"No; but 'tis because of my upbringing, Clifford. I have been taught that a word once passed must be kept. That a promise must not be broken. Therefore, I understand why thee would prefer death to the breaking of thy parole. I am proud that thee feels as thee does about it. I am prouder still that even thy sister cannot tempt thee to break thy word great as is thy love for her. Yet underneath it all I have a heart of a woman, and that heart aches for thy sister." "'Fore George!" murmured the youth gazing from one to the other in perplexity. "I never dreamed of this. I thought of course that such things were regarded alike by both sexes. I----" He passed his hand over his brow thoughtfully. Then his expression softened. "I have much to learn. Harriet!" And he opened his arms. "My brother," she cried. "My wonderful brother! And you will go with me?" "No," he answered while he kissed her. "No, Harriet. However such things may appear to you, for me there is but one course: I must return. But come with us." "I cannot, Clifford. I must go back to father." "Then I must leave you, because we have been long, too long away from camp. And now good-bye!" "Something may yet come up to save him, Harriet," whispered Peggy as Harriet followed them weeping to the piazza. "No," she said disconsolately. "This was the only hope, Peggy. Everything hath been done that can be done. I shall never see him again." There was no one about. Long afterward Peggy found that this state of things had been prearranged in order that the inmates of the inn might not be held responsible when Clifford's flight should be discovered. Clifford himself brought their horses from the stables. Silently they mounted, then turned for a last word with Harriet. But she had sunk upon the steps of the porch, and with her face buried in her hands, was sobbing in heart-breaking accents: "Clifford! Clifford! Clifford!" CHAPTER XXVIII "HOW COULD SHE KNOW?" "To-morrow! O, that's sudden! Spare him, spare him!" --"_Measure for Measure._" Colonel Dayton met them as they reentered the camp. His brow was wrinkled with anxiety, but it cleared as if by magic at sight of them. "Odds life, captain!" he cried. "I feared lest something had befallen you. It is long past your usual hour for returning." "Something did befall, sir," answered Clifford, who had expected questioning. "I crave pardon for the delay. We were like not to have come back at all, but through no fault of ours. In fact, sir, we were set upon by a party of miscreants in the glen beyond the five knob tree, and captured. At the place to which we were conducted was a person through whom----" He hesitated unwilling that Harriet should be connected with the affair. "In short, Colonel Dayton," he said frankly, "I would prefer that you do not question me concerning the manner of our release. As soon as possible we came back."