There was no one about. Long afterward Peggy found that this state of things had been prearranged in order that the inmates of the inn might not be held responsible when Clifford’s flight should be discovered. Clifford himself brought their horses from the stables. Silently they mounted, then turned for a last word with Harriet. But she had sunk upon the steps of the porch, and with her face buried in her hands, was sobbing in heart-breaking accents:
“Clifford! Clifford! Clifford!”
CHAPTER XXVIII
“HOW COULD SHE KNOW?”
“To-morrow! O, that’s sudden! Spare him,
spare him!”
—“Measure for Measure.”
Colonel Dayton met them as they reëntered the camp. His brow was wrinkled with anxiety, but it cleared as if by magic at sight of them.
“Odds life, captain!” he cried. “I feared lest something had befallen you. It is long past your usual hour for returning.”