“Certainly!” was the suppressed reply, for tents are all ears.
Laughingly he continued, “Couldn’t get a pass so came without it. Ha, ha! must be back to-night!”
“Well, there’s no time to lose; go and persuade Annie, and be ready at five P. M. sharp. It is now nearly noon, and all is yet to be done.”
With a bound, Bob was by Annie’s side, while she, half alarmed, was yet too happy in his presence to speak the thoughts that caused her heart to leap with a strange emotion.
It must have been like some wild dream when I said “Annie, Bob has something to say to you alone; so for once he may enter our sanctum.” And unpinning the flap of the little tent attached to a larger one, they disappeared within.
Gathering my scattered thoughts, I ejaculated, “Let’s see, what first? Ah, here comes Mary Blackmar. I want you to put on your other dress and be here at five P. M.”
Her fine hazel eyes dilating in wonder, she exclaimed, “What ails you, Colonel?”
“Nothing, only we are going to have a wedding in camp, and you’re to be second bridesmaid for Annie.”
“Impossible!”
“Can’t be helped. Manage your work somehow. You must come just the same, and Mr. Peek is to stand with you. Good-bye,—we’re off for the clergyman. Remember, five P. M., and, one moment,—not a word in camp.”