e! a
mistake! One thought! One duty!"

Making to pass around the corner of the house, he was confronted by
Marta, who had come to the end of the veranda. There, within hearing of
the soldiers, the dialogue that followed was low-toned, and it was swift
and palpitant with repressed emotion.

"Mr. Feller, I saw you at the automatic. I heard what the wounded
private of the Grays said to you and realized how true it was."

"He is a prisoner. He cannot tell."

"Does he need to? You have been seen--the conspicuous figure of a man in
gardener's garb fighting on the very terrace of his own garden! The Gray
staff is bound to hear of such an extraordinary occurrence. It is one of
those stories that travel of themselves. And Westerling will find that
same gardener here when he comes! What hope have you for your ruse,
then?"

"I--I--no matter! I forgot myself, when Lanny had warned me not to go
near the guns. My promise to him! My duty! I accept what I have prepared
for myself--that is a soldier's code."

"But I shall not let you risk your life in this fashion."

"You--" A searching look--a look of fire--from his eyes into hers, which
were bright with appeal.

"I feel that I have no right to let you go to your death by a firing
squad," she interrupted hurriedly, "and I shall not! For I decide now
not to allow the telephone to remain!"

"But my chance--my one chance to--"

"You have it there--happiness in the work you like, the work for which
you seem to have been born--at least, a better work than spying and
deceit--the right that you have won this morning there with the gun!"

"I"--he looked around at the automatic ravenously and fearsomely--"I--"

"It is all simply arranged. There is time for me to use the telephone
before the Grays arrive. I shall tell Lanny why you took charge of the
gun and how you handled it, and I know he will want you to keep it."

"And the uniform--the uniform again! Yes, the uniform--if only a gunner
private's uniform!" he exclaimed in short, pulsating breaths of ecstasy.

"Yes, count on that, too! And good-by!"

"Good-by! I--" But she had already turned away. "I've changed my mind!
Exit gardener! Enter gunner! I'm going with you! I'm going with you!" he
cried in a jubilant voice that arrested the attention of every one on
the grounds. They saw him throw his arms around Stransky and then rush
to the automatic. "One thought! One duty! Oh, that is easy now!" he
breathed, caressing the breec