It was as bright and beautiful a night as ever was seen; and the roads through the woods, flooded with waves of light and shade, were full of tranquil grandeur. In one spot, the eye could wander deep into the heart of the forest, guided by the moonbeams, as they rested here upon a piece of green turf, there upon a swelling mass of wild plants; here caught upon the bole of an old tree, there glistening amongst the reeds of plashy savannah. At another time, a deep, heavy mass of giant trees, mingled with evergreens, intercepted the rays, and cast a thick shadow over the path, only enlivened by the prospect of another gleam of brightness beyond. Silently I rode forward. A sudden and momentous strife and excitement had interrupted my thoughts and feelings in their natural current--dammed them up, as it were; but only to flow over again, with deeper, though somewhat stiller, waves. I need not say that all my thoughts were of Bessy Davenport. They were very anxious, very gloomy, very bitter. I blamed myself for having left her at all. I thought that if she had met with danger or death, I should never forgive myself. No language which I can find will convey any idea of the sensations I experienced--the internal shudder, as it were, the wringing of the very heart of my spirit, when my mind rested, even for a moment, on her possible, nay, her probable fate. It was in vain I tried to console myself by trying to think I had acted for the best. The homely but true and startling words of Billy Byles came back to my mind,--"D----n the best; it is always the worst thing a man can do;" and I was ready to pile curses upon my own head for having abandoned, even for a moment, the task of protecting the dear girl, with which Heaven seemed to have charged me. Censure on myself, however, made me feel inclined to be more lenient to others. Poor Zed, though I could not help feeling some bitterness still, had only done, according to his views and capacity, what I had done myself. He had acted for the best; and, softening towards him, I called him up to my side; for hitherto he had ridden two or three horse-lengths behind me.
"Tell me, Zed," I said, "and now, mind you tell me the truth, for I will forgive anything rather than falsehood."
"I will tell the truth if I can, master," answered Zed; "but sometimes, when I'm in a hurry, I can't tell de truth. The lies come so thick and fast, they get all the uppermost, and I have no time to put them down, and get the truth up from de bottom of de well, as men say."
"Well then, take time and do not hurry," I answered. "You say you saw Colonel Halliday in the wood. Was that true?"
"Oh, yes, indeed, master," he answered; "I saw him there, and six or seven men with him."
"Was he on horseback or on foot?" I asked.
"He had been on horseback," replied Zed; "but he left his horses in de path, and went in on foot, just where the two roads meet. I heard him swear he saw a large smoke, and he would know what it was. I did not let him see me, for he is a wild man, and was just as like to cut me and uncle Jack down as not, because we had black skins."
"Then he went right on towards the smoke?" I demanded.
"Yes, that he did," replied the man; "and he must have gone some way down, for his voice sounded quite small when he came out upon the road again, and he hallooed to the people to bring him down the horses."
"Then he did not find any of the negroes?" I asked.
"No, how could he?" answered Zed; "for they did not come up till he was gone. They saw him, I guess, and scattered to keep out of his way. But he came first, that's certain. I can't tell quite sure where he went, for I did not see him go; but he could not have been gone long before you came up." The man's words gave me great comfort; for it seemed certainly more than probable, that if he pursued the course Zed mentioned, he must have found Bessy and old Jenny where I had left them, and taken them away under his escort; although I could not understand how the former happened to have quitted the place without leaving something to indicate what had occurred. She knew--she could not but know--the deep anxiety I should feel; and Bessy Davenport's was not a heart, I thought, to look upon that anxiety lightly. However, still I was comforted. Hope and expectation revived; and as soon as we got upon the high road, I pushed my horse on rapidly towards Jerusalem. He went very slow, it seemed to me; and indeed he was not the very best-blooded animal that ever was mounted. But at length we came to a spot where the town was first visible in the daylight; and there Zed, who knew the whole country well, checked his horse, exclaiming--
"Gorra mighty, master! they have set the town a-fire." At first sight, it seemed so; for up above the little town, rose upon the sky a bright red glare which could be produced by no ordinary cause. I checked my horse, too, and contemplated the blaze for a moment or so; but I remarked that the glare was steadfast, not rising and falling, nor spreading from place to place; and that though some flicker and some rolls of smoke were visible, yet there was none of that rapid change or those thick curling clouds which always hang over a considerable conflagration. In fact, it was more like the glare which hangs over a large and well-lighted city, than that of a fire.
"We will go on, Zed, and see," I said; "I can't tell what this blaze is; the town is certainly not on fire."
"Very well, master," said Zed, without the slightest hesitation; and on we pushed at the same rate as before. As we came to the first houses of the little town, we could hear the loud murmur of many voices, proceeding from the central part of the place; and, riding on, we came upon a very strange and even picturesque scene. I have before described, I think, the little market-place of the town, which the good people of the country have thought fit to call Jerusalem, upon what grounds or pretences it is impossible to discover; for certainly neither in architecture nor construction, nor natural site, does it bear the slightest resemblance to the capital of the kingdom of Judah. However, when the Mount Ida of this country is a hillock, not much bigger than a man's knuckles, and Syracuse is completely an inland town, it becomes clear that the people had very little reference to the Old World in the names they have bestowed in the New. On one side of the square stood the inn, a wooden building of no great extent, with what is called the liberty-pole right in front. When I had been there before, the bright, burning sun had shone distinctly on the groups of farmers and gentlemen coming from the country on business, with their waggons, horses, and dogs. A different light now presented the place under a different aspect. A fire of pitch-pine logs was burning in the middle of the little space, at the distance of perhaps sixty yards from the inn; and close to the building itself were a number of torches, some in the hands of mulattoes or negroes, some fixed to stakes set in the ground, to posts, to rails, or anything to which they could be attached. By the red glare of the fire and of these torches could be seen the fronts of the various houses round; the windows crowded with faces, principally of women, in every sort of dress and undress; and numerous groups of men, scattered over the space below, all armed, many on horseback, talking, laughing, gesticulating, and, in some instances, swearing. In front of the right wing of the inn was a little body of cavalry, not very regularly drawn up in line, nor was every man upon his horse; but there they were about thirty or forty, stout, tall, powerful fellows, who would have put all the insurgents who had ever yet been mustered in Virginia to the rout in a minute. A group of officers, intermingled with a dozen or so of gentlemen, amongst whom I recognized my long-boned friend the sheriff, stood immediately before the door of the inn, all in vehement and eager discussion; while just above their heads was a sort of balcony, running along the whole front of the inn, crowded with ladies, some sitting and some standing. Tremendous was the confusion, great the noise, and terrible the glare; and every now and then a fresh movement and different arrangement of parties took place when a horseman or two would ride in, from this side or that; and from each of the groups several persons would detach themselves, and ride up to inquire what intelligence the new-comers brought. I myself was thus assailed as soon as I entered the marketplace.
"Which side do you come from, sir?" asked one.
"Have you seen anything of the niggers?" interrogated another.
"Did you see anything of Captain Jones's party?" demanded a third.
"Has any fresh house been attacked?" cried a fourth.
"One at a time, gentlemen, one at a time," I replied, "and I will answer you. Then you shall give me an answer to one question. I come from this side of Dr. Blunt's house. I have seen plenty of the negroes--all, I fancy, which they have in the field. I did not meet with Captain Jones's party; and the last house the negroes attacked, or will attack, I imagine, was Dr. Blunt's. And now, if you please----"
"What came of it? what came of it?" cried half a dozen voices, before I could propound my own question.
"They were repulsed with considerable loss," I replied. "Six were killed or severely wounded, two were taken prisoners, and the whole body was dispersed,--I suspect, never to meet in any force again."
"Hurra! hurra!" shouted the little crowd that had gathered round, and off they ran to spread the intelligence over the place. I took the liberty of catching one gentleman, however, by the arm, before he could get away, saying:--
"On my life, this is hardly fair, gentlemen. I have answered all your questions, and you do not stay to answer mine. May I ask if Colonel Halliday has been in the town lately?"
"Colonel Halliday?" cried the good man; "why, yes, he was here not half an hour ago with his party; he may be here now for aught I know."
"Had he a lady with him?" I demanded.
"Oh, yes, a whole drove of 'em," answered my companion, who seemed a bit of a wag. "Funniest sight you ever saw--half of them mounted on horseback in their night-shirts." Thus saying, he broke away from me, and joined the principal group before the inn-door. Towards it, also, I directed my horse; but the gentlemen composing it instantly moved forward in mass towards me as soon they heard the intelligence I brought, and I was surrounded in a moment by twelve or fifteen persons, and overwhelmed with innumerable questions at once. The sheriff alone was quiet and practical.
"Glad to see you, Sir Richard," he said; "perhaps you will give us a brief statement of what occurred at Dr. Blunt's; for if you answer all these questions, we shall have daylight upon us before we have done." As it was evident I should get no satisfaction myself till they were all satisfied, I thought it best to comply with the sheriff's suggestion; but in the meantime all the other groups began to draw near to hear the intelligence also; and I was soon surrounded, and even pressed upon, by at least two hundred people.
"Speak loud, speak loud!" cried one.
"Bring him a drink," said another. "Dare say the gentleman's thirsty."
"He had fighting enough to make him so," said Zed, who kept close to me, evidently in some alarm of the results of the general objections to his colour. I went on with my story, however, making it as brief but as clear as I could, and taking care to notice the gallantry of young Blunt, which called forth a sort of half cheer from the people. But they did not seem to care much about details, and were soon satisfied. Man by man they began to drop off, or broke up into parties to talk the matter over in their own little synods; and, springing from my horse, I took the sheriff's arm, saying,--
"I want to speak a word or two with you, Mr. Sheriff. Take my horse to the door of the inn, Zed--I suppose he will be safe. He is a very faithful fellow, and has saved my life."
"Oh, quite safe," answered the sheriff. "Don't you see we have as many blacks as whites here? This bad spirit is by no means general. Had it been so, we might have fared worse; though it has been bad enough, God knows, as it is." Zed led away my horse; and, being left nearly alone with the sheriff, I explained to him my anxiety about Bessy; told him the cause I had to suppose that she had been found in the wood by Colonel Halliday, and carried to some place of safety; and asked if he had seen that gentleman in the town.
"Oh, yes, he was here a little while ago," answered the sheriff. "He brought in several ladies with him, but I really did not notice who they were. He took them to the inn, I think, and you had better see if you can find Miss Davenport there."
I know no more anxious, more irritating, more painful occupation in the world than that of seeking (when we are apprehensive and doubtful of the fate of one we love) amongst a great, confused and pre-occupied crowd, for some traces of the lost one. It has been my fate twice in life to aid in the search for a strayed child; and the agony of the father communicated itself, in part at least, to me, and gave me the power of feeling a portion of all the torture which imagination inflicted upon him at that moment. Every one we speak to seems so selfish, so volatile, so obdurate, that we can hardly believe there is anything like feeling or sympathy in the human breast; when, perhaps, scanned accurately, our own sensations would be found to be selfish, and our own accusations return upon our own head. Who could tell, in that mixed crowd, what were the motives, what the feelings, what the doubt and dread, which created the sort of fierce anxiety in my heart? Who could see in my look, or detect in my voice, more than the most minute portion of that anxiety? Yet, I felt a very unreasonable degree of anger and irritation at the utter indifference of every one around me to all that was going on within my breast. I forced my way, however, onward towards the door of the inn; but before I reached it, a fresh little party entered in the town, and cut across my path, presenting that strange mixture of the ludicrous and the horrible, which is, perhaps, more dreadful than the purely tragic. Doctor Blunt, the whole of the party from his house, and two or three mounted dragoons, who had joined them somewhere on the way, were bringing the prisoners, now increased to three by the presence of one of the wounded men, who had recovered sufficiently to walk into the county capital. First came two or three horsemen, and some more armed men brought up the rear; but between the two bodies of whites marched the poor black fellows who had been taken, very much as they had appeared when they attacked the house, except that their muskets had been cast away. The first of the negroes (for they marched in single file) was the man whom I had captured myself, with a gay scarf over his shoulders, and a handsome regimental sword by his side, which I had not thought it worth while to take away. He carried something in his hands, which I could not distinguish clearly till he came into the blaze of the torches; and then, to my disgust and horror, I saw that it was the bloody head of one of his late companions--the very head which had so strongly excited the scientific enthusiasm of the phrenologist, who had doubtless cut it off, before he quitted the scene of strife, to place the skull as a specimen in his collection. The party halted directly opposite the inn door, and several of the officers, who were gathered together there, advanced to take a look at the prisoners. One of them seemed to recognize the man with the head, but that attracted his professional eye but little. The scarf and the sword were "matter more attractive;" and, giving a light touch to the hilt of the latter, he said,--
"Why, Nelson, where did you get this?" The negro instantly raised the swarthy head in his hands in the full torchlight, and replied,--
"This here gentleman gave it me last night." A loud burst of laughter, very horrible to hear, broke from the whole party round at the idea of the man's calling a dead negro's head "this here gentleman;" and I must say, the captive negroes themselves, with the certainty of being hanged within a few days after, joined in the laugh as heartily as any of the rest. I could not do so; and pushing my way through the throng, I entered the inn. The passage was crowded to suffocation; the bar, which lay on the right hand, was surrounded by a mob, two-thirds of whom were drunk, and the rest hardly sober; and before I had taken ten steps through the mass, I had been invited to drink at least as many times by persons I had never seen in my life before. I remarked that they did not seem at all pleased when their invitation was declined; but I was in no very polite mood, even if I had been at any time inclined to get drunk for the pleasure of strangers; and I made my way straight for the foot of a staircase, round the bottom of which the crowd was reeling to and fro, not quite so densely packed together. Four or five steps up, supported by two strapping mulatto wenches, was a stout, well-fattened white woman, whom I judged, by her dress, to be the mistress of the house. The moment I set my foot upon the stairs, however, she screamed at me in a tone calculated to drown all the din below.
"You can't go up, sir. The whole above-stairs is occupied by ladies; and as some of them have nought but their night-dresses on, they don't want no company."
"But, my good madam," I said, "I saw two or three gentlemen amongst the ladies in the balcony."
"That's nothing here nor there," answered the Amazon. "Them gentlemen have brought in friends, and have a right to stay with them."
"But I have a friend here, too," I answered, "and I want to see her. I will see her, too. I think you mistake me for some of those people who have been drinking at your bar; but there you are in error. My name is Sir Richard Conway, and----"
"Sir Richard this, or Sir Richard that!" cried the woman, "is no matter to me. You can't go up, so that's enough, and shouldn't if you were Lord Dunmore."
"I want to speak with Miss Davenport," I replied; "to hear of her safety, and to inquire if I can serve her in any way further."
"Miss Davenport!" cried the hostess, in a tone somewhat mollified. "Why, I didn't know that Bessy Davenport was here--have you seen her, Imoinda? Why, I thought she was killed in Stringer's house."
"That she certainly was not," I answered, hating the great, fat, coarse woman from the bottom of my heart; "she and I escaped from Mr. Stringer's house together--I am her near relation, you know."
"Oh, ay," cried the woman, still screaming at the top of her voice, in order to be heard above the din; "you are her English cousin who shot Bob Thornton. But you can't go up for all that." I felt the greatest possible inclination to take her by the back of the neck, and pitch her down amongst the mob below. But refraining with an ill grace, I said--
"I have every reason to believe that Miss Davenport was escorted here some short time ago by Colonel Halliday; but I am not sure of it, and I am determined to ascertain whether she is safe or not. So now, good woman, you shall either satisfy me on that point, or I will bring the sheriff to make you."
"Good woman!" cried the hostess, with her face all in a blaze. "You saucy coon! Why do you call me 'good woman?' My husband, the colonel, shall 'good woman' you. Do you think that you English have got the dominion in the land still? No, no! I think we taught you better, when we whipped you all through the country. 'Good woman,' indeed!"
"Why, surely, you would not have me call youbadwoman, would you?" I retorted, a good deal irritated. "But I see, I must bring some one who will be able to persuade you better than I can." And descending the two or three stairs which I had mounted, I once more forced my way through the crowd in search of the sheriff. That gentleman, however, was no longer to be seen in any of the various groups immediately in front of the house. I just caught a glance of Billy Byles as I passed out of the inn; but he was speaking to some lady up in the balcony above, and I passed on without interrupting him. From one little knot of people to another I went; and perhaps at any other moment, with a disembarrassed mind, the strange medley of men of wealth and men of none; of men of education and men without; of men of refined habits and men of the coarsest manners; and the perfect familiarity which existed between them all--would have given occasion for much speculation in my mind as an Englishman. But I was too much occupied with the one predominant idea to think of anything else, and I exhausted nearly half an hour in searching for the sheriff in vain. I was just turning back to the inn, when some one called me.
"Sir Richard, Sir Richard," said a voice. And, looking round, I perceived Mr. Byles coming up from the side of the marketplace I had just left.
"I have been looking for you everywhere," he said. "Louisa Thornton wishes to speak to you. They are all here, except Mr. Henry Thornton himself. He determined, like Doctor Blunt, to stay in his own house and stand it out, with some friends he has got there. Mrs. Thornton is frightened out of her wits, and gone to bed, but Lou said she would remain in the balcony till I brought you." I explained to him briefly, as we walked along, the anxiety of my mind in regard to Bessy Davenport, and the obstinate refusal of the landlady to let me pass upstairs in search of her.
"Oh, the old jade!" said Billy Byles, "she's a perfect Turk. They should callherthe colonel instead of her husband, who is as meek as Moses, poor man! She would not let me pass either, though I coaxed and bullied, and did all sorts of things. But it is about Bessy Davenport that Louisa wants to speak to you. She says she is certainly not in the inn." My heart sank again; but I hurried on, and soon stood under the place where Miss Thornton was leaning over the balcony.
"I wanted to tell you, Sir Richard," said Miss Thornton, after a few words of ordinary courtesy, "that Bessy is certainly not here. Where did you leave her?" I explained to her all that had occurred, and the reasons I had for supposing she might have been brought into the town by Colonel Halliday and his party.
"Perhaps she may be in some of the other houses," said Miss Thornton, "for they are all full; and everybody, all over the place, seems to be searching for some one lost in the confusion of this terrible day. But I hope and trust that no harm has happened to her, as you left old Jenny with her." While we had been speaking, a little crowd had gathered round Mr. Byles and myself; for I must remark that nobody in the United States appears to comprehend that any other person can have private business with which he has nothing to do; and you must lock your door very tight, if you would not have others come and listen to what you have to say. One of the gentlemen who was standing by here joined in our conversation saying,--
"Colonel Halliday, I am sorry to tell you, did not bring in Miss Davenport. I saw him just as he came in about an hour ago. He had with him two negroes, whom he had captured, and three young ladies, whom he had brought from houses along the road--Miss Corwin and the two Miss Joneses; but I know Miss Davenport was not there, for I stopped and talked to them for a minute." Here at once was knocked away every frail prop and support on which I had built my hopes and expectations. Hope was indeed not destroyed; for hope is immortal, reaching to the grave and beyond the grave. Yet there was no resting-place for her footsteps; a light, pale and faint though not extinguished, flitted, wandering like anignis fatuus, over a wild, an insecure ground, where there was no path to guide, no solid basis to support. Where was she? What had become of her? Who could tell? The glimmering light rested principally upon one point alone. No corpse had been found in the wood: no trace of the sanguinary acts which had left terrible witnesses behind them wherever they had been perpetrated. But a faint hope, though not so full of temporary distress, is, perhaps, more agitating, more engrossing than a painful certainty. Billy Byles and the gentleman who had just spoken continued to converse for some minutes, without my hearing or attending to anything that passed between them. I believe that Louisa Thornton spoke to me from the balcony above; but I fear I did not answer her. Standing with my eyes fixed on the ground, and my thoughts bitterly preoccupied, I saw, I heard nothing, and it was not till Mr. Byles touched my arm, saying,--"That is a good thought; let us try it," that I woke from this dreadful reverie.
"What is?" I asked; "I did not hear."
"Why," answered Billy Byles, "Captain Wilson proposes we should go down to the old block-house, erected in revolutionary times to defend the river, and where the prisoners are confined, and examine them as to what became of Miss Bessy. Those we took at Doctor Blunt's must be the same who passed over the ground where you left her; and the devils will tell at the first question, for they have all got a looseness of tongue which prevents them from having any concealments. That is the difference between an Irishman and a negro; the one, pretending to tell all, tells nothing, for fear he should hurt himself or his hundred-and-fiftieth cousin; the other tells everything, without caring whether he implicates his own life or that of a dozen more."
"Let us go," I cried, seizing upon the suggestion eagerly; for I was a drowning man, and a straw seemed some support. "Which is the way to this place?" Billy Byles hade Miss Thornton adieu in tones which implied that his suit had prospered, and then led me across the market-place towards the banks of the little river which flowed past the town. Here we came to a small stockaded house, which had served in former times to defend the stream, and before which two sentinels, with muskets on their shoulders, were sedately walking. Only another person was visible, who, though he attracted but little of my attention, seemed considerably to excite that of Billy Byles.
"Hang me," he said, "if I do not believe that is Colonel M----. What can he be doing there, down by the side of the river with a spade in his hand? Why, he has got a basket there too."
"Never mind," I answered; "we have something more important to think of." And advancing towards the block-house, not without turning his head several times, he demanded admission, which was immediately granted. We had no light but the moon; and the black faces of the handcuffed prisoners were not very easily distinguished, the one from the other.
"Which is Nelson?" demanded Billy Byles.
"I'se he," answered one of the men, advancing.
"Well now, Nel," said my companion, "we have got a question or two to ask you; and what you say, if you tell us the truth, shall not be used against you, but rather in your favour. But if you tell us lies, hang me if I don't cut your throat with my own hands."
"I tell de truth, Master Byles, be you sure of dat," answered the man in a bold tone. "Everybody knows what I have done, and here I am; no use of telling of lies now."
"Well, then, tell us exactly," answered Billy Byles, "all that happened after five o'clock this evening, till the time when you marched upon Doctor Blunt's house." I cannot follow the negro's jargon through the long account he gave of the events of those few hours. The substance was as follows:--The party of Nat Turner, after having advanced towards Jerusalem, and having been met by a severe fire from a party of white men on the road, retreated in good order through the by-paths of the wood, known to few but themselves. When they came to the meeting of the two paths I have mentioned, they found they had been outflanked by a party of horse in pursuit. They saw well enough, he said, a smoke rising up in the wood, though they could not tell whether the fire had been lighted by their own people or by an enemy. Knowing, however, that smoke would attract the attention of the white men, they determined to leave it on their left, and to take shelter amongst the bushes in the thicker part of the wood, being certain that they could not outstrip their pursuers before they came to the open ground. Signals were agreed upon; Nat Turner, who, according to his account, was perfectly calm and confident, laid himself down at the foot of the tree where I had found him, and the rest concealed themselves in the thick bushes. There they lay till after I came up. Nelson stoutly denied having seen any woman in the whole course of their retreat. Nothing could make him swerve from this assertion. When, remembering the two tracks I had seen, the one to the right, the other to the left, at the thick laurel-brake, I asked if his party had not divided into two. This he denied, stating that they had pursued one undeviating course, and had merely scattered themselves round their leader, when they found a sure place of concealment. At length, I put the questions to him straightforwardly, whether he knew Miss Bessy Davenport? whether he had seen her during the preceding day? He answered he had known her ever since she was a child, and positively asserted that they had seen nothing of her.
"We hunted for her at Mr. Stringer's," he said, "for we had heard that she was there; and Will wanted to kill her, though Nat did not. But we could not find her, and we never saw her at all." After the pause of a moment or two, during which I and my companion remained silent, the man looked up in my face, saying,--
"I dare say, if you want to find her, master, some of old Miss Bab's servants can help you. Depend upon it, they know all about it." Here was both a renewal of hope, and some clue to guide me; but the light was faint, and the clue somewhat frail.
I have hitherto adhered as strictly to what I did and saw myself, as if I were in a court of justice, and bound by the law of evidence; but you, who are at a distance, may, perhaps, require some further explanation, to enable you to comprehend clearly the state of things around me. I think Rumour ought to be represented, not only with a hundred tongues, but with a great magnifying-glass in her hand; and she did not fail to use it on the present occasion, although I have certainly seen events of less importance much more magnified before they got very far from the scene in which they were acted. Indeed, the principal excitement and exaggeration were in the neighbourhood of the spot itself, where the insurrection had taken place. Here everything was in confusion, if not amongst the military, amongst the inhabitants. No one seemed to know the number of the insurgents; whether there was one man or many; what direction they were taking, and whether there were ramifications of the conspiracy in other counties and states. Consequently, Jerusalem and the whole neighbourhood was in a state of the greatest alarm; and very dark and gloomy apprehensions were entertained, even by the best-informed and the calmest of the county authorities. Every one felt as if he were standing close to a powder magazine in which a slow match was burning; and I have no doubt that if the revolted negroes had gained any success, a considerable number more of the slaves would have risen, and a very formidable body of armed men would have been collected, although I by no means imagine that anything like a general revolt would have taken place. Indeed, the conduct of many of the negroes on this occasion showed the strongest attachment to their masters, and a firm determination to resist all temptations to join the insurgents. Throughout the whole country round, however, a feeling of alarm and uncertainty spread far and wide; but vigorous measures were immediately taken to crush the insurrection in the spot where it had originated, and to guard against its spreading farther. Bodies of troops and marines were instantly sent up from Norfolk and Fort Monroe. Detachments of volunteers and militia were despatched from Petersburg and Richmond, and abundance of arms and ammunition was collected and forwarded with all possible haste. The public journals again and again warned their readers against exaggerated reports and unnecessary alarm; but they aided a good deal to increase apprehension, by such reports as these,--
"That the insurgent negroes numbered about four or five hundred. That although repulsed in one or two skirmishes with the militia, they were retreating towards Colonel Allen's plantation, where they were likely to be greatly reinforced." Other reports said that they were falling back on the great Dismal Swamp, known to be the place of refuge already of a great number of fugitive slaves. And again, that they were all well armed, mounted, and supplied with ammunition. The statements of the number of white persons who had been slain, and the number who were missing, were also very much exaggerated, and carried into many bosoms the same anxiety and terror which agitated mine. Although the account given by the prisoners at the block-house certainly afforded some relief to my mind, and re-awakened hope, I could not shake off apprehension; and I would fain have set off that very hour to ascertain whether poor Bessy had really found a refuge amongst the old servants of Aunt Bab. I found that was impossible, however; and, after having met all my suggestions, by objections unanswerable, Billy Byles added,--
"Depend upon it, Sir Richard, there is nothing to be done by you to-night, but to get some food and some rest. With the first ray of light to-morrow morning I will be ready to set out with you, and to-night you shall share a little dog-hole of a room which I have secured for myself in the midst of all this scramble and confusion. As to food, that will be a more difficult matter; for I do not believe there are provisions enough in Jerusalem to feed one-half of the people here. Plenty of good whiskey is to be got, and bad brandy; but everything else, as far as I can learn, is exhausted. Come, first, let us go and see what our good friend the colonel is doing down there. I can't imagine what he can be about, poking away at the corner of the bridge by himself." Billy Byles was one of those men who were made for happiness, whose minds may perhaps be susceptible of strong impressions, but those impressions are merely temporary. Now I have heard it argued that men of this character suffer as much diminution of their pleasures as their pains. But I do not think so. In the first place, few will assert, I imagine, that in this world of trial the pleasures are at all equal to the pains; and, in the next place, I do not see that it is a necessary consequence of men being a little susceptible of a pang, that they should be little susceptible of an enjoyment. At least, at that moment, I envied him the facility with which he could cast away the thought of all the dreadful things which had been passing around us, and walk unconcernedly down to the river side to see what a gentleman had been doing in whom he had no particular interest. The distance could not be above twenty or thirty yards. I remained where I was; but the moment after, he called out,--
"Hurrah! Treasure trove, treasure trove! Gentlemen both, I seize and impound you on behalf of the state, and of William Byles, Esq., of Dunmore, near the Cross Keys, and the county of Southampton, in the state of Virginia." And up he came, carrying in each hand a large, short-necked black bottle.
"What have you got there?" I asked.
"London porter, for a hundred dollars," answered Billy. "That fellow knows what good living is. Oh, he's as cute as a sea-gull, and I see how he has set to work, He has somehow got up some London porter, and finding victuals and drink rather scarce in this great city, and good friends plenty, who would help him through it, he has gone and hid it down there, in the corner under the sand, to come down and drink his own health when nobody is by. There are more bottles there. You had better go and get a bottle. London porter is meat and drink too." I declined, however, helping myself from another man's store without his permission; but Billy Byles only laughed at my scruples, and we returned into the heart of the village. There he introduced me into what he called his dog-hole, which was a neat little room enough, in a neat little house, belonging to a free mulatto and his wife--quadroons, I suppose I ought to call them, for the portion of dark blood seemed to be very small. They were all attention, and even affection, towards Mr. Byles, who informed me that they had been slaves of his father, but were made free at his death. The old man hurried to get a couple of glasses as soon as Billy exhibited the porter bottles; and while he was gone, my companion fell into an unwonted reverie, which was explained as soon as his coloured friend returned.
"Jacobus," he said, "there's something I want you to do for me, and you must do it cleverly--here, cut this wire over the cork. You know Miss Davenport, don't you; Miss Bessy Davenport?--there, take that fork, thrust it through the wire, and twist it round--well, she escaped from Mr. Stringer's house with this gentleman, my friend Sir Richard Conway; but somehow she got lost in the woods about six or seven o'clock this evening. Now, I want you--cut the string, there's a knife--now, I want you to go out and inquire everywhere, and of everybody--d----n it, you'll let all the porter jump out of the bottle. Pour it out quick into the two glasses. Sir Richard, your health.--You see, Jacobus, we must, and will find out, this very night, what has become of Miss Davenport, and you know quite well that every piece of news throughout the whole country gets tossed about from hand to hand amongst your people just like a ball amongst a pack of children; so you must go and find out if there's anybody in the whole place who can tell you where she is. Ask the people as if it were a great secret, promise them to tell nobody, and then come and tell us."
"I'll do my best, Master Billy," said the old man; "but you know there's been such confusion these last two days, that we are all straggled, and nobody has had any time to find out anything. You say she was lost about six or seven this evening?" Mr. Byles added all the information that was necessary, and his envoy departed, somewhat proud, I imagine, of his commission.
"He won't find out anything to-night," said Billy Byles, as soon as the man was gone; "for, most probably, nobody in the place knows anything about the matter. But he'll go and talk to all the coloured people, and then they'll all begin jabbering, and chattering, and inquiring. The question will go, heaven knows how, down all the high-roads and by-ways, and to-morrow we shall have a whole budget of intelligence. Halloo! that sounds like cannon coming in." And, going to the window, he added,--
"So it is, by Jove! Two brass pieces, and a squad of artillerymen. We'll pound them to-morrow, if they take the field. Let us come and see what is going on." I accompanied him to the door; but we had scarcely reached the threshold, when we were met by Mr. Henry Thornton, his fine, tall figure looking very imposing in the garb of a colonel of militia. He shook me warmly by the hand; but I could see that a good deal of grave anxiety was upon his countenance.
"I did not think of coming into town to-night," he said, "but I heard of your fight at Dr. Blunt's, and that the poor devils had been dispersed with great loss. One serious check is enough to discourage them altogether. I think we shall have no more of it; and, at all events, it is over for to-night. But what is this I hear about poor Bessy Davenport?" I related to him everything that had occurred, and watched his countenance eagerly as I did so, in order to divine, if possible, what were the conclusions at which his mind arrived. He looked very grave, especially when he found we had ascertained that Bessy had not been brought in by Colonel Halliday's party?
"Not that he is the man," said Mr. Thornton, after expressing some painful disappointment at the breaking down of that hope of her safety--"not that he is a man whom any of us would choose to act as her escort under ordinary circumstances. But he dare not--no, he dare not," added Mr. Thornton, somewhat sternly--"take any advantage of his position."
"Who is this Colonel Halliday?" I asked. "You all seem to have some doubt of him."
"Why, don't you know?" cried Billy Byles. "He was Bob Thornton's second in the duel with you."
"He acted in a very gentlemanly manner there," I said.
"Ay, that might be," answered Mr. Thornton. "But he's a wild, unscrupulous fellow, notwithstanding. He certainly was colleaguing with Robert Thornton when that worthy tried to cheat her out of her whole property. Perhaps you do not know that he proposed to marry her, when she was not sixteen, and we had afterwards every reason to believe that there was an understanding between him and Robert, that they should share the spoils between them.
"Bessy, however, settled the matter for herself; for she told him she would sooner marry a rattlesnake; and I do not think he has ever forgiven the disgust--ay, the disgust, that is the only word--which she expressed towards him. She was quite a girl then, and a wild girl too; and she spoke her mind more freely, perhaps, than she would have done, had she been older. There is no use of making enemies in this world, even of people we do not desire for friends." Mr. Thornton fell into a somewhat dark and gloomy reverie, and it may easily be imagined that my thoughts were not particularly pleasant. After a moment or two, however, he said,--
"Well, Sir Richard, it is now near one o'clock. You had better go to bed, and try to rest. I will do the same. We will both be up early to-morrow; and, after having taken counsel with our pillows, we may be able to devise some plan for tracing poor Bessy out." He was turning away, when suddenly he held out his hand to me in his frank, kindly way, saying,--
"Do not alarm yourself, my dear sir. I have no doubt our dear girl is safe. If she had met with any harm from these misguided people, her body would have been left where they murdered her. They have taken no pains to conceal their deeds. All I want to get rid of is this horrible feeling of uncertainty; though, indeed, we are in the same case with a hundred others in this town; for there is hardly a family that is not doubtful and anxious about some one of its members. I am not one to use the name of God on every occasion; but trust in Him is, in such circumstances, our best stay and only consolation." Thus saying, he left me; and his last words recalled to my mind the better and the surer sources of hope and comfort, which had been too much forgotten in the excitement and anxiety of the last few hours. A mattress and a blanket were brought in for me, to Mr. Byles's room; and though he, in his universal good humour, would fain have had me take his bed, I cast myself down upon my lowly couch, and resolutely tried to sleep. I had by no means recovered my full strength; I was weary and exhausted with the labours of the day and with want of food. Perhaps in such a state of fatigue, the glass of porter which I had taken had more effect than it otherwise would have produced; and though I was half angry with myself when I felt the leaden weight pressing down my eyelids, I was soon in a profound sleep. I do not believe, if an axe had been suspended over my head, or a pistol presented at my ear, I could have kept myself awake.