wherever _The Herald_ desired a correspondent. The editor-in-chief was
busy over a long letter from some point in the South, but his response
was promptly given. Half reading, half pausing over the letter, he
briefly said:--

"A long and bloody war is upon us, in which the whole country will be
engaged. We shall desire you to take the field; probably in the West.
It may be several weeks before we need you, but the war cannot be long
delayed."

At that time few persons in the North looked upon the situation with
any fears of trouble. There were some who thought a hostile collision
was among the possibilities, but these persons were generally in the
minority. Many believed the secession movement was only the hasty work
of political leaders, that would be soon undone when the people of the
South came to their senses.

That the South would deliberately plunge the country into civil war
was difficult to comprehend, even after the first steps had been
taken. The majority of the Northern people were hoping and believing,
day by day, that something might transpire to quell the excitement and
adjust the difficulties threatening to disturb the country.

Before leaving the Rocky Mountains I did not believe that war was
certain to ensue, though I considered it quite probable. As I passed
through Missouri, the only slave State that lay in my route, I found
every thing comparatively quiet. In St. Joseph, on the day of my
arrival, the election for delegates to the State Convention was being
held. There was no disorder, more than is usual on election days in
small cities. Little knots of people were engaged in discussion, but