At the touch of a few
words his heart overflowed with bitterness, and a cold, vindictive
hate rendered the hours interminable till he could aim a bullet at
his rival's heart, reckless meantime that another bullet was aimed
at his.
In his walk he passed the tent in which Lieutenant Waldo and his
mother were talking quietly of their home and the prospects of
maintaining it during the troublous times clearly foreseen.
"Mother," said Waldo, "have you any definite idea as to the success
of our arms?"
"No, Vincent, nor do I suppose we can at this remote plantation. We
only know that there is heavy fighting at various points and great
successes are claimed; but it seems very hard to get at the real
truth. Our chief confidence must be in the sacredness and justness
of our cause and in the prayers of so many sincere hearts to the God
of justice. In giving you, my son, to our country, when you were
scarcely more than a boy, you can understand why I feel that such
sacrifices cannot be in vain. Now that I have watched beside you in
your patient, heroic suffering, the feeling becomes a conviction
that our sunny land must be enriched and blessed for all time by
such blood as yours.
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