Sempland was ordinarily a reticent and a quiet man, but this possibility awoke him into action. He pleaded so long and so hard, and so determinedly that he overbore the other man, and finally wrung from him a grudging assent to his request. "If the general is willing, I'll give you my chance." "Thank you. God bless you! If I don't come back, remember that you're to make a man of yourself--for her." "You will come back. You must come back!" CHAPTER IV OPPORTUNITIES EMBRACED "General Beauregard," said Lacy, as the two young officers were ushered into the general's office, "I have a most unusual request to make of you, sir." "What is it, Major Lacy?" returned the little general. "I want you to relieve me of the duty of taking out the _David_ to-night, sir." "What!" "I want you to give it to Mr. Sempland here." "You wish to avoid the danger?" queried Beauregard, gazing intently at Lacy. "He does it as a favor to me, General," interrupted Sempland. "He has had his chance, and I have had none. I begged and implored him to allow me to go, and only wrung a most reluctant consent from him." The general turned his head away, his fingers tapped softly on the desk. "Things have not gone as we wished," he murmured half to himself, "the South is hard pushed, indeed. The war has dragged on. It becomes harder and harder, but we may not despair for our beloved country when her sons strive for posts of danger and are emulous to die in her service. Do you know what this means, Mr. Sempland?" "What it means, General?" "There is about one chance in a thousand of your coming back. Every time that infernal submarine has been used she has done no damage to the enemy and has drowned her crew. Payne was drowned in her with eight men when she was first sent out. She was swamped by the wash of a passing steamer on her next trial, and all hands were lost. Then she sank at Fort Sumter wharf, carrying down six of her men. Hundley took her into the Stono River and made a dive with her, hit mud, stuck there, and every soul was suffocated. They raised her and fixed her up again and tried her once more in the harbor here. She worked beautifully for a while, but fouled the cable of the receiving ship trying to pass under her keel, and stayed there. She has just been raised, the dead cleared out of her, now you want to go on her again." "I do, sir," returned Sempland. "Is life worth so little to you that you are willing to sacrifice it?" "There is Lacy, sir." "Oh, he is different!" burst out the general, and then bit his lip. "It would be greatly to Lacy's credit," had flashed into his mind, "if he could manage to die in some such heroic action." Lacy and Sempland knew what the general thought, and Sempland could think of no words to bridge over the pause. "You see," at last said Lacy, smiling satirically at Sempland, "the general understands. You would better let me go."