"At once, sir."
"You have had a long ride, Carey, so need rest for a few hours. But you can start early in the morning, and more, you are to command the Indian police."
"Yes, sir, they are known to me," was the modest reply.
"And you are well known to them, Carey. But you are to have a support follow you, in case of trouble, which I fear will follow. As Captain Foshay of the —th is compelled to escort his daughter to the railroad, Captain Fechet, with two troops of cavalry, and Colonel Dunn, with three companies of infantry and two machine guns, will follow you up closely, to be within call should you need aid. The Indian police are to be wholly under your command, and all is left to your judgment in the matter; but Sitting Bull is to be arrested and brought here, whether there is resistance offered or not."
"I think I understand, sir," was the response of Kit Carey, and after a short conversation with the general, the young officer departed to arrange for the dangerous mission he had been selected to perform.
As he was going to the quarters of a brother officer he suddenly saw a fair form step out of a tent and bar his way.
It was Emma Foshay, and she was all ready to start under an escort, which her father commanded, to go to the nearest railway station.
"After your strange escape, of which I have just heard, do they intend to send you to your death?" she asked, earnestly.
"It is a soldier's duty to obey, Miss Foshay, and to die for his country; but I hope it will not be so bad as that. Good-by."
She grasped his hand, sought to speak, but without a word turned away.