Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/321



COULD hardly see the expression of the man's face in the miserable light of that smoking lantern when he leaped forward gripping me by the shoulder so fiercely that for the instant I thought it an attack. His voice alone reassured me.

"A woman!" he cried. "Are you sure?—did you see her?"

"Yes," I answered, beginning to understand his suspicion. "I saw her twice—it was the haggard face of an insane woman, with gray hair, and the wildest eyes imaginable. I was trailing her just now through this tunnel."

"She escaped this way? You are sure she went this way?"

"No, Daniels, not sure," and I began to experience compassion for him. "I last saw her face a few minutes ago in the front chamber up-stairs. Before I could get outside she had disappeared, and I searched the entire second floor without finding any trace. She could leave the house in no other way except along this passage, as the lower hall is under guard. What is it you suspect?—that it may be your wife? Did she know of this entrance?" [ 303 ]