“Yes,” said Bannister, bitterly, “there lies the iniquity of the whole proceeding. The rich man may buy his release from service with money; the poor man must pay the price with his body, his blood, his life, perhaps. It’s barbarous; it’s inhuman!” Then, all in a moment, Mary Bannister grasped the idea of purchased exemption. “Why, Rhett!” she exclaimed, “you have that money in the bank, you know. If they come for you, you can pay them the three hundred dollars and stay at home, the same as Elias Traviss is going to do. Can’t he, Robbie?” “Yes, mother, or hire a substitute the same as ’Squire Matthews did.” “So you won’t have to go, Rhett, you see, even if you are drafted. And we can well afford the money.” Bannister looked from his wife to his son, and back again, with a smile of pity on his lips for their simplicity. But there was no anger in his voice as he replied:-- “That is true, Mary. Doubtless I could purchase immunity from the draft with money. But my money would be used by me to buy a substitute, or by the government for the purposes of the war, and the moral guilt on my part would be even greater than though I went myself. No, I shall not purchase my release, nor shall I go to war. There are means of defending my rights and my person against this tyranny, and I shall exercise them. I may die in the attempt, but I shall not have it charged against my memory that I fought my brothers of the South with bayonet and rifle, or helped others to do it.” In his excitement, he rose from his chair and paced up and down the floor, but, in a moment, growing calmer, he added:-- “Oh, well! they haven’t come for me yet. Let’s not borrow trouble. We’ll have it soon enough. Keep a stout heart, Mary. And we’ll all go to bed now and sleep away our cares.” It was all very well for Rhett Bannister to speak thus lightly of sleeping away cares, but as for his poor wife, she lay half the night, dreading lest the next noise she should hear might be Lincoln’s soldiers come to take away her husband to what both he and she considered a cruel, causeless war. Nor did sleep come quickly to close Bob’s eyes. Never before had the conflict between parental love and duty and his exalted sense of patriotism been so fierce and strong. Yet, reason with himself as he would, he was not able to convince either his heart or his judgment that his father was right and that Abraham Lincoln was wrong. And as the great War President expounded his thought on the crisis to the American people, and governed his conduct accordingly, Bob Bannister believed in him, trusted him, followed him in spirit, and would have followed him in body had he been of sufficient age to bear arms.