ge, having held several public offices at various times, but these
had been given up in order to superintend his fine farm, which years of
toil had brought into a high state of cultivation. Early in life, while
doing business in Louisiana, he had married a southern lady; but a few
years later he came into possession of the farm, and they moved North.

His wife found the change very great, and often sighed for the luxurious
life of her southern home; but she fell into New England ways more readily
than might have been expected. When she moved north, she brought Dinah, who
was her particular property, with her; indeed, Dinah was so much attached
to her young mistress that she refused to be left behind, and life on the
farm was made more endurable by her services. When, in the course of time,
a son was born, he was placed in Dinah's care, and little Clarence was as
fond of his black nurse as was ever the southern-born child of its black
"mammy" of the southern plantation.

But Mrs. Sherwood did not lose her individuality by her marriage. The
peculiar institution of the South she would like to have seen extended to
the North as well, and when the disruption took place her sympathies were
with those of her old home; she was heart and soul a southerner. Up to this
time the same friendly feeling existed between mistress and maid as when
they had lived under a sunnier sky; but the sentiments engendered by the
hated Abolitionists, soon found vent in sharp words, and other abuses, that
hitherto the faithful creature had never known.

Dinah felt keenly the change in her mistress, but bore it patiently,
thinking it would soon pass; but village gossip soon spread the report of
Mrs. Sherwood's treatment of her black servant, and the southern
sentiments, so openly expressed, caused the family to lose the estimation
of their neighbors, and gained instead their animosity. Party feeling ran
high, and the villagers declared that if there was another draft made, the
son should be made to fight against the avowed principles of the mother,
and as the sentiments of both parties grew stronger as the war advanced, it
brought matters to a crisis.

Hence the telegram requesting the son's presence at the farm.

When the train arrived at Crofton, the carriage was waiting for the
travellers, in charge of the hired man, and they were soon driving along
the familiar road to the homestead.

"What is the matter at home, Joe?" said Mr. Sherwood. "Are