to be whipped! It was a barbarism to which he had
never been subjected, and he was appalled at the thought.

At first, he decided not to return. Even the bloodhounds and the perils
of the swamp were less terrible than the whipping-post. But he was
unwilling to believe that he was to be subjected to this trying ordeal,
and impelled by the resolutions he had made, he at last determined to
meet his master, and by a fair representation of the case, with an
earnest appeal to Archy, he hoped, and even expected, to escape the
punishment.

Taking his place in the boat, he was soon gliding swiftly on his way to
the plantation.

CHAPTER V.

THE TRAGEDY AT THE "DEAD OAK."

When the boat touched at the pier, the slight shock of its contact with
the steps seemed to shake the very soul of the culprit, who had already
been tried and condemned. Though he hoped to escape, the doubt was heavy
enough to weigh down his spirits, and make him feel sadder than he had
ever felt before in his life. It was not with him as it would have been
with one of the crew--with Cyd, for instance, who had been whipped half
a dozen times without taking it very sorely to heart. The Anglo-Saxon
blood in his veins boiled at the thought of such an indignity, and if he
had not entertained a reasonable hope that he should escape the terrible
shame and degradation which menaced him, he would certainly have taken
to the swamp, and ended his days among the alligators and herons.

There was no one on the pier when he landed; and leaving the crew to
dispose of the boat, he walked with a heavy heart towards the mansion of
the planter. He had accomplished but half the distance, when he was met
by one of the house servants, who directed him to repair to the "dead
oak" beyond the negro village. The boy who had delivered this order
hastened back to the house, affording him no opportunity to ask any
questions, even if he had been so disposed.

"Long Tom" and the "dead oak" were ominous phrases at Redlawn, for the
former was the whipper-general of the plantation, and the latter the
whipping-post. The trunk of the decaying tree had been adapted to the
purpose for which it was now used, and though Colonel Raybone was
considered a liberal and humane master, the "dead oak" had been the
scene of many a terrible tragedy.

Because his master was a just and fair man, Dandy hoped to escape the
doom for which all the preparations had already been made; but the
plante