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When the anti-draft mob reached the Provost Marshall Draft office, they set the building ablaze to destroy the draft records. Then they smashed the draft lottery wheel and threw the broken pieces in the street. Afterward, the mob continued on its rampage through the city setting fires to other buildings before discovering Marguerite and her son.
Marguerite was frantic when she looked around the alley and realized her son Michel was gone. Suddenly, she noticed a small coal chute door open on the side of the last building. A black man reached out his hands to her and beckoned her to crawl through the open door. She bent down and squeezed through the opening just as two men carrying torches entered the alley.
“Where’d they go?” One of the men exclaimed and pointed his torch at the end of the alley. “Leave them be!” Said the other man. He was Jimmy O’Brien and was encouraging the mob to break up and go home but to no avail. Both men rejoined the anti-draft mob marching up the street.
Marguerite noted the black man looked surprisingly familiar as he helped her through the opening into the dimly lit basement. Once inside the building, she saw her son. As the black man brushed the coal dust off her clothes, she stood erect and realized it was her long-lost husband Joseph. He had returned to New York City to look for his family.
When she recognized him, she shrieked and hugged him and kissed him tenderly. Joseph with an astonished look on his face hugged her back and whispered:
“I have finally found you!” He said with tears in his eyes.
Michel was surprised at his mother`s reaction to the black stranger. He never knew his father, as Joseph had run away from the sugar plantation when Michel was only a baby.
Marguerite released him and then looked around the basement. “How did you get here! What is this place?” She asked Joseph in wonder.
“Don’t worry, this is a safe house of the Underground Railroad,” Joseph said. “Better to stay here tonight and then we can leave in the morning.”
Marguerite began shaking with fear as she told Joseph “Ada is home alone! She is in danger if they find her.”
Joseph held her close to his chest. “She should be safe if she stays inside. How far away is she?” He asked.
“Several blocks away.” Marguerite noted.
“We can’t do anything until the mob leaves. It’s too dangerous.” Joseph replied as he went to a small window and pulled a curtain aside to look out.
When nightfall came, he laid out a blanket on the floor and encouraged Marguerite and Michel to lay down. “Get some sleep. As soon as it is light, I will fetch her!” Joseph told them.
Marguerite lay down next to her son and began to pray for the safe deliverance of her daughter. While Joseph continued looking out the window at the burning buildings and waiting for the rampaging anti-draft mob to disperse.
