Clearly her actions told more eloquently than any passionate words her love and reverence for that flag and all it symbolized.  No, it could not be possible that she could be connected with anything that aimed to harm it.

And yet—­that very night Sahwah had seen Veronica leaving the house after midnight when the rest were all asleep, and going down the hill behind the barn, and at the sight Sahwah had experienced that same indescribable chill of fear that she had felt in the train; a peculiar sense of hovering danger; a sensation which she could never clearly define while it lasted nor describe afterwards.

She still kept the secret, but it haunted her day and night and tormented her with its thousand possibilities.  At last it seemed as if she could endure it no longer without an explanation of some kind and she made up her mind to ask Veronica about it.  For this end she had asked her to come into the woods to-day.

But the sight of Veronica, skipping gaily before her along the path, whistling to the birds, calling the squirrels, whispering affectionate words to the shy flowers, made her fears seem ridiculous, and her resolution wavered and threatened to crumble.  There was not a shadow on Veronica’s brow, not a glint of furtiveness in her eye, nowhere a hint of any secret knowledge or subdued excitement.  Her eyes met Sahwah’s with candid directness, her laughter was spontaneous and not forced; she was neither paler than usual nor more flushed.  How perfectly absurd to connect this happy-hearted girl with anything suspicious!

And yet—­Sahwah knew now beyond a doubt that she had not been dreaming when she saw Veronica leave the house at night, and there was still that strange conversation over the telephone.

Sahwah slackened her pace and rubbed her ankles together, a gesture which in her denoted intensely concentrated thought.  Veronica looked back to see where she was and came back to her, slipping her arm around her waist and hugging her in an ecstasy of girlish delight, born of the beautiful weather and the release from strenuous military drill.

“Oh, look at the darling old stump!” she exclaimed.  “Why, it must be miles across!  Think what a tree that must have been!  See, it has a sort of step up and then a broad seat, just like a throne.  Come on, let’s climb up and pretend we’re queens.”

She climbed up on the stump and drew Sahwah up after her.

“Why are you so quiet?” she asked finally, twisting her head and looking around into Sahwah’s face.  “Have you a headache?  The sun was so hot out there in the road where we were drilling, and the glare was so blinding.”

“No, I haven’t a headache,” replied Sahwah slowly.

“A toothache, maybe?” suggested Veronica in a playful voice in which there was a dash of concern.  It was unusual indeed for Sahwah to lose her animation.

“No, it isn’t a toothache,” replied Sahwah.  “It’s just something I’ve been trying to figure out, that’s all.”