CHAPTER XXStuart succeeded in securing from Colonel Sumner a leave of absence of two weeks to visit Fort Riley. The Colonel suspected the truth and teased the gallant youngster until he confessed.
He handed Stuart the order with a hearty laugh.
"It's all right, my boy. I've been young myself. Good luck."
Stuart's laughter rang clear and hearty.
"Thank you, Colonel. You had me scared."
He had just turned to leave the room when a messenger handed Sumner a telegram.
Stuart paused to hear the message.
"Bad news, Lieutenant."
"What, sir?"
"An attack has been made on the Southern settlement on the
Pottawattomie."
"A drunken fight—"
"No. Wilkinson, the member of the Legislature from Miami County, was taken from his house in the night and murdered."
"The story's a fake," Stuart ventur
