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MARION'S FAITH.
BY THE AUTHOR OF
"THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER."
CAPT. CHARLES KING, U.S.A.,
AUTHOR OF "KITTY'S CONQUEST," ETC.
PHILADELPHIA:J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.1890.
Copyright, 1886, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
Copyright, 1887, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
TO
The Memory
OF
EMMET CRAWFORD,
CAPTAIN THIRD REGIMENT OF CAVALRY,
ONE OF THE NOBLEST MEN, ONE OF THE KNIGHTLIEST SOLDIERS, AND ONE OF THEMOST INEXCUSABLE SACRIFICES IN THE HISTORY OF OUR ARMY,
THIS STORY
OF SCENES WHEREIN HE WAS LOVED AND HONORED,
IS DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
The kind reception accorded "The Colonel's Daughter" was a surprise anddelight to the author, nevertheless it was a long time before he couldbe induced to write this sequel.
When Mr. Sam Slick, at the first essay, shot the cork out of a floatingbottle some thirty yards away, he had the deep sagacity never to pulltrigger again, well knowing he could not improve on the initial effort,and so Prudence whispered that with the Finis to the story of JackTruscott and sweet Grace Pelham there had best come a full stop.
But many a plea has been received to "Tell us more about the --th," andat last the motion prevailed. Thackeray has said, "It is an unfairadvantage which the novelist takes of the hero and heroine to saygood-by to the two as soon as ever they are made husband and wife, and Ihave often wished that we should hear what occurs to the sober marriedman as well as to the ardent bachelor; to the matron as to the blushingspinster." And so, many of the characters of the old story reappearupon the scene. That they will be welcomed for the sake of auld langsyne has been promised, and that they and their associates may find newinterest in the eyes of the indulgent reader is the prayer of
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--TWO TROOPERS 5
II.--GARRISON TALK 20
III.--HEROINES 43
IV.--IMPENDING SHADOWS 59
V.--MARION SANDFORD 72
VI.--AT THE FRONT 84
VII.--WAR RUMORS 100
VIII.--AT RUSSELL 112
IX.--RAY TO THE FRONT 125
X.--A JUNE SUNDAY 147
XI.--THE WOLF AND THE SHEEPFOLD 162
XII.--A SERANADE 177
XIII.--SURROUNDED 189
XIV.--RAY'S RIDE FOR LIFE 207
XV.--RESCUE AT DAWN 222
XVI.--HOW WE HEARD THE NEWS 232
XVII.--A COWARD'S DEED 246
XVIII.--DESERTION 257
XIX.--IN CLOSE ARREST 272
XX.--A CORNERED RAT 286
XXI.--RAY'S TROUBLES 296
XXII.--A SHOT AT MIDNIGHT 309
XXIII.--IN CLOSER TOILS 322
XXIV.--THE GRASP OF THE LAW 334
XXV.--WHOSE GAUNTLET? 345
XXVI.--REVELATIONS 359
XXVII.--VINDICATED 373
XXVIII.--THE COLORS ENTWINE 396
XXIX.--A CAVALRY WEDDING 419
MARION'S FAITH.
A SEQUEL TO THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER.