The night was now well begun and I could see no great distance. As I
turned away from the last man I chanced to look up at the house, whose
shape was but a darker shadow in the darkness. At a narrow window high
up, where the sloping eaves converged, I saw a light. Perhaps I would
not have thought much of it, but the light was moved from side to side
with what seemed to me to be regular and deliberate motion. It faced
the north, where our army lay.
I walked twenty steps or so, still keeping the light in view. Its
regular swinging motion from side to side did not cease, and I could
not persuade myself that it was not intended as a signal to some one.
The discovery caused in me a certain faintness at the heart, for until
this night I had thought Kate Van Auken, despite mother, brother, and
all else, was a true friend to our cause through all.
I own I was in great perplexity. At first I was tempted to enter the
house, smash the light, and denounce her in my most eloquent language.
But I quickly saw the idea was but folly, and would stand in the way
of our own plans. I leaned against an oak tree and kept my eyes fixed
on the light. Though the windows in the house were many, no other
light was visible, which seemed strange to me, for it was very early.
Back and forth it swung, and then it was gone with a suddenness which
made me rub my eyes to see if it were not still there; nothing ailed
them. The building was a huge black shadow, but no light shone from it
anywhere.
I went in a mighty hurry to Whitestone and told him what I had seen. He
loosened the pistol in his belt and said he thought the time for us to
make discoveries had come. Once more I agreed with him.
I drew my own pistol, that it might be ready to my hand, if need be,
and we walked a bit up the valley. It was very dark and we trusted
more to our ears than to our eyes, in which trust we were not deceived,
for speedily we heard a faint but regular thump, thump, upon the earth.
“A horse coming,” I said.
“And probably a horseman, too,” said Whitestone.
How glad was I that we had stayed! It was not at all likely that the
man coming had any honest business there. We stepped a trifle to one
side and stood silent, while the tread of the horse’s hoofs grew
louder. In a few moments the horseman was near enough for us to see his
face even in the night, and I felt no surprise, though much anger, when
I recognized Captain Martyn. He was riding slowly, in order that he
might not make much noise, I supposed.
I stepped forward and put my hand upon his bridle rein. He saw who
it was and uttered an exclamation; but after that he recovered his
self-control with a quickness most astonishing.
“How dare you stop me in such a sudden and alarming manner?” he said
with an appearance of great wrath.
But, very sure now that I was right, I intended neither to be deceived
nor overborne. I ordered him to dismount and surrender himself.
“You are very impertinent, sir,” he said, “and need chastisement.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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