Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/370

MY LADY OF THE SOUTH, a jostling of bodies, but no one led, and the guerilla rode away, smiling as he looked backward.

At the front door he dismounted, and, leaving his two men on guard at the steps, motioned me to follow him within, Jean having disappeared in advance.

"I expect no more trouble from those fellows, King," he said pausing in the hall to face me. "They naturally dislike me, and it rather goes against the grain to take orders from me; but they haven't any confidence in their own officer, and are not certain they have any right to hang you. Dunn will come here to see me first, and I have that to tell him which will give him something new to think about."

"I am most grateful for what you have done," I interposed as he paused, "but I should like to know what you propose doing with me, and the others."

"What others?"

"Those taken with me in the fight yonder—one of my scouts, O'Brien, Mrs. Daniels, and two boys, the younger severely wounded."

"Maria Daniels! She is here then! I will have them seen to at once. As to you. King, I shall keep to my word, and send you back to the Federal lines. But you have been mixed up in this strange affair here, and I want you to see the end of it. We are, I believe, on the verge of clearing up the mystery. Go into the library and wait. I want a moment's conversation with Jean, and will then join you."

The shades were drawn, and the library full of shadows. I sat down facing the table where Judge Dunn [ 350 ]