“You may do so,” answered Bob, “but I assure you he is not here.”
Without waiting to discuss the matter, the sergeant stepped into the hall, followed by a private in uniform. Outside, the house-doors were guarded by the two soldiers who remained.
If Rhett Bannister were within, there would be no chance for him to escape. The sergeant pushed his way into the parlor and sitting-room, threw open the blinds, and looked carefully about him. He went into the dining-room, raised the shades, and examined the pantries and the kitchen. He procured a lantern, went into the cellar and searched every nook and corner of it.
“It is necessary for me,” he said when he came back up the cellar-stairs, “to ask permission to go into the second story. Who is up there?”
“My mother and my young sister,” replied Bob.
“Will you kindly go ahead and tell them that we are coming. I shall have to examine every room.”
“You may go now,” said the boy. “My mother is dressed.”
So they went, all three, upstairs. The soldiers peered into the room where Louise, undisturbed by the noise, still slept peacefully on. In the presence of Mrs. Bannister the sergeant removed his cap.
“I regret this necessity, madam,” he said, “but we are under orders to arrest Rhett Bannister, and it is our duty to make this search.”