"Send the child away, while I tell you," said Thrasher.
Rose clung to her mother's neck.
"No," said Mrs. Mason, "she must learn all sometime, and I am stronger with her near."
There was a moment's silence, then Mrs. Mason said very faintly,
"Was the ship lost?"
"Almost—but it was not then it happened. We were on shore at Port au Prince. The blacks had risen, and a horrid murder of the white inhabitants was going on. Mason would go on shore. I warned him, but it was of no use. One night, when the massacre was at the highest, he took all hands except one or two, and left the ship. The negroes were hard at work, murdering and burning like demons. He would venture among them. It was dangerous—I told him so. Well he came back at last with a woman and little boy."
"A woman!"
"Yes, a beautiful woman, one of the handsomest you ever saw."
"Indeed!"
"He had saved her from a swarm of blacks, who had brought her and her son out for a carouse, under the palm trees. The boy was brought on board, but they carried the lady off to one of the little islands in the harbor. Mason, with some of the men, went down the ship's side at night, and rowed off with her. After that Mason was never at rest, always going off on private expeditions. I did not like it, so one night, when he was determined to go, I insisted on taking a turn on shore myself. To own the truth, I had a little curiosity to see the house where the lady had lived, and to be certain that she was not there still. Well, he consented, and I went.