im, and then ran
back and caught up her child. She said to Chloe, 'I have news of my
husband. I think he is here. I will soon be back again.' Then she ran
out, and she has never returned. We have made every inquiry we could,
but we have not liked to advertise for her, for it may be that she has
met her husband, and that he has persuaded her to make off at once with
him to Yorktown or Fortress Monroe."

"This is bad news indeed, mother," Vincent said. "No, I do not think for
a moment that she has gone off with Tony. There could be no reason why
she should have left so suddenly without telling anyone, for she knew
well enough that you would let her go if she wished it; and I feel sure
that neither she nor Tony would act so ungratefully as to leave us in
this manner. No, mother, I feel sure that this has been done by Jackson.
You know I told you I felt uneasy about her before I went. No doubt the
old rascal has seen in some Northern paper an account of his son having
been attacked in the streets of Washington, and recaptured by Tony, and
he has had Dinah carried off from a pure spirit of revenge. Well,
mother," he went on in answer to an appealing look from her, "I will not
put myself out this first evening of my return, and will say no more
about it. There will be plenty of time to take the matter up to-morrow.
And now about all our friends and acquaintances. How are they getting
on? Have you heard of any more of my old chums being killed since I was
taken prisoner at Antietam?"

It was late in the evening before Vincent heard all the news.
Fortunately, the list of casualties in the Army of Virginia had been
slight since Antietam; but that battle had made many gaps among the
circle of their friends, and of these Vincent now heard for the first
time, and he learned, too, that although no battle had been fought since
Antietam, on the 17th of September, there had been a sharp skirmish near
Fredericksburg, and that the Federal army, now under General Burnside,
who had succeeded McClellan, was facing that of Lee, near that town, and
that it was believed that they would attempt to cross the Rappahannock
in a few days.

It was not until he had retired for the night that Vincent allowed his
thoughts to turn again to the missing woman. Her loss annoyed and vexed
him much more than he permitted his mother to see. In the first place,
the poor girl's eagerness to show her gratitude to him upon all
occasions, and her untiring watch