Rural Retreat times. [volume] (Rural Retreat, Va.) 1892-1918, 1911-12-15
CHAPTER vlli.-continued.

DO not permit the darkness to
alarm you,' ! whispered. softly. bend
Ing down as spoke until could
feel her quick -eathing against my
cheek. Our visitors are not likely to
remain longer than will be necessary
to get something to eat. They need
never suspect our presence. and all
we have to do Is to wait patiently
until they move on. l only wish
could discover something upon which
you might sit down"
Pray do not think me a coward"
she answered, "but l have heard of
this man Lowrie in the Federal camps,
and ! would rather die than fall into
his hands"
! had heard of him also, and of his
outrageous treatment of women. The
memory caused me to clasp my hand
warmly over hers, and set my teeth
hard.
TT may not prove to be Lowrie at
ALL" | said soberly; ''but all these
gentry are pretty mum alike. fear.
However, | promise that you shall
of their breed"
Before she could answer me other
than by slight nesting closer in the
darkness. Bungay whispered: "This
yere hole, Cap, leads down ter the
right. an comes out in sort O. gully
bout hundred feet back. Thar's
light 'nough ter see ter walk by alter
ye tnrn the corner. bout twenty
feet er So You uns kin go on down
thar If ye'd rather, follerin' Their dorgs,
but reckon as how I'll stay right
yere an sorter see how Their OF woman
comes out.
Where, where was Roderick then?
One blast upon his bugle horn
Were worth thousaE men,
II you uns like ter see a burned good
fight maybe we better stay tew-ther
oil woman is pisen if she once gifts her
dander up
His voice was expressive Of great
expectations, and l had reason to be-
lieTe his faith in Maria would be
justified Before any of us, however,
had time to change our positions we
heard the fellows come stamping
roughly into the cabin. The thin slabs
which divided us scarcely muffled
their loud voices.
We'll. old woman" exclaimed one In
voice SO gruff as to seem almost as
sumed, pretending to be alone, are
you, with all those dishes sitting out
on the table; just been eaten off, too.
Have MT seen no strange party along
the road this morning, have ye?"
Mary one" said Maria, and /
knew from her voice she was standing
close beside the fireplace.
Are you Mrs. Bungay?"
81 reckon l am. if it's any o. yer
business"
Don't git nifty, old woman, or we're
liable to give you lesson In polite
ness before we leave" The leader
dropped the butt Of his gun with a
crash On the elocf. Where is the lit
tie sneak. anyhow"
What do you want of him?"
want him to go long with us;
we're hunting some parties, and need
a guide. They top us up ths road a
bit he knew every inch o. these yere
mountings."
There was pause, as If Maria was
endeavoring to decide as to the hon.
esty of the speaker. Her final answer
proved the mental survey had not
proven satisfactory.
oval, ] reckon" shs said calmly,
"as you uns II be more likely ter
find him down bout Connersyille.
Then whut's all these yere dirty
dishes doing on the table?"
He'd sum Yankee officers yere; they
just rode on down ther trail as you
uns cum up"
Like hell" calculated the fellow
with complete loss of temper. See
here. old woman, we're too old birds
to be caught with any such chaff.
Wen take a look aroun the old she
bang anyhow. and whilo we're at 1t
you put something on the table for me
and my mates to eat"
The voice and manner were rough,
but was impressed with certain ac-
cent creeping into the mans speech
bespeaking education. More, in spite
Of an apparent effort to make 1t so. his
dialect was not that of those noun
tains.
Even as he uttered these last words,
throwing into them threat more in
the tone than the language, became
aware of thin ray of light pene-
trating the seemingly solid wall just
in front of me, and bending silently
forward could dimly distinguish the
elliptical head of Bungay as he applied
one eye to a small opening he had
Industriously made between the logs.