“He rushed out of the back door. Oh! my sister, my sister!”
“After him, boys; don’t let him get away!” yelled the sergeant, and they rushed through the house in hot pursuit.
The house was rapidly filling, when a captain appeared, and learning of the sobbing Inez what the trouble was, said: “Murdered your sister! Horrible! where is she?”
“Here,” said Inez, leading the way into the parlor. Annette was reclining on a sofa, her face bloody; she was apparently in a fainting condition.
The captain acted quickly. He ordered the house to be cleared, sent a subordinate for a surgeon, and another to have the whole block surrounded. In the mean time the mother of the girls had appeared, and was adding her sobs to those of her eldest daughter. When the surgeon came and had washed the blood from Annette’s face, her only injury was found to be a bruised nose.
Both the captain and the surgeon looked in[pg 174]quiringly. “How is this?” they asked, “you said your sister was murdered.”
“I—I thought she was,” stammered Inez. “I saw the blood and thought the man had stabbed her.”
“Tell us just what happened,” said the captain.
Annette, who had by this time so far recovered from her fright as to comprehend what was going on, saw Inez give her the signal of danger. It put her on her guard.
“Why, it was this way,” said Inez, in answer to the captain, “sister and I were going out, but just as we opened the door, there was a tumult on the street. We stopped to see what the trouble was, when a man dashed up the steps. We tried to oppose him, but he struck sister a cruel blow, knocking her down, flung me backward, and slamming the door to, locked it; then running through the house, disappeared through the back door. Seeing sister’s face covered with blood, I picked her up and carried her into the parlor. By this time the soldiers were breaking down the door, and I went and unlocked it.”