The Washington times., 1913-09-04
CHAPTER XXI.
The Risk In the Ruse.


~ ONNIBEL, handsome gray
x mare, was in fine fettle. Like
tD the well-bred horse she was,
she was eager to go, but her
mistress was too good a horsewoman.
She had too vivid an appreciation OF the
demands that she might have TO meet
later on, to give her mare her head The
fate Of the Confederacy and her hus-
bands honor depended upon her that
horse. When the time came Bonnibel
would be ridden unsparinsiy. IL neces-
sary-but now Ariadne kept her down to
long, easy canter which carried her
Although Ariadne had displayed a
marvellous aptitude in comprehending
the military exigencies Of the situation
she sought to relieve, she was a woman,
not soldier. She had not learned the
extreme necessity of vigilance in such
undertakings through years Of expert
ence. and she therefore neglected pre-
cautions which veteran scout would
not have failed to observe She did not
stop at each turn and reconnoiter, for
instance, but raced along rapidly, intent
only upon her arrival at her goal and
the delivery Of her message. Outwardly
intent, that is. Inwardly she was think
ing of other things.
Never in her life had she been SO hap
py. Philip had found her and she had
found his heart He loved her. Nothing
else In the heavens above or In the
earth beneath, or in the waters under
the earth, could her thoughts have been
projected in either direction. mattered.
come to pass. He had saved her from
the most horrible of fates, to do which
he had risked everything that men hold
dear. 1t was not by word Of mouth
solutely she possessed her husbands
heart -..
With what intensity of passion she
had waited for him, longed for his
presence, during those months in which
she hda fed from him! She had known.
she had wondered in what spirit he
would meet her, whether with re-
proach, reproof, appeal or resentment,
or-hut he loved her! She had never
dreamed OF that His passion for her
matched hers for him. She could read
the signs by intuition-by observation
of herself she had learned to know.
no doubt about it Her heart sang,
her pulses throbbed as she rode swiftly
over the winding path.
And there VISA sweetness almost be-
yond understanding in the fact that
she was now doing something for him.
Not only did he love her, but he was
depending upon her. She was neces-
sary TO him. Not merely necessary to
his happiness, but to his honor-per-
haps to his very life. She was riding
for him and for the cause that, next
TO hinn, she loved above everything
else. Although every moment put dis
tance between them, and she felt that
she never wished to be parted from
him again, she rode. the happiest girl
in the Southern Confederacy.
The road was a very crooked one,
simply a tenuous line through the will
derness, of which there were many to
bring scattered clearings In touch with
the great highways. 1t zigzagged
through the woods in the most cratic
fashion, to take in every ways!de hut
that desired connection with the main
travelled roads Little branch paths
just wide enough for a wagon to pass
through meandered of at intervals,
ending nowhere.
Ariadne had often Travelled this road
to Todd's Tavern on her way to the
Piny Branch Church, which she some
times attended. She was thouoghly ac-
quainted wit hit and needed to give II
time enough for her to worry. she
fancied when she reached the tavern.
She was more and more absorbed and
entranced in her own thoughts, and
there never was a more surprised wom-
an than she when shary voice badc
her halt. At the same instant a man
carrying a shining rife sprang out OF
the underbrush, presenting his piece
full at her breas,
Her first impulse was to ride him