t in a minute sooner than lift a hand
against the flag that your grandfather and mine died under, and under
which I have sailed the world over. Why Marcy, you claim to love the old
flag, but I tell you that you don't know any more about it than the man
in the moon. Now don't get huffy, but wait until you have laid for long
weeks in a foreign port, thousands of miles from home and friends,
looking for a cargo which takes its own time in coming, and surrounded
by people whose hostility to all white men is such that they would cut
your throat in a second if they were not afraid of the consequences, and
let some one on deck report a stranger inside. You look over the side
and see a handsome ship standing in with the Stars and Stripes waving in
the air. When you have felt every nerve in you thrill with excitement
and pride, as I have on such occasions, then you can talk of your love
for the old flag. I'll fight for it as long as I can stand; but I'll
starve and die in the swamp before I will fight against it."

Sailor Jack spoke with unusual warmth, and if Marcy's patriotism had
been on the wane, his brother's earnest words would have infused new
life and strength into it. If the Northern people, with their immense
resources, were animated by the same spirit, it would not be long, he
told himself, before the old flag would crowd its secession rival to the
wall. Of course Mrs. Gray was very much alarmed by the startling news
the boys brought from Nashville, and she straightway began talking of
hiding the money Jack had given her, and of stowing the family silver in
some safe place; but Jack laughed at the idea.

"Why, mother, the Northern soldiers are not coming down here to steal
our valuables," said he. "They are not robbers."

"But have you never read how lawless all soldiers are?" inquired Mrs.
Gray. "They take delight in despoiling an enemy. It seems to be part of
their creed. And then--look a' that," she added, pointing toward the
rebel flag.

"That will not be in sight when the Federals come around here," replied
Marcy. "I'll make it my business to get it out of the way, and then I'll
rip up one of my bed quilts and show them my Union colors."

The fear that had taken possession of Marcy's mother--that possibly the
Union forces might ascend the Roanoke River, capture Plymouth, and
devastate the surrounding country--now took possession of Marcy also.
Northern soldiers had not yet been given an opportunity to show th