"Aurore, you do not love me!"
"_Ah, Monsieur! pourquoi cette cruaute? Je t'aime_--_mon Dieu! avec
tout mon coeur je t'aime_!"
Even this did not still my suspicious thoughts. The circumstances had
been too strong--jealousy had taken too firm a hold to be plucked out by
mere assurances. Explanation alone could satisfy me. That or
confession.
Having made a commencement, I went on. I detailed what I had seen at
the landing--the after conduct of D'Hauteville--what I had observed the
preceding night--what I had just that moment witnessed. I detailed all.
I added no reproaches. There was time enough for them when I should
receive her answer.
It came in the midst of tears. She had known D'Hauteville before--that
was acknowledged. There _was_ a mystery in the relations that existed
between them. I was solicited not to require an explanation. My
patience was appealed to. It was not her secret. I should soon know
all. In due time all would be revealed.
How readily my heart yielded to these delicious words! I no longer
doubted. How could I, with those large eyes, full of love-light,
shining through the tear-bedewed lashes?
My heart yielded. Once more my arms closed affectionately around the
form of my betrothed, and a fervent kiss renewed the vow of our
betrothal.
We could have remained long upon this love-hallowed spot, but prudence
prompted us to leave it. We were too near to the point of danger. At
the distance of two hundred yards was the fence that separated Gayarre's
plantation from the wild woods; and from that could even be seen the
house itself, far off over the fields. The thicket concealed this, it
was true; but should pursuit lead that way, the thicket would be the
first place that would be searched. It would be necessary to seek a
hiding-place farther off in the woods.
I bethought me of the flowery glade--the scene of my adventure with the
_crotalus_. Around it the underwood was thick and shady, and there were
spots where we could remain screened from the observation of the keenest
eyes. At that moment I thought only of such concealment. It never
entered my head that there were means of discovering us, even in the
heart of the tangled thicket, or the pathless maze of the cane-brake. I
resolved, therefore, to make at once for the glade.
The pawpaw thicket, where we had passed the night, lay near the
south-eastern angle of Gayarre's plantation. To reach the glade it
would be necessary for us to pass a mile or more to the northward. By
taking a diagonal line through the woods, the chances were ten to one we
should lose our way, and perhaps not find a proper place of concealment.
The chances were, too, that we might not find a path, through the
network of swamps and bayous that traversed the forest in every
direction.
I resolved, therefore, to skirt the plantation, until I had reached the
path that I had before followed to the glade, and which I now
remembered. There would be some risk until we had got to the northward
of Gayarre's plantation; but we should keep at a distance from the
fence, and as much as possible in the underwood. Fortunately a belt of
"palmetto" land, marking the limits of the annual inundation, extended
northward through the woods, and parallel to the line of fence. This
singular vegetation, with its broad fan-like fronds, formed an excellent
cover; and a person passing through it with caution could not be
observed from any great distance. The partial lattice-work of its
leaves was rendered more complete by the tall flower-stalks of the
_altheas_, and other malvaceous plants that shared the ground with the
palmettos.
Directing ourselves within the selvage of this rank vegetation, we
advanced with caution; and soon came opposite the place where we had
crossed the fence on the preceding night. At this point the woods
approached nearest to the house of Gayarre. As already stated, but one
field lay between, but it was nearly a mile in length. It was dead
level, however, and did not appear half so long. By going forward to
the fence, we could have seen the house at the opposite end, and very
distinctly.
I had no intention of gratifying my curiosity at that moment by such an
act, and was moving on, when a sound fell upon my ear that caused me
suddenly to halt, while a thrill of terror ran through my veins.
My companion caught me by the arm, and looked inquiringly in my face.
A caution to her to be silent was all the reply I could make; and,
leaning a little lower, so as to bring my ear nearer to the ground, I
listened.
The suspense was short. I heard the sound again. My first conjecture
was right. It was the "growl" of a hound!
There was no mistaking that prolonged and deep-toned note. I was too
fond a disciple of Saint Hubert not to recognise the bay of a long-eared
Molossian. Though distant and low, like the hum of a forest bee, I was
not deceived in the sound. It fell upon my ears with a terrible import!
And why terrible was the baying of a hound? To me above all others,
whose ears, attuned to the "tally ho!" and the "view hilloa!" regarded
these sounds as the sweetest of music? Why terrible? Ah! you must
think of the circumstances in which I was placed--you must think, too,
of the hours I spent with the snake-charmer--of the tales he told me in
that dark tree-cave--the stories of runaways, of sleuth-dogs, of
man-hunters, and "nigger-hunts,"--practices long thought to be confined
to Cuba, but which I found as rife upon the soil of Louisiana,--you must
think of all these, and then you will understand why I trembled at the
distant baying of a hound.
The howl I heard was still very distant. It came from the direction of
Gayarre's house. It broke forth at intervals. It was not like the
utterance of a hound upon the trail, but that of dogs just cleared from
the kennel, and giving tongue to their joy at the prospect of sport.
Fearful apprehensions were stirred within me at the moment. A terrible
conjecture rushed across my brain. _They were after us with hounds_!