Well, all was done as Master Hunter had said. We were on the return journey shortly after sunrise, and allowed the horses to take that pace which best pleased them, for we had no need to make great speed.
Our haversacks had been well filled at the inn, and we would have no need of searching for game until two days had passed, when it was reasonable to suppose we should be in that section of the country where the planters would provide us with food and shelter.
There was no thought in our minds that any effort would be made to stop us, for now were we carrying a message from the governor, and such an one as would go far toward soothing our neighbors who had so lately been in arms against those who represented the government.
At noon we halted an hour to rest the animals, who were yet quite fresh for the journey, and to partake of the noonday meal. Then we rode leisurely forward again until about five o'clock in the afternoon, when we were arrived at a plantation where was promise of comfortable accommodations for the night.
"It is better to halt here, at the expense of two or three hours, rather than push on and sleep in the open air," Master Howell said as he reined his horse in at the door of the dwelling.
A white man and a negro, one an indentured servant and the other a slave as we afterward learned, appeared in response to our summons, and from them we learned that the planter and his family were in Newbern on a visit to relatives; but this did not prevent us from receiving such hospitality as is famous in the Carolinas.
The negro led our horses to a stable of logs which was situated fifty feet or more in the rear of the main buildings, and the white servant ushered us into a sitting-room that gave access to the broad, vine-covered veranda overlooking the main road.
In this last place we were served with light refreshments until a hearty meal could be prepared, and my comrade and I congratulated ourselves on having come across such a lodging, when we had expected to sleep in the thicket where flies and mosquitoes would disturb our repose.
Our weapons, saddle-bags and haversacks had been brought into the sitting-room, and we could come at our belongings, if we so desired, by simply stepping through the open window.
The deputies were taking their ease in a couple of hammocks, and we two lads were lounging in huge chairs when the clatter of horses' hoofs aroused us all to curiosity.