CHAPTER XIV
A MARRIAGE BY DURESS
THE girl was evidently right, although the path the party followed swung so far to the left I could see little of them from the window. The fence concealed their number, but there was a dozen, at least, and they moved steadily, the red flames gleaming on what I took to be gun barrels. They disappeared behind a low shed, merging almost mysteriously in its shadow. I heard no orders given, no sound of a voice. The silently moving figures seemed more like specters than men. As I strove vainly to discover where they had vanished I perceived the faint tinge of gray across the eastern sky. Daylight was coming; the gang meant to search the house again, perhaps fire it as they had the stable, and then ride away before the Federal garrison at Lewisburg could receive the alarm. The light of the fire would certainly be perceived there by the sentries, and reported. Perhaps already the troopers were in their saddles—but they would be too late. I turned away from the window to perceive Nichols sitting up on the edge of the bed.
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