Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/279

ANOTHER MURDER They filed past me, one by one, crouching down in the shadows just outside the door.

"Now, O'Brien, select the next three, and steal around the other side of that negro cabin. As soon as Masterson goes forward make a run for those bushes along the carriage drive. The rest of you fellows come with me."

I was beginning to enjoy myself now, all memory of the woman in the tunnel, all recollection even of Jean Denslow, driven from my mind by the pressure of action, the necessity of command. I crept to the end of the logs, my men at my heels. Out of sight, yet not far away, a number of horses were champing at their bits, and stomping about uneasily. Some one on the kitchen porch laughed, and a man walked to the well for a drink of water. I turned back, until I could see the crouching figures of the Corporal's squad.

"All right, Masterson," I said, "Go in." [ 265 ]