his party bore me off in their midst.

But though my ferocious judges had yielded for the present, it was not
certain that they would not still attempt to rescue me from the hands of
the law. To prevent this, the sheriff mounted me upon a horse--he
himself riding upon one side, while an assistant of tried courage took
the opposite. Reigart and the planters kept close to me before and
behind; while the shouting, blaspheming mob followed both on horseback
and afoot. In this way we passed through the woods, across the fields,
along the road leading into Bringiers, and then to the residence of
"Squire" Claiborne--Justice of the Peace for that district.

Attached to his dwelling was a large room or office where the Squire was
used to administer the magisterial law of the land. It was entered by a
separate door from the house itself, and had no particular marks about
it to denote that it was a hall of justice, beyond the fact that it was
furnished with a bench or two to serve as seats, and a small desk or
rostrum in one corner.

At this desk the Squire was in the habit of settling petty disputes,
administering affidavits at a quarter of a dollar each, and arranging
other small civic matters. But oftener was his magisterial function
employed in sentencing the mutinous "darkie" to his due the sheriff--
sterling men, who were lovers of the law and lovers of fair play as
well--and those, armed to the teeth, would have laid down their lives on
the spot in defence of the sheriff and his demand. True, they were in
the minority in point of numbers; but they had the law upon their side,
and that gave them strength.

There was one point in my favour above all others, and that was, my
accusers chanced to be unpopular men. Gayarre, as already stated,
although professing a high standard of morality, was not esteemed by the
neighbouring planters--particularly by those of American origin. The
others most forward against me were known to be secretly instigated by
the lawyer. As to Ruffin, whom I had "wounded," those upon the ground
had heard the crack of his rifle, and knew that _he had fired first_.
In their calmer moments my resistance would have been deemed perfectly
justifiable--so far as that individual was concerned.

Had the circumstances been different--had the "two niggers" I had
_stolen_ belonged to a popular planter, and not to Monsieur Dominique
Gayarre--had Ruffin been a respectable citizen, instead of the
dissipat