“I did; but I could not fully understand your position.”
“And so you gave me the slip? Well, Somers, I forgive you.”
“I am sure, if I had not been in doubt in regard to what you were, I would not have left you, even if I had been certain of hanging with you.”
“I know you wouldn’t, my boy. I confess there were a great many dark things against me; but I assure you I am a loyal and true man. I have suffered more for the Union than you have; for I was born in the sunny South, and all my friends and neighbors went with the rebels. I had no alternative but to go into the army, where my experience in the Crimea, in Italy, and in Mexico, made me an officer. I escaped as soon as I could, and enrolled myself on the right side.”
Somers grasped the hand of his brave and devoted companion, which he pressed with a warmth that indicated his feelings more eloquently than words could have done. He was entirely satisfied with the explanation, because it was fully sustained by the conduct of the captain, and by the words of the rebel cavalry officer who had claimed his acquaintance. He was even disposed to believe that De Banyan had been a soldier in the European wars and in Mexico; which was a degree of credulity hardly to be expected of a sensible young man.
“You will forgive me for my unjust suspicions, captain? I assure you it went against my grain to believe that you were a rebel.”
“You had good reason for it. I was more afraid of you, when I confessed my sins to the rebel officer, than I was of him. We are friends again, Somers; that’s all I want.”
“You have proved yourself my friend by this last act; and I should have needed no further explanation to convince me that you were a loyal man.”
“I am all that, my dear boy.”
“Where have you been since I parted from you?”