“There’s no ‘must’ with a bayonet in front of you. If he has been wounded, there’s plenty of better men killed to-day. Come down, my dear.”
Margaret gathered up the bridle rein, but, even in the darkness, the man saw her intention.
“You can’t escape, my pretty. If you try it, you’ll not be hurt, but I’ll kill your horse. If you move, I’ll put a bullet through him.”
“Kill my horse?” breathed Margaret in horror, a fear coming over her that she had not felt at the thought of danger to herself.
“Yes, missy,” said the man, approaching nearer, and laying his hand on Gypsy’s bridle. “But there will be no need of that. Besides, it would make too much noise, and might bring us company, which would be inconvenient. So come down quietly, like the nice little girl you are.”
“If you will let me go and tell the doctor, I will come back here and be your prisoner.”
The man laughed again in low, tantalizing tones. This was a good joke.
“Oh, no, sweetheart. I wasn’t born so recently as all that. A girl in the hand is worth a dozen a mile up the road. Now, come off that horse, or I’ll take you off. This is war time, and I’m not going to waste any more pretty talk on you.”
The man, who, she now saw, was hatless, leered up at her, and something in his sinister eyes made the girl quail. She had been so quiet that he apparently was not prepared for any sudden movement. Her right hand, hanging down at her side, had grasped the short riding whip, and, with a swiftness that gave him no chance to ward off the blow, she struck him one stinging, blinding cut across the eyes, and then brought down the lash on the flank of her horse, drawing the animal round with her left over her enemy. With a wild snort of astonishment, the horse sprang forward, bringing man and gun down to the ground with a clatter that woke the echoes; then, with an indignant toss of the head, Gyp sped along the road like the wind. It was the first time he had ever felt the cut of a whip, and the blow was not forgiven. Margaret, fearing further obstruction on the road, turned her horse’s head toward the rail fence, and went over it like a bird. In the field, where fast going in the dark had dangers, Margaret tried to slacken the pace, but the little horse would not have it so. He shook his head angrily whenever he thought of the indignity of that blow, while Margaret leaned over and tried to explain and beg pardon for her offense. The second fence was crossed with a clean-cut leap, and only once in the next field did the horse stumble, but quickly recovered and went on at the same breakneck gait. The next fence, gallantly vaulted over, brought them to the side road, half a mile up which stood the doctor’s house. Margaret saw the futility of attempting a reconciliation until the goal was won. There, with difficulty, the horse was stopped, and the girl struck the panes of the upper window, through which a light shone, with her riding whip. The window was raised, and the situation speedily explained to the physician.
“I will be with you in a moment,” he said.