oln, dryly.

"You _will_ let me?"--eagerly.

"Die in her stead? No."

"And you are right," declared Nancy, as Goddard stooped over her to
hide his bitter disappointment. "I will not accept such a sacrifice."

"'Greater love hath no man,'" quoted Lincoln softly. "You have warm
friends, Nancy. Doctor Boyd was with me at noon. He told me that your
father on his death-bed made you swear that you would do your utmost to
assist the Confederacy. Is that so?"

"Yes." Nancy raised her head bravely and met unflinchingly the gaze of
the saddest eyes she had ever seen in human head. "But it was not only
that, Mr. President. Like all loyal Virginians, I loved and believed in
the Cause."

"As I believe in _my_ Cause, Nancy. Suppose we leave Cause and effect
to our Maker; He knows and will not judge our errors harshly, for God
is love. The fighting is practically over. Dear child, are you willing
to trust to me to heal the war-hurt, and to accept the protection of
the flag again, the flag your forefathers died for?"

"Yes," said Nancy, brokenly. It hurt most cruelly to renounce _her_
Cause; and Lincoln, ever quick to detect suffering, spoke to Goddard in
an undertone as Nancy walked to the window to regain some hold on her
composure.

"Ah, Nancy," he said, as she returned; "I was not surprised to hear
Symonds did not recognize your writing. He did not know you were
ambidextrous." An exclamation escaped Nancy. "You forget you once
showed Tad that you have that gift--so your right hand did not know
what your left one wrote." Lincoln laughed gently; then rose. "I left
my wife in the carriage and I must not keep her waiting too long, as we
are going to Ford's Theater to see 'Our American Cousin.'

"Major Goddard, I expect you to report to me to-morrow that your
_wife_," he glanced mischievously at Nancy, "has taken the 'iron-clad
oath of allegiance'--to us _both_." Lincoln stepped to the door and
beckoned to Superintendent Wood, who was waiting in the corridor, to
enter. "Superintendent, this prisoner is to go free. Here is her
pardon, signed, sealed and delivered," handing it to the officer.
"Good-bye, Nancy;" as he looked at the weeping girl his face was a
benediction. "God be with you until we meet again!"

Five hours later the Martyr President had joined the Great Majority.
Abraham Lincoln! Man of the people! Sorrowing nations paid tribute at
his bier.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Lost Despatch, by Natalie S