"I don't believe he'll do it," said Harry impulsively. Some one touched
him upon the shoulder, and turning quickly he saw Colonel Leonidas
Talbot. He shook the colonel's hand with vigor, and introduced him to
young St. Clair.

"I have just come into the city," said the colonel, "and I heard only
a few minutes ago that Major Anderson had removed his garrison from
Moultrie to Sumter."

"It is true," said St. Clair. "He is defiant. He says that he will
hold the fort for the Union."

"I had hoped that he would give up," said Colonel Talbot. "It might
help the way to a composition."

He pulled his long mustache and looked somberly at the flag. The wind
had risen a little, and it whipped about the staff. Its fluttering
motions seemed to Harry more significant than ever of defiance. He
understood the melancholy ring in Colonel Talbot's voice. He, too,
like the boy's father, had fought under that flag, the same flag that
had led him up the flame-swept slopes of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec.

"Here they come," exclaimed St. Clair, "and I know already the answer
that they bring!"

The small boat that he had predicted put out from Sumter and quickly
landed at the Battery. It contained three commissioners, prominent men
of Charleston who had been sent to treat with Major Anderson, and his
answer was quickly known to all the crowd. Sumter was the property