y, and then the crowd dispersed
almost in silence. It was the first time that Harry had seen Charleston,
gay and light of heart, in the shadow, but he was sure that it could not
last long. His errand over, he returned to his own battery and told
Langdon and St. Clair of everything that had happened.

"It's all for the best," said Langdon cheerfully. "Sumter will be ours
in another day."

"Wait and see, Happy," said Harry.

"All right, old Wait-and-See, I will," returned Langdon.

Harry tried to suppress, or at least conceal his intense excitement.
The whole city was in the same state. The batteries were filled with
men of wealth and position, serving as mere volunteer privates. The
wives and daughters of many of them were at the Charleston Hotel or the
Mills House, or at such inns as that kept by Madame Delaunay. Governor
Pickens and his wife were at the Charleston Hotel, and with them were
chief officers of the city and state. Nearly everybody knew that
something was going to happen, but few knew when it would happen.

Harry noticed a tightening of discipline at their battery. The orders
were sharp and they had to be obeyed. Nothing was wasted in politeness.
Visitors were no longer allowed to gratify curiosity. Women and girls
in their white or pink dresses were not permitted to come near and smile
at their husbands or brothers or sweethearts in the trenches. The
ammunition was stacked neatly behind the guns, and every man was
compelled to be ready at an instant's notice.

"Looks like business," Langdon whispered joyfully to his comrades.
"I'm hoping that fleet will come just as soon as it can."

"Happy, you sanguinary wretch," Harry whispered back, "I'm thinking the
fleet will come soon enough for you and all the rest of us."

The afternoon faded. The sun sank in the hills behind them, and dusk
came over city and harbor. But Harry, from the battery, could still see
the black bulk of Sumter, and above it the gleaming red and blue of a
flag.

Coffee and food were served to his comrades and himself in the battery,
and then they remained by their guns waiting. The night deepened.
Harry could yet see the flash of waters and the dim bulk of Sumter,
but the flag itself was no longer visible. No sound came from the city.
The silence there seemed singular and heavy.

The boy felt the night and the waiting. Even Happy Tom ceased to be
light and frivolous. The three had nothing to do and they sat toge