Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/191

 Rh greeted him with a welcoming smile, and he stepped gallantly forward, bending low as he accepted her hand.

"So pleased, so delighted, Miss Harwood to find you safe and well. We were, indeed, greatly worried at the thought of your being here alone," he exclaimed, a slight lisp in his voice. "You have not suffered, I trust?"

"Not seriously, Captain Whitlock; the guerrillas were outwitted—"

"Ah! do not attempt to explain, I beg. We understand what you have passed through, as we have captured two of the villains. You sent for me, Lieutenant Raymond?"

"Yes, sir, I did," the younger officer's expression exhibiting clearly the contempt he felt for his superior. "I preferred that you decide what shall be done with this fellow," pointing a finger at me. "Miss Harwood vouches for him, but I fail to understand how he comes to be in the uniform of my regiment."

The captain fitted a pair of glasses to his eyes and surveyed me with care.

"Why, bless me, so he is," he ejaculated, "and you never saw him before?"

"No, and there is not another third U. S. cavalryman west of the Alleghanies."