oke in Buxton, with an outburst of profanity. "Not
sunset! why, it's well-nigh dark now, sir, and every man in the troop
had side-lined his horse half an hour ago. D--n your insolence, sir!
your excuse is worse than your conduct. Mr. Billings, see to it, sir,
that this man walks and leads his horse in rear of the troop all the way
back to the post. I'll see, by ----! whether he can be taught to obey
orders." And with that the captain turned and strode away.

The lieutenant stood for an instant stunned,--simply stunned.
Involuntarily he made a step towards O'Grady; their eyes met; but the
restraint of discipline was upon both. In that brief meeting of their
glances, however, the trooper read a message that was unmistakable.

"Lieutenant----" he said, but stopped abruptly, pointed aloft over the
trees to the eastward with his right hand, dashed it across his eyes,
and then, with hurried salute and a choking sort of gurgle in his
throat, he turned and went back to his comrades.

Mr. Billings gazed after the retreating form until it disappeared among
the trees by the brook-side; then he turned to see what was the meaning
of the soldier's pointing over towards the _mesa_ to the east.

Down in the deep valley in which the little command had halted for the
night the pall of darkness had indeed begun to settle; the bivouac-fires
in the timber threw a lurid glare upon the groups gathering around them
for supper, and towards the west the rugged upheavals of the Mazatzal
range stood like a black barrier against the glorious hues of a bank of
summer cloud. All in the valley spoke of twilight and darkness: the
birds were still, the voices of the men subdued. So far as local
indications were concerned, it _was_--as Captain Buxton had
insisted--almost dark. But square over the gilded tree-tops to the east,
stretching for miles and miles to their right and left, blazed a
vertical wall of rock crested with scrub-oak and pine, every boulder,
every tree, glittering in the radiant light of the invisibly setting
sun. O'Grady had _not_ disobeyed his orders.

Noting this, Mr. Billings proceeded to take a leisurely stroll through
the peaceful herd, carefully inspecting each horse as he passed. As a
result of his scrutiny, he found that, while most of the horses were
already encumbered with their annoying hobble, in "A" Troop alone there
were at least a dozen still unfettered, notably the mounts of the
non-commissioned officers and the olde