An hour had elapsed when Noel, from another hiding-place far up the road, saw the band of five returning. He was positive that he recognized them as his recent pursuers from the fact that one of the horses was strangely marked, a fact which he had noticed when he had first discovered the animals tied to the rail in the rear of the house to which the treacherous Levi had conducted him.
When at last the band had passed beyond his sight, and Noel, with fresh courage, was about to reenter the road, he was startled when he saw a young colored man approaching from the direction in which the riders had disappeared.
Loud and long sang the negro and repeated the same stanza of the song until Noel, who was interested as the black man came nearer, almost felt that in spite of his difficulties he would join in the tune,—
"Then I sot right down and felt very blue—
Glory hallelujah, bress de Lord!
Says I, O Lord, what shall I do?
Glory hallelujah, bress de Lord!"
When the young black man came opposite the place where Noel was hiding, the latter suddenly decided to hail him.
"Hello!" called the young soldier.
The negro stopped abruptly and peered about him in a manner which betrayed to Noel that in intelligence he seemed to be far above the most of his race.
"Who dat callin' me?" inquired the negro.
"I am," said Noel, as he stepped forth from his hiding-place.
The young soldier now was in his shirtsleeves, his coat having been lost when he had been thrown from his horse. His uniform was so discolored by mud that it was impossible for an observer to determine to which side he belonged. However, convinced that his plight was so distressing that he must trust some one, Noel had decided that he would cast in his lot with the negro, and trust him to provide some way of escape.