She would be absolutely alone in the
world. And yet no harm could befall her. She was the friend of every
human being who knew her. It was the agony of this parting he dreaded
and the loneliness that would torture her in his absence.
He spoke with forced cheerfulness.
"Well, mater, it's all settled. I leave at ten-twenty to-morrow
morning."
She rose and placed her hands on his shoulders. The tears blinded her.
"How little I thought when I taught your boyish lips to speak the
musical tongue of Italy I was preparing this bitter hour for my soul! I
begged your father to resign his consulship at Genoa and brought you
home to teach you the great lesson--to love your country and reverence
your country's God. And since your father's death the dream of my heart
has been to see you a minister, teaching and uplifting the people into a
higher and nobler life--"
"That is my aim, mater dear. I am consecrating body, mind and soul to
the task now of saving the Union, an inheritance priceless and glorious
to millions yet unborn. I'm going to break the chains that bind slaves.
I'm going to break the brutal and cruel power of the Southern Tyranny
that has been strangling the nation for forty years!"
His eyes flashed with the fire of fanatical enthusiasm.
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