ll you, sir," answered
the Dominie, hurriedly pushing back the bolts. "I have been pursued,
and before long the villains will be here, if I mistake not."

"We will be ready for them if they come, and teach them a lesson they'll
not forget in a hurry," said my father.

"Oh! Mr Tidey, has poor Dio been retaken?" asked my mother, as he sank
into a chair at the table.

"I hope not, and indeed I have good reason to believe that he has
escaped them," replied our tutor. "I fully expected to carry him safe
to his destination, when, as we were making our way through a forest the
second day after leaving this, I heard the bay of a hound, which I felt
sure by the sound was one of those accursed dogs, used by the
slave-owners to track runaway negroes. Dio heard it also and gave
himself up for lost. I fortunately knew the country we were in, for I
had visited it several times during my shooting excursions, and I
remembered some rocky ground away to the left in which I had discovered
a cave, the entrance concealed by a thick mass of brushwood. I had
taken shelter there during a storm, and had spent the time in exploring
it. It was perfectly dry, with several passages leading to smaller
caverns, in which fifty men might lie concealed, with little risk of
being discovered by a stranger to the place. I at once bethought me, if
we could reach it we might be safe from pursuit, and remain there until
the slave-hunters had passed by.

"We were making our way towards it, when the increasing loudness of the
hound's voice convinced us that we could not reach it before we should
be overtaken. Had there been two dogs, I should have told Dio to remain
with me, but as there was but one I determined to tackle the brute, and
directed him to hurry on to the cavern, where I should join him.
Scarcely had he disappeared in the brushwood, than the dog came in
sight, with its nose to the ground, following up our trail. Its masters
must be, I guessed, close behind. Lifting my rifle, as the hound was a
dozen paces from me, I fired. Its loud baying ceased, and over it
rolled with its legs kicking in the air. Feeling sure that it was done
for, I turned and ran, having just time to get behind some thick bushes,
when the Kentuckians reached the spot where the dog lay dead. I could
hear their loud oaths and execrations on the man who had shot their
animal. They seemed puzzled as to who had done the deed, and vowed
vengeance on his head should