He looked toward Howard Lawrence as he spoke; but that young man smiled sweetly, and replied:
“So I think, captain; and should the enemy seek to enter this ravine, I will defend it with my life, for I am stationed here to watch the river approach.”
“You cannot even see the water, sir, from your present position; so I would advise that you do a sentinel’s duty, as long as you represent one.”
So saying, Captain la Clyde turned away, while Howard Lawrence’s face flushed with anger. Sibyl felt that a storm was brewing, and that she was innocently the cause; but with a sigh, she consoled herself with the thought that she could not love everybody that loved her.
Returning to the line of fortifications, Major Conrad and Captain la Clyde were surprised and startled by the sound of conflict going on in the enemy’s lines, and for which they could not account, unless the scout had returned.
After a moment’s attention to the sound, the young officer remarked:
“As I live, they are fighting among themselves—or pretending to, to put us off our guard!”
Then all was silent once more.
Slowly the moments dragged away, until Major Conrad began to nod with sleep. Then, feeling anxious about the river front, Percy la Clyde cautiously crept there and reconnoitered.
At first he believed all quiet and safe, but his quick eye soon caught sight of a dark mass upon the water. Closely he watched it, and he saw it slowly moving down upon the point near which he stood.