re we are at Memphis, child. What shall you do now?"

"It is so near night that I guess that I'd better go to a hotel," said
Jeanne. "That is what father always does first. Then to-morrow morning I
want to find Commodore Porter. I have a letter for him."

"Porter is down the river with Farragut. I doubt if you will be able to
find him. But we'll see in the morning. The thing to do is to get a good
night's rest after this journey. Here is a cab for the Gayoso House. I
always stop there. It is a good place, and overlooks the river. Have you
ever seen the Mississippi before?"

"No," answered Jeanne trying to look about in the gathering darkness.
"It's a great river, isn't it?"

"None greater," answered Mr. Huntsworth enthusiastically. "Whichever side
of this struggle holds it will be the winning side. It is the backbone of
the rebellion, and the key to the whole situation."

"But we hold it, sir," said Jeanne earnestly. "My father says that now
that Vicksburg is taken it will not be long before Richmond will fall and
then the rebellion will be over."

"Pray God that your father may be right," said Mr. Huntsworth. "But I
fear that he is mistaken. These Southerners are not so easily whipped.
Every inch of the Confederacy will have to be conquered before they will
acknowledge themselves beaten. The North makes the same mistake as the
South does. Each forgets that both are of the same Anglo-Saxon blood that
never knows defeat. I fear the struggle will be a long and bloody one,
all the more bitter for being waged between brothers."

"I hope that it will not be long," sighed Jeanne. "I shouldn't like for
Dick to have to be away much longer."

"Is your brother in the army, my dear?"

"Yes, sir. Father works for the government, mother belongs to The Woman's
Central Relief Association, and I make socks and hem handkerchiefs for
the soldiers, and----" she paused suddenly, conscious that she was about
to speak of the object of her journey.

"And you hold fairs to tempt the shekels from the unwary, eh?" completed
Mr. Huntsworth. "Well, you are certainly a patriotic family. This is the
Gayoso House, child. It has been the resort of all the noted Southerners.
It is too dark for you to see the river, but you can hear its murmurings."

Jeanne leaned forward eagerly. The soft lapping of the water, as it beat
against the foot of the bluff upon which the city stood, came gently to
her ears.

"I wish I could see it," she exclaime