ral suggested a
nightcap, and Willett presently left him, though not, as it
subsequently transpired, for the adjutant's quarters and for bed. It
was late the following day before his next appearance near the Archers.

Sunday morning had come, as peaceful and serene as any that ever broke
on New England village, and Sunday noon, hot and still, and many an
hour since early sun up anxious eyes had scanned the old McDowell
trail, visible in places many a mile before it disappeared among the
foothills of the Mazatzal, but not a whiff of dust rewarded the eager
watchers.

Archer's binocular hung at the south-west pillar of the porch, and
another swung at the northward veranda of the old log hospital. The
road to Dead Man's Canon wound along the west bank of the stream,
sometimes fording it for a short cut, and that road, the one by which
Sanchez should have come, was watched wellnigh as closely as the other.
Nothing up to luncheon time had been seen or heard of human being
moving without the limits of the post; nothing by Lilian Archer of her
gallant of the night before.

In times of such anxiety men gather and compare notes. The guard had
been strengthened during the night, and its members sat long in the
moonlight, chatting in low tone. The officer of the day, making the
rounds toward two o'clock, noted that the lights were still burning at
the store, and, sauntering thither, found a game going on in the common
room--Dago seeking solace from his sorrows in limited monte with three
or four employes and packers, while in the officers' room was still
another, with only one officer present and participating. To Captain
Bonner's surprise Lieutenant Willett, aide-de-camp, was "sitting in"
with Bill Craney, the trader, Craney's brother-in-law and partner, Mr.
Watts, Craney's bookkeeper, Mr. Case, a man of fair education and
infirm character who had never, it was said, succeeded in holding any
other position as long as six months. Here, as Craney admitted, he
hadn't enough to occupy him three weeks out of the four, and, so long
as he could tend to that much, he was welcome to "tank up" when he
pleased. That clerk had been a gentleman, he said, and behaved himself
like one now, even when he was drunk. The officers treated him with
much consideration, but to no liquor. Willett, knowing nothing of his
past, had been doing the opposite, and Mr. Case's monthly spree was
apparently starting four days ahead of time. Moreover, Mr. Case