o names were
written. He thought of Prince Rupert, and of his own joy in the saddle, and
the longing for the raid seized him like a heartache. Oh, to feel again the
edge of the keen wind in his teeth and to hear the silver ring of the hoofs
on the frozen road.

"Jine the cavalry,
Jine the cavalry,
If you want to have a good time jine the cavalry."

The words floated out to him, and he laughed aloud as if he had awakened
from a comic dream.

That was the romance of war, but, after all, he was only the man who bore
the musket.

VIII

THE ALTAR OF THE WAR GOD

With the opening spring Virginia went down to Richmond, where Jack Morson
had taken rooms for her in the house of an invalid widow whose three sons
were at the front. The town was filled to overflowing with refugees from
the North and representatives from the South, and as the girl drove through
the crowded streets, she exclaimed wonderingly at the festive air the
houses wore.

"Why, the doors are all open," she observed. "It looks like one big
family."

"That's about what it is," replied Jack. "The whole South is here and
there's not a room to be had for love or money. Food is getting dear, too,
they say, and the stranger within the gates has the best of everything." He
stopped short and laughed from sheer surprise at Virginia's loveliness.

"Well, I'm glad I'm here, anyway," said the girl, pressing his arm, "and
Mammy Riah's glad, too, though she won't confess it.--Aren't you just
delighted to see Jack again, Mammy?"

The old negress grunted in her corner of the carriage. "I ain' seed no use
in all dis yer fittin'," she responded. "W'at's de use er fittin' ef dar
ain' sumpen' ter fit fer dat you ain' got a'ready?"

"That's it, Mammy," replied Jack, gayly, "we're fighting for freedom, and
we haven't had it yet, you see."

"Is dat ar freedom vittles?" scornfully retorted the old woman. "Is it
close? is it wood ter bu'n?"

"Oh, it will soon be here and you'll find out," said Virginia, cheerfully,
and when a little later she settled herself in her pleasant rooms, she
returned to her assurances.

"Aren't you glad you're here, Mammy, aren't you glad?" she insisted, with
her arm about the old woman's neck.

"I'd des like ter git a good look at ole Miss agin," returned Mammy Riah,
softening, "caze ef you en ole Miss ain' des like two peas in a pod, my
eyes hev done crack wid de sight er you. Dar ain' been nuttin' so pretty