"I swear t'----" began the corporal, but the captain silenced him.

When they arrived at the front of the house, the troopers paused, while
the captain went softly up the front steps. He stood before the large
front door and studied it. Some crickets chirped in the long grass, and
the nearest pine could be heard in its endless sighs. One of the
privates moved uneasily, and his foot crunched the gravel. Suddenly the
captain swore angrily and kicked the door with a loud crash. It flew
open.

II.

The bright lights of the day flashed into the old house when the captain
angrily kicked open the door. He was aware of a wide hallway carpeted
with matting and extending deep into the dwelling. There was also an old
walnut hatrack and a little marble-topped table with a vase and two
books upon it. Farther back was a great, venerable fireplace containing
dreary ashes.

But directly in front of the captain was a young girl. The flying open
of the door had obviously been an utter astonishment to her, and she
remained transfixed there in the middle of the floor, staring at the
captain with wide eyes.

She was like a child caught at the time of a raid upon the cake. She
wavered to and fro upon her feet, and held her hands behind her. There
were two little points of terror in her eyes, as she gazed up at the
young captain in dusty blue, with his reddish, bronze complexion, his
yellow hair, his bright sabre held threateningly.

These two remained motionless and silent, simply staring at each other
for some moments.

The captain felt his rage fade out of him and leave his mind limp. He
had been violently angry, because this house had made him feel hesitant,
wary. He did not like to be wary. He liked to feel confident, sure. So
he had kicked the door open, and had been prepared to march in like a
soldier of wrath.

But now he began, for one thing, to wonder if his uniform was so dusty
and old in appearance. Moreover, he had a feeling that his face was
covered with a compound of dust, grime, and perspiration. He took a step
forward and said, "I didn't mean to frighten you." But his voice was
coarse from his battle-howling. It seemed to him to have hempen fibres
in it.

The girl's breath came in little, quick gasps, and she looked at him as
she would have looked at a serpent.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," he said again.

The girl, still with her hands behind her, began to back away.

"Is there any one else in