Jennie had gone through so much the tired spirit refused to respond to
further sensations. She obeyed orders in a dumb mechanical way.
The officers at New Orleans opened her baggage and searched it without
ceremony, or the slightest show of interest on her part.
They were administering the "oath" of loyalty to the United States. She
would have to turn Yankee to do this last duty of love. She covered her
face with her hands and prayed breathlessly for the boys and for the
Confederacy while the words of the oath were mumbled by the officer--
"So help you God?"
Jennie's only answer was to close her eyes and pray harder.
"So help you God?" the officer shouted again.
The girl lifted her tear-stained face and nodded, closed her eyes again
and prayed.
"Help them, O God,--my brothers Tom and Jimmie and Billy and Dick
Welford--and--and the man I love--save them and their cause for Jesus'
sake--I don't know what they made me say--I only did it for poor
grandpa's sake--I didn't mean it. Forgive me, dear Lord, and save my
people!"
The Judge met them with a carriage and hearse. He slipped his strong arm
around the girl, drew her close and kissed the waving brown hair again
and again.
"Dear little sis--you're at home now," he said softly.
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