My Lady of Doubt

e, almost prevented utterance. What could this partisan ranger know of

asked eagerly. "I did not

lse in Philadelphia would have turned the trick so neatly; besides the fact

w them b

ing in this very shop, an' when his father called me to task for it the next day he went home with a broken collar-bone. That was ten years before the war, an' we have not spoken plea

nterrupted, "is her family a

ood in the strain must have descended to the one branch, an' all the evil to the other. Day and night could be no different. Colonel Mortimer is a genial, pleasant gentleman, an' a loyal friend,

upted. "The daughter told

ue as the girl, with the

," I questioned, "on

s who make sport for the British garrison, an' Mistress Claire is not least in rank or beauty among them. What else could you expect

mean

been almost as merciless as that of 'Red' Fagin, an' 't is even whispered about they ride together at times. I doubt if she kno

"knowing who I was, and even

e two had had some misunderstanding, an'

I am sure; I could r

ought the same, an' found out they read wrongly when the end came-ay! many of them. When she was but a slip of a lass I found out her eye

s truly a

ll in the boy so far as I can learn, yet I will

beyond doubt her friendships would all influence her in that direction. Yet down deep in her heart, I still believed, there was loyalty to the Colonies, a desire to aid them in their struggle, and, I sincerely hoped, a distrust and growing aversion to the man, Grant. Certainly she could not love the fellow; that thought was inconceivable. Whatever prearranged ties might still bind, she was already in almost open rebellion against them

he presence of my companion, when he suddenly arose to his feet, and, pushing asid

jor," he exclaimed quickly.

nscious of the distant

it? The

they'll never pass here without rumm

t about

llows haven't any evidence agai

rcely outstretched in my hastily improvised hiding place, when I heard the blacksmith calmly open his outer door, where he stood smoking, clad in leathern apron, awaiting the approaching horsemen. T

ou old rebel hypocrite. Wel

e, Captain Grant," was the dignified respon

ded yet, and hang you. But we're not hunting after your kind to-day. Did you see

r, but the voice of the officer w

We'll look about your shop just the same before we ride on. M

shoulder. With teeth clinched I remained breathless, but the fellow seemed satisfied, and moved on, after searching the dark corner beyond. At last I heard them all go out, mumbling to each other, and ventured to sit up again, and draw a fresh breath. They had

here, sir,"

to view on a rangy sorrel. "Get your

way?" asked the bl

road. We'll get the chap before night, unless he runs into Delavan's fellows out yonder. See here

welcome to

ou, you night raider, and will bring you to book yet. Forward men-tro

lue tobacco smoke curling above his head, and I stole across the littered storeroom to a cobwebbed window, from which I could watch the little column of ri

g to hang me, but never quite ready to tackle the job.

not wait

as the very news I wanted to learn. Now I think both

, when, out from a thick clump of trees perhaps half a mile distant, a horse shot forth, racing toward us. As the reckless

orse. "Well, you're in for a ride. Have the men at Lone Tree by sundown; all of

heels, rode madly away directly south across the vacant land. Within five minutes he

t is

less than fifty men somewhere out Medford way," with sweep of hand to the northeast. "If he an' Grant get together the two commands will outnumber us, but we'll have the advantage of surprise, of a swift attack in the dark. In my judgment that is what Grant was sent out for-to gu

what

can; we shall have twenty miles to ride before dark. I

mphlet on the Rights of Man, its paper margins covered with written comments. This blacksmith was not only a man of action, but a man of thought also. I lay down on the bench, pillowing my head on one arm, thinking of him as I first saw him kneeling alone in prayer, and the simple words of his petition came back to me with new power. Then my mind drifted to the strange commingling of human el