might be
Indians along the route; there certainly were no soldiers, for, with
the exception of eight or ten men, all of Captain Terry's troop were
with him scouting on the north side of the Platte and over near the
Sioux reservations. All the same, a single trooper, armed only with
the revolver and unburdened by the usual blankets and field
kit,--riding almost as light as a racer,--was to make the run and
reach Fetterman the next afternoon.

This was the result of the interview with Lieutenant McLean, a
conference at which were present Major and Mrs. Miller, Dr. Bayard, and
the adjutant. Why Mrs. Miller, the wife of the commanding officer,
should have been present in any capacity, it is not the province of the
narrator to defend. She had been assiduously nursing and caring for the
young officer in his weak and wounded condition. She had him where he
could not escape her shrewd and relentless questionings. She was
enabled to tell him much that Hatton had told her and a few things she
certainly thought he had and therefore said he had. She was further
enabled to tell him of the letters from Robinson and all they
portended; of Mr. Holmes's loss and what she had seen in the mirror; of
her own meeting with Miss Forrest in the darkness of the doctor's hall;
of the registered letters sent away when everybody knew Mrs. Forrest
hadn't a penny except the captain's pay, and that she had openly and
repeatedly announced that her sister-in-law had now come to be a
burden, too, having quarrelled with her relatives in the East. And so,
little by little, she had drawn from McLean the story of Hatton's
farewell words and the discovery of the card in the handkerchief. Then,
fortified with this intelligence, and firmly convinced that she could
not be mistaken in the guilt of her Majesty of Bedlam, Mrs. Miller
reopened the subject and prodded the major into immediate action. She
meant well. She intended no public exposure, no unnecessary disgrace.
She merely wanted that Captain Forrest should come at once, compel his
much-afflicted sister (for, of course, kleptomania was the sole
explanation) to make restitution, and then remove her to some safe
retreat in the distant East. Miller decided to see McLean at once,
taking his adjutant to jot down the statements made, and Dr. Bayard
because of his rank in the service and his professional connection with
the officer in question. Mrs. Miller decided to be present because of
McLean's great relucta