CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
GAYARRE AND "BULLY BILL."
On riding out from the quarter I changed my intention of taking the backroad. My visit would no doubt become known to Mademoiselle, and itdiffered not if I should now be seen from the house. My blood was up--so was that of my horse. A rail-fence was nothing to either of us now;so heading round, I cleared a couple of palings; and then strikingacross a cotton-field arrived once more on the Levee road.
After a while, as soon as I had cooled down my horse, I rode slowly,reflecting upon what had just happened.
It was evident that this ruffian had been put upon the plantation byGayarre for some secret purpose. Whether he and the lawyer had hadprevious acquaintance I could not guess; but such men have a sort ofinstinctive knowledge of one another, and he might be only a waif thatthe latter had picked up since the night of the wreck. On the boat Ihad supposed him to be some rough gambler, by the propensity heexhibited for betting; and possibly he might have been playing that_role_ of late. It was evident, however, that "negro-driving" was histrade; at all events it was not new to him.
Strange that he had been all this time on the plantation without knowingof me! But that could be easily accounted for. He had never seen meduring my stay at the house. Moreover, he may have been ignorant thatMademoiselle was the lady with whom he intended to have shared thelife-preserver. This last hypothesis was probable enough, for therewere other ladies who escaped by means of rafts, and sofas, andlife-preservers. I fancied he had not seen Mademoiselle until she wasspringing over the guards, and would therefore scarce recognise heragain.
The cause of my being an invalid was only known to Mademoiselle, Aurore,and Scipio; and the latter had been charged not to carry this knowledgeto the negro quarter. Then the fellow was but new on the plantation,and had but little intercourse with its mistress, as he received most ofhis orders from Gayarre; besides, he was but a dull brute after all.
It was just like enough that, up to the moment of our late encounter, hehad no suspicion either that I was his former antagonist on the boat, orEugenie Besancon the lady who had escaped him. He must have known of mypresence on the plantation, but only as one of the survivors of thewreck, badly wounded,--scalded, perhaps,--but there had been a number ofothers, picked up,--scarce a house for some distance along the coast buthad given shelter to some wounded or half-drowned unfortunate. He hadbeen busy with his own affairs; or rather, perhaps, those of Gayarre:for I had no doubt there was some conspiracy between them in which thisfellow was to play a part. Dull as he was, he had something which hisemployer might regard of more value than intellect; something, too,which the latter himself lacked,--brute strength and brute courage.Gayarre no doubt had a use for him, else he would not have been there.
He knew me now, and was not likely soon to forget me. Would he seekrevenge? Beyond doubt he would, but I fancied it would be by some baseunderhand means. I had no fear that he would again attack me openly, atleast by himself. I felt quite sure that I had conquered, andencowardiced him. I had encountered his like before. I know that hiscourage was not of that character to outlive defeat. It was the courageof the bravo.
I had no fear of an open attack. All I had to apprehend was some,secret revenge, or perhaps the law!
You will wonder that any thought or dread of the latter should haveoccurred to me: but it did; and I had my reasons.
The knowledge of Gayarre's designs, the detection of his villainouspurpose with Aurore, and my rencontre with Larkin, had brought mattersto a crisis. I was filled with anxiety, and convinced of the necessityof a speedy interview with Mademoiselle, in relation to what was nearestto my heart, _the purchase of the quadroon_. There was no reason why asingle hour should be wasted, now that Aurore and I understood eachother, and had, in fact, _betrothed_ ourselves.
I even thought of riding back at once, and had turned my horse for thepurpose. I hesitated. My resolution wavered. I wheeled round again,and kept on to Bringiers, with the determination to return to theplantation at an early hour in the morning.
I entered the village and proceeded straight to the hotel. On my tableI found a letter containing a cheque for two hundred pounds on theBringiers bank. It was from my banking agent in New Orleans, who hadreceived it from England. The letter also contained the informationthat five hundred more would reach me in a few days. The sum receivedwas a pleasant relief, and would enable me to discharge my pecuniaryobligations to Reigart; which in the next hour I had the pleasure ofdoing.
I passed a night of great anxiety,--almost a sleepless night. Nowonder. To-morrow was to be a crisis. For me, happiness or misery wasin the womb of to-morrow. A thousand hopes and fears hung suspended onthe result of my interview with Eugenie Besancon. I actually lookedforward to this interview with more anxiety than I had done but a fewhours ago to that with Aurore! Perhaps, because I had less confidencein a favourable result.
As early as etiquette would allow of a morning visit, I was in thesaddle, and heading towards the plantation Besancon.
As I rode out of the village I noticed that men regarded me with glancesthat bespoke an unusual interest.
"My affair with the overseer is already known," thought I. "No doubtthe negroes have spread the report of it. Such matters soon becomepublic."
I was unpleasantly impressed with an idea that the expression onpeople's faces was anything but a friendly one. Had I committed anunpopular act in protecting myself? Usually the conqueror in such anencounter is rather popular than otherwise, in the chivalric land ofLouisiana. Why, then, did men look scowling upon me? What had I doneto merit reproach? I had "whipped" a rude fellow, whom men esteemed a"bully;" and in self-defence had I acted. The act should have gained meapplause, according to the code of the country. Why then,--ha! stay! Ihad interfered between _white_ and _black_. I had _protected a slavefrom punishment_. Perhaps that might account for the disagreeableexpression I had observed!
I could just guess at another cause, of a very different and somewhatludicrous character. It had got rumoured abroad that I "was upon goodterms with Mademoiselle Besancon," and that it was not unlikely that oneof these fine days the adventurer, whom nobody knew anything about,would carry off the rich plantress!
There is no part of the world where such a _bonne fortune_ is notregarded with envy. The United States is no exception to the rule; andI had reason to know that on account of this absurd rumour I was notvery favourably regarded by some of the young planters and dandystorekeepers who loitered about the streets of Bringiers.
I rode on without heeding the "black looks" that were cast upon me, andindeed soon ceased thinking of them. My mind was too full of anxietyabout the approaching interview to be impressed with minor cares.
Of course Eugenie would have heard all about the affair of yesterday.What would be her feelings in relation to it? I felt certain that thisruffian was forced upon, her by Gayarre. She would have no sympathywith _him_. The question was, would she have the courage--nay, the_power_ to discharge him from her service? Even on hearing _who_ hewas? It was doubtful enough!
I was overwhelmed with sympathy for this poor girl. I felt satisfiedthat Gayarre must be her creditor to a large amount, and in that way hadher in his power. What he had said to Aurore convinced me that such wasthe case. Indeed, Reigart had heard some whisper that his debt hadalready been proved before the courts in New Orleans; that no oppositionhad been made; that he had obtained a verdict, and could seize upon herproperty, or as much of it as would satisfy his demands, at any moment!It was only the night before Reigart had told me this, and theinformation had rendered me all the more anxious to hasten my businessin relation to Aurore.
I spurred into a gallop, and soon came in sight of the plantation.Having arrived at the gate, I dismounted. There was no one to hold myhorse, but that is a slight matter in America, where a gate-post or abranch of a tree often serves as a groom.
Bethinking me of this ready expedient I tossed my rei
n over one of thepalings, and walked toward the house.