MY LADY OF THE SOUTH
The return journey proved exceedingly slow, for the intense pain she suffered left her weak, and I durst not move faster than a walk, ever keeping watchful eye upon the dim outline of her form swaying in the saddle; yet we had not passed the branch road by as great a distance as I had supposed in our wild riding, and a comparatively few moments of steady plodding brought us to the cleft in the rocks.
"This is the road, is it not?"
She uplifted her head wearily.
"Yes; it is not far now to Fairview."
The path led downward, but not steeply, winding somewhat crazily among rocks and trees, until we finally emerged upon the smooth grass land of the lower valley. The silence here was profound, the brooding night seeming even more dense and lonely than upon the open ridge above. I felt my uncertain way forward, until the narrow road suddenly ended before a high gate. This I succeeded in opening without much difficulty, and we followed a gravelled driveway, which led circling to the front of what appeared in the gloom to be a house of considerable size. It was wrapped in darkness, no gleam of light anywhere giving evidence of occupancy. As I hesitated an instant at the foot of the steps leading upward to the front door, I felt her extended hand touch my shoulder.
"What are you going to say?—how explain my being here alone with you?"
I glanced back toward her, wishing I could read the meaning of her eyes, the expression of her face.
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