"And I," said Minnie, "will help you pay it."
And so their young hearts had met at last, and with the approval and
hearty consent of Anna, Minnie and Louis were married.
It was decided that Minnie should spend the winter in Southern France,
and then in the spring they returned to America. On their arrival they
found the war still raging, and Louis was ready and anxious to benefit
that race to whom he felt he owed his life, and with whom he was
connected by lineage.
He had plenty of money, a liberal education, and could have chosen a
life of ease, but he was too ardent in his temperament, too decided in
his character, not to feel an interest in the great events which were
then transpiring in the country.
He made the acquaintance of some Anti-Slavery friends, and listened with
avidity to their doctrines; he attended a number of war meetings, and
caught the enthusiasm which inspired the young men who were coming from
valley, hill, and plain to fill up the broken ranks of the Union army.
Minnie, educated in peace principles, could not conscientiously
encourage him, and yet when she saw how the liberty of a whole race was
trembling in the balance she could not help wishing [success?] to the
army, nor find it in her heart to dissuade him from going.
Others had given their loved and cherished ones to camp and field. The
son of a dear friend had said to his mother, "I know I shall be killed,
but I go to free the slave." His presentiment had been met, for he had
been brought home in his shroud.
Another dear friend had said, "I have drawn my sword, and it shall never
sleep in its scabbard till the nation is free!" And she had heard that
summer of '64 how bravely the colored soldiers had stood at Fort Wagner,
when the storms of death were sweeping through the darkened sky. How
they summoned the world to see the grandeur of their courage and the
daring of their prowess.
How Corny had held with unyielding hand the nation's flag, and even when
he was wounded still held it in his grasp, and crawling from the scene
of action exclaimed, "I only did my duty, the old flag, I didn't let it
trail on the ground."
And she felt on reading it with tearful eyes, that if she belonged to
that race they had not shamed her by their want of courage; and so when
Louis came to her and told her his intention, she would not attempt to
oppose him, and when he was ready to depart, with many prayers, and sad
farewells, she gave him up to fight the battles of freedom, for such it
was to him, who went with every nerve in his right arm tingling to
strike a blow for liberty.
Hitherto Louis had known the race by their tenderness and compassion,
but the war gave him an opportunity to become acquainted with men brave
to do, brave to dare, and brave to die.
A colored man was the hero of one of the most tender, touching, and
tragic incidents of the war. A number of soldiers were in a boat exposed
to the fire of the rebels; on board was a colored man who had not
enrolled as a soldier, though his soul was full of sublime valor. The
bullets hissed and split the water, and the rowers tried to get out of
their reach, but all their efforts were in vain; the treacherous mud had
caught the boat, and some one must peril life and limb to shove that
boat into the water. And this man, the member of a doomed, a fated race,
who had been trodden down for ages, comprehending the danger, said,
"Some one must die to get us out of this, and it mout's well be me as
anybody; you are soldiers, and you can fight. If they kill me it is
nothing."
And with these words he arose, gave the boat a push, received a number
of bullets, and died within two days after.
Louis acquitted himself bravely, and rapidly rose in favor with his
superior officers. To him the place of danger was the post of duty. He
often received letters from Minnie, but they were always hopeful; for
she had learned to look on the bright side of everything.
She tried to beguile him with the news of the neighborhood, and to
inspire him with bright hopes for the future; that future in which they
should clasp hands again and find their duty and their pleasure in
living for the welfare and happiness of _our_ race, as Minnie would
often say.
A race upon whose brows God had poured the chrism of a new era--a race
newly anointed with freedom.
Oh, how the enthusiasm of her young soul gathered around that work! She
felt it was no mean nor common privilege to be the pioneer of a new
civilization. If he who makes two blades of grass grow where only one
flourished before is a benefactor of the human race, how much higher
and holier must his or her work be who dispenses light, instead of
darkness, knowledge, instead of ignorance, and over the ruins of the
slave-pen and auction-block erects institutions of learning.
She would say in her letters to Louis that the South will never be
rightly conquered until another army should take the field, and that
must be an army of civilizers; the army of the pen, and not the sword.
Not the destroyers of towns and cities, but the builders of machines and
factories; the organizers of peaceful industry and honorable labor; and
as soon as she possibly could she intended to join that great army.
Sometimes Louis would shake his head doubtfully, and tell her that the
South was a very sad place to live in, and would be for years, and,
while he was willing to bear toil and privation in the cause he had
learned to love, yet he shrank from exposing her to the social ostracism
which she must bear whether she identified herself with the colored race
or not.
However, her brave young heart never failed her, but kept true to its
purpose to join that noble band who left the sunshine of their homes to
help build up a new South on the basis of a higher and better
civilization.
Louis remained with the army till Lee had surrendered. The storm-cloud
of battle had passed away, and the thunders of contending batteries no
longer crashed and vibrated on the air.
And then he returned to Minnie, who still lived with Thomas Carpenter.
Very tender and joyous was their greeting. Louis thought he would rest
awhile and then arrange his affairs to return to the South. In this plan
he was heartily seconded by Minnie.
Thomas and Anna were sorry to part with her, but they knew that life was
not made for a holiday of ease and luxury, and so they had no words of
discouragement for them. If duty called them to the South it was right
that they should go; and so they would not throw themselves across the
purpose of their souls.