Something unusual was on foot. The sun was barely up and the whole city seemed quivering with excitement.
She dressed hurriedly, snatched a bite of toast and drank a cup of coffee. In twenty minutes she entered the White House to get her pass to the front. She wouldn't go to the War Department. Stanton was rude and might refuse. The hour was absurd, but she knew that the President rose at daylight and that he would see her at any hour.
She found him seated at his desk alone pretending to eat an egg and drink his coffee from the tray that had been placed before him. His dishevelled hair, haggard look and the pallor of his sorrowful face showed only too plainly that he had not slept.
"You have bad news, Mr. President?" Betty gasped.
He rose, took her hand and led her to a seat.
"We lost the battle yesterday?" she eagerly asked.
"Apparently not. You may read that. I trust you implicitly."
He handed her the dispatch he had received from General Pope after the first day's fight at Manassas. Betty read it quickly:
"We fought a terrific battle here yesterday with the combined forces of the enemy, which lasted with continuous fury from daylight until dark, by which time the enemy was driven from the field which we now occupy. The enemy is still in our front, but badly used up. We lost not less than eight thousand men killed and wounded, but from the appearance of the field the enemy lost two to one. The news has just reached me from the front that the enemy is retreating toward the mountains."
"Nothing to brag about. It's the last sentence that worries me----"
"It might be but for the fact that Jackson is leading that retreat toward the mountains! I've an idea that he will turn up to-day on Pope's rear with Lee's whole army on his heels. Jackson is in the habit of appearing where he's least expected----"
He paused, paced the floor a moment in silence and threw his long arms suddenly upward in a hopeless gesture:
"If God would only give me such a man to lead our armies!"
"Is General McClellan at Alexandria to-day?" Betty suddenly asked.
"I'm wondering myself. He should be on that field with every soldier under his command."
"I've come to ask you for a pass to Alexandria----"
"Then my worst fears are confirmed!" he broke in excitedly. "Your sweetheart's on McClellan's staff--his men will never reach the field in time!"