“Give up the fort! Shall the United States cave in before the little State of South Carolina. Not by a two chalks!”
“I think the North has been teasing and vexing the South till the Southerns can’t stand it any longer. There’ll be war now.”
“I hope there will! By gracious, I hope so!”
“I hope the South will beat!”
“Do you? Do you, Fred Pemberton?” demanded Tom, so excited he could not stand still.
“Yes, I do. The South has the rights of it. If we had let their niggers alone, there wouldn’t have been any trouble.”
“You are as blind as a bat, Fred. Don’t you see this isn’t a quarrel between the North and the South, but between the government and the rebels?”
“I don’t see it. If the North had let the South alone, there wouldn’t have been any fuss. I hope the North will get whipped, and I know she will.”
“Fred, you are a traitor to your country!”
“No, I’m not!”