True to her former professions, Lilian sent him forth with smiles and blessings; and after his departure, she had always a word of comfort and cheer for those who had given their household treasures to the cause of freedom. But the few who knew her intimately, knew that she shed bitter tears when no eye but that of God was upon her, as she thought of the perils by which he was surrounded, and which he had neither the power nor the wish to shun.
The regiment commanded by Col. Lester was in the second division of the Sixth corps in the Army of the Potomac, and was stationed near the enemy’s outposts, so that picket-firing and skirmishing were of daily occurrence, though there had been no general engagement since the battle of Gettysburg.
That grand Army of the Potomac; how my heart thrills as I think or write of it! Composed, as no other army on earth ever was made up, save our own noble troops of the West and South-west, of the very flower of American manhood, with youth, wealth, intellect, and talent filling its ranks, and yet, by a strange fatality, doomed to experience unmerited defeats or fruitless victories, it has waited with a courage and patience truly sublime for the moment of triumph which is sure to come at last. So often decimated, yet never subdued, but Antæus-like, gathering fresh vigor from every disaster, they have not always been able to command success, but they have done more; for they have deserved it. In the coming time, when this fearful war shall have passed into history, and our children are reaping its glorious results, it will be a prouder boast than that of royal lineage to have the right to say, “My father was a soldier in the Army of the Potomac.”
CHAPTER VI.
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS.
I had been absent from home for several weeks, and after my return, sickness in the family confined me closely, so that I knew little of what had been occurring in the neighborhood. Miss Letty, through whom my information usually came, was seldom seen abroad, to the great surprise and inconvenience of many families who had learned to look upon her frequent visits as an indispensable part of their domestic arrangements.
“What has happened to Miss Letty?” I inquired of Lilian Lester, at a meeting of our Aid Society, as I noticed the look of gravity which seemed strangely out of place on her countenance, usually so cheerful.
“I am not aware of any cause for it,” Lilian replied, “and yet she certainly does look as if she were carrying a weight of care. Dear Miss Letty, I hope nothing has happened to trouble her, for she is so kind and unselfish that she ought to be very happy.”
As I left the house, Miss Letty came up, and proposed to accompany me home, an offer which I gladly accepted, for it was evident that there was something she wished to communicate, and I hoped, by sharing her anxieties, to alleviate them. We walked for a few steps in silence, and then my companion, in an embarrassed tone, very different from her ordinary manner, inquired,
“Mrs. Glenn, have you ever seen Mr. Thurston when he has been here preaching for Mr. Ryder?”
“Mr. Thurston,” I repeated; “is he the home missionary stationed at M——, among the mountains? If so, I have seen him, and heard him preach; but why do you ask that question?”