ster; "assent to everything I
say."

Annette staggered into the parlor hardly knowing what she did, for she was
dazed and terribly frightened. The sister, whose name was Inez, was now at
the door, which was giving way before the blows of Calhoun's pursuers. All
this happened in less than a minute.

"Stop!" she cried, "I will unlock the door," and she did so, and when the
soldiers rushed in, crying, "Where is he? Where is the spy?" she stood
wringing her hands and sobbing, "My sister! Oh, my sister! he has murdered
her."

The words brought the soldiers to a halt. "Who murdered your sister?"
asked a sergeant who seemed to be the leader.

"The man! the man who ran in here!"

"Where is he? He is the fellow we want."

"He rushed out of the back door. Oh! my sister, my sister!"

"After him, boys; don't let him get away!" yelled the sergeant, and they
rushed through the house in hot pursuit.

The house was rapidly filling, when a captain appeared, and learning of
the sobbing Inez what the trouble was, said: "Murdered your sister!
Horrible! where is she?"

"Here," said Inez, leading the way into the parlor. Annette was reclining
on a sofa, her face bloody; she was apparently in a fainting condition.

The captain acted quickly. He ordered the house to be cleared, sent a
subordinate for a surgeon, and another to have the whole block surrounded.
In the mean time the mother of the girls had appeared, and was adding her
sobs to those of her eldest daughter. When the surgeon came and had washed
the blood from Annette's face, her only injury was found to be a bruised
nose.

Both the captain and the surgeon looked inquiringly. "How is this?" they
asked, "you said your sister was murdered."

"I--I thought she was," stammered Inez. "I saw the blood and thought the
man had stabbed her."

"Tell us just what happened," said the captain.

Annette, who had by this time so far recovered from her fright as to
comprehend what was going on, saw Inez give her the signal of danger. It
put her on her guard.

"Why, it was this way," said Inez, in answer to the captain, "sister and I
were going out, but just as we opened the door, there was a tumult on the
street. We stopped to see what the trouble was, when a man dashed up the
steps. We tried to oppose him, but he struck sister a cruel blow, knocking
her down, flung me backward, and slamming the door to, locked it; then
running through the house, disappeared through the back door.