"
He bowed gravely, lifted his head and caught the smile on the lips of
the Secretary of War standing in the shadows of the doorway of the
Diplomatic gallery.
The stately figure of John C. Breckinridge, the Vice-President, suddenly
mounted the dais and his piercing eyes swept the assembly. He rapped for
order and the silence which followed was as the hush of death.
"The curtain rises on our drama, Mad'moiselle," the smooth even voice
said.
"Sh!" the girl whispered.
CHAPTER II
THE PARTING
The breathless galleries leaned forward to catch the slightest sound
from the arena below.
One by one the Senators from the seceding Southern States rose and
renounced their allegiance to the United States in obedience to the
voice of their people.
With each solemn exit the women of the galleries grew hysterical, waved
their perfumed handkerchiefs and shouted their approval with cries of
sympathy and admiration.
David Yulee, Stephen K. Mallory and Benjamin Fitzpatrick had each closed
his portfolio and with slow measured tread marched down the crowded
aisle and out of the Chamber never again to enter its doors.
All eyes were focused now on the brilliant young Senator from Alabama,
Clement C. Clay, Jr. It was understood that he had prepared an eloquent
defense of his action and would voice the passionate feeling of the
masses of the Southern people in this his last utterance in the
crumbling temple of the old Republic.
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