Now go to bed--we
have behaved like naughty children."
"Oh, James, must I be put in a corner?"
"Yes--of my heart. Now, good night."
November passed. The man who had sinned was fairly tried, and on December
2nd went to a well-deserved death. Penhallow refused to talk of him to
Rivers, who praised the courage of his last hours.
"Mark," he said, "have been twice or thrice sure I was to die--and I
have seen two murderers hanged, and I do assure you that neither they
nor I were visibly disturbed. The fact is, when a fellow is sure to be
put to death, he is either dramatic--as this madman was--or quietly
undemonstrative. Martyr! Nonsense! It was simply stupid. I don't want
to talk about it. Those mischief-makers in Congress will howl over it."
They did, and secession was ever in the air.
CHAPTER XVIII
The figure of Lincoln had been set on the by-ways of State politics by
his debate with Douglas. His address in New York in February of 1860 set
him on the highways of the nation's life. Meanwhile there were no talks
about politics at Grey Pine. The Christmas Season had again gone by with
unwonted economies.
While Douglas defined his opinions in the Senate and Jefferson Davis made
plain that the Union would be dissolved if a radical Republican were
elected, it became clear that the Democratic party which in April was to
nominate candidates would be other than of one mind.
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