Captain Thorne, of course, had no option but to release the key. He stopped sending and dropped the despatch, saluting.
“Now, Mr. Arrelsford,” said the General, “what have you to do with the Military Telegraph Department?”
“This is a Secret Service case; they assigned it to me, sir.”
“What is a Secret Service case?”
“The whole plot to send the order. It’s the Yankee Secret Service. He is a member of it and his brother brought in the signal to-night.”
“I beg your pardon, sir,” said Thorne, “this despatch ought to go out at once, sir. It came from the Secretary of War and it is very urgent.”
“Go ahead with it,” said General Randolph.
Thorne needed no further permission than that, dropped to his seat, and once more seized the fatal key.
“No, no!” cried Arrelsford. “Don’t let him—I tell you it’s a——”
“Silence, sir,” thundered Randolph.