He paused and studied the telegram.
"No. This means the beginning of a blood feud. The time's ripe for it."
"We'll have better news to-morrow," Stuart hoped.
"We'll have worse. I've been looking for something like this since the day I heard old Brown harangue a mob at Lawrence."
He stopped short.
"You'll have to give me back that order, my boy."
Stuart's face fell.
"Colonel, I've just got to see that girl, if it's only for a day—"
He slowly handed the order back to the Commandant. Sumner watched the red blood mount to Stuart's face with a look of sympathy.
"Is it as bad as that, boy?"