us
+again!" sneered Elinor.
+
+"She means she will tell Miss Rosalie," said one of the girls.
+
+"I don't, either. I can look after my own afffairs," retorted Sylvia
+bravely. "I'm not a tell-tale. Although I suppose girls who act the way
+you do would tell."
+
+"Get down on your knees," commanded Elinor, trying to push the little
+girl.
+
+"There's the bell," and they all turned and scampered back to the
+house, leaving Sylvia on the path; for Elinor had let go of her so
+suddenly that she had fallen forward.
+
+Her knees were hurt, and one of her hands was bruised by the fall. For
+a moment she lay sobbing quietly. She was angry and miserable. She had
+been brave enough when the girls had seemed to threaten her, but now
+her courage was gone. She could not go back to the schoolroom and face
+all those enemies. If Miss Rosalie came in search of her she might not
+be able to resist telling her what had happened; and, miserable and
+unhappy as she was, Sylvia resolved that she would never tell.
+
+"But Elinor Mayhew and all the rest of them shall be sorry for this.
+Yes, they shall," she sobbed as she got to her feet and turned toward
+the shore. She knew she must either go straight back to the schoolroom
+or else find a hiding-place until they had ceased to search for her.
+There was a wall at the foot of the garden, covered with fragrant
+jessamine and myrtle. If she could only get over that wall, thought
+Sylvia, she would be safe. She ran swiftly forward and began to
+scramble up, grasping the sturdy vines, and finding a foothold on some
+bit of rough brick. She reached the top just as she heard Miss
+Rosalie's servant calling her name.
+
+Sylvia looked down to the further side. The vines drooped over and
+below the wall a high bank of sand sloped to the shore. Holding tight
+to the vines she slid down, hitting her bruised knees against the rough
+surface. The vines cut her hands, and when she tumbled into the sand
+her dress was torn and soiled, her pretty hair-ribbon was gone, and her
+once white stockings were grimy. Beside these misfortunes her hands
+were bleeding. Never in all her life had Sylvia been so wretched. She
+sat quite still in the warm sand, and wondered what she could do. If
+she went home her mother would insist upon an explanation of her untidy
+condition. Beside that Sylvia was not sure if she could find her way
+home unless she climbed back into the garden. She looked along the
+shore at the landing-place not far distant where several boats were
+bobbing up and down in the wash of the incoming tide. She could see
+boats coming and going between the forts and the city. She could see
+grim Fort Sumter, with its guns that seemed to look straight at her.
+She watched a schooner coming across the bay, and realized that it was
+coming to that very wharf. A number of men landed, and several carts
+came down and boxes were unloaded, and negroes carried them to the
+schooner.
+
+Sylvia got up and walked along the shore until she was near the wharf,
+and stood watching the negroes as they lifted the heavy boxes. She
+wished she could ask one of them to tell her the way home. Then she
+noticed a tall figure in uniform coming up the wharf.
+
+"It's Captain Carleton!" she exclaimed joyfully, quite forgetting for
+the moment her torn dress and scratched hands as she ran toward him.
+
+"Why! Is it Sylvia Fulton?" exclaimed the surprised Captain, looking
+down at the untidy little figure. "Why, what has happened?"
+
+"Oh, dear," sobbed Sylvia, "I guess I'm lost."
+
+"Well, well! It's lucky you came down to this wharf. Come on board the
+schooner, and we'll see to these little hands first thing," and the
+good-natured Captain rested a kindly hand on the little girl's shoulder
+and walked down the wharf. Sylvia heard the men talking of the
+Charleston Arsenal, and of the boxes of arms which were to be taken on
+the schooner to Fort Sumter.
+
+The Captain bathed the little hurt hands and flushed face, talking
+pleasantly to the little girl about the schooner, and asking her if she
+did not think it a much finer craft than her father's small boat; so in
+a little while she was comforted and quite at home.
+
+"Now, sit here by the cabin window, and I will come back and take you
+home as soon as I settle this trouble about my supplies," and the
+Captain hurried back to the wharf.
+
+Sylvia sat quite still and looked out of the round port-hole. She felt
+very tired, and leaned her head against the cushioned wall. She could
+hear the monotonous chant of the negroes, and feel the swaying motion
+of the vessel, and soon was fast asleep. She did not know when the
+schooner was towed out into the channel, nor when the sails were
+hoisted and they went sailing down the bay.
+
+For Captain Carleton had entirely forgotten his little guest. When he
+hurried back to the wharf he discovered a little group of Charleston
+citizens, one of whom was Elinor Mayhew's father, disputing the right
+of the United States officers to take guns from the Charleston Arsenal
+to Fort Sumter; and when the matter was settled he had hurried the
+departure of the vessel. Not until they were ready to land at the fort
+did he remember his little friend. He went down to the cabin, and found
+Sylvia fast asleep.
+
+"Poor little Yankee! I wonder what will happen to her if South Carolina
+really leaves the Union," he thought, and then his face grew troubled
+as he remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Fulton must be in great trouble and
+anxiety over the disappearance of their little daughter. But first of
+all he must see the schooner's cargo safely unloaded at Fort Sumter,
+and send his men back to Fort Moultrie; then he would take Sylvia home,
+or find some way to notify her parents that she was safe and well cared
+for.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
+
+
+When Sylvia did not come in with the other girls Miss Patten sent a
+maid in search of her. But she did not search very carefully. She
+called Sylvia's name a few times, sauntered about the garden, and then
+reported: "Can't find Missy Sylvia."
+
+She was then told to go straight to Mrs. Fulton's house on the East
+Battery and see if Miss Sylvia had reached home. Miss Patten did not
+feel anxious. She thought it probable that the little northern girl did
+not realize the rules of the school, had become tired, and so started
+for home.
+
+"Did Miss Sylvia say anything to any of you young ladies about leaving
+the grounds?" she questioned the pupils. But they all declared that
+they knew nothing of her whereabouts.
+
+"She was on the path behind us when the bell rang," volunteered May
+Bailey.
+
+Elinor's face was unusually flushed, and she kept her eyes on her book.
+Probably the "little Yankee," as she called Sylvia even in her
+thoughts, had run home to tell her mother of the trouble.
+
+By the time Miss Patten's messenger had reached the Fulton house Sylvia
+was in the cabin of the little schooner. The girl gave her message to
+Mrs. Fulton in so indefinite a manner that at first Sylvia's mother
+hardly understood whether Sylvia was in the garden of the school, or
+had started for home. Estralla was standing near the steps and began
+whimpering: "Oh, Missy Sylvia los'! That w'at she say. She lost!"
+
+"Nonsense, Estralla! Sylvia could not be lost in Miss Patten's garden,"
+said Mrs. Fulton; but she decided to return to the school with the maid.
+
+As they went down the street Estralla followed close behind. Her bare
+feet made no noise, but now and then she choked back a despairing
+little wail. For the little colored girl was sure that some harm had
+befallen her new friend.
+
+When Mrs. Fulton appeared at the school-room door Miss Patten was
+greatly alarmed. Elinor Mayhew and May Bailey exchanged a look of
+surprised apprehension. They felt sure that Sylvia had hurried home and
+told her mother just what had happened. If she had, and Mrs. Fulton had
+come to inform Miss Patten, they knew there would be unpleasant things
+in store for them.
+
+In a short time a thorough search for the lost girl was in progress.
+Servants were sent along the streets, and Mrs. Fulton hastened home
+thinking it possible that Sylvia might be in her own room.
+
+No one paid any attention to the little colored girl in the faded blue
+cotton gown who wandered about the paths and around the summer-house.
+Estralla noticed two of the older girls talking together, and heard the
+taller one say: "Well, wherever she is, she needn't think we will ever
+take back one word. She IS a Yankee!"
+
+"They'se done somethin' to my missy," decided Estralla. "They'se scairt
+her." She ran down the path toward the wall at the end of the garden,
+and stopped suddenly; for right in front of her, caught on the
+jessamine vine which grew over the wall, she saw a fluttering blue
+ribbon. "Dat's off'n Missy Sylvia's hair, dat ribbon is," she
+whispered, reaching up for it. Holding it fast in her hands she looked
+closely at the mass of heavy vines, and nodded her little woolly head.
+"Dat's w'at she done. She dumb right up here, to git away frum those
+imps o' Satan w'at was a plaguein' her," decided Estralla, and in an
+instant she was going up the wall in a much easier manner than had been
+possible for Sylvia. She dropped on the further side, just as Sylvia
+had done, and traced Sylvia's steps to near the landing-place. Then she
+stopped short. Men were loading boxes on a schooner at the end of the
+pier, and she could see a tall officer in uniform standing on the deck
+of the vessel.
+
+"Hullo, here's another small girl. Black one this time," said one of
+the white sailors.
+
+"Yas, Massa! Please whar' is my missy?" replied the little darky
+eagerly.
+
+"Safe in the cabin," nodded the good-natured man.
+
+Estralla slipped behind a pile of boxes, and watched for a chance to
+get on board the vessel without being seen. She had heard many tales,
+told by the older colored people, of little children, yes, and grown
+people, too, who had been enticed on board vessels in far-off African
+ports, and carried off to be sold into slavery. Estralla remembered
+that all those people in the stories were black; but who could tell but
+what there was some place in the world where white people were sold?
+Anyway, she resolved that wherever Missy Sylvia went she would go with
+her.
+
+In a few moments she saw a chance to run over the gangplank. She went
+straight toward the cabin door and peered in. Yes, there was Missy
+Sylvia on the broad cushioned seat under the window. Very softly
+Estralla tiptoed across the cabin. Just as she was about to speak
+Sylvia's name the sound of approaching footsteps startled her, and,
+sure that she would be sent on shore by whoever might discover her, she
+looked about for a hiding-place, and the next instant she was curled up
+under the very seat on which Sylvia was asleep.
+
+It was not long before Estralla followed her missy's example. But she
+was wide awake when Captain Carleton came into the cabin.
+
+As soon as he returned to the deck Estralla crawled out from her
+hiding-place and looked about her. "Wake up, Missy," she whispered
+leaning over Sylvia; and Sylvia sat up quickly, with a little cry of
+astonishment.
+
+"Don't you be skeered," said Estralla softly, "'cause I ain' gwine to
+let you be carried off. I knows jes' how slaves are ketched. Yas'm, I
+does. My mammy tole me. They gits folks in ships and carries 'em off
+an' sells 'em to folks. An' I ain' gwine to let 'em have you, Missy."
+There were tears in Estralla's eyes. She knew that her own brother had
+been sold the previous year and taken to a plantation in Florida. She
+had heard her mother say that she, Estralla, might be sold any time.
+She knew that slavery was a dreadful thing.
+
+"Where are they taking us?" questioned Sylvia, for she realized that
+the vessel was moving swiftly through the water. She wondered why
+Captain Carleton had gone away. Seeing Estralla there gave her a
+dreadful certainty that what the little darky said might be true.
+Perhaps the vessel might have others on board who were being taken off
+to be sold, as Estralla declared.
+
+"Yas, Missy. My mammy's tole me jes' how white folks gets black folks
+fer slaves. Takes 'em away from their mammies, an' never lets 'em go
+back. Yas!" And Estralla's big eyes grew round with terror.
+
+"But I am a white girl, Estralla," said Sylvia.
+
+Estralla shook her head dolefully.
+
+"Yas, Missy. But I'se gwine to git you safe home. You do jes' as I tell
+you an' you'll be safe back with your mammy by ter-morrow!" she
+declared.
+
+"You lay down and keep your eyes tight shut till I comes back," she
+added, and Sylvia, tired and frightened, obeyed.
+
+The schooner was now coming to her landing at Fort Sumter. Estralla
+managed to get on deck without being noticed. She did not know where
+they were, but wherever it was she resolved to get Sylvia out of the
+vessel, and ran back to the cabin.
+
+"Now, don' you speak to nobuddy. Jes' keep right close to me," she
+whispered. And Sylvia obeyed. The two little girls crept up the cabin
+stairs, and crouching close to the side of the cabin made their way
+toward the stern of the vessel.
+
+The crew and the soldiers and Captain Carleton were now all toward the
+bow. A small boat swung at the stern of the schooner.
+
+"Now, Missy, we's got to git ourselves into that boat and row back
+home," whispered Estralla, grasping the rope.
+
+At that moment Sylvia turned to look back. She could see a tall officer
+on the forward deck, and without an instant's hesitation she ran toward
+him calling:
+
+"Captain Carleton! Captain Carleton!" He turned smilingly toward her,
+and Sylvia clasped his hand.
+
+"I didn't know where I was," she said.
+
+"You are at Fort Sumter. And it's all my fault," he answered. "I forgot
+all about you until we were nearly here. But one of my men is going to
+sail you safely home. What's this?" he added, as Estralla appeared by
+Sylvia's side.
+
+"It's Estralla. Her mammy is our cook," said Sylvia.
+
+The Captain looked a little puzzled. He wondered how the little darky
+had got on board the vessel without being seen.
+
+"Well, she will be company for you. And you must ask your father and
+mother to forgive my carelessness in taking you so far from home," said
+the Captain.
+
+It was sunset when Sylvia and Estralla, escorted by one of the soldiers
+from Fort Sumter, came walking up East Battery. Mrs. Fulton was on the
+piazza, and Mrs. Waite and Grace were with her. Grace was the first to
+see and recognize Sylvia, and with a cry of delight ran to welcome her.
+
+The soldier had a note for Mrs. Fulton explaining that Sylvia,
+apparently on her way from school, had wandered down to the landing,
+and of Captain Carleton's forgetting her presence in the cabin, so that
+Sylvia was not questioned that night in regard to her disappearance
+from Miss Patten's. Grace knew nothing of Sylvia's encounter with
+Elinor Mayhew, so no one could imagine why she had started for home
+without a word to Miss Patten.
+
+Mrs. Fulton was too rejoiced to have her little girl safely at home to
+question or blame her.
+
+Sylvia was not hungry. The officer in charge of Fort Sumter had given
+the two children an excellent supper. But she was tired and very glad
+to have a warm bath and go straight to bed.
+
+"Oh, Mother! This has been the most horrid day in all my life," she
+said, as her mother brushed out the tangled yellow hair, and helped her
+prepare for bed.
+
+"It has been rather hard for your father and me," Mrs. Fulton reminded
+her; "we began to fear some dreadful thing had happened to our little
+girl. Promise me, Sylvia, never to run away from school again."
+
+Sylvia promised. She wished she could tell her mother that it was not
+school she ran away from; that she was trying to escape the taunts and
+unfriendliness of her schoolmates. But she remembered her promise. She
+had declared proudly that she should not tell, and hard as it was she
+resolved that she would keep that promise. But she wished with all her
+heart that she need not go to school another day.
+
+"Do I have to go to Miss Patten's school, Mother?" she asked in so
+unhappy a voice that Mrs. Fulton realized something unpleasant had
+happened.
+
+"We will talk it over to-morrow, dear," she said; "go to sleep now,"
+and Sylvia crept into the white bed quite ready to sleep, but wondering
+how she could talk about going to school, and still keep her promise,
+when to-morrow came.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ESTRALLA AND ELINOR
+
+
+In the morning Sylvia did not refer to what had happened the day
+before, so her mother decided not to question her. Grace and Flora both
+arrived at an early hour to accompany Sylvia to school. They were eager
+to hear how she had happened to be on the schooner which had carried
+arms to Fort Sumter from the Charleston Arsenal. But Sylvia did not
+seem to want to talk of her adventure, and both the little southern
+girls were too polite to question her.
+
+"Father says those guns don't belong to the United States, they belong
+to South Carolina."
+
+Sylvia did not reply. She recalled one of her lessons, however, where
+she had learned that the United States meant each and every State in
+the Union and she remembered what Captain Carleton had said.
+
+"Mother says I may go with you on Saturday, Flora," interrupted Grace;
+"I wish it was Friday this minute."
+
+"So do I," agreed Flora laughingly; "and we must teach Sylvia to ride
+on one of the ponies this time."
+
+For on the previous visit Sylvia had said that she wished she could
+ride as Flora did.
+
+"Oh! Truly? Flora, do you really mean it?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"Of course I do. We will have a ride Saturday afternoon and again
+Sunday," replied Flora.
+
+With the pleasure of the plantation visit in store Sylvia for the
+moment forgot all about her dread of facing the girls at school. Miss
+Patten detained her at the door of the schoolroom with a warmer
+greeting than usual, but said: "My dear, I want to talk with you at
+recess;" but her smile was so friendly and her words so kind that
+Sylvia was not troubled. As she passed Elinor's seat she did not look
+up, but the whisper, "Yankee," made her flush, and brought back all her
+dislike of the tall, handsome Elinor.
+
+At recess, after the other girls had left the schoolroom, Miss Patten
+came to Sylvia's desk and sat down beside her.
+
+"Sylvia, dear," she said gently, "I want you to tell me why you started
+off alone yesterday. Had anything happened here at school to make you
+so unhappy that you did not want to stay?"
+
+Sylvia looked up in surprise. Why, Miss Patten seemed to know all about
+it, she thought. How easy it would be to tell her the whole story. But
+suddenly she resolved that no matter what Miss Patten knew, she,
+Sylvia, must not break her word. So she looked down at her desk, and
+made no reply.
+
+"I am sure none of the other pupils would mean to hurt your feelings,
+Sylvia. But if any of them have carelessly said something that sounded
+unkind, I know they will apologize," continued the friendly voice; and
+again Sylvia looked up. If she told what Elinor and May had said she
+was now sure that Miss Rosalie would make them both say they were
+sorry; and Sylvia remembered that she had declared to them that they
+should do exactly that.
+
+"Would they really, Miss Patten?" she asked in so serious a voice that
+the teacher believed for the moment that she would soon know the exact
+reason why Sylvia had fled from the school; and she was right, she was
+about to hear it, but not from Sylvia. There was a little silence in
+the quiet pleasant room where the scent of jessamine and honey-suckle
+came through the open windows, and no sound disturbed the two at
+Sylvia's desk. Sylvia was assuring herself that she really ought to
+tell Miss Patten; but somehow she could not speak. If she broke a
+promise, even to an enemy, as she felt Elinor Mayhew to be, she would
+despise herself. But Elinor would have to apologize for the way she had
+treated Sylvia. Just at this moment of hesitation a round woolly head
+appeared at one of the open windows. Two small black hands rested on
+the window-sill, and a moment later Estralla, in her faded blue dress,
+was standing directly in front of Miss Patten and Sylvia.
+
+"I begs pardon, Missy Teacher. But I knows my missy ain't done nuffin'
+to be kept shut up for. An' I knows why she runned off yesterd'y.
+Yas'm. I heered dat tall dark girl an' nuther girl sayin' as how Missy
+Sylvia was a Yankee. Yas'm; and as how they was glad they called her
+names. Yas'm, I sho' heered 'em say those very words," and Estralla
+bobbed her head, and stood trembling in every limb before "Missy
+Teacher," not knowing what would happen to her, but determined that the
+little white girl, who had protected her, and given her the fine pink
+dress, should not be punished.
+
+"Oh, Estralla!" whispered Sylvia, her face brightening.
+
+Miss Rosalie stood up, and rested her hand on Sylvia's shoulder.
+
+"And so you would not tell, or complain about your schoolmates?" Then
+without waiting for a reply, she leaned over and kissed Sylvia. "That
+is right, dear child. I am proud to have you as a pupil. Now," and she
+turned to Estralla, "you run home as fast as you can go. Your young
+mistress is not being punished, and will not be. But you did just right
+in coming to tell me. But the next time you come remember to come in at
+the door!" and Miss Rosalie smiled pleasantly at the little darky,
+whose face now was radiant with delight.
+
+"Yas'm. I sho' will 'member," and with a smile at Sylvia, Estralla
+tiptoed toward the open door and disappeared.
+
+It was a very grave teacher who watched her pupils return to their
+seats that morning. It was a time when all the people in the southern
+city were anxious and troubled. There had always been slaves in South
+Carolina, and now the Government of the United States was realizing
+that the black people must not be kept in servitude; that they had the
+same rights as white people; and it was difficult for the Charleston
+people to acknowledge that this was right.
+
+Miss Rosalie was a South Carolinian, and she was sure that Charleston
+people did right to insist on keeping their slaves, even if it meant
+war. And it now seemed likely that the North and South might come to
+warfare. The word "Yankee" was as hateful to Miss Rosalie as it was to
+Elinor Mayhew, and for that very reason she determined that Elinor
+should make a public apology for calling one of her schoolmates a
+"Yankee." To the Carolinians the name meant the name of their enemies,
+and it seemed to Miss Rosalie a very dreadful thing to accuse this
+little northern girl of being an enemy.
+
+After the girls were all seated she said in a very quiet tone:
+
+"Elinor, please come to the platform."
+
+For a moment Elinor hesitated. Then she walked slowly down the aisle
+and stood beside Miss Patten.
+
+"Now, young ladies, I do not need to explain to you the meaning of the
+word 'courtesy.' You all know that it means kindness and consideration
+of the rights and feelings of others. You know as well the meaning of
+the word 'hospitality'; that it means that any person who is received
+beneath your roof is entitled to courtesy and to more than that, to
+protection. Even savages will protect any traveler who comes into their
+home, and give the best they have to make him comfortable." Miss
+Rosalie stopped a moment, and then said: "If there is anyone of you who
+has not known the meaning of the two words to which I refer, will she
+please to rise."
+
+The girls all remained seated.
+
+"Elinor, you will now apologize for having failed in courtesy and in
+hospitality to one of my pupils."
+
+Elinor stood looking out across the schoolroom. Her mouth was tightly
+closed, and apparently she had no intention of obeying.
+
+"Do I have to apologize for speaking the truth?" she demanded.
+
+The girls held their breath. Was it possible that Elinor dared defy
+Miss Patten? Grace and Flora were sadly puzzled. They were the only
+pupils who did not understand the exact reason, Elinor's treatment of
+Sylvia, for Miss Patten's demand.
+
+The teacher did not respond, and Elinor did not speak. Then after a
+moment Miss Patten said, "Take your seat, Elinor. I shall make this
+request of you again at the beginning of the afternoon session. If you
+do not comply with it you will no longer be received as a pupil in this
+school."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+SYLVIA AT THE PLANTATION
+
+
+When the afternoon session opened Elinor Mayhew was not in her usual
+place. Grace and Flora had been told by the other girls what had
+happened on the day of Sylvia's disappearance from school. May Bailey
+had declared that Sylvia must have "run straight to the teacher," and
+that she was a telltale as well as a "Yankee." Grace had defended her
+friend warmly.
+
+"I don't know how Miss Rosalie found out, but I'm sure Sylvia did not
+tell," she declared.
+
+Flora was unusually quiet. There were many scornful looks sent in
+Sylvia's direction that afternoon, which Miss Patten noticed and easily
+understood. Before school was dismissed she said that she had a brief
+announcement to make.
+
+"I want to say to you that the pupil whom Elinor treated with such a
+lack of courtesy did not inform me of the fact. Nor would she say one
+word against any of her schoolmates when I questioned her. Someone who
+overheard Elinor's unfriendly remarks came and told me."
+
+Flora Hayes smiled and drew a long breath. She did not blame Sylvia for
+being a "Yankee," but it had troubled her to think of her new friend as
+a "telltale," whatever her provocation might have been. The other girls
+began to look at Sylvia with more friendly eyes, and as they ran down
+the steps several found a chance to nod and smile at her, or to
+exchange some word. So Sylvia began to feel that her troubles were
+over, if Elinor Mayhew did not return to school.
+
+"Father, are you sure 'Yankee' doesn't mean anything beside
+'American'?" she asked in a very serious tone, as she sat beside Mr.
+Fulton on the piazza that evening. They were quite alone, as Mrs.
+Fulton had stepped to the kitchen to speak to Aunt Connie.
+
+"The girls at school all think it means something dreadful," she added.
+
+"Let me see, Sylvia. You study history, don't you?" responded her
+father slowly. "Of course you do; and you know that George Washington
+and General Putnam and General Warren, and many more brave men,
+defended this country and its liberty?"
+
+"Why, yes," replied Sylvia, greatly puzzled.
+
+"The men of South Carolina were among the bravest and most loyal of the
+defenders of our liberties. And when America's enemies called American
+men 'Yankees' they meant General Washington and every other American
+who was ready to defend the United States of America. So if any of your
+friends use the word 'Yankee' scornfully they agree with the enemies of
+the Union. No one need be ashamed of being called a 'Yankee.' It means
+someone who is ready to fight for what is right."
+
+But Sylvia still wondered. "The girls don't think so," she said.
+
+"Well, that is because they don't understand. They will know when they
+are older," said Mr. Fulton. He did not imagine that any of the
+companions of his little daughter had treated her in an unfriendly
+fashion, and thought it a good opportunity to make her understand the
+real meaning of the word.
+
+"You are a Yankee girl. And that means you must always try to protect
+other people who need protection," said her father.
+
+Sylvia's face brightened. She could easily understand that. It meant
+that she must not let Estralla get a whipping when she had not deserved
+it; and she was glad she had not told the real story of the broken
+pitcher. She resolved always to remember what her father had said.
+
+The remainder of the week passed pleasantly. Elinor Mayhew did not
+return to school, and the other girls profited by her example and no
+longer teased or taunted the little northern girl.
+
+Saturday morning proved to be perfect weather for the drive to the
+Hayes plantation. The sun shone, the clear October air was full of
+autumnal fragrance, and when the Hayes carry-all, drawn by two pretty
+brown horses, and driven by black Chris, the Hayes coachman, and
+Flora's black mammy on the seat beside him, stopped in front of
+Sylvia's house and Flora came running up the path, Sylvia and Grace
+were on the steps all ready to start.
+
+There was plenty of room for all three girls on the back seat, and
+Flora declared that Sylvia should sit between Grace and herself. Mrs.
+Fulton and Estralla stood at the gate and watched the happy little
+party drive off. Estralla looked very sober. Ever since the adventure
+at Fort Sumter the little colored girl had felt that she must look
+after Missy Sylvia carefully. And she was not well pleased to see her
+young mistress disappear from her watchful eyes.
+
+"What a funny name 'Estralla' is," laughed Flora, as Sylvia called back
+a good-bye.
+
+"Oh, that isn't her name, really," explained Grace. "You know my Uncle
+Robert owns her, and Auntie Connie named her after Aunt Esther and
+Cousin Alice. Her name is really Esther Alice. But the colored people
+never speak as we do."
+
+"How can anybody 'own' anybody else, even if their skin is black?"
+asked Sylvia.
+
+Both her companions looked at her in such evident surprise that Sylvia
+was sure she ought not to have asked such a question. Suddenly she
+remembered that Flora's "Mammy" and "Uncle Chris," as Flora called him,
+were negroes, and of course must have heard. She resolved not to ask
+another question during her visit.
+
+Their way took them through pleasant streets shaded by spice trees and
+an occasional oak. From behind high walls came the fragrance of orange
+blossoms, ripening pomegranates and grapes. Very soon they had crossed
+the Ashley River, and now the road ran between broad fields of cotton
+where negroes were already at work gathering the white fluffy crop
+which would be packed in bags and bales and shipped to many far distant
+ports.
+
+The three little friends talked gaily of the pleasant visit which had
+just begun. Sylvia was hoping that Flora would again speak of the
+promised ride on one of the white ponies, but not until Uncle Chris
+guided the swift horses into the driveway, shaded by fine live-oaks,
+which led to the big house, was her wish gratified.
+
+"We'll have a ride this afternoon, girls, if you are not too tired,"
+she said.
+
+Grace and Sylvia promptly declared that they were not at all tired, and
+that a ride was just what they would like best.
+
+The plantation's "big house," as the negroes called the owner's home,
+was the largest house Sylvia had ever entered. Its high piazza with the
+tall pillars was covered by a tangle of jessamine vines and climbing
+roses. The front hall led straight through the house to another piazza,
+which looked out over beautiful gardens and a tiny lake. Behind a thick
+hedge of privet were the cabins of the house servants. The negroes who
+did the work on the plantation, caring for the horses and cows, and
+working in the cotton fields, lived at some distance from the "big"
+house.
+
+Mrs. Hayes came out on the piazza to welcome the party. She had come
+down from Charleston on the previous day. It seemed to Sylvia she had
+never seen so many negroes before in all her life. Neat colored maids
+were flitting about the house, colored men were at work in the garden,
+and colored children peered smilingly around the corner of the house.
+
+A colored maid was told to look after Grace and Sylvia, and she led the
+way up the beautiful spiral staircase to a pleasant chamber overlooking
+the garden. There were two small white beds, with a little mahogany
+light-stand between them. On this stand stood a tall brass candlestick.
+There were two dressing-tables, and two small bureaus, and a number of
+comfortable chintz-covered chairs. The floor was of dark, shining wood,
+and beside each bed was a long, soft white rug.
+
+Sylvia and Grace knew that this room had been arranged especially for
+any of Flora's young friends whom she might entertain, and they both
+thought it was one of the nicest rooms that anyone could imagine. The
+smiling colored maid brushed their hair, helped them into the fresh
+muslin dresses they had each brought, and when they were ready opened
+the door and followed them down the stairs where they found Flora
+awaiting them.
+
+"Luncheon is all ready," she said, and led the way into the
+dining-room, where Mrs. Hayes and Flora's two older brothers, Ralph and
+Philip, were waiting for them. The boys were tall, good-looking lads,
+and as they were in the uniform of the Military School of Charleston,
+of which they were pupils, Sylvia thought they must be quite grown up,
+although Ralph was only sixteen and his brother two years younger. They
+had ridden out on horseback from Charleston, and had just arrived.
+
+Flora introduced them to Sylvia, and Grace greeted them as old
+acquaintances.
+
+"I suppose you girls are looking forward to the corn-shucking
+to-night?" Ralph asked, with his pleasant smile, as he held Sylvia's
+chair for her to take her seat at the table, while Philip performed the
+same service for Grace.
+
+"Oh, my dear boy! You have betrayed Flora's surprise," said Mrs. Hayes.
+"She had planned not to let the girls know about it until nightfall."
+
+"What is a 'corn-shucking'?" questioned Sylvia; for she had always
+lived in a city and did not know much about farm or plantation affairs.
+
+"Shall I tell her, Flora?" questioned Ralph, laughingly.
+
+"No! No, indeed! Wait, Sylvia, then it will be a surprise after all,"
+responded Flora.
+
+Sylvia smiled happily. She was sure that this visit was going to be
+even more delightful than when she had been Flora's guest in the early
+spring. There seemed to be so many things to do on a plantation, she
+thought.
+
+The young people were all hungry, and enjoyed the roasted duck, with
+the sweet-potatoes and the grape jelly. Beside these there were hot
+biscuit and delicious custards. Sylvia had finished her custard when
+two maids brought a large tray into the room, and in a moment the
+little girls exclaimed in admiring delight; for the tray contained two
+doves, made of blanc-mange, resting in a nest of fine, gold-colored
+shreds of candied orange-peel, and an iced cake in the shape of a fort,
+with the palmetto flag on a tiny staff.
+
+At the sight of their State flag both the boys arose from their seats
+and saluted.
+
+"That's the flag to fly over Charleston's forts!" declared Ralph as he
+sat down.
+
+After luncheon was over Mrs. Hayes advised the girls to lie down for a
+little rest before starting for their ride. But they all declared they
+were not tired, and there were so many things to see and enjoy at the
+plantation that Sylvia and Grace were delighted when Flora suggested
+that first of all they should go out through the garden to the negro
+quarters, stopping at the stables on their way for a look at the ponies.
+
+Sylvia was ready before the other girls and stood on the piazza
+waiting. She was leaning against one of the vine-covered pillars that
+supported the piazza, and Ralph and Philip, who were sitting just
+around the corner, did not know she was there and could not see her.
+Sylvia could hear their voices, but did not at first notice what they
+were saying until the word "Yankee" caught her ear.
+
+"The first thing you know those northern Yankees will take our forts,"
+she heard Philip say, and heard Ralph laugh scornfully as he responed:
+"They can't do it, or free our slaves, either. Say, did you know Father
+was going to sell Dinkie; she's making such a fuss that I reckon she'll
+get a lashing; says she don't want to leave her children."
+
+There was a little silence, and then the younger boy spoke.
+
+"I wish they wouldn't sell Dinkie. I hate to have her go. It isn't
+fair. Of course she feels bad to leave those little darkies of hers.
+Jove!" and the boy's voice had an angry tone, "Dinkie shan't be
+whipped! I won't have it. She used to be my mammy."
+
+Suddenly Sylvia realized that she was listening, and ran down the steps
+toward the little lake which lay glimmering in the sun beneath the
+shade of the overhanging pepper trees. She ran on past the lake down a
+little path which led toward the pine woods. She no longer felt happy,
+and full of anticipations of the surprise in store at the
+corn-shucking. All she could think of was "Dinkie," a woman who was to
+be sold away from her children, and who was to be whipped because she
+rebelled against the cruelty of her master.
+
+"It's because she's a slave," Sylvia whispered to herself. "I hate
+slavery. My father said Yankees always fought for what was right. Why
+don't they fight against slavery?" She quite forgot that Flora and
+Grace would wonder where she had gone, and be alarmed at her absence.
+
+"I do wish I could see Dinkie," she thought. "I wish I could do
+something to help set every slave free." Then she remembered that
+Philip had declared that Dinkie should neither be sold nor whipped.
+
+"I like Philip," she declared aloud, and was surprised to hear a little
+chuckling laugh from somewhere behind her, and turned quickly to find a
+smiling negro woman close behind her.
+
+"I likes Massa Philip myse'f," declared the woman, "an' I wishes I
+could see him jus' a minute," and her smile disappeared. "I'se shuah
+Massa Philip won' let 'em sell Dinkie, or lash her either," and putting
+her apron over her face the woman began to cry.
+
+"He won't! I heard him say he wouldn't have it," Sylvia assured her
+eagerly. "Don't cry, Dinkie," and she patted the woman's arm.
+
+Dinkie let her apron fall and looked eagerly at Sylvia.
+
+"You'se the little Yankee missy, ain't you?" she questioned. "I hear
+say that Yankees don't believe in selling black folks."
+
+"They don't; I'm sure they don't. I'll run right back and tell Philip
+you want to see him," replied Sylvia. "You stay right here by this
+tree," she added, pointing to a big live-oak.
+
+"Yas, Missy, I thanks you," replied the woman.
+
+Sylvia ran back toward the house as fast as she could go. She could see
+the ponies standing before the house, a small negro boy holding their
+bridle-reins. The girls were on the steps waiting for her.
+
+"I mustn't let them know that Dinkie wants to see Philip," she thought,
+as the girls called out that they had been looking everywhere for her.
+At that moment the two boys came along the piazza.
+
+"Philip is going to teach you how to mount, and how to hold your reins,
+Sylvia," said Flora.
+
+Grace and Sylvia were to ride the white ponies, and Flora was to ride a
+small brown horse which her mother usually rode.
+
+Philip came slowly down the steps. He looked very sober, and Sylvia was
+sure that he was thinking about Dinkie. "I don't believe he thinks
+slavery is right," she thought, as Philip raised his cap, and asked if
+she was ready to mount "Snap," the pony which she was to ride.
+
+Flora and Grace were already mounted, and trotted slowly off. Sylvia
+and Philip were alone on the driveway.
+
+"Dinkie wants to see you. She's waiting down by the oak, beyond the
+lake," said Sylvia. "And don't let her be whipped," she added.
+
+The boy looked up at her quickly.
+
+"Don't tell the girls that she sent for me," he replied. "Dinkie shan't
+be whipped, or sold either." He did not thank Sylvia for her message,
+and she was glad that he did not. With a brief word of direction as to
+the proper manner of holding the reins, he turned toward the lake, and
+Sylvia's pony trotted slowly down the drive to where Flora and Grace
+were waiting.
+
+Flora led the way past the stables, and down a broad path which led to
+the negro quarters. The ponies went at a slow pace, as Flora wanted to
+be sure that Sylvia was not afraid, and that she was enjoying her first
+ride.
+
+"The corn-shucking will be here," she said, pointing with her pretty
+gold-mounted whip to a number of corn-cribs. "They will bring the corn
+in from the fields, and we will come down in good season."
+
+"And the moon will be full to-night," said Grace, beginning to sing:
+
+"'De jay-bird hunt de sparrer-nes',
+    All by de light of de moon.
+  De bee-martin sail all 'roun',
+    All by de light of de moon.
+  De squirrel he holler from de top of de tree;
+    Mr. Mole he stay in de groun',
+  Oh, yes! Mr. Mole he stay in de groun'--'"
+
+Sylvia listened and smiled as she looked at the happy faces of her
+friends. But she could not forget Dinkie, and wondered if Philip could
+really protect the unhappy woman from a whipping, and prevent her being
+sold away from her children.
+
+As they passed the cabins of the negroes the children ran out bobbing
+and smiling to their young mistress, and Flora called out a friendly
+greeting.
+
+"Father's going to sell a lot of those niggers," she said carelessly.
+"They eat more than they're worth."
+
+"But won't their mothers feel dreadfully to let them go?" ventured
+Sylvia. "Of course they will," declared Grace, before Flora could
+respond. "And I do think it's a shame. Did you know Uncle Robert is
+going to sell Estralla?" she asked turning to Sylvia.
+
+Sylvia's grasp on the reins loosened, and she nearly lost her seat on
+the broad back of the fat pony.
+
+"What for?" she questioned, thinking to herself that Estralla should
+not be sold away from her home and mother if she, Sylvia, could prevent
+it.
+
+"Oh, Uncle's agent says she isn't of any use, and he can get a good
+price for her. He would have sold her last month if your mother had not
+taken her in. I expect Aunt Connie will be half crazy, for all her
+other children are gone," said Grace.
+
+"We mustn't ride too far this time," Flora interrupted, "because it's
+Sylvia's first ride. Hasn't she done well? Do you suppose you can turn
+the pony?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Sylvia, drawing the left rein so tightly that
+the little pony swung round before Flora had time to give a word of
+direction. As they were now headed toward home "Snap" went off at a
+good pace, well in advance of the others. It was all Sylvia could do to
+keep her seat, but she was not frightened, and when the pony raced up
+the driveway and came to a standstill directly in front of the piazza
+steps she was laughing with delight. For the moment she had quite
+forgotten Dinkie and Estralla.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SYLVIA SEES A GHOST
+
+
+"It was splendid," declared Sylvia as Grace and Flora dismounted and
+the three little friends entered the house. Flora's black "Mammy" was
+waiting for them on the piazza.
+
+"Thar's some 'freshments fur yo' in de dinin'-room," she said; and the
+girls were glad for the cool milk and the tiny frosted cakes which a
+negro girl served them. Sylvia wondered if Flora ever did anything for
+herself; for there seemed to be so many negro servants who were on the
+alert to wait upon all the white people at the "big house."
+
+"Come up to my room, girls, and rest until it's time to dress for
+supper," said Flora.
+
+Flora's room was just across the hall from the one where Grace and
+Sylvia were to sleep. Instead of a small white bed like theirs there
+was a big bed of dark mahogany with four tall, high posts. The bed was
+so high that there was a cushioned step beside it. The portrait of a
+lady hung over a beautiful inlaid desk, and Flora pointed to it with
+evident pride.
+
+"That's my great-grandmother; and her father built this house. My
+mother says that she was Lady Caroline, and that she was so beautiful
+that whenever she went to Charleston people would run after her coach
+just to look at her," and Flora looked at her companions expectantly,
+quite forgetting that she had told them the story before.
+
+"Oh, Flora! Every time I come out here you tell me about your wonderful
+great-grand-mother," said Grace, "and you used to tell me that her
+ghost haunted this house."
+
+"Well, it does," declared Flora.
+
+Sylvia had never heard of Lady Caroline's ghost. "Do tell me about it,
+Flora," she urged.
+
+There was a wide cushioned seat with many pillows beneath the windows,
+and here the girls established themselves very comfortably.
+
+"Yes, tell Sylvia the story," said Grace, piling up several cushions
+behind her back. "Of course it isn't true, but it's thrilling."
+
+"It is true," persisted Flora. "My mother says that her own governess
+saw Lady Caroline's ghost. And that she had on the very hat she has on
+in the portrait, and the same blue dress and lace collar. You know
+there's a secret stairway in this house. It leads from one of the
+closets in your room down to a closet in my father's library and
+out-of-doors, and Lady Caroline's ghost always comes in that way."
+
+Sylvia looked up at the beautiful pictured face with a little shiver.
+"I guess that the governess dreamed it," she said.
+
+"Of course she did," declared Grace. "I think you look like that
+picture, Flora," she added.
+
+"Well, whether you believe it or not, everybody knows that this is a
+haunted house," persisted Flora. "Why, there is an account of it in a
+book."
+
+But Grace shook her head laughingly. "Flora, show Sylvia your lovely
+lace-work," she said.
+
+Flora nodded, but Sylvia was sure that she was not pleased at Grace's
+refusal to believe in the ghost.
+
+"Mammy! Mam-m-e-e," called Flora, and in a moment the black woman stood
+bobbing and smiling in the doorway.
+
+"Bring my lace-work," said Flora.
+
+"Yas, Missy," and Mammy trotted across the room to a little table in
+the further corner and brought Flora a covered basket. She opened it
+and set it down in front of her little mistress.
+
+"Do's yo' want anyt'ing else, Missy Flora?" she asked.
+
+"If I do I'll call," replied the little girl, and Mammy again
+disappeared.
+
+The basket was lined with rose-colored silk, and there were little
+pockets all around it. In the centre lay a cushion on which was a lace
+pattern defined by delicate threads and tiny circles of pins. A little
+strip of finished lace was rolled up in a bit of tissue paper. Flora
+took off the paper. "See, it is the jessamine pattern," she explained.
+"My mother's governess was a Belgian lady, and she taught my mother how
+to make lace and my mother taught me."
+
+"I wish I could make lace," said Sylvia. "It would be lovely to make
+some for a present for my mother."
+
+"Of course it would. I'll teach you this winter," promised the
+good-natured Flora; "let me see your hands. You know a lace-maker's
+hands must be as smooth as silk, because any roughness would catch the
+delicate threads."
+
+Sylvia's hands were still scratched and roughed from her fall in Miss
+Rosalie's garden and her scramble over the wall, and Flora shook her
+head. "You'll have to wait awhile. And you must wear gloves every time
+you go out, and wash your hands in milk every night," she said very
+seriously. "Now I'll show you my embroidery. Mam-m-e-e! Mam-m-e-e," and
+another basket was brought and opened. This basket was also lined with
+rose-colored silk, but the silk had delicate green vines running over
+it. On the inside of the cover, held in place by tiny straps, were two
+pairs of shining scissors with gold handles, a gold-mounted emery bag,
+shaped like a strawberry, an embroidery stiletto of ivory, and a gold
+thimble.
+
+Flora lifted out the embroidery frame, and putting on her thimble took
+a few exact, dainty stitches in the collar.
+
+"What lovely work you can do, Flora!" exclaimed Sylvia. "Don't you ever
+play dolls?" remembering her own cherished dolls in their small chairs
+in the corner of her room at home.
+
+"Oh, I used to," replied Flora, "but since I began school at Miss
+Patten's I don't seem to care about dolls."
+
+"Flora can play on the harp," announced Grace.
+
+"Oh, only just a little," responded Flora quickly.
+
+"I think Flora can do more things than any girl I ever knew," declared
+Sylvia admiringly; "and I was just thinking that the servants did
+everything in the world."
+
+Flora laughed. "You never lived on a plantation, or you couldn't think
+that. Why, my mother works more than Mammy ever did. She has to tell
+all the house darkies what to do, and see that all the hands have
+clothes, and that the fruits are preserved. Why, she's always busy,"
+replied Flora. "And of course ladies have to know how to do things,"
+she concluded.
+
+When Grace and Sylvia went to their own room Flora went with them.
+"I'll show you where that secret staircase is," she said, and opening
+the closet door pressed on a broad panel which moved slowly.
+
+"There," and Flora drew Sylvia near so she could look down a dark
+narrow stairway.
+
+"But that isn't seeing a ghost," Grace said laughingly.
+
+It was rather late when Mrs. Hayes led the way back to the house, and
+Grace declared that she was almost too sleepy to walk up-stairs. But
+Sylvia was not at all sleepy. After the colored girl had helped them
+prepare for bed, blown out the candle, and left the room, she lay
+watching the shadows of the moving vines on the wall. She wished she
+was at home, for who knew but that Estralla's master might sell her
+before she returned. Sylvia wondered what she could do to protect the
+little girl. "I might hide her," she thought; but what place would be
+secure? Suddenly she remembered something that she had heard Captain
+Carleton say when she was eating luncheon on that unlucky trip to Fort
+Sumter. "This fort could make South Carolina give up slavery," he had
+said. Why, then, of course Estralla would be perfectly safe if she was
+only at Fort Sumter, concluded the little girl, with a long sigh of
+relief. "I must get her there just as soon as I get home," she decided.
+
+Then suddenly Sylvia sat straight up in bed. The closet door had swung
+softly open, and a figure with a big hat and trailing dress stepped
+out. Sylvia was not frightened. "It's the ghost," she whispered; and
+leaning across poked Grace, exclaiming: "Grace! Look quick! here is
+Lady Caroline!"
+
+In an instant Grace was wide awake.
+
+"Where?" she demanded, in a frightened voice, clutching Sylvia's hand.
+
+"Right there! By the closet door," said Sylvia. "Oh! she's gone!"
+
+For as she looked toward the closet the figure had disappeared.
+
+"There, you waked me up for nothing. You dreamed it," declared Grace.
+
+"Oh, I didn't! Truly, I didn't. I haven't been asleep," Sylvia
+insisted. "It is just as Flora said. There is a ghost." Just then both
+the girls heard a startled cry, and a sound as if something had fallen
+in the room under them.
+
+"What's that?" whispered Grace. "Oh, Sylvia, do you suppose there
+really is a ghost?"
+
+"Yes, I saw it," declared Sylvia, with such evident satisfaction in her
+tone that Grace forgot to be frightened. "Well, I guess it fell
+downstairs," she chuckled; but in spite of their lack of fear both the
+little girls were excited over the unusual noise, and Sylvia was sure
+now that Flora had been right in saying the house was haunted. She
+wished it was already morning that she might tell Flora all that had
+happened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A TWILIGHT TEA-PARTY
+
+
+It was late when Grace and Sylvia awoke the following morning, but they
+were down-stairs before the boys appeared. Mrs. Hayes greeted them
+smilingly, but she said that Flora was not well and that Mammy would
+take her breakfast to her up-stairs.
+
+"After breakfast you must go up and stay with her a little while," said
+Mrs. Hayes.
+
+"Why, Flora was never ill in her life," declared Ralph; "what's the
+matter?"
+
+"She is not really ill, but she fell over something last night and
+bruised her arm and shoulder, so that she feels lame and tired, and I
+thought a few hours in bed would be the best thing for her," explained
+Mrs. Hayes. "Mammy doesn't seem to know just how it happened," she
+concluded.
+
+Sylvia and Grace had talked over the "ghost" before coming down-stairs.
+Grace had tried best to convince Sylvia that she had really dreamed
+"Lady Caroline," but Sylvia insisted that a figure in a wide plumed hat
+and a trailing gown had really stepped out of the closet.
+
+"The moon was shining right where she stood. I saw her just as plainly
+as I could see you when you sat up in bed," Sylvia declared. But both
+the girls agreed that it would be best not to say anything about "Lady
+Caroline" until they had told Flora.
+
+After breakfast Mammy came to tell the visitors that Flora was ready to
+see them.
+
+"But jus' for a little while," she added, as she opened the door of
+Flora's chamber.
+
+Flora was bolstered up in bed, and had on a dainty dressing-gown of
+pink muslin tied with white ribbons. But there was a bandage about her
+right wrist, and a soft strip of cotton was bound about her head.
+
+"Oh, girls! It's too bad that I can't help you to have a good time
+to-day," she said, "and all because I was so clumsy."
+
+Both the girls assured her that it was a good time just to be at the
+Hayes plantation.
+
+"Flora! There is a ghost! Just as you said! I saw it. Just about
+midnight," said Sylvia.
+
+"Truly!" exclaimed Flora, in rather a faint voice.
+
+"Yes. And it was Lady Caroline. For it wore a big hat, like the one in
+the picture, and its dress trailed all about it," replied Sylvia.
+
+"Then I guess Grace will believe this is a haunted house," said Flora,
+a little triumphantly.
+
+"I didn't see it," said Grace. "And, truly, I believe Sylvia just
+dreamed it."
+
+Flora sat up in bed suddenly.
+
+"Sylvia did not dream it. I know she saw it," she declared.
+
+"Well, perhaps so. But I didn't," and Grace laughed good-naturedly; but
+Flora turned her face from them and began to cry.
+
+"After my being hurt, and--" she sobbed, but stopped quickly.
+
+Sylvia and Grace looked at each other in amazement.
+
+"It's because she is ill. And she's disappointed because you didn't see
+Lady Caroline," Sylvia whispered. In a moment Flora looked up with a
+little smile.
+
+"I am so silly," she said. "You must forgive me. But I'm sure Sylvia
+did see--"
+
+"I begin to think she did," Grace owned laughingly. She had happened to
+look toward the open closet and had seen certain things which made her
+quite ready to own that Flora might be right. But she was rather
+serious and silent for the rest of the visit. Before they left Flora's
+room Flora asked Sylvia not to tell anyone that she had seen a "ghost."
+"You see, the boys would laugh, and no one but me really believes the
+house is haunted," she explained.
+
+Of course Sylvia promised, but she was puzzled by Flora's request.
+
+It was decided that Ralph and Philip should ride back to Charleston
+that afternoon when Uncle Chris drove the little visitors home, and
+that Flora should stay at the plantation with her mother for a day or
+two.
+
+Sylvia had enjoyed her visit. She had even enjoyed seeing the "ghost,"
+but she was sorry that she could not tell her mother and father of the
+great adventure. Nevertheless she was glad when the carriage stopped in
+front of her own home, and she saw Estralla, smiling and happy in the
+pink gingham dress, waiting to welcome her.
+
+"Sylvia, I'm coming over to-night. I've got something to tell you,"
+Grace said, as the two friends stood for a moment at Sylvia's gate,
+after they had thanked Uncle Chris, and said good-bye to Sylvia's
+brothers.
+
+Grace was so serious that Sylvia wondered what it could be. "It isn't
+that Estralla is going to be sold right away, is it?" she asked
+anxiously.
+
+"No. I'll tell you after supper," Grace responded and ran on to her own
+home.
+
+Sylvia's mother and father were interested to hear all that she had to
+tell them about the corn-shucking, and of the wonderful cake with its
+palmetto flag. She told them about poor Dinkie, and what Philip had
+said: that Dinkie should not be sold away from her children, or whipped.
+
+Mr. Fulton seemed greatly pleased with Sylvia's account of her visit.
+He said Philip was a fine boy, and that there were many like him in
+South Carolina.
+
+They had just finished supper when Grace appeared, and the two little
+girls went up to Sylvia's room.
+
+"What is it, Grace?" Sylvia asked eagerly. "I can't think what you want
+to tell me that makes you look so sober."
+
+Grace looked all about the room and then closed the door, not seeing a
+little figure crouching in a shadowy corner.
+
+"I wouldn't want anybody else to hear. It's about the ghost," she
+whispered. "I know all about it. It was Flora herself! Yes, it was!"
+she continued quickly. "When we were in her room this morning I saw a
+big hat with a long feather on it, hanging on her closet door, and a
+long blue skirt, one of her mother's. They weren't there yesterday, for
+the door was open, just as it was to-day."
+
+"Well, what of that?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"Oh, Sylvia! Can't you see?" Grace asked impatiently. "Flora dressed up
+in her mother's things, and then came up the stairs to our room. She
+was determined to make us think she had a truly ghost in her house.
+Then when you called out, she got frightened and stumbled on the
+stairs. You know we heard someone fall and cry out. Of course it was
+Flora. Nobody seems to know how she got hurt. The minute I saw that
+plumed hat I knew just the trick she had played. I knew there wasn't a
+ghost," Grace concluded triumphantly.
+
+Sylvia felt almost disappointed that it had not really been "Lady
+Caroline." She wondered why Flora had wanted to deceive them.
+
+"I don't think it was fair," she said slowly.
+
+"Of course it wasn't fair. I wouldn't have believed that a Charleston
+girl would do such a mean trick," declared Grace. "Of course, as we
+were her company, we can't let her know that we have found her out."
+
+"Perhaps she meant to tell us, anyway," suggested Sylvia hopefully.
+"I'm sure she did. She thought it would make us laugh."
+
+"Well, then why didn't she?" asked Grace.
+
+Sylvia's face clouded; she could not answer this question, but she was
+sure that Flora had not meant to frighten or really deceive them, and
+she wanted to defend her absent friend.
+
+"Well, Grace, we know Flora wouldn't do anything mean. And, you see,
+she got hurt, and so she's just waiting to get well before she tells us
+of the joke. You wait and see. Flora will tell us just as soon as we
+see her again."
+
+There was a little note of entreaty in Sylvia's voice, as if she were
+pleading with Grace not to blame Flora.
+
+"I know one thing, Sylvia. You wouldn't do anything mean, if you are a
+Yankee," Grace declared warmly. "What's that noise?" she added quickly.
+
+The room was shadowy in the gathering twilight, and the two little
+girls had been sitting near the window. As Grace spoke they both turned
+quickly, for there was a sudden noise of an overturned chair in the
+further corner of the room, and they could see a dark figure sprawling
+on the floor.
+
+Before Sylvia could speak she heard the little wailing cry which
+Estralla always gave when in trouble, and then: "Don't be skeered,
+Missy! It's nobuddy. I jes' fell over your doll-ladies."
+
+"Oh, Estralla! You haven't broken my dolls! What were you up here for,
+anyway?" and Sylvia quite forgot all her plans to rescue Estralla as
+she ran toward her.
+
+The "doll-ladies," as the little darky girl had always called Sylvia's
+two china dolls which sat in two small chairs in front of a doll's
+table in one corner of the room, were both sprawling on the floor,
+their chairs upset, and the little table with its tiny tea-set
+overturned. Grace lit the candles on Sylvia's bureau, while Sylvia
+picked up her treasured dolls, "Molly" and "Polly," which her
+Grandmother Fulton had sent her on her last birthday.
+
+"I wuz up here, jest a-sittin' an' a-lookin' at 'em, Missy," wailed
+Estralla. "I never layed hand on 'em. An' when you an' Missy Grace
+comes in I da'sent move. An' then when I does move I tumbles over. I
+'spec' now I'll get whipped."
+
+"Keep still, Estralla. You know you won't get whipped," replied Sylvia,
+finding that Molly and Polly had not been hurt by their fall, and that
+none of the little dishes were broken.
+
+"You ought to tell her mother to whip her. She's no business up here,"
+said Grace.
+
+"Don't, Grace!" Sylvia exclaimed. "We don't get whipped every time we
+make a mistake. And Estralla hasn't anything of her own. Just think,
+your Uncle Robert can sell her away from her own mother. You said
+yourself that you didn't think that was fair."
+
+Estralla had scrambled to her feet and now stood looking at the little
+white girls with a half-frightened look in her big eyes.
+
+"Oh, Missy! I ain't gwine to be sold, be I?" she whispered.
+
+Sylvia put her arm around Estralla's shoulders. "No!" she said, "you
+shall not be sold. Now, don't look so frightened. We will have a
+tea-party for Molly and Polly, and you shall wait on them. Run down and
+ask your mother to give us some little cakes."
+
+Estralla was off in an instant, and while she was away Sylvia and Grace
+spread the little table, brought cushions from the window-seats and
+advised Molly and Polly to forgive the disturbance.
+
+When Mrs. Fulton came up-stairs a little later to tell Grace that her
+black Mammy had come to take her home she found three very happy little
+girls. Sylvia and Grace were being entertained at tea by Misses Molly
+and Polly, while Estralla with shining eyes and a wide smile carried
+tiny cups and little cakes to the guests, and chuckled delightedly over
+the clever things which Sylvia and Grace declared Molly and Polly had
+said.
+
+"A candle-light tea-party," exclaimed Mrs. Fulton, as she came into the
+room and smiled down on the happy group.
+
+"Perhaps Flora will own up," Grace said, as the two girls followed Mrs.
+Fulton down the stairs. "Anyway, you are mighty fair about it, and
+you're good to that stupid little darky."
+
+"Oh, Estralla isn't stupid. Not a bit," replied Sylvia laughingly.
+
+Estralla, who was carefully putting the little table in order, heard
+Sylvia's defense of her, and for a moment she stood very straight,
+holding one of the tiny cups in each hand.
+
+"I jes' loves Missy Sylvia, I do, I jes' wish ez how I could do
+somethin' so she'd know how I loves her," and two big tears rolled down
+the black cheeks of the little slave girl who had known so little of
+kindness or of joy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+TROUBLESOME WORDS
+
+
+It was a week after Sylvia's visit to the Hayes plantation before Flora
+returned to school. A heavy rain had made the roads nearly impassable,
+and a little scar on Flora's forehead reminded Sylvia and Grace of her
+unlucky tumble. On Flora's first appearance at school Sylvia was
+confident that she would at once confess her part in "Lady Caroline's"
+appearance, and at recess she and Grace were eager to walk with Flora.
+It was now the first of November, but the air was warm and the garden
+had many blossoming plants and shrubs.
+
+Flora said that she was glad to be back at school. She told the girls
+that her father had returned from a northern trip and that he had given
+Dinkie and her children to Philip.
+
+"Phil teased him so that Father was tired of hearing him. He said Phil
+was a regular abolitionist," Flora explained with her pretty smile.
+
+"What's an abbylitionzist?" asked Grace.
+
+"Ask Sylvia. I heard my father say that Sylvia's father was one,"
+answered Flora.
+
+"I don't know. But my father is a Congregationalist," replied Sylvia.
+"Perhaps that's what your father meant."
+
+"No, it's something about not believing in having slaves, I know that
+much," said Flora.
+
+"Who would do our work then?" questioned Grace.
+
+Flora could not answer this question. Sylvia resolved to ask Miss
+Rosalie at question time the meaning of this new word. If her father
+and Philip Hayes were "abolitionists," she was quite sure the word
+meant something very brave and fine.
+
+"What about Miss Flora and her ghost now?" Grace found a chance to
+whisper, as they entered the schoolroom. "She doesn't mean to own up."
+
+"Wait, she will," was Sylvia's response as she took her seat.
+
+When question time came Sylvia was ready. She stood up smiling and
+eager, and Miss Rosalie smiled back. She had grown fond of her little
+pupil from Boston, and thought to herself that Sylvia was really
+becoming almost like a little southern girl in her graceful ways and
+pleasant smile.
+
+"What is your question, Sylvia?" she asked.
+
+"If you please, Miss Rosalie, what does 'abolitionist' mean?"
+
+Some of the older girls exchanged startled looks, and May Bailey barely
+restrained a laugh. Probably Grace and Sylvia were the only girls in
+school who had not heard the word used as a term of reproach against
+the people of the northern states who wished to do away with slavery.
+
+Miss Rosalie's smile faded, but she responded without a moment's
+hesitation:
+
+"Why, an 'abolitionist' is a person who wishes to destroy some law or
+custom."
+
+There was a little murmur among the other pupils, but Grace and Sylvia
+looked at each other with puzzled eyes. Philip did not wish to
+"destroy" anything, thought Sylvia; he only wanted to protect Dinkie.
+And she was sure that her father would not destroy anything, unless it
+was something which would harm people. So it was a puzzled Sylvia who
+came home from school that day. She decided that her father could
+answer a question much better than Miss Rosalie, and resolved to ask
+him the meaning of the word.
+
+"Come up-stairs, Estralla," she said, finding the little negro girl at
+the gate as usual waiting for her. "I have some things my mother said I
+could give you."
+
+Estralla followed happily. She didn't care very much what it might be
+that Missy Sylvia would give her, it was delight enough for Estralla to
+follow after her. But when the little girl saw the things spread out on
+Sylvia's bed she exclaimed aloud:
+
+"Does you mean, Missy, dat I'se to pick out somethin'? Well, then I
+chooses the shoes. I never had no shoes."
+
+"They are all for you," said Sylvia, lifting up a pretty blue cape and
+holding it toward Estralla.
+
+"My lan'!" whispered Estralla.
+
+There was a dress of blue delaine with tiny white dots, two pretty
+white aprons, the blue cape, and shoes and stockings, beside some of
+Sylvia's part-worn underwear. She had begged her mother to let her give
+the little darky these things, and Mrs. Fulton had been glad that her
+little daughter wished to do so.
+
+"Estralla has never had ANYTHING," Sylvia had urged, "and she is always
+afraid of something. Of being whipped or sold. And I would like to see
+her have clothes like other girls."
+
+Estralla wanted to try on the shoes at once, and when she found that
+they fitted very comfortably, she chuckled and laughed with delight.
+Neither of the girls heard a rap at the door, and both were surprised
+when Aunt Connie, who had opened the door and stood waiting, exclaimed:
+
+"Fo' lan's sake! Wat you lettin' that darky dress up in you' clo'es
+fer, Missy Sylvia?"
+
+"They are her own clothes now, Aunt Connie," Sylvia explained. "My
+mother said I might give them to her."
+
+For a moment the negro woman stood silent. Then she put her hands up to
+her face and began to cry, very quietly. Estralla's laughter vanished.
+She wondered if her mammy was going to tell her that she could not keep
+the things.
+
+"'Scusie, Missy," muttered Aunt Connie; "you'se an angel to my po'
+little gal. An' I'se 'bliged to you. But I'se feared the chile won't
+wear 'em long. Massa Robert Waite's man sez he's gwine sell her off
+right soon."
+
+"He cyan't do no sech thing. Missy Sylvia won't let him," declared
+Estralla, who was perfectly sure that "Missy Sylvia" could do whatever
+she wished. With a pair of shoes on her feet and the blue cape over her
+shoulders Estralla had more courage. Sylvia's kindness had given the
+little colored girl a hope of happier days.
+
+"Aunt Connie, I'll do all I can for Estralla," said Sylvia.
+
+"Will you, Missy? Then ask yo' pa not to let Estralla be sold," pleaded
+Aunt Connie.
+
+Sylvia promised, and Aunt Connie went off smilingly. But Sylvia
+wondered if her father could prevent Mr. Robert Waite from selling the
+negro girl. "Estralla," she said very soberly, "I have promised that
+you shall not be sold, and I will ask my father. But if he cannot do
+anything, we will have to do something ourselves. Will you do whatever
+I tell you?"
+
+"Oh, yas indeed, Missy," Estralla answered eagerly.
+
+"Well, I'll ask Father to-night. And to-morrow morning you bring up my
+hot water, and I'll tell you what he says. But don't be frightened,
+anyway," said Sylvia.
+
+"I ain't skeered like I used to be," responded Estralla. "Yo' see,
+Missy, I feels jes' as if you was my true fr'en'."
+
+"I'll try to be," Sylvia promised.
+
+Estralla went off happy with her new possessions, and Sylvia turned to
+the window, and looked off across the beautiful harbor toward the
+forts. She had heard her father say, that very noon, that South
+Carolina would fight to keep its slaves, and she wondered if the
+soldiers in Fort Moultrie would not fight to set the black people free.
+She remembered that her father had said that Fort Sumter was the
+property of the United States; and, for some reason which she could not
+explain even to herself, she was sure that Estralla would be safe
+there. If Mr. Robert Waite really meant to sell her, Sylvia again
+resolved to find some way to get the little slave girl to Fort Sumter.
+
+When Estralla brought the hot water the next morning she found a very
+sober little mistress. For Sylvia's father had not only explained the
+meaning of the word "abolitionist" as being the name the southerners
+had given to the men who were determined that slavery of other men,
+whatever their color, should end, but he had told his little daughter
+that he could do nothing to prevent the sale of the little colored
+girl, and that not even at Fort Sumter would she be safe. Sylvia had
+not gone to sleep very early. She lay awake thinking of Estralla.
+"Suppose somebody could sell me away from my mother," she thought,
+ready to cry even at such a possibility. Sylvia knew that Aunt Connie
+had been whipped because she had rebelled against parting with her
+older children, and there was no Philip to take Aunt Connie's part.
+
+"Mornin', Missy," said Estralla, coming into the room, and setting down
+the pitcher of hot water very carefully. She had on the pink gingham
+with one of the white aprons, and as she stood smiling and neat at the
+foot of Sylvia's bed, she looked very different from the clumsy little
+darky who had tumbled into the room a few weeks ago. Sylvia smiled
+back. "Estralla, I want you to be sure to come up-stairs to-night after
+the house is all quiet. Don't tell your mother, or anybody," she said
+very soberly.
+
+"All right, Missy," agreed Estralla, sure that whatever Missy Sylvia
+asked was right.
+
+Sylvia said nothing more, but dressed and went down to breakfast. She
+heard her father say that he feared that South Carolina would secede
+from the United States, and she repeated the word aloud: "'Secede'?
+What does that mean?" She began to think the world was full of
+difficult words.
+
+"In this case it means that the State of South Carolina wishes to give
+up her rights as one of the States of the Union," Mr. Fulton explained,
+"but we hope she will give up slavery instead," he concluded.
+
+Grace was at the gate as Sylvia came out ready for school, and called
+out a gay greeting.
+
+"What are you so sober about, Sylvia?" she asked as they walked on
+together.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE PALMETTO FLAG
+
+
+When Sylvia had told Estralla to come to her room that night, she had
+determined to find a way to get the little negro to a place of safety.
+Sylvia did not know that a negro was, in those far-off days, the
+property of his master as much as a horse or a dog, and that wherever
+the negro might go his master could claim him and punish him for trying
+to escape. Any person aiding a slave to escape could also be punished
+by law.
+
+All Sylvia thought of was to have Estralla protected, and she was quite
+sure that a United States fort could protect one little negro girl.
+Nevertheless she was troubled and worried as to how she could carry out
+her plan; but she resolved not to tell Grace.
+
+As usual Flora was waiting at Miss Patten's gate for her friends. She
+was wearing a pretty turban hat, and pinned in front was a fine blue
+cockade, to which Flora pointed and said: "Look, girls. This is the
+Secession Cockade. Ralph gave it to me," she explained; "all loyal
+Carolinians ought to wear it, Ralph says."
+
+"What does it mean to wear one?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"Oh, it means that you believe South Carolina has a right to keep its
+slaves, and sell them, of course; and if the United States interferes,
+why, Carolinians will teach them a lesson," Flora explained grandly,
+repeating the explanation her father had given her that very morning.
+
+Many of the other girls wore blue cockades, and a palmetto flag was
+hung behind Miss Rosalie's desk.
+
+"Young ladies," said Miss Rosalie, "I have hung South Carolina's flag
+where you can all see it. You all know that a flag is an emblem. Our
+flag means the glory of our past and the hope of the future. I will ask
+you all to rise and salute this flag!"
+
+The little girls all stood, and each raised her right hand. All but
+Sylvia. Flushed and unhappy, with downcast eyes, she kept her seat.
+This was not the "Stars and Stripes," the flag she had been taught to
+love and honor. She knew that the palmetto flag stood for slavery.
+
+Sylvia did not know what Miss Rosalie would say to her, and, even worse
+than her teacher's disapproval, she was sure that her schoolmates,
+perhaps even Grace and Flora, would dislike and blame her for not
+saluting their flag.
+
+But she was soon to realize just how serious was her failure to salute
+the palmetto flag. Miss Rosalie came down the aisle and laid a note on
+Sylvia's desk.
+
+It was very brief: "You may go home at recess. Take your books and go
+quietly without a word to any of the other pupils. You may tell your
+parents that I do not care to have you as a pupil for another day."
+
+As Sylvia read these words the tears sprang to her eyes. It was all she
+could do not to sob aloud. She dared not look at the other girls. She
+held a book before her face, and only hoped that she could keep back
+the tears until recess-time.
+
+But not for a moment did Sylvia wish that she had saluted a flag which
+stood for the protection of slavery. Miss Rosalie had said that a flag
+was an "emblem," and even in her unhappiness Sylvia knew that the
+emblem of the United States stood for justice and liberty.
+
+When the hour of recess came Sylvia had her books neatly strapped, and,
+as Miss Rosalie had directed, she left the room quietly without one
+word to any of the other girls. She had nearly reached the gate when
+she heard steps close behind her and Grace's voice calling: "Sylvia,
+Sylvia, dear," and Grace's arm was about her. "It's a mean shame,"
+declared the warm-hearted little southern girl, "and flag or no flag,
+I'm your true friend."
+
+"Grace! Grace!" called Miss Rosalie, and before Sylvia could respond
+her loyal playmate had turned obediently back to the house.
+
+Sylvia stepped out on the street, her eyes a little blurred by tears,
+but greatly comforted by Grace's assuring words of friendship.
+
+She did not want to go home and tell her mother what had happened, and
+show her Miss Patten's note, for she knew that her mother would be
+troubled and unhappy.
+
+Suddenly she decided to go to her father's warehouse and tell him, and
+go home with him at noon. She was sure her father would think she had
+done right.
+
+She turned and walked quickly down King Street, and in a short time she
+was near the wharves and could see the long building where her father
+stored the cotton he purchased from the planters. The wharves were
+piled high with boxes and bales, and there were small boats coming in
+to the wharves, and others making ready to depart.
+
+Sylvia could see her father's boat close to the wharf near the
+warehouse. "I wish I could take that boat and carry Estralla off to
+Fort Sumter," she thought.
+
+A good-natured negro led her to Mr. Fulton's office, and before her
+father could say a word Sylvia was in the midst of her story. She told
+of the blue cockades that the other girls wore, of the palmetto flag,
+and of her failure to salute it, and handed him Miss Patten's note.
+
+Mr. Fulton looked serious and troubled as he listened to his little
+girl's story. Then he lifted her to his knee, took off her pretty hat,
+and said:
+
+"Too bad, dear child! But you did right. A little Yankee girl must be
+loyal to the Stars and Stripes. I am glad you came and told me."
+
+For a moment it seemed to Sylvia that her father had forgotten all
+about her. He was looking straight out of the window.
+
+While he had not forgotten his little girl he was thinking that
+Charleston people must be quite ready to take the serious step of
+urging their State to declare her secession from the United States, and
+her right to buy and sell human beings as slaves.
+
+He wished that the United States officers at Fort Moultrie could
+realize that at any time Charleston men might seize Fort Sumter, where
+there were but few soldiers, and he said aloud: "I ought to warn them."
+
+Sylvia wondered for a moment what her father could mean, but he said
+quickly: "Jump down and put on your hat. I'm going to sail down to Fort
+Moultrie and have a talk with my good friends there, and you can come
+with me."
+
+At this good news Sylvia forgot all her troubles. A sail across the
+harbor with her father was the most delightful thing that she could
+imagine. And she held fast to his hand, smiling happily, as they walked
+down the wharf where the boat was fastened.
+
+Mr. Fulton was beginning to find his position as a northern man in
+Charleston rather uncomfortable. Many of his southern friends firmly
+believed that the northern men had no right to tell them that slavery
+was wrong and must cease. He wished to protect his business interests,
+or he would have returned to Boston; for it was difficult for him not
+to declare his own patriotic feeling that Abraham Lincoln, who had just
+been elected President of the United States, would never permit slavery
+to continue.
+
+Mr. Fulton sent a darky with a message to Sylvia's mother that he was
+taking the little girl for a sail to the forts, and in a short time
+they were on board the Butterfly, as Sylvia had named the white sloop,
+and were going swiftly down the harbor.
+
+"May I steer?" asked Sylvia, and Mr. Fulton smilingly agreed. He was
+very proud of his little daughter's ability to sail a boat, and
+although he watched her shape the boat's course, and was ready to give
+her any needed assistance, he was sure that he could trust her.
+
+As they sailed past Fort Sumter Sylvia could see men at work repairing
+the fortifications. Over both forts waved the Stars and Stripes.
+
+She made a skilful landing at Fort Moultrie, greatly to the admiration
+of the sentry on guard. Mr. Fulton and Sylvia went directly to the
+officer's quarters, which were in the rear of the fort, and where Mrs.
+Carleton gave Sylvia a warm welcome. She asked the little girl about
+her school and Sylvia told her what had happened that morning.
+
+"I am not surprised," said Captain Carleton. "I expect any day that
+Charleston men will take Fort Sumter, and fly the palmetto flag,
+instead of the Stars and Stripes. If Major Anderson had his way we
+would have a stronger force in Fort Sumter, and that is greatly needed."
+
+Major Anderson was the officer in command at Fort Moultrie. He was a
+southern man, but a true and loyal officer of the United States.
+
+When Captain Carleton and Mr. Fulton went out Mrs. Carleton asked
+Sylvia if she was sorry to leave the school, and if she liked her
+schoolmates. Sylvia was eager to tell her of all the good times she had
+enjoyed with Grace and Flora, and declared that they were her true
+friends. Then she told Mrs. Carleton about Estralla, and of her resolve
+that the little darky girl should not be separated from Aunt Connie.
+
+"Your best plan, then, will be to go and see Mr. Robert Waite and ask
+him. He is a kind-hearted man, and perhaps he will promise you to let
+the child stay with her mother. I hope it will not be long now before
+all the slaves will be set free," said Mrs. Carleton.
+
+Before Sylvia could respond Captain Carleton came hurrying into the
+room. He had a letter in his hand, and asked Sylvia to excuse Mrs.
+Carleton for a moment, and they left the room together. In a few
+moments Mrs. Carleton returned alone, and Sylvia heard Captain Carleton
+say: "It is worth trying."
+
+"My dear Sylvia, I want you to do something for me; it is not really
+for me," she added quickly, "it is for the United States. Something to
+help keep the flag flying over these forts."
+
+"Oh, can I do something like that?" Sylvia asked eagerly.
+
+"Yes, my dear. Now, listen carefully. Here is a letter which Major
+Anderson wants delivered to a gentleman who will start for Washington
+to-morrow. If anyone from this fort should be seen visiting that
+gentleman he would not be allowed to leave Charleston as he plans. If
+your father, even, should call upon him it would create suspicion. So I
+am going to ask you to carry this letter to the address written on the
+envelope, and you must give it into his own hands to-night. Not even
+your own father will know that you have this letter; so if he should be
+questioned or watched he will be able to deny knowing of its existence.
+Are you willing to undertake it?"
+
+"Yes! Yes!" promised Sylvia. "I will carry it safely. The gentleman
+shall have the letter to-night," and she reached out her hand to take
+it.
+
+But Mrs. Carleton shook her head. "No, my dear, I will pin it safely
+inside your dress. It would not do for you to be seen leaving the fort
+with a letter in your hand."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SYLVIA CARRIES A MESSAGE
+
+
+Mrs. Fulton did not seem surprised to hear of Sylvia's dismissal from
+Miss Patten's school because of her failure to salute the palmetto
+flag. She did not say very much of the occurrence that afternoon, when
+Sylvia returned from the fort, for she wanted Sylvia to think as
+pleasantly as possible of her pretty teacher. But she was surprised
+that Sylvia herself did not have more to say about the affair.
+
+But Sylvia's own thoughts were so filled by the mysterious letter which
+was pinned inside her dress, with wondering how she could safely
+deliver it without the knowledge of anyone, that she hardly thought of
+school. For the time she had even forgotten Estralla.
+
+"What do you say to becoming a teacher yourself, Sylvia dear?" her
+mother asked, as they sat together in the big sunny room which
+overlooked the harbor.
+
+"When I grow up?" asked Sylvia.
+
+Mrs. Fulton smiled. Sylvia "grown up" seemed a long way in the future.
+
+"No--that is too far away," she answered. "I was thinking that perhaps
+you would like to teach Estralla to read and write. You could begin
+to-morrow, if you wished."
+
+"Yes, indeed! Mother, you think of everything," declared Sylvia. "Why,
+that will be better than going to school!"
+
+"But we must not let your own studies be neglected," her mother
+reminded her, "so after you have given Estralla a morning lesson each
+day you and I will study together and keep up with Grace and Flora. By
+the way, Flora was here just before you and your father reached home;
+she was very sorry not to see you, and I have asked Flora and Grace to
+come to supper to-morrow night."
+
+Sylvia began to think that a world without school was going to be a
+very pleasant world after all. She was sure that it would be great fun
+to teach Estralla, and to have lessons with her mother was even better
+than reciting to pretty Miss Rosalie; and, beside this, her best
+friends were coming to supper the next night, so she had many pleasant
+things to think of, which was exactly what her mother had planned. Her
+father had said that she might ask Grace to go sailing with them in the
+Butterfly in a day or two; and now Sylvia resolved to ask if she might
+not ask Flora as well, and perhaps Estralla could go, too. So it was no
+wonder that she ran up-stairs singing:
+
+"There's a good time coming, It's almost here,"--
+
+greatly to the satisfaction of her father and mother, who had feared
+that she would be very unhappy over the school affair. They were sorry
+it had happened, but they could not blame Sylvia.
+
+"Oh, Missy Sylvia, here I is," and as Sylvia set her candle on the
+table, Estralla stood smiling before her.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Sylvia with such surprise that the little darky looked
+at her wonderingly.
+
+"Yo' tells me to come, an' here I is," she repeated. "You tells me,"
+and Estralla sniffed as if ready to give her usual wails, "that you'se
+gwine to stop my bein' sold off from my mammy. How you gwine to stop
+it, Missy?"
+
+For a moment Sylvia was tempted to tell Estralla that it couldn't be
+helped, as long as South Carolina believed in slavery. But Estralla's
+sad eyes and pleading look made her resolve again to protect this
+little slave girl against injustice. So she replied quickly:
+
+"That is my secret. But don't you worry. Some day, very soon, I shall
+tell you all about it. You know, Estralla, that you need not be afraid.
+And what do you think! I am not going to school any more."
+
+Estralla's face had brightened. She was always quite ready to smile,
+but she could not understand why Sylvia had wanted her to come so
+mysteriously to her room.
+
+"And I am going to teach you to read and write," Sylvia added.
+
+"Is you, Missy?" Estralla responded in a half-frightened whisper. Now,
+she thought, she knew all about Missy Sylvia's reasons for the secret
+visit. For very few slave-owners allowed anyone to teach the slaves to
+read and write. Estralla knew this, and it seemed a wonderful thing
+that Missy Sylvia proposed.
+
+"I'll tell you all about it to-morrow morning," said Sylvia; "now run
+away," and with a chuckle of delight Estralla closed the door softly
+behind her. She had been quite ready to run away with Missy Sylvia when
+she had crept up the stairs earlier in the evening. But to stay safely
+with her mammy and learn to read seemed a much happier plan to the
+little darky. If she could read and write! Why, it would be almost as
+wonderful as it would to be a little white girl, she thought.
+
+Now Sylvia realized, as she stood alone in her safe, pleasant chamber,
+that as soon as possible she must deliver the letter entrusted to her.
+If it was to go to Washington it must be some message that was of
+importance to the officers at Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, she
+thought. Perhaps it might even be something that would help Carolinians
+to give up slavery; and then Estralla and Aunt Connie, and all the
+black people she knew and liked, could be safe and have homes of their
+own.
+
+Sylvia went to the window and peered out. The street and garden lay
+dark and shadowy. Now and then a dark figure went along the street. The
+house seemed very quiet. She tiptoed to the closet and took out a brown
+cape. It was one which she wore on stormy days, and nearly covered her.
+Then from one of the bureau drawers she drew out a long blue silk
+scarf, and twisted it about her head.
+
+"I can pull the end over my face, and they'll think I'm a darky," she
+thought, resolved if anyone spoke to her not to answer.
+
+She whispered over the name and address on the letter. She knew that
+the street led from King Street, and she was sure that she could find
+it. But it was some distance from home; it would be late before she
+could get back.
+
+She blew out her candle, opened her chamber door and stood listening.
+She could not hear a sound, and tiptoed cautiously along the hall to
+the stairs. What if the door of her mother's room should open, she
+thought, terrified at such a possibility. What could she say? She had
+promised not to tell of the letter, and what reason could she give for
+creeping out of the house at that hour?
+
+But she reached the lower floor safely, and now came the danger of
+making a noise when opening the door. Sylvia grasped the big key and
+turned it slowly. Then she pulled at the heavy door, and it swung back
+easily. She gave a long breath of relief as she stepped out on the
+piazza. She left the door ajar, so that she could slip in easily on her
+return. Keeping in the shadow of the trees she reached the street, and
+now she felt sure that nothing could prevent her from delivering the
+letter.
+
+She ran swiftly along, now and then meeting someone who glanced
+wonderingly at the flying little figure. She had reached King Street
+and was nearly at the street where she was to turn, when suddenly a
+heavy hand grasped her arm and nearly swung her from her feet.
+
+"Running off, are you? And wearing your mistress's clothes at that,
+I'll warrant," said a gruff voice. "Wall, now, whose darky are you?"
+
+Sylvia pulled the silken scarf from her face, and even in the glimmer
+of the dull street-lamp under which the man had drawn her he could see
+the auburn hair and blue eyes. But he still kept his grasp on her arm.
+There were slaves who were not black, he knew, and "quality white"
+girls were not running about Charleston streets alone at night.
+
+"What is your name?" he demanded.
+
+Sylvia looked at him resentfully. "How dare you grab me like this?" she
+demanded. "Let me go."
+
+The man released his grasp instantly. No darky girl or slave would have
+spoken like that. He vanished as suddenly as he had appeared, more
+frightened now than Sylvia herself.
+
+For an instant Sylvia stood quite still. She felt ready to cry, and now
+walked more slowly. For the first time she realized something of what
+it must be to be a colored girl.
+
+"If I had been Estralla he could have dragged me off and had me
+whipped," she thought. "Oh, I must get Mr. Robert Waite to let Estralla
+stay safe with us."
+
+She was now near her destination, which proved to be a large house
+right on the street. She knocked at the door several times before it
+was opened. Then she found herself looking up at a tall man whose white
+hair and kindly smile gave her confidence.
+
+"Well, little girl, whom do you wish to see?" he asked pleasantly.
+
+"I have a message, I--" began Sylvia, her voice trembling a little.
+"Are you Mr. Doane?"
+
+"Yes; come in," and he held the door open for her to enter, and then
+closed and fastened it behind them.
+
+Sylvia drew the letter from its hiding-place and handed it to him, and
+Mr. Doane slipped it into his pocket.
+
+"Come in, my child, and rest a moment; you are out of breath," he said,
+leading the way to a small room at the end of the narrow hall.
+
+Sylvia was glad to sit down in a low chair near the table, while Mr.
+Doane opened the envelope. She could see that there was another letter
+enclosed, as well as the one which the tall man was reading with such
+interest.
+
+When he had finished reading the letter he tore it into a great many
+small pieces. Then he put the enclosed envelope carefully in an inner
+pocket.
+
+"So you brought me this letter from the fort. Well, you have done what
+I hope may prove a great service to the Stars and Stripes. I thank
+you," he said, looking with smiling eyes at the tired little figure in
+the brown cape.
+
+Then he asked Sylvia her name, and she told him that no one, not even
+her dear mother, knew that she had brought the message. Before they had
+finished their talk he had heard all about the blue cockades that the
+girls had worn at Miss Patten's school, and of Sylvia's refusal to
+salute the palmetto flag.
+
+"You see I couldn't do that, because it would mean that I believed that
+Estralla ought to be a slave, and of course I don't believe such a
+dreadful thing," she explained. So then Mr. Doane heard all about
+Estralla and Aunt Connie.
+
+Sylvia decided that she liked Mr. Doane even better than Captain
+Carleton. And when he told her again that by her courage in bringing
+him the message from the fort, and by her silence in regard to it, that
+she had done him a great service, as well as a service to those whose
+only wish for South Carolina was that the State should free herself
+from slavery, Sylvia forgot all about the long walk through the shadowy
+streets.
+
+"I wish I had someone to send with you to see you home safely," Mr.
+Doane said, a little anxiously, as they stood together in the little
+hallway. "But I am known here, and I fear everything I do is watched.
+So I must trust that you will be safely cared for."
+
+Before Sylvia could reply, and say that she was not at all afraid to go
+alone, the outer door rattled as if someone were trying to push it open.
+
+"You have been followed. Run back to the sitting-room," whispered Mr.
+Doane. "I will open the door."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+ESTRALLA HELPS
+
+
+Sylvia, standing just inside the door of the small room, heard the
+outer door swing open. She heard Mr. Doane's sharp question, and then a
+familiar wail.
+
+"Oh! It's Estralla!" she exclaimed, and ran back to the entry.
+
+"It's Estralla! Oh! I'm so glad!" she said.
+
+"Don' you be skeered, Missy Sylvia," said Estralla valiantly. "Dis yere
+man cyan't take you off'n sell you."
+
+"All Estralla can think of is that somebody is going to be carried off
+and sold," Sylvia said, turning to Mr. Doane, who stood by looking very
+serious.
+
+"How did you know where your little mistress was?" he questioned
+gravely. For if this little darky knew of Sylvia's errand he feared
+that she might tell others, and so Sylvia would have brought the
+message from the fort to little purpose. The letter, which was now in
+Mr. Doane's pocket, was to the Secretary of War in Washington, asking
+for permission for Major Anderson to take men to Fort Sumter, before
+the secessionists could occupy it.
+
+"I follers Missy," explained Bstralla. "An' when that man grabs her on
+King Street, I was gwine to chase right home an' get Massa Fulton, but
+Missy talks brave at him, an' he lets go of her. Oh, Missy! What you
+doin' of way off here?"
+
+At this question Mr. Doane smiled, realizing that the little negro girl
+had no knowledge of the message which Sylvia had delivered.
+
+"Well, Estralla, suppose Miss Sylvia came to try and help give you your
+freedom?" he asked.
+
+"An' my mammy?" demanded Estralla eagerly.
+
+"Why, of course," Mr. Doane replied. "For anything that helps to
+convince South Carolina that she is wrong will help to free the
+slaves," he added, turning to Sylvia.
+
+"Now, Estralla, if you love Miss Sylvia, if you want to stay with your
+mammy, you must never tell of her visit here to-night. Remember!" and
+Mr. Doane's voice was very stern.
+
+"Estralla won't tell," Sylvia declared confidently; "and I am glad she
+came to go home with me."
+
+"Shuah I'll do jes' what Missy wants me to," said the little darky.
+
+"Try to let Mrs. Carleton know that I received the letter, and that I
+hope to reach Washington safely," said Mr. Doane, as he bade Sylvia
+good-night.
+
+As the door closed behind them Estralla clasped Sylvia's hand.
+
+"Wat dat clock say?" she asked; for one of the city clocks was striking
+the hour.
+
+"It's twelve o'clock," answered Sylvia.
+
+"Oh! My lan', Missy! Dat's a terrible onlucky time fer us to be out,"
+whispered Estralla. "Dat's de time w'en witch folks comes a-dancin' an'
+a-prancin' 'roun' and takes off chilluns."
+
+Sylvia knew that all the negroes believed in witches and all sorts of
+impossible tales, so Estralla's words did not at all frighten her, but
+she did wish that she was safe in her own home. The streets were now
+dark and silent, and black shadows seemed to lurk at every corner as,
+hand in hand, Estralla and Sylvia ran swiftly along.
+
+"I tells you, Missy, dat it's jes' lucky I comes after you, cos'
+witch-folks, w'at comes floatin' 'roun' 'bout dis hour of de night, dey
+ain't gwine to tech us; cos' when dey's two folks holdin' each other
+hands tight, jes' like we is, dey don't dast to tech us," said Estralla.
+
+"Where were you, Estralla, when I came down-stairs?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"I was jes' a-takin' a little sleep on de big rug side of your door,
+Missy. I'se been a-sleepin' dere dis long time. My mammy lets me. An'
+when you opens de door I mos' calls out, but didn't. I jes' stan's up
+quick, so's you nebber know I was thar," and Estralla chuckled happily.
+
+Sylvia wondered to herself why Estralla should choose such a hard bed.
+Then, suddenly, she realized all Estralla's devotion. That the little
+negro girl had slept there to be near her "fr'en'." She remembered the
+first time that she had ever seen Estralla, on the morning when she had
+tumbled in to Sylvia's room and broken the big pitcher, and that even
+then Estralla had been ready to confess and take the whipping that she
+was sure would follow, rather than let Sylvia be blamed. She recalled
+Estralla's effort to rescue her at Fort Sumter on the day Sylvia had
+run away from Miss Patten's school; and she remembered that it was
+Estralla who had told Miss Patten the real reason, and so saved her
+from further trouble.
+
+"Estralla, you have been my true friend," she declared, "and I am going
+to remember it always. I am going to ask my mother to put a nice little
+bed for you in your mammy's cabin."
+
+"Don' yo' do that, Missy. I likes sleepin' on de rug," pleaded Estralla.
+
+"Hush, we must creep in without making any noise," responded Sylvia, in
+a whisper, for they were now directly in front of Sylvia's home.
+
+Noiselessly Estralla led the way.
+
+"Oh, Missy! de door is shut fas'," she whispered, as she endeavored to
+push it open.
+
+"But it can't be shut," Sylvia answered.
+
+Both the little girls pushed against it, but the door stood fast.
+
+"Oh! What will we do?" half sobbed Sylvia, who was now very tired, and
+almost too sleepy to think of anything.
+
+"We cyan't get in de back door. My mammy she'd wake up if a rabbit run
+twixt her cabin an' de kitchen," Estralla whispered back. "I 'spec's
+I'll hev' to climb up to de winder ober de porch, and comes down and
+let you in."
+
+"Oh! Can you, Estralla?"
+
+Sylvia's voice was very near to tears. She had forgotten all about the
+importance of the message she had safely delivered. All she wanted now
+was to be inside this dear safe house where her mother and father were
+sleeping, not knowing that their little girl, cold and sleepy, was shut
+out.
+
+"I 'spec's I can," Estralla answered. "You jes' stay quiet, an' in
+'bout four shakes of a lamb's tail I'se gwine to open de door, an' in
+yo' walks."
+
+There was a little scrambling noise among the stout vines which ran up
+the pillars of the porch as Estralla started to carry out her plan. A
+cat, or a fluttering bird, would have hardly made more commotion.
+Sylvia listened eagerly. Suppose the porch window was fastened? she
+thought fearfully. It seemed a very long time before the front door
+opened, and Estralla reached out and clutched at the brown cape.
+
+Noiselessly they crept up the stairs, Estralla leading the way. It was
+she who opened the door of Sylvia's room, and then with a whispered
+"Yo'se all right now, Missy," closed it behind her.
+
+Sylvia hung up the brown cape in the closet, and slipped off her dress.
+She was soon in bed and fast asleep, and it was late the next morning
+before she awoke--so late that her father had breakfasted and gone to
+his warehouse; Estralla had been sent on an errand, and Mrs. Fulton
+decided that Sylvia should have a holiday.
+
+"You seem tired, dear child," she said a little anxiously, as Sylvia
+said that she did not want to go to walk; that she had rather sit still.
+
+"I guess I am tired," acknowledged the little girl, and was quite
+content to sit by the window with a story-book, instead of giving
+Estralla a lesson.
+
+"If it had not been for Estralla I don't know what would have happened
+to me last night," she thought. She wondered who had closed and
+fastened the front door, but dared not ask.
+
+Grace and Flora were to come early that afternoon, as soon after school
+as possible, and Flora had sent Sylvia a note that she would bring her
+lace-work and give her a lesson. By noon Sylvia felt rested, and was
+looking eagerly forward to her friends' visit. She began to feel that
+she was a very fortunate little girl to have had the chance to do
+something that might help, as Mr. Doane had said, to give the black
+people their freedom. She only wished that she could tell her mother
+and father of the midnight journey.
+
+"But I will ask Mrs. Carleton the next time I go to the fort to let me
+tell Mother," she resolved.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A HAPPY AFTERNOON
+
+
+Grace was the first to arrive, and she declared that she wished that
+she was in Sylvia's place and need not go to school another day.
+
+The two little friends stood at the window watching for Flora, and it
+was not long before they saw her coming up the walk, closely followed
+by her black "Mammy," who was carrying two baskets. One of these seemed
+very heavy.
+
+"What can be in Mammy's basket, I wonder?" said Grace. "And, look,
+Sylvia! Flora isn't wearing the blue cockade! That's because she is
+coming to visit you. She had it on at school this morning."
+
+Flora wore the same pretty velvet turban which she had worn on Sylvia's
+last day at school. She had on a cape of garnet-colored velvet, and as
+she came running into the room Sylvia looked at her with admiring eyes.
+
+"You do look so pretty, Flora! And I am so glad to see you. Come
+up-stairs to my room and take off your things."
+
+"It isn't half the fun going to school now that you don't come,
+Sylvia," responded Flora, as the three friends went up the broad
+staircase together. "Mammy," with her baskets, followed them, and when
+she had helped her little mistress lay aside her cape and hat, Flora
+said:
+
+"You can go home now, Mammy, And my mother will tell you when to come
+after me."
+
+"Yas, Missy," responded the old colored woman, and with a curtsey to
+each of the little girls she left the room.
+
+"What makes your mammy look so sober, Flora?" questioned Grace. "She is
+usually all smiles; but to-day she hasn't a word to say for herself."
+
+"Oh, the darkies are all stirred up over all this talk about their
+being set free," Flora answered, "and even Mammy, who was Mother's
+nurse, and has always been well taken care of, thinks it would be a
+fine thing for her children and grandchildren to be 'jes' like white
+folks,'" and Flora laughed scornfully.
+
+"But that needn't make her look sober!" insisted Grace.
+
+"I reckon she's upset because my mother sold two or three little slaves
+yesterday--Mammy's grandchildren," Flora answered carelessly.
+
+Sylvia could feel her face flushing, and she said over to herself that
+no matter what Flora said that she, Sylvia, must remember that Flora
+was her guest. Beside that, had not Flora taken off the blue cockade so
+that Sylvia would not be reminded of the trouble at school?
+
+But Grace felt no such restraints. She was a southern girl as well as
+Flora, but she was sorry for the old colored woman.
+
+"Well, I do wish we could keep the pickaninnies until they grow up. It
+seems a shame when they feel so bad to be sold off to strangers. And
+some of them are abused too," she said.
+
+"You talk as if they felt just the same as we do, and that's silly,"
+Flora declared; "but Philip talks just the same. He says he is going to
+give Dinkie her freedom," and she turned toward the two baskets which
+Mammy had set down with such care near Molly and Polly.
+
+"I brought my lace-work, and Mother has fixed a cushion for you,
+Sylvia, and one for Grace, too. See! The pattern is begun on each one,
+and I will give you both lessons until you know as much as I do." As
+Flora talked she had opened the smaller basket and taken out two square
+boxes and handed one to each of her friends.
+
+"Open them," she said, nodding smilingly.
+
+The box which she handed to Sylvia was covered with plaited blue silk.
+It had a narrow edge of gilt braid around the cover. Grace's box was
+covered with yellow silk, but the boxes were of the same size.
+
+As Sylvia and Grace lifted the covers they smiled and exclaimed
+happily. The lace cushion lay inside, and in dainty little pockets on
+each side of the boxes were the delicate threads and materials for the
+lace. A thimble of gold, with "Sylvia from Flora" engraved around its
+rim, was in Sylvia's box, and one exactly like it was in Grace's box.
+
+"Oh, Flora Hayes! This is the most beautiful present that ever was!"
+declared Sylvia; and Grace, holding the box with both hands, was
+hopping up and down saying over and over: "Flora! You are just like the
+Golden Princess in a fairy story who gives people what they want most."
+
+"My mother made the boxes herself," Flora explained proudly. "I wanted
+to give you girls something, and I'm awfully glad you like them." Then
+Flora stood up quickly.
+
+"Girls! I dressed up in Mother's hat and skirt, that night at the
+plantation. It wasn't Lady Caroline."
+
+She spoke very rapidly as if she wished to finish as quickly as
+possible. It was not easy to think of Flora Hayes as being ashamed, but
+Sylvia felt quite sure that Flora felt sorry that she had attempted to
+deceive her friends.
+
+"I knew it all the time," said Grace slowly, "and I told Sylvia it was
+you; didn't I, Sylvia?"
+
+"Yes," said Sylvia, "and we knew you were sure to tell us about it,
+Flora. But you did look just like the picture of Lady Caroline."
+
+Flora sat down. It had been so much easier to confess than she had
+expected. Neither Grace nor Sylvia had seemed resentful or surprised.
+
+"You didn't tell me that you knew," she said, a little accusingly.
+
+"Oh, well, we couldn't do that, Flora. You see we were your guests,"
+Grace explained.
+
+"And we knew you were sure to tell us," Sylvia added.
+
+Flora was silent for a moment. She was thinking that both her friends
+had been rather fine about the whole affair. They had not run screaming
+from their room on the appearance of the "ghost," and alarmed the
+house, and so brought discovery and punishment and shame upon her;
+neither had they resented her not confessing.
+
+"Well, I do think you two girls are the nicest girls in this town," she
+declared, "and I am mighty proud that you are my friends. I can tell
+you one thing: I'll never try to make anyone believe in ghosts again. I
+was half frightened to death myself when I crept up those stairs, and
+my shoulder has been lame ever since."
+
+Grace and Sylvia had wondered what the large basket contained, but in
+their interest over Flora's beautiful gifts, and their delight in her
+"owning up" to being the "ghost," they had quite forgotten about it. It
+was Flora who now pointed at it and said laughingly: "I've brought my
+dolls in that basket."
+
+"Molly and Polly will be glad enough to have company," Sylvia assured
+her.
+
+Flora opened the basket and took out a large black "mammy" in a purple
+dress, white apron, and a yellow handkerchief twisted turban-fashion
+about her head.
+
+"Mammy Jane always goes with the young ladies," she explained
+laughingly, and took out two fine china dolls dressed in white muslin
+with broad crimson silk sashes. Each of these fine ladies had a tiny
+parasol of crimson silk.
+
+"I'm going home after my dolls," exclaimed Grace, and while Sylvia
+brought cushions for these unexpected visitors, and introduced them to
+Molly and Polly, Grace hurried home and was soon back again with her
+own treasured dolls, which she introduced as "Mr. and Mrs. and Miss
+Delaney."
+
+The lesson in lace-making was quite forgotten as the three girls played
+with the array of dolls.
+
+Sylvia ran to the door and called Estralla, who appeared so quickly
+that Sylvia wondered where she could have been. Estralla was told that
+she must help "Mammy Jane" take care of the doll visitors, and the
+little negro's face beamed with pleasure. Not one of the little girls
+in the pleasant room was as happy as Estralla; and when supper was
+ready and Sylvia and her friends went down-stairs, leaving Estralla in
+charge of all the dolls, she could hardly believe in her good fortune,
+and, as usual, was sure it was all due to her beloved Missy Sylvia.
+
+After supper the dolls were all invited downstairs to be introduced to
+Sylvia's father and mother; and Estralla, smiling and delighted, was
+entrusted with bringing "Mammy Jane."
+
+The three friends often looked back on that happy afternoon, for on the
+very next day Mr. Hayes decided to move his family to the plantation,
+and it was many days before Sylvia, Grace and Flora were to be together
+again. The citizens of Charleston, in December, 1860, were becoming
+anxious as to what might befall them. Very soon it might be possible
+that South Carolina would secede from the Union, and war with the
+northern states might follow. In such a case the guns of Fort Sumter
+and Fort Moultrie might fire on Charleston, and many planters who had
+homes in Charleston were sending their families to their country homes.
+Northern men who had business in Charleston were also anxious, and
+Sylvia did not know that her own father was seriously considering a
+return to Boston.
+
+But the little girls bade each other good-night with happy smiles and
+laughter, and without a thought but that they would have many more
+pleasant times together.
+
+Sylvia did not even think of the lace-making until she brought down her
+pretty box to show to her mother and father.
+
+"The Charleston people have been so kind to us," Mrs. Fulton said, a
+little sadly.
+
+"They are the most courteous and kindly people in the world," declared
+Mr. Fulton.
+
+Sylvia went up to her room wondering why her mother and father seemed
+so serious, when everything was so lovely. She had almost forgotten her
+adventure of the previous night, and went happily to bed with Flora's
+pretty gift on the light-stand beside her bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MR. ROBERT WAITE
+
+
+It was a very sober little darky who came up to Sylvia's room the next
+morning. She set down the pitcher of water and moved silently toward
+the door.
+
+"What's the matter, Estralla?" Sylvia called; for usually Estralla was
+all smiles, and had a good deal to say.
+
+Estralla shook her head. "Nuffin', Missy. I knowed you couldn't do
+nuffin' 'bout it. My mammy says how nobody can."
+
+"Wait, Estralla! What do you mean?" exclaimed Sylvia, sitting up in bed.
+
+"I'se gwine to be sold! Jes' like I tells you. My mammy was over to
+Massa Waite's house las' night, and she hears ober dar dat Massa
+Robert's gwine to sell off every nigger what ain't workin'--this week!"
+Estralla's voice had drifted into her old-time wail.
+
+"Oh, Estralla! What can I do?" and Sylvia was out of bed in a second,
+standing close beside the little colored girl.
+
+"I dunno, Missy Sylvia. I 'spec' dar ain't nuffin' you kin do. But you
+has been mighty good to me," Estralla replied. "It's mighty hard to go
+off and leave my mammy an' never see you-all no more, Missy Sylvia. I
+dunno whar I'll be sent."
+
+"Estralla, if you were earning wages for Mr. Robert Waite would he let
+you stay here?" Sylvia asked eagerly.
+
+"I reckon he would, Missy. But who's a-gwine to pay wages for a
+pickaninny like me? Nobuddy! Missy, I'se a-gwine to run off an' hide
+myself 'til the Yankee soldiers comes and sets us free," said Estralla.
+
+"You can't do that. But don't be frightened, Estralla. I have thought
+of something. I will hire you! Yes, I will; and pay wages for you to
+Mr. Waite. I'll go tell him so this very day," declared Sylvia, her
+face brightening, as she remembered the twenty dollars in gold which
+her Grandmother Fulton had given her when she had left Boston. "You can
+do whatever you please with it," was what Grandmother Fulton had said.
+
+Sylvia had thought that she would ask her mother to buy her a watch
+with the money, but she did not remember that now. She knew that, more
+than anything, she would rather keep Estralla safe. Twenty dollars was
+a good deal of money, she reflected. If the northern soldiers would
+only come quickly and set the slaves free! But even if they did not
+come for a long time the money would surely pay Mr. Waite wages for
+Estralla, so that he would not insist on selling her.
+
+Estralla's face had brightened instantly at Sylvia's promise. And when
+Sylvia explained that she had money of her very own, and even opened
+her writing desk and showed Estralla the shining gold pieces, the
+little darky's fears vanished. She was as sure that all would be well
+now, as she had been frightened and despondent when she entered the
+room.
+
+"Shall I tell my mammy?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Yes," Sylvia responded. "I know my mother will let me. Because Grandma
+said I could do as I pleased with the money. And I please to pay it to
+Mr. Waite."
+
+"Then I'll be your maid, won't I, Missy Sylvia?" chuckled the little
+darky with proud delight, "an' I'll allers go whar yo' goes, like Missy
+Flora Hayes' mammy does."
+
+"Why, yes, I suppose you will," agreed Sylvia.
+
+Sylvia had meant to tell her mother and father of her plan about
+Estralla at breakfast time, but her father was just leaving the
+dining-room when she came in.
+
+"Are you going to ask your little friends to go out in the Butterfly
+this afternoon?" he asked. "If you want to go to the forts you must be
+on hand early."
+
+"I'll ask them right away after breakfast, before they start for
+school," Sylvia promised eagerly. She was glad that she could go to the
+forts again, and tell Mrs. Carleton that she had given the letter to
+Mr. Doane. This filled her thoughts for the moment, so she quite forgot
+about her plan to employ Estralla, especially as her mother had decided
+that lessons would not begin until the following week.
+
+It had seemed to Mrs. Fulton that her little daughter was tired, and
+not as well as usual, and she was glad that the sailing expedition
+would take her out for a long afternoon on the water.
+
+Sylvia ate her breakfast hurriedly, and ran upstairs for her cape and
+hat, to find Estralla waiting just inside the door of her room.
+
+"Wat yo' mammy say 'bout my bein' yo' maid?" questioned the little
+darky.
+
+"Oh, it will be all right. I am going to ask Grace and Flora to go
+sailing this afternoon, and I'll keep on to Mr. Robert Waite's and have
+it all settled this morning," Sylvia replied, putting on her pretty new
+hat.
+
+"You may come, too," she added.
+
+"Yas, Missy. Wat yo' reckon Massa Robert gwine to say?" questioned
+Estralla earnestly.
+
+"I think I will take the money," Sylvia said, not answering Estralla's
+question; "then Mr. Waite will be sure that I can pay him."
+
+Mrs. Fulton saw Sylvia, closely followed by Estralla, running across
+the garden toward the house where Grace Waite lived.
+
+"Poor little darky! What will she do when Sylvia goes north?" she
+thought. For Mr. Fulton had told her that very morning that he was sure
+South Carolina would secede from the Union, and then northern men would
+no longer be welcome in Charleston. That meant of course that the
+Fultons would have to return to Boston, if that were possible, but all
+communication with northern states might be prevented. It was no wonder
+that Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were anxious and worried.
+
+Grace was ready to start for school when Sylvia and Estralla arrived,
+and her mother gave her consent at once for her to go sailing in the
+afternoon.
+
+"The Christmas holidays will soon be here, so a half day out of school
+will not matter," Mrs. Waite said smilingly, and gave Grace a note for
+Miss Patten.
+
+"I'll walk to Flora's with you," said Grace. "Now, Sylvia, own up that
+you think Charleston is nicer than Boston. Why, it is all ice and snow
+and cold weather up there, and here it is warm and pleasant. You
+couldn't go sailing if you were in Boston to-day," she added laughingly.
+
+"No, but I could go sleighing," responded Sylvia.
+
+As they came in sight of Flora's home they both exclaimed in surprise:
+
+"Why, they are all going away! Look, Flora and her mother are in the
+carriage!" said Grace, "and there is Philip on horseback."
+
+The carriage had turned on to the street, and even as Grace spoke a
+curve in the road hid it from view. Philip, evidently giving some
+directions to the negroes who were loading trunks and boxes into a
+cart, rode down the driveway just as Grace and Sylvia reached the
+entrance.
+
+He greeted them smilingly, and stopped his horse to speak with them.
+
+"It was all planned for us to go to the plantation before Flora got
+home last night," he explained. "Father thought it was best for the
+family to be out of the city. You see, it's getting time for
+Carolinians to take possession of the forts, and there may be trouble.
+But the palmetto flag will soon float over Fort Sumter," he added
+smilingly, and with a touch of his cap and a smiling good-bye he rode
+off.
+
+Sylvia was sorry that Flora was going away, but that Philip should want
+the palmetto flag to take the place of the Stars and Stripes over Fort
+Sumter seemed a much greater misfortune. "When he knows it stands for
+slavery," she thought, wondering if he had entirely forgotten about
+Dinkie.
+
+"I'll have to run, or I'll be late for school," declared Grace. "I'll
+be all ready when you call," and with a gay good-bye she was off down
+the street, leaving Sylvia and Estralla standing alone near the high
+wall which enclosed the garden of the Hayes house.
+
+"Massa Robert Waite, he live right 'roun' de corner," said Estralla,
+and the two girls turned down the street leading to the house of
+Estralla's master.
+
+Sylvia went up the flight of stone steps which led to Mr. Waite's door
+a little fearfully. A tall, good-natured colored man opened the door
+and asked her errand, and then led the way across the wide hall and
+rapped at a door.
+
+"A little white missy to see you, Massa Robert," he said, and in a
+moment Sylvia found herself standing before a smiling gentleman, whose
+red face and white whiskers made her think of the pictures of Santa
+Claus.
+
+"Won't you be seated, young lady?" he said, very politely, waving his
+hand toward a low cushioned chair, and bowing "as if I were really
+grown up," thought Sylvia.
+
+"I am Sylvia Fulton," she said, wondering why her voice sounded so
+faint.
+
+"Perhaps you are the daughter of Mr. John Fulton, who does me the favor
+of renting my house on the East Battery," responded Mr. Waite, with
+another bow.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Sylvia meekly, wondering whether she would ever dare
+tell him her errand. There was a little silence, and then Mr. Waite
+took a seat near his little visitor and said:
+
+"Let me see; is not your name in a song? 'Then to Sylvia let us sing,'"
+he hummed, beating time with his right hand.
+
+"Oh, yes, I was named for that song. And, if you please, Mr. Waite,
+would you let me pay you wages for Estralla?"
+
+"For Estralla? Now, of course, I ought to know all about Estralla. But,
+you see, I have a man who attends to the names, and all that, of my
+negroes. But perhaps you can tell me who Estralla is?" replied Mr.
+Waite.
+
+"If you please, sir, she is Aunt Connie's little girl, and she lives
+with us, and I like her, and I thought--" began Sylvia, but Mr. Waite
+raised his hand, and she stopped suddenly.
+
+"I see! I see! You want her to wait upon you. I see. Quite right. But
+if she is living in your house she is not costing me a penny for board.
+So I am indebted to you. Well! Well! I must see that whatever you wish
+is carried out. You need not pay me wages, little Miss Sylvia, but you
+shall have the girl for your own servant as long as you live in my
+house, and I am delighted to have you take her off my hands. Yes,
+indeed! Yes, indeed!" and Mr. Waite smiled and bowed, and seemed
+exactly like Santa Claus.
+
+"I'm ever so much obliged," said Sylvia. "I like Estralla."
+
+"Do you? Yes! Well! And I hope you will come again, Miss Sylvia. I am
+greatly pleased to have made your acquaintance," and the polite
+gentleman escorted her to the door, where he bade her good-bye with
+such an elegant bow that Sylvia nearly fell backward in her effort to
+make as low a curtsey as seemed necessary.
+
+Estralla had hidden herself behind some shrubbery, and joined Sylvia at
+the gate.
+
+"Would he hire me out, Missy?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"My, no!" answered Sylvia, and before she could explain the generosity
+of Estralla's owner, the little darky was wailing and sobbing: "I
+knowed I'd be sold! I knowed it."
+
+"Keep still, Estralla! Mr. Waite says I may have you without paying
+him. Just as long as I live in his house he said you were to be my
+maid! Oh, Estralla! He was just as kind and polite as if I had been a
+grown-up young lady," said Sylvia with enthusiasm.
+
+"Yas'm, I reckons he would hafter be, 'cos he's a Carolinian gen'man.
+I'se mighty glad he gives me to you, Missy. I reckon my mammy's gwine
+to be glad," and Estralla, quite forgetting that there was such a thing
+as trouble in the world, danced along beside her new mistress.
+
+Sylvia hurried home, eager to tell her mother of her wonderful new
+friend, and of Flora's departure to the plantation.
+
+Mrs. Fulton listened in surprise. But when Sylvia finished her story of
+Mr. Waite's kindness, declaring that he was just like Santa Claus, she
+did not reprove her for going on such an errand without permission, but
+agreed with her little daughter that Mr. Robert Waite was a very kind
+and generous gentleman.
+
+Aunt Connie was as delighted as it was possible for a mother to be who
+knows that her youngest child is safe under the same roof with herself.
+She tried to thank Sylvia for protecting Estralla, but Sylvia was too
+happy over her success to listen to her.
+
+When Grace returned from school Sylvia ran over and told her all about
+her Uncle Robert's kindness.
+
+Grace listened with wondering eyes.
+
+"Oh, that's just like Uncle Robert," she declared. "But I think you
+were brave to ask him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"WHERE IS SYLVIA?"
+
+
+The Butterfly was all ready and waiting for its passengers when Grace
+and Sylvia, followed by the smiling and delighted Estralla, who was
+carrying Sylvia's cape and trying to act as much like a "rale grown-up
+lady's maid" as possible, came down to the long wharf.
+
+Although it was December, there was little to remind anyone of winter.
+The air was soft and clear, the sun shone brightly, and only a little
+westerly breeze ruffled the blue waters of the harbor.
+
+Negroes were at work on the wharf loading bales of cotton on a big
+ship. They were singing as they worked, and Sylvia resolved to remember
+the words of the song:
+
+"De big bee flies high,
+ De little bee makes de honey,
+ De black man raise de cotton,
+ An' de white man gets de money."
+
+She repeated it over and then Grace sang it, with an amused laugh at
+her friend's interest in "nigger songs."
+
+Mr. Fulton came to meet them and helped them on board the boat. As the
+Butterfly made its way out into the channel the little girls looked
+back at the long water-front, where lay many vessels from far-off
+ports. In the distance they could see the spire of St. Philip's, one of
+the historic churches of Charleston, and everywhere fluttered the
+palmetto flag.
+
+Sylvia sat in the stern beside her father, and very soon the tiller was
+in her hand and she was shaping the boat's course toward the forts.
+Grace watched her admiringly.
+
+"I believe you could steer in the dark," she declared.
+
+"Of course she could if she had a compass and was familiar with the
+stars," said Mr. Fulton; and he called Grace's attention to the compass
+fastened securely near Sylvia's seat, and explained the rules of
+navigation.
+
+"Is that the way the big ships know how to find their harbors?" asked
+Grace, when Mr. Fulton told her of the stars, and how the pilots set
+their course.
+
+"Yes, and if Sylvia understood how to steer by the compass she could
+steer the Butterfly as well at night as she can now."
+
+Sylvia looked at the compass with a new interest; she was sure that
+navigation would be a much more interesting study than grammar, and
+resolved to ask her father to teach her how to "box the compass."
+
+There had been many changes at Fort Moultrie since Sylvia's last visit.
+A deep ditch had been dug between the fort and the sand-bars, and many
+workmen were busy in strengthening the defences, and Sylvia and Grace
+wondered why so many soldiers were stationed along the parapet.
+
+Captain Carleton seemed very glad to welcome them, and sent a soldier
+to escort the girls to the officers' quarters, while Mr. Fulton went in
+search of Major Anderson. Sylvia wondered if she would have a chance to
+tell Mrs. Carleton that she had safely delivered the message.
+
+Mrs. Carleton was in her pleasant sitting-room and declared that she
+had been wishing for company, and held up some strips of red and white
+bunting. "I am making a new flag for Fort Sumter," she said. "Perhaps
+you will help me sew on the stars, one for each State, you know."
+
+"Is there one for South Carolina?" asked Grace, as Mrs. Carleton found
+two small thimbles, which she said she had used when she was no older
+than Sylvia, and showed the girls how to sew the white stars securely
+on the blue.
+
+"Yes, indeed! One of the first stars on the flag was for South
+Carolina," replied Mrs. Carleton, "and this very fort was named for a
+defender of America's rights."
+
+While Grace and Sylvia were so pleasantly occupied Estralla had
+wandered out, crossed the bridge which connected the officers' quarters
+with the fort, and now found herself near the landing-place, so that
+when Mrs. Carleton made the girls a cup of hot chocolate and looked
+about to give Estralla her share, the little colored girl was not to be
+seen.
+
+"I'll call her," said Sylvia, and ran out on the veranda.
+
+No response came to her calls, so she went down the steps and along the
+walk which led to the sand-bars, past the houses and barracks on
+Sullivan's island. No one was in sight whom she could ask if Estralla
+had passed that way. She climbed a small sand-hill covered with stunted
+little trees and looked about, but could see no trace of the little
+darky. It had not occurred to Sylvia that Estralla would go back to the
+fort.
+
+"Oh, dear! I wonder where she can be," thought Sylvia, calling
+"Estralla! Estralla!" and sure that if she was within hearing Estralla
+would instantly appear. As Sylvia climbed over the sandy slope she saw
+here and there a small green vine with glossy leaves and a tiny yellow
+blossom, and resolved to gather a bunch to carry back to Mrs. Carleton.
+"When I give them to her I'll have a chance to say that Mr. Doane has
+the letter," she thought.
+
+Wandering on in search of the flowers, she went further and further
+from the fort, up one sand slope and clown another, almost forgetting
+her search for Estralla, and finally deciding that it was time to go
+back to Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Probably Estralla is there before this, and they will be looking for
+me," she thought, and climbed another sandy slope, expecting to see the
+houses and barracks directly in front of her. But she found herself
+facing the open sea, and look which way she would there was only shore,
+sand heaps and blue water.
+
+But Sylvia was not at all alarmed. She was sure that all she had to do
+was to follow the line of shore and she would soon be in sight of some
+familiar place, so she started singing to herself as she walked on:
+
+"De big bee flies high,
+  De little bee makes de honey,"
+
+and hoping that Mrs. Carleton would not think that she had been
+careless in losing her way.
+
+It was rather difficult walking. Her feet slipped in the sand, and
+after a little Sylvia decided not to follow the shore, but to climb
+back over the sand-hills.
+
+A cold wind was now blowing from the water, and she was glad of the
+shelter of the stunted trees, and decided to rest for a little while.
+
+"Of course I can't be lost, because I know exactly where I am. This is
+Sullivan Island, and the fort is right over there. I mustn't rest but a
+minute, for my father said we would start home early," she thought, and
+again started on, going directly away from the fort, and over
+sand-hills and into little sloping valleys farther and farther away
+from familiar places.
+
+The December day drew to a close, and dusky shadows crept over the
+island. Once or twice Sylvia's wanderings had brought her back to the
+shore, but not until the darkness began to gather did she really
+understand that she was lost, and that she was too tired to walk much
+longer. She thought of the little compass on board the Butterfly, and
+wondered if a compass would help anyone find her way on land as well as
+on the sea. At last she began to call aloud: "Estralla! Estralla!"
+feeling almost sure that, like herself, Estralla must be wandering
+about lost in the sand-hills.
+
+It was nearly dark before she gave up trying to find her way to the
+fort, and, shivering and half afraid, crawled under the scraggly
+branches of some stunted trees on a sheltered slope. "My father will
+come and find me, I know he will," she said aloud, almost ready to cry.
+"I'll wait here, and keep calling 'Estralla,' so he will hear me."
+
+A few moments after Sylvia started to find Estralla Mrs. Carleton had
+been called to a neighbor's house. "Tell Sylvia I won't be gone long,"
+she had said to Grace.
+
+Grace did not mind being alone until Sylvia returned. She helped
+herself to the rich creamy chocolate and the little frosted cakes, and
+then curled up on a broad couch near the window with a book full of
+wonderful pictures. The pictures were of a tall man on horseback, and a
+short, fat man on a donkey. "The Adventures of Don Quixote," was the
+title of the book, and after Grace began to read she entirely forgot
+Sylvia, Estralla, and Mrs. Carleton. And not until Mr. Fulton came into
+the room an hour later did she lift her eyes from the book.
+
+"All ready to start!" said Mr. Fulton, "and it will be dusk before we
+reach home. Where is Sylvia?"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Grace, looking up in surprise. "Hasn't she come back
+with Estralla? Mrs. Carleton has just gone to the next house."
+
+"Well, put on your things and run after them, that's a good girl," said
+Mr. Fulton. "Why, here is Estralla now," he added, as the little
+colored girl appeared at the door. "Tell Miss Sylvia to come down to
+the landing; I'll meet you there," and he hurried away, thinking his
+little daughter was safe with Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Whar' is Missy Sylvia?" asked Estralla, who had been asleep in a sunny
+corner of the veranda for the last hour.
+
+"Where is Sylvia?" echoed Mrs. Carleton, who came in at that moment.
+"Has she gone to the boat?"
+
+"Why, I don't know. Perhaps she has. Mr. Fulton said for us to come
+right to the landing," said Grace, her thoughts still full of the
+faithful Sancho Panza of whom she had been reading.
+
+"I will go to the wharf with you. It was too bad to leave you. I must
+see Sylvia before she goes. Perhaps I may not be permitted to have
+visitors much longer," said Mrs. Carleton, and she and Grace left the
+pleasant room and, followed closely by Estralla, made their way over
+the bridge to the landing-place.
+
+"Where is Sylvia?" asked Mr. Fulton, looking at his watch. "We really
+ought to have started an hour ago." For a moment the little group
+looked at each other in silence. Then with a sudden cry Estralla darted
+off.
+
+Mrs. Carleton hurriedly explained Sylvia's starting off to find
+Estralla, and her own departure. She blamed herself that she had
+permitted Sylvia to go out alone.
+
+"She must be somewhere about the fort," declared Captain Carleton.
+
+"Oh, yes," agreed Mr. Fulton, "but we had best lose no time in finding
+her."
+
+While Captain Carleton questioned the soldiers, Mr. Fulton and Mrs.
+Carleton and Grace hastened back to the officers' quarters, and a
+thorough search for the little girl was begun at once. No one gave a
+thought to Estralla, who had traced her little mistress along the
+street, and was now running along a sandy slope beyond the barracks
+calling: "Missy Sylvia! Missy Sylvia!" But no answer came to her calls.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+IN DANGER
+
+
+Estralla did not know why she was so sure that Missy Sylvia had
+wandered out beyond the barracks; but, since her little mistress was
+not at Mrs. Carleton's, and had not come to the landing-place, the
+little colored girl was sure that she must be among the sand-hills, and
+she ran along calling Sylvia's name as she ran.
+
+Now and then she stopped to listen for some response, or to look about
+for some sign that might tell her that Sylvia had passed that way, and
+near the top of one of the little slopes she found a bunch of the green
+vines and yellow blossoms which Sylvia had dropped.
+
+"She shuah am somewhar near," thought Estralla, and just then she heard
+a far-off call.
+
+"Dat was my name!" she exclaimed aloud, and listened more intently than
+ever.
+
+"Maybe 'twas jes' one o' them gull-birds a-callin'," she decided as no
+further sound came to her ears.
+
+Now she went on more carefully, but she, too, came to the shore; but it
+was on the inner curve of the land, a little cove where an old shanty
+stood near the water, and a boat was drawn up near by.
+
+Estralla looked into the rough cabin, half hoping to find Sylvia there.
+Then she went back a little way and shouted Sylvia's name again and
+again, and this time there was a response. "Estralla! Estralla!" came
+clearly to her ears.
+
+"My lan' o' grashus!" whispered the little darky, and then called
+loudly, "I'se a-comin', Missy Sylvia." And now Sylvia called again.
+Back and forth sounded the voices of the two girls, each one moving
+toward the other, for at the welcome sound of Estralla's call Sylvia
+had sprung up and hurried in the direction from which the voice seemed
+to come.
+
+It was now so nearly dusk that as they came in sight of each other they
+were like dark shadows.
+
+"Oh, Estralla! Where is my father?" Sylvia cried as Estralla ran toward
+her and flung both arms about her little mistress.
+
+"He's a-waitin' fer yo', Missy! Don' be skeered; I'se gwine to take
+keer of yo'."
+
+"Do you know the way back, Estralla?" asked Sylvia. "I couldn't find
+the fort."
+
+"No, Missy; I reckon we couldn't fin' nuthin' now, 'tis too nigh dark.
+But thar's a cabin an' a boat jes' over t'other side o' dis san' heap.
+I kin fin' them," responded Estralla, turning back. They walked very
+slowly, for Estralla wanted to be quite sure that they were going in
+the right direction, and not until they were in sight of the cabin and
+the shadowy outlines of the boat did she feel safe. Then with a sigh of
+relief she exclaimed:
+
+"Wat I tell yo', Missy Sylvia! Ain't dar a boat, like what I said? An'
+don' yo' know all 'bout a boat? Course yo' does. Now yo' can sail us
+right off home. An' when yo' pa comes home 'mos' skeered to def, 'cos
+he cyan't fin' yo', thar' yo'll be," and Estralla chuckled happily as
+if all their troubles were over.
+
+But Sylvia was not so sure. Unless there was a sail or a pair of oars
+the boat would be of little use, and even with oars and sail could she
+guide the boat safely to Charleston?
+
+They soon discovered that there was a pair of oars in the boat, but
+there was no sail or tiller. Sylvia could row, but Estralla could not
+be of any use. But it seemed the only way in which they could reach
+either Fort Moultrie or their home, for both the little girls realized
+that they might wander about the sand-hills all night without finding
+their way back to the fort. It was chilly and dark, and the old cabin
+with its sagging roof and open doorway was not a very inviting shelter.
+Indeed, Estralla was quite sure that a lion, or at the very least a
+family of wolves, was at that moment safely hidden in one of the dark
+corners of the cabin.
+
+"The moon is out! Look!" said Sylvia, "and there goes a steamer."
+
+Sylvia did not know that this steamer was a guard-boat which Governor
+Pickens of South Carolina had ordered stationed between Sullivan's
+Island and Fort Sumter to prevent, if possible, any United States
+troops being landed at that fort.
+
+"I can see the fort!" declared Sylvia. "That's it off beyond the boat,"
+and she pointed down the harbor. "Now, we will start. I know I can row
+the boat that far, and I am sure my father will not go home without us.
+To-morrow we will send this boat back."
+
+Sylvia had now forgotten all her weariness, and she was no longer
+afraid. She was sure that in a little while she would be safely at the
+fort, and then, she resolved, she would at once tell Mrs. Carleton that
+Mr. Doane had the letter and ask permission to tell her mother of her
+part in the secret message.
+
+The boat was already half afloat, and it was an easy matter to pull up
+the big stone attached to a strong rope which served as an anchor, and
+then to push off from shore.
+
+"You watch, Estralla, and if any other boat comes near shout at the top
+of your voice," said Sylvia as she dipped the oars into the dark water
+and pulled off from shore.
+
+"My lan', Missy! Bar's dat light agin," called the half-frightened
+darky, "an' we's right in it dis time!"
+
+An instant later a call came from the guardboat. "Boat ahoy! Where
+bound?" and before Sylvia could ship her oars or answer the call she
+found herself looking straight into the blinding light, and felt the
+little boat rising on the crest of the wave made by the steamer.
+
+"We's gwine to be drownded, Missy!" shouted Estralla, and before Sylvia
+could say a word the frightened little darky had sprung up and lurched
+forward across Sylvia's knees.
+
+The boat tipped and the water rushed over one side, but Sylvia,
+clutching the oars steadily, and remembering her father's frequent
+warnings, sat perfectly still and the little craft righted itself.
+
+"You nearly upset us; keep still where you are. Don't move!" said
+Sylvia angrily. The light had flashed in another direction now, and the
+guard-boat had moved on, thinking the boat contained two young darkies
+bound for Sullivan's Island after a visit to Charleston.
+
+Sylvia could feel the water about her feet and ankles. She wished that
+she had called for help, for she realized now that they might be run
+into and sunk by some passing craft. Beside that the wind and tide were
+now carrying them swiftly along toward the open sea. Then, suddenly,
+Sylvia dropped her oars and screamed at the top of her voice. Estralla
+shouted loudly. Their boat had run directly against the wall of Fort
+Sumter. In an instant there were lights flashing over the parapet.
+There was the sound of voices, a call, and then the little craft was
+held firmly against the barricade and a gruff voice called:
+
+"Stop your noise, and we'll have you safe in a jiffy."
+
+But it seemed a long time to the frightened children before a tall
+soldier swung over into the boat and lifted Sylvia and then Estralla up
+to the outstretched hands which grasped them so firmly.
+
+"What on earth were you out in that boat for?" questioned an elderly
+gruff-voiced officer, when Sylvia and Estralla, thoroughly drenched and
+wondering what new misfortune was in store for them, followed him into
+a bare little cell-like room where the lamplight made them blink and
+shield their eyes for a moment.
+
+Sylvia told of their adventures as quickly as possible, and the officer
+listened in amazement.
+
+"Upon my word!" he said as she finished. "It's a wonder you are alive
+to tell the story. And so you are a little Yankee girl? Well! Come
+along to my quarters and my wife will put you both to bed, or you'll be
+too ill to go home to-morrow."
+
+"Can't we go to Fort Moultrie right away?" pleaded Sylvia. "My father
+must be worried about me."
+
+"No one from this fort can go to Fort Moultrie," he responded gravely.
+"Those flash-lights are from a guard-boat which the South Carolina
+people have sent down the harbor so that Major Anderson won't send us
+reinforcements without their knowledge. I wish Anderson would send some
+message to the President," he added, as if thinking aloud.
+
+Sylvia wondered to herself if the letter she had carried to Mr. Doane
+might not be a message to the President? She wished she could tell this
+big officer about it. But she remembered her promise to Mrs. Carleton
+not to speak of it to anyone.
+
+"Here's a half-drowned little Yankee girl and her little darky," said
+the officer, as he led the two girls into a warm pleasant room where a
+pretty elderly lady with white hair sat with her needlework.
+
+"For pity sake, Gerald!" she exclaimed. "They are shivering with cold,"
+and without asking a single question she began to take off Sylvia's wet
+dress.
+
+"Gerald, send Sally right in with hot milk," she directed, and the
+officer vanished.
+
+It was not long before Sylvia was sitting up in bed wrapped in a
+gay-colored blanket and drinking milk so hot and sweet and spicy that
+it seemed as if she could never have enough of it. Estralla was curled
+up in a big scarlet wrapper on a rug near the fire with a big mug of
+the spiced and sweetened milk. And when they had finished this a plate
+of hot buttered biscuit, and thin slices of ham, was brought in. Then
+there was more warm milk.
+
+"Now you must both go straight to sleep," commanded Mrs. Gerald, "and
+to-morrow morning my husband will take you safely home," and kissing
+Sylvia, and with a kindly smile for Estralla, the friendly woman bade
+them good-night.
+
+There was no light now in the room save the dancing firelight, Sylvia
+lay watching the shadows on the wall. Estralla was fast asleep, but her
+little mistress lay awake thinking over the adventures of the day. She
+was at Fort Sumter, the long dark fort which she had so often seen with
+the Stars and Stripes waving above it from her home, from Miss Patten's
+schoolroom, and in her sails about the harbor. Sylvia snuggled down in
+her comfortable bed with a sense of safety and comfort. "I wish my
+father and mother could know I am at Fort Sumter," was her last waking
+thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
+
+
+Every nook and corner of Fort Moultrie was searched for the missing
+Sylvia, and when no trace of her could be discovered, her friends
+became nearly certain that the little girl must have slipped from the
+landing-place into the sea, and that it was useless to search for her.
+But it was late in the evening before Mr. Fulton gave up the search,
+and with a sad and anxious heart headed the Butterfly toward
+Charleston. He still hoped that his little girl might be found. A party
+of soldiers, headed by Captain Carleton, had started to search for her
+on Sullivan's Island, but this had not been determined upon until late
+in the evening, at about the time when Estralla and Sylvia were
+embarking upon their adventurous voyage to Fort Sumter.
+
+No one had given a thought to the little darky girl. She was supposed
+to be somewhere about the fort.
+
+Grace, warmly wrapped in a thick shawl, sat beside Mr. Fulton as the
+Butterfly made its swift way across the dark harbor. They could see the
+dark line of the guard-boat, but they were not molested and came into
+the wharf safely. Grace held close to Mr. Fulton's hand as they hurried
+toward home with the sad news of Sylvia's disappearance. Neither of
+them spoke until they reached the walk leading to the door of Grace's
+home, then Grace said:
+
+"I know Sylvia will be found. Estralla will surely find her and bring
+her home."
+
+"Estralla! Why, I had entirely forgotten her," responded Mr. Fulton.
+
+"She ran off as soon as Sylvia was missed," Grace continued earnestly,
+"and she will find her. Probably she has found her before this."
+
+"I believe you are right. Estralla is a clever little darky, and if she
+started in search of Sylvia perhaps she has been able to find her. I
+had not thought of it," and Mr. Fulton's voice had a new note of hope.
+
+"Thank you, Grace. I will start back to the fort as soon as I have
+talked with Sylvia's mother."
+
+But on Mr. Fulton's return to the wharf he found a sentry on guard who
+refused him permission to go to the fort. It was in vain that Mr.
+Fulton explained that his little daughter was lost, that he must be
+permitted to return to the fort.
+
+The sentry wasted no words. "Orders, sir. Sorry," was the only response
+he could get, and at midnight Mr. Fulton was in his own house looking
+out over the harbor. Mingled with his anxious fear for the safety of
+his little daughter was the thought of the sentries now guarding
+Charleston's water-front, of the assembling of soldiers in the city,
+and the evident plan of the southerners to seize the forts in the
+harbor and force the Government into war.
+
+He realized that in that case it would not be possible for his family
+to remain in Charleston.
+
+Early the next morning Sylvia was awakened and made ready for her
+return, and when the sun shone brightly over the waters of the harbor
+she and Estralla, with Captain Gerald and a strong negro servant, were
+on board a boat sailing rapidly toward home.
+
+They landed at the wharf where the Butterfly was fastened, and before
+Captain Gerald had stepped on shore Sylvia called out: "Father! Father!
+There he is! And Mother, too!" and in another moment her mother's arms
+were about her, and she was telling as rapidly as possible the story of
+her adventures, and of Estralla coming to her rescue.
+
+Grace came running to meet Sylvia as they came near their home.
+
+"Oh, Sylvia, I wish I had been with you," she exclaimed. "That is twice
+you have been to Fort Sumter without meaning to go, isn't it?"
+
+"We will hope that her next visit will not be as dangerous as this
+one," said Mr. Fulton soberly.
+
+For several days Sylvia could think and talk only of her wanderings
+among the sand-hills, and of her first sight of the guard-boat. She
+began teaching Estralla on the very day of her return, and the little
+darky made rapid progress.
+
+"Father, when may we go to Fort Moultrie again?" she asked one morning
+a few days later, for she wanted very much to see Mrs. Carleton, and
+was quite sure that her father would be ready to sail down the harbor
+on any pleasant day, and his reply made her look up in surprise.
+
+"I do not know that we shall ever go to the forts again," her father
+had replied. "Did you not hear the bells ringing and the military music
+yesterday? South Carolina has seceded from the Union. No one is allowed
+to go to the forts. And unless Major Anderson takes possession of Fort
+Sumter the Confederates will."
+
+"And we are to start for Boston next week, dear child," Sylvia's mother
+added.
+
+It seemed to Sylvia that her mother was very glad at the thought of
+returning to her former home. But Sylvia was not glad. What would
+become of Estralla?
+
+Mr. Waite had said that as long as Sylvia lived in his house the little
+colored girl could be her maid. But if they went to Boston and left
+Estralla behind Sylvia was sure that there would be nothing but trouble
+for the faithful little darky.
+
+"Why, Sylvia! What is the matter?" questioned her mother anxiously; for
+Sylvia was leaning her head on the table.
+
+"I can't go to Boston and leave Estralla!" she sobbed. "She has done
+lots of brave things for me. She wouldn't leave me to be a slave."
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Fulton looked at each other with puzzled eyes.
+
+"But Estralla would not want to leave her mammy," suggested Mr. Fulton.
+
+"Oh, Father! Can't Aunt Connie and Estralla go with us?" and Sylvia
+lifted her head and looked hopefully at her father. "Couldn't I buy
+Estralla and then make her free? I've got that gold money Grandma gave
+me."
+
+"I am afraid it wouldn't be much use for me to even try to buy a
+slave's freedom now," Mr. Fulton said a little sadly. "Don't suggest
+such a thing to Aunt Connie, Sylvia."
+
+"When shall we go to Boston?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"Right away after Christmas, unless Fort Sumter is attacked before that
+time. Washington ought to send troops and provisions for the forts at
+once!" replied Mr. Fulton.
+
+After her father had left the house Sylvia and her mother went up to
+Mrs. Fulton's pleasant sitting-room.
+
+"We must begin to pack at once," declared Sylvia's mother, "and do not
+go outside the gate alone, Sylvia. I wish we could leave Charleston
+immediately."
+
+"Won't I see Mrs. Carleton again?" Sylvia asked anxiously.
+
+"I do not know, dear child, but run away and give Estralla her lesson,
+as usual. It will not be a very gay Christmas for any of us this year,"
+responded Mrs. Fulton, and Sylvia went slowly to her own room where
+Estralla was waiting for her.
+
+The little colored girl had put the room in order; there was a bright
+fire in the grate, the morning sunshine filled the room, and Miss Molly
+and Polly, smiling as usual, were in the tiny chairs behind the little
+round table.
+
+"Dar's gwine to be war, Missy!" Estralla declared solemnly. "Yas'm.
+Dar's soldiers comin' in from ebery place. Won't de Yankees come and
+set us free, Missy?"
+
+Sylvia shook her head. "I don't know, Estralla! Let's not talk about
+it," she replied.
+
+"Wal, Missy, lots of darkies are runnin' off! My mammy say we'll stay
+right here 'til Massa Fulton goes, an' den"--Estralla stopped, leaned a
+little nearer to Sylvia and whispered, "an' den my mammy an' I we'se
+gwine to go with Massa Fulton."
+
+Mrs. Fulton was not in her room, so Sylvia went down the stairs to look
+for her. She heard voices in the sitting-room, and turned in that
+direction.
+
+"Oh!" she whispered, as she stood in the open door. For her mother was
+sitting on the big sofa near the open fire, and beside her sat Mr.
+Robert Waite, while her father was standing in front of them. They were
+all talking so earnestly that they did not notice the surprised little
+girl standing in the doorway, and Sylvia heard Mr. Waite say:
+
+"I shall be glad to protect your interests here, Mr. Fulton, as far as
+it is possible to do so. And you had better leave Charleston
+immediately. The city is no longer a safe place for northern people.
+The conflict may begin at any moment."
+
+"'Conflict,'" Sylvia repeated the word to herself. Probably it meant
+something dreadful, she thought, recalling the "question period" at
+Miss Rosalie's school.
+
+Just then Mr. Waite glanced toward the door and saw Sylvia. In a second
+he was on his feet, bowing as politely as on their last meeting.
+
+"Miss Sylvia, I am glad to see you again," and he stepped forward to
+meet her.
+
+Sylvia, feeling quite grown-up, made her pretty curtsey, and smiled
+with delight at Mr. Waite's greeting, as he led her toward her mother
+and, with another polite bow, gave her the seat on the sofa.
+
+"I was hoping to see Miss Sylvia," he said. "I had meant to make her a
+little Christmas gift, with your permission," and he bowed again to
+Mrs. Fulton. "She was kind enough to interest herself in behalf of one
+of my people, the little darky, Estralla. And so I thought this would
+please you," and he smiled at Sylvia, who began to be sure that Mr.
+Waite and Santa Claus must be exactly alike. As he spoke he handed
+Sylvia a long envelope.
+
+"Do not open it until to-morrow, if you please," he added.
+
+Sylvia promised and thanked him. She wondered if the envelope might not
+contain a picture of this kind friend. She knew that she must not ask a
+question; questions were never polite, she remembered, especially about
+a gift. But whatever it was she was very happy to think Mr. Robert
+Waite had remembered her.
+
+They all went to the door with their friendly visitor, and stood there
+until he had reached the gate. Then Sylvia said, speaking very slowly:
+
+"I think Mr. Robert Waite is just like the Knights in that book, 'The
+Age of Chivalry.' They always did exactly what was right, and so does
+he; and they were polite and so is he."
+
+"Then, my dear, perhaps you will always remember that to do brave and
+gentle deeds with kindness is what 'chivalry' means," responded Mrs.
+Fulton.
+
+Grace came in that afternoon greatly excited that it was a holiday. The
+whole city was rejoicing over the fact that South Carolina had been the
+first of the southern states to secede from the Union. Palmetto flags
+floated everywhere; the streets were filled with marching men. Major
+Anderson in Fort Moultrie watched Fort Sumter with anxious eyes, hoping
+for a word from Washington which would give him authority to occupy it
+before the Charleston men could turn its guns against him. Already Mr.
+Doane had reached Washington; the message Sylvia had carried through
+the night had been delivered, and its answer, by a trusted messenger,
+was on its way south.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+GREAT NEWS
+
+
+Sylvia carried the long envelope which Mr. Robert Waite had given her
+to her room, and put it in the drawer of her desk with the treasured
+gold pieces.
+
+"It will be splendid to have a picture of Mr. Waite to show Grandma
+Fulton," she thought happily, "and I can tell her all about him."
+
+Then her thoughts rested on Flora, in the "haunted house," and she
+opened the silk-covered work-box and tried on the pretty gold thimble.
+She thought of her gold pieces, and a sudden resolve came into her mind:
+
+"I will give Flora and Grace each a gold locket, with my picture in
+it." And just then Mrs. Fulton entered the room, and Sylvia ran toward
+her:
+
+"Mother! Mother! I have a beautiful plan. I want to give Flora and
+Grace each a present. I want to give them each a gold locket with my
+picture in it. On Grace's locket I want 'Grace from Sylvia,' and on
+Flora's, 'Flora from Sylvia.' I can pay for them with my gold money. I
+may, mayn't I, Mother?" and Sylvia looked eagerly toward her mother.
+
+"Of course you may; but it is too late to get the pictures and lockets
+in time for Christmas," responded Mrs. Fulton.
+
+"I don't care when; only if we do go back to Boston I want them to have
+something to remember me by," said Sylvia, remembering the unfailing
+loyalty of her two little southern friends.
+
+"The day after Christmas we will select the lockets, and see about the
+pictures," said Mrs. Fulton. Before Sylvia could answer there came a
+tap at the door, and Aunt Connie, evidently rather anxious and
+uncertain, whispered:
+
+"Dar's a lady, Mistress, a lady f'um de fort, an' she say--"
+
+"It must be Mrs. Carleton. I'll go right down," responded Mrs. Fulton,
+and, followed by Sylvia, she hurried down the stairs, to find Mrs.
+Carleton awaiting them.
+
+"Captain Carleton insisted that I should come to you," she said. "He
+feels sure that the Charleston men mean to take Fort Sumter at once.
+Major Anderson is sending the women and children away from Fort
+Moultrie to places of safety."
+
+"Of course you must stay with us, and we are delighted to have you,"
+said Mrs. Fulton. "We want to stay in Charleston unless it becomes
+necessary for us to leave."
+
+Mrs. Carleton greeted Sylvia warmly, and, greatly to her surprise, said:
+
+"I have not had the opportunity to thank you, dear child, for
+delivering the message safely. We have heard that Mr. Doane has
+presented the letter to the President, and Major Anderson is sure that
+reinforcements and provisions for the forts will be sent at once." Then
+turning to Mrs. Fulton, she continued: "I know this loyal child kept
+her secret, and that even you and her father do not realize what a
+service your little daughter has rendered to the cause of Freedom!"
+
+Mrs. Fulton was looking at her visitor in amazement.
+
+"Sylvia! Message! Secret?" she exclaimed in such a puzzled tone that
+both Mrs. 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.
+
+"Oh, clear! It isn't anything at all except letters," exclaimed Sylvia,
+nearly ready to cry with disappointment. And, suddenly, she did cry--a
+cry so like Estralla's wail that the little darky just entering the
+room stopped short, and nearly dropped the pitcher of hot water.
+
+"Wat's de matter, Missy? Wat is de matter?" Estralla demanded.
+
+Tears were in Sylvia's eyes as she turned toward the little darky. They
+were not tears for her own disappointment at not finding the expected
+picture, but they were tears for what Sylvia believed to be the most
+bitter misfortune that could befall Estralla and Aunt Connie. For she
+was sure that the papers in that envelope were to tell her that Aunt
+Connie and Estralla had both been sold. But she resolved quickly that
+Estralla should not know of this until she had told her mother.
+
+"Nothing I can tell you now, Estralla," she said, wiping away her tears.
+
+Estralla looked quite ready to weep with her young mistress, but she
+lit the fire, and crept silently out of the room.
+
+Sylvia dressed as quickly as possible, picked up the papers and ran to
+her mother's room.
+
+"Look, Mother! It's dreadful. It wasn't a picture of Mr. Robert Waite
+at all. It's just a lot of papers about Estralla and Aunt Connie being
+sold," and Sylvia began to cry bitterly.
+
+Mr. Fulton took the papers and looked them over, while Sylvia with her
+mother's arm about her sobbed out her disappointment.
+
+"Sold! Estralla! Why, my dear Sylvia, these papers give Aunt Connie and
+Estralla their freedom, from yesterday. And these," and Mr. Fulton held
+up the smaller documents, "give them permission to leave Charleston for
+the north at any time within six months."
+
+For a moment neither Sylvia nor her mother made any response to this
+wonderful statement.
+
+"Truly, Father? Truly?" exclaimed Sylvia with shining eyes.
+
+"Yes. These papers have been recorded. Estralla and her mother are no
+longer slaves. They are free," said Mr. Fulton, as he folded the
+papers. "Mr. Waite has made you the finest gift in the world, little
+daughter," he added seriously.
+
+"And Estralla and Aunt Connie may go to Boston with us?" pleaded
+Sylvia, quite sure that her father and mother would agree. "Won't
+Grandma be surprised to see them?"
+
+Mrs. Carleton was as pleased and surprised as Sylvia herself over Mr.
+Waite's gift, and it was decided that directly after breakfast Sylvia
+should tell Aunt Connie and Estralla the wonderful news. It was too
+great to be kept a secret even until Christmas Day.
+
+"Dar, Mammy! Wat I tells yo'? I tells yo' Missy Sylvia gwine to look
+out fer us," Estralla declared triumphantly, evidently not at all
+surprised.
+
+"But it is Mr. Robert Waite who has given you your freedom," Sylvia
+reminded them, "and my father says that you must both go with me and
+thank him."
+
+"Yas, Missy," responded Aunt Connie, "but I reckons we wouldn't be
+thankin' him if 'twan't fer yo'. Massa Robert HE knows dat all his
+niggers gwine to be free jes' as soon as de Yankees come. Yas, indeedy,
+he knows. But we shuahly go long wid yo', Missy, an' thanks him. We
+knows our manners."
+
+Many eyes turned to watch the smiling colored woman and the delighted
+little negro girl who walked down King Street that afternoon, one on
+each side of a little white girl who looked as well pleased as her
+companions, for Sylvia decided that no time should be lost in telling
+Mr. Robert Waite of how greatly his generosity was appreciated.
+
+He welcomed Sylvia with his usual cordiality, and told Aunt Connie that
+he wished her good fortune, and sent her and Estralla home.
+
+"I will walk back with your young mistress," he said, and Sylvia felt
+that it was the proudest day of her life when she walked up King Street
+beside the friendly southerner.
+
+"He talks just as if I were grown up," thought Sylvia gratefully, when
+Mr. Waite spoke of the forts, and of the possibilities of war between
+the northern and southern states.
+
+"Tell your father not to hasten his preparations to leave Charleston;
+you are among friends, and these difficulties may be adjusted," Mr.
+Waite said as he bade Sylvia good-bye, and wished her a happy Christmas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+SYLVIA MAKES A PROMISE
+
+
+"It doesn't seem a bit like Christmas," declared Sylvia, as she stood
+at the sitting-room window looking out at the falling rain.
+
+Christmas day of 1860 was a gloomy, rainy day in Charleston, and many
+people felt exactly as Sylvia did, that it was not like Christmas.
+
+Grace came over in the morning bringing a little chased gold ring for
+Sylvia, which the little girl promised always to wear. She wished that
+she could tell Grace about the lockets, but decided it would be better
+to surprise Grace with the locket itself.
+
+As soon as Grace returned home Sylvia ran to find her mother.
+
+"We will go down street and buy the lockets to-morrow morning, won't
+we, Mother?" she asked, and Mrs. Fulton promised that they would start
+early.
+
+Sylvia resolved that, if the lockets and pictures did not take all her
+money, she would buy a doll for Estralla. She knew that nothing else
+would please the little colored girl as much as a "truly" doll.
+
+But the morning of December twenty-sixth found the city of Charleston
+angry and excited. Crowds collected in the streets, and Mr. Fulton
+received a message from Mr. Robert Waite asking him to remain at home
+until Mr. Waite arrived.
+
+"What is the matter, Father?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"He isn't coming to take back Estralla, is he?"
+
+"No, of course not, child. It is trouble over the forts," responded her
+father. And in a short time Mr. Waite arrived. But he was not smiling
+this morning. He was very grave and serious.
+
+"Major Anderson has evacuated Moultrie, and he and his men are at Fort
+Sumter," said Mr. Waite. "I came to assure you that whatever action
+Charleston takes that I will protect your household and property as far
+as possible."
+
+Then Sylvia heard him say that Governor Pickens had seized Castle
+Pinckney, and that troops had been sent to Sullivan's Island to occupy
+Fort Moultrie, and the United States Arsenal, situated in the midst of
+the city of Charleston, was also in possession of the secessionists.
+
+Sylvia listened to every word, but without much idea of what it all
+meant.
+
+"Can't we buy the lockets to-day, Mother?" she asked.
+
+"No, we must not go on the streets to-day," Mrs. Fulton answered; but
+Mr. Waite smiled at the little girl and said:
+
+"I will gladly accompany Miss Sylvia if she has errands to do," so
+Sylvia told him about the pictures and lockets for Grace and Flora, and
+Mr. Waite assured her mother and father that he could easily spare the
+time to go with her upon so pleasant an errand. The friendly man
+realized that the little household were troubled and anxious, and that
+it would reassure them if their little girl could safely carry out her
+plan. So the two set forth together.
+
+Mr. Robert Waite was too well known for any southerner to doubt his
+loyalty to South Carolina, and his visit to Mr. Fulton's house was in
+itself a protection to the family. As they walked along Sylvia told him
+how kind Grace and Flora had been to her.
+
+"If we should go away the lockets will remind them how much I think of
+them," she said, and Mr. Waite smiled and said: "Yes, indeed," but it
+seemed to Sylvia that he was not really thinking about the lockets.
+
+She held close to his hand, for there were crowds on every corner, and
+loud and violent threats against Major Anderson were heard from nearly
+every group. Sylvia heard one man declare that it was the duty of
+Charleston men to fire upon Fort Sumter at once; and before they
+reached the shop where she was to purchase the lockets Sylvia began to
+fear that she would never see Captain Carleton again.
+
+The lockets were purchased, and Mr. Waite took Sylvia to a studio to
+sit for the pictures for the lockets. There was enough money left to
+purchase a fine doll for Estralla, and Mr. Waite gave her a box filled
+with candy of many kinds, shapes and flavors. All these things occupied
+her thoughts so pleasantly that for a time she quite forgot the
+disturbance in the streets, and all the trouble that seemed so near to
+her and to her Charleston friends.
+
+"I will call to-morrow," said Mr. Waite, as he left the little girl at
+her own door. "And tell your father that he had best not go on the
+streets unless he goes with my brother or myself."
+
+This last message made Sylvia very sober. She came into the
+sitting-room holding her packages, and found her mother and Mrs.
+Carleton busy with their sewing, while her father was at his desk
+writing. She repeated Mr. Waite's message, and her father nodded
+silently.
+
+Then Sylvia told them that the lockets and pictures would be ready the
+following day. "And I have a doll for Estralla," she concluded.
+
+"Why not make the doll a fine dress and mantle?" suggested Mrs.
+Carleton. "Come up to my room and I will help you," and Sylvia agreed
+smilingly.
+
+Mrs. Carleton had a roll of crimson silk in her work-bag and before
+supper time the new doll was dressed and ready for Estralla.
+
+"This is for you, Estralla," Sylvia said, when Estralla came up to her
+room, as she often did in the late afternoon.
+
+"Fer me, Missy! He, he, I knows w'en you's jokin'; but 'tis a fine lady
+doll," responded the little girl, wishing with all her heart that the
+beautiful doll in the gorgeous silken dress which Sylvia was holding
+toward her might really be hers.
+
+"Take it, Estralla! It is for you. Truly it is," and Sylvia's tone was
+so serious that Estralla came slowly forward and took the doll.
+
+For a moment the two little girls stood looking at each other in
+silence, Sylvia smiling, but Estralla with a surprised, half-anxious
+expression.
+
+"Don't be afraid of it. Can't you have a doll of your own?" said Sylvia.
+
+"Mebbe I can," replied Estralla, and then two big tears ran down her
+black cheeks.
+
+"I'se got so much now, Missy Sylvia, dat I dunno as 'tis safe fer me to
+hev a doll," she whispered; but in a moment she was all smiles, and ran
+off to show her new treasure to her mother.
+
+The pictures and the lockets proved all that Sylvia had hoped, and on
+New Year's day, when Grace came in for her daily visit, Sylvia gave her
+a small package.
+
+"Please open it, Gracie!" she said, all eagerness to see her friend's
+delight.
+
+Mr. Fulton had purchased a slender chain for each locket, and as Grace
+held up the pretty gift she exclaimed delightedly: "Oh, Sylvia! It is
+lovely, and I'll always wear it," and looked at the tiny picture of her
+friend with smiling satisfaction.
+
+Sylvia had written a letter to Flora, and Grace promised to see that
+the locket and letter should reach her safely.
+
+Every day Mr. Robert Waite or his brother escorted Mr. Fulton upon any
+errand of business to which he was obliged to attend. News had reached
+Charleston that a steamer with supplies and reinforcements for Major
+Anderson was on its way, and Mr. Robert Waite declared that the
+Confederates would never permit it to reach the fort.
+
+Mrs. Carleton was very anxious. She had not received any message from
+her husband.
+
+"If I could sail a boat I would go to Fort Sumter myself," she said one
+morning as she and Sylvia stood at a window overlooking the harbor.
+
+"I can sail a boat," responded Sylvia.
+
+Mrs. Carleton turned and looked at the little girl.
+
+"If all this trouble ends in war, if the Confederates really dare fire
+upon the flag of the United States, I do not know how I can get any
+word from my husband," she said.
+
+Sylvia thought that her friend's voice sounded as if she were about to
+cry, and the little girl slipped her hand into Mrs. Carleton's. She
+wished there was something she could say to comfort her. Then she
+thought quickly that there was something.
+
+"I'll sail you over to the fort to see him whenever you ask me to," she
+said impulsively.
+
+"Dear child, I may have to ask you, but I hope not. 'Twould be a
+dangerous undertaking," she said, leaning over to kiss Sylvia's cheek.
+
+That was the sixth of January, 1861, and on the ninth a steamer, The
+Star of the West, with supplies and reinforcements for Major Anderson,
+entered Charleston harbor and was fired upon by a Confederate battery
+concealed in the sand-hills at Sullivan Island.
+
+And now for many days the Fultons heard only discouraging news.
+Everywhere there was great activity among the Confederates. Mrs.
+Carleton became more and more anxious for news of Captain Carleton, but
+she did not remind Sylvia of her promise.
+
+Grace and Sylvia were together a great deal, and every morning Sylvia
+would run out to the front porch to wave a good-bye to Grace on her way
+to school. Then there was Estralla's lesson hour, her own studies, and
+Mrs. Carleton was teaching her to crochet a silk purse as a gift to Mr.
+Robert Waite, so that Sylvia did not think very much about the soldiers
+at Fort Sumter.
+
+"What do you think about starting for Boston with us, Mrs. Carleton?"
+Mr. Fulton said one night just as Sylvia was going up-stairs. "I really
+think the time has come for me to take Sylvia and her mother to Boston,
+and I am sure Captain Carleton would want you to go with us."
+
+"And Estralla and Aunt Connie will go, too; won't they, Father?" said
+Sylvia, running back to her father's side.
+
+"Yes, child. But I thought you were upstairs," responded Mr. Fulton.
+"Do not speak of our leaving Charleston to anyone. Remember. Not to
+Grace or Estralla, until your mother or I give you permission."
+
+Sylvia promised. It seemed to her the best of good news that they would
+soon see Grandmother Fulton, and she went happily off to bed thinking
+of all she would have to tell her grandmother, and of the long letters
+she would write to Flora and Grace. "And when summer comes they must
+both come and make me a visit," she thought, little knowing that when
+summer came no little southern girl would be allowed to visit a Boston
+girl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"TWO LITTLE DARKY GIRLS"
+
+
+"When will Mr. 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.
+
+It had been many weeks since the Butterfly had sailed about Charleston
+harbor. But the little boat was in the charge of an old negro who took
+good care of it. The negro knew Sylvia, and he knew that it was through
+her interest in Estralla that the little negro girl and her mother had
+been given their freedom. Now and then he appeared at Aunt Connie's
+kitchen, and one warm day toward the last of March, when Sylvia was
+wandering about the garden, she saw Uncle Peter going up the walk to
+the rear of the house.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Peter! Wait!" she called and ran to ask him about the boat.
+
+Uncle Peter had a great deal of news to tell. He said that unless Major
+Anderson and his soldiers left Fort Sumter at once that all the forts,
+and the new batteries built by the Confederates, would open fire upon
+Sumter and destroy it.
+
+"I hears a good deal, Missy, 'deed I does," he declared, "but I doan'
+let on as I hears. Massa Linkum he's gwine to send a lot o' big ships
+down here 'fore long. Yas, indeed."
+
+"I wish I could have a sail in the Butterfly again," said Sylvia, a
+little wistfully.
+
+"Do you, Missy? Well, I reckons you can. I doan' believe any body'd
+stop me a-givin' yo' a little sail 'roun' de harbor," said Uncle Peter.
+"I 'spec's Major Anderson is a-waitin' an' a-watchin' fer dem ships of
+Massa Linkum to come a-sailin' in," continued the old negro; for it was
+a time when the colored people were eager and hopeful for some news
+that might promise them their freedom.
+
+Sylvia knew that Mrs. Carleton was worried and unhappy. It was known in
+Charleston that Fort Sumter was near the end of its food supplies, and
+that unless the Government at Washington sent reinforcements and
+provisions very soon by ships that the little garrison would be at the
+mercy of the Confederates, who were daily growing in strength.
+
+As Sylvia left Uncle Peter and walked back to the house she was
+thinking of her promise to Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Perhaps she won't ask me. But if I could go and see Captain Carleton,
+and tell him that she was going to Boston with us, and then bring her
+back a message, I know she'd be happier," thought the little girl. And
+she thought, too, of the pleasure it would be to once more sail the
+Butterfly to Fort Sumter.
+
+She sat down on the porch steps, and a moment later Estralla appeared
+bringing a plate of freshly baked sugar cookies from Aunt Connie.
+
+"Mammy says she made these 'special for you, Missy," declared Estralla
+smilingly.
+
+"I'll go and thank her myself," said Sylvia, taking the plate, and
+offering one of the cookies to Estralla.
+
+"Uncle Pete he say as de soldiers at Fort Sumter mus' be gettin'
+hungry," said the little colored girl. "I wish you and I could take
+Captain Carleton some of these cookies," responded Sylvia.
+
+"If you was black like I is we could go a-sailin' right off to de fort
+in plain daylight," said Estralla.
+
+Sylvia sprang to her feet so quickly that she nearly upset the plate of
+cookies.
+
+"Could we? Oh, Estralla, could we really?" she exclaimed.
+
+Estralla looked at her little mistress with wondering eyes.
+
+"Yas, course; nobody'd mind two leetle nigger gals. But you ain't
+black, Missy."
+
+"But, Estralla, listen. I could be black. You could rub soot from the
+chimney all over my face and hands. And I could pin my hair close on
+top of my head and twist one of your mammy's handkerchiefs tight over
+it. Then nobody would know me." Sylvia had quite forgotten the fine
+cookies. She was holding Estralla by the arm, and talking very rapidly.
+Estralla was almost frightened at Sylvia's eagerness.
+
+"Yas, Missy; but what for do you wanter go?" she asked.
+
+"Oh, Estralla! If the men are hungry we could carry them something to
+eat. But most of all I want to see Captain Carleton, and get some
+message for his wife. She is so unhappy to go away without a word."
+
+"Come 'long down in de garden," said Estralla, now as interested as
+Sylvia herself, "an' tells me more whar' nobody'll be hearin'," and the
+two little girls hurried off to a far corner of the pleasant garden.
+
+"Uncl' Peter won' let us take the boat," Estralla objected as Sylvia
+told her how easy the plan would be; "an' how be you gwine to get all
+blacked up without folks knowin' it?"
+
+But Sylvia had an answer for every objection.
+
+"I'll come to your cabin and dress up there, and I will ask your mammy
+to give me some food for a poor man. Some cookies and a cake," she
+said. "We will start early to-morrow morning. And, Estralla, we will
+have to tell Uncle Peter, or he won't let us have the boat."
+
+"Lan', Missy, I'll do jes' w'at yo' says. But I reckon Uncle Pete won'
+let us. Wat yo' mammy gwine to think w'en you ain't home to your
+dinner?" responded Estralla. But she was finally convinced that Missy
+Sylvia could carry out the plan, and agreed to have a large quantity of
+soot ready at her mother's cabin the next morning.
+
+Sylvia was glad that she had eaten only one of the cookies. She carried
+the remainder to her room and then went to the kitchen.
+
+"Will you make me a fine big cake, Aunt Connie?" she asked.
+
+"Lan', course I will, chile! But, w'at you wan' it fer?" answered Aunt
+Connie, smiling down at the little girl whom she loved so dearly.
+
+"It's a secret, Aunt Connie! I want to give it away, and I don't want
+to tell even my mother until--well," and Sylvia hesitated a moment, and
+then continued, "until next week. Then I will tell her, and you too."
+
+"Dat's right, Missy. I'll make yo' de finest cake I knows how. Le's
+see! I'll put citron, an' raisins, an' currants in it. An' butter! Yas,
+thar'll be a fine lot o' things in dat cake!" and Aunt Connie rolled
+her eyes, and lifted her hands as if she could already taste its
+richness.
+
+All that afternoon Sylvia could think of nothing but the proposed trip.
+She sat with Mrs. Carleton a little while before supper, and told her
+of what Uncle Peter had said: that ships from the north were on the way
+to the aid of Fort Sumter.
+
+"Oh! I do wish I could send the news to Sumter. It would give them all
+courage," said Mrs. Carleton.
+
+Sylvia was for a moment tempted to tell her friend that she would carry
+the message, but she kept silent, thinking to herself that here was
+another reason for her to carry out her plan.
+
+"If you could send a message to Captain Carleton what would you say?"
+questioned Sylvia, and Mrs. Carleton smiled at Sylvia's serious voice.
+
+"Why, if I could only let him know that I was safe and well and going
+to Boston with you, in case Sumter really is attacked; I know that is
+what he wants to hear."
+
+Mrs. Carleton's smile vanished. Sylvia realized that this kind friend
+was troubled, and wished with all her heart that she could say:
+"To-morrow I will tell you all about Captain Carleton." But she knew
+that she must keep silent until she had carried out her plan.
+
+Sylvia was the first one at the breakfast table the next morning, and
+was delighted when her mother said that she and Mrs. Carleton were
+invited to luncheon at the house of a friend.
+
+"Aunt Connie and Estralla will take good care of you," Mrs. Fulton
+added, and Sylvia felt her face flush. But she made no reply, and soon
+hurried to the cabin where Estralla was waiting for her.
+
+It was still early in the forenoon when two little negro girls, one
+carrying a large package wrapped in a newspaper, appeared at the wharf
+where the Butterfly was moored. Uncle Peter was not to be seen. But he
+had just left the boat, whose sail had not even been lowered, and the
+two girls hurried on board. In a moment Sylvia had unfastened the rope,
+pushed the boat clear of the landing, and rudder in hand was steering
+the boat out toward the channel.
+
+Two or three men in uniform watched the little "darkies," as they
+supposed both the girls to be, with amusement. Negro children were
+always playing about, and no attention was paid to them.
+
+"My landy," whispered Estralla, "dat was jes' as easy. W'at Uncle Pete
+do w'en he fin's de boat gone?"
+
+But it happened that Uncle Peter had been sent on an errand to a
+distant part of the town, and before he returned the Butterfly was well
+down the harbor.
+
+Once or twice a guard-boat passed them closely enough to make sure that
+there were only two colored children in the boat, and they came up
+under the walls of Fort Sumter without a hindrance. The sentries at the
+fort had watched the little craft with anxious eyes, wondering if it
+could be bringing any message. But when the soldiers looked down at the
+two little negro girls they laughed, in spite of their disappointment.
+When Sylvia said that her name was Sylvia Fulton, and that she had come
+to see Captain Carleton, a sentry exclaimed: "That girl has blacked her
+face. She is white."
+
+But Captain Carleton could hardly believe that it was his little friend
+Sylvia. And he was eager to hear all that she could tell him. Estralla
+held the cake and cookies, which she had carefully wrapped in a
+newspaper, and the Captain seemed as much pleased with the paper as
+with the cake.
+
+"You can write a letter to Mrs. Carleton and we will take it,"
+suggested Sylvia, and then she told him Uncle Peter's news: that the
+President was sending ships to the aid of the fort.
+
+"That is great news," said the Captain; "if it is only true we may keep
+the fort for the Union."
+
+Within the hour of their arrival Sylvia and Estralla were on their way
+home. The Captain had praised and thanked Sylvia for the loyal
+friendship that had prompted her visit.
+
+"Mrs. Carleton and I will always remember your courage," he said, as he
+handed her the letter.
+
+"I am so glad I thought about it; but it was really Estralla. She said
+if I was black we could come," Sylvia had replied.
+
+Then the boat swung clear and headed toward Charleston.
+
+"I am not going to land at the big wharves," said Sylvia. "I am going
+to that wharf near Miss Patten's garden. And then we'll tell Uncle
+Peter where the Butterfly is."
+
+It was early in the afternoon when Estralla appeared at the cloor of
+her mammy's kitchen.
+
+"Whar on airth you been? An' whar's yo' missy?" demanded Aunt Connie.
+"Didn' I makes her a fine om'lit fer her dinner, an' it's ruinated."
+
+"Missy wants a big pitcher of hot water," replied Estralla, dancing
+about just beyond Aunt Connie's reach.
+
+"Missy Sylvia say to tell you we been carryin' de cake to her fr'en',
+an' she gwine to tell you, Mammy," explained Estralla when her mammy
+had finally grasped her firmly by the shoulders.
+
+"W'y didn' yo' say dat firs' place? H'ar's de hot water," and Estralla
+hurried off to help Sylvia scrub off the sticky soot which had so well
+disguised her; and when Mrs. Fulton and Mrs. Carleton returned they
+found a very rosy-faced smiling little girl on the porch all ready to
+tell them of her trip to Fort Sumter, and to give Mrs. Carleton the
+longed-for news from her husband.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+FORT SUMTER IS FIRED UPON
+
+
+When Sylvia's father heard of her sailing the Butterfly to Fort Sumter
+he was greatly troubled.
+
+"If it should be discovered that my daughter had carried a message to
+Fort Sumter we would all be in danger; even the Waites would give us
+up," he declared. "What made you undertake such a thing, Sylvia?"
+
+The little girl explained as well as she could her wish to get news of
+Captain Carleton for his wife, and said that she was sure no one knew
+that she was a white girl. But Mr. Fulton was anxious and uneasy, and
+Sylvia began to realize that her secret adventure might bring serious
+results to those she loved best.
+
+"I told Captain Carleton what Uncle Peter said about ships coming to
+help Fort Sumter," she said, feeling almost sure that her father would
+think this the worst of all, but determined to make a full confession.
+She resolved that never again would she make plans without telling her
+mother and father, for she was most unhappy at her father's troubled
+look, and at his disapproval.
+
+"What?" exclaimed Mr. Fulton. "Did you tell Captain Carleton that
+reinforcements were coming to the aid of Fort Sumter?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I did, Father," sobbed Sylvia, who was now sure that she had
+told the very worst of her acts.
+
+But to her surprise she heard her father say: "Thank heaven! That may
+influence Anderson to hold the fort until help arrives," and his arm
+was about his little daughter, and she looked up through her tears to
+hear him say:
+
+"The news you carried to the fort is just what they wanted to know. And
+it may help to save the Union. It is worth while for us all to face
+personal danger if it proves that you were of service."
+
+Sylvia did not quite understand why Uncle Peter's news should be so
+important, but her father explained to her that Major Anderson would
+now feel sure of help, and that his men would have courage to bear
+hardship and hunger if need be until the ships arrived.
+
+"And you forgive me for going?" Sylvia pleaded.
+
+"My dear child! I am glad and proud that you could carry such a message
+to brave soldiers," her father replied, "but do not mention it to
+anyone. I must hasten my arrangements to leave Charleston. General
+Beauregard may fire upon Fort Sumter at any day, and I am of no use
+here."
+
+Sylvia drew a long breath of relief. That her father should really
+praise her for what she had feared might prove a very serious mistake
+made the little girl happy although it did not change her resolve never
+again to make adventurous plans without the approval of her mother or
+father. She realized that, although she had carried a valuable message,
+she had also endangered her father's safety if her visit to the fort
+was discovered, as every southerner would believe that Mr. Fulton had
+made the plan to be of aid to the United States.
+
+The little household now began its preparations to start north as soon
+as possible, and Sylvia was eager for the time to come that would see
+them safely on their way to their northern home. Grace Waite and her
+mother had gone into the country, and Sylvia did not know if she would
+see her friend again.
+
+The morning of April 11, 1861, dawned brightly over the harbor of
+Charleston, whose waters were covered with white sails putting hastily
+to sea. Guard-boats were plying constantly between the harbor and the
+islands. It was rumored about the town that before sunset the
+Confederate batteries would open fire upon Fort Sumter.
+
+Mr. Fulton's preparations to leave Charleston were completed, and if
+nothing prevented they would start for Boston on April 14th. On the
+eleventh, however, Mrs. Carleton hardly left the window from which she
+could look out over the harbor toward Fort Sumter. At any moment it
+might be attacked, and she knew that such an attack meant the beginning
+of a terrible civil war.
+
+Sylvia wandered about the house and garden with Estralla, telling the
+little colored girl of the home in Boston which she soon hoped to see.
+
+The hours passed, and the streets of Charleston grew strangely quiet.
+At sunset everything was calm, and no sound of guns disturbed the peace
+of the April evening, and Sylvia went to bed at the usual hour, not
+thinking that she would be wakened by the roar of cannon. The older
+members of the family sat up until after midnight. The sea was calm,
+and the night still under the bright starlight. At last they decided to
+retire, but there was little sleep for them that night.
+
+At half-past four the next morning the sound of guns from Fort Johnson
+broke upon the stillness. It was the signal to the Confederate
+batteries to open fire.
+
+Hardly had the echo of the opening gun died upon the air when every
+Confederate fort and battery opened fire upon Sumter, until the fort
+was "surrounded by a circle of fire."
+
+The Fulton household dressed hurriedly and from the windows looked over
+the harbor at the flashing lights and bursts of flame. Sylvia stood
+close beside Mrs. Carleton, and they were all silent.
+
+Aunt Connie brought up hot coffee and a tray of food, but none of them
+cared to eat. Mr. Fulton waited anxiously for the sound of answering
+guns from Fort Sumter. But not until seven o'clock that morning did
+Fort Sumter open its fire.
+
+"War has begun," said Mr. Fulton gravely, turning away from the window.
+
+"Will the President's ships come soon, Father?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"We must hope so," he answered; "and now there is no time for us to
+lose. We must start at once."
+
+"Bres' de Lord!" said Aunt Connie, who was standing near the door, and
+as Mr. Fulton spoke she hurried off to her cabin to make her final
+preparations for the long journey.
+
+Mrs. Fulton hastened to pack up the few things they would take with
+them, and Sylvia helped Mrs. Carleton pack. Early in the fore-noon they
+were ready. Mr. Robert Waite's carriage was at the door, with Mr.
+Waite, who had come to escort them on the first stage of their journey.
+
+"I wish I could say good-bye to Grace," said Sylvia as she went down
+the steps of the porch. She was all ready to enter the carriage when
+she heard her name called: "Sylvia! Sylvia!" and Grace came flying up
+the path.
+
+"Grace! Grace!" responded Sylvia, and for a moment the two little
+girls, "Yankee" and southern girl, clung closely together, while the
+noise of the echoing guns from the forts boomed over the harbor.
+
+"We will always be friends, won't we, Sylvia?" said Grace; and Sylvia
+responded "Always." Then with one more good-bye kiss Grace turned and
+ran back to Mammy Esther. She had persuaded her mother to bring her to
+Charleston that she might bid Sylvia good-bye, and now they would
+hasten back to the country, for Charleston might be attacked by United
+States ships of war, and was no longer a place of safety.
+
+The Fultons now entered the carriage. Aunt Connie and Estralla were the
+only members of the party who were smiling and happy. To Estralla it
+was the most wonderful day of her life. She was free. And with her
+mammy and her Missy Sylvia she was starting for a world where little
+colored girls could go to school, just as white children did, and never
+be bought or sold. She looked at Sylvia with adoring eyes.
+
+"What are you thinking of, Estralla?" asked Sylvia.
+
+Estralla leaned close to her "true fr'en'" and whispered: "I was
+a-t'inkin' 'bout my breakin' of de pitcher, an' a-spillin' de hot
+water, Missy Sylvia. You took my part den, Missy, an' you'se allers
+taken my part. My mammy say she bress de Lord dat you came to
+Charleston."
+
+Sylvia smiled back at the little colored girl. For a moment she forgot
+the booming of the distant guns, and remembered only her friends and
+the happy days she had spent in her southern home.
+
+
+
+
+The next Volume in this Series will be:
+
+A YANKEE GIRL AT BULL RUN
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter, by Alice Turner Curtis
+
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter
+
+Author: Alice Turner Curtis
+
+Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5696]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on August 9, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YANKEE GIRL AT FORT SUMTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Koven, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+A YANKEE GIRL
+AT
+FORT SUMTER
+
+BY
+
+ALICE TURNER CURTIS
+
+AUTHOR OF
+The Little Maid's Historical Series, etc.
+
+Illustrated by ISABEL W. CALEY
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+1920
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Sylvia Fulton, a little Boston girl, was staying with her father and
+mother in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina, just before
+the opening of the Civil War. She had become deeply attached to her new
+friends, and their chivalrous kindness toward the little northern girl,
+as well as Sylvia's perilous adventure in Charleston Harbor, and the
+amusing efforts of the faithful negro girl to become like her young
+mistress, all tend to make this story one that every little girl will
+enjoy reading, and from which she will learn of far-off days and of the
+high ideals of southern honor and northern courage.
+
+
+I.     SYLVIA
+
+II.    A NEW FRIEND
+
+III.   SYLVIA IN TROUBLE
+
+IV.    AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
+
+V.     ESTRALLA AND ELINOR
+
+VI.    SYLVIA AT THE PLANTATION
+
+VII.   SYLVIA SEES A GHOST
+
+VIII.  A TWILIGHT TEA-PARTY
+
+IX.    TROUBLESOME WORDS
+
+X.     THE PALMETTO FLAG
+
+XI.    SYLVIA CARRIES A MESSAGE
+
+XII.   ESTRALLA HELPS
+
+XIII.  A HAPPY AFTERNOON
+
+XIV.   MR. ROBERT WAITE
+
+XV.    "WHERE IS SYLVIA?"
+
+XVI.   IN DANGER
+
+XVII.  A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
+
+XVIII. GREAT NEWS
+
+XIX.   SYLVIA MAKES A PROMISE
+
+XX.    "TWO LITTLE DARKY GIRLS"
+
+XXI.   FORT SUMTER IS FIRED UPON
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SYLVIA
+
+
+"Your name is in a song, isn't it?" said Grace Waite, as she and her new
+playmate, Sylvia Fulton, walked down the pleasant street on their way to
+school.
+
+"Is it? Can you sing the song?" questioned Sylvia eagerly, her blue eyes
+shining at what promised to be such a delightful discovery.
+
+Grace nodded smilingly. She was a year older than Sylvia, nearly eleven
+years old, and felt that it was quite proper that she should be able to
+explain to Sylvia more about her name than Sylvia knew herself.
+
+"It is something about 'spelling,'" she explained, and then sang, very
+softly:
+
+   "'Then to Sylvia let us sing,
+       That Sylvia is spelling.
+     She excels each mortal thing,
+       Upon the dull earth dwelling.'
+
+"I suppose it means she was the best speller," Grace said soberly.
+
+"I think it is a lovely song," said Sylvia. "I'll tell my mother about
+it. I am so glad you told me, Grace."
+
+Sylvia Fulton was ten years old, and had lived in Charleston, South
+Carolina, for the past year. Before that the Fultons had lived in
+Boston. Grace Waite lived in the house next to the one which Mr. Fulton
+had hired in the beautiful southern city, and the two little girls had
+become fast friends. They both attended Miss Patten's school. Usually
+Grace's black mammy, Esther, escorted them to and from Miss Patten's,
+but on this morning in early October they were allowed to go by
+themselves.
+
+As they walked along they could look out across the blue harbor, and see
+sailing vessels and rowboats coming and going. In the distance were the
+three forts whose historic names were known to every child in
+Charleston. Grace never failed to point them out to the little northern
+girl, and to repeat their names:
+
+"Castle Pinckney," she would say, pointing to the one nearest the city,
+and then to the long dark forts at the mouth of the harbor, "Fort
+Sumter, and Fort Moultrie."
+
+"Don't stop to tell me the names of those old forts this morning," said
+Sylvia. "I know just as much about them now as you do. We shall be late
+if we don't hurry."
+
+Miss Patten's house stood in a big garden which ran nearly to the
+water's edge. The schoolroom opened on each side to broad piazzas, and
+there was always the pleasant fragrance of flowers in the big airy room.
+Sylvia was sure that no one could be more beautiful than Miss Patten.
+"She looks just like one of the ladies in your 'Godey's Magazine,' "she
+had told her mother, on returning home from her first day at school.
+
+And with her pretty soft black curls, her rosy cheeks and pleasant
+voice, no one could imagine a more desirable teacher than Miss Rosalie
+Pattten. There were just twelve little girls in her school. There were
+never ten, or fourteen. Miss Patten would never engage to take more than
+twelve pupils; and the twelve always came. Mrs. Waite, Grace's mother,
+had told Mrs. Fulton that Sylvia was very fortunate to attend the
+school.
+
+School had opened the previous week, and Sylvia had begun to feel quite
+at home with her new schoolmates. The winter before, Mrs. Fulton had
+taught her little daughter at home; so this was her first term at Miss
+Patten's.
+
+Miss Patten always stood near the schoolroom door until all her pupils
+had arrived. As each girl entered the room she made a curtsey to the
+pretty teacher, and then said "good-morning" to the pupils who had
+already arrived, and took her seat. When the clock struck nine Miss
+Rosalie would take her place behind the desk on the platform at the
+further end of the room, and say a little prayer. Then the pupils were
+ready for their lessons.
+
+"Isn't Miss Rosalie lovely," Sylvia whispered as she and Grace moved to
+their seats, "and doesn't she wear pretty clothes?"
+
+Grace nodded. She had been to Miss Rosalie's school for three years, and
+she wondered a little at Sylvia's admiration for their teacher, although
+she too thought Miss Patten looked exactly like a fashion plate.
+
+Grace was eager to get to her desk. From where she sat she could see the
+grim lines of the distant forts; and this morning they had a new value
+and interest for her; for at breakfast she had heard her father say
+that, although the forts were occupied by the soldiers of the United
+States Government, it was only justice that South Carolina should
+control them, and if the State seceded from the Union Charleston must
+take possession of the forts. With the consent of the United States
+Government if possible, but, if this was refused, by force.
+
+Grace had been thinking about this all the morning, wondering if
+Charleston men would really send off the soldiers in the forts. She had
+not spoken of this to Sylvia as they came along the street facing the
+harbor, and now as she looked at the distant forts on guard at the
+entrance of the harbor, she resolved to ask Miss Rosalie why the United
+States should interfere with the "Sovereign State of South Carolina,"
+which her father had said would defend its rights. "Question time" was
+just before the morning session ended. Then each pupil could ask a
+question. But as a rule only one or two of the girls had any inquiry to
+make. To-day, however, there were several who had questions to ask and
+Grace waited with what patience she could until it was her turn. When
+Miss Rosalie smiled at her and called her name, Grace rose and said:
+
+"Please, Miss Rosalie, if Charleston owns the forts, could anyone take
+them away?"
+
+The teacher's dark eyes seemed to grow larger and brighter, and she
+straightened her slender shoulders as if preparing to defend the rights
+of her State.
+
+"My dear girl, who would question the right of South Carolina to control
+all forts on her territory? We all realize that this is a time of
+uncertainty for our beloved State; we may be treated with harshness,
+with injustice, but every loyal Carolinian will protect his State."
+
+The little girls looked at each other with startled eyes. What was Miss
+Rosalie talking about, they wondered, and what did Grace Waite mean
+about anybody "taking" Fort Sumter or Fort Moultrie? Of course nobody
+could do such a thing.
+
+School was dismissed with less ceremony than usual that morning, and the
+little girls started off in groups, talking and questioning each other
+about what Miss Rosalie had said.
+
+Two or three ran after Grace and Sylvia to ask Grace what she meant by
+her question.
+
+"Of course we know that northern people want to take our slaves away
+from us," declared Elinor Mayhew, the oldest girl in school, whose dark
+eyes and curling hair were greatly admired by auburn-haired, blue-eyed
+Sylvia, "but of course they can't do that. But how could they take our
+forts?"
+
+"I don't know," responded Grace. "That's why I asked Miss Rosalie. I
+guess I'll have to ask my father."
+
+"We'll all ask our fathers," said Elinor, "and to-morrow we will tell
+each other what they say. I don't suppose YOUR father would care if the
+forts were taken," and she turned suddenly toward Sylvia. "I suppose all
+the Yankees would like to tell us what we ought to do."
+
+Sylvia looked at her in surprise. The tall girl had never taken any
+notice of the little Boston girl before, and Sylvia could not understand
+why Elinor should look at her so scornfully or speak so unkindly. The
+other girls had stopped talking, and now looked at Sylvia as if
+wondering what she would say.
+
+"I don't know what you mean," she answered bravely, "but I know one
+thing: my father would want what was right."
+
+"That's real Yankee talk," said Elinor. "They say slavery isn't right."
+
+There was a little murmur of laughter among the other girls. For in 1860
+the people of South Carolina believed they were quite right in buying
+negroes for slaves, and in selling them when they desired; so these
+little girls, some of whom already "owned" a colored girl who waited
+upon them, had no idea but what slavery was a right and natural
+condition, and were amused at Elinor's words.
+
+"Why do you want to be so hateful, Elinor?" demanded Grace, before
+Sylvia could reply. "Sylvia has not said or done anything to make you
+talk to her this way," and Grace linked her arm in Sylvia's, and stood
+facing the other girls.
+
+"Well, Grace Waite, you can associate with Yankees if you wish to. But
+my mother says that Miss Patten ought not to have Sylvia Fulton in her
+school. Come on, girls; Grace Waite can do as she pleases," and Elinor,
+followed by two or three of the older girls, went scornfully down the
+street.
+
+"Sylvia! Wait!" and a little girl about Sylvia's age came running down
+the path. It was Flora Hayes; and, next to Grace Waite, Sylvia liked her
+the best of any of her new companions.
+
+"Don't mind what Elinor Mayhew says. She's always horrid when she dares
+to be," said Flora.
+
+Flora's father was a wealthy cotton planter, and their Charleston home
+was in one of the historic mansions of that city. Beside that there was
+the big old house on the Ashley River ten miles from the city, where the
+family stayed a part of the time.
+
+Flora's eyes were as blue as Sylvia's, and her hair was very much the
+same color. She was always smiling and friendly, and was better liked
+than Elinor Mayhew, who, as Flora said, was always ready to tease the
+younger girls.
+
+"I don't know what she meant," said Sylvia as, with Grace on one side
+and Flora on the other, they started toward home.
+
+"She is just hateful," declared Grace. "I wish I had not asked Miss
+Rosalie about the forts. But I did want to know. It would be dreadful
+not to see them where they have always been."
+
+"Oh, Grace! You didn't think they were going to move the forts to
+Washington, did you?" laughed Flora. "I know better than that. Taking
+the forts means that the Government of the United States would own them
+instead of South Carolina."
+
+Grace laughed good-naturedly. She was always as ready to laugh at her
+own mistakes as at those of others; and in the year that Sylvia had
+known her she had never seen Grace vexed or angry.
+
+Both Grace and Flora advised Sylvia not to tell her mother of Elinor's
+unkindness, or of her taunting words. But it was rather difficult for
+Sylvia to keep a secret from her mother.
+
+"You see, it will make your mother sorry, and she will fret about it,"
+Flora had said; and at this Sylvia had decided that no matter what
+happened at school she would not tell her mother about it. She almost
+dreaded seeing Elinor again, and wondered why Elinor's mother had not
+wanted Miss Patten to take her as a pupil.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were surprised when at supper time Sylvia demanded
+to know what a "Yankee" was. She thought her mother looked a little
+troubled. But her father smiled. "Yankee is what Britishers call all
+Americans," he answered.
+
+"Then Elinor Mayhew is just as much a Yankee as I am," thought Sylvia,
+and she smiled so radiantly at the thought that Mrs. Fulton was
+reassured, and did not question her.
+
+The next day was Saturday, and Mr. Fulton had planned to take his wife
+and Sylvia to Fort Moultrie. The military band of the fort played every
+afternoon, and the parapet of the fort was a daily promenade for many
+Charleston people. During the summer workmen had been making necessary
+repairs on the fortifications; but visitors were always welcomed by the
+officers in charge, one of whom, Captain Carleton, was a college friend
+of Sylvia's father.
+
+Sylvia could row a small boat very well, and her father had purchased a
+pretty sailboat which he was teaching her to steer. She often went with
+her father on trips about the harbor, and the little girl always thought
+that these excursions were the most delightful of pleasures.
+
+There was a favorable breeze this Saturday afternoon, and the little
+boat, with its shining white paint and snowy sail, skimmed swiftly
+across the harbor. Sylvia watched the little waves which seemed to dance
+forward to meet them, looked at the many boats and vessels, and quite
+forgot Elinor Mayhew's unkindness. Her mother and father were talking of
+the black servants, whom they had hired with the house of Mr. Robert
+Waite, Grace's uncle. Sylvia heard them speak of Aunt Connie, the good-
+natured black cook, who lived in a cabin behind the Fultons' kitchen.
+
+"Aunt Connie wants to bring her little girl to live with her. Their
+master is willing, if we have no objections," Sylvia heard her mother
+say.
+
+"Oh, let the child come," Mr. Fulton responded; "how old is she?"
+
+"Just Sylvia's age. Her name is Estralla," replied Mrs. Fulton.
+
+"You'll have a little darky for a playmate, Sylvia. How will you like
+that?" her father asked. But before Sylvia could answer, the boat swung
+alongside the landing-place at the fort and she saw her father's friend,
+Captain Carleton, waiting to welcome them.
+
+The band was playing, and a few people were on the parapet.
+
+"Not many visitors to-day," said the Captain, as they all walked on
+together. "I am afraid the Charleston people resent the fact that the
+United States is protecting its property."
+
+As they walked along the Captain pointed to the sand which the wind had
+blown into heaps about the sea-front of the old fort. "A child of ten
+could easily come into the fort over those sand-banks," he said.
+
+"Whose fort is this?" asked Sylvia, so earnestly that both the Captain
+and her father smiled.
+
+"It belongs to the United States, of which South Carolina is one,"
+replied the Captain.
+
+Sylvia gave a little sigh of satisfaction. Even Elinor Mayhew could not
+find any fault with that, she thought, and she was eager to get home and
+tell Grace what the Captain had said.
+
+On the way back Sylvia asked her mother if she knew that there was a
+song with her name in it.
+
+"Why, of course, dear child. You were named for that very Sylvia,"
+replied her mother.
+
+"'Then to Sylvia let us sing,
+    That Sylvia is excelling;
+  She excels each mortal thing
+    Upon the dull earth dwelling;
+  To her let us garlands bring'"--
+
+sang Mrs. Fulton; "and you can thank your father for choosing your
+name," she added gaily.
+
+"Oh! But Grace said it was about spelling," explained Sylvia; "but I
+like your way best," she added quickly.
+
+There were a good many pleasant things for Sylvia to think of that
+night. Not every girl could be named out of a song, she reflected. Then
+there was the little colored girl Estralla, who was to arrive the next
+day, and besides these interesting facts, she had discovered who really
+owned the forts, and could tell her schoolmates on Monday. All these
+pleasant happenings made Sylvia forgetful of Elinor Mayhew's unkindness.
+Before bedtime she had learned the words of the song from which she was
+named. She knew Grace would think that "excelling" was much better than
+"spelling."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A NEW FRIEND
+
+
+The next morning Sylvia was awakened by a tapping on her chamber door.
+Usually Jennie, the colored girl who helped Aunt Connie in the work of
+the house, would come into the room before Sylvia was awake with a big
+pitcher of hot water, and Sylvia would open her eyes to see Jennie
+unfastening the shutters and spreading out the fresh clothes. So this
+morning she wondered what the tapping meant, and called out: "Come in."
+
+The door opened very slowly and a little negro girl, with a round woolly
+head and big startled eyes, stood peering in. She was barefooted, and
+wore a straight garment of faded blue cotton.
+
+For a moment the two children stared at each other. Then Sylvia
+remembered that Aunt Connie's little girl was coming to live with her
+mother.
+
+"Are you Estralla?" she asked eagerly, sitting up in bed.
+
+"Yas, Missy," replied the little darky, lifting the big pitcher of water
+and bringing it into the room, where she stood holding it as if not
+knowing what to do next.
+
+"Set the pitcher down," said Sylvia.
+
+"Yas, Missy," said Estralla, her big eyes fixed on the little white girl
+in the pretty bed who was smiling at her in so friendly a fashion. She
+took a step or two forward, her eyes still fixed on Sylvia, and not
+noticing the little footstool directly in front of her, over which she
+stumbled with a loud crash, breaking the pitcher and sending the hot
+water over her bare feet.
+
+"Oh, Mammy! Mammy! Mammy!" she screamed, lying face downward on the
+floor with the overturned footstool and broken pitcher, while the
+steaming water soaked through the cotton dress.
+
+In a moment Sylvia was out of bed.
+
+"Get up, Estralla," she commanded, "and stop screaming."
+
+The little darky's wails ceased, and she looked up at the slender white
+figure standing in front of her.
+
+"I kyan't git up; I'se all scalded and cut," she sobbed, "an' if I does
+get up I'se gwine to get whipped for breaking the pitcher," and at the
+thought of new trouble in store for her, she began to scream again.
+
+"Get up this minute," said Sylvia. "I don't believe the water was hot
+enough to scald you; it never is really hot. Here, help me sop it up,"
+and grabbing her bath towel Sylvia began to mop up the little stream of
+water which was trickling across the floor.
+
+Estralla managed to get to her feet. She was still holding fast to the
+handle of the broken pitcher. The front of her cotton dress was soaked,
+but she was not hurt.
+
+"I'll get whipped, yas'm, I will, fer breaking the pitcher."
+
+"You won't!" declared Sylvia, half angrily. "It's my mother's pitcher,
+and I'll tell her you didn't mean to break it. Now you go and put on
+another dress, and tell Jennie to come up here and wipe up this floor."
+
+"I ain't got no other dress; an' if I goes an' tells I'll get whipped,"
+persisted the child.
+
+Sylvia began to wonder what she could do. She thought Estralla was
+stupid and clumsy to fall down and break the pitcher, and now she
+thought her silly to be so frightened.
+
+"I tells you, Missy, I su'ly will be whipped," she repeated so earnestly
+that Sylvia began to believe it. "An' when my mammy sees my dress all
+wet--" and Estralla began to sob, but so quietly that Sylvia realized
+the little darky was really frightened and unhappy.
+
+"Don't cry, Estralla," she said more gently, patting her on the
+shoulder. "I'll tell you what to do. You are just about my size, and
+I'll give you one of my dresses. It's pink, and it's faded a little, but
+it's pretty. And you take this towel and wipe up the floor as well as
+you can. Then you slip off your dress and put on mine." While Sylvia
+talked Estralla stopped crying and began to look a little more cheerful.
+
+Sylvia ran to the closet and was back in a moment with a pink checked
+gingham. It had a number of tiny ruffles on the skirt, and a little
+frill of lace around the neck.
+
+"Landy! You don't mean I kin KEEP that, Missy?" exclaimed Estralla, her
+face radiant at the very thought.
+
+"Yes, quick. Somebody may come. Slip off your dress."
+
+In a moment the old blue frock lay in a little heap on the floor, and
+Sylvia had slipped the pink dress over Estralla's head, and was
+fastening it. The little darky chuckled and laughed now as if she had
+not a trouble in the world.
+
+"Listen, Estralla! Here, pick up every bit of the pitcher and put the
+pieces on the chair. Nobody shall know that you broke it. And now you
+take this wet towel and your dress and spread them somewhere outdoors to
+dry. You can tell your mammy I gave you the dress. Now, run quick. My
+mother may come."
+
+Estralla stood quite still looking at Sylvia. She had stopped laughing.
+
+"Will you' mammy scold you 'bout dat pitcher?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know. Anyway, nobody shall know that you broke it. You won't be
+whipped. Run along," urged Sylvia.
+
+But Estralla did not move. "I don't keer if I is whipped," she
+announced. "I guess, mebbe, my mammy won't whip hard."
+
+"Sylvia, Sylvia," sounded her mother's voice, and both the little girls
+looked at each other with startled eyes.
+
+"Run," said Sylvia, giving Estralla a little push. "Run out on the
+balcony." Estralla did not question the command, and in a moment,
+carrying dress and towel, she had vanished through the open window.
+
+"Why, child! What has happened?" exclaimed Mrs. Fulton, coming into the
+room and looking at the overturned footstool, the pieces of the broken
+pitcher, and at Sylvia standing in the middle of the floor with an
+anxious, half-frightened expression.
+
+"Don't look so frightened, dear child. A broken pitcher isn't worth it,"
+said Mrs. Fulton smilingly. "It's only hot water, and won't hurt
+anything. Only Father is waiting for breakfast, so use cold water this
+morning. Here is your blue muslin--I'll tie your sash when you come
+down," and giving Sylvia a kiss her mother hurried away.
+
+"My landy!" whispered Estralla, peering in from the balcony window.
+"Your mammy's a angel. An' so is you, Missy. I was gwine tell her the
+trufe if she'd scolded, I su'ly was. Landy! I'd a sight ruther be
+whipped than have you scolded, Missy."
+
+Sylvia looked at her in astonishment. Estralla, with round serious eyes,
+stood gazing at her as if she was ready to do anything that Sylvia could
+possibly ask.
+
+"Run. It's all right," said Sylvia with a little smile, and Estralla,
+with a backward look over her shoulder, went slowly out of the room.
+
+"I'm gwine to recollect this jes' as long as I live," Estralla whispered
+as she made her way back to the kitchen. "Nobuddy ever cared if I was
+whipped before, or if I wasn't whipped. An' I'll do somethin' fer Missy
+sometime, I will. An' she give me dis fine dress too." She bent over and
+smoothed out one of the little ruffles, and chuckled happily.
+
+Her mammy was busy preparing breakfast when Estralla slid quietly into
+the kitchen. When she did look around and saw the child wearing the pink
+dress she nearly dropped the dish of hot bacon which Jennie was waiting
+to take to the dining-room.
+
+"Wha' on earth did you get you' pink dress? Did Missy give it to you?
+Well, you step out to the cabin and take it off. This minute! Put you'
+blue frock right on. Like as not her mammy won't let you keep it," and
+Aunt Connie hurried Jennie off to the dining-room with the breakfast
+tray.
+
+Estralla did not know what to do. Her blue dress was hung over a syringa
+bush behind the cabin. And at the dreadful thought that Mrs. Fulton
+might take away the pink dress she began to cry.
+
+"Missy Sylvia said 'twas faded. She said to put it on," whimpered
+Estralla.
+
+Aunt Connie began to be more hopeful. If the dress was faded--and she
+turned and looked at it more closely.
+
+"Well, honey, 'tis faded. An' I guess Missy Sylvia's mammy won' take it
+back. An' it's the Sabbath day, so you jes' wear it," she said, patting
+the little woolly head. "Mammy's glad to have you dressed up; but you
+be mighty keerful."
+
+"Yas, Mammy. I jes' love Missy Sylvia," replied the little girl, now all
+smiles, and forgetting how nearly she had come to serious trouble.
+
+Nothing more was said to Sylvia about the broken pitcher; but when
+Jennie put the room in order, and brought down the broken pieces, Aunt
+Connie exclaimed: "Good massy! It's a good thing my Estralla didn't do
+that! I'd 'a' cuffed her well, I su'ly would."
+
+Sylvia did not think to tell her mother about the gift of the pink dress
+to Estralla. She did not feel quite happy that she had not explained the
+broken pitcher to her mother; but she had promised Estralla that she
+would not tell, and Sylvia knew that a promise was a very serious thing,
+something not to be easily forgotten.
+
+She did not see Estralla again that day, and Jennie brought the hot
+water as usual the next morning.
+
+Grace and Mammy Esther called for Sylvia on Monday morning, and Sylvia
+at once told her friend that she had been named from the song. This
+seemed very wonderful to Grace, and she listened to Sylvia's explanation
+of "excelling" instead of "spelling," and said she didn't think it was
+of any consequence.
+
+But when Sylvia told her what Captain Carleton had said about the forts,
+Grace shook her head and looked very serious.
+
+"Don't tell Elinor Mayhew, Sylvia. Because really South Carolina does
+own the forts. My father said so. He said that South Carolina was a
+Sovereign State," she concluded.
+
+"What's that? What's a 'sovereign'?" questioned Sylvia.
+
+Grace shook her head. It had sounded like a very fine thing when her
+father had spoken it, so she had repeated it with great pride.
+
+"We can ask Miss Rosalie," she suggested.
+
+Mammy Esther left the girls at the gate of Miss Patten's garden. As they
+went up the path Flora Hayes came to meet them.
+
+"I was waiting for you," she said. "I want to ask you both to come out
+to our plantation next Saturday and spend Sunday. My mother is going to
+write and ask your mothers if they will give me the pleasure of your
+company."
+
+"I am sure I can come," declared Grace, "and I think it's lovely of you
+to ask me."
+
+"You'll come, won't you, Sylvia?" said Flora, putting her arm over the
+little girl's shoulders as they went up the steps.
+
+"Yes, indeed; thank you very much for asking me," replied Sylvia. She
+had visited the Hayes plantation early in the summer, and thought it a
+more wonderful place even than the big mansion on Tradd Street where the
+Hayes family lived in the winter months. Mr. Hayes owned hundreds of
+negroes, and raised a great quantity of cotton. The house at the
+plantation was large, with many balconies, and cool, pleasant rooms.
+Flora had a pair of white ponies, and there were pigeons, and a number
+of dogs. Sylvia was sure that it would be a beautiful visit, especially
+as Grace would be there.
+
+As she went smilingly toward her seat in the schoolroom she passed
+Elinor Mayhew, who was already seated.
+
+"Yankee!" whispered Elinor sharply, looking at her with scornful eyes.
+
+But Sylvia, remembering that her father had said that all Americans were
+Yankees, nodded to the older girl and responded: "Yankee your-self!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SYLVIA IN TROUBLE
+
+
+The Hayes plantation was about ten miles distant from Charleston, on the
+opposite side of the Ashley River. Flora told Sylvia and Grace that the
+Hayes coachman would drive them out, and that they would start early on
+Saturday morning. Sylvia, remembering her former visit, knew well how
+delightful the drive would be, and thinking of the pleasure in store
+quite forgot to be troubled by Elinor Mayhew's hostility.
+
+At recess the girls usually walked about in the garden, or tossed a ball
+back and forth. Miss Rosalie would sit on the broad piazza overlooking
+the garden, her fingers busy with some piece of delicate embroidery.
+
+To-day, as they filed out and down the steps, Elinor whispered to
+several of her companions. And suddenly Sylvia realized that she was
+standing alone. Grace Waite had lingered to speak to Miss Rosalie; Flora
+had been excused just before recess, as her black mammy had arrived with
+a note from Mrs. Hayes. The other girls were gathered in a little group
+about Elinor, who was evidently telling them something of great
+interest. Sylvia walked slowly along toward a little summer-house where
+Miss Patten sometimes had little tea-parties. She hoped Grace would not
+stay long with Miss Patten. The other girls were between Sylvia and the
+arbor, and none of them moved to let her pass; nor did any of them speak
+to her, as she paused with a word of greeting.
+
+"Now, girls," she heard Elinor say; and the others, half under their
+breath, but only too distinctly for Sylvia, called out: "Yankee,
+Yankee!" Then like a flock of bright-colored birds they ran swiftly into
+the summer-house.
+
+For a moment Sylvia stood quite still. She realized that Elinor meant to
+be hateful; but she remembered that her father had said that all
+Americans were called "Yankees," and she was not a coward. She went
+straight on to the arbor. Elinor Mayhew stood on the steps.
+
+"You are just as much a Yankee as I am. And you ought to be proud of
+it," declared Sylvia, facing the older girl.
+
+"Hear that, girls!" called Elinor to the group about her. There was a
+little angry murmur from the others.
+
+"Don't you dare say that again, Miss Boston," called May Bailey, who
+stood next to Elinor.
+
+Sylvia was now thoroughly angry. She knew of no reason why these girls
+should treat her in so unkind a fashion. She felt very desolate and
+unhappy, but she faced them bravely.
+
+"Yankees! Yankees! It's what all Americans are," she declared defiantly.
+
+In an instant the little girls were all about her. Elinor Mayhew was
+holding her hands, and the others were pushing her along the path to the
+shore. The thick growing shrubs hid them from the house. Sylvia did not
+cry out or speak. She was not at all afraid, nor did she resist.
+
+"We ought to make her take it back," said May Bailey, as Elinor stopped,
+and they all stood in a close group about Sylvia.
+
+"Of course she's got to take it back, and apologize on her knees,"
+declared Elinor. "She might as well learn that South Carolinians will
+not be insulted," and Elinor lifted her head proudly.
+
+"I won't take it back!" retorted Sylvia, "and you are the ones who will
+have to apologize. Yes, every one of you, before I will ever speak to
+you again."
+
+"Hear that, girls! Wouldn't it be dreadful if she never spoke to us
+again!" sneered Elinor.
+
+"She means she will tell Miss Rosalie," said one of the girls.
+
+"I don't, either. I can look after my own afffairs," retorted Sylvia
+bravely. "I'm not a tell-tale. Although I suppose girls who act the way
+you do would tell."
+
+"Get down on your knees," commanded Elinor, trying to push the little
+girl.
+
+"There's the bell," and they all turned and scampered back to the house,
+leaving Sylvia on the path; for Elinor had let go of her so suddenly
+that she had fallen forward.
+
+Her knees were hurt, and one of her hands was bruised by the fall. For a
+moment she lay sobbing quietly. She was angry and miserable. She had
+been brave enough when the girls had seemed to threaten her, but now her
+courage was gone. She could not go back to the schoolroom and face all
+those enemies. If Miss Rosalie came in search of her she might not be
+able to resist telling her what had happened; and, miserable and unhappy
+as she was, Sylvia resolved that she would never tell.
+
+"But Elinor Mayhew and all the rest of them shall be sorry for this.
+Yes, they shall," she sobbed as she got to her feet and turned toward
+the shore. She knew she must either go straight back to the schoolroom
+or else find a hiding-place until they had ceased to search for her.
+There was a wall at the foot of the garden, covered with fragrant
+jessamine and myrtle. If she could only get over that wall, thought
+Sylvia, she would be safe. She ran swiftly forward and began to scramble
+up, grasping the sturdy vines, and finding a foothold on some bit of
+rough brick. She reached the top just as she heard Miss Rosalie's
+servant calling her name.
+
+Sylvia looked down to the further side. The vines drooped over and below
+the wall a high bank of sand sloped to the shore. Holding tight to the
+vines she slid down, hitting her bruised knees against the rough
+surface. The vines cut her hands, and when she tumbled into the sand her
+dress was torn and soiled, her pretty hair-ribbon was gone, and her once
+white stockings were grimy. Beside these misfortunes her hands were
+bleeding. Never in all her life had Sylvia been so wretched. She sat
+quite still in the warm sand, and wondered what she could do. If she
+went home her mother would insist upon an explanation of her untidy
+condition. Beside that Sylvia was not sure if she could find her way
+home unless she climbed back into the garden. She looked along the shore
+at the landing-place not far distant where several boats were bobbing up
+and down in the wash of the incoming tide. She could see boats coming
+and going between the forts and the city. She could see grim Fort
+Sumter, with its guns that seemed to look straight at her. She watched a
+schooner coming across the bay, and realized that it was coming to that
+very wharf. A number of men landed, and several carts came down and
+boxes were unloaded, and negroes carried them to the schooner.
+
+Sylvia got up and walked along the shore until she was near the wharf,
+and stood watching the negroes as they lifted the heavy boxes. She
+wished she could ask one of them to tell her the way home. Then she
+noticed a tall figure in uniform coming up the wharf.
+
+"It's Captain Carleton!" she exclaimed joyfully, quite forgetting for
+the moment her torn dress and scratched hands as she ran toward him.
+
+"Why! Is it Sylvia Fulton?" exclaimed the surprised Captain, looking
+down at the untidy little figure. "Why, what has happened?"
+
+"Oh, dear," sobbed Sylvia, "I guess I'm lost."
+
+"Well, well! It's lucky you came down to this wharf. Come on board the
+schooner, and we'll see to these little hands first thing," and the
+good-natured Captain rested a kindly hand on the little girl's shoulder
+and walked down the wharf. Sylvia heard the men talking of the
+Charleston Arsenal, and of the boxes of arms which were to be taken on
+the schooner to Fort Sumter.
+
+The Captain bathed the little hurt hands and flushed face, talking
+pleasantly to the little girl about the schooner, and asking her if she
+did not think it a much finer craft than her father's small boat; so in
+a little while she was comforted and quite at home.
+
+"Now, sit here by the cabin window, and I will come back and take you
+home as soon as I settle this trouble about my supplies," and the
+Captain hurried back to the wharf.
+
+Sylvia sat quite still and looked out of the round port-hole. She felt
+very tired, and leaned her head against the cushioned wall. She could
+hear the monotonous chant of the negroes, and feel the swaying motion of
+the vessel, and soon was fast asleep. She did not know when the schooner
+was towed out into the channel, nor when the sails were hoisted and they
+went sailing down the bay.
+
+For Captain Carleton had entirely forgotten his little guest. When he
+hurried back to the wharf he discovered a little group of Charleston
+citizens, one of whom was Elinor Mayhew's father, disputing the right of
+the United States officers to take guns from the Charleston Arsenal to
+Fort Sumter; and when the matter was settled he had hurried the
+departure of the vessel. Not until they were ready to land at the fort
+did he remember his little friend. He went down to the cabin, and found
+Sylvia fast asleep.
+
+"Poor little Yankee! I wonder what will happen to her if South Carolina
+really leaves the Union," he thought, and then his face grew troubled as
+he remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Fulton must be in great trouble and
+anxiety over the disappearance of their little daughter. But first of
+all he must see the schooner's cargo safely unloaded at Fort Sumter, and
+send his men back to Fort Moultrie; then he would take Sylvia home, or
+find some way to notify her parents that she was safe and well cared
+for.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
+
+
+When Sylvia did not come in with the other girls Miss Patten sent a maid
+in search of her. But she did not search very carefully. She called
+Sylvia's name a few times, sauntered about the garden, and then
+reported: "Can't find Missy Sylvia."
+
+She was then told to go straight to Mrs. Fulton's house on the East
+Battery and see if Miss Sylvia had reached home. Miss Patten did not
+feel anxious. She thought it probable that the little northern girl did
+not realize the rules of the school, had become tired, and so started
+for home.
+
+"Did Miss Sylvia say anything to any of you young ladies about leaving
+the grounds?" she questioned the pupils. But they all declared that they
+knew nothing of her whereabouts.
+
+"She was on the path behind us when the bell rang," volunteered May
+Bailey.
+
+Elinor's face was unusually flushed, and she kept her eyes on her book.
+Probably the "little Yankee," as she called Sylvia even in her thoughts,
+had run home to tell her mother of the trouble.
+
+By the time Miss Patten's messenger had reached the Fulton house Sylvia
+was in the cabin of the little schooner. The girl gave her message to
+Mrs. Fulton in so indefinite a manner that at first Sylvia's mother
+hardly understood whether Sylvia was in the garden of the school, or had
+started for home. Estralla was standing near the steps and began
+whimpering: "Oh, Missy Sylvia los'! That w'at she say. She lost!"
+
+"Nonsense, Estralla! Sylvia could not be lost in Miss Patten's garden,"
+said Mrs. Fulton; but she decided to return to the school with the maid.
+
+As they went down the street Estralla followed close behind. Her bare
+feet made no noise, but now and then she choked back a despairing little
+wail. For the little colored girl was sure that some harm had befallen
+her new friend.
+
+When Mrs. Fulton appeared at the school-room door Miss Patten was
+greatly alarmed. Elinor Mayhew and May Bailey exchanged a look of
+surprised apprehension. They felt sure that Sylvia had hurried home and
+told her mother just what had happened. If she had, and Mrs. Fulton had
+come to inform Miss Patten, they knew there would be unpleasant things
+in store for them.
+
+In a short time a thorough search for the lost girl was in progress.
+Servants were sent along the streets, and Mrs. Fulton hastened home
+thinking it possible that Sylvia might be in her own room.
+
+No one paid any attention to the little colored girl in the faded blue
+cotton gown who wandered about the paths and around the summer-house.
+Estralla noticed two of the older girls talking together, and heard the
+taller one say: "Well, wherever she is, she needn't think we will ever
+take back one word. She IS a Yankee!"
+
+"They'se done somethin' to my missy," decided Estralla. "They'se scairt
+her." She ran down the path toward the wall at the end of the garden,
+and stopped suddenly; for right in front of her, caught on the jessamine
+vine which grew over the wall, she saw a fluttering blue ribbon. "Dat's
+off'n Missy Sylvia's hair, dat ribbon is," she whispered, reaching up
+for it. Holding it fast in her hands she looked closely at the mass of
+heavy vines, and nodded her little woolly head. "Dat's w'at she done.
+She dumb right up here, to git away frum those imps o' Satan w'at was a
+plaguein' her," decided Estralla, and in an instant she was going up the
+wall in a much easier manner than had been possible for Sylvia. She
+dropped on the further side, just as Sylvia had done, and traced
+Sylvia's steps to near the landing-place. Then she stopped short. Men
+were loading boxes on a schooner at the end of the pier, and she could
+see a tall officer in uniform standing on the deck of the vessel.
+
+"Hullo, here's another small girl. Black one this time," said one of the
+white sailors.
+
+"Yas, Massa! Please whar' is my missy?" replied the little darky
+eagerly.
+
+"Safe in the cabin," nodded the good-natured man.
+
+Estralla slipped behind a pile of boxes, and watched for a chance to get
+on board the vessel without being seen. She had heard many tales, told
+by the older colored people, of little children, yes, and grown people,
+too, who had been enticed on board vessels in far-off African ports, and
+carried off to be sold into slavery. Estralla remembered that all those
+people in the stories were black; but who could tell but what there was
+some place in the world where white people were sold? Anyway, she
+resolved that wherever Missy Sylvia went she would go with her.
+
+In a few moments she saw a chance to run over the gangplank. She went
+straight toward the cabin door and peered in. Yes, there was Missy
+Sylvia on the broad cushioned seat under the window. Very softly
+Estralla tiptoed across the cabin. Just as she was about to speak
+Sylvia's name the sound of approaching footsteps startled her, and, sure
+that she would be sent on shore by whoever might discover her, she
+looked about for a hiding-place, and the next instant she was curled up
+under the very seat on which Sylvia was asleep.
+
+It was not long before Estralla followed her missy's example. But she
+was wide awake when Captain Carleton came into the cabin.
+
+As soon as he returned to the deck Estralla crawled out from her hiding-
+place and looked about her.
+
+"Wake up, Missy," she whispered leaning over Sylvia; and Sylvia sat up
+quickly, with a little cry of astonishment.
+
+"Don't you be skeered," said Estralla softly, "'cause I ain' gwine to
+let you be carried off. I knows jes' how slaves are ketched. Yas'm, I
+does. My mammy tole me. They gits folks in ships and carries 'em off an'
+sells 'em to folks. An' I ain' gwine to let 'em have you, Missy." There
+were tears in Estralla's eyes. She knew that her own brother had been
+sold the previous year and taken to a plantation in Florida. She had
+heard her mother say that she, Estralla, might be sold any time. She
+knew that slavery was a dreadful thing.
+
+"Where are they taking us?" questioned Sylvia, for she realized that the
+vessel was moving swiftly through the water. She wondered why Captain
+Carleton had gone away. Seeing Estralla there gave her a dreadful
+certainty that what the little darky said might be true. Perhaps the
+vessel might have others on board who were being taken off to be sold,
+as Estralla declared.
+
+"Yas, Missy. My mammy's tole me jes' how white folks gets black folks
+fer slaves. Takes 'em away from their mammies, an' never lets 'em go
+back. Yas!" And Estralla's big eyes grew round with terror.
+
+"But I am a white girl, Estralla," said Sylvia.
+
+Estralla shook her head dolefully.
+
+"Yas, Missy. But I'se gwine to git you safe home. You do jes' as I tell
+you an' you'll be safe back with your mammy by ter-morrow!" she
+declared.
+
+"You lay down and keep your eyes tight shut till I comes back," she
+added, and Sylvia, tired and frightened, obeyed.
+
+The schooner was now coming to her landing at Fort Sumter. Estralla
+managed to get on deck without being noticed. She did not know where
+they were, but wherever it was she resolved to get Sylvia out of the
+vessel, and ran back to the cabin.
+
+"Now, don' you speak to nobuddy. Jes' keep right close to me," she
+whispered. And Sylvia obeyed. The two little girls crept up the cabin
+stairs, and crouching close to the side of the cabin made their way
+toward the stern of the vessel.
+
+The crew and the soldiers and Captain Carleton were now all toward the
+bow. A small boat swung at the stern of the schooner.
+
+"Now, Missy, we's got to git ourselves into that boat and row back
+home," whispered Estralla, grasping the rope.
+
+At that moment Sylvia turned to look back. She could see a tall officer
+on the forward deck, and without an instant's hesitation she ran toward
+him calling:
+
+"Captain Carleton! Captain Carleton!" He turned smilingly toward her,
+and Sylvia clasped his hand.
+
+"I didn't know where I was," she said.
+
+"You are at Fort Sumter. And it's all my fault," he answered. "I forgot
+all about you until we were nearly here. But one of my men is going to
+sail you safely home. What's this?" he added, as Estralla appeared by
+Sylvia's side.
+
+"It's Estralla. Her mammy is our cook," said Sylvia.
+
+The Captain looked a little puzzled. He wondered how the little darky
+had got on board the vessel without being seen.
+
+"Well, she will be company for you. And you must ask your father and
+mother to forgive my carelessness in taking you so far from home," said
+the Captain.
+
+It was sunset when Sylvia and Estralla, escorted by one of the soldiers
+from Fort Sumter, came walking up East Battery. Mrs. Fulton was on the
+piazza, and Mrs. Waite and Grace were with her. Grace was the first to
+see and recognize Sylvia, and with a cry of delight ran to welcome her.
+
+The soldier had a note for Mrs. Fulton explaining that Sylvia,
+apparently on her way from school, had wandered down to the landing, and
+of Captain Carleton's forgetting her presence in the cabin, so that
+Sylvia was not questioned that night in regard to her disappearance from
+Miss Patten's. Grace knew nothing of Sylvia's encounter with Elinor
+Mayhew, so no one could imagine why she had started for home without a
+word to Miss Patten.
+
+Mrs. Fulton was too rejoiced to have her little girl safely at home to
+question or blame her.
+
+Sylvia was not hungry. The officer in charge of Fort Sumter had given
+the two children an excellent supper. But she was tired and very glad to
+have a warm bath and go straight to bed.
+
+"Oh, Mother! This has been the most horrid day in all my life," she
+said, as her mother brushed out the tangled yellow hair, and helped her
+prepare for bed.
+
+"It has been rather hard for your father and me," Mrs. Fulton reminded
+her; "we began to fear some dreadful thing had happened to our little
+girl. Promise me, Sylvia, never to run away from school again."
+
+Sylvia promised. She wished she could tell her mother that it was not
+school she ran away from; that she was trying to escape the taunts and
+unfriendliness of her schoolmates. But she remembered her promise. She
+had declared proudly that she should not tell, and hard as it was she
+resolved that she would keep that promise. But she wished with all her
+heart that she need not go to school another day.
+
+"Do I have to go to Miss Patten's school, Mother?" she asked in so
+unhappy a voice that Mrs. Fulton realized something unpleasant had
+happened.
+
+"We will talk it over to-morrow, dear," she said; "go to sleep now," and
+Sylvia crept into the white bed quite ready to sleep, but wondering how
+she could talk about going to school, and still keep her promise, when
+to-morrow came.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ESTRALLA AND ELINOR
+
+
+In the morning Sylvia did not refer to what had happened the day before,
+so her mother decided not to question her. Grace and Flora both arrived
+at an early hour to accompany Sylvia to school. They were eager to hear
+how she had happened to be on the schooner which had carried arms to
+Fort Sumter from the Charleston Arsenal. But Sylvia did not seem to want
+to talk of her adventure, and both the little southern girls were too
+polite to question her.
+
+"Father says those guns don't belong to the United States, they belong
+to South Carolina."
+
+Sylvia did not reply. She recalled one of her lessons, however, where
+she had learned that the United States meant each and every State in the
+Union and she remembered what Captain Carleton had said.
+
+"Mother says I may go with you on Saturday, Flora," interrupted Grace;
+"I wish it was Friday this minute."
+
+"So do I," agreed Flora laughingly; "and we must teach Sylvia to ride on
+one of the ponies this time."
+
+For on the previous visit Sylvia had said that she wished she could ride
+as Flora did.
+
+"Oh! Truly? Flora, do you really mean it?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"Of course I do. We will have a ride Saturday afternoon and again
+Sunday," replied Flora.
+
+With the pleasure of the plantation visit in store Sylvia for the moment
+forgot all about her dread of facing the girls at school. Miss Patten
+detained her at the door of the schoolroom with a warmer greeting than
+usual, but said: "My dear, I want to talk with you at recess;" but her
+smile was so friendly and her words so kind that Sylvia was not
+troubled. As she passed Elinor's seat she did not look up, but the
+whisper, "Yankee," made her flush, and brought back all her dislike of
+the tall, handsome Elinor.
+
+At recess, after the other girls had left the schoolroom, Miss Patten
+came to Sylvia's desk and sat down beside her.
+
+"Sylvia, dear," she said gently, "I want you to tell me why you started
+off alone yesterday. Had anything happened here at school to make you so
+unhappy that you did not want to stay?"
+
+Sylvia looked up in surprise. Why, Miss Patten seemed to know all about
+it, she thought. How easy it would be to tell her the whole story. But
+suddenly she resolved that no matter what Miss Patten knew, she, Sylvia,
+must not break her word. So she looked down at her desk, and made no
+reply.
+
+"I am sure none of the other pupils would mean to hurt your feelings,
+Sylvia. But if any of them have carelessly said something that sounded
+unkind, I know they will apologize," continued the friendly voice; and
+again Sylvia looked up. If she told what Elinor and May had said she was
+now sure that Miss Rosalie would make them both say they were sorry; and
+Sylvia remembered that she had declared to them that they should do
+exactly that.
+
+"Would they really, Miss Patten?" she asked in so serious a voice that
+the teacher believed for the moment that she would soon know the exact
+reason why Sylvia had fled from the school; and she was right, she was
+about to hear it, but not from Sylvia. There was a little silence in the
+quiet pleasant room where the scent of jessamine and honey-suckle came
+through the open windows, and no sound disturbed the two at Sylvia's
+desk. Sylvia was assuring herself that she really ought to tell Miss
+Patten; but somehow she could not speak. If she broke a promise, even to
+an enemy, as she felt Elinor Mayhew to be, she would despise herself.
+But Elinor would have to apologize for the way she had treated Sylvia.
+Just at this moment of hesitation a round woolly head appeared at one of
+the open windows. Two small black hands rested on the window-sill, and a
+moment later Estralla, in her faded blue dress, was standing directly in
+front of Miss Patten and Sylvia.
+
+"I begs pardon, Missy Teacher. But I knows my missy ain't done nuffin'
+to be kept shut up for. An' I knows why she runned off yesterd'y. Yas'm.
+I heered dat tall dark girl an' nuther girl sayin' as how Missy Sylvia
+was a Yankee. Yas'm; and as how they was glad they called her names.
+Yas'm, I sho' heered 'em say those very words," and Estralla bobbed her
+head, and stood trembling in every limb before "Missy Teacher," not
+knowing what would happen to her, but determined that the little white
+girl, who had protected her, and given her the fine pink dress, should
+not he punished.
+
+"Oh, Estralla!" whispered Sylvia, her face brightening.
+
+Miss Rosalie stood up, and rested her hand on Sylvia's shoulder.
+
+"And so you would not tell, or complain about your schoolmates?" Then
+without waiting for a reply, she leaned over and kissed Sylvia. "That is
+right, dear child. I am proud to have you as a pupil. Now," and she
+turned to Estralla, "you run home as fast as you can go. Your young
+mistress is not being punished, and will not be. But you did just right
+in coming to tell me. But the next time you come remember to come in at
+the door!" and Miss Rosalie smiled pleasantly at the little darky, whose
+face now was radiant with delight.
+
+"Yas'm. I sho' will 'member," and with a smile at Sylvia, Estralla
+tiptoed toward the open door and disappeared.
+
+It was a very grave teacher who watched her pupils return to their seats
+that morning. It was a time when all the people in the southern city
+were anxious and troubled. There had always been slaves in South
+Carolina, and now the Government of the United States was realizing that
+the black people must not be kept in servitude; that they had the same
+rights as white people; and it was difficult for the Charleston people
+to acknowledge that this was right.
+
+Miss Rosalie was a South Carolinian, and she was sure that Charleston
+people did right to insist on keeping their slaves, even if it meant
+war. And it now seemed likely that the North and South might come to
+warfare. The word "Yankee" was as hateful to Miss Rosalie as it was to
+Elinor Mayhew, and for that very reason she determined that Elinor
+should make a public apology for calling one of her schoolmates a
+"Yankee." To the Carolinians the name meant the name of their enemies,
+and it seemed to Miss Rosalie a very dreadful thing to accuse this
+little northern girl of being an enemy.
+
+After the girls were all seated she said in a very quiet tone:
+
+"Elinor, please come to the platform."
+
+For a moment Elinor hesitated. Then she walked slowly down the aisle and
+stood beside Miss Patten.
+
+"Now, young ladies, I do not need to explain to you the meaning of the
+word 'courtesy.' You all know that it means kindness and consideration
+of the rights and feelings of others. You know as well the meaning of
+the word 'hospitality'; that it means that any person who is received
+beneath your roof is entitled to courtesy and to more than that, to
+protection. Even savages will protect any traveler who comes into their
+home, and give the best they have to make him comfortable." Miss Rosalie
+stopped a moment, and then said: "If there is anyone of you who has not
+known the meaning of the two words to which I refer, will she please to
+rise."
+
+The girls all remained seated.
+
+"Elinor, you will now apologize for having failed in courtesy and in
+hospitality to one of my pupils."
+
+Elinor stood looking out across the schoolroom. Her mouth was tightly
+closed, and apparently she had no intention of obeying.
+
+"Do I have to apologize for speaking the truth?" she demanded.
+
+The girls held their breath. Was it possible that Elinor dared defy Miss
+Patten? Grace and Flora were sadly puzzled. They were the only pupils
+who did not understand the exact reason, Elinor's treatment of Sylvia,
+for Miss Patten's demand.
+
+The teacher did not respond, and Elinor did not speak. Then after a
+moment Miss Patten said, "Take your seat, Elinor. I shall make this
+request of you again at the beginning of the afternoon session. If you
+do not comply with it you will no longer be received as a pupil in this
+school."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+SYLVIA AT THE PLANTATION
+
+
+When the afternoon session opened Elinor Mayhew was not in her usual
+place. Grace and Flora had been told by the other girls what had
+happened on the day of Sylvia's disappearance from school. May Bailey
+had declared that Sylvia must have "run straight to the teacher," and
+that she was a telltale as well as a "Yankee." Grace had defended her
+friend warmly.
+
+"I don't know how Miss Rosalie found out, but I'm sure Sylvia did not
+tell," she declared.
+
+Flora was unusually quiet. There were many scornful looks sent in
+Sylvia's direction that afternoon, which Miss Patten noticed and easily
+understood. Before school was dismissed she said that she had a brief
+announcement to make.
+
+"I want to say to you that the pupil whom Elinor treated with such a
+lack of courtesy did not inform me of the fact. Nor would she say one
+word against any of her schoolmates when I questioned her. Someone who
+overheard Elinor's unfriendly remarks came and told me."
+
+Flora Hayes smiled and drew a long breath. She did not blame Sylvia for
+being a "Yankee," but it had troubled her to think of her new friend as
+a "telltale," whatever her provocation might have been. The other girls
+began to look at Sylvia with more friendly eyes, and as they ran down
+the steps several found a chance to nod and smile at her, or to exchange
+some word. So Sylvia began to feel that her troubles were over, if
+Elinor Mayhew did not return to school.
+
+"Father, are you sure 'Yankee' doesn't mean anything beside 'American'?"
+she asked in a very serious tone, as she sat beside Mr. Fulton on the
+piazza that evening. They were quite alone, as Mrs. Fulton had stepped
+to the kitchen to speak to Aunt Connie.
+
+"The girls at school all think it means something dreadful," she added.
+
+"Let me see, Sylvia. You study history, don't you?" responded her father
+slowly. "Of course you do; and you know that George Washington and
+General Putnam and General Warren, and many more brave men, defended
+this country and its liberty?"
+
+"Why, yes," replied Sylvia, greatly puzzled.
+
+"The men of South Carolina were among the bravest and most loyal of the
+defenders of our liberties. And when America's enemies called American
+men 'Yankees' they meant General Washington and every other American who
+was ready to defend the United States of America. So if any of your
+friends use the word 'Yankee' scornfully they agree with the enemies of
+the Union. No one need be ashamed of being called a 'Yankee.' It means
+someone who is ready to fight for what is right."
+
+But Sylvia still wondered. "The girls don't think so," she said.
+
+"Well, that is because they don't understand. They will know when they
+are older," said Mr. Fulton. He did not imagine that any of the
+companions of his little daughter had treated her in an unfriendly
+fashion, and thought it a good opportunity to make her understand the
+real meaning of the word.
+
+"You are a Yankee girl. And that means you must always try to protect
+other people who need protection," said her father.
+
+Sylvia's face brightened. She could easily understand that. It meant
+that she must not let Estralla get a whipping when she had not deserved
+it; and she was glad she had not told the real story of the broken
+pitcher. She resolved always to remember what her father had said.
+
+The remainder of the week passed pleasantly. Elinor Mayhew did not
+return to school, and the other girls profited by her example and no
+longer teased or taunted the little northern girl.
+
+Saturday morning proved to be perfect weather for the drive to the Hayes
+plantation. The sun shone, the clear October air was full of autumnal
+fragrance, and when the Hayes carry-all, drawn by two pretty brown
+horses, and driven by black Chris, the Hayes coachman, and Flora's black
+mammy on the seat beside him, stopped in front of Sylvia's house and
+Flora came running up the path, Sylvia and Grace were on the steps all
+ready to start.
+
+There was plenty of room for all three girls on the back seat, and Flora
+declared that Sylvia should sit between Grace and herself. Mrs. Fulton
+and Estralla stood at the gate and watched the happy little party drive
+off. Estralla looked very sober. Ever since the adventure at Fort Sumter
+the little colored girl had felt that she must look after Missy Sylvia
+carefully. And she was not well pleased to see her young mistress
+disappear from her watchful eyes.
+
+"What a funny name 'Estralla' is," laughed Flora, as Sylvia called back
+a good-bye.
+
+"Oh, that isn't her name, really," explained Grace. "You know my Uncle
+Robert owns her, and Auntie Connie named her after Aunt Esther and
+Cousin Alice. Her name is really Esther Alice. But the colored people
+never speak as we do."
+
+"How can anybody 'own' anybody else, even if their skin is black?"
+asked Sylvia.
+
+Both her companions looked at her in such evident surprise that Sylvia
+was sure she ought not to have asked such a question. Suddenly she
+remembered that Flora's "Mammy" and "Uncle Chris," as Flora called him,
+were negroes, and of course must have heard. She resolved not to ask
+another question during her visit.
+
+Their way took them through pleasant streets shaded by spice trees and
+an occasional oak. From behind high walls came the fragrance of orange
+blossoms, ripening pomegranates and grapes. Very soon they had crossed
+the Ashley River, and now the road ran between broad fields of cotton
+where negroes were already at work gathering the white fluffy crop which
+would be packed in bags and bales and shipped to many far distant ports.
+
+The three little friends talked gaily of the pleasant visit which had
+just begun. Sylvia was hoping that Flora would again speak of the
+promised ride on one of the white ponies, but not until Uncle Chris
+guided the swift horses into the driveway, shaded by fine live-oaks,
+which led to the big house, was her wish gratified.
+
+"We'll have a ride this afternoon, girls, if you are not too tired," she
+said.
+
+Grace and Sylvia promptly declared that they were not at all tired, and
+that a ride was just what they would like best.
+
+The plantation's "big house," as the negroes called the owner's home,
+was the largest house Sylvia had ever entered. Its high piazza with the
+tall pillars was covered by a tangle of jessamine vines and climbing
+roses. The front hall led straight through the house to another piazza,
+which looked out over beautiful gardens and a tiny lake. Behind a thick
+hedge of privet were the cabins of the house servants. The negroes who
+did the work on the plantation, caring for the horses and cows, and
+working in the cotton fields, lived at some distance from the "big"
+house.
+
+Mrs. Hayes came out on the piazza to welcome the party. She had come
+down from Charleston on the previous day. It seemed to Sylvia she had
+never seen so many negroes before in all her life. Neat colored maids
+were flitting about the house, colored men were at work in the garden,
+and colored children peered smilingly around the corner of the house.
+
+A colored maid was told to look after Grace and Sylvia, and she led the
+way up the beautiful spiral staircase to a pleasant chamber overlooking
+the garden. There were two small white beds, with a little mahogany
+light-stand between them. On this stand stood a tall brass candlestick.
+There were two dressing-tables, and two small bureaus, and a number of
+comfortable chintz-covered chairs. The floor was of dark, shining wood,
+and beside each bed was a long, soft white rug.
+
+Sylvia and Grace knew that this room had been arranged especially for
+any of Flora's young friends whom she might entertain, and they both
+thought it was one of the nicest rooms that anyone could imagine. The
+smiling colored maid brushed their hair, helped them into the fresh
+muslin dresses they had each brought, and when they were ready opened
+the door and followed them down the stairs where they found Flora
+awaiting them.
+
+"Luncheon is all ready," she said, and led the way into the dining-room,
+where Mrs. Hayes and Flora's two older brothers, Ralph and Philip, were
+waiting for them. The boys were tall, good-looking lads, and as they
+were in the uniform of the Military School of Charleston, of which they
+were pupils, Sylvia thought they must be quite grown up, although Ralph
+was only sixteen and his brother two years younger. They had ridden out
+on horseback from Charleston, and had just arrived.
+
+Flora introduced them to Sylvia, and Grace greeted them as old
+acquaintances.
+
+"I suppose you girls are looking forward to the corn-shucking to-night?"
+Ralph asked, with his pleasant smile, as he held Sylvia's chair for her
+to take her seat at the table, while Philip performed the same service
+for Grace.
+
+"Oh, my dear boy! You have betrayed Flora's surprise," said Mrs. Hayes.
+"She had planned not to let the girls know about it until nightfall."
+
+"What is a 'corn-shucking'?" questioned Sylvia; for she had always lived
+in a city and did not know much about farm or plantation affairs.
+
+"Shall I tell her, Flora?" questioned Ralph, laughingly.
+
+"No! No, indeed! Wait, Sylvia, then it will be a surprise after all,"
+responded Flora.
+
+Sylvia smiled happily. She was sure that this visit was going to be even
+more delightful than when she had been Flora's guest in the early
+spring. There seemed to be so many things to do on a plantation, she
+thought.
+
+The young people were all hungry, and enjoyed the roasted duck, with the
+sweet-potatoes and the grape jelly. Beside these there were hot biscuit
+and delicious custards. Sylvia had finished her custard when two maids
+brought a large tray into the room, and in a moment the little girls
+exclaimed in admiring delight; for the tray contained two doves, made of
+blanc-mange, resting in a nest of fine, gold-colored shreds of candied
+orange-peel, and an iced cake in the shape of a fort, with the palmetto
+flag on a tiny staff.
+
+At the sight of their State flag both the boys arose from their seats
+and saluted.
+
+"That's the flag to fly over Charleston's forts!" declared Ralph as he
+sat down.
+
+After luncheon was over Mrs. Hayes advised the girls to lie down for a
+little rest before starting for their ride. But they all declared they
+were not tired, and there were so many things to see and enjoy at the
+plantation that Sylvia and Grace were delighted when Flora suggested
+that first of all they should go out through the garden to the negro
+quarters, stopping at the stables on their way for a look at the ponies.
+
+Sylvia was ready before the other girls and stood on the piazza waiting.
+She was leaning against one of the vine-covered pillars that supported
+the piazza, and Ralph and Philip, who were sitting just around the
+corner, did not know she was there and could not see her. Sylvia could
+hear their voices, but did not at first notice what they were saying
+until the word "Yankee" caught her ear.
+
+"The first thing you know those northern Yankees will take our forts,"
+she heard Philip say, and heard Ralph laugh scornfully as he responed:
+"They can't do it, or free our slaves, either. Say, did you know Father
+was going to sell Dinkie; she's making such a fuss that I reckon she'll
+get a lashing; says she don't want to leave her children."
+
+There was a little silence, and then the younger boy spoke.
+
+"I wish they wouldn't sell Dinkie. I hate to have her go. It isn't fair.
+Of course she feels bad to leave those little darkies of hers. Jove!"
+and the boy's voice had an angry tone, "Dinkie shan't be whipped! I
+won't have it. She used to be my mammy."
+
+Suddenly Sylvia realized that she was listening, and ran down the steps
+toward the little lake which lay glimmering in the sun beneath the shade
+of the overhanging pepper trees. She ran on past the lake down a little
+path which led toward the pine woods. She no longer felt happy, and full
+of anticipations of the surprise in store at the corn-shucking. All she
+could think of was "Dinkie," a woman who was to be sold away from her
+children, and who was to be whipped because she rebelled against the
+cruelty of her master.
+
+"It's because she's a slave," Sylvia whispered to herself. "I hate
+slavery. My father said Yankees always fought for what was right. Why
+don't they fight against slavery?" She quite forgot that Flora and Grace
+would wonder where she had gone, and be alarmed at her absence.
+
+"I do wish I could see Dinkie," she thought. "I wish I could do
+something to help set every slave free." Then she remembered that Philip
+had declared that Dinkie should neither be sold nor whipped.
+
+"I like Philip," she declared aloud, and was surprised to hear a little
+chuckling laugh from somewhere behind her, and turned quickly to find a
+smiling negro woman close behind her.
+
+"I likes Massa Philip myse'f," declared the woman, "an' I wishes I could
+see him jus' a minute," and her smile disappeared. "I'se shuah Massa
+Philip won' let 'em sell Dinkie, or lash her either," and putting her
+apron over her face the woman began to cry.
+
+"He won't! I heard him say he wouldn't have it," Sylvia assured her
+eagerly. "Don't cry, Dinkie," and she patted the woman's arm.
+
+Dinkie let her apron fall and looked eagerly at Sylvia.
+
+"You'se the little Yankee missy, ain't you?" she questioned. "I hear say
+that Yankees don't believe in selling black folks."
+
+"They don't; I'm sure they don't. I'll run right back and tell Philip
+you want to see him," replied Sylvia. "You stay right here by this
+tree," she added, pointing to a big live-oak.
+
+"Yas, Missy, I thanks you," replied the woman.
+
+Sylvia ran back toward the house as fast as she could go. She could see
+the ponies standing before the house, a small negro boy holding their
+bridle-reins. The girls were on the steps waiting for her.
+
+"I mustn't let them know that Dinkie wants to see Philip," she thought,
+as the girls called out that they had been looking everywhere for her.
+At that moment the two boys came along the piazza.
+
+"Philip is going to teach you how to mount, and how to hold your reins,
+Sylvia," said Flora.
+
+Grace and Sylvia were to ride the white ponies, and Flora was to ride a
+small brown horse which her mother usually rode.
+
+Philip came slowly down the steps. He looked very sober, and Sylvia was
+sure that he was thinking about Dinkie. "I don't believe he thinks
+slavery is right," she thought, as Philip raised his cap, and asked if
+she was ready to mount "Snap," the pony which she was to ride.
+
+Flora and Grace were already mounted, and trotted slowly off. Sylvia and
+Philip were alone on the driveway.
+
+"Dinkie wants to see you. She's waiting down by the oak, beyond the
+lake," said Sylvia. "And don't let her be whipped," she added.
+
+The boy looked up at her quickly.
+
+"Don't tell the girls that she sent for me," he replied. "Dinkie shan't
+be whipped, or sold either." He did not thank Sylvia for her message,
+and she was glad that he did not. With a brief word of direction as to
+the proper manner of holding the reins, he turned toward the lake, and
+Sylvia's pony trotted slowly down the drive to where Flora and Grace
+were waiting.
+
+Flora led the way past the stables, and down a broad path which led to
+the negro quarters. The ponies went at a slow pace, as Flora wanted to
+be sure that Sylvia was not afraid, and that she was enjoying her first
+ride.
+
+"The corn-shucking will be here," she said, pointing with her pretty
+gold-mounted whip to a number of corn-cribs. "They will bring the corn
+in from the fields, and we will come down in good season."
+
+"And the moon will be full to-night," said Grace, beginning to sing:
+
+"'De jay-bird hunt de sparrer-nes',
+    All by de light of de moon.
+  De bee-martin sail all 'roun',
+    All by de light of de moon.
+  De squirrel he holler from de top of de tree;
+    Mr. Mole he stay in de groun',
+  Oh, yes! Mr. Mole he stay in de groun'--'"
+
+Sylvia listened and smiled as she looked at the happy faces of her
+friends. But she could not forget Dinkie, and wondered if Philip could
+really protect the unhappy woman from a whipping, and prevent her being
+sold away from her children.
+
+As they passed the cabins of the negroes the children ran out bobbing
+and smiling to their young mistress, and Flora called out a friendly
+greeting.
+
+"Father's going to sell a lot of those niggers," she said carelessly.
+"They eat more than they're worth."
+
+"But won't their mothers feel dreadfully to let them go?" ventured
+Sylvia. "Of course they will," declared Grace, before Flora could
+respond. "And I do think it's a shame. Did you know Uncle Robert is
+going to sell Estralla?" she asked turning to Sylvia.
+
+Sylvia's grasp on the reins loosened, and she nearly lost her seat on
+the broad back of the fat pony.
+
+"What for?" she questioned, thinking to herself that Estralla should
+not be sold away from her home and mother if she, Sylvia, could prevent
+it.
+
+"Oh, Uncle's agent says she isn't of any use, and he can get a good
+price for her. He would have sold her last month if your mother had not
+taken her in. I expect Aunt Connie will be half crazy, for all her other
+children are gone," said Grace.
+
+"We mustn't ride too far this time," Flora interrupted, "because it's
+Sylvia's first ride. Hasn't she done well? Do you suppose you can turn
+the pony?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Sylvia, drawing the left rein so tightly that
+the little pony swung round before Flora had time to give a word of
+direction. As they were now headed toward home "Snap" went off at a good
+pace, well in advance of the others. It was all Sylvia could do to keep
+her seat, but she was not frightened, and when the pony raced up the
+driveway and came to a standstill directly in front of the piazza steps
+she was laughing with delight. For the moment she had quite forgotten
+Dinkie and Estralla.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SYLVIA SEES A GHOST
+
+
+"It was splendid," declared Sylvia as Grace and Flora dismounted and the
+three little friends entered the house. Flora's black "Mammy" was
+waiting for them on the piazza.
+
+"Thar's some 'freshments fur yo' in de dinin'-room," she said; and the
+girls were glad for the cool milk and the tiny frosted cakes which a
+negro girl served them. Sylvia wondered if Flora ever did anything for
+herself; for there seemed to be so many negro servants who were on the
+alert to wait upon all the white people at the "big house."
+
+"Come up to my room, girls, and rest until it's time to dress for
+supper," said Flora.
+
+Flora's room was just across the hall from the one where Grace and
+Sylvia were to sleep. Instead of a small white bed like theirs there was
+a big bed of dark mahogany with four tall, high posts. The bed was so
+high that there was a cushioned step beside it. The portrait of a lady
+hung over a beautiful inlaid desk, and Flora pointed to it with evident
+pride.
+
+"That's my great-grandmother; and her father built this house. My mother
+says that she was Lady Caroline, and that she was so beautiful that
+whenever she went to Charleston people would run after her coach just to
+look at her," and Flora looked at her companions expectantly, quite
+forgetting that she had told them the story before.
+
+"Oh, Flora! Every time I come out here you tell me about your wonderful
+great-grand-mother," said Grace, "and you used to tell me that her ghost
+haunted this house."
+
+"Well, it does," declared Flora.
+
+Sylvia had never heard of Lady Caroline's ghost. "Do tell me about it,
+Flora," she urged.
+
+There was a wide cushioned seat with many pillows beneath the windows,
+and here the girls established themselves very comfortably.
+
+"Yes, tell Sylvia the story," said Grace, piling up several cushions
+behind her back. "Of course it isn't true, but it's thrilling."
+
+"It is true," persisted Flora. "My mother says that her own governess
+saw Lady Caroline's ghost. And that she had on the very hat she has on
+in the portrait, and the same blue dress and lace collar. You know
+there's a secret stairway in this house. It leads from one of the
+closets in your room down to a closet in my father's library and out-of-
+doors, and Lady Caroline's ghost always comes in that way."
+
+Sylvia looked up at the beautiful pictured face with a little shiver. "I
+guess that the governess dreamed it," she said.
+
+"Of course she did," declared Grace. "I think you look like that
+picture, Flora," she added.
+
+"Well, whether you believe it or not, everybody knows that this is a
+haunted house," persisted Flora. "Why, there is an account of it in a
+book."
+
+But Grace shook her head laughingly. "Flora, show Sylvia your lovely
+lace-work," she said.
+
+Flora nodded, but Sylvia was sure that she was not pleased at Grace's
+refusal to believe in the ghost.
+
+"Mammy! Mam-m-e-e," called Flora, and in a moment the black woman stood
+bobbing and smiling in the doorway.
+
+"Bring my lace-work," said Flora.
+
+"Yas, Missy," and Mammy trotted across the room to a little table in the
+further corner and brought Flora a covered basket. She opened it and set
+it down in front of her little mistress.
+
+"Do's yo' want anyt'ing else, Missy Flora?" she asked.
+
+"If I do I'll call," replied the little girl, and Mammy again
+disappeared.
+
+The basket was lined with rose-colored silk, and there were little
+pockets all around it. In the centre lay a cushion on which was a lace
+pattern defined by delicate threads and tiny circles of pins. A little
+strip of finished lace was rolled up in a bit of tissue paper. Flora
+took off the paper. "See, it is the jessamine pattern," she explained.
+"My mother's governess was a Belgian lady, and she taught my mother how
+to make lace and my mother taught me."
+
+"I wish I could make lace," said Sylvia. "It would be lovely to make
+some for a present for my mother."
+
+"Of course it would. I'll teach you this winter," promised the good-
+natured Flora; "let me see your hands. You know a lace-maker's hands
+must be as smooth as silk, because any roughness would catch the
+delicate threads."
+
+Sylvia's hands were still scratched and roughed from her fall in Miss
+Rosalie's garden and her scramble over the wall, and Flora shook her
+head. "You'll have to wait awhile. And you must wear gloves every time
+you go out, and wash your hands in milk every night," she said very
+seriously. "Now I'll show you my embroidery. Mam-m-e-e! Mam-m-e-e," and
+another basket was brought and opened. This basket was also lined with
+rose-colored silk, but the silk had delicate green vines running over
+it. On the inside of the cover, held in place by tiny straps, were two
+pairs of shining scissors with gold handles, a gold-mounted emery bag,
+shaped like a strawberry, an embroidery stiletto of ivory, and a gold
+thimble.
+
+Flora lifted out the embroidery frame, and putting on her thimble took a
+few exact, dainty stitches in the collar.
+
+"What lovely work you can do, Flora!" exclaimed Sylvia. "Don't you ever
+play dolls?" remembering her own cherished dolls in their small chairs
+in the corner of her room at home.
+
+"Oh, I used to," replied Flora, "but since I began school at Miss
+Patten's I don't seem to care about dolls."
+
+"Flora can play on the harp," announced Grace.
+
+"Oh, only just a little," responded Flora quickly.
+
+"I think Flora can do more things than any girl I ever knew," declared
+Sylvia admiringly; "and I was just thinking that the servants did
+everything in the world."
+
+Flora laughed. "You never lived on a plantation, or you couldn't think
+that. Why, my mother works more than Mammy ever did. She has to tell all
+the house darkies what to do, and see that all the hands have clothes,
+and that the fruits are preserved. Why, she's always busy," replied
+Flora. "And of course ladies have to know how to do things," she
+concluded.
+
+When Grace and Sylvia went to their own room Flora went with them. "I'll
+show you where that secret staircase is," she said, and opening the
+closet door pressed on a broad panel which moved slowly.
+
+"There," and Flora drew Sylvia near so she could look down a dark narrow
+stairway.
+
+"But that isn't seeing a ghost," Grace said laughingly.
+
+It was rather late when Mrs. Hayes led the way back to the house, and
+Grace declared that she was almost too sleepy to walk up-stairs. But
+Sylvia was not at all sleepy. After the colored girl had helped them
+prepare for bed, blown out the candle, and left the room, she lay
+watching the shadows of the moving vines on the wall. She wished she was
+at home, for who knew but that Estralla's master might sell her before
+she returned. Sylvia wondered what she could do to protect the little
+girl. "I might hide her," she thought; but what place would be secure?
+Suddenly she remembered something that she had heard Captain Carleton
+say when she was eating luncheon on that unlucky trip to Fort Sumter.
+"This fort could make South Carolina give up slavery," he had said. Why,
+then, of course Estralla would be perfectly safe if she was only at Fort
+Sumter, concluded the little girl, with a long sigh of relief. "I must
+get her there just as soon as I get home," she decided.
+
+Then suddenly Sylvia sat straight up in bed. The closet door had swung
+softly open, and a figure with a big hat and trailing dress stepped out.
+Sylvia was not frightened. "It's the ghost," she whispered; and leaning
+across poked Grace, exclaiming: "Grace! Look quick! here is Lady
+Caroline!"
+
+In an instant Grace was wide awake.
+
+"Where?" she demanded, in a frightened voice, clutching Sylvia's hand.
+
+"Right there! By the closet door," said Sylvia. "Oh! she's gone!"
+
+For as she looked toward the closet the figure had disappeared.
+
+"There, you waked me up for nothing. You dreamed it," declared Grace.
+
+"Oh, I didn't! Truly, I didn't. I haven't been asleep," Sylvia insisted.
+"It is just as Flora said. There is a ghost." Just then both the girls
+heard a startled cry, and a sound as if something had fallen in the room
+under them.
+
+"What's that?" whispered Grace. "Oh, Sylvia, do you suppose there really
+is a ghost?"
+
+"Yes, I saw it," declared Sylvia, with such evident satisfaction in her
+tone that Grace forgot to be frightened. "Well, I guess it fell
+downstairs," she chuckled; but in spite of their lack of fear both the
+little girls were excited over the unusual noise, and Sylvia was sure
+now that Flora had been right in saying the house was haunted. She
+wished it was already morning that she might tell Flora all that had
+happened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A TWILIGHT TEA-PARTY
+
+
+It was late when Grace and Sylvia awoke the following morning, but they
+were down-stairs before the boys appeared. Mrs. Hayes greeted them
+smilingly, but she said that Flora was not well and that Mammy would
+take her breakfast to her up-stairs.
+
+"After breakfast you must go up and stay with her a little while," said
+Mrs. Hayes.
+
+"Why, Flora was never ill in her life," declared Ralph; "what's the
+matter?"
+
+"She is not really ill, but she fell over something last night and
+bruised her arm and shoulder, so that she feels lame and tired, and I
+thought a few hours in bed would be the best thing for her," explained
+Mrs. Hayes. "Mammy doesn't seem to know just how it happened," she
+concluded.
+
+Sylvia and Grace had talked over the "ghost" before coming down-stairs.
+Grace had tried best to convince Sylvia that she had really dreamed
+"Lady Caroline," but Sylvia insisted that a figure in a wide plumed hat
+and a trailing gown had really stepped out of the closet.
+
+"The moon was shining right where she stood. I saw her just as plainly
+as I could see you when you sat up in bed," Sylvia declared. But both
+the girls agreed that it would be best not to say anything about "Lady
+Caroline" until they had told Flora.
+
+After breakfast Mammy came to tell the visitors that Flora was ready to
+see them.
+
+"But jus' for a little while," she added, as she opened the door of
+Flora's chamber.
+
+Flora was bolstered up in bed, and had on a dainty dressing-gown of pink
+muslin tied with white ribbons. But there was a bandage about her right
+wrist, and a soft strip of cotton was bound about her head.
+
+"Oh, girls! It's too bad that I can't help you to have a good time to-
+day," she said, "and all because I was so clumsy."
+
+Both the girls assured her that it was a good time just to be at the
+Hayes plantation.
+
+"Flora! There is a ghost! Just as you said! I saw it. Just about
+midnight," said Sylvia.
+
+"Truly!" exclaimed Flora, in rather a faint voice.
+
+"Yes. And it was Lady Caroline. For it wore a big hat, like the one in
+the picture, and its dress trailed all about it," replied Sylvia.
+
+"Then I guess Grace will believe this is a haunted house," said Flora, a
+little triumphantly.
+
+"I didn't see it," said Grace. "And, truly, I believe Sylvia just
+dreamed it."
+
+Flora sat up in bed suddenly.
+
+"Sylvia did not dream it. I know she saw it," she declared.
+
+"Well, perhaps so. But I didn't," and Grace laughed good-naturedly; but
+Flora turned her face from them and began to cry.
+
+"After my being hurt, and--" she sobbed, but stopped quickly.
+
+Sylvia and Grace looked at each other in amazement.
+
+"It's because she is ill. And she's disappointed because you didn't see
+Lady Caroline," Sylvia whispered. In a moment Flora looked up with a
+little smile.
+
+"I am so silly," she said. "You must forgive me. But I'm sure Sylvia did
+see--"
+
+"I begin to think she did," Grace owned laughingly. She had happened to
+look toward the open closet and had seen certain things which made her
+quite ready to own that Flora might be right. But she was rather serious
+and silent for the rest of the visit. Before they left Flora's room
+Flora asked Sylvia not to tell anyone that she had seen a "ghost." "You
+see, the boys would laugh, and no one but me really believes the house
+is haunted," she explained.
+
+Of course Sylvia promised, but she was puzzled by Flora's request.
+
+It was decided that Ralph and Philip should ride back to Charleston that
+afternoon when Uncle Chris drove the little visitors home, and that
+Flora should stay at the plantation with her mother for a day or two.
+
+Sylvia had enjoyed her visit. She had even enjoyed seeing the "ghost,"
+but she was sorry that she could not tell her mother and father of the
+great adventure. Nevertheless she was glad when the carriage stopped in
+front of her own home, and she saw Estralla, smiling and happy in the
+pink gingham dress, waiting to welcome her.
+
+"Sylvia, I'm coming over to-night. I've got something to tell you,"
+Grace said, as the two friends stood for a moment at Sylvia's gate,
+after they had thanked Uncle Chris, and said good-bye to Sylvia's
+brothers.
+
+Grace was so serious that Sylvia wondered what it could be. "It isn't
+that Estralla is going to be sold right away, is it?" she asked
+anxiously.
+
+"No. I'll tell you after supper," Grace responded and ran on to her own
+home.
+
+Sylvia's mother and father were interested to hear all that she had to
+tell them about the corn-shucking, and of the wonderful cake with its
+palmetto flag. She told them about poor Dinkie, and what Philip had
+said: that Dinkie should not be sold away from her children, or whipped.
+
+Mr. Fulton seemed greatly pleased with Sylvia's account of her visit. He
+said Philip was a fine boy, and that there were many like him in South
+Carolina.
+
+They had just finished supper when Grace appeared, and the two little
+girls went up to Sylvia's room.
+
+"What is it, Grace?" Sylvia asked eagerly. "I can't think what you want
+to tell me that makes you look so sober."
+
+Grace looked all about the room and then closed the door, not seeing a
+little figure crouching in a shadowy corner.
+
+"I wouldn't want anybody else to hear. It's about the ghost," she
+whispered. "I know all about it. It was Flora herself! Yes, it was!" she
+continued quickly. "When we were in her room this morning I saw a big
+hat with a long feather on it, hanging on her closet door, and a long
+blue skirt, one of her mother's. They weren't there yesterday, for the
+door was open, just as it was to-day."
+
+"Well, what of that?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"Oh, Sylvia! Can't you see?" Grace asked impatiently. "Flora dressed up
+in her mother's things, and then came up the stairs to our room. She was
+determined to make us think she had a truly ghost in her house. Then
+when you called out, she got frightened and stumbled on the stairs. You
+know we heard someone fall and cry out. Of course it was Flora. Nobody
+seems to know how she got hurt. The minute I saw that plumed hat I knew
+just the trick she had played. I knew there wasn't a ghost," Grace
+concluded triumphantly.
+
+Sylvia felt almost disappointed that it had not really been "Lady
+Caroline." She wondered why Flora had wanted to deceive them.
+
+"I don't think it was fair," she said slowly.
+
+"Of course it wasn't fair. I wouldn't have believed that a Charleston
+girl would do such a mean trick," declared Grace. "Of course, as we were
+her company, we can't let her know that we have found her out."
+
+"Perhaps she meant to tell us, anyway," suggested Sylvia hopefully. "I'm
+sure she did. She thought it would make us laugh."
+
+"Well, then why didn't she?" asked Grace.
+
+Sylvia's face clouded; she could not answer this question, but she was
+sure that Flora had not meant to frighten or really deceive them, and
+she wanted to defend her absent friend.
+
+"Well, Grace, we know Flora wouldn't do anything mean. And, you see, she
+got hurt, and so she's just waiting to get well before she tells us of
+the joke. You wait and see. Flora will tell us just as soon as we see
+her again."
+
+There was a little note of entreaty in Sylvia's voice, as if she were
+pleading with Grace not to blame Flora.
+
+"I know one thing, Sylvia. You wouldn't do anything mean, if you are a
+Yankee," Grace declared warmly. "What's that noise?" she added quickly.
+
+The room was shadowy in the gathering twilight, and the two little girls
+had been sitting near the window. As Grace spoke they both turned
+quickly, for there was a sudden noise of an overturned chair in the
+further corner of the room, and they could see a dark figure sprawling
+on the floor.
+
+Before Sylvia could speak she heard the little wailing cry which
+Estralla always gave when in trouble, and then: "Don't be skeered,
+Missy! It's nobuddy. I jes' fell over your doll-ladies."
+
+"Oh, Estralla! You haven't broken my dolls! What were you up here for,
+anyway?" and Sylvia quite forgot all her plans to rescue Estralla as she
+ran toward her.
+
+The "doll-ladies," as the little darky girl had always called Sylvia's
+two china dolls which sat in two small chairs in front of a doll's table
+in one corner of the room, were both sprawling on the floor, their
+chairs upset, and the little table with its tiny tea-set overturned.
+Grace lit the candles on Sylvia's bureau, while Sylvia picked up her
+treasured dolls, "Molly" and "Polly," which her Grandmother Fulton had
+sent her on her last birthday.
+
+"I wuz up here, jest a-sittin' an' a-lookin' at 'em, Missy," wailed
+Estralla. "I never layed hand on 'em. An' when you an' Missy Grace comes
+in I da'sent move. An' then when I does move I tumbles over. I 'spec'
+now I'll get whipped."
+
+"Keep still, Estralla. You know you won't get whipped," replied Sylvia,
+finding that Molly and Polly had not been hurt by their fall, and that
+none of the little dishes were broken.
+
+"You ought to tell her mother to whip her. She's no business up here,"
+said Grace.
+
+"Don't, Grace!" Sylvia exclaimed. "We don't get whipped every time we
+make a mistake. And Estralla hasn't anything of her own. Just think,
+your Uncle Robert can sell her away from her own mother. You said
+yourself that you didn't think that was fair."
+
+Estralla had scrambled to her feet and now stood looking at the little
+white girls with a half-frightened look in her big eyes.
+
+"Oh, Missy! I ain't gwine to be sold, be I?" she whispered.
+
+Sylvia put her arm around Estralla's shoulders. "No!" she said, "you
+shall not be sold. Now, don't look so frightened. We will have a tea-
+party for Molly and Polly, and you shall wait on them. Run down and ask
+your mother to give us some little cakes."
+
+Estralla was off in an instant, and while she was away Sylvia and Grace
+spread the little table, brought cushions from the window-seats and
+advised Molly and Polly to forgive the disturbance.
+
+When Mrs. Fulton came up-stairs a little later to tell Grace that her
+black Mammy had come to take her home she found three very happy little
+girls. Sylvia and Grace were being entertained at tea by Misses Molly
+and Polly, while Estralla with shining eyes and a wide smile carried
+tiny cups and little cakes to the guests, and chuckled delightedly over
+the clever things which Sylvia and Grace declared Molly and Polly had
+said.
+
+"A candle-light tea-party," exclaimed Mrs. Fulton, as she came into the
+room and smiled down on the happy group.
+
+"Perhaps Flora will own up," Grace said, as the two girls followed Mrs.
+Fulton down the stairs. "Anyway, you are mighty fair about it, and
+you're good to that stupid little darky."
+
+"Oh, Estralla isn't stupid. Not a bit," replied Sylvia laughingly.
+
+Estralla, who was carefully putting the little table in order, heard
+Sylvia's defense of her, and for a moment she stood very straight,
+holding one of the tiny cups in each hand.
+
+"I jes' loves Missy Sylvia, I do, I jes' wish ez how I could do
+somethin' so she'd know how I loves her," and two big tears rolled down
+the black cheeks of the little slave girl who had known so little of
+kindness or of joy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+TROUBLESOME WORDS
+
+
+It was a week after Sylvia's visit to the Hayes plantation before Flora
+returned to school. A heavy rain had made the roads nearly impassable,
+and a little scar on Flora's forehead reminded Sylvia and Grace of her
+unlucky tumble. On Flora's first appearance at school Sylvia was
+confident that she would at once confess her part in "Lady Caroline's"
+appearance, and at recess she and Grace were eager to walk with Flora.
+It was now the first of November, but the air was warm and the garden
+had many blossoming plants and shrubs.
+
+Flora said that she was glad to be back at school. She told the girls
+that her father had returned from a northern trip and that he had given
+Dinkie and her children to Philip.
+
+"Phil teased him so that Father was tired of hearing him. He said Phil
+was a regular abolitionist," Flora explained with her pretty smile.
+
+"What's an abbylitionzist?" asked Grace.
+
+"Ask Sylvia. I heard my father say that Sylvia's father was one,"
+answered Flora.
+
+"I don't know. But my father is a Congregationalist," replied Sylvia.
+"Perhaps that's what your father meant."
+
+"No, it's something about not believing in having slaves, I know that
+much," said Flora.
+
+"Who would do our work then?" questioned Grace.
+
+Flora could not answer this question. Sylvia resolved to ask Miss
+Rosalie at question time the meaning of this new word. If her father and
+Philip Hayes were "abolitionists," she was quite sure the word meant
+something very brave and fine.
+
+"What about Miss Flora and her ghost now?" Grace found a chance to
+whisper, as they entered the schoolroom. "She doesn't mean to own up."
+
+"Wait, she will," was Sylvia's response as she took her seat.
+
+When question time came Sylvia was ready. She stood up smiling and
+eager, and Miss Rosalie smiled back. She had grown fond of her little
+pupil from Boston, and thought to herself that Sylvia was really
+becoming almost like a little southern girl in her graceful ways and
+pleasant smile.
+
+"What is your question, Sylvia?" she asked.
+
+"If you please, Miss Rosalie, what does 'abolitionist' mean?"
+
+Some of the older girls exchanged startled looks, and May Bailey barely
+restrained a laugh. Probably Grace and Sylvia were the only girls in
+school who had not heard the word used as a term of reproach against the
+people of the northern states who wished to do away with slavery.
+
+Miss Rosalie's smile faded, but she responded without a moment's
+hesitation:
+
+"Why, an 'abolitionist' is a person who wishes to destroy some law or
+custom."
+
+There was a little murmur among the other pupils, but Grace and Sylvia
+looked at each other with puzzled eyes. Philip did not wish to "destroy"
+anything, thought Sylvia; he only wanted to protect Dinkie. And she was
+sure that her father would not destroy anything, unless it was something
+which would harm people. So it was a puzzled Sylvia who came home from
+school that day. She decided that her father could answer a question
+much better than Miss Rosalie, and resolved to ask him the meaning of
+the word.
+
+"Come up-stairs, Estralla," she said, finding the little negro girl at
+the gate as usual waiting for her. "I have some things my mother said I
+could give you."
+
+Estralla followed happily. She didn't care very much what it might be
+that Missy Sylvia would give her, it was delight enough for Estralla to
+follow after her. But when the little girl saw the things spread out on
+Sylvia's bed she exclaimed aloud:
+
+"Does you mean, Missy, dat I'se to pick out somethin'? Well, then I
+chooses the shoes. I never had no shoes."
+
+"They are all for you," said Sylvia, lifting up a pretty blue cape and
+holding it toward Estralla.
+
+"My lan'!" whispered Estralla.
+
+There was a dress of blue delaine with tiny white dots, two pretty white
+aprons, the blue cape, and shoes and stockings, beside some of Sylvia's
+part-worn underwear. She had begged her mother to let her give the
+little darky these things, and Mrs. Fulton had been glad that her little
+daughter wished to do so.
+
+"Estralla has never had ANYTHING," Sylvia had urged, "and she is always
+afraid of something. Of being whipped or sold. And I would like to see her
+have clothes like other girls."
+
+Estralla wanted to try on the shoes at once, and when she found that
+they fitted very comfortably, she chuckled and laughed with delight.
+Neither of the girls heard a rap at the door, and both were surprised
+when Aunt Connie, who had opened the door and stood waiting, exclaimed:
+
+"Fo' lan's sake! Wat you lettin' that darky dress up in you' clo'es fer,
+Missy Sylvia?"
+
+"They are her own clothes now, Aunt Connie," Sylvia explained. "My
+mother said I might give them to her."
+
+For a moment the negro woman stood silent. Then she put her hands up to
+her face and began to cry, very quietly. Estralla's laughter vanished.
+She wondered if her mammy was going to tell her that she could not keep
+the things.
+
+"'Scusie, Missy," muttered Aunt Connie; "you'se an angel to my po'
+little gal. An' I'se 'bliged to you. But I'se feared the chile won't
+wear 'em long. Massa Robert Waite's man sez he's gwine sell her off
+right soon."
+
+"He cyan't do no sech thing. Missy Sylvia won't let him," declared
+Estralla, who was perfectly sure that "Missy Sylvia" could do whatever
+she wished. With a pair of shoes on her feet and the blue cape over her
+shoulders Estralla had more courage. Sylvia's kindness had given the
+little colored girl a hope of happier days.
+
+"Aunt Connie, I'll do all I can for Estralla," said Sylvia.
+
+"Will you, Missy? Then ask yo' pa not to let Estralla be sold," pleaded
+Aunt Connie.
+
+Sylvia promised, and Aunt Connie went off smilingly. But Sylvia wondered
+if her father could prevent Mr. Robert Waite from selling the negro
+girl. "Estralla," she said very soberly, "I have promised that you shall
+not be sold, and I will ask my father. But if he cannot do anything, we
+will have to do something ourselves. Will you do whatever I tell you?"
+
+"Oh, yas indeed, Missy," Estralla answered eagerly.
+
+"Well, I'll ask Father to-night. And to-morrow morning you bring up my
+hot water, and I'll tell you what he says. But don't be frightened,
+anyway," said Sylvia.
+
+"I ain't skeered like I used to be," responded Estralla. "Yo' see,
+Missy, I feels jes' as if you was my true fr'en'."
+
+"I'll try to be," Sylvia promised.
+
+Estralla went off happy with her new possessions, and Sylvia turned to
+the window, and looked off across the beautiful harbor toward the forts.
+She had heard her father say, that very noon, that South Carolina would
+fight to keep its slaves, and she wondered if the soldiers in Fort
+Moultrie would not fight to set the black people free. She remembered
+that her father had said that Fort Sumter was the property of the United
+States; and, for some reason which she could not explain even to
+herself, she was sure that Estralla would be safe there. If Mr. Robert
+Waite really meant to sell her, Sylvia again resolved to find some way
+to get the little slave girl to Fort Sumter.
+
+When Estralla brought the hot water the next morning she found a very
+sober little mistress. For Sylvia's father had not only explained the
+meaning of the word "abolitionist" as being the name the southerners had
+given to the men who were determined that slavery of other men, whatever
+their color, should end, but he had told his little daughter that he
+could do nothing to prevent the sale of the little colored girl, and
+that not even at Fort Sumter would she be safe. Sylvia had not gone to
+sleep very early. She lay awake thinking of Estralla. "Suppose somebody
+could sell me away from my mother," she thought, ready to cry even at
+such a possibility. Sylvia knew that Aunt Connie had been whipped
+because she had rebelled against parting with her older children, and
+there was no Philip to take Aunt Connie's part.
+
+"Mornin', Missy," said Estralla, coming into the room, and setting down
+the pitcher of hot water very carefully. She had on the pink gingham
+with one of the white aprons, and as she stood smiling and neat at the
+foot of Sylvia's bed, she looked very different from the clumsy little
+darky who had tumbled into the room a few weeks ago. Sylvia smiled back.
+"Estralla, I want you to be sure to come up-stairs to-night after the
+house is all quiet. Don't tell your mother, or anybody," she said very
+soberly.
+
+"All right, Missy," agreed Estralla, sure that whatever Missy Sylvia
+asked was right.
+
+Sylvia said nothing more, but dressed and went down to breakfast. She
+heard her father say that he feared that South Carolina would secede
+from the United States, and she repeated the word aloud: "'Secede'? What
+does that mean?" She began to think the world was full of difficult
+words.
+
+"In this case it means that the State of South Carolina wishes to give
+up her rights as one of the States of the Union," Mr. Fulton explained,
+"but we hope she will give up slavery instead," he concluded.
+
+Grace was at the gate as Sylvia came out ready for school, and called
+out a gay greeting.
+
+"What are you so sober about, Sylvia?" she asked as they walked on
+together.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE PALMETTO FLAG
+
+
+When Sylvia had told Estralla to come to her room that night, she had
+determined to find a way to get the little negro to a place of safety.
+Sylvia did not know that a negro was, in those far-off days, the
+property of his master as much as a horse or a dog, and that wherever
+the negro might go his master could claim him and punish him for trying
+to escape. Any person aiding a slave to escape could also be punished by
+law.
+
+All Sylvia thought of was to have Estralla protected, and she was quite
+sure that a United States fort could protect one little negro girl.
+Nevertheless she was troubled and worried as to how she could carry out
+her plan; but she resolved not to tell Grace.
+
+As usual Flora was waiting at Miss Patten's gate for her friends. She
+was wearing a pretty turban hat, and pinned in front was a fine blue
+cockade, to which Flora pointed and said: "Look, girls. This is the
+Secession Cockade. Ralph gave it to me," she explained; "all loyal
+Carolinians ought to wear it, Ralph says."
+
+"What does it mean to wear one?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"Oh, it means that you believe South Carolina has a right to keep its
+slaves, and sell them, of course; and if the United States interferes,
+why, Carolinians will teach them a lesson," Flora explained grandly,
+repeating the explanation her father had given her that very morning.
+
+Many of the other girls wore blue cockades, and a palmetto flag was hung
+behind Miss Rosalie's desk.
+
+"Young ladies," said Miss Rosalie, "I have hung South Carolina's flag
+where you can all see it. You all know that a flag is an emblem. Our
+flag means the glory of our past and the hope of the future. I will ask
+you all to rise and salute this flag!"
+
+The little girls all stood, and each raised her right hand. All but
+Sylvia. Flushed and unhappy, with downcast eyes, she kept her seat. This
+was not the "Stars and Stripes," the flag she had been taught to love
+and honor. She knew that the palmetto flag stood for slavery.
+
+Sylvia did not know what Miss Rosalie would say to her, and, even worse
+than her teacher's disapproval, she was sure that her schoolmates,
+perhaps even Grace and Flora, would dislike and blame her for not
+saluting their flag.
+
+But she was soon to realize just how serious was her failure to salute
+the palmetto flag. Miss Rosalie came down the aisle and laid a note on
+Sylvia's desk.
+
+It was very brief: "You may go home at recess. Take your books and go
+quietly without a word to any of the other pupils. You may tell your
+parents that I do not care to have you as a pupil for another day."
+
+As Sylvia read these words the tears sprang to her eyes. It was all she
+could do not to sob aloud. She dared not look at the other girls. She
+held a book before her face, and only hoped that she could keep back the
+tears until recess-time.
+
+But not for a moment did Sylvia wish that she had saluted a flag which
+stood for the protection of slavery. Miss Rosalie had said that a flag
+was an "emblem," and even in her unhappiness Sylvia knew that the emblem
+of the United States stood for justice and liberty.
+
+When the hour of recess came Sylvia had her books neatly strapped, and,
+as Miss Rosalie had directed, she left the room quietly without one word
+to any of the other girls. She had nearly reached the gate when she
+heard steps close behind her and Grace's voice calling: "Sylvia, Sylvia,
+dear," and Grace's arm was about her. "It's a mean shame," declared the
+warm-hearted little southern girl, "and flag or no flag, I'm your true
+friend."
+
+"Grace! Grace!" called Miss Rosalie, and before Sylvia could respond her
+loyal playmate had turned obediently back to the house.
+
+Sylvia stepped out on the street, her eyes a little blurred by tears,
+but greatly comforted by Grace's assuring words of friendship.
+
+She did not want to go home and tell her mother what had happened, and
+show her Miss Patten's note, for she knew that her mother would be
+troubled and unhappy.
+
+Suddenly she decided to go to her father's warehouse and tell him, and
+go home with him at noon. She was sure her father would think she had
+done right.
+
+She turned and walked quickly down King Street, and in a short time she
+was near the wharves and could see the long building where her father
+stored the cotton he purchased from the planters. The wharves were piled
+high with boxes and bales, and there were small boats coming in to the
+wharves, and others making ready to depart.
+
+Sylvia could see her father's boat close to the wharf near the
+warehouse. "I wish I could take that boat and carry Estralla off to Fort
+Sumter," she thought.
+
+A good-natured negro led her to Mr. Fulton's office, and before her
+father could say a word Sylvia was in the midst of her story. She told
+of the blue cockades that the other girls wore, of the palmetto flag,
+and of her failure to salute it, and handed him Miss Patten's note.
+
+Mr. Fulton looked serious and troubled as he listened to his little
+girl's story. Then he lifted her to his knee, took off her pretty hat,
+and said:
+
+"Too bad, dear child! But you did right. A little Yankee girl must be
+loyal to the Stars and Stripes. I am glad you came and told me."
+
+For a moment it seemed to Sylvia that her father had forgotten all about
+her. He was looking straight out of the window.
+
+While he had not forgotten his little girl he was thinking that
+Charleston people must be quite ready to take the serious step of urging
+their State to declare her secession from the United States, and her
+right to buy and sell human beings as slaves.
+
+He wished that the United States officers at Fort Moultrie could realize
+that at any time Charleston men might seize Fort Sumter, where there
+were but few soldiers, and he said aloud: "I ought to warn them."
+
+Sylvia wondered for a moment what her father could mean, but he said
+quickly: "Jump down and put on your hat. I'm going to sail down to Fort
+Moultrie and have a talk with my good friends there, and you can come
+with me."
+
+At this good news Sylvia forgot all her troubles. A sail across the
+harbor with her father was the most delightful thing that she could
+imagine. And she held fast to his hand, smiling happily, as they walked
+down the wharf where the boat was fastened.
+
+Mr. Fulton was beginning to find his position as a northern man in
+Charleston rather uncomfortable. Many of his southern friends firmly
+believed that the northern men had no right to tell them that slavery
+was wrong and must cease. He wished to protect his business interests,
+or he would have returned to Boston; for it was difficult for him not to
+declare his own patriotic feeling that Abraham Lincoln, who had just
+been elected President of the United States, would never permit slavery
+to continue.
+
+Mr. Fulton sent a darky with a message to Sylvia's mother that he was
+taking the little girl for a sail to the forts, and in a short time they
+were on board the Butterfly, as Sylvia had named the white sloop, and
+were going swiftly down the harbor.
+
+"May I steer?" asked Sylvia, and Mr. Fulton smilingly agreed. He was
+very proud of his little daughter's ability to sail a boat, and although
+he watched her shape the boat's course, and was ready to give her any
+needed assistance, he was sure that he could trust her.
+
+As they sailed past Fort Sumter Sylvia could see men at work repairing
+the fortifications. Over both forts waved the Stars and Stripes.
+
+She made a skilful landing at Fort Moultrie, greatly to the admiration
+of the sentry on guard. Mr. Fulton and Sylvia went directly to the
+officer's quarters, which were in the rear of the fort, and where Mrs.
+Carleton gave Sylvia a warm welcome. She asked the little girl about her
+school and Sylvia told her what had happened that morning.
+
+"I am not surprised," said Captain Carleton. "I expect any day that
+Charleston men will take Fort Sumter, and fly the palmetto flag, instead
+of the Stars and Stripes. If Major Anderson had his way we would have a
+stronger force in Fort Sumter, and that is greatly needed."
+
+Major Anderson was the officer in command at Fort Moultrie. He was a
+southern man, but a true and loyal officer of the United States.
+
+When Captain Carleton and Mr. Fulton went out Mrs. Carleton asked Sylvia
+if she was sorry to leave the school, and if she liked her schoolmates.
+Sylvia was eager to tell her of all the good times she had enjoyed with
+Grace and Flora, and declared that they were her true friends. Then she
+told Mrs. Carleton about Estralla, and of her resolve that the little
+darky girl should not be separated from Aunt Connie.
+
+"Your best plan, then, will be to go and see Mr. Robert Waite and ask
+him. He is a kind-hearted man, and perhaps he will promise you to let
+the child stay with her mother. I hope it will not be long now before
+all the slaves will be set free," said Mrs. Carleton.
+
+Before Sylvia could respond Captain Carleton came hurrying into the
+room. He had a letter in his hand, and asked Sylvia to excuse Mrs.
+Carleton for a moment, and they left the room together. In a few moments
+Mrs. Carleton returned alone, and Sylvia heard Captain Carleton say: "It
+is worth trying."
+
+"My dear Sylvia, I want you to do something for me; it is not really for
+me," she added quickly, "it is for the United States. Something to help
+keep the flag flying over these forts."
+
+"Oh, can I do something like that?" Sylvia asked eagerly.
+
+"Yes, my dear. Now, listen carefully. Here is a letter which Major
+Anderson wants delivered to a gentleman who will start for Washington
+to-morrow. If anyone from this fort should be seen visiting that
+gentleman he would not be allowed to leave Charleston as he plans. If
+your father, even, should call upon him it would create suspicion. So I
+am going to ask you to carry this letter to the address written on the
+envelope, and you must give it into his own hands to-night. Not even
+your own father will know that you have this letter; so if he should be
+questioned or watched he will be able to deny knowing of its existence.
+Are you willing to undertake it?"
+
+"Yes! Yes!" promised Sylvia. "I will carry it safely. The gentleman
+shall have the letter to-night," and she reached out her hand to take
+it.
+
+But Mrs. Carleton shook her head. "No, my dear, I will pin it safely
+inside your dress. It would not do for you to be seen leaving the fort
+with a letter in your hand."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SYLVIA CARRIES A MESSAGE
+
+
+Mrs. Fulton did not seem surprised to hear of Sylvia's dismissal from
+Miss Patten's school because of her failure to salute the palmetto flag.
+She did not say very much of the occurrence that afternoon, when Sylvia
+returned from the fort, for she wanted Sylvia to think as pleasantly as
+possible of her pretty teacher. But she was surprised that Sylvia
+herself did not have more to say about the affair.
+
+But Sylvia's own thoughts were so filled by the mysterious letter which
+was pinned inside her dress, with wondering how she could safely deliver
+it without the knowledge of anyone, that she hardly thought of school.
+For the time she had even forgotten Estralla.
+
+"What do you say to becoming a teacher yourself, Sylvia dear?" her
+mother asked, as they sat together in the big sunny room which
+overlooked the harbor.
+
+"When I grow up?" asked Sylvia.
+
+Mrs. Fulton smiled. Sylvia "grown up" seemed a long way in the future.
+
+"No--that is too far away," she answered. "I was thinking that perhaps
+you would like to teach Estralla to read and write. You could begin to-
+morrow, if you wished."
+
+"Yes, indeed! Mother, you think of everything," declared Sylvia. "Why,
+that will be better than going to school!"
+
+"But we must not let your own studies be neglected," her mother reminded
+her, "so after you have given Estralla a morning lesson each day you and
+I will study together and keep up with Grace and Flora. By the way,
+Flora was here just before you and your father reached home; she was
+very sorry not to see you, and I have asked Flora and Grace to come to
+supper to-morrow night."
+
+Sylvia began to think that a world without school was going to be a very
+pleasant world after all. She was sure that it would be great fun to
+teach Estralla, and to have lessons with her mother was even better than
+reciting to pretty Miss Rosalie; and, beside this, her best friends were
+coming to supper the next night, so she had many pleasant things to
+think of, which was exactly what her mother had planned. Her father had
+said that she might ask Grace to go sailing with them in the Butterfly
+in a day or two; and now Sylvia resolved to ask if she might not ask
+Flora as well, and perhaps Estralla could go, too. So it was no wonder
+that she ran up-stairs singing:
+
+"There's a good time coming, It's almost here,"--
+
+greatly to the satisfaction of her father and mother, who had feared
+that she would be very unhappy over the school affair. They were sorry
+it had happened, but they could not blame Sylvia.
+
+"Oh, Missy Sylvia, here I is," and as Sylvia set her candle on the
+table, Estralla stood smiling before her.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Sylvia with such surprise that the little darky looked
+at her wonderingly.
+
+"Yo' tells me to come, an' here I is," she repeated. "You tells me," and
+Estralla sniffed as if ready to give her usual wails, "that you'se gwine
+to stop my bein' sold off from my mammy. How you gwine to stop it,
+Missy?"
+
+For a moment Sylvia was tempted to tell Estralla that it couldn't be
+helped, as long as South Carolina believed in slavery. But Estralla's
+sad eyes and pleading look made her resolve again to protect this little
+slave girl against injustice. So she replied quickly:
+
+"That is my secret. But don't you worry. Some day, very soon, I shall
+tell you all about it. You know, Estralla, that you need not be afraid.
+And what do you think! I am not going to school any more."
+
+Estralla's face had brightened. She was always quite ready to smile, but
+she could not understand why Sylvia had wanted her to come so
+mysteriously to her room.
+
+"And I am going to teach you to read and write," Sylvia added.
+
+"Is you, Missy?" Estralla responded in a half-frightened whisper. Now,
+she thought, she knew all about Missy Sylvia's reasons for the secret
+visit. For very few slave-owners allowed anyone to teach the slaves to
+read and write. Estralla knew this, and it seemed a wonderful thing that
+Missy Sylvia proposed.
+
+"I'll tell you all about it to-morrow morning," said Sylvia; "now run
+away," and with a chuckle of delight Estralla closed the door softly
+behind her. She had been quite ready to run away with Missy Sylvia when
+she had crept up the stairs earlier in the evening. But to stay safely
+with her mammy and learn to read seemed a much happier plan to the
+little darky. If she could read and write! Why, it would be almost as
+wonderful as it would to be a little white girl, she thought.
+
+Now Sylvia realized, as she stood alone in her safe, pleasant chamber,
+that as soon as possible she must deliver the letter entrusted to her.
+If it was to go to Washington it must be some message that was of
+importance to the officers at Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, she
+thought. Perhaps it might even be something that would help Carolinians
+to give up slavery; and then Estralla and Aunt Connie, and all the black
+people she knew and liked, could be safe and have homes of their own.
+
+Sylvia went to the window and peered out. The street and garden lay dark
+and shadowy. Now and then a dark figure went along the street. The house
+seemed very quiet. She tiptoed to the closet and took out a brown cape.
+It was one which she wore on stormy days, and nearly covered her. Then
+from one of the bureau drawers she drew out a long blue silk scarf, and
+twisted it about her head.
+
+"I can pull the end over my face, and they'll think I'm a darky," she
+thought, resolved if anyone spoke to her not to answer.
+
+She whispered over the name and address on the letter. She knew that the
+street led from King Street, and she was sure that she could find it.
+But it was some distance from home; it would be late before she could
+get back.
+
+She blew out her candle, opened her chamber door and stood listening.
+She could not hear a sound, and tiptoed cautiously along the hall to the
+stairs. What if the door of her mother's room should open, she thought,
+terrified at such a possibility. What could she say? She had promised
+not to tell of the letter, and what reason could she give for creeping
+out of the house at that hour?
+
+But she reached the lower floor safely, and now came the danger of
+making a noise when opening the door. Sylvia grasped the big key and
+turned it slowly. Then she pulled at the heavy door, and it swung back
+easily. She gave a long breath of relief as she stepped out on the
+piazza. She left the door ajar, so that she could slip in easily on her
+return. Keeping in the shadow of the trees she reached the street, and
+now she felt sure that nothing could prevent her from delivering the
+letter.
+
+She ran swiftly along, now and then meeting someone who glanced
+wonderingly at the flying little figure. She had reached King Street and
+was nearly at the street where she was to turn, when suddenly a heavy
+hand grasped her arm and nearly swung her from her feet.
+
+"Running off, are you? And wearing your mistress's clothes at that, I'll
+warrant," said a gruff voice. "Wall, now, whose darky are you?"
+
+Sylvia pulled the silken scarf from her face, and even in the glimmer of
+the dull street-lamp under which the man had drawn her he could see the
+auburn hair and blue eyes. But he still kept his grasp on her arm. There
+were slaves who were not black, he knew, and "quality white" girls were
+not running about Charleston streets alone at night.
+
+"What is your name?" he demanded.
+
+Sylvia looked at him resentfully. "How dare you grab me like this?" she
+demanded. "Let me go."
+
+The man released his grasp instantly. No darky girl or slave would have
+spoken like that. He vanished as suddenly as he had appeared, more
+frightened now than Sylvia herself.
+
+For an instant Sylvia stood quite still. She felt ready to cry, and now
+walked more slowly. For the first time she realized something of what it
+must be to be a colored girl.
+
+"If I had been Estralla he could have dragged me off and had me
+whipped," she thought. "Oh, I must get Mr. Robert Waite to let Estralla
+stay safe with us."
+
+She was now near her destination, which proved to be a large house right
+on the street. She knocked at the door several times before it was
+opened. Then she found herself looking up at a tall man whose white hair
+and kindly smile gave her confidence.
+
+"Well, little girl, whom do you wish to see?" he asked pleasantly.
+
+"I have a message, I--" began Sylvia, her voice trembling a little. "Are
+you Mr. Doane?"
+
+"Yes; come in," and he held the door open for her to enter, and then
+closed and fastened it behind them.
+
+Sylvia drew the letter from its hiding-place and handed it to him, and
+Mr. Doane slipped it into his pocket.
+
+"Come in, my child, and rest a moment; you are out of breath," he said,
+leading the way to a small room at the end of the narrow hall.
+
+Sylvia was glad to sit down in a low chair near the table, while Mr.
+Doane opened the envelope. She could see that there was another letter
+enclosed, as well as the one which the tall man was reading with such
+interest.
+
+When he had finished reading the letter he tore it into a great many
+small pieces. Then he put the enclosed envelope carefully in an inner
+pocket.
+
+"So you brought me this letter from the fort. Well, you have done what I
+hope may prove a great service to the Stars and Stripes. I thank you,"
+he said, looking with smiling eyes at the tired little figure in the
+brown cape.
+
+Then he asked Sylvia her name, and she told him that no one, not even
+her dear mother, knew that she had brought the message. Before they had
+finished their talk he had heard all about the blue cockades that the
+girls had worn at Miss Patten's school, and of Sylvia's refusal to
+salute the palmetto flag.
+
+"You see I couldn't do that, because it would mean that I believed that
+Estralla ought to be a slave, and of course I don't believe such a
+dreadful thing," she explained. So then Mr. Doane heard all about
+Estralla and Aunt Connie.
+
+Sylvia decided that she liked Mr. Doane even better than Captain
+Carleton. And when he told her again that by her courage in bringing him
+the message from the fort, and by her silence in regard to it, that she
+had done him a great service, as well as a service to those whose only
+wish for South Carolina was that the State should free herself from
+slavery, Sylvia forgot all about the long walk through the shadowy
+streets.
+
+"I wish I had someone to send with you to see you home safely," Mr.
+Doane said, a little anxiously, as they stood together in the little
+hallway. "But I am known here, and I fear everything I do is watched. So
+I must trust that you will be safely cared for."
+
+Before Sylvia could reply, and say that she was not at all afraid to go
+alone, the outer door rattled as if someone were trying to push it open.
+
+"You have been followed. Run back to the sitting-room," whispered Mr.
+Doane. "I will open the door."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+ESTRALLA HELPS
+
+
+Sylvia, standing just inside the door of the small room, heard the outer
+door swing open. She heard Mr. Doane's sharp question, and then a
+familiar wail.
+
+"Oh! It's Estralla!" she exclaimed, and ran back to the entry.
+
+"It's Estralla! Oh! I'm so glad!" she said.
+
+"Don' you be skeered, Missy Sylvia," said Estralla valiantly. "Dis yere
+man cyan't take you off'n sell you."
+
+"All Estralla can think of is that somebody is going to be carried off
+and sold," Sylvia said, turning to Mr. Doane, who stood by looking very
+serious.
+
+"How did you know where your little mistress was?" he questioned
+gravely. For if this little darky knew of Sylvia's errand he feared that
+she might tell others, and so Sylvia would have brought the message from
+the fort to little purpose. The letter, which was now in Mr. Doane's
+pocket, was to the Secretary of War in Washington, asking for permission
+for Major Anderson to take men to Fort Sumter, before the secessionists
+could occupy it.
+
+"I follers Missy," explained Bstralla. "An' when that man grabs her on
+King Street, I was gwine to chase right home an' get Massa Fulton, but
+Missy talks brave at him, an' he lets go of her. Oh, Missy! What you
+doin' of way off here?"
+
+At this question Mr. Doane smiled, realizing that the little negro girl
+had no knowledge of the message which Sylvia had delivered.
+
+"Well, Estralla, suppose Miss Sylvia came to try and help give you your
+freedom?" he asked.
+
+"An' my mammy?" demanded Estralla eagerly.
+
+"Why, of course," Mr. Doane replied. "For anything that helps to
+convince South Carolina that she is wrong will help to free the slaves,"
+he added, turning to Sylvia.
+
+"Now, Estralla, if you love Miss Sylvia, if you want to stay with your
+mammy, you must never tell of her visit here to-night. Remember!" and
+Mr. Doane's voice was very stern.
+
+"Estralla won't tell," Sylvia declared confidently; "and I am glad she
+came to go home with me."
+
+"Shuah I'll do jes' what Missy wants me to," said the little darky.
+
+"Try to let Mrs. Carleton know that I received the letter, and that I
+hope to reach Washington safely," said Mr. Doane, as he bade Sylvia
+good-night.
+
+As the door closed behind them Estralla clasped Sylvia's hand.
+
+"Wat dat clock say?" she asked; for one of the city clocks was striking
+the hour.
+
+"It's twelve o'clock," answered Sylvia.
+
+"Oh! My lan', Missy! Dat's a terrible onlucky time fer us to be out,"
+whispered Estralla. "Dat's de time w'en witch folks comes a-dancin' an'
+a-prancin' 'roun' and takes off chilluns."
+
+Sylvia knew that all the negroes believed in witches and all sorts of
+impossible tales, so Estralla's words did not at all frighten her, but
+she did wish that she was safe in her own home. The streets were now
+dark and silent, and black shadows seemed to lurk at every corner as,
+hand in hand, Estralla and Sylvia ran swiftly along.
+
+"I tells you, Missy, dat it's jes' lucky I comes after you, cos' witch-
+folks, w'at comes floatin' 'roun' 'bout dis hour of de night, dey ain't
+gwine to tech us; cos' when dey's two folks holdin' each other hands
+tight, jes' like we is, dey don't dast to tech us," said Estralla.
+
+"Where were you, Estralla, when I came down-stairs?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"I was jes' a-takin' a little sleep on de big rug side of your door,
+Missy. I'se been a-sleepin' dere dis long time. My mammy lets me. An'
+when you opens de door I mos' calls out, but didn't. I jes' stan's up
+quick, so's you nebber know I was thar," and Estralla chuckled happily.
+
+Sylvia wondered to herself why Estralla should choose such a hard bed.
+Then, suddenly, she realized all Estralla's devotion. That the little
+negro girl had slept there to be near her "fr'en'." She remembered the
+first time that she had ever seen Estralla, on the morning when she had
+tumbled in to Sylvia's room and broken the big pitcher, and that even
+then Estralla had been ready to confess and take the whipping that she
+was sure would follow, rather than let Sylvia be blamed. She recalled
+Estralla's effort to rescue her at Fort Sumter on the day Sylvia had run
+away from Miss Patten's school; and she remembered that it was Estralla
+who had told Miss Patten the real reason, and so saved her from further
+trouble.
+
+"Estralla, you have been my true friend," she declared, "and I am going
+to remember it always. I am going to ask my mother to put a nice little
+bed for you in your mammy's cabin."
+
+"Don' yo' do that, Missy. I likes sleepin' on de rug," pleaded Estralla.
+
+"Hush, we must creep in without making any noise," responded Sylvia, in
+a whisper, for they were now directly in front of Sylvia's home.
+
+Noiselessly Estralla led the way.
+
+"Oh, Missy! de door is shut fas'," she whispered, as she endeavored to
+push it open,
+
+"But it can't be shut," Sylvia answered.
+
+Both the little girls pushed against it, but the door stood fast.
+
+"Oh! What will we do?" half sobbed Sylvia, who was now very tired, and
+almost too sleepy to think of anything.
+
+"We cyan't get in de back door. My mammy she'd wake up if a rabbit run
+twixt her cabin an' de kitchen," Estralla whispered back. "I 'spec's
+I'll hev' to climb up to de winder ober de porch, and comes down and let
+you in."
+
+"Oh! Can you, Estralla?"
+
+Sylvia's voice was very near to tears. She had forgotten all about the
+importance of the message she had safely delivered. All she wanted now
+was to be inside this dear safe house where her mother and father were
+sleeping, not knowing that their little girl, cold and sleepy, was shut
+out.
+
+"I 'spec's I can," Estralla answered. "You jes' stay quiet, an' in 'bout
+four shakes of a lamb's tail I'se gwine to open de door, an' in yo'
+walks."
+
+There was a little scrambling noise among the stout vines which ran up
+the pillars of the porch as Estralla started to carry out her plan. A
+cat, or a fluttering bird, would have hardly made more commotion. Sylvia
+listened eagerly. Suppose the porch window was fastened? she thought
+fearfully. It seemed a very long time before the front door opened, and
+Estralla reached out and clutched at the brown cape.
+
+Noiselessly they crept up the stairs, Estralla leading the way. It was
+she who opened the door of Sylvia's room, and then with a whispered
+"Yo'se all right now, Missy," closed it behind her.
+
+Sylvia hung up the brown cape in the closet, and slipped off her dress.
+She was soon in bed and fast asleep, and it was late the next morning
+before she awoke--so late that her father had breakfasted and gone to
+his warehouse; Estralla had been sent on an errand, and Mrs. Fulton
+decided that Sylvia should have a holiday.
+
+"You seem tired, dear child," she said a little anxiously, as Sylvia
+said that she did not want to go to walk; that she had rather sit still.
+
+"I guess I am tired," acknowledged the little girl, and was quite
+content to sit by the window with a story-book, instead of giving
+Estralla a lesson.
+
+"If it had not been for Estralla I don't know what would have happened
+to me last night," she thought. She wondered who had closed and fastened
+the front door, but dared not ask.
+
+Grace and Flora were to come early that afternoon, as soon after school
+as possible, and Flora had sent Sylvia a note that she would bring her
+lace-work and give her a lesson. By noon Sylvia felt rested, and was
+looking eagerly forward to her friends' visit. She began to feel that
+she was a very fortunate little girl to have had the chance to do
+something that might help, as Mr. Doane had said, to give the black
+people their freedom. She only wished that she could tell her mother and
+father of the midnight journey.
+
+"But I will ask Mrs. Carleton the next time I go to the fort to let me
+tell Mother," she resolved.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A HAPPY AFTERNOON
+
+
+Grace was the first to arrive, and she declared that she wished that she
+was in Sylvia's place and need not go to school another day.
+
+The two little friends stood at the window watching for Flora, and it
+was not long before they saw her coming up the walk, closely followed by
+her black "Mammy," who was carrying two baskets. One of these seemed
+very heavy.
+
+"What can be in Mammy's basket, I wonder?" said Grace. "And, look,
+Sylvia! Flora isn't wearing the blue cockade! That's because she is
+coming to visit you. She had it on at school this morning."
+
+Flora wore the same pretty velvet turban which she had worn on Sylvia's
+last day at school. She had on a cape of garnet-colored velvet, and as
+she came running into the room Sylvia looked at her with admiring eyes.
+
+"You do look so pretty, Flora! And I am so glad to see you. Come up-
+stairs to my room and take off your things."
+
+"It isn't half the fun going to school now that you don't come, Sylvia,"
+responded Flora, as the three friends went up the broad staircase
+together. "Mammy," with her baskets, followed them, and when she had
+helped her little mistress lay aside her cape and hat, Flora said:
+
+"You can go home now, Mammy, And my mother will tell you when to come
+after me."
+
+"Yas, Missy," responded the old colored woman, and with a curtsey to
+each of the little girls she left the room.
+
+"What makes your mammy look so sober, Flora?" questioned Grace. "She is
+usually all smiles; but to-day she hasn't a word to say for herself."
+
+"Oh, the darkies are all stirred up over all this talk about their being
+set free," Flora answered, "and even Mammy, who was Mother's nurse, and
+has always been well taken care of, thinks it would be a fine thing for
+her children and grandchildren to be 'jes' like white folks,'" and Flora
+laughed scornfully.
+
+"But that needn't make her look sober!" insisted Grace.
+
+"I reckon she's upset because my mother sold two or three little slaves
+yesterday--Mammy's grandchildren," Flora answered carelessly.
+
+Sylvia could feel her face flushing, and she said over to herself that
+no matter what Flora said that she, Sylvia, must remember that Flora was
+her guest. Beside that, had not Flora taken off the blue cockade so that
+Sylvia would not be reminded of the trouble at school?
+
+But Grace felt no such restraints. She was a southern girl as well as
+Flora, but she was sorry for the old colored woman.
+
+"Well, I do wish we could keep the pickaninnies until they grow up. It
+seems a shame when they feel so bad to be sold off to strangers. And
+some of them are abused too," she said.
+
+"You talk as if they felt just the same as we do, and that's silly,"
+Flora declared; "but Philip talks just the same. He says he is going to
+give Dinkie her freedom," and she turned toward the two baskets which
+Mammy had set down with such care near Molly and Polly.
+
+"I brought my lace-work, and Mother has fixed a cushion for you, Sylvia,
+and one for Grace, too. See! The pattern is begun on each one, and I
+will give you both lessons until you know as much as I do." As Flora
+talked she had opened the smaller basket and taken out two square boxes
+and handed one to each of her friends.
+
+"Open them," she said, nodding smilingly.
+
+The box which she handed to Sylvia was covered with plaited blue silk.
+It had a narrow edge of gilt braid around the cover. Grace's box was
+covered with yellow silk, but the boxes were of the same size.
+
+As Sylvia and Grace lifted the covers they smiled and exclaimed happily.
+The lace cushion lay inside, and in dainty little pockets on each side
+of the boxes were the delicate threads and materials for the lace. A
+thimble of gold, with "Sylvia from Flora" engraved around its rim, was
+in Sylvia's box, and one exactly like it was in Grace's box.
+
+"Oh, Flora Hayes! This is the most beautiful present that ever was!"
+declared Sylvia; and Grace, holding the box with both hands, was hopping
+up and down saying over and over: "Flora! You are just like the Golden
+Princess in a fairy story who gives people what they want most."
+
+"My mother made the boxes herself," Flora explained proudly. "I wanted
+to give you girls something, and I'm awfully glad you like them." Then
+Flora stood up quickly.
+
+"Girls! I dressed up in Mother's hat and skirt, that night at the
+plantation. It wasn't Lady Caroline."
+
+She spoke very rapidly as if she wished to finish as quickly as
+possible. It was not easy to think of Flora Hayes as being ashamed, but
+Sylvia felt quite sure that Flora felt sorry that she had attempted to
+deceive her friends.
+
+"I knew it all the time," said Grace slowly, "and I told Sylvia it was
+you; didn't I, Sylvia?"
+
+"Yes," said Sylvia, "and we knew you were sure to tell us about it,
+Flora. But you did look just like the picture of Lady Caroline."
+
+Flora sat down. It had been so much easier to confess than she had
+expected. Neither Grace nor Sylvia had seemed resentful or surprised.
+
+"You didn't tell me that you knew," she said, a little accusingly.
+
+"Oh, well, we couldn't do that, Flora. You see we were your guests,"
+Grace explained.
+
+"And we knew you were sure to tell us," Sylvia added.
+
+Flora was silent for a moment. She was thinking that both her friends
+had been rather fine about the whole affair. They had not run screaming
+from their room on the appearance of the "ghost," and alarmed the house,
+and so brought discovery and punishment and shame upon her; neither had
+they resented her not confessing.
+
+"Well, I do think you two girls are the nicest girls in this town," she
+declared, "and I am mighty proud that you are my friends. I can tell you
+one thing: I'll never try to make anyone believe in ghosts again. I was
+half frightened to death myself when I crept up those stairs, and my
+shoulder has been lame ever since."
+
+Grace and Sylvia had wondered what the large basket contained, but in
+their interest over Flora's beautiful gifts, and their delight in her
+"owning up" to being the "ghost," they had quite forgotten about it. It
+was Flora who now pointed at it and said laughingly: "I've brought my
+dolls in that basket."
+
+"Molly and Polly will be glad enough to have company," Sylvia assured
+her.
+
+Flora opened the basket and took out a large black "mammy" in a purple
+dress, white apron, and a yellow handkerchief twisted turban-fashion
+about her head.
+
+"Mammy Jane always goes with the young ladies," she explained
+laughingly, and took out two fine china dolls dressed in white muslin
+with broad crimson silk sashes. Each of these fine ladies had a tiny
+parasol of crimson silk.
+
+"I'm going home after my dolls," exclaimed Grace, and while Sylvia
+brought cushions for these unexpected visitors, and introduced them to
+Molly and Polly, Grace hurried home and was soon back again with her own
+treasured dolls, which she introduced as "Mr. and Mrs. and Miss
+Delaney."
+
+The lesson in lace-making was quite forgotten as the three girls played
+with the array of dolls.
+
+Sylvia ran to the door and called Estralla, who appeared so quickly that
+Sylvia wondered where she could have been. Estralla was told that she
+must help "Mammy Jane" take care of the doll visitors, and the little
+negro's face beamed with pleasure. Not one of the little girls in the
+pleasant room was as happy as Estralla; and when supper was ready and
+Sylvia and her friends went down-stairs, leaving Estralla in charge of
+all the dolls, she could hardly believe in her good fortune, and, as
+usual, was sure it was all due to her beloved Missy Sylvia.
+
+After supper the dolls were all invited downstairs to be introduced to
+Sylvia's father and mother; and Estralla, smiling and delighted, was
+entrusted with bringing "Mammy Jane."
+
+The three friends often looked back on that happy afternoon, for on the
+very next day Mr. Hayes decided to move his family to the plantation,
+and it was many days before Sylvia, Grace and Flora were to be together
+again. The citizens of Charleston, in December, 1860, were becoming
+anxious as to what might befall them. Very soon it might be possible
+that South Carolina would secede from the Union, and war with the
+northern states might follow. In such a case the guns of Fort Sumter and
+Fort Moultrie might fire on Charleston, and many planters who had homes
+in Charleston were sending their families to their country homes.
+Northern men who had business in Charleston were also anxious, and
+Sylvia did not know that her own father was seriously considering a
+return to Boston.
+
+But the little girls bade each other good-night with happy smiles and
+laughter, and without a thought but that they would have many more
+pleasant times together.
+
+Sylvia did not even think of the lace-making until she brought down her
+pretty box to show to her mother and father.
+
+"The Charleston people have been so kind to us," Mrs. Fulton said, a
+little sadly.
+
+"They are the most courteous and kindly people in the world," declared
+Mr. Fulton.
+
+Sylvia went up to her room wondering why her mother and father seemed so
+serious, when everything was so lovely. She had almost forgotten her
+adventure of the previous night, and went happily to bed with Flora's
+pretty gift on the light-stand beside her bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MR. ROBERT WAITE
+
+
+It was a very sober little darky who came up to Sylvia's room the next
+morning. She set down the pitcher of water and moved silently toward the
+door.
+
+"What's the matter, Estralla?" Sylvia called; for usually Estralla was
+all smiles, and had a good deal to say.
+
+Estralla shook her head. "Nuffin', Missy. I knowed you couldn't do
+nuffin' 'bout it. My mammy says how nobody can."
+
+"Wait, Estralla! What do you mean?" exclaimed Sylvia, sitting up in bed.
+
+"I'se gwine to be sold! Jes' like I tells you. My mammy was over to
+Massa Waite's house las' night, and she hears ober dar dat Massa
+Robert's gwine to sell off every nigger what ain't workin'--this week!"
+Estralla's voice had drifted into her old-time wail.
+
+"Oh, Estralla! What can I do?" and Sylvia was out of bed in a second,
+standing close beside the little colored girl.
+
+"I dunno, Missy Sylvia. I 'spec' dar ain't nuffin' you kin do. But you
+has been mighty good to me," Estralla replied. "It's mighty hard to go
+off and leave my mammy an' never see you-all no more, Missy Sylvia. I
+dunno whar I'll be sent."
+
+"Estralla, if you were earning wages for Mr. Robert Waite would he let
+you stay here?" Sylvia asked eagerly.
+
+"I reckon he would, Missy. But who's a-gwine to pay wages for a
+pickaninny like me? Nobuddy! Missy, I'se a-gwine to run off an' hide
+myself 'til the Yankee soldiers comes and sets us free," said Estralla.
+
+"You can't do that. But don't be frightened, Estralla. I have thought of
+something. I will hire you! Yes, I will; and pay wages for you to Mr.
+Waite. I'll go tell him so this very day," declared Sylvia, her face
+brightening, as she remembered the twenty dollars in gold which her
+Grandmother Fulton had given her when she had left Boston. "You can do
+whatever you please with it," was what Grandmother Fulton had said.
+
+Sylvia had thought that she would ask her mother to buy her a watch with
+the money, but she did not remember that now. She knew that, more than
+anything, she would rather keep Estralla safe. Twenty dollars was a good
+deal of money, she reflected. If the northern soldiers would only come
+quickly and set the slaves free! But even if they did not come for a
+long time the money would surely pay Mr. Waite wages for Estralla, so
+that he would not insist on selling her.
+
+Estralla's face had brightened instantly at Sylvia's promise. And when
+Sylvia explained that she had money of her very own, and even opened her
+writing desk and showed Estralla the shining gold pieces, the little
+darky's fears vanished. She was as sure that all would be well now, as
+she had been frightened and despondent when she entered the room.
+
+"Shall I tell my mammy?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Yes," Sylvia responded. "I know my mother will let me. Because Grandma
+said I could do as I pleased with the money. And I please to pay it to
+Mr. Waite."
+
+"Then I'll be your maid, won't I, Missy Sylvia?" chuckled the little
+darky with proud delight, "an' I'll allers go whar yo' goes, like Missy
+Flora Hayes' mammy does."
+
+"Why, yes, I suppose you will," agreed Sylvia.
+
+Sylvia had meant to tell her mother and father of her plan about
+Estralla at breakfast time, but her father was just leaving the dining-
+room when she came in.
+
+"Are you going to ask your little friends to go out in the Butterfly
+this afternoon?" he asked. "If you want to go to the forts you must be
+on hand early."
+
+"I'll ask them right away after breakfast, before they start for
+school," Sylvia promised eagerly. She was glad that she could go to the
+forts again, and tell Mrs. Carleton that she had given the letter to Mr.
+Doane. This filled her thoughts for the moment, so she quite forgot
+about her plan to employ Estralla, especially as her mother had decided
+that lessons would not begin until the following week.
+
+It had seemed to Mrs. Fulton that her little daughter was tired, and not
+as well as usual, and she was glad that the sailing expedition would
+take her out for a long afternoon on the water.
+
+Sylvia ate her breakfast hurriedly, and ran upstairs for her cape and
+hat, to find Estralla waiting just inside the door of her room.
+
+"Wat yo' mammy say 'bout my bein' yo' maid?" questioned the little
+darky.
+
+"Oh, it will be all right. I am going to ask Grace and Flora to go
+sailing this afternoon, and I'll keep on to Mr. Robert Waite's and have
+it all settled this morning," Sylvia replied, putting on her pretty new
+hat.
+
+"You may come, too," she added.
+
+"Yas, Missy. Wat yo' reckon Massa Robert gwine to say?" questioned
+Estralla earnestly.
+
+"I think I will take the money," Sylvia said, not answering Estralla's
+question; "then Mr. Waite will be sure that I can pay him."
+
+Mrs. Fulton saw Sylvia, closely followed by Estralla, running across the
+garden toward the house where Grace Waite lived.
+
+"Poor little darky! What will she do when Sylvia goes north?" she
+thought. For Mr. Fulton had told her that very morning that he was sure
+South Carolina would secede from the Union, and then northern men would
+no longer be welcome in Charleston. That meant of course that the
+Fultons would have to return to Boston, if that were possible, but all
+communication with northern states might be prevented. It was no wonder
+that Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were anxious and worried.
+
+Grace was ready to start for school when Sylvia and Estralla arrived,
+and her mother gave her consent at once for her to go sailing in the
+afternoon.
+
+"The Christmas holidays will soon be here, so a half day out of school
+will not matter," Mrs. Waite said smilingly, and gave Grace a note for
+Miss Patten.
+
+"I'll walk to Flora's with you," said Grace. "Now, Sylvia, own up that
+you think Charleston is nicer than Boston. Why, it is all ice and snow
+and cold weather up there, and here it is warm and pleasant. You
+couldn't go sailing if you were in Boston to-day," she added laughingly.
+
+"No, but I could go sleighing," responded Sylvia.
+
+As they came in sight of Flora's home they both exclaimed in surprise:
+
+"Why, they are all going away! Look, Flora and her mother are in the
+carriage!" said Grace, "and there is Philip on horseback."
+
+The carriage had turned on to the street, and even as Grace spoke a
+curve in the road hid it from view. Philip, evidently giving some
+directions to the negroes who were loading trunks and boxes into a cart,
+rode down the driveway just as Grace and Sylvia reached the entrance.
+
+He greeted them smilingly, and stopped his horse to speak with them.
+
+"It was all planned for us to go to the plantation before Flora got home
+last night," he explained. "Father thought it was best for the family to
+be out of the city. You see, it's getting time for Carolinians to take
+possession of the forts, and there may be trouble. But the palmetto flag
+will soon float over Fort Sumter," he added smilingly, and with a touch
+of his cap and a smiling good-bye he rode off.
+
+Sylvia was sorry that Flora was going away, but that Philip should want
+the palmetto flag to take the place of the Stars and Stripes over Fort
+Sumter seemed a much greater misfortune. "When he knows it stands for
+slavery," she thought, wondering if he had entirely forgotten about
+Dinkie.
+
+"I'll have to run, or I'll be late for school," declared Grace. "I'll be
+all ready when you call," and with a gay good-bye she was off down the
+street, leaving Sylvia and Estralla standing alone near the high wall
+which enclosed the garden of the Hayes house.
+
+"Massa Robert Waite, he live right 'roun' de corner," said Estralla, and
+the two girls turned down the street leading to the house of Estralla's
+master.
+
+Sylvia went up the flight of stone steps which led to Mr. Waite's door a
+little fearfully. A tall, good-natured colored man opened the door and
+asked her errand, and then led the way across the wide hall and rapped
+at a door.
+
+"A little white missy to see you, Massa Robert," he said, and in a
+moment Sylvia found herself standing before a smiling gentleman, whose
+red face and white whiskers made her think of the pictures of Santa
+Claus.
+
+"Won't you be seated, young lady?" he said, very politely, waving his
+hand toward a low cushioned chair, and bowing "as if I were really grown
+up," thought Sylvia.
+
+"I am Sylvia Fulton," she said, wondering why her voice sounded so
+faint.
+
+"Perhaps you are the daughter of Mr. John Fulton, who does me the favor
+of renting my house on the East Battery," responded Mr. Waite, with
+another bow.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Sylvia meekly, wondering whether she would ever dare
+tell him her errand. There was a little silence, and then Mr. Waite took
+a seat near his little visitor and said:
+
+"Let me see; is not your name in a song? 'Then to Sylvia let us sing,'"
+he hummed, beating time with his right hand.
+
+"Oh, yes, I was named for that song. And, if you please, Mr. Waite,
+would you let me pay you wages for Estralla?"
+
+"For Estralla? Now, of course, I ought to know all about Estralla. But,
+you see, I have a man who attends to the names, and all that, of my
+negroes. But perhaps you can tell me who Estralla is?" replied Mr.
+Waite.
+
+"If you please, sir, she is Aunt Connie's little girl, and she lives
+with us, and I like her, and I thought--" began Sylvia, but Mr. Waite
+raised his hand, and she stopped suddenly.
+
+"I see! I see! You want her to wait upon you. I see. Quite right. But if
+she is living in your house she is not costing me a penny for board. So
+I am indebted to you. Well! Well! I must see that whatever you wish is
+carried out. You need not pay me wages, little Miss Sylvia, but you
+shall have the girl for your own servant as long as you live in my
+house, and I am delighted to have you take her off my hands. Yes,
+indeed! Yes, indeed!" and Mr. Waite smiled and bowed, and seemed exactly
+like Santa Claus.
+
+"I'm ever so much obliged," said Sylvia. "I like Estralla."
+
+"Do you? Yes! Well! And I hope you will come again, Miss Sylvia. I am
+greatly pleased to have made your acquaintance," and the polite
+gentleman escorted her to the door, where he bade her good-bye with such
+an elegant bow that Sylvia nearly fell backward in her effort to make as
+low a curtsey as seemed necessary.
+
+Estralla had hidden herself behind some shrubbery, and joined Sylvia at
+the gate.
+
+"Would he hire me out, Missy?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"My, no!" answered Sylvia, and before she could explain the generosity
+of Estralla's owner, the little darky was wailing and sobbing: "I knowed
+I'd be sold! I knowed it."
+
+"Keep still, Estralla! Mr. Waite says I may have you without paying him.
+Just as long as I live in his house he said you were to be my maid!
+Oh, Estralla! He was just as kind and polite as if I had been a grown-up
+young lady," said Sylvia with enthusiasm.
+
+"Yas'm, I reckons he would hafter be, 'cos he's a Carolinian gen'man.
+I'se mighty glad he gives me to you, Missy. I reckon my mammy's gwine to
+be glad," and Estralla, quite forgetting that there was such a thing as
+trouble in the world, danced along beside her new mistress.
+
+Sylvia hurried home, eager to tell her mother of her wonderful new
+friend, and of Flora's departure to the plantation.
+
+Mrs. Fulton listened in surprise. But when Sylvia finished her story of
+Mr. Waite's kindness, declaring that he was just like Santa Claus, she
+did not reprove her for going on such an errand without permission, but
+agreed with her little daughter that Mr. Robert Waite was a very kind
+and generous gentleman.
+
+Aunt Connie was as delighted as it was possible for a mother to be who
+knows that her youngest child is safe under the same roof with herself.
+She tried to thank Sylvia for protecting Estralla, but Sylvia was too
+happy over her success to listen to her.
+
+When Grace returned from school Sylvia ran over and told her all about
+her Uncle Robert's kindness.
+
+Grace listened with wondering eyes.
+
+"Oh, that's just like Uncle Robert," she declared. "But I think you were
+brave to ask him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"WHERE IS SYLVIA?"
+
+
+The Butterfly was all ready and waiting for its passengers when Grace
+and Sylvia, followed by the smiling and delighted Estralla, who was
+carrying Sylvia's cape and trying to act as much like a "rale grown-up
+lady's maid" as possible, came down to the long wharf.
+
+Although it was December, there was little to remind anyone of winter.
+The air was soft and clear, the sun shone brightly, and only a little
+westerly breeze ruffled the blue waters of the harbor.
+
+Negroes were at work on the wharf loading bales of cotton on a big ship.
+They were singing as they worked, and Sylvia resolved to remember the
+words of the song:
+
+"De big bee flies high,
+ De little bee makes de honey,
+ De black man raise de cotton,
+ An' de white man gets de money."
+
+She repeated it over and then Grace sang it, with an amused laugh at her
+friend's interest in "nigger songs."
+
+Mr. Fulton came to meet them and helped them on board the boat. As the
+Butterfly made its way out into the channel the little girls looked back
+at the long water-front, where lay many vessels from far-off ports. In
+the distance they could see the spire of St. Philip's, one of the
+historic churches of Charleston, and everywhere fluttered the palmetto
+flag.
+
+Sylvia sat in the stern beside her father, and very soon the tiller was
+in her hand and she was shaping the boat's course toward the forts.
+Grace watched her admiringly.
+
+"I believe you could steer in the dark," she declared.
+
+"Of course she could if she had a compass and was familiar with the
+stars," said Mr. Fulton; and he called Grace's attention to the compass
+fastened securely near Sylvia's seat, and explained the rules of
+navigation.
+
+"Is that the way the big ships know how to find their harbors?" asked
+Grace, when Mr. Fulton told her of the stars, and how the pilots set
+their course.
+
+"Yes, and if Sylvia understood how to steer by the compass she could
+steer the Butterfly as well at night as she can now."
+
+Sylvia looked at the compass with a new interest; she was sure that
+navigation would be a much more interesting study than grammar, and
+resolved to ask her father to teach her how to "box the compass."
+
+There had been many changes at Fort Moultrie since Sylvia's last visit.
+A deep ditch had been dug between the fort and the sand-bars, and many
+workmen were busy in strengthening the defences, and Sylvia and Grace
+wondered why so many soldiers were stationed along the parapet.
+
+Captain Carleton seemed very glad to welcome them, and sent a soldier to
+escort the girls to the officers' quarters, while Mr. Fulton went in
+search of Major Anderson. Sylvia wondered if she would have a chance to
+tell Mrs. Carleton that she had safely delivered the message.
+
+Mrs. Carleton was in her pleasant sitting-room and declared that she had
+been wishing for company, and held up some strips of red and white
+bunting. "I am making a new flag for Fort Sumter," she said. "Perhaps
+you will help me sew on the stars, one for each State, you know."
+
+"Is there one for South Carolina?" asked Grace, as Mrs. Carleton found
+two small thimbles, which she said she had used when she was no older
+than Sylvia, and showed the girls how to sew the white stars securely on
+the blue.
+
+"Yes, indeed! One of the first stars on the flag was for South
+Carolina," replied Mrs. Carleton, "and this very fort was named for a
+defender of America's rights."
+
+While Grace and Sylvia were so pleasantly occupied Estralla had wandered
+out, crossed the bridge which connected the officers' quarters with the
+fort, and now found herself near the landing-place, so that when Mrs.
+Carleton made the girls a cup of hot chocolate and looked about to give
+Estralla her share, the little colored girl was not to be seen.
+
+"I'll call her," said Sylvia, and ran out on the veranda.
+
+No response came to her calls, so she went down the steps and along the
+walk which led to the sand-bars, past the houses and barracks on
+Sullivan's island. No one was in sight whom she could ask if Estralla
+had passed that way. She climbed a small sand-hill covered with stunted
+little trees and looked about, but could see no trace of the little
+darky. It had not occurred to Sylvia that Estralla would go back to the
+fort.
+
+"Oh, dear! I wonder where she can be," thought Sylvia, calling
+"Estralla! Estralla!" and sure that if she was within hearing Estralla
+would instantly appear. As Sylvia climbed over the sandy slope she saw
+here and there a small green vine with glossy leaves and a tiny yellow
+blossom, and resolved to gather a bunch to carry back to Mrs. Carleton.
+"When I give them to her I'll have a chance to say that Mr. Doane has
+the letter," she thought.
+
+Wandering on in search of the flowers, she went further and further from
+the fort, up one sand slope and clown another, almost forgetting her
+search for Estralla, and finally deciding that it was time to go back to
+Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Probably Estralla is there before this, and they will be looking for
+me," she thought, and climbed another sandy slope, expecting to see the
+houses and barracks directly in front of her. But she found herself
+facing the open sea, and look which way she would there was only shore,
+sand heaps and blue water.
+
+But Sylvia was not at all alarmed. She was sure that all she had to do
+was to follow the line of shore and she would soon be in sight of some
+familiar place, so she started singing to herself as she walked on:
+
+"De big bee flies high,
+  De little bee makes de honey,"
+
+and hoping that Mrs. Carleton would not think that she had been careless
+in losing her way.
+
+It was rather difficult walking. Her feet slipped in the sand, and after
+a little Sylvia decided not to follow the shore, but to climb back over
+the sand-hills.
+
+A cold wind was now blowing from the water, and she was glad of the
+shelter of the stunted trees, and decided to rest for a little while.
+
+"Of course I can't be lost, because I know exactly where I am. This is
+Sullivan Island, and the fort is right over there. I mustn't rest but a
+minute, for my father said we would start home early," she thought, and
+again started on, going directly away from the fort, and over sand-hills
+and into little sloping valleys farther and farther away from familiar
+places.
+
+The December day drew to a close, and dusky shadows crept over the
+island. Once or twice Sylvia's wanderings had brought her back to the
+shore, but not until the darkness began to gather did she really
+understand that she was lost, and that she was too tired to walk much
+longer. She thought of the little compass on board the Butterfly, and
+wondered if a compass would help anyone find her way on land as well as
+on the sea. At last she began to call aloud: "Estralla! Estralla!"
+feeling almost sure that, like herself, Estralla must be wandering about
+lost in the sand-hills.
+
+It was nearly dark before she gave up trying to find her way to the
+fort, and, shivering and half afraid, crawled under the scraggly
+branches of some stunted trees on a sheltered slope. "My father will
+come and find me, I know he will," she said aloud, almost ready to cry.
+"I'll wait here, and keep calling 'Estralla,' so he will hear me."
+
+A few moments after Sylvia started to find Estralla Mrs. Carleton had
+been called to a neighbor's house. "Tell Sylvia I won't be gone long,"
+she had said to Grace.
+
+Grace did not mind being alone until Sylvia returned. She helped herself
+to the rich creamy chocolate and the little frosted cakes, and then
+curled up on a broad couch near the window with a book full of wonderful
+pictures. The pictures were of a tall man on horseback, and a short, fat
+man on a donkey. "The Adventures of Don Quixote," was the title of the
+book, and after Grace began to read she entirely forgot Sylvia,
+Estralla, and Mrs. Carleton. And not until Mr. Fulton came into the room
+an hour later did she lift her eyes from the book.
+
+"All ready to start!" said Mr. Fulton, "and it will be dusk before we
+reach home. Where is Sylvia?"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Grace, looking up in surprise. "Hasn't she come back
+with Estralla? Mrs. Carleton has just gone to the next house."
+
+"Well, put on your things and run after them, that's a good girl," said
+Mr. Fulton. "Why, here is Estralla now," he added, as the little colored
+girl appeared at the door. "Tell Miss Sylvia to come down to the
+landing; I'll meet you there," and he hurried away, thinking his little
+daughter was safe with Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Whar' is Missy Sylvia?" asked Estralla, who had been asleep in a sunny
+corner of the veranda for the last hour.
+
+"Where is Sylvia?" echoed Mrs. Carleton, who came in at that moment.
+"Has she gone to the boat?"
+
+"Why, I don't know. Perhaps she has. Mr. Fulton said for us to come
+right to the landing," said Grace, her thoughts still full of the
+faithful Sancho Panza of whom she had been reading.
+
+"I will go to the wharf with you. It was too bad to leave you. I must
+see Sylvia before she goes. Perhaps I may not be permitted to have
+visitors much longer," said Mrs. Carleton, and she and Grace left the
+pleasant room and, followed closely by Estralla, made their way over the
+bridge to the landing-place.
+
+"Where is Sylvia?" asked Mr. Fulton, looking at his watch. "We really
+ought to have started an hour ago." For a moment the little group looked
+at each other in silence. Then with a sudden cry Estralla darted off.
+
+Mrs. Carleton hurriedly explained Sylvia's starting off to find
+Estralla, and her own departure. She blamed herself that she had
+permitted Sylvia to go out alone.
+
+"She must be somewhere about the fort," declared Captain Carleton.
+
+"Oh, yes," agreed Mr. Fulton, "but we had best lose no time in finding
+her."
+
+While Captain Carleton questioned the soldiers, Mr. Fulton and Mrs.
+Carleton and Grace hastened back to the officers' quarters, and a
+thorough search for the little girl was begun at once. No one gave a
+thought to Estralla, who had traced her little mistress along the
+street, and was now running along a sandy slope beyond the barracks
+calling: "Missy Sylvia! Missy Sylvia!" But no answer came to her calls.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+IN DANGER
+
+
+Estralla did not know why she was so sure that Missy Sylvia had wandered
+out beyond the barracks; but, since her little mistress was not at Mrs.
+Carleton's, and had not come to the landing-place, the little colored
+girl was sure that she must be among the sand-hills, and she ran along
+calling Sylvia's name as she ran.
+
+Now and then she stopped to listen for some response, or to look about
+for some sign that might tell her that Sylvia had passed that way, and
+near the top of one of the little slopes she found a bunch of the green
+vines and yellow blossoms which Sylvia had dropped.
+
+"She shuah am somewhar near," thought Estralla, and just then she heard
+a far-off call.
+
+"Dat was my name!" she exclaimed aloud, and listened more intently than
+ever.
+
+"Maybe 'twas jes' one o' them gull-birds a-callin'," she decided as no
+further sound came to her ears.
+
+Now she went on more carefully, but she, too, came to the shore; but it
+was on the inner curve of the land, a little cove where an old shanty
+stood near the water, and a boat was drawn up near by.
+
+Estralla looked into the rough cabin, half hoping to find Sylvia there.
+Then she went back a little way and shouted Sylvia's name again and
+again, and this time there was a response. "Estralla! Estralla!" came
+clearly to her ears.
+
+"My lan' o' grashus!" whispered the little darky, and then called
+loudly, "I'se a-comin', Missy Sylvia." And now Sylvia called again. Back
+and forth sounded the voices of the two girls, each one moving toward
+the other, for at the welcome sound of Estralla's call Sylvia had sprung
+up and hurried in the direction from which the voice seemed to come.
+
+It was now so nearly dusk that as they came in sight of each other they
+were like dark shadows.
+
+"Oh, Estralla! Where is my father?" Sylvia cried as Estralla ran toward
+her and flung both arms about her little mistress.
+
+"He's a-waitin' fer yo', Missy! Don' be skeered; I'se gwine to take keer
+of yo'."
+
+"Do you know the way back, Estralla?" asked Sylvia. "I couldn't find the
+fort."
+
+"No, Missy; I reckon we couldn't fin' nuthin' now, 'tis too nigh dark.
+But thar's a cabin an' a boat jes' over t'other side o' dis san' heap. I
+kin fin' them," responded Estralla, turning back. They walked very
+slowly, for Estralla wanted to be quite sure that they were going in the
+right direction, and not until they were in sight of the cabin and the
+shadowy outlines of the boat did she feel safe. Then with a sigh of
+relief she exclaimed:
+
+"Wat I tell yo', Missy Sylvia! Ain't dar a boat, like what I said? An'
+don' yo' know all 'bout a boat? Course yo' does. Now yo' can sail us
+right off home. An' when yo' pa comes home 'mos' skeered to def, 'cos he
+cyan't fin' yo', thar' yo'll be," and Estralla chuckled happily as if
+all their troubles were over.
+
+But Sylvia was not so sure. Unless there was a sail or a pair of oars
+the boat would be of little use, and even with oars and sail could she
+guide the boat safely to Charleston?
+
+They soon discovered that there was a pair of oars in the boat, but
+there was no sail or tiller. Sylvia could row, but Estralla could not be
+of any use. But it seemed the only way in which they could reach either
+Fort Moultrie or their home, for both the little girls realized that
+they might wander about the sand-hills all night without finding their
+way back to the fort. It was chilly and dark, and the old cabin with its
+sagging roof and open doorway was not a very inviting shelter. Indeed,
+Estralla was quite sure that a lion, or at the very least a family of
+wolves, was at that moment safely hidden in one of the dark corners of
+the cabin.
+
+"The moon is out! Look!" said Sylvia, "and there goes a steamer."
+
+Sylvia did not know that this steamer was a guard-boat which Governor
+Pickens of South Carolina had ordered stationed between Sullivan's
+Island and Fort Sumter to prevent, if possible, any United States troops
+being landed at that fort.
+
+"I can see the fort!" declared Sylvia. "That's it off beyond the boat,"
+and she pointed down the harbor. "Now, we will start. I know I can row
+the boat that far, and I am sure my father will not go home without us.
+To-morrow we will send this boat back."
+
+Sylvia had now forgotten all her weariness, and she was no longer
+afraid. She was sure that in a little while she would be safely at the
+fort, and then, she resolved, she would at once tell Mrs. Carleton that
+Mr. Doane had the letter and ask permission to tell her mother of her
+part in the secret message.
+
+The boat was already half afloat, and it was an easy matter to pull up
+the big stone attached to a strong rope which served as an anchor, and
+then to push off from shore.
+
+"You watch, Estralla, and if any other boat comes near shout at the top
+of your voice," said Sylvia as she dipped the oars into the dark water
+and pulled off from shore.
+
+"My lan', Missy! Bar's dat light agin," called the half-frightened
+darky, "an' we's right in it dis time!"
+
+An instant later a call came from the guardboat. "Boat ahoy! Where
+bound?" and before Sylvia could ship her oars or answer the call she
+found herself looking straight into the blinding light, and felt the
+little boat rising on the crest of the wave made by the steamer.
+
+"We's gwine to be drownded, Missy!" shouted Estralla, and before Sylvia
+could say a word the frightened little darky had sprung up and lurched
+forward across Sylvia's knees.
+
+The boat tipped and the water rushed over one side, but Sylvia,
+clutching the oars steadily, and remembering her father's frequent
+warnings, sat perfectly still and the little craft righted itself.
+
+"You nearly upset us; keep still where you are. Don't move!" said Sylvia
+angrily. The light had flashed in another direction now, and the guard-
+boat had moved on, thinking the boat contained two young darkies bound
+for Sullivan's Island after a visit to Charleston.
+
+Sylvia could feel the water about her feet and ankles. She wished that
+she had called for help, for she realized now that they might be run
+into and sunk by some passing craft. Beside that the wind and tide were
+now carrying them swiftly along toward the open sea. Then, suddenly,
+Sylvia dropped her oars and screamed at the top of her voice. Estralla
+shouted loudly. Their boat had run directly against the wall of Fort
+Sumter. In an instant there were lights flashing over the parapet. There
+was the sound of voices, a call, and then the little craft was held
+firmly against the barricade and a gruff voice called:
+
+"Stop your noise, and we'll have you safe in a jiffy."
+
+But it seemed a long time to the frightened children before a tall
+soldier swung over into the boat and lifted Sylvia and then Estralla up
+to the outstretched hands which grasped them so firmly.
+
+"What on earth were you out in that boat for?" questioned an elderly
+gruff-voiced officer, when Sylvia and Estralla, thoroughly drenched and
+wondering what new misfortune was in store for them, followed him into a
+bare little cell-like room where the lamplight made them blink and
+shield their eyes for a moment.
+
+Sylvia told of their adventures as quickly as possible, and the officer
+listened in amazement.
+
+"Upon my word!" he said as she finished. "It's a wonder you are alive to
+tell the story. And so you are a little Yankee girl? Well! Come along to
+my quarters and my wife will put you both to bed, or you'll be too ill
+to go home to-morrow."
+
+"Can't we go to Fort Moultrie right away?" pleaded Sylvia. "My father
+must be worried about me."
+
+"No one from this fort can go to Fort Moultrie," he responded gravely.
+"Those flash-lights are from a guard-boat which the South Carolina
+people have sent down the harbor so that Major Anderson won't send us
+reinforcements without their knowledge. I wish Anderson would send some
+message to the President," he added, as if thinking aloud.
+
+Sylvia wondered to herself if the letter she had carried to Mr. Doane
+might not be a message to the President? She wished she could tell this
+big officer about it. But she remembered her promise to Mrs. Carleton
+not to speak of it to anyone.
+
+"Here's a half-drowned little Yankee girl and her little darky," said
+the officer, as he led the two girls into a warm pleasant room where a
+pretty elderly lady with white hair sat with her needlework.
+
+"For pity sake, Gerald!" she exclaimed. "They are shivering with cold,"
+and without asking a single question she began to take off Sylvia's wet
+dress.
+
+"Gerald, send Sally right in with hot milk," she directed, and the
+officer vanished.
+
+It was not long before Sylvia was sitting up in bed wrapped in a gay-
+colored blanket and drinking milk so hot and sweet and spicy that it
+seemed as if she could never have enough of it. Estralla was curled up
+in a big scarlet wrapper on a rug near the fire with a big mug of the
+spiced and sweetened milk. And when they had finished this a plate of
+hot buttered biscuit, and thin slices of ham, was brought in. Then there
+was more warm milk.
+
+"Now you must both go straight to sleep," commanded Mrs. Gerald, "and
+to-morrow morning my husband will take you safely home," and kissing
+Sylvia, and with a kindly smile for Estralla, the friendly woman bade
+them good-night.
+
+There was no light now in the room save the dancing firelight, Sylvia
+lay watching the shadows on the wall. Estralla was fast asleep, but her
+little mistress lay awake thinking over the adventures of the day. She
+was at Fort Sumter, the long dark fort which she had so often seen with
+the Stars and Stripes waving above it from her home, from Miss Patten's
+schoolroom, and in her sails about the harbor. Sylvia snuggled down in
+her comfortable bed with a sense of safety and comfort. "I wish my
+father and mother could know I am at Fort Sumter," was her last waking
+thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
+
+
+Every nook and corner of Fort Moultrie was searched for the missing
+Sylvia, and when no trace of her could be discovered, her friends became
+nearly certain that the little girl must have slipped from the landing-
+place into the sea, and that it was useless to search for her. But it
+was late in the evening before Mr. Fulton gave up the search, and with a
+sad and anxious heart headed the Butterfly toward Charleston. He still
+hoped that his little girl might be found. A party of soldiers, headed
+by Captain Carleton, had started to search for her on Sullivan's Island,
+but this had not been determined upon until late in the evening, at
+about the time when Estralla and Sylvia were embarking upon their
+adventurous voyage to Fort Sumter.
+
+No one had given a thought to the little darky girl. She was supposed to
+be somewhere about the fort.
+
+Grace, warmly wrapped in a thick shawl, sat beside Mr. Fulton as the
+Butterfly made its swift way across the dark harbor. They could see the
+dark line of the guard-boat, but they were not molested and came into
+the wharf safely. Grace held close to Mr. Fulton's hand as they hurried
+toward home with the sad news of Sylvia's disappearance. Neither of them
+spoke until they reached the walk leading to the door of Grace's home,
+then Grace said:
+
+"I know Sylvia will be found. Estralla will surely find her and bring
+her home."
+
+"Estralla! Why, I had entirely forgotten her," responded Mr. Fulton.
+
+"She ran off as soon as Sylvia was missed," Grace continued earnestly,
+"and she will find her. Probably she has found her before this."
+
+"I believe you are right. Estralla is a clever little darky, and if she
+started in search of Sylvia perhaps she has been able to find her. I had
+not thought of it," and Mr. Fulton's voice had a new note of hope.
+
+"Thank you, Grace. I will start back to the fort as soon as I have
+talked with Sylvia's mother."
+
+But on Mr. Fulton's return to the wharf he found a sentry on guard who
+refused him permission to go to the fort. It was in vain that Mr. Fulton
+explained that his little daughter was lost, that he must be permitted
+to return to the fort.
+
+The sentry wasted no words. "Orders, sir. Sorry," was the only response
+he could get, and at midnight Mr. Fulton was in his own house looking
+out over the harbor. Mingled with his anxious fear for the safety of his
+little daughter was the thought of the sentries now guarding
+Charleston's water-front, of the assembling of soldiers in the city, and
+the evident plan of the southerners to seize the forts in the harbor and
+force the Government into war.
+
+He realized that in that case it would not be possible for his family to
+remain in Charleston.
+
+Early the next morning Sylvia was awakened and made ready for her
+return, and when the sun shone brightly over the waters of the harbor
+she and Estralla, with Captain Gerald and a strong negro servant, were
+on board a boat sailing rapidly toward home.
+
+They landed at the wharf where the Butterfly was fastened, and before
+Captain Gerald had stepped on shore Sylvia called out: "Father! Father!
+There he is! And Mother, too!" and in another moment her mother's arms
+were about her, and she was telling as rapidly as possible the story of
+her adventures, and of Estralla coming to her rescue.
+
+Grace came running to meet Sylvia as they came near their home.
+
+"Oh, Sylvia, I wish I had been with you," she exclaimed. "That is twice
+you have been to Fort Sumter without meaning to go, isn't it?"
+
+"We will hope that her next visit will not be as dangerous as this one,"
+said Mr, Fulton soberly.
+
+For several days Sylvia could think and talk only of her wanderings
+among the sand-hills, and of her first sight of the guard-boat. She
+began teaching Estralla on the very day of her return, and the little
+darky made rapid progress.
+
+"Father, when may we go to Fort Moultrie again?" she asked one morning a
+few days later, for she wanted very much to see Mrs. Carleton, and was
+quite sure that her father would be ready to sail down the harbor on any
+pleasant day, and his reply made her look up in surprise.
+
+"I do not know that we shall ever go to the forts again," her father had
+replied. "Did you not hear the bells ringing and the military music
+yesterday? South Carolina has seceded from the Union. No one is allowed
+to go to the forts. And unless Major Anderson takes possession of Fort
+Sumter the Confederates will."
+
+"And we are to start for Boston next week, dear child," Sylvia's mother
+added.
+
+It seemed to Sylvia that her mother was very glad at the thought of
+returning to her former home. But Sylvia was not glad. What would become
+of Estralla?
+
+Mr. Waite had said that as long as Sylvia lived in his house the little
+colored girl could be her maid. But if they went to Boston and left
+Estralla behind Sylvia was sure that there would be nothing but trouble
+for the faithful little darky.
+
+"Why, Sylvia! What is the matter?" questioned her mother anxiously; for
+Sylvia was leaning her head on the table.
+
+"I can't go to Boston and leave Estralla!" she sobbed. "She has done
+lots of brave things for me. She wouldn't leave me to be a slave."
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Fulton looked at each other with puzzled eyes.
+
+"But Estralla would not want to leave her mammy," suggested Mr. Fulton.
+
+"Oh, Father! Can't Aunt Connie and Estralla go with us?" and Sylvia
+lifted her head and looked hopefully at her father. "Couldn't I buy
+Estralla and then make her free? I've got that gold money Grandma gave
+me."
+
+"I am afraid it wouldn't be much use for me to even try to buy a slave's
+freedom now," Mr. Fulton said a little sadly. "Don't suggest such a
+thing to Aunt Connie, Sylvia."
+
+"When shall we go to Boston?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"Right away after Christmas, unless Fort Sumter is attacked before that
+time. Washington ought to send troops and provisions for the forts at
+once!" replied Mr. Fulton.
+
+After her father had left the house Sylvia and her mother went up to
+Mrs. Fulton's pleasant sitting-room.
+
+"We must begin to pack at once," declared Sylvia's mother, "and do not
+go outside the gate alone, Sylvia. I wish we could leave Charleston
+immediately."
+
+"Won't I see Mrs. Carleton again?" Sylvia asked anxiously.
+
+"I do not know, dear child, but run away and give Estralla her lesson,
+as usual. It will not be a very gay Christmas for any of us this year,"
+responded Mrs. Fulton, and Sylvia went slowly to her own room where
+Estralla was waiting for her.
+
+The little colored girl had put the room in order; there was a bright
+fire in the grate, the morning sunshine filled the room, and Miss Molly
+and Polly, smiling as usual, were in the tiny chairs behind the little
+round table.
+
+"Dar's gwine to be war, Missy!" Estralla declared solemnly. "Yas'm.
+Dar's soldiers comin' in from ebery place. Won't de Yankees come and set
+us free, Missy?"
+
+Sylvia shook her head. "I don't know, Estralla! Let's not talk about
+it," she replied.
+
+"Wal, Missy, lots of darkies are runnin' off! My mammy say we'll stay
+right here 'til Massa Fulton goes, an' den"--Estralla stopped, leaned a
+little nearer to Sylvia and whispered, "an' den my mammy an' I we'se
+gwine to go with Massa Fulton."
+
+Mrs. Fulton was not in her room, so Sylvia went down the stairs to look
+for her. She heard voices in the sitting-room, and turned in that
+direction.
+
+"Oh!" she whispered, as she stood in the open door. For her mother was
+sitting on the big sofa near the open fire, and beside her sat Mr.
+Robert Waite, while her father was standing in front of them. They were
+all talking so earnestly that they did not notice the surprised little
+girl standing in the doorway, and Sylvia heard Mr. Waite say:
+
+"I shall be glad to protect your interests here, Mr. Fulton, as far as
+it is possible to do so. And you had better leave Charleston
+immediately. The city is no longer a safe place for northern people. The
+conflict may begin at any moment."
+
+"'Conflict,'" Sylvia repeated the word to herself. Probably it meant
+something dreadful, she thought, recalling the "question period" at Miss
+Rosalie's school.
+
+Just then Mr. Waite glanced toward the door and saw Sylvia. In a second
+he was on his feet, bowing as politely as on their last meeting.
+
+"Miss Sylvia, I am glad to see you again," and he stepped forward to
+meet her.
+
+Sylvia, feeling quite grown-up, made her pretty curtsey, and smiled with
+delight at Mr. Waite's greeting, as he led her toward her mother and,
+with another polite bow, gave her the seat on the sofa.
+
+"I was hoping to see Miss Sylvia," he said. "I had meant to make her a
+little Christmas gift, with your permission," and he bowed again to Mrs.
+Fulton. "She was kind enough to interest herself in behalf of one of my
+people, the little darky, Estralla. And so I thought this would please
+you," and he smiled at Sylvia, who began to be sure that Mr. Waite and
+Santa Claus must be exactly alike. As he spoke he handed Sylvia a long
+envelope.
+
+"Do not open it until to-morrow, if you please," he added.
+
+Sylvia promised and thanked him. She wondered if the envelope might not
+contain a picture of this kind friend. She knew that she must not ask a
+question; questions were never polite, she remembered, especially about
+a gift. But whatever it was she was very happy to think Mr. Robert Waite
+had remembered her.
+
+They all went to the door with their friendly visitor, and stood there
+until he had reached the gate. Then Sylvia said, speaking very slowly:
+
+"I think Mr. Robert Waite is just like the Knights in that book, 'The
+Age of Chivalry.' They always did exactly what was right, and so does
+he; and they were polite and so is he."
+
+"Then, my dear, perhaps you will always remember that to do brave and
+gentle deeds with kindness is what 'chivalry' means," responded Mrs.
+Fulton.
+
+Grace came in that afternoon greatly excited that it was a holiday. The
+whole city was rejoicing over the fact that South Carolina had been the
+first of the southern states to secede from the Union. Palmetto flags
+floated everywhere; the streets were filled with marching men. Major
+Anderson in Fort Moultrie watched Fort Sumter with anxious eyes, hoping
+for a word from Washington which would give him authority to occupy it
+before the Charleston men could turn its guns against him. Already Mr.
+Doane had reached Washington; the message Sylvia had carried through the
+night had been delivered, and its answer, by a trusted messenger, was on
+its way south.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+GREAT NEWS
+
+
+Sylvia carried the long envelope which Mr. Robert Waite had given her to
+her room, and put it in the drawer of her desk with the treasured gold
+pieces.
+
+"It will be splendid to have a picture of Mr. Waite to show Grandma
+Fulton," she thought happily, "and I can tell her all about him."
+
+Then her thoughts rested on Flora, in the "haunted house," and she
+opened the silk-covered work-box and tried on the pretty gold thimble.
+She thought of her gold pieces, and a sudden resolve came into her mind:
+
+"I will give Flora and Grace each a gold locket, with my picture in it."
+And just then Mrs. Fulton entered the room, and Sylvia ran toward her:
+
+"Mother! Mother! I have a beautiful plan. I want to give Flora and Grace
+each a present. I want to give them each a gold locket with my picture
+in it. On Grace's locket I want 'Grace from Sylvia,' and on Flora's,
+'Flora from Sylvia.' I can pay for them with my gold money. I may,
+mayn't I, Mother?" and Sylvia looked eagerly toward her mother.
+
+"Of course you may; but it is too late to get the pictures and lockets
+in time for Christmas," responded Mrs, Fulton.
+
+"I don't care when; only if we do go back to Boston I want them to have
+something to remember me by," said Sylvia, remembering the unfailing
+loyalty of her two little southern friends.
+
+"The day after Christmas we will select the lockets, and see about the
+pictures," said Mrs. Fulton. Before Sylvia could answer there came a tap
+at the door, and Aunt Connie, evidently rather anxious and uncertain,
+whispered:
+
+"Dar's a lady, Mistress, a lady f'um de fort, an' she say--"
+
+"It must be Mrs. Carleton. I'll go right down," responded Mrs. Fulton,
+and, followed by Sylvia, she hurried down the stairs, to find Mrs.
+Carleton awaiting them.
+
+"Captain Carleton insisted that I should come to you," she said. "He
+feels sure that the Charleston men mean to take Fort Sumter at once.
+Major Anderson is sending the women and children away from Fort Moultrie
+to places of safety."
+
+"Of course you must stay with us, and we are delighted to have you,"
+said Mrs. Fulton. "We want to stay in Charleston unless it becomes
+necessary for us to leave."
+
+Mrs. Carleton greeted Sylvia warmly, and, greatly to her surprise, said:
+
+"I have not had the opportunity to thank you, dear child, for delivering
+the message safely. We have heard that Mr. Doane has presented the
+letter to the President, and Major Anderson is sure that reinforcements
+and provisions for the forts will be sent at once." Then turning to Mrs.
+Fulton, she continued: "I know this loyal child kept her secret, and
+that even you and her father do not realize what a service your little
+daughter has rendered to the cause of Freedom!"
+
+Mrs. Fulton was looking at her visitor in amazement.
+
+"Sylvia! Message! Secret?" she exclaimed in such a puzzled tone that
+both Mrs. 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.
+
+"Oh, clear! It isn't anything at all except letters," exclaimed Sylvia,
+nearly ready to cry with disappointment. And, suddenly, she did cry--a
+cry so like Estralla's wail that the little darky just entering the room
+stopped short, and nearly dropped the pitcher of hot water.
+
+"Wat's de matter, Missy? Wat is de matter?" Estralla demanded.
+
+Tears were in Sylvia's eyes as she turned toward the little darky. They
+were not tears for her own disappointment at not finding the expected
+picture, but they were tears for what Sylvia believed to be the most
+bitter misfortune that could befall Estralla and Aunt Connie. For she
+was sure that the papers in that envelope were to tell her that Aunt
+Connie and Estralla had both been sold. But she resolved quickly that
+Estralla should not know of this until she had told her mother.
+
+"Nothing I can tell you now, Estralla," she said, wiping away her tears.
+
+Estralla looked quite ready to weep with her young mistress, but she lit
+the fire, and crept silently out of the room.
+
+Sylvia dressed as quickly as possible, picked up the papers and ran to
+her mother's room.
+
+"Look, Mother! It's dreadful. It wasn't a picture of Mr. Robert Waite at
+all. It's just a lot of papers about Estralla and Aunt Connie being
+sold," and Sylvia began to cry bitterly.
+
+Mr. Fulton took the papers and looked them over, while Sylvia with her
+mother's arm about her sobbed out her disappointment.
+
+"Sold! Estralla! Why, my dear Sylvia, these papers give Aunt Connie and
+Estralla their freedom, from yesterday. And these," and Mr. Fulton held
+up the smaller documents, "give them permission to leave Charleston for
+the north at any time within six months."
+
+For a moment neither Sylvia nor her mother made any response to this
+wonderful statement.
+
+"Truly, Father? Truly?" exclaimed Sylvia with shining eyes.
+
+"Yes. These papers have been recorded. Estralla and her mother are no
+longer slaves. They are free," said Mr. Fulton, as he folded the papers.
+"Mr. Waite has made you the finest gift in the world, little daughter,"
+he added seriously.
+
+"And Estralla and Aunt Connie may go to Boston with us?" pleaded Sylvia,
+quite sure that her father and mother would agree. "Won't Grandma be
+surprised to see them?"
+
+Mrs. Carleton was as pleased and surprised as Sylvia herself over Mr.
+Waite's gift, and it was decided that directly after breakfast Sylvia
+should tell Aunt Connie and Estralla the wonderful news. It was too
+great to be kept a secret even until Christmas Day.
+
+"Dar, Mammy! Wat I tells yo'? I tells yo' Missy Sylvia gwine to look out
+fer us," Estralla declared triumphantly, evidently not at all surprised.
+
+"But it is Mr. Robert Waite who has given you your freedom," Sylvia
+reminded them, "and my father says that you must both go with me and
+thank him."
+
+"Yas, Missy," responded Aunt Connie, "but I reckons we wouldn't be
+thankin' him if 'twan't fer yo'. Massa Robert HE knows dat all his
+niggers gwine to be free jes' as soon as de Yankees come. Yas, indeedy,
+he knows. But we shuahly go long wid yo', Missy, an' thanks him. We
+knows our manners."
+
+Many eyes turned to watch the smiling colored woman and the delighted
+little negro girl who walked down King Street that afternoon, one on
+each side of a little white girl who looked as well pleased as her
+companions, for Sylvia decided that no time should be lost in telling
+Mr. Robert Waite of how greatly his generosity was appreciated.
+
+He welcomed Sylvia with his usual cordiality, and told Aunt Connie that
+he wished her good fortune, and sent her and Estralla home.
+
+"I will walk back with your young mistress," he said, and Sylvia felt
+that it was the proudest day of her life when she walked up King Street
+beside the friendly southerner.
+
+"He talks just as if I were grown up," thought Sylvia gratefully, when
+Mr. Waite spoke of the forts, and of the possibilities of war between
+the northern and southern states.
+
+"Tell your father not to hasten his preparations to leave Charleston;
+you are among friends, and these difficulties may be adjusted," Mr.
+Waite said as he bade Sylvia good-bye, and wished her a happy Christmas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+SYLVIA MAKES A PROMISE
+
+
+"It doesn't seem a bit like Christmas," declared Sylvia, as she stood at
+the sitting-room window looking out at the falling rain.
+
+Christmas day of 1860 was a gloomy, rainy day in Charleston, and many
+people felt exactly as Sylvia did, that it was not like Christmas.
+
+Grace came over in the morning bringing a little chased gold ring for
+Sylvia, which the little girl promised always to wear. She wished that
+she could tell Grace about the lockets, but decided it would be better
+to surprise Grace with the locket itself.
+
+As soon as Grace returned home Sylvia ran to find her mother.
+
+"We will go down street and buy the lockets to-morrow morning, won't we,
+Mother?" she asked, and Mrs. Fulton promised that they would start
+early.
+
+Sylvia resolved that, if the lockets and pictures did not take all her
+money, she would buy a doll for Estralla. She knew that nothing else
+would please the little colored girl as much as a "truly" doll.
+
+But the morning of December twenty-sixth found the city of Charleston
+angry and excited. Crowds collected in the streets, and Mr. Fulton
+received a message from Mr. Robert Waite asking him to remain at home
+until Mr. Waite arrived.
+
+"What is the matter, Father?" Sylvia asked.
+
+"He isn't coming to take back Estralla, is he?"
+
+"No, of course not, child. It is trouble over the forts," responded her
+father. And in a short time Mr. Waite arrived. But he was not smiling
+this morning. He was very grave and serious.
+
+"Major Anderson has evacuated Moultrie, and he and his men are at Fort
+Sumter," said Mr. Waite. "I came to assure you that whatever action
+Charleston takes that I will protect your household and property as far
+as possible."
+
+Then Sylvia heard him say that Governor Pickens had seized Castle
+Pinckney, and that troops had been sent to Sullivan's Island to occupy
+Fort Moultrie, and the United States Arsenal, situated in the midst of
+the city of Charleston, was also in possession of the secessionists.
+
+Sylvia listened to every word, but without much idea of what it all
+meant.
+
+"Can't we buy the lockets to-day, Mother?" she asked.
+
+"No, we must not go on the streets to-day," Mrs. Fulton answered; but
+Mr. Waite smiled at the little girl and said:
+
+"I will gladly accompany Miss Sylvia if she has errands to do," so
+Sylvia told him about the pictures and lockets for Grace and Flora, and
+Mr. Waite assured her mother and father that he could easily spare the
+time to go with her upon so pleasant an errand. The friendly man
+realized that the little household were troubled and anxious, and that
+it would reassure them if their little girl could safely carry out her
+plan. So the two set forth together.
+
+Mr. Robert Waite was too well known for any southerner to doubt his
+loyalty to South Carolina, and his visit to Mr. Fulton's house was in
+itself a protection to the family. As they walked along Sylvia told him
+how kind Grace and Flora had been to her.
+
+"If we should go away the lockets will remind them how much I think of
+them," she said, and Mr. Waite smiled and said: "Yes, indeed," but it
+seemed to Sylvia that he was not really thinking about the lockets.
+
+She held close to his hand, for there were crowds on every corner, and
+loud and violent threats against Major Anderson were heard from nearly
+every group. Sylvia heard one man declare that it was the duty of
+Charleston men to fire upon Fort Sumter at once; and before they reached
+the shop where she was to purchase the lockets Sylvia began to fear that
+she would never see Captain Carleton again.
+
+The lockets were purchased, and Mr. Waite took Sylvia to a studio to sit
+for the pictures for the lockets. There was enough money left to
+purchase a fine doll for Estralla, and Mr. Waite gave her a box filled
+with candy of many kinds, shapes and flavors. All these things occupied
+her thoughts so pleasantly that for a time she quite forgot the
+disturbance in the streets, and all the trouble that seemed so near to
+her and to her Charleston friends.
+
+"I will call to-morrow," said Mr. Waite, as he left the little girl at
+her own door. "And tell your father that he had best not go on the
+streets unless he goes with my brother or myself."
+
+This last message made Sylvia very sober. She came into the sitting-room
+holding her packages, and found her mother and Mrs. Carleton busy with
+their sewing, while her father was at his desk writing. She repeated Mr.
+Waite's message, and her father nodded silently.
+
+Then Sylvia told them that the lockets and pictures would be ready the
+following day. "And I have a doll for Estralla," she concluded.
+
+"Why not make the doll a fine dress and mantle?" suggested Mrs.
+Carleton. "Come up to my room and I will help you," and Sylvia agreed
+smilingly.
+
+Mrs. Carleton had a roll of crimson silk in her work-bag and before
+supper time the new doll was dressed and ready for Estralla.
+
+"This is for you, Estralla," Sylvia said, when Estralla came up to her
+room, as she often did in the late afternoon.
+
+"Fer me, Missy! He, he, I knows w'en you's jokin'; but 'tis a fine lady
+doll," responded the little girl, wishing with all her heart that the
+beautiful doll in the gorgeous silken dress which Sylvia was holding
+toward her might really be hers.
+
+"Take it, Estralla! It is for you. Truly it is," and Sylvia's tone was
+so serious that Estralla came slowly forward and took the doll.
+
+For a moment the two little girls stood looking at each other in
+silence, Sylvia smiling, hut Estralla with a surprised, half-anxious
+expression.
+
+"Don't be afraid of it. Can't you have a doll of your own?" said Sylvia.
+
+"Mebbe I can," replied Estralla, and then two big tears ran down her
+black cheeks.
+
+"I'se got so much now, Missy Sylvia, dat I dunno as 'tis safe fer me to
+hev a doll," she whispered; but in a moment she was all smiles, and ran
+off to show her new treasure to her mother.
+
+The pictures and the lockets proved all that Sylvia had hoped, and on
+New Year's day, when Grace came in for her daily visit, Sylvia gave her
+a small package.
+
+"Please open it, Gracie!" she said, all eagerness to see her friend's
+delight.
+
+Mr. Fulton had purchased a slender chain for each locket, and as Grace
+held up the pretty gift she exclaimed delightedly: "Oh, Sylvia! It is
+lovely, and I'll always wear it," and looked at the tiny picture of her
+friend with smiling satisfaction.
+
+Sylvia had written a letter to Flora, and Grace promised to see that the
+locket and letter should reach her safely.
+
+Every day Mr. Robert Waite or his brother escorted Mr. Fulton upon any
+errand of business to which he was obliged to attend. News had reached
+Charleston that a steamer with supplies and reinforcements for Major
+Anderson was on its way, and Mr. Robert Waite declared that the
+Confederates would never permit it to reach the fort.
+
+Mrs. Carleton was very anxious. She had not received any message from
+her husband.
+
+"If I could sail a boat I would go to Fort Sumter myself," she said one
+morning as she and Sylvia stood at a window overlooking the harbor.
+
+"I can sail a boat," responded Sylvia.
+
+Mrs. Carleton turned and looked at the little girl.
+
+"If all this trouble ends in war, if the Confederates really dare fire
+upon the flag of the United States, I do not know how I can get any word
+from my husband," she said.
+
+Sylvia thought that her friend's voice sounded as if she were about to
+cry, and the little girl slipped her hand into Mrs. Carleton's. She
+wished there was something she could say to comfort her. Then she
+thought quickly that there was something.
+
+"I'll sail you over to the fort to see him whenever you ask me to," she
+said impulsively.
+
+"Dear child, I may have to ask you, but I hope not. 'Twould be a
+dangerous undertaking," she said, leaning over to kiss Sylvia's cheek.
+
+That was the sixth of January, 1861, and on the ninth a steamer, The
+Star of the West, with supplies and reinforcements for Major Anderson,
+entered Charleston harbor and was fired upon by a Confederate battery
+concealed in the sand-hills at Sullivan Island.
+
+And now for many days the Fultons heard only discouraging news.
+Everywhere there was great activity among the Confederates. Mrs.
+Carleton became more and more anxious for news of Captain Carleton, but
+she did not remind Sylvia of her promise.
+
+Grace and Sylvia were together a great deal, and every morning Sylvia
+would run out to the front porch to wave a good-bye to Grace on her way
+to school. Then there was Estralla's lesson hour, her own studies, and
+Mrs. Carleton was teaching her to crochet a silk purse as a gift to Mr.
+Robert Waite, so that Sylvia did not think very much about the soldiers
+at Fort Sumter.
+
+"What do you think about starting for Boston with us, Mrs. Carleton?"
+Mr. Fulton said one night just as Sylvia was going up-stairs. "I really
+think the time has come for me to take Sylvia and her mother to Boston,
+and I am sure Captain Carleton would want you to go with us."
+
+"And Estralla and Aunt Connie will go, too; won't they, Father?" said
+Sylvia, running back to her father's side.
+
+"Yes, child. But I thought you were upstairs," responded Mr. Fulton. "Do
+not speak of our leaving Charleston to anyone. Remember. Not to Grace or
+Estralla, until your mother or I give you permission."
+
+Sylvia promised. It seemed to her the best of good news that they would
+soon see Grandmother Fulton, and she went happily off to bed thinking of
+all she would have to tell her grandmother, and of the long letters she
+would write to Flora and Grace. "And when summer comes they must both
+come and make me a visit," she thought, little knowing that when summer
+came no little southern girl would be allowed to visit a Boston girl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"TWO LITTLE DARKY GIRLS"
+
+
+"When will Mr. 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.
+
+It had been many weeks since the Butterfly had sailed about Charleston
+harbor. But the little boat was in the charge of an old negro who took
+good care of it. The negro knew Sylvia, and he knew that it was through
+her interest in Estralla that the little negro girl and her mother had
+been given their freedom. Now and then he appeared at Aunt Connie's
+kitchen, and one warm day toward the last of March, when Sylvia was
+wandering about the garden, she saw Uncle Peter going up the walk to the
+rear of the house.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Peter! Wait!" she called and ran to ask him about the boat.
+
+Uncle Peter had a great deal of news to tell. He said that unless Major
+Anderson and his soldiers left Fort Sumter at once that all the forts,
+and the new batteries built by the Confederates, would open fire upon
+Sumter and destroy it.
+
+"I hears a good deal, Missy, 'deed I does," he declared, "but I doan'
+let on as I hears. Massa Linkum he's gwine to send a lot o' big ships
+down here 'fore long. Yas, indeed."
+
+"I wish I could have a sail in the Butterfly again," said Sylvia, a
+little wistfully.
+
+"Do you, Missy? Well, I reckons you can. I doan' believe any body'd stop
+me a-givin' yo' a little sail 'roun' de harbor," said Uncle Peter. "I
+'spec's Major Anderson is a-waitin' an' a-watchin' fer dem ships of
+Massa Linkum to come a-sailin' in," continued the old negro; for it was
+a time when the colored people were eager and hopeful for some news that
+might promise them their freedom.
+
+Sylvia knew that Mrs. Carleton was worried and unhappy. It was known in
+Charleston that Fort Sumter was near the end of its food supplies, and
+that unless the Government at Washington sent reinforcements and
+provisions very soon by ships that the little garrison would be at the
+mercy of the Confederates, who were daily growing in strength.
+
+As Sylvia left Uncle Peter and walked back to the house she was thinking
+of her promise to Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Perhaps she won't ask me. But if I could go and see Captain Carleton,
+and tell him that she was going to Boston with us, and then bring her
+back a message, I know she'd be happier," thought the little girl. And
+she thought, too, of the pleasure it would be to once more sail the
+Butterfly to Fort Sumter.
+
+She sat down on the porch steps, and a moment later Estralla appeared
+bringing a plate of freshly baked sugar cookies from Aunt Connie.
+
+"Mammy says she made these 'special for you, Missy," declared Estralla
+smilingly.
+
+"I'll go and thank her myself," said Sylvia, taking the plate, and
+offering one of the cookies to Estralla.
+
+"Uncle Pete he say as de soldiers at Fort Sumter mus' be gettin'
+hungry," said the little colored girl. "I wish you and I could take
+Captain Carleton some of these cookies," responded Sylvia.
+
+"If you was black like I is we could go a-sailin' right off to de fort
+in plain daylight," said Estralla.
+
+Sylvia sprang to her feet so quickly that she nearly upset the plate of
+cookies.
+
+"Could we? Oh, Estralla, could we really?" she exclaimed.
+
+Estralla looked at her little mistress with wondering eyes.
+
+"Yas, course; nobody'd mind two leetle nigger gals. But you ain't black,
+Missy."
+
+"But, Estralla, listen. I could be black. You could rub soot from the
+chimney all over my face and hands. And I could pin my hair close on top
+of my head and twist one of your mammy's handkerchiefs tight over it.
+Then nobody would know me." Sylvia had quite forgotten the fine cookies.
+She was holding Estralla by the arm, and talking very rapidly. Estralla
+was almost frightened at Sylvia's eagerness.
+
+"Yas, Missy; but what for do you wanter go?" she asked.
+
+"Oh, Estralla! If the men are hungry we could carry them something to
+eat. But most of all I want to see Captain Carleton, and get some
+message for his wife. She is so unhappy to go away without a word."
+
+"Come 'long down in de garden," said Estralla, now as interested as
+Sylvia herself, "an' tells me more whar' nobody'll be hearin'," and the
+two little girls hurried off to a far corner of the pleasant garden.
+
+"Uncl' Peter won' let us take the boat," Estralla objected as Sylvia
+told her how easy the plan would be; "an' how be you gwine to get all
+blacked up without folks knowin' it?"
+
+But Sylvia had an answer for every objection.
+
+"I'll come to your cabin and dress up there, and I will ask your mammy
+to give me some food for a poor man. Some cookies and a cake," she said.
+"We will start early to-morrow morning. And, Estralla, we will have to
+tell Uncle Peter, or he won't let us have the boat."
+
+"Lan', Missy, I'll do jes' w'at yo' says. But I reckon Uncle Pete won'
+let us. Wat yo' mammy gwine to think w'en you ain't home to your
+dinner?" responded Estralla. But she was finally convinced that Missy
+Sylvia could carry out the plan, and agreed to have a large quantity of
+soot ready at her mother's cabin the next morning.
+
+Sylvia was glad that she had eaten only one of the cookies. She carried
+the remainder to her room and then went to the kitchen.
+
+"Will you make me a fine big cake, Aunt Connie?" she asked.
+
+"Lan', course I will, chile! But, w'at you wan' it fer?" answered Aunt
+Connie, smiling down at the little girl whom she loved so dearly.
+
+"It's a secret, Aunt Connie! I want to give it away, and I don't want to
+tell even my mother until--well," and Sylvia hesitated a moment, and
+then continued, "until next week. Then I will tell her, and you too."
+
+"Dat's right, Missy. I'll make yo' de finest cake I knows how. Le's see!
+I'll put citron, an' raisins, an' currants in it. An' butter! Yas,
+thar'll be a fine lot o' things in dat cake!" and Aunt Connie rolled her
+eyes, and lifted her hands as if she could already taste its richness.
+
+All that afternoon Sylvia could think of nothing but the proposed trip.
+She sat with Mrs. Carleton a little while before supper, and told her of
+what Uncle Peter had said: that ships from the north were on the way to
+the aid of Fort Sumter.
+
+"Oh! I do wish I could send the news to Sumter. It would give them all
+courage," said Mrs. Carleton.
+
+Sylvia was for a moment tempted to tell her friend that she would carry
+the message, but she kept silent, thinking to herself that here was
+another reason for her to carry out her plan.
+
+"If you could send a message to Captain Carleton what would you say?"
+questioned Sylvia, and Mrs. Carleton smiled at Sylvia's serious voice.
+
+"Why, if I could only let him know that I was safe and well and going to
+Boston with you, in case Sumter really is attacked; I know that is what
+he wants to hear."
+
+Mrs. Carleton's smile vanished. Sylvia realized that this kind friend
+was troubled, and wished with all her heart that she could say: "To-
+morrow I will tell you all about Captain Carleton." But she knew that
+she must keep silent until she had carried out her plan.
+
+Sylvia was the first one at the breakfast table the next morning, and
+was delighted when her mother said that she and Mrs. Carleton were
+invited to luncheon at the house of a friend.
+
+"Aunt Connie and Estralla will take good care of you," Mrs. Fulton
+added, and Sylvia felt her face flush. But she made no reply, and soon
+hurried to the cabin where Estralla was waiting for her.
+
+It was still early in the forenoon when two little negro girls, one
+carrying a large package wrapped in a newspaper, appeared at the wharf
+where the Butterfly was moored. Uncle Peter was not to be seen. But he
+had just left the boat, whose sail had not even been lowered, and the
+two girls hurried on board. In a moment Sylvia had unfastened the rope,
+pushed the boat clear of the landing, and rudder in hand was steering
+the boat out toward the channel.
+
+Two or three men in uniform watched the little "darkies," as they
+supposed both the girls to be, with amusement. Negro children were
+always playing about, and no attention was paid to them.
+
+"My landy," whispered Estralla, "dat was jes' as easy. W'at Uncle Pete
+do w'en he fin's de boat gone?"
+
+But it happened that Uncle Peter had been sent on an errand to a distant
+part of the town, and before he returned the Butterfly was well down the
+harbor.
+
+Once or twice a guard-boat passed them closely enough to make sure that
+there were only two colored children in the boat, and they came up under
+the walls of Fort Sumter without a hindrance. The sentries at the fort
+had watched the little craft with anxious eyes, wondering if it could be
+bringing any message. But when the soldiers looked down at the two
+little negro girls they laughed, in spite of their disappointment. When
+Sylvia said that her name was Sylvia Fulton, and that she had come to
+see Captain Carleton, a sentry exclaimed: "That girl has blacked her
+face. She is white."
+
+But Captain Carleton could hardly believe that it was his little friend
+Sylvia. And he was eager to hear all that she could tell him. Estralla
+held the cake and cookies, which she had carefully wrapped in a
+newspaper, and the Captain seemed as much pleased with the paper as with
+the cake.
+
+"You can write a letter to Mrs. Carleton and we will take it," suggested
+Sylvia, and then she told him Uncle Peter's news: that the President was
+sending ships to the aid of the fort.
+
+"That is great news," said the Captain; "if it is only true we may keep
+the fort for the Union."
+
+Within the hour of their arrival Sylvia and Estralla were on their way
+home. The Captain had praised and thanked Sylvia for the loyal
+friendship that had prompted her visit.
+
+"Mrs. Carleton and I will always remember your courage," he said, as he
+handed her the letter.
+
+"I am so glad I thought about it; but it was really Estralla. She said
+if I was black we could come," Sylvia had replied.
+
+Then the boat swung clear and headed toward Charleston.
+
+"I am not going to land at the big wharves," said Sylvia. "I am going to
+that wharf near Miss Patten's garden. And then we'll tell Uncle Peter
+where the Butterfly is."
+
+It was early in the afternoon when Estralla appeared at the cloor of her
+mammy's kitchen.
+
+"Whar on airth you been? An' whar's yo' missy?" demanded Aunt Connie.
+"Didn' I makes her a fine om'lit fer her dinner, an' it's ruinated."
+
+"Missy wants a big pitcher of hot water," replied Estralla, dancing
+about just beyond Aunt Connie's reach.
+
+"Missy Sylvia say to tell you we been carryin' de cake to her fr'en',
+an' she gwine to tell you, Mammy," explained Estralla when her mammy had
+finally grasped her firmly by the shoulders.
+
+"W'y didn' yo' say dat firs' place? H'ar's de hot water," and Estralla
+hurried off to help Sylvia scrub off the sticky soot which had so well
+disguised her; and when Mrs. Fulton and Mrs, Carleton returned they
+found a very rosy-faced smiling little girl on the porch all ready to
+tell them of her trip to Fort Sumter, and to give Mrs. Carleton the
+longed-for news from her husband.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+FORT SUMTER IS FIRED UPON
+
+
+When Sylvia's father heard of her sailing the Butterfly to Fort Sumter
+he was greatly troubled.
+
+"If it should be discovered that my daughter had carried a message to
+Fort Sumter we would all be in danger; even the Waites would give us
+up," he declared. "What made you undertake such a thing, Sylvia?"
+
+The little girl explained as well as she could her wish to get news of
+Captain Carleton for his wife, and said that she was sure no one knew
+that she was a white girl. But Mr. Fulton was anxious and uneasy, and
+Sylvia began to realize that her secret adventure might bring serious
+results to those she loved best.
+
+"I told Captain Carleton what Uncle Peter said about ships coming to
+help Fort Sumter," she said, feeling almost sure that her father would
+think this the worst of all, but determined to make a full confession.
+She resolved that never again would she make plans without telling her
+mother and father, for she was most unhappy at her father's troubled
+look, and at his disapproval.
+
+"What?" exclaimed Mr. Fulton. "Did you tell Captain Carleton that
+reinforcements were coming to the aid of Fort Sumter?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I did, Father," sobbed Sylvia, who was now sure that she had
+told the very worst of her acts.
+
+But to her surprise she heard her father say: "Thank heaven! That may
+influence Anderson to hold the fort until help arrives," and his arm was
+about his little daughter, and she looked up through her tears to hear
+him say:
+
+"The news you carried to the fort is just what they wanted to know. And
+it may help to save the Union. It is worth while for us all to face
+personal danger if it proves that you were of service."
+
+Sylvia did not quite understand why Uncle Peter's news should be so
+important, but her father explained to her that Major Anderson would now
+feel sure of help, and that his men would have courage to bear hardship
+and hunger if need be until the ships arrived.
+
+"And you forgive me for going?" Sylvia pleaded.
+
+"My dear child! I am glad and proud that you could carry such a message
+to brave soldiers," her father replied, "but do not mention it to
+anyone. I must hasten my arrangements to leave Charleston. General
+Beauregard may fire upon Fort Sumter at any day, and I am of no use
+here."
+
+Sylvia drew a long breath of relief. That her father should really
+praise her for what she had feared might prove a very serious mistake
+made the little girl happy although it did not change her resolve never
+again to make adventurous plans without the approval of her mother or
+father. She realized that, although she had carried a valuable message,
+she had also endangered her father's safety if her visit to the fort was
+discovered, as every southerner would believe that Mr. Fulton had made
+the plan to be of aid to the United States.
+
+The little household now began its preparations to start north as soon
+as possible, and Sylvia was eager for the time to come that would see
+them safely on their way to their northern home. Grace Waite and her
+mother had gone into the country, and Sylvia did not know if she would
+see her friend again.
+
+The morning of April 11, 1861, dawned brightly over the harbor of
+Charleston, whose waters were covered with white sails putting hastily
+to sea. Guard-boats were plying constantly between the harbor and the
+islands. It was rumored about the town that before sunset the
+Confederate batteries would open fire upon Fort Sumter.
+
+Mr. Fulton's preparations to leave Charleston were completed, and if
+nothing prevented they would start for Boston on April 14th. On the
+eleventh, however, Mrs. Carleton hardly left the window from which she
+could look out over the harbor toward Fort Sumter. At any moment it
+might be attacked, and she knew that such an attack meant the beginning
+of a terrible civil war.
+
+Sylvia wandered about the house and garden with Estralla, telling the
+little colored girl of the home in Boston which she soon hoped to see.
+
+The hours passed, and the streets of Charleston grew strangely quiet. At
+sunset everything was calm, and no sound of guns disturbed the peace of
+the April evening, and Sylvia went to bed at the usual hour, not
+thinking that she would be wakened by the roar of cannon. The older
+members of the family sat up until after midnight. The sea was calm, and
+the night still under the bright starlight. At last they decided to
+retire, but there was little sleep for them that night.
+
+At half-past four the next morning the sound of guns from Fort Johnson
+broke upon the stillness. It was the signal to the Confederate batteries
+to open fire.
+
+Hardly had the echo of the opening gun died upon the air when every
+Confederate fort and battery opened fire upon Sumter, until the fort was
+"surrounded by a circle of fire."
+
+The Fulton household dressed hurriedly and from the windows looked over
+the harbor at the flashing lights and bursts of flame. Sylvia stood
+close beside Mrs. Carleton, and they were all silent.
+
+Aunt Connie brought up hot coffee and a tray of food, but none of them
+cared to eat. Mr. Fulton waited anxiously for the sound of answering
+guns from Fort Sumter. But not until seven o'clock that morning did Fort
+Sumter open its fire.
+
+"War has begun," said Mr. Fulton gravely, turning away from the window.
+
+"Will the President's ships come soon, Father?" asked Sylvia.
+
+"We must hope so," he answered; "and now there is no time for us to
+lose. We must start at once."
+
+"Bres' de Lord!" said Aunt Connie, who was standing near the door, and
+as Mr. Fulton spoke she hurried off to her cabin to make her final
+preparations for the long journey.
+
+Mrs. Fulton hastened to pack up the few things they would take with
+them, and Sylvia helped Mrs. Carleton pack. Early in the fore-noon they
+were ready. Mr. Robert Waite's carriage was at the door, with Mr. Waite,
+who had come to escort them on the first stage of their journey.
+
+"I wish I could say good-bye to Grace," said Sylvia as she went down the
+steps of the porch. She was all ready to enter the carriage when she
+heard her name called: "Sylvia! Sylvia!" and Grace came flying up the
+path.
+
+"Grace! Grace!" responded Sylvia, and for a moment the two little girls,
+"Yankee" and southern girl, clung closely together, while the noise of
+the echoing guns from the forts boomed over the harbor.
+
+"We will always be friends, won't we, Sylvia?" said Grace; and Sylvia
+responded "Always." Then with one more good-bye kiss Grace turned and
+ran back to Mammy Esther. She had persuaded her mother to bring her to
+Charleston that she might bid Sylvia good-bye, and now they would hasten
+back to the country, for Charleston might be attacked by United States
+ships of war, and was no longer a place of safety.
+
+The Fultons now entered the carriage. Aunt Connie and Estralla were the
+only members of the party who were smiling and happy. To Estralla it was
+the most wonderful day of her life. She was free. And with her mammy and
+her Missy Sylvia she was starting for a world where little colored girls
+could go to school, just as white children did, and never be bought or
+sold. She looked at Sylvia with adoring eyes.
+
+"What are you thinking of, Estralla?" asked Sylvia.
+
+Estralla leaned close to her "true fr'en'" and whispered: "I was a-
+t'inkin' 'bout my breakin' of de pitcher, an' a-spillin' de hot water,
+Missy Sylvia. You took my part den, Missy, an' you'se allers taken my
+part. My mammy say she bress de Lord dat you came to Charleston."
+
+Sylvia smiled back at the little colored girl. For a moment she forgot
+the booming of the distant guns, and remembered only her friends and the
+happy days she had spent in her southern home.
+
+
+
+
+The next Volume in this Series will be:
+
+A YANKEE GIRL AT BULL RUN
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter, by Alice Turner Curtis
+
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