Motionless, stern, erect, he sat there upon his horse, beside a stunted
larch tree. The broncho seemed to understand, for he did not stir, and
had not done so for hours;--they could tell that. The bridle rein was
still in the frigid fingers, and a smile was upon the face.
A smile upon the face of Sergeant Fones!
Perhaps he smiled that he was going to the Barracks of the Free--
"Free among the Dead like unto them that are wounded and lie in the
grave, that are out of remembrance."
In the wild night he had lost his way, though but a few miles from the
barracks.
He had done his duty rigidly in that sphere of life where he had lived so
much alone among his many comrades. Had he exceeded his duty once in
arresting Young Aleck?
When, the next day, Sergeant Fones lay in the barracks, over him the flag
for which he had sworn to do honest service, and his promotion papers in
his quiet hand, the two who loved each other stood beside him for many a
throbbing minute. And one said to herself, silently: "I felt sometimes"
--but no more words did she say even to herself.
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