The other servants don't know of it,
so I can't get it out till after dark. Poor Julia! how does she stand these
terrible days?"
Betty's lips quivered. "I have to force her to eat," she replied, "and it
seems almost cruel--she is so tired of life."
"I know, my dear," responded the old lady, wiping her eyes; "and we have
our troubles, too. Champe is in prison now, and Mr. Lightfoot is very much
upset. He says this General Grant is not like the others, that he knows
him--and he's the kind to hang on as long as he's alive."
"But we must win in the end," said Betty, desperately; "we have sacrificed
so much, how can it all be lost?"
"That's what Mr. Lightfoot says--we'll win in the end, but the end's a long
way off. By the way, did you know that Car'line had run off after the
Yankees? When I think how that girl had been spoiled!"
"Oh, I wish they'd all go," returned Betty. "All except Mammy and Uncle
Shadrach and Hosea--and even they make starvation that much nearer."
"Well, we shan't starve yet awhile, dear; I'm in hopes that Congo will
ransack the town. If you would only stay."
But Betty shook her head and went back across the meadows, walking rapidly
through the lush grass of the deserted pastures. Her mind was so filled
with Mrs. Lightfoot's forebodings, that when, in climbing the low stone
wall, she saw the free negro, Levi, coming toward her, she turned to him
with a gesture that was almost an appeal for sympathy.
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