w--"

"Oh, the silence is understood," said Monroe, "and as for the rest--we
will forget it; the evidence was enough to hang a man these exciting
times."

"And you ran the risk? Captain, you may wonder that I ask your
silence, but you talked with her here; you probably know that to me
she is--"

Monroe raised his hand in protest.

"I don't know anything, Colonel. I heard you were a benedict, but it
may be only hearsay; I was not a witness; if I had been you would not
have found me a silent one! But it is too late now, and we had better
not talk about it," he said, anxious to get away from the strained,
unhappy eyes of the man he has always known as the most care-free of
cadets. "With your permission I will pay my respects to your sister,
whom I noticed across the hall, but in the meantime, I don't know a
thing!"

As he crossed the hall Gertrude Loring descended the stairs and
paused, looking after him wonderingly, and then turned into the
library. Colonel McVeigh was seated at the table again, his face
buried in his hands.

"Kenneth!"

He raised his head, and she hesitated, staring at him. "Kenneth, you
are ill; you--"

"No; it is really nothing," he said, as he rose, "I am a trifle tired,
I believe; absurd, isn't it? and--and very busy just now, so--"

"Oh, I shan't detain you a moment," she said, hastily, "but I saw
Captain Monroe in the hall, and I was so amazed when Phil told us you
had released him."

"I knew you would be, but he is an innocent man, and his arrest was
all a mistake. Pray, tell mother for me that I have apologized to
Captain Monroe, and he is to be our guest until tomorrow. I am sure
she will be pleased to hear it."

"Oh, yes, of course," agreed Gertrude, "but Kenneth, the guard has
arrived, and who will they take in his place for court-martial?"

She spoke lightly, but there was a subtle meaning back of her words.
He felt it, and met her gaze with a sombre smile.

"Perhaps myself," he answered, quietly.

"Oh, Kenneth!"

"There, there!" he said, reassuringly; "don't worry about the future,
what is, is enough for today, little girl."

He had opened the door for her as though anxious to be alone; she
understood, and was almost in the hall when the other door into the
library opened, and glancing over her shoulder she saw Judithe
standing there gazing after her, with a peculiar look.

She glanced up at Kenneth McVeigh, and saw his face suddenly grow
white, and stern; then the d