ere spoken. He was
staring at Brown's face. It was radiant with a strange joy. He had not
smiled; but he was happy for a moment. His happiness was so unusual,
so sharply in contrast with his habitual mood, the sight of it chilled
Townsley's soul.

CHAPTER XX

Stuart succeeded in securing from Colonel Sumner a leave of absence
of two weeks to visit Fort Riley. The Colonel suspected the truth and
teased the gallant youngster until he confessed.

He handed Stuart the order with a hearty laugh.

"It's all right, my boy. I've been young myself. Good luck."

Stuart's laughter rang clear and hearty.

"Thank you, Colonel. You had me scared."

He had just turned to leave the room when a messenger handed Sumner a
telegram.

Stuart paused to hear the message.

"Bad news, Lieutenant."

"What, sir?"

"An attack has been made on the Southern settlement on the
Pottawattomie."

"A drunken fight--"

"No. Wilkinson, the member of the Legislature from Miami County, was
taken from his house in the night and murdered."

"The story's a fake," Stuart ventured.

"The man who sent this message doesn't make such mistakes."

He paused and studied the telegram.

"No. This means the beginning of a blood feud. The time's ripe for it."

"We'll have better news to-morrow," Stuart hoped.

"We'll have worse. I've been looking for something like this since the
day I heard old Brown harangue a mob at Lawrence."

He stopped short.

"You'll have to give me back that order, my boy."

Stuart's face fell.

"Colonel, I've just got to see that girl, if it's only for a day--"

He slowly handed the order back to the Commandant. Sumner watched the
red blood mount to Stuart's face with a look of sympathy.

"Is it as bad as that, boy?"

"It couldn't be worse, sir," Stuart admitted in low tones. "I'm a
goner."

"All right. You've no time to lose, I'll give you three days--"

"Thank you!"

"This regiment will be on the march before a week has passed or I miss
my guess."

"I'll be here, sir!" was the quick response.

Stuart grasped the leave of absence and hurried out before another
messenger could arrive.

He reached Fort Riley the following day and had but twenty-four hours in
which to crowd the most important event of his life.

He paced the floor in Colonel Cooke's reception room awaiting Flora's
appearance with eager impatience. What on earth could be keeping her? He
asked himself the question fifty times and look