The girl looked with quick surprise.
"You don't mean it?"
"Certainly. Why get excited when you know the end before it begins."
"You know it?"
"Yes."
"Victory?"
He laughed cynically:
"Victory for a pompous braggart who could write that address to an army reflecting on the men who fought Lee and Jackson before Richmond with such desperate courage?"
"You are sure of defeat then?"
"Absolutely."