"They can't go any farther to-night, for their pursuers are riding hard to get between them and the river, and may send the hounds into the woods at any time. And I am glad of it," whispered Ned. "I'd like to keep them until I can go for Rodney. Perhaps he can do something for Tom Randolph. Why, mother, did you ever hear of such a lunatic? If he gets out of this scrape I don't think he'll ever let his tongue bring him into another."
Ned pushed open the door, and the two escaped prisoners came out. In few words they were made acquainted with the result of the interview that had taken place at the bars, and Ned and his mother did not wonder that it had a depressing effect upon them. After racing through the almost impassable woods and swamps until they were ready to drop with fatigue, it certainly was disheartening to know that the enemy had come so close to them when they imagined themselves safe for the night. They decided that they had better return to their companions at once and talk the situation over with them.
"All right," said Ned. "I will go with you, for I want to see what Tom Randolph has to say for himself. If you will take my advice, you will stay pretty close about this plantation until you have seen Rodney Gray. He can do more for you than almost anybody else in these parts, and if you get into trouble you'll find it so."
The blankets and the basket of provisions were brought from the room in which they had been hastily concealed, and the fugitives lingered a moment to shake hands with Mrs. Griffin and tell her how grateful they were for the generous treatment they had received at her hands and her son's.
"There is one way in which you can show it," replied Ned's mother, "and that is by releasing your prisoner."
"But, madam, we have no right to do it," said Ben, who was inclined to put more faith in Tom's story of his exploits than he did in Ned's. It was natural, under the circumstances, for him to believe that Ned's regard for the truth was not so strong as his desire to shield an old acquaintance. "We are bound to take him before our colonel and state the case to him; and if he has a mind to let him go—why, all right."
"Haven't you the same right to release Tom Randolph that you had to release Rodney Gray and his friend?" inquired Mrs. Griffin. "You did not think it necessary to take them before an officer?"
"Perhaps I did stretch my authority just a little," said the corporal, coming to Ben's assistance. "But almost any non-com., who wanted to be half white, would have done the same thing. Rodney and Graham had discharges in their pockets, while this man Randolph holds a commission as captain of Home Guards at this minute. But we'll tell the boys what you have done for us, Mrs. Griffin, and let them decide the matter. I hope it may be our good fortune to meet again under pleasanter circumstances. Good-night."
Ned led the way from the house and along the lane that ran through the negro quarter to the woods, in which the corporal's two comrades and their prisoner were impatiently awaiting their return. They moved silently and without exchanging a word above a whisper, but the dark-skinned inmates of the cabins seemed to be on the watch. One door after another was softly opened, and suppressed voices, that were rendered husky by emotion, cheered them with such expressions as: