Allan Pinkerton, The spy in the rebellion; being a true history of the spy system of the United States Army during the late rebellion, revealing many secrets of the war hitherto not made public, compiled from official reports prepared for President Lincoln , General McClellan and the Provost-Marshal-General .

“ [432] with safety. I am afraid,” she continued, “if it becomes known that our son has joined the Union army, serious trouble may befall us at the hands of men who have long desired an excuse for arresting you and confiscating your property; if, indeed, they would be content with sparing your life.”

“ If I were younger,” said the old gentleman, “I would defy them to do their worst; and, as it is, my only fears are for my family, not for myself. Still,” he added, “my neighbors are all friendly, and the majority of them, though thinking differently from me on these questions, are under obligations to me, so that I feel I have but little to fear at their hands. As to our boy, who has gone to fight for the old flag, I am proud of him; I fought for it, so did my fathers before me, and I would disown the child who would refuse, if necessary, to lay down his life in its defense.”

And here, fired with the sentiments he had just uttered, he arose from the table in an agitated manner and began to pace the floor.

“Ah,” he continued, “I love that old flag, and old as I am, would fight for it yet.”

Going to a case that stood in a corner of the room, he took from a shelf a beautiful silken banner, and holding it aloft, he exclaimed, with great earnestness, “There is the flag I fight under — the flag of the Union and of the country our fathers fought to save.”

“Father,” exclaimed his eldest daughter, “you ”