arter I'm more
worldlier than what I am before you can ketch me cuttin' sech a scollop
as to wind up a funeral sermon wi' a race arter a runaway nigger."

Brother Brannum agreed with this view, but it was with a poor grace. He
had a vague remembrance of certain rewards that had from time to time
been offered for the capture of Blue Dave, and he was anxious to have a
hand in securing at least a part of these. But he refrained from
sounding the alarm. With Brother Roach, he remained at the Kendrick
Place after the sermon was over, and took dinner. He rode off shortly
afterwards, and the next day Bill Brand and his track dogs put in an
appearance; but Blue Dave was gone.

It was a common thing to hear of fugitive negroes; but Blue Dave (so
called because of the inky blackness of his skin) had a name and a fame
that made him the terror of the women and children, both white and
black; and Kitty Kendrick and her mother were not a little disturbed
when they learned that he had been in hiding among the gables of their
house. The negro's success in eluding pursuit caused the
ignorant-minded of both races to attribute to him the possession of some
mysterious power. He grew into a legend; he became a part of the
folk-lore of the section. According to popular belief, he possessed strange
powers and great courage; he became a giant, a spirit of evil. Women
frightened their children into silence by calling his name, and many a
youngster crept to bed in mortal fear that Blue Dave would come in the
night and whisk him away into the depths of the dark woods. Whatever
mischief was done was credited to Blue Dave. If a horse was found in
the lot spattered with mud, Blue Dave had ridden it; if a cow was
crippled, a hog missing, or a smoke-house robbed, Blue Dave was sure to
be at the bottom of it all, so far as popular belief was concerned. The
negroes had many stories to tell of him. One had seen him standing by a
tall poplar-tree. He was about to speak to him when there came a flash
of lightning and a crash of thunder, and Blue Dave disappeared, leaving
a sulphurous smell behind him. He had been seen by another negro. He
was standing in the middle of the Armour's Ferry road. He was armed
with a gleaming reaphook, and accompanied by a big black dog. As soon
as the dog saw the new-comer, it bristled up from head to foot, its
eyes shone like two coals of fire, and every hair on its back emitted a
fiery spark.

Very little was known of th