Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/171

 Rh "Hardly that, perhaps. Your face is an honest one, and there was a vague familiarity about it which made me determined to learn who you were. Besides—well really, I had no choice; I was alone here, and helpless."

"True; yet you have not confessed all."

"All! What else?"

"My guess is you possessed a stronge [sic] desire to protect Lieutenant Raymond."

"Oh, indeed!" she laughed, but her eyes fell. "That might have been an added motive—yes. I naturally desired to discover, if possible, why anyone should pretend to be he. My interest was—was not personal, however; it was patriotic."

"But you are friendly?" I persisted, unable to resist the impulse. "This lieutenant is not a mere acquaintance?"

"I feel under no obligation to answer that question," she returned, her cheeks flushed. "There is no reason why you should ask. My interest in the Union cause is sufficient explanation. I am not a little girl, any more."

"Nor am I a mere boy, Miss Noreen. We have met here as man and woman," I said earnestly. "Our past is a bond between us; to me a pleasant memory—but I do not rely upon it for the future. Even although I am a Confederate soldier, I want