The sight which now presented itself, as we wheeled to the left, was
not without its interest to one who had never seen such a thing
before. The road, as I have said, was broad, and bordered on each side
by thick wood, probably part of the primeval forest; but it was
straight, and at the distance of about a third of a mile I could see
an open space, only encumbered by what seemed to me a sort of ruinous
stockade; in fact, the remains of an ancient Indian settlement of the
Nottoway tribe. Between us and the stockade was a curious sort of
cavalcade, the head of the line not being more than a hundred yards
from us. It consisted principally of four-wheeled carts or waggons,
apparently hired from farmers, and drawn by horses of various degrees
of fatness and size. The waggons were, I think, five in number; and
each was loaded as full as it could hold with families of poor
negroes, in every attitude of grief and dejection. They sat on a
little straw, thrown down in the bottom of the vehicle; and some,
especially among the women, had their heads bent down on their knees
as they sat, whilst others gazed around with a vacant, listless look
of despair. Several children were amongst them; and, in fact, almost
every age, from the white-headed old man to the infant at the breast;
for Mr. Lewis, as he afterwards expressed himself, liked to buy a
whole lot at once, and not to separate people.
Each waggon had its driver on foot, all white men, and I think most of
them Irishmen; but at the head of the procession came three very
well-mounted men, the centre figure being that of Mr. Lewis himself,
as gaudily dressed as usual.
"That's young Thornton on the right," said Billy Byles to me, in a low
tone, "Robert Thornton, the d--d rascally attorney who makes so much
mischief in the place; and that's Matthew Leary over on the other
side; but who the devil that is in the middle, I don't know."
"That's Lewis the trader," I answered; "I came in the boat with him."
"Oh, ho!" ejaculated Mr. Byles. "Now let's ride slowly on, and have a
chat with them, to give the others time to come up. Keep spread out,
so that none of them can pass; and let me manage it, Sir Richard, for
we may as well begin quietly, so that when the fight comes we may have
help near at hand, for you see, all mustered, they are two to one."
We accordingly moved slowly forward, and were soon close to the
advancing party.
"Good morning, Mr. Thornton," said Billy Byles, in a cheerful tone.
"You must have been out early to have got so far from your place by
this time."
"So must you, Mr. Byles," replied Thornton, who, to say the truth, was
a tall, stout, good-looking man, from whose appearance I certainly
should never have divined his character. "_You_ seem to have ridden
hard too; your horse is all in a sweat."
By this time, seeing their leaders stop to converse, the drivers of
the waggons had brought them to a halt; while Mr. Lewis had noticed me
with a somewhat shy inclination of the head, as if he suspected at
once that something was not all right; and Mr. Leary began to talk in
a low tone to one of the two men who accompanied us.
"We have been hunting," said Billy Byles, in answer to Robert
Thornton's last observation.
"Hunting!" exclaimed the other; "hunting on the first of June!"
"Ay, ay, I know it is out of season; but you see I wanted to give our
English friend here a sight of some sports such as he does not have in
his own country. Have you seen anything of the rest of our party? for
we have cut across, hoping to join them about here."
"No," answered Thornton; "we have seen nobody since we started,
neither man nor beast. Now, Mr. Byles, I must wish you good morning,
for I have business on hand."
"So I see," retorted Billy Byles, not moving out of the way a step. "A
nice lot of negroes, upon my word. Why, hang it, there's old Lydia,
who was Mrs. Bab Thornton's woman!"
"Perhaps so," said Thornton, impatiently; "but I must get on. Come
along, boys!"
"Stop, stop, Thornton!" exclaimed Billy Byles. "I have got something
to say to you in private--a little hint which may be serviceable to
you."
"Say it out then," returned Thornton, with a flush upon his cheek. "I
don't care a cuss about secrets; and I'm in a hurry."
"Why, then, the fact is," said Billy Byles, "that a warrant is out
against you and one Lewis, together with other parties, for certain
offences which I dare say you know better than I do. And you will not
be allowed to go on, depend upon it."
"And who the devil will stop me?" demanded Mr. Thornton, with his face
turning very red, and the veins of his temples swelling up.
"In the first place, I will," answered Billy Byles; "and if we are not
enough here, there will be plenty more up in a minute, who will stop
you quite effectually."
"_You_ will stop me, will you?" cried Thornton, putting his hand
in his pocket and setting his teeth hard. "Where's your warrant,
sir,--where's your warrant?"
At the same time Mr. Lewis, who had turned rather white, looked back
to the drivers of the waggons, exclaiming, "Come up, come up, my men,
and move these gentlemen's horses out of the way!"
"I'll mow them," cried Mr. Robert Thornton, drawing a brace of small
pistols out of his pocket. "If you have a warrant, Mr. Byles, produce
it; if not, stand out of my way, or by I'll shoot you as dead as
mutton. Here's one for you, and one for your John Bull accomplice.
Curse me, if I had him by myself half an hour, if I would not give him
such a whipping, for the love I bear his country, as would send him
back howling."
He paused for a minute, to see if his braggadocio would have any
effect; but Billy Byles continued right before him, and I only smiled,
taking care, however, to grasp my heavy-headed riding-whip by the
middle, in case he should proceed to any act of violence. At the same
time the men from the waggons began to come up. Mr. Leary brandished a
stout stick which he carried, and I thought I heard a noise of
trotting horses not far off. The next minute the click of Thornton's
pistol-lock was audible; and, with one glance to see that it was
properly capped, he raised it right in the direction of my bold
friend.
"Dammee, fire if you dare!" cried Billy Byles.
But I saw that no time was to be lost; and the head of my hunting-whip
descended upon Mr. Thornton's knuckles with such a blow as to make him
instantly relax his hold; and down went the pistol to the ground,
going off amongst the horses' feet, but hurting no one.
In the meantime Mr. Leary had engaged in a struggle with one of the
stout farmers who had accompanied us, and both having been pulled from
their horses, were rolling over and over on the ground together. Mr.
Lewis was still beckoning to the men behind to come up; but they
seemed very little inclined to obey, and moved but slowly towards the
spot where hard blows were going.
Thornton, with the other pistol in his hand, had now turned upon me;
but Mr. Byles, spurring his horse upon him, caught him by the collar,
and threw him back; and the other farmer, riding up, pulled him off
his horse and wrenched the pistol fairly out of his grasp. At the same
time, the sheriff and his party began to appear from behind the old
stockade, and there was soon a sufficient force on the field to render
further resistance unavailable.
When they saw Mr. Henry Thornton's face in the approaching party, the
negroes, who had sat seemingly stupefied in the waggons, not
comprehending what was going on, rose up and gave a cheer, mingled
with a loud and joyful laugh, and the sheriff riding round, exclaimed,
"Who fired that shot?"
"It was Bob Thornton's pistol," said Billy Byles; "but I think Sir
Richard's gentle rap of the knuckles made it go off, before he would
have dared to fire it himself."
"That's a lie," said Bob Thornton. "If he had not knocked it out of my
hand, the ball would have been through your heart, you purse-proud
jackass. But I will bring him to account for it. He struck me. You saw
him, Mr. Lewis--you saw him, Leary; and the d--ned English cur shall
smart for it. You all saw him strike me."
My patience was exhausted, and I jumped off my horse, saying, "If you
want more witnesses, sir, you shall have them." And at the same time,
I laid the whip two or three times pretty severely over his shoulders.
I believe he would have sprung at my throat like a tiger; but the
constable coming up, took him by the collar and presented his warrant.
There was a strong mixture of the lawyer and the bully in Robert
Thornton's nature; and the sight of the legal instrument, duly signed
and sealed, in an instant drew his attention in another direction.
"This warrant is worth nothing," he said, turning to the constable,
after having run his eye over the document; "and if you arrest me upon
this, I shall have an action for false imprisonment against you."
"I think you will find yourself mistaken," said the sheriff, with a
smile. "It was drawn by Mr. Hubbard, and he does not often make
mistakes."
"Oh! oh! old Hubbard again!" cried the other. "Some day, I shall have
to knock that old fool's brains out, I'm afraid."
"Ay, they have stood in your way more than once, Bob," said Mr. Henry
Thornton.
"Well, we will bail this, of course," said the other, without taking
any notice of what his relation had said.
"That must be done at Jerusalem," said the sheriff; "so you had better
mount your horse, and come along, sir."
"Wait one moment," said Robert, looking at me. "I want a word or two
with this gentleman first."
"No violence, gentlemen, no violence," said the sheriff.
"Oh, no violence in the world," answered Robert Thornton; "only I wish
to know who my new acquaintance is."
Thus saying, he walked a little aside, beckoning me to follow; but
Billy Byles, who seemed to have a thorough knowledge of the gentleman,
whispered as I went--
"Don't be provoked to challenge him by anything he can say. He wants
the choice of weapons, and he'll choose something you're not
accustomed to."
The hint was a good one; and I really felt much obliged to him for it,
as the people in this part of the world not unfrequently settle
affairs of honour in various wild and unaccustomed ways, which would
have strangely shocked old Brantome, and which, assuredly, were not
anticipated in his book on duels.
As soon as we had got a little distance from the rest, out of
ear-shot, but not out of sight, Mr. Robert Thornton made me a low bow,
as if about to begin a very polite conversation, and said--
"In the first place, sir, I wish to inquire the name of a gentleman
with whom my acquaintance has commenced so auspiciously--his name,
state, quality, and degree.
"I will satisfy you immediately," I replied. "My name is Sir Richard
Conway; my state, an English gentleman visiting Virginia; my quality,
a baronet of Great Britain; and my degree, a major upon half-pay of
the regiment of dragoons."
"Well, then, Sir Richard Conway, baronet, major, &c., I look upon you
as a d--d blackguard and scoundrel." And he stared me straight in the
face.
"My dear sir," I answered, with a calm smile, "I have had the honour
of horse-whipping you already in the presence of several other people.
I do not think it necessary to repeat it, as you can't easily take the
past horse-whipping off; but if it will be any gratification to you, I
will do it."
"Well, sir, for a soldier, you seem cursed hard to take an insult," he
answered with a sneer.
"Not at all," replied I. "I have insulted you publicly, and on
purpose. Your bad opinion of me I consider as no insult, but rather a
compliment--at all events, till you have wiped out the horse-whipping
you have received. And now, if you have nothing else to say, I shall
wish you good morning."
"Stay, stay!" he cried, with his face very much flushed; "you must
give me satisfaction for this."
"Very good," I answered. "I am quite at your service, wherever you
please to name. You had better send some friend to my friend, Mr.
Byles, and they will, together, arrange the preliminaries. I am myself
staying at the house of Mr. Stringer, called Beavors, and shall remain
there for a week. After that, I shall most likely be at Mr. Henry
Thornton's; but Mr. Byles, I presume, will be found at his own house,
and you must communicate with him."
Thus saying, I made him a bow and left him, not at all sorry, I must
confess, to have thrown the onus of the challenge upon him; for the
idea of bowie-knives in a dark room, or blunderbusses in a saw-pit,
does not at all meet my notions of the code of honour.
We then mounted our horses, and after some little difficulty in the
arrangements, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Robert Thornton being looked upon as
prisoners (though not under personal restraint), pursued our way back
to Jerusalem; the sheriff leading the party, and several other
gentlemen following the waggons which contained the negroes, to
prevent the possibility of any of the persons concerned escaping, as
many doubts were entertained whether Mr. Lewis might not take the
first opportunity of dashing away for the State-line.
Various conversations, of course, took place; and I soon found an
opportunity of communicating to Mr. Byles what had passed between Mr.
Robert Thornton and myself, and of requesting him to act as my friend
upon the occasion.
"Certainly, certainly," he answered; "you managed it capitally. Now
let me hear your views as to the time, place, mode, and weapon. I can
lend you the best rifle in the world."
"Excuse me," I answered; "pistols are the weapons we always use in
England; and I certainly should prefer them. As to the place, you must
appoint that for me, as I do not know the country. All the other
arrangements I must leave to you; they are quite indifferent to me,
except that I should like it over as soon as possible, for no
business, especially business of this kind, should be long delayed."
"But have you got pistols with you?" he asked.
"Nothing but a pair for the pocket," I answered; "but surely they can
be obtained in the neighbourhood."
"No tools worth using," he replied; "but I know where to get them.
That, however, may delay us for three or four days. Still, I doubt if
that won't be too soon for him. He does not want courage when his
blood is up; but it soon cools down, and then the lawyer comes over
him again."
"We must not give it time to cool," I answered; "and I have a very
good excuse for hurrying things on, as a stranger in the land, whose
stay must necessarily be uncertain."
Having arranged all that matter with Mr. Byles, I joined Mr. Henry
Thornton, who was looking somewhat grave, but did not in any way refer
to the personal altercation between his relation and myself. At
Jerusalem, which we reached after a somewhat tiresome ride, we found
Mr. Hubbard, and one or two magistrates. A long, legal discussion.
ensued, first as to the validity of the writ, and next as to the
amount of bail which was to be taken from Mr. Lewis and Mr. Thornton,
who, I found, were charged with a conspiracy to defraud certain
persons, amongst whom I was one. There is no need to enter into any of
the details of these matters; suffice it, that Robert Thornton easily
procured the necessary sureties, and that, after much difficulty, Mr.
Lewis did the same.
The great question, however, was in regard to the custody of good Aunt
Bab's negroes, whom Mr. Robert Thornton very much wished to carry back
to his father's plantation. The sheriff peremptorily interfered,
however; and, notwithstanding some threats and many arguments, took
possession of them himself, to hold them for the lawful owner.
The greater portion of the day had been consumed by these proceedings,
and the whole party were glad to separate and get to their several
homes. I wended my way back to Mr. Stringer's, accompanied, as far as
the gate on the high road, by Mr. Henry Thornton and bold Billy Byles.
There they left me, and I pursued my way alone, revolving all the
little incidents of the day. I am always sorry when I suffer anger to
overcome me, and I regretted having struck the pitiful trickster,
opposed to me, more than the one blow which was necessary to knock the
pistol out of his hand. I felt a certain degree of self-reproach, and,
perhaps, some lingering shadow of the kind remained upon my face.
Under the porch of Mr. Stringer's house, when I arrived, were several
members of the family, and Miss Davenport, reading or working in the
shade. A thousand questions were poured upon me as to the course and
end of our adventure; but none came from Bessy, though her look was
raised to my face, and her eyes seemed to question mine.
"Was there any resistance?" asked Mr. Stringer.
"Very slight," I replied; "one worthy gentleman thought fit to draw a
pistol but it was knocked out of his hand, and went off upon the
ground."
"Robert Thornton, of course," said Bessy; "bully and knave combined."
I nodded my head, and the conversation went on, till Mr. and Mrs.
Stringer retired from the porch to prepare for dinner, calling their
little boy, who was there, to accompany them. Bessy Davenport had
contrived to get a knot in the silk she was working, and she remained
for a minute or two longer. The first minute was passed in silence;
but she twice looked up in my face, and then said, suddenly--
"Cousin Richard, there is something you have not told us. I see it in
your face."
"I have told you really all about the pursuit and capture of these
people," I replied, laughing. "You don't wish me, I hope, to relate
all that occurred in regard to warrants, and bail, and custody of
negroes; for really the worthy gentlemen's law-terms were beyond my
comprehension."
She shook her head somewhat sadly, saying--
"You are insincere, as all men are with all women."
"No, indeed, Bessy," I answered, taking the vacant seat by her side.
"I have told you all that is necessary for you to know."
She started up, breaking the silk thread in two between her fingers,
and exclaimed,--
"Well, perhaps you have. But I do hope, Cousin Richard, that you are
not going to risk a valuable life against one that should only be
ended by the hangman. There, I wont hear any more about it now,
whether you are going to speak sincerely or insincerely. I look upon
these things very differently from many of the girls in this
neighbourhood. I look upon the men who fight duels as great fools or
great villains, and think there are but two cases in which a man is
bound to fight: one, when he has _received_ so great an injury, and
the other when he has _inflicted_ so great an injury, that it is
impossible for him and his opponent to live upon the same earth
together."
Thus saying, she ran away and left me; and, at dinner, there was no
trace upon her countenance or in her manner of the more serious
thoughts and feelings which I knew were in her mind. She was, indeed,
if anything, gayer than usual; and amused us during the greater part
of the evening with singing the merriest negro songs she could select.
Suddenly, however, she changed entirely the tone of her music, and
poured forth one of the most melancholy and touching strains I ever
heard, beautifully suited to her exquisitely sweet voice, which, even
in her gayest and happiest moments, had an expression in it that made
one feel a thrill, not of melancholy, but of something very nearly
approaching it.
"Heigh ho!" she exclaimed, rising as soon as that song was over. "Now
that I have made myself and all of you sad, I'll go to bed and sleep
it off, as the drunkards do."
"Stay a moment," I said. "Remember, you promised to show me where my
new acquaintance, Nat Turner, lives."
"Did I?" she answered. "I don't remember; but I'll do it, cousin; and,
as you are curious in ebony, I'll introduce you to a stick of another
tree; but a very curious one too--one of the best old men that ever
lived, and one of the wisest also, although he is a pure African.
There's something curious about Nat Turner, something mysterious,
supernatural; but if ever there was a pure, gentle-minded
Christian--an Israelite without guile--it is good uncle Jack."
"When shall it be, then?" I asked.
"Oh, after breakfast to-morrow," she answered. "Mrs. Stringer fancies
that if I go out so early in the morning, the dews will give me a
fever, though they have been falling on my head almost every day for
one-and-twenty years--there's a confession, cousin Richard, don't I
look like seventeen? I must make haste, dear Mrs. Stringer, or I shall
lose my chance. Women are looked upon as old women at two-and-twenty.
Dear me! What a deal to be done in one year--to find somebody to fall
in love with--to get him to fall in love with me--to fall in love with
him myself (that's the most difficult and longest task of them
all)--to get married (but that's nothing; it can be done in half an
hour)--and to get all my wedding clothes ready. But, good night, good
night. I'll go and arrange it all with Julia while she is combing my
hair; and I dare say I shall get through--with patience and
perseverance."