"It might
help the way to a composition."
He pulled his long mustache and looked somberly at the flag. The wind
had risen a little, and it whipped about the staff. Its fluttering
motions seemed to Harry more significant than ever of defiance. He
understood the melancholy ring in Colonel Talbot's voice. He, too,
like the boy's father, had fought under that flag, the same flag that
had led him up the flame-swept slopes of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec.
"Here they come," exclaimed St. Clair, "and I know already the answer
that they bring!"
The small boat that he had predicted put out from Sumter and quickly
landed at the Battery. It contained three commissioners, prominent men
of Charleston who had been sent to treat with Major Anderson, and his
answer was quickly known to all the crowd. Sumter was the property
of the United States, not of South Carolina, and he would hold it for
the Union. At that moment the wind strengthened, and the flag stood
straight out over the lofty walls of Sumter.
"I knew it would be so," said Colonel Talbot, with a sigh. "Anderson is
that kind of a man. Come, boys, we will go back into the city. I am to
help in building the fortifications, and as I am about to make a tour of
inspection I will take you with me.
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