THE LADY'S PLAN
I must have remained there an hour undisturbed, listening to faint sounds
in the rooms above, and peering out between the iron bars at a little
square of blue sky, and some waving tree branches. Once, with ear pressed
against the door, I could distinguish the regular steps of a sentinel
pacing back and forth, and out of the window I caught the silhouette of a
cocked hat and brown gun barrel. Seldon was evidently guarding me with
the utmost care.
By the light I judged the time somewhat beyond noon, when the door opened
suddenly, and Peter appeared bearing a tray. He was as mysteriously
silent and professional as upon his first visit, not even favoring me
with a glance, his mind apparently intent upon his duties, moving about
noiselessly, wiping the table, and placing his load of dishes thereon
with great care that all should be arranged in perfect order. The door
remained ajar during these preparations, a Queen's Ranger standing there
motionless, leaning on his gun, and eying us steadily. At last Peter drew
up a chair, dusted it, and with wave of the hand invited me to be seated.
I ate as slowly as possible, while he stood over me, anticipating my
every want. I endeavored to converse on commonplace topics, hoping thus
to kill time, and possibly lead him to some word of guidance, but his
answers were monosyllables, most respectfully uttered, and meaningless.
As he passed back and forth about the table his face remained vacant of
expression, his eyes devoid of intelligence. He might have been a wax
figure, so mechanically did he operate, and the sentinel never for an
instant relaxed his scrutiny.
I had picked up almost the last crumb, toying with it in desperation,
when a voice spoke apparently from the head of the stair. The Ranger
turned his head to answer, and at the instant a paper pellet was crushed
into my hand. Instinctively my fingers closed over it, and as the guard
turned back again, gruffly ordering us to hurry up, Peter was at the
opposite side of the table gathering up the dishes, his bald head shining
brilliantly, his eyes as dull as those of a fish. I leaned back watching
him, clutching the paper pellet in the palm of one hand, until he passed
out with his tray, and the door clicked behind him. Not once did he
glance toward me, or acknowledge my presence. Fearful lest I might be
spied upon, my heart beating wildly in anticipation, I lay down in the
bunk with face to the wall, and unrolled the pellet. It contained but a
few words, hastily scribbled, in a lady's delicate handwriting. "Don't
despair; if they are away until after dark I will arrange. Can do nothing
before." There was no signature, but I needed none to know whose fingers
had held the pencil. My lips pressed the paper ere I tore it into
fragments, and scattered them outside the bars.
The hours of that afternoon dragged themselves along with exasperating
slowness, as I listened for hoof-beats, imagining every sound the
approach of returning horsemen. With no longer any doubt of her
intention, my apprehension riveted itself on the possibility of the
British getting back before darkness gave opportunity for putting her
plans into execution. As to what they might be I cared nothing, being
ready to assume any risk which would lead to escape. The room I occupied
must have been upon the west side of the house, as the afternoon sun
streamed in through the bars, and stretched golden across the floor. I
could almost count the minutes as those shafts of light crept up the
wall, and then slowly faded. The silence all about was intense, even the
branches of the trees without having no movement. As the gray of twilight
approached, my ears, strained to the slightest sound, distinguished the
changing of sentinels. But I waited vainly for any visitor; darkness
closed me in, but no one came with food.
I pressed my face against the bars striving to look into the night, my
only reward the glimpse of a few distant stars. Suddenly, as I stood
there, voices sounded at a distance, the words indistinguishable, and
then footsteps crushed along the gravelled footpath, as though a number
of men were running toward the back of the house. They were below my
range of vision, but a moment later I heard the sounds of scattered
shots, and saw the sharp flash of firing. I was still clinging to the
bars, trying to determine what it all meant, when the door was opened.
The light of a lantern in his hand revealed a green and white uniform,
and the deeply seamed face of a man of fifty.
"Quick now, yer damned rebel," he said hoarsely. "Be up an' lam me one,
an' here's the rope."
"What!"
"Didn't yer hear? or wasn't yer told the game? Sufferin' Moses, it's got
to be played swift, or ye'll lie here an' rot. That's what that
bald-headed skate is out thar leadin' 'em off for. I'm ter come in wid
yer supper; ye slug me first sight, bind me up wid the rope, and skip.
'Tis a dirty job, but the friends of ye pay well for it, so come on now."
I comprehended the plan in a flash. She had discovered a sentry money
would buy; to lead the others away long enough to effect my escape, Peter
had taken to the woods with a gun. Whether he escaped or was captured,
the delay would be short. With the knowledge came action. I bore the
unresisting Ranger to the floor, hurling down the tray of food he bore in
a mass of broken crockery, and bound him hand and foot, leaving the
fellow lying across the open doorway. He was without arms, except his
heavy gun, which I left beside him. An instant I paused to ask a
question, holding aloft the lantern so as to see his face.
"Now man, speak quick; you were given some word for me? Some instructions
how I was to get away?"
"Sure; but ye drew those cords tight! You are to go up stairs, out the
front door, and turn to the right; there's a horse in the thicket beyond
the summer house. Damnation, loosen that ankle rope, will ye?"
I gave it a twitch, but felt little compassion for the fellow, and ran up
the steps, leaving the lantern below. I knew the way even in the dark,
and experienced little trouble in feeling my passage. I met with no
interference, and heard no sound, the house seemingly deserted. Only as I
opened the front door could I hear distant, irregular firing to the
northwest. Assured that no guard remained I flung myself recklessly over
the porch rail onto the smooth turf of the lawn. The dim outlines of the
latticed summer house could be discerned not thirty feet distant, and I
started toward it unhesitatingly. I had made half the distance when a
horse neighed suddenly to my right, and, startled at the sound, I fell
flat, creeping cautiously forward into the shadow of a low bush. I had
risen to my knees, believing the animal must be the one left there for my
use, when I heard the growl of a voice, a man's voice, from out the
summer house.
An instant I could not locate the sound nor distinguish it clearly; then
a sentence cut the air so distinctly that I recognized the speaker.
Grant! What was he doing here? Had we delayed too long? Had Fagin's
pursuers returned? If so, why was he there in the summer house, and with
whom was he conversing? I crouched back listening, afraid to move.
"I saw the gleam of your white skirt as I rounded the house," he
exclaimed. "By Gad, I thought the horse was going to bolt with me. Fine
bit of luck this, finding you out here alone. What's going on out
yonder?"
"There was an attack on the horse guard, and Mr. Seldon is in pursuit.
But how does it happen you have returned alone? Has anything occurred to
my father?"
I judged from the sound that he seated himself before answering, and
there was a hesitancy sufficiently noticeable, so as to cause the girl to
ask anxiously:
"He has not been injured?"
"Who, the Colonel!" with a short laugh. "No fear of that while pursuing
those fellows; they ride too fast, and are scattered by now all the way
from here to the Atlantic. Probably a squad of the same gang out there
fighting Seldon. Trouble with the Colonel is he takes the affair too
seriously; imagines he is actually on the trail, and proposes to remain
out all night. I became tired of such foolishness and rode back."
"You mean you left? Deserted?"
"Oh, hardly that," lazily. "You see I was sent out with a detachment to
ride down the Lewiston road. I merely left my sergeant in command and
turned my horse's head this way. I can be back by morning, and I wanted
to see you."
"To see me, Captain Grant! You disobeyed my father's orders to ride back
and see me? I hardly appreciate the honor."
"Oh, I suppose not," his tone grown suddenly bitter. "But I am here just
the same, and propose carrying out my intention. What do you think I am
made of--wood? You treat me as though I possessed no feelings to be hurt.
See here, Claire, don't draw away from me like that. What has got into
you lately? You have led me a merry chase all winter in Philadelphia, but
now you have even dared to flaunt me to my face, and in the presence of
your father. Do you suppose I am the kind to stand for that? What is the
matter, girl? Who has come between us? Is it that rascally rebel? No; you
stay where you are, and answer me. That is what I came back alone for, to
find out."
She was upon her feet, and I could even see her hand clasping a lattice
of the summer house.
"Why do you ask this? What right have you? There was never a promise
between us."
"The understanding has existed for ten years; never denied until now," he
protested hotly. "You knew I loved you; I've fought a dozen men on your
account--"
"True enough," she broke in, "you have challenged every gentleman who has
dared address me. Did you think such swash-buckling was going to win my
heart? Any girl possessing self-respect would revolt at such methods.
Whatever affection I may have felt for you as a boy has been driven from
me by these actions. You wanted a slave, a servant, not a companion, and
it is not in Mortimer blood to yield to every whim, to every crack of the
whip. I never loved you, never confessed I did. I tried to be obedient,
endeavored to like you to please my father, but this past winter has so
thoroughly revealed your real character that I will pretend no longer."
"My character! We have known each other from childhood. I know well
enough what has made the difference in you."
"Indeed!"
"Yes, indeed; it's that damned Continental spy."
"It has been some one all along according to your theory--any gentleman
who has shown me ordinary kindness. You have called out Captain Kincade,
Lieutenant Mathieson, Major Lang, and others, just to prove your
ownership of me. You have made me the laughingstock of Philadelphia. Now
it pleases you to select Major Lawrence with which to associate my name.
Because he danced with me once you felt justified in quarrelling with him
in my presence, in goading him into fighting you. It was the act of a
cowardly bully. Whatever respect I may once have had for you, Captain
Grant, has been dissipated this past winter."
"Can you tell me it is not Lawrence?"
"I could tell you, and very plainly, but I refuse to be questioned."
"Well, by Gad! I know without asking," and he sprang to his feet,
gripping her hand. "You've helped that fellow against me from the first.
I'll put up with it no longer. I came back here to-night desperate,
prepared to resort to any measures. I meant to give you a chance, and, by
heaven! I have. Do you think I am the sort of man you can play with? If I
can have you only by force then it is going to be that. Oh, don't try to
pull away! I've got you now just as I wanted you--alone! Your father is
not here, and that fool Seldon is busy enough out yonder. There is not
even a guard to interfere. Do you know what I mean to do?"
She made no answer, but her very silence seemed to fan his anger.
"Sulky, are you! Well, I'll tell you just the same. There's a preacher
living at the crossroads--you know him, that snivelling, long-faced
Jenks. He's a ranting rebel all right, but he'll do what I say, or I'll
cut his heart out. You are going there with me to-night to be married.
I'll put an end to these tantrums, and by to-morrow you'll have come to
your senses. Now will you go quietly, or shall I make you?"
She wrenched away from him; there was a moment's struggle, and then her
white-robed figure sprang forth into the starlight. I saw him grasp her,
tearing the shoulder of her dress with the fierce grip of his fingers. I
was already upon my feet, crouching behind the bush, prepared to spring.
She drew back, her face white as marble.
"You coward! You cur!"
"Hold your temper, Mistress," with a snarling laugh. "I know how to
conquer you."
That moment I reached him.