In obedience to this suggestion Douglas
sets off for Illinois.
I have preceded him. I know what war means. I know the processes, the
psychologies, the technique. Bands are playing, men are enlisting and
marching in Chicago. Orators are talking, women are singing and sewing.
Shrouds and coffins must be made as well as caps and cloaks. Iron must
be cast, nitrate dug, thousands of laborers set to work to hammer, to
nail, to mold, to fashion engines of destruction. Nurses must be
trained, for there will be blood to stanch, wounds to dress, and the
dying to comfort. That Captain Grant whom I saw in St. Louis years ago
has come to Springfield from Galena, left his tannery for the war. He is
training some regiments for the service. Amos, Reverdy's boy, has joined
the army, and Jonas too. Reverdy writes me about it. Sarah is full of
anger, resentment, terror, and sorrow against this huge thing that has
broken over her hearth and taken her sons. I am too old to fight. But I
have money to give. I throw myself into the work with the hope of
forgetting myself, my losses, my loneliness, my life. What can I do for
Douglas? I have this wealth. He is now broken financially. When he
returns to Chicago I must open my purse to him. What other use have I
for money but to give it to this war, or to Douglas?
Douglas comes back from southern Illinois where he has been speaking.
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