u and send you home on parole in her
custody if you take the oath of allegiance----"

The mother gave a sob of joy.

"I thank you, Mr. President," was the firm reply, "for your generous
offer for my mother's sake, but I cannot take your oath. I have sworn
allegiance to another Government in the righteousness and justice of
whose cause I live and am ready to die----"

"Ned--Ned!" the mother moaned.

"I must, Mother, dear," he firmly went on. "Life is sweet when it's
worth living. But man can not live by bread alone. They have only the
power to kill my body. You ask me to murder my soul."

He paused and turned to the President, whose eyes were shining with
admiration.

"I believe, sir, that I am right and you are wrong. This is war. We must
fight it out. I'm a soldier and a soldier's business is to die."

The tall figure suddenly crossed the space that separated them and
grasped his hand:

"You're a brave man, Ned Vaughan, the kind of man that saves this world
from hell--the kind that makes this Nation great and worth saving whole!
I wish I could keep you here--but I can't. You know that--good-bye----"

"Good-bye, sir," was the firm answer.

The mother began to sob piteously until Betty spoke something softly in
her ear.

Ned turned, pressed her to his heart, and held her in silence. He took
Betty's hand and bent to kiss it.

"You shall not die," she whispered tensely. "I'm going to save you."

She felt the answering pressure and knew that he understood.

Betty held the mother at the door a moment and spoke in low tones:

"I can get permission from the President to delay the execution until
his sister may arrive and say good-bye to him in prison the night before
the execution. Wait and I'll get it now."

The mother stood and gazed in a stupor of dull despair while Betty
pressed to his desk and begged the last favor. It was granted without
hesitation.

[Illustration: "'You're a brave man, Ned Vaughan.'"]

The President wrote the order delaying the death for three days and
handed her his card on which was written:

"Admit the bearer, the sister of the prisoner, Ned Vaughan, the
night before his execution to see him for five minutes.

"A. LINCOLN."

"I'm sorry, little girl, I couldn't do more for _your_ sake--but you
understand?"

Betty nodded, returned the pressure of his hand and hurriedly left the
room.

The hanging was fixed for the following Friday at noon