The World As I Have Found It | Page 6

dreams of pleasure, renewed and
buoyant.
Our farewell was not unmingled with sad regret at parting, but upon my
return to Baltimore my friends failed not to note the favorable change
in my physical and mental condition. So talismanic is the touch of love,
so inspiring and life giving! and 'tis to this dear community of Louden
county, Virginia, I shall ever trace the first impetus which has given
momentum to all the subsequent movements of my life.

CHAPTER VI.
"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo: No more
on life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few; On fame's eternal
camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And glory guards, with
solemn round, The bivouac of the dead."
After a short period of reunion with friends in Baltimore, I resolved,
notwithstanding the agitated condition of the country, to wend my way
southward, for I restlessly yearned for an active continuation of duty.
Miss Weaver having other engagements, it became necessary for me to
seek another traveling companion. Trusting to the good fortune which
had hitherto favored me in that regard, I engaged the services of Miss
Mary Chase, who proved a valuable attendant, combining in her
character so many graces and endowments, possessing, among her
numerous attractions, a voice of rare, rich and mellow flexibility.
My uncle, Mr. Heald, having an interest in the Bay Line of steamers,
his son, my cousin, Howard Heald, attended me to the steamer
Belvidere, introduced me to the captain, and took every precautionary
measure to enhance the pleasure of my trip. Subsequent events proved
how salutary were these efforts. The captain did all that polite attention
and study of my comfort could suggest, attended us to the table,
pointed out the workings of the engine, the complications of the
machinery and propelling power of the steamer, which so airily and so

gracefully "walked the waters," directed attention to every object of
note on the route and their charm of historic interest, thus making the
trip one replete with instruction. Miss Chase, with the melody of a
song-bird, drew around us a circle of charmed listeners, and her voice
became a source of constant and soothing solace to me.
Arriving at the city of Richmond at the untimely hour of four o'clock in
the morning, at the solicitation of the captain we remained on board
until a later and more convenient time, when we found the streets of the
city alive with soldiers and filled with sad sounds of sword and
musketry, the first low reverberation of the din of war, the opening of
the battle-song, whose weird refrain has been echoed by so many
sorrowing ones, its mad music adapted to the thousands of crushed and
broken hearts!
The little war-cloud, at first "no larger than a man's hand," was growing
deeper and darker, and the stern rumble of the conflict becoming
irrepressible. Every avenue in the way of business was closed, and
being told that if I desired remaining north of Mason and Dixon's line I
must go at once, I retraced my steps, and returned by the James river,
since so memorable in the history of our civil conflict, and sought
shelter in Baltimore, where I remained for the winter; and while so
many relatives and friends would have welcomed me to their homes, I
felt impelled to accept an invitation to the institution in which I had
been educated, and could enjoy the association of those who had first
directed my tottering steps, and my schoolmates, who were friends and
co-workers.

CHAPTER VII.
"But if chains are woven shining, Firm as gold and fine as hair,
Twisting round the heart, and twining. Binding all that centres there In
a knot that, like the olden, May be cut, but ne'er unfolden; Would not
something sharp remain In the breaking of the chain?"
Spring came with its "ethereal mildness" and budding beauty, and the

ties which bound me to the Monumental City must, although with
convulsive effort, be broken.
Miss Chase was but "a treasure lent," her sweet, loving nature having
won the heart of one who made her his life companion; hence it became
necessary for me to find another to fill her place. She came in the
person of Miss Kate Fowler, a lovely young girl of seventeen years,
who possessed great charms of person, mind and soul, as the sequel
will show.
We traveled together throughout Delaware, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, meeting with greater success than we could have hoped
for while the din of war was raging, always making sufficient for our
support.
At Hollidaysburgh, Penn., I learned of the presence of General
Anderson, and resolved that I would offer a tangible evidence of my
appreciation of the "Hero of Fort Sumter." Entwining