“Good night, ladies, and _au revoir_,” he said gaily, bowing over our hands. “We will meet in Baltimore.” “I echo that,” said Mr. Holliway with assumed cheerfulness. “It has been a great pleasure and privilege to know you, ladies. With all its shadows, this journey will always be one of my sweetest memories.” We might never see them again. We knew it as we looked into Locke’s bonnie blue eyes and Holliway’s dark sad ones. They had been our brave and gentle knights, shielding us and enduring all the hardships cheerfully. One of them was weaker, we knew, because he had given his blanket to keep us warm. We looked bravely back into the two brave faces that looked into ours--one sign of faltering and they would not leave us. “I will say a ‘Hail Mary’ for each of you every night,” I said. “I, too,” said Milicent softly. “Thank you,” there was a quiver in each voice now. “We will try to deserve your prayers, dear ladies.” Then they bowed themselves out with smiling faces. One of them we never saw again. CHAPTER XIV THE LITTLE JEW BOY AND THE PROVOST’S DEPUTY The Dutchman went with them to show them the way he said they must take. His wife came in and gossiped with us. According to her account, it was a miracle that we had passed through the provost’s hands as well as we had. “If de vimmins had peen dere, dey vould haf pult your close off, unt dey vould haf search you all ofer. I ton’t know as you haf anyding you not vant dem to see, but if you haf anyding, tey pe zhure to fint it. Te vimmins tat haf to pe dere to-tay vas gone avay somevare. If she had peen dere, you vas haf harter times tan you vas haf.” I thought with a shudder of our muffs and satchels, our pictures in Confederate uniform, and those papers. “Mine man say some volks vas arrested town te river to-tay. Dere vas dree laties unt von shentleman. Tey dry to cross at de Boint of Vrocks [Point of Rocks] unt tey vas took up unt sent pack.” “What were their names?” we asked eagerly. We remembered that the Otis party consisted of three ladies and one gentleman. We had kept in sight of their ambulance for some time. But at the parting of our ways, when they had taken one road and we another, our driver had said: “They are going to try to get across at the Point of Rocks, and they’ll sure be turned back or took up, one.” “I ton’t know vat dere names,” said the Dutchwoman. “Mine man vill know. He forgets notding.” When he came in he thought a little, and then he said he thought the name was “Odis.” So we had been luckier than we thought in the chance that prevented us from joining their party.