CHAPTER XXXIX

VICTORY

Betty had found the President at the War Telegraph office in the old Army and Navy building. He was seated at the desk by the window where in 1862 he? had written his first draft of his Emancipation Procla- ' mation on pieces of pasteboard.

"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 bent and touched her shoulder gently: "Come, dear, it's not like you to despair

The girl smiled wanly.

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"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

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"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 whoop, too

"But we've no news!" she interrupted.

"No news has always been good news from Sher

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 corpse 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 adjourn 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.

He stopped and looked at her quizzically:

"I've a sort of second sight that tells me such things. I saw General Sickles 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 excite

ment:

"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 MANSION,

"WASHINGTON, D. C. "September 3, 1864.

"The National thanks are rendered by the President to Major General W. T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of his command before Atlanta, for the distinguished ability and perseverance 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, any

how

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"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 contagious 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 countenance:

"Since leaving you, Mr. President, we have just heard a most painful and startling announcement from the War Department. We begged you to withhold 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 Atlantathe Union is saved!"