CHAPTER VI.
SUMTER Harry saw an increase of energy after the arrival of Beauregard.
There were fresh rumors about the great fleet the North was going to send down for the relief of Sumter.

Major Anderson, the commander in the fort, steadily refused all demands for surrender.

It was said freely that the Northern States did not intend to let their Southern sisters go in peace.

The Mercury, with all the power and fire of the Rhett family behind it, thundered continually for action.

Sumter with its guns menacing the city should not be allowed to remain under the hostile flag.
It seemed to Harry afterward that he was in a sort of fever, not a fever that parched and burned, but a fever that made his pulse leap faster, and his heart long for the thrill of conflict.