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Updated: May 8, 2025
Down below the Cimarron is the only place ye 'll have ter watch out close, 'Brick. Them Comanches an' Apaches are the worst lot." "I know night riders themselves, but I know the trail. Can you outfit me, Lieutenant?" Gaskins smiled grimly, but with no trace of humor. His eyes were upon the girl, still leaning over her pommel.
This theory alone would seem to account for Gaskins' efforts to turn suspicion, and when this was connected with the already known presence of a woman on the scene, and the smallness of the weapon used, the evidence seemed conclusive. As far as his own duty was concerned, the Sergeant felt no doubt.
"Thar's two critters down in the crick bottom. I reckon thet Kirby an' Gaskins must'r tied 'em thar." "Good; then you will go; you agree with me?" "Thar ain't nuthin' else fer me ter do hangin' ain't never bin no hobby o' mine. As I understand it, this Gaskins wus one o' these yere militia men.
By God! It's Lieutenant Gaskins!" Hamlin's heart seemed to leap into his throat and choke him; for an instant he felt faint, dazed, staring down into the still face ghastly under the rays of the lantern. Gaskins! Then she was concerned in the affair; he really had seen her hiding there against the wall. And the man's eyes were open, were staring in bewilderment at the faces.
They had only met once, and then briefly. There was no rivalry between them, no animosity. To be sure, Gaskins had been domineering, threatening to report a small breach of discipline, but in this his words and actions had been no more offensive than was common among young officers of his quality. The Sergeant had passed all memory of that long ago.
"I prefer leaving Captain Maxwell to deal with the situation," Gaskins went on pompously, ignoring the sneer, "as he outranks me, and I am under strict instructions to return at once to the fort. Two of our horses are disabled already, and Smiley is too sick to be left alone. There are only sixteen men fit for duty, and three of those would have to be detailed to look after him. I 'll not risk it.
It never occurred to him now as of the slightest importance. Far more probable did it appear that Gaskins' only motive was to shield the girl from possible suspicion. When he had realized that Hamlin was a prisoner, that for some reason he had been seized for the crime, he had grasped the opportunity to point him out as the assassin, and thus delay pursuit.
Why Gaskins should have identified him as the assassin was a mystery probably it was merely the delirium of a sorely wounded man, although the fellow may have disliked him sufficiently for that kind of revenge, or have mistaken him for another in the poor light.
If Hamlin's heart leaped wildly at this swift denial, there was no evidence of it in his quiet voice. "The point is, Miss Molly, that Mrs. Dupont, and those connected with her, think otherwise. They are presuming on Gaskins' being in love with you. Mrs. Dupont can be very seductive. Little by little she has drawn the Lieutenant into her net.
Besides he was not altogether convinced that the girl had not been actually present at, and in some manner connected with, the attack on Gaskins. The memory of that face, shrinking behind the corner of the barrack wall, remained clear in his mind. He might be mistaken, but perhaps it would be best to go slow.
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