Waring's Peril Page 2

  CHAPTER II.

  For twenty-four hours old Brax had been mad as a hornet. He was not muchof a drillmaster or tactician, but he thought he was, and it delightedhim to put his battalion through the form of review, the commands forwhich he had memorized thoroughly and delivered with resonant voice andwith all proper emphasis. What he did not fancy, and indeed could notdo, was the drudge-work of teaching the minutiae of the school of thebattalion, explaining each movement before undertaking its execution.This was a matter he delegated to one of his senior captains. For aweek, therefore, in preparation for a possible visit on the part of thenew brigadier-general or his inspector, the six companies of theregiment stationed at the post had been fairly well schooled in theceremonies of review and parade, and so long as nothing more wasrequired of them than a march past in quick time and a ten minutes'stand in line all might go well. The general had unexpectedly appearedone evening with only a single aide-de-camp, simply, as he explained, toreturn the calls of the officers of the garrison, six or eight of whomhad known enough to present themselves and pay their respects in personwhen he arrived in town. Braxton swelled with gratified pride at thegeneral's praise of the spick-span condition of the parade, the walks,roads, and visible quarters. But it was the very first old-time garrisonthe new chief had ever seen, a splendid fighting record with thevolunteers during the war, and the advantage of taking sides for theUnion from a doubtful State, having conspired to win him a star in theregular service only a year or two before.

  "We would have had out the battery and given you a salute, sir," saidBrax, "had we known you were coming; but it's after retreat now. Nexttime, general, if you'll ride down some day, I'll be proud to give you areview of the whole command. We have a great big field back here."

  And the general had promised to come. This necessitated combinedpreparation, hence the order for full-dress rehearsal with battery andall, and then came confusion. Fresh from the command of his beautifulhorse-battery and the dashing service with a cavalry division, Cramhated the idea of limping along, as he expressed it, behind a battalionof foot, and said so, and somebody told Brax he had said so,--more thanone somebody, probably, for Brax had many an adviser to help keep him introuble. The order that Cram should appear for instruction in review ofinfantry and artillery combined gave umbrage to the battery commander,and his reported remarks thereupon, renewed cause for displeasure to hisgarrison chief.

  "So far as we're concerned," said Cram, who wanted to utilize the goodweather for battery drill, "we need no instruction, as we have done thetrick time and again before; and if we hadn't, who in the bloodyFifty-First is there to teach us? Certainly not old Brax."

  All the same the order was obeyed, and Cram started out that loveliestof lovely spring mornings not entirely innocent of the conviction thathe and his fellows were going to have some fun out of the thing beforethey got through with it. Not that he purposed putting any hitch orimpediment in the way. He meant to do just exactly as he was bid; andso, when adjutant's call had sounded and the blue lines of the infantrywere well out on the field, he followed in glittering column of pieces,his satin-coated horses dancing in sheer exuberance of spirits and hisred-crested cannoneers sitting with folded arms, erect and statuesque,upon the ammunition-chests. Mrs. Cram, in her pretty basket phaeton,with Mrs. Lawrence, of the infantry, and several of the ladies of thegarrison in ambulances or afoot, had taken station well to the front ofthe forming line. Then it became apparent that old Brax purposed tofigure as the reviewing officer and had delegated Major Minor to commandthe troops. Now, Minor had been on mustering and disbursing duty most ofthe war, had never figured in a review with artillery before, and knewno more about battery tactics than Cram did of diplomacy. Mounted on asedate old sorrel, borrowed from the quartermaster for the occasion,with an antiquated, brass-bound Jenifer saddle, minus breast-strap andhousings of any kind, but equipped with his better half's brown leatherbridle, Minor knew perfectly well he was only a guy, and felt indignantat Brax for putting him in so false a plight. He took his station,however, in front of the regimental colors, without stopping to thinkwhere the centre of the line might be after the battery came, and thereawaited further developments. Cram kept nobody waiting, however: hisleading team was close at the nimble heels of Captain Lawrence's companyas it marched gayly forth to the music of the band. He formed sectionsat the trot the instant the ground was clear, then wheeled into line,passed well to the rear of the prolongation of the infantry rank, and bya beautiful countermarch came up to the front and halted exactly at theinstant that Lawrence, with the left flank company, reached his post,each caisson accurately in trace of its piece, each team and carriageexactly at its proper interval, and with his crimson silk guidon on theright flank and little Pierce signalling "up" or "back" from a pointoutside where he could verify the alignment of the gun-wheels on therank of the infantry, Cram was able to command "front" before littleDrake, the adjutant, should have piped out his shrill "Guides posts."

  But Drake didn't pipe. There stood all the companies at support, eachcaptain at the inner flank, and the guides with their inverted musketsstill stolidly gazing along the line. It was time for him to pipe, but,instead of so doing, there he stuck at the extreme right, glaring downtowards the now immovable battery and its serene commander, and thelittle adjutant's face was getting redder and puffier every minute.

  "Go ahead! What are you waiting for?" hoarsely whispered the seniorcaptain.

  "Waiting for the battery to dress," was the stanch reply. Then aloud theshrill voice swept down the line: "Dress that battery to the right!"

  Cram looked over a glittering shoulder to the right of the line, wherestood the diminutive infantryman. The battery had still its warallowance of horses, three teams to each carriage, lead, swing, andwheel, and that brought its captain far out to the front of the sombreblue rank of foot,--so far out, in fact, that he was about on line withMajor Minor, though facing in opposite direction. Perfectly confidentthat he was exactly where he should be, yet equally determined to abideby any order he might receive, even though he fully understood the causeof Drake's delay, Cram promptly rode over to the guidon and ordered"Right dress," at which every driver's head and eyes were promptlyturned, but not an inch of a wheel, for the alignment simply could notbe improved. Then after commanding "front" the captain as deliberatelytrotted back to his post without so much as a glance at the irate staffofficer. It was just at this juncture that the bay colt came tearingdown the field, his mane and tail streaming in the breeze, his reins andstirrups dangling. In the course of his gyrations about the battery andthe sympathetic plunging of the teams some slight disarrangementoccurred. But when he presently decided on a rush for the stables, thecaptain re-established the alignment as coolly as before, and onlynoticed as he resumed his post that the basket phaeton and Mrs. Cram hadgone. Alarmed, possibly, by the non-appearance of her warm friend Mr.Waring and the excited gambolings of his vagrant steed, she had promptlydriven back to the main garrison to see if any accident had occurred,the colt meantime amusing himself in a game of fast-and-loose with thestable guard.

  Then it was that old Brax came down and took a hand. Riding to whereMinor still sat on his patient sorrel, the senior bluntly inquired,--

  "What the devil's the matter?"

  "I don't know," said Minor.

  "Who does know?"

  "Well, Drake, possibly, or else he doesn't know anything. He's beentrying to get Cram to dress his battery back."

  "Why, yes, confound it! he's a mile ahead of the line," said thecolonel, and off he trotted to expostulate with the batteryman. "CaptainCram, isn't there room for your battery back of the line instead of infront of it?" inquired the chief, in tone both aggrieved and aggressive.

  "Lots, sir," answered Cram, cheerfully. "Just countermarched there."

  "Then I wish you'd oblige me by moving back at once, sir: you'redelaying the whole ceremony here. I'm told Mr. Drake has twice orderedyou to dress to the right."

  "I've heard it, sir, on
ly once, but have dressed twice, so it's allright," responded Cram, as affably as though he had no other aim in lifethan to gratify the whims of his post commander.

  "Why, confound it, sir, it isn't all right by a da---- good deal! Hereyou are 'way out on line with Major Minor, and your battery's---- why,it isn't dressed on our rank at all, sir. Just look at it."

  Cram resumed the carry with the sabre he had lowered in salute, calmlyreversed so as to face his battery, and, with preternatural gravity ofmien, looked along his front. There midway between his lead drivers satMr. Doyle, his face well-nigh as red as his plume, his bleary eyesnearly popping out of his skull in his effort to repress the emotionsexcited by this colloquy. There midway between the lead drivers in theleft section sat Mr. Ferry, gazing straight to the front over theerected ears of his handsome bay and doing his very best to keep asolemn face, though the unshaded corners of his boyish mouth weretwitching with mischief and merriment. There, silent, disciplined, andrigid, sat the sergeants, drivers, and cannoneers of famous old LightBattery "X," all agog with interest in the proceedings and all lookingas though they never heard a word.

  "I declare, sir," said Cram, with exasperating civility, "I can seenothing out of the way. Will you kindly indicate what is amiss?"

  This was too much for Ferry. In his effort to restrain his merrimentand gulp down a rising flood of laughter there was heard an explosionthat sounded something like the sudden collapse of an inflated paperbag, and old Brax, glaring angrily at the boy, now red in the face withmingled mirth and consternation, caught sudden idea from the sight. Wasthe battery laughing at--was the battery commander guying--him? Was itpossible that they were profiting by his ignorance of their regulations?It put him on his guard and suggested a tentative.

  "Do you mean that you are right in being so far ahead of our lineinstead of dressed upon it?" asked he of the big blond soldier in theglittering uniform. "Where do you find authority for it?"

  "Oh, perfectly right, colonel. In fact, for six years past I've neverseen it done any other way. You'll find the authority on page 562, FieldArtillery Tactics of 1864."

  For a moment Brax was dumb; he had long heard of Cram as an expert inhis own branch of the service; but presently he burst forth:

  "Well, in _our_ tactics there's reason for every blessed thing we do,but I'll be dinged if I can see rhyme or reason in such a formation asthat. Why, sir, your one company takes up more room than my six,--makestwice as much of a show. Of course if a combined review is to show offthe artillery it's all very well. However, go ahead, if you think you'reright, sir; go ahead! I'll inquire into this later."

  "I know we're right, colonel; and as for the reason, you'll see it whenyou open ranks for review and we come to 'action front:' then our linewill be exactly that of the infantry. Meantime, sir, it isn't for us togo ahead. We've gone as far as we can until your adjutant makes the nextmove."

  But Braxton had ridden away disgusted before Cram wound up his remarks.

  "Go on, Major Minor; just run this thing without reference to thebattery. Damned if I understand their methods. Let Cram look after hisown affairs; if he goes wrong, why--it's none of our concern."

  And so Minor had nodded "Go ahead" to Mr. Drake, and presently the wholecommand made its bow, so to speak, to Minor as its immediate chief, andthen he drew sword and his untried voice became faintly audible. Theorders "Prepare for review" and "To the rear open order" were instantlyfollowed by a stentorian "Action front" down at the left, the instantleap and rush of some thirty nimble cannoneers, shouts of "Drive on!"the cracking of whips, the thunder and rumble of wheels, the thud ofplunging hoofs. Forty-eight mettlesome horses in teams of two abreastwent dancing briskly away to the rear, at sight of which Minor droppedhis jaw and the point of his sword and sat gazing blankly after them,over the bowed head of his placid sorrel, wondering what on earth itmeant that they should all be running away at the very instant when heexpected them to brace up for review. But before he could give utteranceto his thoughts eight glossy teams in almost simultaneous sweep to theleft about came sharply around again. The black muzzles of the guns werepointed to the front, every axle exactly in the prolongation of hisfront rank, every little group of red-topped, red-trimmed cannoneersstanding erect and square, the chiefs of section and of pieces sittinglike statues on their handsome horses, the line of limbers accuratelycovering the guns, and, still farther back, Mr. Pierce could be heardshouting his orders for the alignment of the caissons. In the twinklingof an eye the rush and thunder were stilled, the battery without thetwitch of a muscle stood ready for review, and old Brax, sitting insaddle at the reviewing point, watching the stirring sight with gloomyand cynical eye, was chafed still more to hear in a silvery voice fromthe group of ladies the unwelcome words, "Oh, wasn't that pretty!" Hemeant with all his heart to pull in some of the plumage of thoseconfounded "woodpeckers," as he called them, before the day was over.

  In grim silence, therefore, he rode along the front of the battalion,taking little comfort in the neatness of their quaint old-fashionedgarb, the single-breasted, long-skirted frock-coats, the bulging blackfelt hats looped up on one side and decked with skimpy black feather,the glistening shoulder-scales and circular breastplates, the polish oftheir black leather belts, cartridge- and cap-boxes andbayonet-scabbards. It was all trim and soldierly, but he was bottling uphis sense of annoyance for the benefit of Cram and his people. Yet whatcould he say? Neither he nor Minor had ever before been brought intosuch relations with the light artillery, and he simply didn't know whereto hit. Lots of things looked queer, but after this initial experiencehe felt it best to say nothing until he could light on a point that noone could gainsay, and he found it in front of the left section.

  "Where is Mr. Waring, sir?" he sternly asked.

  "I wish I knew, colonel. His horse came back without him, as youdoubtless saw, and, as he hasn't appeared, I'm afraid of accident."

  "How did he come to leave his post, sir? I have no recollection ofauthorizing anything of the kind."

  "Certainly not, colonel. He rode back to his quarters with my consentbefore adjutant's call had sounded, and he should have been with usagain in abundant time."

  "That young gentleman needs more discipline than he is apt to receive atthis rate, Captain Cram, and I desire that you pay closer attention tohis movements than you have done in the past.--Mr. Drake," he said tohis adjutant, who was tripping around after his chief afoot, "call onMr. Waring to explain his absence in writing and without delay.--Thisindifference to duty is something to which I am utterly unaccustomed,"continued Braxton, again addressing Cram, who preserved a mostuncompromising serenity of countenance; and with this parting shot thecolonel turned gruffly away and soon retook his station at the reviewingpoint.

  Then came the second hitch. Minor had had no experience whatever, as hasbeen said, and he first tried to wheel into column of companies withoutclosing ranks, whereupon every captain promptly cautioned "Stand fast,"and thereby banished the last remnant of Minor's senses. Seeing thatsomething was wrong, he tried again, this time prefacing with "Pass inreview," and still the captains were implacable. The nearest one, in astage whisper, tried to make the major hear "Close order, first." Butall the time Brax was losing more of his temper and Minor what was leftof his head, and Brax came down like the wolf on the fold, gave thecommand to "Close order" himself, and was instantly echoed by Cram'spowerful shout "Limber to the rear," followed by "Pieces left about!Caissons forward!" Then in the rumble and clank of the respondingbattery, Minor's next command was heard by only the right wing of thebattalion, and the company wheels were ragged. So was the next part ofthe performance when he started to march in review, never waiting, ofcourse, for the battery to wheel into column of sections. This omission,however, in no wise disconcerted Cram, who, following at rapid walk,soon gained on the rear of column, passing his post commander inbeautiful order and with most accurate salute on the part of himself andofficers, and, observing this, Minor took heart, and, recovering hissenses
to a certain extent, gave the command "Guide left" in abundanttime to see that the new guides were accurately in trace, therebyinsuring what he expected to find a beautiful wheel into line to theleft, the commands for which movement he gave in louder and moreconfident tone, but was instantly nonplussed by seeing the battery wheelinto line to the _right_ and move off in exactly the opposite directionfrom what he had expected. This was altogether too much for hisequanimity. Digging his spurs into the flanks of the astonished sorrel,he darted off after Cram, waving his sword, and shouting,--

  "_Left_ into line wheel, captain. _Left_ into line wheel."

  In vain Mr. Pierce undertook to explain matters. Minor presumed thatthe artilleryman had made an actual blunder and was only enabled tocorrect it by a countermarch, and so rode back to his position in frontof the centre of the reforming line, convinced that at last he hadcaught the battery commander.

  When Braxton, therefore, came down to make his criticisms and commentsupon the conduct of the review, Minor was simply amazed to find thatinstead of being in error Cram had gone exactly right and as prescribedby his drill regulations in wheeling to the right and gaining ground tothe rear before coming up on the line. He almost peevishly declared thathe wished the colonel, if he proposed having a combined review, wouldassume command himself, as he didn't care to be bothered withcombination tactics of which he had never had previous knowledge. Beingof the same opinion, Braxton himself took hold, and the nextperformance, though somewhat erroneous in many respects, was a slightimprovement on the first, though Braxton did not give time for thebattery to complete one movement before he would rush it into another.When the officers assembled to compare notes during the rest after thesecond repetition, Minor growled that this was "a little better, yet notgood," which led to some one suggesting in low tone that the major gothis positives and comparatives worse mixed than his tactics, andinquiring further "whether it might not be well to dub him Minor Major."The laughter that followed this sally naturally reached the ears of theseniors, and so Brax never let up on the command until the review wentoff without an error of any appreciable weight, without, in fact, "ahitch in the fut or an unhitch in the harse," as Doyle expressed it. Itwas high noon when the battalion got back to barracks and the officershung out their moist clothing to dry in the sun. It was near one whenthe battery men, officers and all, came steaming up from the stables,and there was the colonel's orderly with the colonel's compliments anddesires to see Captain Cram before the big battery man had time tochange his dress.

  Braxton's first performance on getting into cool habiliments was to goover to his office and hunt through the book-shelves for a volume inwhich he never before had felt the faintest interest,--the LightArtillery Tactics of 1864. There on his desk lay a stack of mailunopened, and Mr. Drake was already silently inditing the summary noteto the culprit Waring. Brax wanted first to see with his own eyes theinstructions for light artillery when reviewed with other troops,vaguely hoping that there might still he some point on which to catchhis foeman on the hip. But if there were he did not find it. He wastactician enough to see that even if Cram had formed with his leadingdrivers on line with the infantry, as Braxton thought he should havedone, neither of the two methods of forming into battery would then havegot his guns where they belonged. Cram's interpretation of the text wasbacked by the custom of service, and there was no use criticising itfurther. And so, after discontentedly hunting through the dust-coveredpages awhile in hopes of stumbling on some codicil or rebuttal, thecolonel shut it with a disgusted snap and tossed the offending tome onthe farthest table. At that moment Brax could have wished the board ofofficers who prepared the Light Artillery Tactics in the nethermostdepths of the neighboring swamp. Then he turned on his silent staffofficer,--a not unusual expedient.

  "Why on earth, Mr. Drake, didn't you look up that point, instead ofmaking such a break before the whole command?"

  "I couldn't find anything about it in Casey, sir, anywhere," replied theperturbed young man. "I didn't know where else to look."

  "Well, you might have asked Mr. Ferry or Mr. Pierce. The Lord knows youwaste enough time with 'em."

  "_You_ might have asked Captain Cram," was what Drake wanted to say, butwisely did not. He bit the end of his penholder instead, and bridled histongue and temper.

  "The next time I have a review with a mounted battery, by George!" saidthe post commander, finally, bringing his fist down on the table with acrash, "I just--won't have it."

  He had brought down the pile of letters as well as his fist, and Drakesprang to gather them, replacing them on the desk and dexterouslyslipping a paper-cutter under the flap of each envelope as he did so. Atthe very first note he opened, Brax threw himself back in his chair witha long whistle of mingled amazement and concern, then turned suddenly onhis adjutant.

  "What became of Mr. Waring? He wasn't hurt?"

  "Not a bit, sir, that I know of. He drove to town with Captain Cram'steam,--at least I was told so,--and left that note for you there, sir."

  "He did!--left the post and left a note for me? Why!----" But hereBraxton broke off short, tore open the note, and read:

  "MY DEAR COLONEL,--I trust you will overlook the informality of my goingto town without previously consulting you. I had purposed, of course,asking your permission, but the mishap that befell me in the runaway ofmy horse prevented my appearance at the review, and had I waited yourreturn from the field it would have compelled me to break my engagementwith our friends the Allertons. Under the circumstances I felt sure ofyour complaisance.

  "As I hope to drive Miss Allerton down after the _matinee_, might it notbe a good idea to have dress-parade and the band out? They have seen thebattery drills, but are much more desirous of seeing the infantry. "Most sincerely yours, "S. G. WARING."

  "Well, for consummate impudence this beats the Jews!" exclaimed Brax."Orderly, my compliments to Captain Cram, and say I wish to see him atonce, if he's back from stables."

  Now, as has been said, Cram had had no time to change to undressuniform, but Mrs. Cram had received the orderly's message, had informedthat martial Mercury that the captain was not yet back from stables, andthat she would tell him at once on his return. Well she knew thatmischief was brewing, and her woman's wit was already enlisted in behalfof her friend. Hurriedly pencilling a note, she sent a messenger to herliege, still busy with his horses, to bid him come to her, if only for amoment, on his way to the office. And when he came, heated, tired, butbubbling over with eagerness to tell her of the fun they had been havingwith Brax, she met him with a cool tankard of "shandygaff," which he hadlearned to like in England among the horse-artillery fellows, anddeclared the very prince of drinks after active exercise in hot weather.He quaffed it eagerly, flung off his shako and kissed her gratefully,and burst all at once into laughing narration of the morning's work, butshe checked him:

  "Ned, dear, don't stop for that yet. I know you're too full of tact tolet Colonel Braxton see it was any fun for you, and he's waiting at theoffice. Something tells me it's about Mr. Waring. Now put yourself inMr. Waring's place. Of course he ought never to have made thatengagement until he had consulted you, but he never dreamed that therewould be a review to-day, and so he invited the Allertons to breakfastwith him at Moreau's and go to the _matinee_."

  "Why, that rascal Ananias said it was to breakfast at the general's,"interrupted the battery commander.

  "Well, perhaps he was invited there too. I believe I did hear somethingof that. But he had made this arrangement with the Allertons. Now, ofcourse, if review were over at ten he could just about have time todress and catch the eleven-o'clock car, but that would make it verylate, and when Bay Billy broke away from Ananias nobody could catch himfor over half an hour. Mr. Ferry had taken the section, Mr. Waringwasn't needed, and---- Why, Ned, when I drove in, fearing tofind him injured, and saw him standing there the picture ofconsternation and despair, and he told me about his engagement, I saidmyself, 'Why don't you go n
ow?' I told him it was what you surely wouldsay if you were here. Neither of us thought the colonel would object, solong as you approved, and he wrote such a nice note. Why, Ned, he onlyjust had time to change his dress and drive up with Jeffers----"

  "With Jeffers? With my--er--our team and wagon? Well, I like----"

  "Of course you like it, you old darling. She's such a dear girl, thoughjust a little bit gushing, you know. Why, I said, certainly the teamshould go. But, Ned, here's what I'm afraid of. Mrs. Braxton saw itdrive in at nine-thirty, just after Billy ran away, and she askedJeffers who was going, and he told her Mr. Waring, and she has told thecolonel, I'll wager. Now, what you have got to do is to explain that tohim, so that he won't blame Mr. Waring."

  "The dickens I have! The most barefaced piece of impudence even SamWaring was ever guilty of--to me, at least, though I've no doubt he'sdone worse a dozen times. Why, bless your heart, Nell, how can Iexplain? You might, but----"

  "But would you have me suppose my big soldier couldn't handle thatmatter as well as I? No, sir! Go and do it, sir. And, mind you, I'mgoing to invite them all up here to the gallery to hear the band playand have a cup of tea and a nibble when they come down this evening.He's going to drive the Allertons here."

  "Worse and more of it! Why, you conspiracy in petticoats, you'll be theruin of me! Old Brax is boiling over now. If he dreams that Waring hasbeen taking liberties with him he'll fetch him up so short----"

  "Exactly! You mustn't let him. You must tell him I sent him up with yourteam--yours, mind you--to keep his engagement, since it was impossiblefor him to come back to review ground. Of course he wouldn't expect himto appear afoot."

  "Don't know about that, Nell. I reckon that's the way he'll order outthe whole gang of us next time. He's had his fill of mounted workto-day."

  "Well, if he should, you be sure to acquiesce gracefully now. Whatsoeveryou do, don't let him put Mr. Waring in arrest while Gwen Allerton ishere. It would spoil--everything."

  "Oh, match-making, is it? Then I'll try." And so, vexed, but laughing,half indignant, yet wholly subordinate to the whim of his beloved betterhalf, the captain hastened over, and found Colonel Braxton sitting withgloomy brow at his littered desk, his annoyance of the morning evidentlyforgotten in matters more serious.

  "Oh--er--Cram, come in, come in, man," said he, distractedly. "Here's amatter I want to see you about. It's--well, just take that letter andread. Sit down, sit down. Read, and tell me what we ought to do aboutit."

  And as Cram's blue eyes wandered over the written page they began todilate. He read from start to finish, and then dropped his head into hishand, his elbow on his knee, his face full of perplexity and concern.

  "What do you think of it? Is there any truth----" and the colonelhesitated.

  "As to their being seen together, perhaps. As to the other,--thechallenge,--I don't believe it."

  "Well, Cram, this is the second or third letter that has come to me inthe same hand. Now, you must see to it that he returns and doesn't quitthe post until this matter is arranged."

  "I'll attend to it, sir," was the answer.

  And so that evening, while Waring was slowly driving his friends aboutthe shaded roads under the glistening white pillars of the rows ofofficers' quarters, chatting joyously with them and describing theobjects so strange to their eyes, Mrs. Cram's "little foot-page" came tobeg that they should alight a few minutes and take a cup of tea. Theycould not. The Allertons were engaged, and it was necessary to driveback at once to town, but they stopped for a moment to chat with theirpretty hostess under the gallery, and then a moment later, as theyrolled out of the resounding sally-port, an orderly ran up, saluted, andslipped a note in Waring's hand.

  "It is immediate, sir," was his explanation.

  "Ah! Miss Allerton, will you pardon me one moment?" said Waring, as heshifted whip and reins into the left hand and turned coolly up the leveeroad. Then with the right he forced open and held up the missive.

  It only said, "Whatsoever you do, be here before taps to-night. Comedirect to me, and I will explain. "Your friend, "CRAM."

  "All right," said Waring, aloud. "My compliments to the captain, andsay I'll be with him."

  But even with this injunction he failed to appear. Midnight came withouta word from Waring, and the morning dawned and found him absent still.