Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/169



STARED at her as at an apparition, unable at the moment to disassociate her from the vision of my daydream. I even struggled to my feet, without realizing that she actually stood there in the reality of flesh and blood. No doubt both look and action pictured my bewilderment, for her lips curved to a smile, and she spoke quickly.

"I am not a spectre, Lieutenant King."

"It needed your voice to convince me," I returned bowing, and feeling the sudden release of blood in my veins. "I had been thinking of you, failed to hear your entrance, and then suddenly saw you standing there. It certainly startled me."

"You were thinking of me?" the tone slightly curious.

"Yes, wondering if you believed me guilty; hoping you, at least, gave me the benefit of the doubt. Your appearance was like an answer to my query."

"And I come in reality, not in spirit, to make response," she returned gravely. "I have every reason to suppose you guilty which the others have, only I believe such an act would be impossible for you to commit."

"You mean my nature—"

"I mean you are what you claim to be, an officer and [ 159 ]