added the fond mother, wiping a tear from her eyes.

"She is; and, unless something is done at once to restore her to her
home, she may have to remain in the enemy's country for months, if not
for years," answered the father, with a slight trembling of the lips.

"But what can be done?" asked the mother anxiously.

"The answer to that question has agitated me more than any thing else
which has come to my mind for years, for I cannot endure the thought of
leaving her even a single month at any point which is as likely as any
other to become a battle-field in a few days or a few weeks," continued
Captain Passford, with some return of the agitation which had before
shaken him so terribly.

"Of course your brother Homer will take care of her," said the terrified
mother, as she gazed earnestly into the expressive face of the
stout-hearted man before her.

"Certainly he will do all for Florry that he would do for his own
children, but he may not long be able to save his own family from the
horrors of war."

"Do you think she will be in any actual danger, Horatio?"

"I have no doubt she will be as safe at Glenfield, if the conflict were
raging there, as she would be at Bonnydale under the same circumstances.
From the nature of the case, the burden of the fighting, the havoc and
desolation, will be within the Southern States, and few, if any, of the
battle-fields will be on Northern soil, or at least as far north as our