Her eyes were dim and she nodded.
"But why about me?"
"I saw things which confirmed your suspicions. He admitted his desire
that General Pope should fail and defended McClellan's indifference. We
quarrelled. I asked him to resign from the staff of his Chief----"
"You didn't!" he exclaimed softly, his deep eyes shining.
"I did--and he refused."
Again the big hands both closed on hers:
"God bless you, child! So long as I hold such faith from hearts like
yours, I know that I'm right. They can say what they please about
me----"
"You see," she broke in, "if he is in this conspiracy and they have
forced you to this surrender, he is equally guilty of treachery----"
"And you hold him responsible for his Commander's ambitions?"
"Yes."
The President sprang to his feet and paced the floor a moment, stopped
and gazed at her with a look of curious tenderness:
"By jinks, Miss Betty, if I had a few more like you in my Cabinet I
wouldn't be so lonesome!"
"They did force you?" she demanded.
"Not as you mean it, my child. I'm not going to pretend to you that I
don't understand the seriousness of the situation. The Army of the
Potomac is behind McClellan to a man. It amounts to infatuation. I
sounded his officers. I sounded his men. To-day they are against me and
with him.
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