Though my sleep was dead, heavy, and dreamless, it lasted not long.
I awoke with a sudden start and a sense of terrible apprehension. I
am certain, indeed, that even when no visions perpetuate vaguely,
during slumber, the thoughts which have occupied us waking, the
sensations of the heart--if I may make such a distinction between
heart and mind--persist, while all the ordinary faculties are steeped
in oblivion, and knock at the doors of the brain till they awake us.
I struck my repeater, and found it a quarter past three; and although
I knew that in this latitude an hour or two of darkness had to
intervene before the first dawn of day, I could find no more refuge in
sleep. I lay there, and revolved the circumstances in which I was
placed, and, as I imagined, all the probabilities--nay, even the
possibilities--of the case.
But I made no progress towards any conclusion. The prospect was as
dark and dreary as ever! perhaps more so. At least it seemed so to me;
for I know no more unpleasant hour to wake at, with feelings of
apprehension on the mind, than three o'clock in the morning. It seems
as if all the grizzly phantoms of imagination and dread gather thickly
round our bed; and the dark sensation of that gloomy Nemesis, which
hangs for ever brooding over human happiness, is felt more powerfully
than at any other time.
I struggled hard against it. I tried to put my trust in God. But there
are moments when Faith and Hope seem darkened; when God's inspiring
grace seems withdrawn; when the power of the prince of the air seems
mighty over us in the darkness, and every image that can shake our
trust is presented with appalling force.
"How many," I thought, "had the very night before risen from their
knees to lay themselves down to rest with hope and faith in Him in
whom I now strove to put my trust, and had never risen but to receive
the death-blow of the murderer, or to weep over the ruin of every
edifice of love. Oh, man! man! here lies our fault. Our hopes, our
wishes, our faith, our trust, go not beyond this world. The dark chasm
of the grave stops human thought and human feeling in their course,
and we neither fully trust nor believe beyond."
Such, at least, was the case with myself at that time. And the next
hour and a half that passed, till the grey glimmer of the dawn began
to appear, were amongst the most melancholy I ever endured in my life.
Oh, Bessy! if you could have seen my heart then, you would have known
more than words could ever convey.
Before the sun was fully risen, Mr. Byles and I had quite a little
levee around the door of our room. The first who appeared was Zed, who
had found out where I had housed myself; and, coming with the first
rays of dawn, had roused our worthy host and hostess from their short
slumber. The second was good Mr. Jacobus himself, who reported that he
had been able to learn very little, notwithstanding his utmost
endeavours. All, in short, he had obtained was a vague rumour that
Miss Davenport had been seen somewhere with old Jenny, Aunt Bab's
cook; and that she would most probably be found with the other
servants of the family at the sheriff's plantation, about seven or
eight miles off. Next to him came Mr. Thornton, who had conducted his
inquiries better, and had more reasonable suggestions to make than any
of us.
He cleared the room of the other two visitors; and then, seating
himself in the only vacant corner, said,--
"I have been making inquiries this morning whether Halliday returned
to the town last night. I find he has not been here since eight or
nine o'clock, and I cannot discover where he has gone. This strikes me
as somewhat strange; and I should propose, that as soon as they are
awake and up, to inquire of the three young ladies whom he brought in,
if they saw anything of Bessy and her companion. I dare say we shall
be able to get speech of them presently; for people's minds have been
too much agitated for much sleep to have hung over Jerusalem last
night."
"In the meantime, however," I said, "I will ride over to the sheriff's
quarters, and inquire if anything has been heard of the dear girl
there."
"You had better wait till these young ladies have risen," rejoined Mr.
Thornton. "They cannot be very long, I think; and they might give us
information which would lead us in a totally different direction."
I was too impatient to wait, and Billy Byles seconded me.
"Oh, they will sleep better now the daylight's come in," he said. "You
won't have them up for these three hours; and by that time Sir Richard
and I will be back again."
A difficulty, however, occurred to me which I had not thought of
before. I had no horses but those I had borrowed of Doctor Blunt for
the purpose of riding into Jerusalem; and I did not think myself
altogether justified in taking them any farther. The objection,
however, was easily met by Billy Byles, who exclaimed,--
"Oh, there are lots of horses here, belonging to everybody and nobody.
Come away over to the inn-stable, and you'll soon be able to provide
yourself with a steed."
I succeeded in doing so sooner than even he expected; for, on entering
the stable, in the third stall to the left, what should I see but my
own horse, which I had bought in Norfolk; and a little further on,
that on which I had mounted Zed.
Of course I had no hesitation in taking possession of my own property,
though the ostler was inclined to make some opposition; but the word
of Billy Byles was omnipotent with all who had to do with horse-flesh
in that part of Virginia, and he declared he could swear to my horses
amongst ten thousand.
The ostler fairly owned that he did not know who had brought the
beasts in, and the only further question was about saddles and
bridles.
"Oh, take any one, take any one," said the ostler, with a grin; "we
have been in such a state of confusion that nobody knows whether the
saddle is on the right horse or not."
"Here's yem, master, here's yem," cried Zed, who had followed us into
the stable; "but where mine is, Lord help us, I cannot tell. So I had
better take the best I can find."
These matters being at length arranged, we looked to the charging of
our arms, and prepared to set out; but Zed approached my horse's side,
asking what he was to do with Doctor Blunt's horses.
"Would you be afraid to take them back to Doctor Blunt's alone, Zed?"
I asked.
"Oh dear, no, massa," he answered; "nobody hurt old Zed; and, besides,
I think them fellers is had enough of it."
I accordingly gave him money to pay for the animals' food, with orders
to take them back to their master's house at once.
Billy Byles and I set off at a rapid pace; but I could easily
discover that my horse, although he had hardly been worked at all for
the last two months, had been so hard ridden during the preceding
four-and-twenty hours as to abate his strength and spirit
considerably. Indeed, I afterwards found that he had been stolen by
the insurgents from Mr. Stringer's house, on the night of the
massacre, and had been used incessantly, without food, till the man
who rode him was captured by a party of the militia.
It was thus nearly an hour before we reached the lane which led down
to the sheriff's plantation, upon or near which, we were told, aunt
Bab's old servants were now quartered. We had not been able to find
that tall and worthy functionary before we set out; and, consequently,
we were without any specific information as to where the poor negroes
were to be found. We rode direct towards the house, however; and, as
we approached, saw a worthy gentleman--who might perhaps have some
shade of colour in his blood, though very slight--quietly mounting a
stout horse, of that round, compact form which generally betokens
great powers of endurance.
"Here's the overseer," said Billy Byles. "We'll ask him where we can
find the poor people."
He accordingly rode up, and put his questions; and the good overseer,
bowing civilly, said,--
"I will show you, gentlemen: they are at what we call the old
quarters, two miles off, just upon the edge of the Swamp. Mr. ----
thought it would be better to place them there, as the cabins are
comfortable and were vacant; and no one could get at them to steal
them without crossing the plantation. I have put them," he added, "to
a little task-work, just to give them something to do. But a regular
account is kept of what they earn, which will be given in, when the
courts decide to whom they belong."
He looked at me as he spoke, as if understanding fully that I was one
of the claimants; and I thought I recognized his face as one of those
who had been with the party who pursued the kidnappers of these poor
people, as far almost as the frontier of North Carolina.
"I suppose the negroes are very well content," I replied, "to remain
here, and not go to New Orleans."
"That they are," answered the man, "and very much obliged to you, sir,
for stopping them just when you did. I believe one-half of them would
have died, if they had taken them away. They were born here and bred
here, and have all been very happy here; and you'll find very few that
like to quit Virginia, go where they may."
I could not but smile at the man's patriotism; though, to say the
truth, I did not much doubt he was right; for, as far as I had ever
seen then, and have ever seen since, the existence of slavery--great
as the evil is in every form--is so mitigated in that state, that I
doubt not the slaves themselves would "rather bear the ills they have,
than fly to others that they know not of."
"Pray," I asked, as we rode on, "when speaking of task-work, what do
you consider as a fair day's task here?"
"That depends upon the nature of the work, sir," he answered. "But I
can show you, as we go along, what we should consider a fair day's
task in several different kinds of field labour."
He did so; and I found that it was rather less than one-half of what
an English labourer could perform easily in a day.
"Do you mean to say," I inquired, "that one of your hands cannot get
through more than that in a day?"
"Oh dear, no, sir," he replied. "They can do twice as much in ordinary
weather. Sometimes, it is dreadful hot to be sure; and then they can't
do as much; but generally they have a good many hours to do what they
like about their own place, if they are industrious--if not, to be
still and sleep, as some of them do. Task-work, I think, is the best
plan for them; the master is sure to get his work done; and, just as
the hand is active and willing, he gets the advantage of it, which is
an encouragement."
There was something honest and straightforward about the man's manner
and speech which pleased me; and I remarked also, that the negroes
whom he met upon the road showed him not only that respect which might
proceed from fear of his authority, but a degree of affectionate
familiarity, which could only be generated by kindness on his part.
One big fellow, in a light cotton jacket, ran along by the side of his
horse for a quarter of a mile, with his hand upon the mane, talking to
him about things he wanted done; and the women laughed and showed
their white teeth, while they bobbed a courtesy, as if they were glad,
rather than afraid, to see him.
Billy Byles, to whom all such matters of Virginia detail were too
familiar to be of any interest, whistled absently as we walked along;
and it was only when my questions turned towards the fate of Bessy
Davenport that he woke up to some degree of attention.
"I have heard nothing of the young lady myself, sir," said the
overseer; "but as for that matter, we'll soon get information. She is
very much beloved about all this part of the country; and whoever
these black devils hurt, I hardly think they would venture to hurt
her."
"I fear you calculate too much upon their forbearance," I said. "Have
you not heard how indiscriminate their rage has been?"
"O yes, sir," he replied; "we have heard a great deal about them,
although we have been rather out of their way here. Some passed over
the corner of the plantation, I hear, last night, on their way towards
the Swamp; but they seemed to be flying in great haste, so the men
say, and did not stop to talk with any one."
"They were too near the sheriff's quarters," said Billy Byles. "His
people are all right and straight, are they not?"
"O yes, Mr. Byles," answered the overseer. "Not one of them stirred,
or wanted to stir. I sat up all night; but I might just as well have
gone to bed; for master is always just with them. He always will have
his work done; but he requires no more than is fair. He never punishes
a mistake, or even a folly, though he may reprimand it; but he
punishes a fault, if he sees it was intentional, always a little
within the law, and never till he has considered the matter full
four-and-twenty hours. It is those who have been too hard with them,
or too soft with them, who are likely to suffer whenever there is a
rising."
Thus talking, we rode along, partly through woods, partly through open
fields, till we reached a spot, where, built round a little sort of
amphitheatre, sloping downwards towards pleasant meadows or savannah,
beyond which again appeared a wide extent of ragged forest-ground,
with glimpses of gleaming water here and there, appeared thirty or
forty very neat and tidy cabins. At the doors of several were groups
of women and children; and a number of men, with various implements of
husbandry in their hands, appeared just setting out to their labour.
To a European eye, accustomed to nothing but white faces, the sight of
a number of negroes gathered together is a curious spectacle, to which
people do not easily get accustomed. But very soon, other feelings, as
we rode up, carried me away from the interest I felt in the spectacle
of so many of what old Fuller calls, "God's images carved in ebony."
The men rested at the sight of the overseer; the women rose; but,
after a moment or two, some of them recognized me as aunt Bab's
nephew, and as the man who had prevented them from being sold into
another state.
Great and loud was the excitement and the clamour. The word passed
from mouth to mouth. The women and the men surrounded me; the little
boys and girls tumbled head over heels; and though I do not think the
Virginian negroes are very clamorous, a scene of din and excitement
succeeded which made Billy Byles laugh, caused the overseer to smile,
and prevented me, for some time, from explaining the object of my
coming.
At the first word, however, of probable danger to Bessy Davenport,
everything was still. The capering and the singing and the laughing
ceased; and the black, gleaming eyes were turned upon each other's
faces, as if some terrible marvel had been told them.
"What! our missie?" cried an old woman at length, in a deep, horrified
tone. "Our Bessy! Have they hurt her? Oh, I will tear out the hearts
of them! But it can't be! They darn't."
I explained to her and those around that all was in uncertainty--that
Bessy and I had escaped from the house of Mr. Stringer; but I had lost
her in the wood, and that she certainly was now missing.
Another silence fell upon them all; and it was clear, from the
astonishment with which the tidings had been received, that Bessy had
not found shelter there.
At length, one tall man, of about forty, stepped forward, and asked in
an eager tone,--
"How was she dressed, massa? Had she anything white about her?"
"Yes," I answered; "she had a white shawl on, and a gown you might
take for white, at a distance."
The man mused, and spoke for a few moments in a low tone to a woman
who had a baby in her arms.
In the meanwhile, a lad of nineteen or twenty came forward, saying,--
"Didn't you tell us, sir, aunt Jenny was with her? Missus' cook that
was." (I nodded my head.) "I'll find her; she is my aunt, massa, and
been as good as a mother to me."
"We'll find them both," said the big man, turning round again. "We'll
find them both, living or dead. Massa Overseer, no offence, sir, I
hope, but we can't work to-day, because we must find Miss Bessy and
aunt Jenny. You know you can trust us. We'll all be back before
sun-down; but find them we must, and we will. I think I know where to
look."
"Where, where?" I asked, eagerly.
"No matter, just yet," answered the man. "P'r'aps I'm mistaken, but
we'll find her, massa, be you sure of that, if there's a living man
left of us."
"Well," I answered, "any one who brings me intelligence to the town of
where Miss Bessy is, between this hour and tomorrow morning, shall
have a reward of a hundred dollars. I trust, sir, you have no
objection," I said, turning to the overseer, "against these good
people seeking for the young lady."
"None whatever," he replied. "I am quite certain they will all come
back; for I don't think any of them has had anything to complain of
during his whole life."
"Never, sir, till our old missus die," said the tall man; "and never
since we came here, I will say. Robert Thornton's time was a different
case. The dirty nigger! he ought to have the racket."
He then turned to talk with his companions; and so eager were they all
with the matter in hand, that they took very little further notice of
us, and hardly seemed to perceive our departure. The overseer, it is
true, remained with them, wishing us a civil good day, and though I
gave all credit to their zeal, I was not sorry they should have some
one to direct it aright, who had more extended experience than
themselves.
"You are an extravagant fellow, Sir Richard," said Billy Byles, as we
rode hack towards the town. "Your promise of the hundred dollars won't
help the finding of poor Bessy a bit."
"I must leave no means or inducement untried," I said, in as calm and
tranquil a tone as I could assume. "Miss Davenport, you see, was under
my protection. I cannot help blaming myself for having left her at
all; and every one will have just cause for censuring me severely if I
neglect any means of discovering what has become of her."
Billy Byles laughed aloud.
"My dear Sir Richard," he said, "I dare say you have got a thousand
good reasons for your eagerness; but I divine one little one which you
do not mention, and that is just the one which would make me hunt up
Louisa Thornton in the same manner, if she were in the same
predicament. Come along, here's a place where we can gallop; and
though Jordan is a hard road to travel, the sooner we get back to
Jerusalem the better."