"I hope you won"t think me presumptuous, Mr. President, if I ask you to tell me why you recalled General McClellan?"
The rugged face suddenly flashed with a smile.
"Presumptuous?" he laughed. "My dear child, if you could have heard a few things my Cabinet had to say to me in this room on that subject! The tender deference with which you put the question is the nearest thing to an endors.e.m.e.nt I have so far received! Go as far as you like after that opening. It will be a joy to discuss it with you. Presumptuous--Oh, my soul!"
He caught his knee between his hands and rocked with laughter at the memory of his Cabinet scene.
Rea.s.sured by his manner Betty leaned closer:
"You remember the morning you gave me the pa.s.s to Alexandria?"
"To see a certain young man?"
"Yes."
"Perfectly."
"You distinctly gave me the impression that morning that you were sure General McClellan was betraying his trust in his failure to support General Pope and that your confidence in him was gone forever."
"Did I?"
"Yes."
"Then it wasn"t far from the truth," he gravely admitted.
"And yet you recalled him to the command of the army?"
"I had to."
"Had to?"
"It was the only thing to do."
Betty spoke in a whisper:
"You mean that their conspiracy had become so dangerous there was no other way?"
He threw her a searching look, was silent a moment and slowly said:
"That"s a pointed question, isn"t it?"
"I"m a member of your Cabinet, you know----"
"Yes, I know--but why do _you_ happen to ask me such a dangerous question at this particularly trying moment? Come, my little bright eyes, out with it?"
"The certain young man and I are not very happy----"
"You"ve quarrelled?"
"Yes."
"About what?"
"You."
"You don"t mean it, Miss Betty?" he said incredulously.
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:
"G.o.d 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. 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."