-he stand by young mass' to de deff!"

Almost mechanically I yielded to the solicitations of the runaway--
though I now saw but little chance of our ultimate escape--and, having
assisted Aurore into the pirogue, I followed and took my seat beside
her.

The strong arm of the negro soon impelled us far out from the shore; and
in five minutes after we were crossing the open lake toward the cypress
clump in its midst.

CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVE.

LOVE IN THE HOUR OF PERIL.

We glided into the shadow of the tree, and passed under its trailing
parasites. The pirogue touched its trunk. Mechanically I climbed along
the sloping buttress--mechanically assisted Aurore.

We stood within the hollow chamber--the lurking-place of the runaway--
and for the present were safe from pursuit. But there was no joy in our
hearts. We knew it was but a respite, without any hope of ultimate
concealment.

The encounter with Ruffin had ruined all our prospects. Whether the
hunter were yet dead or alive, his presence would guide the pursuit.
The way we had got off would easily be conjectured, and our hiding-place
could not long remain undiscovered.

What had passed would be likely to aggravate our pursuers, and
strengthen their determination to capture us. Before Ruffin came up,
there was yet a chance of safety. Most of those engaged in the pursuit
would regard it as the mere ordinary affair of a chase after a runaway
negro--a sport of which they might get tired whenever they should lose
the track. Considering for whom the hunt was got up--a man so unpopular
as Gayarre,--none would have any great interest in the result, excepting
himself and his ruffian aids. Had we left no traces where we embarked
in the pirogue, the gloomy labyrinth of forest-covered water might have
discouraged our pursuers--most of whom would have given up at the
doubtful prospect, and returned to their homes. We might have been left
undisturbed until nightfall, and it was my design to have then recrossed
the lake, landed at some new point, and, under the guidance of the
Bambarra, get back to the Levee Road, where we were to meet D'Hauteville
with the horses. Thence, as originally agreed upon, to the city.

All this programme, I had hastily conceived; and previous to the
appearance of Ruffin, there was every probability I should succeed in
carrying it out.

Even after I had shot the dogs, I did not wholly despair. There were
still many chances of success