the author. He seemed
incredulous. He said he had read it that morning and wondered who had
written it. His incredulous look did not pass me unnoticed. The pen
was getting to be a weapon with me. Mr. Stokes's invitation to spend
Sunday with him followed soon after, and the visit is one of the
bright spots in my life. Henceforth we were great friends.

The grandeur of Mr. Stokes's home impressed me, but the one feature of
it that eclipsed all else was a marble mantel in his library. In the
center of the arch, carved in the marble, was an open book with this
inscription:

"He that cannot reason is a fool,
He that will not a bigot,
He that dare not a slave."

These noble words thrilled me. I said to myself, "Some day, some day,
I'll have a library" (that was a look ahead) "and these words shall
grace the mantel as here." And so they do in New York and Skibo
to-day.

Another Sunday which I spent at his home after an interval of several
years was also noteworthy. I had then become the superintendent of the
Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The South had
seceded. I was all aflame for the flag. Mr. Stokes, being a leading
Democrat, argued against the right of the North to use force for the
preservation of the Union. He gave vent to sentiments which caused me
to lose my self-control, and I exclaimed:

"Mr. Stokes, we shall be hanging men like you in less than six weeks."

I hear his laugh as I write, and his voice calling to his wife in the
adjoining room:

"Nancy, Nancy, listen to this young Scotch devil. He says they will be
hanging men like me in less than six weeks."

Strange things happened in those days. A short time after, that same
Mr. Stokes was applying to me in Washington to help him to a major's
commission in the volunteer forces. I was then in the Secretary of
War's office, helping to manage the military railroads and telegraphs
for the Government. This appointment he secured and ever after was
Major Stokes, so that the man who doubted the right of the North to
fight for the Union had himself drawn sword in the good cause. Men at
first argued and theorized about Constitutional rights. It made all
the difference in the world when the flag was fired upon. In a moment
everything was ablaze--paper constitutions included. The Union and Old
Glory! That was all the people cared for, but that was enough. The
Constitution was intended to insure one flag, and as Colonel Ingersoll
procl