BUT Willie did not die, on the contrary, he recov ered, and recovered quickly. The manner in which the young man had been wounded, and the incident connected with it, had been duly reported to the general, who in return reported it to the war department, and it got into the newspapers. It was recalled that this was the same young man who had rescued Helen Rolphe from the burning railway offices some years before. It can easily be imagined that Helen Rolphe’s pulse beat double-quick time as she thought of her young hero.

In his letter to her after he had recovered sufficiently to write, Willie made light of the incident; indeed, he was somewhat ashamed of having been wounded. As he lay on his cot during convalescence he thought of the last words of Helen, "Who knows? you may prove your own liberator." And he greatly wished to be liberated, for he lived in such a world of uncertainty with regard to the girl that he often felt like a being bound by thongs that he could not loosen.

Her replies to his letters gave him no cue as to what her feelings were. While they were nice, friendly, chatty letters, breathing a domestic atmosphere, there was nothing in them to indicate that he was more to her than "My dear friend," as she began her epistles. She frequently spoke of Jamie, who, she said, was making good progress, and who, "true to the instincts of the Scottish race, would one day be president of some railroad." In one letter she sent, with a jocular remark, a lock of her hair tied with a piece of blue ribbon, and another time she sent a small photograph of herself. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rolphe sometimes enclosed notes for Willie and Colin, when they were writing to their brother, Colonel Rolphe. The colonel was very friendly to the boys, and took advantage of every opportunity to show his kindness. During Willie’s convalescence he used to call and enquire for him whenever he happened to be in the hospital quarters.

But the war was rapidly drawing to a close. The Confederates were being slowly but surely pushed southwards, and were abandoning one stronghold after another. General Grant, after his brilliant campaign in the west, superseded Halleck as commander-in-chief, and he then turned his attention to Richmond. Sherman was conducting his marvellous campaign in Georgia, sweeping everything before him, while Sheridan had cleaned out the great fertile Shenandoah Valley, thus removing the danger of an attack upon Washington, and inflicting a severe blow upon the resources of the Confederate forces.

It was just before the fall of Richmond, in April, 1865, that the last incident worthy of special mention, as affecting characters in this story, occurred.

Grant had pressed the Confederates so hard, that General Lee hurriedly abandoned Richmond and was retreating with his army towards Danville, with the hope of effecting a junction with the other wing of the Confederate army under Johnston, when it was intended to make a final stand. The morning after the fall of Richmond, there was some little stir in the Federal camp over a spy who had been caught. This person had originally been employed as a spy by the northern secret service, but it had been learned that he was receiving pay from both sides and betraying information to both. A hasty court-martial was summoned, and, as documents of an incriminating character were found upon his person, he was ordered to be shot.