don, as you
know, is not. He has not been seen about the quarters since some time
last evening. Moreover, the few personal belongings he had are gone."

Again a pause. Then presently: "You arrested Kelly, I see, the man who
was on Number Five."

"Yes, sir. Both Doctor Schuchardt and the steward said his sickness was
due to drink. The sergeant and corporal-of-the-guard are willing to
swear he was perfectly sober when they stationed him. The men say he
hadn't touched a drop of liquor for a month. He must have drunk after he
was posted as sentry, for he vomited whiskey at the hospital. I believe
he was doped."

"That he could get whiskey anywhere along back of the officers'
quarters," said the colonel, reflectively as well as reflecting, "is not
improbable. That it should have been doped, judging from the way one or
two have misbehaved, is not impossible. Captain Snaffle's cook, it
seems, was indulging some of her friends with a surreptitious supper, at
his expense. That, very possibly, is how Kelley came to grief. The
others seem to have hidden their tracks thus far." Then, as though with
sudden resolution, he turned abruptly again.

"The usual orders, for the present, captain," said he, to the new
incumbent. "And you are relieved, Captain Curbit"--to the old. "But I
shall need to see you later, so do not leave the post."

"The man that leaves the post this day," said Major Scott, with a squint
through the upper and unincumbered panes of the nearest window, "may
need a seven days' leave."

"And that, colonel," said a quiet voice at the commander's elbow, "is
what I applied for earlier. Pardon me, sir, but I need to know your
decision, for I should now be going to town."

It was Captain Sumter who spoke, and the colonel flushed promptly at
sound of his voice.

"I had intended sending for you, Sumter," said he, "but these rather
engrossing matters had to be taken up first. I--have your application,"
he continued, fumbling among the papers on his desk. "It is an awkward
time--and these are awkward circumstances. It will leave your troop
without an officer."

"Mr. Lanier will be here, colonel."

"Here--but in close arrest," frowned the colonel, "and you haven't had a
first lieutenant since I have been in command."

"My misfortune, sir, but hardly my fault," answered Captain Sumter
tersely yet respectfully. "General Sheridan selects his aides-de-camp
where he will, and last month you thought it a compliment to th