"Eloise, you mean? Did the fellow threaten her?"
"Here is what he said sneeringly, you can judge yourself what he meant, "She"s worth fifty thousand dollars by her mother"s will, and I intend to win her if I can, fair means or foul.""
Haines did not speak for some moments, his eyes on my face. Then he paced back and forth across the floor, finally stopping before the fire.
"This is as near h.e.l.l as anything I ever knew," he said, "and so far as I can see there is no legal way out of it. We are utterly helpless to a.s.sist."
"We are not," I answered hotly, "if we are men. There may be no legal way in which we can beat this villain, but there is an illegal one, unless we are already too late, and I propose to use it, whether you join me or not."
"You have a plan? What is it?"
"The only one feasible. I thought of its possibility before on the boat, when a suspicion of this situation first came to me. You are sure the girls are still at the plantation house? that they know nothing of this condition?"
"I have reason to believe so. Delia was buying provisions at the Landing yesterday; I talked with her a moment."
"And you said that Kirby and Carver were only in town for one night, leaving the next morning on a keel-boat for St. Louis. Probably they did not visit the plantation at all, unless it was to scout around. My idea is they were not quite ready to take possession; that they have gone to St. Louis to file the papers, and will come back with officers prepared to execute them. This means that we must work fast to get out of their way."
"What do you propose doing?"
"Let me ask a question first. Is it true that Eloise Beaucaire is heiress to fifty thousand dollars through her mother"s estate?"
"Yes, I invested most of it."
"In what?"
"New Orleans property princ.i.p.ally."
"Then it is safe enough whatever happens. The only thing we can do is this: Tell those girls and the mother the whole truth--tell them at once, before Kirby can return, and then help them to get out of this country. It is not necessary for Eloise to go, unless she desires to, but there is no other safe course for Delia and Rene. They must reach a northern state before Kirby can lay hands on them. Could Delia pa.s.s for a white woman?"
"Not in the South; still she could travel as Rene"s maid. But I do not believe it is possible for the two to escape in that way, Knox.
Understand I"d be willing to risk it if there were any show. How can it be done? On the average at this time of year there isn"t a steamboat along here once a month. If we did get them onto a boat they would have to travel straight south as far as the Ohio. Kirby wouldn"t be more than a day or two behind them, with friends on every boat on the river. Illinois is no free state for fugitive slaves--they might just as well be caught in Missouri as over there. There is not one chance in a thousand that they make it."
"And less than that, if they remain here for Kirby to get his hands on," I retorted bitterly. "Now look here, Haines. I am going to carry out this plan alone, if you will not back me in it. I am not talking about steamboats; they could travel by night, and hide along sh.o.r.e during the day. All they would need would be two negro oarsmen, sufficient food, and a boat big enough to carry them safely. You have small boats, surely?"
"I got one, Ma.s.sa Knox," burst out Pete eagerly. "She"s down by de mouth ob de creek, sah, an" she sure am a mighty good boat. We could load her up right here, an" I"d be one ob de n.i.g.g.e.rs fer ter take dem ladies down ribber. I"se a free boy, an" n.o.body care whar I done go."
These unexpected words heartened me, strengthened my own resolve, and I obeyed the first impulse, instantly crossing the room and frankly extending my hand to the surprised negro.
"That sounds like a man, Pete," I exclaimed warmly. "Yes, of course I mean it--shake hands. You are white enough for me, boy, and I do not propose letting you do any more than I am willing to do. I"ll go along with you on this trip. I have sixty days furlough."
I turned and faced the lawyer, my mind firmly settled on the scheme, and determined upon carrying it out instantly.
"And now, what about you, Haines?" I demanded. "Are you ready to help?
Come, man, surely this is not something we have any time to debate.
Kirby is liable to show up at any moment with full authority, and the sheriff to back him. It is still early in the evening and we must work tonight, if at all."
"You haven"t the strength for such a venture," he protested.
"Haven"t I?" and I laughed. "Oh, yes I have. I am young and this wound is nothing. I may be a bit stiff in the shoulder for a few days, but I can pull an oar with one hand. That never will stop me. Are you with us?"
He was slow in replying, and, as I eagerly watched his face, I could almost comprehend the working of the lawyer mind. He saw and argued every doubt, considered every danger.
"In spirit, yes," he answered at last, "but not physically. I believe under the circ.u.mstances you are justified, Knox. Perhaps I"d do the same thing if I was in your place and had your youth behind me. But I am a lawyer, fifty years old, and this is my home. If the story ever got out that I took part in n.i.g.g.e.r stealing, that would be the end of me in Missouri. As you say, you are a young man, and I reckon you were not brought up in the South either. That makes a difference. You can take the risk, but about all I can do will be to keep a quiet tongue in my head. n.o.body will ever learn what has happened through me--I"ll promise you that. But that is all I can promise."
"Yet you acknowledge this is the only way? No legal course is open to us?"
"Absolutely none. If there was I should never consent to be a party to this plan, or shield you in any way. Kirby has undoubtedly got the law with him. We cannot establish fraud; the property actually belongs to him--both mother and daughter are his slaves."
"And how about the other girl--Eloise?"
"He has no legal hold on her; she is a free white woman. He could only hope to overcome her resistance by threats. The plantation is irrevocably lost to the Beaucaires, but she possesses the power to defy him because of her mother"s property. If Kirby marries her, it will only be through her consent."
He picked up his hat from the table, and a stout stick he had brought along with him, taking a step toward the door.
"I might as well tell you I consider this a mad scheme," he paused to add gravely, "and that it will probably fail. There is a possible chance of success, I admit, and for that reason I permit you to go ahead with it, and pledge myself to keep the secret. I was rather intimately a.s.sociated with Beaucaire for a number of years, and to see his granddaughter sold into slavery, even if she does have a drop of n.i.g.g.e.r blood in her veins, is more than I can stand, without giving her a chance to get away. That is why I consent to abet a crime, and keep still about it. But beyond that I"ll not go. I am a southerner, Knox; my father owned slaves. I believe in the system, and have always upheld it. n.o.body in Missouri hates a Black Abolitionist worse than I do; if anyone had ever said I would help a n.i.g.g.e.r run away, I"d call him a liar in a minute. Do you understand the position this d.a.m.ned affair puts me into?"
"Yes, I do, Haines," and I held out my hand to him, with fresh cordiality. "It is uncommonly white of you to even go that far. On the other hand I was brought up to despise slavery. I"ll pledge you this--for Pete here, as well as myself--that if we are caught, your name shall never be mentioned. Have you any advice to give?"
He paused uncertainly, his hand on the latch, the firelight flashing up into his face.
"Only this," he said slowly. "If I were you I"d never attempt to go south. Below St. Louis boats are numerous, and you would be almost certain to be discovered. If Kirby chases you--and I know him well enough to be sure he will--he will naturally take it for granted that you have headed for the Ohio. The very fact that the fugitives are women would convince him of this. To my mind the one chance of your getting away, lies to the north--up the Illinois."
"That thought was in my mind also," I admitted, thoroughly satisfied now that he was really friendly, and to be trusted. "I have been told that the settlers north of that stream came mostly from New England--is that true?"
"To a large extent. We have reason to believe there is an underground road in operation from the river to Canada, and many a runaway n.i.g.g.e.r makes the trip every year. That ought to be your best course, but there is no time now to put the women in the care of those men. Of course I don"t know who they are--perhaps Pete does?"
"No, sah," protested the black quickly. ""Pears like I never heerd tell "bout dem. I"se a free n.i.g.g.e.r, sah."
The lawyer"s shrewd eyes twinkled.
"And that is exactly why, you black rascal, I believe you really do know. I reckon, Knox, he"ll tell you what he wouldn"t tell me.
Anyhow, good luck to you both, and good night."
The door closed behind him, and the negro and I were alone. All at once I realized the desperate nature of this adventure I had undertaken, and its possible consequences. Haines" words had driven it home to my mind, causing me to comprehend the viewpoint of this neighborhood, the hatred men felt for a n.i.g.g.e.r-stealer, and what my fate would be if once caught in the act. Yet the die was already cast; I had pledged myself to action; was fully committed to the attempted rescue of Rene Beaucaire, and no thought of any retreat once occurred to me. I opened the door cautiously, glancing out into the night, to thus a.s.sure myself we were alone, closed it again, and came back. The negro still remained seated on the edge of the bed, digging his toes into the hard earth of the floor.
"Pete," I began earnestly. "You trust me, don"t you? You do not suspect me of being any slave-hunter?"
"No, sah, Ma.s.sa Knox, I ain"t "feared o" yer--yers one o" dem down-easterners."
"Well, not exactly that. I came from a slave state, but my family is of New England blood and breeding. I am just as much your friend as though you were white. Now you and I have got a hard job before us."
"Yas, sah, we sure has."
"And the first thing we have got to do, is to trust each other. Now I am going to ask you a question--is that the best way for us to go, up the Illinois?"
He was slow to answer, evidently turning the whole matter over in his mind. I waited impatiently, feeling the delay to be a serious loss of time.
"Well then, let me put this differently. Have you ever a.s.sisted any slaves to run away from Missouri?"