before, and Mrs. Dupont
assured me it was true."

"But it is not true, Sergeant Hamlin"--indignantly. "I cannot imagine
how such a report ever started. Lieutenant Gaskins has been very
friendly; has--" her voice breaking slightly, "even asked me to marry
him, but--but I told him that was impossible. He has been just as kind
to me since, but there is nothing, absolutely nothing between us. I
have never spoken about this before to any one."

If Hamlin's heart leaped wildly at this swift denial, there was no
evidence of it in his quiet voice.

"The point is, Miss Molly, that Mrs. Dupont, and those connected with
her, think otherwise. They are presuming on Gaskins' being in love
with you. Mrs. Dupont can be very seductive. Little by little she has
drawn the Lieutenant into her net. Believing him engaged to you, they
have him now where he must either pay money for silence or be exposed.
Just how it was worked, I do not know. The shooting last night was
done to convince him they were serious. The fact that Gaskins later
denied knowing who his assailants were--even endeavored to accuse
me--is abundant proof of their success." He hesitated, wondering at
her silence. "What puzzles me most is why you were present."

"Present? Where?"

"At this quarrel with Gaskins last evening. As I ran by toward the
scene of the shooting I passed you hiding at the angle or the barrack
wall. Of course, I have mentioned the fact to no one. That was why I
made no attempt to defend myself when arrested."

She gasped for breath, scarcely able to articulate.

"You believe that? You think that of me?"

"I may have been deceived; I hope so; there was but little light, and I
got merely a glimpse," he explained hastily.

"You were deceived," impetuously. "I was not out of the house that
evening. I was in the parlor with my father when those shots were
fired. You are sure you saw a woman there--hiding?"

"There is no doubt of that; her foot-prints were plainly to be seen in
the morning. This discovery, together with the size of the weapon
used, resulted in my immediate release. I saw her, and imagined her to
be you. I cannot account for the mistake, unless you were in my mind,
and--and possibly what I had heard of your connection with Gaskins.
Then it must have been Mrs. Dupont. That looks reasonable. But she
stays at your home, does she not?"

"She makes our house her headquarters, but is absent occasionally.
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