CHAPTER X.
A GIRL AT BAY I drew back hastily, but in silence, eager to get away before the sheriff and his deputy should return to their seats by the porch rail.
My original plan of warning the women of the house of their peril was blocked, completely overturned by the presence of these men.

The situation had thus been rendered more complicated, more difficult to solve, and I could only act on impulse, or as guided by these new conditions.

Beyond all question, those I had hoped to serve were already aware of their position--someone had reached them before me--and two, at least, were already in hiding.

Why the third, the one most deeply involved, had failed to accompany the others, could not be comprehended.

The mystery only made my present task more difficult.
Could the others have fled and deliberately left her to her fate?
Had some mistake been made?
or had some accident led to their absence, and her falling into the inhuman clutches of Kirby?
Why should Delia, the slave, disappear in company with Eloise, the free, and leave her own daughter Rene behind to face a situation more terrible than death?
I could not answer these questions; but, whatever the cause, the result had been the complete overthrow of the gambler's carefully prepared plans.