“No; no hangin’ in this State!” he said, a ring of savage triumph in his tones. “And dead men don’t tell no tales.”
Mr. Himes had gone from home that day; there was no danger of his return for some hours, and the interview in the wood did not come to an end till near the time when he might be expected.
Before that the wily villain had, by blandishments, coaxings, entreaties, appeals to her love for himself, highly colored pictures of the happy life they might lead together were she but free to marry him, as she had promised to before he went away to the war, and artful allusions to Himes’s brutal treatment of her, succeeded in extracting a half-reluctant consent from Belinda to the robbery and murder of her husband.
She still declared, shudderingly, that she could not and would not take any active part in it, but promised not to warn him of his danger or put any obstacle in the way of the design upon his property and life.
The old farmer, bent on saving the expense of travel and transportation of goods by rail, had determined to make a raft of sufficient size to carry himself, wife, household furniture and farming implements, and on that descend the river.
In vain neighbors and friends had warned him of perils from natural obstructions in the channel of the stream and danger from burglars by night, when, because of those obstructions, he would be compelled to moor his raft to the shore. By nature headstrong and opinionated, he held fast to his purpose.
He would need help in making the raft; had not yet engaged it; for at this time of year, when there was so much farm work to be done, it was scarce.
Phelim now proposed to offer his services and those of one or two “friends” on very reasonable terms. When the raft was completed and had received its load, one or more of them would be needed to assist in its navigation, he said, and that would render the commission of his contemplated crime a very easy matter some dark night, when they were moored to the shore in a lonely spot, and the old man had fallen asleep.
To Belinda’s terrified objection that she might be suspected of complicity, he answered, “Niver a bit o’t, me darlint; whaniver ye see the thing started ye’ll be off loike the wind to bring help, sure. But the nearest house’ll be a mile away annyhow, an’ ye’ll not be called upon to kill yersilf wid runnin’; ye’ll presently go a bit asier; an’ we’ll mak quick wurruk an’ be off wid the money, lavin’ the ould divil in a state not to moind his loss afore ye kin git back wid yer hilp. And thin, whan yees sees what’s happened till him, ye’ll mak a tirrible cryin’ an’ lamentation, an’ sure they’ll think you’re heartbroke intirely.”
At length the two separated; Belinda went back to the house to get supper ready against her husband’s return, and Phelim, plunging into the woods, made a circuit of a mile or so, and striking into the highroad, met Himes riding slowly homeward.