Carolina and the states that follow her to stay out."

"I don't understand you," said the boy.

"It means war! It means war, as surely as the rising of the sun in the
morning. Many think that it does not; that the new republic will be
formed in peace, but I know better. A great and terrible war is coming.
Many of our colored people in Charleston and along the Carolina coast
came by the way of the West Indies. They have strange superstitions.
They believe that some of their number have the gift of second sight.
In my childhood I knew two old women who claimed the power, and they
gave apparent proofs that were extraordinary. I feel just now as if I
had the gift myself, and I tell you, Harry, although you can see only a
dark horizon from the window, I see one that is blood red all the way
to the zenith. Alas, our poor country!"

Harry stared at him in amazement. The colonel, although he had called
his name, seemed to have forgotten his presence. A vivid and powerful
imagination had carried him not only from the room, but far into the
future. He recovered himself with an abrupt little shrug of the
shoulders.

"I am too old a man to be talking such foolishness to a boy," he said,
briskly. "To bed, Harry! To bed! Your sleep on the train was brief
and you need more! So do I!"

Harry undressed quickly, and put himself under the covers, and the
colonel also retired, although somewhat more leisurely. The boy could
not sleep for some time. One vision was present in his mind, that of
Charleston, the famous city to which they were going. The effect of