Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III WHEREIN AN ENEMY IS MADE A Quarter of a mile west of headquarters Clayton extricated himself from a precarious position between a broken battery wagon and a group of children gaping at a troop at drill in the pasture near the Guard's hut, and turned into a steep lane which ambled from the Newark Pike to the Whippany—and only reached the river after many aimless twists and abrupt curves. In the bend of the last of these twists, as peaceful as a buffer of one hundred rods of thick timber and a roll of steep hill could make it, nestled a tiny, vine-covered cottage. A patch of lawn sloped from the rear porch to a line of willows on the river bank; and a flagged walk started at a hitching-post in the road and led between two syringa bushes to three low wooden steps and a green door. Halowell had fastened his horse to the hitching-post, traversed the flagged walk, and was beating a subdued rat-a-tat upon the door before a man could conveniently have counted ten. And before a man could conveniently have counted ten more a slender young lady was holding back the door. Indeed, there was a promptness about the opening of the door which, to a suspicious mind, might have conveyed the idea that the young lady had been watching for her visitor. " I almost fear to ask permission to enter," said the Major. " There's such a thing as wearing out one's welcome, you know." " I do not know. If you have come for George, prepare for a disappointment. He has gone to Hanover—" " Do I usually come arrayed in my dress uniform to see George?" interrupted Clayton severely, and followed his hostess into a room opening off the hall. In size the apartment was extremely limited; in coziness it was palatial. The furniture was covered with flowered cretonne; there was a multitude of...