amous flag of the Stars and Bars, and Harry and
his friends were soon singing in unison and with fiery enthusiasm:

"Hurrah! Hurrah! for Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the bonnie blue flag that bears a single star!"

The spring deepened and with it the tension and excitement. The warm
winds from the South blew over Charleston, eternally keen with the odor
of rose and orange blossom. The bay moved gently, a molten mass now
blue, now green. The blue figures could be seen now and then on the
black walls of Sumter, but the fortress was silent, although the muzzles
of its guns always threatened.

Harry received several letters from his father. The latest stated that
he might want him to return, but he was not needed yet. The state had
proved more stubborn than he and his friends had expected. A powerful
Union element had been disclosed, and there would be an obstinate fight
at Frankfort over the question of going out. He would let him know when
to come.

Harry was perhaps less surprised than his father over the conflict of
opinion in Kentucky, but his thoughts soon slipped from it, returning to
his absorption in the great and thrilling drama in Charleston, which was
passing before his eyes, and of which he was a part.

April came, and the glory of the spring deepened. The winds blowing
from the soft shores of the Gulf grew heavier with the odors of blossom
and flower. But Charleston thrilled continually with excitement.
Fort after fort was seized by the Southerners, almost without opposition
and wholly without the shedding of blood. It seemed that the stars in
their courses fought for the South, or at least it seemed so to the
youthful Harry and his comrades.

"Didn't I tell you everything would come as we wished it?" said the
sanguine Langdon. "Abe Lincoln may be the best rail-splitter that ever
was, but I fancy he isn't such a terrible fighter."

"Let's wait and see," said Harry, with the impression of Shepard's
warning words still strong upon him.

His caution was not in vain. That day the rulers of Charleston received
a message from Abraham Lincoln that Sumter would be revictualled,
whether Charleston consented or not. The news was spread instantly
through the city and fire sprang up in the South Carolina heart.
The population, increased far beyond its normal numbers by the influx
from the country, talked of nothing else. Beauregard was everywhere
giving quick, nervous orders, and al