Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/156

 140 Harwood from the merciless clutch of Anse Cowan. I must remain with her loyally, until she was safe in the protection of friends. Possibly I could accomplish this, and still retain my secret. She might not have heard, might not have clearly understood what the men said. Their denial that I could be recruiting officer Raymond might not awaken her suspicion at all. She might have been too intent on her own danger to give that a second thought, or have it make the slightest impression on her mind. At least that was the theory on which I must proceed—that she trusted me fully, and would do exactly as I advised.

"Is there any other way out of here, Miss Noreen?" I asked, scarcely above a whisper, "any opening leading to the roof?"

"I have never seen one, though often up here when I was a child."

"Then our only means of escape is by the ladder, and we dare not venture that until assured those fellows have really left. Do you hear any sound below?"

We both listened in breathless silence, but no noise reached us with any distinctness. I thought I caught the echo of a voice, but it sounded from outside the house—possibly someone yelling a report from the stable.