Dick felt pity for the man who was forced to bear a blame not his own, and who was too old for another chance.  But he knew that the present cloud would soon pass away, and that he would be remembered as the man of Chippewa and Chapultepec.

“McClellan is already here to take his place,” said Whitley.  “He’s the young fellow who has been winning successes in the western part of Virginia, an’ they say he has genius.”

Only a day or two later they saw McClellan walking down the same avenue with the President.  Dick had never beheld a more striking contrast.  The President was elderly, of great height, his head surmounted by a high silk hat which made him look yet taller, while his face was long, melancholy, and wrinkled deeply.  His collar had wilted with the heat and the tails of his long black coat flapped about his legs.

The general was clothed in a brilliant uniform.  He was short and stocky and his head scarcely passed the President’s shoulder.  He was redolent of youth and self confidence.  It showed in his quick, eager gestures and his emphatic manner.  He attracted the two boys, but the sergeant shook his head somewhat solemnly.

“They say Scott was too old,” he said, “and now they’ve gone to the other end of it.  McClellan’s too young to handle the great armies that are going into the field.  I’m afraid he won’t be a match for them old veterans like Johnston and Lee.”

“Napoleon became famous all over the world when he was only twenty-six,” said Warner.

“That’s so,” retorted Whitley, “but I never heard of any other Napoleon.  The breed began and quit with him.”

But the soldiers crowding the capital had full confidence in “Little Mac,” as they had already begun to call him.  Those off duty followed and cheered him and the President, until they entered the White House and disappeared within its doors.  Dick and his friends were in the crowd that followed, although they did not join in the cheers, not because they lacked faith, but because all three were thoughtful.  Dick had soon discovered that Whitley, despite his lack of education, was an exceedingly observant man, with a clear and reasoning mind.

“It was a pair worth seeing,” said the sergeant, as they turned away, “but I looked a lot more at Old Abe than I did at “Little Mac.”  Did you ever think, boys, what it is to have a big war on your hands, with all sorts of men tellin’ you all sorts of things an’ tryin’ to pull you in all sorts of directions?”

“I had not thought of it before, but I will think of it now,” said Warner.  “In any event, we are quite sure that the President has a great task before him.  We hear that the South will soon have a quarter of a million troops in the field.  Her position on the defensive is perhaps worth as many more men to her.  Hence let x equal her troops, let y equal her defensive, and we have x plus y, which is equal to half a million men, the number we must have before we can meet the South on equal terms.”