, as she went from the shed.

"Come!" said Carrington to the negro, when he had seen the cabin door
close on Bess and her lantern; and they stole across the clearing.
Reaching the bayou side they began a noiseless search for the dugout,
which they quickly found, and Carrington turned to George. "Can you
swim?" he asked.

"Yes, Mas'r."

"Then go down into the water and drag the canoe farther along the
shore--and for God's sake, no sound!" he cautioned.

They placed a second hundred yards between themselves and the keel boat
in this manner, then he had George bring the dug-out to the bank, and
they embarked. Keeping within the shadow of the trees that fringed the
shore, Carrington paddled silently about the head of the bayou.

"George," he at length said, bending toward the negro; "my horse is tied
in the woods on the right-hand side of the road just above where you
were taken from the carriage last night--you can be at Belle Plain
inside of an hour."

"Look here, Mas'r Ca'ington, those folks yonder is kin to Boss Hicks. If
he get his hand on me first don't you reckon he'll stop my mouth? I been
here heaps of times fotchin' letters fo' Mas'r Tom," added George.

"Who were the letters for?" asked the Kentuckian, greatly surprised.

"They was fo' that Captain Murrell; seems like him and Mas'r Tom was
mixed up in a sight of business."

"When was this--recently?" inquired Carrington. He was turning this
astonishing statement of the slave over in his mind.

"Well, no, Mas'r; seems like they ain't so thick here recently."

"I reckon you'd better keep away from the big house yet a while," said
Carrington. "Instead of going there, stop at the Belle Plain landing.
You'll find a raft tied up to the shore, it belongs to a man named
Cavendish. Tell him what you know. That I've found Miss Malroy and the
boy, tell him to cast off and drift down here. I'll run the keel boat
aground the first chance I get, so tell him to keep a sharp lookout."

A few minutes later they had separated, George to hurry away in search
of the horse, and Carrington to pass back along the shore until he
gained a point opposite the clearing. He whistled shrilly three times,
and after an interval of waiting heard the splash of oars and presently
saw a skiff steal out of the gloom.

"Who's there?" It was Bess who asked the question.

"Carrington," he answered.

"Lucky you ain't met the other man!" she said as she swept her skiff
alongside the ban