Jennie was leaning on the rail with tear-dimmed eyes.
"I wonder why that soldier took his hat off?" her aunt asked.
"Yes—I wonder!" was the soft answer.
By three o'clock it was known that not a man had been killed at either of the shore batteries and women began to smile and breathe once more.
The newsboys were screaming an extra.
Jennie hurried into the street and bought one.
In big black headlines she read:
RICHMOND AND WASHINGTON ABLAZE WITH EXCITEMENT!
THE NORTH WILD WITH RAGE
VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA ARMING TO COME TO OUR RESCUE!
She walked rapidly to the water's edge to get the latest news from the front. A tiny rowboat was deliberately pulling through the harbor squarely under the guns of Sumter. She watched it with amazement, looking each moment to see it disappear beneath the waves. It was probably her foolish father.