and
strength, seemed poised as if she were about to spring. The pallor in
her cheeks was replaced by a glow and her eyes were alight. Here was a
woman of fire and passion, a woman to whom danger mattered little, but
to whom waiting was hard.

The sound of voices, one short and harsh and the other calm and even,
came to them through the thin wall. The composed tones he knew were
those of Miss Grayson, and the other, by the accent, the note of
command, belonged to an officer. They talked on, but the words were not
audible to either in the inner room.

His injured pride returned. It was not necessary for him to hide from
any one, and he would go back and face the intruder, whoever he might
be. He moved and his foot made a slight sound on the floor. Miss
Catherwood turned upon him quickly, even with anger, and held up a
warning finger. The gesture was of fierce command, and it said as plain
as day, "Be still!" Instinctively he obeyed.

He had no fear for himself; he never thought then of any trouble into
which discovery there might lead him, but the unspoken though eager
question on his lips was to her: "What will _you_ do if we are found?"

The voices went on, one harsh, commanding, the other calm, even
argumentative; but the attitude of the woman beside Prescott never
changed. She stood like a lithe panther, tense, waiting.

The harsh voice sank presently as if convinced, and they heard the sound
of retreating footsteps, and then the bang of the front door as if
slammed in disappointment.

"Now we can go back," said Miss Catherwood, and opening the door she led
the way into the reception room, where Miss Grayson half lay in a chair,
deadly pale and collapsed.

"What was it, Charlotte?" asked Miss Catherwood in a protecting voice,
laying her hand with a soothing gesture upon Miss Grayson's head.

Miss Grayson looked up and smiled weakly.

"It lasted just a little too long for my nerves," she said. "It was, I
suppose, what you might call a domiciliary visit. The man was an officer
with soldiers, though he had the courtesy to leave the men at the door.
He saw a light shining through a front window and thought he ought to
search. I'm a suspect, a dangerous woman, you know--marked to be
watched, and he hoped to make a capture. But I demanded his right, his
orders--even in war there is a sort of law. I had been searched once, I
said, and nothing was found; then it was by the proper authorities, but
now he was about