The evening was well advanced when he was quite sure that he heard a light step in the hall. He would have paid little attention to it at an ordinary time, but, in all that silence and desolation, it called him like a drum-beat. Only a light step, and yet it filled him with suspicion and alarm. He was in the heart of a great and victorious Union army, but at the moment he felt that anything could happen in this strange house.
Slipping his pistol from his belt, he opened the door on noiseless hinges and stepped into the hall. A figure was disappearing in its dim space, but, as he saw clearly, it was that of a woman. He was sure that it was Miss Woodville and he stepped forward. He had no intention of following her, but his foot creaked on the floor, and, stopping instantly, she faced about. Then he saw that she carried a tray of food.
“Are we to have our house occupied and to be spied upon also?” she asked.
Dick flushed. Few people had ever spoken to him in such a manner, and it was hard to remember that she was a woman.
“I heard a footstep in the hall, and it was my duty to see who was passing,” he said.
“I have prepared food and I am taking it to my father. He would not accept it from Yankee hands.”
“Colonel Woodville sups late. I should think a wounded man would be asleep at this hour, if he could.”
“Let me take the tray for you,” he said, “at least to the door. Your father need not know that my hands have touched it.”
“Let us alone!” she exclaimed. “Go back to your room! Isn't it sufficient that this house shelters you?”
She seemed to Dick to show a heat and hate out of all proportion to the occasion, but he did not repeat the offer.
“I meant well,” he said, “but, since you do not care for my help, I'll return to my room and go to sleep. Believe me, I'm sincere when I say I hope your father will recover quickly from his wound.”
Dick bowed with politeness and turned toward his own room. Nevertheless his curiosity did not keep him from standing a moment or two in the dark against the wall and looking back at the woman who bore the tray. He drew a long breath of astonishment when he saw her pass Colonel Woodville's door, and hurry forward now with footsteps that made no sound.