Don't believe he 's danced any since.
The Major was here, though; Connors brought him a note a few minutes ago, and he got his hat and went out." Hamlin drew a breath of relief.

"Girl must have sent for him to take her home," he said.

"Well, it 's time for me to turn in--good-night, old man." He tramped along the brightly illumined street, and out upon the dark road leading up the bluff to the fort, his mind occupied with the events of the evening, and those other incidents leading up to them.
There was no doubt that Miss McDonald and her father had returned to their home.

But what could he do to assist her?
The very knowledge that she had voluntarily appealed to him, that she had come to him secretly with her trouble, brought strange happiness.

Moreover his former acquaintance with Mrs.Dupont gave him a clue to the mystery.
Yet how was he going to unravel the threads, discover the motive, find out the various conspirators?
What were they really after?
Money probably, but possibly revenge.