“Stop! men, stop!” The sheriff’s voice was heard eagerly hailing those on the opposite side. “You will risk your lives to try to cross here.”
The quivering negro, terrified by the idea that the pursuers were upon them, made an effort to rise.
“My God! don’t let them take me! Don’t give me up!”
There was something savage and frenzied in the accent that went with those words. He clutched at the sheriff’s knees, his eyes became wild and fixed and filled with terror.
“We must have your prisoner,” someone shouted. “Will you surrender him?”
“Not yet,” was the sheriff’s answer. “I deliver him only to the law.”
“You’ll give him up!” cried a score of determined voices.
“Never! Never!”
“Then we will fire on him!”
Like a flash, the sheriff jumped in front of his prisoner. “Fire ahead,” he said.