THE NEGRO RISING
While waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements, Captain Crosbie
went on board the _Cerf_. The wounded had all been carried below, where
cots had been slung for them. After their wounds were dressed, he went
round saying a few words to each, enquiring into the nature of their
injuries. No attempt had been made to remedy the confusion on deck,
except that the bodies of those that could be moved had been laid side
by side. That of Mr. Playford and the others who had been crushed by the
falling masts still lay beneath them, as the four men left on board were
unable to do anything to extricate them until help arrived. The captain
then went on board the prize.
"Mr. Hill has spoken in the highest terms of the service that you have
rendered, Mr. Glover, though I have not yet heard the full details. As
the only surviving officer of the _Cerf_, you had better, when you have
time, draw out a full report for me of the work done by her. It will be
another half-hour before we again commence operations against the
pirates, and I shall be obliged if you will go on board the _Cerf_ with
your men and endeavour to get the body of Mr. Playford and the others
from underneath the masts. Nothing more can be done at present, but it
is painful that they should be lying there. I fancy that with
hand-spikes you will have no very great difficulty in raising the butt
of the mast high enough to draw the bodies from under it. As soon as you
have done that, bring the men back here. When the advance begins you
will shell the wood ahead of it."
"We will put you ashore first, sir; this is the only boat we have that
will float."
Captain Crosbie on landing went among the women, who were between
seventy and eighty in number. Some burst into tears when he spoke to
them, others seemed dazed and quite unconscious that they were being
addressed. Feeling almost unmanned by the moving spectacle, Captain
Crosbie was relieved when the two boats filled with men entered the
mouth of the cove. As soon as they came alongside, the men leapt out in
high spirits at the prospect of having a share in the fray. Mr. Hill had
already picked out twenty of his own party.
"I will myself take the command here, Mr. Hill. I don't wish to
interfere with the credit that you will gain by this affair, therefore I
leave the arrangement of your party in your hands."
Mr. Hill marched the seventy men straight up the hill.
"You will march straight on, Mr. Marston, until you reach the edge of
the cliff, then you will return. See that the men are placed at regular
intervals. You will then face to the right and the line will advance. No
quarter will be given, except to men who throw down their arms and beg
for it. I do not suppose that many will do so, as they know what their
fate will be if they are taken to Port Royal. We have reason to believe
that there cannot be more than eighty or so on this side, but if they
keep in a body and make a rush at the line they will no doubt be able to
break through. However, that we must risk, and I hardly think that they
will attempt it, for they know that they must sooner or later fall into
our hands. They will only starve if they conceal themselves. Some may
prefer death in that way, or may think that after we have left they may
manage to get taken across to the mainland in native fishing-boats.
However, search the ground closely. These men are steeped in blood; they
have been the scourge of these seas for the past five or six years, and
have never yet shown mercy."
Mr. Hill then placed himself in the centre of the line, while Mr.
Marston again took his place on the right. It was not until they had
worked round nearly to the entrance that opposition was met with; then
they came upon a spot where a mass of rock cropped up among the trees,
and as they approached this a sharp fire of musketry broke out. Mr. Hill
ordered the two ends of the line to advance so as to form a semicircle
round the rock. When they were in position he gave the word to charge,
and with a cheer the sailors dashed forward. Led by their officers, they
scrambled up the rocks like cats, discharged their muskets into the
pirates grouped on its summit, and then threw themselves upon them
cutlass in hand. In three minutes all was over; not a man asked for
mercy, but all died fighting desperately to the end. Four of the sailors
were killed, several severely wounded. These were carried or helped down
to the shore, and the rest of the party then scattered through the
woods; but the closest search failed to discover a single man in hiding,
although only some fifty of them had been accounted for. Returning to
the point from which they had started, the party then proceeded to
search the forest at the other side of the cove.
Here, however, they met with no resistance. A few dead were found, but
the forest was deserted. After searching in vain for some time it was
concluded that the survivors had probably gone down the face of the
cliff and hidden there in caves or in thickets in places that could only
be reached by men well acquainted with the ground.
After two hours' vain search, Mr. Hill led the party down to the shore
again. While he had been away the captain had had the storehouses
opened. These were filled with booty of all kinds, the plunder of at
least fifty ships, as they judged by the chronometers, the marks on
bales, and other articles. Here were thousands of cases of wine, ranges
of barrels of rum, hogsheads of sugar, coffee, and other colonial
produce, quantities of bales of cotton cloths used for the slaves,
furniture of all kinds, enormous numbers of trunks and boxes containing
wearing apparel, bales of silks and satins, and an immense amount of
table-linen.
In the centre of one of the storehouses was a chamber constructed of
stone four feet thick with an arched roof. The entrance was closed by
two iron doors, one within the other, and these were so strong that it
was necessary to drag up a six-pounder cannon to batter them in. When at
last an entrance was forced, the strong-room was found to contain
upwards of seventy thousand pounds in coin, hundreds of watches, and a
large amount of jewellery, much of which was of Spanish manufacture, and
a great many church vessels and ornaments of silver. It was evident
that, although no doubt a certain proportion of the spoil had been
divided at the time of capture, the main bulk had been stored there for
division some day when the haunt should be finally abandoned. The
sailors now set about examining the bodies of the pirates who had been
killed on the shore by the explosion. It was found that in almost every
case they wore belts under their clothes, and that these contained from
ten to a hundred pieces of gold. A systematic search was then made, and,
in all, the money found upon the dead pirates amounted to six thousand
pounds, which was added to the store taken from the treasury.
The work of emptying the storehouses, getting up jury-masts on board the
_Cerf_, and doing the absolutely necessary repairs to her and the prizes
occupied three days. The women had been placed in the brigantine after
the craft had been thoroughly washed down and scoured, and she had been
taken out and anchored near the frigate, to which the wounded had all
been conveyed as soon as the fight was over. On the evening of the third
day the storehouses and other buildings still standing were all burned,
the cannon were taken on board the frigate, and the next morning the
four vessels got up sail and started in company for Jamaica. Nat was
left in command of the _Cerf_ with fifteen men. Low was in command of
the schooner with twelve men. Mr. Marston had charge of the captured
brigantine with fifteen men, all that could be spared from the
diminished crew of the frigate. Nat had had time, when the long day's
work was over, to row off every evening to see Needham, whose arm had
been amputated an hour after the fight was ended. He was, the doctor
said, going on well, and was in very good spirits.
"This is sure to give me my step," he said to Glover. "I shall have
served my time in six months, and Marston's rank will of course be
confirmed, now that poor Playford's death has made the vacancy
permanent. You have another year to serve, have you not, Glover?"
"Yes, rather more. However, of course this affair will help me too, as
soon as I have passed."
"It ought to, old fellow, considering you were the only officer left on
board the _Cerf_, and that you unfastened the boom under that tremendous
fire, to say nothing of carrying the schooner and running the risk of
being blown up when you went on board the brigantine. You will get your
swab as soon as you have passed. You see it has been a big thing;
fifty-eight men killed and a hundred and four put down as wounded; and
the breaking up of this pirate's nest makes it the most important affair
there has been out here for years. The other ships on the station will
all feel quite jealous of us. There will be a goodish bit of
prize-money, too, which is not to be despised. Over eighty thousand
pounds in gold and, I should say, over twenty thousand pounds in goods,
makes even a midshipman's share something considerable. How is your arm,
Glover?"
"Well, it has been hurting me a bit. I am not conscious of having used
it particularly, but I suppose when I was thrown down by that explosion
it must have got wrenched somehow."
"Well, if I were you I would ask Dr. Bemish to have a look at it."
Glover did so. It was black and blue from the shoulder down to the
elbow, and very tender to the touch.
"I don't think anything is broken," the doctor said, "but it has been a
very close shave. At any rate, it is just as well that I should put on
splints and bandage it, and you must take to your sling again and keep
to it for some time. It is not tender above the shoulder, is it?"
"No, doctor; I think it is all right there."
"That is lucky. You ought to go on the sick-list."
"I cannot do that, sir. It would be giving up the command of the
brigantine, and I would put up with anything rather than that."
They had fine weather and a leading wind to Jamaica, and their arrival
there with the two captured prizes and the news that the piratical haunt
had been completely destroyed, created quite a sensation, which was
heightened by the rescue of so many females from the hands of the
pirates. Some fifteen of these found friends in the island, and the
scene when they were handed over to them was painful in the extreme. A
third of the number were French, and there were also some eighteen
Spaniards. All were temporarily taken in and cared for by families at
Port Royal, and were sent off as soon as opportunity offered either to
the islands for which they had been bound when captured, or to their
friends in Europe.
Mr. Hill, in his report, had done full justice to the work done by the
_Cerf_, and had mentioned Nat's going on board the brigantine to drown
her magazine, and the great service that he had rendered in covering the
advance of the sailors by the guns of that craft, and in inflicting such
heavy punishment upon the two parties that had attempted to possess
themselves of the batteries, and the admiral sent for him and personally
congratulated him on his work.
"I will see that as soon as you have passed, Mr. Glover, you shall have
your commission as acting lieutenant. I have not forgotten what Captain
Crosbie told me of your gallant action at Cape Francois."
Mr. Hill was at once appointed to the command of a frigate whose captain
had died of yellow fever, and received the rank of commander pending its
confirmation from home; and Mr. Philpot, second lieutenant of that
frigate, was appointed first lieutenant of the _Orpheus_ in his place.
The schooner and the _Cerf_ were sold, for the latter had suffered so
much damage forward by the fire concentrated upon her by the pirates'
ships that she was considered unfit for further service. The other
brigantine was bought into the service. The plunder taken was sold by
auction, and the proceeds, together with the sum fetched by the three
prizes, brought the total up to one hundred and five thousand pounds, a
larger sum than had ever been captured by any vessel on the station.
The new brigantine was re-christened the _Falcon_, and Mr. Low was
placed in command, with two midshipmen from other ships on the station
under him. She was not, like the _Cerf_, a tender to the _Orpheus_, as
the frigate could no longer spare a crew for her, having, in addition to
the loss in action, been obliged to send thirty men to hospital on
shore. The brigantine was therefore manned by drafts from other ships of
war on the station. Needham was also left on shore, being promoted at
once to the rank of lieutenant, which left Nat for the time senior
midshipman of the _Orpheus_, which was now directed to cruise in the
neighbourhood of Hayti, where complaints had been received of vessels
being missing.
Two months after leaving Jamaica the _Orpheus_ again put in to Cape
Francois. Nat was still wearing his arm in a sling. There had been a
good deal of swelling and inflammation, but this had now abated, and in
his opinion his arm was perfectly well again, but the doctor insisted
that he should as a precautionary measure still use the sling. The
frigate needed some repairs, having carried away some spars in a
hurricane a week previously, and on the day of their arrival the captain
sent for Nat, and said kindly:
"We shall be here for a week, Mr. Glover, and the doctor thinks that
another run among the hills will do you good, therefore you can go and
stay with your friends there until we sail again. If you return this day
week that will do. You have stuck to your work well, for Doctor Bemish
said that for the first month at least you ought to have been on the
sick-list, and at any rate you deserve a holiday for your share in that
fight."
On landing Nat went first to Monsieur Duchesne's office. The planter had
but just driven in, and his horse and trap were still standing at the
door. The negro driver gave a friendly grin as he saw him.
"Glad to see you, sah, bery glad; eberyone will be glad. Hope you all
well, sah?"
"Thank you, Caesar. All well at the plantation, I hope?" and he went into
the office, where he was most warmly received by Monsieur Duchesne.
"I had been told that your ship came into port at daybreak, my dear
Monsieur Glover, and I should have come off to ask after you as soon as
I had answered my letters, and to carry you off if the captain would
give you leave. But I see your arm is still in a sling. You have not
hurt it, I hope?"
"I hurt it in that fight we had with the pirates. I dare say you heard
of it."
"Everyone has heard of it," the planter said. "It was splendid, and
there is not one here who does not feel grateful indeed to your ship for
having rid us of all those scoundrels, who have been doing us so much
harm for years. You have not hurt it much, I hope?"
"It was bad for a bit, but it is all right again now. The doctor orders
me to keep to the sling for some time longer, though I am sure there is
not the least necessity for it."
"And now about your leave, shall I go off to the ship, think you?"
"The captain himself gave me leave this morning for a week without my
even asking for it."
"That is good news indeed. My carriage is at the door; I fortunately
told Caesar to wait, as there are some things to take back. My wife and
Myra will be delighted to see you, they talk of you always, and will be
glad indeed to have you with them again. My boy has gone out to buy the
matters required by madame, he will be back in a few minutes."
A quarter of an hour later Nat was on his way out to the plantation,
where he was received with a welcome of the warmest kind by Madame
Duchesne and her daughter. Both were greatly concerned at finding that
his arm had again been injured.
"It is hard indeed," Myra said, "that I should be so well and strong
again, and that you should still be suffering for what you did for me."
"I do not think," he said, "that that business has really anything to do
with the last one. A pirate ship blew up close to us; the shock was
tremendous. The masts of the brigantine I was in snapped off as if they
had been carrots, everyone on deck was thrown down, twelve were killed
outright, and the rest of us were all a great deal bruised and hurt. The
doctor said that he thought my arm might very well have been broken even
had it not been for that accident, and as I came off better than most of
the others, I certainly have no reason to complain. It is really quite
well again now, and I can use it for almost all purposes. I consider it
absurd that I should wear this sling, and would take it off at once,
only the doctor made me promise that I would generally wear it; indeed,
on board I always took my arm out when I wanted to use it, and he said
himself that a certain amount of exercise was good for me."
Monsieur Duchesne came home as usual just at sunset. Nat noticed that at
dinner he was evidently preoccupied, though he endeavoured to join in
the conversation as cheerily as usual. After the ladies had left the
table he said:
"You may have noticed that I am _distrait_, Monsieur Glover, but it is
an anxious time for all of us on the island, and has been so, indeed,
for some time. You see we are divided into three classes: there are the
pure whites, the mulattoes, and the negroes, and even these are
subdivided. There are the old settlers, men who, like myself, belong to
noble French families, and who, I hope, keep up the best traditions of
our country; there are the poor whites, landless men who are
discontented with their position, and hate those who are better off,
while they stand aloof from the mulattoes. These, again, are equally
divided. Many of them are rich men with plantations. They send their
sons and daughters over to France to be educated, and take it much amiss
that we, who are of pure blood, do not associate with them. Then, again,
there are the negroes, who number no fewer than five hundred thousand,
while we whites are but forty thousand. We went on well enough together
until the States General met in France. It was a bad affair that, for us
as well as for France. From that time there has been a ferment. We sent
over deputies, eighteen of them, but the Assembly only allowed six to
take their seats, and while they snubbed us, the young mulattoes were
treated with the greatest favour.
"Then came the news that the Assembly had passed a declaration asserting
all men to be free and equal. You may imagine what a shock this was to
us. Some of the mulattoes, in their excitement, took up arms to show
that they were free, but they were easily put down. However, when the
National Assembly heard of the excitement and dissatisfaction caused
among the French in all their colonies, they made another decree
authorizing each colony to elect its own legislative assembly. Our
assembly here lost their heads on finding power in their hands, and
passed a constitution which practically renounced all allegiance to
France. Some riots broke out, and things would have been very serious
had not, on the eleventh of October last year (1790), a decree been
passed by the National Assembly modifying the former one. However, on
the fifteenth of May they passed another, declaring all people of colour
in the French colonies, born of free parents, entitled to vote for
members of the colonial assembly, and to be elected to seats themselves.
"When the news came here six weeks ago, you can imagine the excitement.
Meetings were held, and it was even proposed to throw off allegiance to
France and to hoist the British flag instead of ours. Happily calmer
thoughts came, and matters cooled down, but there can be no doubt that
the state of affairs is critical. The mulattoes, who outnumber the
whites, do not know how to contain themselves with joy, and disputes
between them and the whites take place daily. Then there are the
negroes. You see, the decree does nothing for them. It is hard to know
what the negroes think, even whether they care that they are not to have
a vote is not known to us. It is clear that it would be of little
advantage to them, and, you see, no one who was not out of his mind
could think of giving a vote to them, for their vote would be five times
as large as that of the whites and mulattoes together. We should have an
assembly composed entirely of slaves, and these slaves would at once
vote that all the land and property in the island should be divided
among themselves. What think you of that, Monsieur Glover?"
"It would be madness indeed," Nat agreed.
"Then, you see, even if they did not do that they would declare
themselves free, and we should all be ruined. _Sapristi!_ it makes one's
blood cold to think of such a thing. But, nevertheless, the negroes are
like children, they can be led by a little talk, and among them there
are men of some intelligence who could work the rest up to a state of
madness. I do not say that this will come--Heaven defend us from such a
calamity!--still, monsieur, you will comprehend that we all feel as if
we were sitting on the edge of a volcano. Such strange things happen.
What may not occur next? You will understand that I do not talk of these
things before my wife and child. They, of course, know about the past,
but as for the future they do not trouble themselves at all. I have
spoken to some of my friends, and they laugh at the idea of the slaves
rising. They say, truly enough, that they are far better treated here
than in your British colonies. But then there has been no revolution in
England. People have not been stirred up to a state of excitement. The
nation has not lost its head, as in France. I say that it is possible
there may be trouble with the slaves."
"Not here, surely, monsieur? Your negroes seem to me to be contented and
happy, and I am sure they are well treated."
"That is undoubtedly so; but, as I told you, the negroes are like
children, they will laugh one minute and scream with rage the next.
There is never any saying what they may do. I can hardly bring myself to
think that such a thing could happen, but I have taken to carrying
pistols in my pockets, and I have stored some arms in that closet in the
hall; at least I should have them handy, and I doubt not that the house
servants will remain true, and I hope many of my slaves. It is for this
that I have gathered the arms together."
"But surely you would have warning?"
"At the first whisper I should, of course, drive my wife and child down
to the town, where we should be safe, for there the whites are strong,
and we have no fear of an attack. However, we must trust that such a
thing may never happen, or that if it does, it may be in the far
distance. But come when it will, everyone should receive warning in
plenty of time to make all preparations. It seems to me impossible that
a plot of any magnitude could be passed from end to end of this island,
and be known to so vast a number of negroes, without some of them
warning their masters of the danger, for there are tens of thousands who
are almost like members of their masters' families."
"I should say it is quite impossible that any extensive plot could be
hatched without its being known in a very short time to everyone," Nat
agreed; "and in any case, although those who live far in the interior of
the island might have reason to fear, should the negroes break out, I
can hardly think that, within little more than an hour's drive from the
city, you need feel any uneasiness whatever."
"No, I feel that there ought to be no trouble here, at any rate unless
there is a successful insurrection in other parts of the island; no
doubt that would be infectious elsewhere. But the negroes near the town
would be the last to join in such a movement, for they might be sure
that the whites there would take speedy vengeance on all within their
reach. However, let us think no more of it at present; my wife and Myra
will be wondering what we can find to talk about so long."
Nat lay awake for some time that night thinking of what Monsieur
Duchesne had said. He had heard vaguely, while he was there before, of
the manner in which the revolution in France had affected the island,
but it was a subject that was little discussed at the planter's. Having
all the feelings and prejudices of the old _noblesse_ of France, he had
from the first been opposed to the popular movement in Paris, and had
held himself altogether aloof from the demonstration on the island. The
subject was painful to him, and he had seldom alluded to it in his
family circle. It seemed to Nat inconceivable that any general movement
could be planned among the blacks without warning being received by the
planters. When he went out next day he looked with more attention than
before at the slaves working on the plantations. It seemed to him that
their demeanour was quieter than usual; the mulatto overseers seemed to
pay less attention to them, and he was surprised to come upon three of
them talking earnestly together, whereas, hitherto, he had always seen
them on different parts of the estate.
On the following morning, the 23rd of August, Monsieur Duchesne started
as usual soon after seven o'clock, for the heat was now intense, and it
was dangerous to be out after the sun had obtained its full power. An
hour later Nat was sitting in the verandah behind the house with Madame
Duchesne and Myra, when an old negress ran out; her eyes were wide open
with terror and excitement, and her face was almost pale.
"Madame and mam'selle must fly and hide themselves!" she exclaimed.
"Nigger come in half an hour ago wid news dat slabes rise last night in
many places all ober de country and kill all de whites. Dinah hear dat
all people expect dat, only not for anober two days. Oberseers de
leaders now. Dey come here quick wid all de field hands. Not a moment to
be lost. Fly for your libes!"
"Impossible!" Madame Duchesne exclaimed, as she and Myra sprang to their
feet alarmed, but incredulous.
"It may be true, madame," Nat exclaimed. "For God's sake run with Myra
in among the shrubbery there; I will join you in a moment. If it is a
false alarm all the better; but it may be true, and there is not a
moment to lose. Do you hear those shouts?"
A burst of yells and shouts rose in the air a short distance away.
"Run! run!" Nat exclaimed as he dashed into the house, rushed to the
closet in the hall, seized two brace of pistols, a sword, and half a
dozen packets of cartridges for the pistols, and then ran out into the
verandah just in time to see the white dresses of the ladies disappear
into the shrubbery close to the entrance of the verandah. Some wraps
which they sometimes put on to keep off the evening dew when they were
sitting out of doors were hung up close by him. Hastily snatching these
off their hooks, he dashed off at full speed, for the tumult was now
approaching the front of the house. The ladies had stopped just within
the cover of the bushes. "Run!" he cried; "there is not a moment to
lose. They will be searching for us as soon as they find that we are not
in the house."
The belt of foliage extended all round the garden, and, keeping inside,
they ran to the other end. Fortunately, adjoining the garden was a
plantation of sugar-cane which had not yet been cut, for although the
greater portion of the cane is cut in April, freshly made plantations
planted at that time are not fit to cut until the autumn of the
following year. The canes were ten feet high, and as the rows were three
feet apart, there was plenty of room to run between them. Scarcely a
word was spoken as they hurried along. The plantation was some four
hundred yards across; beyond it stretched another of equal size,
extending to the edge of the forest. The canes here, which had been cut
four months before, were three feet high; at other times many negroes
would have been at work hoeing the ground round the roots, but when Nat
looked out cautiously from the edge of the higher canes not a soul was
to be seen.
"I think it is perfectly safe," he said; "but you had better put on the
dark wraps, your light dresses would be seen a long distance away. We
had better move a short distance farther to the right before we attempt
to go straight on. If you will walk one after the other, treading in
each other's steps, I will take off my shoes and follow you; that will
destroy your traces, and the marks of my bare feet might be taken for
those of a negro. Please do not lose a moment," he said, as he saw that
Madame Duchesne was about to speak; "there will be time to talk when we
get into the forest and settle what we had best do."
They had gone but a few yards when Nat's eye caught sight of a hoe lying
on the ground a short distance along one of the rows of the young canes.
He ran and fetched it, the others stopping while he did so. Then as he
went along he carefully obliterated his footsteps, and continued to do
so until when, after walking thirty or forty yards farther, he turned
into the young plantation. The surface of the ground was almost
dust-dry, and between the rows of the growing canes a track had been
worn by the feet of the slaves, who every two or three days hoed round
the roots; here, therefore, there was no occasion to use the hoe, as the
ground was so hard that his feet left no marks upon it. In a few minutes
they entered the wood and went in some little distance; then they
stopped. They could still hear the yells of the negroes, who, Nat
doubted not, were engaged in plundering the house, after which he felt
sure that there would be an eager search for the fugitives.
The ground had been rising all the way.
"I see you need a few minutes' rest," he said to Madame Duchesne, who
was so much shaken that it was evident she could walk but little
farther. "I will go back to the edge of the wood and see if there are
any signs of their following us."
Just as he reached the open ground there was a louder outburst than
usual of exulting cries; he saw a column of smoke rising from the trees,
and knew that the negroes had set the house on fire. He returned at once
to the ladies. Madame Duchesne had sunk on the ground. Myra was kneeling
beside her.
"We must go on, madame," he said; "the scoundrels have fired the
house."
She rose to her feet.
"I am better now," she said with a calmness that greatly pleased Nat.
"It seemed a dream at first. What does it all mean, Nat?" for she as
well as her daughter had come to address him by that name.
"I fear it is a general rising of the blacks throughout the island," he
replied. "Monsieur Duchesne told me last night that he thought such an
event might possibly take place, but he made sure that if it occurred we
should have ample warning. By what your old nurse said it must have been
an arranged thing, to take place on the twenty-fifth, but something must
have hurried it. I think, to begin with, we had better go half a mile
farther into the forest. We can talk as we go."
"Had we not better make straight for the town?"
"I think not, though of course I will do whatever you believe to be
best; but there are a score of plantations between us and the town, and
I have no doubt that the slaves will have risen everywhere. Besides, if
your own negroes fail to follow our track, they will make sure that we
have gone in that direction, and will be on the look-out for us;
therefore I think that for the present we had better remain in the
forest."
"But how can we live here?" she asked.
"There will be no difficulty about that," he replied; "there are plenty
of plantations of yams, and I can go down and dig them up at night. The
young canes will quench your thirst if we fail to hit upon a spring, but
we know that there are several of these among the hills, for we pass
over five or six little streamlets on our way to the town."
"I am sure Nat will look well after us," Myra said confidently;
"besides, mamma, I am certain that you could not walk down there. You
know you never do walk, and I cannot recollect your walking so far as
you have done to-day."
This indeed had been the chief reason why Nat had decided that they had
better stay in the forest at present, although he had not mentioned it.
Like all Creoles--as whites born in the islands were called in the
French West Indies--Madame Duchesne was altogether unaccustomed to
exercise, and beyond a stroll in the garden when the heat of the day was
over, had not walked since her childhood. The heat, indeed, rendered a
journey of any kind next to impossible during the greater part of the
day. They had slaves to do their bidding, to wait on them, fetch and
carry, and consequently even in the house they had no occasion for the
slightest personal exertion. Madame Duchesne, being of a naturally more
energetic temperament than are Creoles in general, was less indolent
than the majority of the ladies of the island, but was wholly incapable
of taking a walk of which English ladies would have thought nothing. She
was already greatly exhausted by the excitement and the fatigue of their
hasty flight, and to Nat it seemed at once that it was hopeless for her
to think of attempting the journey of fifteen miles across a rough
country.
The forest grew thicker as they advanced, and after walking for half an
hour Madame Duchesne declared that it was impossible for her to go
farther. Nat was indeed surprised that she had held on for so long. She
had been leaning on his arm, and he felt the weight becoming heavier and
heavier every step. She was bathed in perspiration, her breath came in
gasps, and he himself proposed a halt, feeling that she was at the end
of her strength.