IN COULTER WOODS
The first thought that came into Dorothea’s mind when she saw Lee Hendon
in the uniform of a Northern officer was concerned with April.
“Does she know?” the girl questioned herself, and found no ready answer.
The suspicion had held in her mind that April was in communication with
Lee Hendon; but it was not a suspicion likely to be shared by Hal, who,
it was plain enough, had confided his mission to her, because, so far as
he was aware, there was no other in the household who would have
undertaken it.
This passed through her mind in a flash, for the young man before her
seemed ill at ease and glanced about him apprehensively.
“You are very good to have come,” he said most politely. “I do not know
who you are; but—”
“I am Mrs. May’s niece,” Dorothea interrupted. “My name is Dorothea
Drummond and my home was in England.”
“Oh, I see,” Hendon replied comprehendingly. “I am most anxious to know
how Hal is coming on. He was in a rather desperate condition when I last
saw him.”
“To-day is really the first time he has had his senses,” Dorothea
answered. “That is the reason there was no word from him sooner. He
spoke to me of you this morning and I am here to find out how I can help
you to get away.”
“What I want principally,” Hendon responded quickly, “is a Confederate
uniform.”
Now for the second time within a few days Dorothea was asked to play
what she felt to be a treacherous part to those whose hospitality she
was enjoying. She knew in her heart that her sympathy for the Northern
cause was growing and realized she would be glad to see the war end in
favor of the Union. Yet here was a Federal officer asking for aid, which
she had no more right to give than she had had in the case of Larry
Stanchfield. All she could do was what she thought Hal might contrive
were he here in her stead. Indeed, as far as a uniform was concerned,
the granting of Lee Hendon’s request was beyond her power.
“You must know that is impossible,” she replied. “Confederate uniforms
are hard to obtain.”
“Of course that’s true,” he granted. “I was only hoping Hal might have
an extra one. These clothes are a bit awkward.”
“Yes,” she nodded, realizing that here lay his reason for hiding even
from his former friends in the little town.
“If you can bring me some money,” he said, finally, after a moment of
deep thought, “I shall be able to manage. All that I had and all that
Hal had was spent in getting him home.”
“I brought some gold with me, thinking that was what you might need,”
Dorothea replied, and held out to him a netted silk purse heavy with
coins.
He took it mechanically, but shook his head and smiled.
“It was most thoughtful of you, but it wouldn’t be of the least use to
me, you know. Where I am going, I couldn’t find a soul to change a
ten-dollar gold piece. Haven’t you any paper money?”
“I’m sorry,” Dorothea replied, genuinely grieved at her lack of
foresight. “It was stupid of me, wasn’t it, not to have realized that
difficulty? I thought gold would be just the thing you would want.”
“Under ordinary conditions you would have been quite right,” Hendon
hastened to assure her. “You have not the slightest reason to accuse
yourself of thoughtlessness, and I must seem like a most ungrateful
brute; but you see my life really depends upon it.”
“I can get you paper for it right away,” Dorothea suggested.
“That will be good of you,” he answered. “How soon do you think you can
have it for me?”
“I can go into the village to-morrow morning,” Dorothea replied, and
then hesitated. “But I can’t tell when I will be able to get off alone
again.”
“And I dare not loiter about in these woods,” he told her. “It’s running
too great a risk.”
“Then where can I meet you?” Dorothea asked. “Where are you living?” she
added.
“With some turpentine gatherers,” he replied. “They have a hut deep in
the woods, and—”
“Couldn’t I go there with the money?” Dorothea broke in.
“You would never find the place,” Lee said, with a shake of his head.
“It would be easier for you to come back here, but I shall want to know
exactly when to expect you. Which is your room in the May house?” he
ended.
“The one at the southwest corner,” she replied after an instant’s effort
to fix the points of the compass.
“Good,” he replied. “That is the first bit of luck we’ve had so far. I
can see that room from a place I know in the woods. When you’re sure
you’ll have a chance to get here alone, pull the curtain down all the
way. If it is at night and you plan to reach me the next morning, a
lighted candle will tell me. I haven’t much else to do, so I’ll be
watching most of the time,” he added with a pathetic smile.
“Very well,” Dorothea agreed and prepared to start on.
“Don’t bring all that money in bills,” he cautioned her. “Five hundred
dollars in State notes and two thousand, say, in Confederate money will
be ample.”
“That hardly seems enough,” she replied, remembering Lucy’s saying that
it took a barrelful of Confederate money to pay for the bung-hole.
“It will be plenty,” he assured her. “Good-by, and thank you very, very
much for coming to my aid.”
He held out his hand and Dorothea took it, but at that moment there came
the sounds of footsteps on the path beyond them.
“Go quickly, it’s Harriot looking for me,” she whispered, and Lee Hendon
plunged into the thicket.
Dorothea turned, expecting to see her young cousin ready with a
bantering remark at her slowness, but to her great astonishment April
came toward her, walking at a rather rapid pace. An instant later the
two girls stopped short and stared at each other.
To Dorothea there was but one explanation of this sudden appearance of
April’s. She must have heard that Lee Hendon was hiding in the
neighborhood. She wondered what excuse her beautiful cousin would make.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” April remarked. “I thought you were
driving with Harry.”
“We have a wager on whether the horse can beat me home,” Dorothea
answered, but at the moment she said it there came a crash in the bushes
as if some one had fallen, in tripping over a log.
April’s keen glance went to Dorothea’s face and read there something of
the confusion the younger girl felt. They stood in silence, awaiting a
repetition of the strange noise, but there was no further sound.
“That was a rather curious commotion for these woods,” April said
significantly.
“Are there deer about here?” Dorothea asked, quite calm now and
returning her cousin’s look quietly. “Or bears? I didn’t know there were
any large animals in this part of the country. But how comes it, April,
that you are not with Hal?”
“Mother is there,” the girl answered. “She is better and wished me to
get out into the air for a little while. I want something from Aunt
Cora, and was on my way there.”
Dorothea nodded as if she understood. She did not dare to speak for fear
of betraying the skepticism she felt at this explanation of April’s
presence in the woods.
“I must hurry on,” she said, taking a step forward, “or Harriot will be
coming to find me. Hope you have a nice walk.” And off she ran, leaving
her cousin gazing after her for a moment or two.
“It was a blue uniform I saw, after all!” April said to herself as she
walked on again.