"Something has happened, my dear; something terrible,--something that
I did not expect, though many others were sure that it would come," he
continued, seating himself at the side of his wife.
"But you do not tell me what it is," said the lady, with a look which
indicated that her worst fears were confirmed. "Is Florry worse? Is
she"--
"So far as I know, Florry is as well as usual," interposed the husband.
"But a state of war exists at the present moment between the North and
the South."
CHAPTER II
THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH
Even five months before, when the Bellevite had sailed on her cruise,
the rumble of coming events had been heard in the United States; and it
had been an open question whether or not war would grow out of the
complications between the North and the South.
Only a few letters, and fewer newspapers, had reached the owner of
the yacht; and he and his family on board had been very indifferently
informed in regard to the progress of political events at home. Captain
Passford was one of those who confidently believed that no very serious
difficulty would result from the entanglements into which the country
had been plunged by the secession of the most of the Southern States.
He would not admit even to himself that war was possible; and before his
departure he had scouted the idea of a conflict with arms between the
brothers of the North and the brothers of the South, as he styled them.
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