e to move at all, and had taken her
dependent sister with her, sorely against that young woman's wish, as
she had made an impression, a decided impression upon an unmarried
aide-de-camp who was reported to be wealthy, but whose attentions fell
short of the matrimonial point, as the poverty of the sisters became
revealed to him. There was, therefore, no longer to Loring the possible
embarrassment of meeting or seeing the girl who had so wronged him, yet
there was constant evidence of the seeds that she had sown. Some man, he
felt sure, must have kept alive the rumors to his discredit, and the
extreme constraint of manner, the avoidance, shown by this very
gentleman, stamped him as in all probability the person at fault. Loring
was only waiting now for proofs.

It so happened the very day the stanch old salt came searching through
the building in quest of his friend that the General with two aides and
others of the staff, had assembled in the office of Colonel Strain.
Several of them had known and sailed with the Idaho's master and liked
her captain well, despite his frequent flings at soldiers. His
appearance at the doorway, therefore, was the signal for quite a cordial
welcome. The General himself came forward to take him by the hand and
say how sorry he was at the loss of his ship, and how he hoped soon to
see him on the decks of a bigger and better one. But the bluff captain
thought as little of land generals as of lubbers of lower grade, and was
not as grateful as he should perhaps have been, and was evidently
looking for somebody beyond the sympathetic group, and presently said
so.

"I've come to see Mr. Loring, by George! I haven't laid eyes on him
since the night he backed me up in restoring order and discipline on my
ship. That man ought to have been a sailor! Where'll I find him?" he
concluded abruptly, staring round at the circle of somewhat embarrassed
faces.

"We heard some rumor about this, captain," said the General. "Suppose
you come into my office and tell me the whole story?"

"Why not right here where they can all hear?" was the instant answer.
"I'm told that more'n one man has been at work trying to rob him of the
credit, and as for Mr. Jennings, who was our first officer, I gave the
company a piece of my mind the moment I heard it, and I've got a
tongue-lashing in store for him. 'Taint the first I've had to give him,
either, and it won't be the last if he ever runs foul of me again. They
tell me,