Yankee Belles in Dixie by Gilbert L. Morris Read Free Book Online

There must be some way to escape from this place.”
    â€œNo!
Don’t even think of that!” his father exclaimed. “I want you to promise me you won’t try anything foolish like trying to get me out of here. You promise that, Jeff?”
    Jeff nodded, saying, “Yes, sure, I promise, Pa—but you’ve got to get out of here somehow.”
    â€œWe’ll talk about it. You’ll be here for a while, won’t you? With the Carters?”
    â€œYes, they say the army’s building up. General McClellan wants a hundred thousand men—that’s what everybody says. So we’ll stay until they leave.”
    â€œGood. It means a lot to have you here, Son.”
    The three stayed for some time, and when they left Jeff saw Lieutenant Simpkins glaring as they passed his doorway. As they got into the wagon, Jeff said, “Lieutenant Simpkins doesn’t trust us. He thinks everybody’s a spy.”
    â€œYou’ll have to be very careful,” Mr. Carter warned. “Don’t say anything to give yourself away. I’d hate to see you taken and put in prison.”
    They sat quietly on the wagon seat as they rode away, each filled with his own thoughts. After a while Leah said, “We’ll come back every day, Jeff. We’ll bring medicine, and we’ll get Chaplain Patterson to help, and your father will get better—you’ll see!”

5
Letter from Richmond
    J eff went every day to visit his father. Usually Leah and Mr. Carter went with him, but sometimes he went alone. He was glad to see that the food seemed to help, and Mr. Carter also took along some of his medicine to share with the lieutenant.
    Jeff was thinking about this one day during breakfast when Leah said, “We’re going to church this morning.”
    â€œGoing to church? Is the chaplain having another meeting for the men?”
    â€œOh, no. This is a big church downtown. We’ve heard about the preacher there, and Pa wants to go hear him.”
    â€œI don’t think I want to go hear any more sermons,” Jeff muttered.
    But in the end Leah had her way. She disappeared into her tent and came out wearing a pink dress that he’d always thought was pretty, with a bonnet to match and a pair of light brown kid boots. “Now, you go get yourself ready,” she said, “and be sure you comb your hair. It looks like a rat’s nest!”
    Jeff did as he was told, and later, when the three of them filed into the big church in downtown Washington, he was impressed with the ornate building. As they took a seat halfway down, he whispered to Leah, “This sure doesn’t look like ourlittle church back home. I’ll bet the preaching isn’t as good either.”
    Leah started to answer. Then she glanced backward and caught her breath. “Look!” she whispered.
    Jeff turned to look, and he, too, blinked in surprise. “Is that President Lincoln?”
    â€œYes and that’s his wife and their son with him.”
    Jeff had seen pictures of the president drawn by artists for the Southern newspapers. They always portrayed him as a hideous creature. They called him “The Gorilla.” Jeff fixed his eyes on Lincoln’s face and thought,
Why, he’s not ugly at all. Homely, maybe but not like a gorilla
.
    As the president approached, he studied him. Abraham Lincoln did have a homely face. He had deep-set eyes and sunken cheeks, a pouting lower lip, and a wart.
But he’s not ugly, and he doesn’t look like a murderer, which they all call him
, Jeff thought.
    He watched the president lead his wife and son to a seat across from him and slightly in front. When they sat down, he whispered to Leah, “He doesn’t look like I thought he would.”
    All during the sermon Jeff kept glancing at the president. He could see his profile and noted that the president was listening carefully. Once he turned to look around, and he met