Dunlap in the window.
Dr. Dunlap had one leg across the low sill. The two men stood
breathless. Maria saw the intruder. She sat up, articulating his name.
At that piteous sound, betraying him to her brother, the cowardly
impulse of many days' growth carried Dr. Dunlap's hand like a flash to
his pocket. He fired his pistol directly into Rice's breast, and dropped
back through the window to the boat he had taken from the priest.
The screams of women and the terrified outcry of slaves filled the
attic. Rice threw his arms above his head, and sunk downward. In the
midst of the smoke Peggy knelt by him, and lifted his head and
shoulders. The night wind blew upon them, and she could discern his
dilated eyes and piteous amazement.
"Dr. Dunlap has shot me," he said to her. "I don't know why he did it."
And his face fell against her bosom as he died.
PART FOURTH.
THE FLOOD.
The moonlight shone in through both windows and the lantern glimmered.
The choking smell of gunpowder spread from room to room.
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