Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/159

 Rh There was an instant of silence, in which her breathing was plainly audible. Beneath the shadow of an uplifted hand I felt that her eyes were upon my face.

"Very well, then," she said finally, her voice more expressive of interest. "It is surely no more than natural that I should desire to know whom I have the honor of talking with."

"But do you not know?"

"No," firmly and decisively. "I accepted you on behalf of the uniform you wore, although I could not clearly comprehend why you felt it necessary to assume the name of a brother officer, and endeavor to deceive me as to your real identity. I thought there might be a worthy reason, and so I pretended a confidence in you which I could not altogether feel. I knew you were not Charlie Raymond; there is no resemblance between you, and your explanation was lame—for there was no other cadet of that name at West Point. You heard what those men said—yet you go on pretending to me; thinking, perhaps, that I failed to understand the meaning of their words. You are the officer they referred to, are you not?"

"Yes; I escaped when Fox's command was attacked."

"You were an officer in Captain Fox's troop?"