"Yas, sah; looks like de whol" house was lit up. I reckon things am right lively up thar "bout now." He chuckled to himself, smothering a laugh. "It"s sure goin" fer ter bother Ma.s.sa Donaldson ter lose dis n.i.g.g.e.r, sah, fer Ah"s de only one he"s got."
The lights slowly faded away in the far distance, finally disappearing altogether as we rounded a sharp bend in the river bank. The engine increased its stroke, giving vent to louder chugging, and I could feel the strain of the planks beneath us as we battled the current. This new noise may have aroused her, for Rene lifted her head as though suddenly startled and glanced about in my direction.
"We have pa.s.sed the village?" she asked, rather listlessly.
"Yes; it is already out of sight. From the number of lights burning I imagine our escape has been discovered."
"And what will they do?" an echo of dismay in her voice.
All fear of any treachery on the part of the negro had completely deserted me, and I slipped down from my perch on the edge of the c.o.c.kpit to a place on the bench at her side. She made no motion to draw away, but her eyes were upon my face, as though seeking to read the meaning of my sudden action.
"We can talk better here," I explained. "The engine makes so much noise."
"Yes; and--and somehow I--I feel more like trusting you when I am able to see your face," she admitted frankly. "I am actually afraid to be alone."
"I have felt that this was true from the first. Indeed, I seriously wonder at the trust you have reposed in me--a total stranger."
"But--but how could I help it? Have I been unwomanly? I think I scarcely know what I have done. I could very easily have told what was right in the old days; but--but surely you understand--this was not to be decided by those rules. I was no longer free. Do you mean that you blame me for what has been done?"
"Far from it. You have acted in the only way possible. To me you are a wonderfully brave woman. I doubt if one in a thousand could have faced the situation as well."
"Oh I can hardly feel I have been that. It seems to me I have shown myself strangely weak--permitting you to do exactly as you pleased with me. Yet you do not understand; it has not been wholly my own peril which caused me to surrender so easily."
"But I think I do understand--it was partly a sacrifice for others."
"In a way, yes, it was; but I cannot explain more fully, even to you, now. Yet suppose I make this sacrifice, and it fails; suppose after all they should fall into the hands of these men?"
"I will not believe that," I protested, stoutly. "I feel convinced they had warning--there is no other way in which to account for their disappearance, their failure to return to the house. They must have encountered Pete and gone away with him."
"If I only knew that."
"Perhaps we can a.s.sure ourselves; we can go ash.o.r.e at his place up the river, and if his boat is gone, there will be no longer any doubt. In any case, it is clearly your duty to save yourself."
"Do you really think so? It has seemed to me cowardly to run away."
"But, Rene," I urged. "They were the ones who deserted first. If they had warning of danger, they fled without a word to you--leaving you alone in the hands of those men."
"They--they, perhaps they failed to realize my peril. Oh you cannot see this as I do," she faltered, endeavoring to conjure up some excuse.
"They may have thought they could serve me best in that way."
I laughed, but not in any spirit of humor.
"Hardly that, I imagine. Far more likely they fled suddenly in a panic of fear, without pausing to think at all. Why, you were the very one whose danger was the greatest; you were the one plunged into slavery."
"Yes--yes; I had forgotten that. Never for a moment does it seem real to me. I have to keep saying over and over again to myself, "I am a negro and a slave.""
"And so do I," I confessed, unthinkingly. "And even then, when I remember you as I first saw you in that lighted room back yonder, it is unbelievable."
Her eyes fell from my face, her head drooping, as she stared over the rail at the sullen rush of black water alongside. She remained silent and motionless for so long that I felt impelled to speak again, yet before I could decide what to say, her voice addressed me, although with face still averted.
"Yes, it is indeed most difficult--for both of us," she acknowledged, slowly. "We are in an extremely embarra.s.sing position. You must not think I fail to realize this. It would be comparatively easy for me to choose my course but for that. I do not know why you serve me thus--risking your very life and your professional future--but neither of us must forget, not for a moment, that I am only a runaway slave. I can only consent to go with you, Lieutenant Knox, if you promise me this."
I hesitated to make the pledge, to put it into binding words, my lips pressed tightly together, my hands clinched. Feeling the rebuke of my silence, she turned her head once more, and her questioning eyes again sought my face in the star-gleam.
"You must promise me," she insisted, firmly, although her sensitive lips trembled as she gave utterance to the shameful words. "I am nothing else. I am no white woman of your own race and cla.s.s appealing for protection. I cannot ask of you the courtesy a gentleman naturally gives; I can only beg your mercy. I am a negress--you must not forget, and you must not let me forget. If you will give me your word I shall trust you, fully, completely. But it must be given. There is no other way by which I can accept your protection; there can be no equality between us--only an impa.s.sable barrier of race."
"But I do not see this from the same viewpoint as you of the South."
"Oh yes, you do. The viewpoint is not so dissimilar; not in the same degree, perhaps, but no less truly. You believe in my right of freedom; you will even fight for that right, but at the same time you realize as I do, that the one drop of black blood in my veins is a bar sinister, now and forever. It cannot be overcome; it must not be forgotten. You will pledge me this?"
"Yes--I pledge you."
"And, in spite of that drop of black blood, as long as we are together, you will hold me a woman, worthy of respect and honor? Not a creature, a chattel, a plaything?"
"Will you accept my hand?"
"Yes."
"Then I will answer you, Rene Beaucaire," I said, soberly, "with all frankness, black or white I am your friend, and never, through any word or act of mine, shall you ever regret that friendship."
Her wide-open eyes gazed straight at me. It seemed as if she would never speak. Then I felt the tightening pressure of her hand, and her head bent slowly forward as though in the instinct of prayer.
"Thank G.o.d!" she whispered softly. "Now I can go with you."
I waited breathless, conscious of the trembling of her body against mine. Once again the bowed head was lifted, and this time a sparkle of unshed tears were visible in the shadowed eyes.
"You have not yet explained to me what we were to do? Your plans for tomorrow?"
"Because I scarcely have any," I replied, comprehending that now she claimed partnership in this adventure. "This has all occurred so suddenly, I have only acted upon impulse. No doubt those back at the Landing will endeavor to pursue us; they may have discovered already our means of escape and procured boats. My princ.i.p.al hope is that they may take it for granted that we have chosen the easier way and gone down stream. If so we shall gain so much more time to get beyond their reach. Anyway we can easily out-distance any rowboat, and Sam tells me there is nothing else to be had at the Landing."
"But why have you chosen the northern route? Surely you had a reason?"
"Certainly; it was to deceive them and get out of slave territory as quickly as possible. There are friends in this direction and none in the other. If we should endeavor to flee by way of the Ohio, we would be compelled to run a thousand-mile gauntlet. There are slaves in Illinois--it has never been declared a free state--but these are held almost exclusively in the more southern counties. North of the river the settlers are largely from New England, and the majority of them hate slavery and are ready to a.s.sist any runaway to freedom."
"But you have spoken of a man--Amos Shrunk--who is he?"
"You have certainly heard rumors, at least, that there are regular routes of escape from here to Canada?"
"Yes; it has been discussed at the house. I have never clearly understood, but I do know that slaves disappear and are never caught.
I was told white men helped them."
"It is accomplished through organized effort by these men--Black Abolitionists, as they are called--haters of slavery. They are banded together in a secret society for this one purpose and have what they call stations scattered all along at a certain distance apart--a night"s travel--from the Mississippi to the Canadian line, where the fugitives are hidden and fed. The runaways are pa.s.sed from one station to the next under cover of darkness, and are seldom recaptured. A station keeper, I am told, is only permitted to know a few miles of the route, those he must cover--the system is perfect, and many are engaged in it who are never even suspected."
"And this man, is he one?"
"Yes, a leader; he operates the most dangerous station of all. The escaping slaves come to him first."
"And he pa.s.ses them on to the next man--do you know who?"