She felt the man's presence almost as strongly as if
he were in plain view. He was there, she knew it.
The little revolver that had served her so valiantly
at the Inn of the Hawk and Raven lay upon a stool
near the bedside every night. Consumed by the fear
that the window might open slowly at any moment, she
reached forth and clutched the weapon. Then she
shrank back in the bed, her eyes fixed upon the black
space across the room. For hours she shivered and
waited for the window to open, dozing away time and
again only to come back to wakefulness with a start.
The next morning she confessed to herself that her
fears had been silly. Her first act after breakfasting
alone in her room was to seek out Colonel Quinnox,
commander of the castle guard. In her mind she was
greatly troubled over the fate of the bold visitor of
the night before. There was a warm, red glow in
her face and a quick beat in her heart as she crossed
the parade-ground. Vagabond though he was, he
had conquered where princes had failed. Her better
judgment told her that she could be nothing to this
debonair knight of the road, yet her heart stubbornlj^



BSa BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK

resisted all the arguments that her reason put fortho

Colonel Quinnox was pleasant, but he could give
Beverly no promise of leniency in regard to Baldos..
