"Hold, Nelson, hold!" cried Nat Turner, in a loud tone; "why do you
fire before I give the word? By the Lord, you will bring them all upon
us. Do you not know they are close at hand?"
These words were spoken before the fresh actors had appeared upon the
scene, and just as the man had pulled the trigger; but the next
instant, an old negro, with a snow-white head, rushed in between me
and the others, and holding wide his arms, exclaimed,--
"Forbear, madmen, forbear! Nathaniel, Nathaniel, wretched dupe of your
own superstition, I command you, in the name of the Lord, to forbear!
Fly, fly, while the means of escape are left you! Get you down to the
coast and away--anywhere, by any means; for destruction is dogging you
close, and the avenger of blood is behind you. Poor, misguided,
self-sufficient creature, for whom the word of Jesus was not
sufficient, escape for penitence and submission; and may God have
mercy upon you for the bloody deeds you have done!"
As he spoke, I more fully recognized the excellent black preacher,
uncle Jack; but, at the same moment, the man who had come with him
approached me, and pulled my arm; and, turning round, I saw my
faithful Zed.
"Come away, master, come away," he said; "they not hurt him--they dare
not hurt him. Come away. A great number of 'em scattered all about.
Let us get to Dr. Blunt's as fast as we can."
"Here, take this pistol," I said, "and make sure of a good aim on that
man to the extreme left. I will take care of the other two. I will not
stir one step till I hear what they have done with Miss Davenport.
Steady the pistol against that tree, and take care not to miss."
"Oh, Miss Bessy quite safe," cried Zed; "she gone to Dr. Blunt's too.
Come away, master, come away, or we shall have more upon us."
While these words had been spoken between him and me, more
conversation had gone on, which I did not hear, between the good
preacher and the revolted negroes. His words seemed to have some
effect. When I looked round, their muskets were no longer raised; but
a dull, gloomy look was about them, which augured not well, and I did
not choose to leave the old man to their mercy; for I had remarked
that they are hard and even cruel to each other when they have the
power.
Touching the preacher's arm, I said, aloud,--
"Come away, sir, come away. I could take two of these men's lives,
perhaps more; for each barrel of this gun is loaded with large
buck-shot, which would scatter and kill on either side; but I do not
choose to do so. Go on with Zed; I will bring up the rear, and, if
they press too close upon us, will fire right in their faces."
While I was still speaking, two more of the armed insurgents came up,
and gathered round Nat Turner, gesticulating and jabbering in a low
tone. Taking advantage of their inactivity, we made our retreat
through the bushes, keeping close together, Zed leading the way.
From time to time I turned my head, looked round, and listened; but I
could perceive no sign of anyone following me, for a hundred or a
hundred and fifty yards.
At length, however, I heard a rustling in the bushes behind, and I
said,--
"Zed, they are pursuing us. Get into the broad path as soon as
possible, where we may have a fair sight of them. Here, take this
powder-flask and shot-bag. If I have occasion to fire both barrels,
give me the pistol instantly; then take the gun and re-charge it as
rapidly as possible. You will have time; for each shot will throw them
into confusion."
"Oh, Sir Richard, forbear, if it be possible!" said the preacher.
"I will," I replied; "but it is necessary to be prepared, my good
friend. If we are to die, let us sell our lives dearly. At all events,
so to resolve is our best chance of safety; for even one man, who
knows what he is about, can do much against an undisciplined rabble
like that."
Three minutes more brought us into the wide path, which looked cool
and calm, and refreshing in the fading light; but a sound behind made
me turn my head ere we had gone a hundred and fifty yards; and I saw
the dark forms of the pursuers pouring out of the wood, now at least
ten or twelve in number. I instantly raised my gun, and shouted,--
"Keep back, or I will fire upon you!"
Courage and cowardice are very curious things. I have always remarked,
as a general rule, to which there may be some exceptions, that those
who show themselves fierce and sanguinary when there is slight or no
resistance, are easily cowed by determination and a bold bearing. The
very raising of the gun to my shoulder, though at too great a distance
for buckshot to have been very efficacious, made the foremost man halt
and recoil upon those behind; and two or three slipped in amongst the
trees on either side of the path, to be out of the line of fire.
On we hurried as soon as they were brought to a check; and though more
than once I was obliged to face about,--for they continued to gain
upon us on account of the old man's inability to walk fast,--yet the
raising of the gun had always the same effect as at first. At length
we began to see the brighter light streaming in at the end of the path
from the open fields of the plantations of Mr. Travis and Dr. Blunt.
Our pursuers were now within about seventy yards; and I hoped, as they
saw us approach the cleared ground, they would cease to follow us,
especially as their leader had not shown himself ill-disposed towards
myself. But, on the contrary, when we were within twenty yards of the
edge of the wood, they hastened their advance to a run, and one or two
of them raised their muskets.
It was no time for hesitation; and I fired the right-hand barrel
straight in amongst them. It was a fair range, where the shot would
scatter, but not lose much of its force; and I saw two of them
instantly drop.
"O God!" cried the old creature, "that man should be forced so to shed
man's blood!"
"Hurry on--hurry on!" I exclaimed.
At the same moment two or three musket-shots came dropping round us,
but without taking effect on any one; and in another minute we were on
the open ground.
Our situation was, perhaps, more dangerous than ever at this moment;
for we were in a field of tall Indian corn, not yet gathered in; and
had they possessed the habits and skill of the Indians, their numbers
were sufficient to have surrounded us completely by creeping, unseen,
through the long stalks. But, turning to observe their motions, I saw
a number of them appear at the mouth of the path, pause and observe us
for a minute or two, and then retreat into the wood, as if afraid of
showing themselves in the open fields.
"Ay, ay," said Zed, "dey know the white men have been about them, and
dey daren't come on. Dey would would have killed you long ago, master,
if dey had not thought Colonel Halliday was near, and been afraid to
make a noise of firing. I s'pose those fellows who came up last told
them he had gone on; but how de deuce dey 'scaped him I don't know.
Oh, dey won't come out; dey be afraid he too near still--dam cunning,
dam cunning."
Nevertheless, I continued to watch the edge of the wood from time to
time, till we came to a wide stubble-field, where the view was clear
on every side. Then, holding out my hand to Zed, I said,--
"Well, my good friend, I have now time to say I am heartily glad to
see you safe and well. My mind has been much troubled about you since
we last met."
"Oh, tank you, master, tank you," said Zed, taking my hand and shaking
it quite friendly; "quite well, tank you; how you been all dis time?"
"As well as might be," I replied; "but I have a good many questions to
ask you. First, however, tell me where we had better direct our steps
to now?"
"Oh, Dr. Blunt's," answered the good man; "and de niggers all good and
true. We shall be quite safe there. But what you want to know,
master?"
"First," I said, "how you got out of that dreadful situation in which
we left you at poor Mr. Stringer's."
The man laughed; for people of his complexion are true disciples of
Democritus, laughing at everything, however serious.
"Oh, I got out very well in the end, master," he said, "though I did
think at one time I should have been killed. When first they came to
the door, I made a noise in the room to make them think Miss Bessy was
still there, for fear they should take it into their noddles to run
round to the back staircase and cut you off. But when they began to
hammer on the door with their hatchets, I went to the other door and
listened, and hearing you open the outer door of the pantry-hall, I
said to myself, 'They are safe!' Then I halloed out quite loud, 'She's
not here, she's got away, up to some of the rooms at the top. I've
come round the back way, but she's gone.' Then I told them to stop
their hammering, and I would open the door for them. But they went on
and crushed it in; and then those vagabonds, Hark and Will--they are
the worst niggers of them all--got me by the throat, and asked me how
I came in there? So I told them I came the back way; and then they
vowed I had helped her away, and Hark lifted up his hatchet to split
my skull. He would have found it a pretty hard one; for once de horse
threw me down a bank thirty feet, and I fell on the top of my head
among the stones. That did not break it, and I think it would have
taken two or three good knocks to get inside. But just as Master Hark
was going to try, Nat Turner came up, with a gun in his hand, and he
caught the other gentleman's arm, and said, 'Let the man alone. The
first man who sheds a drop of our own blood, I'll shoot him dead. Do
you think if we get to killing each other, we shall ever get the
better of the whites?' Then Hark said, 'That in that case, I must come
along with them, and shed some white blood too;' and then I couldn't
go back. But I told them I couldn't keep up with them all along of my
game leg, which makes me hobble so; and then they said they would put
me on a horse."
"And how did you get away in the end?" demanded I.
"Why, I thought at first they had trapped me," answered Zed; "but very
soon they heard something stirring upstairs, and they all rushed up
together to kill that long Yankee man, who preached to them at the
meeting. Lord, how he did pray for his life, to be sure! And what a
screech he gave when the first of them struck him! But while they were
murdering the poor creature, I sneaked downstairs and opened the door
between the two halls, for I had got the key with me, and locked it on
the other side, and went away out behind the stables. I wouldn't go to
the stables, master, for they were sure to go there themselves after
the horses; but I got under a thick laurel-bush, and curled myself
up, just like Mr. Stringer's large black, dog used to do in the
porch----he! he! he! There I lay snug, and I heard them come to the
stables and take out the horses, and turn over the hay and straw to
see that there was nobody hidden there; and I heard Hark and Will
laughing quite loud, and talking about the Yankee minister. One said,
'He has preached his last preaching;' and t'other said, 'He has
screamed his last screaming too; and as he sees we have gone the way
he taught us, he ought to be content.' And then they laughed again
quite loud."
My blood ran cold at the horrible levity which Zed depicted; but I
could not help believing, from all I had seen myself, that his picture
was a very true one; for there is a sanguinary mirth, as well as a
sanguinary fierceness. Nothing like real earnestness of purpose and
steadfast determination seemed to exist in any of the revolted
negroes, excepting Nat Turner. In all the rest, everything was
impulse--the impulse to slay, the impulse to laugh, the impulse to
hack their victim with unnecessary wounds. Poor creatures! in their
state of ignorance, and almost brutality, they seemed a combination of
the child and the wild beast; with the levity and thoughtlessness of
the one, and the strength of the other.
"I do believe," I said, after musing for a moment or two, "that this
man, Nat Turner, is of a better disposition than the rest, and might,
had his mind been well directed, have become a good and beneficent
person."
Zed shook his head, and responded,--
"Don't think so, master; he is dam cunning, that's all."
"Why he saved your life, Zed," I answered; "and at first he showed no
inclination to injure me."
"Ay, ay," answered Zed, "that's all his cunning. He saved my life
because he knew it would not do for black folks to kill black folks;
and he would not fire at you because he knew that the white people
were about, and he did not know how near they were. He would have shot
you soon enough, if he had not been afraid of the report of the gun.
Why, he was the very first to run up and kill McGrubber, although he
always pretended to be great friends with him."
"I am hopeless of that man, sir," said uncle Jack, who had hitherto
remained silent. "I had once great expectations in regard to him, and,
perhaps, my opinion might not have changed, even in consequence of the
revolt and the massacre of white men; for he has peculiar notions
regarding himself, is extremely superstitious, and believes he has a
right to shake off what he calls the yoke of the oppressor. But the
man who can murder in cold blood young girls and innocent babes, is a
villain beyond all hope. Here we are, however, approaching the house
of Dr. Blunt.--Hold! Let us take care; there is a man pointing a
musket at us from the window. He thinks we are some of the
insurgents."
"Keep back then," I said; "I will go forward. There is light enough
for them to see me." And, advancing before the rest, I waved my hand,
exclaiming,--
"Do not fire, do not fire. We are friends."
"Who are you? What are you?" cried a boy's voice; for I could now
perceive that the musketeer could not be above thirteen or fourteen
years of age. "Father, father," he added, calling to some one within
the house, "here are three men coming, who declare they are friends."
"My name," I said, "is Sir Richard Conway, whom you may have heard of.
One of the two men behind me is Uncle Jack, the preacher; the other,
my own servant, who saved my life when the murderers attacked Mr.
Stringer's house."
By this time two or three other persons had appeared at different
windows, and one of them exclaimed,--
"Oh, welcome, welcome, Sir Richard! We will open the door and let you
in. We are here, as it were, in a beleaguered fortress, and shall be
glad of your military experience and advice. Stay a minute and we will
give you admission."