"She will accompany you. Here is a suit of clothes more befitting one of your rank and station, than the garb of an indented slave." He placed a riding suit with top boots and hat in the apartment. When he had attired himself, Robert next brought him some arms, a splendid gun and a brace of pistols of the best make.
"You may have need of these," said the planter. "You will also find holsters in the saddle."
"And does Cora know of this?"
The father shuddered. In the pride of his soul, he remembered that he was a slave, had felt the lash, and was humiliated.
Under a wide-spreading chestnut near the planter's mansion, stood three horses ready saddled. A faithful negro slave was holding them, and the little maid, clothed for a long journey, awaited her father's arrival. A fourth horse was near on which were a pack of provisions and a small camping outfit.
The father and child met and embraced in silence, and, had she not felt a tear on her face, she would hardly have known that he was so greatly agitated.
"We will mount and be far on the journey before the day dawns," said Robert.
"Do you go with us?" asked George Waters.
"Certainly. I know the country and will guide you beyond danger."