even at peril to yourself, dare you do it?"
"Yes," she said breathlessly.
"You are known to the enemy. If I am surrounded, you could pass through
their lines unquestioned?"
"Yes," she said eagerly.
"A note from me would pass you again through the pickets of our
headquarters. But you would bear a note to the general that no eyes but
his must see. It would not implicate you or yours; would only be a word
of warning."
"And you," she said quickly, "would be saved! They would come to your
assistance! You would not then be taken?"
He smiled gently.
"Perhaps--who knows!"
He sat down and wrote hurriedly.
"This," he said, handing her a slip of paper, "is a pass. You will use
it beyond your own lines. This note," he continued, handing her a
sealed envelope, "is for the general. No one else must see it or know of
it--not even your lover, should you meet him!"
"My lover!" she said indignantly, with a flash of her old savagery;
"what do you mean? I have no lover!"
Brant glanced at her flushed face.
"I thought," he said quietly, "that there was some one you cared for in
yonder lines--some one you wrote to. It would have been an excuse"--
He stopped, as her face paled again, and her hands dropped heavily at
her side.
"Good God!--you thought that, too! You thought that I would sacrifice
you for another man!"
"Pardon me," said Brant quickly. "I was foolish. But whether your
lover is a man or a cause, you have shown a woman's devotion. And, in
repairing your fault, you are showing more than a woman's courage now."
To his surprise, the color had again mounted her pretty cheeks, and even
a flash of mischief shone in her blue eyes.
"It would have been an excuse," she murmured, "yes--to save a man,
surely!" Then she said quickly, "I will go. At once! I am ready!"
"One moment," he said gravely. "Although this pass and an escort insure
your probable safe conduct, this is 'war' and danger! You are still a
spy! Are you ready to go?"
"I am," she said proudly, tossing back a braid of her fallen hair. Yet
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