p. After
some delay a very fat negress opened the door, and eyed the strangers
rather suspiciously. Their tramp over the country had not improved their
appearance, and her supercilious, inquisitive look was not strange, under
the circumstances.

"What you folks want?" she asked, putting her big arms akimbo in an
uncompromising attitude. Watson was about to reply when an attractive
voice, with the soft accent so characteristic of the Southerners, called:
"What is it, Ethiopia? Any one to see me?"

The next instant a kindly-faced gentlewoman of about fifty stood in the
doorway.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked pleasantly.

Macgreggor proceeded to tell the customary story about their being on
their way from Kentucky to join the Confederate army further south. His
heart smote him as he did so, for she was so gentle and sympathetic in her
manner that he loathed to practice any deception, however necessary; but
there was no help for it. So he ended by asking for something to eat.

"Come in," said the mistress of the mansion, for such she proved to be,
"and take any poor hospitality I can offer you. My husband, Mr. Page, and
both my children are away, fighting under General Lee, and I am only too
glad to do anything I can for others who are helping the great cause." She
smiled sweetly at George, and patted his dog. The boy regarded her almost
sheepishly; he, too, hated the idea of imposing on so cordial a hostess.

Mrs. Page led the party into a great colonial hallway, embellished with
family portraits. "By-the-way," she added, "there is a Confederate officer
in the house now--Major Lightfoot, of the --th Virginia Regiment. He
reached here this morning from Richmond and goes to Chattanooga this
afternoon on a special mission."

Watson bit his lip. "We're coming to too close quarters with the enemy,"
he thought, and he felt like retreating from the mansion with his
companions. But it was too late. Such a move would only excite suspicion,
or, worse still, lead to pursuit. "We must face the thing through," he
muttered, "and trust to our wits."

Mrs. Page ushered the strangers, including the delighted Waggie, into a
large, handsomely paneled dining-room on the left of the hallway. She made
them gather around an unset table. "Sit here for a few minutes," she said,
"and the servants will bring you the best that Page Manor can offer you.
In the meantime, I'll send Major Lightfoot to see you. He may be able to