"Right! right! And the Southerners will accept such incendiary sentiments from you, because you are one of them, but, when I ventured something on the same order, but much more mild, I was called 'a damned Yankee,' who wanted to 'make truck-farmers out of gentlemen.'"
"Oh, oh!" laughed Carolina, merrily. "How like them that sounds! You know, dear Mr. Howard, they think we have no gentlemen in the North."
"T-they aren't far from it," cried Kate. "There are f-few gentlemen anywhere in the world, according to m-my definition of one."
"You say Guildford is sold?" said Mr. Howard.
"Yes, Sherman was obliged to mortgage it, but he did so without knowing how dearly I loved it. Then some one bought the mortgage and foreclosed it."
"Why, who could have done such a thing? There must have been a motive. Has coal been discovered on any of the surrounding property?"
"Not that I know of," said Carolina, in a guarded tone.
"Then there must have been some motive in the mind of the purchaser," said Mr. Howard, decisively.
Carolina was silent.
"Can you throw any light on the subject, Carol?" he persisted, but his manner was so kindly that Carolina could not take offence.