While Betty Winter was still brooding in angry resentment over the problem of John Vaughan\'s guilt in sharing the treason of his Chief, the army was suddenly swung into the field to contest Lee\'s invasion of Maryland.

The daring venture of the Confederate leader had developed with startling rapidity. The President was elated over the probable annihilation of his army. He knew that half of them were practically barefooted and in rags. He also knew that McClellan outnumbered Lee and Jackson two to one and that the Southerners, no longer on the defensive, but aggressors, would be at an enormous disadvantage in Maryland territory.

That Lee was walking into a death trap he was morally sure.

The Confederate leader was not blind to the dangers of his undertaking. Conditions in the South practically forced the step. It was of the utmost importance that he should have full and accurate information before his move, and a group of the coolest and bravest young men in his army were called on to go into Washington as scouts and spies and bring this report. Men who knew the city were needed.

Among the ten selected for the important mission was Ned Vaughan. He had been promoted for gallantry on the field at Malvern Hill, and wore the stripes of a lieutenant. He begged for the privilege of risking his life in this work and his Colonel could not deny him. He had proven on two occasions his skill on secret work as a scout before the second battle of Bull Run. His wide circle of friends in Washington and the utter change in his personal appearance by the growth of a beard made his chances of success the best of any man in the group.

He was anxious to render his country the greatest possible service in such a crisis, but there was another motive of resistless power. He was mad to see Betty Winter. He knew her too well to believe that if he took his life in his hand to look into her eyes she could betray him.

His disguise in the uniform of a Federal Captain was perfect, his forged pass beyond suspicion. He passed the lines of the union army unchallenged and spent his first night in Washington in Joe Hall\'s famous gambling saloon on Pennsylvania Avenue. He arrived too late to make any attempt to see Betty. He stood for half an hour on the corner of the street, gazing with wistful eyes at the light in her window. He dared not call and involve her in the possibility of suspicion. He must wait with caution until she left the house and he could speak to her without being recognized. If he failed to get this chance he would write her as a last resort.

In Hall\'s place he found scores of Congressmen and men from every department of the Government service. Old Thaddeus Stevens, the leader of the war party in the House, was playing for heavy stakes, his sullen hard face set with grim determination.

He watched a young clerk from the War Department stake his last dollar, lose, and stagger from the table with a haunted, desperate look. Ned followed him into two saloons and saw the bartenders refuse him credit. He walked through the door of the last saloon, his legs trembling and his white lips twitching, stopped and leaned against the wall of the little bookstore on the corner, the flickering street lamp showing dimly his ghastly face and eyes.

Ned glanced uneasily behind him to see that he had not been followed. He had left under the impression that a secret service man had seen them both leave. He knew that Baker, the head of the Department, might know the name of every clerk who frequented a gambling den. No one was in sight and he debated for a moment the problem of offering this boy the bribe to get from Stanton\'s office the information he wanted.

It was a question of character and his judgment of it. Could he speak the word to this boy that might send one or both to the gallows? He was well born. His father was a man of sterling integrity and a firm supporter of the union. The boy was twenty-two years old and had been a pet in the fast circle of society in which he had moved for the last three years. If his love for his country were the real thing, he would hand Ned over as a spy without a moment\'s hesitation. If the mania for gambling had done its work he would do anything for money.

Ned\'s own life was in the decision. He took another look into the haggard face and made up his mind.

He started on as if to pass him, stopped suddenly and extended his hand:

"Hello, Dick, what\'s up?"

The boy glowered at him and answered with a snarl:

"I don\'t know you——"

Ned drew a sigh of relief. One danger was passed. He couldn\'t recognize him. The rest should be easy.

"You don\'t need to, my boy," he whispered. "You\'re looking for a friend—money?"

"Yes. I\'ll sell my soul into hell for it right now," he gasped.

"You don\'t need to do that." Ned drew two hundred dollars in gold from his pocket and clinked the coin.

"You see that gold?"

"Yes, yes—what do you want for it?"

"I want you to get for me to-morrow morning the exact number of men in McClellan\'s army. I want the figures from Stanton\'s office—you understand. I want the name of each command, its numbers and its officers. I know already half of them. So you can\'t lie to me. Give me this information here to-morrow night and the gold is yours. Will you do it?"

The boy glanced at Ned for a moment:

"I\'ll see you in hell first. I\'ve a notion to arrest you—damned if I don\'t——"

He wheeled and started toward the corner.

Ned\'s left hand gripped his with the snap of a steel trap, his right holding his revolver.

"Don\'t you be a fool. I know that you\'re ruined. I saw you in Joe Hall\'s——"

The boy\'s jaw dropped.

"You saw me?" he stammered.

"Yes. You\'re done for, and you know it. Bring me those figures and I\'ll double the pile—four hundred dollars."

The weak eyes shifted uneasily. He hesitated and faltered:

"All right. Meet me here at seven o\'clock. For God\'s sake, don\'t speak to me if there\'s anyone in sight."

All next day Ned watched Betty\'s house in vain. At dark, in despair and desperation, he wrote a note.

"Dear Miss Betty:

"For one look into your dear eyes I am here. I\'ve tried in vain to meet you. I can\'t leave without seeing you. I\'ll wait in the park at the foot of the avenue to-morrow night at dusk. Just one touch of your hand and five minutes near you is all I ask——"

There was no signature needed. She would know. He mailed it and hurried to his appointment.

The boy was prompt. There was no one in sight. Ned hurriedly examined the sheet of paper, verified the known commands and their numbers and, convinced of its genuineness, handed the money to the traitor.

"For God\'s sake, never speak to me again or recognize me in any way," he begged through chattering teeth. "I got those things from Stanton\'s desk and copied them."

Ned nodded, placed the precious document in his pocket, and watched the fool hurry with swift feet straight to Joe Hall\'s place and disappear within.

Betty failed to come at the appointed time and he was heartsick. He would finish his work in six hours to-morrow and he should not lose a moment in passing the Federal lines. The precious figures he had bought were memorized and the paper destroyed. In six hours next day he completed the drawings of the fort on which information had been asked and was ready to leave.

But he had not seen Betty. He tried to go and each effort only led him to the corner from which he watched her house. He lingered until night and waited an hour again in the dark. And still she had not come. And then it slowly dawned on him that she must have realized from the moment she read his message the peril of his position and the danger of his betrayal in their meeting.

He turned with quick, firm tread to pass the Federal lines without delay, and walked into the arms of two secret service men.

Without a word he was manacled and led to prison. The boy he had bribed had been under suspicion since his first visits to Joe Hall\'s. Stanton had discovered that his desk had been rummaged. Five of his nine Southern comrades had been arrested and he was the sixth. The rage of the Secretary of War had been boundless. He had thrown out a dragnet of detectives and every suspicious character in the city was passing through it or landing in prison.

The men stripped him and searched with the touch of experts every stitch of his clothing, ripped the lining of his coat, opened the soles of his shoes, split the heels and found nothing. He had been ordered to dress and given permission to go, when suddenly the officer conducting the search said:

"Wait!"

Ned stopped in the doorway. It was useless to protest.

"Excuse my persistence, my friend," he said apologetically. "You seem all right and my men have apparently made a mistake, all the same I\'m going to examine your mouth——"

Ned\'s eyes suddenly flashed and his figure unconsciously stiffened.

"I thought so!" the officer laughed.

The door was closed and the guard stepped before it.

And then, with quick sure touch as if he saw the object of his search through the flesh, the detective lifted Ned Vaughan\'s upper lip and drew from between his lips and teeth the long, thin, delicately folded tinfoil within which lay the tissue drawing of the fort.

The drumhead court-martial which followed was brief and formal. The prisoner refused to give his name or any clue to his identity. He was condemned to be hanged as a spy at noon the next day and locked in a cell in the Old Capitol Prison.

On his way they passed Senator Winter\'s house. Six hours\' delay just to look into her face had cost him his life, but his one hopeless regret now was that he had failed to see her.

Betty Winter read the account of the sensational arrest and death sentence. He had been arrested at the trysting place he had appointed. She dropped the paper with a cry and hurried to the White House. She thanked God for the loving heart that dwelt there.

Without a moment\'s hesitation the President ordered a suspension of sentence and directed that the papers be sent to him for review.

In vain Stanton raged. He shook his fist in the calm, rugged face at last:

"Dare to interfere with the final execution of this sentence and I shall resign in five minutes after you issue that pardon! I\'ll stand for some things—but not for this—I warn you!"

"I understand your position, Stanton," was the quiet answer. "And I\'ll let you know my decision when I\'ve reached it."

With a muttered oath, the Secretary of War left the room.

Betty bent close to his desk and whispered:

"You\'ll give me three days to get his mother here?"

"Of course I will, child, six days if it\'s necessary. Get word to her. If I can\'t save him, she can say good-bye to her boy. That can\'t hurt anybody, can it?"

With a warm grasp of his hand Betty flew to the telegraph office and three days later she saw for the first time the broken-hearted mother. The resemblance was so startling between the mother and both sons she couldn\'t resist the impulse to throw her arms around her neck.

"I came alone, dear," the mother said brokenly, "because his father is so bitter. You see we\'re divided at home, too. I\'m with John in his love for the union—but his father is bitter against the war. It would do no good for him to come. He hates the President and says he\'s responsible for all the blood and suffering—and so I\'m alone—but you\'ll help me?"

"Yes, I\'ll help and we\'ll fight to win."

The mother held her at arms\' length a moment:

"How sweet and beautiful you are! How happy I am that you love my John! I\'m proud of you. Is John here?"

Betty\'s face clouded:

"No. I telegraphed him to come. He answered that a great battle was about to be fought and that it was absolutely useless to ask for pardon——"

"But it isn\'t—is it, dear?"

"No, we\'ll fight. John doesn\'t know the President as I do. We\'ll never give up—you and I—Mother!"

Again they were in each other\'s arms in silence. The older woman held her close.

And then came the long, hard fight.

The President heard the mother\'s plea with tender patience and shook his head sorrowfully.

"I\'m sorry, dear Madam," he said at last, "to find this case so dangerous and difficult. Our army is approaching a battle. Tremendous issues hang on the results. It looks now as if this battle may end the war. The enemy have as good right to send their brave scouts and spies am............