't altogether a bad lot, but lacks horse sense, and gave
his parents a good deal of anxiety in his varsity days abroad.
He was in several scrapes along with a boon companion who seems
to have been so much like him, physically and morally, that,
mother-like, Mrs. Foster is sure that very much of which her
Walter was accused was really done by Wally's chum. I'm not so
sure of this myself, but at all events Foster made it a condition
that the boy should cut loose from the evil association, as he
called it, before certain debts would be paid. I don't know what
soldier stuff there is in him--if any--but give him a fair start
for old times' sake.

"I need not tell you that I wish you all the joy and success
the double stars can bring. I'd be in it too but for that old
Spotsylvania shot-hole and rheumatics. My eagles, however, will
fold their wings and take a rest, but we'll flap 'em and scream
every time you make a ten-strike.

"Yours, as ever,

"Martindale."

Stuyvesant did not look up at once after finishing the letter. When he
did, and before he could speak, the general was holding out some
telegrams, and these too he took and read--the almost agonized appeals
of a mother for news of her boy--the anxious inquiries, coupled with
suggestions of the veteran soldier concerning the only son of a beloved
sister. Drayton's fine, thoughtful face was full of sympathy--his eyes
clouded with anxiety and sorrow. Martindale was not the only old soldier
in search of son or nephew that fateful summer.

"You see how hard it is to be able to send no tidings whatever," he
said. "I sent to you in the hope that you might think of some possible
explanation, might suggest some clue or theory. Can you?"

There was just one moment of silence, and then again Stuyvesant looked
up, his blue eyes meeting the anxious gaze of the commander.

"General," he hazarded, "it is worth while to try Sacramento. Miss Ray
is there."

CHAPTER V.

At sunset that evening the regiments destined to embark with the
expedition commanded by General Vinton were paraded for inspection in
full marching order, while a dozen other commands less fortunate looked
enviously on. The day had been raw and chilly. The wind blew salt and
strong, sending the fog in dripping clouds sailing in at the Golden
Gate, obscuring all the bold northern shore, and streaming up the sandy
slopes and over the wi