d created and
fought with such fierce and terrible, if unsuccessful power, resented
this address as an insult. McClellan himself was furious. For some
reason only part of the forces from his army which were detached ever
reached Pope, and those who did were not enthusiastic. It was expecting
too much of human nature to believe that they could be.

The outlook for the coming battle was ominous.

CHAPTER XV

TANGLED THREADS

Betty Winter received a telegram from John Vaughan announcing his
arrival at Alexandria with McClellan on the last day of August. Her
heart gave a bound of joy. She could see him to-morrow. It had been five
years instead of five months since she had stood on that little pier and
watched him float away into the mists of the river! All life before the
revelation which love had brought was now a shadowy memory. Only love
was real. His letters had been her life. They hadn't come as often as
she had wished. She demanded his whole heart. There could be no
compromise. It must be all, _all_ or nothing.

She tried to sleep and couldn't. Her brain was on fire.

"I must sleep and look my best!" she laughed softly, buried her face in
the pillow and laughed again for joy. How could she sleep with her lover
standing there alive and strong with his arms clasping her to his heart!

She rose at daylight and threw open her window. The air was crisp with
the breath of fall. She watched the sun rise in solemn glory. A division
of cavalry dashed by, the horses' hoofs ringing sharply on the cobble
stones, sabres clashing. Behind them came another and another, and in a
distant street she heard the rumble of big guns, the crack of their
drivers' whips and the sharp cries of the men urging the horses to a
run.

Something unusual was on foot. The sun was barely up and the whole city
seemed quivering with excitement.

She dressed hurriedly, snatched a bite of toast and drank a cup of
coffee. In twenty minutes she entered the White House to get her pass to
the front. She wouldn't go to the War Department. Stanton was rude and
might refuse. The hour was absurd, but she knew that the President rose
at daylight and that he would see her at any hour.

She found him seated at his desk alone pretending to eat an egg and
drink his coffee from the tray that had been placed before him. His
dishevelled hair, haggard look and the pallor of his sorrowful face
showed only too plainly that he had not slept.

"You have ba