hought all his friends were going off to the South upon a kind of frolic,
spiced with a little of peril and hardship to make it the more exciting,
and he did not like the idea of being left behind. To the sentiment of
patriotism, as developed in the soul of Tom Somers and many of his
companions, he was an entire stranger. He was going to the war to
participate in the adventures of the --th regiment, rather than to fight
for the flag which had been insulted and dishonored by treason.

Every day the steamers brought crowds of visitors to the fort to see their
friends in the regiments quartered there, or to witness the drills and
parades which were constantly succeeding each other. Among them came many
of the people of Pinchbrook, and Tom was delighted by a visit from his
whole family. His mother found him so comfortable and contented that she
returned with half the heavy burden on her soul removed.

While the Pinchbrook boys were generally rejoiced to see their friends
from home, there was one in the company who was in constant dread lest he
should recognize a too familiar face in the crowds which the steamers
daily poured into the fort. Fred Pemberton did not wish to see his nearest
friends; but after he had been in the company some ten days, just as the
boys had been dismissed from the forenoon drill, he discovered at a
distance the patriarchal form of his father.

"My pipe's out, Tom," said Fred, as he rushed into the casemate where a
group of his companions were resting from the fatigues of the morning.

"What's the matter now, Fred?"

"The old man has just come into the fort."

"Has he?"

"Yes--what shall I do?"

"Keep a stiff upper lip, Fred, and we will put you through all right,"
said Sergeant Porter.

"What shall I do?" demanded Fred, who, whatever his views in regard to the
justice or injustice of coercion, did not wish to be taken from the
company.

"Come with me," said the sergeant, as he led the way into an adjoining
casemate. "No; nobody else will come," added he, motioning back other
members of the mess who was disposed to follow.

In the casemate to which Sergeant Porter conducted Fred, there was a pile
of boxes, in which the muskets of one of the regiments had been packed.
The fugitive from his father's anxious search was directed to get into one
of these boxes, from which the sergeant removed the gun rests. He obeyed;
his confederate put on the lid so as to permit him to receive a plentiful