"I wish to go with that promise
ringing in my soul."
Ten days after he reached Lexington, the cholera broke out, and hundreds
fled. He stood by his men, watched their diet, nursed the sick, and
buried the dead. He helped the carpenter make the coffins and reverently
bore the victims to their graves. No fear was in his soul. Love was
chanting the anthem of Life.
A strange new light was burning in the eyes of the woman he loved on the
day he returned in safety.
She seized his hand and spoke with decision:
"Come with me."
Her father was standing at the gate. She faced him, holding defiantly
the hand of her lover.
The old man saw and understood. His jaw was set with sullen
determination and his face hardened.
"We have waited two long years," she began softly. "We have been patient
and hopeful, but you have given no sign. My lover's character is beyond
reproach, and I am proud of him. I am sorry to cross you, Father, but
I've made up my mind, I am going to marry him now."
The Colonel turned in silence and slowly walked into the house.
Captain McCrea engaged a stateroom for her on the boat for Louisville.
The lovers planned to meet at her aunt's, the Colonel's oldest sister.
The tearful good-bys had been said to Mother and sisters and brother.
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