n-loving children of the South.

There were as yet no dances, no social festivities. The town was soldier
mad. Few men not in uniform were to be seen on the streets. A man in
citizen's clothes was under suspicion as to his principles.

With each train, new companies and regiments arrived. Day and night the
tramp of soldiers' feet, the throb of drum, the scream of fife, the
gleam of bayonets.

Everywhere soldiers were welcomed, feted, lionized. The finest ladies of
Richmond vied with one another in serving their soldier guests. Society
turned out _en masse_ to every important review.

Southern society was melted into a single pulsing thought--the fight in
defense of their homes and their liberty. In the white heat of this
mighty impulse the barriers of class and sex were melted.

The most delicately reared and cultured lady of society admitted without
question the right of any man who wore a gray uniform to speak to her
without introduction and escort her anywhere on the streets. In not a
single instance was this high privilege abused by an insult, indignity
or an improper word.

Socola saw but one lady who showed the slightest displeasure.

A dainty little woman of eight, delicately trained in the ways of polite
society, was shocked at the familiarity of a soldier who had dared to
caress her.

She turned to her elderly companion and gasped with indignation:

"Auntie! Did you ever! Any man who wears a stripe on his pantaloons now
thinks he can speak to a lady!"

Socola laughed and passed on to inspect the camp of the famous Hampton
Legion of South Carolina.

His heart went out in a sudden wave of admiration for these Southern
people who could merge thus their souls and bodies into the cause of
their country.

The Hampton Legion was recruited, armed and equipped and led by Wade
Hampton. Its private soldiers were the flower of South Carolina's
society. The dress parades of this regiment of gentlemen were the
admiration of the town. The carriages that hung around their maneuvers
were as gay and numerous as the assemblage on a fashionable race course.
Each member of this famous legion went into Richmond with his trunks and
body servant. They, too, were confident of a brief struggle.

A kind fate held fast the dark curtains of the future. The camp was a
picnic ground, and Death was only a specter of the dim unknown.

Just as Socola strolled by the grounds, the camp spied the handsome
figure of young Preston H