ag and hat-box and
umbrella left in Section 10.

A few days later when the witnesses were scattering back to their
stations, or going on brief leaves of absence before so doing, Cranston
took his soldierly-looking corporal, the recruit of the previous year,
to gladden the eyes of the mother so eagerly awaiting him in Chicago;
but before starting they had been summoned to the hospital where Howard
lay, where "Brannan" formally, though still with sorrow and reluctance,
identified him as Powlett. Leonard was there with the leather
writing-case and its contents, at sight of which Brannan's last barrier
of compunction fell, and Davies stood by the bedside, looking pale,
haggard, and ten years older, and Colonel Rand, the inspector of the
department, and another sad-faced fellow, Langston. And Archer was
there, and Hastings, when Sergeant Haney's formal confession was read.
There was little sensation over it. Everybody seemed to know just about
what it would be. He said nothing to directly accuse Captain Devers of
conspiracy, but Haney had been his first sergeant for five years, and
the devious ways of his troop commander had necessitated the existence
of a right bower who could swear straight and strong to what the captain
thought should be established. They got to know each other thoroughly,
and each lived in mortal dread of some betrayal on the other's part.
There was a squad of six or eight men in the troop which practically
"ran things," and Haney was its head. For years these men had triumphed
over all efforts to break their line, just as Devers had baffled those
which would have cornered him, but they could see plainly that the
captain was nearing the end of his "tether," and his downfall meant
theirs. The catastrophe of Antelope Springs brought matters to a climax.
Half the men in the troop heard Major Warren's orders to Devers, and all
knew he had slighted if not disobeyed them. This, if proved, meant ruin
to the ring, and the plan to shift the blame on Davies's shoulders,--to
make the investigating officer believe the troop had marched right down
along the ridge within supporting distance, and that Davies had become
terror-stricken and had hidden instead of instantly communicating with
his captain, was the result. Devers, indeed, boldly announced that as
his theory and explanation of the whole affair, and Haney, Finucane,
Boyd, and the intelligent Howard were there ready to swear to it and
save the captain the troub