A TIME OF WAITING
Dinah woke two minutes before one o'clock, and Nat at once lay down and,
resolutely refusing to allow himself to think any more of the situation,
was soon fast asleep.
"It am jess beginning to get light, Marse Glober," the negress said
when, as it seemed to him, he had not been five minutes asleep. However,
he jumped up at once.
"It is very dark, still, Dinah."
"It am dark, sah, but not so dark as it was. Bes' be off at once. Must
get well away before dem black fellows wake up."
"How is Madame Duchesne?"
"She sleep, sah; she no wake for another tree or four hours. Dinah give
pretty strong dose. Bes' dat she should know noting about it till we get
to a safe place."
"But is there any safe place, Dinah?"
"Yes, massa; me take you where dey neber tink of searching, but good way
off in hills."
Myra by this time was on her feet also.
"Have you slept well, Myra?"
"Yes, I have slept pretty well, but in spite of the two blankets under
us it was awfully hard, and I feel stiff all over now."
"How shall we divide the things, Dinah?"
"Well, sah, do you tink you can take de head of de barrow? Dat pretty
heaby weight."
"Oh, nonsense!" Nat said. "Madame Duchesne is a light weight, and if I
could get her comfortably on my back I could carry her any distance."
"Dat bery well before starting, Marse Glober, you tell anoder story
before we gone very far."
"Well, at any rate, I can carry a good deal more than one end of the
barrow."
"Well, sah, we put all de blankets on de barrow before we put madame on
it, and put de bundle of clothes under her head. Den by her feet we put
de basket and oder tings. Dat divide de weight pretty fair."
"But what am I to carry, nurse, may I ask?"
"You just carry yourself, dearie; dat quite enough for you. It am a good
long way we hab to go, and some part of it am bery rough. You do bery
well if you walk dat distance."
"That is right, Myra," Nat agreed. "We don't want to have to carry both
you and your mother, and though you have walked a good deal more than
most of the girls of your own class you have never done anything like
this."
In a few minutes the preparations were completed. Madame Duchesne was
laid on the barrow, and the basket and other things packed near her
feet. Dinah took up the two front handles, Nat those behind, and, with
Myra walking by the side, they started.
"Which way are we going, Dinah?"
"Me show you, sah. We go up for some way, den we come on path; two miles
farder we cross a road, and den strike into forest again by a little
valley wiv a tiny stream running down him. After walk for an hour we
cross ober anoder hill all cohered wiv trees and find soon anoder
stream, quite little dere; hab a mile we follow him, den we find a place
where we 'top. We long way den from any plantation, dat quite wild
country."
"Then how do you know the place, Dinah?"
"Me'se not been dere for thirty years, Marse Glober, me active wench
den, twenty year old, me jest marry my husband, he dead and gone long
ago. He hab a broder on anoder plantation; dere bery bad oberseer, he
beat de slabes bery much. Jake he knock him down with hoe, and den take
to de hills; my husband know de place where he hide, and took me to it
one night, so dat I could find it again and carry food to him, cause he
not able to get away, hab to work on plantation. Me had a little
pickanniny and could 'teal away widout being noticed, and me went dere
seberal times; den oberseer killed by anoder slabe, and de master, who
was good man, he come out to enquire about it. When he heard how de
slabe had been treated, he bery angry and say it sarbe oberseer right.
When I heard dat I spoke to de ole marse, de grandfather ob dis chile
you know, he bery good man, like his son, and he went to de plantation
and got de marster to promise dat if Jake came back to work again he
should not be punished. And he kept his word. Dat is how me came to know
ob dis place. Since dat time me know dat many slabes hab hidden dere.
Now dat de slabes are masters, for suah dey not want to go near dat
place, and neber dream dat Madame and Mam'selle Myra know of dat place
and go and hide dere."
By the time that they reached the path daylight had fairly broken.
"We are not likely to meet anyone here, I hope, Dinah?"
"No, sah, de blacks in de plantations dey go down by the road we shall
cross--suah to do dat to get quick the news ob what am going on in oder
places. If one come along here, dey see you black, and tink you nigger
like demselves. Mam'selle must slip into de bush, now she got dat gown
on, no one s'pect her being white a little way off. Den if dere is only
one or two, you shoot dem as soon as dey come up, if dar many of
them--but dere no chance ob dat--must make up some story."
"I am afraid that no story would be any good, Dinah; if they came close
they would see at once that I am not a negro. However, we must hope that
we sha'n't meet anyone."
Nat felt his arms ache a good deal before they arrived at the road they
had to cross, and he would have proposed a halt, but he was ashamed to
do so while Dinah was going on so steadily and uncomplainingly, though
he was sure that her share of the weight was at least as much as his. He
was pleased when, as the path approached the road, she said:
"Put de barrow down now, Marse Glober. You go down on de road and see
dat no one is in sight, but me not tink dere am any danger. I know dat
dey rose at all dese little plantations up here yesterday; dere is suah
to be rum at some ob dem, and dey will all drink like hogs, just as dey
did at our place, and won't be stirring till de sun a long way up."
In a minute he returned.
"There is no one in sight, Dinah."
"Dat is all right, sah, now we hurry across; once into de wood on de
ober side we safe, den we can sit down and rest for a bit."
"I sha'n't be sorry, Dinah. You were quite right, my arms have begun to
ache pretty badly."
The negress laughed.
"Me begin to feel him too; dese arms not so young as dey were. De time
was I could hab carried de weight twice as far widout feeling it."
When a few hundred yards in the wood they stopped for a quarter of an
hour, had a drink of wine and water, and ate a slice of melon and a
piece of bread.
"Now we manage better," Dinah said as they stood up to continue the
journey. "We hab plenty of blankets," and taking one she tore off a
strip some six inches wide and gave it to Nat, and then a similar strip
for herself. "Now, sah, you lay dat flat across your shoulders, den take
de ends and twist dem tree or four times round de handle, just de right
length, so dat you can hold dem comfor'ble. I'se going to do de same.
Den you not feel de weight on your arm, it all on your shoulders; you
find it quite easy den."
Nat found, indeed, that the weight so disposed was as nothing to what it
had been when it came entirely upon his arms. They soon descended into
the little valley Dinah had spoken of, and she at once emptied the rest
of the water out of the jug.
"No use carry dat," she said, "can get plenty now wheneber we want it."
"How are you feeling, Myra?" Nat asked presently.
"I am beginning to feel tired, but I can hold on for a bit. Don't mind
about me, please, I shall do very well."
She was, however, limping badly. After going to the end of the little
dip they crossed the dividing spur, and presently struck the other
depression of which Dinah had spoken.
"There is no water here, Dinah; I hope it has not dried up."
"No fear ob dat, sah. In de wet season water run here, but not now; we
find him farder down."
The little valley deepened rapidly, the sides became rocky and broken,
and to Nat's satisfaction they presently came to a spot where a little
rill of water flowed out from a fissure in the rock.
"How much farther, Dinah?"
"A lillie quarter ob a mile."
The sides of the valley closed in rapidly, and in a few minutes they
entered a ravine where the rocks rose perpendicularly on each side, the
passage between being but seven or eight feet wide.
"We jest dere now, dearie," Dinah said to Myra, who was now so exhausted
that she could scarce drag her feet along. Another three or four minutes
and she stopped.
"Here we are," she said. Nat looked round in surprise; there was no sign
of any opening in the rock. "It up dere," Dinah went on, pointing to a
clump of bushes growing on a ledge.
"Up there, Dinah?"
"Yes, sah; easy for us to climb up. You see where dere are little steps
made?"
A casual observer would not have noticed them. They were not cut but
hammered out of the rock, and appeared like accidental indentations.
"I see that we can climb up," he said, "but how we are to get the litter
up I have no idea."
"No, sah, dat difficult. I'se been tinking it ober. Only possible way
is to take madame off de barrow and carry her up. You go up once or
twice, and you see dat it am not so hard as it seems. Dese lower holes
not deep, but dose higher up much deeper, can get foot well into dem."
"I had better go up and have a look, Dinah," and Nat started to ascend.
He found that, as she had said, it was much easier than it looked. The
first four or five steps, indeed, were so shallow that he could not get
much foothold, but above there were holes for the feet some six or eight
inches deep, and three or four feet apart, these being hidden from the
sight of anyone passing below by a projecting ledge beneath. The holes
were much wider than necessary, the corners had been filled with earth
and tufts of coarse grass planted there, and these completely hid the
openings from sight. He soon reached the clump of bushes. Behind them
was a fissure some three feet wide and four feet high. He crawled into
this, and found that it widened into a cave. He was here able to stand
up, remaining motionless for a minute or two until his eyes became
accustomed to the dim light. Then he saw that it was of considerable
height, some twelve feet wide and about twenty feet deep. This was
indeed an admirable place of refuge, and he felt sure that no one,
unless previously acquainted with its existence, would be likely to
discover it. He went to the entrance and looked out. Myra was sitting
down by the side of a little pool. She had taken her shoes and stockings
off, and was bathing her blistered feet.
"This is a splendid place, Myra," he said; "certainly nobody is ever
likely to find us here. The only difficulty is to get your mother up."
He at once rejoined them below. "The difficulty, Dinah, is that the face
of the rock is so steep that one cannot stoop forward enough to keep
one's balance with the weight on one's back. The only possible way that
I can conceive is to fasten Madame Duchesne firmly to the barrow by
these strips of blanket that we have been using. We can tear several
more from the same blanket. It will want at least half a dozen lashings
to keep her firmly down, then we must knot the other blankets to make a
strong rope. I will go up with the end and pull when I get to the top.
You can take the lower handles, and by holding them on a level with your
shoulders you can steady the thing as it comes up. You won't want to
lift, I can pull her weight up easily enough, all that you have to do is
to steady it."
"Dat will do bery well, sah."
Six strips of blanket were wound round Madame Duchesne as she lay on the
hand-barrow; one was across her forehead so as to prevent her head from
dropping forward, one was under the arms, and two more round the body,
the other two were over her legs. The baskets and other things had been
taken from the barrow. It was now lifted on to one end to see if there
was any sign of the body slipping. However, it remained firm in its
upright position. The blankets had already been knotted by Nat, whose
training enabled him to fasten them so securely that there was no risk
of their slipping. Then he ascended to the top of the steps and took his
place on the little platform on which the bushes were growing.
"Now," he said, "I will raise it a few inches to see that it is properly
balanced." He had already seen that the proposal that Dinah should
steady it from below was not feasible. Although the first step was
immediately below the bushes, the others varied considerably, some being
almost in the same line as those next to them, so that two-thirds of the
way up the holes were six feet to the right of the spot from which they
had started, having evidently been so constructed that from below, had
anyone noticed them, they appeared to go away from the bushes, to which,
from the last hole that could be seen from below, there was no
communication whatever. The ledge, however, although scarce noticeable
from the bottom of the ravine, was really some eight inches wide, and
from this but one step was necessary to gain a footing on the platform.
Dinah, standing below, steadied the barrow as high as she could reach
the ends of the handles, and Nat then, leaning over, managed to raise it
to his level without doing more than scraping the face of the rock as it
rose. Dinah was on the ledge to receive it and pass it up to him, and
Nat had soon the satisfaction of seeing it laid safely down in the cave.
Myra was then got up without any difficulty. She clapped her hands as
she entered the cave.
"This is splendid, Nat! I never dreamt that there could be such a safe
hiding-place."
"It had to be, mam'selle," Dinah said, "for dey hunt runaway slabes with
blood-hounds. Slabes dat escape here keep all de way in de water. De bit
between de pools is all bare rock, not nice to walk on, but bery good
for scent, dat pass off in very short time, den walk down here in dis
water dat you see below us. Eben blood-hounds cannot smell track in
water. If dey came down here might smell de steps, but neber come here."
"Could they come up the other way, Dinah?"
"You go and look for yourself, sah, but mind you be careful."
The wrappings had now been taken off Madame Duchesne, and the blankets
replaced beneath her. She was still apparently sound asleep. Dinah took
up the jug and went to the entrance, Nat followed her.
"You have not given her too strong a dose I hope, Dinah?"
"No, sah, no fear ob dat, she soon wake now. I shall sprinkle water in
her face, and pour a lillie wine down her troat, you see she wake den."
"Will she be sensible, Dinah?"
"Not at first, sah. She 'tupid for a bit, abter dat it depend on feber.
If feber strong, she no sensible, talk to herself just as if dreaming;
if feber not very strong she know us, but more likely not know us for
some time. Me got feber medicine, neber fear. Feber come on too quick to
be bery strong. When feber come on slow, den it seem to poison all ober,
take long time to get well; when it come on sudden like this, not like
to be bery bad."
"Well, we must have patience, Dinah, and hope for the best. Now I will
go down with you and fetch all the things up."
As soon as these were all housed in the cave, Nat said to Myra, "I will
explore down the stream and see what chance there is of anyone coming up
that way. Dinah evidently thinks that there is no fear of it, but I
should like to see for myself."
Fifty yards farther on there was a sharp widening of the ravine, and
here some trees and thick undergrowth had taken root, and so overhung
the little stream that Nat had difficulty in making his way through
them. He remembered Dinah's warning, and advanced cautiously. Suddenly
he stopped. The stream fell away abruptly in front of him, and,
advancing cautiously to that point, he stood at the edge of an abrupt
fall. A wall of almost perpendicular rock rose on each side, and the
streamlet leaped sheer down fifty feet into a pool; as far as he could
see the chasm remained unbroken.
"Splendid," he said to himself; "no one coming up here would be likely
to try farther. The bushes regularly interlace over the water, and there
seems no possible way of climbing up, at any rate, within a quarter of a
mile of this place, and for aught I know this ravine may go on for
another mile. Any party coming up would certainly conclude that no slave
could approach this way, and they would have to make a tremendous detour
over the hills and get to the point where the valley comes down to the
cave. It is certainly a grand hiding-place. I suppose when it was first
discovered those bushes did not grow in front of it; likely enough they
were planted on purpose to hide the entrance, and the place may have
been used by escaped slaves ever since the Spaniards first landed on the
island and began to persecute the unfortunate natives. Unless some of
the negroes who know of it put the mulattoes up to the secret, they may
search as much as they like but will never find us. I must ask Dinah
whether there are many who know of it."
On returning to the cave he found that Madame Duchesne had wakened from
her long sleep. She was, however, quite unconscious; her eyes were
opened, and she was muttering rapidly to herself. Myra was sitting
beside her with the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You must not be alarmed," he said. "Dinah told me she would be so when
she woke up, but she thinks that though the attack of fever will be a
sharp one, it will not last very long. It is not, as is the case with
new-comers on the island, the result of malaria, or anything of that
sort, but of agitation and fatigue."
"Hab you been down de stream, Marse Glober?" Dinah asked.
"Yes, and you were quite right. There is no fear whatever of any one
coming to look for us from that direction. Are there many negroes who
know the secret of this place?"
"Bery few," she said. "It am tole only to men who are going to take to
de hills, and who can't go farder, 'cause perhaps dey been flogged till
dey too weak to travel many miles. Each man who is tole has to take a
great oath dat he suah tell no one except anober slabe running away, or
someone who hab to go to take food to him; dat is how I came to know.
Jake had been tole when dey knew he going to run away. He tole his
broder, my husband, cause he had been flogged so bad he could not go to
de mountains. Den my husband tole me, 'cause he could not get away wid
de food. I neber tell anyone till now, cause dere no occasion for it;
slabes treated too well at our plantation to want to run away. But dere
am no doubt dat dere am slabes in oder plantations dat know of him, but
me no tink dey tell. In de first place dey take big oath, and dey suah
to die ef dey break dat; in de next place, because dey no tell dem
mulattoes, because some day perhaps dese will be oberseers again, and
den de secret of de cave be no longer ob use."
"That is good, Dinah; those scoundrels I overheard talking the other
night will no doubt ask if any of the negroes know of any place where we
should be likely to hide, and if no one knows it but yourself they would
be able to get no information, and it is hardly likely that they would
ask the negroes of another plantation. Now, what is the first thing to
be done, Dinah?"
"De first ting, sah, is to gader sticks to make fire."
"All right. I will go up the ravine and bring down a bundle of dry
sticks from the forest. I will get them as dry as possible, so as not to
make a smoke."
"No fear of anyone see smoke, massa. We no want great fire, and smoke
all scatter before it get to top of de trees up above."
"Well, I will get them at once," he said.
"I will pluck two of the fowls while you are away," Myra said. "I want
to be doing something."
"When you come back, sah, I will go out and gader berries to make colour
for your face. When you hab got dat done, not much fear of your being
known."
"You will have to get something to colour my hair, too," Nat said. "I
never could pass as a mulatto with this yellowish-brown hair."
"Dat for true," Dinah assented. "I'se brought 'tuff to make dat, but had
no time to look for berries for skin. When you come back we make fire
first; me want boiling water for de med'cine me make for madame."
"Yes, of course, that is the first thing," Nat said. "And when you go
anywhere to get provisions, Dinah, it would be a good thing if you could
get us a few yards of cord; it would be very handy for tying up faggots,
and would be useful in all sorts of ways."
"Me will see about dat, sah. Me forgot 'im altogeder when me came away,
else would have brought a length; but you will find plenty ob creepers
dat will do bery well to tie up faggots."
"So I shall, Dinah; I forgot that," and Nat started at once.
In an hour he was back again with a huge bundle of dry wood.
"Where would you light it?" he asked.
"Jest inside entrance, sah. Dis good wood dat you hab brought, make bery
lillie smoke."
After a little water had been boiled and Dinah had stewed some herbs and
chips of wood she had brought up with her, the two fowls were cut up and
the joints spitted on the ramrod of a pistol and grilled over the fire,
as in this way they would cook much more rapidly than if whole. As soon
as they were ready the party made a hearty meal. The medicine was by
this time cool, and Madame Duchesne was lifted up and the cup held to
her lips. She drank the draught without difficulty. Her face was now
flushed, and her hands burning hot.
"What will that do, Dinah?"
"Dat most de bark of a tree dat will get de feber down, sah. I'se going
to gib her dat ebery two hours; den when we see dat de feber abate, we
give her oder stuff to trow her into great sweat; abter dat she get
better. Now, while I am away, mam'selle, you boil water, cut up half ob
one of dem pine-apples, and when de water boil take 'im off de fire and
put de pine-apple in; and let 'im cool, dat make bery nice drink for
her. Now me go and find dem berries."
Dinah was away two hours, and returned with an apronful of brown
berries; and with these, after Nat had washed all the black from his
face and hands, he was again stained, as was Myra also. She had rather a
darker tinge given to her than that which was considered sufficient for
Nat.
"It make you too dark, sah; yo' light eyes show too much. Mam'selle hab
brown eyes and dark hair, and me make her regular little mulatto girl.
When get handkerchief round her head, and wid dat spot gown on, no one
'spect her ob being white."
"You have brought in a great supply of berries, Dinah?"
"Yes, sah; put on stain fresh ebery two or tree days."
When it became dusk the candle was taken out of the lantern, lighted,
and stuck against the side of the cave. Dinah opened a bag and took out
a handful of coffee berries, which she roasted over the fire in a small
frying-pan which she had brought in addition to the pot. When they were
pounded up between two stones, some sugar was produced, and had it not
been for Madame Duchesne's state Myra and Nat would have really enjoyed
their meal. Then Dinah took from the basket a bundle of dried tobacco
leaves, rolled a cigar for Nat and one for herself.
"Dat is what me call comfort," she said, as she puffed the weed with
intense enjoyment. "Bacca am de greatest pleasure dat de slabes hab
after their work be done."
"It is a nasty habit, Dinah. I have told you so a great many times."
"Yes, mam'selle, you tink so. You got a great many oder nice tings a
slabe not got, many nice tings; but when dey got bacca dey got
eberyting dey want. You no call it nasty, Marse Glober?"
"No; I like it. I never smoked till after I got that hurt from the dog,
but not being able to do things like other fellows, I took to smoking. I
like it, and the doctor told me that it was a capital preventive against
fever."
"Do they allow smoking on board ship, Nat?"
"Well, of course it is not allowed on duty, and it is not allowed for
midshipmen at all; but of an evening, if we go forward, the officers on
watch never take any notice. And now about to-morrow, Dinah. Of course I
am most anxious to know what the news is, and whether this rising has
extended over the whole of the island, and if it is true that everywhere
they have murdered the whites."
"Yes, sah, me understand dat."
"Then I want, if it is possible, to send a line down to Monsieur
Duchesne to let him know that his wife and daughter have escaped and are
in a place of safety. He must be in a terrible state. The question is,
how would it be possible to send such a note?"
"Me tink dat me could manage it, sah. My grandson Pete bery sharp boy.
Me tink he might manage to get down to de town, but de letter must be a
bery lillie one, so dat he can hide it in him woolly head. He might be
searched, and dey kill 'im for suah if dey find he take letter to white
man. He sharp as a needle, and often take messages from one of our
slabes to anoder on plantation eber so far away. Me quite suah dat he
bery glad to carry letter for mam'selle--make him as proud as peacock.
When dey in der senses all de slabes lobe her because she allus speaks
kindly to dem. He go suah enough, and bring message back."
"It is lucky that I have a pencil with me," Nat said, and drawing out a
pocket-book he tore out a leaf. "Now, if you will tell me what to say,
Myra, I will write in your name." He went over to the candle. "You must
cut it very short, you know. I will write it as small as I can, but you
must not send more than one leaf."
_Dearest Papa_, Myra dictated, _we have got away. Dinah warned us
in time, and mamma, Nat, and I ran up through the shrubbery and the
cane-fields to the forest. When it got dark--"After dark_" Nat put
in, "you must not use more words than is necessary "--_Nat went
down, found Dinah, and brought her up, and they brought lots of
things for us, and next morning carried mamma to this place, which
is in the mountains and very safe. Mamma has got fever from the
fright we had, but Dinah says she will not be ill long. We are both
dressed up in Dinah's clothes, and Nat and I have been stained
brown, and we look like mulattoes. Do not be anxious about us; the
negroes may search everywhere without finding us. Nat has a brace
of pistols, and mamma and I have one each, and he will take care of
us and bring us down safe as soon as Dinah thinks it can be done.
I hope to see you again soon._
_Your most loving_
_MYRA._
"That just fills it," Nat said as he rolled it up into a little ball.
Dinah looked at it doubtfully.
"I'se feared dat too big to hide in him wool," she said; "it bery
kinky."
"Never mind that. He must manage to straighten it out and sew it
somewhere in his clothes. What time will you start, Dinah?"
"Me start so as to get down to de plantation before it get light. Me can
find de way troo de wood easy 'nuff. It bery different ting to walk by
oneself, instead ob having to carry madame and to take 'tickler care
dat she goes along smoove and dat de barrow doesn't knock against
anyting. Best for me to be back before anyone wake up. Me don't suppose
anyone tink of me yesterday. Me told my darter Chloe dat she say noting
about me. If anyone ask her, den she say: 'Mover bery sad at house being
burnt down and madame and mam'selle run away. I tink she hab gone away
to be alone and hab a cry to herself, cause as she nurse both ob dem she
bery fond of dem, and no like to tink dat perhaps dey be caught and
killed.' But me no 'spect dat anyone tink about me; dey hab oder tings
to tink of. If I had run into wood when you run dere, dey know dat I
give you warning and perhaps show you some place to hide, but abter you
had gone I ran in again and met dem outside wid de oder house servants.
I top dere and see dem burn de house, and den walk down to Chloe's house
and talk to oder women; so no one tink dat I know more 'bout you dan
anyone else."
"That was very wise, Dinah. Now mind, what we particularly want to know
is not only what the negroes have done, but what they are going to do.
Are they going to march away to the hills, or are they going to attack
the town?"
Dinah nodded.
"Me see all about dat, sah. Now, mam'selle, don't you forget to gib your
mamma de medicine ebery two hours!"
"I sha'n't forget, Dinah."
Dinah took up the basket.
"Me bring up bread and more chicken, and more wine if dey hab not drunk
it all. Now keep up your heart, dearie; eberyting come right in de end,"
and with a cheerful nod she started on her errand.
"Your nurse is a trump, Myra," Nat said. "We should feel very helpless
without her, though of course I should do what I could. When she comes
back to-morrow I will go out myself. I hate to sit here doing nothing
when all the island is in a blaze."
"I wish I knew what has become of the family of Madame Bayou. Her
daughter Julie is my greatest friend. You know them well, Nat, for we
drove over there several times when you were with us, and Madame Bayou
and Julie often spent the day with us. Of course they were not quite of
our class, as Monsieur Bayou is only superintendent to the Count de Noe,
who has been in France for some years; but he is a gentleman by birth,
and, I believe, a distant relation of the count's, and as they were our
nearest neighbours and Julie is just my age we were very intimate."
"Yes, of course I remember them well, and that coachman of theirs. I
generally had a talk with him when they were over at your place. He was
a wonderfully intelligent fellow for a negro. He told me that he had
been taught by another black, who had been educated by some
missionaries. He could read and write well, and even knew a little
Latin."
"Yes, I have heard papa say that he was the most intelligent negro he
had ever met, and that he was very much respected by all the negroes
round. I know M. Bayou had the greatest confidence in him, and I can't
help thinking that even if all the others broke out he would have saved
the lives of the family."
"If you like I will go down and see to-morrow evening. I agree with you
that it is likely he would be faithful, but he may not have been able to
be so. However much he may be respected by the other blacks, one man can
do very little when a crowd of others half mad with excitement are
against him; and I suppose after all that it would be only natural that
his sympathies should be with men of his own colour, and being so
exceptionally well educated and intelligent he would naturally be chosen
as one of their leaders. However, he may have warned the family, and
possibly they may be hiding somewhere in the woods just as we are. I
should hope that a great many families have been saved that way."
"Will it be necessary to keep watch to-night, Nat?"
"No, I do not think there is any risk. Even the negroes who know of this
cave will not think of looking for us here, as they would not imagine we
could be acquainted with its existence. I think we can safely take a
good night's rest, and we shall be all the better for it."
It was not till nearly daylight on the second day after starting that
Dinah returned.
"Me not able to get away before," she said. "In de first place me hab to
wait till boy come back wid answer. Here 'tis," and she pulled a small
pellet of paper from her hair.
Myra seized it and flattened it out.
_Thank God for the good news. I have been nearly mad. At present
can do nothing. We expect to be attacked every hour. God protect
you both._
There was no signature. Monsieur Duchesne was evidently afraid that,
were the note to fall into the hands of the revolting leaders, a fresh
search would be instituted by them.
"Dat boy bery nearly killed," Dinah said. "He creep and crawl troo de
blacks widout being seen, and get close to de white men out guarding de
place. Dey seize him and say he spy, and bery near hang him; den he took
out de paper just in time, and said it for Massa Duchesne; den dey march
him to town, woke up massa, and den, ob course, it was all right. It too
late to come back dat night, but he crawl out and lie close to where
dose black rascals were watching. Directly it get dark he get up, he
crawl troo dem, and run bery hard back, and directly he gib me paper I
start back here."
"That was very good of him," Myra said; "when these troubles are over,
Dinah, you may be sure that my father will reward him handsomely."
"Me suah of dat, mam'selle. He offer him ten louis, but Jake say no, if
he be searched and dat gold found on 'im dey hang 'm up for suah. Marse
say bery good, do much more dan dat for him when dese troubles ober. And
now, dearie, how is madame going on?" and she went to the side of Madame
Duchesne, put her hand on her forehead, and listened to her breathing.
She turned round with a satisfied nod. "Feber nearly gone," she said;
"two or tree days she open eyes and know us."
"And how did you get on, Dinah?"
"Me hab no trouble, sah; most ob de black fellows drunk all de day long.
Nobody noticed dat Dinah was not dere. Some of de women dey say, 'What
you do all day yesterday, Dinah?' and me say, 'Me ill, me no like dese
doings.' Dey talk and say, 'Grand ting eberyone be free, eberyone hab
plenty ob land, no work any more.' I say, 'Dat so, but what de use ob
land if no work? where dey get cloth for dress? where dey get meal and
rice? Dey tink all dese things grow widout work. What dey do when dey
old, or when dey ill? Who look after dem?' Some ob dem want to quarrel;
oders say, 'Dinah old woman, she hab plenty sense, what she say she say
for true.' Me tell dem dat me no able to 'tand sight ob house burnt,
no one at work in fields, madame and darter gone, no one know
where--perhaps killed. Dinah go and live by herself in de wood, only
come down sometimes when she want food. She say dat to 'splain why she
go away and come back sometimes."
"A very good idea, very good," Nat said warmly; "the women were not
wrong when they said you had plenty of good sense. And now, Dinah, what
is the news from other parts of the island?"
The old nurse was at the moment standing partly behind Myra, and she
shook her head over the girl's shoulder to show that she did not wish to
say anything before her, then she replied:
"Plenty ob talk, some say one ting some anoder; not worf listen to such
foolishness."