She hesitated, but only for a moment. “Cousin Bob and the boys are all away at a dance at Mr. Shriveley’s, five miles up the Greenberry road. They won’t be back until morning.”
Graves drew me aside. “She is fibbing; didn’t you notice how she hesitated? Those men are upstairs, and we shall have to go up for them.”
It was very probable that he was right, so I said: “Madam, much as I regret it, my duty is plain. Your house is surrounded by the forces of the United States, under my command. I must search this house for the persons I have come here to arrest, and I shall do it, disturbing you as little as possible. You can have five minutes undisturbed in which to dress yourself—not a moment more.”
She saw that I was in earnest and hurried away. Sending some men with Mr. Watson to thoroughly search the lower rooms, we went upstairs at the expiration of the five minutes, and found three large chambers with dormer windows giving upon the roof. The first room we entered had two beds, and by the dim light of our lantern four heads could be seen buried beneath the bed clothing.
“Well, sir,” said the lady we had first encountered, as she entered the room wearing a morning wrapper, with a shawl drawn about her shoulders, “are you satisfied that I told you the truth and that there are no men here?”
The smothered giggle that came from beneath the blankets was unmistakably feminine. Our position was certainly becoming embarrassing, not to say ridiculous, and I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable under the gaze of the lady who was acting as spokeswoman.
To tell the honest truth, I would rather have been facing a ten-gun battery just then—and the worst of it was that the woman evidently knew it.
Graves, who was of a coarser temperament, came to the rescue: “Madam,” said he, “Captain Kelson has already told you that we are here on duty and that we must perform it. If the persons in these beds are women, let them put out their hands,—they can keep their faces hid if they choose,—and we will be satisfied,” and he looked at me for my assent.
“That is a fair proposition, madam, and will bring this disagreeable business to an end,” said I.
The lady hesitated, then went to the beds and whispered to the occupants, and out came four white, ringed, and very shapely hands from beneath the coverings.