To Betty Winter's expression of loyalty5 and sympathy he answered sadly:
"It's success I need, child,—not sympathy. My own burdens of cares are as nothing to my soul. It's our cause—our cause—the union must live or I shall die!"
He sat sometimes by his window for hours immovable as a marble statue, his deep, hungry eyes gazing, gazing forever over the shining river toward the Southern hills. His Secretaries stepped softly about the room in silent sympathy with the Chief they loved with passionate6 devotion.
Grant had crossed the Rapidan on that glorious spring morning in May with his magnificent army accompanied by the highest hopes of millions. And there had followed those awful sickening battles, one after another, until he had fallen back in failure before the impassable trenches7 around Petersburg.
The star of Grant, the conquering hero of the West, had apparently8 set in a sea of blood.
Lee, with inferior numbers, alert, resourceful, vigilant9, had checked and baffled him at every turn, and Richmond's fall was no nearer to human eye than in 1862.
The miles and miles of hospital barracks in Washington, crowded to their doors with wounded, dying men, were the living witnesses of the Nation's mortal agony. Every city, town, village, hamlet and county in the North was in mourning. Death had literally10 flung its pall11 over the world.
From these thousands of stricken homes there had slowly risen a storm of protest against the new leader of the Army. The word "Butcher" was on every lip. General Grant, they said, possessed12 merely the qualities of the bulldog fighter—tenacity and persistence14. He held what he had won so long as men were poured into his ranks by tens of thousands to take the place of the dead. They declared that he possessed no genius, no strategic skill, no power to originate plans and devise means to overcome his skillful and brilliant antagonist15. The demand was pressed on the President for his removal.
His refusal had brought on him the blame for all the blood and all the suffering and all the failures of the past bitter year.
His answer to his critics was remorseless in its common sense, but added nothing to his hold on the people.
"We must fight to win," he firmly declared. "Grant is the ablest general we have yet developed. His losses have been appalling16—but the struggle is now to the bitter end. Our resources are exhaustless. The South can not replace her fallen soldiers—her losses are fatal, ours are not."
In the face of a political campaign he prepared a call by draft for five hundred thousand more men and issued a proclamation appointing a day of Humiliation17, Fasting and Prayer.
The spirits of the people touched the lowest tide ebb18 of despair.
The war debt had reached the appalling total of two thousand millions of dollars and its daily cost was four millions. The paper of the Treasury19 was rapidly depreciating20 and the premium21 on gold rising until the value of a one dollar green-back note was less than fifty cents in real money. The bankers, fearing the total bankruptcy22 of the Nation, had begun to refuse further loans on bonds at any rate of interest.
The bounty23 offered to men for re?nlistment in the army when their terms expired amounted to the unheard of sum of one thousand five hundred dollars cash on signing for the new term. Bounty jumping had become the favorite sport of adventurous24 scoundrels. Millions of dollars were being stolen by these men without the addition of a musket25 to the fighting force. Grant was hanging them daily, but the traitor's work continued. The enlisted26 man deserted27 in three weeks and reappeared at the next post and re?nlisted again, collecting his bounty with each enrollment28.
The enemies of the President in his own party, led by Senator Winter, to make sure of his defeat before the convention, which was about to meet in Baltimore, held a National convention of Radical30 Republicans in Cleveland and nominated John C. Fremont for the Presidency31. Their purpose was by this party division to make Lincoln's nomination32 an impossibility. Fremont's withdrawal33 was the weapon with which they would fight the President before the regular Republican convention and after. Senator Winter voiced the feeling of this convention in a speech of bitter and vindictive34 eloquence35.
"I denounce the administration of Abraham Lincoln," he declared, "as imbecile and vacillating. We demand not only the crushing of Lee's army, but a program of vengeance36 against the rebels, which will mean their annihilation when conquered. We demand the confiscation37 of their property, the overthrow38 of every trace of local government and the reduction of their States to conquered provinces under the control of Congress. The milk and water policy of Lincoln is both a civil and a military failure, and his renomination would be the greatest calamity39 which could befall our Nation!"
A week later the regular party convention met at Baltimore. On the night before this meeting the President's renomination was not certain.
On every hand his enemies were assailing40 him with unabated fury. Every check to the National arms was laid at his door—every mistake of civil or military management. The ravages41 of the Confederate cruisers which were built in England and had swept the seas of our commerce were blamed on him. He should have called Great Britain to account for these outrages42 and had two wars instead of one!
The cost of the great struggle mounting and mounting into billions was his fault. The draft might have been avoided with the Government in abler hands. The emancipation43 policy had not freed a single negro and driven the whole Democratic Party into opposition44 to the war. His Border State policy had held four Slave States in the union, but crippled the moral power of his position as anti-Slavery man. Every lie, every slander45 of four years were now repeated and magnified.
A competent man must be put into the White House. The Rail-splitter must go!
The real test of strength would come in the secret meeting of the Grand Council of the union League—the Secret Society which had been organized to defeat the schemes of the Knights46 of the Golden Circle. In this meeting men will say exactly what they think. In the big convention to-morrow all will be harmony and peace. The convention will do what these powerful leaders from every State in the North tell them to do.
The assembly is dignified47 and orderly. The men who compose it are the eyes and ears and brains of the party they represent. They are the real rulers of the Nation. The party will obey their orders. These are the men who do the executive thinking for millions. The millions can only reject or ratify48 their wills. We are a democracy in theory, but in reality here is assembled the aristocracy of brains which constitutes our government.
The Grand President Edmunds raps for order and faces a crowd of keen, intelligent leaders of men his equal in culture and will.
The meeting is called for but one purpose. With swift, direct action the battle begins. A friend of the President offers a resolution endorsing49 his administration, preceded by a preamble50 which declares it to be unwise to swap51 horses while crossing a stream.
The big guns open on this battle line without a moment's hesitation52. Senator Winter has not thought it wise to make this opening speech. The prominent part he took in organizing and launching the Fremont convention has put him in the position of an avowed53 bolter. He has already put forward a colleague from the Senate who is supposed to be friendly to the administration.
The Senator is a man of blunt speech and dominating personality. He speaks with earnestness, conviction and eloquence. He does not mince54 words. All the petty grievances56 and mistakes and disappointments of his four years under the tall, quiet man's strong hand are firing his soul now with burning passion.
He boldly accuses the President of tyranny, usurpation57, illegal acts, of abused power, of misused58 advantages, of favoritism, stupidity, frauds in administration, timidity, sluggish59 inaction, oppression, the willful neglect of suffering and the willful refusal to hear the cry of the down-trodden slave.
He turns the battery of his scorn now on his personal peculiarities60, his drawn61 and haggard and sorrow marked face, his heartlessness in reading and telling funny stories, and last of all his selfish ambition which asks a second term at the sacrifice of his party and his country.
A Congressman62 of unusual brilliance63 and power follows this assault with one of even greater eloquence and bitterness.
Two more in quick succession and all demand with one accord the same thing:
"Down with Lincoln!"
Not a voice has been lifted in his favor. If he has a friend he is apparently afraid to open his mouth.
And then the giant form of Jim Lane slowly rises. He looks quietly over the crowd as if passing in review the tragic64 events of four years. Is he going to add his voice to this chorus of rage? A year ago in the same Grand Council he had a bitter grievance55 against the President and assailed65 him furiously. Yesterday he was at the White House and came away with a shadow on his strong face.
He stood for a long time in silence and seemed to be scanning each individual in the crowd of tense listeners.
And then his deep voice broke the stillness. His words rang like the boom of cannon66 and their penetrating67 power seemed to pierce the brick walls of the room.
"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Grand Council:
"To stir up sore and wounded hearts to bitterness requires no skill or power of oratory68. To address the minds of men sickened by disaster, wearied by long trial, heated by passion, bewildered by uncertainty69, heavy with grief, and cunningly to turn them into one vindictive channel, into one blind rush of senseless fury requires no great power of oratory and no great mastery of the truth. It may be the trick of a charlatan70!"
He paused and gazed with deliberate and offensive insolence71 into the faces of the men who had spoken. Their eyes blazed with wrath72, and a fierce thrill of excitement swept the crowd.
"For a man to address himself to an assembly like this, however, goaded73 to madness by suffering, sorrow, humiliation, perplexity—and now roused by venomous arts to an almost unanimous condemnation74 of the innocent—I say to address you, turn you in your tracks and force you to go the other way—that would indeed be a feat29 of transcendent oratorical75 power. I am no orator—but I am going to tell you the truth and the truth will make you do that thing!"
Men began to lean forward in their seats now as with impassioned faith he told the story of the matchless work the great lonely spirit had wrought76 for his people in the White House during the past passion-torn years. His last sentence rang like the clarion77 peal78 of a trumpet79:
"Desert him now and the election of George B. McClellan on a 'Peace-at-any-Price' platform is a certainty—the union is dissevered, the Confederacy established, the slaves reshackled, the dead dishonored and the living disgraced!"
His last sentence was an angry shout whose passion swept the crowd to its feet. The resolution was passed and Lincoln's nomination became a mere13 formality.
But Senator Winter had only begun to fight. His whole life as an Abolitionist had been spent in opposition to majorities. He had no constructive80 power and no constructive imagination. His genius was purely81 destructive, but it was genius. Without a moment's delay he began his plans to force the President to withdraw from his own ticket in the midst of his campaign.
The one ominous82 sign which the man in the White House saw with dread83 was the rapid growth through these dark days of a "Peace-at-any-Price" sentiment within his own party lines in the heart of the loyal North. Again Horace Greeley and his great paper voiced this cry of despair.
The mischief84 he was doing was incalculable because he persisted in teaching the millions who read his paper that peace was at any time possible if Abraham Lincoln would only agree to accept it. As a Southern-born man, the President knew the workings of the mind of Jefferson Davis as clearly as he understood his own. Both these men were born in Kentucky within a few miles of each other on almost the same day. The President knew that Jefferson Davis would never consider any settlement of the war except on the basis of the division of the union and the recognition of the Confederacy. When Greeley declared that the Confederate Commissioners85 were in Canada with offers of peace, the President sent Greeley himself immediately to meet them and confer on the basis of a restored union with compensation for the slaves. The Conference failed and Greeley returned from Canada angrier with the President than ever for making a fool of him.
In utter disregard for the facts he continued to demand that the Government bring the war to an end. The thing which made his attack deadly was that he was rousing the bitterness of hopeless sorrow in thousands of homes whose loved ones had fallen.
Thoughtful men and women had begun to ask themselves new questions:
"Is not the price we are paying too great?"
"Can any cause be worth this ocean of tears, this endless deluge86 of blood?"
The President must answer this bitter cry with the positive assurance that he would make peace at any moment on terms consistent with the Nation's preservation87 or both he and his party must perish.
He determined88 to draw from Mr. Davis a positive declaration of the terms on which the South would accept peace. He dared not do this openly, as it would be a confession89 to Europe of defeat and would lead to the recognition of the Confederacy.
He accordingly sent Colonel Jaquess, a distinguished90 Methodist clergyman in the army, and J. R. Gilmore, of the Tribune, on a secret mission to Richmond for this purpose. They must go without credentials91 or authority, as private individuals and risk life and liberty in the undertaking92.
Both men promptly93 accepted the mission and left for Grant's headquarters to ask General Lee for a pass through his lines.
The Democratic Party was now a militant94 united force inspired by the Copperhead leaders, who had determined to defeat the President squarely on a peace platform and put General McClellan into the White House. Behind them in serried95 lines stood the powerful Secret Orders clustered around the Knights of the Golden Circle.
Positive proofs were finally laid before the President that these Societies had planned an uprising on the night of the election and the establishment of a Western Confederacy.
Edmunds, the President of the union League, handed him the names of the leaders.
"Now, sir, you can strike!" he urged.
The tall, sorrowful man slowly shook his head.
"You doubt the truth of these statements?" Edmunds asked.
"No. They are too true. Let sleeping dogs lie. One revolution at a time. We have all we can manage at present. If we win the election they won't dare rise. If we lose, it's all over anyhow—and it makes no difference what they do."
With patient wisdom he refused to stir the dangerous hornet's nest.
And to cap the climax96 of darkness, Jubal Early's army suddenly withdrew from Lee's lines, swept through the Shenandoah Valley and invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania.
With three-quarters of a million blue soldiers under arms, the daring men in grey were once more threatening the Capital. They seized and cut the Northern railroads, burning their bridges and capturing trains; they threatened Baltimore, captured Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, burned it, spread terror throughout the State and surrounding territory, and brushing past Lew Wallace's six thousand men at Monocacy, were bearing down on Washington with swift ominous tread.
It was incredible! It was unthinkable, and yet the reveille of Early's drums could be heard from the White House window.
John Bigelow, our Chargé d'Affaires at Paris, had sent warning of a conversation with the Emperor of France, at which the President had only smiled.
"Lee will take Washington," the Emperor had declared, "and then I shall recognize the Confederacy. I have just received news that Lee is certain to take the Capital."
The message was flashed to Grant for help. The city was practically at Early's mercy if he should strike. He couldn't hold the Capital, of course, but if he took it even for twenty-four hours the Government would lose all prestige and standing98 in the Courts of Europe.
For twenty-four hours the panic in Washington was complete. The Government clerks were rushed into the trenches and hastily armed.
Early threw one shell into the city, which crashed through a house, his cavalry99 dashed into the corporate100 limits and took a prisoner and later burned the house of Blair, a member of the Cabinet.
The Sixth Corps101 arrived from Petersburg; a thousand men were killed and wounded in the skirmishing of two days, but the Capital escaped by the skin of its teeth.
Grant laconically102 remarked:
"If Early had been one day earlier he would have entered the Capital."
While he had not actually taken Washington, Lee's strategy was a masterly stroke. He had cleared the Shenandoah Valley, which was his granary, and enabled the farmers to reap their crops. He had showed the world that his army was still so terrible a weapon that with it he could hold Grant at bay, drive his enemy from the Valley, invade two Northern States, burn their cities and destroy their railroads, and throw his shells into Washington.
A wave of incredulous sickening despair swept the North. If this could be done after three and a half years of blood and tears and two billions of dollars spent, where could the end be?
Early had done in Washington what neither McDowell, McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Meade nor Grant had yet succeeded in doing for Richmond—thrown shells into the city and taken a prisoner from its very streets. Had he arrived a day earlier—in other words, had not Lew Wallace's gallant103 little army of six thousand delayed him twenty-four hours—he could have entered the city, raided the Treasury and burned the Capitol.
Senator Winter was not slow to strike the blow for which he had been eagerly waiting a favorable moment. He succeeded in detaching from the President in this moment of panic a group of men who had stood squarely for his nomination at Baltimore. He agreed to withdraw Fremont's name if they would induce the President to withdraw and a new convention be called.
So deep was the depression, so black the outlook, so certain was McClellan's election, that the members of the National Republican Executive Committee met and conferred with this Committee of traitors104 to their Chief.
No more cowardly and contemptible105 proposition was ever submitted to the chosen leader of a great party. It was not to be wondered at that Winter and his Radical associates could stoop to it. They were theorists. To them success was secondary. They would have gladly and joyfully106 damned not only the union—they would have damned the world to save their theories. But that his own party leaders should come to him in such an hour and ask him to withdraw cut the great patient heart to the quick.
He agreed to consider their humiliating proposition and give them an answer in two weeks. Nicolay, his first Secretary, wrote to John Hay, who was in Illinois:
"Dear Major: Hell is to pay. The politicians have a stampede on that is about to swamp everything. The National Committee are here to-day. Raymond thinks a commission to Richmond is the only salt to save us. The President sees and says it would be utter ruin. The matter is now undergoing consultation107. Weak-kneed damned fools are on the move for a new candidate to supplant108 the President. Everything is darkness and doubt and discouragement. Our men see giants in the airy and unsubstantial shadows of the opposition, and are about to surrender without a blow. Come to Washington on the first train. Every man who loves the Chief must lay off his coat now and fight to the last ditch. He's too big and generous to be trusted alone with these wolves. He is the only man who can save this Nation, and we must make them see it."
Worn and angry after the long discussion with his cowardly advisers109, the President retired110 to his bedroom, locked the door, laid down, and tried to rest. Opposite the lounge on which he lay was a bureau with a swinging mirror. He gazed for a moment at his long figure, which showed full length, his eye resting at last on the deep cut lines of the haggard face. Gradually two separate and distinct images grew—one behind the other, pale and death-like but distinct. He looked in wonder, and the longer he looked the clearer stood this pale second reflection.
"That's funny!" he exclaimed.
He rose, rubbed his eyes, and walked to the mirror, examining it curiously111. He had always been a man of visions—this child of the woods and open fields.
"I wonder if it's an illusion?" he muttered. "I'll try again."
He returned to the couch and lay down. Again it grew a second time plainer than before, if possible. He watched for a long time with a feeling of awe112.
"I wonder if I'm looking into the face of my own soul?" he mused113.
He studied this second image with keen interest. It was five shades paler than the first. The thing had happened to him once before and his wife had declared it a sign that he would be elected to a second term, but the paleness of the second image meant that he would not live through it. It was uncanny. He rose and paced the floor, laid down again, and the image vanished. What did it mean?
Only that day a secret service man had come to warn him of a new plot of assassination114 and beg him to double the guard.
"What is the use, my dear boy, in setting up the gap when the fence is down all around?"
"Remember, sir, they shot a hole through your hat one night last week on your way to the Soldiers' Home."
"Well, what of it? If a man really makes up his mind to kill me he can do it——"
"You can take precautions."
"But I can't shut myself up in an iron box—now, can I? If I am killed I can die but once. To live in constant dread of it is to die over and over again. I decline to die until the time comes—away with your extra guards! I've got too many now. They bother me."
He threw off his depression and took up a volume of Artemus Ward's funny sayings to refresh his soul with their quaint115 humor. He must laugh or die. He had promised to see Betty Winter with a friend who had a petition to present at ten o'clock. He would rest until she came.
John Vaughan had insisted on her coming at this unusual hour. She protested, but he declared the chances of success in asking for his father's release would be infinitely116 better if she took advantage of the President's good nature and saw him alone at night when they would not be interrupted.
As they neared the White House grounds, crossing the little park on the north side, Betty's nervousness became unbearable117. She stopped and put her hand on John's arm.
"Let's wait until to-morrow?" she pleaded.
"The President is expecting us——"
"I'll send him word we couldn't come."
"But, why?"
She hesitated and glanced at him uneasily:
"I don't know. I'm just nervous. I don't feel equal to the strain of such an interview to-night. It means so much to you. It means so much to me now that love rules my life——"
He took her hands in his and drew her into the friendly shadows beside the walk.
"Love does rule life, doesn't it?"
"Absolutely. I'm frightened when I realize it," she sighed.
"You are all mine now? In life, in death, through evil report and good report?"
"In life, in death, through evil report and good report——yours forever, dearest!"
He took her in his arms and held her in silence. She could feel him trembling with deep emotion.
"There's nothing to be nervous about then," he said, reassuringly118, as his arms relaxed. "Come, we'll hurry. I want to send a message to my father to-night announcing his release."
At the entrance to the White House grounds they passed a man who shot a quick glance at John, and Betty thought his head moved in a nod of approval or recognition.
"You know him?" she asked nervously119.
"One of Baker's men, I think—attempt on the President's life last week. They've doubled the guard, no doubt."
They passed another, strolling carelessly from the shadows of the white pillars of the portico120.
"They seem to be everywhere to-night," John laughed carelessly.
The White House door was open and they passed into the hall and ascended121 the stairs to the Executive Chamber97 without challenge. Little Tad, the President's son, who ran the House to suit himself at times, was in his full dress suit of a lieutenant122 of the army and had ordered the guard to attend a minstrel show he was giving in the attic123.
The President had agreed to meet Betty in his office at ten o'clock and told her to bring her friend right upstairs and wait if he were not on time.
They sat down and waited five minutes in awkward silence. Betty was watching the strange glittering expression in John Vaughan's eyes with increasing alarm.
She heard a muffled124 footfall in the hall, stepped quickly to the door, and saw the man they had passed at the entrance to the grounds.
She returned trembling.
"The man we passed at the gate is in that hall," she whispered.
"What of it?" was the careless answer. "Baker's secret service men come and go when they please here——"
He paused and glanced at the door.
"He has his eye on us maybe," he added, with a little laugh.
He studied Betty's flushed face for a moment, curiously hesitated as if about to speak, changed his mind, and was silent. He drew his watch from his pocket and looked at it.
"I've ordered a carriage to wait for you at the gate at a quarter past ten," he said quickly. "I forgot to tell you."
"Why—it may take us longer than half an hour?"
"That's just it. We may be talking two hours. Such things can't be threshed out in a minute. You can introduce me, say a good word, and leave us to fight it out——"
"I want to stay," she interrupted.
"Nonsense, dear, it may take hours. Besides, I may have some things to say to the President, and he some things to say to me that it were better a sweet girl's ears should not hear——"
"That's exactly what I wish to prevent, John, dear," she pleaded. "You must be careful and say nothing to offend the President. It means too much. We must win."
"I'll be wise in the choice of words. But you mustn't stay, dear. I'm not a child. I don't need a chaperone."
"But you may need a friend——"
"He does wield125 the power of kings—doesn't he?"
"With the tenderness and love of a father, yes."
"And yet I've wondered," he went on in a curious cold tone, "why he hasn't been killed—when the death of one man would end this carnival126 of murder——"
"John, how can you say such things?" Betty gasped127.
"It's true, dear," he answered calmly. "This man's will alone has prevented peace and prevents it now. The soldiers on both sides joke with one another across the picket129 lines. They get together and play cards at night. Before the battle begins, our boys call out:
"'Get into your holes, now, Johnnie, we've got to shoot.'
"Left to themselves, the soldiers would end this war in thirty minutes. It's the one man at the top who won't let them. It's hellish—it's hellish——"
"And you would justify130 an assassin?" Betty asked breathlessly.
"Who is an assassin, dear?" he demanded tensely. "The man who wields131 a knife or the tyrant132 who calls the fanatic133 into being? Brutus or C?sar, William Tell or Gessler? Resistance to tyrants134 is obedience135 to God——"
"John, John—how can you say such things—you don't believe in murder——"
"No!" he breathed fiercely. "I don't now. I used to until I had a revelation——"
He stopped short as if strangled.
"Revelation—what do you mean?" Betty whispered, watching his every movement, with growing terror.
He looked at her with eyes glittering.
"I didn't want to tell you this," he began slowly. "I meant to keep the black thing hidden in my own soul. But you'll understand better if I speak. I killed Ned Vaughan with my own hands——"
"You're mad——" Betty shivered.
"I wish I were—no—I was never sane136 before that flash of red from hell showed me the truth—showed me what I was doing. We fought in the darkness of a night attack, hand to hand, like two maddened beasts. He ran me through with his sword and I sent the last ball left in my revolver crashing through his breast. In the glare of that shot I saw his face—the face of my brother! I caught him in my arms as he fell and held him while the life blood ebbed137 away through the hole I had torn near his heart. And then I saw what I'd been doing, saw it all as it is—war—brother murdering his brother—the shout and the tumult138, the drums and bugles139, the daring and heroism140 of it all, just that and nothing more—brother cutting his brother's throat——"
His head sank into his hands in a sob141 that strangled speech.
Betty slipped her arm tenderly around his shoulder and stroked the heavy black hair.
"But you didn't know, dear—you wouldn't have fired that shot if you had——"
He lifted himself suddenly and recovered his self-control.
"No. That's just it," he answered bitterly. "I wouldn't have done it had I known—nor would he, had he known. But I should have seen before that every torn and mangled142 body I had counted in the reckoning of the glory of battle was some other man's brother, some other mother's boy——"
He paused and drew himself suddenly erect143:
"Well I'm awake now—I know and see things as they are!"
His hand unconsciously felt for his revolver, and Betty threw her arms around his neck with a smothered144 cry of horror:
"Merciful God—John—my darling—you are mad—what are you going to do?"
"Why nothing, dear," he protested, "nothing! I'm simply going to ask the President whose power is supreme145 to give my father a fair trial or release him—that's all—you needn't stay longer—the carriage is waiting. I can introduce myself and plead my own cause. If he's the fair, great-hearted man you believe, he'll see that justice is done——"
"You are going to kill the President!" Betty gasped.
"Nonsense—but if I were—what is the death of one man if thousands live? I saw sixty thousand men in blue fall in thirty days—two thousand a day—besides those who wore the grey. At Cold Harbor I saw ten thousand of my brethren fall in twenty minutes. Why should you gasp128 over the idea that one man may die whose death would stop this slaughter146?"
"John, you're mad!" she cried, clinging to him desperately147. "You're mad, I tell you. You've lost your reason. Come with me, dear—come at once——"
"No. I was never more sane than now," he answered firmly.
"Then I'll warn the President——"
He held her with cruel force:
"You understand that if it's true, my arrest, court-martial and death follow?"
"No. I'll warn him not to come. I alone know——"
She broke his grip on her arm and started toward the door. He lifted his hand in quick commanding gesture:
"Wait! my men are in that hall—it's his life or mine now. You can take your choice——"
The girl's figure suddenly straightened:
"Take your men out and go with them at once!"
"No. If he does justice, I may spare his life. If he does not——"
"You shall not see him——"
"It's my life or his—I warn you——"
"Then it's yours—I choose my country!"
She walked with quick, firm step to the door leading into the family apartments of the President. On the threshold her feet faltered148. She grasped the door facing, turned, and saw him standing with folded arms watching her—with the eyes of a madman. Her face went white. She lifted her hand to her heart and slowly stumbled back into his arms.
"God have mercy!" she sobbed149. "I'm just a woman—my love—my darling—I—I—can't—kill you——"
Her arms relaxed and she would have fallen to the floor had he not caught the fainting form and carried her into the hall.
Two men were at his side instantly.
"Take Miss Winter downstairs," he whispered. "There's a carriage at the gate. Bring it quietly to the door—one of you take her to the Senator's home. The other must return here immediately and wait my orders. There's no guard in this outer hall at night. The one inside is with the boy. Keep out of sight if any one passes."
The men obeyed without a word and John Vaughan stepped quickly back into the Executive office, drew the short curtains across the window, turned the lights on full, examined his revolver, and sat down in careless attitude beside the President's desk. He could hear his heavy step already approaching the door.
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caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ashen
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drooped
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loyalty
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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8
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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9
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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10
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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11
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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12
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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13
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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14
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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15
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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16
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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17
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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18
ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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19
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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20
depreciating
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| v.贬值，跌价，减价( depreciate的现在分词 )；贬低，蔑视，轻视 | |
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21
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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22
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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23
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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24
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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25
musket
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|
| n.滑膛枪 | |
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26
enlisted
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|
| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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27
deserted
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|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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28
enrollment
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|
| n.注册或登记的人数；登记 | |
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29
feat
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|
| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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30
radical
|
|
| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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31
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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32
nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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33
withdrawal
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|
| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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34
vindictive
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|
| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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35
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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36
vengeance
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|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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37
confiscation
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|
| n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
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38
overthrow
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|
| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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39
calamity
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|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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40
assailing
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| v.攻击( assail的现在分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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41
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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42
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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44
opposition
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|
| n.反对，敌对 | |
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45
slander
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|
| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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46
knights
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|
| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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47
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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48
ratify
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| v.批准，认可，追认 | |
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49
endorsing
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|
| v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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50
preamble
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|
| n.前言；序文 | |
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51
swap
|
|
| n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易 | |
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52
hesitation
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|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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53
avowed
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|
| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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54
mince
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|
| n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说 | |
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55
grievance
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|
| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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56
grievances
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|
| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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57
usurpation
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|
| n.篡位；霸占 | |
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58
misused
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|
| v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用 | |
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59
sluggish
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|
| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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60
peculiarities
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|
| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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61
drawn
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|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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62
Congressman
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| n.（美）国会议员 | |
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63
brilliance
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|
| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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64
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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65
assailed
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|
| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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66
cannon
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|
| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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67
penetrating
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|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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68
oratory
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|
| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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69
uncertainty
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|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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70
charlatan
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|
| n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行 | |
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71
insolence
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|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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72
wrath
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|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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73
goaded
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|
| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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74
condemnation
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|
| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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75
oratorical
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|
| adj.演说的，雄辩的 | |
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76
wrought
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|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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77
clarion
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|
| n.尖音小号声；尖音小号 | |
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78
peal
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|
| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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79
trumpet
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|
| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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80
constructive
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|
| adj.建设的，建设性的 | |
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81
purely
|
|
| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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82
ominous
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|
| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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83
dread
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|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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84
mischief
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|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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85
commissioners
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|
| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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86
deluge
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|
| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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87
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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88
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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89
confession
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|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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90
distinguished
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|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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91
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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92
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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93
promptly
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|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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94
militant
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|
| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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95
serried
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| adj.拥挤的；密集的 | |
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96
climax
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|
| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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97
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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98
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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99
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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100
corporate
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|
| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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101
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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102
laconically
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|
| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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103
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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104
traitors
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|
| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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105
contemptible
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|
| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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106
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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107
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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108
supplant
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| vt.排挤；取代 | |
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109
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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110
retired
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|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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111
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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112
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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113
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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114
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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115
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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116
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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117
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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118
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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119
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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120
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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121
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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122
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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123
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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124
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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125
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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126
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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127
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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128
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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129
picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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130
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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131
wields
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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132
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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133
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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134
tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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135
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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136
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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137
ebbed
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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138
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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139
bugles
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| 妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠 | |
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140
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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141
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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142
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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143
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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144
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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145
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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146
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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147
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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148
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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149
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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