"It's Estralla. Her mammy is our cook," said Sylvia.

The Captain looked a little puzzled. He wondered how the little darky
had got on board the vessel without being seen.

"Well, she will be company for you. And you must ask your father and
mother to forgive my carelessness in taking you so far from home," said
the Captain.

It was sunset when Sylvia and Estralla, escorted by one of the soldiers
from Fort Sumter, came walking up East Battery. Mrs. Fulton was on the
piazza, and Mrs. Waite and Grace were with her. Grace was the first to
see and recognize Sylvia, and with a cry of delight ran to welcome her.

The soldier had a note for Mrs. Fulton explaining that Sylvia,
apparently on her way from school, had wandered down to the landing, and
of Captain Carleton's forgetting her presence in the cabin, so that
Sylvia was not questioned that night in regard to her disappearance from
Miss Patten's. Grace knew nothing of Sylvia's encounter with Elinor
Mayhew, so no one could imagine why she had started for home without a
word to Miss Patten.

Mrs. Fulton was too rejoiced to have her little girl safely at home to
question or blame her.

Sylvia was not hungry. The officer in charge of Fort Sumter had given
the two children an excellent supper. But she was tired and very glad to
have a warm bath and go straight to bed.