"But what about bail, Mr. Blake? How soon can he--will he return here?"
"He desires no bail, Mrs. Stannard; jail is preferable to Fort Russell so far as his treatment is concerned," he said, indignantly. "You seem to be the only friend he has."
Mrs. Stannard flushed and lowered her voice.
"Did you explain to him, or rather did he ask why Mrs. Truscott could not receive his letter?"
"What was there to explain? What was there to ask?" he broke forth in wrath. "Only one explanation was possible, and of course I would not speak of it. What could any one think but that she believed him guilty, and would have no communication with him?"
That was a shot that told. Before Mrs. Stannard could reply there was a rustle of skirts and a stifled sob within the hall-way, a rush of light footsteps up the stairs, but the door opened and Marion Sanford appeared. Blake started to see how white and wan and sad she looked, but she came straight to him.
"Good-morning, Mr. Blake; we were coming out to see you as you spoke, Mrs. Truscott and I. We do not wonder that you and Mr. Ray should feel as you do, but that was all a piteous mistake about that letter last night." She held forth her soft white hand. "Shake hands, Mr. Blake. It wasn"t at all what you thought; it was a very, very different reason, and he will forgive when he knows. You brought a note from him last night. Will you take this to him from me?"
"Let me run in and see Mrs. Truscott a moment," said Mrs. Stannard at this juncture, and hurried into the hall, leaving them alone on the piazza.
Blake noted the dark circles under her pleading eyes; he saw plainly the evidences of anxiety and sorrow; he could not but see that, despite the resolution of her words and manner, her voice was tremulous, and the brave eyes that looked unflinchingly into his were filling with tears she could not repress. He recalled all her enthusiasm in that still uncompleted purchase of Dandy, in her munificence to Hogan. He knew well that no matter how he might have misjudged Mrs. Truscott"s motives he had no right or reason, whatever, in letting himself think that this brave, glorious, loyal girl could have been shaken one instant in her faith in his friend. Why, even Ray had checked him sternly when, during the night, he had once burst forth in an impetuous tirade against the worthlessness of a woman"s faith, and now he could have kicked himself had it been anatomically possible even for his marvellous length and loose-jointedness of leg. In default thereof he would have dropped on his knee; but somebody, several somebodies, watched the interesting interview from a distance. He bowed over the extended hand as a courtier might over that of a queen; he wished he dare kiss it on the same--on any basis, but he took it warmly.
"Forgive me for every word, Miss Sanford; but I"ve been sore tried of late."
"I would be less apt to forgive you if you did _not_ resent every suspicion of Mr. Ray. It is too late to undo last night"s wretched work, or the misery it caused us. I have tried to explain it all for Mrs.
Truscott, but what I want now is to know what he needs. Is it money, or influence, or anything? Tell me truly, Mr. Blake; I want to know all you can tell me."
"You shall know before I tell another soul. As yet,--forgive me again,--this will supply his greatest need." And holding up her note, he turned quickly away.
She was blushing now--crimson,--but there was something she had to know, and so recalled him.
"Has anything new been discovered,--have any steps been taken towards finding the murderer?"
"Mr. Green, the lawyer whom we have consulted, has had an interview with Ray, and he has a clue now of some kind that is being investigated."
"And you know whom he suspects?"
"He has not told me, Miss Sanford, and--something that occurred recently in the garrison had set me to asking him questions which he declined to answer,--another matter entirely,--I saw he had reasons for keeping it to himself----"
"Mr. Blake, have you still that note he sent last night?"
"No; he burned that this morning."
"Has he said nothing--nothing to indicate whom he suspects?"
"Not to me--as yet. We have had too much to attend to, perhaps, but it is plainly something he hates to allude to."
"Look! Mr. Blake; they are calling you--down the row. You will come back and tell us what it is?"
"Yes, and at once."
Warner and Mr. Green were indeed calling him. Among the letters in the breast-pocket of Gleason"s blouse were three signed Rallston. They were reading them with eager interest when the little detective from Denver sauntered in from the rear room.
"This--a--gauntlet, lieutenant, was lying with some other things on top of the bureau. Were you going to pack it in the trunk?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well, a single right-hand glove won"t be of much use to the relatives of the deceased, especially an old worn one like this. Where"s the mate?"
"I don"t remember seeing one."
"Well, you soldiers don"t generally keep one glove without the other.
Where was this before you put it with the things?"
"I picked it off the floor near the head of the bed."
"And there wasn"t another thereabouts?"
"I saw none."
The detective went back to his work, and the officers with Mr. Green to the letters. When they had read them through to the end, Blake arose.
"You will admit, Mr. Warner, that I have excellent reason for asking and expecting permission to rejoin my incarcerated friend now," said he, with sarcastic emphasis. "If _that_ doesn"t knock the court-martial charges cold as a wedge, what will?"
"I never fully believed Mr. Ray guilty of those charges, Blake, and you know it. I must see the colonel, of course, and show him these letters."
"Pardon me, Mr. Warner," said the lawyer. "Tell him of them if you see fit, but as Mr. Ray"s legal adviser I do not propose to let such important evidence for the defence fall into the hands of the prosecution." (Warner flushed hotly.) "I do not refer to you, my dear sir, but to your commanding officer, who is understood to have worked up the case against my client, and will naturally feel chagrined to find what liars his witnesses were. Human nature, sir; human nature."
"No, Warner, I don"t mean you either,--in that case, that is," said Blake, all excitement over the late discoveries; "but these are _ours_, and by gad! we mean to hold them. Whoop! _Fiat just.i.tia_, rue it, Whaling"s! Go and tell your distinguished chief that I will be pleased to know whether he has considered my application yet. Here! Hold on, Warner. D--n it all, man! I"m unpardonable for mixing you and him up in the matter. Forgive me, but I"m all unstrung these last few days. If you fellows only knew Ray as we do there wouldn"t have been this trouble."
And they shook hands, and Warner went off to see his chief, and had a quick conversation with him that brought the blood to the usually colorless face of the well-preserved veteran. The colonel arose hastily and said he would go with them. _He_ wanted to see those letters, and he did, and looked strangely perturbed as they were read to him, and then Blake again preferred his request for permission to visit town and to remain all night. The colonel hemmed and hawed. These papers, of course, had an important bearing on the case as it originally stood before the court-martial as ordered, but matters had changed materially. "Mr. Ray is now on trial for his life, you see, and before, he was only on trial for--a----"
"Only for his honor," put in Blake, at the instant. "Very true, colonel, only for his honor, and we have a singular fashion in our regiment of looking upon the one as quite as important as the other."
The colonel was wrathy. He was essentially what is called an office soldier. He had regulations and papers at his fingers" ends; his whole army existence had been spent in the preservation of his health and the cultivation of the peaceful branches of his art. No one ever heard of his shooting, riding, hunting, or taking a risk of any kind. His habits were methodical as those of the office clock, and his one dissipation was the billiard-table. His theory of success was founded on common sense: Take care of your health, avoid dissipation, shun any and all danger, volunteer for nothing, do only what you are compelled to do, shift all possible work on somebody else"s shoulders, preserve a purely negative record, and--you are bound to rise to the highest grades in the army. It must be admitted that the laws of promotion are admirably calculated to foster just such a line of argument, and that Whaling"s "head was level." Now, though wrathy at Blake, he saw at once that he had been egregiously deceived as to the evidence to be given by Rallston on the pending court; it was better policy to avoid all that might look like persecution of Ray or Ray"s friends; he gave a moment of thought to the matter, and then said,--
"You may go, Mr. Blake, because I desire you and your regiment to understand that I have no wish to obtrude my ideas of discipline upon you at such a time. At any other I would not have overlooked your misconduct."
"At any other time, sir, it probably would not have occurred," said Blake, still hotly; but the entrance of the detective put an end to the talk. He still carried the gauntlet in his hand.
"There is no mate to this in that room. What is more, this glove never belonged to Lieutenant Gleason; it is four sizes too small for him. What officer or soldier ever wore one like that?" he asked.
It was a worn and rein-soiled gauntlet, originally of white wash-leather, finely st.i.tched in silk, and with a cuff or gauntlet heavily stiffened with leather inside; and this cuff instead of being joined was slashed from wrist to end on the under side, and three little b.u.t.tons and straps were used to fasten it snugly to the arm after being slipped over the hand. It was utterly unlike any gauntlet in use in the United States cavalry at the time; it was utterly unlike those for sale in the stores of Cheyenne. Blake examined it curiously, but could remember none that resembled it. Leaving the others examining the glove, he walked up the row.
Mrs. Stannard and Marion both came down. The mere sight of his face brought eagerness and hope into their eyes. It was to be observed at this juncture that Mrs. Stannard"s arm was around that slender waist.
The symptom has no significance, of course, among school-girls or womanhood in general, but it meant a good deal where either one of these women was concerned, and Blake knew it.
"What wouldn"t I give if the major were only here!" he exclaimed, impetuously. "There are three letters from Rallston there with a lot of others, showing clearly what a conspiracy had been worked up against Ray by that--by Gleason. The last one was written in Denver only two days before--only three days ago, and it shows that he had completely gone back on Gleason, and accuses him of all manner of blackguardly work. He _had_ some conscience after all, for he swears he never thought Gleason would use what he told him to get Ray into trouble. He was mad because Ray wouldn"t pa.s.s his horses. Oh, it breaks up the whole business! Green thinks he should be secured at once, and is going to have the detectives after him the moment we can telegraph. Whew! Excuse me, ladies, but I"m warm!" And Blake leaned limply against the railing and mopped his brow.
"Mr. Blake, have you eaten a thing to-day?" asked Mrs. Stannard. "Do come in and let me get you a sandwich and a gla.s.s of wine."
"Not a morsel! I want to hurry back to town to hug Billy. I"m only waiting for Green. He tells me that everything can be arranged so that Ray shall stay where I left him,--in a comfortable room in the jailor"s home instead of where that old bag of skin and bones thought he"d get him." And he vengefully shook his fist at the colonel, who was returning homeward to tell his wife the wonderful tidings of the discoveries in Gleason"s pockets. Mrs. Stannard had not smiled for two entire days, but Blake"s reviving spirits and the welcome news combined to bring back the sunshine to her tired face. Marion, too, though listening in silence to what was said, clung closer to her friend, and looked up with thanksgiving in her eyes. Just then the lawyer and the little detective came, talking earnestly together, up the row, and, naturally, all three studied their looks and gestures with eager attention.
"That little Denverite is on a scent," said Blake in a low tone; "he has been hunting high and low for a mate to a peculiar gauntlet that was found there. He says Gleason could never have owned it."