"I have established your character now through your connection with the
Minister from Sardinia beyond the possibility of any doubt. Your
position will not be called in question. You will appear in the South as
the representative, unofficial and yet duly accredited, for King Victor
Emmanuel. Your purpose will be, of course, the cultivation of friendly
relations with the officials of the new Government looking to the day of
its coming recognition--you understand?"

"Perfectly--"

"You have absolutely consecrated your life, and every talent, to your
country?"

"Body and soul--"

The dark eyes flashed with the light of a religious fanatic.

"Good." The Secretary paused and studied his man a moment.

"I introduced you to the girl not merely to obtain an invaluable witness
to your credentials should they be questioned--but for a double
purpose."

Socola nodded.

"I guessed as much."

"She's bright, young, pretty, and you can pass the time pleasantly in
her company. The association will place you in a strong position. Her
father is a fool--the storm petrel of Secession. He has the biggest
mouth in America, barring none. His mouth is so huge, they'll never find
a muzzle big enough if they could get men enough around him to put it
on. He's bound to land somewhere high in the councils of the coming
Confederacy--"

"There'll be one?"

Holt smiled.

"You doubt it?"

"It may be bluster after all."

"Men of the Davis type don't bluster, my boy. They are to meet at
Montgomery, Alabama, on February fourth. They'll organize the Cotton
States into a Southern Confederacy. If they can win Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, they may gobble Maryland, Kentucky,
and Missouri--all Slave States. If they get them all--they'll win
without a fight, and reconstruct the Union on their own terms; if they
don't--well, we'll see what we'll see--"

"And you wish?"

"That you get for me--and get quickly--inside information of what is
done and what is proposed to be done at Montgomery. I want the names of
every man discussed for high office among them, his chances of
appointment, his friends, his enemies--why they are his friends, why
they are his enemies. I want their plans, their prospects, their hopes,
their fears, and I want this information quickly. You will be supplied
with ample funds, and your report must be made to me in person. My
tenure of this office will be but a few weeks longer--but you are my
personal