Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 7.djvu/137

Rh "Yes, sir."

"And a Northerner is thus in a southern town in the thickest of the war?"

"My father is a prisoner; he was at Charleston when the first shot of the Civil War was fired, and the troops of the Union driven from Fort Sumter by the Confederates. My father's opinions exposed him to the hatred of the Southerner and by the order of General Beauregard he was imprisoned. I was then in England, living with a relation who has just died, and left alone with no help but that of Crockston, our faithful servant, I wished to go to my father and share his prison with him."

"What is Mr. Halliburtt?" asked James Playfair.

"A loyal and brave journalist," replied Jenny proudly, one of the noblest editors of the Tribune, and the one who was the boldest in defending the cause of the negroes.

"An Abolitionist," cried the captain angrily; "one of those men, who, under the vain pretense of abolishing slavery, have deluged their country with blood and ruin."

"Sir!" replied Jenny Halliburtt, growing pale, "you are insulting my father; you must not forget that I stand alone to defend him."

The young captain blushed scarlet; anger mingled with shame struggled in his breast; perhaps he would have answered the young girl, but he succeeded in restraining himself, and opening the door of the cabin, he called "Boatswain!"

The boatswain came to him directly.

This cabin will hence forward belong to Miss Jenny Halliburtt; have a cot made ready for me at the end of the poop; that's all I want.

The boatswain looked with a stupefied stare at the young novice addressed in a feminine name, but on a sign from James Playfair he went out.

"And now, miss, you are at home," said the young captain of the Dolphin. Then he retired.