"Are you disappointed? I'm sorry."

"I am staggered and--a bit skeptical. There is no resemblance."

"I _am_ a bit taller," she admitted carefully. "It isn't dreadfully
immodest, is it, for one to hold converse with her captor? I am in
your power, you see."

"On the contrary, it is quite the thing. The heroine always converses
with the villain in books. She tells him what she thinks of him."

"But this isn't a book and I'm not a heroine. I am the adventuress.
Will you permit me to explain my presence on your land?"

"No excuse is necessary. You were caught red-handed and you don't have
to say anything to incriminate yourself further."

"But it is scarcely a hundred feet to our line. In a very few minutes
I shall be hurled relentlessly from your land and may never have
another chance to tell why I dared to venture over here. You see, you
have a haunted house on your land and I--" She hesitated.

"I see. The old Renwood cottage on the hill. Been deserted for years.
Renwood brought his wife up here in the mountains long ago and
murdered her. She comes back occasionally, they say; mysterious noises
and lights and all that. Well?"

"Well, I'm very much interested in spooks. In spite of the feud I rode
over here for a peep at the house. Dear me, it's a desolate looking
place. I didn't go inside, of course. Why don't you tear it down?"

"And deprive the ghost of house and home? That would be heartless.
Besides, it serves as an attraction to bring visitors to my otherwise
unalluring place. I'm terribly sorry the fortunes of war prevent me
from offering to take you through the house. But as long as you remain
a Bazelhurst I can't neglect my vow. Of course, I don't mean to say
that you _can't_ come and do what you please over here, but you shall
be recognized and treated as a trespasser."

"Oh, that's just splendid! Perhaps I'll come to-morrow."

"I shall be obliged to escort you from the grounds, you know."

"Yes, I know," she said agreeably. He looked dazed and delighted. "Of
course, I shall come with stealth and darkly. Not even my brother
shall know of my plans."

"Certainly not," he said with alacrity. (They were nearing the line.)
"Depend on me."

"Depend on you? Your only duty is to scare me off the place."

"That's what I mean. I'll keep sharp watch for you up at the haunted
house."

"It's more than a mile from the line," she advised him.

"Yes, I know," said he, with his friendliest smile. "Oh, by the