Lily related the incident which had transpired while her companions were asleep below; but Dan could hardly believe so strange a story, and insisted that she must have dropped asleep and dreamed it.
"I know I was not asleep."
"Why didn"t you call me?"
"I was afraid that some noise might attract the attention of the slave-hunters, and I deferred it till I was sure they would discover us.
Then I was creeping on the floor, so that they should not see me, to the cabin, when I fainted."
"Hossifus!" gasped Cyd, appalled at the narrow escape of the party.
"Don"t you believe me, Dan? I am very sure I was not asleep," added Lily, earnestly.
Dan was compelled to believe the story, and he shuddered as he thought of the peril that had menaced them while they were all so helpless.
Though he concluded that it was not safe to trust Lily on the watch, he did not utter a word of reproof to her for not calling him sooner.
"You think I did wrong, Dan, not to call you. I know you do, though you will not blame me."
"I can"t help thinking what might have happened if the slave-hunters had found us while we were all asleep," replied Dan, seriously. "But I will not blame you, Lily."
"The slave-hunters did not find us. I think it was all for the best, Dan, that I fainted."
"Indeed?"
"If I had waked you and Cyd, you might have made a noise that would have exposed us," answered Lily, very solemnly. "I think it was the good G.o.d that took my strength away in order to preserve us all."
"It may be; but I had rather be awake when there is any danger."
"If you had been awake, you might have been shot; and then what would have become of us?"
Lily was fully satisfied that her fainting was a special providence, which had saved them all from capture or death. Dan was not so clear upon this point, and resolved never to sleep again when there was a possibility of an attack.
For several weeks after these exciting incidents, all the fugitives confined themselves to the Isabel and the islands on either side of her. Indeed, between Dan and Cyd, it was about enough for them to do the necessary work, and keep "watch and watch" during the day and night. As nothing more was seen or heard of the slave-hunters, they concluded that the search had been abandoned, and they soon ceased to dread their approach. Dan ventured to hunt again, and every thing went off as before, though all the party missed Quin very much.
The autumn pa.s.sed away; the winter came, and then the spring. If our s.p.a.ce would permit us to record the daily life of the young fugitives while they remained in the swamp, it would, no doubt, be interesting to our readers; and for their sake, no less than for our own, we regret that our limits do not admit of this lengthened narrative. They had many trials from cold and storms, from high water in the bayous and low water in the casks, from alligators and buzzards; but they lived through it all. Lily was sick a fortnight, and Dan a week; their fuel gave out in the coldest of the weather; and an alligator bit off the heel of Cyd"s boots; and a hundred other events occurred which would bear an extended recital; but we turn from them, with regret, to the closing events in the career of the young fugitives.
With the high water in April, Dan and Cyd went to work, in the most vigorous manner, to prepare the Isabel for the uncertain sea voyage which was before her. After a month of hard labor she was rigged, the sails bent, her water casks filled, a supply of fuel put in the fore hold, and the remaining stores conveniently stowed for the cruise.
On the fifteenth of May every thing was in readiness; the obstructions in the channel were removed; and at sunset, with a smashing breeze, the Isabel hauled out of the channel, and commenced her voyage.
CHAPTER XXI.
DOWN THE LAKE.
At the period of which we write, the railroad through the Teche country had not been constructed, and the population was very spa.r.s.ely scattered over this region. Most of the available land, however, was occupied; but, of course, none of the little villages which spring up around railroad stations, and which, in the course of years, grow into large towns and cities, had yet appeared.
With many doubts and fears in regard to the future, the young fugitives commenced the voyage to the Gulf. It was seventy miles from the camp, and it was absolutely necessary that the trip should be performed by night, for the lake, at the season of high water, was navigable for small steamers, which, with other craft, occasionally pa.s.sed over its turbid tide. In the pa.s.sage down, they were liable to meet some of these boats; and though the search for the runaways had long since ceased, the Isabel might be recognized, and the mystery of her singular disappearance explained.
Dan was determined to be very cautious, and to expose his party to no risks which could possibly be avoided. The voyage was perilous enough at best, and he was not disposed to trifle with the good fortune which had thus far attended the expedition. He knew nothing of the navigation of the lake, or of the Atchafalaya River, through which he must pa.s.s to the Gulf of Mexico. He was therefore exposed to many perils. The boat might get aground at a perilous point, which might expose them to an examination from some inquisitive slaveholder. He might be stopped by a steamer, or overhauled by a boat, and the fugitives taken into custody because they could not give a good account of themselves.
Then, if he succeeded in reaching the Gulf, he knew that a day"s sail at the most would take him out of sight of land; and he had nothing but a small compa.s.s and a map of the coast of Texas and Louisiana to guide him. He had no expectation of being able to reach the free North in the Isabel. He depended upon being picked up by some vessel bound to New York or Philadelphia; and he had read the newspapers and listened to the conversation of his master and his guests enough to know that shipmasters were very cautious about carrying slaves to the North. But he had made his plans, and hoped he should be able to overcome even this most formidable difficulty.
To contend against all these adverse circ.u.mstances, he had a good boat, though she was not fully adapted to a sea voyage. With her light draught she had but a slight hold on the water; yet Dan was an excellent boatman, and trusted in his skill to overcome the deficiencies of his vessel. The Isabel was well provisioned for at least a month; and if the weather was even tolerably favorable, he felt confident that he should be able to contend successfully against the elements. At any rate he feared the ocean, storm, and distance less than the insatiate slave-hunters of the South.
With these difficulties before them, the young fugitives started upon their uncertain voyage. It was a bright, pleasant evening, with a lively breeze from the westward. The long confinement of the camp in the swamp made the changing prospect exceedingly exhilarating. They had encountered perils before, and the experience of the past prepared them for the trials of the future. They had a head wind down the bayou which led to the lake, and it required two hours of hard work for the two boys to work the Isabel down to the open water; but when this labor was accomplished, the foresail, mainsail, and jib were hoisted, and they had a fair wind down the lake.
"Now, Lily, our voyage is commenced," said Dan, as he seated himself at the helm.
"Yes; and I am so glad to get out of that dismal swamp!" replied she, with a smile which spoke the joy of her heart.
"Perhaps you will wish yourself back again before many days, and perhaps before many hours."
"Do you think there is much danger, Dan?"
"We may not meet with a single difficulty, and we may be in danger all the time. I cannot tell. I hope for the best, but I am ready for the worst."
"Any thing is better than slavery, Dan."
"Even death itself, Lily," replied Dan, solemnly.
"But there will be no people out on the lake in the night--will there?"
"There may be; but we may not find a good place to conceal ourselves during the day. We may be discovered, for there are more people at the lower end of the lake than in the part where we have been."
"We will pray to G.o.d, Dan, every day, and He will protect us, as He has before," added Lily, confidingly.
"And while we do that, we must be very careful. There is one thing I have been dreading ever since we began to prepare for this cruise."
"What is that, Dan?"
"You know Mr. Lascelles?"
"Yes; he spends a week at Redlawn every year, and master used to stay a week at his plantation."
"He lives down this way somewhere--I don"t exactly know where. The Isabel, I think, came down here one year; if so, I am afraid they will know the boat."
"Possifus!" exclaimed Cyd, who had been silently listening to this conversation. "Dey"ll ketch us, for sh.o.r.e."
"I"m not afraid of being caught; but Colonel Raybone almost always visits Mr. Lascelles in the month of May. Suppose he should be there, and we should happen to go near his plantation?"
"Hossifus!" groaned Cyd. "Ma.s.sa Raybone down dar! Dis chile gubs it all up den."
"Don"t give up yet, Cyd," laughed Dan.
"Mossifus! If dis n.i.g.g.e.r see ole ma.s.sa, he done sink into de ground, like a catfish in de mud."