A Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter

								

dreaded seeing Elinor again, and wondered why Elinor's mother had not
wanted Miss Patten to take her as a pupil.
Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were surprised when at supper time Sylvia demanded
to know what a "Yankee" was. She thought her mother looked a little
troubled. But her father smiled. "Yankee is what Britishers call all
Americans," he answered.
"Then Elinor Mayhew is just as much a Yankee as I am," thought Sylvia,
and she smiled so radiantly at the thought that Mrs. Fulton was
reassured, and did not question her.
The next day was Saturday, and Mr. Fulton had planned to take his wife
and Sylvia to Fort Moultrie. The military band of the fort played every
afternoon, and the parapet of the fort was a daily promenade for many
Charleston people. During the summer workmen had been making necessary
repairs on the fortifications; but visitors were always welcomed by the
officers in charge, one of whom, Captain Carleton, was a college friend
of Sylvia's father.
Sylvia could row a small boat very well, and her father had purchased a
pretty sailboat which he was teaching her to steer. She often went with
her father on trips about the harbor, and the little girl always
thought that these excursions were the most delightful of pleasures.
There was a favorable breeze this Saturday afternoon, and the little
boat, with its shining white paint and snowy sail, skimmed swiftly
across the harbor. Sylvia watched the little waves which seemed to
dance forward to meet them, looked at the many boats and vessels, and
quite forgot Elinor Mayhew's unkindness. Her mother and father were
talking of the black servants, whom they had hired with the house of
Mr. Robert Waite, Grace's uncle. Sylvia heard them speak of Aunt
Connie, the good-natured black cook, who lived in a cabin behind the
Fultons' kitchen.
"Aunt Connie wants to bring her little girl to live with her. Their
master is willing, if we have no objections," Sylvia heard her mother
say.
"Oh, let the child come," Mr. Fulton responded; "how old is she?"
"Just Sylvia's age. Her name is Estralla," replied Mrs. Fulton.
"You'll have a little darky for a playmate, Sylvia. How will you like
that?" her father asked. But before Sylvia could answer, the boat swung
alongside the landing-place at the fort and she saw her father's
friend, Captain Carleton, waiting to welcome them.
The band was playing, and a few people were on the parapet.
"Not many visitors to-day," said the Captain, as they all walked on
together. "I am afraid the Charleston people resent the fact that the
United States is protecting its property."
As they walked along the Captain pointed to the sand which the wind had
blown into heaps about the sea-front of the old fort. "A child of ten
could easily come into the fort over those sand-banks," he said.
"Whose fort is this?" asked Sylvia, so earnestly that both the Captain
and her father smiled.