"Oh! It's Estralla!" she exclaimed, and ran back to the entry.
"It's Estralla! Oh! I'm so glad!" she said.
"Don' you be skeered, Missy Sylvia," said Estralla valiantly. "Dis yere man cyan't take you off'n sell you."
"All Estralla can think of is that somebody is going to be carried off and sold," Sylvia said, turning to Mr. Doane, who stood by looking very serious.
"How did you know where your little mistress was?" he questioned gravely. For if this little darky knew of Sylvia's errand he feared that she might tell others, and so Sylvia would have brought the message from the fort to little purpose. The letter, which was now in Mr. Doane's pocket, was to the Secretary of War in Washington, asking for permission for Major Anderson to take men to Fort Sumter, before the secessionists could occupy it.
"I follers Missy," explained Bstralla. "An' when that man grabs her on
King Street, I was gwine to chase right home an' get Massa Fulton, but
Missy talks brave at him, an' he lets go of her. Oh, Missy! What you
doin' of way off here?"
At this question Mr. Doane smiled, realizing that the little negro girl had no knowledge of the message which Sylvia had delivered.
"Well, Estralla, suppose Miss Sylvia came to try and help give you your freedom?" he asked.
"An' my mammy?" demanded Estralla eagerly.
"Why, of course," Mr. Doane replied. "For anything that helps to convince South Carolina that she is wrong will help to free the slaves," he added, turning to Sylvia.