But was she not already pledged to that other,--that
cold-blooded, contriving, venal, cynical, selfish, polished, fascinating
man of the world, whose artful strategy would pass with nine women out
of ten for the most romantic devotion?

If he had known the impression he made, he would have felt less anxiety
with reference to this particular possibility. Miss Silence expressed
herself gratified with his appearance, and thought he looked like a good
young man,--he reminded her of a young friend of hers who--[It was the
same who had gone to one of the cannibal islands as a missionary,--and
stayed there.] Myrtle was very quiet. She had nothing to say about
Clement, except that she had met him at a party in the city, and found
him agreeable. Miss Cynthia wrote a letter to Murray Bradshaw that very
evening, telling him that he had better come back to Oxbow Village as
quickly as he could, unless he wished to find his place occupied by an
intruder.

In the mean time, the country was watching the garrison in Charleston
Harbor. All at once the first gun of the four years' cannonade hurled
its ball against the walls of Fort Sumter. There was no hamlet in the
land which the reverberations of that cannon-roar did not reach. There
was no valley so darkened by overshadowing hills that it did not see the
American flag hauled down on the 13th of April. There was no loyal
heart in the North that did not answer to the call of the country to
its defenders which went forth two days later. The great tide of feeling
reached the locality where the lesser events of our narrative were
occurring. A meeting of the citizens was instantly called. The venerable
Father Pemberton opened it with a prayer that filled every soul with
courage and high resolve. The young farmers and mechanics of that whole
region joined the companies to which they belonged, or organized in
squads and marched at once, or got ready to march, to the scene of
conflict.

The contagion of warlike patriotism reached the most peacefully inclined
young persons.

"My country calls me," Gifted Hopkins said to Susan Posey, "and I am
preparing to obey her summons. If I can pass the medical examination,
which it is possible I may, though I fear my constitution may be thought
too weak, and if no obstacle impedes me, I think of marching in the
ranks of the Oxbow Invincibles. If I go, Susan, and I fall, will you not
remember me... as one who... cherished the tenderest... sentiments...