"Jack, my son!" murmured the colonel, as his eyes rested on the face of the youth. "My son, at last!"
"Father!" was the only word Jack could utter, but, oh, how much it meant! Then he caught his parent by both hands, and for a moment there was utter silence.
"I was so afraid something had happened to you," went on the colonel. "Oh, Jack! you do not know how glad I am that we have found one another!"
"And I am glad, too," replied our hero. "Do you know I was drawn to you from the first time I saw you?" he added.
"And I was drawn to you—even though you were a little Confederate," and the colonel smiled.
"And you are a Yankee!" cried Jack. "But I don't care what you are, father," he continued hastily. "Blood is thicker than water; isn't it?"
"Yes, Jack; and what is more, I trust this cruel war will soon be over, and we will have no North and no South, but just one country."
Jack remained with his parent for over an hour, then went off to see what could be done with Dr. Mackey.
It was the middle of the forenoon when Marion discovered St. John coming, accompanied by several Confederate soldiers.
"He has come to arrest my father," said Jack. "But he shan't do it."