ore, as Mrs.
Sumter declared, had Katherine ever had a secret from her mother. Now
there was a matter upon which it seemed she could not talk. Moreover,
Miriam Arnold was affected in precisely the same way. She shrank from
all mention of that mysterious affair of Friday night. Not only were
they unable to speak of it to Mrs. Sumter; they avoided it among
themselves.

It was now Wednesday, and there had been a procession of callers to
inquire for Miss Arnold. The girls felt that they _must_ dress and come
down and face them. "Are you sure you feel equal to it, Miriam?" was
Mrs. Sumter's anxious question.

"I am sure I do _not_," was the weary answer, "but all the same I must."

And, being a girl of pluck, and much ashamed of the breakdown of Friday
and Saturday, Miss Arnold made her effort, and did remarkably well so
long as people refrained from prodding her about her "strange
adventure," the alleged details of which, in exaggerated form, were
garrison property by this time. There could be no doubt, said nine out
of ten of the soldiery, it was the work of some sneak-thief in uniform,
in all probability that young swell Rawdon, who was gone. But among a
certain select few still another theory obtained, and Wednesday night
when Sergeant Fitzroy returned to the post and asked to see the colonel,
that officer, who was at dinner, sent answer that he would be at the
office at eight o'clock, and further sent word to Captain Snaffle to be
there at the same hour.

A spell of sharp cold had followed the blizzard. The skies were dazzling
at night with the radiance and sparkle of the stars. The young people of
the garrison were out in force, rejoicing in the snow sports, the
moonlight, the exhilarating air. The men had made some famous slides
over at the bluffs, and the children along the officers' lines were
playing hide and seek, about the drifts and tunnels at the northward end
of the parade. They gathered in force about the office to cheer the
colonel as he came forth from a long conference, which left him so
absorbed he hardly noticed their gleeful salute. They pelted two prime
favorites who followed, with drooping head and woebegone visage, and
never once responded to the fun, and the youngsters asked one another
what on earth could have happened to Cassidy and Quinlan, who were
always so ready to frolic with them.

Then Captain Sumter had been sent for, and was admitted to a
five-minute talk with the colonel at his qua