The week after Manassas the sound of horses in the yard brought Kate up in shock from an afternoon's rest when she saw the Federal soldiers from her upstairs window. They had already lost most of their corn, she thought. Were they to be insulted again because of the South's great victory? She remembered McClellan's last proclamation as she hurried fearfully down the stairs.

At the landing she saw Juanita, her face flushed pink with excitement, run down the hall from the kitchen to the front door. Juanita stopped just inside the open door, her hand to her mouth. As Kate came swiftly down the stairs to the hall she saw Colonel Marsh framed in the doorway, his face set in the same vulnerable look Juanita wore. Kate greeted him gravely, uneasy with misgivings at his visit.

``What brings you here again, Colonel Marsh?'' she asked, taking him and Juanita into the parlor where the shutters were closed against the afternoon sun.

``I stopped to say goodbye, Mrs. Lattimer, and to tell you how sorry I was to hear about your baby. I wish our doctor could have saved her.''

``It was a terrible loss to me,'' said Kate quietly, feeling the pain twist again at the mention, knowing now that Juanita must have written to him at Grafton. ``Where will you go now that you're leaving Parkersburg?'' she asked him, seeing Juanita's eyes grow bleak.

``As you know, General McClellan has been occupying Beverly. He has notified me that he has orders to go to Washington to take over the Army of the Potomac. I am to go to Washington to serve with him.''