"I have been seeking you, Lieutenant Fernow!" he said uneasily. "You are alone; has Mr. Alison not been with you?"
"He has just left me."
"I thought as much!" muttered Atkins. "I met him on the stairs. What has happened? What is the trouble between you?"
Walter turned to go. "That, Mr. Atkins, is a matter which concerns him and me alone. Good-night."
Atkins held him back; there was a strange uneasiness in his face. "Listen to reason, Lieutenant Fernow," he said, "and at least, give me an answer. Alison will tell me nothing, but his face says enough. I come to warn you; guard yourself against him!"
Walter shrugged his shoulders. "If you think my life is in danger, you tell me nothing new," he said. "Mr. Alison himself has declared that one of us must leave the world."
"Has he challenged you?"
"He has; and I have told him that the quarrel must rest until the end of the war."
"You little know Henry," said Atkins, "if you think he will submit to that condition. A man driven to madness by passion, does not wait months for his revenge. I do not like the look in his eyes, and I fear it will not be well for you both to sleep to-night under one roof."
"That will not happen," said Walter calmly, "I have to go to the mountains."