“Can't help it if I be. I 'm yere ter take ther guns from ther sojer, an' pass 'em back.”
I crept slowly along beyond her, keeping close to the wall, but had progressed hardly more than a couple of yards, when I felt a hand lightly touch me.
“I recognize your voice,” said a soft whisper, “and am so glad you are here.”
Who can guess the motives that inspire a woman? This was my welcome, where I had anticipated coldness and repellant pride.
CHAPTER XXXI. — A CONVERSATION IN THE DARK
In my extreme surprise at the intimate cordiality expressed by her words and manner I failed in utterance. Anticipating coldness, indifference, possibly even resentment at my presuming to approach her, I was instead greeted by an unstudied warmth of welcome that made my heart beat fiercely.
“Surely I am not mistaken,” she questioned, rendered doubtful by my silence. “Is not this Captain Wayne?”
“There is no mistake,” I hastened to assure her, “but I had anticipated from our last meeting a far less cordial greeting.”