have heard something of that tale," she whispered, "but dimly, for
we in Harby do not care to speak of it. When my grandsire's sister
shamed her family by wedding with a Puritan her people blotted her
from their memory. You will not find her picture on the walls of
Harby."

"The loss is Harby's," the soldier answered, "for I believe she was
as fair as she was good. She married an honest gentleman named Cloud,
whose honesty compelled him to profess the faith he believed in. My
name is Evander Cloud."

He waited for a moment as if he expected her to speak, but she
uttered no word, only faced him rigidly with hatred in her gaze.

Seeing her silent, he resumed:

"It was this sad kinship pushed me to a parley wherein, perhaps, I
have something strained my strict duty. But the voice of our common
blood cried out in me to urge you to reason. You have done all that
woman, all that man could do. Yield now, while I can still offer you
terms, and your garrison shall march out with all the honors of war,
drums beating, matches burning, colors flying."

He was very earnest in his appeal, and Brilliana heard him to the end
in silence, with her clinched hands pressed against her bosom. Then
she turned fiercely upon him and her voice was bitter.

"Sir," she cried, "if I hated you before for a detested rebel, think
how I hate you now, if you be, even in so base a way, my kinsman."

She turned away from him, lifting her clasped hands as if in
supplication.

"Oh, Heaven, to think that a disloyal, hypocritical, canting Puritan
could brag to my face that he carries one drop of our loyal blood in
his false heart."

She turned to him again with new fury.

"You are doubly a traitor now, and if you are wise you will keep out
of my power, for my heart aches with its hate of you. Go! Five
minutes left of your truce gives you just time to return to your
rebels. If you overlinger in our lines but one minute you are no
longer an envoy: you are an enemy and a spy and shall swing for it."

She reached out her hand to strike the bell upon the table, while
Evander Cloud, still impassive, paid a salutation to his unwilling
hostess and made a motion to depart. But on the instant both were
chilled into immobility by an amazing interruption. Brilliana's hand
never touched the bell; Evander's hand never found the handle of the
door. For between the beginning and the end of their action came a
sudden rattle of musketry, distant but deafening, f