"Another danger? You mean the presence of our troops here? Marion, no harm shall come to you, if I can prevent it."
"But I do not mean that. It is concerning Jack."
"What of your brother?"
"Oh, Harry, he is just like a brother to me, and mamma thinks of him as her son! Now a stranger has appeared on the scene, and he wants to take Jack away from us."
"A stranger. Who?"
"A Confederate surgeon named Dr. Mackey. He claims that he is Jack's father."
"But is he?"
"We do not believe that he is. But he says he can prove it."
"This is news certainly, Marion. Will you give me the particulars?"
"I will," and she did so, to which Harry Powell listened with keen interest.