"You speak falsely, sir," he said, with some fierceness. "The war is not over, and the Confederacy has not perished. See its flag over your head. I hold my commission from President Jefferson Davis himself, and certainly I have not laid down my arms." I smiled a little, whistled a bar or two, and gazed at the ceiling. The colonel looked deeply annoyed at my carelessness. "Be careful, Mr. West," he said. "You are not helping your case by your conduct." "Colonel," I said, "come to see me in New York, and I'll show you the town." "Enough of such levity," he cried. "Will you or will you not plead to the charge?" "Colonel," I said, "it is the 18th of November, 1896, and a very fine afternoon." "I have warned you once already that you are prejudicing your own case," he cried. "I deny the jurisdiction of the tribunal," I said. "Your denial goes for nothing," he said. "Do not enter it upon the record, doctor. Will you say what brought you into these mountains?" "As I have told you several times," I said, "I belong to a hunting-party, and was lost. I did not know I was near Fort Defiance, nor had I ever heard of such a place." "Let that be entered upon the record, doctor," said the colonel. "I have it all," said the doctor. "Crothers," said the colonel, "put upon the table the sketch which I found the prisoner making this morning." Crothers obeyed. "What do you call that?" said the colonel to me. "I would call that," I replied, "a pretty bad picture of Fort Defiance." My tone was light, and, as usual, my levity seemed to displease the colonel very much. He warned me for the third time that I was injuring my chances, but I was not impressed. "That sketch," said he, "shows the situation and fortifications of Fort Defiance. You were found drawing it surreptitiously. I ask you again, what have you to say about it?" "Nothing, colonel," I replied, "except that when we dine together in New York we will discuss its artistic merits or lack of them." The colonel ran his hand impatiently through his hair, and again uncovered the scar of the deep wound on his head. I wondered in what battle he had received it, and had a mind to ask him whenever opportunity made the question pertinent. "Make proper entries on the record," he said to the doctor, "that the prisoner will give only irrelevant answers to our questions." "It has been done," said the doctor. The door of the room was opened at that moment, and Miss Hetherill appeared. Her father rose hastily, and his manner showed that he was disconcerted. "You must retire at once, Grace," he said. "I forbade your presence here." "Father," she said, "you must stop these proceedings. You must not harm Mr. West." I rose and bowed in my best manner. "I thank you for your intercession, Miss Hetherill," I said, "but I can protect myself."