Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/248

MY LADY OF THE SOUTH house, and drove the others back when they attempted to rush us. We've been defending the house ever since, and I made a search for this secret passage. I found my way into it at last, and discovered you lying here apparently dead, with a wound in your throat just as those others had."

He put his hand up to the gash, as if just made aware of its existence.

"I am afraid I cannot help you very much, Lieutenant," he said slowly, evidently striving to remember. "I left you with Jean, intending to search this tunnel. I had opened the fireplace, and was lighting the lantern when your men came, and I stole back as far as the head of the stairs to learn what was happening. Then Jean came up with your message, and I decided to escape to my own men as quickly as possible. Having no longer any thought of search, and knowing the way perfectly, I blew out the lantern, and came down the ladder in the dark. I have made the trip in that manner a dozen times, and felt no fear. I must have advanced through the tunnel for a hundred feet or more, one hand touching the wall to keep the direction, when something struck me so unexpectedly, that I reeled backward and fell. I have no recollection of seeing anything; only of feeling the blow, and realizing I was falling. The next I remember is looking up into your faces, wondering where I was."

The man was far too weak and dazed to be questioned at any length; in his present state it would be useless to describe the woman's face we had seen, or Miss Jean's effort to hold us prisoners. The discovery of him lying [ 234 ]