He did not; for the speaker was as black as the ace of spades,--being a
sturdy specimen, the knave of clubs would perhaps be a fitter
representative,--but the dark freeman looked at the white slave with the
pitiful, yet puzzled expression I have so often seen on the faces of our
wisest men, when this tangled question of Slavery presents itself,
asking to be cut or patiently undone.

"Tell me what you know of this man; for, even if he were awake, he is
too weak to talk."

"I never saw him till I joined the regiment, an' no one 'peared to have
got much out of him. He was a shut-up sort of feller, an' didn't seem to
care for anything but gettin' at the Rebs. Some say he was the fust man
of us that enlisted; I know he fretted till we were off, an' when we
pitched into old Wagner, he fought like the Devil."

"Were you with him when he was wounded? How was it?"

"Yes, Ma'am. There was somethin' queer about it; for he 'peared to know
the chap that killed him, an' the chap knew him. I don't dare to ask,
but I rather guess one owned the other some time,--for, when they
clinched, the chap sung out, 'Bob!' an' Dane, 'Marster Ned!'--then they
went at it."

I sat down suddenly, for the old anger and compassion struggled in my
heart, and I both longed and feared to hear what was to follow.

"You see, when the Colonel--Lord keep an' send him back to us!--it a'n't
certain yet, you know, Ma'am, though it's two days ago we lost
him--well, when the Colonel shouted, 'Rush on, boys, rush on!' Dane tore
away as if he was goin' to take the fort alone; I was next him, an' kept
close as we went through the ditch an' up the wall. Hi! warn't that a
rusher!" and the boy flung up his well arm with a whoop, as if the mere
memory of that stirring moment came over him in a gust of irrepressible
excitement.

"Were you afraid?" I said,--asking the question women often put, and
receiving the answer they seldom fail to get.

"No, Ma'am!"--emphasis on the "Ma'am,"--"I never thought of anything but
the damn' Rebs, that scalp, slash, an' cut our ears off, when they git
us. I was bound to let daylight into one of 'em at least, an' I did.
Hope he liked it!"

"It is evident that you did, and I don't blame you in the least. Now go
on about Robert, for I should be at work."

"He was one of the fust up; I was just behind, an' though the whole
thing happened in a minute, I remember how it was, for all I was yellin'
an' knockin' round like mad. Just wh