n to stare vacantly over the edge of the paper into space. At
last he jumped up and began pacing slowly up and down. Then he went into
the telegraph-room, and glanced over the report, a copy of which he had
received half an hour ago. Then he examined the various positions on the
map, placing some of the blocks more accurately.

Then a bell rang and steps could be heard in the hall. The door of the
adjacent room opened and shut, and he heard the President fold up the
documents and say: "Take these with you, they are all signed. Tomorrow
morning--oh, I forgot, it's morning now--the ninth of February."

Then some one went out and closed the door and the President was alone
again. The next moment he joined the Secretary of War in the
telegraph-room.

"Harry," he said in a low voice, "our destiny will be decided within the
next few hours. I sent Johnson off to bed; he needed some sleep.
Besides, we want to be alone when the fate of our country is decided."

The Secretary of War walked up and down the room with his hands in his
pockets, puffing away at a cigar. Both men avoided looking at each
other; neither wished the other to see how nervous he was. Both were
listening intently for the sound of the telegraph-bell.

"A message arrived from Fort Bridger about ten o'clock," said the
President after a long pause, "to the effect that our captive balloons
reported a change in the positions of the enemy's left wing. This may
mean----"

"Yes, it may mean--" repeated the Secretary of War mechanically.

Then they both became silent once more, puffing vigorously at their
cigars.

"Suppose it's all in vain again, suppose the enemy--" began the
Secretary of War, when he was interrupted by the ringing of the bell in
the next room.

The message ran:

"Bell's Pass, Feb. 9, 12.15 a.m. Milton's division has succeeded in
wresting several important positions from the enemy after a night of
severe fighting. Unimportant reverses suffered by Stranger's division
more than offset with the aid of reenforcements from Bell's Pass.

COLONEL TARDITT."

"If they can only hold Georgetown," said the Secretary of War, "our last
reserves have gone there now."

"God grant they may."

Then they both went back to the study. The President remained standing
in front of the portrait of Lincoln hanging on the wall.

"He went through just such hours as these," he said quietly, "just such
hours, and perhaps in this very room, when th