She decided then and there--"I'll do it!" Something jarred on her finer sense, something offended her better nature, as she put the case into the pocket of her dress.

She had decided, and yet she was not at ease; she was not quite sure of having fairly questioned her conscience yet.

What if she laid the letter-case on the table again, and waited until her excitement had all cooled down, and then put the contemplated project soberly on its trial before her own sense of right and wrong?
She thought once--and hesitated.

Before she could think twice, the distant tramp of marching footsteps and the distant clatter of horses' hoofs were wafted to her on the night air.

The Germans were entering the village! In a few minutes more they would appear in the cottage; they would summon her to give an account of herself.