at you."

Humpy growled like one of the beasts, and resumed his place in the line,
and the black went on calmly dividing the remaining pieces, distributed
them, and called up the dogs to catch what remained.

The water was then passed round, the blacks went off leaving the
sentries in position, and the prisoners sat amongst the Indian-corn
leaves, to eat their breakfast ravenously enough.

Before they had finished, the barking of the dogs announced the coming
of the overseer, who came in, whip in hand, to run his eye over his
prisoners, nodding his satisfaction as he saw that he was not going back
minus any of them, and went out again.

Then, as Nic sat eating the remainder of his bread, the entry was
darkened a little, and he saw a couple of women peer in--one a
middle-aged, comely body, the other a young girl.

There was a pitying expression upon their faces; and, obeying a sudden
impulse, Nic stood up to go to speak to them, for it seemed to him that
his chance had come. But at his first movement Humpy Dee leaped up,
with his fetters clinking, to intercept him, a sour look upon his face,
and the frightened women ran away.

"No, you don't," growled Humpy; "not if I knows it, m'lad."

"You, sah--you go back and eat your brakfas', sah," came from the door;
and Humpy turned sharply, to see that their guards were standing, each
with his musket steadied against a doorpost, taking aim at him and Nic.

"Yah, you old pot and kettle," cried Humpy scornfully; "you couldn't hit
a haystack;" but he went back to his place and sat down, Nic giving up
with a sigh and following his example.

Half-an-hour after the overseer was back with the dogs, the order was
given, and the prisoners marched out, to find the blacks waiting. Nic
saw now that there was a roomy log-house, fenced round with a patch of
garden; and in a group by the rough pine-wood porch a burly-looking man
was standing with the two women; and half-a-dozen black slaves were at
the far end of the place, each shouldering a big clumsy hoe, and
watching, evidently with the greatest interest, the prisoners on their
way to the boat.

In his hasty glance round, Nic could see that the farm was newly won
from the wilderness, and encumbered with the stumps of the great trees
which had been felled, some to be used as logs, others to be cut up into
planks; but the place had a rough beauty of its own, while the wistful
glances that fell upon him from the occupants of the