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.