Colonel Talbot's ominous words had worn off. He would soon see the city
which had been so long a leader in Southern thought and action, and he
would see, too, the men who had so boldly taken matters in their own
hands. He admired their courage and daring.

It was late when Harry awoke, and the colonel was already up and
dressed. But the man waited quietly until the boy was dressed also,
and they went down to breakfast together. Despite the lateness of
the hour the dining-room was still crowded, and the room buzzed with
animated talk. Harry knew very well that Charleston was the absorbing
topic, just as it had been the one great thought in his own mind.
The people about him seemed to be wholly of Southern sympathies, and
he knew very well that Tennessee, although she might take her own time
about it, would follow South Carolina out of the Union.

They found two vacant seats at a table, where three men already sat.
One was a member of the Legislature, who talked somewhat loudly; the
second was a country merchant of middle age, and the third was a young
man of twenty-five, who had very little to say. The legislator, whose
name was Ramsay, soon learned Colonel Talbot's identity, and he would
have proclaimed it to everybody about him, had not the colonel begged
him not to do so.

"But you will at least permit me to shake your hand, Colonel Talbot,"
he said. "One who can give up his commission in the army and come back
to us as you have done is the kind of man we need."

Colonel Talbot gave a reluctant hand.

"I am proud to have felt the grasp of one who will win many honors in