Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter | Page 3

they can't do that. But how could they
take our forts?"
"I don't know," responded Grace. "That's why I asked Miss Rosalie. I
guess I'll have to ask my father."
"We'll all ask our fathers," said Elinor, "and to-morrow we will tell
each other what they say. I don't suppose YOUR father would care if
the forts were taken," and she turned suddenly toward Sylvia. "I
suppose all the Yankees would like to tell us what we ought to do."
Sylvia looked at her in surprise. The tall girl had never taken any notice
of the little Boston girl before, and Sylvia could not understand why
Elinor should look at her so scornfully or speak so unkindly. The other

girls had stopped talking, and now looked at Sylvia as if wondering
what she would say.
"I don't know what you mean," she answered bravely, "but I know one
thing: my father would want what was right."
"That's real Yankee talk," said Elinor. "They say slavery isn't right."
There was a little murmur of laughter among the other girls. For in
1860 the people of South Carolina believed they were quite right in
buying negroes for slaves, and in selling them when they desired; so
these little girls, some of whom already "owned" a colored girl who
waited upon them, had no idea but what slavery was a right and natural
condition, and were amused at Elinor's words.
"Why do you want to be so hateful, Elinor?" demanded Grace, before
Sylvia could reply. "Sylvia has not said or done anything to make you
talk to her this way," and Grace linked her arm in Sylvia's, and stood
facing the other girls.
"Well, Grace Waite, you can associate with Yankees if you wish to.
But my mother says that Miss Patten ought not to have Sylvia Fulton in
her school. Come on, girls; Grace Waite can do as she pleases," and
Elinor, followed by two or three of the older girls, went scornfully
down the street.
"Sylvia! Wait!" and a little girl about Sylvia's age came running down
the path. It was Flora Hayes; and, next to Grace Waite, Sylvia liked her
the best of any of her new companions.
"Don't mind what Elinor Mayhew says. She's always horrid when she
dares to be," said Flora.
Flora's father was a wealthy cotton planter, and their Charleston home
was in one of the historic mansions of that city. Beside that there was
the big old house on the Ashley River ten miles from the city, where
the family stayed a part of the time.

Flora's eyes were as blue as Sylvia's, and her hair was very much the
same color. She was always smiling and friendly, and was better liked
than Elinor Mayhew, who, as Flora said, was always ready to tease the
younger girls.
"I don't know what she meant," said Sylvia as, with Grace on one side
and Flora on the other, they started toward home.
"She is just hateful," declared Grace. "I wish I had not asked Miss
Rosalie about the forts. But I did want to know. It would be dreadful
not to see them where they have always been."
"Oh, Grace! You didn't think they were going to move the forts to
Washington, did you?" laughed Flora. "I know better than that. Taking
the forts means that the Government of the United States would own
them instead of South Carolina."
Grace laughed good-naturedly. She was always as ready to laugh at her
own mistakes as at those of others; and in the year that Sylvia had
known her she had never seen Grace vexed or angry.
Both Grace and Flora advised Sylvia not to tell her mother of Elinor's
unkindness, or of her taunting words. But it was rather difficult for
Sylvia to keep a secret from her mother.
"You see, it will make your mother sorry, and she will fret about it,"
Flora had said; and at this Sylvia had decided that no matter what
happened at school she would not tell her mother about it. She almost
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