Talking thus to himself, Don carefully closed and locked the stable-door, and with noiseless footsteps stole along the fence until he arrived opposite the place where Clarence and Godfrey were at work in the field. He could see them plainly, for they were but a few yards from the fence, and as he watched them it was all he could do to keep from giving a few dismal groans, just to see what effect the sound would have upon them. The only thing that restrained him was the fear that by so doing he would interfere with the plans he had suddenly formed, and which he intended to put into operation the very next day. He did not want to frighten Godfrey away from the potato-patch just then. He wanted him to come again the next night, and by that time he would be ready to show him something. He stayed in the fence-corner for half an hour; and then knowing that if he remained there any longer, his absence would be certain to attract the attention of the family, and perhaps lead to more questions from his father and mother than he would care to answer, he arose and stole away toward the house.
“Have you seen anything of Clarence?” was the first question his cousin Marshall asked him, after he had distributed the mail he brought from the post-office.
“Yes, I saw him. He’s out there,” was the reply.
“Out there!” replied the general. “Out where?”
“Out near the barn when I first saw him,” said Don; and to himself he added: “I suppose I ought to tell now where he was the last time I saw him, but that would never do. I don’t want to get my cousin into trouble, and neither do I want to spoil all my fun. Won’t I have things fixed for Godfrey to-morrow night, though? I’ll scare him so that he will never put his foot on the plantation again!”
“I don’t wonder that the time hangs heavily on his hands,” continued the general. “Our quiet country life probably has no charms for him, and he is lonely and homesick.”
This seemed to be the verdict of all the members of the family, who, being willing to make due allowances and give their city relative all the privileges he demanded, said no more about his absence. They welcomed him very cordially when he came in, two hours later, but asked him no questions. Indeed, Clarence did not wait to be questioned. He went to bed almost immediately, and Don soon followed him.
The next day the general went off somewhere on business, and the boys were left to amuse themselves in any way they pleased. Bert and Marshall got into one of the canoes and set off to visit the shooting-box. They asked Don and Clarence to go with them; but the latter could not see that there was any fun in riding a mile or two in a leaky dug-out for the purpose of looking at an old shantee in the woods, and Don had other business on hand, so neither of them accepted the invitation. Clarence found the most pleasure in getting away by himself and thinking about the fortune of which he expected very soon to be the master, while Don wanted to spend at least a portion of the forenoon in getting ready to receive Godfrey Evans when he came to the potato-patch that night; and as they both desired to be alone, they did not in any way interfere with each other.
As soon as Clarence could find an excuse for so doing, he went up stairs to his room; and Don, being left to himself, managed to secure a rusty key which hung on a nail in the kitchen, and to effect an entrance into a long-unused room in the rear of the barn; and he performed both these necessary operations without attracting the attention of any one.
As soon as he had locked the door behind him Don breathed easier, and stopped to look about him. The room had once belonged to old Jordan, the runaway negro, who had served as the general’s hostler in the days gone by. Being a very faithful and a favorite servant, he had received many favors, and was also allowed the privilege of a room to himself. The apartment looked just as it did on the day the sable occupant deserted it. Not a thing had been disturbed, and Don was the only one who had entered the room since the morning following the day on which the levee was cut. When Mrs. Gordon became satisfied that old Jordan had run away, she gave instructions that the room should be closed and locked and the window nailed down, so that nobody could enter it. Jordan would be sure to come back some day, she said, and when he did, he would find his property secure, and his room waiting for him. But the years had gone by, the old fellow had never been heard from, and everybody began to think he was dead.