sleep in its scabbard till the nation is free!" And she had heard that
summer of '64 how bravely the colored soldiers had stood at Fort Wagner,
when the storms of death were sweeping through the darkened sky. How
they summoned the world to see the grandeur of their courage and the
daring of their prowess.

How Corny had held with unyielding hand the nation's flag, and even when
he was wounded still held it in his grasp, and crawling from the scene
of action exclaimed, "I only did my duty, the old flag, I didn't let it
trail on the ground."

And she felt on reading it with tearful eyes, that if she belonged to
that race they had not shamed her by their want of courage; and so when
Louis came to her and told her his intention, she would not attempt to
oppose him, and when he was ready to depart, with many prayers, and sad
farewells, she gave him up to fight the battles of freedom, for such it
was to him, who went with every nerve in his right arm tingling to
strike a blow for liberty.

Hitherto Louis had known the race by their tenderness and compassion,
but the war gave him an opportunity to become acquainted with men brave
to do, brave to dare, and brave to die.

A colored man was the hero of one of the most tender, touching, and
tragic incidents of the war. A number of soldiers were in a boat exposed
to the fire of the rebels; on board was a colored man who had not
enrolled as a soldier, though his soul was full of sublime valor. The
bullets hissed and split the water, and the rowers tried to get out of
their reach, but all their efforts were in vain; the treacherous mud had
caught the boat, and some one must peril life and limb to shove that