She pressed her hand against her shaking lips.
“They’ll kill you—too!” she said. He shook his head.
“Our troops are encamped on the islands in and about Charleston harbor. The regiments are mixed up. There are so many wounded that I can be a real help by straightening out the record. Many homes do not know.” And he kissed her.
She watched him shave off his beard. She gave him a large box of food.
“I’ll find the boys!” His assurance cheered her.
He did find them—each on a different island—among the wounded. Charles thought him simply another figment of his feverish dreams. Lewis had been trying to get word out.
The news ran along the cots and out into the swamps:
“Frederick Douglass is here!”
Their cause was not lost.