She was driven to the cars as she had come, in company with Lieutenant H., who saw her safe on board, and as the train moved off, he pressed her hand, and said warmly, "Good-by. God bless you; be of good cheer; in a few days, two or three, you will see me again, and—" he left the sentence unfinished, as the train was getting fast, and leaped from the platform.
At the hour of 12 M. she was at home again. "In a few days, two or three," she said to the family, "I am off for the sunset side of the Rio Grande to Matamoras. This is the order of the General, and to remain there, or outside the lines, till the 'cruel war is over.'
"And now, Lew, I want you and your sister Emma to accompany me with the ambulance and the nice white carriage mules, and be my companions in exile. Do, my dears, and don't say no, for how can I go alone, and leave my adopted darling brother and sister. We can do something for a livelihood if the purse gets low, and we'll fill it as we go."
"But, dear Mrs. E., you have not told us yet why you are ordered into exile. Have you been committing some enormous crime that deserves the punishment of expatriation? Tell us, for it may be that we may meet the fate of poor 'Dog Tray,' being found in bad company, which might not be quite so pleasant after all."
Thus responded, archly, Lewis and Emma.
"Sure enough. Pardon me, dears, my mind had become so absorbed with results that I had become oblivious of the cause. Ah! why so, not demented am I! and yet with all my effort at self-control, there is, I feel, a terrible strain on my nerves. But the cause, what do you suppose it is? I will tell you. Do you remember that letter I wrote to my dear old mother two months ago, dying, no doubt, with the heartache for her child in this far-off country, and in these troublous times? You do. Well, by a strange ordering of the fates that letter fell into the hands of the military. I see you wonder how. It was on this wise: The vessel carrying the mail was shipwrecked on the Gulf, and among the things carried ashore by the tidewaters, near Sabine Pass, was the mail-bag containing the fatal letter, and was picked up by the soldiers on duty there, and forwarded to headquarters. And now that is how the situation is, and the procuring cause of my being in military limbo."
"And is that all—is that the head and front of your offending?" exclaimed the brother and sister, and then added, "If that be all, we are not only ready to go with you into exile, but if need be to the ends of the earth. Yes, we'll go, dear Mrs. E.; we'll go, and glad of an opportunity for voluntary exile from a country so mean, and with one so dear."
"Hush, my dears; give utterance only to such feelings when we are safe beyond the lines. Now we understand each other, let us to the work of preparation for the journey of four hundred miles. Lew will look after the mules and ambulance. The ambulance will need two good seats, and room inside, and a rack behind for provisions and trunks. And you and I, Emma, will see the trunks well filled with clothing for all around, and other things that may come in play. You know we shall be obliged to camp out the whole way through, as there are no places of entertainment in that wild country. The wolves will nightly give us howling serenades around our camp-fires. But the escort will afford us ample protection against four-legged wolves, and wolves bipedal."
The next two days were busy ones of preparation, interspersed with brief respites, occasions for interesting chats and consultations on the novel trip before them, in which the ever-recurring how, when, where, and wherefore, were thoroughly canvassed and disposed of each time as well as mortals with only mortal ken could dispose of such things yet in the untried future. At last, when the clock said ten, the second night, the trunk lids were pressed down to their places, locked and strapped, and Mrs. E. wearied, and half-falling into a big arm-chair, exclaimed, "There, Lieutenant H., you may come as quick as you please, we are ready."
Just then the door-bell rang. "Why, who's that," said Mrs. E., in a half-startled, but suppressed tone; but a little bird told her it was the Lieutenant. Miss Emma approached and opened the door, and sure enough it was he.