ith his
black crew, he could have overhauled the Isabel in a short time, if the
two craft had been in the positions occupied by the pursuer and the
pursued. The race depended entirely upon the character of the boat in
which the slave-hunters had embarked.

Whatever the result of the pursuit, Dan was fully determined not to be
taken himself, nor to permit his friends on board to be taken. With the
arms in the cabin, he was confident that he could make a good defence.
But the thought of taking the life, even of a slave-hunter, was terrible
to him, though he had fully reasoned himself into the belief that such a
course would be perfectly justifiable before God; and he cared little
for the judgment of a slave-holding community. His Maker had given him
the right to be free--had endowed him with the right to use his own bone
and sinew for his own benefit and happiness; and the man or the
community that attempted to deprive him of this right committed a crime
against God and him, and it was his duty to defend himself against this
violation of his Heaven-given right.

He hoped, however, to be spared the pain of resorting to the use of
arms. He prayed to God, with all the earnestness of an earnest nature,
for more wind; for his creed, if he had any, was very simple, and
included a belief in special providences. The boat of the slave-hunters
was now not more than half a mile distant, and the chase had become
intensely exciting to Dan and Lily, who alone were on deck. The
trembling maiden could with difficulty maintain a reasonable
self-possession. She was terrified as the panting hare when she feels
the warm breath of the pursuing hound.

"We shall certainly be taken, Dan," said she, as she caught sight of the
boat beneath the main boom of the schooner. "We are lost."

"No, Lily, not lost. You shall never be taken while I have a drop of
blood left in my body," replied Dan, in a low and earnest tone.

"Why, they are ever so much nearer than they were when we first saw
them."

"That is true; but it is only because I changed the course of the boat."

"Why did you change it, then?"

"Because, if I run her down into the corner of the lake, they can easily
cut us off."

"I suppose you have done the best you could."

"There was no other way to do," answered Dan, as he glanced under the
boom at the pursuer. "We shall soon know which boat goes the fastest
now."

"I don't understand it at all," said Lily, whose knowledge of s