"
"I'm going to do my level best, y'u may tie to that," he told her
earnestly.
"I know you will." And their fingers touched for an instant.
Through a window the girl could see a crowd pouring down the
street toward the hotel. She flew up the stairs and out upon the
second-story piazza that looked down upon the road.
From her point of vantage she easily picked them out--the two
unarmed men riding with their hands tied behind their backs,
encircled by a dozen riders armed to the teeth. Bannister's hat
had apparently fallen off farther down the street, for the man
beside him was dusting it. The wounded prisoner looked about him
without fear, but it was plain he was near the limit of
endurance. He was pale as a sheet, and his fair curls clung
moistly to his damp forehead.
McWilliams caught sight of her first, and she could see him turn
and say a word to his comrade. Bannister looked up, caught sight
of her, and smiled. That smile, so pale and wan, went to her
heart like a knife. But the message of her eyes was hope. They
told the prisoners silently to be of good cheer, that at least
they were not deserted to their fate.
"What is it about--the crowd?" Nora asked of her mistress as the
latter was returning to the head of the stairs.
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