"Is it really war, sir?" asked Christy, who had been an interested listener to all that had been said. "It is really war, my son," replied the father earnestly. "It will be a war which cannot be carried to a conclusion by hirelings; but father, son, and brother must take part in it, against father, son, and brother." "It is terrible to think of," added Mrs. Passford with something like a shudder, though she was a strong-minded woman in the highest sense of the words. Captain Passford then proceeded to inform his wife and son in regard to all the events which had transpired since he had received his latest papers at Bermuda. They listened with the most intense interest, and the trio were as solemn as though they had met to consider the dangerous illness of the absent member of the family. The owner did not look upon the impending war as a sort of frolic, as did many of the people at the North and the South, and he could not regard it as a trivial conflict which would be ended in a few weeks or a few months. To him it was the most terrible reality which his imagination could picture; and more clearly than many eminent statesmen, he foresaw that it would be a long and fierce encounter. "From what you say, Horatio, I judge that the South is already arming for the conflict," said Mrs. Passford, after she had heard her husband's account of what had occurred on shore. "The South has been preparing for war for months, and the North began to make serious preparation for coming events as soon as Fort Sumter fell. Doubtless the South is better prepared for the event to-day than the North, though the greater population and vast resources of the latter will soon make up for lost time," replied the captain. "And Florry is right in the midst of the gathering armies of the South," added the fond mother, wiping a tear from her eyes. "She is; and, unless something is done at once to restore her to her home, she may have to remain in the enemy's country for months, if not for years," answered the father, with a slight trembling of the lips. "But what can be done?" asked the mother anxiously. "The answer to that question has agitated me more than any thing else which has come to my mind for years, for I cannot endure the thought of leaving her even a single month at any point which is as likely as any other to become a battle-field in a few days or a few weeks," continued Captain Passford, with some return of the agitation which had before shaken him so terribly. "Of course your brother Homer will take care of her," said the terrified mother, as she gazed earnestly into the expressive face of the stout-hearted man before her. "Certainly he will do all for Florry that he would do for his own children, but he may not long be able to save his own family from the horrors of war." "Do you think she will be in any actual danger, Horatio?"