There came a knock at the door.
"Who's there?" she asked, hand upon the bolt. Then, with an exclamation of relief, she opened it. Admitted Herbert Waters.
He was smiling. "I took your advice.... It worked."
She pushed a chair toward the hearth. "Sit there," she ordered. "Tell me all about it."
Waters gazed into the fire half abstractedly. "Three of us were named," he said, "to have a conference with General Johnson." He turned to her, his eyes aglow, "I'll never forget that meeting. He asked us to be seated with his usual courtesy. Then he said, quite matter-of-factly ... in an off-hand sort of way, 'There's something I want to mention before we go further. I've heard some foolish talk about attempts to seize the strongholds of the government under my charge. So I've prepared for all emergencies.' His eyes flashed as he added, 'I will defend the property of the United States with every resource at my command, with the last drop of blood in my body. Tell that to your Southern friends.'"
"And your plot?"
"It's been abandoned."
"Thank God," Alice exclaimed fervently.
"And thank yourself a little," he commented, smiling.
"General Johnson is a brave and honorable gentleman," Alice said. "I wonder--who could have informed him?"