went out of
their way at every turn to remind him, as it were, that he was a
mortgaged man; and yet, so strangely was he constituted, life for him
at the moment seemed to have but one object worth attaining--Evelyn
Darrah. Day and night he sought her, pursued her, and men began to shun
him, and he never heeded. Women began to shrink from her, and she saw,
yet, for to some there is the gambler's madness in the game, she _let_
them shrink. What were their slights in comparison with the thrilling
joy of this conquest? This man was at her feet, abject, pleading,
praying. It was hers to spurn or sway him as she would. Never doubting
her own power to turn him any instant adrift, she found delight in the
passion of so virile, graceful, glorious a lover, the man of whom she
had heard other women speak for three long years, and now he was
hers--hers to do with as she dared--to break or make as was her
caprice. What--what if men looked stern and women shrank? This was a
game well worth the candle, let them sneer who would.

What had promised to be a fortnight of jollification had become charged
with matters of grave moment. Strong had arrived, bringing the shackled
Sanchez, and, when hospitably bidden to stay a week and have some fun,
he said he reckoned he ought to get back as quick as possible--"the Old
Man had much to bother him," this in confidence to Bright. "The Old
Man's coming up here," said Bright, "quick as the general can coax him,
and he's just going to have a welcome that will warm the cockles of his
heart," and then, like the loyal aide he was, Bright essayed to make
Archer's adjutant see that while the general commanding had been
constrained to differ with the commander at Camp, Almy, he personally
held him in affection and esteem. "I'm afraid," said he, "General
Archer thinks he is misunderstood about this 'Tonio business,
and--and--Harris. Here's Willett, now, perfectly willing to drop the
whole case against 'Tonio and say no more about it."

"What?" said Strong, in amaze. "Why, at Almy he damned him time and
again--swore he had twice tried to kill him. If he acquits 'Tonio, whom
in God's name does he suspect?" asked Strong, a queer thought occurring
to him as he recalled the furious words of the deserter Dooley, _alias_
Quigley, another prisoner to be tried.

Bright dodged. "The queer thing about it," said he, "is that Brown
there, at McDowell, is demanding investigation, and says he believes
there was collu