The Southerner: A Romance of the Real Lincoln Part 28

"And you don't want an office, do you?"

"No."

"You have no favors to ask for your friends, have you?"

"None whatever."

"And you're Senator Winter's daughter?"

"Yes."

"The old grizzly bear! He hates me--but I've always liked him----"

"I hope you'll always like him," Betty quickly broke in.

"Of course I will. I've never cherished resentments. Life's too short, and the office I fill is too big for that. Do you know why I've sent for you?"

Betty smiled:

"To have me flatter you, of course. All men are vain. The greater the man, the greater his vanity."

Again he laughed with every muscle of his face and body.

"Honestly--no, that's not the reason," he said confidentially. "I want you to accept a position in my Cabinet."

"I didn't know that women were admitted?"

"They're not, but I've always been in favor of votes for women and I'm going to make a place for you."

Betty's lips trembled with a smile:

"What's the salary?"

"No salary, save the eternal grat.i.tude of your Chief--will you accept?"

"I'll consider it--what duty?"

He looked steadily into her brown eyes:

"You have very bright, clear eyes, Miss Betty, I can see myself in them now more distinctly than in that mirror over the mantel. I'd like to borrow your eyes now and then to see things with. Will you accept the position?"

"If I can be of service, yes."

"The White House is open to you at all hours, and I shall send for you sometimes when I'm blue and puzzled and want a pair of pure, beautiful, young eyes--you understand?"

Betty extended her hand and her voice trembled:

"You have conferred on me a very great honor, Mr. President."

"For instance now," he said dreamily: "You endorse my Inaugural?"

"I'm sure it was wise, firm, friendly, dignified."

"I couldn't have said less than that I must possess and hold the property of the Government, could I? Well, I must now order a fleet to sail for Charleston Harbor to relieve our fort or allow the men who wear our uniform and fly our flag to die of starvation or surrender. Pretty poor Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy if I do that, am I not?

Suppose I send a fleet to provision our men in Fort Sumter, not reinforce it--mind you, merely provisions for the handful of men who are there,--and suppose the Southern troops manning those land batteries open fire on our flag and force Major Anderson to surrender--what would happen in the North?"

He paused and looked at her steadily. The fine young figure suddenly stiffened:

"Every man, woman and child would say fight!"

The big jaws came together with firm precision and his huge fist struck the table:

"That's what I think. And at the same time something else would be happening over there----" His long arm swept toward the hills of Virginia, dark and threatening on the horizon. "The moment that shot crashes against our fort, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee will join the Confederacy, to say nothing of what may happen in Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri--all Slave States. The shock will be felt on both sides with precisely opposite effects.

Sometimes we must do our duty and leave the rest to G.o.d, mustn't we?

Yes--of course we must--and now, I've kept you too long, Miss Betty.

It's a bargain, isn't it? You accept the position in my Cabinet?"

"Of course, Mr. President,--but if my duties are no heavier than I find them on this occasion, I fear I shall be of little help."

"You've been of the greatest service to me. You've confirmed my decision on a great problem of State. Come now and see Mother and the children. I want you to know them and like them."

He led her quickly into the family apartment and introduced her to Mrs.

Lincoln. He found her in the midst of a grave discussion with Lizzie Garland, her colored dressmaker.

"This is old Grizzly's lovely daughter, Miss Betty Winter, Mother. She has joined the administration, stands squarely with us against the world, the flesh, the devil--and her father! I told her you'd give her the keys to the house----"

With a wave of his big hand he was gone.

Mrs. Lincoln's greeting was simple and hearty. In half an hour Betty had found a place in her heart for life, the boys were claiming her as their own, and a train of influences were set in motion destined to make history.

CHAPTER V

THE FIRST SHOT

The first month of the new administration pa.s.sed in a strange peace that proved to be the calm before the storm. On the first day of April, All Fool's Day, Mr. Seward decided to bring to a definite issue the question of supreme authority in the government. That Abraham Lincoln was the nominal President was true, of course. Mr. Seward generously decided to allow him to remain nominally at the head of the Nation and a.s.sume himself the full responsibilities of a Dictators.h.i.+p.

The Secretary of State strolled leisurely into the executive office more careless in dress than usual, the knot of his cravat under his left ear, a huge lighted cigar in his hand. He handed the President a folded sheet of official paper, bowed carelessly and retired.

He had drawn up his proclamation under the t.i.tle:

SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE PRESIDENT'S CONSIDERATION.

In this remarkable doc.u.ment he proposed to a.s.sume the Dictators.h.i.+p and outlined his policy as director of the Nation's affairs.