"when will mr. lincoln be president?" sylvia asked a few mornings after her father's announcement of his intention to return to boston.
"he was inaugurated yesterday," replied her mother.
"then can't captain carleton go north with us?" asked sylvia, who had convinced herself that when mr. lincoln was in charge of the government that all the troubles over charleston's forts would end.
but mrs. fulton shook her head.
"captain carleton must stay and perhaps fight to defend the flag," she replied. "i wish we could leave at once, but we must stay as long as we can."
sylvia listened soberly. she wondered what her mother would say if she knew of her promise to mrs. carleton to take a message to fort sumter if mrs. carleton should ask her to do so.
the warm days of early march made the southern city full of fragrance and beauty. many flowers were in bloom, the hedges were green, and the air soft and warm. sylvia and grace often spoke of flora, and wished that they could again visit the plantation.
philip had brought sylvia a letter from flora, thanking her for the locket, and hoping that they would see each other again. philip had not come into the house. he seemed much older to sylvia than he did on her visit to the plantation in october. he said that ralph was in the confederate army. "i'd be a soldier if i was only a little older," he declared; and sylvia did not even ask him about dinkie, or the ponies. she wished that she could tell him that very soon she was going to boston, but she knew that she must not; so she said good-bye, and philip walked down the path, and waved his cap to her as he reached the gate.
it had been many weeks since the butterfly had sailed about charleston harbor. but the little boat was in the charge of an old negro who took good care of it. the negro knew sylvia, and he knew that it was through her interest in estralla that the little negro girl and her mother had been given their freedom. now and then he appeared at aunt connie's kitchen, and one warm day toward the last of march, when sylvia was wandering about the garden, she saw uncle peter going up the walk to the rear of the house.
"oh, uncle peter! wait!" she called and ran to ask him about the boat.
uncle peter had a great deal of news to tell. he said that unless major
anderson and his soldiers left fort sumter at once that all the forts,
and the new batteries built by the confederates, would open fire upon
sumter and destroy it.
"i hears a good deal, missy, 'deed i does," he declared, "but i doan' let on as i hears. massa linkum he's gwine to send a lot o' big ships down here 'fore long. yas, indeed."
"i wish i could have a sail in the butterfly again," said sylvia, a little wistfully.
"do you, missy? well, i reckons you can. i doan' believe any body'd stop me a-givin' yo' a little sail 'roun' de harbor," said uncle peter. "i 'spec's major anderson is a-waitin' an' a-watchin' fer dem ships of massa linkum to come a-sailin' in," continued the old negro; for it was a time when the colored people were eager and hopeful for some news that might promise them their freedom.
sylvia knew that mrs. carleton was worried and unhappy. it was known in charleston that fort sumter was near the end of its food supplies, and that unless the government at washington sent reinforcements and provisions very soon by ships that the little garrison would be at the mercy of the confederates, who were daily growing in strength.
as sylvia left uncle peter and walked back to the house she was thinking of her promise to mrs. carleton.
"perhaps she won't ask me. but if i could go and see captain carleton, and tell him that she was going to boston with us, and then bring her back a message, i know she'd be happier," thought the little girl. and she thought, too, of the pleasure it would be to once more sail the butterfly to fort sumter.
she sat down on the porch steps, and a moment later estralla appeared bringing a plate of freshly baked sugar cookies from aunt connie.
"mammy says she made these 'special for you, missy," declared estralla smilingly.
"i'll go and thank her myself," said sylvia, taking the plate, and offering one of the cookies to estralla.
"uncle pete he say as de soldiers at fort sumter mus' be gettin' hungry," said the little colored girl. "i wish you and i could take captain carleton some of these cookies," responded sylvia.
"if you was black like i is we could go a-sailin' right off to de fort in plain daylight," said estralla.
sylvia sprang to her feet so quickly that she nearly upset the plate of cookies.
"could we? oh, estralla, could we really?" she exclaimed.
estralla looked at her little mistress with wondering eyes.
"yas, course; nobody'd mind two leetle nigger gals. but you ain't black, missy."
"but, estralla, listen. i could be black. you could rub soot from the chimney all over my face and hands. and i could pin my hair close on top of my head and twist one of your mammy's handkerchiefs tight over it. then nobody would know me." sylvia had quite forgotten the fine cookies. she was holding estralla by the arm, and talking very rapidly. estralla was almost frightened at sylvia's eagerness.
"yas, missy; but what for do you wanter go?" she asked.
"oh, estralla! if the men are hungry we could carry them something to eat. but most of all i want to see captain carleton, and get some message for his wife. she is so unhappy to go away without a word."
"come 'long down in de garden," said estralla, now as interested as sylvia herself, "an' tells me more whar' nobody'll be hearin'," and the two little girls hurried off to a far corner of the pleasant garden.
"uncl' peter won' let us take the boat," estralla objected as sylvia told her how easy the plan would be; "an' how be you gwine to get all blacked up without folks knowin' it?"
but sylvia had an answer for every objection.
"i'll come to your cabin and dress up there, and i will ask your mammy to give me some food for a poor man. some cookies and a cake," she said. "we will start early to-morrow morning. and, estralla, we will have to tell uncle peter, or he won't let us have the boat."
"lan', missy, i'll do jes' w'at yo' says. but i reckon uncle pete won' let us. wat yo' mammy gwine to think w'en you ain't home to your dinner?" responded estralla. but she was finally convinced that missy sylvia could carry out the plan, and agreed to have a large quantity of soot ready at her mother's cabin the next morning.
sylvia was glad that she had eaten only one of the cookies. she carried the remainder to her room and then went to the kitchen.
"will you make me a fine big cake, aunt connie?" she asked.
"lan', course i will, chile! but, w'at you wan' it fer?" answered aunt
connie, smiling down at the little girl whom she loved so dearly.
"it's a secret, aunt connie! i want to give it away, and i don't want to tell even my mother until—well," and sylvia hesitated a moment, and then continued, "until next week. then i will tell her, and you too."
"dat's right, missy. i'll make yo' de finest cake i knows how. le's see! i'll put citron, an' raisins, an' currants in it. an' butter! yas, thar'll be a fine lot o' things in dat cake!" and aunt connie rolled her eyes, and lifted her hands as if she could already taste its richness.
all that afternoon sylvia could think of nothing but the proposed trip. she sat with mrs. carleton a little while before supper, and told her of what uncle peter had said: that ships from the north were on the way to the aid of fort sumter.
"oh! i do wish i could send the news to sumter. it would give them all courage," said mrs. carleton.
sylvia was for a moment tempted to tell her friend that she would carry the message, but she kept silent, thinking to herself that here was another reason for her to carry out her plan.
"if you could send a message to captain carleton what would you say?" questioned sylvia, and mrs. carleton smiled at sylvia's serious voice.
"why, if i could only let him know that i was safe and well and going to boston with you, in case sumter really is attacked; i know that is what he wants to hear."
mrs. carleton's smile vanished. sylvia realized that this kind friend was troubled, and wished with all her heart that she could say: "to-morrow i will tell you all about captain carleton." but she knew that she must keep silent until she had carried out her plan.
sylvia was the first one at the breakfast table the next morning, and was delighted when her mother said that she and mrs. carleton were invited to luncheon at the house of a friend.
"aunt connie and estralla will take good care of you," mrs. fulton added, and sylvia felt her face flush. but she made no reply, and soon hurried to the cabin where estralla was waiting for her.
it was still early in the forenoon when two little negro girls, one carrying a large package wrapped in a newspaper, appeared at the wharf where the butterfly was moored. uncle peter was not to be seen. but he had just left the boat, whose sail had not even been lowered, and the two girls hurried on board. in a moment sylvia had unfastened the rope, pushed the boat clear of the landing, and rudder in hand was steering the boat out toward the channel.
two or three men in uniform watched the little "darkies," as they supposed both the girls to be, with amusement. negro children were always playing about, and no attention was paid to them.
"my landy," whispered estralla, "dat was jes' as easy. w'at uncle pete do w'en he fin's de boat gone?"
but it happened that uncle peter had been sent on an errand to a distant part of the town, and before he returned the butterfly was well down the harbor.
once or twice a guard-boat passed them closely enough to make sure that there were only two colored children in the boat, and they came up under the walls of fort sumter without a hindrance. the sentries at the fort had watched the little craft with anxious eyes, wondering if it could be bringing any message. but when the soldiers looked down at the two little negro girls they laughed, in spite of their disappointment. when sylvia said that her name was sylvia fulton, and that she had come to see captain carleton, a sentry exclaimed: "that girl has blacked her face. she is white."
but captain carleton could hardly believe that it was his little friend sylvia. and he was eager to hear all that she could tell him. estralla held the cake and cookies, which she had carefully wrapped in a newspaper, and the captain seemed as much pleased with the paper as with the cake.
"you can write a letter to mrs. carleton and we will take it," suggested sylvia, and then she told him uncle peter's news: that the president was sending ships to the aid of the fort.
"that is great news," said the captain; "if it is only true we may keep the fort for the union."
within the hour of their arrival sylvia and estralla were on their way home. the captain had praised and thanked sylvia for the loyal friendship that had prompted her visit.
"mrs. carleton and i will always remember your courage," he said, as he handed her the letter.
"i am so glad i thought about it; but it was really estralla. she said if i was black we could come," sylvia had replied.
then the boat swung clear and headed toward charleston.
"i am not going to land at the big wharves," said sylvia. "i am going to that wharf near miss patten's garden. and then we'll tell uncle peter where the butterfly is."
it was early in the afternoon when estralla appeared at the cloor of her mammy's kitchen.
"whar on airth you been? an' whar's yo' missy?" demanded aunt connie.
"didn' i makes her a fine om'lit fer her dinner, an' it's ruinated."
"missy wants a big pitcher of hot water," replied estralla, dancing about just beyond aunt connie's reach.
"missy sylvia say to tell you we been carryin' de cake to her fr'en', an' she gwine to tell you, mammy," explained estralla when her mammy had finally grasped her firmly by the shoulders.
"w'y didn' yo' say dat firs' place? h'ar's de hot water," and estralla hurried off to help sylvia scrub off the sticky soot which had so well disguised her; and when mrs. fulton and mrs. carleton returned they found a very rosy-faced smiling little girl on the porch all ready to tell them of her trip to fort sumter, and to give mrs. carleton the longed-for news from her husband.
