"These are the papers, Naida. I opened the envelope as directed, and
found deeds to certain properties, including the mine in the Black
Range; a will, duly signed and attested, naming you as his sole heir,
together with a carefully prepared letter, addressed to you, giving a
full account of the crime of which he was convicted, as well as some
other matters of a personal nature. That letter you must read alone as
his last message, but the truth of all he says has since been proved."
She glanced up at him quickly. "By Murphy?"
"Yes, by Murphy, who is now lying in the hospital at Bethune, slowly
recovering. His sworn deposition has been forwarded to the Department
at Washington, and will undoubtedly result in the honorable replacing
of your father's name on the Army List. I will tell you briefly the
man's confession, together with the few additional facts necessary to
make it clear.
"Your father and mine were for many years friends and army comrades.
They saw service together during the great war, and afterward upon the
plains in Indian campaigning. Unfortunately a slight misunderstanding
arose between them. This, while not serious in itself, was made bitter
by the interference of others, and the unaccountable jealousies of
garrison life. One night they openly quarrelled when heated by wine,
and exchanged blows. The following evening, your father chancing to be
officer of the guard and on duty, my father, whose wife had then been
dead a year, was thoughtless enough to accompany Mrs. Nolan home at a
late hour from the post ball. It was merely an act of ordinary
courtesy; but gossips magnified the tale, and bore it to Nolan. Still
smarting from the former quarrel, in which I fear my father was in the
wrong, he left the guard-house with the openly avowed intention of
seeking immediate satisfaction. In the meanwhile Slavin, Murphy, and a
trooper named Flynn, who had been to town without passes, and were
half-drunk, stole through the guard lines, and decided to make a
midnight raid on the colonel's private office. Dodging along behind
the powder-house, they ran suddenly upon my father, then on the way to
his own quarters. Whether they were recognized by him, or whether
drink made them reckless of consequences, is unknown, but one of the
men instantly fired. Then they ran, and succeeded in gaining the
barracks unsuspected."
She sat as if fascinated by his recital.
"Your father heard the shot, and sprang toward the sound, only to fall
headlong across my father's lifeless body. As he came down heavily,
his revolver was jarred out of its holster and dropped unnoticed in the
grass. An instant later the guard came running up, and by morning
Captain Nolan was under arrest, charged with murder. The
circumstantial evidence was strong--his quarrel with the murdered man,
his heated language a few moments previous, the revolver lying beside
the body, having two chambers discharged, and his being found there
alone with the man he had gone forth to seek. Slavin and Flynn both
strengthened the case by positive testimony. As a result, a court
martial dismissed the prisoner in disgrace from the army, and a civil
court sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment."