Charlotte\'s whisper came to me: "Richard!" Standing by Ferry\'s pillow she spoke for him. "If they start upstairs come and stand like me, on the other side."

I nodded and slyly opened the door enough to pass half-way out. Some man was parleying with Miss Harper. "Now, madam, you know you haven\'t locked up your parlor to maintain an abstract right; you\'ve locked it up because you\'ve got the man in there that I\'ve come for."

"Whom have you come for, sir?"

"Lieutenant O\'Brien, of the rebel army. Shall I order this man to kick that door in? Answer quickly."

"Sir, there is no Lieutenant O\'Brien in there, nor elsewhere in this house; there never has been."

"Stand aside, madam."

"Stop, sir! I command you! There is no Lieutenant of any name on this place!"

"Oh, yes there is; he goes by various names, but one of them is Ned Ferry. Sergeant, we\'ll kick together; now!"--Bang!

I leaned back into the room to say "It\'s all right! Oh, but that sweet woman\'s a \'coon! Let them batter!" As I thrust my head out again Miss Harper was exclaiming "Oh, sirs, don\'t do that!"--Bang!--"For the honor of your calling and your flag--" Bang!

"There\'s no Lieutenant in there." Bang!

"Corporal, go find an axe or something."

"Oh, you need not, sirs, I\'ll unlock the door."

"Well, be quick about it, and then stand clear; we don\'t want any woman hurt." The key rattled at the keyhole and then dropped to the floor. "You did that by intention! Give me that key!" He tried the lock. "We\'ve jammed it, corporal, but another good kick will fetch it; now!"--Bang!--crash!--open flew the door.

"Well, I will be damned!" said the officer.

"Sir," said Miss Harper, "you give me no occasion to doubt it." She followed the men upstairs. "Estelle, go back to your sister and cousin; and if you, my dear,"--to our hostess--"will kindly go also, and stay with them--"

I closed the door. It had no key, but there was a small catch to the knob and I turned it on while the men were looking into the adjacent rooms. When they reached ours Miss Harper was again at their front. Inside, the three of us silently noted our strategic advantages: we were in the darkest part of the room, the bed\'s covering was a dull red, Ferry had on his shirt of black silk, the white pillows were hidden at his back, Charlotte and I were darkly clad, the light from our west window would be in our assailants\' faces as they entered, and they would be silhouetted against a similar light from the hall\'s front. We noiselessly cocked our weapons and Charlotte and I each sank to one knee. "The door is very thin," murmured Ferry, "we can fire before they enter; they will get, anyhow, our smoke, and if they fire as they rush in we can aim under their flash."

It was only then that I observed that Charlotte w............