"How did he come? Tell me all about it."
So Mrs. Shackelford had to tell all she knew.
"I will see him," said the colonel.
Fred was told his father wished to see him; his heart gave a great bound, as he rushed into the room with the cry of "Father!" on his lips, and was about to spring into his arms when the stern command of "Stop!" rooted him, as it were, to the floor.
"Before you call me father," said the colonel, sternly, "I want to know whether you have repented of your folly, or whether you are here as a spy. If I thought the latter, as sure as there is a God in heaven I would be tempted to give you up to the authorities to be hanged."
If a dagger had pierced Fred's heart it would not have caused him keener pain than the words of his father. He stood for a moment as if deprived of the power of speech. Then the angry surges of an outraged nature came to his relief, and his whole soul arose in protest to the indignity put upon him.
"I have neither repented of my folly, as you call it," he replied fiercely, "nor am I here as a spy. I came here on an errand of mercy at the earnest request of Uncle Charles. Denounce me as a spy if you choose; the act can be no more cruel than your words," and Fred turned and left the room.
"Richard," sobbed Mrs. Shackelford, "are you not too severe with the boy? At extreme peril to himself he brought a letter from Charles, and his coming has been a great comfort to me."
Colonel Shackelford passed his hands before his eyes, and then groped for a chair as if he had been smitten with blindness.
"Jennie," he replied in a low voice, trembling with emotion, "you do not know the agony the course of that boy has caused me. Perhaps I was too severe just now. Tell him I did not mean it. But I am half-crazed over the terrible disaster at Donelson. In a few days, at the most, the Northern horde will be here in Nashville. But," and his face lighted up with enthusiasm, "all is not lost, Jennie; we will soon be back. I know something of the plans of General Johnston. The army will concentrate somewhere along the line of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, probably at Corinth, and then before Grant and Buell can combine we will crush them in detail. They think Donelson has broken our spirit; they will find out differently."