"These are the papers, Naida. I opened the envelope as directed, and

found deeds to certain properties, including the mine in the Black

Range; a will, duly signed and attested, naming you as his sole heir,

together with a carefully prepared letter, addressed to you, giving a

full account of the crime of which he was convicted, as well as some

other matters of a personal nature. That letter you must read alone as

his last message, but the truth of all he says has since been proved."

She glanced up at him quickly. "By Murphy?"

"Yes, by Murphy, who is now lying in the hospital at Bethune, slowly

recovering. His sworn deposition has been forwarded to the Department

at Washington, and will undoubtedly result in the honorable replacing

of your father's name on the Army List. I will tell you briefly the

man's confession, together with the few additional facts necessary to

make it clear.

"Your father and mine were for many years friends and army comrades.

They saw service together during the great war, and afterward upon the

plains in Indian campaigning. Unfortunately a slight misunderstanding

arose between them. This, while not serious in itself, was made bitter

by the interference of others, and the unaccountable jealousies of

garrison life. One night they openly quarrelled when heated by wine,

and exchanged blows. The following evening, your father chancing to be

officer of the guard and on duty, my father, whose wife had then been

dead a year, was thoughtless enough to accompany Mrs. Nolan home at a

late hour from the post ball. It was merely an act of ordinary

courtesy; but gossips magnified the tale, and bore it to Nolan. Still

smarting from the former quarrel, in which I fear my father was in the

wrong, he left the guard-house with the openly avowed intention of

seeking immediate satisfaction. In the meanwhile Slavin, Murphy, and a

trooper named Flynn, who had been to town without passes, and were

half-drunk, stole through the guard lines, and decided to make a

midnight raid on the colonel's private office. Dodging along behind

the powder-house, they ran suddenly upon my father, then on the way to

his own quarters. Whether they were recognized by him, or whether

drink made them reckless of consequences, is unknown, but one of the

men instantly fired. Then they ran, and succeeded in gaining the

barracks unsuspected."

She sat as if fascinated by his recital.

"Your father heard the shot, and sprang toward the sound, only to fall

headlong across my father's lifeless body. As he came down heavily,

his revolver was jarred out of its holster and dropped unnoticed in the

grass. An instant later the guard came running up, and by morning

Captain Nolan was under arrest, charged with murder. The

circumstantial evidence was strong--his quarrel with the murdered man,

his heated language a few moments previous, the revolver lying beside

the body, having two chambers discharged, and his being found there

alone with the man he had gone forth to seek. Slavin and Flynn both

strengthened the case by positive testimony. As a result, a court

martial dismissed the prisoner in disgrace from the army, and a civil

court sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment."




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