I stopped still, crouching low, my heart leaping into my throat, and every nerve tingling.
"No, it sure don"t, Tim," replied another, and the fellow apparently got down from off his perch on the porch rail. "Yer see Kirby is bound he"ll get hold o" them two missin" females furst, afore he"ll let me round up the n.i.g.g.e.rs."
"But yer told him yer wouldn"t round the n.i.g.g.e.rs up, an" stow "em away in the boat."
"Not till I get service on the young lady. It wouldn"t do no good."
"Whut"s the idee?"
"d.a.m.ned if I know exactly. All I know is whut I kin do accordin" ter law, an" whut I can"t. The papers is all straight "nough, but they"ve got ter be served afore we kin lay hands on a d.a.m.ned thing. The Jedge tol" me fer ter do everything just as Kirby sed, an" I aim ter do it, but just the same I got ter keep inside the law. I reckon thar"s a hitch sumwhar", but thet"s none o" my business. Kirby is liberal "nough with his money, an" I dunno as it makes much difference when we strike the ol" town."
""Tain"t so much that, Sheriff. I kin stan" it fer ter be up all night, but Bill wus tellin" me we might hav" som" trouble down ter the Landin" unless we finished up our job yere afore mornin"."
"Oh, I reckon not; whut was it Bill said?"
"Quite a rigmarole frum furst ter last. Giv" me a light fer the pipe, will yer?"
There was a flare above me, and then darkness once more, and then the slow drawl of the man"s voice as he resumed. "Some feller by the name ov McAdoo, down ter Saint Louee, who"s just com" down frum the lead mines, tol" him thet Joe Kirby got all this yere property in a game o"
kyards on the boat, an" thet it wan"t no square game either. I didn"t git it all straight, I reckon, but accordin" ter the deal handed me thar wus two dead men mixed up in the affair--Beaucaire, an" a young army offercer. Seems ter me his name wus Knox."
"I didn"t hear that."
"Well, enyhow, that"s the way Bill told it. Beaucaire he naturally fell dead--heart, er som"thin"--an" the other feller, this yere army man, he went out on deck fer ter see Kirby, an" he never c.u.m" back.
McAdoo sorter reckoned as how likely he wus slugged, an" throwed overboard. An" then, on top" all that, we"re sent up yere in the night like a pa.s.sel o" thieves ter take these n.i.g.g.e.rs down ter Saint Louee.
What do yer make ov it, Jake?"
"Wal," said the other slowly, his mouth evidently loaded with tobacco, "I ain"t never asked no questions since I wus made sheriff. I"m doin"
whut the court says. h.e.l.l! thar"s trouble "nough in this job without my b.u.t.tin" in on other people"s business. But this is how it stacks up ter me. Kirby"s got the law on his side--no doubt "bout that--but I reckon as how he knows it wus a d.a.m.n mean trick, and so he"s sorter skeered as ter how them fellers livin" down ter the Landin" might act.
Thar"s a lawyer thar named Haines, as sharp as a steel trap, who tended ter all the ol" Jedge"s business, an" Joe he don"t wanter run foul o"
him. Thet"s why we tied up ter the sh.o.r.e below town, in the mouth o"
thet crick, an" then hed ter hoof it up yere in the dark. Of course we got the law with us, but we wanter pull this job off an" not stir up no fight--see?"
"Sure," disgustedly. "I reckon I know all that; I heerd the Jedge tell yer how we wus ter do the job. But why"s Kirby in such a sweat ter git all these n.i.g.g.e.rs down ter Saint Louee?"
"Ter sell "em, an" git the cash. Onct they"re outer the way there won"t be no row. He"ll let the land yere lie idle fer a year or two, an" by that time n.o.body"ll care a whoop how he got it. But he"s got ter git rid o" them n.i.g.g.e.rs right away."
"Well, who the h.e.l.l"s goin" ter prevent? They"re his"n, ain"t they?
Thar ain"t no Black Abolitionists "round yere, I reckon. I never know"d yer had ter run off your own n.i.g.g.e.rs in the night, so"s ter sell "em down South. My Gawd, is this yere Mussury!"
"Seems sorter queer ter me," admitted the sheriff, "but I did get a little outer that feller Carver comin" up. He"s a close-mouthed cuss, an" didn"t say much, but puttin" it with what yer just told me, I reckon I kin sorter figger it out. Carver is som" sorter partner with Kirby--a capper I reckon--an" enyhow he had a hand in that kayrd game.
"Tain"t the n.i.g.g.e.rs thet are makin" the trouble--leastways not the black "uns. n.o.body"s likely ter row over them. It seems that Beaucaire kept a quadroon housekeeper, a slave, o" course, an" a while back she giv" birth ter a child, the father o" the infant bein" Judge Beaucaire"s son. Then the son skipped out, an" ain"t ever bin heard frum since--dead most likely, fer all this wus twenty years ago.
"Course the child, which wus a girl, is as white as I am--maybe more so. I ain"t never set eyes on her, but Carver he says she"s d.a.m.n good lookin". Enyhow the Jedge he brought her up like his own daughter, sent her ter school in Saint Louee, an" n.o.body "round yere even suspected she wus a n.i.g.g.e.r. I reckon she didn"t know it herself."
"The h.e.l.l you say."
"Yes, but that ain"t all o" it. I don"t know how it happened--maybe he forgot, er put it off too long, er aimed ter git revenge--but, it seems, he never executed no paper freein" either her or her mother."
"Yer mean the girl"s still a slave?"
"Yer bet! That"s the law, ain"t it?"
"And Kirby knew about this?"
"I reckon he did. I sorter judge, Tim, frum whut Carver sed, that he wus more anxious fer ter git thet girl than all the rest o" the stuff; an" it"s her he wants ter git away frum yere on the dead quiet, afore Haines er any o" them others down at the Landin" kin catch on."
"They couldn"t do nuthin"; if thar ain"t no papers, then she"s his, accordin" ter law. I"ve seen that tried afore now."
"Of course; but what"s the use o" runnin" eny risk? A smart lawyer like Haines could make a h.e.l.l ov a lot o" trouble just the same, if he took a notion. That"s Kirby"s idee--ter c.u.m" up yere in a boat, unbeknownst to enybody, tie up down thar at Saunders", an" run the whole bunch o" n.i.g.g.e.rs off in the night. Then it"s done an" over with afore the Landin" even wakes up. I reckon the Jedge told him that wus the best way."
There was a moment of silence, the first man evidently turning the situation over in his mind. The sheriff bent across the rail, and spat into the darkness below.
"The joke of it all is," he continued, with a short laugh, as he straightened up, "this didn"t exactly work out "cordin" ter schedule.
When we dropped in yere we rounded up the n.i.g.g.e.rs all right, an" we got the girl whar there"s no chance fer her ter git away--"
"Is that the one back in the house?"
"I reckon so; leastways she tol" Kirby her name was Rene Beaucaire, an"
that"s how it reads in the papers. But thar ain"t no trace ov her mother, ner ov the Jedge"s daughter. They ain"t in the house, ner the n.i.g.g.e.r cabins. Whar the h.e.l.l they"ve gone, I don"t know, an" the girl won"t tell. Leaves me in a deuce ov a fix, fer I can"t serve no papers less we find the daughter. Her name"s Eloise; she"s the heir et law, an" I ain"t got no legal right fer ter take them n.i.g.g.e.rs away till I do. Looks ter me like they"d skipped out."
"Maybe som"body blowed the whole thing."
"I dunno who it wud be. Then whut did they leave thet girl behind fer?
She"d most likely be the furst ter run--thar"s Kirby an" Carver, a comin" now, an" they"re alone; ain"t got no trace ov "em, I reckon."
Where I crouched in the shadows I could gain no glimpse of the approaching figures, but I heard the crunch of their boots on the gravel of the driveway, and a moment later the sound of their feet as they mounted the wooden steps. Kirby must have perceived the forms of the other men as soon as he attained the porch level, and his naturally disagreeable voice had a snarly ring.
"That you, Donaldson? Have either of those women come back?"
"No," and I thought the sheriff"s answer was barely cordial. "We ain"t seen n.o.body. What did you learn down at the Landin"?"
"Nothing," savagely. "Haven"t found a d.a.m.n trace, except that Haines hasn"t been home since before dark; some n.i.g.g.e.r came for him then. Is that girl safe inside?"
"Sure; just as you left her, but she won"t talk. Tim tried her again, but it"s no use; she wudn"t even answer him."
"Well, by G.o.d! I"ll find a way to make her open her mouth. She knows where those two are hiding. They haven"t had no time to get far away, and I"ll bring her to her senses before I am through. Come on, Carver; I"ll show the wench who"s master here, if I have to lick her like a common n.i.g.g.e.r."
The front door opened, and closed, leaving the two without standing in silence, the stillness between them finally broken by a muttered curse.
CHAPTER X
A GIRL AT BAY
I drew back hastily, but in silence, eager to get away before the sheriff and his deputy should return to their seats by the porch rail.
My original plan of warning the women of the house of their peril was blocked, completely overturned by the presence of these men. The situation had thus been rendered more complicated, more difficult to solve, and I could only act on impulse, or as guided by these new conditions. Beyond all question, those I had hoped to serve were already aware of their position--someone had reached them before me--and two, at least, were already in hiding. Why the third, the one most deeply involved, had failed to accompany the others, could not be comprehended. The mystery only made my present task more difficult.
Could the others have fled and deliberately left her to her fate? Had some mistake been made? or had some accident led to their absence, and her falling into the inhuman clutches of Kirby? Why should Delia, the slave, disappear in company with Eloise, the free, and leave her own daughter Rene behind to face a situation more terrible than death? I could not answer these questions; but, whatever the cause, the result had been the complete overthrow of the gambler"s carefully prepared plans. Not that I believed he would hesitate for long, law or no law; but Donaldson, the sheriff, refused to be a party to any openly illegal act, and this would for the present tie the fellow"s hands. Not until Miss Eloise was found and duly served with the eviction papers would Donaldson consent to take possession of a single slave. This might still give me time for action.