"Yes. He has but one thought--that the Union shall be saved. He has no other ambition. If McClellan succeeds, he rejoices. If he fails, he is heartbroken. I know that he has defended him against the assaults of his enemies. He has refused to listen to men who assailed his loyalty and patriotism. This generous faith your Chief is betraying to-day. That you defend him is horrible--O John, dear, I can't--I won't let you stay! You must break your connection with this conspiracy of vain ambition. The country is calling now for every true, unselfish man--please!" He lifted his hand in firm protest: "And for that very reason I stand firmly by the man I believe destined to save my country." "You won't change Commanders because I ask it?" He was silent a moment and a smile played about the corners of his lips: "Would you change because I asked it?" "Yes." "Then come over from Lincoln to McClellan," he laughed. "And join your group of conspirators--never!" "Not if I ask it, because I love you?" [Illustration: "Betty glanced at the stolid, set face and firm lips."] Her brown eyes sparkled with anger: "You'll not find this a joke!" "That's why I treat it seriously, my dear," was the firm reply. "If I could throw up my position in this war on the sudden impulse of my sweetheart, I'd be ashamed to look a man in the face--and you would despise me!" "If your Commander succeeds to-day in bringing disaster to our army I'll despise you for aiding him----" "Let's not discuss it--please, dear!" he begged with a frown. "As you please," was the cold reply. They rode on in silence, broken only by the increasing roar of the great guns at Manassas. Betty glanced at the stolid, set face and firm lips. Her anger steadily rose with every throb of Pope's cannon. Each low thunder peal on the horizon now was a cry for help from dying mangled thousands and the man she loved refusing to hear. Suddenly the picture of his brother flashed before her vision, the high-strung, clean young spirit, chivalrous, daring, fighting for what he knew to be right--right because right is right, and wrong is wrong. She looked at John Vaughan with a feeling of fierce anger. Between the two men she preferred the enemy who was fighting in the open to win or die. Her soul went out to Ned in a wave of tender admiration. Her wrath against his brother steadily rose. Suddenly she drew her rein: "You need come no further. I'll ride back home alone." He bit his lips without turning and was silent. She touched her horse with her whip and galloped swiftly toward Washington. * * * * * The last day of Pope's brief campaign ended in the overwhelming disaster of the second battle of Bull Run. The sound of his cannon reached McClellan's ears, but the organizer of the Army of the Potomac, though ordered to do so, never joined his rival.