"So am I to see you," he answered; "for I have much wished to explain to you that these two men, though friends of mine from my youth up, were neither aided nor countenanced by me in their late conduct towards Miss Davenport. They, and two or three others who were with them, promised me faithfully to see her safe to Jerusalem, while I went on to rescue some other young ladies from a somewhat dangerous position. Perhaps I ought not to have trusted to their word; for, I am sorry to say, I had known it violated before; but I had no suspicion at the time of anything like unfair play, and I gave orders to two men to wait to let you know where Miss Davenport was. They, however, were frightened away by the arrival of the negroes. I hope this explanation will be satisfactory to you, sir; but, if it is not, all I can say is, I am ready."
"Hush! hush! nonsense!" said Mr. Henry Thornton. And I immediately replied,--
"It is perfectly satisfactory, Colonel Halliday, though it was unnecessary. Miss Davenport has already done you full justice; and I easily attributed the conduct which has been pursued to the right parties, and to the true motives."
"Well, that is all right," said Billy Byles, in his easy, unconcerned way. "It is as well to get things over one by one; and now that is settled, what is to be done with this poor fellow's corpse, Mr. Sheriff? It cannot remain lying here, you know. Had we not better take it up to the old place?"
"We cannot carry it out of the state," replied the sheriff. "It will be better to put it out of sight amongst these bushes, till the cart I have sent for comes down to take the old man up to the house. We can then remove it to the cabin, and let it await the coroner's inquest there. In the meantime, Mr. Thornton, will it not be better for you and Sir Richard to ride over with Miss Bessy to my house? You will find my sister there, who will take care of the young lady; and if I might advise, she would not go further to-day, for she must be worn out with all she has gone through; and, indeed, she looks tired to death."
"A very good plan," answered Mr. Thornton; "and, at all events, we will wait at your house till you return, Mr. Sheriff." An alteration of plan, however, was forced upon us. The horses which had brought me and Bessy thither were not found for half-an-hour, having hobbled away three-quarters of a mile into the swamp. And when they were found and brought back, they had to be saddled for our journey. By this time, the cart which had been sent for had arrived, with a mattress stretched in the bottom. Old Mr. Thornton was carefully removed from the cabin and placed in the vehicle; and though a good deal reduced by loss of blood, he still seemed in a highly irritable and excited condition, cursing the men who moved him, for the pain they could not avoid inflicting. Three of the men who were present volunteered to accompany him to the old house; and the sheriff, after having given directions for sending for a surgeon, prepared with all the rest to set off together across the marsh.
"Where's old Jenny?" cried the sheriff as we were about to go, "where's old Jenny? We must not go without her. She is really a good creature, and tended that unhappy man quite kindly, notwithstanding all his abuse."
"Here I am, mas'r," cried Jenny, coming out of the hut. "You go 'long, I'll come after. Nobody hurt me, and I want to lay out Mas'r Robert."
"No, no, Jenny, come along," said the sheriff. "Let him alone; the coroner must see him just as he is. One of you lads catch that horse--or the other one there; I suppose they belong to William Thornton; but we must press one to carry the old woman."
"No, no, I rather walk," said Jenny eagerly. "I'se not ride a horseback. It bumps me shocking; I'se too fat. If Miss Bessy and Mas'r Richard stay beside me, I'll walk along wid dem." Mr. Thornton and several others, however, determined to bear us company, and to keep at a walking pace across the swamp; but we took a spare horse along with us in case Jenny, as I knew would happen, should get tired out before we reached the sheriff's house. I could have been well pleased if old Aunt Jenny's own plan had been followed, for I longed for a quiet talk with dear Bessy; and the good old lady would have afforded no interruption to our conversation. With Mr. Thornton, however, talking to us the whole way, inquiring into all that had occurred, and giving us little pieces of intelligence in return--with Billy Byles whistling one air upon our right, and a young farmer humming another behind us, anything like private conversation between the dear girl and myself was of course totally out of the question. Perhaps it was better as it was; for Bessy was certainly not in a condition to bear any more agitation; and I, like most other men, might not have been quite as considerate as I ought, had the opportunity been afforded to me. Our journey was, of course, very slow; but it afforded an opportunity to Mr. Thornton to tell us all that had occurred since I had quitted the county-town. The insurrection, he said, was now considered completely at an end; the troops were returning to their several stations, and but a small body remained at Jerusalem, more to act as police in apprehending the fugitive malefactors, than to guard against any renewal of violence. Just as he was setting out, he asked us to conduct Mrs. Thornton and his family back to their own home, the sheriff having come in, bringing William Thornton and his son as prisoners. The outrage they had committed upon the poor unoffending negroes excited the greatest indignation of the town. General Eppes had published a vigorous proclamation on the subject, warning the people to abstain from such barbarous acts; and it was with the greatest difficulty they could obtain bail for their appearance. They maintained sturdily that they knew not what had become of Miss Davenport; and though they admitted that Colonel Halliday had placed her under their charge, they declared she had quitted their house that morning, and they knew nothing more. A consultation ensued between Mr. Thornton and the sheriff, immediately after they had given bail and left the town. The suspicions of both fixed at once upon the place to which they had sent poor Bessy, and they arranged together to raise a large party and pursue the search for her, even into North-Carolina. They met early in the morning at the sheriff's house; and, somewhat to the surprise both of Mr. Thornton and Billy Byles, they found Colonel Halliday of the party. That gentleman, Mr. Thornton went on to say, on returning from a long reconnoitering expedition, had been exceedingly irritated to find that Mr. William Thornton had broken his word with him, and that suspicions had been excited against himself, both in me and others, in regard to Bessy's disappearance.