“I hope not,” he managed to say in answer to her query. “But it is rather a strange mix-up all around, and I confess I fail to comprehend its full meaning. It is hardly likely your friends will show up to-night, and by morning perhaps we can decide what is best to do. Let me look around outside a moment.”
Her eyes followed him as he stepped through the door into the darkness; then her head dropped into the support of her hands. There was silence except for the crackling of the fire, until Neb moved uneasily. At the sound the girl looked up, seeing clearly the good-natured face of the negro.
“Yo' don't nebber need cry, Missus,” he said soberly, “so long as Massa Jack done 'greed to look after yo'.”
“Have—have you known him long?”
“Has I knowed him long, honey? Ebber sence befo' de wah. Why I done knowed Massa Jack when he wan't more'n dat high. Lawd, he sho' was a lively youngster, but mighty good hearted to us niggers.”
She hesitated to question a servant, and yet felt she must uncover the truth.
“Who is he? Is he all he claims to be—a Virginia gentleman?”
All the loyalty and pride of slavery days was in Neb. “He sho' am, Missus; dar ain't nuthin' higher in ol' Virginia dan de Keiths. Dey ain't got much money sence the Yankees come down dar, but dey's quality folks jest de same. I was done born on de ol' Co'nel's plantation, and I reck'n dar wan't no finer man ebber libed. He was done killed in de wah. An' Massa Jack he was a captain; he rode on hossback, an' Lawdy, but he did look scrumptuous when he first got his uniform. He done fought all through de wah, an' dey say Ginral Lee done shook hands wid him, an' said how proud he was ter know him. You kin sutt'nly tie to Massa Jack, Missus.”
The negro's voice had scarcely ceased when Keith came in again, closing the door securely behind him.
“All quiet outside,” he announced, speaking with new confidence. “I wanted to get an understanding of the surroundings in case of emergency,” he explained, as if in answer to the questioning of the brown eyes gravely uplifted to his face. “I see there is quite a corral at the lower end of this island, safely hidden behind the fringe of cottonwoods. And a log stable back of the house. Is the creek fordable both ways?”