"It says that they will be paroled to-day, and that they passed a comfortable night."
"It must be a Yankee lie," said the lady. "Oh, what a night! I saw them torturing him in a thousand ways the barbarians! I know he had to sleep on a dirty floor with low-down trash."
"But we shall have him here to-night, Aunt Lillian!" cried Virginia. "Mammy, tell Uncle Ben that Mr. Clarence will be here for tea. We must have a feast for him. Pa said that they could not hold them."
"Where is Comyn?" inquired Mrs. Colfax. "Has he gone down to see
Clarence?"
"He went to Jefferson City last night," replied Virginia. "The Governor sent for him."
Mrs. Colfax exclaimed in horror at this news.
"Do you mean that he has deserted us?" she cried. "That he has left us here defenceless,—at the mercy of the Dutch, that they may wreak their vengeance upon us women? How can you sit still, Virginia? If I were your age and able to drag myself to the street, I should be at the Arsenal now. I should be on my knees before that detestable Captain Lyon, even if he is a Yankee." Virginia kept her temper.
"I do not go on my knees to any man," she said. "Rosetta, tell Ned I wish the carriage at once."
Her aunt seized her convulsively by the arm.
"Where are you going, Jinny?" she demanded. "Your Pa would never forgive me if anything happened to you."