This plan was followed out at once and Mason could hear Scotty at intervals as he stumbled over some object while groping his way along the cellar wall. It was a dangerous undertaking, as both carried lights, and they took a chance of drawing a shot from some hidden foe. Mason was closely examining the wall when he heard a sharp exclamation from Scotty.
“Come out of that! what are you skulking down here for?” he heard him say in forceful tones.
Mason straightened up in surprise.
“What have you found, Scotty?” he called.
“Come over and see,” the Scot answered wrathfully.
Mason crossed rapidly to the opposite side and beheld Scotty holding his lantern in the face of the blackest negro woman he had ever seen. The eyes of the negress were rolling in abject fear and her limbs were trembling violently.
Whether her fear was assumed or not, he couldn’t tell, but remembering the signaling noise, he regarded her with suspicion.
“Woman, what position do you fill in this house, and what were you hiding in the cellar for?” Mason questioned her sharply.
The negress looked at him mutely.
“She must be a little deaf,” muttered Scotty.