Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/123

Rh wantonly smashed as the angry men moved about. The bed was ripped open and the geese feathers sent fluttering about the room. Too fearful to utter the indignant protest that rose to her lips, Hannah watched the wanton destruction in speechless rage. A bright red spot appeared in each of her pale cheeks, and her lips were tightly pressed together, but she had not advanced from her position at the head of the stairway, for she was aware that at any moment it might be necessary for her to turn and flee.

"Hello! Here's the girl watching us," said one of the men, aware for the first time of Hannah's presence. "Come up to show us where he is?" he added with a brutal laugh.

"We 're hot on the trail now," said Claudius Brown. "She's getting anxious or she would n't come up to see what we 're doing."

Bitterly Hannah regretted that she had given way to the impulse to come up the stairs, but to return now would only confirm the men in their conviction, and besides she was almost fascinated by the fear that possessed her. If Robert should be discovered, she wanted to cry out, to warn him against attempting a resistance worse than useless.