“No?” queried Scott with dangerous gentleness.
“No, sir. At least—I—I have no recollection of what I said to you to-day. But from what Captain Grant and the others tell me—”
“So?” put in Scott in seeming amazement. “General Taylor entrusted you with a message to me and you have no recollection of delivering it? General Taylor has indeed an excellent knowledge of men. When it comes to selecting a trustworthy courier or representative—”
“I remember the message, sir,” said Brinton, the pastiness of his cheeks tinged with red. “But I am told I did not deliver it; that I said—”
“I am a rough soldier, Colonel Brinton,” returned Scott. “I am not a member of the diplomatic corps. My mind cannot grasp the intricacies of General Taylor’s motive in sending here a representative who admits that he had one message to deliver, that he did not deliver it, and that he delivered another message whose purport he cannot remember. If General Taylor deals with other military affairs as wisely as he chooses his messengers—”
“General Taylor’s unbroken line of triumphs speaks for him, sir!” flashed Brinton.
“And you are one of those triumphs? A fair sample of the rest?”
“No! You astonish me. And in vino veritas? When your tongue was unguarded by your brain, you inadvertently expressed opinions of me that you and the rest of General Taylor’s staff have no doubt frequently heard from your chief?”
“No, sir. I have never heard General Taylor speak slightingly of you nor of any other man.”