"Do you believe it?"
"No. It will be finished. But I'm not sure whether Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis will preside on that occasion."
"And I haven't the slightest doubt on that point," Betty said with quick emphasis.
"I thought you were not a student of politics?" he dryly observed.
"I'm not. It's just a feeling. Women know things by intuition."
The young man glanced upward at the huge crane which swung from the unfinished structure of the dome.
"Anyhow, Miss Betty," he said smilingly, "your Black Republican President has a beautiful day for the Inaugural."
"We'll hope it's a sign for the future—shall we?"
"I hope so," was the serious answer. "God knows there haven't been many happy signs lately. It was dark and threatening at dawn this morning and a few drops of rain fell up to eight o'clock."
"You were up at dawn?" the girl asked in surprise.