Holt hurried from the council chamber at one o'clock with a smile of triumph playing about his sinister mouth. His plan had succeeded. He had worked Stanton as the legal adviser of the President exactly as he had foreseen. The little steamer would test the mettle of the men of South Carolina who were training their batteries on Fort Sumter. If they dared to fire on her--all right--the lines of battle would be drawn. He seized Socola's arm. "Come with me to the War Office." Inside, he closed the door, inspected the room in every nook and corner for a possible eavesdropper, seated himself and leaned close to his attentive listener. "I have established your character now through your connection with the Minister from Sardinia beyond the possibility of any doubt. Your position will not be called in question. You will appear in the South as the representative, unofficial and yet duly accredited, for King Victor Emmanuel. Your purpose will be, of course, the cultivation of friendly relations with the officials of the new Government looking to the day of its coming recognition--you understand?" "Perfectly--" "You have absolutely consecrated your life, and every talent, to your country?" "Body and soul--" The dark eyes flashed with the light of a religious fanatic. "Good." The Secretary paused and studied his man a moment. "I introduced you to the girl not merely to obtain an invaluable witness to your credentials should they be questioned--but for a double purpose." Socola nodded. "I guessed as much." "She's bright, young, pretty, and you can pass the time pleasantly in her company. The association will place you in a strong position. Her father is a fool--the storm petrel of Secession. He has the biggest mouth in America, barring none. His mouth is so huge, they'll never find a muzzle big enough if they could get men enough around him to put it on. He's bound to land somewhere high in the councils of the coming Confederacy--" "There'll be one?" Holt smiled. "You doubt it?" "It may be bluster after all." "Men of the Davis type don't bluster, my boy. They are to meet at Montgomery, Alabama, on February fourth. They'll organize the Cotton States into a Southern Confederacy. If they can win Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, they may gobble Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri--all Slave States. If they get them all--they'll win without a fight, and reconstruct the Union on their own terms; if they don't--well, we'll see what we'll see--" "And you wish?"