Wait and I'll get it now."
The mother stood and gazed in a stupor of dull despair while Betty
pressed to his desk and begged the last favor. It was granted without
hesitation.
[Illustration: "'You're a brave man, Ned Vaughan.'"]
The President wrote the order delaying the death for three days and
handed her his card on which was written:
"Admit the bearer, the sister of the prisoner, Ned Vaughan, the
night before his execution to see him for five minutes.
"A. LINCOLN."
"I'm sorry, little girl, I couldn't do more for _your_ sake--but you
understand?"
Betty nodded, returned the pressure of his hand and hurriedly left the
room.
The hanging was fixed for the following Friday at noon. The pass would
admit his sister on Thursday night. Betty had three days in which to
work. She drew every dollar of her money and went at her task swiftly,
silently, surely, until she reached the guard inside the grim old
prison, who held the keys to the death watch.
She couldn't trust the sister with her daring plan. She might lose her
nerve. She must impersonate her. It was a dangerous piece of work, but
it was not impossible. She had only to pass the inspectors. The guards
inside were her friends.
On Thursday night at eight o'clock a carriage drew up at the little red
brick house, on whose door flashed the brass plate sign:
ELIZABETH GARLAND, MODISTE
She had made an appointment with Mrs.
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