all prepared for him,
and this, too, in spite of the fact that Stone had stowed away, where
none could see, a certain letter that, unexplained, might yet render
Sandy Ray ineligible to residence under any roof at Minneconjou for all
time to come.

But, unbeknowst to the colonel, the matter of Sandy's billet had been
settled beforehand. Lieutenant Purdy, of the Sixty-first, a near
neighbor, had met the "conquering hero" almost halfway, with the
information that his room was ready for him; his mother had already been
in to see and to approve, and there he must make himself at home, close
to his own quarters; and possibly Stone was grateful.

There were several things in connection with the day's work for which he
could give no thanks whatever, and one of these was the news that
finally came from the wood camp. Black Wolf's thunderous harangue of the
early morning was not all an empty lie. Only the poor remains of the
sergeant, seven of his little guard, and several of the workmen, each
body surrounded by empty cartridge shells, mute witnesses of their
desperate battle for life, were left of those who had so cheerily
marched away; and, Blenke being safe lodged within the post, there were
still three absent unaccounted for. Blenke himself seemed crushed by the
tragic fate of these comrades whom he had vainly risked his life to
save. There was great sympathy expressed for Blenke throughout the
depleted garrison that night. There was talk of his daring essay all
over the post. There was whispering of it even in the dim-lighted wards
of the hospital, where lay the wounded and the scorched and seared.
Possibly it was the torment of his burns that made Skelton toss, mutter,
and finally blaspheme outright, but blaspheme he did at each successive
mention of Blenke, and, presently, with frightful, spiteful vehemence
and virulence. The steward in charge thought him delirious, and Skelton
said perhaps he was. 'Twould make a cat laugh and a man stark mad to
have to listen to such infernal rot, and this, as in duty bound the
steward told to Wallen at his earliest appearance, whereat that wise
young practitioner looked long at Skelton and--wiser still before he
came away.

With all the official turmoil that grew and throve at Minneconjou in the
week that followed, this narrative has nothing to do. The general came
and went, and lots of troops and dozens of officers. Even Wister, far to
the west, was called upon for its contingent for