ch disheartened, he was compelled to go to Cottage Island with the
intelligence that his efforts had been foiled. On his arrival, he
learned, to his astonishment, that Emily had just gone to Bellevue in
company with De Guy--a person of whom he had no knowledge.

Though Dr. Vaudelier and Henry Carroll had been satisfied with the
evidences brought by De Guy, Vernon was not. He knew better than they
the character of Maxwell, and it was determined that he should proceed
immediately to New Orleans, to guard against the possibility of any evil
to which Emily might be subjected.

On the morning after De Guy's departure, he proceeded down the river,
and landed in the vicinity of Bellevue, to which he immediately made his
way. Without a direct application to any one, he learned that Emily had
not yet arrived. He waited in the vicinity another day, but obtained no
tidings of her. His worst fears were now confirmed. De Guy had deceived
them.

This De Guy, then, was an emissary of Maxwell. To his mind, now animated
by a high purpose, the reflection was annoying. To the fate of Emily his
new destiny seemed to be attached. His greatest error--at least, the one
most troublesome to his awakened conscience--was the act of oppressing
Emily. He felt that the washing of the stains from his character
depended upon securing her rights.

The _ci devant_ desperado, as we have before indicated, was radically
changed at heart, and he now felt more interest in the welfare of Emily
than he had ever before harbored for any human being.

His position was full of embarrassments. He learned, while at Bellevue,
that Jaspar was not, and had not been, sick. This information decided
his future course. The mission of De Guy had only been a decoy, to lure
her into the hands of Maxwell.

Hatchie was with her; but, alas! what could a slave do against the
powerful machinations of such a villain as Maxwell?

After obtaining the information which satisfied him of the imposture, he
proceeded to New Orleans. Knowing the name of the steamer in which De
Guy had taken passage from Vicksburg, he hastened to the levee, to gain
what tidings he might from the officers of the Montezuma. He found that
a lady and gentleman answering to his description had taken a carriage
on the morning of their arrival, and this was all they knew. In answer
to his inquiries for Hatchie, he learned that a servant had been handed
over to the police, to be imprisoned in the calaboose t