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Show ) 192 ROEBUCK heart. In the dense wood someti1nes the lo'v branches of the trees almost swept her fron1 her saddle. This annoyance at la~t sugge ted to her a Jnethod of escape. . A long, large lin1b, gro\Vln?' square o~lt fro1n tl:e body of a beech tree, at a height ~evcl ·w1th he:· clun as :::;he sat upright, was about to. stnke h~r ~ace _n1 the darkness. She happened to d1scover 1t 1n tune to throw her anns over it. In that -way she lifted herself ont of the saddle ancllot her horse 'valk from beneath her. She rCinainecl thus suspended in the air until the negroes had passecl on so far that she thought they conld not hear the noise of her move1nent, and then Hhe swung herself along to the body of the ~ree, nud then, elin1bing above the limb, she sat upon 1t. Sho iuten<lc l to remain there until her captors, ·who would, donl>Llc ·. , n1iss her very soon, should have failed in a scareh for her and left the ·wood free for her escape. In a few 1ninutes they discovered that she waEt not upon the hor. e. 1\Iike railed at his followers fo_r their negljgenee, auJ. they 'vere wholly unable to conJecture how or \V here she had eluded their vigilance. They all turned back and comn1enced a search for her in every direction throuo-h the forest. She could hear b l. then1 shoutin o- to each other and sometimes consu twg 0 • to1reLhcr. ~like appeared to apprehend senous cons?- qu0c nees from h&· escape, and gave vent t o 1u ·s ch a· o-nn b in cur ' OS. When they had been searching a l~ng titne an a seen1ed almost in despair of success, 1\flke, still leaclino- her horse passed under the branch on b ' . 'vhich she was perched. The sagacious and affe~t10n-ate .A.rab raised his head and uttered the low wl11nnying :::;ound which is the natural note of recog.nit~ou and of pleasure 'vith his kind. The attention of .Mlke no:cnucrc. 103 wns instantly directec1 to,varcls the tree, for he ,vas familiar 'vith the habits of horses and kno'v the superior intelligence of Arab. Ile began to pry mnong the branches, and in a . hort ti1no he discovered his captive. She ·was con1pe1led to descend and rosnn1e her place in the R::tdcllo. Thenceforth tho vigilance of the guard 'vas rcclonblecl, ancl avoiding tho dark st p~uts of tho forest, they 1noved nlong paths ,vhi eh were known to the negroes. Now and then ti10y p~usecl an<l 'vhi. poring conRnltations took place among Lhom, 'vhich ~Iiss Faid:1.x 'vas not ponnittod to hear. Son1o of these conversations, however, appeared to be on the point of running into violent diHpntes between ~like and Jake, and she thought her own name " 'as repeated in tones of rcn1onRLrance or of anger. Ilo\v long a tin1e or ho\v far she had been journeying in captivity she could not detenninc, when Jake, who 'valke<l on her left, approached very clo c to the horse, and laid his hand upon her ann. "Stand back, villain!" she cried, and the cry arresting 1\Iike, he turned back to\vards her just as his ruffianly comrade seizecll\1iss Fairfax by the \Vaist. She screarned nnd struggled, bnt she 'vas)s child in the grasp of the stout negro. Mike sprang at him, \vrenched his hands from Julia, and flung him upon the earth. Ilis follower rose and rushed 'vith fury at ~1ike, but the latter struck hin1 on the head 'vith his club and felled him. Jake lay outstretched, as if he \vas cleacl, and l!Iike, not kno,vin o- ,vhether he was dead or alive, loft :::J him nncl rmnnned the n1arch. lie took care, however, to snpply the place of the 1nissing guard by his own watchfulness, so that the captive coul<.l not e capo. Julia was unable to recognize any of the places through which she was carried, until, at length, they 9 |
