play us a trick," observed CaptainNorton.
"I feel pretty sure he is trustworthy. He merely feels in good spiritsat riding, instead of having to use his legs," I replied.
We were obliged to stop to water the horses at a pool we had come to,for fear that there would be no water farther on. Soon after this wereached the borders of a wood, when, darkness coming on, we werecompelled to halt for the night. We kept a double watch, two of usguarding the horses, while the other two slept. We allowed Pompey tosleep the whole time, as he required rest, and we thought it as well notto put implicit trust in him.
Next day our progress was slower, as we were unwilling to tire ourhorses, in the belief that they would be required before long to gallopas fast as their legs could carry them; besides which, the country wasmuch more difficult to traverse than on the previous part of thejourney, there being swamps, and woods, and sandy tracts, besidesoccasionally large pools, in our course. Pompey, who evidently knew thecountry well, assured us that we should reach Rochford's hiding-place bydark. Trusting to his assertion that there were no Indians in theneighbourhood, we ventured to dismount near a pool to kill a sufficientnumber of ducks to serve us for food. We had brought a supply ofcrackers with us, and a few other articles, so that we were not badlyoff. We had, however, once more to camp.
"Why, Pompey," I said, when we had unsaddled our horses, "I thought thatwe should have seen Mr. Rochford before this."
"Yee, massa; he no far off, dough," he answered. "Me think you betterstop here, while Pompey go on an' tell him dat you come."
"Well, then, the sooner you let him know the better, as he will not wishto lose time," I replied.
I told Captain Norton what the black had said. "Let him go at once, butit will be as well for one of us to follow him and see what he isabout," he said. "I am not quite satisfied with his manner; and yet Idaresay he is honest enough."
Captain Norton did not object to my proposal to follow the black. Assoon as he set off, I started close behind him, but at such a distancethat he did not hear my footsteps. After making my way through theforest--not without considerable fear of losing him--I saw a brightlight some way ahead, which I knew must proceed from a fire, andobserved he was directing his course towards it. I therefore followedmore leisurely, and at length caught sight of the fire, with severalblacks near it, some apparently collecting wood, others cutting up adeer. I looked round for Rochford, but he was nowhere to be seen. Justthen Pompey made his appearance among the people, and at once asked for"the white massa."
"Him gone," answered one of the blacks. "Him not come back sinceyesterday; bery likely Redskin got him."
"Redskin got him! oh dat bad news!" exclaimed Pompey in a trulysorrowful voice. He then, in the peculiar jargon of the blacks,informed his companions that a party had arrived from Fort King, whowould be bitterly disappointed at not finding Massa Rochford. They nowheld a consultation as to what should be done. Pompey finally announcedhis intention of returning to tell us of Rochford's absence, and to saythat, should we wish it, he would accompany us farther, and, though atthe risk of his life, try to find our white friend. From what I heardhim say, I was now convinced of his honesty, as also of his affectionfor Rochford. His unwillingness to take us at once to the camp wasfully accounted for. The people before me, I saw, were evidently aparty of runaway blacks; two, indeed, I recognised as those who haddeserted from us, and I had little doubt that Rochford had persuadedthem that he would obtain their freedom. I felt very doubtful whether Ishould find my way back. As I had been guided by Pompey in goingtowards the negro camp, I had forgotten the difficulties I shouldexperience in returning to our own. My anxiety also as to what hadbecome of Rochford made me at first forget the risk I ran of losing myway. I might tread on a snake or encounter a panther, or tumble into ahole, or get smothered in the trunk of a rotten tree or some black poolfull of noxious creatures. As long, however, as I could see the lightof the blacks' fire, by occasionally looking back, I managed to make myway in the direction leading to our camp; but after that I could onlyguess whether I was going the right way by the momentary glimpse of astar overhead. At last, however, when trying to pass through a thickpart of the forest, I was fairly bewildered. Still, as I could notcontentedly remain where I was, I pushed forward. It was with anintense feeling of relief that I caught sight, far away before me, of aslight ruddy tinge on the trunks of the trees, which, I was convinced,was produced by the camp-fire of my friends. I advanced, not withoutmany a scratch, while my clothes were well-nigh torn to pieces.Suddenly the thought occurred to me that the distance was greater than Ihad come, and that the fire might possibly be that of an Indian camp. Istopped to listen, but no sound reached me. Then again I went forward.The glow increased, and I was sure I was approaching a camp. Still Icould hear no one speaking. Suddenly, however, a hail reached my ears--
"Arrah! who goes there?" and, to my infinite satisfaction, I recognisedTim's voice.
"It's Maurice; don't be after shooting me," I cried out; and I was soonin the midst of my friends.
The information I brought caused them considerable anxiety; still theyhoped that Rochford might after all return. They resolved, however, towait until Pompey made his appearance before deciding on what to do. Heat last arrived, looking very crestfallen. We, of course, did not tellhim that we already possessed most of the information he had to give.He told us, in addition to what we already knew, that a party of Indianshad been seen following up Rochford's trail. Fears were entertained,therefore, that he had been overtaken, especially as one of the Indianswas on horseback.
"Then it must be that rascal Spotted Wolf!" exclaimed Carlos. "Iguessed from the first that he was plotting some mischief, and I wishthat he had been shot at once."
Cross-questioning the black, we found that the Redskins had been seen onthe previous day, so that should they have fallen in with Rochford, theycould not as yet have got very far away. Pompey offered to bringanother black, who had caught sight of them, and who, knowing thecountry well, would assist in guiding us.
I could not sleep when off my watch for thinking of the work we shouldhave to do on the following day. Perhaps we should find Rochford killedand scalped.
As may be supposed, we kept a very vigilant watch; for Indians beingclose at hand, we might should they for a moment find us off our guard,be attacked and murdered. Captain Norton, though not exactly despisingthem, was of the opinion that their successes had arisen from thecarelessness of the whites, who, had they not been taken completely bysurprise, could with ease have driven off their Redskin foes.
The night passed away, and at the earliest dawn Pompey getting up, gavehimself a shake, and offered to go and obtain the assistance of one ofhis companions, should Rochford, in the meantime, not have arrived. Hewas evidently anxious that none of us should accompany him, as we mightsuspect that his friends were runaway blacks. Of course, he was notaware that I was very well assured of that fact. We had barely time totake a hurried breakfast when he returned, accompanied by another negro,who undertook to put us on the Indians' trail. As there was not amoment to be lost, we immediately mounted, and, led by the two blacks,pushed on as fast as they could run. At last they stopped and pointedto the north-west.
"Dis nigger say dat way dey go," said Pompey.
That he spoke the truth we had no doubt, as the trail was sufficientlydistinct even for us to distinguish. There were numerous footprints, aswell as the marks of a horse's hoofs.
"You find Massa Rochford, come back to de wood, we stay dar free days,in case you want us," he added.
We thanked him for the assistance he had given us. He neither askedfor, nor evidently did he expect any, reward; indeed, had he done so, wehad nothing to give him.
He and his companion hurried away, anxious to escape the risk ofencountering any of the Indians, although the blacks were generallytreated kindly by the natives; and we pushed on at a much faster ratethan before.
At length we came to a spot where
it was evident, from a stillsmouldering fire, that the Indians had encamped during the previousnight, and had probably only lately left. The trail, which led off tothe right, showed that there were not more men than we could easily copewith. We pushed on, therefore, in the hope of soon coming up with them,and ascertaining whether Rochford was among them, and if so, whether hewas a prisoner or at liberty.
In a shorter time than we expected we caught sight of a party ofRedskins--there might have been about a dozen--with a man on horsebackin their midst. They did not appear to have discovered us, as the turfover which we were galloping was soft, and prevented the sound of ourhorses' hoofs being heard. As we got nearer, to my surprise I saw thatthere were two men instead of one on the horse. The hindermost lookedround for a moment and caught a glimpse of us. His dress showed