Dan had loaded the fowling-pieces with buckshot. Though not a good marksman, he had some experience in the use of arms, and felt fully competent to cut off the bloodhounds before they could pounce upon their human prey. Leaving Cyd at the helm, he went forward and stationed himself at the heel of the bowsprit.
The dogs were better swimmers than the fugitive, and were rapidly gaining upon him, for the poor creature's limbs seemed to be partially paralyzed by the appalling danger that menaced him. The Isabel was approaching the scene of this exciting race with a rapidity which promised soon to terminate the affair.
Dan immediately obtained a correct idea of the relative positions of the dog and the man. Hisobject was to run the boat between them, and thus cut off the savage beasts from their prey.
"Luff a little, Cyd," said he.
"Luff 'em 'tis," replied the helmsman, who was boatman enough to understand the nautical phrase, and even to handle the craft under the direction of a more skilful skipper.
"Steady as she is."
"See here, Dan. Is you gwine to shoot?" asked Cyd.
"Certainly I am. What do you suppose I got the guns for?"
"Possifus! What you gwine to shoot?"
"The dogs, of course. Luff a little—luff! You are letting her fall off."
"Luff 'em 'tis. See here, Dan. You be mighty keerful you don't hit de nigger."
"Silence, now, and mind your helm! You are steering wild."
Cyd had so far improved in the cultivation of the quality of obedience on shipboard, that he did not speak again, but he was fearfully excited by the stirring scene which was transpiring near him.Dan was not less moved, though his cool determination produced a different manifestation of his feelings. He was conscious of the danger to which his interference in the hunt subjected him. There were probably several slave-hunters on the track of the fugitive. The Isabel would be seen by them, and possibly be recognized, which would certainly bring pursuers upon her track.
But it was not in his nature to permit his suffering fellow-creature, in this unequal strife, to be conquered by his human and brute antagonists. The appeal of the gentle Lily had been addressed to a sympathizing heart, and he entered with all his soul upon the task of saving the slave from the fangs of his pursuers.
The Isabel had now come within a few yards of the dogs and their prey. The time for action had come. Dan was fully sensible of the great crime, as the southern slave law regarded it, of shooting a "nigger dog;" but with a steady hand, though his heart bounded with exciting emotions, he raised the gun to his shoulder, and taking deliberate aim at the nearest hound, he fired. The brute gave adeep yell, and for some time continued to splash about in the water.
"Don't shoot me, massa! Don't shoot me, and I'll gib myself up," cried the fugitive, who seemed to have heard the report of the gun, without observing the effect which the shot had produced.
"I mean to save you," replied Dan, as he levelled the gun at another of the dogs; but this time he missed his aim, and the hound continued to swim towards the negro.
"Luff a little more," said Dan to Cyd, as the boat came between the man and the dogs.
"Luff 'em 'tis."
As the boat now divided the dogs from their prey, Dan did not again load the guns; but seizing the boat-hook, he gave the foremost hound a knock on the head, which caused him to retreat, howling with pain.
"Swim this way," cried Dan to the negro. "I will save you."
"Yes, sar," gasped the negro, whose breath was nearly exhausted by the hard struggle through which he had just passed.
As the Isabel luffed up, the fugitive came alongside, and Dan assisted him to climb upon the deck.
"O Lord!" groaned he, as he threw himself at full length upon the forecastle.
"Poor fellow!" sighed Lily, who ran forward to see the sufferer as soon as he was hauled on board. "What can we do for him?"
"He needs rest. He is all worn out. He may have run for miles before he took to the water."
"Can't we give him something? There is some cold tea in the cabin."
"I will get him something," added Dan; and he ran aft and entered the cabin.
He returned in a moment with a bottle and a tumbler. The fugitive still lay upon the deck, panting and groaning like a dying gladiator after the mortal struggle of the arena. Freedom was worth the exertion he had made, though every fibre in his frame had been strained. He had manfully fought the battle, though without the interference of our party he would certainly have lost the day. Dan poured out a tumblerful of the wine whichthe bottle contained, and placed it at the lips of the sufferer. He eagerly drank off the draught, and sank back upon the deck.
"He will be better soon. He is all out of breath," said Dan, as he brought one of the cushions from the standing room and put it under the poor man's head.
"Gossifus!" shouted Cyd, who still retained his position at the helm, though his interest in the scene of the forward deck caused him to steer very badly. "Hossifus!" added he, in gasping tones; "de dogs! de dogs!"
"What's the matter, Cyd?" demanded Dan.
"De dogs! Dey done eat dis chile all up! Dey won't leabe de ghost ob a grease-spot luff of dis nigger!" cried Cyd, in mortal terror.
"Mind how you steer, then!" replied Dan, hastening to the assistance of his terrified companion. "Don't you see you have thrown her up into the wind, so that the sails don't draw a bit!"
"Mossifus! dis chile don't wan't to be food for de dogs."
"You will be, if you don't mind what you areabout," said Dan, as he took the tiller; and putting it up, the boat gathered fresh headway, and soon shot out of reach of the bloodhounds.
"Why don't you shoot de wicked dogs?"
"I don't want any more noise. I hate the dogs as bad as you do, but we must be careful," replied Dan. "Now, can you mind what you are about, and keep the sails full."
"Dis chile kin do dat, for sartin."
"If you don't the dogs will have you. Now, be careful, and I will go forward, and take care of the poor fellow, who is nearly dead. Watch the sails; never mind the dogs; they can't catch you, if you sail the boat properly."
"You kin trus dis chile for dat. Cyd isn't afeerd ob notin, only he don't want to be eat up by de wicked dogs."
Dan went forward, where Lily was bending over the panting runaway, rubbing his temples, and speaking sweet words of hope and comfort to him. In a short time he was in some measure recovered from the effects of his fearful struggle with the fate that beset him.
"I was sure I was caught, when I saw de boat," said he, as he raised himself to a sitting posture, and gazed with astonishment at those who had so singularly proved to be friends, instead of foes.
"Are there any men on your track?" asked Dan, who could not lose sight of the peril he had incurred by this Samaritan act.
"I speck dar is," replied he. "I hear dem off eber so far, but I don't see dem."
"Can they chase you on the lake?"
"I speck dey can. Dey'll get a boat and follor de dogs."
"Where are you from?" asked Lily.
"From Major Pembroke's plantation, 'bout ten mile from dese yere parts, I speck."
"How long since you run away?"
"I luff de place about tree days ago. I stay in de cane-brake till noon to-day, and git so hungry I could stan it no longer. Den I goes out to find someting to eat. Den somebody sees me, and dey follow me wid de dogs. I done kill two of dem dogs, and I kill de rest, but I hear de men coming, and I run for de lake. I speck, when I gitin de water, to frow de dogs off de scent, but dey git so near dey see and hear me. Dem's mighty fine nigger dogs, or dey never follor me into de water. I done gib it all up when I hear dem in de water arter me."
"Did you get any thing to eat when you went out of the cane-brake," asked Lily.
"No, missy; I got seen 'fore I find any ting."
"Poor fellow! Then you haven't had any thing to eat for three days?"
"Noting but leabes an de bark ob trees."
"I will give you some supper at once," said Lily, as she hastened to the cabin.
"Lily!" called Dan. "You mustn't light the lantern, or make a fire."
"Why not?"
"The light would betray us. The slave-hunters will soon be out in their boat after this man."
"I will not, then."
While Lily was engaged below, Dan provided the runaway with a suit of his own clothes, which were not much too small for him, as he was a man of medium stature. He then conducted him to thestanding room, for he was still too weak to walk without support. His supper was brought up, and he ate cold bacon and potatoes, bread and cheese, till the wondering Lily thought he would devour their whole stock of provisions, and till Dan kindly suggested that he would make himself sick if he ate any more.
While he was eating, Dan satisfied his curiosity in regard to the Isabel and the party on board of her. The runaway, whose name was Quin,—an abbreviation of Quincy,—listened with astonishment to the story of these elegant fugitives, who ran away in a yacht, and lived in a style worthy of a planter's mansion. No doubt he thought their experience was poetical and pretty, compared with his own, for his flight had been a death struggle with famine and flood, with man and brute.
In the mean time, the Isabel had run the dogs out of sight, and the waters in the direction from which she had just come were as still as death. No doubt the lake would be scoured in search of the fugitive; but for the present the party seemed to be secure from pursuit.
The boat was now approaching the northern shore of the lake, and it became necessary to tack. The wind held steady, but light; and Dan had but small hopes of being able to reach his destination before daylight. When every thing was made snug on the other tack, and there seemed to be no present danger ahead or astern, Cyd conducted Quin to one of the forward berths, and he turned in for the night. The runaway was evidently a very pious slave, and the young fugitives listened with reverend interest to the long prayer he offered up before he retired. It was a pæan of thanksgiving for his escape from the fangs of the slave-hunters. It was homely speech, but it was earnest and sincere, and those who listened were deeply impressed by its fervid simplicity.
Dan and Lily sat alone in the stern of the boat, for Cyd had been permitted to turn in with the runaway. They talked of freedom and the future for an hour, and then they were started by the sound of oars in the distance. The slave-hunters were on their track.
Though the Isabel carried all her extra sails, the wind was so light that she made very little progress through the water, and the sound of oars which indicated the approach of a boat was appalling to Dan. There could be no doubt that it contained the slave-hunters in pursuit of Quin; and the fate of the whole party seemed to be linked with that of the slave, who was sleeping in happy security in the cabin.
The schooner was close-hauled, and sailing as near the wind as she could; but Dan, as soon as he realized the peril of the situation, gave the boat a couple of points, which sensibly increased her speed. When he first heard the pursuer's boat, it was just abeam of the Isabel. His present course, therefore, carried him nearer to the boat for a time,but it was not safe to permit her to get to the windward of the Isabel, in that light breeze.
Dan was satisfied that, if he had been in the four-oar boat with his black crew, he could have overhauled the Isabel in a short time, if the two craft had been in the positions occupied by the pursuer and the pursued. The race depended entirely upon the character of the boat in which the slave-hunters had embarked.
Whatever the result of the pursuit, Dan was fully determined not to be taken himself, nor to permit his friends on board to be taken. With the arms in the cabin, he was confident that he could make a good defence. But the thought of taking the life, even of a slave-hunter, was terrible to him, though he had fully reasoned himself into the belief that such a course would be perfectly justifiable before God; and he cared little for the judgment of a slave-holding community. His Maker had given him the right to be free—had endowed him with the right to use his own bone and sinew for his own benefit and happiness; and the man or the community that attempted to deprive him of this rightcommitted a crime against God and him, and it was his duty to defend himself against this violation of his Heaven-given right.
He hoped, however, to be spared the pain of resorting to the use of arms. He prayed to God, with all the earnestness of an earnest nature, for more wind; for his creed, if he had any, was very simple, and included a belief in special providences. The boat of the slave-hunters was now not more than half a mile distant, and the chase had become intensely exciting to Dan and Lily, who alone were on deck. The trembling maiden could with difficulty maintain a reasonable self-possession. She was terrified as the panting hare when she feels the warm breath of the pursuing hound.
"We shall certainly be taken, Dan," said she, as she caught sight of the boat beneath the main boom of the schooner. "We are lost."
"No, Lily, not lost. You shall never be taken while I have a drop of blood left in my body," replied Dan, in a low and earnest tone.
"Why, they are ever so much nearer than they were when we first saw them."
"That is true; but it is only because I changed the course of the boat."
"Why did you change it, then?"
"Because, if I run her down into the corner of the lake, they can easily cut us off."
"I suppose you have done the best you could."
"There was no other way to do," answered Dan, as he glanced under the boom at the pursuer. "We shall soon know which boat goes the fastest now."
"I don't understand it at all," said Lily, whose knowledge of seamanship was very limited.
"You know the shape of the letter A?"
"I do."
"Well, that boat has been running up one leg of the A, and I have been running up the other; so, you see, we must be coming nearer together. I had to run this way in order to use the wind to the best advantage."
"But you will come together in this way in a few moments."
"No; we are as near now as we can be, unless that boat sails faster than we do. I shall continue to sail in a straight line, but I shall get ahead of theother if she does not change her course. She cannot cut me out now, at any rate."
Probably Lily was willing to talk of this subject to banish more painful thoughts from her mind, though it is not likely that she clearly comprehended the tactics of the skipper of the Isabel.
"Don't you think I had better call Cyd and Quin?" asked she, after she had again glanced at the position of the pursuing boat.
"No, let them sleep. We will not call them till it is necessary to do so," replied Dan.
"Do you think we can escape them?" asked she, anxiously.
"I cannot tell, Lily. I hope so. It depends entirely upon the wind. If the breeze should die out, of course we could make no progress at all."
"Do you think the wind will die out?" said she, nervously.
"I can't tell, Lily. I hope not, I pray not."
"Suppose it should die out, Dan?" added she, moving up nearer to the skipper.
"If we lose the wind there is nothing to prevent the boat from overtaking us at once."
"O, dear!" shuddered Lily, moving up still nearer to him who was her only earthly protector.
"Why do you tremble so, Lily?" asked Dan, as he took her hand and pressed it in his own, perhaps thinking that he might thus impart to her some of his own steadiness.
"Because I am so terribly frightened," replied she, with quivering lips. "I would rather die than be taken; and I have been thinking that I would throw myself into the lake if the boat catches us."
"You shall not be taken, Lily," said Dan, his lips compressed, and his teeth tightly closed, evincing the determination with which he had resolved to meet the slave-hunters, if they attempted to lay their polluting hands upon the gentle girl by his side.
"What can you do against such men as those?"
"I can fight, Lily; I would do so to save myself, but more to save you."
"O Heaven! If I should be taken! What would become of me?"
"No, no, Lily: don't take on so," said Dan, as he passed his arm around her waist—a familiarityin which he had never before indulged, but which was done only as a father clasps his child—to inspire her with more confidence, to assure her that she was in the care of one who was able and willing to save her from the dreadful fate that impended.
"I wish I could be brave as you are, Dan," said she, confidingly; for the expedient of her devoted friend seemed not to be without some effect. "You don't appear to be at all alarmed."
"Because I have firmly resolved not to be taken myself, and not to let you be taken."
"I suppose they only want Quin."
"They cannot have him. He is a fugitive, like ourselves, and I don't believe God would permit us to escape if we should wickedly abandon him."
"Nor I; we won't do that. We will all be taken together," said Lily, whose sympathy for the hunted runaway seemed, for the moment, to give her new courage.
"Do you suppose they know any thing about us?" asked she.
"Perhaps they do. I suppose Colonel Raybone has sent hunters in every direction for us, and has probably offered a reward."
"Then we shall certainly be taken," answered Lily, with a shudder.
"We will not be taken, Lily, whoever pursues us."
"Hallo! In the boat there!" shouted a man of the pursuing party.
The slave-hunters were now within less than a quarter of a mile of the Isabel, for they had been gaining upon her by a vigorous use of their oars. The boat which contained them was now exactly astern of the schooner.
"Hallo!" replied Dan, who, knowing that the men could not talk and row to the best advantage, was quite willing to converse with them.
"What boat's that?" shouted the spokesman of the slave-hunters.
"Captain Barrett's," replied Dan, whose virtue was not sufficiently developed to induce him to tell the truth in his present perilous situation.
"Where from?"
"Down below Brashear," answered Dan, whohad previously made up his mind what to say if any conversation with the pursuers should become necessary.
"What ye doin up here?"
"Came up with a party."
"Seen ary runaway nigger in the water?"
"No," shouted Dan, promptly.
The question filled him with hope, for it assured him the slave-hunters had not been near enough even to hear the report of the fowling-pieces when he fired them; or, at least, not near enough to discover who had fired them.
"Didn't ye see him?" asked the pursuers again.
"No."
"Gossifus! Wha—wha—wha—what's de matter?" demanded Cyd, rushing up from the cabin with Quin, both of them having been awakened from their slumbers by the voice of the skipper.
"Silence, Cyd!" said Dan, in a low, decided tone.
"Hush, Cyd!" added Lily, in a whisper. "Don't speak a word."
"Wha—wha—wha——"
"Hush, Cyd!" repeated Lily, who seemed, in the moment of danger, to be endowed with a self-possession at variance with her former timidity.
"Where you bound now?" called the slave-hunter.
"Home," replied Dan.
They asked no further questions for a time, and Dan saw, with a thrill of satisfaction, that they were lying upon their oars. He hoped that his answers had convinced them the runaway was not on board; but in this he was disappointed. He heard the men in the boat talking together, though he could not make out what they said. When the conference was ended, they renewed their efforts to overtake the Isabel.
"Hallo, the schooner!" shouted the spokesman again.
"Hallo, the boat," replied Dan.
"Heave to, and let us see you a minute."
"What for?"
"Want to talk with you."
"Can't stop."
"Guess ye kin. Heven't ye seen nary nigger?"
"No."
"Well, stop—won't ye?"
"Can't stop; must get home by sunrise."
"Well, ye must stop!" yelled the speaker, angrily, and with an oath.
"Hossifus!" groaned Cyd, in mortal terror.
"Shut up, Cyd," added Dan, sternly. "If you can't hold your tongue, I'll throw you overboard!"
"Possifus! Ugh! Wha—wha—wha——"
"Come, Cyd," interposed Quin, in a low tone, "don't make a noise. If you do, we shall all be lost."
"Dis chile's awful skeered. I done wish I hadn't come," replied Cyd, in a gentler tone; but the words trembled on his lips.
"Quin," said Dan.
"Sar," replied the fugitive, with a self-possession which thoroughly shamed the quaking Cyd.
"Take hold of the painter of the bateau, and haul it alongside."
"Yes, sar."
"Cyd, take hold and help him. Haul it up to the foremast, and take it on deck."
The order was obeyed, though Cyd, in his terror, was not able to render much assistance. The bateau was taken on deck to assist the sailing of the Isabel, and also to prevent the pursuers from seizing it, if they should unfortunately come near enough to do so.
"Stop your boat, I say," yelled the slave-hunter, after they had pulled for a few moments with the most determined zeal.
"Can't stop!" replied Dan.
"Stop her, or I'll fire into you!"
"Gossifus!" exclaimed Cyd, whose teeth were still chattering with fear.
Dan made no reply, and concluded not to answer any more questions.
"Are ye go'n to stop her?" demanded the pursuer. "I b'lieve you've got that nigger on board; and if ye don't heave to, I'll fotch ye up with a bullet."
"Bring up the guns, Cyd," said Dan, with forced coolness.
"Wha—wha—wha——"
"The guns!" said Dan, fiercely, as he stamped his foot upon the flooring to emphasize his meaning.
"Gossifus! I done think—" But Cyd disappeared in the cabin without giving those on deck the benefit of his thoughts.
"Now, Lily, you must go into your cabin. Lie down in your berth, for they may fire upon us," said Dan. "Don't be alarmed; there are only three men in that boat, and we can certainly beat them off."
"I will not leave you, Dan. I am not afraid of the bullets. I only fear——"
At that moment the report of a gun startled them, and the ball whistled close by Dan's head.
"Take the helm, Cyd, and mind how you steer!" said Dan, with earnestness, as he rose from his seat, and seized one of the guns.
"Hossifus!" exclaimed Cyd, aghast at the thought. "Wha—wha—wha——"
"Take the helm!" repeated the resolute skipper, with a decision which left no alternative for the boy.
"Possifus! Dis chile don't want to set dar, and be shooted."
"There is no more danger there than there is any where else. Take your place, and don't be a coward. If you want to be free, you must fight for it now."
"Golly! Dis nigger ain't afeered, but Cyd don't want to be shooted, kase you can't do widout Cyd."
But the trembling foremast hand took his place at the tiller. He continued to mutter to himself, as though he was repelling the charge of cowardice which had been fastened upon him.
"Come, Lily, you must go into your cabin now," added Dan, tenderly, as he turned to Lily. "This is no place for you."
"O, I'm not afraid of the guns, Dan; only of the slave-hunters, and I cannot hide myself from them."
"You may escape if you stay in the cabin, and you can do no good here. I shall feel better to know that you are in a place of safety."
"I'm not afraid, Dan; really, I am not," replied she, earnestly.
"But you are in our way here, Lily. Do go into your cabin, and lie down in your berth."
"I will if I am in the way."
"If we have to fight, it will be right here, and I am determined to resist to the last."
"I will go;" and Dan led her to the door of her cabin.
She entered, and threw herself upon the cushions of the berth, and Dan, satisfied that she was in aplace of comparative safety, turned his attention to the defence of his party.
"Can you handle a gun?" said he, turning to Quin, who appeared to be as cool and resolute as the skipper.
"Well, I done shoot some," replied Quin.
"Take a gun, then."
"Wha—wha—wha——" gasped Cyd.
"Silence, Cyd! Keep both eyes on the sails, or I'll put a bullet through your head. I didn't expect you would be a coward at such a time as this."
"Dis chile ain't a coward," answered Cyd, rising from his seat.
"Sit down, and mind your helm then!"
"Give me de gun, and I'll show you Cyd ain't no coward, no how."
"You never fired a gun in your life. You would be more likely to shoot yourself than any body else. Mind your helm; that's all we want of you."
"Possifus! Dis chile ain't no coward, no how," growled Cyd, as he cast his eyes at the sails. "Fire away dar, and show dese folks Cyd's no coward!"
"Gwine to fire into dem folks in de boat?" asked Quin.
"I am, if occasion requires," replied Dan, as he discharged the gun he held in his hand in the direction of the pursuers. "But I want to let them know that we are armed, and able to give as good as they send. I don't want to kill any of them if I can help it."
"I don't mind killin ob 'em; dat's what dey done do to me if dey gits a chance."
"Stop your boat!" shouted one of the men again; and it was evident, from the tones of the speaker, that the report of the gun from the Isabel was not altogether favorable to the views of the pursuers.
Dan made no reply, but loaded up his gun for further use.
"Stop your boat, or we'll fire into you again," shouted the speaker.
"If you do you will get as good as you send," answered Dan, as he put the cap upon his piece.
The reply was followed by another shot from the slave-hunters; but the ball whistled far above the heads of the fugitives. Dan took deliberate aim atthe boat, and fired, ordering Quin to do the same. So far as they could discover, neither of the shots took effect. From this time both parties kept up an occasional firing; but as the night was so dark, and the motion of the boats not favorable to a steady aim, no one in the Isabel was hit, and Dan and his companion were not aware of any different result to the other boat.
Cyd maintained his position at the helm with the steadiness of an old salt who had stood at the wheel in a hundred battles; and Dan, witnessing his improved demeanor, began to think his singular conduct had been the result of excitement rather than of timidity.
But one thing was painfully evident to all on board of the schooner—that the boat was gaining upon her, and that the wind was gradually dying out. There was no hope for them except in their own right arms. They must fight for liberty, fight for the rights which they had boldly reässumed. Dan and Quin were fully determined upon this course, and if they could bring Cyd up to a sense of duty on this trying emergency, there would be some chance of success.
As it was, the odds were against them. The pursuers were probably men accustomed to the use of arms, while all in the Isabel were, to say the least, very indifferent marksmen. Hitherto, they had fired at a dark mass on the water, for they could not distinguish the enemy in the gloom of the night, and the pursuers had been subject to the same disadvantage. A nearer approach to each other of the contending parties, would enable both to obtain a more accurate aim, and the work of death could not be much longer postponed.
"De wind's clean gone," said Cyd, as the heavy sails of the Isabel began to flap idly in the brails.
"Cyd, you must fight!" added Dan, earnestly.
"Possifus!" exclaimed Cyd, rising and seizing a boat-hook that lay on the quarter. "Dis chile will fight, for sartin."
"Good, Cyd! You are a brave fellow! You deserve to be free, and you shall be."
"Hossifus! Don't tell Cyd he's a coward, kase he ain't no such ting, no how."
"I didn't mean that, Cyd; and I take it all back," added Dan. "The boat has lost herheadway now. They will be upon us in a moment or two. Stand firm, Cyd, and break the head of any man that attempts to get into the boat."
"Yes, sar! Dat's jus what I'se gwine to do. I'll broke de head ob any nigger-hunter dat's gwine to come in dis boat, for sartin."
"Now, stoop down both of you, and let them fire over our heads as they come up."
Dan crouched down in the bottom of the Isabel, with the gun ready for use when the decisive moment should arrive; Quin and Cyd did the same, and the intrepid skipper proceeded to give them such instructions for repelling the assault as the occasion required. All of them were to keep their places till the pursuers were close alongside, when the four guns, which were ready for use, were to be discharged. They hoped this would be sufficient to drive them off. If it should not, a fifty-six pound weight, taken from the ballast in the run, was to be pitched into the boat, as she came alongside, which would break out a hole in its bottom, and sink it before the enemy could get on board; Cyd was then to do duty with his boat-hook, and the others with similar weapons.
The slave-hunters showed some hesitation in boarding the schooner. The guns which had been fired from her had undoubtedly inspired them with a proper respect for those on board of her. The Isabel lay with her sails hanging loosely from the gaffs for half an hour, and still the enemy did not come up to her.
"We's gwine to hab a shower," said Quin.
"And a squall too, I'm afraid," added Dan, as he cast his eyes anxiously over the rail, to observe a pile of dense black clouds, which had suddenly rolled up the midnight sky.
"Whar's de boat?" asked Cyd.
"She lies off here only a little way from us. If she will only keep still till we can get a breeze, we shall be all right."
"Let 'em come on; dis chile's all ready for 'em," replied Cyd.
"Have you got over being scared?"
"Never was skeered."
"You said you were."
"Cyd's only jokin den. I done feel so kinder stirred up. I done want to holler—make de nigger feel good."
"Hush! They are coming!" exclaimed Dan, whose quick eye detected a stealthy movement on the part of the boat.
"Hallo! In the boat, thar," shouted the slave-hunter.
"Well. What do you want?"
"We're go'n to come on board of yer."
"No, you are not. You are all dead men if you attempt it."
"What do you want to shoot us fur? We ain't a go'n to hurt yer."
"You fired first, you infernal chicken thieves! We know what you are," replied Dan, who thought it best to class them with these depredators—men who frequent the western and southern rivers, plundering boats or houses, as opportunity presents.
"We ain't no chicken thieves."
"Keep off. We know you," repeated Dan.
This conversation was followed by another pause, during which the careful skipper had another opportunity to examine the weather indications. They were decidedly unfavorable. It was probable that a squall, if not a tornado, would soon burst uponthem, and he deemed it prudent, even at the risk of being shot, to haul down the jib-topsail, the staysail, and the gaff-topsails. This he succeeded in doing; but he had scarcely finished the job, without giving himself time to stow the extra sails, before he saw the boat of the pursuers dashing rapidly towards the Isabel. The slave-hunters had at last made up their minds what to do. They meant to risk the encounter.
Just then a sharp flash of lightning illumined the lake, followed by the muttering thunder. A few fitful flashes of lightning had before glared on the gloomy scene; but now it gleamed fiercely from the sombre clouds, and the heavy thunder rolled an almost incessant peal.
"Ready! Ready, now!" said Dan, earnestly, as he sighted his gun at the trio in the boat, which the lightning plainly revealed to him.
"All ready," replied Quin.
"Now give it to them," said Dan, as he discharged his gun, and grasped another.
Quin did the same. The pursuers' boat was not more than ten rods from them, but, from the wantof skill in the marksmen, the discharge proved harmless.
"Put in! Put in!" yelled one of the slave-hunters. "Never mind their firing. They can't hit nothing."
Dan and Quin fired again.
"I'm hit!" roared one of the enemy, with a horrible oath. "Don't go no furder."
"Keep her a goin!" replied another. "We'll fix 'em in a minute now."
The boat dashed up towards the Isabel; but Dan, as soon as he had fired, leaped from his place, and seizing the fifty-six pound weight, plumped it full into the bottom of the boat. The fugitives heard the pine boards crash, as the weight broke its way through, and went to the bottom of the lake.
"Stand by, now!" shouted Dan, as he seized his club, and dealt a heavy blow upon the head of the slave-hunter who was in the act of leaping on board the schooner.
"We're sinkin!" cried another of them; and the gunwale of the bateau in which they sailed was nearly submerged.
THE BATTLE FOR FREEDOM.THE BATTLE FOR FREEDOM. Page 162.
THE BATTLE FOR FREEDOM. Page 162.
They had no time to act upon the aggressive; it was all they could do to secure their own safety. Just then, the expected squall struck the Isabel, and though Dan had before cast off all the sheets, she careened over till the water flowed into the standing room. Her watchful skipper sprung to the helm, and in an instant she righted partially, and darted forward like a steed pricked with the spur.
"We are safe!" exclaimed Dan, as Lily rushed from her cabin, startled by the exciting events which had just transpired.