Bolts and bars, which, I should think, had not been used for many a long year before, were removed from the door of Doctor Blunt's house, apparently with some difficulty, for I heard a good deal of thumping within before I obtained admittance. I myself was gladly welcomed; but there was some hesitation about my companions;--not much, indeed, in the case of Uncle Jack, of whom the rumour had already spread, that he was endeavouring, even at the risk of his own life, to appease an insurrection which he knew to be hopeless, and which could only have a course of barbarous massacre, and end in the bloody tragedy of legal execution. My word given for Zed, and my assurance that he had saved my life in the massacre at Mr. Stringer's, succeeded at last in obtaining admission for him also; though much whispered discussion took place amongst some of the gentlemen at the door, of which I could hear some part.

"Why, we have four negroes already in the house," said one.

"Those two will make six, and there are but seven of us in all," added another.

"You have left out Sir Richard and the boy; and let me tell you the latter is as good as any of us," replied the first speaker. "But they only make nine; and what with six negroes in the house, and thirty or forty outside, we might have hard work of it."

"But if Sir Richard passes his word for the man," said a third, "we may be quite sure of him."

"I am quite willing to do that," I interposed; "he has saved my life at the peril of his own; and, whatever happens, I am sure he will be found on our side." At that moment a stout, broad-built, middle-aged man, with a somewhat stern countenance, appeared from some room, apparently at the back of the house, accompanied by no other than my friend Billy Byles. And myself, and the stranger, who was the owner of the plantation, were introduced to each other with the usual words:--

"Doctor Blunt, Sir Richard Conway."

"Sir Richard, I am glad to see you," said Doctor Blunt, in a courteous tone. Then turning to the others, he added, "Admit the man, admit the man. If Sir Richard pledges his word for him, he is quite sure. Now, Sir Richard, permit me to speak with you for a few minutes. You are in the British army, and have seen some service."

"Four or five campaigns," I replied; "and amongst people barbarous enough, though rather more civilized than these."

"Well, sir," continued the doctor, with a tone in which there was some pomposity and a little excitement, "you shall tell us what you think of our plan of defence. We are certain to be attacked to-night; for this is the only house in the neighbourhood which the villains have not assailed. They waited for greater numbers; for they knew that they would meet with resistance here. Pray come into the parlour with me, sir, and we will talk the matter over." I followed him, while Billy Byles remained a few moments to speak a few words with his old acquaintance Zed; and although I was most anxious to see Bessy, and to hear all that had befallen her since we parted, the doctor was so full of the perilous conjuncture which he apprehended, that, in common politeness, I was obliged to delay the inquiries I meditated.

"Now, Sir Richard," he said, closing the door; "you will see that we have two windows in this room facing the orchard, and two in the room similar to this on the opposite side of the hall. The back of the house we have barricaded; fastened up all the windows, put up all the shutters, and only left a little look-out as it were, where some one can be placed to give timely information if the enemy approaches on that side, which I do not believe to be likely. Our precautions, however, will give us time to prepare, in case the attack should take place there. Now that you are with us, we have nine men in all, including my son Simon, and we have plenty of arms and ammunition. I propose to place two men at each window, and to station one at the little look-out at the back, to insure us from attack on that side, and have in each room a negro on whom we can depend, to hand us fresh arms and ammunition." He entered into a good many more details, showing the means of communication from room to room, in case some advantage should be gained at any particular point, and seemed altogether to have a very tolerable notion of defending his premises against a superior body of assailants. He was very minute in his details, however, and I wished to heaven he would bring his long statements to an end; for, although I was by no means insensible to the necessity of preparation and forethought, I was thinking of Bessy Davenport all the time, and paid, I am afraid, little attention to various arrangements of which he thought a great deal, but which, to a man accustomed to such things, were mere matters of child's play.

"Now, Sir Richard," he said, in conclusion, "such are my arrangements. Have you any suggestions to make? I shall defer of course to your military knowledge and experience." I was quite sure he would defer with very great unwillingness, and that his plans must be touched with considerable delicacy. I therefore replied,--

"Your arrangements seem to me to be admirable, Doctor Blunt; and I do not see anything that requires alteration, unless, indeed, you should judge that it would be better to defend the floor above this. You have here very stout shutters and bars. You could place mattresses across the lower part of the windows, upstairs, so as to leave nothing but the heads of your defenders exposed. You are well aware, I know, that an aim upwards, by inexperienced marksmen, is never so certain as an aim down, or on a level. They are always sure to fire either too high or too low; and even if they were to get into the house, we should have the opportunity of firing upon them down the stairs, while we were pretty nearly under cover."

"Why, Sir Richard," he said, "I think myself, that, considering----" I saw he was getting up objections in his mind to any other plan than his own; but, luckily, he was given further time for reflection by the entrance of Billy Byles, bringing Zed with him.

"Zed tells me, Sir Richard," cried my good second, "that you have had a brush with these fellows yourself just now. Let us hear all about it. But first tell us what you think of our arrangements for giving the rascals a hammering if they come here."

"Oh, I think they are excellent," I replied. "I have not the slightest doubt we shall repulse them with great loss."

"I have been thinking," said Doctor Blunt, before Mr. Byles could reply, "and, indeed, Sir Richard judges so too, that it would be better to barricade these windows down below, and make our defence from above. What is your opinion, Byles? You see we should have greater command of the approaches; would be more under cover; and, even if they broke in, could better defend the staircase, when we were already at the top." I had not the slightest objection to his appropriating my view, so that he adopted it; and was very glad to hear Billy Byles approve highly of the arrangements.

"But let us hear, Sir Richard," he said, "what you think of the numbers of these people. Zed says they are about twenty."

"Oh, no," I answered; "his eyes magnify. I could count no more than twelve, and two of those I shot. Whether they are dangerously hurt I cannot tell; for my gun was only loaded with buckshot, and the distance must have been nearly sixty yards. They fell over at once, however, as if they had been pretty hard hit."

"You don't often miss your aim, I fancy," said Billy Byles, with a laugh, for he was just as gay and unconcerned as ever; "but if there are only ten or twelve of these fellows, we have no great cause for alarm, for we could lick them out of the field with our horsewhips."

"You must not depend upon their being in such petty numbers," I replied. "Doubtless, they will increase considerably as night comes on; for they were evidently afraid of showing themselves beyond the edge of the woods in daylight; and their plan will be to attack unexpectedly in the night, till they can muster a much larger force than they have at present."

"That is our great advantage," answered Billy Byles. "We are not afraid of showing ourselves in the daylight, and hunting them down wherever we can find them. When I was at Jerusalem three or four hours ago, the gentlemen mustered one hundred and fifty strong; and the dragoons were coming in very rapidly; while parties were spreading all over the country to clear the woods of these villains. I should not wonder if they did not come here at all."

"I differ with you," I replied, seizing what I considered a favourable opportunity to lead to the subject of which I most wished to speak. "I agree with Doctor Blunt in thinking they will attack this house certainly to-night, especially as they know there are so many ladies in it."

"Ladies! my dear Sir Richard," exclaimed Doctor Blunt; "there are no ladies here. The only one who was here I sent away this morning."

"Why, I heard that Miss Davenport was here," I exclaimed, with a degree of alarm which all must have perceived. Dr. Blunt gazed upon me, and Billy Byles turned his eyes from him to me with a look of doubt, and, I must say, of great apprehension also.

"Why, did she not escape from Mr. Stringer's with you?" exclaimed the latter at length. "We all heard so."

"She did," I answered; "but I left her for a short time in the wood, while I went to see if the road to Jerusalem was clear. When I came back she was gone, and I was told, shortly after, she was come hither."

"Poor Bessy!" ejaculated Billy Byles, in a tone of deep feeling; and I turned my eyes sternly upon Zed. I could see the old man was shaking in every limb; and the moment my look fell upon him, he dropped upon his knees.

"Pardon, master, pardon!" he cried. "I only told you so to get you away; because you would stop to fight with four men with muskets, and you nobody but yourself. What good could you do Miss Bessy, getting yourself killed?" I could not speak for a moment or two, and I shook violently, under exhaustion, anger, and the sudden and terrible disappointment I had met with. The man's words crushed out all my hopes, revived all my fears and anxieties--nay, almost drove me to despair. My thoughts were all in confusion; my brain seemed to whirl. Where was she? What had become of her? Was she in the hands of those terrible men? or was she wandering about in the woods, likely to perish, without any one to aid or help her? Or, if she had fled at the approach of the party I had seen, was she not sure to fall into the hands of some other band of murderers?

"You are ill, Sir Richard," said Billy Byles. "Get him a glass of brandy. I can easily conceive what you feel. I know if Lou had been left in such a situation, I should be just as bad. Zed, you rascal, you ought to be licked."

"Well, perhaps I ought, Master Byles," said Zed, still upon his knees; "but I did it for the best."

"Damn the best!" exclaimed Byles; "it is always the worst thing in the world."

"Oh, master, forgive me," cried Zed. "Either beat me or forgive me."

"Leave the room," I said with a gasp; for I felt I could hardly draw my breath. "I cannot, I will not, speak to you now."

"Here, take this brandy, Sir Richard," said Doctor Blunt, "and let us consider the matter more calmly. It may not be as bad as it seems at first. Where did you leave Miss Davenport?" I related, as briefly and as clearly as I could, all that had occurred after Bessy and I took shelter in the angle of the wood; and in doing so, in some degree recovered hope and confidence from the recollection that Bessy was not left alone, and that Zed had more than once declared that some one, whom he called Colonel Halliday, had passed that way with a party of white men.

"Come, come, this is not so bad," said Billy Byles, "if she had got old Jenny with her. That was worth a troop of horse; for she's a 'cute old girl, and knows what she's about quite well. Then, if Halliday passed that way, he has, most likely, taken them all with him to some place of safety."

"But this story may be as false as the other Zed told me," I replied.

"I don't think that," answered Billy Byles; "he had a reason for telling the one lie, and none for telling the other. But I'll soon know. Uncle Jack was with Master Zed, and he'll tell the truth, at all events." Thus saying, he left the room, and returned in a minute, saying,--

"It is quite true; Halliday was there with six or seven men. Uncle Jack saw him in the wood, and, depend upon it, he has taken Bessy away with him."

"I can hardly think she would go," I replied, "without taking some means to let me know she was safe."

"Oh, you cannot tell," said Billy Byles; "he might be in haste; and hurry her away. Halliday is a wild dog, and not to be contradicted by man or woman when he has got any notion in his head; but from your own account, you must be nearly starving, Sir Richard."

"God bless me! I beg your pardon; I never thought of that," said Dr. Blunt. "The stores of our garrison are not very sumptuous, but they can get you a slice of ham and some bread in a minute." The food was soon brought, and a bottle of most excellent Madeira; but I had scarcely eaten two mouthfuls, and drunk one glass of wine, when a boy's voice was heard calling loudly from above,--

"Father, fatter, the moon is just getting up, and I think I see the negroes gathering at the edge of the wood."

"Here, boys, pull in all these shutters," cried Dr. Blunt, "and make them as fast as possible; then each man take his station as he was told before, only at the upstairs windows instead of these. Move up the powder-flasks and the bullets. Don't hurry, Sir Richard, don't hurry; we shall have plenty of time."

"Less time for eating than for fighting and drinking, I suspect," said Billy Byles. "Here, Sir Richard, let me fill your tumbler. I'll take one for company. I say, Blunt, order half a dozen of this Madeira to the rooms upstairs. It is dry work fighting upon cold water."

"Ay, bold Billy Byles to the last," said Dr. Blunt; "but we'll have the wine up, and some brandy too; for some of our people may want a little of that kind of courage, though you don't, Byles."

"Father, father," cried the boy's voice again, "I can see them coming through the corn."

"How many are there?" shouted Dr. Blunt.

"Twenty or thirty, I should guess," replied the boy; "but I can't count them, they are so close together." While all this had been taking place, several men, some black, but mostly white, had been closing the windows and barricading them as well as they could; and as soon as I had drunk the wine which Mr. Byles had poured out for me, I made a little tour through the lower rooms to see that everything had been rendered as secure as possible. I then accompanied Dr. Blunt and the rest of the party to the floor above.