Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/361

THE AVOWAL, he imagined his way would be clear, and was willing even to venture murder— for my death would be no less—to obtain this result. Fighting against it, I yet became more and more convinced that his threat was not an idle one. He had the power and the disposition to carry it out.

And what had I to hope for? Any plea would be useless; any threat on my part laughed at. Donald might return; a Federal scouting party might ride that way, yet neither of these contingencies was probable. Daniels was free, and possibly even knew of my predicament, but could accomplish nothing alone, and I had no knowledge of him since his disappearance into the tunnel. The utter helplessness of my situation was only too evident. If Dunn dared to carry out his threat and was expeditious about it, nothing short of a miracle could save me, and I had no expectation of a miracle. All these thoughts came to me in brief time, for I doubt if the Lieutenant was absent more than twenty minutes. It seemed to me then even less than that, and I was yet sitting there motionless, gazing out of the open door, but seeing nothing, when he stepped in between the guard, and stood still staring at me.

"King," he questioned peremptorily, "is there any truth in what I have just heard, that those murders in the house were committed by a woman?"

"Yes," I said, surprised at the emotion in his voice; "I saw her."

"You saw her! What was she like?" [ 341 ]