"John Smith, or Free John, and his wife, Katy, are now living at Wheeling, Virginia, and can attest the truth of my story, if it becomes necessary to prove Irene Tompkins' heirship to her father's estate. "Since that night, I have been a wanderer through the South, and have assisted hundreds of my race to reach the North and freedom. I have become accustomed to danger and accomplished in woodcraft. "I have searched the South over, and a hundred times risked my life trying to find my Maggie. Only a few weeks ago, I learned that she had died, years ago, of a broken heart. When you read this, pronounce me a fiend if you will, but remember that I was once human. I was maddened, desperate. It was the curse of slavery that caused the horror I have related; but now, thank God! when you read this, and I am no more, the curse is lifted from the land. For the first time in many years I write my real name, "JEFF. WINNINGS." CHAPTER XXXI. THE RECONCILIATION. The large clock in the hall chimed out the midnight hour as Abner finished reading the manuscript. He sat for a long time reflecting on what he had read. The great family mystery, and with it many other mysteries, was now cleared up, and like many other things, seemingly inexplicable until fully explained, it seemed so simple and so plain that he wondered he had not guessed it before. Irene was really his own cousin, and poor Crazy Joe was her brother. Late as it was, he copied the confession in full, intending, when he reached New Orleans, to send it to his father. He did mail it, but afterward learned that it never got through. The next day the entire force, with all the prisoners, re-crossed the lake and went to New Orleans. Olivia, at her earnest request, accompanied her father. On reaching the city, they were allowed to occupy their own residence, and one would scarcely have thought that Colonel Mortimer was a prisoner, so little was his freedom curtailed. The long Summer of 1864 passed, and Abner's regiment still remained in New Orleans. But when Sherman had almost completed his devastating raid through the South Atlantic States--many of which, South Carolina especially, still bear traces of its march--Abner was ordered to join the army of the Potomac, then about to invest Richmond. On the evening before his departure, Abner sat in the parlor of Colonel Mortimer, with Olivia by his side. "To-morrow," he said, "I must leave you; but I leave you now, feeling more hopeful than when we last talked of parting. Victory will soon crown our arms, and when Spring opens the next campaign, it will witness the surrender of General Lee and all the Confederate armies. Then, when the angel of peace shall have spread its white wings over this land, I shall return to claim you for my wife."