"I must, Mother, dear," he firmly went on. "Life is sweet when it's
worth living. But man can not live by bread alone. They have only the
power to kill my body. You ask me to murder my soul."
He paused and turned to the President, whose eyes were shining with
admiration.
"I believe, sir, that I am right and you are wrong. This is war. We must
fight it out. I'm a soldier and a soldier's business is to die."
The tall figure suddenly crossed the space that separated them and
grasped his hand:
"You're a brave man, Ned Vaughan, the kind of man that saves this world
from hell--the kind that makes this Nation great and worth saving whole!
I wish I could keep you here--but I can't. You know that--good-bye----"
"Good-bye, sir," was the firm answer.
The mother began to sob piteously until Betty spoke something softly in
her ear.
Ned turned, pressed her to his heart, and held her in silence. He took
Betty's hand and bent to kiss it.
"You shall not die," she whispered tensely. "I'm going to save you."
She felt the answering pressure and knew that he understood.
Betty held the mother at the door a moment and spoke in low tones:
"I can get permission from the President to delay the execution until
his sister may arrive and say good-bye to him in prison the night before
the execution.
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