went toward the bay, anxious to see the sea and those
famous forts, Sumter, Moultrie and the others, of which he had heard
so much.

It was a fine, crisp morning, one to make the heart of youth leap,
and he soon noticed that nearly the whole population of the city was
going with him toward the harbor. St. Clair, who had departed for his
bank, overtook him, and it was evident to Harry that his friend was not
thinking much now of banks.

"What is it, Arthur?" asked Harry.

"They stole a march on us yesterday," replied St. Clair. "See that dark
and grim mass rising up sixty feet or more near the center of the harbor,
the one with the Stars and Stripes flying so defiantly over it? That's
Fort Sumter. Yesterday, while we were enjoying our Christmas dinner and
talking of the things that we would do, Major Anderson, who commanded
the United States garrison in Fort Moultrie, quietly moved it over to
Sumter, which is far stronger. The wives and children of the soldiers
and officers have been landed in the city with the request that we
send them to their homes in the states, which, of course, we will do.
But Major Anderson, who holds the fort in the name of the United States,
refuses to give it up to South Carolina, which claims it."

Harry felt an extraordinary thrill, a thrill that was, in many ways,
most painful. Talk was one thing, action was another. Here stood South
Carolina and the Union face to face, looking at each other through the
muzzles of cannon. Sumter had one hundred and forty guns, most of which
commanded the city, and the people of Charleston had thrown up great
earthworks, mounting many cannon.

Boy as he was, Harry was old enough to see that here were all the
elements of a great conflagration. It merely remained for somebody to
touch fire to the tow. He was not one to sentimentalize, but the sight
of the defiant flag, the most beautiful in all the world, stirred him in
every fiber. It was the flag under which both his father and Colonel
Talbot had fought.

"It has to be, Harry," said St. Clair, who was watching him closely.
"If it comes to a crisis we must fire upon it. If we don't, the South
will be enslaved and black ignorance and savagery will be enthroned upon
our necks."

"I suppose so," said Harry. "But look how the people gather!"

The Battery and all the harbor were now lined with the men, women and
children of Charleston. Harry saw soldiers moving about Sumter, but no
demonstr