“Are you in earnest, Captain Somers?” asked she, still struggling under the violence of her emotions.
“Maud,” said the major.
“Silence, sir!” added the captain, sternly. “Miss Hasbrouk, I am in earnest. The situation has changed. Would you like a photographer to preserve the scene for future inspection?”
“You would not kill me?”
“I would, as you would kill me.”
“But the soldiers are impatient outside, and they may come in without my call,” suggested she, glancing at the window, while every muscle in her frame shook with terror.
“If they do, it will cost you your life, unless they are more reasonable than you are.”
“Good Heaven! You mean to murder me?”
“Not if I can help it. When I fire, it will be from a solemn sense of duty; for your cutthroats would hang me to the nearest tree if they knew as much of me as you do.”
“What shall I do?” asked she, wildly, as she looked around the room.