about to make the passage, for the purpose of
obtaining their back pay from Captain Foster. She took a seat in the
stern of the boat, and told them to take her with them. The sentinel who
was there to examine the passes did not interfere or ask her any
questions, so she came over without difficulty. Mrs. Foster and her
sister, Mrs. Smith, were already with us, having obtained a permit from
the governor. Mrs. Seymour had made an unsuccessful application to the
commander of Fort Moultrie, and had been somewhat rudely refused. Two
clever little boys, sons of our generous-hearted sutler, Dan Sinclair,
volunteered to row her across. After dark, they pulled a boat out from
under a house up the beach; and as there was no guard there, Mrs.
Seymour came over without difficulty.

The ladies were desirous of remaining an indefinite length of time; but
we had no means of making them comfortable, and Major Anderson thought
their presence would merely add to our embarrassment. In accordance with
his wishes, they left that night and the next day. The cold was intense,
and as all the wood was retained for cooking purposes, I was obliged to
split up a mahogany table for fuel, to keep my wife from suffering
during her brief visit. She and Mrs. Seymour went back with the Sinclair
boys at midnight. They succeeded in making a landing, and in reaching
the chaplain's house without being observed.

In the mean time, an amusing scene had occurred there. A very chivalrous
gentleman, Ex-Governor Means, of South Carolina, had learned in some
way that Mrs. Seymour had been rudely refused permission to visit her
husband in Fort Sumter. He thought this action of the commandant of Fort
Moultrie harsh and unnecessary, and was kind enough to take the trouble
to call at the chaplain's house to assure Mrs. Seymour that he would
procure her a pass from higher authority. The chaplain hardly knew how
to act. He did not like to tell the ex-governor that Mrs. Seymour had
already gone, for fear it might get the Sinclair boys into trouble. He
therefore pretended that Mrs. Seymour was confined to her room with a
sick-headache. The ex-governor sent in repeated messages to beg that she
would see him, if it was only for a moment, but the answers made up by
Mrs. Harris were invariably in the negative. The chaplain afterward
laughed heartily at the equivocal position he had been forced to assume.

Now that we were alone once more, we went to work with a will. The
Ba