"You take your letters to the gentlemen who are going to make the war, and then you and I and others like us, ranging from your age to mine, will have to fight it." But Harry was not to be discouraged.

He could not see things in a gray light on that brilliant Christmas morning.

Here was Charleston before him and in a few hours he would be in the thick of great events.
A thrill of keen anticipation ran through all his veins.

The colonel and he stood by the roadside while the obliging driver waited.

He offered his hand, saying good-bye.
"It's only for a day," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot, as he gave the hand a strong clasp.