off from the valley turnpike, I saw the wagon coming with the two
Mathers negroes in it, but without any sign of Mose. I drew up and
waited for them.

"Hello, boys!" I called. "What's become of Mose?"

"Dat's moh 'n I can say, Mista Ahnold," one of the men returned. "We
waited foh him a powe'ful while, but it 'pears like he's 'vaporated. I
reckon he's took to de woods an' is gwine to walk home. Dat Cat-Eye
Mose, he's monstrous fond ob walkin'!"

I do not know why this incident should have aroused my own anxiety, but
I pushed on to the plantation with a growing feeling of uneasiness.
Nothing had been seen of either the Colonel or Mose, Solomon informed
me, but he added with an excited rolling of his eyes:

"Marse Rad, he come back nearly an hour ago an' stomp roun' like he mos'
crazy, an' den went out to de gahden."

I followed him and found him sitting in the summer house with his elbows
on his knees and his head in his hands.

"What's the matter, Rad?" I cried in alarm. "Has anything happened to
your father?"

He looked up with a start at the sound of my voice, and I saw that his
face was pale.

"My father?" he asked in a dazed way. "I left him in the cave. Why do
you ask?"

"He didn't come back with the rest of us, and Polly asked me to find
him."

"He's old enough to take care of himself," said Radnor without looking
up.

I hesitated a moment, uncertain what to do, and then turned back to the
stables to order a fresh horse. To my astonishment I found the
stable-men gathered in a group about Rad's mare, Jennie Loo. She was
dashed with foam and trembling, and appeared to be about used up. The
men fell back and eyed me silently as I approached.

"What's happened to the horse?" I cried. "Did she run away?"

One of the men "reckoned" that "Marse Rad" had been whipping her.

"Whipping her!" I exclaimed in dismay. It was unbelievable, for no one
as a rule was kinder to animals than Radnor; and as for his own Jennie
Loo, he couldn't have cared more for her if she had been a human being.
There was no mistaking it however. She was crossed and recrossed with
thick welts about the withers; it was evident that the poor beast had
been disgracefully handled.

Uncle Jake volunteered that Rad had galloped straight into the stable,
had dropped the bridle and walked off without a word; and he added the
opinion that a "debbil had done conjured him." I was inclined to agree.
There seemed to be something in the air tha