trembling
with excitement, her voice barely audible.

"You--you heard what was said in there?" she asked, eager to gain time.
"You know Captain Le Gaire has returned?"

"Yes," thinking to calm her by an appearance of coolness. "He seems to
be a most blood-thirsty individual."

"He was angry at being deceived. No one can blame him, but I simply had
to tantalize him in order to get him away."

"Was that it? Do you mean so you might come here to me?"

"Why, of course. I had promised you. Do you think I would demean myself
by lying--to a Yank? Besides," her voice faltered, "you would have kept
your parole, and--and--"

"Waited here to be hung, probably," I broke in, "as that ceremony
appears to be part of the programme. My only hope was that you might
possibly object to this item of entertainment."

"Don't laugh," soberly. "There is no fun in it for me."

"Then you would show mercy even to a Yankee spy?"

"I am not sure of that. I am a Rebel, but that has no serious weight
now. You are not a spy; if you have acted as one, it has been more
through my fault than your own. Besides you are my prisoner, and if I
should permit you to fall into the hands of those men, to be condemned
to death, the memory would haunt me forever. I am not that kind,
Lieutenant Galesworth. I don't want your gratitude; I would rather fight
you than help you. I want you to understand this first of all."

"I do, Miss Hardy; you simply perform a duty."

"Yes; I--I keep my word."

"But, after all, isn't it a little easier because--you like me?"

She drew in her breath so quickly it was almost a sob, the swift,
unexpected question disarming her in an instant. It was no longer the
tiger cat, but the woman who gasped out a surprised response.

"No; oh, no! that is what makes it harder."

"Harder to aid me?"

"To see you unjustly condemned, and--and to realize that perhaps I am
disloyal to my country."

Something about these simple words of confession, wrung from her lips by
my insistence, held me silent. I failed to realize then the full
significance of this acknowledgment, and she gave me no opportunity.

"This is ungenerous," she broke in quickly. "I do feel friendly toward
you; surely I need not be ashamed of this, even though our interests are
unlike, our causes opposed. Everything has conspired to make us friends.
But you must not presume, or take advantage of my position. Now
listen--I am here for one purpose: to give you an oppor