The Victim: A Romance of the Real Jefferson Davis

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The Victim: A Romance of the Real Jefferson Davis Page 37

by Thomas Dixon


  CHAPTER XXII

  JENNIE'S RECRUIT

  Socola lost no time in applying for a position. The one place of allothers he wished was a berth in the War Department. It was useless totry for it. No foreigner had ever been admitted to tiny position oftrust in this wing of the Confederate Government.

  He would try for a position in the Department of State. His supposedexperience in the Diplomatic Service and his mastery of two languagesbesides the English would be in his favor. The struggle for recognitionfrom the powers of Europe was the card he could play. Once placed in theDepartment of State he would make the acquaintance of every clerk andsubordinate who possessed a secret of the slightest value to his cause.

  He wished to enter the Department of State for another reason. He hadlearned from absolutely reliable sources that Judah P. Benjamin, thepresent Secretary of War, was slated for Secretary of State in the newCabinet which would be named when Jefferson Davis was inaugurated aspermanent President. He knew Benjamin to be the ablest man in theCabinet, the one man on whose judgment Davis leaned with greatestconfidence. It would he of immense value to his cause to be in dailytouch with this man.

  Fortunately he had mastered shorthand the last year of his stay inWashington. This accomplishment, rare in the South, would be anadditional argument with which to secure his appointment.

  Jennie had promised to accompany him to the office of the President andadd her voice to his plea. She had quite won the heart of the badgeredchieftain of the Confederacy by her steady loyalty to hisadministration. The malignant opposition of Senator Barton wasnotorious. This opposition at the moment had become peculiarlyvindictive and embarrassing. The fall of Fort Donelson and the loss ofNashville had precipitated a storm of hostile criticism. The fiercejunta of malcontents in the Confederate Congress were eager to seize onany excuse to attack the President. They were now demanding the removalof Albert Sidney Johnston from his command. Davis knew that hiscommanding general in Tennessee was the greatest soldier of histime--and that all he needed was a single opportunity to demonstrate hisgenius. He refused with scorn to sacrifice such a man to public clamor.At the White House reception the night before he had heard Jennie Bartonstoutly defending him against his accusers who demanded the head ofGeneral Johnston.

  He had passed her later in the evening, pressed her hand and whispered:

  "If our men were only as loyal! Ask anything you will of me--to the halfof my kingdom."

  Jennie wished to put this impulsive promise to the test. She would seethat Socola secured his appointment. This brilliant young recruit forthe South was her gift to her country and she was proud of him. It hadall come about too quickly for her to analyze her feelings. She onlyrealized that she felt a sense of tender proprietary interest in him.That he could render valuable service she did not doubt for a moment.

  She had told him to meet her at the statue of Washington in the CapitolSquare. They would wait there for the appearance of the President andfollow him. His habits were simple and democratic. He walked daily fromthe Confederate White House to the Capitol grounds, crossed the Squareand at the foot of the hill entered his office in the Custom House onMain Street, unaccompanied by an escort of any kind.

  Anybody on earth could approach and speak to him. The humbler the man orwoman, the easier the approach was always made.

  Socola was waiting at the big group of statuary contemplating the linesof its fine workmanship with curious interest.

  Jennie startled him from a reverie:

  "You like him?"

  The white teeth gleamed in pleasant surprise.

  "The father of his country?--Yes--I like him. It's going to be mycountry, too, you know."

  They strolled through the grounds and watched the squirrels leap fromthe limbs of a great tree to the swaying boughs of the next.

  A tall awkward trooper on whose hat was the sign of a North Carolinaregiment toiled painfully up the hill slightly under the influence ofwhisky. Socola saw that he was navigating the steep with difficulty andturned into a by-path to give him a free passage. It was never pleasantto meet a man under the influence of liquor in the presence of ladies.

  They had taken but a few steps along the little path when the quick firmmilitary tread of the President was heard.

  They turned just in time to see him encounter the toiling trooper fromNorth Carolina.

  The soldier's jaw suddenly dropped and his eyes kindled with joy. Hestood squarely in the President's way and laughed good naturedly.

  "Say--Mister!"

  "Well, sir?"

  "Say--now--ain't yo' name Jeff'son Davis?"

  The President nodded in a friendly way.

  "It is."

  "I knowed it," the trooper laughed. "By Gum, I knowed it, the minute Ilaid my eyes on ye--"

  He moved closer with insinuating joy.

  "I bet ye could never guess how I knowed it--could ye?"

  "Hardly--"

  "Ye want me ter tell ye?" The trooper laughed again. "I knowed ye thevery minute I seed ye--'cause ye look thez ezactly like a Confederatepostage stamp! I know 'em 'cause I've licked 'em!"

  The President laughed and passed on his way without looking back.

  They found a crowd of cranks and inventors waiting to see him. He hadthe same weakness as Abraham Lincoln for this class of men. He neverallowed a clerk to turn one way without his personal attention. Hisinterest in all scientific problems was keen, and he had alwaysmaintained the open mind of youth to all inventions.

  Socola and Jennie strolled through the city for an hour until the cranklevee was over. The President's secretary, Burton Harrison, promisedthem an interview at the end of that time. He ushered them into the roomunder the impression that all the callers had gone. He had overlooked amodest, timid youth who had quietly approached the Chief Executive'sdesk.

  They paused until he was at leisure. The moment was one of illuminationfor Socola. He saw a trait of character in the Southern leader whoseexistence he had not suspected.

  "My name is Ashe--Mr. President, S. A. Ashe," the youth began.

  Davis bowed gravely.

  "Have a seat, sir."

  The boy sat down and twiddled his cap nervously.

  "I've come to ask an appointment of some kind in the regular army of theConfederacy. I'm an officer of the North Carolina militia. I wish toenter the regular army."

  The Confederate chieftain looked at the peculiarly youthful, beardlessface. He couldn't be more than eighteen from appearances.

  "I'm afraid you're too young, sir," he said slowly, shaking his head.

  The boy drew himself up with a touch of wounded pride.

  "Why, Mr. Davis, I voted for you for President last November."

  Instantly the Chief Executive rose, blushing his apology. He laid hishand on the boy's shoulder and spoke with the utmost deference.

  "I beg your pardon, sir. I should have been more observant andthoughtful. I was very much like you when I was a boy. It was a longtime before I had any whiskers myself."

  With a friendly smile he touched his thin beard.

  He sent the young man away happy with his promise of consideration. Thathe should have asked this beardless boy's pardon in so pointed a mannerSocola thought remarkable. That the Chief Executive of nine millionpeople should blush suddenly over such a trifle was the flash thatrevealed a great soul.

  The President advanced and gave Jennie both his hands in cordialgreeting.

  "I've brought you a recruit, sir," the girl cried with a merry laugh.

  "Indeed?"

  "I have resigned my commission with the Sardinian Ministry, Mr.President, and wish to offer my services to the South."

  "We need every true friend the world can send us, Signor--I thank you--"

  "I wish, sir," Socola hastened to say, "to render the most efficientservice possible. I have no training as a soldier. I have experience asa diplomat. I speak three languages and I am an expert stenographer--"

  "I'm sorry, Signor," the President interru
pted, "that I have no vacancyin my office--or I should be pleased to have you here."

  "Perhaps your State Department may find me useful?"

  "No doubt they can. I'll give you a letter to the Secretary recommendingyour appointment."

  He seated himself at once, wrote the letter and handed it to Socola.

  Jennie thanked him and, with a warm pressure of his hand, passed intothe hall with Socola.

  At the outer door Burton Harrison overtook them:

  "Just a moment, Miss Barton. The President wishes to ask you aquestion."

  Davis drew her to the window.

  "I should have been more careful of the credentials of our friendperhaps, Miss Jennie. You can vouch for his loyalty?"

  "Absolutely."

  She had scarcely uttered the word in tones of positive conviction beforeshe realized the startling fact that she had spoken under the impulse ofsome strange intuition and not from her knowledge of the man's characterand history.

  In spite of her effort at self-control she blushed furiously. Mr. Davisapparently did not observe it.

  "I have been much impressed with his poise and culture and intelligence.You met him in Washington, of course?"

  "Yes--"

  "You know positively that he was the Secretary of the SardinianMinister?"

  "Positively, Mr. President--"

  "Thank you, my dear. I'll take your word for it."

  Jennie walked home on air. She had made history. How tragic its sequelwas destined to be, a kind Providence concealed.

 

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