"Can you not speak? Oh! let me hear your voice once more! Say at least, that you forgive me—for I have brought all this upon you!" Alibamo bent over the wounded man, weeping as if her heart would break. Hayward closed his eyes, and did not reply.
"What the devil are you blubbering about?" growled Branch addressing himself to the attendant soldier.
"Cos I'm a darn skunk," sobbed the attendant, scarcely able to speak.
"My good friend, do you sympathize with this noble captain?"
"Yes—yes—ma'am," sobbed the soldier. "I don't believe he's half so much of a darn skunk as some other folks!"
"There, don't weep," said Alibamo, in a soothing manner, as she laid her hand gently upon his arm. "I am glad to meet one good heart here!"
"Don't—don't, Miss Alibamo. There's something inside of me that's swelling up, and if you talk that way, I know it will burst, and I shall bellow like a bull. Oh! I wish I wasn't such a darn skunk! But I ain't no account, no way, so don't call me a good heart, cos nobody ever said that to me afore, only cap—— only you, and I ain't nothing but a cowardly skunk!"
"Why have you so much sympathy for your enemy?" asked Branch.
"Because I don't think it's fair to strike a man when he's down!"
"I'll tell you, Branch," said Alibamo, "why he has so much sympathy for the captain—a feeling you cannot understand. God has given him a noble heart, and he can feel for the unfortunate, even though it be an enemy."