“That is what we all said it was,” Miss Imogene agreed, “but the address that South Carolina sent to the other states invited them to form a ‘Confederacy of Slave-holding States.’ They are the very words, my dear—and then it went on to say that the North did not like slavery and would stop it sooner or later. It did not give one good reason for secession. I know, because I read it. I reckon I’m the only Southern woman who did!” She laughed a little as she ended. “Would it have made any difference if they had read it?” Dorothea asked. “Not a mite, honey,” Miss Imogene answered cheerfully. “We were all past reasoning, then. Every one was just swept along on one grand wave of excitement. There was martial music, and new uniforms; shouting, singing, sobbing—just anything to keep the war-fever up to its highest pitch. Nobody wanted to think. They just wanted to feel. It was all as contagious as the measles. And they believed in Toombs next to the Bible.” “It isn’t quite easy to understand,” Dorothea said thoughtfully. “You’d think going to war was a serious matter.” “And so it is, honey,” Miss Imogene replied, “and that’s the reason why nobody did any thinking in those days. The politicians wanted the war, General Toombs and such men didn’t want anybody to do anything but shout for secession. And there were sad things and funny things a-plenty, too. I saw the old flag go down on Fort Sumter. That did not seem sad to me then, though when I learned later that the fort had been evacuated and not surrendered, I confess I felt a throb of pride.” “What were the funny things?” asked Dorothea. “Well, there were the newspapers,” Miss Imogene went on. “All the dispatches from the North were printed under the heading ‘Foreign News.’ Just silly pretenses like that, which the politicians encouraged. But I’m silly, too, to be going over an old story.” “But you were always for the South, Cousin Imogene,” Dorothea remarked half-questioningly. “To be sure, honey,” came the ready answer. “I was no different from the others. And what else could I do? My home was here. I had no kin outside the South, and besides I was not accustomed to traveling without a gentleman escort. I’m not a strong-minded female, you know.” She laughed a little. “After all I’m just like the others you have met here, except that I learned a lesson when I wasn’t very old which has set me thinking. I don’t like war at all and shall be very glad when this one is over, as I hope it soon will be. But I don’t say that to any one but you. Particularly not to April.” * * * * *