True enough, he himself had been
hoodwinked by Alice's beauty and boldness in the matter of Long-
Hair. He confessed this to himself mentally, which may have
strengthened his present disapproval of her personal inquiry about
Beverley. At all events he thought she ought not to be coming into
the stockade on such an errand.
"Lieutenant Beverley is absent acting under my orders he said,
with perfect respectfulness, yet in a tone suggesting military
finality. He meant to set an indefinite yet effective rebuke in
his words.
"Absent?" she echoed. "Gone? You sent him away to be killed! You
had no right--you--"
"Miss Roussillon," said Clark, becoming almost stern, "you had
better go home and stay there; young girls oughtn't to run around
hunting men in places like this."
His blunt severity of speech was accompanied by a slight frown and
a gesture of impatience.
Alice's face blazed red to the roots of her sunny hair; the color
ebbed, giving place to a pallor like death. She began to tremble,
and her lips quivered pitifully, but she braced herself and tried
to force back the choking sensation in her throat.
"You must not misconstrue my words," Clark quickly added; "I
simply mean that men will not rightly understand you. They will
form impressions very harmful to you. Even Lieutenant Beverley
might not see you in the right light.
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