"Mother," he said one day, shortly after they had heard of war. "I am
going to enter the army."
The mother, who was plying her needle, sat for several moments in
silence. She was not surprised at the declaration. For several days, she
had watched her son with the care and anxiety of a mother. She had noted
that he read the papers regularly. He pored over any news which hinted
of war and was an eager listener to the latest rumor which his father
brought from town. The parents had talked the matter over frequently,
and Captain Stevens, himself a veteran, said:
"I can't blame him; no, I can't blame him. Poor boy, he has suffered
enough to know the wrongs done to our flag."
"But would it be for the flag, or revenge?" said the mother.
"Both," answered the practical father. "He is only human, wife, and
human hearts can't endure what he endured without human resentment."
The mother hoped it was more patriotism than revenge, for she was a
Christian lady, and while war might be proper, even for Christian
people, she thought it should be purely a conflict of principle and not
of revenge.
"Fernando," said the mother laying aside her knitting and taking off her
glasses and wiping them, "do you really mean to go?"
"Yes, mother. My country needs my services. There are thousands of
unfortunate Americans, still in bondage. I seem to hear their pitiful
cries calling on their country to send brave men to their rescue.
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