hen the doctor had finished the reading, he looked out the window of the
jail at the shining dome of the Capitol for a moment in silence.

"Do you know, my boy, that you have the heritage of royal blood? You are
the child of a wonderful mother. I'm ashamed when I think of the helpless
stupor under which I have given up, and then remember the deathless
courage with which she has braved it all--the loss of her boys, her
property, your troubles and mine. She has faced the world alone like a
wounded lioness standing over her cubs. And now she turns her home into a
hotel, and begins life in a strange new world without one doubt of her
success. The South is yet rich even in its ruin."

"Then you'll fight and go back to her with me?"

"Yes, never fear."

"Good! You see, we're so poor now, pa, you're lucky to be saving a board
bill here. I'd 'conspire' myself and come in with you but for the fact it
would hamper me a little in helping you."

CHAPTER V

ACROSS THE CHASM

When Ben had fully recovered and his father's case looked hopeful, Elsie
turned to her study of music, and the Southern boy suddenly waked to the
fact that the great mystery of life was upon him. He was in love at
last--genuinely, deeply, without one reservation. He had from habit
flirted in a harmless way with every girl he knew. He left home with
little Marion Lenoir's girlish kiss warm on his lips. He had made love to
many a pretty girl in old Virginia as the red tide of war had ebbed and
flowed around Stuart's magic camps.

But now the great hour of the soul had struck. No sooner had he dropped
the first tender words that might have their double meaning, feeling his
way cautiously toward her, than she had placed a gulf of dignity between
them, and attempted to cut every tie that bound her life to his.

It had been so sudden it took his breath away. Could he win her? The word
"fail" had never been in his vocabulary. It had never run in the speech of
his people.

Yes, he would win if it was the only thing he did in this world. And
forthwith he set about it. Life took on new meaning and new glory. What
mattered war or wounds, pain or poverty, jails and revolutions--it was the
dawn of life!

He sent her a flower every day and pinned one just like it on his coat.
And every night found him seated by her side. She greeted him cordially,
but the gulf yawned between them. His courtesy and self-control struck her
with surprise and admiration. In t