Nostalgia means homesickness.
Poor little Nelly was homesick, and in desperation she had fled,
hoping to find, not her own dear, Southern home, for that she knew she
could never see again, but the house of her grandmamma, where she had
some time before left her dear mother. The little girl had, ever since
she could remember, lived very happily with her parents in their
lovely Virginia home. An only child, she was petted to her heart's
content, having scarcely a wish ungratified. But when the war began
her papa became a soldier. Nelly thought he looked very grand in his
uniform of gray with its red trimmings and bright buttons, and rather
liked the idea of having a soldier papa. But after he had gone away
she missed him dreadfully. Her mamma was always so pale and sad that
the child also grew anxious, and could no longer enjoy her play. At
first letters from the absent soldier cheered them, but as the months
passed they ceased to hear at all, except the wild rumors which often
frightened and distressed the anxious wife. "Maum Winnie," an old
negro servant, who claimed to have "raised Mars Ned" (Nelly's papa),
now proved a faithful friend and a great comfort to her mistress; but
Nelly, missing the old woman's cheerful talk and the laugh that used
often to shake her fat sides, thought she had grown cross and
exacting.
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