"But if he was a girl," the grandmother went on, "he would be better prepared to endure coldness and neglect. This is partly what we were born for, my dear, as you will find out one day for yourself." CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR _Captain Falconer Makes Suggestions_ It was not often that Mr. Sanders had a surprise, but he found one awaiting him when he left the Lumsden Place, and started in the direction of home. He had not taken twenty steps before he met the young Captain who had charge of the detachment of Federal troops stationed at Shady Dale. "This is Mr. Sanders, I believe," he said without ceremony. "My name is Falconer. I have just been to call on Mr. Clopton, but they tell me there that he is at Mrs. Lumsden's." "Well, I wouldn't advise you to go there," said Mr. Sanders, bluntly. "The lady is in a considerbul state of mind about her gran'son." "It is a miserable piece of business all the way through," remarked Captain Falconer. There was a note of sympathy in his voice, which Mr. Sanders could not fail to catch, and it interested him. "I called upon my cousin, Mrs. Claiborne, for the first time to-day," the Captain went on. "She has invited me to tea often, but I have refused the invitation on account of the state of feeling here. I know how high it is. It is natural, of course, but it is not justifiable. Take my case, for instance: I am a Democrat, and I come from a family of Democrats, who have never voted anything else but the Democratic ticket, except when Henry Clay was a candidate, and when Lincoln was running for a second term." "You don't tell me!" cried Mr. Sanders, with genuine astonishment. "It is a fact," said Captain Falconer, with emphasis. "If you think that I, or any of the men under me, or any of the men who fought at all, intended to bring about such a condition as now exists in this part of the country, you are doing us a great wrong. Don't mistake me! I am not apologising for the part I took. I would do it all over again a hundred times if necessary. Yet I do not believe in negro suffrage, and I abhor and detest every exaction that the politicians in Washington have placed upon the people of the South." Mr. Sanders was too much astonished to make appropriate comment. He could only stare at the young man. And Captain Falconer was very good to look upon. He was of the Kentucky type, tall, broad-shouldered and handsome. His undress uniform became him well, and he had the distinctive and pleasing marks that West Point leaves on all young men who graduate at the academy there. "Well, as I told you, I called on my cousin to-day for the first time, and after we had talked of various matters, especially the unfortunate events that have recently occurred, she insisted that I make it my business to see you or Mr. Clopton. She told me," the Captain said, with a pleasant smile, "that you are the man that kidnapped Mr. Lincoln."