The guard hesitated, and the high pitched voice rang with angry authority: "Take off those handcuffs, I tell you. His mother'll be here in a minute--take 'em off!" The guard quickly removed the manacles and the President turned to him and his attendants: "Clear out now. I'll call you when I want you." Ned bowed: "Thank you, sir." "I hope I can do more than that for you, my boy. It all depends on you----" The mother's cry of joy stopped him short as she walked into the door. With a bound she reached Ned's side, clasped him in her arms and kissed him again and again with the low caressing words that only a mother's lips can breathe. He loosened her hands tenderly: "I'm glad you came, dear. It's all right. You mustn't worry. This is war, you know." "But we're going to save you, my darling. The President's going to pardon you. I feel it--I know it. That's why he sent for you. God has heard my prayer." "I'm afraid you don't understand these things, dear," Ned replied tenderly. "The President can't pardon me--no one understands that better than I do----" "But he will, darling! He will----" Ned soothed her and turned to Betty. "Just a moment, Mother, I wish to speak to Miss Betty." He took her hand and looked into her face with wistful intensity. "One long look at the girl of my dreams and I'll wait for you on the other side! This is not the way I told you I would return, is it? But it's war. We must take it as it comes--good-bye--dearest----" "O Ned, Boy, the President will pardon you if you'll be reasonable. You must, for her sake, if not because I ask it." "It's sweet of you to try this, dearest, but of course, it's useless. The President must be just." The tall figure rose and Ned turned to face his desk. "Young man," he began gently, "you're a soldier of exceptional training and intelligence. You knew the danger and the importance of your mission. You have failed and your life is forfeited to the Nation, but for your mother's sake, because of her love and her anguish and her loyalty, I have decided to trust you and send you home on parole in her custody if you take the oath of allegiance----" The mother gave a sob of joy. "I thank you, Mr. President," was the firm reply, "for your generous offer for my mother's sake, but I cannot take your oath. I have sworn allegiance to another Government in the righteousness and justice of whose cause I live and am ready to die----" "Ned--Ned!" the mother moaned. "I must, Mother, dear," he firmly went on. "Life is sweet when it's worth living. But man can not live by bread alone. They have only the power to kill my body. You ask me to murder my soul." He paused and turned to the President, whose eyes were shining with admiration. "I believe, sir, that I am right and you are wrong. This is war. We must fight it out. I'm a soldier and a soldier's business is to die." The tall figure suddenly crossed the space that separated them and grasped his hand: