After paying the drayman, who was a kind-hearted negro, and getting
him to erect the bedstead, he departed, and a feeling of desolation
and loneliness spread its dark shadows over the heart of Mrs.
Wentworth. Seating herself on a chair, with her two children clinging
to her knees, the long pent up fountain of grief burst forth, and
tears bedewed the cheeks of the Soldier's Wife; tears, such as only
those who have felt the change of fortune, can shed; tears, which,
like the last despairing cry of the desolate, can only be answered in
heaven!




CHAPTER ELEVENTH.

THE ATTEMPTED ESCAPE.


We must now return to Alfred, whom we left in a disconsolate mood at
Camp Douglas, with his friend trying to cheer his spirits. But he
could think of nothing else but his absent wife, until at last he
determined to attempt an escape. The idea once in his mind could not
be dismissed. He, therefore, informed Harry of his intention, and
asked if he thought it feasible, or likely to result in success.

"So far as the feasibility of the attempt is concerned," observed
Harry, as soon as Alfred had concluded, "I think it could be
attempted. But about the result, you will have to trust to luck."

"I am aware of that," he replied. "But I do not know how the attempt