I was awakened out of one of the sweetest dreams in the world--though,
unlike most story-tellers, I will not tell you all about it--by some
one coming into my room with a light.
I never was more astonished in my life. It seemed to me I had not been
asleep ten minutes; and yet the sun, who had a full couple of hours'
course when I lay down, had now gone to bed too, and all without was
darkness. Another testimony to the fact of my long sleep, was the face
of my good old friend Zed, who came grinning up with a pair of bags
over his arm, and a note from Mr. Thornton; showing that our friends
had arrived safely at home, had received our messages, and had sent us
over the wherewithal to make ourselves comfortable, or, at all events,
cleanly. Mr. Thornton's note treated our adventure more lightly than
he probably would have done, had he been aware of the full extent of
danger; but he recommended me strongly to accept Mr. Stringer's
invitation to stay at his house for a day or two, saying,--
"You will be much nearer the scene of action; and, if I am not
mistaken, affairs will be brought to a crisis sooner than we expected
by the discovery of your being actually in the country. I will be over
with you early to-morrow; and, if possible, will bring Hubbard with
me. We can then begin the campaign in real earnest, should it be
necessary."
Having read this epistle and undergone a number of exclamations
mingled with laughter, from Old Zed, I proceeded as rapidly as
possible to dress myself, and descended to the parlour, which I found
vacant of all but a negro servant, engaged in arranging tables and
chairs, which possibly had not been found in apple-pie order by Mrs.
Stringer on her return. The man informed me, however, that his master
and mistress were dressing for dinner, which, to say sooth, I was not
sorry to hear; for though I had eaten one good dinner already, I had
somehow contrived in the intervening time to recover an appetite.
The first of the party who appeared in the room was the fair companion
of my perils, with all traces of the mishaps of the day obliterated
from her appearance, though she was perhaps a little paler than usual.
She gave me her tiny little hand at once, saying,--
"I am glad to find you alone, Sir Richard; for I really have not had
time to thank you; and I fear you must think me very ungrateful."
"I shall indeed think you so," I answered, "if you ever give me such a
formal name again. Call me Richard--Cousin Richard--anything of that
kind you like; but never use that cold word Sir any more."
"Ay, then you are not such a terrible aristocrat after all," said
Bessy, with one of her bright smiles.
"As much as ever," I answered; "though I suspect not half so much as
you are at heart. But, without a jest, Bessy, it is impossible for me,
after all we have gone through together, to be anything to you but
Richard Conway, or you to be anything to me but Bessy Davenport.
Sometimes in a life, five minutes are equal to five years; and by such
measure must we calculate in the length of our acquaintance an hour or
two out of this day. Is it a bargain?"
"Yes, Richard," she answered, giving me her hand again. "I pledge
myself to it."
I was just putting the seal upon the compact, with my lips upon that
little hand, when the door opened, and in stalked the Rev. Mr.
McGrubber. There is a sort of man in every part of the world, who is
always in the place where he is not wanted. He is to be pitied rather
than blamed, I do believe; for I am convinced it is a sort of
idiosyncrasy which is even recognizable in his external appearance,
just as particular temperaments can be discovered by the complexion.
The moment I set eyes upon McGrubber, I could have sworn he would
always be in the way; and so he was.
I have said "in he stalked;" but it is impossible to describe by any
words his peculiar sort of locomotion. It was more like that of a
snake standing on its tail, than anything else. His long lean body
seemed to go first, and then to drag the legs after it with an effort
that was painful to behold.
Whether he saw what I was about when he entered, or not, I did not
know; and, to tell the truth, did not much care, although I thought I
detected that peculiar sort of twinkle in his small grey eyes, which I
have perceived in those of curious people, when they fancy they have
made some pleasant little discovery.
Bessy coloured a little, and seemed somewhat annoyed; so, to break the
awkwardness of the whole business, I turned briskly to Mr. McGrubber,
saying, "It has become quite a fine evening again, sir."
"I guess it has," replied the worthy minister, sticking his hands into
his coat pockets, and spreading the flaps out like a pigeon's tail
behind him. "It is warm too. I guess, miss, those bugs that come
flying in at the window will knock the candles out, unless somebody
does something to stop them."
"Very probably, sir," replied Bessy Davenport. "Suppose you try. You
are more accustomed, I believe, to keeping peoples' lights burning
than I am."
"Profanely speaking, nay," answered Mr. McGrubber, who, I should
explain to you English people, meant by "bugs" all the tribe of moths
and flying insects which literally load the evening air in a southern
climate; and he was going on to tell us what lights he professed to
keep burning; but before he could favour us with more of his
conversation, Mr. and Mrs. Stringer appeared, the latter making many
apologies for being late. She had found everything in disorder, she
said, and had really had a great deal to do.
Mr. Stringer for his part exclaimed that they kept up the custom of
dining late, even in the country, as he found it much more convenient
on all accounts; and Mr. McGrubber, who I found was the tutor of the
young Stringers, favoured us with a discourse upon the iniquity 'of
late hours, which he seasoned with a good number of texts from
Scripture, uttered in a very nasal tone.
I cannot say that I was much edified by his remarks, which had a good
deal of fanatical impertinence in them; and I wondered how Mr.
Stringer could tolerate such an inmate in his family; for he himself,
though evidently a weak man, was well bred and well educated, and
there was something atrociously presuming both in Mr. McGrubber's
manner and in his conversation. It was not that he thought himself as
good as anybody else; for that would be very easily tolerated,
especially in an American, who, whatever may be his qualities of mind,
heart, or position, always looks upon himself as on a par with the
best man that ever was born. But that which makes the assumption of
perfect equality tolerable, renders the assumption of superiority
intolerable; and it was evident that Mr. McGrubber thought himself
vastly better than anybody else, and wished every one to understand
it. Yet he had not only eloquence of a peculiar sort, but considerable
powers of mind, very much misapplied. His reasonings, though full of
sophistry, were answered with more trouble than they deserved; for he
would twist and turn like an eel. Fanaticism resembles _the one book_
which venders an opponent in argument so dangerous. It is the
all-absorbing thought which converts everything around into pabulum
for itself. He had read everything upon the two or three subjects with
which he cared to deal; he had armed himself with all the weapons of
his party, and provided himself with shields and places of retreat
against any opponent too strong for him; yet, though he evidently
thought conviction defeat, it was not entirely from vanity he strove.
Fanaticism on any subject is, I believe, a mixture of passion and
self-conceit; and he certainly was not without the former, as after
events convinced me. To all these peculiar traits he added an
insatiable curiosity, which he had no reserve in trying to gratify.
During dinner he asked me at least a hundred impertinent questions
about myself, my family, my object in visiting America, my profession,
my age, my fortune--some put in the form of guesses, some with most
straightforward impudence; and when, in the end, I told him I did not
think myself called upon to gratify the unreasonable curiosity of
every stranger as to my private affairs, he answered,--
"Waal, I guess you're right in that; but I should think you did not
come over here without some particular business, and any citizen of
this republic may just ask what that business is."
Mr. Stringer and Bessy burst into a laugh, and Mrs. Stringer looked
considerably annoyed.
Laughter often does more than argument; and Mr. McGrubber was
effectually silenced for the remainder of the evening. Indeed, shortly
after the dessert was put upon the table, the worthy gentleman, who
drank no wine and hated everybody that did, rose unceremoniously, and
left the room; nor did he make his appearance again that night.
I know few things more pleasant than when, with a feeling of security
upon one, after a perilous and eventful day, we sit down with our
fellow-adventurers to chat quietly over the various incidents which
excited our feelings and stimulated, perhaps, many a passion at the
time, but which have now all the calm of memory about them. Nothing
could be more tranquil or charming than the two hours which now
succeeded. We talked over all that had happened; we recalled not only
events, but thoughts and feelings; and brief lapses would often occur
in the conversation when (I know not what Bessy Davenport was doing) I
was scrutinizing, though not too closely, certain sensations or
emotions of my own heart, a little anxious to know what they all
meant, yet unwilling to examine them too closely, lest I should stop
them in their play.
Once I asked myself if I was falling in love with Bessy
Davenport--with her whom I did not know the morning before, and of
whom I could not have said, that very morning, whether I liked or
disliked her. But just then, waking out of a reverie of her own, she
suddenly raised her eyes, quiet and thoughtful, but full of light, to
my face, and I concluded that my question was a very foolish question
indeed, which I would never put to my own heart again, but leave that
inscrutable inner man to speak for himself when he thought proper.
As our eyes met, a slight colour came up in her cheek, but she rose
quietly, saying,--
"Now I will sing you one song, and then I will go to bed, only praying
that I may not dream of being drowned all night. What shall it be,
Cousin Richard?"
I was incapable of deciding, not knowing what she sang; and so, taking
a seat at the piano, she chose for herself a little, quiet, simple
Italian air, such as the peasants sing in the Abruzzi, which never
find their way into operas, but have more real melody in them than
half the opera airs in the world. Then, starting up, she wished us all
"Good night," and left us.
We separated within a few minutes after; for Mr. and Mrs. Stringer
were fatigued with their day's expedition, and I gladly went to my
room with the intention of meditating over many things.
I was disappointed, however; for there was my good friend Zed, ready
to pour upon me a whole budget of news, in his somewhat incoherent but
voluble way. First and foremost was the account of Mr. Thornton's
journey home. How the carriage had stuck in the ford, but had been got
out quite safe; how Master Hal had been thrown by his pony into a pool
of mud, and come out as red as an "Ingin." Then, what consternation
they were all in when the news arrived of the accident which had
befallen us; and then, how, just as he was coming away with my
clothes, Miss Bessy's horse, with the saddle quite turned round under
his belly, had come trotting and neighing up to the house.
This last piece of information was very gratifying to me, for I knew
Bessy mourned for her good steed; and whatever interested her was
beginning to interest me also. It was never discovered, I may remark,
how the poor brute got out of the river; but it is supposed he drifted
down to a spot some two miles below, where the eastern bank became
flat, and, landing there, found his way home.
Zed, I found, judged the accident which had brought me back to Beavors
a very lucky one, inasmuch as the great camp-meeting he had mentioned
was to be held within a mile or two of the house. "Ah! massa," he
cried, "such meeting as you hear there you never see. Gorr a mighty! I
shouldn't wonder if you were converted yourself."
"What makes you judge, Zed, that I am not converted already?" I asked.
The poor fellow grinned, and did not seem to know what to reply,
finding himself on the horns of a dilemma. So his only course was to
sigh and shake his head, as if he thought me in a very perilous
condition of mind.
I have remarked, however, that negroes, when they become puzzled with
any question, are very dexterous in carrying the conversation off to
something else; and so Zed now favoured me with a long catalogue of
the preachers who were to hold forth upon this occasion, naming,
amongst the rest, Mr. McGrubber, by whom I certainly did not expect to
be either converted or very much edified. Two or three other names
were mentioned, however, which I had heard spoken of with respect; and
I resolved to go, at all events, to witness such a spectacle, at
least once in my life, as a camp-meeting must present. Let me use a
school-boy phrase and say, I determined to go "for the fun of the
thing."
I slept very well in the earlier part of the night; but I can never
sleep more than a certain time during the twenty-four hours, and,
consequently, with the first ray of daylight, my eyes were open. I
felt strongly inclined to lie still and meditate; but as I never
indulge such things, where the meditation is sure to be fruitless, I
rose, dressed myself, and went downstairs.
The house was still shut up, and nobody was stirring; but, to my
surprise, I found two negroes asleep on the benches in the hall; and I
afterwards discovered that it was a very common custom of domestic
servants, even where good beds were provided for them, to lie down
upon any bench or set of chairs they could find, and sleep out the
night there, without covering or pillow. The door of the house, too,
was unlocked; and, indeed, very little precaution of any kind seemed
taken in this country against intruders.
One would think this was an evidence of an innocent and virtuous
population, were not the inference contradicted by the long and
terrible list of crimes and offences which every newspaper shows each
day. For want, then, of any better solution of this enigma of
carelessness, I could only set it down to the account of that utter
indifference to life and security which is so observable throughout
the whole land.
Taking up a stick which I saw in the hall, I walked out, very careless
as to what course I followed, and proceeded, I dare say, two miles,
without seeing a living soul. It was by this time five o'clock, yet
nobody was in the fields--a clear proof that the negroes are not so
much overworked, in Virginia at least, as has been generally reported.
The morning air was fresh and balmy, rather cool than otherwise, with
no indications of the heat which was to follow the higher rising of
the sun. The whole fields, and especially the edges of the woods, were
gemmed with beautiful flowers; and it had a strange and curious effect
to see shrubs, and trees, and plants which we in England look upon as
rare and delicate, blooming wild and uncultivated all around.
Innumerable birds and beasts--ay, and even reptiles--were fluttering,
running, or gliding in different directions; and it was clearly an
hour at which the presence of man did not warn inferior animals to
seek the shelter of the thicket or the brake.
I cannot say that the aspect of the country was very picturesque. It
was a flat, alluvial plain, through which the rivers and streams had
easily worn deep channels, as they poured on towards the sea; and it
was only on the banks of these that anything like landscape beauty was
to be seen. The one I reached that morning, which was the limit of my
walk, much resembled that which had nearly made a supper of Bessy
Davenport and me the day before. I know not even now, whether it was
the same or not. During the warm night, the water left by the rain had
either evaporated into the air or had been sucked up by the light and
penetrable soil. Everything had become dry, except where the river,
evidently greatly fallen since the preceding evening, wended quietly
on its way, no longer hurried by the mass of waters pressed within its
narrow banks.
By the side of the stream sat a negro, fishing, and as this was the
first human being I had seen since I set out, I thought I might as
well go down and talk with him. When I came near, I perceived he was
one of the finest-formed men I had ever beheld, tall and powerful,
with very little of the usual deformity of his race. He had, indeed,
the thick lips, the nose flattened,--though not very much,--and the
woolly hair of his race; but there was no bowed shins or large hands
and feet; yet, as far as I could judge from his colour, he was of
unmixed African blood. He did not condescend to lift his head when I
came near, but continued his occupation, still gazing upon the
glistening but somewhat turbid water.
"Have you had good sport?" asked I.
"I have caught no fish," he answered abruptly; and then turning round
for the first time, he looked to see who was the interrogator.
"Is not the water too muddy still?" I inquired, somewhat struck by the
man's manner and tone.
"Those who would catch large fish must fish in troubled waters,"
answered he gravely, casting in his line again. "I shall catch when
the appointed time comes. Nothing happens, master, but at its
appointed time, whether it be great or small."
I confess I was not a little surprised at such a reply from such a
man. I had heard of negroes who displayed as great natural powers of
mind as men of the white races, but I never yet had met with one. In
all whom I had seen there was a certain lack of intellect. Quick
comprehension there might be--often rapid combination, cunning seeming
to supply the place of reasoning powers; but it was more like the
comprehension, the cunning of a child, exercised only upon the objects
near at hand, without the power of generalization or remote deduction.
In fact, this man's words afforded the first attempt at any thing like
a grasp of a wide and comprehensive idea which I had ever met with in
his race, and they excited my curiosity greatly.
"I agree perfectly with you," I answered. "I am a full believer in a
special Providence; yet it would seem but a small and undignified
exercise of that Divine power, to make you catch a fish at one moment
more than another."
"What is small, and what is great, to God Almighty?" asked the man,
still keeping his eyes on the stream. "He made the emmet as well as
the biggest of beasts; he made the grain of sand an well as the
mountain. How can you tell, master, how small events may affect great
ones? My catching a fish, now or then, may, by giving food and comfort
to a family, allay their discontent; and, putting off its outbreak,
induce them to go on in quiet, till some further relief comes--in its
due season also. Does not the Bible tell us that not a sparrow falls
to the ground unnoticed? Everything is by God's will--everything is in
God's time. What is small? What is great to Him? In a universe
everything has its proper place, every event its proper moment; and
the derangement of the least would destroy the order of the whole. My
time, too, will come for whatever I have to do; and I am ready to do
God's will, whatever it may be."
I never was more astonished in my life than by this man's discourse. I
had heard Hindoos many a time speak in a somewhat similar way; but
they are proverbially a thoughtful, speculative, I may almost say a
metaphysical race; but to hear such words from a poor despised
negro--from one of a class to whom the higher ranges of thought seem
forbidden, as well by capability as by education--was very strange.
While he had been speaking he had only turned his face to me once; and
when he ceased, I mused for a minute or two, not jumping at a
conclusion at once, but asking myself, first, whether he had learned
all this from some one else, like a parrot. Rejecting that suspicion
speedily, as contradicted by his whole tone and manner, I next
considered whether it was likely or unlikely that every faculty of the
mind would be equally developed. Grasp of intellect, logical power, he
certainly possessed; but a good many (perhaps) subordinate qualities
and faculties are requisite to make such gifts available for man's
conduct, either towards his fellow man or towards his God. I had
nearly come to the conclusion that it was almost certain he must
possess them, when suddenly a laugh--the unmeaning, almost idiotic
laugh of the negro race--broke from his lips, followed by--
"Ah, master, I've caught you!"
And I saw him pulling a large fish towards the shore.
It seemed that this was all he wanted. He showed it to me with a sort
of child-like triumph; and then, throwing away the pole with which he
had been fishing, and rolling up his line, he walked some way by my
side, as I took my path homeward.
I was anxious to know more of this man, and tried to put him upon some
of those tracks which I thought might bring forth the peculiarities of
his mind. He seemed a little shy, however, in answering my inquiries,
and in following any train of thought which was placed before him.
This was natural enough in one of an enslaved race, in whose bosoms
there must always be some feeling of wrong and oppression, so
long as there is vanity in the human heart. However kindly they
may be treated--however incapable they may be of taking care of,
directing, and providing for themselves, they will always feel an
uncongeniality--a want of sympathy with the dominant race, and shrink
into themselves, more or less, when brought into communication with
their masters. My companion gave me his name--Nathaniel Turner--and
told me where he lived, which was not far distant; but only once was I
able to bring from him a spark of that intellectual fire which he had
previously displayed, and which, even now, was half smothered by that
cunning which is common to savages and children. In stating that I was
an Englishman, I alluded to our having emancipated our slaves in the
West-India islands, and I could see a sort of eager light break forth
from his eyes; but it was quenched the next moment, as if he still
entertained some doubts and suspicions.
"Well, master," he said, "I can't tell whether you are right or wrong
in freeing the slaves. I suppose you did it because you thought you
had no right to make them slaves at first. But if you did think so,
there was a great deal more to be done than merely to give them back
their liberty. You had taken a great deal more from them than freedom;
you had taken from them their country, their home, their habits; and,
I think, you were bound either to restore to them all the things of
their former state, or to take good care of them, and fit them for the
state into which you had brought them. However, I am a poor, foolish
man, and know nothing about these things. I have been a slave all my
life, and I have had very good masters. I doubt not it will all be
brought right in the end; and, perhaps, we niggers are placed in the
situation proper for us. At all events, it is God's will, and so we
ought to be content. Now, it's possible, this fish, here in my hand,
would rather have been some great shark, or some beast, or some bird,
or even, perhaps, a man; but God willed it otherwise: if not, he would
never have been hanging on my hook. But should the pot say to the hand
that fashioned it, 'Why madest thou me so?' I was born of a different
colour from you and your friends; and that difference of colour is a
great difference in this world. Content is everything, good master;
and I am very well content as I am--_so long as it is God's will I
should be so_."
The last words were spoken after a pause, and with a good deal of
emphasis; and, anxious to know more of his thoughts and feelings, I
replied,--
"Ay, but the difficulty is, in the complication of this world's
affairs, to discover what is God's will, and what is man's."
"Whatever is, is God's will," he answered; and then added, in a slow
tone, "His will will always be revealed in due time. If man cannot see
clearly, God will give him eyes; and when his time comes, all must be
accomplished. There is no standing against the hand of God; and let no
man imagine that His judgment is not right."
By this time we had arrived at a spot about a mile from Beavors, and I
could perceive, walking along the edge of a wood enclosed with a snake
fence, a figure which something within me told me at once was Bessy
Davenport, come forth to take her usual morning's walk. She was
advancing directly towards us; and, on seeing her, I left my sable
companion, and proceeded to join her.
"Why, who have you been talking to?" she asked, as I came up. "It
looks like Nat Turner."
"No other," I answered. "Do you know anything of him?"
"Oh, yes," she exclaimed; "he is a very extraordinary man indeed, and
lives not far off, at Mr. Travis's, the next plantation. All the
negroes look upon him as a sort of prophet, and certainly his powers
of mind are so superior to those of slaves in general, that they may
well do so. No one knows who taught him to read; and, if asked, he
says no one taught him--it came to him of itself. Of course, that is
nonsense; but, undoubtedly, he is a very extraordinary man, and his
manners and language are far above his race."
"That I clearly perceived," I answered; "yet I could see a good many
negro traits--at least I thought so. I should much like to see more of
him. What is his general character?"
"Excellent," she replied. "He is, I have heard, a kind, good creature;
but most austere and self-denying; eats very little, drinks nothing
but water; and does not associate much with the other negroes, though
he has a very great influence over them when he pleases to exert it.
But he is quiet and inoffensive; and, therefore, his influence is
beneficial rather than otherwise. In his hours of leisure he may be
seen reading at the door of his cabin, while the others are dancing
and singing, and, indeed, his conduct might be an example to many a
white man I wot of."
"Should such a man be kept in slavery, Bessy?" I asked, with a sigh.
"You must not put such questions to me, Cousin Richard," she answered.
"All we women in Virginia are, more or less, abolitionists, except
when we encounter some of the northern fanatics, and then we stand
upon the defensive, telling them they have no right to meddle with us.
Indeed, one half of the State is in favour of emancipation; and I
should not wonder if an Act for that purpose were to pass next year;
though, heaven knows what we should do with the poor creatures if we
did free them, for nine out of ten are quite incapable of taking care
of, or providing for, themselves. I suppose we should have to become
the slaves in their place, and work for them, for, assuredly, no negro
will work for himself or any one else if he can help it--no, cousin,
not even the paragon Nat Turner. He has, indeed, as you say, a good
number of the African traits, and seems to have, as it were, two
characters, one full of power and capability, and the other feeble and
not to be cultivated--at least so Mr. Travis says. He is, moreover,
marvellously superstitious--a believer in all sorts of signs and
portents. You should go and see him in his cabin, Richard; he would
take it as a great compliment."
"I will, some day," I answered. "But now, whither are you bending your
steps?"
"Wherever fancy leads, and the air is freshest," answered Bessy.
"Then take my arm, and let us seek it," I rejoined.
"No, no," she replied, laughing; "you do not know our ways. No young
lady takes a man's arm without being engaged to him."
"Then take mine," I said, in the same gay tone.
She looked suddenly up in my face, and, seeing that I was smiling, she
said, in the words of the song she had sung the night before, "_Tu mi
burli_. But indeed it is against our customs."
"Very prudish customs, indeed, dear Bessy," I answered.
She instantly passed her arm through mine, saying, "There! you shall
not call _me_ prudish, at least. I abhor a prude. Coquette I dare say
you have called me in your heart a hundred times already; but you are
wrong there, too, cousin mine. Having resolved, long ago, never to
marry, I make use of my independence, and say what I like to any one;
but that is all. I care not one straw for admiration, or anything of
the kind."
"Are you then the woman whose resolutions can never be changed?" I
asked.
"The woman!" she exclaimed, with a toss of the head. "Do you mean to
imply that every woman is weak and irresolute?"
"Not at all," I answered. "That does not follow, dear cousin. A woman
would show herself more weak by keeping a resolution founded upon
mistaken grounds, than by breaking it. You are not so weak as to keep
your resolution if you have good cause for casting it away."
"As what?" she asked. "What cause can I ever have?"
"Love," I answered. "If you found a man who loved you sincerely, and
whom you could love in return, you would break it to-morrow, and do
well."
Bessy turned a little red, and then a little pale, and cast down her
bright eyes. In order to change the conversation, I made some
observations upon the extreme beauty of the wild flowers; but it was
with difficulty I called her mind back from the train of thought it
was pursuing.
"I think I shall go home," she said, at length; "for these people
breakfast early, in order to let their boys have the full advantage of
sweet Mr. McGrubber's conversation during the day. Good lack, good
lack, Cousin Richard! but this love and marriage which we were talking
of just now are strange things in their way. Who would ever have
thought that extraordinary McGrubber could have found any woman upon
the face of the earth to marry him? And yet he did; and a sweet,
pretty little creature I am told she was. She is dead now, happily for
her. It was what the old women call a happy release. I am sure I
should have thought so if I had been his wife. So now to return to our
subject, let me say that, when I see such wonderful things happening
as sane women marrying McGrubbers, no woman may be confident of what
may happen to herself, and, therefore, I cannot positively say that I
will not break my resolution; but, if I do, 'twill not be with my own
consent."
"You are a little paradox altogether, Bessy," I said.
"Then don't try to find me out," she answered, "for you never can do
it."
"I have done it already," replied I, with a significant nod of my
head.
"Then, pray, tell me all about it," she cried; "for I really know
nothing of the subject myself."
"I will tell you all about it some day, Bessy," I answered; "that I
promise you; but I think I had better not begin such a long discourse
at present, for I see something very lank and very black coming this
way, and, if I mistake not, its name is McGrubber."
"Oh, then, for heaven's sake, let us get out of his way," said Bessy,
after having gazed for a moment in the direction in which I had been
looking. "It is, it is, the great McGrubber. Let us turn into the
wood, here. A path leads round in a way in which no human greyhound,
if he had legs three times as long, could catch us."
Thus saying, she led me along rapidly, till we were fairly into the
wood, and then burst out into one of her clear, merry laughs at the
idea of having baffled poor McGrubber.
That he had seen us I was perfectly certain, and that, in the peculiar
sort of charity which I attributed to him, he would not assign the
best motive to our getting out of his way, I thought very probable;
but, of course, I had too much discretion even to suggest to Bessy,
that if her merely walking arm-in-arm with me was likely to be
construed into an engagement between us, our flying into the woods
from the presence of a parson was likely to be more misconstrued
still.
Bessy, however, had a bold, free way of settling all these things for
herself, and, generally, I must say, she settled them very well. As we
went, she pointed out to me all the various intricacies of the path we
were pursuing, which was, indeed, quite labyrinthine, and she chatted
with me on many subjects, quite different from those which had gone
before.
When we arrived at the house, we found Mrs. Stringer busying herself
about the breakfast-table, and Bessy, running up to her, told her at
once, in one of her gayest veins, how we had seen Mr. McGrubber coming
towards us, and how we had doubled upon him into the wood, and passed
him, unseen, within a hundred yards.
"Just as I have seen a fox do before the hounds," cried Bessy. "If I
could but have drawn him after us, it would have been the greatest
sport in the world. Cousin Richard and I would have led him through
every swamp, and bush, and cane-break we could find."
"Oh no! you mad-cap," said Mrs. Stringer, "I am sure Sir Richard would
never have been so unkind to the poor man. He is a bore, it is true;
but there is no harm in him, I sincerely believe."
"I am not so sure of that," answered Bessy. "A man who thinks he
understands everybody else's business better than themselves, becomes
a very dangerous person when he makes a mistake."
"What is a bore?" asked Mr. McGrubber, entering the room just at this
moment, after having evidently been listening in the hall.
Mrs. Stringer, who had used the word, grew very red, and looked
confused; but Bessy turned upon him at once, and answered in an
ordinary tone, as if she were quoting from a dictionary,--
"Bore--A person who impertinently intrudes upon people who do not want
him, and then keeps grinding them till he nearly bores a hole through
them. That's in Johnson, is it not, Cousin Richard?"
Her quiet look, the man's air of stolid bewilderment, and Mrs.
Stringer's confusion, were, I must confess, too much for me; and I
laughed till I cried.
"What is he laughing at?" asked Mr. McGrubber, in a solemn tone; "I
see no cause for such levity."
This was too much for both Bessy and Mrs. Stringer; and when Mr.
Stringer entered, a minute after, he found us all three laughing as
hard as we could laugh, and Mr. McGrubber standing, tall and stately,
in the midst, a pillar of indignant solemnity.
Breakfast was not yet over, when Mr. Thornton arrived on horseback,
and I perceived at once that he was a good deal excited; but he
refrained from all business matters till the party rose, inquiring
into our adventures of the evening before, and giving a somewhat
amusing account of the journey of the carriage home.
"I was very glad, to tell you the truth, Bessy," he said, "that our
good cousin here was not with us. It would have been a grand triumph
for an Englishman to see our roads in such a state after a shower; on
one side holes six feet deep, in which a whole wheel would disappear
at once, and, on the other, stumps and bumps of all shapes and
dimensions."
"I dare say their roads are just as bad," said Bessy Davenport; "only
they have not such good, honest showers as we have in Virginia,
although I believe it always rains in England. Doesn't it, Cousin
Richard?"
"Oh, yes," I answered, smiling; "but then it only rains marabout
feathers, our climate is so soft and gentle."
"And you are wrong, Bessy, about the roads," added Mr. Thornton; "for
there can be no doubt that the roads in Europe, especially in England,
are admirable, while ours are a disgrace to a country so prosperous
and so far advanced in every other kind of civilization."
"Well, you need not have admitted it to an Englishman, my dear uncle,"
said Bessy, laughing; "for my part, I am resolved never to admit to
any of these proud Islanders that they surpass us in anything
whatever. They are quite conceited enough without our encouraging
their vanity."
"You show your hand, fair lady," I replied; "and henceforth I shall
know the game you are playing. I shall never contradict you any more."
"Oh, don't say that, my dear cousin, I beseech you!" cried Bessy.
"Without contradiction, what should I be worth? and what would you do
yourself?"
I believe the devil was in me, for I drew close to her, and replied to
her question in a whisper,--
"I would try to get you to go to England with, me, and judge for
yourself, dear Bessy."
It was certainly neither a moment nor a mode for making a declaration;
and I had not the slightest intention of so doing; but the words were
uttered before I knew what I was about; and that, though spoken in a
jesting tone, they had some significance for her mind, was very
evident by Bessy's countenance, for she coloured like a rose, and
quitted the room.
Mrs. Stringer followed; and, as soon as they were gone, Mr. Thornton
exclaimed,--
"Now, Sir Richard, mount your horse, and ride over with me to
Jerusalem directly. Hubbard has promised to meet us there; and we must
open the campaign at once. We have bold and daring men to deal with:
and this morning early, I learned that, notwithstanding our caveat,
all your poor aunt's servants were sold last night to that cursed
dealer, with his gold chains and trinkets. We will cut him off though,
Hubbard is to bring the sheriff with him; a warrant shall be issued
immediately, and they shall not quit Virginia if my name is Thornton."
"I will order my horse directly," I answered.
"I beg your pardon for taking the liberty," said Mr. Thornton; "but I
ordered it as I came up. It must be now at the door."
In a few minutes, we were mounted; and by that sort of electric
telegraph of gossip which seems to run through and around every
Virginia country house, the whole family and servants had apparently
gained information of what we were about, and were collected in and
around the porch to see us depart. I heard one dark fellow say to
another, as they stood about the horses, in answer to some question,--
"A going to stop Miss Bab's servants being sold to Orleens, to be
sure."
"God bless 'em, Massa Thornton never let that," replied the other;
"they stop 'em!"
Even Bessy Davenport was there; and, after seeming to hesitate for a
moment, she came up to the side of my horse just as I had mounted, and
said in a low tone,--
"Had you not better take pistols with you, Cousin Richard? These men
are often very violent and lawless."
"No, no," I answered, holding up my riding whip, which had a very
heavy iron head, cast in the form of an eagle; "I can give a good
account of two or three with this; and I should not like to show that
I meditated violence myself." Bending down my head as I spoke, I
added, in a whisper,--"Forgive me, Bessy; I did not intend to trouble
or annoy you by what I said this morning. I may not be so conceited
and self-confident as you think all Englishmen are."
She looked up frankly in my face, and, notwithstanding all the people
round her, held out her hand to me. I pressed it in mine for a moment,
and then galloped away.
At the gate leading into the main road, we saw Billy Byles coming up
from the right, mounted on a very handsome horse, which showed a
little more blood than bone, and Mr. Thornton instantly hallooed him
up.
"Come along, Byles," he cried, "come along with us; you are just the
sort of man we want. We are going hunting."
"Hunting!" echoed bold Billy; "hunting what, in Heaven's name?"
"A nigger-driver and his master," answered Mr. Thornton. "Lewis, the
trader, bought, last night, all Aunt Bab's servants, notwithstanding
our caveat against it; and we must catch him ere he gets to the
state-line, or we may have trouble."
"Tally ho!" cried Billy Byles. "We'll give him a chase. You ride on.
I'll rouse the country as we go, and join you in five minutes. There's
Toliver, and Turner, and Sam Hicks, and Whitehead and his son, all
close to the road, men always ready for action; and these fellows will
show fight, depend upon it. Stop at the cross road just on this side
of Jerusalem."
"No, no," said Mr. Thornton; "come to old Snead's hotel. You will find
us there before the house. We shall get information there, and a
warrant."
"Oh, warrants! Damn warrants!" responded Billy Byles, "I am always my
own warrant. But go on; I'll come, and not keep you."
On we went accordingly at a rapid pace, minding neither dust nor mud,
both of which were to be had on the road, as it undulated up and down;
and in about three-quarters of an hour, we had reached the town or
village of Jerusalem, as the capital seat of the county of Southampton
is called. I fancy it is always an active, bustling little place; but
there was evidently an unusual excitement in it at the time; and as we
rode up towards the inn, I saw my good friend, Mr. Hubbard, standing
by his pony, and another gentleman on horseback, close to him, who,
Mr. Thornton informed me, was the sheriff.
I have since seen several specimens of the same kind in Virginia; and
shall only therefore say, he was a very tall, lanky man, with a good
carriage and a line countenance, with tremendously long limbs, and not
a superfluous ounce of flesh or fat upon any of them. Could I suppose
him to have been once a beast transformed by some beneficent fairy
into a man, I should say he must formerly have been a full-blooded
Irish stag-hound; and his horse was of the same character, all bone
and sinew, but a remarkably fine animal. He was equipped as if for the
chase, with a pair of long boots which came up almost to his hips; and
he had a little hat stuck upon the top of his grey hair, which a very
slight change would have turned into a jockey cap.
As soon as he saw us, he dashed very unceremoniously through the
little crowd towards us; and we learned from him (after a brief
introduction between him and me, from Mr. Thornton) that the warrant
against Mr. Lewis was already in the hands of a constable, who was
saddling his horse; and that information had been obtained of the
course of the trader and his party, they having passed through
Jerusalem about an hour and a half before.
"Young Thornton is with him," added the sheriff, addressing my
companion, "and you know what sort of a fellow he is; so we are likely
to have a fight for it, and had better go prepared."
"Let us start off at once," said Mr. Thornton. "As he has got so far
ahead, he may get across the state-line, where your writ won't run."
By this time Mr. Hubbard had joined us, and being informed that Billy
Byles was raising recruits, advised us to remain till he came up, if
he did not tarry too long, and then entered upon some legal question
with the sheriff as to the nature, power, and extent of the warrant
issued--matters which I did not very clearly comprehend.
"Oh, yes, my good friend," replied Mr. Hubbard, to some question of
the sheriff. "A slave being clearly a chattel, notwithstanding the Act
of 1799, you can proceed just in the same manner as for the recovery
of any other chattel stolen or abstracted. The abductors can be
indicted, and a warrant against them can be issued to prevent their
removal of the chattel from the jurisdiction of the State. Besides, in
the case of Moosa _versus_ Allain, Judge Martin's judgment clearly
shows that a slave himself is entitled to the aid of a magistrate, to
prevent him from being illegally removed from the State."
There was something very harsh to my ears, as an Englishman, to hear
even mild Mr. Hubbard talking of a human being as a chattel; and as I
could be of no use in the discussion, I listened no longer. I thought,
however, if I could get a knowledge of the country, I might employ any
military science I possessed in preventing the escape of our
adversary. A printed map could not be obtained; but as some two or
three dozen persons had already surrounded us, I contrived to get hold
of a pen-and-ink drawing of all the roads round about, and a torrent
of information as to marshes, ditches, brakes, and _bad places_.
In the meantime, sundry horses were brought out saddled, and sundry
gentlemen began to mount; and before all was ready, bold Billy Byles
and three other gentlemen rode up, with the gay and excited air of men
bound for some exceedingly joyful enterprise.
"Now then," cried Mr. Byles, "let's be off. I hear they have taken
right across for the old Nottoway encampment; but as they are going in
waggons, we shall catch them soon enough."
I looked at my pen-and-ink map, and saw marked down on one spot,
"Indian Village." Two roads led towards it, one a distinct broad way,
and the other seemingly a narrow but more direct path.
"Is this road passable?" I asked, of a young man standing near, and
pointing to the map. He could tell me nothing about it; but another
said,--
"I came along it this morning. It is wettish down there by the bars;
but if you keep your horses' heads well up, you'll get through, I
reckon. There's a little bit of a jog there to the left, which is not
down on the plan, and if you take that, you'll come right down on the
palisade on t'other side. There you can see by the waggon tracks,
whether they have gone on or not, for that rain last night must have
washed it pretty clean."
By this time, all were prepared to set out except Mr. Hubbard, who
preferred to wait our return in Jerusalem; and we made altogether a
party of some fifteen horse. As we rode out of the town, I pointed out
on the map, to the sheriff, the roads I have alluded to, and proposed
that he and Mr. Thornton, with the main body of the party, should
follow the wider road, while I and Billy Byles, with one or two
others, should take the narrower path, and endeavour to cut Mr.
Lewis's party off.
"No bad plan," said the sheriff, with a nod of his head; "but, will
you have force enough?"
"I understand they have got several fellows with them--three Irishmen
and a Dutchman, besides others."
"Give me two other stout men besides Mr. Byles," said I, "and I will
undertake to keep them at a stand till you come up."
"A soldier?" asked the sheriff, laconically.
I nodded my head.
"Well, go along then," he said; "there's your way up there; then the
first to the right; but then mind the jog of the road to the left,
about seven miles on. But Byles knows all about it; he knows the
country right well. Here's their trail--these waggon ruts, freshly
made and sharp at the edges. You can easily judge by these whether
they have gone on; and if they have got beyond the camp, you had
better stay there till we come. There will be nothing for it then but
to ride them straight down as hard as we can go."
The matter was soon explained to Mr. Byles, who was ready for
anything; and after he, on his best judgment, had selected two stout
fellows to accompany us, we set off at as fast a pace as we could well
go, till we reached the month of the very narrow path which we had to
pursue. Nor did we much slacken our speed there; although, to say the
truth, it was rather a perilous undertaking to ride along it with such
velocity; for the boughs swung across in many directions, whisking
one's eyes, or one's knees, or one's head, every two or three hundred
yards.
"Now we are coming near the bad place by the bar," said Billy Byles.
"Keep a short rein and ease them up as you go through."
And on he went, into what seemed to me neither more nor less than a
morass. His horse made a terrible flounder at the first plunge, but
was up again in a moment; and on we all went, stumbling, and sinking,
and rolling, but scrambling on still, till we reached the other side
of the _bad place_, and were once more upon firm ground.
The next three or four miles were much more open, the road passing
through a low sort of brushwood, with scattered scrubby trees, and a
good deal of short grass between. We took advantage of it to the
uttermost, and entered the thicker wood again after a gallop of some
twenty minutes.
"I think we must have distanced them," said Billy Byles, slackening
his speed a little; "the waggons cannot go more than three miles an
hour at their very best, and we have not let the grass grow under us."
On we went, however, at a very quick trot; and, at the end of three
miles further, Mr. Byles said in a low tone,--
"We are coming near now. We shall soon know what we are about."
At the same moment, I heard a sound, proceeding, apparently, from some
spot not more than a couple of hundred yards on our left. It was a low
sort of whining, complaining noise, something like a door turning on
rusty hinges; and I said,--
"Hark! what is that?"
"An ungreased waggon wheel," replied Billy Byles. "We have caught
them, for a hundred dollars."
The next instant we heard somebody in the same direction whistling
"Kate of Coleraine;" and Billy remarked,--
"That is that ruffian, Matthew Leary. He is always in any dirty job.
He would sell his own father if anybody would buy him. Now then, let
us push on and turn sharp to the left, when we get upon the main road,
spreading out so that we shall head them and they can't pass."
We rode on accordingly, and in two minutes more, we entered a good,
wide, sandy road, from which we had only been separated for the last
mile by an acute angle of the wood.