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."
"And my mother?" The question was a trembling whisper from quivering
lips.
"Your mother," he said, regretfully, "was an exceedingly proud woman,
belonging to a family of social prominence in the East. She felt
deeply the causeless gossip connecting her name with the case, as well
as the open disgrace of her husband's conviction.
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