“Lieutenant, I hope you will consider my position in this matter,” said the planter.
“I must do my duty. If the man is a Yankee officer, as you think, he must not be permitted to roam around the country. He may belong to the force which is now destroying the railroad; perhaps gobbled up by these miscreants. It is not for me to say what shall be done with him. I must catch him if I can. I saw him standing at the door of the dining-room, when I looked in at the window, and I am positive he has not left the house.”
“I regard the person as my friend,” added the planter, warmly. “My wife and daughters, as well as myself, are very grateful to him, for he has saved them from insult and outrage, for aught I know.”
“Your feelings and those of your family shall be respected, Colonel Roman; but I must do my duty,” answered the lieutenant, firmly.
The officer then ordered his men to search the various apartments and closets of the second floor. Somers, though the case certainly looked very hopeful for him, with the powerful influence of the wealthy planter in his favor, wished to escape; but he thought it would be an easy and safe thing to return to Sherman’s army before Atlanta, and he was not disposed to be introduced to the lieutenant, or even to improve his acquaintance with Colonel Roman. If he could conceal himself until the squad of cavalry retired, he was satisfied that the planter would enable him to return to the army.
It was very dark in the garret, and while the lieutenant and his party were searching the chambers, Somers carefully felt about him for some place of concealment. The roof was a four-sided one, in which there were no windows; but while he was walking about, he struck his head against a long iron handle, which proved to be attached to a shutter or scuttle. This he unfastened and raised, and his eyes were greeted by a view of the starry sky. The discovery was a welcome one, and he lost not a moment in availing himself of the advantage which it seemed to afford.
The lower end of the aperture was within reach of his hands; and with great care and no little difficulty he raised himself, and succeeded in gaining the roof—an operation which his gymnastic practice enabled him to accomplish, for it was a feat an untrained person could hardly have performed. But he had scarcely reached the roof before he heard his pursuers in the attic, and the light from their lamps shone up through the scuttle.
“I see where he has gone!” shouted the lieutenant, as he discovered the open shutter.
“He will fall and break his neck,” added the planter.
Somers closed the scuttle, and sat down upon it; but the game seemed to be up with him. He drew his sword, and thrust the point into the roof as far as he could, causing it to act as a bolt over the shutter—hoping by this means to gain a moment’s time to examine the situation. There appeared to be no means of descending from the roof to the ground except by the lightning-rods, which he saw rising above the chimneys. Then, if he reached the ground, the house was surrounded by rebels, and his fate would only be deferred.