officer, his weak voice which he had yet to
use cautiously, and the courteous dignity of his tone had a great effect
on his hearers. Reported outside all this did more for deepening the
mystery than the vapourings of Lieut. Feraud. This last was greatly
relieved at the issue. He began to enjoy the state of general wonder,
and was pleased to add to it by assuming an attitude of fierce
discretion.

The colonel of Lieut. D'Hubert's regiment was a grey-haired,
weather-beaten warrior, who took a simple view of his responsibilities.
"I can't," he said to himself, "let the best of my subalterns get
damaged like this for nothing. I must get to the bottom of this affair
privately. He must speak out if the devil were in it. The colonel should
be more than a father to these youngsters." And indeed he loved all his
men with as much affection as a father of a large family can feel
for every individual member of it. If human beings by an oversight of
Providence came into the world as mere civilians, they were born again
into a regiment as infants are born into a family, and it was that
military birth alone which counted.

At the sight of Lieut. D'Hubert standing before him very bleached
and hollow-eyed the heart of the old warrior felt a pang of genuine
compassion. All his affection for the regiment--that body of men which
he held in his hand to launch forward and draw back, who ministered to
his pride and commanded all his thoughts--seemed centred for a moment on
the person of the most promising subaltern. He cleared his throat in
a threatening manner, and frowned terribly. "You must understand," he
began, "that I don't care a rap for the life of a single man in the
regiment. I would send the eight hundred and forty-three of you men and
horses galloping into the pit of perdition with no more compunction than
I would kill a fly!"

"Yes, Colonel. You would be riding at our head," said Lieut. D'Hubert
with a wan smile.

The colonel, who felt the need of being very diplomatic, fairly roared
at this. "I want you to know, Lieut. D'Hubert, that I could stand aside
and see you all riding to Hades if need be. I am a man to do even that
if the good of the service and my duty to my country required it from
me. But that's unthinkable, so don't you even hint at such a thing." He
glared awfully, but his tone softened. "There's some milk yet about that
moustache of yours, my boy. You don't know what a man like me is capable
of. I would hide b