"You have heard nothing yet from General Sherman?" she asked pathetically.
"Nothing, child."
"And no message of any kind from John Vaughan since he left!" she exclaimed hopelessly.
"But I'm sure, remember, sure to a moral certainty—that he reached Richmond safely and left there safely."
"How do you know?"
"Gilmore has just arrived with his reply from Jefferson Davis. It will be worth a half million votes for us. From his description of the 'reporter' with Benjamin I am sure it was our messenger."
"But you don't know—you don't know!" Betty sighed.
The President bent2 and touched her shoulder gently:
"Come, dear, it's not like you to despair——"
The girl smiled wanly3.
"How long since any message arrived from General Sherman?"
"Three days, my child. I know the hole he went in at, but I can't tell where he's going to come out——"
"If he ever comes out," Betty broke in bitterly.
"Oh, he'll come out somewhere!" the President laughed. "It's a habit of his. I've watched him for months—sometimes I can't hear from him for a week—but he always bobs up again and comes out with a whoop4, too——"
"But we've no news!" she interrupted.
"No news has always been good news from Sherman——"
He paused and looked at his watch:
"Wait here. I'll be back in a few moments. We're bound to hear something to-day. I've an engagement with my Committee of Undertakers. They are waiting for me to deliver my corpse5 to them—and they are very restless about it because I haven't given up sooner, I'm full of foolish hopes. I'm going to adjourn6 them until we can get a message of some kind——"
He returned in half an hour and sat in silence for a long time listening to the steady, sharp click of the telegraph keys.
Betty was too blue to talk—too heartsick to move.
At last the tall figure rose and walked back among the operators. They knew that he was waiting for the magic call, "Atlanta, Georgia." It had been three years and more since that heading for a message had flashed over their wires. Every ear was keen to catch it.
The President bent over the table of Southern wires and silently watched:
"You can't strain a little message through for me, can you, my boy?"
The operator smiled:
"I wish I could, sir."
The President returned to the front room and shook his head to Betty:
"Nothing."
"He entered Atlanta a spy, didn't he?" she said despairingly.
"Yes—of course."
"They couldn't execute him without our knowing it, could they?"
"If they trap him—yes—but he's a very intelligent young man. He'll be too smart for them. I feel it. I know it——"
He stopped and looked at her quizzically:
"I've a sort of second sight that tells me such things. I saw General Sickles7 in the hospital after Gettysburg. They said he couldn't live. I told him he would get well and he did."
Again the President returned restlessly to the operator's room and Betty followed him to the door. He waited a long time in silence, shook his head and turned away. He had almost reached the door when suddenly the operator sprang to his feet livid with excitement:
"Wait—Mr. President!—It's come—my God, it's here!"
Every operator was on his feet listening in breathless excitement to the click of that Southern wire.
The President had rushed back to the table.
"It's for you, sir!"
"Read it then—out with it as you take it!" he cried.
"Atlanta, Georgia, September 3rd, 1864."
"Glory to God!" the President shouted.
"Atlanta is ours and fairly won. W. T. Sherman."
"O my soul, lift up thy head!" the sorrowful lips shouted. "Unto thee, O God, we give all the praise now and forever more!"
He seated himself and quickly wrote his thanks and congratulations:
Executive Mansion8,
Washington, D. C.
"September 3, 1864.
"The National thanks are rendered by the President to Major General W. T. Sherman and the gallant9 officers and soldiers of his command before Atlanta, for the distinguished10 ability and perseverance11 displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which under Divine favor has resulted in the capture of Atlanta. The marches, battles and sieges that have signalized this campaign must render it famous in the annals of war, and have entitled you to the applause and thanks of the Nation.
"Abraham Lincoln,
"President of the United States."
His sombre eyes flamed with a new light. He took the copy of his message from Sherman and started to the White House with long, swift strides.
Betty greeted him outside with tearful joy still mixed with deep anxiety.
"You have no word from him, of course?"
"Not yet, child, but it will come—cheer up—it's sure to come. You see that he reached Atlanta and delivered my message!"
"We are not sure. The city may have fallen, anyhow——"
"Yes, yes, but it didn't just fall, anyhow. Sherman took it. He got my message. I know it. I felt it flash through the air from his soul to mine!"
His faith and enthusiasm were contagious12 and Betty returned home with new hope.
In half an hour the Committee who were waiting for his resignation from the National Republican ticket filed into his office to receive as they supposed his final surrender.
The Chairman rose with doleful countenance13:
"Since leaving you, Mr. President, we have just heard a most painful and startling announcement from the War Department. We begged you to withhold14 the new draft for five hundred thousand men until after the election. Halleck informs us of the discovery of a great combination to resist it by armed force and General Grant must detach a part of his army from Lee's front in order to put down this counter revolution. This is the blackest news yet. We trust that you realize the impossibility of your administration asking for indorsement at the polls——"
With a sign of final resignation he sat down and the tall, dark figure rose with quick, nervous energy.
"I, too, have received important news since I saw you an hour ago."
He held the telegram above his head:
"I'll read it to you without my glasses. I know it by heart. I have just learned that my administration will be indorsed by an overwhelming majority, that the defeat of George B. McClellan and his platform of failure is a certainty. The war to preserve the union is a success. The sword has been driven into the heart of the Confederacy. Sherman has captured Atlanta—the union is saved!"
The Committee leaped to their feet with a shout of applause and crowded around him to congratulate and praise the man they came to bury. There was no longer a question of his resignation. The fall of Atlanta would thrill the North. A wave of wild enthusiasm would sweep into the sea the last trace of gloom and despair. They were practical men—else, as rats, they would never have tried to desert their own ship. They knew that the tide was going to turn, but it was a swift tide that could turn before they could!
They wrung15 the President's hands, they shouted his praise, they had always gloried in his administration, but foolish grumblers hadn't been able to see things as they saw them—hence this hue16 and cry! They congratulated him on his certain triumph and the President watched them go with a quiet smile. He was too big to cherish resentments17. He only pitied small men, he never hated them.
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收听单词发音
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1
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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2
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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3
wanly
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| adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地 | |
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4
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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5
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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7
sickles
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| n.镰刀( sickle的名词复数 ) | |
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8
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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10
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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12
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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13
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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14
withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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15
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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16
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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