I have told you that about a week previous to this time the swamp was covered with water to the depth of fifteen feet, but it was not so now. The flood was gradually subsiding, and patches of dry land were making their appearance all over the swamp.
The ridges were high and dry, and by following them, one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether. It was dangerous, however, to attempt to pass from one ridge to another, for the lowland, or “bottom,” as we called it, was covered with a bed of mud, in which a horse would sink almost out of sight.
Luke Redman, in his flight, had followed one of these ridges, and we knew that he must follow it to the end, simply because he could not leave it. We knew, too, that the ridge led directly to Dead Man’s Elbow, and that when the robber arrived at that point he would be obliged to abandon Black Bess, for the bluffs were steep, and there was no possible way of getting her across the bayou.
Another thing we knew was that the ridge ended very abruptly about a hundred yards from the opposite bank, and beyond that the swamp, with its impassable bed of mud, extended for miles and miles; so that, even if the fugitive succeeded in crossing the stream, he could not escape us.
The only question was, how we should capture him when we found him. He was armed, and we knew he would not surrender without a fight.
“Here we are,” cried Sandy, reining in his horse on the very brink of the cliff, “an’ now comes the hardest part of the hul business. The fust thing is to hunt up that mar’. She’s hid somewhar in these yere bushes.”
We were not long in finding Black Bess, for even as Sandy spoke, a familiar neigh, which came from a thicket close by, led us to her place of concealment.
I tell you I was glad to see her, and if one might judge by the way she pranced about and rubbed her head against my shoulder, she was glad to see me, too.
She was just as handsome as ever, only her glossy breast was flecked with foam, showing that she had been driven long and rapidly, and her usually sleek coat looked as though it had not seen a brush or curry-comb for a fortnight.
While I was congratulating myself on my good fortune, the rest of our fellows were looking for General Mason’s valise; but that, of course, had disappeared.