Betty was too blue to talk--too heartsick to move. At last the tall figure rose and walked back among the operators. They knew that he was waiting for the magic call, "Atlanta, Georgia." It had been three years and more since that heading for a message had flashed over their wires. Every ear was keen to catch it. The President bent over the table of Southern wires and silently watched: "You can't strain a little message through for me, can you, my boy?" The operator smiled: "I wish I could, sir." The President returned to the front room and shook his head to Betty: "Nothing." "He entered Atlanta a spy, didn't he?" she said despairingly. "Yes--of course." "They couldn't execute him without our knowing it, could they?" "If they trap him--yes--but he's a very intelligent young man. He'll be too smart for them. I feel it. I know it----" He stopped and looked at her quizzically: "I've a sort of second sight that tells me such things. I saw General Sickles in the hospital after Gettysburg. They said he couldn't live. I told him he would get well and he did." Again the President returned restlessly to the operator's room and Betty followed him to the door. He waited a long time in silence, shook his head and turned away. He had almost reached the door when suddenly the operator sprang to his feet livid with excitement: "Wait--Mr. President!--It's come--my God, it's here!" Every operator was on his feet listening in breathless excitement to the click of that Southern wire. The President had rushed back to the table. "It's for you, sir!" "Read it then--out with it as you take it!" he cried. "Atlanta, Georgia, September 3rd, 1864." "Glory to God!" the President shouted. "Atlanta is ours and fairly won. W. T. Sherman." "O my soul, lift up thy head!" the sorrowful lips shouted. "Unto thee, O God, we give all the praise now and forever more!" He seated himself and quickly wrote his thanks and congratulations: "EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, D. C. "September 3, 1864. "The National thanks are rendered by the President to Major General W. T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of his command before Atlanta, for the distinguished ability and perseverance displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which under Divine favor has resulted in the capture of Atlanta. The marches, battles and sieges that have signalized this campaign must render it famous in the annals of war, and have entitled you to the applause and thanks of the Nation. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN, "_President of the United States_." His sombre eyes flamed with a new light. He took the copy of his message from Sherman and started to the White House with long, swift strides. Betty greeted him outside with tearful joy still mixed with deep anxiety. "You have no word from him, of course?"