Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/63

CAUGHT IN THE TRAP I imagined she glanced toward me as if in surprise at my words, or rendered suspicious by the sound of my voice.

"All pickets in this direction were recalled last night, when General Huston returned to his brigade," she replied indifferently.

"Then we are already between the lines?"

"Neither army has ever been east, on this slope of the mountains, so far as I know. Two weeks ago Joe drove me over to Coulter's Landing after some supplies for the house, and the country at that time appeared to have been untouched even by foraging parties. I have heard of no movements in this direction since then."

"Haven't I heard there was a ford at Coulter's?"

"Just below the landing, yes; but it is narrow, and never safe when the water is at all high. Why, we crossed it together only last Summer on our way to Franklyn."

"To be sure; so we did. I have passed through so much since then that I have grown forgetful."

The horses lifted their heads, their wet nostrils dripping, and we rode up the opposite bank, noticing a star or two peeping shyly out from among the ragged clouds. The road uplifted somewhat sharply, but there were comparatively level reaches along which we galloped, riding closely side by side, so that I could feel the touch of her skirt against my leg. The faint gleam of the stars afforded me a slight glimpse of my companion sitting her horse easily, her hair blowing back beneath the rim of a coquettish hat, the soft oval of her face barely taking [ 55 ]