His cousin smiled in sympathy. “I don’t want to be a wet blanket, young uns,� he said. “We did splendid work in war. When I look ahead, I see such stupendous peace tasks that—well, it makes me solemn. Oh, well! we’ll grope and stumble a little, but we are on an upward path, with old ideals and new vision ahead of us—and thank God for the leader with vision.�
This talk brought them to the top of the long hill that led to Mine Creek.
“There’s Unc’ Isham’s cabin, still as a graveyard,� remarked Dick. “I wonder where he and Aunt Lily Belle are?�
“They ran away because they’re scared of being punished,� said Steve.
“They’d better be scared; mean things!� exclaimed Patsy.
“Oh! Unc’ Isham didn’t want to hurt me,� said Anne. “He was just afraid to tell where I was. It was mighty comforting to hear the way he talked.�
“I say it was!� Dick agreed emphatically. “The old nig was in a tight place, with Cæsar threatening to kill him.�
“And there’s Solomon Gabe’s house,� said David.
The door was open; but the house was a mere shell from which its occupant had gone forever. When his son was captured, the half-crazed old negro had rushed back to his poor little home and, overcome by haste and terror, he had fallen dead on the threshold. There the officers of the law had found him.
“It was Solomon Gabe—poor old misguided wretch!—who set fire to Broad Acres,� said Mr. Osborne.