ost its first President, but gained a god--why mourn?"

"We will recover from our grief," said Howle.

The old man went on, ignoring the interruption:

"Things have somehow come my way. I am almost persuaded late in life that
the gods love me. The insane fury of the North against the South for a
crime which they were the last people on earth to dream of committing is,
of course, a power to be used--but with caution. The first execution of a
Southern leader on such an idiotic charge would produce a revolution of
sentiment. The people are an aggregation of hysterical fools."

"I thought you favoured the execution of the leaders of the rebellion?"
said Lynch with surprise.

"I did, but it is too late. Had they been tried by drum-head court-martial
and shot dead red-handed as they stood on the field in their uniforms, all
would have been well. Now sentiment is too strong. Grant showed his teeth
to Stanton and he backed down from Lee's arrest. Sherman refused to shake
hands with Stanton on the grandstand the day his army passed in review,
and it's a wonder he didn't knock him down. Sherman was denounced as a
renegade and traitor for giving Joseph E. Johnston the terms Lincoln
ordered him to give. Lincoln dead, his terms are treason! Yet had he
lived, we should have been called upon to applaud his mercy and
patriotism. How can a man live in this world and keep his face straight?"

"I believe God permitted Mr. Lincoln's death to give the great Commoner,
the Leader of Leaders, the right of way," cried Lynch with enthusiasm.

The old man smiled. With all his fierce spirit he was as susceptible to
flattery as a woman--far more so than the sleek brown woman who carried
the keys of his house.

"The man at the other end of the avenue, who pretends to be President, in
reality an alien of the conquered province of Tennessee, is pressing
Lincoln's plan of 'restoring' the Union. He has organized State
governments in the South, and their senators and representatives will
appear at the Capitol in December for admission to Congress. He thinks
they will enter----"

The old man broke into a low laugh and rubbed his hands.

"My full plans are not for discussion at this juncture. Suffice it to say,
I mean to secure the future of our party and the safety of this nation.
The one thing on which the success of my plan absolutely depends is the
confiscation of the millions of acres of land owned by the white people of
the South and its di