assistant surgeon of his regiment.  As the shades of evening fell, the place that had resounded with war’s loud alarms, and had been the scene of so much bustle and confusion, resumed much of its old aspect of quiet and seclusion.  The marks of conflict, the evidence of changes, and the new conditions under which the family would be obliged to live, were only too apparent.  The grass on the lawn was trampled down, and there were new-made graves in the edge of the grove.  Fences were prostrate, and partly burned.  Horses and live stock had disappeared.  The negro quarters were nearly empty, the majority of the slaves having followed the Union column.  Confederate officers, who were welcome, honored guests but a few hours before, were on their way to Washington as prisoners.  Desperately wounded and dying men were in the out-buildings, and a Union officer, the one who had led the attacking party and precipitated these events, had begun his long fight for life in the mansion itself,—­a strange and unexpected guest.

Mrs. Barkdale, the mistress of the house, could scarcely rally from her nervous shock or maintain her courage, in view of the havoc made by the iron heel of war.  Miss Roberta’s heart was full of bitterness and impotent revolt.  She had the courage and spirit of her race, but she could not endure defeat, and she chafed in seclusion and anger while her mother moaned and wept.  Miss Suwanee now became the leading spirit.

“We can’t help what’s happened, and I don’t propose to sit down and wring my hands or pace my room in useless anger.  We were all for war, and now we know what war means.  If I were a man I’d fight; being only a woman, I shall do what I can to retrieve our losses and make the most of what’s left.  After all, we have not suffered half so much as hundreds of other families.  General Lee will soon give the Northerners some of their own medicine, and before the summer is over will conquer a peace, and then we shall be proud of our share in the sacrifices which so many of our people have made.”

“I wouldn’t mind any sacrifice,—­no, not of our home itself,—­if we had won the victory,” Roberta replied.  “But to have been made the instrument of our friends’ defeat!  It’s too cruel.  And then to think that the man who wrought all this destruction, loss, and disgrace is under this very roof, and must stay for weeks, perhaps!”

“Roberta, you are unjust,” cried Suwanee.  “Captain Lane proved himself to be a gallant, considerate enemy, and you know it.  What would you have him do?  Play into our hands and compass his own defeat?  He only did what our officers would have done.  The fact that a Northern officer could be so brave and considerate was a revelation to me.  We and all our property were in his power, and his course was full of courtesy toward all except the armed foes who were seeking to destroy him.  The moment that even these became unarmed prisoners he treated them with great leniency.  Because we had agreed to regard Northerners as cowards and boors evidently doesn’t make them so.”