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  MARION'S FAITH.

  BY THE AUTHOR OF

  "THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER."

  CAPT. CHARLES KING, U.S.A.,

  AUTHOR OF "KITTY'S CONQUEST," ETC.

  PHILADELPHIA:J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.1890.

  Copyright, 1886, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.

  Copyright, 1887, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.

  TO

  The Memory

  OF

  EMMET CRAWFORD,

  CAPTAIN THIRD REGIMENT OF CAVALRY,

  ONE OF THE NOBLEST MEN, ONE OF THE KNIGHTLIEST SOLDIERS, AND ONE OF THEMOST INEXCUSABLE SACRIFICES IN THE HISTORY OF OUR ARMY,

  THIS STORY

  OF SCENES WHEREIN HE WAS LOVED AND HONORED,

  IS DEDICATED.

  PREFACE.

  The kind reception accorded "The Colonel's Daughter" was a surprise anddelight to the author, nevertheless it was a long time before he couldbe induced to write this sequel.

  When Mr. Sam Slick, at the first essay, shot the cork out of a floatingbottle some thirty yards away, he had the deep sagacity never to pulltrigger again, well knowing he could not improve on the initial effort,and so Prudence whispered that with the Finis to the story of JackTruscott and sweet Grace Pelham there had best come a full stop.

  But many a plea has been received to "Tell us more about the --th," andat last the motion prevailed. Thackeray has said, "It is an unfairadvantage which the novelist takes of the hero and heroine to saygood-by to the two as soon as ever they are made husband and wife, and Ihave often wished that we should hear what occurs to the sober marriedman as well as to the ardent bachelor; to the matron as to the blushingspinster." And so, many of the characters of the old story reappearupon the scene. That they will be welcomed for the sake of auld langsyne has been promised, and that they and their associates may find newinterest in the eyes of the indulgent reader is the prayer of

  THE AUTHOR.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I.--TWO TROOPERS 5

  II.--GARRISON TALK 20

  III.--HEROINES 43

  IV.--IMPENDING SHADOWS 59

  V.--MARION SANDFORD 72

  VI.--AT THE FRONT 84

  VII.--WAR RUMORS 100

  VIII.--AT RUSSELL 112

  IX.--RAY TO THE FRONT 125

  X.--A JUNE SUNDAY 147

  XI.--THE WOLF AND THE SHEEPFOLD 162

  XII.--A SERANADE 177

  XIII.--SURROUNDED 189

  XIV.--RAY'S RIDE FOR LIFE 207

  XV.--RESCUE AT DAWN 222

  XVI.--HOW WE HEARD THE NEWS 232

  XVII.--A COWARD'S DEED 246

  XVIII.--DESERTION 257

  XIX.--IN CLOSE ARREST 272

  XX.--A CORNERED RAT 286

  XXI.--RAY'S TROUBLES 296

  XXII.--A SHOT AT MIDNIGHT 309

  XXIII.--IN CLOSER TOILS 322

  XXIV.--THE GRASP OF THE LAW 334

  XXV.--WHOSE GAUNTLET? 345

  XXVI.--REVELATIONS 359

  XXVII.--VINDICATED 373

  XXVIII.--THE COLORS ENTWINE 396

  XXIX.--A CAVALRY WEDDING 419

  MARION'S FAITH.

  A SEQUEL TO THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER.