West Point, and we fought in the same command against the
Indians on the plains. I saw him again at Cerro Gordo, and we were side
by side at Contreras, Molino del Rey, and the storming of Chapultepec.
He left the service some time after we came back from Mexico, but I
remained in it, until--recent events. It is fitting that I should meet
his son here, when we go upon errands which are, perhaps, similar in
nature. I infer that your destination is Charleston!"

"Yes," said Harry impulsively, and he was not sorry that he had obeyed
the impulse.

"Then we shall go together," said Colonel Talbot. "I take it that many
other people are now on their way to this same city of Charleston,
which since the secession of South Carolina has become the most famous
in the Union."

"I shall be glad if you will take me with you," said Harry. "I know
little of Charleston and the lower South, and I need company."

"Then we will go to a hotel," said Colonel Talbot. "On a journey like
this two together are better than one alone. I know Nashville fairly
well, and while it is of the undoubted South, it will be best for us,
while we are here, to keep quiet tongues in our heads. We cannot get a
train out of the city until the afternoon."

They were now in the station and everybody was going out. It was not
much past midnight, and a cold wind blowing across the hills and the
Cumberland River made Harry shiver in his overcoat. Once more he was
glad of his new comradeship with a man so much his superior in years and
worldly wisdom.

Snow lay on the ground, but not so deep as in Kentucky. Houses, mostly
of wood, and low, showed dimly through the dusk. No carriages met the
train, and the people were melting away already to their destinations.

"I'll lead the way," said Colonel Talbot. "I know the best hotel,
and for travelers who need rest the best is always none too good."

He led briskly through the silent and lonely streets, until they came
to a large brick building with several lights shining from the wide and
open door. They entered the lobby of the hotel, one carrying his saddle
bags, the other his valise, and registered in the book that the sleepy
clerk shoved toward them. Several loungers still sat in cane-bottomed
chairs along the wall, and they cast curious glances at Harry and the
colonel.

The hotel was crowded, the clerk said. People had been crowding into
town in the last few days, as there was a great stir in th