d made a mistake. She was well pleased that this was
the one who had written that he was married.

"Hour after hour and day after day Almia became more and more convinced
that she was right. It was the black-haired soldier on whom her thoughts
were constantly fixed. And no wonder. In the first place, he was the
better soldier of the two. She hated war; but, if men must fight, it is
glorious to conquer, and she had seen his quick and practised blade lay
low his enemy. The thought of his power made her heart swell. Moreover,
he had stood by her in the moment of greatest peril; he it was who had
said to the Commander-in-Chief, armed and mounted though he was, that
he would attack him if her commands were not obeyed. Then, too, he was
a little taller than the other, and handsomer; his chest was broad, he
stood erect.

"Day after day she watched and waited, but no letter came. At last,
however, there was a ring at the bell, and the black-haired soldier was
announced. By a supreme effort Almia controlled herself; she bade her
heart be still, and she went down to meet him. She was dressed in white;
there were flowers in her hair and in her belt. She could not help
wondering what he would think of the difference between her and the girl
he had known as a bushwhacker nurse.

"When her eyes fell upon him and their hands met she was the one who had
the right to be the more amazed. She had thought him handsome before; he
was glorious now. Arrayed in fashionable, well-fitting clothes, wearing
only a mustache, and with his hair properly cut, he was a vision of
manly beauty. Instantly, without any volition on her part, her heart
went out to him; she knew that it belonged to him.

"For twenty minutes, perhaps a little longer, Almia sat with the man she
loved; and as she listened to him, saying but little herself, colder and
colder grew the heart she had given him. Soon she discovered that he
looked upon her as a young lady in whom he took an interest on account
of the adventures they had had together, but still as a chance
acquaintance. He had come to see her because he had happened to be in
the town in which she lived. When he went away she did not ask him to
come again, and it was plain that he did not expect such an invitation.
The few remarks he made about his future plans precluded the
supposition that they might meet again. He was pleasant, he was polite,
he was even kind; but when he departed he left her with a heart of
ston