I can't
deny it; and he has been as polite to us as one of our own officers
could have been. Think how different it all might have been--my
brave son desperately wounded or dead, and unscrupulous men sacking
the house! I need not refer to darker fears. I must say that I feel
like meeting courtesy with courtesy. Since this Yankee behaves like
a generous foe I would like to prove that Southern rebels and slave-
drivers, as we are called, can equal him in all the amenities of
life which the situation permits."
"Oh, sister!" cried Mrs. Baron, "even a cup of tea would choke me if
I drank it in his presence."
But Mr. Baron had lighted his pipe, and reason and Southern pride
were asserting themselves under its soothing influence. At last he
said, "Well, let us have supper anyway. It is already after the
hour."
"Supper has been ready this long time, as you know," replied his
wife, "only I never dreamed of such a guest as has been suggested."
"Of course, sister, I only said what I did as a suggestion," Mrs.
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