who had
investigated both Case and the deserter Dooley, Willett received his
_conge_. There should be no public break. It was to be announced that
at his own request Lieutenant Willett stood relieved from duty as
aide-de-camp to the department commander, and would proceed to rejoin
his regiment in the Department of the Columbia; but even Wickham
started with surprise and incredulity when, accompanying this
application, at the close of 'Tonio's dramatic trial, Willett gravely
handed him another paper--his resignation as an officer of the army.

"I do not understand this as--demanded," said Blackbeard, looking
quickly into Willett's pallid face.

"You will, when you remember that my wife--and child--would hardly be
acceptable in army circles," was the quiet reply.

"You mean--you are going at once to marry her?"

"What else should I do?" said Willett.

And this it was that explained his unlooked-for escort beyond the
borders of the little reservation, Stannard's words of commendation,
and Case's ebullition at the Alcazar.

Case had not many more. Craney coaxed him back to Almy after awhile,
where every one from Archer down to the drum boys showed him many a
kindness, and where from time to time he received letters that seemed
to bring him comfort, in spite of the fact that Bonner, Bucketts and
even gruff old Stannard, when they spoke of it at all, were given to
saying that there was little happiness in store for the poor girl at
Portland, for Willett was not made of the stuff that kept man faithful
long to any one woman. It was rumored for awhile that the little
family, having moved northward to one of the new and booming
settlements on the Sound, were living in poverty and seclusion,
Willett's wealthy kindred in the East scorning him, as was to be
expected, for the _mesalliance_ and for his abandonment of the
profession he was expected to adorn. But the embryo "Smart Set" and the
tried old Service had little in common, at best. It was in the employ
of the Engineer Corps that Willett found means to keep the wolf from
the door, and the girl was happier longer than most people would have
believed possible, for it was full three years before Willett's father
died, and, relenting, willed him prosperity. Some time after that there
came a tale of Evelyn Darrah, but, as the best authority would say,
"that's another story."

With Case, however, life seemed to have lost its inspiration. He
wandered more and more from the