the ground." She paused, then sank her voice to a
whisper of mysterious dread, "An'--_an' I saw him!_"

"Don't think about it, Virgie," begged Morrison, slipping his arm about
the mite, and trying not to put his own beloved ones in the little
rebel's place. "What happened then?"

"We came to live here," said Virgie; "but Mamma got sick. Oh, she got
terrible sick--an' one night Daddy came through, and put her in the
ground, too. But _he_ says she's jus' asleep."

The soldier started. Mrs. Cary dead? This poor tot motherless? He drew
the baby closer to him, stroking her hair, as her sleeping mother might
have done, and waited for the rest.

"An' las' Friday, Sally Ann went away--I don't know where--an'--"

"What?" asked Morrison. "She left you here--all by yourself?"

"Yes, sir," said the child, with a careless laugh. "But _I_ don't mind.
Sally Ann was a triflin' nigger, anyhow. You see--"

"Wait a minute," he interrupted, "what became of the old colored man
who--"

"Uncle Billy? Yes, sir. We sent him up to Richmond--to get some things,
but he can't come back--the Yankees won't let him."

"Won't they?"

"No, sir. An' Daddy's been tryin' to get me up to Richmon', where my
Aunt Margaret lives at, but he can't--'cause the Yankees are up the
river an' down the river, an'--an' everywhere--an' he can't." She
paused, as Morrison turned to her from his restless pacing up and down.
"My, but you've got fine clo'es! Daddy's clo'es are all rags--with--with
holes in 'em."

He could not answer. There was nothing for him to say, and Virgie
scorched him with another question:

"What did you come after Daddy for?"

"Oh, not because I _wanted_ to, little girl," he burst out harshly. "But
you wouldn't understand." He had turned away, and was gazing through the
open door, listening to the muttered wrath of the big black guns far
down the river. "It's war! One of the hateful, pitiful things of war! I
came because I had my orders."

"From your Gen'ral?"

He lowered his chin, regarding her in mild astonishment.

"Yes--my General."

"An' do you love _him_--like _I_ love Gen'ral Lee?"

"Yes, dear," he answered earnestly; "of course."

He wondered again to see her turn away in sober thought, tracing lines
on the dusty floor with one small brown toe; for the child was wrestling
with a problem. If a soldier had orders from his general, as she herself
might put it, "he was _bound_ to come"; but still it was hard to
reconcile