Gerald was the first to speak:
"You will be surprised, perhaps, to see me again, Mr. Horton?" he said to Augustus.
"I will freely own that I am so," answered the planter; "though the conduct of my cousin, Mr. Percy, has made me accustomed to surprises. The revelations of this morning have nothing to do with me, and I cannot imagine what can have brought Mr. Leslie and Mr. Treverton to this house."
Gerald Leslie smiled.
"Indeed, Mr. Horton! You forget, then, that I have a daughter?"
"I do not," answered Augustus. "I have very good reason to remember that fact, Mr. Leslie. The purchase of the Octoroon slave, Cora, cost me fifty thousand dollars, and there appears considerable chance of my losing every cent."
"Not if you can capture your runaway slave," said Gerald Leslie.
"Not if I can recapture her. No, let her once fall into my hands, and it shall be my fault if she escapes again. As for the Englishman, Gilbert Margrave—"
"You will have no mercy upon him?" asked Gerald.
"By Heaven I will not. We Southerners are in no humor just now to put up with any of your abolitionist tricks, and Mr. Margrave shall pay dearly for breaking the laws of Louisiana."