open, they went inside and entered with respect the room
in which the great men of their state, the Clays, the Marshalls, the
Breckinridges, the Crittendens, the Hardins, and so many others had
begun their careers. They were great men not to Kentucky alone, but to
the nation as well, and the hearts of the two boys throbbed with pride.
They sat down in two of the desks where the members were to meet the
next day and fight over the question whether Kentucky was Northern or
Southern.

It was very early. Besides themselves there was nobody about but the
caretaker. They were sitting in the House and the room was still warmed
in winter by great stoves, but they were not needed now, as the windows
were open and the fresh breeze of a grass-scented May morning blew in
and tumbled the hair of the two youths of the same blood who sat side by
side, close friends of their school days again, but who would soon be
facing each other across red fields.

The wind which blew so pleasantly on Harry's forehead reminded him of
that other wind which had blown so often upon his face at Charleston.
But it was not heavy and languorous here. It did not have the lazy
perfumes of the breezes that floated up from the warm shores of the
Gulf. It was sharp and penetrating. It whipped the blood like the
touch of frost. It stirred to action. His cousin's emotions were
evidently much like his own.

"Harry," said Dick, "I never thought that Kentucky would be fighting
against Kentucky, that Pendleton would be fighting against Pendleton."

Harry was about to reply when his attention was attracted by a heavy
footstep. A third person had entered the chamber of the House, and he
stood for a while in the aisle, looking curiously about him. Harry saw
the man before the stranger saw him and with an instinctive shudder
he recognized Bill Skelly. There he stood, huge, black, hairy, and
lowering, two heavy pistols shown openly in his belt.

The boys were sitting low in the desks and it was a little while before
Skelly noticed them. His attitude was that of triumph, that of one who
expects great spoils, like that of a buccaneer who finds his profit in
troubled times, preying upon friend and foe alike. Presently he caught
sight of the two boys. But his gaze fastened on Harry, and a savage
glint appeared in his eyes. Then he strode down the wide aisle and
stood near them. But he looked at Harry alone.

"You are Colonel Kenton's son?" he said.