He had heard enough, however, to account for his presence there, and the
singular chance that had brought them again together. He was evidently
one of those large civil contractors of supplies whom the Government was
obliged to employ, who visited the camp half officially, and whom the
army alternately depended upon and abused. Brant had dealt with his
underlings in the Commissariat, and even now remembered that he had
heard he was coming, but had overlooked the significance of his name.
But how he came to leave his theatrical profession, how he had attained
a position which implied a command of considerable capital--for many of
the contractors had already amassed large fortunes--and what had become
of Susy and her ambitions in this radical change of circumstances, were
things still to be learned. In his own changed conditions he had seldom
thought of her; it was with a strange feeling of irritation and half
responsibility that he now recalled their last interview and the emotion
to which he had yielded.
He had not long to wait. He had scarcely regained the quarters at his
own private office before he heard the step of the orderly upon the
veranda and the trailing clank of Hooker's sabre.
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