If the issue could be sprung--if the leaders dared to risk
their necks on such a revolution, they might win. They don't know this
as clearly as I do. Because they are not so well informed they are
afraid to move. I have chosen to beat them at their own game----"
He paused and laughed:
"I hate to shatter your ideal, Miss Betty, but I'm afraid there's
something of the fox in my make-up after all. Will it shock you to learn
this?"
"I shall be greatly relieved to know it," she responded firmly.
"Think, then, for a moment. I suspend McClellan for his failure and
replace him with a man I believe to be his superior. The army sullenly
resent this change. They do not agree with me. They believe McClellan
the greatest General in sight. It's a marvellous thing this power over
men which he possesses. It can be used to create a Nation or destroy
one. It's a dangerous force. I must handle it with the utmost care. So
long as their idol is a martyr the army is unfit for good service. The
moment I restore the old commander, in whom both officers and men have
unbounded faith, I show them that I am beyond the influence of the
political forces which demand his destruction--don't I?"
"Yes."
"And the moment I dare to brave popular disapproval and restore their
commander don't you see that I win the confidence of the army in my
fairness and my disinterested patriotism?"
"Of course.
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