“Boys,” continued he, “it’s only Yankee against Yankee, anyhow; if they’re gwine to fight, let the stranger have fair play.  Here stranger, if you’re a friend of Squire Weems, you kin have a fair show in my house, I reckon, so take hold of this,” and taking a revolver from his belt, he passed it to Beverly, who cocked it and slipped it into Harold’s hand.  Rawbon, who throughout the confusion had been watching for the opportunity of a shot at his antagonist, now found himself front to front with the object of his hate, for the bystanders had instinctively drawn back a space, and even Wayne and Weems, willing to trust to their friend’s coolness and judgment, had stepped aside.

Harold sighted his man as coolly as if he had been aiming at a squirrel.  Rawbon did not flinch, for he was not wanting in physical courage, but he evidently concluded that the chances were against him, and with a bitter smile, he walked slowly toward the door.  Turning at the threshold, he scowled for a moment at Harold, as if hesitating whether to accept the encounter.

“I’ll fix you yet,” he finally muttered, and left the room.  A few moments afterward, the three friends were mounted and riding briskly toward Riverside manor.

CHAPTER IV.

Oriana, after awaiting till a late hour the return of her brother and his friend, had retired to rest, and was sleeping soundly when the party entered the house, after their remarkable adventure.  She was therefore unconscious, upon descending from her apartment in the morning, of the addition to her little household.  Standing upon the veranda, she perceived what she supposed to be her brother’s form moving among the shrubbery in the garden.  She hastened to accost him, curious to ascertain the nature of the excitement in Richmond on the preceding afternoon.  Great was her astonishment and unfeigned her pleasure, upon turning a little clump of bushes, to find herself face to face with Harold Hare.

He had been lost in meditation, but upon seeing her his brow lit up as a midnight sky brightens when a passing cloud has unshrouded the full moon.  With a cry of joy she held out both her hands to him, which he pressed silently for a moment as he gazed tenderly upon the upturned, smiling face, and then, pushing back the black tresses, he touched her white forehead with his lips.

Arthur Wayne was looking out from his lattice above, and his eye chanced to turn that way at the moment of the meeting.  He started as if struck with a sudden pang, and his cheek, always pale, became of an ashen hue.  Long he gazed with labored breath upon the pair, as if unable to realize what he had seen; then, with a suppressed moan, he sank into a chair, and leaned his brow heavily upon his hand.  Thus for half an hour he remained motionless; it was only after a second summons that he roused himself and descended to the morning meal.