The shock aroused him, as it well might; and, uttering a fearful yell of mingled rage and terror, Lem sat bolt upright in bed, unable to distinguish anything for the light of the lamp that flashed directly in his eyes.
"Oh!" was his first ejaculation; "I's gwine for to be 'sassinated 'thout a minit's warnin'!"
"Hush, hush, Lem! for Heaven's sake! It's only I, your mistress!" said Sibyl, putting one little white hand over his huge black mouth. "Get up and dress yourself as quickly as possible, and join me in the kitchen, where I will wait until you come."
And without waiting for the host of questions she saw hovering on his lips, Sibyl passed out to the kitchen to wait for him.
With teeth chattering, and shaking with terror, Lem proceeded, with trembling fingers, to draw on his clothes. Without waiting to make a very elaborate toilet, he passed out to the kitchen, where Sibyl stood waiting in a fever of impatience.
"Miss Sibyl!" he exclaimed, in trembling tones, "What's happened? Is we all gwine to be killed, or anything?"
"Hush! No, I hope not. But—be silent now—I greatly fear there are men concealed in the house somewhere. Hush, I tell you!" she repeated, with a flash of her bright eye that arrested the exclamation of terror on Lem's lips. "This is no time for idle exclamations. I only say I think there may be men here; if there are, your noise will only reveal where we are; if there are not, there is no occasion for your terror. Come, follow me; we must search the house."
"Oh, Miss Sibyl, I's afeard! 'Deed, de Lord knows I's afeard!" said poor Lem, in shivering tones.
"Pshaw! Do you think you will be any safer here? Come, give over your fears, and follow me," said Sibyl, as she turned toward the hall once more.
"Oh, Miss Sibyl, don't wenture! We'll be all 'sassinated if you do."