hildren have got their freedom, thank
God, in that way. But I can't leave these children.'

"I looked down at them. They were beautiful children. The youngest was
a girl, with small features, dark hair, and black eyes. The boy, of six,
was pale and composed, and uttered no murmur. Both clung confidently to
the old negro.

"I could not help admiring the old man, who could resist the prospect of
freedom, though he had coveted it all his life, in order to remain loyal
to his trust. I felt desirous of drawing him out on the subject of the
war.

"'What do you think of this war?' I asked.

"He lifted up his hand, and in a tone of solemnity, said, 'I think it is
the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, that's going to draw
us out of our bondage into the Promised Land.'

"I was struck by his answer.

"'Do many of you--I mean of those who have not enjoyed your advantages
of education--think so?'

"'Yes, sir; we think it is the Lord's doings, and it is marvelous in
our eyes. It's a time of trial and of tribulation; but it isn't a-going
to last. The children of Israel were forty years in the wilderness, and
so it may be with us. The day of deliverance will come.'

"At this moment the little girl began again to cry, and he addressed
himself to soothe her.

"This was not the only group I encountered. Some women had come, down
to the river with children half-bereft of their senses--some apparently
supposing that we should rob or murder them. The rebel leaders and
newspapers have so persistently reiterated these assertions, that they
have come to believe them.

"The third day was unusually lovely, but our hearts were too anxious to
admit of our enjoying it. The rebels were entrenched on heights behind
the town. It was necessary that these should be taken, and about
noon the movement commenced. Our forces marched steadily across the
intervening plain. The rebels reserved their fire till we were half-way
across, and then from all sides burst forth the deadly fire. We were
completely at their mercy. Twenty men in my own company fell dead or
wounded, among them the captain and first lieutenant. Of what followed I
can give you little idea. I gave myself up for lost. A desperate impulse
enabled me to march on to what seemed certain destruction. All at once
I felt a sensation of numbness in my left arm, and looking down, I saw
that the blood was trickling from it.

"But I had little time to think of myself. Hearing a