“It’s perfectly preposterous that one of those Unionists should come here for protection, when it is well known what we are. Still it may be. There’s no piece of effrontery they are not capable of. I know them well, just as I knew every nook and corner of the negro cabins. Stay here, gentlemen, and take some refreshment while I search the quarters myself.” Arthur Tunbridge wore a lieutenant’s uniform. He had been in the army from the very first; he had fought in many a battle; had been a prisoner for four months, while his father was known to be a staunch secessionist, who was ready to sacrifice all he had for the success of the cause he believed to be so just and righteous. There could be no cheating in such a family as this, and so, while Maude De Vere wore her most winning smile, and with her own hands served cake and coffee to the soldiers, Lieutenant Arthur went on his tour of investigation, and brought back word that not a trace of a runaway had he found, notwithstanding that every cabin on the premises had been visited. A savage oath was the answer to this report, but something in Maude’s eyes kept the soldiers in check and made them tolerably civil, as they mounted their horses, and with a respectful good-night, rode off in an opposite direction. With a feeling of security after hearing from Hetty of Maude De Vere, Tom came out from his hiding-place and ventured to the open door of the cabin, where he stood looking at the “big house” on the hill, from which the guests were just departing. He could hear their voices as they said good night, and fancied he could detect the clear, well-bred tones of Maude De Vere, in whom he began to feel so deeply interested. He could see the flutter of her white dress as she stood against a pillar of the piazza, with Arthur at her side, but her back was toward him, and he could only see her well shaped head, which sat so erect and proudly upon her shoulders. She was very tall, Tom thought, comparing her with Mary, Annie, and petite Rose as she walked across the piazza with Arthur, who, from comparison seemed the shorter of the two. Profoundly grateful to her as his probable deliverer, Tom went back into the cabin and began to question Hetty with regard to the young lady. Who was she, and where did she live, and how came she so strong a Unionist?