“A man more or less!” and Oscar shrugged his shoulders.
“You are not a good churchman. It is a grievous sin to do murder.”
“One may repent; it is so written. The people of your house are Catholics also.”
“That is quite true, though I may seem to forget it. Our work will be done soon, please God, and we shall ask the blessed sacrament somewhere in these hills.”
Oscar crossed himself and fell to cleaning his rifle.
CHAPTER XIX
CAPTAIN CLAIBORNE ON DUTY
When he came where the trees were thin,
The moon sat waiting there to see;
On her worn palm she laid her chin,
And laughed awhile in sober glee To think how strong this knight had been.
—William Vaughn Moody.
In some mystification Captain Richard Claiborne packed a suit-case in his quarters at Fort Myer. Being a soldier, he obeyed orders; but being human, he was also possessed of a degree of curiosity. He did not know just the series of incidents and conferences that preceded his summons to Washington, but they may be summarized thus: