Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-05-30

ton"
She looked at him doubtfully For the
/ time he had ceased to be John Winthrop the
man and was John Winthrop the Yankee.
And was not his remark possible reflection
upon her country
1.-The man that loves me must be even will
ing to fight for my State" she said
John laughed
"Therc will be no war;" he declared.
These troubles will all be over in three
months"
She shook her head sadly The Yankee
faded away and the man came back.
"Oh, Mr.. Winthrop" she cried, reaching
out her hands, ITS all more serious than
you think. 1t will be like that time in the
Bible when a mans foes shall be those of his
own household. Can you take up arms
| against your own brothers, Mr.. Winthrop ?
Can you sacrifice all you've held dear in the
/ world2 Because it will come to that I
know better than you what our people mean
to do"
But he only laughed again. He had taken
! her hands in his and she did not draw them
away.
you've worried your little head over these
matters" he said tenderly, It'll you've mag
nifed them hundred times greater than
they really are. Why, six months hence the
whole Confederacy will be knocking at the
door of the White House asking to come in."
Her eyes flashed.
"Ihey won't wait to knock she declared ;
they'll march in the front door while your
iail-splitter president and his men are run
ming out at the back. Mr.. Winthrop!"-
an instant he was the Yankee agan-"wh
| | think of you as one of them | almost hate
you"
He smiled little painfully it seemed.
And when do you not, Nathalie -
/ Oh, waited "a tnpVuanf lppGittr 1r.op.f ia.
away from him, seemingly nmindful Of his
| question.
And when do you not ?" he repeated with
! great genteness.
"Oh! why do you ask me ?" she cried ap-
| pealingy. ut will he better for both of us
| if you go away
But he was not to be put aside
Wont you answer me - he asked
when you think of me apart from my birth
! place, do you hate me then, Nathalie =
With a quick movement she drew her hand
away from his hold aud clasped them before
her face.
"Oh, l ought to :" she cried, II ought.
| I've tried hard But don't and can't !"
He moved step forward in his eager
haste, but she put out her hand as if to hold
| him back
NO she exclaimed excitedly mot yet
| must know, Mr. Winthrop-when the
trouble comes, which side shall you be on 2"
His face paled little, but his voice did not
falter.
"Tll enlist under your flag, Nathalie, if
! you'll only let me-
Two bright spots burned on her checks
and her eyes shone with a strange fire.
IF you ever desert it, she cried, don't
! come back TO me. Oh-forgive me, Mr.
Winthrop" rs n spasm of pain went over his
face, ''but next to God | love my country,
and then"
And then :" he repeated, his face lighting
up as rapidly as it had clouded.
And then" so softly that he could scarce
| ly hear it, you"
Well after such a confession as this it may
be imagined that the matter was settled As
| for Colonel Kershaw and the brothers they
had little to say. Indignant the father GER
tainly was, and his sons feelings can hardly
be described by so inexpensive a term. But
all her life Miss Nathalie had been in the
habit of having her own way, and not her
| fathers protests nor her brothers wrath nor
| her friends illconcealed amazement could
deter her from it in the present instance.
Mr.. Winthrop has thrown in his lot with
us, papa she would say. "Wait till the
time comes and he won't do us any discredit' -
Into the northern home the announcement
brought equal CONSERVATION. The letter
which conveyed it was not long one. Per
haps it was not an agreeable one for John to
write 1t only told them that affairs were so
very unsettled that he could not leave his
business; that while there was a good deal
of talk about war he did not believe it would
really come indeed he looked for Il peaceful
solution Of the whole affair within six months
And in a closing line it added that he was
| engaged to be married to Miss Nathalie Ker-
shaw, daughter of Colonel Peyton Kershaw
of Charleston.
Upon this they looked at one another in
grim and astonished silence until the old
father, reaching up for the family Bible and
| opening it at the fourteenth chapter of
Judges read,
"And Samson went down to Timnath, and
saw a woman in Timnath Of the daughters of
the Philistines."
They were reticont, elf-contained people,
and this was their only comment, A more
startling blow, however, than this was to fall
| upon them.
In justice to John Winthrop it should be
said that his disbelief in the probability of
war was genuine. Naturally sanguine and
| looking at matters through the rose-eolored
| glasses of Il successful love affair, it was not
surprising that he did not forecast more ac-
| curately the signs of the times. Then, TOO.
the fact of his not sharing the confidence of
the people around him kept him from know
ing the exact status of things, and left him
| less able to Judge Of the probabilities than
| people at the North. At all events, to no one
| in America was the first shot upon Sumter
more of "A shock and n surprise than to him.
! For the first time it brought him face to face
with the possibilities of his position as Miss
| korshaw had pictured them only little time
| before. Then when he did not recognize
them he had an opportunity to withdraw (;
now-this was his conclusion-love and hon
or alike held him where he was and bound
him to the obligations he had voluntarily as
| sumed.
Ten days after that shot was fired another
| letter came to the Massachusetts home. If
| the shot itself had been projected into the
| quiet household l cannot imagine more
shocked and demoralzed circle. The first
letter had been startling; this, to those up
right, stern-minded people, their patriotic I'M
| pulses now on fire, was fairly revolving. 1t
was shorter even than the other If between
! the lines there was volume of uneXpressed
shame, contrition, grief, they in their honest
modification and just wrath did not perceive
| it, Here is what they read;
"Dedr Father amt Hother:
My prophecies MS it seems were all wrong
and war has come. As no arguments of mine
could commend to your judgment the step
| which under the circumstances l am CON
| oNldlhNh W AAht hIldll LOl OutI my anu
as excuses would not palliate my offense,
shall leave them too unsaid. l have this day
connected myself with the 55th South Caro-
| lima Volunteers palmetto Guards) of which
my prospective father-in-law is Colonel. If
we are to see active service l can only pray
that kind Providence may keep me out of
the way of those who were once my friends
and relatives in the North.
"JoHS TEAIPLEroN WINTHROP"
Their son forgetful of the faith in which
he had been trained a traitor to his country,
to his conscience and his God The idea was
too horrible. For the moment they could not
take it in. As before, they sat looking at
one another, angry and grief-stricken, with
intensity of emotion which only silence is ad-
equate to express.
At length the old father took down again
the Bible, opening it this time at the family
record. There were the names James, ia
cob, Emily, Charles, Rebecoa, John a fair,
unblemished list until now. 1t was the
u