He came, tremendously excited, clutching the _Herald_ in one hand.

"I've had enough of this rebel newspaper!" he said fiercely. "I
don't want it in the house again, ever. Father says that the
marine news makes it worth taking, but----"

"What on earth are you trying to say, Steve?"

"I'm trying to tell you that we're at war! War, Ailsa! Do you
understand? Father and I've had a fight already----"

"What?"

"They're still firing on Sumter, I tell you, and if the fort
doesn't hold out do you think I'm going to sit around the house
like a pussy cat? Do you think I'm going to business every day as
though nothing was happening to the country I'm living in? I tell
you now--you and mother and father--that I'm not built that way----"

Ailsa rose in bed, snatched the paper from his grasp, and leaning
on one arm gazed down at the flaring head-lines:

THE WAR BEGUN

Very Exciting News from Charleston

Bombardment of Fort Sumter Commenced

Terrible Fire from the Secessionists' Batteries