eration sweetened almost to delight that took
hold of the sturdy Briton. He liked pluck, especially in a woman; all
the more if she was beautiful. Yet the very fact that he felt her charm
falling upon him set him hard against her, not as Hamilton the man, but
as Hamilton the commander at Vincennes.

"You think to fling yourself upon me as you have upon Captain
Farnsworth," he said, with an insulting leer and in a tone of prurient
innuendo. "I am not susceptible, my dear." This more for Farnsworth's
benefit than to insult her, albeit he was not in a mood to care.

"You are a coward and a liar!" she exclaimed, her face flushing with
hot shame. "You stand here," she quickly added, turning fiercely upon
Farnsworth, "and quietly listen to such words! You, too, are a coward
if you do not make him retract! Oh, you English are low brutes!"

Hamilton laughed; but Farnsworth looked dark and troubled, his glance
going back and forth from Alice to his commander, as if another word
would cause him to do something terrible.

"I rather think I've heard all that I care to hear from you, Miss,"
Hamilton presently said. "Captain Farnsworth, you will see that the
prisoner is confined in the proper place, which, I suggest to you, is
not your sleeping quarters, sir."

"Colonel Hamilton," said Farnsworth in a husky voice, "I slept on the
ground under a shed last night in order that Miss Roussillon might be
somewhat comfortable."

"Humph! Well, see that you do not do it again. This girl is guilty of
harboring a spy and resisting a lawful attempt of my guards to capture
him. Confine her in the place prepared for prisoners and see that she
stays there until I am ready to fix her punishment."

"There is no place fit for a young girl to stay in," Farnsworth
ventured. "She can have no comfort or--"

"Take her along, sir; any place is good enough for her so long as she
behaves like a--"

"Very well," Farnsworth bluntly interrupted, thus saving Alice the
stroke of a vile comparison. "Come with me, please, Miss Roussillon."

He pulled her toward the door, then dropped the arm he had grasped and
murmured an apology.

She followed him out, holding her head high. No one looking on would
have suspected that a sinking sensation in her heart made it difficult
for her to walk, or that her eyes, shining like stars, were so inwardly
clouded with distress that she saw her way but dimly.

It was a relief to Hamilton when Helm a few minutes later e