o shield her in his absence, and the cavalryman's heart warmed to
them more than he could express. To Miller and McLean he told the
story of his sister's differences with her uncle, pretty much in
effect as Mrs. Forrest told the doctor. It was Courtlandt's son she
would not marry because of his repeated lapses into inebriety, and
Courtlandt's bounty she would no longer accept since she could not
take the son. The registered letters she had mailed contained the
remittances the sorrowful old man persisted in sending her and she
persisted in returning. Dr. Bayard, too, had shown vast cordiality to
the stalwart cavalry brother, but Forrest seemed to share his sister's
views, and only moderately responded.

Poor Bayard! Again and again did he curse the cruel fates that had
exiled him to this outlying, barbarous, incomprehensible community.
Again and again did he bemoan the blunders he had made. In the
_eclaircissement_ that followed the arrest of Celestine and Parsons he
had striven to pose as the champion of Miss Forrest and to redouble
his devotions. There was no doubt of his devotion: the grandiose old
beau was completely fascinated by the brilliancy, daring, and
self-control of that indomitable Queen of Bedlam. After the first
shock and a few hours of solitude, in which she refused to see or talk
with anybody, Miss Forrest had emerged from her room in readiness to
welcome her brother on his arrival, and no one in all that garrison
could detect the faintest sign of resentment or discomposure in her
manner. If anything, she was rather more approachable to people she
could not fancy than at any time before, and, now that the Bruces and
Gordons and Johnsons and everybody seemed in mad competition to see
who could be most cordial and friendly with her, it speedily became
apparent that it was their offishness, not hers, that had kept them
asunder earlier in her visit. Mrs. Post had found her out, she proudly
asserted, just as soon as she came to live under the same roof with
her, and it was now her privilege to claim precedence over the others
of the large sisterhood. But all this sudden popularity of the young
lady in question was no great comfort to Bayard, who found it almost
impossible to see her alone. She would gladly have gone to spend hours
with Elinor, who was still far from strong, for "her Majesty," as she
was often playfully referred to, was disposed to be very fond of that
sweet-faced child; but Elinor seemed to s