sed, as though
checked by irrepressible mirth, and he flushed hotly. "And no, again!"
she went on, perceiving this; "I was laughing at Archelaus--poor
fellow!--overtaken here by his accusers. Did they make it very painful
for him?"

"Even supposing him capable of shame--which I doubt--I certainly do not
think he suffered more than he deserved."

"You are very much annoyed?" asked Vashti, suddenly serious. "Well,
then, I am sorry. It was all my suggestion--though it never entered my
head that anyone would be walking that way and catch sight of--of the
thing. I meant it to be a little surprise for the Commandant when he
came home from church; though when he returned and heard what had
happened, he scolded me terribly."

"You will excuse me"--the Lord Proprietor drew himself up stiffly--"if
I fail to see either where the humour comes in, or why you--a stranger,
unknown to me even by name----"

"Ah, to be sure! My name is Cara."

"Then, as I was saying, Miss Cara, I fail to see----"

"And you are quite right of course," Vashti made haste to agree. "I
ought not to have done it. But weren't you, too, a little bit to blame?
It wasn't very nice of you, you know."

"I beg your pardon? What wasn't very nice of me?"

"Why, to hurt their feelings; and especially the Commandant's. He is a
poor man; poor, and sensitive, and easily hurt."

"You are talking to me in riddles, Miss Cara. I have done nothing at
all to hurt the Commandant's feelings."

"Not intentionally, of course. I told him--and I told the sergeant
too--that I was sure you never meant to wound them. It would have been
too cruel."

"But," protested the Lord Proprietor, "I have done nothing, I tell you;
nothing beyond presenting Sergeant Archelaus with--with an article of
attire of which he stood badly in need. Miss Gabriel, some weeks ago,
drew my attention to the state of the poor fellow's--er--wardrobe, and
suggested that something might be done."

"I thought so," Vashti nodded. "I dare say now," she went on, after
seeming to muse for a moment, "you are one of those strong-minded men
who find it hard to understand how sensible people can worry over what
they put on their backs!"

"That happens to be a constant source of wonder with me," he confessed;
"though for the life of me I can't tell how you came to guess it."

"Never mind how I guessed it," said Vashti, smiling. "The point is,
that you take this lofty and very scornful view of clothes, and yet