“Then tell her,” said the captain, “that the bandmaster of the Fourth Missouri—” He strove to continue; his voice died in his throat.
“Yes—yes—say it,” whispered the Special Messenger. “I will tell her; she will understand—truly she will—whatever you say.”
“Tell her—that the bandmaster has—has never forgotten——”
“Yes—yes——”
“Never forgotten her!”
“Yes—oh, yes!”
“That he—he——”
“Yes! Oh, please—please say it—don’t be afraid to say—what you wish!”
The captain’s voice was not under perfect control.
“Say that he—thinks of her.... Say that—that he—he thought of her when he was falling—there, in the charge at Sandy River——”