Rogers came after a while, but he brought no enlightenment. The old hunter had left the room after giving the letter to Alagwa and had not been present when Jack fainted. He knew only that the letter was from the south, presumably from Jack’s home. Nor did he know whither the girl had gone. He did not know that she had gone at all till nearly twenty-four hours after her departure, and then he with the others was shut up in the fort, unable to venture out. And long before the siege was over all record of her going had been blotted out. Later, Major Stickney, recovered from his fever, came to see Jack, but he knew even less than Rogers. Balked here, Jack swallowed his pride and inquired for Williams, only to learn that the trader had tramped away with General Winchester’s army down the Maumee. He inquired for Fantine, but found that she and Peter had gone south with the women and civilians an hour after his seizure; Cato thought she had gone before his “mist’ess” had. Even Mr. Hibbs had gone, having resigned from the army as the sole way of escaping court-martial on charges of drunkenness, cowardice, and incompetence. Every avenue of information seemed blocked. Driven back upon himself Jack ate his heart out with vain questionings. He did not distrust the girl. It did not even occur to him to question her conduct. What she had done she had done for some reason that had seemed good to her. He was sure of that. His little comrade had not lost her staunchness when she changed her seeming sex, nor when she became his wife.