You refuse to listen to my
advice."
He bent nearer in evident distress:
"What can I do, Mother?"
"I need some money. Since Willie's death last winter I've thought
nothing of my dresses for the next season. I must begin to attend to
them. I need a thousand dollars."
"To-day?"
"Yes."
He looked at her with a twinkle playing around the corner of his eyes as
he slowly rose:
"Send Phoebe in for the check."
"Ring for her, please."
He pulled the old-fashioned red cord vigorously, walked back to the
lounge, put his hands in his pockets and looked at his wife in a comical
way.
"Mother," he said at last, "you're a very subtle woman. You'd make a
great diplomat if you didn't talk quite so much."
CHAPTER XIX
THE REBEL
While Betty Winter was still brooding in angry resentment over the
problem of John Vaughan's guilt in sharing the treason of his Chief, the
army was suddenly swung into the field to contest Lee's invasion of
Maryland.
The daring venture of the Confederate leader had developed with
startling rapidity. The President was elated over the probable
annihilation of his army. He knew that half of them were practically
barefooted and in rags. He also knew that McClellan outnumbered Lee and
Jackson two to one and that the Southerners, no longer on the defensive,
but aggressors, would be at an enormous disadvantage in Maryland
territory.
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