town
like Nashville, nine out of ten of whose citizens were supposed to be
good Confederates, without a tragedy following close upon the heels of
it, he would have thought the statement an absurd one for any sane man
to make. Marcy knew then, as well as he did when he afterward read it in
one of his papers, that the people of North Carolina were not ardently
devoted to the Confederate cause. In fact "they did not care much for
either party; but while a large number of them would have liked to wait
for the issue of the struggle to declare their preferences, those who
remained loyal to the flag of the Union were too much afraid of a turn
of fortune to avow their sentiments openly." But it seemed that Hawkins
was not afraid to say what he thought of the situation, and only one of
the rebels who listened to his speech in the post-office had dared
dissent from his views. That was Tom Allison, who came near having his
neck "twisted" for his impudence.

"You look surprised, old fellow," was the way in which Tom greeted Marcy
when he came up.

"Who wouldn't be?" answered Marcy. "If all the paroled prisoners think
that way the Confederate army must be in bad shape."

"But they don't," said Mark hastily. "If some of those Tom and I talked
with yesterday were here now, they would make Hawkins sing a different
song, I bet you. We found them as strong for the cause, and as spiteful
against all Unionists, North and South, as they were when they first
went into the army. Hawkins is mad because he got whipped; but he will
be all right a week from now. Were you in any battles, Marcy?"

"You can't think how astonished we were when we woke up in the morning
and learned that the Yankee sailors had been through our neighborhood,
and that nobody, except a few niggers, was the wiser for it," said Tom.
"Beardsley says you acted as pilot, but he didn't. He positively refused
to do it, and the Yankees put him in irons. Is that so?"

"It is true that Beardsley was put in irons, but not because he refused
to act as pilot," replied Marcy. "He didn't get a chance to say whether
he would go on the bridge or not, for Captain Benton did not ask him. He
was ironed for the reason that he served the crew of the _Hollins_ that
way when he captured them."

"Did they treat you well?"

"First-rate. They couldn't have done better if I had been one of them."

"And you were one of them. You couldn't have done more to help them win
the fight if you had