Death stood at the door with drawn sword to slay not to defend, but the Boy resolved to fight. She should not give up—she should not die. He would fight for her with all the hosts of hell and single-handed if he must.
He rose from his knees still holding her hand, his first hopeless burst of despair over, his heart beating with desperate resolution.
"You won't give up, will you, Ma?" he whispered.
She smiled wanly and he rushed on with breathless intensity: "I'm not going to let you die. I won't—I tell you I won't. I'll fight this thing—and you've got to help me—won't you?"
"I'm ready for God's will, my Boy," she said simply.
"I don't want you to say that!" he pleaded. "I want you to fight and never give up. Why you can't die, Ma—you just can't. You're my only teacher now. There ain't no schools here. How can I learn books without you to help me? Say you'll get well. Please say it for me—please, just say it——"
He paused and couldn't go on for a moment, "Say you'll try then—just for me—please say it!"
"I'll try, Boy," she said tenderly at last.
He flew to the creek bank and in two hours came home with an armful of fresh sarsaparilla roots. He cut and pounded them into a soft pulp and made a poultice. Sarah helped him put it in place. He made his mother drink the bitters every hour. He got stones ready and had them hot to wrap in cloths and put to her feet the moment they felt cold. He wouldn't take her word for it either. He kept slipping his little hands under the cover to feel.
The mother smiled at his tender, eager touch.
"Now, Boy," she said softly. "I'm feeling comfortable, will you do something for me?"
"What is it?" he cried eagerly.
She smiled again:
"Read to me. I want to hear your voice."
"All right—what?"
"The Bible, of course."
"What story?"
"Not a story this time—the twenty-third Psalm."
The Boy took the worn Bible from the shelf, sat down on the edge of the bed, opened, and began in low tones to read:
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want——"
His voice choked and he stopped:
"O, Ma, I just can't read that now—why—why did he let this come to you if He's your Shepherd—why—why—why!"
He buried his face in his hands and her slender fingers touched his hair:
"He knows best, my son—read on—the words are sweet to my soul from your lips."
With an effort he opened the Book again:
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
"He leadeth me beside the still waters.
"He restoreth my soul:
"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
"I will fear no evil; for thou art with me——"
Again the voice choked into silence and he closed the Book.
"I can't—I can't read it. I'm afraid you're going to give up!" he sobbed. "O Ma, you won't, will you? Please say you won't?"
"No, no, I won't give up, my Boy," she said soothingly. "I'm just ready for anything He sends——"
"But I don't want you to say that!" he broke in passionately. "You must fight. You mustn't be ready. You mustn't think about dying. I won't let you die—I tell you!"
She stroked his forehead with gentle touch:
"I won't give up for your sake——"
"It's a promise now?" he cried.
"Yes, I promise——"
"Then I'm going for a doctor right away——"
"You can't find him, Boy," his father said. "It's thirty miles across the Ohio into Kentucky where he lives. An' in all this sickness he ain't at home. Hit's foolishness ter go——"
"I'll find him," was the firm response.
The father made no further protest. He helped him saddle the horse, buckled the stirrups to fit his little bare legs and gave him as clear directions as he could.
"The moon'll be shinin' all night, Boy," were his last words. "Yer can cross the river before eight o'clock. Ef ye git lost on t'other side ax yer way frum the fust house ye come to——"
The Boy nodded, and when had fixed his bare toes in the stirrups he leaned low and whispered:
"You won't give up, Pa, will ye? You'll fight for her till I get back?"
The big gnarled fist closed over the little hand on the pommel of the saddle, and the father's voice was husky:
"As long as there's breath in her body—hurry now."
The last command was not needed. The horse felt the quiver of tense suffering in the low voice and the nervous touch of the switch on his side. With a quick bound he was off at a full gallop down the trail toward the river.
The sun had set before they reached the open country beyond the great forest, but by seven o'clock the Boy saw from the hill top the shining mirror of the river in the calm moonlit valley. Before night he had succeeded in rousing the ferryman and reached the opposite shore.
He lost the way once about nine o'clock and a settler whose light he saw in the woods called sharply from the door with his rifle in hand:
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a little boy," the voice faltered. "I'm trying to find the doctor's house. My mother's about to die and I'm lost. I want you to show me the road."
The rifle was lowered and the cabin stirred. The man dropped back and a woman appeared in the door way.
"Won't ye come in, Honey, and rest a minute and me give ye somethin' to eat while Pa's gettin' ready to go with ye a piece?"
"No'm I can't eat nuthin'——"
He didn't dare go near that tender voice that spoke so clearly its sympathy in the night. He would be crying in a minute if he did and he couldn't afford that.
The settler caught a horse and rode with him an hour to make sure he wouldn't miss the way again.
He reached the doctor's house by eleven o'clock, and to his joy found him at home. The rough old man refused to move an inch until he had fed his horse and eaten a hearty meal.
The Boy tried to eat, but couldn't. The food stuck squarely in his throat. It was no use.
He went outside and waited beside his horse until the doctor was ready. It seemed an eternity, the awful wait. How serene the still beauty of the autumn night! Not a breath of wind stirred. The full moon hung in the sky straight overhead, flooding the earth with silver radiance, marking in clear and vivid lines the shadows of the trees on the ground.
Bitter wonder and rebellion filled his young soul. How could God sit unmoved among those shining stars and leave his mother to die!
The doctor came at last and they started.
In vain he urged that they gallop.
"I won't do it, sir!" the old man snapped. "Your horse has come thirty miles. I'll not let you kill him and I'm not going to kill myself plunging over a rough road at night."
They reached the cabin at daylight. The Boy saw the glow of the flame in the big fireplace through the woods and his heart beat high with new hope. Now that the doctor was here he felt sure her life could be saved.
The Boy stood close by his side when he felt her pulse, and looked at the strange whitish-brown coating on her tongue.
"You can do something, Doctor?" he asked anxiously.
"Yes," was the short answer.
He asked for a towel and bowl and opened his saddlebags. He examined the point of his lancet and bared the slender arm.
"What are ye goin' ter do?" Tom asked with a frown.
"Bleed her, of course. It's the only thing to do——"
The Boy suddenly pushed himself between the doctor and the bed and looked up into his stern face with a resolute stare:
"You shan't do it. I don't know nothin' much about doctorin' but I got sense enough to know that'll kill her—and you shan't do it!"
The doctor looked angrily at the father.
"I say so, too," Tom replied. "She's too weak for that."
With a snort of anger, the old man threw the lancet into his saddlebags, snapped them together and strode through the cabin door.
The Boy followed him wistfully to the stable, and when he seized the bridle to put on the horse, caught his hand and looked up:
"Please don't go," he begged. "I'm mighty sorry I made you mad. I didn't go to do it. You see——" his voice faltered—"I love her so I just couldn't let you cut her arm open and see her bleed. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Won't you stay and help us? Can't ye do somethin' else for her? I'll pay ye. I'll go work for ye a whole year or five years if ye want me—if you'll just save her—just save her, that's all—don't go—please don't!"
Something in the child's anguish found the rough old man's heart. His eyes grew misty for a moment, he slipped one arm about the Boy's shoulders and drew him close.
"God knows I'd stay and do something if I could, Sonny, but I don't know what to do. I'm not sure I'm right about the bleeding or I'd stay and make you help me do it. But I'm not sure—I'm not sure—and I can do no good by staying. Keep her warm, give her all the good food her stomach will retain. That's all I can tell you. She's in God's hands."
With a heavy heart the Boy watched him ride away as the sun rose over the eastern hills. The doctor's last words sank into his soul. She was in God's hands! Well, he would go to God and beg Him to save her. He went into the woods, knelt behind a great oak and in the simple words of a child asked for the desire of his heart. Three times every day and every night he prayed.
For four days no change was apparent. She was very weak and tired, but suffered no pain. His prayer was heard and would be answered!
The first symptom of failure in circulation, he promptly met by placing the hot stones to her feet. And for hours he and Sarah would rub her until the cold disappeared.
On the morning of the seventh day she was unusually bright.
"Why, you're better, Ma, aren't you?" he cried with joy.
Her eyes were shining with a strange excitement:
"Yes. I'm a lot better. I'm going to sit up awhile. I'm tired lying down."
She threw herself quickly on the side of the bed and her feet touched the bear-skin rug. She rose trembling and smiling and took a step. She tottered a bit, but the Boy was laughing and holding her arm. She reached the chair by the fire and he wrapped a great skin about her feet and limbs.
"Look, Pa, she's getting well!" the Boy shouted.
Tom watched her gravely without reply.
She took the Boy's hand, still smiling:
"I had such a wonderful dream," she began slowly—"the same one I had before you were born, my Boy. God had answered my prayer and sent me a son. I watched him grow to be a strong, brave, patient, wise and gentle man. Thousands hung on his words and the great from the ends of the earth came to do him homage. With uncovered head he led me into a beautiful home with white pillars. And then he bowed low and whispered in my ear: 'This is yours, my angel mother. I bought it for you with my life. All that I am I owe to you'——"
Her voice sank to a whisper that was half a sob and half a laugh.
"See how she's smiling, Pa," the Boy cried. "She's getting well!"
"Don't ye understand!" the father whispered. "Look—at her eyes—she's not tellin' you a dream—she's looking through the white gates of heaven—it's Death, Boy—it's come—Lord God, have mercy!"
With a groan he dropped by her side and her thin hand rested gently on his shaggy head.
The Boy stared at her in agonizing wonder as she felt for his hand and feebly held it. She was gazing now into the depths of his soul with her pensive hungry eyes.
"He good to your father, my son——" she paused for breath and looked at him tenderly. She knew the father was the child of the future—this Boy, the man.
"Yes!" he whispered.
"And love your sister——"
"Yes."
"Be a man among men, for your mother's sake——"
"Yes, Ma, I will!"
The little head bent low and the voice was silent.
They went to work to make her coffin at noon. An unused walnut log of burled fibre had been lying in the sun and drying for two years, since Tom had built the furniture for the cabin. Dennis helped him rip the boards from this dark, rich wood, shape and plane it for the pieces he would need.
The Boy sat with dry eyes and aching heart, making the wooden nails to fasten these boards together.
He stopped suddenly, walked to the bench at which his father was working and laid by his side the first pins he had whittled.
"I can't do it, Pa," he gasped. "I just can't make the nails for her coffin. I feel like somebody's drivin' 'em through my heart!"
The rugged face was lighted with tenderness as he slowly answered:
"Why, we must make it, Boy—hit's the last thing we kin do ter show our love fur her—ter make it all smooth an' purty outen this fine dark wood. Yer wouldn't put her in the ground an' throw the cold dirt right on her face, would you?"
The slim figure shivered:
"No—no—I wouldn't do that! Yes, I'll help—we must make it beautiful, mustn't we?"
And then he went back to the pitiful task.
They dug her grave, these loving hands, father and son and orphan waif, on a gentle hill in the deep woods. As the sun sank in a sea of scarlet clouds next day, they lowered the coffin. The father lifted his voice in a simple prayer and the Boy took his sister's hand and led her in silence back to the lonely cabin. He couldn't stay to see them throw the dirt over her. He couldn't endure it.
"'Be a man among men for your mother's sake—'""'Be a man among men for your mother's sake—'"
He had heard of ghosts in graveyards, and he wondered vaguely if such things could be true. He hoped it was. When the others were asleep, just before day, he slipped noiselessly from his bed and made his way to her grave.
The waning moon was shining in cold white splendor. The woods were silent. He watched and waited and hoped with half-faith and half-fear that he might see her radiant form rise from the dead.
A leaf rustled behind him and he turned with a thrill of awful joy. He wasn't afraid. He'd clasp her in his arms if he could. With firm step and head erect, eyes wide and nostrils dilated, he walked straight into the shadows to see and know.
And there, standing in a spot of pale moonlight, stood his dog looking up into his eyes with patient, loving sympathy. He hadn't shed a tear since her death. Now the flood tide broke the barriers. He sank to the ground, slipped his arm around the dog's neck, and sobbed aloud.
He wrote a tear stained letter to the only parson he knew. It was his first historic record and he signed his name in bold, well rounded letters—"A. LINCOLN." Three months later the faithful old man came in answer to his request and preached her funeral sermon. Something in the lad's wistful eyes that day fired him with eloquence. Through all life the words rang with strange solemn power in the Boy's heart:
"O Death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory! Blessed are they that die in the Lord! Death is not the chill shadow of the night—but the grey light of the dawn—the dawn of a new eternal day. Lift up your eyes and see its beauty. Open your ears and hear the stir of its wondrous life!"
When the last friend had gone, the forlorn little figure stood beside the grave alone. There was a wistful smile on his lips as he slowly whispered:
"I'll not forget, Ma, dear—I'll not forget. I'll live for you."
Nor did he forget. In her slender figure a new force had appeared in human history. The peasant woman of the old world has ever taught her child contentment with his lot. And patient millions beyond the seas bend their backs without a murmur to the task their fathers bore three thousand years ago.
Free America has given the race a new peasant woman. Born among the lowliest of her kind, she walks earth's way with her feet in the dust, her head among the stars.
This one died young in the cabin beside the deep woods, but not before her hand had kindled a fire of divine discontent in the soul of her son that only God could extinguish.
"It's positively uncanny——"
Betty Winter paused on the top step of the Capitol and gazed over the great silent crowd with a shiver.
"The silence—yes," Ned Vaughan answered slowly. "I wondered if you had felt it, too."
"It's more like a funeral than an Inauguration."
The young reporter smiled:
"If you believe General Scott there may be several funerals in Washington before the day's work is done."
"And youdon'tbelieve him?" the girl asked seriously.
"Nonsense! All this feverish preparation for violence——"
Betty laughed:
"I'm afraid you're not a good judge of the needs of the incoming administration. As an avowed Secessionist—you're hardly in their confidence."
"Thank God, I'm not."
"What are those horses doing over there by the trees?"
"Masked battery of artillery."
"Don't be silly!"
"It's true. Old Scott's going to save the Capital on Inauguration Day any how! The Avenue's lined with soldiers—sharpshooters posted in the windows along the whole route of the Inaugural procession, a company of troops in each end of the Capitol. He has built a wooden tunnel from the street into the north end of the building and that's lined with guards. A squad of fifty soldiers are under the platform where we're going to sit——"
"No!"
"Look through the cracks and see for yourself!" Vaughan cried with scorn.
The sparkling brown eyes were focused on the board platform.
"I do see them moving," she said slowly, as a look of deep seriousness swept the fair young face. "Perhaps General Scott's right after all. Father says we're walking on a volcano——"
"But not that kind of a volcano, Miss Betty," Vaughan interrupted. "Senator Winter's an Abolitionist. He hates the South with every breath he breathes."
Betty nodded:
"And prays God night and morning to give him greater strength with which to hate it harder—yes——"
"But you're not so blind?"
"There must be a little fire where there's so much smoke. A crazy fool might try to kill the new President."
Ned Vaughan's slender figure stiffened:
"The South won't fight that way. If they begin war it will be the most solemn act of life. It will be for God and country, and what they believe to be right. The Southern people are not assassins. When they take Washington it will be with the bayonet."
"And yet your brother had a taste of Southern feeling here the night of the election when a mob broke in and smashed the office of theRepublican."
"A gang of hoodlums," he protested. "Anything may happen on election night to an opposition newspaper. The Southern men who formed that mob will never give this administration trouble——"
"I'm so anxious to meet your brother," Betty interrupted. "Why doesn't he come?"
"He's in the Senate Chamber for the ceremonies. He'll join us before the procession gets here."
"He's as handsome as everybody says?" she asked naïvely.
"I'll admit he's a good-looking fellow if he is my brother."
"And vain?"
"As a peacock——"
"Conceited?"
"Very."
"And a woman hater!"
"Far from it—he's easy. He may not think so, but between us he's an easy mark. I've always been afraid he'll make a fool of himself and marry without the consent of his younger brother. He's a great care to me."
The brown eyes twinkled:
"You love him very much?"
Ned Vaughan nodded his dark head slowly:
"Yes. We've quarrelled every day since the election."
"Over politics?"
"What else?"
"Love, perhaps."
The dark eyes met hers.
"No, he hasn't seen you yet——"
Betty's laugh was genial and contagious.
He had meant to be serious and hoped that she would give him the opening he'd been sparring for. But she refused the challenge with such amusement he was piqued.
"You're from Missouri, but you're a true Southerner, Mr. Vaughan."
"And you're a heartless Puritan," he answered with a frown.
She shook her golden brown curls:
"No—no—no! My name's an accident. My father was born in Maine on the Canada line. But my mother was French. I'm her daughter. I love sunlight and flowers, music and foolishness—and dream of troubadours who sing under my window. I hate long faces and gloom. But my father has ambition. I love him, and so I endure things."
Ned Vaughan looked at her timidly. For the life of him he couldn't make her out. Was she laughing at him? He half suspected it, and yet there was something sweet and appealing in the way she gazed into his eyes. He gave it up and changed the subject.
He had promised to bring John to-day and introduce him. He had been prattling like a fool about this older brother. He wished to God now something would keep him. The pangs of jealousy had already began to gnaw at the thought of her hand resting in his.
From the way Betty Winter had laughed she was quite capable of flying two strings to her bow. And with all the keener interest because they happened to be brothers. Why had she asked him so pointedly about John? He had excited her curiosity, of course, by his silly brother—hero-worship. He had told her of his brilliant career in New York under Horace Greeley on theTribune—of Greeley's personal interest, and the flattering letter he had written to Colonel Forney, which had made him the city editor of the New Party organ in Washington—of his cool heroism the night the mob had attacked theRepublicanoffice—and last he had hinted of an affair over a woman in New York that had led to a challenge and a bloodless duel—bloodless because his opponent failed to appear. It was his own fault, of course, if Betty was keeping him at arm's length to-day. No girl could fail to be interested in such a man—no matter who her father might be—Puritan or Cavalier.
His arm trembled in spite of his effort at self-control as he led her down the stately steps of the eastern façade toward the Inaugural platform. He paused on the edge of the boards and pointed to the huge bronze figure of the statue of Liberty which had been cast to crown the dome of the Capitol. It lay prostrate in the mud and the crowds were climbing over it.
"I wonder if Miss Liberty will ever be lifted to her place on high?" he said musingly.
"If they do finish the dome," Betty replied, "and crown it with that bronze, my father should sue for damages. One of his most eloquent figures of speech will be ruined. That prostrate work of art lying in the mud has given thousands of votes to the Republicans. I've caught myself crying over his eloquence at times myself."
Ned Vaughan smiled:
"A queer superstition has grown up in Washington that the dome of the Capitol will never be completed——"
"Do you believe it?"
"No. It will be finished. But I'm not sure whether Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis will preside on that occasion."
"And I haven't the slightest doubt on that point," Betty said with quick emphasis.
"I thought you were not a student of politics?" he dryly observed.
"I'm not. It's just a feeling. Women know things by intuition."
The young man glanced upward at the huge crane which swung from the unfinished structure of the dome.
"Anyhow, Miss Betty," he said smilingly, "your Black Republican President has a beautiful day for the Inaugural."
"We'll hope it's a sign for the future—shall we?"
"I hope so," was the serious answer. "God knows there haven't been many happy signs lately. It was dark and threatening at dawn this morning and a few drops of rain fell up to eight o'clock."
"You were up at dawn?" the girl asked in surprise.
"Yes. The Senate has been in session all night over the new amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing to the South security in the possession of their slaves."
"And they passed it?"
"Yes——"
"Over my father's prostrate form?"
"Yes—an administrative measure, too. I've an idea from the 'moderation' of your father's remarks that there'll be some fun between the White House and the Senate Chamber during the next four years. For my part I share his scorn for such eleventh hour repentance. It's too late. The mischief has been done. Secession is a fact and we've got to face it."
"But we haven't heard from the new President yet," Betty ventured.
"No. That's why this crowd's so still. For the first time since the foundation of the government, the thousands banked in front of this platform really wish to hear what a President-elect has to say."
"Isn't that a tremendous tribute to the man?"
"Possibly so—possibly not. He has been silent since his election. Not a word has fallen from his lips to indicate his policy. He has more real power from the moment he takes the oath of office than any crowned head of Europe. From his lips to-day will fall the word that means peace or war. That's why this crowd's so still."
"It's weird," Betty whispered. "You can feel their very hearts beat. Do you suppose the new President realizes the meaning of such a moment?"
"I don't think this one will. I interviewed Stanton, the retiring Attorney General of Buchanan's Cabinet, yesterday. He knows Lincoln personally—was with him in a lawsuit once before the United States Court. Stanton says he's a coward and a fool and the ugliest white man who ever appeared on this planet. He has already christened him 'The Original Gorilla,' or 'The Illinois Ape'——"
"I wonder," Betty broke in with petulance, "if such a man could be elected President? I'm morbidly curious to see him. My father, as an Abolitionist, had to vote for him and he must support his administration as a Republican Senator. But his favorite name for the new Chief Magistrate is, 'The Illinois Slave Hound.' I've a growing feeling that his enemies have overdone their work. I'm going to judge him fairly."
Vaughan's lips slightly curved.
"They say he's a good stump speaker—a little shy on grammar, perhaps, but good on jokes—of the coarser kind. He ought to get one or two good guffaws even out of this sober crowd to-day."
"You think he'll stoop to coarse jokes?"
"Of course——"
"Is that your brother?" Betty asked with a quick intake of breath, lifting her head toward a stalwart figure rapidly coming down the wide marble steps.
Ned Vaughan looked up with a frown:
"How did you recognize him?"
"By his resemblance to you, of course."
"Thanks."
"You're as much alike as two black-eyed peas—except that you're more slender and boyish."
"And not quite so good-looking?"
A low mischievous laugh was her answer as John lifted his hat and stood smiling before them.
"Miss Winter, this is my brother, whose praises I've long been chanting. I've a little work to do in the crowd—I'll be back in a few minutes."
There was just a touch of irony in the smile with which the younger man spoke as he hurried away, but the girl was too much absorbed in the striking picture John Vaughan made to notice. The sparkling brown eyes took him in from head to foot in a quick comprehending flash. The fame of his personal appearance was more than justified. He was the most strikingly good-looking man she had ever seen, and to her surprise there was not the slightest trace of self-consciousness or conceit about him. His high intellectual forehead, thick black hair inclined to curl at the ends and straight heavy eyebrows suggested at once a man of brains and power. He looked older than he was—at least thirty, though he had just turned twenty-six. The square strong jaw and large chin were eloquent of reserve force. Two rows of white, perfect teeth smiled behind the black drooping moustache and invited friendship. The one disquieting feature about him was the look from the depths of his dark brown eyes—so dark they were black in shadow. He had been a dreamer when very young and followed Charles A. Dana to Brook Farm for a brief stay.
Before he had spoken a dozen words the girl felt the charm of his singular and powerful personality.
"I needn't say that I'm glad to see you, Miss Winter," he began, with a friendly smile. "Ned has told me so much about you the past month I'd made up my mind to join the Abolitionists, and apply for a secretaryship to the Senator if I couldn't manage it any other way."
"And you'll be content to resume a normal life after to-day?"
She looked into his eyes with mischievous challenge. She had recovered her poise.
He laughed, and a shadow suddenly swept his face:
"I wonder, Miss Winter, if any of us will live a normal life after to-day?"
"You've seen the Rail-splitter, our new President?"
"No, I didn't wait in the Senate Chamber. I came out here to make sure of my seat beside you——"
"To hear every word of the Inaugural, of course," Betty broke in.
"Yes, of course——" he paused and the faintest suggestion of a smile flickered about the corners of his eyes. "Ned told me you had three good seats. I am anxious to hear what he says—but more anxious to see him when he says it. I can read his Inaugural, but I want to see the soul of the man behind its conventional phrases——"
"He'll use conventional phrases?"
"Certainly. They all do. But no man ever came to the Presidential chair with as little confidence back of him. The Abolitionists have already begun to denounce him before he has taken the oath of office. The rank and file of the party that elected him are not Abolitionists and never for a moment believed that the Southern people were in earnest when they threatened Secession during the campaign. We thought it bluff. To say that the whole North and West is panic-stricken is the simple truth.
"Horace Greeley and theTribuneare for Secession.
"'Let our erring sisters go!' the editor tells the millions who hang on his words as the oracle of heaven.
"The North has been talking Secession for thirty years, and now that the South is doing what they've been threatening, we wake up and try to persuade ourselves that no such right exists in a sovereign state. Yet we all know that Great Britain surrendered to the thirteen colonies as sovereign states and named each one of them in her articles of surrender and our treaty of peace. We know that there never would have been a Constitution or a Union if the men who drew it and created the Union had dared to question the right of either of these sovereign states to withdraw when they wished. They didn't dare to raise the question. They left it for their children to settle. Now we're facing it with a vengeance.
"Our fathers only dreamed a Union. They never lived to see it. This country has always been an aggregation of jangling, discordant, antagonistic sections. How is this man who comes into power to-day, this humble rail-splitter, this County Court advocate, to achieve what our greatest statesmen have tried for nearly a hundred years and failed to do? Seward, the man he has called to be Secretary of State, has been here for two months, juggling with his enemies. He's a Secessionist at heart and expects the Union to be divided——"
"Surely," Betty interrupted, "you can't believe that."
"It's true. We don't dare say this in our paper, but we know it. So sure is Seward of the collapse of the Lincoln administration that he withdrew his acceptance of the post of Secretary of State, only day before yesterday. It's uncertain at this hour whether he'll be in the cabinet——"
"Why?" Betty asked in breathless surprise.
The young editor was silent a moment and spoke in low tones:
"You can keep a secret?"
"State secrets—easily."
"Mr. Seward expects to be called to a position of greater power than President——"
"You mean?"
"The Dictatorship. That's the talk in the inner circles. Nobody in the North expects war or wants war——"
"Except my father," Betty laughed.
"The Abolitionists don't count. If we have war there are not enough of them to form a corporal's guard—to say nothing of an army. The North is hopelessly divided and confused. If the South unites—if North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and Maryland join the Confederacy under Davis, the Union is lost. What's going to hinder them from uniting? They are all Slave States. They believe the new President is a Black Abolitionist Republican. He isn't, of course, but they believe it. How can he reassure them? The States that have already plunged into Secession have hauled the flag down from every fort and arsenal except Sumter and Pickens. The new President can only retake these forts by force. The first shot fired will sweep every Slave State out of the Union and arraign the millions of Democratic voters in the North solidly against the Government. God pity the man who takes the oath to-day to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution!"
When John Vaughan's voice died away at last into a passionate whisper, Betty stood looking at him in a spell. She recovered herself with a start and a smile.
"You've mistaken your calling, Mr. Vaughan," she said with emotion.
"Why do you say that?"
"You're a statesman—not an editor—you should be in the Cabinet."
"Much obliged, Miss Betty—but I'm not in this one, thank you. Besides, you're mistaken. I'm only an intelligent observer and reporter of events. I've never had the will to do creative things."
"Why?"
"The responsibility is too great. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Only God Almighty can save this Nation to-day. It's too much to expect of one man."
"Yet God must use man, mustn't He?"
"Yes. That's why my soul goes out in sympathy to the lonely figure who steps out of obscurity and poverty to-day to do this impossible thing. No such responsibility was ever before laid on the shoulders of one man. In all the history of the world he has no precedent, no guide——"
Ned interrupted the flow of John's impassioned speech by suddenly appearing with uplifted hand.
"Never such a crowd as this!"
"Why, they say it's smaller than usual!" Betty exclaimed.
"I don't mean size," Ned went on rapidly. "It's their temper that's remarkable. An Inauguration crowd should support the administration. The Lord help the Rail-splitter if that sullen dumb mob are his constituents! Half of them are downright hostile——"
"Washington's a Southern town," John remarked.
"They are not Washington folks—not one in a hundred. And the only honest backers old Abe seems to have are about a thousand serious young fellows from the West, whom General Scott has armed as a special guard to circle the crowd."
He paused and pointed to a group of a dozen Westerners standing beside a bush in the outer rim of the throng.
"There's a bunch of them—and there's one stationed every ten yards. The artillery in position, the infantry in line, the sharpshooters masked in windows, the guard under the platform with muskets cocked, and a thousand volunteers to threaten the crowd from without, I think the new President should get a respectful hearing! The procession is coming up the Avenue now with a guard of sappers and miners packed so closely around the open carriage you can't even see the top of old Abe's head——"
"Let's get our seats!" Betty cried.
They had scarcely taken them when a ripple of excitement swept the crowd as every head was turned toward the aisle that led down the centre of the platform.
"Oh, it's Mrs. Lincoln and the children and her sisters!" Betty exclaimed. "What perfect taste in her dress! She knows how to wear it, too. What a typical, plump, self-poised Southern matron she looks. And, oh, those darling little boys—aren't they dears! She's a Kentuckian, too—the irony of Fate! A Southerner with a Southern wife entering the White House and eight great Southern States seceding from the Union because of it. It's a funny world, isn't it?"
"The South hardly claims Mr. Lincoln as a Southerner," Ned remarked dryly.
"Claim it or not, he is," John declared, nodding toward Betty, "as truly a Southerner as Jefferson Davis. They were both born in Kentucky almost on the same day——"
Another ripple of excitement and the Diplomatic Corps entered with measured stately tread, their gorgeous uniforms flashing in the sun. They took their seats on the left of the canopy, Lord Lyons, the British minister, seated beside the representative of the Court of France, two men destined to play their parts in the drama of Life and Death on whose first act the curtain of history was slowly rising.
The black-robed Supreme Court of the Republic, in cap and gown, slowly followed and took their places on the right, opposite the Diplomatic Corps.
The Marine band struck the first notes of the National Hymn amid a silence whose oppressiveness could be felt. The tension of a great fear had gripped the hearts of the crowd with icy fingers. The stoutest soul felt its spell and was powerless to shake it off.
Was it the end of the Republic? Or the storm clouded dawn of a new and more wonderful life? God only could tell, and there were few men present who dared to venture a prediction.
A wave of subdued excitement rippled the throng and every eye was focused on the procession from the Senate Chamber.
"They're coming!" Betty whispered excitedly.
The contrast between the retiring President, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln was startling even at the distance of the first view from the platform. The man of the old era was heavy and awkward in his movements, far advanced in years, with thin snow white hair, his pallid full face seamed and wrinkled and his head curiously inclined to the left shoulder. An immense white cravat like a poultice pushed his high standing collar up to the ears. The sharp contrast of the black swallow-tailed coat, with the dead white of cravat, collar, face and hair, suggested the uncanny idea of a moving corpse.
With his eyes fixed on Buchanan, John suddenly exclaimed:
"A man who's dead and don't know it!"
Only for a moment did the actual President hold the eye. The man of the hour loomed large at the head of the procession and instantly fixed the attention of every man and woman within the range of vision. His giant figure seemed to tower more than a foot above his surroundings. Everything about him was large—an immense head, crowned with thick shock of coarse black hair, his strong jaws rimmed with bristling new whiskers, long arms and longer legs, large hands, big features, every movement quick and powerful. The first impression was one of enormous strength. He looked every inch the stalwart backwoods athlete, capable of all the feats of physical strength campaign stories had credited to his record. One glance at his magnificent frame and no one doubted the boast of his admirers that he could lift a thousand pounds, five hundred in each hand, or bend an iron poker by striking it across the muscle of his arm.
As he reached the speaker's stand beneath the crowded canopy, there was an instant's awkward pause. In his new immaculate dress suit with black satin vest, shining silk hat and gold-headed cane, he seemed a little ill at ease. He looked in vain for a place to put his hat and cane and finally found a corner of the railing against which to lean the stick, but there seemed no place left for his new hat. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, his defeated Northern opponent for the Presidency, with a friendly smile, took it from his hands.
As Douglas slipped gracefully back to his seat, he whispered to the lady beside him:
"If I can't be President, at least I can hold his hat!"
The simple, but significant, act of courtesy from the great leader of the Northern Democracy was not lost on the new Chief Magistrate. He could hardly believe what his eyes had seen at first, and then he smiled. Instantly the rugged features were transformed and his whole being was lighted with a strange soft radiance whose warmth was contagious.
Betty's eyes were dancing with excitement.
"He's not ugly at all!" she whispered.
Ned softly laughed:
"He certainly is not a beauty?"
"Who expects beauty in a real man?" she answered, with a touch of scorn. And Ned shot a look of inquiry at John's handsome face. But the older brother was too intent on the drama before him to notice. The editor's eyes were riveted on the new President, studying every detail of his impressive personality. He had never seen him before and was trying to form a just and accurate judgment of his character. Beyond a doubt he was big physically—this impression was overwhelming—everything large—the head with its high crown of skull and thick, bushy hair, deep cavernous eyes, heavy eyebrows which moved in quick sympathy with every emotion, large nose, large ears, large mouth, large, thick under lip, very high cheek bones, massive jaw bones with upturned chin, a sinewy long neck, long arms, and large hands, long legs, and big feet. A giant physically—and yet somehow he gave the impression of excessive gauntness and about his face there dwelt a strange impression of sadness and spiritual anguish. The hollowness of his cheeks accented by his swarthy complexion emphasized this.
The crowd had recognized him instantly, but without the slightest applause. The silence was intense, oppressive, painful. John glanced up and saw the huge figure of Senator Wigfall, of Texas, looking down on the scene from the base of one of the white columns of the central façade. He waved his arm defiantly and laughed. His presence in the Senate after all his associates had withdrawn was the subject of keen speculation. He was believed to be a spy of the Confederate Government. He had asked General Scott, half in jest, if he would dare to arrest a Senator of the United States for treason. The answer was significant of the times. Looking the Senator straight in the eye the old hero slowly said:
"No—I'd blow him to hell!"
Evidently the Senator was not as yet unduly alarmed. His expression of triumphant contempt for the evident lack of enthusiasm could not be mistaken. When John Vaughan recalled the confusion in the ranks of the triumphant party he knew that the Senator's scorn would he redoubled if he but knew half the truth. Again he turned toward the tall, lonely man with sinking heart.
The ceremony moved swiftly. The silence was too oppressive to admit delay. Senator Baker, of Oregon, the warm personal friend of Lincoln, stepped quickly to the edge of the platform. With hand outstretched in an easy graceful gesture, he said:
"Fellow Citizens: I introduce to you Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect of the United States of America."
Again the silence of death, as the once ragged, lonely, barefoot boy from a Kentucky cabin stepped forward into the fiercest light that ever beat on human head.
He quickly adjusted his glasses, drew his tall figure to its full height, and began to read his address, his face suddenly radiant with the poise of conscious reserve power, oblivious of crowd, ceremony, hostility or friendship. His voice was strong, high pitched, clear, ringing, and his articulation singularly and beautifully perfect. His words carried to the outer edge of the vast silent throng.
Betty watched his mobile features with increasing fascination. His bushy eyebrows and the muscles of his sensitive face moved and flashed in sympathy with every emotion. In a countenance of such large and rugged lines every movement spoke unusual power. The lift of an eyebrow, the curve of the lip, the flash of the eye were gestures more eloquent than the impassioned sweep of the ordinary orator's arm. He made no gesture with hand or arm or the mass of his towering body. No portrait of this man had ever been made. She had seen many pictures and not one of them had suggested the deep, subtle, indirect expression of his face—something that seemed to link him with the big forces of nature.
The crowd was feeling this now and men were leaning forward from their seats on the platform. The venerable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney, whose clear, accurate and mercilessly logical decision on Slavery had created the storm which swept Lincoln into power, was watching him with bated breath, and not for an instant during the Inaugural address did he lower his sombre eyes from the face of the speaker.
John C. Breckenridge, the retiring Vice-President, his defeated opponent from the Southern States, the proud Kentucky chevalier, was listening with keen and painful intensity, his handsome cultured features pale with the consciousness of coming tragedy.
His opening words had been reassuring to the South, but woke no response from the silent thousands who stood before him as he went on:
"I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of Slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."
The simplicity, directness and clearness of this statement could find no parallel in the pompous words of his predecessors. The man was talking in the language of the people. It was something new under the sun.
And then, with the clear ring of a trumpet, each syllable falling clean cut and sharp with marvellous distinctness, he continued:
"I hold that the Union of these States is perpetual——"
He paused for an instant, his voice suddenly failing from deep emotion and then, as if stung by the silence with which this thrilling thought was received, he uttered the only words not written in his manuscript, and made the only gesture of his entire address. His great fist came down with a resounding smash on the table and in tones heard by the last man who hung on the edge of the throng, he said:
"No State has the right to secede!"
And still no cheer came from the strangely silent crowd—only a vague shiver swept the hearts of the Southern people before him. If the North loved the Union they were giving no tokens to the tall, lonely figure on that platform.
At last the sentences, big with the fate of millions, were slowly and tenderly spoken:
"I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform it——"
At last he had touched the hidden powder magazine with an electric spark, and a cheer swept the crowd. It died away at last—rose with new power and rose a third time before it subsided, and the clear voice went on:
"I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing this there needs be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the National authority. The power confided in me will be used to hold and occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the Government."
Again the powder mine exploded, and a cheer rose. The grim walls of Fort Sumter and Pickens, in far off Southern waters, flashed red before every eye.
The applause suddenly died away into the old silence, and a man in the crowd before the platform yelled:
"We're for Jefferson Davis!"
There was no answer and no disorder—only the shrill cry of the Southerner through the silence, and the speaker continued his address. Senator Douglas looked uneasily over the crowd toward the spot from whence came the cry. His brow wrinkled with a frown.
John Vaughan leaned toward Betty and whispered half to himself:
"I wonder if those cheers were defiance after all?"
But the girl was too intent on the words of the speaker to answer. His next sentence brought a smile and a nod of approval from Senator Douglas.
"But beyond what may be necessary for those objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere——"
Again and again Douglas nodded his approval and spoke it in low tones:
"Good! Good! That means no coercion."
And then, followed in solemn tones, the fateful sentences:
"Inyourhands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not inmineis the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assailyouunless youfirstassailit. You can have no conflict without yourselves being the aggressors.Youhave no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, whileIshall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect and defend' it.Youcan forbear theassaultupon it;Icannotshrink from thedefenseof it——"
Again he paused, and the crowd hung spellbound as he began his closing paragraph in tender persuasive accents throbbing with emotion, his clear voice breaking for the first time:
"I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
The closing words fell from his sensitive lips with the sad dreamy eyes blinded by tears.
At last he had touched the hearts of all. The sincerity and beauty of the simple appeal for the moment hushed bitterness and passion and the cheer was universal.
The black-robed figure of the venerable Chief Justice stepped forward with extended open Bible. His bony, trembling fingers and cadaverous intellectual face gave the last touch of dramatic contrast between the old and new régimes.
The tall, dark man reverently laid his left hand on the open Book, raised his right arm, and slowly repeated the words of the oath:
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God!"
The words had scarcely died on his lips when the distant boom of cannon proclaimed the new President. The crowd on the platform rose and stood with uncovered heads, while the procession formed in the same order as at its entrance and returned to the White House.
"What do you think of it?" Betty asked breathlessly, turning to Ned.
The firm young lips came together with sudden passion:
"The argument has ended. To your tents, O Israel! It means war——"
"Nonsense," John broke in impetuously. "It means anything or nothing. It's hot and cold—a straddle, a contradiction——"
He paused and turned to Betty:
"What do you think?"
"Of the President?" she asked dreamily.
"Of his Inaugural," John corrected.
"I don't know whether it means peace or war, not being a statesman, but of one thing I'm sure——"
She paused and Ned leaned close:
"Yes?"
"That a great man has appeared on the scene——"
Both men laughed and she went on with deep earnestness:
"I mean it—he's splendid—he's wonderful! He's a poet—a dreamer—and so typically Southern, Mr. Ned Vaughan. I could easily picture him fighting a duel over a fine point of honor, as he did once. He's patient, careful, wise, cautious—very tender and very strong. To me he's inspired——"
Again both men laughed.
"I honestly believe that God has sent him into the Kingdom for such a time as this."
"You get that impression from his rambling address with its obvious effort to straddle the Universe?" John asked incredulously.
"Not from what he said," Betty persisted, "so much as the way he said it—though I got the very clear idea that his purpose is to save the Union. He made that thought ring through my mind over all others."
"You really like him?" Ned asked with a cold smile.
"I love him," was the eager answer. "He's adorable. He's genuine—a man of the people. We've had many Presidents who wore purple and fine linen and professed democracy—now we've the real thing. I wonder if they'll crucify him. All through his address I could see the little ragged forlorn boy standing beside his mother's grave crying his heart out in despair and loneliness. He's wonderful. And he's not overawed by these big white pillars above us, either. The man who tries to set up for a Dictator while he's in the White House will find trouble——"
"The two leading men he has called to his cabinet," John broke in musingly, "hold him in contempt."
"There's a surprise in store for Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase," Betty ventured.
"I'm afraid your father will not agree with you, Miss Betty," Ned laughed, glancing toward Senator Winter. "I foresee trouble for you."
"No danger. My father never quarrels with me over politics. He just pities my ignorance and lets it go at that. He never condescends to my level——"
She stopped suddenly and waved her hand toward the group of excited men who had gathered around Senator Winter.
A smile of recognition lighted the sombre Puritan face, as he pushed his friends aside and rapidly approached.
"How's my little girl?" he cried tenderly. "Enjoy the show?"
"Yes, dear, immensely—you know Mr. John Vaughan, Father, don't you?"
The old man smiled grimly as he extended his hand:
"I know who he is—though I haven't had the honor of an introduction. I'm glad to see you, Mr. Vaughan—though I don't agree with many of your editorials."
"We'll hope for better things in the future, Senator," John laughed.
"What's your impression of the Inaugural, Senator?" Ned asked, with a twinkle of mischief in his eye.
"You are asking me that as a reporter, young man, or as a friend of my daughter?"
"Both, sir."
"Then I'll give you two answers. One for the public and one for you. I've an idea you're going to be a rebel, sir——"
"We hope not, Senator," John protested.
"I've my suspicions from an interview we had once. But you're a good reporter, sir. I trust your ability and honesty however deeply I suspect your patriotism. As a Republican Senator I say to you for publication: The President couldn't well have said less. It might have been unwise to say more. To you, as a budding young rebel and a friend of my daughter, I say, with the utmost frankness, that I have no power to express my contempt for that address. From the lips of the man we elected to strangle Slavery fell the cowardly words:
"'I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of Slavery in the States where it exists'——"
The grim blue-grey eyes flashed with rage, he paused for breath and then, livid with suppressed emotion, continued:
"For fifty years every man who has stood on this platform to take the oath as President has turned his face to the South and bowed the knee to Baal. We hoped for better things to-day——" He paused a moment and his eyes filled with angry tears:
"How long, O Lord! How long!"
"But you mustn't forget, Senator, that he didn't run and we didn't win on an Abolition platform. We only raised the issue of the extension of Slavery into the new territories——"
"Yes!" the old man sneered. "But you didn't fool the South! They are past masters in the art of politics. The South is seceding because they know that the Republican Party was organized to destroy Slavery—and that its triumph is a challenge to a life and death fight on that issue. It's a waste of time to beat the devil round the stump. We've got to face it. I hate a trimmer and a coward!—But don't you dare print that for a while, young man——"
"Hardly, sir," Ned answered with a smile.
"I've got to support my own administration for a few days at least—and then!—well, we won't cross any bridges till we come to them."
He stopped abruptly and turned to John:
"Come to see us, Mr. Vaughan. Your paper should be a power before the end of the coming four years. I know Forney, your chief. I'd like to know you better——"
"Thank you, Senator," the young editor responded cordially.
"Can't you dine with us to-morrow night, Mr. Vaughan?" Betty asked, unconsciously bending toward his straight, well poised figure. Ned observed her with a frown, and heard John's answer in a sudden surge of anger.
"Certainly, Miss Betty, with pleasure."
To Ned's certain knowledge it was the first invitation of the kind he had accepted since his advent in Washington. Again he cursed himself for a fool for introducing them.
Betty beamed her friendliest look straight into his eyes and softly said:
"You'll come, of course, Mr. Ned?"
For the life of him he couldn't get back his conventional tones for an answer. His voice trembled in spite of his effort.
"Thank you," he said slowly, "it will not be possible. I've an assignment at the White House for that evening."
He turned abruptly and left them.