The colonel was majestic at the head of the table. He was in a splendid gray uniform, gay with gold lace, as if he deemed the occasion worthy of his best appearance. Crothers had taken the place of Dr. Ambrose as secretary, and the doctor himself was at the foot of the table. The examination was brief, and to the colonel very unsatisfactory. I made a poor witness. I denied that any one had helped me, and the doctor with equal emphasis denied complicity. The colonel frowned at me, but the doctor received the larger share of his attention, and I was of the opinion that the colonel considered him a greater villain than myself, as I was an enemy by birth, while the doctor was a household traitor. "You do not deny making to me the proposition that we surrender to the Federal government?" finally said the colonel. "Not at all," said the doctor, firmly. "That was my suggestion, and I repeat it. We alone are holding out. What chance have we ever to carry our cause through to success?" Colonel Hetherill looked around at his men as if he feared the effect of those words upon them. They were impassive, though I inferred from what Grace had said that several were beginning to share the doctor's way of thinking. "Your answer," said the colonel to Dr. Ambrose, "is sufficient proof of treasonable designs. The answer itself I consider treason. I will hear no more." He promptly dissolved the court, ordered Dr. Ambrose and myself to be locked up again, and refused to listen to anything his daughter wished to say. What further steps he took I did not know then, for under escort I passed on to my room and was out of sight and hearing. That evening Grace came to my room again, and, as before, she was visibly under the influence of strong emotion. "You must escape again to-night," she said, "and this time you must not be overtaken. I have arranged everything, and it will be easy enough for you to reach the mountains." "What will become of Dr. Ambrose?" I asked. "We will save him, too, though I do not yet know how," she said. The doctor had taken his risk partly on my account, and I did not feel like abandoning him in danger. I am willing to admit also that I wanted to see how events at Fort Defiance would culminate. So I refused to leave the fort. My refusal greatly disturbed Grace, and she begged me to go. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes luminous, and she looked very beautiful. "Would you have me think of myself alone?" I asked. "It is true that I seem to have brought trouble here, but I can't cure it by slipping away to-night. I mean to stay."