came the agonizing cry of a soul in mortal anguish:

"Lord, God, if it be possible let this cup pass from me!"

A moment of dazed silence and he turned to Socola. He spoke as a judge
pronouncing his own sentence of death. His voice trembled with despair
and his lips twitched with pitiful suffering.

"I have been elected President of the Southern Confederacy!"

He handed the telegram to Socola, who scanned it with thrilling
interest. He had half expected this announcement from the first. What he
could not dream was the remarkable way in which the Southern leader
would receive it.

"You are a foreigner, Signor. I may be permitted to speak freely to you.
You are a man of culture and sympathy and you can understand me. As God
is my judge, I have neither desired nor expected this position. I took
particular pains to forestall and make it impossible. But it has come. I
am not a politician. I have never stooped to their tricks. I cannot lie
and smile and bend to low chicanery. I hate a fool and I cannot hedge
and trim and be all things to all men. I have never been a demagogue.
I'm too old to begin. Other men are better suited to this position than
I--"

He paused, overcome. Socola studied him with surprise.

"Permit me to say, sir," he ventured disinterestedly, "that such a
spirit is evidence that your people have risen to the occasion and that
their choice may be an inspiration."

The leader's eye suddenly pierced his guest's.

"God knows what is best. It may be His hand. It may be that I must bow
to His will--"

Again he paused and looked wistfully at Socola's youthful face.

"You are young, Signor--you do not know what it is to yield the last
ambition of life! I have given all to my country for the past years. I
have sacrificed health and wealth and every desire of my soul--peace and
contentment here with those I love! When I saw this mighty struggle
coming, I feared a tragic end for my people. I fear it now. The man who
leads her armies will win immortality no matter what the fate of her
cause--I've dreamed of this, Signor--but they've nailed me to the
cross!"

He called his negroes together and made them an affectionate speech.
They responded with deep expressions of their devotion and their faith.
With the greatest sorrow of life darkening his soul he left next day for
his inauguration at Montgomery.

CHAPTER IX

THE OLD REGIME

Socola left Briarfield with the assurance of the President-elect