"The Major is having this swamp cleared," remarked Mr. Grigsby. "The men are about other work to-day, but they have been cutting in here all the week."
Rounding an evergreen thicket, they saw a horse harnessed to a low gig, which the riders recognized at once. The carriage was empty, and the gray mare was tethered to the stump of a sapling. She neighed long and wistfully at sight of Mr. Grigsby. He patted her in passing.
"The Major cannot be far off," he said. "He is looking to see what we have been doing, I suppose. I am glad to see him show interest in plantation work once more. He never opens his lips to me on the subject, of course, but there is something heavy on his mind. The gossips say that he is bitterly opposed to Miss Emily's marrying Mr. Tayloe."