"O dear, yes," said Jenny. "I brought away de flint and steel. You give me drop of gunpowder, mas'r, on de wick of dis candle, and we'll soon have a light." I did as she desired; and, after lifting Bessy from her horse, I took the candle, which by this time was lighted, and went into the cabin. I must say it had a much less desolate appearance than the house of Mr. Thornton. The old man who constructed it must have had no little skill, taste, and perseverance. He had divided it into two rooms; patched up all the crevices between the logs with moss and mud; formed two shutters for the windows, and a tight-fitting door; and had, apparently with his own hands, constructed from the branches of the trees, and the fallen logs in the neighbourhood, four seats and a table in the outer room, and a bedstead, somewhat in the shape of a knife-tray, in the inner one. Though so near the Swamp, there was no appearance of damp about the hut; and I heartily rejoiced, notwithstanding all its roughness, that Bessy would have such a place of shelter for the night. She and Aunt Jenny had by this time, followed me in; and, seating the dear girl in one of the rude chairs, I pushed back the hair from her forehead, gazing in her face to see what change all the fatigues and annoyances she had undergone had made in her. She looked pale and fatigued certainly, but not ill; and comprehending my anxiety, she took my hand gently in hers, saying,--
"Oh, I shall do very well, dear Richard. A few days' rest and quiet is all I want; and then I shall be as well and saucy again as ever. But you had better look to the horses for fear they should ran away." They had had too much work lately for that, and were still standing with drooping heads at the door of the hut when I went out. Taking off the saddles and bridles, I easily contrived to hamper their feet with the stirrup-leathers; and then, leaving them to provide for themselves during the night, I returned into the cabin and closed the door. It had, unfortunately, no lock, bolt, or bar; but I had already made up my mind to sit up and watch, so that the want of fastenings did not so much matter. In the meantime Aunt Jenny had been bustling about, and had really given an air of some comfort to the place. She had gathered some fragments of wood which lay about the door; had lighted a little fire on the broad, flat stone which served for a hearth; had fixed the candle into a hole in the table which had previously served for a candlestick; and had fastened one of the pine-knots against the wall, adding more light to the interior, though accompanied by a strong, but, to my mind, aromatic smell, from the burning of the resin. Seating myself beside Bessy, I took her hand in mine, saying,--
"One more night, dearest, one more uncomfortable night, and then I trust all our troublous hours will have passed, and the memories of them will be but like a distressing dream. Had you not better go and lie down to obtain some sleep? We can easily get some leaves and dry reeds to make up a tolerable couch."
"You had better, Missie Bessy," said old Jenny. "Dere going to be storm to-night. Better get asleep before de tunder comes, and den you sleep it troo."
"You go and sleep with her, Jenny," I said; "you must be tired out too, poor woman! I will stay here and watch till morning. Then I will wake you, and you shall get us some breakfast before we set out."
"Indeed I am not the least sleepy," said Bessy, with a smile. "Do you know, Richard, so dull and insensible have I been--or perhaps I should say, so benumbed by all that has occurred--that this morning after they brought me to that old house, and I found I could not get out, I fell sound asleep, and must have been still asleep when you arrived. I will sit up and watch with you for an hour or two; but Jenny had better go and sleep, for I am sure she must need it."
"Well, p'raps I do," answered the good woman. "Then you call me by-and-by, and come and sleep yourself, my darling; but let's set off, whatsoever, by daylight." Jenny was somewhat more particular in regard to her bed than most people of her colour. Going forth to the edge of the swamp once or twice, she brought in several bundles of dry rushes, shaking her head each time she returned, and saying,--
"Goin' to storm very soon. Great a'mighty big clouds coming up; hope de water not come in." At length all her preparations were complete; and retiring into the little inner cell with a lighted pine-knot in her hand, she closed the door between, and left Bessy and myself alone. I drew my chair close to her, and I think I may be forgiven for putting my arm round her and making her pillow her head upon my bosom as she had done two nights before. I might also be forgiven for pressing my lips upon hers, and drawing her somewhat closely to my heart. At least she forgave me, and that was all I cared about. I told her how anxious I had been, how terrified, when I found she was gone from the spot in which I had left her; what a night and day of agitation and alarm I had undergone; and how I longed to hear all that had befallen her from her own sweet lips.
"Oh, I will tell you all," said Bessy. "I wish I could call it a 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' dear Richard; but it has been too terribly real for that. However, it will wile away half an hour of the night; and so you shall hear it."