of smoke from under his thick moustache. "It
would appear that the thief went through the next-door premises despite
the presence of nurses and servants and children,--and then dropped
some of his plunder here. Eh?" and he held forth a dainty handkerchief.

McLean took it, his hands trembling, and a creeping, chilling sensation
running through his fingers. It was of finest fabric, sheer and soft
and very simply embroidered. It was without, rather than with, surprise
lie found the letters "F. F." in one corner. He raised it, and, not
knowing what to say for the moment, sat there inhaling the delicate
fragrance that hung about the white folds.

"Where'd you find it?" he finally asked.

"Just at the foot of your bureau, Mac. It was lying there when I came
in, half an hour ago."

"Then it's mine to dispose of at least," said McLean, as he rose
promptly from his chair, stepped quickly to the fireplace, and tossed
the dainty toy among the flames. The next instant the last vestige of
it was swept from sight, and the two men stood looking quietly into
each other's eyes.

III.

The compact little post of Fort Laramie looked hardly big enough to
contain its population two days afterward when, under the influence of
a warm sunshine and the sweet music of the band, all the women and
children seemed to have gathered around the parade. Guard-mounting was
just over, and the adjutant had ordered the musicians to stop and play
a few airs in honor of its being the first morning on which it was warm
enough for the men to appear without overcoats and the women without
their furs. The little quadrangle, surrounded as it was by quarters and
houses of every conceivable pattern except that which was modern and
ornamental, was all alive with romping children and with sauntering
groups of ladies chatting with the few cavaliers who happened to be
available. A small battalion of infantry had marched up from the
nearest railway-station at Cheyenne, a good hundred miles away, and
pitched its tents on the flat to the north of the post, and this
brought a few visiting officers into the enclosure; otherwise, except
old Bruce, there would have been no man to talk to, as Hatton and
McLean were "marching on" and "marching off" guard respectively, and
the surgeon, adjutant, and quartermaster were all engaged in the old
head-quarters office with Major Miller.

While many of the ladies were seated in the sunshine on the piazzas,
and even "B