Two hearts inside stopped beating for a second or two. She
caught her breath sharply as she clasped his arm.
"They are after me!" she gasped.
"They must not find you here. Really, Miss Drake, I mean it. They
wouldn't understand. Come with me. Go down this hall quickly. It leads
to the garden back of the house. There's a gun-room at the end of the
hall. Go in there, to your right. Here, take this! It's an electric
saddle-lantern. I'll head these fellows off. They shan't find you.
Don't be alarmed."
She sped down the narrow hall and he, taking time to slip into a long
dressing-coat, stepped out upon the porch in response to the now
prolonged and impatient shouts.
"Who's there?" he shouted. The light from the windows revealed several
horsemen in the roadway.
"Friends," came back through the wind. "Let us in out of the storm.
It's a terror."
"I don't know you." There was a shout of laughter and some profanity.
"Oh, yes, you do, Mr. Shaw. Open up and let us in. It's Dave Bank and
Ed Hunter. We can't make the cabin before the rain." Shaw could see
their faces now and then by the flashes of lightning and he recognized
the two woodsmen, who doubtless had been visiting sweethearts up
toward Ridgely.
"Take your horses to the stable, boys, and come in," he called,
laughing heartily. Then he hurried off to the gun-room. He passed Mrs.
Ulrich coming downstairs yawning prodigiously; he called to her to
wait for him in the library.
There was no one in the gun-room; the door leading to the back porch
was open.
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