Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/64

 50 "Oh, yes," I responded more pleasantly, "of General Ramsay's command. You had left Charleston before my arrival. You know Major Harwood, no doubt?"

"We are of his escort," both suspicion and command lost before my cool assurance. "You are in the service, sir?"

"Third United States Cavalry; on recruiting detail. I was to meet Harwood at Hot Springs, but was told he had gone to Green Briar."

"By whom?"

"A scout I met by chance; he gave the name Taylor."

The Captain swore grimly, glancing across my horse into the face of the trooper opposite.

"By all the gods, that's rather odd!" he exclaimed in apparent surprise. "That was the name of the man the Major expected to meet, wasn't it, Snow?"

"It was, sir."

"And he told you the Major had gone west to Green Briar? That isn't true, for this is the Green Briar road, and we have met no one. Were there no soldiers in Hot Springs?"

"I saw a group playing cards, but there were no sentries. The men had no knowledge of where Major Harwood had gone; only that he had left the village."