E-text prepared by David Garcia, Paul Ereaut, and the project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) from page images generously made available by the Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org/) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 18721-h.htm or 18721-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/7/2/18721/18721-h/18721-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/7/2/18721/18721-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through the Kentuckiana Digital Library. See http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;xc=1&idno=B92-201-30752212&view=toc Transcriber's note: Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been made consistent. THE VICTIM A Romance of the Real Jefferson Davis by THOMAS DIXON Illustrated by J. N. Marchand BOOKS BY THOMAS DIXON The Victim The Southerner The Sins of the Father The Leopard's Spots The Clansman The Traitor The One Woman Comrades The Root of Evil The Life Worth Living [Illustration: "The man in front gave a short laugh and advanced on the girl" [Page 300]] THE VICTIM "_A majestic soul has passed_"--Charles A. Dana [Illustration: Colophon] New York and London D. Appleton and Company 1914 Copyright, 1914, by Thomas Dixon All rights reserved, including that of translation into all foreign languages, including the Scandinavian Printed in the United States of America TO THE BRAVE WHO DIED FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED TO BE RIGHT _Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns! Love rules. Her gentle purpose runs. A mighty mother turns in tears The pages of her battle years Lamenting all her fallen sons!_ THOMPSON TO THE READER _In the historical romance which I have woven of the dramatic events of the life of Jefferson Davis I have drawn his real character unobscured by passion or prejudice. Forced by his people to lead their cause, his genius created an engine of war so terrible in its power that through it five million Southerners, without money, without a market, without credit, withstood for four years the shock of twenty million men of their own blood and of equal daring, backed by boundless resources._ _The achievement is without a parallel in history, and adds new glory to the records of our race._ _The scenes have all been drawn from authentic records in my possession. I have not at any point taken a liberty with an essential detail of history._ Thomas Dixon. CONTENTS PROLOGUE