Early in the year something had happened to again fasten her suspicions upon Dorothea. She did not remember long what this had been, but every day she had watched for confirmation of her growing conviction. She was no longer able to conceal what she felt and so took the precaution to avoid being alone with her cousin lest she betray her feelings. So certain had she become that she was right that she determined to have absolute proof before she made any accusations either to the girl herself or to her mother. And so, day by day, she kept her own council; but there was scarcely a time in her waking hours that she was not entirely aware of where Dorothea was and what she did. [Illustration: A flag of truce, honored alike by the Confederacy and the Union.] And yet when the moment came for her to find confirmation of her worst suspicions, she was shocked. Her walk through the woods the day before had been taken without thought of Dorothea and she had come across her cousin quite unexpectedly. But she had seen a man disappear into the bushes and was sure that he wore a dark blue uniform. April’s first impulse had been to accuse the girl then and there, but her sense of justice held her back. Perhaps Dorothea would offer voluntary explanation, though she did not think this a possibility. Once having resisted the natural impulse to speak out, she had time to consider the situation more calmly, and concluded that she would lose nothing by waiting, and perhaps might gain much. If the man she had seen was a Union spy, and she began firmly to believe that he was, to capture him would be a service for the cause and a complete case against Dorothea. Moreover, in order to do this, she must not let her cousin have the faintest idea that she was suspected. She argued that her arrival upon the scene in the woods had interrupted an interview that in all likelihood would be renewed at the first opportunity, and April meant to be there and catch them red-handed. Next morning, therefore, when she saw her cousin leave the house dressed for a walk, April seized a hat to follow, thinking at first that the trail would lead to Coulter Woods. It was obvious at once that Dorothea had no intention of going in that direction but was bending her steps to the village, and she changed her plans. Plainly Dorothea had no intention then of meeting the Federal soldier; but April felt that her cousin’s errand was of importance and that she must know what it was. In the streets of so small a village it would be wellnigh impossible to spy upon her undetected. She was especially anxious now that Dorothea should not have the slightest inkling of the fact that she was being observed, and to meet April in town, on foot, would be unusual enough to cause comment. Some thought of sending her maid, Merry, occurred to April, but she shook her head, feeling that it was impossible to have a servant spy upon her cousin. Whatever was to be done she must do herself.