"
"Yet you are not altogether sorry to hear me say it."
"Oh, I do not take your words seriously at all. They are mere Yankee
boasting--"
She stopped suddenly, the slight flush fading from her cheeks as she
arose to her feet, staring out through the open window. It was the sound
of horses' hoofs on the gravel roadway, and I sprang up also,
endeavoring to see. A squad of troopers was without, dusty, hard-riding
fellows, uniformed in Confederate gray.
CHAPTER VI
A BOLD FRONT
It was but a glimpse through the leaf-draped window of dust-caked
horses, the bronzed faces of their riders, and the gray hair of Judge
Moran, as he hastened down the steps to greet them. I saw one man swing
down from his saddle, and advance toward the house, then a sharp
catching of the girl's breath drew my attention toward her, and our
eyes met.
"You--you must not suppose I expected this," she faltered, "--that I
have betrayed you."
There was no doubting her earnestness, nor her disgust at such
treachery.
"Not for a moment. But I must get away. Are you acquainted with the
house?"
"Yes; but two of the men rode around to the well. It would be impossible
now to slip out the back way without discovery." She ran across the
room, and flung open a door.
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