ink."

"All right. I will tell them as much as that, for they are in such a
state of mind about it that it would be kind to give them a little
consolation."

"By the way, Captain Lister, do I go out in uniform or in mufti?"

"In mufti, lad. Put on a gray or dark-coloured suit. Gray is the best;
but, above all, don't take a coat with conspicuous buttons or anything
to catch the eye, that would be a fatal mistake. Good night, lad; I
shall turn in in better spirits than I expected to do."

Wilmington did not speak, but grasped Frank's hand warmly.

"Don't come out to-morrow," Frank said.

"I couldn't," the lad replied in a broken voice, "but I shall see you
before you start."

"The major will come on with the doctor," Captain Lister said, as, after
taking their coffee next morning, they went out to the trap standing at
the door. Frank looked round the barrack yard, but no one was about. "I
sent them all away before you came, Wyatt. The lads all looked so
woebegone that I put it to them whether they considered that the sight
of their faces was likely to improve your nerve. As to young Wilmington,
he was like a ghost. I had almost to threaten to put him under arrest
before I could persuade him to go without seeing you. No one will be
there but the major. He told me that he considered it his duty to
represent the regiment, but he quite approved of all the others staying
away. He said the fewer there were present at an infamous business like
this the better. By the way, I made a condition with Rankin that you
were to be placed back to back, and neither was to move until the signal
was given; and I insisted that this should be by pistol shot, as
otherwise you could not both see the signal equally well. I said that
this was fairer than for you to stand face to face, and would increase
the chances of the affair not being a fatal one."

"Thank you, Lister. I was wondering whether you had made that condition,
for if we stood ready to fire he might draw his trigger before I did,
and things might go quite differently to what I had decided on. A bad
marksman might hold his fire, but Marshall would rely so implicitly on
his skill that he would be sure to try and get first shot; for if I
fired first and missed, he would know that the feeling against him if he
shot me down afterwards would be very strong."

"Now jump up, lad; I will take the reins. All right."

The soldier servant standing at the head of the horse released the