The vase of flowers, each of which was nearly as large as a
magnolia blossom, and striking in color, occupied a central position
before it, and no doubt could be quite distinctly seen from a distance.
From this circumstance he could not resist the strong impression that
this fateful and extraordinary blossom, carried by Miss Faulkner and the
mulatto, and so strikingly "in evidence" at the window, was in some
way a signal. Obeying an impulse which he was conscious had a half
superstitious foundation, he carefully lifted the vase from its position
before the window, and placed it on a side table. Then he cautiously
slipped from the room.
But he could not easily shake off the perplexity which the occurrence
had caused, although he was satisfied that it was fraught with no
military or strategic danger to his command, and that the unknown spy
had obtained no information whatever. Yet he was forced to admit to
himself that he was more concerned in his attempts to justify the
conduct of Miss Faulkner with this later revelation. It was quite
possible that the dispatch-box had been purloined by some one else
during her absence from the house, as the presence of the mulatto
servant in his room would have been less suspicious than hers.
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